Zoe and the other couriers had just at an outdoor table at Riverside Bakery and Café a couple of days later when Chloe joined them.

“Bonjour everyone,” Chloe greeted the others. “So, this is the place you’ve all been raving about.”

“Hey Cee.”

“Howdy.”

“Hey.”

“Hi Cee. I’m surprised to see you out and about,” Zoe said. She immediately started working on the police scanner.

“Henri let you out of the office?” TK asked instead of returning the greeting.

“Oui,” Cee replied. “I’m back to doing what I love and enjoy.”

“Come on Cee. Don’t speak French,” Terr mumbled.

“Oh, alright. But only for you, you big lovable lug,” Cee said.

“Stop. You’re embarrassing me,” Terr replied mock seriously.

“Will Henri be joining us?” Newt asked.

“Non.”

“Cee…” Terr rumbled.

“You’ll get used to my use of French someday,” Chloe replied.

“Doubtful,” Vee teased. Terr growled and then smiled at the elf.

“Does Zoe always zone out?” Chloe asked pointing at the quiet member of the group.

“Pretty much,” Newt answered.

“She said she was getting closer to cracking the decryption to listen to the police comms,” TK added with a shrug of his shoulders.

“She needs some time off,” Newt said.

“Yup. A night out would do her good,” Vee agreed.

“Then we should take her to Triple’s Lounge tonight,” Cee suggested.

“I don’t think Zoe is old enough to drink,” TK said.

“Like that means anything. Kids have broken that law for as long as it has existed,” Terr replied. “I know I did.”

“Me too,” the others chorused.

“I’ve heard the CSA is close to dropping the legal age to 16,” Vee said.

“The corporations must want more drinking age customers then,” TK replied.

“That would match what has been done in Europe,” Cee added.

“You guys again? There will be no underage drinking here,” a waitress said interrupting their conversation. “I see you have someone new joining you today.”

“Yup, it’s us,” Newt answered. “Wendy, we have come to love this place, and this is Cee. She’s another courier that works with us.”

“That’s good. I’ll start expecting bigger tips then,” Wendy, the waitress replied. The others laughed. The waitress and Chloe exchanged greetings and Wendy sent Cee the menu. “What do you guys want to drink?”

“Cee, try the lemonade,” Zoe said. “It’s amazing!”

“That is what she will be having,” Wendy said. Zoe nodded in agreement before focusing on her code again.

“You have a nice wine selection,” Chloe said.

“That’s what I said when I first saw the selection,” TK said.

“The coffee is great too,” Terr said.

“But it’s too early to drink since I’m working today. I’ll try the lemonade,” Chloe said. The others ordered and Wendy left giving them time to decide on their meals. “Zoe, did you hear what we said about going to a club?”

Zoe didn’t respond. Terr snapped his fingers and waved but Zoe still didn’t respond.

“Boy, she does get into it, doesn’t she?” Vee asked.

“Earth to Zoe,” Cee said.

“Let’s just do this,” Newt said before lightly punching Zoe in the arm.

“Ow! Why did you hit me?”

“Because you weren’t answering us,” Newt replied giving Zoe a grin.

“You could have just said something,” Zoe grumpily said while she rubbed her arm.

“We tried,” TK said. “You were in your own little world and didn’t respond.”

“I was making good progress,” Zoe muttered. Wendy brought their drinks and distributed them. “Thanks Wendy.”

“You’re welcome. I know you two guys want the ribeye, don’t you?” Wendy said. Terr and TK nodded. “What about the rest of you?”

“Hmmm. This is good,” Cee said after trying the lemonade.

The others gave their orders and the waitress retreated to the kitchen. Zoe shut down her coding app so she could pay attention to the others. She glanced down at her news ticker. Something caught her attention, and she triggered the link.

“Oh, my goodness!” Zoe exclaimed. “I was just at that funeral home shortly before the place caught fire.”

“What is it?” Cee asked.

“And you were where before it caught fire?” Terr asked.

“I’ll send you the news link,” Zoe answered sending the link to the others.

“What were you doing there?” Vee asked.

“I had to deliver some data for Capone to them,” Zoe answered.

“Why?” TK wondered aloud.

“The place was filled with triad members,” Zoe replied.

“Must have been a front,” Newt mused.

“I do not like this,” Cee said. Zoe gave her a questioning look. “It’s too much of a coincidence.”

“You think Zoe was used by the mob to deliver a virus that caused the fire?” Newt asked. Chloe nodded yes. “That sort of thing has been done before.”

“I know I’ve been used to attack someone before,” Vee added. The others voiced their agreement, except for Zoe.

“Is this something I’ll have to worry about?” Zoe asked as her fears ran through her mind.

“Not really,” Cee answered. “It’s something that happens once in a while, and nobody blames couriers for not really knowing what they carry.”

“So, relax. We got your back,” Terr said.

