▶ Yes, a magpie will do fine.

I watched as she went to work, etching a perfect circle on my upturned left wrist and then beginning on the outline of a bird. She did it all from memory or pure inspiration. It hurt a little, but I didn’t mind.

Bigwig walked into the backroom and cleared his throat.

“Everything okay back here?”

Rook didn’t look up, just grunted a reply. Her burly partner strode over to inspect her handiwork. It seemed more like he was checking up on us. Or more specifically, me. Possessive?

“The thieving magpie gets a magpie.”

He shook his head with bemusement. I noticed for the first time that Bigwig also had a small round tattoo on his left wrist. It was a rabbit, highly detailed. Huh. Unexpected.

“Magpies are very oomny birds,” Rook explained as she finished applying the smart ink. “They are horrowshow at problem solving, can use tools, and can even recognize themselves in mirrors.”

I smiled. ‘Oomny’ meant intelligent. And ‘horrowshow’ meant good. There were worse things to be associated with. Although, to be honest, I might have trouble recognizing myself in a mirror.

Bigwig muttered something under his breath and went away, heading back through the door into the main section of the Rathskeller. Rook reattached the tattoo gun somewhere on the back of her metallic bodice and wiped her hands.

“All done. Now you can use the discount any raz you like.”

▶ Thank you. For everything.

I sat admiring the skillfully crafted marking, simple as it was, and when I looked up I was alone. Rook had slipped out like a whisper in the wind. I sighed and turned back to contemplate the tattoo just a bit more.

A permanent 5% discount at the Armory. That was pretty nice. Unfortunately, I had almost no Crypt left to spend. I was down to 200. That death penalty was no joke.

I opened my menu and scrolled down to my shielded Subroutines. Time to update my notes.

[>SUBROUTINES

* Assist Antisoc with Repository Heist (Complete?)

* Assist Serpents with Package Delivery (Pending)

* Assist Round Table with Warehouse District Raid (Complete)]

I thought about Antisoc. Because of my rush to join the raid in progress, I hadn’t followed up after participating in the heist. How would they react to my losing the thermal goggles, and my interrogation by ColSec? And then there was the offer from the Serpents. After some more thought, I jotted down one additional note.

[- Apply to join the Round Table? (TBD)]

But right now I had some Crystals and card fragments burning a hole in my pocket, thanks to Rook’s unexpected generosity. I exited the abandoned Schwarzmarkt. More Volunteers had wandered into the Rathskeller in the meantime, and the Round Table was holding court.

The bounty hunter with the SMG, name unknown to me, was making a speech. He had a wide girth and wore a sort of brassy breathing apparatus. His arms, shins, and thighs were protected by plates of armor reminiscent of a samurai.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“–and to celebrate another successful raid, the Round Table is offering drinks on the house courtesy of Kowloon Tenements! Tired of your tube? Upgrade to a Kowloon Tenement. And always–Glory to the Volunteers!”

There was a mighty responsive shout from the other patrons as the Round Tabler thrust his drink in the air, liquid sloshing over the top.

“Glory to the Volunteers!”

I looked over at Rook. She was back at her seat around the center table, sipping a drink. I found her compatriot’s marketing pitch strangely off putting, but she betrayed no reaction either way. She and Bigwig and Apache and all the others had moved on. I waited until the mad rush of Volunteers to the bar ebbed and went outside.

200 Crypt, 20 Crystals, and 10/10 {commom} Hellhound data card fragments. It was time to visit the Data Forge again. I went straight there and stepped up to the device at the center of the forge, scanning my ID and accessing the control panel.

[DATA FORGE

CONVERT

FORGE

FUSE

EXPORT

TRANSMUTE]

I accessed the Forge function.

[FORGE

* ITEMS (from materials)

* CARDS (from card fragments)]

I accessed the Cards function. Two of the extruding clover-leaf podium tops began to glow, eager to accept my offerings.

[Insert the data card fragments for Forging]

I materialized the 10 Hellhound data card fragments. They were like shards of weathered glass in dusky and ember shades, and now that I had a complete set I realized they fit together like jagged puzzle pieces to form an image and shape, although that image constantly shifted in the light. They levitated ever so slightly over my open hand.

I added them to the leftmost receptacle, which received them like gravity or magnetism.

[Deposit Crystals for Forging]

I materialized 10 Crystals and placed them in the second lit receptacle.

[Begin Forging Process?]

Yes.

This had better work. Dram my low Processing stats. I worked too long and hard to complete this set for a failed forging attempt.

Both pedestals shone bright. Energy and data convulsed, swirled into the centrifugal center of the device. I shielded my eyes under the blast of this data furnace. At last the glow subsided.

[Card Forging successful.

1 Common Hellhound Data Card (Weapon / Armor) forged.]

And there it was, rotating in the air in the middle of the device. I could actually see the image of the hellhound emblazoned on, or within, the card, although the beast’s form danced and lurched in lenticular fashion as it spun.

I reached out and took the card with a sigh of relief. Then a thought hit me. A revelation. What would happen if I were to try to combine fragments from different data cards together? Instant failure, or something else? Had anyone tried this? Whatever the case, I had no materials to experiment with and I knew in my bones that I did not have the stats to pull anything like that off. Not yet.

Time to see what this card is all about. I concentrated on it.

[Data Card: Hellhound

Card Type: Weapon / Armor

Frequency: Common

Fusion Details: Add +10% fire damage to a single fusible weapon or +15% fire resistance to a single fusible armor.

Size: 10 metabytes]

Interesting. My snubnosed revolver was my only weapon capable of fusion, as my push dagger had the {basic} quality. My ballistic vest was currently my best piece of armor, offering 20 defense and only taking up 10 metabytes of storage (although my tactical pants also would be eligible for fusion).

But what would be better, fire damage or fire resistance?