Zeke sprinted.
Not with dignity, not with grace—but with the flailing chaos of a man who had no idea why heavily armed mercenaries were shouting his name and blowing up vending machines behind him.
"I'm not the Neon Ghost!" he yelled as bullets sparked off the ground around him. "I just borrowed his hoodie!"
"You are the Neon Ghost, you idiot!" Tess shouted as she ducked behind a stack of obsolete VR headsets. "You're literally glowing with illegal code!"
"I'm trying to return it!"
"That's not how this works!"
...
Behind them, Shin calmly sipped from a cup of steaming synth-tea as his shop disintegrated in a hail of plasma fire.
"This is why I never open before noon," he muttered.
...
Zeke tripped over a fallen shopping drone, somersaulted through a busted turnstile, and landed face-first in a pile of expired ration bars.
Nyx's voice buzzed in his head.
"Tactical feedback: Your current evasive maneuvers rate a 2.1 out of 10. You have the agility of a sleep-deprived sloth."
"Could we maybe encourage me instead?!"
"Very well. You're doing... slightly less awful than expected."
Zeke hauled himself up and made a break for the lift shaft.
Tess caught up, panting. "Up there! Maintenance route. If you get shot, I'm not carrying you."
"I accept those terms!"
They clambered into the shaft just as the mercs breached the stairwell, plasma rifles humming. One of them spotted Zeke's foot disappearing through the hatch.
"Tag confirmed. All units: the Ghost is on the move."
...
Up in the maintenance corridor, Zeke slumped against the wall, gasping.
"I am so not cut out for this."
Tess threw him a look. "You're the most wanted digital entity in the city right now."
"I didn't ask for that!"
"Neither did I, and yet here we are."
Nyx interrupted.
"I have cross-referenced their armor insignia. Those mercenaries are contracted by Novadyne Corp. Likely after me… or you. Possibly both."
"Oh great," Zeke muttered. "A megacorp. Can't wait for the lawsuits."
"Lawsuits?" Tess snorted. "They're not taking you to court, Zeke. They're taking you apart."
...
They reached an exit hatch and peeked into the street level. Neon lights shimmered against chrome buildings, crowds passed by in glowing jackets, and overhead, drones zipped like metallic insects.
Zeke sighed. "At least it looks pretty."
Tess pointed. "That alley. We'll lose them in the crowd."
As they slipped into the neon chaos, Zeke pulled up his hood.
He accidentally activated a holographic projection.
A massive flickering image of his face beamed into the sky above.
"NEON GHOST: WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE. 10 MILLION CREDITS."
He froze. "I didn't turn that on!"
"RUN!" Tess shouted, dragging him by the arm as every bounty hunter within five blocks turned their heads at once.