**Date: 08.06.1029 PNT // Saturday**
**Time: 2:07 // 2:07 AM**
**Location: Ecosystem Mika // Habitat Melissa // District 7 // Sector 12 // Entricht Street 12**
“Are you two done?” A soft voice crackled through Lizzy’s primitive com-watch. “Three Peacekeepers just entered the crowd.”
“Yeah, I got everything I want.” She smiled as she walked past the two Peacekeepers and winked at one while binding her blonde mane into a bun. “And a cute little flirt, too.”
“The red guy had too much security.” A deeper voice crackled through.
“Did you get anything from him?” the soft voice asked. “Couldn’t you have at least attached the ‘Tick’?.”
“Well, I got this little locket.” Lizzy replied. “Did your Ticks get everything, Roland?” Nothing back from the other side. “Roland?”
“Not yet; if you still have any, now is the time to just randomly spread them.” Roland replied.
Lizzy took out a little pouch. Inside were two more robotic ticks. She walked between this young couple and grazed both their shoulders. “You two are the prettiest couple here.” And kept walking. “It sucks that we have to buy new ones every time.” Lizzy stood still and bit her own lip. “Get it, sucks?”
“I think we have a problem.” Roland's soft voice trembled. “You guys need to press the button and get the fuck out of there.”
“What do you mean?” Lizzy walked faster. She turned around. Some guy in a black coat followed her. “Oh, I see what you mean.” She pushed further through the crowd. Getting faster and rougher. “Roland, tell us what's up before Ralf pushes the button.”
“Okay, someone, I am guessing the red guy, has set off some sort of silent alarm. The building itself is being isolated. 10 peacekeeping units are on their way. 16 individuals are already in the crowd and locked onto your position. You have to press the button now!”
Lizzy put her headphones in and pressed the button. The ticks in the crowd glowed red. An ear-numbing static and screeching went through the watch and every other electronic device. Some of the people around broke down and covered their ears. Lizzy was almost out of the crowd. She threw a black ball above the crowd. It landed on the ground the moment she pushed away the last group. It broke, and the pieces turned into glittering flying dust.
Lizzy jumped towards it. The dust attached to the bottom of her shoes. She jumped again, and a burst of flame shot her forward. Like an ice skater, she danced through the streets. The Peacekeepers were right behind her on bikes. All the attention was on her.
*Bang!* The first shot missed her. The next one ripped through her hair. Lizzy threw another pink ball in front of herself. A pink liquid spread around the ground. She jumped above it. The liquid bubbled up, moved around, swirled, and twirled until it finally formed into a gum wall as tall as the surrounding skyscrapers.
The three PK-Force (Peacekeeper Force) cars drove straight into it. The two bikes swerved around. Again, three more shots, all of them barely missed her. “Fucking assholes!” *Bang!* This time the bullet grazed her arm. “Okay, fuck this.”
Lizzy held her right index and middle finger in front of herself. She then put the thumb and index finger of her left hand together like she was holding a needle. Lizzy pushed the needle between her fingers. A glowing yellow line appeared on her fingerless gloves. She ripped out the needle, the lines turned green, and a robotic voice sounded from her watch: ‘Safety Off.’
Lizzy held her right hand like a gun. Then, she pulled the trigger. The fire under her shoes turned into a blazing flame storm, exploding her forward. She grabbed a lantern and swung herself around the next corner, and another, and another one.
She couldn’t lose the cops, however. They were still on her ass. Another ball dropped in front of her. A yellow one. She closed her eyes. She made a fist with both her hands, and the flames stopped. Lizzy ripped off her watch and any other electronics she had. She dropped to the ground and put her hands behind her head.
The cops slowed down and held their car. The yellow ball dissolved in a bright yellow flash. Lizzy’s watch and all the other electronics burst into flames. She stood up and ran further and around the next corner. Ralf was waiting with his bike.
** Date: 08.06.1029 PNT // Saturday **
** Time: 2:34 // 2:34 AM **
** Location: Ecosystem Mika // Habitat Melissa // District 7 // Sector 4 // Moira Road 3 **
**Cafe Moira // backroom office**
Rings, necklaces, chains, bracelets, watches, flash drives, phones, glasses, and many other things lay on the table. Lizzy stared at the loot and lay back deeper into the chair. She lit up a cigarette and nodded. “Soon, boys.”
