"David, I have a favor to ask of you..."
"Regina here."
"We need to help bring justice. There's an underground fight club in Kabuki... run by a guy named Houdini. Not many people have seen him, but the fact is, he's also a slave trader and drug dealer."
I frowned.
And not because it would be necessary to get to some underground club, but because I didn't like such tasks. Elimination missions. It's one thing when you have to eliminate bandits in the course of a mission, and quite another to do it like this...
Hypocritical?
Yes.
But that's my hypocrisy, and I'm totally fine with it. Just like I'm happy that my girls don't get blood on their hands. We've already completed over 40 missions in the last month. And the flow of missions hasn't slowed down. Regina is not the Queen of Postmortem, but she is the main fixer of the district, and only because she is not able to process all the orders, something goes to the smaller ones. Well, it's also because she doesn't handle everything.
For example, she'd never take an order to smash up a street food vendor's shop for five hundred bucks. And neither would I.
Anyway, she's got a lot of orders, and I even heard that she's started giving Vee some work, but she doesn't work very often. She and her buddy Jackie work three times a week, and they're asking a lot of money. They want to be Night City legends!
How do I know that?
Well, I pass medical exams at Vic's every week, checking Sandy's performance as my main reader, thanks to which I haven't failed a single task since the beginning of my career. I also talk to Misty, although she's mostly girls. Misty is Jackie's girlfriend.
Honestly, I only take the girls with me to my checkups for two reasons. First, they've really become friends with Misty and are happy to just sit and chat with her. And Misty herself doesn't mind. Not many people come to her store to store, she mostly makes a profit on her rent, so she's happy to sit and chat.
Secondly, which for me is much more important, there girls get the opportunity to compare me, such a serious tyrant, who makes me work every day except weekends, and not one order to fulfill, and the same Jackie, who even saved for a motorcycle for a year! There's no talk of any romantic encounters with Misty. If it's a date, she's the one who asks him out and arranges it. Good thing he's smart enough to pay for the cafeterias...
But here, as they say, love is evil, you will love Jackie Wells. So I can only sympathize a little with Misty and myself to create on the background of her stories much more attractive image of a young solo.
And I'm doing it!
Even Judy looks at me with approval, though she's been a little agitated lately. And I still can't figure out what happened in her life. But there is hope that she will tell me, and I just wait and support her.
These musings didn't stop me from talking to Regina.
"Regina, just for the sake of our cooperation. but I hope to avoid such assignments in the future..."
"Thank you. Wait... what?"
"Well, you know I don't like being an assassin and..."
"No, no, no! You misunderstood me."
The image of Regina shook her head and grinned.
"...I know you, and if anything, I can send V on a mission of elimination. That girl doesn't have any codes in that regard. So she has no problem eliminating a person who's in my way. But in this case, you don't need to eliminate. We need to knock him out and get him out of the club and put him in the trunk of a car."
I blinked.
"Uh. do I need to steal a man?"
"Yeah, uh. I hope that's not a problem."
"Nah..."
I shook my head, looking up at the ceiling of my own apartment. Today was a day off, Regina knew that, and she didn't usually bother me on days like that, but since she wouldn't wait until Monday...
"...there's no problem with that. Especially since you've given him a character reference. If this was an order from some Faraday to kidnap a little girl, I'd tell him who he was and what he could use it for."
I grinned.
"So I'll take the order. I understand it's urgent?"
"Yeah, uh. I know it's your day off, but it's the only day in the last three months that I know where to find him. And the next time that opportunity comes up, I don't know."
"Details as always?"
"Yeah, I'll send it right over..."
The connection was broken and then a letter arrived. A letter with all the details of the task to be performed that evening.
Sighing, I got up from the couch where I'd been sleeping. I was sleeping on it because Judy had slept over last night and I had given her my place in the bed. But Panam had threatened to bite her if she molested her.
However, it seemed to me that the decisive factor in Judy's lack of molestation of Panam was not the threat of biting, which rather piqued Panam's interest, but the fact that Panam was preoccupied with me. Could I play on that? I don't mind my girls kissing or doing vulgar things in front of me, as long as they invite me into their games.
I shook my head chasing the thoughts aside, not now...
Yes, Judy and I are much closer than we were before she joined our team, but it will be another month before I can break the barrier that separates us.
Glancing at the girls, I realized that they were still asleep, and they were still snuggled up together.
How cute it looks from the outside...
With another shake of my head I set off to make breakfast...
In just twenty minutes breakfast was ready, Judy and Panam had woken up about ten minutes ago and had already had time to take a shower. And now they were waiting for breakfast.
"Girls, I have news for you..."
"You're giving me Panam?"
That question Judy asked with a smirk.
"Hey! I'm only going with my boyfriend!"
