Chapter 50

“The Run”

---Circumferential Road [3]---

---Santa Mesa Heights, Quezon City---

[Funeral Row]

9:45 PM

A pink flash darts ahead in the midst of a pitch black atmosphere. Its roar can be heard through the small streets surrounding the dimly lit hospitals and morgues that populate the area. Running smoothly and calmly but rarely slow. It grazes the imperfection and the blemish of the asphalt with ease, with no signs of being unsettled by the slightest of bumps. All four of its feet were grounded and stable. With each change of direction handled with ease and composure, furious in its movements but rarely lacking in grace.

But what this flash of pink fails to see, is that behind was an entity who strives to pursue it. A dark horse with it’s mane burning in the hottest bluest of flames.

Violent.

Angry.

Reckless.

Galloping like a demon possessed. Riding the asphalt like a bird glides the wind, with each gallop causing the ground to shudder in its wake, weaving and swerving around the obstacles of the road. Everytime its direction would change, it was sudden, violent, throwing itself across the road without care for an accident as its eyes were blinded enough to see these objects as inanimate, failing to see the lives they carry inside. A few times the funeral row had almost taken the life of the steed. Throwing random hunks of traffic into the unlit path, serving as a distraction, a deterrent. Hordes of unkempt vehicles, ambulances and rust buckets would suddenly appear out of the darkness in an attempt to take his breath away.

But his rage, his resolve.

It melts them all away.

He starts to feel light and nimble. His gallop never slowed and its feet were still firmly charging on the ground. Within these moments he felt like he had unlocked something. Something that he had never felt before, after doing something that his mind had never thought, as his instincts took over him.

For the first time in his life he had felt connected to the machine beneath him. As he weaved himself around the flow of the traffic around him, everything stopped making sense. Everything became a blur and in the midst of the blur a path had opened.

He stopped thinking and his thoughts slowly faded as his eyes could only see a glowing tunnel ahead. Twisting and turning around the objects that litter the path before him.

In this pitch black world surrounded by the dead, his eyes saw clearly, and at the end of that tunnel; Four round lights and a flash of pink.

Greg was silent.

He kept his gaze at the front, locking onto the image of the skyline’s bumper. Fading and emerging into existence as they bob and weave through the sea of cars around them. One by one as each car he clears he can sense the target in front getting closer and closer. He doesn’t know why or how this was happening. He even thought he was seeing a mirage as he couldn’t fathom that he was closing rapidly towards someone he deemed as “untouchable” but at the same time he couldn’t care less as he wanted to crush the person in front of him. He now knows how little she sees him as a competitor and he knows too well how much of an ego blow it would be for a lowly slime like him to steal the win from her grasp.

He can see the car in front swerving around heavily, tapping the brakes with each direction change whereas he could keep the throttle pinned to the floor. Once again he could tell he had gained a few more meters towards the skyline as he sensed the end of the pitch black stretch underneath the rail highway.

The two of them were veering close to the end of the funeral row as the rail highway swerved towards the right and above the San Juan River. They come flying past the final intersection at aurora boulevard and into the clearing as the night sky finally greets them after a long time in the dark. And as if fate had intervened, at the moment after braving to cross the final intersection at full throttle;

Traffic was nowhere to be found.

It was her and him, on a bridge above the river and at the end was a narrow road that ran in tangent to their direction. The sudden clear road enabled his rival to stretch her legs, the power the skyline possessed, far exceeded his, but the bridge was short and his car was light;

He knew he could out brave the bravest of them all.

A flash of pink sped away atop a long forgotten bridge across a neglected river. Its wings are on full display, flying at a blindingly fast pace with every intention to run away. But the road ahead was unfavorable.

She knew distance needed to be made, as both would have no choice but to slow down and make a turn. She aligned herself on the farthest lane on the right and counted the lamp posts ahead.

Five remain; on the second she will slow her pace.

Four remain; she grips her machine.

Three.

Two.

‘Now!’

Val thought as she went past the penultimate lamp post at the end of the bridge. The last one was the apex that she ought to hit if she was ever going to clear the turn whilst at the very edge of adhesion.

She stands on the brakes, placing the full weight of her body and turning it into raw stopping power. She knew she had to slow down, and fast.

Sixth down to fifth, down to fourth, down to third. Shifting down the gears as her tail lights leave a trail of red in their wake.

