Chapter 92

The car stopped quietly.

As I drove up to the meeting place, I noticed Parker, who was standing next to Mayne and Dorio with a cheeky smile. But they didn't look so sure of themselves. The figure of a short woman with a sack on her head stood beside them as well, probably pretending to be Judy's grandmother.

"There you are..."

"So?"

"I want to see her..."

I shrugged and walked around the car and opened the trunk. Mayne was tense, and so was Dorio; they were scrutinizing my every move.

"So, uh. just out of interest. do you really think something like this is gonna make Judy hate me? I mean, she's gonna find out exactly why I did it to her."

"Oh, that's my problem, and I'm not going to bring her back to consciousness right now, I'm going to take her to an underground ripper first, and after that she won't be able to do anything and will be with me..."

I nodded my head.

"A clandestine ripper, huh? The only thing that comes to mind is the installation of a control chip..."

This chip was developed by some crazy corparat and was based on the puppet chip, but if the puppet chip was a universal tweaking device, then the chip-controller contains a single program and it is very difficult to disable it without a special code. No, a good runner can do it, but only if connected from the outside, but from the inside...

"So you didn't get her love, so you decided to get her body?"

"Yeah..."

She leaned over Judy and ran her hand over her cheek. How Judy managed to hold it together I don't know.

"And if you think you can find me after that and kill me, you're wrong, the chip I ordered, it will be tied to my life and if I die..."

"Okay, and these, uh. wait until you're far enough away to hand her grandmother over to me?"

"Exactly!"

"I see..."

I nodded my head.

"So no smart plans. just work on pomp and circumstance..."

I shook my head.

"What are you-- xxx?!

Parker, who had looked up at me, wheezed and looked down at Judy, who was clutching the handle of the knife she'd stabbed her in the stomach.

"You should have been concerned about jamming the line... because David talked to me during your call and I called my grandmother and found out she was okay."

"You. you stabbed me. you stabbed me with a knife."

Parker sounded incredulous. At that moment I heard two shots in a row, and if I didn't see the results of the first one, then the second one... the second one knocked a shard of asphalt right in front of Mane's feet.

Throwing him a serious look I shook my head.

"Did you expect me to do anything different? You attacked my grandmother. however hypothetically."

"I mean. for us."

"I've told you many times. There is no us anymore. You destroyed that "us" with your own hands. And now you're reaping the rewards of your actions and self-confidence.

"I..."

"Don't rely on your mercenaries, we have a very good sniper and he's figured out your sniper's tracking, as well as keeping an eye on those solos you brought with you."

I cut Judy and Parker's conversation short, then pulled out a throwing knife and examined it thoughtfully.

"Tell me why you're so attached to us. You don't like Judy. I can tell by the way you treat her. So why?"

"Kha... she, uh. should be mine."

I shook my head and ran the tip of the knife across Parker's cheek, but she didn't care about that, she was focused on Judy's hand, which, along with the knife she was holding, she was holding in the wound, trying not to move it.

"That's the difference between you two. You want to possess me, and David. he not only wanted to possess me, he offered me a part of himself. A part of me that I would possess."

"Is there anything else you want to say to her?"

I looked at Judy and she shook her head and then I drove the knife sharply into Parker's heart, precisely in the side, between the ribs, and then twisted it sharply.

"Gah!!!"

She looked up at me with shock and disbelief.

"Did you think it would end differently and I'd give you my Judy?"

I ripped the knife from her body, just as Judy did, and I saw nothing in her eyes but a slight sadness in her emotions. Sadness that Parker was dying. Sadness that things might have turned out differently if Parker hadn't gone against us...

"Goodbye Parker..."

I shook my head and took a step to the side and whereas before I'd supported her slightly, now she just collapsed to her knees and then collapsed onto her side.

"...you'll never be in our lives again."

"What are we supposed to do now?"

Mayne glared at me with a frown.

"Well, for starters, it wouldn't hurt to free a girl who's not guilty of anything..."

I shrugged.

"...and after that, whatever you want to do. We're going home."

"I see... Is Pilar even alive?"

"Hmm?"

"He acted as a cover sniper ..."

I focused on connecting with the girls.

"Cherry, how's the sniper?"

"Pilar? It's fine, even the rifle is intact, I only blew off his cigarette and he understood my hint perfectly. Well, he tried to find me, but he had already been hacked by our Mentor and Snowflake, so the optics were a problem..."

"I see..."

I turned my attention back to Mayne.

"He's alive, but his optics have been hacked a little..."

I gave Mayne a scrutinizing glance.

"And you decided to go back to the field after all? I heard you kind of tried out as a Fixer in Padre territory..."

"Yeah. I'm not really a fixer. I'd rather have a gun in my hand and adrenaline in my veins. What, are you following me?"

I shrugged.

