Going back to the safehouse, we've stowed the van in the garage and entered the basement, my sight catching Glory walking lighter and with more spring than before.
"Hey Boss, where you two were? You look like through Hell!" Dietrich welcomed me from the couch. "We've been wondering where you went."
"Running an errand with Glory. Don't ask." I reply, last of my words stopping Eiger mid-step and making her form understanding expression on her face. "God I need some sleep..."
"You sure? We've just been thinking about heading out to Winerkeller for some drinks. Come with us, it'll do you good." Dietrich tried to coax me.
"I'll pass...But I'll give you extra cash if you'll take the rest with you and let me sleep in peace." I reply and quickly I was left in deserted basement with Amsel excusing himself to his home and Dante happily trotting after Dietrich.
Sighing out all the exhaustion I've felt, I've rubbed my cheek, once again recalling the kiss from Glory. Worth going through Hell if it made her peace out and happy enough to do things like that.
I've finally got around to shed all of my gear and shirt, just managed to kick the boots off when I felt cool, metal hand on my bare shoulder.
"Rai?" Glory asked silently, making me turn and see her standing above me.
"Hey Glory, for a moment I thought you went with the rest for a drink." I smile at her and, to my surprise, I got a sweet smile in reply. "What's on your mind?"
"A lot. And not much." She replied and seated next to me on my bed. "I...I feel."
"Feel what?"
"Anything. I'm free and I feel it. I feel happy, I think...I think I forgotten what it felt like to be happy. To not be afraid of hearing Adversary talking to me, goading me into hurting people...I feel it all." Glory smiled at me again but her smile wavered quickly and she shivered. "I feel cold now though. Really cold."
Feeling really cheesy, I've wrapped an arm around her and she did not protested one bit, eagerly leaning onto me. The metal on her arms and shoulders was little cold, but whatever skin and flesh she still had was very warm. And smooth.
And her lips were fuller than I remembered...
I don't know which one of us started it. Which one pulled for the first kiss. All I know is that at some point, when Glory was clinging tightly to me, looked me in the eyes and said that she doesn't want to feel so cold anymore.
What happened later, I'll save the details for my own personal enjoyment and disclose that we both felt very, very warm and alive.
Next thing I remember was waking up to a tickling sensation on my face, out of habit getting ready to push Dante off me since mongrel had tendency to use me as a pillow, when my hand rested on smooth, metal shoulder. My eyes shot up wide and I stared at figure *snuggling* to my side. Long raven locks covered her face completely, making my eyes run up and down impressive curves not really hindered by heavy cyberware.
So it was all real and Glory was sleeping at my side. Happy, peaceful and completely naked.
I must've had the biggest, silliest grin on my mug at that moment but I didn't cared. To know that in the end I have won some affection from Glory made all efforts totally worth it.
She moved a bit and murmured something in her sleep, draping metal arm over my chest and making me realize that if cuddled long enough, even chromed prosthetics get warmer.
I've taken the time to admire her body, comparing she looked even better than I imagined in these few moments of weakness when I allowed my imagination to go wild.
She did had a lot of ceramic plates grafted under skin of her torso but the chest was...Let's say spectacularly natural and leave at that. Anything past the navel was all natural and apparently after all these runs there was a pay off since I've dated a fitness-buff and she didn't had legs and ass like Glory did.
She was gorgeous in all posible meanings and honestly, no woman I've been with came close in comparison.
But time for dirty musings was over, because Glory rustled slowly and now I was staring at her dark eyes, two black orbs looking at me with joy and trust.
"Hoi love." I've smiled at her and got a smile in return. "Feeling alright?"
"Hey..." She *purred*, resting chin on me. "Warm. I feel warm."
That made me grin at her, our chat downright idiotic but with all the sweetness neither of us had in years.
I knew there will be a tough moment where I'll have to talk with her whether this was just one night stand or not, but for now Glory slumped back into sheets and fallen asleep again. She needed rest, after five years of survivng on God only knows what, since I've never saw her sleep or eat anything.
