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***
We continued our conversation, but just five minutes later a call from an unfamiliar number distracted me and apologising to the girls I curtailed the conversation with them, putting it on hold, then answered the call.
- Speaking.
- OWLs, this is your employer....
Her voice was hard not to recognise, but I'd never heard her in that tone before. The girl must have really messed up.
- ...your employee is ignoring me. And yet she's supposed to be working. Deal with her, or the fixer will cut your fee. So if you don't want to lose your reputation and most of your reward, have Alvarez call me, or better yet, meet me and pick up the material she needs to work on.
I'm holding back.
God only knows what it cost me. I wanted to tell her everything I thought about her mental abilities and everything else. But I did it. I'm good!
- Why don't you say something? Are you speechless?
- Parker, you're gonna talk yourself to death.
- Are you threatening me?
Despite her haughty tone, I could hear that she was scared.
- Threatened? No...
I shook my head.
- I'm just stating a fact. Because even without understanding the situation, you're throwing accusations and demands and insults. As for the order DeShawn offered me, I refused....
- А?
- B, also a letter of the alphabet.
- But... how... is... it...
Parker sounded confused. She clearly didn't understand how exactly what I said could happen. Namely, that someone could have turned down the order DeShawn was offering.
- Big league. Big money. Big prestige.
- It's all empty words.
- You're dragging her down!
- Parker, make up your mind...
She blinked in confusion.
- ...either I have to make Judy work, as you put it, or I'm dragging her down... Well, it's probably the same thing in your head, because you can't get it into your head that we just love each other. You just refuse to accept that I don't control her, but coexist with her and she can make her own decisions and it was HER DECISION to send you away.
And I held back again...
And how many strong words were about to come off my lips, but I still held them back and face, maintaining my reputation as a calm solo who doesn't lose his temper.
- Come on, goodbye.
I dropped the connection and immediately added the girl's number to my blacklist. I didn't want her to start calling me with incomprehensible demands and claims. And naturally, having finished the conversation, I returned to the conversation with the girls, who were already discussing something among themselves. And after they saw that I came back, they were silent, burning me with curious looks.
- Parker called... Where she got my number I have no idea... No, it's clear that she probably bought it from some fixer, and I never hid my number, but like this....
I shook my head.
- ...I guess she just didn't know I'd cancelled the order. I guess she thought DeShawn's order was such a rare chance that it would be accepted without a second thought that there was no way it could be excluded. So she rushed to call Judy first, and when she put her on the list and me as her boss....
I emphasised the last word in a mocking tone, and the girls smiled. They knew we had deeper feelings for each other than that, and they weren't going to deny it.
- Did she even apologise?
- Pfft! Becca, you're not a Book Girl, you're a Story Girl!
Judy decided to play a little joke on Becca.
- Why is that?!
There was no resentment in Becca's voice. Just curiosity. Well, she likes to read fairy tales too, as someone who occasionally talks to her about books, I know that better than anyone... Hmm... maybe we could take her to a library? Where there are still real books printed on paper.
- Because even though you're a grown-up girl who's seen a lot of things, you still believe in fairy tales. Without knowing a person, you say that he is able to ask for forgiveness... It's a fairy tale version of events.....
Judy shook her head.
- ...and you live in Knight City and you believe that any of its inhabitants are capable of such a thing... As for Parker, even if she was guilty, she wouldn't ask for forgiveness. I can tell you that as someone who lived with her and thought I'd live our whole lives with her...
- Well, I didn't know.
- That's why you're a Storyteller, because you believe in things that can't be!
I grinned and curtailed the conversation, but continued to listen to the girls' conversation, giving Panam a slight nudge on the shoulder and nodded towards the car park when she was distracted from the fascinating conversation.
- Shall we go home?
Panam nodded at my question and together we walked towards the car park where Tortik was parked. As soon as we reached the door that led to the car park, Vee intercepted us.
- So you said no after all?
- Yeah... and you thought I'd say yes?
- Well... actually, yeah, I thought you'd take DeShawn up on his offer after all....
- Maybe if the offer had come from Nemo or Indigo.....
