It is said that all civilizations, societies, and governments are just very elaborate lies that everyone agrees to believe. So long as everyone plays the game and continues to accept those lies everything runs just fine. It just the simple matter of keeping the mountain of lies simple and tolerable. For Heaven Clarke it was no longer simple or tolerable. Which was why she was standing at a cabstand at twenty-five hundred hours. She was putting herself out there hoping that she wasn’t being set-up. She had planned this meeting as best she could. It had to look completely normal and spontaneous. She knew every inch of the city was under video and audio surveillance and the Dystopian Police Force monitored every feed, either by a human or the massive computer system that ran the city. One step out of line brought attention, a second brought and arrest for questioning, third was a re-education facility that one never returns from. The night had become cold and breezy. Her legs and face were getting cold waiting for the cab. But she had to play the part she wrote for herself. A lone woman who had been out parting and got left by her friends at a club she had never been requiring her to take a taxi home. The instructions she was give were simple. Be at the 8th avenue TXE stand at 25:00Hrs and wait. There will be a marker, a painted black circle with a black line through it and the letters “DRM”. Someone will come and show you the same mark. Go with that person and do whatever they say. It was now Twenty-five fifteen. She was still there, alone and waiting. Then she heard the lift deck gate close and the hydraulics pressurize. Someone was coming up. Heaven was terrified but she needed to stay calm and act like she was waiting for the cab. If it was who she was waiting for she would have to decide if she was ready to go all the way as there would be no going back. If it was someone else, depending on who or what that person was she could be in trouble as this sector of the city was not known for being very lawful. The lift started coming up. The warning buzzer was sounding and the generator was humming and the lift growled as it slinked up it track. Heaven wanted to look but she knew if she did that could cause alarm. So she forced herself to look at a streetlight further down the street. The lift reached the top and clunked to a stop. Then she heard a sound she hoped she would not hear. “Lift deck lockout secured,” chirped the lift controls as they would when a police officer or a public safety agent would lock the lift so they can conduct a safety ordinance check, or and arrest. Heaven tried her level best to seem only slightly aware of what was going on. Real citizens never have to fear the authorities, or the agents of the beloved chancellor. Only dissidents, terrorists, or criminals need fear justice. So she just gave the best casual glance before returning to the streetlight she was looking at. It was a police officer in their full protective gear. Not that it was uncommon. But she hardly ever saw them in full gear where she normally would be found. The officer was looking at her. She tried to seem as though nothing was wrong as she heard the officer exit the lift gate and start walking. The street was five meters below her. if she were to hop the rail to escape she would break something let alone the officer shooting at her. Heaven’s lie was going to have to be very good, and perfectly done.