“You seem... Chipper,” Brian said as I loaded the st of the dishes into the washer. I peered over at him, surprised to see him smiling at me. “Not bad, considering how moody you usually are.”

  “Yeah, well, calling a girl moody is a surefire way to get her moody,” I said, closing the machine up.

  He chuckled, shook his head, and made for a bowl of fruit on the isnd. “I’m not compining, mind you. But Gail an’ me have noticed the change. It’s good. What happen, you join up with a new club after school? Make some new friends?”

  “Something like that,” I warily replied. But I suppose he had a point, the past few days had been hectic, but... fun. Rover had indeed stayed put at my command, though he’d hardly been happy, so that was a start.

  And I’d had more time and resources to work on my toys in secret. Few things made me happier than putting my talents to work. Except, of course, getting paid for said work. The Park Row Corinthians, losing territory and money to the Kings, wanted some of what I had to offer. So why not? An arms dealer didn’t py favorites. There was more fun to be had in selling to both sides.

  And thanks to the the we had yanked from STING, those weapons I could provide were already more potent and valuable. Particurly now that I’d been set up on the Bck Bank.

  Money was a secondary objective to me, but what high schooler didn’t want their retirement pn set up before they’d even graduated?

  “I guess I’ve just tried to look on the bright side. No sense in wallowing in misery all the time,” I said, shrugging.

  “And I haven’t gotten a single call from your high school. So either you’ve gotten better at ditching, or you’re actually attending css,” Brian said, managing a small smile.

  I strode past him, making a zy waving motion with one hand. “Not worth the bother of getting caught,” I said. My eyes licked to the TV in passing, which Todd was watching with wide, eager eyes. A Kaiju had apparently risen from the Pacific Anomalous Zone, like a mountains-sized sperm whale dotted with clusters of bck barnacles and a briar of tentacles.

  It was moving slowly, purposefully, toward Hawaii. The news drones recording it, even from far away struggled to capture the sheer scale of the thing. When it came to kaiju there were always boring nerds who would prattle on about the square cube w, and how the beast should have colpsed under his own weight.

  The kaiju, obvious to such things, continued to exist in spite of conventional science.

  The Vanguard had already moved to intercept, Azure Warlock and Lady Knight raining fire on it from on high to push it back toward the sea. Ideally it would get annoyed and retreat before it could make ndfall. But, if worst came to worst, Dauntless could probably kill the thing in one blow.

  The cameras zoomed in on Lady Knight as her armoured frame flew toward the giant. The edges of her broadsword bzed with blue light, a monomolecur bde that sliced a big bloody swathe along the beast’s shoulder to expose a valley of raw red muscle tissue.

  “So cool,” Todd whispered.

  I would have rolled my eyes, but... well he wasn’t wrong. I gnced back at Brian. “My chore are done, so I’m gonna head upstairs.”

  “Okay, okay, I won’t stop ya,” Brian said, raising his hands in surrender. “Just wanted to say I’m happy to see you’re doing better.”

  “Please don’t tell me you’re proud of me.” There was only so much trauma my gorge could take. But I suppose it was better to have him happy than pissed off. He really was annoying when he got moody. More than that, I didn’t want to rock the boat on my foster situation now of all times. “But, yeah. Thanks.”

  Lassie looked up from her spot on the bed as I made my way inside, and I motioned her my way as I pulled my ptop close. I’d repaired her a few days ago, but she still moved with a deliberate slowness as she came closer.

  I went through my usual set up and opened Masquerade. A PM from Cassie was already waiting for me.

  CH3SH:

  Yo

  Got an update for u.

  Toymaker:

  Okay, tell me about it. No point in keeping me in suspense.

  CH3SH:

  Big man is gonna send an agent of his to congratute us on our work. Says he was happy with the job we did for him. Well u saw the payout, of course they were happy.

  I think there might be more jobs for us in the future.

  I appreciated Cassie having the good sense not to say anything too specific. When posting on Masquerade, it was generally best practice to couch everything in a veil of deniability. Although I’d admit, I was a little bummed if we were getting to meet a middle man and not Jupiter himself.

  Toymaker:

  Meeting a ckey? Kind of disappointing.

  CH3SH:

  Ha, u think the big man meets rookies after one good job? Rex, lil more work and we’ll have a foot in the door for sure.

  Toymaker:

  I hope so.

  Work is nice, same with status, but don’t forget what we’re working for. Take it there weren’t any more sightings of that snake? It’s been a while since you sent that image to me.

  CH3SH:

  Nah. Sorry. Have friends with an ear to he ground but nothing so far.

  I sucked in air through my teeth and closed my eyes tightly.

  It wasn’t a fluke, I told myself. That had been Sidewinder, and he was still out there. But the more time that passed, the colder the trail got. I couldn’t afford to let it slip from my mind. No matter what happened, the truth about Dad was my biggest interest.

  No... my only interest. Working with the Devils had been fun, I’d be lying if I said I disliked them, but they were a means to an end. Everything I did, every part of this, it was all part of the same goal.

  Finding the truth.

  Toymaker:Okay, when’s the meeting?