The Afterlife was quiet in the early afternoon. It would only really start to get busier later that night.
Sophie leaned against her Raven, the sleek Quadra parked in the furthest corner of the car park. She was waiting for her target to arrive. A few days of stalking the area suggested she always showed up around 1pm, thus Sophie was lying in wait.
She didn’t have to wait long. Rogue Amendiares was punctual to a fault, pulling into the car park in her custom dark green Quadra. The ‘Mistral’ was nice, but Sophie didn’t think it compared to her Raven.
Rogue barely gave Sophie a glance as she made her way toward the doors. To her, Sophie was a nobody. A kid her age wouldn’t have anything to offer. But that casual dismissal suited Sophie just fine. If all went according to plan, the woman wouldn’t think that way for long.
Her optics tracked Rogue’s movements, locking onto the iconic pistol holstered on her hip. Pride gleamed in the dull daylight. When she played the game, Pride had been one of Sophie’s favourite weapons. Unfortunately, it was a pain to get. But in this life? Sophie prided herself on her abilities to obtain things she shouldn’t.
The timing was perfect. The Queen of Fixers had passed by, completely ignoring the younger girl. Sophie straightened and slipped into step behind the woman, activating Ghost. The thief’s feet hit the ground at the same time as Rogue’s, masking any sound that may escape her stealth. She had to make an impression.
Rogue stepped through the entrance to the stairway. As she reached the first step, Sophie made her move.
One of the things the girl had done over the past few days, outside of stalking Rogue, was test out one of her new abilities. Namely, Thief’s Hand. It was…magical. It retained all the abilities of Sleight of Hand, but it was so much more. To be precise, she simply had to move her hand close to what she wanted. Then she could just will the item from its location to her hand.
Hence, her hand moved towards the pistol’s holster. With a brief flex of willpower, Pride was hers. She stopped moving as the older woman continued, careful not to make any sounds.
Once Rogue was gone, she didn’t linger. Her steps carried her away from the Afterlife entrance. A small smile crept onto her face as she leaned back against her car, the pistol now in hand. She turned it over, admiring the intricate design. It was funny though. She didn’t think it was very special anymore. Not compared to her Talons.
Her curiosity satisfied, Sophie perched outside the Afterlife, casually twirling Pride in her hand. Now she just had to wait. Hopefully the woman would realise her weapon was gone soon. The thief didn’t want to spend all afternoon waiting after all.
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Inside the bar, Rogue made her way to the back, where Crispin “Squama” Weyland waited. The bulky man leaned against the wall of Rogue’s personal booth. His arms were folded over his chest as he waited for his boss.
“Rogue,” he greeted with a curt nod.
“Squama,” she replied, taking a seat.
His gaze flicked to her hip. “You leave Pride at home today?”
Rogue’s brows furrowed. Her hand instinctively went to her holster, but it was empty. Her expression darkened. A subtle edge of confusion crossed her face.
“It was with me earlier,” she muttered, scanning the room as though the pistol might reappear if she willed it hard enough.
Weyland smirked, his amusement poorly concealed. “Getting sloppy?”
Her glare silenced him. “Not a chance.”
She rose, her movements stiff with frustration. “I’ll be back.”
Rogue stepped outside, the tension in her shoulders unmistakable. Her sharp eyes swept the car park. They landed on Sophie.
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The girl sat on the hood of her car, casually spinning Pride in her hand like a toy. A sly grin played across her face as she met Rogue’s annoyed gaze. There was a small hint of relief in the fixer’s features though.
“You’re bold, I’ll give you that,” Rogue said, striding toward her.
Sophie tilted her head, flipping the pistol in her palm before holding it out. “Looking for this?”
Rogue snatched the weapon, inspecting it carefully before sliding it back into her holster. Her expression was unreadable as she scrutinised the younger girl. She took in the pair of cyberarms, though they were a completely unfamiliar design. She could also see chrome across her collarbones that descended down her back. The woman furrowed her brows.
“What’s your angle, kid?”
“Simple. I want work. And I want it from the best. That’s you.” Sophie leaned back against her Quadra. The grin she bore never faltered. “And I don’t want to be someone you pass off random jobs to. I want to be part of your inner circle, someone you give the good jobs to. I want to be someone who’s already trusted.”
Rogue tilted her head, the faintest smirk playing on her lips. “You think you’re ready for that kind of responsibility? That I’m gonna let any random schmuck reach the top so easily?”
“I do. You wouldn’t even be entertaining this conversation if you weren’t somewhat interested.” Sophie spoke without hesitation. Rogue was a difficult character to work with. If she wanted the woman to respect her, she couldn’t back down in any way.
“What’s your name, girl? I’d like to know who I’m speaking with.”
“Sophie. Sophie Mortimer.” She stuck her hand out. Rogue took it gingerly and shook.
“Well Sophie. You got any experience with merc work?” Her tone had changed and Sophie realised she was being interviewed. Now impress her and the job is yours Soph!
