"Hope that brat doesn't cause any trouble."
After nodding warmly at Arthur, Mama Welles turned to Vik, who was sitting nearby.
"I hope you can keep an eye on him. After all... your words carry a lot more weight."
It was clearly directed at Vik. Judging from the way they spoke, they'd known each other a long time—maybe even good friends.
Vik could only rub his nose awkwardly and laugh it off.
Not wanting to pressure her grown son too much, Mama Welles once again invited everyone to her bar before finally heading out.
The clinic door shut, and Jackie let out a long sigh, dropping heavily into the nearest chair.
"This is way more exhausting than a gig..."
His booming voice kept going, complaining non-stop.
"Mom's been showing up three, four days straight. There's gotta be an end to this, right?"
"Maybe..."
Vik's deep voice cut in.
"Listening to your mom isn't such a bad thing. Last time, you barely made it."
"Oh, come on, Vik. Didn't it all turn out fine? In this line of work, a few cuts and bruises are nothing. No big deal."
Jackie waved dismissively, speaking with his usual laid-back attitude. Maybe to steer the talk elsewhere, he turned to Arthur.
"You guys been busy lately!
What big job did you pull off? C'mon, spill it."
Arthur had already found himself a chair and answered casually.
"Went down to Dogtown. Mr. Hands sent us. V scored a pretty good cyberware upgrade."
"Dogtown?
How'd you even get in?
I've been wanting to head there and buy a gun. They've got some real high-end stuff inside."
The second Arthur mentioned Dogtown, Jackie's eyes lit up with excitement.
Arthur didn't leave him hanging.
"Yeah..."That place is crawling with guns — as common as scavengers or sand. If you went in, the flies in Dogtown would go nuts... since they'd be staring at food.
But too bad—it was only possible because a fixer got us through the paperwork. Looked like a one-time thing."
Hearing the jab in his friend's words, Jackie just shrugged, muttering with a sour tone,
"I should really tell Mom... about how you talk to me.
Anyway, wanna check out my car? The mechanic said it's good as new.
Trust me, it looks even slicker now."
Jackie's offer sounded sincere, but Arthur wasn't interested—
Deep inside the clinic, Misty was watching with a faint smile.
"You've got your car to look at, but my gun's already been patched up.
So we're splitting up. Go see if the repair shop can fix your brain."
Without sparing another glance at Jackie and Misty as they walked past, Arthur went straight to Vik.
Before Arthur could speak, Vik pointed at a gun case on a table.
"Your gun's fixed. Might need a few rounds to fine-tune the accuracy... Fixing these things is harder than patching up people."
In Vik's low rumble, Arthur lifted the box and flipped it open.
The gun was flawless, oiled and polished, its metal gleaming like new.
"It's downtime now. Best leave it till I've got a free moment to mess with..."
Arthur closed the lid, speaking distractedly.
"I need a proper break. Like... a few drinks. Every day."
"Yeah... Don't burn yourself out. We all need the rest.
Otherwise, you'll be carried back into my little clinic in no time."
Time slipped by fast. After hanging around Vik's clinic a while, Arthur saw Rebecca burst in after finishing her job.
Of course, she kicked up a racket—demanding to know what kind of sweet gig Arthur and V had gone behind her back to take.
When she learned it was somewhere called Dogtown, she just blinked with her red eyes, rimmed by those flashy colored rings, looking completely lost.
No surprise. Most mercs stuck to jobs from people they knew and rarely left their turf.
Few were like Arthur and V—acting like they didn't care if some unfamiliar fixer sold them out.
"It's just... uh... a backwater dump."
Arthur frowned, brushing it off. "Not worth your time."
Rebecca had already tossed her gun aside and was climbing onto the table next to Arthur.
Hearing his answer, she nodded smugly, as if acknowledging her own strength.
"So what now? Got any plans? Tell me—I might even help out."
Swinging her twin braids, Rebecca grinned with that usual cocky flair.
"Help me by shutting your mouth. Better yet, by getting out of here."
Arthur stood up suddenly, bones cracking.
"Or... we could go grab a drink right now..."
He grabbed her by the back of the collar and dropped her to the floor.
"You bastard, Arthur!!
I just got up there!!"
Yeah, noisy as hell... but let's just call it lively.
Breaks always flew by. As for that so-called Christmas, Arthur didn't know much about it. To him, it was no different from any other day.
V and Rebecca, though, were excited. They even dragged Jessica along, the three of them heading out together.
...
All in all, it was a holiday for women and kids.
A few days later, the crew gathered again. This time, not at Lizzie's Bar, but at a diner Maine's crew often hit up.
Turbo's, or something like that. Bigger place, quieter too.
After all... they really were a big bunch.
Pretty much everyone was there, except the ones who'd left with David.
And the one still missing... naturally, he was the first topic after a few drinks went down.
"We can't reach him. Stop wasting time.
Chicago isn't far, but... right now, every network line between the two cities is locked down by the corps.
That's a hardware wall, not something a netrunner can crack."
As a half-netrunner herself, V knew this stuff cold. She cut in, shutting down their wishful thinking.
...
(60+ Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / GhostParser