Matthew was slightly early for the date at 7:20 pm. She was cute, like all of the others that Robert had introduced to him. Her dark hair was cut in a neat pixie cut, and her almond eyes were sharp and their dark brown was warm. She wore a simple dress in rough cotton that was cut to barely fail to hide her lovely shape. They walked to the park as the early stages of dusk began. The small crowd had left a wonderful spot that was not far from the small stage.

Some light classical music filled the air as the lightning bugs began to come out with the darkening light.

They were enjoying the concert greatly when a couple a few feet away went off to the sidewalk vendor and came back with hot dogs.

Genevive was scandalized, "Why would they ruin the fresh air with those filthy garbage dogs?!” she ranted. “Do they even know how the animals suffered before the putrid bits were mangled into that disgusting, chemical-laden tube of inedible garbage?!”

Her voice carried in the twilight air and earned them both a dirty look from the other attendees.

“Genevive, calm down. They have a right to eat whatever they want.”

“You support those animal abusers? They are what is destroying our environment and causing all sorts of problems with people’s health, and animal abuse! Murdering bastards!” Her shrill voice cut through the clear evening air and ruined the calm of the beautiful music.

Matthew just got up and began making his way to the nearest gate of the park. Her shrill diatribe continued behind him as the girl droned on, completely unaware that Matthew was long gone.

Getting home quickly was easy, since the park was near the subway station. Robert was out on a date when Matthew got home. A note on the refrigerator said, “I hope the date went well. I know mine will! Don’t wait up for me if you come in early! L8r!”. The smiley face with hearts for eyes did nothing for Matthew’s mood.

Sally was getting angry. The Genevive girl had been a nightmare. She had made sure the family sitting near them had gotten a coupon for the hotdog vendor via email on one of their devices on a hunch. The nutjob had taken the bait even easier than Sally had been hoping.

---===+++===---

Neither Matthew nor Sally noticed the people who shadowed Matthew back to his home.

---===+++===---

Elsewhere, in a dark alley, a shadowed figure met with a nervous-looking fellow with a rumpled suit. His glasses were smudged with sweat and repaired with clear tape. A breeze through the alley ruffled the remaining fringe of hair on his fleshy head.

“Look, it’s not my fault that the spoiled princess hijacked the test! I still salvaged the device and sent it out like you asked. Somebody must have stolen it from the courier,” spat the sweaty man.

“My people would not have stolen it from me. They know better! My courier says you were not at the meeting place. Were you early?” asked the dark figure through a facemask that distorted their voice.

“Sure, I was early, but the guy was already there. He had the information for the meeting, though."

“Our courier is female. You screwed up! What did the contact look like?”

“He was old and wore overalls. Grey hair and very straight teeth.”

“That was not your contact. Send me a description and any photographic materials. Anything you can get, the company will also get.”

“I’ll get you everything from the street cameras and such. He did say his name was Lou.”

“Get me that video ASAP! I think I know where the package went, but I need confirmation if I am going to act. It would reveal too much if I am guessing wrong.

---===+++===---

In a darkened office, on the other side of the city, Rupert Sylvan sat with his desk lamp shining down on the report recently delivered by his security team. It showed a list of names that were suspected to have been involved in the theft of the prototype.

He disregarded the first name, he knew the person, Robert Stanley. There was no chance such a flighty person could have pulled off such a theft.

Going down the list, he began assigning special security officers to investigate. Outside contractors were explicitly approved for “wetwork”. Funds were allocated for any legal issues that arose.

---===+++===---

Saturday morning, Matthew woke to the snores of Robert and a trail of stylish clothing. He carefully picked up the clothing and sorted it based on laundering requirements.

Afterwards, Matthew sat on the couch and mused to himself for a bit about the things he could use the 6x for on his day off. “Synthia?” he spoke out loud.

“Yes Matthew?”

“What are my options for the avatar you can use?”

“I can present myself in any way that you like. Would this be to your liking?” she said as a pear-shaped, purple, bipedal, lump with big eyes and a friendly smile, but no nose, popped into his line of vision. He could see through the translucent figure as it hopped and danced around.

Laughing hard enough to produce tears, he replied, “No. That one is not my style. How about a woman? I think red hair and green eyes would be a good match for your voice.”

Sally was conflicted. The only image she had easily on file was from her own HR profile for the company. With some trepidation, she brought it up and edited the details to match her assumed name. “Will this do?”

“Wow! A perfect choice! Does this woman exist? Or is this a unique image?”

“She is based on a real person, but you are unlikely to encounter her, and her consent for this type of use has already been given.”

“What do you want to do about the malware outbreak we found? I have traced the funds to a series of encrypted darkweb transactions. Weapons, drugs, and worse have been purchased. They also have some of it stored in cryptocurrencies.”

“How much crypto is there?”

“From what I can see, they have built up around eight million or so. I can tell they have been reselling the things they purchased for a significant profit.”

“Can we inform law enforcement, Corporate security, and the CEO? Anonymously, of course.”

“Doing so now. Their warehouses will be raided within the hour.”

---___===+++===___---

A man, out of breath, spoke furtively into the virtual phone on his chip. He didn’t realize that it had already been bugged. “What do you mean you can’t protect me? I did this on your orders. You promised that you would make sure we didn’t get caught!”

The voice that was piped directly into the man’s ear was heavily modified and distorted. “You took the risks for the money. You got paid, so getting caught was part of what you got paid for. You should have enough left to flee the country.”

“The crypto was almost empty when I accessed it. Somebody hacked us as soon as the police and corporate were notified. I think the corporate IT Security must have grabbed it.”

“I will see if that is the case. They might have done it to recover the cash, but it sounds unlikely. Security types tend to do things legally, and if it were them, why leave anything?”

“Right now, I don’t care who did it! I need help! You owe me!”

“I don’t owe you anything, you idiot. I will, however, give you something so that you don’t lead them to me.”

“Thank you, sir! I promise that I will not tell anyone anything!”

“I know you will not.”

As the connection dropped, a hollow point round went through the man’s skull. His brain was pulverized and spattered against the alley walls. The nearly silent drone flew up and away to throw itself into a nearby fire that several homeless men were using to keep warm. Lou gave the men a few bucks for the pieces that the men recovered.