Neon Cogs Interlude 3-1 + Omake (Patreon)

Arasaka’s Data Fortress

It’s no secret among the netrunner community that Arasaka is one, if not the hardest nut to crack in the business. Yes, they’re status had already been mythical with how it took the likes of A2, Barthmoss and Alt Cunningham to break into their security but the Araska those legendary netrunners once faced would pale in comparison to the new Arasaka. In the span of 10 years, they have utterly transformed themselves and created a network unlike any others.

From locations which simply do not appear in the net despite being in the middle of populated cities or great guardian AI’s that protect their system, Arasaka has a multitude of new tricks up their sleeves. None shall pass the Great Arasaka Firewall through brute force so say the infamous scion of the Arasaka’s.

Indeed, none had managed to break through and those that did managed to take a peek on the other side had none come out unscathed. Some say they saw a vast ocean of data beyond a thick forest before they got lost and barely made it out alive. Others say that they had stumbled upon a modern day labyrinth of minos with monsters lurking in every corner. Whatever the case is, breaking through Arasaka’s legendary defense has become the holy grail among all Netrunners.

Now, one such Netrunner would finally get a glimpse of the legendary Data Fortress of Arasaka hidden deep in the wilderness of Hokkaido. Stepping of the bus along with a gaggle of fresh faced and seasoned veterans, one Night City native would finally get to see what makes their fortresses so secure. Rubbing his hands togethers and cupping them together, he wasn’t sure if frostbite was worth it but he still couldn’t help but grin.

“You know Tenshi, I don’t get why you’re excited about getting assigned to the Maximum Security Prison” His supervisor, an old grizzled man that looked more at home at construction sight with his big burly build than in an office, told him as he got out of the bus after him. Stretching and shaking his sleepy limbs, he then said, “Hell, you begged to be assigned here. Normally, only the laziest fuckers are sent here to correct their behavior.”

Tenshi chuckled at how direct the old man was. They made no effort to keep it down which earned them a few glares and dirty looks to which the old man glared back as he pulled out a gun and fired at the air. He winced, covering his ringing ears while the rest of the workers froze.

“Yeah, I’m calling you a lot out! Come on you lazy bums, move it or I’ll tan your hides!” His boss threatened them, which had his fellow workers packing as they scrambled for the entrance. Shaking his head, the man shouted, “You already have 10 hour work days and 4 day weeks and you still managed to be lazy. You’re lucky you all have good records and good mental evaluations else you would have been booted off!”

As much as Tenshi believed in worker solidarity, it was simply in poor taste how they simply weren’t working hard enough. Sometimes, he can see why some companies push their workers to their utmost limit. Still, those were other companies. Here in Arasaka, they were the best so they were treated the best.

“Oh come on Chief, it shouldn’t be that bad!” he replied as he slipped his freezing hands inside his jacked, “Besides, this is the closest I’ll be to one of the data fortresses. A six month rotation here shouldn’t be that bad. I’ll definitely get some experience here,” he then said as he gestured at the brutalist cube up ahead. If one thing was to describe the building up ahead then it would be a fortress in every sense of the word.

Near the snow capped peaks of mountains, surrounded by wilderness and protected by a plethora of physical barriers which included biological monstrosities in the shape of wolves. He shuddered as he felt the gaze of one from the tree line. He couldn’t see them but he knew they were there. No one can physically access this area unscathed and they still have to contend with the manned defenses of the building ahead.

He must not however let this intimidate him. Nodding, he marched ahead, following after his fellow workers. “Hey, maybe I’ll even get assigned to some of Hiro-sama’s projects,” he commented, trying to cheer himself up. The lack of sunlight might be getting him but he will not let that bring himself down! He was going to be serving a greater purpose and he’ll do his damn best.

His supervisor chuckled as he followed him, patting his back as he walked beside him.“You’ll definitely learn a lot here but don’t be too excited…” He told him as they walked up to the entrance and were greeted by the facilities staff who were in the process of giving each and every new member of the facility new physical cards and ID’s, “Let’s just say that things are a little low tech around here.”

Tenshi gulped as he was pushed forward and came face to face with the soulless stare of the Servitor that was tasked to make his ID. He really hoped that he wouldn’t have to deal with them too much as a tattoo was physically tattooed into his arm.

-x-x-x-

Rubbing his still sore forearm, he followed his supervisor as he led the group down the hallways. So far, everything looked so dull and gray with no colors popping out. Even the plants added to spruce up the place seemed washed out in color. It was terrifying coming from a place filled with colors. It was as if the building sucked the life out of things.

“Oh right, just got to remind you of a few things to you a lot,” His supervisor shouted, calling to their attention before he started explaining. Raising a finger, he said, “One, this facility is Air gapped to hell and back so this is a whole new dimension if you're thinking about Net infrastructure.”

