Second chapter already here, hope you will like it :)

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My CASIE perceived how the newcomer's heart slowed the tiniest fraction, when she had entered her heart rate was nearly 110 bpm. She was a young woman either in her late-twenties or her early-thirties, a bit younger than Alex and me. Average height and rather athletic frame by the shape of her legs and the way she moved, which felt a bit surprising for a hacker. I guess I was prejudiced because of Pritchard and had imagined her being gangly and out of shape. Her head was covered under a beige beanie, although some loose strands of dark straight hair framed her face; the rest of her clothes were rather simple, practical, with a warm grey coat, dark trousers and white sneakers, I also couldn't help but notice that she wore gloves, though it wasn't strange given the wintry season. Her grey eyes had studied me full of distrust at first, and I had seen her put away a 10 mm after getting in, "Smart girl," I thought. However, my slip with her surname had made her smile, and she had quite a beautiful smile, or maybe it was just my impression, as those days I barely saw anyone doing it, if truth be told. In fact, even though not strictly beautiful, she was rather pretty, with an agreeable face.

"Did you have any trouble getting here, anyone followed you?" asked Alex, interrupting my musings, the other woman looked thoughtful.

"I don't think so, I have tried to do as many turns as possible before coming here though, maybe it was a bit paranoid on my side, but better safe than sorry. I suppose you've already told our friend here about my…little issue…" she turned her gaze towards me, clearly on edge.

"Don't worry, Adam has agreed to help us, he's going to take you in, at least until things have calmed down a bit and we can find a better solution, haven't you?" Alex stared at me quizzically, as if afraid I had suddenly changed my mind.

"I told you I would, Alex. However, before getting into this, I'd appreciate if you could tell me about what you found and what happened…I've heard you discovered some mighty important info from Palisade Property Bank," if she had broken in that place, that must mean she was really good, like Pritchard-level, even.

"Well, yeah…I mean, it's big, and Markus' disappearance," she made two quotation marks with her fingers at this, "only confirms it. You see, Markus was an ancient co-worker of mine, from back when I worked for the Palisade Property Bank in Prague as part of their IT department. He had been working in Picus' vault and had got a little bit too curious about some data they had stored inside…when he knew about it, he was conscious of the implications it could have, so he contacted me. He has no idea I'm part of the Collective, and I haven't told him about my part in it, although we were going to ask him to join us after this…anyway, he knew that, as a journalist, I may have some useful contacts and maybe could manage to pass on the info before it was too late…"

"Journalist? I thought you were a hacker," I interjected.

"I'm both," she blurted out, impatiently. "The thing is, we couldn't let this thing stay, but he couldn't leak the info himself, we believed it was better if it looked as if someone had gained access to the vault, found the information by hazard and decided to steal it among some other files. I already knew about the Palisade's firewall and had some experience with the code they use, but I can tell you it's rather tricky. Luckily, Markus is more senior than I and he knew about a few trapdoors we could use…And we finally got it. But, I don't know, he must have forgotten to delete some files, some message could have been intercepted, or maybe he let his tongue slip too much, but someone took him away, and apparently it wasn't the police, not from what I have gathered…"

"Hmmmm, they could be, though, just acting undercover, or maybe it could be people on the Palisade's pay check, I'll have to check on that, later," I said, more to myself than anything. "In any case, before I fully commit myself to what looks like a promising adventure, I'd like to know what those files contain, if Picus was storing them out of their premises, I guess it must be something they don't want to be related with, though it can't be that much of a deal…"

"Oh, yeah, because provoking a fucking 8.3 Richter scale earthquake that would erase Southern California from the map isn't such a big deal," she snapped, her words heavy with acid; her cheekbones had reddened ever so slightly. However, I couldn't prevent myself from snorting derisively, the smoke from the tobacco rushed out of my nostrils as a result. The woman, looking riled, turned around and walked out of the room, I wondered what the hell had got into her.

