Callidus Rising | Complete ✔️ | Book 1

25: Gravity Style

Lukas informs me that he will be back in only a few moments so that I won't try to whack him upside his indestructible head Gravity style.

He comes around the archway with a ragged looking Monty Carlzon in tow. The minute that the woman behind me sees them, she practically launches her bruised self at them.

I raise my weapon by the muzzle prepared to hit her, but Lukas shakes his head and steps away from Carlo.

I narrow my eyes at him as she practically knocks the poor kid over as she pounces on him. He wraps his arms around her in return.

Oh... Are they-

> No. Siblings. Her father died when she was young and eventually her mother found another partner in the Revolution which produced young Monty- Sorry, Carlo.

Oh. Wait... How did you know that?

No response. I sigh, but let it go.

A longing for that kind of familial bond fills me, but only for a moment before I snap back to reality and walk over just as they separate.

"Carlo, is it possible for you to contact your bots?"

He looks at me for a moment in the darkness and it seemed like he was thinking.

"Yes. But their systems are based on me getting my commands through a specialized system based on this particular building," he responds.

I think for a second before responding:

"So you're saying that we'd have to get power back online for you to be able to control them."

Lukas cocks his head to the side a little bit, and even in the dark I can tell he is unsure with this logic, just as I was.

He nods.

"Yes you would. The system I've been working on is independent, but it's not finished yet so I cannot upgrade them. They still run on an old connection based on this building."

Lukas was still beside me while the young Revolution fighter seems bewildered.

I hold back a laugh and cough to cover it. She looks up, and squints to see me in the abyss of blackness.

"I'm not the sharpest tool in the tech department, but I do know how to act," she says.

Beside her, Carlo shifts.

I raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

Her eyes drift to the two wide-eyed soldiers bound together a few yards away.

"What are you suggesting?"

Lukas is now evaluating her. He turns to face the two soldiers and turns back towards her.

"You want to use them to get into the location of the power source," Lukas and I both blurt out.

She looks at us with a smile on her lips, seeming overly satisfied and self-confident.

"How would we get them to behave?" Carlo questions.

I grind my teeth together and it hit me:

"We could use James."

My eyes dart back to Lukas.

"Do you know where he is?"

My friend shakes his head.

"I know where he was, but now he blends in with the soldiers. Any of them could be him, and you saw the small army that came in here. By now, he's most likely identified the power source and the place of the outage as well."