I've named two legendary fixers. Their appearance is a mystery, they work only through intermediaries, or rather they look for solos through proven fixers like Bestia, Regina, Wakako... But their reputation... it's not a reputation, it's an unsinkable ship without a single trace of rust. Even Bestia doesn't cringe when she's asked to pick solos for a job.
- ...I'd go for it, but DeShawn...
I shook my head.
- Ha, you're such a dreamer! It's a Knight City invention!
- Mm-hmm.
I nodded my head.
- ...as fictional as Silverhand and Blackhand...those other legends that most intelligent people don't think ever existed. But you're not going to convince me they're all bollocks and just a myth, are you?
- Comparison...
Now it was Vee's turn to shake her head. However, she didn't pursue the topic further.
- ...Well, it's your choice, and I'll wave goodbye to you from the top when I'm in the Major League.
- Yeah, yeah...
I nodded my head and took a couple of steps into the car park, but didn't get far from the door, then came back and held the door open before it slammed shut.
- Vee...
The girl who was already leaving stopped and half-turned in my direction.
- Yes?
- Be careful...
- I will, daddy...
Despite her slightly mocking tone, she showed with her gaze that she was completely serious right now. And I realised this and decided to try and influence the canon of the game a little more. Of course to tell her everything I know would be stupid, but... Perhaps it will allow her to save her mind, as well as to save Jackie....
- Daughter, take some advice from your daddy.....
I also decided to add a little humour to our interactions and judging by Vee's grin, she liked the idea.
- You all need an upgrade. I haven't worked with DeShawn, and I don't want to, so your colleague should ask me more specifically... But I have some information about him....
- You mean T-Bag?
- Yeah... her... But back to DeShawn... he's known for high profile cases... successes, failures... but they're necessarily high profile cases. Except when there are high-profile failures, he gets dumped, and after the last one, he disappeared and dumped a bunch of solos he had ties to.
- И?
V decided to rush me a little bit.
- Get ready for things to go... not according to plan.
I shook my head holding back from a strong word.
- Do you know something?
- No, I'm drawing conclusions from information that's available to everyone. If you don't believe me, ask Wakako, I don't think she'd be willing to share information with you for a small fee. And then you can draw the same conclusions yourself.
- Hmm... Panicky?
- No...
I shook my head. It's good to know that V took me more than seriously, but she's a corporatist and knows when and where to make jokes. And that's something you can't take away with some time away from the corporation.
- ...I just realise that you all need an upgrade for your survival. The big leagues need chrome and much tougher ice...or you could be in for a world of hurt.....
- Like what?
- Well...
I shrugged.
- ...let's say your target will be protected by voodooists, or a network watch... now imagine what will happen to your T-Bag, which won't have more or less solid ice and that after it...
I ran my thumb across my throat.
- ...Will be with you...
- You know, I've got a bit of an arsehole gut... starting to show signs of life... I guess I'll have to empty my coffers after all....
- Shake it up.
I nodded my head.
- ...and get yourself an optic, a third series and record the whole order....
- А?
- If things don't go according to plan, you can try DeShawn as proof that it wasn't you, but he didn't think it through. Though if he's thinking of dumping you, it won't do you much good....
I turned around and let go of the door and walked to the back of the car park, just in time to hear V say goodbye to me. I walked calmly to the Tortilla and got in.
- Judy and I were lucky after all, and the girls.....
Those were the first words that Panam said after she started the car and the Tortik started off, carefully avoiding the parked cars, moving towards the exit of the car park. It was just the two of us now, as the girls had already switched off from the conversation.
- Would you mind explaining?
- Do I have to?
- Well, it'd be nice to hear people praise me.
- Yeah...
Panam grinned.
- ...However, if you want it so much, why not? You're too kind...
She shook her head with a vague look at me.
- ...and you don't want to be a leader. You don't try to get above where you can hold your own. You just live and provide a stable life for us. There aren't many like you... very few... However, no one else could have won Judy and me over... and the girls... well, except for Kiwi... and what does she see in Pilar?
- Ahem?
I grinned, but Panam gave me a slight frown, saying that you asked me to tell you, and you did... but she realised what she had said and her eyes widened in shock.
- Forget it! Do you hear me?! Forget it!
- All right, all right!
I grinned and nodded my head.
