♫ The deep coloured night sky is filled with you, who won't leave♫
-- Jang Jae In ft. NaShow, 환청
(Auditory Hallucination)

"We will handle this, the rest of you just arrest these damn drunkards," Michael grumbled out, his left hand pressing down on his left ear. "Let's go, mate!"

Celeste remained rooted to the spot, his eyes darting about as he mumbled to himself. It befuddled Michael and he waved his hand in front of Celeste's face.

"Dude! Hello?"

"...this is the best way." Celeste suddenly said, turning and dashing the other way.

"Wha--oi!" Michael watched run off on his own, scoffing. "Bloody bloke, fucking again."

Michael has lost count the number of times Celeste had done this, but Celeste's way of doing things were undeniably more efficient than most of them here. Thus, he had no other choice than to quickly follow Celeste into the alleyway.

Peach was one third past the barricade, and it was peaceful so far. She skated her way through the area with ease, easily avoiding the cameras and the main street. She was sure that was where the officers were busy settling the drunkards. A peek at her, they wouldn't hesitate to go after her either.

All of a sudden, she heard hurried footsteps, and it was unusually loud due to how quiet her surroundings was. She widened her eyes, knowing those footsteps didn't belong to friendly people.

"They are here."

Night couriers weren't fighters, they were runners. Hence, they were mostly equipped to avoid all risky situations by escaping and that was what Peach planned to do.

She pushed herself to go even faster, and she heard the footsteps straight ahead. They were definitely trying to cut her off, and Peach didn't even pause, even when she saw a man running out from the next alleyway in front of her.

"The trespasser is here, Cel! I found her!"

It was a rather charming young man, but Peach couldn't afford to admire his charming looks right now.

"I got ya, trespasser, don't even think about running." The man grinned cockily.

Peach didn't falter, directing her eyes to the wall. "Switch to running mode."

Switching to running mode.

Michael could have sworn he saw Peach decreasing in height a little and he blinked rapidly. He had also noticed how she had slowed down too, but she was still running.

Wait a minute, this person...she's Peach!

Michael exclaimed in his mind.

Is she planning to let herself get captured like that? So easily?

Michael proceeded to wonder.

"Activate wall run mode." Peach muttered out.

Activating wall run mode, enhancing gripping strength.

She jumped into the air, towards the wall and did a wall run over Michael. His thoughts immediately changed of her giving up when he saw this, and he openly gaped at Peach as she went over him via a wall run.

No longer detecting any wall running, deactivating wall run mode.

She landed on the ground, not even stumbling once, and Michael turned, looking back with wide eyes. Her eyes twinkled with glee in return and she switched back to skating mode.

"Fair suck of the sav!" Michael whispered out in amazement.

Celeste knew Michael wouldn't able to catch Peach. There was a reason why she has never once gotten captured by anyone, and why she had a notorious reputation for being the best night courier. He quickly cut off the path further in front, and his legs wide open to block her and arms stretched out.

She had no way of squeezing out from any direction now, unless she can climb walls.

Celeste thought, and he was surprised Peach was still bent on skating her way towards him.

It can't be this easy, no way.

Alas, true to his disbelief, Peach found a way out by sliding underneath him. His legs were wide open after all, and Celeste gasped silently, spinning around to give chase to Peach immediately.

Damn it! She's a veteran, I should have known it was my legs, why didn't I see it?!

It was his first time encountering the infamous Peach, after tracking her down for the longest time. Going face to face with her for the first time had made him nervous.

He couldn't react in time.

Michael sprinted past Celeste from behind, throwing him a grin. "That's Peach, isn't it? A few of us have been trying to catch her for the longest time, like you."

Celeste was still brainstorming for a plan to catch her, disregarding Michael's comments about him.

"Stop."

"What's wrong mate?"

"She'll only go by there, we can cut her off, hurry."

Peach glanced back, realising they were gone. Still, she didn't let her guard down, if there was one thing she detested about the police, it was their persistence.

