Illustration by Joi Rudin.
Peach read over the piece of paper one more time:
"P:
I got a gig for you. It's a big one. You'll need to be discrete. And you'll be on your own.
I've got an inside source confirming there are 300 million Data units inside a vault in the Maison Digitale du Commerce, stored in unmarked drives. We have a small window here; the mission starts tomorrow at 00:00. Prep work is all you. I trust your decision-making.
Burn this message after reading it. Good luck.
S.-"
Peach lit the letter with a lighter and left the blazing paper on a metal ashtray to carbonize. Spritz asking her to do a solo job was clearly a step in the right direction; it meant he trusted her. But the fact that this was a hack-and-steal gig meant that she'd have to be there physically, on-site. That was new.
Peach stretched her arms above her head. The Guild was pretty strict with its internal hierarchy, and on-site jobs were mostly for Runners with some seniority, given the risks involved. She hadn't been a Guild member for that long, but her background working for the Big Five Corporations was boosting her climbing the ladder. After all, she'd been part of the team that designed the latest ultra-safe nodes architecture for Schäfer & Schäfer. Those were a real work of art in terms of cybersecurity. Even if many Runners hated her for that, those credentials were worth a lot in the Guild. The money that Spritz had been throwing her way certainly reflected that. Spritz clearly thought that investing in her would pay off eventually.
She liked that about the Guild, the money, the luxury. It wasn't all that different from her life back when she worked for the Corpos, only that this job was more fun, and some of the shit she'd seen the Corpos do had made her too uncomfortable to continue working for them. Runners were criminals, sure, but most of the Runners she'd met were almost decent people. That was more than she could say about any Corporate upper management she'd ever worked for.
Peach returned her attention to her workstation. She tapped at the holographic keyboard, and the screen showed the schematics for the MDC's vaults. The encrypted keys were the easy part; the console Spritz had provided her with seemed more than capable of managing that. The biometric locks would be more challenging, but that was her area of expertise; that's why she earned the big paychecks. The thing that intimidated her was the physical security measures. If the schematics were accurate, there were laser motion detectors guarding the vault's door. Getting in was going to be about more than just hacking. This was going to take brawn as well as brains.
The Guild offered temporary body enhancements and supplements for its members. Peach could go through the Guild's doctors and robo-nurses and get them to fill her with enough proteins and norepinephrine to get the job done and get out safe. She'd heard of other Runners who had taken epinephrine for on-site jobs, but the dosages were so small that the effect wore down before the job ended. The Runners would get sleepy; some even got crams. They'd make some mistakes and fuck up the job. Getting caught due to some bullshit like that was not in Peach's plans. She'd have the good stuff injected, even if it meant having her next paycheck docked to cover the costs. Her cut of the 300 million Data units would more than make up the medical bill for these supplements. And she needed Spritz to be impressed with her results if she wanted to continue climbing the ladder. Whatever the injections would cost, they'd be worth it. She'd seen how the Guild's head honchos lived, their clothes, and the opulence they enjoyed. She wanted that. And sometimes you have to spend money to make money.
"P:
I got a gig for you. It's a big one. You'll need to be discrete. And you'll be on your own.
I've got an inside source confirming there are 300 million Data units inside a vault in the Maison Digitale du Commerce, stored in unmarked drives. We have a small window here; the mission starts tomorrow at 00:00. Prep work is all you. I trust your decision-making.
Burn this message after reading it. Good luck.
S.-"
Peach lit the letter with a lighter and left the blazing paper on a metal ashtray to carbonize. Spritz asking her to do a solo job was clearly a step in the right direction; it meant he trusted her. But the fact that this was a hack-and-steal gig meant that she'd have to be there physically, on-site. That was new.
Peach stretched her arms above her head. The Guild was pretty strict with its internal hierarchy, and on-site jobs were mostly for Runners with some seniority, given the risks involved. She hadn't been a Guild member for that long, but her background working for the Big Five Corporations was boosting her climbing the ladder. After all, she'd been part of the team that designed the latest ultra-safe nodes architecture for Schäfer & Schäfer. Those were a real work of art in terms of cybersecurity. Even if many Runners hated her for that, those credentials were worth a lot in the Guild. The money that Spritz had been throwing her way certainly reflected that. Spritz clearly thought that investing in her would pay off eventually.
She liked that about the Guild, the money, the luxury. It wasn't all that different from her life back when she worked for the Corpos, only that this job was more fun, and some of the shit she'd seen the Corpos do had made her too uncomfortable to continue working for them. Runners were criminals, sure, but most of the Runners she'd met were almost decent people. That was more than she could say about any Corporate upper management she'd ever worked for.
Peach returned her attention to her workstation. She tapped at the holographic keyboard, and the screen showed the schematics for the MDC's vaults. The encrypted keys were the easy part; the console Spritz had provided her with seemed more than capable of managing that. The biometric locks would be more challenging, but that was her area of expertise; that's why she earned the big paychecks. The thing that intimidated her was the physical security measures. If the schematics were accurate, there were laser motion detectors guarding the vault's door. Getting in was going to be about more than just hacking. This was going to take brawn as well as brains.
The Guild offered temporary body enhancements and supplements for its members. Peach could go through the Guild's doctors and robo-nurses and get them to fill her with enough proteins and norepinephrine to get the job done and get out safe. She'd heard of other Runners who had taken epinephrine for on-site jobs, but the dosages were so small that the effect wore down before the job ended. The Runners would get sleepy; some even got crams. They'd make some mistakes and fuck up the job. Getting caught due to some bullshit like that was not in Peach's plans. She'd have the good stuff injected, even if it meant having her next paycheck docked to cover the costs. Her cut of the 300 million Data units would more than make up the medical bill for these supplements. And she needed Spritz to be impressed with her results if she wanted to continue climbing the ladder. Whatever the injections would cost, they'd be worth it. She'd seen how the Guild's head honchos lived, their clothes, and the opulence they enjoyed. She wanted that. And sometimes you have to spend money to make money.
Written by Espeche, original idea by Miss Pingu.