Arisen Tower sat in the ‘small’ fenced area of the Corporate Circuit with practically a private army of PMCs patrolling around everywhere. The Tempest Company, I think. They were a subset of Raijin. As soon as we entered the gate, we were stopped and had to give them a pass, which was reassuring. Not because the security was good, that much didn’t reassure me in the slightest, but because we actually had to come all together due to not having more passes. They didn't just lie to me.

And have no doubt that the security was good. It would be a tough nut to crack with cameras sitting everywhere leaving very few blind spots. Blackout would be incredibly strong if I still had it, but even then PMCs fully kitted in combat armor and geared with rifles patrolled around nearly constantly too, which took care of most of the blind spots. I could maybe get in, but it would take a lot of effort, skill, and planning to pull something off in the Corporate Circuit.

After that, we skirted around a block and arrived at our stop. It did faintly look like a cross. It was a rectangle rising high into the sky with two ‘arms’ sticking out of it.

“Who are the clients anyway?” They must’ve been at least a bit high up to live here, and if they were they should’ve had the capability to hire out more professional mercs or turn this issue over to corporate operators. Using company resources for personal matters was among the benefits of being a high-level corpo.

“The clients are Mr. and Mrs. Kalis. Mrs. Kalis is the assistant to the assistant of the assistant assisting the Head of Net’s assistant.” He took a deep breath. “A bit of a mouthful that... Mr. Kalis is a janitor.”

Oh, so they were both rather low on the totem pole then… the pay made sense, but how the hell did they manage to set up such good IDs for me and Torren while at the same time managing to steal such high-tech loot? It just didn’t make sense. Then again, there is that saying that assistants make the world go round. Which should be any moment as Torren pulled into a parking spot.

Torren unlocked and turned off the Dioni Aria and looked back to Feras. “Anything we should know about the clients?”

I popped open my door and got out of the car, leaning the seat up so the grifter could get out. “Or their security?”

“Be on your best behavior. They are corpos, after all.” Feras replied as he stomped out of the trashy back. “Security is- gah!”

Feras tripped out of the door, his foot caught on wrappers as they held him back into the car. I reacted quicker than I thought I ever would be able to, getting underneath and catching him. Unfortunately, while my agility had been making rapid improvements recently, my stability hadn't. My foot slipped as I fell with him into the door and we both hit the ground hard.

“Ugh!” Luckily, the fall was broken! For Feras, that is. The air was knocked out of my lungs in one harsh moment.

Feras rolled off me quickly, his face a shade of red. He stood up and offered me a hand. “Uh- sorry, Zuku…”

I gasped for breath as I pushed myself up and took the offered hand. “L-last time, hah, I try t-that. How much do you, hah, weigh?”

“Not that much…” He rubbed at the back of his neck, looking down at his body sheepishly.

Torren walked around the car chuckling. “At least it wasn’t me. You would’ve become the asphalt.” He said it so nonchalantly as if it was fact and not a joke…

Feras snickered as I glared at the two, grasping at my ribs. “Let’s just go meet our clients.”

”Right… thirtieth floor.”

Surprise surprise, the elevator was broken. I clicked on the button at least a dozen times trying to get the damn thing to work, but it never came down. Fucking elevators. Maybe one of the others could try?

”C’mon, Zuku. Let’s just take the stairs.” Feras called out.

I sighed and followed along behind Torren and the grifter. We headed up the stairs, and it actually wasn’t that bad this time around. For me and the bruiser, that is. Feras on the other hand... He was panting hard and sweat dripped from his brow by the time we hit the right floor. We walked out into the hall as Feras cleaned himself up just in time to hear a light ding as the elevator door opened.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.” What the hell? Was I just cursed? Was there some little gremlin that followed me around making sure elevators just wouldn’t work? Or was it some kind of deep, dark eidolon conspiracy against me?

”C’mon.” Feras sighed and headed for the clients' apartment. We traveled down several perfectly clean hallways and well-lit corridors. A bit weird being somewhere clean compared to the rest of the city, but I guess this is what money gets you. Granted, it also got you deeply into debt with what was practically a slave contract, but money was money.

A few minutes later, the door swung open as a rather worn-down-looking man opened the door. “Who- oh, it's you.” The man glanced at me and Torren as he failed to give a polite corporate smile. “Come on in.” He swung the door open and receded down the hall.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Feras led the way with Torren taking the rear as we headed down the hall and to a small living room. The man, Mr. Kalis I presume, moved over to a sofa and took a seat. “My wife isn’t here, but anything I can do to help.”

“A couple of questions.” Feras pointed to the two of us. “And to introduce my uh- my associates here. They'll be helping me out, see?”

“Right, right… please, take a seat.” Mr. Kalis motioned to a sofa.

We all settled down as Feras took the lead. This was his specialty, after all. “First, I wanted to ask about the IDs. Why nobility? And how solid are they?”

Mr. Kalis chuckled lightly as he nodded his head several times. “The back door that we used to set up yours was closed, so we had to go with something else. Thankfully, my wife noticed that ‘Meno’ looked almost identical to the daughter of Archduke Maeni.

