The outskirts, as long as I avoided the slags, was truly the best place to cool down and just relax. Well, metaphorically cool down, in this case. This place was burning hot from dawn to dusk, but as long as I lay up near the fuel tank I was okay. AE3's endothermic properties made it the perfect jury-rigged AC.

I rested at my go-to spot and watched the sun slowly slink toward the ocean far to the west. The sky was a mess of blues, pinks, and even greens above the partly cloudy sky.

My handheld played calming music into my ear. I just sat in the sand and relaxed, mind drifting freely. Doc's orders. Well, not to come out here exactly. Nael suggested I take a day or two and just find myself once more.

With the beautiful sight of the nightlife coming out across Aythryn City in the background, I became distracted by the interface. It popped up, ruining any figment of peace I had left.

「Name: Shiro Tsukuyomi

Traits: Fox's Grace, Quick Healing, Insight

Stealth - 6

Fox's Paw

Perception - 2

Driving - 7

1 Perk Point

Data Pending - Duration Five Days」

Yay… I attained another entry to my list. Driving, and at rank seven no less. I personally didn't think I was all that good of a driver, but the interface rated me higher with it than it had Stealth. I even had a Perk selection pending.

I dunno if I'd even pick one though. I still felt half dead after the thing with Fox's Paw, and had several traumas I doubt I'll ever overcome. Wouldn't it be worse with driving? Who knows? Maybe the 'learning' process would require me to crash and die several thousand times. Wouldn't I then be too traumatized to even get on a street then? Was it even worth the Perk?

Well… that's not to say Perks weren't effective. I still had yet to make a noise when moving. There was no doubting the effectiveness of Fox's Paw. Just… was it worth it? What was I willing to sacrifice?

My phone buzzed faintly in my pocket. I pulled it out to see a message from Mira, my best Mikata. 'Great! My entire afternoon is clear. Oh, and Pa' wants to see you too. Come over for lunch? I'll even make cookies! XD'

A smile traced my lips. Good ole Mira. 'Sure. Send me where you're staying.'

':D KK. Here!' The message was followed by a map pin on the south side of the city in the Oldtown district.

It would be quite the drive, but, well… it would be good to see a familiar face. Damn, that also meant I'd have to cut through the corpo zones. No way I was heading through East End on a bike. Intercity it is, then. 'I'll be there.'

'Nova!'

My smile remained long after I watched the light fade over the city. Maybe life wasn't so bad after all…

— — —

The next morning I slid out onto the streets further toward Downtown and the corpo districts with a mission. I had half a day, and I wanted to prove some of my other skills to the interface with the time.

I parked a bit away, wearing my finest clothes. Or the less fangy ones, to be fair. I needed to blend in with the surrounding pedestrians, and gang colors weren't it. The people this close to the Corporate Quarter were middle class, so there were far fewer gangers, tags, and graffiti. These were the moderate group- the ones that willingly went to work as corpo drones.

This close to the corpo zones, there were way more flashwear jackets and vests with hologram projectors built into the very cloth. Most depicted simple art decals or company branding. They glowed just outside of the fabric.

Flashwear was extraordinarily common amongst corporate drones. It'd long been the style of choice. The 'new' look that was all the rage these days. It was so common it'd almost entirely replaced business casual. Only execs wore suits these days. Or could afford them, anyway.

Those with more physical jobs tended to stick with techwear. Techwear was… well, it was like someone took a military outfit, and then smacked on random buckles, straps, and pockets all over. It was just a bit out of my price range, but I desperately wanted some techwear due to the sheer versatility of the clothing. Most pants had at least six pockets. The amount of things I could do with six pockets...

There were a few people now and then, however, that were literally walking advertisements. Hockers. I wasn't alone in my distaste for them. They sold their bodies to their corporate masters for just a few more Rayn. At least the audio variants of Hocker attire had long been banned.

It's funny, most of the time you couldn't even see what product the Hocker was advertising due to how it warped around the body. Definitely an exec decision that no one bothered to check the viability of.

Anyway, with an increase in wealth came an increase in valuables. And, as a klepto- ahem, liberator of such valuables, this area was a prime target. Other spots in the city had their own issues. For instance, the actual corpo zones were too heavily guarded. East End was, well, East End. Even the south of Downtown wasn't too good of an idea considering it was the seat of governmental power and FSA troops were everywhere.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

An argument could be made for Portside, but I preferred the north edge of Downtown. I had better knowledge of the place and could escape way easier if need be. Not that I'd been caught anytime recently. After I learned all the tips and tricks, and as long as I stuck to my normal comfort zone, then skimming pockets was easy. Almost too easy. I didn't get the same thrill that bigger B&E jobs gave me.

I casually walked around, eyeing the surrounding people as I listened to music through my earbuds. My targets were those that looked well off, but not too well off. Those with Vizors made preem targets since the device blocked most of their view. Then, I simply had to check their pockets. Small devices were preem. Things like my handheld radio and even pocket watches could all be sold.

I had long learned the common areas where people stored their stuff and how to spot the slight bulges. Just as long as I didn't grab a phone. Grabbing phones was a quick way to lose a hand, especially if it was linked into someone's chrome. At least, unless I had a Cleaner-Jack, but those were expensive.

