"If they don't show up today, we're doing it ourselves." I say to Corax after an hour of waiting.

"Now." Corax says.

My foot hits the ground a few more times. I'd love nothing more than to sprint out and fight right now. Why do I have to be the voice of reason? This fucking sucks, I need to thank Vince when we get him back.

"How do we stop you from being shut down, and my legs from freaking out?" I ask. "Figure that out and we'll go."

Corax stays silent.

That's what I thought.

Another hour passes. Every time I hear footsteps outside the door, I tense, ready to fight. They always continue on though.

When one set of footsteps finally does stop and knock on the door, I can't help but jump in surprise.

I stand up, knife in hand, unlock the door, and slowly open it. A large man stands on the other side with his hands folded behind his back. He's covered head to toe in armor, his vest filled with explosives, ammo, and medical supplies. A small submachine gun sits on his back, and a pistol on his hip.

"Scarlet and the bird I presume? Or do you prefer Cassie and Corax?"

It takes every ounce of my mind not to lash out, to not drive my knife into the small gap between his armor and helmet. If he was here to cash in on the bounty, he wouldn't risk talking first, and he would have backup.

What's his plan then? Why reveal that information? It's a threat, of course, a very convincing reminder he holds our lives in his hand. But is that all? If he just came to wave his dick around, there are better ways to do that.

"Scarlet is fine." I say through clenched teeth.

"I apologize for taking so long. You didn't pick a location that was easy to secure." He says.

Ah, so it's a demonstration, showing his skill and initiative. I'd much rather he not go beyond the requirements of his job. Securing the room is great, researching us is not. Although, I guess I'd prefer I know he knows who I am rather than hiding it.

I step back, leaving the door open for him to come in. I don't dare to sit down though, I remain standing with my knife drawn.

The man lowers his gaze before stepping into the room, closing the door smoothly behind him.

"What do you need done?" He asks.

"My-" Shit, what do I say? My friend feels so impersonal, she's more than that now. I know exactly what she is, I just can't say… Shit. "An AI I've been traveling with in a humanoid body got captured during a job for Zero. Fuckers can somehow mess with CPUs. Scrambled all data coming from my legs and ears, and knocked Ruby and the bird out cold. Give me a dozen organic humans and I'll get her back."

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you escape?"

"My servos are powered by an analogue system. Collecting and processing where my legs actually are, are done by microcontrollers though, and those reported only garbage."

"Pain." Corax says, nodding like he added anything to the conversation.

"Do you know where they are based?" He asks.

"I know where they ambushed us. They didn't have a backup plan for when I was still able to run. They're overconfident, if we're lucky they set up their ambush near their base."

"Excellent. If you give me the location, I will collect a few people and return your friend to you by sundown."

"Fuck that! I'm going with you."

"Now." Corax agrees.

The man tenses up, doing his best to not react, but I've heard this exact silence too many times.

"Don't fucking pity me."

"I don't get paid to coddle you." The man says slowly. "I do, however, get paid to follow your orders. If you want to come, fine. But I will not slow down or risk my team for you, and I cannot guarantee your safety."

"That's fine." I relax my grip, I didn't even realize how hard I was clenching my knife. "I don't get a million credit bounty by being helpless."

"I suppose not. I've already sent my team to ready a group of non-modified humans, and are currently watching every entrance to this casino. I will be remaining here to keep you safe, expect to leave by the end of the hour. In the meantime, is there anything you need to improve your chances of survival?"

A new arm is useless, and more armor will just slow me down.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"A gun cleaning kit, a few mags, and a box of 9mm. Oh, and a full car battery, don't ask." I slide my knife into its holster, partially draw my pistol, drop the mag, and toss it to the man. He easily catches it.

"I can provide that." He opens the door, shows the magazine to someone just out of sight in the hallway, and tosses it back to me. Whoever was outside doesn't bother keeping their footsteps quiet as they run downstairs. "As for a cleaning kit, here." He reaches into one of the endless pockets built into his vest, and tosses it to me.

I set the magazine and cleaning kit on the end of the bed, and sit down beside it. Holding the grip between my legs lets me rack the slide to empty the chamber, and to easily remove the slide.

Stripping the rest of the gun and cleaning with one hand is a disaster, but the man standing quietly in the corner is smart enough to not ask if I need help. Corax does help however, which I appreciate. I'd rather have two hands, but I guess one hand and one beak is an ok replacement.

"We also need a way to shield the bird." I'm not even sure why I'm trying to keep up this dumb disguise.

"The fact that my techie hasn't entered the room with a solution, means we don't have one."

"There has to be something!"

"Io can answer your questions better than I can." The man says, but makes no motion to open the door.

Light footsteps make their way down the hallway, and the person on the other side lets themselves in. She's tall, with artificial, glowing eyes peering out of a protective helmet. Her armor is light, but she carries bulky electronics distributed across it.

