Part 23
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***
I opened my eyes.
- What's up, Vic?
- I've replaced part of your torso muscles, but it'll take another operation to replace all your muscles. You can come back in three days. Naturally, no overexertion, but a light warm-up is not forbidden.
I nodded my head.
- What about Sandy?
- I wouldn't advise it until the muscles are completely replaced. This isn't chrome, I don't put restrictions on it, so only after all the muscles have been replaced. Just remember to take your bone and ligament medication. I do injections during surgery to strengthen them, but--
- I don't forget.
I nodded my head.
- That's good... Now you're free to go.
- Mm-hmm.
I got up from the chair and went out. I should have gone to Misty's shop to pick up Judy and Panam, but as I approached it I realised that it wasn't going to be that easy.
- You're fucking with me! Can't you be a little more considerate?! I'm your girlfriend, by the way! You hear me?! Me, not V!
I looked through the glass window of the door and made sure everyone was there, so I didn't hesitate and went inside the shop.
- You spend ten times as much time with her as you do with me!
- But Misty, I'm working.
Jackie looked confused and a little annoyed.
- You work?! You?! You're a fucking dreamer! You want to be a legend! And you don't do shit! You're just a fucking name-caller! What are you doing to be a legend?! Maybe you're saving up for a better chrome?! Do you do at least three jobs a week? Have a good reputation with the fixers?!
I shook my head.
That's it, Misty.
- David, did Vic get free?
I looked at V and nodded at her.
- Yep, he's free now.
- Good...
The girl walked past everyone in the room. As she passed me she supposedly accidentally blew her long scarlet hair, which smelled like something citrusy, at me. What the hell...
- David?
Misty looked back at me lost and I was surprised to see that she was slightly embarrassed.
- Hello again Misty, Jackie...
I just nodded to the latter. He responded with a much more sullen nod of his head, as well as a very unfriendly look.
- What are you doing here?
He even tilted his head forward to look at me with a sort of scowl.
- Me? I came for the girls... we have plans for today....
- Take 'em and go.
- Jackie Wells! This is my shop! Panam and Judy are my friends! David's my friend! Okay. What. Don't. Dare. Talk. S. Nimi. In. Takom. Tone. Bye. You. In. My. Shop.
She literally said the last phrase as she spoke it, in a way that made it clear she wouldn't tolerate arguments.
- Misty! They're messing with your head!
- What?!
- That! Working the way they do... when do you have a life?!
- Well, actually, we have enough time and money to live.
Panam intervened.
- Yes, I even send decent sums to my grandparents, and there's enough to live on after that. Cinema, restaurants, entertainment centres, discos... We visit all these things regularly.
- Erm... and in a bar?
Jackie was clearly confused.
- Why? None of us are interested in that....
I shrugged.
- We'd rather go skydiving...
I said and stopped talking.
- Girls, we haven't tried it yet...
- Hmm... I'm in favour of it... especially while you are undergoing Vic's procedure you can't go on a mission, but have a little fun that way....
Panam nodded her head.
- I am also not against it...
Judy nodded her head.
- Man, I want to go too...
Misty bit her thumb nail.
- Look, will you take me with you?
I shrugged.
- Sure.
- I'll take you myself!
Misty looked at Jackie, quickly typed something into the terminal, and sighed sadly.
- You don't have enough money. A couple of thousand a person...
- Huh?!
Jackie was very confused at the cost of skydiving, and I was surprised. Still, it's not a small amount of money, some of the chrome of generations past can be bought for less.
- David?
Panam looked at me uncertainly.
- Come on... am I not allocating some of my own savings for one jump for the four of us?
- That's right...
Judy nodded her head.
- We're taking Misty skydiving tomorrow.
- I couldn't--
- Shut up.
Panam silenced Misty.
- ...you're our friend, so paying for this kind of fun for you once won't cost us anything. Or rather, David won't. Right, David?
- Yes, Panam, I won't.
I chuckled.
- Misty, Panam will send you a pick-up time tonight. As well as your preferred style of dress. Still, your casual clothes are probably not suitable for jumping.
- Okay, thank you.
