R3C0NF1GUR3D: Teaser

Possessive instincts, and animal urges. Everyone has them. Some let it control them.

This. Was. Insane.

"Anya! Run!" Sam shouted at me. The ground around our small hexagon of light started lowering, leaving us isolated with only one way of escape. "Now!" He gave me a small shove between the shoulder blades, knocking me out of my stupor.

I squeezed my eyes shut before hurling myself of the hexagon.

The wind rushed past my ears as I fell towards the descending platforms. I landed on my feet with an "Oof." and used the momentum that my body still had to roll forward to keep from breaking my legs. Parkour! I thought, involuntarily.

Once I regained my footing, I started pulling myself up the various platforms until I was back at the normal level. Then I looked back over my shoulder for Sam.

He was still on the one where we got stopped, and he was trying to break free from two men dressed in all black with red glowing circuits on their suits. "Sam!" I yelled, not wanting to leave him behind.

"Go, Anya! I'll be ok!"

I was planning on running back and helping him, since he was yelling for the men to let him go, but the platforms around the one I stopped on started to descend. I decided flight was better than fight at the moment.

So I ran.

I turned tail, and I left my friend in the hands of unknown assailants.

Rushing through the streets of this futuristic city, I didn't encounter another soul. It was eerily quiet and deserted, and I did not like it at all.

Suddenly, my body is once again washed in light as another hover craft appears above me. But, instead of stopping like Sam and I did last time, I kept running. Hurrying down the street I was on, I looked for a place that I could hide, or at least conceal myself in the shadows. But everything here glowed. Anywhere I went on this road, I'd be easily spotted.

Fate decided to lend me a hand, and I dove into the darkened alleyway I almost ran passed.

"Capture her! Get her to the Recognizer!" I heard the deep robotic voice of one of the men in black yell. Two guards hurried into the alley after me. I hoped I could loose them.

But, of course, fate decided to be a two faced bitch today.

The alley was a dead end.

Well, I wasn't going to go down without a fight. Turning around, I brought myself up to my full height, and looked at the approaching men. They rushed forwards, attempting to confuse me, but I wasn't so easily fooled. I swung my leg out and knocked the one on the right off of his feet.

The other didn't even flinch over his tripped up comrade. He swung his fist at me, and I just barely managed to duck out of the way. Anticipating his next move, I bring one of my hands up and caught the next fist he threw at me. Keeping a firm hold on his clenched hand, I twisted his arm behind his back and pulled his hand up towards his neck. He cried out in pain as it bent at an unnatural angle.

I was able to slam him into the wall, and quickly tried to flee back out of the alley, but the other one reached out and grabbed my ankle as I passed him, pulling my leg out from underneath me. As I came into contact with the ground, my forehead glances off of the curb. He tried pulling me closer to him so he could restrain me, but I wasn't having any of that. I rolled onto my back and kicked him multiple times in the face with my free foot, cracking his visor and knocking him out.

Once my leg was free, I pulled myself to my feet. I took a quick count of my injuries. My forehead was throbbing where it hit the curb, but after I swiped the back of my hand across it, I decided I'd be fine because there was no blood. But my ankle was tender and sore from when I twisted to kick the guy. I've been through worse so I kept going, hoping I could make it to the end of the alley without any problems.

But it wasn't in the dice for me.

 Dropping from seemingly nowhere, another man dressed in all black appeared at the opening of the alley. But he was different, not just because his circuitry was orange instead of red. He held himself differently than the others. His tall, lean body emanated power, authority, and confidence. As he prowled towards me, I noticed another thing about him. He had an animalistic quality.

Like he was a lion stalking his prey.

And that was me.

We stopped a few feet away from each other, and I could tell he was assessing the bizarre scene behind me. It was clear that he couldn't understand how I took down two of his guards. But he was soon going to find out.

Not waiting any longer, I rushed him and slammed my body against his shoulder, knocking him off balance. I tried to slip passed him then, but he reached out and grabbed my long hair, jerking me towards him. Remembering what I learned in my self-defense class, I grabbed the hand of his that was tangled in my hair, and punched him in the sweet spot just above his elbow. When is grip loosened enough, I brought my knee up until it made solid contact with his stomach.

"Hrrr" he grunted in pain, letting go of my hair. I brought my hand up, trying to smash it into his neck, but he perried it and, reaching behind his back, he pulled out a glowing, rotating orange and black disc. It resembled a Frisbee with a hole in it, but the way he held it, I knew it was a weapon. He brought it slashing down towards me, and I brought my forearm up, pressing it against his wrist, blocking him. He slammed me back away from him and into the nearest wall. Grabbing my throat, he lifted me several inches off the ground to his face level.

I closed my eyes, waiting for him to bring the disc slashing across my face.

But it never came. What came instead, was his voice.

"User..." I heard him growl. When I opened my eyes, his covered face was only inches from mine. My gasp was painful because of his hand pressing against my windpipe. But he didn't seem to notice. Putting the disc behind his back, he then took his hand and gently swiped his thumb over the bruised bump that developed on my forehead.

Suddenly, I was pulled away from the wall, spun around, and had my wrists held behind my back in one of his large hands. He then started shoving me towards the hovercrafts. "Back to the Recognizer" he growled at the other guards. After pushing me up on the deck, he placed me on a small, light up spot on the floor, and a clear case covered my feet holding me fast to the deck.

With one last look at me, the man disappeared up with the pilot, and then we flew off towards the heart of the city.