[ IP ] Mob Connections

She kept them waiting. It was n't a problem. Shuk-Yee and Adam would be paid well for their time. The other one... he would wait no matter what. 
 
 Tatsumi took her walk down the alleyway slowly. There was no need to rush, it was a cold night. Her health suffered enough without her sweating herself into a cold. Why had n't they taken a note from the Italians, to conduct their business in hotels and diners? The constant stream of night markets and alleyways was... tiring. 
 
 Adam was the scary one. An american thug, who'd fled to Hong Kong. He'd left America because of the eight warrants and considerable bounty looming over his head. He'd come to Hong Kong because it was the only place with mob doctors willing to do the surgeries. Turns out it was easier to convince doctors to do strange, illegal surgeries when they did n't have licences to risk. 
 
 He looked like something between a lion and a wolf. Predatory, a hunter. The scars across his face could be easily fixed by any plastic surgeon, but he wore them with pride. Adam was arrogant and ballsy, but she kept him on staff because he lived up to it. The man was a marksman even in the dark, what with the cat's eyes, and could track a runner by scent, even with perfume and roast meat to confuse things. 
 
 Shuk-Yee was the consummate professional. Balding, mid-thirties and having a mid-life crisis, he was working overtime to set aside a decent nest egg for himself. The mask was a decent attempt to retain some anonymity, a life he could return to after the mob. Tatsumi thought it a long shot, but whatever kept him working hard was fine by her. There was a large bald spot on his head, where the mob doctors replaced skull and skin with nanoweave and titanium plate. He bore his own scars with shame. Reminders of his failures. There were probably more on his face that she did n't know about. 
 
 She stepped between the two men. Neither of them turned to her, or said a word. 
 
 Tatsumi took a long drag from the cigarette, and placed the briefcase on the floor. The man in front of them glanced at the case, then back up at her. She made an effort not to notice his features. With any luck, she'd never see him again. 
 
 `` Get those to Singapore by Monday, and you're free to go,'' she told him. The man grabbed the briefcase, nodded at her, and began to leave the alleyway. Adam growled at him before turning to make space. 
 
 `` You should n't smoke, you know,'' he grunted at Tatsumi. `` That implant's only going to help with current damage.'' 
 
 Tatsumi nodded, and took another drag off it. Adam shrugged and dropped the subject. Her respirator ran from her ears to the nose, filtering out the city smog. The reward of decades of rampant industrialization. Shuk-Yee said nothing, just waited for her next order. The next bit of blood money. 
 
 `` Meet me tomorrow, at the harbour. A captain needs to be shaken down,'' she explained. The two nodded.
