"Are you sure you want to do this?"  
  

There it was. The voice in the back of her head that reminded her of her mother. The bitch who gambled away their future and had the gall to off herself before the consequences could catch her. That left all her debts to a fifteen-year-old boy(?) with no money, no home, and no hope of paying them back. Now here Manticore stood, seven years older, mere feet away from an office that could give her everything she wanted. All she had to do was get in, get some of the technical brainmaps, and get out before the police showed up. From there she could sell the brainmaps to Stranger and use the payout to pay off all of her mother's debts. A fresh start. Finally. She could get some real market cybernetics without risking black market viruses. Sure, they came with bloatware and surveillance shit, but she knew how to get rid of those. At long last, Manticore could be Marina.
     

"Manticore, come in. Can you hear me?" Condor's voice came in over the walkie-talkie. She'd better respond. He was the one who helped her plan this thing after all.  
  

"Loud and clear, Condor, still in position. Let me know before the EMP goes off."  
  

"Christ, I still hate using these fucking things. You've got five minutes before the EMP goes," Condor retorted.  
  

"Well, this will thankfully be the last time we have to use these relics," Manticore calmly spoke. She needed him for this operation. He was the one with the connections to get the EMP. Hell, the only reason she knew Stranger was because he introduced her to them.  
  

"You've got that right. The getaway car is in position across the street. Third floor of the parking garage. Stranger asked to do the deal in the car so once you're in there, head west. We'll regroup for the cash later. Do you need any other assistance once the EMP goes off?"  
  

"Nah, I've got this." She had to. There was no other option for her. Just get in, plug in the bug to the server and get out. Once the EMP wore off the bug would transmit the brainmaps to wherever she wanted. Plus, there was a police station down the street in range of the EMP. Condor planned to have some of his guys bust Ghost out of there at the same time, so a little lock picking wouldn't bring big attention to her. All the action would happen out east, and by the time anyone else realized something bigger was happening, she'd be long gone.  
  

"Sixty seconds. It's go time, men," Condor's voice came through the walkie-talkie. She'd have to yell at him later after she'd gotten the cybernetics. Condor had a really outdated view of things. He was coming from one of the oldest crime families after all. That's just how he thought of things. Men were always the best in his opinion. It's why Marina tried to hide her gender from him. When he found out he was surprisingly all for it and said that he had a use for---  
 

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT  

Oh shit, that was the EMP.

Everything powered off around Marina. She quickly bolted up the backdoor steps and took out her good old lock picks. Normally buildings would revert to the back-up power provided by the big corporations, but this street was due maintenance and the repair guys weren't up to it yet. That's why she chose this facility. Buildings with no EMP Shielding were getting rarer but one with a faulty back-up? All but nonexistent.

She had to make this heist happen. A little fidgeting here, a little pin lift there and boom! The facility was hers.

Nightellegence had chosen not to staff the facility this day due to an apparent "company bonding experience", so Manticore just waltzed right in. She made her way past the downed security drones and past another formerly locked door to the underground server room where her prize awaited. After quickly scanning the racks for an open port, she plugged in the bug in a spot where she hoped it wouldn't be found for at least a day.

Manticore then quickly exited the building and calmly walked to the parking garage. Sure, it was a little suspicious for her to be so calm with all of the gunfire in the background, but Marina had to get out. If she didn't make it to the car then all her work the last three months would go down the drain. Marina was honestly panicking; this was her first real escapade after all. Normally she just fled if anyone tried to track her down, but she was tired of running.

Nightellegence was a small enough target that if the wrong people got hands on their tech it could bankrupt them, but they were still large enough to be a major threat to any one citizen. Hell, they probably had the resources to track her down via street security cameras. If she didn't get Ghost's help to cover her tracks or Stranger's monetary reward after this, she'd probably be doomed to work in Nightellegence's debt forever. It would be worth grovelling at Ghost's feet to avoid being associated with that name.  
  

These were the thoughts racing through Marina's head as she bolted up the parking garage's steps. The EMP had taken out the elevator after all. Finally, she arrived on floor 3. There was a sign on the door to the garage that read, "Floor closed for rewiring. Your car isn't on this floor. Reread your ticket. Apologies. -Maplebit Industries".

Manticore had to chuckle at this obviously fake sign. It was quite clever to invoke Maplebit Industries though. They were getting so big that you couldn't be quite sure if they were ever involved in making a product or owned a building. It usually was a safer bet to assume they owned a piece of anything than it was to assume they didn't. Condor HAAATED them though. A lot of the jobs the gang went on were apparently to fuck up their shit.

Either way, she felt she shouldn't keep Stranger waiting. They were the buyer after all. So, she opened the door and, presenting a façade of pure calm, walked up to the only car on the lot.

