Phoenix Phire

Dex followed his partner's vehicle to a private airstrip just outside of the city. A private jet awaited her arrival and was airborne within a few minutes of Quicksilver boarding.

Without being asked, Syntax brought the navigation platform to Yuli's compound in Abu Dhabi.

Dex's arrival in v-Abu Dhabi was accompanied by four PIPs appearing on his HUD simultaneously, along with the audio feeds of the Bottom Feeders. "I'm here! The bank heist is done. What did I miss?"

"TAKING FIRE!" A voice screamed in panic as a camouflaged team member dodged behind a retaining wall just before the location was peppered with rounds from a pursuing spider drone. The figure emerged a moment later, running toward the main building. Unfortunately, a dragon drone had the area locked down. A blinding flash of light lit up the dark compound while debris and bodies were blasted into the air.

Dex stayed on the platform but slipped on his goggle to improve visual coverage. Quickly he counted the bodies he could see. "Looks like three of the strike team are down."

A second team of three exited the main building, obviously retreating from the firepower of Yuli's security.

"Watch the dragon drones! Who was supposed to deactivate them?" The speaker pointed his drum-fed shotgun at the grenade-launching drone and blasted away.

Dex kept his distance since the area was most likely being monitored virtually. "That's a Fostech Origin, holds 30 shotgun rounds."

A handful of blasts later led to the dragon drone exploding in a glorious display of fireworks. But, unfortunately, the explosion ignited the drone's remaining 40mm grenades and completely enveloped the shooter and his team in its fiery inferno.

"Damn... Would that be considered friendly fire? Or involuntary suicide?" Dex pondered the question while he watched the drones clean up the last surviving strike team members.

Less than a half-hour later, their target emerged from inside the building. Emergency lighting lit up the entire courtyard as the international fugitive inspected the damage.

"Who the fuck is coming at me?" The woman spoke with a thick french accent. She was shadowed on either side by kevlar-armored guards who were equipped with riot helmets.

One of her shadows kicked over a nearby corpse that was missing a limb and had a fist-sized hole through the chest. The guard removed the mask to show the terror-filled eyes of a corpse that has seen death coming. "There's a badge."

"What's it say?" Yuli moved toward the body. "Pretty girl," she commented while her guard removed the ID. "What does it say?"

The guard paused for a moment before looking up. "Kim Possible, Super Secret Agent."

A chuckle issued forth from beneath a pile of rubble. "Damn it. I should have used that one." A moment later, an arm pushed through as a one-legged female struggled to her feet. The sounds of clicking weapons could be heard from both guards. Thumper's dark eyes flashed at Yuli's guards. "Give it a rest. I'm already dead."

An instant later, Yuli and her guards vanished from the compound.

**************

"Open it." A voice commanded, sending two subordinates to pull open the jumper pod's lid.

A confused woman blinked at the bright light shining on her face. Her brown hair hung in her eyes as she continued to try and reason out her situation.

"Yulime Garrote, I am Inspector Travino. On behalf of Interpol, working in conjunction with the United States Secret Service, I place you under arrest. Welcome to International Air Space."

Yuli stared at the older man who was addressing her. The panic in her eyes was immediately apparent. She looked at her custom-made jumper pod as someone zip-tied her thumbs together. A portable battery had been attached to her capsule. "I logged out... I LOGGED OUT!"

**************

Stiletto's pale lips were curved in a wide smile. "She said I was pretty."

"You are," Dex agreed. When he initially arrived at the compound, he discovered that the Bottom Feeders were using v-Earth's ability to update in real-time as a way to alter their mission. "What really happened?"

"Cakewalk." Gadget was inspecting one of the downed dragon drones while the rest of the group stood in a small circle. "We shut down their drones, deactivated their air defense system, and nullified their guard detail."

Mongoose shook his head in amazement. On the surface, the Yuli compound looked like a tough nut to crack, but it had ruptured like a dropped egg. "We secured the electronic lock on their armory. Changed the fingerprint scanner on their personal weapons and locked everyone in their rooms."

Gadget stood up from the drone he was examining and faced Dextron. "We guided the strike team directly to Yulime's room; within two minutes, they were loading her jump pod onto their airlift."

