Page 8 of The Little Things

That’s why she felt so safe around him—always.

Riana lifted up her Link. “Capture individuals.”

The little band on her arm beeped, informing her that it had indeed taken a video recording of these three humans. Later, she would go back to their apartment and do her thing—go deep into the Networks and find out who they were.

“Who the fuckareyou people?” The blue-haired man whispered, even though his own gun was pressed to his belly.

“I’m just a fan,” Riana said innocently. “And he’s… well, if you knew who he was, he’d probably have to kill you for real, so please don’t go there. You’re not going to get your payday out of this, okay?” She glanced at Kail, who was as still as a gargoyle. “And I think he’s starting to lose patience.”

Actually, he wasn’t, but they didn’t need to know that.

The woman in the black coat turned away. “We’re going,” she said coldly. “Reeve, Tyler, let’s go.”

Clearly, she was the boss. These guys were just her lackeys. Riana wondered how much money they would have made out of everything in this cart. Were they part of some sort of illegal scalping ring?

Never mind; she’d find out later.

Blue-hair held up his hands in surrender. “Fine. We’re going. Now can you please get your gun out of my abs, dude?”

Kail lowered the gun. “Leave,” he growled.

“Fine. But can I, uh… at least have my gun back?”

Kail didn’t even bother to reply. He just regarded the human with the iciest expression ever.

“I’ll take that as a no.”

“Bye,” Riana said sweetly as the trio departed, their stiff body language betraying their anger as they disappeared through the endless maze of stuff that was Eukia.

She looked down at all the hundreds of shiny boxes of biodegradable plastic in her cart. Then she looked up at Kail, who was smiling ever so slightly.

“You’re just going to let them go?” he asked.

“You’re asking me?You’rethe one with the gun.”

Kail glanced at the bolt-gun in his hand, a look of disdain crossing his elegant features. “Tch.” He quickly put the safety off and tucked it away in his waistband, concealing it. “You’re the one that knows how to deal with these types of humans.”

“Well, I think you dealt with them just fine, but you're right. I'm not letting them go yet. I’m going to track them down on the Networks and see if they’re into any really dodgy shit. If they are, I’ll get the authorities onto them.”

“Very well.” Kail dubiously eyed the goods in Riana’s trolley. “Now, you only need two, yes? You will leave the rest?”

Riana looked over her shoulder. She’d barely noticed, but people had descended upon them from everywhere, forming a large crowd around her, Kail, and the precious cart.

So many of them had that look she knew all too well.

That slightly rabid look.

This could turn into a shitstorm at any moment.

Right now, the only thing holding them back was Kail.

Nobody wanted to mess with him. Not even the security bots, which were lurking uselessly around the entrance.

“Um,” Riana’s expression became slightly pained. “One last thing, Kail.Please.I think we’d better stay here and make sure everyone gets their fair share. We humans… we can get a little bit irrational when there’s low supply and high demand. It doesn't take much.”

“You’re that committed to justice?”

“Well, yeah. I can afford to be, now that I’ve got you on my side.”

---