Chapter 15- Trust

It was a day like any other day. Take a job. Work with the crew. Complete the job. Get paid. They'd taken a few jobs for Falkins at this point, and while the scratch wasn't anything special, the professionalism on his part was something very much appreciated. No one seemed to have a bad word for their fixer as the man always paid on time, and was exceptionally meticulous in his preparations.

They were in the interesting position of taking two jobs at once, the teams having split down the middle with Lucy Becca and Pilar going with Maine, while David was going with Dorio nd Kiwi.

Working with Kiwi was…. Odd he had to say. As time had passed, he had fallen into the usual rhythm he'd had with the exceptionally tall Netrunner. That is one of mutual wariness. The first time around, he'd had the feeling she looked at him as an amusing stray that Lucy had brought in. At least before Maine….

Breathe….

After Maine had died, he'd had to step up. As no one else was either willing or capable of taking over, he'd had to do it, which… fuck that had been a lot of pressure to put on himself. And hell, he wasn't even able to say that he'd handled it well enough.

Not when he'd ended up almost completely eschewing his humanity for more and more chrome.

But this time around… she'd taken him a lot more seriously from the get go. Why? He didn't know. But her eyes kept following him whenever they worked together, and it was starting to be a bit… unnerving. If it weren't for the fact that it would be hilariously unbelievable, he would assume that she was developing a crush on him. But no. That was absolutely ridiculous.

Especially seeing as how she kept narrowing her eyes at him whenever he caught her looking at him.

But regardless he was starting to feel kind of stressed with how intently she monitored him, especially when he was on edge with every single interaction. He just didn't know how to handle her.

But as they finished up the job,(a simple data retrieval and VIP rescue orchestrated between the teams) he relaxed as Lucy came walking seemingly as fast as she could without coming off as rushing and immediately wrapped her arms around his torso, burying her head into his neck. He'd been waiting for a few moments at the bar they'd celebrated his first job with, and it seemed like they were gonna have another little party to celebrate a flawless gig.

Soon enough, the rest of the crew showed up, all of them speaking quietly with each other, before going to get drinks, pump up the music, and do party tricks if that was your thing. (Pilar…)

"Hey Luce… heard everything went Nova on your end. Are we about to get paid?"

She nodded against him, not bothering to pull back to look down at him.

"Mmmhmm. Nothing special, but 10k eddies each for an hour's work wasn't too bad. The jobs are a lot easier to go through than Faraday's with how detailed Falkins is. Probably why we've been able to take so many."

David hummed in acceptance, letting his arm reach up to stroke the back of her head, his fingers trailing through her white hair.

"You think that we're starting to build our rep up again? I mean… from what I've heard and seen, despite Faraday, Maine had a pretty good reputation for getting shit done."

She sighed In satisfaction at the sensation of his fingers along her scalp, before pulling away, her hand snaking its way into holding his own.

"Mmm.. he's been doing this a long time. Long enough that the fact that he's still alive is…. Impressive. He's a Merc who's been around for almost a decade. That means something in this town. Unfortunately that compounds with the fact that he tanked his rep by working with Faraday for a few years. We're lucky that the asshole tipped his hand by not paying us our bonus. Finally opened Maine's eyes."

It was then as they were about to cuddle up in a corner and listen to music that Maine's eyes lit up from a call.

And by the looks of it, he did NOT look pleased.

But with a growl, he hung up, and made his way over to David and Lucy.

"Sorry about this Lucy, but I'm gonna need your input. Got a job for you."

David frowned as he sat up straight, Lucy also not looking pleased as she clung to David's arm, burying it deep between her large breasts, raising her voice in dissent.

"We just got done with a job though Maine. What's Jeff need from us so soon?"

He grimaced.

"...it's not Falkins. It's Faraday."

David's eyes narrowed immediately. That piece of shit??

"I thought the whole purpose of this was to get out of Faraday's pocket."

Maine nodded, taking the criticism on the chin.

"It is. But when I first started working with him, I made a guarantee. That when working towards bigger jobs, I wouldn't consider the job done, until the overall goal was completed. In this case? Until we get the data from Tanaka that Faraday wants, the job isn't totally finished. Once that's done, I can cut ties entirely. But our… my… rep is at stake. I can explain to the other fixers that I'm still doing jobs for him because of previous guarantees,but if we ghost him completely before this is done?