Looking around, he could barely see any holographic advertisements or screens. If there was anything, it was physical posters. Even the vending machine they just passed by looked like it came from a time when physical cash was a necessity.

Gesturing for them to stop as they came upon a door, he then walked up to a table as he pulled out some chipware sockets plugs. “Here, insert this to your data slots. Opening a net connection here is the greatest sin and well, you’ll be eating those if you even think of doing so,” he told them as he gestured at the dark spots up in the ceiling, spots big enough for a turret to pop down from and start shooting.

“So that’s why they don’t appear on the net…” He muttered as he grabbed the plugs and slipped them in his empty slots. He jolted, blinking as he felt himself no longer feeling something that should be there. He was feeling the net all this time? He was always connected to the net in a sense but he never expected it to be this tangible, not until he got these plugs.

Seeing his reaction, there was some apprehension from his coworkers to which his supervisor rolled his eyes, “Come on, pull out those Mr Stud and Night Lady chipware, it’s not like any of you would be getting action here,” he scolded them as each and every last one of them were disconnected from the net.

“Feels strange huh? Not being connected to the net. This brings me to my second point,” He then said as he reached out and opened the door for them, “Since we’re disconnected from the net, almost everything here is manual. Even the espresso machine.” He laughed as they were greeted by a warehouse dominated by massive shelves filled with column after columns of filing cabinets.

He felt his jaw hang open as he looked around in awe, watching servo drones fly up to-and-fro while legions of servitors handled the task which the smaller robots couldn’t handle. Reaching up and whistling, a servo drone came swooping down carrying with it a pot and a stack of paper cups.

Tossing each and everyone one and passing them the still steaming pot of coffee, he then said with a grin, “Good news since everything is manual, we have to brew our own coffee and they don’t give us pre-grinded crap. We get imported beans straight from the greenhouses!”

“Oh man, this tastes just like the ones I had back home!” One of his co-workers exclaimed as they took a sip.

Curious, Tenshi followed suit and was greeted by an explosion of flavor. Bitter yet not overwhelmingly so, lacking any hint of sourness. He couldn’t even taste a bit of sugar in his cup. “Sweet mother of mercy, this is good.”

Downing their cup, they walked behind their boss in a trance. Was this really a prison? Why were the drinks so good here? It felt homey even despite how desolate the place felt. Still, they have yet to reach their actual work stations. “So, where are we going to working?” Tenshi asked out of curiosity, his eyes wandering as he gazed upon a servitor carrying boxes of files? “And why are those servitors carrying so many papers and… I’m not sure what those square plastic disk,”

This had his supervisor breaking out into a fit of laughter, doubling over before he managed to right himself. “Oh you sweet summer child,” The man replied as he reached out and grabbed a disk from a servitor who paused, waiting for the man to return what they took. Brandishing the device at them, he then said, “This thing? This is a floppy disk,” slipping it back to the robot's basket, he then asked, “Guess how much data you can store in one of these bad boys.”

There was a pause from them as all of them tried to take a shot. It was bigger by a wide margin to the data chips in the market but they looked absolutely archaic. They even look like the save icon in old programs. He wasn’t sure so he remained quiet, letting the others have a shot.

“Two hundred terabytes?” One of them suggested while another piped up, “Wait, no. three hundred? A thousand!”

Their supervisor chuckled as he continued forwards, leading them to a small multistory building inside the massive storage. “Remove a zero to your last pick and downgrade that data to a gigabyte and you have a good guess,” He told them nonchalantly as he finally got to the building. Knocking on the door and pulling on an archaic radio phone, he then added, “It’s actually a miracle that the young master managed to squeeze more performance. Would you believe the older floppy disk only has megabytes in data? Good luck getting a basic brain dance clip there…”

There was a harsh buzz as he pushed a button as a garbled voice asked him to which he replied, “Open up you fucks! It’s me.” There was some laughter on the other end before the door opened up for them.

Tenshin couldn’t quite believe his answer however. Why even go to the effort to store everything in these archaic devices? Who the hell writes reports and prints them out on paper these days? “But… but why?” He asked,before looking back at the servitors behind them, “Wouldn’t it be faster to just plug this into modern infrastructure? And… wait, you’re physically carting data from one building to another?” He pointed out.

“That’s right bucko!” The man replied as he led them in and closed the door behind them.“There’s a reason why this is called the Prison. It’s easy to push data here for long term storage. Getting said data out is a whole other process.” He could see the reasoning behind it but everything looked slow. He was even limited to just his eyes and touch alone.

Leading them up stairs, he then led them to a room filled with cubicles and actual physical computer stations. He only ever saw these in shows or braindance programs. Smelling the old musty, he couldn’t believe he would actually work here.

Walking up the computers, their supervisor gave the boxy screens a loving pat as he told them, “Look! We even have you a PC complete with the latest Fujitsu chips before those went out of fashion for cyberdecks,” How old were these devices? Half a century?

