indicating that nearly three-fourths of the nation was tuned in.
"Breaking News: ‘Next Top Soldier’ contestant Henry "Mad Dog" Cain, tracking Marlowe Kana: Live." read the crawl under the NewsFeed footage.
"Well, look at that,” Marlowe said grimly. “It's your neighborhood's front door." She whipped around to face Michael and grabbed him by the throat. "Your dipshit hack lawyer boyfriend gave them the address when he went to get my scotch."
Michael raised his hands and began pleading. "I didn't! I swear...I wouldn't..." he croaked.
"Never trust a lawyer bearing gifts," Marlowe snarled. "Especially alcoholic ones."
"Let him go, Marlowe!" Jen begged. "He didn't do anything...just...please..."
Marlowe stared directly into Michael's fear-filled eyes. With a slight smirk, she released his throat and pushed him, sending him flying backwards into the table in front of the collapsed couch. He fell backwards and landed in the debris.
Marlowe walked over toward him. She reached down. He flinched. She grabbed a slat from the broken furniture and began swinging it around testing its heft, considering its use as a weapon. "You're lucky I love my sister," Marlowe said. "I should have just killed you in the first place. My fault for being lazy. And tired. And hungry."
"Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck!" Jen screamed. She bolted for the hallway in an attempt to flee.
Marlowe caught Jen by the arm. "No chance in hell," Marlowe said. "We have to handle them. If we run now, they'll be on us like a hunter drone. And so will the hunter drones."
Jen looked into Marlowe's eyes. They were bloodshot and quivering -- effects from the AMP Marlowe had whiffed.
"They're not supposed to...shit, we're fucked!" Jen yelled.
Marlowe gritted her teeth. "No," she said with authority. "I can handle this wannabe 'Top Soldier' and his little squad."
"Well, run out there and go get them!" Jen yelled. "Go! Get out of here!"
"You know how stupid that is," Marlowe replied as she began scanning the room for weapons. "I can't fight them in the tunnels. I'll be flanked and have to fight from both sides. Better to stand our ground here."
Jen sighed. She raised her hands and her eyes glowed slightly as she moved her fingers, typing in the air, pinning the Feeds to her HUD and setting new scripts to trigger if any others began broadcasting. If she was going to wait this thing out, she needed to know exactly what was happening as it happened.
"I swear, I didn't do it!" Michael pleaded.
"Yeah, fine, whatever," Marlowe said. She checked the footage on the screen and saw that Cain and his squad had arrived. "It doesn't matter now. They're here."
8. Mad Dog Barking
Michael wrung his hands as he paced the room. "Yes...this is our only option," he announced.
"So you've said," Marlowe replied. "Several times."
"No!" Jen yelled, clutching Michael's arm. "This is insane! You can't go out there, they'll kill you!"
"They wouldn't dare," Michael scoffed. "The entire nation is watching. Besides, I am a highly regarded lawyer, and we have the law on our side."
"Jen, let him go," Marlowe said, relighting the cigar she'd let burn out. She turned her attention to Michael. "You invited them here. You wanna go say hi to your soldier buddies? Go say hi, mister 'highly regarded' lawyer."
"I didn't..." Michael began to argue before he was interrupted by an amplified voice from the other side of the door.
"This is your final warning!" The voice on the loudspeaker blared. Marlowe recognized it as the voice of Henry "Mad Dog" Cain, full of swagger and arrogance. "Come on, MK! Surrender now, and I promise, no one will get hurt."
Marlowe exhaled a puff of smoke and sneered. "I hope he's including himself in that statement."
"Huh?" Jen asked.
"He knows that even though I'm not tip-top, I can still whip his ass," Marlowe answered. "Remember season two of ‘NTS’? He went against me in a head-to-head. I went to judo-throw him; I grabbed his arm and pulled.” She placed the cigar to her lips and took a long draw, exhaling it through her nose. “The arm went flying, but the rest of him…anyway, that's why they took out intra-squad trials."
Jen sighed. "Marlowe, you know that I never watched...whatever. It looks like he got a new arm," She said, staring at the screen on her desk as she watched Cain's squad secure their position outside her front door. "A really big and shiny new one."
"Augs are only as good as the person they're attached to," Marlowe remarked calmly. “Even big shiny arms.”
