He stood at the edge of the building, staring down past dozens of twisting highways at the street far below. It was as clear as if he was standing on the ground, each crack in the pavement distinct and detailed, but he knew it was far, far away.

He raised his eyes and fixed them on the roof opposite him.

"I can make that," he said, or maybe he just thought it. He wanted to, he was about to, when something grabbed his shoulder from behind.

"You can't," said the something, and Jin turned...

... and woke up, annoyed.

The room was still dark; he could hear his brother breathing on the other side of the room. He glanced at their alarm clock and groaned to himself. 12:47 pm. I should go back to sleep.

He rolled over and closed his eyes... turned his pillow over... laid on his back with his hands under his head... then finally gave up. He changed quick, laced up his boots, grabbed his jacket, and slipped out of the room. Aven never stirred.

Their boss was probably still awake, obsessing over her corpses, but she wouldn't notice anything. He could probably walk out right through her lab without her ever even looking up. Thankfully, there was no reason to put that suspicion to the test. Jin followed the back halls to the loading bay and pushed open the inner door, then slipped a thin wedge of plastic between the door and the frame to keep it from locking shut again behind him. The outer door didn't need any such precaution - he had the key to open that again on his arm.

And then, fresh air.

PennCity was always alive at night, sometimes more alive then during the day. Jin climbed over the back fence and wandered down the street, no real destination in mind. He didn't have anything for the folks at Wright Alley, so going there would only serve to upset him. The red code beneath his sleeve could hypothetically open a lot of doors in the night-life streets, but he didn't usually bother exploring those options, either. Humans didn't really want vampires in their stores, clubs, and retro arcades, and there was no lasting satisfaction in forcing everyone involved (including himself) to be around people they hated just because he legally could.

No, people and walls weren't what he considered a good time, but the train of thought did spark an idea. His pace quickened, his memorization of the districts around Imptuus HQ leading him unerringly to the nearest Quick Help station.

A half-dozen booths, just large enough for one person and a screen each, lined the sidewalk under the bright blue of the neon QH sign and roofs. Jin pulled down the neck of his shirt past his shoulder to let the nearest scanner see his code, and a moment later the corresponding door clicked open.

Quick Help for all... Jin recited sarcastically to himself as he stepped inside. ... as long as you're tagged.

It was handy, though. The screen brought up his authorization number automatically, then unlocked and listed all the functions available to him through his corporate sponsorship.

"QH, are there any roof races in the district tonight?"

--There are no official roof races in your district until ***** 27th, but the Saintshood District Second Heat League is running within common-train distance of your current location from 9pm to 4am for the next three nights. Would you like to review the routes?--

Jackpot.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

~

Jin climbed up over the edge of the fire escape awkwardly, one hand unavailable due to supporting the weight of a four-pack of plasmlites - a horrible name for a bitter beverage, but it was the closest thing to an affordable alternative vampires could get to real blood on the market. Of course, it was even more affordable when no one was looking.

The hospital rooftop was a fair distance from the race routes, but that meant it was almost deserted. Edik - basically the only sponsored vampire Jin could stand hanging out with (mostly because of their shared love of dangerous bike races) - was already sitting on the far edge of the roof, binoculars in hand and a yellow code gleaming in the dark through his sleeve.

Edik, as well as being a race-chaser, had fairly remarkable hearing. Jin considered himself pretty light on his feet, but he hadn't crept halfway across the roof before the other vampire turned, grinning, and raised his hand in a wave.

"Took you long enough!" he exclaimed, then spotted the bottles. "A present from Imptuus?"

"From Daris' 24 and Deli," Jin corrected, sitting next to his friend before swinging his legs out over the edge. He offered a bottle and gestured for the binoculars in exchange. "Anything exciting happen yet? Do we have wildcards on the track?"

"Just one so far; some out-of-towner I've never heard of. Cool bike, though. Look for a Vade open-seat with blue slashes."

Jin squinted, looking for movement in the distance, then raised the binoculars. The line of rushing lights solidified into two dozen race bikes, scattered across combined miles of specially-designed rooftops. This track had three routes weaving and jumping across hundreds of roofs, often crisscrossing to give the riders the chance to switch up their route, but all that freedom resulted in a lot of track to search if you were looking for one particular bike.

"Did your sponsor decide to renew after all, then?" Jin commented as he scanned the track. It had been more then a month since they'd met up for a race. Edik snorted, popping the lid off his plasmlite.

"Nope. The new couple didn't want me in the first place, but their old lady had already put in the money and it was a hands-off sponsorship, so they were just letting it run its course. Ran out last week. I am officially unsponed again." He paused to drink and Jin frowned in confusion as he kept looking for the wildcard.

"So the fact that it's still glowing means...?"

"I got someone to reactivate it for me. Doesn't mean much to anyone without being attached to the Grid system, but it keeps the vampire hunters from touching me and gets me into low-security publics, so at least there's that."

There! A streak of deep, midnight blue leading the pack on Route 2. Of course.

"That's definitely illegal," Jin muttered.

"Dude, since when have you cared?" protested Edik defensively. "We are drinking stolen plasma. And it's not like I took a code from the Clan - this one was mine to begin with. I'm just not letting it go to waste."

Jin lowered the binoculars and offered them back to Edik. "I was talking about the blue bike's rear jump mods," he said mildly, but one word had caught his attention. "You went to the Clan?"

"Why not?" Edik crushed the cheap recycled plastic bottle and tossed it over the edge of the roof. "It's just the local guy, and he hires local vampires, so I don't think it's a huge deal."

"Except now you're in their books."

"Except I'm not. Cash exchange, no names. I'm telling you, Jin, the local branch knows what vampires need to survive and how to deal fairly with us. Apparently the boss in PennCity is cut from a different kind of cloth from the bigwigs out west."

"They are mobsters."

"Maybe so, but they treated me like a person. Do your sponsors?" Edik grabbed a second bottle and shrugged. "I say pick your allies. The Alliance system says we're property or prey. The Clan says we're customers. Seems pretty straightforward to me."

Jin let it drop, but only because he half agreed.

~

The blue Vade90 wildcard dominated the track. He was halfway through his victory lap when the first official, regulation bikes crossed the finish line.

"Keep an eye out in your territory, Jin," Edik insisted, "and give me a beep if blue-boy shows up. I would love to see Wolf9 put that bike to the test in a wildcard-versus-wildcard."

Jin nodded absent-mindedly, not really listening. He gathered up his jacket and empty bottles to go, but hesitated to leave.

"Edik?"

"Hmm?"

"Give me the address of the guy you went to. Just in case."