Well, they might not like him, but he'd have cause to say we abandon jobs. And that's a BAD rep to get."

Yeah no kidding. You get a rep for quitting a job, and no one will even bother to look at you. You need HIGH level Fixers to be able to counteract that kind of shit. And they didn't have that yet.

David wanted to sigh… but he knew the life of an Edgerunner was never predictable.

"Ok then. What do you need me for?"

"Faraday wants us to spike Tanaka's kids ICE. Essentially put a bug on him, let it feed us any information the Corpo Fucker might have. Guess he figured that since you're similar in age, you could get close enough to him to do so. "

David blinked.

"Wait… wait, Katsuo Tanaka? You want me to spike Katsuo Tanaka's ICE???"

Maine blinked as Lucy looked at David as well, concerned.

"Wait… Katsuo Tanaka? Isn't that the corpobrat that you told me about? Insulted Gloria?"

David growled lightly at the memory.

"Yeah… little fucker called me up after mom died, and mocked her and me. Hell, I originally chipped Sandy so that I could beat the shit out of him."

Maine looked like he could bite through steel with how stiff his jaw was, before blinking.

"... Really kid? You couldn't beat up some corpo brat without experimental military chrome?"

Lucy also seemed askance.

David blushed in embarrassment.

"... He's way more chromed up than I am, and had some premium kungfu chipware. He uh…. He kicked the shit out of me when I tried to punch him for suggesting my mom was a whore."

Lucy stiffened and Maine…

Whoa.

Maine looked fucking pissed. He'd not seen Maine this pissed since…

No. He'd never seen Maine this furious.

Even when Maine was….

Losing it.

He'd just been surly. Mildly hostile.

But this? Maine looked like he was about to go and strangle the corpobrat himself.

"...Maine? You ok?"

His voice seemed to cut through the rapidly building rage in his system and the big man looked down at David.

".... Yeah. Just…. Fuck. I got no clue how you didn't fucking flatline the little shit."

.David grimaced..

".... Because Mama wouldn't have wanted that. Especially if it got me on the radar of the cops and Katsuos father."

He shook his head with a sigh.

"Alright….where am I going?"

Maine actually looked apologetic now.

".... Right um.. we're going to need you to get his attention. Keep his thoughts and eyes firmly on you."

"Wait I have to interact with the fucker? Why?"

That was when Kiwi had snuck up on them from behind Maine's back.

"Because I'm going to be the one to slip the spike into his systems. No offense Lucy, you're stronger than I am at breaking ICE but I'm better at slipping in unnoticed."

The white haired Netrunner didn't look upset, just nodding and leaning her head against her Inputs shoulder, seemingly missing the fact that Kiwi's eyes narrowed minutely before turning to David.

"Too many cooks in a kitchen and all that. So you and I are running this on our own.. it'll be…. Fun. Illuminating."

David's own thoughts were nothing so bright.

Instead, he was wondering if he'd be able to keep his mouth shut around the other Netrunner of the crew. He'd managed to keep things mostly… cordial? If not friendly, and Kiwi had done much the same. But the two of them could feel the tension the other had, and it had led them to being wary of each other. Luckily, no one seemed to notice it, and almost silently and unconsciously, the two of them had agreed to not make their… contention more public.

Working together? Only the two of them however?

That didn't exactly give him the best of vibes.

Lucy just nodded, and gave him a small smile, her eyes lighting up with a call.

Lucy: "You should accept it David. You haven't really gotten a chance to interact with Kiwi one on one and…"

For a moment she looked shy.

Lucy: ".... She's kind of my mentor. A big sister kind of. Regardless, she's helped me out a lot before. She was the one that vouched for me to join Maine's crew, so it would mean a LOT to me if you'd get to know her. She's a bit… sharp. But I'm sure once she gets to know you she'll like you almost as much as I l-... Like you."

He was never able to deny Lucy anything. Not even this.

David: "ok beautiful… I'll do the job. Try to get to know her."

He looked up at Maine and nodded.

"Alright. I'll do it."

