Alteea Sage jumped.
She didn't take the stairs. She vaulted over both the mezzanine's control desk and the rail after that - white coat fluttering behind her - dropped three meters, and hit the lower floor with both feet, already turning. Two quick steps brought her to DRN number Nine's station. The operator sat with his VR headset on, hands buried in twin throttle sticks, his mind inside the drone feed fourteen kilometers away.
Alteea didn't ask. As soon as she arrived, she kicked the base of his chair hard enough to spin him sideways. One hand flipped the manual override toggle. The other took the throttle sticks before the headset finished sliding off the falling operator's face.
"Nine is mine" she shouted.
The operator blinked, headset half-off, mouth open.
