At the end of Juno’s concert, the crowd began returning towards the Monorail. I estimated this was my opportunity to approach Juno. I gestured to Ylisaya to follow, and she seemed puzzled if we stood a chance to meet Juno so close to the conclusion of the concert. I further urged Ylisaya to follow.

  “Would you like to meet her?”, I asked.

  “Of course. I think she’s great, but isn’t security too alert right now?”, Ylisaya argued.

  I moved towards the music store and Ylisaya followed me. When I approached the Enforcer mechs closed in on the entrance of the store. I looked around and saw construction drones began dismantling the stage.

  “I’m a Huntress. Let me pass.”, I said, abusing my privilege.

  The two closest Enforcer mechs turned to face me and appeared to be either communicating or processing data. I suspected they were attempting to determine my identity, since I didn’t present a badge. I still wasn’t sure if badges were needed, because Huntresses are not employed as police officers. A moment later, the Enforcer mechs stepped away from each other presenting enough room for myself and Ylisaya to pass through. We entered the music store and found it was filled with party guests. Juno had some sort of food in one hand and a drink in the other. A robotic party server dressed in black and white uniform approached us and presented a tray of drinks. Ylisaya picked up a drink, sniffed the odor of the substance, and placed the drink back on the tray.

  “No thank you.”, Ylisaya said to the server.

  Juno approached next and made a squealing noise as soon as she saw me. Juno placed her drink and food into one hand and a food server took the food and drink from Juno. Juno seemed to walk up and hug me in a single move.

  “Jhessyreen, thank you for coming to the after party.”, Juno seemed to cheer.

  The other guests of the party seemed to take note of my presence and I imagined that being both a Huntress and a crew member of an Ambush Class Gunship is what drew their interest. Juno noticed Ylisaya and I sensed Juno use her cybernetics with Ylisaya. I wasn’t certain what Juno was trying by revealing her cybernetic nature to Ylisaya.

  “Who’s this?”, Juno asked me, referring to Ylisaya.

  “New crew member, Ylisaya.”, I said.

  “Very pretty name…I think it means…servant of light.”, Juno said to Ylisaya.

  “That’s right. How did you know?”, Ylisaya asked Juno, but I knew Ylisaya was being very forgiving to Juno, for a very short and imperfect translation of her name.

  I knew Ylisaya’s name involved light and being a servant, but Juno’s translation wasn’t perfect. I didn’t want to ruin negotiations, and I knew better than to expect perfect interpretations from Juno. If her knowledge of Rylkonians was perfect, she would become a potential threat. I suspected Ylisaya was either enamored with Juno or impressed by the music.

  “I might not be Rylkonian but I find so many things to love about Rylkonians. Thank you for attending the after party. I was sad that I was leaving all my friends behind but maybe we’ll cross paths in our travels.”, Juno said.

  “Is this party celebrating your leaving the planet?”, Ylisaya asked.

  “I’ll celebrate that when I ‘m standing in Freya station. This party is for the achievement of my friends, my band mates, and the new owners of the Music Shop.”, Juno said.

  A party guest approached Juno and handed an empty drinking glass to a party server.

  “Juno we’re gonna play Dance Mania. Bring your new friends. Let’s win some costumes.”, the party guest said to Juno.

  “Dance Mania? Costumes?”, Ylisaya asked me.

  “It’s a holographic game, where you follow foot steps and touch targets with your hands, and makes it look like dancing when you reach the higher levels.”, I said to Ylisaya.

  “Is that where Meiyo learned that dodge move she pulled off on Mars?”, Ylisaya asked.

  “The first levels aren’t that complicated, to help new players learn the game. That’s when you’re rewarded with costumes, for advanced play.”, I said.

  Ylisaya and I followed Juno to the dance floor and we stood still as the dance floor scanned us. I could see a hologram of a pair of feet slightly in front of me, and a sequence of footprints made of dotted lines guiding me to walk the pair of foot prints. It seemed the game had decided my starting point. I could see the other party guests following similar instruction though only they could completely see their holographic guides. I think this is the first time I’ve played this game in this size of group. Ylisaya was moved closer to the front and Juno was moved to the back.

  The music started and the holograms instructed the players to match the hand and foot to the target. My feet were tracked with a black and white holograms, and my hands were tracked with a blue and red holograms. A black transparent hologram in the shape of the matching foot appeared on the ground and a larger unfocused hologram appear underneath it. As the larger unfocused hologram shrank in size the smaller transparent hologram increased visibility until the two holograms matched and that was the signal to step on the hologram. We repeated the process with there other foot and then both hands. The game then presented a red target that didn’t vanish as soon as I touched the target, and I had to follow the red target with my hand inside the target as the targets for my feet guided me to step and turn.

