I just barely catch up to Tasmin before she hops in a cab. I call out to her and she stops with one foot in the car.

“I didn’t think you were going to come.” 

I shrug my shoulders and join her in the backseat. She chats up the driver who, after giving her a good look, decides to allow it. I imagine that’s a regular occurrence with her. He gives me the odd eyebrow wave in the mirror, almost like a pat on the back. 

Doesn’t take long to get to the club. It looks a lot less impressive in the light of day than it did in her head. The grime of the city clings to the neon light fixtures. The parking lot is covered in litter and ill-maintained pavement. 

A mountain of human-being stands by the door, looking off into nothing in particular before we grab his attention as we get out of the cab. He does a double-take as Tasmin adjusts her skirt and pays the cabbie.

 The cabbie takes an extra few moments, watching her walk away, before driving to his next fare. I do the same, but the brute at the door has a booming voice to match his frame and it breaks my focus.

“Look at this. I’m shocked you’d show your face here again after last night.” 

“I didn’t see nothin’, Ricky. Quiz me if you want.” 

“Yeah, I’ll quiz you alright.” 

He grabs her arm and takes her off-balance, which doesn’t take much in the shoes Tasmin is wearing. Before I know what I’m doing, I’m in between them and regretting it. 

“She’s clean, man. I can vouch for it.” 

With his other hand, he grabs a handful of my shirt. I clench my fist, ready to get a cheap-shot in so I can make a run for it. I don’t know if I’ll get the opportunity. I’d rather avoid it. 

“He’s the guy. He cleaned out whatever the hell I shouldn’t know. Last thing I remember is being in the room, then I woke up in this guy's apartment.” 

He smirks, looking over to me. 

“That’s how she paid you, eh?” 

Tasmin smacks him on the arm, but he doesn’t even flinch. 

“It ain’t like that,” She turns to me. “Right?”

“Strictly cash transaction.”

“Huh,” He releases his grip on both of us. I fall back onto my heels. “Looks like you got ripped off, buddy.”

“Shut up, Ricky. We’re here to see Ludo. He in?”

“Depends. I don’t take cash payments though.” 

She looks around him while he licks his lips.

“Yeah, he’s in. I see his car. Tell him we’re coming.”

Tasmin grabs my hand and starts to walk away. Before I get a step in, Ricky grabs my other arm and I’m feeling like a wishbone. 

“Hey, buddy. Before you go in, who do I say is coming?”

“Rhys.” 

“Got a last name, Rhys?”

“Roberts. Rhys Roberts.”

Ricky laughs out loud. “That's your real name?” 

“Sorry. Don’t have another one.”

Ricky lets me go and wipes a tear from his eye. I didn’t think I made a joke.

“Welcome to the Club Lucid, Rhys Roberts,” He says mockingly, doing a small bow. 

“Yeah, thanks.”

Much like the outside, the inside of the club is nothing to be impressed with. The couches and dancefloor look a little bit dirtier than you’d hope, but anyone three drinks in and looking for action likely doesn’t notice. 

Without letting go of my hand, Tasmin drags me into the back of the club, through a couple sets of doors before we reach Ludo’s office. In front is another large man. Not as large as my new friend Ricky and a little more classy looking. He at least looks like he’s seen a library before. He opens the door as we approach and doesn’t say a word. 

Through that door is the first room since getting here without a layer of filth. The office is immaculate, if a little bit gaudy. Most noticeably, there’s no tech in the room. No scanners, speakers or screens. There’s some loose papers on the desk and a few notebooks stacked on a nearby shelf, but otherwise there’s nothing to tell you that any work gets done here. 

It takes me a second to recognize it as the same room that I cleared from Tasmin’s memory. It looks different without all the blood and panic. It’s so clean that you would never know what happened here.

Tasmin takes me to the chair and has me sit down. She takes a seat in the one next to me. 

“Ludo likes to make an entrance,” She says, leaning over to me. 

Not seconds later, Ludo’s voice comes in with a boom behind us. 

“What a nice surprise this is.” 

