And I had less than thirty minutes.

Well, guess we know what the next chapter is about!

I was a block away from them when I got my cell phone out and dialed home, but I already knew the response I would get.

Home as in home to Danny? She did want to warn him.

The automated message came from the phone as I held it in one hand, heading directly north.

At least she already got him to take off his glasses. Hopefully he didn’t eventually go “eh, guess she was wrong, back on with these”.

That still doesn’t save him from windows and such, though, unless he’s remained constantly aware of all the glass around him since.

This phone number is currently out of service.  If you would like to leave a message… 

Yeeeah. Old number, pre-Leviathan.

Judging distances wasn’t a great strength of mine.  How many blocks, how far did I have to run to reach my dad?  Five miles? Six?

Same.

I was a practiced runner, but the streets here weren’t all in the best shape.  Some were flooded, others strewn with debris, still more suffering in both departments.  There were areas that were blocked off.

Speaking of Leviathan… Seriously, dude’s got no respect. Come back here, Leviathan, clean up your mess! We want every bit of debris put back in its place or you won’t get any brownies after dinner!

“It’s a challenge.  A game.  Changing the routine.  We can do whatever we need to, to keep as many candidates alive as we can.  You guys… do what you do.  It keeps things interesting.”

And she’s found the ticket, I think.

Though he might still demand something more.

My eyes fell on Bonesaw, “And maybe it keeps things fair?”

Heh, perhaps.

Though I’m not 100% sure how good an idea this is. It incentivizes the Nine to up the intensity of their already harsh tests.

Seconds passed.  I felt the tension ratcheting up another notch with each beat of my heart.  Every moment that passed was one step closer to Tattletale bleeding out or to Shatterbird using her power.

Or both.

“I like that.  It might be a way to fix the test I want to give.  Let’s do it,” Bonesaw said, looking up at Jack.

I’m not sure I like the sound of that middle part, but I guess it’s good to have some support on the Slaughterhouse’s side for the Undersiders’ plan.

He frowned.  “We’ll discuss it as a group.  I suspect we’ll have terms of our own to attach to this game.  Among other things, a steep penalty for when we win.”

Yeah. To be expected, really.

Tattletale gave me a single, slow blink of confirmation.  She was writing more.

“A game?” Jack asked.

I couldn’t make sense of it.  ‘If there more half left at end.’

…hm. I guess that means Shatterbird would need to start her hunt without having it whittled down as much as she likes.

“One second.”  I said.  Sundancer ripped off another sheet.  This was excruciatingly slow, trying to parse her shorthand and follow her line of thought.  “Tests.  If there’s more than half of the candidates left at the end of the tests, we win.  You leave with volunteer?  You could leave with whoever wants to join.  But you leave.”

I suppose a game like this would appeal to Jack, but there’s one thing missing so far: A reward for if the Slaughterhouse wins.

Also, good thing Burnscar’s sitting out according to you guys. Otherwise there’d be an even number of nominees.

“You expect that half of the candidates could pass the tests?  I’m intrigued.  I don’t think it’s possible, but I’m intrigued.”

What exactly constitutes “passing” the tests? Jack said nobody succeeds at all of them. Does passing the tests just mean being alive and sane after all tests?

“Brockton Bay has its share of badasses, Jack,” I said, my voice hard with repressed outrage.

That is true. I could see Hookwolf passing a lot of the tests, for one.

“I don’t see what we get out of it.”

Tattletale had dropped the pen.  It was up to me to pick up the slack.

And yeah. If you’re going to make a deal like this, almost any foe with a brain is going to decline if there isn’t anything in it for them if they win.

“And the second warning?” I asked.  I wanted him to finish.

“In…” Jack pulled out a pocket watch on a chain. “T-minus thirty-four minutes, Shatterbird is going to sing loud enough for much of the city to hear her.

Ahh.

As was suggested in Hookwolf’s Interlude, they don’t want the glass to kill potential recruits, but they’re still going through with the city-wide shatter – they’ll just warn their nominees to stay away from glass first.

She wants to make it known to everyone in Brockton Bay that we’re here, and since there’s no need to maintain surprise with our potential members, I said she should.  With this in mind, you would be well advised to stay away from anything made of glass or any beaches, and be sure to put away anything in your pockets with a screen.”

Beaches? Interesting. Does she control raw sand too? Or is this commentary on the amount of glass shards people leave there sometimes?

Dad.  The people in my territory.  I had to warn them, but…

Oh boy. It’s a race against time, a choice between Tattletale and warning people. Shit.

I looked down at Tattletale and felt paralyzed.

“That’s the meat and bones of it,” Jack smiled, “It was nice to meet you two.”

Sure.

Also “meat and bones of it” seems like something Bonesaw should be saying.