Chereads / AWAKENED: THE BEAST SYSTEM / Chapter 2 - CH2: DARK FIGURE.

Chapter 2 - CH2: DARK FIGURE.

[8:00 pm]

[Location: Desper{ground level city.}]

[Day: New Year's Eve.]

"HEEELLLPPP!! THIEVES!!"

"Oh crap. That's our cue guys. GO, go, go, go."

Three adolescent males wearing ski masks ran out of a local jewelry store as they each carried big brown bags. The males dashed out of the store while laughing fanatically and heading for a ladder which led to a rusty old ladder. They quickly climbed in and were led to the rooftops of the multiple buildings built closely next to each other.

"HEY YOU, HALT. IN THE NAME OF THE LAW."Officers who heard the distress call yelled out while following them from ground level.

"In the name of the law my foot." One boy taunted back as he flashed his middle finger at the officers.

"Come on, we've got to go."

"Oi, you lot. Get back 'ere, right now!"

"Catch us if you can, governor.

"I don't think that potbelly of his can run, hahaha." The three ran across the rooftops as they'd occasionally perform a few parkour tricks to escape. They managed to get a good head start away from the officers, giving them a little breathing room. "Hahaha, we did it, guys. We made it, didn't we."

"Right!! I can't believe how easy it was."

"We're not done just yet. Look."The tallest of the males warned while pointing at three robotic units that waited to ambush the boys not too far away.

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Welcome to Desper, a large and busy city that's home to many people who had hopes of working their way to any of the Heavenly cities. Since this city was so large and over crowded, itwas divided into three parts. The west wing consisted of the rich houses and businesses that only upper-class citizens had access to. The central wing was home to the middle and lower class citizens and was also the business centre. The central wing was also located directly under Neveah, so not much natural sunlight was received but it was always shielded from storms and heavy rainfalls that would fall once in a while.

The east wing consisted of major public buildings and businesses like schools, hospitals, markets, clubs, and among other buildings but it didn't have as much activity as central Desper. Now, with different kinds of people living in one secluded area, constant crimes would break out and the police couldn't be everywhere at once.

To combat this dilemma, Desper's police force was able to deploy robotic police units at different strategic locations in the city. In case the police couldn't continue a pursuit, or come to aid on time, the robotic units would automatically be deployed to serve and assist them and the citizens, and this was what was happening to the three adolescent boys.

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"Oh crap. I didn't depend on three of them to be deployed. One is hard to take down on its own, let alone THREE!!"

"We can do this. Stick to the plan, remember. Evasive manoeuvres, go go go."

The three boys split and ran in three different directions. One went left, one right and another continued straight ahead. Each one of them held their brown bags as tight as they could while figuring out ways of how they'd escape from the robots. "FUGITIVE, CEASE YOUR CRIMINAL ACTIONS, NOW."

"Eat a robotic stick, you bucket of bolts." The boy who went left shouted as he pointed his middle finger toward the machine. The robot placed its arms on its sides and began to change its shape. Its feet grew longer and took a slimmer shape while its thin arms readjusted into larger shapes. It tucked its head deeper into its head and started to advance slowly. At first, it started to walk, then to jog, and then finally caught up its pace and bolted so fast that the iron sheets and concrete beneath its feet cracked and shattered

'Oh crap. This thing's catching up.' The boy tied the bag around his waist and increased his pace as he jumped over, slid under, and slipped through the rooftops.

The machine would repeat the boy's actions much better, causing it to catch up very quickly. "Ahh geez. Run, Dezhong. RUN!!" He said to himself as he forced his legs to carry him even faster. Dezhong, was a tall, slightly buff boy with chocolate brown skin, a head full of spiky hair that was a mixture of blonde and black, and a cocky look complimented by a crazy, thrill-seeking attitude.

"Crap. Maybe I'll lose it from here..." He said as he leaped off the roof and folded his hands and legs together as he came crashing through the tent folds of the marketplace. His plan was to lose the robo-cop in the thick crowd of people as a way for him to escape.

Dezhong fell right into a stall belonging to a chubby woman whose business was selling basic vegetables. Upon seeing her stall getting wrecked by a goofy teenager, the woman, who wasn't very attractive and physically fit, took off her slipper and started hitting Dezhong senselessly.

"You stupid...filthy...delinquent...hooligan."

"Oww..hey...quit it, lady," Dezhong complained as he tried to escape from the woman.

"HALT. IN THE NAME OF THE LAW."The robo-cop commanded as it stood from the rooftop ledge Dezhong had jumped off from.

"Ah, geez." Dezhong grabbed the lady's arm, gave her a little slap on her cheek, and said, "You'll pay for this one day, lady." After "threatening her" he continued his escape away from the robo-cop.

One major problem with these robots was their code to always follow the rules. 1: They weren't allowed to destroy private or public property. 2: They weren't allowed to injure any innocent civilians and 3: They were not to open fire unless the suspect themselves was armed and dangerous. Since all these rules existed, thirty percent of pursuits weren't successful, giving criminals the guts to continue with their acts.

"Now that the robocop was distracted, I can catch some ground away from it" He said but then, the unexpected happened. Standing a few feet away waiting for him were real policemen waiting for him with their stun-weapons drawn out. The boy took a hard left down into , the most dangerous place in the Desper, Hallow's point.