Zeroes

Author's Note

Zeroes. Like heroes, but not.

I wrote Zeroes with Margo Lanagan and Deborah Biancotti, two Australian writers who are close friends of mine. We were all keen to make our writing a more social process, so we started meeting at a pub every Thursday where we talked about superpowers and how to make them fresh and interesting. For us anyway.

Two years later, Zeroes is the result.

Collaborating on a novel with other writers was a new thing for me. I've worked with illustrators, of course, and with another writer to produce the Uglies graphic novels. But this was different and fascinating, and I think I learned a lot. I'll leave it to others to judge the results.

So who are the Zeroes?

Let's start with Scam.

Ethan (A.K.A. "Scam") has a way with words. When he opens his mouth, whatever he wants you to hear is what comes out next. But Ethan isn't just a smooth talker. He has an actual power—an ability to say things he doesn't even consciously know. Pick up a cute girl? His voice will tell her everything he loved about her favorite singer's most obscure recording (even though he's never heard of the singer.) Looking for a ride home? His voice references a mutual friend to a stranger, though he knows neither of them.

Sometimes the voice helps, but sometimes it hurts—like when that stranger ends up being on the way to a drug deal and Ethan's lies bring him into a massive mess culminating in a bank robbery gone wrong.

So Ethan needs rescue, stat. And he needs to go to the last people who would ever want to show up for him—the rest of his former group of friends, the self-named "Zeroes" who all possess similarly double-edged abilities, and who are all royally pissed at Ethan for their own reasons.

The rest of the Zeroes include:

Chizara (A.K.A. "Crash"): A walking EMP device who can bring high-tech technology to its knees

Riley (A.K.A. "Flicker"): A blind girl who can see through everyone else's eyes

Nate (A.K.A. "Glorious Leader/Bellwether"): Focuses any crowd's energy on a single goal

Kelsie (A.K.A. "Mob"): Infuses crowds with her own emotions

Thibault (A.K.A. "Anon"): Disappears from your awareness and memories the second he's out of your sight

Margo, Deb, and I have spent the last two years coming up with these characters, crafting what we hope is a totally new take on superpowers. We're excited to finally unleash Zeroes on the world and hope you enjoy the sneak peek here on Wattpad.

—Scott