Kiwi cut Maine off from responding and gripped David's EMT jacket by the collar and tugged him onto his feet, casually and cooly forcing him to follow as Lucy and Maine looked nonplussed.

"Good. We'll be done in an hour or two. Come on, newbie."

His protests were ignored until they boarded an NCART where they both sat down, Kiwi finally letting go and reclining casually as she crossed her legs. For once the NCART was completely empty. They had the entire car to themselves.

"Really? Was that necessary?"

He groused as he also got comfortable as they made their way closer to their destination… wherever that was.

"No."

She said simply, her voice entirely uninterested as she looked out the window.

David wanted to just be calm, to keep quiet and finish up this job and go spend time with Lucy again. But something about Kiwi was getting under his skin.

"Is there a problem Kiwi?"

She glanced over at him with a well developed sense of apathy.

"Why would there be a problem, Newbie?"

His jaw clenched.

"First off, you keep glaring at me when I'm not looking. Secondly, you keep calling me Newbie when everyone else calls me David. And thirdly, because you answered my question with another question. So what's the issue?"

"There isn't one. You're imagining things."

"Bullshit."

She affected a tone of wry surprise.

"Oh my. So forceful. It's a wonder Lucy puts up with you."

He blinked.

"... Wait… this is about Lucy?"

She stiffened for a moment before looking away.

"I said nothing of the sort. Let's get down to biz."

David however plowed right through her attempt at redirecting the conversation.

"No fuck that. Why do you have a problem with me and Lucy?"

Kiwi finally turned to him, her body tense, and her eyes narrowed.

"Because you don't make SENSE. You're just some 17 year old punk kid, and yet you can wield experimental cyberware like nothing? You're acing every job you get put on? And on top of that, you basically have everyone in the crew eating out of the palm of your hand."

His blood ran cold. Of fucking course the one person who would notice and decide that she couldn't let it go would be fucking Kiwi. Not like he didn't have enough to stress about as it was.

"I'm just trying to do a good job! Why's it so hard to believe that I'm just taking Edgerunning seriously?"

She shook her head in disgust before turning her head to face the opposite side of the NCART, her legs crossing as she said nothing for a moment.

"....you say that you've noticed me glaring at you. Well right back at you punk. Everytime I'm around and you look at me, you look like you're holding yourself back from Flatlining me. And I know I've never met you before… so what is it? Don't like someone getting in between you and my protegee?"

David hissed in dismay. Course she would notice that. He had to come up with a lie. Something that was..

Fuck. He just didn't know what to say.

"... You… you just don't seem like you care about anything. Whether we live or die, whether we're happy or in pain. You only seem like you care about yourself. So it's hard to trust you."

Kiwi turned her head deliberately then, slowly and the pure anger in her eyes was…. Shit. He'd never seen her express that kind of emotion in either timeline.

"You don't know a goddamn thing about me. But as for the trust thing? Good. Don't trust me. I certainly don't trust you. Shouldn't trust anyone. All it'll do is get you burned. Now, are we done talking about how we don't like each other, or do we need to bitch some more?"

His jaw clenched and it took everything he had not to glare at her. But fine. They were getting close to the NCARTs stop.

"Fine. What's the plan?"

"Tanaka's kid has a routine. He drops by JigJig street, flashes some cash and buys new XBDs, before heading off to Arcade arcade to wind down for a few hours before he goes home.

We're going to intercept him at the Arcade. So you need to get his attention, and keep it for about 5 minutes. That's how long it'll take me to slide through his ICE and plant the spike."

David made a sour face but nodded.

"Honestly I won't need to get his attention most likely. All I'll need to do is just walk in front of him. He has a seemingly never ending desire to fuck with me."

Kiwi's eyebrow raised slightly but mercifully she kept quiet.

"And for the bonus requirement…. You can't touch the kid. You beat up Tanaka's kid, and the spike will have to reduce itself to its most basic features to go undetected by Trauma team. You do that, and we get our bonus."

"What's the pay?"

"10k each since it's a last minute job. With Faraday's usual bonus… we stand to make 110k each for a bit of work. Not a bad haul."

David snorted.

"If he pays us our bonus you mean."

She looked annoyed...but notably she did not deny what he'd said.