"Look," Michael said, returning to business. "Article Thirty-Seven guarantees your right to an appeal. We can find that evidence you described. You can tell them how you were kidnapped by those crazy traitors. We can win this. We have the law--"
"--on our side. Yeah," Marlowe interjected. "You've said that a few times, too."
"Michael..." Jen pleaded.
"Don't worry Jen," Marlowe interjected. "You heard the nice guy on the loudspeaker with the huge metal arm. They're not going to hurt us. He promised."
"Okay, I'm going out there," Michael said.
"Go get 'em, tiger," Marlowe said, drawing from her cigar.
Michael closed his eyes, inhaled deeply through his nostrils, and exhaled through his mouth. "Right...here goes," he said, reaching reaching up to press the switch by the door. He hesitated a moment before slapping the button. The magnetic seals buzzed as they released. He grabbed the bar securing the door and slid it back, then cracked the door open.
He peeked his head outside only to see half a dozen heavily armored soldiers, all pointing rail guns at him. Cain stood just beyond them, commanding from behind a wall of his men. Michael's forehead was immediately decorated with half a dozen red targeting dots.
"Hold your fire!" Michael yelled, raising his hands and taking a step outside to face the MilSec squadron. "I represent--"
The door slammed closed behind him. The magnetic seals buzzed.
"MARLOWE!" Jen yelled. "What are you doing?"
"Saving our lives," she replied. "Move." Marlowe pushed Jen out of the way and began dragging the desk toward the door.
Outside, Michael was sweating. His arms raised over his head and his voice creaking, he began pleading with the soldiers staring at him down the barrels of their rifles.
"I represent Marlowe Kana," he said with a cracking voice. "By the authority of the Valor Writ, I hereby evoke Article Thirty-Seven on behalf of my client. She has the right to an appeal before the tribunal--"
"FIRE!" Cain ordered.
Metal slugs whipped through the air and in less than a second, Michael was reduced to a smoking ball of bloody meat.
"Oh wow...well THAT didn't go well!" Marlowe said with a chuckle. She dragged a bookcase loaded with technical manuals and security books to the other side of the doorway, creating a makeshift tunnel. "Jen, you got your special insurance policy on this place?"
Jen stared blankly at the screen. Michael's bloody corpse was featured through the lens of Cain's Feed.
"JEN!" Marlowe yelled, grabbing her by the shoulders.
"..Wha?" Jen replied as she turned to face Marlowe, eyes wide, jaw hanging open.
"This place...it's wired up, right?" Marlowe asked.
"Uh...yeah," Jen replied.
"Okay," Marlowe said, tossing boxes on top of the desk to create cover, "I'll buy us some time. Go get everything prepped, and when I say so, hit the switch."
"You... you killed him..."
"No, THEY killed him! They murdered him in cold blood in front of the entire nation, and I'm sure the audience just loved it. Ratings for ‘Next Top Soldier’ are sure to skyrocket. Michael did his country a great service."
"You cold-hearted bitch!" Jen cried, emerging from her stupor. "How could you just let him go out there and face those monsters?"
"Well I didn't think they'd actually kill him!" Marlowe retorted as she pulled the chair she had been sitting on alongside the bookcase. "I guess the rules o
f engagement change when ratings are on the line!"
A loud WHAM echoed from the door. And then another.
Marlowe checked the Feed on the screen. Two soldiers manned a battering ram, while another two stood on either side of the door, preparing to breach. Cain stayed behind the formation of soldiers keeping their sights trained on the doorway.
"That coward," Marlowe said. "Fancy cybernetic arm and he can't even knock on the door himself..."
"Michael was trying to help us!" Jen yelled, tears streaming from her eyes. "He was trying to help YOU!"
Another WHAM. And then another.
"Look, now's not the time for this!" Marlowe snapped. She grabbed the green duffel bag, pulled out one of the AMP inhalers, and then held out the bag toward Jen.
"Blow the place up with me in it, or take this and yell at me when we get out of here. But either way, it's time for you to go."
Another WHAM.
Jen bit her lip and clenched her teeth. With a tearful sigh, she nodded, grabbed the bag, and turned to leave.
"Lock the door and don't open it!" Marlowe yelled. "Not for anyone, including me!"
Jen retreated down the hallway as the soldiers continued ramming the door in perfect rhythm. Marlowe sighed, emptying her