  “That’s the warm up. And remember, if you miss too many moves, you get switched to a lower difficulty. Just stay in the space for your feet, because if you leave your space and move into another player’s you’re game ends. Even if you stop following your moves, and another player moves into you, that ends your game too.”, an announcer voice from the game said.

  The music started again and they played the starter song, and it was intended to be fun. The song’s lyrics were literally the instructions of the dance, so just listening to when the song said to, “Stomp two times”, “Turn to the side”, or to “Shuffle and slide” made it easy to follow.

  At the end of the song I had to change from normal to easy mode. There was something about playing this game in a group that made it very different perspective. Ylisaya managed to achieve perfect score. I watched the hosting player shuffle through the song selection and settle on the next song. The music started and the instructions led us to balance on one leg as we turned to face the opposite direction. Then we stepped forward, switching legs and then turning again on the other leg. I kept my hand in the blue target while the other hand passed through red targets. The steps grew in complexity, step forward, turn, forward, turn, step backward, turn, backwards and turn. Step behind, step to the side, switch sides, step behind, step to the side, and switch again. Turn on one foot, then reverse turn, switch feet, turn, reverse and switch. The red and blue targets switched and reversed. The woman next to me missed a step at the same time as me, and we almost crashed into each other. I caught her, she grabbed my arm, and the holograms around the two of us started flashing red as arrows along the ground directed us to leave the dance floor. The other woman laughed, but I was just happy to not have to keep dancing.

  Ylisaya continued to dance and she was even allowed to advance in difficulty level. Ylisaya learned the next moves as she stepped to the side, her other foot skipped backward, her first leg crossed over her back leg, and she then switched direction. The red and blue targets stretched in opposite directions with every turn. Ylisaya followed the next step, as she rocked backward and turned on her heel of her front foot and the toe of her back foot. Her front foot skipped backwards and the back foot kicked upward as her leg crossed the other leg as she reverse and mirrored the moves. The blue target moved over her head and the red target moved around her, as her hands followed. Four more players were unable to continue and had the depart the dance floor.

  Near the entrance of the Music Shop, I could hear a number of party guests and servers responding to a situation that was upsetting them. I then saw Kellenra, Janodine, Vickessah, and Mykayla. I suspected that the Mermaid’s crew had just been waiting for Mykayla to get released from their interviews since they were dressed in athletic layers. I wondered if the party guests were more upset about their reputation as Huntresses or appearing dressed with little regard for public decorum. I noticed some party guests quickly confide themselves to small groups, hoping to avoid directly engaging with the Mermaid’s crew, I also noticed some guests simply decide to leave, but no matter where the crew of the Mermaid went everyone made certain to stay away. Seven players were still on the dance floor, including Ylisaya, Juno, and all of Juno’s Band mates. The crew of the Mermaid watched the dance floor as the song ended and seemed to be estimating the skill levels of the other players.

  As the hosting player began looking for the next song, she noticed the crew of the Mermaid move onto the dance floor. Mykayla moved next to Ylisaya and they seemed to talk to each other, though I couldn’t hear anything they were saying. I watched while trying to stay out of view of Mykayla. Mykayla’s location would also allow her to detect if Ylisaya was contacted through cybernetics, being so close. Ylisaya turned to my direction and I flicked my eyes in the direction of the door. I hoped to signal Ylisaya that it was too dangerous to remain. But as I returned my vision to Ylisaya to see if she was departing the dance floor, I also saw Mykayla looking right back at me with a smile across her face as her eyebrow flicked. I was now helpless and all I could do was watch and hope the Mermaid’s crew wasn’t planning anything nefarious. The crew of the Mermaid could still be quite dangerous even without weapons or armor.

  “Play Dance Overload!”, Janodine said to the hosting player.

  The hologram system scanned the Mermaid’s crew and detected that each of them were expert players. I switched to spectator mode as they started the system calibration and they were even allowed to select costumes. Mykayla was dressed as a cat, Kellenra was dressed is a red sparkling jacket and black tall hat with a wide brim. Janodine and Vickessah were both dressed as butterflies. As soon as they both realized they chose the same costume, they both chose different costumes and the holographic butterfly costumes changed to ballerinas, at the same time. They saw each other, and I suspected they hadn’t planned this properly.

  “Janodine stay, Vickessah change.”, Kellendra said.

