Engella was tired. Too tired to care where she slept. Huddled in an alley, she covered herself in a plastic sheet to keep out of the rain. The torrent continued. Puddles merged into rivers and her clothes were soaked through. Her makeshift blanket wasn’t helping. A police drone zipped high above. Darting between the streets, it was probably chasing a thief it had just identified, tracking them with its facial recognition software. Sirens whined and blue flashing lights danced across the metal scaffolding for a moment.
A scraggly cat jumped onto a trashcan, staring at Engella with piercing eyes that reflected light from the street lamps. Reaching out, she clicked her fingers, drawing him over. She stroked his head until he purred. The police drone zipped past again and the cat jumped at the noise and he darted off into the night. This was Engella’s fourth night living on the streets of New Shanghai and she hadn’t felt this safe for months. The rain slowed, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Finding a comfortable position, she began to drift off to sleep at last.
A few seconds passed before she realised what was happening. The dizziness took hold more slowly than usual, but the feeling of suffocation quickly engulfed her. Her pulse quickened. She froze. The street lamp above her flickered and the space around her began to warp as a dark figure materialised only metres away.
They’ve found me, she thought.
They were here.
She rolled sideways as an energy blast hit the spot where she was resting. Engella didn’t wait to see her assailant emerge from the veil of black smoke. She managed to draw her blaster and directed three bolts behind her. As she ran away, a shock grenade landed in her path. She yelped as the device exploded, showering her with brick and dust. Pulling back her sleeve, she waved her hand over her metal wristband, turning the transporter on. With no time to enter any coordinates, Engella closed her eyes and hoped for the best.
“Shift!” she said.
The device bleeped and spacetime warped around her. Her vision blurred and she lost consciousness.