Page 57 of Spark Transform

In front of them, door-shaped holes gaped in the warehouse’s sagging wall. More stacks of collapsed crates sat beside them. Beyond the light pools from outside, the interior looked as void black as deep space.

Brenner slowed and pointed toward the warehouse. “Live security tech in there.”

“Better than being squashed.” She held out her hand, hoping he’d think she shook with cold, not fear. “Come on.”

For a split second, Renner wanted to be Faraday Brenner. To take Arco’s hand and run. Hide. Be safe.

But she wasn’t just Arco, she was Charrascos, the dangerous woman who worried the CPS enough to send a weapon of urban destruction after her.

And he wasn’t just Brenner. He was Runner, the survivor. Sparks, the minder freak. Renner, the rage machine.

Now he knew what the universe wanted. Protecting her was what he was made for.

“Go in and find a place to hide. The tech is probably alarms.”

Her expression turned frigid. “If you get killed, I’m firing your ass.” She spun and disappeared fast into the warehouse.

He didn’t have time to wonder what her nonsense meant because the spider thudded two more steps closer.

He started pulling current from every available source his talent had already found. The orange business building, city infrastructure systems, the dormant construction equipment, neighborhood storage batteries, anything he could touch and channel.

The charge danced on his skin. Decorative metal studs on his pants and vest grew hot.

Moving stiffly, because his skin was already cooking with the price for using so much talent, he stalked toward the spider. To pull this off, he’d need physical contact with his target. He headed for the closest foot outside the smashed tech bin.

The impatient charge he’d gathered fought to be free. Soon, he told it.

He sent tendrils of talent to the spider, checking for vulnerable spots. Its heavy shielding was breached where the dead legs dangled, and he was in.

The controls were clearly designed for humans to operate inside, but no one was there.

The systems reminded him of an unoccupied Jumper’s mech suit, with multiple failsafes and AI assists meant to keep its operator alive in a war zone. Which meant he’d have to hit all the spider’s ambulatory systems at once. He needed more power than he’d ever—

Jagged pain lanced his mind. He fell to one knee, control faltering. A flood of memories crowded into his consciousness.

He had pulled power like this once before. A townhouse. An impact explosion that felt like a meteor strike. Killing attackers inside and out. Davidro exiting, ordering him to get Georgie’s percomp. The door controls failing. Collapsing walls. Exultant that death would come from something besides the motherfucking collar.

Fuck, fuck, fuck! Not now! Rage rose, giving him the strength to get up and start walking again.

A gust of wind blew icy sleet against his naked chest and arms. It felt good on his burning skin.

He almost missed the tip of an articulated tentacle as it rose out of the trash and pointed toward him.

Out of time. With one final lunge, he latched onto the spider’s foot and released the flow.

The tips of his fingers glowed blue with plasma discharge. The walker’s safety systems responded. He used their own power against them, overwhelming limiters and blowing past bleed-off gates.

His questing talent found the controls to the walker’s primary defense, a focused electromagnetic pulse, and burned them out. The last thing he wanted to become was a step-up transformer for a killer mech.

Agony erupted. The walker’s tentacle arm pierced his lower calf.

He sent a charge that seared both it and its approaching twin. More pain, but maybe it cauterized the wound.

The walker leg’s lights beneath his hand flared so brightly that they blinded him.

He didn’t need to see to pull more power. AIs tried to reroute and isolate systems, but were no match for the deluge he sent them.

Above him, small explosions went off, vibrating the walker’s foot under his hand. The walker was losing, which was good because he was running out of power sources. Out of strength. Out of time.