She must have had the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. The kind of eyes that would make you believe in hope, even in this world which sometimes feels like it is collapsing on itself. Two emerald crystals — a masterpiece carved into a world of dust and decay.
How sad that she will die. People like her don't live long.
At the head of the half-broken desk on a half-rusted chair was David. A grumpy, ex-millitary soldier who now fetches outlaws in order to do the dirty work for him. I stared at the small stack of papers near him.
I made my way closer to the table.
His eyes lifted half an inch and he greeted me with a single word. He continued carefully studying the blueprints. The girl with emerald eyes was on his right and on the left was a man I hadn't seen before.
She was a real mystery. We get new people all the time here, mostly because someone cant help but die, but this was different.
David told me she will be there. Never ever has this happened before. He spoke of an analog hacker, he said her name would be Akira. Someone to jam the cameras, open digital doors, and overall be the key to our operation. He also said that this particular mission would be exclusive to us.
The whole day this bothered me. Why did he tell me?
It's usually impossible to get even a sound from him, and here he is giving me information free of charge.
Is she related to him? Does he care about her? Does he want me to protect her? Nothing but doubts.
Her hair was pale like ash and she was young. I'd guess early twenties. Her figure was slim, dressed in an all black, a tight turtleneck, and cargo pants probably full of equipment. An elegant slim soft laptop case was next to her. She was wearing leather gloves and had coat resting on her shoulders. Her were together on the table.
Not a single part of her skin other than the face was visible, and even her face was frozen in time.
Naturally I was curious, and did some research on her before coming to the meeting.
Not a thing came up. Not a record, not even a hint of her existence. Even on the streets she was a ghost. But I put the two together, eventually settling on the conclusion that she was fresh meat. She's invisible not because she is special, she was invisible because she's a first timer.
The more I dug the less things made sense. David doesn't take birds under his wings, he needs cold, calculated killers and professionals of the art of crime. He is a man of contracts, the man who gets things done, not a charitable father.
"Zoro, this is Akira, she was our only choice after Mark died. Unreliable in combat, but quite impressive when it comes to infiltration".
I just nodded.
"As far as the behemoth on the right, his name is Chillean, he will be your protection. I took him for this job specifically, as there might be intricacies which we will talk about soon".
I stared him for a second, he just stared back.
I reached my hand out to him:
"Good to meet you".
"Likewise."
I sat down.
I took notice of a chip in the split second when he reached for my hand. The small object reflected the moonlight. Cybernetics? Can't be. Even illegal cybernetics can cost a fortune.
"Keys" or what we called people with technological implants, don't get involved in mid-level infiltrations. What in the world brought him here? And what in the world brought me here?
Our intel, Lisa, was in the corner. All I knew is that David's calls her when she needs information and then she brings him a folder, and in return gets payment in a form of an envelope. I noted there were many papers on that table, and today her envelope was bigger than usual. Our eyes met, for a second, and I just nodded. She didn't nod back.
I then put my hands on the table, turned to Akira and asked: "First mission? Not afraid to step out into the real world?" But I had no luck here either as she ignored me too, didn't even flinch. I suppose it was the best thing to do in her position.
So far this girl, whoever she is, plays the best chess moves on her side of the board. Even if she is scared, she knows how to hide it well. Interestingly enough her ignorance of me showed something else - a very strong sense of confidence.
David took a brown unsealed envelope, Lisa took it out of his hand, counted her payment, and headed into the night.
The only source of light on this abandoned gas station was a small LED lamp near where the stack of papers were lying, as well as the moon that was now almost in the middle of the sky. Here it felt like we were not in the year 2051, but somewhere far back. Near a calm forest with no light, no signal, no neon signs and advertisements the size of entire buildings.
Truly a beautiful sight. Nature in it's natural form.
Suddenly David stood up.
"As you may know this contract is different, so the rules are different. This mission is far more dangerous than our usual work. You will be infiltrating a highly protected warehouse belonging to one of the top corps in this country. Get in, take an item, get out. Everything like usual, except 5 times harder. All must be done without anyone knowing."
His finger tapped the blueprint once.
"The reward reflects the risk. Six grams of gold per each of you, and three grams if you make a mess and raise the alarm. If you want nothing to do with this mission, this is your only chance. Any further, and it becomes confidential."
Silence spread through the abandoned station. I stood up. Partly to stretch my legs, partly because every nerve in my body was telling me to walk away.
Something wasn't right, one of us was a Key, another was a girl who looked like she should be studying in an academy on a scholarship, not breaking into corporate fortresses.
This was a bad roll of the dice. A doomed hand. But David doesn't fail. His life is on the line for every contract he takes. And the reward — ten times the usual — burned in the back of my skull like a beacon. Ten times. Twenty, if perfect. Why? Why us? Why this team?
I forced myself back into the chair. David pretended not to notice my hesitation, though I was sure he saw it. He always saw everything. His voice remained calm, steady.
"This facility uses hybrid security," he said. "Digital on the surface, analog on the inside. It's old tech. Forgotten tech. Tech that only one type of person can breach."
His eyes moved toward Akira.
David continued. "Mark was our analog specialist. After he died, we were left with no access codes, no notes, no backups. Without someone who understands hybrid systems, this mission is impossible."
"So she's the one getting us through?" Chillean muttered. "Didn't realize corps were hiring academy dropouts now." My eyes shifted to Akira, curious to see her reaction to the insult, but she just remained silent. She didn't look at him. Didn't flinch. Didn't even shift her posture.
Girl has nerves of steel, I noted to myself. Sometimes I wish I had a temper like that.
Instead, her eyes moved across the blueprint once — a calm, slow scan.
"That's wrong," she said quietly. Her gloved finger tapped a narrow corridor drawn in ink. "This route." Tap. "The power line can't run along the ceiling like this. It dips through the south wall. If you cut it where you marked, you'll trigger the analog relay. The whole floor locks down."
Chillean's smirk fell. David leaned in, squinting. I didn't know if she is bluffing, or potentially saved us from a catastrophe.
Akira continued, still not looking at anyone: "You'll want to cut it twelve centimeters lower. Behind the access panel. It's very likely unlabeled because corpos don't think anyone remembers analog layouts anymore."
Silence thickened around the table. Chillean looked away first. David gave a small, reluctant nod — the thing he did when he approved of something he didn't want to approve of but knew he had to. I caught myself staring at her again, then I smiled. Every minute that passed by I was
David paused. His brow tightened just slightly — his version of disbelief. Chillean finally looked up.
Maybe it is me who should be worried. Something tells me that this girl has a greater purpose in life than dying tonight.
David cleared his throat softly, an unspoken admission she was right. I exhaled slowly. Not because she impressed me — though she did — but because it meant my earlier assumption might have been wrong. I
David closed the blueprint and stood. "That settles it," he said.
"Get in the van, we move in twenty minutes." Il'l explain the details in the meantime.
No going back now.
The lights were dimmed and everything but the moon became black. As we made our way to the van, I couldn't think about the mission. My mind was full of emeralds.