They huddled behind a large, parked truck in broad daylight. The target was an old, one bedroom apartment in the back-alleys of Novus Lokris.

Apartment number 109.

Val had heard the grandma who lived there had gotten a new bodyguard who was always absent during the mornings. But the fact that she had one meant there was a high likelihood of valuables. And coincidentally, this was an uncongested area in the corner of the city; it was the perfect set-up for Bread’s first mini-heist.

She bobbed and weaved through the maze of cars and finally got to the front door. From there, she could make out an electronic, semi-mid quality lock. It stood out from the rest which were mostly basic mortise locks.

“Bread,” she whispered. “Come here.”

He quietly made his way over.

“Open it.”

“Is this really okay?”

“It’s fine. Nobody’s getting hurt, are they?”

Bread sighed. He gently grasped the lock and closed his eyes. The metal around his fingers started sputtering with sparks, but after a few seconds, Bread looked over. His nervousness was visible through his wavering gaze.

“What?” she whispered.

“It’s not working.”

“Can you try again?”

The boy’s hands hovered over the lock. His fingers visibly trembled.

“Okay, stop.” Maybe Coach was right. Clearly, the kid wasn’t in the right headspace. “Move back.”

Bread did as he was told.

“Stay here and be ready to run, okay?” She put on her gloves. Even if this wasn’t part of her plan, she wasn’t going to pass on this golden opportunity. It was time for some old-fashioned lockpicking.

From her bag, she pulled out her old tension wrench and short hook pick. Then she got to work. As electronic as they were, mid quality locks and below were still more mechanical than electronic. It was especially true for this lock because there was still a physical keyhole present. All she usually had to do then was to pick it.

With the wrench in place, she inserted the pick and started to wiggle the tip. The first pin didn’t click, so she pushed the pick a bit further in and moved onto the next pin. Same thing—no click. She pushed it further down.

There was finally a click.

She repeated the process until she’d pushed it in all the way. Then she pulled it back one pin at a time and did the same thing all over again, wiggling the pick up and down, until the final pin clicked at position one. The entire mechanism beeped, and the light on the electronic screen turned green.

It was unlocked.

Hell yeah! It was always so satisfying unlocking these things. Even without any loot involved, she got a kick out of it every time.

She slowly turned the handle and slipped inside. It was dark, but she could just barely make out the outlines of objects. The fact that no lights were on meant that the bodyguard was most likely not home. Just like what her broker friend had told her. This was the golden hour. The grandma was asleep, and the bodyguard wasn’t present.

She quickly scanned the area. Tiptoeing across the floor, she made her way to the first thing on her list—the freezer.

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People always hid their valuables in freezers. It didn’t really make sense to her. There were online articles warning about this very thing decades ago, but it always happened. There was always a chance that something of value was in the freezer.

She pulled the freezer door open. Nothing. It was fine though. There were other places to look. Next on the list were the drawers—

A sparkle in the corner of her eye.

There was a small object on the top. She took a closer look—a broken skinplate for mod dolls? Why the hell was trash like that nestled so decoratively on top of a drawer? Stupid. What a waste—

Then she saw it.

A bracelet of beautifully inlaid diamonds were placed right next to the skinplate. She already knew by the shine and the design. This was no ordinary bracelet.

The diamonds themselves weren’t important; those were a dime a dozen with all the excessive synthetics out there. And the general appearance wasn’t all that spectacular, but it was the history and the band itself that really mattered. Made from a combination of all the platinum group metals in existence, it was the 2099 limited edition century model uniquely designed by a famous cybernetic cosmetics and jewelry company. A classic case of don’t judge a book by its covers.

She never expected a grandma living in a crappy, old apartment to have something of this kind of value. It was a good thing one of her buddies tipped her off on the info about the new bodyguard. But as she moved closer, the hairs on her neck rose…

“Is somebody there? Gunther? Are you back?”

Fuck, she’s awake? Val quickly swiped the bracelet off the drawer and pocketed it.

“Oh, must be my age. Now I’m hearing things that aren’t even there.” The grandma had gotten out of her bed and was making her way towards the fridge.

Shit, shit, shit! The grandma was closing in. If she turned, she’d see her!

Val quickly jumped over a table that had been placed between her and the front door. Her feet slammed against the leg, echoing through the apartment with a resounding thud.

Fuck! She grimaced. Stupid fucking table! Fuck, that hurt!

“H-hello? Who was that?” The grandma waved her hands around wildly. It was as if she hadn’t even seen her. “Is anybody there? Gunther? Is that you?”

She was there mostly in plain sight. It was dark, but it wasn’t that dark. Something about the way she moved, it felt off.

“Gunther?” the granny called. “Please tell me it’s you.”

Val wanted to test something out. She slowly stood up, fully revealing herself.

The grandma didn’t seem to notice.

Val waved her hands at the stumbling figure.

No response.

Wow. Granny was blind. She’d really made a fool of herself thinking this old woman could actually see. A heaviness over her shoulder lifted almost immediately.

“What? My bracelet!”

Fuck. The heaviness returned.

The grandma hobbled to the front door with a kitchen knife in hand faster than Val could even grab the handle, and she swung with all her might.

Val dodged to the side. She was surprised the granny’s hips didn’t give out with that big swing of hers.

“Where are you?! I know you’re here, you-you thief!” The old woman stood in front of the door and continued swinging her knife around dangerously. “I won’t let you take my bracelet! You won’t make a fool of me this time!”

Now what? She didn’t want to tackle her to the floor, but it seemed like that was the only viable option she had, and she definitely wasn’t going to leave the bracelet behind. It was probably worth a pretty penny. Fuck it. Now or never.

Using her Razen, Val timed the swings of the granny’s arms and slammed her down to the floor when her knife hand swung to the opposite side. The woman went down with a groan, but Val didn’t have time to worry about her. She quickly stepped over the fallen figure and barged out the front door. Bread was there, staring her back. His eyes went towards the fallen figure behind her.

“C’mon!” Val pulled him away from the scene.

“W-what about her?” Bread asked. “Why is she crying?”

“Ignore her!” She started to run.

The grandma yelled from afar, “Please! Anything but the bracelet! That was my son’s! You can have anything else, please…”

The voice dissipated as they got farther away, but she could still hear the old woman’s screams echoing across the city. Until they were back home, they weren’t in the clear.

Bread yelled and pulled at her arm. He didn’t seem all that happy about the situation, but she’d deal with that later. For now, she ignored it. She ignored everything. All that mattered was that they’d have food on the table for a few more weeks. And Bread needed this. He’d have to get used to it sooner or later to survive.

Thieving was still her livelihood as well as her pride. Nobody—not even Bread—would take that away from her.