“We… have to type here? Like physically encode data…” One of his coworkers asked, balking at the monumental task placed upon them.

“Wait, that’s a printer… a physical printer!” Another pointed out at a printer the size of a small fridge up in a corner.

“What insane asylum is this…” Tenshin whispered as he realized just how deep he was in the past.

“Oh there’s a reason for the madness here boys and gals!” Their boss replied as he straightened up. “Even if you somehow managed to get in here and get a connection, How the hell are you going to interface with this archaic language and utterly alien technology. We tried to isolate this as much as we could because the young master pointed out… why the hell did we store sensitive data on the internet?”

“Oh sure some of our sensitive data that is needed to be accessed easily are housed in far more advanced data fortresses but for long term storage and even the very blueprints of Arasaka’s technology?” He asked as he walked up to a window and gestured outside,  “We have them stored here, written in paper, stored in physical drives or even etched into magnetic tapes so that a simple thing like the internet crashing wouldn’t corrupt entire swathes of our records. All of those hidden upon mountains upon mountains of data that you simply can’t pull out in an instant and pinpoint.”

Tenshin nodded numbly as he now understood. Seeing the computer before him take seconds to boot up, netrunners would go mad waiting. He wasn’t even sure modern programs would run in these PC’s without extreme optimization since they only operate on the gigabytes. This place is so isolated he doubted no netrunner can reach this simply because there’s no god damn path. This was an island and the sea around them is simply too vast to cross.

“Don’t worry though, you don’t have to physically type,” He added as he picked up a headset for them to wear, a helmet that looks similar to a VR game set but older, “We have interfaces here that’ll hook you to the computer so you can type by just thinking. Be warned though, it’s just as fast as you typing things.”

“What are we even going to do here-!” Tenshi asked until he caught himself asking. He looked down, averting his gaze before a large hand ruffled his hair. He pushed the hand off as his boss grinned back at him.

“As for what you’ll be doing here?” he replied as he walked up to a large map which divided the place into multiple sectors. There were multiple buildings with a blacked out bottom stage simply labeled Yomi-no-Kuni. “Oh that’s simple. Think of yourselves as librarians. You monitor every last bit of data flowing in and out of here, manage the servitors in their daily task to transfer data as well as monitor which data gets destroyed cause we only keep around 2 years worth of miscellaneous company data like recordings and meetings.”

“There’s a few more but that’s about it!” He then said as he walked towards the door. “As for where you’ll stay, don’t worry, you have a dorm just outside to enjoy the view! Off course, wouldn’t be attached to the net but don’t worry, you can request downloads of the latest shows and games,”

Standard there, he then asked, “If there’s no more questions, I’d like you to organize this particular section.” He waited for a bit but none dared question the task given to them as all of them were simply confused at what to do. ”There’s a book there on the programming language so better get reading cause you’ll be expected to work within the week! Now get to it, Chop chop!”

Tenshi melted into his seat as he stared at the CRT display before him in all its boxy glory. He’s regretting ever getting assigned here now. Still, he had a new code to learn and a task at hand. Cracking his knuckles, he reached out to the text book given to him before tapping at the display, waiting for it to move before he realized it too was a book. Grumbling, he flipped through the pages as he started to figure out the ins and outs of the server room. “What the hell even is COBOL?” He muttered.

Bolter Bitches

A posergang in Night City wasn’t an all too uncommon sight. With the proliferation of gene mods, biowares and chrome in the past century, the notion of becoming one’s ideal form became a reality.For those who partake in changing one’s look, it’s a matter of self expression; molding their very form to show off who they truly are both on the inside and the outside.

You have cases like the Valentino’s who merely want to look good and there are the extreme cases such as the Willow Sisterhood who willingly transform themselves to look like the beauties of old. Whatever the case is, most people ignore them. Afterall, does it really matter what people do themselves? It’s only when they start getting violent that it becomes a problem.

Such was the case for a squad of 6th Street soldiers as they found themselves pinned down in the outskirts of their rapidly shrinking territory. They ran, weaving through upturned vehicles and debris as the familiar roar of a boltgun echoed in the empty streets, chewing through what little cover they had with their high explosive rounds.

“Into the building!” Shouted the lead man as he pointed over one of their former safe houses, a two story building, before he staggered. A shot had just grazed his shoulder, taking a chunk out of him. Gritting his teeth, he soldiered on, powering through the pain as he dragged a straggler inside and upstairs.

Not even the reinforced walls of the building could fully stop the rounds however as the high explosive rounds of the deadly Arasaka armament slammed against the concrete walls and punched holes with their explosive charge. They didn’t need the building for cover however as it served better to mask their movement. Bolter rounds, while relatively cheap, can still chew through someone's paycheck and thus the firestorm they were under finally abated

“Fucking Bolter Bitches!” the man once more shouted out of breath, cursing as he slumped against the wall, clutching his shoulder as he scrambled to find a maxdoc on him. He was lucky to merely get a flesh wound from a bolt round rather than having said round explode inside him. Finding one in his pocket, he hastily pulled it out and took a quick huff to dull the pain and give him enough time to cover his wound.

