Stun Gun

The Director hadn't left me entirely helpless in this, although she'd refused to give me back my laser gun. Instead, she'd given me a stun pistol Chris had created that had the advantage that it passed through even reinforced glass easily enough. She hadn't wanted me to have lethal ordinance for some reason. She'd claimed that it was because she didn't want the gangs to escalate if I killed someone, but really I suspected that she just didn't trust any teenager to wield a lethal weapon that wasn't part of their power set.

“Lean back a bit,” I said.

“What?”

The advantage to the stun pistol was that it didn't have any recoil. I didn't have to take gravity into account over long distances. It had been designed by Chris to be as easy to use as playing a video game, and it had already been approved by the nebulous approval committee who I was not allowed to see. It wasn't as though I'd be able to actually convince them to let me use a weapon capable of cutting Leviathan's arm off against petty criminals.

Of course, I'd probably try. No reason to not be prepared after all.

I pushed Panacea back, and I said, “This is totally nonlethal.”

I pulled the trigger a half dozen times, and I only hit them twice. It seemed that despite how easy Chris had made it, the vibration of the moving car and the trembling of my hand was disturbing my aim. I'd need some practice to be able to take my human foibles into account. It was probably a good idea in general; if I was ever to get my laser pistol back or a similar weapon I didn't want to blow someone's head off.

Both men had been leaning forward a little bit; the moment I hit them they collapsed like limp noodles. One of them was crushed under the wheels of his own van; what came out on the other side looked pretty grisly.

***

Ethics