First things first. Brandeen and Cody needed a place to stay, since they definitely couldn’t go home until after Mel was dealt with. Since we weren’t talking a ‘couple of hours’ kind of run, they needed something like a motel room, and we’d probably need one next to her, to make sure no more surprises happened. Berzerker got to work on that, while I reached out to my contacts, to see if we couldn’t get some extra hands. Fortunately, I knew just who to call.
“What ya want?”
“Hello, Pixie. It’s Iceblade. Had a job fall in my lap, and could use some help.”
“Icy, you bastard! I told ya not to call me that! I’m not the Trixie Pixie anymore.”
Despite her protest, I could hear the smile in her voice. She’d been in the game for a long time, so she knew how things worked in the shadows. There was a difference between having someone’s respect, and having them be respectful, and Alisha Cooper demanded respect. A bit of banter kept things loose. People were less likely to start reaching for weapons if they were loose. Of course, nothing got things tighter than trying to skip out on a bill, which showed a fundamental lack of respect.
“Sure thing, Alisha. Like I said, I’ve got a job that fell into my lap, and need some people. Have a steady gunhand on side already, but could use some extra hands. A codeslicer, catburgler, and maybe a rigger for starts.”
“See, that’s what I like about you, Iceblade. You know what you’re needing, and aren’t ashamed to just come out and say it. So, what kind of budget are you looking at?”
“Undetermined. Our take is percentage based, plus some loot to fence. Not expecting big league opposition, but would rather be overprepared than hanging in the wind. Think you can work with that?”
“Hmm. You’re not going to get the highest-quality with that kind of setup. You say there probably won’t be high-level opposition?”
“Guy paid a hit squad that screwed up killing an unarmed woman and her six-month-old son because he was too cheap to go for better.”
“Ah, yes. I know the type well. And despite being cheapskates, they often have interesting toys and plenty of credits just lying around in a bank account. All right, I have a few possibles. Four in total. They’ve all have done work for me, and I’ll vouch for them to at least wait until the run’s done to bring out knives.”
“Anything I should know about them?”
“Your job isn’t targeting Yaks, is it?”
“No, target isn’t connected like that, from what we know.”
“Right, so three of them have Yak connections. One the normal way, friend of a friend doing work and all that. The other two? Well, they are SINners, and got in some trouble back in the Crash. Went into debt to the Yaks, and had to pay it off as bunraku girls. Debt’s clear thanks to the first job they did for me, but they’ve been keeping the side hustle because, frankly, they can’t go back to corporate life, now.”
“We all do what we gotta do. What do I owe ya, Alisha?”
“Normally, I’d charge you five hundred a head for this. But these kids need a team. They’ve got the talent, but they need a solid crew or they’re going to be meat. If you promise me you’ll give them a solid shake, I’ll cut my rate to a thousand for the four names.”
“Bleeding heart as always, Pixie,” I chuckled as I transferred the credits from my account. “You’ve got a deal. Looks like I’m starting a crew. Sending over the nucred now.”
“Shut it, you. Once it goes through, I’ll send the info. Have a place to meet?”
I looked over to Berzerker, who had been listening in, and she held up her commlink so I could see the screen. “Yeah, temporary digs while we work this job. Motel Frank, in Puyallup.”
“Hiding the hit targets, I take it? Good news is that Motel Frank didn’t skimp on the soundproofing. Right, I have your money. Sending over their contact info now. I’ll have them meet you at the motel.”
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Sounds like a plan. Thanks, Alisha.”
“Don’t get geeked, Iceblade.”
I smiled as I hung up the call, and looked back to Berzerker. “All right, I got some people to fill out our team. How many rooms did you get at the motel?”
“Four. Figure if we have a team of six, that’s two per room, plus one for Brandeen and Cody, here. Four rooms is gonna run us 280 a night. 300 if we want the ‘extra quiet’ option.”
“Sounds good. We’ll plan on five nights, extra quiet. That gives us a night to get acquainted, a day to scout, a day to plan, and a day to execute, with an extra day, just in case something goes wrong, or we need to make more preparations.”
Brandeen perked up at that. “So, I just have to lay low for five days, and then get out of town?”
I nodded. “All goes well, by next week you’ll be off, getting a new life together. But now we should get to the motel. The further you are away from your old car and your old life, the better. I’ll swing by a different Stuff House for supplies. Give Berzerker, here, a list of the essentials while she drives, and I’ll see what I can do.”
We split up for the drive to Puyallup. Reason why I was doing the shopping? Because bringing the girl and kid into another Stuff House was just asking for trouble. On the other hand, ‘annoyed boyfriend picking up shit for the baby mama and her kid’ did not draw nearly as many questions. Even if I was as well-armed as I was.
Fortunately, Brandeen was proving to be a better client than some might be. No dumbass requests for first-class accommodations or a list of eight thousand things she absolutely needed. No, my Shark recognized her as another predator. Getting her stuff didn’t even add five minutes to my drive.
