22.5

Worm, Chapter 22.5 Summary:

Skitter awakens, disoriented and in pain, finding herself back in her cell in the PRT offices, her swarm drastically reduced. Her father and lawyer are gone, making her feel like a monster, a label she’s unsure if she can shake. Her mind wanders to unusual behaviors her bugs performed while she was unconscious, like weaving silk, suggesting an unsettling connection between her unconscious mind and her passenger.

She finds the building empty of people, with only technology and abandoned cars remaining, likely due to an evacuation triggered by her powers. After a painful shock from a security device, she discovers Tagg’s body in the morgue, killed by her bugs. Despite the gravity of taking a life, she struggles to feel remorse, focusing instead on Tagg as a threat.

Determined to escape, Skitter uses her remaining bugs to retrieve Tagg’s phone and keys. The building’s renovations and security measures make it a difficult task. She navigates through vents and a damaged elevator shaft, eventually getting the phone and keys to her cell. Before she can unlock herself, Defiant and Dragon arrive in a four-legged vehicle, intending to take her into custody.

Skitter memorizes Defiant’s phone access code and uses heated bugs to mimic his touch, successfully opening the cell door. She uses the elevator to evade them, then uses the stairs to reach the second floor, hiding as Dragon patrols outside. In her haste, she unlocks her restraints, feeling a sense of dread about her team and the mercenaries they’d hired.

Skitter gathers tools and weapons, including silk cords and a grenade launcher from the PRT supply room, using Tagg’s phone and keys to access it. She attempts to disable the security system and backup generator, hoping to gain an advantage in the darkness. She loads the grenade launcher but finds it requires confirmation to fire.

Defiant and Dragon confront her, their armor impervious to her bugs. They communicate silently, likely through their masks, and take her towards the rooftop, where Defiant’s vehicle awaits. Skitter, filled with anger and despair, tries to fight back, binding Defiant and Dragon together with silk cord.

On the rooftop, she makes a last request to speak with Defiant alone, using the opportunity to push him off the edge. Dragon saves him, and he angrily confronts Skitter, revealing that both Alexandria and Tagg are dead. He tells Skitter that her actions have doomed them all, crushing morale and breaking the hearts of billions.

Skitter defends her actions, blaming Alexandria and Tagg, and asserts that the PRT is more trouble than it’s worth. Defiant counters, saying she’s made a choice for the entire planet, and that her actions are making it difficult for him to be lenient. Skitter retorts that she’ll fight them as long as they work for the PRT, believing there’s a way to survive without them.

Miss Militia’s voice comes through a speaker on Dragon’s shoulder, revealing that they’re running out of time. Skitter realizes that the Undersiders never attacked and that Alexandria’s actions were part of a larger ruse. She questions the purpose of the deception, and Defiant admits it was a tragic mistake they’re all about to pay for.