Police Commissioner George stared at the screen on his cellphone. Tapped in the code to activate the custom application – the 'Shift-Signal' he called it. It played a muzak version of an old Crystal Method song while it transmitted the data, making a mash-up with the chatter coming in over the cruiser's radio, realtime reports of the disaster occurring only blocks away in downtown Plex City, the app recording those reports, adding them to the signal along with GPS and video from the phone's camera, sending them as a digital recon of the perimeter of A.T.T.A.C.K.'s attack.
An icon of a wing appeared in the corner of the screen, then a voice. “Thank you for the update, Commissioner,” Seraphim said.
George nudged the officer at the wheel, gestured for him to take a left, driving slowly through clusters of running citizens, rubble and debris. There was another explosion from somewhere up ahead, the ground shaking, more smoke rising.
George shook his head, spoke into his phone. “I need more info from your end, ma'am. I can't coordinate evac and containment if I don't know-”
“Hold on,” she said, that authority in her voice that comforted him and made him feel insignificant at the same time. The waveform icon appeared below the wing as Channel joined the call.
“Commissioner,” he said. “Please take a deep breath – I am preparing to transmit information from my optic nerve into your visual cortex.”
The Seraphim leaping from the Holo-Copter as The Channel links her to the vehicle's hover-technology and she descends into the pitched battle below where The Tower deflects a barrage of missiles from Mode's shoulder-mounted cannons and even bends the curve of his autonic shield to ricochet one of the warheads towards Ashen who is trading blows with The Silhouette who becomes incorporeal just as the redirected missile explodes and stuns the villain and leaves him vulnerable until Pyre's energy-emitters ignite a modulating protective circle around Ashen that blocks even The Silhouette except that The Seraphim glides in from above and manages to grasp the dazed foe with her autonic touch and immobilize them leaving The Heretic to charge towards Pyre only to be intercepted by the spinning and slicing sabres of Cadre while The Tower fends off another assault from Mode coupled with a neuro-scattering pulse from Clean and Pyre gets support against The Heretic from a squad of Acer murder-drones...
“You're outnumbered,” George said, realizing how stupid he sounded stating the obvious. “Where's The Shifter?”
There was a pause as Channel banked the Holo-copter to fire a blast of disruptor chaff at the Acers. “He never reappeared after he teleported from our base.” The situation was too dire for Channel to continue keeping the Commissioner at arm's-length. “He's been missing the entire battle. It's the longest he's ever been gone...”
“My God, what is going on? How are we going to survive this?” George glanced at the officer who was driving, Sgt. Trump. Trump hadn't seen the vision of the battle but he had heard what was said. He looked scared.
“Commissioner,” Seraphim said, still on the line even as she floated up over Pyre's barrier to continue the fight. “We are going to have to attempt the Dragon Protocol.”
George gulped.
