“What do you think of the RLA ?,"

Ma shrugs.

“Regime changes happen, Luce. Especially in a place as unbalanced as The Western Republic.”

“Yeah, but we caused this one --”

“Rayne caused it,” Ma says sternly. "Rayne wanted Julian Walker out of power, not us."

She’s in Rayne’s house, I can tell from the background. I’m in Hotako’s office since I had to use a secure line to call home with Ma being a fugitive and all. I’d been given a two week media restriction for cursing out a campus monitor and this was the first time we’d spoken over video in a while.

The baby is against her chest, he’s turned so he’s looking at the screen, his big dark eyes are animated and he’s looking around at everything . He's bigger than the last time I saw him and  I wondered what it felt like to hold him. Ma hadn’t let me when he was first born because he was so little.

“So...are you like married now ?”

I didn’t like the idea. I hated Rayne Washington. He would never be like my Dad. My Dad was smart and did good things and took care of Ma and me. Rayne was only into Ma because she gave him a son to take his place as asshole in chief of the cartel

She shakes her head no.

“No, we’re not married.”

“So, it’s back to how it was, then  ?”

When she found out about the baby we had to move in with Rayne and she stopped going out on any fun jobs. It sucked.

“Mostly. We’ll have our own apartment at Treasure Island now. The baby is staying with me and Rayne isn’t putting me out in the field as much...he’s trying to keep me safe,” she smiles and I don’t know if it’s flattery or annoyance. “Rayne’s new command dog is this former interpol sniper with a gambling addiction. Lachlan Banner.”

“He sounds like an asshole ,”

She laughs.

“He’s not. He’s new to being in debt to the cartel and  is used to being a good guy. I think he’s in over his head.”

“Now that your debt is paid and Rayne doesn’t need you, maybe you can just run away with the baby. Then maybe the baby doesn’t have to grow up in the cartel.”

“It’s not that simple,” she says. “Rayne is his father... we have his christening in a few months. I knew what I was getting into when I had him. This baby means a lot to Rayne, but, Luce... all those things you want for the baby, I want for you.”

“Too late.”

“It’s never too late,” she says. “You get to  be whatever you want--”

“Nothing I do in school feels as good as a good kill--”

“Luce.” she scolds me and I shut up.

I didn’t know how she didn’t expect me to act like I didn’t grow up around the cartel.

The baby starts crying and she sits him up against her chest.

“Ma,” I complain as she pulls her shirt up. “Gross, can’t you do that later ?”

“I told you, you shouldn’t be afraid of what’s natural,” she tells me. “He’s hungry.”

“He’s always hungry,” I say. “And you’re supposed to be helping me finalize the proposal for my final project.”

“Luce, what do you want ? I don't what the RLA is going to do in power but Baxter-Finch and the RLA won. The people want her. Maybe the RLA will be good for this place--”

“Even with the draft,”

“There was always a draft. There will always be drafts no matter who is in charge”

“Oh, hey, can you tell me if Baxter-Finch has a daughter-"

“I’m sure you can look that up”

“Not like how I want.”

If Finch had a daughter it wasn’t on free access information which means, it would have to be hacked from personal records.

“Is this about the girl you have a crush on ?,” she asks

“I don’t have a crush,” I tell her. “She’s a bi--”

“Luce”

“But she is. She pushed me into the lake, she’s threw hot food on me and I didn’t do anything to her--”

“Are you sure ?,” Ma asks.

“Yes! Why  Are you siding with her ?”

“Luce, sometimes you don’t always realize how you come off... I think you got that from me.”

The baby gets fussy and Ma decides to switch sides with no discretion.

“I can’t look at this anymore.” I say. “Bye, Ma.”

“Have a good day at school, Luce,” she says

I shut the screen off and walk out of  Hotako’s office.  He’s sitting in his private conference room, diligently reading a freaking paper book. He nods at me as I leave to start the school day.

Unlike lunch, breakfast was a free for all as far as seating. Last year, I liked to eat behind the building by myself but for some reason I’d become a regular fixture at Eden’s table. She was a gamer which surprised me and she  and her friends were bearably dull. They were just a little too into the learning for learning's sake.

As usual, my eyes flick to Summer  and as usual she’s sitting by herself and as usual her Beast Man brings her her breakfast like she’s a princess. This morning Summer was idly playing a game on her tablet while she waited for him. She  tosses her tablet into an empty chair while she ate.

It was such a careless move on her part and my hands twitch at the opportunity

“See you in homeroom,” I say quickly to Eden and jump up when I see a large group migrating towards the south exit.

I hide myself in the group as as they walk by Summer’s table and I easily grab her tablet. It’s so easy it’s almost laughable.

I feel amped up from stealing, it sends tingles through my body. I hide out by the sophomore class garden and think about what exactly I plan to do with her tablet. It doesn’t take long for me to hack into the weak hacker protection and look through everything.

But all she has on her tablet is class stuff and a card game.

