The next morning, the junkyard was alive with the hum of newly assembled drones. Rows upon rows of them stood in formation, a testament to the hours of work Angelo, Jasmina, Sebastian, and Leo had put in. The rising sun cast long shadows over the piles of discarded machinery, giving the whole scene an eerie, post-apocalyptic feel.
Angelo wiped his hands on a rag and gestured to the drones. “Alright, let’s see if these beauties actually work. Here’s a controller—this should let you manipulate multiple drones at once.”
Before he could finish, Sebastian cut him off with a smirk. “We won’t need a controller.” Without another word, he lifted his hand, and instantly, a wave of drones responded, hovering smoothly into the air.
Angelo’s eyebrows shot up. “What the…”
Jasmina followed suit, raising her own swarm, and then Leo. Hundreds of drones lifted into the sky, moving in perfect synchronization, as if each of them had an invisible tether guiding them.
Sebastian pointed at an old wooden crate near a rusted-out truck. “Shoot.”
A chorus of energy blasts erupted as the drones obeyed, riddling the wood with scorch marks. Some of the shots missed, but the sheer precision of the maneuver left Angelo speechless. He took a step back, his mouth slightly open.
“You kids have implants?” he finally managed to say. “At your age? How is this even possible?”
Sebastian, still focused on maneuvering his drones, replied without hesitation. “It’s a new program. The implants are safe.”
Angelo didn’t seem entirely convinced, but he let out a low whistle, shaking his head. “I don’t know what’s crazier—the fact that you have implants, or the fact that you’re controlling drones like they’re an extension of your own hands.”
They continued practicing, adjusting their coordination, fine-tuning their accuracy. Angelo helped set up makeshift targets across the junkyard—old barrels, rusted metal sheets, even a few scrapped car doors. The more they trained, the better their aim became.
Jasmina, raising her swarm higher, grinned. “Not bad, but we’re still missing too many shots.”
Leo nodded. “We need to find a way to improve our precision. The real thing won’t be this forgiving.”
Sebastian spun a drone in mid-air with a flick of his fingers. “Good thing we have all day.” For hours, they honed their control, guiding their drones through increasingly difficult maneuvers. Their accuracy improved with each round of practice, and by the time the sun was starting to dip lower in the sky, they were hitting nearly every target with precision.
Sebastian finally lowered his swarm and stretched his arms. “Alright, I think we’re ready. Let’s pack them up.”
He grabbed a roll of plastic wrapping and started sealing the drones, making them look as pristine as possible. Jasmina and Leo followed suit, carefully covering each one before placing them inside large boxes.
Angelo, watching from the side with arms crossed, raised an eyebrow. “If the plan is to sell these things, let me tell you right now—you’re not going to get very far.”
Sebastian smirked. “That’s all part of the plan.”
Angelo let out a slow sigh and shook his head. “I don’t want to know.”
They worked quickly, stacking the sealed drones inside the crates. Once they were done, Sebastian wiped his hands on his pants and pulled out the map of the Inquisition building. He laid it flat on a nearby worktable. “Okay, let’s rehearse.”
They moved to a wide, open space in the junkyard. Using sticks, barrels, and whatever scrap they could find, they started laying out a rough mock-up of the Inquisition’s entrance. Sebastian stood in the center, directing them like a battlefield strategist.
“Move that one further to the left. No, a little more. Right there. That’ll be the checkpoint station.”
Leo dragged an old wooden crate into position. “This is where the guards will be standing, right?”
“Exactly,” Sebastian nodded.
Sebastian studied the rough layout they had built in the junkyard, pacing in front of it as he laid out the plan.
“So,” he began, tapping a spot on the mock entrance, “we’re arriving as a delivery crew. Here’s the reception area. We need some kind of fake logo on these boxes to make it look official—something convincing enough that they won’t question it too much.”
He glanced at the stack of crates they had packed earlier. “We’ll pretend we’re delivering drones for the Inquisition. Once we’re inside the main hall, I’ll split off. I’ll change into something more inconspicuous, then create a distraction—something big enough to get myself arrested. That part shouldn’t be too hard.”
Jasmina crossed her arms. “And what exactly are you going to do to get yourself thrown in a cell?”
Sebastian smirked. “I’ll think of something.”
Leo shook his head. “That’s not reassuring.”
Sebastian ignored him and continued, pointing at the area between the elevators on the map. “While I’m dealing with the guards, you two will use that as your entry point. Here’s the service hatch—your way down. You’ll climb into the gap between the elevator shafts and use a rope to lower yourselves to the bottom levels.”
Jasmina frowned. “And what if you don’t get taken to the right floor?”
“I will,” Sebastian assured her. “They’re not going to keep me in some random holding cell. If I make enough trouble, they’ll want me somewhere secure—down in the lower levels where they keep high-value prisoners.”
