The glow in Celeste's eyes faded, and were replaced by a pale yellow. Nowhere near as bright as the cyborgs she'd encountered, but the sight was…was…

She smiled. One small step for cyborg-kind. One large leap for Celeste.

"Celeste," Josie said.

"Hm?"

"Repeat your name, dumbass."

"Oh. Celeste."

"Coffee."

"Coffee," Celeste repeated.

"Alcohol."

"Alcohol."

"Wires. Optics. Cyber. Neuro. Scan. On. Off. Read. Listen. Enhance. Normalize."

Celeste repeated the words until they were finished. Josie then told her to use the scan command, and to focus on the item she wished scanned. She did so, and saw her eyes turn yellow again. The color of the world, interestingly, did not change. Text appeared in her peripheral:

NAME: CELESTE CERVENKA

DOB: MAY 23, 2111

AGE: 26

RACE/ETHNICITY: OTHER

(ADD. INFO: CAUCASIAN, ASIAN/OTHER PACIFIC ISLANDER)

STATUS: ORGANIC

(ADD. INFO: NO IMPLANTS REGISTERED)

RESIDENCE: RADIANT CITY

(ADD. INFO: REG. DATE: JULY 9, 2137)

C. REC: PETTY THEFT, CONTEMPT OF COURT, POSSESSION OF NARCOTICS

"This is amazin!" Celeste shouted. "I can see my profile!"

"Yep! I can see what you see on my laptop. It's the same thing the police would see. Now, look at me."

NAME: JOSIE KUSCHENKO

DOB: OCTOBER 2, 2117

AGE: 31

RACE/ETHNICITY: OTHER

(ADD. INFO: CAUCASIAN, HISPANIC, AFRICAN)

STATUS: CYBORG

(ADD. INFO: OCULAR IMPLANTS, LEFT ARM IMPLANT TOTAL, LEFT LEG IMPLANT TOTAL)

RESIDENCE: RADIANT CITY

(ADD. INFO: REG. DATE: OCTOBER 2, 2117)

C. REC: UNSANCTIONED MEDICAL PROCEDURES, PETTY THEFT, GRAND THEFT OF MEDICAL EQUIPMENT, RACKETEERING

(ADD. INFO: NO ACTIVE WARRANT)

Josie snickered. "Damn, I didn't realize my rap sheet looked so bad."

Celeste grew uneasy. "Unsanctioned medical procedures?"

Josie tensed. She looked away, turning her head as though to shield her face from her. "It was a kid I was trying to save," she muttered. "I did what I had to. Long story, and I don't feel like going into it. What about you? What, were you snorting cocaine after Sunday service?"

"No. That was my brother's charge. I was living with him when he got busted, but they let me off with probation since they couldn't prove it was actually mine, just that I knew about it. Made gettin' a good job pretty hard."

"Where is he now?"

"Don't know, don't care. What's more important is, wouldn't I be able to just get a picture of Morgan to get this done? It's just facial recognition."

"Good question, but it wouldn't work. The software can't read 2D prints and match the profiles accurately. Instead, it scans in a 3D plane and matches that against every close approximation. But it also scrapes timestamped photos online, as well as security footage, to account for recent changes like injuries or dyed hair.

"Lastly, it picks up on any unique identifiers emitted by implants. Things that can't be removed, like chips in your brain. You already look a little like Morgan, for instance, so if I sat two pictures side-by-side, a 2D scan has a good chance of flagging the wrong person."

Josie nodded toward Celeste's vehicle. "Last thing. Let's try scanning two different types of items. Your car."

"Got it. Scan." She focused her eyes on the vehicle. As before, she was rewarded with text.

MAKE: SIREN

MODEL: GLIDE-11

MANUFACTURER: UNIVERSAL MOTORS

COLOR: BLACK

YEAR: 2123

TAG: V1K-C3L

REG. OWNER: CELESTE CERVENKA

"One more," Josie said, and held up her cell phone.

MANUFACTURER: MAXPOWER

MAKE: NEXTECH

MODEL: BRITE-9

"Not as much information on this one," Celeste observed. "Scan off."

