Yuriko’s reflexes would have her reach for her weapon with Animakinesis, but the plane’s law still disallowed her Animakinesis. Whether that was the extent of it or rely the tip of the iceberg, she’d yet to determine, only that it was rather annoying. She’d long grown used to her kinesis, and having to move her body to get things just out of reach was jarring. Thankfully, her switchblade was just on the side table, so she grabbed it. She was also half naked, wearing only the miniskirt, a pair of black panties, and a brassiere that was now a cup size too big.
She didn’t have an excess of Radiance at the mont, and no Animus, which ant she couldn’t create a sunblade. Her Anima reinforcent should be enough to protect her, and while she had no way to protect her identity, she didn’t intend to keep Amalia’s anyway. With her Radiant Physique in progress, her features would change to match her greater self’s anyway.
She rolled to her feet a mont before those on the other side of her door kicked it again. This ti, the lock shattered and the door slamd open. That revealed the so-called policeman who was in the process of putting his foot down while holding a pistol.
The room was dark, with the only illumination coming from the clock and nightlight. And from her body as Radiant energy infused every bit of her. It nicely outlined her figure and the cop pointed his weapon straight at her. That was as far as he got.
The very fact that they didn’t even wait for a reply, and they imdiately resorted to force, as well as Amalia’s fragnted mory, told her that these cops were crooked. Coupled with the initial intruder’s hasty retreat, Yuriko didn’t hesitate.
Her boot landed squarely on the cop’s gut, and since most of her Anima was on reinforcent and strength, it was enough to send him flying. His back slamd into the guard rail, and he almost flipped over, but she aid low and crumpled down instead, coughing and gasping. His partner could only gape in shock. Yuriko disard him of his pistol and smacked his chin hard enough to knock him out.
Swipp!
Yuriko barely managed to jerk her head out of the way. As it were, the bullet grazed her cheek, cut her skin, and it burned a little bit. The bullet ca from beyond the parking lot, angled upwards. She jumped back inside her room even as more bullets struck her vicinity. None of them ca as close as the first one, however.
She hastily gathered her clothes, then put them on. There were no other exits in the room besides the small window in the bathroom, leading to an inner courtyard that was barely a couple of paces wide. But there was a path to the roof from them, and her perception aura agreed. She grabbed her purse, scanned the room for anything that could give Amalia’s identity away—after all, the girl still had a mum and an older brother, though it occurred to her that her assailant might know Amalia anyway and probably left tracks that way—then ran towards the bathroom. The relatively quieter gunshots had ceased, and only about ten seconds had passed since the beginning of the altercation. She smashed the window open and wriggled her way through. If her bosom had remained Amalia’s size, she might have had so trouble, but since she was back to a more reasonable cup, she managed it. Ah, she should grab a sports bra or sothing, since an oversized garnt was just as uncomfortable as an undersized one.
She braced against the retaining wall and shimmied up to the roof. From there, she crossed the corrugated roofing sheets, jumped towards the building behind the motel, clambered up to the roof deck, and paused to get her bearings. This building’s roof was flat, at the very least, and it was roughly four storeys high. A brief scan revealed an access door, cigarette butts, and a bunch of litter, food wrappers, and empty bottles. She was out of line of sight from whoever shot at her, but she was curious. Who were they?
She guessed they would be with Amalia’s assailants. Who else would tip the police about their deaths? Not that she regretted killing either of them. The shooter was probably the first intruder, but she’d been too preoccupied with her Radiant ignition to pay attention. She only had six strands of consciousness with her, and she had needed all of them.
She didn’t have ti to hesitate, so she shaped her perception into a cone and aid it towards where the bullets had co from. Unfortunately, even with triple her reach, the shooter wasn’t there. Yuriko pursed her lips. If she encountered the first intruder again, she might recognise them, but not if too much ti passed. She could wait, but she’d rather just leave.
She did wonder how they tracked her, though, but since she didn’t really get all that far, any kind of Ennoia involved in hunting or investigation would have an easy ti of it. Yuriko grumbled as she crossed the roof. On the other side, she scanned the buildings across the road, then jumped towards another roof deck, crossed it, then leapt across to another. She scaled down the side of a building into an alley after the third street, then followed it into a wider road. One of her strands of consciousness trawled through Amalia’s fragnted mories of the city’s geography, and she looked for the places that she was told to avoid by her parents, teachers, or friends. Rakkisgrad was wide, nearly a hundred longstrides across, and the wider side of it abutted an inland sea. That happened to be where she felt her kids were, so either she crossed that sea or went around it. Since she couldn’t fly with Animakinesis, or even form shapes with it, to cross, she either had to buy passage on a ship, swim, or stow aboard a vessel.
