Archenemies (Renegades #2)(74)
She wondered if there was any of Fatalia’s breath still inside these bombs.
And she wondered how difficult it would be to fill them with something like Agent N. Seeing them in real life, she was already picturing how she could make it work.
If the Anarchists were really going to try to weaken the Renegades with their own weapon, a dispersal device like this would be far more effective than trying to take out every opponent with an injection dart. Besides, not everyone could be shot. The darts wouldn’t puncture Captain Chromium’s skin or Gargoyle’s.
The Renegades wouldn’t use Agent N in gas form because it was too risky. But if she had that Vitality Charm …
The chime from the front clanged through the vault.
Cheek twitching, Nova settled the mist-missile back into the box.
She returned to the reception area and tossed the metronome at Genissa without fanfare. Genissa stumbled and barely caught the device on a rising bed of ice crystals. She scowled at Nova.
“There you go! Enjoy!” Nova chirped.
With a sound of disgust, Genissa grabbed the Deadener and marched back to the elevator.
“You’re welcome!” Nova shouted after her.
Once she was gone, Nova sank into the desk chair and tapped her fingers against the clipboard. Steal the missiles, or rent them? If she got caught stealing them, it would send off all sorts of alarms. But if she was able to turn them into Agent N bombs, then later they could be traced back to the rental agreement. By that point, though, the Anarchists would be in full attack mode, and this charade would be over anyway.
Her lips twisted. Maybe she should wait and discuss it with Leroy and Ace first.
The elevator dinged again and Callum swept into the room, his expression giddy. “Was there really an explosion?”
Nova tensed. “What?”
“I got paged from security. What happened?”
Panic seized Nova’s gut, but Callum didn’t look concerned so much as curious. And eager, of course. Always so eager.
“N-nothing,” she said. “I was just … um … cleaning some stuff. I think maybe I mixed some bad chemicals.”
Callum deflated. “That’s it? I was thinking maybe you’d uncovered a new magical function for something.”
She shook her head, feigning disappointment. “I don’t think so. Sorry.”
“Meh.” He waved a hand through the air, his expression clearing. “It’s probably a good thing. Spontaneous combustion is cool and all, but not great for the workplace.” He bent over the desk and swiveled the checkout sheet toward him. Nova had noticed that he always checked who was renting the equipment and what they had taken—an argument in favor of stealing the missiles, now that she thought of it. He grimaced. “Frostbite came in? She terrifies me.”
“You’re not completely infatuated with her super snowflake skills?”
He chuckled. “Are you kidding? She’s totally using her power wrong. If I had ice manipulation, I would wear ice skates all the time and make a constant path of ice in front of me everywhere I went.” He pushed the clipboard away. “What did she want the Sound Deadener for?”
“Not sure,” she muttered, refusing to admit that her team had been passed over for the Hawthorn case. “It’s not my job to ask questions.” She paused. “I mean, it’s not, is it? Are we allowed to say no to someone if they want to check out something we don’t think they should have?”
He grunted. “Typically, no. Not if they’ve passed clearance and signed the agreement. But if you’re really hesitant about something, you can ask Snapshot to bring it up to the Council. I only had to do it once, when I was pretty sure that one of the new recruits was using a skeleton key to break into people’s apartments. I’m sad to say that I was right.”
Nova gawked. “What happened?”
“He was taken off patrols and spent a lot of time doing community service after that. He works in the food court now.”
“Lucky for him. If he pulled a stunt like that today, he’d probably be stuck with Agent N.”
“I don’t think so.” Callum rubbed the pale fuzz on his chin. “He was breaking the law, but he wasn’t particularly dangerous. The punishment seemed fitting.”
Nova grunted, but she wasn’t sure if she agreed. Once the public knew about Agent N, they’d be crying for it to be applied to every case of prodigy wrongdoing. And the Council was so eager to hold on to their reputation, she suspected they would acquiesce easily.
And with every prodigy who was neutralized, the Renegades’ power would grow and grow.
“You don’t like Agent N either, do you?”
She started. “What?”
Callum leaned against the desk. “I think it’s tragic. For someone to be given these incredible abilities, only to have them stripped away? It’s so wasteful. To know what this world could look like, what humanity could be, if only we all chose to do our best, to help others, to … to be, well, heroes. I don’t like to think of that chance being taken away from someone before they’ve lived up to their potential.”
“Right,” said Nova. “Except, having superpowers doesn’t automatically turn you into some selfless hero. People are greedy and cruel, and … for some, having superpowers just makes them even more greedy and cruel.” Her jaw tightened. “Genissa Clark is proof of that.”