"Today's been boring," my friend Miku said. "Not that it's a bad thing, I just wish there was more to do."

"I wish I could figure out what else to do," I told her. "Sorry."

"Why are you apologizing? It's not your fault."

"I dunno," I said, "I guess it's because I feel like I should do something about it."

"Well, we could get off of this bench," she suggested, giggling a little bit. "There's a lot of shops around here, we might find something."

"Are you getting hungry, too?"

She nodded, pointing to the food court. "I haven't even eaten breakfast. I slept in, and before I knew it, I forgot I was supposed to come meet you here today."

"Well, Miku, let's go, then," I said, getting up off the bench. Miku followed suit.

This was Hatsune Miku. A friend of mine I met around the middle of the year. At first glance, she's a girl with dyed teal hair with shoulder-length pigtails, casual fashion sense, and probably one of the only friends I would hang out with on a regular basis. She's smart, adventurous, and curious. She had a good sense of humor, and never let anything bother her too much.

We tried to hang out when both of us had the chance. During this past summer, however, we really couldn't see each other because I was in summer school, and she went to get a job. Since we're both done with our summer activities, we decided we'd spend the last few days of freedom that we had.

"So, any idea what you wanna eat?" I asked her, looking at the options in front of me.

"No idea," she answered, her eyes scanning. "Usually I'm really good at making decisions about food, too."

I laughed. "You're as good at decision making as I am at history."

She looked at me, rolling her eyes. "Har har, Griff, har har."

After a little bit of browsing from the various food places, Miku decided to get something from the Chinese food vendor. She told me she'd never had it before.

"You've never eaten Bamboo Railroad?" I asked.

"I've never even heard of it, actually. Is it good?"

"Yeah, I like it," I answered. " I don't really eat it too much, though."

Then she came across something in the drink section.

"Ooh, vegetable juice," she exclaimed, "and the really good kind, too!"

"Vegetable juice?" I inquired. "You actually drink that?"

"Have you ever had it before?"

"Uh, no?" I said. "Why would I?"

She decided then and there to buy two bottles of vegetable juice with her meal, and gave me one.

"Give it a try, really, I'm sure you'll like it!" she said, sliding the

bottle my way.

I looked at it, hesitant to even consider drinking something like this, and fiddled with the bottle. Then I looked back to Miku, who was giggling.

"Oh, come on, nothing bad is gonna happen if you drink it!"

"Alright, I'll take your word for it."

I opened the cap to the bottle, and sipped the juice inside it.

I looked back at her, "You know, this isn't that bad."

"See?" she said, "and nothing bad happened-."

Right in the middle of our conversation, something did happen. Something very big. A loud boom came from the front of the mall, so loud that I fell out of my seat. Chaos ensued as people screamed and shouted and ran in all directions.

"Alright, everyone on the ground!" a loud and commanding voice bellowed. "Stay where you are and we won't hurt you. We're only here for one thing and one thing only."

Miku, who was also on the ground with me, gave me a signal to look behind me. There was a door nearby where we were sitting. It was a maintenance access tunnel. We needed to act fast before they made their way to us, except I was too scared to move a muscle from where I was. Glass shattering, people screaming, and gunfire surrounded my ears, leaving me practically frozen. That was until Miku grabbed me, put me to her shoulders, and dragged me to the door. The strange thing is, for her size, Miku was able to pull me with ease.

I was still in a state of shock when she got us both through the door. I still couldn't move, my heart was racing, and I was babbling a little bit.

"Shh," Miku said, "calm down, we're safe in here."

"I didn't - what in the hell - why is this even happening...?"

Miku sat me down at a wall. "Look, we're okay right now. I don't know what's going on, but I need you to be brave with me here. We need to get out of here, and I can tell you these robbers aren't exactly going to be happy to see us if they find us here. And they will find us here if we stay too long."

"How do you know they're robbers?"

"It doesn't matter if I know or not, what matters is both of us getting out of this place right now."

After finally getting my head together, I got back up on my feet.

"Feeling able to move, Griff? Good, we need to get out of here."

I got up from where I was sitting. I told her to lead on from here, because I felt no confidence at all to move forward here. I wanted to be brave, but this was scary as all hell for me. Chaos ran rampant, and my mind was focused on only getting out of here alive. None of this made sense, and I worried if the police would ever arrive in time to save us. Miku didn't seem worried, though. In fact, she was acting like a different person, like she knew how to handle this stuff.

Whatever the reason, she knew what she was doing, and that's all that mattered to me at the very moment.

I checked my phone to see if I could get a text out to my uncle

and tell him what was going on. I couldn't get a signal. I showed her my phone.

