บท 55: Part 49
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***
A few days at work flew by...quickly and fruitfully. Judy, Lucy and Kiwi became a couple of orders of magnitude more efficient and faster. This had an immediate effect on the overall speed of the assignments and we were now able to take not two orders a day, but four.
Is it hard?
Yes.
But on the whole, it's more than manageable and our earnings increased immediately. However...
I looked at the unknown number and raised my hand to show that I was dropping out of the conversation with the girls, then answered the call.
- Go ahead.
- Quiet? It's Faraday. I'd like to place an order for you.
- Yeah.
I tried to express my dissatisfaction in my voice, but I didn't hang up or say I was busy. My dissatisfaction was caused not only by the fact that he didn't even ask me when I would be free... But also by his tone....
- When?
- Tomorrow.
- I'm busy.
- ...the day after tomorrow?
- The day after that.
- You seem to misunderstand, I'm Faraday. Working for me is extremely lucrative. Didn't Kiwi tell you that?
- She did.
The image of Faraday smiled.
- ...but what difference does it make? Faraday, do you know how long I've been working? No? I'll tell you, I work five in two. Five days a week, I work like hell, I don't have a minute of free time on those five days.
- But then.
- And in that regard, I'm not giving my two days off to anyone.
- I can be very generous.
- Yeah, can you give me my youth back, too? So that if I live to be old, I won't regret just working hard and not spending time on myself....
- Are you sure about your decision?
- What decision?
I grinned.
- The decision not to work for you? Yeah, I'm sure. I don't like to work for outsiders without references at all.
- But...
- Yes, Kiwi asked to talk to you, but you didn't even say anything....
I shook my head.
- Are you kidding me?
- О...
My image nodded its head.
- ...you guessed? How do you think I should treat a person who tries to manipulate me through a member of my squad? How am I supposed to treat a man like that?
- Are you sure that's how you should treat me?
Faraday's voice changed and I could hear the threat in it.
- I'm sure.
- You know... I'll wait for you to come crawling to me....
I didn't answer anything, I just ended the conversation. Of course, it would be possible to talk to him more adequately, but... After Kiwi's story, after all the data I bought from Regina and Bestia on other fixers... I didn't want to talk to him in a polite mercenary way. It was good that he only mocked me, and not sent me to him....
- Yeah... we talked...
- Hmm?
Panam glanced at me. Now we in Tortika were travelling after the mission towards the flat where we were going to indulge in debauchery. And this time we were planning to have a threesome and Kiwi, Lucy and Becca wanted to watch a film... luckily we have good noise insulation in the flat and enough space....
- Yeah... I couldn't help it... Faraday rang me... his tone was brash, cocky, with an air of superiority. Well, I couldn't help but make fun of him.
- That's not nice.
- Yeah, sorry Kiwi... I really wanted to talk to him normally. But when he wanted to give me an assignment from the first sentence... with that tone of voice....
- Yeah...and I warned him.....
Kiwi shook her head.
- Anyway, what should we expect? Because the last thing he said was, 'I'll wait for you to come crawling back to me.'.
- Well all in all... he'll definitely start making shenanigans... but he won't go against Bestia, but Regina....
- Should we warn her?
- Well, it wouldn't hurt... she should be ready for trouble on our orders, unexpected trouble, after all Faraday is not DeShawn, who always disappears and is sure of his excellent reputation, Faraday works like hell, he has a lot of debtors, informants, mercenaries....
- Yeah.
- Well, at least we've already started upgrading... you're the only one left, but you're already the most powerful, so I guess we'll get through the first setups easily. Maybe even make a profit...
Kiwi closed her eyes and put on the mask she'd taken off in the car. It was a kind of gesture that meant she'd switched to work.
I frowned.
- Maybe his-
I ran my thumb across my throat and Kiwi shook her head with a sigh.
- No... not an option... I'd like to, but he's got too good a roof, and you didn't want to get into the corporate thicket....
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I nodded my head.
And having said that, I dialled Regina.
- Quiet?
- Faraday's been in touch with me and I've been getting a little hot and bothered with him. So he might start getting in trouble.
- Yeah, trouble, trouble, trouble.
Regina sighed.
- Look, I don't believe in these things, but you're like a sign from above... I know a cop... Can you help him out?
- Regina?
My image raised an eyebrow questioningly.
- Have you heard of Peter Pan?
