Mechanical Maniacs: Life After Life

By Hadrian (Hardman) Howell

CHAPTER 10: Chase

The plan, so far, was going off without a hitch. It was time to split up, go our sperate ways, and let Raijin track our target. I made for my exit point from the Unity District and vaulted over the wall, like I'd done dozens of times by now.

My adrenaline was going, and my breathing was not as calm as I would have liked. I took a brief moment to collect myself before pulling back the tarp and grabbing the duffle bag. I didn't bother to check the contents. I could tell by the wieght alone that everything I'd need today was inside. I took a few more deep breaths and set off, keeping to my pre-selected path to the subway station in the F District. By the time I arrived, I was hoping Raijin's voice through the small, handheld radio in my pocket would tell me where to go. If he hadn't reported in by that time...

Yeah, I didn't want to think about that.

There was an above-average amount of people on the streets today. Some of this was excitement about the gathering of famous people, and some of it was weekend shopping. It made progress through the main streets arduous at best, and at worst threw even more suspiscion on my attempts to cut through alleyways to make better time.

I was lucky that, when Raijin did report in the first time, I was in such an alleyway.

"I just saw the case change hands in the D District. I'm not sure yet, but I think they're heading for the Memorial Park."

I reserved judgement on that until I'd heard something a little more substantial, but at least I knew Raijin wasn't getting caught. I kept pounding the pavement, and I ended up slipping into a few more alleyways than my previously set paths just to get past the crowds. Unfortunately, I was about to hit the stretch of major street I'd have to take through three different Districts. There'd be no avoiding the crowds there. The upside is that the bigger mass of people would help to hide me from the eyes in the Monitor Towers.

I was two blocks along the way when I noticed that I was being followed.

Stupid old man, I chided myself. Bad time to look suspicious.

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to spend losing my pursuer. I was fifteen minutes behind schedule. At this rate, I'd miss the train I'd need to catch. I made a fake move to check the watch I wasn't wearing and used this silent excuse to pick up my pace.

But I had to fight through the crowds. The guy tailing me didn't. It was the advantage of size I myself used to enjoy so much. And of course, it was just my luck to attract his notice.

I didn't know much about Concreteman, but I knew enough. He filled out the 'tank' role on the Sterling Sentinels, just like I used to on the Maniacs. Not the sharpest tool in their arsenal, but powerful for both his strength and ability to manipulate the environment around him, and apparently the cunning to do so, so long as it consisted mostly of his namesake. Something about the porousness of man-made concrete as opposed to natural stones. Like I said, I didn't know much.

I was just really, really hoping he wasn't as smart as me. Aside from the obvious reasons, I kind of took pride in my tenure as Hardman because I had the edge in intellect over a lot of guys the same size as me (when sober, of course). And smarts matter even more when you're a third the guy's size.

I manage to keep ahead of him until we were well into the F District. I abondoned my initial plan of staying with the main street and went back to cutting through narrow alleyways. As soon as I thought I'd lost him, I risked a look over my shoulder.

He was still behind me, the walls of the buildings bending inward to accomodate his size, like some kind of personal bubble. And his eyes were fixed on mine.

"Oh, that's CHEATING," I sneered as I broke into an outright run.

"STOP! In the name of the law!" Concreteman thundered, his voice like a whole symphony of construction equipment.

I ignored him and took a sharp turn into another alleyway, with only barely enough reaction time left in my body to acknowledge the barrier in front of me before I ran into it. Color exploded across my vision and my nose reported that it was broken in a very matter-of-fact sort of way. I sneezed blood and swore loudly, feeling the tremorous steps of my new friend through my feet.

I set my nose back into place with a very uncomfortable series of cracking noises and even more pain, and looked up to the top of the sudden wall. It looked... no, it actually WAS a piece of the sidewalk from the end of the alley where it emptied into a main street, standing on edge and blocking my path. Only about six feet tall. I tossed my dufflebag over and pulled myself up on top of it as the massive robot rounded the corner.

