Hey, Scott Westerfeld fans (like me). Remember in his guide book to the Uglies world when he talked about the pattern for the book titles? And how if he wrote another book, it's name would have to be Cakes? Yeah, well. Viola! Except I am NOT our dear old Scott and my writing might be pretty bad compared to his. I was browsing through my Follies folder when I saw this and remembered how enthusiastic I was about it. I decided to publish it on Fanfiction to see if anyone was interested in it.
I'm going to post this as an incomplete chapter story, but I don't know if I'll be writing too much on it soon. I already have a fanfic I need to be working on right now. But anyway...I just needed to break away from Rayella to figure them out and posted this as a result.
So...I hope you like it!
NeoFoodies. Scientific NeoFoodies. Everyone was at odds as to who was the better. Of course, Syncs was sure that his type was superior. Nothing could outdo the original no matter what heights those Scientifics supposedly promised.
"Syncs, we're nearing the site." Diagla, Syncs's older sister, said over the skintenna network.
"Great. Everyone activate your sneak suits." Syncs demanded, letting his easy sense of leadership overcome the anger inside. "Since everyone loves those Scientifics so much, we'll show those bubbleheads what they can really do."
"It's about time," Frangie, the techie of the group said. "I haven't hacked a good system in a long time."
The trio slowly stalked the outside perimeter of the Great Tech Building. It was definitely not the most impressive building in the town, but it was a formidable force. The sensors were everywhere and nowhere at the same time. They used a special type of cloaking device not even Frangie, the best of the hackers, could decode.
"Frangie, did you install the sweepers?"
"Of course."
"Are they fully operational?"
Frangie stopped and appeared to be contemplating, but he was actually checking the monitor systems of his inventions. He'd invented a chip to be put on the temple that was operated by almost every movement the eye could make. It basically took the place of interface rings and eyescreens but wasn't implanted surgically. "Yes…Everything is ready."
"Alright. Let's go." The group moved right through the perimeter with no problem. They reached the first window of the side of the building. "Diagla, where are we?"
"This is the first room. We'll need to be on the other side diagonal to where we are now."
Syncs nodded, and the trio found their way to the required room. Syncs looked through the window and whirled on Diagla. "This isn't the right room!" he hissed. "Where is the party!"
"Relax, Syncs. Don't you think we should enter the building in a different room? If we come through the window everyone will instantly know we don't belong. We'll have more time to do what we need to do this way."
Syncs angrily punched the wall. "I didn't authorize 'this way'."
"You can't authorize everything," Diagla whispered.
Syncs turned on his sister threateningly. "You don't know anything!" His voice, though soft, was deadly. "You should have discussed this with me before you just decided it was the right thing to do."
"I think Diagla has a point. This is the best way to carry out the plan. Why don't we just forgive her for now before someone finds us out here?" Frangie, always the mediator, softly patted Syncs.
He icily shrugged Frangie's hand off. "Get us in here."
Instinctively, Frangie's expert hands over came the controls. In nearly four minutes, the three were inside the room, Frangie checking for any traps, Diagla verifying the locations, and Syncs already across the room in anticipation. "It's clear."
"Any locks on the door?"
"No, but you'd better let me step out first to give the hallway clearance." Syncs nodded, and Frangie scanned the hallway walls, floor, and ceiling.
"Any traps?"
"No, but—get this—some idiots are trying to infiltrate through the roof."
"Seriously?" Syncs asked incredulously.
"What's wrong with that?" Diagla asked.
Frangie laughed. "Ever since the mind rain made people start rediscovering flying, this town has made the roofs of buildings designed not to keep people out, but to alert the whole world of their presence."
"But, what use is that?
"Every use in the book, my dear Diagla. In Glagos, humiliation runs this town. If you haven't been humiliated, you're looking at free everything. People would actually pay you to be seen with them to help ease their humiliation." Frangie exchanged glances with Syncs.
"But anyway… the plan? Can we go on with the plan?"