Misty nodded gratefully, then gave Jackie a tongue-lashing.
- See what a guy's supposed to be like?
- You're so sick of comparing me to him...you like him that much?! So go to his harem and fuck him, you stupid....
Boom!
I took one step closer to Jackie and knocked him to the floor with my hand.
- Jackie, nobody's claiming your girlfriend. No, Misty's nice, and if she were free, and if I were free, I'd probably try to have a relationship with her. But there are too many assumptions...
I shook my head.
- So you'll get up now, apologise to her, and tomorrow you'll buy her flowers and take her to a restaurant in the evening. And if you don't have any money, just do the assignment.
- Tz...
Jackie slowly stood up.
- 'David, thank you, but you shouldn't have... Jackie... he's like that... but I love him just the way he is...'
I shrugged.
- It's your relationship...
She gave me a grateful nod.
- ...but the skydiving doesn't change that.
Misty nodded and with a sunny smile she walked over to Jackie and with a sigh took him over to the chair where she sat him down.
- I'll get some ice...
The girls and I didn't wait for the conversation to continue and just left Misty's shop and went to get my future Behemoth. Which I had my heart set on buying.
- Are you hitting on her?
Judy asked the question as soon as the Cake picked up speed.
- No... she's not my type.
I shook my head.
- But I had to put her boyfriend in his place.
- Well, none of us will argue about that.....
After Panam said that, we drove in silence. And the first words as soon as we arrived at the vendor's house, which was a shipping company, also belonged to her. And the Hippo used to serve them well, but the time has come and they decided to get rid of it.
- It's rubbish.
- I don't know much about cars, but I have to agree with Panam. Even to my layman's eye it's clear that this is rubbish, not a car.
I shook my hand and approached the engine compartment, which the sales representative opened at my request. Surprisingly, he didn't try to make the car look better than it was, he just complied with my requests.
- So, the engine is in decent condition... some repairs, some changes.....
I nodded my head.
- ...but overall the car is running...can you get it up on the lifts?
The man nodded and pressed a button and lifted the Behemoth, then I scanned the undercarriage and it was about the same. I mean, it's far from new, but I wouldn't call it dead. And that's exactly what I'm looking for.
- Twenty-five?
- No bargaining. It's either forty or you walk out of here with nothing.
I sighed and gave the man the money, and he gave me the licence to the car. I started it up and got in the driver's seat.
- Erm...
- Yes Panam?
I took a good look at her.
- Do you have a licence?
- I bought it a couple of months ago.
- And you drive?
- Yes.
- Okay, I'll drive my Tortilla.
- I'm with Panam.
Judy made a quick decision on who she was going with. But I was not going to insist, instead we drove to Judy's flat where we decided to stay till the next day. I got out of the Behemoth and walked around it, taking another look at the work to be done.
- Regretting it already?
Panam looked at me with a grin.
- 'No...'
I shook my head.
- Assessing the work front...
- How's that going?
- Well... I think I can do it in a couple of months... Though considering the solo work, it could be six months.
- Will you need my help?
Now Panam's gaze was attentive and his tone serious.
- I think so... but first we need to see if we can hack into something and get the data, or if we can just search and try to buy it....
- Which is what?
- A nuclear reactor.
- А?
- All the new avis run on miniature nuclear reactors. And we need one if we're gonna power your clan.
- Isn't that a bit much?
- No...
I shook my head.
- It's not too much, it's exactly what we need, but we'll have to stockpile fuel for a couple of years. Though we can get them through the fixers, as well as the reactor....
I scratched my nose thoughtfully.
- That's an idea...
- А?
- I should contact Regina, maybe she knows where to get the reactor and fuel for it?
- Erm... well... that would actually be easier.
- Yeah, but we'll still need reactor data, cos if it goes down, who's going to repair it?
- Well... if we find a reactor, we'll look for data too, there's also connection and maintenance....
I nodded my head at Panam's words.
- Hey, you guys, hurry up!
Judy distracted us from the conversation and called us to follow her, which we did soon after we were in her flat.
- Okay, I don't have any food at home, so I suggest we order a pizza....