“Yeah. That was it, thank you,” I said. I looked past Sveta to Tristan. “What happened in Brockton Bay wasn’t a break from the pattern. It was just the pattern playing out at an accelerated rate. What I’m talking about, the snowballing, the bad things happening and then compounding each other… they still happened. A whole lot of individual factors played into the events of that day, and into the engagements and infighting that followed.”

“When they happen more slowly, there’s time to rest,” Sveta said.

“When they happen slowly, there’s time to get used to the bad, to normalize it. You or people you thought you knew change in reaction to those external factors without anyone realizing it and… things still compound. The bad days come, and the unresolved stuff from the last bad days catches up or demands resolution.”

“Like Gold Morning, again,” Rain said. “A lot of things caught up with us around then. Or a lot of things converged to bring it about, maybe. I wasn’t there so I don’t know.”

“I was only there for the later parts,” I said. “But I think you’re right.”

“Things are better this time,” Sveta said. “We’ve learned from mistakes. It’s a fresh start. The Endbringers are dormant, we’re finally building things without them being torn down all the time.”

“I agree with Sveta,” Tristan said. “I really think there is a lot of work to be done before we get to a good normal, but that’s where I want to be out there doing some of that work in the best way I know how, with people I’ve come to know, like, and respect.”

“I don’t like being on the opposite side of an argument from you, Victoria,” Sveta said. “It doesn’t feel good.”

I reached out for her hand. She met me halfway, putting the prosthetic hand in mine. I squeezed it, realized she might not be able to feel the squeeze, and gave it a waggle. She smiled.

“No hard feelings, okay?” I said. “I get it. You want this. Believe me when I say I want to get out and do some heroic stuff too.”

“I have a boyfriend I feel like I don’t deserve, and please don’t use that as a launchpad to get into another topic, Mrs. Yamada.”

“I’m keeping my mouth shut for the time being,” Mrs. Yamada said.

Sveta nodded. She looked back at me. “I missed out on most of my teenage years, I don’t remember my childhood, and I feel so behind.”

“I know. Believe me, I get it, not to the same degree, but I share some of those same feelings,” I said.

“I know you do,” she said. She gave me a waggle back.