Time slows as Val can feel the rubber in her tires screaming to her to stop her abuse. She paid no attention to their screams and kept her focus on the last lamp post, inch by inch guiding the car as close as she could without hitting its base.

Little does she know, behind her, magic was happening.

The dark horse sees the red lights flash before him indicating his target in front had started to slow. The lights seem to stay where they were as a trail started to form from the moment they had appeared. The dark horse kept its head down, taking a deep breath as he strengthened his resolve and kept his gallop going.

And going.

And going.

Going past where the red lights had appeared behind his target.

Going further.

And further.

He can see the final lamppost nearing rapidly in front, and still the gallop never ceased. The target in front got closer and closer at an alarming rate and when he sensed that they were about to collide;

He slowed.

Stomping on his brakes with all his might and throwing himself into the turn.

He can feel it.

The machine, the dark horse raring to go.

He had thrown himself into oblivion, fully trusting the machine with his life, and it exceeded his expectations.

The flash of pink had now ceased to be a flash. It was now a solid object in front of his eyes. It was not blurry and it was not a mirage.

It was a solid and heavy Nissan Skyline GTR. And it was starting to break traction as he grew closer to it with only a few more meters from the last lamp post on the bridge.

The pair were aiming at the same place at the same time.

The one who succeeds in shooting the target. Wins.

The car in front was on track to hit it first but at the last moment it started drifting wide. Sliding further and further as it tries to correct itself desperately to avoid losing control.

And as it drifted wide, a gap started to form and the target became his to take.

He inched closer and closer as the gap widened with each passing moment until it was wide enough to pass alongside and at the final moment, the little car that could, had grabbed the apex that they both aimed for.

And as time speeds up again at the exit.

Greg was ahead.

Val smirks as she stares at Greg’s tail lights for the first time in the history of her knowing him. For some reason she did not completely feel annoyed nor enraged that the man she had belittled for so long had managed to outdo her.

Rather, she felt proud.

Annoyed, but proud.

And with a wide grin on her lips a sudden burning feeling arose from the depths of her soul. A fearsome giant was starting to awaken within and its power was rapidly infecting her. And as the infection spread her soul started to react, making her feel that she was about to experience something.

Something that she had been chasing ever since she had returned home.

A real race.

‘So you finally grew some balls.’ She thought as she pushed her car ever so closely towards his rear bumper.

Greg felt a slight nudge from the back as Val deliberately hit him to let him know she was still fighting behind. He smirks at the idea of her pulling her hair in humiliation after being passed by him but he discarded it quickly. He knew Val wouldn’t stoop to react like a cheap cartoon villain.

For as far as he knew, the real race had just started.

The wide three lane roads underneath the rail highway had now turned into narrow single lane roads where overtaking would require going over to the oncoming lane, risking a head on collision if one were to judge the overtake poorly. This creates a huge disadvantage to the chasing Valentina Fe, who was now severely holding back her driving as a lesser horsepower car was driving in front.

All she needed to do was to find the most suitable spot to retake the lead from Greg but his car, being as nimble as it was, was taking advantage of the twisting and undulating roads within the hillside district of San Juan. Somehow this kind of format felt familiar to Val as the tight twisty roads with a narrow width felt reminiscent of the mountain passes of Japan . A place where she had honed her skills for years and thus, making her feel at home even if she was at a disadvantageous position.

On the other hand Greg was driving like his life was on the line.

The love tap that he received from Val earlier did more than just to signal to him that she was still there. It also sent a declaration of war from the person chasing behind, letting him feel her resolve that she “will” inevitably steal back her lead.

And that it was just a matter of time before she did so.

The pressure of realizing those feelings were slowly compounding within his chest. This was the first time he had actually led a race ever since he had joined. He always thought that being in the lead was an easy job to pull as it used to be when he was still playing video games in his youth. Afterall, in the games that he played, once you were in the lead all you needed to do was to keep driving to the finish line to secure your win.

But real life was different, and he was getting a rude awakening with Val breathing down his neck.

Pressure was slowly but surely creeping into his veins with each kilometer that he stayed in the lead. With each passing corner he felt a strong need to check his rearview to see if Val was sitting pretty behind him and not doing anything threatening, gauging her distance if he’d built a gap or if he had lost it. He knew well that it was bad practice to drive using the mirrors but the paranoia of keeping her behind was egging him to do so.