"We'll keep in touch through Holo. Calling now."

Kiwi's eyes glowed briefly and he got the notification almost immediately after.

Accepting the call, he tested it briefly.

David: "alright… we good? Call is stable?"

Kiwi: "solid as rock. We'll be going to ArcadeArcade. You'll need to get inside, it only costs about 100 Eddie's, so I'll send you 50."

His account showed up on his HUD briefly and an extra 50 Eddie's was deposited in the account.

David: "got it. I'll go inside and wait, I guess?"

Kiwi: "play some games, but don't get too sucked in. We're here for a job not for fun. You can come back another day."

David: "not really all that interested. Unless it's with Lucy or Becca maybe. Never came to one of these before. Mom never had the cash, and I didn't want to bother her."

He didn't really know why he was telling her that. Maybe he was just trying to fill the silence. Maybe he was trying to reach out to her. To try and find some kind of… shared ground.

Kiwi didn't say anything for a moment.

Kiwi: "....I never went to a place like this either as a kid. My family we….moved around a lot. Never had the time to just relax and be a kid. So you're not alone there."

David: ".... Do you want to come here another day? With me?"

He could almost feel her eyebrow raise looking at him as he disembarked from the NCART as it stopped and he made his way to the arcade.

Kiwi: "Didn't we just have a rather spirited argument about how we don't trust or like each other? I'm pretty sure we did."

David: "well… you're not wrong. But I'm not gonna be able to trust you or figure out if I like you if I just keep avoiding you the entire time right? So…. Figured I'd just put it out there. If not, no skin off my nose. I gave it a shot."

He had no idea why he was saying this. To be perfectly honest he didn't want to spend any time with her. Despite the seeming shared experiences they held, he just… couldn't stop thinking about her betrayal of Lucy over to Faraday.

…. But he needed to try. Kiwi had been an ally. Sometimes she'd felt like a friend. He didn't want to just give up on her without having given it his all. If she turned out to actually be a piece of shit, then he'd just… let things take their course, and hope that Lucy wasn't heartbroken when he got rid of her.

Kiwi: "I see… and my own dislike and distrust of you?"

David: "look at it as a chance to keep a closer eye on me. On my Eddies at that."

There was silence as David paid for his entrance and began puttering around, checking out some of the stuff on hand.

There was of course some of the higher end stuff. Brain dances, virtual reality, etc.

But there were also some old school activities that not a lot of people did. Like basketball hoops for digital tickets.

So while he was getting ready to try his hand at that for a while, Kiwi finally said something.

Kiwi: "Look alive Newbie. Katsuo Tanaka is heading inside, and he has a few of his hangers on with him. I'll be hacking into the subnet now to connect. I'll tell you when to get his attention."

David: "telling you… I'm not even going to have to do anything. Just watch."

And sure enough, as he steadily began racking up shots from the hoops, a voice he'd been hoping he'd never have to hear again spoke.

"Martinez! I'm surprised to see you here. Shouldn't you be working as a cashier for Buck-a-Slice? Or did you manage to find a more lucrative career selling glitter?"

David took a deep breath in as Sandy gave him a concerned sensation.

I'll be fine.

(Doubt)

"Katsuo."

He said as he turned around, not having to hide his annoyance at the fact that he was going to have to deal with this fucking corpo brat and his terrible haircut.

"I see you finally did as I told you and quit. It's really a good thing you did, you would never have made it in the Corporate world. All people like you are worth…. Is cleaning the shoes of people like me."

David just rolled his eyes, almost feeling bored at this point.

David: "Kiwi, please tell me you're almost done here. The shit spewing from his mouth is so boring and cringe that I feel like I'm going to die."

Kiwi: "not yet. A few more minutes."

He sighed internally before addressing Katsuo.

"You say the same shit every fucking time you speak to me. It's getting boring Katsuo. "

The corpobrat sneered at him then.

"Only because street filth like you is so fucking retarded that I had to explain over and over and over that you didn't fucking belong. But now… now I think you need another fucking lesson taught."

David just shook his head, and made to walk past him..

Kiwi: "what are you doing? You need to stay! I only have one more minute needed."

