"Just make yourselves at home." Dex frowned at the two women sitting in his kitchen. Darsi must have forgotten to lock the door when she left, something that hackers viewed as a clear invitation to enter.


    Stiletto smiled sweetly while helping herself to one of the cookies Nova made for him. "Thanks, Dex."


    Thumper also grinned, her dark eyes shing in amusement. "That was sarcasm, Stiletto. He''s not happy to see us."


    Dex nodded and touched the side of his nose. "Spot on."


    "Oh... sorry, Dex." Stiletto bit into the cookie, trying her best to look like she didn''t enjoy it. "Damn, that girl can really bake."


    "She can," Thumper agreed. "I''m sorry too, Dex. We''d never intrude into your v-Hive room."


    Dex confiscated the te of cookies sitting between the two women. "Normal people would find that backward. But, I''ve got something for you anyways."


    Thumper shared a nce with Stiletto before speaking. "A present?"


    Dex nodded while removing a small box from the pocket of his jumpsuit. Then, fishing out two items, he handed one to each of them. "Nothing too impressive, thumb rings."


    "Hmm?" Thumper epted the ck ring; it wasn''t metallic like she expected, some sort of flexible polymer. Hers had the name ''Thumper'' engraved in gold lettering. She slipped it onto her thumb, smiling widely at the young hacker. "Pretty cool, Dex."


    Stiletto nodded in agreement. "I love it!"


    Dex nodded innocently. "Swipe your index finger over your name."


    "OW!!" Stiletto shook her hand like she''d been stung by a bee.


    "Shit!" Thumper cursed the ring before looking up at its creator. "You gave us ''shock'' rings?"


    "Yep." Dex grinned at the frowning women. "It will load in as part of your wardrobe whenever you jump. Swipe your ring while virtual, and it won''t do anything."


    Stiletto studied the ring for a moment. "I still love it."


    Thumper nced at the small box in his hand; there were a couple more rings inside. "You wouldn''t do this as a prank. What gives?"


    "Swiping in virtual won''t shock you, but it will activate Groundhog''s exit software." Dex filled in the nks since they weren''t following. "It''s a defense against Groundhog or something simr. Swipe it when you log out; no shock means you haven''t exited."


    A knock on his front door followed by the sound of it opening announced the arrival of another guest.


    "Coming in, Dex." Quicksilver''s voice called out from the entryway. "Upstairs or down?"


    "Kitchen," Dex replied before peeking around the divider at the new arrival.


    "Hey, Partner." Darsi smiled at him, kissing his cheek before breezing past him. She paused when she saw the other two Bottom Feeders. "Don''t you two have somewhere else to go?"


    Thumper shook her head while holding up her hand. "Dex gave me a ring."


    "Me too," Stiletto added.


    Darsi held up her hand to match theirs. "Did he mention that you can turn down the ring indicator so that it only vibrates when you swipe it?"


    "....." Thumper.


    "Right..." Dex shrugged innocently. "I was getting to that. You''ll have to take it off to change the settings."


    "What time are you meeting, Nova?" Darsi didn''t bother to hide the distaste she felt for the Infiltrator.


    Dex did a quick time check before answering. "About an hour, was hoping to grab lunch first."


    Darsi nodded before pointing a finger at Thumper and Stiletto. "You two have to go. I''m going to make a special lunch for my partner."


    *******


    Dex took the lift to the 9th level, stepping around arge, wheeled crate that contained dozens of smaller items. "Anything in there for me?"


    Gunner looked up; the permanent scowl his face usually exhibited slipped off. He had met the hive''s ''Fucking Da Vinci'' on a few asions. But, unlike some of the other Bottom Feeders, Dex was fun to be around. "Those old memory chips are in; I''ll drop them off in your roomter."


    "Cool..." Dex noticed the Hive quartermaster seemed curious. "They have some unique qualities that I need for a new project. Ride the Wave, Gunner."


    Gunner fist-bumped the youngest Bottom Feeder. "Ride the Wave Dextron."


    Less than a minuteter, Dex knocked on the round red door that marked Nova''s room. He waited several seconds without an answer before repeating the process. Finally, after another handful of seconds, the door opened to reveal the dark-haired Infiltrator.


    "Hey, Dex... Sorry for the wait; most people walk in after knocking."


