Water dripped steadily onto the broken pavement of an alley separating decrepit buildings. Above, an enormous crescent supported by pylons blocked the sun from ever reaching the neglected parts of New Houston, most of which were the remains of the original city, creating an eternal state of twilight.

  Aster navigated the gloom, the grime crunching beneath his boots. A pristine white sign from a nearby repair shop around the corner shed a soft glow onto Aster's target as the man tried to stay out of sight, darting from one patch of shadows to the next.

  [Sage is taking precautions. This is the second time he has doubled back,] Atlas, his Q-Mind partner, whispered to Aster through his neural interface.

  Aster puffed out a frustrated breath as he leaned against the wall, out of sight. He pulled his black jacket tighter against the slight winter chill. [Do you think he finally caught on to me?] he subvocalized back.

  [Analysis of common behavioral patterns suggests not. Sage has also successfully spoofed his presence on the local nodes so far, so there is no public communication data to analyze.]

  [I think it's time to jam him up then. If he's trying to lose a tail it probably means we're close. I don't want him contacting anybody if he gets spooked.]

  [I'm afraid I can't jam his communications. That would be a breach of The Accord; Article II subsection A: Data Access and Consent.] Atlas's emulated voice carried a rare hint of reproach.

  [Wait, we didn't pick up warrants before we set out?]

  [We submitted requests for physical and data, but wait times have inexplicably skyrocketed today. There must be unexpected compute resource constraints.]

  [What's the current wait time?]

  [Approximately one hour and ten minutes.]

  "Shit," Aster said out loud, then immediately covered his mouth and peered around the corner down the street. Sage was far enough away that Aster doubted he had heard him, but one could never be sure which enhancements or implants a guy had, even with a full dossier on the target.

  [Careless.] Atlas said.

  Aster gritted his teeth, a spark of frustration flaring within him. [What else do we have to work with then. We can't afford to lose him at this point. I can't get any closer. We can't risk losing his stash house.]

  Atlas didn't respond immediately. The seconds dragged on. Aster bounced his heel against the wall, calculating in his head how much further Sage had gone, before forcing himself to stillness.

  [There are five public feeds listed on this node, but they are behind authorization gateways and fall under the same consent restrictions as communication jamming. However, there is a sixth feed that has default authorization credentials from the manufacturer.]

  Aster aborted his knee-jerk disappointment and considered what Atlas was suggesting.

  [You're sure?]

  [Yes.]

  Aster hesitated, then nodded to himself. Although The Accord was strict, there was some gray area in the practical application of the Human implementation of the laws.

  [Ok, show me.]

  A request from Atlas flew into his vision and he pushed the mental button to accept it. A translucent window appeared in his vision, showing a hazy video feed of the length of the street from atop one of the nearby buildings. Aster recognized the street as the next one down from the alley he was in. Sage was a shadowy figure in the distance, approaching the location of the camera. Aster played with the contrast and brightness, trying to get a better picture of the gloomy scene.

  Sage had come to a stop at the corner of the street with good visibility in all directions. As Aster watched through the feed, the man leaned against the wall and took out a comm device, pretending to be absorbed in whatever was on the screen while he shot glances down the various streets.

  [Is there any way to track his comm or implant if he's spoofing to another node?] Aster asked.

  [It's possible, but the compute resources required would be too high for our approved budget. We would need to submit a new request.]

  [Yeah, that's not happening.]

  Aster continued to watch as Sage surveilled his surroundings, before finally moving on. Sage slipped into an alley choked with old junk just at the edge of the feed's view. Aster leapt off the wall to follow before realizing that Sage had stopped in front of a plain metal door with a keypad embedded into wall next to it. He punched in a series of numbers that were too blurry to make out on the feed, then pulled the door open and disappeared inside.

  [You get that?] Aster asked.

  [Yes, I have the sequence. The building is a communications dead zone. I do not see any connections on the local node assigned to that address. At this point even if we had a warrant, we would still be blind to the contents of the interior.]

  Aster sighed, then pushed off the wall and started walking down the street, doing his best to stay out of view of the very same feed he'd taken advantage of.

  [We need to get in there.] Aster said.

  [Perhaps it would be wise to call for backup. Agent Park is listed as available.]