Nature's call pushed me out of the bed, making dress up at least a bit and cover Glory to make winter breeze not wake her. Good thing I've inherited the room after Schafer, including really nice matress and sinfully warm comforter that oughta be stolen from richer parts of Berlin.
Standing in front of the kitchen counter I was musing over how lucky I was that none of the guys came back to the safehouse yet, not only sparing them from hearing any of the sounds we've made with Glory, nor maybe even find out about the whole thing at all.
At least for now, until it's all clear.
I was busy pouring two cups of coffee when I've heard ruccous coming from above. Uh-oh, the boys and Eiger are back.
Dante came first, ramming into me the usual way but I couldn't even be mad now.
"Hey Rai, you up already?" Dietrich booms from the entrance, visibly tipsy but nowhere near being drunk. Did the guys weren't drinking this hard?
Eiger stumbles in. Stumbles, because over hundred kilos of troll is trashing around and walks in zig-zags because KSK sniper got shitfaced like a teenager.
"I see you guys had fun." I try to sound casual, and enjoying myself especially when thinking about hungover Eiger. "I hope you did not given Dante any booze?"
"Naah, Dante was keeping us safe!" Shaman laughs and scratches the dog behind the ears. "Nobody bothered us...since we were daydrinking really. That and there was some horny troll who might want to hit on Eiger but Dante only barked once and the fucker just vanished!"
"Eiger wasn't happy about it, huh?" I've asked, hoping for some gossip.
"Nah, she was glad! Told us she'll kill the guy otherwise...and then she drank whole bottle of Bacardi all by herself."
"Ouch. That's gonna hurt later." I chuckle. "Is Blitz still alive?"
"Oh yeah, just a little..." Dietrich stopped and motioned me to listen at the sound of Blitz having intimate session with toilet bowl. "I think the sauerkraut he ordered was little out of date."
The roll of jokes and stories made my morning, or noon it was I think, making me relaxed more than I was in months.
"So Boss, know where Glory went? She wasn't with us." Dietrich's question shattered my good mood and got me sweating.
"Dunno, she proably just sat in her hidey hole..." I trail off, barely noticing sound of Dietrich's jaw hitting the floor, as we both stare at Glory walking out of direction where only *my* room was, running fingers through her hair and looking generally relaxed in a way that screamed 'I've just had sex!'. The half-zipped vest of hers, for the first time giving an inclination of her cleavage wasn't helping either.
"Coffee?" I ask on autopilot, handing cup to Glory who adjusts her path away from bathroom to me and accepts the cup.
The silence is tense, air thick enough to hang a noose I feel like needing.
"I'll go check up on Blitz...seeyalatergoodjobman." Shaman excuses himself quickly, grin on his face threatning to hurt his old face before my fist could.
I sigh, feeling there won't be a moment of blissful rest for me. Looking up, I see Glory looking at me from above cup of coffee.
"So much for me covering what happened-I mean not that I feel bad or anything, just though you wouldn't want to advertise anything...to others..." I find myself at loss of words, genuinely nervous from her staring.
"Rai..." Glory puts the cup away and stretches her arms a bit, pushing the chest out and threatning zipper of her vest to burst. "Do you see any blond in my hair? I am aware about whole lot of things going on in here. Like that you've been onto me the moment Monika brought you in here. Or that you're easy to read about how you felt, knowing I loved another girl. And now you're all nervous because you don't know if I do feel something for you or was just making up after five years of not having sex."
"...You got me in a box here, love." I've managed to confess, feeling cornered and dangerously powerless. "But since you do know all these things, it would be nice to make clear where are we standin'. You know me well enough to know I won't make problems but I do like when things are clear."
Glory pursed and then smacked her lips, then made half step closer to me.
"You made me open up and face what I've ben running away for years, you made me believe that redemption is not just a word thrown around during sunday sermon, *you* helped me all this time even when you were sure there was no way for you to get closer with me...What do you think?" She ended with putting hand on my chest.
"I can't and don't want to lie to anyone, especially to you, Glory. I was damned awestruck with you the moment I saw you. I do wanted to know you better in all ways possible...Everything changed when I learned you needed help. That you needed someone you can trust and who will give you hand when you need it. It didn't mattered anymore what I wanted, it was about what you needed to get better..."
