The laser sights danced on Elias’s chest like nervous red fireflies.
"On your knees!" the SWAT lead screamed, his voice muffled by a tactical mask. "Do it now or we fire!"
Elias held his hands up. His heart was hammering against his ribs so hard he thought it might crack them. He looked at the Stranger.
The Stranger stood by the shattered server rack, his coat billowing in the draft from the ventilation system. He didn't look at the guns. He looked at the Consultant.
"You have called the King’s men," The Stranger said, his voice calm amidst the shouting. "But you cannot put Humpty Dumpty together again. The broadcast went out. The seed is planted."
"Seeds rot," The Consultant replied, smoothing his suit jacket. "I will bury this city in so much noise that they will forget your little speech by morning. But first..."
The Consultant pointed at Elias.
"Take him."
The SWAT team surged forward. Boots thundered on the floor. Kane, lurking in the shadows, tensed his legs, ready to sprint.
"Elias," The Stranger said. "Do you trust me?"
Elias looked at the guns. He looked at Kane. He looked at the fifty-story drop behind the glass wall.
"Do I have a choice?" Elias shouted.
"No," The Stranger said.
The Stranger turned his back on the police. He faced the massive, floor-to-ceiling window that looked out over the city.
He raised his fist. And he punched the air.
CRASH.
He didn't hit the glass. He hit the space in front of the glass. The shockwave shattered the entire window frame. Tons of reinforced safety glass exploded outward, raining down into the night sky like diamonds.
The wind roared into the room instantly, a freezing gale that knocked the police officers off balance. Papers flew everywhere. The pressure change popped Elias’s ears.
"Jump," The Stranger commanded.
"Are you crazy?" Elias screamed over the wind. "It's fifty floors!"
"The fall will not kill you," The Stranger said, grabbing Elias by the collar of his jumpsuit. "Only the sudden stop."
The Plunge
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
The Stranger didn't wait for permission. He threw himself backward into the empty air, dragging Elias with him.
Elias screamed. The SWAT team rushed to the broken edge, but they were too late.
They were falling. The wind tore at Elias’s face. The city lights spun in a nauseating blur of gold and red. The stomach-dropping sensation of freefall made him want to vomit.
10 floors. 20 floors.
"Landlord!" Elias shrieked. "Do something!"
The Stranger was falling beside him, his coat flapping violently. He looked peaceful. He looked at the rushing concrete approaching at terminal velocity.
"Gravity," The Stranger whispered. "You are evicted."
The Cushion
They hit the ground. But there was no splat.
A split second before impact, the air around them turned solid. It felt like falling into a giant, invisible mattress of compressed wind. They slammed into the pavement, but the force was distributed perfectly.
WHAM.
Elias bounced. The breath was knocked out of him. He rolled across the concrete sidewalk, groaning, his limbs tangled.
He was alive. He lay on his back, staring up at the skyscraper. Far above, tiny figures were looking down from the broken window.
"Ow," Elias wheezed. "That... still hurt."
"I canceled the lethality," The Stranger said, standing up and dusting off his coat. "I did not promise comfort."
The Shield
"Freeze!"
Elias scrambled to his knees. They had landed in the plaza directly in front of the News Station. The area was cordoned off by police tape, and a dozen patrol officers were standing there, guns drawn, staring at the two men who had just fallen from the sky.
"Don't move!" a young officer shouted, his hands shaking. "Get on the ground!"
Elias raised his hands again. "It's over," he muttered. "We escaped the roof just to get arrested on the sidewalk."
But then, a noise rose from behind the police line. It was a low rumble. A murmur.
The crowd. Thousands of people had gathered outside the station during the broadcast. They were pressing against the barricades.
"That's him," a woman’s voice shouted. "That's the guy from the TV!"
"He's bleeding!" a man yelled. "Look at his hands!"
The officer stepped forward with handcuffs. "Stay back!" he warned the crowd.
But the crowd didn't stay back. A large man in a construction vest ducked under the police tape. Then a teenager. Then a businessman in a suit.
"Hey!" the officer shouted, spinning around. "This is a crime scene!"
"He told the truth!" the construction worker yelled. He stepped between the officer and Elias. He held up his hands. "I checked my hands! They're warm!"
"Mine too!" someone else shouted.
Suddenly, the dam broke. The crowd surged forward—not to attack the police, but to surround Elias. Dozens of people formed a human ring around him. They linked arms. They created a wall of flesh and winter coats.
"We saw you," a woman whispered, grabbing Elias’s arm to steady him. She had tears in her eyes. "We felt it."
Elias looked around, stunned. The police were shouting orders, but they were outnumbered fifty to one. They couldn't shoot a crowd of civilians.
The Stranger watched from the edge of the circle. For the first time, a small, genuine smile touched his lips.
"The Jury has reached a verdict," The Stranger said.
He grabbed Elias’s shoulder. "Walk, Elias. They will part for you."
And they did. The sea of people opened up, creating a path into the dark, busy streets of the city. Elias pulled his hood up. He vanished into the crowd, carried away by the very people he had saved.
High Above
Fifty floors up, The Consultant stood at the edge of the broken window. The wind whipped his tie.
He watched the swarm of people swallow Elias Thorne. He watched his police force get pushed back by the mob.
Kane limped up beside him. "Orders, sir? Should I pursue?"
The Consultant turned away from the window. His face was unreadable, but the glass of champagne in his hand shattered, snapping in his grip.
"No," The Consultant said softly. "The infection has gone airborne. Quarantine is no longer an option."
He dropped the broken glass stem.
"Initiate Protocol Zero. If we cannot control the population... we must evict them."
Safe.
The Score:
Elias: Escaped, injured, but now a folk hero.
The Consultant: Furious. He just lost control of the narrative.
What is Protocol Zero? It sounds bad. It sounds like The Consultant is done playing games with media and is about to start using the real weapons.
End of Arc 2. This chapter concludes the "Public Enemy" arc. Next, we enter Arc 3: The Civil War.