not just common criminals.”
“No, you’re not,” I say. “You’re so much more than that. And you,” I say, pointing to Luck, then Valor. “You guys have seen everything. You guys… you two…” I grab my hair and feel like screaming. Because I know I have the answers inside me, and those answers have something to do with us. “And Jimmy. You and Xyla are like… real, sun-fucked superheroes.”
“Hold on,” Valor says. “Wait a minute.” He chews his lip. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”
“Where the fuck are we gonna go?” Luck snarls. “We’re locked up behind plasma bars.”
Valor has already turned to walk out, but he stops. Pauses. Then looks back over his shoulder at Luck and points at him. “Shut the fuck up, OK? You’re just… part of the problem. For once in your life, be part of the fucking solution.”
“Me?” Luck says, pointing at his chest. He scoffs.
But Valor is already leaving again. He disappears through the door.
“I am the fucking solution,” Luck calls back as the door closes. “I’m the one who came up with the current plan!”
“The one where you kill our big brother?” Serpint asks. “Gonna have to do better than that, asshole.”
Luck points at me. “Don’t you get it? He’s the enemy!”
“Shut up, Luck,” Jimmy says, getting to his feet.
“What?”
“You heard me. Just… shut the fuck up. I think Crux is on to something.”
“How do you figure?” Luck laughs.
“We do have powers. Not like the girls, but… we are a bunch of special sun-damned people, ya know?”
“We did tame the AI ALCOR,” Serpint says.
“And we have badass ships,” I say. “And a brother who’s a… a…”
“A computer?” Serpint offers.
“Yeah.” Jimmy sighs. “Tray is like a mini-ALCOR.”
Luck is not convinced. “Tray’s not here, you dumbass. So he doesn’t count. It’s just us.”
“Listen,” Jimmy says. “We have an entire station filled with violent outlaws. An army, if you will. We have”—he looks at me—“how many ships down in the docking bay?”
I shrug. Because I haven’t been paying attention. “Hundreds. Maybe closer to a thousand, if you count every ship and not just the ones that are ours.”
“We have a spin node,” Serpint offers. “And… and Veila. She’s like…” He nods. “Evil. And she’s in control of time, you guys. That has to count for something.”
“Yeah, so…” Jimmy takes a breath. “Luck can spin up the node and go through it. Veila can stop time.” He looks at me and shakes his head. “There has to be a connection. What is it?”
“I don’t know,” I say, pleading with him to find the answers that elude me.
“Well,” Serpint says. “I know I’m not like… in charge of time or anything. But…” He grins. Kinda sheepishly. “But Lyra and I? When we have sex, the fucking universe feels like it’s gonna come apart.”
“That’s because she’s a bomb, you idiot,” Luck spits.
“Well, what does it feel like when you have sex with Nyleena? Like the whole place is gonna blow up?”
Luck scoffs again. Then shrugs. “Not exactly. Everything kinda goes… I dunno. Dark.”
“Dark how?” Jimmy asks.
“Like… like everything kinda ceases to exist.”
“See. Lyra and I are special.” Serpint beams at me.
“Well, that’s not all that happens,” Luck says. “She can make things grow. That’s pretty special. And when we hold hands in front of the spin node, it changes into… I dunno. Another galaxy or something.”
“A galaxy?” I ask. “Where did you go when you walked through?”
“We didn’t go anywhere. It was just… black.”
“Like when you have sex?” Jimmy asks.
“Kinda. Yeah, I guess.”
“Interesting,” I say.
“How?” Serpint asks.
“Well, when I went through it took me to other time loops. And I thought that was our ALCOR. But he’s not our ALCOR. You guys…” I sigh. “Our ALCOR is just another copy. The Real Real ALCOR, ALCOR Prime, he’s in charge. But he lives in this… I dunno. The space between time, I guess. He’s hiding from some other AI called MIZAR.” I tell them the story that ALCOR told me. And then I finish with, “He thinks using the girls as weapons is the only way he can keep us all alive in the end. And he’s done every scenario, like a billion times, and this is the only one where we all get out alive.”
“How does blowing up the girls keep them alive?” Luck says.
“Not them, Luck. Just us.”
“Fuck that,” Luck says.
“I agree. I told him that. I only agreed to his plan so he’d give me the new spin node coordinates so I could go back in time