9
I have toload the screen a few more times before I can trust the number there. Sure enough, it doesn’t change. Ten million.
A ten-million-dollar bounty.
Hideo’s insane.
The highest bounty I’ve ever seen is five hundred thousand dollars. This number is off the charts. There must be more to this job than Hideo is letting on—it can’t possibly be as simple as catching a hacker who’s just trying to mess up the games, even if the games are the world championships.
What if it’s a more dangerous job than I think it is?
I shake my head. Warcross is Hideo’s life’s work. His main passion. I think back to the glint of intensity that I saw in Hideo’s eyes when he showed me the contact lenses. Idohave a specific set of skills that appeals to him—I hunt criminals, I hack, I’m a Warcross fan who isveryfamiliar with the game’s inner workings.Maybe it’s been really hard for him to find hunters suitable for this job.
My thoughts return to our meeting. The perfect Hideo I’d pieced together from years of documentaries and articles doesn’t seem like the one I’d just met—condescending, unsmiling, cold, the reality of a mythical figure I’d built up in my head.He doesn’t mean to be intimidating,Kenn had insisted. But Hideo’s walls are nevertheless there, making his politeness seem insulting and his intentions vague. Maybe it’s all part of being so disgustingly wealthy that he doesn’t need to open himself up to anyone.
Or maybe he just doesn’t like me very much. I bristle at the thought. Fine. I don’t like him all that much, either.
Besides, I don’t need to like a client in order to work for him. I certainly don’t like the police who I’ve worked for. All I have to do is my job, keep him updated on my progress, and catch Zero before anyone else does. All I have to do is get the bounty.
Ten million dollars.I think of Dad, sitting up late at night after he thought I’d gone to bed, resting his head wearily in his hands, staring at a never-ending stack of overdue bills. I think of him staring blearily at a glowing screen, placing yet another bet with money he didn’t have, hoping that this time,this time,he’d win it big.
Ten million dollars.Icould win it big. I’d never have to worry about debt again. I could be safe for life. If I win this bounty, everything changes.Forever.
A messagedingsin my view as we pull up to my hotel. It’s from Kenn.
Miss Chen!I don’t know what you said to him in there, but... well done.
Well done? For what?
You should know that Hideo has never hired someone that quickly. Ever.
Really? I thought I annoyed him.
Everyone thinks that. Don’t mind him. Look for a gift at your front door. Hideo had it sent for you the instant you left his office.
After that meeting, it’s hard to believe what Kenn is saying.
Thanks.
Welcome to the team.
By the time Jiro drops me off and I make my way up to my suite, the gift—a beautiful box made of black suede—is already sitting on my desk. Next to it is a glossy envelope emblazoned with a gold stamp of the Warcross logo. I stare at it for a long moment, then bend down and open the box.
It’s a brand-new, limited-edition electric skateboard, sleek and light, painted in elegant black and white. I test the weight of it in my hands, disbelieving, and then toss it down and hop on it. It responds to me like a dream.
Hideo’s bodyguards must have told him about my old, beat-up skateboard. This board is easily worth fifteen thousand dollars. I’d eyed it in catalogues before, fantasized about how it might ride.
I read the card included in the box.
For you. See you at the Wardraft.
H.T.
One second, he’s interrogating me. The next, he’s sending gifts. My eyes go from the note to the envelope next to the box. Just a couple of days ago, I’d been standing in front of my apartment, looking in despair at a bright yellow eviction notice. Now I reach out for the envelope, tear it open, and pull out a thick, heavy black note with gold print.
Miss Emika Chen
is officially invited to participate
