“He had plenty of choice.” Lace shifted in the chair. “Always a choice about what you’re willing to do, for who, and for how much.” Sadie didn’t miss the quick dart of her eyes to Harry. “I don’t know how they communicated, but I can guess the other party. Human Energetics. There’s reference in some of the files to data scaffold specs. He asked ‘em to build Carter a new jail.”

  “You can’t cage lightning.”

  “You can cage just about anything.” Lace sighed. “Human Energetics has Carter, and they’re going to do unspeakable things to her.”

  Sadie thought that through. Not they’ll use her or do unspeakable things with her, but to. Like Lace knew Carter, cared about her, and was hurt she’d been taken. Sadie looked at Harry, then Lace, found Mike, passed by Delilah, and hovered over Sam. She wanted to scream this is what happens, you stupid company fucks. But it wasn’t the right thing to say.

  These people weren’t company anymore. She held her breath steady, like she was readying to sing. Like Afterlife was full of people waiting for her to sing. “So.”

  Delilah raised her eyes, full of weary sadness. “So.”

  Mike nodded, flexing his arm. “Yeah.”

  Lace looked at her hands, folded around the glass in her lap. Or maybe at her withered legs. “Yes.”

  Zacharies slipped into a chair. “It’s time.”

  “Yes.” Harry’s chassis hissed as he turned.

  Sadie stood. She felt the energy in her, a purpose wanting to be born. “Afterlife has vacancies.”

  “I’m tired of pushing a mop.” Mike frowned. “I appreciate you giving me a roof while the Metatech thing blows over, but…” He trailed off as he took in Sadie’s look. “Something bigger, then.”

  “Much bigger. Afterlife is going mainstream. We’re getting into acquisitions.” She showed teeth, feeling the snarl of it. “We’re going to steal our friend back.”

  “Uh.” Harry raised a big metal hand. “Lace and I are on the clock.”

  Lace nodded, face still down. “We can never leave.”

  Sadie wanted to rage. She’d thought Lace understood. “Can’t you company people, for one goddamn second—”

  Mike’s hand was on her arm. He shook his head once. “It’s not that. Harry’s a special case. His tech isn’t on the commodities market.”

  She looked at the big total conversion, then at Lace, a single tear tracing down her face after breaking free of the massive dam holding her emotions in check. “Oh.”

  Mike dropped his hand. “Exactly.”

  “Why didn’t you say?” Sadie pushed hair back from her face.

  “What?” Mike raised an eyebrow. “Did I miss something?”

  “No. You just don’t have all the answers. Lace. Harry.” The woman’s eyes found hers, Harry’s optics swiveling to find Sadie. “I don’t know the corporate fuckery words, but I think this is right. In principle, do you want to find Carter?”

  “Yes.” Lace nodded.

  “I owe her.” Harry shrugged big metal shoulders. “I think we all owe her.”

  Sadie relaxed a shade. “Before I tell you the big plan, like any decent evil overlord, I think we need to work out a few details. First question. Why are you two here?”

  Lace looked to Harry. “We got a job.”

  “Wasn’t specific.” Harry nodded. “Come here. Do a thing.”

  Mike looked at Sam. “That sound like Metatech, Samantha?”

  “I don’t know, Michael.” Mike winced as she used his full name. “The company’s flailing.”

  Delilah picked up a broken piece of bionics. “The best way to blind someone is to give them exactly what they want. I learned this the hard way. Someone I … know paid for my mistake.” She tossed the metal part to the table. “Human Energetics wanted our attention out front, so they sent a whole party. Your old friends. Even got Kid Wonder out there. No one minding the shop.”

  “I was minding the shop.” Sam rubbed the back of her head. “When the floor blew, I went down like a cheap Vegas trick.”

  “Where did all the people come from?” Sadie made it to a window, the armored safety glass spidery with impacts. “That’s not easy to do.”

  “Human Energetics hack links.” Delilah stood, pacing. “I saw the fingerprints everywhere while we were outside.”

  “Not possible.” Mike laughed, then shut it off like a switch at Delilah’s glare. “Is it?”

  “It didn’t used to be.” Delilah crossed her arms. “I think everyone wants a piece of what they’re selling. They get their links ‘upgraded’ by the company. Then they’re owned. Their tech jacks links. Just like Omo’s Island Adventure.”