"Sure, Diagla… but you've still got some learning to do. If you walk around Glagos like this, you'll be ranked as the most brain-missing person here…and you are definitely not." He winked then motioned everyone out, whispering as they made their way along the wall. "Now, the hardest part will be getting in without causing a big scene. The door opens and then shuts… but no one goes in or out. I could scan the body heat and positions, waiting until the majority is turned elsewhere, but God knows how that'll turn out. Any suggestions?" Though it was an open question, Frangie was obviously directing it to Syncs.
"We could pretend to be late comers dressed up as sneak suit Crims from Tally Youngblood's New Pretty Town." Diagla suggested.
"First off, Tally Youngblood? Really? Did you really just say Tally Youngblood?"
"No, actually I didn't. I said 'Tally Youngblood's'."
Frangie rolled his eyes. "Tally Youngblood is dead. She's been dead for years. And if she hadn't have died, she'd be—what?—in her late nineties? A pure crumbly."
Diagla clearly wanted to go on, but she just crossed her invisible arms and said no more.
"And second off," Syncs continued, "If we just walked in, we'd have to talk and show our faces. None of our voices or faces match any of those invited, and as bubbleheaded as these party goers are, they know their kind. We are not their kind."
"Well," Diagla said, taking off her headpiece, "You're the best techie in Glagos, right Frangie?"
"Quite possibly yes," Frangie replied, taking off his headpiece. "But the people through that door find electronics to be an all-time low… even when electronics are the only things making their extraordinary lives possible."
Diagla's eyes were glowing. "They don't have to know you're using you're electronic magic. All you have to do is change our faces and morph our voices. Use your hacking skills to find out who's not in there and make us take their place. It's not like we're going to do much talking anyway."
"That's completely bogus, Diagla," Syncs said disgustedly.
Frangie put a hand up. "Wait, Syncs. That might be a pretty good idea." He began hacking the files of the invitations sent out. "And get this. The only people not there are two guys and a girl. Gina Rexu, Burthey Ty, and Miguel Izana." He continued scrolling. "But, these people are the closest thing a bubblehead can get to sworn enemies. They hate each other according to almost every single word they've posted. Also, none of them have ever been late to a party."
"That's not a problem." Diagla said brightly.
Syncs scoffed. "Are you sure you're not one of them?" he asked, motioning to the door. "Or are you deaf?"
"I have an easy alibi to fix that." The boys proved to be sceptical, so she didn't wait for a further inquiry. "The three all wanted to look like they've never looked before at this particular party, but they couldn't figure out what to wear. They also wanted to shock the guests in more ways than one. What better way to shock guests than to show up at a party wearing the same outfit as your worst enemies?"
"That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard." Syncs said crossing his arms and frowning profusely.
"Quite the contrary, Syncs. I think we have discovered a bright young mind who just so happens to be good at improvising. Diagla, you'll be our speaker. It appears that Gina would most likely be the one to do all the talking if this were a real life scenario anyway."
"Syncs, you'll be Miguel. Your face types are already quite similar. It's mainly the extra features I'll have to work on. Burthey and I couldn't look any more different, and it'll be extra hard to work on myself without a mirror handy."
"You could just keep your headpiece on. We'll pretend you're still a bit unnerved by our little surprise and want to be a bit more discreet. Just work on the audio."
"Whatever," Syncs mumbled. The way Diagla took control so swiftly and suddenly intimidated him. He was supposed to be the intimidation. "Just fix our faces, Frangie. And hurry up; aren't those idiots supposed to be trying to sneak in through the roof?"
"Oh, right." Frangie studied the ceiling. He frowned. "That means we have a little less than ten minutes to get in here. The face changing process could take between five and eight."
"Then let's get started," Diagla said anxiously. Syncs glared at her. "Standing out here is so nervous-making. What if someone comes out and sees us?"
"All a part of the fun, D," Frangie said. "Besides, no one will leave until at least four hours after the party is 'over'. Leaving before that is so fashion-missing. Now come over here so I can redo your face." Diagla obeyed, and Frangie rummaged through his bag until he found a substance similar to plastic. He used it to cover Diagla's face then transformed her face in a way only he could. Diagla was herself no longer. "I'm tapping into your eyescreen to chance your eye colour; so when you see that small red sign, know it's just me."
"Alright. I see the sign. What are you doing? I nothing's changed."
"My thing. Now, you're done. Syncs, how does your sister look?"