- Um...honestly, no....
- Have you not been watching telly?
- TV? I don't have time for that.
- Right... well, until recently, there was this maniac, kidnapper, murderer, he was called Peter Pan. He used to kidnap teenagers, lure them in and... that's it... nothing else is known... He got caught by accident, they found a dead body in his car, and the cops shot him when they apprehended him....
I frowned.
- ?
No, I remembered the canon and there was kinda some Peter Pan in there... but the details... that's what I don't remember anymore. A side quest with a cop. And I have too busy a life right now to remember such small details.
- The problem is, he's shot, but he's not dead--
- Should we finish him off?
- No... if that were the case, my friend would be fine on his own, the point is we need a master braindancer who can pull information out of a comatose brain damaged....
- One second, I'll get Judy on it.
- Go ahead.
Two seconds, and Judy answers the phone.
- Is something wrong?
- Regina, bring her up to speed and she'll tell you if she can do it or not.
- All right... well, just an update. There's a coma patient. He's a criminal, but he was shot in the head when he was apprehended... But we need his memories. We need something to hold on to so we can find where he's holding teenagers who aren't dead...
- Um.
Judy's really confused.
- ...well, in theory it's possible, but in practice, you have to look at how much brain damage there is, and look for something from real life to get his brain working in the right direction. But that's only if the brain is intact enough...there's sophisticated technology, I've read about it. You can access dreams. And then you can process those dreams into a brain.
- So it's real?
- Well, yes, but I'm telling you, we'll have to see what's going on with the brain.
- David, can you go now?
I sighed... it seems the triplet is postponed, but when Regina specifically asks... no, it's certainly possible to refuse, but... I'm too good to this fixer. So saying no is not an option.
- Where to?
- Knight City P.D. Lab, in the Glen, in Haywood. I'll text you the contact of a guy I know. His name is River Ward. He's a cop, but he's a good cop, probably one of the few cops in Knight City that don't take bribes. Call him when you get there.
- Okay...
I sighed.
- Drop the details in an email...
- Okay... and David... thank you.
- Regina, don't... just know that you can count on me.
- Yeah.
The connection went dead, and I opened my eyes.
- Panam, change of route. We need to get to Haywood for the Knight City PD lab.
- Um, are you sure?
- Yeah, Regina asked for help... we need to meet a guy she knows, he's a cop and he's got some Peter Pan issues....
- Um, I heard something.
Becca got in on the conversation.
- You mean that kidnapper the cops shot?
Kiwi's joining the conversation.
- Yeah... not exactly shot, more like put in a coma and will need Judy's help to create a brain if possible. So we have a job to do that will probably go unpaid, but will boost our relationship with the fixer.
- I see...
The girls sighed, while Panam abruptly reversed Tortika's direction.
- So, any details?
- Now...
I opened the letter from Regina and read it, then began to tell the girls what our main employer had sent me.
- ...so, our contact. Honest cop...
At that phrase, the girls snorted.
- ...no, really, I doubt Regina would give that characterisation for nothing.
- Well...
The girls hesitated, because Regina really didn't seem like someone who could give such a characterisation just like that.
- ...On the whole, you're right.
I nodded and decided to continue.
- So, an honest cop, and he's got a problem because Peter Pan has apparently kidnapped his nephew. And now Peter Pan is lying in a coma, and what happened to his nephew, where he is and if he's alive at all, all these questions need answers.
- Yeah... well, let's help an honest cop out!
Becca belligerently raised her fist in the air.
All in all, this could have been the end of the conversation, but the topic of honest cops was unexpectedly continued.
- Do you think there are a lot of honest cops in Knight City?
I snorted.
- More than there could be, but less than I'd like.
- That's...
Becca wanted to say something, but was interrupted by a more pragmatic Kiwi.
- You mean more than zero but less than at least ten?
- Well, as usual, Kiwi ruined the fairy-tale moment when we could have dreamed that there were a lot of honest cops out there, but we were just unlucky and mostly got caught up with the bastards....
Judy said it with a chuckle.
- It's just the way the city is... Knight City isn't conducive to the survival of honest intelligent people.....
Kiwi wasn't about to give up her own point of view.
- Well, David and we survived, didn't we?
Panam grinned.
- Well...
I decided to join the conversation again.
- ...We are a good illustration of the saying, 'Good must come with fists.', which is why we survived....
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