“Speedrunners,” Anelace said. He turned around, reached for a file, and put it on the desk, pushing it in our direction.

“I know them,” I said. I left the file for Sveta, Tristan and Kenzie to look at.

“A couple of times a day, they use their time powers. Sweep the area, search every nook and cranny. You won’t be able to set up shop.”

“That’d be Secondhand,” I said.

“They use Final Hour to cover other business. Even if you avoid being caught in the sweeps, you won’t be able to look or listen in if they’re conducting meetings in banked timestreams.”

“And Last Minute is still with the group?” I asked.

“Yes.”

Fucking time manipulators. “Something to work out in advance then.”

“They’ve got two thinkers, Braindead and Birdbrain, working as a team. You won’t be able to have undercover agents if they’re checking things. You will be tracked and your agents will be thoroughly investigated.”

More folders hit the table.

“Powers complicate things, and they’ve got a lot of powers there,” Anelace said.

“Bitter Pill, tinker,” Brio said. “A lot of the people in Hollow Point are expected to partake, and that means truth serums, just to start with.”

I looked at the other members of the group.

“You really think you’re up for this?” Brio asked.

“Just speaking for myself, I’m more excited to do this than I was before you started talking about what we’re up against,” Tristan said.

“I already have some ideas,” Kenzie said. “Not about the time guys, but I have ideas.”

“We knock the time guys down first,” Tristan said. “Without a question. We’ll have to. We can do this.”

I looked at Sveta, who had been quiet.

“I want to do this,” she said, meeting Brio’s eyes.

“Then we’ll give you our files as starting points. You guys own this if it ends up being a disaster, you keep us informed, and—”

“In exchange,” I interrupted. “You guys give us access to your costume sourcing.”

“I can do costumes,” Kenzie said.

“Without battery lives?” I asked.

“Oh.”

“Give us access to your costume manufacturing. I know you have it and I know you’re branching out to share it.”

Anelace and Brio exchanged a look. Brio nodded. “Okay.”

“And you give us your blessing to operate in this territory,” I said.

“I don’t know if I like what I saw earlier,” Brio said. “Blessing might be a strong word.”

“All parahumans have their issues,” I said.

Brio seemed to consider for a moment.

He extended his hand to shake.

We shook it, each of us in turn.

No name yet, costumes to be decided, codenames to be determined.

But we were a team with a mission. We were doing this.

Glare Interlude 3