WARNING - CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE AND VIOLENCE
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A knock at the door. Stern, commanding.
An intrusion, a cacophony. Distant and soft.
Heavy knocks on the door. Demanding now.
Confusion. Dizziness. Eyes open.
“Open up, Ravencorp Security!”
Eyes wide. Panic.
Tangled sheets wrapped around her ankles as she sprang from bed, checkered pants twisted uncomfortably as she sprinted for the window. A soft click engaged her personal shield as she dove through the window, watching more than feeling the impact as she shattered the glass pane.
Cold steel greeted her hands, the rickety fire escape swaying softly against the side of the apartment building, creaking in annoyance at her sudden appearance. A glance down showed several Union City officers charging up the metal stairs to block her escape. That’s no good, up it was.
The little nubbly metal bits on each step bit into her bare feet as she ran, she'd never been sure what exactly those were for. Grip maybe? The soft and threatening wind of the bullet passing by her was expected, leaving a trail of sparks as it ricocheted off the magnetic shielding she’d had the good sense to get implanted. Already she felt the shield weakening, she needed to eat. This really was a bad time for this.
"Couldn't you guys wait for me to have breakfast first?" The answer was a second bullet cutting the air near her head. "Rude, at least a coffee would be nice." It was late October and the weather was pretty normal for this close to the coast right now; wet, cold, and windy. Not great when all you had was a tank top, pajama pants and an empty stomach. The gravel on the rooftop was unpleasant enough to snap her focus back where it needed to be but, luckily, not enough to slow her down. She braced herself as she approached the edge of the rooftop, planted her foot, and leapt as far as she could.
She glanced down. You weren’t supposed to, but hey, things were fucked already, and she needed recon. A parade of squad cars with a chump truck beside them. They'd blocked both lanes for the entire block. It was nice to know they were starting to take her seriously.
Her feet hit first, and she threw herself forward into a roll as she landed, the familiar pulse of adrenaline had her fully awake now. How had they found her? She put a finger just below her right ear.
“Tyco, I need an evac, now!” She hoped she didn’t sound too panicked; this was still a workplace after all. “I’m in Union, north coast, near the channel.” Static greeted her in response. She tapped twice more and promptly forgot about it as several new bullets grazed her shield as she jumped across to the next building. She was an easy target out here for any snipers. She had to get to the undercity, and fast. None of the Ravens would find her down there. Not safe to walk around near all those people you grind under your bootheel every day.
Another tap, more static in response. Time to get serious. She grabbed her right forearm and twisted, aiming the grappling gun at the top of a nearby building. Once she felt the satisfying crunch of the titanium grappling hook biting into the brick she stepped off and dropped to the alleyway. She felt herself slowing near the ground, released the grapple and landed easily.
“Freeze! By order of the Raven, you will stand down!” An officer was coming from each end of the alleyway. Twisting her arm, she shot the grapple back out and into one guard’s face, taking him fully off his feet and onto his back. She felt the impacts of the slugs hitting her shield as she side-stepped and reversed the swing, wrapping the grapple around the officer’s leg as he fell. She grabbed his gun mid-air as she walked by, hands moving quickly and dropping pieces of it on the ground.
She kept the mag-battery though, good for a quick boost if she needed it. The grapple snapped back into her arm as the cybernetic plates slid back into place. Flexing her hand, she started running again, looking for any of the old sewer grates in this part of town.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Originally, she had chosen that little apartment because of the basement access to old tunnels that led deep beneath the city. Plus, this was a quiet part of Union City. At least it was supposed to be, she wondered what she had done to tip RavenSec off. She knew what she’d done to piss them off, that one was easy. But how did they find her?
Another tap to her ear. This time there was a connection.
“Goddammit woman where have you been?!” Tyco sounded panicked.
“This is a workplace, calm down Tyco.” Her legs were still pounding as she crossed another street, sliding across the hood of a hover car parked in her path.
