THE VULTURE'S POV
The sensation of falling is a mathematical equation: distance over time, accelerated by gravity. But for a professional, it's also a sequence of tactical adjustments. As the floor vanished beneath me, a trapdoor triggered by that damn Analyst, I didn't scream. I didn't reach for the air. I looked for the ledge.
The maintenance shaft was a vertical conduit of cables, cooling pipes, and steel struts. I hit a horizontal server-rack support twenty feet down. The impact was a jarring, bone-deep shock that threatened to shatter my ribs, but my tactical vest absorbed the worst of the kinetic energy. I rolled with the momentum, my fingers clawing at the reinforced cabling until I caught a thick, rubberized bundle.
