"Of course," Karen said, accepting the controller with a grin. While Call of Duty was where real talent lay, she'd played enough Halo over the years to jump into any sort of firefight without much trouble.

She'd done a lot of playing with Chuck, sitting on the same couch for hours until their fingers ached and they were both a little delirious from it all. But missing old friends came as easily as breathing now, and Karen swept it aside.

"Did you check out the party?"