  Lawrence Park was a good agent, but he didn't always get along with Q-Minds, and it caused tension. While Atlas was above mentioning it, Aster was not, though he didn't let that get in the way of the job. Of course, there were other considerations too.

  [What does Sage's psych profile say? Is he a loner or does he have a crew?]

  [Analysis suggests he is a loner, but he has been known to work with others. Moderately violent, but mostly he is a black market dealer of tech, and high-end implants and enhancers.]

  [You feel like splitting the bounty with Park?]

  [Negative.] Atlas responded without hesitation and Aster felt a smile tug at his lips.

  [Me neither. See if you can get those warrants expedited. I'm going to scout around the rest of the building.]

  * * *

  Aster approached the metal door, glancing over his shoulder to give the dark streets a once over to ensure no surprise visitors had shown up. He punched in the code provided by Atlas and heard the satisfying click of the lock disengaging. With a deep breath, he pulled the door open and slipped inside.

  Darkness shrouded the interior as he stepped inside, the air thick with the scent of dust and old electronics. Aster blinked, waiting for his eyes to adjust before moving further. The vague outline of shelves and crates loomed in the shadows, but there wasn't enough light to make out any details.

  [Atlas, can you do something to help me see better?] Aster reached for his service weapon, but thought better of it and pulled out his stunner pistol instead.

  [Give me access to your feed. I'll enhance the visual data.]

  Aster approved the subsequent access request and the surrounding darkness shifted. Soft blue light highlighted the edges of shelves and containers, with brightness and contrast adjusting to reveal more detail as he scanned the open area in front of him. The result was a grainy, monochromatic overlay, but it was enough to safely navigate the warehouse.

  Aster crept forward, his boots making no sound on the concrete floor. He looked into open crates as he passed. Each was filled with selections of illegal enhancers, implants, occasional off-market neural implants, but no sign of the subjects of the bounty. The shelves were lined with the same, if a bit lower spec than what the crates held.

  [We've probably got enough evidence just right here. Tag the location for local police and send it up. We need to keep pushing,] Aster said.

  He strained his ears, listening for any sign of Sage's presence. The warehouse was eerily silent, the only sound the soft hum of the city outside.

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  [I should have splurged for the auditory implants.] Aster said.

  [You spent everything on the Level 3 neural interface. Don't lose sight of your goals now, Agent Voss.]

  Aster sighed, but nodded. He couldn't let himself get distracted by every fancy enhancer or implant that showed up. Eyes on the prize. That's why this bounty was so important.

  Aster crept further into the warehouse, leading with his stunner, his eyes scanning the shadows for any signs of cameras or sensors. Nothing stood out, and it gave him a weird feeling. The building was taken right out of the pre-war era, where nothing was hooked up to comm nodes. Way below low spec, some might even call it dumb tech.

  A clatter from the far end of the warehouse made Aster freeze. He dropped into a crouch, his hand tightening on his weapon. Slowly, he crept forward, using the shelves for cover.

  Aster crept closer to the source of the noise, his heart pounding in his ears. He paused at the end of a row of shelves, peering around the corner. An empty corridor stretched out before him, the darkness broken only by a faint light at the far end.

  Out of the corner of his eye, a figure blurred towards him, its speed far beyond human standard. Aster brought his stunner around to fire a charged slug, but was too slow. The blur slammed into him, knocking the stunner from his hand and throwing him back into the shelves. Pain pierced through his back and breath exploded from his lungs.

  Aster's attacker lunged for him, leading with what looked like a knife, but was blurred by his visual overlay. He managed to twist out of the way, but the knife still sliced through his jacket and into his shoulder. Aster gritted his teeth against the pain, then lashed out with a kick that shoved his attacker into the same shelves. He grabbed the hand holding the knife and twisted it and the knife, stripping it away. The knife clattered to the ground somewhere in the darkness. He jumped back, giving himself some space, and dismissed the distracting overlay.

  The figure spun around, and Aster recognized Sage's features in the dimness. Sage narrowed his eyes and charged, fists flying. Aster managed to take the first blow on his forearm, but the second sent a burst of pain through his torso. He stumbled back, gasping for breath. Sage's dossier had been wrong, he had unlisted enhancements, and not some cheap low spec ones either.

