04:32a.m AFT(Allied Federation Time)

Barnes Charging Station, Area6, L2MZ

Redemption City, Allied Federation.

After walking a bit further, Riddick had arrived at the sizable charging station.

Because of the lack of stops within the Lowtown To Midtown Zone (L2MZ), charging stations were always quite large.

And despite it being a place that felt like the middle of nowhere, one could see numerous vehicles parked and left to charge.

Many of patrons settled into a nearby Horizon Fried Foods(HFF) restaurant located conveniently next to the station.

‘Atleast I can rest for a bit while my smartwatch charges.’ Riddick thought to himself, while directing his gaze at his watch the displayed a flashed low battery message.

Because of this, Riddick couldn’t even use Zoe if he needed to, which given how technological the world had become, would present a potential problem.

Without needing to think to much he began walking toward the HFF but soon stopped as a strange noise reached his ears.

*Vrrm!* *pop~* *Vrrm!*

The loud purring of a powerful engine caught the attention of Riddick.

He turned his head to look in the direction of a long stretching road, from which the noise was coming.

‘Is that a?’ Riddick showed a look of confusion, as the sound he was hearing felt far too real to be one of the many “artificial engine noise software” many EVs implemented.

The violent and powerful engine he was hearing was something only a "Hydrogen engine” could cause.

Sometime in the late 2200s, a billionaire automaker by the name of David S. Morgan had built the world’s first ever hydrogen engine.

Many thought he’d use this breakthrough at the time to help support the energy crisis earth was facing.

He however, did something unprecedented by modding it into a custom HEV (Hyper-Electric Vehicle).

The result? The worlds first ever Sonic Car. The Morgan HEV M1. He achieved this by using a hybrid propulsion system, seamlessly integrated with a high-capacity graphene-based battery with a hydrogen fuel cell.

The advanced graphene battery provided swift acceleration and immediate torque, while a compact, onboard hydrogen production unit extracted hydrogen from a proprietary liquid solution, ensuring a continuous and sustainable fuel source. The electric motor, fueled by both the battery and the hydrogen cell, propelled the Morgan to a mind-bending top speed of 1,300 km/h.

And although the brand remains today, only 1 Morgan HEV series is manufactured per century.

‘What are the odds.’ Riddick was genuinely surprised to see the vehicle, despite not showing any semblance of excitement.

It was a common topic in car circles, with Nikolai praising the engineering behind it every chance a topic of vehicles was brought up.

The speedy vehicle didn’t take long to arrive at the charging station. It’s sleek design and beautiful white racing tone colors caught the eyes of many people present.

Some even going as far as to remove their visors just so they could see it with their own eyes.

Riddick only watched it park before turning and walking into the HFF.

Even inside, the many customers present on both floors of the two-story establishment couldn’t help but gaze out of the wide view windows and admire the vehicle.

Others immediately took photos using their visors and began to chat about it on various social media platforms within the AFPN (Allied Federation Public Network)

Riddick was inwardly supportive of this reaction as it prevented unnecessary gazes on him.

This would often happen because of a popular stereotype about how individuals who looked incredibly fit and healthy possessed superhuman abilities.

Just as Riddick was about to decide where to sit. A tiny white droid wearing a hat with the HFF brand approached Riddick.

“Greetings customer, you’re in luck, a table has just been cleared on the second floor. Would you like me to direct you there?”

Riddick knew just how troublesome it was to find available seats in modern day fast food restaurants so he didn’t hesitate to agree with a nod.

After being led to his table, Riddick ordered a popular meal and quickly put his watch to charge on a dock built into the table of the compartment he was in.

With nothing more he could do, Riddick just began to observe his surroundings and the people, most of whom were still staring at the vehicle outside or just immersed in their virtual worlds.

Despite this borderline dependency on a fake reality, Riddick didn’t see the people before him in a negative light.

He understood that humans were obsessed with escapism. Be it through art, movies, music or even daydreams.

Even he wasn’t an exception. As it was believed by some, souls desired more than what the world could offer.

As Riddick remained sorted quietly and immersed in his own daydreams, his attention was caught when a man unceremoniously sat at the same table as him without so much as a word.

Although considered a very rude gesture, Riddick ignored the man. Given the time and place, it wasn’t worth addressing.

He simply needed his watch charged and he’d be on his way again.

Thinking along this line, he glanced at his watch and saw it only needed 15 minutes to be full.

‘As long as he isn’t the talkative type, this shouldn’t be-.’ Riddick’s thoughts came to a sudden stop when the unknown man gave him a threatening look.

Before Riddick could even respond, he could feel the barrel of a gun being tapped against his leg.