"That's right. Remember, these optics were made for law enforcement. So personal health information and certain details regarding device ownership were restricted. I modified these to lift the restrictions, but only when you say lift restriction. Only do it when necessary, though. Each character displayed on-screen is another signal being sent to your totally organic brain. Overload it, and it'll be like you sat in an electric chair."

Celeste shivered. "In other words…too much data at once, and I'll kill myself?"

"Exactly. So make sure you're disabling the scan whenever you don't need it. Some data can be diverted to a database instead of showing up in front of you, lessening the load on your brain. Any questions?"

Celeste bit her lip. "Could I try it now?" she ventured. "Just to, y'know, get used to it?"

The more pragmatic answer was best, but that wasn't why she wanted to do it. Information at her fingertips — her curious mind couldn't say no. She was beginning to see why Josie took such a liking to this tech. What couldn't it do?

But Josie hesitated. "I dunno, Cee…"

"Nothing that'll be too much. C'mon. You've gotta be at least as curious as I am. I see it in your eyes."

"Ugh. Fine, but only on yourself. And remember to turn it off quickly. Don't need you frying yourself in my car."

Celeste grinned and looked herself in the mirror again. "Scan," she said. And then, "Lift restriction."

NAME: CELESTE CERVENKA

DOB: MAY 23, 2111

AGE: 26

RACE/ETHNICITY: OTHER

(ADD. INFO: CAUCASIAN, ASIAN/OTHER PACIFIC ISLANDER)

OCCUPATION: BLACK CAT CAFE MANAGER

STATUS: ORGANIC

(ADD. INFO: NO IMPLANTS REGISTERED)

RESIDENCE: RADIANT CITY

(ADD. INFO: REG. DATE: JULY 9, 2137)

RELATIVES: VIKTOR CERVENKA (SIB) / MARIAH CERVENKA (MAT) / ALAN CERVENKA (PAT)

MARITAL STATUS: N

BUSINESS OWNER: N

C. REC: PETTY THEFT, CONTEMPT OF COURT, POSSESSION OF NARCOTICS

HEIGHT: 5'8 /172.72 CM

WEIGHT: 156LBS / 70.76 KG

TOBACCO USE: N

EYE COLOR: BROWN

HAIR COLOR: BROWN

SHOE SIZE: 8.5

BUST SIZE: C

TATTOOS: COCOON (RIGHT HIP)

LAST PHYS. EXAM: APRIL 2, 2145

ONLINE ALIASES: C-VENK / S33KAH

RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: PENTECOSTAL

POLITICAL AFFILIATION: INDEPENDENT

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: BISEXUAL

MOST SEARCHED KEYWORDS: PAINT / STAIN REMOVER / JOBS

LAST ONLINE PURCHASES: MAXPOWER AA POWERS (8PK) / THE OLD NEW SELF BY THIERRY C. DOTSON (2ND EDITION) / MAXPOWER VIBRATOR W/12 SETTINGS

More lines popped up, but Celeste couldn't bear to read them. "End scan!"

All at once, the text disappeared.

Celeste stared blankly at her reflection, horrified.

She half expected Josie to laugh and poke fun at her. Call her out for having been a church girl, after all — when she'd lived with her parents, anyway. She wasn't sure what she was now.

But Josie was mercifully quiet. When at last she spoke, her voice was but a whisper. It even sounded caring, for a moment.

"Everything about us is data. We're both supplier and buyer. Everything about you's got an asking price. But the people we're after are good at keeping stuff off the books, and the price they've paid to do it is higher than anything you and I could pay."

"I understand. What's our game plan?"

"You tell me. It's your operation, after all. My only stipulation is that I'm not going inside. That risk sits squarely on your shoulders."

Josie said this almost proudly, as though telling her to march to her doom took courage.

"Scanning Bhasvah and sneaking around shouldn't be a problem, so long as you can store and read the data on your end."

Josie nodded. "Think I can handle that, sure."

"The problem's gonna be gettin' inside. Think I know someone who'll be willin' to help us, though."

Josie made a face. "Not sure about bringing other people on board, Cee."

"Don't worry, we can trust them."

"Trust is a commodity, just like anything else. It just has a higher asking price."

"And I've already made a down payment on it. Just wasn't as painful as yours," Celeste said, and shot a pointed look Josie's way. "My operation, my call. I'll make the phone call. You just worry about reading the data."