Good Neighbors, Bad Neighbors (7)

The veteran soldier sits down wondering what the Queen of the Afterlife wants to talk about with him.

"Miguel O'Brian," Rogue starts, almost startling the veteran, ", Native to Night City before immigrating to New York NY. Joined the NUSA army and eventually made the Green Berets, eventually being honorably discharged before returning to Night City. You worked as private security for a short while, and then you went off the radar with suspected ties to Militech. A few months ago, you were spotted as a vagrant wandering Night City, focusing your wanderings on Watson while not doing anything noteworthy, until now."

"I can't talk about the time I became a ghost," Miguel preempts Rogue, and she nods. The lack of clear answer and the language used explained more than enough, and there's nothing urgent on that front yet.

"It's a good thing that I'm not interested in that today," Rogue motions with her head where Mark walked off. "What can you tell me about the Engineer?"

The former homeless pause for a moment, thinking over what he saw and what he can tell the woman. "He's a generous man. Kind too." Miguel pauses again, trying to find the proper word to describe Mark. "Human in a way that Night City didn't manage to stamp out. The first day we meet I was having a… bad day," Miguel put it delicately, and Rogue raised an eyebrow at implication, "we were at the Metro, and he bought a XXL Burrito. I made an off-hand comment about Salsa Verde, and after looking at me he split his meal and offered half. I was slipping off the deep end fast, and his words that day helped me regain clarity."

Miguel takes a deep breath, recalling the events leading to today. "Afterwards, I called my niece asking if she wanted to meet for us to talk and reconnect. I even managed to get myself cleaned up enough to not get kicked out from a food stall. However, when it came to the date of our meeting, nobody came, so I went digging near her apartment. That's when I heard rumors about the Maelstrom kidnapping my niece in broad daylight."

"I rushed after them, finding some gonks and demanded answers, but my chrome malfunctioned at the time, and I got shot. That's when Mark appeared and saved me, then afterwards he proposed to help me rescue my niece and 'take care' of the gang. The rest is history." Despite the strong memories, Miguel feels peaceful now, since he knows the Maelstrom are no more and he had a hand in making that happen.

"He sounds quite the man," Rogue admits, "hard seeing him as a killer after talking with him."

"Oh, don't get me wrong, Mark is a killer." Miguel quickly explains, "I would even go and call him absolutely deranged when facing his enemies. No Cyberpsycho can do what he did, it requires intent to come close to it."

Rogue frowns while staring at her Silverhand drink. "Reminds me of a certain boogieman," the Queen mutters under her breath.

"One round of drinks for everyone on me!"

Both Miguel and Rogue look back, watching Mark yell through the bar and being cheered on by the other patrons.

…

Returning a couple of minutes before, Mark reaches the table pointed by Rogue.

Looking at the group, Mark tries to stay calm, as he realizes who they are. Sitting at the right is Maine, his posture relaxed while he has a content smile on his face; in the center is Dorio, legs crossed and laughing at some joke; right next to her is Rebbeca sitting with her legs pulled close to her chest while listening to Dorio' story; finally, the last member of the crew, Sasha.

Bright blue eyes, purple eye shadow, an easy smile, and she wears a catsuit and half jacket outfit.

Initially, Mark thought it was a stroke of good luck when he coincidentally became neighbor with Gloria Martinez, but he didn't worry too much about the mother-son pair. If something were to happen with them, Mark was confident in the effectiveness of his medical kit.

Now, with the original Edgerunner crew sitting in front of him, Mark isn't sure what he should do. He almost asks Solvernia for her opinion, then realizes what he was about to do. Taking a deep breath, he approaches the table and before he can say anything his stomach introduces himself first.

Mark stands in front of them, and awkward smile on his face before Rebbeca breaks the ice with a laugh. "Calm down choom! I know Sasha looks cute but try not to gobble her up, alright?"

Mark shakes his head with a smile, thanking the little gremlin for the help. "Hello, my name is Mark Henderson." Mark raises his hand to greet Maine. "Is this seat open? I have a job proposal for you guys," Mark stomach remind him of more immediate concerns, "I can also order dinner for us and pay for your tab today, if you don't mind."

Maine looks at his companions for a moment, then he takes Mark offered hand. "Free food and free drinks? I like your style Mark. Name's Maine, and this is my crew: Dorio, Rebbeca and Sasha. How about you give us the detes to your gig before we commit to anything?"

"Good for me." Mark grins to the group, "don't be shy with your orders, I have cash to burn. In fact," Mark stands up. "A round for the house, on me!"

The entire bar cheers, one of the waitresses looking distressed before turning to Rogue. Mark looks at the Owner of Afterlife and gives her a thumbs up before sitting together with the Edgerunners. "Alright, what do they have other than bar snacks?"

…

Eventually, Mark order arrives, and he digs into the food.

"Wait, you're the Engineer? The guy that took down Jackal's pack on his own? The same Engineer that's the talk of Afterlife tonight?" Mark nods affirmatively to Dorio's question, mouth still full of synth stake. "Couldn't have happened with a better bunch, that gonk Jackal was the worst. He was practically a Corpo Animal, can you imagine that?"

Rebbeca shudders at the image, stealing a piece of meat from Mark's plate. "Is it true that you're the one that zeroed the entire Maelstrom in a single day?" The small Solo asks.

Mark swallows his food before answering. "Almost two hundred survived, but other than them, yeah."

