"Oh, crap no comment," Aya said. At the sound of their laughter, she smiled and finally relaxed a little.
"What kind of face do you want when you turn sixteen?" a fashion-kicker shouted from the back.
"I don't know yet. I'm sort of partial to manga-heads."
"So we noticed, Slime Queen!"
"Okay. No comment again."
"Do you worry that you're glorifying dangerous tricks, Aya?"
She shrugged. "I'm just telling the truth about the world."
"But you didn't tell the truth to the Sly Girls " Aya glanced at Frizz and said, "Sometimes you have to lie to find the truth."
"Why do you think a big face like Eden Maru hangs out with the Sly Girls?"
Aya shrugged. "Like she said in that interview: to get away from you guys."
"Do you think our city built the mass driver?" someone in the back row askedone of Toshi Banana's groupies, Aya realized.
"Why would we do that?"
"We're the closest city to the mountain. Wouldn't that make you a traitor?"
"Make me a what?"
"What if we need the mass driver to defend ourselves?"
She looked at Hiro, who said, "If this is about defending us, then shouldn't we knew about it?"
"So, Hiro?" a tech-kicker interrupted. "What's it like to be upstaged by your little sister?"
"Pretty vex-making," Hiro said, then smiled. "But much better than watching my mansion getting bombed."
The questions kept coming: Aya's childhood, her favorite kicker, plans for follow-up stories.
Endless talk about math and missiles, Sly Girls and spy-cams, parachutes and paparazzi. Every time one kicker peeled off to prepare their story for the feeds, another joined the fray, and soon the questions began to repeat. Aya tried to come up with fresh answers, but eventually found herself mouthing the same words again and again.
Finally Frizz dragged her away into a corner, promising she'd be back soon. Hiro kept going without losing a beat.
"Water," she croaked.
Frizz thrust a glass into her hand, and Aya drank deep.
"Thanks," she gasped when it was empty, taking a look around. The air was thick with hovercams pointed at her, but people were keeping their distance, trying not to stare. For the first time in her life, a reputation bubble had formed around Aya.
On the other side of the room, a bunch of tech-heads had gathered at the mansions big public wallscreen, watching Ren demonstrate the grim math of ballistic weapons and collapsing buildings. For a moment she was alone with Frizz.
"How'd I do?" she asked softly.
"Amazing." He grinned. "So what does it feel like, being famous?"
She groaned, remembering her radical stupidity the last time they'd been together. "Very funny."
"No really," he said, "what's it like hanging out with someone as face-missing as me?"
"Cut it out! What happened to your radical honesty?"
"Teasing isn't lying," Frizz argued. "And besides, I'm really wondering how you see me now."
Aya rolled her eyes. "But it's not like you're some extra. There's no difference in ambition between us!"
"Yes there is."
"What do you mean?"
"You went for an hour without checking your face rank?" He laughed. "That's pretty jaw-dropping. Take a guess, before I blurt it out."
Aya swallowed. She'd hardly breathed since the story'd kicked, much less tracked her face rank.
And somehow she was afraid to boot her eyescreen and check. "You mean I'm more famous than you?
Am I under a thousand?"
"Don't be brain-missing, Aya! Immortal crumblies got your brother under a thousand. This is a city killer! Take a real guess."
Aya shrugged, not wanting to sound ego-kicking. "Um, five hundred?"
"Still brain-missing!" A pained expression twisted Frizz's face. "Not telling you is killing me."
"Then tell me!" Aya cried.
"You're the seventeenth-most-famous person in the city!" Frizz spat out, then rubbed his temples.
"Ouch. That hurt."
Aya stared at himeven if Frizz couldn't lie, he had to be mistaken. "Seventeen?"
"Nana Love kicked you."
"No way!" Aya cried. "What does she care about Rusty weapons?"
"Nana-chan cares about all humanity." He shrugged. "Which is nice of her. Maybe she pinged you."
"No way!" Aya turned her eyescreen on, heart pounding as it came to life. "You really think so?"