He pointed to the lower section of the blueprint. “Leo, once I’m in, you’ll have to attack the security entrance from this side. Take out the guards quickly and quietly. That’ll give me an opening to take control of the interior from the inside.”
He turned to Jasmina. “Your job is to get to this control board.” He tapped a location on the map. “Once you’re there, trigger the building’s main alarm. They have to believe they’re under attack—like a full-scale assault is happening outside. That’ll keep their focus off us.”
Jasmina nodded. “And we’ll have the drones circling the building, making it look like there’s a real attack happening.”
“Exactly,” Sebastian said. “If everything goes according to plan, the guards will be too busy dealing with that to notice what’s really happening inside.”
Leo exhaled, looking at the layout again. “And if things don’t go according to plan?”
Sebastian grinned. “Then we improvise.”
Inside Angelo’s house, the warm glow of the lights cast soft shadows across the wooden table where Leo, Jasmina, and Sebastian sat, finishing their meal. It was evening, and the comforting aroma of roasted meat and charred vegetables still lingered in the air.
Angelo leaned back in his chair, watching them eat with a satisfied smile. “Glad you like it,” he said, slicing another piece of perfectly cooked meat. “This is called picada, a Colombian dish. You take meat, corn, and fresh vegetables, cook them slowly on sticks right over the embers, then chop everything up into bite-sized pieces and serve it all together.”
Leo nodded, savoring the smoky, rich flavor. “It’s amazing. But I can see why you said you need space to make it.”
“Yeah,” Angelo chuckled. “Not exactly something you can throw together in a tiny kitchen. You need an open fire pit to do it right. But if you’ve got the space, there’s nothing better.”
For a few moments, they ate in silence, the clinking of forks against plates filling the room. The atmosphere was calm, almost nostalgic, knowing that tomorrow they would be leaving.
Finally, Angelo set his fork down and smirked. “Alright,” he said, stretching his arms. “One last programming class before you head out?”
Leo, Jasmina, and Sebastian exchanged glances, then grinned. “Yes!” they answered in unison.
Angelo laughed. “Alright then,” he said, pushing his plate aside. “Let’s make it a good one.”
Angelo leaned forward, pushing his plate aside. “Tonight, you’re going to write your first sorting algorithm.”
Leo and Jasmina exchanged intrigued glances.
“You’ll find yourself sorting numbers all the time when working with computers,” Angelo continued.
Jasmina nodded. “So putting them in order, from smallest to largest?”
“Exactly,” Angelo said. “Now, how would you go about it? And remember, you already know how to find the minimum value in an array. That’s going to come in handy.”
Leo thought for a moment. “We could take the smallest number, put it in a new array, then take the second smallest…”
Angelo held up a hand. “Let’s say we don’t want to create a new array. Instead, we’ll modify the existing one. We call this sorting ‘in place.’ So let’s go again. You walk through the array, find the minimum, then what?”
Jasmina’s eyes lit up. “We could swap it with the first element?”
“Exactly,” Angelo said.
Leo furrowed his brow. “And then we restart the process from the second element?”
“Now you’re getting it,” Angelo said. “Let’s write it down.”
He grabbed a notepad and sketched out the first step. “Before we can sort, we need a function that finds the smallest value’s position, not the value itself. We’ll modify our previous minimum function to return the index of the smallest number. Also, we need to specify at which index we start scanning.”
He wrote the function signature on the notepad:
int minimum_index(
int* arr,
int start,
int size
)
“Try writing it yourself,” Angelo said, handing them the notepad.
Jasmina and Leo got to work, scribbling their solutions. A few minutes later, they compared theirs to the correct version:
int minimum_index(
int* arr,
int start,
int size
) {
int cand = arr[start];
int cand_idx = start;
int i = start + 1;
while (i < size) {
if (arr[i] < cand) {
cand = arr[i];
cand_idx = i;
}
i++;
}
return cand_idx;
}
Once they had it down, Angelo continued. “Now, let’s use that function to write our sorting algorithm. Since we’re modifying the array directly, our function won’t need to return anything.” He wrote down the function signature:
void sort(int* arr, int size)
“Try writing it yourself first,” he encouraged.
They worked through the logic, and when they finished, Angelo revealed the full solution:
void sort(int* arr, int size) {
int i = 0;
while (i < size - 1) {
int min_idx = minimum_index(arr, i, size);
int tmp = arr[min_idx];
arr[min_idx] = arr[i];
arr[i] = tmp;
i++;
}
}
“For the final step,” Angelo said, “I want you to test your sorting function. In your main function, create an array, sort it, then check that each element is smaller or equal to the next. If you find a mistake, return an error code.”
