Much to his relief, the door was closed, and the room was empty. For a moment, he thought that someone would have been waiting for him, or they would’ve been watching from the door. If that had happened, then his life would have been over. He would have had no chance to escape.

But luckily, he was alone. Looking around, he found the room to be a tad bit less cluttered. The officer must have carried some stuff out with him. Phew, they just wanted to clean the place.

Quietly approaching the door, he Ed looked out through the shutters and scanned the room for people.

Only a few officers were left behind to clean up the mess. Where the rest had gone, Ed didn’t know, but he suspected that there would still be at least a few keeping watch around the warehouse and the surrounding streets.

It would be safer for him to stay here for a while and then escape through the sewers after a couple days. They should be all gone by then.

Ed waited patiently while the cops cleaned up the mess left around the warehouse. There was nothing they could do about the bullet holes in the walls and floors, but they could at least get rid of the blood. The owner of the warehouse would just have to deal with the rest of it themselves.

After a while, the warehouse was cleaned up and the police left, carrying the blood soaked tools in garbage bags to dispose of at a later date.

Scanning the area for anyone he might have missed, Ed waited a few minutes before pushing the door open. I didn’t see anyone grab the briefcase. If I can get my hands on that, I might be able to pay of my debts.

Slinking through the shadows, Ed kept his head on a swivel as he approached the centre of the room. He didn’t want to get caught off guard. He maintained a fast, but quiet pace. He wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. Tonight had been far too dangerous for his liking.

Reaching the edge of the light, he went up to one of the shelves. It should be this one, right? Pretty certain that he was correct, he dropped to the ground and looked underneath the shelf.

It was difficult to see in the low light, but he was able to see something that looked like it could be the briefcase. It’s a little far away. He circled the shelf, looking for a way to reach it.

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Come on. Just a little closer.

Lying on the floor, Ed stretched his arm out as far as possible to reach the briefcase, but it was just out of reach. His fingers scraped along it many times, but he just couldn’t get it.

“Come on!” Getting angry, he took off his coat and tried to shove his entire body in the small gap between the shelf and the floor, not caring if he got stuck. He needed that briefcase.

Luckily, he only needed to slip his shoulder under the shelf to reach it. Grabbing the briefcase, he pulled it out and stared at it. It looked identical to the one he brought in, but he was absolutely certain this was the one the man had. He just knew it.

Throwing his coat back on, he kept a tight grip on the briefcase, refusing to so much as look away from it for more than a second. This briefcase could change his life forever.

“Hey! Stop right there!”

A light shined on Ed from the door to the warehouse, and without thinking he immediately booked it for the sewers. He knew nothing good would come from listening to the man.

Without even turning back, he knew it was the police that found him. Shit! Shit. What am I gonna do? I need to get out of here!

Reaching the storage closet, he slammed the door shut and jumped down into the sewers. The hole was left open, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. It would take time to close it. Time he didn’t have.

Rolling to break his fall, he ran through the trash back the way he came. That way, he was at least somewhat familiar with the environment. And he would need all the advantages he could get.

Propelling himself forward with his leg thrusters, he heard someone landing behind him, and knew that he couldn’t slow down for a second. Not if he wanted to escape.

Sprinting through the sewers, Ed ran through several twists and turns, trying to escape the cop, but the man was always right on his heels. At least the man could never get a clear line of sight, otherwise Ed would’ve been gunned down.

Turning left and right, Ed found himself in a long straight section of the sewers, without any turns in sight. Fuck.

The light from the cops flashlight was shining right behind him. The cop was just around the corner. Ed didn’t have the time to think.

He had no choice except to keep running. To run as hard as he could. He felt his lungs start to burn, but he kept pushing. He couldn’t slow down.

The cop turned the corner and was finally able to see Ed. Pulling out his gun, he stopped and took aim, supported by the implants in his brain and eye.

Before he could think, Ed launched himself forward with his thrusters, diving and rolling through the sewage as the first bullet flew over his head.

But then the second came. Then the third.

Ed danced around the bullets, the chip finally making itself useful by connecting to the thrusters and pushing him out of the way of the bullets. His dodging kicked up a ton of water, the movement of which messed with the officers implants, allowing Ed to dodge the next few bullets.

Scrambling down the pathway, he reached the end of the tunnel, and saw the water drop down a hole. With no time to think, he leapt in after it.