“You should decode all the devices immediately, Roland.” Ralf said.
Roland pushed his face into the treasure and hugged it. “Not yet, let me dream a little bit more.” He sighed. “How many credits will they have? Maybe they have veils. Oh, please let it be veils.”
Lizzy waved her cigarette around Ralf’s face. “Go on, call Rat. Tell him we're going to see him tomorrow at the usual place.” She pulled Roland gently by the hair upwards. “You too, little one.”
Roland took all the electronic devices. Ralf took the rest. “Can I keep this?” He held a watch in front of Lizzy. She smiled and nodded.
“You boys do your thing. I’m going to talk to Jules.” Lizzy was almost out of the door. “Especially that locket that almost cost us our lives.”
Ralf sent a message to Rat. ‘Went shopping. c u as usual.’ He opened his little fanny pack. His one hand was twice as big as the whole fanny pack. Ralf scrambled for his ‘loot-scanner.’ On its handle was a carving ‘by Dr. Gulpo.’
The loot scanner was formed like a pistol. But instead of a barrel, it has a camera in the front. Instead of ammo, it uses a fusion battery, and instead of an iron sight, it has a touch screen attached to it. Ralf rolled open the black cloth on the table. And put a silver chain on it. He pressed the power button on his scanner. He pressed the button for ‘scan mode.’ Ralf held the device above the chain and around it. A 3D image appeared on the screen. ‘Looking through Database.’ It took a while, but it found a matching entry, looked up current market price in each condition, and measured the condition of the item present. Ralf pressed on the ‘+’ button, which allowed him to add it to a list. “Aren’t you scared of using this stuff?”
“What do you mean?” Roland put his laptop on the table and attached a station to connect all flash drives. He turned it on. ‘Welcome, Dr. Gulpo’
“This AI shit.” Ralf said as he kept using it. “There is a reason it was banned.”
“I understand your point.” His eyes didn’t leave the screen. “I see it like every other tool. The issue isn’t the tool itself. But who uses it, you know? If bad guys use it, surely they will make things worse. But it helps the good guys, too.”
“You think we are the good guys?”
“Yeah, why would you think otherwise?” Roland seemed genuinely surprised.
**Cafe Moira // counter**
“Hey there, gorgeous, how is business going?” Lizzy sat on a stool next to the counter.
“As usual, what about you?” Jules replied as she washed dishes.
“Today was really good, actually.” She smiled. “We are getting closer; we might get there in the next month or so.”
“But we still have not found a good location yet.” Jules sighed. “Even if so, I don’t know if we have the money for a location. Everything else will already be so expensive.”
Lizzy grabbed her hands and stared into Jules’ eyes. “Listen to me: The universe will provide. The stars will align, and our event will be the greatest fucking spectacle this habitat has seen.” She dragged her from around the corner and lifted her onto a table. “And on top of all of that will be you: the greatest artist in all of Melissa!”
“I don’t know…” Jules blushed and covered her face with her hands. “I still have to meet with this guy. And show him …”
“Don’t worry, he will not only fall in love with your art but also you.”
“I don’t think I can charm him. He has, like, this really fucked up, weird, toxic relationship.” She said as she slammed her fists on the table. Her breath got heavier. “I shouldn’t do that anyway. I don’t want to be reduced to my body.”
“Jules chill-”
But Jules did not chill. She kept going and started crying. “What if nobody likes it?”
Until Lizzy slapped her. “People will love it!” Lizzy froze. “Look, just to take some pressure off, even if some people don’t enjoy your art, the night itself will be a success, and you will be in the middle of it.” She closed her eyes. “Can you see it? So many different people will be there, and they will bring their own lives. Comedy, action, romance, drama, and maybe even tragedy. You will bring all of that into one point.”
“Tragedy?” The tears were about to flow again.
“Hopefully not that one.” Lizzy put on a smirk. “However, every publicity is good publicity, and therapy exists for the rest.” Jules slapped her on the arm. A loud bang followed by the backroom door flying across the cafe interrupted them. “Speaking of...”