- And yes, Judy and I hadn't agreed to anything yet!
The grin on my face got even wider.
- Now what?!
- You said 'yet', which means that at the very least, you've already had conversations on the subject....
Panam groaned in embarrassment and dropped her head on the steering wheel a couple of times, right while driving, however, her skill allowed some liberties that I couldn't have taken if I was driving....
- Forget it, eh?
And there was so much pleading in her voice... that I just couldn't refuse her.
- What was it?
She nodded and gave me a grateful look.
- So, what's next?
- У?
- Well, you're lucky... only someone like me could have collected you....
I didn't go on and bring up the topic that Panam had asked me to forget about.
- Well... few people in your place would have kept themselves from rushing ahead... taking everything from life right now without looking back or thinking about the future. And shares... usually the big bosses take a much bigger share... The way you treat us...
- How am I treating you?
I really didn't understand Panam's words. I seem to have a normal attitude, I'm moderately strict on tasks, moderately caring, moderately showing initiative and... a lot of other things, but I seem to do everything in moderation....
- That's the point... You treat us normally... Without overreacting. You're not afraid of us, you don't glorify us... You don't have that trait that for years the mad females have been cultivating in men. Now they're afraid to even say a word... it's like you're from the last century.....
- It can't be that bad...
I shook my head. It can't be that bad, I've never noticed anything like that around me.
- Well, in the clans the situation is more or less even, and solo, there are no rabid do not survive, and this is your social circle, so there is nothing surprising that you have not noticed such ....
- So not only are you lucky with me, but I'm lucky with you?
- Hm?
Panam grinned, and I realised that she had deliberately brought the topic to this very point, because now I would have to praise her and the other girls.
- Sly Cherry...
========== Part 44 ==========
- I have you beautiful, intelligent, kind to me and my friends, ruthless to my enemies....
I was going to spend at least five minutes listing all the positive aspects of my girls, but was interrupted by a call from an unknown number... again... what kind of day is this?!
- Hello?
- Quiet...
The speaker's voice was familiar. It would be difficult not to recognise him, because I had recently communicated with the owner of the voice in person. But what could he possibly want from me? I thought we'd talked about everything?
- Mr DeShon?
- I'd like to hire your subordinate... I need to process a tape recorded with very good optics. It has all the layers of the recording, the normal and thermal and sound, in general everything... and to process it you have to be a real pro... Unfortunately Alvarez refused to work specifically with me, according to her she does not work separately from the team, so I would like to hire your team....
I shook my head.
- We're not interested.
- А?
- Mr DeShawn, I'm not stupid enough to fall for such an obvious ruse. The minute we agree to process a recording that's supposed to be used for mission planning, we're on the list of informed intelligence... and knowing your reputation, that's the kind of intelligence you like to get rid of.
- But the client said she knew Alvarez...that she was the best and...
DeShawn stopped talking.
- Hmm...is this about Parker?
- Hrm... yeah.
- Well, your client thinks too highly of herself... her relationship with Alvarez is extremely nasty, although it used to be pretty good... Except that she buried that relationship herself a while ago.
I was quiet for a few seconds.
- About the fact that Alvarez is the best, I will not argue here, at least from those I know or from those I have heard about, she is really the best....
To say that I myself am not very interested in the subject of brains and I have never been interested in anyone from this field. But more than sure that in Knight City there will be a couple of people of the same level, and maybe even better. However, I'll keep these musings to myself.
- ...but we will decline, and I suggest you seek out another Brainiac.
- Ugh...I didn't think Tihonya would be a coward...and you're dragging the team into this mess...have you no shame?!
- Mr DeShawn, I would ask you to watch what you say... however, if you are still wondering why I made this decision... I am interested in a quiet and peaceful life. At the level we are at now, we have a stable job, decent earnings and good bonuses, and moderate risk....
I won't say anything about the risk being moderate for me, the one with the experimental sandi. Because I'm not going to reveal my cards to this type. Just like I'm not gonna reveal the real state of affairs between me, Regina and Bestia.
- ...I see my task as a group commander as not to make them acquire big names and eventually name their cocktails in the Afterlife, but to make sure that they live to a ripe old age and have decent savings to live on during their old age without denying themselves anything. And to fulfil those goals, I don't need to risk my life and theirs any more than I do now.
