Two days passed, and Miss Web had done her thing. Rarity watched as a manila file started to fill up, stuffed with information. By noon on the second day, they had enough for her to make a presentation.
“The building has fourteen stories and five basements. The first one is normal storage, the four below that appear to be high-security labs.”
Steel nodded, listening as they sat in the abandoned warehouse they had been renting out. Web was always the best at legwork, though she did have a bit of an ulterior motive for it. It was more than just staying alive for her.
“Luckily for us, the scouting I did gave me the sense that the target is on the top floor,” she continued.
“Just a sense?” Wingmare asked. “You don’t know for sure?”
Web shook her head. “I tried to sense it in the astral, but they have an elemental guarding the place. I couldn’t make an in-depth check without alerting them that I was there.”
“And you weren’t ready for a fight either, huh?” Candy said, from beneath her van, working on something unseen.
“No. I had to move quickly, and I couldn’t pass into the building without setting off their wards. I had to come back. However, there was something very powerful on the top floor.”
Rarity nodded. “That sounds like our target, but the question that’s bothering me is, if it’s that powerful, then why is it being held in a small satellite building?”
“To hide its power?” Web suggested. “It’s what I would do.”
“Fair enough,” Steel said. “O’course, this brings up a bigger problem.”
“If they’re using low security to hide its importance, then where’s the real security?” Web asked, as if anticipating the answer.
“Exactly.”
“Well, there’s a Star building not a block away.”
“Aw, drek.”
“Not to mention what security teams are on-site, though it seemed to me that mostly it's private teams.”
“Not the best sign.”
Web shook her head. “Now for the good news.”
“There’s good news?” Wingmare asked, draped on a chain hammock that hung from the ceiling and was probably not meant to be a hammock. “What do you know, we might actually make this.”
“There’s a food delivery truck that arrives three times a day every day to deliver meals hot. It seems that whoever’s up there wants his meals fresh, and doesn’t like the on-site cook.”
“That’s our in, then?” Rarity asked.
Web nodded.
“What’s the name?”
“Cumin Catering.”
Rarity tapped away on her deck, quickly making her way through. “Well that’s fortunate,” Rarity noted.
“What?”
“Cumin Catering doesn’t have drivers. They hire them per job.”
“Wow, really?” Candy asked, rolling out from under her van, wrench held in her cyberhoof. “How easily could you fake some IDs?”
Rarity smiled. “I’m almost hurt you asked, Candy.”
The pink earth pony smiled before sliding back under the van.
“Well, we definitely have our in, then. What about our out? I can’t imagine that the delivery guys are allowed on the top floor?” the cowpony grunted.
“I could have my van follow behind us,” Candy said. “My baby’ll make sure we get back on the road safe n’ sound.”
“The road ain’t what I’m wonderin’ about. It’s gettin’ out a the building that I’m worryin’ over.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t know,” Web said with a sigh. “The inside of the building is our unknown, and I while I hate unknowns, we don’t have much choice.”
Rarity shook her head.
“Well, if nothing else, we have a plan to get in. We have worked with less in the past.”
“Right, by the skin of our teeth,” Steel grumbled.
“We can work with this,” Rarity said, confidently. “And once we deliver that rock to Mr. Ringo, we’re going to squeeze him for every nubit he’s got.”
That got a few smiles.
“Let’s do this!”
<><><|><><>
They were ready to move by three pm.
The Cumin Catering security guard didn’t even look up from his screen as he swiped the IDs of the new drivers, and all five of them piled into a new, white van with “Cumin Catering” written on the side.
They ran the approved route for an hour, delivering the food as necessary, before the building loomed into view.
A monolith of glass and steel rose out of the border of Canterlot and the Sprawl, just far enough away from the center of the city to be out of the way, without encroaching on the poor side of town. It was almost perfectly smooth on the outside, with only a single, six-pointed starburst to mark who owned it.
Rarity looked up at it with slight surprise. “I thought it’d be more refined than that.”
“You mean fancier?” Wingmare asked.
“In a manner of speaking, yes.”
The van rode up to the gate, which opened as it read the vehicle’s code, and they drove up to loading bay 3.
