Extras (11 page)

"Yeah, but then
everyone
would start mag-lev surfing, and the wardens would get involved." Miki shook her head. "We have to keep this trick ours. You understand that, right?"

"Of course!" Aya insisted, but Miki was still frowning. Maybe it was time to switch gears. "By the way, thanks for sticking up for me."

"No problem. Like I said, I trust you."

Aya turned to study the wall closely, the nervous trickle starting in her stomach again. "Yeah. But I still owe you one."

A tapping sound came from ahead, and they both looked up.

It was Kai, striking the wall with her flashlight as she slid through the air. Her blows echoed down the tunnel, the stone sounding as solid as a mountain.

"So that's our plan for finding the secret door?" Aya said softly. "Banging on the wall?"

"Do you think they could program smart matter to
sound
like stone?"

"Probably," Aya answered. Ren always said you could program smart matter to do practically anything. It was one of the big inventions since the mind-rain, like AI and internal eyescreens, innovations that the Prettytime had postponed for centuries. "But why would they bother? Whoever made that door wouldn't expect anyone to walk around down here looking for it."

Miki tapped her own flashlight against the stone—it sounded like solid rock. "So if it hadn't been for us mag-lev surfing, no one would ever have found that door." She smiled. "Maybe it's like the Youngblood cults say: Being crim can change the world."

Aya turned toward her, making sure the button cam had a shot. "And how does finding this door change the world?"

"Well … I guess that depends on what's inside." Miki tapped the stone. "I mean, what if there's something really scary hidden down here?"

"Like a secret toxic waste dump?" Aya smiled. "Think how many merits the Good Citizen Committee would give us for uncovering it."

"Don't say that too loud, Aya-chan. Kai hates merits even more than fame." Miki tapped the wall again. "But thanks for mentioning toxic waste. That should distract me from the unscheduled train I've been imagining."

"Hey, Eden!" someone called. "Come here!"

Ahead, a small cluster of Girls had gathered around a section of the wall, all tapping with their flashlights. Aya and Miki glanced at each other, then urged their boards farther into the tunnel. As they grew closer, Aya listened hard. Was there was something hollow about the echoing blows?

"Let me past, Nosey," Eden Maru's voice came from behind her.

As Aya slid aside, she saw the device in Eden's hands and her heart began to race. It was a matter hacker.

This wasn't just tricks; this was really illegal. Matter hackers could reprogram smart matter any way you wanted— there were whole
buildings
you could hack to the ground if you were crazy enough. And all she had was this stupid button camera. Shots of an illicit matter hacker would be a total eye-kick.

Aya peered ahead into the darkness, hoping that Moggle was lurking somewhere close. She was dying to check for a signal, but her eyescreen's flicker would be a dead giveaway in the blackness of the tunnel.

The cluster of Sly Girls parted for Eden, all eyes on the small device in her hands. She pressed it against the wall, fingers running over the controls.

After a moment, she nodded. "This is it. Stand back— there could be anything behind there."

"Or any
one,"
Miki murmured.

Aya thought of the inhuman figures again, their strange faces and long, thin fingers. "But those body-crazy freaks were just storing something down here," she said. "Nobody
lives
in this place." Miki shrugged. "I guess we're about to find out."

A humming filled the tunnel as the clever molecules of smart matter began to rearrange themselves—the wall rippled, its texture changing from rough stone to the pearly sheen of plastic. The door's shape came into focus, a rectangle the exact size of a mag-lev cargo door. Then the wall began to peel aside, one layer after another, like water sliding across a flat surface. Just as it had the night before, the air tasted tremulous, like a thunderstorm was coming. The tremors traveled along Aya's skin, as if the matter hacker was changing her as well…

The last layer slipped away, and the door stood open wide before them. A long hallway stretched out ahead, lit with an orange glow.

"Now this is
very
sly," Kai said, and stepped inside.