“Fuck you Brit, you scared me!” She could hear his hands working the keyboard as fast as they could go. “Two streets straight ahead, one left. Look for a blue building with a gross green awning. Who does that?” The man dropped easily into the routine; this was not their first time.
“Two up, one over, blue and green got it. You got any scramblers?” She slipped between two pedestrians who yelped in alarm. “I could really use them right now.”
“No scramblers right now, they staked me already. Gotta run them around a bit, so if I drop the call...” She didn't understand the hack-speak but she knew Tyco knew and that was good enough for her.
“Yeah, yeah, Tuesdays am I right?” She chuckled as she came around the bend and dropped to her knees to slide under a massive hammer being swung directly at her skull. She felt the skin on her knees being torn apart, but it was better than the alternative. The sound of hydraulics told her exactly who wanted her attention before she heard the booming voice.
“Leettle sqwerrel, why do you run? Come play with Ivan!” A second heavy swing of his hammer crushed the car she had skidded towards before she dove out of the way.
“Tell Ivan I say hi!” Tyco laughed. His hands were still furiously typing. Brit planted her hands and flipped up onto the nearest unhammered car and pushed herself off and towards the massive chunk of steel that was Ivan. Mid-air she twisted as best she could to avoid his massive mechanical fist grabbing her, some of the jagged fingertips of his gloves raked her leg badly but again, a fair trade for the smoking hose she now held in her hand on the other side of him.
“Tyco says hi Ivan.” She waggled the hose at him as he sluggishly turned to face her. “I like the suit, is it new?” Ivan tried to swing the hammer but the arm holding it wouldn’t work, hydraulic fluid spraying everywhere as he screamed obscenities at Brit's back.
“Oh, my fuck, I was joking you badass. Stop jaw-jacking and get your buns moving!” More typing. “Go south one and east one, another entrance there.”
“If we know where the tunnels are, so do they, find me something they don’t know.” She was sprinting again, heading south deeper into the city, further from the coast. As she headed deeper street by street, the facades of the buildings began to look more and more disheveled. It made sense after all, what was Union City if not one big coat of whitewash over the cracked and broken foundations everyone forgot were there. Plus the governors loved to make sure the coastal market stayed up, too much money to be made that way.
Ahead of her she saw the Ravens hovering into position and blocking the road. She dodged to her left and into another alley before they got a proper bead on her. The brick walls sped by on either side of her as she ran, at the end of which stood a man staring at her, mouth agape and ready for the sandwich he held in his hands. Deftly dodging the man, she reached out and snatched the sandwich.
The man’s expression was priceless but even better was the warm crispy bun and cheesy eggs. She savoured each bite as she ran.
“Ok, there’s an old boot shop coming up on your left. The basement has an entrance, but you better hurry, they launched shuttles. Three of ‘em hot and planet bound.”
“On it.” She answered through a mouthful of sandwich.
“Are you eating right now?” She finished the last bite and swallowed before answering.
“Not anymore. I’m here, back door?”
“You got it. Four levels down, end of the hallway.” Typing. ”I’m going to lose you once you go down. But you should be right near Mick’s.” Tyco’s tone sounded apologetic.
“Ugh, seriously?” Door open and taking the stairs two at a time was easier with a full stomach.
“If you want to choose, don’t beg.” He sounded smug.
“Can you please,” another stairwell hopped down quickly, “use words right? Scrambling a saying doesn’t make you wise.” She pulled open the door at the end of the hallway and paused, staring down into the inky blackness of the undercity. Flickers of light in the distance showed her where the old settlements were.
“Screw you, I have great words. Super wise. Like an owl, with a hardline and Wi-Fi. Ooh, and fresh coffee. See you when you get here.” A short burst of static cut off the communication, leaving Brit standing at the edge of the drop into the darkness below. The sound of the door at the top of the stairs bursting open made her decision for her.
“Time to go.” She said to no one as she stepped off the ledge.