A nice cold refreshing shower, an expert massage and a wonderful meal with company I really enjoyed. The day could hardly have been better. Well, with the exception of the lack of beer. That was a downer. My little chef made up for it with some fresh grapefruit juice though, which was almost as good.

I nestled a little deeper into one of our beanbags, one of the few pieces of furniture, if you wanted to call it that, we had, with the exception of the pretty neat kitchen with all its appliances, and watched Mei doze in another one next to mine.

She could have joined me in mine. She would have only a few months ago but she finally grew out of that habit. It was curious how she had a much easier time picking up skills like cooking, hacking or electronic warfare in general, while struggling with basic people skills. She was making progress though and that made me happy.

I ran a hand through her short hair and she mumbled something in her sleep.

She had told me about the telenovelas she was working on for that friend of hers over dinner. And of course she had shown off her developing Spanish language skills a little as well. She still was very much a kid like that.

I had to admit though, she was making pretty good progress. What little she had picked up so far certainly already outshone my own lackluster language skills. Well, considering that I would probably spend some of my free time watching the shows she cracked soon I'd probably have ample chances to learn a thing or two as well. That is, if I didn't fall asleep while watching.

I ran my hand through Mei's hair once more, when my phone rang. The thing had been state of the art some twenty years ago. Nowadays you hardly ever even saw them anymore as most people had cheap implants instead.

That had never been an option for me though. And I hardly ever had that phone on me either. Like, why the hell would I have an easily traceable device on me wherever I went. I wouldn't have considered it even if I had nice and legal day job.

I reluctantly got up and tapped the screen to take the call. A suppressed number. No surprise although that wasn't exactly legal either. As the connection is established, annoyingly cheerful music starts playing.

“Hello, this is Bob, I have been trying to reach you about the extended warranty of your vehicle.”

I groaned. I knew the music, and more importantly the barroom where it was playing in. I knew the caller as well. His name was actually Bob and he was the boss of the Booze Boys. My tone was slightly annoyed as I replied anyway.

“Bob!”

He laughed and I could hear some more laughter in the background. After a moment he calmed down enough to continue.

“Sorry Izzy. Anyway, I heard you are short on booze. Why don't you come over to the clubhouse, we still got some. Oh! And we got the pool table fixed as well!”

He was, in all likelihood, not just inviting me over to have a good time. On the other hand he never just talked business either. Whatever prompted this call, he would tell me over a glass or two.

I nodded to myself.

“Sure. Care to give me a ride?”

“Oh babe, I'd love nothing more than to see you strut those killer legs, but if you want a ride I'll give you a ride.”

I rolled my eyes at the innuendo and hung up.

He would be around shortly. His gang's bar wasn't that far off. In all honesty, it was almost around the corner. If I had walked, I would have been there in a minute or two. Five at most.

I quickly got changed. My comfy stay at home clothes weren't exactly suited for going out, even if it was just a casual visit to a bar in the neighborhood.

No, as long as I could avoid it I wouldn't be caught wearing my comfy, wide pants and the plain shirt that was large and wide enough that the much shorter and more delicate Mei could have worn it as a dress, by anyone but Mei.

Instead I slipped into snug pair of panties, an equally snug tube top and a pleated micro skirt so short it barely covered anything at all. Bob really had a thing for my legs and I would take advantage of that to the fullest. For that reason I decided to complete my outfit with the high healed sandals, which added another three inches to my seven and then some feet, as well.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

It wasn't like I was planning on getting laid … eh, who was I kidding. We probably would end up ruining Bob's pool table. Again.

Before I could head out Mei stirred in her beanbag. She rubbed her eyes but didn't get up.

“Where you going?”

Oh damn! She looked just too adorable like that.

“Bob called and asked me to come over.”

I bent down to kiss the top of her head and she gave me a quick hug.

She didn't let go of me right away again though, although we both could already hear the engine of Bob's bike.

“Take care. The rumors the grapevine is spitting out suggest that something is up.”

