Renegades

In the training hall, Nova is quickly overwhelmed to see the sheer number of prodigies with different abilities. There are around 400 permanent staff in the complex, with more coming in from other locations to train monthly. Nova gasps when she sees Magpie, the girl who stole her bracelet, but Adrian quickly defends Magpie, saying that she had a rough childhood and is still learning to overcome her survival instincts.

Nova asks after the Sentinel, surprising Adrian, and Ruby calls the Sentinel an imposter. Nobody has any clear answers as to who he is, which displeases Nova. Adrian distracts her by introducing her to Monarch, who is still recovering from the burn wounds (and the loss of many of her butterflies). Danna (Monarch’s civilian name) quickly assesses Nova’s surveillance abilities, and Nova shocks them all by knowing exactly how many exits and almost how many people there are in the room without looking. Adrian then takes Nova to meet someone called “the Bandit.” (This is actually Max.)

Nova is surprised when Max immediately gushes over her abilities. He asks Adrian to draw Nova as a figurine so that he can recreate the trials in his glass city sculpture. When they leave, Nova quickly demands to know if Max is imprisoned, and Adrian and the others vaguely explain that because Max must be quarantined for everyone’s safety, he chooses not to leave. Nova watches, disturbed, as a nurse arrives to take a sample of Max’s blood or saliva for certain “experiments” that Adrian can’t explain. They all refuse to explain Max’s ability to her, since the details are classified.

They distract her once more by giving her a communicator—a band around her wrist. Nova immediately mistrusts the device. She grows more suspicious that her cover is blown when Adrian tells her about their next mission—spying on Gene Cronin. (Nova knows that Gene Cronin is indeed the Anarchists’ main weapon supplier.) However, when she realizes that the Renegades truly know nothing, she decides to use the mission to throw them off her own trail. Nova rushes home, full of nervousness and new knowledge about the Renegades and sure everyone is watching her.

Nova returns to her newfound yet rundown home: the abandoned house that her forged documents declare that she owns. Her new fake surname is displayed on the mail slot. She promptly kicks out a squatter and cleans up the filthy house. The other Anarchists soon arrive to inspect the house and get information from her. She tells them everything she has learned and observed, saying that she needs to infiltrate the Renegades’ research and development department next to learn more about the Sentinel and their weakest links. The Anarchists are alarmed to learn that the Renegades are investigating Cronin, but Nova reassures them that the Renegade Code will keep them from entering the library without due cause. Ingrid, however, quickly points out that they’ll plant evidence, if necessary, to get their way. Nova nervously agrees to keep an eye on her Renegade team, but Ingrid encourages her to get them to search the library, promising to “take care of everything” (261) so that Nova can throw them off Cronin’s trail entirely.

The Renegade team settles into the decrepit, abandoned office building with snacks and blankets. Nova is amused by Adrian’s assumptions about how Gene Cronin would operate an underground business. (Adrian assumes that transactions would take place at night, while she knows that Cronin operates during the day, with collections of specific books serving as indicators of what his customers need.)

Nova quickly criticizes the Renegades’ methods since they only brought sugary snacks that have no nutritional value. Also, they don’t even know Cronin’s prodigy ability (which is knowledge retention). The group quickly starts telling her about their backstories in exchange for her own. Oscar nearly died—or perhaps actually died— in a fire, but he exhaled the smoke and gained a superpower out of the experience. Ruby swallowed rubies to keep gang members from taking them from her family; she was then stabbed and now permanently bleeds rubies. (The place where she was stabbed never heals.) Nova is surprised to learn that none of the team has ever killed anyone, since Renegades historically used to kill frequently, and all the Anarchists (except for her) have hundreds of deaths on their hands.

Adrian, meanwhile, reveals that he was born with his power, like 28% of prodigies. His powers manifested when he was a child, using a crayon to draw tiny dinosaurs all over the house. Nova’s narration reveals that she knows nothing about his mother’s death. Nova reluctantly shares that she hasn’t slept since she was six, which is true, and that her parents died when she was six, which is also true. Not wanting to receive pity or to talk about the matter any further, she goes to the roof to scout.

Nova reflects on the truth—that she can’t sleep because she was asleep when her parents and sister got shot; ever since, she hasn’t been able to sleep without having nightmares. When she returns downstairs, Oscar and Ruby are asleep, their heads nearly touching, and Adrian is drawing the alleyway. Adrian shows her his many beautiful sketches of the city, including one of City Park, where Nova’s parents used to bring her when she was little. She tells him about her various abandoned hobbies—methods to survive the sleepless nights—and then notices Ruby moving subconsciously closer to Oscar. Adrian confirms that the two aren’t dating but might like to be. Adrian then asks what she is training for, and she lies that she trains to be a Renegade. Nova eventually convinces Adrian to go to sleep.

