Chapter 122

A few weeks flew by like a blink of an eye.

"So, why did you call us?"

Across from me sat Vic, Misty was now chatting with the girls, at my request they took her a little to the side and gave me a chance to talk to Vic alone.

"Tell me what you're gonna tell me if I, uh."

"David, you're a good guy..."

Vic interrupted me with a hand gesture stopping me from continuing.

"...so let's not complicate our friendly relations with various verbiage. Tell me what you need, honestly and without various pandering, and I will also honestly tell you whether I can help you with it or not."

I grinned.

"So straight up and no jerking off?"

"Yeah. (chuckles)"

Vic nodded his head seriously.

"Alright, move with me to another world and help me start a mercenary guild there that will not only be supported by the largest state now known there, but also fulfill contracts in a multitude of different worlds."

"Kha..."

Vic choked on a non-alcoholic cocktail, which he'd just started drinking when I started talking. It took him about ten seconds to come to his senses, and then a couple more minutes to get his brain back together.

"You're not kidding, are you?"

I didn't bother to answer that question, I just looked at him with a serious look and he sighed sadly.

"Let's put it this way... what will I need from me THERE? Answer me and I promise to at least seriously consider your offer. But either way, I promise this conversation will go no further than me."

I nodded and looked thoughtfully at the cocktail in my hand.

"You will be required to install a large number of biological modifications, work possibly on extremely unsuitable equipment, the maximum we can afford there is synthetic enhancements that are not chromium per se."

"Hmm... you mean no chrome? No turning a person into a Malstrom-like, albeit stripped down, human being?

"Uh-huh... look at me and you'll see what you need to get if you replace the sandi with a biological or synthetic analog. Well, we still have to figure out something with the ranchers, since once they're there they'll lose their main job, but I think they can be repurposed somewhat...

"Well... let's say I've heard of analogs of what you mentioned, but they will be VERY expensive."

"Not worth more than money."

I shrugged.

"But eventually you'll have to learn how to create them yourself."

"Yeah. You're giving me a problem. I have time to think, don't I?"

"Basically, yeah. until I have a ripper friend who can do what you can do, and who I can trust enough to make the offer. So you're not limited in time to think about my question. And yes, I'm not really against chrome, just..."

I snapped my fingers a couple times, as if choosing my words, which earned me a mocking look from Vic.

"Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh.

I nodded my head.

"You read me as always and see that I'm just playing around and not actually forgetting that you asked to talk without word games."

"In short, there's just no way to get high-tech gimmicks in that world. Sure we'll have some supply, but...

I shrugged.

"Yes, I realize that biological enhancements don't need any special repair conditions at all. It's just a change in the organism, and the organism recovers and restores itself and the capabilities it has been given. It can only be accelerated by drugs."

Vic nodded thoughtfully at my words.

"But chrome, with chrome in this regard is much more complicated, although on the other hand, if the biological mods, require time to recover, that is, at the snap of a finger nothing will happen, but with chrome on the other hand everything is easier. Disconnected and put a new one."

"Well, that's true, but, uh. in the realities of a medieval world with magic."

"Mm..."

Vic scratched his cheek.

"Misty?"

"You can bring her along. I don't mind, she's a friend of ours and I think the girls would love the opportunity to hang out with her. The other thing is. She's a very active person, so it's better for her own good if you give us a heads up so we can get a couple of databases for her."

"Well, I can handle that..."

Vic looked at me thoughtfully and I realized that this conversation was over for the moment...

*** A few days later. ***

"David..."

"Vee?"

I arched an eyebrow questioningly as Vee arrived in the clan's parking lot, and she drove up in a very fancy car that didn't match her financial situation. At least not the one she'd been in recently.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here on behalf of my employer..."

I sighed...

Nice suit, expensive car, lack of that device I made opposite the socket in which there should be a sliver that overwrote her mind. But there is an extremely stylish choker, with a small extension in the same place. So it immediately becomes clear, well it becomes clear to me, that this device performs a similar function. I wouldn't have the skills for such a thing...

She sold out...

I saw it clearly and realized that it was most likely Arasaka.

"I see you've done the math."

"Not all of them..."

I shook my head.

"Judgmental?"

"Hmmm..."

I tilted my head thoughtfully to the side.

"...let's put it this way, am I disappointed? Definitely yes. Stepping on a rake you've already run over once..."

I shake my head.

"...on the other hand I have no right to judge you, you probably found some way to save your life. And you took that path. And I do not exclude the possibility that if I were in your place, I would have done the same."

"Chetno..."