Thankfully in Greg’s case the traffic on the other lane was still dense enough to keep Val from making a move, but then again, Val didn’t need much of a gap to catch him. She sees a slight gap on the oncoming lane and takes a quick peek. Greg sees this split second move and quickly swerves to block her as Val concedes and aligns herself back behind his bumper.

But it was a test.

She grins as she confirms how much attention she was getting from him, gauging how much pressure he was dealing with in keeping her behind. She kept her driving steady and focused on keeping her distance close to Greg. And in moments where a slight straight appeared she would stretch her legs to gain some distance on him and give him another love tap before pulling back to a safe chasing distance.

She knew all too well what was happening inside his mind, and if Greg failed to keep his cool, she made sure she’d be there to pick up the pieces.

It became a little game of cat and mouse.

The mouse can twist and turn to out maneuver the cat, but if the mouse makes a wrong turn or trips on an obstacle, the cat would be there, fangs open, and ready.

---Thank you for visiting the great city of---

---SAN JUAN---

---MDCCCXCVI---

[Welcome Arch]

10:02 PM

The pair were in a standstill as they made their way towards the Old Magnolia Ice Cream house. Now turned into a bustling mall in the middle of the tech sector of the Metro. It is now the most congested center of IT commerce in any given day within the tech inclined citizens of the city and as such Greg runs at the risk of running into a traffic jam and halting the race.

As they passed the bridge over the creek just after the welcome arch, there was an uncanny silence in the area. He expected the atmosphere to be a bit more lively with all of the late night shoppers filling the roads up in their cars, but there was none to be found. He should be feeling quite relieved that the coast was looking clear but the situation was too uncanny for him to be comfortable in. He slowed his pace down in caution and it looked like Val was just as wary as he was as she did the same and kept herself behind trying to gauge the situation at hand.

Everything went silent as they kept caution in traversing the road until they saw a flash of red and blue in the intersection ahead.

The Police have trapped them.

Seeing the sight Greg stomps on the brakes as he tries to do a 180 and go in the other direction.

But Val had other ideas.

Immediately after he slammed his brakes, Val dodged him and went full throttle past him. Greg quickly aborts his plans and gets back on the gas to try and catch up to her, feeling anxious about following her once more into uncertainty, but his vengeful pride wouldn;t let him let her go, throwing caution to the wind and blindly following her towards the police sirens ahead. And just as they arrived at the intersection of the fabled Gilmore Avenue, a flash of green went past them.

---GILMORE IT HUB---

[The Silicon Belt]

10:05 PM

Val was taken by surprise as a loud green thing came flying past them as she was crossing the intersection, noting in her mind that if the engine wasn’t louder than the sirens blasting around her, she would’ve easily gotten into an accident. Nonetheless she felt elated once it had sunken in as to who had just arrived.

‘I thought you were home by now sipping tea?’ Val radioed in.

‘Well I was… But someone gave me an annoying package…’ Lorna responds as Val notices the flashing blue and red sirens behind them.

‘Was it Miles?’

‘Yep…’

‘Thought so…’ Val sighed as she tucks in behind Lorna’s silhouette. ‘By the way I’m actually racing this time.’ She continued also noticing Greg behind her and keeping up with their pace.

‘Oh cool… sorry I had to disturb it though. I badly need to dump this package already.’

‘Sorry? Are you?’ Val quipped.

‘No.. let’s go!’ Lorna replies with a giddy tone as she unleashes all of the horses sleeping inside the big engine she possessed, Rocketing into the residential suburb just across the hub. It was an effective route as all of the chasing officers disabled their sirens and slowed their pace. Lorna intentionally picked the route as she knows the hidden rules of the bureaucracy.

As they had just entered the suburbs of “New Manila”.

Despite being an exclusive subdivision, it’s gates have been opened to public traffic as a means of decongesting the routes around the silicon belt and at the same time garnering the people’s opinion on the people who live in the area.

Which mostly consisted of politicians and well renowned actors and actresses not wanting the people to think they were the snobbish kind. Which they truly are.

Despite that the people who live in the area wanted to keep their little haven continuing to function as a haven, so the home owners made a rule that states:

No police activities may occur inside the subdivision.

Unless permitted by the homeowners.

As they want to continue their illicit habits from being discovered.

Afterall most of the drugs and prostitution consupmtion in the Metro occur in the very homes of those with influence.

