My eyes squinted open the next day as the sun peaked through the curtains. There was no sign of Jeanie for the rest of the previous night, so I returned to the apartment to sleep. I wasn't worried. Jeanie could take care of herself, and there weren't many things that could hurt her.

Sitting up, I tossed my blanket to the side. My phone displayed the time as a quarter past ten. I didn't usually sleep in this late.

The kitchen was nice. It couldn't even compare to the one I saw yesterday, but everything looked new and clean. The cabinets and fridge were entirely devoid of supplies, so I got myself a glass of tap water. At least it came out cold.

"Oh, you're up." Jeanie phased through the floor.

"Yeah, is it safe for you to be out in the open?" I asked.

Her blue shadow form wavered in what I knew to be a shrug.

"There's no recording devices of any kind around here. It's actually a little shocking." Jeanie floated closer to me.

"So, what did you find out about them?" I asked while taking a seat on a nearby stool.

"After I checked out their place, I did some research. They're pretty popular, so there's a lot online about them." Jeanie floated around rather aimlessly as she talked.

"First of all, it's not public knowledge, but Susan and Henry are divorced. I found the paperwork in a vault on the tenth floor. There was also some other stuff in there that was a little weird."

I leaned forward. "Weird, how?"

"Files on people. All of them seem to be completely normal people living in this part of town, the slums." She moved as if to sit on the kitchen counter, but I knew she was hovering over it. Without a physical form, sitting wasn't possible.

"Now, what would they want with normal people? Charity, perhaps?" I threw out a possibility.

"I don't think so. A few of these people have recently gone missing."

"Could they be investigating the disappearances?" A part of me wanted to believe in my new benefactors.

"Then what about the others that haven't vanished? Something fishy is going on." She wasn't going to let my optimism cloud my judgment.

"Alright, we'll both need to keep an eye out. Anything else you learn?" Moving on was the best choice for now. If there was something to pursue here, we'd find it given some time.

Jeanie waved her hand, and my phone beeped. "That sound was just a coincidence. I downloaded a bio of each team member. By the way, they call themselves Pawn."

After a moment of thought, I realized Henry never actually introduced his team's name. I guess he assumed I already knew. Picking up the phone to check on that beep, I found a text from Henry. We had swapped numbers shortly after he first brought me to this apartment. Luckily, Jeanie had set up a secure line for me.

"Henry wants me to meet another team member. Is he trying to recruit me?" I questioned. It was a reasonable assumption.

"So, is he headed here?" Jeanie asked.

"No, he wants me to meet them somewhere called Lighton Park at noon. The east entrance." I answered.

"I can direct you with the phone. It has a pretty standard maps app."

"I'm gonna grab a shower. Then we can take off." I hopped off the stool and made my way to the bedroom to grab clothes.

We left as soon as I got out, eager to explore the area. Jeanie had mentioned the maglev in the better parts of town, but being in the Low District, it didn't extend down here. I had to walk for thirty minutes, making my way on foot to reach my destination.

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The east entrance had a stone arch, clearly marked by the park's name carved into it. The roads were much busier in these parts, with cars and even people walking down the sidewalks.

Everything looked strangely mundane. The cars hadn't changed much from what I remembered, and the people varied in style.

There was no sign of Henry yet, so I followed the path into the park itself, noting its impeccable maintenance despite being artificial. The grass appeared slightly too green, and the trees bore a striking resemblance to one another. While it didn't personally bother me, the artificiality of it all was unmistakable to someone familiar with real nature.

When I grew bored of the scenery, I decided to peruse the data Jeanie had collected on the other team members. I wanted to be somewhat prepared for the individuals I would soon encounter.

I made my way back to the entrance to wait about fifteen minutes before twelve. There was still no sign of Henry, so I got comfortable by leaning up against the stone arch. Shortly after twelve, a woman approached me.

"You're Morgan, right?" She smiled at me.

