Narwhal off to the side, hands resting on the back of a chair, peering past white hair with faint crystalline hues.

My dad on the speaker phone.

Amy’s voice in the background.

I couldn’t approach my family or friend because there were too many people.

So I approached Narwhal.

“What’s the situation?”

“The Machine Army,” Narwhal said.

No questions about my mental well being or the vetting. I was here so she assumed all was well.

Purely professional.

I looked up at the map.

The dotted line put the giant Chevalier on a course to the portal to Earth Bet. Home.

“He’s going there?”

“And the Kronos Titan is moving to intercept,” Narwhal said. “Shin is concerned that if the Machine Army attacks the city, there’s nothing to stop it from rapidly disseminating itself across the city and reaching Shin.”

“Is there anything?” I asked.

“Not enough,” Narwhal said. “But they want to address the crisis now. Which means we now have that same crisis in our lap, because it involves our territory, our border, our safeguard that they’re about to trample through.”

“—Victoria’s voice?”

The question came over the speaker phone.

Amy.

“Yes,” I said, loud enough that she should hear me.

“You’re there,” my dad said, through the same phone.

“Yes,” I said, again.

There was a pause. I looked at my mom, at Crystal, and at Vista. People who got this.

“Will you help?” Amy asked. “Negotiating? Handling this? I feel like you might listen to me when others don’t.”

I stared at the screen, nine fingernails digging into my sweater.

“Alright.”

Sundown 17.5

“To recap again,” Amy’s voice came through the screen. “On our side of the call, we have myself, Flashbang, Marquis, and two gentlemen from the local government, who I’m told you’ve met, Victoria. Luis and Gabin.”

Fuck you, I thought.

My mother answered, “On our end, to name people familiar to you, we have the family, Vista, Narwhal, and two more people from the Wardens.”

“Oh, I didn’t know Vista was there. I hope you’re doing well, Vista.”

Fuck you, I thought. This isn’t a social function.

“I’ll be happier when we’ve ensured everyone’s safe,” Vista said, a little more terse than she had been earlier.

“We can work on that,” Amy sounded encouraged, when I wouldn’t have told her to be, given Vista’s tone and pure focus on the business at hand. “The situation is that you’ve got the Machine Army on your doorstep and it’s been there for a while. Shin has serious concerns about Gimel’s problems becoming their problems, because you guys don’t have the best track record of keeping your messes contained.”

You don’t have the best track record of keeping your own shit contained, Amy. Who the fuck do you think you are, saying that?