Cake...
We all got into it and it was quite easy, because although it was a pickup truck, but nomads like my Panam do not tolerate uncomfortable cars. So in Tortika there is a bizarre combination of angularity of forms, external unpretentiousness, and also comfort for all, including for those who sit in the back. Even if you put three people in the back.
Although, in fact, the whole point was that it was not three over-pumped big men who sat in the back, but three fragile girls, who would not be too cramped in half the space.
"And still my car is better..."
Becca sulked at us for forcing her to come with us. She wanted to show off her driving skills, and I wouldn't have minded if it had been a casual drive, but it was better to go on a mission as a group. Less chance of getting separated and getting into trouble.
"Don't talk nonsense, you have a small car, which may be convenient for the city because you can park in it. But you're not going on a combat mission in it?! It's not armored at all!"
"Be-be-be-be...
Becca showed her tongue and I grinned and turned away from her.
Judy and Lucy had been silent for some time, clearly communicating with each other through an established channel of communication, and I wondered what exactly they had come to.
"Lucy, Judy?"
Lucy cast a glance at Judy and she nodded her head.
"We've made our decision. Lucy's a much better netrunner, so I'll lead you, and she'll hack into whatever she can reach on her own or with your help. She'll be faster and quieter."
I nodded my head.
It was nice that I wasn't wrong, and I'm not talking about Lucy, but about Judy, who is able to recognize her flaws and voice them. She's able to admit that she's in some ways worse than others, and she doesn't hide it.
"Pfft! There's no one better than our Lucy! Not even Kiwi can compete with her!"
"Honey, don't be sarcastic. I recognize your Lucy's talent and skills, but I work with David as a runner, but it's a little out of my league. I'm a breaker. That's my field, and that's where I'd give any major league pro a run for his money."
"Uh, uh. why did you fit in then?"
Lucy looked at Judy in surprise.
"At first. I just wanted to return the favor."
"Debt?"
"Yeah, I work at Lizzie's and after one incident, the Arosakov bitches trashed all the equipment."
"Judy's language..."
"Pfft!"
She gave me a snort that showed her attitude toward my request not to swear. I knew her, though, and I was sure she would try to hold back.
"Except that there were not only servers with programs and databases from security cameras, I foolishly kept personal equipment there..."
"Why?"
Lucy was really interested.
"Well, uh. it's just that I spent most of the day and night there anyway, brans with the girls, so I thought it would be easier on my own personal equipment, which I customized myself. It was, but, uh."
"And?"
"Well, Susie hired David, through Regina, with whom we had been working for some time on computer and server repair and maintenance. And he fixed the servers, of course, but the hardware-- Susie refused to pay for my personal equipment, and there was no money for it, so David helped with the money.
"And? Did it cost that much?"
"Very... he didn't order used hardware on a whim, but new, and very powerful. You know, I'm just getting used to the fact that I don't have to dance with tambourines, chanting and howling in order to work. And before, I had to do that all the time."
"So you're with him because of debt?"
"At first, yes. he offered a contract, I work with him and Panam for a certain amount of time, and for that I get all my debt forgiven..."
Judy shrugged.
"Except now I'm not really looking forward to leaving the team. I'm making in a week the two months of revenue I had at Lizzie's. Plus I'm still writing brains, albeit in smaller quantities... I'm thinking of quitting Helms... I'm sick of it."
"By the way, Judy, are condos for sale in your building?"
"А?"
Judy looked at me in surprise.
"Well, I just figured that one room in a megatower wasn't enough for me and Panam. I'd like to have at least two rooms, or better three, and a kitchen. And such an apartment in a megatower, first of all, you can't find it anywhere, and secondly, it would cost as much as Kerry Eurodin's cottage. He just paid once and that's it, but we'd have to pay that much every month."
"You're exaggerating..."
Becca grinned at my words.
"Maybe, but not by much."
I shrugged.
"Even in the medium term, it is easier to buy an apartment like this in a building like the one Judy lives in. That's not considered high-end housing. And there I would pay as much for such an apartment as I would pay for a year's rent for my one-bedroom.
"Except that the lights go out a lot at my house..."
Judy shook her head.
"...and hot water."
"That's not a problem..."
He grinned looking at her.
"Or do you think I'm overpaying a lot for electricity at the hardware store? I've long ago built myself a couple of high-efficiency converters that charge my batteries when I run on the treadmill. Given that Panam and I don't neglect our workouts...
I shook my head.
"...Yes, and I have an idea of how we can switch to our own electricity generation, but for that we have to live somewhere else, not in a mega-tower. If they suspect something, they may come to check it out...
"Well, in general, it looks like a three-room apartment just above me, only there are two rooms, a bathroom, and the third is combined with the kitchen. Well, in general, like my apartment, you've been in it, you know how it works...
