The streets stretched on, covered by a thin layer of water from a rain that just kept pouring down. Normally I welcomed the smell of summer rain, but not in this city. The air was heavy with the smell of old food, trash, and alcohol. Despite the fact I kept seeing signs everywhere that it was illegal, an awful lot of people had the smell on their breath. The neon glow lining both sides of my path pierced the haze of the foggy veil rising from the hot asphalt. It was disorienting, but people were walking around and laughing, so they were clearly adjusted. I really hoped I’d adjust to it soon too.

“Hey, nice outfit,” a woman shouted at me, standing outside a building smoking a cigarette.

I could hear them laughing as I passed by. The last thing I needed was to draw unnecessary attention to myself. Having unrestricted access to unlimited resources at PanTech HQ, it didn’t exactly occur to me that I should collect currency from all the different zones that used it. Arc City didn’t seem like the best place in the world to be walking around broke.

My head buzzing, I veered off into one of the many dark alleyways I’d encountered, hoping for a break from the blinding colors drilling into my mind.

Spotting an overhang, I slumped against the wall and down to the wet ground below. The armor kept me dry, and warm, at least. I thought back on the joke I’d made about Arc City looking great this time of year. Not only did it not look great right now, but I couldn’t imagine it looking great any time. Who could love all these lights and noise?

“Hey there. Looking down on your luck,” a man’s voice said. Finally, a potentially helpful person.

“You could say I’m feeling a little lost,” I said, looking up.

The guy was huge, but looked like he’d seen better days. In fact, I’d have been surprised if every single day of the man’s life wasn’t a better day. He was disheveled, and had clearly been drinking.

“How about you come back to my place. I’ll make sure you get all warmed up from the rain. Don’t wanna catch cold,” he said, followed by a cackle that made it clear his intentions were anything but helpful.

“No thanks,” I said.

“Aw, c’mon. Don’t be like that. Why you gotta be so rude, huh?”

He reached down and grabbed the sleeve of my shirt.

“Sorry, you must not have heard me over the rain. I said no thanks,” I repeated, more forcefully this time.

“You’re one of those girls that thinks they’re better than everybody. How about you empty out those pockets then? I can see you’ve got some stuff hidden there.”

I sighed as he lifted me off the ground by my arm, putting up no resistance… yet. He was a big guy, and probably had no idea what he was getting himself into. Though, I didn’t feel any pity for him. In fact, I was looking forward to the next few moments. Always nice to blow off some steam.

“Sorry, can’t do that,” I said.

He laughed again, then reached for my pocket. I slid my foot into his, causing him to tip forward and catch my forehead with his nose. I stood up as he staggered back a few steps, blood running through his fingers.

“Now you’ve gone and done it. I’m gonna—”

I stepped forward, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him up off the ground, slamming him into the wall on the other side of the alley. Air escaped from his lungs, and he gripped my wrist with both of his hands, desperately fighting to pull away. With my enhancer, my strength dwarfed his. His eyes were as big as saucers. He must’ve thought he was hallucinating.

“You were saying?” I asked. “You were going to… what? Go on. Speak up.”

He coughed, kicking desperately, but my armor absorbed the blows fully. They could barely be felt at all.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“I’m good with faces, and if I ever see yours again, I’ll break your neck. Understood?”

He nodded and I dropped him to the ground. He coughed and clutched his throat. Most likely he wouldn’t even remember what happened, and if he did, he would assume he imagined it.

So much for just sitting in one spot and resting my eyes. Either I just had all the bad luck, or this place was a real trash pile.

I looked down, noticing the man had dropped his wallet. I picked it up and flipped through, then took out the cash and tossed the rest aside.

“When in Rome…” I mumbled, pocketing the cash and stepping out of the alley.

I nearly ran straight into a police officer. Where was he five minutes ago?

“Everything alright, ma’am?” he asked. “Someone said they saw a woman being accosted by a drunk.”

I nodded and smiled.

“That was me. He gave up and ran off,” I said.

“Can I walk you somewhere safe for the night, ma’am? No offense but you look a bit out of place.”

