Chapter 17

"So..."

I sat down on the couch and looked up at the ceiling of my apartment.

"Uh, David?"

Panam put a hand on my shoulder and shook me a little to bring me to my senses. Well, that's what she thought, I was just wondering if I should get into this shit or not. And no, I don't mean the order from Regina, it's all taken care of, I'll fulfill it.

There's a different question here...

Should I bring Becca and some friend of hers? And even though I know who her friend might be, I don't have any specifics. I mean, there were, like, three rauners in her group.

The first one kind of left just before canon, or maybe she died, I don't know what it was exactly, but if she's alive, Becca may well contact her and offer her a part-time job.

The other one is that blonde girl I met a few times when they were tracking me. She's got some kind of history with Arasaka... Something unpleasant, I wish I was a fan of the cartoon, I just know the story is there, but what's in it...

Well the third one is kind of a traitor...

And yet their big boss is supposed to go cyber-psycho and kill part of the team. Now, if I'm able to ignore this problem because they're nothing to me... I've fed Becca a couple times, but that's about it. But after that.

After I work with them, and establish friendly relations, and unfortunately I will establish them at least with Becca, because this lump of snide and positive at a distance manages to keep only at the expense of the fact that we meet rarely. And then I just can't stay away.

"Uh, David?"

"I think..."

"What's it about, if it's not a secret?"

"I wonder if it's worth it. to put Becca on our team."

"Hey!"

The girl got up from her seat and hovered over him with her fists on the table. There was indignation and resentment in her gaze.

I think, uh. I hurt her.

Damn it, why is she so complicated?

I sighed.

"All right, who's your runner?"

"Oh, really?"

What a facial expression... she looked up at me expectantly, anticipation in her gaze.

"First, tell me who we have to work with."

"Uh... Lucy. Lucy Kushinada. You've seen her a couple times, not a tall blonde..."

"Well, actually, she'll be taller than you..."

I glanced snidely at Becca, who puffed up her cheeks in indignation, anger and amusement in her eyes.

"All right, then!"

She collapsed back into her chair and feigned a pout as she turned away from us.

"All right, call her. Invite her in, we'll take her on the job. Your cut's forty grand, hers is sixty."

"Hey, what's the difference?"

"Be glad you're getting at least forty, our contract says I'll get twenty grand..."

Panam wrinkled her nose slightly pretending to be offended.

"...since I'm just a driver."

"So I'm sixty, too?"

Judy pointed a finger at herself and raised an eyebrow interestedly.

"Exactly. But that's just Regina's net income. Becca, you get this much because you'll be protecting the Rangers. You don't just go into battle, but if you have to, they can't be reached until after you're dead."

"Okay..."

Becky's eyes lit up a little, letting me know she was calling someone. It was obvious who she was calling, so I just went to the stove and started making another batch of goodies. Girls love yummy treats, so bribing Becca and her friend would be the right thing to do, if I planned to cooperate with them properly.

Apparently I'm planning to.

"What are you doing?"

Becca had apparently finished talking and looked at me intently, but I paid her no attention and glanced at Panam and Judy whose eyes were burning with anticipation.

"Pancakes? You're gonna make pancakes, aren't you?"

"Naturally. the new members of the team, however temporary, should be welcomed."

I grinned.

"What are the pancakes gonna be with?"

"There's cherry and strawberry jam."

"А?"

Becca looked at the girls and then at me in surprise. Her eyes flared with disbelief and hope.

"Are you talking about pancakes and jam? Real pancakes and real jam?"

"Do they ever get fake?"

Twenty minutes flew by between the girls' jokes and casual conversation, and when there was a knock at my door, there were several plates with tall stacks of pancakes on the table.

"Hands!"

I turned around and saw a pouting Becca sitting on the couch, apparently trying to steal one of the pancakes from the table and getting a slap on the wrist from Panam, who was watching her and Judy.

Walking to the door I opened it and in front of me stood a girl with white hair and red eyeliner.

"Lucy?"

"Yeah, and you're David?"

"Uh-huh. Come on in.

I let her inside, and after closing the door, I nodded at the couch the girls were sitting on.

"Have a seat, I'll be right with you and we'll start discussing the plan."

"Okay..."

While Lucy was getting to know Panam and Judy, I went into my workshop, closed the door behind me, and got to my stash and took out two jars of jam. It's worth its weight in gold, but the girls love it, so I have to hide it...

After a bit of thinking, I took out a can of condensed milk from the stash, and then I disguised everything well, and only then I left the workshop, closing the door behind me.

"Panam, pour tea."

"Uh-huh... I approached the table where, besides the plates with pancakes, there were two deep saucers in front of everyone present.

"Judy, get the third saucer."

"А?"

"I got some condensed milk, too..."

"Yours! I want to be your bitch!"

Becca couldn't help it, and I could see in her eyes that she was going to cry from the emotion. Panam was the only one on guard.

