Phoenix Phire

The latch on the metallic suitcase closed with an audible click; Darsi slid it to one side of the bed with a wave of her hand before turning her attention back toward her companion. "Something on your mind?"

Dex ran a hand through his hair; he hadn't spent much time away from Quicksilver since coming to the hive. "Just worried, I guess..."

Darsi favored him with a smile before walking into her bathroom. "I'm confident you'll be able to watch my back." Her voice echoed in the bathroom, followed by the sound of someone rummaging through drawers.

"We're going to get T-6 up; it works best with six jumpers." His train of thought derailed a moment later when his hud buzzed at him. Since Darsi was busy packing for his trip, he decided to take the call. A moment later, Thumper's dark eyes stared at him from the holo. "Hey, Thumper."

"Hey, Dex. Your partner around? She isn't answering her hud." Thumper smiled innocently as if concerned she might be interrupting something important.

"Because I turned it off..." Darsi frowned from the doorway. "This block of time is reserved for Dex."

"Hmm... This won't take long. One of our trails led us to Colonial, so I wanted to sync up with you before proceeding." Thumper glanced down at something she was holding."

"Colonial?" Darsi exited the bathroom with an overnight bag in one hand. "What connection?"

"The Jane Doe from Chinatown, Gladis Corp covered up nearly everything about her. But, then... someone went to great lengths to uncover her details." Thumper brought up a picture of three women that had probably been taken from social media. "These three women are involved somehow, but someone has effectively covered their tracks."

Darsi pursed her lips slightly, not recognizing any of them. Then, finally, she read the names aloud. "Mason Dixon, Yu Yan, and Ray Diaz. Lots of people play Colonial nowadays; I don't know them all."

Thumper shrugged slightly. "Obviously not... but two of them are members of Inferno. "How about this one?" A fourth picture popped up.

"Holy shit..." Darsi stared at the smiling woman in the photo. "That one I do know. Let's drop this for now and turn our attention toward Yuli."

Thumper nodded; the last picture was obviously someone that Darsi trusted. "Have a good flight."

"Thanks." Darsi waited until Thumper's holo disappeared before leaning closer to Dex. "We are running short on time. I want to see some serious 'Fucking Da Vinci' stuff from you."

Dex would have commented, but his partner leaned in, tugging his collar until their lips met. Then, finally, she stood without saying anything else and grabbed her bag.

**************

Vasai Virtual, Michigan's Upper Peninsula

The agile blonde nearly stumbled on the beer bottles that lined the deck of Inferno's traditional retreat. The raspy singing voice of Pon could be heard in the background, accompanied by a surprisingly decent second voice that she knew belonged to Nix. "Trip-7 is a man of many talents..."

Darsi eased the sliding door open, careful not to hit Semmi, who was sleeping in the doorway. "Celebrating something?"

Nix lifted his head off of the counter with some effort, smiling at the Inferno sniper. "Oi there, Darsi. It's the tenth anniversary of Khione's defeat!"

"Oi there, Trip-7." Darsi shook her head slightly, a smile creeping onto her pretty face. "No, it's not..."

Nix gave Pon a measured glanced while he considered the denial. Finally, he lowered his voice to a whisper that was nearly as loud as his singing. "We get the days wrong again, old man?"

Pon shrugged slightly. "We made it up, punk bastard. Your memory is shit."

Nix nodded in agreement before turning back toward Darsi. "We made it up. Want to hang with the boys?"

Darsi shook her head. "I'm on a flight to Geneva. Need to ask you something."

Nix stood up, spotting Sem on the floor while Hara was sprawled out on the couch. "Get your girlfriend off the floor, old man. Gonna have a word with Darsi."

Pon nodded. "Yeah, I'll take care of it."

A few minutes later, Nix was sitting on the edge of the dock, listening as Darsi briefed him on both Origin and Syntax. When she was finished, Darsi brought up the photo. "Know why Ronnie would be involved with these three women?"

Nix smiled at the dark archer's name. "Yeah. The dead woman had initially been a DRP in colonial; she was waiting for an assignment."

Darsi glanced back at the cabin, she was well aware of Hara's position in Colonial. "How do these three women figure in?"

"They discovered the Jane Doe was their reclusive neighbor. After some snooping, they uncovered the DRP program and assumed the mission."

"Holy shit..." Darsi's lips widened in a smile. "Ballsy. They must play someone we know if Ronnie is involved."

Nix nodded. "Bali. The three of them switched out for several months before Mason assumed the role full-time; later, the other two joined Inferno as players."

"Switched out?" Darsi understood the logistics of trying to make something like that work. "Is one of them a tech-head?"

"Yep... Unemployed MIT graduate, now a professional gamer in Inferno." Nix knew most of the secrets hidden within the guild of Inferno. "This mission of yours sounds risky."

" A bit," she agreed. "I'm more concerned with subsidiaries of Gladis Corp and Origin."

Nix frowned at the mention of the defunct corporate giant. "If you need my help, just ask."

Darsi's hud buzzed with an automated message saying that the plane was on approach and that she needed to return to her seat. "Phoenix Phire going to light things up again?"

Nix shrugged nonchalantly and offered her a hug before she disappeared with a wave of her hand. He stared at the empty space for a long moment. "Fire makes the world a brighter place..."

*************

Two days later...

"My turn?" Mongoose waited until Gadget nodded before giving his brief. "Finding our fed required a bit of digging. The good news is that I uncovered everything; the bad news is who she works for."

A dossier with several pictures popped up on the round table's hud. Mongoose brought up a yearbook picture, obviously from prep school. "Meet Murphy Faust. From her accent, I was able to track her to southern Indiana. She regularly uses a set of unique expressions that enabled me to narrow it down to Dubois, Crawford, or Orange County. Facial recognition software did the rest."

Dex read the dossier without commenting. Her marks in high school had earned her a scholarship to Cal-Tech, where she majored in Advanced computer systems and Digital Forensics. There was no mention of employment; Mongoose hadn't included it in the brief.

Mongoose waited while the Bottom Feeders read his report. Then, one by one, they all looked up at him expectantly. "We can't keep her here. Recommend that we cut her loose ASAP."

Gadget frowned at the statement. "Spill it... Who does she belong to?"

"Secret Service." Mongoose keyed his hud and brought up her service record.

"Holy shit!" Stiletto cursed after reading the first paragraph. "We can't keep her here."

Dex glanced at Gadget, who was still reading the last section of Nova's service record. "She knows details about the Yuli job. Releasing her could put Quicksilver in danger."

Thumper let out a long breath... "You don't know how the Secret Service works, Dex. Every moment we hold her is a risk for us."

"Let's vote..." Gadget's voice sounded grim, but his expression gave nothing away. "I say we walk away from this job and release Nova."

Mongoose nodded. "Same. It's too risky."

Thumper glanced at Dextron, shrugging helplessly. "Sorry, Dex. I'm with the boys on this one."

Stiletto closed the hud, letting the group wait while she considered the options. "I say we release her after we finish the job. What're a few more hours?"

Dex stood up without voicing his opinion one way or the other. "Give me ten minutes.. I'll have a chat with Nova."

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