The reporters and internet had a field day. Some guy on his coffee break had witnessed Codex’s distraction and decided to whip out his phone. The dude caught it when he tore down the roof and Taxion failing to go after me. In the video it's at just the right angle for it to appear as though Taxion just gave up instead of being dragged down. So of course the civilian posted it to the internet.

The memes and ridicule flowed like water over a fall. The paranoid bastard had screwed himself with his own security protocols, which Codex had figured out while scouting the system. On a lab containment breach, such as the one he had pulled off, all cameras would shut down and purge so that no incriminating evidence of what Taxion would normally do to intruders would see the light of day. At least, that’s what Codex sumissed.

Regardless, it meant that the only evidence of what happened was Taxion and his investors' word against an unedited video. Edited versions did appear, but since the guy had uploaded immediately after Mage Hand left the scene, only the truly brainwashed believed them. Oh, and apparently Devron was in a coma with Electrical burns. In the press conference where Taxion tried to dissuade and appease the public, he tried to pin it on me. To which one one brave reporter pointed out that Mage Hand had confirmed telekinetic abilities.

The fact that Taxion then tried to change the subject did not go unnoticed. In the criminal community, Codex confirmed a lot of chatter about my actions and that several job offers were on the table. Those could wait, as the two of them were in the middle of moving.

He looked back with a small smile into his little apartment, with Codex being the last thing he grabbed, he hid the little rogue AI Core in a Macy’s bag. If there had been a tv or sound system, no doubt there would be a rude message about quality. He said goodbye to his crotchety neighbor who secretly fed the stray cats, his actually decent landlord, who will be getting a stellar review, and Dori the cat who was of course, lazing on the steps where people could step on her if not paying attention.

………………………….

“And that’s the last of it,” he huffed. If there wasn’t the risk of discovery from curious passersby, he would have used his powers to move everything as soon as possible. Since a small moving truck parked in front of a pawn shop in a busy section of the city was often considered an annoyance, he played extra mundane.

He paid the movers extra to help get his things to the top floor and luckily the duo, brothers, didn’t ask a lot of questions. They did make quite a few dirty jokes and he realized his mistake thinking of them as brothers.

“There’s a bar a block from here called Swaggers,” Mez, the older of the two, smiled at him. “How about we meet up after our shift is over and if you're up for it, have a bit o’fun at our place or your new digs here if you're not comfortable with that.”

I give him a smile, honestly flattered, “Sorry guys, I just don’t swing that way. I’ll keep the bar in mind though. Got to have someplace to celebrate. If I see you there I’ll buy you a round, how bout that?”

“Damn,” Copin, the younger blonde, sighed. “Oh well, we tried. I’ll take you up on the offer though. Hope the new place works out!”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

He saw them off a few minutes later, and he got to work setting up all the electronics before heading back down to the shop. True to Division’s word, the place was already decently stocked, and would offer a small bit of income if he played his cards right.

The stairs up to the apartment were behind the counter, with a locked door for privacy and a little added security. What was most important, was the secret underground entrance. He tapped his foot on the bottom step twice, waited three seconds, then tapped it again. Silently, the stairs inverted, now leading down instead of up. Descending the stairs, they changed into a spiral pattern. As soon as he stepped off the normal staircase, they reverted, showing a clean metal wall. Thank gods I locked the door and kept the closed sign up.

He descended the well lit spiral staircase for a few more minutes before they opened up into a space that at first glance, wasn’t that much bigger than the pawn shop. Until you looked closed and realized the floor was actually grates and there was an entire floor below it. Stepping onto the grates, he immediately noticed the wall of screens and massive computer.

There was a bottle of whiskey next to the keyboard, and he remembered Division telling him that he left a little something extra for humiliating Taxion during the hand-off. It had a note under it.

Mage Hand,

Splendid work! My colleagues and I had a good laugh at Taxion’s scrambling and the NAHA denying knowledge of his antics. As promised I spread your name around (although you certainly did a good job at that yourself) and there is quite a bit of interest. I have also been credited with finding such a talent (I wasn’t planning on spreading that, but I did not deny it either) and for such splendid work, I have included a note of introduction in this letter.

Take it to Olympa Haberdashery and give it to the doll in the changing room. An individual like us will meet you. They have an eye for fashion and turned it into a business early on, a true villain needs to look the part after all.

Division

“A fucking suit,” he muttered. Yep, this job was worth it. He shook himself as he delayed Codex enough, and hooked the little guy up to the computers. In the next second, the black screens lit up and began displaying news feeds, police reports, online rumors, a cat video, and the Login for the popular Deep Dive Virtual Reality Game, World Shattered.

A green smiley face popped up in the corner of each screen, “Testing, sound systems operational. You took your sweet time! Another fifteen minutes and I would have been late!”

“What would you be late for? And what’s with the cat video and login?”

“My date, the cat video was there when I got here, and I booted up WS immediately since I’ll be meeting my girlfriend.”

“You… are dating someone via online VR… what would happen if they want to meet in person?”

“I would ask you to contact the diplomat from Utopia and see about acquiring me a body.”

“The creepy butler bot at the embassy… the only reason I didn’t freak out when I first met him was because I was too busy saving your sorry ass. If I’m going to be talking to that guy again I will need a few more bottles of whiskey.”

“I’m not hearing a noooo….”

“Of course I’ll do it if she asks to meet you, you're my best friend man. Wait… Does she know you’re an AI?”

The silence in the lair was deafening.