Either way, she had to head towards the dock area, and…how far was it from where she was? Amalia went to a school called Edgewater High, which was located in District Four. Districts Two and Three were next to the coastline, and District Four abutted Three and Central. Edgewater High was close to a river, which should also lead to the sea, but the details were fussy.
Ah, where was she in relation to the high school? Oh. She was lost. Well, she could head east…except with no stars and it being the middle of the night, she couldn’t tell direction. Hmm, she should find a place to lay low, then. For now, she should shake off the pursuit.
She stuck mostly to the alleys and wandered around almost at random. An hour later, and she seed to have found herself in an industrial zone. It was filled with warehouses anyway, and the streets were wider than usual. It was busier than expected for the middle of the night, with haulers and lorries trundling along. She couldn’t exactly hide in an active industrial area; she scaled up a tall building and tried to get the lay of the land.
Unfortunately, the darkness was too pervasive, though she did spot where the Central District was likely to be. Where else would the place with brightly lit, high-rise buildings be? Which ant that she could determine where the east was, roughly, and that she had actually been heading southwest-ish. She couldn’t really use her kids’ location as a beacon, mainly because she had to dip into the dreamscape to get a direction. Also, one was northeast, while the other was southeast, both too far to determine which was actually closer. Troubling.
She headed east, and after half an hour, she stumbled upon a park. It wasn’t in the best of shape, and she saw so tents around a drum fire. Holess shelter? Anyway, they were tucked in one corner of the park, opposite a children’s playground. She thought to take a breather, and also to see if her pursuer would catch up to her. The park offered an open space where she could look out for the trackers, or perhaps more corrupt police. She absently fiddled with the sidearm she liberated from the second officer, though she made sure the safety was on.
The pistol was about seven inches long and had a magazine with eight bullets, and another in the chamber. The officer hadn’t been able to discharge the gun, so it was to her advantage. She could probably sell this thing for… hmmm, five hundred Weyrmarks? Probably less since it could be considered stolen. It also couldn’t fit in her purse, and she didn’t want to just stuff it into her skirt’s waistband.
Huh, according to Amalia, her fingerprints would be on the gun, and that could lead to trouble. Again, that bloodsucker probably already knew Amalia’s identity, and it shouldn’t be difficult to determine who her relations were…
Oh, rotter. They would go after Amalia’s mum and brother, wouldn’t they? Corrupt police forces, and who knew what sort of people ruled the city’s underground? Ancestors, she couldn’t just let mum and Lucian take the heat!
She recognised the park now. Reitlund Children’s Park. Inexplicably, she actually moved closer to mum’s tenent apartnt instead of away from it. It was only about five blocks away, roughly a longstride if she followed the roads instead of roofhopping. But what could she do? She should at least warn Lucian, Amalia’s older brother.
Yuriko sighed. mories integrated deeper than she expected, but these were emotional bonds after all. If she took over a body, those bonds always turned up and bound her. Mum…well, she doubted they could get anything out of her. Actually, if they took mum away from ho and chucked her into rehab, maybe it would be for the better.
But…how sure was she that they’d do that? Realistically, what could she do? She could ambush any trackers, or she could take on any who tried to take her mum into custody, but she was increasingly certain that it was better for her to cut contact off from the broken woman instead. If she showed up, they’d know for certain that she could be drawn out that way. Mum was better off living in ignorance.
That’s what she told herself anyway.
Lucian, on the other hand…yeah. She had to let him know that she was cutting loose. He’d worry himself to death otherwise. Now what was his address?
Yuriko crossed her eyes as she sought the knowledge within.
32 Windlass Road. Diamond Residences, Apartnt 3. He lived with two roommates, and he should be ho right now. One would think that being ho in the middle of the night was normal, but Lucian worked in construction, and sotis, he had the night shift as a watchman to keep the riffraff from stealing supplies. Riffraff who were sotis also employees. Huh.
Ah, she should head there already. Forget mum, go for big bro. His place was three longstrides away, and the fastest way to get there was simply to follow the motorway, across the Tetra.
The sound of cars and vans moving down the street caught her ears. She had been sitting on a bench, so she hopped off it and sauntered towards the road opposite, where she heard the commotion. She shifted her perception aura into a sixty-pace long cone and swept it around her. She could detect the entirety of the part and the streets around it.
Huh, more police vehicles? No, none of them was labelled that way. But she had little doubt they were after her, considering they skidded to a halt and disgorged a good dozen n clad in body armour and bearing assault rifles.
But she hadn’t been idle the entire ti either. She’d amassed quite a bit of excess Radiance, and she converted enough of it into Animus to fill her internal reserves, a good two hundred luns. She opened her hand and conjured a sunblade.
That was when they started shooting.
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