Here was the final test code:
int main(void) {
int arr[4] = {44, 33, 22, 12};
sort(arr, 4);
int i = 0;
while (i < 3) {
if (arr[i] > arr[i + 1]) {
printf("Something went wrong\n");
return 2;
}
i++;
}
printf("OK\n");
return 0;
}
Jasmina and Leo reviewed their work. “This makes so much sense now,” Leo said.
Angelo grinned. “Sorting is just the beginning. Get used to solving problems like this—because from here on out, things only get more interesting.”
The next morning, the sun was barely rising when Leo, Jasmina, and Sebastian finished packing their things. The old delivery truck sat at the edge of Angelo’s junkyard, rusted but still functional, its faded logo barely visible under layers of dust.
Sebastian tightened the straps securing the last box of drones in the truck bed. “Think this thing will actually make it there?” he asked, giving the side of the truck a firm pat.
Angelo crossed his arms and smirked. “That old thing? It’s tougher than it looks. Just make sure to bring it back in one piece.”
Jasmina adjusted her cap and grinned. “No promises.”
They climbed into the front of the truck, their disguises in place. Leo tugged at the fake beard he was wearing, making sure it wouldn’t come loose. Jasmina tucked her hair under a cap and pulled on dark sunglasses. Sebastian had the clipboard resting on his lap, flipping through the falsified delivery records one last time.
As the truck rumbled to life, Angelo stepped up to the driver’s side window. “You kids be careful. If something goes wrong, get out of there.”
Sebastian gave him a two-finger salute. “Appreciate the concern, old man.”
Angelo shook his head but chuckled. “Get going before I change my mind.”
With that, they rolled out of the junkyard and onto the main road. The drive into the city was quiet, each of them lost in their own thoughts. The closer they got to the Inquisition’s headquarters, the heavier the tension became.
Finally, the towering structure of the main office loomed ahead. The building was sleek, intimidating, its reflective surface giving nothing away.
Sebastian glanced back at Leo and Jasmina. “Alright, this is it. Remember—stick to the plan.”
Jasmina exhaled slowly, gripping the clipboard. “Got it.”
As they approached the checkpoint, Sebastian turned to the others one last time. “And don’t forget—look bored. Yawn as often as you can. This is not a fun job.”
Jasmina let out a dramatic yawn, slumping back in her seat. “Ugh. Got it.”
Leo adjusted his sunglasses, nodding. “Let’s do this.”
Sebastian hopped out first, strolling lazily toward the guards, his expression one of complete disinterest. The plan was in motion.
The back of the truck swung open, and the hum of small drones filled the air as they lifted the heavy boxes onto trolleys. Leo and Jasmina moved quickly, pushing the cargo toward the main entrance of the Inquisition’s headquarters, keeping their pace steady but unhurried—just workers doing their job.
Sebastian, meanwhile, adjusted his cap and walked up to the reception desk, clipboard in hand. He slid a delivery form across the counter without looking up. “Where do I put these?”
The receptionist, a woman with sharp glasses and an even sharper gaze, frowned as she skimmed the document. “A delivery?” she repeated, puzzled. “By hand? Why aren’t you using automated transport?”
Sebastian sighed, tapping the clipboard. “Says right here: ‘in-person delivery.’”
The woman’s brow furrowed. She glanced at the document again, flipping it over as if expecting an explanation to be written on the back. “That’s… unusual. I’ll need to call—”
Sebastian cut her off with a tone of irritation. “Look, lady, I don’t have all day. You don’t want these boxes? Fine. I’ll leave them right here in the entrance while you sort it out.” He gestured over his shoulder, where Leo and Jasmina were pushing another load through the doors. “But we have other deliveries, and we’ve got to keep moving.”
The receptionist hesitated, looking past him at the growing stack of boxes cluttering the entryway. The sight of cargo blocking foot traffic made her visibly uneasy.
“No, no,” she said quickly. “People can barely get through as it is. Just… put them in the main hall. I’ll figure out what to do with them next.”
Sebastian forced a tight-lipped smile. “Much appreciated.”
He turned on his heel, heading back toward the others.
Sebastian turned back to Leo and Jasmina, and they exchanged quick glances, a silent acknowledgment that everything was going according to plan. Keeping their movements steady and unhurried, they pushed the trolleys toward the security checkpoint.
A pair of guards stood by the entrance, monitoring the metal detectors and scanning equipment. One of them eyed the approaching group and held up a hand. “What’s this?”
Sebastian barely looked up from his clipboard, feigning disinterest. “Delivery. Goes in the main hall. That’s what they told us at reception.”
The guard turned to the receptionist, who gave a brief nod. The guards still looked skeptical but motioned for them to proceed. “Fine. But you need to take your shoes off and go through weapon detection.”
