Page 59 of Shinji Takahashi: Into the Heart of the Storm

“That’s what I figured,” Oliver said. “This might be a bit tricky, but hey, what’s life without risk? Lucy, can Tinker disable the cameras?”

“Working on it,” Lucy muttered, staring at her phone again. After a few moments, she shook her head. “Tinker can override the cameras around this area, but not for long,” she said. “He can give us maybe a minute, two at most. After that, we run the risk of alarms going off.”

“We’re going to have to time this perfectly, then,” Oliver said. “Roux, have you got the pattern down?”

“I think so,” Roux muttered, and pointed to one of the posts along the fence line. “When it crosses that spotthere, that’s the time to start running. And we’ll have about thirty seconds to get over the fence and get outta sight.”

“Here comes another one,” Shinji pointed out.

“On my signal, then,” Oliver said, raising a hand. “Lucy, tell Tinker to disable the cameras…now.”

Lucy’s fingers furiously moved over the screen, and she nodded. “Done.”

Shinji tensed as the drone passed in front of them, feeling his heart pound in his chest. Beside him, Roux drew in a slow breath, hunching down in order to be able to spring into action.

“Man, I hope this thing isn’t electrified,” he muttered.

“Go!” Oliver barked.

Shinji leaped forward as everyone else did the same. Sprinting up to the fence, he watched as Phoebe vaulted gracefully over the bars like a gymnast, then leaped for the top himself. Thankfully, there was no jolt of pain or buzz of electricity as his fingers curled around the top. But when he pulled himself over, one of the pointed black tines caught the back of his shirt. As he dropped to the other side, Shinji was jerked back and hung there, his toes barely touching the ground. He let out a yelp and twisted around, yanking at the snag, but the fabric wouldn’t budge.

“Shinji!” Oliver had already vaulted over and was starting to sprint away with the others, but froze when he saw Shinji hanging from the tines. “Keep going,” he told Phoebe, and hurried back to the fence. “Man, you are good and stuck, aren’t you?” he muttered through gritted teeth, tugging at the snag. “How did you manage this?”

“Practice,” Shinji said sarcastically. Phoebe joined them, and Shinji saw Lucy and Roux coming back as well, worried looks on both their faces.Keep going, he wanted to tell

them.Don’t worry about me.But that would be futile; if he was caught, Hightower would know they were here. It would be over for all of them.

A spotlight appeared around the corner, gliding over the ground and getting brighter. Shinji’s heart raced, and his stomach threatened to leap up into his throat.

“Oliver!” Lucy whispered, her voice frantic. “The drone is coming!”

Oliver cursed under his breath but didn’t stop trying to free the snag. The drone was close to them now; all it would have to do was turn the corner of the fence, and they would all be caught in the glare.

Abruptly, Phoebe swooped down and snatched something from the cement: a brown glass bottle that still looked half full of something. As the light swept closer, she hauled back and threw the bottle into the air. It sailed over a building, came down, and Shinji heard the crash of broken glass when it hit the concrete.

Immediately, the spotlight whirled around, heading in the opposite direction. At that moment, Shinji felt the fabric of his shirt tear away from the fence, allowing him to drop to the ground.

“Go!” Oliver snapped, and they took off, sprinting toward the closest building before the drone could turn toward them. Darting around a corner, they huddled together and pressed their backs against the wall, breathing hard. Tinker scampered across the pavement with a glint of bright metal, leaped

onto Lucy’s arm, and crawled up to her shoulder. Shinji tensed, waiting for an alarm to sound, for drones to descend and flashing lights to go off, letting them know the jig was up. But as the seconds passed in silence, he started to relax.

Oliver let out a gusty breath, wiping his brow with the back of a coat sleeve. “Well, that was fun,” he muttered. “Shaved a few years off my life, though it’s nice to know fancy, high-tech robots are just as gullible as humans. Still, I vote we not do that again.”

“Ah, the old tricks are still the best ones,” Phoebe said exuberantly. “I knew my high school softball skills would come in handy for something. In all seriousness, though, Shinji…” She turned to him with a smile. “I always consider tearaway garments for important missions. That, or skintight outfits. There is a reason Priya always wore cat suits when in the field.”

“Wait, Priya? Wore cat suits? Our Priya?” Lucy asked.

“Oh yes. They were her signature style,” said Phoebe.

Oliver cleared his throat. “Anyway, we’re inside the fence,” he murmured, looking around at the sprawl of unmarked structures around them. “We just have to find the right building. And avoid the hundred or so security cameras that are probably stuck everywhere.”

“You know what’s also weird?” Roux commented as Oliver peered around a wall. “No guards. Where are all the security guards? You’d think a place like this would be crawling with them.”

“You have to pay human guards,” Lucy answered. “Machines never get sick, or need vacations, or ask questions. Whenever they can get away with it, Hightower would rather have automatons do the work.” Reaching up, she scratched Tinker between the ears, and he gave a happy squeak. “Good news for us: we probably won’t run into any human security guards patrolling the site. But who knows what else Hightower has set up around here.”

“Hmm. Well, we’ll just have to avoid whatever it is, then.” Phoebe peered around the corner, eyes moving back and forth as she scanned the property. “The coast looks clear. And according to my photographic memory, I believe the warehouse is in that direction. Follow me.”

She started to move out of cover, when Oliver grabbed the collar of her coat and pulled her back with a yelp.

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