“We called in several favors to get all of that set up. As long as someone is checking from within Aythryn City’s Node framework or a part of Sentinel, the ID is uncrackable.” He shrugged, his corporate smile cracking somewhat. “And it made sense such an exclusive family would send a protector. Hence Sir Trovare. Don't worry, he'll blend in with the other 'hidden' bodyguards.”

I guess that made sense. Still, it was weird how similar I looked to this daughter of Archduke Maeni. ‘Course, I knew it wasn’t an entirely uncommon thing. People had almost doppelgangers on occasion considering how big the world is. Or I guess I should say the solar system if I were to include the BosSpace Colonies in that scope.

Feras shifted on the couch, leaning forward slightly. “Now, I need to know if your daughter ever mentioned run-ins, conflicts, or friendships with anyone at the school. Specifically the first two.”

“Ugh!” The man scratched his blonde head. “Only a couple of things come off the top of my head. Claire Collon is her best friend. Um, I think she mentioned really disliking Sean Sentinel, the CEO’s son. Or one of his many sons I should say. And she really liked Tristen Trapper. Other than that… sorry.” His corpo smile finally shattered as tears came to his eyes. “God, I wish I paid more attention when she came home.”

Feras asked a few more questions, Mr. Kalis’s expression dropping further and further the entire time. It was deeply uncomfortable to be around and actually see a corpo have emotions. He still held out hope that Quora would be returned safely, but it seemed as if he was starting to accept she would never walk back through their door.

By the time we left, the man was bawling his eyes out as he looked through old pictures of his daughter.

Torren dropped us back off by Big Mike’s and we went our separate ways after a short planning session. I hopped back on my bike and headed home as I thought of the shit situation I found myself in. Thankfully, the situation was already at rock bottom, so it's not like it could get any worse.

I spent several hours remaking three Scouters, forcing the components into a smaller ball. I managed to recycle the two I brought back with me, so that was nice. Then I made one more from the components I stole from the ASCorp Supermarket. Unfortunately, that was the last optic so I couldn’t make anymore without going to buy some more parts.

I also started work on designing a tiny microphone and speaker. I didn’t get very far in the speaker department with my limited knowledge of that whole field, but I did get a somewhat decent prototype microphone about the size of an earbud. It wouldn’t be of much help for now since it could only pick up a tiny area, but it was progress nonetheless.

Throwing on the dreaded uniform, I checked myself out in the mirror. I had become incredibly pretty at some point, and actually washing up fully and wearing some nice clothes brought that out. It was weird to think I had grown so much with just a bit of nutritional care. If only I grew taller too…

The uniform itself felt incredibly breezy, which was just about right. Yet another reason I hated skirts. The blouse wasn’t too bad, nor was the necktie. There were also a couple of jackets to wear over the blouses, but Feras had only provided three shoved into the back of the bag, so I wasn’t too sure if I needed to wear them. They were the same bronze color Sentinel seemed to love with bright red seams. It really pulled the whole uniform together.

The skirt was terribly uncomfortable, but this one had been modified substantially. I found that out as I reflexively tried to stick my hands into my pockets and succeeded. To my shock, I found the skirt had been masterfully modified to have pockets hidden under the flaps of fabric in such a way they were entirely invisible to an outsider.

I checked the stitching and found it to be the exact same as the stitch work on the last outfit Feras made me. Although I would never say it to his face, the pockets were a nice touch. One that was incredibly helpful as I would have room to store things like, oh I don’t know, a gun? Or maybe I could klep- ahem, 'aquire' some loot from the school? It was a high-end private school, so surely there must be something of value just 'laying around'.

I put on a cold and ruthless expression like Feras suggested. Or at least tried to. Unfortunately, my facial structure and poor intimidation skills made it far less hostile than it should’ve been. If anything, I was downright cute like a little puppy instead of a ferocious wolf. How disappointing.

Should I try something else? Cold and ruthless wasn’t my forte to begin with. Every time I’ve intimidated someone it's been with the help of an identity to back it up, such as IT or Crusader. That kind of intimidation would fall apart upon prolonged exposure like what I'd have to deal with in the school. I had a feeling I was better off putting up an act I could keep up with little effort than one that might fail.

With that thought in mind, I instead switched over to a cutesy and honest expression as I smiled brilliantly at the camera. For a moment, even I was stunned as the smile seemed to turn my already pretty features completely radiant. I shifted to a look of mock anger, while still trying to uphold Honest Face. I even reversed some of my knowledge from Cues to pull the whole thing together. It worked, just not in the way it was supposed to. And, as much as I absolutely loathed the thought of admitting it, being a little shorter helped sell the whole thing.

It wasn’t what Feras suggested, but it would feel - and hopefully look - more natural to actually pull off. And maybe get a better toe in the door to talk to people? Everyone likes a friendly face, right?

I swapped out of the uniform and laid down for an early night’s sleep so I would be well-rested for school tomorrow. It didn’t work. I lay there for what felt like hours, shifting about every once in a while as I tried to just sleep. Surely I wasn’t that nervous about going back to school, right?

Unfortunately, those nerves were compounded a thousandfold as I received a message. Not a message from my PA, no, my other phone. I read it out, my heart pounding in my chest as dread settled in. ‘Shquire! I have need of you.’

Well… shit.