Pulling myself up, the Compression Cable hissed, drawing me toward the night wind of Cypher Tower. The sky above Oasis was dark and blustery, slapping my face with damp vapor from the tropical sea. Below, the harbor district still roared with delayed emergency sirens; the echoes of destruction from the Cyrus Kael bomb explosion I set off were only just reaching their peak. Speed was my lifeline now.
My Kevlar cable felt thin, swinging lightly each time I adjusted my footing on the side of the silver-glass Lazarus Penthouse. The building felt cold, arrogant, resisting all forms of outside challenge. And Dahlia? She was behind me, secured in the ultra-light protective unit I designed, strapped tightly to my chest, back to mine, covered by an anti-static thermal blanket. Her small life in my
