Chapter 858

Simmons had barely finished her examination when she spotted the problem.

"Something’s wrong," she said, frowning.

Sky was awake now, and with the assistance of the mechanical framework supporting her body, she could move almost normally. The problem was that every time she tried to stretch her legs or sneak out of bed for a little exercise, Simmons somehow appeared within seconds and marched her straight back under the covers.

"Damn it. She catches me every time." Sky rubbed her cheeks with an exaggerated pout. "Look at me. I’m obviously doing much better. You don’t have to keep hovering."

"You don’t need me to remind you how badly you were injured."

Simmons ignored the complaint and firmly settled Sky back against the pillows before pulling the blanket over her.

"You’re doing better," she conceded. "But ’better’ is a long way from ’recovered.’"

She wasn’t opposed to Sky moving around. Quite the opposite. Controlled rehabilitation and balance exercises were essential. But they had to follow a strict medical schedule, with medical personnel present and the duration carefully monitored.

Anything beyond that?

Sky could stay in bed.

"Such a nagging mother hen..." Sky muttered as Simmons turned away.

Simmons immediately stopped.

She turned around with a dazzling smile.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing."

Sky’s denial came so quickly it was almost impressive. She had no desire to spend the next two weeks surviving on flavorless liquid meals.

"I was just saying these machines are amazing."

She raised one hand and flexed her fingers, paying attention to the mechanical assistance moving with them.

"They feel like they grew out of my body. They respond to what I think almost perfectly. If it weren’t for the cold metal and the slight friction against my skin, I’d probably forget they’re even there."

"Actually..." Simmons stared at her. "You shouldn’t even be feeling that."

Sky blinked.

"Evan’s Gospel equipment is much more advanced than this. They have models with thermal regulation and zero-friction protection. The higher-end versions can even be implanted beneath the skin and attached directly to the skeleton. Once they’re installed, you’d barely know they’re there."

She gave the equipment another glance.

"But yours was the model Evan bought."

A pause.

"So... budget option."

"It’s a temporary rental."

Evenson had apparently entered the room without either of them noticing.

"Why would I spend a fortune on something you’re only going to use for a few weeks?"

He folded his arms.

"And, while we’re on the subject, I really dislike people who accept help and then complain about the quality without even saying thank you."

Sky sat upright.

"Seriously? You’re going to hold that against me?"

She pointed at herself.

"I was unconscious! I had no idea who saved me. How was I supposed to thank you?"

Then her expression softened.

"But..."

She looked at Evenson and smiled.

"I really am grateful. Thank you."

That should have been the end of it.

Instead, Sky added, "You’re a good person. Honestly, you remind me of a big brother."

Evenson winced.

"Ouch."

He rubbed his teeth with his tongue.

"Am I supposed to take that as an insult?"

He reached over and vigorously messed up her hair.

"How old are you, anyway? Who taught you to hand out friendship certificates like that?"

"I’m not that much younger than you." Sky slapped his hand away. "We were even in the same orphanage."

"Your mental age is younger."

Evenson withdrew his hand and sat down.

"And listen carefully. Don’t get the wrong idea just because I helped save your life. I did it because we’re colleagues."

He paused.

"And because I have a girlfriend."

More than one, technically.

"And while you’re not exactly hard on the eyes, your personality isn’t really my type."

He wasn’t going to deny that he’d once imagined himself with the sweet, clingy type. Most men probably had.

But he’d learned something about himself.

He liked women with presence.

The kind who could make a room go quiet without raising their voices.

And if a woman didn’t start out that way?

Well, apparently Evenson had a talent for bringing it out of them.

Claire had once been an innocent, absentminded little flower.

Now?

She was practically running Kamar-Taj from behind the scenes.

Apparently, during one disagreement with Doctor Strange, she’d calmly asked whether the Sorcerer Supreme was planning a coup.

Evenson had decided that particular development was probably his fault.

And his preferences had become something of a household political consensus.

He wasn’t about to challenge that consensus.

"What are you thinking about?"

Sky was staring at him suspiciously.

"Wait..."

