Mod Superhero (Book 6 STUBBING on Oct 27th)

Chapter 6.7 - Crossing the Street

APPROXIMATELY -1.2.21 PRE-INCIDENT

Belport was different now.

There were more drones overhead. Fast-response drones crowded the airspace. During the day, they would've looked like bees swarming high above the city. But at night there weren't any running lights to give them away—they were almost invisible against the black.

Emmett saw everything. He saw the infrared glow of their thrusters and UV glints of their cameras. He felt them as they flew overhead and passed through TINA's network.

Even with the scrubbing protocol concealing them, Emmett was nervous. There were so many cameras now. And there was no telling how much the Brotherhood's network had grown. Had they integrated street-level security cameras? Were they tracking walking patterns and movement in real time? If so, hiding their faces wouldn't be enough...

Athena walked beside him and squinted as she looked up at the sky. "You said there's more drones up there? Should we be nervous?"

Emmett didn't know what to say. Things looked alright... for now. But that didn't mean the Brotherhood wasn't playing them. For all Emmett knew, they might be walking into a trap.

Thankfully, TINA answered for him. He felt TINA's answer milliseconds before she said it aloud.

"No," TINA replied in both of their ears. "I'll take care of my part. You both worry about yours."

Emmett and Athena threaded through the streets and alleys of Belport, keeping their heads down and disguises engaged. The air was frigid now, but Emmett barely noticed. Between his supersuit and nanites, his skin was completely covered. He only felt the cold in his breath.

The Binary Brotherhood and the Summit of Heroes had divided their forces. The network of drones patrolled the sky and the city. The biomech force focused on former mask and villain raids. This left Summit capes to focus on the growing threat posed by the Menagerie.

It hadn't made sense at first, not until TINA intercepted a few more communications between the Summit and the Brotherhood. Apparently, the Brotherhood hadn't made much progress in hardening their biomechs to psychic override. Instead, the Brotherhood was mass producing entry-level power armor for the Summit. These suits weren't anything as advanced as Clara's, but they fully enclosed the wearer's body and made it impossible for a psychic to possess them—even a psychic as powerful as the Menagerie.

Emmett and Athena walked the streets in silence. As they did, Emmett considered these new developments...

And he kept coming back to Ava Savanus.

Emmett and TINA had stolen schematics and details about every model of Savanus's biomechs. It only took a few simulations for them to figure out how to shield the mechs from psychic takeover.

There was really only one option:

Completely enclose each drone, just like a set of power armor.

There was always the chance that Savanus was blind to her own mistakes, that she would figure it out with enough time. Or the chance that current TINA was magnitudes more powerful than the old lab, so Savanus was way behind them...

No. Enclosing the mechs was so simple that Emmett refused to believe Savanus hadn't figured it out.

Was she keeping it a secret from Midas? Emmett would hardly blame Savanus if she was.

But the longer he walked and the more he thought about it, Emmett wasn't satisfied with any of those. Maybe she had figured out that particular solution, but was holding out hope for another answer.