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[color=cadetblue]”Mister Choi, I just don’t think it’s a good idea. There’s too many ways it could go wrong.”[/color]

From across a screen table playing a silent news stream, Choi’s consultant was giving the office’s owner a hard stare. The ticker across the screen read about a tense, yet still peaceful demonstration underway in No Man’s Land, which was currently throwing a wrench in many well laid plans. The awkward silence was finally broken.

[color=darkorchid]”I’m not disagreeing with you. I can see how bad it looks.”[/color] Choi pointed a wagging finger at the screen, the same finger which then minimized the news stream and brought up an encoded message that took a moment to be translated.[color=darkorchid]”But, read this. ‘No change in retrieval point.’ I can’t do anything, my hands are tied. APEX isn’t budging on this one.”[/color]

[color=cadetblue]”What, are they stupid? They’re the ones who designated this contract as “Maximum Risk”, but now they refuse to give us another spot to meet up? How does that make any sense?”[/color] The young man’s voice was full of incredulity. Running his hands through his hair, he leaned back in his chair, taking a deep breath that was cut short when it caught the scratchy end of one of Choi’s long e-cigarette drags.

[color=darkorchid]”Come on, use your head. You know how things like these usually end up, don’t you? Have you ever seen [i]any[/i] protests or demonstrations in this city remain peaceful all the way through? APEX isn’t sending us anywhere else because [b]they don’t have[/b] anywhere else. Everything they have this side of South City is probably headed for No Man’s Land right now.”[/color] 

The young man gave a deep, obviously frustrated exhale from his nose, turning his chair away from the news stream to face the fish tank behind him. The aquarium was vast, taking up a considerable space in front of the wall, and was immaculately clean, with dozens of beautiful small artificial fish swimming around amongst the tall stalks of vibrant and colorful vegetation. As he watched, one of the tank's only two organic inhabitants, a small sea snail, emerged from his small plastic pineapple house. As soon as the mollusk bared his bright crimson shell, though, his opposition emerged, too. Carrying an electric blue shell, the second snail made a beeline across the bottom of the tank to attack his adversary. In a sort of choreographed dance, the fish of the tank formed gangs on either side of the fishtank, all attacking and defending each other and their various snail lords. Sei watched intently, before the entire ordeal reminded him of the conversation he’d just been having.

[color=cadetblue]”And what about security? None of your other heavy hitters want this fucking contract. You send the Tin Can Man out there alone, this is bound to right down the drain.”[/color]

[color=darkorange]C’mon, Sei! Give your boy a little more faith than that!”[/color] As Olex finally entered the room, Sei’s eyes nearly snapped their own connective nerves with the speed which they rolled to the back of his head.[color=darkorange]”What is it exactly that Sei doesn’t think ol’ Tin Can Man can handle, by the way?”[/color]

Choi only barely turned to face Olex, and tossed a small, electronically locked box down at the table. It could fit in the palm of one’s hand, yet looked as if it would require high-grade explosives to open without the proper biometrics. A lingering sense of concern and discomfort remained on his face as he spoke, his voice thick with consternation.

[color=darkorchid]”APEX job, maximum security. They wanted something delivered to their R&D office in the GCZ, but now look. They’ve got themselves another one of the Reclaim’s famous ‘peaceful protests’. We asked for a different pickup, but they’ve denied it. It’s either we do it now, or in about another 2 hours we will be considered ‘In Possession of Illegally Obtained Documents belonging to APEX CORPS.’ and we will pay dearly for holding onto the intel. Rusto and Gin are already out on jobs on the other side of town and the rest of our friends don’t want to take it, they say that ‘the money’s not worth the risk’. Cowards.”[/color] To cap off the tirade, Choi immediately took a deep drag, and almost as immediately began coughing violently, stepping aside while his guards worriedly began to try and calm the man down.

[color=darkorange]”I’ll do it.[/color]

Sai’s eyes instantly shot open with surprise. [color=cadetblue]”What?[/color]

[color=darkorange]”I said I’ll do it. Just give the intel and I’ll run it. I don’t need backup for some peaceful protests. I’ll get there and make it out before anything even has the slightest chance of going bad.”[/color] Olex tried to greet the men’s surprised faces with a signature grin, but a quick read of the room made the smile feel a bit inappropriate.