She didn't manage to get a good look at the other man, since her mind was preoccupied with escaping. Although, she felt that he was unusually familiar, there wasn't any time for her to dwell on it now.

Warning! You have entered a restricted area, and you will be arrested for trespassing!

"Yes, Löne, I know. You have been telling me that for the past five minutes." Peach suspired, pushing herself to go faster.

A minute of uninterrupted skating had passed, and Peach was relieved, she was almost out of this torturous place.

Just a few more metres...

She groaned internally, and unbeknownst to her, Celeste and Michael were still planning to cut her off. Moreover, they did it in the most unexpected way.

"Cel, you fucking dipstick! Have you gone bloody mad?!"

They were speeding their way through the road on a futuristic-looking motorcycle, and the officers were still trying to quell down the gang fight. Be it drunkard or officers, they had to jump out of the way to avoid getting hit by the motorcycle.

It seems like Celeste didn't have issues hitting any of them, judging from his sombre expression.

"It's the fastest way." Celeste responded curtly, starting to accelerate.

"Holy shit!"

"What the hell?!"

"Oi! Super rookie, you fucking crazy?!"

"Sorry fellas! I'll stop him, I-I promise!"

"肏你妈! 你是不是疯了? (Fuck your mother! Have you gone crazy?)"

"Sorry, Wei!"

"Carajo! Vas a matar a alguien! (Fuck! You are going to kill someone!)" One officer cursed loudly in Spanish.

"Sorry, Samuel--hey, hey Aki! Outta of the way! Outta of the way!"

"ええ! ちょっと--やばい! (Eh! Wait a--that's bad!)" A poor Japanese police officer didn't have the chance to finish his words, barely scrambling out the way.

"Poor bloke, he was too surprised to even speak in English--jesus christ!" Michael didn't even have the chance to finish too as Celeste did a swerve, charging into the alleyway.

"A motorcycle?" Peach muttered out in disbelief. "I thought they were too preoccupied to come after me."

She looked ahead, estimating that the motorcycle would intercept her path. She toggled the running mode and leaped onto the wall again, giving her the height advantage in case anything came though.

Activating wall run mode.

There was no way she wanted to collide against a motorcycle with two police officers.

This time, she instead of landing, she pushed herself outwards, soaring in the air. Unfortunately, she had concluded wrongly as Celeste came blazing in with the motorcycle further upfront.

Peach widened her eyes, helpless in the air. Michael saw her, scampering away to avoid being landed on.

Shit.

At that moment, Peach cursed inwardly, realised her landing position would be directly colliding against Celeste on the motorcycle.

"Cel, what ya standing over there like dag for?"

Celeste didn't react, and Peach crashed right into him. The motorcycle remained in its position, hovering a little as the two of them rolled across the ground. Peach arrived to a stop first, followed by Celeste and Michael rushed to Celeste's side.

"Hey man, you okay?"

Celeste brushed him off, and pushed himself up, wincing in pain. He glanced around hastily, relief coursing through him when he found Peach on the ground.

There she is.

Peach's eyes snapped open, and she saw another notification from Löne.

Multiple police badges detected. Detecting signs of minor contusions. Would you like to activate smoke mode?

"Activate." Peach groaned out softly, she hasn't expected to be hit so hard.

The bodysuit around her hip area reacted, a part of it sliding open and there was a storage compartment. The cover of the storage compartment opened quickly, and two small round objects, like tiny metal balls, dropped out.

"Finally, I've managed to locate you properly," Celeste said, sounding a little restrained. "After three long years."

"So, that's really Peach?"

Celeste nodded in agreement to Michael's question. He slowly reached his hand out, wanting to bring Peach up to her feet.

"That's great for you," Peach praised Celeste, sitting up. "But too bad." Her lenses lit up, another notification alerting her.

Activating heat signature mode.

Just then, there was a sudden hissing sound and Celeste froze. The smoke bombs exploded, causing the two detective to shut their eyes instinctively. The entire area had been filled with smoke, and Celeste covered his mouth and nose, he didn't want to inhale the smoke.

