“Excellent work.”

“The mission was a success, don’t forget that.”

“You did good, kid. Everything’s going to be okay.”

We made it back to the Oppressed base, but that felt like the most successful thing about the mission. I slumped into the living room couch as I struggled to calm my thoughts. It was nice to be back in our house, especially now that I actually saw it as a home. Since we were officially rebels, this wasn’t a temporary hideout anymore.

Everything about this was weird.

Rebecca had been resting in the hospital for a week without any signs of waking. Manning visited her so often that I barely saw him. That meant I couldn’t ask about what I’d seen in the xeno ship. And that sucked because I had way too many theories about it. Now that I thought about it, there was only one person who was better off after what happened. That person thumped down the staircase, right on cue.

“Kaela just messaged me saying that she’s almost here. Let’s go meet her outside.” Laura jumped down the last two steps, landing at the base of the stairs like a superhero.

She stood and gazed at me with genuine glee in her brown eyes. She’d cut her famous mane of fiery hair short. It had previously trailed down her back, but now it barely went past her ears. She’d cut it with the dagger from the mission, so it looked a bit choppy. But she claimed that she liked it that way.

Laura’s decision to be a full-fledged rebel had been the best part of the mission. She finally understood who she was. Her heart and mind were one. I wished I could say the same.

“Sounds good.” I got up too but winced as pain rushed through my chest. My spleen and chest injuries had just healed, but the damage that Rebecca had done had already taken their place. Slow healing after using your powers excessively was the worst part of being a Hybrid. “She still okay with giving me a ride to…you know?”

“Of course. Come on, I don’t want to keep her waiting.”

I followed Laura outside. Wind blew through my hair, ruffling it softly. Green beat down on us, meaning that it was supposed to be a sunny day. It was silent except for the one cruiser humming toward us. Laura smiled to herself as Kaela pulled up to our driveway.

“There are our two newest recruits.” Kaela climbed out of her black and yellow cruiser. Why didn’t I have a private cruiser yet? “I know it’s been a week, but I finally got you guys presents to celebrate.”

“Why the heck did you do that?” Laura said. “We don’t need any dumb gifts.”

“She doesn’t speak for me,” I said as I stepped in front of Laura. “I appreciate all gifts, dumb or smart.”

Kaela reached back into her cruiser and pulled something out. She kept one hand behind her back and one at the side, clutching something. The small one was going to be my gift, wasn’t it?

“For Wander, a cute little snow globe of the Moon.” Kaela held out a glass container with a gray pearl floating in the center. Maybe Laura was right about these gifts being dumb. “We all know how much you miss your home, so I thought this would help ease that seething pain! No need to thank me…just let Dylan know that I’m better than him next time you hang out, okay?”

I took the small trinket. The floating orb didn’t make for a convincing replica. Its craters weren’t as deep, and it was way too round. Still, it gave off a convincing enough sense of eternal solitude like the real thing. I…kind of loved it.

“Thanks, Kaela.” I stowed it in my pocket. Hopefully it wouldn’t crack in there.

“No problem. And, for Laura.” Kaela whipped out her other hand. Clenched in it was a bundle of roses, all tied together with a black…hair scrunchie? Kaela’s face went red as she motioned to the flowers. “I got these because they’re your two favorite colors! See, red?” She pointed to the red bulbs. “And green!” She pointed to the green stems. “Best of both worlds, right?”

Laura’s lips parted in a silent gasp as she took the flowers. She gazed at them like they were her newborn child. I still thought flowers were dumb because they lasted like a week, but the thought that had gone into this gift was impressive.

“I—thanks, Kaela. I love them.” Laura pursed her lips as she wiped her eyes. She ambled over to Kaela’s cruiser. “Come on, let’s go before I start bawling.”

Kaela snickered as she watched Laura get into the passenger’s seat. “Nailed it.”

I sat behind Laura, who was still clutching her gift. Now the whole cruiser had that floral rose scent. I liked it though. It was the smell of Laura’s first present. I needed this happy memory, considering where we were headed…

The girls talked about light and fun stuff as Kaela drove us into a silent neighborhood. Their conversation slowed to a halt as the depressing atmosphere descended upon the cruiser. I wondered what this neighborhood had been like before the events of the xeno ship had occurred. Had it been as happy and vibrant as my neighborhood? Now it never would be again.

“I meant to ask…how’s she doing?” Kaela spoke in a clear attempt to distract herself.

“Better,” I said in an attempt to lie to myself. “She’s as stubborn as usual, which is good. Do you want to see her? Not to intrude on whatever you guys have planned.”

“It’s not that. I’ve already tried to see her.” Kaela brushed hair out of her face as she grinned. “I won’t be making that mistake again. All of us have agreed that you’re the only one she’ll let in right now. Can’t imagine why…”

That last sentence was drenched in sarcasm. Kaela pressed on the brakes as we hovered up to a two-story house. That second floor probably wouldn’t be used anymore. I winced at my own thought. The stress must have been getting to me; I was surprised that it had taken this long.

“Just let her know we said hi,” Kaela stared at the front door. “And that I’m not letting anyone else handle the Gamechanger until she’s better.”

“Tell her that I’m sorry I wasn’t nicer before this all went down.” Laura frowned at her lap.

“Got it. See you guys later.” I opened my door and stepped outside.

The wind blew my bangs into my eyes. I brushed them away and watched Kaela drive off. Taking a deep breath, I trudged up to the door. I knocked on it, but that was just a formality. Holding up my phone, I summoned a copy of the door’s key from the cloud. My heart warmed a bit as it dropped into my hand. Maybe Kaela was right about her only letting me in. Who else had a copy of the key? This was a symbol of trust. I jammed it into the keyhole and turned it.

