♫ We don't cry for nothin'
We were all build for something ♫
-- The Sam Willows, Robots

Peach breathed in deeply, her eyes fluttering open. She headed towards the ledge, and stared down. It was almost four stories high from where she was at, but she vaulted over the ledge without any hesitation.

A throng of mattress laid messily below her, the stains and discolouration was an obvious signs these were abandoned long ago. She landed on them, serving their purpose to cushion her fall. She rose up to her feet, finding her way down the hill of mattresses. 

She began to stretch her muscles, her mind working her own route towards the nearest vehicle stand. She had done this a dozen times, and she could easily remember the various paths to the area. 

After doing that, Peach took out a pair of wireless earphones and pushed them into her ear. It automatically adjusted itself and fit nicely in her ear. 

Five minutes has passed, do you wish to continue with your reservation with A003 or cancel it?

Peach nudged the "continue" button and positioning herself on the ground. She sucked in a deep breath and surged forward when she was ready. 

She took off, sprinting and she vaulted over a broken sofa that was dumped in the area. She didn't stop her momentum and continued on forward. 

Exercising mode activated, would you like to have music accompany along with your activities? 

"Yes please."

LÖNETWO detected! Would you like to pick up where you left off from your playlist?

"Yeah."

Playing "Mi" from "Lofi Hiphop" playlist, the volume will be adjusted to accordingly to reduce hearing loss. 

Music played through her earphones, and the quality of it was astounding. A look of approval flitted past Peach's eyes, it was one of her favourites in the playlist. 

Nearing the fence that had sealed off the entire area, Peach leaped into the air, her hands gripping onto parts of the fence. Her hands had become calloused over the years, and it no longer hurt her. Moreover, she learnt to handle pain pretty well, except for the pain of stubbing her toe. 

Peach scaled the fence and landed on the floor, both graceful and effortlessly. She knew all the six years of doing parkour wasn't just a waste of time, especially for her night job. 

She proceeded to take off, preparing to head into the city and the nearest vehicle stand.

***

Milky peach eyes gazed out the tinted windows, admiring the sights of the city as it zoomed by. Peach declined the music services for the car, she wanted to enjoy the peaceful silence, just for a moment. 

"There is unexpected traffic ahead due to road maintenance, delay will be unavoidable, Miss Peach. Would you prefer to take a different route?"

"That's alright," Peach turned her head to the driver seat, though there was no driver there. "Continue on, A003."

A driverless car was the second most popular mode of transport around the world. They had no car plates, and the only way to recognise them were their identification numbers. 

"Understood, we shall proceed as you wish."

The steering wheel spun lightly on its own, and the car switched lanes. Peach stretched her head, spotting the traffic from afar. She relaxed back into her seat, and her nose began to itch a little, sneezing a few seconds later. 

"Adjusting the temperature of the air conditioner, and preparing the anti-bacterial spray. Please close your eyes and hold your breath for three seconds." 

Peach sighed, doing as the car had said. She didn't like the smell of the spray, it made her feel slightly queasy. 

"Miss Peach, since the wait would be long, would you like some music?"

"Fine, go ahead."

Peach turned her attention back to the view of the city, observing intently. Soft music broke the peaceful silence, and the pleasant singing of a popular singer filled the car. 

The gorgeous skyscrapers in the city filled the skies and they were surrounded by modern houses and buildings. Neo was just like any other urban cities, equipped with the latest technology. In fact, the entire world now revolved around technology and relied on energy-saving fuels that posed no harm to the environment. There was no place in the world that didn't possess any piece of the latest technology, unless they preferred a secluded lifestyle. 

Nevertheless, there was a special label for Neo, it was the "City of the Night Couriers" as many would call it. It was the first place in that gave birth to night couriers, and its business bloomed rapidly within a year. 

An incident happened two years ago that threw the world into disarray. A group of hackers only known as "Z" who were a small-time hackers pulled off one of the biggest stunts ever. They hacked into one of the top companies in the world, responsible for major breakthroughs in technology. No one knew how it was possible, and they proceeded to expose every single information of everyone in the company, even their clients and customers. 

The entire world was solely reliant on technology at that point. Thus, every single information in their life was stored in their system. It was an international crisis, and the company's reputation crumbled to dust overnight. The clients and customers who held every single piece of their privacy exposed had to live with the nightmare of their entire biography being exposed in the internet forever. 

In addition to that, some of its clients and customers were high-ranking government officials, including those involved in the secret services. 

