“Are you sure about this?” Feras asked me as I set up a channel for our commlinks. The guy was broker than me, so it's a good thing he had some stuff stashed. He had also cleaned up quite well, turning from a destitute coward to a pitiful, though well-dressed, kid in need of some help.

We were sitting at the neo-sea place just across the street from Ajay Insurance. I was broke. Was. Klepping pockets was convenient for chump change. “‘Course. That was the deal.” I passed him back his commlink and tapped mine on.

The deal was simple. I’d let him stay in the apartment at night, tied up of course, for a couple days if he helped me out. See- my plan was good. It was nearly flawless… it's just one little issue I had; getting the pick into the building and inserted into the receptionist’s terminal. I could do it myself, but then I would burn my identity and risk being detected when I came in as IT.

I also took the chance while he was away from me to go bury the schematic out at my overlook. A painting holder protected them well enough, and it was far enough out of the way that nobody would find it. If on the tiny chance it was found, it wouldn’t link back to me. Really, it was a pretty good hiding spot.

I was planning on reaching out to some of my contacts for some help with the pick thing. Maybe even go to a merc dive and look around for someone fitting my requirements. It would cost quite a bit of money to hire someone, but it would’ve worked.

Really, this guy picked the perfect time to break in. He gets a home for a couple days, and I get a couple thousand Rayn! Not necessarily a fair deal for him, but he agreed to it… though I have a feeling that might’ve been because I held a gun. Intimidation really is an effective strategy. Thank you, Iris, for teaching me! Too bad my stature doesn't lend itself to intimidation very well.

‘Course, there was always the chance he was a terrible grifter, or he straight up lied to me when he said he was one. Either way, it shouldn’t really matter too much. I just needed another face to do something. If he messed up too badly, I still had backup plans.

Feras twitched as he grabbed his commlink, but I wasn’t sure if it was natural or not. That was the danger of grifters. Never know if their actions and Cues are real considering it's in their skillset to con people. “O-okay… I just need to plug this into the receptionist’s terminal?”

“Yeah. Nothing too complicated.” I shrugged and pulled up my deck. I had already set up the pick’s access and hooked everything up. Thankfully, most of it was copy and pasting commands so it wasn’t too hard.

Feras nodded and began to glow with the power of the aether. After a couple seconds passed, I felt like space split open just to my side as the entire area around us charged with aetherial energy.

Just as quickly as the small rift appeared, it sealed itself shut. Not everything made it back through in time. There, on the ground next to our table, sat an adorable fox looking around the room. Its form shimmered like an old-time rendition of invisibility.

The fox hadn’t been ordered to materialize yet, so why could I see it? Usually, only the summoner or other Magus contracted to the same eidolon could see their sprite unless it materialized. Was Aetherial Perception just that strong? Or… was it reacting with Fox’s Grace? It's a very intriguing question. Did I count as one of Fox's people because of that trait?

I held my reaction back and continued to stare at Feras as if I hadn’t noticed anything. Knowledge is power, and it's best I kept this particular knowledge to myself considering we were barely better than strangers. Still, I didn’t miss the fox cutely looking up at me before bounding up onto his shoulders. Maybe- Maybe I should consider trying to become a Magus?

Feras stood up and smiled at me as the fox waved its tail with crinkled eyes. So cute! “Right… I’ll uh- I’ll be right back.” He headed out of the restaurant, taking the fox with him.

I watched him go, wondering if his slip-ups and stutters were even real. Maybe he was just playing the part of an innocent and scared boy to evoke sympathy from me? It didn’t matter too much. If I was right, it only proved his skill as a grifter…

I watched him walk across the street, nearly getting hit by a Sentinel AT as it drove by. He vanished into the building, and a minute later appeared at the door of Ajay Insurance. I had a great view as he entered it and walked towards the receptionist’s desk.

Indeed, he was a grifter. And seemingly a competent one at that. His entire aura was different as he walked. He had dropped the innocent, frail boy act, and had an air of gentlemanly confidence. He also took the time to adjust his suit before appearing again, making him look styled rather than the weak mess that just sat in front of me. Even the cut on his head was hidden behind his bangs.

The receptionist wasn’t even paying attention as she messed around on her terminal. “Right, nice and easy now-”

“Don’t backseat me!” Feras whispered harshly into the commlink as he approached the front desk.

