Wrap had sent a message, to meet him at the Southern Section 5 Lifts, and we would go up together.

I left my Fire and extra gear and just grabbed the too small package for the goods.

Meowser was going to take a break from his Hulk Training to watch after my limited ass. The Bots were going to be on alert if needed.

I was going to have a little fun with this, as I probably wouldn't do exchanges like this face to face in the future.

Guide gift boxes cost a lot less than personal storage options of equivalent sizes. Better to give than receive, I guess?

I couldn't wait to see the look on the face of whoever the buyer was.

I started humming to along to a song on my personal helmet radio, as Meowser had curated a list of tunes I might like. I was currently enjoying a selection similar to Synthwave from my World. No clue what they called it here.

When I got to the Lifts, Wrap was already there. He was done up to the nines. His tux had golden shimmer weave fabric and what looked like stars glowing under it. Not to my tastes, but not bad either. It's description makes it sound gaudier than it was.

He gave me a disappointed stare.

"Look, I have too many people after me right now to wear anything else." I tried to mollify him.

He just sighed, "I expected it, but Comp, style is everything to the Towertop crowd. You are going to get more negative attention, than I think you want."

I nodded, "I know, but I honestly don't have anything better anyway."

We stepped into the lift, and started the trip up.

He started watching the holoscreens playing the incessant commercials, around him. I had filtered them out of my perspective. I could still tell when that's what others where paying their attention to, it was kind of frustrating.

To be fair, I was still chilling to some music myself, but commercials really? Eh. I let it go. Not worth getting gunked up. (AN: this is intended)

Rising 185 floors took a while, and I could feel Wrap getting more and more jittery. It seems someone else doesn't deal with this kind of company often. Not really a comfort.

When the Lift stopped he was almost bouncing.

As we stepped off into a small atrium, with real fucking plants by the way, Wrap turned to me.

"Do me a Favor, and don't start any trouble any violence, unless I give the okay or they shoot me first. They sometimes negotiate from strength and it can get twitchy, don't let it rile you up." He had a plan. It was obvious in the way he carried himself and the tone of his voice.

Of course, I had no idea what this plan was, so I wasn't very happy with that. On the other hand, he hadn't fucked me over yet so I could extend a little more trust. For now.

We exited the Atrium into a different World.

This Section of Club Voyage was themed in Space Travel. The Ceilings, Floors and and Walls were showing the view from Orbit, as if we were on a Space Station. Mind you this seemed off to me as many in this crowd could afford to live on a Station. But hey, I don't get fashion.

We were greeting by a Hostess, who was done up in engraved Silver Skin. Her clothing itself was conservative and unremarkable. Emphasizing the patterns and swirls of her skin's art.

She had a nice SynthVoice "Welcome to the Club Voyage, I am Sherri. May I have your names?" Slightly French, maybe some German notes in there, still mostly Texan. An odd mix, but not unpleasant.

We gave them and it was obvious we were being scanned. I got scanned three separate times. Guess they couldn't believe, what the readouts told them.

"Mr. Simmons, would you please step to the side with Hato here." She gesture to a corner. The man who stepped up next to her was a nondescript looking Fulm of the highest degree. Yup, requests that aren't requests. Great.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

[ Full Conversation Metal Cyborg

Tier: 0

Threat Level: 8 ]

Ouch, so since that number is higher than my armor rating, I going to assume he can fuck me up. I might be wrong, but would it be worth risking it?

I sighed, and complied.

"Please remove your helmet." His voice was airy, not at all what you would expect. He pulled out some device and started scanning me

I took off my helmet and everyone froze for a second. All nearby attention turned towards me.

What? I'm seriously going to get a complex here.

Then I started hearing the whispered, "Who did his work, that's amazing." "He's so handsome, maybe I could give him my deets." and the like.

"No Metal. None at all." Hato seemed very put out by that.

That started a new round of whispering. You could also see that everyone's attitudes were shifting. If I had no Metal then surely all this was high level Biomodding, which was bloody expensive. Like should be able to buy this place expensive. Sure a lot of the Towertop crowd had Metal that didn't look like Metal, but everyone knew the difference.

I sighed again, this was going to be a whole other can of worms.

