“Or we could get in, get Dennings, and make him talk,” said Six.
“As I’ve said before, I don’t think he is the real power behind his organization,” McKenna said. “And I don’t think whoever is would let Dennings live long enough to tell us anything. We already know they have people with Legacies working for them, and we know they’re more than willing to kill if they think they’re in danger of being found. They would have no problem eliminating someone like Dennings.”
“Or someone like Rena,” Six pointed out again. She was out of arguments, and she still didn’t like what they were suggesting. She settled into a sullen silence, while Sam and Lexa looked at her uneasily.
“I’ve spoken to Nine about equipping Rena with—”
“Nine?” Six interrupted. “Now you’re talking to him without involving me and Sam?”
“Nine is familiar with the Foundation, due to Taylor Cook’s experiences,” McKenna said. “We’ve agreed that—”
“So now we’re working for Nine,” Six said flatly. “I get it.”
“You’re not working for me, Six” Nine said from behind her. “You’re working with me. You know, like you told Sam earlier today.”
She glared at him as he took a seat.
“Sorry I’m late,” Nine said. “I had to meet some of my students about an extracurricular project they’re working on. Where are we?”
Six listened as McKenna explained what was going to happen. She didn’t say anything. Obviously, the choice had been made. She didn’t like it and thought they were making a mistake sending Rena back inside. But now she had to focus on keeping the girl as safe as she could. Still, the whole thing bothered her.
She had already said no to working at the HGA, and now here she was doing exactly that. Well, not exactly working for them. As Nine had so characteristically pointed out, she was now working with them. And them was Nine and Lexa, two people she cared about very much, even when they made her crazy. So why was it irritating her so much?
She wasn’t sure. She’d told Sam she was okay with it. But was she really, or had she just been trying to convince herself she was? Right now, she didn’t have time to work it out in her head. She had to focus on the mission ahead of them. She glanced over at Sam. He was watching her. He smiled. It made her feel better. Not great, but better. She pushed the worrisome thoughts away and turned her attention to McKenna. Everything else could wait.
CHAPTER THREE
NEMO
POINT REYES, CALIFORNIA
NEMO CLUNG TO THE STALK OF KELP, KEEPING herself from floating to the surface fifteen feet above. It swayed gently, moving her back and forth, and she wasn’t sure if the nausea she felt was from that or from a combination of excitement and nervousness.
“You’re doing great.”
Nine’s deep, soothing voice crackled through the tiny waterproof earpiece tucked inside her ear canal. The thick neoprene hood she wore encased everything but her face, keeping her mostly dry, if not terribly warm. The water was a chilly fifty-five degrees, and her wet suit was exactly that—wet. The ocean seeped in through the wrists and ankles. Nine had warned her that it would be cold, but the first plunge underwater had nevertheless been a shock. She was still getting used to it.
She was also getting used to all the gear. In addition to the wet suit, she wore gloves, fins, and a weight belt that helped her stay underwater. It had been a lot easier swimming in the lakes she had swum in before, where all she had on was a swimsuit.
Beside her, Nine floated effortlessly in the water without holding on to any kelp. His body was perfectly horizontal, and his arms were crossed over his chest. He wore the same getup that Nemo did, but with the addition of a buoyancy vest, air tank, and regulator. He also had on a mask outfitted with a transmitter that allowed him to talk to her. Nemo, in contrast, wore only a pair of swim goggles that allowed her to see underwater. Her mouth and nose were uncovered.
“Relax,” Nine reminded her.
That’s easy for you to say, Nemo thought. She couldn’t talk underwater and had to respond to Nine using the hand signals he’d taught her earlier in the day. Now she gave him the OK sign to let him know she understood.
“When you’re ready, you can release your death grip on that poor kelp, and we’ll try swimming.”
Very funny. Now I know why you make Six crazy. She looked at Nine and flipped him a signal she was sure he would understand, even though it wasn’t one they’d practiced. His laugh flooded her ear.