The receptionist at the desk turned towards him and her voice the commlink picked up her voice. “Sorry? Did you say something?”

“Ah, I was just taken aback at how beautiful you are.” I couldn’t see his face from here, but I imagine it pulled into a charming grin based on his voice.

The receptionist tucked a lock of hair behind her head as a blush rose to her cheeks. “O-oh, thank you, Mr…”

Feras tucked his hand over his heart and bowed slightly. A stray breeze just happened to blow at that time, causing his hair to softly sway. “Schel, M.T. Schel. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, lady…”

“Oh! I’m Steffany. It's rare to meet such a gentleman in this city.” She brushed her hair out of her face. “W-what can I help you with Mr. Schel?”

“Ah, one of my clients has taken a keen interest in Ajay Insurance and requested I check the place out for her. I hope it's not a bother.”

“Not at all! We have a company brochure for just this situation.” The receptionist turned away from the desk and walked back to a table along the wall. It was covered in cabinets, papers, and an odd black box. “You know, you are probably best off talking to one of the insurance agents.”

“As opposed to talking to you? Hardly a competition.” The moment she turned around, Feras leaned up against the desk in a natural movement. Subtly enough that I couldn’t spot his movements from here, he slid the pick into the side of the woman’s terminal. I wouldn’t have even noticed if not for my deck dinging as it started a connection to the pick.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

I moved fast, jacking into my deck. I slid the program through the temporary connection and ran it. In mere moments, the Alpha-Tres Worm infested the device. It was an oddly tiring process. “Done.”

Worms were specifically designed to infiltrate undetected through Net Architecture to a certain extent, so I didn’t need to worry too much about it being detected as long as I kept my commands below a certain threat level. Basically, only simple stuff on the fringes of the system. It's a good thing that simple stuff is exactly what I need.

I glanced up just in time to see Feras flinch back as he shoved his hand into his pocket. “Hot!”

The receptionist turned around with a brochure in hand. “Sorry?”

“I was just commenting on the weather.” Feras looked out the window, and his eyes locked onto me across the way. “I didn’t realize heat was in the forecast.”

I ignored his gaze and got to work on my deck. “I didn’t realize you were a bitch. Picks don’t even get that hot.” Of course they got hot - the heat being the reason they break after one use - but not to the point of it being too painful to touch.

The receptionist cut off his next words. “Right? I thought it was just me getting hot… Here you are, Mr. Schel. Is there anything else you need?”

“Ask about their IT company.” It would make things far easier if I could find out now. If not, I still had plan C.

“My client is a bit… pushy.” He rubbed his ear. “She was heavily concerned about the servers going down. The last insurance company I found for her didn’t do quite well… see this?” He raised a hand, shoving his bangs back to reveal the cut. “She wasn’t quite pleased.”

Steffany looked affronted. “How terrible!”

“Indeed… but what can you do before the rich and powerful?”

Steffany smiled, hiding the sudden anxiety in her face. “Oh, well, you won’t have to worry about that here! Our boss contracted Artoras to handle everything, so you shouldn’t have any issues.”

“Thank you, Miss Steffany. I hope you’re here when I return.” Feras gave a light bow of his head and then headed for the exit.

I stopped paying attention and focused on my newest target, Artoras. While he walked over, I pulled up pages and looked through them real quick. Artoras Solutions sat at the top of the list for smaller to medium-sized corporations to hire out IT issues. They had a main office here in the city and had several hundred contracts all over. At least, if their proud boasts and five-star reviews were to be trusted. Probably bot spam.

The nice thing is the company had a very strong PR team, and there were thousands of photos of various staff doing their job. It was a perfect resource for phase two of my plan.

“Y-you get everything?” Feras asked as he slid in across the table from me. He was back to his weak little boy act and wasn’t even recognizable to the gentleman he portrayed just moments before.

I looked at him for a moment, trying to see through the act. He was good. Damn good. ‘Course, I see the Cues, but they were inconclusive and mixed with dozens of other Cues. Maybe this was his base personality?

I slid my deck around to him, allowing him to see Artoras’s employees. “I saw you had sewing supplies in your bag… you any good with ‘em?”