Three months later, the group was located and the police reacted swiftly to arrest them. Nevertheless, the moment they arrived at the scene, they were only greeted with a warehouse with computers or any electronic gadgets destroyed beyond repair. In the middle of that, the body of one of the hackers were found and autopsies revealed that he had died by inhaling carbon monoxide. 

It was an intentional suicide. 

Till this day, it remained as one of the biggest mysteries, there was nothing that they could do to find a link to the other hackers. It was as if the others had completely disappeared without a trace. 

Thus, that led to the rise of night couriers. Delivery services carried out by humans, during midnight, where tracing and tracking the activities were impossible. The most important of all, the night couriers were never allowed to look into the package, and the only parties who knew what was being delivered was the client and their partner. 

"Show us an identification."

Two black-attired burly men blocked the entrance to the stairwell leading down into the darkness. Peach brought her head up, removing her hat and her mask. 

"Really guys?"

The two men cracked a grin and shifted aside, opening a path for Peach. 

"Nah, we were just kidding witcha. Come 'ere, Peach!" One of them said, beckoning her for a hug. 

"You hug me, and I'll kick you in the nuts." 

"Ohhh, scary little tiger eh," The other one guffawed. "Go on! And welcome back to Neo's special black market, little Peachy."

"Is Maddoggy here today?"

"Il cane non ha mai mosso un passo oggi." The man with the tanned skin, who was on the right, mumbled out. 

"Vannozzo, again with the italian?"

"It's a cosmopolitan city!"

"Löne, please translate." Peach stated and words began to appear in front of her. 

Spoken words: "il cane non ha mai mosso un passo oggi."
Translation: "The dog has never taken a step today." 

Is there anything else you would like to translate?

Peach declined and patted both guys on the shoulders, going on ahead. They gave her more friendly grins before spinning back around, putting on stern expressions again. 

She wore back her hat and mask, making her way into the market, ignoring the vendors trying to draw her attention. Their stalls were set up haphazardly, and in a poor condition too, but their prices were cheap compared to the normal market rate. 

Alas, those who had actual shops set up here were the only ones to be trusted. Although, that was only privileged information regular customers of black market knew, since they learnt it from experience. 

She paid no heed to what they were selling, her eyes fixated on the various shop names. 

Indigo, and the next shop will be...

Peach mused to herself, her eyes landing on a name she was all too familiar with. 

狗皮膏药, a Chinese idiom for a stall name. 

She remembered stumbling onto this shop on her first day over here. The shop name stood out compared to the rest. She recognised it to be Mandarin, but she understood nothing about it. 

She was tempted to step into the stall, until a passerby stopped her by tapping on her shoulder. It was a rather chubby lady, and from her words, Peach could tell she liked to stick her nose into places where it doesn't belong. 

"Young lady, don't go to this stall, you see the name?" The lady warned, her thick Chinese accent made Peach cringe a little. "It is read as gǒu pí gāo yào, a Chinese idiom."

"A Chinese idiom?"

"Yes, yes. It means something useless and cheating."

"So, you are saying this store sells useless and counterfeit products?"

"Yes ah, yes! He is crazy, selling fake stuff and cheating people! No good, no good!"

Till this day, Peach had never regretted disregarding her persistent warnings. She walked confidently into the shop, just like she did on that day. 

Removing her disguise, the thick stench of cigarette infiltrated her nostrils, and Peach crinkled her nose. She glanced at the man sitting on the swivel chair as he spun around lightly, playing around with his cigarette by blowing puffs of air out from his mouth.

"Finally here to collect your gadget?" 

"Hey Maddoggy."

"Why are you the only one who calls me Maddoggy instead of Maddog?"

"Doggy sounds more endearing, no?" Peach answered, and Maddog stopped spinning, looking at her with raised eyebrows. 

"It would be endearing, if it wasn't from someone like you with a high-pitched voice."

Peach threw Maddog a glare. 

"Okay, wait here, I'll go get your stuff." 

He stood up from his chair, extinguishing his cigarette in the ashtray in front of him. Peach observed the dozens of tattoos on his muscular arms. His hair was cut short, like military standard. Despite his rugged good looks, the guarded expression that he wears frequently on his face makes one cautious around him. 

He was dressed in his usual black sleeveless shirt and black long pants. Peach didn't have to look to know he had a black jacket lying around somewhere too. 

She had known him for years, and she had grown accustomed to the guarded aura around him. She knew there was a past he didn't like that stuck with him, and now he had to live with it. 

Her eyes wandered around the hardware shop, there were dozens of electronic products hanging behind her on the wall. They were either made by him or bought off from others, and it was organised in a horrible manner. In front of her was a table accompanied with glass casing, and the casing only contained small objects that were the size of a coin. The coin-like objects were arranged neatly side by side, a huge contrast compared to the products hanging behind her. 

