“It lets Darlene, Candy, and Chicken look in,” Kenzie said. “And I’d feel lonely if they couldn’t. Besides, it lets me see the cameras, and I want to figure out where they all are before I run out of battery. If I have time and if I can make tools, maybe a few minor things, I’ll turn this oxygen can into a battery pack.”

The projection setup for the smoking eyelashes was buried in Ashley’s eye as well. Kenzie removed those, handing them to Rain.

“Can you make something?” I asked.

“What do I need to make?” she asked.

“I’m worried Teacher might try something. We’re cooped up and we’re easy targets. Do you think you could give us a way to track what happens?”

“You think they’ll come after us?” Tristan asked.

“I think they might. Or they’ll try to frame us. Or stage a breakout attempt. Our job is to stay in, at least for a little while, keep the peace.”

I shifted my footing.

And if the Wardens need us they can get us. If not, then the scheduled attack on Teacher happens and we’re stuck on the sidelines because we’re losing this game of political chess.

I saw a few of the others nodding to themselves.

“Should I give Darlene and the others a message?” Kenzie asked. “Call anyone? Even for dumb stuff? I think they’re worried.”

The others named names. Rain wanted a message given to Erin. Tristan asked for his parents, and mentioned the subject of Byron, who was still in armor. A complicated subject to navigate—he hadn’t felt comfortable changing with an anti-parahuman holding him at gunpoint.

Ashley had nobody, and Sveta requested a message to go to Armstrong, just to tell him not to worry.

And me?

Half of the people I knew and cared about were here.

“Citrine,” I decided. “We’re going to need some help from above.”

Breaking 14.8

“Can anyone do us a big favor?” Kenzie asked, distracted. “We need someone to walk over to Theo and Rain and tell them that the surveillance state is our friend.”

“Tell me where they are and why I’m telling them that and I will,” Byron said.

It was the small hours of the morning, and for the most part the only light was the ambient glow of city lights finding their way into the prison center through the glass roof. The building’s heat led to some of the snow and ice on that glass to find its way in through cracks, precipitating a series of steady trickles and drips. All of us, for the most part, had found places to settle in, but few of us slept.