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"Fuck, what did you do to yourself?!"
"I told you..."
I sighed sadly and looked at my arm, which was hanging limp, and my leg, which was resting on a chair... if I wanted to, I could've rolled both limbs into a little scroll, though the synthetic muscles wouldn't let the scrolls be very thin.
"...one hundred percent Sandevistan..."
I looked at Kiwi, who had come to me since she was completely useless with tech. In her eyes, I could see her worry. She was clearly very concerned. It was nice, though a bit embarrassing.
"Alright, check to make sure everything here is turned off, please... it should be possible from the main access point, especially when you know the password."
"Just a second..."
Kiwi grabbed the back of the chair—thankfully, it was on wheels—and pulled me away from the massive computer that was serving as the access point.
"Okay... yeah, all systems are off. You can call anyone you want and talk without code names, especially since Mystic already saw you... so..."
"She might've seen me, but you still need to wipe the data, and I'll contact our fixer in the meantime."
"Got it..."
And as soon as Kiwi got to work, I called Regina.
"Listening..."
"Listen, listen... I'm out of commission for a while... don't know for how long, but probably no less than a month. The job's done, though, I think..."
"You think?"
"Well, we took control of the farm. If you have any free solos you can send to get the teenagers, that's good. If you send your friend with other cops and Trauma, that'll be even better, because the teenagers here were being held..."
I shuddered with my good shoulder, happy that my injectors had painkillers and that they stopped bleeding. Without them, I wouldn't have been able to feel this calm. At the very least, any movement would've caused pain.
"And another thing..."
"Yeah?"
"I cut Mystic..."
"You..."
"Shhh, she's still alive and will live for another couple of hours, though I, according to her, sliced her heart in half, and she can only lie down right now. In short, if you need a solo of THAT level, now's the time to send a VERY trusted person who can make sure she survives... or at least offer her a contract for high-end treatment at Trauma..."
"Uh..."
"Ghost, you were talking to someone on the comms, and I couldn't reach you. We found our target... he's alive, but definitely not well... and we urgently need Trauma (from the author: I know the canonical company is called Trauma Team, but it's easier for me to write Trauma) because everyone who's alive could kick it at any minute..."
I nodded at Judy, who had come to give me the news, then relayed it to Regina.
"Got it... Trauma will be there in five minutes, I'll take care of it... the client and the cops... well, they'll be a little late so you can get out. And Mystic needs to be picked up; solos of that level don't just grow on trees, and if I help her now, it's very possible she'll agree to do a couple of jobs for me..."
"Yeah... everything's been decided, everything's been agreed on... and now I have to go. I think my ripperdoc is going to be very unhappy with my condition..."
"You get better... solos like you don't just grow on trees either... a lot of people would've just told me to fuck off when they realized what kind of shit they were getting into..."
"Let's just say... I would've told you to fuck off, too... if I hadn't worked for you for so long, but first of all, our relationship doesn't allow me to be so shallow about your requests... and secondly, I just made a mistake..."
"A mistake?"
"Yeah... just like with... well, with the second fixer I work for sometimes. You remember, I gave her a price I thought she wouldn't pay, not because she didn't have the money, but because those kinds of expenses are pointless..."
I shook my head.
"...and it's the same here. Based on the client's profile you gave me... honestly, I was expecting him to just tell me to fuck off with a request like that. I'm not arguing, it'll be nice to get paid like that, but I was still expecting her to tell me to fuck off..."
"Is that really true?"
"Yeah... I'm a responsible guy, of course, and after I gave her the price, I started getting ready to do the job, because there was a chance she'd agree, but I was expecting her to turn it down. I would've just shrugged, complained to my crew about how the client didn't want to pay... and we would've turned around and gone home..."
I sighed.
"...but as you can see, I miscalculated. Despite the obviously very high price, the client went against his profile, broke your whole character assessment, and agreed to my price. After that, if I had refused to work, I would've lost my reputation."
"I see... but something tells me you're lying to me; you weren't against this job at all... it's not in your character to abandon people like that. Not that you show altruism often or get mixed up in fights, but your hatred for scavengers and your willingness to work against them for peanuts speaks for itself. You don't even work against the Animals with that kind of fervor, and you've got a personal vendetta against them..."
I almost asked what the vendetta was, and only when I opened my mouth did I remember. Gloria... this body's mom... damn, I was already starting to forget how my journey in this world began.
"Well... I still wouldn't have worked for free..."
"Alright, end of comms. Get better, and yeah, I'll let the second fixer know you're temporarily out of commission; I was going to meet up with her today anyway and have a couple of drinks... and yeah, if you can, give Mystic my contacts. If she's interested in my help, it'd be better if she called me herself..."
"Yeah... end of comms..."
"Moxie, we're waiting for Trauma. After they take everyone, we're getting the hell out of here. The fixer will handle everything, just wipe up my blood so there are no extra clues, though there are already enough of them..."
I sighed.
"...nah, don't bother. They'll ask questions anyway, and we won't be able to erase all traces of our presence here, so it'll just raise extra questions about why we tried to do it... just clean up the cameras so they don't figure out our capabilities."