“I do. I’ve been doing work for the Mox since I was around eight. I’m eleven now. Whenever I don’t have work from them, I find it myself. I normally target the gangs or scavs.” She paused. With a sly grin, she added, “Though maybe you’ve heard about a little commotion in the camp of everyone’s favourite new colonel?”
Visibly, nothing showed on Rogue’s face. Mentally however, she was reviewing the information she had gathered about the incident with the Barghest troops over a month ago. The Voodoo’s had attacked them suddenly and it was only after a bit of digging that Rogue’s people found more info. Someone had stirred up the hornet's nest, but their identity and current status was unknown.
“Here’s the deal. I’ll verify what you’ve said. If it’s all true, you’ll receive an invitation to join me here tomorrow morning. Word of warning kid. I don’t like people that lie to me. Now scram. I’ve got better things to do than entertain a rookie like you.” Despite her words, there was no real hostility in the woman’s voice.
“Yes ma’am!” Sophie said with a mock salute and a wide grin. Rogue waved her away, then turned and made her way back into the Afterlife. Sophie, feeling her mission was successful, happily jumped in her Quadra and sped off.
Down in the bar, her bodyguard spoke to her, eyeing the retrieved pistol holstered on the fixer’s hip.
“Well? What happened?”
“I met someone interesting. I’ll find out later if they’re really worth my time.”
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Later that evening, Rogue was reviewing the information her netrunner, Nix, had gathered about the strange girl she’d encountered earlier in the day. Very good working relationship with the Mox. Impeccable record. Specialising in data and item acquisition. High capabilities in stealth and infiltration. In recent years she has demonstrated a significant level of skill with guns. She paused and rubbed her temples before continuing. Has demonstrated on occasion skilled driving abilities. Personally modified her car, a Quadra Type-66 she acquired from a group of Raffen Shiv.
She continued reading, noting that the girl really did have some serious skill. Especially for her age. She recalled the unfamiliar cyberarms. “Maybe some kind of corpo experiment? Worth looking into I suppose.” She muttered to herself. As she reached the end of the data, she found the thing that most interested her. Along with a note from Nix that simply read “Very little footage found. Footage uncorrupted. Suspect unique prototype cyberware or equipment.”
Rogue watched the footage of Sophie’s escape from Hansen’s troops. It was impressive to say the least. Just from the small amount of footage she could see, the girl’s injuries were severe. The willpower to push through that…Safe to say, Rogue was interested. Very interested. Specifically, her ability to vanish was unlike anything she had ever seen. Optical Camo certainly didn’t do such a good job. She sent out a few messages. The girl would get her chance. But she’d have to prove herself. Prove that she deserved to work under the Queen herself.
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The next morning, Sophie wandered down the steps of the Afterlife for the first time. Outwardly, she tried to portray a sense of calmness and maturity. On the inside however, she was squealing with excitement. It was a chance to truly step into the world of mercenaries. As Jackie Welles would say, she had gotten a chance to step into the major leagues.
The bouncer at the door wasn’t the one Sophie remembered. Instead, it was a burly woman. Her frame and general appearance however, screamed that she was part of the Animals. She gruffly directed the much younger girl over to Rogue’s booth. Standing in front was a familiar face. Crispin “Squama” Weyland looked at her with undisguised curiosity.
“Let her through Squama.” Rogue told him. He moved aside, still eyeing her. She grinned at him and waved. He was slightly taken aback, then returned the smile and wave. Sophie liked him already. The girl took a seat opposite the Queen of the Afterlife.
“Well kid, I’m interested. Doesn’t seem like you’re lying about anything and the Susie Q had a lot of good things to say,” she paused. “But, I haven’t seen enough. I’ve got a job for you. If you can complete it, we’ll have further discussions.” She pulled out a shard and placed it on the table. “Go on. Have a look.”
Sophie picked it up and slipped it into one of the ports on her neck. The gig details opened up in her eyes and she began looking through it. There wasn’t much, a fact Sophie suspected meant things were being hidden from her. A test then.
“How important is it that you get your hands on this data?”
“Very. Not confident?”
“It’s not that. I just want to know whether you want to reduce the chances the op goes south? I can get it done myself. It’ll be harder but it’s not impossible. But if I had a netrunner, it would probably go much smoother.” Rogue smirked at her.
“I want to see what you can do by yourself. If you can’t even do this, I have no use for you. You’re not that useless are you?” Sophie could tell the woman was trying to poke her pride, to force her to behave impulsively. If that’s how she wanted to play it, Sophie would oblige.
“Fine. We’ll do it your way. But don’t be too surprised when I get back. You’re leaving this to me, so I’ll do it my way. You’ll have your data tonight.” Sophie got up to leave.
“Y’know, for what it’s worth, I’ve got high hopes.” The young girl stared back.
“I won’t disappoint.”