the thief and the ark-----

It was no mistake, someone was following User through the alleys of the shanty town that stood amongst the rubble of old progress. Stepping around the shack User ducked beneath a tangle of copper pipes and put his eye to a rent in the thin metal barrier.  thin figure, obscured by shadows with his hand in his pockets, no one User recognized but that was fine, they would get to know each other real soon.           

The bracelet was contraband, hidden weaponry was strictly forbidden by the Law, pulling the magnetic clip apart User gave the length of red chain a quick snap and it froze in a straight line, the thin metal began to vibrate and hum. One shot would be all he could get and then the Cobra would be useless.
 
Quickly going under the pipes again User hugged the building and ducked behind a trash can, a scuffling of boots against cement preceded the shadow that stretched along the ground, with a shout User stood up and swung the stiff chain over his head.
 
It all happened so fast, the thin man moved to his right and his arm shot out striking User across the bicep, the Cobra went wide and struck the trash can. With a silent explosion the metal of the can shattered like glass and exploded downward, spraying Users leg with chunks of vibrating steel. Loose paper and other debris shot into the air and User found himself falling on his back with a boot on his throat.
 
 "Careless User, than again you always were a better thief than a fighter."
The voice was thin and scratchy a man that spent far too much time outside the towers and in the polluted air. His face broke from the shadows and User saw the scars that went down his face and neck like the claws of tiger. His eyes seemed to glow with a predators hunger and his hair stood on end in spikes of white and black.

 User tried to speak but his air was cut off and he could barely breath, the man lifted his boot slightly and User was able to weeze out a question,
"Who the hell are you?"

 "The name is Rat and you don't know it yet but I'm the only one that can help you."
The boot was removed and User struggled to his feet, leaning against the building he was able to regain his composure long enough to try for a kick at Rats groin.
The thin man lifted his leg and seemed to swat Users foot out of the way with his boot.
 User lost his balance and fell on his side, the air barked out of his lungs and he breathed in a cloud of gravel and soot.
 "I know things are bad right now User and you want to be out of here as soon as you can but if you go to where you were planning, you'll be dead and so will sweet little Gracie."

"Son of a b***h!" User shot up and in a moment felt his anger replaced with fear at the long barrel of the flachette pistol as it glinted in the harsh red glow of the bonfire that raged behind Rat, leaving any overt details about the man shrouded in darkness.
A thousand needles a second, the pistol would tear his insides out faster than he could react, he was done for.

"No time for this User, come with me."  The silver gun was directed User to the building behind him. Hands held above his head user kicked open the latchless dorr and stepped inside.

"Sit." The door closed behind him and a bank of lights blinked, shuddered and than slowly grew in luminescence, the shack was a round room with a table, a pair of chairs and pile of boxes in one corner, a flight of stairs wrapped around the walls and led to a second floor that seemed to be metal grating and a bed.

Still holding his hands up user sat on the farthest chair and took a good look at Rat.
He could see where he got the name, skinny and bent he seemed to be on the verge of running or attacking with every breath, the black coat hung on his frame like a shroud and his shirt was stiff and seemed to be a weave of metal and mesh. Brown pants with stuffed pockets hid god knows what and his boots were shining and leather.
A professional.

Pulling a chair back rat sat and reached into his pants for a pack of cigarettes, he offered one to User and shrugged when he refused. the cig was a self lighter and with his first inhale the end sparked to red and white life and the round room was filled with the smell of manufactured tobbacco.
 "You can put your hands down User, I'm not going to kill you, in fact I just saved your life. The authorities are waiting for you at your fences place, they have the whole building staked out and are gonna bring it down the second you step inside.
I work for some people that don't want to see that happen. People that recognize when a job is well done and recognize when the powers that be are not being particularly fair."

"Fair? They torched a train car just to try to get to me, what's the big deal, all I took was a simple patent program. Worth a few million creds but I've stolen bigger."
His mind raced with questions and concerns, if they knew where he was going then they knew where he was, Grace!
Standing suddenly he didn't notice Rat put his hand on the pistol but he heard his scratchy voice that seemed ready to break at any moment.
"The girl is safe, my people intercepted the cleaning crew that was going to your apartment, and this about more than the thing you stole, though that is a big deal. Everyone saw the grid tear and the null sky shake, anyone plugged in heard the screams. Hell I was in at the time and let me tell you the racket you made was like an atom bomb going off. The higher AI's should never do that, its outside their programming, something you did set off that Angel real bad. W ewant to know what that was."

 "I told you I just went in their did my usual thing and picked out a program. I looked just like a search bot, I triggered some alarm and the next thing I know all Hell has broken loose in Heaven."
User looked at his shaking hands and ignored the itching on his neck, his body craved for the grid, the weaving colors and the sense of weightlessness of being without a body in a world of shining lines and floating geometrical shapes. He could go anywhere and be anything, a flaming eagle or a searing comet, the answers where out there and he needed to know what was happening to his life.
"Is this because me and Gracie plan to leave on the Ark?"

Rat smiled and inhaled his steel grey eyes sparkling,
"Getting warmer User, it's not you there after, it's the evidence, just being the courier has left you with the information in your DNA, anyone could get inside you and hook you up to the grid and peel you apart to find out exactky what was in the program you lifted. An imprint that hides itself deep inside your biological makeup ready to be read."
 Rat picked the cigarette out of his mouth and for the first time User noticed that his fingernails were painted black and white, the but flew across the room and landed on the stone floor where it smoked and whithered.
 
"We need that info User but first you gotta get us something bigger, you want yor freedom? Well we can give you that you just have to steal one last thing."

User put his head against the rough wood of the table and listened to the music that floated past the thin walls of the shack, the smell of the tobbacco mixed with his own sweat, he felt like he needed to throw up.
The tired desperation in his voice shocked him,
"What?"

Rat stood and pulled something from his pants, a thin pad of black metal with a glowing line of red leds across the top, when he dropped it next to User it began to beep and sing to itself.
"Go back to the Grid, back to Heaven and steal us an Angel."

User sat up with a confused look twisting his face, the shack was empty, the door stood open and the bank of lights behind him strobed and fell blind.
The chirps and songtunes of the HackPad filled the darkness.