"Okay, no way. We are not eating that thing," Glimmerstrike insisted, staring at the lizard's corpse. "It looks half-rotten already!"

  Fii shook her head, amusement warring with irritation. "You really have no clue how to survive out here, do you?"

  They had ventured out from the rocks to hunt, leaving Diamond Ace to continue monitoring his suit's repairs. The armored hero had grumbled but remained behind, his body's need for recuperation overriding any desire to contribute. Or maybe the A/C system in his suit was still malfunctioning. Fii had caught a small, speedy lizard hiding amongst the scrub. Glimmerstrike, however, was proving difficult to convince.

  "I know how to survive in civilization, thank you very much," she snapped. "We have these miraculous things called restaurants. And refrigerators."

  "Great. Where's the nearest one? We'll pop in for a burger and a shake," Fii shot back, crouching beside the fallen creature. "Out here, this is food. And it's still fresh."

  Glimmerstrike wrinkled her nose. "Just the idea of eating that makes me want to hurl."

  "We'll starve otherwise."

  "No, we'll figure something else out."

  "Like what?"

  "Maybe..." Glimmerstrike's eyes went wide as a scorpion scuttled out from beneath a nearby rock. "...that!"

  Fii arched a brow. "You want to eat a scorpion?"

  "Sure. Why not? They're edible, right?"

  "Depends on if it stings you to death first," Fii replied. "But good luck getting it to stand still long enough for you to catch it."

  Glimmerstrike pointed triumphantly. "With my hard-light constructs, I can trap it!"

  "By the time you do that, this little fella will have gone to find another shady spot," Fii said, pointing at the scorpion. "Our lizard, on the other hand, isn't going anywhere."

  Glimmerstrike's bravado deflated. "Fine. How do we... you know, prepare it?"

  "That part's easy. Built a fire, skewer the meat, roast it until it's slightly charred. Then, we have ourselves a tasty meal."

  "And you know how to start a fire?" Glimmerstrike asked, a note of desperation creeping into her voice.

  Fii looked at her strangely. "Don't you?"

  ***

  Fii directed them to gather what sparse vegetation they could find. Most of it was too tough and thorny to be of much use, but they managed to collect enough to create crude sleeping pallets. Diamond Ace used his armor's limited power to clear a small area for a fire pit, though they had yet to find anything substantial to burn.

  As the sun began its descent toward the horizon, painting the landscape in shades of gold and amber, the temperature started to drop with alarming speed. The days might be scorching, but desert nights were notoriously cold.

  One semi-successful attempt at fire starting later, Fii sat with Glimmerstrike beside their makeshift cookfire, watching the lizard skewered on a makeshift spit slowly sizzle. The smell wasn't half bad—smoky and almost sweet in a way that Fii's stomach immediately reacted to.

  "I still can't believe you've never started a fire," Fii said, prodding at the flames with a stick.

  Glimmerstrike rubbed her arms, already shivering despite her suit's insulation. "I could try using my constructs to generate heat, but I don't know how long I could maintain it."

  "Save your energy," Diamond Ace advised. "Once the sun goes down, we're going to need all the shelter we can get. Glimmerstrike, use your constructs to create an igloo-like structure around us. That should help retain warmth through the night."

  Glimmerstrike nodded, pulling her knees up to her chest. "I think I can manage that. As long as we keep the fire going."

  The fire. A small mercy, but one that provided as much psychological warmth as physical heat. Without fuel, they wouldn't be able to sustain it through the night. Already, their meager collection of scrub was dwindling, the greedy flames devouring it.

  Fii shook her head. "Won't work. The fire won't last, and we don't have the means to make more fuel. We'll have to find another way."

  "Do you have a suggestion?" Diamond Ace asked, his tone challenging but not hostile.

  "Body heat," Fii replied.

  "Excuse me?" Glimmerstrike squeaked, clearly scandalized at the idea. Her cheeks reddened, though whether from the fire's warmth or embarrassment, Fii couldn't say.

  "I'm serious," Fii insisted. "Shared body heat is our best bet. It's how the Kurigali survive in the desert. Especially those traveling. They huddle together for warmth during the coldest parts of the night."

  Diamond Ace was silent for a long moment, his gaze on the fire. When he finally spoke, his voice was strained. "I'll keep watch. My armor can insulate me enough. You two use your body heat to stay warm." He grimaced. "One of the few benefits of this hunk of scrap metal."

  Fii eyed him, suspecting an ulterior motive, but she couldn't detect any obvious deception. "You sure?"

