Chapter 99 The Hard Fall

Chapter 99 The Hard Fall
Marcus

The wind screamed in my ears, a loud, terrifying roar that tore the breath straight out of my lungs. The bright neon signs of the corporate plaza spun around me in a dizzying blur of pink and blue. The ground was rushing up way too fast.

This is it, I thought, my stomach dropping into a dark pit of pure panic. I’m going to die on the concrete.

I scrambled uselessly in the empty air, my arms swinging wildly, trying to grab onto anything. Above me, the two burning pieces of the transport ship were falling like broken stars. I could see the smoke pouring from the metal hull, but I couldn't see Julian. I couldn't see Grand Marshall Vane.

Suddenly, a loud, heavy crunch echoed right above my head.

I looked up through the tearing wind. A massive, gray shape was diving through the smoke, its heavy metal limbs tucked tightly against its torso. It was Unit Seven, Vane’s giant robot. It wasn't trying to save me. Its single violet eye was locked onto my face, glowing with a cold, murderous light.

The machine accelerated, its massive weight pulling it down faster than I. Before I could even try to twist my body away, the robot slammed into my front side, its heavy iron arms wrapping around my waist like a vice.

The impact knocked the remaining air out of my chest. I gasped, a sharp pain shooting through my ribs. Together, we were a ball of flesh and metal, plummeting straight toward the glass roof of a massive corporate shopping mall.

"Warning," a flat, mechanical voice buzzed from the robot's chest grille, right against my ear. "Neural asset protection override. Impact survival probability: twelve percent."

"Let go of me!" I screamed, slamming my bleeding knuckles against its hard metal shoulder.

We hit the glass roof.

The sound was like a bomb going off. Millions of sharp glass shards exploded around us as we crashed through the ceiling, tearing through thick steel support cables and decorative banners. We fell straight through the empty air of the mall's high lobby, smashing into a massive, three-story neon display screen before finally hitting the hard marble floor below.

The world went completely silent for a second.

I rolled off the robot’s crushed chest, my body sliding across the smooth, cracked marble. Every single muscle in my body felt like it was on fire. I couldn't breathe. My mouth was full of dust and the metallic taste of blood. I blinked rapidly, trying to clear the gray haze from my eyes.

The robot lay a few feet away, its legs crushed and sparks shooting out of its broken neck joint. But the violet eye was still blinking.

"Marcus!"

I turned my head slowly, the agonizing movement making my skull throb. Through the shattered remains of the mall’s front glass doors, a silver security vehicle came skidding to a violent halt, its tires screeching loudly on the pavement.

Sarah

I kicked the passenger door open before Jax could even bring the vehicle to a full stop. My broken ribs screamed in protest, but the sight of the smashed glass roof and the smoke rising from the lobby made me forget the pain.

"Marcus!" I shouted, sprinting through the ruined entrance.

Jax was right behind me, his hand tightly gripping Lily’s shoulder to keep her from stepping on the sharp glass carpet covering the floor.

We found him lying in a pool of shattered neon tubes and white dust. He looked so small against the massive, ruined lobby. His clothes were torn to shreds, and his arms were covered in long, bleeding scratches. But his chest was moving. He was alive.

"I’ve got you, I’ve got you," I sobbed, dropping to my knees beside him. I pulled his head into my lap, my hands shaking violently as I wiped the dust from his forehead. "You're okay. We're here."

Marcus let out a ragged cough, his hand reaching up to grab my jacket. "Julian... he stayed on the ship. Vane... she has the loop."

"Don't worry about the loop right now," Jax said, kneeling on the other side and lifting Marcus's arm over his shoulder. "The whole corporate guard is going to be here in two minutes. We need to hide you in the lower levels before the clean-up crews close the sector borders."

"No," a cold, sharp voice echoed from the shadows of the upper escalator. "You aren't going anywhere."

Marcus

I forced my eyes open, looking past Sarah’s shoulder.

Standing at the top of the cracked stone steps was Grand Marshall Vane. Her red military coat was torn at the shoulder, and her silver hair was messy, covered in soot and blood. One side of her face was completely blackened from the ship's explosion, but her pale blue eyes were wider than before, burning with a frantic, unhinged rage.

In her right hand, she held the silver master controller. The backup drive was still slotted into the side, its tiny blue light blinking in a steady, evil rhythm.

"You think you can run from me?" Vane hissed, stepping down the stairs slowly. Her boots clicked against the stone. "The network is already transmitting. The satellite link is locking onto this exact sector. In sixty seconds, the final signal will broadcast, and every lower-sector heart with a cybernetic implant will stop beating."

Jax reached for the rifle on his back, but Vane didn't even look at him. She lifted her left hand, revealing a small, black remote detonator.

"Try it, boy," she growled, her finger hovering over the red button. "I planted three thermite charges in the central water lines directly below us before I boarded the transport. One press, and this entire plaza drops into the underground furnace. We all burn together."

My heart froze. She’s completely insane, I realized. She didn't care about the corporate wealth or the Board anymore. She just wanted her perfect city, even if she had to burn the foundations to get it.

Before Jax could lower his weapon, a heavy, dragging sound came from the darkness behind Vane.

A massive, silver hand reached out from the shadow of the escalator rail, wrapping its metallic fingers tightly around Vane's ankle. The chrome skin was completely black, and the mechanical joints groaned with a terrifying, dying strain.

It was the half-crushed top half of Julian's body. He had crawled all the way from the street.

"Marcus," Julian’s speaker hissed, a sudden burst of white static erupting from his mouth plates. "The button... she’s going to press it!"

Julian has Vane pinned, but her finger is right on the detonator! Can Marcus grab the master controller before she blows the entire plaza into the furnace?