The audio link opened with a click in Kikaru's ear.
She leaned toward the eyepiece as if distance mattered. Her Ikona pressed close to the surface of her skin, no longer hiding as a vague pressure. It wanted the channel. That was the only way she could describe it, and the thought made her stomach tighten because wanting meant will. Will meant she was not alone inside her own power.
"Do not touch his face yet," she said. "Check his hands first, and keep his wrists controlled."
Juliet's leader looked toward Jiece's helmet feed. "You mean through the comms, Captain?"
"Do it and keep his wrists controlled," Jiece said. "Treat this as shard-user advisory until it fails."
The soldier changed his angle. That saved him.
Anders' head lifted.
His right hand snapped free from the loose restraint with a pistol already rising from under his torn coat. The movement was too quick for a man in his condition and too clean for panic.