Her eyes widened.

"You don’t think I meant that I—"

She stopped.

"Oh, God. Fine. I worded that badly."

She waved both hands.

"I only meant that my opinion of you has changed. I think you’re a good person now. That’s all. Nothing else."

"Good."

Evenson’s expression became faintly serious.

"That’s better for both of us."

Sky suddenly yawned.

A strange heaviness had settled over her, along with an uncomfortable pressure in her chest.

She forced herself to laugh it off.

"Whatever. I’m suddenly exhausted. I think I’ll sleep for a while."

She rubbed her eyes.

"It’s weird. Ever since I woke up, I keep getting tired. It feels exactly like when I used to stay up all night gaming."

"Probably an adjustment period."

Evenson shrugged.

"Your nervous system is carrying an entire additional machine right now. It’ll take time to adapt. Fatigue is normal."

"How long..."

Sky yawned again and slowly slid beneath the blankets.

"How long until I get used to it?"

"You won’t."

Sky’s eyes snapped open.

"What?"

"I told you. You’re only renting the system."

Evenson smiled.

"By the time you’d actually adapted to it, we’d probably be taking it off."

"Oh."

Sky slowly sank back into the pillow.

"Hmph..."

Her voice was already fading into sleep.

"If you’d spent a little more money on the premium model, I bet I wouldn’t have had to go through this..."

"I already feel much better..."

"You’re like a big brother..."

Her breathing gradually evened out.

Sky fell asleep.

Far away, beneath Gospel’s facilities, another woman was lying unconscious on an operating table.

She was Latina, dark-skinned, and wore her hair in a distinctive split style. A mechanical spine ran along her back, accompanied by a set of mechanical limbs similar to Sky’s.

Only this system was considerably more sophisticated.

Her fingers twitched.

Her lips moved.

"Big brother..."

"Feel much better..."

The words emerged as fragments of sleep-talking.

Gnosis stood beside the table, watching her without expression.

He wasn’t concerned.

This reaction was completely normal.

The woman’s name was Sambola.

Technically, that wasn’t her real name. It was her online handle.

But for a hacker, an online identity could be more valuable than a legal one.

She was Mexican and one of the most renowned hackers in the world. Naturally, she had eventually joined the Rising Tide organization.

Her skills, however, had never quite reached Sky’s level.

So when the Eredar twins brought her in—or, more accurately, abducted her—they needed to give her a boost.

That was the purpose of Project Edge of Tomorrow.

The electronic spine implanted in Sambola’s body had been designed to form a kind of symbiotic link with Sky’s own system.

Sky’s thought patterns.

Her behavioral habits.

Her instincts.

All of them were being transmitted through the electronic spine in a process resembling dreams, gradually overwriting Sambola’s consciousness.

That was Project Edge of Tomorrow.

When the process was complete, Sambola might not surpass Sky, but she would come extraordinarily close.

The process required enormous amounts of additional computational activity from the brain.

In simpler terms, Sambola’s brain was being worked far too hard.

That was why Sky had been experiencing inexplicable fatigue.

Evenson could only hope it wouldn’t eventually result in hair loss.

To prevent Sambola from influencing Sky in return, Sambola had been kept unconscious throughout the process.

It also ensured the overwrite program could operate at maximum efficiency.

"We’ve reached the designated area."

Melinda’s voice came over the transport.

"Everyone, we’re switching to vehicles."

The team disembarked and transferred to the waiting cars, heading toward the location of the high-energy reading.

Once everyone was settled, Evenson took the front passenger seat.

He glanced toward Melinda.

"Where’s Coulson?"

Melinda was wearing sunglasses as she drove.

Evenson had been wondering about it since the mission began.

Coulson was supposed to be the field team’s commanding officer—at least officially.

Yet from beginning to end, Melinda had been handling the operation while Coulson hadn’t appeared once.

"Don’t tell me he’s been grounded because of that Tahiti stunt."

"No."

Melinda shook her head.

"He’s handling some personal business."

The truth was rather less casual.

