A Hard Knock Life: What You Know (ch. 8) (Patreon)

He was supposed to be the first bad guy she took down, Taylor Hebert reflected. She made that decision in the elevator when she saw the blood on his face and the guns he was carrying. Guns that you couldn't get out of a vending machine. Using a few flies through the air conditioning unit, Taylor had seen the money he had pulled out, so it was a simple task guessing what had happened. It's what always happened in this city.

V had gone out and committed crimes for money. Robbed someone. Possibly killed someone. For money. He could dress it up all that he liked by 'deciding to be someone', but that didn't excuse murder.

The plan had been to follow V. Keep track of him. Then the next time he went out to kill people for money with whatever gang he was a part of she would be there to stop him. It would be her first bust. Then she would be a hero. All she had to do was keep an eye on him, learn what she could, then wait for V and his gang to commit a crime… and in doing so, Taylor had stumbled into something far grander in scope than she anticipated.

The ABB had a tinker, and they killed Lock. V shot off his arm with a shotgun. Taylor panicked and just led him to the nearest ripperdoc she could find. Then she went home to grab her costume that she had spent nearly a month making, intent on interrogating V when he woke up. Only for him to be gone, chasing down the ABB tinker.

Taylor decided to stay home after that. She had already skipped a class. Going back meant sharing a class with Emma and Madison and Taylor wasn't willing to do that to herself. Even if she did enjoy Mrs. Knott's class. Most of the time. The teacher at least pretended that she cared, but with a class of a hundred students, her attention was divided at best.

Hours later and she's watching V on the news. Lung was dead. Oni Lee was dead. The ABB tinker Bakuda was also probably dead. For all intents and purposes, V had ended a gang.

And all Taylor could think about was their brief conversation on the elevator. A brief exchange and their first. Taylor thought it had all been bluster and justifications. Clearly, it wasn't or she wouldn't be watching V stare down a half-transformed Lung, flipping him the bird and standing unflinching as his hand came down to crush his skull. He had meant every word. He had followed through.

"Can it wait until the morning…?" V groaned tiredly, staring at the swarming mass of fly's warily. Taylor frowned as she glanced over at a clock in her room three stories above his that said it was only eight o'clock. He must be tired. Should she have waited? Maybe, but she couldn't back off now. She would look weak.

"No," Taylor spoke, seeing through the swarm's eyes. It was a mess of information and it had taken some getting used to, but it was the first thing that Taylor had practiced. Seeing through their eyes and hearing through their ears -- there was some difficulty at first. Bug senses were very different than human ones and processing that has been difficult. It was easier with a bunch of them -- one and she could hear a conversation. Ten, she could understand the tones and inflections of the words. A hundred? It would be like standing in the same room with them. It sounded like a lot, but if this city had one thing, it was bugs.

In Night City, bugs were everywhere. Trash was everywhere. It was perfect. Bad guys wouldn't think that the dozen flies floating around their three-day-old takeout was listening in on their plots.

V shifted, cracking his neck before he leaned forward, gazing into the swarm. "Fine, I guess. I figure I owe you anyway. I would have bled out in the alleyway if it wasn't for you," he admitted. Taylor sat a little straighter in her room at that. That had been a point of pride for her throughout the day. She had saved a life. Admittedly, almost as soon as she took her eyes off of him, V threw himself at the ABB, but the point still stood. "So, what can I do for ya'?"

Taylor leaned forward in her bed. Her 'room' was a curtained off part of the living room. She didn't need to be quiet, but it was an old habit that she couldn't shake. She picked at her loose-fitting shirt hem, having mulled it over for some time now. "I know that you're a mercenary. I'm wondering if you would be interested in a job?" Taylor spoke aloud, the bugs in her room shifting and swirling in the air. Had that been too standoffish? She wanted to give a strong first impression.

V blinked at her swarm, scratching at a clean-shaven cheek. "I'll bite. What's the job?"

"I want you to patrol Beyonce avenue between ten to eleven o'clock," Taylor answered. It was a debut that she had considered herself, but ultimately decided against.

"...am or pm?" V questioned. Taylor started to flush despite the fact that he could see her. She should have specified that, she reflected.

"PM," Taylor answered before she swung her feet out of bed and headed to the sink to fill up a mug with water. "Just patrol the avenue for an hour and stop whatever crimes that happen in that timeframe."

