A silent wave of electromagnetic energy pulsed through the room.

The overhead monitor flickered and died. The terminal sparked, its screen going black.

Adrian gasped and pulled his trigger. Click. The EMP had fried the electronic firing mechanism of his smart-gun.

Before he could react, I closed the distance. I grabbed his gun hand, twisted his wrist until the bone popped, and drove my elbow into his nose. He collapsed like a cut-string puppet, blood pouring onto the steel deck.

I didn’t stop to watch him fall. I ripped the gold coin out of the dead terminal.

The extraction had stopped at 98%.