139. The Goldwin Office (2)- Meeting Cosmic's parents

Carlos and Cosmic appeared on an ordinary stone square beneath an open sky.

For several seconds, neither of them moved.

The city was familiar in the way an old shirt was familiar. Carlos knew the tower beyond the traffic bridge. He knew the narrow shop lane on the far side of the road. He knew the bus stop across from the square, where people were still standing beneath the faded metal roof.

But the square was crowded with returning Beginner Lords.

Blue flashes kept appearing across it. Lords arrived in small groups, some falling to their knees, some looking around wildly, and some immediately running toward people waiting behind the temporary metal barriers.

Uniformed officers tried to direct everyone toward marked lanes. Private vehicles lined the far curb. Three men in black suits watched every new arrival without pretending otherwise.