"Badly to us, I presume. We're somewhat confused about what to do with you."

"I mean, if I were less powerful then bad for me too. I think kidnapping is kind of always bad for someone. But maybe you had a good reason. You could start by explaining it."

"The initial reason was 'you are extremely powerful and working for the bad guys perhaps you could work for us instead' but."

"I work for me. What would you want me doing for you?"

"—would you come with me, then? I'd like to introduce you to someone."

"Sure."

She leads the way down the corridor. There is less—organisation, of the military kind, here than in the government HQ. No one stands at attention, and they don't seem particularly subdued by this woman's presence.

Epic is not making moral judgments off that, particularly. And both sides have pretty much kidnapped him so he won't make moral judgments off that either.

She reaches a door and knocks on it. "Come in!" says a male voice, and she does.

Inside there's a man sitting at a desk writing something on a computer. He turns to smile at them, but only half his face does that, because the other half looks a lot like it's been melted by acid. "Epic, I'd like to introduce you to Bernardo Rodrigues."

"Pleasure to meet you," says the man.

"Hi. Uh, I have healing powers. If you want."

He blinks. "You do?"

Mônica looks at him. "You do?"

"I kind of lied to the government about my powers. It's a long story. But yes, I do."

"I—I'd like that, yes," says Bernardo.

He steps forward and taps him.

He is healed. He immediately runs to the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror.

"—that was unexpected."

"Sorry. Eventually we'll have people equipped to do it all the time for everywhere."

"I'm sorry?" she asks.

Bernardo returns to the room, a look of awe on his face.

"Once places have been fixed up they have teleporting paramedics with healing powers," he says patiently and unhelpfully.

"'They'?"

"An interplanetary humanitarian organization I worked for before I got lost."

"...what?"

"I told the kidnapper I didn't want to repeat myself, is everyone here who'll want to hear this?"

"—no. Do you have further evidence than an implausible list of powers to justify me calling more people?"

"I could take you to meet Maitimo?"

"That's someone from your alleged interplanetary consortium?"