Sebastian sighed dramatically, kicking off his boots as though he had done this a thousand times before. Leo and Jasmina followed suit, keeping their expressions blank. Meanwhile, another guard pried open one of the boxes, inspecting the contents.
“What are these?” he asked, his tone wary.
Sebastian lazily flipped through his clipboard, not even bothering to glance at the box. “Drones.”
The guards exchanged a look but found nothing explicitly suspicious. The cargo manifest matched, and the receptionist had cleared them. “Alright,” one of them said, motioning them through.
They collected their shoes and continued moving through the checkpoint, stepping onto the polished floors of the main hall. Now came the tricky part.
As planned, they maneuvered the trolleys close to the maintenance hatch—the very spot where Leo and Jasmina would need to slip through later. With each step, Sebastian kept an eye on the security cameras, tracking their blind spots.
Then, without hesitation, he turned toward the bathrooms. As he stepped inside, he pulled out a small cloth and wiped sweat off his face, making it look like he was just taking a short break.
But in reality, he was already sending a message through their implants.
“Alright. No more talking out loud from now on. We coordinate through implants only.”
Sebastian emerged from the bathroom, now wearing a completely different set of clothes. His disguise had vanished, replaced by a rebellious, defiant stance. Without hesitation, he marched to the center of the main hall and bellowed, “Death to the Inquisition! Long live the Companions!”
Heads turned instantly. The security team reacted in seconds, their hands moving toward their weapons. Sebastian didn’t wait—he charged straight at one of the guards and threw a punch. The blow landed, sending the guard stumbling back. That was all it took. The other guards lunged toward him, tackling him to the ground as he continued to shout and struggle.
Amid the chaos, no one noticed Jasmina and Leo slipping into the narrow space between the elevator shafts. Moving quickly, they secured a rope, anchoring it in place.
Leo’s voice came through their implants. “I’m going down. Jasmina, find the control panel.”
Jasmina nodded, even though he couldn’t see her. She turned and began scanning the cramped space, searching for the access hatch she had spotted in the blueprints.
Meanwhile, as Sebastian had hoped, the guards restrained him, cuffing his hands behind his back. One of them barked orders into his earpiece. “We’ve got a radical. Take him to the lower levels for interrogation.”
Sebastian let himself be dragged away, keeping his breathing steady. Through his implant, he sent a message. “I’m being taken to the cells. Everything is going according to plan.”
Leo’s response came immediately. “Copy that. I’m in position. Jasmina, once Sebastian is inside, trigger the alarm and release the drones. I’ll handle the jail entrance.”
Jasmina took a deep breath, her fingers hovering over the panel as she prepared to set everything in motion.
Sebastian stepped through the reinforced doors of the jail, flanked by four heavily armed guards. On the other side of a thick, reinforced glass window, another group of guards observed his arrival. A moment of silence passed before the doors unlocked with a heavy mechanical sound, and they led him deeper inside.
The second the doors shut behind him, Sebastian sent the message through his implant. “I’m in. Jasmina, start the main alarm as soon as you can. I’ll handle these guards.”
He took a deep breath, bracing himself. Then, from the soles of his boots, tiny drones shot out, releasing a thick, colorless gas. The guards barely had time to react. One coughed violently, reaching for his weapon, but his limbs faltered. Another staggered, eyes rolling back. Within seconds, they all collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
One of the drones zipped into the air, hovering just above Sebastian’s hands. A small laser flickered, cutting through the restraints on his wrists. The cuffs clattered to the floor, and he flexed his hands before reaching for a compact mask strapped to his leg. He pulled it over his face, inhaling clean air through the filter.
“I have control of the jail,” he sent through his implant. “Jasmina, you’re up!”
Up above, Jasmina’s fingers flew over her keyboard, but her expression twisted with frustration. “I can’t access the main alarm,” she muttered. “The system won’t let me through.”
Leo’s voice came in sharp. “Hurry! When the jail-level alarms go off, they’ll know exactly where we are.”
Jasmina’s eyes darted around the control panel, scanning the mess of wires. Then something clicked in her mind. “Okay, that’s the speaker wire,” she murmured. Her lips curled into a grin as an idea struck.
She yanked the wire out and connected it to her laptop. With a triumphant smirk, she whispered, “Jasper, this one’s for you.”
A moment later, every speaker in the building exploded with sound. The unmistakable opening riff of Seven Nation Army echoed through the halls, the deep pulse of the guitar vibrating against the walls.
Then, Jasmina grabbed the microphone and, in her best announcer voice, declared, “All right, ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to PANIC!”
Leo and Sebastian exchanged a glance.
“This will do,” Sebastian muttered.
Without hesitation, Leo stepped out of his hiding spot, controlling a swarm of drones with precision. One by one, the guards at the jail entrance dropped as the drones struck.
