Chapter 48

“Hot Pursuit”

[Dispatch urgent update. I repeat urgent update. Pursuit status is elevated to code orange]

[I repeat. Pursuit status elevated to code orange.]

{Sitrep unit six-two}

[Grand Prize has left the area and is rapidly followed by the whole cabbage patch. We’re currently in pursuit heading eastbound through Aurora Boulevard. Note to other units on the ground some of the cabbage patch has split from the main pack going out of Araneta Center.]

{Any confirmation on the stray groups pack size?}

[2 packs - ten to fifteen vehicles.]

[One going northbound through C4 - Another went straight west thru Greenhills]

{Copy six-two proceed your pursuit on the main pack. Will send backup on the ground}

[Can you even stop these guys?]

{Six-two just focus on the visuals - Ground crew will accomplish their tasks}

[Roger.]

---Aurora Boulevard, Cubao---

[Eastbound Lane]

9:00PM

Late nights at the Metro had always been dark.

Unkempt street lamps were all the rage around the districts, the dim orange glow from their aging diodes were the only light sources that illuminated the streets. Even with the privately owned light rail system hanging above the streets with their own privately sourced light fixtures, they were just as dim and forgotten as the ones installed by the district government, and only added to the dim orange dots hovering above the streets. Creating more light pollution than actual usable light;

But the darkness was soon eliminated as from a distance two glaring dots of white appeared around the corner, followed by the sound of angry wasps, furiously echoing their buzzing noise under the rail platform above them, as two officers sent on standby watch from afar, anxiously anticipating their prey.

[[Six-two this is unit four six. We’re about two clicks away down the road from the center. Confirming approach of the pack]]

[Roger four-six proceed with deployables]

[[Copy]]

The officer in uniform acknowledges as he nods to his partner to grab the equipment from the trunk.

He emerges from the back with an armful of spiky metal chains as he positions himself at the edge of the sidewalk, his throwing arm ready to deploy the object in his arms.

The two bright lights from afar steadily got brighter and brighter as the two dots of light increased in size and numbers the nearer they approach their positions. Suddenly in the minds of the two officers, was a simple revelation:

They were not facing bees nor hornets nor wasps.

They were facing a bastardized form of a Hydra.

For even if they take down one of them, not just two, but an army of heads will still be in play.

The buzzing noise gets louder and louder until all they can hear is a deafening sound of the combined horsepower that violently resides inside each and every one of the hydra's heads that were rapidly approaching. Quickly the lead officer gives the signal to his partner, as he throws the spiky roll of metal chains onto the road, just as the leading head was about to cross where they stood.

As soon as the chain landed it was immediately swept by the speeding object, throwing each other a high five for the success they achieved as the sparks flew from their victim.

However their celebration was cut short.

Forced to back away as the rest of the hydra’s heads came charging right pass them, deafening their ears in growls of flame and heat that powered each and everyone of the massive metal boxes that hurled by where they stood. And as they watched on the seemingly unstoppable pack, time felt unbearably slow. They couldn’t count the numbers that passed by but they were sure it was large enough to be counted by hand as it felt like an eternity as they wait fearfully, shielded behind their police vehicle, hoping not one of those monsters lose their sights and crash onto their positions, in which they would instantly lose their lives.

And as quickly as it began, the infinity that followed ended as swiftly as it started after the last charging bull blitzes passed. Emerging from their shock and awe, they were astounded by how quickly that never ending scene had disappeared from their view, erasing from their minds the result of their task, only remembering it after their radio repeatedly called out for them to respond.

[Four-six capture is negative - I repeat- Capture is negative the spikes failed to incapacitate]

[[Are you sure Six-two we were sure we hit the bullseye there]]

[Negative Four - six the spikes had failed standby for next location]

The leading officer could only sigh in disbelief after hearing the news as he sluggishly leaned his back on his vehicle, with his eyes towards the pack, rapidly fading into the dark.

-I just need footage…-

Val thought to herself as she rapidly approached the Marikina Riverbanks, trying to spot a place to turn her car around so she could get the promenade area on her onboard camera.

It is the only proof she has of confirming her checkpoint.

She steps on the brakes as she spots her entry and launches her car towards the promenade. She spots a small access road going down the riverbank proper. A small slither of asphalt used for bicycles that roam the area during operating hours, narrowly scraping the door panels of her car on the guardrails that flank both sides of the incline.

