The specials were here.
She could tell them from the rest of the pretties, even through their smart plastics. The way they carried themselves, it was obvious, their air of holier-than-thou confidence, the way they held themselves above the pretties.
Paili tried to blend in as much as possible, keeping her arms to her sides and putting on her jacket to hide the line of sunblock patches that patterned them. It wasn't much use. She stood out to specials as much as they did to her. Her tan, darker than the other regulation pretties, her intense, sharp eyes, that didn't match the airy, deluded expressions on every other pretties face.
She would have to split soon. She knew what would happen if they caught her. She'd be put under the knife here, have her lesions replaced, and some cuff attached to her wrist so she could never escape. She'd be pretty pretty forever.
She shoved the pills into the hand of the guy she was dancing with, and leant in to whisper in his ear, before walking quickly out of the room. She headed for the stairs, cursing again that she had chosen Garbo Mansion to crash, as little as she missed the city, she would like a break from what seemed to be constant running.
Glancing down the staircase she could hear the quiet thud of special's moving upstairs towards her, joining their associates on the party floor, and, for the moment effectively blocking her exit via the main entrance.
She could only go up now.
She groaned as she realised what they meant. The party was being held on the top floor of the mansion. The only place left to run was the roof.
She grabbed her board from her bag as she took the steps two at a time, knowing that the specials would eventually realised that the Smokies had crashed another pretty party. She tried to prepare herself now, she'd need all the head start she could get if she wanted to fly away from the Special's on their all-terrain hoverboards.
She was nearly at the top of the stairs; her new pretty muscles teamed with extensive hard work from the Smoke making it pretty light work.
She kicked open the door, the crisp cold of the night stinging her exposed skin, as she ran across the open roof.
The specials couldn't be far behind, she'd have to find some way to slow them down. Her eyes went to a pile of drainpipe hidden out of sight by the stair door. The city always had supplies at the ready to make sure everything ran smoothly. She smiled, for once thanking the city for its need for constant order. She grabbed a the thinnest peice she could find, reletively sure it would do the job, and jammed it into the handle. It wouldn't hold them for long, but she hoped, long enough.
She could hear voices, and some feedback, from... a radio? Were they calling in re-enforcements already?
Paili quickly snapped her fingers, jumping on her board, wishing for the second time that night, that she had chosen to wear heels, to fit in more easily with the party crowd.
The soles were slippy and unsteady. You really weren't meant to hoverboard in them.
She tossed them off. Flying barefoot would be hard, but it couldn't be worse than teetering on her stilettos for the entire ride. She went barefoot a lot, and hopefully her feet were rough enough to get the traction to stop her from falling off her board one-too-many times.
Finding her balance she speeded across the roof until she reached the edge. Peering over the ledge, she felt a few stone crumble as her hoverboard brushed over them, and she saw them tumble down into nothingness.
It was a long way down.
She had always hated heights, and as much as she was afraid of the specials, she found herself frozen on the spot.
She could hear the bashing as the specials threw themselves at the stair door only metres behind her. If she left it any longer they'd break through.
It was now or never.
Trying not to think about the drop that she was about to face, she edged her board over the ledge.
She took in a deep breath, and jumped into the abyss.