I followed the neon sign down an alley between two monolithic buildings. “Are you sure this is entirely a good idea?” Violet asked, eyeing off a violent looking youth coming the other way. “It'll be fine. Worst case scenario, we get some angry looks, what's the problem?” The punk shoved past with a grunt, taking as much room up as possible on his way through. “Right,” violet said, watching him disappear into the shadows, “Call me cynical but I don't have the greatest confidence in your judgement.” “You can leave any time you want,” I said, casting a glance down another alley as we came to a T-junction. Violet pouted, looking around for something to inspire a retort, “Fine.” she said finally, “Well which way?” I looked down the dark alley to see a drunkard stumbling out of the shadows. “Well, I'm going to go out on a limb here-” I began. “That limbs gonna break.” I shot her a look and continued, “Just follow me,” we continued down the narrow alley, under the ceiling of bundled cables that still powered the dilapidated networks of the old, inner building projects. Most of the building's doors had long since been chained shut, but on occasion one operated as a subtle hub for criminal activity, guarded by a menacing strongman or as the entrance to a secretive nightclub. The dull thudding of bass filtered through concrete walls and in a few minutes we were standing in front of the bright red holographic display of La Republique. “Come on man, just give me two seconds, I know I've got a bit of cash on me somewhere,” a kid said, digging his hands into his pockets. “If you can't pay, then don't hold up the line!” someone called, edging themselves half a step closer to the door. “Get out of line, sort yourself out.” the bouncer yelled, pulling the man aside and sending him on his way. I walked past the line, most of them had made some attempt to dress up but there was one in every ten that looked more junkie than clubber. “Evening, I'm looking for a Jason Hass?” I asked, surprising myself by grabbing the name from some distant memory that could only be recalled when it was most needed. The bouncer looked at me quizzically, shifting his weight slightly to reveal the pistol sized bulge under his blazer. “Hm, business or what?” he said, looking us up and down, his eyes lingering for a moment on Violet. “Business,” I said suddenly, stepping forwards to break his stare. “Elaborate,” he straightened his posture to tower over me. “I'm not sure I'm in a position to explain my business with a part-time doorman,” “If you're not going talk to me, then you sure as hell aren't talking to the boss. Beat it kid, I've got a job to do.” “I can tell you now, that's not something you want to do if you value that job of yours.” I bluffed. It was only a five meter dash to the doorway into the club, but there were two more bouncers that would be all too willing to stop me. I just needed to get past security and have a word with Hass, everything would clear itself, I was sure. I could remember being on good terms with him a year or more ago, but after that there was nothing. I just hoped that the more recent me had left on good terms before winding up shot. “Come on, just give your boss my name.” I pleaded, trying to give him an easy solution, “You can do that, right?” The bouncer looked slightly worried at the prospect of losing his job. “Alright,” he sighed, “hold out your arm.” I did as he asked and he waved his hand over my wrist. “Oh come on, turn off the guard. I need an ID to send him, don't I?” it suddenly clicked that he was trying to send my hijacked RFID details off to Hass. Normally civilians had an ID that could be programmed to show as much or as little to passersby, name, relationship, gender and so on. Police could bypass the encryption by law and view entire criminal and medical records with just an RFID scan, all in the name of security of course. “Come on, this is serious business, you don't think I'd give you my real name?” I said, trying to play it off. “Then what do you want me to tell him, some punk script kid wants to get in free? Fuck off,” the bouncer lost his composure at the idea that I might be more important than he thought. “Just tell him Neeko wants a word.” “Well fuck, why didn't you say so!” he said exasperated and he turned away. His eyes flickered with tiny images and text for a moment and he mumbled something under his breath before turning back. “Alright kid, you're good. Don't start any trouble or I'll be in, after you.” “Naturally,” I said, trying to act as if it were all a simple misunderstanding.