Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
I heard my phone ring, blinked for a few seconds, and saw that the caller ID didn't have a name. I shrugged and answered. I mean, very few people actually had my number.
"Hello?" I said, answering the phone.
"DAMN GONK!!!" I pulled the phone away from my ear at the loud scream.
"Rebecca? What the hell is wrong with you? " I asked incredulously, recognizing the voice; I had indeed given her my number the night before.
"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?!" Rebecca growled. I blinked and looked at my phone for a few seconds.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." I said, not understanding Rebecca's anger, who just growled.
"Damn gonk head, stupid, idiot, you- British gonk!" I snorted amusedly as I looked at my phone.
"Nice insult, but please tell me why I'm being insulted." I said playfully.
"You sent me 100,000 Edis!" Rebecca growled.
"Oh? Is that too little? I have to say I have no idea what the fair price was. How much should it be in total? 150? 200? I'll send you what's left right away," I said distractedly.
"NO!" Rebecca yelled once more, almost panicking. I snatched the phone away again. "NO! Don't send me any more money! Gonk! For the love of- damn Corpo-gonk! " Rebecca growled.
"First, that was insulting. I don't work for any Corpo." I scoffed, Rebecca snorted.
"As if I thought you could get that much money to waste on a mercenary used simply as a guide around the city," Rebecca snorted. "Either you work for some Corpo, or you're a damn Corpo baby!"
"Oh, was that a lot of money?" I asked, confused.
"Of course, it was a lot of money! I didn't expect to get more than 5,000 or 10,000 Edis for that job! " You sent me 20 times more! " Rebecca growled.
"Wait, you're mad... because I paid you more money?" I asked incredulously. "You're weird." Rebecca made a strangled sound.
"You're the weird one! Look, Gonk, I made it very clear how interested I am in you last night. I like you enough not to take advantage of you. So yeah, I'm upset that you're wasting your money. I'm going to send most of it back to you." Rebecca said bluntly. I blinked.
"Wow, how direct and honest… and stupid." I said, amusedly, I could hear Rebecca gasp.
"I don't want to hear it from you!" Rebecca growled, and I burst out laughing.
"Just keep the money," I said simply. "I have a lot more in my bank." However, I didn't know that until recently. I never thought I was so disconnected from money, but then again, it was money I made myself, so I can spend it on whatever I want.
"What? No! I'll give it back to you." Rebecca said almost furiously.
"If you return it, I'll send you double." The line went completely silent so much so that I thought the call had been cut off.
"You're joking," Rebecca said almost fearfully, and I snorted.
"My bank account has about nine digits. You can try it." I said mockingly, I could almost hear Rebecca let out a strangled noise for a few long seconds.
"... stupid Gonk." Rebecca growled. "Changing the subject!...for my own sanity." Rebecca squeaked the first before muttering the second, I laughed amusedly. "I... kind of mentioned you to the crew, and they want to meet you!" Rebecca squeaked quickly.
"The tribulation? The one in Maine you mentioned? " I asked curiously.
"Yeah! Well, I mean, Maine was complaining about some Gonk destroying HIS Sandevistan and this and that, and it turns out, he was talking about the fight with that Psycho last night, and you're the Gonk."
"Maine saw the fight on the news, and then saw our contact recovering the psycho's body, Gloria Martinez, and called her as usual to get the military Sandy, but since you destroyed it at the time, there was nothing to collect."
"So I let it slip that I was there and bragged about the whole fight, and then I said you were there, and then that you were the one who fought the Psycho and destroyed the Sandy, with a Sandy of its own, and now he and the whole crew want to meet you!" Rebecca said in one breath, and I snorted in amusement.
"Wow, only half a day and you're already talking and bragging about me in front of your friends?" I mocked her, Rebecca growled.
"Are you coming or not, gonk?" Rebecca grunted in embarrassment, and I laughed lightly.
"Don't worry, send me the address and I'll go." I said playfully.
"Nova! I mean, Nova, I'll wait for you," Rebecca said, clearing her throat. "And you know, after the meeting, could we... I don't know, go find some other gonks to kill, or could we go to some other places in Night City that interest you?" Rebecca asked, sounding oddly shy. I smiled widely.
"Are you asking me out on a date?" I asked playfully.
"Fuck you, Gonk! Do you want it or not? " Rebecca shouted in embarrassment, I burst out laughing.
"Well, you're in luck. I have some chores to do for my wife. They're easy ones, like visiting some stores and shops, things to rent, so I could really use someone to go with." I said honestly.
"Nova! I'll send you the address, see you soon! " Rebecca squealed as the conversation died away. I looked at my phone for a few seconds before bursting out laughing.
"If you're going to have sex with that blue woman, please go to a hotel." GLaDOS growled from beside me, still staring at the holographic screens, making me jump slightly.
