Fluorescent lights shimmied and danced all throughout the city, blaring into the eyes of every passerby trudging past, every rumbling car whooshing by, every dull, matte android waltzing through the streets. He sat under a large canopy that covered a bustling cafe, staring out into the city full of life. His steaming cup of coffee glowed from within, the cheap plastic illuminating it with a swirling light of rainbow.
People walked past at a rapid pace, trying to avoid the pittering, pattering rain that splashed against every surface and glistened in the city of a million lights.
He leaned back in his seat, taking a gentle sip of his coffee, staring out into the dark depths of life. Holograms coalesced into existence throughout, flickering in the rain.
He set the coffee back down on the table with a dull thud muffled by the rain. He stood up slowly and walked past pedestrians and androids, all of which wore far to little clothing for his liking. He nudged and pushed through the crowd, the cafes were never this busy, but people had sprinted into them to avoid the storm.
They glared at him as he pushed straight through. He stepped out from the canopy and the ocean of rainwater crashed into him like a tidal wave -- not that he had ever felt a wave, of course.
He walked purposefully through the crowds, rain splattering against his formal blue overcoat. His inconspicuous pair of glasses blew the rain away from his eyes with sudden bouts of air unfelt by him.
His eyes scanned through the crowd, attempting to latch his vision onto the person he had noticed just moments earlier. The rapidly shifting jumble of people blurred past the rain, erasing any chance of finding his target.
He roughly pushed through the crowd, a slight panic rising in him. Without thought, he stomped on that feeling, this was no time for fear. His eyes scanned faster and faster, flickering through the faces in the crowd at such a momentous rate that his eyes appeared as blurs of color, reflecting the shifting rainbow lights.
He stomped diagonally through the school of people around him, forging his own lane as people sought to avoid him and the shiny badge on his chest. He slowly spun his entire body in circles as he walked in a straight line, perceiving all of his surroundings--360 degrees.
Without any prior notice, without any hesitation, with a speed so rapid that he teleported, he jerked to the right, in a rapid, sprinting dive through the crowds of people. His legs pumped in eager leaps as he slammed past people. Yells and cries of pain rose through the air around him, not even the constant splashing of rain could muffle them.
But not a single soul dared to oppose him, not after they saw that reflective badge sewn into his overcoat. Humans and androids pushed away from him as fast as they could, he did not care. The entire time his eyes were fixated with an intense determination on a sprinting man twenty-six meters away.
No one stood in his path now, he speared through all the limits of his body, his legs transporting into longer and longer strides. Second after second, his feet screamed past the ground faster and faster. Until he was running quicker than anyone could imagine.
The target threw a fear-filled glance over his shoulder and screamed in rage. In complete hopelessness, the target dropped his body flat on the ground, hoping he would leap straight over him.
He didn't, he immediately halted his legs mid-stride, pushed his center-of-mass backwards, and swiveled his body sideways. In complete confidence, ignoring the infinitely fast speed he was moving at, he planted his feet in the concrete.
Sparks ignited and swarmed backwards away from his searing metal boots. He scraped past the concrete, slowly skidding to a halt. Smoke plumed from behind boots, and with an exhilarated smile, he secured his balance. Then he stepped forward.
The body on the ground shoved himself up halfway to his feet. But he stopped as a rock-hard fist slammed into his skull, denting bone and sending his brain rattling in its cage. His eyes rolled up in his head right as a wave of blood rolled out of his nose, dripping to the cement.
His body collapsed and his head cracked against the hard ground.
Everything was dead-silent, even the sounds of rain seemed to have stopped. A crowd of watchers stood back and watched as he picked up the limp, lifeless body and carried it away.
Then they all went about their business, as if nothing unusual had happened.