As much as he hated adding on to Frangie's ego—although he appeared to be slightly arrogant, Frangie was as modest as anyone. Syncs just didn't want that to change—Syncs couldn't help but admit that Diagla looked exactly like Gina Rexu. It was a bit unnerving what Frangie could do. "She looks like Gina. Now make me look like Miguel." He took of his headpiece.
"No problem." He got out the same substance he'd used on Diagla, but before he could apply it, Syncs held up his hand.
"What is that stuff anyway?"
"I created it, so as of now it's completely nameless. It's just nanos compressed into a flimsy sheet and programmed to mould themselves to human faces and take on whatever form certain electrical impulses send to them. Completely harmless."
"What makes them wear away?" Diagla asked.
"When I send the signal, they fall away and self-destruct in the air." He put it on Syncs's face. "You can feel them taking shape, right? Okay Syncs, same thing for you on the eyescreen. I'll do that first because I feel like it."
Sync watched the small red icon appear. He'd seen it many times; Frangie was always sending him pictures, clips, and documents. The funny thing was the icon always appeared in a different place. He didn't know if Frangie was just messing with him or if he couldn't control its placement. This time, it appeared in the bottom left corner of his eye, almost out of sight. It vanished almost quickly as it materialized, however, causing Syncs to jump slightly.
Frangie smirked; his eyes laughed as he finished altering Syncs's look. No matter what, Frangie loved to laugh, and optical illusions were his specialty. "Done. Now I'll just have to get my audio." His eyes rolled and bucked almost awkwardly for a short time. "There. Let's go."
"What about Gina and Miguel's audios?" Diagla asked.
"Already done," Frangie replied and winked.
"Will you stop that?" Syncs yelled, frustrated.
"I'm not entirely sure what, but I think now would be a good time to say okay and activate your audios."
"Good," Miguel said.
"Alright, guys." Gina said decidedly. "Let's put on a show."
Frangie put on his headpiece, and Burthey said, "After you, old enemy."
"Thank you, new friend." Gina replied. She took her place in front of the door and leaned down for the eye scanner to recognize her.
"Gina Rexu recognized." It told her. "How many guests?"
"Two." She stepped aside for the scanner to take into account the two figures behind her.
It stared for a bit. "Two guests recognized. Proceed."
"Thank you," Gina told the scanner.
"You are welcome, Gina." The door opened, and the trio entered the party.
"Gina!" a group of girls screeched.
"Hey, Miguel," an anonymous voice called out.
"Wait, what are Gina and Miguel doing here together?" A tall, tan green-haired girl asked as she stepped out of the group and waltzed toward the three.
Burthey whispered to Gina, "That's Vinera Dalsky. She's your best friend, and—bonus—she's also one of the dumbest here."
"Gina-la," Vinera whispered, "you do realize that Miguel Izana is standing right beside you, right?"
"Shhh, Vinera-la. Be nice." Gina whispered, pulling Vinera off to the side. "I'm trying something new. You see my outfit, right?"
"Yeah, it's like I can see your face but not anything else. Totally bubbly. It was a bit nervous-making at first, though, because I thought you were—like—dead or something. But you're not. You're just with Miguel Izana." She lowered her voice. "Does he make you bubbly?"
Gina laughed. "I just decided that I was mean to him for no reason. It's bogus—right?—to just be mean to people in your clique. Totally fashion-missing. Plus, my outfit alone: bubbly. My outfit with my worst enemy: icy."
Vinera laughed. "You're so right. I should have thought of that." She stopped. "Wait, what about Burthey? Don't you hate him, too?"
"I used to. He's wearing his entire sneak suit because he still hasn't figured out whether or not this whole idea is a good one."
"He's always been the stupidest one of the clique," Vinera commented. "But who cares about that? Let's party!"
"Okay! You go tell the girls everything, and I'll see how those boys are taking the news from Miguel."
"I'll meet you at the food table, Gina-la! They've got some great chocolate cake I can't wait to try!" Vinera called as she waltzed back to her group.
Gina walked back over to Miguel and Burthey, who were standing together by the drinks. Miguel had told everyone to wait for Gina to get back because she would want to be the one to tell everyone everything. "Hi Miguel-wa. Hey Burthey-la… wherever you are."
