Zoe watched the sun rise over Manhattan from her couch the following morning. She thought the orange and yellow reflecting off the glass and steel skyscrapers was a breathtaking sight. Zoe sighed as her latest virus scan completed. That made twenty complete system scans since Sonya had helped her and half that for her motorcycle. She trusted the nurse but putting her mind at ease was proving to be harder than she had thought it would be.

Zoe would have preferred to be on the roof deck, but she hadn’t bought a deck chair or anything along those lines yet. On the bright side, her couch was comfy, and the living room temperature was just cool enough for Zoe to have wrapped up in an Afghan blanket that Aunt Anne had given her. Zoe took a sip of her coffee and sighed again.

“So, do Lionel and Rita really not like me or is this some kind of tough love bull crap?” Zoe wondered aloud once again. She knew she could second guess herself from now until the end of time and not know for sure. That left Zoe with a few choices.

Zoe could pretend nothing happened, she could confront the older couriers, or she could get revenge without confronting them. Zoe had been considering revenge since she had mentioned it to Sonya but wasn’t sure how to go about it or even if she should.

“My thoughts keep going round and round,” Zoe muttered to herself. “I need more information about Lionel and Rita before making up my mind which includes finding out their last names to start with.”

That meant either attempting to slice the older couriers or Cartier Transport’s system. Neither was a good option. A couple more options occurred to her. Zoe hit up the local social media apps to see if she could find anything about the duo and sent a message to Terr’s girlfriend and Zoe’s sometime shooting instructor, officer Kerri O’Malley.

Zoe debated calling out sick, but needed the money, so she ate a light breakfast and went down to her room to change. Zoe still had a couple of hours to go before she had to be at work. So far, her social media search had turned up a big old fat goose egg, but Zoe left it running. She figured if it hadn’t turned up anything by the time she got to the office, she would just assume it was a loss and end the search.

Zoe looked in her closet and bit her bottom lip in thought. She decided she didn’t want to show weakness or let Lionel and Rita know they had gotten to her. Inspiration hit.

“The best way to do that might be by dressing up a little bit differently today,” Zoe mused deciding to play up her looks for the first time. Her eyes landed on her knee-high boots, and she smiled. “Those and leaving my hair down would be a good start. Too bad I don’t have any sunglasses. Then again, I don’t need sunglasses because of my Kaisers.”

Zoe suddenly wished she had bought the knee-high boots in brown instead of black. Synthetic suede instead of just synthetic leather would have been nice too. She sat on her bed and did a quick search on a couple of store sites. She found a pair of Laurent Incorporated knee-high boots in tan suede with identical features. The only other difference Zoe saw was the lack of buckles. These boots just had the side zipper, but with the same two-inch heel. The price was 700 credits too. Zoe added them to her cart and went searching for sunglasses.

Fifteen minutes later, she had found a pair of Laurent Incorporated rimless sunglasses that she liked, that would fit her face perfectly, and she thought would fit the look she was going for nicely. The frame was titanium, but silver in color. The lenses were polarized and blue in color. The lenses would also reflect even though they were not mirrored. The sunglasses cost 320 credits. Zoe added them to her cart.

“Easy come, easier go,” Zoe murmured as she added a wicker tear drop hanging deckchair to the cart. She paid for one hour delivery in addition to the cost of her new sunglasses and boots before she could change her mind.

Zoe looked over herself one last time. She had applied just enough makeup to highlight her lips and eyes. Zoe’s hair was naturally curly, so she had decided to leave it down instead of going with a ponytail. Zoe nodded to herself after checking out her outfit.

*

Zoe turned off her GT4 and took off her helmet as two of her neighbors waved to get her attention.

“Good morning,” the couple greeted her before laughing as they realized they had greeted Zoe at the same time.

“Good morning,” Zoe laughed. “Have you two practiced that?”

“No,” the woman answered.

“We just want to know who you are out to slay,” the man said. The woman elbowed him in the ribs. “What? We both said she looked amazing.”

“Ignore my husband. Mike opens his mouth without speaking sometimes. But he is right. You look great this morning. My name is Tasha by the way,” the woman said.

“I’m Zoe,” Zoe replied. “Thanks for the compliment.”

“So, out to impress anyone today?” Mike asked. “And I dig the sunglasses.”

“No. This is work clothes,” Zoe replied. “It’s supposed to be another hot day and I want to be comfortable while stuck in traffic.”

“Right. We heard you’re a courier. It’s supposed to rain this evening. You might get wet,” Tasha said. Zoe just nodded in agreement. “That’s a black skort and not a skirt, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. There’s no way I would ride my bike wearing a skirt,” Zoe answered. “Anyway. It’s nice meeting you two, but I need to go.”

“Alright. Don’t be a stranger,” Tasha said. She then winked. “And those boots are sexier than the short ones you normally wear.”

“Thanks…” Zoe replied giving the couple a huge smile before putting her helmet back on and cranking up her bike. She rode off without saying another word.

*

“Hey Zoe. Why do you want information about your co-workers?” Kerri said by way of greeting.

“Hi Kerri,” Zoe replied as she pulled up in the Cartier Transport parking lot and parked. She noticed she was the last to arrive. Zoe shut off her bike and told the police officer about the Plague attack.

“Hmmm. I normally wouldn’t help you, but I’ll make an exception this one time and see what I can find out about those two,” Kerri said. Under her breath, she continued,” Mostly because I want to make sure Terr doesn’t get into trouble.”

“Thanks,” Zoe replied giving the other woman a smile. “I don’t want Terr getting into trouble either.”

“Don’t think me yet,” Kerri said returning the smile. “Hopefully, I’ll have something for you before the end of the day.”

“That would be fantastic,” Zoe said. “Thanks again.”

“You’re welcome. See you later,” the orc woman said before disconnecting the call.

Zoe took off her helmet and shook out her hair. She sat the helmet on her bike’s tank, ran her fingers through her NanoHair making it a little longer while changing the color to blonde before changing it back to black. Zoe dismounted her bike. Zoe activated the alarm and walked to the side door. Hopefully, her slightly new look would have the desired effect. “Here goes nothing.”