The Cult welcomes The Great Gasby to its venerable ranks. The laborers may deliver their due praise for the extra soup rations for one minute before returning to work.
AN: Unless something particularly funky comes up, I'll start posting three chapters a week starting from next week (M,W,F) Wanted to wait until I had a nice round 15 chaps on the dread site that shall not be named.
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Michael 'Magos' Sobronov
Having left Rebecca back at the bar, I followed the bodyguard deeper into the building, leaving the open guest area and passing by a few private rooms and making a point of not looking into them.
It wasn't only Rogue who operated out of the Afterlife, and poking my nose into other people's business a good first impression did not make.
Not that I was given too much time to consider the option in any case as we reached our destination pretty quickly. The big lug of a roided up bodyguard merely standing to the side of the door, and not even bothering to look my weapons over.
Foolishly confident, but also reassuring.
Likely on purpose as well.
Best not overthink it and make a fool of myself.
The private room was a bit cozier than the rest of the Afterlife, the lighting was not nearly as jarring, even if it did follow the same theme of cold blue as the rest of the place, and while the room itself was slightly cramped for my tastes, the seating was spacious and arranged around a low but large table.
Just as I was about to enter, the doors were pushed open from inside and a pair of mercenaries walked out.
One of them was a short, black haired Asian woman who at first glance seemed mundane but only a quick scan was needed to reveal the heavy amount of sleek cyberization just below her high grade RealSkinn.
The other was a serious looking Caucasian man, grey, almost white haired, sharply bearded, and perfectly straight backed. He was dressed in a well appointed corpo business suit and seemed to be the image of a... distinguished gentleman I believe the stereotype was.
That was of course before one realized the suit was actually armored, and the man was sporting a number of gadgets used for combat and infiltration just barely out of sight.
The duo paused only for a half-step, both evaluating me just as I did them.
And the moment passed as quickly as it came, all three of us sharing a polite nod before they went on their way and I entered the room they had just left.
Unexpectedly, there were only two people inside.
Both of whom I immediately recognized.
"Eager, aren't you?" The old, grey haired, but not quite ancient woman that was Rogue Amendiares spoke as she saw me enter.
'Weren't you the one to invite me?' Was the first gut response that came to mind.
'An attempt to throw me off guard?' I thought for a moment before simply walking in and taking a seat on the thankfully resilient bench "You tell me. Ms. Rogue." Is all I said before looking at the room's other occupant "Nix."
The short haired blonde black man with shades over his eyes even while indoors, a fact for which he received no small amount of teasing from my fellow netrunners, gave a short, outwardly uninterested wave "Magos. Finally crawled out of your hole to join the rest of us mortals?"
"Felt like going for a walk for once." I shrugged "Happy to see you are doing well for yourself."
We had done small bits of business with each other over the years, and he was one of the rare few netrunners who frequented the EdgeNet cafe that I actually believed to be competent.
"Could always go for a raise or three." He shrugged, still tapping away at his blocky laptop.
The 'Queen of Fixers' didn't seem at all annoyed that I was not immediately focusing on her, in fact she seemed to have an odd gleam in her eyes for a moment before Nix finished whatever it was he was doing and detached a chip from his device, one he quickly offered to his boss.
She made no great show of inserting it into her neck, merely pouring some manner of liquor into an empty glass before sliding it my way, and then twirling her own glass as she read up on whatever was listed on the chip "When Regina first told me about you I expected we wouldn't be meeting for a few months at least. You sure work fast, kid."
''Kid' meaning she already knew more than I liked.'
Even if it was only to be expected from someone of her caliber.
"Something tells me it wasn't Regina who first tattled." I returned, giving Nix a pointed look, which he of course ignored.
Rogue made an exhale that wasn't quite a huff "Nix tried recommending you a few times, but I don't like throwing children at corpo AI. Bad for business, that. Not that you'd even take those jobs in the first place."
"Correct." I 'admitted' easily enough "The rewards may be great but the risks are simply not worth it. Not even with my hardware."
"Not confident in your skills?" She raised her eyebrows, blatantly provoking me.
"It isn't a question of getting in or out." I shrugged "The moment I start poking into the big names' databases, Fixers start demanding I poke just a little bit deeper, until I overreach and my brain is fried."
Giving her a pointed look I added "Besides. You know damn well that without deep backing, hacking into corpos is just asking them to bag you and shove your brain into a jar to work for them or something equally asinine."
