Kenzie sunk further in her seat, so low her head couldn’t roll backward off the back of the chair. Instead, she slid to one side, her head closer to the armrest. She indicated herself, pointing, eyes rolling back so the whites showed.

“I think that should be fine,” Tristan said. He looked at Kenzie, and she nodded, exaggerated. “Yeah. That’s good.”

“Great. The team I’m thinking of is Auzure. Corporate.”

“I know them,” I said. “I’m not sure they’re my top choice.”

“I don’t recommend them lightly,” Houndstooth said. “They’re by-the-book, serious, they’re strong for a small team, they stick to their word, and they’re looking for opportunities to get out there.”

“That last bit is what concerns me,” I said. “They’re looking for exposure and this team wants more subtlety. We want the villains in Cedar Point wondering why heroes are there and tapping their resources.”

“And you get to see what resources they have.”

“Basically,” I said.

“You keep using that word and I keep realizing you’ve really got a plan. Okay. I think I like this. Auzure is out, then? That’s your gut feeling?”

“Can I put you on mute while I confer?” I asked. “I’m just the coach, I don’t want to make decisions.”

“Yep.”

Kenzie sat up and hit a key on her keyboard. A red ‘x’ appeared over the mouth and ears of the hologram image of Houndstooth.

Really weird that she had that, I noted.

“What’s up?” Tristan asked.

“I interviewed for Auzure. They were just a bit sleazy. Greedy. Their reason for interviewing me was to get at my family, just as one example of a red flag that came up. My feeling is if you guys bring them in, they’ll try to do something flashy or get more involved than you want them.”

“If that’s the case, I’d rather avoid them,” Sveta said.

“They sound like the bad kind of corporate team,” Tristan said. “But I might be biased. Okay. Any thoughts? Objections?”

“We could use them in a limited capacity,” I said. “Have them make a phone call, instead of actually showing up.”

“Phone call?” Rain asked.

“Yeah. Can I just see what Houndstooth says to this?”

“Sure,” Tristan said. “Unmute.”

“Houndstooth,” I said.

“I’m here.”

“In the interest of keeping Auzure involved in only a limited capacity, what if we had them call someone and ask about renting space? No commitment, just see if the person reports it to the villains in town. The villains would probably stress over the notion.”

“Stress you want. Yeah. Could work.”

“Ideally, we’d ask Auzure to call when Auzure is busy.”

“You don’t want them in your jurisdiction?”

“…Yeah.” I said. I almost said ‘basically’.