MY CRUEL PROTECTOR
He slumped to the floor, blood leaking from a gash on his forehead.
"Nevan!"
I tried to move toward him, but the third soldier was already inside. It ignored Nevan. It walked toward me with a slow, mechanical gait, its violet sensors locked onto my stomach.
It wants to touch us, the child hissed. Burn it. Burn the world.
The soldier reached out a metallic hand, its fingers unfolding into a series of surgical needles.
I felt a surge of energy so powerful it threatened to tear my skin. The violet light in my eyes turned a blinding, solar white. I didn't hack the soldier. I hacked the atoms in the air between us.