Kay and Kel had been holding out, keeping her tied up with all those corpses in his freezer while they practised magic in secret.

Why hadn’t her meta-mind notified her? Was it hoarding the feeds? Why the sly dogs the lot of them!

Someone was getting punished after all this, and Rilian decided it would be Kel. But that would come later; currently, there was a game of tag to play.

She moved through the streets masked. It was so tempting to take it off; she wanted to see their reactions. That first glimpse of her was a priceless expression she relished: something Kel had also deprived her of. He showed her irritation, pain, glee, and impassivity, never awe.

As if he did not look up, or down on her; Instead, he gazed through, neither aggressive nor placating. If only he knew how much like an Alpha that was. Honest pleasure, he reserved for the act of creation. Rilian stole glances when he contemplated the many designs floating about in his skull. God, he turns me on.

Focus Rilian. Her priority was the task at hand. Perhaps she could expend some frustration in exertion now, and shower later. She picked up the pace to a brisk jog and aimed to corner Red 2. Her HUD was directly piped to the visual cortex, no need for convoluted low tech optics. Even so, it was a rather primitive one. She casually glanced at the overlay while picking up speed.

Of the many skills and muscle memory grafted into her body, the art of moving and acrobatics was naturally one of them. Naming conventions across the multiverse varied, but the principles were the same, and she had the best athletic body money could buy. Actually, that wasn’t true; Alphas didn’t trade in material goods but in favours, and Cousin Leren’s art had not slipped.

Rilian felt her Olympic limbs flex as they warmed from exertion swiftly reaching peak performance.

Her hood pulled back in the rush of air, revealing the dull lustre of her helm and faceplate with its multiple articulated metal plates.

She made it bob and jostle in sync, so it did not jar on her head as she ran. The metal flex-tube limbs clamped to her vest supported it further. In all, solids in contact with her body—metals in particular—felt like a second skin. A dull tactile sense even permeated what she imbued. Extended kinesthetics were the domain of transhuman worlds and up, but nothing near this visceral.

She barely breathed harder as streamlined metabolics burned through tweaked energy stores, pumping ample oxygen and glucose to her optimised muscle fibres.

The intercept path led around the periphery of the market, so streets were less crowded compared to Kay’s feed. She angled to meet up with Red 2 as it came out from the block ahead of her.

An idle horse tied to a cart obstructed the road. Bursting to a mild sprint, Rilian dove and vaulted off its rump, making a casual twist as she flew through the air and landed without so much as a pause.

People’s shouts and guffaws trailed behind her as she reviewed footage from the cam flies.

The jump was alright; it could go on the highlight reel perhaps. Rilian had been looking for Kel since she released the micro-drones, with no luck as of yet. More interference from her cloud, possibly? Had Kel done something else he would need to pay for? Likely a bit of both; he was also furthest from her as they herded the suspect. The cameras would find him soon enough.

She rounded a bend and felt her shoes and their steel runner spikes dig into the ground; they were an extension of her. Aura soaked the paving and moss ridden dirt with each stride giving her traction akin to cold welding as she adhered and detached.

She never slipped or skidded—unless she wanted to—and could dart through the bystanders like a printer head across paper. Twisting and turning; a wall run here, or a flip for some spice. There had not been a place to stretch her legs since birth, so the exhilaration was ecstatic as she ran and laughed.

Such amusements were over all too soon as she caught sight of the chased hare.

“Red 2 is the target. Over,” she said. Cam flies could have flown ahead of course, but where is the fun in that. No, they were for production value only, she refused to tarnish this art piece with shortcuts. Besides, the goal was for the runner to see them, not the other way around.

“Roger, Red 1 is confirmed to be a kid,” said Kel. “Proceeding to Red 2. Over.”

The suspect attempted to blend into the crowd, hood up again and an Airbow held down at his side its extended wooden pipe identifying the type. He hurried between the people but not enough to jostle or draw attention.

Misty dew-like drizzle began falling on everything, a common occurrence in Elgelica. The natural climate of England was further exacerbated by the terraformed super forest in its midst.

The bowman had yet to spot her, as she too blended into the crowd and advanced on him deftly. The smooth-worn and slick paving might have posed a slipping hazard were she not a Solid Mage. Her spiked soles pierced through the thin aquaplane and adhered like carpet.

“Ril, you have a backup tag? Over.”

“Why is everyone ‘over’?” asked Kay.

A wry chuckle was Rilian’s only response.

Kel was silent.

“Yes Kel, I have one in hand. I’ll make sure to give a proper greeting! Over.” She stealthily sidled close to the diminutive elf and with a substantial wind-up gave the hardest ass slap she could manage.

It contained considerable kinetic force and sent the elf sprawling across the wet stones. He yipped with the stinging pain on impact, and his bow flew from his hands and clattered away.

Other folks just stood about transfixed with the bizarre sight. Who slapped butts that hard in public after all. I do. Skipping gaily to the bow, Rilian scooped it up. Her first souvenir! There was a wall in medical she cleared just for the purpose.

“Did you just spank our poor perp?!” Kel was incredulous. “Over!”

“You be quiet, young Gamma. Yours will come later.” She turned to the elf as he got to his feet. She lifted her faceplate, and a cam fly captured the swirling glow of her pink and blue eyes in the deep shade. “Light-Finger sends his regards, little man.”

Wonder and terror imprinted the assassin’s expression. Now that was a face she could relish! The aghast elf scrambled to his feet and ran for his life.

“This is no time for selfies! I can see you doing bliksemse poses in the street!”

Just where was he? His ping was almost on top of her. She glanced around. “The RF tag is properly secured. Over.”

“Until he fucken sits, you mean!” She heard his voice above.

That devious man! He was tracking across the bridges and walkways on the second level. One of the microdrones climbed to focus on him.

“There you are, my naughty little Diver!”

“Can someone please explain what ‘over’ means!” piped Kay.

Quirky Kay, that was going on the highlight reel too. Rilian didn’t bother following the target anymore.

“Go Kel! Show us what you’ve got.” She pumped the air.

“Fucking help damn it!” She watched him run across a rope bridge in the street ahead.

“But my legs are sooo tired! Meet you at the rendezvous.” Her voice was treacle. The faceplate flapped shut, and Rilian headed for the spire with her trophy.

“Donnerse fok Ril, you owe me two massages you hear! Two!”

Trading more favours was he? She would make an Alpha out of him yet. Would I?! Is that what she wanted?

There was much to think on. Delightful and debauched fantasies played across Rilian’s cognition as she skipped away.