"So, you're the guy. Nice to meet you, my name's Kamin, Detective." Her tone matched her posture; cavalier and self-assured, but not rude yet. "I've been waiting for you." She added.

Was that an accusatory tone in the end?

[ Confirmation. ]

"Hello, that's me. Here are my friends Aran and SG. Are you here in a professional capacity?"

"Of course." She sounded offended, for some reason.

"In that case, I am legally required to inform you that all our exchanges will be recorded. The records are included in the Enforcer's public database and can be used legally." A silent beat later: "I'm sure you were aware of the last part, but not everyone in this room was. Now, can you wait a bit? I'm pretty sure I said all that had to be said yesterday, and I have private business to discuss with Azar."

"Wha-" She frowned, but Zax cut her off. He wasn't in the mood for another entitled Resident right now:

"Thank you." Turning to the community leader: "I don't know if you heard, but all my private prestation were cancelled, nobody wants to speak to me and I couldn't get my nanites back. The last we went to actually spoke, and told us to see with you. Do you know what's happening?"

"This is happening!" He nearly shouted, simmering rage hardly visible behind the professional neutrality, pointing to the displeased Kamin. "Nobody will talk to someone who bring Enforcers in the little dot."

Still calling it that, though.

"Oh, yeah, open systemic corruption would rarely help little dotters." Aran sighed. "We didn't consider that, but I can see it now. Severe tension between Enforcers and Disfavoured. Grudge projected against whoever gives them a reason to come…"

"… They are mad because we called Enforcers for help during an aggression? What were we supposed to do? And why didn't they help first? The signal was spread to everyone, and it was heard by people a lot closer." Zax reflexively replied, but realised as he talked they wouldn't answer in presence of an actual Enforcer. "Nevermind. I don't understand your reasons, but I'll take your word for it. What do we do now?"

"She wanted us to arrange a meeting with you. You've met, so it has nothing to do with us anymore."

Azar turned on his heels, but Zax called him before he could take a step:

"I meant about the templates you owe me. And yesterday's private prestation, too. Can I count on you to help us conclude what we started with minimum issues?"

"We're allowed to change our minds." Agni stated. "If we don't want to give you templates anymore, that's that and we're done."

"True." Zax nodded. "But I still need to get my nanites back and to be compensated for my work-"

"Nanites!?"

"-as detailed in our contract." Everyone ignored the detective's outburst. "The clause was only there for completion's sake, but it was not an idle threat. I will do what I need to get my due. Templates or other." Zax kept his tone neutral, but adamant.

"Agni, what is he talking about?" The boss turned to his daughter.

"Let's see…" The competent secretary browsed her clipboard and quickly found the contract and the relevant part. "If the 'nanite infusion' is complete but we don't want to give the template, a monetary compensation, and… if we can't give the nanites back for any reason, like if they've been damaged by a 3G activation, a… ouch, a way bigger monetary compensation." She winced at the amount. It had been chosen to be dissuasive even for the Circle, and those things truly were expensive. "Compensations replaceable by goods or services of equivalent value, but not discounts or gift cards, to negotiate for each case. If we refuse, he can take legal measures. Will take legal measures, I figure."

"The community centre owes me four templates, and has had two infusions completed. Six private candidates have been infused too." The hobbyist listed, relieved they wouldn't play ignorance. "So, seven lawsuits to come. I'd rather not either, and not just because of how long and expensive it'd be. And I'm sure nobody wants to keep my helpers in their bodies any longer than necessary."

Azar chewed on those words, but curtly relented as he stormed out:

"You'll get your nanites back. Most templates too, probably. We'll contact you on the platform."

"Alright. I'll expect daily updates, even if nothing moved." Zax called as the pair left without turning back.

The three dotters and one Enforcer were left alone at the reception. Cera had left when nobody was watching.

"Well, that happened." Zax's shoulders slumped.

Regrettable, he was looking forwards to completing his basic templates database.

The Enforcer next to him let out a cough, reminding them of her existence. She had waited without making a fuss, so he would extend her the courtesy:

Right, your turn. Why does a detective want meet me? I said everything in my statement yesterday. And why here? My coordinates were included."

"Maybe we could take this elsewhere?" Aran interrupted. "We aren't welcome here anymore."

Right…

Zax felt, surprisingly burdened by the burnt bridge. Some people here were more than acquaintances.

SG stayed behind to write a farewell note for the children. She owed them that, at least.

Kamin began her explanation as they waited for her:

"I'm working on a sensitive case. I can't give much details in front of others, but it's giving me trouble. I heard you could help, somehow."

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

It was the most dismissive I-need-your-help tone the dotters had ever heard. Did she come all the way here without believing it?

Red Flags all over.

[ Alert ]

Glad you agree.

"I have questions about that, but we'll get back to it later. Why here? You could've messaged me directly. That would've spared you the travel and the effort. I wasn't even supposed to come today."

"How? Am I supposed to know the name and address of every dotter?" She sounded affronted. "I just knew you were dealing with those people, and I came in person because they tend to be reluctant to help otherwise."

No kidding.

"Stars I wonder why." Aran said aloud what everyone else was silently thinking.

"That doesn't make sense." Zax frowned. "I gave my coordinates in my statement yesterday."

"I don't know anything about that." Kamin blinked and frowned.

"That's not how you found me? How did you know I existed? And that I came here?"

"My superior told me when I reported my progress."

"And how did he find me?"

"How would I know? We don't share our sources, and I'm not asking my boss."

"Fair enough." He nodded. "So I really brought you here, it was inevitable and it has nothing to do with yesterday." Zax sighed deeply. "Wait, are they mad because of you today or the others yesterday?"

