Power Play (Book 2)

Chapter 30: Applying Pressure

Recap: Brandon and his team had been searching Chicago for the whereabouts of members of Samsara, a super-powered cult-like group trying to perfect a weapon that would turn regular people into Samsara duplicates.

After getting a tip from some of their Chicago friends that Samsara duplicates had been spotted at O'Hare getting off a flight, Brandon went to check it out and ended up in a heated battle that left several people dead or wounded, including police officers and the girlfriend of Brandon's informant, Carlos.

Though he gained the upper hand against the surviving Samsara duplicates (nicknamed Two and Three), the weapon they brought to Chicago - an aerosol can containing powerful nanobots - ended up in the grief-stricken Carlos' hands.

Unsure if his super-speed would be enough to get the aerosol from Carlos without him hitting the trigger, Brandon debated whether to risk using his powers or trying to reason with the scared and angry man into turning it over. In the end, he decided to...

Winning Choice: ...try to reason with him. He has to see how dangerous the duplicates are, and if I can get him to take his finger off the button then I can take care of Three.

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As much as I hate Corrales and his strong arm tactics, he's not entirely wrong: there are times when even good people need to be forced to do the right thing.

It would be nice if everyone could put aside their own feelings and listen to reason, but that's just not the world we live in. Hell, I've been there myself more that once - it was my own bad choices that ended up with a friend of mine dead and me in prison. So I get it, but I still think you have to trust that people want to do good.

Corrales doesn't buy that. He relies on force, and I just can't stomach that. You can't beat people into making this a better world, you have to trust them to work with you to make it happen.

But the pain I see on Carlos' face is rooted all the way down in his heart, which my enhanced ears hear hammering in his chest. As his thumb quivers over the switch on the top of the virus dispenser, I hope this isn't one time Corrales would've been right.

Trust can drown under the flood of fear, and I need to reach him. "Listen to me," I say. "That device in your hand isn't what you think."

He squints at it, then looks back at me. A tear frees itself from his wet, red eyes and runs down his cheek.

"You said it's a virus," he says. "One that gives people super-powers like yours."

"No, not like mine. They screwed with my genetics and pumped me full of nanobots, but I'm still me. That thing is a whole different level of nasty. The stuff in there will scramble your entire DNA and you'll end up looking and acting just like these homicidal maniacs." I gesture at the duplicates behind me and see Three inching closer.

I raise my hand towards Three in warning. "Ms. Evil Duplicate Clone, you need stop right there. You so much as blink too fast and I'll-"

"This is what got all these people killed," Carlos says, wiping at his eyes with the back of his free hand. He looks around the terminal at the scorched carpet, the smashed baggage return, and the bodies on the floor. A few moronic people peek around a corner on the far side of the baggage claim, trying to record this on their cellphones, but other than that everyone around is dead or unconscious.

I point back at Two and Three, who are watching Carlos intently. "These two and their super-cult are what got these people killed. They've killed my friends, too, and they'll kill a lot more if we don't stop them. Give me that spray, Carlos, please."