"YOU'RE JUST OBSERVING THIS TIME," I SAID TO TWENTY-TWO the next night as we stood on
the roof of HARC. "Remember that."
He nodded. He kept rubbing his hands up and down his arms and bouncing on his heels. The newbies
were always nervous, but I had thought he might stroll onto the roof with his usual smile. He hadn't, and I
almost missed it.
Ten Reboots stood on the roof of HARC in the dark, waiting for the shuttle. Five were newbies with
their trainers. Lissy cast a scornful glance at Twenty-two as he bounced, then looked at her Forty-three
smugly. Forty-three, with his tiny arms and odd facial twitch, didn't seem like much to be smug about.
"Don't speak unless spoken to," I continued, ignoring Lissy. "Do everything the officers tell you to in
the field. Otherwise, they will shoot you."
He nodded again as the shuttle landed on the roof with a bang, the gust of wind it brought blowing up
my ponytail. The side door slid open and Leb stood there, his black sleeves rolled up to his elbows even
though it was a chilly night. He was a tall, well-built guy, and he often looked uncomfortable in the stiff
HARC uniform.
He waved his hand, gesturing for us to get on. We stepped inside, the metal clanging underneath our
boots. Since there were ten of us going out tonight we were in one of the midsize shuttles. The small black
plastic seats lined the side of the shuttle, facing the one bigger chair for the officer. The door leading to
the driver's seat was still open, and I glimpsed the back of a human's head. The drivers never left the
shuttle under any circumstance, and didn't interact with the Reboots in back.
Twenty-two stood next to me motionlessly, as I had instructed, and Leb grabbed his arm and turned it
over to look at his bar code. He chuckled, the lines on his hard square face more pronounced when he
smiled.
"I heard you picked Twenty-two," he said. "Had to see for myself."
I had no idea how to respond to that. I nodded slightly and he smiled, the only guard to smile at any
Reboot, much less me. He was a weird human.
"Sit," he said, slamming the driver's door closed and plopping down in his seat. He hadn't even taken
his gun out of its holster. He was one of the few officers to leave it on his hip when Reboots entered the
shuttle. Most of them stuck it in our faces, trying not to let it wobble.
I sat first and Twenty-two followed, pulling the straps down his chest and fumbling as he tried to snap
them. He was shaking now. The newbies were always scared of the shuttle; in their human lives they had
never been inside anything that moved so quickly or lifted off the ground. Most hid their fear. It was only
Forty-three who let his terror show openly, his breathing heavy and unsteady. Lissy smacked his head.
I stared at Twenty-two as we rose into the air. He closed his eyes. He looked almost human with his
black eyes shut. He hadn't developed the speed or agility or predatorlike quality that defined a Reboot
yet. He still had so many clumsy human traits. Yet as he stretched his legs out in front of him and ran his
hands down his thighs I could see the Reboot in him—the slow, controlled movement, how he seemed to
take up every inch of space in a room by the way he held his body. It was a subtle difference, the one
between humans and Reboots, but it was unmistakable.
Leb caught me staring and raised his eyebrows. I quickly focused my gaze on my hands.
"You can speak freely," he said.
Twenty-two remained silent as the other newbies whispered to their trainers, his fingers gripping the
bottom of his seat every time we jerked.
"There's no reason to be scared," I said. "Even if we crash, chances are we'd be fine."
"Unless we're decapitated."
"Well, yes. But that seems unlikely."
"Or if the top comes down and crushes our heads in." His eyes flew to the black metal above us.
"Trust me when I say a shuttle crash is the least of your worries tonight."
"Thank you. I feel so much better." He looked at Leb. "How long have you been doing this? Have you
ever—"
"Twenty-two," I said sharply. He looked at me and I shook my head. The shuttle had gone silent again.
"What? He said we could speak freely."
"He didn't mean to him."
Twenty-two rolled his eyes and I felt a spark of anger in my chest.
"He could punish you for that," I said, looking at Leb. I glanced at the stick next to his hand. A shuttle
officer had never used one on me.
"Do you want me to?" Leb asked, eyeing Twenty-two. He didn't reach for the stick.
I took in a sharp breath. He'd never punished any of my newbies, but he'd never had to. They all did
exactly as I said.
