There's a common adage that gets tossed around by shadowrunners. "There's no such thing as a milk run."

That, along with, "Never cut a deal with a dragon," are the two rules that all runners live by. But if you're smarter than the average drekhead, you've got more. Rules like "Geek the mage first," or "Don't piss off your Christmas Cake fixer," are on my own, specially constructed list of 108 runner rules. As long as I follow the guidelines set in place by the mistakes of a younger, dumber Hachiman I'd be sure to live a long and uneventful life.

That's right. Older, smarter Hachiman. You must follow the lessons learned from today's mistakes.

I appended rule 3c: "Don't take milk runs from a pissed off Christmas Cake fixer," as I sprinted behind cover. Huh, would this work as an addendum to rule 1? Sure, why not. The repetition of a rule emphasizes its seriousness.

A peek over the top of this convenient car... yep, those are still bullets. I'm sure there's some corporate slave out there crying about the bullets in his car, but I'll happily accept his sacrifice in the name of keeping me alive.

Milk run, pissed off, and Christmas cake fixer are three words that should never be used together in a sentence. I'm sure we're only a couple more words away from summoning some kind of terrifying bug spirit that could destroy Japan in an instant.

I chucked a smoke grenade in the middle of some cars. As soon as it burst the smoke was peppered with bullets. Ha, idiots. As they shot the scary cloud of harmless smoke, I activated my Ruthenium Polymer Coated Cloak of Invisibility and dashed away. While Stealth Hikki is effective in social situations, this baby actually camouflages me with my surroundings, rendering me (mostly) invisible. Sadly, some of the shooters had a better pair of eyeballs than most and started to shoot my way. Happily, their aim was also poorer than most.

Now if I were a maniacal individual with plans to summon a monster spirit, I'd use a pentagram. If I put each phrase at each corner, it'd mean I needed to find two more before I could herald Japan's demise.

The alleyway was cramped and dirty. It had barely enough room for the dumpster within it, there was a mess of fire escapes above, and I'm sure that was a dead or passed out body lying in the corner. Beautiful, I could feel the tears begin to well up. I climbed up on top of the dumpster. The fire escape would still be out of reach if I just tried jumping from the dumpster, but I've had to go to the arcades once or twice for strict business purposes. I made my best attempt at the running wall jump, just barely managing to grab on the bottom rung of the fire escape. Naturally the damn universe made my life harder. The ladder loosened and was brought down to a reasonably reachable distance from the floor. I climbed up quick, attempted to pull the ladder up so that it wasn't laughably easy to follow me, and made my way up to the rooftops.

So how about dragon as a keyword? No, the real meaning behind rule 2 is that you never cut deals with any scary person. Dragons just happen to be the scariest people in the world. So if take that, we'd have the fourth component to the bug pentagram. String them up together and it'd be, "Don't cut a deal with a pissed off Christmas Cake fixer for a milk run."

In the periphery of my vision I saw a message notification. Hoping this might be critical to my survival, I read it. Good, it actually was relevant information from my team. Shame that I couldn't feel proud of them considering it was the same useless rookie team that got me in this damn mess to begin with.

Oh. Silly me, I just figured out the fifth point of the pentagram.

"Don't cut a deal with a pissed off Christmas Cake fixer to take a team for a milk run."

Eh. It could still use some work...

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~~~~~~~~~~ Line Break ~~~~~~~~~~

The acrid smell of the cigarette played only a small part in my growing irritation and apprehension. The obnoxiously loud patrons of the club. The unbearably humid atmosphere, caused by said aforementioned patrons. And in particular, the infuriating woman sitting across from me.

She has her eyes closed, a cigarette held loosely in between her fingers. If I didn't know any better I would have thought that she was deep in thought. Instead she is just simply attempting to look impressive amid the clamor of the bar.

Regardless, she is still the only woman that can help me take my first steps into becoming a shadowrunner - Hiratsuka Shizuka. A passable literature teacher employed at a Renraku High School. And also a well connected fixer in good relation with my family. Eventually she opens her eyes to look at me.

"So. You're sure you want to do this?"

A silly question. I've had many opportunities to back down, yet still I persist. I keep my aggravation out of my voice as I answer, "Of course. "

She continues to stare at me as she takes a drag out of her cigarette. Blowing it out, she nods before turning her gaze over to the one sitting next to me.

"And you. You're ready for this as well?"

I take a glance at her. As opposed to me, her fear is apparent. Shivering furiously, the untidy hair knot on the side of her head seemed almost ready to come undone. Her doe-like eyes were wide, her breath hitched. I pressed my lips tightly together to prevent myself from speaking for her. While all signs pointed to her unreadiness, I knew her well.

Yuigahama Yui. A girl who could bring anybody to ease. A capable Shinto Shaman.

My partner, and my friend.

Our eyes met and I saw her fear make way for determination. She slammed her fist into the open palm of the other and gave a bright and determined smile.

"I'm ready too!"