It was a full-on limousine. This evoked a full laugh from Manticore as she walked up to the driver's side window and knocked on it. The bearded man with a dark hat and brand-new AR glasses rolled down the window.  
  

"Manticore? Is that correct?", he spoke in a gruff tone, clearly wanting to get away from the gunfire outside.  
  

"Present. You got the money, Stranger?" Manticore replied.  
 

"Get in. We need to move." The man replied, rolling up the window while indicating to the back.  
  

Manticore took this as her cue to enter the back of this vehicle she could've only dreamed of, not realizing what lay in store for her. Once she got in the car, she realized there was someone else there. A lady in a blood red dress that seemed to be flowing down her sides fitting her calm complexion and glass of red wine in her completely robotic left hand. She spoke before Manticore could process who she was and why she was in the car.  
  

"Would you like a glass of wine? Don't worry, it won't come out of your reward."  
  

Seeing this info and smelling a trap, Manticore rushed to hold the limo's doors before they closed, but an audible click told her she was too slow. She then looked and scowled at the lady in front of her.  
  

"No, thanks. You're Stranger then?", Manticore spat as the limo started to move.  
  

"The one and only," the lady confirmed, before taking a sip of her wine. "People who get to know me usually call me Hazel Wolfram."  
  

"Shit. The CEO of Maplebit. This negotiation just got harder," Manticore thought before Hazel proceeded.  
  

"So now that we both know who I am, let's establish some more common knowledge. I know what that device on you is and can do to a company that I have close ties with. I know who Condor is and I know that he will likely not emerge from today's combat alive. I am sorry about that by the way."  
  

"WHAT?" Manticore screeched over her. Condor was her guardian. He was an asshole, sure, but he took her in when no one else would. He didn't force her to do jobs - the dangerous jobs she didn't want to. He let her manage the base to hide her from bounty hunters. For him to die over something like this would be absurd.  
  

"LET ME FINISH," Hazel snapped back clearly irritated by the interruption. "As I was saying, I know who you are, Manticore. I know you are the child of Sheila Gothfield and Henry Gothfield. Henry wasn't involved in your life for very long due to a tragic vehicle collision. From there your mother gambled away the insurance money, her money, her future money and enough to make it impossible for you to cover without severe criminal activity or selling yourself off piece by piece. This left a very confused kid, with not enough money or knowledge to survive, hounded by debt collectors

"You then ran to a new city, where you worked for a few years before starting to pay back the debt. The main reason the debt collectors had been only sending letters was that the debt wasn't tied to you officially. In fact, this type of debt usually goes away upon death. However, you started to pay them, and like the sharks they are, they smelled blood. Am I correct in my assertions so far, miss...?"  
  

"Screw you." By this point, Manticore had zoned out. She was still shocked by the potential death of Condor. When the plans to assault the police station were drawn up, they made note of the station's lack of deadly ammo shipments compared to the prevalence of incapacitation ammo shipments.  
  

"I'd like a proper name for you, Manticore. It's clear the name I have doesn't suit the beautiful lady in front of me."  
  

"I-I-I-I'm sorry, what did you just say?" Marina asked, her face turning scarlet.  
 

"From the activities I've had reported to me it's clear you don't use your birth name, and by the change in styles over these photos I was under the assumption you preferred female or non-binary terms. Am I incorrect in this assumption?" Hazel replied as elaborately as possible.  
  

Marina was just stunned. Sure, she had fellow gang members who used her preferred pronouns but never someone near the top. If she was referred to by anyone near the top it was always he/him. ALWAYS. No exceptions. Condor was the nicest and he had said "I'll change when you do," essentially telling her to get augmented and then he'll change. Hell, it was what all of them said. But for the CEO of Maplebit to just outright ask when there was contradicting info in front of her?? This needed an explanation, which required playing along with Hazel's games.  
  

"No. Not telling you." Not that Manticore was ready or willing to play. After all, this monster in front of her set up Condor after all.  
 

"Okay then Mr. Gothfield, I'll just use the pronouns the file has. For the next, ooooh, let's say 25 years. That is about how long this much debt will get in one of the labor camps, after all. Not to mention the other crimes you've committed evading it."

Hazel had all the cards. There was little chance for Marina to walk out unscathed. 

"Fine, fine. She/her. Marina Gothfield. That's my current preferred name. I can't legally change it without the credit clearance after all. I'd get rid of the last name too, but I haven't come up with a good one." Marina conceded. A labor camp for twenty-five years was more than she could afford to do anyway. Hell, most people were worked to death after five, let alone twenty-five.  

"Thank you, Marina. Now do you have a good reason I shouldn't send you to the camps anyway? This is debt I now own, after all. If I send you and it to the proper courts, I could have you work it off there." Hazel asked.  