At the same time, inside the jail, Sebastian moved to the security panel and manually overrode the locks. The heavy doors hissed open.
As expected, the alarms blared to life.
Leo and Sebastian moved quickly, stripping the unconscious guards of their uniforms and securing them tightly, binding their wrists and ankles and gagging them to prevent any noise. They worked in silence, focused, efficient.
As soon as they had enough uniforms, they ran through the rows of cells, unlocking each door and tossing the stolen uniforms to the prisoners. “Put these on,” Leo ordered. Some of them hesitated, eyes flicking between him and Sebastian in confusion. “If you want to get out of here, you need to look the part. Move!”
Leo stopped in front of one particular cell, his heart skipping a beat. Inside, sitting on the cot, was Jenny. Her face was pale, her hair disheveled, but when she saw him, her eyes widened in shock.
“Leo?” she whispered.
“No time,” Leo cut in, stepping inside and grabbing her by the wrist. “I’m here to get you out.”
Jenny looked like she wanted to say something, but the urgency in his voice silenced her. She nodded, pulling on the guard uniform he handed her.
Meanwhile, Sebastian rushed through the corridor, scanning for Elias. When he found him, his breath caught. Elias was slumped over, strapped into a chair, wires running from his head into the cruel machine still humming beside him. His skin was pale, sweat beading at his forehead, his breathing shallow.
Sebastian didn’t hesitate. He grabbed the machine and yanked the wires free. The device let out a sharp, mechanical whine before going silent. Elias didn’t react.
“Elias,” Sebastian urged, shaking him. “Come on, wake up.”
Nothing.
Sebastian cursed under his breath and activated his implant. “Leo, I need you here now.”
Leo arrived in seconds, taking in Elias’s condition. He checked his pulse, his breathing. “He’s weak, but he’s alive,” Leo said. “We’ll carry him.”
Working together, they pulled off Elias’s prisoner clothes and dressed him in a guard uniform. Once he was disguised, they did the same for themselves, tugging on the stolen uniforms, securing their belts and weapons, making sure everything looked as convincing as possible.
Up in the control room, Jasmina was busy wreaking havoc. She had successfully connected to the security drones stationed in the main hall and now had full control over them. She activated them all at once, releasing a swarm of mechanical chaos.
The drones shot out of their docking stations, zipping into the air, their weapons flashing as they fired wildly at walls, doors, security cameras—anything to create the illusion of a large-scale attack.
The main hall stretched up several stories, an open vertical space that gave her a perfect opportunity. She sent drones soaring to the upper levels, diving in and out of corridors, shooting at anything that moved.
Inquisitors flooded the hall, shouting orders, scrambling to fight back. They opened fire, blasting drones out of the air one by one.
And through it all, the speakers continued to blast Seven Nation Army, the heavy drumbeat and pulsing guitar making the entire building feel like it was vibrating with chaos.
Leo and Sebastian positioned themselves near the front of the group, carrying Elias between them, his weight making their movements slower but steady. The prisoners, now disguised as guards, organized themselves just as planned—some pretending to be injured, others acting as if they were escorting wounded comrades.
Among them, the Rector caught sight of Leo, his expression one of deep gratitude. “Thank you,” he said, his voice barely audible over the distant gunfire and drone explosions.
Leo didn’t slow his pace. “No time for that now,” he said firmly. “Stay in formation.”
They moved as one toward the massive freight elevator, large enough to carry heavy machinery and supplies. As soon as they were inside, Leo pressed his implant.
“Jasmina, we’re in. Get us up.”
“On it,” Jasmina’s voice came through. From her position at the control panel, she worked quickly, overriding the elevator’s security systems. A sharp beep sounded as the mechanism engaged, and with a lurch, the elevator began to rise.
The tension in the air was thick. No one spoke. The only sounds were the muffled echoes of chaos from above—the drone attacks, the alarms blaring through the building, and the confused shouts of inquisitors scrambling to figure out what was happening.
The elevator climbed higher and higher. Then, with a final jolt, it came to a stop.
A second later, the doors slid open.
The main hall was a warzone. Smoke clouded the air, thick and choking, making it almost impossible to see more than a few feet ahead. Drones zipped through the vast open space, their gunfire lighting up the haze like flashes of lightning. Shattered glass crunched beneath their boots as they stepped out, and distant figures moved frantically through the fog, some shouting, others firing blindly into the air.
The entire building was in disarray—just as they had planned.
Leo’s heart pounded as the haze of smoke began to clear. The silhouettes of inquisitors emerged from the chaos, their dark uniforms forming an impenetrable ring around them. The air was thick with tension, the distant sound of gunfire and crashing debris fading into an eerie silence as the realization set in—they were trapped.
