Editing City Series:Volume6d Prologue (section)

===Part 6===

“––––––!?”

The five pursuing men shouted in confusion when Hazel leaped.

But she ignored them. She twisted around, opened her left hand, and stretched it upwards while soaring through empty air.

One of the wires supporting the railroad was there. It dangled from one of the massive pillars supporting the side of Germania’s 1st level and it was 400 yards long and an inch thick.

Those thinner wires were used to support the main wires that were a few feet thick. At the moment, several of them were swaying rapidly over the 3mile hole that was once Schöneberg.

One of them was swaying like a pendulum thanks to the inertial force of its snapping tension and she managed to grab it like it was a solid branch.

Then the wire’s inertial force tugged her away.

Its pull sent her flying through the wind.

The wind shook the locker key attached to her choker, tickling her throat.

The wire swung rapidly in a somewhat elliptical path. Extrapolating out the rest of the pendulum-like path, she could tell this arc would bring her right up alongside the interior wall.

…''I can either leave or go to Kreuzberg.

Kreuzberg was located east of the hole that was once Schöneberg and it had been left intact since Tempelhof Airbase was located there. Her best bet was to switch to another wire that took her there.

She squeezed the wire in her left hand.

There was nothing below her. If she fell from this long swing, she would die.

She understood that as she looked to the enemy.

Back atop the elevated railroad 200 yards away and growing, the 5 men threw out their hexagonal rods and drew the rifles on their backs. The guns were of unusually large caliber, so they likely fired nets for capturing a target.

Her wire had nearly reached a 45 degree angle on its approach toward Germania’s inner wall.

Once she reached that wall, she would only be able to move in a straight line to the side, which would make her a nice target for snipers.

Sensing an updraft as she approached that wall, Hazel searched for the next wire.

She found it.

A few dozen yards to the east, a long wire was grazing the inner wall as it swung eastward. If she jumped to that one, she could reach Kreuzberg.

But her inertia was in the wrong direction and it was a long way away. If she mistimed her jump, she would fall and die. But before that, she also had to avoid the sniper fire.

…''What do I do?

Her doubts were interrupted by five gunshots from the elevated railroad.

When she saw five white nets expanding in the air out of the corner of her eye, she made up her mind.

She tensed her left arm a little and gathered the inertial force inside her.

She was nearly to the wall and the wire had grown taut. She chose that moment to let go.

She felt a floating sensation before her feet forcefully landed on the inner wall.

She stood and ran along the wall.

Her body was tilted 45 degrees, but she used the inertial force pressing her against the wall to run along the wall. She crouched low and ran like a cat. She extended her ducking body and swung her arms to accelerate.

“–––––!”

She felt a heavy sensation, like she was peeling herself from the wall to run.

She ran forward to reach the wire that was swinging toward Kreuzberg too quickly to easily see.

The nets were about to reach her from behind.

All five of them were approaching, so she swung her sword outwards with both hands.

She sliced through the nets before they could capture her and they hit the wall behind her instead.

She kept running.

The wire she wanted was approaching fast.

But the wire ended its approach toward the wall and began to move away.

Meanwhile, she was slowly slipping away from the wall. She was losing her inertial force.

She had to hurry or she would miss it and then fall.

Her refusal to let that happen pushed her feet even faster.

The time had come to use every last ounce of strength.

She planted her feet on the slight uneven parts of the wall and raced forward.

And she leaped.

She reached her hand out and her left hand’s fingers touched the bottom of the wire.

She grabbed it and it snatched her away into the empty air.

But her grip was weak. She only had it in her thumb, index finger, and middle finger.

If she didn’t hold it in her palm, the inertia of the swing would tear it from her hand.

Three fingers weren’t enough to support her weight and the wind resistance on her clothing.

She didn’t hesitate. She stuck her right hand – which still held her sword – into her coat’s inner pocket, grabbed the ampule case, the envelope, and the Wheel of Destiny card, and placed them in her mouth.

Then she inserted the blade tip in through her collar and down the arm hole toward the left hand holding the wire.

…''Hurry!

The inertial weight on her fingers was growing.

She felt the panic growing with it, but her right hand moved slowly and calmly to sweep the sword outwards from within her left sleeve. With a tearing of cloth, her coat and blouse’s split left sleeve fell to her side.

Her left arm was now bare from hand to armpit.

She felt the chill of the wind on it while she looked down.

There was nothing there.

If she fell, she would die. She openly accepted that thought.

A moment later, she began to Alter. She let the convection of steam surround her while gathering all her strength in her left arm to pull herself up.

Then the air exploded at the bottom of the wire.

Two things burst from the white smoke and steam explosion.

One was a collection of falling objects: Hazel’s clothing and her sword Device.

The other was the wire continuing to swing like a pendulum. Hazel was no longer there at the bottom. Instead, a cat was clinging to it.

The cat’s left eye was a brown feline eye and the right one was a blue human eye. She wore a choker with a key attached and she held an ampule case and an envelope in her mouth.

The wire swung to the east, carrying the cat and the cat’s baggage with it.

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