Page 118 of Tapeworld Induction

“Me? What the hell can I do?”

He gunned the taxi down the road, expertly avoiding pockets of late-night traffic. “Take my phone—”

“Fucking look at the road!” she yelled, grabbing the phone from his outstretched hand. “Now what?”

“Aim it at them. Fuck—” He stepped on the brakes to avoid an auto-car coming at them from the side, the three passengers nearly flying off their seats in the back. Talia’s and Isaak’s heads slumped forward then flew back as Sacha quickly got back up to speed.

The drones were closing in. No time to lose.

She aimed the phone’s camera at the three drones. Augmented reality tagged them with Crypterra logos. “They’re Crypterra tech. It’s Astrid.” She could hardly breathe.

“See the big red button?” Sacha asked.

“Yes! Do I press—”

“Fucking press it!”

The car whipped by a row of parked vehicles, accelerating down a residential road.

Sweat on her forehead, praying to the goddess this would work, she pushed the button. There was a loud thunk, and a metallic arm extended outwards from the cab. It rose like a crane, and shot out three projectiles.

They homed in on all three drones.

“Whoa! You could have told me! Fuck!”

Two of the drones exploded on impact, but the third one was propelled towards the back of the taxi.

“Get out of the way!” Sacha shouted.

He yanked the steering wheel to the side, and pulled back the handbrake, spinning the car into a screeching halt.

A ball of flaming metal and plastic flew past the window of the taxi and hit the street beside them with a loud bang.

Dylan wiped her nascent tears. She looked over at Isaak and Talia, her insides a mess of worry and fear. She coughed, the smoke of the destroyed drone seeping in through the door.

“Are you okay?” Sacha asked from the driver’s seat. “How are they?”

A rush of relief hit her in the chest. Isaak’s eyes were open, pupils blown wide. He blinked like a sleepy cat. Impossible to read his thoughts. He was a sweating mess, and he looked awful. But he was awake. Talia looked the same as before, the LEDs on the Crypterra Sleeper lit green. She let out a reflexive cough because of the smoke, but she was otherwise still unconscious.

Dylan took off her seat belt and went to sit next to Isaak.

“You okay, boy?” she asked tentatively, trying to sound as gentle and accommodating as possible.

“Astrid,” he growled. “Fucking Astrid!”

“Calm down. It’s okay. We’re here…”

“No, you don’t understand. She’s got them!”

She placed her hand on his head, massaging his temple, trying to get him to stop shouting. “Who? Who does she have?”

It was like he was tuning in and out of an unknown frequency, words coming out of his mouth in a jumble. “Sleptigrades. Sleptigrades… We’re killing them…”

“Isaak Powers, slow down and let me help you!”

He went limp in her arms, and she held on to her boy for dear life. Sweet, reckless Isaak. She swept aside the black locks of hair stuck to his forehead. It was a cold sweat, his skin clammy. He’d passed out again.

She looked over at Talia, sitting still, her breathing steady, her eyes hidden by the contraption on her head. And she quietly despaired.