Nick was on his feet as soon as he heard the gunshot, rushing to unlock his door. He let out a breath, throat seizing closed as he heard the heavy boots on the floor below.
He returned to his room, locking the door behind him like he believed it would help. He felt around the bed for a handhold before realizing it had been printed as part of the floor and wouldn't be moved.
His breathing came faster and faster as he froze, kneeling by his bedside. There was only one stairwell, and that was about to be flooded with the owners of those heavy footfalls. Slowly he turned to the window, rising on shaking legs as the scar on his neck began to itch. "There's worse things than death…" he breathed as he opened the portal and looked down -- they weren't terribly high, but if he made sure to fall headfirst…
Net's had been electromagnetically attached to the frame of the first floor, angled beams attached to the building's base, and tied to the large armored personnel carrier as counterweight to anyone who hit the nets.
Nick pulled his head back inside, hands shaking as he closed the single-pane window. He left his hands on the glass, forming an idea he wasn't sure he was capable of following through with. He smashed his fist against the small, square pane before he could begin to second-guess himself. Fractures spread like electricity from where his fist made contact, sending shards outwards to fall through the nets below. The glass left in the window frame formed the jagged teeth of a clear maw, a beast Nick was far more willing to feed himself to.
He wrapped still-shaking fingers around one of the larger shards and pulled, snapping the shard into his hands as boots echoed up the stairs behind him. He raised the edge to his throat, swearing at his shaking hands through unsteady breaths.
Boots thundered in the hall behind him, a cool breeze of desert night caressed his cheek -- he could die now a person, or live forever as an object. He closed his eyes as he heard the door open behind him, pulse beating against the edge of the glass as he gritted his teeth -- he was a person.
His eyes flew open as there was a loud pop and a flash of piercing light behind him, back arching involuntarily as every muscle the light touched convulsed. The glass shard fell from his fingers as his hands formed into claws and he fell to his knees, then to his side. He couldn't even protest as he was fitted with magnetic cuffs and a collar, then carried by his collar down the stairs as the cuffs were magnetized to it.
His muscles loosened into sore piles of dough as he was dragged down the steps, then across the the ground floor until finally he was dropped on his knees out in front of the hotel. He watched the ground as armored soldiers marched about like bugs carrying corpses to their hive, lining up the others beside him.
They were inventoried and loaded into the back of the APC a moment later, and it was then that Nick realized Jacq wasn't among them. He glanced from the front of the hotel to the back of the APC where it sat between the beast corpse and the gallows, but all he saw besides the other prisoners were soldiers. One by one they were loaded into the solid metal seats in the back of the vehicle, collars magnetized to the walls behind them.
Then came the stasis gurney, slotted into grooves in the floor and roof as it was slid down the middle of the row. The round, smooth interface mask its occupant wore came to a stop before Nick, blinking information to his interface. His gaze ran down the slender form vacuum-sealed inside the needle-lined material in disbelief, gunshot echoing in his ears as he noticed the divot in her abdomen. He looked to the exit in time to see the masked man's eyeless gaze disappear beyond the rising ramp that sealed them inside.
He was distantly aware of motion as the APC drove off, occasionally jostling him against his cuffs and collar as they held him staring at Jacq's suspended body. He gritted his teeth -- the black silhouette of Jacq's body pressed against the darkness when he shut his eyes.
He'd been a believer, once, that the system was built to change -- he'd formed an organization through the system, gathered followers through debate and taken action through petitions and supporting politicians who were chosen for him. Despite this he couldn't seem to stop getting people hurt, while his opponents actively hurt people to serve their purposes. What was he doing wrong?