I spent two hours klepping items and concealing them all over my body. My usual tactic was to get close, walk beside someone not paying attention, and snatch an object before walking past. I made sure not to bump into anyone, a mistake of lower-level picks. Most people were paranoid these days, so even a small bump could give it away.

At least, as long as they were aware. It still worked wonders on those in a rush or with the perception of a snail. Hence why people with Vizors were ideal. The Vizor showed wealth, and also acted as the perfect distraction.

I didn't just stay on one street either. No, that would be dumb. Squires of the Blue Crusade were out and about in their mess of half plate armor. This close to the corporate zones? They actually cared about petty crimes, and I definitely didn't want to be caught.

The Blue Crusade had the power of judge, jury, and executioner if need be, and the most common punishment for pickpockets was amputation. I rather liked my hands right where they were. 'Sides, I couldn't afford cyber replacements, and clone-flesh was… uncomfortable.

I returned to my bike around noon. The density of the crowds had lowered drastically now that people were at work, so there was no point in sticking around. Just as I offloaded my loot and mounted it, the interface popped up in my view.

「Name: Shiro Tsukuyomi

Traits: Fox's Grace, Quick Healing, Insight

Tracking - 3

Stealth - 6

Fox's Paw

Perception - 2

Sleight of Hand - 7

1 Perk Point

Driving - 7

1 Perk Point

Concealment - 8

2 Perk Points

Data Pending - Duration Four Days」

Interesting… it looked like these Perk Points were given out every four levels based on Concealment. I'd already suspected, of course, since the Stealth Perks had their unlocks capped by levels of four. Still, it was nice to have solid confirmation.

I- I still wasn't sure if I even wanted to use a Perk Point again. At least not for now… The last one had changed me. I found out when I accidentally touched the thermal side of my dirt bike that even my reactions to pain were different now. I didn't cry or scream, I just accepted it and moved on with a cool detachment. That wasn't normal. Not without a Pain Editor, at least.

I really didn't want to use another Perk Point, but that desire to be better and earn more Rayn ate at the back of my mind… If I was just a bit more skilled, I could take on harder jobs. Earn more. Maybe even raise my position in society from gutterrat?

I'd think about it more later. For now, my tentative reply to Perk Points was not yet. Even I knew the draw to power would eventually break down my holdbacks. Power could corrupt even the most pure of people, and I most definitely wasn't pure enough to put up resistance.

I kicked the bike on and drove off onto the inter-city. The speed limit was much higher here, so I let loose and enjoyed the wind through my hair. I still wasn't quite good, or comfortable, enough to drive between cars, so I took my time and just enjoyed the ride.

I casually drove along through the Corporate Quarter, as the corpo zone was officially called. It was the home base of many of the major corporations in the city. The Big 7, or at least the ones with a presence in the city, mostly had their regional offices here.

Even with just a cursory look, I could spot the big bold letters proclaiming which building was which. Sentinel Corp owned a rather gargantuan scraper with the entire middle cut out into a landing bay of sorts. I could see the militaristic fliers taking off and landing constantly even from here. I was too far out to see their exact nature, but they were probably similar to the one that flew over Viceroy Street.

Medtech Solutions was obvious too. As the largest, and main, hospital within the entire city, they were quite apparent. Their red cross symbol sat proudly on the pure white building, marking it as theirs.

Medavac constantly took off from it, the flyers' lights flashing in erratic blues and reds. A massive hologram red cross floated above the building as if it wasn't obvious enough. Unlike other sections of the city, they had full authority to shoot down anyone dumb enough to fly in their airspace without permission, so sky traffic was pretty barren around the hospital.

Raijin International owned the tallest tower in the entire city. The building looked like a weird mixture of a lightning rod and ancient eastern temple. Electricity arced all around the building as if to show off their self-proclaimed superiority.

From this far out I couldn't tell if it was actual electricity or just holograms. Probably the latter seeing as the former would cost a lot of money. But hey, it was one of the Big 7 corporations. Maybe they did use actual electricity…

Mystech was the only one I couldn't see, but that wasn't a surprise considering how they operated. Mystech went the opposite route of the other three and had a massive subterranean complex. It was all over the screamstream a while ago, which is the only reason I knew about it. Otherwise, I tended to avoid Mystech and all its products. Magic was so not for me.

The other three, the Agrican Foundation, KairoTech Global, and Shen Kang Keiji also had smaller buildings out and about, but they weren't as prominent in Aythryn City. Together they made the Big 7, our corporate masters in this day and age. When the giants came out to play, even the government would decide to stay.

The only thing with more political force than the Big 7 was BosSpace Solar. They existed on an entire other spectrum from everyone else though, so it wasn't even a fair comparison. These days no one even tried to pick with them after they nearly vaporized half of the Varyth continent with their Orbital Piledriver.

It wasn't long before I drove through Downtown and entered Oldtown, the seat of governmental power for the city. At least, as much power as the government could show off. Still wasn't a fraction to the Big 7, but then again, nothing was. At least the FSA had a standing army. That was already miles above most other countries.

Granted, said standing army was nearly constantly fighting off the Dune Walkers, but hey, at least they were there. And the whole Dune Walker thing was partially their fault to begin with, so...

I stopped at a stoplight and checked my map. Mira's temporary abode, because it was always temporary, sat a few blocks to the west of the primary FSA base of Aythryn City. I wasn't too far away now.

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