Anthropic Transference

The teller pressed the button under the desk. He really thought it would be more dramatic. A band of marauders armed to the gills. Alarms being set off in the middle of the night. Or bare minimum, a man with an intimidating aura and a menacing message. He had puzzled over the piece of paper being handed to him, but had realized what was going on and promptly complied.

This was a robbery. He looked up at the source of his bemusement, who beamed in response.

The robber was an ambiguously young girl. She had a petite and slender frame, and leaned leisurely to one side. Her golden locks reached shoulder-length, and gleamed under the pale lights in an otherwise dull room. Her eyes were green and she had somewhat sharp features. One could almost mistake her for not understanding what was requested, but her expectant gaze said otherwise.

"Here, this is what you wanted. Is the amount enough?"

The girl took the electronic card and withdrew a different device, eyes flitting between each screen, then nodded. She casually strolled off. The teller took back the card and inserted it into an oblong machine, and got lost in thought.

Her name was Nova. The bank's security measures had many anti-fraud protections, as did larger institutions. It also had less savory ways of obtaining personal information. For their part, they simply had to retrieve the information of the device that requested the transaction, which was standard practice.

It was a medium-sized bank in the city of Manticore, and most recently appeared in the news for a money laundering scandal. The teller wasn't aware of the inner workings, but had a vague idea of the lengths it went to protect its holdings. He secretly prayed that the robber would be alright. The security team had made him tremble when they first met, and he was not an easily frightened individual.

The security team had already apprehended Nova and directed her to another room. They went through many hallways and stairs, and finally ended up in an enclosed room with no windows. Nova obediently sat in the only chair, and two men tied her in place. The boss stood silently with his arms crossed, and finally spoke.

"Hey kid, tell me who sent you."

Nova ignored him, and instead looked disinterestedly at her bound hands.

"Listen, brat. You better do what's good for you. We'll even let you camp out if they come for you."

He had a nasty grin, and the two goons cackled in kind.

"We know it might be the Carothers, but it could be any of 'em. You can tell us and we might even let you go, or else you might start missing a few. Know what I mean?"

He flicked out a knife. It made a buzzing sound, and vibrated ominously. Nova deigned instead to yawn. The boss, thinking himself a particularly patient man, snapped.

"Fine, I was gonna go easy on you, little miss, but if this is how you repay my kindness, so be it!"

He grabbed the edge of the chair, aimed at her left elbow, and swung. It sank into her arm, making a high-pitched whine. She yelled in pain, and weakly flailed. Part of the chair clattered to the ground with the arm still bound. The boss took her now detached arm, muttering to himself. A part of the wall suddenly gave way, and a dark vent appeared. He threw the arm into the gap, and the wall closed. After a few seconds, a sickening crunching and whirring could be heard in the distance. Nova sighed. One of the goons started whispering.

"Hey boss, you think she coulda been by her lonesome?"

"Nah no way. I checked. No signals, she's not an Auger."

"She been real weird though. Ain't seen nothing like it."

The boss narrowed his eyes at her.

"You willing to speak now?"

"Yes. But it's for your ears only."

His face curled into a sneer. He walked closer, and leaned his head down to Nova's mouth mockingly with one hand behind his ear. She murmured a series of commands.

"Express series activation. ADU override requested. Port 0. Channel 17. Credentials: #########"

The boss straightened back up.

"Good news boys. Dinner's on me."

The goons whooped with joy, and approached the boss. They failed to notice the glint of the knife held in his right hand. In the next moment, their heads had left their bodies.