“Well, so far, so good, right?” Steel asked.
The loading bay was waiting for them, but it was empty, with only a rolling door separating the loading bay from the inside of the building. As they all got out to unload their product, onto the bay, Rarity ignored them, and stayed in the van.
The big problem with everything going to wireless was that it made it much easier to take a system over from a distance.
With a few quick taps, Rarity dove into the Matrix. The world around her faded, and Virtual world of the digital superhighway sprang to life. The first thing she met was a simple dialogue box that read “employee matrix access only. Please submit Employee Code.”
Rarity smiled at the little thing, before she got to work, her avatar, her representation of her being in the Matrix transforming into a pair of overalls and a hard hat.
“It’s alright, dear, I'm just here for some maintenance.”
A quick series of commands later, and she spoofed it into debug mode. A quick scan of valid entries flew by her face, and she selected one of the offline codes to use.
Stepping back out of the debug, she inserted her new code and made it in the building’s Matrix access system. As she walked into this new area, she transformed her avatar again, choosing business attire instead.
She didn't have to keep changing outfits, but it was a nice call back to a life cut short.
The area around her manifested as a castle of some kind, an odd choice, but not the most outlandish she had seen.
Sticking to the virtual walls of the virtual hallways, Rarity gilded her way down, checking the mission clock that they synced before going in. Just under a second had passed since she entered the Matrix, and time was of the essence. A handful of watcher programs, dressed as knights patrolled the halls, looking for anything out of place, but a quick stealth program made them blind to her for a few moments, which was all she needed.
Down a set of virtual stairs, and across the courtyard, Rarity suddenly found herself face-to-face with a gate house, whose door was decorated with a sign. “Level 4 access required,” it read.
Well, this was where she needed to be, at least. Changing her form once again to be that of a medieval peasant, she—
Wait.
There.
A nice medieval peasant, she quickly began to work on the door. Ducking out of the way of Watcher hawks and White knights, she fiddled with the virtual lock until finally the room opened to her.
She checked around.
No alarms.
Perfect.
Ducking inside, she looked around, before quickly coming up to a key. The gate key.
Holding her other hoof up, she began a transfer, and sure enough, there popped an exact copy of the key.
Now this may as well be her castle.
There was just one more thing to do.
<><><|><><>
Three seconds had passed since Rarity had ducked into the Matrix, before she suddenly leaped up. “Alright! The camera feeds are covered, we have half-an-hour. We need to move.”
At the word the whole team moved, dropping their white catering jackets in favor of their usual attire, and rushed the door.
“Code is 4176!” Rarity said, and sure enough, it was.
A second later, they were in, the sterile white walls decorated with a number of color-coded stripes, the kind common in the dark bellies of such corporations. A red stripe led straight to the door they were standing in, joined by a small rainbow a few more steps in.
Candy rushed in first, coming up five feet in before she was followed by a small tank. Her LA assault drone, a police-grade monstrosity armed with a heavy machine gun and tank treads rolled up, passing Candy by and aiming down the corridors of the first intersection. “We’re clear!”
The others rushed in.
Steel, armed with her Smith & Western shotgun, along with Wingmare and her pair of Reighner Superwarhawks, a pistol that was never meant to be fired in a pair, took point, along with the LA drone.
Rarity was in the middle, with Candy behind with a heavy pistol, and Web taking up the rear, ready to cast spells, or fire a few heavy pistol rounds herself.
“There should be a service elevator on the left. It’ll take us to the thirteenth floor,” Rarity said, trying to remember the blueprints she only saw for a second or two.
They ran, down the hall, before sure enough, there was the service elevator on the left, just as Rarity had said.
The moment they were close enough, both Wingmare and Steel leveled their guns at the elevator, while Candy and her drone took the hallway ahead of them.
Web stood behind for a moment, concentrating before she pulled her will through the astral plane. The sloshing of water and the sound of a stream was heard, when slowly out of the ground came a water elemental, shaped like a giant spider. Web smiled at the sight of it, and whispered. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Mr. Elemental, it means a lot. Now I don’t mean to put you out, but can you watch this hallway for us until we get back?”
