“I’m outside my place. I’m on the roof. I couldn’t stay in my room with the sound playing. I’m stuck, Wayne. I don’t know what to do.

“Imp was saying Lookout was acting out, I couldn’t pin it down. I was going to ask Tattletale, but she’s been busy.”

“What happened? Did something happen with Lookout?”

“Yeah. Right under my nose. I told myself I’d get a handle on it, that I’d get a handle on this sort of thing while I was retired and I had more time, but it’s like the barbecue—the upcoming one I told you about. I thought I’d talk to Tattletale then, but it’s always been like that, hasn’t it?”

“Slow down. Victoria, you’ve been less hands-on with Lookout recently. She’s doing her thing with her team. We talked about expectations as Breakthrough broke apart and we addressed her.”

“This was a while ago. I’m finding out about it now. Dragon messaged me.”

“Talk me through it. Do you want to fly while you talk? Are you close to my office?”

“No.”

“Do you want to fly over anyway? I can move some stuff around. It’s administrative, it’s not another patient.”

“Okay. Please. Sorry about any wind. I’ll try to extend my forcefield, but it can get wobbly.”

“Talk me through it.”

“Tristan’s alive. Or—not alive. Half alive. He’s still in there, and Lookout has known this entire time. I should have connected the dots. She was acting erratic. The tantrum, the relapse in her behavior.”

“You couldn’t have known.”

“I should have known. I should have had a handle on this. Then and now.”

“You’re not a therapist, Victoria. To put it simply… no. There was no expectation that you should have known or done something about this.”

“I don’t know what to do.”

“Nothing, Victoria. You do nothing.”

“I have to—”

“You have to look after yourself. You said this was your number one goal. We’ve talked about this. The process.”

“Trusting others.”

“Do you know others you can call who are near Lookout right now?”

“Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck fuck. This is fucked.”

“Do you know others, Victoria?”

“Um. She connected to Grue. I think he’s near her. He gets her, somehow.”

“Good. That’s a good call to make.”

“I don’t know his number but I know Imp’s.”

“And I have a trainee who I strongly suspect would connect to Lookout in a therapy context.”

“You want to give Lookout to a trainee? Fuck me backwards, Wayne. What’s wrong with you? Are master–stranger protocols needed, here? Because sudden violent or sadistic turns in behavior are a big fucking warning sign.”