A Special Run

The time was 10 o' clock in the morning. Exact date: September 6th of the year 2044. This day was very important in the UAE, short for the Unit Alliance of England. The capital, Unit-L was built on this very day just 13 years ago, in 2031. And that was important.

Unit-L was legendary. It was the world's most advanced unit, wether that be technology, law enforcement, social services, and so on. Not only that, people to this day call it "London". No surprise there, as it was built in the place of that "city", except 3 times bigger.

Thanks to the war that caused England's previous capital's downfall, that affected the whole world, might I add, this unit was drowning in cutting edge tech, so much so that it defined lives. There was no need for some workers anymore, thanks to robotics that is, most notably, the Police Department. Public transport, like super-fast trains and subway caused the complete disappearance of cars. Only business vehicles remained.

However, this day was even more important to a couple of people who knew a certain someone. And that someone is non other, than Valentine.

No full name. No one remembered it, not even him for Christ's sake. Not his friends, not his brother. No one did.

And the reason this day was of such value to this rather small group of people, was that Valentine was born on this very day also. And today was his 19th birthday. According to UAE laws, ones from this age were to be considered adults. So everyone was excited.

And so this group wanted to make this day a special one. They planned everything out. And it all started with sending Val out on a mission that he would remember. That's right. This wasn't just any friend group, but the Famous, or Infamous, Underground Union.

You could call them many things. Among those things is words like "delinquents", "punks", "gangsters". These all have one thing in common, though the meaning in all is vastly different. The common theme is the disregard towards authority. And nothing but that entails better the Union. They were known for disregarding the law in every way possible.

The best word of the three I just wrote is possibly "punk". Disregard to authority at a young age. Members were, at best, 26, and that's going back on members no longer in service. Another sign of them was an extreme amount of preparedness. That means most, if not all members, were very afficient with handguns and had plenty of experience in CQC.

And the last, and very notable, theme of theirs was their movement around the Unit. Surprisingly, despite the place's massive size, they moved by nothing but footwork. This is thanks to the way

Unit-L was built. Most houses, though very tall, were very close to one another. This made jumping and climbing around a breeze for anyone well-trained for the job.

This sort of mobility made the public, even the news, dub their missions "runs". And our little Valentine (seriously, he was 6 foot, barely) was getting the type of run on his birthday that he was very fond of. Two types of operations he loved to be assigned to: Spray painting and Diversion. Especially the second one, because he was allowed to confront the police and he could traverse the Unit all he wanted, as long as he filled in the time and returned alone. And so it was, that this run would have him meet someone he never thought he would.

Valentine

A semi-loud sound of spraing could be heard on one of the building blocks in the north side of L. Val was completing the last of the graffiti on a 200 feet high block. They knew it was a police patrol route specifically looking for them. It was the perfect spot to paint their logo. A simplistic drawing of a hooded person with a face mask, holding a pistol right at the person looking at the sign.

-Mmmhhhmmm-hmm-hm -hummed Val. His green mask dampered it a little, but that didn't bother anyone. He was alone, like he needs to be right now. This run was his alone. Above his mask were his eyes, different colors. The right one blue like the sky and the other green, like a neon sign.

He wasn't wearing a cap like usual, so his unmatted, red dyed hair was flailing in the wind wildly. It was supposed to be a pompadour, but he never took enough care to make it stand. Speaking of the wind, it was also flailing around the hoodie tied to his waist like a cape, uncovering the blue jeans and red sports shoes he was wearing.

Thanks to his hoodie being tied to his waist, his white T-shirt was also showing, though his left sleeve was long, longer than his entire arm, no wonder he wasn't using it right now. Least notably was his gun's holster, once again tied to his waist. The hoodie had covered it, so no peopele probably would underestimate him.

-How's your work of art? -asked someone jokingly ovet the radio. He had some nice quality earphones, so he heard perfectly. His mind became a little clouded upon hearing mockery towards something he genuinely considered art. He replied sounding calm, despite that.