“Ok,” Zoe replied deciding it was past time she contacted Doc Brown about that data reader the cyberdoc had mentioned to her.

*

“Alright Zoe. We didn’t bring this up while we were eating, but we need an answer,” Cee said outside the café. “Will you join us tonight or tomorrow?”

“Join you where? And doing what?” Zoe asked.

“At Triple’s Lounge on W 59th for a night out,” Newt replied.

“There will be music, good conversation, drinking, and dancing,” Vee added. “It’ll be fun.”

“It’ll be good for you to relax a bit,” TK said.

“This is true,” Terr agreed. “Nobody can work every waking hour.”

“I don’t work every waking hour. I go on runs to unwind,” Zoe protested.

“That is another activity you do alone. Come with us,” Chloe relied. “It’ll do you good to meet other people.”

“If you don’t agree to come, we’ll send Terr and TK to fetch you,” Vee said.

“You don’t know where I live,” Zoe countered.

“They don’t, but I can find out,” Chloe said giving Zoe a huge grin.

“You’re not supposed to have access to personal records,” Zoe objected.

“That’s one of the benefits of sleeping with Henri, who is the boss,” Cee shamelessly replied making the rest laugh.

“I don’t have anything to wear and can’t really afford to buy something,” Zoe weakly protested.

“That’s not a problem. We can find you something,” Vee replied as Newt and Chloe nodded in agreement. “You can meet us at the office after you finish your runs.” She gestured to the other two women. “If nothing else, we can turn a long shirt into a short skirt for you.”

“And what about my bike?” Zoe tried again. She knew she was running out of excuses and those she had were getting lamer by the second.

“Leave it at the office. We’ll take Henri’s car or call a cab,” Cee replied. “And if you drink too much, you can crash on our couch.”

“Or ours,” Newt added.

“You could always just use auto drive to get home too,” Vee helpfully said.

“Fine,” Zoe said running a hand through her hair. “I’ll agree to go out with you guys on Friday night.”

“No backing out now,” Vee quickly replied to a few chuckles. She looked thoughtful for a moment. “You know, if you wear your leather pants or leggings, a light-colored shirt, and some high heels, you wouldn’t need anything else.”

“Maybe a different jacket,” Cee added.

“I have some heels that Zoe should be able to wear,” Newt offered. Zoe looked a little dumbstruck and just shook her head as the others carried on. She hadn’t had too many friends growing up.

“Ugh. Come on TK. Let’s go,” Terr grumbled.

“We’ll see you guys later,” TK said. “And Friday night too.”

“It’s a girls’ night out. No guys allowed,” Newt replied.

“Whatever,” TK said. “We’ll do our own guys’ night out with blackjack and hookers.”

“In fact, forget the guys’ night out!” Terr added.

“Hey! That was my TV show quote to finish,” TK objected. The others laughed.

*

“Hey Claire.”

“Hey Zoe. Feeling better?” Doc Brown replied.

“Yeah. Thanks for asking.”

“So, what do I owe the pleasure of you calling?” Claire asked. Zoe filled Claire in on the mob delivery, fire, and the couriers’ suspicions that Zoe had been used to deliver a bomb of sorts. “You want Nostradamus, don’t you?”

“Is that the data reader you had mentioned when I got my frame?” Zoe asked.

“Yes,” Claire laughed. “It’s named after an ancient seer of sorts.”

“Ah. I see that,” Zoe replied after briefly looking up the man. “And yeah, I want it.”

“It’s already installed. I’ll sending you the activation key,” Claire said. A second later, Zoe accepted Doc Brown’s message. Claire took a few minutes to explain how to use the reader and how only the courier could read data with Nostradamus and not alter it.

“Who came up with the daemon?” Zoe asked after trying Nostradamus out on the data she currently held in her storage. It was just divorce papers. Zoe didn’t read them after seeing what the data was.

“I don’t really know. It was either some spy organization or a special forces’ unit,” Doc Brown answered. “The daemon has been around for a decade at least though. Is there anything else I can help with?”

“Police comm decryption,” Zoe said before realizing what she had said.

“Why do you want that?” Claire asked. Zoe explained about the scanner app she was working on. A second later Claire sent Zoe another message. “You didn’t get this from me.”

“Oh my God! Thanks Claire!” Zoe gushed after checking the message. “How did you get these? I owe you a huge favor!”

“I’m not telling you how I got them,” Doc Brown replied. “For my favor, I want you to start going to the Guns R Us range and practicing your shooting.”

“I have smart targeting,” Zoe objected.

“I know,” Claire replied. “And that is tech that can be sliced. Find time to practice. There is no substitute for skill.”

“Ok. I promise I’ll start making time to go to the range after I finish the scanner.”

“I’ll hold you to it,” Claire replied. “Have a good afternoon.”

“Thanks again,” Zoe said. “Have a good one too.”