Specials

Tally and the Cutters go back to the hospital to check on any remaining patients. Tally knows she could simply escape, but Tally has nowhere else to go if Dr. Cable is instigating the war. Meanwhile, she wonders if she really is a dangerous weapon, as Diego claims, or if she is merely Dr. Cable’s creation. She briefly begins to reconsider her ideas on being normal and think average might be better than Special. She wants to tell Zane this and apologize for her earlier reaction to him.

Tally also asks Shay why she did not administer the cure to Tally when she was anesthetized in the hospital awaiting surgery. Shay thinks that Tally should make up her own mind. She also believes that they need to admit to Dr. Cable their role in the destruction of the Armory, as this might end the conflict. This is part of the reason Tally needs to stay Special: If her brain has not been altered, then Dr. Cable is more likely to believe her.

Before they can begin their journey back to their city, they receive a ping from another Cutter. They found Zane in a hospital room.

Zane is unconscious and clearly dying. Tally believes it is her fault and that their plans and the subsequent war have contributed to his decline. The doctors, however, tell her otherwise: the damage to Zane’s brain was already too widespread. Though they tried to operate, they could not repair his function. Effectively, Zane is brain-dead. When they unhook him from life support, he will die.

Tally insists on seeing him and recognizes immediately that what the doctors are saying is true. Zane is gone. She is both saddened and furious—most of all because she blames herself. Her Special senses exacerbate these feelings, as she sees the futility of death in a way that she believes someone unenhanced does not.

She tells Shay that they will leave for the city first thing in the morning, so Shay can get some sleep. Tally knows she cannot sleep and does not wait for Shay. She decides she must leave Zane, Shay, and the other Cutters behind.

Tally takes her hoverboard toward home, marveling over the beauty of the world and aching over the loss of Zane. She is truly fearless now, as she feels she has nothing left to lose.

As she makes her way across the countryside, she sees more runaways and wonders what they will do now. She wonders if Diego will survive the attack. In a week, the authorities from her city will arrive to take over. Tally must act quickly.

She thinks about making her confession to Dr. Cable. Maybe the doctor will operate on her again, so she can forget about her guilt and sadness. She is startled out of her reverie when she hears a ping: Someone is trying to message her. She assumes it is one of the runaways below; they clearly do not have the technology to send her a message, just to connect with her feed. She lands and follows her sense of smell to a campsite. There, she encounters David.

He has been waiting for her. Shay contacted him after Tally left, knowing Tally’s state of mind. Shay herself decided to stay in Diego and help. David tells Tally he is concerned about her, as is his mother (with whom Tally had an earlier falling out). David’s mother is the scientist who pioneered the cure, and apparently, she has been studying the Specials. She is worried about what the operation has done to Tally’s mind, as well.

Tally rejects all of this, saying that nobody could possibly understand her—especially after the loss of Zane. David calms her down and reminds her that some of these issues are not about Zane. Tally wilts at the mention of his name but then strengthens her resolve. David offers her the injector that contains the cure. Tally says she cannot take it—Dr. Cable will not believe her confession if she is no longer Special—but she accepts the injector and tucks it away into her suit.

David reminds her of how instrumental she has been to this journey. She overcame the Pretty operation that turned her into a bubblehead all by herself. She unleashed the new wave of revolution that is leading people to Diego and to freedom. She is stronger than Dr. Cable, David assures her. He also reminds her that she is not alone. While Tally is bolstered by some of what David says, she cannot get Zane out of her mind.

Tally makes her way into the city, calling for a special meeting with Dr. Cable. She is told that Dr. Cable is currently convening with the town council and is unavailable. Tally decides to crash the meeting; her confession and stopping the war is more important than any other matter.

Tally rides her hoverboard onto the roof at Special Circumstances headquarters and is told to rush into “the Level J operating theater” (309). Tally flies in, only to find that she has been tricked: Dr. Cable already knows that Tally and Shay destroyed the Armory. She is merely using it as an excuse to amass power both in her home city and in Diego. Tally is alone in a darkened room, and her communication feed is cut.

Tally forces herself to remain calm while she waits in the dark room. Finally, Dr. Cable arrives, and they discuss how the authorities knew about Tally’s role in the Armory attack. They found a knife at the scene—one that Tally used to cut her hand—and therefore connected the DNA to the destruction. Dr. Cable could not let it be known that her Specials were responsible for such destruction, so she concocted the story about an attack from Diego. This incidentally helps her along in her quest for expansion and power.

Tally bluffs and says that everything Dr. Cable has just said has been communicated to the entire city. She claims that special upgrades she received in Diego have made her eyes into video recorders and her fingernails into microphones. Tally uses the injector David gave her to pretend to send the message. Dr. Cable lunges at her and grabs for the injector. They tussle for a moment, then Tally catches the faint scent of blood: Dr. Cable has been injected with the cure. The scuffle has alerted security, and a group of Specials run in to restrain Tally and tend to Dr. Cable. Tally thinks the doctor will be much better in a short while.