Just Let The Mind Race

The night sky above turned violet as a group of teenagers snuck past Crumbly homes and out into the wild. The gates of the city never stopped them since the leader had found a river filled with metal for hoverboards that led straight past the city limits. The group met outside of the city for one purpose only: To Resurrect the Bubbleheads.

"So bubbly!" a girl giggled as she threw an arm upward. The hoverboard tilted with her movement, but the other girl steadied it easily, ticked at the bubbly girl.

"Kelly. Do that again and you'll be getting a catch to the head!" the other girl yelled over the raging wind. Riding two per hoverboard wasn't fun, but bubbleheads couldn't ride alone.

"But Lily…" Kelly complained. She lowered her arm but still whined, hating these action-missing meetings.

Lily groaned. She despised the whiny Kelly. She never understood how they became friends, even when she herself was a bubblehead. "Stop tripping, Kelly," Lily replied, tilting for a landing. "And hold on or you'll flip!"

Kelly obeyed, tightening her grip on Lily's waist. When the hoverboard reached the ground, they stepped off. Kelly giggled, twirling in circles.

The others appeared from the darkness with huge smirks. Lily's eyes flashed determinedly. "Mind Racers. We've got work to do."

Kelly, you've got perimeter duty. No noise and no complaints.

"Why do I have to be stuck out here?" Kelly pouted, circling the area and sitting on Lily's hoverboard. The three stolen hoverboards went to the ones with the most control, the Commanders. The Commanders weren't bubbleheads, having taken the cure.

But with the cure came chaos. Troublemakers caught buildings all over the city. Kelly giggled, remembering the caught buildings covered in graffiti like Rusty days. They weren't the Mind Racers' handiwork, but she appreciated the bubbly idealists. Inspired, the bubblehead set off on her own adventure, pretending her duty was amazing.

Simon, Rusty, I want the items on this list from the city. Don't get caught.

The two boys set out, taking the last two hoverboards with them. As always, Lily's list contained almost irretrievable items the city had locked away after the mind-rain.

"You trust Lily with this task, Simon?" Rusty asked as the boys swerved down the river. He always had doubts about Lily and her leadership ability.

Simon never understood Rusty's distrust, but he always attempted to explain the facts to him. That was Simon, the facts man; he knew everything about the Rusties. "Listen Rusty, Lily has the perfect mind for a Racer. She never once let being a bubblehead destroy her ingenuity. She's our leader."

Rusty smirked. "But you know she'd be trip without us." With Simon's rusty knowledge and Rusty's sneakiness, any materials Lily needed could be obtained within one trip to the storage house.

Kurt, you're helping me here. I want all orders followed.

"Kurt, tool." Lily commanded, holding out a hand. Kurt handed her one, watching as she assembled the Savior, a time machine. Simon explained that the Rusties had attempted this complex contraption but none had the talent to complete it. But Lily wasn't a Rusty.

The Mind Racers' goal was Mind-Rain Disposal. The city feeds told them of a couple who after having made The Smoke, created a cure for Prettiness. The Mind Racers wanted to find the Smoke and destroy their plans. The feed wasn't clear on how to find the Smoke, but it mentioned local cities. The Mind Racers would choose one and Lily would program the Savior to take them there. Once in the city, they would find an Ugly and follow him to the Smoke.

Since Pretties couldn't run around the Smoke, they needed masks. Luckily, Simon knew the features of an Ugly and he could easily explain to Lily how to program the masks. Getting the materials for them was Rusty's job.

Lily wiped her forehead as she completed the Savior. "Lily!" a frightened voice called from the distance. A second later, Kelly ran up in tears. "There's two hoverboards coming this way!"

Vexation flashed across Lily's face. "Yes, Rusty and Simon." she said coldly. Kelly whimpered and started apologizing. Lily ignored her. The hoverboards glided towards Lily, stopping in front of her. The boys set the materials gently on Lily's blanket without a word.

"Definitely mind-racing, guys," Lily admired, picking up some items and examining them in the moonlight. "Although you never disappoint." Lily stood up. "If I can finish these masks, we'll be traveling within 24 hours...Be ready to save the world."

"How much longer until the Savior's fixed?" Kelly asked bored. It had been an hour for the bubblehead in the cold. And she hated it.

Lily ignored the girl as she kept working. Simon replied instead, "Let Lily work. We need these masks to pass off as Uglies remember? Plus this is in a different part of the world. The Uglies in the area don't look like us."