Sci Fi SoundTrack

Stone turned her attention to Jesse, as though he would offer her an alternative reply. They got along well, often joking with each other as freely as he and Ash did. Stone may have seen in him an ally in the conversation. To his credit, Jesse remained silent, arms folded across his broad chest. Unable to play father off mother, Stone returned to glaring at Ash. "So this is what we do now?" Stone's voice fluctuated unsteadily between a furious snarl and a dejected whine. "Burn down a city block and hope no one gets hurt or homeless in the process?" Ash put everything she had into her bellowed reply: "No!" Her target flinched, but Ash didn't relent. "No, what we do is protect this city's innocents from the Dregs. Not just from being attacked by them, but from finding out they exist at all. It's Boot Camp 101, Stone, you know all of this. And we do it by cleaning up our messes. It might be fun for you to carve up a goblin like he's going into a stir fry, but someone still has to make it all disappear. No one else can see this!" She waved her hand over the gore that was growing more odorous as it congealed, increasing the nauseating stink of seawater permeating the small room. The goblins were only strewn around the living room--a small favor. They could start the blaze there and hope the fire department was dispatched before it spread backward into the grimy, peeling-tiled kitchen, upstairs to the sagging-floored bedrooms, or to one of the equally decrepit homes on each side. Evangeline broke the stare-off first, letting her gaze drop to the floor. Tension still kept her body rigid, but it was no longer the stance of a cornered predator. Rather, she stood stiff, thrumming with...shame? Regret? She fought a silent battle with herself, and Ash could only imagine the internal dialogue--and she imagined it was as laced with profanity as the girl's daily speech. "I lost control," Stone said to the mess on the floor. "I knew I was losing it, and I should have reigned it in, but it...." "But it what?" Jesse asked after she struggled with her words for several seconds. His tone was gentle, curious, undemanding. She looked up, but it was Ash's eyes she stared into as she answered: "But it felt good to lose it like that. To punish them."