Chase

Running while dodging pulse rays and stunt bullets from behind, Sunja Meris jumped and leaped over a rough cement barricade, and landed hard on the damp grass sliding down a steep slope as though she had broken into an amusement park. The slide carried her to the Falcon Bay Water Way, which was still in construction, had provided little friction between her oversize raincoat and the slippery surface. Muzzle flashes flickered after her, but none of the shots had scored a hit.

Meris, laying flat on the lawn, with her eyes on the clinical exit, had steered away from the course, and managed to grab onto an exposed iron rod at the last second, as she flinched at the thought of launching into the muddy water without the swimming goggles. Now she was hanging inside a framework of metals, the city's most ambitious construction project.

She looked down. The hallow vertical drop lined up with the ground, not the water, at about three floors high, could easily cripple her, or worse.

Quarter drones whirled overhead, beaming search light into the water way, probing into the shallow bank. One of them was heading toward her direction.

Meris, groaning, clung onto the iron rod with the help of her synthetic arms, and in a mighty mechanical force she had swung forward following the light of the drone. The whole network of metals creaked under her swinging, but they stayed firm and absorbed her momentum as she performed an impossible 180 degree upper turn and landed on the thin rod. However, she wasn't able to stop and catch her breath. The drones had pinpointed her location from the noise she made. They were closing in, flooding blue and red siren lights into the water way, creating a false sense of urgency. Whoever was controlling these, had an intention to push Meris over the edge of the destruction, but not to bring her into justice. Dozens of energy waves coming from the pursuer shot past her as she trot around while maintaining her balance.  

None of these would happen if she wasn't flagged down for a full body check by two weird-looking male police officers. Sunja Meris would not have committed a single crime before this. She only came out to enjoy walking under the evening drizzle. When did walking in the rain became a matter subject to suspicion of criminal activities?