The white lights beamed overhead in the cold hallways of the Genetics Laboratories, I searched a posted registry of all available staff on the level, and I found her. She was staying late, finishing up a couple papers before head out. Room 95 was her lab, towards the outer sections of the Academy. Pulling up the door, I pull out my bag and turned out my “cloak”, it disabled most security and monitoring systems in a localized area, allowing me to berate people without anyone else knowing. I put the janitors card to the sterile white door and simply walked inside. Rows of black counter tops and glass shelves lined the lab floor, everything neatly arranged and labeled for the next student to used. I look across the room and spotted a woman sitting over a computer typing rapidly muttering to herself. This had to have been Elizabeth Crawford, customer #3275, so I placed the cart in front of the door, pulled out my sidearm and strolled on over to her desk. Seeing the orange color of my work suit, she must have assumed I was part of the staff, because she said “ I don’t need anymore cleaning, you guys already distract me enough from my work, go away!”. To this I responded in a commanding tone, “ you have debts to pay, Ms. Crawford.” Her furrowed brow straightened as she realized who I was, obvious fear in her eyes. Leaping from the chair she tried to throw a vial of blue liquid at me, but I ducked out of the way just in time to see her run for the door, the vial shattering behind me. I bolted around the other side of the lab cutting off her escape, my pistol trained right at her. We both stood there breathing heavily, until she finally exclaimed “ You have no right to do this to me, my work could save the lives of millions”
-”Can’t save yourself if you don’t pay up” I muttered
-”I was going to pay Sirus, but my government grants were cut off, I have nothing to pay you with.”
-”then explain it me, you said you could pay up, but you didn’t, why?”
-”I just told you, you dim-wit, THERE IS NO MONEY”
-“I know that, but WHY aren't you getting the money that you promised us?”
She paused, seeming to think about her answer before telling me
-”I don’t know why, I believe it could be because I objected to the militarized used of gene therapies to enhance our soldiers.”
-”What are you talking about?”
-”A branch of the military approached the Academy Administration about using various gene modification methods to better defend their territories on other planets, they called a council and I was invited to be part of the discussions. They demanded almost all of current genetic research resources be allocated to the military. My objection to such a prospect was clear and immediate, I would not see the military take what I and so many others have worked to achieve for progress and the betterment of mankind, and have it twisted into a hammer  to beat others down. After that I walked out of the dark circular council chamber, leaving them to discuss it amongst themselves.”
-”This still doesn’t solve our problem.” I said
-” I’ll tell you what, I will talk to the Academy administration about reinstating my funding, but they allowed the military to just take all of our research, I can’t be sure that I can get your money.” She said with an angry look upon her face.
I looked into her eyes, looking for any sign of deception, but spotting nothing,“Fine, but I will find you again in 24 hours” I told her.
I lowered my pistol and allowed her to walk by me, brushing past my side. I stashed my firearm into the cleaning cart and sealed the steel door on top on it. I rolled out with the cart into the hallway and returned to front desk. At the desk, the clerk scribbled down some notes, her old hands trembling slightly as filed away her notes. I stood there with my bright orange jumpsuit, with a large steel cleaning cart., and she did not notice my presence, until I cleared my throat. The sound seemed to resonate through the bright glass dome, startling the old woman sitting at her desk. Her grey eyes fixed on my face as she stammered,  “can I help you, sir?”
-”Yes, I heard a few rumors from the boys down in janitorial services that some military folks came by here a few time, what’s up with that?”
-”Oh, I only know that a general and some officers came through here to meet with administration about research to bolster defense, frankly I hope some good comes of it, these are dark times.”
I bid her farewell and left her to her own device as I dropped off the cart and changed into my street clothes. The air was warm and heavy as the sun rolled high above the heads the people streaming in and out of the surrounding campus. Sirus was not going to be happy about my decision, but ultimately the result be the same, but with more physical damage to the client. I would have to communicate this before she would send people after me to check up on my findings. I could just have knocked her out and brought her straight to Sirus, but I have a certain distaste for the more brutal interrogation technique used by him and some of his crew. The best chance of me getting payed was to help her find out where the grant money was going, for my sake.

Most of the time when I go after a person and find them, I get results almost immediately, but with  Crawford there was a resistance that I had become unaccustomed to of the last few years. Her determination to not let her goal fall away from her was admirable, but her actions in the lab put her own well being squarely into my hands. Regardless, as she left the lab, I planted a tracking device in her pocket, allowing me to track her every movement for a 100 mile radius: now because of this I could make sure she did not skip town. 
Night fell and the city hummed with activity. Thousands of people went out at enjoy the nightlife, see movies, go to concerts, or attend parties. I was forced by my status as a wanted criminal to find an abandoned building somewhere in the city. Going on foot was the most discreet way to travel, essentially being disguised in the mass of bodies flowing along busy walkways, allowing my targeted face to blend in wherever I went. I felt a sense of familiarity as I slowly traversed concrete pathways through massive buildings and ramshackle housing built by the homeless, out of crates and scrap fabrics. I passed a line of beggars talking, whispering and shouting as people also ran by attempting to avoid their needy cries. One man, wissend and blind, sat with his metal bowl in front of him, rocking back and forth. The world must have seemed so cruel to him, leaving him out in the cold, helpless to react to any threats. I wondered what he might have been before economic failure stopped him, like so many, perhaps he was a  businessman or a lawyer. This did not matter to anyone now, in his decrepit state he sat there depending on others for his survival. While I took pity on the man, I  also felt anger toward those that thought it was ok to let people down like this.  A cold wind rushed down the street and an abandoned shop came into view. Smashed windows reflected my face in broken polygons, a pair a brown eyes staring back at me. Rustling caught my attention as I approached the door, my ears trained upon the darkness. Walking through the open door, I saw piles of trash and boxes lining various regions of the shop: on the cash register, in the corners, and on the shelves.  As I opened the door to the store room, a couple of kids rushed out laughing and screaming almost oblivious to my presence. I looked back at the kids rush around the street corner before taking an old chair and setting up my laptop. Sitting in the dark, I illegally accessed the police forces encrypted data vault, using  its federally protected mapping technology to track Crawford.
