Somnus V - Chapter 17

Kat’s eyes were half closed as she sat at the dingy table. At some point, an enterprising individual had replaced its cheap plastic top with fake wood, but that had been years ago. Now, it was hard for her to make out the initials carved into its surface through the layer of food residue and spilled beer. The bar resolved these concerns about its cleanliness by dimming the lights to the point that it was hard for an ordinary person to see much more than the mug of cheap, narcotic-laced beer in front of them.

Unfortunately for Kat, Nightvision and her enhanced hearing prevented her from any such blissful ignorance. She could see every stain on the counter and hear the wet tearing sound of shoes pulling themselves off the ground as their owners walked through the sticky patches that seemed to cover the entirety of the cement floor.

 “This place is awful,” Heather whispered, swirling a dubious drink in front of her. “Sightlines are obscured, it’s too dark to be able to find and assess threats, and worse, everyone is armed.”

 “Honestly Sh- Miss Debs,” she continued unhappily. “This place is like a personal security officer’s nightmare. I swear one of the exam questions at the academy covered a scenario just as ridiculous as this and all of us laughed about how we’d never actually need to do anything half as crazy as that test.”

 “Have a drink,” Kat replied with a half smile. “You’re wound up pretty tight right now. Maybe that’ll help calm your nerves.”

 Heather swirled her beer skeptically, eyeing the drink with distaste. For once, Kat was glad that her enhanced senses only covered sight and hearing. There was something about the bar that made the thought of a tower augmented sense of smell especially unappealing.

 “You can just pour it out you know,” Kat said, rolling her eyes. “The floor is sticky enough that no one will notice a little extra grime. Plus, everyone in here is blackout drunk or well on their way there.”

 “It isn’t actually that bad,” Whip cut in, bringing the drink to her mouth. Her throat bobbed and she grimaced, betraying her words immediately.

 “I’d rather not do either really,” Heather replied, setting her drink down. “I don’t want to drink that trash and I don’t want to spill it on the ground next to me. It already feels like I’ll need to disinfect my entire body when I get back.”

 “You still should pour the drink out,” Kat said, tilting her head to the side as she recognized Nina’s voice in one of the bar’s back rooms. “We’re trying to be inconspicuous here. Spilled drinks are fairly common. A table full of untouched drinks is strange and will raise suspicion.”

 The front door to the bar opened, exposing the main floor to Chiwaukee’s neon glare before a silhouette filled it. Conversations stilled as the bar’s customers turned as one to look at the new addition. For a brief moment, tension filled the room as a dozen patrons’ hands crept toward concealed weapons.

 Then the bar went back to normal. Evidently the newcomer didn’t warrant a spontaneous gunfight. She caught Davis Stoller’s voice as he gave the person next to him a quiet warning, and Kat sat up straighter.

 “Look alive,” she said, taking her beer and dumping it out under the table. “Merrimac is here. Nina will probably notice him in a minute, and then we’ll be ready to go.”

 Four of the bar patrons perked up at her words. It wasn’t too hard to spot them. Their backs were too stiff and their shoulders were too tense for regulars. Even though they wore casual clothes and carried half drank beers, it was clear to anyone that knew how to look that they weren’t comfortable in the dive bar, and that meant either newbies or corpos.

 Kat hoped that it was dark enough that most of the bar’s residents wouldn’t pick up on their strange behavior. Even if they did, they would probably think that there was an executive of some sort in the bar hiring or paying off a samurai team. It didn’t happen every day, but Neon Crash was used as a meeting point often enough that the average folks there knew better than to stick their nose into someone else’s business.

 The bar catered to everyone, but at the same time, snooping tended to be rewarded with extreme violence. That was the case for most samurai bars. Half the people in the room had a name, and given how much power someone could earn as a player, it was almost impossible to tell which of the drunk revelers was a street punk or a high ranked operative.

 That was why they were using Neon Crash for the meeting after all. People tended to turn a blind eye to the suspicious. Sure they might take note of the obvious corporate guards scattered around the area, but unless they tried something, everyone sane would simply leave it at that.

 Across the bar, she saw Davis reach up and touch an ear piece. An electronically distorted voice buzzed, not entirely audible despite Kat’s enhanced hearing, and the older security guard looked up, making eye contact with her. Kat nodded.

