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Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.
And then, Shade saw why Markovic had not fled. From inside the long rank of ticket windows they came: an insect horde. They spilled out of the change slots like copper and silver coins flowing from a slot machine jackpot.
Hundreds of thousands.
Millions.
A dozen rivers of insects. Many times what had formed Vector on the balcony.
Their flamethrowers were dry. Their insecticides would be soon. They had nothing left to throw against this wave.
And then, something just as bad. Because as Shade was gaping in shock at Vector’s counterattack, something stopped directly before her.
A reflection. Of herself.
A perfectly clear reflection standing not ten feet away.
The only observable difference was that Shade had a flamethrower on her back, and her reflection did not. But the flamethrower was empty now, so Shade dropped it.
“Who are you?” Shade demanded, not needing for once to slow her speech.
Her doppelganger grinned and said, “I’m calling myself Mirror.”
“Oh, good, another Rockborn nut with delusions of comic-book heroism.”
“I sent in an application for a trademark,” said the voice identical to Shade’s own with an identically ironic tone. “It’s going to be tough figuring out an action figure since I always mirror someone else, but, hey, small price to pay, amiright?”
“Why are you backing that piece of shit, Vector?”
“Because you can’t bring it all crashing down. And he can.”
“And you think it’s a good idea to bring everything crashing down?”
Mirror shrugged. “Why not? We could use a revolution.”
“Read some history, dude. Revolutions almost never work out well.”
“Working out fine for me, so far,” Mirror said. “See, I look like you right now, Shade Darby, but I’m not you. I’m not some entitled, rich white girl looking for thrills. In real life I’m a middle-aged paraplegic vet with a hajji bullet lodged in my spine. I haven’t walked in nine years. Then I’m in my apartment minding my own business, and bang: the rock!”
“Congratulations. But if you fight for Vector you’re going down.”
Mirror shrugged and smiled with Shade’s own smile. “You can try.”
The entire conversation had not lasted five seconds of real time. And from Shade’s point of view, it wasn’t going well.
In one fluid move Shade snagged the strap of her flamethrower and whipped it at super speed at a target a few feet to Mirror’s left. A normal person would not even have seen the big tank flying, but Mirror did and instinctively leaped away from it.
Just as Shade had expected. She made a single leap, intersected Mirror’s path, and hit him like a football blocker, shoulder to gut, carrying all the irresistible momentum her speed afforded. She slammed him into and over the balcony’s railing, and together they fell.
But they fell at normal speed, a fall that because it was at the speed set by gravity, would take less than two seconds in real time. Plenty of time for Mirror to punch Shade straight in the nose, sending blood droplets flying. Shade counterpunched almost simultaneously, catching Mirror in the neck. Mirror kicked; Shade shifted to avoid the blow and grabbed a handful of Mirror’s hair to pull herself into direct contact with him. Shade grabbed at his throat, hoping to choke him, but she couldn’t get purchase. Instead Mirror got his arm around Shade’s neck and twisted her around to face away, ready to snap her neck.
They hit the floor. Hard. Hard enough to knock the wind out of Shade and make her head swim, but worse for Mirror, who had landed on the bottom so that he not only slammed into unyielding marble but was pistoned by Shade’s momentum.
Shade was up before she could make her lungs work. She knew the smart move was attack, attack, and finish him. But she was feeling dizzy and weak and instead retreated, zooming away to the far side of the concourse.
Cruz saw nothing of Shade’s struggle, but she had seen the oncoming swarm and she ran. This was not a fight she could contribute to, and if she stayed she would just be someone the others had to protect when they needed to be protecting themselves.
She ran, and as she ran the fear grew and she ran faster, heedless of where she was going, but suddenly she had a companion, Simone, flying beside her.