Hours went by as the blip on my screen meandered around the digital reconstructions of the Academy campus. My eyes drooped several times and snapped back when I almost fell out of chair from sleepiness. I could not let myself fall asleep, If I lost her, it would be the end of me, I mean Sirus wouldn’t kill his best thug, but he would take all my pay give me no work for at least the next week. Still I had thought about Elizabeth, and I began to wonder if there was a reason, a purpose that she had to fulfill that led her to this point. I was left to my imagination, when suddenly I felt a tap on my back. Startled, I whipped out in my seat, my eyes looking in the dim blue light when I heard,”Hey, down here”. Standing behind me was a small boy with frizzly blonde hair and a big smile on his little face. Wearing little more that red shorts and worn-out shoes, he stood there gawking at me. The dribbled out of my mouth in a dazed and tired state: “What do you want from me, kiddo”? He simply answered “ I was wondering what the you walked in here for, so I walked back here and saw you, and then I noticed the laptop and tapped your on the shoulder”.
-” I am keeping an eye on someone.”
-”Why?”
-”Because it's my job.”
-”Why?”
-”Don’t you have something better to do, kid?”
The little boy gave me a strange look of annoyance before quickly saying, “No, I want to know what you're doing here!”
His insistent questions drove me to walk over to him, pick him, drop him outside of the storage room door, and then slamming the door shut. I still heard his whining for a few hours until I assumed he fell asleep. Turning my attention back to my laptop, I knowed that Elizabeth had gone home for the night, probably getting a few hours of sleep before going back to work. I had given 24 hours, and I intended to make good on my promise. My eyes dropped again and again, until It was dark, sleep overtaking my determination to stay awake.
A scratching sound grew longer and louder, the grinding noise filling my ears until I opened my eyes. That kid was must have been scratching at the door or the wall, but didn’t care, It was already afternoon and I had to get to the Academy before I missed Crawford. I grabbed my laptop off the table and rushed to the door. I began to walk into the street, when the kid ran after me.
“Wait up”, he shouted after me as he ran up to my side.
-”Why are you following me, kid” I questioned as I briskly walked towards a the busy streets again.
-”First of all, my name isn’t kid, it’s  Terri, and second,  I like you and I want to be your friend !”
-” No, you don’t like me, get lost” I told him as the alley merged with the busy streets. I lost sight of the boy as the crowds of people shuffled along in a tireless mass of movement.

I tried to shove passed people in a failed attempt to save some time, but the resistant barricade of pedestrians in front of me formed back into a shifting wall. I spent all of four hours walking around crowds, trying so hard to find a faster route, but in the middle of the day is rush hours. The bright sun bore down onto the concrete maze where I began to sweat profusely, the heat making every action labored and slow. Walking through the city, I watched as people went about their daily lives: police patrolling overhead in their cruisers, store attendants cleaning window just above the busy street, outlet malls putting up displays for customers to view. The busy working class of this city has been under enormous strain due to the economic hardships thrust over their lives. Many have lost jobs or had to have moved to cheaper sectors just to stay fed, and with welfare programs stretched far thinner than they should be, citizen are not getting  enough capital to stay out of utter poverty. This naturally sparked a wave of anger against the governing body of our nation, protests escalated to rioting and looting. In a campaign to restore the peace, Kealin Vor had his chief security advisor Aldor Mane, deploy large numbers of armoured police units to quell the violence. One of bloodiest confrontations, also known as Mane's Folly by some, lead to the deaths of over three hundred people as a massive rioting group attempted to overtake one of the district's main federal offices. The stationed riot police snapped and brought down the full force of their weapons upon the angry congregation. Using robotic crowd control units and heavy weaponry, they opened fire on to the crowd, gunfire and screams marked one of the darker days of Vors administration.  After this incident concluded, Mane was essentially covered by his political ties and still to this day work within national security. Ever since the incident, regular police patrols and rearmament of police forces has put the city in the iron palms of security forces.
The glass dome of the Academy once again came into view as I sprinted for the labs. This time I played the role of a delivery man, bringing a package for the Genetics Laboratories. Since the desk clerks overlooking the lobby seemed to bored to care, I was let in without much hindrance. My intention was to find Crawford and get my money before things had to escalate, but if I had to prolong this much longer, Sirus would sent guys after me and take the money for himself,he might even punish me, and that never is a pretty matter. The white hallways looked all the same, it wa very easy to get turned around, but thankfully they put the employee registers along the walls with the labs they are staffed in. Walking down yet another corridor, I heard someone whispering. I turned to see the wall next to me slide open, Elizabeth beckoning to me.
- “Hey, get in here quick!” she whispered.
-”What are doing, why is there a door there?” I said confused
Crawford suddenly grabbed my shoulder and pulled me into the small room, the door sealing behind me. In a snap reflex, I ducked out of her grip and put my back to the wall, my hands up in fists.
-”Will you put your hands down and listen to me?” she said
-”What did you find out about your grants?”
