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***
The car stopped quietly.
While still approaching the meeting place I noticed Parker, who was standing next to Mayne and Dorio with a cheeky smile. Only the named ones didn't have the same confidence. Also standing next to them was the figure of a short woman with a bag on her head, apparently she was pretending to be Judy's grandmother.
- There you are...
- So?
- I want to see her...
I shrugged and walked round the car and opened the boot. Mayne was tense and so was Dorio, they were scrutinising my every move.
- So... just out of interest... do you really think something like this is going to make Judy hate me? I mean, she's gonna find out exactly why I did it to her.
- Oh, that's my problem, and I'm not going to bring her back to consciousness right now, I'm going to take her to an underground ripper first, and after that she'll be able to do nothing and be with me....
I nodded my head.
- An underground ripper, huh? The only thing that comes to mind is the installation of a control chip...
This chip was developed by some crazy corparat and was based on the puppet chip, but if the puppet chip was a universal adjustment device, the chip-controller contains a single programme and it is very difficult to disable it without a special code. No, a good Rauner could do it, but only if connected from the outside, but from the inside....
- So you didn't get her love, so you decided to get her body?
- Yeah.
She leaned over Judy and ran her hand over her cheek. How Judy managed to hold it together, I don't know.
- And if you think you can find me afterwards and kill me, you're wrong, the chip I ordered is tied to my life, and if I die....
- Right, and these will wait until you've travelled far enough to hand her grandmother over to me?
- Exactly!
- I see.
I nodded my head.
- So no clever plans... just working on ponce and luck.....
I shook my head.
- What are you...xxxx?!
Parker, who had looked up at me, wheezed and lowered her gaze to Judy, who was clutching the handle of the knife she'd stabbed her in the stomach.
- You should have been concerned about jamming the connection... because David talked to me while you were still on the phone and I called my grandmother to find out she was okay.
- You stabbed me with a knife.
I could hear the disbelief in Parker's voice. At that moment I heard two shots in a row, and if I didn't see the results of the first one, then the second one... the second one knocked out a shard of asphalt right in front of Mayne's feet.
Throwing him a serious look, I shook my head.
- Did you expect anything else from me? You made an attempt on my grandmother... even if purely hypothetical....
- I did... for our sake...
- I've told you many times. There is no us anymore. You destroyed that 'us' with your own hands. And now you're reaping the rewards of your actions and your arrogance.
- Я...
- Don't rely on your mercenaries, we have a very good sniper and he's got your sniper tracking and he's got the solos you brought with you in his sights.
I interrupted the conversation between Judy and Parker, then took out a throwing knife and thoughtfully examined it.
- Tell me why you're attached to us... you don't like Judy... I can tell by the way you treat her... So why?
- Kha... she... should be mine.....
I shook my head and ran the tip of the knife across Parker's cheek, but she didn't care about that, she was completely focused on Judy's hand, which, along with the knife she was holding, she kept in the wound trying not to move it.
- That's the difference between you... You want to possess me, and David... he not only wanted to possess me, but he offered me a part of himself. A part of him that I would possess.
- Is there anything else you want to say to her?
I looked at Judy and she shook her head and then I drove the knife sharply into Parker's heart, precisely in the side, between the ribs, and then twisted it sharply.
- Gah!!!
She looked up at me in shock and disbelief.
- Did you think it would end any other way and I'd give you my Judy?
I ripped the knife from her body, and so did Judy, in whose eyes I saw nothing, and in whose emotions there was only a slight sadness. Sadness that Parker was dying. Sadness that things could have turned out differently if Parker hadn't gone against us.....
- Goodbye Parker...
I shook my head and took a step to the side and whereas before I was slightly supporting her, now she just collapsed to her knees and then collapsed on her side.
- ...You won't be in our lives again.
- What are we supposed to do now?
Mayne glared at me with a frown.
- Well, for starters, it wouldn't hurt to free a girl who wasn't guilty of anything.....
I shrugged.
- ...and then you can do whatever you want. We're going home.
- I see... Is Pilar alive at least?
- Hmm?
- He was acting as a cover sniper....
I've been concentrating on the girls' communications.
- Cherry, how's the sniper?
- Pilar? Fine, even the rifle is intact, I only blew off his cigarette and he understood my hint perfectly. Well, he tried to find me, but he was already hacked by our Mentor and Snowflake, so the optics were a problem....
- I see...
I turned my attention back to Mayne.
- He's alive, but his optics were slightly hacked....
I looked at Maine carefully.
- And you've decided to return to the field after all? I heard you tried out as a Fixer in Padre territory....
- Yeah... I'm not really a fixer... I'd rather have a gun in my hand and adrenaline in my veins... What are you doing, following me?