A moment passed as our determination was measured. Finally, after an admittedly uncomfortable minute, she put out her cigarette on the table in front of us.

"Alright then. I've got a simple job lined up. But you two are going to need to work with somebody that I choose."

"We accept those conditions. When can we begin?" It was an understandable condition, one that I had expected. While Yuigahama-san and I were capable, there were still gaps that needed to be filled.

"One step at a time alright? You didn't even ask about who your contact is or what your mission would be." She smiled as she picked up her compad.

I let out a slight huff before I was able to stop myself. "Well as you presented those questions, will you answer them?"

"Sure, I can answer my own questions. Your mission should be a simple retrieval mission." She gave a sly smile. "With who you're with I'd almost be tempted to call it a milk run for you."

"But there's no such thing as a milk run, right?" Yuigahama-san-san chimed in.

"Exactly. Your fellow runner has been doing this for a long time now. When things go wrong, listen to him. He's got a good head on his shoulders."

I nod my head.

"He's also an irredeemable loner. I'd consider it a personal favor if you could fix that annoying jackass for me."

I blink. That… that was less so.

"He's a loner, yet he's still willing to help us?" Yuigahama-san voiced the same concern that was running through my own head.

In response, Hiratsuka-san only smiled as she answered her ringing commlink.

"Hello? Who are the fine women in front of me? They'll be the ones who have your back in your next run of course... If you try to leave, you'll face something worse than a punch to the gut next time I see you... As if you know any other fixer willing to give an idiot like you a job…"

I felt a pain growing on the side of my head as I continued listening to the farce in front of me. We were to be paired with an experienced runner who would lead the team. However said runner was also a loner who didn't work with a team. Moreover, it seemed as if he was averse to working with us considering the conversation being held in front of us.

"If he's been doing this kinda thing for so long solo, it means he's really good right?" Yuigahama-san's voice sounded confident, yet her forced smile betrayed her uncertainty.

"While I don't doubt his ability to take care of himself, I fear that he wouldn't be able to manage a team."

Before Yuigahama-san could continue, Hiratsuka-san's voice caught my attention.

"Listen, give these two a fair test. If they don't pass it, you can leave and I'll let you kill yourself running solo." Hiratsuka-san went silent, as did the faint voice at the other end of her commlink. Her brow was knit slightly, frown faintly present.

A test? I was sure that any test would stretch what could be considered as fair. Regardless, now would be the time to prepare. I felt my head become abuzz with activity as my augmentations flared up.

I scanned the room, looking for the man speaking with Hiratsuka-san. A hint, something that would help clue me into what kind of test would be presented to us. He was forbidden from leaving, thus he was still present in the club. I looked at the fixer's eyes. No. They were pointed at a spot on the table, not at an incredibly irritating loner. A scan around the club wasn't helpful either, rather than finding one solitary and suspicious looking man I found far too many.

A second passed.

Physical hints were not presenting themselves. The man wanted to leave, any test that he'd give us would be given with a short time limit. He'd wish to deal with this quickly. Hiratsuka-san would shut down tests that didn't involve our capabilities as runners. There are five basic stages to a run. Meeting your Johnson, gathering information, creating a plan, executing the plan, and the fallout after. Step one was out of the question, I doubted a conversation could be considered an appropriate test. Step two was possible, he could test our ability to gather as much information as we could under a time limit. Step three was also a possibility, presenting a hypothetical situation and grading us upon what we plan. Steps four and five would take too long unless the task given was incredibly simplistic, in which case that would be to our benefit.

Another second passed.

In any case, the only action I could take at this point would be to preemptively begin gathering information. The hand holding the commlink blurred as I focused on its presence in the Matrix, it's AR overlays growing brighter in its stead. The icons of various devices flared up, demanding my attention. I made a small gesture underneath the table. Next to the commlink, the image of a snow-white paw print with ink black paw pads appeared.

And the third second passed.

"Alright, I'm putting you on speaker phone." She placed the commlink onto the table, no picture available for the contact. Out of it came out a distinctly bored male voice.

"I'm somewhere in this club. You have five minutes to find me."

I couldn't prevent the small smile forming upon my face.

"We can do it within three."

He let out a scoff and a brief, "Whatever works for you. Time starts now," before hanging up. However before the connection was terminated, I had already branded his own commlink with my icon. I immediately traced his location. Three minutes was a far more generous time limit than was necessary. I stood up quickly and strode over to his location. He was fairly tall, apparent even while he sat slouched over the table.

"It was pitifully simple, finding you. Was that truly your best attempt at testing... us?"

As I approached, I felt a growing suspicion that I underestimated the mysterious runner. In front of the slouching man was a spilled drink. His gaze unfocused. At my words he slowly turned his body in my direction, nearly rolling the glass onto the floor.

"Oooh. He-heeeeeeey there. Wash a pret-pretty woman lysh you doin' here alone?"

