It was one of the sensors she had placed near the door whose silent alarm was now sounding. The alert would be sent to Will and Horatio—who were only a floor below her—in addition to the other Wardenites sleeping in the same building.
The actual door alarm hadn’t tripped, she noted, which meant the entrance to her room hadn’t been breached in any way. Without moving her body, or changing her breathing, she shifted her eyes toward the entrance; she couldn’t see anything in the darkness.
She switched to thermal vision.
There we go.
A heat signature appeared, one that was typical of a human. Male, judging from the build. He approached at a crouch, likely believing she still slept.
Other motion alarms continued to trip in succession as the intruder grew near.
She quickly navigated through the menuing system on her HUD until she found the controls for the lights. She intended to blind the intruder—her cyborg eyes would adjust instantly to the sudden brightness, whereas those of the human would take several moments to adapt. Well, assuming he hadn’t replaced his eyes.
She activated the lights, full power.
The cargo container flooded with illumination.
She caught only the briefest glimpses of the man before he rushed her. She didn’t even see his face.
“For Veil!” he shouted.
The laser cutter came directly at her. She caught the wrists that held it. They were made of steel. He was a Robo, and the supplementary limbs he possessed were strong, extremely so. She could barely keep the weapon at bay, even with her upgraded limbs. In fact, she was losing the fight.
She stared at the laser cutter as it inched ever closer to her head. That long, buzzing string floated between the two generating ends, a red beam threatening to cut right through her artificial skull.
She forced herself to look away. While the robotic additions to his arms were strong and powerful, the rest of his body was soft and weak.
Grinning maliciously, she slammed a knee upward, into his groin region.
She was met by something hard and a resounding clang filled the room.
Metal.
Okay. So he was more cybernetic than she’d first thought. Was he a full body cyborg like herself then, but a more realistic one? No. His heat map would have been vastly different. He was only part cyborg.
She released her hold on his arms and ducked out of the way before the laser cutter could saw her brain case in half. She swiveled behind him as the laser burned through her pillow and the mattress below, and before he could recover, she slammed an elbow into the back of his head.
This time she was met by a sickly thud and felt her elbow sink into something wet and squishy. It was like cracking through a glass jar filled with pickled cabbage.
The laser cutter fell from his hands and continued buzzing away harmlessly on the floor. She rolled off him, and he didn’t get up.
She glanced at his face. The man’s eyes had rolled up into his skull.
She hadn’t actually meant to kill him.
Still don’t know this upgraded body’s strength yet.
As she stared at his face, she realized she recognized him.
A Wardenite.
His name was Anderson. One of the locals from Rust Town.
Will’s words came to her. Watch yourself around them.
She had been too trusting. Letting too many into her inner circle without properly vetting them.
She wondered if he had known he was tripping the alarms. After all, as a Wardenite, he should have been aware of their existence. Then again, maybe he had wanted her to wake up, so she would know who it was that killed her.
She glanced at the far wall and saw the hole the man had cut into the wall next to the door with his laser cutter. That explained why the main door alarm hadn’t tripped. He’d caught the loose section before it fell away and slid it aside.
As she watched, Will and Horatio rushed through that gaping hole, followed by Renaldo.
“Anderson!” Renaldo exclaimed when he saw the fallen man.
Rhea nodded. “Betrayed by one of my closest fans.”
Will knelt and deactivated the buzzing laser cutter.
The other Wardenites started to crowd in behind Renaldo.
“Keep them back!” Rhea ordered Renaldo. “Until we can search everyone for weapons.”
Renaldo raised both his arms and shoved them backward. “Get out, get out!”
The Wardenites obeyed, and Renaldo kept guard at the opening.
Horatio knelt and held a polycarbonate hand over Anderson’s bashed head. The robot moved the hand back and forth. “We’re going to have to search for more than just weapons, I’m afraid. I’m detecting some sort of chip attached to his cerebral cortex.” The robot glanced up. “The cortex is a favored spot for mind hijackers, considering it forms the heart of the brain’s decision processing center. Not to mention consciousness.”
“You’re saying someone installed a mind-jacking chip in his head?” Rhea asked. “So they could assassinate me?”
“That’s one possibility,” Horatio said. “Though admittedly, the cerebral cortex is a popular spot for many enhancements. The only way to be one hundred percent certain of its purpose is to perform an autopsy.”
“Do it,” Rhea said. She glanced at Will. “Also, I want all of my other closest followers scanned. Make sure the Wardenites are clean.”
“I’m on it,” Renaldo said.
“No,” Rhea said. “Will, I want you to handle it.”
Renaldo gave her a hurt look. She couldn’t hold his gaze and instead glanced at Will, who nodded.
“I want everyone to wait for me on level three,” Will instructed Renaldo.
The latter man scowled at him, but then Renaldo sighed and retreated through the hole cut into the wall.
“You heard the man,” came Renaldo’s voice from the next cargo container. “To the rungs. Level three it is!”
Rhea listened to the receding clang of boots
