“Ready to tackle your first run for us?” Henri asked Zoe the next morning.

Zoe had thought Henri would just tell her and his other employees where to go or just message them. A daily gathering was not something she had anticipated. At least they didn’t go in for the old school trick and make Zoe introduce herself to the group.

“Yeah, I am,” Zoe answered to laughs from a few of her new coworkers.

“Good. Your first job is to pick up some data from the Silver Circle Cruises office at pier 83 and deliver it to Hong Song Attorneys at Law at 44 Mott St in Chinatown. They’ll have something for you to take to the courthouse.”

“That’s cold boss. Sending the newbie into triad territory on her first run?” a beastkin named Tom asked. Zoe had found it hard to believe, but Tom’s last name was Kat. He had his name legally changed after undergoing the beastkin change.

“Tom, what do you mean?” Zoe asked. She was doing her best not to stare at him, but it was hard, and Tom seemed to enjoy the attention. He glared at her though and Zoe sighed. “Sorry. I meant TK, not Tom.”

The others laughed.

“You’ll get used to calling us by our nicknames soon enough,” Chloe informed Zoe.

“Some of the gangs in Chinatown don’t play nice or respect couriers,” TK said.

“Little Russia is much worse,” a tall elven woman called Vee added while shivering.

“Little Russia?” Zoe asked.

“Brighton Beach,” Henri clarified for her. “I won’t be sending you into Bratva territory until you’ve proven you can handle yourself to me.”

“The Russian mob is the worst of the criminal underground,” Cee added.

“Yeah. They’ll rip out your implants for looking at them wrong,” Vee agreed.

“Plus, they don’t like those of us that have undergone extensive modification,” an orc called Terr rumbled. The muscular dark green man had the deepest voice Zoe had ever heard.

“Is that surprising since a lot of them are part of the Purity Church?” TK asked. Zoe blushed and ducked her head. TK noticed as did the other modified couriers. TK pointed at her. “Spit it out.”

“Spit out what?” Henri asked.

“I was raised in the purity church,” Zoe admitted.

“That’s why you stare!” Terr accused getting to his feet. “You can’t stand the sight of us!”

“Settle down Terr,” Henri said.

“No. I try not to, but I stare because I’ve never seen modified people before. This is all new to me,” Zoe admitted.

“It’ll be alright. You’ll get used to the sights quick enough,” a woman named Newt said tossing Zoe a grin. “If not, you won’t last in the city long.”

“Thanks. Anything else I should know?” Zoe asked.

“Lots,” Newt said giving Zoe a bigger grin. The others laughed.

“Get a traffic scanner,” TK said. “It’ll save you a lot of headaches.”

“But my GPS gives some traffic information,” Zoe said. The others laughed harder.

“Accept this daemon,” Cee said. “It’s called Traffic Cop and will give you real time, up to the minute traffic updates.”

“A bunch of us got together and had it coded for us when I was starting out as a courier,” Henri added. “It uses a permanent backdoor into the traffic camera and drone network.”

“How did this coder get a permanent backdoor into the network?” Zoe asked accepting the file as her angel and ICE scanned it.

“He was a city coder that worked on the network,” Henri replied as Zoe installed the daemon and added a small scroller to the bottom of her vision next to her GPS map.

Zoe gave Traffic Cop permission to access her GPS so it would more closely monitor her routes and help offer alternatives. She plugged pier 83 into her GPS and the two programs gave her three routes with one of them making use of alleys. Zoe smiled.

“I think she likes it,” TK said to more laughter.

“I do indeed. This is a well coded program,” Zoe replied. “Is there anything else you guys recommend?”

“Get a gun and license to carry it,” Vee said. Zoe frowned. “I’m serious,” Vee continued pulling a pistol from a concealed back holster.

Zoe’s eyes widened. She looked to the others. “Are all of you armed?”

“Yep.”

“Always.”

“Of course.”

Terr just nodded his head in agreement as they all showed Zoe several handguns.

“I have some offensive daemons such as Shocker and Flamethrower as well as some prank ones that come in handy,” Zoe said. “I don’t know if I could shoot someone.”

“Those are nice, but what are you going to do? Slice everyone you encounter?” TK asked as his tail flicked in annoyance.

“You may not have time to slice people attacking you no matter how good your frame and daemons are,” Cee said. She got up and walked towards the reception area.

“At the very least, get a non-lethal stun gun. There are several versions on the market,” Henri said. “Some use fast acting tranquilizer darts while others use electricity like your Shocker daemon.”

“You’ll figure everything else out as you go,” Newt said to nods from the others. Chloe returned carrying a small metal cylinder.

“This is a baton,” Cee said flicking her rick and making the cylinder extend to its full length. “No skill is required to use this. Just bash anyone that gets close enough.”

Zoe took the weapon after Chloe showed her how to collapse it. “Thanks. I’ll return it just as soon as I get something else.”

“Newt and I are meeting up for lunch,” Vee said. “Join us and we’ll take you gun shopping.”

“Thanks for the invitation,” Zoe replied and smiled at the other two women. So much for her hope to run in Central Park today. On the other hand, making friends with her coworkers would have longer lasting benefits. “I’ll be happy to join you.”

“Now that that is solved. Let’s get to the rest of these assignments,” Henri said.