Humming Way was a back alley to nowhere and from nowhere. Discarded boxes hid K-Crows pecking at the insides of rodents, with food wrappers blowing like tumbleweeds between the walls. The street smelled of rot and mould, with the seedy smell of bodily fluids always present. The buildings either side of this claustrophobic, maze-like tunnel were eight stories high and the windows were like old arrow slots in castles long ago. The faint red light of the district barely touched the ground; down here it was all darkness with the battered and flickering blue lining the street.

I walked towards the middle of the street, roughly, passing a few girls who were weighed down by make-up, their faces almost hitting the floor under it all. They wore barely any clothes, though it wasn't like the police would do anything about it. Probably didn't even know this place existed, and probably didn't care if they did.

I stopped outside the building I wanted, 165 Humming Way, Prosterothal Area, Region 26. I went up to the door, which was swaying on its hinges, the handle still slick with the rain that had passed several hours before. It looked the least-inviting building I had ever had the misfortune to enter, and I had entered some pretty down-and-out places in my time. Even the Fifties regions had better housing than this, in the slums. Could Grasslea really find nowhere better for her? Or if he had, why had she turned it down?

Inside it wasn't much better. There wasn't any rain coming through a hole in the ceiling, though I half imagined there would be. One or two shadows of people huddled in a corner away from the central staircase and elevator platform, smoke trailing from their fingers. They cast me a glance of complete disgust, as if I was someone here to take them and throw them on the floor, fuck them raw and then leave again. That was probably what they were used to, if truth be told. I didn't like Region 26 as it was, and this added to my negative view of the place.

I headed up the stairs, leaving the platform on the bottom. One should take as much exercise as one can get, especially in the age of convenience. It's a rare luxury, walking anywhere. In my coat I felt my gun, and I thumbed off the safety, as I always did before heading anywhere like this.

Reaching the fourth floor landing I headed down a corridor on the left, looking around for the number I wanted. Before long I spied my destination, 548. I stopped at the door and hit the Halo-Core to ring the bell.

Silence reigned supreme. The building shifted very slightly as the wind began to rise; they had said we were in for a windy one that night, and you felt it in places like this. I waited patiently before, a few seconds later, ringing again.

Eventually, a face projected itself from the Halo-Core. A male face, perfectly unremarkable, though with a strong jaw line and an eye patch over his left globe.

'Who are you?' His voice was perfectly robotic, scripted.

'Someone looking for Lura, who hasn't turned up for work today,' I said simply.

'She isn't in,' the man said, the face vanishing in a sprinkle of light.

I stood there for a few minutes, pulling out my weapon and holding it down by my side, before ringing once again. The face appeared once more, a small line of anger in his lips.

'You'd better leave, buddy,' he said.

'Who are you, then, if she's not in?' I asked.

'Her brother.'

'Interesting,' I said, putting my free hand to my chin as if to ponder the situation. 'Can you pass on a message to her for me, for when she returns?'

'Sure, make it quick though,' the man replied, 'I'm not in the best of moods.'

'Completely understandable. Can you tell her that the team of 30 back-up squad leaders have been called and will be here in two minutes flat in order to escort her to a safe-house, as set in place should her brother ever show up.'

The man blinked in surprise, opening his mouth to say something, before it hardened and I could hear his teeth grinding in anger from behind the door.

'You don't have 30 men called to her rescue,' he said.

'She doesn't have a brother, either,' I said, 'so we're both liars, aren't we?'

I shot the Halo-Core and the door unlocked. I raised my gun to the door and kicked it open, firing a shot off as soon as the gap was wide enough to accommodate a blast. It burned a hole in the wall, but I didn't care. I slammed open the door, swivelling the gun behind it. Nobody there. I headed into the main room.

Strapped down to a bed was Lura, long silver hair behind her, completely exposed, gagged. Off to the left was a door to the bathroom. I shot the door twice and it opened, a body tumbling out of it. The man with the eye-patch hit the floor, a shot straight through the other eye. Oh the irony.

'Anyone else?' I asked Lura, still swivelling as I moved further into the room. She shook her head. I took the gag out with one hand, the other still on the gun.

'The other one left. He'll be back soon.' I nodded, putting the gun on the bed and undoing her bindings. She jumped off and covered herself up, blushing.

'They jumped me. Wanted information on Dirty Work. And the boss.'

I nodded, getting out my Halo-Core. I went for Markro, and his face came up a second later.

'What's up?'

'Someone got to Lura, tied her up. Wanted info on the boss.' He nodded.

'I'll get Ashrore to you now. Get out of there and come back here. I'll inform the boss.' With that his face vanished.

I slipped the Halo-Core back into my pocket, by which time Lura was fully dressed. She took a large knife and slipped it into her elasticised waistband like she was sheathing it or putting a gun into a holster. Now that the initial panic was over, her eyes were beginning to burn fire.

'We need to move,' I said.

'And protect the boss,' she said. 'Nobody goes after my boss. Nobody.'