Arc 1, Thread 2: The Engines of Progress (Arkady)
"The blood? You know, I think it's the blood," He says, pointing at the blood on the floor, "You know, that looks like it turned the last owner into a fine mist and strawberry jam? That blood? Better not touch it, boss..."
The more Arkady looks at it the more he realizes he's seen something similar before. This is a smaller version of an essence shield, usually the kind found on Mercury-class transports. It's been miniaturized, if he's any judge, to something roughly the size of a small backpack. It's not bad work, either. Whoever was designing this was very talented, albeit not talented enough, and now very dead.