While the lights were out

A major city like New York has plans to deal with a blackout, but they all involve the use of things that depend on electricity, such as generators or flashlights.

But the Negative Drive on the top floor of Null Tower is absorbing all electricity within five miles, and its range is slowly increasing. This is completely unprecedented.

Thanks to the chaos, only doctors and nurses know that the patient with silver eyes is Noriko Null; without phones or Internet, it's much harder to spread news. For the same reason, nobody notices the man with red skin coming in through the window. Or maybe it's because it's the thirtieth floor.

"I'm here. Can you hear me?" Torn thinks; the Neural Transmitter transforms his thoughts into radio waves directly into Noriko's brain.

"Loud and clear. What's the situation?"

"Vesta, Quantum and Legion are spread all over the city. They'll manage".

"Legion?"

"Kari. Quantum made up a codename for when she uses her powers in public"

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me. Listen, I have an idea of how to disable the Negative Drive, but I need your help"

"Just tell me what I need to hit"

"If only it were that simple. The Negative Drive displaces any form of energy into a parallel dimension; since its storage capacity is theoretically limitless, no amount of force can disable it"

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

"Help me create something that will shut it down. I literally can't move a finger right now; I need you to take me outside the negative field and build what I ask you to build. First I need to get off this bed..."

"Easy" Torn acknowledges, tearing the sheets away from Noriko's bed with one swift motion.

"NO!!!" she shrieks as he does it; the sound is so loud in his mind to force Torn to take a step back.

"What's wrong?"

"You have to ask!? Put it back and DON'T LOOK" she replies angrily.

"There is no reason to be embarrassed. I don't find humans sexually attractive".

"That's not the point. Your jacket, NOW" she orders.

"Duster" he specifies, taking it off. He unceremoniously wraps it around her body; it's so many sizes too big for her that it looks more like a brown blanket now.

"NEVER speak about this with ANYBODY" she stresses.

"You have my word. There wasn't much to see anyway".

"Torn, I swear you drive me crazy sometimes"

"So I see"

"Also, heck of a moment to finally admit that you're not human. I assume you have your reasons to be mysterious about your past"

"I do. What now?"

"Get me out of here. DON'T JUMP through the window; just because you can probably survive the fall doesn't mean I can, especially after a heart attack and a near meltdown of my nervous system"

"No jumps. Got it"

Torn lifts Noriko in her arms, taking great care handling her weight. He looks like he could break her in half without a sweat. Not only because it's true, but because he's twice her size.

They reach the window, and Torn takes a step outside. There's a red energy sword embedded into the wall outside; dozens more appear on the side of the building, each one a step on a ladder that reaches the roof of the building.

"Nice trick. I wonder why the Negative Drive doesn't absorb your swords; I theorize that they are solidified energy, a sort of..."

"You think too much. Where now?"

"North"

"Which way is it?"

"Seriously? You've been on this planet for weeks and you don't know where north is?"

"I heard it mentioned. Didn't care"

"To my left. Taking into consideration the growth rate of the negative field and the maximum speed you can achieve, you need to get at least sixteen kilometers or nine point ninety-four miles"

"Which one is it, sixteen kilometers or nine miles?"

"Nevermind, just run in that direction until I tell you to stop. Needless to say, don't drop me"

Torn hesitates, looking at the teenage girl in his arms.

"What?"

"You're shivering"

"It's freezing cold and I'm almost naked. Catching a cold is the least of my worries"

"Are you sure you want to do this? There may be another way"

"I appreciate your concern, but I caused this mess and I'm going to end it"

"I know. I meant that I can get you some clothes if the duster's not warm enough"

"It...it is warm enough" she answers, hesitantly.

"Are you sure? Your face is pinker" he notes, which is Torn's way to say she's blushing.

"Let's just say this is more than a little embarrassing. Maybe you're not human, but you do look like a man twice my size and age"

"Seven times your age, actually"

"What do you mean seven? You'd have to be 126 years old"

"138. I was rounding down"

"I thought you didn't like talking about yourself"

"And until five minutes ago I wasn't sure you were a female"

"..."

