Over the next couple of weeks Jia’s training continues nearly every day. They can’t take every day off from the winery but her father agrees to handle the late shifts and have the two of them take the mornings. Often that means Jia taking the mornings and her mom taking the day off. Jia’s excited for the chance to sleep in.

Mornings are usually slow so on the days her mom does come in they can spend them discussing what they worked on the night before. Jia starts to feel her whole life is training. She notices her dad watching her a lot during the little time they get to spend together. She doesn’t realize how worried he is until one night she overhears them talking quietly in the living room. Her dad’s raising his voice, something he almost never does. “Can’t you just go a little easier on her? I don’t want her getting seriously hurt, she’s already covered in bruises and cuts. She’s not as strong as you were.”

Her mother shuts him down. “Keep your voice down. If she’s going to put herself in dangerous situations, she needs to be ready. Me going soft on her now might kill her later. She can handle it. She’s stronger than you think. I haven’t even come close to her limit.”

Every day the training’s a little different. Combat, movement, using the environment as a weapon, there’s always a new lesson. They spend an entire day on ways to move while avoiding detection. She even learns a way to run that can help avoid getting shot, though her mother warns it’s not perfect. “Don’t test this if you don’t have to. I’ve been shot a couple of times. It’s not fun.” Jia takes it all in, filing all of this away for a day when she’ll need it. She’s not sure what she’s going to need it for, but she feels a day’s coming when it’ll be useful.

At least now that they’re really training her mother isn’t waking her up in the middle of the night. For the first few weeks she still goes to bed right after dinner to make sure she’s well rested for the next day's training. When her mother lets her sleep through the night and she finds herself waking up hours before she needs to, she asks about it. The woman laughs at her. “Of course I’m not waking you up at night. I’m pushing you hard enough during the day. People don’t learn when they’re exhausted. It doesn’t serve either of us for me to wear you out.”

At first she fears this is another test so she still goes to bed early. When things don’t change, she starts easing up. After a few weeks she feels confident staying up and watching the late news with her mom. They’re covering a speech President Hughes gave earlier in the day. He’s there to announce the passage of his vigilante act.

That’s not really a shock. After Hughes beat Senator Gilles in a huge upset he was always going to push his biggest campaign promise. With his party in control of every branch of government, passing it wasn’t complicated. They cut to him standing behind a podium in Washington, smirking.

“My fellow Americans,” he says. “Today is a historic day in the history of our country. With the passing of the Vigilantes Making Us Safe Act, our people will be able to take back this country. Everyday great American men and women,” which he says with almost a snort, “will be able to protect themselves and their communities in a new and historic way. No longer will they be forced to rely on a police force they don’t always feel they can trust. Our great people will be safer and feel a greater sense of pride in our great country. We’ll be rolling out the details of how to register and what the requirements will be in the next couple of days. If you can’t wait and want to get out there now, know that you have our support. The act has passed and what you do will be legal. We’ll make sure of it. God bless America.”

Jia can’t believe this maniac was actually elected president. Her mother’s noticeably cringing. She notices her father entered the room at some point. He’s not watching the TV though, he’s staring at her. It takes her a minute to connect the dots and realize he’s concerned she’ll run off and sign up. She’d never do that. Would she? Being a vigilante’s in her family and she likes the idea of helping people but that’s so dangerous. She’s good in a fight but most criminals use guns. Fists vs. guns isn’t a fight she likes her odds in.