Her mouth moved, but no words came out.
“He told me that Nightmare isn’t dead. He seemed really sure about it. But … after I brought it up to my dads, they pointed out that he’s been in prison since before her death and there’s no way that he could know whether or not she’s still alive. So … it seems that I’ve been duped.”
She blinked. “Oh … really?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. He was so convincing. But obviously, he knew that Nightmare being alive would distract me, given our interrogation last time. The more I think about it, the more likely it seems that he was just toying with me. Like”—he rolled his eyes—“a puppet.”
“Wow,” mused Nova, pressing a hand to his forearm. “Adrian, I’m … I’m so sorry.”
And so, so relieved, she thought.
Adrian peered at her, and this time, he didn’t immediately pull away from her touch. “It’s not a complete loss. If I hadn’t come to the artifacts department, I never would have known about that Vitality Charm. I’ve done some research, and it’s amazing what it can do.”
“Oh yeah? You should come spend a day with me in the vault sometime. There’s a lot of neat stuff in there. I’m not an expert on it all like Callum is, but … I could point out some of the highlights.”
Adrian’s smile widened, and there it was again. The faintly drooping eyelashes. The current of electricity that seemed to spark where her hand rested on his arm.
“I’d like that,” he said.
Nova grinned. “Me, too.”
“Uh-oh,” came Oscar’s voice.
Nova jerked away. She spun around to see Oscar, Ruby, and Danna standing beside the staircase. Oscar wriggled a finger in Nova and Adrian’s direction. “Is this a moment? It looks like a moment.”
“Seeking privacy under the catwalk?” said Danna, smirking. “Definitely a moment.”
“We should give them some space.” Ruby swooped her arms around Oscar and Danna, turning them away.
“Very funny, guys,” said Adrian, jogging after them. “We were just talking.”
“That’s not what it looked—” Oscar started, but then stopped. “Actually, that is what it looked like.”
Sighing, Nova followed.
“Are you excited?” asked Danna. Though her expression was neutral, Nova immediately felt her body attuned to her, as if assessing a threat. Ever since the meeting when Agent N had been revealed, she had sensed a change in Danna. A suspicion, a distance, an entrapment in her words. The way her eyes seemed to follow Nova whenever they were together.
“Excited?” said Nova, aiming for the same level of nonchalance that Danna displayed.
“For Agent N training.” Danna nodded toward a station where dozens of handguns had been set up before an array of targets. “I’m curious to see what they have us doing today.”
Nova swallowed, unsure what Danna wanted her to say. Nova hadn’t been shy about voicing her disapproval of Agent N, though she knew she would have to play along if she wanted to avoid raising any more alarms.
She unclenched her jaw to respond. “I just want to be the best Renegade I can be.”
Danna’s eye twitched, and though she said nothing, Nova could tell she was unconvinced.
Nova was grateful when Thunderbird strode into the midst of the waiting patrol units, her black wings folded behind her. “Good morning, Renegades. Today marks the beginning of our official Agent N training period. You are our second group of patrols and I am pleased to say that, thus far, training has gone quite smoothly. I don’t doubt that you will exceed expectations as well.” She turned a cool gaze upon the gathered units. It almost seemed like a threat.
Danna took a small step back, and Nova remembered her once saying that she was a little afraid of Thunderbird. At the time she’d made a joke of it—birds were natural predators of butterflies, she’d pointed out. But now Nova felt the Councilwoman’s intimidation for herself.
She scanned the other patrol units that were gathered in the hall. There were six teams total, and though Nova had met most of them by now, her attention fixed on Frostbite and company, who looked more eager than anyone to get started.
Gargoyle caught her staring and sneered, flashing jagged black-rock teeth.
Thunderbird set a briefcase on a table and Nova’s heart danced, recognizing it as the same that Dr. Hogan had shown them during the meeting. Sure enough, as Thunderbird unlatched and lifted the lid, they were greeted with nineteen vials of green liquid. The twentieth was missing, having not been replaced from when they had neutralized Winston.
Nova licked her lips, practically salivating over those vials. She barely refrained from touching the pouch on her belt where a vial exactly like those was sequestered away, filled with the concoction Leroy had made to her specifications—a mixture of ink, acrylic paint, and corn starch for thickening. Nova had worried her memory might not have replicated the substance well enough, but studying the rows of vials, she could tell it was nearly identical.
