Extras by Scott Westerfeld Read Free Book Online

check my face rank later?"
    "Oh." Aya looked away. "Is it that obvious?"
    "Fame's always obvious—that's the point of it." She glanced back toward where Jai was hiding.
    "I know you kick stories once in a while. We'll have to break you of that habit."
    "Sorry I asked."
    "No problem. Listen, if it makes you feel better, my first name's Miki. And my face rank's about nine hundred and ninety-seven thousand."
    "You're kidding…right?"
    "Pretty sly, huh?" Miki said with a grin.
    Aya shook her head, trying to think through the building rumble of the train. It didn't make sense. Anyone who pulled tricks like this should have cracked a hundred thousand, whether they'd been kicked or not. The city interface picked up any mention of your name, especially gossip, tall tales, and rumors. And 997,000 was almost a million! That was the land of extreme extras, like newborn littlies and crumblies who'd never taken the mind-rain pills. Non-people, practically. Miki just laughed at her dumbfounded expression. "Of course, Jai's even slyer. That's why she's the boss."
    "You mean slyer … as in less famous?"
    Miki winked. "As in kissing a million."
    "Get ready!" Eden Maru called, barely audible above the growing roar of the train.
    "Surf's up!" Miki yelled, kneeling.
    Aya grabbed her hoverboard's forward edge, trying to focus. This story was suddenly much stranger than just surfing a mag-lev. For some reason, the Sly Girls had turned the reputation economy upside down.
    They wanted to disappear. But why?
    Her crash bracelets snapped against the board, locking her down tight. The factory roof itself was shuddering now, the gravel strewn across it dancing like hailstones hitting grass. She could finally kick a story like one of Hire's: long, dizzy-making interviews, a dozen background layers tracing the Girls' histories, wild footage of tram rides and underground meetings. If she could just shoot it without them finding out…and with her hovercam at the bottom of a lake. Aya glanced over her shoulder at Jai, feeling a cold smile creep onto her face. Finally she knew how to take the perfect revenge for Moggle's watery burial. She was going to kick this story big, and make the Sly Girls famous beyond their wildest nightmares.
    She'd make sure everyone knew their names.
    "Hey, you look a little funny," Miki called above the roar. "Not finally getting scared, are you?" Aya laughed. "No. Just getting ready!"
    The thunder built louder and louder, finally exploding as the train arrived, a solid blur of lights and noise shooting past. A dozen whirlwinds of dust swirled to life across the rooftop. Then the train leaned into the curve, and Aya heard a chorus of humming slowly build, like an orchestra of wineglasses tuning up. Three hundred tons of levitating metal and smart matter were bending into a new shape, slowing down just a little bit.
    "Now!" Eden screamed.
    And they rose into the air.

    SURFING

    The board shot forward, dragging Aya along by her wrists.
    It wrenched and twisted like a bad spinout, when crash bracelets could almost jerk a rider's arms from their sockets. But spinouts never lasted this long. Aya's hoverboard was still accelerating, faster and faster along the slow curve of the mag-lev line.
    She squeezed as flat as she could against the board, her feet dangling off the back end, her dorm jacket snapping like a flag in a gale.
    Squinting against the wind, Aya could hardly see anything. Only a few meters ahead, Miki was nothing but a teary blur. Luckily, the board was programmed to fly itself until it matched the speed of the train.
    Sneaking out the night before to look for Eden and her friends, Aya had never expected to wind up riding the train herself. She'd imagined zooming along at a safe distance, with Moggle closer in, capturing images for her feed.
    Yet here she was, taking the most brain-kicking ride of her life, and it wasn't even being recorded!
    The ground flashed by below, but the train beside her seemed to be gradually