“We knew,” Kade went on. “We would have made it.”

“Oh?” Shiva asked. “Past the snipers on the rooftops?”

Kade’s confidence wavered.

“And if you had, what then? Run again? Where to?”

Kade stared at him, mute.

“And when you were caught, eventually, what then?” Shiva asked. “Do you want your back door in the hands of the Americans? The Chinese? How do you think those governments would use it?”

Kade’s face was hot. He said nothing.

“Can you blame me for what I did?” Shiva asked. “You were out there, irresponsibly, putting yourself at risk, putting more than a million other people at risk. Can you blame me for wanting you off the streets?”

“No one gets the back door,” Kade said. “No one.”

“No one but you,” Shiva replied. “Isn’t that what you mean?”

Are you wiser than humanity? Ilya’s whispered in his mind, echoing Ananda. Not even you should have that power.

“Here.” Shiva stepped closer, held out the slate to him. “I won’t let you touch my mind. But I’ve done the next best thing. I’ve recorded my thoughts, my plans, direct from my mind. They’re here for you to peruse. To see how much we could do together.”

Shiva stood before Kade, just feet from him, the slate in his outstretched hand. Kade knew what he needed to do. He closed his eyes, took a steadying breath, and went Inside.

[activate: bruce_lee mode: attack_and_capture]

Targeting circles appeared on the inside of his eyelids. Kade opened his eyes, clicked on Shiva, and Bruce Lee launched him at the man.

His body surged forward. His left fist snapped out, connected with Shiva’s jaw, rocked the man’s head to the side.

[Bruce_Lee: Attack Succeeded!]

His body moved in for a lock, to capture the older man.

Then Shiva’s left hand shot out, grabbed Kade by the neck, lifted him off his feet, and hurled him across the room.

Kade hit the far wall with a thud, the wind knocked out of him. A framed picture jumped off its hook, crashed to the floor a foot away, glass shattering all around it.

[Bruce_Lee: Block Failed L]

Shiva set the slate down on the writing desk, then turned and walked to the door. “I look forward to your thoughts,” he said. Then he was gone, the door closed behind him.

Kade sat there, reeling from the blow.

When, he wondered, has that app ever fucking worked?

He pulled himself slowly to his feet, one hand on the wall for balance.

The door opened, and one of Shiva’s men came in, something in his hand. He brought it up to Kade’s throat and Kade backed away haltingly, until he realized what it was. A key.

The man inserted it into the slot in the medallion around Kade’s neck, and it came loose, falling into the man’s hand.