Owen sprinted down the busy street, weaving between crowds of pedestrians. He barely paid attention to the startled looks people gave him as he shoved past, his mind focused on only one thing, getting to his sister.

  Behind him, the others were racing to keep up, their steps pounding against the sidewalk.

  Owen rounded a sharp corner and spotted his hover car parked further down the street, nestled between two large delivery vans. Without breaking stride, he made a beeline for it.

  He reached the car, yanked open the driver’s side door, and threw himself into the seat. He was just about to slam the door shut when Jason’s voice rang out.

  "Wait!"

  Owen froze, his hand gripping the door handle, and turned to see the others rushing towards him.

  Jason was first to reach him, planting a hand on the door to keep it open. "We should go with you."

  Owen hesitated. "If I go alone, I can slip in and out faster. If everyone goes, it'll be harder to escape."

  Grace stepped forward, determination shining in her eyes. "But you’ll be up against a lot of cops. And droids, too. You’ll need all the help you can get."

  Owen’s brow furrowed as he considered it.

  Kath crossed her arms and added, "It’d be better if you had another person who can enter embodiment come."

  Before Owen could respond, Will, standing with Lucas and Lissie, piped up. "And don’t worry, we won't do anything risky."

  Owen looked at each of them, their faces set with resolve. He gave a sharp nod. "Alright."

  He tilted his head towards the inside of the hover car and said, "Hurry up and squeeze in."

  ***

  Sprinting across a rooftop, Olivia pushed herself to move faster. The worn surface of the roof blurred beneath her feet. She launched herself over the gap between two buildings, flipping mid-air before landing smoothly with a thud. Without missing a beat, she broke into another sprint.

  Behind her, blazing sirens wailed through the air. Gunshots began to crack out. Olivia ducked behind a bulky generator as bullets pinged off its metal casing. Without slowing down, she darted to the rooftop’s edge and jumped again.

  The wind tore at her bloodied jumpsuit as she descended onto a lower rooftop. She landed with a roll, her body flowing into another sprint before she was fully upright.

  Ahead, the line of rooftops stretched on. At the far end, a long hover-vehicle hovered above one of the buildings. Its side doors slid open, and several droids dropped out, landing with heavy thuds. Their metallic arms lifted, revealing heavy guns.

  They opened fire, spraying streams of hot lead towards her.

  Olivia’s eyes sharpened. She sprinted towards a narrow gap between buildings and dove. She slid down between the two walls, using her hands and feet to control her fall, and landed roughly in a dark alleyway far below.

  Without missing a beat, she broke into a sprint down the tight corridor, vaulting over trash bins and dodging crates. A moment later, she burst out onto a busy street, startling the pedestrians who had been frozen, staring upwards at the gunfire.

  People gasped and stumbled back as Olivia cut through the crowd. Her eyes locked onto a young man standing still on a hoverboard, gawking at the chaos. Without hesitation, she rushed him.

  His eyes widened in alarm as she grabbed his collar.

  "Sorry, dude." she said, yanking him off the hoverboard.

  She leapt onto the board and shot forward, leaving the confused man sitting on the ground.

  As she zoomed down the street, more police hover-vehicles descended overhead. She weaved around slow-moving cars, heart pounding. Her original plan had been to lose herself among the crowd after escaping, but she had wildly underestimated the police’s determination, and their numbers.

  From a side street, a police hover-car burst into view, cutting her off. Olivia veered hard to the right, riding up onto the sidewalk.

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  The police opened fire without hesitation.

  Bullets ripped into the air around her. Innocent pedestrians screamed and dived for cover as rounds struck signs, benches, and the ground.

  Olivia grinned, adrenaline flooding her system. "Oh wow." she muttered, almost laughing.

  She swerved the hoverboard to the side, shooting back into the centre of the road, as she rose higher into the air. The pursuing hover-car closed in behind her, its guns readying for another volley.

  Olivia whirled to face them, a reckless smile tugging at her lips as she surged essence through her body.

  She shot off her board and with a devastating dropkick, she slammed into the front of the hover-car, crumpling the metal and smashing the two officers in the front seats. The vehicle folded in on itself, metal shrieking and blood spraying out in a horrifying burst.

  As she punched through the other side, covered in blood, Olivia extended her hand backwards and pulled the hoverboard back to her with kinetic energy.

  She brought it under her feet and did a sharp u-turn, then shot back down the street, as metal and blood rained down below.

  Olivia continued racing down the bustling streets. Behind her, the sirens grew louder. The little stunt she'd pulled had only fueled the police’s fury. More hover-cars were closing in fast, their engines howling like angry beasts.

