Jayden liked the night.  She had learned early on that her power had the potential to make her hard to see when the sun was down and the lights were dim.  Practice followed, to learn to keep to the shadows as best she could and minimize the sounds she made when moving.  Advantage she may have in keeping hidden at night, but her power didn't exactly make her invisible even in the best of times.  She worked with what she had and what she had really wasn't so bad.  Once forced to leave home, it had kept her alive, fed and out of jail more times than she could count.

More than anything else, it was habit that found her prowling around dark alleys.  Prowling, perhaps, was a bit of an over-statement: wandering aimlessly was more like it.  Recent employment opportunities with Aura and her Order meant she didn't really have to go seeking monetary exploitation any longer.  Probably, at any rate.  But what else was she going to do?  It wasn't even all that late out yet.

Not entirely intentionally, she found herself among her usual haunts, in the back alleys of some of the more high end clubs in the city.  This was where she usually made her living, such as it was: mugging those too drunk, rich and stupid to fully understand what was happening.  It was easy, really, to jump out from the darkness with claws unsheathed and demand whatever funds her unfortunate victim had upon him or her.  A few drops of blood was enough for most of them to give over their riches without a fight, then she'd flee into the darkness.  Simple.  No need for guilt when they really weren't hurt and most had so much money that a few hundred dollars wouldn't mean much.

Tonight, it should have been too early to have much success; not much after 10.  Still, she found herself hidden in a shadow, black scales covering every inch of her not covered by her black trench coat and black claws at the ready.  When an unexpected prime target existed the club, far more intoxicated than the early hour might suggest, it was something not easily passed up.  It didn't matter that the money wasn't technically needed at that moment, old habits died hard.  A few stumbled stops from her potential victim and she jumped out, claws at the ready.

"Halt immediately, mutant," a robotic voice spoke from behind her.  Crap!  Meta Bot.  And she hadn't even really done anything yet.

Glitch was out alone later than she should have been. The line for the new game was just so long! Topping it off, that one employee was hounding her the entire time. The old guy even insisted on checking her receipt and purse before she left. As if she could have stolen something with him watching so closely.

In an effort to return back to the Mansion faster, Glitch was taking a shortcut through back alleys. There was no light save the dim golden glow from the steep lamps. The quietness was a welcome break from the stares and shocked looks. That was, until...

“Halt immediately, mutant!”

Glitch jumped. “Eep! I didn't do anything!” she squeaked. Her arms flew into the air as she turned towards the alleyway to face the voice's source.

It was a META bot. Glitch eyed it cautiously. She was not a fan of them. They weren't human; they were nothing but programming designed to act however the maker wanted them to, nothing more than that. The thought of being something like that was just sickening.

At least the META bot must not have been talking to her. The visibility wasn't great, but Glitch could make out one, no, two figures. The first was definitely male and stumbling around as if drunk. As for the other, all Glitch could see was a vague outline, as if he or she was shrouded in darkness.

Glitch's feet were planted firmly in place. She had no clue what the deal was, but she didn't trust a machine with police responsibilities.

"I didn't do anything!"  Darkshift yelled at the offending bot.  It even had the advantage of being true, so long as intent didn't matter; META bots weren't mind readers as far as she knew.  Whether it was reading the intent of her body language or was actually malfunctioning she wasn't sure and, quite frankly, she didn't really care.  Obeying the command in hopes of buying herself a few moments of time to figure out what the hell she was going to do now, she froze, clawed hands held in front of her in submission.

The bot walked steadily towards her, shock cuffs at the ready and she mentally prepared herself to take action in order to escape.  Against humans she knew she could do a lot of damage, probably even kill if she was that type of mutant.  She wasn't.  Against a robot?  What could cat claws do against a metal shell?  The answer: probably not a hell of a lot.  At least her scales would help keep her relatively uninjured, as long as the machine didn't hit hard enough to break bones.  Then she'd be screwed.  Royally.

As the META bot got almost close enough for her to make her move, Darkshift took notice of the other robot nearby.  Robot it might be, but she was pretty sure it wasn't another bot.  For one thing, it wasn't matted black and for another it seemed rather frightened of the bot.  Maybe another mutant she could use.  Hopefully it was friendly.