She came back right afterwards carrying what looked like a heavy sports bag. She settled it on the floor and opened it to extract a laptop from it, which she put on the gurney. Alex and I watched her turn it on, rummage under her clothes and take out something that glinted under the dim light. Silently, we both got nearer to see what she was doing. When she took out her gloves, I registered that she had a couple of white augmented hands instead of flesh and bone ones. "Right, Alex had told me she was an Aug herself," I mused to myself.

Her fingers moved fast over the keyboard, and suddenly a new window opened in the screen. She started opening files, and several images and text started to emerge. I studied one, it was a map of California alright, and great part of the south appeared in red, then she switched to another graphic that seemed to represent a Richter seismic scale, the blueprint of a strange and complex machine, a 3D rendering of a big city that reminded me of Los Angeles being engulfed by a tsunami, several scripts that, from what I managed to glean, talked about an big scale earthquake in September 2030, with blank spaces right before "casualties", "victims" or "dead" in order to introduce some figures right away.

I was so thunderstruck that my cigarette almost fell out of my mouth. Aurora turned to me and stared at me quizzically, a gleam of triumph in her eyes at seeing my obvious shock.

"Well…I must admit it doesn't look like their next April Fools' joke," I said, trying to look unfazed. However, my mind raced; the information looked true, it was too much detailed, too specific to be something else. It was clear Picus didn't want it around their servers, as those had been attacked many times in the last months by many hackers, including the Collective. So, being a creature of the Illuminati, it kind of made sense that they needed it to be somewhere safe, and there was nothing safer than the Palisade, right until then…I eyed at Vera again behind my sunglasses. "She must be really good if she has really managed to get there, it mustn't have been easy, not even with inside help," I thought.

"The thing is, what we do now," intervened Alex. "I've spoken to Janus through our safe channels and he wants to see the files himself, though he takes my word of their big potential for now…however, we must find some way of getting them to him; as Aurora said, our channels in the dark Web aren't reliable enough," she concluded.

"Well, I can't really offer much help with that, my knowledge about computers barely covers the basics for my line of work…" I said. "However, given the circumstances and that guy's disappearance, the least I can do is try to keep Vera away from those bastards," I agreed; things looked serious enough after all, and if the hacker was right, thousands of lives could be at stake, not just hers.

"Alright, that much is settled…for now. So, I suggest we end this meeting, you two probably should try to get home as fast as you could…However, before you leave, I need your help, Aurora. We have a problem with a whisper chip Adam installed in his boss' NSN, Janus set the wrong frequency. I have tried, but I haven't even come near, do you think you could take a look?" she searched in her pocket and took out a small USB-like device.

"No problem at all, I'll get on with it first time tomorrow," replied Aurora with a nod, and she pocketed the device.

"Fine, then. Ok, now let's split, you should slip away first, I'll leave a few minutes after you. You take care of yourself, Aurora. And, Jensen, if something happens to her, you'll be answering to me," she told me, half-jokingly, half-seriously.

"Don't worry, Alex, she'll be alright," I replied earnestly.

"Cool, off you go, then," she said. We took that as our leave. The hacker had already turned off her laptop and stashed it her bag, which she now hung from her shoulder. We got out in silence, I checked the upper floor with my Enhanced Vision just to make sure there was no one up there. The streets were deserted when we left the LIMB clinic, all the better. I looked at her through the corner of my eye, the bag was really big, and it looked extremely heavy.

"Need a hand with that? It looks as if your shoulder is going to dislocate at any moment…" I asked.

"Don't worry, it's not that heavy, really," she tried to make light of it, though her voice was tense once again. I sighed tiredly and took it gently by the strap, then hung it from my shoulder, ignoring her protests.

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The tall man in black set off with long strides and my bag over his shoulder, while I was left to tag along. All my stuff was there, including my laptop, even though the information was safely stored within my USB drive; if it turned out all this was a trap and he tried to take it off me, he would have to pry it out of my cold dead hands…I shuddered at the thought. The streets were empty, everyone was safely tucked away inside their homes, while I followed a total stranger into the unknown. Despite his height, he moved with surprising stealth, like a panther, and he looked just as dangerous, no one would dare pick on us, that much was clear.

