ALWAYS WEAR PROTECTIVE GEAR WHEN PLAYING TAG

August 15th, 12,006 (actual time frame: 12:29AM, Saturday; April 24th, 2007)___________________________________________________________________

Okay, so as you might already know, the trip into town was no picnic for me. The place I called my personal stomping grounds was little more than an old and dilapidated outpost which had clearly seen better days. But Shark's Bay had its proud century-old heritage to uphold to, and nothing--not even the storm--could easily erase that; despite past successes.

Home to approximately 1,500 people, the town was clearly one of the most run down places in the Barren Wastelands--even worse than the city of Hallis.

But I never complained. I liked gallivanting into this place when I was a little girl. Every place held a story, every building had its secrets--and I enjoyed uncovering them all.

Even as I approached the outskirts of the town, I could see a plethora of run-down buildings and other smaller shops arranged in simple colonnades, but well protected by a broken concrete wall lining most of the town’s 12-mile parameter on the outside.

Some reinforcing had been done here and there over time--that I knew from what Calis told me. I easily caught a passing glimpse of familiar steel support beams. But I knew that--from past inspections, there wasn't much left of them. Time and nature were cruel hosts and they did nothing to spare the sentinels which were swallowed up by those unforgiving and shifting sands. Of course, I went much farther back on occasion and found some relatively intact ones.

But upon further excavation, they turned out be nothing more than twisted shadows of their former selves.

Ghosts of a long buried past.

I rocketed into Shark's Bay easily: Choosing a predetermined--and favorite--path of mine.

But as always I was coming in much too quick. In the next few seconds, I would end up pasted on the walls beyond my limited range of vision. (I didn't think either Mom or Calis would appreciate me spending another seven hours in the regeneration tank--explaining why I was in another accident so soon after leaving!)

So I had to do another speed dump--which let me alternate forward and rear thrusters--and I squeezed through the space I was in with inches to spare.

Or so I thought.

And ear-splitting shriek of metal, and I sensed that I had taken some paint off with that last pass. If I was lucky, my port thruster assembly would only have a few dings which I could easily buff out. A dent or two, and I would be spending the next ten minutes explaining to Calis what happened to my hovercycle--as he doesn't like having to overall my bike without sufficient reason.

Like any good teenage hotrider, I'm supposed to take good care of my equipment. Money and parts don't exactly grow like trees, y'know. (Something I picked up from Calis--during my long hours of personal schooling. The old man is so full of quirks and nuances! But I love him dearly for it...)

So anyway...

Where was I?

Ah, yes: My little trip into Shark's Bay. (I swear: My attention span problems are only getting worse as I get older!)

I had ended up inside the town parameter with space and speed to spare. The area in question was so small, I could technically get in this way, but would have to come out the other side just to make one complete loop. (It's not like I could simply back my ass up and turn around. This place didn't have the inches to spare for me and my sleek machine.)

I passed the Great Fountain which had withstood the testament of time--if little else. Calis tells me that this used to be a great tourist attraction, but I never saw the attraction in this rusted piece of junk.

But it was shielded by a piece of metal hanging overhead like a loose lip--held together by a dizzying array of dead power leads and other wires. (Each crisscrossed a bit--once in each pass--but the rest simply snaked underneath and out the other side: Only to be connected to some parts of the run down buildings on each side of my cyc.)

And this area was probably the only place not affected by the storm. A lull if you will in the eye of some monster hurricane. But it didn't offer full protection from the elements. I still ate my fair share of shitty sand grit and everything else--each time I opened my mouth to get in a good lungful of fresh air.

But the air itself was tinged with ozone and loaded with static electricity. Every breath burned my lungs and made me gag with absolute regret.

So I had to assume a fetal position to shield myself from the worst the storm could throw at me, but my goggles took a fucking beating to beat the band. In less time it took me to whip out my blaster, I was left blinded to the world around me.

At this point, I had to hop off my bike blindly and wipe the crap out of my goggles--then hop back on and motor down towards the lower sector of Shark's Bay. This place was as desolate and barren as an old woman.

There was no sign of any living soul which I could see. So I guess I was the unofficially elected dummy to go braving this part of the burg during one of the worst blows of the season.

Duh!

Of course it would have to be me! Who else would be this daring in a 168mph gale? Not anyone else, I can tell you this much--though I did envy those who sought shelter; cause the skies above me looked like they were going to puke black shit on me in a fleeting second.

Lightning discharges were roiling over my head, and I felt their explosive reports rattle right through me like my Viper X-1 on a flash burn turn over at Sherman's Pass.

As such, the building in front of me suddenly collapsed like my father's deck of playing cards--something of an old relic from times past; a gift from Calis when I was three. I could never make out what those funny pictures were, but he let me play with them because it kept me out of trouble half the time.

At any rate, the structure went down faster than I was going towards it. But that wasn't the only one to finally succumb to the power of the storm. Three more caved in--and suddenly an odd wailing sound filled the air.

Unused sirens belched out their ancient noise in an effort to warn the other residents to stay clear of the area in question. I thought it was something to warn of an impending Praetorial Guard attack from the last spat of wars to hit this region in god knows how long.

Calis once told me that these things were used as a defense against the unknown, but nobody knew from what exactly.

But I past these buildings--these structures which sometimes housed the homeless. In retrospect, you would never know how many actually fit that description: Fit the profile of roving and desperate bands of human beings.

I knew that some of these places housed them--as a caveat--but little else I recalled about them.

I shuddered then--thinking about how lucky I was with what meager shelter I had left to me. It was never much, but it was a place I could proudly call home.

I came across some more of the same two-story structures, finding that life still existed inside a few of them, but didn't see anyone out and about. Of course, they would be as stupid as I was suicidal in the next second: A gust of wind had suddenly sideswiped me and my bike sideways!

I struggled against my unseen foe then, my engines fighting against the pull of the wind--as I tugged the other way--all in a vain effort to free myself.

My display panel was in the red-zone, but I wasn't going to give up this fight without, well...a fight! (lol)

But stupid me...

I had completely forgotten that my bike had other built-in safety features. It deployed them: Shutting down my engines in a heartbeat.

With no force to act against it, the wind promptly picked up both my bike and me--and tossed us 30 feet into the air. I acted immediately and overrode the other safties, and deployed a parachute/drag system.

This allowed the bike to come to a complete (and jerking) stop without question.

And save my ass from a serious bruising!

I also engaged full thrusters and tried to maneuver my metal pig into a soft landing, but I ended up smashing the rear right into the side wall of a vacant building--buckling it with so much ease.

I also ended up smacking my noggin' too in the process. After my head cleared, I swore I would get a freakin' helmet!

But after a time, I found that I had suffered no serious injury to myself. My bike was okay.

So I continued to my destination unhindered.

Isis