บท 277: Anarchism Inbound
"Fuck outta the way 'Emmerick'" Ori grouses and pushes past the Afterlife bouncer with a hood over his head.
"Hey-" he tries to grab him but only gets a glare in response, now recognising Ori's face. "Y-you can't be here!" he quickly says in a low tone, glancing around to see if anyone else had the realisation.
"I got biz, now I'm gonna see Rogue if you like it or not. Think you can take me? 'Cuz I've been itching to beat some gonks face in for a bit now."
...
"Go, she's in her lounge... But cause any more trouble for us and you'll be leavin' either way."
Ori strides through the club, noting the sparser population of mercs than usual, likely due to Arasaka's increased efforts to ferret out 'opponents'. He doesn't even need to say anything to the next bouncer, both from Emmerick's warning and the look on his face when he spots him.
He pushes into the lounge and pauses at the other occupants aside from Rogue... Nix, the Afterlife's main Netrunner, and V, who was looking a lot worse than the last he saw her, with pale clammy skin, bags under her eyes, and a tired look etched into her form.
"Zombie. You better have a damn good reason for barging in here," Rogue scowls, "I'm barely getting by keeping her," she gestures at V, "Now you've given Arasaka another reason to screw with me."
"I've got the best reason. Those fucks kidnapped my crew, and I want your help to get them back." he glances at V, "Maybe Johnny get some giggles from kicking their shit in too..."
Rogue sits up at that, folding her arms in feigned empathy, "...How? Thought you fell off the map. Even with all their resources they can't look under every rock and crevice in the desert."
Ori shrugs, "Don't matter, though... If I had to guess though, probably a leak from the Aldecaldos." he states, not mentioning his suspicions of Leo, from the recordings the guy had vanished not long before the raid, which meant he was either taken out first or knew it was coming. "Now, you gonna help or not? I got Eds, if that wasn't obvious."
Rogue taps her arm, "What specifically do you want done?"
"Whatever you can do. Give me as many mercs as you got, give me the location of Hanako Arasaka, tell me where they're holding my crew, everything and anything."
...
"Mercs? I'll ask around, see if anyone wants to opt-in on a suicide mission. Intel? I ain't got much, aside from Arasaka movements, fifty-thousand for that."
"Fifty-K...?" he growls and V leans to the side to give her better access to her gun. Everyone knew that Rogue was ripping him off, taking advantage of his situation to gouge him. Fifty thousand wasn't much to him, but that didn't mean he'd let himself get fucked in the ass.
"Fifty. Unless you got another Fixer you can run off to?" Rogue drawls and picks at her nails in her familiar uncaring act.
...
"Fine, fifty for everything you got on Arasaka." he says, eyes flashing as he pays her.
"Pleasure doing business," she glances over at Nix, "Tell 'em."
--------------------
"Christy." Ori greets with a sigh in the dingy hotel room. The spy was sitting in a chair beside the bed which was covered in laptops, shards, paper, and other things she'd stolen or found.
She wasn't able to abandon the city with the rest of the crew due to her role. Socially infiltrating important people meant leaving was as difficult as entering. Thankfully, while everyone was in the desert, she'd managed to keep a toe in Arasaka biz.
"Ori, long time no see... Y'know, this kind of reminds me how things were before." she gestures at him, his weathered outfit that was covered in dust, sand, and grime. In comparison she was practically glowing, sparkling corpo dress and a face caked with carefully applied makeup and chrome.
"Some things change, some don't. You'll always be backstabbing cunt-"
"And you'll always be the horny mutt who'd cling to my leg." she cuts him off, "Wanna keep flinging insults or check what I've gathered?"
Ori sighs, "Yeah, whatever." he takes the shard she holds out to him, names, people, places, subnets, shell companies, etc. Lots of things that mattered and didn't all on the single chip, thankfully, it didn't take too long to get to the meat of it.
"So, this just confirms what Rogue had. Arasaka pulling agents back to their tower, presumably to protect Hanako against whatever hair-brained scheme we come up with... She knows I'm pissed." he mutters. Some of the intel actually contradicted Rogue's, which instantly put him on edge. There were many reasons that could be, but the main one was... Sabotage.
"Probably wants to avoid another Holocaust. I'd do the same." she remarks, not noticing the twitch in his eye at the mention of it.
He turns and begins pacing, thoughts clouding with doubt. Christy, wasn't the most loyal person, he was aware. She'd basically been forced into the crew, and only moved to help them in Vegas because it was that or dying anyway. Aliya Hammond would have had her killed to tie off a loose end regardless.
Here and now? When she'd been out of contact for a while, and with the ability to ask for amnesty, to return to Night City in full, with the possibility to rebuild her career and reputation?
Ori glances over his shoulder at her as she looks through a laptop, "Say, what're your plans after this? Whatever happens, it's not like any of us can stay in this city afterwards." he vaguely says.
"Seattle, I hear it's on its way to becoming America's next mecca." she idly says.
"Yeah? Sounds good, that's where Judy said she was going wasn't it?... Christy." he asks, stepping closer and locking eyes with her, "What do you think about folks 'selling their souls'?"
"Selling their souls?"
"Yeah."
...
She firms her lips and jaw, "I think it's a loser's game. You do it once you'll do it again, eventually people'll know your sich and you'll land in a pit sooner or later."
"That so?" his tone shifts as he places a hand on her shoulder, "'Cuz I seem to remember you betraying me before... Tell me, Christy, why should I trust you now?
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