The month flew by like a bullet fired from a gun. During this month I had completed a lot of tasks from Regina, which were getting more and more difficult, and three more tasks from Bestia, which were not very difficult, but it was hard to call them simple.
In addition to working solo, the girls and I did not forget that we had to make repairs in the already large apartment, as well as to deal with the refurbishment of Behemoth for our needs. Everything needed time and money. And if the latter was not a problem, because the solo work brings a very impressive income, and given that I am not only kidnapping people and data engaged in, but also a highly skilled technician, I also received very expensive orders for repair, as well as modernization of weapons and various equipment.
Right now, I was making us lunch since work from Regina had canceled and we had an unexpected day off.
The call from Becky was a surprise to me.
During this month they worked with us five more times, which brought us fabulous money, as Lucy is a much more skillful raner than Judy and hacking is as natural for her as breathing.
"Listening..."
"David, we need your help. urgently."
I set aside the spatula I was using to stir the onions and turned off the stove to focus on the conversation.
"What's wrong?"
"Maine went cuckoo."
"Cyberpsychosis?"
"It looks like it... Dorio was about to go in to disarm it, but, uh. she can't handle him alone. She realizes that, and as long as Mayne's on the base, he's not much of a danger to others."
I sighed.
"Well, I'll be there. But what do you expect me to do?"
"Well, uh. I've heard that dechroming can help you get your brain back to normal."
I grinned sadly and my image shook its head, and in reality I shook my head while heading to the second floor of the apartment where my stuff was.
"Girls, Becca's in trouble. So I'm gonna have to take some time off."
"You're going on your own?"
Panam was surprised and I nodded my head.
"You don't want us involved?"
I shrugged.
"Maine went cuckoo..."
"We're coming with you."
I looked carefully at Panam, who had been lying on the couch watching some shit on TV, and then I looked over at Judy, who looked out of the bedroom, where she was cleaning up after some very rough sex.
"And that's not up for debate."
I sighed and nodded my head. Not that I couldn't leave without letting them know, but then I'd be in big, big trouble afterward.
"Just stay out of the way."
"All right. (chuckles)"
"So, I talked to the girls..."
I'm back to talking to Becca, but regarding dechroming, you should call Vic and have him consult. Because personally, I'd rather deal with him than a lefty ripper.
"Okay..."
"And yes, get ready for the rest of his life to be very limited in what he can do. Most likely it will be deadly dangerous for him to install any chrome that can somehow load his brain and nervous system."
"I... I'll get in touch with Vic, get the address..."
Becca texted me the address, which I immediately forwarded to Panama.
"Okay, we're moving out, stay out of the way, especially you and Lucy."
"Are you so worried about us?"
"Yeah, I'm more worried about you than the rest of your squad. I realize that all of you are chumbas and all that, but specifically me and the girls only have relationships with you."
"I see..."
Becca shut down, though I could see that her avatar was blushing slightly at my words. I walked over to the gun cabinet and pulled out the same Unity, but only the case and the engraving remained. It was a different gun, so it was not a shame to go on the most difficult missions with such a gun.
I also picked up some tranquilizers that should knock out an elephant, and should knock out Mayne. And some heavy-duty ropes to tie up a big guy like Becky and Lucy's current boss.
Inhale... exhale.
I slammed the locker shut and saw the girls ready to go. That's what I love about them, they can get ready very quickly when they need to. And in fact, during our time together, I've never noticed them packing for a long time. Even when we just go out on the weekends to walk around town, they don't get dressed for five hours... not even an hour. At most it's about twenty minutes of getting ready.
"All right, let's go. How far are we going?"
"Twenty minutes."
I nodded my head.
"Let's hope the girls don't do anything stupid in the meantime."
"Uh-huh...
We went down to Torticus and quickly raced through the streets of the city. Panam was doing a wonderful job of driving the car, and considering that she had not just a car, but a nomad's car, it was much faster, more powerful and maneuverable than ordinary cars of the same type.
The cake was literally being thrown from side to side, the brakes were squealing, the steering wheel in Panam's hands was literally spinning in all directions at a speed that I simply could not have done it with. And not because of the lack of speed, here I can be faster at the expense of Sandy, but because I simply do not have such experience. The first jerk of the steering wheel I make is likely to result in a crash.
As we rode in silence...
And less than twenty minutes later, with a mighty squeal of brakes, the Tortic pulled over. At that, I got out of it and immediately contacted Becca.
"Listening..."
"We're here. Did you talk to Vic?"
"Yeah, he's willing to risk working with a cyberpsychic. But the price tag's a little steep."
"Well, it's understandable, he'd have to replace all his equipment after that. Still, those failures may somehow catch his ripper stuff, after which another patient of his will go cuckoo."
"Yeah, well. Okay, it's our paddocks, and we've got plenty of money in the team's stash, but then it's gonna get bad. there'll be no money at all and everyone will have to work to make ends meet."
"Well, if anything, you and Lucy know who to call, but right now it's more important to keep your boss quiet."
"Uh-huh...
I got his geolocation, and I calmly walked in the right direction. A couple minutes later, I heard a noise. A very loud noise. It was clear that someone was trying to tear down one of the garages from the inside.
