Mod Superhero (Book 6 STUBBING on Oct 27th)

Chapter 6.33 - Dissociate

Emmett moved like a flood through the tunnels beneath Belport. Nanites rolled overtop one another—part wheel, part rolling wave. The swarm moved so fast Emmett could barely control it. Instead of slowing down at corners and junctions, it crashed into walls like a rogue wave, cracking walls and splintering bricks.

Nanites cocooned everything inside the swarm, including Emmett and the fusion cells and batteries. Combined with the swarm's impressive mass, he barely felt anything at all. He floated in darkness, barely sloshing as the swarm careened through the tunnels.

He was vaguely aware of where he was heading—for the edge of the city and the tunnels beneath the highway.

As far away from the lab as possible.

He had a destination in mind, but it felt distant and half-remembered, like Emmett was walking half-asleep through his old apartment. He knew the way, even if he didn't remember it, and trusted the swarm to get there. It was a part of him, after all.

~

Emmett didn't know how long passed before he stopped—

He only knew that he was exhausted—physically, emotionally, through every atom of his being.

The swarm spread out through the neighboring rooms. It was so massive that even dispersed nanites covered the floor nearly two feet deep. As the swarm spread out, it relaxed and released Emmett.

He laid there for a moment, slumped against the wall, with nothing but the feeling of cool nanites around his waist and cold brick against his back. After a few deep breaths, he finally looked around—

Or tried to. Without his implant, Emmett couldn't see in the dark anymore.

Without being commanded, the swarm snaked its way up the walls. To Emmett, it felt like running a hand along the wall in the dark. A moment later, Emmett found the wiring he was searching for. Power trickled from cells, through the tendrils, and to emergency lights along the wall. The bulbs flickered, then bathed the room in dull red light.

It was hard to say where Emmett was. He knew abstractly that he was on the edge of the North-East side, and almost outside the city, but he didn't have a map of every tunnel underneath the city... including his current location.

The walls were old brick and mortar, but there was a nearby section that had been covered in concrete. Graffiti covered that relatively smooth section of wall. With just the red emergency lightning and his one normal eye, he couldn't see any color and could barely make out where one tag ended and another began. There was a clear line halfway down where the graffiti had been washed away by flood water. But there wasn't any trace smell of mold and mildew, so the water must have long dried up under this portion of the city.

Emmett's eyes grew steadily heavier as he looked around. Eventually, he tried to wipe the sleep from his eyes.

Emmett wiped his eyelids. His fingers felt cool against his skin. Then he pulled his hand back and stared at it.

It was a long moment before Emmett realized what he was looking at.

His hand was made of nanites—both of them were. They were the same shade as the oil-black swarm, so dark that they seemed to absorb the meager lightning. Emmett pushed himself up to a sitting position, and realized that he'd made legs, too. His knees emerged like rocks from the waves.

Emmett's head swam. He vaguely remembered working with nanites before... before getting captured. Commanding them was easy, but getting them to hold a form like this would've been difficult; as exhausted as he was, it should've been impossible.