Noticing the car that was following me wasn't hard, but I didn't get twitchy. I just noted it and stayed calm. Though, if it wasn't for the whole dying-and-waking-up-again thing, staying calm in this situation would've been difficult.
The taxi pulled up perfectly to the parking lot in front of Lizzie's Bar. I calmly got out of the car, catching a glimpse of the tailing vehicle as it parked on the other side of the street. Still not panicking, I walked up to the bar's entrance.
Two girls stood on either side of the door, and as soon as I got close, one of them moved away from the wall and took a couple of steps forward, menacingly resting a baseball bat on her shoulder.
"Little boy, you came at the wrong time."
"Maybe even the wrong place…"
The dark-skinned girl smirked without bothering to move from the wall.
"Nah, I came to the right place at the right time. Tell a certain Judy that the specialist from Regina has arrived."
Hmm…
The girl with the bat's eyes glowed, and she nodded her head.
"Come on in…"
"Thanks…"
I nodded to the girl, who moved slightly aside, and walked into the bar. After passing through a small corridor with a security desk, I entered the main room. It was a two-story space, and I looked around with interest.
"Who are you?"
The bartender, who was the first to notice me, addressed me.
"Here for Judy."
Hmm…
The bartender's eyes lit up.
"Wait, she'll be here in a couple of minutes."
I nodded and continued to look around calmly, and five minutes later, the very girl I was waiting for came out from behind one of the doors.
A low whistle escaped me on its own.
"Judy?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Just didn't expect my client to be such a stunner."
"Pfff. No chance, choom."
I shrugged.
"Hey, I didn't do anything… just stating a fact. I'm definitely not getting into a relationship just for a pretty face…"
"Oh yeah?"
She looked me over and waved me forward, gesturing for me to follow her.
"Yeah… it also needs to be right up here…"
I tapped my temple with my index finger a couple of times. The girl looked back and noticed my gesture.
"…and also right here…"
I tapped my chest a couple of times.
"…that something is there."
"Brains and soul?"
"You get it…"
I nodded a few times.
"You can hear a good saying in the Russian quarter: 'They meet you by your clothes, they see you off by your mind.' It's the same here—a pretty face is good, sure, but these days it means almost nothing. You can make your looks whatever you want. But you can't install someone else's brain, or their moral values…"
"You're funny… with views like that, you went and became a solo?"
"Sometimes life works out so that you either lie down, fold your arms across your chest, and die, or you get up and go."
"Oh yeah?"
"Uh-huh… just yesterday, I was a corporate academy student, my mom's hope, and she was working her ass off to pay for my tuition…"
I shook my head.
"…today, I'm an orphan who can't pay for his apartment or tuition. So you either go work as a solo with all that entails, or you just go and die in the nearest alley."
"I get it…"
"Hmm?"
"As a kid, I found a fire truck in a junkyard… its condition was absolute shit, but I was curious…"
"You fixed it up?"
"Uh-huh…"
"You clever fool…"
"Hey!"
"Come on, the whole Night City junkyard belongs to the corporations. And while it might be possible to steal a beat-up washing machine or something from there, a fire truck…"
I shook my head.
"And you probably decided to take it for a joyride, too…"
"Well, yeah…"
She muttered this quietly and a little resentfully, and I couldn't help myself. I caught up to her and put an arm around her shoulders.
"Hey, what's with that look? I'm not judging…"
I shook her slightly, which earned me a surprised look from the girl.
"I guess… if my situation hadn't forced me to grow up so fast, I would have happily built a fire truck or a police car out of… parts I found in a junkyard, and then taken it for a spin."
Hmph…
"It was stupid and reckless, sure, but kids are kids because they do things like that…"
We went down into the basement, and I raised my eyebrows in surprise.
"This place… it's pretty clean."
"Yeah…"
Judy shrugged.
"…what were you expecting?"
"Creative chaos."
"Ha! You've got a high opinion of me."
She shook her head.
"Alright, show me what I need to fix."
"Well, let's start with this server…"
She led me into one of the rooms.
"…They told me you haven't worked with braindance gear, but you can look at computers and servers… so get to it."
"Uh-huh… you got tools?"
"Come on…"
We went back to the main area of the basement, where she gave me a set of tools and waved me toward the server room. I didn't close the door and decided to get back to our conversation.
"So what happened next?"
"Next?"
