Скотт Вестерфельд: Specials

She couldn't afford to be a Special-head any longer. Tally had to think her way out of this.

She threw the knife aside.

"Just answer me one question," Dr. Cable said. "Why did you do it?"

Tally shook her head. Telling the whole truth would mean bringing Zane into it, which would only make it harder to keep control.

"It was an accident."

"An accident?" Dr. Cable laughed. "That's quite some accident, destroying half the city's military."

"We weren't planning to let loose those nanos."

"We? The Cutters?"

Tally shook her head—no point in mentioning Shay either. "One thing just sort of led to another…"

"Indeed. That's how it always works with you, isn't it, Tally?"

"But why did you lie to everyone?"

Dr. Cable sighed. "That should be obvious, Tally. I couldn't very well tell them that you had almost dismantled the city's defenses. The Cutters were my pride and joy, my special Specials." Her razor smile spread across her face. "Besides, you'd given me a splendid opportunity to get rid of an old opponent."

"What did Diego ever do to you?"

"They supported the Old Smoke. They've taken in our runaways for years. Then Shay reported that someone was supplying the Smokies with sneak suits and huge quantities of those appalling pills. Who else could it have been?" Her voice grew stronger. "The other cities were just waiting for someone to take Diego down, with their New System and their flouting of morphological standards. You simply provided me with the ammunition. You've always been so useful, Tally."

Tally squeezed her eyes shut, willing Dr. Cable's words to somehow be heard up in the Council meeting. If only they knew how they'd been lied to. …

But this whole city was too scared to think clearly, too thrilled by their own counterattack, too ready to accept the rule of this twisted woman.

Tally shook her head. She'd spent the last few days focused on rewiring herself, but she needed to rewire everyone.

Or maybe just the right someone…

"When does it all end?" she asked quietly. "How long does this war go on?"

"It never ends, Tally. I'm getting too much done that I could never do before, and believe me, the bubbleheads are having such fun watching it on the newsfeeds. And all it took was a war, Tally. I should have thought of this years ago!" The woman stepped closer, her cruelly beautiful face aglow at the edge of the spotlights. "Don't you see, we've entered a new era. From now on, every day is a Special Circumstance!"

Tally nodded slowly, then let a smile creep onto her face. "Nice of you to explain that to me. And to everyone else."

Dr. Cable raised an eyebrow. "Pardon me?"

"Cable, I didn't come here to tell the City Council what happened. They're a bunch of wimps, if they put you in charge. I came to make sure that everyone knows about your lies."

The woman let out a low, rumbling laugh. "Don't tell me you made some sort of video of yourself, Tally, explaining that you started the war? Who'll believe it? You may have been famous once among the bubbleheads and uglies, but no one over the age of twenty even knows you exist."

"No, but they know you, now that you've put yourself in charge." Tally reached into her sneak suit's carrying pouch and pulled out the injector. "And now that they've watched you explain that this entire war was bogus, they'll remember you forever."

Dr. Cable frowned. "What is that thing?"

"A satellite transmitter, one that can't be jammed." Tally pulled the cap from the injector's top, exposing the needle. "See that little antenna? Amazing, isn't it?"

"You couldn't…not from down here." Dr. Cable's eyes closed, her lids fluttering as she checked the feeds.

Tally kept talking, her own bare-toothed smile growing. "They do the craziest surgery in Diego. They replaced my eyes with stereo cameras, and my fingernails with microphones. The whole city has been watching you explain what you've done."

Cable's eyes opened. She snorted. "There's nothing on the feeds, Tally. Your little toy doesn't work."

Tally raised her eyebrows, glancing at the bottom of the injector in puzzlement. "Oops. Forgot to press send." She shifted her fingers…

Dr. Cable leaped forward, one hand darting for the injector, and in the same split second Tally turned the needle to exactly the right angle…

The blow smacked the injector from her hand, and Tally heard it clatter in the corner, broken into pieces.

"Really, Tally," Dr. Cable said, smiling. "For someone so clever, you're such a little fool sometimes."

Tally lowered her head and closed her eyes. But she was breathing in slowly through her nose, searching the air…

Then she smelled it—the barest scent of blood.

She opened her eyes, and saw Dr. Cable glance down at her hand, mildly annoyed by the needles prick. Shay had said she'd hardly noticed the cure at first, that it took days to manifest.

In the meantime, Tally didn't want Cable wondering how she'd stabbed herself on the "antenna," or taking a closer look at the shattered injector. Perhaps a distraction was in order.

Tally set a look of rage on her face. "You're calling me a fool?"

She lashed out a foot, catching Dr. Cable in the stomach and knocking the breath from her.

The other Specials reacted instantly, but Tally was already in motion, darting toward where she'd heard the injector fall. She landed one foot squarely on its remains, smashing it as hard as she could, then turned the motion into a roundhouse kick that landed on the jaw of the closest pursuer. She leaped up to the first row of seats, running along their backs without touching the floor.

"Agent Youngblood," another guard called. "We don't want to hurt you!"

"I'm afraid you'll have to!" She doubled back toward where the first guard lay. The door to the operating theater exploded open then, a swarm of gray silk uniforms storming into the room.

Tally jumped down near the fallen guard, landing once more on the shards of the injector. The other guard in battle gear landed a punch on her shoulder, rolling her back into the first row of seats. She leaped up and threw herself at him, ignoring the mass of Specials descending on her.

A few seconds later, Tally found herself thrown facedown on the floor, her arms pinned under her. She squirmed, crushing the last pieces of the injector beneath her into powder. Then someone kicked her in the ribs, driving her breath out in a grunt.

More of them piled on, like an elephant sitting on her back. The room grew dim; Tally felt herself being squashed against the edge of consciousness.

"It's okay, Doctor," one of the Specials said. "We have her under control."

Cable didn't respond. Tally craned her neck to see. The doctor was doubled over, still gasping for breath.

"Doctor?" the Special asked. "Are you all right?"

Just give her time, Tally thought. And she'll be much, much better…

Tally watched it all happen from her cell.

The changes came slowly at first. For a few days, Dr. Cable seemed her usual psychotic self when she visited, arrogantly demanding information about what was happening in Diego. Tally was happy to oblige, spinning tales about how the New System was crumbling, while watching for any sign of the cure.

But decades of vanity and cruelty faded slowly, and time itself seemed to come to a halt inside the four walls of Tally's cell. Cutters weren't designed to live indoors, especially not in tiny spaces, and Tally had to focus most of her strength on not going crazy. She stared at the cell door, filled with despair, fighting the rage that came in waves inside her, always resisting the urge to cut herself with her own fingernails and teeth.

That was how she'd managed to rewire herself for Zane— not cutting anymore—and she couldn't give in to weakness now.