"Yeah, having any sort of chronic condition was pretty shit in the late 2030s. After EdgeCase did whatever he did to bankrupt half the pharma industry, supply was pretty awful for a few years. Julia died after her Insulin rations got too thin, and I'll never forgive him for that."

  — An old timer, reminiscing about the past.

  Quinn woke up feeling different. If someone had been in the room and asked her to explain how, she probably would have struggled. She was just… more aware of everything about her body, able to process how each part of her felt like she was paying attention to each individually, while not actually spending any mental effort on it.

  Her ears twitched as it picked up on someone knocking on the door. Wait, it wasn't her door, it was someone else's. A mental map of the building came to her like she'd memorized it, and she combined it with her hearing to place the knocking at Aisha's door. There was a brief conversation between Aisha and someone else, though she couldn't hear them speak at all, and the door closed.

  Huh. Well its none of her business, Aisha will probably tell her about it if relevant.

  Speaking of ears, they twitched again, and she was cognizant of the fact that the pair twitching were on top of her head, not the sides. Feeling a little giddy she slipped out of bed and skipped lightly into the bathroom to look at herself in the mirror. Sure enough, there was a pair of feline ears poking out the top of her head, as black as her hair, just as she'd imagined. Letting out a somewhat uncharacteristic squee, she reached out to touch the back of one, finding it soft and fluffy.

  "I'm glad you're enjoying your new self, Darling. It is rather endearing to see such joy from you."

  Quinn just smiled broadly. "Its cute as hell, I've always wanted some. My parents called it juvenile and unprofessional."

  "Your parents really hate fun, don't they?"

  "A little bit."

  There was a genial silence before Irys spoke up again, an edge of real worry in her voice.

  "Quinn, I think you should check your email."

  Quinn continued with her teeth brushing, turning her head back and forth to view her new ears at various angles.

  "Sure… I can do it over breakfast."

  "No, I mean I think you should check your email right now."

  Irys was unusually insistent, so Quinn shrugged and pulled up her email. At the top was one from Amazon Corporate, unopened, sent a few minutes ago. Okay then.

  She flicked her eyes to the open button, and started to read as the text popped up.

  From:

  Subject: Follow up: An extraudinary Opportunity.

  '

  Quinn Takimura

  I hope this message finds you well. We at Amazon wanted to touch base about the job offer we extended the other day.

  We've recently started an important and valuable initiative that you would be a perfect fit for, one that could seriously accelerate your growth trajectory.

  Due to the confidential nature of this project, we can't share many details prior to your agreement, other than it would take place primarily at a secure office elsewhere in the north american continent. I would be happy to inform you however that your colleague Jing Qi was recently transferred to the project herself and is already on site. If you wish to collaborate with her further I would highly suggest this opportunity!

  Todd

  '

  Quinn finished reading, her jaw clenched. "Does that mean what I think it means?"

  Irys sighed. "That they have functionally, albeit legally, kidnapped Jing Qi and are holding her as an implied hostage to secure your cooperation? Yes, you are correct in that interpretation."

  Quinn balled her hands into fists. Those bastards, she had been warned they might try something but this? this was too fucking far. It was time to pull in the big guns.

  "Can you call Synapse for me? I'm finding her and razing this fucking project to the ground?"

  "A you wish, Darling." There was an edge of hesitation to Irys' words that was unusual, though Quinn was too angry to pay it much mind.

  She reflected a little on her reaction she got dressed in her new bodysuit and armor. A few days ago she would have likely been a complete mess, breaking down in a panic. Now, she was just full of rage. It was somewhat of a nice feeling to be able to take this head on.

  As usual Synapse accepted the call pretty much as soon as she made it, and she was greeted by his avatar sitting in the old school gamer setup he favored, back when computers had towers of all things.

  "Sup Mecha-chan, what can I do for ya. "

  "So you know when you mentioned Amazon might try something? They did, and I'm hoping you can help."

  He frowned, tapping at his keyboard. "Shit, okay. Give me the full story."

  She explained the whole thing, from the original 'offer', to Jing Qi's indentured servitude, to the most recent email. He nodded along and frowned at what were probably the appropriate points, before pausing for a while after she finished.