David: "relax. If I didn't try to leave, he'd get suspicious. It's how I always reacted."

"Ok, you know what? I don't need to listen to this shit anymore. We're not even classmates, and we're sure as shit not friends. So really, fuck off!"

"Oh but don't you want to try and get me back for all the nasty things I said about your mommy?"

Everything froze for a moment. Not due to Sandy, but even Sandy seemed to have froze up.

".... Katsuo. If you have any sense in your head, you'll keep your fucking mouth shut."

Kiwi: "... David…"

Sensing that he'd hit a very very raw nerve, Katsuo didn't back off. Instead, he doubled down with Gusto.

"And why should I? Honestly, you should be happy your gutter trash of a mother is dead. Now you don't have to live with the shame of knowing she was sucking every corporate cock she could to keep your stupid ass in the academy. Hell, she wasn't too bad looking either. Actually you know what? I take it back. I'm sad she's gone. I would have loved to give you a sibling to look after."

Kiwi: "shit! David just… Fuck! Give me just 30 seconds!"

He felt numb almost. The cold, malicious rage he felt was so… so sharp it almost cut him. He could pull his iron right now.

Use Sandy to abduct him and slowly pull him apart with all manner of implements.

"And just think… all that effort…. And you basically betrayed her by dropping out. Guess you're stupid, and a terrible son. I bet she's glad she's dead. That way she didn't have to live with the disappointment that was having you as a son!"

Kiwi: "Done! I'm heading your way David. Just keep calm."

"You…. You don't know a goddamn thing you piece of shit."

He whispered, the words almost a hiss of hate as he looked away, knowing if he were to look the fucker in the eyes, he wouldn't stop until his skull was a pile of mush.

"Hah… guess you learned your lesson about raising a hand to me after I kicked your street trash ass all over the place. God, why didn't you just zero yourself after all that? Mom dead, ass got kicked, can't pay for school…. What an absolute pathetic wa-"

It was then David was saved by the last person he'd ever expected.

"David! There you are...sorry I made you wait."

Kiwis tone was far more bubbly than it ever was in everyday conversation. The tall woman raced right past Katsuo, and her slightly cold fingers intimately and almost seductively caressed his cheeks.

"Mmm… forgive me baby?"

Kiwi: "play along you Gonk."

David plastered a small smile on his face, and let his hands grip the blonde Netrunners hips firmly, causing her to blush and gasp quietly.

"Of course. Wanna get going?" He said far more casually than he felt.

Katsuo of course wasn't taking this very well at all.

"Oh so I see where you're spending whatever money you must have gotten from selling everything you own. A Joytoy? Really? Well then, I should relieve you of her as well. You. Woman. I'll pay you twice whatever Martinez paid for your time."

Kiwi just glanced at him with disinterest and disdain.

"Hm… corpobrat waving around daddy's credit shard. Not interested."

And with that, she left the corporate asshole behind, holding David's hand as she pulled him out of ArcadeArcade.

The look on Katsuo's face… oh David would remember that look of entitled anger for the rest of his life. What a laugh.

But as Kiwi dropped his hand once they were about a block away, David had only two things to say.

"... Thank you. But…. Why did you help me?"

__

She could say that she just didn't want to risk her bonus. Sure. That was partly true. She could also say she didn't want Lucy's input to end up in jail for the night.

Also true.

But the real truth was…

"....you kept a tight grip on yourself while he was saying some…. Really rough things at you. We're partners on this op…. So I supported you as best I could, getting you out of there."

And she had to admit, if only to herself…. She'd liked getting cuddly with him. She ran naturally cold, bad circulation mixed with her regular ice baths while Netrunning.

He was a good heatpad… and his body was almost totally 'ganic… so plenty of soft flesh instead of unyielding chrome.

".... thanks Kiwi."

He said quietly, giving her a look that was…. Unbelievably warm, completely devoid of his usual disappointment that seemed etched in his gaze when looking at her.

And just like how the disappointment stung her, his warmth and approval made her happy. And she just didn't know why.

…. It was times like this that reminded her of where she came from. From her family. The Whirlwind Nomad Clan. They had been a small group. Not as big as The Aldecaldos, but big enough that they'd managed to eke out a decent living. As a girl, she'd trusted them all with her life and liberty. Like a good Nomad did.