There was a small silence after that as V considered the job. Taylor had enough time to warm up her water in the microwave and grab a green tea powder mix. Taylor watched him the entire time, his face was surprisingly expressive. She always imagined mercenaries like… Morgan Blackhand. All stone-faced and gruff.

"Look, just tell me flat out what you're sending me into," V spoke after a moment, his expression set. "You aren't going to scare me off."

Taylor swirled her tea, considering what she should say. She had been too vague. "A gang of three members is planning a string of robberies starting on Beyonce avenue. Starting with Hotdoggin'," Taylor decided to answer. Her attention shifted and she saw through the eyes of a half dozen flies a few floors above, watching the gangster plot their heist. "They're armed with two shotguns and an assault rifle. One has body armor."

"Any distinctive details?" V questioned, his tone serious. She was almost glad for it. V was willing to head into danger, but Taylor didn't like the fact that she was the one sending him into it. She wanted to take care of it herself, but she couldn't.

"One has a pink mohawk and goatee. The other two have prosthetic arms. One is just missing the bottom half of his right, while the other is missing both arms," Taylor answered, earning a nod from V

He wasn't dismissing the job. Though, he might when he heard about the pay. All Taylor had was what she had managed to save up with her allowance and skipping meals with the money her mom gave her for food.

"Okay. Consider it done," V told her, nodding to himself. "I just have one question," he added, making Taylor still as she went to take a sip of her tea. "If you know all of this, then why send me? Sounds like you know everything about them. So why not take care of them yourself? Don't like getting your hands dirty?"

Because they were too close to home. Beyonce avenue was just down the street from the megabuilding. Taylor found out about it because they lived within her range. Going out and busting them with a swarm of bugs… it would be enough to put someone on her trail. A Corp would think to check the buildings nearby, and one day a Corp suit would knock at her door. Or kick it in.

Ever since she became a cape, Taylor realized she had choices. She could join the Wards. She could join a Corp. But she couldn't do either. She couldn't even stomach the idea. Joining the Wards meant she couldn't do anything. The protectorate was a brand, practically a corporation in itself. She'd be a hero in name only. And a Corp… never. Especially never with Arasaka.

"Because… I want to see what you can do," Taylor lied through her teeth, coming up with the first thing that came to mind. It wasn't half bad. V seemed to accept that as an answer.

"So, this could be a repeat gig?" V hazarded a guess and the green tea nearly went down the wrong pipe. A repeat thing? How could she possibly afford hiring him twice? "First gig is free. As a thank you for saving my life. Second one will cost you eddies though. Sound fair?"

Okay… that gave her a little time to scrounge up a little more money. She has about five hundred eddies -- it wasn't a lot, but she had been saving up for half a year and it was all that she had. She needed to find a way to make more money. And fast.

"It does." And with that, Taylor let the bugs disperse-

"Hey! Could ya'... could you at least send the flies out my room? I try to keep the place clean, you know?" V protested and Taylor blushed down to her roots as she had the insects fly out of his room. Though she left a few hidden around the apartment. In the barrel of a gun, in a shoe, perched on a book, and so on. "Thank you… whoever you are. Shit. Should'a gotten a name."

Taylor let out a breath, watching V decide it wasn't worth the mental effort before he tipped over and fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the cushion. She watched him for a moment before she decided to focus on more important tasks.

Like her costume. It was almost done. The spiders that she had collected over the past month were spinning their webs. It was hardly the bulletproof armor and mods some heroes and villains got, but for her first costume, Taylor was proud of it. Even if it did turn out a little more villainous than she intended, with the black dye and yellow goggles. The spider silk was cut-resistant, so she at least had some protection.

However, the real worry was her ICE. All she had was civilian grade encryption. More than anything else, she needed a better ICE. The only issue with that was she had no one to trust to make her a better encryption to protect her identity. Any merc that she hired to do it would sell her identity the moment that they realized they had made the ICE that protected her identity. Which meant learning how to do it herself.

Swallowing a sigh, Taylor walked over to her bed and set the cup of tea down before picking up her laptop. Lessons on coding appeared on the screen that she began to follow, her homework left ignored.

Wasn't like it mattered anyway.

…

Winslow was a terrible school, Taylor thought, and not for the first time. It was so overcrowded that they had to get rid of the normal weekly schedule. Freshmen had Monday and Tuesday off. Sophomores had Tuesdays and Wednesdays off. Juniors Thursdays and Fridays, while Seniors had Saturday and Sunday off. It was to reduce the number of people that were in the school at any one time. There just wasn't enough room in the classrooms.