The man, haggard in appearance, looked to be in his late thirties. He was bald with shifty brown eyes and he wore considerably worn out clothes and a trench coat.

“Listen here fella, just don’t make a sound or do anything stupid and everything will be alright. Got it?”

The suddenness of this situation was enough to faze even Riddick. He wondered internally just what this person wanted from him and more importantly, just how he found him.

But something didn’t add up. Looking at the area he was in without shifting his head, Riddick noticed that the establishment’s surveillance didn’t cover the area he was in.

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Worse, there was a staff room door nearby, which likely lead to a secondary exit as well.

Looking at these two things, Riddick felt his situation was likely one of two things.

He was an unlucky and became the target of a robber who was taking advantage of the lack of security present.

Or,

He had mistakenly stumbled upon a POT (Point Of Transaction)

With the heavy surveillance that covered most major cities and areas, it was very hard for illegal dealings to take place face to face.

To circumvent this, points of transactions became popular as numerous criminals began to take note of all the various blind spots present within given areas.

In some cases, some establishment’s would purposefully remove or disable their surveillance to assist certain individuals.

But something didn’t add up to Riddick. The job of robbing at a popular establishment seemed far too high risk, low reward for anyone to even attempt.

Furthermore, Riddick had noticed far more people who looked to be in better financial capacity than him seated nearby, some of them women. So why target him?

So rather than being a target, Riddick settled on another option.

‘I must’ve mistakenly sat at a transaction point where a deal was about to go down. Just my luck.’

Riddick had now found himself in an uncomfortable position that he couldn’t even have predicted when we he walked into the establishment.

But the world was funny in that way. If one thought about it, many people who die had plans for tomorrow. And by some accident or terrible stroke of luck, they lost their lives.

No one liked the feeling of danger springing up on them unexpectedly and Riddick was no different.

He didn’t however act out. Even knowing he possessed a certain level of superiority over normal humans, nowadays, one could never be sure who was and wasn’t superhuman.

And without being sure of your chances against an unknown force, it’s best to act very carefully.

So for now, Riddick didn’t act and just played the part of a concerned teen.

“Alright man, just don’t shoot me, I’m not looking for trouble. But if you credits I’m broke and?” Riddick spoke out rather plainly but put across the look of a chatty nervous guy.

The man’s threatening face soon twisted to one of annoyance as he angrily whispered, “Shut it you little bookie, just stay quiet and I won’t have any reason to pop you, ?”

“Yea, yea alright man I see you.” Riddick decided to end there as the man’s response told him that he was most definitely not there for him.

With that factor out of the way, he now needed to figure out how best to handle the situation.

‘Let’s hope this person’s contact won’t delay. Last thing I need is for this deal to go botched while I’m still in the crosshairs.’ He thought while keeping his gaze wondering.

As he was looking around stiffly, his gaze immediately settled on the figure of a flashily dressed young woman.

Her outfit consisted of a plain white top with a sporty jacket over it, while her bottom had slightly folded denim jeans and runners.

It was an incredibly old-school style of dressing but such was very normal in the current day and age.

At some point during the early 2300s, a popular fashion trend had sparked where people simply wore trendy outfits from numerous times through history from 12E.C to the late 2020s.

It sparked a sort of individuality in what was otherwise a very stale time for humanity, when dependency on technological had reached dangerous levels.

She looked to be in her twenties and had long free flowing blonde hair. Her eyes were hidden under a pair of visor-aviators.

Her style, although not a strange sight in itself, was still considered rather rare in lower-class areas.

After all, the more unique and styled an outfit was, the more expensive it would be. This immediately told everyone who saw the lovely young woman that she was well-off, perhaps even rich.

Riddick noticed this woman walked somewhat nervously as her head was constantly darting from direction to direction.

Seeing her gaze soon settled on the table he was sitting at, he realized the unknown man’s contact had arrived. Or in this case… his client perhaps.

Riddick had witnessed enough transactions take place in the black markets to realize the types of dynamics certain deals had.

The one before him showed signs of being either being a hit-job assignment, a ransom situation, or a blackmail.

Riddick could only narrow his options to these three types of deals as they best fit with the current circumstances.

Ransom and blackmail were immediate possibilities given the body language the woman was putting across.

But it wasn’t impossible that she was just nervous about getting a “hit” done on someone.

As Riddick contained the examine the woman and the situation, she walked over to the table, led by the same droid Riddick had spoken with earlier.

The woman seemed surprised to see two people and looked more visibly nervous.

This prompted the unknown man to speak up quickly.