"I don't. But Becca is looking after her troublemaking brother, so I know from her that you've been trying to follow my advice for a while and try your hand at being a pixie."

"I see..."

Mayne without making any sudden movements removed the sack from the girl's head.

"What, that's it?"

"Yeah..."

"AND? Where's my money?"

"I'm guessing the same place as mine. at my dead employer's place."

"What?"

The girl shifted her gaze from Mayne to me in surprise.

"Did you kill my money?"

"So what if it is?"

"Then you'll pay me tm..."

Mayne clamped the girl's mouth shut with his paw.

"Luda, don't get cocky, the guy's a high-ranking solo and he knows how to count money. So if you mess with him, he'll just zero you out.

Mayne let go of the insolent wench's mouth, I just turned toward Judy, who had already climbed out of the trunk and was now standing behind me.

"Leaving?"

"Yeah..."

"Hey! I wasn't kidding! You killed my money and you have to, uh."

"I turned sharply, and the throwing knife flew right past the girl's face, cutting some of her hair and embedding itself in the wall behind her. Mayne, after he let go of her and stopped covering his mouth, took a couple steps to the side and was a little further away, as was Dorio. So such a throw was no threat to both solos."

But the girl froze and slowly lowered her gaze, looking at the hair that fell to the pavement, and then she just as slowly turned around and noticed the knife, which was halfway into the wall of the house.

"So..."

I calmly walked around her and took hold of the knife and pulled it out of the wall without showing any tension.

"No, no... don't bother, I'm not claiming your money..."

"That's good."

I nodded a couple of times, and then Judy and I got into the car and drove quickly toward the Megatower, where we picked up the other girls. I nodded a couple of times and then Judy and I loaded the car and drove quickly toward the Megatower where we picked up the other girls.

"Well. one problem solved."

"It's been a long time since I've had one..."

I shook my head at Kiwi's words.

"The first really solved problem was Faraday. And Parker. it's just a slight bump in the road, not even a slight pothole. So let's go home and rest, and then we'll get back to work..."

"By the way, have you seen this girl?"

Kiwi was very snide when she remembered the girl who had apparently been hired to play the role of Judy's grandmother.

"We've seen her chutzpah."

Lucy commented on what she saw, but from Judy I sensed a slight admiration for that girl's bravery and approval of her understanding of the situation when she didn't drip further.

"I did some digging on her, by the way."

"AND?"

I wondered what Kiwi had managed to find on this girl, too.

"She's the kind of solo specializing in status escorts, when you need to draw attention to specific actions by distracting it from the actual guarding. A dangerous but well-paid profession.

"Uh. so it's not cheap to hire her?"

"Well, uh. she's not a top solo actress, but she's not a bottom, so yeah, she's worth a buck."

I nodded.

"You think Parker had the means to hire her?"

"I'm just now learning..."

I cast a surprised look at Judy.

"What? While you were in there talking to Mayne, I put a splinter in her body, so some of the information can still come out."

"Okay. so we'll know soon enough what she's planning?"

"So she kind of told me..."

Judy shrugged.

"Yeah, but she might not have told you everything."

"Could have..."

Judy nodded.

"...but I doubt she was lying. What she said was exactly her style. And I suppose if you believed her and decided to trade me."

"Judy, don't be silly..."

I shook my head.

"Even if she'd been smart enough to pick a moment when none of you were near me, or hired an extra-class ranger to hack into the link between us and fake a conversation with you... All she would have accomplished is that I arrived at the point with my Sandi 100% activated.

"Mm..."

Judy twitched her earlobe.

"...okay, I'll pore over what she has saved in there some more before chrome goes completely offline due to media death..."

"Lucy..."

"Uh-huh?

The girl looked at me slightly surprised.

"Start looking for a shuttle that can take us to the moon. The money from the hacked training chips, though we didn't get too cocky with the price and interest, is coming in, we ourselves are working quality..."

I looked thoughtfully out the side window of the car.

"...I think in a month we'll be able to afford a week-long vacation like this without being completely destitute.

"Well, we didn't stay before that..."

Becca shrugged her shoulders at my comment.

"It's just that David's taking on all the costs again..."

Kiwi commented on what she had heard.

"Yeah, do you mind?"

"Not that we're against it..."

Panam decided to keep the conversation going, while squinting in my direction. Judy, on the other hand, was feeling rarefied and somewhat delighted. She was glad of my care and willingness to take over, but she was annoyed by it...

"Girls, I suggest we take matters into our own hands and pay for a flight to the moon and a week, or maybe two weeks there..."

They glanced over and nodded at Becky's similar suggestion.

"Hey, what about..."

"Nobody's asking for your opinion. You're already paying for everything you can... so this time we're paying."

I sighed.

"Okay..."

I had to capitulate, as I sensed through my connection with Judy that she was not going to back down in this matter. I guess the other girls weren't either...