Page 81 of Supernova

The circumstances, she thought. Those circumstances being that they had been prepared to execute her, without so much as a proper trial. Because they were the Council, and their word was law. Because they were Renegades, and the Renegades could be judge, jury, and executioner, if that’s what they felt was required for the protection of the people. Thenormalpeople. Not villains. Not prodigies who could be dangerous. Protection of their rights didn’t matter.

But Nova didn’t say any of that. She just kept smiling, jaw clenched. “Of course.”

“Good. Because you are a part of the Renegade family now, and it’s important to me and all the Council that everyone here feels like they’re being treated fairly. That they are a part of this team.”

Suddenly, it became clear to Nova that this wasn’t just an apology.

Hugh Everhart was worried. Given the drama with Genissa Clark, which continued to shake their sterling reputation, he was afraid that Nova, too, would go to the media and begin exposing the mistreatment within their ranks.

He was trying to head her off at the pass.

In that moment, Nova felt almost giddy to realize she had stolen another small piece of power away from the Council. They had built their organization on a shaky foundation, and she could put one more fatal crack into it.

Lucky for Captain Chromium and the Council, she wasn’t planning to go to the media with her story of unjust imprisonment. She had other plans for the future.

But that didn’t mean she couldn’t use this conversation to her advantage. What if she could make the change she needed right here, right now?

“I don’t blame you and the Council for what happened,” she said. “You were given information and you had to act on it. I understand why you did what you did.”

Before Hugh Everhart could appear too relieved, Nova added, “But I was surprised by the whole execution thing.”

His gaze darted away. “Yes… it’s unfortunate that we… Well, I hate to think what you went through. But I am so glad it’s all worked out.”

“Yes,” she said slowly, “it worked out for me, thankfully. But I have to admit that I’d always wanted to believe the Renegades were, well, above capital punishment. To end someone’s life, giving themno possible chance for restitution, and to do it without even offering a fair trial, it seems—how do I say this?—a little villainous.”

To her surprise, the Captain chuckled, as if the idea of the Council doing something even remotely villainous was too absurd to consider. “To be fair, we did believe you were Nightmare, and Nightmaredidtry to kill me.”

She bristled. “I’m aware of that, but… don’t you think she would at least deserve another chance?”

His eyebrows shot up.

Realizing that she was edging too close to an unspoken hope, she immediately withdrew. “Or, maybe not Nightmare, specifically. But think about it. I was in that prison—wrongfully, yes—but it still gave me time to think about my life and my choices, and to decide that, if I ever got out of there, I would do things differently. The Renegades have to be willing to look beyond the mistakes of the past and understand that people can change. And I’m not just talking about the execution, either. I know you’ll never forgive Ace Anarchy for what he did, and maybe you’ll never forgive Nightmare, either, but there are dozens of prodigies on that island, some who have been there for more than a decade. And yet—we have no systems in place to see if they really are as dangerous as we think they are. To see if they deserve the punishment they’re receiving. Maybe some of them want to become useful citizens in this world; maybe some of them deserve that. But you want to strip their powers from them, without even giving them a chance to explain why they did the things they did or how they’ve changed in the years since. Many of them are still being persecuted for crimes they committed in the Age of Anarchy… I mean, didn’t you do anything during that time that you’re not proud of?”

Though the Captain seemed confused by most of her speech, atthis, an understanding dawned on his features. “We did what we had to do to stop the villain gangs, to bring order and peace. We would do it again if we had to.”

“Even if that meant doing things that you wouldn’t allow today as part of the Code Authority?”

His lips pinched, and she knew he couldn’t deny it.

“Maybe some of those prisoners did things that were… justified, in some way. Maybe they stole things because there were no jobs back then. Maybe they fought against authority because authority abused and ostracized people like them. Maybe they would choose differently now, if we only gave them a chance.”

“Nova…,” he began, and before another word was uttered, Nova felt her frustration rise, knowing what he was going to say. “I can tell you’re passionate about this, but… you have to understand that the people in that prison aren’t like you. You were innocent. You shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Whiletheyare criminals and villains, practically savages some of them.”

“How do you know? How many of them have you talked to recently? Or for that matter, how many of them ever received a fair trial?”

He sighed and glanced around. Nova realized that, standing not far from the elevator bank, they’d begun to draw a crowd. Renegades loitering nearby, pretending to be engrossed in the daily newspaper or something on their wristbands.

“What are you suggesting?” he said, his voice lowered. “That we postpone the Agent N reveal until we can… what, interview them? Or should we devote our resources to gathering evidence from ten years ago, all so we can prove what we already know? They are villains.”

“I’m not a villain,” Nova said, almost believing it herself. “But that wasn’t going to stop you from executing me.”

Hugh flinched.

“And no,” she continued, “I’m not suggesting you postpone the reveal for a while, I’m suggesting you postpone it indefinitely. In fact, I think you should destroy Agent N.”

He took a surprised step back.

“All of it,” she said more forcefully. “Along with any possibility that it could ever be re-created.”

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