Highlighting Tech, Zoom-In

The Simurgh was there in the distance, taking roost in the middle of a clearing, ringed by a crown-like circle of ruined and toppled buildings. It had been a park, once, but there was no grass, no water, there were no trees.

The tech in my eye changed settings without my requesting it. Tweaks to the night-vision, then a zoom-in, which combined with the wind to create a sensation closer to helplessly falling than anything I'd experienced to date, and that included having my flight or my ability to control my flight taken from me while I was a hundred feet above the ground. Mostly because the Simurgh was what I felt like I was plummeting toward.

A wing was folded around her upper body, but golden lines appeared and outlined shapes behind the wing.

The golden outlines turned red. Labels were traced out in print so small I shouldn't have been able to read them.

Tinkertech. Machine Army.

***

I could see the red outlines for the tinkertech. Pulled behind her back as part of the maneuver, so nobody in that crowd could see it.

***

I couldn't let my focus slack by even a fraction. Not even to read an alert that didn't even require my eye to move for me to bring it into clear focus. It was gold text, at the very least. Not-

The text changed. Outlined in red, not gold, now.

I stopped shooting, sparing a look.

The Machine Army broke containment.

I pulled the trigger again, going after the tinkertech again. At the corner of my vision, golden alerts and labels popped up, notifying me that teams were deploying to the site, to try and corral the escaped machines.

- Last 20.1