A sudden frenzied rapping at her window woke Fii from her slumber. Groggy and disoriented, she slid the gss pane opeing in a rush of night air. Quinn stood below ireet, face red and glistening from the exertion.

  "What the hell..." Fii croaked tiredly. She rubbed her eyes to clear them. "Quinn?"

  He waved impatiently. "I have something to tell you! e out." He shot an uneasy look toward the street, but his urgency didn't waver. "This is serious."

  Fii yawned and stretched nguidly. "Okay, okay."

  She climbed down and stood in front of him.

  "What's with the drama?" she inquired sleepily.

  "Trouble." Quinn paused a beat, catg his breath before tinuing. "Just went out to do maintenand fixed a broken zip line. About twenty minutes ago." Another pause as he caught his breath and ran a hand through his damp hair. "Spotted a small voy approag the slums—about a hundred guys or so. Military-type with vehicles. Ns or any identifying insignia."

  Fii raised a brow questioningly. "So? They're probably just heading to the metropolis. What's se about that?"

  He shook his head adamantly. "No. They started pig fights with some gangs he border. Ran their vehicles into groups and started gunning them down. Most everyone ran scared." Quinn paused again and his expression turned grim. "I...saw some Adrenomancers in their group."

  Fii inhaled sharply. Her sleepiness vanished immediately. "Wait—what?! You saw 'em? Are you sure?"

  "Yeah." His eyes grew distant at the memory. "I'm sure. From what Virgil told me, I reized their gear right away. Harnesses with tubes and stuff."

  Her mind raced as she digested this news. More Adrenomancers? And they're with a hundred soldiers?

  "How many of 'em did you see?" Fii asked, her stomach sinking as he responded.

  "At least a dozen, but that's just from one of the squads I saw There's probably more...a lot more, mixed in with probably mercs."

  Fii shivered despite the heat.

  That many? To go after something in the slums? Were they still after her? No way...right? Maybe that Mad Chemist guy had a boo pick with one of the bigger gangs. Still...this was getting a little over the top. And this was the slums they were talking about—the st peone would waste a ton of money and resources attag.

  "Is that why you came straight here?" she asked quietly.

  "Yeah, I had a bad feeling they might be looking for you or Virgil."

  "Crap...you're probably right." Fii squeezed her eyes shut. She felt like a bullet was lodged somewhere in her body. The st thing she needed was more trouble from outside. Why the hell 't I just catch a break? "Okay. Let's go let Virgil know."

  A hand grasped his shoulder aly shook him awake.

  Virgil awoke with a start and instinctively grabbed for his revolver. He swept it upward and had it leveled at his attacker before fully opening his eyes.

  Fii gasped and leaped back with her hands raised. "Woah, rex! It's me!"

  "Fii..." Virgil blinked away the sleep from his eyes. "What do you want?"

  He sat up and put his gun aside. Anure stood behind her—Quinn.

  What the hell were these two doing sneaking into his room at this godforsaken hour? They'd better have a good reason. Otherwise they'd be tasting his fists. He cast a wary goward them, giving each of them a good once-over. They seemed alert and a tad spooked. Fii's expression seemed unusually te couldn't be good news.

  "What happened?" Virgil asked gruffly. He wished he could grab a drink or a smoke. Goddammit.

  "Quinn's spotted a bunch of Adrenomancers entering the slums." She took a deep breath before adding quietly. "Like...a LOT more."

  "Saw 'em about an ho. There were six APd ten Humvees rolling in from the Badnds," Quinn added. "Plus squads on foot. I don't know if they were all Adrenomancers, but the dozen I saw had those harnesses on."

  Virgil could only stare incredulously as the words sunk in. Did he hear that right? Were these tw to prank him right now?

  No. They wouldn't be that stupid to pull a stunt like that. Which meant...shit.

  He pihe bridge of his nose, groaning loudly. This was some o wake up to.

  "Where are they now?" Virgil demanded. He hurriedly buckled his revolvers around his thighs and tied his holster.

  Quinn spoke up. "Southeast end. Moving north. Seems like they're focused on the gangs he outskirts. No way they're just passing through. They're here for a reason."

  "Isn't the Ironcd Legion's turf here?" Fii mused out loud. "Maybe they're going to try ale a score with 'Anvil' Anderson's gang?"

  Salvatore didn't settle scores that way. Or at least, he wouldn't have had his group be seen going into battle this openly without a rge sum of money exged. Aside fr to establish a facility for his Shiver operations, and pg a bounty on Fii's capture, what the hell else would Salvatore be after?

  He must have lost his mind otten desperate if he had ordered his Adrenomao duct a raid in the slums. He ractically throwing away his resources. Whatever he was doing had to be critical enough for him to take such a gamble. Something's not adding up.

  But the bigger picture didn't matter mu right now. He o sider immediate solutions. They o get a handle ouation. Now.

  "Virgil?" Fii peered at him in .

  "I'm thinking." Virgil breathed deeply and cracked his neck. He begaally calg their options as he finished gearing up. "For starters, Fii...suit up a ready to head out. Quin a hold of Kenzo and tell him what's going on. After that, get some ClipRuo spread the word to the angs. Got that? Now git!"

  "Got it!" Quinn darted from the room.

  "Right!" Fii dashed ht behind him.

  "Sonofabitch," Virgil mumbled under his breath.

  The metropolis gover wouldn't care enough to get involved, but if the colteral damage started piling up, Supers might start p out to get a slice of the a—and that would cause even more of a mess.

  Fii finished donning her cyber-helmet and performed a quick systems check. Her vitals readout returned all-normal and the link's indicator dispyed a solid green. Her skates showed a full charge.