“Sit-down, quickly.” He whispered, prompting the woman to look at him and then Riddick in quick succession.

She ultimately settled on sitting next to Riddick as he looked less menacing.

At that point, the droid that still hovered nearby also spoke up, “Would like to make any orders? I can list the current best family variety combos we offer as well as-.”

“No need, we won’t be long. Just bring some water.” The unknown man muttered in an irritated tone, clearly not liking the presence of any tech that could survey faces nearby.

As soon as the droid hovered away, the man promptly reached into his large coat, an action that had Riddick tense his muscles in anticipation for anything drastic occurring.

Thankfully, the man only took out a large folder and slid it across the table to the nervous woman.

“It’s all there, wire the money fast.” The man’s eyes were shifty as he spoke, like he was getting more and more nervous, and Riddick didn’t like that.

Whether he was on drugs or just had a bad temperament, there was no telling what would happen if the man acted out. Especially if he possessed some superpower as well.

Riddick knew the chance of things going astray at this point was low, after all, clients would also not want to be seen.

It was always in the interest of both parties to have a speedy transaction and part ways with minimal word exchange.

This time however, there was a bump…

As the woman took the folder, she quickly opened it there and then and peeked inside before asking, “and you’re sure you don’t have anymore copies?”

“I’m sure, now wire the money.” The man affirmed quickly and then emphasized the need to end the transaction.

And for a moment, it looked like that would happen as the woman raised her watch and projected a small screen to initiate a transfer of funds.

In response, the man also raised his watch to receive via a “proximity transfer.”

This was the most popular way of transferring credits anonymously between two people, free from any third parties like banks or cleaners.

As a screen popped up for the woman, she looked in the direction of the man and spoke again.

“After I send you this 500k, I don’t want you contacting any of my people again.” She warned, although the lack of intimidation in her voice was apparent.

Hearing the amount, Riddick was inwardly surprised but not shocked. On the surface, he maintained a poker face to not have the man feel threatened.

After all, 500k (500,000) credits was no small amount.

Riddick had initially planned on letting the transaction pass without him needing to put on any risks, however, it was too good of a chance to pass up regardless of the risk.

“Lady, you won’t here from me ever again. Now wire the money so we can both go our ways yea?” The man seemed very impatient, but he endured it.

He likely knew that making the woman nervous or threatened could lead to a breakdown of negotiations. It’d be especially stupid to do when 500k was on the line.

Before the woman could respond, the droid arrived quickly with a plate holding three bottles of water and hot meal.

“Here‘s your order. It comes to a total of 7.99c (credits) kindly pay at any point during or after your meal via our establishment’s “E-pay” code. Would like to order anything else?” The droid quickly spoke.

The man looked at the droid with a confused expression and quickly pointed out, “I didn’t order this meal.”

Riddick saw this as a golden opportunity and quickly moved his hand to retrieve his smart watch, with one hand.

This didn’t faze the woman who was beside him as she didn’t know he was being held at gunpoint and likely assumed he was the man’s partner.

Once he got his watch, Riddick spoke up. “Oh, sorry, I ordered it before you guys arrived, don’t worry I’ll cover everything…”

Seeing the feigned worried look on Riddick’s face, the man didn’t see any reason to protest this action.

His mind was already focused solely on getting the money transferred and getting out of there.

Riddick had already considered the possibility of the man refusing but to his luck, he didn’t.

“Be quick about. You can go droid.” The man unhappily agreed.

As soon as the droid stepped away, Riddick projected his own holographic screen and pretended he was inputting the HFF “E-pay” code.

The man ignored Riddick and focused on the woman, quickly waiting for her to start the transaction.

Unbeknownst to them both, Riddick had also activated his “proximity transfer”. Only after doing that did he pay for the the meal, at which point the table binged and a receipt was given through a tiny slot.

Seeing this, the man now completely ignored Riddick. Riddick then just wore his watch and put down his hand, with the “proximity transfer” still active.

And like the name suggested, it sent a speedy and untraceable compressed set of credits to the nearest receiver.

This is why users were always advised to ensure that the two transacting devices were in contact to avoid any interference.

But with a radius of 5 feet activity, it wasn’t necessary for contact to be made.

And in the same way people ignored correct usage ways for countless other devices, the same was done here. After all, some people didn’t appreciate being close to one another, especially when a dirty deal was being done.

*Beep~* With a resounding beep, the woman’s projected screen indicated that she had successfully sent funds to the nearest receiver.

However, instead of the man’s watch beeping in unison to show a received message. It was Riddick’s that rang, prompting the man into a look of surprise.

“Huh? You mother-.”

*Bam!~*