"Nova! They're totally going to give a Preem nickname to today's event, like, 'The Engineer Demolition,' or 'The Flushing of Maelstrom.'"

"If you're this capable, why would you want to hire us?" Sasha asks, nibbling on synth fries.

"I'm not good at subtlety," Mark admits, "and sometimes I want someone to watch my back, you know?"

"I get it," Maine agrees. He's about to continue when he spots something unpleasant ahead. "Oh great, our night is about to get ruined."

As Maine predicted, a man approached their table. The new arrival is wearing a burgundy suit, he oozes condescending superiority, and his iconic appearance is completed by the odd arrangement of his four cybernetic eyes: three eyes on the right, one eye on the left.

"Maine," Faraday sneered. "I hear you've been making deals behind my back, when you should be focusing on being at your best for my next job."

The Solo's jaw tightens, and the cheerful atmosphere of the bar suddenly takes a somber note. The nearby patrons look back at Maine's table as the venue slowly quiets down to watch the show.

"We're Edgerunners, Faraday," Maine says in a level tone, his right-hand clenching tightly away from view. "We also need to put food on the table. Your gigs alone aren't enough to finance our operations."

"Do not blame me for how incompetently you run your operations, Maine." Faraday condescendingly chides the Solo, "remind me again, who paid in advance for the chrome you have? Hm? Answer me Maine."

"… you did, Faraday."

"That's right. I paid for your chrome when you started, and I had to ask some favors to help your crew of miscreants." Rebbeca tried to talk back to Faraday, but was quickly held down by Dorio, who had an iron grip on the smaller girl. "Don't forget that it's because of me that you were able to enter Afterlife."

Unknown to Faraday, Rogue started to pay attention to Maine's table while discreetly signaling her guards to watch the group.

"Don't ever forget, Maine, I own you. Understood?"

*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*

For the first time, Faraday notices Mark at the table. He's clapping at Faraday, swallowing the last of his food. The other Edgerunners turns to Mark.

"Wow, a white man telling a black man that he owns him." Mark says with a sardonic smile. "Not even the corporations are that blatant with their exploitation. Are you going to dig up ancient slurs to throw at him too, Tough Guy?"

Something in the way Mark said the last part irked Faraday more than he expected. The jeers, laugh and whispers from the other patrons didn't help with his humor. "And who would you be? This is a private conversation."

"If this is a private conversation then learn not to make a scene," Mark bit back, "and I just happen to be the guy making a deal with Maine and his crew."

"You?" Faraday asks, disbelief and mockery evident in his expression, "did Maine get desperate enough that he's selling out to a nobody?"

Once again Rebecca tries to protect Maine's honor, and yet again Dorio stops the petite woman, however, this time there's a hint of malicious glee in her eyes.

"Why are you here, Faraday?" Maine finally takes control of the conversation, "you certainly didn't came here to berate me, did you?"

"As a matter of fact, no. I'm here to introduce myself to the newest player of Night City, the mysterious 'Engineer.'" Dorio's grip on Rebbeca tightens as the smaller woman struggles against her binding. "Certainly, he will be interested in working for someone as esteemed as myself."

Maine silently stares at Faraday before replying. "Sure thing, Faraday. Why don't you talk with Rogue? The 'Engineer' finished talking with her, she probably knows where he is."

Faraday sneers return stronger than before. "I didn't need you to tell me that."

Faraday turns with an arrogant huff before walking towards Rogue. After talking with the Queen of Afterlife for a few minutes, Faraday slowly returns to Maine's table, his expression turning sourer and sourer with each step.

Faraday glares at Mark, his four eyes narrowing with anger and embarrassment. "You think this is funny? That this is just a big joke to you?"

Mark doesn't respond, instead he meets Faraday gaze with his own, as if waiting for an apology from the man, something that will never happen.

"You made a powerful enemy today, Engineer."

"Leave," Mark replied with a cold tone, "before you turn into a statistic."

The stare down lasts for a few moments, but before the Bouncers approach the fixer, he turns towards the door and powerwalks to the exit.

Finally, Rebbeca can't contain herself anymore and explodes laughing. Even Dorio and Sasha join in the infectious atmosphere.

Maine soon joins the rest of the crew laughing. "That's going to bite me in the ass later, but damn if it wasn't satisfying. Thanks, Mark."

Mark grins back at Maine. "You're welcome. Once I hash out the details with Rogue, I will call your crew for a job. Right now, there's something I want you guys to do for me."

Mark explains the strange mention of the Megabuilding 04 he found on the Scav cell memory shard. That puts Maine on high alert as that's the same building that Gloria Martinez, one of his cyberware dealers, lives together with her son. "Yeah, we can investigate it. How much for the job?"

"I'm new at this side of the job," Mark admits, "but I will quote you a price later today. For now, let's enjoy the bar and the atmosphere."

Maine grins and raises his glass. "Now that's what I want to hear!"

"Maine, is that you?" Maine turns when he sees a familiar face, "since when were you here?"

"Miguel, what the hell? Since when were you in Night City?"

"Since when were you here, gonk?"

"Since when were you here, gonk?"

The back and forth resumed for a while, until the two former soldiers embrace each other.

"Man, today's full of surprises. The Maelstrom gets wiped out, Faraday makes a fool of himself in front of the Queen, and one of my former buddies from the army rose from the dead! We should celebrate!"

They all raise their glasses to celebrate, thankful for the tasty food, good drinks, and the opportunity to share it with friends and family. But more strongly, they celebrate surviving another day in Night City.