  Vickessah changed back into a butterfly costume, and the music started. The music was fast and the steps were faster. Each foot movement was precise and the red and blue targets were demanding and never seemed to stop moving. Each step seemed like a slide and skip, and contributed to a subtle spin. Every spin ended in a reverse step, and the complexity increased. Two party guests were unable to keep up and had to leave the dance floor, which included the hosting player. Now only Juno, her band mates, Ylisaya, and the crew of the Mermaid remained. The steps changed to a jump to the side, with a red target above, a slide, a skip, a spin, and a jump to the other side under a blue target. Ylisaya missed the jump because she jumped too late and stepped into the space of one of Juno’s bandmates. Ylisaya’s game ended and she left the dance floor. The song ended and only the four huntresses, Juno, and her three band mates remained. Juno, Vickessah, Janodine, and Kellenra scored excellent, but Mykayla scored perfect, and the rest of Juno’s band mates only had acceptable scores. I observed the remaining guests crowding around the dance floor and observing with their smart phones.

  Ylisaya moved through the crowd and sent a cyber link request to me.

  “What are they doing here?”, Ylisaya sent her question to me

  “They’re suspended from taking contracts.”, I sent my thoughts to Ylisaya.

  “How did you know that?…You got them suspended?… Are they looking for revenge?” Ylisaya asked with her voice.

  I raised my hand gesturing for Ylisaya to let me focus on determining the motives of the Mermaid’s crew.

  “How about we play teams?”, Kellenra asked.

  The hosting-layer was now just a spectator and didn’t seem to mind switching the game to Team play. The new game mode meant at least two players had to choose to be team captains. Kellenra selected leadership, and Juno’s band urged Juno to be their captain. Juno tried to leave the game, and I wished she had, but at least I knew she wasn’t in any danger and I just needed to wait for the game to end. Juno gave into the peer pressure and became a team captain. Each of Juno’s band mates choose her team, and the Mermaid’s crew became Kellenra’s team. I estimated that because Juno and her band didn’t have holographic costumes, had just been playing a concert, and then immediately threw a party, probably weren’t going to win against a team that all scored excellent or better in the previous song.

  The music started and the black and white foot prints started with the white footprint forward and the black footprint directly behind, with the red and blue hand targets on their hips. Mykayla rocked her shoulders as the music sped up. The steps of Kellenra’s team shifted from their back foot to their forward foot allowing them to turn around as the music’s tempo reached it’s apex. The foot steps moved Juno’s team forward and Kellenra’s team backwards. The steps slowly separated into pairs of team mates to one side and two to the other side with a slide, a skip, turning backwards, sliding back, and their hands followed red and blue targets as if pushing off an imaginary wall. Each step caused a slow spin as each pair passed through the other pair of teammates. Kellenra's team glided through the high risk move with an excellent result and their scores were identical, but Juno’s team was just lucky they didn’t end their game, needing to check their movements as their teammates approached and proceeded through the crossing. The dance steps moved each player to the edge of the dance floor with a slow spin that reversed into another subtle spin, as their feet slid, skipped, crossed forward, turned around, skipped back, slid back, and crossed backward, while the red targets spun around each player and the blue targets moved from the hip to the opposite shoulder with the forward steps, and the blue targets spun with the reverse steps and the red targets moved from hip to shoulder.

  The sequence of dance steps repeated moving each dancer around the dance floor, until both teams were lined up into two separate squares, as a square of each team. The steps shifted their weight from one side to the other and then each player had to step into the center of the square. Kellenra’s team each spun through the center of their team landing perfectly on their destination target, but Juno’s team couldn’t match their speed. At the end of the song Juno’s team earned a passing score but Kellenra’s team had an excellent score. Kellenra’s team claimed Victory.

  “They cheated!”, Ylisaya proclaimed.

  “There’s no rule against being a cyborg.”, Janodine said, essentially confessing how they won.

  I realized that Ylisaya was close enough to detect use of cybernetics, especially if Janodine had responded so quickly. I suspected the Juno might have also suspected, but seemed to not care since the game had no real consequence for her. I wished Ylisaya had not said anything because Janodine’s argument could force Juno to reveal her cybernetic enhancements. I imagined the crew of the Mermaid might also know, but they were unlikely to gain anything by revealing Juno’s secret. Juno’s band mates and party guests argued for a fair match.

  “But I’m already tired. I just want to celebrate with my friends before I leave the planet.”, Juno protested.

  I pulled Ylisaya away from the dance floor and out of view.

  “We’re here to scout a client. Why are you creating drama?”, I whispered to Ylisaya, just quieter than the activity of the crowd.

  “How are we supposed to ask this planet to be fair, if we let other Rylkonians act like the rules don’t matter?”, Ylisaya argued.

