Snippet #2821585

March 11, 2045, 5:50 A.M - Undercity, Titan's Fall, Texas, U.S.A

Máire fell, fell, fell, fell. Wind whistled like the screech of a banshee in her ears, clawing at her face and clothing as cold atmosphere fought against the disruption of her descent. Buildings, rough and asymmetric, stabbed up from below to meet her, and she threw out her arms, blades rocketing through the dark to embed themselves in metal and stonework. Máire's fingers closed over invisible threads, reorienting violently upright as her speed ran grindingly downward until she wasn't falling at all, just hanging suspended above the filthy, smogged undercity.

A rooftop lay some twenty feet below her, covered in grime, an old ventilation fan spinning in noisome rotation. Máire wrinkled her nose at it, then dropped down to greet the structure as the blades holding her aloft vanished, silver dust returning to her bloodstream. "Arcanist, I need-" she cut herself off, finger to her ear as she noticed the reticle spinning in her vision.

No connection.

The words hovered in front of her, taunting in their neat sans serif font. Máire looked upward toward the plategap, so far out of reach down here. Distant flashing lights, nearly imperceptible through the dirty air, marked the faintest edge of the heavenly catwalk. And there - was something else falling after her? Her eyes traced its trajectory; it was small, arcing in its descent as the wind blew it from what must have been its intended course.

More blades shot out and she was pulled once more into the air, speeding after the wayward flotsam. Máire slingshotted her way between buildings, skimming the edge of the sidewalk and snatching her prize mere centimeters from impact with the ground. She skidded to a stop, ignoring the surprised reactions of those around her following her sudden cometfall into their midst. Máire held the object above her to catch the surrounding neon lights, her head tilting slightly in consideration. A bullet had impacted its side, cratering it and leaving what was once her best shot of maintaining communication down here as little more than scrap.

Pendrake must have ordered a drone to throw it down after her, yet the suspect… Strange. Wouldn't one have assumed a fall like that would kill her? Yet the so-called "Tragedy Killer" had made the effort to deny her connection with the tower, as if expecting otherwise.

Máire tucked the device away for the time being. It was unlikely she could find someone to repair it, but the bullet inside could still provide valuable evidence after she got back. Better for now to get her bearings… and look into her wayward charge.

March 11, 2045, 10:09 A.M - Undercity, Titan's Fall, Texas, U.S.A.

"Reticence" was a word which sprang to mind as Máire leaned against an old concrete wall, watching the people of this city pass by in the street beyond this alley. It was almost familiar how unwilling the population here were to speak to one they saw as law enforcement; eyes slid off with such remarkable swiftness the moment they registered her uniform, and lips seldom parted save to cast her a curse or two.

Not that she didn't understand.

Máire sighed through her nose, pushing away from the wall and pulling her hood up. She stepped back into the street, stepping swiftly between bodies as if they weren't even there. Reticles spun in her vision, scanning everything within her sight for the slightest hint of direction, but it was as if the city itself rejected her; so much junk data assaulted her eyes that she had to momentarily squeeze them shut to avoid a rush of vertigo. Máire didn't particularly care for the bottled paradise above, but at least the bleached-clean streets of the plate freed her from the burden of knowing just how many forms of residue covered the nearest building.

She ran long fingers through her hair, considering her next move. There had to be some form of information network down here she could make use of, it was just a matter of finding it. Vigilantes, maybe? They might be unwilling to cooperate, but with the right encouragement… Well, it was certainly an available option.