In the dark, I was the only one, emitting light.
My veins were glowing this crazy bright, electric blue. The energy I drained out of the Penthouse lights, was, way to much energy for me. It was zipping through me, making my skin itch and my heart pound like crazy.
I felt like a balloon about to pop.
He's glowing! one of the guards yelled, his voice cracking with fear, in the dark. Take him down! Aim for the glow!.
I heard a blade slice through the air.
I didn't even try to dodge. I'm no match for a sword expert. But I didn't need to be skilled, i just needed to be fast.
I grabbed the closest piece of metal, it was a big golden dragon statue on the desk. i swung it blindly in the direction of the sound.
CLANG.
The statue smashed into the katana. Sparks flew everywhere, Illuminating the terrified face of the guard for a split second. I was so juiced up with energy that the swing shattered the sword. The guard just stared at the broken sword in shock.
Back off! I yelled.
I couldn't hold the energy anymore, i had to let it out.
SKILL: DISCHARGE.
I screamed, as i let go of the energy.
Blue lightning blasted out of me, it was like a wild uncontrollable explosion of static electricity. It flew in all directions and corner of the room. I couldn't control it. It was pure chaos. The guards got hit, throwing them backward, they twitched, as their implants was being fried.
XP GAINED: 100.
XP GAINED: 100.
XP GAINED: 100.
I stood there, gasping for air, the room smelling of burnt hair and ozone.
"You...", i said to dragon head wu.
Dragon Head Wu was still standing. He hadn't even flinched. He was just by the window, the moonlight shining on the moving tattoo on his chest.
Not bad, Wu said calmly. He stepped over the twitching body of his guard. You're like a battery that learned to fight.
He dropped his cigar and took a step closer. The dragon tattoo peeled off from his skin. reforming around his fist into 3D gauntlets of light humming with red energy.
But power means nothing without control.
Then he moved.
So quick, that before I could react, he was right in my face.
PUNCH.
His glowing fist slammed into my gut(belly).
It felt like getting hit by a truck. I bent forward, gasping for air. I felt something cracked, a rib or maybe two.
PUNCH.
He gave me an uppercut, and I went flying, crashing into a heavy glass table in the center of the room. Broken glass pieces penetrated into my back.
Elias! Sarah screamed, struggling to get free from the rope binding her.
I lay in the broken glass of the table, coughing blood and my vision were blur.
HP: 30％.... Critical.
Wu stood over me, adjusting his sleeves. You depend on your little trick, kid. I've been fighting since before you were born. I'm Level 45. You're... what? Level 3?
He raised a fist, ready to finish me off.
Glitch! I gasped into the ear microphone, Do it now!
On it, Glitch's voice said in my ear.
Suddenly, the huge screen on the wall, the one with Malachi's face, went out of control (started flickering).
Malachi's face glitched out, replaced by a giant, fuzzy smiley face.
HACK STARTED.
Then, deafening music blasted from the speakers, at max volume.
WUB-WUB-SCREEEEECH.
Wu bent, covering his ears. The noise threw him off for a split second.
That's all I needed.
I reached out. Not for Wu, but for Sarah.
Not with telekinesis, but with technomancy.
I focused on the electronic cuffs holding her in the chair.
UNLOCK.
The cuffs clicked open.
Sarah! I yelled.
She didn't waste a second. She jumped up, grabbed a broken piece of the glass table, a sharp, jagged spear.
She didn't attack Wu. She threw it at the window.
CRASH.
The huge window shattered. Wind from the rain outside, howled into the room.
Jump! Sarah screamed.
What?!
Just jump!
She grabbed my shirt and dragged me towards the broken window.
Wu snapped out of it, and sprinted towards us, his dragon fists, glowing red. You're not going anywhere!
We jumped.
We fell out of the Penthouse, way up high like fifty stories building, over the bright street of Neo Veridia's.
The wind was screaming in my ears. The city lights was spinning beneath me. This was it. I was gonna die.
Glitch! Sarah shouted into her small ear piece mic. Catch us!
SENDING HELP, Glitch replied.
Something huge roared from below.
Not a monster. A drone. Like, a big cargo drone, covered in graffiti, came up from the street to meet us. It had old mattresses all over the flatbed.
THUMP.
We landed hard on the mattresses. I bounced, almost falling off, but Sarah grabbed my belt and pulled me back.
The drone shook with our weight, it engines screaming, but it stayed up.
We just laid there, looking up at the rain. Dragon Head Wu was watching us from the broken Penthouse window, looking super mad.
We're... we're alive, I said, surprised.
For now, Sarah said, wiping rain off her face. You did great, Elias. You took down a Triad boss.
More like, got beat up by a Triad boss, I replied, touching my smelled jaw. But yeah, we lived.
My wrist comp beeped.
QUEST COMPLETE: ESCAPE THE CASINO.
REWARD: 1000 XP.
LEVEL UP!
LEVEL UP!
YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 5.
NEW ABILITY : OVERCHARGE.
(what it does: You can give a quick boost to any friend or machine by using your energy.)
I looked at the drone.
Glitch, I said. Where to now?
To a safehouse, Glitch answered. My place. Sector 2. It's underground, so Malachi can't find it.
Let's go, I said.
The drone made a sharp turn, heading into the city streets and disappearing into the bright, foggy night.
We got away from the Corporation and the Triad. And now we had a team.
A Caretaker. A Queen. And a Hacker.
The revolution was on.