The Coordinate

Chapter 19: Chase

            A Spacer Bay. A prim and proper Spacer Bay. He didn’t dislike the view of it, honestly. He was actually surprised and  impressed, considering that it was the first time he had ever seen and stepped in. His ship was never in a proper Bay. He never had that luxury of visiting a proper hangar where he could rest his ship and himself.

            Yeah. He might’ve enjoyed and taken to more sightseeing if only the circumstances weren’t as unfortunate as this one.

            The darkness of the projection cleared with pathways, walls, names, appliances and equipments with every pulse of his map. It was a perfect plan using a hologram, scaring the enforcers so none touched him and dodging everything thrown  at him. He had the Zionous to thank for  that.

            He flicked his wrist, taking a breather atop the broken roofs of an abandoned building he must have wrecked on his first descent here. He gazed down on the construction workers trying to patch the place down below. It was a wonder none of them spotted him in such an obvious spot.           

            What were they thinking, Swallow wondered, he saw their intent—a brown, glowing orange, the color of hardiness and resilience, like a small flower blossoming from a felled tree’s trunks.

            Their efforts were wasted, he thought. This building wasn’t even great to begin with. Shaky pillars, unstable foundation, cheap cement and unrefined, thin iron beams. It sickened him to think that everything beneath these surface cities were made for the rich and privileged, where elites and novasapiens lived under such luxury, where the surface city would be its fodder and shield.

            A’vin scum deserves to die. Every single one of them needs to die.

            They weren’t living creatures. They were viruses. Viruses move into an area and consume and multiply, eating every resource available, and to survive, it moves to another, repeating the cycle. They’re a disease. A cancer to all planets they go to.

            A sharp, constant banging echoed through the base of the building. Swallow sighed, they must be demolishing it, he thought. That was good. Destroying such a frail building to create a new one was a good decision.

            He leapt from the roof. Stretching his left arm to a nearby building, steel wires shot from his vambrace and reeling him to the nearest building. He leapt and swung to building to building to building until he was able to find a quiet, uncrowded one, then dropped to the streets.

            He felt confident walking in the streets despite tighter security and panicked masses. Thanks to Rori and Jordan’s drive connection data, forging a fake identification tag became easier.

            It was always hotter during the day. He was surprised none of the novasapiens and humans weren’t sweating over it. Though now, he just needed to find somewhere shaded and initiate the 2nd phase of his plans. He needed more data, specifically of the companies inside Ytrial’s underground city. He needed to fake being an employee and have sufficient information to keep that façade believable. He needed to manipulate data transfers and lead up to him being able to get inside the city.

            Jordan’s visitation pass was already spent with that hologram trick, and using it for that little show was a welcome tradeoff.

            Swallow ended up a park where he sat on a bench covered by a tree’s shade.

            Trees.

            They were so rare back in Novaien. Oxygen had to be synthesized, and having one in one’s property spoke volumes of your values and wealth, but in here, trees were common, and treated not as a lifeline like they should be, but some sort of resource they can harvest and profit off of.

            He could only imagine what this world was before the A’vins came. A green and blue planet, full of life, filled to the brim with energy, just like what his father told him. Though now, he assumed there musn’t be that much trees anymore.

            With most flying birds extinct… what would willingly take such a laborious task?

            None, of course.

            None.

            He wondered what the walls on the cities were for when there were no threats looming over the settlements, unlike in Novaien. He remembered well the rad-storms and frequent earthquakes, and the memories following these incidents were one he’d rather not remember at all.

            His throat was dry above all else. This sol caused him a great deal of inconvenience—draining his bodily fluids dry from his pores and causing his stomach to roar, or perhaps the one and a half days of working without taking in any food caused it?

            Rest. Rest, recover, reposition.

            Eyes burned at him, he felt it, like a laser chipping away at his skin. He turned to the direction, and found a girl glancing at him every couple seconds. She was sitting with an older, similar-faced woman on a bench a couple distance away from where he was sitting. Her face was familiar, like a blur he had already seen before. Immediately, he flicked his wrist, activating the signal disruptor. He maintained his sleight of sight, keeping his eyes on the girl and the woman beside her. He examined  her clothes.

