With no real way to say no, Nova slotted the chip he'd created. Using Padre’s intel network, he visited several key locations where the culprit might show up. They made sure Nova looked like just another pawn—staging fake meetups with Padre’s mercs, leaking partial truths, even setting him up as the supposed courier of sensitive data.
“I really don’t like being this exposed. If they find out I’m not actually working for Padre, I’m dead meat.”
Nova muttered to himself as he walked toward one of the marked points.
His instincts were sharp—he could feel eyes on him, someone either tailing or watching from above. Then, a call from Padre buzzed through.
"Looks like the rat took the bait. Time to hunt, Nova. I’m sending you the coordinates now. I’ll have some mercs meet you there—they know the extraction point."
Nova moved fast. The streets blurred past until he reached the location. People moved all around him. Too many. He activated his scanner, eyes darting across ID tags and body signals. A few stood out—but only one behaved differently when Nova got close. Subtle movements. Nervous ticks.
Still, too risky to take him down in public. Nova followed. The guy noticed—he bolted.
He weaved through alleyways and crowded plazas, trying to shake Nova off. But just as they passed by a side alley, something snatched the runner’s leg and yanked him into the shadows.
“What the fuck?!” Nova hissed, rushing in.
There he was—bound in some kind of wire, lifted off the ground, throat pinned by a figure in the dark.
“Rina?!” Nova blurted out.
She didn’t even turn to acknowledge him. She was already prepping her exit, grappling hook in hand, ready to vanish.
But Nova was faster—just for a second, he activated the Sandevistan and grabbed her leg mid-leap, pulling her down.
“Don’t get in the way, techie,” Rina snapped, voice cold and sharp.
“Don’t take my target,” Nova shot back with a half-smile.
Without hesitation, Rina lunged—blade flashing toward his neck. Nova barely dodged, a jolt crackling down his spine. A split-second slower and he’d be dead.
“You know what? On second thought, take him,” Nova laughed nervously.
But Rina had already made up her mind—no loose ends. She struck again.
Nova ducked, twisted. No Sandevistan this time—pure instinct. He tried to throw her off balance, to get her in a lock, to figure out what the hell was going on.
But she was too fast. Too flexible.
Rina struck with her dagger, and Nova blocked and dodged using whatever junk he could grab—old metal rods, broken chair legs, shattered crates. His Muay Thai experience helped him stay in the fight, but she was too skilled—too fast.
Then she shifted tactics.
Rina tied the hilt of her dagger with titanium thread, manipulating it with both her hands and feet, redirecting strikes mid-motion—unpredictable and deadly.
“Shit!” Nova hissed, stumbling back as the blade sliced a shallow line across his chest.
The target, trying to take advantage of the chaos, made a run for it—but before he got far, Rina whipped a dagger into his leg.
“Stay down. Next one won’t be your leg.”
Then she turned her focus back to Nova.
More strikes came—clean, precise. But Nova was adjusting. The more he bled, the clearer his reflexes became. Finally, he countered. A narrow window. He barely landed a hit. This was a kill-or-be-killed fight, no room for error.
Then—her blade lined up with his chest. Cold. Precise.
Nova saw his chance.
He triggered his Sandevistan.
In a blur, he kicked the dagger upward, catching it in the emergency stair bars bolted to the wall. He leapt, pulling it tighter, securing it. Then he jumped back, putting distance between them.
“Sorry, Rina. I really wanna know what the hell this is all about... but if I stay, I’m not walking out of here. You’re too damn good.”
“I’ll find you, techie,” she snapped, voice cold as steel.
Nova grabbed the bound man and bolted, heading straight for the agreed drop point.
Padre’s mercs were already waiting. But before Nova could even speak—
Crack.
A stun blow knocked him out cold. He’d let his guard down around his “allies.”
When he came to, he was sitting across from Padre.
“You never cease to impress, Nova. Not only did you capture the asset... you proved your chip works. The memories he’s got? Total fabrications. Perfect. You’ve earned a bonus... and an advance.”
Padre tapped a credchip onto the table.
“Twelve more chips. One week. Think you can handle that?”
Nova groaned, head still foggy.
“Could you maybe stop knocking me out every time I visit? I’m charging extra if this becomes a habit.”
Padre chuckled and offered his hand.
“Deal. You’ve earned my trust. Don’t waste it.”
Elsewhere.
Inside a towering corpo building, Rina stood at attention before a superior. The slap echoed through the room.
“A techie! You couldn’t handle a techie!? You’ve gone up against squads of ten—what stopped you this time? That fucking spy had something I needed, you have any idea of the info we can get with that spying implant? And you let him walk off with it.”
“My sincerest apologies, sir. He had a Sandevistan—I didn’t detect it. No combat implants showed up on my scanner. But I did learn something. He was chasing the target as part of a job. Most likely... affiliated with Padre.”
“That does nothing for me, Miss Locke. I need that implant.”
“I’ll get it back, sir. I won’t fail again.”
“You better not, Miss Locke.”