After creating an untraceable account and posting what would be the first of many warnings, I stand and begin a few easy stretches. The Neo-Web has never been my strong suit, unfortunately, and anytime I attempted to type on the holo-board I ended up with at least one knot on my back.

Most people would consider such a public display foolish, but luckily, that is the beauty of my plan. It would take time, but soon enough the brilliance of all my groundwork will come to fruition. As a rather pleasant crack resounds from my spine, I begin to unbutton my dress shirt while glancing through a few of the folders strewn about on the various flat surfaces of my apartment.

One bedroom, one bath, a kitchenette and main room. Nothing fancy, as I preferred. Though, the off white coloring still tends to annoy me. Snapping twice, one after the other, I activate the automated servant which had cost more than a years rent on it's own. As I ordered her to adjust the temperature, I slipped the wrinkled garment off. "Thea, lower the temp. by four degrees, and update all messaging sites."

Thea, as I had taken to calling my apartment's AI, took a moment to process my command, before replying in her usual hushed monotone. "Yes, sir. Currently, there are three new messages and one new voicemail. One message had been flagged as corrupt by other AI's and so has been deleted."

Leaning over the desk that supported my Neo-Ware, which ran the automated servant and acted as a computer, I rubbed the back of my neck and kept my eyes focused on the mask that sat at it's edge. "Play the voicemail first, then the messages. First, however, sweep for any audio tampering on the call and then tracers on the messages." I sighed, picking up the mask and tracing it's contours with a thumb as the voicemail began.

The voice was gruff, and slightly slurred. Not from any drugs or alcohol, but the large teeth belonging to the owner of this voice. At times, they could be heard clinking together. The hiccups and horrible pronunciation however, were obvious signs of Nectar use. "Oi, Puurot. I hurd abou' dat 'orrible fiyer in yur ol' guil'ouse. Nashty bit dat wush. Pay'mint ish in'a bank." Sighing, I told Thea to delete the recording before playing the messages. Ogre's. Bah.

As Thea began reading them out, I placed the mask back as it was and made my way to the moderately sized bathroom. Metal toilet, checker tiled floor, and a rain shower. Not bad on the market, all in all, but like the rest of the apartment it was designed for simplicity rather than luxury. Using my forearms as a support on the edge of the sink, I was left staring into my own eyes. A dull grey, nothing all that special about them. The trick is in positioning.

With a slight tilt of the head any number of things can be conveyed. Looking down, you seem more intimidating as a slight shadow is cast over your eyes. By looking up, a sense of confidence and superiority can be gained, as it causes the viewer to subconsciously think you are 'looking down' on them. Posture, body language, tone of voice, etc. All are factors in projecting your personality, or persona, to the people around you. As a child, you can get treats from the nicer old crone's around your block. As an adult, you could change the atmosphere of an entire room with only a few softly spoken words.

I blinked, turning my attention to the sink's drain. It had happened again. Slowly trailing my eyes up, taking care to notice every small detail along the way, I came to meet my own gaze once more. Just around my pupil, there was a small ring of violet. I could just barely see it's outline, trying not to look directly at the anomaly. Instead, I focused on every detail of the reflection. My hair, still laid back from its time under my mask. The slight stubble that had grown since this morning. The rin- "FUCK!" I gripped the sides of the sink hard enough to turn my knuckles white as the violet faded to it's normal grey.

Breathing surprisingly hard for only having stood there, I scowled at the mockingly bland color of my irises. Standing straight and raking my fingers through my hair, I take a moment to deeply inhale, and then slowly release it. Becoming angry would do nothing for me. I've tried that plenty in the past. This has happened numerous times since my childhood, though it would end just as soon as my conscious focused on the strange mutation. Of course, plenty other people had seen it. However, a large majority of those people were now dead.

Shaking my head to clear my mind of the enigma, I used the tip of one of my leather boots to help free my foot of the other. They had been made of some reptilian Freak that had managed to cheat me on a card game. Unfortunately, he pulled one to many aces. "Thea, warm the shower to the usual. Also, play those messages again, I lost focus and didn't hear them."

