Gamma Protocol (037) (Patreon)

[037]

“Leave the Sewer Saints.”

If the silence before had been bearable, now it turned deafening. Someone had gone so far as to cut the music, or maybe was that just me? The room certainly felt colder and more threatening as everyone began glancing at us a lot less discreetly. I could see eyes flashing with the messaging of neuralinks, conversations heard only in a digital private space.

Bear didn’t bother to pay the room any attention, her gaze locked on me with unnerving intensity. It was almost as if she were trying to make me disappear through sheer force of will. I was mostly sure she couldn’t do that, but her being a meguca and all, it wasn’t something I could bet on.

Still, just to be sure, I held Spike the Sewer Saint Rat a bit more protectively. “And… why would you wish for me to leave the Sewer Saints?” I tentatively asked, keeping my tone cordial, not refusing, but also not accepting.

Apparently it was the wrong thing to ask, the meguca’s scowl deepened. “Because I tell you to.”

Was she serious? Most likely. As a meguca she no doubt held a lot of sway by the fact of what she was. But she was also Bear, THE Bear, someone with enough of a reputation that even I had heard of her all the way over at Frontier City 02. 

Though even if she was a meguca, I would’ve been inclined to refuse. As impressive as her track record and online presence was, what truly made me hesitate from saying it outright was her power. She radiated her presence as if a giant standing amongst ants, it had a tangible aspect to it that went beyond her attitude and confidence. It was similar to how the Shadow meguca had felt like standing with a blade constantly on my throat, except Bear’s was more akin to a mountain trying to crush me under its weight.

But that did not mean I could or would buckle. “If that is all that you offer, then I will have to cordially decline,” I said as calmly as I could, trying to keep my tone cordial.

The room collectively held their breath as Bear stepped closer, her eyes narrowed as her eyes trailed down my face and over my shoulders, then arms, then back up. “You don’t have cyberware.” She proclaimed in a tone that was almost accusatory.

A trick question if I ever saw any. “I don’t have electronics on me, no.” Being honest was easy. Being honest in a way that might draw wrong conclusions was not, but it was one of those things that were taught in Employee-Management-101. Still, I needed to defuse the situation. “Would you like to touch?”

There was a palpable pause.

Bear blinked twice. “What?”

I carefully reached out with my left hand for inspection while keeping hold of Spike with my right. “My arms, they’re not cybernetic, would you like to confirm?” I waited for several seconds noticing the way her gaze lingered on Spike, the severity faltering for a moment before she turned back to me. Her brows knitted together, and I pulled my arms away. “I’ve heard there are some good synth-skins out there, good enough to hide cybernetics even from casual scans. I thought your question was to confirm whether that was the case or not.”

“It’s not.” Bear snapped quickly. “I saw your stream.”

Fortunately Isia had mentioned that already. “Oh, thank you!” I immediately perked up, my smile becoming a bit warmer, relieved to be able to bring out a more comfortable conversation topic. “Would you happen to have any advice? I feel like I’m completely out of my depth in this.” 

Bear was caught flatfooted, blinking blankly at me. “I… you’re trying to change the subject.” Her tone was off, as if she were trying to be angrier, but faltering a little somewhere along the way.

I wasn’t about to question my luck, however. “Then I apologize,” I quickly said. “It’s just that your clips are pretty popular at the frontier! I always loved it when you’d grab the monsters with your chains and just go to town on them. God I wish I could wreck them like that, pummeling away, just one punch after the next until they’re nothing but paste.” My smile might have been a bit too earnest, but I was on a roll. “G’s are satisfying to pop, but sometimes you just want something you can wail at. F’s are too tough for me to just punch at without a weapon. I just wish I could fight something that’s in that sweet spot of challenging but not so tough I need to pull out a gun, you know what I mean?”

Her lips wavered ever so slightly, the beginning of a grin. “Yeah, those fights are… wait, no.” Her scowl returned. “Leave the Sewer Saints.” She stepped closer, despite being slightly shorter than me, she almost seemed to loom overhead. “The Polar Paws will pay you ten times as much as you get right now.”

I remembered her taller. That thought helped keep me anchored as I shook my head. “I wouldn’t want to abuse your gang’s generosity. As I am right now I lack experience, and joining the Paws would only drag them down. Maybe once I’ve properly learned the ropes a little better, we could renegotiate?”

It was like popping a balloon, Bear’s expression was that of someone that had just stumbled. “Why are you sticking around?” She finally asked after a few seconds.

“Maybe if I could understand why you wish for me to leave the gang I just joined?” I offered, deflecting the question. “Aren’t gangs meant to focus on protecting people from monsters?”

I was probably laying it a bit too thick, but after just a few hours with the other members, I’d come to feel they weren’t doing this for the money. A gang with this many people could’ve easily armed themselves and begun any sort of crime ring. Granted, Quinn’s plastic-guns were an affront to morality at a fundamental level, but they could’ve just as easily used those to rob people blind. So long as they kept their noses out of corpo business, who would stop them? The police force appeared to just not exist in the district, there wouldn’t be much stopping them besides other gangs.

“You’re clearly not from around here.” Bear crossed her arms. “The Paws’ have been protecting this little group from other gangs.”

Ah.

That explained the issue. “You expected them to fail, and were hoping for a peaceful transfer of assets.” I said, it was a question that made the room squirm. “You provided a service and expect compensation.  Would the Paws be open for a negotiation for an alternate deal? I don’t speak for the Sewer Saints, but I trust that escalating the disputes would not be advantageous for either party.”

