“Spill it, Rhoda!” I grinned.

  “You were talking about the people you met on Discord—were they your friends?” Rhoda asked. "Who was a bot? Who was an augment? Were they on the payroll of the cyber mafia? Behind the scenes, is it organized? And I can’t help but think of my favorite couple from the Known Cosmos books.”

  “Peydran and Ren?” Paddy asked.

  Rhoda shook her head. “No! Guess again!"

  “Dammit! No more games, Rhoda!” Cora rolled her eyes.

  "Cyn and Ronnie! I mean, they were two nonverbal telepaths! The most interesting characters with a fascinating romance. Their meet cute happened telepathically!” Rhoda giggled.

  Where was she going with this?

  “We got a full description of Muller and Slick, remember? Shah and Euri match made them on the mental plane all woo-woo with special powers. We even got to read about their wedding and kids! But what did we find out about Cyn and Ronnie?” she asked.

  “Zero,” Cora said flatly.

  “That’s right,” Rhoda nodded, eyes glimmering.

  She went on, “My fave couple should’ve had a whole book! What was Sibsil hiding? I mean, Peydran was an augment! Why didn’t his family put more about Cyn in there?”

  HC picked up the thread. “That's right, Rhoda! Cyn wasn’t just a telepath, she was an augment and an editor! She worked for the Press! There should’ve been more of her story in these pages!”

  “They must not have wanted to draw attention to her,” Rhoda said conspiratorially.

  I thought back over the story, trying to piece it together as Rhoda counted off the highlights, "Rory needed help finding Slydar, and she went to Cyn. Not someone else. Cyn wasn’t just a powerful telepath, she was the most powerful augment mentioned in the books!”

  “She controlled the Good Time starliner WITH HER MIND!” Cora butt in. "Oh my god, Rhoda! That’s it! Cyn was the puny gal from Arizona who didn’t speak. And it wasn’t Borden Sloan who was the grandest magician in the story, it was CYN!”

  We all stood there, mouths agape looking at each other. Then HC chuckled, and we all lost it.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “This is classic Slydar Joon,” HC roared. “He always pulls shit like this. Tells you something earth shattering, but you don’t even notice what he just said. Can’t believe I missed this one. Brilliant, Rhoda!”

  Laughter poured outta me, tension releasing like a valve.

  “Oh my god!” I laughed. “Little Cyn. They made her seem so unassuming so you wouldn’t think twice about her, then those teeny details tell you the truth.”

  I suddenly felt relief. Peace. Like everything was gonna be okay.

  “Cyn was a telepath and augment in one,” Nanna chimed in. “Did she settle down in Nineton like Rory’s family? I don’t think so! Every time they were mentioned, Ronnie and Cyn were on a starliner. So what were they doing all those decades flying all over the Cosmos?”

  “Well, Euri and Shah were telepath matchmakers and recruited people to move to Five Spheres,” Rhoda listed. “So it would make sense that Shah’s twin brother, Ronnie, and his girl were off doing something similar. But with the augments.”

  “Holy fucking hells!” HC cursed. “There could be millions all over the Known Cosmos friendly to Cyn and Ronnie! We probably have scores of allies we’ll never know anything about!”

  Paddy put a hand on his arm, “And that’s a comfort, Wimpy. Cyn and Ronnie were top notch, and they weren’t stupid. They probably set things in motion just like Peydran did, only quietly. Not with books or animations. But connecting people through tech and telepathy. We may never know the scope of what they accomplished.”

  I said breathlessly, “Or maybe we already do. For all we know, people they befriended could have descendants we've met on Discord.”

  Cora smiled, hugging me, “It’s gonna be okay. We must have allies in the shadows!”

  A thought occurred to me, “Bitsy, Pitch, you two are telepaths. Can you control tech with your minds?”

  Pitch smiled ironically.

  “We’re telepaths, Sam,” Bitsy instructed. “But we don’t have cybernetic implants in our brains. So no, we can’t control tech the way the augments do. Really, we don’t need to. We use the external scalp relays you read about in Book 3 sometimes. Pitch creates digital music with them, but that’s nothing like Cyn directing a starliner with her mind alone.”

  I nodded, “Okay, okay.”

  Then I focused on Pitch again. There was something in his face that wasn’t quite longing, but wanted me to come nearer. I could feel something.

  A want. A welcome. A kinship.

  I walked to him, holding his eyes, and the longing sensation grew.

  “Are you doing that?” I asked softly.

  The feeling changed to comfort, and it felt so, so good. Comfort and kinship from a man who’d never spoken aloud to me.

  Why did Pitch consider me a friend?

  As a little boy, he’d slept with Red Phoenix graphics under his pillow. Just like I’d clung to them as a lifeline as a teen. Stories where not even death could separate people who loved each other.

  A single phrase returned to me from Book 4. Slydar said, "I can’t tell you where Pitch’s dad is ‘cuz I don’t know.”

  My parents were gone. Was Pitch’s dad?

  I stepped closer to him, feeling his wave of comforting companionship wrap around me like a warm blanket.

  I smiled wryly, “You’re definitely doing that.”

  His smile was soft. Not cheeky, not cocky, but vulnerable.

  As though he wanted me to see and know, but didn’t want me to walk away afraid. His right hand lifted, extending to me, but I ignored it.

  I wrapped my arms around his waist, my cheek meeting his chest. Strong arms engulfed me, and I felt like I’d come home hugging a man who’d never spoken a word in my presence.