Shards of Icarus

[Survivor00]

â??Mirrorâ??s Edge â?? Shards of Icarusâ?
Survivor00 & Liynn

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The sunlight was blinding, white and sterile as it reflected from the manicured facades of the cityâ??s numerous skyscrapers. In only eight years, the city had changed so much, so fast. Gone was the freedom, the choice. Sure, the crime was gone as well, the inherent violence that came with a city, but none of it seemed real anymore, the sounds, the smellsâ?¦even the air he breathed, all of it seemed controlled and manufacturedâ?¦nothing like the city he once knew. The city he grew up inâ?¦ Even when Faith had disrupted the Shardâ??s security databases, the city still wasnâ??t free. Even now, the government was trying frantically to reestablish their grip on the citizens, and for the most part, it was workingâ?¦

In the distance, a Black Hawk lifted from the helipad of a skyscraper, the heavy thumping of rotor blades able to be heard this far away. The government had quickly increased its attempts to crack down on runners like himself, and they were getting better. Five runners had been killed since Icarus went active. Tobias Aseena crouched on the ledge, looking at the street ten stories below. It was a hobby of his to watch the people below, seeing how they never looked up, never looked outside their lives. A soft bleating drew his attention to the watch on his wrist. The yellow bag that was slung over his shoulder was a package that he needed to deliver.

He stood to his feet, quickly stretching his legs as he looked at the line he had to run. The helicopter was still too far off to be of concern, and getting farther away. He grinned slightly, swinging his arms back and forth before pushing off with his feet, rushing towards the edge of the building, the girder hanging from an adjacent crane his target. He built as much speed as possible before pushing off, throwing himself into the void.

He tucked his body as he landed, rolling and diffusing the landing while preserving his momentum, up on his feet and running again without breaking pace. Momentum was key. As his weight started to tilt the beam like a ramp, he used it to reach up and grab the arm of the crane, swinging up over it and running down the length. Landing on the next rooftop, he quickly checked his surroundings, to make sure there were no Blues or Icarus Runners. His watch said he had three minutes to the deadline, three minutes to cross two buildings, one of them nearly twelve floors higher than the one he was on.

He vaulted on top of a ventilation duct, pivoting on his heel and running towards the massive air conditioner at the end, the thin metal buckling under his feet as he ran. He leaped up, pulling himself up on top of the air conditioner, rushing towards the edge. A window-washing dolly was a few floors down, it was perfect. He vaulted the narrow gap between the buildings, landing on the dolly and scaring the hell out of the two window-washers operating it.

He hit the window at full speed, the glass shattering into a thousand crystalline shards as they crashed to the floor around him. Dozens of startled faces looked up from cubicles as he rushed straight to the fire exit. The bright red door was easy to see, he knew it would go to the roof. From there he could find a way down to the next building where he would meet up with the other Runner. He brought his elbow up and bashed open the door, bolting up the stairwell as fast as his legs would take him.

Two floorsâ?¦three floorsâ?¦four floorsâ?¦

By now, an alarm was ringing from somewhere in the building, and he had less than two minutes to make the exchange. With the Blues on their way, he would need to leave the area fast. Seven floorsâ?¦eight floorsâ?¦nine floors... Even with practice, his legs were burning with the exertion. Less than a minuteâ?¦​

 

[Liynn]

It felt so good to be back on the job. After Faith stirred up the whole city with her little fiasco at the Shard, Avery Chast thought that it would be a perfect time to take a bit of a vacation, as did most of the other Runners. Only the Runners who were practically begging to be caught by the Blues did any delivering for the first week or so. Well, Avery took two weeks off just to be safe and this was only her second day on the job and she was rather ecstatic to be back. She missed the feeling of being free in this damn jail of a city. Even wearing civilian clothes as opposed to her work outfit made her feel constricted and trapped like a bird in a cage. It also seemed, if it were even possible, that down there, on street level, that things were even more damn white; an unnatural kind of white, how did the civilians take it? Just one look at the walls down there and it felt like her retinas were burning.

During her time off the only thing she did really was walk the streets of the city, looking up to see if there were any Runners, wishing that she too were up there. Well, at least she did until she spotted one man being chased by three helicopters, which made her shiver at the mere thought of being up there. The wind in her hair at the moment made her think otherwise though, she couldn't even imagine doing anything else in life and the thought of vacation at the moment almost made her sick to her stomach, but she couldn't think about that now. She only had a few minutes before the other Runner she was supposed to be meeting would be at the checkpoint and she'd have to be there also, taking the package and delivering to whatever client had ordered it.

"Shit." Avery muttered as she was blinded by the reflection of the sun off of one of the many mirrored skyscrapers. She made the jump though, if just barely, her stomach hit the side of the building, knocking a good amount of breath out of her. She pulled herself up though and pushed on, she had to, otherwise the whole point of this mission would fail and the package would be late, which was just unacceptable.

The girl ran across a wall of windows that most likely were part of an office building complex. She always found it slightly humorous to see the startled faces of those poor suit and tie workers as she sped across their walls, but in a second she was already leaping to the next building, curling up so that she didn't harm herself as she landed. Momentum was the key to being a Runner and to keep it up, she always had to be moving, never stopping.

