BZRK (BZRK 1)

Then, a single sound, audible to both of them. Like a gong being struck way off in orbit.

“Elevator?” Plath wondered.

“Maybe.”

Far-off thunder that might have been voices. But the sound waves vibrating up from human throats wer

e too big to be decipherable by biots not specifically equipped.

“Your first biots are basic models,” Vincent had explained. “Fully capable in battle, fully capable for spinning wire. But there are tweaks and add-ons—both biological and technological—that come later. Each time we add a level of capability, we add a layer of complexity. At first, you want to keep it simple.”

And they’d been grateful for that, because “simple” was all the complexity they could handle.

And yet now they both really wished they had every conceivable upgrade.

They would have to operate on instinct. They would have to guess when some giant hand belonged to the Armstrong Twins.

If they guessed wrong, they could end up anywhere.

“How do we take our biots back?” Keats asked.

“You’re just thinking of this now?” Plath asked him as she swirled the cup to mix foam and coffee.

“If we can’t recover them …” It was a question.

“I don’t know,” she said.

“It’s too late to stop now.”

“Do you feel that? Vibration?”

“Maybe his tail is wagging,” Keats suggested.

“Do you really think we lose our sanity if …”

“I’ve seen it.”

“That’s a new shape,” Plath said.

“Yeah.”

“Is it him? Them?”

“Might just be a vet.” Keats closed his eyes, trying to focus. “I see fingers.”

“Someone is staring at us.”

It took Keats a moment to figure out what version of reality Plath was talking about. His eyes popped open. “Who?”

“Girl at the counter. Picking up a drink. The creepy one with the fake teeth. The one who looks like a shark,” Plath said.

“Just ignore her, she’s just—”

“No,” Plath said. Her eyes were narrowed. It was like a beam of energy connected her to the girl. “She’s texting someone. Let’s get out of here.”

Plath stood up, and Keats jumped to follow her.

Then the girl with the shark teeth turned toward them, too fast, too predatory. Too knowing.