Little Lights in the Darkness, Part 1 (1/2)

[b]Found.[/b] In the dark, nighttime shadows of The City, close to the outer wall, far from the skyscrapers and lights centered beneath The Traveler, something hastened across the dimly lit streets. And then another something. Then a third and fourth and fifth and sixth and finally, a smaller seventh. The shadowy figures, a group of darkly dressed children, teenagers to be more exact, darted from shadow to shadow on their way to their destination. They moved with speed and purpose, and, judging by the unlit locations they stopped at along the way, they meant not to be seen. The small gang grouped together in an alleyway just out of view of their ultimate destination: a small bakery serving Ghetty Prime, one of the distant slums farthest from the Traveler’s light. After making sure they were all accounted for, the kids spread out and encircled their target. Some skirted right past it checking for threats, while others scouted more than a block away, on the lookout for trouble, before eventually returning to the alley for final instructions. “There’s a security bot patrolling one street over,” Dustan, one of the larger boys, whispered to the rest of the gang. “We can deal with that,” another replied. “As long as [i]Nate-la [/i]can get inside,” he continued, sounding out the name of the gang’s defacto leader. The thin seventeen year old girl opposite him brushed her stringy, brown, shoulder length hair out of her eyes and grinned. “You deal with that bot, Roy, and I’ll deal with the break in,” she told him confidently. “Now get moving.” “You heard her boys, let’s go,” Roy commanded the rest of the gang, a second, slightly younger girl included. “Be careful, Luminita,” Natela called out softly to her sister. The younger girl nodded and then was gone. The gang moved out of the alley in ones and twos, trouble gleaming in each of their eyes. Natela counted to sixty then got to work. She had cased their latest target herself earlier in the week, but she still moved with caution as she approached the bakery’s back door. Still no cameras. Still no motion detectors. Still no lights. It was exactly the same as she’d left it. Then, instead of darting over to the door, or creeping to it sneakily, Natela made a show for anyone who might be watching. Leaving the shadows, she walked angrily down the street, splashed her foot in a convenient puddle as if she didn’t know it was there, and finally plopped down with her back against the bakery’s faux brick wall. To the casual observer or observation device she would seem like nothing more than a dejected teen, out too late, with troubles on her mind. She sold her lie, whether it was necessary or not, by banging her head back against the wall. It hurt some, but more importantly it gave her a good reason to look up and check for any last security devices she might have missed. There were none. A few seconds later a siren sounded in the distance, opposite the bakery. That was her cue. “‘Atta boy, Roy,” Natela said to herself as she stood and inspected the bakery’s back door. A quick turn of the handle proved it to be locked. [i]‘Good for them,’[/i] she though. Without a moment’s hesitation she drew a large beat up knife from the torn sheath connected to her belt. The knife was in terrible condition. Its blade was chipped, part of its rubberized grip had long given way, but it was hers, and it was all she really needed for this job or any other. First, she tried sliding it between the door and handle. A cheap lock would give easily when faced with such a simple trick. This one held firm, but no matter. Natela withdrew the knife and then did something… different. With a flick of her wrist, the polysteel blade flared white hot and illuminated its immediate surroundings with tiny arcs of lightning-esque electricity. Smiling, Natela tried again. This time her knife sliced through the locking bolt smooth and clean, as if the steel pin had been made of nothing but butter. With the lock defeated, Natela sprung into action. There was no telling what kind of alarms might have been triggered or who might be inside. Throwing open the door, she let her knife light her way as she dashed through the bakery’s back rooms, past ovens and cooking sheets. She sheathed her knife once she emerged into the front room, and, with surprising strength for her seemingly malnourished frame, hefted the antique [i]looking[/i] register into the ragged sack she’d brought with her. Her eyes widened as she saw some left over bread left in the display case in front of her. She hurriedly stuffed her mouth full of baked goods before darting back the way she’d come. For several tense minutes Natela walked briskly away from the scene of her crime, checking behind herself repeatedly as she crossed street after street, traveling in seemingly random directions in case anyone was following her. Finally, when she was sure she was alone, she headed back towards The City’s outer wall. Back to the place where the rest of the gang would be waiting. “One thousand two hundred and eighty credits total,” Natela told the others after she finished downloading their loot from the antique styled payment terminal into her modified phone. “That’s three hundred twenty for me for me, and one hundred sixty for the each of you.” Luminita and two of the others held out their own phones, eager to be paid for their night’s work. Roy and his two friends, however, did not. With a knowing glance between themselves they stood as one and advanced on Natela. “Me and the boys were thinking we should do things differently, this time,” Roy said slowly. “We’ve been thinking, why is it you always get the double share? We were thinking, why don’t we…” he glanced warily at the three members of the gang still sitting, “…split it evenly this time.” Natela chuckled. “This again Roy?” she asked. “We’ve been through this before. I get double because I do most of the work.” “Seemed like we were the ones risking our necks, giving you your distraction. That seemed like half the work to us. We think an even split would be… more than fair. And, I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist on it this time.” Roy rotated a length of pipe in his hand as he finished speaking so everyone could see it. A pair of gasps came from two of the still seated gang members, but Natela remained unfazed. With a well practiced movement she suddenly held her bright, blazing knife in her right hand making it clear to all as to who held the better weapon. “We’ve been through this too,” she said calmly. “Just take another step closer if you feel like losing a second finger,” she threatened, sure of herself. “You’re right, we have,” Roy replied. Natela followed his sudden glance to her right, but not even she was quick enough to avoid the makeshift pepper spray Dustan directed at her face. Her left hand automatically flew to her eyes in a desperate, frantic attempt to wipe them clear. She yelled and cursed, but a second later she had to pull in her next breath. The burning pain that had blinded her immediately spread down into her throat and lungs, and with that her fight for dominance was over. Natela dropped her suddenly dormant knife to the ground and doubled over on her hands and knees as she coughed and choked on the intensely irritating spray. Roy watched with a smug look on his face as his two accomplices dragged their former leader out of the street and held her up against a nearby wall. “Stop it, you’re hurting her!” Luminita screamed, but the three boys ignored her. Confident that Natela was securely pinned, Roy advanced on her and was about to strike her with the length of pipe when a bright light illuminated the entire gang. [i]Oops... looks like I hit the character limit... Continuing in next post...[/i]