THE HIDDEN

The Sly Girls dashed ahead into the mountain hideaway, everyone wanting to be the first to discover what wonders were hidden here. Calls and laughter filled the air, echoing from the bare stone walls.

Aya couldn't see a single right angle, just arches and rounded corners. Every few meters, oval doorways led away to more winding halls, an undulating maze cut into stone.

"Well, whoever lives here is definitely moving out," Miki said. Aya nodded. The main hallway was crowded with equipment and storage containers, a disorganized jumble covered with a fine layer of dust.

"Maybe we should look for those big metal cylinders," she said. "Those were the only things they were moving
in
last night."

"As long as whatever we find isn't alive." Miki gestured toward a bunch of work chairs crammed together in the hallway. They were the wrong shape—too high and narrow, suited for some inhuman form.

Aya shone her flashlight down at her feet. A meter-wide path of metal studs glistened from the stone floor, leading straight down the middle of the main hallway. "That's to give hover-lifters something to push against. Anything heavy would have to go this way. Come on." The two of them followed the metal path with careful, silent footsteps. The arched doorways revealed empty rooms, dust patterns on the floor showing where furniture had been removed. As they went deeper into the mountain, the echoes of the other girls' voices grew faint around them. Aya wondered how so many tons of rock had been carried away to make this place. Whoever had built it must have tricked the automatic mag-lev trains into taking a lot of cargo for them. Or maybe one of the city governments was involved—this all seemed too big to do on the sly. Every city had expanded since the mind-rain, pulling the Rusty ruins apart for scrap, scrambling to get more metal.

"Who has the resources to build something like this?" Aya murmured.

"Maybe this was one of those Rusty places where they dug up metal. What were they called…mines?"

Aya realized that they were whispering. Noises reverberated sharply against the bare stone walls, making her conscious of every sound she made.

The long, sleep-missing day was finally catching up with her, a brain-fogging exhaustion erasing the excitement that had propelled her through the mag-lev ride. The dim orange lighting was playing tricks on her eyes. Long shadows leaped from the beams of their flashlights, and Aya doubted her button cam was getting any decent shots.

Suddenly Miki spun around. "Did you see that?"

"See what?"

"I don't know." Miki pointed her flashlight down the hall behind them. "The shadows were moving funny. Like something's following us."

"Something?" Aya said, turning to stare into the darkness. She felt totally awake now.

"Maybe I'm just imagining it."

Aya sighed. "Great. Now I'm imagining it too."

"Come on," Miki said. "I feel like we're getting close to something."

"Is that the same something that's following us? Or a different something?" Miki shrugged, and moved ahead.

In the next room, the path of metal studs led to a large opening in the wall and a set of stairs leading down. There were no orange worklights below, only blackness.

Aya came to a halt. "Maybe we should call the others."

"You want Kai to think you're scared of the dark?" Miki snorted, and headed down the stairs. Aya sighed, then followed.

As they descended, the echoes of their footsteps began to lengthen, a larger space opening up around them. Aya's flashlight played across high arches, like the stone roof of the giant reservoir below the city. For a moment she wondered if the entire mountain had been hollowed out to capture runoff during the rainy season—but why would people building a storm drain look so weird?

Then her flashlight found the cylinders. The room was full of them, in neat ranks like hulking metal soldiers on parade, stretching into the darkness.

"Okay, we found them," Miki whispered. "But what
are
they?" Aya shook her head. She walked up to the closest cylinder and pressed her palm against it: cold metal, its surface seamless. When she stood on tiptoe to look at its top, she found no sign of any seal.

"Looks like solid steel to me."

Miki walked past her, a host of shadows wheeling in unison to avoid the beam of her flashlight. Aya followed her deeper into the army of cylinders, looking for any clue as to what they might be. But the metal forms were unmarked and featureless, like giant pawns in an endless chess set, all exactly the same.