Avery slapped her hands onto a pipe of some sort and began the steady climb, this was the only part of being a Runner that she hated, well, this and ladders. They always slowed her down, but sadly they were a necessary evil that she had to overcome. The girl quickly sprinted towards a door, after she pulled herself up, that would get her inside of the building that would at least get her to the height she needed to be, because at the moment she was a few floors down from where the checkpoint was. As soon as she burst through the door, she saw three things that she hadn't expected, three Blues. "Oh, fuck me." She muttered as they raised their guns to her.

She ran across the wall, right towards the Blues, kicking one right in the face before she landed and continued to sprint towards an open elevator, the sound of gunfire the only thing in her ears other than her heavy breathing and the sights of walls being pounded by bullets. The girl barely made it into the elevator, a bullet narrowly missing her ponytail as she skidded to a stop and punched the button to the rooftop.

She was fairly certain that the checkpoint was only a roof away from this one and she was only thirty seconds away, it looked as if she were going to make it in time.​

 

[Survivor00]

Tobias burst through the access doorway onto the buildingâ??s rooftop, having to shield his eyes from the sudden glare. He could hear the distinct pops of gunshots in the distance, in the direction of the drop off, and cursed under his breath. The Blues must already have been nearby even before he had gone through the building. Time was especially short now, with alerts probably being sent to every Blue in the area. That helicopter he had seen earlier was probably also on its way as well. If either of them got caught, it would be the end of the line.

â??Damn it!â? He looked towards the meeting point, adjusting the bag on his shoulder, making sure he had a good grip on it. He heard shouts coming from the stairwell, probably the buildingâ??s security team. Great, just another distraction to work through. He took a few steps back, bouncing a bit on his feet to loosen up his muscles, before rushing towards the edge. His target was the small AC unit on the building across from him. He just hoped it was in good enough condition to support the force of his landing and weight. The door burst open, four armed guards rushing out onto the rooftop, their eyes full of surprise as he raced past him, his arms pumping back and forth.

They managed to recover from their initial shock quickly, raising their pistols and firing. By now, the adrenaline pumping through Tobiasâ?? blood made everything seem as if things were moving in slow motion. His foot pushed off the edge of the rooftop, and he soared, swinging his legs out to be the first thing that contacted the AC unit. Suddenly, a searing pain tore through his shoulder, making his vision flash white with agony. He felt warmth spreading from his shoulder, but before he could even shout in pain, he landed. The impact of the bullet had thrown him off, and he almost lost it there. If he had, he would have tumbled almost 20 floors to the concrete below.

He just barely managed to catch himself, hearing the metal groan and pop beneath his feet. His shoulder throbbed and bled, and he grit his teeth in agony. He looked up and lifted his arms, even though it felt like someone was jabbing him with a red-hot poker. He jumped up forcing his fingers to grab the ledge, hearing and seeing the bullets hitting the wall around him. He dragged himself over the ledge and onto the rooftop, staggering to the exchange point. He looked for the helicopter, seeing it approaching from across the city, the thrumming of helicopter blades growing louder. â??Where the hell are you, Avery?â? He muttered, looking around as he shifted the package to his good arm.​

 

[Liynn]

The elevator door slowly opened, revealing the expansive rooftop to Avery's eyes. She knew she didn't have long until the Blues would arrive, either by the stairs or waiting for the elevator, which the girl doubted they would wait for. She took a few steps back and took a deep breath before she began to sprint, building up momentum until she got to the edge of the building, where she pushed all of her force down and leaped towards another damn pipe, her hands slapping onto it before she started her steady climb.

She soon arrived on top of yet another building, one a bit taller than the one Tobias was standing on so she could see him already, damn, she wasn't faster than him it seemed, but oh well, she had bigger matters to worry about at the moment. As soon as Tobias asked the question, the girl had just jumped to the rooftop from the other building, landing with grace as she curled into a small ball and rolled, standing up shortly after. "Holy shit, Tobias. Is this whole damn police force on our tails?" She questioned, looking behind the man to see if there were any Blues.

Avery looked Tobias over next, moving to grab the yellow bag from his shoulder, noticing that his shoulder was bleeding rather profusely. "Tobias...please don't tell me you got shot." She said, looking at him with worried eyes. There weren't that many Runners as it was, they couldn't afford to lose another and Tobias was her friend, she most certainly didn't want to have him die.

 

[Survivor00]

Tobias leaned against a large AC unit, keeping his hand on the wound in his shoulder, feeling the blood seeping out from under his fingers. It hurt horribly, even more now that the adrenaline had passed from his system, but he would live, the wound wasnâ??t that badâ?¦ He looked up as he heard the scuffing of shoes against concrete, watching as Avery jumped, landing with a perfect tuck and roll. He straightened himself up, hearing her ask the question. â??I donâ??t knowâ?¦probably.â? He chuckled through clenched teeth. He slipped the bag off of his shoulder and passed it to her, seeing a few drops of dark red blood staining the yellow fabric.

Whether that was what she saw, or the wound itself, he frowned when she asked if he got shot. â??Yeahâ?¦I didâ?¦â? He said to her, seeing the worry on her face. â??Iâ??ll be alright, the wound isnâ??t fatal.â? He said with a weak smile. â??I promise you, Iâ??ll be fine.â? He said. They had been friends for a long time, and had done many deliveries together, and had grown rather close over the years. â??Now get going before the Blues get here. Weâ??ve still got a delivery to complete.â? He said, pushing himself off the wall. He hoped he would be fine, that he could get back to his house before he passed out from blood loss. His movements would make it impossible for him to keep the wound closed, but it was either that or wait for the Blues to take him or kill him.