I was kind of glad to not have to dwell on them.

I approached the Major Malfunctions first.

“Are you guys okay?” I asked.

They nodded. They looked pretty devastated. Even Withdrawal, with his creepy-ish mask covering his expression, managed to convey something in his body language. Caryatid’s eyes were downcast.

I kind of wanted to hug them but I had no idea what their policy would be. They were kind of a huddle, too, Caryatid with her arm around Finale and a hand on Withdrawal’s leg. I couldn’t hug all three of them at once without smashing my breastplate into Caryatid’s mouth.

“I’m so sorry about Fume Hood,” I told them.

“She was one of the coolest adults I know,” Finale said. It was hard to meet her eyes, with the hurt clear in them. I was reminded of Kenzie, even though Finale was closer to Tristan’s age.

“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I’m glad you all made it out intact.”

“It got so ugly so fast,” Withdrawal said.

Caryatid looked over her shoulder at the portal, her mask covering her lower face, her eyes heavily decorated with gray and orange makeup and eyeliner, striking against her light brown skin. She briefly entered her breaker form, and the pages of her perpetually unfolding butterfly-wing face had streaks of orange along with hints of what the fresh makeup might have been hiding—puffy redness.

Then she was normal again.

“What do you guys think you’re going to be doing?” I asked.

“Going in,” Withdrawal said. “Our place got destroyed, our stuff’s in a van and we don’t know where the van is. We’ll go to the camp, set up there, and keep participation minimal, if that’s okay?”

I checked my phone. “H?”

“H. Yeah.”

“Okay,” I said. “I’ve got to catch up with my team. We’ll talk later? When it’s quieter?”

“Please,” he said.

“Sorry again.”

He just shook his head.

My team was gravitating toward one of the portals, hanging back only to let me catch up. I went to them, and rejoining the group felt like I could finally breathe after being underwater too long, except it wasn’t breath.

I hugged Sveta, first and foremost. Then I put my hand out in Kenzie’s direction, and she reached out and squeezed it.

“I was scared for you,” I told Sveta.

“I made it. Got through it okay.”

I squeezed her, finding myself surprised that it wasn’t a prosthetic I was holding. Then I broke the hug.

“How did you manage over here?” Rain asked.

“Not great. Went a little stir crazy, got in trouble a few times.”

He nodded, just taking it as that. “You see where we’re going?”

“H,” I said.

He pointed at the portal.

“Should we go?” I asked.

“Might as well,” he said.

We had company, I saw. The full assortment of the Undersiders. Deathchester. The Major Malfunctions followed behind.

My family was lingering close by.