Neon Cogs: Chapter 5 (Patreon)

Life had surprisingly stayed pretty much the same after that night for Rebecca. Oh sure there was the fact that she was dating royalty but she was still a Solo and Hiro was still the head of the Arasaka R&D. She expected there to be compromises as she was a downtown girl and Hiro was an uptown boy but she did not expect her input to be so extremely supportive of her career as a Solo.

There was no talk of her moving in, well there were some but it was just a thing he brought up once or twice, or stopping her career. In fact, he encouraged it and even supplied her crew with weapons. Oh sure she was basically one of his guinea pigs when it came to testing out weapons but it was a dream come true. Testing guns and murdering assholes? Yes please. It was honestly quite sweet in her opinion, as she got to support her input as well in her own tiny ways.

Speaking of her life as Solo, here she was doing what she loved best, murder. Her crew was contacted for a simple job, it was just to clear out a suspected Voodoo Boy Netrunner hideout. Things didn’t pan out so well, especially when the den they were going to hit just so happened to be the current hideout of a Voudo priest of all things and not just some random initiate trying to prove himself.

‘So, you two really didn’t do it?’ Asked Kiwi over the net as Rebecca and Maine searched the building for the ganger netrunner. Kiwi couldn’t find him so they had to do it the manual way, search every last room.

‘Yeah yeah, is it so hard to believe?’ She replied. The whole job was a fucking slog. It was just a few guys but they had taken over a whole apartment building and were using the defenses that were supposed to defend the occupants to great effect.

Speaking of which, she elbowed Maine and shouted just as she heard a panel open up behind them, “Turret!” As a turret popped out from the ceiling and started peppering the walls around them with lead forcing; them to jump into one of the rooms they’d just cleared.

“Fuckign hell, how many turrets does this building have?!” Maine shouted as he tried peering from the door frame only to jerk back as metal sparked just inches away from where his face was just moments ago.

‘Well considering it's you we’re talking about, it kinda is.’ Kiwi snarked back in reply.

Rebecca rolled her eyes as she fired back, ‘Said the woman that Adam smashed and a turret on Floor 5, we need it down now.’ She reached inside the bandolier she wore only to find that she was out of smoke grenades.

‘Touche and give me a sec.’ Kiwi replied.

‘Kinda wish Lucy- Oh shit, sorry about that’ She answered only to apologize for the faux paus. Lucy leaving had been a surprise for most of the group. Sure she wasn’t the friendliest or most sociable but she was a good front line netrunner with her quick hacks. Without her though, Kiwi had to pick up the slack and Kiwi was better as a backline support.

‘No, it’s ok. Also, they’re free for the picking in three…’ Kiwi said with a sigh. She reminded herself to ask the woman for some girls' night out even if it was only Kiwi, Dorio, and her to drink their problems away. What was with it with Netrunners leaving their crew? First it was Sasha and now it’s Lucy?

“So the bitch who burnt down our homes is here. You think you’ll get out of here alive?!” Spoke the priest through the speaker underneath a turret as it spat hot lead in her direction before it was cut off and short circuited thanks to Kiwi. She made sure to shut it up real quick as her gun’s high explosive microjets slammed into the gun turret and turned it into scrap metal. Burning down parts of Pacifica on her date gave her quite the boost on her street cred but with fame came the complications attached with it.

“Oh come on! That was like a week ago. Won’t you forgive a cutie like me?” She shouted to the priest knowing full well that he could hear her. She probably boasted the biggest bounty from the Voodoo boys just next to that of Hiro. She couldn’t blame them as the fire kept burning for days and one of the towers actually collapsed on the last day of the fire.

“Easy on the taunts there Bee, we still have a floor to clear. We still haven’t seen everything this guy has under his sleeve.” Reminded Maine as he led the assault. He was the first to get out of cover and Rebecca soon followed close by, walking side by side with him so she could get into the action as well. “Taunting is after we’re sure we can make holes in their skulls, so eyes open and stay with me ok? Don’t want a repeat of last time.” He added as they walked up a flight of stairs slowly.

“It was one time and don’t worry about it, big guy. We can handle this.” She replied reassuringly. There were barely any bodies blocking their way.  There were just an obnoxious amount of drones and turrets instead. It was honestly grating on her nerves.

