The remains of Arius hit the pulverized rubble with a wet thud. Hot crimson blood flowed down the cracked concrete, making its way down.
Then, the sky shrieked with mechanics.
BZZZZT—WHINE!
From the rim of the crater, surveillance drones descended, projecting harsh white searchlights onto the wreckage. Loudspeakers mounted on the perimeter walls crackled to life.
"Hide Volter. Raise your hands and surrender. Do not drag this any further."
The voice echoed through the rising dust.
"The area is under total containment. Step away from the casualty and submit to custody. Any further resistance will be met with lethal force."
Hide did not raise his hands. Surrender to Walter Bigiva? Surrender to the man who had turned a 4-Star meat grinder into a trap, murdered his friends, and strapped him like a laboratory specimen?
Walter and his hired people can go get themselves fucked.
Hide turned his back on the drones.
