Page 48 of Artificial Moon

“Not hooded goons?”

“I’m getting a bad feeling. I think these are vampires and werewolves. Like a dozen or more.”

“Where the hell did he get all those?” I ask. “I don’t even know that many vampires and weres.”

“I don’t know, Sam, but something is going on.”

I scan her thoughts, noting the larger-than-normal men standing around the room, looking bored. I note the women, too. Most of whom are standing there with their hands behind their backs or looking down at their nails. I guess a man having live brain surgery before them is ho-hum.

I see Norm on a dining room table, wires running from an open spot in his head to a large computer sitting on the floor. I pull back out of her mind and consider what to do. It’s very obvious that Norm is trying to download himself—either memories, knowledge, or an entire consciousness, into the computer. I suspect the AI is trying to preserve itself, should it be physically removed from Norman’s brain. Well, I can only imagine the damage that Norm could do to the worldwide net should it be free to roam. Talk about a virus! Well, the longer I sit here thinking about it, the more of Norm gets downloaded into that computer.

I nod. “Okay, I’m going there and yanking out those cords.”

“What if it kills Norman?” asks Allison.

“Then I’m going to yank them out of that computer—and then, Norman is coming with me.”

“Okay. Do you want to bring me along? Shield you from his immortal sentries—and any silver snipers he might have lurking around?”

“I didn’t see any snipers...”

“Remember, me seeing into the room is shaky at best. Did you see the doctor?”

“No.”

“That’s because he’s wearing a silver-lined uniform. His snipers might be wearing something similar, and thus invisible to me.”

“Good point. Yeah, can you cover me?”

“When we arrive in the room, I’m going to surround us in an energy shield. They can’t come in, and we can’t get out.”

“Only us, Norm, and the computer will be in it?”

“Yes.”

“Sounds good. You ready?”

“Almost, just getting the spell straight in my head.”

I smile at my powerful friend. “Okay, give me your hand when you’ve done that.”

Five seconds later, she holds out her hand. “Ready.”

I take hold of it and summon the single flame, and see within it the strange visual of the surgery going on atop the dining room table—and we make the jump.

Chapter Twenty-five

Gunfire erupts immediately as little explosions go off seemingly everywhere.

Also around me is a wavering, crackling shell of pure energy. Next to me, Allison is holding up both her hands, seemingly keeping the energy field in place through sheer force of will—or witchcraft.

Kind of one and the same.

A body slams into the shield as the werewolves and vamps kick into action. There’s a lot going on, but luckily, I can compartmentalize with the best of them. The gunshots and the hurling bodies go in one compartment. My friend keeping us safe with her magic goes in another box. That frees me up to focus on the job at hand—and that’s the wires running from Norm’s head to this computer directly in front of me. Norm and the doctor are just outside the protective dome of power—or whatever Allie might call it. Only the wire is inside it. There’s no monitor, so I haven’t a clue how far along the download has progressed—if that is, in fact, what’s going on here. I highly doubt they’re transferring Norm’s Spotify playlist.

So, I act quickly, doing the only thing I can think of doing—and start pulling the wires out of the computer. They unplug easily enough, and as they pop out, one by one, a shrill cry comes from outside the shimmering dome. That’s Norm, if I’m correct. Yeah, he’s not liking what I’m doing.

Or what I’m about to do next...

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