The next floor was by far the hardest floor they encountered, the moment Maine blasted their barricade away the gangers made to block their progress; they were soon pelted with fire from actual people instead of bots and turrets. “Fucking finally! I thought you guys would never come out and play!” She shouted as she dashed out of cover and rushed at the men. She was god damn frustrated with how slow things were and there were just a few men blocking their way to their quarry.

The Arasaka Bolter Mk.1 was proving to be her favorite gun thus far. Sure the Laspitol had it beat when it comes to the amount of shots she could fire but the Bolter just had that satisfying kick to it and of course its anti material capability. What were her bullets tipped with? Diamonds? Whatever it was, it was ripping through the heavily armed men like hot knives through butter.

“God damn it, Bee!” She was so engrossed with shooting people up that she almost missed the shadow rushing towards her. Time seemed to slow down as she turned her head ever so slowly to see a woman leaping at her with claws dripping with some unknown liquid. Her heart hammered inside her head as she tried bringing her guns to bear but she was far too slow.

The woman, however, wouldn’t be able to touch her as her upper body exploded in an explosion of gore after Maine shot the would be assassin with his arm cannon. Rebecca cursed as she finally turned around and started shooting the corpse. “Fuck fuck fuck!” The corpse twitched and flailed as it was reduced to an unrecognizable mush. She stood there panting as blood dripped from her face and her jacket. She’d need a new one after this with all the gunk covering her.

“Damn it, what the hell did I tell you?” Maine replied as he finally caught up. He looked at her in concern and anger as he scolded him. She looked away, refusing to look him in the eye after she almost died to a rookie's mistake.

“Y-Yeah, fuck. Should have not done that.” She admitted as she pulled out the magazine of her gun and reloaded. The turrets were destroyed, the men and women dead and all that’s left was the skinny ass of the netrunner hiding behind a barricaded door.

“Don’t come any closer! I have this room rigged to explode!” The Vodou priest threatened, making her and Maine cuss out. He could be bluffing, he could be not. Best to have Kiwi handle this before they make a move or they might fly sky high.

‘No he doesn’t, I just fried his detonator. Shoot him in between the legs for me. Gave me quite the hard time even with my new stuff.’ Kiwi then said to both of them as she would hear cursing behind the closed door.

“Copy that!” Rebecca answered as she holstered her bolter before she pulled out her black gun; She wasn’t feeling like giving any mercy today.

Maine merely shook his head as he reloaded his arm cannon before checking the ammo of his shotgun. “I swear, you almost got your ass flatlined. You need to get that bloodlust under control or it’s gonna bite your ass one of these days.” he lectured as he tapped the butt of his shotgun on the door. The hollow sounding ring of cheap aluminum was a reassuring sound.

She threw up her hands in surrender as she sighed out. “Ok ok, I get it. Can we just go and kill the guy behind the door?” She asked as she just wanted to finish this job before it further sours her mood.

“Yeah. Let’s get this over with.” Maine replied as he aimed his shotgun on the door handle, pressing the muzzle firmly where the lock meets the doorframe. “On my command!” He shouted as Rebecca aimed her gun at the door.

“Now!” The Big Man fired, breaching the door before kicking the door open and Rebecca started blasting; There was nothing left afterwards.

-x-x-x-

Rebecca might have been sulking when the Arasaka affiliated fixer’s car left Maine’s turf. Sure they were paid well for their trouble given the current war between Arasaka and the Voodoo boys after that incident, that still didn’t change the fact that maybe she was getting in way over her head and now here she was sitting in front of Maine as he grilled her about the job they just finished. She just nodded along, not really feeling it right at that moment and the midday heat wasn’t helping.

“Rebecca, we’re scaling back on the Voodoo Boy jobs for a bit.” Maine then said, making her snap out of her funk. She gaped at the big man as she stared her down before she exploded on his face. He was just going to drop this bomb on her?

“Wait what?! But that’s our current biggest earner. We’re also getting a lot of street cred from that!” Rebecca shouted as she stood up from her turned over box/seat. They were raking in far more than they ever had and they got to shoot people. They were having fun and Maine had to be a killjoy about it.

“That is exactly why we're not going.” Mained answered back, making her flinch as he stood up to his full height. He loomed over her, daring her to answer back, as he tapped the side of his head and added “You're not thinking straight and as much as I hate to admit it, we can’t do those jobs without our heaviest hitter.”