Panam decided to hit Judy's sore spot. After all, she didn't really like men in terms of building relationships with them. Or rather, she just didn't understand why she needed to build relationships with men. But she didn't get the expected reaction.
"You know, I've been wondering for the last week if it's as bad as I thought it was when there's a man around. And why exactly I wasn't attracted to guys before..."
"Before?"
Panam looked at Judy suspiciously.
"Well, I can't say that I'm in love with David, but I can say that the thought of sleeping with him doesn't make me feel negative, that's for sure."
"Tz..."
Panam shook her head and looked at me questioningly.
"So what's your news?"
"The weekend is canceled."
"No..."
They looked at me with shock.
"Or rather, it's postponed until Monday. Regina has an urgent assignment that will be impossible to fulfill later. She's managed to track down a man called Houdini, and it's our job to steal him and send him to the clients..."
"I see..."
The girls said nothing more to me and began to eat their breakfast, which, however, managed to lift their spirits just at that moment there was a knock at the door of the apartment.
"Eh..."
Sighing I stood up and walked to the door and opened it.
"And why am I not surprised?"
Becca looked away.
"Brother spent it all on chroma again?"
"Uh-huh...
"Becca?"
Judy rose from the table and looked surprised at her acquaintance, who she probably hadn't expected to see on my doorstep.
"Judy? You got Judy in the sack?!"
And if the first question was addressed to the attractive creator of brains and my team's runner, Becca addressed the second one to me. She was very surprised and didn't hide her astonishment.
"Come on in, we'll feed you..."
"Thank you."
Becca was suddenly embarrassed, but she went into the apartment, and quickly sat down at the table, where I took the trouble to give her a large portion. I'd cooked it in reserve, so I had enough for her and for Judy and Panam.
"Judy, Panam, while you study the data..."
I sent them a copy of Regina's letter. Of course, I already had my own ideas about what to do, but I wanted them to think for themselves. Maybe they'd come up with something I didn't understand.
"Uh. isn't today your day off?"
"Normally, yes. but there's an urgent assignment."
I shrugged without going into detail, and Becca nodded understandingly. Solos seldom talked about orders that hadn't even started yet, and they preferred to keep quiet about those that had been closed. So any talk about a completed mission is probably a lie from the first word to the last. But you can talk about ordinary firefights, although there are usually a lot of lies, everyone tries to make themselves look like invincible heroes.
"I've heard about you, by the way."
Becca was eating out of her mouth, so when she said that phrase, crumbs flew in every direction.
"Chew first, then talk, or I'll make you clean my apartment."
Becca froze in place, made a couple of reflexive chewing motions and then swallowed the food she had in her mouth with effort.
"And don't forget to chew. Well-chewed food is much healthier.
Becca nodded her head.
"...yeah... hasn't failed a single assignment yet, turned down five job offers out of five from Faraday...why, by the way?"
"You don't know?"
"М?"
"His reputation is lousy, at least among those solos who work for other fixers. Not only does he work for Arasaka and Militech at the same time, but he also likes to cheat for money."
"Hey, hey, hey. not true!"
"Yeah? When was the last time he paid you a bonus? And more importantly, when did he explain exactly how to do the job so you could get that bonus?"
"Well..."
Becca looked away.
"That's just it. Usually fixers explain what they want from the solos they hire and those who perform the task bring them money and earn decent money themselves. And here."
"All right..."
"It's not going to be quiet."
Panam was the first to think of all the options and regarding the job ahead and shook her head sadly.
"Yes, I realized it myself, but we'll wait for Judy, she as a runner can advise something useful ..."
"Hmm? Did they give you an assignment outside your major?"
Becca grinned caustically.
"You were just berating Faraday, and now..."
"And now I've been given an assignment that spells out EVERYTHING I need to know and there is no mention of quietly doing it in the notes. Just the objective."
"So there's no mention of quiet fulfillment?"
"Uh-huh...
I nodded my head.
"Will you take me with you as a stormtrooper?"
I looked at Becca doubtfully.
"Hey!"
She obviously saw that look and understood it.
"I'm strong!"
"I'm not doubting your strength, I'm just considering your options. And I doubt your boss will let you go to another team, even temporarily."
"Mayne's not my boss. He's just a good leader and we rallied around him, but he didn't forbid us from taking orders on the side."
"I see..."
"I have one option..."
I looked questioningly at Judy.
"But we're gonna need two more solos. And I'd really like to have one good runner among them."
"I know a good rahner!"
I raised my hand stopping Becca.
"Can we afford it?"
"We'll pull, of course we'll lose a little profit, but if we do everything, we won't be out of pocket..."
I cast a glance at Becca.
"Okay..."
Judy immediately emailed me her plan and I quickly ran through it with my eyes.
"Great... we should contact Regina and let her know it's not going to be quiet..."