Run like hell.

Hearing the sound of movement you kick in your boost. Nothing. ‘Shit.’ You think to yourself and run like hell, knowing your one bullet in your little hold out pistol isn’t going to get you very far if your cybernetics are still offline. Scaling back down the building, not really realizing just how amazing a feat that is, your high heels clacking against the cement as you once again head into the unknown in the general direction of where you now seem to remember where your car is hiding. Several times you hear various gang members, hookers, john’s, and god knows what else, call out to you. Ignoring all this you clutch the prototype to your chest and just keep running. As your lungs burn, and legs begin to ache, you feel your internal air supply suddenly fill your lungs, a wash of adrenaline kicks in, and for a brief moment every nerve in your body seems to fire simultaneously as the treatment they gave you suddenly falls away and all of your cybernetic components come back online. You realize you are just standing there, hands on your knees doubled over, for an unknown amount of time, when your strength comes back and you feel a bit more confident. Setting off at a modest jog, you finally get to where you hid your car and as you step around the corner you see your crappy little sporty coupe, somehow knowing instantly it is yours. “Well, at least you are here.” You say to your little dark green two seat sporty mid engine rocket of a car. As your fingers slide over the smooth metal of the door, the computer in your head interfaces with the security system and the door clicks open. Slipping onto the slightly worn black leather seats you fire the engine to life and for the first time sense you stepped on the rooftop, you can’t help but feel safe.

Zipping down the road, you call up the map in your head, and have it lead you to the drop off point. As you pull up to the huge public gym in the nice area of downtown, the haze of the morning sun, blurred by the pollution in the air, is barely visible on the horizon. Stepping out of the car on your sexy heels, you can’t help but laugh as you see two young men in polo shirts and kaki shorts check you out. It only takes a few moments to find the outside locker and you key in the code you somehow know and put the device inside. You see your money as well as another job is inside as you expected. Grabbing the package, you wait till you are comfortably within your car once again to count the $100,000 and slot the chip.

The file wants you to go to a club called "The Pit." The center of which is an **** fighting arena surrounded by an area full of street vendors, performers, and all sorts of freaks and thugs deep in the combat zone and talk to the man in charge named The Wizard of Odds. It seems he is looking for someone to find and apprehend a thief alive and will pay $100,000 for a specialist.

A huge yawn informs you of your next move. You bring up Max’s number and give him a call. “Hey Max, it’s Lynx. Is there any word out on me?”

“Lynx, oh yeah Lynx, sorry. No, there are all kinds of reports of a guard **** combing the area looking for a male elf thief, but it doesn’t seem like they know who it is. You might want to lay low for a while, but it doesn’t look like anyone is looking for you specifically.”

“Sounds good, thanks. Wanted to make sure the shit hole I call home was still safe. As for laying low, no can do. I have another job, and the pay is too much to pass up.”

“Sounds just like you. Well you might want to consider disguising yourself as a human then. At least for a few days, it seems you pissed off some freak by the name of Sebastian. He is a heavy hitter that for whatever reason seems to be looking for you personally. Doesn’t know when to admit he is beat.”

You look down at your sexy little self and ask, “How about a woman?”

He laughs a bit before answering, “Sorry, yeah that would be a good one as well. Heck if you want the doc can even give you some of that nanite body restructuring crap if you want to really pull it off, but I am sure he will charge you. I don’t know exactly how much, but if you want I can tell him you are on your way.”

“I might consider that.” A glance at the payoff you just got makes you smile, “Hell tell him I am coming, I got some cash to spend, and I might as well consider some upgrades. I don’t know if I want to make myself more feminine, but I can at least see what he has for sale. Oh yeah I almost forgot, I lost all my guns and armor, can you hook me up with a dealer so I can buy some new stuff.”

“Yeah sure. Keylani always seemed to like you, I will ask her to swing by your place later today if you want. I am sure she will be happy to take some of that $100k you just earned. Thanks for the good job by the way, my finders fee just got here.”

“I aim to please. I am going to hit the shower and get a bit of shuteye. Tell the doc I will be at his place, hmm, say 5:00PM. I can hook up with you later, or just have Keylani call me later and we can figure out a good time and place to hook up.”

“Ok, get some rest, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Thanks Max.” You click off the phone as you pull into the morning traffic, a bit later you arrive at your crappy little apartment and are asleep moments after you walk in the door.