The spider answered with the sound of a crashing wave.
“Oh, thank you ever so much!” Web said, before she pulled away, and hit the elevator button.
It answered with a soft ding, and opened gladly for the outlaws.
Packing themselves in, Rarity immediately hit the button for the thirteenth floor. “So far so good, girls,” Rarity said, as they began to rise at a speed that only the triple-A corps could afford.
“Almost too good,” Steel said.
“Don’t jinx us, Steel,” Wingmare warned.
But it was true. It was almost too good. They hadn’t met a single pony down below, and they haven't run into any problems so far. The only sign that the building was under any watch at all was the IC programs in the matrix that would have begun smacking her around if she tripped them.
Rarity tried not to think about it. Not yet. Needless paranoia could ruin this job if she started jumping at shadows. If this kept up, though…
Ding, the elevator rang, and the door slid open noiselessly, revealing a much nicer hallway, decorated with art, modern art, and fountains that poured water like waterfalls. The tiles were a shiny gunmetal color, and the exposed part of the walls was a cool steel.
The ponies erupted out of the elevator, checking both the left and right.
Nothing.
This was not helping Rarity’s paranoia.
“Elevator to the top floor is down the right hallway,” Rarity ordered.
The team moved together, the drone watching their backs as they moved forward.
Still, not a soul.
Rarity was starting to chew her lip, trying desperately not to run back for the service elevator and leave. They couldn’t afford to back down, they had to get the gem tonight, or their reputation would suffer. She couldn’t leave, even if this was feeling like a trap.
Which it was.
This was almost certainly a trap.
Wingmare was tense. She already knew.
Web had been suspecting it all from the start. The rampant paranoia that had been plaguing her for years made her perfectly aware of what was happening.
Candy’s drone was scanning the area like mad, doing the best it could on automatic.
Steel’s cybernetically-enhanced reflexes were ready to fire off at a moment’s notice.
But they had to keep going forward.
They hit the elevator, and all walked in, hitting the button for the fourteenth floor.
The tension in the elevator could wind a spring. The group of five Runners was getting ready to burst. There had to be a trap. There had to be sixteen teams of highly-trained security teams, all armed with armor-piercing rounds just on the other side of the door.
It had to be a trap.
Ding.
The doors opened and revealed an office. A singular, massive office.
A cherry blossom tree dominated the middle of the room, and fine silk carpets covered the floor. Fountains bubbled into a living koi pond, and glass tables reflected the soft, purple light that flooded from the ceiling.
A single desk with a large chair sat on the other side of the room, staring out of the wall-to-wall window.
And there was not a soul to be seen.
For a long second no one moved, with only Steel’s leg in the way to keep the door from closing. They waited, fully expecting a team of heavily armored ponies to pop up from behind the desk and start firing. When that didn’t happen, Rarity slowly took a step out of the elevator.
There was no hail of bullets, no instant evaporation, everything seemed totally fine.
The team slowly stepped into the office, watching every wall as they moved, weapons ready, and nervous. They finally came to the center of the room, where they basked in the shadow of the cherry tree before the chair turned to face them.
In that second, they suddenly realize that this was far worse than teams of elite security personal.
They dropped their weapons, they were useless now anyway. Web didn't even think about casting a spell. As Rarity stared at the thing in the chair, she knew the only weapons she still had were her voice and her wit, and one wrong word would seal their fate.
This was far, far worse than a security team. This was a dragon.
“So, you were the poor saps that got hired to steal from me,” the dragon said. His long, serpentine form sat, almost cradled by his chair, and his wings hung to his back like a cloak. Smoke trailed from his nostrils, and his long, powerful talons clacked against each other.
Rarity nodded. “Yeah...that’s what we were hired to do.”
“And you admit it,” the dragon grumbled. “That either speaks of great stupidity or incredibly bravery. Or both.”
“Or both,” Rarity agreed. “I...have to wonder though, why is the CEO of Harmony Inc. doing here, instead of your main office?”
“Why indeed?” the dragon asked amused. “Give me your best guess.”
Nopony said a word for a long second before they all looked to Rarity.