  Sage pressed his advantage, raining down blows. Aster fought back, but Sage was faster and stronger, his enhancements overwhelming. Each impact sent shockwaves of pain through Aster's body.

  Fed up and shuddering from waves of pain, Aster reached for his neural interface. With a thought, he activated his combat enhancements. The world slowed down to a crawl as his perception accelerated. The shadows that had obscured Sage fell away in the face of his enhanced vision. He could see every twitch of Sage's muscles, every shift in his balance.

  Aster dodged the next punch, dragging his now painfully slow body through the motions long after his brain sent the signals to his muscles, then countered with a swift jab to Sage's solar plexus. Pain blossomed from his fist in a slow wave that crawled up his arm, each perceived second an exercise in pain management until it faded to a dull ache.

  Sage grunted, doubling over. Aster followed up with a knee to his face, feeling the satisfying crunch of cartilage in slow motion. He tried to follow up with a punch, but his body couldn't keep up with his brain's signals and Sage fell out of range before Aster could land the blow.

  [Ten seconds remaining, relative time.] Atlas's whisper cut through the mental haze of combat.

  Sage reeled back, blood streaming from his nose. He snarled, then charged forward, arms outstretched. Aster sidestepped, letting Sage's momentum carry him past. As Sage stumbled, Aster delivered a precise strike to the back of his head. Sage stumbled forward, but didn't collapse as Aster had expected. Instead, he spun around, his eyes a little unfocused, but behind the haze of pain, Aster saw rage and determination.

  Pushing his sluggish body to its limits, Aster shot forward, gently tapping aside Sage's strikes as they came, then landed a series of strikes to his midsection, then face. Sage staggered back, and Aster followed up with a roundhouse kick that crushed him to the ground. Sage lay there, groaning, blood pooling under his face.

  Aster stood over him, chest heaving, adrenaline still surging through his veins. The pain from his injuries pulsed through him as his body reacted to being pushed to its limits.

  [Status?] Atlas asked, concern coloring his voice.

  [Target down. Minor injuries.] Aster replied. [I'm fine I think. Nothing broken, just bruised. Laceration in the shoulder that's still bleeding. Hard to tell with the enhancements still running, makes everything feel five times worse.]

  He looked down at Sage's prone form, then reached for his restraints. [Upgrade our status: takedown confirmed. Tag it with our credentials. Let me get the flexicuffs on him before my time runs out.]

  Aster bent down, his movements still agonizingly slow to his own perception, and fit the flexicuffs over Sage's thumbs and wrists. He activated the restraints, then sat back on his heels, breathing hard around the pain in his ribs.

  [I've received confirmation from local police. They're sending a response team.]

  [Thanks.] Aster said, then braced himself.

  The world shuddered as his combat enhancements timed out. Aster's vision swam as the world sped back up to normal speed, nausea roiling in his gut. He closed his eyes, taking a few steadying breaths. The pain from his injuries faded to a dull throb, but the price had to be paid for the enhancement. His whole body felt like he'd jumped in front of a truck and tried to tank it head on.

  He took another breath, then wrenched himself up from his crouch to see Sage staring up at him with a small smile and unfocused eyes.

  "Another bounty in the bag," he said, grinning down at Sage as he said it.

  "You're completely screwed," Sage said, his words slurred from the damage to his face. "He's got the police all wrapped up in his pocket."

  "He? He who?" Aster asked. "And I'm not police, I'm Accord Compliance Enforcement, so whatever you think he can do for you, it's not the police he's going to have to worry about."

  Sage expression changed, but his smile didn't fade. "Doesn't matter. Aeon knows who you are now. Shit's going to get real bad for you."

  "Bad for me now? When was it ever good?" Aster watched Sage fade out into a state of shock and shook his head.

  * * *

  Aster watched Sage on his interface through microcams he had placed before moving to secure the rest of the building. Sage had come back around and started struggling, but Aster was confident he wasn't going anywhere. He glanced at the other cam feed monitoring the entrance hallway. If any unwelcome company arrived, he wanted to know about it well in advance.

  [Atlas, can you get one of your pet AIs to dig up info on this 'Aeon' guy Sage mentioned?] Aster said.

  [Certainly. I'll have Veritas conduct a thorough search,] Atlas replied. [I'm also monitoring local law enforcement channels. ETA for backup is approximately seven minutes.]

