Mirror's Eye

Chapter IV

"Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty, but seeming so for my peculiar end…"

-Iago, Shakespeare's "Othello"

Faith, Merc, and the two veteran runners she didn't know, took in the image of the city's rooftops. Every runner in the city seemed to be out and either fighting or attempting to escape, more than likely all with the same goal. Three helicopters were visible. One was firing wildly as a group of runners who were deftly evading it, another dropping off several SWAT officers, who were pooling into a building where a runner or two no doubt managed to escape, and a third seemed to be heading straight towards the flare. Faith snapped out of her daze when Merc jerked her arm. She broke into an immediate sprint and vaulted over a small solar panel before leaping off the edge and tumbling onto a lower building. The helicopter spotted the small group and immediately gave chase. The Pursuit cops were also hot on the group's trail as they all sprinted across the rooftops of the city, negotiating each obstacle and pathway. Faith looked up in her frantic state and saw an animated billboard, gasping at its display.

BOARD THE HELICOPTER FAITH

Faith shook her head and continued to run. Merc and the two veterans eventually dropped to the alleyways. As Faith ran with them, she saw an LED display for a nearby pawn shop. The red letters scrolled across the screen and Faith managed to read them as she continued to run. "YES FAITH, EVADE BOTH GROUPS AND BOARD THE HELICOPTER!"

Faith skidded to a halt and sprinted backwards, breaking the line of surprised Pursuit cops and tearing herself away from Merc's group. She wished she had time to have mouthed the words "I'll be okay" before taking off, but she was sure Merc would understand. Climbing her way back to the rooftops, Faith noticed one determined pursuit cop following her, stun baton in hand. She leapt and grabbed onto the low flying helicopter's lowered ladder. As she climbed, so too did the Pursuit cop.

"Shit!" Faith yelped as she boarded the helicopter, ready to fight like the cornered animal she was. She kicked at the cop's face as he clambered in with her, her blows completely ineffective against the cop's armored face and chest. As she desperately fought, the Pursuit cop's training proved superior as he tapped her with the baton, sending a painful jolt through Faith's body, paralyzing her.

She came to moments later, her body tingling painfully as her eyes flickered open. Marcus stared at her, sweating and panting, his helmet removed. The helicopter's pilot continued to fly towards his destination, which appeared to be the mall.

"Marcus?" Faith whimpered, disgusted at how weak she sounded. She sat up, shaking off the tingles.

Marcus answered as best as he could between breaths. "Yeah… She wants me with you for some reason, I guess to keep you following orders. She's been yapping in my ear this whole time," He said, jerking his thumb at his ear, pointing out his radio.

"Why the hell did you taze me?" Faith yelled, her strength back, the tingling now isolated to her feet and palms.

"You were kicking me in the face, if I didn't stop you, you'd have thrown me clean out of the damned thing, and we're higher than your three story fall Faith,"

"It was four," She hissed, annoyed ever more at his condescension. The pilot waved his hands from the cockpit.

"Hey lovebirds, don't mean to break up the squabbling but my part in this crazy ass night is almost done. I'm dropping you off at this parking lot, I was told to tell the "female" to head to the mall and follow her previous orders using what she'll find under a red BMW in the parking lot with a vanity plate that says JANITOR,"

The abrasive pilot landed at the top of a parking complex and rushed Faith and Marcus off his bird before taking off. The war seemed so distant from this part of town, but still sirens of countless police cars were constantly speeding by, the distant pitter patter of gunfire still permeating any silence between the sirens.

Faith looked at Marcus, who left his helmet behind. She knew he had to be close to retirement. "Ready to go?" He asked, a little more kindness in his voice than before. Faith only nodded as they descended through the parking complex, scanning for the supposed car they had to find. Faith was the first to see it. She searched beneath it and snatched a yellow runner's bag from under its tire. "Understood," Marcus muttered, making Faith jump slightly. "She wants you to open it,"

Faith opened the bag and reached inside. She hesitantly placed a brand new earpiece in her ear, taking note of the rest of the bag's contents: A handgun, a locked box, and for some reason, a laptop.

"Turn on the laptop Faith,"

The radio hadn't been turned on for more than two seconds. Faith was annoyed at how enthusiastic this hacker could be despite the emotionless voice. She did as she was told. The moment the laptop blinked to life, Faith noticed a low whirring from inside it. Some sort of CD or DVD was being read. As the desktop was displayed, Faith noticed that the only icon besides the recycling bin was the DVD player. Marcus crouched next to her, curiously peering at the screen, his posture reminiscent of a silverback gorilla, wise, hunched, and arrogant; yet uneasy and inquisitive. In moments the screen immediately went black before showing a video file. Faith gasped as she saw just whose face she saw on the screen.

"Kate…"

Faith saw her twin sister, the sister who chose the life of a police officer, on the screen, in what appeared to be a conference room, a bulky shadow visible in the background, possibly SWAT guarding her exit.

"Hey sis… I want you to know that I'm okay. I'm not quite sure where I am, but I've been told to tell you that I will be released so long as you follow orders until you are no longer necessary. There's some sort of package you're supposed to take to the airport, it's in one of the subway tunnels. She told me… I think it was tunnel 6B? Listen, Faith… I want you to stay strong. We're both going to come out of this alive, okay? Just-"

The video abruptly cut to a black screen with a little audible static as it ended. Faith turned to Marcus and rubbed her left eye. "Lets go,"

Marcus chose to not acknowledge the visible tear in her right just waiting to fall as he quickly stretched and rested a hand on his stun baton before standing upright. Faith grasped the bag and slung it around her shoulder, leaving the laptop behind as she began jogging, then immediately picked up speed to vault over the edge of the parking complex and onto a stationary truck filled with soft cushion like materials that broke her fall. Marcus followed soon afterwards, the pair both dashing towards the back entrance. The electronic locks released themselves as Faith and Marcus approached the doors. Faith made her way through the closed mall, a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. It felt strange to be dashing through a place that was normally crowded, well lit, bustling with human activity; now devoid of life, empty, silent, almost pitch black if not for the skylights above allowing moonlight and occasional helicopter searchlights through, spilling illumination into the eerie black void.

Marcus felt reminded of being in a high school after class hours, but in this case there was no janitor prowling about, vacuuming and cleaning through the silence, no couples in the closets, no group practicing drama or band somewhere deep within it's depths.

The perplexed two made their way to the subway, the atmosphere equally as empty and awkward. For the first time in a long time, Faith truly wanted to know what time it was, how late it could be that she felt as though she were part of an urban exploration team.

Marcus whistled sharply and pointed out tunnel 6B. Faith really grew weary of how authoritative Marcus acted, even when it wasn't required of him. He even pointed with two fingers, as if he were directing traffic. Shrugging off the paunchiness, Faith ran towards 6B. On the tracks was another yellow bag. Faith sighed, dropped onto the tracks and scooped it up, a distant rumble shaking the ground under her feet. Her radio hissed to life.

"Remove yourself from the tracks and proceed to the airport via the subway train,"

"How could there possibly be a train to the airport? How are you doing all this?" Faith grew weary of everything seeming to control her. She felt choked off, she was no longer acting on her own.

"We will ask the questions Faith. How far would you go to save your sister? Would you risk your life, the lives of your allies?"

"What the hell did you do with Kate? Who the hell are you? Who is "we?" dammit?"

"We the people in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America,"

The sudden speech surprised Faith into silence. She was utterly confused, consumed by anger, hatred, and worry for Kate.

"Wait… what?"

Faith received no response. Her confusion was replied to by dead air.