She blinked, frowning as he processed those words before she looked up at Maine in shock and betrayal. “Wait wait wait, you didn’t mean it like that right? You’re not actually going to actually bench me are you?” She asked with a strained smile.

Maine shook his head sadly. “Missy, you need a time out starting now. No combat missions, no nothing. We’ll find some easier jobs or just go spend some time with your Input.”  He answered, making Rebecca rage even more.

“Oh come on Maine! You can’t do this to me. Back me up here Kiwi, I still did good didn’t I?” She shouted, fuming at how Maine was treating her. She wasn’t some doll, she was an experienced and seasoned solo; she could handle it.

“I can and I will for your sake. When I accepted those jobs from Douglas, I thought you were ready with all the firepower we can bring to bear. Turns out, that got into your head. You’ve been far too reckless these past few weeks.” Maine explained and she tried to reason something, anything but she found nothing as she choked on her answer.

“The big man got a point. You’ve been acting like you're immortal with those big guns of yours” Kiwi pointed out as she gestured at that gun strapped to her thighs. She looked at the woman in betrayal but the older woman did not budge with her point. She was sticking with Maine and there was nothing Rebecca could do to convince her otherwise.

Even Pilar was against her as he piped up from the side. “Sis, you really need to chill. Like holy hell and here I thought Maine was bad when he got his cannon the first time around and I tell you he was a very trigger happy camper back when he got that baby.”

“But I need-” She replied in a panic only to be cut off by Maine.

“And don’t go telling me you're strapped for cash. You're still going to get your fair share even if you’re not going on missions with us. You need to cool down. End of discussion.” Maine replied with a sense of finality as he judged her unfit to keep fighting. She stood there, staring at her crew as emotions roiled inside her chest.

“Fuck this and fuck you!” She shouted as she threw her arms up and walked away. She didn’t want to hear any more of this. She needed to get away for a bit and find some way to cool down before she does anything drastic.

“Come on Bee, it’s not that bad. We can still do courier missions as well as stake outs like we used to.” Dorio said soothingly but it didn’t help her calm down one bit. Those jobs were boring as hell and she hated having to do those. It was one of the reasons she was eager to prove that she could handle things but they aren’t seeing it that way.

“Why don’t you talk to Hiro. Maybe he’ll talk some sense to you.” Maine called out as she decided to take the train to Watson.

“Maybe I will!” She shouted back and flipped him off as she walked off on her own so she could have her time off. She grumbled as she sent out a call for Hiro so she could have someone to vent to. Hiro would definitely side with her on this one, right?

-x-x-x-

One phone call, a train ride, and a taxi later; Rebecca would find herself in Watson. It took her a bit longer to get there than usual as she decided to drop by Lizzie’s for a change of clothes. Getting a spare Arasaka Academy uniform her size was well worth the eddies, especially with the looks she was getting. Sure the cops were glaring at her but they just glared and kept to themselves like good little guard dogs.

“Hey Becca! Glad you made it.” Hiro said before he took one glance at her before snorting in amusement. The tell tale brief glow of his eyes told her that he took a photo of her. “Really?” He asked with a grin as she clung to his arms.

“Well, since we’re going on a date, I thought I might as well wear something eye-catching and it worked, didn’t it~?” She asked as she pressed her chest against his forearms. The light dusting of pink on his cheeks was all the answer she needed. “Now share that pic! I wanna see.” She badgered him as Hiro led her to the ice cream shop he was talking about.

Hiro shook his head and laughed as he ruffled her hair before he slung his arms around her shoulders. “Can’t say no to a cutie like you.” He replied as Rebecca felt her stomach go aflutter from just being near him. All her worries seemed to go away now that she was with him and the bold neon sign of the ice cream parlor was a sight for sore eyes.

After a few sweet words, and a bit of arm twisting on who got to pay for the ice cream, she and Hiro shared a seat as they ate their ice cream in peace. She sat atop his lap while he leaned against her and wrapped his arms around his waist. “Well, that wasn’t that hard, was it?”

“You didn’t have to twist my arms literally, you know.” Hiro pouted as he rested his chin on top of her shoulder. She merely preened as she took a large bite out of her chocolate ice cream. Feeling the frozen treat melt on her tongue had her moaning in pleasure. The smooth texture, and lack of ice chunks was an absolute treat.

“How else was I going to convince you otherwise?” She asked as a group of Arasaka school girl’s looked at her all scandalized and confused on who she was. She snickered at how they kept sneaking glances at her before talking among themselves. She had to admit, fucking with people’s heads was way funnier than she expected.

