After the storm had died down, the morning sun was shining over the city with the occasional rainbow crossing the sky. Sound of a motorcycle whirred past as Chase and Alice were riding to Zone Tower to meet with Marcus.
[Battery: 100%]
"You know, for the disaster that happened last night, today sure feels nice," Alice shouted in the wind behind Chase.
Chase stayed focused on the road, running through strategies against the Technician, and hoping Marcus came up with something. He had a few more vials of the nanites sitting on his belt, he had managed to gather some more from the aftermath and hoped they'd be useful.
"Chase?" Alice said, catching his attention.
"Yes?"
"What're you thinking about?"
"I think you should know that."
"Mmm, the Technician?" Alice waited for a response but Chase's silence was enough. "Don't worry. We'll beat him, together."
"You seem confident in that."
"Because there's always a way, and two minds are better than one right?"
"Three, Marcus will find a way."
"Right, Marcus. He’s a lot different than I expected."
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know, I just imagined the guy that founded the biggest technology company that sells laser weapons would be…maybe more evil?”
“Who’s to say he isn’t.”
Alice chuckled, “He’d be a pretty good actor if that’s the case. But he’s been pretty helpful. I kind of thought all big businessmen were snobbish narcissistic pigs.”
“Marcus still has his flaws.”
“Maybe, but I just find it hard to not like him. Though that might be because he gave me a car, which crashed.”
“Marcus is interesting. He’s open and helpful, I think he cares more about creating new machines than anything else. He has secrets, but everyone does. However, it’s those secrets that make it hard for me to fully trust him.”
“It feels like you don’t trust a lot of people in general.”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“For good reasons.”
“Fair enough, but what do you think the Technician wants with Marcus so badly?”
“I’m not sure, but we’re going to find out.”
After a few more minutes of driving, Chase and Alice arrived at Zone Tower and walked through the automatic glass doors.
The two were greeted by Rosalia, sitting behind the reception desk. She looked up over her glasses with a bored glare.
"Mr. Silverwing?"
"Yes."
“Hey! Rosalia!” Alice waved at her, who just sighed. “Remember me?”
“Unfortunately. And please don’t talk to me, I haven't had my coffee yet.”
Alice chuckled and backed behind Chase. “You two met?” He said.
“Oh yeah, back when we were both brought here after fighting the Technician. You were out of it at the time, and I struck up a nice conversation with her while I was anxiously waiting for the first few minutes.” She turned to Rosalia, “Thanks again by the way!”
Rosalia sighed and pointed to the elevator, “Just go to Mr. Zone’s office and bother him, please.”
Chase nodded and walked to the elevator, beckoning Alice to follow.
"Have a nice day, Rosalia!" Alice chimed and hopped over to follow Chase.
"She’s even more cold than you," Alice whispered.
“Yes, well, I’m sure she has her reasons.” Chase stood inside the elevator with Alice standing beside him, as the doors closed and the room started to move up.
Inside the elevator, it would be a long and quiet journey up the tower. Calming music played but they couldn't soothe Chase's thoughts. He really hoped that Marcus had some good answers.
Alice shifted awkwardly. "So, what kind of counter do you think he's come up with? Maybe a big blaster that can obliterate him? Or, or! A laser pointer that can pierce through his head and fry his insides!"
Chase glanced at Alice. "Um, maybe."
"Maybe? You mean that's actually possible?"
"Marcus is one for grand devices, especially when it comes to his own tech."
The elevator doors slid open as they reached the top floor, revealing the open penthouse and the workshop where they saw Marcus working away.
Looking up at the sound of the elevator, Marcus's face brightened, though his eyes were dark and baggy. "Chase? Is everything alright? How’s my car? And the Technician?"
"Not great. Your car was destroyed during the chaos, and the Technician got away.”
He sighed, “Well, I guess I suspected the worst when I lost the signal.”
“Sorry, about that,” Alice tittered from behind Chase.
“Were you working all night?" Chase said.
“Well, I had to get this counter ready,” Marcus rubbed his eyes. “But I guess I didn’t get my usual beauty sleep.”
“Hopefully this counter works. What is it?"
"Well, as I mentioned before, it’s a virus." Marcus grabbed something from a metal tray and showed it to Chase. A syringe-like device with a long needle at the end, but it also had something similar to a USB drive for a body.
"Is that a syringe?" Alice said.
"Sort of. The needle part is meant to pierce through the hard exterior of the Technician, so that it can inject the virus into him. I coded it to disable everything about the Technician. I did some more research and figured I could shut him down like a computer, BUT I'm not sure if it'll work."
"Well, it's the best we have right now." Chase went to take the device from Marcus but he felt a shiver cross his body for a split second and then it was gone. As if his alarm had gone off.