Back in the brick alley, with water dripping off the fire escape and muted sirens in the background, the lock finally gives way with a click and I take the pick and tension wrench out and put them in my jacket pocket before stuffing it into my backpack. Now only in a long sleeve, rubbery feeling black shirt, I look around one last time, peering around trash bags and searching for any movement in the fire escapes above me, to which a bit of water drips onto my face. I need to find a place for my backpack but there's nowhere secure enough. Stupid. This is what happens when you let panic get the best of you. I pull my phone out to double-check that the employee is indeed helping a customer, though with my luck, probably not for long. Sighing, I stand on an old crate and throw my backpack onto a nearby fire escape platform.

Re-checking the cameras, I put them on another loop and quietly slip into the back room once again, the quiet hum of the electronics becoming a louder buzz as outside light fills the room for a second before the door shuts again, leaving only dimly lit ceiling lights lighting the room. Wasting no time to let my eyes adjust, I quickly hurry towards the front, tripping a bit over the wires, only to stop as I see that the basket that holds the computers empty. Panic starts to rise up, and I hear the buzzing become louder as the dim lights suddenly start to brighten a bit. I close my eyes and swallow down the panic, and the lights become their old self again. My mind starts to form dozens of plans, each more complicated than the rest as my eyes dart around the room, only to find the laptop on a workbench, hidden in the shadows with the screen off to one side. I sigh, annoyed with myself. I check my phone, the screen lighting up the area around me. The guy working is now talking with another person over a laptop and I can hear the muffled voices through the wall.

I shuffle across the room, grabbing a screwdriver as I do, feeling the need to work fast. I carefully unplug the wire connecting the screen to the laptop, and quickly turn the computer over and start to unscrew the one bottom screw I had shoved into it yesterday. I hear laughter, and a voice starts to grow louder. I flip the laptop over and duck behind the workbench, pulling a box that is holding a bunch of parts closer to shield me from view. The door opens, and the voices spill in "Here, lemme get you a new CPU chip." and I hold my breath. There's a pause, then a loud RIP as the tape is being torn off a box, and the door opens and shuts again. Letting out a breath, I wait for a second and then slowly stand up and go back to the computer. The bolt unscrews easily, and I pop off the cover, pulling out one of the hard drives from my pocket, but then the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I freeze, suddenly hearing the safety of a gun turning off. Something hard presses into the back of my neck, "Who are you?" A stern voice asks me, and I don't say anything, my lips pressed together. I hear footsteps behind me and the guy comes into view to my left - a tall, far too muscular man in a navy muscle shirt with greased back blonde hair, holding some sort of modified hand pistol with a strip of blue light embedded up one side. I stare at him, catching sight of a good-sized hole in the ceiling behind him That's new and simply scowl. He cocks his head to one side and analyzes the scene in front of me. "You're not stealing it." He states, no duh. The front opens and a smaller, geekier fellow comes in -the one working the counters- also scowling, and the man with the gun continues: "You're putting it back. Which means you've already stolen it, and are now returning it, so I'm guessing you cracked the code?" He muses to himself. 

"Impossible" I look at the smaller guy and he sneers at me. I decide at that moment that I don't like him. "That hard drive is encrypted like crazy, I wouldn't even be able to get into it" I look back at the blonde guy, and he looks as annoyed with the other guy as I do. "Well then maybe you have another reason for why our little thief here is returning to the scene of her crime?"

The little guy looks taken aback for a second, but then straightens himself out "Maybe she's trying to switch the drives! Did you ever think of that?" With one hand still pointing the gun at me, Blondey pulls the computer base towards the other guy, showing that it is indeed empty- and I strike, pulling a handful of parts out of the box and shoving them in his face, simultaneously ducking as a bright light erupts from the gun, and the buzzing around me suddenly becomes almost deafening for a second. That thing's a taser I kick the guy closest to me in the shin and shove him back as the reedy guy lunges forward, making them both fall to the floor. Another blast goes off as he falls, this time into the ceiling making sparks fly as it overloads the wires, and the lights promptly short out. I scramble away and sprint towards the exit, slamming myself into the door before I can open it, then tumble outside. I hear a loud "HEY!" before slamming the door shut again. I look around wildly and spot my backpack up where I left it. Using the same box as before, I jump and hoist myself up and over the fire escape railing, grab the sack and start booking it up the stairs.