Sometimes she really hated being the face. “You…” she began. “You want to...you knew this was going to happen. You knew that your gem was going to be stolen.”
The dragon smiled before he raised a small remote. With a push of a button, a holographic picture appeared between them. “We’re here for Mr. Ringo,” Rarity’s voice said, as the camera looked down at her.
“Ma’am...I...I’ll be honest, you’re not the first ponies to approach me tonight, I need proof that you’re the real deal.”
A second passed before it clicked. The bouncer had been in on it, this was his view, from his cybereyes.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Miss Gem.”
Wingmare frowned.
“Th-that’s why no one’s here. You knew we were coming tonight,” Rarity said.
“Well, not tonight,” the dragon said. “Admittedly, I had this set up for the past three days. I was getting worried that you weren’t coming.”
“So...why? Why didn’t you stop us sooner?”
“Well, Miss Gem, it just so happens that I need a group of either very brave or very stupid runners.”
“And we fit the bill,” she grunted.
The dragon smiled. “Now, come here, all of you,” he said, before snapping his fingers and use his massive magical might to summon a set of chairs. “We need to have a talk.”
All five mares looked at each other.
They really didn’t have a choice.
Sighing, Rarity crossed the room, and sat down, and slowly, she was followed by the others. Each took their seats, all around the desk of the incredibly powerful dragon.
“So, let’s start with introductions,” he said, before motioning to Rarity. “It sounds like you know exactly who I am Miss Gem, would you care to explain for those who aren’t aware?”
Rarity frowned before she answered. “Ladies this is Spikarunz, CEO of Harmony Inc. A very powerful dragon.”
“Thank you,” he said. “Of course, you can call me Spike, and you are Miss Gem, the decker of the group, as well as the face.”
Rarity shifted uncomfortably in her chair.
“Then we have Steel, the muscle, Wingmare the adept, Miss Web the shaman, and finally Miss Candy, the rigger and driver. I’ll respect your occupation enough to avoid using your real names, but I will say they are very lovely.”
They all shifted uncomfortably.
“Now, business. I need agents, specifically for a number of jobs of very high danger. In exchange for completing these jobs, I will offer you all your choice of money, or a favor that has been already determined once the agreement has been accepted. As an example, Miss Steel, how would you like to have your farm back?”
Steel blinked.
“Your whole family can go back to growing some of the most delicious apples I’ve ever had.”
“Y-you can’t do that,” Steel said eventually.
“Oh, I assure you I can,” Spike said. “One call on my comm, and I will buy that farm, to be transferred to your name, regardless of whatever price those two name.”
Steel released a shaky breath.
“Or what about you, Miss Wingmare? What about an exciting career that your father would approve of?”
Wingmare said nothing.
“Or how about you, Miss Web? Complete safety from those that are hunting you, and my guarantee of a peaceful, calm life. How does that sound?”
Web hid behind her mane.
“Miss Gem, I understand that this wasn’t your first profession choice. How would you like a second chance at that?”
Rarity said nothing.
“That just leaves you, Miss Candy, and quite frankly, you’re the only one that I don’t know how to deal with.”
She smiled. “I get that a lot.”
“I’m sure you do,” Spike said. “But nonetheless you have to consider that money is no object for me, just name your price.”
“And what if we refuse?” Wingmare asked.
“Well then, I’d have to kill you all,” he replied with complete calmness. “And trust me, while I do make a wonderful friend, I am not someone you want to make an enemy of.”
“She was just curious,” Rarity said suddenly. “Just, want to know what our options are.”
Spike nodded. “Of course. So do you take the job?”
Rarity smiled. “Well we’d be remiss to say no.”
Spike smiled. “I’m glad you see it my way. Now, there are a few additional terms to discuss.”
“Additional terms?” Wingmare yelled, indignant.
“You’re welcome to turn the agreement down, if you want,” Spike said. “Of course, you know what would happen if you do.”
She sat back down, still indignant.
Spike smiled before he picked up a comm. “Come on in.”
A moment later, a figure dressed in a corp robe exited the elevator and approached the desk.
