Cere- We are in luck, I can reactivate your right arm. The surge breakers did a decent enough job. The proprioception sensors are off though. It means the aim assist is still out and it might throw off your aim not knowing where your arm is situated exactly.

Kate- Well at least I can eyeball it... or not. Should be at least able to aim it in her general direction for effect.

Cere- We might need it. She reached a pressurized access tunnel full of collaterals. Transient mostly though, still not great optics but still an acceptable loss considering she's an active terrorist with explosives.

Kate- Better a few tens than a few thousand? Hell, let's try to be smooth as silk on this one, I'll try talking to her.

Cere- Did you get hit on the head? You're suddenly sounding like a rational human being.

Kate "Marcel, you're back in the game? I need you."

Marcel- "Yes, I took a big one, sorry for the delay, I'm four minutes behind and not fully functional."

Kate- "I'll try talking to her. Jump cable her as soon as you can."

Harold- "Spazz, make sure the virus aims at the deadman first, any delay could be catastrophic."

Spazz- "Dead man? As in a suicide vest type of thing? Shit, I didn't think about that at all."

Harold- "She is a terrorist with a full suite of discrete cyber. Not mil-spec but with her skill set she might have rigged herself to blow in case of capture."

Marcel- "I'll jump a living bomb? Are you guys insane?"

Kate- "I'll be right there with you."

Marcel- "Not sure it makes any of zis any betzers."

Kate- "I'll try talking to her first, see if I can convince her to give up or at least save some time for you to get into position."

Marcel- "I don't want to fuck this one up. Spazz, get me sometzing like an aim bot to cable someone."

Spazz- "I know of one on the dark net, good reviews from kidnapers and operators, pricey though."

Harold- "Don't skimp but make sure it's safe before you send it to Marcel."

Spazz- "Will do!"

*PSSSSSSSHHHHHHHhh*

Kate- "I'm in pressurized. I see her, she stopped running. Looks like she's waiting for me."

Spazz- "That's weird... yeah, I see her too with the local cams. Searching her current likeness in the database. Got a hit! Let's see... four hours ago she went inside the embassy with a big bag and then came out without. There's probably a bomb inside."

Kate- "Not our problem."

Marcel- "Might get a bonus if we tell them."

Kate- "No, these fuckers will think God Carter is on their side and stiff us. This is literally in their tenets to do so. Greedy fuckers, let them deal with their own problems, they are not hiring us."

Spazz- "That's cold! What about..."

Kate- "Trust me you don't want their attention, they will try to catch and torture us just because we might have more info."

Harold- "Kate's right. While I'm all for helping innocent folks, there are none in that embassy. It's a pit of serpents. Hell, if it blows up and we have proof it wasn't from Paradise's side, the Council might just pat us on the back."

Spazz- "That bad?"

Harold- "Quite!"

Spazz- "Shit, doesn't taste good."

Eager Beaver- "I thought I was scot-free, when did I fuck up?"

Kate- "My sifter jury-rigged a few camera traps in the ruins a while back to catch people in hiding."

Eager- "Should have known. You know you can't jump or shoot me right?"

Kate- "Yep, I'm here for the payday, not the fireworks."

Eager- "What now? Looks to me like you're at an impasse. What's the plan? You know I'd do it right?"

Kate- "Have no doubt, wouldn't be your first time turning civies into mystery meat."

Eager- "Right... right..."

*sigh*

Kate- "Never like this though. You got no beef with the people of Paradise right?"

Eager- "You're not wrong about that."

Kate- Cere, anything on her people when they get caught?

Cere- That's weird, I got no internally available dossiers on them, they are not in jail and they were not executed or sent back to New Eden. It's like...

Kate- Ghosts?

"Tell you what, I think this might not be the worst thing for you to get caught."

Eager- "Meaning?"

Kate- "Must be tired to do what you do. Not suggesting you bite it here, just saying you might meet old friends in your second life. Get it?"