Nemo steadied her breath. This required fighting against her natural instincts, but she did it. Now she concentrated on keeping her body horizontal. When she was more or less there, she let go of the kelp. For a moment, she feared she would either sink or fly to the surface, but she stayed where she was.
“Excellent,” said Nine. “Now, let’s try swimming. Remember, slow, easy strokes. This isn’t a race.”
Nemo moved her feet and shot forward. She panicked and clutched at more kelp, then calmed herself and tried again. This time she moved slowly and steadily.
“Nice correction,” said Nine, coming up to swim beside her. “Let’s take a little tour.”
The rain that had darkened the sky earlier in the day had given way to sunshine, and it filtered down through the water, illuminating the kelp forest as it passed through the golden-brown leaves.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Nine asked.
Nemo nodded. It was more than beautiful. It was like nothing she had ever seen. She’d practiced her Legacy in lakes, but that had been nothing like this. This was the ocean, and it was huge and wild and dangerous. The thought of sharks was never far from her mind, although Nine had assured her that not only did they not swim within the kelp forest that grew in the shallower water, they could be controlled by his Legacy.
“Come look at this,” Nine said, angling towards the bottom. All Nemo saw was some rocks and shells scattered around on the sand, but she followed as Nine went to a rock that looked just like all the others and hovered in front of it. Nemo joined him. Nine pointed to something no more than three inches long. It was covered in brownish spikes tipped in yellow, and at one end was what looked like two spiral horns. Nemo had no idea what it could possibly be, if it was some kind of anemone, or plant, or what. Then, ever so slightly, it moved, and she realized it was crawling across the surface of the rock.
“It’s called a nudibranch,” Nine told her. “A sea slug.”
Nemo had never thought of a slug as something beautiful before, but the nudibranch was gorgeous in a strange, alien way. She watched as it moved what she assumed was its head back and forth.
“More than seventy percent of Earth is covered by water,” Nine said. “And this is just one of the millions of things that live here. Most people will never see one up close like this. It’s like you’re an astronaut visiting another planet.”
Says the guy who’s from another planet, Nemo thought.
“Looks like we have company,” said Nine.
Nemo looked up just in time to see something the size of a dog dart past. Then another one came by, and she realized that they had been joined by sea lions. The playful creatures swam around them, blowing bubbles. One of them dove down, picked up an orange starfish in its mouth, and came up to Nemo. It hovered in front of her.
“He wants you to take it,” Nine said. “It’s a game they like to play.”
Nemo reached out and took the starfish in her hand. The sea lion swam away, while another continued to circle them. Nemo held out the starfish, and the second sea lion took it in its mouth, spiraling away in a rush of bubbles.
“Looks like you’ve made some new friends,” Nine said. “You ready to go back up? You don’t want to stay under too long or you’ll get hypothermia, even in that wet suit.”
Nemo was not ready to go up, but she nodded. There would be other times. Now that she’d experienced the ocean, she knew she would be back again and again.
Which is exactly what Nine knew would happen, she
thought as she followed him up towards the sun. Part of her hated him for introducing her to the magic of the kelp forest. Not that she had to stay at the Academy to go swimming. She could do that on her own. Still, it might be nice to have someone who knew what they were doing to show her what else she could do.
Her head broke the surface. Nine already had his mask off. “Pretty awesome, isn’t it?” he said.
“Did you make them do that?” she asked.
Nine shook his head. “That was all them. If you want, next time we can go into more open water and I’ll see about getting one of your shark buddies to do a swim-by. Sound good?”
“We’ll see,” Nemo said. “Maybe.”
“Maybe,” Nine echoed, rolling his eyes. “Come on. Let’s swim in and get something warm to drink.”
They swam to shallow water, then stood up and walked the rest of the way. Nemo couldn’t believe how heavy she felt now that she was back on land. Compared to floating in the water, walking felt like trying to move through mud. When she reached dry sand, she took off her weight belt and dropped it with a sigh of relief.