  “The what?” Sadie felt lost. “Did I miss something?”

  “Link virus. Hit a couple years back. Turns out, Reed was behind it.” Delilah turned away. “They said it was someone else, but it was Reed.”

  “And Austin Ainley is ex-Reed.” Mike clapped his hands. “I admire the motherfucker as much as I want him dead.”

  “Okay.” Sadie ticked items off on her fingers. “Link-jacking, mind control, hacking a major mil-spec syndicate, they’re really pulling out all the stops. Here’s what we’re going to do.”

  She outlined her plan. Mike grinned. Delilah frowned, but seemed resigned. Lace kept her eyes down the whole time. Harry’s metal visage was unreadable. Sam stole her grin from Mike.

  But it was Zach who put words to what they felt. “It’s time.”

  Chapter Ten

  Rain drummed on Harry’s chassis. His audio picked it up, tossed it around, and tried to filter it out. Harry overrode it. He liked the sound of rain. It felt honest. Authentic. Unlike the Human Energetics assholes he was about to break into pieces.

  His link chimed. Harry’s overlay showed INCOMING COMM REQUEST H KAFTAN. No accept or deny, because when the boss wanted a word, he got one.

  Hisao’s voice was wild. “Fuentes, what the sweet Jesus fuck are you doing?”

  “Uh.” Harry thought through the best answer as he scanned the Human Energetics tower. He stood five blocks back, optics on zoom, overlay marking targets. “I’m on a mission.”

  “You’re outside HumanE.”

  “I’m five blocks away. I’m about to be outside Human Energetics, sure.” Harry’s optics marked the air traffic coming and going. Thermal at this range was useless, but Metatech algorithms mapped vehicle types, tare weight, turn velocities, and pronounced all aircraft empty, with an accuracy of +/- 10%. Close enough for government work. “Why do they fly empty gunships in and out of the tower?”

  “Fuentes, back to base. That’s an order. We’re not violating the Syndicate Compact. Not with them. Not with anyone.” Harry figured the vein on Hisao’s temple would be bulging with the beat of an overstressed heart. The man really needed to get a replacement.

  “No copy on that, Big K. Mission parameters directed me here.”

  “What mission?”

  “The one you sent me on.” Harry gave just the right amount of pause, a good three seconds. Hisao Kaftan was a renowned alcoholic. Ex-field, he pretended to know what the team on the ground knew even ten years later. Thing about being so deep in the bottle was you could never be sure what you’d done. “You remember, right?”

  “No. Yes.” Hisao cleared his throat. “Remind me. Which mission?”

  “You sent me down to Afterlife. It’s a bar.”

  “You can’t drink.”

  “Don’t I know it. To be honest, I thought it was a dick move.” Harry clanked toward Human Energetics. “But then I figured you had your reasons. And you were right.”

  “I was?”

  “You were.” Harry nudged the chassis through a barricade of burning cars, the groan and squeal of metal loud through his audio. He let the chassis filter it out so’s not to alarm the executive. “Zombies.”

  “You sure you weren’t drinking?”

  “Like you said, I can’t drink, boss.” Harry trudged on. “It got me thinking. You sent me out alone. Citizens everywhere. They were in direct violation of the Syndicate Riot Act, sure, but I figured you were on a mission to bust my balls. So, I quit.”

  A pause. “You what?”

  “I quit. Resign.” A gunship detached from the top of Human Energetics, heading toward Harry, nose canted down. He could hear the whine of its engines from here. Attack run. “I’m formally registering my resignation from Metatech, effective immediately.”

  “You what?” His boss was stuck on repeat.

  “I’m leaving. I’d like to say I’ll miss the people, but since we’re on the comm and this is recorded, it’s my deep pleasure to say you were a huge cunt to work for, and the sole reason I’m leaving.” Harry gave another two seconds, a muted choking sound coming from Hisao’s end of the link.

  “You’re fired.”

  “You can’t fire me. I already quit.” Harry watched the gunship as it gained speed. His overlay highlighted the chain cannon at the front locking into attack position. Unmanned or not, the aircraft didn’t like Metatech total conversions getting close to their tower.

  “You’ll never work in this town again.” Harry’s overlay lit with angry red, WEAPONS LOCKDOWN. “If you live to talk about it, that is.”

