---- The two make their way to the back of the lounge where the VIP booths are set up by Duke. They look more like small rooms with garage doors. At the axis of their room, a round knee level table with a digital clock in the center reading the time.

16:00

A man sits in the booth, he looks like he's both hyped on caffeine and completely bloodshot tired. He stares at his own hands fidgeting on the table, as if trying to keep them from flying off his wrists.

"Codsworth?" Blink says to the fidgeting man. He looks up from his hands. He makes a weak smile at the cyborg. Cods looks just like his name. He has a short cut two part hairstyle and unkempt stubble, though not as bad as Dust's. He wears a duster similar to the two, though his is completely buttoned up to the seam. His collar would hide the bottom half of his face if he wasn’t slouching so hard. Blink knew Codsworth from childhood, a family friend. From what he remembers, Cods was a good man. The confident type and best of the best when it came to reconnaissance. While he did have a nervous side, He was never this misshapen. What happened?

 "B-Blink! Y-You've grown so much! It's been some time huh. I-I'm sorry for pulling you into this. I needed help and well Dust recommended yo-" 

"Hold on now, we don't gaht time to get into semantics. Ahahaaa, here 'fer business afterall...and Blinky Boy says we only have 5 minutes to state ah’r case." Blink looks at Dust with an agitated frown to which Dust simply shrugs.

"Right.. Business. Well, It's nice to see you too, Cods. Got word from...sources here saying you have a job for me?"

"Tha-hat's right." There's a pause in the room. "Dust, the door please, this is a private matter after all and I'd like c-complete discretion." Dust nods and presses a button on the wall causing the garage door to rear its way down firmly shutting all three inside the already cramped room. "Floor’s yours."

Blink looks at the clock as he sits at the table, Cods adjacent to him and Dust behind, leaning against the wall.

16:01

"Yes. S-so as you already know or maybe you have forgotten, though I doubt it, I work as a reconnaissance agent for LIBRTI."

Blink‘s eye winces.

"As an agent, I am given many missions and uh the current one I have is finding this...." He pauses pulling out a briefcase from under the table. "Girl." 

"Oooooo! We doin’ a missing person mission? Been awhile since we’ve done one of those!" Cle0 exclaims within Blink’s head.

“Not sure yet.” Blink responds back. “But that’s my guess too.”

Codsworth opens the briefcase revealing a holoSheet, essentially just a skinny tablet with a transparent surface. On the surface, Blink can see an assortment of camera feeds strewn across dozens of alleyways. A purple haired teenage girl with a terrible bed head, though it seems styled like that with purpose. Frankly, she looks like a girl out of time with her get up looking more akin those folks who call themselves “WebHeads”. People who can't enough of old world tech and culture. Blink believes for her specifically, she’d be called “Scene”. The girl can be seen running around on catwalks, concealing her face with goggles and a facemask. Her whole outfit gives off “wannabe ninja”, a jumpsuit that matches her hair with a vestcoat that drops to her upper thigh. Looks expensive too. The clothes glow blue along the trim. In the videos, she is seen striking a few poses as if she’s at a photo shoot before taking off out of sight.

Suddenly a robotic voice is heard from the Holosheet. “Wanted: Unknown Rogue Data Breaker, seemingly unaffiliated with any known Union, has been recorded on numerous occasions committing varied acts of vandalism, with a preference for defacing Noble Union property.”

“That call signature on the walls, see the graffiti?" Cle0 says calmly. In some parts of the videos, the girl is seen displaying certain symbols over the Noble faction logos, a smug cat face matching in the girl's color scheme over a ligh blue kanji symbol for "Light".

"That’s Sudo's callsign” Cle0 continues.

"Sudo?" He exclaims back.

"The Nobles data servers have been known to be almost impenetrable but there's been rumors of a data breaker who has just being an overall nuisance to the faction. Successfully accessing their servers and disseminating info on the Nobles into the Neo Vegas intranet for free. The info itself isn't anything crazy but would definitely require some level of privilege. Social credit rankings, work schedules, etc. A lot of folks have speculated that it's a disgruntled employee. One thing is known, they complete these acts under the pseudonym spelled, SUD0. The symbol matches a majority of the reported callsigns.”

"I see, sounds like someone who knows a way to breach Noble security. Whoever that may be, they'd be severely wanted by any other Union."

"Not just that, She looks young Blink. I wouldn't imagine some 18 year old running around leaking the Nobles dirty laundry.. unless like, they were just really bored? Or it’s personal. Even then, The leaks Sudo has dropped would have to be someone who has multiple classified privileges. Something doesn’t add up here yet but I imagine we’ll be given the rest of the equation soon."

 The voice continues. "Suspect is to be brought in unharmed. In terms of skills, the suspect has shown in-depth knowledge on breaching both software and firmware security measures. Along with an ability of traversing the catwalks of District 2 by means of acrobatics.”