Coulson had directly disobeyed orders during the Tahiti operation and caused SHIELD substantial losses. He’d been ordered back to headquarters to await disciplinary action.

Except the disciplinary action never came.

Coulson had prepared himself for almost anything.

Demotion.

Suspension.

A long stay in the disciplinary cells.

Honestly, he’d even been expecting Nick Fury to summon him into his office and tear him apart.

That would at least have given him the opportunity to confront Fury directly.

To demand the truth about his resurrection.

Instead, Fury had done nothing.

No meeting.

No punishment.

No explanation.

Nothing.

Coulson had committed one of the most serious mistakes of his career, and the organization had responded as though he’d thrown a pebble into an ocean.

For the first time, an unsettling thought had begun to take root in his mind.

Is SHIELD falling apart?

With that question weighing on him, Coulson had eventually left headquarters.

Whatever was happening, there was still work to do.

Back on the road, Evenson glanced into the side mirror.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"Looks like we have company."

Melinda followed his gaze.

Her brow furrowed.

A heavy motorcycle was rapidly gaining on the convoy.

The rider looked like she’d stepped straight out of an old Western.

Wide-brimmed hat.

Cowboy duster.

Half a cigar clenched between her teeth.

A massive revolver at her hip.

Tall riding boots.

"That’s certainly a look," Melinda said dryly.

She recognized the rider.

McKenna.

A field agent from the Black Chapter.

"Black Chapter is sticking its nose into another SHIELD operation."

Melinda sighed.

There wasn’t much she could do about it. The incident was occurring inside the United States, and within American territory, the Black Chapter and SHIELD had essentially equal priority when it came to responding to unusual threats.

"Looks like we’re going to have another one of those cooperative operations."

McKenna accelerated.

She threaded her motorcycle between the vehicles in the convoy with practiced ease, then pulled alongside Melinda’s car.

She tipped the brim of her hat.

A perfect old-school Texas Ranger gesture.

Melinda stared.

"I take back what I said about the Western thing."

Only now had she noticed the passenger on the back of the motorcycle.

A woman.

Her skin was extraordinarily pale, and she was completely covered in armor.

At first glance, it looked medieval.

The helmet even carried a blue plume and featured a beak-like faceplate, though the visor was currently raised.

But anyone with even a little technical knowledge could see the truth.

The armor contained an advanced propulsion system.

The woman noticed Melinda watching her and turned slightly.

She gave Melinda a polite nod.

But her eyes weren’t actually focused on Melinda.

Her gaze passed over her and settled on the passenger seat.

On Evenson.

"We should be close, shouldn’t we?"

The armored woman turned toward McKenna.

"This vehicle is painfully slow. It’s nothing compared to my pegasus."

Her voice softened with genuine sorrow.

"Oh, my poor girl..."

She sighed.

"That damn woman."

"If you weren’t wearing half a ton of armor, I’d be going faster."

McKenna shouted over the roar of the wind.

"But we’re close. The readings are somewhere around here."

"I see."

The armored woman’s eyes narrowed.

"Up ahead."

She paused.

"I can feel it."

Before anyone could react, she rose to her feet on the motorcycle’s rear seat.

Then she launched herself forward.

She landed on the road and immediately began running.

Two exhaust-like devices mounted on the back of her armor ignited.

Bright flames erupted from them.

The woman accelerated.

Fast.

Far faster than the convoy.

She shot ahead of the vehicles as though gravity were merely a suggestion.

Then, after covering only a short distance, she suddenly braked.

Her entire body leaned backward as both feet skidded across the pavement.

An energy shield unfolded from her arm.

She slammed one edge into the ground, using it as an anchor to bleed off the remaining momentum.

At the same time, her right hand went to her hip.

She flicked her wrist.

A flail appeared in her grasp.

She swung the heavy, angular head downward and smashed it against the pavement.

The woman came to a complete stop.

Shield raised.

Weapon ready.

Prepared for battle.

Then the sky split open.

A brilliant column of multicolored light descended from above.

The Bifrost.

It struck the ground directly ahead of her.

The Asgardians had arrived.