I make it to the top balcony and promptly collapse onto the grating, my sides heaving. I probably went up 10 stories. I feel the stairs start to shake, and spy three figures coming up the multitude of stairs. Grunting, I hoist myself up to a standing position, the rusty metal creaking under my weight. The building next to us is a residential building with its roof at about eye level. Trying not to think about the fact that I am over 70 feet in the air, I clamber over the railing. I feel the wind rushing past me, cooling my hot skin and hear a clap of thunder. Taking a breath, I hear the pounding of feet getting closer. And I jump. Twisting in midair, I latch onto the cornice, whipping my head to the side just in time so that I didn't end up with a broken nose. I pull myself over the parapet, letting myself fall onto the gravel below just as another ball of electricity whizzes by my head. A piece of gravel digs into my back as I roll over and sprint to the other side before they can shoot again, and I launch myself off roof and barley make it to the other side, my knee digging into my chest as I land with one foot on top of the wall and the other balking its shin on the corner. All the air forces its way out of my lungs and I ungainly roll forward, gasping for air. Not looking back to see if they're following me, I unsteadily make my way to my feet and half run, half clamber around vents and machinery to the other side where I drop down onto a smaller building, and catching sight of a maintenance ladder to my right, I change course and quickly climb down the ladder to the ground in front of the store. Taking a second to get my bearings, I see three men scrambling around the same vent I passed 3 stories up, and I press myself against the wall as they jump down onto the small shop. My pulse is throbbing in my throat and I press myself further into the wall, getting weird looks from people passing by. But they continue on, going up a ladder on another building. Not letting myself feel any kind of relief, I quickly cross the road and throw my hoodie on, pulling the hood up and taking out my sunglasses, knowing full well that they probably are scanning the nearby cameras. The world instantly becomes darker as I put them on and I hear a whirring in my ear as the hidden system boots up and blue text scrolls across my right eye:

Locating...

Locating...

Found...

Minneapolis, USA, 44.98, -93.26, 13:56...

Waiting Instruction...

Stepping up onto the curb, I look at a nearby storefront camera, which is immediately highlighted with a blue box around it

Shadow Mode?

I blink twice

Shadow Mode Activated...

I quicken my pace, ignoring the stitch in my side as an array of blue outlined boxed start filling the screen, the system finding and highlighting all nearby cameras. 2 blinks later and the boxes start turning green as the footage is automatically being erased as I quickly walk by, I turn a small dial on the side, switching to GPS mode, it automatically locates the tracker I have on my bike, tracing a route to get back to it. I turn a corner, feeling like I've left any possible line of sight, and start running.

I make it to my bike later than I'd like, having run in the opposite direction of where it was parked. They probably figured out pretty quickly that I had lost them, and I know the logical next step for them would be to fan out and search the area. I scramble to pull the tarp off and pull a heavy box out of an old trash can. Do you know the best thing about motorcycles? Helmets. They're the best way to hide your identity, and a good one can stop a bullet. I pull mine out of the box just as I hear what sounds like radio static coming from the other end of the ally. I whip my head around. A man dressed in all black is standing between alleyways, looking around. Just as I see him, he spots me and yells "HEY!" Crap. I pull on the helmet over both my sunglasses and hoodie, kickstart the bike, and bolt into oncoming traffic, nearly getting hit twice. I veer into the right lane, dimly remembering the way to a nearby highway. I switch the GPS off as I almost hit a pedestrian, needing both eyes to see, and I immediately spot a black van careening around a corner into the lane behind me, mirroring my hectic pace. Do these guys ever give up?

I make it onto a northbound highway, speeding up to 100 mph just as it starts to rain, hard. My jacket immediately gets soaked, my shirt and pants already waterproof. To make matters worse, the highway suddenly becomes four lanes as it heads into the country, leaving me nowhere to escape. I check my mirror. The van has been joined by two smaller cars, all keeping pace with my speed. They're not shooting or trying to run me off the road, and I realize that they don't want to kill me. I turn back on the GPS searching for any roads as we leave the other cars behind, and as the rain starts to soak the road, I begin to worry about hydroplaning even as I'm speeding up. I hear a loud VROOM over the deafening sound of the rain and look back just as the smaller car suddenly speeds passed me, going at least 150 mph and merges into my lane up ahead. I instantly know what they're going to do, but I'm suddenly distracted by the GPS saying that there's a small road up through the trees coming up quickly. Before they can trap me, I slam on my brakes, skidding through the water, and twist my bike to the side, hearing the screech of rubber against the pavement. The bike -still going the same direction- slows just enough that with a quick thrust of the throttle, I'm able to get enough traction and fly off the pavement onto an old, rundown road going 90 miles an hour. The van zooms, but the third car is somehow able to make the turn and follows as I slow down, swerving around huge potholes and over bumps, going up what seems to be an old ramp. But a ramp to what? The car suddenly jumps closer, its front bumper almost touching my rear wheel and I speed up. I take my helmet off and throw it behind me, and I hear a loud crash and look back to see it embedded in the windshield. The curve suddenly ends, revealing an abandoned gas station right in front of me and, too late, I try to brake. The front tire hits the curb and I go flying.

Time seems to slow down. I sail through the air rolling forward, heading towards a boarded-up window. Somehow I flip just enough so that my feet are the first to hit the wood, which splinters and I hit the ground covering my head and tumble forward, rolling to a stop about 20 feet away from the window. I lay on my stomach, stunned as what just happened played out in my head. The sound of doors slamming shut is what jolts me back to reality, and I slowly push myself up, wincing as my whole body cries out in pain. I'm lucky that there was wood there to absorb most of my momentum, otherwise, I'd probably be dead. I start trying to limp my way to the back, using abandoned shelving units as crutches. The door opens with a jingle, and I quickly run through a door labeled "Employees Only" only to suddenly stop. SHIT. This isn't a backroom, this is a bathroom. Shit shit shit. I turn around and press my ear to the door. Voices. A realization comes over me. I'm trapped.