 Davis touched the shoulder of a hooded figure standing next to them, and the two of them made their way across the bar toward where Kat’s party was seated. A half step behind the two of them a slimmer figure followed in their wake, obvious support in case something went wrong. When they made it to about the halfway point, Emma leaned forward.

“Nina has exited the backroom,” she whispered. “She should be here about the same time as Merrimac and his companions.”

Kat nodded, eyes picking through the various figures in the bar. It wasn’t hard to spot Nina. The woman was huge and built like she could bench press a car. Given how much chrome she had in her, Kat wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.

Merrimac pushed his way through the throng of drinkers. One or two of the drunker patrons turned to get into his face only to freeze when they made eye contact with him. Anyone who knew what to look for could practically see the power and competence roiling off of the man. More than that, he was old. Most samurai didn’t survive long enough to get old, and it was best to be wary of those that did.

She scootched to the side, wedging Whippoorwill into the corner in order to make room for the people that would be joining them at the table. With a sigh, Heather poured out her drink under the table and moved as well. Kat tried not to think about the splash of the liquid on the floor followed by a sudden wet sensation coming from her calf.

The four newcomers walked up to their table, taking their seats wordlessly. Outside their dingy booth, about six of the bar’s patrons took up stilted and overly casual positions, holding drinks that they never seemed to actually consume. Kat recognized a couple of them from her security detail, and it was easy to put the pieces together and ID the remaining figures as Merrimac’s guards.

Nina sat down last, putting a metal cylinder down on the table and toggling a button on its base. A humming buzzing sound attacked Kat’s ears, setting her teeth on edge as it swallowed up the conversations that were taking place in the bar itself.

It was like being back in the class evolution chamber in a way. Kat felt naked with her hearing forcibly restrained to just slightly more than human average. The biggest difference was how annoying it was. Every second next to the droning cylinder felt like someone was dragging sandpaper across her skin.

“We should be secure,” Nina said gruffly. “My people are monitoring everything outside of this booth, but we have a full crowd tonight. It provides good cover, but it means unknown variables. A lot of them. Specifically drunk variables.”

“Thanks for coming, everyone, and sorry about the theatrics.” She reached up and tapped the visor built into her hood that covered most of her face. “Caution is always healthy, but I’m afraid that there’s a genuine reason for the paranoia tonight.”

“First,” Kat continued, “Introductions. Tiamat here is an old friend of Chiffon and mine. She controls this establishment and the surrounding area. Heather is my chief of security, she’s good at her job, and more importantly, she’s got less of a stick up her ass than most corpos.”

“Says the queen of the corpos,” Heather muttered with a dramatic roll of her eyes.

“See,” Kat replied, smiling under the visor. “This is why I like her. That said we weren’t able to bring Dorrik or anyone from the 3445. All of them stand out a bit much for a dive bar. I suspect that everyone here knows that our security detail aren’t samurai, but they’re playing by the rules enough that everyone can turn a blind eye. I doubt a giant lizard monster would fit the same criteria.”

“Merrimac,” Davis said before hooking a thumb at the two people sitting next to him. “That’s Hestia and Jasper. Good to meet you Tiamat.”

“I’ve heard your names,” Nina replied, nodding appraisingly at the other samurai. “It’s been a while since I’ve operated and a bit longer since the two of you were active, but its an honor to be working with the team that single handedly burned down an entire NeoSyne subsidiary’s corporate headquarters.”

“That was a bit of a mistake,” Davis said uncomfortably. “I learned the hard way not to make a corporation truly interested in your demise, even a small corporation. Without the help of the Haupts, I doubt that anyone in our team would have survived the fallout from that job.”

“But it was satisfying when we did it,” Hestia chimed in unapologetically. “We sure taught a lot of people not to short their samurai that day. Big moment in labor rights. We’re practically heroes.”

“You are heroes,” Nina agreed. “Corporations were starting to ignore the rules. Names weren’t meaning as much and they were going for samurai during the daytime. The whole world was a mess for a bit, but making an example out of Sigicirc put an end to a lot of that nonsense real quick.”

“Do you need me to order some tapioca and hard candy from the bar?” Kat asked innocently. “I just figured a snack would be in order if we were going to be spending more time in the memory care unit of the samurai retirement home.”

Davis just glared at her, but Hestia broke out in laughter.

“I’ll take butterscotch hard candy,” she said gleefully, drawing strange looks from both Nina and Davis. “What? We’re old. We might as well milk that for free stuff. Plus, she’s rich.”

