I chuckled at his reaction. There was an innocence to it that felt out of place for the world he lived in. This was how I could tell it must have been pretty early in the timeline for him. Perhaps this was even before he joined Maine's crew and lost that innocence.
"No mate, I'm not yanking you around. This is really happening." I said reassuringly.
"Why me? Why now?" he asked after he seemed to remember something and his expression fell.
I sighed "Honestly? Luck. The way this whole cross universe connection thing works is highly based on luck. I could connect to someone moments from death or even an infant in theory. The exact moment I make contact with someone and who is entirely out of my hands. Like I said, you lucked out." I said giving it to him straight.
"You must be from a different universe than mine then, what's it like over there?" he asked curiously after accepting my answer.
"The history of my world is roughly the same as yours with two major differences. The first is magic is and always has been real here. I myself am a wizard in training and that vial I sent you is a potion called wiggenweld that heals small injuries like cuts or bruises in almost no time at all. It could even save your life if you were damaged severely as it lessened the damage somewhat. It's not some miracle cure-all though so don't go treating it like one. The second major difference is what happened after world war two." I said seriously.
"Wait seriously!? You're a wizard!?" he exclaimed in shock.
I held up a hand and let a few arcs of electricity pass over it.
"That's so damn nova!" he said excitedly.
"It can be. It's also highly dangerous and needs to be respected as such. I failed to do that and these injuries are the price I paid for my hubris." I said honestly.
"Can't you just like magic them away or something?" He asked confused.
I shook my head "Magic is like a science with rules and limits. My injuries were caused by powerful magic so they need to heal naturally and can't be fixed with a simple potion or spell. There's probably a way to heal me up with magic in no time but we simply don't know it if there is. It's that simple." I said helplessly.
"Just swap out to chrome then, no big deal." he said simply and I shook my head again.
"That's not possible for me for two reasons. First is that magic doesn't play well with electrical based tech, which is to say any and all cyberware. The second is we don't have any of that here. That was the major difference in our histories. After world war two things stabilized for us instead of failed like it did for your world. Corporations didn't rise up and technological progress only grew within the lines of ethical oversight. We never got cyberware due to the unethical way it was developed in your world. Don't get me wrong my world is no paradise but your world is a nightmare to live in for the average person." I said seriously.
"Don't I know it. If you aren't a corpo you get stepped on and treated worse than dirt." He said bitterly.
"Anyways I am a merchant of different universes so your fate will be different than anyone else in your world from now on. Before that however I need to know where in your life you are currently. I can tell from a few context clues that it is after your mother passed but that's it." I said seriously.
He scratched his head at this "I mean theres not much more than that. I got kicked out of the academy for fucking up the schools BD server and chipped in this crazy Sandevistan I found in my mom's jacket. Met this chick on the rail though, Lucy, she's preem man. Turns out Doc fucked me over by not giving me immune suppressants but that's it. I'm at Lucy's place by the way." he said and I sighed.
"Gonna be honestly with you mate, you are kinda boned. Not in a good way either. If you are already at her place that means the owner of that Sandevistan in your back is already on his way. Guys an edgerunner boss by name of Maine and he's an afterlife regular if you even know what that means. You know that fat paycheck you found in your mom's account some time ago? That was payment for the chrome you chipped in." I said with a slight headache.
Ideally I would have gotten in contact with him before he installed the Sandevistan as then he could have been kept out of Maine's crew by simply handing the thing over. That option was long gone now. He was literally in the house of the girl who was fully intent on handing him over to Maine knowing he'd likely die as a result. Even worse there was no way David could fight the girl and win, she was not only highly trained but incredibly quick to react. The moment this contact ended she'd notice the shift in David and likely immediately move to kill or capture him.-
"How do you know that?" David asked in surprise.
"My business is literally trading across universes so I am at least decently familiar with any individual of note within quite a lot of the multiverse. I know your entire life story from the time your mom died to when you die roughly. This moment right here was a very important one for you. I had hoped I caught you before now but not all things go to plan." I said honestly.
"Shit. So what do I do?" he asked realizing the bad situation he was in.
"Not many options here mate. Not trying to insult you but you are so far out of your league it's not even funny. That girl is not just some picksocket you ran into who isn't dangerous. She's a highly trained fighter and netrunner. She's got nanowire in her arms that would turn you into little chunks of meat faster than you can blink if she thought she needed to. Your Sandevistan won't help here. " I said pausing to make sure he was following along.
"Your only option is to show your hands and tell her you'll wait to talk with Maine. No choice mate, your poker face is terrible and she'll notice the moment this contact ends. When Maine arrives be honest with him, tell him who your mom is and what happened to her. Offer to pay back what he paid and more. Tell him to chip you if he doesn't believe you. Play for time, at least a day. If you can get at least that I can pass you some gold that can get you out of this mess." I said seriously.