I will strive beyond this cursed bloodline!

She ended up walking longer than expected. The store the waiter girl suggested was in a shady part of the town, but then again, the coupon was too tempting to resist... A whole 60% off discount plus a note from the restaurant owner to help her since she was new in town...

That spoke to her for some extra discount. With some luck, she could get a new cellphone with a nice 70%-80% off...

What kind of girl... No, what kind of human wouldn’t walk the extra mile for these discounts?!?!?

A monster that was who wouldn’t go for it. And she wasn’t a monster, no sir, she was a normal human being...Who walked into one of the more shady parts of the city...And ended up suspiciously close to the building she was supposed to go to the Monday afternoon...

‘Go and investigate the area. Don’t stray more than a meter from the street.’ Ordered Elizabeth into her shadow, she felt the acknowledgment from Nyx followed by ‘It will be done, Mistress.’ The answer from the little girl that now resided in her shadow.

She almost staggered when that answer came back. The little girl and the butler had slipped her mind completely. She would need to deal with that, if her skill was out of control from the [Taint]...Would Nyx and his dragon entourage be a danger to her?

She would need to investigate the origin of the [Taint]...After finishing her shopping, and while the store didn’t look impressive as one of the hyper malls in Avalon, it didn’t dissuade Elizabeth from going in. “Hello~?” Said the girl while opening the door and going in.

It was a humble store with shelves full of all kinds of trinkets, from half-open cellphones to datapads. She could even see a few holopads here and there with the Saintsworth’s logo on them. Half of them were open and with some pieces to the side as if showcasing that these were custom models.

…So that meant this store dealt with illegal tech…Illegal [Tinker Grade] tech. Neat.

“I have a coupon ♪ ~ “ Said the girl while walking by the shelves and seeing the stuff, she even saw a few silver bracelets here and there, all with a note that said these would not trigger the alarm to the police unless you went above the 60% threshold of mana instead of the usual 20%. It also said that he would not be responsible for the explosive reaction it would have after reaching that threshold.

She also noticed how the red bracelet she was holding right now in her arm was expensive, way too expensive…It was basically an underworld custom to order made bracelet similar to the one her father had given her…Or she got that idea from the stuff around, it had a few notes saying these were the best available on the market, almost nearing the same levels of military grade (Hero Military grade)…So long one used it within the area of influence of [The Hydra’s Fang].

“WHO IS BOTHERING THIS EARLY?!?!?” Came the thunderous voice of a man who barely managed to reach her waist level, he had long ears with some earrings on them, a pair of Googles on his head, and a weird helmet that was full of pieces of chips that made it look as if he had a whole computer strapped to his head.

His outfit was on the same theme, full of machines and scanners all over his body, with a couple of extra belts on his chest filled with almost any kind of tool one could imagine. His gloves reminded her of the ones the pink-haired girl had used before, but these were more stylish than those.

 

Elizabeth was almost sure that he came out of a fantasy world. She managed to control her instincts and not scream ‘Gnome!’, and instead she just handed the coupon to the Gnome “I got a coupon from a girl for a new cellphone…Mine…isn’t good to use around these places.” Said the girl to the gnome.

For his part, the man just took it and said, “Hmm…Lidia gave you one of hers?” He warily looked at her, then after noticing her obsidian bracelet gave her a one over “And your phone isn’t good enough, you say? Show it.” He demanded while extending one of his tiny burly hands.

Elizabeth just arched one of her eyebrows but complied, nonetheless. “Don’t break it.” The gnome took it from her hand and rushed to one of his tables, so Elizabeth followed him and saw how he was using several types of scanners over her phone.

And he just mumbled over and over unintelligible while poking at her phone, at the end he just sighed and threw the phone at her “Hey!” complained the girl while catching the phone. She almost reached into her shadows trying to retaliate. But the bracelet gave her a jolt that surprised her.

"Hah! That never gets old." Said the gnome while laughing at Elizabeth who was glaring at her red bracelet. "So Girly, usually I would say you don't need a new phone since this one is top quality stuff...All of it." He said while bringing up a picture of her phone.

It disassembled the phone in a 3d image showcasing most of the parts, while some internals were blurred...But it showcased the exterior quite well "Even the plastic on your case is [Tinker Grade] Custom made stuff..." Said the gnome while eyeing her phone. "But since you have one of our lovely [Echidna]'s bracelets...You will not be able to bring that thing within a block of our base." He said while showing his own bracelet.