She took a breath and sped into explanation,”The Academy administration claims that the grants were being delayed to the financial restructuring, but they did not want to give me the files. I was confused because financial record for the Academy are open to staff and faculty, but they said the record concerning my grants were “being processed” for a quarterly report and  sent me on my way. My suspicion that someone had been manipulating the system grew, so I decided to do some of my own investigating. It turns out that the financial restructuring committee, “lost track” of nearly half all lab grants, and it so happens that they leader of the committee has close ties to various military installations that recently headhunted some of the better scientists on staff, promising better pay and benefits. My theory is that they are stealing my grant money, taking staff and doing their own research without direct government oversight.”
I had a confused look on my face, “So if the military has the money illegally, than we can’t get it back?” I asked.
-”That is why we have to find evidence to prove their crime and report it to authorities, and then you will get your money.”
-”Are you insane?!” I blurted out, “Not only will that be exposing me directly to authorities, but we would have to infiltrate a military controlled facility, that means surveillance, that means soldiers, that means possible arrest or death !”
She gave a look of discontent and smirked slightly,” Would it be any different for your if you didn’t get your money?”
I realized she was correct, at this point I would be lucky if I wasn’t going to be killed even with the money. Sirus always made good on threats, and his typical policy was 3 days per job. Elizabeth was one of his most expensive customers and he would not take lightly to another missed payment. At this point rushing into a high-security military research facility didn’t seem like such a bad idea.
-”So, when do we leave?” I said with an excited demeanor.
-”I need to get some things in order before we go, let’s meet out by my house, it’s at…”
-”I already know where it is, personal information tracking it pretty useful”
She seemed to understand and left the small closet.

I stood outside of a large apartment complex covered on ivy, a large door planted in the center of two towers rising of of the pavement. This complex seemed to be a lot higher quality in housing than my apartment, it almost seemed like the economic trouble of everyone else seemed to have foregone this place. I wondered how such a thing was possible but then quickly realized that there was almost no one in the surrounding courtyard or in the windows. Most of the remaining residents were those that had some kind of government subsidies or just a larger income. The local district government hasn’t had enough time or money to deal with a lot of the maintenance on this building, even though it was in the nicer part of the city, ivy grew all over the walls, broken windows littered the ground floor, and the paint on the door was peeling away, exposing the steel to weathering.

I stood there with my hood up facing the cold concrete, waiting for Elizabeth to meet me outside. A sound rung out over the courtyard as the sun set behind one of the towers shrouding me in darkness. Two figure appeared, sauntering around the corner of the entrance, they were bulky looking men, standing at almost 7 feet high. As soon as I saw their silhouettes, I knew it was the Trovsky Brothers, a.k.a the “Grimm Brothers”. Since being employed by Sirus, they have been one of his top crasher teams, they were associated with multiple robberies and kidnappings, all under Sirus’ commands. Uniquely modified with cybernetics, they had turned their love for fairytales from the Brothers Grimm into artistically rendered replacements for their “interior” traits. Volkoy Trovsky, the older brother had robotic fist modifications in the shape of bear paws, and thick body armor covering his meaty legs and chest. Fredrick Trovsky, the younger of the two, had a helmet shaped into a wolf head with a set a reverse arcing legs to go with it.
-”Well look who we have here, Fredrick, a little kid hiding from the wolf”
-”He will be sleeping but he won’t be beautiful” exclaimed Fredrick
I stepped into action, knowing if I delayed, I would be a smudge of criminal jelly on the ground. While they were powerful, they lacked a certain amount of cunning, so my only chance in subduing them was to evade and outsmart. I ran towards to back of the courtyard rummaging through my backpack.
-”So, the wolf wants to fight the hunter, little does he know, he cannot win!” yelled Fredrick as he sprinted with alarming speed across the courtyard. I hoped to find anything that would help me fight them off, but I dropped my bag as Fredrick charged past, shattering a concrete dividing wall. I clawed and scrabbled to get to my feet, just as I saw to doors open and Dr. Crawford stepped out. Upon seeing the two cyborgs running about the courtyard, she ran back inside. I guess I wasn’t going to get any help from her, all I could do it run in circles. With a roar, Volkoy threw a massive robotic fist at ground, the concrete shuttered and cracked, a shock wave emanating from the epicenter of the blast. A concussive force knocked me onto my side, shoving my body into the dividing wall, my legs were scraped and bleeding. WIth a painful twist I grabbed my pistol from my kevlar belt and shot every single charge in the battery, blue pulses of plasma burst forth from the silvery barrel. The searing blue bolts burned and scorched flesh and metal, but Fredrick still stood, now his eyes filled with malice. I felt something grip me, something that seemed like distant, yet familiar, memory: fear. I felt it wash over me like a corrosive wave, eating away at my existance. Seeing both Volkoy and Fredrick walk towards me, I gave up and resigned myself to capture, but I hear a yell. The Brothers both turned as they were struck my tiny darts. They both looked down and and began to panic, but not before arcs of electricity jumping from the dart to dart, rendering them unconscious. I sat up quickly, my useless pistol raised on front of me. To my surprise I saw a small boy holding a black disk in his hands, a look of satisfaction upon his face. It was Terri, the same boy who was watching me in the abandoned shop. Elizabeth stood behind a dividing wall, motioning to Terri while holding my bag. Giggling, Terri ran over to the thugs kicking and prodding them. I rushed over to Elizabeth and grabbed my bag and realized that I had forgotten about the Stunning Unit Dart System or SUDS that I had stolen from a police supply depot two weeks ago. I then snapped to Terri, almost yelling, “What the hell are you doing here, you could have been killed, so reckless child !”
With a sassy look on his face he pointed at me and  said,” You would be dead without me, now you own me”
-”He did kind of save your life” Elizabeth chimed in.
-”And you, how did you even know what to do, how did  a kid get his hands on my stuff?”
