From left to right: Gee, Anna, and Piper
Unwanted things, forgotten things, they all end up in Solace. Unwanted things, forgotten things, they all come home to Solace.
Piper Linny's home is Scrap Town 16 in the world of Solace. During meteor storms, things from other worlds fall from the sky, which scrappers collect and sell. Piper finds an unconscious girl in the meteor fields. She has the Mark of the Dragonfly, meaning she's protected by the king of the Dragonfly Territories himself. So Piper and the girl, Anna, hitch a ride on the 401 train, pretending to be on a mission from the king. Piper hopes to bring Anna back to her home, and get a reward. But a strange man is after Anna, claiming to be her father. This book by Jaleigh Johnson was published in 2012.The Mark of the Dragonfly contains examples of:
- Action Girl: Piper will fight to defend herself or her friends, whether with a knife, crossbow, revolver, or toxic dust.
- Big Sister Instinct: Piper runs outside during a meteor storm to rescue her younger friend Micah. She later goes on a dangerous journey to bring Anna home and risks her life to save her when she's captured by Doloman.
- In-Series Nickname: The 401 crew call Jeyne "Jeyne Steel" and Gee "Green-eye".
- Robot Girl: Anna turns out be a lifelike robot, who was herself unaware that she wasn't a human.
- Robotic Reveal: Anna is revealed to be a realistic-looking android.
- Shout-Out: One of the items that falls during the meteor storms is a book, which by the description of the cover is clearly The Wizard of Oz.
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: Piper and Gee tend to engage in this whenever they're in the same room.Piper: (referring to Gee) Maybe the capital should put men in charge of the 401, not boys.(later)Gee: (referring to Piper and Anna) Maybe the Dragonfly territories should send women to represent them, not girls.
- Techno Path: Piper is revealed to be able to destroy or inhibit machines with her mind. This power also makes her unusually good at fixing machinery.
- Were Dragon: Not exactly a dragon, but chamelins can switch between human and dragon-like forms.
- Wham Line: The revelation of Anna's true nature. After she gets a cut on her arm, Piper comes to see it.
Beneath the surface wound, where deeper layers of skin and tissue should have been, was instead a mass of metal - machine parts, interwoven gears and wires that were more complex than anything she'd ever seen before.
- Wrench Wench: Piper works as a machinist and is a Technopath. Jeyne is the 401's engineer.
