"Fuck I'm gonna buy myself a sea of chrome!"
Pilar poured out his joy like a little girl who had been given a new set of cosmetics for New Year's Eve in a pink package with a pink bow. And everyone saw it. Even Kiwi, who treated him very positively, moved a little aside. Apparently she finally began to realize that such a frame does not quite fit her. However, the other members of the team looked only slightly less enthusiastic.
Mayne was the most excited of all, though he was much more reserved. But even on the face of the not-so-hefty man, there was a smile of anticipation.
"Didn't we make a mistake?"
Kiwi looked at all of this and just couldn't contain her question, which was now on the mind of everyone who had once been a member of Maine's group.
"Time will tell..."
I shrugged my shoulders, because although I had an idea of what would happen next, I was not sure that Mayne would run to a familiar reaper who had serviced him before. Maybe he would have enough brains to stop for a couple of days, analyze the situation and at least approach chrome plating in a much more restrained and thoughtful way?
"Kiwi, Lucy, Becca, you'll be back on the team, won't you?"
Mayne said it in a confident tone that made me want to put a bullet between his eyes. No, I'd taken advantage of the situation and lured them all to my place, but so brazenly...
"Sorry Big Guy, but I'm more interested in David..."
Becca was the first to answer, almost without thinking about her former boss's question.
"So he's keeping you from having fun..."
"Well..."
Becca cast a thoughtful glance at me, then nodded uncertainly.
"...Yeah, there's pretty little opportunity for fun with him, but I've already found a way to change that... Yeah, and honestly, between working for pennies as a douchebag and an annoyingly quiet job with decent bonuses, I'd choose the latter. Oh, and his purpose in life. You know, becoming a Legend like you want is an exciting goal, but I personally prefer a long and relatively quiet life."
"Mm..."
Mayne shook his head.
"I didn't expect to hear you say that. Lucy? Kiwi?"
"I'll pass..."
Kiwi shook her head.
"...you know my situation, and with David, I can pay off my debt early. So, to me, it seems like the obvious choice."
"I'll stay with David too... he has good food."
That's where the comments all fell flat. I would have expected such a response from Becky, but not from Lucy. I decided to take that as a given, though, and continued to just sit there, not reacting to Mayne trying to leave me without a team.
Could I have been outraged?
He definitely could, especially after three days of working together, when we'd looted a large number of Stilettos' hideouts and raised a fair amount of money, which I'd generously shared with him, Dorio, and Pilar. At the very least he could have waited for me to step aside...
"So that's a no?"
"No, big guy..."
Kiwi shook her head and answered for all the girls this time.
"Judy, how about you and Panam?"
"No, no, no, you can count us out. We've been with David almost since the beginning of his career... well, I joined a little later, but I've known him since the early days of his solo career, and what I know about him... well, I wouldn't trade working with him for any money to work with someone else."
"Hmm... So I should be looking for a runner and fire support..."
"I can offer some advice..."
"Hrm?"
"Well, I'm monitoring the new players, so there's a girl recently, nicknamed Orange Girl because of the tattoo on her shoulder, name's Nami. As far as I know, she's working with the Padres' Sebastian Ibarra, but in general, I don't think he'd mind if you invited her to your group. But that's only if you don't get too chrome again..."
"None of your business!"
I shrugged.
"You're right, it's not my thing. so Nami's a good runner, albeit a rookie, but for a group of douchebags..."
I shook my head.
"...I can recommend Vee and Jackie, but they've been taken over by DeShawn now and I doubt they'll take the job with you until they've dealt with the order from him. I can think of a few newbies... if you're interested, I can drop you a list. Or you can buy a selection of promising rookies from a fixer."
"Hmm. that's what I'll do."
He sighed and stood up from the table.
"...well thank you for the work and its payment... I didn't expect such generosity."
I only shrugged my shoulders at these words of his.
"Bye..."
The girls said goodbye to Mayne and his group, and he left the nomad camp quietly. We remained seated at the table.
"So..."
"I have a... a request."
Kiwi's voice was a little hesitant. And it was strange, but I didn't mind hearing her out, at least.
"Uh-huh?
"I was contacted by Faraday..."
I frowned slightly.
"...He warned me that he was VERY interested in working with you, asking me to pressure you into agreeing to the order..."
"AND?"
"Don't look at me like that."
She looked away.
"...I'm not stupid, ruining the team and our relationship just for a partial debt forgiveness when I've already started to manage to pay it off. Anyway, I gave Faraday a big fat hint that it's going to take time for you to at least not drop his call as soon as you realize who's calling me... and considering how busy you are right now... He won't be calling until early next week at the earliest. So could you pretend that I'm so fed up with my talk and innuendo that just to stop it, you decided to actually talk to him?"
I grinned.
"That's no problem, but I'm not taking the job from him. I can't imagine what he'd have to say to make me decide to take a job from him..."
"He's pretty... Slippery."
"Slippery ones like that are easier to shoot."
"Well..."
Kiwi shrugged.