Asking permission to hit my newbie was odd, though. I knew that. The other trainers knew that.
"No," I replied. Every Reboot in the shuttle stared at me. I focused on Twenty-two again.
"Should I be insulted that you hesitated?" he asked with a smile.
"I can still change my mind."
"How will you tell him? He stopped talking. Apparently that means we're only allowed to talk to one
another again."
"I will find a stick and beat you myself when we land."
"Promise?"
I heard a sound like laughter from Leb's direction and I looked over in surprise. He ducked his head
in an attempt to hide his smile. Twenty-two grinned at me.
"Focus, Twenty-two," I said.
"Can't you call me Callum?"
"Focus, Callum," I said quietly, firmly.
"Sorry," he said, putting on a more serious face.
The shuttle landed and Leb motioned for us to stand. He slid the door open and we marched out into
the dark, a soft breeze ruffling my ponytail.
They named the city Rosa after the woman who built it. I had always liked the name, had even been
excited to hear I was to be stationed in Rosa.
Twenty-two stared, his lips parted, his neck pulsing strangely. His horror was palpable, but when I
turned, I saw nothing unusual.
"What?" I asked.
"What is this? Where are we?"
"Rosa," I said, glancing back as if to make sure. Of course it was Rosa.
"But . . . this is the slums?"
"Yes."
"Are they all like this?" he asked, his voice strained.
"Like what?"
He gestured and I looked again. The slums of Rosa were similar to the slums of Austin, but perhaps a
bit worse.
Maybe the very worst. Rosa was a city built by the sick. It was a surprise they survived at all after
they were run off from Austin. As I understood it, even the rico side of Rosa wasn't much compared to the
other cities of Texas.
The buildings were wooden structures erected after the war. The little homes sat close together, one
story and two bedrooms and barely standing in some cases. The humans with houses were lucky. The
apartments on the other side of town were not as nice.
"We're lucky to have any roof over our head," my mom had said the day we'd been kicked out of yet
another apartment. We ended up sleeping in an abandoned building until they got the money together for a
shared apartment. We'd never had a house.
I glanced at Twenty-two and was almost tempted to horrify him further with that story, but his eyes
were still fixed straight ahead. I followed his gaze.
The roads were mostly dirt, but the two main streets were paved. They were full of holes, though,
abandoned after it became clear the slums were nothing but a disease-ridden Reboot breeding ground.
Trash piled up on the side of the street and the stench of rotting food and human waste filled the air.
The plumbing system in Rosa was a work in progress.
"They're not all this bad, are they?" he asked.
"Not quite this bad. Similar, though."
"In Austin?" he asked. Silly question, as I could tell he already knew the answer.
"Yes. I've forgotten a lot. But yeah, it was like this."
"And you grew up in . . ."
The sympathetic expression on his face annoyed me. The last thing I needed was pity from a rico boy.
"Look at your map," I said sharply. "You need to get familiar with Rosa."
He pulled his map out of his pocket and I couldn't help thinking that he was relieved to be looking
anywhere other than at me.
"Which way?" I asked.
He pointed in the wrong direction.
"That's north."
"Is north wrong?"
I sighed. "Yes."
"Sorry." He fumbled with the map, dropping one side as pink spread across his cheeks. A pang of
sympathy struck my chest. I hadn't been good at reading maps as a newbie. Humans didn't need maps.
Their lives consisted of the same ten-to-fifteen-mile space.
"You're here," I said, pointing to the spot on the map. "We're going here."
He raised his eyes to mine and smiled. "Okay. Thanks."
I took off down the street and he skipped to keep up. He glanced behind him and I turned to see Leb
leaning against the shuttle, his eyes on something in the distance.
"He stays there?" he asked.
"Yes. Officers stay with the shuttle unless they lose audio or video feed on a Reboot. Then they will
come look for you. But don't expect them to help you with your assignment. They're only here to keep
track of us."
We turned a corner and I crept across the patchy dead grass to the door of our target, Thomas Cole.
He had killed his son.
They always gave me the child murderers.
I didn't object.
