Olafson swore. His fingers twitched. The van slowed and took the next right turn.

“We’ll drop Troit off en route,” Olafson said.

Welga held Connor’s hand. His skin had taken on more color, but his expression remained slack, unconscious. She hated to leave him like this. The hospital would allow microcameras so he wouldn’t be alone, but nothing could replace the feeling of someone holding you, and she couldn’t do that from the other side of the country.

“Olafson, would you mind launching some of Troit’s swarm? They’re in his left lower pocket.”

“I’ll do one better: he can have some of our secure microcams.”

Olafson launched a barely visible cloud that hovered over Connor’s stretcher as they arrived at the hospital building. Two human nurses unloaded him from the van and waited as the ambulance transferred its data to the hospital’s.

As they went their separate ways, Welga subvocalized, “Por Qué, open a high-priority feed to the secure swarm with Connor. Alert me when he regains consciousness.”

She reopened her family, friends, and news feeds. They couldn’t see her in the van, so she sent brief messages to Papa and Luis that she was okay and that Connor was hospitalized. Everyone had seen the action at the refinery. The Machinehood had struck at three different locations, as they had at the start of all this. And they had once again evaded capture. The damage they caused would have an impact, but they hadn’t stopped all pill and drug production as they’d threatened. With their one-week timer about to expire, what would they do next?

NITHYA

Interviewer: Let’s talk for a minute about your childhood and your family. Your mother, Laila Boothe-Ayala, was a well-regarded biogeneticist until she passed away when you were thirteen years old. Were you ever inspired to follow in her footsteps?

Olga Ramírez: When my mother got sick, I dreamed of finding the cure for her condition. After she passed away, I wanted to continue her work. I tried, but without flow, I couldn’t keep up with the academics in college, and you can be damn sure my ratings would be terrible if I tried to work in that field. My mother wanted to make the world a better place, but I had to find my own way to do the same thing.

—Up Close news feed, 2089. Current accuracy rating: 87%

Nithya watched Jane Santiago deliver her challenge to the Machinehood.

“We designed drugs and pills so that humans could stay competitive in the labor market,” the funder said.

Her sister-in-law stood with the shield team in the background. The array of attractive faces and flawless bodies equaled any fictional group from the entertainment industry.

“I will continue to support designs that push our physiology to its safe, effective limits,” Santiago said.

Was Santiago any better than Synaxel, or were they all hiding the truth that their products could harm specific individuals?