She grinned.

"I love it. and you're right, I'm back at my old job. I'm back at the same corporation, but the position is generalist, I guess you could say."

Wide profile?

Memories of her calmly telling me how she had spread her legs in front of her superiors when she had just been kicked out of Arasaki flashed through my mind... Maybe it wasn't exactly like that, but in my mind it was exactly like that.

"So, what brings you to me?"

"I've come to offer you a job..."

"Uh, no."

"But you don't know exactly what I'm going to suggest yet."

"Hanako already..."

"I'm not from Hanako..."

I frowned.

"...and not from Yerinobu."

No, now I'm frowning. The third power. fuck it. Vee was grinning at me.

"Uh, no."

Vee frowned now.

"You didn't even hear what my employer had to offer you."

"V, you're the one who basically had no choice, not me. I'm not going to get into the mess I'll undoubtedly get into by meddling in the internal affairs of the corporation."

"And in doing so, you eliminated Smasher..."

"Eliminated..."

I nodded, seeing no point in denying such a statement.

"But I had no choice. He had already shown me that he was my enemy, even though he had attacked me initially after Yerinobu's command. But if it comes to the last one, my hands are too short..."

I can, I may even have to if he doesn't stop trying to recruit or eliminate me, but you don't need to know that.

"...then here's Smasher, especially since after his failure he would most likely make me his personal target, him I'd be obligated to eliminate just to be able to live in peace."

"And now you don't want to live your life in peace?"

"Is that a threat?"

"No, no..."

She shook her head, but I still activated the sandi, speeding myself up slightly. As usual, it was harder to control the conversation, but better that than a surprise attack from Vee.

"...it's just an offer that's hard to refuse. A very impressive salary, access to cutting-edge technology...

Vee ran the palm of her hand over her suit, which fit her snugly.

"...and I can also thank you personally for agreeing..."

How did I keep myself from showing my attitude towards such a proposal... But, judging by the look on Vee's face, something was still reflected on my face.

"He's still a clean-cut guy...

She shook her head.

"...you realize, without THIS, you'll never amount to anything. Even Smasher was just a mutt that could be replaced. Yeah, it's gonna take some time to replace him, but it's doable."

"And you think spreading your legs at the behest of your superiors makes you indispensable?"

I grinned bilefully.

"Any whore from Chpok Street could do the same thing, and it's not like the corporation can't afford to train her for the right profession. They can even change their appearance."

"You..."

Vee's hand reached for my belt and I increased the acceleration my sandi was providing for me, except she pulled out a small box the size of a car key along with the weapon and my sandi immediately shut down!

"It's a beautiful technology, isn't it?"

A slightly arrogant smirk appeared on Vee's lips.

"Disables any, even experimental chrome, if it is not patched in a special way, well, and optics falls under the exception. It's hard to achieve, Militech and a couple of other intercontinental super corporations may have it. My employer told me there are no more than a dozen of them in the world. And oh miracle, I have one of them, and my chrome, by the way, new, completely accidentally patched ..."

"So that's how it is."

I glared at Vee, who seemed to have relaxed completely. Did she think all I had was experimental chrome?

"That's right. and I know you don't break your word, so I suggest you once again, listen to my superior's assignment and once it's done, become his subordinate. If you don't like my body, we'll find you girls who are better than the ones you have around you now. You will have everything, power, money, pleasures..."

"Oh, uh. who's your boss?"

"No..."

Vee shook her head.

"...it doesn't work that way. First you agree and only then, after you complete your first assignment, do you get the right to find out who your boss will be."

"You know, uh. I'm gonna risk saying no."

"Idealist..."

Vee defiantly slowly tucked the device away in a special pocket on her belt.

"...I'm going to enjoy breaking you..."

"You know, you haven't shown this much aggression towards me before."

"Huh, that kindly V over there, that's just a mask. you know, being in corporate, you learn to read people very quickly."

"So you've been lying the whole time?"

"Why would I lie? At the time, I was really grateful, but, uh. Things have changed, and now I'm much more grateful to my new boss. You, on the other hand. Well, since you're apparently turning down such a lucrative offer."

She gave me a carnivorous look.

"...I'll be very careful with you, moreover, I'll probably make you my bitch and as a thank you for not letting me die once, you'll be used only by me..."

"You first prove a right to this behavior, and then..."

And then I'll either kill myself or try my best to escape captivity.

"Oh... what a look, even though all your chrome is disabled you're still hoping for something... you're gonna be a pleasure to break..."

"Break me? Brokenness didn't grow..."