Mongoose nodded in agreement. "That strike team was pros; the entire OP was fucking smooth. Although, I will say, her breakout software is better than mine."

"Agreed," Gadget continued the story. "The strike team was still in Abu Dhabi air space when she 'broke' out."

Dex swore at the smiling Bottom Feeders. "You four left me out!"

"Sorry, Dex." Gadget's expression said that he wasn't sorry at all. "We discussed the possibility that Yuli might 'breakout' before the strike team opened her capsule. So this was our contingency plan."

Dex glanced at Syntax, who was listening to their conversation. She had optimized the team's improvisation. He didn't know whether to be impressed or scared shitless. A twenty-minute battle would have taken an entire team of programmers several days to put together. Instead, their AI managed to handle it while keeping tabs on their Geneva OP.

***********

Three days later, the hive returned to a more normal state. The Bottom Feeders divided into their own projects, leaving Dex to his own devices. Mid-morning arrived as Dex was slipping into his black jumpsuit, his wet hair hanging in his face. He stopped mid-stride when his hud buzzed.

"Report to the T-6 Jumper." Quicksilver's voice was businesslike, but she wore a playful smile on her lips. They hadn't seen much of each other since her return, since she was recovering from jetlag.

"On my way." Dex made his way to the exit and stepped into the lowest level of the hive. Since Darsi didn't close the communication, he continued the conversation. "What's going on?"

"Kenji sighting." Darsi closed the comm when he approached; her smile widened considerably. She hugged him tight for a moment before messing up his damp hair with both hands. "Sleeping in?"

Dex nodded while trying to smooth down the damage she created. "Where was he spotted? Is he still in Detroit?"

"For now." Darsi walked toward the T-6, pausing while he caught up. "We have to get a close look at him."

Dex slipped into his port on the T-6 Jumper and logged into v-Earth. Within a few seconds, the rest of the team joined him on the navigation platform.

Thumper was already at the control panel. "He left the Klondis Municipal hospital ten minutes ago. It was Syntax that spotted him."

As if on demand, Syntax appeared in the center of the platform. "Kenji is currently being driven to the airport in a black SUV. I am monitoring his movements."

Dex moved to the edge of the platform. It was sunny in Detroit, although quite cold. "Turn off the environmental factors, increase the lighting by twenty percent. Allocate all our resources to this state."

Syntax didn't need to use a hud or interface to comply. "Temporarily shutting down v-Earth, bringing v-Michigan online. I have established a real-time domain."

Dex used his v-glove to bring up a hud as their platform descended to the street level. A few strokes of the keyboard and all the traffic lights within a five-block radius turned red.

"Nice," Darsi grabbed his hand and pulled him off the edge of the platform. Together they drifted the last meter to the street. "There's the SUV."

Kenji's appearance hadn't changed much, other than to have his ginger-colored hair cut short. Unfortunately, further details were absent since the roof of the SUV partially obstructed the redhead.

"The data you are currently seeing was filled in before Kenji entered the vehicle." Syntax said from behind Darsi and Dex.

Unexpectedly, Kenji exited the vehicle. By reflex, both Darsi and Dex stepped to one side; Syntax was content to let him walk through her.

Gadget moved with the group; his discerning eye was studying the young hacker. "His movements are odd. There are tiny incision stitches at his hairline. They've done it. He's been jacked.

Dex glanced ahead, noticing the direction Kenji was walking. "He's heading to the traffic light."

A moment later, Kenji arrived at his destination. He placed his hand on the metal casing of the traffic light. A metallic spike extended and pushed effortlessly into the steel housing. The light turned green, and a moment later, the Bottom Feeders were following Kenji back to the parked SUV.

Syntax stayed ahead of the group, studying Kenji's every movement. "Every traffic light between here and the airport is locked into green."

Dex exchanged a glance with Darsi before climbing back onto the navigation platform. "Can you change it back?"

"Yes, but it will take thirty minutes." Syntax was already working on the problem when she stepped onto the platform.

Dex muttered a curse; he was effectively locked out of the system. "That isn't Kenji."

Syntax's calm features turned on him. "He utilized a trillion lines of code within a few seconds.. I believe we are looking at Origin."

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