It wasn’t a quiet coup. Vegas exploded into violence for three days. We fought where we needed to, the enemies changing by the day. We created a company a hundred strong, entirely disregarding previous alliances, and stormed a casino. We held it for one day, only to kill the men and women we put in power at Zero’s whims. Whatever his plan was, it was unknowable, and at some point we just had to know we were too much trouble to be worth betraying. He knew we’d drop the building he was in atop him if either of us got killed. Or at least I would if Mara died.

  When the storm subsided, the fighting did with it. Zero stood atop a pile of dead bodies, with twelve numbers reporting directly to him. We knew Two, One, and we knew Silver could get to Five. That was it, the rest were faceless leaders making demands from behind the scenes.

  Vegas had been revolutionized overnight. Nothing would ever be the same.

  And then the disappearances started. Key parts of the revolution vanished without a trace. Our watchman did his job, he tracked every movement in Two’s casino. People would turn in for the night and not a soul would enter or leave. And yet, not even their belongings would ever be seen again. It was like they never existed in the first place.

  “Zero.” I guess. “He had a backdoor into the camera room.”

  “As dumb as it sounds, we didn’t know he was capable of that at the time.”

  When someone knocked on our door in the middle of the night, we were only surprised they didn’t bust straight in. I checked the eyehole and found One and Two on the other side. I signaled back to Mara, and she nodded.

  I pulled the door open, convinced it was our turn for Zero to clean up a loose end.

  “Vincent, Mara.” One said professionally. “We still have a due to pay.” He nodded to Two, and he handed us a briefcase.

  I slung my rifle over my shoulder and grabbed the briefcase, popping it open with two loud clicks. Inside was a dragon’s hoard.

  “One point two million chips.” His words were slow, letting it set in. “As for your new home, grab what you need and follow me. We will send others to collect the rest.”

  I glanced at Two and took in his face. I didn’t know at the time what I saw was worthless. His poker face was and is impenetrable. But I was looking for any sign of betrayal anyway.

  “Even I couldn’t get anything out of him at the poker game.” Ivy adds.

  Mara took the lead, wordlessly grabbed our bugout bags, handed one to me, and we left. We followed them to a staircase, where we paused. Two was the first to speak.

  “You two remember who you work for.” He reached out and pulled the two of us into a hug. “Living in a different casino doesn’t mean you’re not a part of my family.”

  “We’re going to expect more millions after this.” Mara said.

  “You’d better expect heavy missions then.” He stepped back and clapped the two of us on our shoulders.

  He headed upstairs, and we followed One down. We were wordless, on edge. He waited at a closed door for minutes on end before stepping through. The basement was abandoned, a rare sight, but it got us into the undersand tunnels without anyone seeing us.

  Zero’s new casino wasn’t anything like it is today. It was downright modest. He didn’t claim the richest one, or the biggest one. But it was a blank slate in the middle of the city, and everything else could be fixed.

  A short elevator ride brought us to our new home. The same home we stayed in. A large room with fine-for-the-time furnishings. Three bedrooms, one bath. Far bigger than even the best room Two could offer.

  “The rest of your belongings will be by shortly.” One said. “Should you require anything, the intercom is yours. Our kitchen, our laundromat, our wine cellar, are all at your disposal. If you require anything we cannot immediately provide, we will endeavor to fix that as soon as possible. Please, enjoy your stay.” One backed out of the room, and that was the last time I ever saw him.

  Mara and I got to work tearing that place apart. We searched for traps, bombs, gas vents, any way to remove us. We found nothing. It was an honest deal. How many of us who helped him actually got what was promised? Not many, I imagine. But we were big enough that it was easier to placate than kill.

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  “Get that briefcase open.” Mara ordered.

  I got to counting. Made piles of a hundred-thousand chips. Every last chip was there.

  Sure enough, our belongings were delivered an hour later. A small army marched in, left everything we owned on the floor, and left.

  “He’s efficent.” Mara mused. “Too dramatic to trust though.”

  “Agreed.”

  We settled in, spent our days living in the lap of luxury. Every last whim was filled. It took two entire days before Mara got bored.