The screen turns off and Blink looks at Cods through what is now a transparent window. "So why do you need me to do this job? Any other keyRunner would’ve jumped on this in a heart beat."  Cods looks at Dust who simply nods back. He breathes a deep sigh. "It’s personal… it's about Gideon.” Blink feels his heart fall into his stomach. “His mission before he passed...was to find this girl and bring her back to LIBRTI. It was his last mission but as we all know....it didn't work out."

 Blink just stares in space. Dust breaks the deafening silence. "O-Other than that bombshell, I'd say it would be important t'mention just what relation this little runaway has to the Nobles."

Codsworth nods. "Yes, I was getting to that. Blink, what is your knowledge on the Nobles‘ hierarchy? Specifically the Royal Family."

The cyborg looks up breaking the stare and sighs. He pinches the bridge of his nose and closes his eyes. "I don't follow much politics but I know the Union has like a royal family or something, like you said. They use the pretense of a Monarchy as their gimmick."

 “I see, in that case, we’ll have to go a little deeper into this subject.”

With that, Cod takes out another holosheet, placing it adjacent to the other. On the page, there is a graph akin to a family tree. The top picture shows a stern looking man with a very well kept beard and low tapered combover, his hair a mix between brown and red with a fade of salt and pepper. He stands in a position of authority, his arms behind his back giving off a sense of regal power. There's a definite theme to his clothing too. White pants, white button up shirt and an ash grey vest. A pure white rose with a shield behind it is laying bare on his left breast pocket. Below him are three other individuals all also standing regally as if they were living paintings, each in their own respective portraits.

 The first looks like a younger version of the previous individual, though more brutish in stature but clean shaven and with more red hair than brown. The second, a woman who seems to be in her mid twenties striking a pursed smile and eyes staring right through the screen, she has long dark violet hair kept in a bun. Finally the last, a man who seems to be in his early twenties, no older than Blink. He has more of a bluish tint to his hair and it’s rather longer than his siblings, reaching his shoulders, it looks to have been styled and tied up that very day to look more formal than it usually is. All three wear matching uniforms to the older looking gentleman.

 The holosheet begins to speak again. his voice being very different, more “voice over” or “announcer-like” as if we're listening to an infomercial. "The official family tree of the Noble Royal family! The Monarch, Relter, he exudes strength and power and stands at the top with his 3 children close! Samson, the oldest and next heir to the throne. He is Relter's right hand man and leads a majority of the faction already. A man of strength and intelligence, he's a spitting image of his father! The second oldest, Lami, born with a silver tongue, she's the negotiator of the family and leads the majority of the marketing and branding for the faction. Last but not least, Kylir, the youngest! A man of many talents in both musicality and athletics. He's Neo Vegas‘ latest heartthrob! Unlike his siblings, Kylir rarely plays any part in Noble affairs, aside from certain promotional events for Lami, you can find him spending his time collecting trophies in all athletic competitions within the upper districts of the city, He’s the closest the family has to a celebrity figure. Nonetheless he too brings pride to the Noble Union." 

The entire showcase looks like a propaganda tape. Like this would be something a newly recruited Noble employee would have to watch for their orientation.

"Seems he keeps his family close and ‘Mrs. Noble’ is out of the picture. What does this have to do with the girl?" 

"Oh just wait." Dust chuckles. "you haven't heard the best part yet."

Codsworth nods as the screen begins to change to view what looks like a classic castle you’d see in fairy tales, the fortress looks like a 3 layered wedding cake with a tower in the center and 3 sets of walls circling the manor. The tower and most roofing glow white and gold. The castle itself rests on a nearly incomprehensibly large reflective pool. Light beams shoot towards the sky around the complex originating from the top of the fortress walls. The outermost castle walls have a single opening similar to a draw bridge but more close to a hatch door that slides down rather than leading over a moat.

"This is the Royal family residential sanctum located within Shirepoint... This picture was taken from 6 years ago.”

 A new graphic appears showing the same location. No lights. Only the gridded skyline with a silhouette of a castle is seen. “...and This is the sanctum from about a month ago. It’s has been locked down from all outsiders for nearly a decade. Not even the highest orders or the Top Brass, the individuals who lead the lower orgs of the Noble Union, are permitted within that sanctum. We’re unsure what is happening there. Only cars have been seen to go in and out. There’s of course the ones owned by the Royal Family but the Nobles utilize a Mannequin chipped staff who forget what they had seen as soon as they leave... You may wonder now, why? Why would the Nobles take such precaution for all these years? It is here in this interesting coincidence lies our answer or at least half of our answer. Her name is Briteny Akashi Noble, she is the true youngest of the Noble family...."