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We continued our conversation, but a call from an unknown number interrupted me after just five minutes. I apologized to the girls and put our conversation on hold, then I answered the call.
"I'm listening."
"Solo, this is your employer…"
It was hard not to recognize the voice, but I had never heard her speak in such a tone before. It seemed the girl had really lost her mind.
"…your subordinate is ignoring me. And in the meantime, she is obligated to work. You need to deal with her, or the fixer will cut your fee. So if you don't want to lose your reputation and most of your reward, then Alvarez needs to call me, or better yet, meet with me and pick up the material she needs to process."
I held back…
Though only God knows how much strength that took. I really wanted to tell her everything I thought about her intelligence and everything else. But I held back. Good on me!
"What's wrong? Lost your words?"
"Parker, your tongue will be the death of you…"
"Are you threatening me?"
Despite her arrogant tone, I could hear that she was scared.
"Am I threatening you? No…"
I shook my head.
"…I'm stating a fact. Because you're throwing accusations, demands, and insults without even knowing the situation. As for the job that DeShawn offered me, I refused…"
"Huh?"
"'B' is also a letter of the alphabet."
"But… how… is that…"
There was confusion in Parker's voice. She clearly didn't understand how what I was saying could have happened. That someone could turn down a job that DeShawn was offering.
"…the Major Leagues… big money… prestige…"
"Those are all just empty words."
"You're dragging her down!"
"Parker, make up your mind…"
She blinked in confusion.
"…either I, as you so eloquently put it, should make Judy work, or I'm dragging her down… But what am I saying? In your mind, it's probably the same thing. You just refuse to accept that we just love each other. You just refuse to accept that I don't control her, that we coexist, and that it was her decision to tell you to get lost."
And I held back again…
I had so many harsh words that were almost on the tip of my tongue, but I managed to keep them and my face, preserving my reputation as a calm solo who doesn't lose his temper.
"Alright, goodbye."
I cut the connection and immediately added her number to the block list. I didn't need her calling me with her confusing demands and accusations. And, of course, after I ended the call, I went back to the girls, who were already talking about something. When they saw that I was back, they fell silent, burning holes in me with their curious gazes.
"Parker called… I have no idea where she got my number from… No, it's obvious she probably bought it from some fixer, and I never hid my number anyway, but to just do that…"
I shook my head.
"…from what I understood, she just didn't know that I had refused the job. I assume she thought that a job from DeShawn was such a rare opportunity that it would be accepted without any hesitation and that there was no way it could be refused. So she was in a hurry to call Judy first, and when she blocked her, she called me, her boss…"
I emphasized the last word with a mocking tone, and the girls smiled. They, of all people, knew that we were connected by much deeper feelings and weren't going to deny it.
"Did she at least apologize?"
"Pfft! Becca, you're not Bookworm; you're Storyteller!"
Judy decided to poke fun at Becca a little.
"Why?!"
There was no hurt in Becca's voice. Only curiosity. Well, she did love to read fairy tales. I, as someone who talks to her about books, know that better than anyone else… Hmm… maybe I should take her to a library? The kind where they still have real books printed on paper…
"Because even though you're a grown girl who has seen a lot, you still believe in fairy tales. You don't know the person, but you think they're capable of apologizing… that's a fairy tale ending right there…"
Judy shook her head.
"…and you live in Night City and believe that one of its residents is capable of such a thing… As for Parker, even if she were in the wrong, she wouldn't apologize. I can tell you that as someone who lived with her and thought I'd live my whole life with her…"
"Well, I didn't know…"
"That's why you're Storyteller. You believe in things that can't exist!"
I smirked and ended the conversation. Still, I continued to listen to the girls' conversation, lightly nudging Panam on the shoulder. When she looked up from the fascinating conversation, I nodded toward the parking lot.
"Wanna go home?"
Panam nodded in response to my question, and we walked together toward the parking lot where the Thorton was parked. But just as we were about to walk through the door that led to the parking lot, V intercepted us.
"So you did refuse after all?"
"Uh-huh… did you think I would agree?"
"Well… yeah, I thought you would agree to DeShawn's offer…"
"Maybe if the offer came from Nemo or Indigo…"
I mentioned two legendary fixers. Their appearances are a mystery. They only work through intermediaries, or rather, they find solos through trusted fixers like Rogue, Regina, and Wakako… But their reputation… it's not a reputation; it's an unsinkable ship without a single trace of rust. Not even Rogue makes a face when she's asked to find a solo for them.
"…I would have agreed, but DeShawn…"
I shook my head.
"Heh, you're such a dreamer! Those are just Night City tall tales!"
"Uh-huh…"
I nodded my head.
"…just like Silverhand and Blackhand are tall tales… legends that most people believe never existed. But you wouldn't try to convince me that they're all bullshit and that they're just a myth, would you?"
"You're comparing…"
Now it was V's turn to shake her head. She didn't continue the topic, though.
"…alright, it's your choice. But I, for one, will wave to you from the top when I make it to the Major Leagues."
"Yeah, yeah…"
I nodded my head and, after taking a couple of steps further into the parking lot, but not too far from the door, I turned back and held the door open, which was about to slam shut.
"V…"
The girl, who was already walking away, stopped and turned halfway around to look at me.
"Yeah?"