But wasn't there a metal
shortage
going on? This was enough steel to double the size of the city. Miki came to a sudden halt. "There it is again."

"What?"

Miki turned and pointed her flashlight past Aya. "I saw a reflection in the metal. Someone's back there!"

Aya spun around, sweeping her flashlight across the ranks of cylinders. Shadows leaped and darted from its beam, but she saw nothing except the reflection of her own half-lit face, warped across the cylinders' smooth sides.

"Are you trying to scare me?" Aya hissed.

"No, I mean it," Miki whispered, her eyes wide in the red glow of their flashlights. "I'm going to get some help."

"Are you sure? Maybe we should…," Aya started, but Miki was already dashing toward the stairs, calling for the others.

Aya squinted into the darkness. Something flickered in the corner of her eye, but when she spun to face it, she saw nothing but shadows scattering from her wavering flashlight. She took a few quick steps to the side, peering down the next row of metal cylinders. Still nothing.

Cries echoed down the stairs—the other girls answering Miki's shouts. They were coming, but not fast enough for Aya.

She began to walk back toward the stairs, checking nervously over her shoulder. Her flashlight swept from side to side, but that only made the long shadows dance and swivel around her, filling the room with furtive movements.

Then she saw it reflected in a row of smooth metal sides: a black silhouette smeared across them, darting through the shadows.

Aya froze, trying to work out which way the shape was moving, but it was like playing tag in a hall of mirrors.

"Miki!" she called. "I think it's …"

Her voice faded. The hovering shape had floated into view directly before her, the red flashlight reflecting a familiar pattern of tiny lenses.

It was Moggle.

ESCAPE

"Miki!" she shouted. "It's okay! I don't think there's anything—"

"Don't worry, Aya-chan," Miki's voice called from halfway up the stairs. "They're almost here!"

"Crap," Aya muttered. She knelt, beckoning to the little hovercam. "Come here!" It wavered for a moment—this new command contradicted its old orders to stay hidden. But when Aya called again, it scooted down the row of cylinders and shot into her arms.

"Hey, Moggle!" she whispered, stroking its sprayed-black plastic shell. "Good job finding me. But you need to be more careful."

"Are you okay?" Miki's shout came from above.

"I'm totally fine! But I don't think anything's down here!" Aya called back, then hissed, "We have to find a place to hide you."

She switched off her flashlight and shoved it into a pocket, looking around for another exit. But the rows of featureless cylinders stretched endlessly into the darkness. More shouts came from the top of the stairs. Miki was headed back down, a gaggle of flashlights bobbing behind her.

Aya ducked lower and headed away. The only light came from the Sly Girls descending the stairs, their red and yellow flashlights reflected in the smooth metal curves of the cylinders. Aya covered Moggle with the loose folds of her open jacket.

"When I let you go, find a place to hide. Understand?"

In answer, Moggle flashed its night-lights right into her face.

"Stop
doing
that!" Aya hissed, stumbling blindly to a halt.

"What was that?" Miki called. "Aya, where are you?"

Aya blinked away spots, standing up to peer across the cylinder tops. The Sly Girls were fanning out randomly across the room.

But Eden Maru was rising into the air, her hoverball rig using the metal cylinders for lift. She flew swiftly across the ranks of cylinders, arms outstretched like the wings of a bird of prey. She would have serious infrared, of course— most intercity hoverball games were at night. Aya swore, ducking lower and running as quickly as she dared. She had to get into another room..

But was there any way out of here?

Suddenly Moggle was tugging at her grip.

"Not yet!" she whispered, but the hovercam yanked itself free, pulling Aya off balance. It shot away through the ranks of cylinders like a cannonball.

Aya stumbled to a halt, squinting into the darkness, trying to see where the hovercam had disappeared.

"Lose your flashlight, Nosey?"

She looked up to find Eden Maru hovering just above her.

Aya tried to think of some excuse for putting her flashlight away, but failed. "Yeah, I sort of dropped it."