Her eyes widened slightly, though for whatever reason I couldn't quite guess, and a split second later she was back to her usual self, offering a slight nod at my words "All true." She hummed, twirling her glass again "Still, I have to say you did more than just poke Biotechnica the other night."
I barely held back a groan "Something that would not have been a problem if some people had the slightest bit of self preservation and learned to keep their damned noses to themselves."
Nix chuckled.
"But even if I knew I'd be recorded I'd still have done it." I finished "The choice was a pretty easy one, all things considered."
The old woman didn't immediately say anything, simply taking a long sip of her drink while she no doubt went over everything she knew about me and all the motivations my words just implied.
An act she was more than proficient in, if the speed at which she finished was any indication "Rare to see someone stick his neck out for his chooms in Night City."
"Try the whole Earth." I deadpanned to which she actually chuckled.
"And what of your Tyger Claw friends?" She asked lightly "Should I expect this same loyalty to extend to them?"
My look turned utterly flat at that final probe "Please do not pretend Wakako hasn't already told you everything there is to know about my arrangement with her son. You are not that incompetent."
The old woman huffed in either annoyance or approval, I wasn't quite sure "Almost forgot you were a teen under all that chrome."
"Fear not, the hormones are in good order." I deadpanned, much to her growing amusement "But we aren't here to talk about my cerebral development. You said we had biz to discuss, so discuss away."
Rogue looked like she considered probing me for a bit longer, but ultimately decided she had already gotten more than enough from me tonight "Fine. I have a big gig coming up that is missing a solo. You know how to keep your mouth shut?"
Or not apparently.
"Yes." I waved impatiently "Please, do go on."
"Good." She showed no outward reaction but I knew she was cackling at me in her mind, the hag "A Militech convoy is set to enter Night City in three days, carrying some new combat drone design of theirs. My client has requested at least one, but preferably multiple, examples of the tech to be delivered to them in one piece."
"Are we ambushing or stealing?" I asked, already running through the scenario even with the barest hint of information she gave me.
"Stealing." She answered simply "The convoy will have heavy protection, and move only in the open."
"And just throwing meat at the problem would be wasteful." I nodded "And loud."
"Quite." She hummed, and lit up a cigar, pausing to take a drag before continuing "I already have a team for the infiltration but they are lacking a heavy hitter, and their netrunner only does quick hacking. He is competent but limited in what he can do, so that is where you fall in."
"And our exfil when things go wrong?" I asked.
"Not if?" She raised an eyebrow.
"I know what I said."
Her lips quirked upwards "Two drivers will be waiting on standby, both in different directions and both with rides that can outrun corpo pursuit. You'll get more details in the briefing."
"Right." That was perfectly acceptable "And what of my team? You'd think this discussion would be much more productive if they were here."
"The two of them know to trust my judgement." Rogue said simply.
"Passed your test, did I?" I drawled. It was a bit annoying but I couldn't really fault the process. I would be the first to vet the shit out of people I had to trust not to fuck me over, and Rogue had a reputation to maintain.
"I had to see if what I've been told about you was true." She didn't bat an eye as she answered "You can't rely on reputation when it comes to sensitive biz."
"Reasonable."
"Good." She nodded "Nix will provide you a chip with all the details-"
"Getting a bit ahead of ourselves, no?" I cut her off, leaning forward ever so slightly.
She paused, narrowing her eyes as she did "Is there a problem?"
I merely stared. For damn near a full minute.
Finally, Rogue allowed herself a tiny smirk "Payout is two mil. Two and a half if you get two drones and three if you get three. My cut is 40%, and the rest gets equally split between the three of you."
I pretended to consider it briefly, before nodding slowly "Fine. I am in."
"Nova." She said dryly "Nix. The chip."
My fellow netrunner nodded, and moments later, I was holding a pretty advanced data chip in my hand.
I did not care in the slightest about them seeing me blatantly scanning the thing for damn near a minute before inserting it into my Neuroport, and the moment I did I was bombarded with a sea of information.
Everything from the aforementioned exfil drivers, to the storage area's outline, to its defenses, and the very schedules of the guards.
The reason why a Fixer could reasonably take as much as Rogue did was because it was her job to provide all the information and support necessary for the gig as the middleman, and Rogue definitely did her job well.
The only thing that bothered me was the complete lack of information on my fellow mercenaries. Well, everything save for their names and contact information lacking even a picture.