“Point.” Hiro replied as he dug in their shared cup of ice cream and took a bite of his own but not before he filched another wafer. She pouted at that because she was saving that one for the end but he could have it, especially since she was the one treating him. If it was the other way around, she’d eat all the sprinkles and toppings first. “So, what made you look all glum and annoyed?” He asked as he poked her cheeks.

She sighed and replied, “Is it really that obvious?” She was going to have some fun with him before she told him about her problems but that plan was dead in the water since he sniffed it out. She took another bite of the sweet delectable treat and sucked on the golden spoon for a bit.

“Well, you look way too tense, more so than usual.” HIro replied as he pressed his chin on her shoulder. That had her blinking as she hadn’t even noticed that. “Here let me just…” He whispered as he pulled away, his hands moving to her shoulders before she felt all the kinks and knots melt away. She crossed her legs as she felt her eyes roll up their sockets.

“Mmmm fuck, this is amazing.” She replied as she closed her eyes and leaned against his touch. Feeling his cool hands against her neck and shoulders and having them work their magic was something she could get addicted too.

“With how my Aunt’s constantly stressed out, I learned how to give a good back rub.” He explained as his hands slowly trailed downwards. The only regret she had right now was that she was wearing an oversized sweater but maybe that was a blessing as she might have just pulled her uniform off to get a better experience otherwise.

“You’re going to give this to me every single day from now on, got it?” She demanded as she let out a satisfied sigh. An input that supported her career and gave good backrubs? She definitely hit the jackpot here and she wasn’t going to let go.

“Hah. I knew you'd say that.” He replied as he pulled back his hands. She whined out a bit but she knew she could just get more later, the more obvious kinks were already worked on anyways. There was no need for her to be that demanding. “So, what’s on your mind?” He then asked as his arms once again wrapped around her stomach.

She nodded as she snuggled up against him and started explaining how Maine basically grounded her from taking some of the more exciting jobs. “Well… had a mission with one of your fixers and it almost went titsup…” She started to explain as Hiro lent an ear to her problem.

She only gave him an abridged version of what happened but she did not hold back on the details. She told him everything even if she sounded dumb when she started telling it out loud. As painful as it was, she didn’t want to lie or sugar coat what she did.

Hiro hummed for a bit before he truthfully answered “You know… after hearing that. Yeah, I have to agree with Maine on this one.” Damn did the truth hurt a lot especially when it came from her special somebody.

“Oh come on! Not you too!” She shouted without much heat in her voice. In retrospect, and after a pint of ice cream, she realized that she acted like a fucking brat. She felt her cheeks burn a bit at that. She should have known better but she let her emotions get the best of her there; she was still upset though.

“Come on Becca, think about it.” Hiro answered as he started to gently stroke her hair, letting his fingers massage her scalp. “How many times have you nearly been flatlined this week?” He then asked. She looked down on the empty cup of ice cream as she started thinking about it.

“Two…?” She answered slowly but the raised eyebrow that Hiro gave her made her give in pretty quickly. “Ok, fine, it was three.” She confessed, as she had a lot of close calls this week and it made her uncomfortable once she started thinking about it. Was she really that reckless?

“... Maybe you need a less gungho job, and I might just have something that will pique your interest. It’s still something up your alley but less violent and hey I actually need to be on the ground for this one.” Hiro then said, catching her attention pretty quickly.

“Oh? What do you have in mind?” She asked with interest before the last part caused her to turn to him in surprise, “And you want to do what now? Did you just say you actually want to join in? Like boots on the ground?” She added in surprise. She knew he was interested in it but she didn’t expect him to act on it.

“Yup,~ I just need you guys to help me retrieve something that’s been stolen from me. As for the deets, that’ll have to wait as it’s some pretty sensitive information. The only thing I’ll say for now is that it’s sensitive enough that I need to be there to make sure that it doesn’t explode.” Hiro replied with a bright smile on his face.

“For a guy that got his package stolen, you sound a bit too happy.” She replied as she poked the cheeks of her input. Things being stolen was a norm in Night City. The only question was if what’s stolen was worth being taken back. Hiring solos for that job wasn’t really out of the norm and Rebecca already had some guesses on what it might have been.