"Michael, get out!" Celeste raised his voice and heard an affirmative response from Michael.

Peach rose up to her feet, grimacing as she felt her body throbbing in dull pain. The smoke didn't affect her at all, due to her mask which was specially built by Maddog. She saw the heat signatures of the two detective scuttling away, and she switched back to her skating mode, smirking to herself before she sped away.

The two detectives made it out, gulping for air and Michael patted Celeste on the shoulder. "You bastard, you really want to catch her, don't ya?"

"I'm desperate." Celeste admitted, but there was no change in his stoic expression.

"Yeah, don't worry, you'll catch her next time, mate."

"After we clean the mess up here, yeah." Celeste agreed, swiping his screen to left, clicking on something.

Do you want to share the location of 701 with Michael?

Celeste clicked on "yes", and Michael's screen popped up with a notification.

Celeste has agreed to share the location of 701 with you, would you like to accept?

Michael accepted and their screens had a blinking red dot advancing straight ahead in the map. Michael broke into a smile, smacking Celeste on the back.

"You tagged her?!"

"I tagged her." Celeste shoved Michael's hand away from his back.

"Damn!"

***

Peach finally travelled past the barrier, and there was thankfully no interruptions this time. She recalled the way she had fell onto the man with striking sky blue hair, along with his gorgeous eyes of the same colour.

Besides his extremely handsome looks, he feels familiar.

"His words definitely made it seem like he was awfully glad to have caught me." Peach murmured, remembering his words.

"Finally, I've managed to locate you properly. After three long years."

A conversation with Arwen yesterday suddenly struck her mind.

"He has a primary target, according to all his reports that were collected back by his previous department."

"Who is it?"

"It seems like it's you, Peach."

"...what's his name?"

"Celeste Ashbrand."

"Hah! Sounds like a ridiculous name! He's definitely a pure-bred citizen of Neo, isn't he?"

"Yes, a healthy young male, aged twenty-three years old, a year older than you it seems."

"That's not necessary for me to know."

"Would you like to refer to a picture of him?"

"That's fine, with his ridiculous name, I am sure he has a ridiculous apperance too. I'll be able to recognise him instantly! Neo citizens are easy to spot."

Peach slapped herself in her face, she truly bit herself in the ass. If she had glanced at his picture, she would have avoided him no matter what! Getting herself almost caught, it could be a big clue to someone who has been shadowing her for years!

Oh good god, yes, he has a ridiculous apperance...a ridiculously handsome one.

She gasped in horror at a sudden realisation, she had made physical contact with him. That was another bad sign.

"Löne, please run a scan on me, everywhere!"

Using fullbody scan, please wait a moment.

"He tagged me, he must have fucking tagged me," Peach bit on her lower lip, anxious. "Motherfucker!"

A tag has been detected!

Peach felt a chill down her spine as Löne displayed her entire silhouette on the screen, and she noticed a large blue dot on her back. She hastily stretched her arm behind, removing it harshly.

She glared at the tag that resembled a microchip, her expression murderous. "Even Maddog's bodysuit couldn't detect this? Goddamnit."

Would you like to trace it back to its owner?

"I'll be insane to do that, Löne," Peach growled, hurling the tag away. "So, no. Get that message out of my face."

She grew panicky, glancing around wildly but she didn't see any signs of a strikingly handsome blue-haired man anywhere. She was terribly upset, someone had almost broke her record of not getting caught, and that downfall was caused by her own cockiness.

Doesn't seem like he's here, not at all. This isn't good, I'm panicking really hard. Really, really hard. God, I hate this!

Peach clicked her tongue, switching off her voice modulator.

"He thinks he can catch me that easily? Me? Peach? Me!" Peach fumed, her high-pitched voice making her sound like an angry little kitten. "I'll show him, I'll challenge him, heh! You wanna catch me? You wanna arrest me? You've gotta try harder."

She always turned off her voice modulator whenever she was venting out in frustration. Hearing her venting in a voice that wasn't exactly her own didn't feel comfortable.