“Is that a threat?”

I didn’t move, keeping silent as I waited for her to reach her own conclusions. I had no doubt that, were Bear to wish it, she could potentially slaughter everyone in this room. Everyone else was aware of this as well. And yet the thought felt alien. She COULD, but WOULD she? Standing this close to the meguca, my gut insisted she wouldn’t resort to violence against people without good cause.

Isia’s voice came through in a hushed whisper. “Told you he’s a corpo.” It’d been so low I wouldn’t have been able to catch it if the room hadn’t been so quiet.

My desire to glare at her was put aside as Bear leaned closer, glowering as she leaned closer. The inquisitiveness in her eyes had more to it than made any sense. “What are you?”

Jostling a little, I kept myself from showing the momentary hesitation. “Human.” I replied, trying to sound nice and calm, but a glower escaped me as my brows furrowed. “I am human.” I repeated, mind flashing back to our first encounter.

Bear clenched her fists, her eyes flickering down at my hands. I realized I’d clenched my free hand too. There was something in her eyes that said she wanted to punch me, and the feeling, much to my surprise, was mutual.

Charisma: 8 -> +9

The notification jostled my thoughts, breaking away from the sudden urge. “Could you hold this for a moment?” I asked abruptly, shoving forward the hand holding Spike.

Bear had twitched, flinching backwards as if she’d expected a punch. Her eyes turned from me to the rat, then at me. It took her a second to process what I’d just said, reaching up to the rodent with calloused fingers, taking it from my hand with surprising tenderness.

For a moment her focus was entirely on the overly-fat rat, a thumb brushing against the little creature’s head. Spike, not missing a beat, sniffed her digit and snuggled against it.

“There,” I said. “Problem solved.”

She looked down at the rat, then up at me. “I… what?”

“You’ve been Chosen by Spike,” I declared, taking a healthy step away. “That means you’re a Sewer Saint now.”

The deafening silence was only cut-off by Isia barking out a laugh that got strangled by someone tackling her to the ground. I could practically feel Vesper’s eyes burning holes into the back of my head, either her or several people, probably all of them.

Bear’s mouth opened, then closed, gaping as she stared at me, then at Spike, and then at me again. She tried to snarl, hands tightening, but stopping when the rodent let out an indignant squeak of discomfort. Her anger faltered as she appeared uncertain what to do with it.

“His name is Spike. That he is snuggling means you are the Chosen One of the Sewer Saints,” I said quickly. “As a member of the gang, I don’t need to change teams. And if there’s anything the Paws need, I’m sure we could help if you asked.”

“I’m not-” Bear looked down at Spike, and after looking around for a moment, she approached the nearest table, carefully depositing the rat. Or trying to, the rodent held fast to her thumb and refused to let go. “Dammit, just-” With exaggerated slow movements, she pinched the back of its neck and tugged it off of her. “There.”

“I’m sure we can finish the initiation ceremony when you have the time.” The ripperdoc called with a mild chuckle.

Bear glared in the general direction of the voice.

“I’m Axel Garcia.” I stepped up before anyone else could say anything, offering a hand. “It’s good meeting you.”

The meguca glared at me, straightened out, and grabbed my hand. “Kimberly, Bear for short.” Her tone was unamused, tightening her grip and squeezing.

I reciprocated, squeezing back with the same strength. There was a moment of hesitation, before she tightened further, and I did the same without missing a beat. Every time she increased the pressure, so did I. After ten seconds or so, her arm began to shake a little, the meguca gritting her teeth. 

Suddenly realizing what was going on, I flinched, letting go. “Ah,” I said, hiding the confusion at what had just happened.

How was she weaker than me?

Did her brutal strength rely on some sort of skill she hadn’t triggered? I could only fathom the reason why, but definitely not willing to put it to the test.

The meguca let go, though not without shooting me a confused look. “We’ll… talk. Later.”

“Wait.” I hastily pipped up. “If it’s not too much to ask, would you happen to know anything about a shadow meguca?”

Bear made a confused face. “Yeah, don’t fuck with her.”

Giving the room one last look, she marched out.

The room held its breath for another moment, until Vesper pipped up. “She’s out of the building.”

Isia was the first to act, jumping up, having managed to escape whoever had been pinning her down. “FUCK YES!” She cheered, instantly followed by everyone else in the room. Without a second’s consideration, she lunged and caught me in a hug. “I thought I was going to die!”

I scoffed. “Don’t be silly, she’s a good person.” Despite my misgivings about the meguca, she had a reputation for protecting her gang, and even now, when she could’ve popped Spike, she’d carefully set him down instead. Speaking off, I carefully pried myself free from the Isia hugger and moved over to the table to pick up the Sewer Saint’s pet. The rat gave a little squeal of approval before snatching my thumb and snuggling in. “Sorry for using you as a de-escalation prop.”

“I’d half-expected she’d pop him.” Isia muttered, quickly snatching the rat from my hands. “Isn’t that right, little fella? You almost got turned into a blood-balloon! Let’s get you some anti-trauma snacks!”

There was something to be said about the poor rat and its eating habits, but I knew better than to mention anything. The fuzzy creature looked like it clung to life just for the sake of eating, and I wasn’t about to cut that short. So I mostly just tried to get back to the party even if now everyone was being a bit too overwhelming about it.

Vesper and Angus were giving me wary looks, though.

I suspected they’d seek me out for a talk once the party was over.