Before turning around a corner, he stopped all of a sudden and extended an arm out to signal me to stop behind him. The area we were in was rather dark, only a few streetlights glowed a hundred meters away, allowing us to mix with the shadows.

"What…?" he gently reached behind himself to touch my arm, as if bidding me to stay silent. We waited for a few seconds and saw a police car rolling by. Of course, those cops; we weren't doing anything illegal, but chances were they'd want to have some fun tormenting a couple of Hanzers like us, and it was better if we went unnoticed until we had finally reached our destination. When he was sure they were out of earshot, he turned to me, his sunglasses glinting eerily for a second (Why the devil has we wearing them in the dark?).

"I'd rather stay out of sight until we get to my place, I think you have managed to give those assholes the slip for now, but it would be a lot safer…we could go through the sewers, though I can tell you it won't be a pleasant trip," he whispered, his face was in the shadows, so I couldn't see his expression.

"Don't worry about that, I'm sure I can handle it," I said in a low voice in a rather cocky tone. However, despite my apparent bravado, part of my mind was screaming at me how I could be so stupid, I was about to get in the sewers with some guy who looked like he could snap my back like a twig and leave me there.

"Good, there's a manhole nearby, follow me," he commanded, and we set off again in the opposite direction. We went under an arch which lead to an empty courtyard, lit by a couple of dim lamps. I followed him to the furthest corner and saw him crouch on the ground and heard the noise of metal scraping against stone.

"I shall come down first, there's no light as far as I can see, though some areas have more illumination than others. Do you have augmented vision?" he inquired.

"No," I whispered back.

"I guessed as much. Do you have a phone?" I nodded, asking myself what his plan was. "Alright, then use your phone's flashlight to light the way," with that, he started descending into the manhole. Looking at the pitch darkness inside, I couldn't help but shiver, was I really going down there? I apprehensively thought of rats or a lot worse things lurking in the dark…I gulped and steeled myself, then climbed down into the hole down the ladder.

The stench hit me like a slap on the face when I was totally inside, I felt about to retch in disgust. "Ok, now you really are in deep shit," I thought wryly. While I was coming down, one of my feet slipped and I lost my footing, I squealed when I felt a couple of vice-like arms stopping me from crashing against the ground.

"Careful there," he said quietly while he left me on the ground. How the hell had he managed to see I was falling and catch me so fast? Not to forget he was still carrying my bag, what kind of augs did that guy have?

"Thanks," I said while I looked into my pocket for my cell phone. I turned on the flashlight as he had told me earlier. I instantly felt a lot better, though the sewers were a dreary place, for sure, but at least now I knew where I was stepping. He made a gesture with his fingers and we resumed our adventure into the dark.

Only our footsteps and the drip-drip of the water could be heard in those narrow tunnels. I had already got a bit used to the overpowering stench, but it was incredible how it reeked. We turned another corner and I forced myself not to flinch when an enormous rat ran past us. He seemed to know where he was going, for we took several turns in that labyrinthic space. The man before me didn't say a word, apparently looking for any signs of danger. Suddenly, he stopped, almost making me bump against him.

"There are people beyond this tunnel. Most of them are harmless, of that I'm sure, a lot of homeless people come down here. However, in case there's someone more dangerous, you should stay close by my side…Again, I don't think we will be attacked, but just in case," he said turning his body to me, I nodded, though I could feel my blood draining off my face.

After that, we kept going, this time with me by his side, I tried to stave off fears of being grabbed from behind by someone, the back of my neck prickled, as if I was being observed by someone. I began to perceive the flickering light of flames at the end of the tunnel. We got through an open metal gate and saw many huddled figures dressed in old and dirty clothes; as he had said, many of them ignored us, but some eyed us distrustfully. Jensen took me through another passage and I let out a sigh when we left that room. We kept walking for what felt like a long time, until we reached a blind passage with a ladder.

