Maine and Pilar froze when David said the name."The L who runs a clinic in Japantown?" Maine asked.David nodded.
"Great. Him again." Maine swore under his breath.
Ripperdoc. Name: L. Clinic: Japantown. Add those up, and the answer is Rocky. Maine knew the man well enough. In his mind, Rocky had "poached" Lucy and Rebecca. Rebecca still took the occasional gig with Maine's crew, but her head was elsewhere, only when Rocky didn't need her. Lucy had left outright. Without Lucy, net pressure fell on Kiwi alone, and Kiwi was close to a headache every day. None of that felt good; it all traced back to Rocky.
Pilar was worse. Since learning that Lucy and Rebecca were tight with Rocky, he had discussed settling scores more than once. Rebecca shut him down each time, which only made it sting more. She had changed, and now she could pin him to the floor if she felt like it. Maine and Pilar hated Rocky plenty, but there was nothing they could do if the women chose it. Friends respect friends. They swallowed it.
But learning Rocky had put Maine's Sandevistan on a kid? That pushed past the line.
David watched Maine's face and blinked. "You know him?"
"Know him and then some. He burned us," Maine said. He took a long breath, cooled his temper, and made the call.
"Forget it. You have the Sandevistan in you already. Keep it. But the money I paid? You repay me fast." David bowed his head in relief.
"Thank you. I'll pay you back as soon as I can."
"Get out of here. I don't want to see you." David hurried to Gloria and led her away from the warehouse. Maine still felt the cut of losing that implant, but he let the kid go.
Pilar squinted after them. "You're just giving up the cyberware?"
"What else am I supposed to do? Come on. We'll settle this with L," Maine said, turning toward Ascension Technology. If Rocky could "take" two of his aces, he could at least compensate Maine for the lost gear. With a company to run and an Arasaka tie, maybe L could even pull something better than a Sandevistan. Old and new accounts could be tallied in one meeting.
They skipped calling ahead and walked straight to the company.
"Welcome to Ascension Technology," said a smiling avatar on the door display. "No appointment detected. Please state your purpose." It was a reception AI Lissandra had spun up for the lobby."We're here to see L," Maine said."One moment. Notifying Mr. L now." Lissandra flagged the match and pushed the visit to Rocky's office, overriding the AI's default refusal. "Mr. L will see you. Follow the guide."
Rocky had been lining up details for the upcoming press conference. He did not hesitate. "Send them in."
"Long time, Maine," Rocky said from his chair. "What brings you to the company?"
"Didn't expect you to change this much this fast," Maine said, glancing around. "Nice place."
"Skip it," Rocky replied. "Why are you here?"
"You put my Sandevistan on a kid yesterday. I already paid for that unit. You have plenty of other chrome, but you chose that one. How are we settling this?" Maine slapped the table and let the question hang. Rocky did not flinch.
"Calm down. I did save a kid yesterday. I did not know that the implant was yours. It was in his bag. Looked like his property, so I installed it." Maine's jaw flexed. "You took Rebecca and Lucy, and now the cyberware I bled for is gone. You owe me an answer. Today." The truth was out. Maine had kept score for a while; a visit like this was always coming.
Rocky smiled a little. So Maine wanted compensation. That could be done. He did feel a bit apologetic about taking two of Maine's best. Better to wrap the debt in one go than let it fester.
"You're right. It wasn't a kind move. I'll compensate you," Rocky said, "but it might not be with another Sandevistan."
"What is that supposed to mean? You're a ripperdoc. You can't produce a unit I'll accept?"
"That's not it. I think you might need something else." Rocky reached into a drawer, took out a blue vial, and set it on the table between them.
The room went quiet for a beat. Maine looked from Rocky to the vial and back, then reached out to pick it up.