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"Smarty-Pants, what do you have?"
"I'm in the system…"
Judy was focused. And I could say that since we had sex, our relationship had become much closer, and she was even more attentive at work. Attentive isn't the right word, though, because she was never one to relax on the job. She had become more meticulous, even nitpicky. And right now, she hadn't given me the all-clear to act.
"You already said that… fifteen minutes ago."
"Well, I'm sorry for being cautious. It's a job from Rogue, who you screwed out of a pretty decent amount of eddies. So I prefer to be cautious. Especially since my skills are nowhere near Lucy's…"
I sighed.
"I'm not rushing you; I'm just checking in."
"Yeah, yeah… it's just something is bothering me."
"And what is it?"
"I don't know… everything seems fine, but something is just off."
"So, a gut feeling, huh?"
"You're not going to laugh?"
"Why would I? We're solos, and if we have a bad feeling, it's best to listen to it. We'll live longer."
Judy spent another twenty minutes scouting, but she still couldn't find what was making her so nervous about this job.
"I'm starting…"
"Alright, but be careful…"
I nodded and headed for the back entrance of the building. I decided not to use a daemon, especially since Judy was already in the building's network, and after just a couple of minutes of waiting, she opened the door.
"Thanks."
I went into the building and slowly walked down the hallway.
"Careful, there's a guard post just ahead."
"Copy that…"
I activated my Sandevistan and quickly went down the hallway, past the guard post Judy had warned me about. And I only deactivated it when I was in another blind spot.
"What's next?"
"You need to go through the main area on the first floor. From there, you'll find the stairs, go up, and there's another open area."
"Got it…"
I activated my Sandevistan and went further down the hallway, then came out into the open area with all the desks. And that's when I realized what was bothering Judy. Maybe her eyes just weren't trained enough, but I noticed that all the employees present had hidden weapons.
Damn it…
I even walked around some of the "employees," checking what they were doing. And it turned out that none of them were actually working; they were just pretending. I was starting to understand what was really going on here.
It seemed like they were either testing me or setting me up…
I got to the stairs and deactivated my Sandevistan, all the while carefully watching what was happening around me.
"Alright, when you come out of the stairwell, go right and all the way to the end of the hall. The office has transparent walls."
I sighed.
Transparent walls, too. Damn it.
"How many are on the second floor?"
"I see ten."
I nodded and activated my Sandevistan, and just walked calmly onto the second floor. Leaving anyone conscious… It was too dangerous to leave anyone conscious. I still had to drag the main guy out of the building.
I walked up to the first person and carefully hit him in a way that would knock him out but not kill him. Thanks to the Arasaka academy that trained the old David.
Then there was the second, the third… I calmly knocked out all of them, and only after that did I turn off my Sandevistan, hiding behind one of the desks.
"Already?"
"Yeah…"
"Why did you… knock them all out? Did you think they could be a problem?"
"They all have concealed weapons. I suspect this is a setup from Rogue."
"Hmm…"
Judy didn't say anything. After resting for a bit, I activated my Sandevistan again and went into the office, from which a guy with a knife, moving much slower than me but still moving, came at me. Another Sandevistan user…
And that wasn't in Rogue's data…
I knocked the hand with the knife, which was moving toward my throat, aside, then crouched a little and, with a step, slammed my fist into his solar plexus. I took a step to the side, went around him, and brought my fist down on the back of his head. But I saw that he didn't get knocked out.
He just fell to the floor, trying to breathe. So I brought my fist down on the back of his head again.
That was it… I knocked him out…
The Sandevistan turned off, and I let out a sigh of relief.
"What's going on on the first floor?"
"They're getting worried because of the noise. You have to leave…"
I nodded and, grabbing the body—after making sure the face of the Sandevistan user matched the face of my target—I went with him to the window. I kicked it out with a kick, and then, hoisting the body onto my shoulders, I jumped out of the window.
The landing was a little rough because of the extra weight. I even thought I heard my bones crack, but that didn't stop me from moving and getting away from the window. The office had other windows, but at least they wouldn't spot me right away…
I moved away very quickly. I even turned on my Sandevistan and only turned it off when I was hidden behind another building.
"Girls, can you come get me?"
"Three minutes…"
The girls pulled up in the Thorton. I had just injected the guy with a sedative, loaded him into the trunk, and gotten into the car myself.
"What's going on?"
"They're screaming, looking for you. They can't believe you jumped out of the window with him. I couldn't believe it myself; he's a heavy guy…"
"Well, that's definitely not something I plan on doing every day."
And with that, I called Rogue.
"Ghost?"
"Job's done. We have the target. Where do you want us to take him?"
"I'll send you the location now… were there any problems?"
"If you don't count the fact that all the employees had hidden weapons, and none of them were actually working, then no, there were no problems."