And naturally, with her father being in that circle of political influence, Lorna knows a thing or two about those secrets.

For example:

Certain celebrities who have “young” fetishes.

Congressmen who hold exclusive “Pool Parties”

And so on, so forth…

‘Lor where the hell are you taking us? You know they’re just gonna make a bee line towards E.Rod avenue right?’ Val calls out on the radio.

‘The finish line is at Araneta center, am I correct? Don’t worry we’ll still end up there’ Lorna chuckles her response. ‘After the crest tell that guy behind you to ease up and follow obediently.’

‘Fine…’ Val responds as she puts on her hazards and rolls down her window to hold up her hand. Greg saw the signs and immediately pulls up to her side with his windows down looking peeved at her sudden actions.

‘What now Val?! Seriously how long are you gonna keep screwing things for every--’

His angry rant was swiftly cut as the leading Lamborghini suddenly brake tested him before accelerating back to the front. In anger Greg turned his attention towards the driver in front and pulled up beside the green supercar as he was about to give her a piece of his mind.

‘And you?! Who the hell do you think you are butting in--’

He was stopped again as the driver had rolled down her window showing a gun pointed at him, her eyes glued to the road ahead with an uncaring look in her eyes as Greg felt a chill run down his spine, prompting him to obey and back off.

‘Wow… in all those years… never saw you this assertive…’ Val spoke through the radio.

‘Well because I had you for that, and cuz I’m tired and bruised and I wanted to get this over with.’ Lorna spoke with a jaded tone. ‘Once we’re at Araneta I’m off… I badly need painkillers… and sleep.’

‘Roger that.’

Lorna then hands over the handgun back to her shaken passenger who happens to be a cop himself. ‘Here… Thanks Lando.’ She sweetly said.

‘Uhhh… yeah… good work.’ He awkwardly replied as he wiped the cold sweat from his brow. Out of all his years being in the police department he’s had his fair share of the need for speed during the cases he has handled where a pursuit was needed, contrary to those, the way she had driven him around to catch up to Val’s position was way out of his league, he is genuinely surprised that she could still pull off those stunts after being battered around by Gino Blitz.

*sigh* ‘I’mma use this to take a little bit of rest before the last push…’ Lorna said as she took a right turn into a small road leading deep towards the residential houses inside the subdivision.

‘You okay?’ Lando asks.

‘Not really… my arms hurt and my sides sting like hell… I dunno how many ribs I broke but I'm sure something’s broken.’ Lorna answered with a pained expression.

‘Shit I think you need to get yourself to the hospital instead of going home.’

‘Lando… did you forget who I am?’

‘What? What’s that got to do with this?’ Lando responds, confused with her sudden questioning.

‘I just need to get myself home… We got doctors and trauma surgeons within a phone call away. You know how paranoid my dad is right?’ She replied looking burdened. Lando sees this as the adrenaline wearing out as the situation eased off from the chase. He quickly reached for his pouch to get something that used to help him out when he was still active in the field.

‘H-Hey what are--’ Lorna reacts flustered as Lando raises her sleeve to expose her upper arm.

‘This is gonna sting a little.’ He said as he pricks her skin and injects the contents of the small syringe into her bloodstream.

‘What did you do?!’ She shouts, alarmed after he had just injected her with something she was not aware of.

‘Calm down it’s just standard issue morphine. I always keep some in hand just in case I get shot or something… It looks like you need it more than I do since you’re in bad shape and you still need to keep your concentration.’ He explained.

‘Well you could’ve given me a heads up or something?!’ She shouts in response.

‘No time… You aim to turn back and exit through Balete Drive right?’ He said as he pointed out the route just a block ahead of them.

Lorna paused and puckered her lips in hesitation, but she knew that an argument was the last thing they needed at this closing stage of the night.

‘Fine… you get a pass… but that was fucking intrusive just so you know.’

‘I know… It’s do or die here and you look like you are gonna pass out from pain.’

*sigh* ‘I get it… Let’s go…’

She turns off her hazards as a sign to show the drivers behind that racing speeds were about to resume. Val immediately catches on to her plan and turns off her blinkers to signal Greg behind her. She hears him rev his engine in anticipation as they wait for Lorna to step on the pedal and send them on their way.

The green Lamborghini makes a sharp turn to the right and into the infamous Balete Drive where countless accidents have occured in the distant past due to “Ghost Hauntings” but has now been nullified by the homeowners by putting up bright colorful lights along its length.

