Carter beamed under Tolten's compliments. What a thing to say, and from a big military man too. Colonel Hogan got a lot of respect for their work but it rarely trickled down to Carter.

"It varies," he said, still riding on the glow of actual respect. "I fight a lot of monsters, and there's plenty of people here who need protecting from them. Sometimes it's just exploring. We went up to the Mines two nights ago, but I didn't see anything there but rats." More chin scratching. "I've heard people talking about going on different missions, or working with the clubs, but so far I haven't done one."