Until the last year… everyone just seemed to get angrier and angrier. Like they were sick of working with others, and just wanted to take and take.

…. They'd murdered other Nomad families and stolen from the clans. All but decided to go Raffen Shiv themselves. And then when she'd spoken her mind? Tried to get them to remember themselves?

…. They'd sold her to Scavs. The Scavs might have taken her jaw, but it was her FAMILY that had broken her trust. They'd broken something in her that day. Nomads were built around trust, family, and freedom.

The loss of all of that in one go from the very people meant to protect her?

…. Well. Now she knew better.

M̵̛̯̑͌̐͒ẏ̴̳͔̹̹̼̻͎̣̐̏̃̑̓̕ ̴̨̝̘͙̳̈̀͊̐ͅt̷̟̼̼̭̻̜̯͇́̂̈́͝͝͝ị̵̫͚̦̝̹̻̃̀̓̈́̊m̵͔̥̹̠̪̭̿͆́͛͂͂͗e̸̢̻͎̤̐̾̍̓͒ͅs̴̱̣̬̥̹͇̻͑̈́̓̈́̾̈́ ̸͚̬̜̪̲̫́͠t̸̼̖̰̏̀͂̿͂̓̾̊i̸̫̯̱̰̓̃͠č̵̣̮͉͙̟͎̋͝͝k̸̡̘̝̣̫̲̅̏̒͋ì̶̙̬͚̮̋n̸̢̡̦̟͂̈́͐͐̀͆̌̋g̴͕̦̱̯͂ ̶̛͙̱̃̀̀̎̈́̀d̶̫̘̖͚̖̀̐́̆͑̚͜͝ó̶̦͎̹̉͐͂̈́͑̈ŵ̴̢̮̰̓̈́̐̀̉̚͝ṉ̶̛̼̦͉͉́͑͒̊͝͝

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̷̨̳̲̙͠Ő̴̡̗̺̼͈͉̌̔h̶̗͋̓ ̵̨͕̯̻̯͆̉͐͗̇̕̚ͅK̶̰͕͖̤͉͑͝i̸̡̛̛͈̮̦̩͒́̀̿ẘ̶̙̲͎̗͗̓̀̽̓̇i̵͙̮̲̋͌̑̏,̶̮͖̰͙͚̬̐̓̏̃̀͘͝ ̴͙̟͖̙͆̌̕Ĺ̵͎̟̕o̷͔͈͈̰̝͍̦̍͒̏͛̑̃͜ȍ̵̢̘̃k̴̢̡̝̪̈́̀ ̶̛̦̹́̇́̊͌͆ă̸̦̗̣̯̖͐͆̀͠ţ̶̲͚͖̰͗́̾͌̇̀͘͠ ̶̡̥͎͔͚̖͕̅̄̿͌ȳ̷̫̥̀̓̕̕ǒ̷̲͆̐̎ù̶̬̜͊͝.̶̨̞̞͚̥̆̉̃̋̑͐̃̋ ̵͕̳͔̫̈́Ḯ̷̩̾̊̾̓̊̃͠t̴̯͎͆̈́̉͠ ̸͈̎̏̂͌͐̽̈̔j̴̫̈̇̅̐̇͘u̶̢̲͊̓s̸̩̟̳̰̫̭͛͊̑͒̽̈́t̵̡͕͖͙̜̖̙̺͊̒̓͌͝ ̵̢̥̼̉̈̈ḧ̷̻̫̼͉̫́ả̴̘͕̱̼̞̀̋̐š̷̟̻̜̰͗̃̐̆͒͘ñ̵̛̛̝̳͔̙͊̓͊̒'̴͎͙̆̀͐̽͝t̶̹̠̞̟̺͕̏́͐̈̚ ̷͓̞̅͊̇̀̀̕̚b̶̺͉̻̹̮͔̣̉ȩ̴̫̜̲͒̀͂̎ͅĕ̷̝̼̏͠͝ņ̴̯̤̲̯̦͍́̈̄̃̅ ̴̇̆͜y̴̧͓̤͖̙̠̤̝͆̈́o̸̮̍̌̋̀̅͌̕u̴̢̫̠̔͆́͒͂̅͛͒r̶̦͖̜̙̆̓ ̴̼̹͔͕̗̮̦̜̓̓̄̂̇̚ḑ̴͖̩̫͓̼̜́̉̓̈́́̂̅â̷͚͎̱̍̅̃̑y̵̧͎̙͇͎͖̖͋̍͗̅͊̕͠.̸͚̜͈̳̀̓͐̿͛̿̔