Nowadays most people know it as the Christmas street, as the area looks like it is always celebrating Christmas all year round.

As soon as Lorna completes the turn, she floors it. Rocketing away in the lead as the other two cars behind her follow suit.

Once again, the race is on.

‘Those cops would’ve rerouted on the other side of New Manila…’ Val thought as she anticipated what lies in store for them when they exit the subdivision’s premise.

‘I hope your gamble pays off Lor.’ Val radioed in, but the only response she could get was silence. They continued to speed along the narrow road until they could see the silhouette of Magnolia Mall up ahead.

And as they cross the back into the Silicon belt. The police patrols have vanished.

Only their sirens can be heard from afar.

‘Hurry we have a five minute window before they swarm Araneta.

If you can’t keep up.

Go home.’

And just as she said that, she floors it.

The duo behind her responds in kind as their engines roar into the back streets of the I.T hub making their way back into the twisty roads going towards Araneta Center.

Immediately Greg had lost out from the initial acceleration of the two cars in front of him but as soon as they got back into the tight roads, his advantage began to shine as he closed the gap rapidly onto Val’s rear bumper.

Val, meanwhile, was in a difficult situation as she tried to attack and defend at the same time with Lorna’s Lamborghini Huracan hogging the road in front of her using the stout width of her car as an advantage. She tries to get the lead back by out maneuvering her on every corner but the traffic on the oncoming lane was giving her a hard time to pass, and everytime she gets a clear opening, Lorna’s V10 powered car would make the overtake difficult to accomplish as she would easily cancel out Val’s momentum to overtake with sheer horsepower. Meanwhile at the back Greg would immediately take advantage of Val’s failed lunges to snatch the free space behind the Huracan but the sudden power bursts coming from the two would always negate any distance he’d make up as a GTR length space would always open up for Val to return to. Leading the race into a dead heat between all three.

There were only a couple of corners left on the race as it was a literal short burst before getting back into the premises of the Araneta Center Coliseum but neither of the three were given in on their opponents. Especially Lorna, who isn’t even included on the race start.

For her this was just an opportunity to race for bragging rights.

For Val this was something that had just turned into a serious deal because of how her opponent was challenging her and her pride.

For Greg…

…

…

…

Just beyond their windscreens lies the major intersection crossing the arterial Circumferential Road 4 (C4) . Lorna can see the traffic lights shining green from a distance and prays to the skies that it stays the way it is for the next four seconds. Val also saw this and prepared herself to swerve around Lorna in case she decides to stop. She had already made up her mind to push through without hesitation.

Two seconds pass.

The light turns yellow. Lorna starts honking her horn and blinking her headlamps in an attempt to warn other cars that they were committing in racing across. And just as they pass the point of no return a flash of red and blue comes across the far side of the intersection as a police cruiser attempts to block their entry to the Coliseum complex. Lorna quickly slams on the brakes as she tries to slow enough to get enough grip to out maneuver the blocking police vehicle.

Val’s quick reflexes allowed her to anticipate the situation and swerves her car around Lorna’s left and into a narrow shoot to the left side of the intersection, mainly used as a U-turn slot for the northbound traffic. She maneuvers her car just enough to tread the narrow entry, barely getting away with a light scrape to her rear fender as she floors her GTR towards the entrance of the complex.

But just at the moment of her launching her car into the lead. A surprise had appeared a few meters in front of her windscreen.

A black compact GR Yaris.

Greg never saw the stop light turning yellow and thus kept his foot on the pedal all the way.

What he did see was the Police hiding by the entrance of the Coliseum complex. As soon as Lorna was honking her horns he turned his lights off to focus the police’s attention on the two cars racing in front of him and as a result, when the police had turn their sirens on to moe and block their advance; Greg had already positioned himself, aiming for the spot where the police car was parked before.

As the police car moved towards Lorna to block her, the spot where the police car was parked grew larger and larger as it traveled to where Lorna’s car was heading. Lorna was braking as hard as she could to avoid the police car, steering towards the same empty space that Greg was heading.

And at the very moment it looked like both him and Lorna were going to arrive at the same narrow gap at the same time. Greg saw this as a good time to turn his lights back on and as he did, he startled Lorna with the sudden brightness of his headlamps, correcting her trajectory to avoid an accident between them.

The result.