- Tsk... so it's to be a nobody and live quietly into old age, not to make history and die before you're thirty, right?
- Exactly, Mr DeShon, you've understood my position perfectly, now goodbye....
I'm off the line.
- Where was I?
- On how lucky you are to have us... but now I'm more interested in who just called you?
- DeShawn...he was trying to hire our Judy to process a recording he planned to use to plan an assignment.
- Really? Hiring a team member to bypass the squad leader?
- Well... he thinks he can do anything, so yeah, he tried to do that, but our Judy was smart and refused. And after that, he tried to hire her through me... Apparently he thought I didn't know what exactly he was used to doing with people who were overly informed of his plans.
- I see...
The Torty blasted the engine and picked up speed and I fully approved of Panam's actions, for now he might as well try to forcefully get the job he wanted. With that, I dialled the girls, setting up a conference call again.
- I think it was said a while ago...
- Girls, pack your things and come to our house. It's non-negotiable and it's everybody's business, including you, Kiwi. I don't like DeShawn putting so much emphasis on our team, so we better stick together.
- All right, we'll be right there.
- Keep in touch, I need to know you're okay. And yes, Becca, warn Pilar, he is your brother after all, they may try to influence you through him.
- Pilar?
There was a mocking sneer in Becca's voice.
- Don't lie to us... even though you swear at him, if you didn't give a shit about him you'd have dumped him a long time ago, but you don't... and I think DeShawn would at least consider that possibility of pressure, if he's really that interested in our team.
- Okay...I'll warn the faggot....
The girls fell silent, but they didn't disconnect the connection until we got to our flat, where Judy had already made sleeping arrangements for everyone. Of course, we'll have to squeeze a bit, but it's only for a couple of days, and then we'll have weekends again, and then we'll leave the city, and there we'll be accommodated in the Behemoth, to which the awning will be attached. And there will be enough space for everyone.
I exhaled calmly when Lucy, being the last of our group, crossed the threshold of the flat.
For the next week we worked like hell and kept our eyes open, but luckily nothing strange happened that required our attention. Regina's assignments, as usual, were mostly against drug dealers and gangs, and in the latter she even went beyond the boundaries of her neighbourhood, which, according to Knight City police statistics, had become the cleanest from drugs in the city.
Bestia, as usual, preferred to work against corporations, though she preferred not to cross the roads of big businessmen, or to work against the little scoundrels who were getting angry and whose loss would not hit the corporation hard enough. No, she wasn't afraid, at least I didn't see any fear in her, she just didn't see the point in taking risks when the same result could be achieved with ten small blows. Without drawing much attention to herself.
Now we were on our way back from another mission...
- David, we're being tailed.
Luckily we all fit in one car, even if it was a bit more cramped in the back. But that tightness meant we didn't have to worry about splitting up.
- I see...
I sighed.
- Becca, get ready.
I connected to the machine gun on Tortik's roof, and then watched through his camera without moving it. The camera here allows you to look at three hundred and sixty degrees. But this is only after a recent modification from Panam and me. And this modification has made the machine gun much more reliable, and before it often jammed....
- I can't figure out who it is, but they're watching professionally.
- Not just professional.
Panam interrupted me.
- It's a nomadic tracking style. Only clan-based ones work this way... and that's too bad, since there are only two clans near Knight City right now. The first is the Aldecaldo, and the latter... they're only considered a clan conditionally....
- The Stilettos?
- Yeah...
I sighed.
- Well, there's no point in the Aldecaldos following us. They already know a lot about us. And they won't work against their own, but the Steellets...
- Yeah, they might, but how did they figure us out?
- You think they were looking for us on purpose?
- Otherwise, the surveillance would have started not from the city, but near the clan's car park, and then they attacked us in the city. Then they found us in the city... Although there's still the option that they spotted us by chance and decided to work us out....
- Couldn't they have spotted the nomad's car and tried to get into the clan car park?
- Well... it's doubtful, the clan's car park has never been hidden, so it's not a big problem to locate it....
- Panam, get off the course, let's drive around the city, through its harbour areas, where the storage warehouses are not under the protection of the corporations... I think that's where they will show themselves in all their glory, and we can ra...
