Aya frowned, slowly realizing how tricky this was going to be. 'But you don't even speak Japanese.'
'I'm sure you'll think of some explanation,' Shay said, then laughed. 'Just imagine the great story you'll get out of it. Honorary Cutter!'
Aya nodded slowly. It would be an amazing story: an ugly drawn into helping the Cutters save the world. Plus, she could show what the famous Tally Youngblood was really like.
'But I don't even have a spycam. Stories don't mean anything without shots.'
'Are you sure about that? Check your eyescreen.'
Aya flexed her ring finger. The familiar feeds were all missing, but a few signals hovered at the edge of her vision: an unrecognizable language from some passing city fragments of the hovercar's interface beneath layers of security. And in its corner, her last known face rank captured as they'd shot through the flash-bombed hovercams: eight.
'I made the top ten,' she said softly.
Then she saw it: Moggle's signal, its power minimized but steady, coming from only meters away.
Her eyes widened. 'Moggles stuck to the bottom of the car.'
'Yep. It snuck under there while they were loading us on,' Shay said. 'Pretty clever little hovercam you've got there.'
Aya looked down at Ren's sleeping form. 'It's his mods, not mine.'
'Smart boy.'
'Okay, you've got a story,' Tally said. 'So is it worth your time to help us save the world?'
'You promise to protect us?'
'Yeah,' Tally said. 'I promise.'
Aya took a slow breath, remembering Lai's words on the sled.
'Sure, I'll help. I happen to like the world, after all.'
'That's just bubbly of you, Aya-la,' Shay said. 'Now what about your friends? Are they going to be a problem?'
'No, I'm sure they'll help too.' Aya took Frizz's hand, wondering if she should wake the rest of them up. It was best if they all learned what was going on now, before anyone had a chance to give everything away.
Aya looked down at Frizz, her eyes widening. He was beginning to stir at her touch, a soft moan escaping his lips?his beautiful lips that could speak nothing but the truth.
And suddenly Aya realized that now was not the best time for Radical Honesty.
'Aya?' Frizz murmured softly, his eyes fluttering open. 'Is that you?'
'Yeah, it's me.' She leaned closer. 'Are you okay?'
'I think I'm covered in bruises,' Frizz answered. 'And I know I'm very upset with Tally Youngblood.'
Aya squeezed his hand, unsure how much to tell him about their situation. After what Shay had said, she wondered what Tally would do to Frizz if she found out that his brain surge threatened her plans.
Knock him out again? Toss him out of the hovercar?
Aya decided that she needed help with this.
She turned to Shay. 'Wake those two up, Shay-la? I might as well explain everything at once.'
Shay nodded, then nudged Hiro and Ren. They came awake slowly, their eyes sweeping around the shuddering cargo hold in disbelief.
'What happened?' Hiro said, sitting up. His lifter rig had been removed, and his party clothes were rumpled beyond repair.
Aya helped Frizz sit up, then gestured the others closer. When they were huddled together, she spoke in rapid Japanese.
'They used us as bait, and let us all get captured. So I guess we're headed to wherever those freaks come from.'
Ren glanced at Shay. 'So that's the real reason they're in disguise.'
'Yeah. And now they need our help,' Aya said. 'They want to sneak into the inhumans' base without anyone knowing who they are. We have to pretend they're friends of ours.'
'Are they brain-missing?' Hiro cried. 'How dare they drag us into this?'
Aya turned to him and shrugged. 'I guess Tally's so famous she thinks she can do anything.'
'Well, I'm not helping them.' Hiro crossed his arms. 'Not after they got us kidnapped on purpose!'
'But we wouldn't just be helping than' Frizz said. 'Tally said there were more mass drivers.
Lots. Don't you think that somewhere there might be a cylinder pointed at our city, Hiro? Maybe programmed to take out your mansion?'
'Well, maybe,' Hiro mumbled, casting an annoyed look at Tally.
'And don't you think this will make a better story if we help them?' Aya asked. 'They want us to be sort of ? honorary Cutters.'
'Honorary Cutters?' Ren whispered. 'That would be a pretty big story.'
Hiro shook his head. 'Pretty crappy story without cams.'
'Not to worry,' Aya said. 'Moggle is still with us, stuck to the bottom of this car.'
'Moggle did that while we were all knocked out?' Ren laughed. 'My mods rule!'
Aya nodded. 'So what do you say, Hiro? Do we kick this?'
The hovercar hit a patch of serious turbulence, dropping out from under them for a moment.
They all lifted into the air, then came down hard against the metal floor. But Hiro just sat there as though the storm wasn't happening, thinking hard.
Finally he nodded. 'Okay, but we all kick our stories at the same time. And everyone gets to use any of Moggle's shots they want.'
'Agreed,' Aya said.
'You two are very strange sometimes,' Frizz said. 'Can I point out that how you kick this story is not our biggest problem.'
Aya sighed. 'You're right about that.'
Ren's excited expression fell, and he let out a slow breath. 'Radical Honesty.'
'So what?' Hiro said. 'Can't you just keep quiet?'
Frizz shook his head. 'I can't even keep a surprise party a secret. How am I supposed to hide the fact that the world's most famous person is standing next to me in disguise?'
'You can't keep a birthday party secret?' Hiro said. 'Okay, Radical Honesty is officially the most brain-missing clique I've ever heard of!'
'Well, when I came up with it, I wasn't planning on sneaking Tally Youngblood into someplace full of aliens, okay?' Frizz cried. 'And neither were you, until you found out you could kick the story!'
'What's your point?' Hiro asked.
'There's one more thing,' Aya interrupted. 'I think Tally's a little?unstable.'
Hiro and Ren looked at her like they thought she was kidding, but Frizz nodded. 'When I first got the idea for Radical Honesty, I spent some time studying the history of brain surge. Not just the bubbleheads, but everything, including what Tally's city did to Specials.' Frizz glanced at the three Cutters. 'They could be deadly when people got in their way. Their motto was, 'I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to.' And they did. They even killed people.'
Hiro gave Aya a sidelong glance. 'And you want us to be 'Honorary Cutters'?'
'But I thought they were all cured,' she said.
Frizz nodded. 'Most of them were completely despecialized. But the Cutters who'd protected Diego in the war were allowed to keep their reflexes and strength, because their brains were cured.' He leaned in closer. 'But Tally Youngblood never changed at all. She didn't want anyone 'rewiring' her, she said?that's why she disappeared into the wild.'
'Crap,' Ren said. 'They really don't tell it that way on the history feeds.'
Aya swallowed. This was much worse than she'd thought.
She turned to Frizz. 'So you understand the problem? You can't let Tally know about Radical Honesty. There's no telling what she'll do if she finds out you could ruin her plans.'
