The Mechanic

Black Market

"I thought I specifically told you to keep this under the radar. Well, you are well aware of how much effort is needed to... ah... persuade the taskers to look the other way in matters such as this. So I recommend not making any more mistakes. Of course, people value their secrets... and we would love to keep them that way. Won't we? Hmm?" At this final bit, the boss's voice crept up a few octaves. His eyes narrowed accusingly at the mechanic. The mechanic maintained an impassive face.

Whatever the rumors surrounding the boss might lead one to believe, the boss was never a physically intimidating presence. He was a small man, with wire-rimmed glasses framing a pair of intelligent eyes with thin wisps of hair horizontally combed over his oily bald head. The boss made up for his physical inadequacy by being a professional of a certain highly coveted trade. Secrets.

The mechanic abhorred threats thrown at him, however subtly. Although he wasn't one to retaliate against an entity as powerful as the boss. His criminal network reached far and wide. Or so they said.

"Please keep in mind that you are currently in the heart of my sector. This sector belongs to me. And it certainly would be a great tragedy if this galactic empire lost a man like you. Wouldn't it?" the mechanic fired back.

"And don't worry. This is the first and last time that he'll slip through my agents."

"Let us hope so, mechanic. Because, if it isn't I will be very very disappointed. And you do not want to see me disappointed."

The mechanic hated engaging in enigmatic conversations such as this. He preferred getting down to the point without wasting anyone's time. But the only way to win an argument with a man such as this was meeting subtle threats with subtle threats.

"Understood." The mechanic answered curtly. The small man got up and walked straight through the gray doorway that materialized with a wave of the mechanic's hand. It would deposit him just outside the Alta Corps aboveground compound. If he wanted to, he would've made the doorway open to the incinerator but the impish man knew too much. And in this age of neural backups and bio-clones, dead people didn't seem to crave staying dead for very long. It made the lives of people like the mechanic very much difficult.

An ear-splitting noise suddenly cut through the tranquility of his office. The siren deafened him.

"Warning: Unidentified biometric heat signature detected."

The white walls flashed red once, twice, and showed him security footage somewhere within the facility. The mechanic snapped his fingers in the air and signaled the sirens to shut off. He focused on the display on his walls. A man, a child really, was frantically running through the white hallways of compound 19. Strange...this was home to experimental biochemical weaponry. Chances were, an untrained thief would end up killing himself with it long before any real damage could be wrought. Consequentially, compound 19 was also where they housed most of the security bots. And sure enough, half a dozen or so yellow security bots were in pursuit. The intruder was dressed in yellowing rags. Clearly, some time ago, they must've been very expensive but most of it was soiled and was falling apart. His fair hair had the look of the gentry but clearly, from the looks of it, he was an accident. The result of an unplanned birth between gentry and the underclass. Clothes hung off his emaciated frame. Sunken cheeks. Haunted eyes that had clearly seen too much for a boy of his age. The mechanic was familiar with this. It was the same look that had been greeting him in the mirror for the last 15 years of his life.

The boy was cradling something in his arms. From this angle, he couldn't be sure of what it was. Nevertheless, the bots caught up with him soon. One of them lifted him up by the collar while the other tranquilized him. The object he was holding clattered to the ground and another bot picked it up. It was an oblong black cylinder. They carried him to the holding cells where he would be questioned and if need be, eliminated.