"Ahem… I see…"
"I'm waiting for the address."
I cut the connection, and about a minute later, I got the address where I had to deliver the unconscious body. I gave it to Panam, who had to make a sharp turn onto another street since the address was on the other side of the city.
"So…"
I closed my eyes.
"…working with Rogue is going to be difficult."
"Do you think it was a setup?"
Judy looked at me intently, and Panam also gave me a questioning look.
"I don't know, but it's all too suspicious. I'm not going to make any accusations, of course, but I did mention the suspicious facts during our conversation. I think she'll understand that I'm considering the possibility that she leaked the information."
"Do you think she'll try to justify herself?"
"No…"
I shook my head.
"She definitely won't justify herself. It's not her style. But she will try to find out who leaked the information, or who gave incomplete information. That is, if she didn't do it herself."
"And how will we find that out?"
"I'll ask Regina to listen in on what's happening in her circles. Because it's kind of sketchy to work with a fixer you don't trust at all."
"Well… that's true… are you going to do that now?"
"Well… how much longer until we get there?"
"About twenty-five minutes…"
Panam glanced at the clock and nodded.
"Then yeah…"
And with that, I called Regina.
"Ghost… I didn't expect to hear from you today. I thought you were working with Rogue…"
"I did the job… almost. I'm on my way to the meeting point now. But I called you with a favor. Can you listen in on what's going on in your circles?"
"Hmm? What, did something happen?"
"Let's just say, I really didn't like what happened on the job, and I don't know if it was Rogue trying to get back at me for the money I squeezed out of her, or if someone screwed her over with the information…"
"And you want to figure out what's what?"
"Yeah… I need to know if I can work with her normally or if I have to expect a knife in the back."
"You do realize that intel won't be free…"
"Of course."
"Alright, I'll listen in. But I can tell you that Rogue isn't the type to sell out a solo just because she's mad. I checked with my own contacts about what happened with you guys… she was really in the wrong. So I wouldn't be too worried."
I nodded my head.
"Good. You'll contact me when you have some intel?"
"Of course…"
"Then talk to you later."
The connection was cut, and I was ready to talk to my girls again.
"Well, Regina will check everything with her contacts, but she personally advised me not to blame Rogue. She thinks it's not her style."
"Well… I trust Regina…"
Panam nodded her head.
"…she's been in this business for a long time. She knows her colleagues very well. So I suggest we don't worry about it."
I shrugged.
"I'm not against it. But we have to remember this. Fixers aren't omniscient, and I got a little too comfortable, thinking something like this would never happen again. If I hadn't replaced my muscles, I could have flatlined. And I wouldn't have been able to use the Sandevistan so many times, and for so long, either."
"That's true… I'm also thinking about replacing my deck, and maybe adding some more chrome that will help me work as a netrunner. And it wouldn't hurt when I'm working with braindances, either."
"You too?"
Panam sighed at Judy's words.
"Come on, it wouldn't hurt you to add some chrome to your body either. At the very least, replace your optics and install a reflex tuner. Can you imagine how you'll drive after that?"
"I'll drive the same way…"
I shrugged at Judy's words, and she gave me an angry look. I just pretended not to notice.
"…but if we upgrade your car, then you'll be happy."
"You guys really want me to get chrome installed?"
I shrugged.
"Honestly? I'm fine with you as you are. I was just adding to what Judy said."
"I'm fine with you as you are, too. I'm just considering all the possibilities."
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, by buying the Behemoth, David created an opportunity for us to comfortably join your clan. It still needs to be finished, of course, but it's at least a foundation for that future. I'm just suggesting we think about a future where, for some reason, we stay in Night City or move to another city."
"And?"
Panam gave Judy a grim look.
"And I'm not one hundred percent sure that we won't run into an opponent who is better than you at driving. It's a good thing that we haven't had any car-to-car shootouts yet, of course…"
"Well… we had one…"
Panam shrugged.
"…before you joined us, and we didn't have any problems."
"That was then…"
I jumped into the conversation.
"…but didn't you notice that we've run into two Sandevistan users in a row now?"
"You think that's going to keep happening?"
"Probably…"
Judy nodded.
"Our level is growing, our reputation is growing, and the jobs are going to get harder…"
"Man… I'll think about it…"
Panam sighed, and we drove the rest of the way in silence. And when we got to the drop-off point, I transferred the unconscious body into the trunk of another car, and we went home.
"So, what are our plans?"
"Plans?"
I shrugged.
"Since we got off work so early, I plan on making a passageway between the apartments and maybe even building a wooden ladder. It'll be primitive for now, but it'll be sturdy."
"Hmm… then I'll get to work on the braindances… I have a couple of jobs from the Mox."
"Well, I guess I'll work on the car…"
It wasn't hard for Panam to find something to do either. And that was what we decided to do…
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