"I know."
I nodded my head.
"And overall, the dining room could be remodeled a bit, make another small office..."
I looked thoughtfully at the road.
"I'll have to talk to, uh."
"I can talk to the owners."
"I'd appreciate it."
Judy nodded her head. In the meantime, Tortic pulled up at the destination. This time it was possible to stop right next to the point, which Panam did. The girls would be the ones working here anyway, and I would have to walk around the yards a bit.
"Setting up a connection..."
Judy said that and I immediately got a call to answer it. The icons of the girls took up the entire left side of the view, so I did a bit of tinkering with the settings and removed them altogether. I didn't really care about their looks right now, I cared more about seeing everything that was ahead of me.
"Communication check... one, one, three."
I grinned.
"I'm good, I'm going..."
I slipped out of the car.
"How about piff-paff?
"Don't you need the money?"
I turned around in surprise at Becca, who lowered her gaze to the ground.
"We do. but it's boring."
I looked at her carefully and shook my head.
"If we do well, I have a plan to make you have fun and raise money for all of us."
"Seriously?!"
"Yeah. (chuckles)"
I turned away from her and walked down the street, so we continued to communicate not in person, but by connection.
"What's the plan?"
"No, no, no, no..."
I'm sure by now my image at the girls, unless of course they, like me, have disabled their avatars, shook their heads.
"No revealing secrets. So it's in your best interest to work hard."
I turned down an alley.
"We're upstairs..."
The girls had to climb up the fire escape ladder to connect to the access point, and apparently had already managed to do so.
"Connecting."
In the meantime, after passing a couple of houses, I found myself exactly near the house where the underground fights take place. It was in an underground arena, but the only way in was through this house. At least that's the only one Regina recognized.
"Download a plan of the building and basement..."
A couple of seconds and the girls send me a message with a map of the building, I hid in the shadows, in one of the narrow places, where it would be difficult to find me even on purpose, quickly studied the message and here I have the map in the form of a small image. Of course the girls would lead me, but even so I should know what and how.
"All right, I've gone over the plan, I'm good to go, where's the target?"
"From the conversations I'm picking up, he's on the lower level, in a well-protected room.
I covered my eyes.
"Access to the room?"
"I will only help with direct connection to the access terminal."
"Through me?"
"I'll try..."
Lucy was completely focused.
"Okay, in the meantime, break their system and look for accounts you can open without my help."
"Got it."
I activated the sandi and stepped out of my hiding place. Now my limit was five minutes of continuous acceleration, my body couldn't take much more. My acceleration is very high, in fact, the whole world is frozen for me because this is not just a military model of the sandi, but also some kind of experimental. So, using the implant, I easily walked down the alley, turned down another alley, and reached the entrance.
The front door was open, but there were two massive lockers in front of it, which I passed by while still in acceleration. It didn't take two minutes of subjective time, but in reality it didn't take three seconds, because if the guards noticed anything, it was a slight ripple.
Inside the building, I immediately made my way to a dresser room where I turned off the sandi.
"You were overlooked..."
Judy let me know it's okay.
"I cleaned the cameras, you're not there, you weren't there."
"Roger that..."
"Uh... Quiet, there's a security room next to you, I'd put one of those slivers I gave you back at your apartment. It would give us more options."
"I'll do it. What's in the room?"
"They're not looking, you can come out, I've got the cameras rolling."
I nodded my head and calmly walked out of the back room where various junk was piled up, then walked calmly to the room.
"No murders. according to the data, there's a check in here every half hour. Any bodies or lack of security will be discovered and an alarm will be raised."
"Got it. Draw me a floor plan of the room, and light me up where I need to put the splinter."
A picture immediately appeared in front of my eyes, where I could see where the right connector was located, or rather there were three connectors and they were labeled as green, yellow and red.
"Lucy?"
"Red should be inserted by all means, yellow if possible, green is desirable but not at all necessary."
"Got it..."
I activated the sandi and entered the room, all the guards were focused on the surveillance monitors and the door was just starting to open, and I went to the connector that was labeled red and inserted a chip into it. Next came the yellow and finally the green connector, and then I slipped out into the corridor and unplugged Sandy.
"Done..."
I walked quietly down the hallway.
"Hide, the door opened, prompting questions from the guards. I chalked it up to a minor glitch in the system, but still..."
Judy warned me of a little trouble and I grinned, while activating the sandi went further down the hallway, hiding behind a corner.
"Uh-huh. Good boy, you go on ahead, there's an elevator. but there's a guard station at the bottom.
"No stairs?"
"There is, but there will be a security post there, too."
I shrugged.
"I'd rather take the stairs, or you'll have to fake an elevator failure. It'll just take a little longer to get down."
"Suit yourself..."