The thief headed for the upper floors of the building as the alarm noise continued. When he approached an exit to the building, he slowed down to blend in with the crowd and passed through automated security. His black mask emitted electronic signals that fooled cameras and robots into seeing a human face. Regardless, he wasn't the suspect.

In a shooting situation, the invisible field that covered exits allowed everyone except a suspect to leave but not enter. It gave people a way to escape danger instead of being locked in with a shooter and potential bomber. Security robots used recognition and tracking software to pinpoint a shooter's movements to prevent the suspect from leaving.

The bandit halfway crossed an enclosed bridge to another building and stopped to glance out the glass to his left. He saw New Earth police vehicles swoop to the building and barricade the front entrance. At least he was safe . . . for now, he thought.

"Where do you think you're going?"

The kid looked up to see a man in full cybernetic armor blocking his way.

"Just hand it over, and we won't hurt you," Crysilis said. "Well, not much."

The kid shrugged. "OK. You win." He removed the weapon from his trench coat and presented it. However, when Crysilis reached to take it, the thief used the weapon to shoot the glass to his side, shattering it. He side-flipped though the jagged opening.

"You little brat!" Crysilis rushed to the edge of the bridge as the glass automatically sealed. He saw the kid falling. The thief shot a hook to a nearby building and swung to the wall, then started climbing it.

"He's crazy!" Crysilis blurted. "Vecto, he's scaling a building," he communicated through the comlink. "Don't worry. I'll take care of him."

* * *

The bandit pulled himself up to a ledge and looked down briefly. He was dizzy from the height but shook it off. Police lights strolled across the buildings, sunset was approaching, and frankly, the kid was getting tired.

"There he is!" yelled the barely audible voice of a police soldier.

Just my luck. Now I'm a suspect in the shooting! the kid thought. Climbing a building while wearing a mask certainly didn't help.

"We have you surrounded," a louder voice yelled through a speaker. "Surrender immediately!"

The kid kept moving, sliding against the wall.

"This is your last warning!" the officer yelled. "Surrender, or we'll open fire!"

"Oh great," the kid murmured to himself. He stopped next to a window and attached a device to it and stepped aside. Slowly, he lifted his arms in the air as if surrendering. But as he did, he clicked another device concealed in his palm. The window exploded. The police fired as the thief leaped through the shattered window and into what appeared to be a vacant storage room. Not that he took the time to catalogue his surroundings.

He kept running, glancing back once to see a dual liftcopter swoop to his level and fire a missile at him. The kid spun around and leaped backward, tossing yet another device in the air. It attached to the missile and redirected its path. The missile curved inches from his face and executed a 180-degree turn, heading straight toward the copter.

"Bail out!" the pilot yelled seconds before the liftcopter exploded. One of the two protruding anti-gravity propeller discs broke away and crashed through the glass, descending with the liftcopter's remains.

The kid rolled to a stop and took a quick breath. Why did they fire a missile into a building? he thought. Was he really that much of a threat? Perhaps they thought he was that tied-up soldier, he thought. That guy must be a mastermind criminal for them to be so forceful. Maybe the rifle he stole was worth more than he thought.

He checked that he still had the rifle, then continued moving, taking an elevator to the upper floors. When he nearly got to the top, the elevator shut off, sounding an emergency signal.