I nodded and returned the hug briefly before straightening out again.

“I'll be careful. I'm no greenhorn anymore, you know. Maybe we can have a little movie marathon later if you get done with cracking those telenovelas.”

“Mhm.”

She was in no hurry to get back to work though and curled back up in her beanbag. Well, to be honest she probably could sleep the day away while her computers were slaving away for her. A simple task like cracking some encryption didn't need constant supervision after all.

Bob was already waiting, sitting there on his chopper, by the time I hit the street. He wasn't full conversion cyborg, not like Claws, but he came closer than most. Both of his arms had been replaced with obvious cybernetics. They weren't subtly anchored in the rest of his body either and of course they weren't his only cybernetic enhancements, even if the rest wasn't as obvious. A basic, unenhanced biological body couldn't support arms like that.

His toothy grin was still all original though.

“Oh, hot damn! Izzy, babe!”

I sauntered over to him, adding an exaggerated sway to my hips.

His jaw dropped open and the cigarette he had been smoking landed on the ground.

He wasn't able to utter a single word until I reached him and swung myself up onto his bike behind him. I snuggled up against him, hugging him close from behind.

“So, Bob, what is up? Why did you call me out?”

He was sweating a little now.

“Izzy, babe, can't a man invite the most gorgeous woman he knows to drink or two without having ulterior motives?”

I snorted as he revved the engine and we got going.

“Sure you could, but my little live in neighborhood spy told me that something was up.”

He grumbled a little. A sound the meshed surprisingly well with that of this bike's engine.

“Well, she isn't wrong. But lets get inside and have a drink first.”

Even as he finished talking we reached our destination. The bar which served as the headquarters of the Booze Boys. From the outside it was pretty similar to my own hideout, with the exception of the bright neon sign which took up much of the front facade.

As we got off the bike, a junior gang member hurried over to push it into a separate garage, while we headed inside.

We passed a guard post with half a dozen armed goons and entered the actual bar. A cheer went up and cat calls and wolf whistles sounded out. For a moment they even drowned out the sounds from the girls singing on stage.

I just rolled my eyes and headed over to the pool table. I let my hands wander over the rugged edges of the tables frame. There were plenty of nicks and scratches but there was also a fresh layer of polish. I even took a cautious sniff of the felt. It smelled new.

“You really fixed it. I really thought that you would burn it out back and get a new one instead.”

Bob headed for the bar first and got us some big mugs of beer. At the same time the others, who had been playing a game of pool until we arrived, stopped and set up the table for us instead.

As Bob arrived I took a big sip from my beer and sighed.

“So, what is up?”

He in turn emptied half his mug in one gulp. As he started talking we started playing as well, taking our turns with the cue stick.

“You remember that moron you dumped on the street today? He wasn't the first one. It isn't just us either. The other gangs are having some trouble as well. And, of course, he wasn't the worst.”

“Mhm.”

I almost missed my next move, as I suddenly felt his hand on my ass, giving it a good squeeze. I frowned at him over my shoulder before resuming the game and he resumed talking, without taking his hands off me though.

“We got assholes trying to sell drugs more often now. Not weed or booze like us, but that poison crap that damned church churns out.”

I stopped playing, but not listening, as his hand started wandering.

“And then, just the other day, some goons firebombed one of our breweries. That's why we are a little short on beer right now. They bungled the job though. They tried to make it look like it was one of the other gangs, but we managed to nap some of them alive. Got them talking before long as well. They are, or rather were, Church of Radiance street thugs. Those assholes are getting entirely too brazen.”

I nodded as I put the cue stick away for good, as his hand found its way in between my thighs at last. He was getting pretty brazen as well. So much for playing a game of pool. I decided to share some information of my own as well, without giving away to many details, before we would get too busy with other things to do any talking.

“Its not just here. Not just the gangs. They are getting more bold when dealing with GeneOSys as well. It probably won't be long now before we see blood in the streets. Well, more than usual anyway.”