The explosion of laughter that Micah’s question evoked only increased his skepticism. It took a while for him to accept that we weren’t messing with him and having a joke at his expense, especially because the idea of bumps turning into noise “sounded fake.”

His distrust slowly eroded as news spread. The few other kids shared his confusion, but adults reacted with excitement, enthusiastically brainstorming ways to get ahold of records.

“Oh gingersnaps!” Clarice said. “I had a record collection like you wouldn’t believe, but I got rid of them all ten years back when I moved to a flat. No, wait! I still got my Drifters record. Framed it and put it on the office wall, because my cousin got the album signed for me.”

“Who’s Drifters?” Andy asked.

“The Drifters! One of the finest doo-wop groups of all time?”

Andy raised an eyebrow. “What’s doo-wop?”

Clarice spluttered indignantly, looking around for support. I patted her knee. “Don’t worry. Even if we’re all ignorant youth, it sounds like there’s about to be a big revival of older music.”

“And hipster crap,” Andy muttered. “Who else has records anymore? Gotta get me up to Nashville.”

He sounded more amused than angry, unable to keep a smile off his face. Everyone was pretty excited by Darlisa’s news.

The only information that generated more discussion and interest was the recipe for spacecakes. This led to a discussion of food and the realization that we’d pushed all the dinosaurs into the lava and could not make dinosaur steaks, brisket, stir-fry, kebabs, or anything else. A crowd, mostly of men, gathered at the edge of the cliff to stare mournfully down at the spot where the dinosaurs had been.

It turns out the desire to eat dinosaurs is cross-cultural. Even people who’d been enemies recently, who didn’t share a language, could recognize shared grief at the lost opportunity. It didn’t bring them together - Orange and Green still kept a wary distance from each other - but I think it made them start seeing each other as people, rather than opponents.

Not everyone shared their sense of loss, of course. Micah, in particular, was scathing. “If they actually ate them, they’d probably die. How do they know eating dinosaurs is safe?”

“There are ways they could test,” I said. “But not with all our Cleansers down for the count.”

Overall, moving close to Darlisa helped keep Micah and Samar distracted during the long wait. Even if Andy had hit the highlights, he’d really only scratched the surface of our discoveries… and Darlisa was greedy for them all. She didn’t have the organization of the Arsenal or Fort Autumn to back her up, and we were a goldmine of information about ability synergies and build suggestions. I let Micah and Samar take the lead in answering her questions as much as I could, jumping in only when I heard something wrong or a question from the Columbian woman truly stumped them. The boys enjoyed their positions as experts, and it helped the time pass quickly enough that when a casing snapped around me I was taken by surprise.

Congratulations! Your team has won the team challenge. Your prize has been awarded.

Panoramic vision didn’t make the sights of the between space any more comprehensible; it just multiplied the madness I saw. If I’d had warning, I’d have shut my eyes, like I did on the way into the Challenge, but instead I got an eyeful of morphing shapes and people’s interiors. Ew.

I slid back into reality.

The room wasn’t empty. The area in the center where we appeared was, but a ring of people waited near the walls with slumped postures and anxious expressions. Those expressions were visible just long enough for me to register before they morphed into shock and delight as they saw our return.

Cheering began even before I was able to move, and those awaiting us sprang into action. A team of medics rushed into the crowd the moment the clear casing disappeared, hands quickly brushing along each returning Challenger, I assume to check for anyone who needed immediate attention.

When the medic’s hand landed on my arm, it passed right through an insubstantial metal bracelet that hadn’t been there moments before. A dull red gem was set into its surface. I used my other hand to poke at it and was surprised when my finger didn’t pass through - at least not without resistance. I could feel something, a pressure, as my finger pressed into the gem, and when I looked up at the retreating back of the medic, information poured into my mind: “Healing Touch: 600%+.” I looked over at Micah and got “Conjure Flame: 500%+.”

The bracelet seemed to be showing me people’s strongest ability and approximate strength. It must be my prize from the Challenge; everyone else was wearing a similar one.

Hopefully there was more to it than that. I couldn’t call it useless, but it was far from worth risking your life over, and it paled in comparison to the other Challenge prizes, like the Shop, rulership crown, and Titan radar. At the very least, I hoped it had applications against monsters and not simply fellow humans.

I’d get more details in time. There were plenty of people here carrying the same prize, after all, and everyone was still in fighting form… or would be after a few hours rest. None of the Purple Team casualties had been people who’d started out at the Arsenal. The medics had first rushed to the people still prone, George, Priya, and Gavin among them, but seemed to relax when they sensed little worse than exhaustion. Several people with us had lacerations, and three had broken bones, but those injuries had been stabilized long before our return. There were people in need of assistance, but no medical emergencies.