  Harry cut comm to Hisao. His day was getting better and better. “Lace?”

  The link hissed. “I’m here.”

  “I know. I’ve got an angry hornet on my twelve o’clock.”

  “Don’t you mean six?”

  “No, it’s in front of me.” Harry fed visual through the link. “See?”

  The gunship opened fire, chain cannon hammering Harry’s chassis. The sound was much louder than the rain. His overlay wavered, feed scrolling a couple times, before coming on strong. The gunship thundered by, the street pockmarked by stray fire.

  “It’s behind you now.”

  “Now I understand why Mason drinks so much. I’ve got a weapons lockdown here.”

  “Did you quit?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Excellent. I’ll need a second.” Harry watched the overlay as Lace went to work. She sliced through the Metatech firewall, because she hadn’t resigned, and Hisao wasn’t a hacker. Harry’s ex-boss pressed buttons on a deck. Lace coded the world. “There you go.”

  “Lemme call you back.” Harry dropped the link, hauling up a firing solution. Optics mapped the flight path of the gunship. It banked, moving light and fast, preparing to strafe him from behind.

  Harry swiveled the chassis, still walking toward HumanE, but now facing the gunship. He lined it up, a Metatech railgun locking into place on his shoulder. He fired a single round, the flash of white light banked by his optics. The round entered the front of the gunship, burrowed through to the core, and shed its hardened casing. Inside the railgun round was a charge of high explosive. The R&D geeks called ‘em HEAP rounds — High Explosive Armor Piercing. Harry called ‘em epic.

  The gunship exploded in a shower of metal, fragments raining the street. The noise shook the world, hitting the buffer limits on Harry’s audio. A drive cowl, fan still inside, bounced past Harry, smashing into a store selling appliances. Last sale they’ll ever run. The remains of the main engine core spun past his chassis, fire trailing in its wake. It lodged in the side of a brick building before exploding, spraying the street with stone chips.

  His link chimed. “Hey, Lace.”

  “You didn’t fire up the overtime. Just checking it’s all okay.” Her voice was dry, but he thought he heard the faintest hint of concern.

  “It’s fine. Two blocks out.”

  “I’m getting a high energy signature approaching. It’s a person.” Lace fed him sat data. A person wasn’t a hundred percent accurate. Lace should have said, A highly modified bundle of trouble.

  Harry turned to the right, eying the wreckage-strewn street. A lone woman sauntered out of a subway entrance, cradling a large rifle. Bright red hair. Combat armor that looked like it saw some use. Thermal showed her as mostly metal; she had very little meat left on her. The woman called to him, voice clear from a hundred meters out. “Hey, Harry.”

  “Do I know you?” Harry kept the PA nice and loud, ignoring her incoming link request.

  “Hell, no. But some asshole named Hisao Kaftan has a man crush for seeing you turned into slag.” She leaned her rifle on her shoulder. “I’m Ruby Page.”

  “Right on time.”

  “What?” Doubt washed over her face for a second, eyes darting to the left while she checked her link. There’d be nothing to find, because Harry was here, making all the noise.

  “You’re here to offer me a job, right?”

  “I’m here to kill you.” She held her rifle in one hand, her augments not showing any strain at all. Harry’s optics mapped her frame. A paper doll wireframe of Ruby appeared on his overlay, showing the bright core of an Apsel reactor around Metatech mil-spec mods. She’d be fast and tough. Nothing like him, but Harry needed to step with care. “No do-overs in this business.”

  “You sure that’s the best use of your time?” Harry continued forward, crunching an automated shopping cart under a metal foot in a shower of sparks. “We talk, everyone’s happy. We dance, you go home in a box.”

  She smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile. “I think I’ll be fine. You’ll be good for nothing but spare parts. Especially since your supply line at Metatech’s gone.”

  Harry laughed. “I don’t need that.”

  A raised eyebrow. “You don’t?”

  “Nope.” He pointed his railgun at her and fired.

  Chapter Eleven

  Twenty blocks from HumanE, Delilah clutched the side of Reed’s tower. The lights were out, not a soul here since the stock pancaked. Even the automated defenses were offline with no one to tend them. Six klicks to Human Energetics. Easy. Her overlay showed the optimal route through the streets ahead and the likely points of contact with the enemy. Delilah cleared the information. This run-in, she wanted to feel. Delilah hadn’t felt anything except anger and pain for a long time. She might soar with the eagles one more time.

