//------------------------------// // Chapter Nine: Run // Story: Alpha One Six // by Misanthropian //------------------------------// Lyra slowly opened her eyes. It was early. Too early. The morning light streamed in through the blinds, tinted orange from the distant sunrise over the city. Lyra sat up anyway. She looked over to see Alphie laying soundly in the corner. Lyra got out of bed and headed over to where the robot lay. She knelt down and gently patted Alphie's mane. The robot shifted slightly from the contact, but remained asleep. "I'm going out again. I'll be back in a few hours." She said quietly. Alphie said nothing, but her ear twitched slightly at the sound of Lyra's voice. Lyra smiled and went to leave. Lyra sat quietly at her booth in the coffee shop, bobbing her head slightly to her music as she typed away at her laptop. She pulled back her headphones and gave a puzzled stare at her work. "Hmm..." The small, plastic figure sitting at the edge of her computer looked up at her. "What? What's that look for?" "I don't know. I feel like this entire section is... kludgy..." Lyra said, looking back over her code. "Well, you wrote it." Twilight responded. Lyra rubbed her face with a hoof. "I know, I know. I just feel like there must be a better way of doing this." "Well, maybe if you released your code somepony else could tell you." "It's not ready." Lyra growled. "When will it be ready?" "When I say so." "Another year?" "I don't know..." "Two years?" "I said, I don't know." "How long have you been working on this?" "Just shut up, okay!" Lyra looked around, realizing she had been much louder than she meant to be. She looked back to the screen, silently avoiding the gazes of the other patrons. "Sorry, jeez... You're the one asking." Twilight grumbled. Lyra erased the last several lines of code and started them over. "Well, I'm done thinking about it. So just stop." "Fine." The two sat in silence for some time. "So... What about Alphie?" The figure broke the silence. Lyra continued working. "What about her?" Twilight smirked. "What's it like finally having a daughter?" "She's not my daughter." "Oh really. So says the Mother of-" "Don't you even say it." Lyra glared at the figure. The figure gave an innocent look. "Say what?" "That stupid name." Lyra laid her head on the table and covered her face with her forelimbs. "I'm just repeating what you're thinking." Lyra sighed. "Yeah well, I'm sick of thinking." "Then why are you talking with me?" Lyra lay there, staring into the distance for several seconds. Finally she reached over and knocked the figure off the edge of her laptop. "Gah! Hey!" ------ Redheart sat waiting patiently from a bench across the street. An old fedora and a heavy raincoat obscured her figure, making her seem a bit out-of-place. But at least nopony would know is was her. She hoped. She watched as Lyra seemingly had an argument with an inanimate object. 'What is wrong with that pony?' She waited for Lyra to leave. Ponies trotted past her, going about their daily commute. Occasionally one would give her a curious glance. Likely wondering why she was sitting there, dressed so conspicuously. She waited. Hours passed. As the morning rush began to pick up, so did the traffic. Cars began to get backed up, obscuring her view of the shop. As she waited for traffic to clear again she swore she saw movement on the other side. Finally the light up ahead changed and the line moved. Redheart stood up as she watched Lyra walk out of coffee shop and begin heading down the street. She began quietly tailing her target as she did her best to blend into the crowd. She followed Lyra for several blocks. Lyra seemed to look back at her for a moment 'Has she seen me?' Lyra suddenly made a right down an ally. Redheart tried to stay hidden as she continued to follow, but without the crowd of ponies around her she was blatantly obvious. Redheart continued to follow Lyra as she proceeded to make three more right turns, circling them around the block. Lyra peeked back again. 'Oh Celestia. She knows.' Redheart did her best to act natural, in spite of the fact her cover had been blown. Lyra seemed to ignore her as she finally made her way up to an apartment building. Redheart watched as the pony trotted up the stairs and stopped briefly at one of the apartment doors. ------ 'Who in the heckn' why?' Lyra glared down at the pony who had been following her. She opened the door, stepped inside, and waited. A minute passed. Finally there was a knock at the door. Lyra opened the door. "Why the heck are you following me?" She growled. Redheart took off her hat. "Is Alphie in there?" "She's fine.", Lyra answered angrily, "Now leave." "Please, it's important." Redheart begged. "You just tailed me seven blocks to my house! Whatever it is, I don't care." Lyra scolded and went to close the door. Redheart stopped her. "Fine, whatever. If you wont let me talk to her then at least listen." Lyra paused and glared. "You have five seconds." "ERoCo. Is coming after her. They've taken over the investigation." Redheart said. Lyra froze. "What are you saying?" "They're doing 'damage control'." Redheart looked at Lyra with concern. "Floopin' heck!" Lyra grabbed Redheart and pulled her inside, slamming the door behind her. Redheart looked at her. "What? What is it?" "Did you see any cop cars on the way here?" Lyra asked as she peeked out of the blinds. "A couple. Why?" "... How long has that van been there?" Lyra asked as she noticed the vehicle parked about a block down the street. Redheart was confused. "What van?" Lyra watched as the vehicle suddenly set into motion towards her building. "They know we're here!" "What?!" Redheart practically shouted in shock. "Get down!" ------ Alphie was awakened by the sound of shouting. "Lyra?" She shifted and began heading towards the other room, but stopped. She listened to the voices. "They're coming." Alphie heard Lyra's voice. "What do we do?" Alphie was confused. 'Miss Redheart? What's she doing here?' A heavy knock came from the door followed by a deep male voice. "Miss Heartstrings. We know you're there. The police are on their way, so I'd appreciate if you'd make this easy and open the door." 'The police!? What's going on!?' Alphie continued to listen. "Ah jeez. It's the lord of all things serious himself." Alphie heard Lyra whisper. "You know him?!" "Shhh!" Lyra shushed Redheart. "Lets just say, this isn't the first time I've dealt with ERoCo's investigative team." "ERoCo.!" Alphie said quietly to herself. She began to panic. 'This is bad. I need to get out, before the police get here!' She could hear the sirens in the distance. She still had time. Looking around the room, she tried to figure some way to escape. Her eyes fell on the window. She rushed over and flung it open. Fresh air wafted in blowing loose papers and things to blow about the room. "What was that?" Redheart asked. "Alphie!" Lyra shouted. She heard the pony outside giving orders. "Somepony get around back! Now!" Alphie hesitated before kicking the screen out of the window and climbing out onto the ledge. She heard Lyra and Redheart bursting into the room. "Alphie! Wait!" Lyra shouted from inside. She heard Redheart gasp. "Oh Celestia!" There was no time. She could hear hoofsteps coming around the building from below. "Time's up..." Alphie closed her eyes and took the jump.