02Undated...while the stony bones of the world tore past and the air grew dark and howling. The last thing he saw as the gulley became a torrent of dust and rock was the Jeep, plucked backwards into space.A. Ashley Straker / quote ↗
03UndatedYou state here that you believe your daughter, Amy, is no longer with you; that the girl living in your house - who looks and sounds exactly like Amy - is not in fact your daughter. Is this correct? Is this still the case?A. Ashley Straker / quote ↗
04UndatedSimon stopped listening. He realised he'd had enough. Enough of the theories, enough of the mystery, enough of the bullshit. Enough of the soldiers and guns and MI5. Enough of bugs in phones and in people he cared about. Enough of not being cared about back. Enough of uncertainty and lies and civilisation, collapsing or not. Enough of is part in it, his place, his role; the character of Simon Parfitt and all the baggage it entailed.A. Ashley Straker / quote ↗
05UndatedShe stared at Raven in a long second of shocked silence, before sagging to the floor.A. Ashley Straker / quote ↗
06UndatedYes' Simon nodded. 'This would suggest that these patterns grow inside the batteries until a critical point is reached, when the shapes develop no further, and the phone ceases to function.A. Ashley Straker / quote ↗
08UndatedHis desire for this to be a joke was quickly replaced by a desire for whiskey.A. Ashley Straker / quote ↗
10UndatedFor a moment, Simon's sympathetic nervous system forgot he was arachnophobic. The sight of those spindly legs rising, like an ink drawing popping out of paper into three-dimensional space, should have caused a surge of adrenaline, a yelp of panic, and at least three feet of involuntary back-peddling.A. Ashley Straker / quote ↗
11UndatedSomething was wrong with the devices themselves. Digging deep into the internal structure of the circuit boards with powerful microscopes, Simon's team had discovered broken and incorrect connections, electronic dead-ends, short circuits, and nonsensical pathways.A. Ashley Straker / quote ↗
12UndatedThe unfortunate 8075 hadn't survived his assault, splintering apart, fragments of its casing skittering across the bench. The battery within had split along its plane, revealing something as out-of-place as a missile in a bathtub.A. Ashley Straker / quote ↗
13UndatedHe had no problem with flies or bugs or beetles, even creepy ones like earwigs and cockroaches...Six legs were fine, but eight were alien and unnatural.'The same number of legs as four fully-grown serial killers!A. Ashley Straker / quote ↗
14UndatedOdessa sighed. 'When I said you were one of the smartest people in the company, I was referring solely to your technical abilities. Now get to work.A. Ashley Straker / quote ↗
15UndatedBut the things in the batteries couldn't be spiders. It just wasn't possible. There had to be another explanation. But of what kind?A. Ashley Straker / quote ↗
16UndatedHe reached the ground floor and flung the door open, fleeing into the street. He glanced back and saw that she wasn't following, so he slowed to a halt. His pulse raced. The entranceway was dark, the door swinging slowly closed. Movement to his left caught his attention: the camera on the corner of the building that covered the resident's parking. It swivelled to point directly at him, and he stared at it for a moment, suddenly doubtful it was a closed-circuit system after all.He ran for his car, and the camera followed.A. Ashley Straker / quote ↗
17UndatedSimon shook his head. 'I don't want to be a hero. I'd rather abandon the technology altogether, sit on a hill and speak to my neighbours by smoke-signal.A. Ashley Straker / quote ↗
18Undated...a fissure appeared. Splinters of plastic broke away around it, and the fissure widened, radiating further fractures.When the first leg broke out, Simon tried to shriek.A. Ashley Straker / quote ↗
19UndatedWho gave you a gun?''The army.''Why?''That's what the army does, Simon.A. Ashley Straker / quote ↗
20UndatedThe military operation swiftly became one of disaster management and damage control, search and rescue.A. Ashley Straker / quote ↗
21UndatedHe realised he was in a chair. The world was white and blurry in half his vision, and it took him a few moments to realise a sheet of paper was stuck to his face.A. Ashley Straker / quote ↗
22UndatedPartnership means she is of equal rank to you, Raven', Obiakor continued...'Don't play games with her.A. Ashley Straker / quote ↗
23UndatedThe attack came without warning, in the pre-dawn stillness on the day they were due to leave. A series of solid concussions shook the walls and sent Simon scrambling from his bunk. Max thrust a handgun at him, which he immediately fumbled and dropped.A. Ashley Straker / quote ↗
24UndatedAre you a house-wife, Mrs Silvers?' he asked. 'What would you recommend for getting burger relish out of a white shirt?'The seething woman cranked the venom-level of her gaze up to eleven, and Raven smiled pleasantly back.A. Ashley Straker / quote ↗
