TamLin’s console pinged. He glanced at it, at M in the front passenger seat and Kasy in the back seat behind them. The incoming call was from Raleigh, the cyban who shared an apartment with Janni and Third.

Second, not Third anymore, he reminded himself again, while considering why Raleigh might call him. Janni usually stayed out of trouble, and she’d already been kidnapped once this week.

A class-five breach was likely caused by an apex universe, the type the cyban was from.

With that thought in mind, TamLin activated the vehicle’s auto-drive function and angled the console so it didn’t show his coworkers—there was no reason to share that he had company—then accepted the call.

The undersized female with auburn-tinted hair who popped up on his screen was not Raleigh.

“Why the fuck are you calling me?!” he demanded.

The new Second of her clutch didn’t even blink, possibly because the flesh surrounding one of her eyes was turning purple. “Raleigh’s beacon got triggered. I got her to delete the packet, but…”

If the cyban’s creators had tracked her down and were activating her recall beacon, ‘but’ was right.

The timing could be a coincidence, but for two roommates’ respective native universes to find them in the same week… TamLin would bet good money that Puce was involved. At least he and Janni had left their native universe amicably, so Puce would have to expend a lot of effort to find someone who wanted to come after them in particular. Other than Shadow Corps, of course—which Puce couldn’t call in without risking his own ventures.

Raleigh, though… Cybans’ programmers tended to perceive them as property, even after they repaid their indentures, and the beacons were stored in the root directory, not anything the cyban themselves could access. “Is she cognizant?”

“For now.” Second glanced over something out of range of the screen—Raleigh, he presumed. “I got her to take a sleeper, but her beacon’s eating through it.”

“And with the wireless packet deleted, you can’t jack in to sabotage it—and reinstalling the packet would just strengthen the beacon.”

Puzzlement furrowed Second’s brow.

“You don’t program?” His surprise slipped into his voice. Janni revised applications to relax.

Second glanced pointedly at the screen—no, at the not-hers console, since she was Nameless and therefore not permitted nonessential belongings. When would she have had opportunity to learn, much less to realize she enjoyed it?

He let out a breath. That had been rude of him. Third was still recovering from her sister’s attempt to kill her, and now she was even more injured from something he should’ve seen coming. “Sorry.”

Her eyebrows crept up her forehead, and TamLin could feel his coworkers staring at him at the uncharacteristically explicit apology.

Yeah, he had it bad.

Even being aware of that—and despite the fact that he had good reason for making others think him an asshole—he still had to bite his tongue against the urge to ask if she was okay. “Where are you?”

She glanced away again, towards what he figured was Raleigh, then did a quick check of her surroundings. “Sunshine.”

That market was between the women’s street-level apartment and the Hot Zone.

If this wasn’t connected to the class-five breach he was after, he’d let her break his arm. “You know how to activate the emergency flare on that console?”

Second paused, then focused and started tapping…and found the setting, because the emergency services call showed on the car dispatch.

He claimed the ping and changed the vehicle’s destination. “Don’t let her leave.”

Humor flickered in the young woman’s eyes. “Understood.”

TamLin ended the call and took over auto-drive, since a competent driver was always faster than the computer.

“Huh,” Kasy said, a smile in her voice.

“What?” asked M. “You get more out of that conversation than I did?”

“Apparently Lin’s type is taciturn with a fondness for napalming assholes.”

Despite his discomfort at the accuracy of that statement, TamLin couldn’t help but appreciate her snickering.