“Oh I’m pissed but it also means I might get to shoot people with my girlfriend.~” Hiro replied as he held her tightly before burying his face against her hair. She let out a sigh of contentment as she held his arms.

“Old fashioned much?” She teased him as she leaned against his hold while she basked at the warmth of her input. “Well, can’t say I’m not interested. Is this just you trying to make an excuse to spend time with me?” She then asked. Hiro had the full might of the Arasaka megacorporation backing him. He could get his own people doing his dirty work, hell even Adam alone would be enough but he was specifically offering this job to her? Yeah, he’s definitely looking for excuses here.

“What if it is?” Hiro brazenly answered, making her giggle out as her cheeks turned a rosy pink. Pulling his hands off her stomach and turning around to straddle him, she then wrapped her legs around his waist.

“Awww, come here.” She answered as she held the side of his head, cupping his cheeks, before pulling him close for a kiss. They locked lips away and the scandalized gasp from the side only made it all the sweeter. Was she shameless? Oh hell yes, especially when it came with her input. The fact that it turned her on was just the cherry on top.

Unfortunately, their kiss had to end as they pulled away gasping for air. She smiled smugly as she rested her head against the crook of his neck. They stayed there for a while, just enjoying one another's company and making some small talk but eventually they had to get out. Stretching her legs before and walking around, sightseeing around Corpo Plaza. All the large gothic buildings with their pointed spires and flying buttresses made it feel like she was in some fantasy city.

“About that job, I’m going to call a special fixer for this. You guys will need all the information you can get about the target location and there's no better fixer in Night City than her." He then said as they walked around while holding hands.

“Hah. Special Fixer? Sounds like you’re describing Rogue Amendiares” She said, snorting in amusement at the image of the legendary fixer giving her crew the deets on their target. Thinking about it, was Hiro banned from even entering the Afterlife? She also wanted to know if Adam could enter, though did the Borg even want to go there? The smug smile that started stretching across Hiro's face however made it look like he was really going to try and get the service of Rogue. “Nooo, come on Hiro, stop teasing me here! You know I’m her biggest fan.” She said in surprise as she swatted his shoulder only for him to keep on smiling and even chuckle.

"You'll see, you'll see." Hiro replied ever so enigmatically, making her huff out. Alright then, he could keep his secrets.

"I swear you're just getting my hopes up." She replied as they stepped in the large shadow of the biggest building of them all. Arasaka's main tower loomed ahead with its large arched doorway and its thick reinforced walls. The large door honestly looked more like a door fit for a giant rather than a normal human yet Hiro assured her that those doors could be opened.

"Anyways, I kinda need to get back to work. Doing some maintenance on Adam's body. Want to watch?" Hiro turned to her, looking hopeful. While wet work wasn’t something that interested her, seeing all the weapons Adam Smasher had hidden in his body was something she’d be very interested in seeing.

"You know what… yeah sure, why not?" She smiled as she smiled back at him. Hey, she had nothing better to do and any excuse to spend time with him was well worth it in her opinion.

-x-x-x-

Life for Gloria Martinez was great. She didn't have to worry about bills and payments anymore thanks to her high paying job and her son's future was all but assured thanks to who she was working for. Yes, her recruitment to Arasaka's R&D as a Medical technician was a bit unorthodox, but Arasaka made their point when they kicked in the door at her old job and all but forced their contract on her. Maybe she should have answered those “spam messages” she’d been getting all those months ago. Now here she was, assisting one of the potential heirs to the Arasaka fortune as he operated on Adam Smasher.

“So, I heard your son’s doing well in school. Joined the football team and is still keeping his grades up.” Hiro said as he checked on the vitals of Adam’s Smashers organs inside the man’s biopod. The legendary solo was suspended midair by heavy chains as they worked on ensuring the connection between his biological and mechanical parts was as seamless as possible. Today, they were replacing some of the old copper wiring he still had inside him with a special silver alloy.

“Oh yes, Mr. Arasaka. He’s doing quite well. He complains about fatigue from the strenuous regime his captain has him perform but he looks happy about it.” She replied as she handed him the spool of said precious metal as the boy's mechadendrites did the delicate procedure with ease. As gruesome as the procedure was, the Borg looked more bored than in discomfort.

“You know you’re making me feel old here, didn’t I tell you to just call me Hiro?” Hiro pouted, making Gloria chuckle. As talented and powerful Hiro was, he was still a young man at heart. At first, she thought she was only hired as eye candy but now with all the medical procedures she was participating in, she kinda wished she was just hired as eye candy. She had to perform twice as hard as everyone else to make sure she wasn’t replaced.

