“I really hate needles,” Zoe told the delivery drone as she looked from it to the injector and back.

Taking a deep breath, Zoe jabbed the injector into her left thigh and hit the button. A few seconds later and the injector chimed to let her know it was empty. Zane had even included a bandage with the injector. Zoe was thankful for that because she didn’t have any since first aid wasn’t something she had thought about when she moved into the boathouse. She made a note to buy one when she shopped for groceries.

She placed the bandage on the injection site and added the trash to her take out pile. Zoe put the injector back into the drone’s compartment and watched as the door shut. The drone then lifted off and flew east towards Brooklyn.

Zoe gathered up the trash and headed into her houseboat. She put the trash in the recycler and watched the machine turn it into little paper and plastic cubs. Zoe dismissed the notice that said she would have to schedule pickup in three weeks. She scratched her left thigh around the bandage. A second later the itch traveled down to her knee and up towards her hip.

“What the heck?” Zoe muttered as the itching got worse. She ran a system diagnostic while scratching at where the itching was the worst. The diagnostic reported that the new nanites had started their work on her Subdermal Weave. She called Zane. “You didn’t mention the upgrade would itch and feel like something is crawling all over and inside of me.”

“Yeah. Sorry about that. I just read about the itching in the documentation,” Zane replied. “It should only last 12 hours give or take.”

“Only 12 hours!”

“At least it’s not the full 48 hours,” Zane countered shrugging his shoulders.

“I think I’m starting to hate you.”

“You don’t mean that,” Zane replied giving Zoe a mock pout.

“You’re right. I don’t,” Zoe admitted. “Still, if you had read the whole document, you could have warned me.”

“What kind of friend would I be if I had done that?” Zane asked grinning at Zoe.

“Oh, I don’t know, a good one maybe?” Zoe asked.

“Ha. That wouldn’t be any fun. Besides, I did sell it to you at cost,” Zane replied. “The more you scratch, the more it’ll itch.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“I’ll send you some anti itch cream free of charge. That should help,” Zane said.

“Thanks Zane.”

“Starting to love me now?” the nurse asked.

“Maybe just a little bit,” Zoe grinned.

“If you need anything else, call Bill or Sonya. Claire and I are taking the afternoon off,” Zane said. “Take care.”

“Enjoy yourselves!” Zoe said.

“We will,” Zane replied. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

*

The week passed slowly. Zoe wasn’t sure if that was due to not being able to work or run like she wanted to or if it was due to the heat. Not only was the heat wave continuing, but the weather service advised that the summer would be hotter than average. Chloe and the others jokingly blamed Zoe for this when they joined her for lunch each day saying she brought the heat with her from the south.

Even Lionel and Rita showed up a couple of times during the week. The older couple mostly kept to themselves and preferred hanging out at the Cartier office to hanging out at Zoe’s like the others did. The only things they really seemed to like talking about were Mixed Reality, slicing, codding cooking, and old music. Zoe was pleased to discover they liked classic rock, which she also enjoyed even if the music was about a century old or older in some cases. The others just thought the three of them had weird tastes in music.

*

Zoe decided to walk to the Knight dealership instead of calling Jimmy or a cab to take her. The dealership was located at 800 11th Ave, which was about a mile and a half from the boat basin. She could walk that in half an hour. Zoe put her hair up in her usual low ponytail. She then put on a new black short sleeved undershirt and white skort she had bought with the credits she had gotten from the Bratva, along with her black ankle boots and jean jacket.

Zoe strapped her P750 on, making sure it was within easy reach of her right hand where it rested in the small of her back and was covered by the shirt and jacket. She slipped the folding knife into the front of the bellyband holster where it would be within easy reach. Nodding to herself, she attached her helmet to her backpack. Zoe made sure the camelbacks were full of fresh water and put on the pack. She exited her place and locked up heading down the pier.

*

“Hey Kris,” Zoe greeted the saleswoman after entering the dealership offices.

“Hey Zoe,” Kristine replied standing up from her desk. “Here alone?”

“Yeah.”

“You walked?” Kris asked.

“Yep. I have a houseboat in the 79th Street Boat Basin and it’s a nice day, so I walked,” Zoe answered. “Why waste money on a cab or get Jimmy to drive through all that traffic to pick me up?”

“Fair enough,” Kris replied. “Well, let’s go see your new GT4.”

“I’m nervous,” Zoe said as they started walking towards the garage.

“Why?” Kris asked. “Ah. Because of the accident”

“Yeah” Zoe replied.

“You’ll just have to get back in the saddle,” the saleswoman said. “Everybody that rides crashes or eats asphalt at least once.”

“That’s what I’ve heard,” Zoe replied.

“It’s true as far as I know,” Clarence said as he joined them.

“Hi Clarence,” Kris greeted the mechanic.

“Hey Clarence,” Zoe added.

“Ready to go for a test drive?” Clarence asked. He pointed to his right. “She’s waiting for you.”

“It’s beautiful!” Zoe gushed before running to the Grabber Blue motorcycle. The other mechanics laughed while Zoe ran a hand over the GT4. Clarence and Kris joined them.

“Do you two need a room?” one of the mechanics’ asked Zoe.

“What? No!” Zoe squealed. Her face had turned a deep red which made the others laugh even harder.

“Don’t you want to change out of that skirt?” Kris asked Zoe after getting her laughter under control.

“No. This is a skort,” Zoe answered lifting the helm to reveal the shorts. “I’ve also had an upgrade to my Subdermal Weave that lets it protect against blunt damage. So, I should be good to go.”

“She shouldn’t throw you lass. This beauty has upgraded gyroscopic tech and is lighter along with a few other upgrades. She’s also ready for you to test drive,” Clarence said. “Want us to hold your backpack?”

“Thanks,” Zoe replied handing the pack to the dwarf after taking her helmet from it. She put on the helmet, nervously mounted the bike, and started it. The familiar triple growl greeted her, and she calmed down. “I’ve missed that sound.”