The next night, Jason was lost in the alleys again. Taking a deep breath, he started to climb up the side of a building. His heart was pounding again, his chest hurt. He made it halfway up the wall and fell to the ground. He sat against the wall for a minute before starting over. He barely made it a quarter of the way before falling down a second time. He sat quietly, trying to relax before climbing up a third time. He heard footsteps in the alley, coming closer. Scrambling to his feet, he turned to get away, but his pulse was too fast. He fell to his knees, hands pressed against his chest. The footsteps stopped in front of him, he saw black platform boots with silver buckles that went all the way up.

"Did you get lost again, kid? Just climb up the wall again." Jason heard Shadow's voice and sighed in relief. He looked up at the girl, noting how from that angle, the silver underside of her hair shined like a halo.

"I...can't," he gasped. "I have a bad heart." Shadow kneeled next to him so she could look him straight in the face.

"Then get a new one." Jason shook his head, still gasping.

"My mom can barely keep up with her own payments. I'd never have the money." Shadow laughed harshly.

"Money? That's an easy problem." From under her trench coat, she pulled a glowing blue vial. "Zydrate," she whispered. Jason's eyes widened.

"You mean deal drugs?" he asked. She nodded.

"There's lots of money to be made with Z." He thought of the junkie from the previous night and shuttered. "They aren't usually that bad," she promised, as though reading his mind. "He had just gone too long without a hit." As they talked, a large group of girls had walked into the alley.

"Shadow," one of them called softly.

"See?" she whispered under her breath to Jason before standing. "How much?"

The girl who had spoken handed Shadow a stack of coins. From under her coat, Shadow pulled out the gun and a blue vial. One by one, she shot the girls in the leg, stopping to change the vial halfway through. The girls walked off, tripping over each other and she replaced the gun under her trench coat. Shadow sat next to Jason again and opened her hand so he could see all of the coins. He raised his eyebrows – it was half a month's rent.

"I'm running low, come on," she grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet.

"Where are we going?" he asked, following her through the alleys.

"Harvesting," was her only reply.

The two slid through the dark streets, not making a sound. Soon they were standing in front of a brick wall. Shadow reached down and pulled out several loose bricks, making a hole just big enough to squeeze through.

"Go on," she whispered. Taking a deep breath, Jason climbed feet first through the opening. Standing up on the other side, he stared in horror at the sea of bodies in front of him. Shadow's hands pressed his shoulders, forcing him to crouch.

"We don't want to be caught." She pointed to the familiar sign on the wall. Graverobbers will be executed on sight by order of GeneCo by-law No. 653-465. Above it was a fixed camera to catch images of grave robbers. Shadow crept over to the closest body and pulled out a brown leather bundle. Unrolling it, she showed him the metal syringe and rows of empty glass vials. She pushed a vial into the syringe and slid the metal needle under the corpse's skin and through the skull. Pulling on the plunger, her hands were bathed in a blue glow as the tube filled with Zydrate. Removing the syringe, she placed the vial into a pocket in her trench coat. She moved to the next body and repeated the process, making sure Jason was watching closely. After the initial shock had worn off she could tell that he was intrigued. They moved to a third corpse and she handed him the syringe and an empty vial.

"Your turn." Jason's hands were steady as he inserted the vial, but he hesitated when he went to push the needle into the body. "Don't think about it. Just do it," Shadow whispered. He nodded and copied what he had seen her do. Taking the full vial from him, she examined the Zydrate carefully and smiled, nodding.

"Good job. Now do the next one." They quickly filled the two dozen vials, with Shadow taking the syringe only when she wanted to correct him or point out something technical. When they were done she wrapped up the tools and they crawled back out the hole in the wall, replacing the loose bricks.

They hurried back to the alley just as the junkies were starting to arrive. Shadow showed him how to put the Zydrate into the gun. Pulling the trigger and quickly letting go would release one dose, about a third of a vial. She cautioned him against holding the trigger, which would release the entire vial and cause an overdose. Jason sat against the wall, watching how she sold and distributed the drug. By the end of the night, she had emptied five vials and the alley was empty.

Jason stood to go home, but Shadow stopped him.

"Half the work, half the money," she said with the air of an invitation. She pressed a stack of coins into his hand and he gaped, there was enough money to make a payment on his mom's lungs. Shadow smiled at the look of excitement on his face. "Be here tonight if you want to join me."

Jason turned and hurried back home. Outside his house he froze, staring at a poster on the wall. He had passed it a hundred times before without realizing who was on it. The poster featured a picture of Shadow holding the Zydrate gun by her face, pointed at the sky. Her pale face and metallic hair were washed in the soft, blue glow of the drug. Large bold letters below her face stated, "WANTED FOR GRAVEROBBING AND ZYDRATE PEDDLING." Jason looked into the now-familiar black eyes, smiled, and ran inside.