A news item on her news ticker caught Zoe’s eye a few days later, so she clicked the link. The news story was about a wealthy Brighton Beach restaurant owner named Gennady Petrov had just gotten married even though he was a suspect in the murder investigation of a bartender from the area. The man’s Russian name is what had caught her eye since it had triggered memories of being chased and shot by the Bratva, as well of a man named Gennady giving orders.

Zoe wondered if the bartender was that Adrik guy from Yana’s since the suspect owned that establishment. She searched for more news about the investigation but didn’t find anything about the victim. MR allowed Zoe to use her hands to swipe and click on websites if she wanted to. Zoe could even ball them up like trash and throw the site away when leaving it.

That was quite satisfying, especially since most of the news sites were ad heavy and Zoe had forgotten to activate Bug Zapper. She quickly ran out of patience after seeing her tenth virtual ad literally pop into being in front of her or peeking at her before popping up from the edge of the bed like a child playing hide and seek. Swatting the ads with a virtual fly swatter was cathartic too.

“Oh well,” Zoe shrugged. She would let the police handle their murder investigation. Though if the suspect owned Yana’s that meant he was Bratva, and Zoe wanted some revenge for being shot.

“I thought you were giving up talking to yourself,” Claire said while walking into the room.

“It’s a hard habit to break,” Zoe admitted as Doc Brown started giving Zoe a short checkup. Zoe sent Claire the news link about the wedding and murder. “Do you think the victim was Adrik?”

“It’s possible,” Claire answered after reading the story. “Why do ask?”

“I just…I don’t know, maybe I feel partly responsible,” Zoe replied shrugging her shoulders.

“Even if the victim is Adrik, you don’t have any responsibility for what happened to him or for the actions of others. You’re a courier not a queen,” Doc Brown said. “You did your job as best you could.”

“I get what you’re saying, but could you find out if the victim was Adrik?”

“Zoe…” Claire said in warning. Zoe sheepishly smiled and shrugged. “Didn’t you just say you understand what I’m telling you?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Then I don’t want to hear anything else about the murder,” Claire said walking to the doorway. “Oh yeah, I have good news for you too.”

“My Alimpetinum Bone implants are on the way,” Zoe guessed.

“Got it right on the first guess,” Doc Brown replied.

“How soon?” Zoe excitedly asked.

“Three days since they have to go through customs,” Claire answered.

“Really? Customs is still a thing?” Zoe asked.

“Yup. I honestly think it’s just a way for the corps to profit a little more off each other,” Claire said shrugging her shoulders.

“I can see that,” Zoe replied. “Greed knows no boundaries.”

“Too true. Bill will bring your lunch in a little bit,” Claire said.

“Going to tell me what’s on the menu?”

“And ruin the surprise? I don’t think so,” Claire said walking away.

“Figures,” Zoe muttered dismissing thoughts of food. “Let’s see if I can find out how the Bratva moves their money.”

*

Zoe wasn’t sure if she was in Mixed Reality or Virtual Reality since she was seeing through the “eyes” of her Kunoichi. The daemon had embedded itself into a fish delivery conformation to Yana’s for later that day. The message, which looked like a dove, had traveled along city streets until it entered the restaurant’s network through its Citadel gate after a quick scan, so she guessed this was another feature of MR.

The scan was a quick flick of light from a camera. A virtual sword slice later and Zoe was in the Bratva network itself. The whole thing reminded Zoe of video games, which she guessed was the intention of MR’s designers.

The upgrades to her Allegro and MR allowed Zoe to slice into the Bratva network in what seemed like only seconds using Kunoichi. This surprised her as she had always heard the Russians were quite adapt at slicing. She shrugged off those thoughts as she focused on her next move.

Zoe released a Squirrel to track down how the Bratva moved their money. The mafia used couriers, including Zoe herself on several occasions, but she didn’t think the Russians did the same. While the Squirrel searched for those nuggets, Zoe prepared a Phantom just in case her disguises didn’t hold up. Zoe considered looking to see if Adrik was still working at Yana’s, but decided against it as she watched a Nian, which appeared as a large bird with a horned lion’s head and sharp jutting teeth, fly by.

After seeing that guardian, Zoe noticed Gargoyles sprinkled throughout the network as well and shuddered. Gargoyles appeared as stone creatures that come alive when an intruder is discovered just like their namesakes. The daemons could cause physical harm to intruders’ bodies in MR according to the tutorial she had studied. Zoe assumed the Nian could do similar damage to her if they found her. Hounds also patrolled the network. The Nian returned and started circling Zoe’s location.

“Come on, come on,” Zoe muttered trying to hurry her Squirrel along. She returned to the mail buffer, which appeared as a mailroom complete with envelopes in Mixed Reality, to hide after watching the Nian get closer. Two minutes later, the Squirrel returned to her with in the information she wanted.

“Cheapskates,” Zoe said quietly while shaking her head.

The Bratva only used network transfers to and from their bank to their accounts and businesses instead of paying for couriers like the mafia did. Zoe knew most corporations used couriers like they were old west stagecoaches because a courier was more secure than network transfers. Zoe released three more Squirrels and two Hogs to siphon some credits from different members of the Russian mob.

That done, Zoe used Kunoichi to sneak into an outgoing message and exit the Bratva network. She released her Phantom just to be on the safe side and smiled to herself. One could never be too cautious when stealing from criminals.

“What’s made you so happy?” Bill asked before setting a tray in front of her.

“Just the satisfaction of a job well done,” Zoe replied.

“Going to tell me about it?” Bill asked.

“Nope. Well, maybe eventually,” Zoe answered.

“Fair enough,” Bill said. Zoe sniffed.

“Is that hamburger?”

“Hamburger steak with gravy and unsalted fries,” Bill answered removing the top from the tray. “You also get lemonade and rolls.”

“Thanks! Hushpuppies would be better than rolls though,” Zoe said.

“Be thankful for what you got,” Bill replied.

“I am! Don’t you see this smile on my face?” Zoe said giving the nurse a huge grin.

“That’s more of a grin.”

“I know,” Zoe replied. “Thanks Bill!”

“You’re welcome. Enjoy it.”

“I will!”