Capítulo 93: Part 81
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***
The next couple of days flew by quickly enough. Nothing strange or unpleasant happened. We still travelled out of the camp, smashed one or two Stiletto bases, and then returned to the camp. Dakota paid for the camps we destroyed, and Kiwi and Judy took turns hacking into the bandits' systems and getting more money, as well as finding out new places where they might be.
- David...
I was approached by a member of Aldecaldo.
- Yeah?
- There's some skank over there to see you....
I blinked in surprise.
- Are you sure?
- Yeah. She claims she has business with you, but she looks like a Chpok Street whore.
I sighed and got up from my chair where I was resting from work, because despite the destruction of the Stilettos' camps, the work of modernising and customising weapons was not cancelled.
- Let's go...
I looked at the one who brought me the news and followed him to the place where the bitch was.
- Ahem.
I didn't know what to say, because the girl didn't look like a Chpok Street bitch at all. Tall, pretty enough girl with pink hair in a ponytail. She was wearing a black, tight dress with a deep neckline and a big cut-out with a leg, a red jacket with a white fur collar on her shoulders, and a red handbag in her hand.
- So?
I looked at the girl not understanding what she could possibly want from me. She's not a Chpok Street whore, but she's dressed rather provocatively, giving the impression of an elite, corporate, courtesan. And what would a bimbo like that want with me?
- Right here?
The girl raised an eyebrow in surprise.
- What's wrong with this place?
- My employer expected a more private conversation....
A teasing smirk appeared on the girl's lips.
- If you are so much afraid of a fragile girl, then I can be searched... you can grope all over me and get your fingers into every orifice of mine....
- Anyway.
I interrupted her rather abruptly, though my escort and the clan sentinel were clearly taken aback by the girl's tone.
- Either we talk here, or we don't talk at all.
- Eh...
Sandi was already working, albeit at a minimum, as I couldn't understand what was going on at all. And for that simple reason, I preferred to be reassured. So even though it was hard for me to follow a conversation with an already active chrome, I preferred the slight discomfort to foolish bravery and self-assurance.
The girl's eyes glittered as if she was talking to someone... her body jerked slightly, as if someone had cut the strings of control, but she didn't fall, just hung her head a little, and then her head came up, showing me that her eyes were still glittering.
- Greetings, David Martinez-
The girl's tone changed, as did her demeanour. If earlier the girl tried to show off her virtues, now she examined herself with a slightly disdainful smile and pulled her jacket so that it better covered her bare shoulders. Now in every gesture of the girl was visible a haughty superiority.
- I'm listening to you...
Lowering the sandi's work to a minimum, looking closely at the girl opposite.
- Yup...
The girl looked around.
- ...I was counting on a more... comfortable place to have a conversation.
I shrugged.
- Letting a strange girl who came from who knows where on my property? How much of an idiot do you have to be to do that?
- Okay... my name is Hanako Arasaka....
The girl looked at me expectantly and I made a hand gesture to the clansmen to scramble off into the mist. However, they are not fools themselves, and when they heard the name of the girl who spoke, they hurried to get as far away from me as possible.
- Well, you know me.
- Yes... I was interested in your skills and capabilities. Especially since you were previously associated with Arasaki Academy, you must realise that working for a corporation is more profitable than working for yourself.
- Are you serious?
I raised an eyebrow in surprise, and the girl froze. A surprised expression appeared on her face.
- I don't understand...
- Apparently you've been misinformed. Your Academy is a hotbed of intolerance for anyone who isn't originally from the corporation. Children are spoilt and from the very early childhood having advanced chrome treat those who do not belong to their social circle as rubbish that can and should be wiped off their feet. Adults, who are supposed to be responsible for teaching and promoting talent, just turn a blind eye to the fun of these majors, and also put the success of anyone smart enough in such a light that the majors begin to think that they just have to make fun of the too clever beggar.
I grinned.
- That's... not what I've been reported.
- I suggest you hire a roner to hack into the academy and check its data. I think you'll either find a lot of interesting stuff, or you'll find that a lot of interesting stuff has been deleted from the storage servers. Both of which would confirm what I'm saying.
- I... I realised when Takamura returned that you had no good feelings towards the Arasaka Corporation, but I thought that a reminder of the Academy might soften our conversation a little...
The girl's lips folded into a thin thread, showing her displeasure.
Huh, she was probably preparing for this conversation and the data she was given would not allow her to have the conversation in the way she wanted. It seems heads are going to be flying at the Academy soon....
We were quiet for a while.
- Still, I hope that I will be able to convince you that working for me is profitable enough.
I shook my head at Hanako's words.
- No, you can't do that. I'm not going to get involved in a fight between or within corporations. Such a move would make me a pawn....
- Oh, you're grossly underestimating yourself, you won't be a pawn, you'll probably be a bishop, or a queen....
