"Are you sure about this?" Feras asked me through the comms, checking them.

The guy was even broker that I was, so it's a good thing he had a bunch of stuff stashed. He cleaned up quite well, turning from a homeless and shameless bloke to a pitiful, though well-dressed, kid in need of help.

We sat inside the neo-seafood place just across the street from Ajay Insurance. I was broke. Was. Klepping pockets was convenient for chump change to afford a good stake out position.

"'Course. That was the deal." I adjusted my earbud slightly, situating it more comfortably in my ear.

Our deal was simple. I'd let him stay in the apartment at night, tied up of course, for a couple days if he helped me out. He got a place to stay, and I got slav- free labor from the guy.

See- my plan was good. It was nearly flawless. There was just one little issue I had: getting the Alpha-Tres Rootkit into the receptionist's terminal. I could do it myself, but then I would burn my identity and risk being detected when I came in as IT later.

I was planning on reaching out to some of my contacts for some help with the pick thing. Maybe even go to a merc dive and look around for someone fitting my requirements. It would cost quite a bit of money to hire someone, but it would've worked.

Really, this guy picked the perfect time to break in. He got a home for a couple days, and I got a couple thousand Rayn! Not necessarily a fair deal for him, but he agreed to it… let's forget the fact I was holding a gun.

Intimidation really was an effective strategy. Thank you, Iris, for teaching me! Too bad my stature doesn't lend itself to intimidation very well. If the day ever came that I could flawlessly intimidate people? I might become the King of Fear… or something like that.

'Course, there was always the chance he was a terrible grifter, or he straight up lied to me when he said he was one. Either way, it shouldn't really matter too much. I just needed another face to do something. If he messed up too badly, I still had backup plans.

Feras twitched in his chair and crossed his arm. I wasn't sure if it was natural or not. That was the danger of grifters. Never know if their actions and Cues were real considering their skill set was literally conning.

He hesitantly held up a pick. "O-okay, so I just need to plug this into the receptionist's terminal?"

"Yeah. Nothing too complicated." I shrugged and pulled up my deck. I had already set up the pick's access and hooked everything up. Thankfully, most of it was copy and pasting commands so it wasn't too hard.

Feras nodded and closed his eyes, concentrating. I felt something stir in the Aether thanks to Insight and flicked on Aetherial Perception. It was just in time for me to see space split open. The entire area was charged with aetherial energy.

Just as quickly as the small rift appeared, it sealed itself shut. Not everything made it back through in time. There, on the ground next to our table, sat an adorable fox looking around the room. Its form shimmered like an old-time rendition of invisibility.

The fox hadn't been ordered to materialize yet, so why could I see it? Usually, only the summoner or other Magi contracted to the same eidolon could see sprites unless they materialized. Was Aetherial Perception just that strong? Or… was it reacting with Fox's Grace? Did I count as one of Fox's people because of that trait?

I held my reaction back and continued to stare at Feras as if I hadn't noticed anything. Knowledge was power, and it'd be best if I kept this particular knowledge to myself. Still, I didn't miss the fox cutely looking up at me before bounding up onto his shoulders. Maybe- Maybe I should consider trying to become a Magus?

The fox whacked Feras in the face with its tail, covering his eyes. Then it smirked at me with crinkled eyes. I barely managed to suppress a smile. So cute!

"Right… I'll uh- I'll be right back." He headed out of the restaurant, taking the fox with him.

We're his slip-ups and stutters even real? Maybe he was just playing the part of an innocent and scared boy to evoke sympathy from me? By that logic, I was even younger and more innocent. Did that just make him an awful person?

I watched him walk across the street, nearly getting hit by a Sentinel AT driving by. He vanished into the building, and a minute later appeared at the door of Ajay Insurance. My dual-zoom augment zoomed in, allowing me to catch every detail.

Indeed, he was a grifter. And seemingly a competent one at that. His entire aura changes when approaching the receptionist. He dropped the innocent, frail boy act, and had an air of gentlemanly confidence. He also took the time to adjust his suit before appearing again, making him look styled rather than the weak mess that just sat in front of me. Even the cut on his head was hidden behind his bangs.

The receptionist wasn't even paying attention as she messed around on her terminal. I whispered, "Right, nice and easy now-"

"Don't backseat me!" Feras whispered harshly into the comms..

The receptionist at the desk turned towards him. His ear bud barely pick up her voice. "Sorry? Did you say something?"