As water began falling from the ceiling of the partitioned shower, I began stripping while Thea's monotone voice sounded from the various speakers built into the room. "Message one: Heyo PerPer! I have a teeeeeeeensie favor I need to ask. You know daddy holds those big parties everyoth-" Cutting the message short, I told Thea to delete it and block the number. That pain in the ass was not dragging me to another of her father's events. I trusted her greatly, as she was one of the few people who knew of my...alter ego. If she wasn't such an obsessive rich girl, I could handle her. Granted, her company does pay quite a bit for my more...aggressive contracts.

As I stepped into the shower, the nearly scalding water momentarily distracted me from the droning of my AI's voice. As always, my mind flashed back to the rotted house of my childhood. The only 'shower' there had been nothing more than a drain pipe pouring into a small back alley. Almost the entire apartment complex, about fourteen families total, used that single source of water. When winter came, youths climbed to the rooftops to collect snow.

A single word caught my attention and snapped me back to the present. "Thea, replay this message and turn off the water." In the brief silence that followed, a smile crept to my face. "Message two: Peirrot. Your shipment is ready. I don't know what the fuck you plan to do with this shit, but if anyone...and I mean anyone finds out you got this through me, I'll send every Hound and Merc in the city after your ass. Stay safe, brother."

Leaning my forehead against the shower wall, I began to chuckle. Slowly, it shifted into a cackle, and then burst into a fit of giggling.. As my shoulders began to shake more and more violently, I wrapped my arms around myself as I slid to my knees. Trying to suppress the outburst only served to make it worse, and soon threw my head back as I very nearly howled with laughter.

After several minutes, and while still shaking, I opened the door to the shower. As steam poured into the small room, I allowed myself a moment of grandeur. That message was the last piece necessary to begin my first true operation. It would take a bit more time to prepare, but that was of little consequence. I've waited this long, a short bit more is simply time to...wrinkle out the creases.

Leaving the bathroom several minutes later, I left the towel over my head as I began organizing the cluttered mess I called home. By the end of it, a stacks of folders had taken up nearly the entire counter of my small kitchen. Portfolios, blueprints, schedules, and several classified documents made up it's bulk. Leaning back on the wall opposite my small treasure trove of information, I crossed my legs at the ankles and began gently tapping my foot to a quick beat.

Part of me wanted to review them all again, however a far more reasonable part reminded me that there was nothing new to learn. I could tell you every face, place, and secret that they contained. It had taken a few years to collect all this, but that allowed ample time for read throughs. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I prepared myself for what I was about to do.

I wasn't afraid, or nervous...simply excited. "Thea...contact file occupants 7-7-4, 3-9-6, and 2-7-0. Send them the prewritten contract, along with the agreed upon incentive." Sifting through the stack of folders before me, I quickly found the three I had requested. Opening each, I took the photographs provided in them and pinned them to the wall of my apartment's main room. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to contact one directly, but that was of little consequence. If he was going to join me, he could get in touch. The other two, however, was just a matter of patience.

Unsurprisingly, I received a call from 2-7-0 within an hour. She always has been fast to reply when I call. After a few brief minutes, the line clicked and then went silent. All had gone well, as I expected, but she had requested to meet in person. Sighing, I move from my pile of folders to my bedroom as a small cleaning drone not controlled by Thea soaked up the small trails and puddles of water that had accumulated through the main room and kitchen after I had left the shower.

Taking a moment to drop the soaked towel that had fallen to my shoulders, I stepped into my room's walk-in closet. She had requested a rather public meeting place, one she owned, but nonetheless a flashy shop used as a business front to a large smuggling operation, called the Giant's Coinpurse. My usual suits would get me robbed, not to mention I had just gotten back from a crime that would put me on nearly every watch list in the city anyway. Opting instead for a slim-fit grey hoodie and black jeans, I pulled a pair of old sneakers from the bottom of the closet.

I'd have to leave my mask behind, as that would be a dead giveaway to who I was, and the place would be swarmed before I could even find the girl. Pulling up my hood, I had Thea transfer into a small necklace with a computerized locket in the shape of my mask. Ordering her to activate a personal cloaking mechanism within it causes the small trinket to humm to life, emitting a soft blue glow.

It would take my contact half an hour to show up, if she wasn't already there, while I could probably make it in about half that with my cycle. After locking the door to my apartment, then locking it again to activate my personalized security measures, I slip my hands into the connecting pockets of my hoodie and leisurely stroll down the hallway to the garage of my apartment complex.