  “That is not our fight, nobody asked for that, there’s no rule against being a cyborg, and for perspective, we’re both cyborgs.”, I said, as I realized the true weight of Janodine’s argument.

  I could hear the crowd growing upset over Juno’s loss.

  “How about we make a wager. If you plan to leave Venus you’re gonna need a good place to start, because the rest of the star system doesn’t care about being fair to women. Your best Dance Mania player against our best…” Kellenra said, as she glanced back to her crew, and I could detect her use of cybernetics.

  “And the best dancer wins fifty thousand credits.”, Kellenra concluded, with a sly smile.

  Juno’s party guests and band mates encouraged Juno to take the bet. I imagined they really wanted to see her win against the crew of the mermaid, however I suspected such a victory is unlikely.

  “I don’t even have that much, and I just sold the shop.”, Juno argued.

  “How much more do you need?”, a party guest demanded.

  “I don’t need more, I just need to leave the planet.”, Juno said with a smile of desperation.

  The guests began collecting credits from each other and presented Juno with thirty five thousand credits, and indicated she could keep the money as a gift.

  “So we have a wager then?”, Kellenra asked.

  “But if I lose, I’ll have to start all over again…I can’t risk it.”, Juno argued.

  “But if you win, you’ll have one hundred thousand credits.”, Kellendra replied.

  My cybernetics detected a cyber-link request from Tony, and I accepted.

  “I thought I said keep a low profile, but why are you and Ylisaya showing up in social media?”, Tony’s question reached me.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “You said that to me. Ylisaya is trying to win the client…and she’s failing.”, I sent my thoughts to Tony.

  “Scouting the client is your job, Ylisaya’s just supposed to assist you. And why is the planet watching our client shake her ass in a dance off against the crew of the Mermaid?”, Tony sent his question.

  “Now that question just answers itself. But how bad is it?”, I sent my question to Tony.

  “At first, it was useful for keeping hostiles distracted, but it’s showing up more and more. I seriously hope that much attention is worth it.”, Tony’s thoughts reached me.

  “The Mermaid’s crew is wagering fifty thousand credits. The client has a chance to win, and double her money.”, I sent my thoughts.

  “Okay, proceed.”, Tony sent his thoughts and disconnected.

  I shifted my focus back towards the crowd, Juno, Ylisaya, and the crew of the Mermaid. I could detect the Mermaid’s crew was using their cybernetics, but I couldn’t determine for what purpose. Ylisaya fell from dizziness and I managed to catch her. Ylisaya quickly regained her balance and stood up, as I suspected she had a vision.

  “What’s wrong?”, I asked Ylisaya.

  “No, not here.”, Ylisaya said, as she sent me a cyber-link request.

  “Did you see the future again?”, I sent my question to Ylisaya.

  “Yes.”, Ylisaya sent her thoughts, as she looked around.

  Ylisaya was wise to be suspicious with the Mermaid’s crew being so close.

  “Are we in danger?”, I sent my question to Ylisaya.

  “Sharing the future is dangerous.”, Ylisaya sent her argument to me.

  “Tony thinks it was worth it to look at the future. I can’t make decisions if I don’t know what I’m dealing with.”, I sent my argument to Ylisaya.

  “Juno has a one hundred percent chance of winning the bet.”, Ylisaya sent her thoughts to me.

  “One hundred percent on one hundred thousand credits? I got work to do.” I said to Ylisaya as I disconnected the cyber-link.

  I took one step away from Ylisaya when she grabbed me hand, with a look of terror in her eyes.

  “I don’t know how she wins.”, Ylisaya pleaded.

  “Only one way to find out now.”, I said and I stepped away.

  I slowly moved through the crowed looking for the crowd leaders urging Juno to take the bet. I found two groups on corners of the dance floor and a third group with the loudest opinions. I was lucky that nobody seemed interested just letting Juno enjoy the party, besides anyone who left.

  I listened to the first group’s opinion and they seemed to want a fair contest. Fair seemed like a rational view, but rational is relative. I needed to hear other opinions first. I listened to the second group’s opinion and they seemed to want to see how much Juno loved dance and music, which I thought she can, but so can Mykayla, and love of dance or music doesn’t impart skill. The second group’s opinion seemed emotional to me, that might be useful. So I looked for the third group’s opinion. The third group seemed to think this was a contest of human versus machine, which I thought had to be the most toxic opinion and was factually incorrect considering that both Mykayla and Juno were cyborgs. I determined that the second and third group provided the best chances of persuasion. I just needed to think of a perspective that both the second and third group would adopt, and then I remembered which planet this is. I moved between the second and third group and I started chanting, “May the best woman win.”