I looked at the ceiling, lost in thought.
"Okay... so you've decided to make a name for yourself, I take it?"
"Not exactly making a name... everyone who's interested already knows about us. Look, even Mystic, when I told her my name was Ghost, made it clear she'd heard of me... so... I just decided not to focus so much on hiding my identity, just on hiding our capabilities."
"I see..."
Soon, ten avs arrived at once, Zetatech Atlases that Trauma loves to use. Armed people in Trauma armor and the medics themselves jumped out.
I watched it all from outside, still in that same chair.
"Hey..."
I got their attention.
"...your patients are in there... my crew is disconnecting the teenagers from the systems that were pumping them with chemicals, but not all of them, only the ones who won't die from it... you'll need to help disconnect some of them."
"And you..."
They pointed the barrel of a bulky shotgun at me.
"I'm Ghost..."
"Got it... you need help?"
"Nah... I'm fine... I'll hand the kids over to you and go to my ripperdoc; he'll get me back on my feet."
"Suit yourself..."
And the work began...
How long did it all take? Well, all the disconnections, the loading, plus calling for extra avs, including one for Mystic, took about thirty minutes. After that, we finally got into the Thorton and went to see Vik...
And the first words I heard from Vik were...
"What the hell did you do to yourself?!"
"I ran into a Legend..."
I gave a sad chuckle, and Mystic, who saw my condition when the girls were helping me hop to Viktor's clinic—I refused to let any of them carry me—gasped and put her hands over her mouth.
"A Legend?"
"Mystic..."
"Ahem..."
"And hey, Vik?"
"Yeah?"
Viktor was looking me over with a frown, and then he finally activated his devices.
"You know a lot of people; I hope you can help me... I need to get an upgrade..."
"I thought you didn't want to become a borg..."
Disappointment was clear in Vik's voice.
"I don't, and Mystic, when we talked a little after the fight, didn't recommend it... she told me she regrets having decided to do something like that..."
"So what kind of upgrade do you need then?"
"Skills..."
I sighed.
"...I'll still contact Regina, hire specialists for me and the girls to improve our skills, but something tells me you can also give me some advice when it comes to fighting."
"I can..."
Vik chuckled, and warmth and respect appeared in his eyes.
"...but first, I need to get you back on your feet and get your arm in order."
He looked me over carefully and studied me.
"What do you prefer? Temporary chrome that'll be gradually replaced or temporarily going without limbs?"
"Vik, obviously temporary chrome; I won't be able to work without limbs..."
And seeing him frown slightly, I continued.
"And if I get a replacement, I can at least handle tech work and gunsmithing. And I have to not only earn money myself but also find decent work for the girls so they don't run off because I'm temporarily out of commission for high-paying combat missions."
"I won't run off..."
Becca shook her head.
"Me neither."
Lucy put her hand on my shoulder.
"Well, I don't think Judy and I even need to say it. We're with you until the end..."
"Well..."
Kiwi looked away slightly.
"...I have some money saved up, so I can probably wait a couple of months, especially if you still find me jobs, maybe not as profitable, but still bringing in some income."
I gave them all a grateful smile.
"Thanks, girls..."
"So, a replacement..."
Vik nodded.
"...a simple one, a more complex one?"
"Why overpay? A simple civilian version will do, as long as the response time is good."
Vik nodded.
"Alright... then we'll put in something that's been tested..."
And the work began... Vik didn't knock me out, of course. He numbed the areas he was working on with painkillers and got to work.
When he had completely removed everything that was left of my damaged leg and prepared to install the chrome that was meant to temporarily replace it, a girl I knew walked into his clinic.
"Hey, Vik, hi..."
Vik didn't even look at her.
"Hey V..."
"Fuck..."
She stared at me in shock.
"...what happened to you, David?"
"A run-in with the big leagues..."
I sighed.
"The exact kind I warned you about... an unplanned one... on a gig, I ran into a Legend who completely ignored me for a while, and just when I thought I was in the clear..."
I ran my good hand over my body.
"...you can see the result of the run-in..."
"And how did you survive?"
"Got lucky... I had an ace up my sleeve. I was able to surprise her A LOT, so we parted ways with a small advantage on my side."
"Small advantage?"
"Well..."
I shrugged with my good shoulder.
"...I did complete the job... so that's my advantage..."
"And how are you gonna..."
V looked at my crew with interest and a hint of something else.
"...I guess they're free and can work with us on a job for Dex?"
"Pass..."
All my girls said that word almost at the same time, which surprised V a lot.
"Alright... fine, Vik, how much longer are you gonna be busy?"
"About an hour..."
"Okay, then I'll come back in an hour..."
V turned on her low heels and left Viktor's clinic. I, meanwhile, started to think about what I should do next. No, I wasn't going to quit the solo life just yet, and as I told Vik, in the near future, I'd like to focus on technical jobs... but I also had to deal with the reward from River soon... and it looks like I'll have to get the Aldecaldos involved, because for now, I'll be refraining from any active combat.
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