"I would say the drive in my pocket, but you probably have planned around that answer." Marina responded semi-quizzically.  

"Correct. The drive is illegal contraband. I would just confiscate it before turning you in. Either that or have you take it to jail with you, and I see Nightellegence's stock crash. We have plans to terminate their contract, and I own sell orders against them so the end result of non-cooperation is the same." Hazel replied swirling the wine in her glass.  

"Co-operation? So there is a reason to keep me out of the camps," Marina enthusiastically replied, clinging onto the shred of hope she had.

Hazel smirked at this. "You aren't augmented after all. There's a whole host of people without augments, but criminal debtors with as much debt as you do? Not many. I know you want augments from my conversations with Condor. Why else would he be looking for encrypted radios?"  

Marina shivered. Having someone else augment you was worse than the labor camps almost all of the time. She'd heard the stories after all, of people going missing only to re-emerge with horror stories when the government cracked down hard twenty years ago. This however hadn't stopped people though. There were many people still missing after thirty or so years, who had augmented near the beginning and disappeared forever a month later.  

"I'm sure hearing that statement is quite scary," Hazel continued. "However, I have a good reason. I'm taking a demotion from CEO to Head of Research & Development. I'm letting those fools on the board of directors use Maplebit as a launch point for 'higher' careers or new endeavors on the condition that they sell all of the company to me once I'm done. They recognized I owned 50% of the stock and could basically turn them against each other to get what I want, so they are getting out while the getting out is good. Once that's all done, I'm going to full pivot into ethical brain augmentations. Open code, Open schematics, Multi-factor authenticator for updates. The whole thing.

"I know it seems batshit insane from a business' perspective, but I think there's a market for it. My goal is to make it so anyone wanting to edit your augment without your permission will require physical access to your skull. My problem is I don't have quite enough data on the neuroscience side, for my projects. That's where you come in."  

Marina stared blankly at the crazy trillionaire. "Ethical brain augments? You think the public is going to buy that? There's a reason augments aren't 100% adopted yet."  

Hazel stared back in confusion. "Why not? I know what data I need to get for proof of ethical augments. Half of it is in the drive you have obtained. The other half I need a semi-willing subject for."  

"Semi-willing? So, I really don't have a choice in this, do I?" Marina asked finally, leaning back in the limo seat.  

"Either this or the labor camps," Hazel responded taking another sip of wine.  

Marina was tired. She'd been running all her adult life, and here was someone willing to end that race. All she had to do was sacrifice her dignity. She could live in relative happiness, right? Right? "How much damage do you think the experimental augments will do to me?"  

"Honestly if the brainmaps on those drives look how I think they do, little to none. If they don't match my calculations, I go back to the drawing board and you don't get brain augments. I already have some good arm and leg ones I want to try. Nightellegence wanted to keep those maps as far away from us as possible originally but went soft when their old CEO "stepped down". They promoted an incompetent middle manager to run the whole shebang and got lax on our contract. I will be glad to see them go bankrupt," Hazel responded with a malicious smile.  

"Could I think it over some of the wine you offered? I need some time to think before I let you decide what happens to me," Marina asked, ignoring Hazel's insinuation.

"Of course, anything reasonable for my future kitten," Hazel nonchalantly responded, pouring a glass of the wine for both of them.

"Kitten??" Marina recoiled in confusion, spilling half of the glass all over her stealth outfit. "Oh, fuck!"

"Do you want me to get you a spare outfit at the Lab?" Hazel asked, immediately grabbing a nearby towel to pass to Marina.

"Oh, I don't think that'll be quite necessary. After all, I don't want to be in more debt to you than I already am. Besides, the Crew is going to want back at base. But why did you call me Kitten?" Marina waved off finishing the leftover unspilled wine.

"No reason. I just thought it fitting since you named yourself Manticore. Don't you agree? Wouldn't it be a fun pet name for me to call you?" Hazel asked, leaning forward with intent. An intent unclear to Marina, but she knew she could trust it. After all, Marina lived for Hazel's every whim.

"I mean, I don't think you need my permission for something like that," Marina responded.

"Well, would you respond if I called you Kitten?" Hazel asked, fishing for confirmation that her "eraser" had done its job.

"Oh, of course. Hell, I'd make it my name if you wanted me to," Kitten responded.

"That won't be necessary. I'd rather you keep Marina. It was a good pick. Although I don't want to discard Kitten as a name. How about this: you keep Manticore as your code name, you keep Marina as your first name, and then we add Kitten as a name only I can call you? Does this sound like a good idea?" Hazel asked, knowing what Marina's response would be. 

"Of course that's a good idea. Anything you say is a good idea."