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.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpy4QAN8yM5
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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."129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0024gEMSs8
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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.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEdSbCLY9Fc
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Whack!129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOlq3ZMkK6o
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A baton struck my ribs, sending a jolt of pain through my side. I tumbled to the floor, gasping.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDoDLtvnNN
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"Too slow," Elizabeth muttered, spinning her batons.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHepPCnCXgP
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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."129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvAG2xMOm68
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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."129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj6mGZG0pf7
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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."129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsaCqa1ybEb
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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."129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL3CQ82lNhn
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The Docks: Mission One129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡud6dV4ITrS
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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.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb8Dk4UXX8t
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And then there was me. Clumsy. Human. Clinging to a silver cuff that refused to glow.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVYA5sP6mgI
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"Stay back, intern," Elizabeth's voice hissed over the comms. "We've got movement."129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8P3bEnU1Dq
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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.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg9unjn0OHU
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"Doctor Science," I whispered. My blood went cold.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfH5fO6hqEK
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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.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWrTlAq1xra
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"Avan!" I yelled.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH4dacjMG66
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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.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJR6vb98K5
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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.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMmAcTIcDRz
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The drone turned toward me. It recognized the Watch.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcTjjOiqlVN
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"Anomaly detected," the machine droned in a voice that sounded like grinding glass. "Retrieve the Relic. Eliminate the Host."129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlB5ZjvKfvK
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It charged.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXvcN4QexTJ
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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.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrlkzLNPwBu
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"Victoria, move!" Elizabeth screamed, lunging to tackle me out of the way, but she was too far.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMxN4yYf0LQ
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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.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpa1B6x9sKa
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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.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3kuDe4LU0
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THOOM.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEyfVN5SsYh
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A shockwave of violet light exploded from my wrist.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgbXHPuPQI7
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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.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhxs40ceXFW
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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.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdaWbk9b3oU
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"My turn," I growled.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡozsz7jdvM3
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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.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPNio323sNa
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Avan, shaking off the dust, let out a cheer. "Okay! The intern's got moves!"129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ya2ZU6O2D
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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.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSst8dvilpU
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The Aftermath129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmAQZ5JT3Kf
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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.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAHrw6cbOxX
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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."129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmaBFhkEirJ
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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."129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdZb0N5TgTT
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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.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMruqgtK5b9
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It was the fact that I was becoming a stranger to the only man who still loved me.129Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp1irTIFadA
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