The ICON system did not reward him for killing the Lab Rat; apparently it had not regarded him as a full-fledged zombie. This was disappointing, but not really surprising, and in any case, Stu was almost too tired to care. He did, however, receive a "quest completed" message:

  Quest "Ingert Infiltration" completed!

  Level Up! 28-30

  Gained 6 SP!

  Access Menu?

  Stu dismissed the message with a wave of his hand. Killing the Lab Rat had been necessary, perhaps, but killing was killing, and plunging a knife into a man's neck and sawing his head off, causing blood to spurt and cables to spark -- the Rat had been more than machine than man; his neck had been full of braided power cables -- was some hardcore shit. He hated it. He was tired of it.

  He wanted to go home.

  "You promised to take me with you when you leave Heart's Glow," Millie reminded him, snapping him out of his reverie. The four of them -- Stu, Lucky, Luna, and Millie -- were stealing through the town, dodging zombies and robots as they made their way back to the glider. There was a glow on the eastern horizon; dawn was less than an hour away. It had been a long night.

  "That's going to be easier said than done," Stu said. "Our glider is almost out of fuel. We need dynamo fluid."

  "Is that all? There's a ton of the stuff at the robot factory."

  "We heard about that," Luna said. "That's why we came to Heart's Glow in the first place. But isn't full of zombies?"

  "Not anymore. The Researcher cleaned them out after she took over. She's got some robots guarding the place, but I can slip past them, I'm sure. How many canisters do you need?"

  Stu exchanged glances with Lucky and Luna. "As many as you can carry," Stu said. "But three, at a minimum. We're trying to get to Lon Halos."

  That gave her pause. "Lon Halos? What for?"

  "It's a long story."

  She took that in quietly, nodding to herself. "You can tell it to me on the way," she said at last. Then she turned to leave. "I'll be back in a couple hours."

  "Wait! You're going by yourself?"

  "I know that place like the back of my hand," she said, holding up her cybernetic hand and wiggling the fingers. "Besides, I've got stealth mode." She sprinted off.

  They watched her go. "Do you trust her?" Luna asked.

  "She saved us, didn't she? She killed the Researcher, stopped the Lab Rat."

  "Yes, but..." She frowned. "She's not all the way human, is she?"

  "The Researcher experimented on her. It's not her fault she looks the way she does."

  "She seems like a friend," Lucky volunteered. "She's just a little...spooky. That eye..."

  "I know," Stu acknowledged. That eye of hers was pretty creepy.

  "Why does she want to come with us?" Luna asked.

  He shrugged. "I don't know. She just said she wanted to leave Heart's Glow. She hasn't had a very easy time of it here, needless to say. The Researcher murdered her father."

  "There's barely enough room for the three of us in the glider," Luna said doubtfully. "And we only brought enough supplies to get the three of us to Lon Halos."

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  "I promised her," Stu said.

  "Well, a promise is a promise, I suppose," Luna muttered, "although I'm not sure how I feel about it."

  They made it back to the glider a few minutes later. It was still sitting in the parking lot of what was left of Curly's Gym; fortunately there didn't appear to be any leftover zombies in the area. Stu's Zombie Radar, at least, was quiet.

  Stu was covered with blood, most of it his own, and Lucky and Luna were pretty dirty, too. So they took some time to clean themselves up, but after that there was nothing left to do but wait for Millie to return with the dynamo fluid, so the three of them settled down to rest. Lucky, of course, fell asleep instantly, but Stu, having recently gone up a couple of levels (this always seemed to recharge him) was not particularly tired, and Luna had some more questions for him.

  "What exactly happened between you and the Researcher?" she asked.

  "What?"

  "She said she was in love with you."

  "Oh. That." He scratched the back of his head. "Well, I can be very charming when I want to be."

  Her eyes narrowed. "You're hiding something."

  "Is it really that hard to believe, that she could have fallen in love with me?"

  "In one night?"

  "She was a deeply disturbed individual," he reminded her, "and a zombie besides. I don't know what was going on in her head." He could have simply told her about the Don Juan skill, but if she knew he had this ability...well, she might become wary of him. And he wouldn't blame her.

  "I think you're hiding something," she reiterated. But then her tone softened. "I didn't really expect you to come after us."

  "After everything we've been through? I couldn't just leave you there."

  "I would have."

  He blinked. "Really?"

  "Well, I might have. After the outbreak, after my parents died... one of the first things I learned was that if you stick your neck out for someone, you're probably going to get your head chopped off. I like you, Stu, but if it came down to it, and I had to choose between risking my life for you or cutting my losses and running off with Lucky..."

  "I understand. We haven't known each other that long."

  "That's right. We haven't known each other that long. But you came for us anyway." She studied him carefully. "Maybe you really are from another world."

  He chuckled. "I keep telling you."

  Millie reappeared almost exactly two hours later. She had seemingly materialized out of thin air; Stu and Luna were both surprised at her sudden appearance. Maybe she really did have some kind of "stealth mode."

  She was carrying four silver canisters in her arms. "Found some," she said.

  Luna wasted no time; she took one of the canisters from her and plugged it into the receptacle on the glider. "Get in," she told Millie. "The sooner we're out of here, the better."

  She nodded. They woke Lucky up, rearranged some of their things to accommodate Millie, and just like that, they were off, streaking through town at a good forty miles per hour...and when they hit the highway, Luna hit the afterburners, slamming them back into their seats. "The sooner we're out of here, the better," she repeated, by way of explanation.

  By now the sun had risen behind them, chasing away the shadows and filling the world with gold. Stu, in the passenger seat, glanced over his shoulder, and saw that Millie was looking over her shoulder as well, at the city of Heart's Glow, which was now rapidly receding into the distance. She was biting her lower lip, and there was an uncharacteristically troubled expression on her normally placid face.

  "You all right?" Stu asked her.

  "What? Oh, yes. I'm fine. It's just..."

  "You're not homesick already, are you?"

  "Heart's Glow was never my home," she said. "I was just...thinking."

  "About what?"

  "I thought killing the Researcher would make me feel better. She killed my father, you know."

  "You mentioned that."

  "I'm glad she's dead, and I'm glad I was able to do it myself, but..." She shook her head. "I don't really feel any different today than I did yesterday. I thought it would feel more...satisfying."

  "I felt something like that, after I killed the Brute," Lucky volunteered. When she looked at him curiously, he explained: "My friend Jacen was killed by a jumbo we called the Brute. I went hunting for him in the subway. Stu killed him, and I helped, but..." He shrugged. "It's like you said. I thought it would be more satisfying."

  She nodded sadly.

  "I hope you realize what you've gotten yourself into here," Luna told her, after a moment. "It's a long way to Lon Halos, and we're sure to find ourselves in more dangerous situations. Maybe you'd like us to drop you off in Pretoria or one of the Rider outposts on the way."

  "I think I'll stick with the three of you for the time being," she said, brushing a bit of hair behind her ear. "If that's okay with you. You seem like good people...and besides, Stu hasn't kept up his end of the bargain yet."

  "I haven't?"

  "You were going to tell me about this other world you came from."

  "Ah. That's right." Her gave her a little grin. "Let's see...where to begin...?"