The plan, in hindsight, had mainly been Shay’s idea.

“First step is to accelerate,” I explained. “You want enough speed for the skid, but not too much that you’ll lose control.”

Andrei shook his head, clasping the wheel like it belonged to a cargo tanker. “I’m so shit at driving.”

“Second step is to turn the wheel hard to initiate the skid.”

“Which way?!”

“It doesn’t matter. Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“This is a dumb idea.”

“Third step is pulling the handbrake.” I pointed to the handle near Andrei’s right hand. “That will lock up the wheels, which will cause you to skid and then slide.”

Andrei grumbled something incomprehensible before asking, “Why aren’t I the one going in?”

“Because you look like just the kind of guy who would,” said Shay. “In fiction, as in real life, appearances are everything. If anyone sees you walking around there, they will alert the guards. Jayson? He looks like he could work at Metamatics anyway.” Shay winked at me. “Plus, if you mess this up, you’ll draw even more attention.

“Yeah, and crash the car!”

“Fourth step,” I continued, “is to control the spin. Ease off the handbrake and steer into the turn, alright? That’s so you can correct it.”

I wasn’t sure Andrei was listening, but we didn’t have time. At least that last step—correcting yourself out of the handbrake turn—was the most intuitive. By then, if your reflexes didn’t kick in, you would crash anyway.

Sitting in the Pathmaker’s driver’s seat, Andrei looked woefully out of place. He was huge and tattooed, but he didn’t have a clue about driving. I had never seen him get behind the wheel—not once. But now, he’d have to pull something off that most drivers never do.

“If it’s any consolation,” I said, “the exterior is bulletproof.”

“What about collision proof?” Andrei asked.

Shay clapped his shoulder. “It’s almost 6 AM. They’re going to switch guards soon. We gotta do this now.”

Andrei shrugged as I stepped back and gave him a thumbs up. He looked scrunched into the seat. “Good luck.”

Andrei shook his head, closed the door, and drove the Pathmaker into a slow crawl.

A cement wall painted orange surrounded Neon Shine Heights in Alabang, protecting the intimate cloister from the rest of the drab veneer of Metro Manila. Trikes and jeepneys honked far in the distance. I walked alongside this facade of peeling paint as Andrei crept the Pathmaker around the corner, jerking as he adjusted to the SUV’s sensitivity. He wouldn’t have enough time to get used to it.

Three guards waited at the front of the subdivision, two checking wearables alive with security cam footage. I passed underneath one of these cameras, strolling, dipping my head.

Seconds later, Andrei slammed the Pathmaker forward. One of the guards stood up, pointing. For a moment, I thought Andrei would continue driving and abandon the plan.

He turned hard, throwing the car clockwise. He pulled the break in a loud screech. The Pathmaker spun. Andrei turned the front wheels to compensate, but the vehicle continued spinning until it shrieked and came to a complete 360 stop a few feet away from the exit of Neon Shine Heights.

The passenger side window rolled down, and Shay poked her head out. “Are you serious?!” she screamed. “Learn to drive, idiot!”

The two guards with wearables ran over to the vehicle, the third remaining at his post. I was hoping all of them would leave, but this would have to do.

With the guard’s attention to the vehicle, I walked up to a side entrance near the front gate and waited for it to open automatically. I almost made it.

“ID, Po?” asked the guard.

Shit. Plan B. “Of course.” I made a show of digging through my hardshell wallet. Uncle Nestor had given me many fake IDs, some of which could be misconstrued as Metamatics. At a distance, at least.

The guard, however, stepped closer, watching me rifle through the wallet.

Fuck, I thought, rifling through and thinking of the most convincing one. I couldn’t let him see it for long. I’d need to flash it. Maybe drop it and think of something urgent before running inside. We had no disguises or props, only what was in the Pathmaker.

It turned out I didn’t need any of it.

On the other side of the gate, Reggie was walking towards me. He waved at the guard and exchanged something in the Hiligaynon dialect. I wanted to yell at him and tell him to run.

“I’m with him,” I said, trying to contain my anxiety.

Despite the pleasant nature he shared with Andrei, the guard frowned. His gaze didn’t settle on me long, drifting into the sky.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

A cloud of capture drones had descended on the area. At least thirty were focusing on Shay berating Andrei, all for show. One of the guards helped Shay out of the vehicle, herself seeming exasperated, frustrated, and anxious simultaneously. Andrei played his part, too, looking clueless.

One of the drones descended, focusing on me, zooming in on me. I imagined the brains connected to its eye, the one in Malacañang that could surveil all of Manila’s captured footage. Maybe it would recognize me.

I pulled my hoodie down, shielding myself from its view. It changed its angle, peeking from a new view. I thought it would zoom away, but it became even more curious.

Reggie swiped something on the other side of the side entrance, and the steel door opened. I threaded the gap, walking fast up to Reggie, moving in close to whisper to him and hopefully hear him thank us for coming to rescue him.

Instead, as I walked inside, Reggie went straight past me. At the last second, I heard him whisper something before he turned. “The 7-11 is a blind spot.”

What the heck did that mean?

The third guard lost interest in the drones and looked back at me. I turned and continued forward just as Reggie stepped through the gate to investigate the crash. The guard stood right next to Reggie, eyeing him.