Sebastian shifted beside him, his grip tightening on Elias. Jasmina, just a step behind, scanned the perimeter, her eyes darting for any possible escape. The other prisoners, disguised as guards, stood frozen, their cover blown, their fates uncertain.
An inquisitor stepped forward, reaching out to seize Leo’s arm. But before he could, a voice rang out, calm yet commanding.
“Stop.”
The inquisitor froze, his hand still hovering in the air. His entire body seemed to lock in place, as if held by an invisible force.
The crowd of inquisitors parted, making way for a figure who moved with slow, deliberate steps. Master Vulcan. His face was unreadable, his piercing gaze fixed on Leo as he stepped into the center of the circle.
“This one is for me,” he said, his tone final. “Arrest the others.”
The inquisitors obeyed without hesitation. Rough hands grabbed Sebastian and Jasmina, forcing them to their knees. The Rector and the other prisoners were quickly subdued, their makeshift disguises now useless.
Leo clenched his fists, his breath shallow. He could feel the weight of Master Vulcan’s presence pressing down on him like a crushing force.
“You really thought your little stunt was going to work?” Master Vulcan mused, almost amused. “I have been waiting for you, you know.”
Leo didn’t answer. His mind was racing, searching for a way out. But this time, there was no way out.
Master Vulcan took another step forward, his eyes narrowing.
“And now,” he said, “it’s time for you to come with me.”
Leo staggered back as the voice filled his mind, smooth and unrelenting.
“Join us.”
The words were calm, persuasive, like a gentle tide pulling him toward the depths.
“You belong with us, Leo.”
He squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head as if he could physically expel the voice from his mind.
“You are a machine, Leo.”
His breath hitched. The words slithered into his thoughts, wrapping around his sense of self like chains. His fingers twitched. Doubt crept in.
“No, Leo!” Jasmina’s voice cut through the fog. “Don’t listen to it!”
Sebastian struggled against the inquisitors holding him. “Fight it! You know who you are!”
Leo’s chest rose and fell rapidly. For a brief second, the world felt unsteady, as though he was standing on the edge of a great void, one step away from falling in.
Then, before the Supreme AI could say anything else, he threw his hands up.
A wave of drones burst from their hiding places, swarming around him like a metal storm. The ring of inquisitors recoiled as the machines hovered into position, forming a protective shield around Leo, their laser sights flickering on.
Master Vulcan arched an eyebrow. “I figured there would be some resistance.” His voice was as calm as ever. He spread his arms, and at his silent command, drones of his own emerged, sleek and deadly, forming a counterforce.
He studied Leo for a moment before smirking. “Have it your way.”
The air crackled as the first shots were fired. Streams of light cut through the haze. Vulcan’s drones struck fast, tearing through some of Leo’s machines in precise, calculated strikes.
Leo gritted his teeth, summoning more drones into formation.
Vulcan chuckled, shaking his head. “You think you can beat me with these old pieces of junk? Tell me, where did you find them?” He tilted his head mockingly. “In a junkyard?”
Leo’s hands clenched into fists. “I’ll beat you anyway.”
Vulcan lifted a hand. More shots fired. Sparks erupted in the air as several of Leo’s drones spiraled down, crashing into the floor.
Vulcan’s smirk deepened. “Are you sure?”
The battle intensified. Streams of energy crisscrossed the air as drones weaved through the chaos, firing with relentless precision. Sparks rained down as metal clashed against metal, and the hum of engines filled the massive hall.
Leo gritted his teeth, pushing his abilities to the limit. He summoned more drones from the depths of the building, dragging them into the fight as fast as he could. His mind pulsed with the strain, his commands threading through the chaos like an invisible web, orchestrating an entire fleet.
But Master Vulcan was faster. Smarter. More precise.
Leo’s drones were dropping at an alarming rate. For every one of Vulcan’s drones that he managed to take down, he lost two of his own. He adjusted his tactics, commanding some of the damaged drones to move forward and act as shields, soaking up enemy fire so that the operational ones could land their shots.
Then—
A searing pain tore through his side.
Leo gasped as one of Vulcan’s drones landed a direct hit to his hip. The heat of the blast burned through his uniform, searing his skin. His leg buckled, and he dropped to one knee, panting, gripping his side in agony.
Master Vulcan chuckled, his voice dripping with amusement. “That must hurt.”
Leo clenched his jaw, forcing himself back onto his feet. His vision blurred for a second, sweat dripping down his face. The pain was overwhelming, but he didn’t let it stop him.
Instead, he doubled down.
With renewed fury, he sent every remaining drone into the fight. He didn’t hold back, didn’t strategize—he just unleashed everything he had.
The hall became a storm of flashing lights and rapid-fire shots. The air pulsed with the sheer energy of the battle.
