Letter 'A'.

Nick put on a safety helmet, pulled on gloves and started the engine. Old Honda, with an adapted engine, growled like a thunderous beast. This motorcycle was one of Ashley's favorite things, she went over every part of it, and changed it so that it could give odds to any car. From it looks, it was an ordinary motorcycle, but even on its surface special schemes were applied that did not allow security cameras to read its data. The safety helmet also acted as one of the camouflage parts, and the driver could move from one point to another without worrying to be noticed.

A young man with a smile on his face was watching the buildings and trees flying past him at high speed, the road was free and he was like the king of the road on it. Leaving the main city limits, Nick turned onto a secondary road and twenty minutes later he stopped in front of a small dilapidated building.

Once it was a private cinema with three halls of thirty seats each, but after all the epidemics and total isolation, the business fell into decay and the cinema completely stopped its work as it was unnecessary.

Many residents of large cities practically did not leave their homes, working remotely as operators of drones and robots, delivering parcels, food and all the necessary things both on land and by air. These robots were not humanlike like the one Ashley was working on. These were large boxes with wheels or special legs on hinges so they could move conveniently on stairs.

And one of these robots met Nick at the entrance to the building. A little car with a symbol similar to the letter [M] passed by the guy, crossed the threshold, activated the side screws and soared into the air, after half a minute completely disappearing from view.

"Hey North, is there an extra burger? And don't even think to get off, I just saw a fast-food drone on your doorstep," Nick leaned against the wall near the doorway, grinning as the other guy unfolded a large paper bag full of food.

"Damn! Teser! Today is some kind of abnormal outbreak in the sun that you came ahead of time?!" North nearly fell off his chair when he heard Nick's voice. The guy was thirty years old, he settled in this building a couple of winters ago and specialized in what was officially prohibited by the Government of the United Federation - the sale of information and the manufacture and sale of prohibited items.

It could be said that this was one of the representatives of the black market, hiding from the gaze of Marc Technologies, whose president was also the head of the Government and managed all the control levers.

"God, am I really so unpunctual that I hear about this for the second time in a day? One could be offended," Nick deflatedly pouted his lips, crossed his arms over his chest and sat on a chair next to North.

"Okay, okay, take it easy, buddy. Chicken or fish?"

"What?"

"Ahaha, I am asking, do you want a burger with chicken or fish? Eh, young people who have never flown an airplane, you don't even know such simple questions," North gave Nick two burgers to choose from, the young man thoughtfully looked first at one, then at the other, and picked up the one with the fish.

"And what is it like to fly on a plane? It's probably cool," Nick unfolded the paper packaging and greedily pounced on food, in the morning, besides coffee, his stomach did not meet with anything else.

"Well, I only flew with my parents to Bali once, the flight was about ten or twelve hours, it was fun. You know, when the plane lands or takes off, in your ears you have a feeling that they are about to burst!"

The young man looked skeptically at his friend, enthusiastically recounting childhood memories. North's words and his emotions did not match. What could be cool about your ears popping? People were definitely some kind of masochists before the outbreak.

North's wrist blinked and the man checked the incoming message, "Oh, my man is there. Have you brought what you need?"

Nick unfastened his leather jacket and pulled a small piece of cloth from his inside chest pocket. He turned the corners of velvet material, and in his palm were two golden wedding rings.

"Wow! Man, you are rich! Where did you get them from?" North took a larger ring and lifted it to the lamp. Exquisite engraving on the surface of the jewelry shimmered in the light with bright highlights.

"I love you beyond time? Who came up with such a pathos inscription?" The man read the words stamped on the inner surface of the ring.

Nick grabbed the jewelry from him and wrapped it back in fabric, "These are my parents' wedding rings."

"Your parents? Oh, sorry, man, I didn't know. I thought you stole them from someone's sealed house," North scratched his head guiltily, but this information only raised more questions in him, "Listen, why do you need to melt them? Can you even imagine what price even half a gram of gold now has? Moreover, I believe that your parents themselves left the rings for you to keep them, didn't they?"

"It was not so. But it is not important. I want your man to make me a pendant and a chain according to the sketch that I left."

"Dude, although there is a lot of gold, I'm not sure that it's enough for a normal chain. Well, maybe for a bracelet."

Nick thought that a similar problem could arise, so he got in advance what was in demand even more than gold. To do this, he really had to go through several abandoned houses of other people, fortunately, his vision made it possible to find the necessary objects even in hidden places.

"I think that's enough," he took out a second bundle and handed it to North. The man unfolded the fabric and saw two pairs of silver earrings and three silver rings. Silver was at the same price as gold, but was in greater demand, as it was actively used in robotics and electronic devices. If North was older and knew ahead of time what would happen after the outbreak, he would have bought cheap silver for all the money at that time.

The man approvingly wrapped the jewelry back in the fabric and put it in his pocket. "Yes, that is more than enough. It's nice to deal with you, Nicholas Teser."

He took two gold rings from Nick's hands and disappeared behind one of the doors of his old movie theater. One of the conditions of the contracts on the black market was the observance of minimum contacts, and North, as an intermediary, never acquainted customers and contractors directly. Nick could only dutifully wait for the man to return with the finished order.

Two hours later, the door snapped, and the man returned to his usual place.

"I envy the beauty who will get this treasure. Are you sure she is worthy of wearing a fortune on her neck?" North handed Nick a small box, objectively speaking, he considered the guy's act to be completely stupid.

Nicholas removed the top cover with anticipation and his eyes sparkled, satisfied with what had resulted in the end. "Yes, she is more than worthy. This pendant will look just fine on her."

Under the light of the lamp, on a soft backing in a cardboard box, an exquisite gold chain shone paired with the same pendant in the shape of the letter 'A.'