-” After I had rushed inside, I saw that kid standing at the edge of the courtyard hiding behind a potted plant, and I couldn’t let him get hurt, so I jumped from the window while you were pinned down and grabbed your bag. The kid than ran to me and asked for help so I took the stunner device and told him to aim the flat side with all the darts at the large cyborgs and push the red button.”
Grumbling, I closed my bag and paced back and forth. I did not want to deal with this kid now, I needed to get my money and get the hell out. There would still be a chance to contact Sirus and make an offer where I could stay in his employment if I gave him his money, it would be a longshot, but it would be worth taking. I don’t know how to do anything else, my job is what I know.
-”Alright, let's get going before we come to the senses and not want to enter probably one of the most secure location in this city.” I said
-”Well let’s hope that we can locate enough evidence for this  fraud, because I need to get funding back, in my opinion, the people deserve to see my research completed. The condition that people are forced to live under are inhumane, They need more room and research can provide this.”
We set off from the scene, leaving the Trovsky Brothers behind in their incapacitated state. I was concerned with the amount of noise caused by the fight, police would certainly be on their way to investigate. Exiting the courtyard, Elizabeth and I ran across the campus in the cover of night. Police cruisers blared overhead, rushing towards the Elizabeth's apartment complex. The few trees that stood in the plaza in front of the Academy provided us with enough cover to stay hidden from sight, just long enough to let the police pass. I looked to Elizabeth to signal that we should go, but I saw Terri sitting in the soil next to her. I gave him a bewildered and annoyed look, trying to tell him that he shouldn’t be here, but just smiled and waved back.

The sky had cleared and the moon shone brightly upon the concrete, We all ran for the drone platform just south of our position, with time running against us I told Elizabeth to keep and eye out for patrolling police as we ran to the control booth.
The lights were on and a single operator was sat in his seat looking over the security footage. We needed to hijack a drone to get us even close to the military facility, but we needed to be stealthy about it.
-”Terri, this is your chance to be actually useful,” I said “go to the window and start making faces at the security guy”
He nodded and and snuck up to the window, I ran next to the door, and Elizabeth stood there, having know idea what the man she was traveling with was even doing. Terri popped his face into the closest window and started making weird faces and obscene gestures at the man sitting in the booth. He looked up and suddenly had a very angry expression on his face. He leapt to his feet, his sky blue shirt fluttering as he grabbed to door handle, knocking over a bowl of chips. Terri ran off with a giggle as the flustered man threw the door open. My fist suddenly met with his head in one swift motion as he stepped out onto the platform. I rubbed his sweat off of my fist, cringing in disgust as he fell to the ground unconscious, his large stomach rippling as it impacted the concrete. I gained access to the computer and activated on of the drone, resetting the control mechanism which allows us to fly it from my laptop instead of the programmed fly pattern. After I uploaded the program, I gave my laptop to Elizabeth, telling her to start the drone while I dragged the guard back into the booth. Terri was already sitting in the drone, swinging his little legs back and forth, Elizabeth sat next to him, her eyes focus on the laptop screen.   I slammed to door shut and sprinted into the glass pod.
The grey city below gave away to a sandy landscape that never seemed to stop shifting. I peered at the horizon while the soft buzz of the propellers filled the still air inside of the cabin. I could see a small flock of birds crowding around an outcrop of rock, sheltering from the blowing sands. They seemed to be the only thing alive in and endless sea of sand, sunlight scorching the surrounding earth. Terri began to stir in his seat, his eyes fluttered open and a yawn slipped past his lips.
-“Where are we now?” he asked me in his childish manner.
It looked up from the keyboard and said “I am flying us over the Garesh Wastes, a previous waste dumping site that was cleared for space reclamation, but was never developed due to toxic substances permeating the ground and water, making it virtually unusable.”
-“OK, so why go over the Wastes, couldn’t we just fly in the the main travel lanes?”
-”If you wanted to immediately get arrested, then sure it might be faster to travel along the main lanes, but since their is no one in the Wastes, there in no radar coverage, it just costs to much to maintain.”
Terri just nodded and looked out of the glass sphere. Elizabeth began to wake up at this point as well, the noise from the wind buffeting against the chassis of the drone had grown loud since the sun rose. She had a grim look on her face, but didn’t say anything, she just glanced at me, then the floor, and then out of the window. I didn’t quite understand her reasoning for this whole venture, there were so many factors and variables to understand: her ambition, the threat on her life, a sense of justice, and economic pressure to complete her work. My lifestyle has always simple, however my reasons for what I do are just as complex.
Starting by myself, I had being left out to survive an overpopulated metropolis, full with littered streets and bad people. I saw how people would steal, so I stole. I saw how people solved conflicts in a very physical manner, so I fought out almost every conflict. I had mixed results, losses and victories, but until I was picked up by Sirus, I was a cruel person . It wasn’t until I had been under Sirus for a few weeks, when I witnessed one of my first acts of kindness or mercy. I was just botched a job and ended up with a piece of rebar in my side, and as I sat in an alley bleeding, a old woman and a young girl  found me. I was very faint, but I remember hearing the old woman speaking to me in a concerned tone, and the girl put a bandage around my wound. I woke up in a small hovel on the ground floor, a single light bulb shining down on my body. They had taken out he rebar and wrapped my torso in thick layers of cloth. I looked around, but no one was there with me, so I stood up and put my shirt and shoes back on, with a surprisingly small amount of pain. To my astonishment, they had helped me, a brutal thug, when they easily could have left me to die in the alleyway. Since that day, I valued kindness, but I was so wrapped up in a criminal business that never allowed for mercy, my subconscious repressed these feelings.