  We returned to Two, kept doing work. You wouldn't believe the looks on people’s faces when we just wordlessly reappeared two days after vanishing without a trace. That’s where we got our nicknames. The only ones who came back from our disappearance. The Phantoms of Vegas. Mara took that as a mark of pride, and it quickly became our M.O. We’d make sure we showed up out of nowhere, and disappeared just as quickly whenever possible.

  We settled in for a few years, growing wealthy beyond belief. We did work for Two, directly for Zero, and for anyone else who paid. We stuck around Vegas though. Our days of traveling the wastes were done for the time being.

  Mara got big into cybernetics, while I stayed mostly organic. That’s not to say I didn’t get any, but I kept them small, beneath the skin. Auto tourniquets, a few adrenaline canisters, stuff to keep me going. Her on the other hand? Pain dampeners, supplementary muscle enhancers, visual targeting systems linked to twitch servos in her fingers. The list could go on and on. She didn’t want to just survive, she wanted every edge possible.

  We got a mission a few years later, directly from Zero. It was a pretty standard assassination, but he wanted it done quietly. No shots, no explosions. Just slip in, slit his throat, and leave him there.

  We planned, and we executed. It went well. We slipped past guards during shift changes, popped a lock on an unused room, and waited there for the next opening in eighteen hours. We were silent, not a whisper between the two of us. Not even letting the floorboards creek under our feet.

  The hours passed, and we moved. Broke into the guy’s office, and found it occupied. Silver was standing over the guy’s body, having taken our kill.

  “The fuck are you doing?” No matter how angry Mara was, she was still a professional. Didn’t stop her from drawing her gun though.

  “My job.”

  “This was my kill.” Mara said.

  “Take it up with Zero.” Silver walked out of the room, exploiting the same security flaw we used, but taking a different route.

  We knew we had three minutes before it closed. We had no choice but to follow our plan. We couldn’t chase Silver.

  It took two days to get out of that building, moving from room to room, hiding inside air vents, but we made it out. The entire time, Mara seethed. She got angrier and angrier, stewing in what happened.

  By the time we got back to our room, she was ready to explode. Sorry, but I’d really rather not remember the specifics of what she did. It was nothing worth recounting.

  Once she was done with me, she turned her anger on Zero. He’d sent us both on the same mission. Why? I couldn’t tell you.

  I reactivate the small connection I have with Vegas.

  “Zero?” I poke him, and hand him the context of Vince’s story, and ask a single question. “Why?”

  “It was a small miscalculation in my simulations. I was sixteen bits off in my model of Mara. I was hoping they’d kill each other.” He answers simply.

  I relay his answer to Vince.

  “I forgot you can do that.” He responds. “I’m not surprised that was his reasoning.”

  Mara made a decision right then.

  “We’re stealing every damn chip in Five’s tower.”

  “Fine, as an apology I won’t get involved.” Zero accepted, probably for the same reason. A hope we’d get each other killed.

  We vanished from the face of the earth for the next week, spending all our time planning. We snuck out occasionally, always in disguise. We made allies, made deals, bought and sold information and weapons. Our chip stash disappeared quickly, but she didn’t care. This was about revenge, not profit.

  We got prepared. Just the two of us.

  The plan was simple. The vault wasn’t in the basement. The undersand tunnels demanded public access to those. Or at least foot traffic would be too close for comfort. No, the vault was near the top of the building, and that came with compromises. The thing couldn’t be too heavy for starters. No foot-thick, impenetrable steel walls. Best we could gauge with help from someone who knew his stuff, the most they could do was six inches. We could bust through that with a big enough blast.

  The only problem was the network. Divers existed at that point, but neither Mara nor I were going to risk that surgery. The success rate without serious complications was in the single digits. She didn’t care about me, but even she wouldn’t make me take that risk. No, we needed a diver.

  Our man came directly recommended by Two, the best of the best he said. His name was Elijah. He’d take down the network, flood it with false alarms. We’d bust in, do what we did best, and perform a smash and grab while they were disoriented.

  The hardest part was finding a getaway. Well, we knew a guy with a helicopter. He’d pick us up on the roof, carry us to the grand canyon, and we’d hop in a car we had stashed. From there we’d hide out there while we waited for a storm to pass, and head to Arc City the moment it did.

  With our plan in place, we got to work.

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