A whole lot of juxtapositions. Workbenches with tools that looked like they’d been dragged through the end of the world, paint peeling from handles and spots of rust on blades. There were crosses and religious icons stuck in the piles, and then… tinker stuff, just laying there, often gleaming, bright, and free of dust and tarnish, for the most part. Even the stuff that was damaged wasn’t damaged in the same worn down way. Clean, almost alien holes pockmarking the surface of a segment of gauntlet, sharp cuts in metal, and scuff marks that made it look like metal had been dragged across an abrasive surface with a force even a moving car might not have accomplished. Tech didn’t have a cohesive feel, and looked wrong when sitting next to other pieces. It made me think of chaos.

She was off in her own complicated world, losing herself in her work. I liked the notion that she was getting some support from others, even if it was just in the work the other tinkers were sharing.

She didn’t chatter, and didn’t engage. Even when she had been doing homework in our old headquarters, she had been more vocal.

I sat at the back of the room, Natalie at the same table. Both of us had computers open, but Natalie wasn’t looking at hers so much as she just stared at the back of Kenzie’s head. There wasn’t enough in the way of bandwidth for internet, so the pages I had open updated every minute or so, with only images and notes. My foot was propped up on a stool to reduce swelling, my boot pulled off.

Semiramis and Little Midas had resumed fighting. Lab Rat was digging his heels in, using the giants my sister had helped create to protect Shin from Arachne. Hunter.

Now the only Titan who hadn’t joined one of the networks.

The material fabricator finished its print, hissing audibly as Kenzie cracked it open, removed a circuitboard, and then dutifully cleaned the device.

“You compared our fight against the Titans to humanity dealing with the capes,” I said.

Natalie looked my way. “Thinking on it some?”

“Capes are naturally tied into society. We have secret identities, we need groceries, roads, power, internet. Titans don’t have those limitations.”

“True,” Natalie said. “I’m sure you could tear apart the idea. I’m not invested enough to defend it.”

“I kind of want you to,” I told her. “I’m… I want to figure this out. I want to find a way forward, work out a plan. The whole idea of gathering information about these things is to inspire new lines of thought, or constraints we have to think within. This isn’t the result of Tattletale’s power or Kenzie’s scan, but… I want to explore it.”