Some classes had up to a hundred students in them at a time and had to be held in the gymnasium. Which made things worse because the school had a block system -- five classes of an hour and thirty minutes each. It would have been fine if it wasn't for the fact that she always shared a class with at least one of her bullies. With one she shared with all three.

“I can’t believe they let her go to this school. Her dad was a terrorist!” Emma mock whispered, knowing full well that Taylor could hear her. And so could half the class.

Taylor’s hands curled into fists, hidden beneath her hoodie pockets. She tried to not give a reaction. You would think that after hearing that same point repeated again and again and again it would make it easier to deal with… but it didn’t. Not really. And to her eternal regret, Taylor had given a reaction months ago that proved that point was a red hot poking iron for her.

She looked through the screen of the lecture, the screen itself was her desk. Half covered in doodles and gang propaganda, and a number that promised a good time. Yet, she couldn’t make herself read a single word. It was impossible to focus on her assigned reading when Taylor was so painfully aware of every single bug in her radius. There was a lot. Hundreds of millions. Flies, cockroaches, spiders, and other pests.

“He was a stupid one too! He got his entire cell executed at the Arasaka docks,” Emma added, rubbing as much salt into the wound as she could. It stung. As much as Taylor wished that it didn’t, it stung.

Because, as far as the law had been concerned, Emma was right. Her dad, Danny Hebert, had been a domestic terrorist. One that was executed with his entire ‘cell’ when he staged a strike at Arasaka docks. For not going through the ‘proper’ channels of requesting ‘permission’ to strike.

Years later, and Taylor remembered it clear as day. The fights that her dad and mom had. How her dad had been so angry, utterly furious. Never with her mom. Just with Arasaka. Mom had tried to talk him out of doing anything, trying to calm him down… but nothing had worked. Taylor didn’t even know the exact reason that her dad had decided to go on strike, gathering up all the dockworkers and staging a protest. It must have been a good reason, because all of the dockworkers had joined… or, maybe, it was a simple thing that had broke the camel’s back.

Her father had been convinced that Arasaka would bend in the face of every single dock worker protesting.

They hadn’t.

Arasaka armed forces came in, requested a surrender that was denied… then they just killed everyone.

What burned the most? Her mom nearly went to jail for collusion with a terrorist. Because the unmitigated slaughter of over a hundred innocent people was called justice. It had been ruled as righteous. A judge signed off on the order. It had all been legal. The murder of her father was legal. Justified. And…

Taylor only realized she was standing when she heard Mr. Gladly call out her name, but Taylor didn’t stop. She walked out the door, silently fuming. Distantly, she heard the cruel laughter that followed her. The taste of the truth tasted like a bitter poison. Because, as much as Taylor loathed to admit it, it was the truth. Her father had been a terrorist. All because he wanted to do the right thing.

She hated it. It burned in her chest like a bonfire, the sheer…

Taylor joined in the flow of students that were almost always walking through the halls. Winslow almost worked like a clock in that regard. Classes were timed to avoid cluttering -- some days you had to come into school two hours early, others two hours late. That way the hallways weren’t constantly clogged with students.

Because of that, walking out of the school was an easy thing to do. All she had to do was walk right out the front door. No one noticed and no one cared, because others were doing the same. Most hadn’t finished their classes like her either -- which was another reason Winslow was able to get by. Half of the students that they had either didn’t show up at all, or they left halfway through the day.

Her power was a curse, Taylor thought as she walked through the streets. Her range was about two blocks or so. About that range high, but in the shape of a bubble. Because of it, she was aware of everything in that range. In every house, in every alley -- everything. Listening and seeing through her insects was a challenge -- insects saw and heard very differently than humans. However, with enough focus and enough bugs in the room, she could make sense of most things she saw and heard.

Despite what the statistics said, not everyone in the city was a criminal… but, if she chose to listen in on any particular building for long enough, Taylor would be willing to bet her meager funds that she would hear someone come up with something. A robbery, an assault, murder… she heard people fighting all the time. Muttering dark things to themselves…

Not everyone in the city was a criminal, but no one was happy. No one. No one had enough. No one was content. Everyone had some terrible tragedy in their life… and Taylor hated that too. That her story was normal. A dead father, killed by a Corp, a mother that worked a hundred and thirty hours a week, being bullied at school… and that was normal. Compared to some, Taylor got off light.

