At tribunal, fourteen-year-old Mia chose Sloane as maternal guardian. Nora gave up custody and First Shift care, cut the Ironwood mindlink, and went Rogue. Sloane had coaxed Mia into a fake concussion to test Nora; Grant scarred Nora in the hall. She blacklisted her daughter and flew home to Tidewatch, Maine. Months later Grant still would not claim Sloane; cold wars left Mia stuck. Nora lived only as herself in the salt wind and pines.
