Hello, hello, dear readers (if there are any of you left)! I am so sorry that it has been months and months since my last chapter. Adult life is…busy and stressful. But I started this story when I was sixteen and I WILL finish it, dammit! If you are still a reader of this story…I hope that you enjoy this long chapter. More shall be coming, now that I am back into the groove with the whole writing thing.
Love, Fanna
CRIMS
Minerva sat in her desk chair, staring sullenly at the four walls of her small office, threatening to fall in and crush her. She glanced at her workscreen. It read 17:28. A suitable time to leave and go eat dinner by herself, yet again, after another long day of doing pretty much nothing.
Min took the lonely trek back to her suite and sat heavily on her bed once she got there. She took a deep inhale and let out a long, exaggerated sigh.
Thirty years. That's how long she had spent looking for Maddy and Az. Thirty long years of…what, exactly? Making more Specials, but mostly scouting missions, satellite sweeps, all of which turned up absolutely nothing. They had searched all up and down the Pacific Coast, going as far inland as the Rocky Mountains, because Min was fairly certain that Maddy and Az couldn't cross the Continental Divide on hoverboards. Nothing, every time.
And meanwhile, the runaways kept disappearing. Uglies, without variation, because of course bubbleheads would never gather the courage to leave, and even if they did, the idea of one venturing across the wilderness was laughable. Minerva had no doubts that Maddy and Az were probably gathering these runaways, teaching them the secrets of the Operation. Every time another ugly left, the threat only got bigger. Who knew when it would spread to the cities themselves?
Thirty years of fruitless searching. It didn't really show on Min physically, except for some subtle wrinkles and maybe a few gray hairs, results of minor operations so that she wouldn't look twenty-seven years old forever. But the truth was, it was wearing away at her mentally. Thirty years spent alone, with only one real friend (she didn't see Dr. Valen much anymore). Thirty years spent sitting in her office pretending to do something useful, while her Specials were only getting more and more restless, the lack of action causing pent-up frustrations that could explode at any moment.
The next morning, Minerva awoke at 0400 hours, like she always did, got dressed in her usual outfit of trousers, a dull shirt, and sensible shoes, then pinned her hair into its perpetual style (parted down the middle and then pulled into a bun at the nape of her neck). She ordered her coffee from the hole-in-the-wall, and then slipped her labcoat on before she headed out.
When she got to her office, someone was waiting for her outside the door.
She eyed the Special warily, then let her office flash her eye. The door slid open, and she beckoned him inside. "Sit down," she told the agent, and then settled into her desk-chair.
"Well, what is it?" Min snapped impatiently when the Special didn't speak first.
"Um…I suppose it's not that exciting, Doctor…" he stammered. Min gave him an irritated glare. "I just thought you might want to know…four Uglies ran away last night. You know that's a…er…somewhat regular occurrence, becoming more so in the past couple years. It's just that…no group of this size has ever run away before. I thought you might find that interesting."
Min considered what he said for a moment. The first group of a decent size to leave together. That meant it must have been a plot, somehow. They must have run away for a reason...but why? This could be their big lead. She could feel it. At last…
"I'll consider an investigation," she said nonchalantly, trying not to let the fire that was now igniting inside her show on the outside. "Let me see the suspects?" she asked him, extending her hand. He handed her the work tablet he was carrying, their profiles pulled up already. Four Uglies: Ho, Ryde, Astrix, Croy…
"Hmm…" she sniffed. They were all from the same dorm. Interesting. Again, a unique occurrence…
"Send me that data," she ordered him. "You are dismissed now." The Special got up and left.
About thirty seconds later, Min's work tablet buzzed, signifying that he had done it. She pulled up the four Uglies again, unsure of where to start.
Well, they were definitely members of a gang or something. All in the same dorm? Running away together? Min tapped her tablet, bringing up the city interface. Their location patterns, betrayed by their interface rings, as well as all those stupid little pings that Uglies and bubbleheads sent all the time, showed that these four were, in fact, very closely intertwined. Min's breathing quickened. It wasn't just these four, although they had actually run away…there was a girl, Shay, involved as well. But the one who was the most interesting, the one who they communicated the most with, the one who was always there at their little gatherings…was a boy, named Zane. Yes, definitely the ringleader. Minerva sent his profile to one of her underlings, as well as the message: "Bring this one down to HQ for questioning, at precisely 1100 hours tomorrow morning."
