Read Online Uglies 03 - Specials by Scott Westerfeld - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Scott Westerfeld
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where it set Peris's ring jiggling. "The others are off on a little trick tonight. I'm covering, in case the wardens are monitoring us."
Shay laughed. "So the wardens are supposed to believe the Crims have a reading group?"
He shrugged. "It's not real wardens, as far as we can tell, only software. As long as someone's talking, it stays happy."
Tally sat down on Zane's unmade bed slowly, a shiver moving through her. Zane wasn't talking like some clueless pretty at all. And if he was covering for his friends while they did something criminal, then he was still bubbly, still the sort of tricky pretty who could one day become a Special…
She breathed in the familiar scent of him from the bedclothes, wondering what her tattoos were doing—probably spinning halfway off her face
But Zane wasn't wearing an interface ring himself, or a bracelet. How were the wardens tracking him?
"Your new face is about a mega-Helen, Tally-wa," Zane said, his gaze traveling the web of flash tattoos on her face and arms. "It could launch a billion ships. But pirate ships, probably."
She smiled at the lame joke, trying to think of something to say. She'd been waiting for this moment for two months, and suddenly all she could do was sit here like an idiot.
But it wasn't just her nerves that were making her word-missing. The more she looked at him, the more Zane looked wrong, somehow, and his voice sounded like it was coming from another room.
"I was hoping you'd come," he added softly.
"She insisted," Shay said, her words whisper-close.
Tally realized why Zane sounded so distant. With no skintenna in his flesh, his words didn't come through like the other Cutters'. He wasn't part of her clique anymore. He wasn't special.
Shay sat down next to Tally on the bed. "But if you don't mind, you two can be all bubbleheaded some other time." She pulled out the small plastic bag of nano pills that Ho had taken from the ugly boy the night before. "We came about these."
Zane half-rose from the chair and held out his hand for them, but Shay just laughed. "Not so fast, Zane-la. You have a bad habit of taking the wrong pills."
"Don't remind me," he said wearily.
Another shudder went through Tally. As he eased himself back into the chair, Zane moved slowly, deliberately, almost like a crumbly.
Tally remembered how Maddy's nanos had damaged his motor control, disrupting the part of his brain in charge of reflexes and motion. Maybe that's all it was, minor tremors left by the tiny machines.
Nothing to freak out about.
But again, when she looked into his face, something was missing there, too. It had no gorgeous web of flash tattoos, and gave her none of the thrill she felt when she looked into another Cutter's coal black eyes. He looked sleepy in a way that Specials never did, as if he were wallpaper, just another pretty.
But this was Zane, not some random bubblehead…
Tally dropped her eyes to the floor, wishing she could turn off the perfect clarity of her vision.
She didn't want to see all these unsettling details.
"Where did those pills come from?" he said. His voice still sounded so far away.
"From a Smokey girl," Shay answered.
He glanced at Tally. "Anyone we know?"
She shook her head, not looking up from the floor. The girl hadn't been a former Crim or anyone from the Old Smoke. Tally had a flash of wondering if she'd come from another city. Maybe she was one of the Smokies' mysterious new allies…
"But she knew your name, Zane-la," Shay said. "Said these were for you specifically. Expecting a delivery?"
He took a slow breath. "Maybe you should ask her."
"She got away," Tally said, and heard Shay let out a tiny hiss.
Zane laughed. "So Special Circumstances needs my help?"
"We're not the same as … ," Tally started, but her voice faded. She was in Special Circumstances, Zane could see that for himself. But suddenly she wished she could explain how the Cutters were different, not like the regular Specials who'd pushed him around when
Shay laughed. "So the wardens are supposed to believe the Crims have a reading group?"
He shrugged. "It's not real wardens, as far as we can tell, only software. As long as someone's talking, it stays happy."
Tally sat down on Zane's unmade bed slowly, a shiver moving through her. Zane wasn't talking like some clueless pretty at all. And if he was covering for his friends while they did something criminal, then he was still bubbly, still the sort of tricky pretty who could one day become a Special…
She breathed in the familiar scent of him from the bedclothes, wondering what her tattoos were doing—probably spinning halfway off her face
But Zane wasn't wearing an interface ring himself, or a bracelet. How were the wardens tracking him?
"Your new face is about a mega-Helen, Tally-wa," Zane said, his gaze traveling the web of flash tattoos on her face and arms. "It could launch a billion ships. But pirate ships, probably."
She smiled at the lame joke, trying to think of something to say. She'd been waiting for this moment for two months, and suddenly all she could do was sit here like an idiot.
But it wasn't just her nerves that were making her word-missing. The more she looked at him, the more Zane looked wrong, somehow, and his voice sounded like it was coming from another room.
"I was hoping you'd come," he added softly.
"She insisted," Shay said, her words whisper-close.
Tally realized why Zane sounded so distant. With no skintenna in his flesh, his words didn't come through like the other Cutters'. He wasn't part of her clique anymore. He wasn't special.
Shay sat down next to Tally on the bed. "But if you don't mind, you two can be all bubbleheaded some other time." She pulled out the small plastic bag of nano pills that Ho had taken from the ugly boy the night before. "We came about these."
Zane half-rose from the chair and held out his hand for them, but Shay just laughed. "Not so fast, Zane-la. You have a bad habit of taking the wrong pills."
"Don't remind me," he said wearily.
Another shudder went through Tally. As he eased himself back into the chair, Zane moved slowly, deliberately, almost like a crumbly.
Tally remembered how Maddy's nanos had damaged his motor control, disrupting the part of his brain in charge of reflexes and motion. Maybe that's all it was, minor tremors left by the tiny machines.
Nothing to freak out about.
But again, when she looked into his face, something was missing there, too. It had no gorgeous web of flash tattoos, and gave her none of the thrill she felt when she looked into another Cutter's coal black eyes. He looked sleepy in a way that Specials never did, as if he were wallpaper, just another pretty.
But this was Zane, not some random bubblehead…
Tally dropped her eyes to the floor, wishing she could turn off the perfect clarity of her vision.
She didn't want to see all these unsettling details.
"Where did those pills come from?" he said. His voice still sounded so far away.
"From a Smokey girl," Shay answered.
He glanced at Tally. "Anyone we know?"
She shook her head, not looking up from the floor. The girl hadn't been a former Crim or anyone from the Old Smoke. Tally had a flash of wondering if she'd come from another city. Maybe she was one of the Smokies' mysterious new allies…
"But she knew your name, Zane-la," Shay said. "Said these were for you specifically. Expecting a delivery?"
He took a slow breath. "Maybe you should ask her."
"She got away," Tally said, and heard Shay let out a tiny hiss.
Zane laughed. "So Special Circumstances needs my help?"
"We're not the same as … ," Tally started, but her voice faded. She was in Special Circumstances, Zane could see that for himself. But suddenly she wished she could explain how the Cutters were different, not like the regular Specials who'd pushed him around when
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