  Ahead, the streets began to converge into a wide open area. Olivia caught sight of a sprawling mall looming in the distance, its enormous sign flashing with colourful lights. Narrowing her eyes, she angled her board and shot across the massive parking lot, dodging sporadic gunfire as bullets peppered the asphalt behind her.

  The mall’s sliding glass doors grew larger in her vision. As she neared, she noticed the police hover-cars slowing down.

  She zipped through the entrance, the glass doors hissing open just in time, and rocketed deeper into the packed mall. Shoppers jumped aside as Olivia zoomed past. Now that she was here, she at least wanted to change out of her clothes.

  She rode swiftly towards the centre of the mall, where a large circular atrium opened up, showing the floors below. She then angled downwards, descending into the hole and chose a random level to get off at.

  Her board scraped the ground as she skidded to a halt. Olivia stepped off and scanned the nearby stores, her pulse hammering in her ears. She spotted a clothing shop a short distance away and sprinted towards it.

  Inside, startled shoppers turned wide-eyed as Olivia burst in, grabbed a handful of random clothes off a nearby shelf, and dashed to the back of the store towards the changing rooms.

  Moments later, the whine of engines announced the arrival of two police hover-vehicles, that had descended down the atrium and were landing right in front of the store. Officers clad in heavy body armour and brandishing assault rifles jumped out, quickly surrounding the entrance. They stormed the entrance, barking orders.

  "Everyone get on the ground! Now! You will be shot if you do not comply!"

  Terrified customers dropped where they stood, hands raised. The officers swept inside, their weapons never wavering.

  One officer, scanning the store, locked eyes with a trembling employee and barked, "Where did she go?"

  The employee, wide-eyed, shakily pointed towards the back.

  The officers advanced carefully, stepping between racks of clothes, guns aimed forward. They reached the changing rooms, their boots squeaking against the tile.

  "Come out with your hands up!" one officer barked.

  There was no response.

  The lead officer edged forward, nudging one of the changing room doors open with the barrel of his gun.

  Inside was no one. On the floor lay a crumpled, bloody prison jumpsuit.

  Frowning, the officer's gaze lifted, and he spotted a jagged hole torn through the ceiling.

  Cursing under his breath, the officer raised his communicator band and said grimly, "We’ve lost sight of the target."

  ***

  Olivia walked silently among the crowd, her head lowered beneath the hood of a grey hoodie. Matching grey pants helped her blend in as she weaved through clusters of shoppers, heading towards the far exit of the mall. Her footsteps were steady, but her eyes constantly scanned her surroundings.

  She was halfway across the floor when the crowd around her began to slow. People stopped walking. Up above, a hover-car descended over the crowd, its speakers blaring, "This mall is now under lockdown. No one is permitted to leave. Remain where you are."

  Confused murmurs rippled through the gathering crowd. Olivia peeked forward and saw officers and droids were filtering in, scanning faces one by one. No one was allowed to slip past them.

  Olivia’s eyes narrowed. She turned quickly, heading back the way she came. Her mind raced as she moved—she had to find a way out without being seen.

  As she scanned the area, her eyes landed on a floating platform above the far side of the mall. Standing atop it was a woman with black hair tied into sharp points, and silver piercings glittering along the edges of her ears. But what caught Olivia’s attention most was the white and silver uniform she wore, complete with a short cape. An Arden officer.

  The woman’s pink irises glowed faintly as they scanned the crowd calmly.

  Olivia turned sharply and pulled her hood tighter over her head, but the suddenness of her movement caught the woman’s attention. The officer narrowed her eyes and smirked.

  Then she stepped off the platform.

  Landing soundlessly among the crowd, the officer walked forward, and passed straight through people. She made no effort to push anyone aside. Her body simply phased through them.

  Olivia kept walking, her pace quickening. But with every step, she could sense the officer getting closer.

  Behind her, the woman moved like a phantom, drifting through the mall with calm purpose. Once the officer was close, she reached out and placed a hand on Olivia’s shoulder.

  Olivia instantly spun and launched a powerful kick into Amy’s midsection. But instead of flying back, the woman merely slid a few feet, boots screeching across the polished floor.

  Olivia's eyes narrowed. It had felt like she’d just kicked something extremely hard.

  The woman casually tapped her stomach, brushing off imaginary dust. A smile curled across her face.

  "I’m Amy," she said smoothly, her voice carrying easily over the tense murmurs of the crowd. "Peacekeeper. Squad Captain of squad two."

  She then tilted her head. "I didn’t dodge your kick because I wanted to see how strong you were. Now I see... you really don’t amount to much."

  Olivia’s mouth curved into a feral grin.

  "Wow," she said, "you’re going to regret saying that."