The Final Warning

Even more disastrous had been Generations D through G. Either they were so blood hungry that they couldn’t be controlled once they scented their prey, or their empathy was so heightened that they couldn’t bring themselves to actually kill anything.

The soldiers paused, patched into one impulse, one global command. Then they quickly detached the netting and sprang into the cave entrance. Moving as one, they left no space to escape.

Several of the units reappeared at the cave’s entrance. They tossed down ma

TheUber -Director blinked at his assistant, who was gazing at the ma

“Yes, sir.” The assistant opened a small black suitcase. It contained a highly efficient electric generator.

TheUber -Director sent his solders the message, and instantly they swarmed down the rock wall like spiders, moving surely and easily over a surface with few ridges, no handholds.

The assistant was afraid of them but knew not to show it. The soldiers circled him, their faces expressionless.

“Here,” the assistant muttered nervously. One soldier stepped forward, his left shoulder turned to the assistant. Hands trembling slightly, the assistant hooked the generator to the soldier’s shoulder and turned it on. A quick burst of electricity made the soldier jolt and stiffen, then relax. His face smoothed. The next soldier stepped up.

A burst of electricity acted like a drug on this series, both exciting and calming them. The soldiers craved it, and it was a useful reward. When they didn’t get it, their behavior became unpredictable and violent. It was a drawback, a design flaw.

But one they were working on.

23

“WHERE ARE WE HEADED NEXT, MAX?” Nudge carefully turned her hot dog over the small open fire.

I had been thinking about just that all day. “Chili?” I stirred the open can, nestled among the burning embers, with a clean, peeled stick.

Gazzyheld out his hot dog and Iglopped some chili onto it. Not a tidy process.

“Let’s go back to France,” said Nudge. “I loved France.”

“Yeah, France was nice,” I agreed. “Except for the fourItex branches.”

Recently we’d done the Bird Kids’ Whirlwind Tour of Europe, focusing on various spots for imprisonment and abuse, run by madmen and madwomen under the guise of theItexicon Corporation, mingled with pastry and trendy European fashion. Our lives were nothing if not eclectic.

“How about Canada?”Iggy suggested. “Seems cool.”

“Hm,” I said. To tell the truth, I hadn’t actually decided yet. Nowhere seemed far enough away fromItex minions or the School or the Institute or any of the other faceless entities that seemed bent on using or destroying us. I wanted to get far, far away from everyone.

Iggyfelt for trash on the ground, stuffing it into a plastic grocery bag. I heard him mutter, “White. Tan. Ooh, clear, weird. Tan. Blue,” as he touched various things.

“Oh, guess what,” said Angel, taking a bite of hot dog. Hearing those words from Angel always made me tense up. “I have a new skill!”

Oh, great. Fang and I made appalled faces at each other over Angel’s head.

“You mean- besides the talking-to-fish stuff?” I asked cautiously.

She nodded.

Oh, holy mud,I thought, hoping she hadn’t suddenly developed the ability to shoot lightning out of her eyes. Or something.

“Um, what is it?”Please let me not freak out at the answer.

“Look.” She raised her head and looked up into my face. The whole flock leaned closer, watching her. I searched Angel’s face, praying that horns wouldn’t pop out of her forehead. I was about to ask what her skill was, when I saw it.

“See?” she said.

“Uh, yeah,” I answered, staring. Staring at her smooth, tan skin, dark brown eyes, her much straighter brown hair.

“I can change how I look!” she said u

“Uh-huh, yep, I see that,” I said.

“Show them bird girl,” said Total. “I love that one.”

Angel smiled. While we all waited, holding our breath, she began to change again. Two minutes later, we had a blue bird of paradise with Angel’s eyes. I mean, she still had a human shape. But her face and head were covered with fine turquoise feathers and she had two spectacular plumes. It was the weirdest freaking thing I’d ever seen, and believe me when I tell you, that’s saying something.

She held out slender feathery hands and wiggled her fingers.

“Oh, my God,” breathed Nudge. “That is so awesome.”

Angel smiled and, just as quickly, turned back into herself. “So far I can only do those two,” she said. “But I bet if I practice, I can do other stuff.”

“Uh-huh,” I said weakly.

“How come she can do that and I can’t?” the Gasman asked.

“You’re siblings, not twins,” I said, giving mental thanks.

“We’re all changing a lot,” said Nudge, sounding worried. “We’re changing in ways they didn’t plan, didn’t expect.”

“Yeah,” saidIggy. “By the end of the week, we’ll be tadpoles.”

“Iggy,” said Nudge, “I’m serious. We don’t know what’s going to happen to us.”

I looked at my flock. Fang was guarded; the rest looked varying degrees of anxious. Time to put on my leader hat.

“Listen up, guys,” I said, sounding calm and in charge. I should be on Broadway, I really should. “It’s true we’re changing, and in ways they didn’t program. And we have no idea what’s going to happen next. But you know what? No one else does either. It’s theone way that we’re like the rest of all the people out there.” I waved my arms to demonstrate “world.”

“No oneever knows what’s going to happen next,” I went on. “People change all the time, and they’re not sure how they’ll end up. They might be short or tall, able to play the piano or not; they might have their mom’s eyes or their dad’s nose or their uncle’s bald spot. It’salways a mystery. It’s the one constant, everywhere, with everyone. We’re just a little more exciting, a little cooler than most.”

Was I good or was I good?

My flock looked calmer, more cheerful. They nodded and smiled.

“Okay, now,” I said more briskly. “Time for bed.” I held my fist out. One by one, my flock stacked theirs on top, and then we headed up into the trees to sleep the sleep of the i

Well, okay, maybe not so i

24

You are reading Fang’sBlog. Welcome!

You are visitor number: 98,345

Greetings, faithful readers. This site has had over 600,000 hits, which is unbelievable. It’s not like we’re here droppingMentos into Coke bottles or anything. This is just us. But I’m glad you’ve tuned in.

The big news of today is that we’ve all decided to settle down and go to regular school and stuff, and Fox is going to make a reality TV series out of it, calledBird Kids in the House! They’ll have like a hundred cameras all over the place, and they can filmIggy cooking and Angel doing her weird stuff, and Total listening to hisiPod.

They can film Max leading.

Nah, I’m just kidding. No reality series. Our lives are probably a littletoo real for most people, if you know what I’m saying. Although, hey, if anyone from Fox is reading this, make us an offer!

We’re not sure what’s going to happen next. After our weird meetings in DC, we’re craving more fresh air and fewer desk jockeys. But it’s starting to occur to me (forgive me if I’ve been a little slow) that maybe we, the flock, I mean, should be working toward something besides just trying to eat enough every day. For a long time, our goal was to find our parents. And look how wellthat turned out for us. Now we’re fresh out of goals, and you know what? It feels a little- tame. I mean, if we’re not out there butting heads with the buttheads that are destroying the world, then what are we doing? What’s our point? Why are we here?