Chapter 41

"Yeah, who's that?"

"David, hi, it's V..."

"Hey, V..."

I grinned, saying hello to the girl who still owed me a favor. We didn't really talk much, with a few exceptions... and her calling me meant she wanted something from me.

"Listen, do you have anything to do right now?"

"No..."

I shrugged.

"...literally a couple hours after I finished it, why?"

And it was true, I had just finished the second assignment from Bestia a couple of hours ago. Both assignments were quite difficult, but generally doable for our company. The only thing is that we didn't get any additional income from them, because both assignments affected the interests of corporations.

The first one was related to Biotech, we had to steal data from one of their servers. But we did not forget to steal some information for ourselves, but mostly on the topic of what happens to the Nomad clans that decide to cooperate with this corporation.

We pulled this information out to set Saul straight a little bit, because he's already raving about Biotech.

The second assignment was with a small arms company called Rostovic, a Serbian corporation that produces low-quality weapons. There was a virus that needed to be introduced.

There were plenty of guards there and there...

But the girls and I got through it, and now I was completely free. Well, aside from making pork ramen for Becca. and not just for her, because if you're cooking, you're cooking for the whole group.

"Okay, can we meet?"

"Why not... tell me where and when."

"ASAP, in Megabash N10, there's a gun store there, second amendment called..."

"Robert's store? I know, it's a very good store, he's the only place I shopped early in my career."

"Uh-huh, in front of this store.

"Okay, I'll be there in about an hour. drive alone?"

"Uh-huh...

The connection was broken, and I got up from the chair where I had dozed off before Vee's call.

"Hmm? Where are you going?"

Panam took her eyes off the TV she was watching and looked at me with an attentive gaze.

"Uh, V. contacted me. asking me to meet her."

"Let you down?"

"Well... I'd appreciate it."

"Judy's coming with us?"

"Hmm?"

Judy came up to us from the first floor. A little grimy, but very happy.

"Where to?"

Panam looked at me after that question and all I had to do was grin and tell her exactly where we needed to go.

"Mega Tower H10."

"Uh... no, I'm at home. I've got a couple of ideas for braindance, I want to modify them and make them into regular deep dive movies, sort of training programs. Got a lot to check out and some data to pull up..."

I shrugged.

"So, Panam, shall we leave?"

"Uh-huh...

Cherry and I went down to the first floor, after which we left the apartment...

We reached our destination in forty minutes, but that was only because we were in no hurry. Panam admitted that she could have gotten us there in about twenty-five minutes.

Calmly climbing to the right floor I saw the Second Amendment store, in front of which leaning with her back against the wall stood Vee.

"Vee..."

I approached her and she grinned and greeted me with a nod of her head.

"David... Panam..."

"So, what did you want?"

"Let's just say. I've been asked to set up a meeting."

I snickered

"And who's that?"

"Dextor DeShawn..."

Vee grinned slightly patronizingly at me, and I covered my eyes and took one slow inhale of pitch, then exhaled just as slowly.

"Thank you, of course, but I'm not interested."

"А?"

V blinked confusedly.

"David, what are you doing? This is the big leagues! The biggest orders! Postmortem!"

I shrugged.

"Well, I'm in the Afterlife anyway, and I take orders from Bestia once in a while..."

Vee's eyes widened in shock, but then there was a slight sneer in them. She must have thought I was joking.

"Well, well, well... you don't have to say that. I know you're embarrassed, but working with Dexter is very honorable and, uh."

"V, just between you and me..."

She raised an eyebrow in surprise, but when she saw my serious look, she nodded her head.

"DeShawn is not the man I want to work for. Do you even know what a fixer is?"

"А?"

"There are two main types of fixers. The first type are fixers like Bestia, Regina, Wakako, in general all those fixers who work with permanent teams. They prefer professionalism and reliability of teams. The second type of fixer is someone like Dexter DeShawn. He doesn't have regular teams, he relies on intuition and looks for the ones that catch his eye, if you can put it that way."

"And you don't want to work with him because of that?"

"No..."

I shook my head.

"It's just that DeShawn in particular has a very, uh. controversial reputation."

"Hmm?"

"On the one hand, he's really a fixture of the so-called big leagues, there's a reason Bestia allowed him into the Afterlife. They wouldn't let just anyone do that. On the other hand. He really likes to take out teams that don't go according to plan.

"А?"

V blinked confusedly.

"It's not something that's being talked about left and right, but, uh. aren't you working with Wakako?"

"Yeah..."

"Ask her for Dexter's background-- Especially statistics on the teams he worked with, and you'll see that there are only thirty percent of the teams alive. And more than half of the eliminated teams still completed their tasks and were eliminated afterwards...

