Their conversation hits a wall as both let themselves drown in a somber atmosphere they made for themselves. Stephanie lost one of her closest friends, and Atreus has been placed into a position where the fate of the 5,000-man clan rests on his shoulders. Neither or them are in a place they wished to be.

“Well, I think I've asked everything I wanted to ask,” Atreus announces with a shrug before drinking the last of his coffee in a quick swig. “I think it's time for me to head out and mull over what you've told me, and I'll let you get back to your day. Thank you again for coming out and meeting me.” He stands and extends his arm out for a handshake.

“Sure. The pleasure was mine.” Stephanie clasps his hand and shakes it. “I'll ask the network team some of the questions you asked me and maybe I can can get some details on the way it works and some more insight on Billy's personal life. I'll call or text you if I get anything substantial.”

“I'd really appreciate that. I don't have anyone else inside the company I could rely on,” he shows his gratitude again, and pauses to take a deep breath while giving a thoughtful gaze to her. “I... know this probably doesn't mean much coming from me, because of who I associate with, but I am sorry about what happened to Billy.”

Stephanie is initially surprised at the heartfelt condolences, but quickly regains composure. “Thank you. I don't doubt your sincerity; it's just hard to blame the right people for this when you don't even know who did it.”

“I understand,” the gangster nods lightly in acknowledgment. “Anyway, I look forward to any news you can give me in the future about your company's network or about Billy that could help with my investigation. Have good day.”

“You too.”

After their somber farewells, Atreus exits the half-empty Starbucks and makes his way down the street while beginning to summon an Automa to pick him up at the nearby corner. While this meeting hadn't revealed any sort of game-changing revelations, it had certainly given him much to think about, particularly the likelihood that Will Camlin was murdered as a way to weaken Atmos's network and leave it vulnerable to breaches, and that he was acting strangely in the days leading up to his death, which leads the gangster detective to believe that Will knew something was coming – that he was possibly in danger.

However, this also raises new questions: such as who would benefit from breaching Atmos's network and stealing the health information of millions of augmented individuals, especially when it's for sale via legitimate means? What entity would be big enough to possibly make use of such data, but still wish to avoid being found out? A silver, logo-emblazoned vehicle soon pulls up to pick him up from the sidewalk, and he continues to dissect, connect, and hypothesize everything he knows so far as the driverless taxi takes him to the Asano family office.

Mid-way into the ride, a simultaneous vibration and chime is heard from his pant pocket; he received a text message. Expecting Stephanie to possibly mention a detail she forgot to bring up during the meeting, he quickly retrieves it, only to see that it's actually from Max, who presumably just woke up.

[Hey, tungsten tough guy,] she opens up with another alliterative nickname. [What are you up to?]

[I just finished an important meeting with someone, and I'm on my way to meet up with my boss.] Atreus, as usual, gives an honest response, but steers clear from any specific details. [How about you?]

[I just woke up about an hour ago. I just wanted to let you know that I really had fun last night. I had a really pleasant, relaxing time. The donuts were delicious and the drinks were fantastic,] Max eagerly recounts their date the night before. Despite it being cut short, she seems to have enjoyed herself.

[I had a good time too. Hopefully our next date won't be cut short.]

[Hopefully. I got a little tipsy as we were finishing up. The vodka in those Berry Buzzes were starting to get to me. I didn't go too far with that aggressive kiss, did I?] she asks with a sort of timid delivery that's rather rare for her, but he understands why she'd worry about that.

[No, you didn't. It was... a pleasant surprise.]

[That's good. I have a bit of a history of coming on too strong, which hurts to admit.]

[Personally, I think that was just the right amount,] the gangster gives his honest thoughts, not really paying attention to how flirtatious it sounds until after hitting the send button.

[Oh, really? Well, I guess you can have more to look forward to once we go on another date,] Max responds in kind with a temptatious comment of her own. [What's your day looking like today? Can we hang out again after my shift is done?]

“Shit,” Atreus curses under his breath in the empty taxi, damning his circumstances yet again for denying another potentially intimate meetup with the person of his desire. Despite the urgent business he has to attend to throughout the night, he considers lying. [I'm actually gonna be pretty busy starting tonight. I have at least one more important meeting later at 10 PM, with a second one afterwards that isn't set in stone just yet, but I have to assume that it will be.] Ultimately, he remains honest, which causes a regretful sting in his stomach.

[Aw, that's a shame,] she opens her response with disappointment. [It's no big deal though, I'm sure we'll have plenty of opportunities to take things nice and slow.]

Despite being so focused on his investigation mere minutes ago, Atreus finds himself struck by Max's coquettish comments. He freezes for an extended moment, unsure of how to respond to her. In spite of having been in relationships before, flirting still wasn't his strong suit.

