“No.” Sylvia pointed to the back door of her electric car as the kid reached for the passenger door handle. “You. In the back.”

  “Why’d you drive anyway?” The agent faltered for a second as she walked around the front of her small vehicle, knowing how, “I’m not the type to take the bus” would come across, even though that was the truth. The idea of taking public transport unless necessary, when it could be so dirty and crowded…. No, it was much preferable to deal with traffic in the comfort of her own car. Besides, she worked for the government. That meant she had an image to maintain and the funds for a non “smart” car.

  “Because,” she replied, opening the door and sliding into the driver’s seat. “And since you’re older than five, I expect you to take that answer and not be annoying about it.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Sylvia, while checking over her shoulder for incoming traffic, shot a gre at the intern. “Don't call me that. It’s Agent Fisher.” The girl tried to hide her eye roll even though Sylvia could see her in the rearview mirror. ‘I knew I’d regret this,’ the woman bitterly thought to herself as her car entered traffic. She’d had no reason to take the kid’s ‘deal,’ so why said kid was now in the backseat of her car as Sylvia drove to P.A.R.A.L.L.E.L.’s agency and it wasn’t to hand her over for multiple crimes, the woman couldn't expin.

  Yes, the kid’s ‘backup pn’ was concerning, though Sylvia wasn’t sure how much of it she believed. Then again, she would be the first to admit that it was not computer skills that got her recruited for her current job. And if there was a leak, especially of the size Cecelia had implied, then Sylvia knew it would be her head on the chopping block.

  Still, she could have just taken the computer…. ‘And who knows what else she had hooked up in that mess.’ Whatever Cecelia had been doing, she’d put a lot of effort into it. ‘And the kid said she knew that stealing a dimensional separator was a risk, so why’d she do it anyway?’ It didn’t make sense that a college student with such high marks and a prestigious internship would—

  Ah. That was why Sylvia was humoring the kid. Everything over the st hour or so didn’t make sense, and she despised things that didn’t make sense. She hadn’t cared about whether or not some stupid kid stole something, but a smart kid making a mess like this? That was worth looking into.

  Using the rearview mirror, Sylvia gnced back at the kid. Cecelia’s hair had fallen around her face as she leaned over her phone. ‘Nothing unusual there.’ She turned her attention back to the road and the city traffic. Actually, while she dealt with her self-assigned babysitting job, the agent should probably have someone else go back to the apartment and collect… everything. But then she’d have to justify why the kid was still walking around free. ‘Ink’s going to be grumpy if I have to stay—'

  “Holy shit.” The girl’s awe-struck tone was undercut by something that was almost fear. “Agent Fisher!”

  “Yeah, I see it,” Sylvia replied, pulling over as fast as she could (and almost hitting the car in front of her when they screeched to a stop). The agent had the car door open before her seat belt was completely off – the kid just a bit in front of her, smming the car door shut in a way that Sylvia really didn’t appreciate.

  The cracked and uneven sidewalk was getting increasingly crowded as more and more people looked up from their phones, ran out from inside buildings, and parked in the street to jump out for a better look. At what, Sylvia still wasn’t sure. She had seen her fair share of weird things since joining P.A.R.A.L.L.E.L., but this managed to top the list.

  The sole focus of the city’s attention was on a huge air blimp, not surprising given that the vehicles were rarely used, or even seen outside of famous crash footage. This ship, however, had a softer design. Going off the reflective surface, the balloon appeared covered in a thin metal, and a series of lights wrapped around the flying oval. The passenger section had the same crispness as the balloon, with rounded angles and rge windows. Whatever type of engine the blimp had, it was a quiet one.

  But what was concerning — and the reason for people pointing their cameras at the airship or running away in fear — was that the rge vehicle was descending. Right across the damn street. Sylvia watched the thing approach the ground much smoother than every airpne she’d ever had the misfortune to fly on. The blimp touched down right on top of multiple buildings.

  Or, to be more precise, right through multiple buildings.

  Everything was quiet; everyone was holding their breath and waiting for something to happen. And the silent everything included the airship, despite the faint flickers of activity on board seen through the windows not covered by parts of a building. It was disorientating. Sylvia’s mind kept having trouble telling what was an apartment complex over a series of shops and what was airship. Everything blurred together, then split apart again, giving the woman the start of a headache just looking at the scene.

  And then the ship was gone, leaving uncrushed buildings behind.