Emmett moved like a flood through the tunnels beneath Belport. Nanites rolled overtop one another—part wheel, part rolling wave. The swarm moved so fast Emmett could barely control it. Instead of slowing down at corners and junctions, it crashed into walls like a rogue wave, cracking walls and splintering bricks.

  Nanites cocooned everything inside the swarm, including Emmett and the fusion cells and batteries. Combined with the swarm’s impressive mass, he barely felt anything at all. He floated in darkness, barely sloshing as the swarm careened through the tunnels.

  He was vaguely aware of where he was heading—for the edge of the city and the tunnels beneath the highway.

  As far away from the lab as possible.

  He had a destination in mind, but it felt distant and half-remembered, like Emmett was walking half-asleep through his old apartment. He knew the way, even if he didn’t remember it, and trusted the swarm to get there. It was a part of him, after all.

  ~

  Emmett didn’t know how long passed before he stopped—

  He only knew that he was exhausted—physically, emotionally, through every atom of his being.

  The swarm spread out through the neighboring rooms. It was so massive that even dispersed nanites covered the floor nearly two feet deep. As the swarm spread out, it relaxed and released Emmett.

  He laid there for a moment, slumped against the wall, with nothing but the feeling of cool nanites around his waist and cold brick against his back. After a few deep breaths, he finally looked around—

  Or tried to. Without his implant, Emmett couldn’t see in the dark anymore.

  Without being commanded, the swarm snaked its way up the walls. To Emmett, it felt like running a hand along the wall in the dark. A moment later, Emmett found the wiring he was searching for. Power trickled from cells, through the tendrils, and to emergency lights along the wall. The bulbs flickered, then bathed the room in dull red light.

  It was hard to say where Emmett was. He knew abstractly that he was on the edge of the North-East side, and almost outside the city, but he didn’t have a map of every tunnel underneath the city… including his current location.

  The walls were old brick and mortar, but there was a nearby section that had been covered in concrete. Graffiti covered that relatively smooth section of wall. With just the red emergency lightning and his one normal eye, he couldn’t see any color and could barely make out where one tag ended and another began. There was a clear line halfway down where the graffiti had been washed away by flood water. But there wasn’t any trace smell of mold and mildew, so the water must have long dried up under this portion of the city.

  Emmett’s eyes grew steadily heavier as he looked around. Eventually, he tried to wipe the sleep from his eyes.

  Emmett wiped his eyelids. His fingers felt cool against his skin. Then he pulled his hand back and stared at it.

  It was a long moment before Emmett realized what he was looking at.

  His hand was made of nanites—both of them were. They were the same shade as the oil-black swarm, so dark that they seemed to absorb the meager lightning. Emmett pushed himself up to a sitting position, and realized that he’d made legs, too. His knees emerged like rocks from the waves.

  Emmett’s head swam. He vaguely remembered working with nanites before… before getting captured. Commanding them was easy, but getting them to hold a form like this would’ve been difficult; as exhausted as he was, it should’ve been impossible.

  It was an eerie sensation that these new limbs felt both strange and familiar at the same time. He had the sudden urge to test how structurally sound they were, but he was too tired to move.

  Emmett chuckled dryly. It wasn’t fair that he should have so few muscles left and feel this tired.

  A voice came beside him. “Emmett, it’s okay. You need to rest.”

  Emmett didn’t want to listen to the voice, but his eyelids were too heavy to resist. The voice sounded so familiar—carried with it overwhelming trust and reassurance.

  Emmett searched his memory, but he’d closed so many of them off.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “Rest for now,” the voice said.

  Emmett didn’t want to listen, but he knew the voice was right. He needed to rest. He could close eyes. Just for a little while.

  ~

  Emmett startled out of his sleep. The nanite swarm sloshed around him. Emmett’s distress flowed through it, causing the swarm to writhe and boil.

  He had to get out of here. Had to get to the backup lab—back to his friends.

  Black water swirled around Emmett and swallowed him. He relaxed for a moment, safe in the swarm’s cool embrace. The calm was visceral and suffused his entire being. And it was gone just as quickly.

  Emmett surged forward, barreling through the underground with newfound speed and resolve.

  Again, he lost track of time. Escape was his only goal—his only thought.

  Emmett reached the outskirts of Belport. The heart of Belport was thick with catacombs and tunnels. In sharp contrast, the outskirts of the city were barren. But there were still tunnels that led out of Belport. Or… there should have been.

