On the Run

Kepler's Ring - A ring with two sides.  Each side of the ring had buildings and people on it.  Artificial gravity was applied on each side towards the center of the ring.  So, in order to get from one side of the ring to the other side, you had to visit a Tube Station.  A tube station was a small metal tube that you floated through to get from one side to another.  After closing the door, gravity was turned off until you got to the other side.  This was where gravity would be reversed.  The stations had to be well managed, and the change in gravitation had to be just right.  One wrong calculation could have a person being shot out into space or having different parts of their body pulled apart inside the tube.  Rumor had it that before A.I. had become advanced, human error sometimes caused the death of an unfortunate individual.

A.I. and robots had a special place on the ring.  They had high priority jobs that usually put them in charge of managing very specific things that kept the ring functional.  And some A.I. would be placed inside a companion.  An A.I. companion was usually used by men who didn't want or couldn't form a relationship with a flesh female.  And some men even claimed that A.I. were far superior at many things compared to a flesh female.

A.I. wasn't allowed to do everything, though.  There were limits on the types of work they were allowed to perform.  This made it so that the A.I. wouldn't become more powerful than the humans.  Each group had specific roles to play and tasks to perform.

The upper side of the ring, where I lived, was made with tall glass buildings.  It was a center of science, travel, commerce, and mostly for the well-to-do in society.  The lower side of the ring was different.  This place was filled with peasants and criminals.  If you commit a crime, then you would be sent to the other side for a short amount of time.  You could also find people who were down on hard times.  It was cheaper and less strenuous to live on the underside of the ring.

And the reason that brought me here - Old Town.  As the name implied, the town was very old, but more importantly, not very many people went here.  Even the people on the underside of the ring avoided this place.  Many rumors said the place was haunted.

Gray, brown, and red buildings lined the streets.  Some made of bricks, others made of wood.  The streets were made of flat rocks, spaced out at even intervals.  An artificial fog filled the air, likely caused by an unrepaired vent.

I had finally gotten my hands on a golden plated coil.  This was the only thing that would activate Tesla's Plasma Globe.  No ordinary coil would work.  And I hadn't found anything else that would work.  A freak accident had led me to discovering the globe's true power.  A happy coincidence that I wouldn't soon forget.

I came to an old brick fountain.  The water was all dried out, and there was green mildew growing out of the faucet.  That's when I heard foot steps approaching from behind me.

I looked, but the artificial layer of fog made it hard to see very far ahead of me.  If another person was coming, it wouldn't be safe for me to stay out in the open.  I went towards a house with a small green door.  I quietly opened it and climbed to the second floor.  There was a window pane where there had once been some cheap glass.  Just jagged edges around the frame could be seen.

I tried to see the person as they approached the fountain, but they were wearing some strange mask on their head.  It had some strange set of goggles on the front.

The person looked around.  They looked right in my direction and started walking towards the door.

Thermal Goggles!  The person following me could see where I was based on my body heat.  This meant only one thing.  They were trying to find me.

"What the hell!"  I uttered to myself.  I had gotten myself into a real doozy this time.  He could see me, but I wouldn't be able to see him if the distance became far enough.  There was no way to hide.

I carefully climbed outside the window and found a narrow wooden ledge to tiptoe across.  After that, I jumped to the top of a red roof of another house.  I started running as fast as I could across the roof of the next house and was able to jump across a narrow alley onto another one.

Luck wasn't on my side.  The other person obviously realized I knew they were there.  I could hear their footsteps coming quicker.  They were now running after me on the roof tops as well.

"Crazy Devil Man!"  I shouted back.  No use hiding where I was now.  I found a ladder loosely attached to the side of another house that was much higher.  I quickly went up.  I waited patiently for the individual to catch up to me.  I could feel their weight on the ladder as they came up.  And then, with all my strength, I kicked the ladder.  It slowly came loose and fell.  I could hear a loud cry and a thud.

I heard a couple choice words from the man below.

"Have I done it?"  I whispered to myself.  I was almost relieved until I heard the sound of a machine engine choking.  I hadn't noticed it in the distance, but the man had an actual jetpack! 

[A jetpack.  An actual jetpack.  What I wouldn't give to use a jetpack to fly up those stairs just one time....  But I'm in real trouble now.  Save me!  My Friend!  What kind of mad individual has followed me today?  My Friend.....  Yes, of course....  How stupid of me.  I wasn't that far away.  I could make it to the globe and transport myself to another dimension.]

"You can do this, Kepler."

I ran across the roof and jumped onto a flat roof, but as I stood up, the roof crashed and I fell down.

It wasn't a long fall, but it still hurt like hell.  My leg and shoulder throbbed.  I wanted to sit there and nurse them back to health, but the roaring of the jetpack engine above gave me other ideas.  I hobbled my way down the stairs and through the door.

Nearby was a cramped alleyway that was hard to squeeze through.  Ordinarily I wouldn't try to go through it, but I knew the man in the jetpack wouldn't easily be able to fly down here.

As I grew confident in my escape, I heard a metal clang nearby.  I looked down on the ground.  It was a sleep bomb!

"Fuck me!"  I rarely swore, but this was far too much.

I kicked the bomb away and covered my mouth with my jacket as I quickly found an opening to run into.  I ran as fast as I could, but the man in the jetpack flew down behind me.  I could feel my jacket being grabbed by his hand.  Already anticipating this, I quickly threw off my jacket over the man's head and tripped him with my foot.

The man tumbled over, but I knew I had to make good speed.  The house was near.  I ran as fast as I could towards the old house that I used as my secret hideaway.  I slammed the door shut and locked it with the old fashioned bolt that was still there.

The door shivered as the man outside hit it with all his might.

"That door won't last long." I ran upstairs and found the globe hidden in the secret crevice that I had put it in.  I grabbed the globe and the coil just as I heard the door crashing in down below.  The man was running upstairs.

"Witness the power of Tesla, asshole!"  Those were my last words as I disappeared into a different realm.