(Max's POV)
"How can the Voice know where I am and what I can see?" I whispered to Fang. All six of us had settled onto the wide, welcoming branches of an enormous oak tree in Central Park. Almost forty feet in the air, we could talk softly with no one hearing us.
Unless the tree was wired.
Believe me, I had lost my ability to be surprised by stuff like that.
"It's inside you," Fang answered, settling back against the tree's trunk. "It's wherever you are. If it's tapped into any of your senses, it knows where you are and what you're doing."
Oh, no, I thought, my spirits sinking. I hadn't considered that. Did that mean nothing I did was ever private anymore?
"That's scary," Cookie said playing with her hair.
"Cookie, you think almost everything is scary," Iggy said poking fun at her.
"Even in the bathroom?" The Gasman's eyes widened with surprise and amusement. Nudge suppressed a grin as I gave Gazzy a narrow-eyed glare. Angel was smoothing Celeste's gown and neatening the bear's fur.
I took out the bank card and examined it. I still had the one we'd stolen from the jerk in California, and I compared them. The new one seemed just as legit as the old one. I stuck the old one into a deep fissure in the tree's bark-couldn't use it again anyway.
"So we need to figure out the password," I muttered, turning the new card over and over in my hands. Great. That should only take about a thousand years or so.
I was beyond tired. I also had an impressive knot on my head from whacking the sidewalk. Because, you know, I didn't have enough head problems lately.
Wordlessly, I held out my left fist. Fang put his on top, then Iggy, then Nudge. Gazzy leaned way over from his branch and managed to barely touch us. Angel leaned down and put her fist on Gazzy's, and then Celeste's paw on top of her fist. Cookie put her hand on the very top of the stack, almost falling out of the tree. I heard Gazzy sigh. Or something. We all tapped hands then got comfy on the wide branches. Angel was directly above me, her small foot hanging down to touch my knee. I saw her tuck Celeste firmly against the tree. Kinda sweet.
The evening air washed over me. My last thought was that I was thankful we were together and safe for at least one more night.