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"Found it…"
Kiwi was the first to report that she had found the data cluster containing the main part of Smasher's personality and memory. She did this seven hours after we arrived on the ship. All that time, Becca, Panam, Triss, and I were wandering around the ship, gathering everything that could be even slightly useful.
However, considering this was the ship of a very old mercenary, there were simply a lot of interesting things here... Weapons—and not just modern ones; there were experimental samples, too. So, we could assume Smasher also moonlighted as a weapon tester. I wasn't too interested in the modern stuff, but the ancient samples could fetch a good price. Collectors of all stripes would snatch them up immediately.
There was also a lot of chrome on the ship, though it was useless to us since it was designed for a Borg, and selling it... No one would touch it; it would leave too clear a trace, meaning Arasaka would almost certainly show up and politely, very politely, inquire what the hell was going on. So, we just gathered it all in one spot and put a couple of barrels of fuel next to it, so we could just destroy it when we decided to leave the ship.
However, what attracted special attention was neither the weapons nor the chrome, but the trophy room. And right now, I was standing in front of one of them...
"So? Can you delete it?"
"Are you questioning our skills?"
Kiwi tried to convey through her voice how insulting such a thought was to her.
"No, I just figure Arasaka specialists might have tied some systems to his personality or something else, which would cause the ship to sink."
"We're checking that right now. I'll let you know what's what later…"
"Got it…"
When Kiwi dove back into her work, I tilted my head and, using my chrome, took a photo of the silver hand resting on a special pedestal under a glass dome. After that, I sent the photo to Rogue with a single question: "Interested?"
I don't know how it happened, but Rogue's call came through literally five seconds after I sent her the file, and I, naturally, answered it.
"Where did you find it?!"
I blinked in surprise.
"Rogue, so much excitement…"
There was a hint of mockery in my voice, but overall, I feigned surprise at the start of the conversation.
"…what about a hello…"
"Quiet, shut up, I'm not in the mood for jokes. Where. Did. You. Find. It."
"But you yourself gave me the job through Regina…"
I smirked.
"So I was sitting in the port, waiting for the Ebony to return to the dock, since I couldn't get to it stealthily. Although some sniper here zeroed the decoy Smasher put on the deck, so the ship never made it to the pier, but overall it got close enough for me to board."
"A decoy?"
"I take it that was your person?"
"Yes... I turned to... a girl, and she already reported the job completed…"
"I'm sending you the video files recorded by my chrome."
"Alright…"
Silence fell on the call for a couple of minutes, indicating that Rogue was reviewing the video data I had sent her.
"Blya-dstvo…"
"What is it?"
"I just can't believe you took down Smasher in a direct confrontation, but you still prefer to work quietly."
I shrugged, which should have been reflected in my avatar.
"So, are you interested in a certain silver hand?"
"Yes…"
"Good…"
"What do you want for it?"
"Don't worry, you won't have to pay for it, but it's not the only trophy stored on Smasher's Vessel... and I want you to handle their sale."
"Hmm?"
"It's simple. All the trophies are tagged, and you'll need to find the people who cared about the choom from whom the trophy was taken and sell it to them. Just don't overcharge. If the person has nothing to take, you can just hand the trophy over for free."
Rogue snorted at my words.
"You're being too soft…"
"I'll find a way to make money, and karma, you can clean that up sometimes."
"Karma? Did you become a Buddhist?"
Now it was my turn to snort.
"Buddhists? Not at all. It's just that not everything should be done for profit, and right now is exactly one of those moments."
"I see…"
From her tone, I could tell she understood nothing, but she wasn't going to argue or try to figure out my motives. And I knew that I would already earn a ridiculously large amount of eddies from the loot on the Ebony, so I just saw no reason to be greedy.
"…Alright, send the hand and the other trophies, and I'll take care of their sale."
"Then it's a deal…"
I nodded my head.
"…Only, Rogue…"
"Yes?"
"Tell me, can you get pure gold and silver?"
"Well... I can, but how much do you need?"
Suspicion was audible in her voice.
"A lot. A whole lot."
"Quiet, that's not an answer. How much gold and silver do you need?"
Irritation crept into her voice.
"Well, let's say I'd like to acquire a couple of kilogram ingots. I heard gold is around a million right now…"
"A little more, and silver... that's selling for fifty-five."
"You keep track of the exchange rate?"
"Just so you know, being a fixer comes with certain obligations in terms of information, so yes, I know about the rates and their likely fluctuations, so I can afford to make money off it."
I smirked.
"I get it. In total, about ten silver ingots, maybe more, to round it up to four million total."
"Satisfy my curiosity, why do you need so much?"
"I want to get into trading…"
"Pff! If you don't want to talk, you don't have to, but you didn't have to say such utter nonsense. Even if you're a Major League merc three times over, they'll chew you up and spit you out in the precious metal trade."
"Ugh... well, can you get it?"
