AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Find Margaret
Destroy VERA servers
Determine if Margaret evil yes/no
Admittedly, there wasn’t much to their plan.
But Nadia figured it was beautiful in its simplicity.
“This it?” asked Alexis. She was behind the wheel of the big Pym Labs van that Nadia had co-opted for G.I.R.L.-related activities. This definitely counted.
“This is it,” confirmed Nadia from the passenger seat, peering through the blacked-out windows of the big glass structure just across the road from where Alexis was deftly parallel parking. Nadia hated parallel parking. Especially in the van.
Behind Nadia’s chair, Taina pushed a wireless earpiece into place and turned to face her wall of monitors. “All set here, too,” she confirmed. The back of the van had been fully equipped as a mobile command center, and Taina would be monitoring the team from the moment they stepped out of her sight to the second they were back in the safe confines of the G.I.R.L.mobile.
NADIA’S NEAT SCIENCE FACTS!!!
NOTE TO SELF!!!
Have squad vote on better name than “G.I.R.L.mobile” soon.
Taina was the best Mission Control person Nadia could ever ask for, and she always relied on her advice and intel while in the field. Nadia was particularly glad she would have Taina in her ear today. With Alexis in the van to help Taina out and Shay as an additional lookout, Nadia felt like they wouldn’t miss a thing from outside the building.
Nadia unbuckled herself and swiveled around in her chair. They were all here—the whole G.I.R.L. squad, ready to take on VERA.
And hopefully save the world. No pressure.
Nadia watched as Priya gathered up the plants she’d brought with her; as Ying checked all the straps and buckles on her suit; as Tai powered on all her monitors; as Shay tested her high-powered sensors and miniature teleporter; as Alexis watched her rearview camera like a hawk. They each had their own purpose. They each fit their roles perfectly. And together, they made up a beautiful, rich tapestry that would feel incomplete were even one of them absent. Nadia thought it was beautiful.
And she was ready to kick some butt.
“G.I.R.L.s,” said Nadia. Everyone in the van looked away from what they were doing a moment ago and up at Nadia. “If Ying’s nineties action movies have taught me anything, it’s that this is the moment where I am supposed to give a big, inspiring speech about how we will all win the day and be heroes and yay, America! Or something.”
Ying nodded with grave seriousness.
“But…” Nadia hesitated, taking a deep breath. “I don’t think I have to do that. I think we know what we have to do. We know who we are, and we know why we’re here. And we all know that when we’re together, there’s nothing in this whole world that can stop us.”
“Almost like…” Tai winked at Nadia. “…we’re unstoppable.”
The whole van shook with the weight of the G.I.R.L.s’ collective groan. But Nadia knew a happy groan when she heard one.
“We’re in,” Nadia said quietly, knowing Tai would pick it up from her position in the G.I.R.L.mobile. Priya and Ying were right behind Nadia as she stepped through HoffTech’s glass front doors. Ying had on her best black Lycra. Priya, who already clutched two pots, lit up as she saw the veritable plant paradise that was the HoffTech front lobby.
“Holy fiddle-leaf fig,” she breathed. “Thank god for Insta trends.”
Nadia, for her part, had her full Wasp suit on underneath her beige trench, like some combination of a ’40s detective and a modern-day flasher, if what she was flashing was cool science.
And Nadia was always flashing cool science.
Walking back into HoffTech for the first time since freeing herself from VERA’s influence, Nadia took in the lobby again. You can’t know a person through their things—you can’t even get to know them through a list of their favorite things. You can only know the way you interpret them.
And right now, Nadia was interpreting the whites and birches of the HoffTech office as a carefully constructed facade; a sheen of Instagram-cool over the truth of what was really happening here. A hoodie and jeans. No color; no creativity. Just what you expect to see. Nothing more. Nothing worth examining closer.
“I’m in position,” Shay’s voice buzzed over the G.I.R.L.s’ earpieces. She was set up across the street as lookout. In case she needed to get to the G.I.R.L.s’ side quickly, she held one side of a small, portable transporter. Ying carried its companion in one of her suit’s many hidden pockets. For now, she kept an eagle eye on the street, in case any shady characters arrived at HoffTech HQ.
Well, shadier characters than a flasher, a goth yoga teacher, and a girl toting potted plants around.
It was, admittedly, a high bar.