  Delilah wore her laminar armor under the stealth cloak wrapped about her like a shroud. Zach was covered in similar material, but no armor. He said I don’t need it in the same way people said hold my beer and watch this.

  Zach clung to her with a teenage boy’s enthusiasm. He probably didn’t know where clinic work stopped, and the metal began. The whole point is they don’t have to know. Her one job was to get him inside. Sadie had said trust me.

  Delilah didn’t know about that. Samson would have, but he was dead. It’s just one job. Mike’s here. How bad can it be? Pretty bad. She’d divorced him for a reason. Delilah shook off dead and useless memories. “You ready?”

  Zach nodded, taking in the Osprey’s wings. “Laia was right. This really is the city of angels.”

  Delilah laughed. “No, that’s LA, and it’s a pile of garbage.” She fired up the Osprey, fans spinning up with a howl and a spray of rain. Delilah leapt from the side of Reed’s tower, wings spread, Osprey holding her above the city far below. Her optics scanned the ground, pinpointing people. Civilians. Cops. Very few company agents. With Reed gone and Apsel flailing, only Metatech and Human Energetics had primacy in Seattle.

  If the mind thieves weren’t stopped, HumanE would have the world. Delilah pushed the Osprey’s speed up, turning the coast into a soar. Zach whooped, eyes wide beneath his goggles. She couldn’t believe he was normal aside from a link and an overtime module.

  He’s not normal. He carries the power of gods.

  She’d seen it. And Sadie wanted to throw him into the assault on HumanE. He was a kid. You weren’t much older on your first op. The streets were full of rage. You held a gun and hunted men who deserved it. Is this any different?

  Halfway, her link chimed, the Osprey’s RADAR picking up other aircraft. Time to face the music. Delilah hit the comm. “We’re nearly there.”

  “You’re barely close.” Sam’s drawl was heavy with the need to lash out. Delilah understood. Handlers got close to their agents. “Wake me in a few.”

  “I see aircraft around the tower.” Zach clutched Delilah like she was the only real thing in a world of imagination. Clouds shared their journey, the rain slicking them both like otters. “We still clear for incursion?”

  “Harry’s having fun.”

  “Is that a yes?”

  “It’s a yes … wait one. Okay, you’ve got two inbound to your location. The bad guys have RADAR too.” Sam marked two red dots on Delilah’s HUD. “Gunships. Korean military surplus, so you should be fine.”

  “You been to Korea?”

  “A better question is, ‘Do I want to go to Korea?’” Sam hmm’d. “Okay, they’re not surplus. Still got that new-gunship smell. Shake that booty.”

  Delilah wondered if Sam wanted her dead. Not in a kill-her kind of way, but a casual it-wouldn’t-be-too-sad-if-you-weren’t-fucking-up-my-life kind of way. “I’ve got precious cargo.”

  “You’ve got a bag of hormones stuck to you like a limpet. Besides, the kid can look after himself.”

  Delilah killed the comm to Sam, looping Zach in. “We’ve got incoming.”

  “Good.” His grin turned feral. “Get us closer.”

  “You can’t fight gunships.”

  “They stand between me and Laia.” He still clutched Delilah, but craned ahead, scanning the skies. At two klicks out, he saw them. HumanE gunships, blasting toward them. At the combined velocity of the Osprey and the attacking aircraft, they’d pass each other in seconds.

  Long enough for targeting systems to find the Osprey and turn it to broken metal. Delilah wanted a stealth approach, but Sadie said not this time. Ring the bell. Make some noise.

  Zach reached a hand toward an attack craft, swiping to the right. The aircraft keened, swerved, and crunched into its ally. Metal screamed, the machines locked together, spiraling out of the sky. On the way down, one fired.

  Delilah yanked the Osprey to the side, tracer fire following them across the sky. Her wings raged fury as the drives went full, pirouetting her between two buildings. Her overlay mapped the gunship’s descent, the line of fire, and her Osprey. She struggled to keep her wings clear of enemy vengeance, but Delilah hadn’t been born lucky.