Quoted By:
“What’s the photocopier for?”
She gives you an odd look. “A copy for you. I’m keeping the original, so you’ll be getting a copy. A nice, high-quality print. Do you want it with high-gloss or luster-”
Suddenly, an impossibility. From across the next tower over, a bright, high-megawatt light shines in your faces. Just before it nearly blinds you, the indistinct shape of a large man in worker’s overalls can briefly be seen.
“HEY! What the hell are you two doing there?!” demands an angry voice. “This area’s off-limits! Dispatch, I’ve got some trespassers in Tower 19-A of Foggy Bottom…”
Both of you share an alarmed look. Then, simultaneously:
“Time to go.”
By the time the watchman’s made his way to the tower, you and Gully are already off the lift, sprinting away at full speed. Hot on your heels, the guard’s determined to catch you, sputtering into a little tin whistle to try and rouse some help. A small blessing that the thin, reedy noise is practically drowned by the bustle of the city’s night life.
In any other circumstance, you’d admire the man’s tenacity. There are few who can pass the strenuous training and physical conditioning required to be a PUEXO pilot. He isn’t about close the distance any time soon, but he’s not showing any signs of falling behind or easily giving up the chase.
“No guards, huh?” you say between breaths.
“Shut up and run!” snaps Gully.
“Anywhere in particular?”
“Not towards the <span class="mu-i">Calypso</span>. Dad’s still mad at the repair bill for the <span class="mu-i">Caprica</span>, and I don’t want this on my rap sheet!”
Hah. How long ago had it been when you and Jean were doing similar things in your youths?
“If you’re still up for it,” you offer, vaulting over a trash can, “I know a shortcut to Pearl District. We’ll lose him in the alleyways!”
Gully curses, jinking before she smashes into a panicking food cart vendor. “Sure, why not? I gotta burn off all the popcorn and fish skewers anyway!”
You grab her hand, ignoring the indignant squawk she makes and pull her into a sharp turn. Lampposts vanish and the loud, dull roar of the Babylonian thoroughfare fades away into a muffled noise as you sprint down into a narrow alleyway. “I’ll get us there, but you’re paying for my copy.”
“What?! Ugh, fine, alright! But don’t ask for a print larger than a poster. It’s gonna be expensive as it is.”’
“Of course.”
As you descend further into the labyrinth, Gully’s eyes occasionally flick upwards. “…dammit. I’m gonna miss that tower. Had the best vantage point in all of Outer District.”
“…I’ll help you find another one,” you reassure her, helping her up a fence. “However many you need.”
Disheveled and sweaty as she is from the chase, a genuine smile pulls at her mouth. “…careful now. You don’t know what you’re getting into.”
“PUEXO pilot, remember? In for a ducat…”
(cont.)
