Mod Superhero (Book 6 STUBBING on Oct 27th)

Chapter 6.35 - Echo

Emmett stayed still while he analyzed the scene. Two men stared through the window at him and Dr. Venture.

The two men had the intense demeanor of undercover officers. They didn't blink, and they didn't seem at all fazed by the pool of nanites covering the abandoned store.

Time slowed down as Emmett stretched out his perception. He followed the signals of the Fast-Response drones circling the block, and he also spread out the edges of his swarm. Unless his enemies had extremely sensitive vision, they wouldn't notice the edge of the swarm quickly encompassing the block.

A cluster of nanites moved into Dr. Venture's ear. Emmett transmitted the thought directly to him.

"Cyborgs or robots. Yours?"

Venture didn't speak. Didn't move. That was enough of an answer.

Emmett couldn't remember details, so he only had his gut feeling and Venture's reluctance to go on. Both were telling him not to trust these two men.

A flash of memory came back to Emmett. He remembered hanging from chains in the biolab, and seeing pieces of cyborgs in the back of the room. It had been a gruesome assortment of parts, but Emmett clearly remembered seeing silicone skin among them.

These two men were part of the Brotherhood. Emmett's memory was hazy, so he couldn't remember all the details about the Brotherhood, but he couldn't ignore the visceral reaction to the name. And he knew that they were the same organization that captured him, chained him up, and butchered him.

Emmett stood, moving both slowly and deliberately.

The two men shouted through the window. "Sir, please don't move," and, "Stay where you are."

Both men raised their hands. Their palms were out, like they had weapons concealed in their forearms. Emmett could just make out thin seams in their skin.

The two men hadn't noticed yet, but a thin layer of nanites crawled across their bodies. Another second passed before they were completely coated. But the swarm didn't stop there. They seeped into gaps in their skin and found wires and circuitry. They were almost entirely synthetic.

Emmett kept his arms at his side and tried to keep his voice flat. "Who are you with?"

"We're with the Summit of Heroes."

Emmett tried not to laugh. "...Can you show us some ID then?"

The two men shared a look. Flickers of emotion passed across their faces. A wordless transmission passed from one of the men to a drone and back again. Emmett couldn't access the message, but it was clear that the two men were calling a superior for guidance.

"You need to stay where you are. Failure to comply will result in use of deadly force."

Emmett sent another silent communication to Venture. "We need to move. Follow my lead."

The two men didn't give Emmett a chance to run. Their palms flipped back and their forearms unfolded, revealing hidden rifles. They should've had Emmett dead to rights, but their weapons malfunctioned. Nanites had already chewed through the wiring.

A look of surprise flashed across their faces. Emmett didn't give them a chance to explain.

Nanites ate through all of their wiring.

The two men slumped over and froze like half-toppled statues. A second later, their frantic transmissions ceased.

Emmett quickly put together a plan. His swarm was more than capable on the ground, but he needed something to deal with the drones overhead. He examined the weapons in the two men's forearms. Even though they were disabled, nanites could quickly rebuild lost wiring. The rifles were clearly made with short to medium range in mind, Emmett didn't have time to be picky.