"I can... I guess you'll pay for part of it with the trophies you'll sell through me?"
"Well, if an exceptionally rich person who cared about a trophy comes along, you can overcharge a bit. So we'll see. Maybe there'll even be some leftover after selling everything here…"
And I sent Rogue a video in which I toured the entire trophy room.
She dropped out of the conversation again, and then burst into delighted laughter.
"Blya-at! Everyone thinks I'm a rich, narcissistic bitch, and you're going to make me a VERY rich, narcissistic bitch!"
"Ahem... I didn't call you that…"
"Seriously?"
"Well, maybe at the very beginning of our acquaintance, those thoughts crossed my mind, but you managed to quickly convince me that it was all nonsense and you are actually a sweet girl…"
"Me? Sweet?"
"Ugh…"
I nodded at the question, which she asked in an astonished tone.
"What. And you would date me?"
"Date? Possibly, I would have, if I hadn't started a relationship with my girls."
"Mda... taken here too."
"But you were already…"
"Ah…"
Rogue's image waved a hand.
"…There's been nothing there for a long time. No love, no affection, only mutual respect is left, and a shared child. But even he's grown up now."
"Well…"
I looked thoughtfully at the ceiling of the trophy room.
"What?"
"I have a candidate... though he's quite the ladies' man…"
"A ladies' man?"
There was irony and a hint of contempt for the man being discussed in her voice.
"Well, there are two options: either an irresistible force meets an immovable object and you break up after sleeping together a couple of times, or you manage to whip him into shape."
"Interesting... judging by your words, he's a strong personality, since you first suggested that things might not work out... and I don't think you would recommend just anyone to me…"
"You're right."
I nodded.
"However, he's not here right now, and when he shows up…"
Now I shrugged, as if apologizing and saying that I had no idea about his plans.
"…but if he shows up, I'll try to arrange your meeting."
"You know... go for it…"
It was said in a tone as if she was jumping off a cliff.
"…A try is not a crime, as they say. Maybe I'll at least have a little fun with this guy…"
"Maybe."
"Alright, a solo just came to see me. I need to explain to her why I processed a refund…"
"The one?"
"Yes…"
"Well, good luck to you."
"Uh-huh…"
The connection broke, and I finally started collecting the trophies and moving them through the portal Triss had created to the clan parking lot. Not to the parking lot exactly, but to the tent-garage that had been set up just in case I needed to sneak into the clan through a portal.
I hauled loot for several hours until I heard a report from Judy.
"Well, Smasher is done. We also managed to access some of his accounts—the ones he set up outside of Arasaka. We could try to access the others, but hacking corporate ice via a remote connection, especially in our position, would be somewhat unsafe…"
"If only we were closer to the port and could have gotten into the port network through the ship's network and then from there…"
Lucy joined the conversation.
"Yeah, but as it is... too much risk, and we already got more than a billion eddies anyway."
"Kha?!"
"What do you expect? The old guy was rich, and his paranoia was in full bloom, so he regularly and discreetly moved money and transferred it under the guise of various purchases to other accounts not associated with his employer."
"I see…"
"Something wrong?"
"Well, I just thought that my attempts to sell trophies through Rogue look pathetic compared to that kind of income. Sure, I'll sell some of the weapons through Regina, but at best, I'll get maybe five million total, or even less than four, and I'll still have to pay Rogue from my stash…"
"Pay her?"
"I ordered two kilos of gold from her and the rest in silver, to round it up to four million. Considering that a gold coin, what's it called... a florin, right?"
"Yes, that's the one…"
Triss answered my question affirmatively.
"…weighs three grams, so we'll get six hundred and sixty-six coins for one such ingot. That's for pure gold, and in Triss's world, only mages can get pure gold, and rulers won't bother purifying the ore to nine-hundred-ninety-nine purity, so we can expect more than a thousand gold round pieces. And I'm too lazy to even count how many silver pieces we'll get."
"Kha…"
Triss coughed.
"What?"
"It's just that that's a whole lot... enough money to build your own fortress, and on your own inherited land."
"Well, maybe we'll have to build one. How are we supposed to know how my plans for Kaer Morhen will pan out? So, having sums like that will be extremely necessary. If the plans with the Witcher fortress work out, we'll just put it in the treasury and hoard the gold."
The girls laughed, but I was deadly serious. The amount, while quite substantial, especially by Witcher world standards, was far from phenomenal. And... I still had my doubts about the necessity of getting involved in that world, even though I had already made plans and started implementing them...
Why the doubts?
Well, the Man of Glass... whether he's a demon or something else... Although, on the other hand, are the threats any less in this world? The rogue AIs, for example... I was lucky not to run into them, but if I hadn't been lucky... I think the result would have been similar to meeting that demon... Except with the latter, there's a chance to win because he prefers games, while the AI would simply and directly destroy me.
In short: away with doubts!
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