“Hi Signal,” Looksee said. “We didn’t interact for very long, but—”

“Optic,” Signal Fire said.

“Yeah,” she said. “Except I changed my name. Trying one on for a fit, but a teammate was making fun of me for it. You actually remember me? I thought you wouldn’t, maybe, because you had so many trainees—”

“I remember,” he said.

“Okay,” she said. “It’s so nostalgic. It’s been a while, Mayday—”

“Not the time,” Mayday said.

“Oh. Okay,” she said. “Okay. Shutting up now.”

“You know the kid?” Flapper asked.

“She was one of my Wards, once,” he said. “The less said, the better.”

“Wait,” Spright said. “Is she the one you mentioned?”

“The less said, the better,” Mayday said, in a tone that left no room for doubt.

“Geez,” Spright said. “From the stuff I heard, I thought she’d look way different. Older.”

“Let’s leave it,” Mayday said. “I shouldn’t have said anything in the first place.”

“Nice to know that people are talking about me,” Looksee said, with a touch of sarcasm. “We talked to Houndstooth, by the way.”

“It might be worth talking to him,” I said. “He can round out what Spright said. His team passed through.”

“I’ll do that. He’s a good one,” Mayday said. There was a pause. “We’ve met and talked a few times.”

“Avenguard too?” Looksee asked.

“No comment,” Mayday said.

“I’m missing context,” Flapper said.

“Why don’t we focus on current events?” Sveta asked.

“Please,” Mayday said.

“Spright, keep an eye on the ones to the left. Flapper, right. Intercept and obstruct for Signal and me to tag.”

Rain raised a hand, pointing. To our left, on the other side of the barricade, a hand and arm of thin parts was reaching up, tips embedding into the side of the building and piercing through.

Nailbiter was climbing the building face, to get up and over the orange motes.

I flew toward her at the same time Spright started running in that direction.

Off on the other side of the street, Velvet sent a trash can sailing through the orange sparks. Metal rings held wooden slats in place, prettifying the exterior of a half-filled plastic bin. Trash emptied out as it turned over, and it passed harmlessly through the orange points of light and the trails they’d left.

Testing them.

That was for others to handle. I wasn’t looking at the time it happened, but at the corner of my vision, I saw the trash can change direction in the air. Sveta, possibly.

Nailbiter found her position on the wall, toes extended and digging in, and pulled one hand away to point it at Spright and me.

It was hard to tell how fast it was coming at me, because the individual fingers were so thin and their extension so fluid. I tried to judge it, flew to one side, and was struck regardless.