A man with a gun came out of the pursuing car and fired his automatic at us, but Tortik was well armoured and weapons of such quality couldn't do much damage, but it untied my hands and I immediately activated the machine gun... but I didn't kill this man, instead I gave a short line in the weakest place... in the radiator. No matter how hard anyone tries, that's usually the weakest defence.
- The radiator was punctured.
I reported back to Panam, but Becca had already climbed into my lap and opened the door window and leaned out with her pistols, which I had upgraded. After which several shots rang out. The car of the opponents swerved, it was clear that Becca punctured their tyres, and then the car was thrown and flipped in the air....
In flight the very type who opened fire on us fell out of the window, and Panam at that moment sharply pressed the brake and sharply twisted the steering wheel, turning the Tortilla in front of the enemy.
Becca was almost thrown off me right into the window she was still leaning out of, so I grabbed her fat arse, of which she was very proud, and held her down.
- Hold me tight!
I could hear the obvious pleasure in her voice, but these actions and her words didn't stop me from turning the machine gun around and now it was looking at the opponents' car again.
- Exho...
- Everyone sit down, to the opponents go me and Becca...
My words were interrupted by Panam, who was about to start giving commands. Apparently she felt at ease with the Stylet attack she'd faced from time to time in the past.
- Becca out, Judy, I'm going offline, you....
- Kiwi would rather be behind the machine gun than me.
- Okay...
I nodded my head.
- ...then Kiwi will take the machine gun. I'm gonna go with Becca to take out those idiots.
- Knock them out?
- Well, with Kiwi at the machine gun, you, Judy, and Lucy are gonna hack them. I reckon robbing the Steelers' base for trying to attack us would be a good retaliation. And finding out what they wanted from us.
- We'll do it.
I disconnected from the machine gun and left the car, and Kiwi was in the front seat, hooked up to Tortica's machine gun.
- Becca.
- I know, I know, I'm just behind you and I've got your back. You're the one with the Sandy, and I'm just the shooter... and where would I find one for myself?
- If you want it, we'll buy it....I think Vic won't mind installing it for you, but you'll have to give up some of the other chrome, you're already heavily chromed....
- Hmmm...I guess not....
She shook her head, I had already gone over to the individual who had fallen out and inserted a splinter, one of the ones that Lucy, Kiwi and Judy had been working together in large quantities to order.
- The first is there, work...
I walked towards the car and just in time to spot the movement and switch on the sandi. As if in slow motion I watched a bullet fly out of the muzzle of a gun pointed at me, and the Sandy was already going full speed. Much faster than I'd ever accelerated before...
The bullet was so slow.
So--
Not dangerous.
Except that I didn't lose awareness of the situation and in such a situation I was simply afraid to move, realising that although synthetic muscles could withstand such a thing, but the bones, which were reinforced with ordinary chemistry, would not be able to withstand such a thing.
They would be crushed to dust!
I began to slowly reduce the acceleration...
It was difficult.
It was morally difficult to start reducing acceleration and to see the bullet coming at me faster and faster, and to realise that Becca was behind me and I couldn't just walk away.
I was lucky, though.
When the bullet was already moving at the speed of a normal person who is walking slowly along the road, I felt that now I could hardly move, but I decided not to risk it and slowly shifted to the side. I turned round a little and made sure that Becca was following me....
So I took a step in her direction and put my arm around her waist and lifted Becca up, then stepped aside. Already in a conventionally safe place I set her on the floor. My body was starting to whimper a little and I realised that this meant I was moving too fast....
I went to the car and bent down to look inside, there were two... one was unconscious and I immediately put a splinter in him, but the other one... I snatched the gun from him, not caring a bit that he was clutching its handle and his finger was on the trigger... And the fact that my actions were breaking his fingers, while tearing off the one that was pulling the trigger didn't bother me either.
- Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
I fell out of the acceleration, spitting up the blood that was starting to pool in my mouth.
- Shut up...
One blow and the enemy loses consciousness, and in his socket there is a chip, and a dozen seconds later a chip is also in the on-board computer of the machine.
- Panam, will you call your men? I think more less prepared by your standards car for Aldecaldo will not be...
- Sure...