“You’ll be staying with us for two nights?” Amy, the Radio Hotel’s concierge asked. Zoe nodded her now purple haired head in agreement while starting to slice the hotel’s network.

“That’s correct.”

“I just need you to authorize the agreement and send over payment,” the hotel employee said. A moment later, she smiled at Zoe and nodded. A data transfer request arrived. “Thank you, Ms. Mills. I’m sending you your room code. The room number is R71. So, take the red coded elevator on our left up to the seventh floor and your room is in the leftmost corner from the elevators.”

“Thanks. That seems simple enough,” Zoe said accepting the tiny file after scanning it carefully.

“It’s not every day that I see someone that uses wireless instead of a hardwired cable,” Amy said holding up the hotel’s data cable.

“I’ve found that wireless can be just as secure as the cable is supposed to be if you’ve paid for the right kind of ICE,” Zoe replied.

“Ah. That makes sense. Anyway, I hope you enjoy your stay with us and weekend in the Big Apple!” Amy said faux cheerfully. The smile on her face never reached her eyes. Zoe assumed she gave that same statement to everyone that rented a room in this fading and grimy monstrosity of a building.

In the early 2020’s, the Radio Hotel had been considered a boutique establishment with its unique color-coded design. Now, it was just another rundown, overpriced, and fading hotel. But it was cheap, and the hotel bought her fake profile, so it suited Zoe just fine.

“Thank you. I’m sure I’ll enjoy my stay,” Zoe replied and walked to the elevators. She finished her slice and used the camera network to check her floor for surprises.

The short ride up to the seventh floor in the red section only took a couple of minutes. Zoe found her room and the door opened after she sent the access code to it. The not quite clean room was a tiny studio with a bed, a small video screen was inset in the wall above the foot of the bed that almost touched said wall, and a tiny desk. The bed and desk took up nearly every inch of the place. Another door to her left probably led to an even smaller bathroom.

“At least I don’t see any roaches,” Zoe muttered as she shuddered and stepped into the room. Her previous Jersey City hotel had been infested with them and Zoe had tossed everything after quickly vacating that place. The door slid shut behind her. Zoe checked the bed, desk, and bathroom for creepy crawlies. Not finding any, she took off her jacket, hung it on the back of the chair, and gingerly sat on the bed. “Time to get to work.”

Zoe removed her boots and sat back against the wall at the head of the bed. She turned on the wall screen and flipped channels for a few minutes and eventually settled on some movie that she didn’t care about. While pretending to watch TV, she searched the net for the one daemon she now wanted more than almost anything else and sliced the door for room R72. Half an hour later, Zoe disabled the camera in her room and set the video of her watching TV to loop. Zoe also recorded video of the empty room R72. She then spliced her room’s footage with empty room footage to create a two-hour video. That done, she replaced the first looped video with the longer one as well as looping the empty R72 footage.

“Ugh. The cheapest I can find one for is 20000 credits and it’s not guaranteed to work on modern systems,” Zoe complained. “That daemon would take too long to get in working order especially for that price.”

After searching for a while longer, Zoe snapped her fingers. She sorta kinda knew someone that could probably get the daemon for less than 30K. Zoe put her boots and jacket back on and exited the room taking her backpack with her. She sliced R72’s door and changed the lock while entering a do not use notice due to some low priority maintenance errors in the hotel’s logs. It wasn’t perfect but would allow Zoe a few minutes if the church found where she was.

“Now it’s time to go see a certain elf about an Atomic,” Zoe said walking to the elevator.

*

“Hi Zack,” Zoe greeted the elf and proprietor of Zachary’s Hardware and Software with a huge smile on her face.

“You!” Zach hissed. “You got a lot of nerve coming here again.”

“Oh, come on! I took a job for you, so let’s let bygones be bygones,” Zoe replied sweetly. “I’m here to buy something big or at least pay you for knowledge of where I can get what I’m after.”

“Really? Ok. But I still haven’t forgotten about those pranks,” the elf said.

“Wasn’t the deal we made over those runs enough of a payback?” Zoe asked, batting her eyes at him.

“No,” Zack replied sullenly. “And why are you acting flirty? Are you trying to slice me again?”

“No!” Zoe said shaking her head. “I wouldn’t do that without good reason.”

“Then why are you flirting with me?” Zack asked. “That isn’t your normal behavior from what I’ve seen.”

“A bit too much, huh?” Zoe asked. Zack nodded. “As I said, I want something big.”

“What? An atomic?” Zack scoffed.

“Exactly,” Zoe replied.

“You have to be kidding,” a wide-eyed Zack said.

“Afraid not. Do you know where I can find one?” Zoe replied.

“No…” a suddenly nervous looking Zack answered.

“You’re not telling me the truth,” Zoe said. “It’s in your eyes and I bet if I scan you, your blood pressure, heart rate, and such are up.”

Zack sighed. “I recently got into selling not so legal software as a side hustle.”

“You need to practice in your mirror at home or something,” Zoe quipped. Zack refused to look her in the eyes. “You’ve been practicing in front of a mirror!”

“No,” Zack sniffed and glared at Zoe. She smiled back.

“Let’s see what you got for sale,” Zoe said cheerfully.

“Here’s a list,” Zack said pulling a tablet out from under his counter. “Don’t take any screenshots. This list can’t leave the shop.”

“Ok,” Zoe replied while taking the offered tablet. She quickly scanned it and her eyes widened at the prices and types of software. “50000 credits for an atomic?”

“It’s the most destructive daemon in existence. What did you expect it to cost?” Zack retorted.

“Based off the prices I found on the net, 25 to 30 grand.”

“Which still probably puts it out of your price range,” Zack replied. “There are other less destructive daemons if you’re just looking to kill someone or take out a system. In fact, a gun with the right ammo is a lot cheaper.”

“But none of the other options guarantee that the targeted system gets destroyed,” Zoe pointed out.

“True,” Zack agreed. “What do you want an Atomic for?”

“There is a certain group that needs taking care of,” Zoe vaguely replied waving her hands around.

“You’re not planning on destroying Cartier Transport’s network, are you?”

“No! I’ve put Henri and the rest far behind me,” Zoe replied. “This group is viewed as a terrorist organization in some circles and destroyed my houseboat.”

“You know who is responsible for the boat basin fire?” Zack asked. Zoe nodded but didn’t say anything. “Then you should go to the police, mafia, or one of the other criminal groups.”

“One of the mob families is also partially responsible and I’ve been promised they will be handled, and I don’t have the money to pay them or another group to take out the arsonists,” Zoe said. “As for the cops, you know they’re just glorified security guards.”

“Oh…yeah, that makes sense from a certain point of view,” Zack replied. “Alright. I’ll sell you the Atomic at cost which is 30000.”

“I don’t have that much in my accounts. Could I make payments?” Zoe replied hopefully.

“No.”

Zoe turned and looked out to the street. She sighed and sent Zack some specs. “Would you be willing to take 5000 credits and my GT4?”

“Make it 10000 and the motorcycle and we have a deal,” the elf replied.

“Fine,” Zoe said transferring the credits. “Let’s go outside and transfer ownership before I come to my senses.”