"You didn't answered." Glory replied and smiled gently, grabbing my hand and placing near her heart. Yeah, right under *there*. "Can you feel it? It's your doing I know feel I have a heart, not just a pump keeping me walking on my own."
"You know I'm a reckless man Glory, so..." I roll the dice there, making the most of the moment and move my hand to pull girl into embrace. "Do we...Are *we* something?"
"You think I'd talk this much if not?" Glory arched her eyebrow and then promptly kissed me.
There we go again, world around goes somwhere else and I'm riding on a cloud-
"Are you guys fucking serious?!" Drunken voice of Eiger made us part and look at wasted troll supporting herself against the doorframe and staring at us with mix of terror and shock. "Tell me I did not saw what I think I did."
"I don't know Eiger, you're a sniper so your eyes should be all-hmmmf!" Glory silenced me with her own lips. "I should talk less."
Eiger only cried something unintelligible and stomped back into direction of her bunk.
"She's not jealous or something, I hope."
"Nah, she just got cock-blocked by Dante barking away her suitor." My reply made Glory stare at me. "At least that's what Dietrich told me."
Glory sighed deeply and, albeit reluctantly, let go of me.
"Glory..."
"No talking. Not now" She stopped me. "I'm...I'll need some time to get used to any this again."
"Take all the time you need, Glory."
There was still time and I ran few minor errands on the streets, coming back around when my guys were in more manageable states, nursing terrible hangovers. Surprisingly, it made even Eiger a bit docile, too hurting to be angry at me at full volume.
Speaking of the super sniper, she looked considerably good after being so wasted hours before. Maybe the soup I brought from Silke earlier got her up? Upcoming chef had whole lot of knowledge about meals capable of putting people together, so needed when dealing with recovering addicts and former homeless. And I totally did not saw her kissing Alexander on my way out of the shelter.
Good kids they turned out to be.
"So Eiger...What did you found about that Winternight thing? What is it? Some sort of secret society?" I ask Eiger, tearing her off tablet she was reading on.
"Exactly. And that orcish fuck wasn't lying one bit. I could see it in his eyes." Eiger grunted, her anger at The Engineer and his dirty deeds unsupressed even by alcohol.
"Yeah, but what actually bothers me is what Yuli told you back there, while I was gone. This was personal, between two of you." I bring up the hard part and Eiger's face darkens. "You've beaten the guy and he was still laughing."
"It was personal. Also it wasn't any of your business, Rai."
"Eiger...Don't fuck around with me."
"Fine." Troll stood up and looked down on me, all tensed and angry. "He told me about group of polish towns mu unit swept through for Syndicate activity. He told me about the mob swooping in right after we've left..." Eiger lost her mask for a moment, looking away and covering eyes with hand. "The tortures, beating and executions. All the barbarism that was needless but brought upon innocent people nonetheless. Kozlov found it all hilarious, telling me all the details of how ironic it was that KSK presence made life for these people hell. We were to help them and we only made it even worse..." Eiger looked back on me, but the steel in her was absent. "I know the fucker pushed my buttons for a reason and tried to make me lose control. But he deserved that beating and much much more."
"I don't have a single problem with Kozlov getting turned inside out for all the shit he'd done...I'm having a problem with him playing you, Eiger."
"It's not that simple! I just...I have to dig into what he was saying, to see what really happened out there, where my unit was deployed... I have to know if what we did really meant anything good."
"Whatever happened through hands of mob, doesn't change whatever good your unit did out there. You were on a mission, you had your objectives. Stop trying to take the guilt onto yourself."
"...Maybe. But I can't leave it like this."
"Then don't, look into the case and find out what happened, who tipped Mob off, whose head should roll for this. But don't you dare trying to martyr yourself with petty guilt trips. You're a soldier, not a priest. So don't wallow and keep your head in the game."
Tense moment of silence between us was tough to stand for both of us, me sincerely hoping I did not pushed too far with the pep talk.
"...I will." Eiger finally spoken and rubbed her neck. "I will look into this mess, find out all I can. But you're right, I should keep it military, no personal baggage."
