​     Trevor and Niki reached the point where they saw the entrance to the The Fours Inc.. They had only a half mile to go.

     They had a problem, though.

     The traffic.

​     Both the traffic in the street and the foot traffic on the sidewalk suddenly got very confused, very tangled, like all the people trying to get somewhere collided with all the people trying to get somewhere else, and to hell with the streetlights and the honking horns and everything else.

​     Which created a people and traffic jam that became a sort of wall, a kind of barrier that Niki and Trevor found it nearly impossible to navigate through.

​     A longshoreman-looking guy took a swing at Niki's face. He had to be a replacer. There could be no other possible explanation for the swing. Trevor used his laser-razor to slice open the guy's gut.

     Goo-mist.

​     The reaction to that by the surrounding crowd created a kind of frantic chaos. There were those who were repulsed and frightened by what they saw and turned to flee. Niki assumed that they were just regular people. These true humans had a hard time leaving the vicinity, though, because replacers got in the way. They stopped stock still rather than move along with the flow of traffic. 

     "Okay, this is getting out of control," Niki said.

     "Keep moving," was Trevor's reply.

​     "And how the hell can I keep moving if..."

     A bus pulled up to a stop not four feet from where they stood. A dozen people got off. Two dozen people got on, Niki among them. Trevor managed to stick with her without bumping into anybody and creating a scene. All passenger's aboard, the bus continued forward.

     Next stop: the entrance to The Fours Inc., a square mile expanse centerpieced by the Diamond Tower. It stood thirty stories high, the top five stories made of glass that glistened so bright that they, indeed, reminded any who looked at them of a shimmering diamond.

​     Niki ran her bus card through the pay slot. Trevor was invisible, so he, of course, got on for free.

​     "I'm going for that second door halfway back," Trevor muttered. "Follow me."

​     The bus was about two thirds full. The seats were all taken, and more than a half dozen people stood, holding tight to the bus straps. They weren't crowded together. Niki didn't figure she'd have much of a problem sliding past them to get to...

     An older man who had his hair slicked back with oil and who looked like he smelled of oil stood up from where he sat to block her way. Another man stood.  That put one guy in front of Niki and another one right behind her.

     Replacers, obviously.

     Whoever they are, Niki thought, they're acting like assholes, and assholes should always be treated like assholes whenever possible.

     She drove her heel into the instep of the guy who pressed up against her butt. He yelped and hopped away from her. Niki took a step back to get a little distance between her and the guy in front of her, then buried her knee into his balls. Those on the bus who were just regular people, civilians, gasped and shrieked. Niki watched Trevor's laser-razor slice through the guy's throat.

     Goo-mist.

​     "Hey!" the bus driver barked.

​                                                CONTINUE

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