He was lucky, but that couldn’t be said for his fellow soldiers. “Sarge, what do we do!?” cried one out as he clutched the bleeding form of one of their fellow brothers, putting pressure on the grievous wound he had in his stomach while the unfortunate man struggled to inhale his own Maxdoc, “They have us fucking surround. Donny’s dead and Mikey’s bleeding out!” he shouted in panic.

“Shut up Raphy! They’ll hear us!” He hissed out as he crept to the nearby window and peered outside. His heart seized as the tall statuesque figures of the Sisters of Battle marched onward, illuminated by the fires of the weapons they carried. While their default weapon was the expensive bolter, all of them carried one form of flamethrower. What’s worse was what they wore.  Their custom made power armor decorated in their gothic design barely showed dents as their armored boots crushed the skull of Donny with ease. All he could do was stare in horror, not knowing if his own lasgun could put a dent in them.

One of them turned, looking up at him as their eyes locked and Sarge knew he was fucked. He pulled back, heart hammering away his chest as he looked around, trying to figure out what they can do. There were only five of them left and soon to be four if Mikey couldn’t be pulled to the hospital. “Let me think, just give me a minute,”

He wouldn’t have a minute to as he heard them shouting from the outside, “Onwards my sisters! If they wouldn't meet us in combat then we shall purge them with our purifying flames!”

Sarge screwed his eyes shut, struggling to hold back the panic setting in as the cheers from the armored women below remind him of the situation he was in. He regretted deserting the army, he regretted picking his arms up to join the 6th Street. He wanted to protect his neighbor hood but he didn’t want things to end like this, dying ignoblly against a bunch of fucking cosplayers.

“If the Firebird didn’t inspire these bitches then none of this would have happened!” He cried out in his mind as he clutched his rifle. No, he refused to believe that things would end like this. He refused to die like a dog.

He still had his gun, he can still breath, he can still fight! “We fight to the last!” he shouted, making up his mind, as his men looked up to him with wide eyed awe, “If they’re going to take us down then we’ll drag every last one then to hell with us!” he shouted and his men cheered with him.

He basked in their cries of battle, savoring what little time he had with them until he heard their shouts become one of terror. He blinked numbly, watching his men point behind him, shouting warnings that sounded all too distant. Slowly, he turned, and stared in horror as the armored form of the followers of the Firebird came flying at him, their jetpack roaring while the flamers in their hand blazed to life.

“At Least I wouldn’t die burning” Was all he could think before he felt his face crunch beneath an armored hell, his body flying as the woman crashed inside the room they hid in. It didn’t take long before the screaming started. He only felt the briefest touch of fire before the back of his head hit the walls and he knew no more.

-x-x-x-

While the star of the 6th Street sets, another rises. In the ashes of burnt out buildings arose a sisterhood that harkens to the time when the Mox first came to prominence. In the very same bar where the legendary group started, armored women sporting high grade weaponry cheered as they relished the victory they had just achieved.

“Three cheers for Sister Purity!” shouted the rowdy group as they hoisted up a flustered white haired girl while the rest of the patrons gave them their space. Kiwi herself gave them space but for another reason. Grimacing as she downed her pickle shot, she watched in the sidelines as the girls celebrated.

The Adepta Sororitas they call themselves, Sisters of Battles. They who grew tired of being oppressed just like the Mox but far more… tasteful or maybe less risque would be the right word. Nuns with guns to some thanks to the gothic armor they wore and Bolter Bitches to others thanks to the heavy weaponry they’re often seen with, they present themselves like the knights and paladins of old to protect those they deem the innocent. A foolish but commendable group and maybe even a group that’s actually worth joining if not for their origins.

“Ah! Sister Kiwi, just the woman we’re looking for,” one of the nuns, thought that's a bit of a misnomer given that they don’t actually hold a vow of celibacy, called out to her. Kiwi for her part remained cool and aloft, letting none of her distaste show through as the girl reported, “Another sector has fallen under the might of the sisterhood.”

“Why do you have to always make this so weird,” Kiwi groaned as she reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose before asking them, “And do you guys always have to speak like that?”

The woman tilted her head and looked at her in confusion before asking her, “Wasn’t it not you who taught us that the Emperor’s son liked his women to be refined and sophisticated?”

Kiwi took a deep breath and sighed. She caused this so she must suffer. The girls were commendable, exemplary even but Kiwi couldn’t really take them seriously given how they were effectively a fan club emulating Rebecca to try and catch Hiro’s attention. It was ridiculous but at least they weren’t a menace to society?

