But I was flying.  It was as close to unassisted flight as anything I could hope to experience.  I felt what he felt, his every movement was as much an extension of my will as moving my hands, blinking or controlling my breathing.

In a very real way, Taylor is one with the swarm. She has been for a while.

It was almost eerie, the quiet.  The buzz of signals and responses from my swarm grew as quiet as it had been since my powers manifested.

Oh yeah, I suppose most bugs don’t fly this high (unprompted, anyway). She has barely had the chance to be away from bugs since that fateful day in the locker.

I had the capsaicin-laced bugs in my armor, a few hundred bugs stored in my utility compartment and shoulderpads, as well as the outside fabric of my costume.  I’d brought the relay bugs up into the air around me for safety, and directed everything else to find cover.  Compared to my dim awareness of the tens of thousands of bugs that I could feel from anywhere in the city, this was almost silence.

At least she’s got some company.

How long had I been relying on my bugs to provide sensory input?  Using my own eyes, I followed my teammates as they raced for cover.

You started doing that in Agitation, and ever since you’ve been using it more and more.

I do like this moment of realization that “oh hey, maybe I should use my other senses for once”.

I felt distracted, as if it was something I wanted to relegate to my bugs while I glanced over my surroundings for potential threats.

She’s been developing some strong habits.

In the time we had remaining, I directed my mount as high as he could manage.  My power gave me a sense of how far I was above the ground.

If they aren’t out of the blast zone, it is interesting that

specifically

our POV character and main protagonist gets the ability to dodge the blast zone entirely by flying.

Well, maybe not entirely. When Bakuda’s stuff comes into play, who knows what will happen. Probably not the Protectorate, Tinker labs or no.

Honestly, I think the “POV character” outweighed the “main protagonist” part. The tension may be less direct this way, but we already had lots of tension last time, and Taylor flying offers an interesting perspective on the blast zone for us readers.

My range formed a loose sphere around me, and as I made my way skyward, my power covered less and less ground, on a literal level.  It wasn’t long before my power didn’t reach the ground beneath me.

So that puts her at least 300 feet above ground. Nice.

A little daunting, being so high when I was so new to flying.

Yeah… at least you’ve got more control than last time, though.

Though that also comes with no one else being there to take that pressure.