"Stop," he repeated, "in the name of the law."

I barked a harsh, mirthless laugh which sent just a little more blood spraying out of my nose. "Look, kid, I appreciate ya just wanna do yer job, but doin' it in th' name o' th' law 's a lil' impersonal, don'tcha think?"

It was a nonsensical statement, but it paid off in his momentary confusion. I leapt down the other side of the slab and grabbed my dufflebag back up, tearing off at a dead run again and trying to ignore the throbbing pain in my nose. I heard the scraping of stone on stone and knew without looking that the piece of sidewalk that already had my faceprint on one side was rushing up to catch me.

"DUCK AND COVER!" I shouted as loud as I could as I broke out of the alleyway and into broad daylight, knifing left and hoping everyone would heed my warning. I was lucky that there was a curious ring of people staring at the empty patch of dirt where one of the concrete slabs was missing. I heard the shouts behind me as I cut through the crowd and out into the street, weaving between cars, that told me Concreteman was pursuing me again, this time with a bit more fervor.

"MAD ROBOT! MAD ROBOT! HE'S TRYING TO KILL US ALL!" I kept yelling as I ran, turning heads and drawing attention. Concreteman plowed through the traffic, the very street itself moving the cars aside for him as he gave chase.

It took me a few tries, but I got the dufflebag open and grabbed out one of the flashbang grenades. I was coming up on an intersection, and while traffic around me was slowing down, the people on the crossing street were still unaware of the unfolding situation. I swore between random shouts of bloody murder. The flashbang wouldn't really impede Concreteman's progress anyway.

Raijin's voice only barely cut above the noise and confusion, and I only caught the words 'Memorial Park' as I tried to keep everything in the dufflebag from falling out. He was saying other things too, in a harried voice. Maybe he was also being attacked by a lunatic robot, who knew? I didn't have much time to stop and pay attention.

I pressed the button on the top and overhanded the grenade up and over the cars. I watched it sail sideways as I kept running, cursing the stitch that was developing in my chest, but it still fell down out of sight where I heard it hit the pavement.

There was a long bang, and a bright flash. If you were expecting something else, I don't know what to tell you.

Horns honked, cars swerved, bumpers... bumped. Car alarms went off and hundreds of On Star associates cried out in pain from the sudden workload. But traffic had halted, and they weren't running me over as I bolted through, my eyes seeing the subway sign, comprehending it like a dying man might comprehend angels.

I chucked another flash bang behind me and tore across the street, flying down the steps five at a time into the underground station. I paused, only for a moment, to wipe off my face and purchase a ticket bound for the nearest station to the Memorial Park before I ran through the swirling arm thingies (hey, I have no clue what they're called, okay?) and onto the train just as the doors closed. Despite the thing being packed, I managed to find a seat very quickly, surprising the man who'd been sitting next to it.

The train started to move and I heard the commotion in the station as Concreteman descended into it, looking for me.

"Uh..." the man next to me said, in a manner of speaking.

I gave him a smile, broken nose and all. "It's pretty rough out there. Lots of people excited about peace."

He faked a smile of understanding and tried to ignore me as I gulped down oxygen and took great joy in the fact that I was still alive. I discreetly checked the contents of my dufflebag again. Only one grenade left, and I must have lost my spare clips for my Barrettas during my flight from Monsteropolis's newest 'hero.'

There was something else in there too. That was... odd, to say the least. What could it have been?

I took a look inside the bag, and pulled out a lightwieght box, no bigger than a cell phone. It was a soulless black with a single blue circle around a single red button. It had been secured into the bag by double-sided tape, and had the phrase 'last resort' scrawled on the side of it.

I stared at it for a moment, its significance undoubtably lost to everyone else on the train. I hadn't seen one of these in years, and I NEVER thought I'd use one again. Let alone THIS one.

I felt a smile pull at the corners of my mouth. I'd have to give Classi a big hug later.