The Reaper stepped into the light.
It wasn't shaped like the Hunters. It walked on four silent mechanical legs. Its body was a sleek, armored box of flat black metal. But the terrifying part was the tail—a long, segmented scorpion tail tipped with a blade that hummed with blue energy.
A blade that could cut through anything.
TARGET IDENTIFIED: ASSET 815.
ACCOMPLICE DETECTED.
THREAT LEVEL: HIGH.
The voice didn't come from speakers. It vibrated directly into my skull through the wrist-comp.
"Elias," Sarah whispered, backing away until she hit the blast door we had come through. "That tail... it cuts through diamond. If it touches you, it'll cut you in half."
"What's its weakness?" I asked, raising my rifle.
"It has a shielded core. Bullets won't scratch it. You have to overheat it."
"Overheat it? This this thing last look like a walking refrigerator!"
The Reaper lunged.
It moved faster than a car. One second it was twenty meters away. The next, it was on top of us.
"Move!"
I shoved Sarah to the left and dove to the right.
SSSHHHINK.
The tail stabbed into the concrete floor exactly where we had been standing. It sank a foot deep into the stone like a hot knife through butter.
I rolled to my knees and fired.
BANG. BANG. BANG.
The bullets sparked off the Reaper's armor. Did absolutely nothing. The machine didn't even flinch. It pulled its tail free and turned its single red eye toward me.
THREAT ASSESSMENT: ANNOYANCE.
It leaped at me.
I didn't have time to dodge. I raised the rifle to block.
The Reaper's front leg swiped out. It hit the rifle and shattered it into plastic pieces. The impact sent me flying across the tunnel.
I slammed into a bundle of cables. The wind was knocked out of me.
"Elias!" Sarah screamed.
She raised her hand, trying to summon the cables to bind it. But she coughed, and blood splattered the floor. Her power flickered and died.
She was empty.
The Reaper ignored her. It stalked toward me. Its tail raised up for the kill strike.
I scrambled backward, gasping for air. My ribs burned. I stared at the machine.
I can't shoot it. I can't outrun it.
*Think Elias." I said to my self outloud.
I looked around. We were in a power tunnel. The walls were lined with high-voltage cables.
I looked at the Reaper.
Scan, I commanded.
My vision shifted. Red text appeared over the machine.
UNIT: REAPER MARK IV.
ARMOR: HEAVY PLATING.
WEAKNESS: NONE DETECTED.
CONNECTION: LOCAL NETWORK (ENCRYPTED).
It was connected to the network. Of course. Every machine in this city was part of the grid.
"It's shielded," I muttered, wiping blood from my mouth. "But it still has to receive orders."
I stood up, shaking.
The Reaper paused. Its red eye studied me. Almost amused by my defiance. The tail quivered, ready to strike.
"Hey, ugly!" I shouted.
The red eye focused on me.
I didn't attack the robot.
I attacked the floor.
I focused on the massive power cable running along the wall next to the Reaper. It was labeled MAIN LINE - SECTOR 4.
Skill: Overload?
I didn't have that skill. But Sarah said I was a Technomancer. I didn't need a menu button. I needed to push.
I reached out with my mind and grabbed the digital signature of the power cable. It felt heavy. Like holding a lightning bolt in my bare hand.
BURST, I screamed in my mind.
I clenched my fist.
BOOM.
The cable on the wall exploded.
A shower of sparks and a massive arc of blue electricity erupted outward—directly onto the Reaper.
The machine screeched. A sound like a dial-up modem dying in agony. The electricity arced over its armor, frying its sensors. It stumbled, its legs losing coordination.
SYSTEM ERROR.
OPTICAL SENSORS OFFLINE.
"It's blind!" Sarah yelled. "Elias, finish it!"
"How? I don't have a weapon."
I looked at the Reaper. It was thrashing blindly, its tail slashing the air.
I looked at my wrist-comp. It was blinking red.
ENERGY SURGE DETECTED.
ABSORPTION POSSIBLE.
Absorption?
I ran.
I sprinted straight at the thrashing robot.
"Elias, no!" Sarah yelled.
I didn't listen.
I slid under the slashing tail, feeling the heat of the blade pass inches above my nose. I jammed my left hand—the hand with the wrist-comp—directly onto the Reaper's exposed underbelly, where the armor plates shifted to allow movement.
"Eat this!"
I triggered the Interface.
I didn't try to hack it. I tried to drain it.
My wrist-comp acted like a vampire. I felt a surge of raw power flow from the Reaper's battery, up my arm, and into my system.
It felt like my veins were being filled with molten lead.
WARNING: BATTERY CAPACITY EXCEEDED.
CONVERTING TO XP.
The Reaper convulsed. Its red eye flickered.
POWER CRITICAL.
SHUTTING DO—
The light in its eye died.
The machine collapsed. Its heavy legs gave out. And it crashed to the floor, like dead weight, trapping my arm underneath it for a second before I pulled my free.
I fell back, panting. My arm was smoking. My wrist-comp was glowing white-hot.
A blue box appeared in my vision.
DEFEATED: REAPER MARK IV (LEVEL 15).
XP GAINED: 500.
LEVEL UP!
LEVEL UP!
YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 3.
NEW SKILL UNLOCKED: ENERGY SIPHON.
I lay there, staring at the ceiling.
Surprised that i survived.
Sarah limped over. She looked down at the dead machine, then at me. Her expression was a mix of shock and awe.
"You drained it," she whispered. "You didn't just hack it. You ate its power source."
"I... I just wanted it to stop," I wheezed.
She offered me a hand. I took it.
"That wasn't a Technomancer skill, Elias," she said quietly. "Technomancers manipulate code. They don't consume energy."
"Then what am I?"
She pulled me up.
"I don't know," she said. "But Malachi is going to be very afraid when he finds out."
We walked past the smoking body of the Reaper. The console for the Sub-Station was just ahead.
"Do it," Sarah said. "Shut it down."
I walked to the console. I didn't need to type. I placed my hand on the screen.
ACCESS GRANTED.
COMMAND: SYSTEM SHUTDOWN.
The lights in the tunnel flickered and died. The hum of the massive fans slowed to a halt.
Far above us, in the gleaming tower of Server 9, the cooling systems failed.
The temperature began to rise.
And somewhere in the dark, thousands of sleepers began to wake up.