"Open..."
I immediately activated the sandi, and I did the right thing, because as soon as the garage door opened, I saw a big man moving at a very high speed. Looks like he found himself a sandi after all and installed it. Psycho...
No, I understand wanting to be strong and protect your own. But not at such a cost!
With a sigh, I went towards him at a very high speed and was surprised to realize that Maine's sandi, though not as high as mine, was considerably more powerful than the ones my opponents had encountered before.
Given that Mayne is very experienced, things could be very complicated if I didn't see the lack of any awareness in his eyes, which means he'll be acting on reflexes alone. Not that it would make my task much easier, but still...
I ducked under his blow and aimed mine at the sun, activating my optics and scanning him for weaknesses. I needed to find a place where I could inject the tranquilizer injector.
Making a slash and bouncing to the side as Mayne didn't stay down, he grouped up and rolled on the ground and rushed towards me with the intention of grabbing my legs and throwing me to the ground.
I drew my gun and fired three shots, but I didn't expect to hit, because Sandy's gun allows you to dodge shots with ease. It was more like a trivial distraction, and I was right, my mind, absorbed in cyberpsychosis, failed to realize that there was nothing to fear and that it was enough to move slightly.
I fired a few more shots, trapping the enemy, but he sensed something and rushed towards me, ignoring the bullets. Perhaps his inflamed consciousness judged the gun in my hands as not dangerous...
Well, uh. you shouldn't.
The first shot that hit him literally blew a hole in his shoulder and threw him back. I took advantage of the moment and moved in closer, firing a few more shots. This time I didn't just shoot, but aimed at his legs.
And one of the five shots was still successful, so I took one of Mayne's legs out of commission. And after that he just fell out of acceleration, but I continued to be in it and now quite calmly went around him in a circle. And I finally spotted a place where I could inject the injector, which I immediately did.
And just by moving away from Maine a little to the side I lowered the acceleration effect given to me by Sandy, and when I noticed Maine's eyes closed and he collapsed to the ground I finally turned it off.
"Phew..."
I sighed and slowly approached the big guy, pulling one of the ropes out of its special mount and getting close to him to tightly wrap it around him so he couldn't even move a finger.
"Did you win?"
Becca peered out from her hiding place on the roof of one of the garages.
"Uh-huh... although you could have warned me about the Sandy thing.
"Ahem. I'm sorry, I just got excited and a little--
"Okay, go help him, he needs first aid or he'll bleed out."
"Roger that."
And with those words, Becca just jumped off the roof of the garage and quickly ran up to me. And not only her, but the rest of their group came out from behind their hiding places and helped me with first aid for this figure.
"Okay, here we go."
"Where do you think you're taking Mayne?"
The one girl whose name I forget and who looks like a guy came my way.
"What do you mean where? To the car. And to Victor's, have him take the extra chromium off him and inject him with some powerful drugs. Maybe that'll help stabilize your friend."
"Mayne wouldn't want his chrome removed..."
The girl frowned and defiantly reached under her jacket, exposing her torso and showing that she did have breasts, which were now hidden by her bra.
"Dorio enough!"
Becca stood in her way, her hands on her waist, and by all appearances she was drilling her with an unkind look.
"Becca, you don't understand, chrome is Mayne's life. If he loses it."
"Chum, are you listening to yourself?! He's a fucking cyberpsychic! It's dangerous for him to leave his chrome!"
"You're the one who doesn't understand..."
The girl pulled out a gun.
"...I won't let you rob him of the meaning of life."
I sighed.
"It's clear... I lowered Mayne's body to the ground, then calmly walked around Becca and Dorio."
"Uh, David?"
I was called out by Lucy, who quickly walked over to me and looked into my eyes.
"Lucy, I did my job, I helped neutralize him. He'll be awake in about five hours, so you have time to decide what to do with him. And me spending my day off on this--
I shook my head.
"I'm sorry, Lucy, and I'm sorry, Becca, but I'm just not interested. So you decide, and you take it from there."
I took a couple more steps.
"David, wait!"
Becca stopped me and when I turned to her, she looked at Dorio again.
"Chum, if you don't agree to dechromize him, oh, I'll just leave."
"А?"
Dorio was clearly very much surprised, and yes, Becky's brother was looking at her back with a look of fucked up astonishment at such news.
"I support Rebecca."
Lucy walked over to her and stood in front of Dorio.
"Working with someone who could attack you at any moment..."
Lucy shook her head.
"Lucy and you, too?"
"You know, the girls are basically right. Dorio, they don't tell you it's permanent, just let him recover for a while. Get some rest. Get his head together. And then he'll slowly get his chrome back in place."
"Pilar..."
Dorio shifted her gaze helplessly to him and then to Kiwi.
"Dorio. you know him better, so I'll back you up, but, uh. their words seem pretty adequate to me."
Dorio sighed.
"Okay, uh. I'll do it. But if he wants his chrome back, I will help him, do you hear me?!"
"Oh, great. David, can you give me a ride to Vic's?"
"Uh-huh...
I sighed and walking over to Mayne lifted him up and put him on my shoulder...