Another Loss
Mercury's vision blurs while a constant ringing sound echoes in his head.
It takes a second for everything to become coherent again, and when it does, Mercury finds he is leaping from hovercar to hovercar, moreover, he is doing it without trying.
"What's happening to me?" Mercury asks, unsure of who he is asking.
[I am currently in control of your body]
"What? Why...wait, where's Alice?" A sudden recollection of what transpired a few moments prior hits Mercury, and he gasps.
[I was casting a spell to teleport you and your sister Alice to safety, but before I could finish, the Wraith in turn activated a self-destruct mode to ensure our escape would be unsuccessful]
Mercury makes his way closer to the alleyway, still under the control of Perai.
"I don't care about any of that. Where's Alice?" Mercury asks, but he receives no response.
Mercury at once feels a jab in his heart Perai's silence.
"No, no no no no no." Mercury's heart sinks, along with his will to live, which is exacerbated by the sudden sensation of loneliness.
Tears fill his eyes and a steady flow streams down his cheeks.
[Mercury, it is inadvisable to let your emotions get the better of you. If your mind is not clear, my control over...]
"We have to go back." Mercury says, feeling his heart completely shattered, but striving to cling to hope. "She's not gone, she's probably on a car, or being held by an Enforcer, or she's falling right now."
[We cannot do that, I found no signs of life whatsoever within the blast radius]
"We survived."
[Had I not cast a counter spell to protect us from the explosion, we wouldn't have]
Mecury misses a step when landing on a hover car, which makes him slip and crash into another car adjacent to the one that felled him.
The sudden rush of pain coursing through Mercury is minute compared to the hurt bellowing in his heart.
"Please, we...we have to go back." Mercury says while struggling through the broken energy windshield of the car.
"Oh my God, are you okay?" A woman driving the car asks.
[I've picked up several backup messages across several broadcasting channels, more Enforcers and Technomancers will be here soon. If we don't go now, we will die too]
"No! Alice isn't dead!" Mercury says and leaps off the hover car, ignoring the woman as he heads for the spot where the explosion occurred.
Said spot is covered with traffic and multiple spectators stick their heads out of their cars to get a good view of the remnants of several destroyed hovercars still afloat.
[Mercury, stop!]
Mercury, upon landing on another stationary hovercar freezes in place involuntarily.
"Hey, get off my car!" A man -- one of the spectators -- yells, but he doesn't act beyond yelling, as pushing a child, no matter how much of a delinquent, is not something he'd go as far as doing.
"Let me go!" Mercury screams at Perai, but she doesn't give in.
[You have to keep your emotions in check, just because your sister is gone doesn't mean you have to be as well]
"I said let go of me!" Mercury screams and leaps onto another hovercar with the boost of his gravity boots.
As soon as he lands on the car, Perai locks him into place once again.
[If you go further, you will be caught by the Enforcers]
"I don't care, I have to find Alice!"
[If you get caught, your mother and father's sacrifice would have been for nothing]
Mercury freezes in place, this time, because of the shock caused by Perai's words.
"What...what do you mean?" Mercury asks.
[Your mother and father risked everything so I secure the information I have now, if you let yourself be captured, they will take me and destroy the information I hold]
Mercury is unsure of how to process all of what Perai just said, all he can process is the pain burning in his heart.
He cleans out his eyes, trying to unblur his vision from his tears, but they just return in full force.
"How...how could they, risk their lives, when they had to be there for us?" Mercury asks, the thought of his sister taking the forefront of his neural lobe.
[I...can not explain as of now, the Enforcers are getting close. Give me control, and when we are safe, I promise to tell you everything]
Mercury's tears flow evermore, as he peers down into the distance below, hoping he'll see his sister somewhere.
"I...I can't...I can't leave Alice." Mercury says, the stream down his eyes becoming a full gush.
[Please Mercury]
Mercury stares still before the pain becomes too much and he lets go.
Perai takes control of his body and at once heads for the alleyway.
Once there, Perai makes it into the alleyway, she heads inside one of the houses, sneaking past a sleeping couple as she makes their way out of the room and into the cramped hallway where an elevator is waiting at the end.
A question about where they are going boggles Mercury, but the hurt consuming him refuses him to speak, so he doesn't.
Upon entering the elevator, three people exit, leaving two inside.
Perai heads in and they wait for the long way down.
But despite the height being great, they make it to the ground in less than three minutes, a small technological advancement compared to the millions achieved over the centuries.
The lobby welcomes both of them to a crowd, going about their daily activities.
Perai, on attempting to exit the building, finds them bumping into one too many people, as there just seemed to be an endless stream of them, with barely any space in said lobby.
Through a perilous path through dozens of people, they finally make it outside the building and onto the streets.
Again, hovercars move constantly across the street from right to left, but the road on the far end of the street is experiencing traffic compared to others.
On instinct, Mercury can tell why and he turns back.
Several feet away, a crowd has formed around what could only be the crash.
Mercury shuts his lids, feeling the sting of his tears penetrating the corners of his eyes.
Sirens go off, and above, they find Enforcers and Technomancers descending.
[Mercury, we have to go]
Perai says to him, but he hesitates, before giving her control.