"Nearly there," he said, "You better go first and try to push out the lid, it's a bit heavy, but manageable, do you mind?" he asked.

"No problem," I replied, I took off my gloves for better grip and started climbing the ladder. After making sure that I was safely grasping one of the rungs, I began to push at the lid with my other hand. After a bit of straining, I managed to slid it off, I smiled to myself and climbed out of the hole into a dingy and dirty alleyway. He came right after me, my bag still hanging from his left shoulder.

"Where are we?" I asked, this was some nondescript alley, and we had given so many turns that I had no idea about our whereabouts. "Just what I would do if I wanted to trap someone, get them disoriented," whispered a horrible voice inside my mind.

"Překážka District," he said, his Czech pronunciation was horrible, I guessed he had only been for a short while in the city. "My flat is right here, at the Zelen building. However…" he trailed off, he looked intently at the wall in front of him. "It looks like some people are still hanging out on the courtyard, we'll have to wait until they get inside, it'd be better if no one could identify you…"

"That won't be necessary, I have a glass shield," I cut him off.

"Do you? Let's go then, stay behind me and try not to bump on anyone while we go upstairs, though," I acquiesced and turned on my shield. We came through the entrance door to what looked like some slightly dilapidated courtyard, some of those freaks from the Machine God Church stood there in front of a table covered with pamphlets. The ex-cop ignored them and guided me up some stairs. Tired as I was, draining myself of energy with the glass shield didn't seem like a good idea, but I forced myself to keep it activated. Finally, on the last floor, we walked to some door. Jensen stopped for a second while he introduced a code into the keypad, which beeped in a satisfying way. He opened the door, got in and waited until I was in (I suppose he detected it with his augmented vision) before closing the door behind us.

"Lights on," he said aloud. I was startled when I heard a feminine voice answering back "Welcome back, Adam."

Some halogens over us turned on and I could see we were in what looked like a small hall, divided from a big living room by a wall. I turned to my companion and saw he was taking off his trench coat, revealing a dark turtleneck underneath.

"You can leave your coat there, if you want," he said, pointing at the coat hanger with his head. I started taking off my outer garments as well while he walked into the main piece. He had left my sports bag there, I decided to leave it as it was. I stepped further into the room and looked around myself, it was a really nice place. The main area consisted of a living room with an open kitchen just behind the wall that defined the hallway. Apparently, this was the attic, as the furthest wall sloped slightly inwards, and three head-to-foot windows allowed to see the streets beyond. The ceiling was high, supported by dark wooden beams. I descended some steps into the living room, which consisted in a wooden table with a single chair, a big and baroque-looking black couch with a coffee table and an enormous TV screen in front of it. The kitchen was rather big, separated by a wide isle with some stools in front of it. Finally, the wall from which the TV hung was covered in dark, old-fashioned wood panels. All in all, it was an elegant flat, a lot better than mine in any case, I thought enviously, all in grey, black and muted brown colours, I smiled wryly when it occurred to me that it quite suited its owner.

I looked at Jensen, he was stooping in front of a laptop that sat on the counter of the kitchen isle. I heard a click at the door and guessed he had just locked it…that meant that no one could get in…but also that I couldn't get out in case he turned out not to be the person he pretended. I felt getting myself tense again. "It's alright, Alex said he's alright, didn't she?" I tried to calm down myself.

"Nice flat," I commented, pointing vaguely at the room, trying to sound casual.

"Thanks," he answered, he straightened and I noticed there was something different about him. His sunglasses had vanished, only the frames at the corners of his eyes remained, I guessed they somehow retracted under his skin. I felt happy he had, though, without them he looked more human, more approachable. "I suppose you'll be exhausted after today…if you want, you can take a shower, the bathroom is the first door to the left. And after staying hidden away the whole day I guess you'll be hungry…" my stomach growled audibly and I felt how my face blushed.

"Actually, I think that shower isn't a bad idea, first door to the left, right?" I replied, glad to have some time for myself and get away for a little while, the situation was extremely awkward. I went to my bag to pick my things up and started taking out a little bag and a towel.