Sai simply scoffed and buried his face right back into his palms. A shining sign of confidence from the young man. Choi’s face twisted a bit, showing off a few wrinkles that had begun to mar his once youthful face. He crossed his arms, the concern in his look was obvious. The years of running his office were always fraught with stress and frustration. Bad deals and failed contracts, dead couriers and plentiful enemies, Tencho Choi’s job was definitely one that needed a sweet retirement plan. Given APEX’s input, though, there wouldn’t be much to retire from. The rock and the hard place were growing more and more uncomfortable by the second.

[color=darkorchid]”Don’t be foolish, Oleksandr. You of all people should know that it’s stupid to take these kinds of jobs on your own. We’ll just talk to Re-”[/color]

[color=darkorange]”And you should know that it’s even more stupid to tests APEX’s patience. As bad of an idea this is, and as much as we all know I shouldn’t be doing this, I think we also all know this is the only choice we have.”[/color]

[color=darkorchid]”We could at least try and wait for Rusto or Gin. You need some sort of support, my boy. Sending you alone would be foolhardy, to say the very least.”[/color]

A furrowed brow on Olex’s face was all Choi needed to see to understand his frustration. It mirrored Choi’s own weariness. Both men understood the situation they were in, and they knew Choi was simply trying to find every excuse they had to buy them time. There were no other choices left, and with a deep breath inhale and exhale, Olex let Choi know that he was done with the stalling.

[color=darkorange]”Just let me take the job, Choi. I can handle myself, we know that. Worst possible outcome, I die. No biggie.”[/color] Sei had finally broke his stare from the aquarium to face Olex and Choi, sneering at the Tin Can Man’s flippant bravado.

[color=cadetblue]”It’s his funeral, Tench, just let hi-”[/color]

[color=darkorchid]”I don’t recall asking you a goddamn thing, boy. And it’s ‘Mister Choi’ to you. You watch your tongue or it will be cut from your mouth.”[/color]

Even in his later years, the owner of the office maintained the fierce passion that kept him alive up until that point. The youngest man in the room had just spoken out of turn, a mistake he knew better to make. He simply sat up straight, giving a silent nod coupled with a hard gulp. There was no need to further test Choi’s patience. It took a moment for the boy to find the courage to look his elder in the face, but was surprised to find that Choi hadn’t done the same. His gaze was still locked on Olex, who at this point was examining the small secure box Choi had placed on the table.

The clear respect that Choi held for Olex gave Sei a burning in his stomach. Since he was a young adult. Sei Chen had been Tench Choi’s right hand man. Paperwork, enforcer bribery, network hacking, Sei did it all. All the tin can man had done was walk up and ask for a job, and within months, he was one of Choi’s few shining stars. Yet, Sei was still simply regarded as an errand boy, Choi’s servant that did the small work that the elder was busy to be bothered with. Youth had convinced him that one day he’d earn the same respect, all it would take was more hard work and time dedicated to the office. He hadn’t the maturity yet to realize that Choi only truly respected those whom he considered to be of equal ambition and ability. Those willing to just do small tasks or easy work were convenient. Simply only convenient. Robotic eyes and cerebral cyberware didn’t cloud Choi’s natural ability to read people, and while Olex had yet to find his way into his own place of power, it was clear he had a drive that those born from the Reclaim lacked.

[color=darkorchid]”You haven’t much time left to get going, Oleksandr.”[/color]

[center][b][u]---[/u][/b][/center]

To Olex’s dismay but not so much his surprise, the mob forming in the streets of the GCZ was much larger and more restless than it was when he’d last looked at the news broadcast. Almost the entire street was filled, with the area immediately in front of the APEX facility almost completely cut off by a dense frontline of protesters. Even behind him, more people were seemingly pouring in from side streets and alleyways. The mood was souring more and more by the second, as those new arrivals weren’t shy to bump and push Olex aside as they joined the larger mass of people. His pace slowed, and he began to slow sink deeper and deeper in the hostile crowd, their loud chants and intermingling speaking slowly turning into an incomprehensible cacophony. Scanning the surrounding street, Olex’ eye caught something.

Olex’s head tilted to the side a bit as he noticed Stella across the street, having to steal glances as more people carrying picket signs and rocks filled every available space around him. He turned his view just ahead of himself to make sure he wasn’t going to run right into someone, but his gaze always returned to Stella. Finally, his curiosity gripped him. What would a jog across the street hurt? Of course, it was easier said than done as the area was very quickly filling up, droves and droves of more people filing in at a surprising pace. Even with the allure of the [color=#FF30CF]B - A - R[/color] sign, the amount of shoulder checks and dirty looks Olex was getting was whittling down on his desire to finish his trip across the street. A slight poke in his ribs reminded him of the small metal box that he had stuffed in a pocket holding tight to his torso. Something nagged at him, the clear voice of Choi in the back of his head. As enticing and curious as the bizarre bar stand was, Olex knew better than to stray off this course this time.

