“I told her she’s one of the smartest people I know,” Kenzie said. “So even if she’s not using her power, she might be able to help.”

“I told her to say that,” Imp said.

“The phrasing had nothing to do with anything,” Tattletale said, hands going to her temples. “What do you want?”

“Fly with me?” I asked. I looked at Kenzie. “You can do that?”

“Sure!”

I reached into Kenzie’s hologram, touched the floating camera, and carried it skyward. The image broke up as I flew.

The flying was so glacially slow, down here. I felt a little self-conscious as I floated up, slower than even the camera. It got a bit easier as I got high enough up to see the landscape stretching around us.

“Blaargh,” Imp said. “Vertical movement does not help.”

“I can change the settings!”

“Bluurgh. No. I’ll manage. I’ve seen that thing you put in people’s eyes. I don’t want to know what your fiddling does.”

“You’re worse than anyone when it comes to my stuff, y’know.”

“Tattletale,” I said. “Each area seems to turn up images of a certain kind. We got flashes in a certain direction when thinking about Contessa, which implies a link.”

“Might be a bit of cheating on the Shard’s part,” Tattletale said. “Pre-loading data so they’re faster and more ready when it comes to whatever threats or forces are paying attention to them.”

“I think it’s just the way connections are established down here. A lot of powers reference certain data. I get more connections when my aura’s on, even if it’s weak down here.”

“Like an accountant needing to check the columns add up. Checking the most obvious and available data on a given person in your range.”

“Right,” I said. I pointed to indicate as I talked, “So, just for this area… over there where we dropped in, it’s fear. We sidelined into… I don’t know. It was like, authority figures, me and my mom, Rain and the Fallen, Rain and Christine Mathers, but it was like… Kenzie and Ashley, and me and Gallant, me and, ahem, another cape. Those last two were… not for Kenzie’s eyes.”

“So that’s what the kids were getting goofy about,” Imp said. “You and wannabe ninja guy. Hero boy in black leather pants.”

“Can I ask why she’s tuned in?” I asked. “Tattletale?”

Tattletale answered, “Because I won’t be when I end this conversation, and she’ll be watching the kids. She wants to know what’s going on if she’s making any calls.”

I frowned.

“Well, I guess he wasn’t wearing the leather pants in that scene,” Imp said.

“Ahem,” Kenzie said. “Just so you know, we covered our eyes and turned the camera away, once we realized what it was.”