She searched around, still seeing no signs of anyone in this backstreet. There was nothing on the rooftop, balcony, behind her or beside her. She huffed, flipping her arm and tapping on her wrist. The keyboard screen lit up on her wrist, and she moved her fingers swiftly.

Usually, when Peach completes her delivery, she stamps her signature on the package that can only be viewed with the smart lenses as it was virtual. It was the only way to ensure her clients that the package was authentic and no one could forge a virtual signature. The only possible way to forge a virtual signature was to steal the lenses of the owner, but even with that, they wouldn't be able to activate the lenses without the owner's permission.

Peach also rarely leaves a message in her signatures, unless it was deemed necessary; or in this case, personal.

Do you think I wouldn't figure out you had tagged me, blue-haired hottie? Oh please, give me some credit.

[🍑 Ꭾєα¢н αρρяσνє∂ 🍑]

Satisfied with her message, she stamped her signature on the ground with the same wrist, enlarging it with her fingers. She proceeded to set a timer to erase her signature three hours later, and switching on her voice modulator back on.

She turned away without a word, continuing onwards to her mission. She reached there in record time, realising that the delivery address was to a luxurious house. It was close to four am, but she could see the lights in the house, even with the curtain mode on.

However, her motto was to silently collect and deliver. It was rare to spot her, unless her presence was required.

She closed in on the mailbox outside the house, her steps light and quiet. Everything about the world was almost different now, including mailboxes. Peach caught her reflection on the mailbox, its slick and oval-shaped design make it seem like a fancy lamp instead.

The letters and numbers "MB511" were written on the surface of the mailbox.

"Hi, MB511, I have a delivery."

The letters and numbers shifted, and a smiley face was written on the surface now. The face shifted and a bunch of words were splattered across the surface.

Hello guest! The masters have reminded me of a fragile item that would be delivered around this time, please deposit the item carefully!

Peach spotted the coin-shaped hole, that was the same exact shape of the item she had received. She took out the item from her belt pocket, dropping it quietly into the mailbox.

Item received and safely deposited! Our masters would like to thank you for your effort to personally deliver the item with such care!

After which, a metal board sprung out from the mailbox and another message was shown with a smiley face.

Please stamp your signature on the board, and have a good day, sir or madam! :)

Peach stamped on the board obediently.

[🍑 Ꭾєα¢н αρρяσνє∂ 🍑]

She smiled at her own signature, and this time, a message had appeared in front of her.

K has transferred $300,000.00 to your bank account. Would you like to view your bank statement?

"No, thank you Löne," Peach exhaled out, looking at the dark sky. "Now, for the long way home."

***

Twenty minutes after Peach had thrown the tag away, Celeste had arrived at the location, along with Michael. Celeste hurried to find the tag, and only picked up the discarded tag silently when he found it.

"Hey, Cel, over here," Michael called out to Celeste. "She left you a message."

Celeste trotted over, seeing the virtual message on the ground. He had missed it since he was searching for the tag.

Do you think I wouldn't figure out you had tagged me, blue-haired hottie? Oh please, give me some credit.

[🍑 Ꭾєα¢н αρρяσνє∂ 🍑]

Celeste scoffed at the message, the faintest of smile curving at his lips.

"She called you a hottie," Michael nudged Celeste playfully. "Aren't ya happy, stalker?"

"I only want to catch her, I don't want her interest."

Michael laughed, resting his arm on Celeste's shoulder. "Right, so what's your plan now, mate?"

"We'll see," Celeste looked up at the night sky. "I didn't expect it to be easy anyway."

Phew, this is my first attempt at a sci-fi, futuristic fiction. I'm really not sure if I'm doing well with it, but I do know I'm really enjoying writing this book so far. This is one of the most fun I've had in writing in years.

I don't know if anyone is even reading until this chapter, or even this far, but if you have...let me just say a very big thank you to every single one of you ❤.

Hopefully, I won't go back into the habit of unpublishing books again because I'm unsatisfied. I don't even know if this book will grow, hahah, it's a miracle if this book grows too, just like "Infiniteum"!