Chapter 33 #2
He held up his armlet on his free hand. “Never leave home without it. All right, kids. Let’s go shopping courtesy of the Bell family.”
Everyone made sure their weapons were hidden under their clothes, and we rode the elevator up to the next level.
Luckily, it was late enough and on a weeknight that we didn’t have to worry about drawing too much attention.
Andra kept busy freezing cameras anywhere we were headed.
Soon enough, I felt what Byte meant about the difference between an upgrade and a full reconfiguration.
Upgrades sucked my energy down to nil, but I had almost enough energy to walk on my own.
Instead, my body tingled—it felt like when my foot went to sleep but it was happening throughout my entire body.
Even my brain tingled, feeling like someone was jabbing it with a thousand tiny needles.
The elevator opened to a pair of old ladies in nice clothes and sneakers waiting for it.
Upon seeing us, their features morphed into that of disgust. They gave us all a wide berth as we exited.
As Talon assisted me by them, he said, “Costume party at the south docks. My buddy here tied on one too many and is now demanding tacos.”
“ Taco ,” I cheered drunkenly.
The women held onto their disgust even as they entered the elevator, and the door closed us off.
“We stand out like sore thumbs,” Mitch said.
“We’ll take the first shop,” Andra said. “Fewer cameras to freeze that way, too.”
The first shop turned out to be a high-fashion clothing store focused on adolescents, so we looked especially odd entering. The clothes were brighter and more sparkly than the usual Aberdeen fashion.
“Hurry up, grab something and change. Stuff the clothes in the garbage. I’ll keep the clerks happy.” Talon walked over to a rack and brushed through several hangers, then pulled out a shirt, pants, and an overcoat. “Can you manage on your own?”
I pulled away. I was wobbly but could stand without assistance.
He handed me the hangers. “Good, because I didn’t sign up for dressing you.”
He then headed over to the salesclerks who looked like they were about to call security.
I stumbled behind Mitch and Vera to the dressing rooms, using the wall for support once I was out of sight of the salesclerks.
The changing booth was small, and I took full advantage of the chair in removing my weapons belt, undressing, and then removing the tags and dressing into the new clothes.
The shirt was of a soft material that showed the outline of the small blaster, and the stun stick didn’t conceal at all until I put on the overcoat, which covered everything well enough.
I stumbled back out to find the others, even Talon, had all managed to change.
Where the rest of us looked awkward in the fancy clothes, he looked like he’d been born in them.
He stood at the counter, paying what I imagined was a hefty bill.
After he paid, he swiped his armlet toward each clerk—generous tips, no doubt.
He strolled over, but I could see the tightness in his shoulders. “We’re good. Let’s go before I have to drain my accounts to keep them quiet.”
Talon assisted me again, and we headed out. When we turned toward the elevators, the old women were there… with two security guards. Upon seeing us, one of the women pointed and yelled in a craggy voice, “That’s them!”
One guard tapped his radio. Talon released me, and I stumbled to the nearby wall for support.
He’d pulled out a blaster and fired, hitting both guards in the chest. The women screamed and scampered away.
Our group took off running. Vera helped me since my body was still tingly numb.
We’d made it halfway to the elevator when the alarms sounded.
The old women then stopped cowering, stood, and casually walked over to the fallen guards and grabbed their blasters.
“They must’ve gotten the call out,” Andra said.
The old women began firing. They were lousy shots, but it still forced us to duck out of the way. We flattened against a wall as much as we could. Behind us, all the mall walkers, salesclerks, and remaining shoppers began running toward us. There must’ve been fifty of them hijacked.
Talon dialed back his blaster to stun and shot the old women. They were frail enough, that could’ve still been enough to kill them.
Vera eyed me. “Your amp better finish its upgrade fast, or else we’re all dead.”
It was almost comical watching the hijacked high-towners run toward us in their fancy clothes and shiny jewelry.
I wondered how many had ever run on anything other than a treadmill.
Some still held onto their shopping bags, while others had grabbed hangars and racks as weapons.
One was even carrying a half-dressed mannequin.
“There’s too many,” Vera said.
“Fall back to the ramp,” Talon announced.
Vera surprisingly still assisted me despite not even knowing me. As we hurried to the elevator, Talon collected the blasters from the old women. Andra rushed into the elevator, only to slam the panel. “It’s been deactivated!”
She looked around for the stairs and then pointed at the wall to our right. “There!”
It was a hundred feet away, and the hijacked were about the same distance.
There was no way we were going to get out of this without more bloodshed, especially with me operating at ten percent.
Our team ran toward the stairs, with Talon grabbing me from my other side, doubling our speed.
He fired nonstop as we ran, knocking out at least ten people before the battery died.
He dropped the blaster and started firing with a fresh one.
We reached the stairs to find the door locked.
“Cover me. I’m going to try to hack it,” Andra said.
Talon and Vera dropped me near the wall as the wave hit us.
I’d pulled out the blaster I’d taken off Woni’s body, dialed it down, and fired.
The weapon was down to a quarter-charge, but every shot hit someone since they were now within swinging range.
Stun used less juice, so I was able to take out nearly a dozen before my battery was depleted.
Several got through, and our team was in hand-to-hand combat.
I couldn’t fight, so I used my stun stick which worked just fine—another difference between hijacked amps and the Frankenstein’s monsters Softbiotics was making.
Talon was still shooting since he’d stashed an extra blaster in the AV, covering Andra, but the rest were obviously dry, and now fighting with stun sticks, knives, and fists.
We’d taken out enough to cause a wall of bodies to build between us and the incoming hijacked, but it did little to slow the rest from reaching us.
“I got the door!” Andra yelled.
Nina screamed as she was piled on by several at once. I tried to get to her, but her scream was abruptly cut off, and I winced. The group, their hands bloody, turned to me.
My strength returned, and I jumped to my feet. Then a wave of dizziness washed over me the instant before a group of six or more high-towners about to smash into me halted, looking confused.
“Wha—what’s going on?” a young man of about eighteen asked.
They turned and saw the chaos. With each wave of dizziness, more and more around us were freed, four or five at a time.
Confusion morphed into fear. Most ran; some tried to stop their family or friends who were still hijacked.
Realizing what Byte was trying to accomplish, I rushed to be within range of the remaining hijacked as she knocked their control chips offline.
When the final one was freed, we found ourselves a part of an aftermath of crying and catatonic states.
Those who looked around and saw us didn’t recognize us as a threat—after all, we looked just like them.
I used to think anyone lucky enough to be born in Aberdeen had it made. They were wealthy and had everything they ever wanted handed to them. But I realized they were prisoners as much as any low-towner. I think I’d take my old life over theirs any day.
“Let’s go,” Andra said in a hushed whisper as she held open the door to the stairway.
I glanced at Nina’s body and clenched my jaw before following the team downstairs where Andra led us to a well-lit, well-decorated underground tunnel pedestrians used to avoid the weather.
As we walked, I grumbled under my breath and spoke quiet enough the others wouldn’t notice. “I hope whatever you did was worth it. Your little ‘reconfiguration’ just about got me killed.”
Byte appeared in my vision, walking next to me. It was. The reconfiguration was crucial to complete our fusion. We are ready now to do what needs done. And I need to tell you what we need to do when we reach the control room without the explosives. You’re not going to like it.
“Lay it on me.”
She did, and she was right. I didn’t like it.