Kat could help herself. She started laughing too. It was hard to maintain the meeting’s somber and serious mood when Hestia was being Hestia.

“Heather, can you have one of the security guards go and get some candy for Hestia?”

The woman opened her mouth to retort, metal arms clicking as she set them on the table, but she caught herself. Kat could almost hear the complaint that flashed over her security chief’s face, but instead she mumbled something into a mouthpiece. A second later, one of the overly casual ‘obvious corporate employee’ types set his beer down and wandered off.

“See?” Hestia said happily. “The two of you should’ve thought to ask for candy.”

Nina just snorted, but there was a hint of a smile on her face.

“Regardless,” Kat cut in, ending another round of banter before it could completely derail their hard to schedule, dangerous, cloak and dagger meetup. “I called everyone here to talk over what’s been happening and the countermeasures we’re taking.”

“I assumed something was up,” Davis rumbled. “Shareholder Donnst has been acting more paranoid than usual, and anything that can rattle her is something that Jasper and I should be aware of. I don’t want us getting caught unaware again.”

Jasper nodded, his face not visible through his visor. He was shorter than Merrimac, and from what Kat remembered from Belle’s wedding, the back of his head was heavily covered in cyberware after the debacle in Racine, but there wasn’t a single tremor or hint of indecision in his movements.

“I need to take this more seriously Kat,” Jasper said. “Becoming an executive felt like my birthright and moving on to become a shareholder after that was like a dream. For a while, I was convinced that everything would work out simply because I was the person doing it. Getting captured the first time put a damper on that, but you saved me so I was able to dismiss it. I shouldn’t have. The second kidnapping taught me that I was weak and reckless.”

“I need to get stronger,” he continued, looking down at his hands. “In the Tower and out. Davis and you have done so much for me, it would be absolutely boorish of me not to live up to your expectations. You need allies. I can see it. Belle and the handful of other shareholders you’ve blackmailed, bribed and coerced are helpful, but they’re not real allies. That’s my job. I need to become someone that you can rely on. Someone that you can trust to have your back while you focus on bigger problems.”

Kat was a bit taken aback, but after a moment of thought she realized that she probably shouldn’t be. Jasper, for all of his faults, had always tried his hardest to be a good person. Even when he was the clueless rich kid interacting with the only scholarship student at the GroCorp Academy, he hadn’t tried to abuse his position. Sure, he might have talked over her and assumed that his social status gave him access to more knowledge and understanding, but that was him being ignorant, not a bad person.

Racine must have shook him. That was good. It was a traumatic experience, and you’d have to be a little insane for it not to make an impact. A lot of people would have withdrawn in on themselves and become paranoid. Jasper focusing his effort toward self improvement in order to prevent a recurrence was good. Probably the best possible outcome to be honest.

“You know what,” Nina said. “I like the kid. I must be getting senile in my old age, but here I am sitting at a table full of corporate bigwigs and I more or less like everyone here.”

Davis’ impassive face cracked, revealing the barest hint of a smile as he responded.

“Believe me, it was a bit of a surprise when I first reached the same realization.”

“Okay,” Kat said dryly. “Now that we’ve concluded that Jasper and I are strangely tolerable, I think that it’s time for us to turn to our main order of business. Someone is gunning for our group of shareholders, and I don’t think that they’re from GroCorp.”

“So another corp is after you,” Hestia replied, her voice almost bored. “Isn’t that part of the job? You guys get all the big houses and gold plated toilets in exchange for fighting it out with the other rich folks.”

“Yes and no,” Kat said. “Corporations try to undercut each other as a whole and corporate wars, while uncommon, do burst into the open from time to time. That said, most power struggles are between people that belong to the same company. Targeting one person makes more sense when they’re what’s standing between you and a promotion. For corporations it's a lot less direct. We’re fighting over things like resource extraction centers and market share. Actually gunning for a specific group is fairly rare.”

“I’m assuming this has something to do with the gas attack at Ms. Donnst’s wedding?” Jasper asked. “We weren’t anywhere near that, but she was furious. Locked the entire building down for something like two days as she interrogated everyone in attendance. Half the executives in GroCorp are terrified of her now.”