She swiftly glanced at her rearview.

Two more sets of headlights follow her behind as she clicks her tongue, annoyed that someone was still keeping up.

It would’ve been welcomed if she treated this as a race, but in her mind it wasn’t. She isn’t planning on relishing in glory for any wins tonight.

In her mind it was only survival.

The GTR was now running upstream towards the bridge further east, as she planned to loop around back where she came from.

Now that she has footage she was already focusing calculations on which route and checkpoint was closest to hit from where she was. And her next target: The Circle.

She wonders whether or not Lorna had gone ahead and did what she asked for but since her hands and mind was focused on racing and navigating at the same time, She was finding it hard to spare any extra brain capacity to make a phone call.

And then she remembers her suit.

‘Simon you there?’

‘Yes . I am’

‘Status?’

‘Zero dome was breached around fifteen minutes ago. So far only local officials have been alerted but if you continue with what I perceive is your route. Our one hour lead time against the Carbines will be cut down by your E.T.A towards The Circle.’

‘I know I have a backup. Can--’

Val cuts her speech as she arrives at the narrow exit ramp up the Marikina River Bridge. It was a sharp 90 degree bend to a single lane road as she slams on the brakes and throws the car as fast as she could without hurling the nose towards the wall.

She fell silent behind the wheel for a few moments, wallowing in disbelief after pulling off the turn as flawless as she did, before patting the steering wheel for a job well done.

‘What is it?... Hello?’

‘Sorry I was driving… anyways… Can you patch me to Lorna’s number?’

‘Number please.’

‘Shit… uhhh.. It’s zero nine one… or is it nine zero…’ She tries desperately to remember whilst driving fast and watching out for upcoming intersections. Needless to say her focus was reaching its max capacity.

‘Fuck it can’t you just find a way to get her to--’

‘Got it!’

‘Oh…’

‘Owner Client lent a hand…’

‘She listening?’ Val asked curiously but instead of an answer Simon quickly patched the dial tone to Val’s earpiece as it started to ring.

-Fucker- She thought.

‘Yellow?’

‘Lor where are you?’

‘Parked under a tree.’

---Elliptical Road, Diliman---

---Quezon City---

[Quezon Memorial Park Grounds]

[Parking Area]

9:26PM

Lorna was leaning against the side of her Lamborghini, parked in a dark nook somewhere inside the Memorial Park area directly above “The Circle” underground shopping center when the call from Val arrived.

She had reached the area five minutes prior after losing the police on her tail, failing to keep up with her through sheer horsepower. She was slightly surprised that no other units were planning to zero in on her projected route, but then again she figured it was because Val had already started the chaos that she haphazardly planned on the fly that all attention was focused on them instead of her, granting her smooth passage inside the park without anyone noticing.

In her mind the only thing left to accomplish was to wait for Val to contact her. Unfortunately nothing much was said during their earlier impromptu meeting, as the police had already started their chase so they both agreed to cut the meeting short and instead sent Lorna ahead towards the circle and wait for instructions.

She wasn’t sure about the task that Val had put her up to do but if there’s one thing she needs to do for certain;

It was to escape.

As even with limited time, Val was kind enough to tell her the posse she was about to sabotage:

--Villa Carbine--

‘Good I’m about 5 minutes away so you got a little margin to escape unnoticed’

‘Alright go shoot… Why am I here in the first place?’

‘I need you to trigger the EMP’s just before the moment I get within range of the circle. The jammer this car is carrying is a dead giveaway to those droids that are with her. The moment it jams their comms those droids should malfunction and reboot instantly.’

‘Well if they’re gonna jam anyways what’s the point?’

There was a slight silence on Val’s end before she could come up with a clear answer.

‘Val?’

‘Sorry traffic-- From what Bert had found out with the older models the shutdown to boot time is around five seconds. Once booted there’s a good chance those droids will intercept the leaking data from the Police HQ no matter how hard those fat politicians try to hide their fuck up.’

‘So they’d chase Miles then?’

‘Not just… It will ultimately turn their eyes on us and their prototype that we stole.

All those reports about the races and the people that were involved, all leaked.

So it’s gravely important that we shut those droids down before they start chasing after every single one of us.’

‘Shit… Got it. Where’d you place the goods?’

‘Near the subway entrance. Lamppost with the Wi-fi transmitter.’

