26

You blinked and were back in your bed, Oreo lying curled forelimbs twisted over onto his back. The lights were on, the girls sitting around, Jane braiding Kaite’s hair, Ren putting together a submachine gun. You couldn’t make out the conversation, Xxavi’s voice in your head.

“You can really sleep anywhere, Barty.” Kaite “What can I say, I’m a pussycat.”

“Kitty kitty, meow meow.” Jane mimed cat claws through the air with a free hand.

“I had a weird realization a little while ago.” You sat up in your bed, Oreo shifting, Ren’s ears perked up. “We should charge”

“What was that last foray, Barty?” Ren.

“Baby steps.”

“We’re gonna kill Cliffson too.” Jane

“Yeah, we’ve got to get him on the defensive.” Kaite “He’s not charging,” Jane

“What do you call bringing down Hunt Tower?”

“25th hour smoke and mirrors at its worst.” Kaite

“Yeah and you know that Mayer’s stuff is a bunch of bullshit.” Ren “Bologna, you think
they hired the OS?” Jane

“Might as well have, we did Cliffson a f*****g favor killing off Meyer,” Ren. “The troops were scrambling when we got to the lobby, all those m***********s weren’t playing for the same team.”

“And we just united the front,” You. “I mean, at face value they all look the same, but you really think those a******s aren’t gonna s**t all over each other. They’d eat their own f*****g young.”

“F**k.” Kaite

“You’re right. I knew I noticed those f*****g, goddamn it, I can’t believe I missed that. Okay, burn em. What do we do?” Jane

“I mean, we’re not gonna be able to pull that s**t again?”

“No, we’re not gonna go that route. It was really fun though.” Ren

“You’re an artist” Jane

“Aw thank you, Jane.”

“Call em how I see em” Jane

“What’s the next piece?” Kaite

“Well, I’ve got a few ideas.”