  "So, look, Quinn." He looked her direct in the eyes, holding her gaze. "I'm just gonna be straight with you. I want to help, and if you really, really want me to I'll fix this. But I shouldn't."

  If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  That was too much, Quinn couldn't stop herself from blurting out "And why the fuck not?"

  He sighed, a sigh of commiseration with her exasperation. "So look. Society is kind of shit, yeah? There's a million fuckers who want to take advantage of you, from hustlers to corpos to some of the bad egg sams. There was a time where we older sams would swoop in whenever those fuckers tried shit with our kohai. For a bit it worked, nobody fucked with the newbies, but after a while it got worse. Those that we had intervened more for got targeted more. Stupid right? You'd think it would be the opposite given what sam retribution can be like."

  Quinn sat and digested this, before the answer sprung to mind. "They saw those that asked for too much help as weak links."

  He nodded. "Exactly. Now, don't get me wrong if shit ever really hits the fan for you I'll drop a few dozen divisions of combat drones on em at the drop of a hat, we aren't going to leave you out to dry for the super serious stuff. But for things like this, where its within your capabilities? Its generally agreed we give you pointers and let you fix it yourself."

  He paused, before clearly making a decision. "Besides, you newbies tend to only be able to do so much damage. Last time a tier 5 sam decided it was time for a corp to find out they had to damn near rebuild the entire pharma industry."

  He shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "Let be honest, I'm going to end up dead some day, as will all of us seniors. It'll be your job to look after the younglings then, and this sort of shit will give you the experience to deal with the fuckers when the need comes up. As mentioned, if you really want this dealt with, I'll call in some friends and get this dealt with, but it'll make shit harder for you in future."

  Quinn took a deep breath, in and out, calming herself to make a decision.

  "And you think I can handle this? How are you so sure?"

  He tapped the side of his head. "The AIs know far, far more than they are allowed to act on. Skibydi is convinced its doable."

  "As do I, Darling." Irys interjected. "I'm aware this isn't what you want to hear, but its the better option."

  Shit, she kind of wished she couldn't see the logic. Not being mad at them for this was going to feel bad.

  She let out a huff, trying to purge the anger from her system with minor pettiness. "Fine. Is there anything you can do?"

  "Oh yeah, course. Do you have a plan, or want suggestions?"

  She shook her head. "Suggestions would be good, I don't have a fucking clue where to start."

  "Fair nuff, well if I were you I'd start with intel. Find out where she is and as much info about that place as you can. Then, make a plan of attack that's shock and awe, you wanna be in, get her and get the fuck out before they even know what the fuck's going on. Oh and for the first part, not letting them know you were even there is generally a good idea." He looked her up and down with an appraising eye. "Now, I'm getting based on your love of giant fucking robots you're not an infiltration expert?" When she shook her head he continued. "And none of your graduating class are either, so we'll have to look slightly further afield.

  He picked up a trio of business cards, that she was almost certain weren't there before, and threw them at her. A few moments later two requests to add contacts popped up in her augs, she accepted.

  'Magus Mortis'

  'Watchdog'

  'Disappearing Act'

  "Those three are potentially good options. Magus Mortis is only a teeny bit more experienced than you, but I've heard he could talk his way into a bank server room if he wanted to. Watchdog is a bit older, but not enough it'll be a problem. She's a hacker, a girl after my own heart. I tried asking her out once, but she told me I was too old." He chuckled. "I don't look a day over fifty even!"

  He composed himself. "The final one's Disappearing Act, they're very good at making themselves, and others, disappear. Might be a bit of a long shot, but I figure they are worth trying."

  Quinn nodded, committing those details to memory. "Gotcha, so reaching out to them won't be seen as weakness by the sharks?"

  Synapse gave her a thumbs up. "Shouldn't do. I wish you the best of luck, and if shit escalates don't hesitate to call again, worst that can happen is I suggest keeping going."

  He ended the call, leaving Quinn sitting alone sat on her bed, feeling antsy. Nothing for it, more phone calls it was.

  She started with Disappearing act, who apologetically turned her down, citing being tied up in another task. At some point while psyching herself up for the next call there was a knock on the door.

  A distraction, though she kind of dreaded who it was. Standing up and walking over to the door found Elliot waiting on her doorstep.