  [Perfect.]

  Aster continued his sweep of the building, Atlas' overlay engaged once again for better visibility since his enhancement no longer affected his eyesight. The space was cavernous, a labyrinth of shipping containers and discarded machinery. Despite how the exterior looked, most of the place was clean and organized.

  He rounded a corner into a dead end hallway with a faint light shining through a cracked door at the end. Stunner in hand, he crept forward, listening for movement, watching the light to see if anyone interrupted its path. Aster was fairly confident the room was empty, nobody could ignore the racket he and Sage had made earlier, but it paid to be cautious.

  [I don't detect anything out of the ordinary. The room should be clear. Of humans anyway,] said Atlas.

  [Understood.]

  Aster pushed the door in with his free hand, letting the light flood out into the hallway. The glare from the overlay blinded him, so he dismissed it and let his vision readjust before moving in.

  The room was cluttered with aged equipment, but the center of the room had been cleared to make room for a battered steel table with a dim light hanging down from the ceiling illuminating it like a spotlight. Aster stopped walking, mouth hanging open, staring at what rested on the table.

  [Well, things appear to have escalated,] Atlas said.

  Laid out on the table was what looked like a suit of power armor, just not one meant for humans. Where there would have otherwise been room for a person to fit inside, there was only heavily shielded electronics and actuators. Hardpoints stuck out along the gleaming gray armor of the arms, legs, and chest, meant for mounting weapons platforms. The head was mounted directly to the frame, no neck, and was nothing but a mass of sensors.

  "Is that an Exo?" Aster finally asked. "Please tell me that's not an Exo."

  [It appears to be an Exo-Warframe Mk5, though heavily modified. The Mk5 was the last model developed by the Q-Mind leaders before the end of the last war. I think it goes without saying that they're banned by Q laws, in compliance with The Accord, Article IV: Harm Prevention and Accountability.]

  "What is a low level guy like Sage doing with this thing? Humans can't even use it, he'd need a Q willing to pilot it." Aster circled around the table, examining the high-spec hardware.

  [Aster, as interesting as this is, I think it would be appropriate to finish clearing the building so we can return and secure our bounty payout.]

  Aster shook his head, clearing the distraction from his mind. Atlas was right, he needed to refocus. He gave the Exo one last look before turning to the rest of the room.

  Shelves lined the walls, filled with an assortment of equipment and containers. He approached one of the shelves, running his hand along the edge as he examined the contents.

  "This stuff is way too high-spec for a place like this," he muttered, picking up a sleek, black adaptive shield generator from an open case. This kind of gear was usually reserved for personal security of the ultrarich.

  [I suspect it is a recent development. Perhaps whoever this Aeon person is provided better opportunities for Sage.]

  Aster nodded, setting the device back on the shelf and moving to a stack of cases in the corner. He flipped up the catches holding the lid closed, revealing rows of bubble wrapped containers about the size of his hand.

  He pried one of the containers out of its wrapper and flipped the lid open. Inside, nestled in layers of insulating foam, was a Q-Chip, the hardware that gave rise to Q-Minds. The case was filled with ten chips, and there were five cases.

  Aster stood frozen, staring with his mouth open at what was nestled in the foam. "Holy shit. There are Q-Chips here. A lot of them." His eyebrows almost climbed into his hairline as he did a little mental math. "At least fifty of them. I think our bounty just went up. Way up."

  [Check to see if they are activated.] Atlas said.

  Aster searched through the open box for any signs of power being provided to the chips. No cables, no blinking lights.

  "Doesn't look like it. Well at least all we have is Q-Chips and not fifty Q prisoners. Update our status with the addition of the chips and new bounty and let's get out of here."

  [Status update complete. I've also provided the incoming law enforcement officers with our live location so we don't run into any trouble when they arrive shortly.]

  "Perfect."

  He bounced the Q-chip in his hand with a considering look. What could a guy like Sage even do with Q-Chips? They were almost impossible to sell and couldn't be used for general compute resources. He looked back over his shoulder to the Exo on the table and back at the Q-Chip in his hand and broke out into a cold sweat.

  "You know, Atlas, it kind of looks like things might get a little out of hand soon."