"No argument here. Stay frosty, Eiger. We need one of us at least to be professional, ay?"
That did it, blonde snapping short chuckle and shaking loose hair around.
"You're a prick, Rai. You know that?"
"Riiight, and you're just as cuddly as ever." I grin at her. "Lates, Eiger."
"Rai?" She stopped me after I made two steps away. "Be careful with Glory."
"That's a worry or a threat?" I ask back and follow before she can answer. "Don't worry about me making this a liability."
"...Just you getting shredded with claws will put severe dampener on our anti-dragon campaign." Sniper finishes and sits back onto the bunk.
"Not gonna happen, she likes me more than you do."
"That's hardly an achievement, Rai." Eiger replied with a flash of her tusks.
While nearby, I've moved towards my favourite part of bothering people around safehouse.
"Hey Glory." I've chatted up the brunette, once again sitting on the chair in her corner but this time she wasn't playing sculpture and just stared at the concrete. No, my metallic beauty was *lounging* in her seat, facing the rest of the safehouse and looked kinda cute with tiny smile on her lips.
Wait, did I just openly called her cute? Ugh, I guess I did...
"Rai, need anything?" She called back to me, looking up with stare saying more of how unburdened she was than any words could.
"Just checking up as always. Making sure no shite drags after you." I shrug and squat in front of her, leveling our stares. "Caught some shut eye while I was gone?"
"...I did." Glory finally replied and red lamp burned in my head because darling, you ain't gonna bullshit me anymore. Nuh-uh, not since you've got so alive again and deffinietely not since we're together and I'm directly responsbile for you.
"Glory..." I only have to say to see I got her pinned to the wall.
"You didn't asked if it was good sleep, didn't you?" She tried to snark but didn't looked so tough anymore. I got a whole hand under her armor and on her heart, I knew when she was uneasy now.
"Then tell me love, what happened when you were asleep?"
"An echo. Something like a...magical stench still resonating within me. Probably, I have no idea actually." Glory confessed and rubbed her temples. "Don't you dare trying to fix it, Rai!"
"What, and help you feel better? How dare you suggest something like that!" I reply in mock hurt and wrap arms around her, immediately making her place head on my shoulder and nuzzle a bit. "Sleep or lucid, I've promised you to help fight your nightmares."
"Rai-"
"Be back in a jiff." I let her go and jog out of the basement before she can even stop me.
There's only one place I have a chance at finding any solution pertaining poor Glory and her problems. A place I was avoiding this whole time.
Aljernon's Talismonger shop. Chreist with an axe, I've never seen a place giving me so much creeps while looking so cartoonishly.
Walking through the doors, first thing I notice is tall, blonde-haired elf girl that looked like-like...Uhhh...
Glory's face flashes in front of my eyes and I shake off the invisble hands holding my face in vices. The girl behind the counter blinked owlishly like I've said something bad about her ancestors or something.
"Absinthe, we have talked about this!" Warm baritone announces appearance of dark-skinned elven mage filling his role top to bottom, complete with start-spangled robe and staff in hand. "Apologies my friend, Absinthe here has an extremely rare gift but sometimes it gets the better of her...I'm quite surprised you've resisted her so easily though."
"I have uh...I have an angel on my shoulder." I manage to sound at least a bit cryptically, at least in my head since the apparently titular Aljernon graced me with a broad smile and piercing stare from behind tiny glasses on his nose. "I'm looking for a special item that could help with uh...magical nightmares, of sorts."
Aljernon sauntered towards me and gave me a cursory glance.
"There's nothing wrong with your aura, my friend."
"That's no for me. It's for a...close friend." I stutter out.
"A friend, hmmm? Well then, you'd have to give me a little more than that if I can't read *her* aura." Mage finished and I knew he knew everything already. Damned mages...
"Well for both of our sake, it's better for you to have a confidentiality like doctors then."
"Absolutely! What I discuss with clients never leaves this shop nor other clients ever hear about it." Aljernon assured me with a gesture of hand. "Besides, all I ask is for you to clarify what kind of magic may've caused such condition?"