"Makes sense," Miku said, "they're probably blocking it."

We both kept moving slowly through the tunnels, trying to find an exit. We found ourselves wandering into a part of the mall they were remodeling. Pylons, scaffolding, and construction equipment were scattered around.

"Shh," she whispered, "I think I hear someone. It's a few of those robbers, I'm sure of it."

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

She had me crouch down next to her behind a hollowed-out wall, and I could hear two people conversing.

"A'ight, the hell did they get to? I saw them duck in here on the security footage."

"I dunno, they gotta be close by, keep lookin' around. Boss wants no one gettin' out."

They kept talking for a little while, searching for us, but didn't look to the area we were actually hiding behind. Lucky us.

Eventually, after they dispersed and went down separate hallways to look for us, Miku looked at me, trying to think of a solution to get out. She scanned the area, looking for signs of an escape. Then her face lit up.

"There," she said, and pointed to a nearby blueprint of the mall. She scanned it and pointed at where she thought we were.

"From the looks of it, this hallway leads to the parking garage, we can use that route to get out of here. There's bound to still be cars here, so we can take cover behind them."

I looked at her; she could definitely see how nervous I was. But her eyes told me she was determined to get us both to safety.

"It's okay, Griff, I know you're scared, but please, just be brave with me, just a little bit longer."

"O-Okay..." I said, my voice trembling.

"Hey, don't worry about it. We've gotten this far, haven't we?"

She was right. If we were going to get out of here in one piece, I'd have to listen to Miku and make sure I kept my head down.

"Look," she said, pausing for a second as she looked around, "you probably have a lot of questions about all of this. I know you're scared out of your wits, and you're probably wondering why I'm so calm."

She grabbed my shoulders and looked into my eyes with an intense gaze.

"We don't have a lot of time. And there's a chance that we might not walk out of here together, but trust me with everything I'm about to tell you."

I stared at her, taking in what it was she was telling me.

"Miku, are you telling me you know what these guys are after?"

Miku hesitated to answer, and looked away from me.

"If we get out of here, I'll tell you everything," she said. "I know that if we do get caught, these guys won't hurt you, I promise. But if we get caught, I have something I need to ask you."

She took a deep breath, and clenched her hands into fists, and looked back up at me.

"I have something hidden away where I live. If I disappear, I'm trusting you to find it."

I just kept my eyes on her. I didn't understand any of what she was saying, but she sounded serious, so I felt like I could believe her. She wouldn't joke about something at a time like this. I don't think anyone would.

"Okay," I said. "But, I don't know where you live."

"Don't worry," Miku said, "you'll figure it out. Call it a feeling."

Suddenly, the sound of crashing glass and screaming could be heard not too far away from us.

"We have to get going," Miku urged me, "or else they will find us."

Miku grabbed my wrist and pulled me up. We popped up from where we were hiding, and headed down the hallway to the parking garage. I was starting to think we were actually going to make it once we got close to the door.

That dream didn't last long however. Right as Miku opened the door, two figures were standing outside, waiting for us. They rushed in the moment they saw us.

"Gotcha," one of them said as he wrestled me to the ground. "No getting away that easy."

He put his knee on my back, restraining me.

I looked to the right, and saw the other was pointing his rifle at Miku. He had it dangerously close to her throat. We were both in danger, and if I tried to move, they'd probably kill both of us.

"Check him," the other goon said. "Take whatever it is he's got."

"Yeah, sure," the one searching me said. "He's empty. Still, he had money in his wallet. I'll take that. And his phone, too."

I looked up at Miku, who still had a determined look on her face. Was she planning something to get us out of this?

"Alright, then, keep those hands behind your back, dumbass," the criminal who just took my wallet said. "Any moves, and the girl's dead."

These guys seemed really calm. They were professionals, and this was nothing to them. That, or maybe they just saw I was a kid and wouldn't put up too much of a fight. They grabbed my hands, put them behind my back, and tied me down.

"Now don't you worry your pretty little head, kid, this'll be over before you know it."

At that moment, I felt a sharp sting go into my neck. It felt too pointed to be a blade, but still sharp. It had to be a syringe. A needle went right into me, and I felt my body start to go numb. My consciousness was fading, and soon, I'd be knocked out.

"Alright, let the boss know we got 'em," was the last thing I heard.

I woke up hours later, my vision was blurry and my

head ached. Things were spinning around me and I had no idea where I was. Suddenly I heard a voice.

"He's up," one of the voices said, "let them know we've got someone awake over here."

I stirred, trying to recount what had happened and how I had gotten here. I looked around as my vision began to clear and I realized I was inside of an ambulance. My heart started racing, and I jerked up trying to get out of the stretcher I was laying in.

