“Know what?”
“There’s a reason that so many terrorist groups wanted this thing,” Amelia said, “and there’s a reason Peyton, Kaufman, and Gray was funding the research. Biological weapons are a dime a dozen. If you want to attack a crowd, there are a half dozen toxic agents a lot less expensive than DNA-wiping nanobots. There aren’t, however, many biological weapons that can be programmed to attack a certain individual.”
I thought back on what Chloe had told me. The nanobots were revolutionary because of the amount of programming they could carry despite their microscopic size. We had assumed that future development on the programming front would concentrate on identifying the specific base pairs to be attacked within a DNA strand, but what if, instead, the programming identified the DNA to be attacked?
“Are you saying that you can let these things loose in a crowd, and they’ll attack only one person?”
“It’s called assassination, and yeah, that’s what the guys at Peyton seem to think this does.”
Suddenly, Chloe’s magnet analogy took on a whole new dimension, because Amelia was standing there telling me that like a metal to a magnet, these nanobots would zero in on a single individual, based on their DNA. You let them loose in a crowd, and they set their sights on their preprogrammed target, leaving everyone else unharmed. I wasn’t sure exactly how to rate this development. On the one hand, instead of killing thousands of people, this weapon would only kill one. On the other, that one person could be the president.
Suddenly, of the two negative outcomes I’d considered earlier, the one where Connors-Wright deployed the bots andkilled his father was looking good, because if Amelia actually got a hold of this technology, there was no telling what she would do with it, or who she would sell it to. The Big Guys were going to freak, or at least, they would have, had I actually been able to tell them about it.
“I said what I came here to say.” Amelia raised the gun again and backed toward my window. “You know the rules. Tonight, you tell no one. Tomorrow, Walford Park, three o’clock, winner takes all. You can do all the recon you want, but move in on the target before three, and you can consider your cover blown.”
And then, with stealth that would have made Bubbles proud, she disappeared out the window and into the night.
CHAPTER 28
Code Word: Liberty
“I’m in, but I am NOT wearing one of those stupid skirts.” I knew even as I said the words that I would, in fact, be wearing many a stupid skirt, and that something about this whole scenario wasn’t quite right. I didn’t have time to ponder it, though, because the nextorder of business was filling the last open slot on the Squad.
I listened and talked and made quips about Bitch Quotients, but even as my mouth moved, I knew that I couldn’t be here again. I’d already done this. Today wasn’t my first day on the Squad, and we’d already chosen April.
Hadn’t we?
Kiki McCall. April Manning. Hayley Hoffman.
The names were flung back and forth and the other girls debated in slow motion. It was all “legacy this” and “aptitude for climbing” that. And just as we were getting ready to vote April in, I realized what was wrong with this whole situation—other than the obvious.
I wasn’t wearing any clothes.
“Dance with me, Toby.”
Jack? What was Jack doing in the Quad? He couldn’t be here. If he knew about us, we’d been exposed—permanently. More importantly, he couldn’t be here—I WAS NAKED.
“Come on, Ev. Just one little dance.”
DOES NO ONE BUT ME REALIZE HOW BAD THIS IS?
“Dance with him, Toby,” the twins ordered, and then they were dancing—with my brother.
“Hey, Tobe,” Noah said. “Looks like you’re naked, huh?”
I tried to cover myself—I grabbed at papers and books and tried to position my hands to cover the worst of it, but there was no hope.
“Dance with me.”
“Dance with him.”
“Dance with him.”
I DON’T WANT TO FRIGGING DANCE WITH ANYBODY! I WANT TO WEAR CLOTHES!
“Here,” Lucy whispered. “Put this on.”
Gratefully, I grabbed the clothes she shoved at me, but they disintegrated in my hands until all I was holding was a tiny silver tiara.
