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"No, she won't be punished. I'm going to reward her. She completed her mission. Under great duress I might add." The enforcer glanced down at the scribe with the same old triumphant smirk.
There was a lengthy pause. The scribe knelt, exhausted. "Some you win, some you lose. This is another thing I have become used to." His handler made an approving noise.
The three stepped off the descending elevator and strode across the parking lot, and into the lab.
While walking through the lab there was an incident. The scribe tripped over an exposed radiation vent feedline and the coupling came undone - radiation just spewing out, like an invisible water hose.
The enforcer's fears were confirmed at that moment. In a flash, the scribe realized this little slip would make him seem like the real culprit! The enforcer's rage had already leapt into the open, and his sidearm was in his hand almost quickly enough. Almost.
By the time he had his weapon trained on the scribe, that scribe had seized his weapon hand. The scribe's claw-like grip was just strong enough to keep the enforcer from moving the weapon's line of fire onto him, which would be the end.
There was another lengthy pause. The slight scribe and the beefy enforcer had a surprisingly hostile staredown, and at the end of it the scribe realized he was, against any kind of logic, holding all the cards. Despite the enforcer's struggling, he simply could not muster the strength to train his weapon on the scribe properly.
But he was still three times the weight, and the scribe (still exhausted, but afloat with adrenaline) knew that his life would last only as long as the enforcer was too distracted to put his overall superior musculature into play.
With his free hand he scrabbled for and found the radiation feed. Just putting his hand on it exposed him to a heroic dose of radiation. Twisting the feeder line in his hand, he swept the invisible stream across the enforcer.
Though the energy was invisible, its effects were immediate and plain. The enforcer reeled in agony - but kept his concentration. The scribe played the stream across the other's body once, then twice, then settled the stream on his crotch.
The enforcer blanched entirely and his composure vanished like a whelk in a supernova. All the fight went out of his gun hand and he recoiled. The scribe took the stream off him. The enforcer seemed like he was about to collapse - his only words were "Great, now I can puke without it going up my nose" - but the scribe was already gone.
Fleet footed he ran through the lab as the third lengthy pause played itself out. Then he heard the enforcer somewhere behind him, building up steam in the velocity sense as well as the rage sense. He knew the enforcer would beat him to the door.
So when it happened, he faked him out. In the space of a couple of seconds, the scribe drew himself behind a pillar, letting the enforcer see only his shadow. He moved into an unlit area on his right, casting his shadow up against a wall on his side now, hiding himself again from the enforcer as he came round the bend. He slipped behind a third pillar as the enforcer chased the false trail back into the depths of the lab.
Not once the whole time did he allow the enforcer to get him in his line of sight, and it worked - no shots were fired, and the enforcer wasn't creative enough to try firing through the pillars.
From here the scribe knew he was home free if he moved quick. He ran silently, shaking, and made it through the courtyard without being shot. He got all the way to the aircar and set it to take him home before passing out.
There was a lengthy pause. The scribe knelt, exhausted. "Some you win, some you lose. This is another thing I have become used to." His handler made an approving noise.
The three stepped off the descending elevator and strode across the parking lot, and into the lab.
While walking through the lab there was an incident. The scribe tripped over an exposed radiation vent feedline and the coupling came undone - radiation just spewing out, like an invisible water hose.
The enforcer's fears were confirmed at that moment. In a flash, the scribe realized this little slip would make him seem like the real culprit! The enforcer's rage had already leapt into the open, and his sidearm was in his hand almost quickly enough. Almost.
By the time he had his weapon trained on the scribe, that scribe had seized his weapon hand. The scribe's claw-like grip was just strong enough to keep the enforcer from moving the weapon's line of fire onto him, which would be the end.
There was another lengthy pause. The slight scribe and the beefy enforcer had a surprisingly hostile staredown, and at the end of it the scribe realized he was, against any kind of logic, holding all the cards. Despite the enforcer's struggling, he simply could not muster the strength to train his weapon on the scribe properly.
But he was still three times the weight, and the scribe (still exhausted, but afloat with adrenaline) knew that his life would last only as long as the enforcer was too distracted to put his overall superior musculature into play.
With his free hand he scrabbled for and found the radiation feed. Just putting his hand on it exposed him to a heroic dose of radiation. Twisting the feeder line in his hand, he swept the invisible stream across the enforcer.
Though the energy was invisible, its effects were immediate and plain. The enforcer reeled in agony - but kept his concentration. The scribe played the stream across the other's body once, then twice, then settled the stream on his crotch.
The enforcer blanched entirely and his composure vanished like a whelk in a supernova. All the fight went out of his gun hand and he recoiled. The scribe took the stream off him. The enforcer seemed like he was about to collapse - his only words were "Great, now I can puke without it going up my nose" - but the scribe was already gone.
Fleet footed he ran through the lab as the third lengthy pause played itself out. Then he heard the enforcer somewhere behind him, building up steam in the velocity sense as well as the rage sense. He knew the enforcer would beat him to the door.
So when it happened, he faked him out. In the space of a couple of seconds, the scribe drew himself behind a pillar, letting the enforcer see only his shadow. He moved into an unlit area on his right, casting his shadow up against a wall on his side now, hiding himself again from the enforcer as he came round the bend. He slipped behind a third pillar as the enforcer chased the false trail back into the depths of the lab.
Not once the whole time did he allow the enforcer to get him in his line of sight, and it worked - no shots were fired, and the enforcer wasn't creative enough to try firing through the pillars.
From here the scribe knew he was home free if he moved quick. He ran silently, shaking, and made it through the courtyard without being shot. He got all the way to the aircar and set it to take him home before passing out.