She was going to do something about it. Taylor had decided that. She made her way up to her apartment, and for the first time, she put on her costume. Black and gray and fairly tight fitting. Because of that, it revealed that she was about as flat as a boy, but her mask left her hair free, so people wouldn’t mistake her for one. Her mind was purposely blank -- too many times, Taylor had talked herself out of going out. There was always a reason that she couldn’t.

But Taylor had had enough. She was done doing nothing. She’d rather sell out to Biotech or someone than do nothing. At least then, her mom wouldn’t have to work so much.

Her clothing slid over the costume -- it would be hot, but it was also necessary. Odds were, she wouldn’t even need it. She wasn’t planning on being seen or having anyone aware that she was there. The fact that she was wearing a costume was a safety blanket of sorts, except much cooler. With her jaw set, Taylor headed back down and reached the ground floor.

A flash of light caught her attention, bringing it to a vending machine. One that sold guns. Her mom hated them. So did her dad, but neither were here. So, taking out a few eddies, Taylor fed the money into the vending machine and selected a burst fire pistol with a magazine of twenty-four bullets. A second later, it dropped down.

It was heavy in her hands, made mostly of cheap plastics that would breakdown around the same time she ran out of ammo. Taylor shoved it in her pocket before she started walking to Hotdoggin’. It wasn’t quite time for V to bust the heist, but… but maybe she didn’t need him to.

Walking into the small diner, Taylor headed to the bathroom. Her nose crinkled at the smell, but she had smelled a lot worse. Stepping into a stall, Taylor sat down and focused on the bugs in the area. There was a lot. If the health rating meant anything anymore, then this place would get shut down. Cockroaches and flies… some of it was because of the pile of trash gathered on the side of the building.

Slowly, she trickled them into the building, tucking them in places that people wouldn’t notice, like underneath their tables and chairs. A few minutes ticked by before she noticed someone familiar enter her range. V.

He looked better after a night’s rest. A burgundy red long sleeve that had seen better days, black pants, and boots. One sleeve was pushed up to reveal his prosthetic arm -- he had worked on it. It was still mostly black, but it looked like he fixed the parts that were broken or missing with parts from the other prosthetic. He was walking next to a tall Latino man with his hair up in a tight bun. Jackie.

A fly attached itself to V’s back, letting her listen in to their conversation. “You sure about this job?”

“Don’t see any reason why they would lie. Not like they have anything to gain,” V responded with a shrug of his shoulders. The action brought attention to the gun tucked into his waistline. “I suppose I should be askin’ you that. I did mention this one is pro bono, right?” V turned to Jackie as they neared the diner. Taylor was surprised by the fact that V had brought backup, but not displeased.

“Eh, not worried about the eddies. More worried about you. After all that shit you went through, especially the Lung bit, I’d be pissed for you if you got popped on the streets,” Jackie remarked.

V let out a hollow-sounding laugh, “Yeah, that’s why I left my apartment. If the ABB is looking for me, and they totally are, then they’re going to find my place. Out on the streets, way out of their controlled territory when they’re getting moved in on by the Tyger Claws? Safer out here.” Taylor could see the logic behind it, but in truth, she never really considered that V would be in danger from the ABB. His face was encrypted, and she figured that they would be busy.

Jackie nodded, “Hm. And I’m curious about this cape you talked about.” V had talked about her?

“Don’t know much… all I have is guesswork,” V admitted with a shrug. Taylor nodded, gladdened to hear it, but she was curious what he thought he knew about her. How much damage he could do if he found out that she only had enough money for bad pay for one job. “But whoever they seem determined to be an independent. Maybe a hero, not sure yet. With their power, they could live like a king. Corps are always trying to one-up each other in tech -- subverting systems and shit, but a literal fly on the wall? Same with gangs. They'd love ‘em.”

“And they can control them. Hear and maybe see through them too. Not sure what their range is, though. When I shot my arm off, they could lead me through back alleys straight to Vik’s. Arrows where I could see them, in plain sight. Last night, whenever I spoke, the cape on the other end heard me. Could’a snuck a microphone in my room, but I couldn’t find anything when I checked,” V rattled off what he knew. And that was… she had overplayed her hand. He knew way too much.

Jackie seemed faintly impressed, “All that in two meetings?”

