Rogue guided me back to the bar, where an arrogant man waited impatiently. His most notable feature was three eyes on his face's right side. In some ways, I found that more disturbing than the completely monstrous borg beast Maelstrom, though I couldn't tell you why. His maroon suit spoke of someone who both wanted to mingle with the Corpo crowd but also wanted to stand out. His grey hair told me he had been around the block. He must have had quite a few aces up his sleeves, because I already wanted to shoot him. No one so full of their own importance could survive long without a few tricks.

Only seconds of being in his presence and he was looking down on me. His gaze was on me for less than ten seconds before he dismissed me as unimportant. Strike One.

"Is this merc trash the reason you tried to reschedule? I fail to see what could be so important that years of planning needed to be delayed further." He wasn't even afraid of Rogue, in her own club. Meaning he had something on her, or backers that did. While that was plenty interesting, it was still strike two.

Rogue glared at him for a few seconds, before turning to me. I noticed her guard was rather uncomfortable. So much so, he had his hand on his iron. Hmm. What a curious situation. Why wouldn't they just end this man? So many options came to mind.

"Medic, the package I promised will be delivered shortly. Please enjoy my hospitality until then." Her fierce expression wasn't for me, so I didn't worry about it. She turned back to the rude man, "Faraday, lets get this over with." She turned intending to lead him to the backrooms.

I nodded and waved my hand at her. "A pleasure to have met you, Ma'am." I smiled broadly while walking pass them to the bar.

But some people don't understand when it's time to keep their mouths shut.

"Yes, go sit with Maine's trash runners, boy." A petty gesture, designed to salve his ego. Strike three.

I twisted back towards him and grabbed the back of his neck. He drew an Omaha, but it was already too late. Without a Sandy or a Keren, no standard person was as fast as me. Even a top athlete would have a hard time keeping up, without chrome. One of the delightful benefits of this new body.

I pulsed my mana direction into his brain stem, cutting the motor nerves. He was mostly meat, so it was easy. His arms fell to his sides and his pistol hit the floor. Faraday would have followed, now unable to maintain the strength to stand, if not for my hand holding him up as if he was a puppy.

I leaned him against the bar, and then got him onto a stool. It's not easy to maneuver a limp body, so it took a moment. In that moment, Rogue's guard had drawn his iron and aimed at me. Rogue herself already had her pistol out and ready, but at least it was aimed at the floor.

For that matter about half the people in the club had already armed up and were looking for a target when their eyes fell on me. Soon I had a whole room of folks ready to fill me full of holes. I wondered if my healing could out pace the damage. Though there was no particular reason to find out right now.

I kept my movements slow. "So how important is he, really?" It wasn't my first time having iron pointed in my direction. It was however the first time I had faced such a certain death, should I make a mistake.

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"He isn't. This project is." Rogue said in a calm and measured tone. She was weighing the value of my life over the value of Faraday's. I doubt I was winning that measuring contest. So let's change the equation.

"He's not dead, by the way. Despite appearances. I just cut off his connection to his motor nerves. I imagine a doc could put him back together, but it would be expensive. Or I could do it in about three seconds." I held my hands out, showing that I was "harmless".

I heard laughter in the crowd, it was Wrekt. "Good job, kid! Fuck that Gonk!" That trigger a wave of laughs from everyone else and shortly after only Rogue's guard had me in their crosshairs.

"Stand down, Crispin. I don't see any point in escalation." Heh, the numbers came out in my favor after all. I was starting to think John had been a bad influence on me.

Rogue took a stool at the bar. I stayed leaning up against the bar, still trying not to seem threatening. Though a small grin had made its way to my lips.

"What a day. I need him, what would it take to have him restored?" She was annoyed, but also amused. I had a feeling she was no stranger to gutsy moves herself.

"Nothing really, but are you sure you want him restored? He's much nicer this way." I knocked on his skull. "Oh, and be aware he can still see and hear, he just can't move anything." I patted his head like a stray dog.

She chuckled, "You are a real bastard. I need information he has, and he has backers I need to deal with." She bit her lip ever so slightly. I would have given more than a penny for her thoughts right then.

"How about I help you out then, for future favors. I'll restore his ability to speak, but nothing else until he cooperates with you. Once he fulfills his side of whatever bargain you two had, I'll came back and restore him. Ah, he still needs to eat and excrete, so maybe intubate him and all of that." I tapped my index finger against his head in time with my words.

"I see. Well, I certainly have no other way to persuade you to fix him. I accept." Her smirk said it all, she liked this outcome almost as much as I did. I wondered when I had become so cruel. So conniving. I tried to ignore the little voice in the back of my head that said this was just as petty a reaction as his.

"Excellent." I reconnected the nerves to his mouth, lips, jaw, and tongue.

"I will repay this insolence." He whispered to me.

I leaned down next to his ear, "How are you going do that? Go ahead, push me, buddyboy. I'll cause your own immune system to turn on you. I hear tell that's a right painful condition."

For perhaps the first time in his miserable life, Faraday showed a measure of wisdom, and stayed silent.

Rogue and Crispin dragged him away. and I sat at the bar for a while before another bartender came back and delivered an large envelope.

Inside was a glasslike Agent a couple of laminated cards, a couple of fobs, and a plastic map with direction to both a car and a place in Megabuilding 4. The cards were temp IDs until Rogue's people could work up a better digital footprint for me. The car was a Chevillon Emperor, though a custom model. Not really my style but it would do for now. The apartment in MB 4 was listed as an Executive Suite, and seemed to be near the top of the building.

I thanked the bartender, a lovely lady name Sherry, and started to leave the club. I waved goodbye at Rebecca and Sasha, who both returned my wave with enthusiastic waves of their own.

I followed the map closely, keeping one eye out for danger, but it didn't take long to find the Emperor. A custom job indeed. It looked like the Tyger Claws had had their hands on it for a while, as it was gussied up in bright neon shades of red and yellow with green trim here and there. Ew. Well, getting it painted wouldn't be hard. I used the fob to open it up and start the engine.

The sound said it had power to spare. Someday I'd see if that was true.

As I drove to MB 4 my thoughts danced a mile a second. I reviewed recent events and tried to plot out better reactions for next time.

My mind kept coming back to one issue. A lot of my manipulation of energies had been using a brute force methodology. Lots of mana and willpower. Now that I had completed my initial goal, and had a place to holdup, it was past time to start exploring the depths of Life Control. All my abilities really, but lets start with that one.

It was time to find a Joytoy.