"There's some bruising on her ribs that we assume is related," Scarver gestured vaguely at the stretcher as it was being carried away, "She might have been dragged in by force.  As to why she was walking down the street at that time... we'll have to hope she wakes up to tell us.  We'll let you know as soon as she does.

"That's the weird thing, though.  It doesn't seem targeted, but it's such a clean job it's hard to say that it was unprofessional.  We're not sure what to make of it, yet."

~~~

"Well," Gideon mused as he started setting tools aside.  "I rather think your father will never quite get that sort of business.  Anyone of, pardon my arrogance, [i]my[/i] level of skill simply doesn't need someone like your father to be a middle man.  It is my own professional opinion that the highest levels of the industry will always be private contractors.  Hold still," he didn't skip a beat as he began to work.  On a subject as complex as Felix, it was more like surgery than mere mechanical repair.  

The first thing he used was a little cylinder with an iron hemisphere on the end.  There were two dials on the other side, and he fiddled with them for a second, then held the iron side to Felix and started running it around his body.  Felix could feel as the iron's selective magnetism attracted only the mercury in his body, making it flow through the vessels to follow the strange device. 

He ran it down Felix's arm and said, "Here, hold that for me," placing the iron side in Felix's palm.  It held the mercury there in his arm, so that it wouldn't start to seal up the pieces that Gideon had to cut.

"If I were in a position to advise him," Gideon said, obviously about to offer that advice anyway, "I'd say it would be best to cut his losses in that sector."