Harold- "Good job kids! That EMP was a twist and it will cost us but it won't be too bad. Don't worry about your burned borgs Kate, replacements are in the expanses column."
Marcel- "Maybe she should, mine won't be cheap to fix."
Kate- "I'll live, this is still a better payday than anything in a long while. Certainly the biggest since my first job. All in all, a good day."
Harold- "I thought about it and I might have a way to get us some extra with this juicy info we are sitting on. Eden will stay in the dark, don't worry."
Marcel- "Now you are talking, putain de merde, you scared me."
Kate- "You sure?"
Harold- "Probably won't be a huge sum, but they are the discrete type... spooky. And they have a serious grudge against Eden."
Kate- "Won't bring any trouble on us?"
Harold- "Can't ever be 100%, but this is as close to it as things get."
Kate- What do you think?
Cere- Cherry trusts him well enough. She would have warned you if there were any major issues with his judgment.
Kate- You mean she would never have sent me here...
Cere- That as well.
Kate- "Sounds good. OK, try that. Honestly could use some more."
Spazz- "Don't we all?"
Harold- "True that."
Marcel- "Kate, I'll have to take a redo for the drink, my stomach got fried. I'll have to get it fixed ASAP Realistically I'll be on the chair for two days and that's if they have the parts."
Kate- "Fine by me, I also need some work done."
Marcel- "Wanna go together? My guy is nuclear."
Kate- "No, sorry, family plugs."
Marcel- "Oh? Could you get me a discount?"
Kate- "... don't count on it, it's Angel tech."
Marcel- "Putain, I'd kill for that."
Kate- "Don't even think about it!"
Marcel- "I've heard the stories don't worry, I don't plan to be hunted by death squads."
Kate- "I'm not saying never, who knows what might happen, but I wouldn't be the one to decide anyway. Harold, how long for the money?"
Harold- "Once you and Marcel send me an invoice for the parts I can send the sum, the 200 went through already."
Kate- "I was thinking of maybe upgrading a bit, could I get a market rate refund instead?"
Harold- "Sure, what database do we use?"
Kate- "Alabaster's?"
Harold- "These fuckers inflate their gear and stiff the competition."
Spazz- "I'd use Zurix's Used Doll Emporium, it's independent and public, Alabaster put a bounty on the founder for anti-competition practices. A ringing endorsement."
Cere- Kate, I don't recommend using besmirching propaganda to base your trans...
Kate- Cere, give me an estimate using Zurix.
Cere- Are you sure? Alabaster Megacorp can't be held liable if...
Kate- Confirm!
Cere- Seven thousand five hundred and thirty Paradise Credits. I must insist that...
Kate- "Seems fair on my side."
Harold- "Same, so it's agreed? Marcel send me your invoice as well..."
Cere- McNeil's Low-G Asset Recovery Unit Inc. sent us a transfer of 57382 credits, would you like to accept it?
Kate- * Cough! Cough* *small strangled voice* "That's a lot! *Cough*
Confirm!
Harold- "If the deal works I'll send the rest soon. Might take a few days to get an answer."
Kate- Cere, what's on the list?
Cere-
Rent
Clarex
Water
Nutrishake
gun oil
Cyberoine
Software upgrades
Elbow preventive repairs
new underwears
New socks
Translation mod
ear implants
premium Cerecom account
dye job
Kate- Start with the rent, deposit two extra months in advance.
Cere- Just in time, the repo team was scheduled for a visit today.
Kate- Fuckers jumped the gun? I thought I still had more than a week...
Cere- According to the message you had three days.
Kate- They said two weeks three days ago!
Cere- No, they said three days.
Kate- Fucking toaster brain...
Cere- Don't be so hard on yourself. Human brains are fickles, it isn't your fault. None the less Alabaster Megacorp prides itself on always being punctual with its debt collection.
Kate- Riiiiiiight! And the fact that you are an Alabaster product has nothing to do with it.
Cere- You don't sound convinced.
Kate- *sigh" Let's just... drop it. S'nt as if I could do shit bout it n'y way. Put an order for the rest, you know what brand I like... cept for the underwear and socks, we are swimming right now, I'll get something classier and more durable for once. Hell, I might even get some shiny new mag to go with the new socks...
Cere- If you want my opinion a new garderobe would be a propo to give you a more professional look. It might also be a good way to be more discrete in some areas.
Kate- Yeah... sounds good, haven't shopped for clothes in years. Maybe I should ask Alana, she always had a decent eye for that stuff.
Cere- Cherry is an icon in th...
Kate- No shopping with Cherry! I'll go broke or worse, she'll try to pay and hold it over me to ask for more frequent visits. Hey, before I forget, get me an appointment with Jeppetto.
Cere- Sent, they'll be free in two days.