The sound of approaching footsteps snapped Peach out of her daze. Maddog reappeared from the storage room, and carried a briefcase that gleamed in the light. He placed it on the table gingerly, pushing it towards Peach. 

She grabbed it almost too eagerly, until Maddog halted her by taking the briefcase away. Her hands grabbed nothing but air, and she gave Maddog an unhappy look. 

"Give it--"

"Remember. To take care. Of my baby--or babies."

"Yes, now give it, give it give it!"

"Careful, okay?"

Peach snatched it away happily, her face glowing with pride as she gazed at the case, "Peach is finally back to her best form," she beamed. "I have missed you, my dearest."

"How is Arwen lately?" Maddog questioned, amused.

Who is the hypocrite now? You treat them like your babies too! 

Maddog bemused, not daring to say his thoughts aloud. 

Peach moved her eyes away from the case, "Arwen is great...but annoying," she responded and made a face. "Are you really going to let her continue calling you Master?"

"I created her." Maddog shrugged. 

"Yeah," Peach puckered her lips. "Fair enough." 

Maddog let out a short chuckle. 

"Alright, I'll see you around, Maddoggy!" Peach carried the briefcase in one hand, giving him a wave with the other. She took the first few steps forward and she halted abruptly, spinning back around.

Maddog wore a quizzical expression on his face at her actions. 

"Hold on, I still haven't heard about your whole Maddoggy alias thing," Peach started to say. "Along with the ridiculous name you have for your shop."

"You aren't going to let this go until you hear the full story, aren't you?"

Peach shook her head, blinking curiously. "Of course not."

"A long time ago, I used to play virtual mahjong with a close Chinese friend of mine--a great guy but he can be a fucking dick at times."

"Hah, guys are assholes anyway."

Maddog cast Peach a dubious glance. 

"Fine, most guys, okay? Most. Guys." Peach corrected herself. "Anyway, just hurry and continue." 

"Right, so, we made a bet for one particular game, we had a few drinks so we were feeling buzzed at that time. If I won, I'll get to choose his tattoo, and if he won, he'll get to choose my shop name."

"Ahh, and this is where it came about--wait a minute, did you know the meaning of the name from the start?"

"Of course not, he was all tight-lipped about its actual meaning. It wasn't until that one day he decided to explain how it was a Chinese idiom and how it originated. After that, I immediately realised its meaning and he escaped."

"Did you find him and beat him up?"

Amidst their conversation, Maddog had already lit up a cigarette, taking a swig of it. 

"I did find him," Maddog exhaled, the smoke swirling in the air. "And I just laughed my ass off about it with him." 

"So, you decided to just keep this...unbelievable idiom...as your store name?"

"Why not?" Maddog shrugged, pointing his cigarette towards Peach. "It led me to meet a customer like you, fucking rich and loyal too."

Peach laughed light-heartedly at his words. "So you are eternally grateful for me walking into this store on that fateful day?"

"Oh no, don't be mistaken, I have other customers like you too, dumb yet smart. You are nothing special, only special to me as the very first customer."

"...are you trying to insult or compliment me?"

"Both."

"..."

Peach was speechless, spinning back around and sauntered her way to the door. She had already grown used to Maddog's bluntness anyway. 

"Hey, Peach!" Maddog called out to her, right before she stepped out. 

"Spit it out!"

"Can I pull a favour card from you?"

There was a pause, and Peach poked her head back in.

"Mail me the details," Peach winked at Maddog. "It's free of charge, just for you, Maddoggy." 

"Thank you."

"Aye, aye."

***

Peach took the same driverless car home, as she had requested to use its services longer. She placed the briefcase onto the sofa, rushing to the ingredients of the food, excited to cook a delicious dinner for herself. 

If there were a few things Peach kept neat, it would be washing the dishes after she cooks. The others would be related to her work. 

Arwen stood beside her as a hologram, assisting her in following according to the recipe, edited according to her tastes. Soon enough, it was time for her to gobble down her meal. 

At least, this time around, the spice level for the food didn't cause her to spew out profanities. She managed to enjoy her food too, instead of jumping around and swallowing down cups after cups of cold water. 

Whilst she was out of the house, the robot cleaner did a good job of cleaning the atrocious mess. This time, the robot came with a function to wipe its memories of the house and the address before sending it back to its owner. 

"Would you like to review the e-mails sent to you from your various clients now?"

"Yes, Arwen."

"I understand, I have arranged them accordingly as well."