Nova studies Adrian while he sleeps; she is aware of how good-looking he is and embarrassed by her interest. Daylight comes eventually, and she wakes the others so that they can observe the patrons entering the library. Most of them are uneventful, so she tries to persuade the Renegades to go in anyway, even if it breaks their rules. Before she can convince them, Adrian spots Ingrid entering the library. This bewilders Nova, who assumed that Ingrid was only going to warn Cronin, not incriminate him. Nova quickly convinces the team to enter the library to protect civilians, and they agree.

Prepped for combat, Adrian and the others enter the library. They quickly find Cronin’s granddaughter, Narcissa, and Adrian asks directly for the Detonator (Ingrid), shocking the girl. Narcissa seems startled by Nova’s presence and seems to know her, which confuses Adrian. The Renegades force Narcissa to summon her grandfather, and she complies, walking through a mirror to do so. As they start to stake out the exits, Cronin finds them and asks what he has done wrong. He is offended by the implication that he would associate with the Detonator and is even more offended that the Renegades do not trust him after his decade of aid to the community. Adrian insists he show them the basement.

They leave Oscar upstairs and enter the basement, which is full of sagging bookshelves. Just as Adrian gives up hope of discovering anything, the wall slides open, revealing a secret armory full of weapons. Ingrid stands at the center of it, mocking the Renegades.

Nova is baffled by Ingrid’s deviation from their plan, which puts everything at risk. Ingrid announces that she is going to kill the Renegades. As they start to fight, Nova pulls the Librarian aside and asks him what is going on; he is equally confused, having been set up by Ingrid. As the combat continues, Nova does not know if she should attack the Renegades or protect her own cover and attack Ingrid, who is determined to kill Adrian and Ruby.

Ingrid sets off a bomb, igniting the entire library, so Nova shoots her with a stun gun. Nova gives Adrian her pen so that he can draw a fire extinguisher, but the fire worsens, forcing them to grab Ingrid and run for safety. Oscar has already gotten everyone except one kid to safety. Nova takes Ingrid outside to “arrest” her but deliberately handcuffs her poorly so that Ingrid can escape. Nova then demands to know why Ingrid ruined their plan. Ingrid insists that she didn’t trust Nova to implement the plan and accuses her of ruining a chance to kill Renegades. Nova berates her for not seeing the bigger picture, since they’ve now ensured the loss of their weapon supply and allowed the Renegades a victory.

Nova, now more determined than ever to bring down all the Renegades, realizes that she must put less faith in Ingrid and the other Anarchists and trust herself instead. The people gathering around the burning library berate her for not being able to put out the fire, and she decides to focus on finding Cronin. Suddenly, the building explodes when the fire reaches the weapons arsenal, and Nova spots a child hanging from a second-story window. She tries to climb up to reach him but falls, so she uses her special wall-climbing gloves—a trademark of Nightmare—to reach him, risking the exposure of her secret identity. She reaches him, but before she can plan a way out, Oscar and Ruby find her and help her to rescue the child. They tell her that Adrian is still in the building.

Nova hears screams and realizes that Cronin and Narcissa are also still in the building. She finds them near the rare books; Narcissa yells at her for tricking them, but Nova orders them to leave the building. Before they can make any moves, the Sentinel appears. He offers to save everyone and get Cronin and Narcissa away from the Renegades if Cronin gives him information on Nightmare. Before Cronin can answer, one of Detonator’s bombs flies through the window and explodes, sending everyone, including Nova, flying into open flame.

Before Nova can fall into the fire, Sentinel catches her and checks that she is safe, which angers her. They regroup with Cronin and Narcissa, but Ingrid quickly confronts them, determined to kill the Sentinel. Before Ingrid can lob a bomb at him, he stuns her with his new energy beam. Cronin despairingly watches the library burn but says that his memory will allow him to recreate the lost knowledge. However, before he can give up Nova’s identity, Ingrid shoots him through the head. Nova realizes that Ingrid will be proud of killing him, even amused, and this thought sickens her, even though she knows that Ace’s ideology demands Ingrid’s actions.

Ingrid’s bombs send the Sentinel flying, and she gives Nova a gun, insisting that she kill Narcissa to protect her identity. Nova refuses, aiming the gun at Ingrid instead and telling Narcissa to run. Narcissa jumps off a roof into a broken mirror, disappearing. Nova tries to regroup. The Sentinel finds her but only tells her that he and Nightmare have unfinished business. Ruby and Oscar arrive and tell her that Adrian is still inside the building. Nova realizes that Adrian’s death might seem good for her cause but isn’t a good thing for the world. Before the Sentinel can leave, she shoots him repeatedly in the chest, but the shots fails to penetrate his armor. She tells him that he struck a deal with a villain and is now a criminal. He takes her gun and stun gun and throws them over the side of the building, then disappears.