"Stop, you lower city rat!"
Yeah, he wasn't going to do that. The boy turned back once more, realizing that the upper city guards were quickly gaining on him, before clicking his tongue.
The guards had on white armors that could only be described as something pulled straight from a sci-fi movie.
They had on an helmet with a black visor and purple glowing lines passing through it, an indication of the fact that it was powered by aether.
It was the same with their armors.
It had glowing lines running through it and with each step they took, a subtle mechanical hum could be heard.
"Fucking give up already!" The boy shouted back at them, but he knew it was all for naught.
Even if all he stole was a pin, as long as he was spotted and identified as a lower city rat, he would be chased down.
The boy adjusted the strap of his crossed body bag, ensuring that whatever was in it wouldn't fall, as he approached a gap between the building's rooftop they were running on.
Without even giving it a second thought, he jumped moment he reached the edge of the building, and the ease at which he did it told that this was not his first time.
Well, jumping was the easy part, sticking the landing was a lot harder.
He landed hard and rolled a bit to absorb his moment which barely kept himself from sliding off the sloped rooftop.
Behind him, the guards didn't even slow down.
Assisted by their full body combat armors, the boy watched a small blast propell them through the air and to the other building.
"Tch."
Of course those mechanical bastards could easily make that jump.
His thoughts were interrupted as he suddenly ducked behind a ventilation unit just before a pulse shot hitwhere his head had been a second earlier, completely melting metal.
"Fuck!" He screamed as he took cover, "are you trying to kill me?"
"Lethal force authorized," one of the guards said calmly. "Target is unregistered lower city resident."
The question was clearly rhetoric and didn't need an answer, but he guessed they don't have something known as humor in the upper city...
Or wherever these freaks trained.
The boy quickly jumped off the building, the ground was quickly approaching, but he didn't panic.
Instead, he extended his hands forward, grabbed on to a metal pole sticking out the side of a building, effectively reducing his momentum before swinging to the ground.
He landed in what seemed like an alleyway, his knees bent a bit to absorb the shock before he stood back up and continued running, just seconds before the guards landed in the same alley.
The skidded around a corner and nearly collided with a pair of startled civilians.
They screamed and scattered, pressing themselves against walls as they spotted the guards behind him.
"Sorry!" he shouted without slowing down.
He gripped the strap of the bag even tighter, feeling a soft pulse through the object within.
"Just hold on a little longer sis," he muttered, as he continued through the city, bumping into the few that couldn't get out of his way in time, "big bro will return soon."
All he needed to do right now was cross into the lower city. Even upper city guards wouldn't dare go into that hell hole.
But at this moment, the distance to it seemed unending.
The boy took a left down another alley, completely unaware of where he was going. All he knew was that if he stopped now, he'd be screwed.
What he didn't notice was that the houses around him got fewer the farther he ran, not until he came upon a clearing, with no more cover.
Well, at least he knew one thing for certain now, he was definitely going the right way, just not the way he knew.
But his excitement soon faded as he looked into the quickly approaching distance.
"Damn it," he muttered.
Just ahead of him was a cliff but if it was just that, he would've sped up without even thinking much about it, running down the cliff was a river of purple glowing fluid.
Raw Aether.
He stopped just a short distance away as he noticed an even bigger river of raw Aether below the cliff.
The same which flowed into the lower city, polluting it. There definitely was nowhere to run now.
"Drop the stolen item," the lead guard ordered. "Step away from the heart and lie flat on the ground."
The boy turned around slowly, meeting their shiny visors.
"You guys wouldn't happen to want to turn a blind eye to this, would you?" He said with the kindest smile he could muster, "after all, I stole this for a noble purpose."
One of the guards who seemed to be looking at him with disdain spoke up, "unauthorized possession of Upper City property carries a death sentence."
The boy snorted.
"Figures."
"You know," he said, voice hoarse, "it's funny."
They didn't respond.
"You can probably afford a million more of these things, yet I'm not allowed a single one to save my sister? Sounds greedy."
Again, there was no response from them as they slowly approached the boy, careful not not damage the aether tech in his possession.
His fingers tightened around the strap of his bag as he weighed his options.
If he cooperated, he'd be executed.
If he tried running again, they'd shoot him.
If he jumped...
"I guess I'll have to choose between certain death and certain death," he muttered with a chuckle, but least one of those options would be on his terms.
The boy met the guards' gazes...well, visors, as his lips curled into a smile while he gave them the middle finger.
"Tell the Upper City," he said softly, "they can choke on their tech."
With that, he jumped off the edge and gravity seemed exited to let him fall quicker into the river of Aether.
"I'm sorry little sis," he muttered as he gripped the bag tighter, "it seems big bro will be a little late."
With that, he plunged into the river of Aether and the pain hit almost immediately, causing him to black out.