Amy eyed the group of us. “We can’t simply kill it. If we do, it will try to possess someone else, and there’s a chance, however small, that the host hasn’t been completely consumed.
“Knowing that, the wards you’ve been given don’t only protect you. If we can surround the creature with wards, we can trap it.”
Marcus raised his hand and waved it. “What do we do with it after that? Our grandparents stored a spirit of chaos here for a while but it broke out. Nick and I were both possessed—”
At Amy’s look, he added, “We got out of it, but that’s not the point. I’m just saying that we shouldn’t keep him here.” Continue reading Intrusion: Part 5→
Amy held up her hands in front of her, “I know! Do you have anyone who uses magic in the group? Or in the city that you’re friendly with?”
“No. The closest we’ve got to that is Lee, but if he’s magical, no one can detect it—”
“No, no… Wait,” Amy began, clenching her fists, and letting her gloved hands fall to her sides. “That’s it. It’s Lee, somehow.” Continue reading Intrusion: Part 4→
Amy had sent it to everybody. As we read the first message, the second came in, “Details next weekend.” With next weekend being a Stapledon weekend, it was the closest we could come to getting everyone together.
Anyone who wasn’t at Stapledon could watch video from the meeting in HQ. We’d almost certainly need the support.
Messages appeared from everyone involved, asking questions, discussing the situation.
A breeze blew across the roof, and I thought about what he’d said. “I’m not making the decisions, but I can bring it up. One thing we’d probably want is that you’d train with us at least a couple times a week. That way we can coordinate.”
Haley added, “We’ll probably have to bring it to a vote, but we know you. I don’t think anyone would be against it.”
She pursed her lips. “Don’t take this wrong, but why now? I know we’re dealing with that gang, but we’ve fought other people over the past year.” Continue reading Intrusion: Part 2→
I waited to see what would happen, but after a few minutes, Jeremy texted me, writing, “J’s talking to cops. I’m riding along. You can go home.”
I typed back, “OK,” told everyone what was going on, and drove back to the dorms.
After we got back to the university, we all walked together back to the dorm. After we got there, Caleb and Gabriel walked off toward their own rooms. Courtney hung around with Haley, Camille and me in my room for about an hour after that, talking through everything we’d wished we could have said to each other back in the van. Continue reading Intrusion: Part 1→
Because the van’s dashboard was still in civilian mode, I couldn’t even send out bots to try to follow her. I pulled out my own phone, holding it to my side, and angling it with its back toward the back, so that people behind me couldn’t see the screen.
The “presence” screen showed that Kid Biohack’s communicator was on and placed him in the factory’s yard.
I swallowed. I’d met a woman who used eagle themed powered armor. She’d been a professional mercenary who worked for Rook directly, and indirectly the Nine. She’d been in Rook’s headquarters when we broke in to rescue Cassie. I’d assumed that she’d survived the headquarters blowing up, but hadn’t expected to see her again.
We pushed our way back to the van, leaving and undoubtedly violating laws about staying at the scene of a crime in the process. I wasn’t sure how many heard the first part of the conversation, but there were a lot of people at the end.
Of course, that was when Kid Biohack was there. Back when it was Alden and Jillian talking, it wouldn’t have appeared to be anything more than normal conversation since he’d been out of costume.
Still, someone might have listened to all of it. In that case, the police would be very interested in anything Jillian would have to say. Continue reading Precision: Part 8→
Jillian’s boyfriend straightened up, letting go of Jillian’s arm, and standing in between her and Kid Biohack. Meeting Kid’s eyes, he said, “I told you I wasn’t going to do the hero thing after graduation. The system’s corrupt, and I know you know it. We talked about it back—” and there he blinked, “—in days we can’t talk about.”
Jeremy glanced over at me, and I guessed he’d recognized the same thing I had—the slack-jawed look of a guy whose psychic block had kicked into action.
Haley grabbed Jillian’s arm and whispered into her ear while pulling her backward, and nudging Camille and the guys next to her.
When it was clear that the fighting was over, I resigned myself to going back in and picking apart the technical details of the movie version of the Rocket suit. I stepped toward the door only to find Haley stepping out and shutting it behind her.
