Cassie looked down at the ground and then back down the hallway, “That’s what the muddy footprints were? That’s so gross.”
Then she said, “Who wants to get the door?”
Marcus shifted into a pile of goo that seeped in the door’s direction but stopped just in front, asking, “Is it booby trapped?”
Daniel frowned, “I can’t tell.” Continue reading Stage Two: Part 9
Jaclyn sent me a message via her implant, “You mentioned it.”
Ignoring her, I replied, “Both of you should get them. Everyone else did yesterday. I’ve checked on the specs, and they’ve been designed to work even with people who have magnetic powers.”
In the back of my mind, though, I did remember that the implant could be used to immobilize someone at the command of a Xiniti citizen—which might be useful if Dominators got past their buzzers. Continue reading Bigger Things: Part 9
With Sean up, we didn’t have any reason to stay. We’d given everyone some privacy when they woke up, limiting the attendees to Alex and me and moving conscious people over to the side rooms.
It had been Alex’s idea. As he put it, “With poison, people sometimes vomit or… worse.”
No one needed to ask what was worse. Continue reading Bigger Things: Part 5
I get it; I thought back, and I’m glad you’re worried about lowering your ethical standards, but I think this is an okay exception. We’re talking about the possible destruction of Earth. That doesn’t come up too often.
I felt relief and then a stab of worry from Daniel, but he replied, In our lives, we’ll see more situations that we can justify exceptions than most people. Tell me if you think I’m being too cavalier with other people’s personalities. Because it does matter. It’s the right choice for now, but for all I know, that distrust I added might migrate to his thoughts about his father, and they might not ever reconcile or might attach to all his relationships, making him less connected to anybody. It shouldn’t be an easy choice. Continue reading Bigger Things: Part 4
Everyone tensed, a reasonable response, given that I’d told them that the end of the world was on its way and that my social skills might be the only thing standing in the way of planetary destruction.
Jaclyn responded to me first, thinking back, “Coming to meet you or coming to kill you?”
I shrugged, “That remains to be seen, but Kee thought he’d be interested in meeting because to the degree that I’m an Artificer, I’m descended from Nataw, his brother. He was also a friend of Lee, but he probably feels a bit betrayed by him. So, mentioning that is to be avoided.”
Haley looked up at me and thought, “And he could randomly show up at any time? Anything we do could be interrupted and then—BOOM—end of the world?” Continue reading Bigger Things: Part 3
Camille saw him, but she was still trying to slow Scream Eagle down and didn’t have time to drop that to increase the gravity around Art.
Plus, again, in this small space, he moved as quickly as Jaclyn would have. She didn’t have time to do anything before he stabbed her with the palm claw in his right hand.
Art’s next move was to dive and roll past Julie, sinking the palm claw of his left hand into her thigh through her armor. As she fell, he turned toward the back of the room where Zola faced Haley, Sydney, Dayton, Daniel, and Jody’s unconscious body.
Well, sort of. Zola had been busy too. Continue reading Regression: Part 20
As I flew toward the open windows, my implant summarized the feed from the tower to the degree it could—a series of pictures.
Scream Eagle rose toward the windows, gaining speed despite Camille’s control over gravity. A flash from Haley’s cam showed sweat on Camille’s brow, fists clenched, and mouth in a thin line.
Sean and Vaughn, meanwhile, were doing what they could. Sean whirled a circle of metal balls with enough speed that they turned into a ring reflecting the light of the sun and the room’s fluorescent lights. I’d seen what he could do with them. They made a highly mobile circular saw that could cut through more than you’d think. When used with his power, even if they shattered, he could continue to cut with the dust. Continue reading Regression: Part 19
Aloud, I said, “The Nine are sending someone for Jody. I’m getting more details. Be ready to fight.”
Everyone turned toward the windows. To give credit to their base’s designers, the conference room had a great view—windows on all four sides and even the ceiling.
You’d definitely see it coming if you were about to be attacked. On the not-so-bright side, you’d better hope the windows weren’t made of glass.
Via implant, I thought back to Hal, “What details do you have? Everybody will want them.” Continue reading Regression: Part 9
Vaughn pointed at the lawn outside with its new hole, burned spots, and the damaged store window. “Sounds like a plan to me, but if you wipe his memory of the last few minutes, you’ll have to explain that—not to mention your clothes.”
Like Jody’s, Jaclyn’s and Izzy’s costumes had been spattered with dirt, grass, and gray mushroom bits that must have been leftover in the soil.
Daniel looked over the room, “Right. I’ll also have to explain why there are more of us in the room than before the fight. I’m thinking we did an impromptu training session after the meeting?” Continue reading Regression: Part 8
And do you know what? In some ways, that was the most interesting part of the training montage because Jody learned surprisingly little. I mean, sure, Jody did learn how to phase through matter, but he wasn’t great at it.
As we learned in our fight with him, he barely controlled it. Any additional distractions and he wasn’t able to concentrate enough to use it. Continue reading Regression: Part 7