Shaking her head, she paid Mateo her tab along with a generous tip before she turned and faced the girl. “Fine, what do you want?” she asked, tapping her foot as she listened to the girl.

The woman blushed at the question. Gazing away and twiddling her thumb, she then asked, “We request more… information about our beloved.”

Kiwi paused, gazing at the large gun loosely secured at the girl's hips before tearing her gaze away as she focused her on the now. Not yet, she reminds herself. “That’s going to cost you,” she replied as she leaned back, making it clear that she wanted eddies.

“Of course,” The girl hastily nodded, not even minding the price she had set as she declared, “Anything to bring us closer to becoming the ideal brides to the next Emperor.”

These girls had it bad and it would be a shame if she couldn’t capitalize on their infatuation especially with how useful they were being for Arasaka lately and to her to a degree. A large group of rich and highly organized girls can do a lot when they put their mind to the problem at hand.

Kiwi nodded as she pulled away from the counter and leaned forward. “I could give you a discount if you can give me some valuable info,” she offered to which the Sororitas nodded, leaning in close to hear what Kiwi wanted as an alternative payment. With a few gestures, a wanted poster was sent over to an armored girl showing the picture of Lucy Kushinda to her, “Do you have information about this girl?” she asked.

The girl frowned, turning around, eyes flashing as a tell tale sign of her sending some messages over to her sisters. For a few tense seconds, she waited, hoping that they’d at least catch a glimpse of her wayward daughter but it would seem she hoped too much as they shook their heads. “Unfortunately no,” she replied sadly as the girl looked back at her.

“Tch, fine. The usual payment would do,” She muttered, not liking that she didn’t get what she wanted. A few more eddies to soothe her ego would do for now.

After feeding them some stuff about Hiro’s preferences and Rebecca’s bedtime adventurers she heard from the pint sized succubus herself, she left a group of nuns flustered a few thousand eddies richer. Leaving the bar, she’d find her input’s blood stained car waiting for her.

Taking her usual seat beside him, they sat together in silence for a bit as the man looked into the distance, talking to his boss, before he dropped the call and turned his attention to her. “Do you really need more money?” Adam asked, his voice sendings rumbles deep inside her chest, as he glared at her, “Do I not give you enough, woman?”

Kiwi shrugged, smiling easily behind her mask as he leaned against his broad and chromed up shoulders and replying, “Hey, I can’t say no to easy eddies,” She didn’t really need the eddies at this point as it became more of a number game to her as well as a reminder of times for her when things were a bit more simpler. “Besides, all I give is useless info anyways,” she added, wrapping her hands around his

The borg snorted, turning to look at the parking lot as gaggle of nuns came walking by, chatting animatedly like schoolgirls despite packing more firepower than most police offices,“Accurate information,” The man replied as his eyes followed them, sending a tinge of jealous inside her heart, “Yes, the young master does like gothic aesthetics a lot,”

“Hey, Rebecca is wearing boob armor for a reason,” She replied as she took a look at the hand man armor these girls all made for themselves, “Maybe I should get myself one as well. These girls make some good stuff.”

“Leave me out for whatever you have planned,” The man growled out, eyes narrowing as he added, “I have enough of the young masters attempt on making me wear those ridiculous armor he made”

“Oh?” Kiwi purred, fingers trailing down the man's thighs, feeling the cold hard still of his robotic form under her touch, “Do tell.”

“He tried to put me inside an armor made for knights,” Her man explained before quickly adding, “It had huge pauldrons. It looked stupid.”

Kiwi couldn’t help but burst out giggling at his complaints. Pressing up against her input as she assured him, “Aww, I think it would suit you well.” The idea of her man as a dark knight did sound so appealing. Maybe she could dress up as a princess even or maybe a queen would better suit her given her age.

“Wear a witch's garb and we’ll talk,” The man replied with a snort.

Looking around, she found a novelty bottle opener made from an old bullet over at the dashboard. Grabbing it, she waved it around before lightly tapping her man's chest, “I put a spell on you.”

She barely had any time to resist as she found herself in the man's grasp, his hands grabbing her by the face as he pulled her close. She froze, legs quivering as she was made to sit atop him, before he gently pulled away her mouth piece, revealing the gaping maw where her jaw once was.

“You’re lucky that I can’t find a replacement for you,” he growled out as he slowly pulled her in for a kiss. She was truly lucky to have her indeed as she wrapped her hands around his neck, letting herself be used however he wanted him to do so.

Harlequins

It was another dark and lonely night in Night City. While the heart of the city beats, its people milling about, as the center of the city never truly sleeps, the outskirts were a whole other thing. In the secluded parts and hidden alleyways of the city was where most crimes were committed and thus, the Police had to patrol them.

Two officers leaned against their vehicle as they ate their lunch beneath the street lamp. It was past midnight, just the perfect time for a meal for night shift cops like them. With no one looking at them in the empty street they choose to park in, they can relax and take their time.

