Shen's Place, NMK suburbs, just after 6:00AM, Wednesday 10th March, 2055.

Shen's Place, NMK suburbs, just after 6:00AM, Wednesday 10th March, 2055.

I'm abruptly woken by Shen saying something about seeing a car in the street. He hurries off to somewhere else in the house, while I slowly awake. I get dressed and smelling fresh coffee, head downstairs to the kitchen. Once in the kitchen I gather that the car in question is parked across the end of Shen's drive, and that there are two men wearing suits inside it. Doesn't seem like anything to be worried about yet, but it's probably best to be a bit cautious. I'll finish my coffee first though.

Somewhere in the distance, the distinctive high-pitched whine of an AV-4 can be heard above the sound of suburban commuters beginning their morning routines and starting to head off for work. Not to mention the sound of Yuki slurping her coffee! It's a common enough sound in the city (an AV-4 that is, not Yuki slurping coffee) but a little more unusual out here in the suburbs. And it's getting closer! It's getting bloody close! In fact it sounds like it gone into a hover very nearby.

Roland comes barrelling down from upstairs, saying it's hovering right over the house, and two drop lines have been deployed. It's obvious my coffee's going to have to wait. Shame, it's one of Yuki's better blends. I head back up to my room, through the seemingly Solo filled hallway. Once there I grab my jacket and guns.

Meanwhile, two guys have rappelled down the drop lines, and landed just in front the house. The first knocks on the door, and Shen opens it! The guy says "Hand it over". Shen replies, "It's in there" and points into the kitchen. Roland, who for some reason seems to have been carrying the package all round the house, pushes the it along the hallway floor so it comes to rest at Shen's feet.

Then the second guy opens fire with his assault rifle and shoots Shen in the chest. It knocks him back a little, but doesn't penetrate his armour. Pulling some sort of kung fu move, Shen sweeps the first guy off his feet, while Roland returns fire, hitting the second guy in the left arm.

Elsewhere in the house, adding to the cacophony of sound, Crash is for some reason jamming on his guitar, while the pitch of the whine from the AV-4 changes as it recovers the drop lines and begins to slowly move off. Sykes doesn't seem to be about but was last seen heading for the basement.

Yuki climbs out of her bedroom window and after being caught in the down draught from the AV- 4, falls, rather than jumps, onto the garage roof. Picking herself up, she climbs down behind the garage and enters through the rear door.

Roland opens fire on guy two again, this time catching him in his other arm. Shen kicks the first guy in the head, as he starts to pick himself up, and he crumples to the floor and lies motionless.

I've taken up a position on the landing, covering the front door, but I can't see the second guy from where I am. What I do hear though, is a distinctive click from his gun when he goes to shoot again, as the sound of the AV-4 recedes into the background. It's sounds like his gun might have jammed, and I'm betting he's wishing he was somewhere else.

From the garage comes the curious sound of Yuki's Shiva starting up. Not quite the roar of a powerful internal combustion engine, nor the whine of a turbine, but something in-between. Then a dull clank, of a locking bolt sliding open, followed by the quiet hum of an electric motor, as the garage door begins to open.

The car with the two suits in pulls sharply away. It's tyres squealing as they struggle for grip. Simultaneously, the second guy drops his, now useless, gun and turns to flee. From my vantage point on the landing, I see Roland stoop to pick the package up, though I still don't understand why he threw it in the first place. Shen looses another round at the retreating attacker, catching him in the foot. The guy falls to the ground screaming with pain.

Yuki, with Sykes on the back of her Shiva, streaks off in pursuit of the car. I can't see them managing to loose or outpace her on that bike of hers. Them Shiva's are something else.

Crash appears on the landing to find out what's going on. But I don't take much notice. I'm coming down from a reflex-boosted high. After getting downstairs I check the first guy. Dead. This is gonna cause trouble somewhere down the line. Shen and Roland have gone out to the other guy. They reckon he's alive, but unconscious, and drag him back to the house.

Both attackers are taken down to the basement, where the live one receives some (very) limited medical attention. I try to talk to him to identify his employer, but the state he's in, he's not making much sense at all, so I give up.

Discussion amongst the Solo's has turned to what to do next. Shen seems to be slowly realising that by killing at least one of the attackers, more trouble is likely to descend upon his house. Quite literally if it's borne by an AV-4. I leave them to it, and prepare for the worst by packing my belongings into my carry-bag, and getting ready to leave.

Within about 20 minutes, Yuki and Sykes return. They'd followed the car for 10 minutes and then found themselves starting to feel more vulnerable as they got further away. And discretion being the better part of valour, Yuki had turned her bike around and come back.

After a quick discussion, it's decided to take the package to the hunting lodge whose address was contained in the package with the vial. Both Crash and Shen are taking their bikes and Roland's gonna drive Sykes there in his car. I chuck my carry-bag in the back, as I'm catching a ride with Yuki.

The others head off, while Yuki and I do what we can for the wounded guy, before taking him out and sitting him at the front of the house. His dead partner we place on the porch, so he's out of sight from casual passers by. Hopefully by looking after the wounded guy, should his friends catch up with us, maybe they'll show us some mercy.

I don't expect that they will be merciful, after Shen's brutal dispatching of the first guy, and shooting of the second as he turned and fled, unarmed, but it's a gesture. To be honest I couldn't do much for him, but Yuki could, and maybe, just maybe, by helping her, it'll reflect well on me. It's certainly gone a small way towards easing my conscience.

I grew up among the homeless on the streets, and became a cop with the noble ideal of helping to stop some of the pain and suffering I saw with too young eyes. It was all the mindless, heavy- handed violence that affected me the most. People being badly beaten, or killed, for even minor indiscretions amongst the fringe of society. The same fringe that was forever being pushed around by those with the most money or the biggest guns.

I'd hoped, as a cop, to be able to make a difference, even if it was to just a few. I believe I did make a small difference to some of those whose lives I touched. But there were many more I couldn't help, because of the system. A system that helps those with power oppress those without. The corporates have too much power and with seemingly the freedom to wield it almost as they please, many of my investigations came to nothing, as my leads ran headlong into the corporate brick wall.

I trod on too many corporate toes during my all-to-brief time as a cop. And lost my job as a result. You see even those in public office are vulnerable to the will of the corporates. If they don't like you, they'll find some way of getting rid of you. I guess I'm lucky I still have my life.

Though for how much longer is temporarily in Yuki's hands. I'm having to cling on to her fairly tightly, as I watch the scenery flash by from the back of her Shiva. We're on our way to meet the others at the hunting lodge. Yuki reckons she can beat them to it, even with the head start they had. And at this speed, I'd be a fool to bet against her.