[And I'm pretty eagerly awaiting them.] In his usual fashion, he opts to just be honest.

[Good! Anyway, I have some errands I have to do today before heading to the club, so I'll talk to you later. If I don't text you tonight, then I'll just see you at work tomorrow, okay?]

[Sure. I'll talk to you later.]

They keep their exchange brief, and the gangster places his phone back in his pocket, still feeling the nervous effects of receiving Max's unabashed affections through text. He has a lot on his plate right now, and isn't sure if this progressing relationship with her is taking pressure off him, or adding to it. After the abrupt end of his romance with Reiko over a year ago, he's become more wary of dating as a member of the Sanada-gumi, but he can't deny that he wants what he wants.

Atreus's self-driving cab soon pulls up to the Asano family office. He enters the building and makes a direct approach to the elevator, and, as usual, passes a few idle family members who give deep bows of humble greetings and respect as he passes them. At the top floor, he heads into Ryuji's office, where the patriarch and Devin are sitting in their expected spots – Ryuji's desk and the sofa in the center of the room, respectively.

“Hey, man,” Devin greets his friend. “How'd that meeting with Okada's contact go? What was her name again? Stephanie?”

“Yeah; Stephanie Ferro,” Atreus answers as he sits in the adjacent recliner and leans forward to begin recounting the meeting for the benefit of his colleagues. “It went alright. I didn't learn anything groundbreaking, but I think we're a step closer to finding out why the murderer did what they did.”

“So you think you found a motive?”

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Atreus nods as he takes his electronic cigarette out of his pocket. “Half of one, possibly.” He begins to take slow drags from the small device, its foot lighting up with a neon blue. “So, Will Camlin's role at Atmos was basically as the one holding Atmos's network together as the head of infrastructure security. Whenever a new, major software update is released for the interface modules, he single-handedly patched any and all holes and exploits found. He was basically a one-man team – a real programming master,” he echoes Stephanie's words.

“So you're saying that with him gone, Atmos's network is automatically vulnerable? What kind of information do they even have, anyway?”

“Any and all information regarding patients' health and bodily functions – heart rate, sleep schedule, how active they are at certain times of day – pretty much everything your body does is recorded by the interface and kept secure in their servers.”

“What the fuck?” Devin reels back in shock. “I knew they probably recorded brain activity because of the prosthetics, but they record literally everything your body does? And keep that information? That's fucking creepy. What the hell do they do with it?”

“Sell it,” Atreus bluntly answers. “According to Stephanie, all of the information is available for purchase to anyone who can afford it, usually corporations who can use it to sharpen their marketing skills.”

“Christ. That's shadier than most of the shit we do in the clan.”

“Atmos has to sustain itself somehow,” Ryuji interjects from the comfort of his desk. “I'd imagine this was something they conjured up early on in order to fund their continued research and development, but as time went on, it became their main source of income. I remember signing the contract on Atreus's behalf after the incident. It definitely mentioned their interface module recording bodily functions and performance, but they dressed it up to imply that the information would be used to the benefit of the patient. I think it made vague references to the fact that the info could be sold, but it all came off as borderline nonsensical legal jargon, which I'm sure was on purpose.”

“Was that a lie, you think?” Devin asks. “About helping patients?”

“No, I don't think so. I'm sure they do genuinely use that data to help patients. It's simply not the only thing the data is used for, that's all. They have investors to please, and the promise of patient information was likely pitched as a main selling point to get them on board early on. Do you know who their investors are?”

Devin shakes his head. “No. Do you?”

“A few,” the patriarch says with a nod. “Several of the early ones are venture capitalists who also invest in consumer electronics start-ups. Some of the others are also founders of already-established big tech giants, and more are just the usual investment firms. As questionable as it is to sell such personal data, it's probably what keeps their baseline prosthetics relatively cheap and accessible. Atreus's were expensive because Okada-san insisted on the toughest and most complex model available. In fact, it had barely left prototype stages weeks prior.”

“So it was his idea to put a lighter in Atreus's pinky?” Devin comments with a smirk.

“I guess he thought it would be useful,” Atreus chimes in with a shrug, opening the tip of his right pinky and striking a light. “Either that, or he has a strange sense of humor. But then again, I don't think he knew at the time that I don't smoke tobacco or cannabis very often. Just this,” he holds up his e-cig, a cheap product only meant to simulate the minimal experience of inhaling the smoke of a normal cigarette.

“Getting back on track here,” Ryuji continues, “you think Camlin was killed to make Atmos's network more vulnerable to a breach, right? But all that information is up for sale.”