  A kno her door startled her. Edith opehe door a sed ter, sp her typical b coat and eyegsses. For someone in the middle of the night, she didn't appear groggy in the least.

  "Going out?" Edith asked. "You didn't mention anything about doing a patrol tonight. Has something happened?"

  Fii expihe situation to the best of her abilities. Her expnation, though, only deepeh's frown.

  "Edith?"

  She seemed deep in thought as if turning the information around in her head. Something was b her.

  "Edith?" Fii prompted again. "Did you get all that?"

  "Huh? Yeah, I heard you." She blinked, looking distracted. "I guess I'll head bay offid get on the s. I'll deploy my droo track their movements. You talked til already, right?"

  Fii nodded. "He told me to get ready. I'm about to head out now."

  Edith nodded. She took a breath befiving Fii a serious look.

  "Take care of yourself out there. Remember, don't hold back when fighting those Adrenomancers." She gave a faint smile. "Show 'em who's boss. And...stay safe."

  Fii gave a thumbs-up in response. "Yes, ma'am!"

  She thought Edith would leave aurn to her b. Instead, she hesitated as if she wao add more. Finally, she exhaled deeply and patted Fii's shoulders. With a final nod and smile, she left the room.

  Fii found it stra wasn't like Edith to worry like that. Why the weird behavior? Weird...

  She shook her head to clear her thoughts aed her room. Time to focus.

  As she made her way back to the Vigil, she spotted Virgil ing her way.

  He gave her an appraising look. "You ready?"

  "Yup. Suit's on a's w. link's showing an okay status. Edith said she's gonna send drones out. Ready whenever you are."

  Virgil's expression shifted as he grimaced. He took a long drag from his cigarette, exhaled the smoke slowly, and flicked the butt away. He probably o take his mind off something. "Let's roll."

  Edith trudged back to her b and sank onto her chair. She slumped back, taking a few steadying breaths. The entire ordeal had rattled her nerves.

  She didn't think her bait would have worked. It was a long shot at best. But based on the scale and effort of this assault, it was more likely than not that Salvatore inteo find and capture her to pry the secrets of her research from her. She'd iently lured a great big of hors.

  Iently? No. I wahis. It was always the pn to tip his hand.

  She smiled grimly to herself. The price for her as was steep. And this wasn't over yet. She wasn't out of dahere was no guarantee he didn't send all this to kill her. If he was as smart and ambitious as she guessed he was, he would want to keep her alive to help him pursue his agenda.

  The main variables were Fii and Virgil. Fii should be powerful enough to rescue her safely, but Virgil doesn't know the whole truth about Fii's in as a metahuman. How would he react if the secret came to light? And how would she tell him? All Edith knew for sure was that a single misstep could easily meah. And not just hers.

  However, the ce to acquire all of Salvatore's researd blueprint on his Adrenomancer creation process was too great. If Edith could obtain that, it would help make her oep closer to perfeg her owhods. An opportunity like this might not e around for a very long time.

  Maybe. Maybe not. I made a pn to see this through. I will tio follow through with it.

  Edith began typing oerminal and uploaded a set of ands to a cloud server. She instructed a series of droo power themselves on and perform a search grid in the slums. Given the size and scope of this operatioh had plenty of droo spare. At the end of the day, it was a fra of her iment and what was needed.

  "Dr. Weiss," Helix's voice echoed ihe b.

  "What is it, Helix?" She swiped the s on her desk monitor to view the ining data from the drones. A map overy of the slums appeared with red dots mapping the estimated movement and routes of the intruding forces.

  "I must remind you o time that this pn is unwise and highly dangerous," Helix cautioned.

  "Your opinion is duly noted aed," Edith snapped. "This pn was carefully sidered. I uand the risk, but the bes greatly outweigh the dangers."

  "Yes," Helix remarked. "Your iions are certainly beneficial to your project, but not beneficial toward yourself."

  Edith let out a quiet snort. "Bes? And this doesn't be me?"

  "Gaining Salvatore's research would accelerate your own timeline. However, he may not have the plete procedure," Helix reminded. "In any case, Salvatore's likely iions include torture and brainwashing in order to gain trol over your person."

  "Thanks for reminding me again."

  "In this eventuality, what of your test subject?"

  "She's ready," Edith said fidently. "If all goes well, she will retrieve me a them all."

  Helix's tone shifted. "Are you truly fident in her capability and resolve?"

  "You're overthinking this."

  "If I were human, would you attribute this to mere bias or objective analysis?"

  She pohe question for a moment. Helix, while a clever intelligence, rarely deviated from cold logiy show of emotional capability would certainly e at great cost. Its creation and training required an exorbitant amount of funding and time. To waste this effort by merely arguiions would have been unthinkable.

  Perhaps Edith might have residered a better alternative had there been any other choice. But that othetical, an absurd notion that she rejected the moment she had formuted her pn. She would never ge her mind. No amount of objectivity would vince her otherwise.

  "Human error isn't what will get us killed tonight."

  "Regardless—"

  Edith sighed. "Yes. I believe in her," she said quietly.

  The irony in her answer wasn't lost on her. Edith was far from being the most ideal instructor. Fii had e a long way sihey had begun w together, but her talents were still far from tapped. And she was far from ready.

  Her achievements so far were beyoh's wildest expectations. Still, could a little over half a year of experiend training be enough for Fii to tackle this disaster on her own? There was no guarantee. Hell, nothing about her current position guaranteed success—even with Virgil's help.

  "Very well." Helix's words carried finality to them. "What are your orders?"

  Edith cast her reservations and misgivings aside. She inhaled a long, slow breath before answering. "Let's do everything we on our end to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible." She gave a grim chuckle. "Here's hoping she hold her own out there."