“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.

Why couldn’t he stop talking so we could take Tattletale somewhere where she could get the help she needed?

I get where you’re coming from, Taylor, and you’re right. But think of it this way – if he’s getting to the point now, he’ll be done here soon-ish.

Maybe not soon-ish enough for Tattle, but soon-ish.

My hands were already cramping from trying to maintain pressure and the awkward angle that resulted from  the way I had her head tilted.

“Two of the candidates we chose are heroes, for lack of a better word, and Cherish reported that we may have trouble bringing them in close enough to introduce them to the tests.

Ah, yeah… one is protected by the PRT, the other is running away from home. What does this have to do with Regent and Bitch? Is it just a warning that they shouldn’t try to avoid the tests?

Our dear Bonesaw has devised an incentive to encourage their cooperation.”

Oh cod, what did she do now.

Bonesaw reached into her pocket and withdrew a small vial.

It keeps coming back to vials, huh?

Though it’s almost certainly not the same contents.

I felt Tattletale tense and looked down.  She was staring at the vial.

Her power seems to have identified it.

What is it, Tattle? Did Timmy fall down a vial?

“Biological warfare?” Grue asked.

“Naturally.”

“What does it do?”

“Just in case all of our candidates fail to play along, I would strongly advise you to stick to bottled water.

See, this is the sort of thing I was talking about earlier with the parasite. Let it spread through the water supplies and the entire city will be depowered soon enough.

But I doubt this is that harmless.

No filtered water, no rainwater, none of that.  Not unless you’re feeling brave.  Just to be on the safe side, avoid getting your injuries wet as well.”

Jeez.

In this city?

Regent handed me more cloth, and I wadded it into place.  Tattletale wasn’t really moving, and I couldn’t be sure if it was because of the amount of blood she had already lost or just because it hurt too much.

She’s probably not having a good time right now.

I saw a flicker of light as Jack flicked his knife out, tossed it into the air and then caught the blade tip between his middle finger and the nail of his index finger.  He snapped it around so he gripped the handle.  “I suppose I should get around to the purpose of our meeting you here, Regent and Bitch.

Alright, I will admit that’s pretty neat.

And yeah, might be time for that now that one of their teammates is bleeding out on the ground, sure.

I guess it’s not Jack wanting to tell them what his test is, since he said he usually goes at the end.

Unless you want to pose your test to them, Bonesaw?”

Did she decide yet?

“No.  Let me think about it for a little while.”

Alright.

“Alright.

Hey!

Well, it wouldn’t do if our candidates died before we even got around to the tests, so I came to offer you two a warning.  Two warnings, as it happens, for each of you.”

…that’s ominous. Is there another threat separate from the S9? Between the Nine and Hookwolf’s alliance, it seems the Undertravelers have got enough on their plates.

Jack was getting heated, talking mostly to himself.  “That was the whole point!  To see how long we could go without tipping her off.  Bonesaw helped with some surgery, even some artificial neural connections that Cherish wouldn’t be able to see.  So much work and preparation ruined.”

You should’ve had an ask screener.

“I-” Cherish started, then stopped before she could finish the sentence.  Trying again, she asked, “What are you going to do with me?”

What, for trying to betray him? I don’t think he cares.

The others might, though. Shatterbird, for instance.

“Not a pressing concern,” Jack said, as if realizing she was there.

My power crackled at the edge of my consciousness.  I had to suppress it, before I gave them another excuse to attack us.  The majority of my attention was on Tattletale, on Lisa. I used my fingers to scrape as much of the blood out of her mouth and throat as possible, then adjusted the angle of her head so any further blood would flow down the side of her face or out of her mouth.

It’s a good thing Jack doesn’t seem to see this as Skitter “doing anything”. That is if he’s even noticed.

The fabric of my gloves afforded more traction than fingertips would have, but the amount of blood made everything slick to the point that I couldn’t be sure of what I was holding.  I had one hand inside her mouth, her teeth hard against my knuckles, my other hand pressing down from above to sandwich it and press everything as closed as I could get it.

Today in professions I don’t envy: Dentists. Though apparently they get handsomely paid for their work, which I think is entirely fair.

She roused herself enough to pull away, no doubt because I was pulling the tear at the corner of her mouth open.

I thought you were trying to do the opposite, but fair enough.

“Clearly.”

“But my power – I didn’t sense anything as far as your planning, your emotional networking or-”

He’s probably very sneaky about it.

I dropped onto my knees so fast it hurt, and immediately began trying to help Tattletale, and Regent gave me the space, allowing me to take over.  Jack had cut her from her mouth to the edge of her jaw.  It had parted the skin at the corner of her mouth.

Ouch.

I must’ve been directly in the line of fire for the resulting blood spray.  How was I supposed to put pressure on a wound like this?

Yeeah, I have no idea.

Guess all we can do is call in Greenfire to burn her face off, make it symmetrical.