I looked for the telltale pieces of clothing that weren’t light gray or brown. Different colors of cloth were woven together to create clashing patterns, and those caught the eye. But there were places where long hair was braided or woven with cloth, and that caught the eye in the same way. There were pieces of clothing that had multiple patterns and texture that nearly matched, which made them stand out less.

I wanted to fly, to see over this crowd. But we had been rendered almost powerless, by politics and not by any interference.

“We should eat,” I said.

“We have to. If we don’t the guards drag us off and give us a hard time,” Rain said.

“Good to know. Good research.”

“Thank you.”

Into the crowd. Our formation was a battle formation, two people watching our flanks, two up front, two at the sides. Our most vulnerable member was in the middle.

Guards moved through the crowd, jostling people, pausing to question or check them.

A whole group of people walked in row and column, the crowd parting, as they carried covered bowls to the large room I’d observed before. I’d had a glimpse of the space as I walked to the showers earlier—it was now partitioned off into sub-rooms. Apparently there was a sub-group of people who viewed eating in public or eating communally to be the equivalent of taking a shit in the company of friends. Curtain partitions and a mutual expectation to eat in total silence allowed them their privacy.

I saw gang members with prison uniforms and accessories fashioned of old clothes in the midst of the crowd. One guy, huge, with cloth wrapped around his hands like a kickboxer might do. A woman with a strip of material with a tight knot at the end had been stopped by guards. As we passed, she and the guards she was talking to looked at us.

“Group of weirdos just hit the edge of the crowd at our seven,” Kenzie said.

“Weirdos? Be more specific,” Rain said, turning to look.

“All dressed in black, bright bandannas. Camera quality isn’t great.”

“Yeah,” Rain said.

“And guards,” Ashley said.

The heads-up was late, because the guards were moving through some of the densest parts of the crowd. They passed that part of the crowd and set their sights on us.

Kenzie discreetly passed something up to her neck, before popping something else into her mouth. She turned to Rain, motioning toward his sleeves.

Only another moment or two before they were here—

Rain pulled it out, fumbled with it for a second, too long—

Kenzie reached out, pushing the pronged apparatus into Rain’s midsection. It was set to phase through, but Rain winced like it hurt. Sveta took the other from Kenzie’s hand, and passed it under her top.