The atmosphere upstairs really was different. Once the door that led downstairs closed, it became eerily silent at first. The noise of the chatter and music coming from the common area didn't get past the door, at all. A few seconds passed and Keith's eyes adjusted to the dimly lit hallway. As his ears weren't assaulted by the commotion anymore, he realized that there was some music playing, almost like elevator music. The walls were covered in doors, leading to rooms with a couch, something that seemed like a stripper pole, and a regular coffee table. Vince led them to one of the rooms further down the corridor, near the bathrooms and fire exit.

"Please, take a seat. Feel free to take any drinks from the mini-fridge behind the couch." said Vince while closing the door behind him.

"Ah, no thanks, we'll pass for now. We're only really here for business." replied Kate, "Maybe after all the boring talk we can have some fun."

She sat on the edge of the couch, while Vince sat right in the middle, resting both of his arms across the back. Keith simply leaned back against the door with his arms crossed.

"So, Keith, what are you looking for? Implants? New limbs? Life advice?" said Vince, smiling.

"You know what we're here for." said Kate before he could reply.

"Yes yes, of course. I'm just lighting up the mood a bit." Vince straightened up and joined his hands together. "You want the special kind of stuff. Real underground illegal shit. I don't really have anything of the like on me, or at all if I'm being honest. Someone catches you with any unregistered mods, even if it's just lying there, in the back of your closet, you're done. No questions asked. I wonder though, you don't seem like the type of client that would ask for such... shady cybernetics."

While being completely immobile, Keith replied, "It's not for me. In fact I'm not really interested in buying. I just have a few questions concerning a certain model of the A.M.P.C., you know anyone that might supply the real deal?"

"It's not that he's not interested," interjected Kate. "He's just a bit nervous and doesn't want to seem like an easy prey to such a ferocious salesman."

"I see, I see!" laughed Vince. "I won't bite you, don't worry. I may or may not know. See, I happen to know that you're quite an upright citizen. Being a cop and all. I don't have anything against that, you know? I just don't know if I can trust you. It is pretty sensible information, and I wouldn't want to lose my job overnight."

"Relax, we're not here to dismantle any organizations. I just want to know who might've gotten a hold of said part. I already have my hands full with something else right now. I'll turn a blind eye, if we do meet again afterwards, I'll act as if nothing happened here. We don't know each other, I have no idea what you do for a living. Complete strangers. Can't be a bad deal for you, right?"

Vince pondered over those words for a few moments, looked at his watch, and then in front of him. Then at his watch again, nervously.

"I think I'll go to the bathroom real quick, give it a few thoughts." mumbled Vince, standing up.

"Take your time." replied Keith, stepping away from the door and sitting down next to Kate.

"He seemed to be a tad uneasy." pointed out Kate. "You do anything to him? Stop scaring away our leads with your imposing stature."

"I'm not that imposing, you're just tiny compared to me."

"Anyway, what do you think of him? He's not that bad, right? Almost a decent fellow. We met by accident and he tried to sell me legs so that I'd be taller. He said it was a joke and that he's sorry and all that, but I asked around and looked into him. I may or may not have blackmailed him, knowing that he does indeed partake in illegal activities."

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"What I think of him is gonna be obvious in a few minutes." replied Keith, putting his hand up to his ear.

Curious, she put her hand on her own ear, seeing if anything's going on. Silence. She looked over to Keith, staring at her with an amused look on his face.

"I changed the channel in the time we weren't working together, sorry beauty, but I'm gonna have a solo listen before I share it with you."

Catherine feigned being hurt and pouted, deciding to take a drink out of the fridge.

"I'm telling you, they didn't show up, what am I supposed to do now? It's that stupid famous cop, you know he's gonna sniff our asses out if we don't get rid of him! Don't you have any idea what we-"

Keith's attention was moved from eavesdropping, to his phone. He took it out and read the text message that just came in.

You don't have to thank me, I'm doing this for myself.

He realized something was awry. He looked over at Kate, she was pouring herself a glass of whiskey. As she was about to start enjoying it, she stopped, frowned, and put the glass back down. She sat back and crossed her legs, turning to face Keith, who just realized that there was no transmission anymore. They both looked at eachother and understood that something wasn't right. Keith stood back up and positioned himself next to the door, in case something or someone decided to crash the party. After a few minutes that seemed to feel like an eternity, someone knocked and slowly opened the door.

"Helllloooo? I'm back, just making sure I'm not disturbing anything. You guys looked like you were out on a date so I'm just making sure I'm not walking in on anything." Vince said, while chuckling. "What were we talking about again? Ah yes, right, right. I'll have to ask my suppliers to see if they could help you. It might cost ya, but since I'm uh, friends, with the missus here, I'll try to get you a discount. How's that sound?" he added, trying to look calm and collected.

Keith slowly stepped away from the wall, cracking his knuckles. "Look, I couldn't care less about your operation, all I want is info. I just had confirmation that something was supposed to happen, something that would get you rid of us. Not a bad plan, you know. Accepting an invitation from someone that blackmailed you, that way you can get rid of them if things went your way. Nobody would've noticed since, after all, these rooms are completely soundproof. I'll have to commend the owner for the privacy of his VIPs. That aside, you must've heard from Catherine right here, that I would be here. Otherwise, how would you know my name in the first place if I didn't even mention it? You also knew I was a cop from the get-go, which is a bold assumption to make in this part of town at this hour. Seems like you did your fair amount of research, and you must know that I never let go once I bite into something."

Vince slowly stepped back, with a bead of sweat slowly crawling down his face. He suddenly unsheathed a sizeable pocket knife from under his blazer, pointing the knife at Keith, switching to Kate, back and forth while fumbling to find the doorknob behind his back.

"Just calm down, friend. Sit down, have a drink." advised Kate, while admiring her nails, "It's not like it'll kill you, right?"

He immediately turned around, trying to run away as he grabbed the handle, ready to swing the door open and sprint as fast as he could, but stopped completely once he heard a click and something press against his head.

"It's a real shame that civilians can't carry firearms, wouldn't you agree? On the other hand, the people enforcing the law can. I can assure you that after all of these... unfortunate events, that you're not walking out of here a free man. We could've had a deal, you could've went on your merry way and nothing would've happened. I'm disappointed in you, Vince. Or should I call you Sebastian? You can lie to people, but you can't hide things from me."

"OKAY! OKAY! Look, I surrender, don't hurt me, please!" he pleaded. Keith motioned at Kate to handcuff him, as he was afraid he would run away as soon as the weapon was withdrawn.

"I'll handle him, I have a few words to exchange with the owner before leaving this place. You can go ahead and go home, I'll be fine. Just make sure you send a patrol car my way, yeah? Don't want to walk with him all the way down to the station. I'll have some questions for him in the morning."

"Sounds good to me, I'll bring this bottle for analysis since it's spiked with a lethal amount of poison. Make sure you ask him who stocks these fridges, doubt it just appeared out of thin air." she replied, "Also, you're not going to make me go back to my car in the rain, are you?"

Keith laughed, took off his suit jacket and put it over her shoulders. "Now you'll be fine. Just be careful, it might act a sail and carry you in the wind with how large it is compared to you."

"One of these days you're going to regret making fun of me, I swear!" Kate giggled. "Don't rough him up too much, will ya?"

"I can't promise you, but I'll try. Alright buddy, let's go for a little stroll."

Keith left the room, with Vince in front of him while Catherine stood there, her face buried in the collar of the jacket.

"I see you still wear the same cologne after all this time..." she whispered.