"Do you need a towel or something? There's shampoo and soap in the shower, if you need them," he asked, still in the kitchen.

"Don't worry, I'm covered," I answered, I thanked my past self for having packed so thoroughly. Once I had picked everything I needed, I walked to the bathroom, forcing myself to appear as if nothing in the world could disturb me.

I closed the door behind me and exhaled out in silence. I couldn't help but think that staying out on the streets would have been better, if only Alex could have taken me in…but there I was, with a perfect stranger and my paranoid mind putting me constantly on edge. I looked at the door again, there was no bolt, "That guy doesn't look as if a simple bolt could stop him," I realized. I forced myself to relax and studied the bathroom. It was rather big, with a toilet, a big shower next to it, a tap below a window (for some strange reason, there was no mirror anywhere), and also a washing machine and a dryer against the other wall, with a bucket full of what looked like dirty clothes.

I started taking my clothes off; my 10 mm was still safely tucked behind my back, ready to be pulled out at any moment, I concealed it between the toilet and the shower, then threw some garments over it. I opened the tap and waited until the water almost burned, then stepped inside with a slightly more relaxed sigh. God, I had been hoping for that shower for half a day. My hair felt extremely greasy and I hated whenever it touched my skin. I rubbed some of my shampoo into it, and then proceeded to lather my body, washing my prostheses as well up to their seams on my shoulders. I rinsed myself and stepped out of the shower, wrapping myself in the rather small towel I had picked up. When I was dry enough, I got dressed again and combed my hair thoroughly, then dried it lightly with the towel.

Feeling much better, I left the bathroom and turned to the main area. He was sitting on the couch, one of his hands level with his face. His metallic forearm had split in two and from it emerged a mean-looking, sharp rectangular blade as long as my forearm, he moved it to the sides, apparently examining it. However, I must have made some noise, because he turned his head and the blade retracted again into his arm with a loud snap. I was frozen on the spot, who the hell was that man?

"Feeling better? I have checked my kitchen and I don't really have that much…I've just come from a mission abroad and couldn't do the shopping or anything, I have some cereals and milk, though," he said, standing up from the sofa.

I tried to speak, but, freaked out as I was, only a faint croak came out. I cleared my throat. "It's fine, whatever you have it's okay for me, I'm ravenous," I tried to grin confidently, but I think the best thing I achieved was a feeble smile.

"Alright, sit down, I'll get everything. Anything to drink? There's some cold water in the fridge, and I also have some whiskey or wine if you want something stronger, not the right time for coffee," he said while he went to the kitchen.

"Water is fine," I answered, immediately dismissing the alcohol, I needed to keep all my wits about myself.

While he was at it, I crouched next to my bag and, now that he was busy, I tried to decide whether I should hide my gun under my clothes again. Now that I didn't wear any heavy outer garments, it would be obvious I was carrying it; on the other hand, I didn't really want to be so unprotected…though, for what I had just seen, he would have probably put that blade through my chest before I had even pulled my weapon out. Also, if it was just my imagination, he would see it and could take it the wrong way. A bit reluctantly, I hid it there, but kept it on the first layer of things.

I came out and watched him take out a jug full of water out of the fridge. He had already left a couple of big metal bowls on top on the isle. "You sure you don't need help?" I asked again, trying to keep my nerves in check.

"Don't worry, I'm not much of a cook, but I shouldn't have much trouble with a bowl of cereal," he said with a hint of humour in his voice. I watched him pour water into a glass, looking for any suspicious movements that could suggest him trying to spike it somehow.