"He's mine."

"I'm telling you! I don't want to be a girl! I want to be a bitch! Let him fuck me at least once a week and then feed me like this!"

I sighed.

"That kind of relationship doesn't interest me..."

"You're lying!"

Becca was flaming with righteous indignation, but Judy brought another saucer and I poured the condensed milk into it, then spread the jam and nodded to everyone.

"Well, here we go. And yes, I'm lying."

Judy and Panam snorted. Lucy stared at me dumbfounded, and Becca, for all her behavior, was dazed and confused.

"...I would have been impotent if I had not been interested in such a relationship with such a nice lady. The only problem is that I'm different from an animal, so I can keep my desires and instincts in check. So I have a girlfriend."

I nodded at Panam.

"...and that's enough."

"He's lying."

Judy said, as soon as I put one of the pancakes in my mouth. The girls, unlike me, had already eaten five of them, and Lucy, the one I hadn't expected to eat the most, was the one who'd eaten the most. But apparently she was impressed by my cooking.

"He's lying?"

Becca looked at Judy in surprise.

"He's making a move on me. And knowing me, he's offering me his girlfriend if I'll go out with him."

"Hey!"

Panam looked indignantly at her friend.

"Actually, they just call you mistress, and that's only because I like you and I'm willing to share you. But theirs."

Panam jabbed her finger at Becca and Lucy, the latter even stopped chewing her pancake and looked at my girlfriend in surprise.

"Okay, let's not talk about that right now..."

I shook my head. At the same time, I made a note in my mind that Panam was okay with Judy being my lover. I'll have to remember that later. I threw Judy's plan of action to Becca, then looked at Lucy and threw it to her. You didn't have to know her number to do that. Just find her deck as one of the closest to me.

"Hmmm..."

"So, your task..."

I looked at the newcomers in the group.

"I'm sorry, Lucy, I don't know your level, so Judy will be in charge of your two runners. And I think you two can work it out amongst yourselves."

Lucy and Judy looked at each other and nodded their heads.

"You will be taken to an access point, with you, Panam as the driver and Becca as your guard. The access point is too close to the underground fights, so don't make too much noise. It's best to use a silenced weapon."

Becca wrinkled her nose slightly, but nodded.

"I'm going in. You lead me, I'll deal with the threats, I want to work quietly, so warn me if possible... Judy will be working with me on more than one job, so she'll explain my methods to you as we go along."

Lucy nodded her head understandingly.

"Or maybe it's just..."

I looked at Becca, who had folded her fingers into pistols and pretended to shoot someone with both hands.

"...buh-buh-buh-buh-buh-buh...

"Do you always work like this?"

Panam similarly folded her fingers pistol-wise and called out a couple of imaginary shots and even reproduced the sounds.

"Yeah, why?"

"If you don't think Judy could've gotten David on her own, you're wrong. It doesn't take much intelligence to hack into the network and get him in. or skill. but they have something else they didn't put in the written part of the plan. And for that something, they need silence..."

"Bravo..."

I clapped my hands a couple times acknowledging Lucy's point.

"So what's your brilliant plan?"

"Genius?"

I glanced over to Panam and Judy.

"Actually, it's our usual modus operandi. While I'm working quietly and not making a fuss, the ranner hacks into everything I give access to. That can generate five to seven times more revenue than the fee the fixer gives us."

"What?"

Bkka was shocked.

"I say one runner will lead me, the other will break everything I can access and make withdrawals through fake accounts. Bottom line, since we're breaking into an underground fight club, there should be plenty of money. Unfortunately, I can't carry a big bag, so if we find it, I won't be carrying much cash. But our runners might be able to clean out a few accounts."

"And Regina still tolerates you with that attitude?!"

"What's so amazing about it?"

I looked questioningly at Becca.

"She wants it done quietly, we're working robberies and break-ins for people who just want to get their hands on the money. So our targets, in some cases, don't even realize they've been compromised. Or something very important has been taken from their house, and the rest is just a little bit of easy money.

"Uh, uh. how long have you been working like this?"

Lucy looked at me with cautious interest.

"Two assignments a day, sometimes one, sometimes three, two days off a week..."

I shrugged.

"And you work like this every day?"

"Uh-huh...

"Fuck, even without these bonuses, you should be millionaires already..."

I glanced over to Panam and Judy.

"Far from it."

I shake my head.

"It is not in our interest to launder money, or just to save, so we are investing for retirement and living on passive income."

"What about becoming a legend?"

Becca asked the question very cautiously.

"What's the point? Living happily ever after is much more important..."

I shrugged.

"Especially with a job like this, we're gonna be legends. The ones who earned it and retired. One of the few solo groups that left the game not in an amphora after cremation, but on their own and the fact that in the afterlife will not appear cocktails with our names is even good. Still, between the name of the cocktail and life we all definitely choose life..."