-Almost done now, -and he remarked in a scarier voice - and then comes the fun part!

He sounded like someone out of an insane asylum, though he was joking.

The caller, a little bit freightened now, answered back :

-You really enjoy this too much Val...

-Oh come one lad, you would too! -he answered quickly with a joyful voice.

- What would it take for you to stop being so stereotypically british? For god's sake, just call me Mike! -replied Mike with a slightly annoyed tone. Valentine laughed it off and continued with his work. Him and Michael Foster have known each other since Val was first a member of the Union. Mike was 1 year older than him, but only moved to Unit-L in 2033, when the US was basically abandoned by any rational human. When they first met, he was already a radio operator in the group, and so he was a very valuable member of it.

A few more minutes passed as Valentine finished his art. It was roughly his height and fit perfectly on a wall.

-Aaaaand..... DONE! -Val said triumphantly as he packed his cans and satd down near an vent.

-Good! Wanna take a picture? -said another voice, but this time it wasn't Mike. It was a little more high-pitched and very excited. It was Sean Thatcher, a young brit and the newest member of the Union. He joined roughly a year ago and made good friends with everyone. He was only 15, but has proven himself to be able to single handedly carry out stealth-and reconnaisance runs with nothing but his trusty taser gun.

-Just a sec. Also, what was that about me being too british Mike? Meanwhile the kid with the most brit name comes up to you. Feel at least some regret, please do! -Val remarked as he giggled a little, and quickly took position with his phone and took a picture of his newly made work of art.

-Oh, just go to hell, man! -Mike said, clearly annoyed at Valentine for pointing out his mistakes. Thatch was also quite unhappy, as his name has basically been made fun of just now.

-Alright, alright, I'm sorry! -said Val, his words filled with regret as he sent the picture -you too Sean...

-It's okay -said Thatch -Oh my god Mike, look! It's so cool! -he showed his phone to Mike who looked at the pictue and gave 3, hardly honest claps as a sign of respect for Val's work. They often got upset at each other, but I guess that's sort of what friends do. If they can sort it out, it just proves that they really are friends.

-That's all I'm giving you Valentine.

-Alright, Mr. Radio Operator... -said Val, getting silent as his sentence went on. He was clearly expecting a little more appreciation for his work. But he wasn't surprised. He had just poked fun at his audience. Accepting the truth, he took a sports drink out of his bad and started drinking out of it. He had been out in the sun for about 30 minutes now and he was sweating, not just a little. A cool drink never felt better.

-Guess we play the waiting game now. -he stated before taking another sip.

-Would appear so -replied Thatch - I'll have some sleep now. Mike, wake me up when stuff gets interesting. -he said while he yawned.

-Ok -replied Mike -I'll hang up now, Val. Call me back when stuff is exciting around there.

-M'kay then -said Val as Mike hang up.

Valentine stared up at the sky. He rarely ever though about how gifted us humans really are. We have sucha wonderful planet... or more like HAD. Some of it is now uninhabitable, probably for good, like the USA. The so called "War of Annihilation" struck down hard on the world's leading power, craving human sacrfices unspoken of before in history.

Never before has he thought so much about a thing that he sees every day in one sitting. Just how beautiful it is. Heck, everyone always said his eyes "stole the colour of it". He giggled a little as he thought of that, how Sean said that to him once and everyone started laughing. But in secret, everyone has been saying it since. Even his police profile says it:

"Eyes: right one, blue like the sky, and the left, green".

He was always slightly offended by that. Someone said to him once that his left eye was like a neon sign, and damn, he was proud of that comparison. The thing is, he couldn't remember who it was that said this. He always thought it was his brother, but the boy always denied it. Maybe it was one of his parents. Two people he never knew. Did they even exist in the first place? Maybe he's a clone of someone.... or a robot? Well he must be a damn advanced one, 'cause he can sure as hell bleed.