Her fingers twitched, but she urged herself to be patient.
An opportunity would present itself. She just had to wait.
Thunderbird pulled one of the vials out and held it toward the gathered patrols. “Today, we will be running through a series of exercises designed to get you more comfortable with the different methods you might find yourself using on the field to neutralize a prodigy with the Agent N serum. We will be practicing with a false serum, of course. But first, we are going to discuss some logistics and precautions when it comes to using Agent N.” As she turned the vial from side to side, the liquid oozed like honey. “As you can see, the serum is quite thick. It must enter a prodigy’s bloodstream and be delivered to the brain in order to take effect. Our scientists have found that once the serum reaches the brain, the transformation begins instantaneously and is completed within seconds, as you witnessed with the Puppeteer. How long it takes for the serum to reach the brain depends on how and where in the body it is administered. When injected intravenously, it will reach the brain in less than a minute for most prodigies, depending on their heart rate.”
Nova dug her fingers into her elbows. Our scientists have found …
She thought again of the criminals locked away in Cragmoor Penitentiary. How many had been used as lab rats while the scientists perfected this weapon?
Stingray lifted a finger. “What if a prodigy is cold-blooded?”
“Or doesn’t have blood at all?” added Gargoyle.
Nova squinted at him. Trevor Dunn’s—Gargoyle’s—skin might be able to mutate into rock, but she was still fairly certain he had blood. Maybe a day would come when she could test that theory …
Beside her, Danna muttered, “Or what if they don’t have a brain?”
Nova’s cheek twitched and she momentarily forgot that she was supposed to be wary of Danna.
“Those are good questions,” said Thunderbird. “There are many exceptions and unusual circumstances in the wide array of prodigies, and we will be covering those during your second training session. For today’s purposes, know that more than ninety-five percent of all prodigies will be neutralized within one minute of having the serum administered. As I said, it must enter the bloodstream, and due to its density, it will be ineffective if applied topically. You do, however, have a few options. The most obvious is through an injection directly into a vein or artery. A shot into the heart will be particularly fast-acting. You can also administer the serum through an open wound, though this may slow the process. Additionally, the serum can be taken orally, to then be absorbed into the bloodstream through the lining of the stomach. However, as we don’t expect many prodigies to willingly imbibe the serum, we don’t expect that to be a viable option in most cases.”
“What if it’s inhaled?” a girl called Silver Comet said. “Can it be made into a gas?”
“In theory, yes,” said Thunderbird. “The liquid can be vaporized and, if inhaled, will eventually reach the brain. However, it’s important to remember that we are all susceptible to the effects of Agent N as much as our enemies, and at this time we don’t have any way of protecting ourselves. Attempting to weaponize the serum with something such as, say, a gas bomb, would be too risky.”
Thunderbird put the vial of Agent N back in the case, then drew a small dart from a pouch. Nova swallowed. The dart was almost identical to the poisoned projectile she had once used to try to kill Captain Chromium. Nova’s hand went to the pen she always wore on her weaponry belt, the one she had designed a long time ago with a secret blow-dart compartment inside. She couldn’t be sure without closer inspection, but she suspected one of the Agent N darts would fit inside just right.
“Once your training is complete,” said Thunderbird, “and we have publicly unveiled Agent N, you will be outfitted with special handguns and darts like this one. Today, the darts are empty, and the guns by the practice boards”—she gestured to the firing range—“have been preloaded. Now, I’ll have everyone pick a—”
“I have a question,” said Nova.
Thunderbird nodded at her. “Go ahead.”
“Will there be consequences for Renegades who abuse Agent N?”
“Abuse?”
“This is an enormous responsibility,” she said. “I’m not convinced that we, as individuals, are qualified to make the life-changing decision of whether or not a prodigy should be allowed to keep their powers, even those who have been found breaking the law.”
Thunderbird gave a smile, but it was close-lipped. “There is no greater responsibility than protecting and serving the citizens of this city, and the rest of the Council and I fully trust the judgment of our patrol units.”
“Yes, but shouldn’t there be some sort of limitation? A way to counter anyone who might decide to use Agent N as a punishment, or for their own gain, or in a situation where it was unwarranted? What if a Renegade neutralizes someone for, say, stealing a candy bar? That’s an abuse of power, isn’t it? So I just want to know what the consequence for something like that would be.”