I waited patiently as the medics completed their initial check and began working their way back through the group, dealing with minor issues. Part of me was anxious to get back to Cassie and Pointy, but I was also dreading the reunion. One of the first things I’d done was check my interface, and there it was:

Novelty: -1 (431)

I'd expected it. Fluffy had explained that, while I might have expected the Maffiyir group to change their actions to lessen their liability, they likely wouldn’t. Any change could be taken as an admission of wrongdoing, which would make Fluffy’s case a slam dunk.

I’d still hoped it wouldn’t go this way. Positive or neutral Novelty would make my life easier and make it clear that the Maffiyir group believed they had no hope of winning the case Fluffy was bringing against them.

It would be a lie to say I wasn’t disappointed: I felt sick. Pointy didn't deserve to be toyed with.

The problem wouldn't be improved by waiting... but it wouldn't get worse either. Cassie was as safe as any toddler could be in this new world, carefully guarded by professional soldiers and watched over by trained childcare workers. She and Pointy could wait until I’d caught my breath.

And been debriefed, probably. Flip was standing at attention in front of Colonel Yoshiro, and I’d seen him glancing over at me several times as she answered his questions.

A hand caught mine and I jumped, startled. I would have thought being able to see everywhere would prevent this kind of thing, but seeing is different than noticing.

“Consent for treatment?” the woman asked, her voice brisk.

“Yes. Of course. I’m mostly fine, right?”

She gave me a quick nod. “Nothing major. Skin abrasions and rashes, minor damage to soft tissues in airways, elevated cortisol levels. A single Healing Touch cleared most of that up, although you’ll want to have someone repeat the healing for the next week or so as the lingering chemicals and particulates clear themselves from your body.”

“How are my boys?”

“You’re their guardian?”

“Their mother.”

The medic knelt to brush her fingers against Gavin’s cheek. “Similar story for this one. He’ll get by just fine with regular healing for the next few weeks, although you may want to find someone to Cleanse his airways just to alleviate discomfort.”

“What about me?” Micah asked.

The woman looked at my older son, serious expression becoming gentle. A hand lifted to her face as if to adjust glasses she no longer wore, fingers coming to rest awkwardly on her temple. “You, young man, had a very hard time of it, haven’t you?”

“What?” Micah asked, face twisting. “No. I hardly did anything. Mom did all the hard stuff. I used my abilities against a monster like… once.”

“Hmm… well, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t hard on you. Your cortisol levels were about the highest I’ve ever seen, and your heart rate was… well. Too high for a boy your age standing next to his mom in a safe room.” The medic stood and turned to me. “I’ve rebalanced his chemistry for now, but if you can, I’d suggest a Healing Touch at bedtime for the foreseeable future.”

“Sure…” I frowned. “We can do that. Um… why… exactly?”

The medic slumped a little. “Just a theory of mine, I suppose. Healing Touch is pretty miraculous, but it doesn’t fix everything. Your smoke inhalation is one obvious example - it doesn’t clear foreign matter from your body - but it’s not the only thing. Some mental health problems, it helps, and others… it just doesn’t. I’m seeing a lot of signs of acute stress disorder in friends and patients.”

“What’s that?”

She grimaced. “Short version? It’s what we call the early days of PTSD while we’re still hoping it resolves itself. There’s not much we can do about the causes, sadly, but my theory is that if we rebalance the body’s chemistry to encourage better rest, it might help. Won’t hurt to try.”

“Right…” I murmured.

The medic moved away. Micah was looking at the ground, shoulders hunched as if embarrassed.

“Sorry,” he said.

“For what?”

“Getting freaked out. I know you said we were safe, I just…” His voice wobbled.

I hugged him. “Stop! You were so brave.”

“No.”

“Yes. Look buddy, you can’t help it when your body decides to be scared. That’s not your fault. Don’t look at how you felt, look at what you did! Even though you were scared, you listened to me, you listened to Mr. George, you protected everyone from the Mini-Rex’s flame, and you didn’t let your panic be in charge of you.”

Micah shrugged.

I rolled my eyes - all five of them. “I’m serious! I’m really proud of you.”

He looked up at me as if I was crazy. “Really?”

“Yes. Really!”

Micah shook his head, but he seemed to see something in my face that convinced him, at least a little. He had a trace of a smile on his face as he looked away again.

“Ms. Moretti!” The colonel’s parade-ground voice cut across the room. “Can I have a moment of your time?”

I bent down to scoop a sleeping Gavin onto my shoulder and Micah and I went to answer some questions.