“God damn it Francene,” a young, fresh-faced cop cursed as she bit down on the burger she ordered, “Why do we have to patrol these areas? We haven’t patrolled here in like… forever? Has this place ever been patrolled at all?” She questioned as she gestured at the street around them. Despite being filled with residential buildings, it was strangely quiet. It was at the edge of the former 6th Street borders however she noted to herself.

Her partner, a tall statuesque and scared woman shrugged as she replied, “Eh, don’t question it too much Maxxie but if you want to hear why…” She trailed off as she took a sip from her bottle of soda, “Last I heard, the Chief wanted to look good especially with all the Eddies that Arasaka is pumping into our forces,”

Maxxie frowned, scratching her head as she asked, “Why fund at all though? We’re not exactly loyal to them, you know.” Indeed, while they did accept bribes, they were not exactly loyal to anyone but the city government and most importantly, to themselves. The law had to be upheld and it was good to be the one dishing out the beating to ensure said law was followed.

Finishing her burger and crumpling her wrapper, she aimed at a nearby trash can before shooting. Of course, said trashcan had to take out most of the fun out of it by moving. Stupid Arasaka, she grumbled before she continued, “I mean, they can hire a whole lot of mercs.”

Her partner looked at her as if she was stupid before replying, “Are you really questioning the source of our fucking pay raise?” She winced at the reminder. It wasn’t even Christmas and she already had something to give her daughter and all it took was a generous donation from their corporate overlords. “We even get some good gear,” the woman added as he patted their armor and old Arasaka guns; old in the sense they were the highest grade guns before the lasgun took over.

Nodding reluctantly, she then said, “Well, if Arasaka wanted to buy our service, then by all means.” She felt her mouth water just thinking about getting absorbed into the company. “LIke man, getting their benefits alone would make me quit my side hustles,” she chuckled as she patted her side arm. Protection money was great but that wouldn’t compare to what she could get by going straight under Arasaka.

“Hah, as if you’ll ever do that,” Francene snorted as she finished her drink and tossed it to the nearby trash can. “I wonder how long it will take before we get “rebranded.” her partner mused out loudly.

“Hopefully soon cause I’d like a whole new set of uniforms as well,” She replied, chuckling at her own joke. The armor didn't really fit the blue and black uniform they wore.

Stretching out, she yawned before asking, “Anyways, where was I,”.snapping her fingers, she then remembered, “Oh yeah, why are we stationed here specifically?” The streets were empty and boring. Was anyone living here?

Francene grimace as she replied with a shiver, “Bozo’s”

Maxxie hissed out as she looked back at her partner, asking if this was all a joke but Francene remained annoyed. “Oh fuck, really?” She asked before shuddering, remembering how terrifying they can be in all those Braindance videos, “Those fucking creeps?”

“Fucking Bozo’s I swear,” Her patner nodded as she reached down and pulled herself a cigarette. Lighting it up, she took a good long drag before huffing out a smoke ring. Looking up at the night sky, she added,  “Rumor has it that they’re regrouping and sporting a whole new set look. I swear, the moment one gang starts dying, another wants to takes its place,”

“At least the nuns look cute though a bit annoying given how most of them are rich girls looking to help the poor of all things,” Maxxie chuckled, nudging her partner with her elbow as she laughed at those poor delusional girls, “I mean, who does that in this day in age? They could have spent their eddies getting better stuff.”

“Their money, their lives-!” Francene replied before a loud wooden thud had both of them on alert. Pulling out their guns, both would have their back against each other as they looked around, scanning for the source of the sound.

“Who’s there?!” Maxxie called out before her eyes caught the shape of a woman in the distance. The blonde before her was obscured by the shadows and but it was clear from her fanciful outfit of red and black as well as the huge hammer she wielded that she was not a civilian but a fuckign Bozo. Pointing her gun at her, she shouted, “NCPD! Hands up!”

Francenne soon joined her, aiming the barrel of her gun at the woman who started laughing as she lifted up the heavy looking weapon like it was a toy before slinging it over her shoulder. “Put the hammer down now!” her partner ordered but the girl remained unresponsive as she started laughing, making Maxxie shiver at the sight.

“What’s wrong, officer? Can’t a girl have a little bit of fun?” The woman replied in a tone that was just a bit too happy. It was unnerving hearing the girl laugh but she was armed with a hammer in a gun fight.

“Bozo freak I said hands up-!” Maxxie screamed only to choke as a Bozo stepped out from the shadow and another until the blonde stood at the end of the street with a whole circus. From the buildings, the alleyways and behind them, they were surrounded on all sides.

“Oh fuck…”  Francene cursed as both of them slowly backed away, their backs pressed up against the wall as the clowns remained in the dark, avoiding the light of the street lamps.