"No thanks, if I want to have sex, I'll come back here." I said mockingly. GLaDOS glared at me as if she wanted to kill me.
"I'm your wife, your duty is to keep me comfortable. Go have sex somewhere else." GLaDOS retorted, my smile growing.
"Don't you want to join us? As a wife, you also have marital duties." I said suggestively. If GLaDOS's gaze could kill, I'd be dead several times over. I laughed lightly. "Look at this side. If Rebecca comes over and we have sex, then you won't have to lie next to me all night." I pointed out playfully.
GLaDOS froze rigidly, her fingers stopping mid-tap on a holographic keyboard for a few moments as she processed that thought, then smiled almost unnaturally.
"Then by all means enjoy your date! Do you need me to prepare anything? Lube? Sex toys? " I have over 1000 protocols for lesbian sex. Do you want me to tell you about them? " GLaDOS asked abnormally cheerfully. I started laughing loudly, which made GLaDOS's fake smile tremble.
I was about to mock GLaDOS when my phone rang once more. I looked at Rebecca's ID and immediately took the call.
"Did you forget something?" I asked simply. Rebecca was silent for a few seconds.
"...so...remember you have that nice optical camouflage?" Rebecca asked slowly. I raised an eyebrow, even though she couldn't see me. I was pretty sure I'd never mentioned it to her, but I guess it was an assumption, considering all the times I'd sneaked up on her.
"Yes, is something wrong?" I asked playfully.
"Could you sneak in and scare the tribulation? Please? " Rebecca pleaded, I laughed lightly.
"You want me to sneak into a den of fully armed mercenaries and scare them?" I asked, holding back a laugh.
"Exactly, or… are you scared?" Rebecca asked mockingly, my eyes shining slightly. "Or, are you turned on?"
"Okay, I'll do it." I said simply.
"Nova! Don't show mercy to the tall gonk with the mohawk! It's my brother, Pilar! See you! " Rebecca said before hanging up once more. I snorted in amusement.
"What are you waiting for? Go ahead, your date is waiting for you, and don't come back early!" GLaDOS exclaimed as she continued to manipulate her screens. I snorted.
"Will you continue working on Aether Editing, or will you start with the Chimera?" I asked playfully, GLaDOS froze and pouted, and the holographic screens went black.
"The Chimera." GLaDOS said with a pout. I snorted.
"Do what you want, there's no rush for anything, what we have most is time." I said honestly. GLaDOS just nodded.
"Even so, I will work on the Chimera." GLaDOS said, "Finally, I just nodded and began preparing. I grabbed my cyberdeck, and this time I didn't create Kanshou and Bakuya; instead, I created a matte-black bow larger than me.
The bow had nothing special, or well, it wasn't a Noble Phantasm, but, even so, it was one of the best bows that Emiya had in UBW, it was the same bow that Emiya used for his arrows, it was a bow that Emiya himself had created, designed, changed and improved enough to withstand the power of a Noble Phantasm.
So yeah, it was a regular bow, only its durability and casting power were through the roof, and despite not having any other special attributes, it still counted as a magic weapon, so I was able to keep it inside my Reality Marble.
The bow came apart in three parts and folded. I just magically split it, and when I needed it, I could just put it back together again, but that way, it was much easier to carry.
I placed the bow in a case, along with a dozen arrows. The arrows were nothing special, just long pieces of metal. Even without anything else, I was more than confident I could quickly hit a target hundreds of meters away.
The briefcase hung comfortably over my shoulder, while my Cyberdeck rested on the small of my back. My outfit was similar to yesterday's: ripped jeans, a slightly oversized purple shirt with a Derpy the tiger head on it, which Narcissa had angrily made for me, and Aria had replicated.
The only thing different was that I now had new metal jewelry. I looked at my hands and saw the new metal setting. The Perfector gloves had proven quite helpful, but I hated their shape—large, latex gloves that almost resembled a mad scientist's gloves.
So I tweaked them in my Reality Marble, and luckily for me, their 'effect' wasn't so esoteric or complicated that I couldn't tweak it a little... or completely.
The 'gloves' became something completely different; now, they were made of a set of 5 slightly thick rings, one on each finger. From each ring came thin, delicate chains that joined a chain bracelet on my wrist.
I wasn't that keen on the chains; they couldn't store any attributes with Feruchemy in sufficient quantity, the links were too small, but... I have to admit I liked the way they looked. Maybe I'll consider it a permanent thing.
Perfector effects styled that way, my fingers could now move hundreds of times their speed with enormous precision, without the discomfort of big latex gloves.
I was happy; I had more metals in my hands —yes —but they suited me; I liked them, and they were functional, all copacetic.
Once I finished, I looked at the address Rebecca had sent me and ended up at another part of the city. Aldo's warehouses were located in Rancho Coronado, Santo Domingo.