"I'm right here," Burthey said, picking up a glass of champagne as a visual. "Look out," Gina turned around. "Here comes Nin, Sayo, and Q. Sayo's the leader of that bunch, and he made you extremely bubbly a couple of nights ago; so watch out. Nin is probably the smartest of this clique, and Q's just lucky to be here."
"Hey Gina-la," Sayo said, leaning close. "Why are you dressed invisibly with the guy you hate the most?"
"Because I… am full of surprises, Sayo-la. I thought it would be nice to forgive my enemies for being bogus and help them be bubbly."
"Really, Gina-la, because you don't seem like the type to just suddenly forgive."
"Oh, Nin-la! I knew you wouldn't believe me!" Gina burst into tears and fell into Sayo's arms. "I told Miguel-wa and Burthey-la that you'd just say I was lying, but they said you wouldn't!" She sobbed into Sayo's chest, wailing to him to tell Nin-la she meant it.
"Nin-la, you are such a bubblehead. Can't you tell Gina-la is serious? Go be bogus somewhere else."
"I wasn't trying to make her cry." Nin stammered. "I just thought it was suspicious for a second, but—"
"I don't care what you thought. Look what you did! Go!"
Nin walked away, and as Gina continued to cry into Sayo's arms, Miguel leaned forward and said, "I'll leave you two alone for a bit." Sayo nodded contentedly.
Miguel and Burthey made their way to the food table. It was piled high with various assortments of foods, many of them tampered with by NeoFoodies. The most extravagant of the dishes was unquestionably the cakes. They popped up everywhere and were shaped so unusually the boys almost thought them to be fake food. But this was years after the mind rain, and people were getting more and more creative. Anything was possible, especially food wise when NeoFoodies pretty much ran the town. In fact, the room housed the only clique not relating to food that was even remotely popular. It was a wonder how it was the second most popular clique.
"Which one of these looks the best?" Miguel asked.
"I have no idea. It's more based on personal preference than overall demand. Try that big chocolate one in the middle."
"It's not necessarily chocolate, Fran—Burthey… Burthey-la."
"No one would dare defy the rules of chocolate. I think that is the only classic flavour nowadays."
"As long as people eat it." Miguel pulled put a small bag filled with a clear liquid. He poured the liquid over the chocolate cake. "Consider this, my little bubblehead friends, a gift from the Scientific NeoFoodies." The liquid was quickly dissolved and seemingly disappeared.
"Well, Syncs, looks like our work here is done. Let's find our friend Diagla and—"
Frangie's words were cut off by the tell-tale ring of an attempt to infiltrate. The party goers rushed to the ceiling to catch glimpses of the humiliated ones. Of course, the system would have taken pictures that would be flashing across eyescreens everywhere.
"Hey," Diagla said as she reached Sync and Frangie. "I saw one of those guys. He came here at the same time I did. I guess he didn't know any better."
"Probably the work of the One Who Humiliates," Frangie chuckled.
"Who's that?"
"More on that guy later," Syncs interrupted before Frangie could reply. "Why don't we all get safely home first?"
"Alright Master Syncs." Frangie deactivated the window lock, and the nanos on Syncs and Diagla's face dissolved. "Everything's activated."
"Headpiece on, Diagla," Syncs said as they both did this. "Let's go."
"You know the one bad part about being a NeoFoodie party crasher of the shadows?" Frangie asked as the trio made their way out of the window and through the yard.
"Enlighten me," Syncs replied.
"You never get to actually see the results of your work. It's always on the eyescreens since humiliation is almost always involved, but I've never seen it in my face."
"First off, old friend—trust me—you don't want to see the fruit of this in your face. Second off why do you think we're the only NFCs that haven't been caught? We live in the shadows. We may not have a reputation, but we also have no humiliation; and in this town, that's all that matters."
So...that was it guys. If you like it, I'll add more. Please review and tell me what you think. I haven't seen this in a while, and I think it would be great to refresh my memory of the awesome Uglies series. I'd be happy to explain my thought process in this if I can remember, so feel free to message me.
Kanks for reading!