At two o'clock in the morning the same night, Crysilis and Streamline stood in darkness, on a roof, looking down a hole using their infrared visors.

"You think Vecto's down there?" Streamline asked.

Crysilis shrugged. "Well, he was here at last transmission. And I said we'd be here . . ."

Streamline inspected the rooftop for clues as Crysilis gazed at the moonlit sky. A small message card adhered to the roof caught Streamline's attention.

"Over here," he said, picking up the plastic card and waving for Crysilis to come. He pressed the activation button and a Nexus screen appeared, floating holographic words above the card. It read: Dear wepons man and werd loking guy. sory bout stealin your gun. i kidnapped your frend and holding him for ransom. meet me her tomor at noon with 3,000 credits or els. your frendly thef. Streamline read it aloud but stumbled a few times due to spelling errors.

"Is it that bad?" Crysilis asked. "I mean the note. I'm not worried about Vecto. He can handle himself."

"Look for yourself. Seems he embedded a video as well." The card beeped, and the holographic screen changed.

"Play saved clip?" a voice from the screen queried.

"Sure, why not?" Streamline said.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

In response, a reporter in her mid-20s filled the Nexus screen. "Currently, the police are looking for this man," the woman said as a close-up picture of Streamline was displayed. "Apparently, this armed man stormed into Greenback World Bank and attempted to rob it." A security camera clip of Streamline followed, showing him firing a shot in the air and yelling for everyone to get down. "According to police, a brave citizen allegedly foiled his plans and tied him to a rail until their arrival, but the attempted robber escaped," the woman said as Streamline was shown sawing the rail with a laser knife. "Police have identified him as a Diamese knight going by the name Streamline. He is described as a 38-year-old male, 6 feet 8 inches tall and wearing full body armor, brown in color. The police also have said that a liftcopter was dispatched in an attempt to arrest the attempted robber but was destroyed in pursuit. Streamline is considered extremely dangerous, and citizens are asked to report any sightings of him to authorities."

The video clip stopped, and another screen popped up in haste.

"Are you serious?" Streamline said. "I'm a wanted man now! And they've got it all wrong!"

"Not so fast. There's a new feed that just dropped in," Crysilis said as he touched the screen.

"Just in. Police have released information that confirms that members of the Alpha Squad killed the entire SS6 Formation," the woman said. "They have identified their leader as Vecto Botland, a robot that was once part of the old Alpha Squad of 4 years ago-a group best known for saving Acaterra from a 9-foot-tall cyborg named Morphaal. Police have also confirmed that Streamline, who apparently attempted robbery hours ago at Greenback World Bank, is a member of the A.S. and was at the scene when the SS6 Formation was killed. They are both classified as extremely dangerous and are still at large. Any whereabouts of these fallen heroes should immediately be reported to authorities."

Streamline shut the Nexus screen off and threw the card aside. "Great-just great! What are we gonna do now?"