Seattle, 2075. The Space Needle that had dominated the city's skyline in the previous century was today dwarfed by the megacorps offices surrounding it. An island of UCAS territory surrounded by native American states, it was the perfect getaway for summer vacation, away from the silent judgment and glances of disapproval of parents and siblings.<br/><br/>At least, until Mika was cut off without any prior warning. The first indication that something was wrong was when her credit account was frozen during a transaction, leading to an embarrassing moment that finally had to be resolved with a credstick. The second thing was a cold, formal message from her bank, informing her that she owed them an astronomical sum, everything she had spent in the past two years to be exact. The only silver lining was that she could repay her debt in installments, the first one due in a month. Not that it helped much - the amount was still more than the average wageslave salary.<br/><br/>Somehow the news had spread to her friends as well, most of them now showing their true colors: they wanted nothing to do with a pariah. Only a handful of contacts remained, including one Kata Evenson, fixer. A meeting was arranged where they could talk face-to-face, at one of the Starnuyen chain soykaf shops that dotted Seattle, this one at the edge of the Redmond Barrens.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>The soykaf shop was a dark, quiet hole in the wall selling overpriced soykaf that the locals didn't need and couldn't afford. The only other customer was a college-aged ork deeply engrossed in a textbook in augmented reality, his cup of soykaf sitting perilously close to the edge of the table cold and untouched. With business practically non-existent, the lanky barista behind the counter was napping, his face more annoyed at being interrupted when Mika entered than happy to see a potential customer.<br/><br/>Kata didn't seem to have arrived yet.