  "Yes." He didn't meet her gaze, his expression lost in the flickering light.

  The lizard meat, meanwhile, was cooked—or at least as cooked as it was likely to get. Fii carefully slid it off the skewer and split it into three more-or-less equal portions.

  "Dig in," she said, passing pieces to Glimmerstrike and Diamond Ace.

  Glimmerstrike sniffed at the slightly-charred chunk of meat, grimacing. "I can't believe we're doing this."

  "Believe it," Fii replied, biting off a mouthful of her own.

  The meat was tougher than she expected, chewy and slightly bitter. It wasn't exactly delicious, but her stomach rumbled gratefully at the sustenance. Glimmerstrike and Diamond Ace followed her example, and while their initial reactions were less than enthusiastic, hunger quickly overrode any hesitation.

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  After they'd eaten and the sun had fully set, darkness blanketed the desert. Without the neon glow of the Slums or the towering buildings of the Metropolis to trap the heat, the temperature plummeted further. Soon, Fii and Glimmerstrike were both shivering uncontrollably, their breaths frosting the air.

  "T-told you," Fii chattered, rubbing her hands together for warmth. "Body heat. It's our only chance."

  Glimmerstrike shot a wary glance at Diamond Ace, who had settled against the far wall of their rocky shelter, his visor retracted once more. His face was cast in shadow, but his eyes reflected the dancing flames like a nocturnal predator.

  "I'm... not sure—" Glimmerstrike began, but her protest was cut short by a convulsive shudder that rattled her teeth.

  "You'll freeze otherwise," Fii pointed out. "Think of it like an assignment. A survival drill." Despite her outward bravado, Fii felt a twinge of apprehension at the thought. Physical intimacy wasn't exactly her strong suit.

  With a heavy sigh, Glimmerstrike nodded. "Okay. But no funny business."

  Fii snorted. "I don't think either of us is in any condition for that."

  "So, uh, who's gonna be the little spoon?" Glimmerstrike asked sheepishly, her teeth chattering. "And do we really have to, you know, get that close?"

  "Every centimeter matters out here," Fii said, settling onto her side. "It's about sharing body heat, not starting a romance. And just to make your pride a little less wounded, I'll be the little spoon." She motioned with one arm. "Get over here."

  Glimmerstrike approached hesitantly before finally lowering herself behind Fii, stiff and clearly uncomfortable. "This is so weird."

  They huddled together, sandwiching Fii between Glimmerstrike and the rock. Fii wasn't sure what to expect, but the press of Glimmerstrike's body against her own was... comforting, in a way she couldn't quite define.

  "Little spoon," Glimmerstrike mused. "That's funny, because you're like... you know."

  "What?" Fii asked, her tone sharp. "Go on. Say it."

  "Well... you're short," Glimmerstrike admitted with a nervous laugh.

  "Oh, fuck off," Fii grumbled, shifting uncomfortably. But she couldn't suppress a small grin. "You're not that much taller than me."

  "Yeah, but I'm... proportionate," Glimmerstrike shot back.

  The banter helped to ease the awkwardness somewhat, and Glimmerstrike slowly relaxed, her shivering subsiding as the heat from their bodies mingled.

  "So, are we interrupting your mission right now?" Fii whispered, hyper-aware of Glimmerstrike's warmth and the gentle rise and fall of her chest. At this distance, her perfume had a distinct sandalwood scent that belied her codename.

  "A-Always," Glimmerstrike replied, her breath tickling Fii's ear. "Even if I wasn't livestreaming, the suit records everything for analysis later. Every fight. Every rescue."

  "Wait. All the time?" Fii asked, surprised.

  A nod, sending a few strands of hair fluttering against Fii's cheek. "I've had cameras on me since I started modeling."

  "Huh." Fii filed that information away, unsure what to do with it.

  They lapsed into silence, the crackle of the dying fire and the distant cry of something that might have been an animal or might have been something else entirely.

  "What's that noise?" Glimmerstrike muttered, sounding shaken.

  "Could be anything," Fii answered truthfully. "The Wastes have their own ecosystem. Creatures that have adapted to survive out here."

  Glimmerstrike tensed at every howl and rustle in the night. "How are you not terrified right now?"

  Fii considered the question. She knew she should be more afraid—the cold, the danger, the uncertainty of their situation should have had her on edge. But there was something about the rawness of it all, the immediacy of their predicament that stripped away her usual fear.

