Amplifier 0: A murder of sorcerers.

A cluster of sorcerers had fortified the doors to the stairwell, and likely the entire staircase leading down to the fourth level. Evidentially I hadn’t fooled anyone as to my objective.

A murder of sorcerers. Not a cluster. Bee’s presence brushed through my mind. She laughed, quietly deadly.

“Helpful,” I muttered, risking a glance down the long, straight hall. Looking for possible egresses, or anything I could use for shelter. There were none, which I’d already known But double checking never hurt.

A red laser sight bloomed on the wall above my head. I was crouched — the gun-toting extraction team were aiming for where my head should be. I retreated a couple steps, running the floor plan in my head. I could backtrack. But, since they knew where I was going, eliminating the other four while they were trapped in their rooms was most likely being discussed.

A botched attempt on my life was one thing. Perhaps the heart attack Macy had planned to induce was supposed to look like a complication from my wounds. But murdering the others without a traceable kill order was going to be difficult to justify.

Still, time was of the essence.

– The Amplifier Protocol, Amplifier 0, second draft