by Aies Jay
He extends his arms, interrupting me.
-Who gives a shit about legal? I’m talking about sleep! Sleeping, knowing we killed the fuckers who really did kill our children and not just the most likely suspect. Sleeping, knowing it’s over. In whatever way we can.
I exhale. I was worried a moment there but he’s just as desperate as I am, and he has just as few morals about it.
-Then we’re on the level. They’re paying, in every dirty way we can make them.
-You bet your last chit we are.
On a whim, I extend my hand to him. He takes it and his grip is firm but not crushing. That hand once held a daughter named Honour, just like mine held Lychee once. He grins grimly.
-Fuckers are going down.
I agree.
-Way, way down.
-So, what’s the plan?
I sigh.
-I have one, but it’s full of holes. We get my samples, and yours, prove guilt, and take them down. I have a nurse that used to work on the clinic, she says Lychee’s samples are most likely still there but we can’t get to them. And then, once we got the lab results and we’re right, then what? We find them and break them, sure, but how? And how are we sure we get the right guys?
He starts cracking his knuckles.
-They’ve must have had a man here to plant the shit in the first place. This is way too risky to hand over to a courier. We find him, we hurt him until he talks.
I raise an eyebrow. He just laid it out in a heartbeat.
-You’ve done this before.
He keeps at cracking his knuckles.
-I’ve been a bone breaker from the day I earned my first chit. It’s what I do. I’m not a full on meathead, but that’s also what makes me able to charge full on as a bodyguard to the tourists sometimes.
I snort a little.
-If you’re so good, how come you’re a door man in the bad district?
-Oh, so you did see me? Well, I saw you, too, kid. And you were so deep in muddy waters I’m surprised we’re even talking.
-Answer the question, mod.
He chuckles darkly at my jibe.
-I get a bed in the back rent-free if I guard his door when his regular fellows ditch out. I used to live at Gem’s parents’ place in the third Atrium but I left when Honour died and I never went back again. Not even for my stuff. At first because I hated them. Now it’s more because of shame. And everyone at the “Whiskey Tub” hates themselves more than I do me. That makes it endurable company.
I shut my face for a while until I say
-Then we got a plan. You can crash here until we’re done, if you want.
He makes an odd face.
-Don’t go sweet on me. I’m a bad, bad man.
-I don’t swing that way. I just rather not have you killed in the muddy waters before we’re done with this. Getting allies in this matter will be harder than busting a bank and I prefer to keep the amounts of thick thieves to a bare minimum. If we’re more, we’ll risk talk. To us, it’s personal. I’d like to keep it that way.
He looks at me for a full few seconds.
-I’ll think about it. But now we need a plan on how to bust in and get your son’s samples back.
I rub at my eyes.
-Fuck if I knew how. I thought robbery, but their security is tight.
-The nurse?
-Fired, but she knows the insides. We need to get her in discreetly.
-So we need covert.
-As in a shadow during nightfall.
-Can’t be too impossible. I just need a few things and some time to mull it over. You listening?
-Sure.
-I’ll need blue prints and a schedule over the amount of people, staff, security and all that kind of shit.
As I hook up I can see him rolling his eyes at me talking to my Gate but he’s about to get his mouth shut for him. It takes me less than ten minutes to get him what he asks. Prima Care has nasty coding but I don’t need to break into BlueAri for now, the schedules are easy info since all of the staff have booking arrangements, and my first little peep with the third caviar pellet told me a lot. Photos of the place as well as the basic building plans from S2’s Gate System gives us a detailed layout and they even boast their security, telling us what to expect, probably to deter any attempts of robbery or assault inside. Idiots. When I’m done I show him the whole thing. He reads it all twice, nodding in admittance to my skills with a small “nice” before summering
-It’s doable. Give me an hour. I need food.
-Lu Qing’s two blocks away are good.
I comment but he’s out the door before I finish my sentence. Body mods. All action, no brains and zero patience.
