Flying over Boston in the M.A.X. suit, Jenny Swensen nearly collides with a police helicopter — a sharp reminder that she has little experience piloting over a city. Two weeks have passed since Krotze traced her to New Hampshire and Giotti was beaten; with her father's lab moved to a warehouse in Boston's industrial district, Jenny has made plans to strike back but has not yet acted. She visits Eduardo Giotti at Boston General Hospital, where the Troubleshooters have been keeping him company. Andy Meadows warns her again about the risks of using the suit in public.
Back at the warehouse that night, Jenny is interrupted by Detective Eric Chin — the same officer who informed her of her father's death. Chin questions her about the disappearance of her father's mobile lab, which was reported stolen by Fritz Krotze. Jenny tells Chin she is positive Krotze had her father killed, but admits she cannot prove it. Chin warns her to stay in the Boston area. After he leaves, the Troubleshooters reveal they have built new gadgets using M.A.X. technology: Tim Ferris has built a mini-exo-frame he calls "Fastball," and Teresa Roberts has built a direct-cortical interface helmet called "Think Tank" that allows her to access any phone-connected database. Using Think Tank, Teresa confirms that Krotze's financial records — including evidence of illegal arms sales to foreign governments — are held on physical media inside his research complex, which operates on a closed system.
Meanwhile, at Krotze International, a man named Mick Bronson attempts to blackmail Krotze, claiming to know that Krotze ordered him to steal Swensen's blueprints and that Krotze later sent him after Jenny. Krotze refuses to pay and activates a 2.5-megawatt SDI industrial laser in the testing chamber, killing Bronson. He then meets with Major Benton from the Pentagon, who presses him over the destruction of the Behemoth supertank. Krotze deflects, but privately worries about the pressure from his backers, a shadowy organization he refers to as The Club.
That night Jenny enters Krotze's research complex alone, over the objections of the Troubleshooters. Using Spitfire's laser to cut through a wall clear of structural supports and bypassing the alarm system, she reaches the main databank room and locates the magnetic tape reel holding Krotze's full transaction records. She is caught by a guard and, in a moment of pure reflex, knocks him aside with a blast from the suit — wounding him. Horrified by what she has done, Jenny tries to flee, but Krotze's private security force — described as his own private army — corners her and herds her toward the SDI laser testing chamber on Krotze's direct orders. Tim Ferris, wearing his Fastball exo-frame, has leaped the perimeter fence and breaks into the chamber just in time to close the reflective door on Krotze, deflecting the laser beam and causing a catastrophic power surge that destroys the $25 million installation. Jenny escapes with the transaction data disk.
In the aftermath, Jenny wrestles with the escalating violence — a guard was hurt because of her, and she nearly killed Faylen in their last encounter. Andy tells her to make phone calls to Washington the next morning and use the evidence to end it. In an epilogue, Fritz Krotze returns to his Beacon Hill home after hours of questioning by state police, only to be confronted by an intruder named Arun Bahkti — known to Interpol as Steel Hawk — who reveals that The Club has sent him to clean up Krotze's failures, and to deal with Krotze himself.
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