Then, Min got up out of her chair and left the office, excitedly pacing an empty corridor. She needed a moment. There had been no real rhyme or reason to the runaway uglies before, but this…this was something. And to think, today had begun so ordinarily.
"We have the subject in the building, Doctor, and he'll be with you in a few minutes."
Min sat up in her desk chair, always startled when she was deep in thought and her office spoke to her. She replied: "Anything to tell me about him, to prepare myself?"
The Special gave a harsh, razor-like laugh through the soundsystem. Laughing was something they were all bad at. "Oh, he's a little fucker, this one. Playing all tough, won't say a word to the wardens."
"Oh," Minerva said mildly.
"But I've no doubt you can get him to talk, Doctor."
Minerva gave a satisfied sniff. Of course she could.
"Oh, and something else…it looks like he unfortunately wasn't our discovery. The dorm minders already knew about this bunch, and him being the leader."
"What? Then why did they not report to us immediately!" Min said angrily, a bit miffed at this development.
"I don't know, Doctor. A notice will be sent to them for future reference."
The door to her office slid open right on schedule.
The recalcitrant ugly was being dragged by two Special escorts, who plopped him into the seat in front of her desk and immediately scurried out.
The boy glared at her from under a mop of hair that badly needed cutting. "Hello, Zane," Minerva said, giving him a smile.
Perfect. His "tough" face immediately crumpled and gave way to fear at the sight of it, if only for a second. He wasn't nearly as strong as he thought he was.
"I'm Dr. Cable," she continued, reaching out a hand. She didn't expect him to shake it, of course. He was far too scared of her. The gesture was only to unnerve him even more.
She rested her chin on her hands. "Why do you think you are here, Zane?" Minerva said calmly.
No answer. Zane only set his mouth in a firm line, contrary to the obvious fear in his eyes. "Well, how about I help you out a bit?" Minerva smiled again. "I'm sure you would like to see Croy, Ryde, Ho, and Astrix again."
Perfect. At the mention of those names, a look of pain crossed Zane's face. Of course he missed them, was worried about them, whatever. It didn't really matter.
"I'll never betray my friends," he said hoarsely.
Minerva improvised some more. "What if I told you they were in great danger, Zane? And we were the only ones who can save them. But not, of course, without your help."
"They know what they're doing. They don't need your help," Zane answered, still glaring.
"Ah, but two can play at this game, Zane." Minerva smiled another razor grin, a small laugh escaping from inside her. Time to unleash the threat. "You don't have to help us, of course. But…you don't have to become pretty, either." The familiar feeling of victory rushed over her at the look of horror on his face.
"That's right, Zane," Min continued, her smile growing, her voice becoming stronger. "You see…not all uglies become pretties. You could be made into one of us, instead. Yes, working here could be a good thing for you…." A lie, of course. You couldn't become Special without the pretty operation first, but he didn't know that. It worked.
"No…no!" Zane scooted back in his chair, his voice shaking. "I'll help you! Just…please, no!"
"Ah, I see." She smiled. "You'd rather be a pretty, then. Very well." Min cleared her throat. "Let's not waste any more time, then, shall we? Now, what do you know of your friends' plans, the ones who ran away?"
"They…they went to a place called the Smoke." The words came out slowly, painfully. Minerva could see his pathetic emotions easily laid out on his face: the anguish over breaking a promise, then the selfishness that every human possessed. He cared more about his own sorry ass.
"The Smoke. Interesting." She drew out the name, feeling it on her mouth. She was getting info. Finally. But on the outside, Minerva remained cool and collected as always. "Now…what more could you tell me about this…Smoke? What is it? Why are they going there?"
"They…they don't want to be pretty. They want to go to the Smoke. It's…well…I think it's like a city or something. But it's somewhere in the wild, and no one gets the operation there."
Aha! So this was what Maddy and Az had been up to all those years! Naturally. They knew the secret of the operation, so they thought they were doing some great good to society, setting up this little utopia, whatever it was. The "Smoke" had to be them. It had to be. Who else?
And even if it wasn't her two enemies who founded the Smoke, it needed to be stopped, anyway. A community of free-thinking people? Min forced herself not to shudder at all the possibilities this posed. It could spread, it could destroy the whole order, and then the planet…
Min forced her mind back to the moment. Time to find out more. "Fascinating." Min nodded, leaning in closer. "And…how exactly did they find out about this…Smoke?"