“They pretty much told me as much. Like how they found this job -- probably did it by listening in on them when they were talkin’ shop. Still, not sure on the range, or on their limit. Either way, in this city? If there was ever such thing as a golden power…,” V muttered as they entered the diner.

A golden power. She'd rather be an Alexandria package -- incredibly strong, fast, immune to damage… that was her idea of a golden power.

The two picked out a table near the door. “Are you still heading to Lock’s house after this?” Jackie questioned, earning a nod from V. “Thirty-two thousand eddies… might not be enough to make you rich, but it’s still a life changing amount of money to give away. Especially when you’re on the run from the ABB.” What was this about giving away money? And a whole lot of it?

“I am,” V confirmed without hesitation. “The money belongs to her as far as I’m concerned.” He was giving away thirty-two thousand eddies? Just like that? Taylor’s lips thinned as she shifted on her seat, tugging at the frayed thread at the hem of her hoodie. It had taken her half a year to save up five hundred and he was giving away thirty-two thousand?

V… at school, he was an absolute nobody. A nobody the same way that she was. They must have walked by each other a hundred times, they lived within about a hundred feet of each other, yet Taylor never gave him a thought beyond being a face in the crowd. She never would have guessed that he had that in him. And it made her… bitter, in a way. How that… generosity never extended to her. How he probably had no clue that she was being bullied, and even if he did, she doubted that he would care.

A huff escaped Jackie, “That’s why I want you to stick around in the land of the living a little longer, mano. I like that style of yours. Reminds me of me,” Jackie informed with a chuckle. “You aren’t the only one that wants to make a name for themselves. I left the Valentinos to become a legend in this city.”

Become a Legend. That was the star that everyone reached to in Night City.

“You saved my ass back at the compound. Saved yours too,” he added quickly. “I think we work well together.” Jackie made an offer, and Taylor didn’t need to see him to know he was grinning.

“Not at all bothered by the ABB that will be coming for my head when they find me?” V questioned, cocking an eyebrow.

“Eh, with a cape behind us, and between you and me -- the ABB will pretty much be delivering eddies and ammo to us,” Jackie dismissed the entire prospect with an uncaring ease that Taylor envied. V let out a chuckle before he nodded.

“A’right. Chooms it is,” V agreed, and Taylor…

Taylor felt jealous. And lonely. Two years ago, that had been her and Emma. Best friends. The kind that shared every secret, who had each other’s backs through thick and thin… when her dad had been murdered by Arasaka, Emma had been there for her. Whereas Taylor had been heartbroken, Emma had been enraged. So angry that she would have walked right into the Arasaka building and started swinging at corpos if they had let her.

Now Emma used every secret against her. Worse, Taylor still didn’t understand why or what had changed. That friendship hadn’t just been ripped away, it had been… more than anything else in this world, Taylor wanted her friend back.

Thankfully, her attention was stolen by three men entering her range. They walked with a sense of purpose. To rob the place and everyone in it. Taylor clenched her hands into fists -- the plan had been to just leave it to V and Jackie, but… she was so tired of doing nothing. Of waiting for the day that she was ready.

For that reason, bugs began to drift towards the three. Ants leaped up to their shoes and began crawling up their pants legs, flies drifted into their clothing and into the barrels of their guns… nothing too overt. Just… making sure that if things didn't go to plan, then no one would get hurt. Taylor was just being safe.

She was being a hero.

Her swarm buzzed throughout her range as if sensing her apprehension. Making a split-second decision, some of her flies dropped onto V's table. Both men went still when the flies shaped themselves as an arrow pointed towards the door. They adopted serious expressions before the flies dispersed. Underneath the table, Taylor saw one of Jackie's legs bouncing in place. A nervous tick?

They traded a look before Jackie got up, going as if he were standing in line to grab something to eat. V turned himself halfway out of the booth. A few seconds later, the three men entered the diner.

The first thing that they did was have the leader pulled the trigger, aiming up at the ceiling -- only for the shotgun to misfire thanks to the flies and ants clogging the receiver and barrel. V jumped to his feet, a mantis blade popping out of his prosthetic forearm. The vibrant red blade leaped forward as he slashed his arm down, cutting through the two prosthetic hands of the thief holding the second shotgun. It clattered to the ground, all the while Jackie whipped around.

Two gunshots filled the diner as Jackie took out the leader's knees before he rushed forward in a sprint and tackled the third into the door frame while he was distracted by V. Out of everyone, he was probably the worst off. Jackie was a tall, beefy guy. He crumpled to the ground and Jackie kicked his gun away. V sheathed the mantis blade before gathering the guns up.

