[ TT ] `` Best bounty hunter in the universe ? Well , then you want them , '' said the man , pointing down the bar to where a little girl and her robot were playing chess .

The girl must have been seven, no, six. I do n't know why I'm nitpicking a year but I... I think this guy is messing with me. She's playing chess with a Nexus 3000 those boxes on wheels are 100 years old. Neither one of them is qualified to be a bounty hunter. This is probably just his kid killing time while Dad works the shop. I ca n't believe this guy. 
 
 `` Listen, I have a lot riding on this and I'm not playing around. I know coming to a bar looking for a bounty hunter makes you think I'm gullible, or desperate. Look into my eyes. 
 
 I am not gullible. I am desperate. 
 
 Is there a real bounty hunter worth a noble's fortune here?'' 
 
 The bartender confronted my hungry eyes, `` She killed a man that got too drunk and tried to peak up her skirt. Tore his chest open, and turned him inside out. She has a temper, and is n't quite right in the head but she's brought in more bounties than any one I've ever heard of. All of them dead. She's the best. Go talk to her. Elmyra! I'm sending over a gentleman about a job.'' 
 
 The girl did n't look up. She did n't acknowledge that anything had been said. As I walked over I started thinking this is the first time I've ever seen anyone play chess against a Nexus. Their main protocol was strategic analysis. 
 
 I took on the tone of placating a child and began to speak with as much calmness as I could accumulate. I was talking to a six year old girl who was rumored to be a homicidal maniac, 
 
 `` Hi Elmyra, I'm Rando and I...'' 
 
 `` Do n't interrupt, I'm winning.'' She said abruptly. 
 
 I looked down at the board, and it was cluttered with pieces. She was missing her queen. That's not a sign of winning. The game looked far from over I turned around to grab a chair, 
 
 `` Check mate.'' I heard from behind me. 
 
 `` I've told you Nex, your programming is too predictable you have to modify it and adapt. You changed your algorithms to match the way I played last game. You could n't predict that I was playing that way last game to set a trap for you this game. I intentionally made you believe that I was overvaluing the usage of my queen so that by seizing her you could impact my ability to win. You calculated the value of seizing my queen was greater than the risk of moving a piece out of position to do so, but I wanted your piece out of position. My entire strategy required it. If you would have kept formation I would have lost, but I knew you would take the queen so there was n't any risk.'' She was irritated and by the end had raised her voice. Should folded her arms and stared in my direction. Not at me, just to my left at the wall behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see what she was looking at. 
 
 `` I'm not looking at you because I'm mad right now. Tell me all the details and what you want me to do about it. If you laugh or make fun of me I'll hurt you. I just might even kill you right now. I'm pretty mad. I ca n't believe that idiot robot has n't won a single a game.'' 
 
 I was astonished. She was berating a strategic computer. She was upset for winning. She threatened my life. This girl was a homicidal prodigy. 
 
 `` Uh, hey ya so my name is Rando. I need to catch a thief, a very bad thief. Well I mean they're actually a really good thief, but a very bad person. They stole my soul, a crystal containing my life's research modeling DNA sequences. It has trillions of unique species tailored for labor on every planet in the Empire. It was commissioned by the Minster of Science to my parents when I was born. I've been working on it for 38 years, and I present the crystal at the Holy Ceremony of Unity next month to the Empress. If I do n't present the crystal it will embarrass the Empire. If I embarrass the Empire they'll condemn my family and everyone that bears our name to death. If the Empire finds out the crystal was stolen they'll condemn my family and everyone that bears our name to death.'' 
 
 I paused to see if my peril stirred anything. Elmyra was still fixated to the wall behind me with her arms crossed, and a pouty face. 
 
 `` CONTINUE. I'm listening, I'm just still mad at that dumb robot'' 
 
 `` I do n't know who the thief was. They hacked my security system... and I had asked all my bots to leave the manor.'' 
 
 She turned to look at me with an inquisitive look. I tried not to be unnerved by this sudden direct attention from a killer. 
 
 `` There was an event our family was hosting, the one robot that remained was mutilated beyond recognition. It looked like it had been impaled, and torn apart. It was quite a savage scene with scraps everywhere. The core had been melted, probably with radiation. Other than that, I have no physical evidence of the crime... I'd like to ask something can I?'' 
 
 `` No. You may not.'' 
 
 My heart started racing, `` Right, well so this is really important so I'm going to ask anyways, how exactly do you get your jobs done? Considering you're a little girl and all.'' 
 
 `` With ease.'' She sighed, and unfolded her arms. This was good. I had not been turned into paste. 
 
 She said, `` I'm not mad anymore, I've forgiven Nex for his incompetence. I'm a child prodigy, genetic masterpiece, gift from God, and normal six year old girl who loves games. I was n't crafted which is what people think when I say genetic masterpiece, I was born with a mother and a father. However they were both crafted as military officers. They were told due to their unique genes there would be risks in having children. After analyzing the risks they went ahead. When I was born nothing seemed abnormal, except I started talking within my first month, I wrote my first poem at six months old, and when I turned two I published my first paper with my parents on allocation of military resources in wartime. Then things changed, and now the point is I'm a really good bounty hunter.'' 
 
 `` Well uhm, what about your parents?'' 
 
 `` Ya, they still love me but I tell them this is part of my military training. That risking my life with unknown variables is the only thing that challenges me.'' 
 
 `` So I get that you're a prodigy, mind blowingly intelligent. I've never seen anyone play chess against a Nexus and be upset that they won. It's your physical abilities I'm still curious about, I heard that you turned a guy inside out?'' 
 
 `` Hahaha ya I did. That idiot.'' 
 
 `` Right, how exactly?'' I said genuinely baffled. 
 
 She smiled, `` With telekinesis you dummy. How else can a little girl do something like that?''
