There is a silence in the room as the two friends stare at each other in disbelief. They aren’t allowed to just be idle for long as Mat shoos the group out so he can prepare for his next client. It is obvious that he doesn’t want anything more to do with Jason now that he has been escalated. Whatever that means.
“I take it you two know each other.” Riley states her robotic eyes shifting back and forth between the two. “Is this going to be a problem Ms. Bowman?”
“No, not at all. We are just friends is all.” Kiran says with a curt bow.
“Friends, hmm.” The four-armed woman turns back to Jason. “Right, Ms. Bowman will escort you to Alejandro’s office. He will be personally handling your request from this point forward.”
The air is silent for a while as Jason follows behind Kiran. She seemed embarrassed though Jason didn’t know why. Yes, it is shocking that she works here of all places but she has multiple jobs and it isn’t like she has to tell him all of the places she works. The normal questions of why, how and when pop into his head but he isn’t entitled to any of those answers.
“The suit looks nice.” Jason says, breaking the tension.
Kiran is in an all black suit top and business skirt. The gun at her waist is a little unnerving but even its holster has the logo of a delivery box with EED patterned across it. He wouldn’t be surprised if the gun has Everyday Essential Deliveries livery too. The uniformed girl stops in her tracks and turns around to face Jason.
“What are you doing here?” Kiran whisper-screams as she pokes his chest with her finger. “This place of all days and what did you bring?”
“I mean I could ask you what you are doing here but I think it is pretty obvious.” Jason states.
“It isn’t about me. You don’t want to get mixed up in anything going on here.” Kiran says with a huff. “Everyone here is dangerous, you could be packed up in an instant and the auti wouldn’t even bat an eye. Another accident and you are on the unrecoverable list.”
Jason furrowed his brow. “You seem to be doing fine.”
“It’s not about me.” She says exasperatedly. “You are about to meet Alejandro García, do you know who that is?”
“No.” Jason admits.
“No wonder you are so calm. He is Florian Muller’s right hand man.” Kiran says with some intensity as she looks Jason straight in the eyes. “Yes, that Florian Miller, one of the most infamous Shadow Brokers in, fuck I don’t know, all of Earth sphere.” Kiran says quietly. “Just take whatever you brought here and leave. You don’t want to be dragged any further into this mess.”
The highest ranked underboss of a Shadow Broker is called a Mid. They handle the day to day operations of the Shadow Broker’s public face. At the top of the list of people Jason never wanted to run into in his life they are very close to the top. If anyone could make him and Wynn disappear without a trace it is a Mid no doubt. Even with the endocrine system mellowing out his emotional response his rational mind also began to panic.
“Well, I can’t just go back now can I?” Jason says his expression is not changing much.
“Shit. No.” Kiran takes a deep breath. “Just be carefull. From this point forward no communication device or augmentation will work. What did you bring anyway?”
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“It is a long story. I will tell you when this is over.” Jason says.
Kiran looks like she wants to ask more questions but drops the subject and continues leading him to an elevator guarded by armed androids. They head up to the top floor. Jason can’t help but admire Kiran’s look. He had never seen her in such fancy clothing. The job he knew about was her logistics position which saw her traveling around the ring dressed mainly in overalls or spacewear.
“So. EED how long you been work’n here?”
“Hasn’t been long, honestly.” Kiran states as she crosses her arms over her chest. “I don’t want to talk about it though.”
“Something happen?” Jason asks.
“Something always happens.” She says coldly. “That’s Solar City for you. Land a’dreams.” She looks at Jason with an expression he can quite make out. Tired maybe. “Just be safe, okay?”
Kiran does not join him inside of the office and he finds himself alone following the path. Alejandro’s office is like nothing Jason has ever seen. A botanical garden with actual plants and a floral scent that is completely divorce from the harsh smell permeating every other square inch of the city. A pathway made from marble and impregnated with gold leads through the serene visage. A small creek flows through the office space beneath a glass with another oddity he has never seen; living fish.
The path opens up to a space with Alejandro sitting at a black desk made from twisting metal in a style that does not fit the otherwise nature centric theme. Beside the disk is a menter rack which came up from the floor. The rack holds up the augmentation he brought in in a lifesize skeletal framework. A menter rack is the proper way to store and transport an augmentation outside of a human body of course so it is not so surprising.
However, what immediately arrests Jason’s attention is one of the holographic screens playing the footage of an Orbital Police space interceptor. He could recognize that ship anywhere with the number 74 in white livery. It is Wynn’s ship as it approaches the police hangar. The screen as well as several others Jason hadn’t looked at turns off. Jason knows that this was intentional Alejandro wanted him to see the ship, he wanted him to know he can get to Wynn. That he knows where she is, but why Jason hasn’t done anything out of the ordinary.
“Well, well if it isn’t the man himself. You are causing quite the little ruckus, Jason.” Alejandro says.
Jason finally focuses on the man sitting at the desk with a suit most like worth more than everything He and Wynn owned. Jason of course saw the man earlier but did not internalize his appearance until he spoke. Alejandro is a complete fusion of man and machine to the point where it is impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins. People like him are called droids. They replace so much of their bodies with augmentations that they look more machine than man. Although his body looks relatively human with synthetic flesh over steel and components. His face however is smooth metal that shimmers like liquid in the light and he doesn’t even have a mouth. The only thing to break up the featureless surface is his glowing red eyes of which he has three.
“I don’t know why I just want to sell one small sensory augmentation. I doubt it is worth your attention.” Jason says his fear is choked back by the endocrine system.
“And yet here we are.” Alejandro says with a gesture. “Please have a seat. Would you like some tea?”
A chair rises from the marble floor directly from the desk for Jason to sit which he obliges.
“Is there a problem with the augmentation? If it is causing any trouble I will take it somewhere else.” Jason says quickly. “I know you have to be very busy.”
Alejandro stands up and walks around his desk in front of Jason. “You did not answer my question.”
“What?” Jason says confused.
A woman walks into view from behind Jason with a tray and tea set. A table rises from the ground and she places cups down filling up one which Alejandro promptly takes. Alejandro retreats to his chair and appears to be smelling the tea which Jason didn’t know how since he didn’t have a nose.
“Smells wonderful as always, Chiara. Thank you.” Alejandro says. “Jason, would you like some tea? Chiara here makes the best in all of… hell anywhere that is why I had to hire her.”
“Uh… y-yes I would love some thank you.” Jason states.
There is a moment of silence as Chiara pores a second cup and hands it to him which he thanks her for. A small coffee table rises from the floor next to Jason’s chair. Jason has never had real tea before the stuff was insanely expensive. He did not know what to expect when the herbal nectar graced his lips. He is surprised at how good it tasted so much so that he ended up drinking the entire cup before he even realized.