"...I wouldn't mind such a development. I suppose that in the event of his death, my debt would be considered canceled..."
She grinned.
"Okay, okay, we've discussed that, now let's talk about our future plans..."
"And what do you want to discuss?"
"Upgrades..."
Panam tensed up a lot.
"...Yes, Panam, it is upgrades and it is for all of us. The moment has come when it is dangerous for us to even stand still with the current level of chrome. We haven't crossed the path of big corporations yet, but we've stepped on the toes of a bunch of small ones. And they may well be teaming up to hire someone strong enough strong enough. Of course, that would cost them a lot of money. Because the really big players won't even scratch their heads for the small stuff. but I'm guessing another six months, a year tops, and they'll be forced to make a serious investment."
"What do you suggest?"
Judy looked at me intently.
"For starters, we all require subcutaneous armor. And when I say everyone, I mean everyone, even you Panam. And knowing your reluctance to chrome, I've already sent a rough list to Vic, he'll find the best of what can be found on the market, even if it's black market, so that the installation of such armor will not affect our daily lives."
"That's not all of them, is it?"
"Definitely not all of them..."
I nodded, confirming that I was going to say a lot of other things that she wouldn't take well. But at the same time, we both knew I had to say it.
"I think at a minimum I'll need optical camo... I'm also thinking about replacing the skeleton, but I don't want to install a titanium one, it will make me much heavier, so I asked Vic to find something experimental that won't make me much heavier. And I guess that's all of the pure chrome I'd like to get, but I've also sent him a request for bio-implants...
"As far as I know they are not as effective as chrome..."
Judy joined the conversation.
"You're right, but I've said before, I'm not happy with Borg's fate. So, Vic will have to spend a lot of time on chromium attunement, because some types of chromium are simply not produced by the same corporations. And the installation of bioimplants will not be easy, but at least it will not require a long adjustment, and besides, a person with such implants is not considered a Borg, which is a big plus for me."
"I see...and for us, what?"
Kiwi was looking at me intently. She was figuring out what she could do with my suggestions and how much she would have to cut back financially.
"A deck, and an extra class one at that..."
If I were in the game, I would say legendary, but there is no such term here. But there is extra class, such as the same deck from Arasaka version four, or from Network Watch version five.
"I was also thinking about memory expanders and memory reload gas pedals... but I just asked Vic to find something of equal quality."
"This is..."
Kiwi was shocked. I think she was beginning to realize that this was going to cost her a lot of money.
"Bio-implants like mine. for poisoning, for organ strength and longevity, a very versatile set of things.
"Uh..."
"Becca generally doesn't need anything extra, except I'd replace her chrome kit with extra class chrome, while Panam added something they put on professional racers."
"Ahem... I don't think...I don't think I have enough money for an extra class..."
Kiwi pulled herself together though and was the first to speak.
"Oh, don't worry... I have the solution and the money... and I'm offering the same option Judy once offered..."
"Which is what?"
Kiwi looked at me suspiciously.
"I'll pay for everything. I have money, and plenty of it, because even though I spend money from time to time, I have a very large piggy bank for a rainy day. So I have enough money for our upgrade, as for you, if you agree to it, you will receive a stable share of the reward for the mission, as well as only ten percent of the share that will be due to you in the form of a bonus. And so on until your debt to me is closed."
"What's the catch?"
Kiwi stared intently into my eyes looking for mockery in them, or whatever else she expected to see there.
"There's no catch..."
Judy shrugged.
"...he just wants to work better, get more money and live without turning around at every rustle, and that requires him to be confident in the rear. So he's offering us all an option... and personally, I agree."
"You didn't even need to be asked..."
Becca drummed her fingers thoughtfully on the table.
"...Like Panam, although she's not a big fan of chrome, but in the option David suggested she's unlikely to turn down the upgrade."
"I won't say no..."
Panam nodded her head.
"...And I'll use my personal funds to modernize Tortik... It should have been completely overhauled a long time ago, and now it's just a light tuning... Or maybe I'll sell Tortik to the clan, and buy something more spacious... the same Chevillion Emperor 620 Ragnar, I've been looking at it for a long time..."
"Well, I think if you give it a good tune-up, it'll give Tortica a good head start.
"Uh-huh...
"So?"
I looked at the girls again.
"Well, I can partially pay for the chrome myself... but I'd prefer to go with your option so I don't end up broke. You pay for everything, and I work, giving you most of my bonus. I think with the way we work, that's more than two months of work..."
I nodded my head at Becky's words.
"I don't mind..."
Lucy shrugged.
"...if I'm more efficient, we'll get the money back faster."
"Okay..."
Kiwi covered her eyes.
"Only..."
"Uh-huh?
"Can I ask you to add something else to the list of bioimplants?"
"And what's that?"
"Lower jaw, and everything that should be-- I'll go to Vic, he'll take a look and make a list. I'm not going to give up the mask, of course, but I'd like to finally be able to take it off and not shine chrome like some Malstremovets...
"And this girl has a crush on my brother..."
Becca shook her head, and I finally relaxed. They all agreed... Good...