The Girl Who Dared to Think 7: The Girl Who Dared to Fight

Dylan gave me a concerned look. “Yeah, I think I’m okay with all of that, but are you okay? You sound a bit… mmm… crazy?”

I nodded in absolute agreement. This was crazy. It was suicide, really. As soon as I unloaded into that machine, the sentinels with Alice inside of them were going to come tearing after us like nothing we’d ever seen before. If we didn’t make it to a hatch that led to the Citadel before they caught us, we’d be ripped apart, and we’d never get Lionel’s message to Leo. I was putting the entire future of the Tower in jeopardy by doing this, and to be honest, it would’ve been smarter to focus on getting to Leo and starting the New Day protocol.

But that wouldn’t save the people these Alices were destined to kill. I was here, and I had the means to do something about it. How could I just walk away?

“That’s a totally fair assessment,” I said. “Because this feels a little crazy. But she’s killing people, and if taking out this little download pad slows her down on that front, I’m really okay with the risk. I just need to know where we can find the closest access hatch to the Citadel. Do you know?”

She looked around, studying the numbers on the hall. “I think so,” she said. “We’re a little far from the one I’m most familiar with, but I think there’s one nearby.”

“Let’s hope so,” I breathed, lifting the plasma rifle up and bracing it with both hands. “Because we are super far from the one leading to my quarters, and we won’t have a lot of time to get there once I start pulling the trigger. Tony, any advice on how to use this thing?”

Tony, who had been doing a great job at staying out of my head for the last twenty minutes or so, sent me a surge of reassurance, along with his response. Sure do. There’s a button on the side that changes the yield of the plasma. For this, you’ll probably want to crank that bad boy up to thirty.

I flipped the rifle over in my hand and spotted a button right next to a little indicator that read “10” in a cool blue light. I hit the button and it leapt to “20,” then “30,” the number growing redder the higher it got. At 30, it was a mild orange, telling me this thing probably had a much higher setting. It does, but that other number on the side indicates how much of the plasma you’re using in terms of battery life. Take it to 100, and you’d be left with no charge, so just keep that in mind.

An important and good note. I pulled the gun to my shoulder and exhaled, thinking, Anything else?

Should be good to go. Permission to take over if things get too dangerous for us?

Granted, I replied, and took a small moment to mentally steady myself and close my eyes. “All right, ladies, get ready to run.” I exhaled as I opened my eyes. I turned toward the corner, already moving the plasma rifle between Rose and the wall, stepped out past her leg, and turned the gun in to the room.

I pulled it tight to my shoulder, took a second to scope my target through the sights along the top, aiming for the download pad itself, and then squeezed the trigger on my next exhale.

Purple plasma exploded from the tip at high velocity, the gun itself hissing as a blast of heat shot out around me. The kick of it also caught me unawares, and I staggered back a step, bumping into Rose’s side, but never lost sight of the volley, my eyes tracking the violet projectile as it arced past the line of sentinels, toward the download pad.

My breath caught as it hit, just left of center, splattering all over the frame and the sentinel mid-download before exploding in a fiery blast that blew my hair back.

“Move!” I shouted as cries of alarm from the men and women inside hit my ears. Dylan was already running and had passed the line of sentinels that were grinding to a halt with the explosion. I ducked behind Rose to follow, and within seconds, all three of us were tearing down the halls.

I fumbled with the gun to lower the charge, hitting the button several times to cycle through the yield number, knowing we had only seconds before the Alices were after us. Dylan darted through a pair of sentinels and down an adjacent hall, and I followed, spinning through them and catching one last glimpse of the open door behind us—just in time to see one of the Alices pushing a frozen sentinel out of her way, her eyes and carapace glowing golden.

Then there was nothing but wall, and a need for speed like I had never known before. I tore after Dylan, holding the plasma rifle tight to my chest, and almost slammed into the girl when she came to an abrupt halt at a set of doors halfway down the hall.

“Here?” I exclaimed, looking back over my shoulder. “This isn’t the best—”

“I know,” Dylan shouted. “Dylan Chase, 051-29—”

“Cancel that,” I said, knowing that anyone watching in the Core could override her authorization to enter. “Open on my authorization, Lionel Scipio 001-001-A.”

The door began to rattle open, just as an Alice stopped in the intersection a hundred feet back, its form twisting away from us, then toward us. There was nowhere we could hide.

I pulled the plasma rifle to my shoulder and fired, catching it in the chest. The burst was smaller than the first one but hit square on the sentinel’s chest and began to smoke. Seconds later, bright sparks were shooting from the armor, and it fell to a knee only a few feet from where it had been when I hit it, before toppling over, its golden eyes flickering.

I wasn’t sure whether that meant it was dead or not, but it didn’t matter. Two more entered the junction behind it, automatically turning toward us, and I could hear more behind them. Standing here shooting at them and expending plasma rounds was a waste of the time we could use to escape.

“C’mon,” I said to Dylan, moving toward the widening door. “Let’s get to the hatch.”

“You go,” Dylan said, shoving the gun in my hand. “Leave me the rifle. I’ll stay and hold them—”

I growled and grabbed the lapel of her uniform, giving her a little shake. “No martyrs,” I ordered, not wanting to accept even one more loss. Cyril had been the last for me, as far as I was concerned. “No sacrifices. We can make it to the hatch if we move now. So go!”

With that, I shoved her, forcing her through the door instead of letting her take a breath for an argument. She stumbled for a second, clearly confused that I wasn’t letting her stay behind, but got her feet under her quickly and began moving down the aisle, heading toward where the hatch was hopefully located. I stepped in and looked up at the door even as Rose slid in next to me.

“Emergency: seal the door under the same authority!” I shouted, praying that it would work.

The door jerked to a halt, filling me with hope, and then began to close itself, the motors in the wall screeching angrily at the rapid movement. I took several steps away from the door, the clanging sound of the running sentinels drawing closer, and then stood my ground, sighting down the rifle.

I tried to keep my breathing even as my finger curled around the trigger, my heart thundering in my chest.

The gap in the door grew narrower as the door continued to roll forward, the opening dwindling from eight feet, to five, to three… My mouth was dry when it got to one, and my eye caught a glimpse of silver near the edge of the door seconds before it slammed shut. For several long moments, I remained stock still, convinced that the sentinels would tear the door open at any second, and attack.

Then something slammed against the door, rattling it in its tracks, and I realized they couldn’t. Using Lionel’s code must’ve done something to the door that made it ignore their orders.