Stein searched the shifting crowd, the crazy buzz under his skin now moving to his gut.Something?—
A murmur rustled the crowd.He turned, searched for the source.
Doggy number one had woken up, its eyes reddened.
“Guys—” Stein started.
It launched out into the audience amidst screams, growling, slamming into spectators.
And then the second animal came to life.
Declan’s staff scrambled to shut down the animals as the third and fourth dogs turned on the crowd, now stampeding toward the entrance.
Stein spotted the man in the hat, which had been knocked off by a fleeing participant.
Luis.
“I have him,” Stein barked into the comms and took off, shouldering through the crowd.
“Get control of those droids!”This from Logan, but Stein ignored him, pushed around people as he barreled after Luis.
He lost him for a moment in the rush, spotted him again just as the man pushed out into the hall.
And was gone.
Stein forced his way out of the room and stood in the middle of the corridor, now packed with screaming participants, his heart hammering.“I lost him.”
Security from the other areas slammed into the room, against the flow of escapees.Participants surged through the doors to the adjoining exhibit rooms, more people running down the escalator.
Shots barked in the air.
“Who’s shooting?”Logan’s voice.
Stein had whirled around.“I’ve got nothing!”
More shots and shouting.
“Close the exits!”Stein said, pushing into the other exhibit hall.“He might have taken the escalator down.”Wait.“Pull the fire alarm!”
“What?”
Stein ran against the tide, shoving his way through, searching.“Last time the water shut them down!”
In a second, sirens blared, and just like that, water shot out of the sprinklers above.
More screaming, and the spray saturated the hallway, the carpet, the walls.People flushed out of the other exhibit hall, shoved past him.
And he stood in the middle, the water casting over him, saturating him, and it hit him.
This wasn’t...“Something isn’t right.”
“No kidding!”Logan said.“It’s not working.The dogs aren’t going down.”
“Then activate the virus!”
“We’re connecting with the Internet now!”
He stopped in the hallway, staring at the other exhibit room.Signs outside explained the panels inside, the doors closed.