Despite the poor illumination, she could see the new Bozo’s in all their glory. They didn’t look like the clowns of old, with their red noses and afros but these clowns looked more like renaissance fair jesters complete with masks. As silly as their outfit was, that did little to dampen the menace they carried. Thankfully, none of them carried guns.

“What’s wrong officer?” The blonde from earlier asked as she started walking forward, her weapon unslung for her shoulder as she held her weapon to the side. “Afraid of the dark? Don’t worry, I’m sure my lovely little troupe would brighten up your day with our performance!” The girl asked as she sprinted at full speed, eating through the distance at an alarming rate.

“Fuck this,” Franceene shouted as she started blasting, “Die!”

Maxxie roared out as she started firing as well but the blonde and his trope remained elusive, dancing around their shots as they descended upon like a flock of crows. The last thing Maxxie would ever hear and see was a loud splat beside her before she turned and saw the blood stained surface of the hammer coming up to meet her. There was pain and she knew no more.

Impeccable Customer Service (Omake)

Tali’zorah nar Rayya gulped as she stood before the rather intimidating storefront/embassy of the Human Conglomeration. She had heard tales of the newcomers, a mercantile species beholden to great mega corporations who plied the stars in their massive kilometer long ships, selling wares to whoever had enough credits or materials to barter.

Such type of governance or rather a privatized form of it was not unheard of and one doesn’t have to look over to the volus for that. What is unheard of was how a single empire held enough territory within its border to match the Citadel in terms of worlds and population. What’s more is their mastery of another form of technology, one not beholden to eezo.

Having heard of such wonders they offer for the right price, she couldn’t help but get attracted. How can she not when they hold tech not beholden to the ever so omnipresent mass effect. Getting herself to step into the store to buy something however… was a different matter altogether considering how light her proverbial pouch was.

As her legs remained locked in place, unable to step forwards, she wondered if this was really the best idea. Renting an entire section of the station, the humans had made it their own as they transformed it to a city of spires and neon lights. Darkness seems to pervade the area, perpetually dim save for the signs and great holographic advertisement floating overhead. If one word was to describe them then intimidating would fit them nicely.

“Come on Tali, you can do this,” she whispered to herself, psyching herself as she made her first step. One after another, she walked forward, ignoring her wildly beating heart as she kept her gaze forward while people of all species passed by her, “This is not the time to give in to fear, not when you’re this close to getting something for your pilgrimage.”

Thankfully she wasn’t alone in her quest with groups of quarian’s cheering as they carried with them boxes of valuable, mouth watering tech. She felt her heart sore as she found herself in a veritable wonderland as stores after stores came to greet her. Cybernetics, Robotics, Weaponry, Even Cosmetics for bedroom activities (a store she promised herself to never buy from… but maybe browse in), the list just goes on.

Her spirit would soon shatter as she finally found the price tag attached to such wonders. No wonder she had yet to find a lone quarian with loot. She… unfortunately did not have any friends to call upon nor did she think she had the money to pool together to even put a dent on the price tag. Even the weaponry they sold could net her several high quality Asari weapons even with the “quarian tax” in full effect.

She sighed, fiddling her omni tool as she contented herself to window shop and gaze longingly at the store display. It was a wonderful dream but a dream she wouldn’t be able to quite reach yet. Maybe if she worked enough, maybe she could but it would take her a dozen lifetimes. Passing by a shop called the “Song Heavy Industries” made her heart grow wearier. They even sold their ships! Probably striped down, under-armored and underpowered but still a ship that was equipped with their almost magical technology.

Touching the window display glass keeping her from the scaled down model of one of their monolithic ships, she let her mind wander. Maybe she’d be the first quarian to captain such a ship. Oh what a silly and fantastical dream.

She’d be snapped out of her daydreaming as a young voice shouted near the entrance of the shop, “Oh customer! Liara, man the counter!.”

Turning around, she’d found the most curious sight. There peering out of the entrance was a widely grinning, deathly pale, asari like girl with the reddest eyes she’d ever seen. She had heard that humans looked a lot like Asari but no one told her how they had Quarian-like traits and they came in such pale colors. “I-! Yes, no!” She found herself tongue tied, unable to explain how she wasn’t a customer.

Then out peers a tired and harried looking Asari who only took one look at her before warning the albino, “But she’s-!”

“No buts!” the human scolded the Asari who cowered under the girl's impressive gaze, “My father always reminded me that impeccable customer service is the key to success and I’ll give everyone that best damn customer service they ever experienced!” Before she could even explain, she’d find herself dragged by this strange, diminutive girl inside.

“Keelah,” she gasped out as she came face to face with a plethora of different ship models, each carefully carved and displayed in their own case.

