I checked my Glass and glanced out the window of the cab toward the building. This was the place. It was in a more rundown section of Aegis. The next block over sat directly up against the wall. Not quite a slum, but… well, I probably wouldn’t walk in any of the alleys around here. Hmm… or maybe I should? Been a while since I cut loose.

  The few pedestrians moving down the street kept their heads down, and the presence of gangs was quite apparent. No clue who, though. I spotted a few guys smoking in the mouth of an alley. Looked like they had some kind of thing with bright red berets?

  More importantly, a squad of Valkris Defense Solutions PMCs roved the street dressed in full tac-gear. They were centered around a guy in power armor, covered in big guns like he was a porcupine. If VDS was here... did a rift burst nearby? Hmm... I might need to watch for monsters.

  ”This right, miss? Looks... dim?” The cab driver asked as he looked out at my destination. The apartment building itself was severely rundown, with cracks running through the foundation and walls.

  ”Yep.” I pulled a Nyte shard from my pocket and passed it up to the man.

  He didn’t immediately use it, hesitation clear on his face. “No SIGIL? Throne's been cracking down on shards these days.”

  “…” I shook my head. SIGIL… If I were a Bastion native, I’d have one. Sure would make some things easier. Not having proper identification was quite the pain in the rear.

  Even if I had one, I wasn’t a hundred percent sure about using it to pay for a cab, though. That was a good way to be tracked down. SIGIL records were supposed to be only viewable by Throne’s agents, which was fine for people who lived by the law. With my lifestyle? I’d probably still use a shard just to be safe.

  The cab driver sighed and then slotted the shard into a datapad. He tapped around on it for a moment before passing it back to me. “All good to go, miss.”

  I took back the shard and got out of the cab. The driver gave one last look at me, his face twisted in concern, before driving off back into traffic. I watched him go. Rain plinked lightly off the yellow car. Rare to find someone like that these days. Someone who cared about other people, even if it was a shallow care.

  The apartment building definitely wasn’t the nicest I’d ever seen. The door handle was absolutely filthy with a mixture of grease and blood smudged by the rain. No way I was touching that bare-handed.

  I shoved my hands into my pockets. Ebonshroud rose from beneath my skin, forming two skin-tight gloves. I carefully manipulated it, turning the dark substance solid. It took on a more leather-like quality. Should be good enough.

  I entered the apartment building and took the stairs up to the third floor. Several junkies sprawling against the walls, jittering around with an unfocused gaze. Their blood seemed to unnaturally shimmer underneath their skin.

  Looked like a bunch of ether addicts. To Wardens, awakened by the OS, ether was the source of their powers. To normal people? Highly, highly addictive. Especially with every drug dealer swearing ether injections increased the odds of awakening. Nasty stuff, though unfortunately not a rare sight.

  Some apartments stood open, their insides steeping in complete disrepair. The entire place smelled of unwashed bodies and decay. Was the meeting in a drug den? I guess it was as good a place as any. If no one remembered us being here, then that probably counted as covert.

  I moved through the den and knocked on a specific door, which was one of the few closed. A moment later, I heard movement behind it and someone peeked out at me through the peephole. Sounded like a woman’s voice. “Who is it?”

  ”Stray.”

  The person stepped away from the door, though I could still make out muted muttering. Soundproofing of this place wasn’t great. The woman came back a moment later and cracked open the door.

  A frankly frail-looking woman peeked through the crack. She was clad in a dark leather jacket that looked a size too large. She looked me over, her eyes whirling with a tell-tale sign of chrome, before nodding politely. A bright smile rose to her lips. “Come on in!”

  I followed the woman into the apartment. It was almost completely bare, with plastic sheets laid out on the floor and decaying walls. A mechanism lay off to the side lined with what looked like thermite. Probably to burn this room and everything in it if needed. Standing in the middle of the room was a table covered in papers and small plastic props.

  Three figures stood around the table, each looking more… interesting than the last. At first glance, it looked like I had walked into an impromptu cosplay meetup.

  The man in the middle, seemingly the boss, had a cracked obsidian mask covering the bottom half of his face. It pulsed with a faint blue light. Symmetrical patterns zigzagged across it and down to his outfit which was a mixture of scrap leather, obsidian, and metal. The amalgam armor looked like it would fall apart before actually guarding against an attack.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Flanking him stood two guys in… feather skirts? They looked like twins, each with jaguar masks covering the bottom half of their faces. They were armed, though it was a bit hard to tell under their leather jackets. One had a blue theme, and the other a pink theme, going from head to toe.

  Honestly? The boss looked like an Anarch, an awakened who used their system-granted powers for crime. Aka, supervillains, though that term was more mocking than anything. Not that it mattered much to me who he was. Money was money.

  I was feeling a bit… giddy? I mean, I’d seen Anarchs on the news, of course. When I first came to Bastion, I loved reading comics that depicted the battle between heroic Wardens and villainous Anarchs. Not that I could afford many, but that’s what piracy was for. Working with an Anarch was so not how I saw this night going.

  ”Welcome… Our mutual friend sent you?” The man in the obsidian mask asked. His eyes were a bright blue, half hidden under a mop of black hair. It was definitely dyed, and a hack job at that. Barely hid the fact that he had bright blonde hair.

  ”…” I nodded to him, still trying to take in the wacky attire. Did they make the costumes themselves? From the thermite contraption, surely they must have some skills. Hmm... I was being too judgmental of my future allies, even if it was for just one job.

