It turns out Freyon's apartment was rather close to the pub. After that whole debacle with that scum Dallas, Freyon wanted to show me how grateful she was for my actions.
She sure did show me plenty of appreciation, very rigorously, I might add. So much so, in fact, I wound up running late for my meeting before I said my goodbyes to her.
After leaving her apartment, I sprinted as fast as I could to Castallan Manor. As I walk through the doors, I see there are multiple armed guards standing guard. One of them walks up to me, looking at me suspiciously for a moment before letting me walk through.
I ask one of them for directions to the meeting room; he points me in the right way. The place is like an absolute maze and stuffed with all sorts of people. Who the hell could live in a place like this? No thank you, I prefer my comfy freighter over this labyrinth of a house.
After a few minutes, I arrive at the meeting room; I'm about a half-hour late. It's a rather decadent-looking room with a large table. As I walk in, I notice only one person in there; by the looks of her, I'd assume she's the client for this little heist given her fancy-looking attire.
She's wearing a dress that looks almost like pure gold; she's rather old, with a very stern look in her eyes. The moment she spots me, she stands up from her chair and clears her throat.
"You're late, Freelancer Rhett. Mind explaining why that is?"
She speaks to me in a rather posh-sounding accent, which is something I'd expect from one of these upper-society aristocrat types. I clear my throat as well and look her dead on. I try to at least put on the outlaw charm as I respond to her question.
"I happened to get otherwise preoccupied and lost track of time. It doesn't matter; all that matters is I'm here now... ehhh... that's got to count for something. I'm sure Aliester must have told you I'm not the best at making things on time."
"He did. But I assumed it was only a jest. To think I'd hire a man who shows up half an hour late to probably the highest-paying job of his entire life."
Her words hit me a bit like a dagger. She is right; I'm jeopardizing possibly the biggest score of my career. I mean, judging by all I've seen, this chick is loaded.
I'm trying to think back; was it all worth it? Well... yeah, it was. I can't lie; Freyon did some things I didn't even know were possible to be done. But enough about that; back to my present situation. I try to think of a way to maybe smooth things over, but before I can speak, the client speaks up again.
"I'm Olivia Castallan. I don't take kindly to being made to wait for any man or woman. I'd send you packing right now... but however, my situation is desperate, and I can't afford to waste any more time. So you and your team will have to do it?"
I breathe a sigh of relief. Thank God I still have the job and—
Wait a minute... did she just say team?
I don't remember bringing a team, unless I had maybe too much Stellaran Ale to drink at the bar and completely blacked out the part about forming one. Nope, that definitely didn't happen, so what is this lady talking about?
"I don't seem to recall walking in with a team. It's only me, you know that, right?"
"I know that, you dunce. You're just one of the people I hired; it's a three-person job, and you're one of the three. I knew you were dense, but this is ridiculous."
"Okay, ouch, don't need to be so mean, lady. Also, I was under the impression from Aliester I was doing this job alone. I usually ride solo bolo on these types of missions. Teams aren't really my thing."
"Well, Aliester lied; I told him it was a team of three."
That damn dirty rat. He knows I hate team jobs; something always goes wrong on these things, and I always have to pick up the slack.
I shouldn't be surprised; I've known the man for years. His jobs are reliable and usually fit in my moral guidelines, but he's also a notorious trickster who just loves screwing with me.
I've lost interest in this job quickly after learning that, and it seems Olivia notices this as well. Before I can even get a word out, she pops a briefcase on the table, opens it, and slides it right towards me as I stand at the other end. I look down; it's stock full of crowns.
"That's got to be at least fifty thousand!"
"Double it, and you're dead on."
Double it, and you're dead on?
Wait, she's offering me a hundred thousand crowns for this job. The most I'd ever been paid for a job is a little over ten thousand; hell, this changes everything.
"Okay, lady, you know how to speak my language. Hell, for this much, I'd learn to tame a wild Zamba while it's mating season."
She walks over towards me around the table. Her hand goes atop the briefcase and closes it.
"That's more like it, mister spacer. Now, I've already debriefed the other two, who were here on time, about the operation. I'm not particularly in the mood to go over the details all over again just to catch you up. I'll guide you to the recreation room your two partners are held up in; they'll go over the details of the heist with you. Any objections?"
"Plenty, but I want these crowns, so I'll keep them to myself."
"Wise choice, follow me."
Olivia then opens the door, and I follow her out down the halls. How she seems to navigate around this place so easily is beyond me; this place is so massive, and half the rooms look the same.
She eventually points directly towards a door at the end of the hall, saying the two are in there.
I then walk ahead as she scurries away, leaving me to meet my new team. I walk up towards the door and hesitate in front of the large metallic door, my hand hovering over the opening button. Several questions run through my head.
What will they be like?
Will this end as badly as my previous team-ups in the past?
Will any of them be a smoking hot bombshell that I fall in love with?
Okay, maybe not all my questions are important, mind you.
Enough with the questions, however. There's no use speculating; the answers lie just beyond this door. So if I want to know, there's only one way to find out.