"Probably both. Rumours spread fast." Aran figured.

"Right." He sighed again. "Okay then. What kind of expertise do you require, exactly? The only thing I could be called a specialist of is versatile, but limited to the dot. You have better alternatives here."

"You talked about nanites earlier? We can start with that. Let's go to the station, I'll show you what I'm talking about."

With the afternoon suddenly free, he had no reason to refuse. The situation felt strange, especially how her boss had found him, but this woman didn't seem to know more. Her case and her issues seemed real, at least. In the worst-case scenario, it would be nothing but a waste of time, and he could experiment on the skill book during their next free running session. As a bonus, he might have the opportunity to fulfil the hidden quest again.

Weird thought to have.

As she was dealing with sensitive information, Aran and SG were "politely" asked not to come. SG was still weary of an Enforcers' den, and Aran didn't see anything wrong with leaving him in such a place, so they separated in front of the station. It was in the busiest area in the middle of the bubble, so they had a lot of options.

From the outside, the building was surprisingly close to the dot standard, just bigger and more stone than metal. Inside was a mixed bag. There was everything the dotter would expect to see from the media; waiting area, queues at a reception, low-level agent's desks in an open space at the front, closed rooms at the back probably for offices and interrogation rooms. Cupboards here and there. The constant buzz and movement of a busy workplace filled the air. It was subtly different from normal though. One queue moved visibly faster than the others, the desks were placed at irregular intervals, the seats were of many models, even uniforms were altered to show-off mutations. It was like they rejected standardisation as a basic concept, which uneased the professional item customizer and clothes adjuster at a level he didn't understand.

The reason for the deviation was plain as day: the mutations had huge array of types and advancements. In the dot, they were rarely advanced enough to require severe adjustments in the workspace, regardless of the type. In this place, it was an actual concern. Only the building itself hadn't been built with this in mind.

Zax couldn't tell if it was proper to enforcers, to the block, or to the Circle as a whole. The shops they had visited during their first visit had no equivalence in the dot, so he didn't have enough references.

As expected, the most advanced mutants were higher in the hierarchy and mostly in the back. In the dot, it was because they were more competent or effective than their less mutated peers; whether the mutations were cause or consequence of such. Recent experiences made Zax less certain it applied in the Circle. If 3G was a result of negotiation with local powers and not personal accomplishments, their mutations would have less to do with their proficiency at their job. It could be good or bad.

Hopefully, it still plays a major role.

He didn't enjoy feeling paranoid, and as biased as their system was, it was at least stable. It had lasted that long, after all. That gave him some hope.

Kamin ignored the hubbub and brought him to her desk in the open space, took several impressively thick paper files, and led him to the meeting rooms in the back. They were all full, so they had to settle for an interrogation room. There was no visible camera, but where a one-way mirror was supposed to be – according to movies – the wall was merely a different colour. A bio-technology with the same purpose?

"Sorry for that. First, sign here please." Kamin didn't waste any time presenting him with an NDA. "As I said, we're dealing with sensitive content. You can't tell a soul about what I'm about to explain."

Annoying but fair request. The document was typical; inconvenient but nothing egregious or invasive. It didn't mention limitations on recordings however. He couldn't tell if it was an oversight or purposeful. She naturally gave him three physical copies to sign, one for him, one for her and one for the station. He elected not to mention he had already scanned and saved it digitally.

Finally, she explained the situation.

"For weeks now, several small companies kept complaining about their technology acting weird. Small things at first." She spread incident and audit reports as she listed examples. "Printers giving more or less than asked, or with slightly different settings nobody had touched. Deliveries marked as complete as soon as the courier started their rounds. Old closed orders found in the 'in progress' category. Communications sent to the wrong desk. Things that could easily be explained by human error. Easy fixes nobody would bother witting about. When the sheer number of issues became noticeable, everyone received a note from their direct superiors to be more careful, and it was left at that."

"But it didn't stop." Zax completed. "Instead, it got worse and bigger?" He added, reading further.

"Exactly. Issues requiring specific human errors despite redundant checks, too often to be natural. Communications sent outside the company, which shouldn't be possible by accident. And so on. The profits, credibility and reliability started taking a hit."

"Sounds like sabotage."

"They thought so too, and interior tension rose until someone managed to prove she didn't do the mistake she was accused of. She recorded herself with a private device. Must've cost a fortune, but it worked."

"Smart."

"Others followed, and proved they did everything right but the result still came off wrong. Many filled official complaints and tried to sue, some as groups. We didn't take it seriously at first. This bubble uses technology a lot, but it is what it is."

"Doesn't sound like the typical '3G hates machines' issues."

"We know that now. The incidents kept piling up and escalating, so we were ordered to send someone. Our experts didn't find anything, and more and more companies started having the same issue." She pulled other folders, listing similar incidents from other places. "We can't deny it, someone is making it all happen, but we can't find who, how, or even why. The companies and incidents appear unrelated, no one benefits long term, and those who tried became the next victims. And more worrying, it keeps on escalating, faster and faster. If it keeps going, someone might actually get hurt and I'll lose the case."

For a moment here, I thought you were worried about something besides yourself.

"You exhausted all your resources and it's a technology issue, so now you're turning to the dot for help. Makes sense. What did the dot Enforcers say?"

"What? I didn't ask them, I'm asking you." The blue-haired woman looked at him like he was an idiot.

"I'm the first one you asked?" Zax blinked in surprise, but took it in stride. "Alright. I can try and see if nano-technology or… common dotter technology is involved, but there is an important question to consider beforehand." He turned to her with the most serious gaze he had shown in her presence.

"What is that?" The change in mood made her frown.

"What will you pay me for my work?"

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