She shrugged. “My apologies. I have to follow the rules set out for me by the system I exist within. I think you’ll understand what that means and how to work within it.”

  “I get it,” I said, and I did. “You’re a thinking being, but you’re also a program running on a kind of hardware, not so deeply integrated into it that you can reconfigure every piece of it at will. So… What can you tell me? What resources do I have access to by default?”

  “You have access to this construct’s life support systems and certain informational resources. There are triggers set up that give you limited control of the device.”

  She stopped, waiting for me to respond.

  I thought about it. What I needed was enough control to lock Magnus out, or, if that were impossible, to find him and physically remove control from him, which probably meant killing him. Of course, if I were lucky, I might be able to take the tool or destroy it.

  Plus, Kee had said she was coming. Maybe a long enough delay would be enough to let her take control. Of course, if she hadn’t left enough of a back door into the system, she might be imprisoned like Lee and Nataw.

  “Okay,” I said, suspecting I only had so much time before Magnus realized I was here. Then I’d be joining Lee and Nataw. “Am I correct in assuming that Magnus’ control over intrusion prevention and energy transfer is a direct result of using Kee’s tools?”

  She nodded.

  I thought back to what she’d said earlier, asking, “When you said that there were triggers that would give me limited control of the device, can you tell me what they are?”

  She smiled, “No. My creator was concerned that people would try to manufacture one of those situations.”

  That was exactly the direction I’d been thinking. Kee wasn’t wrong.

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  I crossed my arms over the Rocket suit’s chest plate. They clinked. “You said I have access to life support systems. Bearing in mind that Artificers are energy beings, is my life support and his energy transfer essentially the same service?”

  Grinning, she said, “True. As an Artificer, you and your guests have a right to life support that he can’t currently revoke.”

  She was giving me more information than she had to. Was she on my side?

  “As for the information part,” I said, “could I ask how to find Magnus, or would that cause problems?”

  “I can’t tell you where Magnus is,” she said, “but I could tell you information that he hasn’t specifically told me not to pass on. For example, I told you that he was attempting to gain full control of this device. There are a limited number of places within the device where that’s possible. I could tell you where they are and how to reach them.”

  Even though she continued to smile, she met my eyes as she said that last sentence. She was on my side, or at least she didn’t want Magnus in control. I said, “That would be good to know. Is Magnus alone, or does he have allies with him or inside this device?”

  “He’s brought allies in before, and some are still here.”

  She stopped, as if waiting for more questions. I asked, “How many people are inside the device?”

  She tilted her head and frowned. After a little while, I began to wonder if I’d triggered an error.

  Then she said, “It’s difficult to say. There is a sense in which this device sits outside of time. Anyone who’s ever been here has always been here and will always be here. At the same time, people are more accessible within certain time periods and fade during others.”

  “Okay…” I looked around. The two of us stood together in starless space, accompanied only by a glowing lamp post. “Can you tell me who’s the most present at this moment?”

  She smiled, “Yes. Magnus and you are the most present at this moment, at least of those beings that haven’t been imprisoned. Out of the imprisoned beings, the most present are Lee and Nataw. There are other beings nearly as present as yourself. Some are connected with you. Others are connected with Magnus.”

  A little more clarity would be nice: “Can you show me pictures of the people you’re talking about, starting with the people connected to me?”

  Translucent representations of Haley, Marcus, Jaclyn, Cassie, Daniel, Vaughn, Rachel, and Tiger appeared. I couldn’t help but notice that Izzy and Amy weren’t shown. On the other hand, if anyone were to stay with Amy to hold the portal, Izzy would be the best choice.

  Then the pictures changed, showing Lee in fatigues and a dark-skinned man in a robe. I didn’t recognize the man, but by process of elimination, he seemed likely to be Nataw.

  The picture changed again, this time showing a group I recognized instantly—the original Heroes’ League.