The landlord stiffened, lips curling in a sneer. "Yeah, problem. This little brat's two weeks behind. Either she pays or she's out. Don't matter who you bring along—rules are rules."
Jackie chuckled, stepping closer with an easy swagger. "Rules, eh? Funny how you only enforce those on the people who can't fight back." His hand tapped the grip of his pistol, not pulling it, but the message was clear.
The landlord's eyes darted nervously between them. "Hey, no need for trouble. I just want what's owed—"
Max cut him off with a single step forward. The hallway's flickering light caught on his optics as they flared, cold and sharp. His voice came low, measured."She stays. No more threats. You want your money? You'll get it. But if I hear you even think about throwing her out again…" He tilted his head slightly. "Then you'll be the one looking for a new home. Understand?"
The landlord's bravado collapsed. He gave a quick nod, muttered something about "not worth it," and shuffled down the hall.
The moment he was gone, V let out a sharp laugh, shaking her head."So what's this? Some white knight routine? You two follow me home just to scare my landlord?"
Jackie grinned. "White knight? Nah, hermana, you got it wrong. My boy here ain't no knight. He's the kind knights pray they don't meet."
V scoffed. "Great. Just what I needed. Another chrome psycho who thinks he's special."
Max smiled faintly beneath his mask, unbothered."Not another psycho. The psycho. The one who makes sure people like Carter don't touch you again."
At that, V snorted. "Carter? Please. I could've put him in the ground myself if I wanted. Don't think I needed saving."
Max didn't respond, just studied her with calm intensity.
She folded her arms, tone flattening. "So what's the angle, huh? What do you want?"
"You in my little gang" Max said without bushing around.
Jackie jumped in, grinning wide. "Damn right he is. No more scraps, no more nickel-and-dime gigs. Man's pulling together something real—something this city's gonna have to notice."
V's eyes flicked between them, weighing their words. After a pause, she shrugged."And if I say no? If I just keep running my own biz?"
Max's voice stayed steady, almost casual."Then you keep chasing eddies and fighting landlords while scavs circle around again and again. Or you roll with me—and instead of being another hustler in the city, you become the storm that tears it apart."
V let the silence hang, then smirked, amused."Big words, demon. Alright. I'll hear you out. Just don't expect me to bow or kiss the ring."
Jackie slapped her shoulder with a laugh. "That's what I like to hear. Welcome to the team, hermana."
Max's smirk widened a touch."Good. Then let's talk business."
He turned, heading for the stairs without looking back. Jackie followed, still grinning, and after a moment, V trailed after them. Her footsteps echoed in the stairwell, steady and unhurried.
Max didn't take them back to El Coyote. Instead, he cut through the streets, the glow of neon casting jagged shadows across cracked pavement. Jackie and V followed without complaint, though V kept throwing the occasional glance his way, sizing him up.
A few blocks later, Max stopped in front of an old building wedged between a shuttered braindance parlor and a corner ripper's clinic that had long gone out of business. The sign above the door had half the letters burned out, leaving only a flickering "Haven."
Jackie whistled low. "So this is your spot, choom?"
Max pushed the door open. Inside was a different world—clean, stripped-down, reinforced. Metal shutters sealed the windows, cameras tracked the corners, and a table in the center glowed faintly with holo-screens and data feeds. It wasn't flashy, but it screamed prepared. Safe.
"This'll do," V muttered, running her hand along the edge of the table. "Better than most of the dumps in Watson."
Max moved past them, setting down his mask on the table before turning. His optics glimmered in the low light as he spoke evenly.
"Alright. First things first. Let's check where you two stand."
V raised an eyebrow. "Check? You planning to run some kind of aptitude test?"
Jackie chuckled. "Careful, hermana. Man's got his ways."
Max activated a nearby terminal with a flick of his wrist. A grid of glowing panels lit up across the table, looking like some kind of evaluation program.
Max activated a nearby terminal with a flick of his wrist. A grid of glowing panels flared to life across the table, humming like some diagnostic program. Jackie leaned forward, curious, while V's eyes narrowed slightly.
Neither of them had any idea the screens were just smoke and mirrors. The real work was already happening, deep inside Max's hidden System—a secret no one, not even Jackie or V, knew existed. And Max intended to keep it that way.
He leaned back, casual, like this was just routine.
"Simple procedure. Checks your limits—chrome tolerance, stress markers, all that."
V frowned, a little skeptical. "Since when's there a scanner that can read chrome limits? Last I checked, ripperdocs don't even have a straight answer on that."
The panels pulsed, sending out a soft hum. Both V and Jackie stiffened as a faint charge ran over their skin, leaving them momentarily stunned like they'd been hit with a static shock. Max watched carefully as the System fed him clean readouts—reaction times, cyberware integration stability, hidden faults.
Jackie rubbed his neck with a wince. "Chingada madre… feels like a zapper, mano. You sure this is safe?"
Max gave an easy shrug, optics dimming faintly. "Safe enough. And yeah, there is tech for this. Corpo keeps it quiet for a reason—if everyone knew their hard chrome cap, ripperdocs would lose half their business. Whole implant market would tank overnight."
V tilted her head, studying him. "So you're saying the corps bury it. That tracks."
"Exactly," Max lied smoothly, keeping the mask in place. "I just… got my hands on something they don't want on the street."
The truth, of course, was that there was no "machine" here. The System was the only one doing the scans, breaking down their bodies and cyberware with inhuman precision. The glowing panels? Just cover.
And by the way V's and Jackie's scans looked, Max already had more dirt on them than they'd ever want anyone to know.
***
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