Attacking Aggressively

Journal.txt(6)

The taxi driver is no longer a threat to us, as we have run away from him and blended into a crowd. There must be something great going on if this many people meet at one place.

- What's going on? I ask a man in the line, who wears a green T-shirt with a dark-green leaf printed on it.

- Well, I'm here for the yearly echo-convention. Echon. Ha! A pun, y'know! After this explanation, he continues to laugh at his own joke. I do not really understand how you could have a whole convention about echo. Are you supposed to repeat each other, or do you replicate already existing items? A lot of people seems to have interest in it, so I still remain a little curious. While we are walking, PA-2321 keeps glancing back. After the seventh time, I ask him what he is looking at. He says that there is a man stalking him. I ask him if it is the taxi driver, but he says that this is someone else. PA-2321 describes the man as a thin, pale man with brown hair wearing black sunglasses.

- Do you think he wants to sell us on the second hand-market? PA-2321 asks me, worringly.

- I have no idea, I answer. PA-2321 starts to walk faster, and I can hardly keep up without starting to run.

- He is definitely following us, PA-2321 says.

- How can you tell? I ask him. PA-2321 then explains that he has gone after us ever since we passed the gate to the echo convention, and he also sped up as soon as PA-2321 did so. PA-2321 explains that according to his statistical calculations there is a chance of 99.08% that the man either wants to steal or rob us. PA-2321 believes the second option to be the mostly likely since that his jacket is worth a lot of money. The police is after us, Sir is after me, the former owners of PA-2321 is after him and probably after me as well, and then we have the taxi driver who is probably going after us. Who else could be after after us, maybe some secret cult is after us? There are really no reasons for any such to chase the two of us, though the name "blade of misery" makes me feel uncomfortable. Are they called so because they are in misery, or because they cause it? These thoughts would made me boil weeks ago, but these unexplainable improvements have taken great effect. Even PA-2321 seems to act less robotic, compared to his past self.

- PD-4001! can I hear PA-2321 yell. The man behind us begins to run.

- Yes? I answer. The man is getting closer.

- I have something to show you. The man is really close.

- Not now, I tell PA-2321, and order him to start running.

This turns to a real chase, people even back off as PA-2321 and I rush by, and some even yell motivational things such as "you go!" and "run like hell now!" I ignore these words, as they do not serve me much real help. Still, it feels kind of good to have people on your side when you are running away from a crazy stalker. We turn left at a T-crossing and run through a block. The man with black glasses is nowhere to be seen, so we stop for a while.

- I think I'll have to charge, PA-2321 mentions.

- We neither have time or anywhere to do that, I tell him.

- Come on, I only have 10% left, PA-2321 says.

- You should have charged when we were in the garage, I respond, but PA-2321 continues to whine.

- I know I should have done that, but I wanted to be prepared to run in case the driver turned out to be a bad person, which he did, he explains. Without further dialogue, I hand over one of the batteries to PA-2321, who then suddenly gets all serious.

- I have something to show you, he claims, but then we hear the noise of a motor. We look back, to see the man with the sunglasses on a moped. The tiny, red vehicle moves towards us on a speed too high for us to outrun.