The place seems so quiet without him. I’ve been alone for so long and now, suddenly I’ve spent the day talking to people. My voice is raw. I take a brief look at my mess and think that if he’s going to stay here I have to clean up a bit. Lethargically I pick away all dirty clothes and stick them in the washer with what detergent I had left. The empty food cartons all over the place are chucked and I take out all of the trash and do the dishes. Some of the food on them is so old they’re practically dry glued to the plates. When I’m done the place is still far from half decent but at least it’s cleaner. That’s when it hits me. I’m not only hiring a thug because I lack the experience in the flesh world of crime to do this. I’m getting a body mod guard because these people don’t hesitate in killing babies to get their gold and they will most likely kill me too if they catch us. It’s an odd feeling of relief. Not only do I get to do something sensible and revenge my son, I also get a way out of here. One more realisation hits me after that. I’ve wanted to die for a long time, I just haven’t had the courage or the dedication to finish the deed myself. This burst of anger and using my brain for other things than escaping reality has given me enough energy and unfogged my mind enough to realize it. I almost start crying but that’s the moment I hear a thumping on my door. My brand new body mod ally comes in, almost pushing me over. His breath smells strongly of garlic and caramel soda. His body language is that of an agitated serpent and he immediately turns to me and puts an index finger up between us to emphasise his words
-Two people on duty at the hour of the wolf, it’s as perfect as it gets. Only one man at night, guarding the place and one night nurse. She’s bound to have rounds at some point, leaving her spot on the front desk to check on the patients.
-Right.
I answer, shoving back the emotions that just wanted to push me into the river but he hardly notices.
-OK, here’s what we do: we find the hour for the rounds, the nurse by the front desk fucks off, I distract the man at the door, your nurse slips in with her fake update access or whatever once you’ve mucked up their eye in the ceiling, she snatches and runs, I fuck off, you unhook, and we’re done.
His plan and energy has pulled me back from my dark thoughts. It’s brilliant, actually. I think I have to revise that “no brains” bit about body mods in my mind.
-Cute. Very cute. What’s your name, body mod?
He grins.
-They call me Teeth.
war
Teeth finally accepted and took well care of my hospitality. He showered, shaved, washed all his clothes, not that they were that many, and after one look in my fridge he cleaned it out and went shopping before heading out until I woke up again. I’d say it feels like being married again but Yun was never this domestic. Body mods. It’s all flesh world to them. I spent the rest of the day finding my thumb pad, mailing Nicla from the address on the silk napkin, and preparing the set up for her part of the break in. Teeth went off to fix some personal business and was still out as I fell asleep but he was here when I woke up and more or less chased me until I got going. There was no fucking need for that which I pointed out to him but he just glared at me until I got to it. I suppose I should be grateful he’s dedicated to the cause but at that point I was just annoyed as fuck and almost withdrew my invitation. Fact of the mat
ter is still that two hours after I was so rudely roused, we’re already at it, full speed, as the ex-nurse shows up at my door. Nicla’s shown up in clothes similar to those she wore when I met her but these offer somewhat more coverage. I think she’s showered, too, but that cropped top makes her bony chest look even bonier. I make the introductions between my new comrades in arms as she hangs off her worn fake fur by the door.
-Nicla, Teeth, Teeth, Nicla.
There’s an instantaneous feeling between the ex-nurse and the body mod intense enough for me to pick up on. Their entire body language screams of “whatever, just keep off me”. Chemistry works like that sometimes, even in the System. They don’t dislike each other, they just don’t find each other interesting, whatsoever, and after this they can probably part ways without ever seeing each other again, never giving a shit, no matter how well they got to know each other. They take one look over one another, and don’t even shake hands. Nicla notices the katana immediately and from the looks of her, she’s not confident he’s entitled to it. Teeth on his behalf just sees the hooker, not the person or the nurse, categorizing her as easy as he can, as body mods tend to do during combat.
-So you’re the “nurse”?
-And you’re the thug.
Ah, they’ve both made each other cringe. I almost smile.