  The world slowly came back to Emmett. There had been nothing but dark tunnels and panic, but now it came back into focus, like he was coming out of a trance. The tunnels stretched out into the gloom. This section looked particularly old—more like catacombs than service tunnels. Emmett had lost control of the swarm and it spilled out across the tunnels, flooding them.

  It was only after a moment that Emmett realized he could see. And that there was light coming from farther down the tunnel. Not red emergency lighting—

  White light. And voices. There were people down here with him.

  A cough caught Emmett off guard—from behind him. All of a sudden, he could feel the nanites sloshing around the person’s feet. Emmett whirled around, ready to defend himself. His new hands and nanites boiled throughout the hall rose to a frenzied boil.

  A man stood across from him, almost within arm’s reach. He was slightly taller than Emmett, and broad without being imposing. His hair and stubble were gray, and he was clad only in a black leggings.

  Now that the two faced each other, the man stopped short. Despite being ready to defend himself, Emmett knew that this man didn’t want to harm him.

  “It’s okay, Emmett. …Do you remember me?”

  Emmett did remember him… he just couldn’t remember from where or who he was. It was like he’d woken up from a dream and couldn’t recall the details.

  Still, Emmett nodded slightly, and the man must’ve read the uncertainty on his face.

  “It’s okay. We’ll get out of here. Where is Clara?”

  “Clara?” Emmett muttered. Another dream that he couldn’t remember. “...I don’t know.”

  The man winced. It was quick, and he tried to hide it. “That’s okay. Tell me, was there a safehouse?”

  Emmett nodded. “Another lab. Outside the city.”

  The man sighed with relief. “I know the one. If you’re ready, we should…”

  Shouts echoed from down the tunnel. Emmett turned, this time placing himself between the man and the newcomers. A group of four people stood opposite them. They each wore tattered clothes overtop of bodysuits. They were on guard, each taking a different stance—all clearly supers.

  The sea of nanites boiled between the two groups.

  A woman stepped forward. She wore mostly black, and her hair was faded blue. An icy haze radiated from her.

  She raised her voice. “Who are you? And why are you here?”

  Emmett struggled to find the words. He had nothing against these people. Again, he felt that he should remember her, but… Emmett shook his head. He didn’t know them, and he didn’t want to hurt them.

  The man stepped to the side of Emmett and spoke. “We’re on the run and just passing through. We mean you no harm.”

  The woman with the blue hair glanced around at the nanites. “Who are you with? Are you with the Brotherhood?”

  Emmett shook his head. So much felt locked away inside his memories, but one thing rose forcefully to the front of his mind, and he said the words even though he could only vaguely remember their meaning.

  “We’re with the Resistance.”

  All four supers exchanged nervous looks.

  The woman asked, “Who’s your handler?”

  Emmett shifted uneasily. “I… I don’t remember.”

  Several things happened at once.

  An argument broke out.

  “Bullshit.”

  “They’re not Resistance.”

  One of the supers pointed in the other direction. “Go back to the surface.”

  “Wait,” the blue-haired woman pleaded, but her words fell on deaf ears.

  “They could be those things!”

  One of the other supers stepped forward. His eyes glowed green. The blue-haired woman tried to stop him, but it was too late.

  Green lasers erupted from his eyes. Sickly glowing light streaked toward Emmett and his friend. The swarm pulled both men off their feet and they fell beneath the black water. Heat radiated from the beams as they passed overhead.

  The super wouldn’t get another shot.

  The swarm writhed, and in a second, it was carrying Emmett and his friend away.

  Even though Emmett was completely cocooned, he could hear a shout from the supers. The blue-haired woman called after them.

  “Don’t go up there! They’ll get you!”

  Her voice was already faint and receding even further. If she said anything else, Emmett didn’t hear it.

  ~ ~ ~

  Wanted to update you guys.. I put an update in the discord, but I wanted to put it here too. Last week we had a family member in hospice/end of life care. She passed over the weekend, and we’ll probably be processing it for a while. It’s been rough, but we’re working through it.

  I’m still writing (helps me keep my sanity). So, there will definitely be another chapter this week, but we probably won’t be back up to three.

  Anyway, thanks for your patience. Hope you guys are all doing alright and checking in on loved ones. If you can, give them a call (or a hug)!