The streets were neon lit to high noon; still not many dared travel them after dark. Only a disturbance would arouse a few from their ports. I stood in a dim alley, the breeze blowing the ends of my long trench coat about my ankles. There were some action in the street.

Seems a small mech-droid had gotten fried and took to chewing light posts, and leaking fluids on the city garbage vacuum tubes. The police had blocked off an area, but as usual hadn’t the ability to control the droid. They were trying to lasso it with battery cables, then surge it to death. A blackmarket saber taser would have done the trick in a heartbeat. But the gov’t pacifists.. well, let’s not get me started.

The crowd that surrounded the scene was thin, but exactly what I was looking for. Setting my cybersocket lens to x-ray, I saw all their secrets. Chips, bio-sensors, credit strips. I scanned them as I idly walked past. I had 20 gigs of accounts, identities, and digital DNA by the time I passed the crowd.

Mission accomplished.