Beau settles as Swann looks out toward the crowd of kids, Asher among them. She snorts disdainfully, her face filled with barely masked disgust. "We won't be footnotes. We'll be villains, forever. You should hear what they tell kids in school, even in preschool. It's sickening, having to explain to your own son that you aren't a criminal and that his family never slaughtered anyone."

In some ways, she's glad that the buildings, at least, still stand, even if it doesn't make much of a difference. Beau grabs at her fingers weakly, making little mewling noises. "It's easier for them to keep blaming us than to accept that things are how they are. Nothing's better. They made the whole world worse, and we're still the bad guys."