He had exchanged his pullover for a short-sleeved white T-shirt, allowing me to see the extent of his augmented arms, which apparently reached up to his shoulders. They were as black as onyx, although I could see some golden details on the hands and elbows. I had never seen anything like them, they were some state-of-the-art augments, obviously custom-made, a mass of sleek black metal and defined myofoam muscles that contracted and stretched like the real thing. They must have cost a fortune. Mine were good, they were one of Sarif's premium versions, and they hadn't been cheap at all, but this, this was something else. They were obviously military‑grade, designed to offer elegance and functionality, but also lethal. Compared to the junk you saw on some people who had no other choice due to lack of money, these were pure art and technology. I studied them, how smoothly they moved, without that clunkiness of cheaper prostheses. How had he got them? It was impossible that a TF29 agent or a cop could afford them…and those blades, which weren't precisely designed for cutting some carrots while cooking.

"Which brand do you like? I have Froot-Loops, Count Chocula, Augmentchoos and Cinnamon Toast Crunch," this strange choice of food caught me totally unguarded, I restrained myself from laughing. I mean, I would have never imagined that guy eating cereal for kids.

"Cinnamon Toast Crunch is alright, thanks," I answered, fighting to keep a straight face. I saw him pick up a box of Augmentchoos and a Cinnamon Toast Crunch one and pouring each of them into their respective bowls, then he added a generous quantity of milk. He carried both of them to the coffee table, and then brought the only chair near the table; finally, he picked up two glasses from the counter, one full of water and the other with some amber liquid, I guessed it was whiskey.

I picked up the bowl between my hands and put a spoonful into my mouth. God, they did taste well, a bit too sugary for my liking, maybe, but the sandwich I had eaten in the morning had barely kept me going the whole day. We chewed in silence, each deep in thought. He was sitting on the chair he had brought, and I took advantage of him being distracted to surreptitiously examine those augments. I finally detected Sarif Industries logotype near his wrist. Of course, it used to be one of the best brands out there before the incident, it was a pity it had gone bankrupt, what David Sarif did was beyond art.

When he was done, he left his bowl on the coffee table and picked up the glass with the whiskey, or whatever hard liquor that was. I was nearly done myself, and I felt much better after it, though I guess it was the ton of sugar I had just ingested coursing through my veins. My spoon clattered against the bowl, it sounded very loud in that silent room.

"Well, now that we are here, if you don't mind, I'd like to hear some more details of what happened with Markus. Tomorrow, after I'm done at the TF, I want to pay a visit to his apartment to see if there's some clue, but first…" he leaned in towards me, his elbows resting on his knees. Then I noticed his eyes, it was clear he hadn't been born with them. The colour of the iris was a pale blue, but inside there was a golden circle around the pupil that changed size and moved, apparently adjusting and focusing whatever he saw. I also noticed some other details, like the hexagonal incision on one side of his forehead, or two other little scars, one splitting one of his eyebrows and another in the shape of an inverted V cutting into his otherwise perfectly styled beard.

"I guess it's the last thing you want to do right now, but I need to know what we are facing. Who is this Markus guy anyway? You said he was and ancient co-worker, didn't you?" he probed.

"Yes, I met him when I worked at the Palisade. I started as an intern there after I finished my IT Engineering degree here in Prague, back then I wasn't in the Collective yet. He was a good guy, we talked a lot, but nothing else. He knew I had studied Journalism as well and that, from time to time, I published some articles for certain magazines and unofficial media," I started explaining.

"You worked for the Palisade?" he interrupted.

"Yeah, at least up until…the Aug Incident. Given the situation here in the Czech Republic and the large number of contracts they have with the government, they decided to dismiss their augmented staff, no matter how competent or how long they had been in there. I joined the Collective soon after. Anyway, one day, almost a year ago, Markus paid me a visit at my house; I can still remember as if it had been yesterday. He was extremely nervous, trembled like a leaf. He told me he had found some worrying information while solving an issue in Picus' data vault. He was the only one who had seen it; as the line manager of the team, he had privileged access to certain databases. At first, he had tried to forget it, but he couldn't, he believed that, knowing about it and doing nothing was as bad as being an accomplice. So, he came to me; I had no more ties to the Palisade, and he believed I worked on my own, that I could arrange the information to reach the adequate people through my contacts in the journalist world."

