Now that Jason was finally free of the drug dealer he could really see the magnitude of the redlight district. This one was at least six floors up and who knows how many down. Shops ranged from love hotels, adult toy stores to brothels and stripclubs and anything between. As he walked he was being catcalled by half naked male and female sexworkers called silicone dolls. He would have been embarrassed if not for the endocrine system restricting his emotional responses.
It doesn’t take long to reach the end of the redlight district which abruptly stops at the entrance to a building that seems out of place next to, well, everything else. The building is subdued and dark with a single man standing outside in a suit watching him as he approaches. The man is massive, a fusion of combat augmentations and natural muscle he looks more like a dark brown tank than a man. He stands at least seven feet tall with a suit that looks like it could giveaway to the bulk of the man underneath.
“Welcome to Everyday Essentials Deliveries.” The man says with a synthetic vocalizer which somehow made him more intimidating. “Wait there while I scan you.” After a few seconds pass the man nods. “You may enter, Jason, there will be a receptionist waiting for you.”
Inside is not what Jason expected for a place directly connected to the black market. There is a reception desk in the middle of a large waiting room. Several other people have lined up at the reception desk and he decides to step in line with the others. It doesn’t take long before the man in front of him is finally led away to some other area and he can step up to the receptionist.
Her name tag says Riley and both of her eyes are ocular augmentations, the kind that look more machine than human. Both eyes are black aside from the red heart iris which looks to beat to her actual heartbeat and complete lack of a pupil. Jason quickly realizes that she has four arms, all of them cybernetic and working in perfect unison. She types away on screens only she can see as he steps up. Even more impressive is the fact that he recognizes the tech as a military grade limb splitter. He knows for a fact that each of her arms is an independent swiss army knife of different weapons, any one of which could turn him into a flesh mist before he could react. If not for the endocrine system mellowing him out Jason would never have been able to step to the desk with such a dangerous woman manning it. Hell he would not have made it to the front door with such an intimidating guard outside..
“Jason Smith.” Riley says her voice also synthesized from a vocalization augmentation. “Welcome, how can we help you today? Are you here to check the status of a package or drop off.”
Jason doesn't know what to say. “Uh, I have something I would like to, uh, sell?”
“Ah, you must have misspoke as we are not a pawn shop.” The woman states with a sly smile as she stops typing and for the first time looks at him. “We are particular about shipments…” her face blossoms into a bright red. “Oh god you are gorgeous.” She says under her breath before she clears her throat. “I mean, we only ship items with a value greater than ten-thousand credits. Does your package fit this criteria?” She says as she sits up a bit straighter.
Jason is hesitant to answer at first as he doesn’t want just anyone to know how much what he is caring is worth.
“Yes.” The young man finally says.
“Please proceed to number twenty-three.” The woman says as one of the woman's arms points in the direction. “Thank you for choosing us for all of your delivery needs.”
Jason preseeds to the indicated space which is an office door with the number holographically emblazoned on the wall. The name of the office is Mathieu Dubois and as he approaches the door it slides open. Mathieu is sitting at his desk with his feet up and a pin balancing on his lip. He quickly grabs the pin and stands up when he sees Jason walk in. Jason is surprised that Mathieu doesn't seem to be a walking death machine like the other two employees he has seen so far.
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“Ah… lets see, lets see. Jason Smith is it?” The man says it with a wide smile. “My name is Mathieu Dubois but please just call me Mat. Come-come, have a seat amizé. Let’s get to it.”
Jason does as instructed, taking the only chair across from Mathieu. He also gets a good look at the office and it is pretty sterile except for a decently sized mail chute in the corner. Mathieu reaches out his hand for Jason and the two shake. Mathieu does one loud clap before sitting down in his chair with a plop.
“This is your first time here right?” Mat says his eyes have a glint indicating he is looking at some file on his augmentation. “So let me go over the rules with you, amizé.” He holds up a finger. “First no shipping living humans, we do not care if you fit them into the right sized box.” He holds up a second finger. “We don’t do anything with scavs so if you are hauling some augmentation you or your amizés stripped from some sad sack in an alley take it somewhere else.” He holds up a third finger “And third all shipments must have a value of greater than ten-thousand credits. So what do you have for us?”
Jason watches the man closely for a minute just to make sure he isn’t going to jump him and take his bag. Although if Mat decided he wanted to there isn’t much Jason could do. He places the bag on the desk and opens it so Mat can see the content and when he does he stands up and walks towards the door of his office.
“Tsk tsk. Did you not just listen to me, amizé?” Mat shakes his head. “We don’t accept anything from a scav. Fuck man sensory augmentation. You can see yourself out.”
“It is mine. I didn’t strip anyone.” Jason says in his defense refusing to stand.
“Oh it’s yours is it? Then why the fuck isn’t it in your body.” Mat responds.
“I was stripped.” Jason states. “And given a different… system.”
Mat sighs and walks back around to his desk picking up the bag as he sits back in his chair. He makes a call to someone on his augmentation and after a few minutes of silence the office door opens and Riley walks in. She quickly surveys the room and Mat throws the bag to her which she promptly snatches out of the air. He wants to protest as she walks out but Mat pulls a pistol and sets it on his desk, the threat obvious.
“Hop down, amizé, we just have to verify your claim.” Mat states as he places a foot on his desk. “If it comes back to be yours we can help you ship it. If not you’ll get it back and get on your merry way. No need to make a scene, right?”
Jason is surprised at how calm he is in the situation. The panic, the adrenaline and even desire to run now that guns have been pulled is all muted. Of course they would want to check the authenticity of the augmentation. If they didn’t they could be scammed by any Joe Schmo that can put together a convincing fake. Once they see it is his and that he really was stripped everything will be fine.
“How much will I get for it.” Jason asks calmly. “After you see that it really is mine.”
A smile stretches across Mat’s face. “Ah, I like you kid, right down to biz. It looked like a grade-5 pretty pricey stuff, but for you to get rid of it instead of reinstalling means one of three things. You either have something better which is unlikely for a mechanic that was just laid off from his job, can’t afford maintenance, or it is busted and you are trying to make some quick ones at our expense.”
Jason is taken back at the fact they knew he was just laid off from his job. He just found that out this morning and they already knew in the few minutes he had been there. That told him however they get information is quick and invasive. What else did they know about him?
The door opens again and Riley returns this time with an assistant behind her though Jason can't get a clear line of sight of whoever it is. Jason immediately notices that she is not holding his bag in any of her four hands.
“Mr. Smith it would appear that your request has had to be… escalated.” Riley states with some hast to her voice. “Mr. Alejandro would like to speak with you.”
Mat whistles. “Alejandro wants to talk to him? What in the hell did you bring us, amizé?”
“My assistant will take you to his office.” Riley states with a curt bow. “Miss Bowman.”
The young woman behind Riley steps into the office and their eyes lock. Both of them are speechless as they see each other for the second time today. They say each others names in unison all but pointing at each other in surprise.
“Kiran?” Jason says
“Jason.” Kiran says at the same time.