It wasn't a place Rebecca would have taken me to, but Santo Domingo, yes. So I Apparated to a nearby location, transformed into a raven, and soared through the skies while I searched for the location of the Maine crew.
After flying for a few minutes, I finally found the right warehouse. I became invisible, still in animagus form, silenced my wingbeats, entered the warehouse through a small window, and looked around.
To my surprise, the entire crew was there: Maine, Dorio, Kiwi, Lucy, Pilar, and Rebecca. They were all sitting around the room, except for Rebecca, who was standing and pacing.
"Okay, remember not to embarrass me, you damn Gonks! She's important! " Rebecca snarled as she glared at everyone in the room.
"Ha! Embarrass you with your new crush!? I wouldn't even dream of it!" Pilar laughed happily.
"Shut up!" Rebecca growled, slightly blushing.
"I mean, it's not like I'm going to mention that you spent the entire night screaming her name while-" Pilar raised his hand and wiggled his middle fingers suggestively while waggling his eyebrow with a shit-eating grin "-having a good time."
Rebecca blushed deeply, took out her gun, and began shooting at Pilar.
"Damn Gonk! Just die! " Rebecca yelled as she emptied the magazine into Pilar, who was dodging the bullets while laughing his head off. I could see the others snickering slightly.
Well, I guess that was interesting information.
"How long will it be before she is here?" Maine's deep voice asked. Rebecca breathed heavily as she calmed down.
"10 more minutes? Maybe 20? I don't know, she lives in the mega-building H8, it's not that far." Rebecca said as she put away her gun after shooting at her brother.
"Mmm... mega-building H8? You know the room? " Lucy asked, slightly curious, Rebecca's face scrunched up before she growled.
"You're not hacking her." Rebecca growled in warning, Lucy raised both hands in surrender.
"We could learn something from her. I could help you win her over." Lucy mocked, Rebecca blushed.
"I don't need any help from you! I already told you we have a date after this, Gonk-heads! " Rebecca exclaimed. Lucy laughed lightly. "Besides, she's like a super ninja Corpo, I really, really don't want you to dig around and have her kill you." Rebecca said as she crossed her arms in a x-shape.
I rolled my eyes. I guess I couldn't convince her that I wasn't a ninja, nor a Corpo, just yet.
"Are her skills really that good?" Dorio asked curiously. Rebecca nodded excitedly.
"Oh yeah! Definitely! It's a wonder how she uses her swords! That way! Those attacks! How she can easily slice a gonk in half like butter without even flinching! " Rebecca sighed, almost fainting. The others started laughing at her, causing Rebecca to wake up from her reverie and groan.
I laughed mentally, too. I guess it was better to get in before she continued saying things.
I entered the room, still invisible and in the form of a crow, but before I hit the ground, I reverted to human and stood behind Rebecca. I looked around and saw a box full of things, spare parts for something. I wasn't interested. I just moved my hand slightly, and the box fell to the floor, startling everyone.
The Maine crew turned toward the crate, on the opposite side of the ship. I approached Rebecca, crouched behind her, made myself visible, grabbed her ankle, and lifted her off the ground by her foot, just like our encounter the day before.
Rebecca squealed, like, genuinely squealed loudly in surprise and fear, causing the entire crew to turn around immediately. I had to give them credit, they all immediately pulled out guns and pointed them at me, Rebecca, on the other hand-
"You! Damn Gonk! You were supposed to scare Pilar! Not me! Stupid fucking Gonk! Daughter of a bitch! You bastard Gonk!" Rebecca shouted furiously as she pulled out her Omaha and started shooting at me.
I started laughing as I stopped all the bullets at point-blank range with my hand. Rebecca continued shooting at me while insulting me until she ran out of bullets. She dropped her Omaha, pulled out her second pistol, and began emptying that magazine as well.
"How the hell did you get here so fast, and how did you get in?! Stupid Ninja Corpo! Put me down at once! " Rebecca shouted angrily as she threw her empty pistol at me. I laughed amusedly as I dodged the weapon.
"I came in easily. In fact, I've been here a while. I was listening in on your... little conversation." I said with a huge, feral grin. Rebecca froze. "So... is it true you masturbated thinking about me last night?" I asked with a shit-eating grin. Rebecca blushed deeply, and her foot shot out straight at my face.
"Damn Gonk!" Rebecca said, embarrassed. I finally let go of her, laughing out loud. Rebecca just growled as she stood up, completely bristling with fury. She almost looked like a cat preparing to attack.
"Okay, okay. We have more important things to do first." I told Rebecca, stopping her as I looked at the rest of the Tribulation, who were still pointing their guns at me. Rebecca snorted and looked at her companions.
"Yeah, I guess so." Rebecca said simply as she glared at me one last time, I dropped all the shells that had accumulated in my hand from Rebecca's shots.
Well, it was time to meet the Maine crew.
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