Part 18

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***

Cake.

We all got into it and it was quite easy as although it was a pickup truck, nomads like my Panam can't stand uncomfortable cars. So in Tortika there is a bizarre combination of angularity of forms, external unpretentiousness, and also comfort for all, including for those who sits in the back. Even if you put three people in the back.

Though in fact, all the matter is that behind sat not three overpumped boogeymen, but three fragile girls, which would not be very cramped in twice smaller space.

- And still my car is better....

Becca sulked at us for forcing her to come with us. She wanted to show off her driving skills and I wouldn't have minded if it was just a casual drive, but on a mission it's better to go as a group. There's less chance of us splitting up and getting into trouble.

- Don't be ridiculous, you've got a small car, which may be convenient for the city because you can park in it. But you're not going on a combat mission in it, are you?! It's not armoured at all!

- Be-be-be-be-be-be-be-be-be-be-be-be-be-be-be-be.

Becca flashed her tongue and I grinned and turned away from her.

Judy and Lucy had been silent for some time now, clearly communicating with each other through the established communication channel, and I wondered what exactly they were getting at.

- Lucy, Judy?

Lucy glanced at Judy and she nodded her head.

- We've made up our minds. Lucy will be much better as a netrunner, so I'll lead you and she'll hack into whatever she can reach on her own or with your help. She'll do it faster and quieter.

I nodded my head.

I was glad I wasn't wrong, and I wasn't talking about Lucy, but about Judy, who was capable of admitting her faults and voicing them. Able to admit that she's in some ways worse than others and not hide it.

- Pfft! There's no one better than Lucy! Not even Kiwi can compete with her!

- I recognise your Lucy's talent and skills, but I work with David as a ranner, but it's a bit out of my league. I'm a breaker. That's my field, that's where I'd give any major league pro a run for his money.

- Um... why did you fit in then?

Lucy looked at Judy in surprise.

- At first... I just wanted to return the favour.

- A debt?

- Yeah, I work at Lizzie's and after an incident there, the Arasak bitches trashed all the equipment.

- Judy's tongue.

- Pfft!

She gave me a snort to show how she felt about my request not to swear. I knew her, though, and I was sure she'd try to hold back.

- But only there were not only servers with programmes and databases from security cameras, I stupidly kept my personal equipment there....

- Why?

Lucy was really curious.

- Well... it's just that I spent most of the day and night there anyway, processing brans with the girls, so I thought it would be easier on personal equipment that I customised myself. It was, but.

- И?

- Well, Susie hired David, through Regina, who we'd been working with for some time on computer and server repairs and maintenance. And he fixed the servers, of course, but the hardware... Susie refused to pay for my personal equipment, and there was no money for it, so David helped with the money.

- И? Did it cost that much?

- Very... after all, he didn't order second-hand hardware on a whim, but new, and very powerful. I'm just getting used to the fact that I don't have to dance with tambourines, chanting and howling to do my work. I used to have to do that all the time.

- So you're with him for the debt?

- At first, yes... he offered me a contract, I work with him and Panam for a certain period of time, and for that I get the debt cancelled....

Judy shrugged.

- Except now I'm not so keen on leaving the team. I get two months' worth of revenue in a week, which I had at Lizzies. I'm still writing brains, albeit in smaller quantities... And I'm thinking of leaving Helms... I'm sick of it....

- By the way, Judy, are there any flats for sale in your building?

- А?

Judy looked at me in surprise.

- Well, I just realised that for me and Panam one room in a megatower is still not enough. I'd like to have at least two rooms, or better three, and a kitchen. And such an apartment in a megatower, first of all, you can't find it anywhere, and secondly, it would cost as much as Kerry Eurodin's cottage. He just paid once and that's it, and we'd have to pay that amount every month.

- You're exaggerating.

Becca grinned at my words.

- Maybe, but not by much.

I shrugged.

- Even in the medium term, it's easier to buy a flat like that in a building like the one Judy lives in. It's not considered high-end housing anymore. And I'd pay as much for a flat like that as I would for a year's rent on my one-bedroom.

- Except that in my building, the lights go out a lot....

Judy shook her head.

- ...and the hot water.

- That's not a problem...

He grinned at her.

- Or do you think I'm overpaying for electricity in a megatower? I've long ago built myself a couple of high-efficiency converters that charge the batteries when I run on the treadmill. Considering that Panam and I don't neglect our workouts.....

I shook my head.

- ...And I have an idea how we can switch to our own power generation, but we'd have to live somewhere other than a megatower. They might come to check if they suspect something....

- Well, in general, I think I have a three-room apartment, but there are two rooms, a bathroom, and the third is combined with the kitchen. It's like my flat, you've been there, you know how it works...

