As he walked back down the hall, he could hear the ding of the elevator opening at the other end. He disregarded the fact that someone had come out…at least for a few seconds.

"There he is!"

"Freeze! Get up against the wall!"

"Stop runner!" The variety of shouts that came from the police were normal. What wasn't normal was the bullets that accompanied their words.

"Shit." Fox heard himself curse as he started running down the hall. Bullets whizzed by his ear, and he could hear the metal shells ricocheting off the walls of the narrow hallway. When he reached the stairwell door, he kicked it in and started dashing up the stairs, taking them two, three, and even four at a time. The cops followed into the stairwell and sent bullets flying up towards him. What the hell?! Fox thought as he sprinted up the steps. Why the hell are they shooting?! Retracing his steps, he arrived in the hallway of the top floor, where more cops had come up in the elevator. Fox raced up through the rooftop access stairway and out onto the roof. Without even stopping to think, Fox ran toward the edge of the building a leapt to the next. He somersaulted on his landing, allowing him to keep his momentum and continue running.

"Nice job, Merc," Fox said into his earpiece, "I thought you were monitoring the wires."

"I was," Merc answered back, "they didn't say anything about this. And before you ask, I don't know why they're shooting. Look, you've only got about an hour left 'till it's dark, so hurry your ass up and deliver that package, I don't want to have to train another runner."

"Don't worry," Fox assured Merc amid the hail of bullets, "I'll be fine. The cops can't catch me. You just do your job and keep a watch on the wires. I'm already headed that way." Fox leapt from rooftop to rooftop; scampering over ledges and sliding under pipes. He traveled about a mile like this before his earpiece buzzed to life.

"Watch out, Fox," Merc warned, "the wires are hot. They've got pursuit cops comin' your way. Oh," he added as an afterthought, "they sent out a bird, too." Fox leapt to the next rooftop, landing with a roll and continuing to run. Suddenly, the rooftop access door in front of him burst open and two men dressed in dark green CPD pursuit uniforms came charging out. They spotted him instantly and ran straight for him. Without stopping to think, Fox dashed right at them, ducking a punch from the first and using the second as a vault to dodge his tackle. He ran to the edge of the roof and let himself fall to a lower outcropping of the building. The two cops followed close. As Fox traversed the ten foot distance between his rooftop and the next, he heard the whirr of helicopter blades getting steadily nearer. Just a few seconds later, the roof exploded around him from the impact of the bird's machine guns. Fox dashed for the nearest rooftop access door, kicked it down, and dove inside, just as the ground he had been standing on just seconds before was obliterated by gunfire. He proceeded down the stairs and into the atrium of an office building.

He paused for a moment to let the beating of his heart slow. He walked cautiously to the railing and glanced down. He didn't see any cops down there, and the pursuit cops had to pause to keep from perishing in the bird's gunfire.

"Hey Merc," he said into his earpiece, "you got a way outta here for me?"

"Just a sec," was the reply as Merc pulled up the schematics of the building in which his runner was pinned.

"Alright," Merc said, "there's a ventilation shaft about five floors down from where you are. If you take it, you should reach the maintenance rooms. I'll give you more when you get there." Fox jumped over the railing and lowered himself cautiously down to this floor's ledge. He took a second to line himself up, and dropped. He grasped the railing of the next floor and felt a shooting pain through his arm. This wasn't new to Fox; dislocations came frequently due to the physically demanding job of the runners. After hauling himself up and over the railing (which was rather difficult using one and a half arms), he forced his arm back into place with a grunt of pain. He rotated his arm a few times to make sure it was alright and took off for the stairs leading to the next floor. It was then that he realized; he hadn't heard from Oust since the cops started shooting.

"Oust! Are you there?" Fox shouted into his earpiece. "Answer me!" After a few moments of panic, Fox heard the wire buzz to life.

"Don' worry, mon. I'm alright," the Jamaican accent announced, "for now. 'Dose coppers didn't know which apartment you came out of, mon. 'Dey couldn't arrest me if dey wanted to."

"I don't think they're worried about arrests today," Fox said as he continued to move down stairs, "I think they want to kill us." The wire was silent for a moment.

"I know," Oust said, "I heard all tha shootin outside my apartment. I was afraid dey got you, mon. I couldn't call 'till dey left or dey woulda caught me." Fox couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief for the safety of his friend. He continued until he reached the floor that Merc told him about.

"Alright Merc," Fox said into his earpiece, "where's that vent shaft?" Before Merc could even reply, he heard several doors on floors both above and below him explode open accompanied by the cries of the CPD police. He peered over the railing and saw the men rushing into the building. A few of them took up positions on the ground floor, while the rest headed for the stairs.

"Merc," Fox demanded, "vent shaft, NOW!"

"Take the door to your right," Merc said, "and head down that hall." He began giving Fox step-by-step directions.

"Alright now turn at the end...Good, now head down a few feet and hang a right…now it should be in the fourth office on your left." Fox entered said apartment and spotted the vent shaft. As he yanked the cover off of the wall, bullets began flying into the small office, filling the desk and wall with holes. Fox hauled himself into the vent and started to crawl through the metal shafts. As he rounded a corner in the shaft, he could hear the shouts of the cops as they were trying to scramble troops to get him.

"Alright Merc," Fox said, "where to?"

"I'm gonna try to get you to the roof," the tracker replied, "so, when you get to this next intersection, go up. Good, now take a right….now a left…keep goin' straight…now go right and that grate should lead you into a small maintenance room." Fox kicked the grating off the wall and dropped down to the floor. He went through the door and walked down the hall to the rooftop access stairway. Within a minute, he was back on the building's roof. Fox turned his head and examined the skyline, searching for the police copter.

"How are the wires, Merc?"

"Clear for now, but I'm not sure that'll last long. You're not that far from where you're supposed to meet Oust's runner, so get your ass moving." Fox took off and leapt to the next rooftop, clearing the small gap with an acrobatic ease. He continued along, leaping from rooftop to rooftop until Oust's voice rang in through his earpiece.

"Alright, mon," he said, "Aphonia should be 'round dere somewhere. Don't worry if she don't talk to ya'; she's just that way. Now, hurry, mon. It's gonna be dark soon, and I don't want ya to fall."

"No problem," Fox replied, "thanks, Oust." Fox slowed to a walk and began combing the rooftops for a glimpse of the girl, Aphonia. Suddenly, he heard a shrill whistle off to his left. He turned and saw a black-haired woman waving her hand in the air. He ran and leapt to the building she was on, hauled himself up, and walked over to her.

"Here you go," he said with a smile, "on runner's bag, straight from Oust."

"Thanks," she said simply, "and goodbye." She took the bag, turned around, and dashed off, ready to transport the package the rest of the way. He looked at her retreating figure, clad in a black body suit with a red skirt. Her black hair was about shoulder length and hanging freely. On her forehead was a red headband, and her runner's tattoo was on the left side of her neck and her left shoulder. As he watched her leap from the roof, his earpiece buzzed to life.

"Alright, now get your ass back here before it gets dark," Merc said, "I don't want to see you on the 6:00 news as a smear on the street." Fox chuckled.
"Okay, okay. Calm down, Merc, I'll be there soon."