Clara walked up, taking the steps one at a time. It felt like it was taking her forever. She stopped when she reached Floor 28. There was lots of rubble and dust on the floor around her, the natural light was beginning to creep down the wall, there was a piece of plastic flapping in the wind several floors above.
The psychic paper shifted again in her back pocket. This time when she opened it, the paper said, 'Bonnie is about to knock down the door, how do I protect Clara and Ashildr?'
Clara thought back, the psychic paper had created a fake wall to protect them when they were hacking the computer. Looking around her, she swept up a handful of dust and concrete around her and put it on to the paper, it remained blank. She held the paper against the breezeblock wall next to her for several seconds. A brick wall pattern appeared on the paper, and then faded away.
Clara rested for several minutes, and then continued. The staircase finished on Floor 30, where the steps were covered in iron bars all around. Clara went out through the doorway, into the main floor, it was deserted. She heard a metallic clunking start from the other side of the floor, specifically the construction lift. It continued as she painfully walked towards a yellow ladder on her right.
Using all her strength she stepped onto the ladder and ascended, the pain was unlike anything she'd ever felt before. Every step up was a stabbing pain on the left side of her body, her wrists were still aching.
On the next floor she came off the ladder, collapsing to the ground. The lift was still clunking away, she saw the carriage go up past her with Ashildr and herself in it. The loud noise stopped a few seconds later.
Clara pulled herself to her feet, a determination spreading over her face to climb to the very top floor. Shaking, she pulled herself up on the ladder, when her head drew level with the concrete she took a look backwards, seeing Ashildr and herself walking towards the green portacabin, talking to each other. Clara walked a few paces from the ladder and sat behind a half completed concrete pillar.
She watched herself go up to the door, try the handle and then walk towards the small window on the right hand side. Ashildr tried the handle of the door several times and it opened towards her. They both disappeared into the cabin.
Clara saw them inside through the small dirty window, deciding to take herself a little closer. She stood up, being careful not to leave herself exposed. The wind was strong, there was no protective fabric on the outside of the building. She eventually positioned herself behind next to the grey electric box attached to the cabin, she sat down, hearing heavy footsteps inside.
She saw herself walk out of the cabin and point at the horizon.
"You see, the Shard, it's there, and we're here," she pointed at the map. "My flat is over there," she pointed to her left. Clara saw herself looking around, she shuffled out of her field of vision, catching her elbow on the back of the electrical box and knocking over a red safety barrier as she did.
"So..." she heard herself say, "This blue dot here should be..." There was a pause. "I think it's safe to say it's definitely something to do with the cranes, isn't it?"
"I agree, the cranes, definitely," said Ashildr.
"Fancy a little exercise?"
"Not really," Ashildr replied, "I've spent all day climbing this damn building!"
Clara heard them go back inside the office, now only able to hear muffled voices. She remained sat down waiting for them to leave.
She heard footsteps and turned to see them walking towards the crane door, Ashildr wearing a large fluorescent jacket, herself wearing the black fleece zip up. Clara moved so she was behind the portacabin, out of sight as they begun to climb the stairs.
Clara went around to the front door of the portacabin and sat down in the chair where she herself had sat moments before. There were cellophane wrappings of the bandages left on the desk. The large set of keys sat uncomfortably in her pocket, so she took them out and put them on the desk in front of her, picking up the discarded blue marker, in case she needed the psychic paper again.
She looked out at the crane through the window, they were about halfway up the staircase. Clara wheeled the chair across the room and opened the fridge, seeing several small plastic bottles of water inside. She took one and drank from it quickly, immediately feeling better for doing so.
She rifled through a few more acetates. She saw a safety bulletin for the crane, dated one month previously, stating that a black box and other wiring would be fitted, along with new security lights to improve visibility, it was from the UT company, the UT logo had 'Urban Trees' written below it. She figured this must have been what Bonnie meant when she said the trees were controlling the network. She picked up another page, but was distracted before she had time to read it. She heard the sound of running footsteps, looking through the window of the cabin she saw one, then two soldiers emerging up the ladder she had used. Clara left the cabin out of the door, knocking over the water bottle on to the floor and moved back to where she had been earlier, out of sight.
She heard many pairs of footsteps marching towards the portacabin, she was careful not to move. She heard someone go inside the cabin itself. One person followed.
"Ma'am, they've been here, now no sign, keys are inside."
"Find them!" said Bonnie.
There was a juddering noise, a second long, above them.
"Soldiers! They are in the crane, four with me, everyone else stay down here, if the target falls, get her and take her to 25. Understood?" Bonnie shouted. The noise resumed, for longer this time.
"Yes ma'am!" the group said.
"Give me a radio!" Bonnie said. Clara heard footsteps inside the cabin.
The soldiers walked off. Clara saw four of them enter the crane staircase with Bonnie following. Another six soldiers remained on the floor, one guarding the exit of the crane, the others fanning out, looking upwards.
Clara repositioned herself behind the grey electrical box, low enough to not be seen. She took the binoculars off her shoulder and put the strap around her neck, she trained them on the driver's cabin. The arm of the crane was lowering slowly, the noise stopped as it became horizontal. She could just about see herself sat in the driver's chair.
As the noise stopped she looked at the soldiers around her, they were still in position. Through the binoculars she saw the soldiers within a few floors of the cabin. She saw the hatch on the top flap open, seeing herself climb out. Clara nodded to herself, impressed at what she was doing.
"Forty floors up, hanging off a crane, look at me go!" she said quietly to herself.
The soldiers reached the bottom of the cabin and she saw them stop. Bonnie began pointing in her direction. She saw herself take a few more paces, and then saw a bolt of electricity spark towards her from below. Clara watched as she threw herself to the ground to avoid it and then get up to continue walking, quicker this time.
Another flash went right past her, halting her advance. Bonnie walked past the soldiers and up into the driver's cabin.
The binoculars went black. Clara took them away from her eyes to see a soldier standing the other side of the electrical box, three feet from her. He was facing towards the crane, gun trained on the arm.