I turn to see Ludo, wearing a suit that probably costs more than my entire rig at the office, with his arms extended. He’s in good shape and it shows with a shirt whose buttons are just barely hanging on. He takes a seat in the big chair at the other side of the desk, then extends his hand, forcing me to get up.

“Nice to meet you, Rhys. I’m Ludo. I don’t know how much Tasmin has told you about me,” He looks towards Tasmin and gives her a threatening glare without ever breaking his smile. “I’m hoping not too much.”

“Ludo. This is Rhys and he does real good work. I don’t remember anything from when I got here last night to this morning. I don’t want to know either.”

Ludo slowly nods. 

“What about you, Rhys? When you cleared her memories, did you make any of your own?” 

“No. Of course-”

“I mean, she wouldn’t remember if you both had a good time, or a not-so-good time, am I right?”

“What? No.”

“Why? Is she not pretty enough for you? You should come by the club during operating hours. We got all kinds if she’s not your type.” 

I don’t know what to say. This isn’t what I thought I was walking into.

“I’m just busting your balls, Rhys. You seem like good people and you apparently do good work. I don’t want you to offend you,” Ludo waves to someone behind me. “But I’d like to check your work.”

The goon who was at the door comes with a laptop and a fancy catalog rig. It’s read-only, but it’s enough to get me in trouble if I happened to miss something. He motions towards Tasmin and she starts to put the rig on. She’s done this before. 

He scans a bit, does a diagnostic and nods. For someone with no tech in his office, he’s no luddite. He knows what he’s doing and where to look. Fortunately, I know what I’m doing too. I seem to have passed his test. He lets me know with a chef’s kiss. 

“Immaculate work, young Rhys. Truly impressive. Not even a trace or a thread.”

“Thanks.”

“What brings you here? Just wanted to show me your work in person?” 

“I hear you need people with my skills. That I might be able to help in some way.” 

Ludo leans back into his chair, making a steeple with his fingers. He holds all the power and he knows it. 

“I can, but I only work with people I can trust. Can I trust you?” 

“Of course.”

“Seeing is believing.” 

He grabs the rig and points it to me. I wave him off and his tone shifts. 

“It’s not a suggestion.”

I feel presence of the guy who was at the door behind me. Ludo shakes the rig again. I put it on. 

Some people say the scans feel like someone tickling you through your ears and over your eyes. For me, it feels like someone is jamming their fingers in. I try to avoid it at all costs.

I know what he’s looking for, so I make it easy for him and bring him there. I want this over with. I think about Tasmin coming by last night. I show him what I saw from her head. I show him that I know some things I probably shouldn’t know. That seems to be enough for Ludo. 

“I see. You’ve shown me yours and now I know I’ve shown you mine.”

“Look, I’m not going to say anything.”

“Oh, I know you're not. The fact that you came here at all instead of running to the cops tells me I can trust you,” Ludo sits back as the goon collects the rig. “The question now is how can we do business with each other?”

“I’m not interested in working for you. At least not directly.”

“No?”

“No. I’m an independent contractor. You send your guys to me. I get them setup, no questions asked. Not just wipes, I can do catalog-augments as well. Whatever you need, even if it’s not entirely kosher, I can work it out for you.” 

“I need some assurances. I’m not one for augments myself, but they serve my business well. I’ll need you to be on board.” 

“How so?”

“I’ll need you back here for regular check-ins. Make sure you’re staying on the virtuous path.” 

“No. No way. If I wanted that, I’d go to Delcor. I’m not getting any trackers or anything like that. If you don’t trust me to do business, then we’re just going to have to part ways.”

Ludo doesn’t move. He’s not smiling. Just staring back at me, giving me a chance to change my mind. I don’t. 

After what feels like forever, he gets up and extends his hand. 

“Sorry we couldn’t make it work. Nice to meet you, Rhys. Thanks for the good work with Tasmin. I hope our mutual understanding remains, even though we couldn’t work something out.”

“Of course. Sorry to waste your time.”

Ludo nods as he shakes my hand and takes a seat. The goon makes sure I didn’t forget how to get to the door and closes it behind me.