"Well…we were a group of friends. Six of us." He spoke quickly, as eager to get this over with as Min was. "We…snuck out to the Rusty Ruins. A lot."
"Oh, uglies still do that?" Min interrupted him. She suddenly remembered something: hoverboarding, a metal track, falling, a fire on the beach…
She pushed away the thoughts, as quickly and violently as they had come. "I do apologize, Zane. Go on."
"Well…we met this guy there."
"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah…some guy named David. He hung out in the ruins a lot of nights. He…knew a lot about the wild. We knew he came from…somewhere else. He told us he was from the Smoke. And…he offered to take us there."
Min didn't say anything for a few seconds, processing the info. David. That was a weird name. He must have been from another city…Min took a deep breath. She was so close to finally getting what she wanted…she forced herself to not seem too excited.
"Now Zane, dear," she said, as sweetly as she could possibly manage. "You've been extremely helpful to me. But there is one more thing I must know. Where exactly is this Smoke?"
"That…that I don't know. David was going to lead us there. He didn't say."
Minerva let out her breath in a low hiss. Dammit, she thought. Her eyes flicked to the hidden lie detector readout (the office was wired for that purpose). He was telling the truth. Well, there was no harm in pressing a little bit further…
"How did your friends plan to travel to the Smoke, do you know?"
"Yeah…David said he would take us there, and that most of the journey was on foot or hoverboard. But…he said that there was one spot where we got help…rangers from some other city."
Interesting…the nearest city was…no. Not that one, the site of her humiliation all those years ago. Well this was just perfect…
But Min knew that the boy had finally spilled all his secrets. No matter what he thought about himself, Zane was still so innocent, so easy to read…
"Wait! I forgot!" Zane blurted, terrified at the thought of hiding something from her now. "One night in the ruins, David drew this map of how to get to the Smoke, and I copied it…I don't have it right now, though."
"Oh, that's quite alright, Zane," she said reassuringly. "Just give the map to your dorm minders when you find it, and have them send it to me."
"Yes, yes, of course!" he said hurriedly.
"Well, Zane," Min concluded, patting his shoulder. "You've been a great deal of help to me." She tried her best to give a nice smile. "Now we have what we need to find your friends," she lied. "But…tell me one thing I'm confused about, please? Why did you not run away with your friends, earlier?"
Zane looked down, blushing for shame. "I…I got scared. I didn't want to go the Smoke as bad as the others. I didn't want to leave behind everything I knew…my friend Shay felt the same way. She was supposed to go but stayed, too."
Shay…Min made a mental note to watch this one, as well.
"Well, I would like to thank you, Zane, for all your help. See? Now that wasn't so bad. You helped me, and now, I will make sure that you get what you want: turning pretty." She gave another smile, and the door slid open, revealing Zane's escorts waiting for him out in the hall.
Minerva drummed her fingers on her desk. Max was supposed to meet her for lunch in her office today, something they had both planned so that they may see each other once in a while, with their busy schedules and all, and she was four minutes late.
Min was happier than she had been lately, though. The information they had gathered from Zane's interrogation a few months ago had brought activity back into Special Circumstances.
His map, though, which Minerva had thought would be the golden ticket to finding the Smoke, turned out to be quite crude. Basically all they had figured out was that the Smoke was to the north-east of Columbia, in the Rocky Mountains. Another sweep of the area had been arranged, but once again, it turned up nothing.
Finally, the door slid open to reveal Max, out of breath and wild-eyed. "Urgent information, just in!" she managed.
"What is it?" Min asked impatiently. None of the alerts when straight to her, or else Min would be swamped every day. It was up to her subcommanders to report the most important ones.
"That girl…the suspect! She's run away, too!"
"You mean Shay?"
"Whatever!" Max said exasperatedly. "She's disappeared, as of last night!"
Minerva retained her composure, although her thoughts were racing. "Bring up her profile." She booted up her workscreen, and motioned for Max to join her behind the desk. Max quickly punched some keys, and Shay's profile in the city interface appeared.