"Well, you built the car, you took it for a spin…"
"Ah…"
Sadness crept into Judy's voice. Of course, I knew her story roughly, but she was my favorite character in the game. I even played through the game as a girl a couple of times just for her! So I was genuinely interested in keeping the conversation going and hearing her story from her own mouth, so to speak.
"And then came the juvenile hall…"
"They caught you?"
"Uh-huh… and they charged me with grand theft auto for the fire truck…"
I was silent for a moment, having found the server's problem and thinking about the best way to fix it. There were, of course, different options, but I wanted to do it cheaply and reliably.
"So you're a notorious jailbird?"
"Pff… uh-huh… when I got out, I tried to sue the city, or rather I went to lawyers who…"
"You fool."
"Hey!"
"Judy, in this city, the only thing dumber would be to file a lawsuit against a corporation."
I shook my head and walked out of the server room.
"Where are the parts?"
"Over there…"
She waved toward some cabinets, and I walked over to them and started picking out the parts I needed.
"So what am I supposed to do? Just accept it? Swallow it?"
I gave Judy a careful look.
"What?"
"Nothing… I just barely held myself back from giving you a lewd answer. As for your question… you shouldn't file a lawsuit against the system, but against the person. Dig up your case, find the official's name, then dig up the fire department's documents and find the records for the decommissioned truck you fixed up, and file a lawsuit against that specific person."
"But…"
"Judy…"
I cut her off before she could say a word.
"…I'm not saying the system is perfect or anything like that. I'm just saying that only another system can fight the system. Only a corporation can fight a corporation, only a city can fight a city. The case against you was started by a specific individual who, USING the system, decided to make a profit off you or maybe get a promotion."
I shrugged and walked back to the server with the parts I had chosen for its repair.
"Just accept that it was a person who sent you to juvie…"
"You think… but he has a family…"
"You know…"
I looked out of the server room and caught Judy's gaze, who had also stopped working on some braindance equipment.
"…it's good to be that kind of person, who doesn't want to hurt anyone. But in this specific situation, the only way to not hurt anyone is to forget and forgive. If you want to get compensation, then you absolutely have to file a lawsuit against the person."
I went back to the server room and continued to work.
"After all, you have a family and a life, too, and that official didn't give a damn about it."
"I guess…"
For several hours, we just worked, exchanging phrases related to the job. During that time, I repaired the broken server and inspected and cleaned the others. Only after finishing with them did I leave the server room and sit down on a chair opposite Judy.
"So?"
"What?"
She looked up at me.
"What else do I need to fix?"
"You done with the server room?"
"Yeah, you can sign off on this work. I not only repaired the broken server but also cleaned the others. So nothing should break down anytime soon."
Judy nodded and got up, went into the server room, and came out about ten minutes later.
"Everything's good…"
She looked at me intently.
"Can you look at some of the old computers?"
"Let's do it…"
I shrugged, and Judy led me to a storage room where I buried myself in the tech.
We only finished late in the evening, when the bar had already started to get into full swing. It was quite audible, even though the soundproofing was top-notch.
"So, how are you two doing?"
"Susie?"
Judy looked up from the table, and I looked up at the girl who had just come in.
"Yeah, did you lose track of time working?"
"Uh-huh…"
"And what do you think of the guy?"
"The guy knows his stuff… He's a zero with the specialized equipment, but he fixed the server and has already gotten two old computers back in working order."
"So you're satisfied?"
"Uh-huh… I'd even book him for tomorrow, let him finish getting the computers in order. We won't have any use for extra hardware that's in working condition."
"You good with that?"
"I haven't been signed off on this job yet…"
I shrugged.
"So when I leave, I'll just call my fixer and tell her you have more work than we thought, and I'll come back tomorrow morning."
"Preem!"
Judy looked genuinely happy.
"Should we swap contact info? Give me a call when you're coming, and I'll meet you in the main hall."
I nodded, and we swapped contacts. After that, I got up, stretched, and headed for the exit.
"Alright… see you tomorrow, then."
"Uh-huh, choom… wait!"
Judy's shout made me stop.
"Yeah?"
"What's your name? I know yours, but I only know your call sign from Regina… Ghost…"
She snorted.
"…you sure do like to talk, for a 'Ghost'."
"David. David Martinez. And 'Ghost' is because I handle more delicate work quietly… without any extra noise or casualties."
"Got it… And I'm Judy Alvarez…"
"Nice to meet you, Judy. See you tomorrow."
"Yeah… Later."