"Didn't it occur to you that he might be an Illuminati spy trying to infiltrate the Collective?" he inquired, I snorted and smiled wryly.

"Of course it did, and Janus thought it as well. However, the problem with the Collective is that, whenever we want to recruit anyone, there's a chance, albeit slim, that the prospect candidate could be a mole. Usually, we are always on the lookout for possible members who'd be worthy for the cause and, unless you already have someone inside to vouch for you, which was my case, you usually have to prove that you have something to offer. Even with someone to speak for you, the Collective will check your history and put you through a test before accepting…and even then there's no way to guarantee that there won't be a traitor within our ranks," I leaned forward as well, remembering once again my own misgivings about that guy. "But I guess it's a risk all of us have to take, don't we?"

He seemed deep in thought, a faraway look in his gaze, as if he was remembering times past.

"So, I suppose you checked him and everything and this was his test?" he asked, looking at me intently with those striking eyes.

"Precisely. If this hadn't happened, we would have asked him to join us, and he would have been an excellent asset, I can assure you. He's really skilled with coding, and an honest man, we need more people like him. But…given what happened, I expect he will already be dead…" I added in barely more than a whisper.

"It's too early to say that, though. How did you know that something was wrong, though? I don't think you just happened to be near his apartment and decided to drop by…" he said, playing with the glass in his hand.

"No, I had a hunch and felt something was wrong…Markus had to call me today after everything was downloaded to confirm whether I had left any traces behind me. I was sure I wouldn't, but best if he checked it anyway, he kept having to check the databases, so it wouldn't have been suspicious…however, I knew him well, he's the anxious kind of guy who really needs to have everything under control, sometimes he would call me in the middle of the night to ask whether I had opened some node or another," I rolled my eyes slightly. "So, when I didn't hear a word from him I knew something had happened. I went to his apartment, snuck upstairs with my glass shield on and found the door ajar…the whole apartment was a mess, it looked as if several people had searched the whole place in a very chaotic way, I mean, it didn't look very professional, in my opinion. I think they must have taken his laptop, as I didn't see it anywhere. But then, I followed a trail of blood into the bathroom, they had broken the glass, I imagined they did it when they managed to get in, I guess he wouldn't go down quietly…there I saw a bloody scalpel and a couple of tiny cables covered in blood as well…I think he sliced himself open and tore away his Infolink so as to stop whoever took him from tracing his calls to me. In fact, the last thing he did was recording a message for me that he must have uploaded somewhere until I came to his house, and then I received it in my Infolink, I believe he must have programmed beforehand…as I said, he was a bit of a control-freak."

"That was intelligent from him, although if he was as good as you say, it should be no wonder. Wait, didn't you say the Palisade had dismissed their augmented staff?" he inquired, frowning slightly, I couldn't help but laugh mirthlessly.

"Sorry, I should have been more clear…they did kick a lot of us out, but it turns out they don't mind certain augments…What they don't like are these," I lifted both my hands, my tone slightly bitter. "A great part of the staff in the Palisade has neural augments, CASIE for the sales department, I-CREATE for marketing, IT-related ones for the techies…you name it. You know how multinationals are, always wanting to make some more profit, and people with that kind of augments are usually more productive than average. However, some guy with a synthetic hand, a plaque on the head, visible circuits or pieces anywhere…that's not the image they want, not now. So, in a nutshell, I wouldn't recommend you trying to apply for a job with them," I grimaced, trying to sound indifferent, though the truth was that that dismissal still rankled. "…in any case, Markus had an Infolink, but just that one, he was very old-school, to be honest."

"I see…and you say they must have taken his laptop? Did he use it to help you with the backdoors, could they somehow find you through it?"

"I believe so…but no, Markus had a small garage below his mother's house and had another laptop there, he believed his could be somehow bugged by the Palisade, it is said they keep tabs on everyone working for them, just in case," I explained, emptying the glass of water; he had finished his drink long ago, and was now toying with the glass, deep in thought.

