"Get down!" Gerald roared, his hand instantly slamming against Laura’s shoulder as the crimson laser sight locked onto his chest.
Before the word fully left his lips, a deafening crack shattered the afternoon peacefulness of the Aether-Spire sky-plaza. A high-caliber armor-piercing round tore through the double-layered bulletproof glass, sending a violent wave of razor-sharp crystal shards showering over the velvet showroom floors.
Gerald’s cybernetic reflexes fired at maximum output. In a fraction of a second, he spun his body, wrapping one massive, armored arm around Laura’s waist and physically dragging her behind a massive structural pillar of reinforced marble and titanium.
"Gerald!" Laura cried out, her fingers clutching frantically at his jacket as the floor beneath them vibr
