Power Shift (Book 1)

Chapter 19-2: Genies and Bottles (continued)

Note: This chapter was split into two, so make sure you read 19-1 first. If you're already caught up, then dig in!

Recap: Mandeville activated a device that is scrambling Brandon’s nanobots, causing him intense pain and almost crippling him. While Mandeville and the technicians start to flee in the remaining vans, an enormous giant smashes into the garage looking for Brandon.

Someone in the garage is yelling, and I hear grinding metal as the reinforced garage doors start to open. They’re probably all kinds of anxious to get away before the giant finishes with me. 

Tyler’s talking in my radio again, nearly shouting, but my ears are buzzing so hard I can’t make anything out. I wish I could talk to him, but he feels a million miles away.

I’m scooped off the ground by an enormous hand, and my vision clears enough to see a massive face staring at me. The giant reaches for my helmet and I flail to try and push it away. It smirks at me like it finds that funny, then flings me hard across the bay.

Smashing into the wall with my shoulder, things crack. The wall cracks, and I’m pretty sure some of my bones do as well. The new wave of pain clears my head a little, and my ears stop ringing a bit, but I still can’t stand and slide to the floor in a ball.

I watch helplessly as these enormous feet stomp towards me and all I can think about is Nicole. I needed to help her. I need to stop these people from destroying any more lives. But who did I manage to help? Nobody.

Tyler is repeating something over and over. I try to listen, and the only thing I can make out is “jammer”. Jammer?

The giant grabs me in one huge hand and pins me up against the wall.

Ryan and his friends gave me three gadgets. The radio, the remote hacking tool, and something that could jam all communications. Wait… not just communications, but all broadcasts!

The giant presses me up against the wall several feet off the ground, but he’s not holding me very tight. He doesn’t figure I’m much of a threat, and at the moment I wouldn’t debate it with him. The jammer was on the back of my belt on the side with my now broken shoulder, so this isn’t going to be fun. I grit my teeth and try to stretch my fingers just a few inches behind me. New waves of pain cascade from my shoulder as bones grind against each other.

The giant looks away for a moment at the vans, probably wondering if he should leave me and chase them.

I keep stretching. My fingers reach the bottom of the jammer, and I hope more than anything it is still working. I flip the switch.

And I’m back.

The pain shuts off like a light. The jammer blocks out the signal from Mandeville’s device, and the nanobots in my body stop churning in pain. It’s also jamming my radio link to Tyler, and probably the FBI and Mandeville’s communications as well. Good, we’re all in the dark together.

Without the nanobots losing their tiny electronic minds, the regular part of my body starts to work again. My eyes and ears clear up, and I can feel my shoulder start to heal. I wrench my arm back into place, and the bones and muscles knit themselves back together. I still feel much weaker than normal, like a hungry ache across my entire body, so I bet the nanobots are almost entirely drained.

The giant looks back at me, confused. It doesn’t have any nanobots in it so has no idea what just happened. I figure I should demonstrate.

Wrenching my arms free from the giant’s grip, it stumbles back, startled. I grab its head, planning to knock it out, but stop, face to face, looking into its eyes through the faceplate of my helmet. It looks back.