As I drove, I looked through the dossiers Pixie sent me. Basic info: runner handle, skill set, face shot, one or two facts about them. Four Shadowmen who were new to the scene. They’d done some milk runs for Pixie, to prove they weren’t useless, but this was the first gig she was sending them on where they needed to be more than glorified couriers.
From my experience in the beta, this was one of the ways that new players got introduced to the game. Given the demographics in the real world, and the company’s advice not to switch sexes on your first character, the fact that all four of the new shadowmen were women suggested that these were, indeed, players. Should be fun.
First up was Twilight. Human technomancer, meaning she was a living commlink, basically. Some called them the Magicians of the Matrix, and it wasn’t too far off. I’d seen a technomancer at work in the beta, and they made the security their bitch so fast the network admins didn’t even have time to respond before she set their own Intrusion Countermeasures (or IC) on them, so I was hopeful she’d be able to take care of business. She was also the one who’d done some jobs for the Yaks.
Next was Babydoll. Another human, but she was a former newscaster who had been thrown out of a job when her newsroom burned to the ground in the Crash. She’d stacked some debts getting protection. Yakuza didn’t need a newscaster with rigger skills, but a pretty woman who only needed a data filter to be a bunraku girl, who wouldn’t remember anything that happened to her after? That they could use. She’d made good, though, and at least had some weapons and drones she could use. What she didn’t have, however, was any real armor. Probably need to fix that.
Third up was Sexkitten. She was heavily augmented. Like, a half-step from having so much augmentation that there wasn’t any more of ‘her’ there. Her parents had apparently wanted a catgirl for a daughter, because they’d had her genemodded in the womb. She’d only gotten more mods since. She was apparently pretty skilled in hand-to-hand, and with guns, but getting free of the Yaks had left her with nothing but some armor. Fortunately, we had some guns she could use, until we got better.
Finally, there was Shadowgirl. An elf, like me. Only, she was an adept, instead of a magician. Basically, Adepts turned their magic inward, which let them do some real freaky shit. She was a breaking and entering kind of girl, but also could hang in combat, from what this said. Definitely someone we’d need on this run.
When I got to Motel Frank, I saw that the guest parking was underground. Mixed feelings about that. On the plus side, it meant fewer people would see our rides from the street. On the minus, well, it meant people only had to clock one exit to see who was going in and out, and access to our rides was going to be through either an elevator or a roundabout route outside. Either way was a vulnerability.
Still, it was a motel, not a fortress. We were never going to get an actual proper safehouse, not without going through a lot more hoops, and a helluvalot more money. So, all told, this was probably best we could do.
Checked the commlink again, as I parked next to Berzerker’s van. Confirmations from all four women, agreeing to the job, and the meet at Motel Frank. Even Sexkitten, who apparently was taking an autocab. Now I just needed to know which room to send them to.
“Berzerker, where you at?”
“Floor 3, rooms 314-317. Right by the elevator. 314 is Ms. Johnson’s room, ours is 315. The others can work out who is in the other two themselves.”
I chuckled as I heard that. Opened a window to send the room number to the four girls who’d be joining us later while I responded. “Right, staking a claim already, hmm? The other four are all women. Might need to share me.”
“Hah! Well, I don’t mind sharing. Hell, back IRL, most girls need to share, or bat for the other team. That’s one of the things they teach girls early on, actually. Fairy tales of the old days are just that. Not enough guys for everyone to have their own Prince Charming for themselves. Sure, it happens sometimes, but usually? You end up with sister-wives.”
“Damn, thought that was just in porn. Anyways, on my way up. The girls should be coming around before too long. Everyone’s arriving separately, obviously.”
“Sounds good.”
I signed off as I got out of the elevator on the third floor. Like she’d said, our rooms were right by the elevator. 314 and 315 were to my right, with 316 and 317 to the left. Not the normal way of numbering things, but it worked. I knocked on 315, and Berzerker opened it wearing a grin and a towel, wet hair showing she’d just gotten out of the shower. I noticed that, whatever other augments she had, there were armor plates literally bonded to her skin. One of the reasons she could tank a pistol shot to the chest and not even feel it, obviously.
As she closed the door behind me, I heard the towel drop to the floor, and she whispered, “So, we have a bit of time before everyone gets here. Maybe we can fool around a bit?”
I chuckled. Out in the real world, I had not exactly gotten a chance to acquire a wide array of experiences. I’d only been 18 when the tank took my legs, after all, and was still only 20. Outside of some girls at school, I hadn’t had a chance to see what was out there. In the game, though? I’d had plenty of chances with NPCs and fellow players. I reached out with one hand to grab her hair, near the base, and pulled, gently but insistently, guiding her to her knees.
“We don’t have time for much. So why don’t you show me what a good girl you can be? And, if you’re good enough, I’ll be sure to return the favor later.”
Turned out, she was a very good girl. Unpracticed, but enthusiastic. I was definitely going to reward her later.