  Juno glared at me and I suspected she recognized me voice and was uncertain of my motive, but if she wins and then becomes a client, then I get paid. The Mermaid’s crew seemed unsurprised of my actions. The third group quickly adopted my chant and joined in. I waited for the second group to adopt the chant, but they hesitated. I was surprised when the first group adopted my chant, and that was when I knew I could rest. I returned to Ylisaya.

  “Where did you learn to do that?”, Ylisaya asked.

  “We’re bounty hunters. Our captain lies, steals, assassinates, and kidnaps for money. Sometimes I just need to cause a distraction, to make sure we get paid.”, I said.

  “So whatever it takes to win then? If you didn’t know the prediction, would you still have done that?”, Ylisaya asked.

  “That doesn’t matter, because I didn’t know the odds before. If I said I knew it was the right answer because the future said so, I’d sound crazy. But if I said high risk, high reward, that’s a perfectly rational motive. That’s how I know I’ll never get caught.”, I said.

  Ylisaya seemed stunned by the consequence of telling me her prediction, and I was even more shocked by how knowledge of the future both affected and tempted me. I started to understand what Tony meant when he said, “Sharing the future is dangerous.”

  I also saw why he uses the future, but he just doesn’t share it. This method would be considered as cheating. I could see in Juno’s face that she wanted to leave the planet with no negativity, but now she would have to risk her chance to leave. I imagined she didn’t know she wasn’t in any danger, so from her perspective the risk of losing was very real. But Juno reluctantly agreed to the wager.

  “But I get to choose the song!”, Juno demanded.

  “You may choose the difficulty level, but Mykayla will choose the song.”, Kellendra said.

  “If cheating is suspected in any way, you forfeit. So another will higher chances to successfully examine the moves in real time if we play on easy difficulty.”, Juno said.

  Lowering the difficulty of the game was a good approach to limit Mykayla’s skill advantage as well as simply trying to crush Juno with a song that’s just a test of endurance or complexity. I imagined Juno hoped Mykayla would be tempted to cheat, as technical forfeiture has the best chances to win. Mykayla looked around and smiled, as I suspected an impure thought passed through her mind. Mykayla turned towards the hosting player.

  “Forbidden Fruit.”, Mykayla said, in a voice that seemed like it matched the lyrics of the song itself.

  Juno and the crowd seemed shocked, as the hosting player began to queue up the song. Mykayla changed her holographic costume to a flowing scarlet and violet costume. I could see a look of terror in Juno’s eyes. Ylisaya approached me and grabbed my arm.

  “Why’s everyone bothered by this song, if it’s supposed to be easy?”, Ylisaya asked.

  “The song is easy, but nobody dances to Forbidden Fruit when other people can see them.”, I said to Ylisaya.

  I imagined that if Tony and Calista needed a way to distract an enemy, Mykayla dancing to Forbidden Fruit would be it. The music started and Mykayla and Juno took their starting places. The white footprint went forward and the black footprint rested the toe on the dance floor. The red and blue targets rested on the hips. Vickessah and Janodine departed the dance floor and their holographic costumes vanished.

  “Have fun.”, Kellenra said, as she departed the dance floor after, and her costume also vanished.

  The music was slower than the other songs, but Mykayla slowly rocked her shoulders with the beat. The black foot print bounced twice forward and twice backward and let her hips bounce and sway with the pattern. That’s when I understood Mykayla’s strategy, she knew Juno was afraid.

  “I don’t think I’m old enough to watch this.”, Ylisaya said.

  The red and blue targets slowly lifted to the sides, as the white footprint slowly bounced twice forward and twice backward. The red target moved to the same side of the blue target and the rolled over each other in a circle, and the black foot print slowly bounced. Mykayla let the movement slowly rock her hips side to side and her body swayed. As the dance steps reversed I saw Mykayla glance at Juno, and I started thinking her strategy might involve distracting Juno. The black and white foot prints slowly led into a turn with the beat of the music and the red and blue targets rolled to opposite sides, as the red target rolled to the top, the blue target rolled to the bottom and then cycled and alternated with the beat. Mykayla let her shoulders rock and let her hips sway as the music seemed to flow through her.

  That was when Juno missed a step, and Mykayla still maintained a perfect score. The only way for Juno to win now was if Mykayla missed two or more steps and if Juno could maintain a lead. I started thinking of when Tony implied, “The risk is greater if a prediction is wrong.” I was worried that I just wasted an opportunity for a client and I took away this woman’s last chance to chance to see her child.