‘Cool got it! Patching comms with Lando.’

‘Good, you still got four minutes.’

---Quezon Memorial Park---

---Quezon City---

[The Circle Underground]

[Basement level 3]

9:28PM

Lando had been tailing the Carbine posse for the past half hour as they roamed around the underground shopping center, incognito.

So far after hearing that the car had been retrieved, there were no signs of the carbine group looking alerted of the said breach, as he watches the group from a safe distance, closely watching for any signs of them finding out.

‘Yep looks like those idiots trying to save face are actually doing us some good for once.’ Bert whispered to his radio as he seamlessly blended himself into the scenery around the Carbines.

‘Well you're welcome then!’ Said Bert on the other line. ‘I’ve been keeping them warm for you here in the office. It’s a complete clusterfuck here.’

‘Yeah yeah yeah I know Bert thanks… just don’t make me order you take out later as a reward, go get your own food then we’ll drink.’

‘Uhh… hello? Lando?’

‘Oh hey Lorna, you got yourself home already?’

‘Umm… no… I’m here… at the park… right above you…’

Lando gasps, almost catching himself from reacting too loudly from the shock as hearing Lorna’s reply was unexpected knowing that the plan did not involve her at this stage.

‘What in the world are you doing here?!’ He replied as calmly as he could.

‘I’m the assigned triggerman. Val gave me the lowdown on the Carbine situation. She said they were a security risk and you guys needed a helping hand so here I am.’

‘Yeah but you’re in the center of the danger zone and--’ Lando paused as he looked around to check his bearing in relation to the Carbines. ‘-- It’s really really bad that you’re here, like really… you need to leave immediately.’

‘No can do… I need to take care of the EMP before Val gets here. Also I am your ride outta this place.’

‘No. No need I have my own escape route, I’ll be fine Lorna just tell me where Val hid the EMP and I’ll do the job.’

‘Negative. I need you to give me the blow by blow after I fire up the EMP. If it hits them then you run up here immediately and I’ll get us out.’

‘Dammit!’ Lando grits his teeth, throwing his coffee cup brashly into a trash bin nearby. ‘Fine. But you better scram when I tell you to. Even if you have to leave me behind.’

‘Roger that!’

…

‘Two minutes left…’

Lorna told herself as she gasped for air after sprinting two football field’s distance from where she parked her car. She had just arrived right by the subway entrance where Val had directed her and already she could hear the thundering echoes of screaming engines from afar. As far as she knows, she was running out of time.

She spots the lamppost with the wi-fi transmitter and searches the base around it for the EMP.

Knowing Val she would’ve stuck the device right on the base, with pure disregard on whether or not it would be found. And sure enough her fears were realized.

Nothing was there to be found.

‘Fuck this!

- - wait - - She might’ve been clever this time…’ She thought. As she resumes her search, hoping Val had at least hid the device somewhere clever this time around.

‘Looking for this?’

A voice from behind had spoken all of a sudden, as she turned around to face its source.

…

…

‘Val?’

‘What?!’ Val responds, annoyed at how hectic everything had become.

‘It’s creepy thin man…’

‘...’

Her mind goes blank after hearing what Lorna had relayed. Her focus had waned for a brief moment as she almost swerves into the oncoming traffic, forcing her to regain her senses, and immediately blurts out the first thing that came to her mind.

‘Lor RUN!’

Lorna was quick to react to Val’s command as she was thinking of doing the same thing after seeing that she was now face to face with a man in an ominous looking power suit.

The same man they encountered at Batangas Pier.

The one that almost killed Val.

Gino Blitz

Lorna lunges herself away from Gino as she breaks into a sprint. But Gino was too quick for her to outrun, especially since he was using the full capabilities of his new suit, as he seemingly apparates magically in front of her in an instant.

The sudden shock of him appearing threw Lorna off her balance as Gino dangles the EMP device in front of her.

‘Surprised?’ He taunts as he waves the device close to her face. ‘I knew you people would be up to something around this time. I know Miles very well… Her actions all have meaning. With every single moment always having a secondary objective, and a third, and a fourth… Heck it’s the main reason why she’s the best of the best.

She can handle nine jobs at once and accomplish them all in the same day.

But this also makes her predictable. I mean who knew…

Who.

Knew.

Someone would take advantage of the police press release AND the carbines being in the same city at the same night?’