Also red with the same motif of Cerberus, only his had a blue decoration instead of the black one hers had.

"You can call me [Hephaestus]. I make all the [Tinker Grade] toys you will enjoy while working under [Echidna]." He smiled at her while pressing some buttons under his table. After a small sound of gears, the table opened up and showcased a line of cellphones, some similar to hers while others going wildly in other directions.

There was one that looked like a pen that could open a small crystalline panel to show a screen even!

"I..I...I am not...Who told you?" Said Elizabeth while stuttering over herself and walking closer to examine the phones.

"Of course, you will work for her, those ones don't get given away unless you either have a really bad trigger or want to work for [Echidna]...And since Zoe said you might come my way I have been waiting and monitoring your use of mana..." Answered the Hephaestus while bringing up his own datapad and showing her a graphic with the name Alice and a picture of her powered appearance. "You need to work on your mana leakage problem...Most of it is being channeled into your skill right now...But if you don't fix it your [Skill] may end up eating you one of these days...If you decide to not work for us that is." He said while smirking.

He knew that she needed to fix her [Skill] problem and that they were the only viable option...Besides going full government and hoping they didn't cripple her skill with some faulty [Tinker Tech] armor or something.

"...Fine...I will take this one." Elizabeth said while pointing to a black phone with a stylish case. She didn't pick it up because the case had a [Shadow Pact] logo on it...No sir...I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU TALKING ABOUT!

"That will be..." Started saying the gnome, but Elizabeth didn't allow him to continue before saying "Can I use the bracelet to pay for it?"

The gnome just smirked and answered "That money will come from your pay anyway...Any money after your bill at the restaurant will come from your pay that is." And he showed her a scanner similar to the one used at the restaurant.

Elizabeth just thought that over...Who could she screw over this time..." Say...Can you tell me what sneaky tech was in my phone?" She asked just for curiosity's sake.

The gnome for his part just shrugged and printed something before starting to read it "At the very least...Information blackout, position tracing, information filter...message filter..." He carried on talking and talking for a few minutes, almost every aspect of her life on that phone got enumerated "At the very least, most of this goes through an Avalon Ai...It's the normal stuff, the only difference from yours is that your information goes to a high-grade AI before being deleted, while usually the information gets stored for further deliberation by a human." He finished saying.

As if that was a perk of some class...

She didn't like the fact that most of her life got judged by some random AI...Even if it seemed that everyone from her hometown got the same treatment...

Even if her father had managed to make sure no one else could access her information...

"And your phone...." She started saying.

The gnome caught on her and answered first "No. [Echidna] made me swear a [Geass] upon my [Unique Skill] no information is leaked. Not from our side, if you search for something the site where you read it may hold the information of your access. But we don't read nor use the information stored in the phone. That I can guarantee." He said holding one of his fists to his heart.

"Then I will pay using the bracelet." She said extending her left hand, the one that didn't have one.

"Girl you don't..." Started saying the gnome, but stopped midway, since the shadows shrouded her left hand and after a second or so, a new bracelet was there. Her obsidian one.

"Damned gods from beyond the veil..." Cursed the gnome scanning the bracelet with shaky hands. "Can...Can I...?" Started saying the gnome after checking that the transaction had come through.

Elizabeth peeked at the register and saw that it didn't show a name nor account, just a confirmation of payment and the ticket also showed the items she had bought herself.

One custom-made [Shadow Pact Edition SmartPhone - V17].

"You may examine it...So long you can guarantee you can stop this one from leaking my data." Said the blonde while extending her hand toward the gnome.

He just kept staring at it, then at her. She could see her smile in the goggles of the gnome, and her eyes once again shining red. Almost maliciously as a demon making a deal with a human. Tempting them for their soul.

"Girl...I couldn't even...My [Skill] is screaming at me, saying that if I poke at that thing...Whoever made will know." He said while lowering his hand in defeat. "I have no idea from who you got that, but take it away and don't bring it out while working for us..."

At this, Elizabeth shrouded her hand in shadows and stored the bracelet again. "Yeah like that, don't know what kind of skill is that. If it [Infosec] or [Space attributed] but my machines stopped screaming at me so it must isolate it quite well..." And at this point, the gnome stopped and looked once more at Elizabeth.