"Ah, I was just taken aback at how beautiful you are." I couldn't see his face from here, but I imagine it pulled into a charming grin based on his voice.

The receptionist tucked a lock of hair behind her head and a blush rose to her cheeks. "O-oh, thank you, Mr…"

Feras tucked his hand over his heart and bowed slightly. A stray breeze just happened to blow at the perfect time, causing his hair to softly sway. More accurately, I spotted the fox cheerfully blowing on his hair to create the effect. "Schel, M.T. Schel. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, miss…"

"Oh! I'm Steffany. It's rare to meet such a gentleman in this city." She brushed her hair out of her face. "W-what can I help you with Mr. M.T. Schel?"

"Ah, one of my clients has taken a keen interest in Ajay Insurance and requested I check the place out for her." He bit his lip, drawing the receptionist's eye. "I hope it's not a bother."

"Not at all! We have a company brochure for just this situation." The receptionist turned away from the desk and walked back to a table along the wall. It was covered in cabinets, papers, and an odd black box. "You know, you're probably best off talking to one of the insurance agents."

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"As opposed to talking to you? Hardly a competition." The moment she turned around, Feras leaned up against the desk in a natural movement. Subtly enough that I couldn't spot his movements from here, he slid the pick into the side of the woman's terminal. I wouldn't have even noticed if not for my deck dinging as the connection came through.

I moved fast, jacking into my deck. I slid the program through the temporary connection and ran it. In mere moments, the Alpha-Tres Rootkit infested the device. It was an oddly tiring process. "Done."

Rootkits were specifically designed to infiltrate undetected through Net Architecture to a certain extent, so I didn't need to worry too much about it being detected as long as I kept my commands below a certain threat level. Basically, only simple stuff on the fringes of the system. It was a good thing that simple stuff was exactly what I needed.

I glanced up just in time to see Feras flinch back and shove his hand into his pocket. "Hot!"

The receptionist turned around with a brochure in hand. "Sorry?"

"Ahem- I was just commenting on the weather." Feras looked out the window. Our eyes locked onto each other from across the way. "I didn't realize heat was in the forecast."

"I didn't realize you were a bitch. Picks don't even get that hot." I stared him dead in the eye. Of course they got hot—the heat caused them to break after one use—but not to the point of it being too painful to touch.

The receptionist cut off his next words. "Right? I thought it was just me getting hot… Here you are, Mr. Schel. Is there anything else you need?"

"Ask about their IT company." It would make things far easier if I could find out now. If not, I still had plan C.

"My client is a bit… pushy." He rubbed his ear. "She was heavily concerned about the servers going down. The last insurance company I found for her didn't do quite well…"

"She still kept you on?

"Yeah, with a warning." He raised a hand, shoving his bangs back to reveal the cut. "She wasn't quite pleased."

Steffany looked affronted. "How terrible!"

I let out an amused laugh. "I'll do you one much worse if you don't get to the point."

"Indeed… but what can you do before the rich and powerful?" He glanced out the window toward me again. "They're oh so pushy."

Steffany smiled, hiding the sudden anxiety in her face. "Oh, well, you won't have to worry about that here! Our boss contracted Artoras to handle everything, so you shouldn't have any issues."

"Thank you, Miss Steffany. I hope you're here when I return." Feras gave a light bow of his head and then headed for the exit.

I stopped paying attention and focused on my newest target, Artoras. While he walked over, I pulled up the Net and glanced through it. Artoras Solutions sat at the top of the list for smaller to medium-sized corporations to hire out IT issues. They had a main office here in the city and had several hundred contracts all over. At least, if their proud boasts and five-star reviews were to be trusted. Probably bot spam.

The nice thing was the company had a very strong PR team, and there were thousands of photos of various staff doing their job. It was a perfect resource for phase two of my plan.

"Y-you get everything?" Feras shakily slid in across the table from me. He was back to his weak little boy act and wasn't even recognizable to the gentleman he portrayed just moments before.

I looked at him for a moment, trying to see through the act. He was good. Damn good. 'Course, I saw the Cues, but they were inconclusive and mixed with dozens of other Cues. Maybe this was his base personality?

I slid my deck around to him, allowing him to see Artoras's employees. "I saw you had sewing supplies in your bag… you any good with 'em?"

"Maybe… what's it to you?" His eyes shifted down to the photos before looking around at the other people enjoying their dinner. His posture and micro-expressions also changed, growing cocky and confident. Was this his true face?

