“I’m anxious to get back to the hero stuff,” Sveta said. “Help people, um, I know Weld isn’t waiting for me at home anymore or anything, but I do look up to him still.”

“Even if he is a bit dumb about stuff.”

“About relationship stuff. And he’s inexperienced, not dumb. So am I. But I want to live up to the standards he set. For him and for Armstrong.”

“Yeah. Do…” I started, hesitating. Sveta tilted her head to one side. “…Do you see yourself dating again? Finding a guy?”

“I want to find myself first. Then yes.”

“Cool. I’ll look forward to that.”

“Aren’t you afraid I’m going to talk your ear off or obsess with stars in my eyes, like I did way back then?”

“Nah,” I said, my voice soft. “Nah, I like seeing you happy, and you were happy in those moments.”

“And happier when I met him, thanks to you. Happier when I met him again, after screwing up the first time, thanks to you. Happier when I went with him and got to go out into the world, thanks to you.”

I dropped my eyes to the floor. I supposed Weld had told her, that I’d had to convince him to go back and talk to her. That she needed the support.

“Sorry it didn’t work out.”

“No. I grew a ton as a person. I was such a kid back then. I’m glad, even if, even now, it hurts.”

I nodded.

She shifted position. Her head rested back against the wall, staring across the room at the wall while she asked, “Is it weird if I see myself with another Case Fifty-Three?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so, but it depends on rationale.”

“Just… a part of me still wants to belong to that. Fat chance, though, right? They’re not fans of me.”

“Some are, I’m sure.”

Sveta shrugged.

“You and Egg, huh?

Sveta made a face.

“In all seriousness, it’s cool. Knowing what you like.”

“I think I like it. It’s hard to say for sure. It might be me wanting to belong, like I said, and I’m misinterpreting that. I don’t think I do know what I like, only what I kind of expect or assume by default.”

Fuck, there was a lot to unpack there, but I didn’t have the energy to get into it.

“Don’t mind me,” Sveta sad. “Getting lost in my own head.”

“Nah, you’re fine,” I said.

“I hate this,” she said. “I hate all of this so much, and I know I have no right to complain, but it really sucks that I finally have a real body, a really good compromise between having a power and being normal, and we run into these guys, who are dead set on making me out to be a monster.”