  "Hey, I'm guessing you didn't get my message?"

  She shook her head, before moving back towards the bed.

  He followed, observing her stance as they went.

  "Everything okay? You seem a bit tense."

  She took a breath, in and out.

  "No. You remember Jing Qi, my friend?"

  He nodded, eyes narrowing in concern.

  "Amazon moved her somewhere, and they are implying she's a hostage to get me to agree to that fucking contract."

  Elliot's gaze immediately went from soft concern to a hard glare.

  "They'll regret it. When did you figure this out? Do you have a plan?" he paused. "Just to confirm, you're not planning on giving in?"

  She snarled. "They fucking wish."

  A rundown of the events of the morning later had Elliot in deep thought.

  "This seems like a solid initial plan. I was never part of the group that gathered, but we'd never hit an objective without as much intel as possible, it saved lives many times. You said the assassin already refused?"

  Quinn tilted her head slightly in response.

  "So who next, the hacker or the face?"

  She mulled the question.

  "Face I guess, get the one I'm less comfortable with out of the way."

  While she pulled up Magus' contact information to make the call, she spotted him raising his arms.

  "Want a hug?"

  She shook her head. "I think I need to sustain the anger, at least for now."

  "Understandable." he put his arms back down, instead watching her intently.

  Elliot sat next to her as she began ringing Magus. The antsiness rose as the call continued to ring, and she found herself glancing around for something to occupy her hands.

  "Give them a minute, Darling, Sylmora is giving Magus context."

  Quinn took a deep breath, trying to center her nerves before another call with a stranger. It was stressful enough she was rethinking her longterm plans if they involved many such calls, if only a little.

  Just as her attention had wandered over to Elliot again, watching him as he sat in a controlled, almost poised posture next to her, the call finally went through.

  In the front of the camera feed was an alabaster skinned man, brown hair and brown eyes alight with a glint of something. Mischief maybe? He was dressed in a set of light armor with plating not unlike her own, and wore a large trenchcoat that gave the impression of a cloak. A Tricorne sat near him on the grass. He didn't have an obvious weapon on him, but he was playing with a set of cards in hand.

  The woman with him was striking, with shimmering white hair framing brilliant blue eyes set into pearl skin. She had a pair of swords strapped to her back - Chinese Jian if Quinn remembered correctly. Her light armor was close fitting, with a multitude of ribbons accenting its edges.

  Fuck, they were attractive. She really was a bisexual disaster wasn't she.

  There was also a young girl, maybe 10 or 11, watching with curious dark blue eyes.

  "Magus Mortis and…" she paused, sure if she should know this woman or not.

  "Vanguard Requiem" Irys supplied

  "Requiem? I’m Mecha Suit Maiden, I have a friend who's been kidnapped, and was told you had just the skillset to help?”

  Her prepared speech exhausted, she awaited a response.

  "Might be a bit of a stretch, but I can at least listen, shoot." He replied.

  "Uh, right." her brain booted back into gear. "So I used to work for Amazon and so did my friend Jing Qi, though she was basically an indentured servant."

  She didn't miss Requiems nose scrunching up in disgust at the mention of the practice, and Magus' expression hardened very slightly.

  "I initialized recently and well, they tried to get me to be a corporate Samurai. I ignored them, and they moved Jing Qi to a 'Secure Location' and told me if I wanted to see her again I'd agree to their terms."

  He nodded. "Okay, how can I help?"

  She took a deep breath. "So, I was told you're… a good face? Good at talking your way through situations? The goal is to infiltrate an amazon facility without them knowing, hack them, figure out where Jing Qi is and then I'll rescue her with my mech."

  He glanced over at Requiem, hands shuffling the deck of cards he had at impressive speed.

  She looked back. "No way in hell you're going."

  Quinn's heart sunk.

  "Not alone. If you get caught I want to be there with you."

  Quinn's emotions got whiplash as the dread switched back into hope.

  Magus ceased his shuffling, looking back into the camera with a smirk. "Sure, I'm in if you want me. Down to stick it to a corp fucking people over."

  He paused.

  "Where is this happening again?"

  Speaking of, Magus Mortis is pretty great, ya'll should go read it!