I pulled off my backpack and took off my jacket. I wasn't quite sure what era the backpack came from, but despite it's refrigeration capacities it was nearly silent even to my new hearing. Everything inside it's main compartment had a nice chill to it. I took out two old school Dr Peppers, their glass bottles making a delightful ringing noise as they clinked together. I got the bottle opener out of one of my survival kits and opened one of the bottles for myself. I didn't know why, but I have always used all the little names for similar drinks interchangeably, Soda, pop, cola, and so on. I never had stuck with one label for long. My dad had always called it pop, while my Mom had always called it soda. I suppose it no longer mattered, the bubbling, fizzing liquid was a real delight to drink.

  Two of the snack bars, chocolate over a medley of nuts, that I'd stocked up on, were extracted from my pockets. Their Mylar wrappers crinkling noisily. Sadly, there had been no versions of these bars with cashews, which happened to be my favorite type of nut. I'd just have to make due. Poor me. Heh. Look at me, being all self involved. Good thing I was mostly joking, or I'd probably start getting pissed off at myself. Sometimes you've gotta joke even if it is only at your own expense.

  The next few moments were spent in enjoying my snacks and beverage, while I pondered my recent uncharacteristic actions. I'd come on slightly too strongly. I couldn't completely separate what I knew from how I'd treat Rogue. Perhaps, I went a little too hard on her, because of my own failings. I'd have to do better. I couldn't let her past wrongdoings turn me into a dick. Maybe it was too late, so I'd better avoid let my hang ups pull me further down the asshole path. This along with all of my new found anger issues, was going to be a lot to manage.

  Rogue's moaning morphing into groans focused my attention back on her. I'd really worked her hard, but it wasn't as if she hadn't benefited. She looked a lot younger, which only made me feel even shittier. Those damned caveman instincts, I guess. She was coming out of her pleasure induced stupor. I opened up the second bottle of Dr Pepper and placed it in front of her. See, I could be nice.

  Yeah, just keep telling myself that.

  She groggily picked up the bottle and took a sip. Her eyes widened and her sip turned into a deep guzzling swig. Yup, a cold drink after a "workout" was awesome. She placed the bottle, now half empty, back down on the coffee table. I politely ignored her soft belch. My own sip covered a growing smile.

  "Haven't had anything like that, since I was a small child. Where did you find it?" She had almost as intense a look on her face as when she'd been lost in ecstasy. She was a very attractive woman. It really was a damned shame, there could never be anything more than business between us.

  "I have a limited source, and it wouldn't do any good to explain it to you. Perhaps, I'll share more about it with you, someday." I went with a soft friendly smile. Never just refuse, be polite and suggest future benefits. More advise from my mother.

  She looked away. Of course she would, this was already the second round of our negotiations and she was already on the back foot. I could see her trying to gather her wits and plot out her next steps. She'd be more cautious now, and I knew she was crafty, which was part of why I had thrown her for such a loop.

  "You are a vicious gonk." She frowned. Always nice to get an acknowledgement that the other party saw your scheme. Nicer still if they didn't shoot you for it.

  "Honestly, I was just trying to be nice with the drink. Maybe, I was being just a bit too aggressive with my ability before. But I want you to understand what I can offer. That I have value that can't be bought, nor traded, nor taught." I smirked, "Before we go much further, you should look at yourself in a mirror, so you have the full picture." Provide them with some details, but not everything.

  She stared at me flatly for almost a full minute, before she got up and opened one of the cabinets. It had a mirror on the inside of the door, and there was a sink in there too. Should have explored a bit, while she was senseless. Oh well.

  "What?" She touched her face, "Is this some kind of trick?" She was stunned. Bullseye. Anyone could tell, she heavily valued her appearance, her image, and some part of her missed her youth. This had gone a long way in establishing my worth.

  "Nope. You now look like you are about thirty, give or take. Given time and more effort, I could make you look even younger." I chuckled. A bit of bait for further deals. My BTC shook. I received a notice about completing the Meet Rogue Quest. It even had a bonus for making a good impression. 15,000 Company Points in the bag. All in all a good haul, even if I never got anything more out of this.

  Rogue turned, "What do you want?" I couldn't exactly read her expression, but it was certainly a fascinating sight. Somewhere between lust, envy and dismay.

  "I'm pretty sure I've already told you exactly what I want." I frowned, she wasn't slow. I didn't think I'd scrambled her brain that hard.

  "It can't be that simple. With everything you can do, you could carve out your own territory. As much as I'm loathe to say it, you don't need me, or the mercs in this club." She folded her arms and cocked one of her hips, deep in thought. Probably looking for my hidden motives. Good luck with that.

  My chuckle caused her to focus on my face again, "Tried that. My 'Sponsors' didn't like how it turned out. Thus my disappearance, thus me being changed. Now, I have to start over, and forge a different path this time." I shrugged, "At least they left me some of my money." I wished they had left me with my face. I missed it already. I let her mull things over, while I leaned back in the recliner. Part of me wanted to rest my eyes for a while, but there was no way I'd do that in front of her.

  "What can I do to help you?" She asked far more gently than I'd thought her capable of. Ah, she'd made her choice. Now if I could just convince her not to stab me in the back, in a few months.

  "I could use a secure Agent. An identity I could do legitimate business under. Directions to a decent place to stay. The name of some trustworthy folks to do business with. A dependable car for sale. That kind of thing." I leaned forward. It was past time to start setting up a new life.

  "N-Nothing else? Just that?" She seemed to struggle with herself. I wondered what she was thinking?

  "For now, until I get settled, and figure out my next moves." I had a long road ahead, and it would start with anything that could help with getting back my people.

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  She nodded. A chime sounded, startling both of us. Rogue pushed a button on the monitor. The image of her guard seemed exasperated.

  "Faraday is here and he refuses to be rescheduled." He rolled his eyes. "He's making a scene as usual."

  Rogue sighed. "I'll be right down." She turned to me, "I have to take care of this. As to your request, I have a standard out of town guest package I can give you. It will let you move freely and conduct business. That will give me time to build you a more solid identity. Okay?"

  There was only one thing to say. "Preem."

  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 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 already looking down on me. His gaze was on me for less than a further 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." If he'd noticed your new youthful look, he seemed unimpressed by it. He wasn't even afraid of Rogue, in her own club. Meaning he probably had something big on her, or had 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 flatline this man? So many options came to mind.

  "Medic, the package I promised will be delivered shortly. Please enjoy my club's 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 gold plated Liberty, 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've had a hard time keeping up, without some chrome. One of the delightful benefits of this new body.

  I pulsed my mana directly 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. For a second, 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'd faced such certain death, should I make a mistake.

  "He isn't. This project is." Rogue said in a calm and measured tone. She was weighing the value of my life against 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 had come out in my favor after all. I was starting to think John had been a bad influence on me. The big guy stowed his iron, now grinning like nothing'd happened.

  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 fucking day. I need him, what would it take to have him restored?" She was annoyed, but also amused. I'd more than a feeling she was no stranger to dumb but 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're 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 agrees to cooperate 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'd 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 Faraday's.

  "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.

  Once again, I sat at the bar for a while before another bartender came back and delivered an large envelope. Inside was a slim glasslike Agent, along with a couple of laminated cards, a couple of fobs, and a plastic map with directions 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 rumbling 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 tons of willpower. Now that I'd completed my initial goal, and had a place to holdup, it was past time to start exploring the depths of Life Crafting. All my abilities really, but lets start with that one.

  It was time to find a Joytoy.