Lorna grits her teeth as she tries to find a way to escape while Gino takes his time to play with his prey.

‘What? Trying to escape? Sorry no can do…

I still need to rip you to shreds for getting me in trouble with the boss…

You don’t know what it's like to wrong him…

And yet you and your stupid little girlfriend made me experience it…

I don’t even think your mangled corpse would be enough.’

‘V-Val?’

Lorna radio’s in nervously as Val frantically calls to Simon for any backup. But just as she was about to hear her reply, Gino had already wrapped his hand around Lorna’s neck and started squeezing;

Gradually tightening his grip.

Slowly torturing her.

Making her feel there was no escape and that it was too late.

As her vision started to fade into darkness, she began to feel her arm starting to stretch beyond what she felt was normal.

Getting a final glimpse, she sees Gino starting to try and pull her right arm clean off the sockets.

At this point a sudden panic crept through her nerves as she goes for a final frantic struggle to free herself.

But it was in vain.

The man in the power suit had overwhelmed her.

And at this moment she knew it was imminent.

She just felt sad for a moment as she thought of Yukino taking the burden of everything she had worked for.

After which, only calm.

‘I wonder which would pop off first?’ Her final thoughts before everything turns to black.

!WHAM!

She feels a sharp pain around her shoulders as she struggles to open her eyes.

For a brief moment she felt like she was airborne.

And then suddenly pain.

Pain atop of pain.

She wonders.

‘Should I?’

‘I should..’

--GASP--

Her body suddenly gulps in all the air that it could as Lorna opens her eyes and wakes up, seeing a fierce battle raging in front of her.

Two behemoths were violently pummeling each other as the sound of metal banging and crashing filled the air. She gets to her two feet as the sting around her neck and shoulder was now making themselves blatantly noticeable to Lorna’s senses.

It took some time before her vision had fully returned as she props herself on the lamppost she was searching on earlier as two powerhouses slug each other in front of her. Just as when she had finally returned her sights back to normal, the person who was keeping Gino at bay caught a glimpse of her already back at her feet. Seeing this he quickly threw Gino a few feet away as he lunged towards Lorna, making her panic as another super being was rocketing towards her position.

She squirms back in fear but the figure has caught up with her and placed something on her hand.

It was the device.

‘Set it off… then run. I’ll keep him busy.’

He said, before lunging back to Gino’s position to continue the brawl.

Lorna never got a good look on the person’s face, but there was something “digital” about his voice that bothered her if he could be trusted.

But since her task was to set the device off, she erased all of her thoughts and doubts, and pressed the trigger.

Killing all the lights.

As the whole Park area and “The Circle” plunges into darkness. Just as a stream of lights come flying by outside of the park, echoing their noise through the city center.

‘Simon. What’s the situation there?’

Miles asks as she continues to make her way south along the Bayshore route.

‘I’m a bit busy madam but so far, crisis averted.’ He replies calmly whilst the radio picks up the grunts and punches of his opponent.

‘Lead Gino to Eagle eye. He’s the only one sitting idly now and you could use some backup.’ She replies as she monitors her android’s system status on the car’s on-board screen.

‘Understood madam.’ He responds before cutting off his comms.

Miles drew a sigh, but not of relief, as she was starting to feel like they were barely getting by with the plan as more and more unaccounted factors appeared. Given that they were prepared for Gino’s appearance by including Thor’s (Eagle Eye) support, the place where he had shown himself was far off the mark, as they anticipated him to show up nearer the police HQ and not at the circle.

Also the appearance of Villa Carbine was a surprise.

Miles only knew that a carbine representative would show up to test demo some new tech related stuff under the city’s nose thinking it could be car related.

So it was a surprise to her when the head of robotics suddenly appeared in the venue with a bunch of potentially bloodthirsty androids roaming around a public place.

Even so, the plan was still in place.

Though with a slight difference in the execution.

And instead of Lando gathering more information about the cars, he was now keeping an eye on Villa Carbine whilst Thor sat unused in a rooftop near the police HQ with Lorna and Simon taking the full grunt of Gino Blitz.

But for Miles, situations like this have happened before; and to her as long as the essence of the plan was still intact.

There was no problem.

She was still going south, and there was still chaos up north. Just as planned.

