Chapter 20 · Neural Meltdown

"Get off me, Rex!" Vesper slammed her elbow into my ribs as the first kill-drone dropped through the clinic ceiling.

I rolled with her, dragging us both behind the overturned surgical table. A burst of blue rounds tore through the steel, showering us with hot sparks.

"That was your plan?" she snapped. "Hide under furniture?"

"You got a better one?"

"Yes. Stop touching me."

"Then stop using me as a shield."

Another drone shrieked overhead. Its six blades spun hard enough to kick papers and broken instruments across the floor. A red targeting beam crawled over the table, paused on Vesper's shoulder, and turned bright white.

She shoved me away. "Move!"

We broke in opposite directions as the drone fired. The table split between us. One metal leg punched through the floor, and the whole thing collapsed with a scream of twisting steel.

Vesper landed on one knee beside the ruined operating rig. Her silver coat was burned at the sleeve. Blood ran from a cut above her eyebrow and dotted the collar of her black combat shirt.

I hit the wall shoulder-first.