"If you want to block a signal, you need matter. The more the better. The denser the material, the more efficient it is at blocking a signal, and equally, the heavier it is. The common solution to that is a faraday cage." She immediately starts. A small display on her vest lights up, showing a sheet of metal with small holes drilled into it. "These work exactly as well as a metal sheet, but by having the holes be smaller than the wavelength you're attempting to block, you can save material, and by extension, weight. I can't imagine Bird wants to be safe at the expense of being able to fly. The problem is that anything capable of manipulating a CPU is going to have a wavelength on the scale of nanometers, not the millimeters that I can fabricate a cage to deal with. Plus, nanometer waves means x-rays or smaller, which will pierce straight through any metal lighter than a few inches of lead. Needless to say, that won't work, and that's assuming I'm correct in my guess how their mechanism works. If they use an electromagnetic field or any number of potential methods, we would need an entirely different set of precautions." She rattles off her explanation as quickly as she physically can, only taking a breath once she finally finishes.

"So we're fucked."

"Essentially, yes." Io says matter of factly. "If I knew for sure how it worked, I could make active countermeasures for it. But as things stand, I can do nothing for you."

"Great." I glance at Corax on the bed next to me. "I'll keep you safe."

"Better." Corax says.

Io quickly shuffles out of the room as we finish cleaning my guns, and quickly reassemble them. The magazine slides in easily, and the slide is as smooth as it's ever been. I'd prefer to be able to test fire it to ensure everything works, but I can't imagine there's a range nearby. And no matter how bad a day I'm having, I don't want to make anyone else's worse by putting a hole in their roof.

"I assume you have some upgrades?" I ask the man. "Who's going to lead whatever group you're collecting?"

"A very close friend who more than knows the price of betrayal. She will not care about who you are, only about her job."

"Ok." That tells me literally nothing. "What's her name? What's she like? What does she expect from me?"

"You may call her Captain, she is the captain, and she expects you to stay alive. Secrecy is critical and information is lethal in our line of work. I cannot give you more."

"That's fair, actually." I'd do the same thing in their position. "Alright. Chances are I'm not going to have working ears. What's the plan for that?"

"Stay behind or stay close to the Captain. We're not going to give you a babysitter, and I'm guessing you don't want one. Your concerns have been noted, however, and she is aware."

"Alright. A quick rundown then, assuming you're listening." I say vaguely into the room. "Normally I'm quick with a knife and pistol, but with one arm and unreliable legs? I'm a good shot with one hand." I shrug. "I'm not going to let myself be useless, and I'm not going to be a liability."

The man only nods, and resumes his professional, stiff stance.

I fall back onto the bed. I'm not going to sit here and pull teeth to get more details out of him.

I wonder if I could get him to read to me to pass the time, he did say he gets paid to follow my instructions. Ooh, I bet I could even get him to do voices like Blue does. The thought brings a smile to my face, and nearly a chuckle to my lips. Mr tough and imposing forced to do the cutest voice he can manage, saying sweet nothings to himself. Despite my absolute best efforts, a snort does escape.

The man doesn't react, but Corax gives me a knowing look. Despite him looking exactly the same as always, I swear he's smiling.

I spend my time fidgeting restlessly, grabbing whatever is close to give my attention to. I draw my knife to begin spinning it across my finger, and inspecting the edge. It's not as perfect as I'd like, but that's easily fixable. I have a few sharpening plates built into my leg. The sound is miserable, but it's well worth dealing with to be prepared.

"Wait a second," a realization finally dawns on me. "You'll get me whatever I think will help me survive, right?"

"To a point, yes." He says slowly.

"Can you get me a hot meal? Something solid, not soup."

"We can find something."

I return to playing with whatever I can get my hand on. The man in the corner doesn't move a single muscle the entire time, he just says still, staring off into the distance.

It's half an hour before he finally twitches, reaching over to open the door. A second man, equally as armed, steps inside. A small platter of food in one hand and a new battery, magazine, and ammunition is piled on the other. He places both wordlessly on the bed and disappears back out the door.

"Guess he had nothing to say?" Removing the platter cover reveals several small portions of noodles, steamed and baked vegetables, and fresh bread. I haven't had bread in so long, I pull down my head covering, grab the loaf, and take a large bite.

"Voices are identifying and expensive to replace. Anyone unable to disguise theirs isn't allowed to speak to you."

"You guys really did think of everything." I take another bite. "Glad I don't work here. Can't imagine the stress."

The man doesn't respond to that, and returns to staring blankly into space.

Not long after I finish my meal and replace the battery in my backpack, I hear someone on the outside of the door. The man doesn't react while the door opens, and in steps a tall woman, dressed identically to the man.

"Your team is prepared." She says simply.

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