"Hmmm…interesting. Very interesting," Min murmured as her eyes scrolled over the page. "Her birthday is quite soon…naturally. She'd want to run away before the operation…"
"See who she's been hanging out with," Max snapped, who had been peering over Min's shoulder. "They most likely know something."
"Well, all of her friends ran away I thought…wait." The city interface showed that Shay's interactions in the past couple of months were almost exclusively with one person, with whom no previous contact had been made. "Looks like she made a new friend," Min said in a slightly amused tone.
"Well…bring her in! Who is it?" Max nearly growled.
"Her name's Tally Youngblood," Min answered. "Oh! The two have the same birthday," she interjected. What a coincidence. "That's in only a few days…we'll just pick her up at the hospital when she goes in for the Operation. That will be convenient. I'd like to avoid having Special Circumstances hovercars land in Uglyville, if possible."
"That's not soon enough!" Max almost shouted. She had never been as even-keeled, temperament-wise, as Min was.
"And why not?" Min turned away from the workscreen to face Max. "It's unlikely that she'll know any more than Zane did, which was hardly useful intelligence. I need to figure out what I'm going to do with her, first. It will be a waste simply interrogating someone again."
"You're right…you always are," Max sighed, looking at the floor.
"We have the facts that we need…except for the most important one: the Smoke's location," Min lectured, like she was talking to a littlie. "We've done countless sweeps and scouting missions…nothing. Every time. Why can't we find it?" she asked Max, mainly rhetorically, excited to finally reveal what she had been planning ever since Zane's group ran away.
"I…I don't know," Max said stupidly. "We have the best technology."
"Yes…but who does manage to find the Smoke, Max?"
"Ummm….the uglies who run away there?"
"Exactly." Minerva grinned wickedly.
"Oh…so you're saying…?" Max said, it all finally dawning on her. "You want to send an ugly to go look for the Smoke."
"Of course. Is it not brilliant? I think that this Tally may be just perfect for it."
"Why?" Max asked.
"She's lonely," Min said simply. "Before Shay, she spoke to…nobody, almost. She had a friend before that—" Min glanced at her workscreen's data "—some boy named Peris. But he turned three months ago. She must have used Shay to fill the void. Why would she not want to go looking for her missing friend? And if not, I'll find some way to make her."
"Wow," was all Max said, staring at Min in awe. "I will never cease to be amazed by your brilliance," she said sincerely.
"Of course," Min said off-handedly, used to admiration since early on in life. "But back to work now, Max. We have a lot to prepare before Tally Youngblood's visit to Headquarters."
"Yes, ma'am," Max said, standing up. "I'll tell the other officers the plan. Should I call a meeting for later today?"
"Yes, that would probably be good."
"I'm on it," Max said, and left the office.
It crossed Min's mind that they had completely forgotten about lunch, but that hardly mattered at the moment.
After the meeting, Min retired to her room. She sat down on her bed and went over the plan again, in her head. They would more or less force Tally to go look for the Smoke, probably with the bait of "saving" Shay. David the mystery-man would lead her there, or, if worst came to worst, Tally would just have to follow Zane's simple map, which should work. It included landmarks that could probably only be found through ground travel, explaining Special Circumstances' difficulties. And if it didn't work…Minerva hardly cared about one ugly left dead in the wilderness. They'd find someone else and improve the plan somehow.
There was one part that hadn't quite been worked out yet, though. Once Tally found the Smoke, she'd need some way to send a signal that wouldn't be obvious to the people living in the smoke…
The simplest solution, Min had decided earlier, was a hidden tracker that could be worn somehow. That would make it harder to get lost or destroyed during the journey. She looked at the interface ring on her hand. Something like that. An accessory you could wear all the time that didn't look suspicious.
Min got up and started rummaging through one of her top dresser drawers, looking for inspiration. A hair clip could fall out easily…no, that wouldn't do.
Then her fingertips found something cold and hard, in the bottom of the drawer, shoved into a corner.
She pulled out an object she hadn't thought about in years and years…luckily. It must have been fate which led her hand there. The necklace was perfect for its purpose, as well as beautifully symbolic. There was no better way to house the instrument which would destroy Az's home.
Minerva stared at the small silver heart in her palm, emotions that had been buried for thirty years threating to well up inside her again and choke her. After all this time, the moment of revenge was finally upon her.
Minerva felt an evil grin slowly spread across her face. "I've got you now," she whispered.