Noriko nodded. “After a few weeks of training and orientation, yeah, as many as you want.”
“Sweet!” Abby whapped me on the arm. “Mags, it’s perfect! I can send tokens to all my friends from camp, and this time next week we’ll have new members all over the state! Plus one of my friends has family in California, and I bet you anything someone knows some kids up in Vancouver. We can build our own version of Camp Cantaloupe in no time!”
Her face was shining with happiness, but I felt like I’d tumbled over the railing and fallen headfirst into one of the vats. Making friends with the badminton girls in the Hub was one thing, but now Abby was talking about opening up our network to every random kid from Camp Cantaloupe? What was wrong with the way things had been? What was wrong with just the two of us?
I swallowed hard. It was finally starting to sink in that what Abby really wanted out of this whole adventure was more time with other people. Other people who weren’t me.
“Hold on,” I said, shoving down my feelings. I could be sad later. Right now there were critical secret-agent issues to address, like Noriko’s offer sounding way too good to possibly be true. “You’re saying you and the rest of the Council are just going to hand us all this territory and power? What’s the catch?”
“There’s no catch,” said Noriko. “But there is one short, annoying obstacle. And he has a seat on the Council.”
“Ben?” I said.
“Ben.”
“Is that Overall Boy?” asked Abby.
Noriko laughed. “Ha! That’s what Connor calls him. Yeah, Ben’s being kind of a roadblock. He wants the west coast for himself, and he’s trying to get you disqualified before you can even complete your task. He’s the one who pointed out all the technical violations last night that led to the attack, and the one who wrote the letter.”
“Called it,” I said.
“But how could he ever get the west coast?” Abby asked. “Isn’t he in charge of the Midwest Sofa Oval, or whatever?”
“The Great Plains Sofa Circle,” said Noriko. “Yeah, he is. But NAFAFA’s been divided over what to do with the west for decades. I mean, it’s just been sitting there, cut off, as far as forts are concerned. Do you know how weird it is to be linked up with kids from all over the entire continent but not have a single pillow fort from California? It’s pretty weird.
“My network and Murray’s have always voted to leave the west alone, because honestly we have enough territory to deal with already. Miesha’s network wanted it for a while back in the late 1900s but they don’t anymore. But Ben’s network has wanted to stretch out to the west coast this whole entire time, and Ben thinks they’ve waited long enough. Getting it would make Ben’s network bigger and more powerful than any of the others, and I can’t let that happen. Partly because, you know, it’s Ben. But mostly because my network has always been the biggest, and the most fun, and I refuse to be the head of the Council who lets that change.”
Oof. So much drama and intrigue going on under all these pillows and banners! Didn’t these kids know they could have an adventure without it turning into a soap opera? “So stop him,” I said. “You’re in charge, aren’t you?”
“I have stopped him,” said Noriko. “I’ve blocked Ben over and over, but I turn thirteen next month, I’m aging out, and he’s been waiting for that exact chance since the minute he joined.
“Except now we’ve got you two, in the nick of time, and if we can get you through your good-deed test and onto the Council before I leave, then all his plans will be shot and my legacy and NAFAFA will be safe.”
Abby raised her hand, frowning. “Okay, so I get that Ben wants the west and you won’t let him have it,” she said. “But how does you aging out give him his chance? Can’t the next leader just keep blocking him?”
Noriko shook her head. “That’s the main problem right there. The charter says it takes four votes to elect someone to run the Council. Obviously, I want Miesha to get it, and she’s the next oldest, but Ben’s made it clear the only way he’ll vote for anyone but himself is if we agree to let him take over the west coast first. Before we elect a new head. But if we can get your network onto the Council, we’ll have the four votes we need for Miesha, and there’s nothing he can do to stop it.”
“Bad luck for Ben,” said Abby cheerfully.
“Totally,” said Noriko. “He actually thinks this is all super suspicious. He thinks I set up your network on purpose in order to block him at the last minute. That’s why we’re sneaking around like this. He’s got his spies everywhere. Miesha’s on ‘Distract Ben’ duty with Sprinkles the puppy right now just so we could have this meeting.”
“Aww!” said Abby. “Puppy duty!”
“Is that why Ben was being so unfriendly when I met him the other day?” I asked.
“Yup,” said Noriko. “I mean, Ben’s never exactly been sweet, but he knows you two turning up could stop his dreams of expansion for good, and he thinks I’m helping you. That’s making him an extra-grumpy Overall Boy.” She leaned against the railing, crossing her arms. “So, yeah, that’s the situation. This has to happen, and I’m sorry to be blunt, but it’s pretty clear from all your flailing around that you two can’t do this on your own. That’s why I’ve organized everything for you and set up a foolproof, can’t-fail good deed. It’s a sure thing, and totally doable even though you’re grounded. Carolina is putting the finishing touches in place and dropping off instructions in your fort right now.”
The roar of the room thundered around us.
“But that’s . . .