Seemingly noticing my apprehension, Rogue spoke up "The duo you will be working with are professionals, so don't worry about them chasing a Legend while on the job."
"I was pretty loud about that one, wasn't I?" I muttered, not quite annoyed but close.
The Queen of Fixers merely looked at me with amusement at that comment briefly before going on as if I had said nothing at all "They've done a number of gigs for me in the past, so try not to antagonize them too much and listen to what they have to say."
"So long as they aren't gonks, I will not bitch about them having more experience." I deadpanned "If they are polite about it."
"You'd think that was granted in this line of biz but." She shrugged as if to say 'it is what it is' "Anyway, it is up to you three to come up with an approach with all the info I gave you. Contact them and set up a meeting, you have three days to get ready."
Nodding along I asked just in case "I'm guessing Militech isn't planning on keeping their bots locked up for too long?"
Her answer surprised me "Most probably."
"You don't know?"
"Despite whatever the kids say, I'm not all knowing." She pointed out dryly "Which is why we won't be taking that risk. I want this done quickly and efficiently, and preferably with Militech none the wiser."
"Doubtful." I couldn't help but quip "But one can hope."
"Who knows, you might just surprise yourself." She shrugged, lip curled up slightly "But that is up to the three of you."
"Message received." I mock saluted with my drink and downed the excellent (or what I thought was excellent anyway) whiskey in one gulp before preparing to get up "Is there anything else, Ms. Rogue?"
"Don't die, kid."
"I'll take your advice to heart." I rolled my eyes and got up "Have a pleasant evening."
I was tempted to hack into the room as I left, just to see what they'd say behind my back. But that would a breach of trust that would see me swiftly and silently blacklisted so I held back despite the low chance I'd ever be detected.
Instead I focused back on the matter at hand and scrolled through the infochip in my neck.
Moments later I found what I was looking for, and sent out a call.
A familiar face appeared in the corner of my eye, revealing the same man I saw leave Rogue's parlor when I arrived.
[Magos: Mr. Sharpe. We meet again.]
There was no visible reaction on his face at my greeting.
[J. Sharpe: A small world we live in. Mr. Magos.]
His voice was deep and cultured, with an odd accent not native to NC.
[Quite.] I huffed [Ms. Rogue sent me your way for the repo job. When can we meet?]
He must have already received confirmation from the Fixer herself because there was no apprehension or hesitation to his response.
[How does three PM tomorrow in the Afterlife sound to you?]
[Perfectly doable.] I hummed [Anything I need to prepare in advance?]
[Just your mind.] The man's moustache twitched ever so slightly upwards [It will be a long discussion.]
[Very well. See you then.]
[See you then, Mr. Magos.]
The call ended and I frowned.
Was that how I sounded to everyone else?
Weird.
Shaking my head, I decided to just not think about it and returned to the Afterlife proper, once more being slammed by the wave of noise as I weaved through the by now incredibly dense crowd.
The place was still a bar, and mercs liked to party. Who would have thunk it?
Thankfully I found Rebecca exactly where I left her, waving her beer bottle around while discussing something with the bartender.
"Mikey!" She beamed at me as she saw me approach "How did it go?"
"Pretty well." I said, absently waving off the bartender's question if I wanted a drink "I got myself a gig, though no details to share I am afraid."
She pouted for a moment before grinning "That's fine! Wanna dance?"
I did not often feel fear, but the spike of hesitation I felt at that question came pretty damn close "I have no idea how."
Her grin widened "Better learn quickly then!" She chirped and promptly dragged me off from the bar and into the writhing crowd.
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"We are never doing that again." I muttered as I dragged us out of the Afterlife, into the cold night air, and freedom from the accursed stampede within.
"But you were so good at it! You only sent three people flying!" Rebecca cackled from atop my shoulder.
"It was a nightmare." I shook my head and pretend shivered, ignoring the odd warmth in my internals I couldn't explain "Too much person, too little space."
We reached my van quickly enough and just as I was about to reach for her, Rebecca spoke up "Hey Mike."
"Yeah?" I asked, tilting my head up sideways to find her looking slightly hesitant.
That hesitance lasted only for a moment as she faced me and with determination in her eyes, grabbed the sides of my face before leaning in "Wanna be my input?"
I blinked, brain freezing momentarily, and my mouth moved before it could reboot "Sure."
She grinned and then dragged my face forward, into a kiss that was as awkward as it was pleasant.
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The demand for stone rises beyond!
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