Finally the bot got close enough for her to act.  A black tentacle grew out of one of her ankles and tripped to offending robot, wrapping around one of its legs and causing it to lose balance.  Almost as soon as it appeared and it was gone, melting back into her flesh.  She bolted towards the other robot.  "I suggest you either help or join me running," she yelled.  At the very least, two targets had to make things more difficult than one, right?

Despite the figure's protests, the META bot was going in for an arrest. Glitch's eyes tracked it carefully as it marched emotionlessly towards the person. But before she could make a move, the bot fell to the ground. Her eyes went wide.

That person just did what she kind of wanted to do ever since those things were unveiled.

Of course, there was a good reason Glitch hadn't done that yet. The META was already getting back to its feet. Soon, it would authorize itself to use more force. And since she was there, the robot might go after her, too. Running up and punching it was tempting, but what good would it do? Unlike her, the sole purpose of the META bots was to take down hostile mutants. The stranger sped past her. Glitch heard her yell to either help or run.

Glitch was going to run, too.

She struggled to catch up to the stranger, a teenage girl not much older than her. Unsurprisingly, she was a mutant, the shadowy scales being a dead giveaway. “What did you do to set it off?” she called out as she turned a corner. She knew it wasn't a good time, but she had to ask. She was guessing it was just because she was a mutant.

Or maybe that drunk dude left behind in the alley had done something instead. You never know.

Well, apparently it didn't take long for the META to get back onto its feet.  Figured.  "Any chance you have a missile launcher or something," Jayden yelled at the robot girl not far behind her, risking a quick glance back.  It was worth a shot, right?  That seemed like something appropriately robotty.  Of course, with her luck tonight it would be the META with the missile launcher and not the robot that seemed to be on her side.

The glance back revealed the META to be not far behind the two of them.  So far, at any rate, it didn't seem to have any guns or projectiles, but who knew with these things anyway?  It wasn't as if she was an expert.  Not the best time to start regretting her lack of research into the robotic police officers, was it?  Pretty sure the internet would have had loads of useful information.  Too late now; something to look into when and if she escaped.

"I didn't do a damn thing!" Jayden called back, not bothering to keep the irritation out of her voice.  It was true.  In fact if not in intent.  "We need to slow it down so we can lose it, maybe run out into a crowd."  It was night, not yet late night and they were downtown.  Surely there had to be a crowd once they got out of the alley?  By now she was starting to pant with the exertion.

Slowing just slightly her the robot girl to catch up with her, a black tail sprouted from Jadyen's tailbone and knocked down a garbage can as they ran past.  It might not be much of an obstacle but it was the best she could come up with at the time.  Gods, she hoped she wouldn't have to actually stand and fight the thing.  That just didn't sound like an appealing prospect...

A missile launcher?

If it hadn't been for their current situation, Glitch would have doubled over laughing. The robots in cartoons had all sorts of whacky weapons, but such things were silly in reality. “Nope, nothing but what you see,” she replied. “That would've been cool, though.” Not indoor friendly, but cool. And useful right right about then!

And, her question was met with an irritated response. Glitch could understand; people hassled her when she hadn't done a thing, either. If she had been able to hide it, maybe things wouldn't have been so bad. Maybe this teen also couldn't hide her mutation. It was impossible to tell if those scales were permanent.

Glitch slowed down a moment to boot the can the girl had knocked over, sending it rolling towards the META bot. Glitch hoped it would trip and give them a few more seconds. Already, she could feel the increased energy demands straining her power box. That robot body of hers just wasn't built for speed. Hopefully, they could lose the robot before she was too exhausted to run.

Well, the missile launcher was worth a try, at least.  Not that Jayden was surprised that it didn't exist but she was vaguely disappointed.  Man, would it have been satisfying to just blow that stupid bot to oblivion and be done with it!  Too bad, it looked like they were going to have to come up with more conventional methods of escape.

Robot Girl took her lead with the can and sent it rolling towards the bot.  Luck or perhaps glitchy electronics were on their side as apparently the bot was so intent upon its targets that it tripped over the can and toppled to the ground.  It wouldn't grant them a lot of time but at least it was something and at that point she was willing to take anything.  Jail was not an option!

"This way," Jayden yelled, turning down a sharp corner.  And there was that crowd of milling humans she was hoping to find!  Not that either one of them was likely to blend into a crowd very well at that point, given that one of them was a robot and the other was a black scaled humanoid.  A small part of her brain told her she could just shift back to normal, fade into the crowd and let Robot Girl fend for herself.  A larger part of her brain told her that would be a truly dick move to do to someone who had just helped her.  The larger part of her brain won.

