“I’ll call her,” Kenzie said, hopping up from her seat. She wandered off, her eyehook holding her phone to her ear.

“I’ll get Chris,” Sveta said.

As Sveta vacated the space on the bench to my left, I turned to the laptop to my right. I typed up a few things about Rain’s power, then paged up and down some to look at the entries for the individual powers. There was a lot more to write up before I had an actual outline I could pitch to the Wardens. If they were even interested in working with the overarching cape community on that level.

I hoped they were. The villains had a lot of advantages, from the fact they often had the initiative to the fact that their work often made money, and the fact that the chaos and damage they wrought often created more opportunities, henchmen, and money for them. Heroes who did well, conversely, often put themselves out of work.

One of the few advantages our side had was that the heroes tended to work together. If we did it right, we walked away with allies. I had people like Gilpatrick, Crystal, and Mrs. Yamada.

“How’s Erin?” Tristan asked.

“She’s good. She’s applying for jobs today. We’re in an awkward spot for it, though, not many locations, a lot of people around our age want those jobs, and it’s a long drive in to get to work. I think those places open at six. It might mean waking up at four to get to work on time.”

Sveta dragged Chris to the collection of rocks, benches, and seats. Chris climbed up to his seat, sitting on the rock Kenzie had been using. I was pretty clear he was still blind, from the way he stared off into space.

“There are times I don’t get to sleep until four,” Chris said, talking to the open air.

“That’s not good,” Sveta said. “Don’t do that.”

“It’s a chance to be independent,” Tristan said. “If she can get the job. She gives off a good impression, so I can imagine it happening.”

“Yeah,” Rain said.

“Who is she?” I asked. “Can I ask?”

“Just a friend,” Rain said. “I’ve always grown up in the middle of nowhere, so when my family was getting settled after Gold Morning, we saw all the incentives they were offering to people willing to get a headstart on agriculture and it seemed natural, you know?”

“Sure,” I said.

“Erin’s parents were kind of the opposite. City people through and through, something in them broke after Gold Morning. They couldn’t bring themselves to join the rat race again, I think. They were given the option for the simple life and they took it. Erin got dragged with.”

“And you connected.”