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you online, and you’re supposed to be smart as hell”

“Yeah, well, guess what? IQ is not the saot the experience,” Shade said “And you didn’t” Her eyes went to Malik Malik sat, silent, eyes half closed as they often were Looking just like Malikonly not

Dekka, irritated, turned to Arot, dude?”

“I got half a croissant left if anyone wants it”

Whether he was dead serious or joking, no one was quite sure But Cruz smiled

Not really the time for that, Cruz chided herself But she’d only brieflybattle, and he’d been rather furry at that point Cruz had never been even in the saender, but hetero in her preferences, and it would take a seriously picky straight girl or gay boy not to react to six feet, five inches of s than Malik, for who but pity and sadness and a sort of sibling love

Okay, enough! Once again, she was standing back from decisions that would shape her life Or end it

“I don’t even knoe’re fighting,” Cruz blurted “Are we fighting this Char the actual United States freaking Army?”

“We’re fighting the Dark Watchers,” Malik said, breaking a long silence

Every face turned to him

“I believe,” he said, before breaking off and frowning He shook his head slightly, bedeviled by those very Dark Watchers “What they want, the Watchers, is to watch I think we are entertainment In some e are like characters in a movie I don’t knohether they meant this to be entertainment or it just kind of happened I don’t knowwell, anything; it’s all justLook,channels and there ere, visible to theotten experiuess it , they want the show to be entertaining And their taste in entertainruesome”

Shade, still awe have no free will in this?”

Malik shrugged “In Philosophy 101, you get into the debate over whether free will exists or whether it’s just an illusion The result is inevitable: it doesn’t matter Either we have free will or we don’t, but we are not capable of acting as though we don’t So, effectively, we do”

Shade’s se boy”

Cruz saw that her friend was in agony waiting to see whether Malik took this as a good-natured jibe or not When Malik e of tears of relief