“That’s looking really good,” said Adrian, twirling one finger in the direction of the library. “But more destruction on the east side. That wall is pretty much gone.”
“I wasn’t done yet,” said Max, a bit stubbornly. Standing, he crossed his arms and surveyed the city around him. “I was thinking, now that the Detonator’s active again, I’m probably going to be doing a lot of restructuring in the next few weeks.”
“Hopefully not,” said Adrian, frowning. “We’re aiming for less overall destruction, not more.”
“Speaking of restructuring,” said Nova, walking a few feet along the glass wall to get a better view of the Merchant district, “would you mind if I offered a few suggestions? You seem very concerned about accuracy.”
Max straightened, almost giddily. “Yeah, anything.”
She pressed her finger against the glass. “See that row of town houses you have on Mission Street? It’s actually one block up, on Stockton.”
Max stepped over a few blocks and pointed. “These ones?”
“Yep.”
Adrian cocked his head. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. I’ve spent a lot of hours just … walking. I know the city pretty well.”
“But then what goes on Mission?” asked Max.
“Two-story commercial buildings. There are stores on the ground floor, maybe offices on the second, although I guess some of them could be apartments. There used to be a boarded-up real estate office on the corner, and when I was a kid there was a pharmacy, but I don’t know if it’s still there.”
“Hold on,” said Max. “I’m going to get something to write this down.”
He disappeared into his back rooms and Nova realized after a moment that Adrian was watching her.
“You used to live around there?” he asked.
“When I was really little. My family had an apartment a few blocks away. Why?”
He looked away, shrugging. “My mom used to patrol that area a lot. It was kind of her … route, I guess.”
Nova started. “Your mom?”
Adrian gave her a look, at first surprised, then amused. Leaning toward her, he fake-whispered, “I’m not actually related to the Captain and the Dread Warden, you know.”
She rolled her eyes. “Obviously. I know who Lady—”
“Okay, say that again,” said Max, skipping past the marina. “Two-stories, real estate office, pharmacy questionable. Now, is that on this corner?”
Nova shook her jumbled thoughts away. “Um. Yeah. Wait—no, that one, across the street. Yeah, that one. If it’s still there.”
“Could you find out for me?” Max said.
His gaze was so hopeful that Nova had no choice but to shrug. “Sure?”
“Nova’s really busy,” Adrian interjected. “She was just given a new assignment from the armory.”
Max scowled at him. “Then maybe you can find out. What are you doing today that’s so important?”
Adrian glared back.
“We’ll find out,” said Nova. “Just give us a few days. Also, our trip to Council Hall this morning gave me an idea.” She jutted her chin toward the model of Renegades Headquarters, its surreal tower rising above the rest of the skyline. “How would you like to have functioning elevators on the headquarters tower?”
Max went still. “What do you mean?”
“It’s simple. I made one for my dollhouse when I was a kid. I mean, this will require some more materials, but the principle is the same.” She ticked off on her fingers. “We’ll need some syringes and a long tube, and Adrian will have to redraw the elevators in a way I can connect them to the new hydraulic lift. I’ll sketch up a plan to show you what I mean.”
Max turned his excited attention toward Adrian. “You’ll do it?”
“Sure, of course,” said Adrian with a surprised laugh, and the smile he gave Nova—a little intrigued, a little grateful—brought unexpected warmth to her cheeks. “Am I drawing up the syringes and tubing, too, Miss Engineer?”
“Absolutely not,” said Nova, feigning disgust. “The whole point of this experiment is to show how normal, everyday objects can, through the power of physics, be turned into something really cool. That point gets missed when you just”—she waved toward Adrian’s hands—“conjure whatever you need.”
He nodded seriously, though his eyes were still shining behind the thick frames of his glasses. “Right. Because I could, in theory, just redraw the elevators to make them functional. You know … by magic.”