Lasers cut through the haze, drones spun wildly, explosions rattled the walls.
Leo poured everything into the attack. If he was going down, he was taking Vulcan with him.
Leo realizes that it is not going to be enough. He makes a quick decision—he commands his drones to lift his friends into the air while he steps onto two drones himself, one under each foot. As he rises, the remaining drones continue their relentless assault on Master Vulcan, trying to keep him at bay.
But Vulcan notices. Without hesitation, he follows suit, stepping onto his own drones and ascending effortlessly. He reaches Leo’s level and smirks.
“Leaving me so soon?”
Leo hovers in front of him, both of them now suspended high above the chaos, forty floors up. Master Vulcan summons more drones, forming a narrow platform beneath him, a surface he can walk on. Then, in a show of dominance, he calls an entire sphere of drones around himself, a perfect shell, ready to strike.
A sudden explosion shakes the building. Then another.
Master Vulcan’s eyes dart to the side. Leo immediately understands—The Companions. They came. The attack on the Inquisition was now a full-scale battle. Companions flooded the main hall, drones clashing in midair, the entire building consumed by fire and chaos.
Master Vulcan refocuses on Leo, eyes burning with fury.
Leo raises a hand and makes a simple gesture—beckoning him forward.
Master Vulcan scowls. He launches toward Leo, his drones surging behind him like a tidal wave.
But Leo was ready. At the last moment, he grabs Vulcan by the shoulders, pivots backward, and executes a flawless Tomoe Nage—one of the most devastating Judo throws. Using Vulcan’s own momentum against him, Leo flips him over his head, sending him hurtling backward.
Vulcan crashes into the concrete wall behind them, his body slamming with brutal force. Dazed, he barely has time to register what’s happening before he slips from his drones and plunges into the abyss below.
Forty floors down.
Leo descends slowly, standing on a pair of drones as he makes his way down to the battlefield. The chaos in the main hall is overwhelming—blaster fire, explosions, the crackling hum of drones clashing midair. On one side, the Inquisitors fight with ruthless precision; on the other, the Companions push forward, their forces bolstered by the surprise attack.
As Leo approaches the ground, his eyes fall on Master Vulcan’s motionless body. He kneels beside him, pressing two fingers against his neck.
No pulse.
Dead.
Before he has a moment to process it, a flurry of shots comes his way. Inquisitors, having spotted him, unleash a relentless volley. Leo reacts instantly, commanding his drones to intercept the incoming fire. The air fills with bursts of energy, drones exploding midair as they sacrifice themselves to block the shots.
Then, something shifts.
Leo stands tall, closing his eyes for a moment. Then, instead of taking cover, he walks forward—right into the center of the battlefield.
Jasmina and Sebastian freeze, watching him in confusion. Has he lost his mind?
Leo stands completely exposed, feet planted firmly. Yet, every time an Inquisitor raises a weapon against him, his drones block the shot with absolute precision. Every attack is countered before it can land. He opens his eyes, looking straight at Sebastian and Jasmina.
And then he winks.
Rising slightly, Leo lifts himself a few meters above the ground, standing effortlessly on his drones. Slowly, he raises his hands, fingers splayed.
Something astonishing happens.
The Inquisitors’ drones—every single one of them—halt in midair. A moment of eerie silence spreads across the battlefield as the machines, once loyal to the Inquisition, begin turning. Spinning in perfect unison, they redirect their aim—not at the Companions, but at their former masters.
The gunfire stops.
A hundred Inquisitors stare in disbelief, frozen as their own weapons are turned against them.
Leo’s voice rings out, calm but unwavering.
“You will drop your weapons and surrender. Now.”
For a second, no one moves. Then, panic. Some Inquisitors scramble, desperately trying to regain control over their drones. Others reach for weapons, refusing to believe what they are seeing.
Leo sighs.
With another gesture of his hand, the resistance ends.
The struggling Inquisitors stiffen, their movements abruptly ceasing. A gasp ripples through the crowd as they realize—they are no longer in control of their own bodies.
Sebastian, Jasmina, and the other Companions watch in stunned silence. The Rector, standing nearby, looks on, his face unreadable.
The Inquisitors, now prisoners, are utterly at Leo’s mercy.
As they step out of the ruined Inquisition headquarters, the city is alive with chaos. The night sky is filled with the whir of drones and the flashing lights of police forces surrounding the area. The Companions move swiftly, their flying machines hovering just above the ground, waiting to extract their people and their prisoners.
Blaster fire erupts as the police attempt to block their escape, but the Companions are prepared. Swarms of drones surge forward, intercepting shots and retaliating with pinpoint accuracy. Smoke rises from the burning wreckage of fallen machines, casting long shadows over the battlefield.