"Thank you, please view the first e-mail."

Peach was resting on the couch in a lazy pose, and the slim television screen in front of her switched on. The e-mail she requested was shown clearly on the television. 

Peach, 

A package for you at 108th Ion street, at the rooftop of the third apartment building, 1:35AM. The delivery address will be written on the package. 

The payment will be done upon delivery, three times the previous amount. 

Pleasure doing business with you. 

- K

Peach sat up, extending her hand out to the coffee table in front of her, it was covered all around by glass and wood. She tapped her fingers twice on the surface, and the ordinary-looking coffee table began to make a sound, and suddenly a voice drifted out from its sides. 

"Hello Peach, how may we assist you today?"

"Get me Refruit."

"We will prepare the specified drink shortly, please wait a moment."

Peach relaxed back into her seat, letting out a sigh. 

"Arwen, please show me the next e-mail."

"Of course."

The e-mail on the screen changed, and Peach read through its contents, nodding in approval. The screen switched yet again. 

The surface of the coffee table moved, part of it sliding open and a compartment was revealed. 

An empty glass cup sat in between two clear canned drinks that were made from recyclable materials as well. One of the drinks was an reddish-orange liquid, while the other was a pale orange liquid. There was also a small ice bucket in front of the cup. 

"Would you like some ice cubes with the drink?"

"Yes please."

A pair of robotic arms suddenly shot out from the sides of the canned drinks. The arms moved swiftly placing three ice cubes into the cup and opened the canned drinks, pouring and mixing it into the cup. The moment it was finished, everything was kept back smoothly except for the drink. 

"The drink is ready, please remember to place the empty cup back at the sensor in the middle. We will proceed to wash it and store it."

Peach stood up, bringing the drink along with her to the table counter. Along with the ingredients, Arwen knew to include her favourite snacks into the order as well. 

Peach had a rule to never eat her snacks or drink on the couch. She didn't want to ruin or stain such a good couch. Alas, this is where she always leaves her cup behind and becomes even more lazy to transport it back to the coffee table. The reminders from Arwen served no purpose, and she decided to turn off that reminder function.

"Arwen, show me the next."

The entire thirty minutes was spent checking through the e-mails. Peach was always careful when accepting the courier jobs, she only accepts those she was confident in completing it without the slightest mistakes. 

A mistake in the night courier service, no matter how small it was, can prove to be fatal. 

Though, in the end, she decided to accept all the requests she had received today. It seems like she was not going to have a nice home-cooked meal for two weeks.

"Peach, there has been an update in the database for the police force."

"Tell me more about it." Peach became alert, the police force wasn't a threat to her, but they weren't something to ignore either. 

Avoiding them and getting the latest updates on their movement are precautions she always takes. Night couriers stayed in the grey zone in terms of law, though, they were still illegal in a way. 

"A new detective has been assigned to the Neo police department. He has been in the force for only a year, a rookie, but he has many achievements so far, a perfect role model. He was transferred here just yesterday."

"A role model wouldn't be transferred so quickly. What happened at his previous job?"

"There is some redacted information concerning his previous job at the Ulcan police department. I can decipher it, and it'll be 98% accurate, would you like me to proceed?"

"Go on, and summarize it." Peach stated, munching on her snacks and taking a sip of her drink.

"It seems like he was involved in a huge fight with the chief of the department. The chief was beaten brutally and had to be hospitalized for months, an unexpected outcome as the chief is much larger than the former."

"Hmm, reminds me of a wolverine, those bear-like creatures are scary. Can even kill animals many times larger than themselves," Peach snickered to herself. "Is there anything else I should take note of?"

"Yes, he apparently specializes in night couriers crimes, especially tracking and tracing them."

"So that's why he was transferred here," Peach talked with her mouth stuffed with snacks. "Why would he ever want to specialise in night couriers crimes? It's soooooo dull."

The crimes associated with night couriers were mostly petty crimes like trespassing, discharging a firearm within city limits and disorderly conduct. The only reasons detectives were assigned to this crime department was either as a punishment or they were too lazy. 

"He has a primary target, according to all his reports that were collected back by his previous department."

"Who is it?" Peach questioned, turning to look at Arwen who has appeared as a hologram now. 

"It seems like it's you, Peach." Arwen tilted her head a little, blinking innocently. 

Peach stopped chewing on her snacks, swallowing it down forcefully. 

I'll try to regularly update this every Wednesday or every  two weeks? And for this book, I decided to quote song lyrics from the song that I linked in the start of the chapter. Feel free to share your thoughts about the story so far! Have a great weekend everyone!