“Yes,” Mrs. Yamada said. “And, as a final comment on the topic from me, I brought Victoria here for several reasons. One of them is that I do believe she knows what she’s talking about. Another is that, from my position as a person with a measure of trust and power, with a strong feeling about what you’re committed to doing, it’s very difficult for me to both argue the points and also manage the discussion at the same time. If I tell Tristan to give others a chance to speak, it could be seen as me trying to shut down his side of the argument.”

“I’m here as a bit of a surrogate,” I said. “I’m here saying what you can’t.”

“In part. I think we do disagree on some things.”

“Like the value and importance we place in cape names, to quote a recent example,” I said. “I like them, you don’t.”

“Yes. I did, for the record, let Victoria know I would be sitting back more than usual.”

“You did. I didn’t expect to be ganged up on, though.”

“I’m sorry about that.”

“It was mild,” I said.

“I don’t want to gang up on Victoria. I’ve done a lot of talking too,” Sveta said. “But I think that’s because I know Victoria, even if this is our first time really talking properly. There’s a bit of trust.”

I nodded. “Yep.”

“For what it’s worth,” Sveta said, “that trust means that much like Mrs. Yamada I do believe Victoria when she says she’s worried or she thinks this could go badly. I know she knows stuff. But I do want this. I want to stand on my own two feet. Sorry. I think the ones who’ve been quiet up until now should say stuff. Ashley, Chris, Kenzie, Rain. Or, you know, maybe Victoria has more to say.”

“Thank you for coming, by the way, Victoria,” Kenzie said.

“You’re welcome,” I said. “I do want this to be a chance to share what I know and for you guys to gain, if that’s possible. Maybe there are places where you might realize there are gaps in your knowledge that you could then take time to brush up on. There isn’t a rush.”

“There is, kind of,” Rain said.

Heads turned.

“I talked about this last session. There’s currently some people after me. I want to be part of a team because it’s backup. Having a squad of people with me when I’m out and about would throw a wrench into their plans. It could give me a fighting chance when I wouldn’t have one otherwise.”

“People are after you?” I asked.

Rain held up his fingers in a way that made a rectangle. “It’s complicated.”

The rectangle was supposed to represent the card.