"Be careful…"
"I will, daddy…"
Despite her slightly sarcastic tone, her eyes showed that she was completely serious. And I, picking up on that, threw caution to the wind and decided to try to influence the game's canon a little more. Of course, telling her everything I knew would have been stupid, but… Maybe this would allow her to save her mind and save Jackie, too…
"Sweetheart, listen to a piece of advice from your daddy…"
I decided to add a little humor to our conversation, and judging by V's smirk, she liked the idea.
"All of you need an upgrade. I've never worked with DeShawn, and I have no desire to, and you should probably ask your colleague about that… But I do have some info on him…"
"Are you talking about T-Bug?"
"Uh-huh… her… but back to DeShawn… he's famous for his loud jobs… his successes and his failures… but they're always loud. But after his last failure, he just disappeared and sold out a bunch of solos he had ties with."
"And?"
V decided to rush me a little.
"Just be prepared for everything to go… not according to plan."
I shook my head, holding back a curse.
"You know something?"
"Nah, I'm just drawing conclusions from the information that's available to everyone. If you don't believe me, ask Wakako. I don't think she'd refuse to share some info with you for a little money. And after that, you can draw the same conclusions yourself."
"Hmm… are you a doomsayer?"
"No…"
I shook my head. I was happy that V was taking me more or less seriously. She was a corpo, after all, and she knew when and where to joke. And you can't get that out of someone just by spending some time away from a corporation.
"…I just understand that for your survival, all of you need an upgrade. For the major leagues, you need the right chrome and much stronger ice… or things can go to hell in a handbasket very quickly…"
"From where, for example?"
"Well…"
I shrugged.
"…let's say your target is protected by the Voodoo Boys, or NetWatch… and now imagine what would happen to your T-Bug, who doesn't have very strong ice, and what would happen to you after her…"
I ran my thumb across my throat.
"…that would happen to you…"
"You know, I have a gut feeling about this myself… it's starting to show signs of life… I guess I'll have to break into my stash…"
"Go on, break into it…"
I nodded.
"…and also get some new optics, the third series, and record the entire job…"
"Huh?"
"If everything goes… not according to plan, you can use it to hold DeShawn accountable, as proof that it wasn't you who screwed up, but that he didn't think things through. Although, if he decides to screw you over, that won't help you much…"
I turned around and, after letting go of the door, I walked deeper into the parking lot. I managed to hear V saying goodbye to me. I calmly walked to the Thorton and got in.
"We were really lucky with Judy, and with the girls too…"
Those were the first words Panam said after she started the car and the Thorton started moving, carefully driving past the parked cars, heading for the exit. We were just the two of us now, since the girls had already disconnected from the conversation.
"Care to explain?"
"Do I have to?"
"Well, it would be nice to hear you praise me."
"Uh-huh…"
Panam smirked.
"…however, if you want me to so much, why not? You're too good…"
She shook her head, giving me a vague look.
"…and you're not trying to be a leader. You're not trying to climb higher than you can hold on to. You just live and provide a stable life for us. There aren't many people like you… very few… and besides, no one else would have been able to win over Judy and me… and the girls… except for Kiwi… what does she see in that Pilar, anyway?"
"Hmm?"
I smirked, but Panam shot me a slightly grim look. She thought I was asking her to continue, but then she understood what she had just said, and her eyes widened in shock.
"Forget it! You hear me?! Forget it!!"
"Alright, alright!"
I nodded with a smirk.
"And yeah, Judy and I haven't agreed to anything yet!"
The smirk on my face grew even wider.
"Now what?!"
"You said 'yet,' and that means you guys have at least had conversations about it…"
Panam groaned in embarrassment and slammed her head on the steering wheel a couple of times, right in the middle of driving. Her skills, however, allowed for some liberties that I, if I were driving, wouldn't be able to take…
"Please forget about it, okay?"
And there was so much pleading in her voice… that I just couldn't refuse her.
"About what?"
She nodded and gave me a grateful look.
"Well, so what's next?"
"Huh?"
"Well, you guys got lucky… only someone like me could have put you guys together…"
I didn't continue, and I didn't bring up the topic Panam had asked me to forget.
"Well… not many people in your position would have been able to hold back from just pushing forward… from taking everything life has to offer right now without looking back or thinking about the future. And the shares… usually, big bosses take a much bigger cut for themselves… the way you treat us…"
"How do I treat you?"
I really didn't understand what Panam was talking about. I thought I treated them well. I was strict on jobs, but I was also caring. I took the initiative when it was needed, and… I did a lot of other things, but I always did it in moderation…
"That's the thing… you treat us normally… without going overboard. You're not afraid of us, you don't worship us… you don't have that trait that insane feminists have been trying to beat out of men for years. Now men are even afraid to speak… you're like you've come from another century…"
"It can't be that bad…"
I shook my head. It couldn't be that sad. I hadn't noticed anything like that around me.
"Well, the situation is more or less stable in the clans, and with solos, the crazy ones don't survive. And that's your social circle, so it's not surprising that you haven't noticed anything like that…"
"So it's not just you guys who got lucky with me, but me, too, who got lucky with you?"
"Hmm?"
Panam smirked, and I realized that she had intentionally led the conversation to this point because now I would have to praise her and the other girls.
"You clever Cherry…"
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