Specials

Tally and Shay take their hoverboards to New Pretty Town, where they will confront Zane. On the way, they discuss the Smokies: Their use of sneak suits is a new tactic, as is ambushing the Specials with arrows. Shay speculates that the Smokies might be collaborating with another city to procure the technology.

Tally and Shay use the city’s surveillance system to spot Zane and the Crims; the interface rings they always wear show their locations. They are all in Zane’s room, it appears. Shay puts her hand to the window, which amplifies the sound. They can hear Zane reading from an old Rusty book, which puzzles them—until they look in and discover that Zane is reading aloud to the interface rings. The Crims have slipped them off, presumably to cause mischief elsewhere. Tally and Shay knock on the window, and Zane invites them inside.

Though Tally still recognizes Zane’s beauty, she is distressed to see that his hands shake and his body seems infirm. He has not been fully cured of the damage that the nanos have done to his brain. With her heightened, Special senses, she is even more acutely aware of his physical failings. Zane notices that she sees his infirmities and, more importantly, that she is repulsed by them.