I wake up to the smell of smoke. Did I do something wrong? 

I feel groggy. It takes me a minute to realize what’s happening. The halo is loosened and I move it away so I can get out of the chair. There’s smoke coming in from under the doorway. 

My shop is on fire. 

I open the door and I’m thrown to the floor with a blast of hot air. I can barely see my way through all the smoke. There’s no way I’m fighting this fire with my extinguisher, but I give it a try anyway. It does nothing. It’s been going on for too long. There’s no pushing it back. 

I crawl down the stairs, trying to stay under the smoke like they teach you in elementary school. I’m also feeling extra groggy from the augments. This wouldn’t be a good time to fall down the stairs. 

I get to the front door and crawl out. I lay on my back on the sidewalk. It’s filthy, as expected, but I don’t have the energy to get to my feet. The fire blows out the windows above me and broken glass rains down. I try to roll out of the way, but I’m hit with enough of it for it to hurt.  

When I look out to see if the fire department is coming, I don’t see a fire truck or concerned neighbors. 

Instead, I see Vincent watching from outside of his car. He makes sure I can see him. This is a message from Ludo. I didn’t play ball and he’s trying to kill me. 

The blare of sirens start to get closer and Vincent takes that as a signal to leave. He gets in his car and drives off, leaving me on the sidewalk to see my hard work go up in flames before my eyes. 

My augments don’t seem to be working quite yet and I’m still not myself. Hopefully they kick in, because I won’t get a chance to correct this now. Not with all my equipment melting upstairs. 

I get to my feet and start to hobble in the direction Vincent went. He must be headed back to the club. The fire trucks pull up when I get to the end of the street. They can deal with the fire. I don’t want to have to explain myself to them. 

I have business to tend to.