-Come on, guys, play nice. Nicla, I need your pinkie print and Teeth, I need you to get one of these for me.
I hand him the printout of the security card they use at the clinic.
-What, steal one?
-No, no need for that. Buy one at a shop, leave the chit or trade for it, untraceable. I’ll stick the info I need on it.
He raises an eyebrow as Nicla’s eyes are roaming my place.
-Won’t you need to hack the clinic for that?
I actually grin. It feels like a skull’s grin, but still good.
-Just a little. Go on. But it needs to be that exact brand, no other.
-We haven’t even talked money yet.
he mutters and leaves. Nicla sits down next to me in the couch, never watching him go. I extend the thumb pad it took me almost three hours to find yesterday. I decided it would be safer to make a persona in the files that doesn’t exist and make a security card for that person, hooking it to her “thumb” but using her pinkie for the job. Chances that they have her pinkie prints on file are miniscule. The pinkie rarely leaves tangible prints and thus is rarely used for any form of identification. She pokes my ear.
-The man said the magic word.
I hook up, listening to her with half an ear as I log in to my Domain.
-I thought he magic word was “please”.
-Nuh-uh.
-How much do you want?
I ask, frowning. I suppose I was naïve but I thought they were doing this for revenge as well as me. It’s not like I can’t get money for them if I need it, but I am somehow a tad disappointed. It feels less dedicated with money in the equation. Oh, well. They want money? They can have it.
-I haven’t decided yet.
-What if I can’t afford you?
-I’ll just have to pimp you out, big man.
I stop and look at her. Seeing her through my retina screens while hooked up is like seeing a ghost. Her face falls a bit but she’s still smiling.
-It was a joke.
I’m done joking. If she wants business, business she’ll get. I was getting way too cosy with these two anyway. Maybe that was Teeth’s sentiment, too.
-How much?
She sighs. After a few seconds she says
-5000.
-Done.
I mutter. I can fix that today if needed, it’s not even that much considering the job. I open the file I prepared for her, “Jane Masamura” and click my way to UPLOAD THUMB PRINT. I hold out the pad at her.
-Pinkie, please.
She puts her pinkie on the pad and holds it still until the little green bar on my retina stops blinking and I say
-Done.
-So when are we doing this?
I finish the profile to make it proof. Jane Masamura was just one of many names I found on Axorpa yesterday that fit the age of what could be a nurse today but I liked the name and it fits her. The real Jane is dead but her death isn’t registered here on S2 so unless the clinic updates their Portal with the GalactiNet, something that’s time consuming and just a tad expensive and thus only done once a year on Jan 1, they’ll never be the wiser. I snort.
-You know, if we were really brave you could collect Jane’s salary until New Years. But they’d probably find out.
She shrugs.
-Maybe.
I finish the profile completely, adding a randomized cred chit number to the file. Some lucky stiff will get her money and never be the wiser until the clinic finds out, and when they do, I’ve erased this whole thing and it’ll just look like a fat glitch. Untraceable. I could have kept it for myself but what the hell. This is funnier, as it goes.
-Done and done.
-Atta hack.
I hand her a cred chit.
-Go buy a discreet outfit, grey coveralls and trainers plus something to cover your face. I’ll transfer your 5000 to the chit too as you go. Oh, and we’re going to need one of these.
I point at my Gate screen and she leans in to look at what looks like a coffee thermos on steroids. A single glance at it and she nods, confirming
-Portable cryo pod. That model or just any good one?
I forgot she was a nurse. Of course she knows what it is.
-Any good one, as long as it’s equally big. We may have to fit my samples as well as Teeth’s and I think Honour is intact. Here’s another 5000 for the pod, it should be enough. Don’t use the same chit twice even if you get a good deal.
She accepts it slowly.
-You know, it’s only because I need the money.
she says apologetically but I can’t hear her fully. I’m headed for the System to make the very last preparations.
-Every living creature does.