"That was a joke"

"Shut up and run"

Queen Hotel

Erika Rhys is at the window overlooking Null Tower. In the darkness, she touches the glass.

She looks like an unassuming British girl, but her reflection doesn't match her appearance: there's a faint but dark violet aura around her.

<Can't you feel it? The flow of energy spiraling into nothingness. Simply marvelous.>

Her guest doesn't comment. He fits in the shadows so well that he's almost invisible.

The man sneaks up on her, lifting her by the neck. He still doesn't make a sound.

<Yeah, that what I'm talking about> Erika says, smiling.

The man pushes her against the window hard enough to shatter the glass. He keeps her dangling over the edge, but she won't stop smiling.

The man doesn't say anything. He takes her back inside, slowly.

<That's more like it. Now...take me to your leader.>

The artificial man known as the Blue nods, and a new alliance begins without a word being spoken.

A thousand light-years away

Elytra isn't happy. Not only did the Lampyrian leader of the Hunters lose her chance at conquering Myridia: she also lost her capital ship, the New Horizon, her best chance of curing her species of their extremely short lifespan, and probably the loyalty of most of her followers.

Sure, nobody has tried to replace her: the Ghost Maker that gives her the power of intangibility makes any assassination attempt extremely difficult.

But the Hunters are starting to question her priorities: she hasn't given these pirates a planet to ravage in months. Something made even harder by the fact that Hermes teleported her entire armada in a quite desolate sector of space.

The bridge is silent. The crew of the Relentless, the current capital ship of the Hunters, is still getting used to Elytra's style of command. Many of them have never worked with a Lampyrian before: Elytra's species doesn't live more than a couple of years, and being an all-female species of beautiful blue skinned women they're mostly considered prostitutes. Elytra knows her kind has an uphill battle, and the though of the cure for their short lifespan promised by Hermes rekindles her resolve to continue her mission. Her communications officer tells her:

<Captain, we are being hailed. Long-range hyperwave only.>

<Let's hear it> she orders nonchalantly.

Elytra stands up, stretching her blue wings: it's impossible to forget a voice like that. It's one of the Talos, the indestructible robot soldiers of the god of technology.

There is only static coming from the speakers after the conversation is abruptly ended. Elytra has never seen a Talos up close, but their reputation is well known.

<We can't stay here. Take us back to Artemis space> she orders.

<Navigation is offline> the helmsman answers, trying and failing to keep his cool.

Something shakes the Relentless so hard to give pause to its stabilizers. All the viewscreens have gone blank, leaving the captain blind about what is happening.

<Do I have to do everything myself around here!?> Elytra complains, unfolding her blue wings and turning herself intangible.

She flies through the hull, directly into space. She can see firsthand the many hundred ships of the Hunters firing furiously at each other.

"That bastard…it uploaded something into the ship's computer; it must've infected the whole fleet in seconds. It's hacking us from light-years away!!!"

It doesn't take long before the ships start exploding, one after another, and there's nothing Elytra can do. The Hunters may be little more than mercenaries and pirates, but they don't deserve to be slaughtered so needlessly.

Then something hits the Relentless with the kinetic force of an asteroid crash, more than enough to completely overwhelm the shields.

It's the size of a human being, but before the landing it was traveling close to the speed of light. It rises up; the light of explosions and plasma cannons reflecting on its black and white metallic skin.

Instinctively, Elytra makes her hands solid again and fires at the robot; her plasma gun is more than enough to vaporize titanium. It has no effect whatsoever on the Talos.

"Neutral matter. Completely indestructible. Let's see how tough you are on the inside" she thinks, flying at the monster.

<Phase modulator detected. Activating countermeasures> the Talos says via radio waves; when Elytra tries to phase through it to leave a grenade inside the robot's head, she painfully bounces against an invisible wall.

"What the...that's never happened before!!!"

With Elytra still reeling from the feedback, the Talos raises a hand, loading enough firepower to disintegrate her...and holding it in.

<Warning. Target is bonded with Drylon technology. Lethal force is not authorized.>

The Talos hesitates. Elytra studies her enemy; if weapons can't damage it and she can't use the Ghost Maker to attack from the inside, she's out of options.

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Bab 58: While the lights were out

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