Maysah let the newcomer’s question go unanswered. It wasn’t because she didn’t hear her as she tore up debris while the occasional blast of plasma sent an echoing zap noise throughout the canyon. Instead, it was because Maysah didn’t know how much information she should give away. The other woman knew about Addison’s existence, but Maysah had been under the impression that Addison had only reached out to the warehouse gang. Maybe the woman was a late arrival, maybe she was something else, but at the very least she was helping. That alone meant something. 

“Hey Stardust,” came a familiar voice, albeit slightly mechanized, “They’re about forty feet to your left, I think.” 

Maysah stopped working and looked up. It was Arbiter, the poor bastard whose throat she’d jumped down on their first encounter. A look of relief washed over her face that quickly disappeared as Maysah further assessed the situation. His fancy, high-tech gadgets must’ve saved his life, but he was alone. Shouldn’t Spellbound have been with him, skulking unnervingly around in her creepy getup? She sucked in her lower lip and moved towards the spot Arbiter had pointed out. Spellbound was okay. Avant-Garde was okay. The English duo and the American agent were okay. They just needed to work together and dig them all up.

She stopped a few feet from where Arbiter had indicated. Maysah chided herself. Where was this unbridled optimism coming from? Odds were they were all probably dead and she should expect that to be the case. She wasn’t digging them up to save them. She was digging them up to confirm a hypothesis. It hurt less that way. If she was proven wrong then great, and if she was right then her smug satisfaction could armor her from the blow. 

Maysah had stood around long enough to overhear Arbiter call out the stranger. Normally she wouldn’t mind someone taking a move from her playbook, but if she was incorrect and the others were okay then there wasn’t time for this kind of inquisition. 

“If she had something to do with the missile that means she’s stupid enough to put herself within the blast radius,” shouted Maysah as she began her work of clearing away at debris once again. “Now get over here and help me!” she shouted as she blasted a slab of concrete with a beam of plasma, the loud zap punctuating her order.