“Data sufficient. Bonus added,” confirmation message arrived, extra money bringing smile to my lips.

I was so ready to take a much needed break. The jobs I pulled after the academy were not exactly easy. Nothing was anymore. Turns out, disabling the perimeter defences landed people in the lists of most wanted. Not the warm and fuzzy ones.

What an overreaction! Nobody died. Nor had even been threatened! This could easily be treated as a drill, if not for the nervous types.

As a result, I did not end up visiting any clinics. Had to source the medicines from questionable alleys. At least they worked. For a while it didn’t seem like they would.

“Sensitive job. Triple pay,” a following message announced. Same guy.

Odd. He ought to have considerable data at his disposal already. The commissions have been a little atypical too. They hadn’t cared about the other cities before. Branching out?

Travelling was egregiously dangerous, as well as a somewhat restricted affair. To avoid scrutiny, I had to secretly board transporters way out there in the wilderness, then find alternative ways back into the human bastions. All whilst avoiding getting eaten by exotic fauna – or shot.

Some days I missed being on good terms with reliable identity forgers.

Alas, that wouldn’t have helped. My appearances were widely known. I hadn’t languidly explored the news, but it was safest to assume the worst. By now, even a lousiest militiaman would have pieced together the surveillance recordings into a seamless timeline of their incompetence.

Unimportant details. I was promised triple. Maybe I can rest after just one more job?

“Particulars?” I sent.

“Sensitive. In person.”

“Ahh-h,” I exhaled a disappointed croak and tiredly plopped backwards on my frayed mat. There is no triple pay. Probably not even a bonus.

The demand was all too telling. Especially coupled with the last task that intended to march me through all the checkpoints. Some agency sat on this guy’s nape, this very second.

This was such a good regular, too! Why can’t these people have a basic level of adequacy and not get caught?!

No, can’t think like this. Moneybags doing an awful job of keeping their affairs secret made my life simpler. I just regretted it wasn’t me who’s found something shady up their ass to pass it along to an interested party. Kudos to whoever that did though, and may they break their necks. Damn competitors.

“Advance,” I idly sent my demand without ever planning to follow through.

“Transferred.”

I frowned at the only source of light. Surprising. And not.

For all intents and purposes, the money was still fully theirs. That account was created for this sole purpose, and was in the client’s name. After all, a shady broker couldn’t have an easily traceable ledger in a bank. Not one as fresh as me. I had to make a withdrawal pretending I’m the owner.

Currently? A precarious affair. All locations had to be under heavy surveillance. Ensnarement was trickier to pull off when it was but a simple businessman. The government, however, had all the manpower to sit on every branch and ATM.

They must really want me. To risk all that money, organise a stakeout that probably spanned several cities. They couldn’t possibly know where I was. My bet – they still assumed the previous location.

Regardless, I had absolutely no intention of letting them keep what was mine.

Down in the snake ways of a slum, I’ve purposefully come across desperate waifs. Usually, the trick was to find people who wouldn’t run off with the haul – but in this occasion, that didn’t even matter. I just wanted to irk the powers-that-be. With some luck, a speedy vagrant or two might even succeed to relieve the government of some funds. Survivability against all odds was their sole skill, after all.

However, the hoodlums were unimpressed with my get-rich-quick scheme.

“Just… Hand that thang over!”

“Ye, I ain’t gunn stick me neck out for some imaginary cash either.”

A frustrated groan left me. They were so reliably predictable.

After the crushed throat went untreated, I spoke through a device nearly explicitly. Electronic prize right in front of their impoverished eyes was understandably hard to resist.

I shot the first speaker in the leg. The others stopped their approach.

“Coordinate. Strike all at once. Spread them thin,” mechanical voice reiterated as I mashed the buttons with a free hand.

Faces around me tainted with reluctance, but I knew they would go for it. These people have embarked on far worse endeavours for much less. My bounty was impossible to resist. I didn’t risk getting eaten by monsters for a pocket change.

“No documents this time?” one asked as though we’ve had dealings before. I hadn’t committed him into memory, which meant he didn’t do outstandingly well, nor badly. Promising.

The scoundrel wanted to grab the entire thing all at once. My scant contacts aside, this exercise would require entering the bank, and not leaving. I shook my head, frowning.

Undiscouraged, he huffed, “Shame. A distraction would be nice.”

A smart hoodlum. Perhaps this one wasn’t as single-serving as I had assumed both times. People behind him seemed to hang on the bedraggled man’s every word, too. This guy could be a local leader of some sort. I rummaged in my pockets and handed the wretch several of my vials.

“Exp-lossives,” colourless voice hiccupped and I gritted the teeth. Even through electronic means I didn’t always escape my impairment. “Shatter.”

“Thank you.” The hoodlum marvelled at the generosity; I stood just as stupefied by it.

“Weak. Smoke, mostly.”

“Got it. Thank you.”

What a waste of resources. And a bad idea. As if I needed an added charge of weapon distribution when these amateurs will inevitably get caught.

Whatever. My sentence can’t get much worse.

Tossing chief hoodlum a lord’s dismantled handgun, too, I left the slum rats to tackle their trapped cheese.

I wasn’t going near the cash machines personally, so there was time to kill. Days, potentially. Or weeks. Depends how deep this went.

In other words, a break. I could work on reviving my warhorse. Operating on my lonesome felt like I was tossed back in time to experience the Initial Invasion. No replacement parts and no grid.

Hadn’t visited any pawnshops in a while, but now I’d be able to give the lower-end substitutes a chance.

Excitedly scanned a display and found a particular processor still waiting for me. I smiled at it like a friend. The muscle crowding the doorway must have caught that, and frowned hideously in response. Terrible customer service here.

Regardless of that, the business must be booming – pudgy sentinel filled out even more space today. With that food chipper at the ingress, the hope of getting out with stolen goods was non-existent.