104 THE NURSE'S HIDDEN FUNCTION
The SIA officers burst into Zairgid's apartment. Inside, a woman with an impossibly large bust and mechanical precision in her movements stood frozen mid-pose.
"What is this?" Captain Gita demanded.
"My nurse android," Zairgid said, clearly embarrassed.
"What exactly are you doing with your nurse android?" one of the younger officers asked, smirking.
Zairgid coughed. "Treatment."
The team fanned out, their scanners humming. They quickly discovered several android bodyguards standing in the corner—sleek, armored, and unregistered.
"You do realize possession of unregistered androids violates SIA regulations?" Gita asked sharply.
Zairgid didn't flinch. "Really? I had no idea. I'll have my manager handle the paperwork first thing in the morning." He slipped a polished card into her gloved hand.
"Zairgid Aukouma. Aukouma Industries."
Recognition flashed across Gita's face. She straightened at once. "My apologies for the intrusion, sir… Mr. Aukouma."
Aukouma Industries was one of the city's most powerful conglomerates. No one in their right mind would risk offending its heir.
Possessing android bodyguards and servants wasn't beyond the means of such people. In fact, it was quite common.
"Have you found what you're looking for?" Zairgid asked coolly, just as one of the agents moved toward the bathroom.
His stomach tightened. "Don't touch the damn water."
The agent pulled open the shower curtain. Steam drifted up from a tub filled with foamy bubbles.
"What's this?"
"My beauty bath," Zairgid said smoothly.
The agent started to dip a hand into the water—
"That's enough," Captain Gita interrupted. "We're done here. Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Aukouma."
The officers filed out quickly, and the door shut behind them.
Zairgid collapsed to the floor, exhaling hard. "That was too close…"
A ripple broke the surface of the bathwater, and Ethen slowly emerged, dripping and grinning. "That guy almost found me."
Zairgid stared, half in disbelief, half in panic. "Who the hell are you? Why's the SIA tearing down doors for you?"
Ethen smirked. "I can unlock your android nurse's hidden functions. No censors. No holds barred. You probably didn't know this model of android used to work in the entertainment industry."
Zairgid blinked. "Damn it… no wonder they want you."
-----
Damen arrived at Zairgid's apartment after the SIA sweep had cleared the building.
"Are they gone?" Zairgid asked as soon as the door shut.
"Most of them," Ethen said without looking up from the holo-pad. "Two units are still parked in an unmarked car in the lot."
"How do you even know that?" Zairgid blinked, surprised.
"Ethen has talents," Damen said with a small smile.
Zairgid's face fell. "And he's a wanted fugitive… what exactly did he do?"
"The corporations want to harvest his ability," Damen explained bluntly. "They want to extract what he can do."
"You from a major family too?" Ethen asked Zairgid curiously.
Zairgid waved a hand. "Sort of an heir of the Aukouma Industries, yes—but I'm not into the family business. I don't care about your powers… well, except for unlocking a few hidden functions on my nurse android." He grinned sheepishly.
"What hidden functions?" Damen asked, amusedly.
They traded a laugh and Zairgid explained the android's quirks. When the laughter died down, Ethen's face grew sober.
"Big Brother, what should I do now? I keep causing trouble for you." He looked genuinely guilty.
Zairgid scratched his nose, thinking. "Wait—you said you can hack everything?"
"Yes."
"Then your digital signature isn't the problem. Your face is. You can't change that, right?"
Ethen swallowed. "I can't—at least not without help."
"Easy," Zairgid said. "Change your face."
Damen and Ethen stared at him. "It's that simple? Just change a face?" Damen asked.
Zairgid chuckled. "It's more complicated than saying it. But here's the thing—our family keeps a vault of fake identities. We use them to protect a relative who needs to disappear for some reason. New papers, facial prosthetics, neural imprint profiles—everything. With one of those, you vanish and become a new person. The SIA warrant doesn't matter."
"You actually have that kind of backup?" Damen's eyes lit.
"I don't hold them," Zairgid admitted. "My uncle Arom keeps the blueprints and the vault keys."
Damen's mind clicked. "We can steal the blueprint from Arom."
Zairgid swallowed. "Are you sure it's that simple?"
Damen glanced at Ethen. "It'd be hard for you and me, sure. But for Ethen? That's a piece of cake."
Ethen offered a small, confident smile. "Leave it to me."
-----
They slipped into the Aukouma estate under a moon too high to cast useful shadows. The grounds were a lattice of motion sensors and drone-patrol routes; every gate was watchful before they passed.
Zairgid led them through a service entrance he knew well, moving like someone finally home at night.
"Are you sure the cameras won't catch us?" Zairgid whispered as they threaded past hedges. "There are hundreds of them—and the dog drones circle every hour."
"They won't bother us," Ethen said, his voice steady as he tapped his head.
Lines of code scrolled across the myriads of security system which only he could see. "There'll be no trace we were ever here."
Zairgid grinned. "You're something else, kid. Next time I need to steal pocket money from my father, I'll bring you along."
"No problem," Ethen answered. "You're Big Brother's friend—so you're my friend."
The Aukouma mansion was a fortress disguised as a home: wireless sensors stitched the gardens, laser ribbons hummed across hallways, and optical nodes studded the roof like teeth.
Yet they moved through it like ghosts.
"I've never felt so cool walking through my own house," Zairgid whispered, laughing under his breath. "Nothing can catch us."
"Where's your uncle's vault?" Damen asked, watching the corridors swallow their footsteps.
"Arom lives in the annex," Zairgid said. They threaded through a maze of private wings until the annex rose before them like a smaller, sterner copy of the main house.
Ethen went still and glanced at the wall cameras as they passed. He had eyes on every corridor now; if a guard moved, he would see them before they rounded the corner.
They found Arom's study tucked behind a row of manicured hedgerows.
Inside, the room smelled of old paper and cedar. Zairgid swept a hand across a shelf of leather-backed volumes. The bookcase shuddered and parted with a soft mechanical sigh to reveal a vault door inset into the wall.
"Behind the book cabinet," Zairgid said, breathless.
Damen snorted. "Why do rich people always hide vaults behind bookcases? It's the most obvious hiding spot."
Zairgid shrugged and pushed the case fully open. "It obviously works for them."
"Now what do we do?" Zairgid asked again before adding, "I've brought you here and the rest is up to you."
Ethen moved forward, his palms hovering near the vault's panel.
Suddenly, Damen froze. A sound — faint and metallic — echoed from somewhere behind the thick steel.
"Damnit," he hissed. "We're not alone."
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