yet.”
“Ignoring Thomas.”
“I'm not ignoring you. I'm admiring a new piece of tech. Plus, accidents don't happen a lot. Just... sometimes,” Regina said with a shrug.
Thomas turned back around to face Regina. “Sometimes often.”
Regina tilted her head at Thomas in response, and waited a few moments. A tilt of the head indicated confusion to most domestic splices. “Do you want me to take the headset off?”
“No. Might go out. Might sleep.”
“Sure, go out. Have fun. Grab something to eat. I'm sure no one will notice the three-foot-tall harness-wearing black cat roaming around by itself,” Regina said sarcastically.
“It night,” Thomas replied with a tilt of his head.
“Yes. It is night,” Regina said reluctantly as she stood up. “And I suppose you've never caused any trouble before. But what will you do if someone asks where your owner is?”
Thomas grinned his best toothy smile and said, “Meow?”
Regina laughed at Thomas's meow. “Alright. Have fun. Stay out of trouble, and come back before sunrise.”
“Will,” Thomas replied.
“I'll leave the door open for you,” Regina said, pointing at the doorway.
Thomas walked over and rubbed himself up against Regina's legs. “Thank you.”
Regina gave Thomas a quick pet and head rub.
An alarm on Regina's data pad went off.
“Ah shizlin, I'm late,” Regina said as she reached for the data pad that was hanging from her belt, and headed into the hotel room.
She reached her dive rig chair, took off her trench coat, placed it on the back of the chair, and slid comfortably in place.
“Well, let's see what we're stealing tonight,” Regina said as she slid the data stick into a reader slot bank on her right.
After a few clicks on the interface, a new screen opened up with a pass code request. Regina looked down at her data pad, and started to key in the code she had just been sent moments earlier. A red flashing message on the screen caught her off guard.
“Wait... what?” Regina said aloud.
She again entered the code from the message she had received, but the red error message again popped up.
“They are either testing you, or something is wrong,” Regina said to herself as she bit her thumbnail. She needed to either start cracking this pass code or abandon the job shortly. Clients don't wait for results in this market, and she'd be blacklisted if she didn't deliver, or at least drop the contract, she thought to herself.
Regina tapped her fingers across one of her keyboards for a moment of pondering. “The pay is too good to say no to.”
Regina reached under her seat and pulled out a small corded device. She pulled out the data stick from the reader slot, and plugged it into the device. “Here's hoping,” she said as she continued to work. She then plugged one of the device’s cables into the reader slot, and pulled another keyboard on her lap. She started typing commands as quickly as she could.
“Come on, Dyna. Momma needs a new pair of processors,” Regina said to herself as she executed the last command on the keyboard.
She watched as the code scrolled continuously up on the monitor. Every few lines told her that her program and the device had failed to remove the barrier file from the device. Regina waited and watched as this event was repeated hundreds of times over, and waiting for the single line of code that would read as 'success' instead of 'failed'.
Growing impatient, and slightly concerned, Regina stood up and let the program continue to run its course. Looking out at the windowed balcony, she noticed that Thomas was gone. “Happy hunting, my friend,” she said as she started to pace.
Impatiently she kept a watchful eye on the blue lines of code scrolling across her screen, still waiting for success. She started to think it was taking too long. It had never taken this long before. “It's brand new,” she said to herself as she
“Ignoring Thomas.”
“I'm not ignoring you. I'm admiring a new piece of tech. Plus, accidents don't happen a lot. Just... sometimes,” Regina said with a shrug.
Thomas turned back around to face Regina. “Sometimes often.”
Regina tilted her head at Thomas in response, and waited a few moments. A tilt of the head indicated confusion to most domestic splices. “Do you want me to take the headset off?”
“No. Might go out. Might sleep.”
“Sure, go out. Have fun. Grab something to eat. I'm sure no one will notice the three-foot-tall harness-wearing black cat roaming around by itself,” Regina said sarcastically.
“It night,” Thomas replied with a tilt of his head.
“Yes. It is night,” Regina said reluctantly as she stood up. “And I suppose you've never caused any trouble before. But what will you do if someone asks where your owner is?”
Thomas grinned his best toothy smile and said, “Meow?”
Regina laughed at Thomas's meow. “Alright. Have fun. Stay out of trouble, and come back before sunrise.”
“Will,” Thomas replied.
“I'll leave the door open for you,” Regina said, pointing at the doorway.
Thomas walked over and rubbed himself up against Regina's legs. “Thank you.”
Regina gave Thomas a quick pet and head rub.
An alarm on Regina's data pad went off.
“Ah shizlin, I'm late,” Regina said as she reached for the data pad that was hanging from her belt, and headed into the hotel room.
She reached her dive rig chair, took off her trench coat, placed it on the back of the chair, and slid comfortably in place.
“Well, let's see what we're stealing tonight,” Regina said as she slid the data stick into a reader slot bank on her right.
After a few clicks on the interface, a new screen opened up with a pass code request. Regina looked down at her data pad, and started to key in the code she had just been sent moments earlier. A red flashing message on the screen caught her off guard.
“Wait... what?” Regina said aloud.
She again entered the code from the message she had received, but the red error message again popped up.
“They are either testing you, or something is wrong,” Regina said to herself as she bit her thumbnail. She needed to either start cracking this pass code or abandon the job shortly. Clients don't wait for results in this market, and she'd be blacklisted if she didn't deliver, or at least drop the contract, she thought to herself.
Regina tapped her fingers across one of her keyboards for a moment of pondering. “The pay is too good to say no to.”
Regina reached under her seat and pulled out a small corded device. She pulled out the data stick from the reader slot, and plugged it into the device. “Here's hoping,” she said as she continued to work. She then plugged one of the device’s cables into the reader slot, and pulled another keyboard on her lap. She started typing commands as quickly as she could.
“Come on, Dyna. Momma needs a new pair of processors,” Regina said to herself as she executed the last command on the keyboard.
She watched as the code scrolled continuously up on the monitor. Every few lines told her that her program and the device had failed to remove the barrier file from the device. Regina waited and watched as this event was repeated hundreds of times over, and waiting for the single line of code that would read as 'success' instead of 'failed'.
Growing impatient, and slightly concerned, Regina stood up and let the program continue to run its course. Looking out at the windowed balcony, she noticed that Thomas was gone. “Happy hunting, my friend,” she said as she started to pace.
Impatiently she kept a watchful eye on the blue lines of code scrolling across her screen, still waiting for success. She started to think it was taking too long. It had never taken this long before. “It's brand new,” she said to herself as she
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