Page 81 of Jump or Fall
Mara turned to Gordon. “Sounds like it’s time to help out.”
They suited up and parted ways with Kimmie. She needed to be in her Division in case they were called in to assist.
Gordon handed out the remotes, and they split up once they exited the tunnel.
Silva hadn’t been exaggerating. Fires raged and smoke hung in the damp air while people ran in all directions. Their suits made them look like enforcers, so she tried to keep a low profile.
Turning a corner, she spotted a group of enforcers trying to contain rioters hurling debris. She ducked away, climbed a fire escape, and perched on the edge of a lower roof. A bright neon sign was directly below her, so if they looked in her direction, she would be obscured by the light.
Mara powered on her remote and instantly saw three available suits moving around on the screen. One had its weapon aimed at a civilian’s face. She took control of the suit and ordered them to walk away.
The enforcer next to him flailed his arms, clearly shouting, though she couldn’t hear over the chaos. The controlled suit kept moving, narrowly avoiding obstacles the suit sensed were in the way.
She wanted to do more but didn’t know which ones were allies or enemies. Then, another suit moved strangely. Her remote had it labeled as “In Use”.
Taking over two more, she commanded them to walk away. The remaining enforcers were distracted, giving the rioters an opening. One of them swung a metal pole at them, but the suit reacted, grabbing it mid-air. Others hurled bottles of fire across the street, dodging attempts to subdue them.
Gordon’s voice came over the channel. “Andrew is a Silver. Don’t know any others. I don’t have a clear shot and I’m out of range for my remote.”
Scanning the scene, she spotted a tagged suit chasing someone. She took control and directed him toward a burning car, but the suit overrode her command, diverting him away.
Gordon chuckled. “That’s devious. Send him to the street corner to the west.”
Mara did as he said.
A gunshot rang out. Andrew stumbled but remained standing. The shot hadn’t penetrated his helmet, so she commanded the suit to remove it.
His head thrashed around, trying to force the suit to move, but it barely budged.
Gordon fired again, sending a burst of dark matter across the sidewalk before Andrew’s head fell forward.
Mara sat there in amazement, not able to move.
The suit was still standing.
Chapter 26
Mara
Silva yelled over the channel, “Is that suit still on?”
“It sure is,” Gordon replied. “We should move out.”
Mara’s vision blurred at the edges as she disconnected from Andrew’s suit and the other two. The moment the connection broke, Andrew collapsed.
Silence hung between them as they made their way back to the tunnel.
The moment they stepped through the entrance, Silva ripped off his helmet.
“What the fuck?” He paced back and forth, his hair sticking up in a million directions. “I don’t normally swear, but we don’t just have puppets—we have undead puppets.”
Mara was too stunned to speak. She should have realized the suit would continue working even if its wearer died. Power didn’t cut out because someone stopped breathing.
Seeing a lifeless body remain upright was horrifying, but maybe also a new advantage.
Silva stopped ranting and turned to her. “We have to go home. Millon has probably heard about the rogue suits already and is polishing that robot hand to choke us out.”
He was right. No excuse would be good enough when the furious messages arrived, followed by the inevitable reaming when Millon dragged them all in the next day.