"From what I understand...She has nightmares about her past in cult masquearading as commune. They had an idol there, a forest spirit bound to a shrine and twisted...by Adversary."
Aljernon's face tensed at the mention of The Devil, for a second making me think he'll kick me out of his shop.
"This truly is both unfortunate and remarkable, for someone to get away from such...connection. Are you sure there are no lasting ties to the Adversary?"
"I've made sure myself and I'd stake my life on it."
"Very well..." Aljernon stroked his thin beard for a second. "Then it really can be a bit of ethereal echoes, resonating like crystal chalice within your friend's soul...Adversary is not something you can purge easily nor completely once and for all."
"What can be done about it?"
"Something to strengthten the resolve, an additional shield protecting the person in her sleep, when the mind is opened and most vulnerable to attacks." Mage replied to me, ruffling through drawers and containers across large bookshelf.
Absinthe, as the girl's name was apparently, wordlessly moved towards Aljernon and deftly plucked a container far above reach of stocky elf, delicately placing it in his grasp.
Strange girl indeed. Not my type though, too tall and not bloody enough for a freak like me.
"Thank you, my dear." Aljernon smiled to his assistant and turned back to me, producing strange pendant resembling a teardrop. If teardrop would be size of a human eye and glowed like silver boiling over fire sealed in glass. "This is an absorber. It will siphon the negative energy coming to your friend through the ethereal and purge it."
"Don't want to invade your trade but is this some magical, overamped version of dreamcatcher?" I hesitantly asked. Surprisngly, Aljernon merely smiled at me.
"You are quite knowledgeable, friend. Yes, to put in layman terms for non-magical folk, it is a tiny, personal dreamcatcher. However consider this a top of the line console in comparison to something you'll buy from a corner vendor in worst kiez...See the difference, decker?"
Oh I did. I also hung my head low and accepted rebuttal that'll probably was going to cost me extra.
Funny, I was ready to spend nearly ten grand I had on my person to get it but the mage sold it to me for mere four hundred and didn't seemed bothered at all about it.
"Do not worry my friend, unlike many colleagues of mine, I do not flaunder words like 'ignorance' or 'insult' very often. And I would never sell a faulty merchandise even to my worst enemiy...the reputation is a fragile but very needed thing." Mage once again seemed to be reading my mind. "If it won't help immediately next time the person will sleep, come back. With her this time, I will need to asess her aura personally."
"Noted. And thank you." I leave, clutching the artifact in my hands.
I did not ran back to the safehouse. No, nuh-uh. I am a professional...
I totally raced there. No. Shame. At all.
"Glory." I called, already seeing her standing at the entrance to the basement, staring at me expectantly. "There..."
Brunette turned the pendant in her hands and then looked at me with question.
"Put it on and try to get some sleep again. Let's hope it'll work and block all the bad magic trying to reach out to you again...Because like hell I'd like to drag you into magical shop just for some mage to sniff you."
"...You've bought a magical item...to help me?" She asked and I'm not gonna lie, she looked mighty pissed.
"I-I thought it would help! I...I just wanted to help you get better." I sighed and only when cool chrome of her arm wrapped itself around me and I got a face full of her hair, I've realised she hugged me again. "Love?"
"You dummy, I'd find a way myself, without you throwing away money on me." She whispered and her hot breath tickled my ear. "Thank you."
"Thank me by trying it out and getting rested." I've replied and hugged her back. "You can sleep in my bed if that'll help."
"You think I've slept anywhere else?" She looked at me with arched eyebrow, eyes almost twinkling with burst of joy. "I will try it, but I guess it wouldn't hurt if you'd keep me company in there."
"For sleeping? I can do that." I agreed and kissed her gently, just pecked on the lips. "Let's go, it's going to be a long, long night ahead of us."
"Then...let's." Glory smiled and let go of me, putting the pendant on.
Nothing really happened this time, except for me getting a few hours of fantastic sleep, with Glory snuggling to me again. Clothed, yeah but clinging to me for safety that in return put me on ease.
Waking up at the dusk, I've slipped out of her grasp once again and left her covered, apparently the magical bauble working it's charms and keeping my chromed angel safe from Adversary.
