The cul-de-sac used to have nine houses in the circle, but it now had ten thanks to us losing two teams during the third heat. This made me wonder just how big the roundabouts were for teams like Li Na’s. The empty, abandoned houses stood in the order in which the team had lost, meaning the closest one was the now-empty home of team One Fine Pig.

Osvaldo and Filipe were standing outside their garage with the giant painted “3,” chatting with Radoslav and Jasha in garage four, who had their door open and were in their regular places in the lawn chairs.

“You using your key?” Osvaldo asked.

“I am,” I said.

“When I moved to this heat, I lost the chance to get into the garages of the ones from my original heat,” Osvaldo said. He took a sip of Busch Light and made a face. “I would murder for a Brahma.”

“Yeah,” Jasha said. “But it grows on you. I like it.”

I was interrupted by Rosetta writing me back. I’d sent a message to her, Mordecai, Tipid, and Prepotente all at the same time, asking them if they knew anything about this Chalchiuhtlicue goddess.

Rosetta: Chachi, as Samantha calls her, isn’t a well-known one. She’s not ever sponsored as far as I can remember. Not like Eileithyia, who is a similar deity. They’re both goddesses of childbirth and women. But Chachi is also a water and fire goddess. She’s associated with harvests. That sort of thing. Those catchall gods and goddesses sound good on the manifest, but they never do well in the Ascendency game because their powers are comparatively weak.

Carl: Why would my Scavenger’s Daughter patch try to activate when I’m talking to Lucia like that? It’s really weird. If this Chach . . . however you spell it, can get from wherever those kids really are to here, do you think maybe we can do it the other way around?

Mordecai: Kid, like I told you before, we have no idea what’s happening. This is all new.

Donut: WE’RE JUST GOING TO CALL HER CHACHI. I ONLY HAVE SO MUCH ROOM ON MY CUT-AND-PASTE, AND I’M NOT FILLING IT WITH SUCH A LONG NAME. IT’S WORSE THAN TSRENDOLGAR. THOUGH IT’S NOT AS LONG AS THAT HAWAIIAN GUY CRAWLER. WHAT WAS HIS NAME? KAMAKANAMAKAMAEMAIKALANI JR. 2, I THINK?

Prepotente: Ah, yes. He is still with us, and he is a pleasant fellow. He goes by Makana. Anyway, the analog of Chalchiuhtlicue, or Chachi, in Earth culture is the Aztec goddess with the same name. She was considered benevolent, but the Aztecs also practiced human sacrifice. She is the originator of an Aztec flood myth because she cried for many days. It’s somewhat interesting how all these gods and goddesses are quite similar to ones from various Earth pantheons.

Donut: HI, PREPOTENTE! ARE YOU COMING TO MY CONCERT IN A FEW MINUTES?

Prepotente: I wouldn’t miss it for the world! I, too, would like to access this guild, so I will attempt to sing as well. I will be performing “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins. What will you be performing?

Donut: IT’S A SURPRISE! AND IT’LL BE A DUET WITH CARL! HE HAS TO TAKE A BUNCH OF POTIONS AND SCROLLS THOUGH SO HE DOESN’T MESS IT UP.

Prepotente: That sounds like a hoot.

We arrived at the garage of the abandoned house.

“Okay,” I said, putting my hand on the garage door. It yawned open.

And sure enough, there she was standing on the floor next to the parked APV with the cracked windshield. Penelope the pig. She was currently licking up the remains of the gremlin, which had oozed to the floor after they’d activated their shield.

“Hi, Penny,” I said, going to a knee. “Come on now. You’re going to go live with us for a little while.”

The pig, who now looked as if she were wearing lipstick after licking up all the gremlin goo, snorted happily and followed us outside.