    Dex didn''t reply, stepping past her when she ushered him in. The smell of something freshly baked hung in the air, as noted by Stiletto, Nova liked to bake.


    "I have a few leads already regarding Quebec''s movement towards VR." Nova led him into the kitchen where she had been working.


    Dex stared at the schematic that hovered over the kitchen ind. "That''s a jumper?"


    Nova nodded and seated herself while he studied the blueprint. "The poption of Quebec is two million; they already have a quarter of these capsules stockpiled."


    "So this has been going on for a while." Dex pulled out a small box he had tucked in his jumpsuit pocket. He emptied it into his hand and then handed her thest of the rings he had made. "This is for you."


    Nova picked up the small band, smiling when she saw the name ''Murphy'' written in gold lettering across its front. She slipped it onto her index finger before ncing up. "What does it do?"


    "It''s a defense against Groundhog. Swipe it when you log out, and it will vibrate if you''ve left cyberspace."


    Nova swiped it, noting that it buzzed slightly. "You used my real name."


    "Change it if you like." Dex brought up a personal hud and copied the jumper schematic onto it. "Why mass-produce capsules? It would be much easier to buy them on the open market."


    Nova shook her head slightly. She''d seen Stiletto less than a half-hour earlier and had seen her ring. Since her friend left, she''d been asking herself two questions. First, did he make one for me? Second, would he change the settings to vibrate? "Thank you, Dex."


    "Wee." Dex spared her hand a nce. "It''s meant as a thumb ring."


    "I see..." Nova smiled slightly, leaving it on her index finger. "Groundhog is impressive; our strike team leader gave you a lot of credit for the mission''s sess."


    "Wasn''t just me; the rest of the Bottom Feeders had already neutralized Yuli''s defenses by the time I arrived."


    Nova nodded in agreement, not mentioning that Yuli had been cornered before yet somehow always managed to escape. "Seem like a lot of changes are on the wind, not just internationally but in the U.S. also."


    "Changes?" Dex was only half listening to her words; there was something different about the capsule.


    "Rumors say the entire Intelligencemunity is going to be revamped." The temptation to poke Dex was nearly overwhelming for her; it was evident that he wasn''t listening.


    "That right?" Dex zoomed in on the capsules N2N (Neural to Network) interface. On the surface, it looked pretty basic; however, there was something different about it.


    "Yep, and I usually bake naked. It makes everything taste better."


    "I see..." Dex brought up a second hud and used it topare one of the Brandish NTI (Neural Transfer Interface) that he used when assembling the Tandem jumper.


    "We could do it together." Nova sipped her coffee to hide the smile on her face.


    "Maybe." Dex nced from one hud to the other.


    She scooted her chair closer and studied the two side-by-side. "Aren''t they the same? I thought NTI and N2N were the same things."


    Dex shook his head. "The NTI is aponent in the N2N Assembly."


    "Thanks for dumbing it down." Nova only understood the basics of capsule construction; it was apparent that Dex''s understanding was much more advanced.


    "Shit... I think these are meant to beworked." Dex used his hud to call Quicksilver. A momentter, the blond hacker popped up in front of him.


    "Hey, Dex." If she noticed that Nova was sitting next to him, she didn''t mention it.


    "Let''s use the Tandem Jumper; I want to take a look at something in Quebec." Dex made a note of the time. "Half an hour?"


    Darsi nodded. "It''s a date. Cya in a bit."


    Dex closed them before turning his attention back to the schematic. "Got an address on the factory?"


    "It''s in Quebec City. I should be able to get an address," Nova replied.


    Dex kept the hud open, studying it while standing up. "Send it to me; we''ll touch base when I get back."


    "I''ll keep at it," Nova slid out of her chair, following him as he walked to the door. "Anything else?"


    Dex paused at the door while considering the question. "Given the hacker''s generalck of social boundaries, I don''t think baking naked is a good idea."


    Nova grinned suddenly, her face blushing. "I didn''t think you were listening." Shebed back her dark hair with slender fingers, resulting in her hair sticking straight up while exposing her pale forehead.


    "We were having a conversation.. Why wouldn''t I listen?" Dex shot her a puzzled look and then fled through the door before he managed to insert a foot into his mouth.