Cradle, despite being younger than I was, managed to sound condescending. “The Fallen are barbaric, and your friend was right there with them. He locked us in a shopping mall and let us burn. Snag lost the last mementos he had of family and the old world. Snag was left with nothing, no escape, only his life… and your teammate got around to taking that from him too.”

“Move your hands,” Capricorn said, glancing back at me.

I took my hands away. The orange solidified into an encasement around Rain’s arm and hand. I put my hand to the edge, felt the gap—too much space. It wasn’t a tight enough fit to staunch the blood or keep things contained. I looked at Capricorn and shook my head.

“You suck at first aid,” Chris hissed. He cleaved at his sash, and the contents fell to the ground. The containers were like tupperware, but metal, with rubberized lids, apparently color coded. I reached for the nearest one.

“Careful what you touch,” Chris hissed. “Green lid. Open.”

I grabbed it, prying the lid off. It was a tight fit.

Syringes. There was colored tape around various syringes, no labels, no words. A foam insert had been carved at in a rough way, to give the needles places to fit in.

“Red band. Coagulant. Use little.”

“What are you doing?” Cradle asked.

“How little?” I asked.

“Maybe half inch.”

A half inch as a unit of measurement for a liquid?

“It won’t save him,” Chris hissed. “Might help.”

“Why do you have this?” Sveta asked.

“One day I change, come apart instead of changing back.”

I prepared the needle, holding it over Rain’s heart.

Chris nodded.

“Stop,” Cradle said.

“The man said stop,” Operator Red said.

“Didn’t want to use,” Chris was quiet. “I like him more than most of you.”

I plunged the syringe in.

“Operator,” Cradle said.

“Yeah,” Operator Red said.

Operator paced forward. Chris put himself in the guy’s way, the eye I could see opening wide, ears going back.

I pressed the plunger down. Half of an inch. I pulled it free before anything could happen to make me put in more than was necessary.

“Combat thinker!” Sveta called out.

“Aw fuck,” Capricorn swore.

“Cradle has invisible weapons!” I added.

“Fuck!” Capricorn said, as orange trails surrounded his hands. He gave Cradle a nervous glance.

Cradle, at least for right now, was hanging back, letting his hired assassin do the dirty work.

Operator reached behind his back, drawing another meat cleaver. He flicked it around, so it rolled off the back of his hand, and he caught the handle, with the blade beneath his fist.

Capricorn created his weapons. Two swords of the stone material. He thrust one in Operator’s direction, and was almost immediately disarmed of it.