The streets of the Otewo district were slim and claustrophobic. At every other corner was a gang scout, usually identified by the steel slit on their forehead, who would watch what happened in the area and report back to the higher-ups. Regs found it comforting to know there were eyes everywhere, and considering the politicians didn’t fight for them, the gangs always stayed in their good graces. Keeping crime down and advocating for their people’s needs was common courtesy for the gangs to maintain order in their respective regions.

  Over the past two days, Mei hadn’t had much time to do much besides prepare for the job. It was like a ritual for her to focus on the task ahead without splitting her attention. It just seemed like a bad omen. Like begging for something to go wrong.

  Yesterday mostly consisted of researching the security at the property and creating or purchasing whatever rootkits she’d need to disable it all. Having it ready at the push of a button was her preferred method of hacking, but she could hard-code her way in if necessary.

  Tonight, they’d execute, and she was keen to get it done so she could focus on finding Alex Shuriwa. She received the profile for the transport employee from Takii when she visited his food cart yesterday, but it doesn’t seem like it’ll be so easy to find him. As a haulier, he’s often out of town, and when he is, he spends a lot of his time in the Kythera facility– accessing that would be a bitch and a half. But, she’s about to execute a break-in to a highly secure facility, how bad could it be dealing with another? Maybe this is just the warm-up.

  The small, open-plan apartment that she stayed in was seemingly comfortable, although she preferred it when she wasn’t home. Being cooped up gave her too much space for the nasty thoughts to flow, and she preferred not to let them fester, which they always did. To one side of the lounge was her computer setup.

  Messy, with wires and chips all over the floor, she’d use it for her remote hacking work and often needed to fry when the Atlas got close to nabbing her information. The kitchen was clean, despite the full sink. She didn’t cook often, mostly eating out because she didn’t enjoy the chore, and her king-sized futon sat at the opposite end with a small shelf for her clothes and a smaller bookshelf beside it.

  Most of the books were written by different black hats, and a couple of history books about Illium or The Atlas. The more she learned about The Atlas, the more she preferred to keep her distance. Just because she’s managed to stay one step ahead of them doesn’t mean they’re bad at what they do.

  In fact, having fried a computer just last week reminded her of the extreme amount of resources they put towards their cybersecurity division, and she’s probably one of a handful of hackers that they’d have a hard on for catching. She’d prefer to lay low, but the festering thoughts would get he better of her.

  As she made her way back to the Shatzi district, she wore her usual aesthetic of a super-cropped hoodie, a neck gaiter and arm warmers. This time, however, it was all dark black, the only spot of colour being her pink hair that parted to either side of her face, concealing her face further. Her backpack had a few Raspberry Pis, a change of clothes, charge clips for her blaster and a smoke grenade or two.

  From past experience, the change of clothes and smoke bombs could come in handy if she needed to make an unexpected getaway. From past experience, she’d prefer to run during the aftermath of a getaway as opposed to the usual gunfight. But the choice wasn’t exactly hers to make. As she arrived at the same abandoned apartment block, the same faces were there once again– Caiphus, Garett, Sam and Lev. Each wearing their own dark black attire.

  “Late again,” Garett piped up.

  “Not in the mood for your bullshit today,” Mei responded, shooting him an agitated look.

  “Technically, we all early,” Sam corrected him.

  “Are all ya Ge-mo sticklers with da time a sumn?” Lev asked.

  “It’s about respect.”

  “Yeah, yeah, all you Ge-mos are just obsessed with honour and shit,” Mei took a seat next to Sam.

  “Being honourable is shit to you?” He asked.

  Mei slowly looked at him, deciding whether to poke a stick at his culture or just ignore the conversation. “Everything you stand for is shit to me,”

  “Now now,” Cai swiped his hand, clearing the screens in his vision as he turned his attention to the crew. “Stop bullying eachother,”

  “Nobody’s being bullied, right, Garett?”

  He mumbled, seemingly in agreement, but with the facial expression of someone who wanted to start a fight.

  “Why ya here then?” Sam asked Garett as she flicked her blue hair over her shoulder, “Shouldn ya be in ya military a whateva? Ain’t that da ‘honourable path’ ya all take?”

  “I did my time,” He murmured as he lit a cigarette, “But the honourable path, at least for you, would be to mind your own fucking business.”

  “He was discharged,” Mei said, staring at him to see his reaction.

  He was nonchalant, but did seem surprised that she knew.

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  “You think you know me cause you like playing with computers and shit?”

  “I know you’re an asshole that got let go because he’s anything but honourable.”

  “Hey,” Cai interrupted, “Deal with this nonsense after the job, yeah? For the next few hours, I need ya’ll to be ready to die for each other. Understood?”

  They all paused, passing glances between one another, before Caiphus repeated himself louder. “UNDERSTOOD?”

  “Yeah,” They all said in unison.

  “Good shit. From here on out, when I say jump, you fucking do it and don’t ask questions.”

  They all agreed with Caiphus’ order, and they made their way to the van outside. The Egoli district is where the wealthiest of the Silic population congregate, and unlike the rest of the city, which consists of high-rise buildings and tight spaces filled with grim and graffiti, the wealth district consists of large open spaces and Manors much larger than needed.