I got the hint. I needed to offer an… incentive. No one worked for free. Heck, the only reason he agreed to help me in the first place was for a couple days of having a roof over his head while he got his feet back under him. "I'll let you stay a bit longer, assuming you aren't insufferable."

'Course, I recognized my approach had been rather heavy-handed. It was a calculated decision to act accordingly till I got some more information out of the guy. For all I knew, he really was a bounty hunter trying to get the document's location from me… If anything, the fact he went along with me so far only made me more suspicious.

"I'm decent. I could probably make one of these outfits in a day or so…" He crossed his arms over his chest, entirely losing the remnant boyish innocence as he turned into a prideful asshole. "I want a cut though."

"A cut?"

"Yeah. I mean, I'd be helping you even more with your gig, so I want a cut of the profits. You're making what, a grand?" He looked at me. I tried to keep my expression as neutral as I could. "Ah, more?"

I shook my head. "I dunno what you're talking about."

"At least double then." A confident smirk wormed its way onto his lips. "I want four hundred."

"I'll give you another cut on your forehead." I bared my teeth and slid out of the chair. I had Tech, so sewing couldn't be too hard, right? "I'll just make it myself."

"And risk ruining your entry?" His smirk grew and he confidently pushed my chair out with his foot as if insisting I sat back down. "You could also think of it as a retainer fee. You pay me, and I won't blab to that sweet receptionist."

"Blackmail, huh?" I leaned onto the chair, slowly pushing it back in. "Counter offer. You apologize for your slag behavior, and I won't pop a cap into your skull. My mikatas in the Fang are good at making corpses disappear. It would be so, so easy to slab you and just move on with my life."

We stared at each other, the air between us growing with hostility. I wouldn't back down here though; I couldn't afford it. There was no way in hell I would let him just get away with his plans to blackmail me. The psychological effect was more expensive than the actual Rayn here. Would I actually flatline him for it? Probably not. But he didn't know that. For all he knew, I was the run-of-the-mill Aythryn citizen.

Something had to give, and eventually it did. His gaze flickered away as he bowed his head. His posture and demeanor changed yet again. Gone was the cocky and confident man. Now he looked so terribly exhausted. "S-sorry… I have my back to the wall here..."

I stared at the guy for a moment. Was this another mask? Gah, I hate grifters! If this was real though, would I feel a little bad? The guy looked as though he'd fallen through rock bottom ages ago. I could empathize with that, and he had my sympathy assuming this personality was his real one. Sometimes people just hit the ground hard in life.

Or it could all be fake to manipulate me… Damn grifters! Even with Cue, I couldn't tell for sure due to the sheer amount of them he radiated. It was like he was flooding my senses with so much information I couldn't quite tell which info was real.

I slid back into the chair and tried to think of an alternative. A compromise where we both won. I could be the bigger person here… sure he tried to blackmail me, but I had threatened to murder him. Repeatedly. Who was really in the wrong here? I reckon neither of us. Criminals would be criminals, after all.

"Tell you what… I'll pay you two hundred since you've barely been involved. You never even think of blackmailing me again, and the next time I get a gig I'll think about taking you on." And I tactfully won't mention that this one's payout was potentially seven thousand.

'Course, my decision wasn't entirely based on sympathy. I wasn't a saint, or anywhere near one. It all boiled down to mutual benefit. I couldn't deny the usefulness of a talented grifter. Especially one who doubled as a Magus. His involvement with this current gig had sped up my plans by at least a week.

If I knew he would be involved beforehand, I could've potentially been done with this already. And there was no denying I needed some help. Even if I could make the outfit myself, I wasn't confident in my abilities.

'Course, there was also the weirdness of how we met that made me want to keep him close. As they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. He wasn't an enemy- at least yet. Still, it was best I kept him close to see if I could decipher what was going on.

"Really?" A bit of light reentered his exhausted eyes.

"You scratch my back, I scratch yours… or whatever the saying is." I offered him a hand.

He grasped mine in a firm shake. "Deal… you won't regret this."

Already was. I headed back out to my bike. There was one more thing I really needed to do before going back to the apartment anyway, even if that meant letting the grifter out of my sight for a time.

I took the chance to go bury the schematic out at my overlook. A painting holder protected them well enough, and it was far enough out of the way that nobody would find it. If, on the tiny chance it was found, it wouldn't link back to me.

As soon as I buried it and got back to the city, I felt a wave of relief wash over me.

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