How Much I Know - a Renegades | Marissa Meyer fan fiction

Chapter 3

Kahless was utterly confused. The girl in the alleyway had a trail of gold around her neck, but seemed to be in control of herself. And in her expression there had been no grief giving way to what she had done under the Puppeteer's control. And, instead of going immediately away, like most everyone else when she read the note, the girl had hesitated. Her face had contorted with  effort. What effort? Kahless wondered. Most people couldn't even realize what was happening, much less make a conscious effort to halt the action. And the girl had walked away stiffly. It was obvious that she was trying to pretend she was under the note's control, but she wasn't.

She shook her head to clear the thoughts. At this point, there was nothing she could do to stop the girl, and if she told someone else about the encounter, there would be no evidence of her claim. Plus, she wouldn't know who was beneath the ninja outfit.

Kahless recounted the events leading up to this point.

She had been standing on the float just before the Council's in the Parade. Her disguise? An old mascot outfit, supposed to be a human impersonation of the Renegade R. Even if it wasn't pretty, it was effective. Kahless had learned that distinction long ago. To see the crowds, she had turned her head slowly and waved, hiding her intense scrutiny of everyone standing on the street. Her face was covered by a net, so she didn't have to show the world her identity. Perfect for her purposes.

After a tiresome 15 minutes of cheerfully waving at citizens, Kahless had spotted Adrian, whom she recognized from Head Quarters. He wasn't, however, watching the parade as Kahless had predicted. He was staring after a girl. She looked to be about 12, and Kahless could see she had noticed Adrian's stare but was trying to hide it. The thing that had caught Kahless's attention, though, was that she looked... happy. Almost as if she enjoyed the parade. Most people liked it, but they weren't bouncing on their feet in anticipation. They didn't look energized. Maybe anyone else would have passed by the child without so much as a second glance, but to Kahless, who never felt joyful, it was a bit of a shock. She scanned the child's face and reluctantly continued her search of the crowd.

Not far away from the girl she had noticed, another girl, approximately 16, stood, feet spread, back hunched, as if preparing for an attack. But this was a parade. What was she defending herself from? Kahless scanned her face, committing it to memory. On second thought, she scanned her hands, too. Fingerprints, if she could find them, were useful. Kahless searched the database of citizens she had in her mind, and found no matches. She wasn't in the system. Why?

After a second, Kahless noticed Adrian looking after her as well. He had noticed her defensive posture, too.

Kahless realized that she'd been staring, and forgetting her job. She quickly turned her head to the rest of the crowd and scanned their faces. Turning back to the girl, she saw Adrian talking to her. He took her wrist and drew a clasp for her bracelet, which, on inspection, was broken.

Kahless turned away again, and continued her spinning and waving, cataloging each face she saw in the crowd.

A while later, she had been admiring the blue sky, when a person, whom she soon recognized as none other than Nightmare, appeared on the rooftop. She was aiming a gun at Captain Chromium. Kahless had gaped at Nightmare. She was confused at the reason for this. Why would she want to kill someone who had saved so many people from Anarchy, and whom so many people loved?

Her hand snapped up, and Kahless hurriedly typed a comm to the Captain and the rest of the on-duty Renegade teams.

Assassination attempt. Nightmare. Apartment 846, rooftop. Immediate action advised.

Kahless was not known for her extensive descriptions. Besides, she had needed to act quickly. She kept her eyes trained on Nightmare but took out her mirrors. The villain hesitated, just for a second, and then fired. Instead of turning around, Kahless glanced at the mirrors. She did this a lot. It gave her the information she needed without having to waste time on moving her body. She saw the dart strike the hero about a centimeter from his eye, where, if it had hit its mark, would have killed him. With a start, she had realized that she had saved him. If she hadn't sent that comm, he wouldn't have turned his head at the last second, and would be dead.