“I see you have an eye for good design,” The girl nodded as she finally let her go. Walking over to the smaller ship or at least relative to the others given how big human ships are, she gestured towards the model as she started presenting the ship enthusiastically, “They say that my father’s ships are antiquated in their looks but I say they just have trash taste! Clearly, they haven’t been on the receiving end of a proper barrage. That brings me to the first ship in our catalog, the venerable Luna-Class Cruiser….”

She stood there, gazing over at the Asari and silently asking for help as the human girl talked her ears off but the woman just shook her head. She was all on her own then. Mustering what little courage she still had left, she reached out and grabbed the girl by the shoulders, stopping her dead in her tracks.

The girl looked at her in confusion but Tali powered through as she explained, “I… don’t have money,” it was painful to admit that she was poor but she really did not want to crush this girls hope about selling a ship. “You are a wonderful saleswoman ignoring my species and all but I’d like to make it clear that I was merely window shopping. Even if I wanted to, I’m not sure I could even save up for one in a million years…”

The girl winced, making Tali’s heart twinge but it was the truth, the painful truth. “Every quarian dreams of having a ship of their own but not everyone could get lucky… if only,” She sighed, shoulder sagging as she caught herself before she could start venting on the poor sales lady. The Asari sent her a silent apology as she gestured towards the door.

Pulling away and straightening her hood, she apologized, “That was unbecoming of me, I’m sorry to bother you,” Turning away, she sulked off, wondering if there’s any other shop she could windowshop before calling it quits when a hand reached out to her.

Looking back, she found the girl holding her hands as she asked, “I know this might be a bit personal… but want to talk about it?” Shrugging, the girl gestured at the empty store as she added, “It’s not like anyone would be here and as much as I want to bother Liara, hearing her story is getting tiring.”

It was now the Asari’s turn to beg her, clasping her as she silently asked her to stay. She had half the mind to just leave but she was not cruel and it’s not like she had anything better to do. “Sure, why not,” She replied as she turned back to chat with this strange but empathetic girl.

She didn’t know why but she poured her heart out, telling them her whole story from start to now. It was silly but it felt cathartic having someone else hear her woes. “And that’s how I found myself here. I was looking for something for my Pilgrimage but as you can see, the price tags here are way over my budget,” she chuckled, feeling her spirit all but crushed at this point.

“I don’t know if this could help but… the Militech Store usually gives discounts on their products?” Liara suggested as she gave her a pat on the back. She was about to reply when the human girl, who she found was named Sakura Arasaka, butted in.

“And have her send inferior products to her people?!” The girl protested, glaring at the Asari who held up her hands in surrender. Turning her gaze away, she then added, “Besides, our parent company discount is way higher than whatever Militech say’s is their discount,”

“But she’s not an employee?” Liara cautioned out to which her boss smirked at.

“She’s not… but she soon can be!” She shouted as Tali found the girls arm slung around her shoulder. Leaning uncomfortably close with her cheeks up against her helmet, Sakura then asked her, “You said you're in a Pilgrimage right, a journey where you find a new ship to become a part off?”

She nodded dumbly, unsure on what to do right now. Grinning, Sakura then told her, “What if I tell you that we’re kinda in need of a captain for our delivery ship? Technically it’s just your babysitting a bunch of servitors for a really small ship but it’s still a ship you can captain!”

“Me!? Captain! Bwah?” She babbled out, unable to process the sudden turn of fortune. Her? A captain on her own pilgrimage, a feat that only the best, brightest and most daring of her people could achieve? Was this a dream?

She winced as the girl hugged her tightly, telling her that this was indeed not a dream. “That’s the spirit!” She cheered before she reached down on her coat before pulling out a plastic card of all things. Pressing it in her hands, she then instructed. “Here, take this business card and present it over to the main building up ahead. Once there, they’ll get you registered and you’ll become my employee!”

“But that’s the main embassy?” She replied, gazing at the large building up ahead.

“Exactly,” The girl replied with a self assured nod.

Confused, she gazed down at the card and found the symbol of the human conglomerate along with the words, Arasaka emblazoned below it. She had seen the symbol several times but not the name attached to it, “Huh… it says here Arasaka…” she noted as she inspected the card,“Do humans take up the name of the company they work on like how we Quarian’s take on the name of our ship?”

Both the Asari and human snorted at her question. Looking back at them in confusion, the girl cleared her throat as she replied, “Hah, as funny as that sounds, no.” smiling widely, she then explained, “Arasaka is actually my family name,”

Tali frowned before she whispered as a dawning sense of realization spread across her face, “But that means…”

Liara chuckled as she poked Tali on the side of her helmet before saying, “You had the exact same look I had when this little girl introduced herself. No wonder they make it a tradition.”

In alarm, she turned towards Sakura, begging her this was just some joke but the smile on her face remained. “Let me introduce myself again,” she then extended her hand to Tali, “Hi, my name is Sakura Arasaka, daughter of the current CEO of the Human Conglomerate. Nice to meet you!”