“It’s easier in warm water, of course,” Nine said, shucking off his air tank and lowering it to the ground. He pulled his hood off and shook the water from his long, dark hair. “Not a lot of people can handle diving in this type of water. Cold. Low visibility. Sharks.”
“I get it,” Nemo said. “We’re badasses. You can knock off the hard sell.”
“No hard sell,” said Nine. “What would I need to sell?”
Nemo barked a laugh. “This place?” she suggested. “The whole Human Garde thing?”
“Maybe I was just testing you,” Nine retorted. “To see if you’ve got what it takes.”
“Like I said,” Nemo replied. “Hard sell.”
“You’re a lot like Six,” Nine remarked. “No wonder I like you.”
“And no wonder you annoy me,” Nemo shot back, but not meanly. Despite all her reservations, she was starting to like Nine too.
“Let’s go tell everyone what we saw,” Nine suggested. “And see how Rena’s coming along with her mission prep.”
Mission prep, Nemo thought. He makes everything sound so dramatic. Then again, wasn’t what Rena was doing a big deal? Going back into a dangerous place to help her friend. She was brave, that was for sure. Would Nemo do the same if it was Max who was being held? She was still really mad at him, but she thought she would. No, she knew she would. That’s what friends did for each other. So then why are you planning on running away and leaving him here? she asked herself.
“Oh, shut up,” she snapped.
Nine looked at her.
“Not you,” said Nemo. “I meant, um, somebody else.”
Nine cocked his head. “I’d say it was nitrogen narcosis, but you weren’t breathing air from a tank.”
“Like I said, not everything is about you,” said Nemo, picking up her gear and trudging across the beach.
Half an hour later, showered and dressed in warm clothes, she walked into a classroom where Rena, Six, Sam, Lexa, Nine, and Sam’s father were gathered. Max wasn’t there, and she wondered if he was off with Ellie again. She felt a sharp pang of jealousy at the thought, but this disappeared as she watched what Rena was doing.
Rena was standing behind a table on which were arranged half a dozen dolls, action figures, and stuffed animals. She was holding a clown doll in her hand and staring at it with a look of concentration on her face. A moment later, the clown shuddered, as if waking up. Rena set it on the table, and it stood on its own feet, swaying slightly. It turned its head from side to side, the permanent grin painted there seeming to laugh at them all. The sight of it made Nemo shiver. She hated clowns.
“Tell it to juggle those balls,” Nine said.
Rena nodded. She stared hard at the clown, which leaned over and picked up three small plastic balls that were lying on the table. It hefted them in its hands, then tossed them in the air, and started juggling.
“Great,” Nine said. “Now try to make it do something unclown-like.”
“Like what?” Rena asked.
“Tell it to strangle the Superman action figure,” Six suggested.
“Like a clown wouldn’t totally commit murder,” said Sam. “No, see if you can get it to do something like ride the horse there.”
“A clown could ride a horse,” Six objected.
“Yeah, it could,” Sam conceded. “But it’s not generally part of the standard clown repertoire. Let’s just try.”
Rena looked at the clown. It dropped the balls it had been juggling and walked over to a plastic horse that stood a few feet away. The horse’s usual rider, a cowboy figure, lay on its side next to it. The clown stepped over it and approached the horse.
“Tell it to get on,” Sam instructed Rena.
The clown hesitated, as if it was unsure what to do. It reached out and touched the horse’s neck. Then it pulled its hand back and just stood there.
“It won’t,” Rena said. “I can feel it resisting.”
“Push it,” said Nine.
Rena’s forehead wrinkled as she concentrated. The clown didn’t move. “It’s not going to do it,” Rena said.
“That’s fascinating,” Dr. Goode remarked. “It’s like it won’t do anything a typical clown wouldn’t know how to do.”