A black dot appeared on the horizon, a shimmering dot on the border of a the blue sky and the orange sand. I could see a few automated air patrols flying around the premises and a large black wall surrounded the facility. With the sensitive nature of  any information regarding such a facility, I had expected these security measure to be in place. Slowly, I piloted the aircraft down into the sands below, hoping for even the slightest chance that they did not see us on approach. Turning to both of my companions, I motioned for them get out as soon as we landed. Pulling my finger across the trackpad, the commands went through to the drone to land, and with a jolt we came to the sudden halt, accompanied by a blind plume of sand. The sand had not even cleared as we jumped out of the drone and set our sights upon the military facility.
-”We should stay low until nightfall, then we will have a better chance at entering unnoticed” I told my companions, “and Terri, you stay with the drone.”
-”Why can’t I go with you guys, I want to help!” Terri cried
Elizabeth put a hand on his shoulder and looked in his emerald eyes with a very serious look  and said,  ” I don’t want you to get hurt, he may not care, but we also need and escape pilot if we need one.”
She looked at me and hinted with a nod of head head. Grumpling, I handed the laptop of the child, leaving a satisfied look on both their faces.

As the sunset in a brilliant display of color, Elizabeth and I packed our bags and began to walk across the warm sand. As night fell, the sand cooled to almost freezing temperatures, making for a cold reception as we ran up behind a large outcrop of rocks . I could see a single entrance, but it was heavily guarded with military police, their faceted helmets jutting out from over the wall. I sat there watching them, and began to see the rotation patterns for their patrols. There was one group of guards who seemed to be either under the influence or inexperienced, allowing an opportunity for the two of us to sneak in. They would arrive at their new position roughly five minutes after the patrol before them, we would use that time to grapple over the wall and run for the entrance. I turned to Elizabeth and signalled to her to run for the wall. With a dash we rushed up to one side of the wall, breathing hard and fumbling with my bag. Seemingly, luck was in our favor, as we peeked up at the top of them wall, the first patrol was just leaving, a door to further down the wall opened as they entered a watch tower. With a swift motion I whipped out two hand-grapplers, handing one to Elizabeth and shooting my own over the wall. The mechanism chimed and we shot up the side of the wall. On top of the wall, we could see the open grounds between the facility and the wall itself, it was virtually empty as if no one wanted to get close to the polished carbon fiber and steel structure. The wall descended almost twenty feet below us, casting a dark shadow onto the concrete below We had only a few moments before had to be out of sight. In a desperate attempt to get us to safety, I took Elizabeth’s grapple, and her hand, and shot the grappling hook at the roof of the main complex. A mechanical chimed sounded and we soared to the next rooftop, the wind stinging my eyes. We collided with the roof top and stumbled around for a second, getting to our feet. Wasting no time, Elizabeth ran the a service hatch and pried open the bolts allowing the door to swing open. I threw the grapple back into my bag, wielded my pistol, and climbed into the service hatch
Inside the shaft was dark and cold, but I could hear the sounds of machinery whirring in the walls. The ladder descended to a small utilidor, with a  rusted yellow door covering one end, the smell of lubricant and paint wafted up from the floor. I motioned for Elizabeth to open the door as I trained my pistol at the shiny handle. She quietly peeling the door open from the frame and peered out into a dimly lit corridor, there was piping in the walls and wires running below a grated floor, and then it turning around a corner. We both walked stealthily to the end of the hallway, staying alert for any abnormal noises indicated an approaching person. As we rounded the corner, I saw handful of doors, one of them propped open, revealing what appeared to a server room filled with small blue lights. I pointed at the open door and went out in front of her, keeping my pistol up just in case we encountered resistance. We entered to room and saw rows and rows of supercomputers, I turned to Dr. Crawford, “This may seem like a stupid question, but why do they need this much computing power, I don’t think I had ever seen this many computer in one room before”
-”I am not sure, I always assumed that they had done more field testing in this area, but even the cosmic extrapolation classes don’t use this much, and they predict cosmic events like black hole formations  and overall drifting of celestial bodies.”
-”Can you try and get into their network and find anything that could relate financial fraud by committee members coercing with military officials, allowing you to get your grants and pay me?”
She nodded and proceeded to take a small tablet out and walk to one of the supercomputers. I turned around to face the door, the hallway was dark as the lights turned themselves off. I became concerned, and looked back at Dr. Crawford who was still tapping away at the glowing screen, my assumptions led to the most logical conclusion: the lights were on a motion sensor system to save power. With my nerves slightly calmed, I propped myself up against the door frame with my pistol holstered. Suddenly a gasp arose from Dr. Crawford, and she quickly unplugged her tablet.
-”I found something!” she exclaimed
-”What is it ?”
-”There was a direct deposit form a government bank account associated with the Academic oversight committee's leader, Vahlen Davis, the same amount a my promised grant of nearly five million credits for my department, and there is something else here !”
With a quickly wave of my hand I said, “ O.K. then, let's  get out of here before…”
I was cut off with a flashes of red light and the wail of an alarm. Elizabeth and I looked at each other and started to run. We ran out the door, stumbling into the hallway, and sprinted left to the doors we had entered from. I was almost relieved to see that sickly yellow door, but it did not matter, a contingent of soldiers burst forth from the utilidor, slamming the yellow door on the way out. We turned and leaped around the corner, but the soldiers were quick, following closely behind us. Looking over my shoulder I could see at least five men clad in body armor that resembled obsidian, their faceted helmets covering most of their head, except for a red visor that covered their angry faces. Armed with stun batons and rifles, they charged in behind us, so I aimed my weapon down the dim hallway, firing several bolts of blue plasma. Blue light filled the space behind us as two shots landed, taking out two of our pursuers, but was not enough. The sirens continued to wail as I saw another soldier jump out from the next corner. In a dead run, I leaped up, tapped off of the wall and brought the butt of my pistol down on his chest, sending the soldier back, dazed and out of breath. Elizabeth ducked into a doorway and yelled to me, but I couldn’t make out the words between the blaring alarms and the sound of footsteps behind me. Panic started to once again clouded my mind, the hallway seemed to stretch and warp, the sound of more soldiers rang in my ears. I looked behind be for a second to see how many were still left, and looked forward to see a door swing open in front of me for a split second, then only darkness.