“This is Twilight Sparkle, one of the best mages on call here at Harmony Inc., one that I have trained personally since she was a little filly here. She is to go with you, and stay with you, until such a time as the deal is complete. She will be my line to you. If I need a job done she’ll be the first to know. Is that alright with you, Miss Wingmare?”
The rainbow-maned pegasus glared up at the dragon. “That’s just fine with me,” she said.
Spike smiled in response. “Good, I’m glad we’ve come to an understanding. The jobs I have for you all will not be happening altogether. They will happen as I need them, and as such, you are free to take other jobs as they come to you. However, if any jobs are directed against Harmony Inc, I will expect you to inform me that something is happening, so I can best minimize collateral damage. Am I understood?”
“You’re not going to ban us from targeting you outright?” Rarity asked.
Spike continued to grin. “Of course not. I need you to understand, Miss Gem, I’m a business dragon. I understand that your brand is important. I understand your service is important, and I understand that if ponies are coming to you, then you must be doing something right. No, banning you from running jobs on Harmony Inc. and its subsidiaries would be something to expect of the idiots in middle management, when I can simply let you get paid, let you do your job, and manipulate the results of it all at once is a much more elegant answer.”
Rarity nodded.
“Now, when you do perform jobs for me, I will be providing you with equipment to perform them to best of my ability while still keeping you as deniable assets. This includes vehicles, armaments, cyberware, bioware, magical fetishes, whatever you need so long as they are not personal or unique items that can be traced back to me.”
Then, with a push of a button, a keyboard rose out of his desk. “Now, the only thing that remains is your payment. So, what will it be?”
For a moment, there was silence, before Miss Web stood up out of her chair. “I want protection. I want to be able to live comfortably somewhere without having to worry about Ahuiztech coming after me.”
Spike typed that in. “Done.”
Steel stood up. “I want my farm back.”
Tap tap tap. “As you wish.”
Candy spoke up next. “I want a Marés Dragon.”
Spike paused for a moment. “The Rotocraft?”
She nodded, a smile splitting her face in excitement.
“Maybe a waste of a corp favor, but alright. At least you have good taste,” Spike said, before typing that in.
Wingmare stood up. “I want ten million nubits.”
Spike looked up at the pegasus. “Just money?”
“Just money,” she answered, glaring straight into the dragon’s eyes.
“Alright,” he said, taping away. “And Miss Gem?”
“I want...I want my own business. A place where I can make and sell clothing.”
“It shall be done,” he said before all five of them suddenly received a notification.
Rarity opened it. “Is this a contract?” she asked, unable to believe her eyes as she scanned the document.
“I never do anything without a document. I know you’re not used to it in your business, but I think you’ll find this one works.”
“Gem’s Materials Company?” Steel read.
“You’re a construction company,” Spike explained. “You’re going to be helping me remodel some buildings which may or may not be mine.”
Rarity smiled. “Well when you put it that way…”
“I’m glad you like it,” he said, before he slid a purple gem over to her. “As for your current job, take this. Your Ringo won’t be able to tell the difference, and this has been the easiest 700 nubits you ever made.”
<><><|><><>
“Do you have the gem?” Mr. Ringo asked, as they sat around the table of a very nice restaurant.
Rarity nodded, and held it up. “Here it is, but if you think we’re handing this over for just 700 each, you’re out of your mind.”
“Is there something wrong?” Ringo asked.
“How about the fact that we assaulted a Harmony Inc building!” she asked, voice tense and angry.
“We agreed on 700 each.”
Rarity glared.
And Ringo slid over five credsticks.
Rarity glared some more.
“Are you backing out of the deal?” he asked.
Rarity threw the gem. “I hope you choke on it!” she yelled, before grabbing the credsticks and storming away, giving the bouncer a nod as she left.
He nodded back.
And that was the last interaction they had.
Walking out of the restaurant to the van, Rarity climbed in where the four other runners and the corp mage were waiting for her. “Here we go,” she said, handing them out, “the cheapskate wouldn’t give us more than 700.”
The mares grumbled but took their sticks.
The mage hadn’t said a thing the entire time.
“Alright Candy, take us home. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”
And all the while, Twilight watched.
Rarity ignored the mage and took her seat before she sighed. After all, you never make a deal with a dragon.