Sitting in a secluded corner of a café on Kafka street, near the mall, overly adorned with festive decorations, Emz tapped away on his wearable screen, sending a message to Luki explaining what had happened. The shop was filled with the constant loop of old classic Christmas songs playing at a barely noticeable level—infuriating when seeking a moment of peace, but easy to ignore when mentally occupied, as Emz was.

  Emz: Hey, I found Gary, but he ran the moment he saw me. Was he expecting someone to come for him?

  L: Well, I have sent other people after the card before, but he always escapes. He is very spry

  Emz: He’s not spry; he’s a fucking running machine. You didn’t tell me he was so fast!

  L: Yes, he runs ultramarathons

  “For fuck’s sake,” Emz grumbled to himself

  Emz: That may have been useful to know... Anyway, any idea where he lives or other places he goes?

  Luki: I think he lives with a boyfriend somewhere between the Us and the Xs, maybe

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  “U, V, W, X... four by four... sixteen square blocks!” Emz muttered, working out the calculation. “For fuck’s sake,” he grumbled again

  Emz: Ok, do you know the name of his boyfriend?

  L: No

  Emz: Ok... Well, is there anything else, something else I can sort out so we can start doing some business together? It may take me a while to track him down

  L: No, that is all I need. Thank you

  Emz: Ok

  “For fuck’s sake,” Emz grumbled for the third time.

  Emz spent the next few hours sipping multiple cups of strong coffee, listening to looping Christmas songs, and watching patrons come and go, including two police officers taking a quick break at a nearby table. Only after they had left did Emz return to his mobile screen, reaching out to other underground techies in an effort to get them to respond to his messages. He even tried Beata again, but with no luck.

  He then turned to what he called ‘analogue work’—tasks that didn’t require digital information, analytics, or dealing with hardware and encryption. On dark message boards, he found requests for surveillance, smuggling, bribery facilitation, off-the-books trades, and intimidation jobs. One particularly sinister board was even seeking a crew for a kidnapping. Emz quickly exited that site, not wanting to know more, and instead focused on brokering an art trade. That felt reasonable enough, so he sent a secure message. Within an hour, he’d arranged a meeting at a Norton gallery after closing hours. All that was left was to gather intel on the client and kill time until 11 p.m.