Zoe ordered a pizza from Carmine’s Pizzeria on Broadway to be ready and delivered at 6PM as she parked her GT4 on the boathouse’s porch. She had found the place a few weeks ago and kept it from her friends, well former friends, and co-workers since they had abused Riverside Bakery and Café even more than she did. Besides, Carmine’s thin crust pizza was to die for.

Zoe activated the security system after dismounting and walked inside. She sat her helmet on a side table by the door and went into her bedroom to change into a t-shirt and lounge shorts since she intended to stay home the rest of the day and peruse the bid site.

Zoe made a glass of sweetened ice peppermint tea and turned on her wall screen. She put the news up on the screen before sitting on the couch and getting comfortable. Then Zoe proceeded to setup a login for the bid site. Once she was in, Zoe scanned the site’s rules. The only real rules were not to undercut another bid so much that it caused issues between bidders and not to bid on more runs than you could do in a single day.

“That’s simple enough,” Zoe mused. Some jobs were posted days in advance and others just minutes before they needed to be done. “No wonder people form actual companies and have someone in the office all the time.”

Zoe watched as jobs were often bid on just as soon as they appeared, especially those in Manhattan. She watched the bidding for a while to get a feel for what others were doing. Most runs were bid on in the 300-500 credit range. Those for the courts and big law firms were routinely bid on in the 500-700 range. A few corporate runs went as high as 1000 credits.

Thinking she had a feel for things, Zoe placed a few bids in the 200-400 range to undercut some established outfits, but hopefully, not undercut them too badly. Unfortunately for her, she failed to land a single winning bid.

*

Zoe expanded her search after getting fed up losing bids all afternoon. She noticed quite a few jobs going out of state didn’t have any bids. That included ones that went to Connecticut or New Jersey, which was within commuting distance to Manhattan. “That’s interesting. All those jobs have a guarantee of at least 500 credits.”

Those runs were also at least an hour or longer one way trip for her. That explained why several were sitting without any bids despite offering a decent payoff. Portsmouth Industries had one such run sitting that was scheduled to be done in two days. The British mega corporation wanted a small six-inch by six-inch by four-inch package picked up at JFK and delivered to Newark Liberty International Airport in Jersey with a 700-credit guarantee.

She wasn’t sure why they wanted a package picked up at one airport and delivered to another, but it would be a huge payoff for her. Zoe was really tempted by it too. She received a message notifying her that her pizza would be arriving in two minutes.

“Can’t believe I lost track of time,” Zoe mused. She got up and headed to the roof deck. She put in a bid for the job. “A British mega corporation can afford 1000 credits.”

Zoe got her pizza from the drone and watched it fly away before heading back inside. Feeling lazy, she got a few napkins instead of a plate and put the pizza box on the coffee table before sitting on her couch again. She picked up a slice of the cheese pizza and took a bite.

“Hot!” Zoe exclaimed setting down the slice and wiping off her mouth. She decided to let it cool for a moment before digging in again, so she checked out the site again. A job popped in for Saito Technologies’ Casino on Rockaway Blvd that wanted data dropped off at the Big Apple Bank in Building 14 in JFK. Zoe quickly placed an undercutting bid for 250 credits in thinking it was perfect if she got the Portsmouth Industries run.

Even if she didn’t get the other job, 250 credits weren’t anything to sneeze at. Zoe resumed eating her pizza. A few minutes later, she received confirmation that she had won both runs. Zoe jumped up and cheered, “Yes!”

Zoe sat back down and scanned the Jersey side of things to see if she could find another run heading back to Manhattan. After about half an hour, she found an attorney at 1201 Broad St in Newark that wanted some documentation delivered to the New York County Supreme Court clerk. Zoe put in another 250-credit bid since it was only a little out of her way. A few minutes later she received a notice saying she had won that bid as well.

“I can get used to making 1500 credits a day,” Zoe happily told herself. She closed the site, got up, and put the other half of the pizza in the refrigerator. She then cleaned up after herself, refilled her tea glass, and curled up on the couch to relax and find a movie to watch.

*

Henri frowned as the message stating he had been outbid for Saito Tech’s Casino job arrived.

“What’s the matter?” Chloe asked.

“Someone just undercut me,” Henri replied.

“By how much?” Chloe questioned.

“It’s normally a 500-credit run, and this new outfit just bid 250 credits,” Henri answered.

“New company?” Chloe wondered.

“Oui. So new in fact they don’t have a public profile yet,” Henri said.

“What are they called?” Chloe asked.

“ZCS,” Henri laughed. “That’s such a terrible name.”

“I agree, that is bad,” Chloe said. “They must be very new company if they’re undercutting bids by that much or a new independent trying to make a name for themselves.”

“That’s possible,” Henri agreed.

“You know…”

“What is it?” Henri asked.

“Can you check their other bids?” Cee asked.

“Just a moment,” Henri replied. “Mon Dieu!”

“You found something interesting,” Claire stated giving him a smile.

“Very. This ZCS has bid on and lost several jobs but won two other runs with a total payoff of 1500 credits. One of the jobs is the Portsmouth Industries run that has been sitting there for a week.”

“How much did they bid on it?”

“A thousand,” Henri answered. “That was smart.”

“I thought you didn’t want that one due to the distance,” Chloe said. “And yes, it was a smart play by them.”

“I didn’t for even 700 credits, but if I had known I could have gotten a grand, I would have bid on it and gave it to Zoe while paying her 300 or so,” Henri replied.

“You know I like her,” Cee said.

“You just like Zoe because she is naïve, coded a useful app, and is a low wage courier,” Henri retorted.

“Perhaps,” Chloe laughed. “But she is still a good girl and I disapprove of how you are cutting her off. Besides, her being cheap labor is something you should love.”

“I know and I do like that part of Zoe, but I don’t want to have this argument again,” Henri said.

“Fine.”

“Don’t be mad,” Henri said getting up and walking to where his fiancé sat.

Chloe smiled. “Stop working and you can make it up to me.”

“As you wish,” Henri replied returning the smile and shutting down the bid site.