It didn't say so on the assignment slip, but there was a very good chance he had killed his son because
the child died and then Rebooted. Once a human became a Reboot, they were property of HARC, and
though HARC had no qualms about killing us later, civilians weren't allowed to make that decision. Even
if it was their own child. A few parents went the other way, attempting to hide their Reboot children from
HARC, but that also led to arrest.
I didn't think most parents minded when their Reboot children were shipped away. They were glad to
be rid of us.
"First?" I asked, looking back at Twenty-two.
"Knock."
I nodded. It gave them a chance to come willingly. It rarely worked.
I knocked and held my fist up to Twenty-two, counting out five fingers.
Then I kicked the door in.
Every piece of furniture Thomas Cole owned was piled in front of the door. Not the first time an
assignment had blockaded the front door, but definitely one of worst attempts.
I pushed the old, rickety furniture out of the way and hopped over the rest. The people who barricaded
themselves in their homes had nowhere else to go. No friends. No family. No human would touch them.
A smile crossed my lips. I quickly wiped it off my face as Twenty-two climbed over the furniture. He
would think I was insane, smiling at a time like this.
Two bullets bit at my shoulder as blasts erupted from the hallway. Humans were forbidden to own
guns. Many did anyway.
I pointed for Twenty-two to get out of the way. He stumbled over a chair, his eyes fixed on the holes
in my shoulder. I ducked as another shot whizzed over my helmet and Twenty-two pressed his body into
the rotting wood of the wall.
I ran to the hallway, using my arm to cover my face. Depending on the type of gun he was using, my
helmet might offer no protection at all from a direct shot.
But he was a lousy shot. I felt one in my chest and another scrape my neck as the blasts rang in my
ears. When I rounded the corner and came face-to-face with him he missed from three feet away.
He was out of bullets with that last shot.
"Twenty-two!" I yelled. Teaching mission.
Cole sent his foot straight into my stomach. A gasp escaped my mouth and my back hit the wall with a
loud crack.
He took off at a full sprint to the back door and I hauled myself up to my full height. The pain pinged at
me in several places—how many times had he shot me? Four, perhaps. Only two had gone straight
through. I was going to have to dig the other two out with a knife when I got home.
"Come on," I called to Twenty-two as I took off after the human.
I only caught a quick glimpse of the terror on his face before I was running at top speed down the dirt
road behind Cole. His long legs kicked up dirt as he flew down the street.
I picked up the pace, Twenty-two's footsteps pounding behind me. At least he could keep up now.
I jumped over the trash bin Cole threw in my way and he disappeared around a corner. He was faster
than the average human.
The chase felt good.
I rounded the corner and sidestepped his swing before his fist could make contact with my face.
I loved it when they got cocky and stopped running.
What harm could that little blond girl possibly do to me? No human had ever said it to me, but I'd
seen it in their eyes.
I delivered a swift punch to his jaw to answer the question.
He stumbled and I punched him again. Blood on my hands this time.
I took his legs out from under him with one kick and I slapped the handcuffs on his wrists. He let out
an angry scream and kicked his feet, frantically trying to make contact with my stomach. I grabbed the foot
cuffs and bound his ankles.
I attached the leash and looked up at Twenty-two. His chest rose and fell so quickly I thought
something might burst out of it. His face was red, although it seemed more from anger than running.
"Secure the feet if they're runners," I said, pointing. "Especially if they're fast."
Cole spit on my shoes, so I gave him a kick in the mouth. Not necessary. But it felt good.
"Wren One-seventy-eight with Twenty-two," I spoke into my com. "Assignment secure."
"Proceed to shuttle."
I looked up at Twenty-two. "Do you remember how to get back?"
His breathing had slowed. His panic, however, had increased. The smiling Twenty-two, the boy in the
shuttle ten minutes ago, was gone, replaced by the terrified Reboot staring at me. His eyes flicked over the
bullet wounds still seeping blood all over my body, then to the man I had tied at my feet.
They all looked terrified the first time; I suppose I should have known Twenty-two would be worse.
I pointed in the right direction but he didn't move. I hauled Cole through the dirt and past him,
grabbing his arm and giving it a tug.
"Let's go."
He said nothing; I had to glance back to see if he actually followed. He did, trudging along with his
face turned to the ground.
"Hey! Hey! Help me!" Cole yelled.
