Nicolai opted to pause and break in some of his new Symbiotes before continuing to the Market. He did so back in his base, and there also discovered a benefit of the Infiltrator. The Modules within it were able to break in Symbiotes, though quite slowly.

He gave Aiming the Stone-Shell and Iron Talon Symbiotes to break in, while he focused on the Red Tendon Crickets. The first two he considered of less immediate value, but the Red Tendons were something he would like to have available now.

It didn't take him long. He took the opportunity to practise calling on the Dark in the focused, calculated manner he was looking to become experienced in. Joined with the Mask he marshalled it within his Soul, stirring it to empower his spirit. The Blade on his back ensured things didn't get out of control, and thus it was smooth sailing.

Like that, he was able to crack each Red Tendon Cricket in less than ten minutes.

That done, he sent them into the shoulder, elbow, and hand Nodes of his bionic arm. Currently, the only other Symbiotes in that arm were his spare Grasping and Repulsive Fingers, in his middle and index finger respectively.

Feeding Oma into the three Symbiotes, he twisted the arm through a series of rapid strikes, and smiled as he saw the result. Perhaps a 30% increase in speed, altogether. Briefly testing, he found that the first Symbiote increased it by 15%, the next by 10%, and the last by 5%. The benefit reduced with each duplicate Symbiote used, but at least all three only required the same amount of Oma, in contrast to his Pegasi rings which needed more and more Oma, while also giving less effect, when multiple were used.

Back in the City, Nicolai went to the Market in search of whichever Person would allow him to start the Quest.

However, all the members of House Veyron working there were extremely unhelpful. The directions they gave him were so confusing it was impossible to find the correct Person.

So, he went to the Information Guild, to make a quick enquiry. It transpired the Person there didn't actually know where the Quest giver was, but she was able to give him what he needed to find them for himself.

'They move whoever they put there around. Keep in mind they don't want you to do the Quest. Heaven dictates this: the Quest giver must be in a location where they can be spoken to, so as to give the Quest, by those within the Market. They must be in a central and easily found location.' She smiled. 'The rest is up to the House, and they are sneaky. One time, I believe they hid him under a sewer grate in the middle of the Market. Look for something like that.'

Back at the Market, Threat Analysis and the others went to work, utilising drones and skinsuit cameras while Nicolai hunted through the crowd.

The rough centre of the Market became an area of intense focus, as were any buildings flanking the Market which stood out in any way. An investigation of sewer grates revealed nothing but the reflection of moving water below.

After a few minutes of searching, they found the target. There was a large statue in the centre of the Market, depicting a Person surrounded by kneeling skeletons. The statue rested on a large stone plinth that came up to his waist.

Nicolai hunkered down until his head was level with a missing brick. The bricks around this were darkened, stained by soot or something. A clever method of making the dark spot of the missing brick blend in better, but something like that couldn't trick thermal vision, which had shown him the heat of someone inside.

'Hello,' he said to the hole.

'Good afternoon,' replied the hole.

'You would be the member of House Veyron tasked with handing out the Market Quest to those who ask about it?'

'That's right. Would you like to receive the Quest? Keep in mind, if you don't complete it today, it will automatically fail, and you'll have to find me again next time.'

'I would like to take the Quest,' said Nicolai.

'One moment.'

Nicolai's Mark pinged, and there it was.

Quest Gained - Phantom City Market Quest

You will be given a random, clutter-type item by the giver of this Quest. Your goal is to trade that item up, over the course of the day, until you successfully swap it for an item or grouping of items with a recognised value of 100,000 points.

Trading the clutter item to a friend for the purpose of completing this Quest will not work.

Current value gained: 1

'No trading to a friend,' he murmured thoughtfully. 'They sealed the easy loophole.'

'And just about everything else, too,' said the hole, and chuckled. 'This Quest has been around a long time. It's been taken by a lot of people. Whenever someone finds a serious loophole, it doesn't work the next time. My advice—just focus on sticking to the words of the Quest, rather than wasting your time getting clever looking for some weird workaround. Although, even just sticking to the words… there's a lot you can do if you're creative. Here, the item.' A slender, pale hand emerged from the hole. Held between two fingers was a small brass pin.

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Nicolai took it, then eyed the hole, a little surprised. 'I didn't anticipate you'd give advice. In fact, I thought you'd give me a bit more of a verbal runaround rather than just handing over the Quest. Your House put up quite a few roadblocks to stop me finding you.'

The hole sighed. 'Do you think this job is one the higher-ups give to People they're happy with?'

Spending all day in a cramped space underneath a statue was not Nicolai's idea of a good time. 'Quite the opposite,' he replied.

'Yep. Right now, I don't much care about trying to block you. Anyway, I figure if you spent the effort finding me, then wasting a few minutes being annoying is unlikely to dissuade you.'

'True enough. Farewell and good luck, Person In The Hole.'

'To you too, human.'

Rising, Nicolai considered what he'd been given. A pin. Which he needed to swap for something worth a little more. And ultimately, swap his way to an item worth 100,000.

A job like that would take far longer than a day to complete if he went about it at all honestly.

He smiled. Trickery and deceit were, as always, the way forward. He was capable of both, but still, a task like this would be very difficult alone.

He needed a partner, and he knew just the person.

