It was another quiet evening when she arrived—Euryale, back on shift. But something was different tonight.

  She looked... tired, her usual self-assurance cracked just slightly at the edges. She’d been cool toward me ever since the Boop Incident, as the girls had started to refer to it, although never within Euryale’s hearing. The flicker of her calculating gaze was still there, but it didn’t hide the shadows under her eyes.

  We’d all been getting closer over the past few weeks, even if I still didn’t really understand what was going on between us. She was still Euryale, still alien in so many ways. But tonight, she felt like something else entirely.

  “Up on the roof?” she asked, eyes scanning the room, as if there might be spies still within, other than my Pop-Tart-colored friend.

  I nodded. It had become a place we could talk without anyone overhearing, one of my favorite places to take my breaks from work, a place where I could stretch my legs and get some freshest air the city would allow. More than that, it was a place without distractions, and tonight I needed the silence.

  We climbed the stairs together, the building creaking beneath us. The rooftop felt cool against my skin as we leaned against the ledge, side-by-side, looking out at the skyline. The city lights flickered beneath us, a sea of motion in the dark.

  For a long while, neither of us said anything. I could feel her presence beside me, close but distant—she had a way of being there without fully being there, if that made sense.

  Finally, she broke the silence. “You know, Dan, I never told you what it was like to lose my essence. My power. My ability to make choices. It’s why I was so angry with you after that… incident.”

  I turned to look at her. Her face was unreadable, but her voice—there was a tremor underneath it. Something I wasn’t used to.

  “Tell me about it. If you want.” I suggested, because I didn’t know what else to say.

  Her eyes flicked to me, then away, as if the words were heavy. “It’s not just about losing power, Dan. It’s about losing agency. I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t choose. I felt empty. Like something was missing, but I didn’t even know what it was until it was gone.” She sighed. “You’ve never felt that, have you?”

  I thought about it for a second. Well, actually I didn’t, because that felt like my life. I just didn’t want to know how much to say, because I didn’t want to ruin this moment of openness we were having. But there were things that needed saying.

  “I actually have,” I said, softly at first, but my voice found strength as I continued, “I feel that way every damn day! I never get to make my own choices. I’m always waiting for the next step to be decided for me. Everyone around me makes decisions for me. I’m just... there. I don’t get to steer anything.”

  There was a beat of silence, and Euryale looked like she was getting ready to argue, but then she nodded slowly. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe you can understand in your way. I hadn’t realized you felt this way...”

  I wasn’t sure what to say to that. It felt like she’d just cracked open something that I wasn’t ready to push her on.

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  “But,” she continued, her voice softening, “you’re right. You deserve answers. You deserve a little control, and maybe we’ve taken that away, with the move to remote working, taking over your apartment...”

  “Using up my favorite soap. Controlling the remote. Adding extra streaming services to my Roku…” I could go on.

  “We have been a bit intrusive; I will admit that. It’s just that we need to protect you. You’re special, Dan.”

  I looked at her, my heart skipping a beat. “I don’t even know what I am. This whole Null thing, I mean I get that, but why does it matter that I’m a Signal too?”

  She studied me for a moment, her lips curling into a faint smirk, but there was no mockery behind it. Just something... warmer, almost protective. “You’re a Null. A force of absence. You suppress magic. Power. Anything with a connection to the world beyond this one. It’s why the women are drawn to you. It’s why you’re different.”

  I furrowed my brow. I’d hear this before, and it made sense. It was why my kisses and even touch could steal powers. “And the Signal? What’s that part?”

  “The Signal,” she said, her tone a little more serious, “is something that exists beyond the Null. It’s like... the thing that calls out to others. Like a beacon. You’re not just immune to magic, you’re actively broadcasting your presence, and whatever’s drawn to you responds to it.” She hesitated, then added, “It’s why you attract the Alterkind. And probably why they’re so interested in keeping you around.”

  My mind reeled. This was bigger than I thought. “Doesn’t that mean I’m just drawing in more creatures I can’t be with? Like I’m the author of my own suffering and self-denial?”

  Euryale met my gaze, her eyes searching mine. “Yes, but that doesn’t mean you’re powerless, Daniel. In fact, it’s the combination of the Null and the Signal that makes you... dangerous.”

  I blinked, confused. “Dangerous? How? Short of a smooch, I’m pretty worthless, aren’t I?”

  Her voice lowered, and for the first time, I saw the fear flicker in her eyes. “The Null makes you a vacuum. You suck in power. You diminish it. But the Signal... it calls to others, especially those who have power. The Alterkind can feel that pull. But here’s the thing...”

  She paused for a moment, as if weighing her words carefully. “If you ever get good enough at using both at once, you’ll be able to do more than just pull people in. You could steal their abilities—without even touching them. They’ll be drawn to you, yes, but you’ll drain them without so much as a look. And eventually...”

  She shuddered, her gaze hardening. “Eventually, you’ll be able to take everything from them. Maybe even permanently.”

  My stomach churned. I hadn’t thought about it like that. “So, you’re telling me I could become some... sort of power leech?”

  She nodded, slowly. “Yes. And it would be just as dangerous to you as it would be to everyone else around you. If you can take their abilities, you could... eventually become something else. Something more than just a man. Something other.”

  I was silent, processing the weight of what she was saying. I couldn’t tell if I was scared of what I could become, or more afraid of what would happen if I lost control.

  “But I don’t want that,” I muttered, shaking my head. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. I just want to figure out who I am.”

  Her expression softened again, and she reached out, her hand resting on my shoulder briefly, a silent show of support. “I know you don’t. But you need to understand that it’s not just about finding yourself anymore. It’s about controlling what’s inside you before it controls you. You don’t get to stay in the middle forever, Dan.”

  I met her eyes, my heart pounding. “Then what am I supposed to do? How do I deal with these abilities?”

  She didn’t answer right away, but I could see the gears turning in her mind. “I don’t know,” she said quietly. “But you’ll have to figure it out. And fast…” Surprisingly, she reached out and grasped my hand reassuringly. This was her trust. She believed in me enough to risk the loss of her powers again, just to give me that hand squeeze.

  “We can figure it out. Together. All of us.”

  Her words, her touch, they meant a lot to me. It also gave me a little bit of a chubby. We were good again, she and I, but I had this ticking timebomb combination of powers.

  I didn’t know whether to feel relieved or terrified. I was a signal. A Null. And the combination of those two could turn me into something more than I ever wanted. Something dangerous. But maybe, just maybe, this was the key to finally taking control.