  The song continued and Juno seemed more concerned about staying focused on the song. I suspected she had reached the same conclusion about maintaining her score and waiting for Mykayla to make a mistake. The red target moved overhead and the blue target waved side to side. The footsteps matched the beat and continued a slow turn, and Mykayla’s game score remained flawless. The turn reversed and Juno played on as Mykayla held the narrow lead. The red and blue targets moved to opposite sides slowly switching places as the footsteps bounced twice forward and twice backward and then reverse. The red and blue targets both moved upward and met overhead. Mykayla continued to let her shoulders rock and her hips sway. The blue target target waved around the head and the red target moved slightly backward. Juno bent her elbow to reach the target, but Mykayla leaned back into the target. That’s when Juno missed another step and fell behind in score again.

  The crowd started enthusiastic but as the end of the song approached they slowly grew silent. The blue target slowly spiraled upward and the red target followed on the opposite side shortly after. The foot steps bounced forwards and backwards as Mykayla continued gaining a perfect score. Juno missed another step as teardrops appeared in the corners of her eyes. I felt an emptiness like guilt that she lost the chance to see her son. I wondered, “Maybe I could convince Tony to offer her passage to Neptune. Or maybe Tony could see her future and find an alternative.”

  The last three steps of the song played out, and Mykayla grabbed Juno, pulled her close, and licked the teardrop from Juno’s face. I wasn’t sure what Mykayla had to gain from losing the dance off, this move didn’t fit what I knew of her. While everyone else was relieved, I sensed a few of us remained suspicious because Mykayla isn’t known for her mercy. I imagined Tony might have played a part in Mykayla’s actions, but that could implicate Juno with cheating.

  Even though Juno won, she lost control of herself and fled the party to the living space in the back of the shop and shut the door behind her, as she started crying. The crew of the Mermaid were acting like they did a good thing, and while I didn’t dispute them, I still disagreed with them. But I was just as guilty of the ordeal Juno had just endured. I approached the the door of the living space and I was stopped by one of Juno’s band-mates.

  “Don’t worry about her, we’ll take care of her.”, the band mate said.

  “Can we go?”, Ylisaya asked as she grabbed my arm.

  I looked around and the Mermaid’s crew didn’t show any intention of leaving and didn’t seem upset over the loss of fifty thousand credits. I determined the safest move would be to leave as Ylisaya suggested. I expected to have to evade the Mermaid’s crew, but they did’t impede our departure, I suspected that their lack of weapons or armor was a factor. They just watched us leave.

  On the monorail back to the docks, Ylisaya and I found a private cabin. We rested on opposite odds of the cabin and Ylisaya stared out the window, as we rode back to the docks. I suspected that Ylisaya was upset about how we failed to scout Juno as a client, or that Icaused her agony at a party. Even though Ylisaya’s prediction was correct, the outcome was still regrettable. We both received a cyber-link request from Tony and we both accepted.

  “Are we in trouble?”, Ylisaya’s question passed through the cyber-link.

  “Not really. But Calista and I think we’re wrapping up this assassination plot. You two wanna watch? And the armor works great by the way, best stealth mode ever, forgot I even had it on. But decide soon because Calista is about to unmask the assassin that tried to kill her.”, Tony’s question reached us.

  I glanced at Ylisaya and before I had a moment to consider her perspective, I knew I wanted to see, and that was just me giving into temptation. I looked through Tony’s perspective and I could see and hear everything around him. Ylisaya hesitated

  “If you want to stop watching, you’re free to just disconnect.”, Tony sent his thoughts to Ylisaya, and she was compelled to look through Tony’s senses.

  Tony, Calista, and a masked assassin were inside what looked like a large storage facility. The assassin was trapped under the wreckage of a machine that appeared to be a loading and stacking machine. Calista aimed her handgun at the assassin, while Tony sat on a nearby crate with one knee resting up against a storage container. Tony sat with the side holding his hand-cannon towards Calista and the assassin. Tony gripped the hand cannon but the arm rested at his side. Tony’s eye closest to the assassin watched her movements carefully. Tony’s other hand rested on his raised knee and held up a smartphone. Tony’s other eye watched the phone displaying recordings of the dance off from earlier this evening. As the video ended, Tony’s thumb flicked the video away and phone presented another video for Tony to watch. The motion trackers in the back of Tony’s head and his enhanced hearing followed a multitude of enforcer mechs just outside the storage facility. The only light source was centered over the trapped assassin.

  “Who sent you?”, Calista yelled at the assassin, as she removed the enforcer helmet.

  The assassin said nothing, she just looked away. Her mask wrapped completely around her head with reflective lenses over her eyes.

  “Why am I being targeted?”, Calista yelled.

