somebody ; minsung

XVI ; havoc

My arm whips out, coils around the droid's body and slams it hard to the floor, once, twice, again and again, crushing the floorboards beneath it. I yank it across the room and grab it by the neck — its ashen skin is cut and damaged, its eye is hanging out of the socket.

My armour ripples into a serrated blade — I stab the droid straight through the chest, cut through its body with the stroke of my arm. It falls to the floor in bits and parts. Grey fluid is splattered everywhere, all over my clothes. I'm trembling, twitching, hands grasping for something more to destroy.

"Good, Minho, good!" Jisung scrambles up off the floor, grabs the petri dish of Adrantine and the microscope off the table. "Go — the police are coming!"

We run out of the lab, down the spiral staircase. The windows have been shuttered with steel plates, the house is on lockdown. Five or six droids are waiting at the bottom of the stairs, linked at the elbows to form a blockade.

Spikes flicker across my skin, a mace swings from my arm. Jisung backs away. The droids stand their ground.

Scraps and robotic innards sow the floor, spatter against the walls. Pent-up power is boiling over inside me. I think I'm shouting but I can barely hear myself; every one of my senses is focussed on the fight.

My breath is heavy by the time the droids are broken at my feet. Jisung is at the end of the hallway, punching the passcode into the keypad. It flashes red and a metal shell juts out, blocking the buttons.

"Fuck," he growls. "I can't bypass the system fast enough."

I wind up, about to smash through the door, but he grabs my arm.

"Wait, there's a better way. But you have to remember — you can't look at me."

"What are you talking about?"

"Activate your ocular laser protocol."

"I have fucking laser eyes?

"Technically just one — and you have to use it. Please try not to slice my head off."

I nod and turn my eyes to the door, pulling in a deep breath. I flinch backward as a hot ray of light zigzags across the wall — Jisung ducks behind me, clutching the microscope to his chest like a crucifix. I focus my eyes, following the shape of the doorframe.

The laser cuts out. The trail left behind is smoking, glowing red. I reach out, tap the door with my index finger, and the whole wall teeters, collapses into the porch outside.

Police cars are parked in front of the house, officers and guns positioned behind them.

Bombardment imminent, seek cover.

We clamber to the side as the weapons go off and bullets pour in through the door. Those same damn fire bullets, the ones that tore a gash in my armour back at the lab.

The gunfire lets up and a voice calls out.

"Trespassers, we're approaching the door! Surrender with your hands in the air!"

"Shit shit shit," Jisung murmurs, pulling at his hair.

"Here, take this." I yank off my jacket, shirt and jeans, piling them into his arms. "I'll take them out in camouflage."

"Minho, you have to be careful, you're powerful but you're not invulnerable."

"I know, I'll be fast. Please stay here."

My armour slithers over my head, my body fades into a haze. I look out the door — two officers are walking up to the porch, guns braced against their shoulders. The rest are still crouched behind the black beetle-like vehicles parked by the curb.

Metal against cobblestone, my footsteps are my only giveaway. I kick the gun out of the officer's hands and force him to the ground. The other gun swerves, looks me in the eye, the muzzle glows red before it fires. I duck out of the way, grab the gun and ram it back into his face.

"Target can camouflage!" a voice shouts. "Open fire!"

I throw the gun through the air and run in the opposite direction. The barrage follows the decoy, blasting turf out of the ground. I throw myself under one of the cars, crawl out between the wheels and slam the officers' heads into the windows, leaving cracks in the glass.

The remaining gunfire converges and follows my path, sparks and flames on my heels. I barrel forward, arms fusing together to shape a mallet as big as my body; electricity runs through me, building, surging, exploding against the side of the car as the club slams into it, sending it wheeling across the street, crushing the officers beneath it.

My armour retracts, my knees wobble, I almost collapse. I'm high on the action, using every muscle I never knew I had, the weapon I was built to be. They were no match for me. I killed some of them. Easily, without thought, it was barely different than destroying soulless androids. I don't even feel badly. What the hell is wrong with me?

I look up to see Jisung running down the lawn, toward the last car left undamaged. He crouches down to one of the motionless humans, looks through his jacket and pulls out a badge.

He swipes it against the windshield. The doors glide upward and he climbs into the driver side.

"Get in," he says.

"Really?"

"I'm not waiting for the fucking bus."

The engine revs. I duck into the low-lying seat and the door slides shut behind me.