V frowned.

"Look, why don't you at least meet him, huh?"

I sighed.

"Okay, uh. I'll meet you."

"Okay. But only because you're the one who asked me to..."

I looked at Vee thoughtfully. Hmm, it had been a long time since I'd seen her live like this, and she'd changed her style a bit. She used to be more of a corporate girl, which she was, but now she even looked solo.

"...But I doubt he would have anything to offer me to change my mind and agree to work for him."

"Well, that's his problem. I'm just an intermediary and I'll arrange the meeting."

"Yep...by the way, while we're meeting here..."

"Uh-huh?

"I remember you a couple of times, when you were still lecturing, you mentioned some mega tricked-out shooting galleries where corporations train...

"Hmm... yeah, there are some, why?"

"Do you know if non-corporations even have those?

"Well. I guess so. I've never really looked into it. I didn't need it before, and now I'm quite satisfied with the usual shooting galleries."

I grinned and nodded my head.

"Okay, thanks... when and where to meet DeShawn?"

"He'll pull up in about ten minutes and stop right in the parking lot of this tower."

"Well. we'll wait."

That was where V and I parted ways, and I wistfully dialed Regina.

"David, hi...is something wrong?"

"Hi, Regina, no, I just had a feeling..."

"A premonition?"

"DeShawn came to me through an acquaintance. and as you know, he's got a reputation."

"Yeah..."

There was an emotion in Regina's voice that was hard for me to recognize.

"But that's not really why I'm calling. although letting you know he's trying to recruit me is also part of the reason. The main reason. buying information. I need a shooting gallery, but not just any shooting gallery. I heard when I was at the corporate academy that they have a super tricked out one that's almost like the real thing..."

"Hmmm... I'll look it up. I assume you want one that's the same, but not corporate?"

"You know me well..."

"Uh-huh, and be careful with DeShawn... he can be more subtle than just recruiting... say he'll offer you a small errand where you'll know too much and you'll have a choice...

I grinned.

"Regina, you know I know how to say no..."

"Uh-huh...

"Anyway, I gave you the info, I gave you the info, I ordered the info... and now for now..."

"See you later..."

"So?"

Panam looked at me and raised an eyebrow questioningly. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Well, I learned a few things, and I also learned that DeShawn is a guy you have to keep your eyes open for. Although it's easier now that we have a reputation, so we can give up working for the big guy."

"Well, that's the way it is..."

Panam nodded and then we waited for our employer, who would never arrive. I've made up my mind. I'm not going to get involved in canon history. Too much shit would come down on our heads, and if I couldn't get back together with my girls, I'd probably still consider it would give me a chance to get back together with them...

Who am I lying to?

Letting Johnny's construct into your head?

Fuck it!

In the game he was a charming bastard, and that's mainly due to the fact that the main role was played by a very good actor. If not for him, the whole story of this terrorist would have been perceived from a completely different angle, and here, Keanu Reeves did the incredible and shared his charm with the character who took from him the first version of his appearance.

In reality, it's all bullshit... The information that I have, and I'm very well on the network to learn everything that could be, down to rumors and broadcasts from concerts that were at Samurai, to say that he was not like in the game. I mean, in his fucked upness, he was the same... He could start shooting on stage, he could start a concert under the Arasaki Tower, realizing that it would provoke unrest and deaths would not be avoided. He could have done a lot of things, even set off a nuclear bomb, just like in canon, he could and did.

But for all that, he certainly wasn't the charmer. He didn't have charisma, at least not the charisma that Keanu Reeves displayed.

And to let such a fucker in his head, and otherwise to survive in a canonical situation will not work, and then still hope that he will not agree with Alt, with whom he mutilated while she was alive, that she returned to his body, and me wiped to hell...

No way!

I'd rather put a bullet in my own head than count on everything going exactly as in canon.

So I don't want to get involved in any of this shit. I'd talk V out of it, too, but she's on fire about working with DeShawn. I mean, she's a smart girl, she used to be a corporatist, but the freedom and romance of living solo has blown her mind.

"Well, where is he?"

Panam looked at her watch and shook her head slightly irritably.

"Well, given his reputation, he's probably already in the parking lot, but he'll call me about five minutes before the meeting time, which V said. So I'll be a little late for it."

"To make you feel guilty?"

"Uh-huh...

"Trump..."

"He's just sneaky. But we know the trickery, so it's not gonna work. And we don't need it, so we'll just wait."

"Okay, uh. should I go to the meeting with you?"

"I don't think you should."

"Well, then, I'll just eat..."

I glanced at the small diner that was not far from us and shrugged my shoulders and walked into it with Panam. It was there that DeShawn's call caught up with me...