“We have thinker skills,” Effervescent said. “You could have come to us.”

“There’s another joint project where we’re collaborating,” I said. “Lookout got hurt a few too many times in too short a timeframe. We decided it was best to get her out of that situation before any institutional crackdown. During the whole Cradlemarch mess, we ran into the Undersiders and she got along with a few of the kids in Undersider orbit. Lookout is pursuing a team with them. It puts Undersiders and Breakthrough in irregular contact.”

Effervescent folded her arms, tilting her head slightly as she looked at Anelace.

“If it works, it works,” Anelace told me.

“The kid’s hers?” Effervescent asked.

“Chicken Little. One of Lookout’s teammates. We hired them to keep it fair and we’re using it as an opportunity to train them, teach them what to look for. A simple, minor mission.”

“I still have a hard time getting a read on you,” Effervescent said. “But there’s more to this, isn’t there?”

“There’s always more to a situation,” Anelace said. “When you get information, you get three-quarters of the information at best. When you dig again, you get three-quarters of what’s left, but things shuffle, change, and adapt in the meantime. A problem bloats, a person develops in response to whatever you’re adjusting…”

“And I’m not interested in high-level back-and-forth over the philosophy of information gathering,” Effervescent said. For a colorful personality, she was kind of pissy. “Is there something more to it, Antares?”

“Yes,” I said. I paused. “I can’t really get into it. I want to look into some stuff, and I want to ask for you to give me the benefit of a doubt here, because I can’t explain it all. I’ve gone toe to toe with some of the tough contenders these past couple of months. I’m hoping that counts for something.”

They exchanged a look. Anelace had his arms folded, and I saw his fingers lift away from his arm, two extended.

“I’d have to ask Count,” Effervescent said. “What do I tell him, ’Lace?”

“What can you tell us?” Anelace asked me.

“You have options,” I answered. “I can tell you nothing, it’s the least complicated option. I investigate, and at some point, ideally tonight, I get an answer and I fill you in with all the rest of the teams.”

“What’s the drawback?” Effervescent asked.

“That it’s not a safe option,” I told. “It’s the least complicated. The safe option is that I lie to you. What I tell you lets you know what to watch out for, but it doesn’t get into the problematic stuff.”

“And if you tell us?”

“Option three is I tell one of you, and they join me for the next short while, while we dig through this.”

“We’re tied up,” Anelace said. “Stuff to do, can’t take a sabbatical.”