Guess everyone in this city wasn’t bad. Just had to determine the ratio.

“Not lost myself, just looking for something. Say… No, never mind. I’ll be fine, officer. Thank you for checking on me. I’ve just lost something and I’m going to keep looking for a bit. I don’t think the police would be much help, and I’m sure they’re too busy to go tracking down lost things.”

The police probably knew exactly where to find what I was looking for, but I couldn’t risk it. I needed to contact the PanTech Adversity Management here, but something was wrong. They were nowhere to be found, and if they were up to no good the police would certainly be under their thumb. Assuming they hadn’t just abandoned ship.

He scratched his chin and raised a brow. Suspicious, no doubt, but far too busy to push the matter.

“Well, if you’re looking for something you could always try Frank’s place. He’s open late. Fair warning, he’s a little down on his luck these days and it shows. But uh… no offense. I can see you probably don’t have a lot of cash and Frank’s likely to work on the cheap.”

“How do I get to his place?” I asked.

“You’re pretty close now. His office is three blocks down. Take a right, cross the alley and he’ll be on the left. You sure you don’t want me to walk you there?”

“I’ll be fine,” I said. “Thank you.”

I continued on down the street, the flickering lights already drilling their way into my brain again. Something about them made me feel uneasy, but also tickled a deep part of my brain. They drew my eyes to them, like a pretty flower in a field.

My surroundings became more and more dilapidated the further in this direction I went. I half expected to find this Frank guy bent over a desk with a knife in his back by the time I got there. Or maybe he’d be some insane old man rambling incoherently.

“Hey cutie. Looking to buy today?” a young woman asked, standing on the corner of the street I was meant to turn on. Oh no. I’d paid enough attention in my history classes to know this cliche.

“Uh… no. Thanks.”

I’d tried not to make eye contact with her.

“How about a free sample?”

“Excuse me?” I asked, finally looking up.

She was flailing a small envelope between her fingers.

I reached out, taking it.

“What is this?” I asked.

She laughed at first, but stopped when she realized I wasn’t joking.

“It’s that new boost that’s been going around. We all know it’s just the lower quality leftovers from the good stuff over in commerce district, but it gets you where you need to get and you know… maybe some side effects. But one of those side effects is a better price so it’s a win.”

“Is this legal?” I asked.

“Hah! The real thing, definitely. This version isn’t exactly endorsed by the cats in commerce, so it’s a bit gray there,” she said. “You just mix it with water, and you’ll be ready to go for the whole day. Better than coffee and tastes ten times worse.”

I looked back over my shoulder in the direction I’d seen the police officer just a few minutes before.

“Aren’t you afraid you’ll get caught selling it in the open like this?”

“By who? The coppers? They never come down this way.”

I tapped my chin, tucking the envelope in my shirt. I’d examine it more thoroughly later. I didn’t remember reading about this, what little I learned about Arc City in my time at PanTech. Maybe this was something new they were doing on their own now that Adversity Management was MIA. Probably snake oil.

“Thanks. Say, am I getting pretty close to Frank’s place? I was told he’d be down this alley and to the left.”

She snorted. “Frank? Do yourself a favor and walk back in the direction you came. Frank ain’t doin’ so good nowadays. He’ll just get you into more trouble than he gets you out of. That’s why nobody hires him no more.”

If that’s the case, I wondered why the police officer even brought him up. Then again, he did try to warn me. I guess I didn’t take the warning seriously enough. But I was already this close, so it couldn’t hurt.

“Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers,” I said.

“Beggars can’t be choosers? Ohh, I like that one. So, uh… you like the sample, you come buy more from me, alright?”

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Connie,” she chirped with a wink.

“Thanks Connie. I’ll keep you in mind,” I said, waving as I left.

I wanted to ask so many more questions, but they’d have to wait.

I continued down the alley, took the left, and stood in front of a rundown building. “Private detective,” I mumbled, looking at the flashing sign with most of the letters long since gone dim. There were other signs, hanging dark over boarded up doors, but Frank seemed like the only one still here in this forgotten corner of the city.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.