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Eager- "I think I do. Maybe you're right, I am tired of running, we all are. That's why I'm here, you know. If you let me go, the council will never have to worry about us scurrying around anymore. We're just looking for a permanent out at this point. The new generations are just so brainwashed they wouldn't even know what they would do with a country."

Kate- "Not in my power, I don't have that kind of pull. Sucks though, from what I heard Canadians used to be downright Arthurian, like magically good beings or some shit."

Eager- "That's an overstatement if I ever heard one. But sure, it was a place where most people were decent. All that remains though are cultist drones and old monsters like me."

Kate- "Won't lie, I feel like I'm talking with a legendary avenger on a quest. Got any tips? I also have beef with New Eden."

Eager Beaver- "The arm?"

Kate- *Nods*

"And a friend when I was a kid."

Eager- "Bastards... You know what, let it go, kid. Vengeance will just eat your heart like fucking takeout. If there was a popular will to resist I'd still be going at it full swing, but these days? Everyone is in it for themselves. The best you'll do is to burn a few before getting yourself killed, or you'll survive physically but be dead inside. Just take it from me."

Kate- "You might just be right 'bout that... you know that's how I got in the life and my stupid nickname."

Eager- "What nick?"

Kate- *Hesitates*

"Pitbull... they said once I bit those fuckers I never let go."

Eager Beaver- "Shit is hilarious! Well done kid. Hey, mind telling me the time? My implants are a bit on the fritz after that EMP. Cheap shit I had implanted on the loose with the prohibition for implants in New Eden..."

Kate- "Sure, it's barely past twelve, why?"

Eager- "Thanks, owe you. You're a good one."

Harold- "DETONATOR!"

*BIP!*

Marcel- "Putain!"

*Scuffle*

Spazz- "I detected a mid-range radio burst"

Kate- "She's down! Nothing happened?"

*Slight tremors*

Kate- "Fuck, spoke too soon!*

Marcel- "Putain, what did she do?"

Spazz- "Give me a sec... ... ... looks like she blew up the main embassy building. The dome is OK but the building is rubble."

Kate- "She was also playing me for time."

Spazz- "Sparsing her memories, she got hit hard by that EMP. Lots of dead zones. No wonder she stoped running. What a fucking mess... think I got something, she seems to have implanted a bunch of fake ID on the database and blew up the place once it was sent for a refresh on the continent. The goal was to obfuscate the tempering of those ID for good by erasing the logs with the building."

Marcel- "We should sell this info to New Eden."

Kate- "She said they wanted an out, I say we let them have it."

Marcel- "Don't let her fool you again, those are probably just pretty words."

Kate- "Nah, she really looked worn down. Plus I don't care either way, don't want to piss in these Eden fucker's mouths if they are dying of thirst."

Marcel- "That's just dumb. You want us to leave money on the table."

Spazz- "I don't have the names or the ID at all, she made sure of it. Thousands are refreshed each day, so it wouldn't narrow their search that much. Plus the resistance will probably use that window to change ID again once they get out."

Harold- "Not worth the hassle."

Marcel- "But..."

Kate- "They are heroes of the resistance, they deserve an out.

Marcel- "Don't be a bleeding heart, they are just terrorists."

Kate- "You wouldn't say that if you had any idea of what they like to do to people they disapprove of, I do."

Harold- "We'd get stiffed either way, let it go, son."

Marcel- "Putain!"

Harold- "Bag her good, I've sent for the locals. They'll be there in an hour at best."

Marcel- "And we're stuck in this rat ass."

Kate- "Could be worse, better that than carrying her around. Better stay on our toes with the scavs."

Harold- "They might want the pie."

Marcel- "I dare them."

Spazz- "By the way guys, she had no deadman switch, no explosives."

Kate- "I could have just shot her?"

Marcel- "Putain, I'll have white hair before thirty in this job."

Harold- "Once we're done we have some scavenging to do ourselves. We'll have to get what she left back in the ruins."

Marcel- "You mean I do."