Ralia: You good? Deleon said you had a problem with the kid.


    Petya: Yeah, I think we''ve got it covered.


    Ralia: Sorry you got stuck with the pompous shac.


    Petya: He''s actually not that bad. Just needs to learn to control his hunger.


    Ralia: Look at you warming up to him! I always thought you would be a good father.


    Petya: Things well for you?


    Ralia: So far. Think I''m on the cusp of discovering something that will get Deleon going, but I still need time.


    Petya: You can explain it to me when this is over.


    Ralia: Still using?


    Petya: Just when we have downtime.


    Ralia: Set the fixes aside. Give the kid your attention and you won''t feel as empty as you like to think you are.


    I didn''t respond. The speedburner pulled away from traffic and turned down an alley. I would have assumed it to look like any other dark alley in the Blue district, but it was well lit and cleaner than any Blue street. The perfect state of the Violet district was too ideal to trust. We came to a stop and the doors unlocked.


    The woman in the passenger seat looked back. “Pleasure having you, but get out. Your place is just down the street. Take care.”


    I muttered a thank you. Boyband did likewise as we exited with our duffle bags.


    I gave my neurospace a glance.


    Ralia: Love ya, Pet. Don''t go dark on me. If the kid is too much of a problem, I''m here to chat.


    Petya: Thanks.


    It was a dry response, but she knew how much I appreciated her. I had never been an affectionate person, at least since I arrived in the Republic. As the stereotypical agents often said in the mindshows, trust makes betrayal hurt even more. If I trusted anyone, it was Ralia.


    Boyband shook his head and blinked with wide eyes.


    “Sleep too long?”


    “Just a little, but I think it helped. What kind of a night is three hours of sleep?”


    “It''s not too short for us. Your Bite will help with that. Just takes some getting used to.”


    He shrugged and slung his duffle bag around his shoulders, then frowned at it.


    “What now?”


    “Is this all I have to my name? A bag of clothes that aren’t even mine and some other random things?”


    “The clothes are yours now. Even if we are in the luxury district, you need to remember that we have been brought low by Deleon.”


    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    He scowled.


    “Doesn’t matter if you like it or not.”


    He shook his head and grunted. “Let''s just go.”


    I nodded and led us out of the alley. Not that I could see Janai in its full glory, I felt dirtier than any rodent.


    Everyone who passed by wore skin-tight clothing with pulsing violet. Dark, concentrated visible-ultraviolet glowed from all styles of jewelry, making the gems of the past seem like mere street rubble. Their hairstyles were just as extravagant as they were portrayed in the mindshows. Eccentric colors, mostly violet and indigo, with asymmetric lengths and patterns shaved in any short sides.


    I was used to receiving glares, but not any so accusatory. I could only fathom how uncomfortable Boyband felt after a life of being on their side and so suddenly turned.


    I looked down at him, seeing the nervous quiver I had expected. “Deleon sent me a fair amount of lumens to pay for a change of clothes. Would that help you feel better?”


    “Yeah.”


    Maybe it wasn’t wise to relieve him from discomfort so suddenly, but we would need it to go anywhere with Anton Jackson.


    I pulled up Deleon’s plans in my neurospace as we walked down the voguish street walled by skyscrapers that burned their violet light even in the daytime. I had to stop myself from thinking about the injustice shining in my eyes, but it was difficult to ignore that a single business’s ultraviolet light could have powered a yellow block of houses for a week. The allure of power, though it was greed-inspiring, led me to see why Deleon had invested so much in rising to power. Wondering once again what that entailed and how he imagined accomplishing it, I turned to his files.


    “Got Deleon’s plans on your interface?” I asked.


    “I thought–”


    “We’ll find an outlet on the way, don’t worry. Pull it up. We need to stay on track. Ralia''s already completed a fair share of her assignment.”


    “She has?”


    “I think so. Something like that. You got the file or what?”


    “Yeah, yeah, I’ve got it.”


    I read through the last part of Jackson’s description again.


    He believes you are coming to introduce a new cochlear implant that can improve the human reception for Finian music.


    “Keep your focus on Jackson,” I said. “I don’t think we can get to Naoma without him.”


    Jackson is expecting you at 2:00 pm in Reef’s studio.


    Select here to input the target''s address.


    I did as the message prompted.


    Reef Records: Janai center. Twentieth floor.


    The location was about a seven-minute walk down the street. I added the location of our temporary apartment and found that it was a mere three minutes behind us.


    “Let’s go back and drop everything off after we get some clothes. We can head to Jackson’s studio after.”


    Boyband nodded. He continued to stare up, continuing to read the report.


    I placed the mock implant in Devóne’s luggage. It has a mild hallucinogenic effect when applied, giving the illusion of amplified Finian technology with my own touch of alteration. Give him a chance to try it, then take it back. If he passes it on, he’ll realize it’s nothing more than a fix. All you need is access to his superiors.


    Update! Ralia found the following potential Firstlight parent companies that might be tied to the Entertainment party: Better Tech, Techvax, Beut-AI.


    Try these names out if you reach his superiors. If anyone is experimenting with Exos Sapiens, they are a danger to Osteolyte. If you find a connection, take out Jackson and work your way up the ladder. You did it with Firstlight, I trust you can repeat it.


    I tapped out, but Boyband’s eyes continued to flash.


    “So he thinks he can take out an entire company with the two of us?” he asked.


    I shook my head. “Not an entire company, just an appendage. Deleon can’t stand competition. Have you heard of Gift-year?”


    “No.”


    “They were another small company that tried to cure techbone like Haven Health.”


    “How?”


    “Easing symptoms rather than curing the cause. Haven’s Okrepinate actually works, but you have to continually use it or the skin will start to degenerate. Great for the rich, worthless for those who can’t afford continual treatment. Gift-year did very little to those suffering from techbone, but studies showed that it gave the afflicted another year of life.” I shrugged. “Sounded like a con for the hopeful to me, but Deleon wanted us to take them out, so we did. Our team eliminated the owners and fed incriminating misinformation to their primary stockholders, while Ralia wiped their system of any data that could be used to rebuild the company. Their decline wasn’t immediate, but they disappeared after a few weeks.”


    “Gotcha, so don’t worry about it.”


    “I never said that. We thought Firstlight was like Gift-year, but it turned out to be larger than we had hoped. I thought Deleon was in over his head until those two picked us up in the speedburner.”


    “Why?”


    “Because it shows that Deleon’s organization is larger than I thought. Maybe that should make me more nervous. I have no idea what the ‘Beacons’ they mentioned were. Very few people admire Haven Health’s presidency, but I wouldn’t trust Deleon, or anyone who gives him orders, to govern the Republic.”


    “I hate politics. It was always something I left my parents to care about.”


    “Neutrality is no longer a choice. The only problem is that neither side looks promising.”


    “Sides?”


    “Deleon or whomever he opposes.”


    “Then why not turn against Deleon?”


    “If I stop serving him, I can never make things right.”


    “Right? The zeg is that supposed to mean?”


    “Right for people like me. Right for immigrants that thought life would be better in the Republic but receive a cold embrace from the streets.”