"...Apologies. I had mistaken you for somebody else. Excuse me." I turned to leave, yet the drunk placed his hand upon my shoulder. Before he could continue his rambling I had already gripped, removed, and twisted his wrist off of me. Yuigahama came to my aid and distracted the felled drunk as I continued to walk away.

The first mistake I made was assuming that the commlink was on him the entire time. If properly prepared, it's possible to continue a call while away from a commlink with a pair of wireless headphones and mic. The most reasonable estimate for when he planted it near that drunk was after he was told to give us a test. That occurred forty eight seconds ago. I placed a mark on the security cams, trivial to find even when they were running silent. I returned to my seat as I reviewed the footage.

Two minutes.

There were three individuals who walked past, none of them making noticeable movements to plant the commlink. While their faces were apparent, it wouldn't be possible to discern who placed the commlink from this alone. While I had access to different cameras, none of them provided a better angle. Confronting each three suspect wouldn't be feasible with the time limit I imposed on us. I had a minute and twenty-seven seconds left. A single confrontation took nearly fifty seconds.

I quickly exhaled. I can't let myself become stressed about my lack of time.

Time... he most likely called the fixer shortly after he entered the building. I rewinded back and viewed the camera facing the entrance. A heavy door that was flanked on both sides by a large bouncer. I sped through the footage. The footage within that timeframe… showed nobody coming in? Impossible! I expanded the search, yet still that damned door remained closed. The only possibility was that he entered from another entra-

One minute.

Damn! I felt my knees start to shake. Looking down, I realized I had stood up without realizing. My knuckles were white with how tightly my hands were clenched. If I had accepted the initial test I would have had enough time for this. No, focus!

Fifty seconds.

How could I locate these other entrances? Would that be a time effective method? Can I be sure that only he would have entered? Out of the corner of my eye I saw Yuigahama return, her brow furrowed. No, irrelevant. I had to focus on gathering more information.

Forty seconds.

I tasted iron. Irrelevant.

A look through recent orders? Useless.

Pressure on my shoulder. Irrelevant.

His commlink? No, from how easily I placed a mark on it it had to be a burner commlink. His real one could be with him now, but it'd be running silent. It was also likely that there are many commlinks running silent here already. If he made an order using the fake SIN being broadcast by his burner. No, that assumed he made an order. I can't waste my time with assump-

I blinked. Suddenly, curiously, I found myself looking at the wall. After the quarter second it took for me to register the appearance of the wall, I felt a sharp pain on my cheek. A quarter second after that I realized that Yuigahama had slapped me. I turned my head back to her as I began to hear her yelling at me.

"-eey! Helloooooooo?! Liste- oh good you're responding again. Breath alright!? You're overthinking things again."

Thirty seconds.

Analysis paralysis. The mistake of over-analysing to the point of inaction.

I let out the breath I'd been holding and smiled at her. I wouldn't be able to definitively identify the man, but I could narrow down the number of possibilities.

There were three facts:

1. Nobody was seen going through the front door.

2. The call between him and Hiratsuka-san occurred four minutes and thirteen seconds ago.

3. He is in the club.

Two assumptions I've made are:

1. He called shortly after he entered the building.

2. He is one of the three who brushed past the drunk.

If I could identify at least one of those individuals were present before the call occurred, then that would eliminate them as a possibility. I turned back the footage to a time before the call occurred. Earlier I was able to get a decent look at each of the three who brushed past the drunk. I only had time to find one, but that would be sufficient to increase my chances from 33% to 50%.

Fifteen seconds.

As the footage faded away, I looked towards Yuigahama-san. "Come with me, we have somebody to meet face-to-face." This was it, sink or swim. My opportunity determined by a coin flip.

With each step I took, I felt both heavy and light. My mind felt thick in fog and yet also startlingly clear. Oxymorons upon oxymorons. I was the daughter of a Renraku sponsored Diet member, an elite of society. I was an aspiring shadowrunner, an outsider apart from society.

I shook my head, now wasn't the time to wax poetic about who I was. We approached a man who was slightly taller than I. Nursing a drink in his hand, he barely turned his head to look at me with impassive eyes.

He was young, perhaps the same age as Yuigahama-san and I. His black hair was long and unruly, a lock twisting its way up into the air from the center. The ends of his hair turned slightly upwards as well, fighting against gravity. His clothes were unassuming, a black coat layered atop a white buttoned up shirt. His pants were a matching black, well kept yet well worn. Like his hair, his clothes were slightly disheveled. They framed a lean body, muscled yet not egregiously so. He would have blended into any crowd in Japan, passed beneath the notice of any casual watcher. Yet if one were to look closer, look into those narrowed eyes…

I felt a chill crawl up my spine. Every small detail of me was being picked apart by that gaze, past my projected image. I was sure of it. This was him.

With one final step, I stood in front of him.

AN: It just tickled my funny bone thinking about adapting the Service Club's requests into different runs.

Updates will be once every week to two weeks.