Zoe was pleasantly surprised. Her data pickup was a nice easy drive from Cartier Transport’s office to Pier 83. All she had to do was take East 125th St to 9A South and cruise. Sadly, that 6.5-mile drive would still take 25 minutes.

Chloe had also given Zoe her Cartier Transport credentials before she left the office. This would let her get in and out of the employee parking lot as well as past the backdoor. Chloe also informed Zoe that Henri would pay her on Thursdays, so her first check could be a little heavier than normal since it was already Wednesday and they would just hold wait to pay her on the following payday, or she could go for the light check getting paid for Wednesday and Thursday. She opted to let them hold her pay.

*

Zoe walked into the Silver Circle Cruises office and up to the receptionist’s desk. She smiled at the man and waited for him to finish talking to whoever he was speaking with. She looked out the bay window behind him and watched the river. A couple of boats moving about is all she saw.

“Hi. Are you the courier?” the receptionist asked.

“Yes.”

“You must be new. Send your credentials to the screen please,” the man instructed.

“Here you go,” Zoe replied sending her credentials making a flicking motion of her right hand. The receptionist grinned and shook his head in amusement. She loved how quickly her Allegro automatedly switched networks without her manually having to do it.

“Thanks,” He replied and checked her data. He nodded to himself, so Zoe assumed they had updated records for Henri’s employees. Or maybe her credentials had an updated roster file. He held out a data cord. “Do you know where to go?”

“The Hong Song Attorneys at Law office at 44 Mott St,” Zoe answered taking the cord and jacking it into her port.

“That’s correct. Someone slipped and fell on a cruise. They’re trying to sue the company,” the receptionist told her. Zoe thought he was a bit of a gossip since he had so readily offered up that tidbit. “Sending you the data.”

“Thanks,” Zoe replied. A moment later, she unplugged the cable and handed it back to him. She smiled, turned to go, and said “Have a good day.”

“You too,” the man said back. He watched her go. “Hao pigu.”

“What was that?” Zoe called back as she got to the door.

“Nothing!”

“Oh. Ok…” Zoe replied before exiting the building. She checked her logs as she walked to her Triple Black and looked up what the man had said. She sat on her bike and face palmed. “Hao pigu means nice ass in Chinese. I need to add a real time translator app to the list of things I need.”

*

Zoe turned left off West Ave and onto Canal St only to slow to a crawl. Traffic Cop updated to show a wreck two and a half blocks ahead of her. Zoe groaned as she checked the map. She was stuck between two streets about halfway down the block she was on in bumper-to-bumper traffic. There weren’t even any alleys to turn off onto.

Forty minutes later, Zoe turned right onto Mott St. She lucked up and found a parking spot in front of a bakery just a couple minutes’ walk away from the law office. Of course, it was metered and cost eight credits for an hour. Maybe she hadn’t lucked out after all. Zoe paid and jaywalked across the street to the law office. Just before entering the office, she received a message from the NYPD informing her that she just got a ticket for jaywalking and could pay the 150 credits fine at the New York County Supreme Court. Zoe glanced up and saw a drone fly away. “Oh, come on!”

*

“I’m sure one of our attorneys would be happy to fight the jaywalking ticket for you,” the receptionist told Zoe.

“That’s alright,” Zoe replied. She suddenly had an idea. “I might know someone that could help with it.”

“If you say so,” the Chinese elvish woman replied. Zoe was proud of herself for not staring at the taller woman. “Take this data to the New York County Supreme Court. The courthouse is a couple blocks away on Centre St and only about a ten-minute walk.”

“You would walk it and hang on to the parking spot?” Zoe asked.

“Yeah. Parking around here can be hard to find.”

“I could stand to stretch my legs a bit,” Zoe replied.

“The clerk should have a packet ready for us too,” the receptionist said.

“Ok,” Zoe replied heading to the door. She called Jimmy after walking out of the office. “Hey Jimmy.”

“Hey Zoe. How’s tricks?”

“That’s not funny.”

“Depends on your perspective” Jimmy replied. “Anyway, want to grab some lunch?”

“No thanks. I’m going to have lunch with a couple of the girls I work with,” Zoe answered.

“Alright. So, how’s your day going?” Jimmy asked.

“Was going pretty good until the last hour.”

“What happened?” Jimmy asked. Zoe explained about the traffic accident and the ticket. Jimmy laughed. “Just pay the fine and learn your lesson.”

“What lesson? Don’t jaywalk?” Zoe asked as she used the crosswalk to get onto Worth St.

“No. Always look around for cameras and drones before doing so,” Jimmy answered.

“That’s…actually a good idea,” Zoe laughed. They talked for a few more minutes. “I got to go. I’m at the courthouse.”

“Paying off the fine already?”

“No. Well, maybe. But I have to deliver some documents to the clerk of court for an attorney,” Zoe said. “I guess I should go ahead and pay the fine too.”

“Got the credits to do so?” Jimmy asked.

“Yeah,” Zoe answered. She was thankful she still had some credits left from her slicing of Nathaniel Wyatt’s accounts. Zoe walked into the courthouse. “See ya, Jimmy!”