(absolutely no details are given to the locations of occurrences during this pursuit, due largely to the utter lack of spatial orientation on part of the author)

PRELUDE
This would be my first foray into Journey To The End Of The Night in San Francisco, or any large scale city-wide game for that matter. I didn't know what to expect from such a thing, knowing only that I ought to be prepared to have my eyes opened by what the masses had to offer me. As a sort of inauguration celebration into this new world, the Western Bacon Blue Ring from Taylor's Automatic Refresher would serve as my fuel for the evening to come.

CHAPTER 1 - CRITICAL MASS
We figured that arriving at 1900hrs would be important, to make sure that we didn't miss out on anything critical. We were disappointed (yet impressed) by the large line that welcomed us; disappointed that we had to wait, but impressed by both the large number and relative orderliness with which everybody waited.
The time waiting for the game to being was spent enjoying the sights of everybody's costumes: Santa Claus, Jesus, rubick's cube (how ever will she run with her arms tucked in?), a coconut drink, various ninjas, a cyborg (apparently cyborgs of the future will look like humans with random PCBs and boards tied around them), and other such misfits. I determined at that moment that, as a result of my lack of costume and getting into it-edness, I would compensate with my zeal for the game.

CHAPTER 2 - LET THE GAMES BEGIN
As the crowd gathered to critical mass and gave itself a mind of its own, there was little to be done about the start of the game as huge swarms began to move. As we began our all out sprint we couldn't help but notice the small but significant crowd beginning a count down. What's this? We can't start without being part of the countdown! 4... 3... 2... 1... and the pursuit begins! Caught up in the euphoria of the crowd and being part of the critical mass, the cop car we are rushing towards as we sprint down the middle of the street gives me little pause. The game is on. For moments my mind is consumed by the fact that I am now running through the streets of San Francisco, in a game with an untold number of other people, with nothing but some instructions to find the location of the circled number on the map.

CHAPTER 3 - SUPERNOVA
The journey to the first checkpoint is largely uneventful, mostly just filled with bursts of excitement at the novelty of the game and the sheer craziness that is occurring around me. We manage to find a rather competent looking fellow hereby titled Supernova (out of reverence to his blue cape with the words "Super Nova" on it). We would attempt to travel to the first checkpoint with our new friend Supernova, in hopes that the combined competence and know-how (plus numbers) would deliver us safely.
The most fun during this part was creating random panic with our fellow runners. It doesn't take much more than a determined run, and a couple yells of "chasers" to create a fury of movement not unlike a flock of pigeons being chased by some overzealous toddler. It was an enjoyable sight to see, though was coupled with the difficulty of managing to get close enough to the runners to explain to them that they needed fear me not.
We did also meet one other suspicious crowd that seemed to be aware and diligent with the goals of the game but lacking in the armbands. Apparently due to the shortage of armbands, this crowd had decided to employ the classic sacrificial-friends strategy and have those not in the game protect the few that were. Since we will be seeing this group again in a later chapter, we shall call them the Adelie Penguins (names not for their costumes, but the tactics these penguins use to protect themselves by forming small groups).

CHAPTER 4 - ADELIE PENGUINS
The sense of success at arriving at the first checkpoint safely also brought the somber realization that we had lost Supernova in the celebrations. Alas, we were left with little choice to look for another group, to which Adelie Penguins seemed like a suitable candidate. Though it would only be a little while longer before realizing that these penguins did not wobble like those on shows, but were indeed too fast and swift for our group to maintain pace with.
Abandoned along the streets of San Francisco with no protection but our own wits to fend for ourselves, we went along our way in search on the second checkpoint. Having made some fair progress with the Adelie Penguins, we soon found ourselves at the threshold of the second safe zone, but with a dilemma. Apparently there was a homeles.. wait.. what's that? It's his costume? That seemingly homeless man is actually a chaser waiting for his next target! Alarming how an innocently looking man wandering back and forth aimlessly at an empty traffic light could end up being such a concern. The only refuge we could take in the situation is that he had set his eyes on another prey, providing us with a nice path to the second checkpoint.

CHAPTER 5 - FREEDOM
The second checkpoint was full of eager runners waiting to get their manifests signed. The caused some mumblings within a group, trying to determine whether it best to continue on and make progress while staying within the spirit of the game, or to have our manifests signed and continue staying legit. In the end the obedient got the best of us and we had our manifests signed. Fortunately this gave us the opportunity to meet the Money-you-called-be-saving-with-Geico man and also the Bay-bridge-collapsed lady.
The time lost at the second checkpoint however, would bring our eventual demise. It appeared as if all exists out of the safety zone had been entirely blocked off but chasers who were nothing but eager to have others join their fold. Only a mostly unnoticed alleyway provided an escape for us to quietly slip past the eyes searching for their next prey.
But alas, our victory would be short lived. Stopping only for moment to determine our next action, our chaser had managed to pounce upon us, leaving little time for reaction before the lot of them had scattered our crowd. I had no chance in the confusion, and was the first to be caught during my attempts to guide our team to safety.
But one cannot deny the sense of freedom and relief that occurs at the fateful moment when all that you have feared comes to pass. There was an almost poetic sense of peace knowing that I, once a runner, was now a chaser invulnerable to anything except for the cars that constantly honked their horns at the random people running through the streets.

CHAPTER 6 - PENGUIN'S SECOND LIFE
It seemed all too sweet to be able to walk the streets with no fear. It mattered not that I was walking through the questionable neighbourhoods in SF, for I was a chaser, and I was now invincible. Nothing could make me much happier than to enjoy the pursuit of bringing down a runner into my realm. But what better luck than to have the Adelie Penguins reappear as prime targets. This would also serve my curiosity into the effectiveness of their defense mechanism.
And so it is with great concern that I worry over the survivability of Adelie penguins everywhere. For the chase was short, and the true Adelie Penguin was swiftly brought down. Apparently the whole theory stands little chance when the predator is quick and swift enough to weave through the crowd and quickly locate his prey.
But I can take solace in the fact that, as a result of incessant pleading on part of the penguins, they were allowed to continue another day as I gave them their runner band back. Though it was through an initial sense of kindness at keeping this happy little pack together that I did it, inwardly I could not deny the excitement of the chase through the Penguin flock again sometime in the hopeful future.

CHAPTER 7 - STARVING FOR RUNNERS
Having your whole existence being determined by the availability of prey inevitably does have its downfall... namely what to do when you don't know where your prey is. In hopes of cutting off the runners from the front, our ingenious plot would be to skip one checkpoint so that we could blissfully meet (and catch) wave after wave of runner from the front as they approached their fifth checkpoint. However, little did we foresee the slaughter of runners to such a degree that their prey were left wanting. With seemingly few runners left in the game, and little hope of more action, we began our retreat back to the lives we had left a little while ago.
Leaving the game could not erase the joys of both being chased and chasing. Despite our resolve to leave the game, intermittent sightings of runners would send us in hot pursuit in attempts to once again relive the dream of catching a runner. Our first attempt brought us to a formidable foe who was both fast and had endurance, providing much too big of a challenge for what little I could muster. It was only later on that I had learnt he had eventually been caught, though only after running from three chasers subsequently with no break in between.
The second attempt however was one of sweetness. A two for one pursuit in which one was brought down, the runner ribbon acquired, and then the second brought down soon after in close vicinity after a short-lived chase. Alas, this would serve as my last act of the night, to bring two down... a glorious ending.

EPILOGUE
I got on the BART. Went home. And slept. Really... what more do you want of me?