Adventure of Artyom Barseek

Corpo Plaza gleams beneath cold advertising light. Rich corpos in tailored chrome-thread suits, mercenaries in armored jackets, and Militech executives converge on a sealed private sale beneath the tower’s glass crown.

Security shutters descend over the surrounding walkways. Drones hover in disciplined rings while biometric scanners sweep every face, weapon, and encrypted credential in the crowd.

Behind polarized glass, a silver case rests beneath a hard white spotlight. The stolen sandevistan’s interface coils are visible through its transparent lid, pristine and unmistakable.

At the far end of the plaza, a Militech executive raises a payment shard toward the auction terminal. Its display blossoms with a number large enough to buy an entire neighborhood.

The crowd compresses around the sale platform, closing gaps between bodies and barricades. Above, a red security indicator changes from amber to locked.

Artyom turns his shoulders sideways and lets the compressed crowd carry him forward. Advertising glare breaks across chrome jackets and tailored suits, hiding his face in their shifting reflections.

He slips between a corpo's security detail and the barricade, matching the crowd's slow shuffle while the mercenary cordon watches the scanners instead of the platform.

A fresh wave of bodies compresses near the sale platform. Artyom lowers his chin, passes beneath the edge of a hovering drone's searchlight, and reaches the case's shadow.

The hard white spotlight sweeps away with the crowd's movement. Artyom's enhanced fingers catch the silver case handle, lift it from its cradle, and fold it against his jacket.

He disappears behind two wealthy clients as the platform remains focused on the payment terminal. The stolen sandevistan is now concealed beneath his arm, in his possession.