Height

Adriana looks into her new arm-mounted display. Her drone floats fifty storeys above the city, at the unfinished penthouse of a new luxury building her company invested in. Through its camera she sees the soldier, awakening from a chemically-assisted slumber. She watches as he shakes himself awake, immediately alert and focused. He rushes to the edge of the building and nearly falls. Not like that, old man. Don’t make this easy.

She watches as he finds his bearings. Stalks around the building, getting a feel for its blueprints. Finds the combat knife she so kindly left for him to defend himself. And descends the first flight of stairs towards freedom.

***

Memory 2373, Adriana Imai: Memory Fragments