The last two days [i]could[/i] have been a dream for her, but Mei was too busy preoccupying herself with preparations to relax. For one, this job was a corporate one, and that meant risks for her that could end her career as a star hacker, and the joyride her life had been, so she had been making sure that every single program was without bug or flaw. Her security must be [i]air tight[/i], or an errant data package would give away the game. Any slip up on her part could cost her both her paycheck [i]and[/i] her future, and either of those outcomes were unconscionable. Not to mention, any given person in the hotel might be a corporate spy, or worse, a competitor looking to screw the job, which meant she hadn't been able to even leave her [i]room[/i] in the past forty-eight hours she had been booked in. Not only could the enemy gather data on her, but if they had gotten to her precious hardware, untold damage could have been wrought. No, better to stay sealed away, and order food, than to risk it all for silly games. After all, there was a far [i]grater[/i] game to be played.

Two, she had been digging into who else might have been tapped for this job. Obviously, she would not be a lone, but as Loingsech had been less than forthcoming with details about the job at all, even to bolster success, she had gone through her own channels to find anything out. Even then, information had been sparse. She had a list of names and images to fit them, but beyond that, nothing. No objective, no expected time of completion, not even her [i]pay[/i]. Above all else, this had infuriated her.

So, third, she had an ulterior motive. She was going to datamine the ever-living hell out of Loingsech the [i]second[/i] she was capable of doing so. Info insurance to protect her hide after a blackout job only seemed prudent after all, and if no one else on this team was concerned, she might be able to keep them alive at the end as well. Paranoia, sure, but she had survived on the 'Net this long through over-protection and she was not about to let that slip now. And there was no such [i]thing[/i] as overprotective, really, when it came to corporate jobs. She knew from her past two experiences that her security would be tested both flagrantly and subtly as soon as the job was done, if not before. And reports from her friends in the Sun On Yee and online world that blackout jobs like this tended to end with a healthy round of 去除松散的一端, so she had [i]reason[/i] to be concerned.

All in all, she was [i]excited[/i], bordering on ecstatic, by this job. The danger, challenge, and the tackling of the unknown were refreshing in a life that had, for the past several months, been nothing but a slog of boring programming jobs and no danger at all aside from what had built up over the course of her career. The anticipation of such an event had kept her up all night, and at seven, she found herself floating across the lobby and into the beckoning van with a high dose of endorphins and low inhibitions even for her. She had composed herself enough the dress and back, but judging by the others, she was the odd one out. She had adorned herself in her usual jewelry, taking special care to keep her silver dragon bracelet hidden by the multitude of brightly coloured scarves and light-cloth ribbons that shimmered with colours. Her hair was on, and her mood had triggered the colours to run and shine between amber and green in cascading waves. She busied herself trolling the 'Net for information on the car ride in the van, however, and avoided, through conscious effort, trying to talk to anyone until the briefing on the job finally happened. She was sure the others had noticed that she was on edge, but she doubted most of them realised that it was mostly avoiding stepping on toes or giving away the game and not just typical nervousness she was showing.

In the meantime, to keep herself occupied, she tried once more in vain to dig up any information. Loingsech had obviously bottled the van tight, as she wasn't having any luck tapping into their systems at [i]all[/i], and at this point, she admitted to herself, the likelihood of drawing attention to herself outweighed the chance of any sort of useful information, so she sat back with a resigned sigh and watched the rest of the crew with apprehension, and the slight hope that any of them knew what they might be in for.