I whirled around to see a human crouched at the side of a building, his arms wrapped around his thin
brown pants. Twenty-two stopped and the human fell backward, panicked gasps escaping his mouth. The
human's eyes met mine and I saw the flash of recognition. Many humans in Rosa knew me from my five
years of assignments. They were never pleased to see me.
Twenty-two drew a shaky breath as he looked from me to the horrified human.
"Curfew violation," I said into my com.
The human let out a yell, scrambling to his feet.
"Leave it," the voice on the other end said.
I jerked my head at Twenty-two, but he was watching the human throw terrified glances over his
shoulder as he ran.
"They ordered us to leave it," I said, pulling on Cole's leash again. I turned and Twenty-two followed
a few seconds later.
I threw Cole in the human shuttle and we walked to the adjacent one in silence. I felt like I should say
something, although I had no idea what. I had a speech I usually made at this point—toughen up, accept
your life, it gets easier—but I couldn't remember it. His sad little face made me want to say nothing at
all.
We entered the Reboot shuttle and Leb gestured for us to sit down. Only Hugo and his newbie were
back, so there was nothing to fill the silence as we strapped ourselves in.
The rest of the Reboots trickled in, Lissy and her newbie last. Forty-three had two black eyes and
tears streamed down his bloody face. It looked as though they'd had a tough human, and Lissy hadn't done
much to get her trainee out of the way. Twenty-two gave me the smallest of grateful smiles. That could
have been him. My mouth turned up just slightly.
"Sit," Leb said, turning away as he closed the driver's door.
Forty-three just stood there. Lissy yanked on his shirt and he whirled around, his hand smacking
across her face. She gasped and shot to her feet, shoving her hands against his shoulders so hard he
stumbled.
Leb strode across the shuttle and grabbed Forty-three by the front of his collar. He roughly shoved himinto his seat, gesturing for Lissy to sit as well. She glared at her trainee as she strapped in.
Forty-three's breathing was still heavy, his gold eyes fixed on Leb. The officer didn't notice. Leb sat
down and stared at his hands, lost in thought.
Forty-three's mouth twisted, hate spewing from his every pore. I'd seen newbies have similar
reactions after their first assignment, although many of them were better at concealing it. The hatred of
humans, particularly of HARC officers, was understandable in a new Reboot. They were shoving guns in
our faces and yelling and making us do their dirty work. It didn't bother me anymore, but I remembered
the feeling as a newbie. I'd understood my trainer didn't have a choice any more than I did. It was the
humans who made us do this.
I tried to catch Lissy's eye, to get her to control her trainee before Leb noticed, but she was biting her
nails, her gaze on the shuttle wall.
Forty-three thrust his hand into his pocket. I saw only the flash of silver as he jumped up from his seat,
but I knew it was a knife. The scream echoed across the shuttle as he ran for Leb, blade aimed at his
chest.
I threw off my straps and shot to my feet. The officer's eyes were wide, his hand nowhere near his gun
yet. I dove in front of Leb as Forty-three thrust the knife at him. It slid into my stomach like it was a good
piece of rare steak.
Forty-three pulled the blade out, red and shaking in his hand. I kicked his leg, easily grabbing the knife
as he went down. He rolled onto his knees, sobs shaking his body. He would be eliminated for bringing a
weapon onto the shuttle, so I could almost understand the tears.
Some officers might have killed him right away, but Leb was the type to let Officer Mayer deal out the
more permanent punishments.
"Great," Lissy muttered under her breath, making no move to help Forty-Three.
I wiped the blood dripping from the blade on my pants and held the knife out to Leb. He still sat there,
the poor, slow human. He stared at me and I raised my eyebrows and held the knife a bit closer. He took
it.
"Thank you," he said quietly.
I frowned at that response. He lowered his head and I wished I'd nodded or said, "You're welcome."
I hadn't been expecting a thank-you. I wasn't even sure why I'd done it. I supposed he was my favorite
HARC officer, but that was a bit like having a favorite vegetable. They were all pretty uninteresting.
I went back to my seat, my hand drifting to my stomach. My shirt was soaked through with blood.
Twenty-two's head was in his hands. I focused on the floor, glad I didn't have to meet those panicked,
horrified eyes again.