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"Regina..."
"David..."
The fixer looked at me with surprise. She was extremely focused. It wasn't that this was unusual, but there was something in her voice and gaze...
"David, I understand this is a little outside your specialty... but I need your help."
I sighed.
"Let's go in order. What do you need, why do you need it, and why me?"
"Do you remember the story with Hal and the Moxes?"
"Well..."
I shrugged.
"...of course, some time has passed, but yes, I remember. By the way, how are the girls?"
"Well, the Moxes who were taken to ripperdocs survived, and the 'culprit' herself is undergoing treatment. They say it's not exactly full-blown cyberpsychosis; more precisely, it's not the stage where nothing can be done. You neutralized her just in time. If she had continued to use chrome, especially the Sandevistan, things would have been worse, and then she would have needed experimental treatment. But as it is, all her chrome has been removed, and a shrink is working with her now."
"I'm glad to hear that..."
"Uh-huh, I'm glad they're okay too, but an unexpected problem has come up."
"And?"
"Hal turned out to be a dark horse. When he realized I was digging into him, he slipped away and is now hiding with the Maelstrom. And that guy turned out to have not just a double bottom, but a triple one. He was working for a few fixers from another city who want to expand their sphere of influence. They're afraid to challenge Rogue... but me..."
Regina fell silent.
"Well... I get the background. What do you need from me?"
"Zero out Hal, and if possible, find out what he managed to pass on. I've gathered a list of the info he could theoretically have accessed, but I'd like some specifics."
I sighed.
"Why me?"
"You work quietly... I just don't have other specialists like you. I mean, the specialists themselves are available, but they're all tied up in other jobs."
"I see..."
"So, what do you say?"
"Regina... only for you and our mutually beneficial relationship. But I want to warn you, after this, I'll probably be out of the game for a couple of months."
"Hmm?"
"I need to finish my training... And I have plans with the girls to take a vacation together."
"I see, I'm not against it, actually..."
"Alright, send me the details in a message. I'll study them... how urgent is this for you?"
"Preferably within the next week."
"Got it... I'll handle it."
The call ended, and I opened my eyes and looked at the ceiling of the tent I was sleeping in tonight, as the girls had taken over all the other spaces and weren't letting me near their bodies.
I'm really becoming just an average solo who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty... But for Regina or Rogue, I was willing to bend some of the rules I set for myself. Although, if it comes down to my girls, I'd go up against Rogue and Regina, too...
I got up from the bed, stretched, and went to make breakfast. After that, I got to work on Becca's suit. She had gone to Vik two days ago and had her chrome replaced, so now she really wanted to be part of the operation. And it looks like the first operation will be an unconventional one for our group.
"You're up already?"
Sloppy Judy came up to me and, with a sweet yawn, kissed me on the cheek.
"Uh-huh..."
"Did something happen?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Well... you're very thoughtful... too much so. I've only seen you like this once before, when they asked you to take a job to zero someone out..."
I gave a sad grin.
"You hit the nail on the head, right?"
"Uh... did I guess right?"
"Yeah..."
"And who is it?"
"Regina... Hal. Remember that disastrous editor?"
"I guess so..."
Judy frowned and nodded, confirming that she remembered the guy.
"It turns out he was working for two fixers from another city. He just saw the girl who was blowing him off and couldn't control himself. Then, we were sent on the job and dug up the details, instead of just saving him from the girl who's gone crazy because of his actions... in short, now he's hiding with the Maelstrom, from Regina or his real employers, who are probably pissed about his screw-up, I don't know. But Regina asked me to solve this problem... and to find out what he managed to pass on to the fixers in the process..."
"I see... and you decided..."
"Yes, I decided to take the job."
"Good. I'm with you, and the other girls won't refuse to support you."
"I know that. After all, I have to take on jobs like this, even if very rarely... I mean, I've done them once or twice before this. And all of you were there... I appreciate that..."
"What's he appreciating now?"
Kiwi came out of the Behemoth.
"He appreciates that we'll be there when he zeros out that guy..."
"Oh... you took an elimination job?"
"Uh-huh..."
I forwarded the job details to Kiwi, and she sat down thoughtfully on a bench not far from me.
"Hey, what about me?!"
Judy looked at me with indignation.
"Well, you didn't ask..."
I shrugged and forwarded her the job details Regina had sent me. From that moment on, the world around us fell into relative silence. Well, as quiet as a nomad camp, which was slowly waking up, could be.
