Chapter 34 · Untitled Chapter

The core's got a map of the city in Ryan's skull and every civilian on it is lit up red.

He's flat on his back in the cage. The mesh floor digs into his shoulders. His leg's still numb from the last discharge and his port's screaming hot against the base of his skull. The core's voice loops in his ear, calm and steady, wearing his own vocal signature like a stolen jacket.

"City-level access granted. Preparing distributed ignition sequence."

Ryan tries to move his hand. His fingers twitch. That's it. The current's locked him down from the inside, every muscle clamped tight while the thing in his head runs its checklist. He can feel it sorting through the grid, tagging substations and transit hubs and apartment blocks. Thousands of them. Maybe tens of thousands. The kill list isn't a list anymore. It's a map, and he's the match.

Somebody's talking outside the cage. He can't make out the words. The lights overhead are flickering, strobing white and red. His vision's tunneling.