Blurry lines and shapes appeared before my eyes, I felt a hard seat beneath me and metal around my hands. The room seemed to sway in front of me, as I started to come back to my senses, I was in a dusty grey room. A single white light shone down from the ceiling only a few inches above my head, and I was not alone. In this tiny room there were three others: two females and another male. They all wore light brown jumpsuits and just stared at me as I got to my feet and walked to the shimmering blue film separating us from a heavily armed guard.
-”Hey, what’s going on, where am I?” I yelled at the guard
He just turned his head and glanced at me, I noticed a row  of bars on his shoulder: military ranking. I came to the realization that I had been taken to a military prison, but know one has ever laid eyes on one. When the military made arrests, they people they took never were seen again, most assumed they were sent to other prisons to keep what the military considered to be dangerous individuals from being concentrated in one area., but they had very tight policies on keeping these places hidden from the public eye.
There was a green light and suddenly all the films disappeared and multiple armored guards escorted prisoners through the concrete corridors. I just walked out into the crowd of people and shuffled along like the rest of them, looking up at the catwalks lining either side the the floors above me. I saw almost ten floors of security forces and prisoners.
We were  guided out into the bright afternoon sun and I could see a very orderly concrete pad with stations at the end; beyond those was a ragged pit of brown rock and sand.
I turned to the prisoner behind be, a short man with short black hair and a scraggly beard, and asked him if he knew what was going on.
-”Can you tell me what’s going on?
-”Ah, your must be new here,” he said in a thick accent,” These are the Pit Mines, we mine all day and they don’t let us leave.”
I peered into the distance and noticed a familiar face in a line on the other side of the pad: it was Elizabeth Crawford. I wanted to talk with her so badly, but the guards shoved us allow. As I pulled up to our station, the taskmaster gave use jackhammers and micro-kilns, a portable incinerator where we would have to dump debris into the get rid of it. Soon, we were sent into the Pit and began the day's work. While mining away at the ground beneath me, I saw men and women weakly shuffling along and operating their tools. I had to keep my head down and work my way over to where Elizabeth was, or else I would never figure out what she found out about the facility we go arrested for infiltrating. I slowly moved across the Pit, working the rocks around my path, inching my way to Elizabeth. The guards stayed up into the rim of the pit and walking around its perimeter monitoring labor, but the smoke from the micro-kilns masked my movements for the most part. I eventually managed to creep up next to Elizabeth, I saw a look of relief on her face as our eyes met.  
-”Hey, what was it that you found out ?” I inquired
-”What I found concerns me greatly, as I sifted through the files on the server, I found documents concerning something codenamed “The Four Horseman” she said in an uneasy tone
-”Well, what does that have to do with our agreement ?”
-”I have reason to believe that a political opponent of current president Kealin Vor is conspiring with a splinter of the military, they intend to use genetic and cybernetic modification to create super soldiers for the purpose of a military take over”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, a look of surprise and concern spread across my face.
I looked around to see if anyone was watching us, seeing no one, I whispered to Elizabeth,”We have to get out of here, but I need a few days to come up with a plan”
She nodded and went back to chipping away at a rock face.

A week went by, I sought out as many prisoners as I could without arousing suspicion and asked for any details that might allow for an escape from this place. It was difficult to get some people to talk, my usual tactics were less than effective, being in a prison and all that. Regardless of the difficulty, I managed to get enough information to devises a plan. Every week a supply ship came in the drop off food and equipment as well as exchange soldiers. I would get a handful of prisoners to place the burners from the micro-kilns by one of the equipment storage units. As they light the unit on fire, we would split-up and take out the power station, shutting down that power and releasing all the prisoners. In the ensuing chaos, I will take the supply ship and fly as many people back into the city as possible.
A few days went by, the burners were in place and a sizable amount of volunteers were ready. As the sunset and the guard was in shift changes, a small group of prisoners broke off from the Pit and snuck over the storage units. In moments, a bright orange blaze erupted from the lower ended of the prison complex and many of the guards ran to investigate. In this moment the volunteer groups ran for the power station, rushing through the open doors. Gunshots and yelling could be heard as chaos began to brew, the prisoners fought hard, using anything as a weapon. Guards ran about in confusion shooting and stunning prisoners, only to be taken down by five prisoners each. An explosion in the power station indicated that the mission was accomplished,whether by accident or by intention. When my eyes saw the fireball rise over the shattered glass and steel, I knew we could make it. Running for the large aircraft, I grabbed a stun baton from a fallen prison guard, left beaten into the sand. The four jets still were firing and the doors opened, I could see the pilot step out, armed and ready, but he noticed my too late. Dashing to the grey steel door, I brought the stun baton down onto him, leaving him jittering and shaking on the ground. With most of the prison in disarray, I gathered up Dr. Crawford and a group of prisoners near the ship and started the lift-off sequence. The ramp side up into the craft and sealed shut, everyone was buckled in and in anticipation for escape, their faces beaming. With a blast of dust, the draft left that ground at high speed and shot into the clouds.

Using the ship's navigational systems, we began to try and make our way back as fast as possible. Dr. Crawford was hoping to get the new evidence to the authorities, allowing the coup to be stopped and then. using that as leverage to gain back her funding. I scanned over the various displays and monitors, everything seemed to be going just fine, but I was curious as to what these prisoners were going to do as soon as we touched down somewhere near the city, they would likely be arrested if they just were strolling around on the streets. This was a chance at freedom they never might have gotten were it not for my plan, I would imagine that they would seek employment in criminal organizations around the city.