"Whoa, kid, calm down, you're okay." a paramedic grabbed me, "Calm down, take a deep breath, and relax. You're in safe hands."

I did as he said, and let him help me up.

A little while later, after I finally calmed down and

got my head together, I told the paramedics that I was okay. They said they couldn't release me until I had a parent or guardian come to pick me up.

I reached for my cell phone, and found out it was taken from me.

I told them David's number and they handed me the phone.

After a couple of rings, I heard someone pick up.

"Griff, is that you?" He asked immediately.

"Yeah, it's me, I was-"

"Oh, thank God you're alright. I was pretty worried something happened to you."

"Huh, you know about this?" I inquired.

"Yeah," he said, "it was all over the news. I thought you were hurt in it, or worse. Came as fast as I could. Where are you anyways?"

"I'm in an ambulance, right outside the mall entrance. Can you get over here? I kinda wanna go home."

"Definitely, I'll head over."

David came to the ambulance, and I told him the whole story.

"Damn," he said, "what a mess..."

"Yeah..." I paused, "and I still don't know why this happened."

"And what about Miku?" David questioned, "Is she okay?"

I hadn't thought about her until he brought her up.

"I have no idea," I said. "Do you think we should ask?"

David didn't say anything. That made me worry more. The idea of anything happening to Miku made me anxious. If she had gotten hurt, I don't think I'd be able to forgive myself.

We both approached the officer standing by a blockade, and I asked him if he would know where she was.

"Gimme a second," the officer said, grabbing his radio, "This is 2-3 here, I'm looking for a girl, about five foot three, teal hair, goes by the name Miku. A friend of hers is looking for her."

We waited for a response.

"Negative, sir, no names showing up from anyone. We'll keep you posted."

The officer shrugged, and I didn't want to believe it.

"Sorry kid," he said. "If anyone finds anything, we'll keep an eye out."

I just looked down, and felt like I was about to cry. There was no way she would just disappear, would she?

"Griff, Griff, calm down, please." David grabbed me, "they said they'll look into it."

David asked the officer if he could get in touch with a detective, and the officer said they would be sure to contact us as soon as anything became available.

David walked me back to his car, and opened the door. As I was getting in, I noticed a van that sat outside the mall as well. Two heavily armed officers sat by it, carrying large rifles.

"Duodecim." I said.

"Huh?" David was confused.

"I've never heard of them before," I responded, "do you know who they are?"

"Oh, you mean the security van," David said. "Surprised you haven't heard of them before. They're the leading innovators in security solutions. You see those two standing by the van?"

David pointed to the two figures.

"Yeah," I said, "what about them?"

"They're not human. Duodecim has been deploying drones for the past couple years now, and they're only getting bigger because of it."

I looked closer at the two figures, and noticed they didn't have faces underneath their helmets. Instead, a single glowing red dot was visible. I thought they used something like infrared vision, but then I noticed how still they stood there. Almost like a statue. It was off-putting.

"This is the first I'm hearing about it," I said.

"I would say it's for the better. Not that we needed to have robot security forces to begin with, but what would I know?"

"You think they're the ones who saved me?"

"Probably, so chances are they recovered Miku, too. We'll keep an ear out, okay? Let's get home and I'll let you get some rest."

I pondered on that thought, and tried my best to keep my head together while I waited for answers. I couldn't do much else otherwise.

After getting home from such a messy day today, I went to my room and laid down. I didn't change clothes, I just wanted to sleep.

I closed my eyes, still feeling tense after all that had happened, and fell asleep.

----------------------------------------

"This better be good," the curt voice on the other end said.

"It is," the well-dressed man said, "we'll be in New York by tomorrow evening. We're bringing precious cargo, and we'll need a team to help make our delivery."

"Very good," the voice on the other end said. His tone changed drastically. "Any issues so far?"

The man looked into the window of the van. Miku sat by herself, her hands cuffed, and her head lowered. Opposite to her was a drone, armed and ready if she tried to move. She'd occasionally glance at it, and catch the cold stare of the bright red eye on its head.

"I don't think we'll be seeing any issues. None so far that we can't simply beat out of it."

"Good work, agent. We'll be in touch."

The call ended, and the van was left in silence.

"Get plenty of rest," the man in the suit said to Miku, "you won't be able to sleep once we get to New York."

Miku didn't bother to listen. It was over for her, and from here on, there was no way she'd have a normal life.

Miku closed her eyes, drifting away from the painful reality she was in, even if it was only temporary. She knew it wouldn't be long before her ride would come to an end. She thought she might as well escape while she could.