###

With Threat Analysis' drones sweeping the city, it took twenty minutes to find Wu, the spy he'd partnered with previously. She was in some random square, talking to an old Person sitting by a fountain.

She also had some drones tracking her, drones which, surprisingly, Cyberwarfare told him she was connected to. Not via a console, like he'd sold her last time. She'd installed a BIS and a Local Link. Cyberwarfare also found that the drones she had now were different to those he'd sold her, in which he'd installed spyware. There was also one other drone. It was higher up, in the sky above. It was watching her, and it was not one of hers. A tracker.

By the time Nicolai arrived, Wu was bidding the old woman farewell. He observed from a reasonable distance.

'Thank you for your assistance, honoured Crypt Matron,' she said, giving the old woman a short bow.

The Person nodded back, showing a big gummy grin, eyes crinkled. 'A pleasure to talk to someone so polite, young lady!'

Wu turned away and strode across the square. She ignored him entirely, but he saw her Soul Sense keeping careful tabs on him.

He started in her direction, and she slowed, took a quick look around, then turned to face him, eyes narrowed. Her Soul Sense tendril hovered between them. He stilled in response, made wary by her reaction.

'What do you—' she began, only to fall quiet. 'Oh. It's you.' She relaxed, just a little. 'I didn't recognise you with that… thing you're wearing.' She gestured to his head, the H-gram. The Mask, happy to see someone who it considered "friendly," made the H-gram grin in response. Her eyes only narrowed in suspicion. 'You want something.'

'Merely the pleasure of your company,' he retorted, coming to stand beside her. She snorted. 'Crypt Matron?' he asked, glancing at the old woman.

'A term of respect.' She started walking, and he kept pace beside her. 'The People are quite... obsessive. Passive aggressive, too, until a point. They'll act fine, then all of a sudden their true feelings come out. They have hierarchies and ways of address. If you don't speak to them the right way, they can get quite upset.' She turned down a side street, and he turned with her.

'So I've noticed,' he murmured. 'I've come to you with an offer. Similar to last time, I believe there are some significant mutual gains to be made. Have you heard of the Market Quest?'

'Not that one, no.' She was looking a little interested, now. 'Go on.'

'Not that one?' he echoed. 'You've found others?' He glanced back to where they'd come from. 'What exactly were you up to, all the way out here?'

She smiled slyly. 'That would be telling. But yes, I have found others. There are quite a few quests and challenges scattered around. Some fairly easy to find. Some hidden. All are interesting. There's a lot going on in this city, if you dig under the surface.'

He grunted. His own minimal explorations suddenly felt quite pathetic in comparison to her allusions. 'You've upgraded,' he noted, as a prelude to digging into why she now had a Link.

'Upgraded?'

He gestured to her drones, keeping pace with them. 'I thought you were against installing augmentation? You became quite emotional when I suggested the possibility.'

'I did some research. Checked with the Information Guild. Got over myself. Capabilities like these are too useful to pass up, even with the whole…' She shuddered. 'Head-opening aspect.'

He smiled. 'I'm glad. That will make working together on the Quest easier. If completed, it ensures you remain free from any fees or taxes they may impose on trading within the Market. It also gets you a permanent private bidding position at the Auction House, and a reduction of auction sellers' tax to 1%.'

'Private bidding, you say?' she repeated, eyes glittering.

'I thought you might be interested in that.'

'I've avoided the Auction House because I was told you have to join Veyron, or pay some ridiculous fee. This changes things.' She tapped her chin, thoughtful. 'I've done most of what I needed to do today already. Tell me about this Quest, and why it is that you want a partner for it.'

He pinged her over Local, requesting a private chat. After a moment, she responded.

'Let's talk over this. It's more private. Are you aware we're being followed?'

'Of course.' She didn't look in the direction of the drone tracking her.

'Do you know who they are?'

'I can guess. Do you?'

'They're your tails, not mine. But I don't want someone tracking us while we do this. They could cause problems.' He frowned, momentarily uncertain.

Nicolai's preferred response to a tail comprised four simple steps; 1. Lay an ambush, 2. Catch them, 3. Interrogate them, 4. Kill them. Alas, in this city that wasn't possible, or at least not yet. If he could get ahold of the Assassin Role, everything would change.

'They're using that drone up above to keep track of me, and following at a distance. It's annoying. I've tried getting out of their vision, then disguising myself. But they track me anyway. I'm not sure how the… software works.'

'I am. Tracking software like this scans a target, then builds a list of identifiable features. Body shape, height, estimated weight, gait, average body temperature, and so on. When you try to lose it, say by ducking into a busy building and changing outfit, it just waits and compares everyone leaving based on the list it has. Even if just a few are the same when you leave, that's enough for the software to be, say, 70% sure you're the same person it saw enter the building.'

'That doesn't sound entirely foolproof. What if some other random person left the building, who also ticked those boxes?'

'It isn't foolproof. In that case it would follow them. That's why someone tracking through this method would normally utilise multiple drones. If they're smart, the others will be waiting out of sight.' Whoever these people were, he supposed it didn't matter. He just needed to get her out of their vision. 'If you do as I say, we should be able to lose them, though the difficulty depends on how hard they're trying.'

She made a dramatic after-you gesture. 'Lead and I will follow.'

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