The above image was made with Midjourney using the prompt 'a drone charging at a young man in a cloud of confetti.'
Although Harlen used his device to temporarily authorize Xero to accompany him into the Elite District, his unfit Qualification rendered this authorization next to useless. It should get them past a District gate, but any security drone would instantly be able to recognize that Xero was Jala, not human, which could summon investigating officers that probably wouldn't take kindly to an unfit and an alien palling around in the District.
Terrified of ending up in a Brazilian prison or worse, Harlen felt more nervous than he ever had before. "Once we're in, if I say run, you run and follow me," he said for the third time. "I have drone countermeasures, but I have no idea if they'll actually work."
Xero nodded. "You've said that," she said. "But no one monitors the unfit and these days no one's looking for the Jala. We're already invisible. We should remain so unless you fail to regain control of your composure."
"Yeah, you're right," said Harlen. "Okay, let's do it."
They took a car to the nearest District gate and continued on foot from there. Hardly anyone was around. Harlen scanned his device and they passed through without incident. "Okay," he said. "That was the easy part. Keep your sunglasses on and stay close."
Xero nodded and they walked through a luxury shopping district in silence. There were people on the streets, but not many. And when they turned to head up the hill towards the hotel, entering a residential area filled with expansive gated homes, Harlen spotted a security drone approaching. "Shit!" he said.
"Wait until it's closer to deploy the countermeasure," cautioned Xero.
"Shit," Harlen said again, reaching into his pocket to retrieve an orange-sized grenade.
The drone was small and was approaching fast. When it got to within twenty meters of their position, Harlen struck the underside of his improvised countermeasure, feeling the sharpened wire within it pierce the nitrous oxide cartridge at its center. With nowhere to go, the gas pressure built up in a chamber made of tightly packed scales of paper and foil. When the object felt cold to the touch, Harlen threw it up in the air as high as he could, and it burst about six meters up.
There wasn't much noise, just a muffled thud as the countermeasure sent confetti flying in every direction. The drone flew directly into the cloud of debris, which was ideal. Grabbing Xero's hand without thinking, Harlen started running and she kept up. They didn't look back until they reached the next corner. The drone was nowhere to be found.
"I think it worked," said Harlen.
"Crude but effective," said Xero. "Let's not linger in case it called for reinforcements."
Their next drone encounter came three blocks later. It buzzed around a corner, startling them. Harlen quickly threw another countermeasure, which failed to explode. He reached for another but was interrupted by a popping sound. Looking over, Harlen saw that Xero had shot the drone with some type of small pistol. "We should run," she said as the drone lost control, crashing into a nearby fence.
When they were only a block from the hotel, a swarm of three drones flew overhead, catching them by surprise. Harlen lofted two grenades one after the other and both exploded as expected. "Look out!" warned Harlen as one of the drones moved his way, firing a small dart that struck him in the arm.
The rest of the way to the hotel's discrete side entrance was a blur. Xero shot down the attacking drone and they barely made it through the security doors before Harlen began losing consciousness. The last thing Harlen saw before succumbing to the effects of the drone tranquilizer was Dara and someone else from NID moving to prevent him from falling down in the hotel hallway.
Coming to in his hotel room, Harlen found Dara and Xero sitting and talking quietly. Dara noticed that he was awake. "Pack your things," she said. "You're leaving in an hour."
"I'm packed," said Harlen, sitting up. "What's going on?"
"We have to get out of the country after shooting down those drones," said Xero. "Are you feeling well enough to travel after being incapacitated?"
"I guess," said Harlen, who still felt dizzy.
"Well, I'd say you've earned your pay," said Dara. "We may even have more work for you in the future, if you're interested."
"I don't know if I could do this again," said Harlen.
"In fifty minutes, you and Xero will be driven to an airfield where you'll board a small private plane," said Dara. "You'll land in New Miami where a car will take you to another hotel. I'll join you there in 48 hours."
"Okay?" said Harlen.
"A payment card with your funds on it will be waiting for you at that hotel," said Dara. "Xero won't be leaving the room for obvious reasons, and she may have errands for you to run while you're there."
"Okay, but I still don't really get it," said Harlen. "Can't the Jala do whatever they want? Why all the secrecy?"
"I'm not in good standing with my government," said Xero. "Technically, I've been exiled to your planet as punishment for political transgressions. And I'm in the process of violating the treaty between our worlds by providing a private entity with our tech."
"What's the tech?" asked Harlen.
"It's medical in nature," said Xero. "Nanobots more advanced than anything your people have."
"That's cool," said Harlen. "What can they do?"
"They can be programmed for many uses, but we're most interested in curing cancer," said Dara.
"I thought we could already do that," said Harlen.
"Not exactly," said Dara. "Not until now."
Read my novels:
See my NFTs:
