Private House Special #1

[Impulse]

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LOCATION: Sakhet’s Noodles - Denon
TIME: -redacted-
TAG: Binary

Denon was never quiet. Sure that might be annoying to some, but to others it was paradise. Quiet places made it difficult to hide. They were boring and often did not offer any kind of adventure, thrill, and good credits. Noise was exciting, but that did not make it easy to stand out for any kind of work without some kind of connection. It wasn’t safe either, but safety was overrated. On a planet like Denon it was kill or be killed, and that was on a good day. Crime was high, but it paid, and everyone wanted a piece of the action.

That’s where fixers came in. Anyone who was anyone had some kind of handler or fixer finding them work. Naturally all the better jobs were hard to come by, but even the small guys figured out how to scrape up enough to work to keep food on the table and credits in their account. The best ones found jobs large enough to retire young and stay alive a little bit longer than most of the poor saps trying to do the same. It was luck mostly, and knowing the right people, but still mostly luck. It was the way of the world.

There seemed to be only a couple of rules most honored. The first was don’t screw the fixer. Anyone who wanted work needed a good source of jobs, and making the fixer unhappy was not the way to go about keeping a steady supply. The second was don’t let the fixer screw you. It happened, sure. Fixers always wanted their take, and sometimes the greedy ones got away with it. It was a quick way to lose a reliable talent pool, so both sides of the party played nice. It was the thing that kept the machine moving.

“Listen here, Natsu, you said this job was exclusive, so care to explain why I find some gonk trying to cash in on what was supposed to be my big score?”

Sometimes, fixers just did what they wanted to anyway. It was a gamble, but who was going to off their income stream.

Pulse was upset, but he was not stupid. Natsu did not seemed phased by the question, and silently continued dishing up a bowl of his house special. Not many would suspect the owner and chef of a noodle house to be one of the best fixers on the planet, but he was. There was more to him than met the eye, and the jobs he got his hands on, few could explain where they came from. Whatever his resources were, Natsu could do whatever he wanted, and everyone knew it.

“Number 1 house special. Fresh.”

The bowl was sat before Pulse only in a way the Atrisian cyborg could manage. There was a culture of honor and respect among those people that most street urchins like Impulse would never understand, but he could respect it at least. He just chuckled and started eating the noodles.

“I don’t get it. It’s not like I actually completed the job, but you paid me for it anyway. Not that I’m complaining about that or anything. I just don’t get it.”

“Sometimes work is not actually work. I needed to test a theory so I gave the same job to two of you.”

Pulse shook his head. “You could have told me I had competition.”

“Not competition. I was simply arranging a meeting. She should be by shortly. Stay, finish noodles.”

Pulse just chuckles and paid attention to the bowl in front of him. If Natsu was arranging some kind of meeting or if it was set up, he did not know. At this point, Pulse was simply curious and it was getting the better of him. Whoever this gal was she had gotten the better of him, something that was no easy task. He wanted to know who it was and how they managed to pull it off.
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[Binary]

"Well, that explains a lot then doesn't it?"

There was something about Denon, a kind of griminess that seemed to cling to the streets and fill the air of the mega-city. It might have been that humidity, that feeling that rain was just a few minutes away promising a cleansing that never came. That was the dream of Denon wasn't it, a future that always somehow seemed just out of reach. It was a dream that drew immigrants like a never-ending tide and kept families confined to the squalor of the undercity. If they just worked hard enough, tried hard enough they'd make it, rising through the stratosphere to climb the levels of the city, away from the grime and slick of the undercity to the bright, heady heights of the penthouses, the views that never seemed to take in the reality of the planet.

It was the kind of dream people would die for. Or…at least pay a fortune's worth of credit's for.

It was why people like her existed, the criminals who preyed on the dreams of others, offering them a chance to cut a corner or two in the service of that corner office. Or in favour of putting food on the table. It didn't matter, in the end, credits were credits. A job was just a job.

Unless that was someone else decided to horn in on her payday. That was unacceptable.

Dark eyes flicked over to Impulse for a moment, flicking up and down his frame, absorbing all the details she needed to know about him in that instant before the woman turned her gaze back onto the fixer.

"If the job was paying twice as much you should have just told me and paid me for that. It's not like I needed the…support."

Binary settled herself on a nearby stool, not actually close enough to let any passer-by thing she was with the other man, but close enough to talk to the Atrisian. One foot tucked in behind the stool's metal pole, the other pushing off the ground to she could swivel back and forth. A fixer's stomping ground should be safe, only a fool would think to offend one of the engines of the underworld. However, before today she'd thought that a fixer wouldn't risk double-dealing his talent either. Besides, it never hurt to be aware of your surroundings, of any gonks who would risk the wrath of the underworld to disturb a fixer's lair. She knew from experience that idiots like that existed.

For the moment it seemed safe, or at least as safe as Denon got. The droid's movement's never quite stopped, still swivelling back and forth slowly as she settled her hood around her shoulders, a wave of her head sending long brunette locks cascading down her back as she jerked her thumb in Impulse's direction.

"Since he admits he didn't actually do anything, how about you just give me his credits and we all walk away happy?"

It wasn't really about the credits in the end, not really it was about something else, about respect as an agent. Binary knew that to some fixers the talent was nothing more than piece on a chessboard, to be used and discarded as needed. It was the lot of any mercenary, there were plenty of fish in the pond, but an expensive mercenary, that was different. They might still discard you if needed but at least they'd think about it beforehand. An expensive mercenary had value as a piece on the board and only the worst fixers would discard it if they didn't have to.

She'd been discarded once, left to claw her way back to…this existence. She wasn't going to go out again.

Impulse

 

[Impulse]

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LOCATION: Sakhet’s Noodles - Denon
TIME: -redacted-

“Right on time,” Natsu said as he placed a second bowl of noodles on the bar. “House Special Number One. Noodles are on the house tonight.”

A grin pulled at the lips of the Atrisian. Like many in the Lodos District, he boasted visible cybernetic implants. Some seemed to be replacements for limbs lost in war, but others were clearly designed enhancements. The surgeries for some had to have been monumentally painful. Pulse could not stop fixating on the man’s neck, trying to get a closer look at what it was made of, what it was designed to do.

“Hey same here sister. You just got there first.”

Pulse rolled his eyes. The brunette seemed just as eager to shake down Natsu for more credits as the next runner was. Neither one of them seemed to be in a mood to focus on what Natsu was telling them. Instead, the pair could only focus on their perception. Both felt screwed over by their fixer, something that was not uncommon, but rare for the man in front of them.

Free noodles were free noodles however, and Pulse decided he did not want to let the dish get cold. He started eating while letting Natsu and the girl next to him work out whatever they needed to work out.

“The job and the credits were meant to bring you both right back here, and it did. Pulse is getting his cut, and you are getting your cut, as agreed. You both are going to enjoy the noodles while I explain myself.”

Impulse lifted his gaze from the food he was eating and looked up at Natsu, the back at the girl. So now the girl had his name. The night was only getting better. Pulse grunted as he went back to the noodles and gave a slight nod of agreement. It was not like he had much choice in the matter. Even if Natsu had set him up for his own designs, he was the best fixer in the district, arguably on Denon. Pulse was not going to give up a good thing over one issue. Natsu had never double crossed him, and technically, since he still got paid, Natsu still had not. Whatever it was Natsu had to say it was worth a listen.

“I’m good if she is.”

Putting it all on the brunette was how he was going to play it. If she was upset enough to walk off then Pulse figured whatever Natsu wanted was all his. She was more direct about wanting more credits up front, but Pulse was willing to play the long game hoping for a larger payout for jumping through the hoops and sticking it out.

Natsu turned and looked at the brunette.

“Binary?”
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[Binary]

Dark eyes flicked back and forth between the two men, the confused one and the smug one. She knew from personal experience the kind of pain and terror that would come from messing with one of the engines that ran the undercity. Individually they weren't that strong, that capable as combatants, many used to be agents themselves, in the past anyway, but were past their prime. No, what made them scary was that they protected one another, an attack against one was treated against an attack against them all and they would retaliate. It might be a bounty, or sending a pet slicer after you, a favour called in or a favour paid out. Only those on the fringes of society who wanted nothing from the overworld or the underworld, those who were truly desperate even considered it.

Binary knew all this, she'd lived it in a previous life.

She still wanted to punch Natsu right in his smug face.

The woman caressed her first for a moment, eyes narrowing as she glared at Natsu before a sigh escaped her, boots clattering on the pavement as she let her shoulders drop in defeat. It wasn't worth the pain that would come from it, as good as that would make her feel. It would be but the work of a moment to mess with him a little, to just adjust his cybernetics a little bit to get revenge on him for playing her like this. Only…even if he took it in good humour chances are it would spark a prank war at best, at worst petty behaviour like that would only tarnish her reputation with other fixers.

Life in the underworld wasn't easy for anyone, you had to struggle to survive and in the end, all you had was your name and reputation. She'd had one of those once, many years ago but starting from scratch, a name a face that no one knew, that no one trusted was a kind of struggle she never wanted to deal with again. People in the underworld saw her and thought only one thing and it wasn't that she was a competent runner, her reputation had been hard won on the jobs that no one else wanted to take. She was just starting to get established now and to throw it away in a fit of pique at one of the few fixers who took her seriously just wasn't worth it…though it didn't stop her levelling another glare at Natsu. The kind of glare that would have pinned him to the wall if she could.

"Fine…talk."

Delicate fingers reached out the grab a pair of chopsticks, pulling them apart as she began to push her noodles around her bowl. One hand reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear before leaning down to take a bite of the noodles. She could identify every chemical element of the meal, the temperature that they'd been served at down to the second decimal point. But, she couldn't tell if they were tasty or not…though judging by her…companion's behaviour they were. The woman closed her eyes for a moment, letting the familiar sounds and memories carry her away for a moment. She could remember visiting little stands like this, mesmerized by the smells, by the fresh food coming together before her eyes, the chefs like artists. This chef though…he was an artist of a whole different sort.

"So, what was so important you needed to play us like that, couldn't you just call and bring us here?"

Impulse

 

[Impulse]

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LOCATION: Sakhet’s Noodles - Denon
TIME: -redacted-

“Right,” Natsue said with a nod.

The aging hand of the fixer reached toward the pair with two data chips. Whether they slotted the shard into a datapad or a data port was up to them. Most on Denon had been opting for cybernetic implants to enhance themselves rather than use them to replace a missing limb. Pulse jacked his into the port on which was just behind his right ear. Natsu could explain the job while he finished off his noodles.

“There has been an unsanctioned project the Kupohan Spynet has suddenly found themselves interested in. I do not often share where I get most of my jobs, but considering what I put the pair of you through I owe you that much. You should see a schematic of the laboratory pop up. It’s the east wing project we are concerned about.”

“About three years ago a young girl went missing. Recently one of the scientists leaked footage to the spynet showing the girl being tested. Whatever they have done to her, it is significant and dangerous in the wrong hands. I want you to retrieve her. Normally I would tell you to deliver the asset to the Spynet, but no one can get their hands on her. This job is more of a long term commitment, but one I am willing to pay for generously, and offer the first pick of every job that comes my way.”

Pulse set the empty bowl of noodles on the counter.

“First… those are the best damn noodles I’ve ever eaten. Second… I am guessing we are not the only ones going after the asset? Third… if Binary is in we’re gonna need a couple of smaller jobs to figure out how we best work together. I am concerned on the timeline here. It’s a straight forward snatch and grab if we do it right, but that included not getting caught and hoping they don’t have some kind of tracking device built into the girl.”

“That’s where Binary comes in. If there is a tracer in the girl anywhere, Binary will be able to deal with it.”

Pulse turned and looked at the woman, for the first time really taking her in to see what she might be made of.

“Slicer, netrunner, extraordinaire huh?”

The question was directed to Binary herself. There was something of an edge to her, like she was still carrying a chip on her shoulder. It was not from the way this job had gone down either. Pulse would have guessed she felt like she was entitled to more. He had never heard of the woman, but the way Natsu talked about her, and the way the woman was behaving, it was almost like he should have.

Pulse shrugged.

“I’m in regardless. You had me at top shelf pay and first pick of the jobs that come your way.”

Was it foolish to jump in? Likely. The problem with Denon and the world Pulse found himself in was that those who hesitated never made a name for themselves.
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