The smell of freshly brewed coffee lingered in the air, even though the hooded range vent was steadily humming. The two youngest hackers sat together, snacking on crisp bacon while drinking their hot beverages.

Stiletto sipped her coffee, refusing to look in the direction of the living room. “Thanks for turning the fan on. I don’t want to listen to her excuses.”

Dex’s usually cheerful demeanor was a mixed combination of anger, betrayal, and hurt feelings. “Why does she look like someone punched her in the face?”

“Because someone punched her in the face.” Stiletto gave him a deadpan expression. “Before you find a reason to get upset about that, keep in mind that there are quite a few secrets at the hive that could cause us to disappear if exposed.”

The two of them sat together at the kitchen counter in Dex’s Hive apartment while the other four Bottom Feeders questioned Nova in the living room. They had both recused themselves from questioning the Infiltrator because of their impartiality.

Nova sat on the floor facing Thumper, Mongoose, Gadget, and Darsi on the other side of the partition that separated the kitchen and living room.

Mongoose’s anger caused his Latino accent to seep through as he took the lead on questioning. “Bet you didn’t realize that Fucking Da Vinci upgraded the Hive’s security. After meeting you and getting a measure for the capabilities of an Infiltrator, he enhanced our detection methods.”

Of course, it was a blatant lie, but one of their priorities was maintaining separation between the Hive and Armageddon since they had plans to use it in a major job.

Mongoose activated his hud and loaded up everything they’d been able to collect on Nova. “How long have you been spying on us?”

The Infiltrator’s face was a mixture of shock and shame. Her split lip smeared the dark lipstick that she usually wore. “Since diving into the World Sim.”

The four Bottom Feeders exchanged looks before Mongoose continued. “You’ve been here for almost four years. Why now?”

Nova stared at the floor; she answered quietly, her voice scarcely a whisper. “Some time ago, I was asked to keep an eye out for Advanced VI programs. After seeing the World Sim, I realized that you have one.”

Gadget brought up his hud and exchanged a few words with Hive security. When he was finished, he motioned for Nova to get up. “You will move to the 12th floor. Until further notice, you are confined to the Hive. We will confiscate all personal accounts and items. Report directly to your new quarters.”

“Stealing all my stuff?” Nova flinched slightly when Darsi moved behind her to cut loose the zip-ties that kept her bound. “You can’t hold me against my will!”

Darsi grabbed Nova’s arm and dragged her to a standing position. “Perhaps you think we are mistreating you? If it were up to me, I’d wrap you in a hundred pounds of chains and then toss you into Lake Truman.”

“May I talk to Dex?”

Darsi shook her head. “Fuck no. If he wants to speak to you, then he will. Until then, don’t even think about it.”

Hive security showed up less than a minute later and escorted Nova to her new quarters. Dex and Stiletto joined the rest of the Bottom Feeders at the request of Gadget.

Gadget waited until Dex and Stiletto found a place on the couch before speaking. “Impressions?”

Mongoose cursed in his native tongue, “Maldito Federale.”

“She’s a Fed,” Darsi said the word like she was cussing someone out.

Thumper nodded in agreement. “Agreed.”

“Damn bitches, always snooping around here.” Mongoose glanced at the notes he took while questioning her. “My analytics trace her speech patterns to Southern Indiana. I’ll know everything about her in twenty-four hours.”

“Now what?” Dex noticed that the rest of the Bottom Feeders looked relieved. However, he wasn’t. If Nova worked for a government agency, he could find himself incarcerated once again. “Glad I didn’t tell her anything too personal.”

Darsi squeezed his hand. “At any one time, we have two or three Feds running around here. So identifying one gives us an advantage.”

Dex understood that sneaking an undercover operative into the Hive was probably within the capabilities of several different agencies; despite knowing that, he’d been taken by surprise. “I could have handled this better.”

Darsi smiled and shook her head slightly. “I disagree; skinny dipping in Lake Truman is the way to go.”

“Who went skinny dipping in Lake Truman?” Stiletto poked her head around the partition that separated Dex’s kitchen and living room, her dual-colored eyes showing interest.

“We did,” Darsi answered before Dex could say anything. “Partner bonding.”

Dex felt his face heating up but was saved further embarrassment by the incessant buzzing of his hud. One indicated that the security protocol in the Geneva Armageddon program had been activated. The second was a window notifying him that H & F submitted a payment.

A few seconds later, both Darsi and Stiletto experienced similar alerts. Since it was considered part of the ‘Yuli Job,’ payment for Armageddon had been split six ways.

Stiletto whistled in appreciation. “Holy crap… so many zeroes, and we haven’t even scored the jackpot yet.”

The following morning, all six Bottom Feeders used T-6 to access v-World. The group arrived at the platform together and immediately received their first surprise.

“Greetings, Bottom Feeders.” Syntax had made further adjustments to its avatar. Apparently, it identified as female. She wore the same blue jumpsuit that the rest of the group wore, although her skin still glowed with scrolling code; beneath the swirling numbers was the hint of pigment. Long silver tresses topped her head, running down her back like a glowing waterfall.

Dex shared a glance with the others in his group. They had decided to let Syntax figure out its own identity. According to Gadget, this may cycle through several changes before settling on something. The eldest Bottom Feeder used the term teenage AI.

Stiletto took a step closer, examining the changes since their last contact. “I always wanted to try silver hair. But, unfortunately, no matter what I try, it always ends up looking white.”

“Thank you, Stiletto.” Then, to their surprise, Syntax moved behind the platform’s control panel. “Shall we visit Yulime Garrotte?”

Darsi nodded and used their platform’s hud to bring up a large holo on the job specifics.

[Yulime Garrote aka Yuli]

Age: 33 years old. Gender: Female

Nationality: French.

Criminal Background. Kidnapping, extortion, drug trafficking, illegal weapons dealing, murder.

Current Warrants: United States, Great Britain, France,

Misc: Interpol has named her to their top ten most wanted.

Estimated worth: 730 million Euro.

Banking: Heltier & Fianti, Geneva, Switzerland.

[Armageddon is Active]

Syntax’s avatar blurred for a moment before being replaced with an attractive dark-haired female. Her short hair was tinted red on the tips, a single scar on her cheek marred the otherwise perfect looks. “Might I suggest something, Quicksilver?”

Dex stared at the avatar. He’d seen pictures of Yuli, but Syntax was able to duplicate her instantly. His partner had inquired if he thought Yuli was attractive; in truth, she was stunningly beautiful.

Darsi was the first to recover; of course, an AI could instantly change whatever it liked in a virtual environment. “Of course. We are open to suggestions.”

Syntax Yuli smiled; although the image was exact, she hadn’t yet mastered human expressions. “With the inclusion of the Armageddon sale, this job is nearly a billion euro. There are three substantial rewards for information leading to the arrest of Yulime Garrotte.”

Gadget rubbed his hands together greedily as if counting the money in his head. “If we can set her up, then the possibility of payback will lessen substantially.”

Mongoose nodded in agreement. “I’ll help Gadget come up with a plan. What’s the timeline for this job?”

Dex felt the eyes of the group turn toward him. “We need to synch the end of this job with the closing of our Armageddon window.”

Darsi activated a countdown. “You two get started; let Syntax give you a hand.. No matter what, we need to wrap everything up in sixty hours.”