Her cronies quickly obeyed. Michael had barely caught that fearsome look on her face before he found himself lifted into the air and thrown to the floor. The air left his lungs and he struggled to fill them again, but bodies piled on top of him, punching and kicking him, pressing him harder into the ground. Hands wrapped around his throat and squeezed. He couldn’t even see who they belonged to; his vision was filled with arms and legs and hair and feet, as if they were all connected to each other, some monstrous creation from a mad scientist’s lab.

“Quickly!” he heard Weber yell. “Do it!”

Michael couldn’t tell what was worse, the pain of his pummeled body or the aching of his lungs, desperate for air. He coughed and sputtered, struggling against the hands that choked him. He couldn’t fight all these people, no matter how good at coding he might be. He tried to flail his arms, but both of them got pinned by bony knees.

His vision blurred from the lack of oxygen, but he saw one of the figures on top of him vanish, a disorienting pop of reality. He relaxed his body, gave in to their fight against time. Another person disappeared. Then another. He could feel the lessening weight pressed against his chest. Please, he thought, make the choker go next. It felt as if his eyes were going to explode, and fire burned in his chest.

Then, finally, relief. The pressure on his neck suddenly disappeared, and air rushed into his lungs. Colors blurred and rushed above him, but he could see enough to know. All of his attackers had disappeared.

He rolled onto his side, coughing and sucking in air. His entire body shook from the effort. He retched and spit. Then he caught Weber coming at him in the corner of his vision and he reacted, kicking out his legs and scrambling away. He flailed until his back hit a wall. But Weber had stopped. She was retreating, her face filled with horror, as if she’d come upon a rabid dog.

“You should’ve killed me,” he said, his throat raw. The anger took over, making him petty and vengeful. “Better yet, you should never have created me in the first place.” Still breathing heavily, still hurting in a hundred places, he pushed against the wall behind him and climbed to his feet. “I’m too smart for you. I’ve got too many people on my side. It’s over, lady. I’m not going to let you hurt one more person.” He took a step toward her to show the threat was real.

A hand went up to her chest protectively, and she backed away until she once again stood in front of that mysterious glass case with the glowing lights. She stared at him, not saying a word. She looked as if she was trying to figure out what she should do.