̷̱͍̭̥̱͎͓̥̇̽͂́

̷̨͎͓͙̋͆̈́̌̌̀̍Ê̵͎̰͎̏̑̋̂v̸̛͕̝̣̠̅̅̾ẻ̴͚̟̫͌̀r̵͉̟͍̪̙̖͗͑̓͂͌̀̕͝y̵̬̻̽̏̎͐ò̵̲̱͚̞̲̣͔͔͒n̷̥̟̬̩̫̬͋̋̎͗͌̆̀ȇ̶̢̙̣̀̂̀͠ ̴̖͕̤́̅̀͠t̴̙̹͂̅͑͋͑͆̚̚ử̸̡̬͕͚̰̯̠͉̄͒̈́̒̔r̵̨̡̨͎̹̲̗͆̈́̾̇̈́̽͘n̶̺͈͆s̸̡̧̢̨̙̄͜ ̷͈͐̃̽̍̂͑̕͠o̴̙͖̘͉͙̰̓̍̿n̶̳̗̠̞͆̇̒̔́͊͝ ̵̨̖̞͔̖͔̼̞̓̇͝y̸͓̲̣̪͊̚o̸̡̲̻͕̺͍͙̒̏ȕ̵̮͓̄̕,̶̡̩̖̘̈́ ̵̢̢̗̣̬̠͇̾͆̃͐͘͜͝͠ŝ̶͙̺̘̤̼̟̑̅͘ͅò̴͕͉̰͎̥̭̓̐̀̈́̿m̶͓̳̋̐͆e̷̟̐͗̎́͐ ̷̧̛̠͕͎̝͎͔͉̌̅͊͝͝p̸̢̙͕̖̖̈́́̔͝ô̵̜̞̊͌̂̚i̴̺̘̕͜ņ̴̢̹̙͔͈͗͛̿͊̽̕̚͜t̷̳͑ ̴̥̯̔͊̃͒̉̚͝o̶̧͍̥̭͖̙̝͑̅̅̓͠͠ͅr̸̟̼͚̭̬̝͊͌̃̓̀͜ ̷̧͚̼̬̤̗̟͂̍͛̈́̎̓ó̷̢̯̺̪̙̙̤̈́̔̒̔t̸̝́h̷̢͓̤̪͚̋ę̷̧̪͎̎̍̓̀̃̔͘r̸̢͔̃͆̑͐͊̚͝.̷͇͓͙̒̐̃̌̀́̃.̶̢̢̢̲̠̗͒̇͌̚.̶̡͓̲͓̰͈̦̉̉̋́̎̇

̵͍͘

̴̢͖̠͍̽͊̾̒̊̌Ǧ̴̝̯̜̈́̓͋̕͝ơ̷̙̣̠̥̩̯̈̀͛̂̀̽̾͜ ̵͓̼͛͛̇̒͌̕͘͠g̷͚̝̰̞͋̈́̾͊̏͛ë̸͚̝̒̚t̷̩̩̖̠͌̓͛ ̴̨̝͔̤̼͉͉́͛͛̔̓̚h̶̩̩̓̉̄̌ĕ̸̯͎̮̟̪̟͙͊͗͛̌̔̎͘r̷͉̳̙̓ ̴̧̝̣͎̐f̸̥͖͍̎̆̾ȍ̴̡̖̠͚̟̻͉͌̆̚͜r̷̨̞͔̖̪͋̿̈́͑͒ ̴̖͍̼̙̩̺͓̻̍̽͛̓͠m̵̯̾͐̑͋ḛ̶͑̋̈́͜

She blinked before shaking her head briefly and addressing the new- No. David.

"You're Welcome David. And as for that offer to go to the arcade? I'll think about it.

She knew better now.

….right?