            Silken sleeves hiding paler skin.

            A measuremeter augmentation on her hands. Shiny and unused. Must be new.

            And that hat seemed like an important part.

            An engineering student like Jordan, but one that was underground dweller based on her clothing. In fact, both women seemed like underground dwellers.

            They stood up and moved normally outside the park—either pretending that nothing was wrong, or not noticing that he found out that they saw him.

            Their intent was bright red, not the color of flowers, but the color of red giants. The color of panic, the intent to seek help.

            Swallow subtly walked towards them and leaned on the gate walls, keeping his eyes on the women. They were flicking their wrists, and frustration laid evident in their faces. They started talking to a guard. He focused his eyes, zooming in on their lips.

            ‘There’s a suspicious-looking novasapien in the park. I think it might be that fugitive. Would you please check it out? I think he saw us.’

            Swallow sighed.

            Yep. They’re unto me.

            Swallow walked to the park back once more and quickly slunk into the myriad of people. He burned their face into his head, trying to remember while he moved away.

Where did he see her?

            When?

            How andwhere could he have let his guard down as to not take in every detail of his environment?

            Ah, right. That moment he never expected, when Winter offered her help. It shattered all his expectations, though he was suspicious, Winter’s intention was as white as the cold puffs crunching beneath his heel. He couldn’t have refused something he needed too much.

            Then… where?

            The girl Winter was with. The girl she carried on her shoulder. On the elevator.

            Winter’s friend again.

            Damn, what kind of twisted threads of fate would allow these kinds of coincidences to happen? They were underground dwellers, weren’t they? Why were they in the surface city?

            It didn’t matter.

            He needed to silence them, but how?

            He can’t assassinate or kidnap them, lest Winter would refuse to cooperate with him, but if they are allowed to walk and roam freely, it would perhaps spell trouble for him in the future.

            “Hey!” someone called. Swallow turned back and saw the policeman those two talked to looking at him. The man gestured to come closer. Swallow cast his eyes to the policeman’s sides, looking for the two women, but they were nowhere to be seen.

            The air around him turned hot as countless people stopped to gaze at him with eyes full of suspicion and fear. Footsteps became rushed as one by one, people around the park vacated the vicinity.

            Swallow sighed, approaching the policeman, “Yes, officer?”

            “Can I see your ID?” he said, his voice rather hesitant.

            “Oh, sure.” Swallow took out a rectangular metal displaying his basic personal information and a file chip for scanning. The officer pulled a handgun-shaped device from his pocket and pointed it at the ID shakily. The scanner showed a relieving green light.

            The officer looked at the device and exhaled.

            “Oh, sorry to trouble you, Mr. Jian. I’m sure you understand that we have to do these kinds of things.”

            “Oh, no worries, officer. Has the search for that fugitive fruitful?”

            “Not so much, unfortunately. Anyways, carry on.”

            Swallow nodded to him, then headed to the park exit. On the way, in his periphery, were the two women who eyed him with a frightened gaze. Turning to look at them would mean suspicion, so he didn’t. Him leaving would make the best, especially since that guard was already duped.                  

            “Stop it right there,” a male voice said. A familiar male voice at that.

            He turned to look at the source. Blonde hair, brown eyes. Jordan Heron, just about to exit the park. Swallow’s heart raced. How did that man find him? These series of events couldn’t have been just mere coincidence? Was this planned? How did-

            Finch.

            This must be Finch’s doing.

            “Jordan!? What are you doing here?!” that familiar girl said.

            Jordan glanced at her with serious, grim eyes, silently telling her  to shut up. Jordan walked up to Swallow. They eyes burned against each other, though now, Swallow was more worried about the forces Jordan was hiding behind than Jordan himself.

            “You only filed your horn and stole some contact lens? Shame, if you had a face change, I wouldn’t have been able to recognize you.”

            “Sorry. Didn’t want to steal 20,000 credits just for a face change. Besides, I like my face as it is.” replied Swallow.

            Enforcer cars suddenly came and surrounded them. Police aimed their guns at him as he stood, and if this was truly serious, a sniper was placed in one of the nearby building rooftops.