Damn, this story turned into so much more than just grim tale of betrayal and revenge, doesn't it?
On my way out, I saw Dietrich and something pushed me towards the shaman.
"Hey D, I have question for you."
"Ask away, Rai, not gonna hold out anything from ya."
"You fought in the Night of Rage, no?"
Dietrich's face went ashen at that, evidently the shaman unhappy with me prodding traumatized bear of a memory.
"Punks and arachists fought off racists, right? We've beaten them after long and really bloody fight..." Dietrich begun and for once, he reached for a small hip flask an taken a swig. "I was always an anarchist at heart, fitting the 'punk' camp to a tee. I was thirty-two, MESSERKAMPF! was still touring...I was something of a old breed of the stage. We had following...Bunch of kids all riled up by our songs and energy, came alongside to fight the racists, pissing about immortality of youth."
Dietrich taken his time to moist the throat properly with the booze and I wasn't going to stop him, I could see it in his eyes: no man could tell this completely sober.
"All those kids went right after me, fists in the air and hearts pumping from magic of my Idol...They all had my guts and lack of fear but none of them had my magic, my strength or my shield."
"Goddamn...They all went into the ground, running up against knives and guns." I speak hardest part for him. "It broken you."
"Wouldn't it broken you, Rai?" Dietrich looked me in the eyes with glossy stare of anger. "My music, my voice, my magic...it dragged stupid kids out onto the streets when they should be staying at home and popping zits! My road leads nowhere but a grave...I've been given enough power to make this trip well worth the price I am about to pay one day but them?! I-These kids followed me but ultimately they've sprinted to the finish line, skipping all the good parts and jumped right to dying. After that...I've stepped into the shadows, to minimize the damage I've done and avoid doing even worse. Not that I've had any choice, too many people looking for someone to blame for death of their children...They had a lotta reasons to want my head."
"Then maybe you've put some thought into my suggestion, ay? About finding better enemies?"
"...I did, I actually had a long thought about it. Thing is, I'd rather not approach Dragonslayer about it right now. He can get angry at me and take away my powers. We'd be in a deep shit then, no? With a mission like ours right in front of us?"
"What? What a fookin' shite is this mate?" I've cracked and slipped into purest english I did in years. "The way you've been telling me about it, the only way to get Dragonslayer angry is being a neysayer you are now! And since you're not a bloody cavalryman, don't you dare backing down from a fight! Dragon is not just a serpent anymore, lad. Dragons are corporations, they are no longer scaly lizards flying in the skies. Their bollocks rest in the shareholders, board meetings, labs and storages...If you wanna stick a firecracker up their arse, you hafta hit where it hurts the most."
"I...You're right, Rai." Dietrich taken a deep breath and scratched his bald head. "I should never back down from anyone, even Dragonslayer. Right now...I think like this all is some kind of a test, you know? Like how much and how long I will push back."
"All the way, mate. That's what never backing down should mean." I've replied and grabbed his wrist. "Who dares, wins."
Slowly, as the words crept into Diertrich's mind, he grabbed my wrist as well, turning the gesture into legionnaire's handshake.
"It's a never ending mission but-"
"You've made a dent in Humanis, ay? Beat the fuckers hard enough to make them swallow their racist cocks. And when you're done with them, stomp every barmy bastard endangering the Flux. Show everyone what Berlin's anarchy is about...Freedom won with our own bloodied hands."
"...With clubs in hands and scream on our lips." Dietrich picked up, his eyes lighting up.
"With anger in our hearts."
"We will fight forever till we are truly free..." Shaman finished, grinning as we've just recited lyrics of one of best songs MESSREKAMPF! ever created.
Just as we were done, Whole sihlouette of Dietrich lit up, his eyes turning into two orbs of pure light, nearly blinding me.
"Woah..." Dietrich rasped as everything went to normal. "Now that was something...Dragonslayer spoken-no, he screamed..."
"What did your idol said?"
"...What he always said, only now stronger than ever before." Dietrich grinned at me. "He said 'Kill the fuckers'."
We shared a solid cackle over shaman's idol, being this blunt was something truly lifting spirits up, pun unintended.
