Power Play (Book 2)

Chapter 25: Off The Rails

Recap: After having his nanobots mostly fried out of his system, Brandon let Mandeville experiment on him in an attempt to restore his powers. It worked, giving Brandon better control over his nanobots and abilities than he ever had before. In the meantime, Nicole led a team of augmented fighters into Chicago to investigate what some Samsara duplicates were doing there, and hopefully capture one. Shortly after reaching Chicago, their communicators went dead and Brandon had to decide what to do.

Winning Choice: Head to the river where they lost contact and try to pick up their trail.

Without knowing more, I could end up on a wild goose chase. Starting at the river bank is the right call, but I'd better hurry.

The buildings grow taller as I get closer, and soon I'm speeding down canyons of concrete. The morning light casts long shadows and I flicker between them as I rocket up Michigan Avenue.

Hovering over the bank, I don't see a thing out of place. No people, no battles, no damage. I drop down to where Tyler said he lost contact and look around.

On another day, I could see families strolling here along the sidewalk, stopping under a tree for a snack, or taking a boat out on the river. It would be a nice place to unwind. On another day.

Now that I'm on the ground, the scents of the fight are thick about the place. I pick out a faint whiff of Nicole, but also those Samsara duplicates. There's the smell of blood and of charring, like something scorched.

Up the path I see one of the trees is gouged out where it was struck.

I pace back and forth, trying to untangle all the scents like a ball of yarn. As I concentrate, one scent comes up stronger than the others. I hear a moan.

It's coming from some thick bushes along the path. They shake and push aside, and one of Nicole's team topples out onto the grass. It's the stocky brunette I met when I arrived at their base. I rush over, and help her roll onto his back. Her face is burnt and bleeding, and her arm is not bending the way an arm should bend. I grimace, and she looks up at me, confused and in agony.

I absorb my mask back into my skin, revealing my face. She blinks, but seems to recognize me.

"What happened?" I ask.

She takes a deep breath before answering, and it clearly hurts. "Five of them. The duplicates. Tried to surprise them but they saw us," he coughs. "There's something weird about them."

"I know," I say. "I've met them before."

"They shot us with... with those electricity blasts. Shorted out our earpieces." She tries to sit up. Her skin is gray, flaky.

"You're in bad shape," I tell her. "Just lay down."

"I'm okay," she lies. She probably heals quickly like the rest of us, but she's got more than a few problems going on.

"They split up," she says, nodding to the west. "Three went that way, didn't see the others. They sprayed me with this." She opens her hand, the one at the end of her broken arm, and a small canister about the size of a salt-shaker falls to the grass.

I pick it up gingerly. It has a small button on the top and an odd looking nozzle on the other end. "Any idea what it is?" I ask.

She shakes his head. "No idea, but I feel like crap. Sick."

"I need to get you to a hospital," I tell her.

"No! They'll examine my blood and know I'm altered and I'll never get out of there." I hadn't thought about this before, but she may be right. It sounds like something Nicole would think of and warn them about.