“An Ivory Tower.” Midori thought to herself as she watched the gathered guests of the B.A.D.L. mingle in the spacious ballroom. Some of the guests were here above their station, the ill-fit of obvious rental tuxedos, and the faded fabrics of off the rack dresses, were a silent indication of their socioeconomic status.
     She glanced at her reflection in the mirror and marveled at the circumstances that brought her here. She was the daughter near celebrities. Her father a world renowned scientist, and her mother an Olympic-class gymnast, and Ambassador from Japan. She was considered blessed, and had inherited the best traits of both of her parents. Her dark almond shaped eyes glittered with intelligence. Her white satin dress stood in dark contrast to her dusky complexion, and clung to her trim athletic frame just as much as it draped alluringly, leaving little to the imagination. She ran her fingers through her short, lustrous black tresses held in place with a sky-blue headband that provided a splash of color. She held small white leather clutch purse trimmed in silver in her hand.
     She turned slowly in the mirror showing her backside to the polished surface. She wiggled slightly. “I wonder what I would look like with a tail.” She thought idly to herself before shaking her head to clear the thoughts from it. “Naah.” She grinned wistfully with another playful swish of her hips.
     Her reverie was cut short as the crowd began to buzz slightly louder as more guests arrived through the main doors.
     Midori watched as a well-built man entered the room. He was flanked by a gorgeous bunny sculpt that seemed to hang on his arm like a trophy. She could see; even from across the room, he was uncomfortable being so close to so many augments. She noticed too, the way his eyes darted about the room, as though taking in his surroundings with the practiced air of a trained mercenary.
     “Pitbull sure knows how to pick ‘em” she thought silently to herself.
     She nervously smoothed her dress against her skin, and plucked a slender crystal glass from a passing tray with a free hand. She noticed the server was what appeared to be a Dalmatian sculpt, and Midori watched as he left, his tail twitching behind him through a special slit cut in his tuxedo.
     “I’ve never liked the dog sculpts.” A low baritone voice spoke inside her head, causing her to jump in place.
     “Dammit! Gene,” Midori cursed under her breath. She reached up to tap the skin behind her ear, adjusting the volume on her sub-dermal vox unit. “Why’d you set this thing so loud?”
     “Sorry, but I’m not the one who set the volume control defaults.” Gene seemed less than apologetic, “Blame your dad.”
     Midori shook her head, “Yeah, I think I’ve got it sorted out now. I just wish he would have told me how much these things itch.” She scratched the faint scar behind her ear where the transceiver was implanted.
     “See, we should never have come here,” A woman snorted derisively as she gestured to Midori, “even the non-sculpts have fleas.”
     “Hey! What do you me—“
     “Cool it Midi!” Gene growled in her ear, “We are here for a reason, remember?”
     Midori watched as the woman strolled away laughing at her own wit, “Yeah,” she replied, “What’s the deal anyway? Usually we have better intel than this.”
     “The grid is quiet.” Gene answered, the sound of an antique keyboard rattling through the connection.
     “If you say ‘too quiet’, we’re going to have words.” Midori interrupted with a grin.
     “Nothing like that,” and Midori could almost see Gene’s eyes rolling. “Normally this type of event would have protesters outside, or heavier security. But the place is dead; a few bodyguards and some rent-a-cops. We’ve got some heavy-hitters here, and security should be better.”
     “Shh!” Midori hissed, “Ms. Linburg is starting her speech.” She listened with half an ear, as she scanned the crowd. Nearly everyone was stood rapt, until she paused in her speech, a roar of approval went up from the assembled faces. Ms. Linburg waited until they died down before speaking again.
     “Midi,” Gene tried to speak over the din of the crowd’s applause.
     “Shh.”
     When Ms. Linburg continued, her voice was filled with emotion. “We may not be able to stop all of them,” she said huskily. “But those we catch WILL be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
     “Midori! I’m showing thermoplas build up!”
     Before she could respond, another roar of approval went off, but this time, it was distorted by the sounds of sudden explosions going off in the main entry area. A blast of brilliant light flashed across the room.
     Midori reeled as she struggled to regain her senses. Humanoid silhouettes burned themselves into her retinas and she blinked furiously to clear her vision. She clawed at her ear, trying to cease the infernal shrieking that her sub-dermal transceiver was pumping directly into her brain.
     “-ri?” The static began to abate, “-dori! MIDORI!”
     “I’m here. I’m here.” She replied, her eyes clenched and brimming with tears. “What’s going on?”
     “It’s a combat raid!” Gene screamed through the vox-link, “I think Ms. Linburg’s been shot! And they kidnapped her bodyguard!”
     Midori stood and wiped the moisture from her eyes and looked around. “Are you tracking them?”
     “I’m trying! They’ve got a jammer!”
     “And that’s stopping you?”
     “I think this is MilSpec stuff”
     “And? C’mon Gene, this has never stopped you before.”
     “Hey! Cut me some slack!”
     A sudden screech of static screamed across the line.
     “Gene? Are you there? Gene!”
     “They know I’m here! They are jamming my vox-link! Active jamming!” The furious tack of the antique keyboard over the link reached a frenzied pace as Gene entered commands into his distant terminal. “I don’t know how much longer I’ve got.  I’ve got two contacts. A truck in the building’s shipping garage has an energy signature off the charts, and a helicopter on the roof with no filed flight plan. They’re both moving!”
     “Keep your eye on them! As best you can; someone might want that information. Do you see any markings?”
     “None, these guys are pros.”
     Midori shook her head and gazed around at the carnage. “This was a textbook snatch-and-grab.” She agreed while looking across the savaged audience chamber. Many of the guests milled about like zombies unable to comprehend what had happened. Spent gas canisters littered the ground amidst the debris of the shattered doors. She leaned against a pillar and sighed. “I wish we knew who they were. The anti-sculpt violence is only going to get worse. A war is brewing, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better.” She noticed a piece of shrapnel from the doors embedded in the pillar and blanched, it would have passed within a few short feet from her when the door went, and could have taken her head clean off. “Yeah, it’s gonna get much worse."

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