“I told you that’s how it works,” said Rena. She sounded tired, as if trying to get the clown to do what they asked had worn her out. “I can only make them do what they’re supposed to. Paper butterflies fly. Ballerina dolls dance. Soldier dolls fight. Teddy bears . . . teddy.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” said Six. “They’re just plastic dolls, or paper animals, or stuffed toys. They don’t have brains. They shouldn’t be able to think about doing or not doing something. They should do what you tell them to with your thoughts.”
“Maybe it’s how you’re telling them what to do,” Nine suggested. “Maybe you can teach them to do other things. It would just take time.”
Rena shook her head, and the clown doll collapsed. “You don’t understand,” she said. “I don’t make them do anything. I give them the energy, power, whatever to do what they’re already designed to do. I can direct them a little, tell them where to go and such, but they only do what they do.”
Nobody said anything. Rena sighed. “It’s like voodoo dolls,” she said.
“Voodoo?” said Nine, laughing. “As in magic?”
Rena nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “As in magic.” When Nine smiled, she continued. “What? You think what we all can do isn’t magic? Suddenly getting superpowers? Breathing underwater? Walking through walls? Flying?”
“It might seem like magic,” Nine said.
“Can you explain it?” Rena asked. “With science?” She looked at Dr. Goode. “Can you?”
“We don’t know exactly how the Loric energy works yet,” he answered. “But I wouldn’t call it magic.”
“Mm-hmm,” said Rena. “Well, let’s get back to voodoo dolls. The way they work—and they do work—is that when you make them, you think about the person they represent. If you can, you put something of that person into them. Hair. Fingernails. A piece of fabric from their clothes. But you don’t need to. It helps, but they work even if you don’t. And they only work on the person they’re supposed to represent.”
“I’m not following,” said Sam.
Nemo spoke up. “What she means is, the doll is made to do one thing. It’s about the person who makes it as much as it is about the doll.” She looked at Rena. “Right?”
Rena smiled. “Exactly right. They call it sympathetic magic. A voodoo doll is made to do one thing—affect a particular person in the way you tell it to. If I make one of Sam, I can’t use it on Six. It won’t work, no matter how many pins I put in it or workings I do with it.”
“And you think it’s the same with the action figures, or stuffed animals, or origami things?” asked Nemo.
“That’s what I think,” Rena sa
id.
Six picked up the clown doll. “Okay. I get what you’re saying. But do you think the people who work on assembly lines painting these things or filling them with stuffing really think about them all that much, enough to give them some kind of identity or purpose? Or what if they’re made by machine? Machines don’t think about it at all.”
Rena shrugged. “Maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe it just is what it is. You paint a doll like a clown, and it’s a clown. You make a dragon out of papier-mâché and sticks, and it’s a dragon. What I do know is that when I make a certain kind of doll with a particular purpose in mind, it works a lot better. That’s why I started making my own.”
“Have you ever seen a Legacy like this?” Dr. Goode asked the others.
Nine shook his head. “No,” he said. “But we’d never seen technopathy before Sam manifested it either. When you think about it, what Rena can do is a little bit like that. I still wonder if her skill can’t be refined.” He looked at Rena. “We’ll work on that when you come back from your mission.”
“About that,” Nemo said.
“Don’t you try to talk me out of it too,” Rena said. “You know if this was one of your friends—”
“One of my friends is in there,” Nemo said, cutting her off. “Ghost. And I’m not going to try to talk you out of it.” She took a deep breath. “I’m going to come with you.”
CHAPTER FOUR
SIX
POINT REYES, CALIFORNIA
“DON’T BLINK.”
Lexa reached out, balanced a single contact lens on the end of her finger, and gently pressed it to Rena’s eyeball.
“Good. Now let’s see if it’s working.”
She walked back to her desk and typed rapidly on a keyboard. A second later, the screen filled with an image of the room.
“Look at Six,” Lexa said.
Rena turned her head. On the monitor, Six’s face came into view.
“That’s amazing,” Six said, the on-screen image of herself speaking in unison with the real thing. “How is there a camera in there?”