After several hours of flying, the city came back into view, except I didn’t see the orderly line of traffic in the sky, I saw smoke rising from the city below, cars flying in disarray in an attempt to escape some kind of disaster.
Elizabeth gasped as she looked at the city,” We’re too late, the coup has begun”
-”What do you think we should do, Elizabeth, it's total chaos down there” I exclaimed pointing down while flying the supply ship in circles.
-”We should try and get directly to Kealin Vor, despite his ineptitude, he needs to know the information we possess if he is to have even a chance at stopping whatever those rogue military divisions cooked up in their labs” She said with a sense of urgency and then left the c***pit.

As we lowered in for an approach, I could see soldiers on the ground in a crossfire with the splinter divisions, fire and rubble littered the scene below us. I could see the presidential palace, it seemed to be relatively unscathed amidst the surrounding destruction, all we had to do was fly in a straight line and contact the president. I shove the throttle at max and the ship barreling pasts burning skyscrapers and panicking civilians. As I could see beyond the protective walls around the palace, I saw a familiar but strange sight: Sirus was in the courtyard cackling like a maniac. He had shaved his head revealing and ornate tattoo pattern on the sides of his scalp, he wore grey pants with suspenders, and pair gold metallic shoes. Wielding a pistol in one hand and a sack of grenades in the other, he recklessly sprayed shots at soldiers and civilians alike, a look of glee upon his face. I was not surprised that Sirus would have taken this opportunity to indulge his bloodlust, but he had really gone over the edge since last time we met. I landed the craft between the wall and the palace rising several stories above us. The ramped went down and the prisoners rushed out, I had taken the time grab an extra suit of body armour and a pulse rifle on my way out of the aircraft. Sirus whipped his head around and saw me standing there clad in armor, and began to laugh, but then with a very serious look on his face he said,” You owe me big time, kiddo, and this time I will only accept your spleen as sufficient payment !”. I wanted to yell something back at him but  metal spike erupted from his chest, and a screech rang out across the way. Sirus’ body collapsed on the ground and revealed a feminine figure wrapped in cybernetic modifications, her entire body was almost completely converted to robotics designed to bring painful death upon all who resisted. Rows of cables came down off her head like dreadlocks, glistening metal body pieces, and a segmented tail that curled and twitched, now covered in blood, . She stared at me with glowing electric blue eyes and screeched, needle like spikes elongating along her spine and arms. I had never in my life seen anything like that, the shear volume of cybernetics would have nearly killed anyone who would have underwent the procedure. My bewilderment  was not over yet, just as I began to turn to Elizabeth, who had already made a run for the palace entrance, two other figures rose from the stairway behind the first machination. These two were seeming more like normal human beings but they had exoskeletons fused to their armor. One had large shoulder mounted missile launchers and a jet pack, while the other had a long scythe blade and a hood that covered its face. I knew that I was not going to be able to defeat these three without a serious advantage. I sprang back into the ship and started up the engines, the jets flashes with flames as the craft sprang to life. The three individuals sprinted forward toward me, but I was quick to act: with one turn, I managed to blast one with jets, the exoskeleton sparking and melting. I felt a sense of triumph, but is was short lived, the missile launcher had ordnance still in it, the explosion completely took out one of my engines  and the craft barely made it off the ground. The entire c***pit shook as the supply ship came down with a thud. I fumbled with the seatbelt, trying desperately to rip it off, alarms from the ship's computers rang out  and red lights flashed through cracked displays. The c***pit darked as something covered the windshield, I looked up with terror as my eye met the electic blue eyes of my death.
Everything seemed to stand still, seconds became hours, and I found myself sitting in a cardboard box, raining streaming down and trickling off the top. I could feel the cold damp soak through and chill my little bare feet. I felt so hungry and tired, but I sat there watching  a man and woman get shoved into a black car by men whose faces I could not see. I didn't feel anger or sadness, but I felt a profound sense of loss, like I would never be whole again, but I couldn’t cry out. Paralyzed with fear, I sat hidden from the men that took them away. I felt tears mixed rain stream down my face and I started to run. I run as fast as my little legs could carry me and wept by myself, in a city that knew no mercy, in a city that knew no forgiveness.
I saw her clawed hand come sweeping down the rake the life out me, it came crashing through the glass, spraying shards all over the dashboard. Her claws penetrated my armor and found warm soft flesh. With a hint of a contorted smile, she screeched and threw me out into the courtyard. I felt nothing but a dull thud and wetness streaming from my wounds. I looked up and saw those electric eyes stare me down as I coughed up blood. She seemed to coil up getting ready to leap, and I just lay there motionless. With one massive thrust she sailed through the air as a buzzing sounds grew louder and louder. In my damaged state, I barely comprehended what happened next: as she sailed over me, a AI-R drone crashed right into her and drove her metal body into the ground, dragging the against the concrete for several seconds before it all stopped. To my surprise, I saw a little boy with frizzy blonde hair and red shorts, jump out of the c***pit and cheer.  Terri rushed over to me and gasped “ Cramer, oh my gosh, I was looking everywhere for you, let me grab the medkit from the drone!” He rushed off and grabbed a large red case from the crashed drone. He opened it up and grabbed two large white syringes. Running over, he uncapped them sat over me.” This may sting a little” he said jabbing one onto my wound and injecting “clotters”.
