“You know,” Golem kept his voice quiet, “It’s a good thing I like and trust you guys, because the way Lookout was talking about the recordings, she had database access to play multiple recordings at once and relay it to whatever tech she’s using. And now she’s—”

Kenzie hit the submit key, and surveillance footage from a camera outside a store showed a group of capes striding along the sidewalk, a couple of them hopping up onto cars in deadlocked traffic. Black clothes, torn clothing, and blood seemed to be a dominant theme. Some had armbands, scarves, or coats in checked white and black.

“—doing that,” Golem finished.

Kenzie rewound a bit, bringing up the shots with clearest views of faces and masks. As the camera tracked each face, it stuck names over their heads.

Torso. Gibbet. Nailbiter. Trophy Wife. Sidepiece. Backwoods. Mockument. Hookline.

“Most of these guys are ones we’ve been dealing with off and on in the heart of downtown,” Golem said. “You’ve got ones like Trophy Wife who start up an enterprise or something and other low level villains will join in.”

“What enterprise?” Tristan asked.

“Poaching, animal slaughter. We sent in people from the city core who have some familiarity with them. They’re a small team but they’re smart and reliable.”

“Yeah, that’s super great,” Kenzie said. “Um, so can we go?”

“Why is this so important?” I asked. “You want to see Damsel?”

“Kind of, yeah, but also because we know how to deal with a lot of them, and because there’s no way she didn’t account for us going in the numbers, since we have to go once we hear about this, obviously.”

“Kenzie, slow down,” Sveta said. “Why do we have to go?”

“Because there’s no way we don’t go if we think Cassandra mentioning this is meant for us to hear and us going to help,” Kenzie’s voice was rapidfire. She saw Sveta motion to take a breath, and paused to do so. “And because Damsel’s there, and others we know how to beat are there too. And Damsel.”

I reached out and touched her forehead. “You’re warm. I got you sick.”

“Nope. No. I’m fine. I overheated my brain a little bit by watching all that video at once, that’s all. Really. So you don’t need to worry.”

“Kenzie. That’s far more worrying,” I told her. I looked at Golem. “Is there water?”

“On it,” Tristan said. For a split second, I thought he would absentmindedly turn into Byron and we’d have another health crisis. “Point me the way to the office cooler?”

Golem did.