The big dude looked me up and down. “You the one they call Lucky Boy?” “That’s the name I go by. I guess they call you two ‘Disrespect’ and ‘Piss-take’, seeing as how you’re here uninvited.” Sometimes you have to come on strong, if only for how it gets told afterwards. He clenched his fists, but let it slide. “I’m Mason, this is Boyd. We’re on a schedule and don’t have time for pleasantries. We need to see your particular talent in action.” I gave him the hand-wash and cast aside gesture, showing his problem wasn’t mine. “Sun comes on in five, and that’s then I sleep. If you want to play cards, come back some other time. You cause any trouble and you’ll take the drop home quicker than Eve juggles souls.” Boyd giggled. “Synchronicity, indeed.” Mason glared at him. “It’s just a saying of theirs. It means nothing.” He hoisted a box onto my table. “We want you to open this, Lucky Boy. More accurately, we want you to open this so that it contains what we want it to contain.” I read ‘Cryo-Archive’ on the side and shied away. “That’s hot! Get it the frak away from me!” He snorted. “You seriously think I’d stand here and let radiation rot my bones? It’s been thoroughly decontaminated, I assure you.” Boyd, well, he looked unconvinced. I got my cool back on-line. “I ain’t no lock-pick, man. I could lend you a hammer though.” It was like I’d pressed Boyd’s ‘on’ button. “Ah, but the state of the contents is currently unknown and, indeed, unknowable. We believe you’re able to inadvertently manipulate the potential outcome on a quantum level, with a significantly increased chance of viability.”
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