"Apologies, Sir." Not you too Hato.

"I am so sorry Mr. Simmons, please follow me." The Hostess made a call. Probably the wrong one, but it worked in my favor.

I put my Helm back on. Following Sherri with Wrap.

I can not give you a full description of sheer wealth on display. Real plants, real wood, real leather, and even real animals here and there. The different styles that people were wearing had only one thing in common, expensive.

The walking through Space theme was kind of trippy once you got used to it. Combined with all the strange sights, sounds and smells, it really began to grow on me.

We passed several dance floors each with their own subtheme like Asteroids and comets. Neat. The dancing tended more toward ballroom and salsa, with some swing here and there.

Oh, I loved swing dancing. I learned in High School. My ex forced me to go at first, but I ended up really enjoying it.

When we got to the table, we were greeted by a Woman in a stunning evening dress. A shimmering gray, with darker black embroidery in the shapes of flowers. I found it tasteful, elegant. It really brought out her pale skin and icy blue eyes. I wondered if the embroidery matching her hair color was intentional. Likely was.

She was ageless. Her Metal, what of it I could identify, was of the highest quality.

"Ah, you are here. Excellent! We can begin negotiations." A hint of a British accent, mixed with other influences I couldn't quite place. Do such things even matter in this place? I shrugged internally.

"Please Sit." Again with the not really a request situation.

"Now, I know Wrap. But what is your Story Mr. Simmons?" She cocked an artistically design eyebrow at me. Everything about her screamed control and contrivance. Yeah, so not my type.

I took off my Helm again, and set it on the table.

Ha! Got her too.

Her face lit up at my appearance. She was suddenly a lot more invested in this meeting.

I placed the small wrapped giftbox careful next to it. Her eyes flicked to the box, a brief moment of confusion passed across her features. Yup, too small for what you were told.

I smirked at her.

"I don't really have a story worth mentioning. I'm just a Shade who has run into a little luck. Hopefully to both our benefits. Wrap will handle the details." I kept my tone neutral, but the smirk stayed.

It was educational watching them verbally fence with each other.

She started with the old, "I could just take it!", Routine.

Wrap countered with the whole, "but think of your reputation!", Spiel.

And so on, I honestly lost interest on the whole back and forth on the amount. I was watching some of the dancers, trying to suss out the different steps here.

They settled on 14,000,000 NBs.

"A Question, Mr. Simmons, how do you keep your armor so pristine. I seen some of the vids of your work, and yet that armor looks like it's fresh off the fabricator."

My smirk turned into a full fledged shit eating grin.

"Once the money is in my account you will have your answer." I held her gaze. Her eyes flashed a rainbow gleam.

Meowser gave a "Nyah!" That was the good signal.

I pushed the giftbox across the table.

"Open it for your answer." I couldn't stop grinning.

She had the most confused looked as she ripped the wrapping off. Ah, impatient. I have a whole mythos about how people open gifts. Is it accurate? So Far.

The Craved Wooded Gift Box was revealed. Each panel had scenes of nature engraved into it.

She ran her hands over it admiring the feel of the wood.

She opened it and looked furious.

"It's not empty, reach inside." Still grinning.

As her hand passed the rim of the box it seemed to disappear. She withdrew the Avenger Mk I, which in and of itself didn't look like it would fit in the box. She reached in again and withdrew the Underarmor top. Then the bottom.

She looked flabbergasted. Wraps jaw hit the floor.

"You're not done, two more items rest within." I nodded for her to keep going.

She pulled out a silver repair kit cube and then an advanced Tier I health potion.

"The cube is the answer to your question. Just touch it to what you want repaired. How it works, I do not precisely know." Truth, I don't know.

She stared up at me, at a loss for words. Wrap was trying to pull himself together.

I was really enjoying her being on the back foot.

"When deals go well, I believe everyone should get a little extra. Have fun with those." I left it unsaid that she wouldn't likely get more.

I stood up and put my Helm back on.

"Good Evening." I transferred Wrap 4,000,000 NBs. Yes, I know that the deal was for 15%, but I meant what I just said. I like fostering good will, even if I know some people will take advantaged.

I went back to the lift, then back to my apartment. Time to leave tomorrow.