“O-of course… Hiro.” She replied as she took a glance on the monitor. Her eyes glanced at the untouched vial of anesthetics hooked to the mix.

“Must have been expensive to give him all the good upgrades.” Hiro then commented, making her smile as she shook her head in negative.

“Oh no, it’s all on his own really. We’re too poor to get some of the limb enhancements, much less any brain implants. It’s amazing how good he can be when he puts his mind into it.” She responded with a hint of pride in her voice. The fact that she didn’t need to embellish on the facts about her son's achievements always filled her with joy.

“Wait seriously? Why didn’t you tell me then. We could set him up with some of the good stuff. Hey, maybe he could be a recipient for the Cogitator Neural Implant.” Hiro then offered as he gestured at the bundle of gold, silver and other non-reactive exotic metals on one of the shelves in the medical theater. She blanched at how nonchalant he was with his offer as that implant might be worth well more than she was several times over on the black market.

“There’s no need for that Hiro. I don’t really want to impose and I’ll eventually save up for implants.” She hurriedly replied. Her boss was extremely generous to those whom he deemed worth his time. She felt like she’d be taking advantage of that generosity if she accepted, and it wasn’t like second hand implants that were compatible with her son would be hard to come by.

“Come on Gloria, think of it as an early christmas bonus. It doesn’t have to be a limb or extra organs if you don’t like it being so overt, the neural implants would be plenty good enough. Hey Adam, back me up here.” The boy insisted as he turned to the very much awake and lucid Borg. Said borg turned towards her with those baleful red eyes of his.

“All I see is wasted potential. Take the offer woman, do not think of the cost now. If you're so worried about it, I’ll even foot the bill so you don’t have to worry about any future payment that may creep up. Chrome would do the boy good.” The cyborg said with a sense of finality in his voice. Gloria couldn’t help but nod along at that because he had a point. Having no chrome was putting her son at a disadvantage and against her better judgment, she needed this for him.

“If you insist… but just the neural implants please.” She relented but insisted on that. Her boy didn’t need those physical implants yet, or ever if she could help it. Implants that could help his sharp mind, however? She’d gladly take those. Her thoughts drifted off to that of her boy. She wondered what he was doing right now.

-x-x-x-

Not too far away on a train back home, David Martinez sighed as he had his ears talked off by his hangerons? His fangirls? He wasn’t quite sure but they followed him and hung onto his every word. It got worse after he actually accepted the football captain’s offer and tested out.

Yes, they found out that he had talent, but he didn’t have the chrome so they started building up his strength. He still felt sore but he was getting better, more muscular even, after his captain employed tough love on him. Damn bastard looked smug when he scored a goal against another club.

So now, he had a permanent flock of girls around him and what’s worse was that he found out that these girls lived near his new apartment. It’s not like he’s complaining though as they were nice eye candy but could they stop gossiping for one minute? Even small talk was better than what they were saying right now.

“So, did you hear about that Mox girl kissing a guy in Corpo Place? Like wow, why wasn’t she kicked off the plaza?“ One of his hanger ons said. A Mox in Corpo Plaza, well wouldn’t that be a sight.

“I know right? Wearing our uniform and ruining our reputation. The nerve of that girl.” Another replied. Well, maybe not all of their gossip was inane crap.

He just let them talk, tuning them out whenever things got too boring. It was then that he saw a flash of rainbow hair in the window of the train. The image he saw was hazy but he couldn’t help but be transfixed at the sight of the woman that walked behind them. He turned around to find no one.

“Hey David, is something wrong?” One of the girls, Denice if remembered correctly, asked.

“Yeah, it was nothing Denice. Just thought I saw something.” He replied as he shook his head. Heh, what a joke. Here he was turning at the sight of a pretty girl like he’s some horn dog.

“You’re way too stressed David. You should chill out especially with how hard you’re going in the field. Why don’t we drop by the noodle shop?” The other girl then said.

“Yeah, that actually sounds good.” He nodded along. He was hungry and his captain did say to eat a bit more. It would only be later than he’d find out that he was pickpocketed, much to the amusement of his hangers on until they found out that they were also pickpocketed. Thankfully, he had a spare data chip of cash hidden in his shoes.