"I will go and get the memory of that bracelet erased. So don't ever show it to me, ever. If I ask say you paid in cash, the register gave the option so yours is top grade that is for sure." And at that point, he pointed her to the door. "Now go, I gotta get an appointment with our local [Minder]...Ugh...More paperwork..."

So on that note, she left the shop, stashing her old phone into her inventory and examining the new one. She couldn't really use it right now...Well, not for anything besides taking pictures...

She ended up taking a selfie and making a new profile with her new name for this persona...After fighting for her life against the need to make a new email account to verify her new profile she uploaded it with a profound inspirational quote.

 

"Felt cute, took a picture...Might delete it later." Said to herself Elizabeth while writing the same thing on her post, seeing as no one was giving a like to her picture yet (Since it was a two-minute-old profile) she decided to give herself a like.

 

So taking her old phone she searched that photo on the social network, she of course didn't use the username for the search...Just looked at the new photos uploaded on the site (Liked a few cat pictures on the way too).

 

And when she spotted herself, she gave herself both a like and a follow. She had given other people follows before, so she was hoping this wouldn't trigger any alarms on whoever was monitoring her.

 

Either way, after her main profile gave it a like her second profile started earning more views...And more likes, so she was happy with the result. Some even started commenting and asking for what filters she had used even!

 

Rude!

 

She was all natural!

 

...As natural as a body made by a [Skill]...Who was probably designed by a mischievous blonde...And his sister...

 

Even so, she didn't use filters!

 

So while fighting for her honor on social media the blonde started navigating to the library, she needed to get used to the new phone so she was using the navy app on this one.

 

So much more easy to navigate with the OS this had...And no, she wasn't using that as an excuse to fight for her honor on social media sites...Nor she was taking extra pictures in different lighting to prove her point...I don't know what you mean.

 

In the end, she arrived at the library after having to take 10 different photos in different parts of the city, and she was relieved by that fact since a few commenters posted that they knew those parts and asked if she was from Londinium.

 

That was the name of the city she was in apparently...

 

Either way, she made haste to the library and made sure to cover her face as much as possible with her hoodie...Perhaps she should see if the next [Skill] she developed was attuned to sneaking or cloaking.

 

'[Mistress, there is no one following you, you can rest easy.]' Came the voice from her shadows.

 

She wasn't sure why or how the little girl knew, but she was thankful for the care she seemed to have. Of course, if Elizabeth wasn't in a rush to enter the library she would had notice how a couple of shadow dragons were darting from shadow to shadow checking her surroundings.

 

But she was too busy running into the library to notice such an event.

 

"Hello Miss, how can I help you?" Said the receptionist of the library when she arrived. This one looked more...Rustic.

 

The building had this feeling that it had been standing since the old times, and the bookcases had seen better times, if not for the emblem of the Saintsworths on the receptionist's desk she would have probably gone to another one...

 

"I want to use one of the computers to access some information...Is this emblem for real?" Said Elizabeth while also asking for the logo on the reception desk.

 

It was a crime to use one of the big corpos emblems without permission...But then again, she was in the shady parts of the city.

 

"Sure you can use them as you wish, we have a direct connection to the local information repository." She said while giving her a tag with numbers. "That will be your both."

 

And she pointed to the right where she could see a door with the words [PC Room] on it. "And yes, this is one of the few [Libraries] endorsed by the [Saintsworth's Conglomerate]. So we have priority access to their vast reservoir of knowledge. Not even the Library on the main street can boast of that!" Said with pride the receptionist. "They do, however, get the lion's share of the budget..." And deflated after saying the last part.

 

"I mean...The information is the important thing anyway..." Said Elizabeth trying to console the receptionist.

 

"YOU ARE RIGHT! WE SAINTSWORTH'S MUST ENDEAVOR TO TAKE CARE OF THE WORLDS KNOWLEDGE!" Said the receptionist as if Elizabeth had lit a fire in her.

 

She went on and on saying how information was important, and how her work as a librarian was important to protect the information and help them spread that to the world.

 

She went on and on...For almost one hour...

 

In the end, Elizabeth managed to run away by saying "I...Gotta check on this report from school...And my curfew is getting kinda close..." So she managed to escape from the clutches of the receptionist.

 

On the bright side, her pc got upgraded to allow her to search more deeper than she should... So not everything was wasted in that one hour that the receptionist (Or librarian as she called herself) went on her almost fanatical rage about knowledge...

 

She would have nightmares about that receptionist...Granted that was only if the information she found didn't give her nightmares on its own.