“What are we doing up here?”

Sasha stood at the edge of the rooftop, facing downtown. He glanced back at June. “I’m watching the skies. I don’t know what you’re doing.”

June yawned. “Trying to make sure you don’t kill yourself.”

Silence fell again. June sat down beside him, chin in her mechanical hand. She glanced at him and smirked. “You’re waiting for her to come back.”

Sasha didn’t reply.

“Oh, first love. So full of trials and tribulations. She’s a bit old for you, though, isn’t she?”

He shot a disgusted look in her direction. “Don’t be gross.”

June chuckled. Her eyes drifted half-shut, and she yawned again. “Let’s go back inside and get some sleep. She’s not coming back tonight. We can go find her tomorrow. Besides, that shoulder of yours is going to fall apart if you keep wandering around like this. It needs rest and repair, not a midnight jaunt around town.”

“It’s fine.” He turned back to the horizon.

June heaved herself up and clomped over to him, stretching her arms in the night sky. “It is not fine. C’mon, kiddo. She’s probably asleep by now. Inside, sleepytime.”

“I’m not a child,” he grumbled.

She laughed and mussed his hair. He scowled.

From downtown, a falling star arced out of the darkness toward them. It grew larger as it came, one light separating into several.

Sasha knelt on the edge of the roof and gestured. For a brief moment, a slot opened up on his forearm. One of his daggers flickered into his hand, slender and streamlined, little more than a streak of dangerous silver. The dagger’s crossbars snapped into place, resuming its usual shape as the slot on his arm clicked shut. The whole process took less than a second.

“So that’s where you keep them,” June muttered.

The white light grew closer. From shooting stars, they formed the vague outline of a person, from the glow of her helmet to the panels of light down her arms, around her waist, tracing her legs. June crossed her arms and settled back. “Weren’t you waiting for her? What’s the dagger for?”

Silence.

The lights streaked down toward their roof. Sasha tensed, ready to jump.

June hurriedly grabbed Sasha’s shoulder. “Hey, easy! Weren’t you guys hanging out earlier?”

He pulled her down to his level, crouched low against the roof, and pressed a finger against his lips.

Arelia clanged down on the roof and staggered to a stop. She looked around, left and right. June tried to stand, but Sasha held her down. His eyes implored her to keep silent. Confused, June pressed her lips together and glanced back at Arelia.

Arelia wandered across the roof, lost. She took a bag off her chest, smaller than the one before. It dangled from her hand, half-forgotten.

“Here?” she muttered, dazed.

Sasha released June and rushed at Arelia, dagger held low.

“Sasha, stop!” June shouted, horrified. What is he doing?

Arelia spun. She threw her hand out, reflexively. Sasha dashed to the side, and the electricity struck the ground instead. One more step. Two. The dagger flashed.

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Dammit! June reached into her pocket and threw a small disc.

“I probably shouldn’t give you this, but…” Tooly sighed. “The kid is dangerous. To you and himself. If it comes to it, then use this.”

Midair, green light flashed in a ring from the center of the disc. It struck Sasha in the small of his back. His legs gave out, and he flopped onto his face. His head bounced on the roof. Lifeless limbs tangled in one another. Empty eyes gazed ahead, blank orbs of glass.

Arelia screamed and jumped back, then dashed to Sasha’s side. She glared at June accusatorily. “You killed him!”

“I did not, I just hard-rebooted him. Besides, he was trying to kill you.” June bent and picked up the disc. The green bulb in the center was dull, burned-out. She sighed and pocketed it. One use only, I guess.

It was a familiar weapon: an ultra-localized EMP. They were easy to dodge or deflect, but if they landed a hit, it was game-over for any harness. Older harnesses would get burned out entirely, but modern ones could weather the blow with nothing but a restart. They were more nuisance than deadly weapon, but a potent nuisance.

“Kill me? Why?” Arelia asked.

June glanced at the bag she was carrying. Wires twisted in the gaps of the fabric. A tiny red light lit the inside of the bag. “Probably because of what you’re carrying there. Came back to attack us?”

She grabbed the bag to her chest, then released it, wary of its contents. “I, I had no idea it was you…”

“That’s a new bag. Was the first one a bomb, too? Where is it?” June demanded.

“It’s—no one’s supposed to get hurt. It was… only…” A troubled expression flashed over her face. Her hands twisted in the fabric straps.

Light flickered in the depths of Sasha’s eyes. For a moment, they beamed in the darkness, bright as headlights, before falling dark once more. “Only… a message.”

She whirled. “How—”

Sasha glared at June over his shoulder, then climbed to a sit, slowly. His body was slightly clumsy, limbs unusually weak.

June’s heart twinged. I’m sorry. You gave me no choice!

“You met them. A boy with long arms and a man with a metal face. Somewhere downtown, they traded your original bomb for that one. Told you to plant it here.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement.

Arelia nodded, hesitantly. “Yes.”

“I wasn’t sure at first, but I’d recognize the scent of that explosive anywhere,” he muttered. He crossed his arms, head slightly tilted, and furrowed his brows, falling into a contemplative silence.

“Where is the first bomb?” June demanded.

“It’s on a building downtown. An abandoned building! No one’s going to get hurt. My father just wanted to make people pay attention…” She bit her lip, but too late.

“Your father? Could he be… Laredo Torre, of the Regis Group?” June guessed.

Arelia flinched.

“Well, I more-or-less figured it out already. There aren’t many teenage girls zipping about on their own flightsuits, are there, Arelia Torre?”

“Ah.” Arelia backed away a step.

“When is the bomb going to go off? Can you fly us there?” June asked.

“Why? It’s empty, an abandoned building. It was going to be destroyed.”

June glared at her. “Did you check? Are there any homeless people living there? Anyone squatting on the lower floors? What about the buildings next to it? The dust cloud? The debris, flying down the street?”

Arelia staggered back. Guilt flashed across her face. “I—”

“There’s still time. Take us back.”

At that moment, light blossomed on the horizon, bright as the sun. A cloud formed around it, dust flying outward. Silently, the explosion blossomed upward while one of the ancient skyscrapers toppled down.

BOOM! The sound slammed into them, a physical force, then the blast of the explosion, so strong it forced June back a half-dozen steps. Arelia hunkered down, hands over her face. Wind lashed their hair and snatched at their clothes. Dust flew wildly. In the distance, the skyscraper shook itself apart. Concrete blocks broke free and thudded down on the surrounding buildings.

June stared. No. Not again.

Sasha’s eyes went wide. He jumped to his feet. “Throw the bag!”

Arelia startled, then flung her bag into the air.

Sprinting across the roof, Sasha leaped into the air, executed a quick spin, and kicked it even higher. The bag tumbled, up, up. Red LEDs flashed through the straps as the bomb spun free of the bag, three red stars turning slowly in the midnight sky.

Training took over. June’s body moved on its own. She ducked, hands over her ears.

One second she was upright. The next, she found herself plastered against the roof. Force slammed into her. Ridges and nails dug into her back. Bright light burned her eyes as fire washed over them. The heat instantly crisped June’s clothes and singed her hair. The explosion echoed in her ears, louder than thunder, washing all sound to a high-pitched ringing. The roof shook under her back as Sasha tumbled from the sky and bounced against the roof beside her, then again as Arelia clattered to the ground opposite June. June caught a glimpse of her startled face. Then her helmet knocked against the metal roof, and her eyes shut. All soundless, save the tone in her ears.

June pushed herself half up and reached out. I… have to… Her limbs didn’t obey her. Weak, shuddery, her arm slid out from under her. She crashed to the roof. Her eyes shut.