She takes a second sigh, this time it was of relief as she sets her mind straight at the easy task ahead. Which was to just drive steadily south to Batangas Pier.

She was already nearing the southern block of the Metro as she drove by the vicinity of the Manila Port area. It was dark, quiet and dingy as the rundown shacks that were supposed to be temporary shelters of the various ship crews line up anywhere that is not directly on the highway, with some of their front doors already open directly onto a highway lane with no barrier to separate them from the speeding traffic. She passes through with caution, remembering that she was driving without lights in a silent running vehicle.

It was easy for anyone to wander on the road thinking there was nothing there only to be surprised at the sudden gust of wind blowing past them.

Thankfully Miles got through the area unscathed, but it was akin to playing reverse frogger with the amount of people she had to swerve around to avoid, but nonetheless she finally makes it to Midtown Metro, as she crosses the bridge flanking the walled city of Intramuros where the scenery gets beatified for a bit. Annoyingly it didn’t last for long.

She hears a beep from her screen as she swipes her finger across to check the notification. It prompts her to check the radar which was weird as the notification was too specific in it’s instructions.

The more she got close to the general area the more the beeps became louder. As she looked at numerous red dots nearby, around an area called South Harbor, the main tourist harbor for the metro, she started to grow weary at how neatly arranged the dots were in her map. It was only a few seconds later when it all made sense to her as the screen opened up a prompt with an alarming message.

Other units detected.

Proceed with data sync?

[Yes] [No]

‘Simon! Status?!’

A voice shouts from within his mind just as he opens the door to the car he was getting in. The sudden disturbance in his processes had jolted his movements, causing him to rip the door off its hinges.

Nonetheless he casually throws the door aside and proceeds to get in the car in haste.

‘Yes Madam Owner I am currently being chased and leading the target to eagle eye.’

He responds as he pulls the car out of the curb and speeds away in the nick of time.

‘How much ram will it take you?’

Simon's eyes rapidly pulsate a white light as he goes into his functions to give Miles an accurate answer. ‘Calculating… around 72 percent.’

‘Including vitals?’

‘Yes including vitals.’

‘Do you still have space for remote assistance?’

There was a slight pause as he swerved to dodge a stomping attack from Gino, who was sprinting after him on foot. ‘Depends Madam… What would need remote assistance?’

‘I need you to take over driving the car all the way to the pickup point.’

Another pause. A lengthier one as Simon weaves around the streets whilst trying to avoid any attacks coming from his pursuer whilst dodging traffic.

‘I’m waiting, Simon. Yes or No?’

‘Yes, but I will be severely lacking in driving speed.’

‘Don’t worry I don’t need speed, I just need the car to keep rolling. Once you sense I’m out of the vehicle, commence driving.’

‘Copy.’

…

…

‘Hey Lorna, Everything fine at your end?’ Lando asks, trying his earnest to speak as silently as he could to avoid suspicion.

At the moment everything around him was pitch black and the people around them were speaking in hushed voices whilst a few screams of fear echo out sparingly in differing areas as the crowd tried its best to prevent any panic.

‘Barely… you?’

‘I’m good… besides for the fact that it’s pitch black in here. Times like these where I wished I still had my goggles.’

‘Why what happened?’

‘Taken, along with my resignation. Apparently the Bureau still owns the equipment, even though I bought it.’ He said as he heard a faint mechanical whirring from nearby. Putting two and two together, he crawls closer to the source.

‘Didn’t you complain?’

‘I did but since I signed a document to approve the use of non issued personal equipment on missions, they ruled that they owned it based on a technicality.’

‘Funny… they’d under-equip you guys to save money to fill their pockets then take whatever supplementary items you have that might help them in future endeavors. Almost like they made that contract to get free stuff.’

--sigh-- ‘I really don’t wanna talk about it right now…’ He said as the source of the whirring sound shifts around him.

‘Anywho I’m limping back to the car now. I’ll be parking myself at the subway entrance. How's the sitch down there, anything suspicious in the dark?’ Lorna radios in just as the backup power supply starts to boot up and the emergency lights start switching on floor by floor, from bottom to top.

The moment the emergency lights started turning on the dark void that enveloped Lando started to gradually dissipate as he could start to see the silhouette of the people and structures that surrounded him. Floor by floor his vision became clearer and clearer, with his eyes scanning his surroundings, for some reason, he was starting to feel uneasy with some of the silhouettes around him.

