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And noas his duty to tell what he’d learned to Major Overstreet And it would be Overstreet’s duty to arrest Mona Biryar would have to recuse himself, so they’d send her back to Laconia for trial His Mona The woine what it would feel like to see her sent to the Pens It was like trying to i dead

Or he could hide the inforn of it Cancel the projects Erase the financial trail that led to her Then, when Overstreet found theether His sternu under it was hollow He could hardly draw a breath

It was perfect Even if he could pull his pistol and shoot the one-ar for hi for Mona, and there was no way to stop it He couldn’t even die to protect her He tried to move, but he was made from clay He saw sympathy in the other man’s eyes

“Truth is, if Xi-Tamyan found out about this, they’d probably praise her initiative and give her a raise Those guys just do business that way But she’s one of yours, so…”

“Discipline,” Biryar said There was no way out The end of his world had co to do but welcome it

It wasn’t a thought, it wasn’t considered Like water s worked The way they had to be Natural Biryar drew the pistol, lifted it to his head, and pulled the trigger The old man’s eyes barely had time to widen

His false arh, had a mind of its own, and it was faster than either of theirs Before the trigger caun wrenched away The oldhis real hand to his chest The metal hand held Biryar’s pistol, its barrel visibly bent

“Jesus fuck, but I hate it when it does that,” the oldwith you, kid?”

Biryar didn’t answer He wasn’t there Governor Rittenaur, the voice and face of Winston Duarte, didn’t make sense here, and without him, Biryar was like a vine whose trellis had collapsed He had no form No structure He couldn’t even die

The one-armed man put the ruined pistol on the table, picked up Biryar’s cup of coffee, and sipped from it

“Okay I get it”

“I can’t lose her,” Biryar said “I can’t stay with her, and I can’t lose her What else is there to do?”

“They really do a fucking job on you people, don’t they?” the one-arhed “Listen toI was born wrong Soh blood flow Stunted development Whatever It was like a skinny little baby arainstbig I kept row it froet around to it You knohat I h and say how, yeah, it would be a good idea But I didn’t do it Then o…”

He raised his ht

“This,” the oldbadass Basically a built-in waldo with virtual intelligence and patternIt’s not networked, so it’s unhackable And it’s strong as shit Bends steel Stops bullets You knohat else it does? Plays piano No shit I can’t, but it can”