“Want to pick up another quick job?” the clerk asked Zoe after completing the data transfer of the files Zoe needed to take back to the Hong Song office. “I know you need to get these files back to Hong Song, but this other data only needs to go to an office that is about a 20-minute drive away from there. The courier that was supposed to pick it up is an hour late.”

“I don’t mind,” Zoe said. “But I should probably clear it with my boss first.”

“I’m sure Henri won’t mind picking up a job from Dexter,” the clerk said. Seeing Zoe still didn’t look sure, she continued,” Give me a sec and I’ll call him for you.”

“Alright,” Zoe replied as she noticed the clerk had a distant look in her eyes.

“Hey Henri. This is Crystal at the County Supreme Court. What? No. She’s here and completed the data transfer on time,” the clerk said. Zoe sighed. Seemed Henri thought she had run into problems. “Right. Anyway, Dexter’s courier is an hour late and I have data that needs to get to Legalia’s office on Grand St. Thanks!”

A few seconds later Henri called Zoe.

“Hello?”

“Hey Zoe. You’re doing good. Take the job Crystal is offering you. It’s more credits for us both.”

“Any chance of a bonus?” Zoe asked.

“The bonus is the pay this job gives you that you wouldn’t have had. The courthouse will pay us by the way,” Henri replied. Then he laughed. “Nice try though.”

“Yeah, well…”

“Gotta go. Get to it,” Henri said and hung up.

“Hang up on you suddenly, huh?” Crystal asked.

“Yeah. Does he always do that?” Zoe asked.

“Yup. I’ll deny this if you tell anyone, but I think Henri enjoys living up to the rude and arrogant Frenchman gimmick,” the clerk said.

Zoe laughed. “I can see that. I’ll take that data and I’m Zoe by the way.”

“My name is Crystal. It’s nice to meet you. Here’s the cable,” Crystal said. “Let me send you the address for Legalia.”

*

Zoe checked the route to Legalia from Hong Song’s office as she walked back to the law office. It was a 10-minute drive with two options. The first was using East Broadway and the second was using Madison St. Traffic Cop showed a wreck just happened on Broadway, so Zoe decided to take Madison St. She received another call.

“Hey Zoe. How’s things going?” Chloe asked.

“Hey Cee. Things are going alright.”

“That’s better than the opposite. Henri said you picked up another job. That’s a good thing.”

“Does that happen often?” Zoe asked as she stopped just outside the Hong Song doors.

“Yeah, it does,” Chloe confirmed. “You’ll also lose jobs on occasion that way too. Not all clients are patient.”

“I can see that,” Zoe replied. “Decided to check up on me?”

“Yeah. Gotta make sure the newbie is alright. Plus, I’m bored,” Cee admitted.

Zoe laughed. “I need to go in and transfer this data. I’ll call you back when I leave.”

“You could just keep me on the phone.”

“Wouldn’t that be considered rude?” Zoe asked.

“You’re dealing with lawyers, so probably. Alright. Call me when you’re done.”

“I will,” Zoe promised. They disconnected the call and Zoe entered the Hong Song office for the second time that day.

*

Zoe had to park past the Legalia office on Grand St. As she walked to the office, Zoe noticed a running track. She paused long enough to see that it was completely open. Vee messaged her that they were going to meet at a pizzeria on 57th St in Manhattan at 1pm. Zoe messaged her back confirming the time and decided she would like to try out the track since she still had time before meeting her coworkers for lunch.

She continued to the Legalia office checking the route to get to the restaurant. The FDR to West St was the quickest route at 30 minutes despite being about only 5.6 miles away. Zoe sighed. She was starting to miss rural driving where five miles was only a few minutes’ drive. But on the bright side, she would get to ride her baby longer.

Legalia was different from most other places she had been in. Like the courthouse, the office had a weapon detector at the door as well as guards. Those guards happened to be intimidating orcs. Zoe felt they did their jobs well.

“Hi, I have a data delivery,” Zoe said to the receptionist flicking her credentials to him using another hand motion.

“It’s about time!” the haughty male elf replied. “We’ve been waiting for hours.”

“I just got the job a little while ago from Crystal at the courthouse,” Zoe huffed. “Blame the other transport company’s courier for being an hour late, not me.”

“Fine. Just take the cable and let’s get this done,” the man replied.

“Gladly,” Zoe said taking the cable and jacking in. A moment later and she unplugged the cable after the elf confirmed the transfer.

“Thank you,” the receptionist said taking the cable back.

“You’re welcome,” Zoe replied. She waited a second to see if the man would say anything else. He didn’t. She started to turn to go but stopped. “Can anyone use the track next door?”

“Yes.”

“Can I use the ladies’ room?” Zoe asked.

“First door on the left,” the elf said without looking her way.

“Thanks,” Zoe said and walked towards the restroom.

*

Zoe had just completed a third lap and noticed a couple of girls watching her for a few minutes. She slowed to cool down and walked one last lap. Zoe realized her mistake after her angel let her know several people were approaching her from the left and right.

“You didn’t pay to use our track,” one of the girls said when they were closer to Zoe.

“She didn’t pay for our protection either,” another one added.

“This is Hei Lianhua territory, Snow White,” a third said.

Zoe glanced at her arm and back up at the Chinese woman raising an eyebrow. The Chinese girls were whiter than she was. Zoe dismissed those thoughts, started to look for a way to run to her bike, and started slicing their systems.

“None of that,” a male voice said. A second later Zoe’s system froze. The woman closest to her, punched Zoe in the stomach making her fall to her knees.

“How?” Zoe gasped.

“Did you hear that Wang Chi? She wants to know how you shut her down.”

“You ICE is good enough for most and I like that extra firewall you have, but it’s not good enough to stand up to the better slicers like myself,” the man said. “Attempting revenge would be pointless too. I’m a full-blown triad.” The woman knelt in front of Zoe and slapped her. “Don’t do that Ju. Zoe here is a courier.”

“So?” Ju retorted.

“You know we don’t tick off the couriers. My boss will not be pleased if Cartier Transport refuses future jobs because you beat up one of Henri Cartier’s couriers,” Wang Chi explained. The women looked afraid at that statement.

“But she needs to learn her place,” another girl protested.

“She shall, Ting. I’m taking the 525 credits she has in her account as payment for using the track and this month’s protection fee,” Wang Chi said. He knelt in front of Zoe after Ju stood and took a step to the right. “You have ten minutes to leave the area, or I’ll let the Hei Lianhua escort you out of their territory. You won’t like how…strict they can be either.”

Zoe nodded as the man stood.

“And if we catch you in our territory next month and you haven’t paid us, you’ll regret it even if you are a courier,” Ju said. The gang walked away. After a moment, Zoe stood and started walking to her bike. She messaged Newt and Vee saying she wouldn’t be able to meet them for lunch and explained what had just happened. Newt called her.

“Hey Newt.”

“Don’t just hey me. Are you alright? The left side of your face is red,” the other courier said.

“I’m ok. I got slapped and punched in the stomach before being robbed by a gang of girls and a Triad,” Zoe replied.

“Well, you need to eat to heal. So, we’ll treat you this time,” the other woman said. “You can pay us back by treating us when you can.”

“Ok. Thanks,” Zoe replied. She wiped a tear from her left eye. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Alright. We’ll be waiting,” Newt said before hanging up.