Nudging the door open, I peeked inside. Even though it was a sunny day, the house was dark. There was a set of stairs to the left and a hall to the right. No sign of anyone, though. I stepped inside and pushed the door shut behind me.

“Nessa? It’s me.” I trekked down the hall, which was littered with pictures of everyone who worked at the forge. I knew because I recognized half of them. As the acting head of the forge, it was my job to. “Nessa?”

I froze as I heard a faint whimper to my left. The living room. This hall led to a kitchen with a messy table and a sink that harbored a mountain of dishes. I’d get to those in a second. To the left of that was the living room, which I trekked into. A girl obscured a wide TV. She was gripping two horizontal bars that had been welded to four short vertical ones. They were called parallel bars, apparently.

Nessa groaned as she let go of her right bar, moved her hand forward, and then gripped the bar again. She did the same with her left. She was trying to get her leg strength back and was using the bars as support. That was good, but it would have been more effective if she hadn’t been wearing her space suit arms.

“Don’t say anything,” she said as she paused to pant. “Let me finish.”

I sighed and took a small step back. I couldn’t stand too far away because I was sure it would happen again. Hopefully not.

Nessa groaned as she gripped the bars over and over again, inching forward a little each time. It would have been impossible without those metal arms of hers. The damage to her arms wasn’t too bad, but it made certain tasks harder than they should have been. The real problem was her legs. I wondered if she even realized that her legs weren’t moving as she “walked” down the bars. She was only able to stand because she was holding herself up with her arms. That was why she was having so much trouble.

“Almost there.” She pulled herself along the bars. Even if she reached the end, would it really be a victory? “This is it. We can show them how wrong they were, Wander. ‘Paralysis,’ they said. Ridiculous! There’s nothing wrong with my brain. I—”

She gasped as her right arm went slack. Then she lost her grip. Oh no! I rushed forward as she fell back. She screamed but cut herself off with a grunt when she landed in my arms. I stumbled under her weight. After a moment of struggling, we both fell to the floor. My lower back absorbed the impact, leaving her unharmed. Under other circumstances, her sitting in my lap would have been a romantic gesture, but now it was just depressing. Someone as strong as Nessa couldn’t stand without being held up now. I didn’t have to guess how she felt about that. She was open about it.

“Why did you do that?” Nessa pushed against my chest. She wiggled out of my lap and flopped to the floor. “I was almost there. Even if I’d fallen, I would have picked myself up!”

“I didn’t want you to fall in the first place. Nessa, you can’t keep pushing yourself every day and make no progress. Your arms will heal, but your legs—”

“Stop! You sound just like them.” She covered her ears. “Surge and the medical team. They don’t believe in me. All they see is that I got hurt, and they think I can’t overcome it, so they call it permanent. It’s not. I’ll walk again, all on my own!”

She crawled back to the couch. As she grunted, she pulled herself onto it and crossed her arms. I sat beside her, but she turned away from me. I’d been keeping Nessa company ever since the guys from the forge had installed the parallel bars. She’d been like this all week. I couldn’t blame her for it. It wouldn’t be fair to get mad at someone in this kind of situation.

I gazed down at my lap. “I’m sorry. If I had better control of my powers, you never would have had to use your implant. If it makes you feel better, then blame me all you want.”

“It doesn’t. I wanted to help, you idiot!” She glared at me. “You shouldn’t blame yourself, because I don’t. Everything will be fine. I’m going to get better. If I don’t, I’ll never defeat him.”

There it was again: “him.” The same guy whom Nessa wanted to steal an armory to fight. I had enough clues. I knew exactly who she was talking about.

“Your dad?”

She gasped. “How in the galaxy did you guess that?”

I scoffed. “You can’t go five minutes without dropping hints. Why are you surprised? You already know I’m a genius.”

She giggled and shook her head. “I wouldn’t say ‘genius,’ but I appreciate that you’ve been paying attention.” Her smile faltered as her eyes darkened. “When I was a child, my father abandoned me and my mother to accept a command position in the First Division army. He works for Frost now; in fact, he has ever since that day. I joined the Oppressed to become skilled enough to defeat him the next time we met. Since we’re on opposing sides, our clash is inevitable.”

I racked my brain to see if I was missing something. I imagined that, when most people were abandoned, they just hated that parent and wanted nothing to do with them. Nessa, on the other hand, wanted to track down her dad just to beat him up. I admired her determination.

“You mean you’re doing all this to get back at your dad who abandoned you? Do you like tech so much because it’s how you’re going to beat him? I’m sure Frost employs nothing but big buff dudes. Only the most advanced tech could take one out.”

“Not exactly.” She rubbed her temples, then flinched as her hands cramped up. She put her hands down and huffed out of frustration. “After my father shattered our family, my mother became despondent. I was left with no one. I took apart a TV remote just to have something do. Then I put it back together. I did the same to a toy I didn’t use anymore, and so on. Tinkering was the only thing that kept me sane. It helped that, unlike people, technology couldn’t leave you.”

She sunk into the couch. A pang of sadness hit me. That was such a depressing reason for becoming a mechanic. I immediately felt an urge to reach out and comfort her, but then she lowered herself to the floor. She crawled toward the bars by herself.

“I have to get past this. Alone.” She grunted as she pulled herself along her carpet. It almost looked painful, and she was doing it to herself. “I’m the only person I can rely on.”

It wasn’t an insult, but it hurt like one. I wanted to be there. I wanted her to rely on me. I understood her apprehension though. I couldn’t imagine growing up without my parents. One abandoned her and the other gave up on her. If she didn’t want to trust me, that was fine. If it was really what she wanted.

She groaned as she gripped the bars and pulled herself up. She started the process all over again. I glanced at her legs to see if they were moving. They weren’t.