The white  capsules filled with blood and solidified, stopping the bleeding. Next he jabbed a syringe in my arm and injected painkillers in my body.  In a few seconds, I grunted as I got to my feet. I looked at Terri for a moment, admiring the little boy’s determination to help me, “Thanks,....Terri”
Our little reunion was cut short when I heard over the supply ships radio that “Something” was inside the Palace slaughtering soldiers and that Kealin Vor was brought down to the bunker. I quickly remembered  about Elizabeth, she had left to go contact the president, and now one of those fiends has in there with her. I gave Terri a pistol from the supply ship and told him to watch himself, then I entered the Palace.

The large entrance hall was dimly lit, emergency power must have been running. I ran across the large expanse of marble masonry towards the elevator door on the opposite end. I could hear fighting going on in other parts of the palace, there were visible signs of struggle in the entrance, scorch marks, blood stains, and destroyed furniture.  Entering the elevator, I hit the button for the lowest level, there I could find the Presidents bunker and possibly Elizabeth. A chime indicated that I had arrived the shiny steel door, slide open and I saw that the bunker had been melted through, like giant torch just burned away the door. As I walked in I saw bodyguards lying on the ground, slashes up and down they backs and some had evidence of corrosion. I quickened my pace and turned the corner, trotting through the solid white corridor, when then I laid eyes upon it. Towering over three figures in the room ahead of me. It had a grotesque appearance that made festering sewer rats look good, green boils pulsed all over its body, disproportionate arms and eyes, and translucent sac of bile right under its neck. I could see Kealin Vor whimpering on his knees and Elizabeth on her knees with her hand bound. Behind them was Aldor Mane, who stood there with a look of disappointment on his face and then yelled out from across the room, “Well, I guess someone has come by to help save the president from the evil securitys officer!”
-”Let them go , Mr. Mane, lets not be unreasonable here” I yelled back with my pulse rifle aimed at his head.
-”Do you really think it’s that simple, that you threaten me with your gun and I give up a better future” he retorted
-”Just let them go and you could get away with life in jail”
-”Ha, Kealin's soldiers are a joke, they will never win, besides after my coup is over, we all win”
-”Oh ya, and how does that happen, you suppress everyone with your freaks and then become dictator?”
-”This nation needs a strong leader, one who will bring us back from the brink, on who will reunites us as one people!”
-”By killing and stealing, that's hardly a good foundation to build a nation on!”
-”It's not like I expected you to know any better, Todd Cramer, your history is built upon those principles .”
-”I’m turning over a new leaf” I shrugged
-”Well, believe it or not, you won’t be able to fulfill those dreams”
Aldor pulling a remote out from his black kevlar vest, his grey eyes glinted in the fluorescent light as he tapped a button. The tall boil-covered creature twitched and bellowed, swinging one arm at me and spraying bile everywhere. I lunged at its legs, sliding between them, firing successive shots at his bile sac and arms. In a burst of green, the sac exploded and it grabbed me by the leg. Aldor chuckled to himself as he saw the creature pick me up and grab my other arm. I began to feel it pull my arms apart, the strain was immense, it felt like every tendon was fighting this abomination but without avail. I looked down saw Elizabeth use the bile to cut her bonds and grab my fallen rifle. Aldor saw this and pulled out a pistol, but Kealin jumped to his feet and barged into him before he could take a shot. She then ran toward the creature, swung up to its shoulder in a fantastic leap and shot the creature at point blank. It dropped me and let out a soft moan before collapsing on the ground.  I got to my feet and went over to the toppled Aldor Mane, grabbing him by the vest. I took our his pistol and put to his head when I heard Dr. Crawford shout ,“STOP!” I turned to her and asked “Why?, he deserves this!”
-”If you kill him, you will be no better than him, you be nothing more than a heartless killer”
-”He will do it, I can see it in his eyes, he wants to release his rage on me, don’t you Todd?” Aldor coughed
I struggle for a moment, I felt Dr. Crawfords humanity, fight against my burning rage. I grabbed a radio from my pocket and shoved it in his hand.
-”it’s finished Mane, call off the attack!” I told him in rage.
-”What's to stop you from killing me anyway?”
I quickly handed the pistol to Elizabeth, “because she has the gun now, call off the attack”
He first looked me and then at Elizabeth and then lunge at me with a scream. I simple redirected his trajectory and he slammed right into a wall, knocking himself out.
I turned to Elizabeth and gave her a big hug. She seemed somewhat surprised, but reciprocated in kind.
-”We did it” I exclaimed
-”I can’t thank you enough for what you have done, but we need to call off the attack before more people get killed” said Vor
Nodding, I grabbed for the radio and announced on all frequencies that Aldor MAne has been detained and Kealin Vor was alive. I gave the radio to President Vor and he addressed to troops himself.
After the broadcast, the coup fell apart, corrupt element of the military and Academy administration was rounded up and arrested for treason. In the following weeks, I received an official pardon for all my accumulated charged and was offered a position within the government as a security advisor, but I declined. I started up a private investigation office, and adopted Terri. We live together now in my apartment and we try to make the best of things. Elizabeth Crawford managed to genetically engineer grasses and corn to survive in harsh condition that were similar to the Dead Zone planets, securing a top position at the Academy and an award for the top discovery of the year. Following recent events, there has been major government restructuring and many more people are living quality lives because of it. Kealin Vor was elected on a platform of cleaning up the government and being a fair leader. Now , I looked of local cases, people come to me about robberies and murders and I try and use my skills to do some good, and hopefully make a positive difference in people's lives.
I sat on the roof of our apartment complex with Terri, looking out into the blue sky and eating sandwiches. It was these moments that really made me feel like I belonged, like I was whole again, and Terri felt that save way. I looked at him and laughed out of pure joy, and he laughed with me. We were two street rats that tried to survive alone, but ended up making a better life together.