Thunder

Chapter One - 3

Z9 ran with renewed determination, sure that now, weaponless, the man could be caught. Despite this, in the back of her mind, she had the niggling doubt that she wouldn't be able to capture him alive. No, this man was the kind that would only go down when his heart rate hit rock bottom, never to rise again.

It was spitting now, the Celestrian officials having obviously decided that the brief few minutes of dryness had passed and that it was time once more for rain. The slick metal of the roof was becoming greasy, and before long, 'greasy' would mean 'treacherous'. Z9 had argued for shoes with extra grip because of the weather forecast, but would they listen? They would make her slower, they said. Well then, if she slipped and fell to her death, they would be the ones regretting their decision when they were writing the obituary. She certainly wouldn't be saying anything about it; caskets tended not to come with voice recorders for ghosts.

The Magna-Train bound for Region 25 slid past overhead, no doubt filled with the night-shift for the CyberSleep clinic that was finally beginning to pick up speed after fifty years. It was all the rage now, they said, though Z9 had never been in need of therapy. Much. Right now she was getting all the therapy she needed.

The man in black made his way towards the edge of the building. Z9 ran in pursuit, drizzle spattering her cheeks. The man leapt the gap, wider than the one they had both made before, halfway across the Area, and stumbled upon landing. A few seconds later, Z9 was in the air, arms outstretched for mid-air balance, ready to adjust when she hit the next roof.

The wind began to pick up and it was now properly, properly raining.

Nearby, a billboard some seven stories high and a good hundred feet long shimmered, before changing visuals to a man standing in front of a large, billowing black cloud. Little bolts of cartoon lightning beneath it. 'And there is a storm coming in the next few minutes, girls and guys and all between,' the man said, his ears twitching as he spoke, 'so make sure to stay safe. It should hit Regions 27 and 28 first, before extending over towards 35 and 38 for an hour.' The man had a large smile plastered across his face that looked like it had been stuck on there, for it barely changed and his lips never seemed to cover the bright-white sparkle that they gave off. He was probably AI, it was so good these days you could never tell, so plastered was most likely technically correct.

Z9 heard all of this as a distant hum, and took in none of it. She was too busy jumping across another gap between streets. Below her the faint glimmers of the lights of everynight Celestria carrying on as usual. She landed on an air-conditioning unit, her foot spilled out from under her, and she was thrown onto the slick ground. Her cheek grazed the rough surface of the metal roofing plates.

The man stopped at the edge upon discovering that he was at the end of the rows of buildings with no way down. Just beyond, three stories down, was the main Region 27 Highway, four lanes of traffic going either way, most vehicles tearing along at well beyond the speed limit. The man looked around him for an exit strategy, inspected a main turret holding up the Magna-Train, scampered towards it.

'Oh, you're fucking kidding,' Z9 cursed. She got up and ran towards the man, who was beginning to climb cold, slippery metal rungs. She launched herself at the bottom few, swinging out a bit before beginning to climb up after the target.

The man's coat flapped down, and underneath it Z9 could see a flash of something. Small, oblong, lined with crimson. It was tucked into a pocket, and Z9 recognised it instantly. Finally she saw it for real, in the flesh, clambering away from her towards a fully operating Magna-Train line. She remembered all that she had put into that box, every hope and dream of everyone she knew, whether these thoughts were real or imaginary or if she cared for them or not. Her hands took on a life of their own and moved just a little faster, and her feet responded with similar urgency.

She reached up, not far from the lip of the climb, and snagged the man's ankle. She yanked as hard as she could. The wind ripped at her hair, so that she could hardly see what she was doing, but contact with flesh felt good. Like a mission nearly achieved.

The man tried to break free, but Z9 held on tight. She wanted to read down and pluck Skull's gun from her pocket, shoot the asshole dead and when he had fallen to the roof below, go and pluck the box from his fingers. Instead, the man retreated down a rung and aimed a kick at Z9's face. She ducked, swung to the left, her grip on his leg breaking. As she swung out her legs slipped and she went over the air, dangling about thirty feet above the edge of the building, holding on by a collection of fingers on one hand growing numb very quickly.

She managed to grab a hold of a rung with her ankle-grabbing hand before the other completely gave way. Still hanging solo, she flailed with her feet before they hooked back onto the rungs, and she began to climb once again.

Above her, the man crested over the edge and onto the train line. Straining with the exertion of the chase which had been initially a simple grab and run, she got over the edge of the Magna-Train as well. She tumbled into the cradle of the train's chute, felt it tingling with energy surging around her. The man was hobbling off in the direction of Region 25, with the train line. The train that had passed overhead earlier was fading into the distance, disappearing like a phantom through the shimmering wall that split up the Regions.

This had to end now, or it would be very, very messy.