10/08/955, 2034 hours, Sector 7, Eden
Far away, in the city of Eden, an alarm sounded.
The ringing broke through the normally peaceful night and passed through every corner of any location within a 1 kilometer radius of where the alarm was.
One by one, people’s heads turned to determine the source of the incessant ringing. As soon as they determined it, their gaze remained fixed.
The reason for their fixed gaze was not because such an event was rare. On the contrary, it would be pretty common for such an alarm to ring every once in a while. For one, it was the city of Eden, the technological forefront of civilisation on the entire Earth. Being at such an illustrious position in people’s minds definitely made it vulnerable to thieves hoping to snag a piece of the valuable city for themselves. For another, it was in Sector 7, where a number of buildings owned either by one or many prominent businesses were located. For that reason, it would be easy to guess why it would attract thieves.
Hence, the people didn’t think such an event was rare.
They were fixing their gaze on the source of the alarm for an entirely different reason.
It was coming from the Shunsho Corporation Main Office, and the Shunsho Corporation was rarely open to the public about what they were doing in there.
However, unless they were new to the city, every person would know what it specialised in making.
Firearms.
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10/08/955, 2037 hours, Shunsho Corporation Main Office, Sector 7, Eden
“Huff...huff…”
The masked man panted as he ran down the corridor and passed by multiple offices. His hands held tightly onto a irregularly-shaped device.
Behind him, he could hear shouting.
“He’s there! Shoot him!”
As soon as he heard those words, he heard another noise. It was a metallic clanging that resonated from a spot on the wall of the hallway, a few metres behind him.
Although he didn’t see it clearly, he knew that only one thing would make the same clanging noise as he heard it.
“Shit!” he swore, as he raced down the hallway. Sweat poured down his forehead, and a few drops fell on the device, but he couldn’t care about that at the moment.
He needed to escape before he was killed.
His gaze landed on where he needed to go, a few metres away from where he was. It was a metallic door with the words ‘Emergency Exit’ painted in luminous green on it.
The voices were getting closer. With a series of rapid motions, the masked man took large strides along the remainder of the hallway and threw open the door labelled ‘Emergency Exit’.
However, what the door led to wasn’t the exit.
It was a giant balcony, with a stunningly bright view of the Eden skyline, and handrails placed around the edges to prevent people from falling 135 storeys to their death.
He ran towards the handrail. When he reached the edge, he turned back to face his pursuers.
A guard wearing an ordinary security outfit stood beside two other people that were most likely also security guards, considering their similar outfit to the guard in front.
The guard in front was pointing his pistol at the masked man, and from his mouth, he spat out, “You’re under arrest! Do not attempt to escape! There is nowhere for you to run off to anymore!”
Hearing the guard’s words, the masked man tilted his head up to look at his pursuers. Although his expression was hidden from the guards by his blank mask, his face began to crack into a large smile.
“Have I not?” was his only reply.
Before the guards could comprehend the meaning of his reply, he turned back towards the bright skyline and jumped off the balcony.
Shouts came from the guards. The guard who had bravely stood in front of the other guards now rushed to the handrail to attempt to find where the masked man could have possibly disappeared to.
It took approximately three seconds to find him.
Although the guards were slightly disoriented by the brightness of the skyline, they could clearly make out a shape that resembled wings. The owner of the wings was blacked out by the light, but that was enough proof for the guards.
With a sigh, the guard in front stepped back from the edge of the balcony. Activating a walkie-talkie on his right breast pocket, he spoke into the receiver.
“Target confirmed to have wings. Target confirmed to be a Celestial. Location is within vicinity of Shunsho Main Office. Requesting aid from the Agency.”
The line crackled and buzzed, before a reply came.
“Copy that.”
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10/08/955, 2115 hours, Sector 7, Eden
“Ha ha...ha. Fucking...idiots!” the masked man muttered to himself breathlessly as he glided through the sky, searching for a place to land.
Finally deciding on an alleyway, he glided down to his desired location and silently landed on an abandoned car that had lost its tires and windshield. Hopping down from the car, he examined the device he held closely once more to silently confirm that there were no signs of damage on it from the chase.
Deducing that he had not been careless when he handled it during the chase, he placed the device into a silvery-grey briefcase and picked it up, satisfied with his work.
Suddenly, he tensed up. He could feel a lingering, malicious presence near him. He tightened his grip on the briefcase, and drew a pistol from his jeans pocket, preparing to aim it at whoever was creating that malicious presence.
It only took a second.
When he recovered from the shock, he realised his pistol and briefcase were gone from his hands. Instead, his wrists were covered in cuts that stung.
He whipped around to see who had attacked him. When he saw his attackers, his eyes widened.
They were hidden in shadow, but anyone could recognise the distinct shape of the Anti-Celestial Sword held in their hands, and there was one distinct group who would use it during their operations.
The Eden Government Agency.
“W-what? Y-you...aaaarrrrrggghhhhhhhhh!!!!” the masked man shouted out as the shock of who he was fighting dawned on him. Deep down, he knew he was beaten. With terrified eyes, he watched as his attackers pulled out a pistol of their own from their belt holsters, and he shut his eyes for the inevitable end.
But his attackers didn’t shoot him. Instead, they hit him with the pistol grip. The shock of the impact, combined with the mental shock that he wasn’t dead, knocked the masked man out.
The attackers placed their hands around the unconscious man and forcefully hoisted him up. Handcuffing him, one of them grabbed onto the man and spread out their wings.
The other attacker watched as the man was flown out of sight. Turning around and checking their surroundings for any other items that they missed, they deduced that they had not left anything important behind. Spreading out their wings as well, they flew out of the alleyway and headed for the direction of where the other attacker who was holding the man was going.
Above the skies of Sector 7, the Guardians of Eden flew towards their destination, carefully watching the ground to ensure that no one else was in any danger.