            “No more holograms. No more tricks.” Jordan said, “You’re coming with us. You’ll finish the experiment they need and get Winter out as soon as possible.”

            “Damn, you’re stubborn. You’ve already seen your friend being tortured and it still isn’t enough to move you against her torturers.” Swallow clenched his jaw, his face heated, “I hate people like you.”

             Jordan scoffed, “Likewise.

            Swallow jumped, higher than gravity allowed, and seemed to have bounced in the air. Swallow swung wires on building walls, flinging himself in a speed compared to a missile.

            “After him!” a fading command echoed through as Swallow sung.

            He breathed with every wire shot, exhaling with every release. He bounced and swung through building walls as gunfire echoed from below and gunlight filled the streets. The wind blew against him and the air started to vibrate. The gunfires became overshadowed by the noise of aircraft whirring and the sound of rotating blades. Choppers and multiple drones everywhere, trying to shoot him down without a care for the civilians on the streets and the buildings they were chipping away at.

            I thought they were only supposed to capture me

            He swung and swung, flinging himself to every building wall nearby, breaking through the windows and jumping on the building’s other side amid panicked workers

Think what do I have?

            This makeshift grappling wire. An electronic stealth field. A short blade. A stolen handgun. Some bottles of regenerative solutions. A hologram projector.

            What do I do… What do I do? What can I do?

            Windows. Buildings. Enemies everywhere. Chased.

            It then struck him.

            An idea.

            He broke through another window, sending panic into the people inside—the kind of situation he needed.

            With a flick of a wrist, the signal disabler is activated, and he took out the handgun from his coat and raised it to the panicking masses.

            “All of you shut the f**k up.” He warned,

            The civilians inside quieted down and raised their hands. With a flick of his wrist, Swallow activated the electronic stealth field, where cameras and trackers wouldn’t be able to find them. The rumbling and rotating blades echoed from outside, circling the building. They were trying to locate them and see whoever was inside the building, but unless they would try to see what’s inside the floor with their own eyes, everyone inside was invisible. A’vins relied on technology too much.

            Activating his hologram projector inside the building, he threw the bottle from his knapsack into the window, breaking it, and sending the projection of himself to leap and continue swinging across the city buildings. The rumbling faded, and gunfires were directed towards the hologram clone. It would only take a moment before something makes contact with it since an automatic hologram would make the mistakes Swallow would painstakingly avoid making. The window was short, but once it was safe enough to jump to make a back exit, this escape would be successful.

            As the noise was far enough, Swallow withdrew his g*n, “Thanks. Just so ya’ll know, I had no intention to kill you people.” He said to the panicked masses before stealthily jumping to the other side of the building and swung to a far distance. Thankfully, nobody below the streets saw him, as the citizens and everyone’s attention was already drawn by his clone.

            His chest was still beating fast as he kept swinging, aiming to retreat to that calm, rural, residential area of the city, back at that motel rooftop to modify his plans and rethink his procedures.

            Finally arriving, he sat down on the roof, gasping for air and letting out a relieved laughter. That was close. Too close. Who knew he would get caught like that? More importantly was the fact that Jordan Heron was the one that caught him.

            No. This was all Finch’s doing. He had to-

            Bang!

            Swallow froze as a coldness pierced his stomach. He reached to his stomach, feeling his hands around it. The cold turned to sharp, hot pain, echoing and spreading throughout his body. Wetness greeted her hands, and upon looking, was covered in blood slowly creeping from his shirt.

            “Stars, Jordan had become sharper and more intuitive the moment he met you.” A female voice said. A very familiar voice at that, one he hated to hear at a time like this. ”I’m very impressed he was able to guess this was where you’d likely return to.”

            Swallow fell to his knees as blood spurted from his mouth. His vision started blurring and his ears ringing, but that shape and voice was all too familiar. He wanted to speak, but his diaphragm stopped him.

            “Oh, little Passerine. Truthfully, it breaks my heart to do this to my former favorite, but I need to do what must be done. I’m sure you understand.”

            The last thing Swallow heard and felt was a thud and a blunt object hitting his head.