I respond dully, diving in.
break and enter
It’s so late it can be considered early. At 0330 most people are either sleeping or indoors, hooked to a screen. The alertness level on the streets is either way very low, and no one takes a moment to give the three of us a second glance. We’ve been taking turns sleeping, all three of us, eating and going over the plan a few times, but here we are, ready to be bad. Nicla and Teeth found some common ground to at least be civil with one another and stopped bickering even before that. That’s the privilege about dealing with pros, they’re both calm and collected, coolly focused on the task. Me, I’m just restless. The fire inside burns angrily, I want this done yesterday. Maybe body mods aren’t the only ones with zero patience after all. We stop a block away from the clinic, and make one last somewhat discreet huddle, me leading the team.
-Teeth, five minutes after the nurse at the front desk gets off her butt. Nicla, in and out. I’ll be at HookUp. Com links connected?
-Check.
-Check.
The sound of their voices echo in my com link and I nod.
-Unless shit goes down, I’ll be muted. Go.
And with that, we scatter. Teeth head for the clinic, Nicla huddles up in the corner and I go to HookUp, the Wire café around the block. The com links will let me know what’s going on if shit goes down but right now all I hear is Teeth on the move. I tap out of his part in this and focus on myself for a moment as I trot into the small café. It’s going out of business and the place is of course a mess. They can’t afford another upgrade and the stuff is hopelessly outdated. The Gates are being sold for parts and as soon as the last interior finds new owners or when their lease runs out, they’ll be gone. Bad for them, perfect for us. The man in his late twenties behind the front desk looks up at me, his eyes look like he hasn’t seen proper sleep in a year. His clothes needs a laundromat, his nails need cutting, so does his hair. He reminds me of myself before all this. Worn and given up. I
nod at him.
-Miso soup and a Jackhammer. And a seat.
-55 creds, another 5 by the hour.
No wonder they’re going out of business, that’s way too cheap. The Miso is powdered, mixed in hot tea water and the Jackhammer is almost too cold, coming from an overcompensating fridge. I sit down with my stuff at the Gate furthest away from the till and the door, open the beverage and take a sip of the freezing strawberry flavoured highly caffeinated liquid, my good old friend and favourite, and hook up two jacks, streaming info in and out on separate connections. I enter my Avatar and hit the System, mumbling
-Honey, I’m home.
and immediately tap into the low buzz channel, a scanner feed that listens for security alerts if you know how to tap in for. I add the correct search words, narrow down to the area code and cue in the feed, waiting for anything that may mean we’ve been discovered. The noise blends in my head with the background noise from my com link but I can separate the sources easily. The next part will be trickier.
I crack my knuckles and follow the links I established from my Domain earlier, saved in the software in my memory bank, and gently ease it in. The System almost pauses and I find myself holding my breath. This is very, very illegal. I almost expect the alarm going off and my grip on the cords ease as I realize I’m in the clinic’s own security feed. They’ve based it in the local loop, thinking it makes them safer from hackers. On the contrary, my friends, it makes you an easier target, offering me a few more doors to choose from. And I’m in. Teeth’s voice has been chattering in the corner of my attention for a full minute now. He’s talking to the security guard, it’s not the one who put me out, his voice is way deeper. Teeth is asking about some new body mod upgrade he’d heard about, blackware that was supposedly banned due to the volunteers keeling over within twenty-four hours of surgery, their soft flesh unable to withstand the forces of the new mod. Personally I think it sounds like obvious bait but I never paid any attention to the beginning of the conversation. Either way, the body mod guard is swallowing it whole. As the magic five minute mark passes, Nicla moves. The night nurse should be fully busy with the late night round now and her desk should be empty. I hurry the fuck up, my fingers dancing over the keyboard, tapping into the cameras, one by one, as she closes up on them. I notice angrily the “W” on the keyboard is worn and I have to slam it to make it work, putting me off my regular beat. Too late to adjust now, I have to make do. Nicla’s voice, softly whispering, tells me where she is.