Free Swarm by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, Deborah Biancotti Page A

she said sweetly.
    Nate lifted his gaze to her face, and Flicker was surprised to see how fresh she looked. Last night had tripped her out, like it had everyone else, but this morning the excitement of finding new powers in the world was in her veins.
    Or maybe that was just Mr. Saldana’s sweet, strong coffee.
    â€œWhenever they were born,” she said, “I wouldn’t call them mature.”
    Nate expelled a sigh. “They didn’t care who got hurt, did they?”
    â€œOr who saw them do their recognition-stealing thing,” Flicker said. “If they keep pulling that shit, people are going to know there are superpowers out in the world!”
    â€œIt’s not just them.” His eyes dropped back to the screen. “There’s this study going around—it says crowd madness is way up in the last couple of years. There’s already some senator calling for a task force. He wants to link it to terrorism, of course.”
    â€œOh, great.” Flicker felt the caffeine rushing in her bloodstream. “So we can expect a visit from Homeland Security.”
    â€œMaybe not today. But it looks like there’s a lot of other Zeroes out there, and some of them aren’t as disciplined as we are.”
    Flicker laughed. “ Disciplined? Like when Chizara crashed half of downtown? The only reason everyone in Cambria hasn’t figured us out is nobody believes in superpowers.”
    â€œSonia Sonic does,” Nate said. “We should be seeing her post about the Dish anytime now.”
    â€œHave you checked yet?”
    â€œEvery five minutes.”
    Flicker sighed. Chizara might have bricked Sonia’s phone, but there would be plenty of other pictures from last night’s disaster. Nobody evacuated a nightclub without taking a few selfies along the way.
    It sucked. The Dish felt like home now, and Glitch and Coin had turned it inside out. Almost as if exposing the Zeroes had been the point of last night’s attack.
    She stood up and began to stack the breakfast dishes by feel.Flicker had eaten almost as many meals at the Saldanas’ as she had at home, and she knew her way around the kitchen. Which was just as well, with Glorious Leader glued to his screen.
    â€œI wonder why those two warned Chizara that they’re making more trouble today,” he said. “Are they going to hit more clubs tonight, or did they show up just to piss on our territory?”
    â€œMaybe they’re addicted to that eye-banging thing,” Flicker said, and felt an odd twinge of jealousy go through her. Glitch had sucked up all the recognition in the room, everyone’s understanding of their world, of themselves , and had channeled it all into a bond between herself and Coin.
    Which was a shitty and selfish thing to do, of course. But to have that as your superpower—seeing your boyfriend with a crowd-crippling intensity—sounded better than stealing other people’s eyes just to catch a glimpse of him. . . .
    Most days Flicker had to work just to remember Thibault’s real name. It didn’t seem quite fair.
    But she couldn’t say all this out loud, especially to Nate.
    â€œMaybe they won’t wait for tonight,” she said, lifting the stack of dishes.
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œIt’s Sunday, only three days till Christmas—the clubs will be empty. Check if there’s anything happening during the day.”
    â€œHuh.” Nate began to type at his tablet.
    Flicker navigated to the kitchen sink by the feel of sunlight streaming through the window behind it. The dishes settledheavily on metal, and she found the sponge where Mrs. Saldana always left it.
    â€œMaybe we’ve gotten too wrapped up with the Dish,” she said. “A nightclub isn’t the only kind of crowd, right?”
    Gabby padded past the door in stockinged feet, the hem of her Sunday dress swishing.
    â€œLike, there’s