Level 1 Job Advancement

They huddled behind a large, parked truck in broad daylight. The target was an old apartment in the back-alley of Novus Lokris.

Apartment number 109.

Val had heard the old lady who lived there had gotten a new bodyguard who was always absent during the day. But the fact that she had one meant there was a high likelihood of valuables. And coincidentally, this was an uncongested area in the corner of the city; it was the perfect set-up for Bread’s first theft.

She bobbed and weaved through the maze of cars and finally got to the door. From there, she could make out an authentic, mid quality lock. It stood out from the rest.

“Bread,” she whispered. “Come here.”

He quietly made his way over.

“Open it.”

“Is this really okay?”

“It’s fine. Nobody’s getting hurt, are they?”

Bread sighed but got to work. He gently grasped the lock and closed his eyes. Watching him emitting all that light was always so interesting to see. And after a few seconds, she heard the lock click.

“Nice,” she whispered to Bread. “Now, stay here. Be ready to run, okay?”

He nodded.

She slowly turned the handle and slipped inside. It was dark. Nobody’s home? Lucky! She quickly got to work. Tiptoeing across the floor, she made her way to the first thing on her list—the freezer.

People always hid their valuables in the freezer. It didn’t really make sense to her. There were online articles warning about this very thing decades ago, but it always happened. There was always a twenty percent chance during residential heists that something of value was in the freezer.

She pulled the freezer door open. Nothing. That eighty percent just came to bite her in the ass. It was fine though. There were other places to look. Next on the list were the drawers—

A sparkle in the corner of her eye.

There was a small object on the kitchen counter. She took a closer look—a bracelet of diamonds. Jackpot! She already knew by the shine and the design.

The diamonds themselves weren’t important; those were a dime a dozen with all the excess synthetics out there. And the general appearance wasn’t all that spectacular. But it was the history and the band itself that really mattered.

Made from a combination of all the platinum group metals in existence, it was the 2099 limited edition century model uniquely designed by a famous cybernetic cosmetics and jewelry company. A classic case of don’t judge a book by its covers.

She never expected an old lady living in a crappy, old apartment isolated from the city to have something of this kind of value. It was a good thing one of her buddies tipped her off on the info about the new bodyguard. But then, there was a voice behind her—

“Is somebody there? Gunther? Are you back?”

The grandma! She’s home? She quickly pocketed the bracelet.

“Oh, it must be my age. Now I’m hearing things that aren’t even there.” She started heading towards the fridge.

Shit, shit, shit. The lady was closing in. If she just turned, she’d see her… Val quickly jumped over the countertop. Her feet slammed against the fake marble, echoing through the apartment with a resounding thud.

“H-hello? Who is that?” The lady waved around her hands as if she hadn’t seen her.

It was dark, but it wasn’t that dark. Was she blind? Val slowly got up. The woman didn’t seem to notice. She really was blind. She silently made her way towards the front entrance.

“What? M-my bracelet!” The woman hobbled to the front door with a kitchen knife in hand. Val barely dodged to the side. “Where are you?! I know you’re here!” She stood in front of the door and swung her knife around dangerously. “I won’t let you take my bracelet!”

Now what? She didn’t want to tackle her to the ground, but it seemed like that was the only viable option she had. And she definitely wasn’t going to leave the bracelet behind. It was probably worth a pretty penny.

Using her Razen eye, Val timed the swings of the lady’s arms and slammed her down to the ground when her knife hand swung to the opposite side. The lady went down with a groan, but she didn’t have time to worry about her. She quickly stepped over the fallen figure and barged out the front door. Bread was there, staring her back. His eyes went to the old lady.

“C’mon!” She pulled him away from the scene.

“W-what about her?” Bread asked. “Why is she crying?”

“Ignore her!” She started to run.

The old lady yelled from afar, “Please! Anything but the bracelet! That was my son’s! You can have anything, please…”

The voice eventually dissipated when they were far enough away, but she never stopped. Until they were back home, they weren’t in the clear.

Bread was yelling, pulling at her arms, but she ignored it. She ignored everything. All that mattered was that his ability to unlock doors worked. All that mattered was that they would have food on the table for a few more weeks.

And nobody—not even Bread—would take that away from her.