“It’s all about the shortest path, Antares. Her power doesn’t say, walk for two days to get to this location, talk to that person, if it can say that she should talk to the person next to her. Her goal was self-preservation, your group, Imp, and the Heartbroken were next to her, and making you happy ensured you didn’t hurt her or stop her. You just happened to be close enough to the lava to get burned, too.”

“So the goal was survival. Even reaching out to us, the A, B, C, thing, it was survival, or partially survival.”

“Partially revenge against Teacher, yeah.”

“What is it now?”

“Equilibrium. A manageable, balanced state where things don’t break down further. A foundation things can be built on. Probably, the reason she liked the ‘hundreds of thousands die’ eventuality is that a smaller population is easier to manage. Probably it has to do with reminding humanity why we’re needed. That there are scary monsters out there that only the capes can stop. And, you know, I don’t think she’s given up on her dream.”

“Her dream?” I asked. I imagined Cauldron’s control, influence, and power.

“Standing on a beach, her power turned off. Being free. It’s an uncharitable view, but with my power supplying next to nothing, I’ll build on what it’s told me in the past and say that she’s someone who let millions die, often in horrible ways, for the greater plan. I think it’s possible she tells herself it’s okay to let more than half of the population die so long as things are stable thereafter, things can be built up right, no overcrowding, no hunger, no resource dependencies on Cheit or Shin, a better balance of cape and non-cape… and she gets to stand on a beach with her powers turned off without being ambushed.”

Swansong died, and for what? We won that day, but…

I missed my friend.

There had been something fun about wine and crackers and old movies, about being challenged. I wouldn’t have been talking to Tattletale now if I held the views I had even two months ago, about heroes and villains. White hats and black hats. I wouldn’t have changed my views if it hadn’t been for Swansong. The kernel of caring for Kenzie at the background, and the willingness to reinvent herself in the foreground. Seeing that look in her eyes after she had killed Beast of Burden. The willingness to go to jail.

“I don’t think that’s Contessa,” I said. “I’m not basing this on anything I can really define over a phone conversation. Gut feeling. But… we talked to her and I saw the look in her eyes as she outlined it all. How far away she wanted to be from the decision, which Sveta eventually foisted on her.”

“Hmmmm,” I heard Tattletale.

Gut feeling, I thought.