crust, as if living statues had joined the party. Aya spotted face-types based on animals, historical figures, and she-didn't-know-what, all vying for the attention of the swarming cams.
With Nana Love's party only a week away, everyone was pulling out all the stops, trying to eye-kick their way into the top one thousand.
Somehow, though, none of the surge-monkeys here was as unnerving as the figures she and Miki had glimpsed in the mag-lev tunnel. This party was all about fashion and eye-kicks, but those freaks were something? inhuman.
She took a deep breath, banishing body mods from her mind. Not everyone here was a surge-monkey. There were also the geniuses: math-heads playing with puzzle cubes and airscreen mazes, science cliques in lab wear, all blended together in a tech-kicker's paradise.
Aya scanned the crowd for Frizz, but extraordinary sights kept arresting her gaze.
'Look at those pixel-skins!' she cried. Across the room a couple stood half naked, blurry images moving across their backs. Somehow they were changing their skin cells' colors fast enough to show a feed channel, like chameleon lizards clinging to a wall screen.
'It's rude to point,' Ren said. 'And that's old news. Check out those four in the corner.'
Aya followed his gaze. 'What do you mean? I don't see anyone.'
'Exactly. That's the latest generation of pixilated skin? almost perfect camouflage.'
'Very funny, Ren. You're totally full of?' Her voice trailed off. The corner had just moved, a barely perceptible shift, like a wrinkle passing through the wallpaper. The motion left a shape in her vision?a human body. She whispered, 'Moggle, are you getting that?'
'Big deal,' Hiro said. 'Octopuses can do the same thing.'
'That's where the idea came from,' Ren said. 'Octopus skin cells have these little bags of pigment inside, which they control with?' 'Hang on,' Aya interrupted. 'Why can't we see their clothes?'
Hiro chuckled, and Ren said, 'What clothes?'
Aya's eyes widened. 'Oh. That's?interesting.'
'One problem, though,' Hiro said thoughtfully. 'Isn't invisibility the opposite of fame?'
'Hiro!' Ren hissed. 'Nameless One Alert!'
Aya looked up to see Toshi Banana making his way across the room, his famous shark-shaped hovercam slicing through the air overhead. An entourage of wannabe kickers and fame groupies trailed in his wake.
'What's he doing here?' Hiro said. 'He's way too famous for this party, and he hates tech-heads!'
'And, um, is he coming toward us?' Aya asked softly.
'No way,' Hiro said.
But Toshi's wide-shouldered frame was headed straight at them, shoving his way between a leopard-pelted surge-monkey and a bunch of manga-heads.
The entourage swept to a halt around the three of them, a small armada of hovercams sliding into place overhead. Aya suddenly remembered all the slam interviews Toshi had pulled over the years?he was an expert at making his opponents look like idiots.
'Hiro Fuse? Is that you?' Toshi's voice sounded just liked it did on his feed: low and gravelly, threatening to shift into outrage at any moment. Aya noticed that he didn't bother to bow.
'Um?,' Hiro began.
'Not sure? Well i think it's you, and I'm seldom wrong.' Toshi chuckled, and his groupies broke into laughter.
'Loved your immortality story.'
'Oh, thank you, Toshi-sensei.' Hiro cleared his throat. 'I appreciate that.'
Aya rolled her eyes. One compliment from the Nameless One, and Hiro was already face-grubbing.
'Cloned hearts! Disgusting!' Toshi glanced back at the leopard girl and rolled his eyes. 'Some people love to pervert the natural order, eh?'
'You mean those crumblies?' Hiro shrugged. 'I think they were just afraid to die.'
'Fear, exactly! That's what the mind-rain has given us.'
'You keep slamming the mind-rain,' Ren said. 'So why not go back to being a bubblehead?'
Toshi turned his huge frame and sized Ren up. 'Do I know you?'
Ren bowed a fraction of a degree. 'I doubt it.'
'Well, contrary to popular belief, not everyone was a bubblehead back in the Prettytime. Some people had to run the city.' Toshi turned back to Hiro. 'Your face rank seems to have slipped since that story, Hiro-chan. Maybe it's the company you're keeping.'
'Hey!' Aya cried, doing a little frictionless spin. 'His company is standing right here!'
Toshi looked down at her. 'An extra? Dating downward, Hiro-chan?'
'Dating? That's my ?,' Hiro started, but under the stares of Toshi's entourage, his voice faded.
The Nameless One exhaled a slow breath, his gaze drifting over Hiro's shoulder, as if looking for someone more important. 'Well if your effort tonight is interesting, perhaps you can guest on my feed. It might help you break into the big leagues.'
'Forget it!' Aya said. 'After tonight, we'll both be a zillion times famouser than you!'
The entourage's hovercams swiveled, all suddenly focusing on Aya. Toshi stared down at her like he'd found a cockroach between his chopsticks.
'Is this ugly in your story, Hiro-chan? If so, I don't get it.'
As Aya started to reply, a troubling realization crossed her mind. To mind-rain slammers like the Nameless One, the city killer would be more evidence that humanity threatened the planet, just more proof that everyone had to be controlled again.
With his dozen hovercams, Toshi was already gathering material to spin her story his way. He'd already used Hiro's immortality kick to stir up fear of overpopulation. How much more could he do with a city killer!
'Don't worry, Toshichan
,' Ren said. 'You'll get it soon enough. Everyone will.' He turned to Aya. 'Let's kick it early. Let's kick it now.'
'Really?'
'Good idea, Ren,' Hiro said. 'A little surprise for everyone.'
Aya looked up at the Nameless One. Anything that threw him off balance was fine with her. She bowed. 'Excuse us. We have something important to do.'
He started to sputter a reply, but the three of them were already walking away. Unlock codes tumbled across Aya's eyescreen, and Hire's fingers were already twitching. She shot a quick ping to Frizz, just to make sure he caught the story the first time around.
Hiro's hands settled, and he turned to her. 'Ready, little sister?'
She nodded slowly, and felt her flash tattoos spinning. 'Ready.'
'Kick in three?two?one ?' They mouthed their final codes together, then stared at each other.
The City Killer story was on the feeds.
Ren pushed straight through the crowd, stepping into the middle of the room beside a manga-head with meter-tall sparkling hair. He clapped his hands together twice.
'Ladies and gentlemen, a brief announcement!' He paused for a moment while the chatter settled down. Even the Reputation Bombers were silenced by his audaciousness, but Ren looked unashamed, fixing everyone with his gaze.
He gave the room a low bow.
'Forgive me for interrupting, but Hiro and Aya Fuse's new story is up and running. And it concerns something you may be interested in ? the end of the world!'
Fifteen minutes later, it was starting to build.
Of course, most of the partygoers had gone back to their conversations after Ren's announcement. A few handhelds flickered, but the mansions big public wallscreen stayed dark. Why interrupt a bash to watch one feed out of a million? Especially once it turned out to be Hiro Fuse's little sister kicking tonight, and not Mr. Big Face himself.
In one corner, Toshi Banana was making a show of ignoring the rest of the party, telling jokes to his
