The Chiss Heiress
Kusana dropped from a very tall platform off the side of a building onto an adjacent rooftop. It was quite the fall, and she hadn't realized until almost too late due to the darkness in this part of the city, especially at this time of night. The rooftops here were only barely illuminated by the passing vehicles and the occasional flicker of a dying holographic billboard or two. Upon landing she had to roll and even then she paused for a moment to let the pain in her shoulder pass. Even when rolling, a fall from that height has too much force to distribute evenly.
The one she chased, a spherical droid that had caught her curiosity, swung via grapple hook some thirty to forty meters ahead. The same scarce light that illuminated the rooftops she navigated provided some glimpses of the droid through the night. It had been an hour or so since she started after it, but she wouldn't give up now. Too much time and energy invested. In for a penny, in for a pound. Other people called it the sunk-cost fallacy or, to use bigger words, Escalation of Commitment as Kusana had read it in a book her master had her read so long ago. She thought she had totally forgotten such things in the wake of time, but occasionally they did resurface for moments of clarity.
Still, in spite of her own psychology, she was beginning to question just how far she could run for this. Not questioning if it was worth it, but rather if she was physically capable. After all, the pain in her shoulder had found its way into her ankles as well. She was breathing heavily from the exertion, and she knew what that meant for her physiology. She needed to choose now: Keep going, and risk someone seeing them? Or do I stop now and lose track of it? She had to ponder the connotations of the first scenario carefully. The light is low and I can always reduce it further by wearing my hood. I doubt anyone could see my eyes in those conditions. So flipping up her hood, she decided to press on.
|| Balldozer ||