"Here, quick wear this."  Jayden took off her trench coat and handed it back.  It wasn't much and it wouldn't hide things like head or hands, but it was something at least.  Maybe luck would continue on their side, who knew.  Black scales from her hands and eyes melted back into her skin, remaining only upon those vital areas covered by clothing.  Black claws also remained; they weren't out of the woods yet and there was something to be said about not being completely defenseless.  Even if claw wasn't likely to do much against metal.

Ha, that bot got tripped twice in one night. If that had been a person, they would have a thoroughly bruised ego by now, a fact which made Glitch strangely proud. But, the satisfaction in her eyes faded quickly. If it wasn't after her then, it was definitely after her now. Now she was pushing herself to run faster.

Finally, the chase had lead them to a busier street, a commercial area by the looks of it. Now to hurry along and hide in crowd with their obvious mutations.

...Yeah, as if that was going to work.

Luckily for her, the other teen had a plan. Upon observing her scales disappear, Glitch felt a pang of jealousy. But, she gratefully accepted the trench coat offered to her. “Thanks.”  She slid into the coat, effectively concealing her bright yellow arms. Her head, however, was still exposed. She didn't have time to do anything about it; the weak disguise would have to suffice. Since the META bot was on their tail, Glitch wasted no time plunging into the crowd.

Keep head down. Don't run, but walk fast. Do not attract attention. Just like walking past a group of anti-mutant nutjobs with large cardboard signs, so she told herself.

As she walked, she tried to think of a way to throw the bot off their trail for good. “We could try hiding in one of the stores,” Glitch suggested with a hushed voice. The META bots usually didn't go in those, right?

The trench coat was far from a perfect disguise.  There was still that bright yellow head to think about and the sudden wish that she had brought a hat with her.  Hats and mohawks didn't normally play well together and having to flee for her freedom with a yellow robot girl wasn't exactly something that could be planned for in advance.  They'd just have to be quick on their feet, was all.  Nothing new there.

"Store, good idea," Jayden replied in short, clipped tones.  It was a very good thing she was adept at dealing with stressful situations.  Half her life, it sometimes seemed, was a stressful situation.  Irrelevant was the fact that half those situations were probably of her own creation.  Maybe it was training for situations just like this one.  Funny where one's mind wandered to in times like these.

Walking forward at a brisk pace but careful not to run and thereby increase suspicion, she risked a brief glance backwards.  The bot was further behind than it was before and while still moving in their general direction, she could swear that it was moving slower than before and had a look like it wasn't quite certain where they had gone.  Or maybe that was wishful thinking, after all, did robots even have looks that expressed anything let alone confusion?

"If we're really lucky I think we might just make it out of this," Jayden spoke, keeping her voice low.  She pointed at a late night coffee shop just around the corner.  "Lets try to lose it in there."

“Yeah, sure,” Glitch replied without hesitation. She just wanted to get off the street and out of that META bot's sight fast.

The bells hanging from the door jingled as she entered the coffee shop. Walking in there felt strange. These days, Glitch rarely had a reason to set foot in eateries. For her, eating was not only unnecessary, but also impossible. It stunk because the coffee looked good, too.

Glitch passed the counter and headed as far away from the entrance as possible. The barista there was giving her the stink eye. Whether it was for being a mutant robot or simply not ordering anything, Glitch could not tell. She tried to give her an apologetic look, but having only the eyes to work with made her efforts futile.

Under the barista's careful watch, Glitch took a seat at the table in the back. Looking back, a coffee shop really wasn't the best place for her to hide. This was incredibly awkward. So, she did the one thing she could think of to alleviate the situation.

“So... I'm Glitch. What's your name?” she asked the other mutant teen.

Maybe a coffee shop wasn't the best choice Jayden could have come up with but it was the first viable one that came into her sights.  They stood out, the robot girl with her bright yellow head and her with her tea-shirt and black mohawk.  Nothing to really be done about that now except hope for the best.  Some might suggest praying as well, but she'd never put much into the whole God concept.

