The Unseen Read Online Free PDF Page B

hadn’t been bothered to turn them off before drifting off to sleep.Lars raced across the room to one of Kari’s 3D printers and growled at it. She only had a couple of printers now, and they were all low on resources. The war had made quality printers scarce, and materials were nearly impossible to purchase, even if you were willing to pay the ridiculous prices.
    “It’s just a printer, Lars, the same printer that’s been here the entire time you’ve been alive. Come on—it’s too late for this.” Kari whistled to call Lars back to the room, but he stubbornly growled at the printer. Kari rubbed her eyes and whistled again. The printer’s on . A chill ran through her body. I haven’t printed anything since before I left.
    Kari paced barefoot across the cool floor to the printer. The glass protective shield that prevented the object from being removed until it was finished lowered silently, signaling that whatever had been printing just finished. Kari reached in and grabbed a small sheet of graphium. It was the thickness of a piece of paper, and it was still a little warm from being printed. The sheet had letter holes in it that formed a message. Kari spun it around until it was face up and in the right direction.
    “General Emil is dead. They are here for you. —The Unseen”
    The message slipped through Kari’s fingers and fell to the floor. Lars backed away, scared, but kept growling. Kari overrode her vision and pulled up the camera feed from a dozen or so drones waiting in trees and bushes around her house. General Emil was the man who let me go after I was captured by the Middle States last year. If he’s dead, then whoever is in charge now might not agree with his decision to let me go. Maybe I should have been more paranoid . . .
    Clouds blocked most of the faint moonlight, which didn’t make it any easier for Kari to see if there was anything out there. Her drones scanned the surrounding area for any movement while remaining in place.Kari couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but something didn’t feel right.
    She ordered one of her drones to take off and fly around the house. A single flying drone would draw attention, but it wasn’t uncommon for people to monitor their homes from the outside with drones, as they were more effective than stationary security cameras.Lars turned his attention to the nearest window. The printer turned on again and started printing another message. The drone flew from a nearby tree and approached the house before blinking offline. Kari’s breath caught in her throat.
    The peaceful yard outside Kari’s house transformed into a nightmare in an instant. Dozens of shadowy figures rose from the ground where they had been blending in, brandishing weapons pointed at her home.Heavy thuds on the roof drew her attention for a split second before a gas canister bounced off of the nearest reinforced window. Kari wanted to scream, but instead she closed her eyes and went to work. Why won’t they just leave me alone?
    Kari marked everything that moved as a hostile target and commanded her drones from outside to attack them. All of the drones outside were small, but each had a powerful electric stinger at its disposal. They worked best in a giant flock, but the limited numbers she had outside would have to be enough to distract her assailants until reinforcements could arrive. The front door of her house shattered to pieces under the force of a battering ram, sending chunks of wood scattering across the entryway.
    Soldiers in full electronic armor forced their way through the broken entrance, lifting their massive energy guns and pointing them at Kari. The coat closet door burst open, and a jumble of mechanical legs came sprawling out, firing restraining bands at Kari’s uninvited guests. The electric bands wrapped around the soldiers and constricted, delivering enough of an electric shock to drop the intruders to the floor. I’m done inventing things that hurt people,