 Pivoting on his heel, Olex’s body tensed up as his return to the correct path was greeted with a harsh, intense heat washing over his face and chest. He relaxed slightly from the jolt, and his opening eyes were greeted to a spectacular wave of flames, the orangish-red wisps of which flowed off the wall and flirted dangerously from the crowd. With a face twisted in surprise,a shaky hand shot under his shirt, pulling it at a snail’s pace from its place under his arm, keeping it low past his waist once it was free. More molotovs were being drawn from the crowd, with the dull drone of the crowd slowly growing into a harsh growl. Aggressive in both their movements and their shouting, Olex could see the door guards tense up, and a cold flash of adrenaline shocked his gut, as he knew that it could only go south from this point. He’d lost his chance at trying to get in the building unharmed, now, he was desperate to get as far away from the muzzles of their weapons as quickly as possible.

[u][b][center]---[/center][/b][/u]

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Heads and hair all blended together, a sea of vibrant greens and blues, opposing the dull browns and blacks. Below the heads, it seemed to be a sea of chrome. For some, it was obvious that the allure of being more machine than man had taken ahold, as little flesh was left to be seen. Other bodies told more visually downtrodden stories, with many in the crowd carrying miserably outdated and badly maintained cyberware. Bare wires, little in the way of support or protections, open and rusted joints that could barely move in any direction, let alone the two they were meant. Proctor felt strangely at home, seeing that he wasn’t the only one with augments that had seen better days. Many faces in the crowd wore looks of fear and confusion, similar to the look that Proctor carried at that very moment.

Having just emerged from a secluded alleyway, the congealed mass of people overtaking the Baolei clinic was overwhelming at first. Muscles in Proctor’s body contracted and relaxed, as he intended to shield his eyes from the light, but it took a few notable moments before his arm would finally move and block out the garish colors and shine. Tired eyes surrounded by dark circles squinted his pupils adjusted to the scene. 

Behind Proctor, in the layer of dust on the ground that was usual for the Reclaim, was a deep and jagged line, leading all the way up to where his right foot was resting. The elder grimaced as he tried his best to coax the stiffness out of his joints, but it was really just a robotic reaction more than anything. There was no way to massage cramps from metal legs, nor were there any cheap or easy ways to get his limbs operating any faster than they already were, short of Neurosynth. Pulsing, dull pain was still radiating from his legs, and Proctor soon enough just shut his eyes, grimacing at the intense throbbing that washed over most of his body from his legs up.

Where was he? What reason did he have to be here?

Murky stupor drove its way past the concentration he held on the pain, and momentarily washed most of the thought from his mind. Proctor’s eyes returned to the crowd, and for a moment it looked completely alien. Subtle anxiety set in as he realized he had no clue where he was at. Everyone in the crowd seemed to be facing away from him, so he obviously wasn’t the draw. But what was? Why did the crowd happen to all be chromed up looking maniacs? Was Proctor also about to join the crowd of chromed up maniacs?

Even through the back of their skulls, Proctor felt the prying eyes of the crowd poke and prod him. In and out of his pockets, searing their stares into his eyes. The crowd of machines need not face him to surveil him. To Proctor, the street fell silent, and everyone that had gathered outside of the temple waited for his next move. The air was thick with an electric and bristling energy that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

A commotion of loud conversation and stunned passerbys shocked Proctor awake. Very quickly, his mind was flooded once again with precious memories, a sense of relief washing over him. The pulse of pain in his body had calmed, and he finally felt comfortable enough to start moving. Pulling his leg forward, it was slow to move but did actually work, if not still a bit stiff. Proctor finally joined the crowd, trying to take peeks at the front of the temple, where the monks seemed to be addressing everyone. What they said mattered little to Proctor, he simply scanned for anything that looked like Neurosynth. The monk kept taking glances behind him, and gave hand motions for those closest to him to calm down, but what seemed to be going on in the temple was unclear to Proctor, who had slowly begun to wriggle his way into the thicker parts of the crowd, desperate to get his hands on some neurosynth as quickly as possible. He didn’t have any concentration left to try and figure out what was being said around him, the crowd was silent as far as he could tell. 

The hunt for his artificial clarity was on.