“Maybe… what’s it to you?” His eyes shifted down to the photos before looking around at the other people enjoying their dinner. His posture and micro-expressions also changed, growing cocky and confident. Was this his true face?

I got the hint. I needed to offer an… incentive. No one worked for free. Heck, the only reason he agreed to help me in the first place was for a couple days of having a roof over his head while he got his feet back under him. “I’ll let you stay a bit longer, assuming you aren’t insufferable.”

‘Course, I recognized my approach was heavy-handed. It was a calculated decision to act accordingly till I got some more information out of the guy. For all I know, he really was a bounty hunter trying to get the document’s location from me… If anything, the fact he went along with me so far only made me more suspicious.

“I'm decent. I could probably make one of these outfits in a day or so…” He crossed his arms over his chest, entirely losing the remnant boyish innocence as he turned into a prideful asshole. “I want a cut though.”

“A cut?”

“Yeah. I mean, I’d be helping you even more with your gig, so I want a cut of the profits. You’re making what, a grand?” He looked at me, and I tried to keep my expression as neutral as I could. “Ah, more?”

I shook my head. “I dunno what you’re talking about.”

“At least double then.” A confident smirk wormed its way onto his lips. “I want at least four hundred.”

I stood up and pushed my chair back under the table. “I’ll just make it myself.” I had Tech, so sewing couldn’t be too hard, right?

“And risk ruining your entry?” His smirk grew in confidence as he casually pushed my chair out with his foot. “You could also think of it as a retainer fee. You pay me, and I won’t blab to that sweet receptionist.”

I tucked my hand into my jacket, resting it over the Sidewinder. “Blackmail, huh?” I leaned onto the chair, slowly pushing it back in. “Counter offer. You apologize for your gonk behavior, and I won’t pop a cap into your skull. The chooms with the Fangs are quite good at making corpses disappear. It would be so easy to flatline you and just move on with my life.”

We stared at each other, the air between us growing with hostility. I wouldn’t back down here though; I couldn’t afford it. There was no way in hell I would let him just get away with his plans to blackmail me. The psychological effect was more expensive than the actual Rayn here. Would I actually flatline him for it? Probably not. But he didn’t know that. For all he knew, I was the run-of-the-mill Aythryn citizen.

Something had to give, and eventually it did. His gaze flickered away as he bowed his head. His posture and demeanor changed yet again. Gone was the cocky and confident man. Now he looked so terribly exhausted. “S-sorry… I have my back to the wall here...”

I stared at the guy for a moment. Was this another mask? Gah, I hate grifters. If this was real though, would I feel a little bad? The guy looked as though he had fallen through rock bottom ages ago. I could empathize with that, and he had my sympathy assuming this personality was his real one. Sometimes people just hit the ground hard in life.

Or it could all be fake to manipulate me… Damn grifters! Even with Cue, I couldn’t tell for sure due to the sheer amount of tells he was giving off. It was like he was flooding my senses with so much information I couldn't quite tell which info was real.

I slid back into the chair and tried to think of an alternative. A compromise where we both win. I could be the bigger person here… sure he tried to blackmail me, but I had threatened to murder him, so who was really in the wrong here? I reckon neither of us. Criminals will be criminals, after all.

“Tell you what… I’ll pay you two hundred since you’ve barely been involved. You never even think of blackmailing me again, and the next time I get a gig I’ll think about taking you on as part of my crew for full pay.”

‘Course, my decision wasn’t entirely based on sympathy. I wasn’t a saint, or anywhere near one. It all boils down to mutual benefit. I couldn’t deny the usefulness of a talented grifter. Especially one who doubled as a Magus. His involvement with this current gig had sped up my plans by at least a week. If I had known he would be involved beforehand, I could potentially be done with this already. And there was no denying I needed some help. Even if I could make the outfit myself, I wasn't confident in my abilities.

‘Course, there was also the weirdness of how we met that made me want to keep him close. As they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. He wasn’t an enemy- at least yet. Still, it was best I kept him close to see if I could decipher what was going on.

“Really?” A bit of light reentered his exhausted eyes.

“You scratch my back, I scratch yours… or whatever the saying is.” I offered him a hand.

He grasped mine in a firm shake. “Deal… you won’t regret this.”