The pair continued to flow in and out of reality, swimming through space like a fish slipping in and out of air at the water’s surface. They met with the black thing, which mashed itself into one of the two.

For lack of a better way of putting it, I would have said they limped away from the interaction, black bleeding into red and vice-versa.

“That wasn’t far from Earth, relatively speaking,” Number Five said.

“Keep going,” I told the scene, worried it would end.

The ‘view’ stayed with the red one that had absorbed some of the black.

Followed it to Earth, and it was obvious from the motion of planets that the scene was being sped up.

We watched as it tumbled into a rough crash landing on a barren version of our Earth. Everything went black.

“She’s not a part of the rest of us?” I asked.

“There were a few like that, that stood out,” Number Five said. “None were viable.”

“Is it something we can use?” Sveta asked.

I shook my head.

It was something, but I wasn’t sure if it was the fatal flaw or weakness we were hoping for.

“Are there any life cycles that nearly failed?” Sveta asked.

Images came up.

A clearer, sudden movement to my right drew my attention. I looked to the projection.

A distorted, unclear Imp appeared next to Byron. Her voice fuzzed.

“Can you use a phone?” I asked.

“Whwhzzeeet?”

“Use a phone,” I repeated myself.

“Huzzhzt, btzzt, bzzzwah? Hz kkykkt hzzzy zyhoo.”

I picked up and held a phone. I watched as the camera swerved unsteadily, trying to move closer to me and bumping into Byron instead.

“I know the Undersiders don’t have a tinker,” I said. “But you really shouldn’t touch a tinker’s stuff. They’ll get irritated every time, even nice ones like Kenzie.”

“I can second that,” Chris added.

I walked up, grabbed the camera to steady it. I held the phone up in front of the camera, keeping the camera pointed at it.

Imp nodded a few times, horned head bobbing, before it disintegrated into a blur of distortion, eye yawning open until it bled into her torso.

“Thzzhanks, kid,” Imp said, her voice clarifying, looking to one side. She looked back to me. “Oh, I thought you were giving me the finger.”

“What do you need?” I asked.

“Lookout is having a lie down,” Imp said. “Decadent and Syndicate are looking after her. She apparently hasn’t slept in a while.”

“Thank you.”

“She was asking about the tech she left with you guys.”

“We can handle it,” I said.

“Actually, Chicken Little said he’d make sure it was handled. Being a little man. I was thinking we might try to kill two birds with one stone…”

I heard Aiden’s voice in the background.