  "I guess," she said finally, "I just feel... present. Like everything that usually bothers me is... I don't know, unimportant right now."

  Glimmerstrike didn't respond, but her breathing slowed, her body relaxing infinitesimally against Fii's own.

  Silence settled between them, broken only by the occasional crackle from Diamond Ace's armor as systems attempted to recalibrate. The stars emerged overhead, more numerous and brilliant than Fii had ever seen from the polluted skies of the slums. The moon, still low on the horizon, cast long shadows through the rock formations.

  "Why did you do it?" Glimmerstrike asked suddenly, her voice soft in the darkness.

  "Do what?" Fii replied, though she suspected she knew what the hero was asking.

  "Save me. From the Red Market. You could have left me there."

  Fii stared up at the unfamiliar constellations, weighing her answer. "Because it was the right thing to do. Because no one deserves what they were planning for you. Not even someone who's been hunting me for sport."

  "It wasn't sport," Glimmerstrike protested, but without much conviction.

  "Wasn't it? All those drones, the staged confrontations, the dramatic monologues?"

  Diamond Ace snorted. "She's got you there."

  Glimmerstrike shot him a betrayed look before returning her gaze to Fii. "It wasn't just about the ratings. I really did think you were dangerous. That you'd killed Prime intentionally."

  "And now?" Fii asked, genuinely curious.

  "Now..." Glimmerstrike hesitated. "Now I don't know what to think. About any of this."

  Diamond Ace spoke up from where he stood, the red glow of his helmet's visor washing the rock around him in sanguine hues. "How did you end up in the slums? Someone with your abilities could have easily made it in the Metropolis."

  The question caught Fii off guard. It wasn't something people usually asked—in the slums, your past was your own business. "I was born there. It's home."

  "But surely you wanted more," Glimmerstrike pressed. "Everyone in the slums dreams of making it to the Metropolis."

  "Do they? Or is that just what you've been told?" Fii shook her head. "For every person who wants to escape, there's another who's rooted to the slums. Who wouldn't be themselves anywhere else."

  "I've never heard anyone speak like that," Glimmerstrike said. "Not about the slums."

  "We're not all thugs and victims," Fii replied, an edge to her voice. "The Slums are... alive, in a way the Metropolis isn't. There's history there. Community."

  "I never knew," Glimmerstrike said softly, and Fii could almost believe her regret was sincere.

  "I doubt most people do," Diamond Ace muttered. "Ignorance is a choice. And laziness."

  "That's not fair," Glimmerstrike said defensively. "I'm out there every day helping people. Saving them from muggings, finding lost kids, talking jumpers off ledges..."

  "While building a fanbase," Diamond Ace countered, his tone flat.

  Glimmerstrike opened her mouth to retort but closed it with a sharp click of her teeth. She turned away from Ace, settling further against Fii with a sigh. "Maybe you're right. Maybe we all are a little complicit."

  The fire was reduced to dimly-glowing embers, casting long, spectral shadows that danced along the walls of the rock. Fii felt an overwhelming exhaustion settle over her—the bone-deep fatigue that comes from exerting every bit of strength and will to survive. Her eyes grew heavy, the warmth of Glimmerstrike's body and the steady rhythm of her breathing a lullaby.

  "Axion," Glimmerstrike's whisper jolted Fii awake. "Do you regret saving me?"

  Fii considered the question. Her actions had led them here, stranded and alone, their lives in jeopardy. But what was the alternative? To abandon Glimmerstrike to suffer and die at the hands of the syndicate?

  "No," she said finally. "No, I don't. And you don't need to keep calling me Axion. My real name's Fii."

  "Don't call me Sparkles then, okay?" Glimmerstrike gave a faint smile. "And my real name is Serena."

  Serena. The name felt strange in Fii's mind, ill-fitting for the glitzy, social-media-savvy hero she had come to know. She filed the information away, another layer to the enigma that was Glimmerstrike.

  "Diamond Ace," Fii said, raising her voice. "What about you?"

  There was a long silence. Then, finally: "Luke. Luke Strickland."

  Fii nodded. Somehow, it suited him—the blunt, no-frills masculinity of it. "Nice to meet you, Luke. I'm Fii."

  "I know," came the curt reply. But there was a hint of a smile in his voice. "Get some rest. I'll take first watch."

  With that assurance, Fii closed her eyes. Despite the biting cold and the unforgiving hardness of the rock beneath her, she found sleep quickly. It was a deep, dreamless void—the sleep of the utterly exhausted.