The back alley by the church was narrow, it smelled of sulfur and wet rats. Rain was coming down hard, washing away the heat from Sarah.
We can't leave them! I yelled, looking back at the church. I heard Father John's shotgun and metal being torn apart.
We have to, Sarah said, pulling me. She moved faster, sharp, almost like a robot. The Admin power fueled her, but I saw cracks forming glowing lines on her arms. Her body was falling apart from her digital soul.
If we stay, they die, she said. Malachi wants me. If I leave, the Hunters follow.
We ran through the Undercity. No bike now, just us on foot in enemy territory.
You said the Power Grid, I said, panting. That is Sector 4?. That's miles away. And it's guarded by the Iron Legion.
Not the main grid, Sarah said, while turning. The Sub-Station. The old thing that powers air for the rich people.
She stopped.
We were stuck. A big, rusty blast door blocked us. Welded shut, with graffiti.
A write up was on it, it said,...NO EXIT. ROT IN HELL.
Dead end, I said. We're stuck.
No, Sarah said. touching the cold metal. Nothing is stopping me.
She closed her eyes. The blue veins on her neck pulsed.
creaaak...
The metal didn't slide. It bent. The steel groaned as she changed it, not with strength, but by changing its density. Like pushing a hand through clay.
She tore a hole in the steel big enough for us to get through.
We went inside.
It was a dark, silent, tunnel. Cables as big as trees trunks ran along the walls, pulsing.
This is a power thing, I said. We're inside the city's veins.
Yeah we are, Sarah said. She slumped against the wall, the to the floor. The glow in her eyes went away as she looked tired and small.
I need to rest, she whispered. My sync is dropping.
I knelt by her. You're breaking apart, Sarah. You need a pod. You need to go back.
No, she said, grabbing my shirt. You don't know what they do, Elias. They don't just use our brains. They edit us. They delete the parts that fight back. If I go back, Sarah dies. Only the Queen is left.
She let go, her hand shaking. I need you to do something.
What?
I can't hack the Sub-Station. Not like this. Too unstable. If I connect to the main grid, I'll burn out the city, including us.
She reached into her pocket, of Father John's shirt, and took out a small, jagged chip. Looked like black glass.
This is part of my code, she said. A Key.
She grabbed my left arm, the wrist with the stolen wrist-comp.
What you doing? I pulled back.
I'm upgrading you, she said.
She put the black shard into the wrist-comp's port.
ZAP.
Pain went up my arm. Like liquid nitrogen in my veins. I screamed, grabbing my wrist.
SYSTEM REBOOTING...
UNAUTHORIZED HARDWARE DETECTED.
OVERRIDE ACCEPTED.
WELCOME, USER ELIAS.
CLASS: TECHNOMANCER (LEVEL 1).
I stared at the screen. The interface was different. No more green text from the Corporation. Now it was red.
What did you do? I gasped, looking at my hand, the veins in my wrist were turning black.
I gave you a backdoor, Sarah whispered. You're a walking virus now, Elias. You can mess with the city's tech. You can see the code.
I looked up.
Suddenly, the dark tunnel wasn't dark anymore.
I could see the electricity flowing through the cables on the wall, like a river of white light. And the data packets whizzing through the fiber optics messages, bank transfers, surveillance feeds, all floating in the air, tagged with labels only I could see.
POWER FLOW: 400KV.
SOURCE: SECTOR 4.
DESTINATION: HIGH-RISE DISTRICT.
Whoa, I breathed.
Don't get distracted, Sarah said, struggling to stand. The Sub Station is ahead. Gotta shut it down.
Why? What does cutting the power do?
It stops the cooling fans in Server 9, she said grimly. No fans means the temperature goes up, and if that happens, the Corporation has to start an Emergency Venting Protocol to save the servers. They have to open the doors.
You want to blow the doors open, I said.
I want to make a path, she corrected. For the others.
Others?
I'm not the only sleeper, Elias. There are thousands of us who want to wake up. We just need someone to ring the alarm.
We moved deeper into the tunnel.
Up ahead, I saw lights. Two guards stood by a console, looking bored while holding sub machine guns. They wore the gray uniforms of the Grid Maintenance crew but were armed like soldiers.
Two targets, I whispered, using the slang I learned from movies. I can't take them. I have a gun, but I'm a terrible shooter.
You don't need to shoot them, Sarah said. Look at their guns.
I focused.
The world shifted. I zoomed in on the guard's weapon. Text floated above it.
WEAPON: SMG 90.
STATUS: ACTIVE.
SAFETY: ON.
SMART-LINK: ENABLED.
They have Smart-Links, I said. Connected to their gloves.
Hack it, Sarah ordered.
How? I don't even know how to code!
You don't need code. You have the Key. Just...will it. Reach out with your mind and push.
I took a deep breath, staring at the guard on the left. I imagined my mind as a hand, reaching out across the empty space, focusing on the little blue light on his gun.
Jam it, I thought. Break it.
My wrist-comp heated up. I felt a weird pressure in my skull.
COMMAND SENT: JAM RECEIVER.
The guard adjusted his grip. Hey, my status light just went red.
Kick it, the other guard said. There are just Cheap trash.
The first guard slapped his weapon. BANG.
The gun misfired. A round cooked off inside the chamber, and the weapon blew up in his hands.
Aaargh! The guard screamed, dropping what was left of his gun while gripping his ripped fingers.
What the hell? The second guard spun around, looking for a fight.
Now! Sarah yelled.
I stepped out from the shadows, raising my gun.
Freeze! I shouted.
The remaining guard raised his weapon.
No time to hack. I pulled the trigger.
The gun kicked hard, the shot went wide, and sparks flew off the wall. But it was enough to make him flinch.
Sarah raised her hand. A loose, heavy cable sprung out from the wall like a tentacle, wrapping around the guard's ankle. She pulled it.
He flew into the air, slamming against the concrete wall with a sickening impact. He didn't get up.
Silence returned to the tunnel.
I stood there, breathing hard, staring at my hands. I had just messed up a weapon with my mind.
Not bad for a Level 1, Sarah said, limping past me toward the console.
I... I can feel the network, I said, looking at the blinking lights, of the Sub-Station controls. Seems... alive.
It is, she said. And you just touched it with a stick. Get ready, Elias. Malachi knows we're here now.
She pointed to the console.
ALERT. SYSTEM BREACH DETECTED.
DEPLOYING COUNTER-MEASURES
In the darkness of the tunnel, a red light started glowing. A single red eye, staring.
Then came the sound of metal claws scratching on concrete.
Is that a Hunter? I asked, raising my gun.
No, Sarah said, backing away. That's worse. That's a Reaper.