My stomach churned as I left. I regretted threatening him with my spear. I’d probably overreacted, on edge from his angry words and the situation. He’d said “allow,” but he probably meant it figuratively. He’d made no move to actually try to physically stop us, and all his rude words seemed to be motivated by concern - he’d just wanted us to stay safe. Just because he was bigger and likely stronger didn’t mean he was going to act like some neanderthal. Now, I’d probably cemented my place in his mind as a lunatic. Even if he changed his mind, or needed help, he’d probably think twice about coming to us.

I also couldn’t quite dismiss his suspicion of the information we’d gotten from Pointy. The only information I really had about the civilization that created her was that they were willing to use less advanced civilizations as playthings. Even if Pointy was being truthful with us - which I wasn’t taking as a given - she could only tell us the truth as she knew it, and that was based on whatever information her creators provided her with.

The problem was, I couldn’t afford to ignore the information she’d provided either. If I did, and it was true, my kids would probably be torn apart. With the pepper spray squirt guns, we could maybe take out four leafenrats at once, if we could see them coming. If not, we’d probably get very, very hurt at a minimum. And, while I couldn’t be sure what the trial opponents would be, they’d almost certainly be harder to deal with than these obnoxious rodents. So, me, as I was now, against four brand new enemies, with three kids to protect?

No. I couldn’t risk that. We had to get stronger.

For now, we started heading home. It was still well before noon, but it was also Alabama summer. The boys and I had been out in the heat long enough, and I didn’t want to leave Cassie on her own any longer.

We did have one scary incident getting home. As we crossed our backyard, another leafenrat squeezed through a broken board in our back fence. Gavin’s shot missed, and Micah’s gun let out nothing more than a faint spray and a hiss of air. Missed by our homemade chemical weapons, it darted around my speartip. I Drew Attention on it immediately, which may have been a mistake. It changed direction easily and leapt up at my chest. I lost my balance, falling to my back on the ground.

With the rat that close, my spear was useless. I dropped it and lifted my right forearm to block as it lunged at my face. I could feel its teeth sink into my vambrace. Micah must have been worried, because the animal’s torso burst into flames that turned the air painfully hot. The flames made it twist, but it didn’t let go. I felt around on my left side, trying to find the sheath that held my backup knife. My fingers closed on it and I slashed at the rat, but the angle was bad and I couldn’t see what I was doing. It was difficult to do real damage. Suddenly, the rat evaporated into smoke and Gavin fell on top of me, his steak knife scraping into my armor. He must have stabbed it.

I forced myself up to scan for other enemies, but saw none. “Great…” my throat was dry, and I swallowed. “Great job, boys. Let’s get inside.”

We stumbled in and I felt myself relax for the first time in an hour. I wasn’t even fully through the door before Cassie clamped herself around my legs like a vice. I picked her up as I shut the door.

“Is everyone okay?”

“I was worried about you,” said Cassie, grabbing my face.

“Yes, I know, sweetie. But I’m trying to see if your brothers are hurt.”

Gavin held up his hands, letting out a small whimper. The skin looked shiny and red. I’d been impressed at his bravery, attacking an animal that had to be close to half his own weight, but I hadn’t even considered that he’d literally had to stick his hands into fire to do it. We’d been lucky the flames vanished when the creature did.

“Oh, buddy!” I gasped. “Can you not heal that?”

“I thought you said we have to wash things first.”

What a good boy. “Only if there’s a cut. If there’s no cut, the bacteria can’t get in anywhere. Please, please heal yourself.” It hadn’t even occurred to me before that moment that Gavin might not be able to heal himself, and I was relieved when I saw the skin fade from an angry red back to the light Mediterranean olive he’d inherited from his dad. My six-year-old let out a big sigh of relief and pushed his goggles up.

“I should heal you too, Mommy!”

I had some blisters on my right hand, where they’d been close to the heat of Micah’s blaze. The skin on my face felt dry, too.

“Are you sure you’re not too tired?”

“I’m fine!”

Hesitantly, I held my hand out to him. He’d have to learn to gauge his capabilities somehow, and if this made him take another nap, at least we were at home. I felt a wave of cool relief roll across my skin. Gavin wobbled a little. I readied myself to catch him, but he didn’t fall.

“Okay,” he said, yawning. “Now I’m a little tired.”

Micah was leaning against the wall, head tilted. “I’m kinda tired too. I think I used too much fire on that last guy.”

I was feeling fine. I’d used Draw Attention quite a few times, but never in quick succession. I wondered if using abilities a bunch all at once was more tiring. Something to keep in mind.

“No problem,” I said. “You were both incredible. Can you please hang your armor up to dry out? I want us all to drink some water, too. We got pretty sweaty out there. I’ll get lunch together in a little bit, and we can take a rest for a few hours. I don’t want to try to go out again in the middle of the day.”

Cassie showed no signs of letting go, so I sat down on the couch with her to wrestle off my protective gear and check my interface.

Meghan Moretti

Novelty: 8

Abilities:

Draw Attention (100%)

Points: 144 (Threshold reached. Ability selection available.)

Money: 12

Blueprints:

Defensive Door (10 money)

Small Light Source (20 money)

There it was. Points were worth something. Get enough points, and you’d get more options. More powers. I hadn’t just dragged my kids into harm’s way for nothing at all. We did have a way to get stronger. I literally laughed in delight.

“Boys! Check your interfaces! You might have a new ability!”

“They do not,” squeaked Pointy. “Your last fight took place inside my range, and you reached your threshold at the conclusion.”

“So… the threshold is 144 points?”

“Between 141em and 144, yes. But I expect 144 is likely, given that each kill has given a total of 12 points so far, and that my analysis of Commonwealth recordings revealed a base-12 number system.”

“Oh,” I said. I’d just barely reached it. Weird to be grateful that a rat tried to chew off your arm, but it was so, so helpful to know that there really was a purpose to all our risk and effort. “Boys, how many points do you have?”

“86!” said Gavin.

“Well, I got 104,” said Micah smugly. Gavin glared at him.

Better nip this in the bud. “Wow, Gavin. You got almost as many points even without an attack ability. Impressive!”

I was guessing that each of the boys had missed getting registered on some of the kills. Honestly, the two times Micah had used his fire didn’t really account for the discrepancy. But you know what? It sounded believable. Gavin grinned proudly. Micah pouted. Hah! Good. Maybe he’d stop bragging when he felt like he’d outdone his siblings.

Or maybe he’d brag less.

Or maybe he’d just regret his bragging?

Parenting. Always a work in progress.