He looked at his right hand's wounds that he got a few days earlier from a 20 feet fall. This was probably the best he could have expected. Had someome untrained fallen that much, some bones would be broken right now. Random thoughts like this often clouded his judgement, but it was one very interesting way to pass time. He would never read books, or do anything, besides having such thoughts, that involved doing physically nothing.

Minutes passed. Many minutes. At about 10 minutes in he already thought about dozens of wild stuff. But not just that. He also wondered what the pre-war world was like. The one where his supposed parents lived. He looked slowly down on the massive buildings. Another pointless thought ran through his mind: he was looking up for some time now.... how was his neck not hurting?

Doesn't matter. All he was focused on by now is how he would go about creating a 15 minute long diversion. This was actually quite long, considering that the usual diversion time is about 7 minutes. I mean, the Union usually just needs to steal something, or complete a quick raid silently. So many things constantly distracting him... but he had a feeling now. Sooner or later, the patrol would arrive.

And in just a minute, he heard sirens nearby.

-Mike needs to see this. -he said to himself as he called his friend. After 10 seconds, he picked up.

-Got any news for me? -asked Mike.

-Yeah. Turn on the camera. -replied Val while he was searching for something in his backpack. At this point, the 3-man (or rather robot) party was climbing up to the roof, as they got informed of the situation.

After maybe 1 minute, they arrived, just as Valentine finished his search. He threw the pack down a vent, where it was safe, He often did this and returned later to pick up his stuff. He stood up and faced the 3 robots. "Model: RT-37; Weaponry: Basic 10mm handguns". He was cycling through the details in his mind.

-FREEZE! -said a robotic voice. The 3 robots pulled out their guns and held it straight at Val's head.

-MASK OFF! -continued the second one.

-DROP THE WEAPON! -finished the third.

-How clever -said Val mockingly -guess I need to hide it better. -he looked at the middle one as he finally revealed what his search was for.

Val was holding two small capsules in his rught hand. The two were a fistful, but it's all he needed.

-Go ham, my dude -said Mike as he leaned back in his chair, ready to see someone's day take one very bad turn.

-Got it, sir! -said Val. He threw the capsules up and caught them with his left hand, finally revealing it: a prosthetic arm. He spun his metal wrist around twice before lifting the capsules to his face and crusing the both of them. They released a white gas, which Val inhaled every bit of. He puffed a little, then lifted his prosthetic arm into a battle stance.

-RESISTING ARREST, TAKE IN BY FORCE! -said the middle one as he was about to pull the trigger. In a split second, Val drew his gun, that he refused to drop, with his right and popped a hole in the middle robots's head. It spazzed a little before collapsing into a still, metallic shell. The other two didn't waste a second but instantly took 5 shots at Valentine.

He quickly sidesteped them all and lunged at the robot on the left at an incredible speed. He punched a clean hole with his left arm. However, the robot was still kicking, and so was the one now behind him, previously on his right. He blocked a punch from the impaled one and used it as a shield to block a shot, then threw it off the building and jumped towards the last one. He stopped right before he reached it and spun around 360° and hit it's head clean off with his left.

The robot collapsed, like it's colleague. Val reverted to a normal stance, seemingly without any exhaustion.

-Thank god you took two -Mike broke the silence -you still need to divert them for maybe 14 minutes. -the gas was why Val seemed to be still mighty fine. It was a substance that, when mixed with blood, spit, or other body fluids, would generate energy on "demand", meaning it would keep you from getting exhausted for some time. At high amounts, it also boosts one's physical capabilities.

- I know. You just let me know of anything of my interest and enjoy the show. -replied Val. -Also, wake up Sean. -he added. Mike hummed as a sign of agreement and went to wake up the young one.

Suddenly, Valentine heard some chattering through one of the metal bodies. He grabbed a walkie-talkie-like device off of it and gave the Police Department just what the wanted to hear:

-Hey there. It's me, Valentine. Your 3 rustbuckets went down just now. Didn't even have to try. You know where I am. Come and get me, "fist of the law"! -he said and broke the device in two.

