35. The Factory War

In Factory’s dark, Cherry finds Slick sitting by the rusted Judge, trying to steady himself after jacking with Gentry and Bobby. They compare memories: Bobby linked with Angie Mitchell, learned of a rich-people “soul-catcher” aleph, stole it in Los Angeles, fled to Mexico City, then paid Afrika in Cleveland to hide him while he pursued something like Gentry’s elusive Shape.

Cherry warns that Bobby’s prolonged immersion and drips are endangering him. Slick insists Bobby chose this path and notes the LA owners are hunting him. Their tense exchange is cut short by an amplified demand from outside: surrender their “guest” (Bobby) and all his gear or be killed.

Slick moves to the south gate. Bird takes up a .22 but is instantly targeted by a laser-sight and shot dead, his silenced rifle clattering across concrete. The attackers’ armored industrial hover advances under cover of darkness, likely with more personnel and vehicles beyond sight.

From the loft, Gentry seizes control of an Investigator—an old remote-manipulator Slick rebuilt—sending it to confront the hover. The machine’s claws fail to pierce the reinforced apron-bag until Gentry triggers a thermite lance, burning through as the hover tries to reverse and drag the robot away. A shotgunner pops from the roof hatch, damaging the unit and stalling the lance.

As the hover retreats, Gentry discovers another system and ignites a detergent-laced gasoline flamethrower mounted beneath the claws. The sustained, high-pressure fire spray forces the hover back across the rust, showing the improvised war machine can hurt their attackers, and momentarily stabilizing the defenders’ desperate position.