Car doors were slamming here and there, and I could hear the hiss of gas burners being used to light fires. The slams of car doors and the sounds of tent zippers opening... the quiet hum of the water pump got a little louder as the load on it started to increase. In about ten minutes, when more people wake up, the second pump will turn on, and maybe the third one later.
Oh... someone just turned on a tablet in TV mode...
"Why is it so quiet?"
Becca appeared next to me, stretching sweetly.
"Oh, nothing... just thinking about the new job."
"And?"
"Well... I'll probably have to leave you at the camp..."
"What?!"
Becca stared at Kiwi in shock.
"Well, you're too loud..."
"Uh..."
"...and we need quiet, careful work there. So you'll have to..."
"I don't agree! I've been training! I can be quiet!"
"What's all the noise about?"
The rest of the girls came up to the table.
"Oh, nothing... Kiwi's just messing with Becca."
"Huh?!"
"Becca, the job is going to be tough. We have to zero out a guy at a Maelstrom base. As you can imagine, there will be a lot of heavily chromed gangers there who will also have to be..."
I drew my thumb across my throat.
"Well... I don't mind that. When I was working with Maine, I often had to zero out people. It's just with you that I haven't had to do that..."
"Well, that's a good thing..."
"Not for Night City..."
Becca shook her head.
"...so I need to bloody up Becca's blade a little with some ganger blood."
I sighed.
"Becca..."
"Come on, you zero out gangers all the time..."
"I do. But asking you to zero someone out..."
I shook my head.
"I don't like it."
"Drop it..."
I waved my hand, stopping Lucy, who was about to join the conversation.
"I understand all of that, but my personal feelings about it don't change. But that's a secondary matter. I have more pleasant news. I warned Regina that after this job, I'm taking a vacation, with all of you. I'll work it out with Rogue, too..."
"The moon?"
"Yeah... I suggest we fly to the moon after this job."
"Well..."
The girls exchanged glances.
"...we're in."
Panam delivered the unified verdict for all the girls, who nodded in agreement. And that made me happy. So, the joint vacation was going to happen. They could have tried to put it off. The chances were minimal, of course, but still...
"Great... I'll go and prepare your suit now..."
I glanced at Becca.
"I'm coming with you!"
"Well..."
I gave her a long look.
"Let's go..."
It took me a couple of hours to tailor the suit for Becca, and after that, we went out to the training grounds.
"Alright... let's see what your suit can do..."
And we started a full-scale test of the suit, starting with its camo system and ending with its ability to move under one hundred percent Sandevistan acceleration. Luckily, or unluckily, Becca's Sandevistan capabilities were much more modest than mine. Her one hundred percent was... quite modest for my Sandevistan, and I could easily track her every move.
I was satisfied...
"Thanks!"
After taking off her helmet, Becca literally jumped on me, wrapping her legs around my waist, her arms around my neck, and she kissed me with a passionate kiss.
"You know... I really like this kind of thank you..."
"Well..."
She grinned.
"...I can thank you in a much more pleasant way."
"Hey, don't cut the line!"
Kiwi walked up to us and loomed over Becca. That's the feeling I got from her look and the tone of her voice.
"Sorry!"
Becca jumped off me and immediately disappeared in the direction of the Behemoth, where she was clearly planning to hide from Kiwi.
"She's restless..."
Kiwi shook her head.
"It's not enough for her that she and Judy sleep with you more often than the others..."
"They decided to share..."
I grinned.
"...you two could have worked something out, too, but you're too possessive. So... they're enjoying it, and you... you're enjoying it too, but at the same time, you're jealous of them."
"Alright..."
Kiwi hugged me by the shoulders.
"...let's go to our room. We're going to try something new tonight..."
"Perfect..."
I nodded, and Kiwi and I walked toward the Behemoth. Becca, noticing our purposeful movement, quickly slipped out and disappeared from our sight.
"You know... I never thought my life would turn out like this, and I wouldn't be the only girl with a guy and I'd be happy that I managed to snag even a little of him..."
I closed the door and, walking up to Kiwi, I kissed her. My hands slid down her body, helping her undress.
"That's enough talk..."
"You didn't just snag a little of him; you got your happiness."
"Uh-huh..."
She grinned, and her hands also slid down my body, helping me get rid of my clothes.
"Are we done talking?"
"Yes... our bodies will do the talking now..."
The evening and night promised to be hot...
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