No pictures. No messages. No downloads. Her name isn’t even anywhere. I just hold the tablet in my hands like an idiot.

I’d forgotten to make a plan to get it back without her noticing it had gone missing.

I wait until the cafeteria is empty and then double back and slide the tablet under a random table and step on it, so it looks like it accidentally got dropped and then I make a run for homeroom.

When I get into homeroom I wonder if I’m late because everyone stares at me when I walk in. More so than usual that is. That’s when I see Mrs. Perry fumbling with the projector screen.

There’s a projection of my personal tablet playing on her projection screen,  an autobot is running that’s showing my web search history and downloads. Or atleast the very worst parts of it.

I feel my face turning red and I  reach into my bag for my tablet to see how the hell it’s doing that and I realize my tablet is gone.

“How are you doing this ?!,” Mrs. Perry shrieks at me.

I look around and see a copy of my personal notebook, search history and downloads  is duplicated on every student’s tablet screen. The entire class is scrolling through it, some are laughing and some look annoyed, trying to make it go away so they can see their own shit.

Eden is sitting with her hands politely in her lap trying not to look at anything. She gazes sympathetically at me and shrugs her shoulders.

I make a start to help Mrs. Perry turn off the projection, but just as soon as I get to her she gives up and shuts the entire screen off.  

“Mr. Luce Grace please report to the headmaster’s office,” a cool computer voice says over the intercom.

The entire class starts laughing.

I put my bag back on my shoulder and storm out of class, the halls are empty because everyone is in homeroom except for two people. I pass Summer and Beast Man walking into the Upper School building as I’m walking out.

We pass each other and I just know she had something to do with this. I turn around and walk towards them.

“Okay, what’s your problem-,” I start to say but before I can get to Summer, Beast Man steps in my way.

I try and step around him and he shoves me away. I guess the  Arkham Academy teacher honor code didn’t apply to him. I could have taken him, but I don’t want to waste my time.

When I get to Administrative Hall I see my tablet is sitting on the front steps of the building. It’s broken into pieces. It doesn't make any sense but I pick it up and stuff it into my bag.

Hotako is waiting for me in front of his office and I silently follow him inside, taking my usual seat in his hardback leather chair.

“Number one,” he says. “Your search history concerns me--”

“Well, stop making the filters so easy to get around--,”

“Number two,” he says. “You need to keep better track of your possessions.”

“I always keep my tablet with me and I don’t even know how my screen got duplicated on all the screens.”

“That doesn’t matter. If you kept better track of your things this wouldn’t have happened--”

“Are you fucking kidding me ?,” I shout and I get a big shock in my wrist. “This feels like victim blaming--you know she did it don’t you ?-,”

“I don’t know anything for sure and I don’t care,” Hotako says and I fucking hate him. “You’re on very thin ice and we’re only a quarter of the way into the semester.  Do you want to get sent home, Luce?,”

“No,” I say without thinking when what I really meant to say is yes. Yes, I wanted to go home. I didn’t want to stay here.

And even if I did want to say  it would just be to finish this dumb project I’d already put so much time in. And maybe help Eden with the assignment we had in philosophy. And because I liked giving Hotako a hard time.

He must be as surprised by my answer as I am because Hotako doesn’t say anything.

He gives me the morning off to sit in the quiet which I don't mind,  but then I also get assigned to pull  weeds in the sophomore class garden everyday for the next two weeks, which is stupid.

I know Summer did this to me. She must have stolen my tablet. She has it out for me and she has Hotako in the palm of her hands and  I intend to find out why.

“Why do you call me Architecture Girl ?,” Eden asks

I look up from where I was knee deep in soil, pulling smelly green weeds  out of a bed of zinnia bushes. The groundskeeper never had time to get to all the gardens and the weeds had started to take root with the other flowers, making them impossible to separate. Ladybugs tickled at my arm as I tugged the weeds out of the ground.

“I don’t call you that,” I tell her. Except I did. Sometimes. In my head.

“I saw it in your notebooks when your screen was malfunctioning,” she says. “You’d write AG said this or ask AG about that.”

She picks at a patch of dandelions, the easiest weeds to pull up and throws them into the compost bin.

“Well, look, I mean no offense but you talk about architecture a lot. It’s kind of dorky.”

“No, I don’t--”

“Your sophomore project is about rebuilding reclaimed cities--”

“Yeah, using cybernetic architecture systems. I think cybernetics and design is cool. If anything you should have called me Cyborg Girl.”

“Well, that explains it,” I say, half-joking. “The only reason you’re bothering with me is because I’m a cyborg ? What are you a groupie ?”

“No,” she says, blowing on a dandelion so all the little white parts fly away. “I mean I do think it’s cool though. That you’re a cyborg.”

“It’s really not.” I jump at the feeling of little legs on my chest and pull a ladybug out of my shirt. They were fucking everywhere

“You mean after all those surgeries  you don’t have any cool tricks ?”

“No.”

She looks disappointed but goes back to picking the dandelions.