With each floor illuminating, the light became brighter and the more detail he could see. It was not until the floor below them had received light that he finally could see a clear detail of most of the people within his close proximity.

And when the lights finally came to his floor, his worst case scenario had finally stared him face to face. As the entirety of the android posse of Villa carbine lay dormant and struggling on the ground, shocked and incoherently functioning.

But the frightening part was when he looked at how the androids had fell.

They all formed an arrow tip.

And the tip of said shape was pointing to him.

If Lorna had been late to trigger the device for just a short moment;

He would’ve been ripped to shreds.

‘So it was you?’

A soft but ominous voice had spoken from behind. Lando dares not to look, fearing the risk of being identified, he runs.

Villa Carbine could only smile as she sees the man in question scamper away from her fallen creations. As she pats herself down, standing up as she follows the man’s route with her eyes, confidently letting him go and into the distance.

‘No use running though…’ She said with a chuckle as she tapped on her wristwatch to display some newly acquired data.

[Open data dump] ? (Y/N)

-Y

[Confidential]

National Police Banner Chart Listings

Activity Matrix for 08-28 Agents.

Agent List [based on previous Co-Engagement]

[Miles Kadena]

>Status<

M.I.A

>Assoc Det<

Lando Sulit

-Hong Kong ■■■■ ■■■■ [Info redacted]

■■■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■

Bertrand Ramos

-Hong Kong ■■■■ ■■■■ [Info Redacted]

■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■ ■■ ■■■■■

‘Guys. I think we need to wrap up!’ Lando shouted as he broadcasted the message through the whole radio channel.

‘Goddammit! I told you people to keep my line silent! I almost hit someone!’ Val shouts back in response.

‘Lando I’m waiting by the entrance, hurry up!’ Lorna butts in.

‘I’ll be there in a sec but I got some urgent news for everyone. That also includes you Bert. If you can still find a moment to reply.’

Lorna frowns as she feels a menacing aura enveloping the air around her. She waits silently, anticipating the bad news.

‘No one’s to blame here. It’s just that the computers Carbine has installed in their tech are just advanced beyond what store shelves can supply. I don’t even think it’s military grade.’ Lando said as he emerged from the dim basement floors, seeing the bright green of Lorna’s car as the only light source within the blackout, waiting patiently outside the glass doors of the station.

He enters the car with a sullen look on his face. Immediately Lorna knew something had gone wrong with the Carbine droids.

‘A few milliseconds late and I would’ve been torn to shreds by the androids.’ Lando said as he continued to speak through the radio as he strapped himself inside the Lamborghini.

‘When the lights came on they were all fallen, but they were all fallen facing me. Which means one thing and one thing only.’

‘Mission Compromised.’

Miles’ voice suddenly came on the channel to the surprise of the rest of the group.

‘Listen here people, the appearance of Villa is a goddamn fluke. But it also shows how eager the Carbines want to push this new tech forward in the space race.’

‘Well that’s great Miles but I am guessing now that Carbine has our names and numbers now so either way we’re all fucked.’ Lorna responds, annoyed at how nonchalant Miles sounded thru the radio.

‘Not quite. Most likely those two old men are the ones who are info compromised. Whether or not you two ladies get involved will depend on how tight these old boys can keep their mouths shut.’

‘How can you be sure?’ Lorna asks.

‘Cause you two are basically nobodies. Most notable crime records - Mr. Asia’s lackeys. But that’s way back in Japantown. You’re in the Metro. As far as everyone here’s concerned you two are a pair of no names.’

Lorna grits her teeth as Lando hold her shoulder to signal her to calm down. ‘Where’s this convo going Miles? Is there another tidbit of info you “forgot” to tell us again?’

‘How rude. I’ve basically disclosed to you everything you people need to know. The point that I’m telling now makes those info dump that Carbine gained seem miniscule.’

‘Then what is it Miles?’

‘Remember what we datamined out of the prototype?’

‘Yeah? Recyclable bodies - Nuclear engines - Fifteen cars-- What about it?’

‘Well I just handed out our one and only model to Simon’s remote drive.’

‘What?! Why? And who’s Simon?’

‘Ask Val after. Anywho I had to abandon ship cause I just saw multiple red flags by the south harbor.’

‘What red flags?’

‘I’m right in front of all of them now…

The other Fourteen Prototypes.’