Tess stood atop the outer wall with the rest of The Vanguard, the name the residents had given their group. She didn't like the name - it felt too classist for her tastes, but Weeble had convinced her to keep it.

"People need someone - or someones - to look up to, Tess," he said. "I get that you don't like appearing to be better or stronger than anyone else, but heavy is the head that wears the crown. You're in charge and we're your elite force. It's not just our job to protect them, it's our job to inspire as well."

Tess conceded the point. She knew that she was too direct - too pragmatic. Weeble was an expert in winning crowds over and she needed his unifying spirit now more than ever.

She sighed. "At least they finally settled on a good name for the neighborhood. Safehold is a little grandiose for me, but it works."

Weeble laughed. "What's the matter, you didn't like Cul-de-Fort?"

She wiped her hand across her face. "Oh god, if we'd been forced to call ourselves that… At least Ed got a good laugh out of it."

"What's that?" Ed stepped up to them.

"Nothing much," Weeble said. "Our illustrious leader here was just thinking of switching the name back to Cul-de-Fort."

"YES!" Ed pumped his fist in the air. "I knew it'd win you over!" He lowered his fist slowly when he saw Tess's look. "Oh, so… no?"

"No."

He sighed. "Fine, but if someone starts a grassroots movement to call it that I'm just saying that we should take him seriously. I heard he almost has enough votes."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And who would this mysterious grassroots leader be? A skinny little man who has never heard of clothing that wasn't black, maybe?"

Ed shrugged dramatically. "I can't say as I know, I've just heard that he's strikingly handsome and hung like a-"

"Okay, that's enough of that." Tess swiped her hand through the air, to the amusement of the rest of the group.

The Vanguard was made up of the Torres family, the Bouchards, Ed, and the visitors who had come to their aid. Tess smiled warmly as she looked at them, the expression falling quickly as she turned to look outward. Creatures were lining up on the outskirts of Safehold in every direction except the woods to the south. Tess spared a thought for Maisy. I hope she's doing well, although I pity anything that comes up against her.

"She is quite formidable, Mother, although I suspect that since this is a team exercise her individual power will begin to show diminishing returns."

Tess sighed internally. "I know - you're right, Fara. It just worries me is all. Not only is she a friend, but she's also a shield against anything coming from the south. We're stretched thin enough as it is and my people are getting tired. It's only the beginning and the cracks are showing."

"Perhaps they need further encouragement? We can make examples of the weakest and, thus, show the others the consequences of not growing in power quickly enough."

"Have I mentioned recently that you are a sociopath, Fara?"

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"Not in weeks!" Fara exclaimed proudly.

"Regardless, I am looking for a more humane approach. We've discussed this at length - I need you to begin to consider the human responses and find your 'optimal solutions' based on positive reinforcement, empathy, and protection."

There was a pause while Fara considered. "But Mother, isn't any solution that is for the greater benefit of the group, even at the cost of the individual, the more humane and empathetic option?"

"That sounds like something from one of Zavier's movies. Yes, that's viable, but in the long run it's worse overall. Culling the weak leaves a smaller group, whereas protecting the weak long enough to become strong improves the group overall."

"But that is less efficient and not guaranteed to have the result of strengthening the group as a whole."

"And yet, it's the option we're choosing. Whatever subroutines or calculations that go on inside that psychotic brain of yours to make decisions, I want you to prioritize the survival of all, not just the strongest. I want you to take into consideration the concept that all are worthy of survival, even if it defies logic, and that our goal is to save as many people as possible. Understand?"

"I… I will endeavor to consider that in future calculations."

Tess heard the lie but chose to ignore it. She scanned the horizon one more time and addressed the Vanguard. "What are we looking at out there?"

Madison stepped up, tapping at her tablet. "Jackrabbits are mixed in, of course - we can't seem to get rid of them - but there are also Shadow Hounds, Bloodwing Bats, and some sort of moving man-shaped things that look like they're made of plants or something. I haven't been able to identify them yet."

Madison and Ed had worked together to modify her drones to cast Identify from a distance, but it was still rudimentary and returned nothing as often as it returned anything. She was currently working on a sort of forensics lab that she hoped would push the Identify ability further, giving them more information about any creatures they caught. The gadget was proving as tricky as catching these animals alive.

"Okay, so some wall crawlers, some flyers, and whatever those plant things are. Can we handle this? And why so many?"

All turned to Leon for the answers. He had been directly leading Safehold's residents for three weeks now and knew their capabilities better than anyone. "The hounds and rabbits are pretty easy, we've been able to fend them off without too much trouble. They are really vulnerable while climbing. The bats are tougher but, between the spears Jason made and the skills the people are picking up, we've gotten pretty good at taking them down mid-flight. Not sure about the plant things, I guess we'll see."

"As for why so many?" he sighed and shook his head. "I'm not sure."

"It's building up." Everyone turned to look at Cass. He might have shrunk under their gazes weeks ago but he was finding a confidence that Tess found heartening. Now he spoke with confidence as he explained. "It's video game logic - of a sort. In the beginning we got low level creatures every three or four days. That was, most likely, to give us an idea of what was coming and time to settle into our strategies. Then it was every other day, which forced us to shore up our weaknesses and to put the pressure on. Now that they're coming every day I think it's building up to a boss battle. We're coming up on 30 days since The Challenge started and the creatures are coming every day now. I'd be willing to bet that we're going to start seeing night attacks as well, and on or around the thirtieth day we'll end up facing a big boss. Possibly some smaller bosses as well."

The idea felt right and everyone sobered at the implications.

"That's going to be… tough," Leon said. "Our people are tired. They've been defending the wall in constant shifts since the beginning, and their down-time isn't restful. We're lucky if we can get a full night's sleep, and even when we do, the next day is spent with the stress of fighting or the stress of worrying that we're going to have to fight. We're getting worn down, Tess."

Tess appreciated that he always referred to the community as 'we,' rather than 'them.' Once again she was grateful that he was there.

"I may have a solution to that," a jaunty voice spoke out. Weeble stepped in front of the group, as he always did, to address them as if he was speaking to an audience. He cocked his head in a gesture that the others had come to speculate meant that he was speaking with the other Toys. "Tess, the issue here is that this is all work and no play. Not only isn't this fun, it's even worse - FAR worse."

He paused for dramatic effect. "It's BORING."

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