2:55 am, June 14, 2483. Issak’s workshop

  “So, when does the guy get here?” Tori said, already halfway through her boba.

  “He’s the most punctual guy I know, so he’ll probably get here on the dot.” Issak said, glancing at the clock, “So that will be in five minutes.”

  “Right…” Tori took another sip of her drink. “What’s the deal with ‘The Nine Dragons’ anyway? They’re…”

  “Scarily organised?” Issak offered and Tori nodded.

  “Well, funnily enough, when they started out, the whole group was considered one of us, a group of Outcasts. They were people who wanted control of New Kowloon to fall back into the hands of its residents, not crime lords from overseas. Crime they were okay with, but foreigners? No way. It’s weird, I know. They used to only accept people born in New Kowloon into their ranks. That all changed since the current boss’ family took over…” Issak paused for a moment, “60 years ago now? I dunno. Dad was always fuzzy on the details too. But either way, they began to accept everyone and that was how they became a full-blown faction.”

  “I don’t see how that has anything to do with my question…”

  “I’ll get to it, I’ll get to it,” Issak waved his hand dismissively, “The addition of foreigners also resulted a strict hierarchy in the gang, with the original members at the top, foreigners stuck doing grunt work, and new local hires somewhere in the middle. That makes up the majority of the reason for their cohesiveness. Though, i my opinion, this foundation is still pretty shaky, do they want to start a race war or something? But that brings me to the other aspect: the Divisions. Tori, do you know the reason they’re called The Nine Dragons?”

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  “No.”

  “Well, there used to be a legend that nine dragon brothers presided over to protect the original city of Kowloon, better known as Hong Kong now. Some people here believe that when magic was outlawed, the dragons left, and instead decided to rule over New Kowloon. That is why there are nine main towers here. Each one is an offering to a different dragon. Honestly, I don’t believe a word of it. Why would nine powerful entities come to this dump? But I digress. The gang, I guess, wants to become like the dragons, to gain enough power to rule over and ‘protect’ New Kowloon. There’s a fat chance of that happening for them, but who am I to speak. Anyway, from the very beginning, they have crafted Divisions in their gang, nine in total, with each supposedly representing one of the dragon brothers. Each Division is in charge of one part of the operations, which you can tell from the coloured stitching of the dragon on their uniforms. I don’t pay attention to all of them, but white is guards, and gold is the inner circle, I think.”

  “Okay, I think I get it now,” Tori nodded, “They’re like their own society…”

  “That’s one way to describe it.”

  Ding!

  The bell above the front door sounded and the duo turned to face the man who just walked in.

  He was neatly groomed in a well-fitted black shirt and trousers with a dark blue vest and a golden lapel pin. Clearly someone from the upper levels. He glanced down at the watch on his wrist.

  “Ah, twenty seconds late. Apologies for that, Mr. Chan, there was a blockage on my usual route.”

  “Twenty seconds is nothing, man. Come, we’ve got the goods.” Issak said, presenting the package to the man. He gave it a once over before nodding.

  “It is satisfactory. Here is the payment you requested.” He handed over an N-corp branded envelope, “Pleasure to work with you again.”

  “No problem, Dreas,” Issak grinned, as the tall man left.

  “How much did he give us?” Tori peered over his shoulder.

  “One, two, three, four… fifty thousand RMB.”

  “Fifty thousand for that?! That’s highway robbery.”

  “Didn’t you hear the guy? I have a deal with him. If we get it back, which we did, he would send us a supply of it for free once it reaches the market, which we can sell for profit.” Issak smiled, rubbing his hands together.

  “I still think he’s scamming you.”

  Also, for the curious, 200RMB in this universe roughly translates to 1USD in real life. So Issak and Tori got paid around 250 dollars for the whole thing. RIP

  ~azura.