A Job to Do

Underneath the artificial sun of Sector 76, a young man is losing a simple game of cards to a group of children. He’ll say he’s doing it on purpose, but as you’ll come to see, our main character is prone to bouts of fantasies, hotheaded defensiveness, and reckless tinkering. His name is Hugo, and he’s just bet a month's rent to a group of twelve-year-olds.

These particular children, being poor and hungry, swiftly defeat Hugo, taking not just the contents of his wallet, but his pride with them.

“Thanks mister, let’s play again tomorrow - we’ll treat you to a hotpot if you win!” The children shout as they run away.

Hugo lets out a sigh and kicks a rock, he’ll need to sell a few of his prized trinkets to recover from a loss like that; an activity he never looks forward to. Hugo worked as a kind of mechanic, he was the best engineer in Sector 76, and if you asked him, the entire City. Whether that’s true, we’ll see, but I digress.

Hugo walks the 18 minutes from the run-down park to his little shop on the 32nd floor of the commercial building in the centre of Sector 76. He passes by his usual sights: drones of homeless with dreary faces and raggedy clothing, mothers standing on the balconies of apartments cradling their infants, and the shifty passerby looking for their next come up.

Hugo scans each with his Optilens, a bionic device implanted into his eye he refurbished and installed himself - making him the only one in Sector 76 with bionic implants and the skills to make them. His habit of scanning passerby comes from his father. One of the few things he remembered about his father was his paranoid glances over his shoulder and his insistence on avoiding strangers - a practice that hurt his business.

He doesn’t notice anything strange on the way to his shop, but he does notice a customer waiting outside the door, presumably for him to open shop. This stranger is tall and stocky, with hands like catcher’s mitts and a bearded face sticking out from under a pair of dark tinted eyeglasses.

“What’re you here for? Repairs or commission?” Hugo says while he opens the door to his shop. His shop is fairly cluttered, but obviously organised to some degree. In the back, where he is almost certainly not taking this stranger, he keeps his private belongings and his workshop. He leads the stranger to a desk in the back of the main room.

“Take a seat, how can I-” Hugo is cut off by the stranger, who has removed the cloak from his back and taken the seat in front of him.

“I’ll save formalities for later, you may call me Mac. I’m here because I received a tip from a friend of mine. He says that you offer a service no one else can.”

Hugo knew what he was talking about, and mentally kicked himself for not hiding his practices better.

“I see, well, my 1-day repair guarantee is famous - glad it's worth traveling for apparently" Hugo replies, trying to play it cool.

“That’s not what I meant. I meant your, let’s say, specialised skills.” Mac replies with the start of a knowing smile.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Hugo says, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

“I think you do.” Mac says, leaning back in his chair. “You see, I have a job for you. A job that requires your unique talents. A job that doesn't accept a no."

"Look, if you're not going to purchase anything, I'll have to ask you to leave. If you want something commissioned, I'm more than happy to take it on - as long as you pay for materials and fees." Hugo responds, trying to keep his cool.

"I'll pay you double your usual fee." Mac replies.

"... I'm listening" Hugo did need money, and this could be good for his bank account - which was perpetually dried up.

"I need you to build me a weapon. Something that will give me an edge in the industry I'm in."

"What industry is that?"

"Let's just say I'm in the business of information."

"And you need a weapon for that?"

"Yes, a weapon that will give me an advantage over my competition."

"What kind of weapon are you looking for?"

"I'll leave that up to you. I know you'll be able to figure something out."

"I'll need some time to think about it."

"I'll give you a week. If you can't figure it out in that time, I'll find someone who can."

"I'll see what I can do, but it'll cost you."

"You'll be compensated more than handsomely." Mac replies with a smirk.

"I'll be in touch." Hugo says as he shows Mac to the door. He gestures for a card or information chip, but Mac shakes his head and taps his temples - clearly telling him to use his implant. Hugo activates his Optilens and a scan of Mac's body is shown - and an outline of a device is shown in Mac's temple, right where he was gesturing.

It's an implant, a neural device in the side of his head.

Hugo had worked with a few, but hadn't seen one on a person. He was suddenly aware of just how dangerous this man could be, and how terrible an idea taking this job could be. Still, he needed the money, and angering Mac could be potentially worse - especially if he's involved in or against the Elites. Hugo thought that was well outside his jurisdiction, and that he could build him a satisfactory weapon and let him be on his way.