The training floor felt less like a room and more like a gladiatorial arena. I stood in the center, my "intern" jumpsuit swapped for a flexible under-suit. Opposite me, Elizabeth-Nightshadow-held two training batons that crackled with non-lethal energy.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGw7mQj63GJ
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"Concentrate, Vega," Elizabeth snapped. "Your armor is reactive. If you only wait for a tragedy to trigger it, you're useless in a fight."56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEA0YDfVdbQ
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I closed my eyes, trying to reach for that violet and green spark. Think of the rivers. Think of the hum. But all I could think about was my father sitting alone at the kitchen table. The guilt of the lie was like a lead weight, keeping the Watch cold.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU8wttm2u7G
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Whack!56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ70VOj9zBVC
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A baton struck my ribs, sending a jolt of pain through my side. I tumbled to the floor, gasping.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJZfxMEOT1
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"Too slow," Elizabeth muttered, spinning her batons.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc9XtAnSYro
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"Give her a break, Liz," Avan called out from the sidelines. He was leaning against a pillar, charging his phone just by touching it. "It took me six months not to blow up every toaster in my house. She's only been here six hours."56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXweX39Vldc
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"We don't have six months," Garder West's voice boomed over the speakers. "Sensors are picking up a signature. North Docks. It's not human, and it's not Atlantean."56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWrRr7CYLK3
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Leon stood up, his eyes turning a deeper shade of blue. "The water is restless there. Something is pulling energy from the grid."56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNOcb09Sko5
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West's silhouette appeared behind the observation glass. "This is it. Mission One. Victoria, if you can't summon the suit, you stay in the van. I'm not sending a civilian into a slaughterhouse."56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmmF1X4vZq
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The Docks: Mission One56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz6K9daPWnr
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The North Docks were a graveyard of rusted shipping containers and foggy air. We moved through the shadows. Avan was a blur of blue static; Leon moved through the puddles like a ghost; Elizabeth was simply gone, invisible in the dark.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2SzBoi3FkE
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And then there was me. Clumsy. Human. Clinging to a silver cuff that refused to glow.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqy2VQxNSkA
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"Stay back, intern," Elizabeth's voice hissed over the comms. "We've got movement."56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuRx68npy6N
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A massive shipping container was ripped in half like tin foil. Out stepped a Scout Drone-a spindly, four-legged machine with a single red eye that pulsed like a dying star. It wasn't human tech. It was jagged, metallic, and etched with the same glyphs I saw in my father's journals.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqJnXBfxyZ7
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"Doctor Science," I whispered. My blood went cold.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxwzBhmzoXb
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Avan struck first. He lunged like a thunderbolt, slamming a fist of electricity into the drone's leg. It sparked, but the machine barely flinched. It swung a heavy limb, swatting Avan into a pile of crates.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpZm3cJErSt
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"Avan!" I yelled.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX8jyDUHAje
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Leon surged forward, pulling a literal spiral of water from the harbor. He slammed it against the drone, trying to short-circuit its systems. The machine let out a high-pitched screech, its red eye focusing. A beam of concentrated thermal energy shot out, evaporating Leon's water shield and throwing him back.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6H1NqERmjA
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Elizabeth dropped from the sky, planting explosive charges on the drone's neck, but the machine's armor shifted-it was liquid metal. The charges slid off and detonated harmlessly in the air.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3FIOGLREfV
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The drone turned toward me. It recognized the Watch.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWNB1GuqSNI
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"Anomaly detected," the machine droned in a voice that sounded like grinding glass. "Retrieve the Relic. Eliminate the Host."56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ50yHLSnX9t
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It charged.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTJTPQTGIZW
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I backed up, my heel catching on a rail. I fell, the drone looming over me, its red eye glowing bright as it prepared to fire.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwyhqXXCdxq
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"Victoria, move!" Elizabeth screamed, lunging to tackle me out of the way, but she was too far.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ6sELWP3g4
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In that moment of pure terror, I didn't think about my father or the secret. I thought about the trash can. I thought about the mother who threw me to safety. I thought about the sister who died so I could breathe.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsYbaRrT4iH
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I am the last daughter of a world that burned, I thought. And I will not let this one burn, too.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQ7eFHxK4e
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THOOM.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl0Ysx7HM54
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A shockwave of violet light exploded from my wrist.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjbHItpVChU
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The purple metal surged over my body, sealing with a hiss of pressurized air. The green light solidified, forming jagged, glowing pauldrons and gauntlets. I didn't just stand up-I rose on violet thrusters.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOHeP6wTk6n
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The drone fired its thermal beam. I didn't dodge. I raised my hand, and a massive green construct shield, shaped like a knight's buckler, manifested from pure light. The beam hit the shield and reflected back, scorching the drone's own face.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgs4vmyHwjV
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"My turn," I growled.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl6qe2udRp6
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I lunged. My gauntlet glowed, and a green energy blade extended three feet from my wrist. I sliced through the drone's front leg, the magic-science edge cutting through the liquid metal like a hot knife through wax.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW0XQ1bcg5B
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Avan, shaking off the dust, let out a cheer. "Okay! The intern's got moves!"56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1j7NCdjYSt
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With one final surge of power, I drove the blade into the drone's core. It let out a digital death rattle and collapsed into a heap of junk.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡem9mASToRC
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The Aftermath56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl4X3knUVvG
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I stood over the wreckage, my breath coming in ragged gasps inside the helmet. The armor retracted, melting back into the Watch. My skin felt like it was buzzing.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBbtrvw9lo
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Elizabeth walked over, sheathing her batons. She looked at the destroyed drone, then at me. She didn't smile, but she gave a single, sharp nod. "You weren't a liability. This time."56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsCuk2YmQiO
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"We're a team now, Vic," Leon said, stepping out of the water, his hand on my shoulder. "The V-Team. West is going to have a lot to say about this."56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKMhCEK18GB
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I looked at my hands. They were shaking. I was a hero. I was a weapon. But as I looked at my phone and saw a missed text from my dad-Be home soon, I'm making tacos-I realized the hardest part wasn't the drones.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaFIcG15UbY
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It was the fact that I was becoming a stranger to the only man who still loved me.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCNW8a08i8E
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1234 copyright protection52ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1y9s21kYlp 尼56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQTOPGdljMX