I knew what answer I might’ve given if I were Gary. I would have said yes, yes, she could have known and she could have been calculating enough to hold her tongue. I knew enough details that I didn’t think it was the truth, but it would have been a decisive attack on her character. Thing was, Tristan was good at speaking. He had a forceful and combative approach that didn’t come across in his tone, but made people listen, gave him momentum, and let him drop questions any opponent would be happy to answer, and even drop in casual insults like ‘sore loser’ and then string it all together in a way that made it hard to combat. Gary couldn’t answer the question with an attack on her character without being the sore loser, couldn’t answer the sore loser comment without sounding like he didn’t have an answer, and the audience came away with what Tristan wanted.

Funny thing was, I was realizing that Gary had all the answers, he was ready, he’d probably gone through a hundred mental recitations of this debate or similar debates since getting the material he’d shown from the slides. He’d already shown himself to be quick in answering the tough, accurate questions. But when Tristan came at him with his own unique approach and a less stellar argument, Gary seemed a little flat footed. Rain had done something similar, but without the raw presentation.

“You’re devoting a lot of effort to defending her,” Gary said.

“Because you’re devoting a lot of effort to attacking her,” Tristan said.

I followed up. Bring things back to center. Rain established our thesis, whether I love it or not. “Precipice said this all sucks. He’s right. The world ended, things aren’t great. This cape stuff? People taking over worlds? You’re right to be upset and angry. He’s right in agreeing to that. I don’t think you’re right that every world is taken. Not Shin, probably. Mayor Wynn has given us no indication she’s using powers to rule us. She was elected.”

“Somehow. And she did get there using her advantages. As you said, money that came from caped villainy.”

“Sure,” I said. “Probably. But as much as I don’t like her or her role in what happened to my hometown, I do think she wants the same thing we all want. She wants us to get through this winter. She wants us to thrive. My team? We want the city to thrive. The best of us are getting bloody, injured, and traumatized fighting the worst of us.”

“The best of us,” Gary answered, his voice taking on a different tone. “Do you really think you’re better than us?”