- Mm-hmm.
I nodded.
- ...and when the time comes, I'll be swept off the board. Maybe I haven't been in the corporate kitchen, but I realise that the pieces never win. They always get swept off the board, only the Players get something.
- You think you're a player?
A slightly sarcastic smile appeared on the lips of Proxy, through whom Hanako continued to communicate with me.
- Well...
I shrugged my shoulders.
- ...Of course I'm a player. The other thing is that I separate playing poker at the VIP table for especially rich customers and playing a little above the normal level. There are players at both tables, but their level and capabilities differ dramatically.
- I see... but you still won't be able to ignore my offer.
- Oh yeah? Why not?
- My brother can track down this Proxy, find out where she's been travelling and realise I was going to hire you. And he'll decide to preemptively eliminate you.
She has a smile of superiority on her lips.
- Well, I'll deal with that somehow....
I shrug my shoulders confidently, though I don't feel that kind of confidence at all, and I'm starting to think about where exactly to move the clan's car park, or maybe even tell Saul to prepare the clan for an urgent withdrawal?
Fuck... we haven't got all the cars we got from the police depot in order yet! Just the Basilisks and the hippos. We've also taken the reactors off the manticores, providing the clan with electricity and water.
- You're very confident.
- I just know what I'm capable of.
- My brother has a major league solo. I don't think you're gonna be able to take on Smasher.
- So I don't have to take your side, because if I do, I'm almost guaranteed to face him.
She pressed her lips into a thin line again.
- Still, consider working for me... it would be a very significant step forward. After all, not only can we pay you well, but we can get you experimental chrome. For example, we can replace your sandi, believe me, a regular sandi is no match for military or experimental ones... Optics... Muscles.....
- You want to make a Borg out of me by putting me on your drugs, without which I'll quickly slip into cyberpsychosis. But I don't want that kind of happiness for nothing.
- Huh, I'm going to reveal a little bit... but it's probably for the best....
Hanako was silent for a pause, building up the atmosphere. But I didn't care, so I just raised an eyebrow questioningly.
- The thing is that the Academy took analyses, and based on them, if you do everything right, you won't become a cyberpsychic, you can become a Borg like Smasher and you won't need a drop of drugs for stable activity.
- Mm-hmm...
I nodded as if to confirm that I believed her, except I wasn't trying to keep a straight face, so Hanako could see how I really felt about what she was saying.
- I'm not interested in becoming a Borg either.
- But you do realise that only Borg are in the top league... others don't stay there....
I could hear the surprise in her voice.
- I'm not going to go to the big leagues. I am satisfied with the place in the society I occupy at the moment.
- You are? When you could be in a much higher place?
- Yeah, I'm fine with it...living a decent life, supporting myself.....
I shrugged.
- Why would I try to take a bite of a pie that I'm more than sure I won't be able to swallow, I'll have trouble chewing?
- Tz... and yet you think about it... and I have to go now....
I remained silent, and a couple of seconds later Proxy swayed and barely managed to shift a little and catch her balance.
- Oh how I hate this...
The girl slowly rubbed the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes.
- Do you have to do this often?
- It's my job...
She sighed and shook her head.
- Every day there's someone who can't or won't show up at a place and they need the services of a Proxy to show up at that place without showing up.
- I see... Water?
- No...
She turned round and without saying goodbye walked to the door of her car, where she got in and turned round and drove off.
- Fucking hell.
I shook my head. It was definitely not necessary to get involved in this story from the beginning. After all, somehow in canon V got her first chrome... But I got involved and I just couldn't leave her feeling responsible for her....
Inhale... exhale...
I summoned the watchers and then turned round, heading towards my accommodation.
- David, is something wrong?
- Another attempt to draw us into a corporate squabble... we can't let go of this Arasaka story.
- What is it this time?
- A proxy run by Miss Hanako Arasaka herself.
- What the fuck?!
Becca stared at me in surprise, and the other girls stared at me in surprise.
- Yes, you heard right... I had a visit from Proxy, who was on a mission from Hanako Arasaka.
- What did she want?
- She offered to work for her personally.
- How did she do it?
- Well, I declined. It's only natural, given my reluctance to get involved in corporate squabbles, both between and within corporations.
- But?
Judy sensed the understatement and hurried to clarify.
- But I was threatened that her brother would find out that she'd tried to talk to me and I might become a target for elimination. Anyway...
I shrugged.
- Now I'm thinking about what I should do... whether to take you, the clan and get out of Knight City, or we stay and try to defend our place in the sun....
- What are the options?
Becca looked at me in surprise.
- 'Really, David you say that as if we have a choice...'
Judy and the rest of the girls nodded at Panam's words.
- We're staying.
Lucy drew a line under their decision and I had no choice but to accept it.
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