We soon arrived in New Tokyo, and with it the light of day was replaced with the light of night, as advertisements across the city started to light up. We cross referenced Tycho's address with a map of the area, and we found ourselves a ways away from the largest skyscrapers of downtown, and closer to the mid sized buildings meant for living and entertaining. It had begun to snow along the way, and there was a thin layer of dusty snow along the ground, and a haze of white in the air.

  We pulled up to some street parking near Tycho's place, and pulled into a spot. A couple of people leaving a nightclub spotted our squad car and jeered at us. I did my best to pay no mind. My hud was telling me the temperature was -10 out. I didn't need the national weather service to tell me it was freezing when I had several metallic plates plugged into my body, sucking the heat away. I bit my tongue and followed the others.

  “Alright, down this way a bit, there should be an alley. Inside, there should be the entrance to Tycho's apartment here.”, James said, pointing north. “The apartment's in the basement, and with any luck, Tycho will be there too.”

  “We could only be so lucky”, Max chimed in.

  Walking to the alley's entrance, our boots caused the snow on the ground to crunch with every step. Turning down the alley, the four of us saw a couple of dumpsters and doors leading to businesses on the ground floor. There about half way through the alley, we spotted the staircase leading down. We began to approach the entrance

  “That's it”, Alex said, pointing towards the stairs. “Tycho's place is B-05.”

  We nodded in acknowledgment, and headed down. Somehow, I ended at the front of the line, and was at the door first. I pulled out my pistol, and opened up the targeting software. I cracked open the door, and reached the pistol around. There was naught but an empty hallway, four doors on either side. I spotted the door.

  “All clear. Tycho's place is 3rd to the left. I'll break down the door, and we'll clear it. ”, I said, before opening the door and turning the corner.

  The four of us rushed into the hallway, and stacked onto the door. My vision rapidly tunneled, and the false memories began to flood into my mind. I saw two scenarios flash before me. The first showed my kicking through the door, snapping it in half, and the second showed me using my cybernetic hand to rip the knob off the door, and breaking the lock. Instructions directing me how to get through the door.

  My vision cleared, where I found myself mid kick. My boot connected, and I thanked the slumlord who ran this set of apartments. The door had split through the middle, falling to the ground, and giving us access to the apartment. We stormed the gates like lightning.

  I was first through the door, turning right, clearing my side of the room. Alex shouted as he came in behind me, turning left, opposite of me.

  The four of us were inside, but in the commotion I knocked a television off its stand when I came inside. It was a simple studio apartment, with a kitchenette in the back left, a bed running along the back wall, and an armchair for the TV. There were two more doors to the right,with their doors shut, so we split into two teams to clear the next rooms.

  I motioned to James for us to head to the farthest door, while Max and Alex took the closer door. The four of us got to work, stacking up on our doors. I reached out and opened the door, letting James storm the room...

  “Fuck... just a closet”, James said.

  “Bathroom here, empty”, Alex replied.

  The air grew less tense once we had the apartment cleared. One by one, we all holstered our weapons, and began to relax. We decided quickly that Alex, James, and I would begin to scour the apartment for anything that could lead us to Tycho, while Max went to the enterence, posting up to provide security for the rest of us. I went to the kitchenette, and began to pour through the cupboards and cabinets. Dirty glasses, dust mites, and rat shit were all I found up above the sink.

  Down below, under the sink and counters was a different story. I found stash jars, the kind made out of old cleaning product containers. Opening one, I found baggies and a torch. Nothing illegal, and nothing we could track him by. The fridge was much the same as the prior spots I looked. 3 cans of beer, one empty, some ancient take out containers, and a jug of milk that had long since crossed the threshold of food and was now an experiment. I'd found fuck all.

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  From behind I heard the sounds of Alex searching the bathroom, and James tearing through the living space. James had been pulling the stuffing from the cushins on the couch, leaving a pile of foam pieces and old, brown couch cushin skins in a pile near the exit. The actual couch was now upside down, and James was shoulder deep, reaching into the spring area to try and see if he couldn't fish something out. Looking back, it was kinda stupid seeing him go through the effort to not just take the think fabric cover of the bottom off and look inside the couch.

  “I got a phone!”, Alex shouted from the bathroom.

  James and I turned to look at him. He was standing on top of the toilet seat, holding the vent cover in one hand, and a grimy, dusty phone in the other. He had a shit eating grin on as he entered the main room, having finished up the search of the bathroom.

  Alex looked over at James' … pile of bullshit, and shook his head, before calling in to dispatch, “Dispatch, Officer Sidorkin here, we got a phone from one of Tycho's safehouses. Want us to bring it in now, or wait until we've found a few more things?”

  “Great, and yes, bring it in now. Maybe the intel team can get something useful to help track him down sooner rather than later. See you when y'all get here.”, Daniels replied.

  We all dusted ourselves off, and departed from the apartment. We all awkwardly stepped over the broken door, and made it out into the hall. It was weird leaving the apartment open to the environment, but I guess that wasn't our job to care about it. I received a ping as we crossed the doorway outside, that the recording had finished.

  I still wonder who decided when the recordings began and ended. Was it automated, or was it just Daniels keeping a watchful eye on us?

  We all piled back into the SUV, Alex driving again. He drove us through the streets of New Tokyo, the nightlife had grown, and I saw several bars with parties that continued onto the sidewalk. I felt the adrenaline fade away as I stared out of the window.

  “Huh, the SUV can take the reports”, James said, thinking aloud, causing me to laugh from the interruption.

  We stopped by a late night coffee spot and grabbed something to warm us up. I got a latte machiatto Afterwards we finally started to get onto the freeway. The rush was a few hours behind us, but there were still people driving out. By this time, the snow had stopped falling, and with that, taking the fun of winter with it.

  About half way to the corporate office, a car came screaming down the freeway. It was a lime green sports car. It was going about 30 over the limit, and weaving through traffic. I turned my head as it passed me us by. The driver was flipping us off.

  “Alex, holy shit, that's the guy!”, I exclaimed.

  “What, that asshole who sped past us?”

  “Yes!”, I shouted back, then switched to calling this in. “Daniels! I mean dispatch! We just saw the guy fly past us on the freeway coming back!” I said, the words tumbling out of my mouth.

  “Want us to follow him, dispatch?”, Alex added.

  “If you have him in your sights, get him!”, replied Daniels, giving us all we needed.

  “Hang on, I'm opening her up”, ordered Alex, flooring the accelerator.

  I was thrown back into the seat. The chase was on.