Now On The Shop: Dropout
The fight for Earth is over…at least for now. But survival doesn’t get easier when you leave the planet behind.
Dropout is now available over on Starlit Publishing's shop! With that, we’re stepping back into the chaos of the System Apocalypse universe, this time on a much bigger, deadlier stage.
Caleb and the children have escaped the Humanist, flying out from Earth on the stolen Voloid spaceship. That escape is not without cost, though, as the ship is packed with enemies turned reluctant allies. They've dropped out of the battle for Earth, but the Galactic universe is no easier.
There's a sneak peek into the first chapter down below. We hope you enjoy the second book in the series!
Pain exploded in my face, jolting my stunned mind back into awareness. A crack like thunder followed it as my cheek fractured from the mighty blow. The sound reverberated in my head, echoing the waves of agony. My imagination supplied flashbacks of threats to fill the darkness. The Humanist’s fists, punching through my helmet’s shattered faceplate. Monsters claws and jaws with tearing teeth. My breath caught and my heart trembled as my body tried to panic.
I’d trained for months for just such situations, and that preparation didn’t fail me now. I threw out my hands and summoned purple power. Two fields of force crackled in the darkness as I bent my dazed mind toward focus. Was I protecting my team? My students? Where were they relative to me and my attacker?
A pair of long, distorted forms hovered in the darkness, then withdrew like serpents preparing to strike. A pair? No, I could only summon a single shield, so unless Pavise had made the second, I was seeing double.
By force of habit in a crisis, I reached out to Pavise. My shield-bot companion could increase my processing speed and give me more subjective time. My concentration faltered; I was just too dazed to manage it. He must be close, though, or my powers would have failed altogether.
As if on cue, Pavise spoke inside my mind. “I’m coming, sir. Shall I alert the others of your plight?”
His voice reassured me, but I had no attention left to spare for him.
I took stock of my condition. Aside from my cheek, my nose was sore and swollen. The metallic tang of blood coated my tongue. Worse yet, somebody had shivved me, if the sharp pain in my back could be believed. That threat, at least, was lessened by the fact that I’d been knocked on my back by whoever or whatever was attacking me.
My Health bar was green, I noticed, nearly full. What the hell? How was that possible, when I’d been concussed enough to blank out the early fight? Even more confusing was the lack of a follow-up attack. I forced my eyes to focus until only a single shield remained, then zeroed in on my attacker.
It was a foot. A dainty, naked foot I knew quite well. I had massaged it quite a lot in recent weeks.
Evie’s foot. My eyes followed it up her long and lovely leg to where it lay covered by my Spider-Man blanket in the darkened storage space I called my room. Our room, now, for as long as she would have me. She had burrito wrapped herself in my blanket again, with the exception of that one, outflung leg.
Understanding came to me then. I groaned, as fear and tension melted.
“Sir,” Pavise asked again, more urgently.
I reached out my attention to my Companion. “It’s okay, buddy,” I messaged him through my cybernetic link. “Evelyn just kicked me in the face. It hurt, a lot, but I’m okay.” Evie was an acrobat and gymnast. Even before the System, she was strong. I felt the irrational need to defend her actions. “We had to sacrifice our bed back at the base. Do you remember?”
“A terrible tragedy,” he deadpanned. “But I’m glad that you’ll survive. Would you like for me to summon a healer for you?”
I let out a longsuffering breath but decided not to take the bait. So I just answered his question as if it was sincere. “Let them sleep. We’ve all been through enough. Go back to charging, buddy. I’m sorry I woke you.”
“I’m sure that it was unavoidable, sir,” he said. His tone—or our connection—gave me the faint impression that he was not, in fact, so certain. He didn’t actually shut down while he charged, but he did get cranky when I bothered him. All the while insisting that he was not a person.
Then the sharp pain in my back reminded me that I’d been stabbed. Or at least that’s what it felt like. I reached behind me with the cybernetic right arm that still felt hypersensitive, prone to pins and needles. I was expecting blood or a gaping wound. Instead, I found a sharply squared box the size of my old Gameboy Advance, meticulously wrapped in paper that sparkled in the neon purple light. There was a matching bow and a small slip of paper I couldn’t read.
Evelyn had gotten me a gift, but I’d passed out on top of it.
I forced myself to roll over, detangle myself from my “vicious attacker,” and shuffle out to the carved stone hallway of the spaceship.