I shrugged.
- I'm not... But Becca is looking after her troublemaking brother, so I know from her that you've been trying to follow my advice for a while and try your hand at being a vixen.
- I see...
Mayne took the bag off the girl's head without making any sudden movements.
- What, is that it?
- Yes...
- И? Where's my money?
- I'm guessing the same place as mine, with the dead employer.
- What?
The girl looked from Mayne to me in surprise.
- You killed my money?
- And what if I did?
- Then I'll be paid tm-.
Mayne clamped his paw over the girl's mouth.
- Luda, don't be cheeky, the guy's a high ranking solo and he knows how to count his money. So if you mess with him, he'll just zero you out.
Mayne let go of the insolent girl's mouth, I just turned towards Judy, who had already climbed out of the boot and was now standing behind me.
- Are we leaving?
- Yeah.
- Hey! I wasn't kidding! You killed my money and you have to....
I spun round and the throwing knife flew right past the girl's face, cutting a bit of her hair and embedding itself in the wall behind her. After letting go of her, Main took a couple of steps to the side and was a bit away, as was Dorio. So such a throw did not threaten both OWLs in any way.
But the girl froze and slowly lowered her gaze, looking at her hair that fell to the pavement, and then she turned around just as slowly and noticed the knife that was halfway into the wall of the house.
- So...
I calmly walked around her and took hold of the knife and pulled it out of the wall without showing any tension.
- No, no...no need to worry, I don't claim your money....
- That's good.
I nodded a couple of times after which Judy and I loaded into the car and drove quickly towards the Megatower where we picked up the rest of the girls. At that, Panam immediately banished me from driving the car.
- Well... one problem solved...
- Not one for a long time now...
I shook my head at Kiwi's words.
- The first really solved problem was Faraday. And Parker... so, a slight crack in the road, it's not even a slight pothole. So let's go home and rest, and then we'll get back to work...
- By the way, have you seen this girl?
Kiwi was very snide when she mentioned the girl who had apparently been hired to play Judy's grandmother.
- We've seen her cheekiness.
Lucy commented on what she'd seen, but from Judy I sensed a slight admiration for that girl's bravery and approval of her understanding of the situation when she didn't drip further.
- I managed to dig up some information on her, by the way.....
- И?
I was wondering what Kiwi had managed to find out about this girl too.
- She's a solo who specialises in status escorts, when you want to draw attention to specific actions while distracting it from the real security. A dangerous but well-paid profession.
- Um... so she's not cheap to hire?
- Well... she's not exactly top of the line for such solos, but she's not the bottom, so yeah, her services cost quite a few quid.
I nodded.
- You think Parker had the means to hire her?
- Just researching right now...
I gave Judy a surprised look.
- What? While you were in there talking to Mayne, I put a splinter in her body, so we can still get some of the information out.
- Right... so we'll know soon enough what she was planning?
- So she kind of told us anyway....
Judy shrugged.
- Yeah, but she might not have told us everything.
- She might have...
Judy nodded.
- ...but I doubt she was lying. What she said was exactly her style. And I suppose if you believed her and decided to trade me--
- Judy, don't be ridiculous.
I shook my head.
- Even if she'd been smart enough to pick a moment when none of you were near me, or hired an extra-class ranger to hack into the link between us and fake a conversation with you... All she'd have achieved was that I'd arrived at the point with a hundred per cent Sandi activated.
- Mm...
Judy twitched her earlobe.
- ...Okay, I'll go through a bit more of what she's got saved before the chrome goes completely offline due to the death of the host....
- Lucy.
- Yes?
The girl gave me a slightly surprised look.
- Start looking for a shuttle that can take us to the moon. The money from the hacked training chips, although we were not very brazen with the price and interest, are coming in, we ourselves work quality...
I looked thoughtfully out the side window of the car.
- ...I think in a month we will be able to afford a week's holiday of this kind, without being completely without means of subsistence.
- Well, we didn't before....
Becca shrugged at my comment.
- It's just that David's taking care of all the expenses again....
Kiwi commented on what she heard.
- Yeah, are you guys against it?
- Not that we're against it...
Panam decided to keep the conversation going with a glance in my direction. Judy, on the other hand, was both annoyed and somewhat delighted. She was both pleased with my concern and willingness to take over, but she was also annoyed by it....
- Girls, I propose to take everything into our own hands and pay for the flight to the moon and a week, or maybe two weeks there....
They looked at each other and nodded at Becky's suggestion.
- Hey, what about...
- Nobody's asking for your opinion. You're already paying for everything you can... so we're paying this time.
I sighed.
- Okay...
I had to capitulate, because I could sense through my connection with Judy that she wasn't going to back down on this one. I guess the other girls weren't either...