Nicholas looked at her through the eyeholes of his mask before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
"A few things," he said, his voice deliberately flat. "I need everything on this list."
The woman took the paper, unfolded it, and scanned the contents.
Her expression didn't change but her eyes narrowed… just a fraction but Nicholas caught it.
"Relax, I am not an Organ Harvester." Nicholas chuckled under his breathe.
"That's quite a shopping list," she said quietly… she obviously didn't believe him. In the end it was none of her business what he does with it.
This was the exact reason he didn't bother trying to buy it from legal sources… the items were obviously used for organ harvesting.
The attendant didn't waste time with small talk. She led Nicholas past several stalls, weaving through the crowd with practiced ease.
She led him to a stall and the first thing she did was grab a briefcase.
It was a matte black military-grade polymer… the kind used for field medical kits.
She picked one of the boxes off the stack, opened it, and placed it under a laser cutter.
The interface lit up—blue glow, simple layout—and she spent a few seconds typing something into it. A loading screen appeared for a few seconds, and then the laser began its work.
The dark grey foam inside the box hissed quietly as the beam carved into it creating custom nests where each instrument he ordered would have its own home.
Nicholas watched the laser trace the shapes of the items he had request with precision when suddenly the attendants voice pulled him out.
"Would you like to walk around while these works?"
"No."
The attendant nodded before going silent.
Within a few minutes, the foam was perfectly cut.
The attendant picked up the box and began leading him through the stalls again.
She moved with quiet efficiency placing each item was placed gently into its custom nest.
Within minutes, the box was full.
She turned to him, her expression neutral but polite. "Will that be all, sir?"
"Yes." Nicholas nodded.
She closed the box. The latches clicked into place with a satisfying, solid sound. Then she sealed it with a strip of adhesive tape that shimmered faintly in the low light.
Tamper-evident… If anyone opened it before he got home, he would know.
Then She led him toward the checkout location.
The checkout area was simple… a counter, a register, a bored-looking man sitting on a stool behind it scrolling through something on his terminal.
The attendant placed the box on the counter and tapped a few keys.
"The total will be 192,300 Credits," she said. "How do you wish to pay, sir?"
Nicholas reached into his back pocket, pulled out his wallet and removed two cards from the wallet.
"Credit Cards."
Back in his original world, a credit card let you borrow funds from a bank up to a preset limit. You paid for goods now, paid the issuer back later—plus interest if you were slow about it.
Although they had the same name these cards worked differently.
They stored credits offline… Directly on the card itself.
Yes, everyone in this world had a bank account and most people used them for rent, salaries, legitimate transactions.
But a lot of people still stored a portion of their credits on cards like these because cards could be traded directly by-passing bank fees.
Not to mention there was no tax… as long as the credit doesn't pass through the system.
And best of all?
They were untraceable after a while.
'Not that they can't be traced,' Nicholas thought as he handed the card to the attendant. 'But unless the crime is very severe, no one wastes that much time and resources on it.'
Plus, the security clearance required to trace a card transaction through the Black Market's labyrinth of shell accounts and dead ends?
It was typically not worth it.
The attendant swiped the first card through a small reader and waited… A soft beep sounded before the display on the reader flashed green.
100,000 Credits available.
Then she repeated the action with the second card.
100,000 Credits available.
She nodded as she returned her attention to Nicholas, "Do you wish to transfer the funds or pay with the cards directly?"
"Just keep the card." Nicholas nodded. It wasn't like it would make a difference, the cards were anonymous and had limits. "And keep the change as well."
"Thank you very much sir." Her smile widened even more as he pushed the box towards him.
His hand reached out and grabbed it before turning to leave. He still had something else to get.
Before long he was walking out of the underground market with two boxes in his hand.
Of course, with the almost 300,000 Credits worth of purchase, it was without surprise that he was being tailed.
He didn't even need to look behind him to know they were there.
He could feel them.
Two men, hanging back just far enough to seem casual and just close enough to not lose him in the crowd. They were good… he'd give them that. Not amateurs but not invisible either.
This was the thing about the Black Market.
It might seem calm on the surface. With polite attendants, professional transactions, good smell and nice atmosphere but that couldn't have been a bigger lie.
Underneath the polished surface, it was still a body of water filled with sharks.
And sharks could smell blood from miles away.
Nicholas had just walked in, bled almost 300,000 credits all over the floor, and walked out carrying two boxes worth stealing.
Of course they were following him.
He risked a glance at a reflective surface made of a polished metal panel on the wall ahead.
The reflection was distorted, but he could make out shapes. There were two figures both males with one taller than the other.
Both keeping their distance although one was closer than the other.
'Hmmm… Just two of them… Nice.'
Several more would have followed if he had spent more time down there but he hadn't.
He had moved fast, bought what he needed, and gotten the hell out.
The two were manageable.