Tristan had his shield, protecting Sveta and Damsel from the flack, but it bowled him over in the process, living metal arms reaching for his shield and dragging him across rubble. Sveta and Damsel carried on. Love Lost was just really athletic, even in this world, and managed to avoid the worst of it.

“Get Cradle!” I called out. Unnecessarily.

It was Damsel who reached him first, spearing him before he could unsnag himself from the twisted metal of the empty shelf unit.

Spearing him through the shoulder.

“No killer instinct,” Cradle snarled at her.

“You really want to tempt—” she started replying.

He hacked at her already damaged hand with the combat knife. The injury brought her to her knees, interrupting the retaliatory swing with her other hand.

Sveta reached the shelf, and kept her distance from Damsel and Cradle both. Instead, she leaped onto the shelf itself, one foot and both hands finding purchase near the top.

It wobbled, and it wobbled more as a hand plunged down right behind where Sveta had been. Glass arms, liquid metal arms, and floorboards went flying all around us.

And it crashed down, impossibly loud.

The dust cleared, the glass stopped raining down.

Love Lost had joined Sveta in bowling over the shelf. Bringing it down on top of Cradle.

And without the host, there was no agent in this space. No light source in Cradle’s portion. No monster looming over and around us.

“Where are you going?” Tristan asked. He was injured himself, badly enough I’d be sending him to the hospital in any other circumstance. The shield was a mess now.

The question was directed at Damsel.

“Out,” she pointed at the far wall. “These are simulated bodies, aren’t they? I don’t know about you, but I want to move to a simulation where I’m not so scratched up.”

She swayed as she stood. She was missing a thumb, and had a deep notch in her forearm, more damage along that arm. The limb trembled where she held it against her chest, to try to stem the bleeding.

‘Scratched up’.

There were more injured than able-bodied. It was Sveta who picked me up, sweating and grunting as she dragged me, putting in enough effort there weren’t words.

Tattletale limped about halfway. Love Lost helped Colt. Tristan helped Byron. The kids stayed with Rain while waiting for escorts.