The old man's voice cracked on the last word, a tremor of genuine fear beneath the bravado. I watched him through the smoking hole in the door; his eyes were wide like a frightened animal. Am I that scary?
I glanced behind me to see the result of the fiery beam that I dodged, and I saw that the hall behind me was virtually sliced in two, continuing into the darkness, and tearing through various unknown devices, and there was even a vat in the way of the beam, but it did not appear to be damaged.
I looked back at the scattered pieces of material discarded around the feet of the old man, and my heart shook a little. He had made such a terrifying weapon from the parts he scavenged around this room, and something was telling me that none of the parts here had been designed to be used as a weapon when they were created.