“Well, I mean…,” I start. “Sometimes I can change the polarity of metal using these big magnets in my hand. I can reflect the trajectory of bullets.”

“What ?,” she says raising her eyebrows. “How in the world do you know that ?”

Because someone shot at me I want to tell her.

“Um, my Ma collects guns and….I was just messing around.”

“Guns ?,” she says, looking offended. “Like more than one ?”

I shrug.

I’m saved by the homeroom bell.

“We should get inside,” I say.

I take off my gardening gloves off and wash my hands in the outdoor water pump before putting my jacket back on. As we walk to homeroom I notice Summer sauntering down  the hall in front of us.

 I scan the hall  for Beast Man and I don’t see him. She’s by herself.  

Summer must hear us talking behind her because she looks over her shoulder and when she meets my eyes she turns on her heels and starts walking towards us.

“Act like we’re having an intense conversation,” I tell Eden.

“What--”

“I can’t get into anymore trouble with Summer so talk to me so I can ignore her.”

Eden starts to tell me a story about one of our classmates from when  they were all in lower school. She’s been here for a while so she knows all the dirt.

I don’t even let my eyes sweep past Summer but I can smell her sweet perfume when she walks close to me. And I can feel her cool hand on my neck. I  whip around on instinct and I’m in defense mode.

Summer’s  staring at me expectantly.

“What the--”

And then I black out.

When I come back to I’m in a bed in the infirmary. Architecture Girl--I mean Eden-- is sitting next to me and she jumps when I sit up.

“You’re awake!,” Eden exclaims.

I feel groggy, my  body had been shut down for--I look at the calendar projected on the wall--2 days. My back was sore, I felt like I had glass in my eyes and I  need to use the bathroom badly, but I knew I couldn’t walk so soon after being rebooted.

“Of course I’m awake,” I say my words a little slurred.  “She turned me off, you saw it, right ? Right ? Tell me that bitch is in trouble.”

“I’m sorry,” Eden says in a pleading voice. “I told Headmaster I thought she did it, but he kept asking me if I actually saw it and I didn’t because we were talking. I just heard it. It was so scary when you just fell like that. I thought you’d crack your head open.”

“Fuck,” I’m not wearing a minder and I let loose a list of words I’d been saving. Eden squirms in her seat.

“Summer can’t get away with everything because her mother is the head of the RLA and somehow has Headmaster by the balls. I’m getting her back.” I

“Maybe you should just...I don't know just leave her alone ?,” Eden says slowly.

“I tried that,” I remind her. “And look what happened. It’s only gotten worse. I need your help. Tell me you’ll help me.”

Eden looks like she wished she’d never talked to me , but before she can answer a nurse and some cybernetics grad student come over and they make her leave so they can start poking and asking me dumbass questions.

I try and tell them I know what happened and why I shut down but they won’t listen. The cybernetic grad student does a body scan and if he notices that half my mods and parts are black market he’d been told not to say anything.

I spend another three days in the infirmary and three weeks getting a plan together to get back at Summer. I figure I need to give her time to think I’m not going to retaliate. I know Eden’s hesitant, but I don’t care. We weren’t going to do anything that bad to Summer and it wasn’t anything anyone could get in trouble over.

just make her day hell for a little bit.

In homeroom I tell Mrs. Perry  I’m not feeling well and  she lets me go to the nurse's office. She doesn’t question it since everyone knew I’d been shut down. Once I have a hall pass I  go to the grad study building and  spend homeroom hiding out in the closet of the classroom I knew Summer went to for first period when Eden and I were in philosophy.

Over the last few weeks I had started collecting the little red beetles I found in the garden  while I was doing the weeding. Despite being shut down by Summer I was still expected to do my punishment. I kept the bugs in a jar under my bed until I had a good amount. My plan was to release the ladybugs all over Summer's first period  desk a few minutes before she came in.

Eden’s only job was to get Beast Man off Summer’s back so he didn’t see the bugs first.  I’d told her to corner Summer outside and then pick some girl topic that would make him uncomfortable and give them some alone time.

When I hear the first period bell ring I open the jar, but the beetles don’t pour out on the desk like I had  imagined. They cling to the inside of the jar.  I sprinkle a sugar packet on the desk and chair to attract the bugs and they ignore it. They start crawling over my hands. I try and brush them off, but I end up smooshing more of them.

I'm thinking about just smashing the jar over the desk when I hear Summer and Eden talking in the hall. Eden is talking loudly so I can hear them coming and then I remember my exit plan.

Or I remember I forgot to make one.

I freeze as they walk in. Eden looks distressed at having to be part of this and I think she’s going to bolt.  Summer looks confused because I’m standing there with a bunch of ladybugs buzzing around me.

Fuck it.

“Why did you do turn me off like that ?,” I spit at her before she can think about calling Beast Man.

I’d never heard her speak so it’s weird when I hear her voice.

“You were snooping in my tablet. You think I didn’t see you take it the other day?” she says.