One by one, the Companions board the aircraft, taking different routes to avoid being tracked. Leo steps onto one of the convoys, feeling the weight of dozens of eyes on him. No one speaks. They just watch—some in awe, others with unease.
Jasmina and Sebastian stand nearby, exchanging a glance. The Rector, his expression unreadable, watches Leo closely. Jenny sits off to the side, still processing everything that had happened, her face pale from shock.
In the corner, medics tend to Elias. He lies on a stretcher, his body weak, his face pale. Wires from medical scanners track his vitals.
Leo moves toward him, kneeling beside the medic who is monitoring his condition.
“How is he?” Leo asks, his voice quiet but firm.
The medic barely looks up. “Not well,” he replies. “His brain went through a lot. The machine they used on him did serious damage.”
The medic finally lifts his eyes to Leo and studies him for a moment. “And you?” he asks. “You’re limping.”
Leo hadn’t even noticed how much his hip was throbbing until now. The adrenaline was fading, and a sharp, burning pain was creeping in.
“I’m fine,” he says, brushing it off.
The medic doesn’t buy it. “Sit,” he orders, already pulling out a small scanning device. “Laser wounds don’t just go away.”
Leo hesitates, glancing at Elias, who remains unconscious, his breathing shallow. The medic catches his look and reassures him, “I’ll keep an eye on him. But if you collapse from internal burns, you won’t be able to help anyone.”
Reluctantly, Leo sits, wincing as he moves. The medic kneels beside him and lifts his shirt, revealing the wound—an ugly, charred mark on his side. “You got lucky,” he mutters, treating it with a cooling gel that stings at first but quickly dulls the pain. “A few centimeters higher, and you wouldn’t be standing.”
Leo nods but doesn’t respond. His mind is already racing ahead. Elias needed time to heal, but the war wasn’t going to wait.
Jasmina, Leo, and Sebastian sat outside the high command room in the Senate, the weight of what they had done pressing down on them. They knew this wasn’t going to end well. The corridor was silent except for the occasional distant murmur of voices from inside.
Then, the door opened. Leo’s mother stepped out, her expression unreadable. “Come on in,” she said.
The three of them stood, but she quickly added, “No. Only Leo for now.”
Sebastian patted Leo’s shoulder. “Good luck,” he whispered.
Leo nodded and stepped inside, the door closing heavily behind him. The room was dim, the only light coming from the displays on the wall. His mother moved behind her desk and sat down, folding her hands in front of her.
“So?” she asked, her voice calm but firm. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
Leo met her gaze. “Not much,” he admitted. “I disobeyed because I wanted to save Elias and Jenny.”
She studied him for a moment before leaning back in her chair. “And what would have happened if you had failed?”
Leo already knew the answer. “I would have been captured.”
“And the Companions,” she continued, “would have been destroyed. Forever.”
Leo exhaled, his chest tight. “That wasn’t my intention.”
She nodded slightly. “I understand. But you need to understand something too. We don’t win wars by acting on impulse. We survive because we move together, because we plan. Imagine if everyone did what you just did. If, instead of following strategy, people acted on their emotions. What then?”
Leo didn’t respond. He knew she was right. But he also knew, deep inside, that given the same choice, he would do it all over again.
His mother folded her hands on the desk and said, “Despite everything, something good came out of this.”
Leo looked up, surprised. “Something good?”
She nodded. “Yes. You showed leadership. You stood against the Supreme AI, and you took control of the Inquisitors’ implants. That is no small feat. You proved that you are stronger than they anticipated.” She studied his face carefully. “Even the Catonians are beginning to reconsider their stance on implants. They’re starting to see that they may not be as dangerous as they always feared.”
Leo listened, but he could feel the weight of her words shifting. He braced himself.
“But,” she continued, her voice firm, “what you did was still reckless. And I need your word that you will never disobey me like that again.”
Leo hesitated, then nodded. “I promise.”
His mother let out a quiet breath. “The situation is dire, Leo. We won this battle, but we are far from winning the war. The machines will counterattack, and when they do, we won’t be ready. Not yet.”
Leo straightened. “How can I help?”
She gave him a small, knowing smile. “You can help by finishing your training. I am sending you far from here, somewhere you can study in peace. When the time comes, and we truly need you on the battlefield, I will call for you. But for now, the most important thing is your training. You must learn how to program as fast as possible.”
Leo’s heart sank. “And Jasmina? Sebastian? Jenny?” He hesitated before adding, “Are they coming with me?”
His mother’s expression shifted slightly. “Jenny?” she repeated. “Who is that?”
“She was my friend from school,” Leo explained. “Marcus used her to get to me.”
She studied him carefully before finally saying, “We’ll see.”
Leo wanted to press for more, but he could tell the conversation was over.
“For now,” his mother said, her tone softer, “get some rest.”