To his surprise, she even wanted to see the call center, located far up on the seventy-fifth floor of the building. Ruby and Oscar gave halfhearted attempts to talk her out of it, explaining that it really wasn’t all that interesting, but Nova’s enthusiasm for the various aspects of the organization, even the dull aspects, was becoming contagious. He and his team spent so much time on the streets, communicating with headquarters through hasty messages transmitted into their communication bands, it was easy to forget just how complex their whole system was. Seeing Nova’s wide-eyed intrigue and trying to answer her emphatic questions reminded him that the Renegades had become so much more than the group of vigilantes seeking to defend the people of the world. They were still protectors, but they were now inventors, lawmakers, and activists. They were working to improve society in a hundred different ways at any given time, and seeing how interested in it all Nova was served to make him more interested in it, too.
Arriving on the seventy-fifth floor, they stepped out of the elevator onto a circular platform that looked over row upon row of computer desks. The surrounding walls were taken up by satellite imagery projected in real time onto massive screens, some showing Gatlon City, others the nearby suburbs or other parts of the country. Green lines, red markers, and digital notes were being constantly added and removed from the screens, and the room buzzed with activity. Phones ringing. Staff barking into their headsets and clacking at their keyboards. People shouting orders or demanding to know the status of various ongoing situations.
A home invasion is being reported in C14—how fast can a patrol team get over there?
That landlord on East Bracken is complaining about the graffiti again—do we have a clean-up crew available?
I need a squad to check out this bomb threat outside the arena. What’s Metalocks’s status?
Metalock is still dealing with that explosion in Murkwater, but we can send Dead Drop.
He says this is the fourth time his store has been vandalized in the past two months. I swear, didn’t we already catch these guys?
We have a situation at the B-Mart on Sixty-Second.… Sounds like a man is getting aggressive over receiving incorrect change?
Adrian leaned his elbows on the rail that rimmed the platform. “We think of this as the nervous system of the city,” he said. “Distress calls come here, the situation is assessed, and a patrol team or sometimes a solo Renegade is assigned to deal with it.”
“Much more efficient than prowling the streets at night, searching for crime,” said Ruby, “which is what they did in the old days.”
“More efficient,” said Oscar, heaving a dramatic sigh, “but not nearly as glamorous.”
“It’s amazing how they could pull this together in such a short period of time,” said Nova. “The laboratories, the virtual-reality simulators, this. How did they build this in just ten years?”
“Nine years,” said Ruby.
“Eight,” corrected Adrian. “They took over this building eight years ago. It was home to squatters during the Age of Anarchy but was abandoned by the time the Council decided to make it their headquarters. As for turning it into this”—he gestured around the bustling call center—“when you have a team full of metalworkers and earth elementals, prodigies who have basic telekinesis skills and superstrength, not to mention one really helpful cyberlinguist, it tends to come together pretty fast.”
“Cyberlinguist?”
“A prodigy who can communicate with cybernetic technology,” he explained. “He’s our tech guy.”
Nova hummed and he couldn’t quite read her reaction. Her gaze returned to a map of Gatlon City, her eyes tracking a yellow dot as it blinked its way down Drury Avenue. “You seem shorthanded.”
Adrian nodded. “It is a problem these days.”
“Then why turn so many prodigies away at the trials?”
“We’re only shorthanded when it comes to patrols. The rest of the system is fine, but we need more people who can be out on the streets, handling criminals and enforcing the laws. So these days we only take on recruits we think will be suited to that.” He frowned. “Though I’ll be the first to admit that the trials probably aren’t the best way for us to be finding new talent, but it isn’t up to me.”
“Who is it up to? The Council?”
“Everything,” Ruby said with a cheerful laugh. “Everything is up to the Council.”
“Pretty much. What we do here, it isn’t just fighting crime anymore, or even helping people. It’s about keeping the city from falling apart again, and for that, we need unity. And … well, as obnoxious as the trials might get, they do bring people together.”