I aimed myself toward Jaclyn and Artemis, firing off six goobots as I did, aiming three at Artemis and the other three at Power Burst. Any distraction at all might help Izzy.
I wasn’t the only one with that thought.
As Power Burst dived toward the new crater created by Izzy hitting the ground, a beam from Cassie’s gun struck him. My HUD dimmed the light, but from the readouts, I could tell that she hadn’t been aiming to blind. Continue reading Regression: Part 17
Amnesia Angel’s wings faded away, replaced by nothing—no glowing wings, no feathered wings, just holes for wings in the back of their costume where the wings had emerged.
The holes inadvertently answered another question I’d had, revealing a bit of bra strap. That didn’t necessarily reveal the person’s internal sense of their gender, but statistically speaking, it would most of the time.
Anyway, I didn’t have time to ask pronouns at that moment because she (?) was more than 50 feet in the air, powerless, and either dead or unconscious. Continue reading Regression: Part 16
Much as I had in the jet, I felt Magnus’ attention. Strictly speaking, it was the presence of Magnus using Artificer senses through what I’d heard called the Galaxy Core Device, but whatever.
Along with that attention, I also felt burning energy coming this direction. It wasn’t a question of being able to pretend I wasn’t here and avoid it.
There was no time to get myself into that mode of thinking, no time to dodge. At the moment that I’d noticed it, it was here.
Except… Nothing happened. Continue reading Regression: Part 13
Vaughn, for example, hit him with lightning again, and Power Burst’s slower speed made that easier. And Vaughn didn’t only target Power Burst. He targeted all of them—Scream Eagle and the two others speeding after them.
The hit on Scream Eagle was, if anything, a disappointment. Whatever designers the military had used for Scream Eagle’s armor before he stole it (or Rook after that), they’d thought ahead about lightning. The suit sparked, but he didn’t fall over.
Put bluntly, Camille’s gravity already held him to the ground, where Sean’s balls pummeled him from all sides (heh). Continue reading Regression: Part 11
I checked with Hal via my implant, “Do you know anything specific about how soon they’re going to get here?”
[No. Many of the command center’s staff became engaged in online arguments this morning. They’re distracted and engaging with the discussions at unpredictable intervals.]
I decided not to inquire further about that, choosing instead to watch the horizon for attackers. Continue reading Regression: Part 10
The scene switched from his bed to somewhere else. Jody didn’t know where it was. In his memory, we saw a brief flash after he’d reached a people-free corner downtown, checked his phone, and found himself somewhere else.
He’d reappeared outside a great white building. Behind the building towered a volcano. Along with that sight came a pervasive heat, a cool wind, and the smell of the ocean. He’d only ever seen the ocean when Stapledon fought aliens in and around New York City, but this felt different.
He’d seen it briefly then, framed by buildings. Here, it extended outward forever on the three sides in his view. He had to be on an island, literally a tropical island. He could see the palm trees. Continue reading Regression: Part 4