Status Updates From Juris Ex Machina

Julian Pike did not raise his voice when he ended Mara Voss's career.… Julian stood at the front of the auditorium with one hand resting lightly on the lectern, his sleeves rolled exactly once, the way he did when he wanted engineers to think he was practical and investors to think he was still hungry.

“Hi, Vy. I’m Rainville.” He extended a hand out of instinct, then immediately regretted making such a formal, old-fashioned gesture to such a dynamic female.…“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Rainville. Now, would you care to see the Underground?”

The lock snicked sideways and the door swung open to reveal an even smaller space. An even more confined dead end. “Lock it behind you,” she said, beckoning him to follow her into the closet...Either way, being closely confined with this prime specimen of teenage girl-ness was not something he’d avoid whatever the circumstances, so he re-engaged the lock and stepped inside.

He found himself laughing despite himself. It was apparently contagious; he heard an almost musical titter beside him.…It was the girl from the store! Even framed with the blur of the gaudy mall storefronts, she was radiant… The girl launched herself again, vaulting clear over the rail then dropping out of sight... he jumped over the railing after her like a hormone-crazed lemming.

Someone was coming down his aisle, fast. A SecAgent? No, a girl! More than just some girl: she was gorgeous. Her strawberry-blonde hair had highlights running from periwinkle to violet. Her impossibly-saturated, synthetically-hued eyes fell somewhere in the same range…She wore a short, ruffled trench coat, and had a small tattoo of some kind of normally-cute-and-fuzzy animal that was growling-and-rabid on…her neck.

“Flashmob ‘Attention, Shoppers,’ flashed the message. Beneath was a business name and a time. Nothing more.”

These staged sprees are “free for all” masses descending upon a business to evade security and escape with merch they haven’t paid for!