Chapter 5
Not Invincible
“Finally,” says a gruffvoice, the pitch electronic, as if the sound travels through a speaker.
Pain shoots through my arms, and the shoulder joints are stretched high above my head.
Where am I?
I access my implant and sift through the readouts as I open my eyes. An area scan returns...nothing. It’s as if I can’t reach farther than a meter out. Adrenaline surges through my limbs.
I feel blind without my cyborg abilities.I’d purposely deactivated my implant the first time I’d left my people and escaped to Earth, but not this time. Something’s wrong.
With my wrists pulled uncomfortably upward, I glance to see my hands bound with chain, and looped to a hook anchored in the top of a cement ceiling.
A drop of sweat trickles across my forehead and a lock of hair falls over my eye. Shaking my head to clear my vision, I turn my attention to the room.
I’m in a small cell with three concrete walls. In front of me the fourth wall isn’t a wall at all. It consists of metal bars shimmering with a purple force shield.
How did I get in here?My memory banks scan my internal network and encryption processes. Nothing has been tampered with. It’s as if I’d been powered off with the flick of a switch. Not being able to recall the past two hours stirs something foreign deep in my chest. Uneasiness.
“Let me out,” I growl, even though no one’s in sight. Butsomeonespoke, so chances are they’re watching, or listening at the least.
Silence.
In two seconds, I calculate all likely scenarios that might’ve led me to this point, captured and bound. And the results aren’t favorable.
Summoning my strength, I yank the thick chain holding me in place.
It rattles but doesn’t give. With the amount of pressure I’m exerting on the metal hook with my ilirium-reinforced body, it should at least budge.
I do not like this, not one bit.
I mentally send an update request to Tilly’s bracelet, but the query butts against a wall of nothing, unable to network with our physical bond through the jewelry.
More panic slides in to become best friends with my rising fear, but I force it back down.I’ve been in worse situations. I’ll get out of this one, too.
Still. How can I be her protector if I’ve allowed myself to be captured?
Breathe. Think. Just because I can’t communicate with outside electronics doesn’t mean I can’t use all the knowledge in my head.
For a brief second, I close my eyes and center myself.
You have the most advanced cybernetic enhancements known in this quadrant of the universe, do not let emotion rob your intellecta voice whispers, its tone suspiciously close to Sparky’s.
But he’s gone. Right?
I need to focus.
Through the metal bars, bright fluorescent light flickers from the drab, gray ceiling. Two empty metal chairs rest in the center of the area, directly under the light.
Ten meters away, to the left, sits another cell with a cement wall instead of bars and a thick metal door. To my right is a gunmetal blue door, which I assume is the exit.
I try not to show my worry, but without my cybernetic network, I’m effectively tamed.
I still have my wits and internal programming.I can almost imagine Sparky smirking at me.
Peering at the electrified shielding around each bar, I’m certain it’s an EMP shield. It works on what humans call the Faraday concept, meaning it rotates one hundred eighty degrees to counter an electromagnetic pulse, creating a protective wall against an attack. But when used in this manner, it can also be used as a constant low-grade EMP attack.