  “I am the great Obsidio! Master of obsidian!” He waved his hand, sending obsidian shards pelting into the far wall. They had a faint glimmer of ether gleaming within. Definitely an Anarch. “These two are my Shardlings, Havoc and Mayhem!”

  The frail-looking woman stepped around me and headed to a terminal set up on the far wall, waving politely with a cheerful smile on her face. “And I’m Teresa. The woman in the chair!”

  Woman in the chair- ah, must be more slang. I thought I was doing better about keeping up. Might need to find another guidebook. Woman in the chair, though… Hmm… probably a Cipher?

  Regardless, Teresa looked vastly out of her element. She seemed like an everyday, warm office worker these three dragged into whatever scheme they were hatching. Almost an innocent neighborly vibe, which was at complete odds with the henchmen and Obsidio.

  I looked at the dorks standing in front of me for a good long time, pondering how exactly I got here. “Nyx.”

  Havoc- no, maybe it was Mayhem? Regardless, the blue Shardling asked a question. His voice was cool and collected. “Don’t talk much, do you?”

  “…” I shook my head, grateful for my mask. It’d been a while since my ability to keep cool had been tested so much.

  ”No matter!” Obsidio spoke with a weird tone. Almost like he was trying to sound bigger than he was? “Hmm… I went to a Fixer for muscle to fill in.”

  “Sent. Me.” I pointed at myself.

  Obsidio’s mask tilted and he looked me up and down. “Are you sure you can do the job?”

  “Yep.” To be fair, I wasn’t exactly intimidating. At least, normally. Although I was a bit tall, I wasn’t exactly filled out.

  Mayhem- or maybe Havoc? The pink guy took a step forward. He had a wildly expressive way of speaking. “I dunno, boss. She looks scrawny to me!”

  “Arm. Wrestle?” I motioned to the table.

  ”Sure!” Pinky moved to the table, taking on a serious posture as he held out his hand to me.

  I casually walked over and grabbed his hand. “…”

  ”Three. Two. One!” Pinky started flexing his muscles hard and pushed against me. Oh? Were we starting? It’s a good thing he seemed to use a gun rather than act as a physical fighter.

  I waited a few seconds before slowly pressing his hand down towards the table. I didn’t move too fast, worried about hurting his ego. Just nice and steady until the back of his hand lightly tapped against the table.

  I dropped his hand and stepped back. Pinky looked at me with eyes of wonder. “Wow! I‘m impressed! You’re way stronger than Jaguar Joe!“

  “…?” I tilted my head at the new name.

  ”Oh! Jaguar Joe is the boss’s right-hand man… he’s got a tummy-ache, so he’s out today. You’re filling in for him!” Pinky helpfully informed me.

  Tummy-ache… was I with three-year-olds? What the hell did Pursius sign me up for? No wonder he couldn’t keep his laughter in earlier... At least they were paying well. A short gig like this would net 3,000 Nytes? Not bad, all things considered.

  “Enough! Let’s go over the plan. We only have an hour until it's time.” Obsidio announced and then waved to the blueprint on the table. “Our goal is the Aegis Museum of Otherworldly Artifacts! AMOA! Hmm… that didn’t sound good.”

  “It’s fine, boss! Your intimidating voice pulled it off anyway!” Pinky cheered on from the side.

  “Indeed.” His eyes crinkled in obvious joy, though it looked like he was trying to hide the emotion. “They just got a magical book, which supposedly grants the holder great power! It’s our target.”

  Woah… we were actually targeting something quite big. Seeing the group, I figured we’d be knocking over a candy store or something. A museum, though, yep? This would be the first time I’d be going to one of them. How thrilling.

  ”I’ve paid off the guards. The security will be disabled almost entirely.” He moved a small obsidian shard toward the blueprint of the museum. “We just need to get in, get the case open, grab the book, and then get out.”

  Obsidio held a model of a helicopter and placed it on the roof of the museum.“Our escape is via helicopter, which will fly in on the roof. Questions?”

  I was impressed. Where’d he manage to find a helicopter of all things? I thought they were extinct inside the city thanks to the Hovas. And just how much money did this guy have? He looked like a F-rate villain, yet he was bankrolling all of this? Wild.

  “Lethal?” That was always an important question to ask.

  ”Definitely not.” Obsidio immediately shot me down. He waved a hand to Pinky and Bluey. “They’ve got rubber rounds. That's… fine, right? Won’t mess you up too much?”

  “…” I nodded my head. It was preferable, even. I’d rather not have to merk some poor guard just doing their job.

  “Nova!” Obsidio waved a hand to the bedroom of the apartment. “Nyx, there’s a spare costume in the other room.”

  I looked at him, then Pinky and Bluey, and finally moved my gaze to Teresa. Finally, I looked down at my own clothes: a simple hoodie and jeans. Both were black, made from my Ebonshroud.

  No way I changed into their stuff. Not only because it looked… interesting, but also as a safety thing. ”No.”

  Obsidio looked taken aback for a moment. His head dipped, staring at the blueprint before eventually shrugging. “Well, whatever... Change the mask, at least? You’ve gotta fit the attire to really stand out!”

  “Fine.” I suppressed a sigh. I’d just reshape the mask when no one was looking. Wouldn’t be too hard.

  "No more questions?" His shoulders perked up happily. “Then we’ll move out in ten!”