"Nope. Swear to christ, man."
"No fucking way. I don't buy it--you're making this shit up."
"I'm tellin' you, man, I'm for real here."
"Bullshit! What the fuck's he doing living in these fuckin' slums, with some chip-waste slut, if he's Mr. Badass 'I Saved Miles Fucking Lanier'?"
"I told you, man, it was some kinda corp politics rap. He fucked somebody out of something, an' they fucked him right back, an' now he's on the fuckin' street screwing some two-yen whore."
"...That is such bullshit, man!"
"But it's not. Okay, it's like this: Beckett's this young turk, right? Right outta high school, signed up with the CAS Marines, went Force Recon--tore shit up all over the fuckin' world, see? He was with that shit down in Panama when they were fuckin' with the Canal; he was holdin' the line against the Koreans when the south went north, or whichever way it was; he was kickin' the shit outta those fuckin' Shit Muslims, when they did that Iraq thing--hardcore, y'know? An' that, that's like all in two years, all that ass-kicking. He went up through a whole bunch of ranks, like frome Lieutenant to like Corporal, all waaay fast. So he gets out, and bang! right away, he gets picked up by Fuchi."
"Fuchi--uh, that's the fuckers with that Deus shit, right?"
"No, dumbass, Fuchi's the fuckers that fuckin' broke up and died, like four years ago or some shit. Jesus, do you not know how to fuckin' read?"
"Fuck you, man."
"So, anyway, Beckett's in Fuchi, executive protectin' like a motherfucker, and Lanier comes around looking for a new Head of Some Kind of Shit or Something--like, head bodyguard, or somethin'. An', like, the goddamn day that Lanier shows up at the Philly offices, where Beckett was workin'? There's a goddamn hit, like all these fuckin' Knight of the Red Bush--"
"Branch."
"What?"
"Branch. Knight of the Red Branch, you ignorant fuck."
"The fuck ever. All these Knight of the Red Branch motherfuckers come out and start shootin' shit an' blowin' shit up all over the damn place, 'cos Fuchi wouldn't help them take back England--"
"Ireland."
"What?"
"The Knights of the Red Branch want to take Ireland back from the fucking elves. Are you fucking stupid?"
"The fuck ever. Anyway, they're blowin' shit up, right? And Beckett, he pops the fuck up outta like goddamn nowhere, an' wastes all of 'em. Like, all. Killed em."
"Wow."
"Yeah, see, I told you. There was like a hojillion of the fuckers, too, and he just capped 'em all."
"You, uh, sure we can take this guy by ourselves?"
"Yeah, yeah, he's just a drunk now."
"So what happened?"
"What?"
"To Beckett, you fuck, what happened with Lanier and Beckett and the job, or whatever?"
"Oh, he got it. Lanier apparently saw like the whole damn thing from his limo, and when it was all done, he gets out and he's like 'Hey, you, what's your name, I want you to be the Head of Whatever the Fuck it is I'm Fucking Hiring For.' And Beckett, he's like, 'Cool.' He was real quiet, I guess. But anyway, there's this other guy, Peter Rackham, who was Lanier's bodyguard for like fuckin' ever, and he gets all pissy 'cos he was 'supposed' to get the job. Only Beckett got it, like I said. So Rackham, he's like--"
"Who's Rackham?"
"I just fuckin' told you, you dumb--"
"No, I mean, why's it sound so fucking familiar?"
"You're shitting me, right?"
"No? Why, do I know him? What, he your fuckin' knob-nibbler, or some shit?"
"He fuckin' hired us, you fuck."
"Oh. Ohhhhhh..."
"Yeah, 'zactly. He was all pissed, 'cos Beckett took his job, or what the fuck ever. But Rackham can't touch 'im, 'cos he's like attatched to Lanier at the fuckin' cock, see? But Rackham, he's fuckin' patient. He waits, an' he waits, an' he waits, an' then one day Beckett wakes up an' he's under arrest for fuckin' insider tradin'. It didn't stick, but that didn't matter--up in Suitsville, it's like the fuckin' Winston-Salem Witch Hunts--"
"What the fuck did you just say?"
"What?"
"Nevermind. Christ."
"...Uh, okay. So, like, Beckett gets tossed out of Fuchi on his ass, for this insider trading shit, 'cos havin' him around makes everybody look bad, right? An' as he leaves, there's Rackham's smilin' face--gloating."
"Oh, bullshit. That shit doesn't happen in real life--the big bad guy just laughing at you, making sure you know it was him as he sends you to your doom."
"Okay, so it wasn't exactly like that. Point is, Beckett finds out it was him, okay? It was Rackham. So before he leaves? He sets some shit in motion, makes some shit happen. A year later, Lanier's alla the sudden going over to Renraku--those are the Deus guys--an' he's got like two whole seconds to clear out his desk at Fuchi. And just then, he gets these pictures of Rackham fuckin' some kid, or some stupid shit--an' just like that, Rackham's out on his ass, too. Lanier didn't have no time to fuckin' deal with it, so he just fired him and took off for Renraku, an' that was it."
"Okay? And? So the fuck what? What happened?"
"Us, man. We happened--Rackham got up off his ass, hit the ground runnin', set himself up real good, an' now he wants Beckett fuckin' rubbed."
"...Wow. Kinda gives me a sense of completeness, y'know? Knowing the whole story, and shit."
"Yeah."
"How'd you find this shit out?"
"Asked around."
"...So. We gonna do this?"
"Let's do it."
"Ernh! Fucking shit, his doors locked--there."
"C'mon, c'mon, movemove--there he is!"
"Hukk--"
"Ah! Ah, shit! He fuckin' got--aw, fuck, man... Shit, man, shit, I gotta get outta here. Where's th'fuckin' door, shit, I'm fuckin'--shit! Wait! Don't shoot--errrgh! Agh, you fu--"
