She blinked the commotion away, focusing on the world in front of her. The Slime Queen story had taught her how meaningless the feeds could be.
Sometimes the wisdom of the crowd was just so much noise.
At the storm drain entrance, Aya scanned the construction site with her own eyes. "Okay, it still looks clear. Everyone ready?"
"Just one question," Frizz said. "Where are we going?"
"Oh, right." Aya frowned. If the crowd had managed to find the underground reservoir, where else could she hide? Every interesting place Aya had ever explored had been kicked in some story. Her dorm, all her friend's names, even her favorite color was listed on her feed.
Aya hadn't kept any secrets for herself.
""What about your place, Hiro?"
"My place? Could we be more obvious?"
"At least it's got good privacy. It's a big-face mansion, so hovercams can't get close. And the famous part of town isn't too far from here."
"Forget it. You're not bringing this down on " His voice trailed off. "But you're right about privacy. Why don't we head toward Shuffle Mansion. Remember that apartment I showed you?"
"Sure," Aya said. "But it's not mine."
"But it's open," he said. "Just walk in and declare it. You've got a face rank of whoa! You're down to twelve now!"
"Nothing beats getting abducted by aliens," Ren said.
"What do you think, Frizz?" Aya asked.
He hesitated, then let out a sigh. "Anything sounds better than a hole in the ground."
They rose from the storm drain slowly, shivering in the freezing wind.
Aya looked down at her party dress. It was covered with wet leaves and tunnel trickle: The Return of Slime Queen. But the scent of pine trees and fresh air was a welcome relief after hours of rotting leaves and runoff.
The city looked more awake than usual for the dead of night, the windows flickering, everyone watching the feeds. Anxiety rose in Aya at the sightthe mirror image of obscurity panic.
Suddenly there were too many people who knew her name.
They flew back toward the city, straight into Hiro's part of town. The trappings of fame appeared around them swimming pools drifted overhead, steaming in the cold, and torches lit the paths along the ground.
But no one was out, the windows all glittering with wallscreen light even here. No matter how famous, everyone seemed to be watching the drama unfold.
"Uh-oh," Ren called, glancing up from his trick-box. "We have company."
Aya followed his gazea single hovercam was climbing toward them, its lenses catching the torchlight.
"Can you jam it?" she called.
He shook his head. "It's a full-time paparazzi cam, designed to track big faces."
"We're close to Shuffle Mansion. Let's go!" Hiro cried, shooting ahead.
"Hold on tight, Frizz," Aya shouted. She dove toward the ground, picking up speed as they dropped.
Frizz held her close, their bodies twisting and turning as one. He felt more confident than on their first ride, and Aya decided to take a few risks.
She turned hard around a tall, spindly mansion, cutting between two apartments held apart by hoverstruts. The board's lifters shivered, sending them into a series of fishtails, and Frizz's arms squeezed tighter. A few meters from her shoulder, Moggle shuddered in the strong magnetic currents.
But when she glanced back, the paparazzi cam was still there. Ren was rightthis hovercam was designed to chase big faces. A few simple tricks wouldn't get rid of it.
She dropped lower and zoomed down a pleasure garden path, the warmth of burning torches whipping past on either side, the smell of smoke in her nostrils. The cam was tight on their tail now, close enough to recognize their faces.
The last thing she wanted was to show up at Shuffle Mansion with a hundred hovercams in tow.
"At the end of this garden go straight into a climb!" Frizz shouted.
"What are you planning?"
"Just do it!"
The last pair of torches was flying toward them, the secluded garden path spilling open onto a field of pre-Rusty shrines and temples. As they shot out, Aya tipped her weight back, pulling into a hard climb. Moggle followed, happily spinning barrel rolls.
"Come back and pick me up!" Frizz shouted and leaped from the board.
"Frizz!" Aya screamed, spinning around to see him soaring into the air.
Of coursehe was still wearing the hoverball rig, still weightless. His momentum carried him up straight in front of the paparazzi cam, and he rolled into a ball. The cam struck him right on his hoverball shin pads, the snap of high-impact plastic ringing like a hand clap.
Frizz spun away from the collision. Aya turned hard, bringing her board across his line of flight.
He hit her with a grunt, knocking Aya from the board. They tumbled through the air together until the rig's lifters compensated for her weight.
"Moggle!" she grunted, Frizz's arms so tight around her that she could hardly breathe. "Bring our board over!"
The abandoned board had come to a confused halt, probably wondering why its riders kept jumping off. Moggle eased up beside it, corralling it toward where they floated, arms wrapped around each other.
"Did I kill it?" Frizz asked.
Aya looked down and saw the paparazzi cam below, bouncing in pieces through the ancient shrines and temples. "Yeah. But that trick was panic-making!"
Moggle eased the hoverboard under their feet, and Frizz let her slide from his grip onto the riding surface.
"Not to mention damaging," Frizz said, reaching down to rub his shins. The pads were cracked from the collision.
"Serves you right," Aya said, turning the board toward Shuffle Mansion.
She kept low, sneaking under the neighborhood's hovering meditation pool, the starlight filtering down through lily pads and darting koi.