“Which means whoever killed Camlin probably intends to access and use the information for very illegal things. Yes, that's what I'm getting at,” the reluctant detective finishes his boss's thoughts. “Either that or, for some reason, they're not legally allowed to purchase that information to begin with, which I can't imagine why, but I'm not a corporate lawyer.”

“Well, if their intent with the data was to do something within legal boundaries, I don't think they'd resort to murder just to acquire it. That would be... ill-conceived,” Ryuji comments with a scowl of disapproval. “So I think they have extralegal plans for it, definitely.”

“But are you sure the network is truly weakened with just Camlin out of the picture? There must be a whole security team for that stuff, right?” Devin asks.

“Stephanie practically spoke as if Camlin was the one thing preventing a disaster from happening,” Atreus answers, “said he was a machine who patched up holes faster than they could appear. I doubt they'll be like chickens with their heads cut off, but if he was as big of a deal as she made him seem, then they're definitely at least crippled until they replace him.”

“So is their network vulnerable right this instant?”

“I don't think so. She said there's typically some holes whenever a major software update is released, which happens at a rate of about once a month.”

“And how long ago was the last one?”

“A few weeks.”

“Fuck,” Devin leans back in his seat, exasperated by all the sudden information, hitting the backrest of the sofa with a cushioned thump. “That means if the people who did this really intend to access the network, then they could do so soon.”

“That's only if they don't withhold the update until after they replace Camlin, but that also depends on how important it is.” Atreus heaves a sigh as he realizes how many details he lacks. “While I've gotten more insight into a possible motive, I feel like the meeting gave me more questions than answers.”

“Well, at least you know which questions to ask now,” Ryuji attempts to reassure his subordinate with some practical wisdom. “The amount of questions might increase, but the nature of them is becoming more specific.”

“I exchanged numbers with her, and she said she'd try and talk to the members of the network security team and see what they have planned. Maybe she can acquire something enlightening.”

“Do the police know any of this?” Devin asks.

“She said she wasn't interviewed by any law enforcement yet.”

“They probably didn't see any need to question someone who didn't work directly with Camlin,” Ryuji comments. “But they've probably spoken to the network team already, so they might already know what we know, and more.”

“So they could've gotten ahead of us after all, huh?” Devin ponders while allowing his head to fall back. He stares at the ceiling pensively as the other two men quietly process their thoughts and try to seize the next logical step. “Do you think the chances of the killer being a clan member has increased or decreased?” he asks out loud no one in particular.

“That's... hard to say,” Atreus answers with strong apprehension. “I don't think it'd be easy for a group of clan members to go rogue and make it this far unless they were protected by a patriarch or something.”

“I think it would be too big of a risk for a small group of people,” the family head weighs in. “Besides, what would a handful of rogue members do with health information? What connections could they possibly have that would lead to big money for that stuff when it can be legally bought anyway? Personally, I think there's a larger entity behind this.”

“I think so, too,” Atreus agrees with a confident nod. “But there's pretty much no way to guess who right now, because we don't know what sort of company or enterprise or whatever would have interest in such data and for what, and we probably won't find out unless Ed's phone or my meeting with Song gives me anything useful to go off of.”

“Speaking of Ed, did you ask Stephanie if Camlin knew him?” Devin asks.

“I did, but she didn't know. The only friends of his she was truly aware of were other members of the network team, so the possibility of Ed's phone being related to this thing at all is still up in the air.”

“I'd be pretty fucking pissed if Tetsu finishes cracking open that phone and we just find his porn stash or something,” Devin gripes with a shake of his head. “He still hasn't been found yet, right? Bessho hasn't contacted you?”

“No. Takiyama is still out there somewhere, and I'm pretty sure it'll stay that way until his phone is open.” Atreus takes another contemplative puff of his cigarette as the men become silent again. After a generous exhale of smoke, he suddenly recalls another detail of the meeting he forgot to mention. “Oh. Stephanie also said Camlin had been acting strangely starting a couple weeks before the murder happened. So I think he must've known he was in trouble of some sort.”

“A couple weeks?” Ryuji asks. “That's a rather liberal amount of time before his end. Did she mention in what ways he was acting 'strangely'?”

“Just that he seemed abnormally preoccupied while working, which was extremely rare. Apparently he stopped showing up the last few days too, which is also a first time occurrence.”

“He definitely knew he was in some type of danger, then. But if that were the case, then why didn't he go to the police immediately, and what was he mixed up in to be placed in that situation to begin with?”

“I wish I knew....” Atreus idly rubs his cheek as he stares blankly at the surface of the coffee table in front of him. The investigation is beginning to turn so complex, he doesn't know if he can simply remember all of the questions he needs to ask.