|Ace>

  The two of us left the cafe and headed back through the bustling boulevard toward Syzygy Square. While we walked, a message pinged on my HUD.

  I swiped at the air to open it. "It's from Reggie. We need a filler piece for tomorrow; do we have anything we can throw together?"

  "I don't write down Courtney work."

  I looked at my notebook. "We've still got that NPC versus player tailor idea."

  "Pass." Cherry said. "Oh, why don't we use the drone to get some aerial photos! 'Familiar City, New Angle!'"

  I nodded slowly. "That could work. Quick, easy, and we already have the equipment."

  [Ace]: How about aerial photographs of famous landmarks?

  [Reggie]: You know the city's a no-fly zone, right?

  [Ace]: Don't worry; we've got a new toy. And you know us - we're very discreet.

  [Reggie]: Alright, but I'm not getting you out of jail for this one.

  "And we're on!" I announced, closing the messaging window. "Let's get this done fast before Vs gets back to us!"

  We quickly made our way through the city, starting with the center of the Sunfire District. The Solar Arena stood like a massive crown of stone and metal, its tiered seating rising around the transforming field. It looked like there was currently a rock climbing competition going on.

  After that, we moved on to the Magic Academy to get some shots of the spires, buttresses, and floating satellite annexes. Then Constellation Station and the surrounding plazas and back to Syzygy Square to see the swirling patterns of foot traffic in the snow. The operation went smoothly - no one even noticed our little drone high above them.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  As we were looking through the photos, deciding which ones to send to Reggie, I couldn't help but wonder how many imposter players were in those crowds. But I pushed the thought aside and sent them off.

  [Reggie]: That was fast. Good job, you two.

  And that was when a second message came in - but it wasn't from Vs. It was from Willard.

  [Willard]: Hey guys, we found a note pinned to the cafe door, and we think it's addressed to you.

  Attached was a picture of the Ranger's cafe. There was a piece of paper taped to the door with a message written in red ink: 'To the snoops - Falconworth, 5th Street downtown, Bea's Diner, 8 PM - Come alone.'

  I showed the picture to Cherry. Her eyes widened as she read the note.

  "Man, I thought we took this story because it wasn't going to get us killed!"

  I smiled. "I guess, being muckrakers, trouble just wants a piece of us."

  Cherry smirked back and put on her knuckle dusters. "Well, they picked the wrong journalists to mess with."

  [Willard]: What do you want us to do about this? Circle the wagons?

  [Ace]: No, we've got this one.

  I dismissed my messaging window and turned to Cherry. "Let's hit the market and get some gear, then catch a train."

  We headed up to the player market to once again look for weapons. We broke the bank on consumables - ice crystals and smoke bombs and such.

  As we headed for the train station, I checked our wallet and grimaced. "We're not going to have anything to spend in Falconworth."

  "Great. So we'll be broke AND possibly murdered." Cherry sighed dramatically.

  Then an idea struck me. I stopped walking and grabbed Cherry's arm. "Hold up - let's make a detour."

  Twenty minutes later, we were standing in Reggie's office at the Celestial Daily's headquarters. The big man leaned back in his chair, eyebrows raised as I finished my pitch.

  "Hear me out here: ever since Stonehearth, people have been afraid to visit the major cities, right? The World Guard's been trying to win them back. So here's the article: Falconworth's Top 5 Restaurants You Have to Try! (Sponsored by the World Guard.) We promote tourism, talk about how beautiful the city is, and eat some free meals!"

  Reggie nodded along. "Alright, you've put in a lot of work lately. I'll call a guy."

  Cherry pumped her fist and cheered, "Yes!"

  Reggie went into his inventory and counted out a pouch of money, then tossed it to me.

  "Get a start on that - I want it by, say, New Years." he said.

  "You got it, boss!" I pocketed the money.

  With plenty of change in our pockets, Cherry and I headed to the train station and caught the next one north: to Falconworth!