"There.  Happy?"  Cournobis spat his reply at Mack as he threw the pad across the desktop to Mack.  The info pad bounced off the tabletop and skipped to a halt in front of Mack.  Mack scooped it up and quickly transferred the credits into a secure account;  far away from Cournobis' corporate reach.  That was one transaction that wasn't being cancelled.  "I expect a progress report tomorrow, 9:00 A.M. sharp," Cournobis barked as he turned his back on Mack.  The lawyer began to stalk out of the office.

     "You'll have it tomorrow.  When depends on where I'm at."  Cournobis pretended not to hear Mack's reply.  Mack had made a mistake.  Earlier in the day, Mack had turned off the weapons detection field at his office threshold to allow Alana to bring him his backup laser pistol from the waiting room safe.  Now he corrected that mistake as Cournobis stepped through the threshold.  The effect was instantaneous and gratifying.  Both floating lenses tumbled away from Cournobis' eyes as he made a futile grab for them.  One hit the floor flat while the other lens hit on edge and rolled toward Mack.  Mack deftly scooped it up and tossed it to the still crouching Cournobis, who had succeeded in picking up the stationary lens from the floor.  To his credit, Cournobis caught the lens handily in spite of his severe myopia.  It was a Zen moment.  Cournobis stood up and rapidly walked past the office threshold.  His eyeglass lenses ripped free of his hands and danced in front of his eyes as the lenses were freed of the electromagnetic field of the weapons detection device.  Alana attempted to stifle a giggle as Cournobis stomped out with his damaged ego.

     It was a bittersweet victory for Mack.  On the one hand he felt the joy of revenge over a man who belittled Mack and his profession.  On the other hand, he felt like a Junior High school bully slapping the glasses off of the face of the unpopular and harmless geek.  Memories of Mack's own teenage humiliations came flooding back.  Mack tried to shake off the feelings and quietly vowed not to harass the arrogant man in the future.  Right now, with a paying customer, he couldn't afford the luxury of feeling guilt.  He picked up the pad and quickly punched in the touchpad icon strokes needed to pay his landlord.  Mack threw in a small appreciation bonus and wrote in a little note (Ivan, thanks for the faith, Mack).  Mack also quickly paid his back office rent.