  Three hostile enforcer mechs broke into the facility. One through a window, another through a service door and, the last one broke through a vent. Tony saw them all enter. Tony raised his hand cannon, and activated the targeting sensor running over the top of the cannon. Tony could see the mech pass through the service door, not just with his eyes, but through the targeting sensor. Tony fired the cannon, shooting the mech through the main circuit, shutting the mech down, effectively killing it. Tony’s arm stretched across his body and the targeting sensor could see the mech pass through the service door, and Tony fired again. Tony’s arm then curled over it’s shoulder, aimed backwards, the targeting sensor could see an upside down image of the mech stumble through the window, and Tony fired again. In less then a fraction of a nano-cycle, Tony killed three enforcer mechs, with just one hand, while sitting down.

  “Don’t bother. I have more ammo than you have remaining mechs.”, Tony said to the assassin, as his shooting arm returned to resting at his side.

  But Ylisaya and I were linked to Tony’s mind, and we knew Tony didn’t have as much ammo as he claimed, because he knew he was bluffing. I suspected Tony was hesitant to just turn the enforcer mechs against each other like before unless he was certain there would be no witnesses, which is difficult even for him from inside a storage facility. I suspected Tony was simply waiting for better odds, where he can kill the assassin and not worry about being observed.

  “Call off the mechs. They’re supposed to protect Venus. You’re using them wrong.”, Calista demanded.

  Tony detected the assassin’s mask emitted some unknown signal and Tony could sense the enforcer mechs freeze outside of the storage facility. Tony gestured to Calista to lower her hand gun. Tony kept his senses alert incase the enforcer mechs tried again.

  “Her mask controls them.”, Tony said.

  Calista rushed in and lifted the mask off the assassin’s head and she had the same face as Calista.

  “What is this?”, Calista asked in shock.

  “I think she’s a clone, she’s trying to kill you so she can replace you.”, Tony said to Calista.

  “But not even the Rylkonians can clone someone as an adult, and no woman on Venus can be cloned without her consent. That means we’re both clones. She’s not the only clone to infiltrate the Huntresses.”, Calista realized and said to Tony.

  Calista aimed her handgun at her clone sister and pressed the barrel into her head.

  “The six murder victims, all clones being replaced. That’s why every other lead was a dead end. Nobody knew anything was wrong. They had nothing to do with the rape case. It that what you had planned for me too?”, Calista demanded.

  “You’re so smart but you still got it wrong. You have it backwards. Either you or I was going to find the rapist, his premature discovery simply created an opportunity for us, so we took it. Are you gonna try to save that rapist? He doesn’t know anything that can expose us. Go ahead an waste your time. According to this planet’s laws I’m a member of the privileged class, the moment I die, you broke the law. The only actual murder was a smuggler, and that was in space, not under the jurisdiction of the Cooperative. All the crimes were getting attributed to the rapist.”, the clone said.

  “Why confess now?”, Calista asked.

  “Because you need to wake up, you’re unfit to protect this world. You’re in the way of someone who can do a better job. You’re not even a cyborg. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep Venus safe. This world needs me…not you.”, the clone said.

  “But you’re the one attacking this world.”, Calista argued.

  Calista focused her aim to shoot through the clone’s brain. Calista took a breath and stepped away. Tony flicked the smartphone to the next video, which was Juno locking herself in her former apartment after the dance off.

  “See? I’m right, you’re not willing to take the risk.”, the clone said.

  “Kill her.”, Calista said to Tony.

  Tony aimed his hand cannon at the clone, glanced at Calista once to see if there was any hesitation.

  “He won’t kill me either. I work for the UDE. I read the file, killing any UDE agent has consequences, and the Phantom knows it.”, the clone said.

  Tony lowered his hand cannon, and turned his attention towards Calista.

  “How will anyone know you were even killed? Every one thinks I’m secretly recovering in a hospital. What if I replaced you?”, Calista said as she held up the mask she took from her clone, attempted to wear it, and then removed it.

  “ A perfect fit…What are her augmentations?”, Calista asked Tony.

  Tony stood up and walked over to the clone to inspect her more closely.

  “Membrane skin weave, increased strength, and…graphene skeleton reinforcement.”, Tony said as he attempted to shake the wreckage weighing down the assassin.

  “Based on this level of impact and force, those are the cheapest possible enhancements needed to survive, without deflector shields.”, Tony said.

  “So what do we do with her?”, Calista asked Tony.

  “Oh we should still kill her, we got all the valuable information. The only question is how? I can’t use any of my known weapons. I’ll need a less obvious method.”, Tony said.