I found the front steps of the 7-11 a minute later. Two cameras outside it pointed to the street. A stern-faced man behind the counter nodded at me, and as I searched for more cameras, I came up short.

I busied myself in one of the aisles, inspecting chip bags as if they were museum displays. I wasn’t there long before the front doorbell chimed, and Reggie stepped through, making his way to my aisle and facing away.

“They can’t see us,” he whispered. It wasn’t clear if he was referring to the security cameras, the guards, the capture drones, or all three. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“You’re not glad to see us?”

“Not the point. Where were you?” He grunted. “Well, we’re fucked now. Metamatics is sending field agents.”

“Which is why we have to go.”

“It’s not that simple.” Reggie glanced at his watch, his voice constricting. “We’ve got maybe ten minutes before they get here.” I could see many questions cross Reggie’s eyes, but one struck him. “How did you know where I was?”

I told him about the plane ride and the Kalawang Clan, who were now waiting for us to finish the extraction. They were gathering around the block from Neon Shine Heights, ensuring we finished the job so they could get the rest of their payout from Uncle Nestor.

Reggie sunk his head after hearing all this. “Andrei told me about those guys.”

I wanted to pick his brain, but it wasn’t the time. Something else began to occur to me. “Was that you at the graffiti display?” When he just looked at me, confused, I continued. “‘I’M SORRY, I’M OK?’”

Reggie’s countenance instantly shifted from concern to calm. “So you guys did see that.”

I nodded. There would be plenty of time for catching up later, but we had bigger things to deal with now. I had a plan, but I wasn’t sure if it would work. “So you can drive those things?” I gestured to the ceiling, hoping Reggie would understand I meant the sky.

I locked gazes with the clerk, who raised an eyebrow. I just smiled and nodded.

“It’s more like steering them,” Reggie said. “Why?”

“And you can do that from your here?”

Reggie nodded. “Why?”

The plan burgeoned. “I can find them.”

The clerk was now approaching us. Reggie left the store, and I followed him through some side streets and alleys and eventually to the foot of a two-story apartment building. I recognized Reggie’s unit from the photo the Kalawang Clan had taken.

Far off, I heard Shay’s incoherent yelling. The Pathmaker honked.

Reggie led me into his apartment, and I didn’t have time to inspect how austere and sterile the place was. He plopped down in front of a workstation PC and showed me a monitor displaying a capture drone’s view. It was looking directly down on Neon Shine Heights.

Reggie offered me a joystick you could have found on a vintage gaming console.

I steered the drone above the compound, getting a feel for it before checking on Shay and Andrei, who were now screaming at each other. The ruse worked well, but I didn’t know how long they could keep it up.

I flew the drone around the neighborhood, keeping it high and searching. It must have taken a couple of minutes, but it felt like an hour.

The sun began to peak over the horizon. Metamatics field agents were coming. Maybe the PNP, too. I thought about just running and seeing if the guards would notice.

That’s when I saw them. The three vans belonging to the Kalawang Clan were now bunched on a side street. I saw Teejay pacing around impatiently, the tall man and the girl beside him, all waiting for us to complete the job. Teejay stared at his phone the whole time, waiting for a text from Uncle Nestor.

I brought the drone closer as Teejay shielded his face, then quickly pulled it back over a roof and waited.

“Will Malacañang see the footage immediately?” I asked Reggie.

Reggie opened another window on his PC. It showed a giant circle that looked like a radar interface. Several red squares were superimposed on it. They were fluttering over Neon Shine Heights. As I dipped closer to Teejay, I noticed them shift slightly, wane, and draw closer to the green dot, indicating my drone’s location.

“They’re curious but not fully committing,” Reggie said. “You have to get closer.” He moved to the window and checked something outside.

I waited a few seconds longer, guessing how long it would take for Teejay to forget about the drone. When I felt it enough, I dropped the drone back over the edge and steadied it right in front of Teejay’s dumbass stare. Malacañang got a five-second view of Teejay. I hoped it would be enough.

All the drones on Reggie’s display turned from Neon Shine Heights towards the assembled vans. They must have noticed.

Something shook. A cracked section of the feed turned to static. I tried to steer it upwards, but it was sluggish.

Reggie took the stick and said, “I think he just shot it.” He pointed at Teejay. “Oh God. You do not want to do that.”

It was already too late. By then, I could see the black forms of capture drones fluttering to the assembled Kalawang to get a closer view. They swarmed down on the figures. The gang members ran into their vans, driving off while the drones chased them.

A loud crash thundered outside. Reggie and I shot up. I threw the door open and saw the front gates to the compound now sprung open, broken, and the Pathmaker driving headfirst through.

Well, it was done.

“Come on!” I called to Reggie, and the two of us ran outside to the street.

The Pathmaker stopped. Shay rolled down the window. Andrei got out, moving to the backseat. “Your turn, man!” he yelled as I got in the passenger seat.

Thank God for rear cameras.

As soon as everyone was in, I threw the Pathmaker into reverse. The guards dove aside. I turned, pulled the handbrake, corrected the skid, and slammed the gas.

We shot out of the subdivision just in time to see a line of black SUVs and PNP squad cars heading toward the Kalawang Clan.