Kate- I'll also need some hardware. Make sure to have the ammo, support gear, and grenades refilled. Double the stores, never know when we'll get another dry spell. Also, put two thousand in water taxes. Shit, m' bleeding money. Think I should make an emergency fund. Maybe 25k or so...
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Cere- Good idea, do you have anything specific in mind?
Kate- Need something discrete and easy to liquidate, in case something goes real south.
Cere- Might I suggest a corporate crypto portfolio? Alabaster credits...
Kate- Good joke, not looking to get scammed. Plus that stuff is way too easy to steal, lose or be tracked by interested parties. I need hard currency... Something I can stash in physical somewhere and won't take too much space.
Cere- Nanotube ultra-long strands?
Kate- Better... but I've heard Nanoflex is on the cusp of something that would equal the 30's production quality. If this is true the price would drop a thousandfold in a day.
Cere- This is highly speculative...
Kate- Exactly, too risky.
Cere- That's not...
Kate- I was thinking late 30's chips.
Cere- Good idea, the demand is always high for those, while supply has been dust for over seventy years. Nothing beats true AI-built electronics. Humans haven't been able to reproduce the pre-war golden age of technology.
Kate- And it won't change without making AI legal again and building the infrastructures. Giving some leeway if anything is about to change. Not like nanotubes, lab-grown bio assemblers are easy to replace quickly.
Cere- Computer chips can easily be faked or damaged though.
Kate- I'll need some auto-soft and study a bit for memory familiarity.
Cere- That would be advisable.
Kate- "Spazz, if I want to buy 30's chips, any soft you recommend?"
Spazz- "OOOHH! Now you're talking my language, wanna see my collection?"
Kate- "Not really, was thinking more about investment."
Spazz- Shame... I'll give you some pointers."
Kate- "Thanks, see ya boyz 'm out!"
Cere, cut the group chat and call Harold.
Cere- *End of transmission* Calling Harold.
Harold- "Yes?"
Kate- "I'll need a few days. Got lots of small things to take care of."
Harold- "Don't worry, Cherry would bury my bones downstairs if I said no. We are due for some down anyway, with Marcel down, and I was looking forward to some fishing in the ponics."
Kate- "Fishing? Are you mental? Ain't that some first immortal sports?"
Harold- "I'm rich... ish, and old, so I guess I'm just eccentric."
Kate- "Ever gone fishing... on Earth, I mean?"
Harold- "... ... ... That I did... With my old man's gear after he passed."
Kate- "How long ago was that?"
Harold- "Well, there wasn't anything to catch anymore but it never stopped me, I was young and well... life was rough and the meal options were... limited. Even the grass was gone at that point... one day, I got a bite, a scrawny thing... barely any meat on it. We were starving, gave it to my younger sister."
Kate- "How does it feel, to get food from nature I mean? To get it without paying."
Harold- "It was like magic, there is something in us, like a craving getting satisfied. You feel accomplished, I still remember the endorphins rush like a flood."
Kate- "First time you talk about your sister, she's around?"
Harold- "She died not long after... she ate the fish and got sick... real bad, shit was toxic. She was six."
Kate- "Shit, sorry."
Harold- "I'm not, not anymore at least. She was already dying, her organs were shutting down. At least she tasted fresh fish before. I didn't bury her... I survived."
Kate- "Fuck, that's horrible. I get it though."
Harold- "You don't, you can't, not fully. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad kids today have it a bit better, Paradise is Hell, but even Hell has layers."
Kate- "... Hey, maybe you could bring me some time... show me how..."
Harold- "I'd like that... next time, maybe. This one I think to go only with Captain Morgan."
Kate- "Gotcha, all seen shit ain't we? Better sometimes to brood a bit than going psycho... you gonna be OK?"
Harold- "Don't fret, I have my rod and I'm already on my way down. Everything will be gold once I throw some bait. Go get some rest, you've earned it. Good job out there."
Kate- "Still... I... I'm having second thoughts, I could have chosen differently back there and tried to stop it."
Harold- "The bomb?"
Kate- "I hate the fuckers with passion, but those people were not the ones..."
Harold- "Don't do that to yourself, nothing we could have done either way, it was already too late when we entered the ruins."
Kate- "Sometimes I get tired of justifying things to myself..."
Harold- "Listen to an old fart's advice, keep what is yours to bear and learn from it, the rest let it go it ain't yours to carry. There is enough in the first part to torture yourself justly, don't add a slice to that shit sandwich. We didn't plant the bomb, it was a click away from detonation. Even if we acted immediately on the info there was no time to evacuate anyone, and if we did, they would be on us like roaches on old pizza and we would be asked pointedly things we have no knowledge of."
Kate- "Sometimes I'm wondering how it feels..."
Harold- "What?"
Kate- "Selflessness."
Harold- "Depends."
Kate- "Of what?"
Harold- "Betrayal."
Cere- *End of connection*