  Ylisaya and I sensed in Tony’s mind what Ylisaya advised about no other cyborg being able to wear even just one piece of Plot Armor. Tony holstered the hand cannon, tucked the smartphone into an empty ammo compartment, and removed one shoulder guard. The Plot armor system inside the shoulder guard deactivated as it was separated from it’s power source. Tony looked at the clone as he pressed the shoulder guard onto her shoulder and the Plot Armor system began drawing power from her cybernetic body. The clone’s body reacted so violently she shook the wreckage that trapped her. Her hair turned from a shiny raven rich dark color into a ghostly gray. Her skin began to wrinkle and patches of her skin faded as well.

  Tony pulled the shoulder guard from the clone’s shoulder, and she gasped in pain. In Tony’s eyes, she appeared to age and very quickly. Calista watched in horror and she seemed to pity the clone who tried to kill her in multiple attempts.

  “Did you know that would happen?”, Calista asked Tony.

  “I was warned of danger if another cyborg tried just even one piece of my armor. But I was only told it would be bad, no other details.”, Tony replied.

  “What did you do to me?”, the clone demanded as she started crying.

  “I stole some of your life force… and I’ll take more if you don’t answer my questions.”, Tony said.

  “Questions? I thought we were done with questions and ready for assassination.”, Calista protested.

  “Sorry…Habit. But…this is a golden opportunity. What are your questions?”, Tony asked Calista.

  “Right now all my questions are for you, not her…umm is this something that makes me into a liability and you might have to kill me?”, Calista asked as she stepped away.

  “If you fail to infiltrate her organization, they’ll kill you. If you go public, they’ll kill you. If they don’t believe you, they’ll kill you. You know the identities of the other clones, her job was to replace and kill you. It’s entirely possible the only other people who know this are the other clones and their boss. You don’t know if they’re watching or already replaced your fiends or family. If you actually found one person who might believe you and not kill you, not only would I be surprised, I’d be impressed… Now imagine I’m her boss, and all my files say I won’t kill U.D.E. agents. What would you say to her boss?”, Tony asked Calista, while he pointed a finger at the clone.

  “Drain life-force…Yep! I’m already done talking about it.”, Calista confessed.

  “See, I have nothing to worry about. Okay let’s start with something easy…What’s the U.D.E.’s plan for Venus?”, Tony asked the clone, but I knew he was lying.

  “Did all three of us read her files?…We’re already targets, it doesn’t change anything.”, was the thought Ylisaya and I heard from Tony’s mind.

  “Infiltrate, promote, sway elections and take over…”, the clone said.

  “We already knew that! I feel hungry for some life-force.”, Tony said as he moved the shoulder guard near the clone.

  The clone tried to pull away.

  “No…Not the Cooperative, they want the Protectorate! We learned the Senate is planning to populate the Protectorate after the Rylkonians leave. The U.D.E. doesn’t have any such opportunity. We increase their success, and sustain the Protectorate until they elect leaders who will work with the U.D.E.”, the clone said.

  “Now that’s useful information. Unfortunately I have no other questions…I can’t let you live. So it’s time to…”, Tony said but the clone interrupted.

  “Wait. Wait…space pirates…The U.D.E. knows that space pirates are a blight on all the colonies. Fighting pirates weakens everyone, even the the Protectorate adapts wasting resources to fighting pirates, instead of freely evolving for economic and scientific advancement. The U.D.E. has been intentionally neglecting their undesirable populations to incentivize them to become space pirates. Please, I don’t want to die this way. I feel like my soul was ripped apart.”, the clone pleaded and cried.

  “Well that was great info. But you’re being unusually dramatic. Right now my client needs to steal your identity to take your place, no one can know you died or how, and I would like to get paid with your money, so I really of need her to do that. Anyone who finds you will find just a dried up shell of a clone who died of old age, on a planet where your existence is illegal. Everyone will assume a genetic defect killed you.”, Tony said to the clone.

  “Yes, unauthorized cloning is prohibited. It’s a threat to the Cooperative’s cloning exports industry.”, Calista said to her clone.

  “You might want to look away.”, Tony said to Calista.

  Calista looked away and Ylisaya disconnected, but as I saw Tony prepare to attach the shoulder guard to the clone, to drain the last of her life, Tony could see that she was afraid. I suspected that she feared her life-force wouldn’t pass into paradise of the afterlife, since that was the general discussion I learned from the few Earth born I’ve talked to. Teardrops flowed down her face as she truly feared death, especially the kind death that Tony would inflict upon her. Tony looked into her eyes and disconnected me. I looked at Ylisaya and I could tell by how she continued to stare out the window of the monorail, she disconnect from the death of the clone not because she didn’t want to see, but because she already saw the assassination before, in a prediction from three days ago.