"You know, since you got your patron all cozy on your side, you should think about contacting old community again. Teach Berlin punks how to break bones for the right cause and how to get out alive so you can fight another fight."
"I've been thinking about it, actually. Maybe fix a bit of the damage I've created in my youth...When we're finished here and the dragon bites the dust one way or another, I'll get all those meatheads rounded up and I'll show them how real men fight. Properly." Shaman agreed. "Who knows, maybe instead of just me, Dragonslayer will pick some more, fresher blood to throw against fucking wyrms."
"Damn good plan, mate." I nodded to him and approached Amsel at last, about transferring money to Alice.
'Volklingen' what kind of password is that, huh? The kind that Amsel gave me to encode credstick with fifty large on it to give it to Alice.
It's been such a hectic time, it seems months since my previous visit to Rabbit Hole...
No time to think about unimportant things like that. Or pleasant ones like Glory.
No, my traincar has just stopped and I've found myself back in the abandoned station with japanese arcade in front of me. I barely notice the sigh escaping me as I plug the credstick into the slot, making the machine lose its uselessness and establishing link to Alice, the information broker.
My nerves were already in bad shape but seeing Alice, *the* Alice, barely hiding she was nervous...No, she was scared. Untraceable info broker was scared and that put a whole new meaning to sensation of cold fingers raking down my spine. And not in a fun way.
"You don't look too cheery, Alice. Got spooked by something?" I manage to grunt out to her and she replies after long minute.
"Your intel." She only replied and pushed a few buttons on her side, making arcade machinery whirr into life and ultimately spit out a memory stick. "Your answers are on the memory disc. And now that our business is concluded...I'm going to run as far as possible." Alice speaks in words full of vitriol.
"Wha-I just gave you bloody fifty large and you try to be vague with me now?! Are you fuckin' with me?" My nerves snapped and in any other situation, she may've reacted but all she did was taking a long breath.
"Fine. I'll give you one, invaluable piece of information. Free of charge even!" Alice smiled at me in a way people did to supress panic. "Drop your search for Vauclair. Drop it all *now* and get the fuck out to the end of the world. Otherwise you're already a dead man."
Woah, that's...That honestly made my knees buckle.
"And stay out of the Matrix, you're defensless there no matter how good you are." Alice finishes and screen fades to black, whole arcade switched off and disconected suddenly.
So that's how it is, ay? Another rabbit got scared off by a dragon...
"Fine, you skittish cunt. I'll get it done without great players too scared to risk their necks..." I've spat at the dark screen of the arcade and went back into the traincar.
The ride was making me space out, search for that special zone in my head that made me do things making even Eiger sit down and appaluse. I was getting there, looking at the sits beside me and just like many times before, seeing ghosty silhouettes of my team.
Not Tick or Bunny. Not Cash or Bludger.
I saw Dietrich. Eiger holding onto her rifle. Blitz tapping his foot and trying to play all tough. I saw Glory.
I saw my team, people I was going to walk through hell for and with.
Gut told me this was the point of no return.
Ringing PDA was right, as I opened up the channel and saw familiar sign of Amsel's shop. Sounds of somebody getting beaten...And then I saw face of an old troll in battle armor. With skin grafts and metal plates on his ugly mug.
His bloodthirsty grin was enough answer to me. I knew clearly what was going.
Amsel was talking to this Audran orc. Tried to play good old 'before you'll kill me, tell me why' trope. He knew I had to be listening on and tried to give me answers...He shouldn't had to end this way. The shot that blasted, it didn't moved me only because I already knew it would happen one way or another.
At least it was quick.
Then some chick started talking to the orc. Young, military trained. My ears perked up, hungirly memorising everything I could to hunt down every last motherfucker responsible for what just happened.
Ortega. That was the name of that broad, as Audran called her. Good, I'll carve that name on her face right after I'll be done with Paul Amsel's.
The train had to be near Kreuzbasar by now, welcoming party surely will be awaiting. Feureschwinge tried to lay siege to my home?
Bloody dragon will learn what it means to fuck me on a very bad day in a very bad way.