Guardian Angel

STRESS TEST

I found the fair and grand building we called the "Parliament". But really, it was just a big mansion with reinforced doors. It was pretty much Lovec's house in a big suburb of flats, with a huge yard of well-trimmed grass.

I remember the flower girls that used to come by every day to make the garden look colourful. Then Lovec was paranoid from Plaids coming to raze our safezone, and started by setting up a high fence. Nobody let the flower girls in to do their work. And the daisies turned brown, the roses bowed their heads, and eventually his security dug the soil out to add floodlights to the yard. The flower girls found better places to do their work.

I got over to the fence with my slingshot in hand and scanned the amount of floodlights in my way - three. I could sling a lead pellet at the bulb, but the lens would protect it quite a bit.

I could not be too sloppy with this, as the sun was setting and gave me a small window in between darkness and the floodlights all turning on at the same time. So I got out of cover generously, drawing the elastic back and cracking the lens in the first floodlight.

Checking to make sure no slowpokes were watching, I slung another pebble at the lens and it smashed right through the weak plastic cover. Then I took my chance and stuffed the slingshot away.

I put my hands on the black bars and pushed myself over the fence. I dropped the first time, but the second time I remembered to hook my leg over with some momentum. I hit the grass before I knew it and ran to the floodlight, stomping it to pieces to be sure, just before light beams flooded the yard. I hid behind a tree closest to the floodlight, and luckily the one near me was shut off, but now it was seriously dark and even looking in the direction of the lights would blind me.

I waited patiently and watched the light shining on my tree. A shadow appeared in front of it and blocked the light for a moment. A security guard was already close by, and I waatched them turn around before picking up one of the garden rocks, and slinging it at a tree to draw the guard away.

He didn't notice it at first, so I picked up a slightly bigger rock and let it land near his feet.

"Hm - is someone there?"

He looked back and forth for signs, and as he turned the other way I shot another rock farther away from him. He raised his rifle and went to check it out, and I took the chance to run to the next tree. I slung a floodlight to the dark with another pebble in advance, and stayed hidden. The problem now, was that with no light I wouldn't be able to see any guards nearby and even less likely to see where I was going.

From memory, I remembered a monument in the middle of the yard pretty close to the Parliament entrance. Though they took out the flowerbeds, they didn't remove the bronze statue of "Nathaniel the Conqueror", the famous British colonizer of Darktown and its derivatives - through unnecessary slavery and bloodshed. But it was probably the best way to take over countries back in the day though, since reasoning with someone in a different language is significantly more difficult than just popping them in a head with a musket.

But what I did notice was Nathaniel made the best cover. I walked by that bloke on his high horse so many times, the man had lights shining on him at all times, but nothing away from him. And if my muscle memory was correct, the statue was big enough to hide objects triple my size.

So I got low and examined the arrangement of the floodlights ahead. They shone in my eyes so intense I couldn't look ahead any further, and so I would need to get a different angle. But the guard was making his rounds nearby, and I could definitely use another distraction.

I looked around for any more rocks. Nothing. And a lead pebble would not make enough noise on impact for the guy to notice, without a doubt.

There was something I could see ahead, though. A little picnic table, and some empty beer bottles in a cardboard carton. I looked around and ran for it, snatching one of them.