Chapter Thirty-Five

Night again, and Mokpo spread out before us, glowing with all of its filthy, delicious glory. What torture to be back yet again, and I still couldn’t wander the city. How long had it been since I even touched a deck of cards?

“I don’t like having you up here, exposed to the elements,” Royce said.

“Sorry, but the drones are more responsive if the central controller isn’t being blocked by a building,” I said.

“She’s right, unfortunately,” Alice said.

Alice had her people set up a little command post for us back on the roof—chairs, tables, snacks, monitors, and the electronics Alice needed to trigger the implant malfunction.

“You should still be in bed,” Royce said. “At least stay sitting down.”

“No problem. Standing up doesn’t sound like fun right now.” Just getting up there felt like climbing Mount Everest. Heart surgery will do that to you.

And the chair was comfortable, too—coated in some soft hot-pink fuzz. Perfect command post for a crazy mission like this.

Alice passed out the visors to everyone but Royce.

“Don’t want to watch?” I said.

He shook his head. “Those things make me nauseous—I’m hanging up my drone flying hat. I want to stay alert in case anything happens while you’re flying. Everyone else can watch the visor monitors—that way they’ll know where to send Alice’s goons if you pass out.”

“Gee Royce, you’re so encouraging,” I said.

“Sorry. I’m worried about your stamina. You’ve survived more than I thought humanly possible,” he said. “Just do your best.”

“Not like my life is depending on it, or anything like that,” I said.

“You’ll be fine,” Gavin said. “We’re all here for you. Tae-min’s not getting away with this.”

I put the visor on and grabbed the controller. “Alright then. Let’s fly.”

Using the maximum number of drones, I launched the swarm, sending them into the city, blanketing the streets with electronic eyes. Tae-min was so selfish and used to getting his way, I totally believed that he would pull the plug on me if I didn’t show up on time.

“You’re amazing,” Etienne said.

I didn’t answer, too focused on flying the swarm, but I appreciated the sentiment.

“Don’t distract her,” Royce said.

I already knew he was concerned. I was breathing hard and sweating. Keeping the drones in the air was draining my energy much too quickly.

Even as it sucked my stamina, the thrill made my nerves tingle—all those lights, all those sounds, all those bits of sensory information flooding my brain while my fingers automatically glided around the controller, moving the swarm with beautiful fluidity.

At incredible speeds, I zoomed in all directions, floating over the streets, through the bars, and into the restaurants teeming with hungry people. I soared into the tree line, combing the surrounding forest for someone hiding in the woods.

No sign of Tae-min.

He had to be there somewhere.

“Come on, come on, where are you,” I said.

Then I gathered the rest of the swarm, redirected them towards the water where the evening laser show as already in progress. The show was gorgeous, but it played havoc with the visor as I tried to pick out faces in the continually flashing display of mist and lights.

Then I divided the swarm again, sent them into the harbor, searching all the boats that floated in the dark sea, lasers reflecting off their shiny white sides.

One little drone, a single one I’d sent far afield, flew into one of the boats that bobbed at the edge of the harbor.

There.

Sitting smug on a chair upholstered in red velvet, like a king on his cheap throne: Tae-min.

“I’ve got him!” I yelled, standing up without thinking about it. I switched the display briefly to a single frame so they could see his location.

“Yes!” Gavin yelled.

“Hey hey, sit back down,” Royce said.

I hadn’t meant to stand up, but Royce was right.

It was a very bad idea.

Vertigo seized me, the visor display swirling into a nauseating smear. I dropped the controller and fell back into the chair.

Royce ripped the visor off my face, feeling my pulse and looking in my eyes.

“The drones!” I yelled, reaching for the visor.

They would have all fallen into the sea.

“The drones aren’t going to be worth anything if your heart explodes right here and now,” Royce said.

The vertigo subsided, and Etienne and Gavin pressed closed, worry clouding their faces.

“Alice, I’m so sorry,” I said.

“No sense crying over spilled drones. I can make more. And if you’re as wealthy as you say you are, you can help pay for them,” she said.

“But the receiver drone—I crashed it,” I said. The single drone she’d set up to deliver the fatal pulse, I’d lost it with the others.

“What time is it?” she said.

“We have ten minutes,” Gavin said.

Alice nodded, and pulled a spare drone out of her pocket. Not even sure how that was possible—her red leather shorts looked too tight to fit anything in there besides her perfectly round ass.

“Give me seven. Then you have three to relocate him and fly the drone there,” she said.

“I can do it.”

She dove into the box of electronics, pulling out a soldering iron, gluing bits and pieces onto the little bee using tweezers and an intensely bright lamp that had a magnifying glass attached to the top.

“It’s a hack job, but it should work. Should,” she said.

“It’s got to,” I said. Or those were going to be my last minutes on earth.

I jammed the visor back over my face and mashed the controller, sending the drone out at maximum speed, going so fast over the water I thought its little wings might snap.

Just as I piloted the bee into the boat’s cabin, all the flashing from the lasers caught my eye, and I felt dizzy again, blinking, almost losing control again.

No.

Not now.
I bit my lip, tried to block out all the flashing, turning the drone the other way, everything I had focused on hitting my mark.

Tae-min, sitting there in his tacky chair, sipping champagne with one hand and holding a little box in the other, a smirk on his face. His finger swirled around one of the buttons.

That was the control box for the kill switch in my implant. He knew that he’d never get to be with me, that I’d never love him back. That bastard was looking forward to getting rid of me, once and for all.

Not today. Today wasn’t my day to die.

I flew the drone down to the center of his chest, right between the crisp collar folds of his black suit jacket.

“Now! NOW!” I screamed, watching as he started to push down on the button.

“Got it!” Alice typed a series of commands into the computer, her pinky finger hitting enter just before Tae-min finished his movements.

The box fell out of his hand, clattering against the cabin’s carpeted floor.

I flew the drone backwards as Tae-min flopped forward, grabbing his chest, grunting in pain.

I left the drone hovering there until all the light had left his eyes, and there was nothing left but the reflected lasers dancing in his dark pupils.