The woman was on the short side in both her physical stature and hair. It hung an inch or two above her shoulders and had a similar brown to my own. A smattering of freckles gave her an innocent look, but she displayed a bold sense of style through her clothing choices. Her cropped shirt revealed her midriff, and the skirt she wore was one breeze away from exposing her panties.

"I am. And you are?" I asked the woman as she kept smiling after noticing my inspection of her.

"I'm Lia. Henry sent me." She didn't offer me a handshake, and I wasn't sure if I wanted one.

Her file was an interesting one. Lia Cole had the power to elongate her body, but she could also alter other people's bodies by touching them. Her limits weren't well known since she mostly used that power to heal wounds.

She was a year older than Crystal at twenty-one and three older than Summer.

"Is he running late?" My question was met with a laugh.

"Oh, he's not coming. It's just you and me today." She leaned up against the arch right next to me.

"So, what's this all about?" The absence of Henry got me a little suspicious, but I pushed forwards.

"Let's have a chat. Hungry?" Lia pulled out a pack of cigarettes as she talked. Lighting one up, she turned away, then back after taking a drag.

"I could go for some food." The smoke didn't bother me. One of the few things I distinctly remember about my father was that he was a chain smoker. That smell just reminded me of him.

"There's a nice sandwich shop down the street from here. Let's grab a bite and talk." She led the way to a tiny store that had a walk-up window for ordering but no tables for dining.

I let her decide for me since I wasn't a very picky eater. When we got the food, she took one last puff off the cigarette before putting it out.

"Let's walk and eat. It's good for the digestion." Lia passed me the sandwich and walked off.

She had already taken a few bites by the time I caught up, so I joined her. Mine was a basic turkey cold cut and very dry due to the lack of any sauce.

"Henry wants to offer you a spot on the team." She spoke in between bites and with her cheeks still stuffed. Even with all that food in there, she could speak quite well.

"Then why isn't he here offering it himself?" I doubted the man cared that much if he didn't even bother to ask me himself.

"Henry and Susan are the faces of Pawn. The rest of us make the rounds, but we never hit the popularity levels they did. It keeps them busy. Besides, he's in the middle of explaining to SID why all the drugs vanished from the Snow Gang hideout." Lia gave me a bit of side-eye but went back to her food in short order.

I ignored the silent implication. "Fair enough."

"Halt!" Our conversation was interrupted by another new woman. This one had on a blue and white bodysuit, clearly showing she was a super. She had long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"Present your IC, citizen." There was a stiffness to the woman's voice, and her blue eyes had that same artificial look to them that the park did.

"Buzz off, tin barbie. We're having a conversation." The woman looked at Lia before completely disregarding her and refocusing on me.

"You are under arrest for suspicion of identity card modification." She reached for me, but I pulled away.

"He works for team Pawn, so back off." Lia got between us.

"That is not possible. Step aside, or you will be arrested for obstructing justice." The blonde was a good foot taller than Lia, but she didn't look intimidated.

"It's alright, Lia." My words got the smaller woman's attention, and she turned back to me.

With her distracted, Jeanie came up from the ground and dived into the blonde. She had used a text to tell me that this thing was an android, not a human.

When Lia had gotten in the android's face, I brought my phone to the ground, and she slipped out. All I had to do was get Lia to turn back around so that Jeanie could take over.

"Trust me. I can deal with this, Morgan." She turned to face the android once again, but the blonde had taken a step away.

"There has been an error. Please, continue your day." The android walked away without another word. Lia seemed surprised, then she shrugged it off.

"Those things have been busted since they first put them on the street."

I watched Jeanie leave in the android body. On the back of that humanoid machine's bodysuit were the numbers 1817. Jeanie would find me when she finished, and hopefully, she'd have answers. We needed to know why that thing targeted me.

I brought my attention back to Lia. "Can I have some time to think about it?" I asked.

It took her a minute to realize I was referring to the offer of joining her team. She didn't expect me to switch tracks so fast.

"Of course! Just don't take too long."