"Did he sound overly nervous the last time you spoke to him, could he have hinted at someone monitoring his movements?" he raised his eyes again towards me.

"Well, he was nervous, but so was I, we were going to infiltrate one of the most heavily-protected data vaults in the whole Czech Republic, it's not precisely a tea party…but he didn't point out that someone could be after him. I think they caught him unaware, and he was barely able to send me that warning so I could go into hiding."

"Where's his apartment? I'd like to see it myself tomorrow, see if I can find more leads about those kidnappers, and maybe track Markus down…I can't promise anything though, this whole story looks bad, and it will be a matter of time until they get your name from him…I believe it's too late for him, and it's a shame, he really looked like a man of principle, and if the world is in need of something, it's good people," he said, he sounded really sorry, either that or he was a consummate actor.

"In Dávný District, it's the apartment building just behind the train station, number 38. He lives in the 202."

"Fine, I'll shall take a look tomorrow, then. But now…you really look like you could use some sleep, my room is the other door at the end of the flat, I'll stay on the couch," he resolved while he got up and he picked our bowls from the small table. However, I stood up from the couch as if I had a spring beneath me.

"No way! I'm not about to steal your room as well…I'll sleep on the couch, it's no problem, really," I blurted out. One thing was offering me asylum, but make him sleep on his couch because of me was out of the question.

"I don't mind, in fact, I usually end up falling asleep on it, it's really comfy," he tried to reassure me.

"Well, then it will be comfortable enough for me," I quipped, he sighed, giving in.

"Alright, alright, I'll get you some sheets and a couple of blankets, I think I had some somewhere," he strode away to his room.

"Fine, guess I'll go to the bathroom to get changed and brush my teeth," I said while walking to my bag, I heard him grunt in acquiescence. I picked some comfortable clothes and my toothbrush and paste, then closed the door behind me. I sighed again, not really knowing what to make of the situation. Until now, he hadn't done anything funny or suspicious, in fact, he was being very nice to me. By the looks of him, he wasn't someone very into inviting strangers into his own house.

My whole body ached after the tension of those two days, and I really needed to sleep, too many emotions in just one day. I took off everything and put on a pair of black comfortable leggings and a white tank top, then brushed my teeth thoroughly.

When I left the bathroom he was back into the kitchen, he had left some sheets and a bedcover on the couch and was doing something again in his laptop. I started unfolding the fabric and draping them over; it was rather big, and it looked snugly.

"I have set up the house's system to send a warning to my Infolink in case someone tries to open the door. I don't think we have been followed, I made sure of it, but just in case…anyway, if you need anything, you know where I am…" he straightened up and looked at me. "Do you want me to activate the blinds?"

"I'd rather have them open, but thanks. Good night, I suppose," I answered, turning to him.

"Sleep well, then," he bade me as well, and left towards his room after turning off the lights with a voice command.

I heard the door at the end of the apartment closing and I slid into my makeshift bed. I mulled over the events of the last 48 hours; who would have thought I would have ended up being on the run? Of course, I had been aware of the possible implications of us being discovered, but getting caught had sounded so preposterous…and I couldn't even be sure I hadn't been already caught. What if Jensen was an Illuminati and had lured me into a trap? Or, what if the Task Force had commanded him to infiltrate the Juggernaut Collective? I couldn't be too sure about him, not yet. There were some inconsistencies about him that looked rather suspicious, especially those augments, they seemed far too professional, too expensive. Also, even though he seemed to move, act and talk like an ex-cop, those blades…those blades were for killing, what if he was some kind of hitman?

Unnerved, I tiptoed to my bag and took my pistol, covering it under the pillow he had given me. I had no option but trust him (after all, as I had said, it was a risk you took when you joined the Collective, you could really never know whether someone was truly on your side) until tomorrow, I'd try to get in touch with other members in case they could offer some info. Vega seemed to know him from quite some time ago already, and that felt slightly reassuring, but I'd feel better if I knew more about my mysterious host. Finally, sleep caught up with me and I sank into an uneasy slumber.