-VAL! -Thatch and Mike had just come back. -How many did you get?! -said the kid all excited.

-3... but it's about to be a whole lot more. -Valentine said as he started hearing more sirens already.

-Alrightyy! I'll just see how you do! -said again Sean as he sat down on a couch nearby the big screens that Mike was monitoring Val through. He had a clear sight of them and boy was he excited. He always loved seeing professionals of the Unit fight through wave after wave of RT-s, or just pull some pretty incredible parkour moves.

-4 air vehichles, closing in! -reported Mike.

-Good... -replied back Valentine. He took a look at his metal arm and started operating something on it like some sort of watch. It was, however, a built-in music player. He loved to listen to some punk tunes while running and fighting. He pushed a few buttons, and moments later, his earphones started playing some wild guitar-riffs. He took one last look at the city from up here, and then ran with full force towards the side of the roof and jumped.

He landed on the nearest house and started running across it. The police had spotted him, so he had no more stops in mind until the 14 minutes were over. He kept on leaping from roof to roof, sometimes a little a bit lower, or taking a turn. Suddenly, he felt a gunshot graze by his ear. He knew what this meant: they have a sniper. He took a quick left and jumped straight through the window of an unfinished building to find cover.

He kept on running in the wide building for a few seconds before reaching a door.

-3 hostiles, in a row, through the door! -reported Mike. Val quickly said:

-Acknowledged! -before punching the door, breaking it down. He took a quick shot at the head of the first, then switched to his left arm to knock down the second, and finished by jumping up and doing a sideways roll in the air to gain momentum to crush the third robot. The result was a storm of sparks and crushed metal. He put away his handgun and swiftly kept moving. He reached the end of the floor and jumped to the roof of a neighbouring block.

-Look out! RT to your right!! -Mike yelled. Val took a quick look onto his right side to see a yellow eyed, red and blue colored RT tackle him with full force. He grunted a little as he felt himself getting tackled through a thin cardboard wall. They fell onto a steep panel of windows. As they were rolling down Val got short flashes of people being shocked by the sight of a police robot and a relatively small guy having a very childish-looking fight while rolling towards imminent death. Had he not been the one approaching his demise, he'd probably also be looking, thinking "that's not an everyday sight".

At the very last second of their roll, Val pushed against the glass hill with all four limbs and launched himself, and the RT clinged onto him, away from the 150 feet fall below them. Val knew this place well, and knew that they would fall through a window here... but he never really checked what the building was. Before he could process what he was about to fall into, a loud noise of a window shattering was heard as they landed in a room full of desks. He still didn't have a millisecond of free time. Thankfully, he could kick the robot off of himself and reach for his gun.

Except there was a problem. He couldn't find it. It fell off somewhere. So he did the next best thing in mind: he jumped at the robot and started hitting it with both hands.

-WOULD. YOU. JUST. STOP. MOVING. -he added after each hit. After the "MOVING", the robot seemed to have stopped moving. Val quickly looked around and spotted his gun. He walked to it, grabbed it, walked back to his chaser and shot it in the head about 3 times. He wasn't happy. His nose was bleeding and his clothes were dirty. Thank god they weren't easily torn.

And then he looked around. He was in a school. The classroom he was in was filled with dead silent kids looking at the mess he just made, along with two mortified teachers doing the same. However, as he looked in the back, he spotted a girl who was, despite everyone else's reaction, looking like she got the chance of a lifetime for something. She also stuck out because of her white face mask and absolutely beautiful brown eyes and blonde hair. But there was no time for any of what came to Val's mind. "Maybe one day" he thought as he bowed sarcastically and broke through the door of the classroom. As he ran down the hallways, he heard metal clanking behind him. He concluded that he didn't have time to turn around, and so he put his earphones in and kept moving, thinking it was just some more RT-37-s. If only he knew what he was really hearing...