Charles cut in. ‹Better than sitting around doing nothing. In my day, we didn’t wait for someone else to get the job done.›

‹Both of you focus on your work,› said Talulah. ‹You’re giving me a headache. Vince is prepping a surprise to keep everyone out of Research. Lena and Deb have reached the server room. They’re in a standoff with the Kiyokos. I’ve been able to get intermittent images out of the security cameras. I think Kiyoko has reinforcements heading that way.›

‹What’s the shortest route to the server room?›

I spun and started to run, following Talulah’s mental directions. Alarms rang out around me. Kiyoko began speaking over the PA system, her steady, reassuring voice filling the building. “New Millennium is on secure lockdown. Security personnel should report to emergency stations. All others, please remain where you are. Lock your doors and remain calm.”

I swung open a door and took a bullet in the throat. Without magic, Kiyoko’s shot would have gone straight through.

“Sorry, I’m in a hurry.” I reached for the text that controlled her psychic connection to the other clones.

Her foot hit my jaw like a wrecking ball. By the time my vision cleared, Kiyoko stood over me with a knife in one hand.

“I have access to all Porter catalogs and databases,” she said as she brought the tip of the blade to my chest. “This appears to be a personal shield unit from Dune. Such shields are vulnerable to slower attacks.”

I grabbed her wrist, but she was stronger than she had any right to be. The tip gradually slid through the shield, then punctured my skin.

I abandoned finesse and tore viciously through the Japanese characters of her magic. She screamed. I levered the knife away and punched her in the nose.

Kiyoko didn’t move. Whatever I’d done to her was the equivalent of running an eggbeater inside her skull. It wouldn’t affect the other clones, but this one was nothing but an empty shell.

I tossed the knife away. I’d be hearing that scream in my nightmares for years.

She’d probably seen me coming on another of the security cameras. I took out Small Favor and poked a finger into the text like a kid sneaking frosting from a cake. The character of Harry Dresden was a wizard, and in Jim Butcher’s universe, being a wizard meant nearby technology tended to fail. Tapping into that effect should take out nearby cameras.

‹Talulah, we know the targets. Any chance you could run a separate instance of the IAS software?›

‹Working on it, but it would be a lot easier if Kiyoko would stop trying to fry my systems.›

Gunfire all but deafened me. I heard Lena cry out, followed by the thump of wood against flesh. A woman screamed. I couldn’t tell who.