"I'll go order us something."  That way they wouldn't look completely conspicuous.  This time of night there weren't many people in the shop and she was first in line.  "Two small coffees," she told the barista.  She dug into her pockets, finding just enough small change to cover the expense.  Score another point for lucking turning in their direction.  She walked back to the table, fortunately chosen to be at the very far corner of the room, trying to ignore the eyes of the other patrons watching her.  Once sitting, the attention seemed to shift back to whether the others were doing before the two of them entered.  Weird or not, two girls drinking coffee just wasn't that interesting for very long.

"The name's...Darkshift," Jayden replied, setting one of the coffees down in front of Glitch.  There was just a slight hesitation before she said the name.  This seemed like as good a time as any to start doing away with her given human name and embrace her chosen mutant name.  "Nice to meet you.  Uh, I wish it was in better circumstances."  Nerves could be heard in her voice.  Now the waiting began to see whether or not they were home free or if they'd have to start running again.  Damn, did she ever hate cops and especially mutant hating robot cops!

Glitch stayed seated as the other teen went to order at the register.

Wait a minute. Us? And she was bringing back two small coffees? But she couldn't drink...

Crap.

The irritated barista issue might have been solved, but a different problem took its place. Glitch stared at the coffee placed in front of her, unsure of what to do. Ignoring it wouldn't work, and, “By the way, I don't eat,” sounded like something an asshole would say.

She eventually lifted the cup and pretended to take a sip. Her red eyes darted around the room, then to the entrance. No gawkers nor META bots in sight. That was a mild relief.

Glitch nodded in agreement. “Nice to meet you too, Darkshift.”  Clearly that was a nickname, and it was easy to see how she earned it. “You've got a pretty cool power. Can you, like, make almost anything you want out of shadows?”

Jayden had to make a concerted effort not to keep turning her head to check the door and see if the Meta bot had followed them.  Nervous shoulder checks weren't exactly the best way to remain inconspicuous.  Did she hear a commotion outside or was that just her imagination?  No way to know for sure and for the moment she had to force herself to ignore it.  Damn, did she ever hate her life at that exact moment.

"You don't eat?"  The response was delayed from her obvious distraction, her tone of voice perturbed.  "How do you, I don't know, recharge then?  Or something..."  Was that even an appropriate question to ask?  Was it polite?  Why did she suddenly care about being polite anyway?  Rudeness had never been a concern for her before.

"Uh, let me try that again.  Nice to meet you Glitch.  I didn't mean to be rude.  No, I can't make anything but pretty much anything that comes from animals I can make.  And its not really from shadows, more like from my personal aura I guess.  It just looks like shadows.  How about you?  I mean, what's it like being a robot?"  

Continue talking and distract herself from the possible impending confrontation and flight from the evil robot cop.  Good plan.  Where good was kind of relative, in this case.  Best plan she had at the moment, though.

Damn, found out. Though, Glitch kind of expected that. Only an idiot would have been fooled by her charade. “I just find an outlet and plug in,” she admitted sheepishly, setting the cup down. “How much was it? I can pay you back.” God, she hoped Darkshift wasn't too annoyed with her.

So her guess wasn't quite right. Still, that was a pretty versatile power Darkshift had. Being able to grow wings, tails, and the like sounded fun. More fun than being trapped in an unfeeling metal body, at least.

“It's frickin' weird. I'm not used to it. It's easy to break things on accident when you can't tell how hard you're holding them.” She picked up a wooden stirrer and snapped it in half with her fingers to demonstrate. “But hey, it's harder to get hurt. My arm could get ripped off and I still won't feel a thing.”

Mutants sure were interesting and a human robot who actually had to be plugged in to recharge was not something Jayden ever thought to encounter.  Perhaps it was time to do away with all expectations where mutants were concerned.  Anything was possible.  

"Don't worry about the money."  Weird to be able to say that.  It probably wouldn't last but best not to focus on that just as it was best not to focus on the fact that there was probably still a bot outside hunting them.  She wasn't prepared to do jail time, not at all.  Was that a sound she heard outside?  A commotion?  Maybe.  Best to try to ignore it and maybe it would go away.  Probably wishful thinking.

"I guess there are always drawbacks.  If I'm covered in scales or thick fur, sometimes its hard for me to feel things too.  There are no nerve endings, or whatever, in scales.  Keeps me from getting hurt too badly when I'm doing something stupid thought."  She let out a nervous laugh, taking a sip of her coffee.  Stupid things was a far too common descriptor in her life.