Greg successfully crossed the intersection unscathed.

And undoubtedly: in first place.

This was it.

His moment.

Finally, he had outdriven the best of the best and was headed to the finish line with full guarantee of the win.

But Val has other intentions.

She has a knob by the dash labeled “boost”

And she turns it up to “70”.

Greg finds himself stopped in the middle of the road. Ironically right in front of the Araneta Center welcome sign.

For some magical reason a pink GTR had appeared and had blocked his way from going in and to make it worse an angry Valentina Fe was out of her car and shouting some nonsense in front of him.

‘Don’t enter Greg! The cops are blocking off the whole complex! I’ve already sent a message to the whole pack to abort it.

I’ll explain everything at a later date but for now… Don’t push through it!’

Greg just smirks as he sees how low Val had fallen. Resorting to cheap tactics to retain her crown. He answers her with a loud beep from his car.

‘The fuck you talking ‘bout?! Get out of my way!’ Greg shouts as Val rolls her eyes and runs towards him, bringing herself close to his face.

‘Listen here Greg! If you go in there, there’s no escaping out. The cops had already cordoned the area around the complex didn’t you see?!

There’s no getting out of this…’

Greg shrugs his shoulders and puts the car in reverse. Val quickly grabs him by the shoulder to stop him.

‘Greg.

Don’t.

No amount of bail is gonna get you out.’

Greg chuckles. ‘Yeah right.’

He steps on the gas and breaks Val’s grasp as he reverses out of the roadblock. But just as he was about to line himself up to enter the complex; A green Lamborghini Huracan blocked his way of entry.

‘Val! Let’s go! The cops are coming!’ Lorna shouts from her car as Val nods back and retreats towards her GTR. ‘You! You should leave as well… It’s over…’ Lorna tells a confused Gregory Rubio as she speeds off into the distance behind the GTR.

Greg sees the entrance going inside the Araneta Center complex and ponders on what he should do. ‘Were they telling the truth?’ ‘Is this a bluff?’ He thought as he could hear the sirens getting louder with each second passing. He feels a sinking pit forming deep in his chest as he tries to decide what he should do.

Alas, he punches his dash in frustration as he thought about everything he might lose if he gambled on their bluff and got himself arrested; And thus he grits his teeth in frustration and drives away from the scene of the crime.

He feels small and cowardly for taking such an action as he felt like he had wasted another opportunity to better himself and regain his pride as an aspiring racer. But then his thoughts were crowded with silly questions and assumptions that all he could do to calm himself down was to admit that he knew nothing of what was happening.

All he knew was Val’s word. That she was going to explain something. And because there was no one else he could turn to to get any info on what was what, he had no choice but to trust her word.

And thus with a heavy heart, he disappears into the night.

‘Miles! Can you issue a warning to all of my boys to seize all racing in the area?!’

‘What? Why me?’

‘You got the tech! Come on! Simon, take my racing contacts and route them to Miles. Tell ‘em Araneta’s red hot and to wait for my instructions in the coming week! Greg! stop it! Don’t enter!’

---Communications Ended---

‘Ughhhhhh…’ She groans as Val cuts off her comms. ‘Hate it when people throw my dirt back at me.’ She muttered as she swiped across the prototype’s screen to do what she had to. Simon had just sent her a data pack for all of Val’s racing contacts, neatly bundled into a digestible command on the touch screen.

And all she needed to do was to press a single call button.

-This is the Metro Manila Police Department-

A warning.

To all of the speeding drivers wreaking havoc across the city we urge you to surrender to the local authorities.

We have authorized the use of lethal force.

Anyone caught within the Araneta Center Complex would be trialed with little promise of bail.

Surrender now and halt your operations.

Anyone caught resisting arrest will be subjected to “neutralization”

This has been a warning.

‘Play that on repeat on their phones and let them decide for themselves.’

‘Copy that madam’

‘On the other hand, Simon, How are things on your end? Any pursuers?’

‘ Negative madam. I have spread the pack that I am controlling by half a kilometer apart as instructed. So far none had caught up to our payload scheme.’

‘Good… That means mister Blitz here is not carrying any transponders on his person. Though Carbine might be playing the waiting game and letting us take the bait for a while.’

Miles smirks as she looks at the car’s boot storage in front of her, wondering if the package had awakened already. Somehow she was not feeling any struggle in the front, making feel at peace that she doesn’t have to deal with the noisy mess.