"What a couple of pieces of junk. You'd have better luck with that trash that comes out of vending machines," V remarked, his voice breaking the tension. People looked at the sight for a moment, realizing that they had nearly been robbed and… that was it. They just returned to their meals. The only person that offered thanks was the owner. V popped open the receiver, and he grinned when he saw it was full of bugs.

Jackie stiffened, realizing that she had jammed the guns. He disguised the action by turning to the diner manager, "Can we just leave this lot here? Me and the el niño have places to be," he questioned, hefting two shotguns over his shoulder. The manager looked at him, then at the gangsters groaning on the ground before he offered a hesitant nod. "'Preciate it."

And just like that, they walked out. Taylor let out a breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding, her mind replaying the past minutes and…

That had been incredibly easy. Increasingly simple. Had she been worried about nothing? She just had some bugs out in their guns and…

No. It hadn't been simple. Without V or Jackie there to take them down swiftly, Taylor would have had to reveal herself. And, just like that, it made so much sense why capes hid behind gangs and Corps. At least the ones that couldn't afford to be out front and center -- like her -- did. The people in the diner had no clue that she had been there. They just saw V and Jackie act.

Having muscle was its own form of protection. Like she thought.

"So, you were listening in," V remarked, reaching an alleyway before he squatted down to speak to a cockroach. It was still in her range. Enough so that she could tell no one was watching. "Nice trick with the guns," he offered while Taylor made the cockroach look up at the two.

"I'm never going to look at bugs the same way again," Jackie remarked, looking down as well.

Should she respond? Was there a point? She could just reach out when she had a job for him that involved him covering up her heroic deeds. Except…

V was meant to be the first bust she ever made. How things could change in so little time.

Taylor urged the bugs forward, more joining the solitary cockroach until an answer was spelled out. >I was.< More joined the group and Jackie let out a noise of disgust before he could stop himself. Taylor didn't care. Bugs were pretty gross until you got used to them. With the surplus, Taylor could write out more complex answers. >I wanted to make sure that no one was hurt.<

"So, you are a hero? Or are you trying to carve out some turf for yourself and using us as muscle?" V questioned, less bothered than Jackie.

>Former.< Came the swift reply. Taylor couldn't imagine herself ever starting a gang. The idea felt weird to her.

Jackie looked relieved, "Good to hear. Never enough do-gooders in this city." He said, seeming amiable to the idea of her being a hero. Given what he had said earlier, it was easy enough to guess why.

"Did we perform up to expectation?" V questioned and… he probably thought she had put in a lot more thought into this than she had. This all began because of… frustration. At her inability to do anything. V was chosen because he was a convenient merc who clearly didn't have any issues with risk. From the sound of it, and from the look of it -- this probably looked like a test that she had planned.

It wasn't like she was going to tell him he was wrong.

>You did.< Taylor wrote out simply. If she had expectations, then they probably would have met them -- the only injury outside of the gangsters has been to the ceiling.

V looked pleased while Jackie spoke up, "I gotta ask -- where do we take things from here?"

Taylor frowned, the bugs swirling as she thought about it. She couldn't just reveal her identity. And she didn't really know either of them, so just because they worked together once didn't mean it had to be a repeat thing. Just that she wanted it to be. Because this? Actually doing something, even if no one had a clue that she had been here? That was amazing. It was every bit as fulfilling as she thought it would be.

Then the bugs swirled out an answer. >We make a deal.< She answered before the bugs swirled again. >You help me protect this city and I'll help protect you from the ABB.< As far as offers go, it was a pretty good one. Jackie seemed to think so too.

How fast things changed. V went from being her first bad guy to bust to someone she was going to protect as they cleaned up the city.

V gave the bugs a dangerous smirk -- it was a little too sharp, as were his cerulean blue eyes. "Sounds like a deal to me. Is there a way we can contact you?"

>I'll be in touch.< Taylor answered, letting the bugs disperse in a hopefully natural fashion. She smiled to herself. She was in a public bathroom, and she had just agreed to help take on a gang that had at least a thousand members, but...

For the first time in a very long time, Taylor felt content.

...

With the opening arc being over, I do think it's time to switch to the original schedule of A Hard Knock Life being a bi-weekly story. So, the next update will come on the 17th of March.