  The section of it that did consist of skyscrapers was much more luxurious than the apartment block in regions such as Otewo. Multiple floors of a building could be dedicated to a single apartment, which is unheard of in the rest of Silic.

  Densely packed spaces at ever increasing costs squeezed the general public into tight cubicles of living spaces. Mei got lucky with her apartment, there are few like it, and she can only afford it because she had the privilege of taking on jobs such as these for the Otewo Gang. The deposit she received for this job alone was near 50,000?, the average household would be lucky to earn that in a year, and the average rental cost of an apartment was easily 5,000?.

  The entire sector of Egoli felt like a large, gated community that prevented entry from anyone who wasn’t authorised. Fortunately enough, the van they were in was presented them as a crew of sewerage maintenance workers. Some light gang sabotage in the area a day ago gave them the all clear with the Atlas soldiers that guarded the toll gates. Entering Egoli was like entering a completely different planet. Streets were clean, there was no vandalism or abandoned buildings in the area, and if Mei looked carefully, she could see shadowy mountains amongst the grey clouds in the distance.

  “Must be nice,” Sam commented as she looked out the window.

  “This where our taxes go, huh?” Lev added.

  “It almost like they be stealin’ from everyone,”

  “Noo, that be completely outlandish, Sam. It obviously da ingratitude of da general public that be da problem,”

  “Silly me,” She shrugged, tapping on her eye patch, “You right, Lev. How could a be so foolish?”

  “All’s forgiven, just don’t say it again or am gon’ report ya to da Atlas,” They both chuckled.

  “Gods, you two are insufferable,” Garett murmured.

  “Smoke anotha cigarette, G,” Sam quipped, “Die a bit quicker.”

  “Don’t mind if I do,” He said as he removed one from his pocket.

  “That’s it,” Cai pointed in the distance as he drove.

  “House on da hill,” Sam whistled. “That a real nice house. Would be a shame if someone… Blew it up,”

  “Don’t even think about it,” Cai chuckled.

  “For real tho, these motherfuckers be serious ‘bout this shit?” Lev grunted with an annoyed snarl. “Why ain’t da gang going a war with dem fuckers.”

  “That’s what I’ve been saying,” Mei commented, “The gang would run this city way better.”

  “Exactly,” Lev agreed, “And they actually give a shit about da people in it,”

  “War wouldn’t work out in our favour,” Cai replied, “They’d have the Atlas dropping orbital beams on Otewo by tomorrow.”

  “Douche bags,” Sam frustratedly sat back in her chair, “A lived ‘ere my whole life and just watched it get worse and worse,”

  “Maybe you should do something about it,” Garett egged her on.

  “Is that a challenge, tough guy?”

  “Don’t encourage her,” Cai said, glancing into the rearview mirror. His bright blue eyes briefly locked with Mei’s before he looked back at the road. “Time to focus on the mission,”

  The vehicle approached the front gate, and they all looked around perplexed that he was trying to enter through the main entrance.

  “Umm, Cai… I thought we were–”

  “Hello there,” Cai said with a smile to the security guard at the gate. “We’re here for the plumbing.”

  “The what?” The security guard asked with an unamused expression.

  Three other guards circled the car like hounds, peering into the windows and returning expressions that suggested they didn’t like what they saw. Sam waved at them, being her usual self, and unsurprisingly, they did not wave back.

  “The plumbing,” Cai reiterated, “We got a call about a leak.”

  The security guards remained quiet.

  “This is two two five, Loma street, right?”

  “No,” The guard murmured.

  “Oh,” Cai tapped himself on the forehead, “That’s my bad, it must be two streets down. Sorry to bother you, gentlemen.”

  He slowly reversed out of the driveway before leaving, the four guards staring with their weapons at the ready, itching to use them.

  “What that about?” Lev asked.

  “He’s trying to get us killed,” Garett exhaled a puff of smoke.

  “Last bit of reconnaissance,” Cai added, “Hopefully they won’t be too suspicious if they notice the vehicle parked on the roadside.”

  “Ohhh, clever,” Sam leaned forward to pat him on the shoulder, “No failed mission, huh.”

  “Seems risky,” Mei muttered.

  “Maybe, but it’s worth it. They aren’t likely to just start firing their guns at us for no reason. And it’s worth a shot,”

  “What shot?” Lev asked.

  “Who knows, they might’ve just let us in,” He chuckled.

  “That woulda blown my mind,” Sam laughed.

  The vehicle was parked on the North East side of the manor, just out of range of the nearest camera and beside the house they claimed to be working at. With their work shirts and weapons disguised as tools, they stepped to the roadside and began setting up a makeshift plumbing job. Just to sell the situation further.

  Cai was a careful strategist, and one of his biggest concerns was factors out of his control. A wandering eye from a window, a car swinging by. Anything he may not have accounted for. This wasn’t the first time Mei had worked with him, and she found his approach a little boring. But it was extremely effective, and she could respect that.

  “We move in an hour,” Cai said as he removed the manhole on the side of the road and set up cones around the area.

  “You really like ta sell it, neh?” Sam commented with a rather bored tone.

  “Better off doing it right than half-assing it,” Cai replied.

  “Full ass it is,” Sam added, getting a chuckle out of Cai.