At least for now.

‘Just make sure you get to the loading bay before sunrise Simon. I’ll handle things on my end in a different location. For now keep the line open for any emergencies, otherwise, silence…’

‘Copy that madam, good luck.’

She hears the slight blip on the radio as Simon exits the comms, finally exhaling a sigh of relief as she sees the signage by the side of the road that said: You are now leaving Metro Manila.

And after all the trouble on this single hectic night:

Mission accomplished.

The whole team had successfully diverted all attention away from Miles and Simon long enough for them to sneak away all six cars from Carbine’s fleet of nuclear bombs.

And although the mission had costed the team some blood from the mayhem they had caused, all of them had judged that there was no other way they could pry the prototypes from Carbine’s grasp without letting loose a large scale mess that was on par to the raids that Carbine had masterminded.

-They needed chaos to plant the bomb, so we need chaos to defuse it- As Miles had put it.

Although Miles knew that there was more to the raids than just finding benefactors for their new nuclear unit.

Carbine had planned it all.

The raids were nothing more than a pseudo-war Carbine proposed so they can have public support when they set up their facilities within the Philippine Islands. They had covertly sent their new generation droids that have realistic skin and expressions to go and create a riot in the most notable areas of the Metro.

This created an excuse for the government to “seek” technological aid -not monetary aid- as a way to show the citizens that the government thinks preventatively instead of reactively.

And as a result Carbine “quickly” presented themselves and offered security solutions for the country and “proposed” to have a headquarters on local soil to “better address the security issues of modern day terrorism”.

With this deal Carbine was granted a private island facility around the area of Kawit Cavite - an old island resort by the name of “island cove”; and a fifteen hectare flatland in Clark, Pampanga.

Though the allotted lands have not yet begun their development, Miles knew well enough that these facilities would only serve as a test bed for experimental tech.

Carbine also plans to staff around eighty percent (80%) of the facilities with locals under the guise of creating jobs for the local people, when in truth it was only a failsafe to keep their international talents from being blown up to pieces if said experiments go wrong.

In short, Carbine wanted an isolated place where they could do their dangerous tests using people who were far from their own so they could minimize damage to their own talented staff and isolated the damaged areas to a land away from the most prominent land masses.

A despicable plan, but an understandable one in Miles' book.

Until Mr. Asia intervened.

He said he had pupils looking to spread his passion in their hometown.

And that he heard news from a cuckoo bird that there will be something that will kill those ambitions.

He loves his passion and he was ecstatic that his will had caught on to a few youngsters willing to continue it.

And so with that in mind, he had seeked assistance from a dear friend of his.

One that he shared a connection with, a long time ago.

And thus what had happened had happened.

As Miles parked the prototype car in a private dock somewhere south of the Metro.

She sees a man wearing an ominous black pinstripe suit and golden framed circular purple shades, standing by the dock with a yacht waiting behind him. The man who through all the years had seemed to never age, smiled and signaled her to approach.

‘You look so tacky…’ She said but the man held his hand to correct her.

‘Tacky? No… It is not for I am what they call… “The Asian Persuasion” He said proudly as Miles rolled her eyes and sank her shoulders in disgust.

‘What? Does this not look persuasive?’ He asked the woman in front of him who looked like she was about to burst a vein on her forehead.

‘Are we going? Or are we not?’ She answered, looking peeved at his antics.

‘Depends… is that the only cargo? Or do we have a guest?’ The man asked.

‘In the trunk. In the front… don’t open the back, with your shaky hands it might explode.’ She replied snarkily.

‘Got it… oooh by the way I got your favorite drink up and ready. I made sure to get a lot of the “green stuff” so we can do our own [green stuff] later on..’

‘Shut up Kawabata!’

Miles shot back with a piercing gaze, enough to silence the “persuasive man”

‘Alright…’ He said, sounding dejected. ‘Boys push the cargo and “our guest '' inside the hatch as I get acquainted with this old friend of mine.’

‘Yes Mr. Asia!’ His men shouted.

‘So… Miles… where were we?’

She looks back with an annoyed raised eyebrow as he hands her a drink from the bar. Raising their glass for a toast before the yacht speeds away into the sunrise.

Leaving behind the smoke and dust of the chaos they created.

In Mr. Asia’s mind: They’ll manage.

As he smiles, eyes towards the sunrise.