John frowned down at his phone. As technology advanced, it became increasingly difficult to misinterpret what they were saying. Lately, the kind little machine spirit that lived on the phone would even read aloud messages you received, which had led him to his current predicament. 

“Special Agent Doe: Report immediately for assignment pursuant to HR-4272; attendance is mandatory.” 

“I heard you the first time Xeri. Make it stop, block the number, or whatever.” 

“It is part of the Emergency Alert System and cannot be disabled.”  

He took a deep breath. That was the problem with the government these days: always looking to stick its nose into facets of life that were previously considered sacred, just like in the 19th century. He cocked his arm back and threw the phone, watching it soar into the sky and disappear behind several particularly ominous-looking buildings. For a few seconds, all he could think about was being rid of the earsplitting alert sound. Then he remembered that he had been using that phone to find his way to a seafood buffet.

“Son of a-” John jerked his head to the right thirty degrees, a rifle bullet barreling through where it had just been. 

“I told you he wouldn’t come quietly.” An Echo-Zero unit landed in front of John, one of the newest corporate enforcers, its propulsion system throwing up a cloud of dirt as it did. ØTech brand drones came crawling out of the woodwork, no less than a hundred, not that it mattered; thousands of them wouldn’t change the outcome of this fight. After a moment he realized he had crossed paths with the person in the corporate mech before. 

“Well, what have we got here?” John pursed his lips and let out a low droning whistle, eerily similar to a cicada. “Long time no see! Did ya ever find Lou?” He braced himself to move, ready to cover the distance in a few inhuman strides. The Ech0 unit readied herself on reflex, one spear held reverse, as if it would give her a fighting chance. He darted forward, a hail of bullets going up from the drones, tiny pinpricks of hot metal tearing through his flesh as he moved. A spear stabbed into his shoulder, the one she’d been holding in the reverse, then it exploded into white-hot fire.  

“That’s new,” He mused before ducking the second spear and grabbing Ech0 by her throat. He held her off the ground, his proportions seeming to grow and extend as her feet moved further from the ground. Burned flesh sloughed from his shoulder, falling to the ground unceremoniously. 

A voice crackled to life from each of the drones, “I didn’t [b]say[/b] he’d come quietly. I [b]said[/b] there was a .00012 percent chance he refused our offer.” The words echoed out of the drones, the ones furthest away seeming to whisper. It was a familiar voice. He let go of Ech0’s neck.
[hr]
Doe laid lazily in the dirt, his stomach protesting his current assignment. Why should he have to chase a rabbit when there was plenty of food in Shieldtown, just right behind him? Not that he was going to argue with his current handler. He figured it was an infinitely smaller headache to just do as he was told and get it over with. 

“She’s approaching.”

He didn’t move. There was a particularly fat pigeon fluttering about in the eaves of a nearby building. He thought briefly about the plight of the bird, having been almost entirely reliant on humans before they were deemed obsolete and made pests; that thought was quickly replaced by what the pigeon would taste like, and whether or not it was worth the energy expenditure to catch it. 

“If you don’t leave [i]now[/i] you’re going to miss her.” The handler was starting to sound annoyed. 

Pursing his lips, he lifted a hand and let out a cooing noise. The pigeon responded in kind, flying down to alight on his fingers. It was cute; the tail feathers wildly frilled out, some kind of designer pigeon. They stared at each other for a moment, sharing a few silent words. He put his palm on the bird's back, cradling it in his hands and jumped to his feet. “Run this by me one more time, Panopticon. I need to intercept Jemma and funnel her back to Northbridge… Why exactly? How does that help me catch my rabbit?” 

His handler scoffed, ire slowly building in her voice, “You don’t need to know the full plan, you just need to know it was approved by command and executed flawlessly in all the simulations. Not that any of that matters because you are [missing] your window.” 

“Hmm…” Doe pondered that notion for a moment. The pigeon flew away with purpose. 

“Three… Two… One… You [i]missed[/i] her. You no longer have enough time to catch her. Mission failed. The boss is going to be [i]so[/i] pissed. Remind me to have you executed for insubordination.” 

“After I intercept Jemma, you go elsewhere to execute the next part of the plan, like the briefing said? ”

“Yes, but you can’t possibly catch her anymore.” 

Doe smiled smugly and allowed his thoughts to clear. 

“Are you fucking with me right now? You were half-assing it for all of Argentina. Why!?”

“Thinkers are overpowered. It's half the reason I’m even here.” He stretched his arms and set himself into a runner’s stance, phalanges forming themselves into ones more suited for a dead sprint. “The easiest way to trip your type up is to feed them bad info. Now give me room to work.” Doe launched themself into action, their body making alterations as necessary. 
[hr]
Doe landed in the no man’s land between Shieldtown and Northbridge, directly in Jemma’s projected path. She took a few moments to make final adjustments to her body. Long raven-colored hair pinned back tight, her sunkissed skin extended down to her waist, where it turned to dark almost black fur, ending in hooves. She matched her height to that of her suit, making her just over six foot, and folded the bear skin over her arm like an overcoat. 

Jemma could be seen in the distance, leaving the Ripper hideout at exactly the time Panopticon had given. Doe frowned, “Let’s get started then.” 

She waved at the person in the distance, smiling as she called out, “Bonjour.” She took a few more quick strides forward, no malice or ill intent behind the movement, just the look of someone eager to see an old friend. “I’m Jane Doe and I was wondering if you knew this area well, Jemma?” She smiled and took a few more tentative steps forward, then several to the right. “I’m looking for a friend of mine. They’re an albino rabbit. It’s quite a bother really, I took too long getting ready and now I’m running late.” She continued walking as she talked, so that Cortex was straight ahead, into the city, with Jemma in between. “It won’t take long.”