- I know.

I nodded my head.

- And in general, the dining room can be rebuilt a little, make another small office.....

I looked thoughtfully at the road.

- I'll have to talk to...

- I can talk to the owners.

- I'd appreciate it.

Judy nodded her head. Meanwhile, Tortic pulled up to his destination. This time it was possible to stop right next to the point, which Panam did. It's the girls who will be working here anyway, and I'll have to walk round the yards a bit.

- Setting up the link...

Judy said this and I immediately got a call that I answered. The whole left side of the view was taken up by the girls' icons, so I did a little digging in the settings and removed them altogether. Their appearance wasn't really important right now, it was more important for me to see everything that was ahead of me.

- Link check... one, one, three....

I grinned.

- I hear good, I'm going...

I slipped out of the car.

- How about a piffle?

- You don't want the money?

I turned to Becca in surprise, who had her gaze lowered to the ground.

- 'Need it... but it's boring...'

I looked at her carefully and shook my head.

- If we work well, I have a plan for you to have fun and for all of us to make some money.

- Really?!

- Yeah.

I turned away from her and walked down the street, so that we continued to communicate not in person, but by connection.

- What's the plan?

- No, no, no, no.

I'm sure by now my image at the girls, unless of course they, like me, had switched off their avatars, shook their heads.

- No revealing secrets... So it's in your best interest to work it out well.

I turned down an alley.

- We're upstairs...

The girls had to climb the fire escape upstairs to connect to the access point, and apparently had already managed to do so.

- Connecting.

Meanwhile, after passing a couple of houses, I found myself right next to the house where the underground fights take place. It's in an underground arena, but the only way in is through this house. At least that's the only one Regina recognised.

- Download the floor plan of the building and the basement...

A couple of seconds and the girls send me a message with a map of the building, I hid in the shadows, in one of the narrow places, where it would be difficult to find me even on purpose, quickly studied the message and here I have the map in the form of a small image. Of course the girls would be leading me, but even so I should know what to do and how to do it.

- So, I've seen the plan, I can move out, where's the target?

- Judging by the conversations I'm picking up, he's on the lower level, in a well-protected room.

I closed my eyes.

- Access to the room?

- I can only help you if you connect directly to the access terminal.

- Through me?

- I'll try...

Lucy was totally focused.

- Okay, in the meantime, hack into their system and look for accounts you can open without my help.

- Got it.

I activated the sandi and came out of my hiding place. My limit now was five minutes of continuous acceleration, more than my body could handle. My acceleration is very high, in fact, the whole world for me freezes as this is not just a military model of the sandi, but also some experimental. Using the implant, I walked down the alley with ease, turned down another alley, and reached the entrance.

The front door was open, but there were two massive lockers in front of it, which I passed by while still in acceleration. It didn't take two minutes of subjective time, but in reality it didn't take three seconds, because if the guards noticed anything, it was a slight ripple.

Inside the building, I immediately made my way to a cubbyhole where I switched off the sandi.

- You weren't spotted...

Judy let me know it was okay.

- I cleaned out the cameras, you're not there and you weren't.

- Copy that.

- There's a security room next to you, I'd put one of those slivers I gave you back at your flat. It'll give us more options.

- Will do. What's in the room?

- They're not looking, you can come out, I've got the cameras looped.

I nodded my head and calmly walked out of the back room where the junk was piled up, then walked calmly to the room.

- No murders... judging by the data, a check comes in here every half hour. Corpses or lack of security will be detected and an alarm will be raised.

- Got it... give me a floor plan of the room, and illuminate where I need to put the splinter.

A picture immediately appeared in front of my eyes, where I could see where the right plug was, or rather there were three plugs and they were labelled as green yellow and red.

- Lucy?

- Red must be inserted, yellow if possible, green is desirable, but not necessary.

- Got it...

I activated the sandi and entered the room, all the guards were focused on the surveillance monitors and the door was just starting to open, and I already went to the socket that was marked as red and inserted a chip into it. Next was the yellow and finally the green connector, and then I slipped out into the corridor and switched off the sandi.

- Done...

I walked quietly down the corridor.

- Hiding, the door that opened caused the guards to question me. I passed it off as a minor glitch in the system, but still....

Judy warned me of a little trouble and I grinned, while activating the sandi went further down the corridor, hiding behind a corner.

- Uh-huh... well done, you go further down, there'll be a lift... but there'll be a security post at the bottom.

- No stairs?

- There is, but there'll be a guard post down there too.

I shrugged.

- I'd rather take the stairs, or you'll have to fake a lift failure. I'll just take a little longer to get down....

- Suit yourself...