Free God Hammer: A novel of the Demon Accords by John Conroe

the crumpled door, just able to make out Goog , the last two letters folded into bent and twisted metal.
     
    The shifter suddenly jammed back into reverse and the still-running motor revved.  Grim’s instant response was to tear out the pistons, servos, and motors, basically everything that was running it, which killed the whole thing in a shower of sparks and smoke before it could get enough traction to pull out of the wall.
     
    The other three were just coming out of the door, eyes wide with shock, when I hopped back over the van to their side.
     
    “Jesus, Gordon, stop doing that.  It freaks me out,” said an already freaked out Dalton.  Bellini was silent and wide-eyed. Darion was trying to stay cool, but he looked a little pissed.
     
    “If it’s any consolation, I think it was just aimed at me,” I said.
     
    “Not much.  Not real happy with being collateral damage, Chris,” Darion said.
     
    “Yeah, well, it seems to operate on a good of the many outweigh the good of a few philosophy,” I said.
     
    The telephone pole chose that moment to fall over onto the van in a flash of electricity and sparks.
     
    Larry Dalton sighed.  “Why don’t you and your attorney toddle off and we’ll call this in?”
     
    We moved off, headed for Darion’s Mercedes, Grim on high alert.
     
    “So you really got something to fight this thing, or was that all bullshit?” Darion asked, glancing over his shoulder at the disaster behind us.
     
    “Not something—someone,” I said.
     
    “Someone?  A person who can fight a computer?  What, like some super blackhat hacker?”
     
    “Some would say his ancestors wore black hats, but he favors ball caps.”
     
    Darion grunted, eyes narrowed in frustration.  “What do you mean by black hats? You mean like black top hats or bowlers or those fruity beret things?”
     
    “Think cone shaped and pointy.”
     
    The light of understanding dawned on his face. “Like black cats and broomsticks?”
     
    “Yeah, although he likes vintage Toyota Land Cruisers.”
     
    “No cats?” he asked.
     
    “They don’t let you keep pets in the dorms,” I answered.
     
    “Shit, how old is this asset ?”
     
    “He’s not legal to drink yet.”
     
    “And he’s going to shut down Eagle Eye for you?”
     
    I frowned.
     
    “You know, Shia Labeouf,  Billy Bob Thorton, Michelle Monaghan?” he asked.
     
    “Oh?  Yeah, I remember that one.  Not sure what can shut it down, but he’s already shutting it out,” I said.  “Probably working on that right now.”

Chapter 8 – Declan
     
     
    I spent the afternoon warding the computer center, which took up the whole tenth floor.  Chet followed me around, watching warily as I applied runes with paint and an artist’s brush.  He started to object at the first application of the rune Yew to the back of a server rack.  I just looked at him and waited.  He was nervous and picky about everything involving the computers. It was obvious he was anal about his domain, which is a good trait in a Chief Technology Officer.  But when his internal dialogue dragged on too long, I told him I’d be down checking the spell I’d put on the elevator. Quickly, he snapped to.  “No, go ahead and do your thing.  It just freaks me out to see paint on my hardware.”
     
    We kept moving about the floor.  The back half was a sealed section and I could only ward the walls and armored door, as Chet just shook his head when I asked if they needed the inside done.  A basket stood on a stand near the door.  A sign above it said ‘Deposit all electronics here.  No cell phones, tablets, cameras, watches, wearable or personal technology past this point.”
     
    Technicians and programmers were openly curious about the symbols I painted on their stations and monitors.  More than a couple objected, even in the face of Chet’s permission.  Openly dubious until I finished a string of runes and linked them to the building and the electrical