“That’s a big part of it,” Kat replied. “Belle and I were meeting to discuss a business arrangement. Someone figured out the ingredients my scientists were using to adapt stallesp tech, and they’ve started to target the supply lines. Our production levels have only dropped slightly, and by dipping into profit margins we’ve managed to avoid raising prices, but a couple of the smarter corporations have picked up on the fact that there has been a market run on rare isotopes. We only expect things to get worse from there.”

“I don’t suppose that has anything to do with Shareholder Donnst’s big new construction projects along the coast of Lake Michigan?” Davis questioned. “I know that they’re mostly owned by shell corporations and we haven’t really been able to figure out what they’re meant for, but I do know that she’s pouring a lot of credits into building something out there.”

“Yes,” Kat said with a nod. “That’s our long term plan to fix the supply shortage, but best estimates are that it will take at least a year to get the enrichment plants and refineries running at full capacity. Until then, all we know is that someone is targeting my power base and that the someone in question was capable of inserting an assassin into Belle’s wedding and erasing all electronic footage of her.”

Davis let out a low whistle. “Now that I have not heard. Slipping past Shareholder Donnst’s networks is an undertaking. Whoever managed that is a serious threat.”

“Her?” Jasper questioned, leaning forward slightly. “That means you got eyes on the person who did the attack?”

“I did specifically,” Kat replied. “Well, I think it was the right person. She didn’t show up on any of the camera recordings, but I remember her distinctly because she looked out of place at the wedding. She moved like an operative, and unless I missed my guess, she was an infiltrator or a samurai of some sort.”

Davis leaned back, crossing his arms in front of himself, a deep frown etching itself between the wrinkles on his face.

“So we’re all in danger from someone that can handle the best electronic security can throw at them,” he said slowly. “Hestia, I’m going to have to ask you to stick around a little longer. I need someone that I can trust to protect the Shareholder at all times, and frankly the only people that fit that category while having enough power to make it meaningful are the two of us.”

“I would suggest making alternative security plans,” Kat responded. “I’ve already used my connections in the Tower to get a large number of subscription stones. It might take a little time, but right now we’re building up a significant number of players. Between the 3445 and my security team, we have almost seventy five new players already, and that number should only increase with time. At least for now, the goal is loyalty over talent. A samurai or employee can get stronger in the Tower or with training, but if they’re likely to stab you in the back, all of that strength can be turned against you in a second.”

 “Seventy Five,” Davis said thoughtfully. “That’s a lot of people for-” He trailed off so Kat supplied his answer for him.

 “A month. A lot of those were bought on credit so our rate of growth is going to slow down quite a bit, but if we’re given enough time I expect to quietly build up a pretty sizeable force. The next step is to start supplying Tiamat and her groups with subscription stones. Technically we don’t have any direct connections with her, but-”

 “But I remember Erinyes from the old days, and I have her back,” Nina replied, before her voice dropped to almost inaudible levels. “Plus, it’s what Xander would’ve wanted.”

 If anyone at the table could hear her, they didn’t respond.

 “Tell me about Tiamat’s crew,” Davis responded. “I’d hate for us to accidently have a friendly fire incident and take out some allies. The more we know, the better we can stay clear of their territory.”

 “We call ourselves the Chrome Furies,” Nina said with a grunt. “If it seems like we appeared out of nowhere, it’s because we have. Named ourselves after our ally and financial benefactor. Most of the people in the crew don’t know that Erinyes is involved, but a couple of the higher level folks, the ones that are going to get subscription stones because I trust them with my life, they do. Right now we take jobs from anyone, but there are certain targets we won’t touch. Haupt, Debs, and Donnst for now. We’ve hit one or two convoys from your more peripheral allies, but that’s mostly so that we don’t end up establishing a pattern that one of the pencil necks can track back to us. The idea is that we’re supposed to appear independent up until Erinyes needs to call on us. Blade hidden in the shadows and all that.”

 “Between the Furies and the 3445, my goal is to have a fairly substantial force that operates outside of GroCorp corporate channels,” Kat supplied. “The less control the other shareholders have over my military assets, the more wary they’ll be of me.”

 “Reasonable,” Davis responded, his eyes distant as he pondered something. “It may not be a bad idea to start sponsoring deniable forces of our own, especially if there is an unknown party threatening us.”

 “That’s why I brought Emma here,” Kat replied, motioning toward her friend. “You know that she’s in charge of our clandestine forces. I handle most of the things related to the Tower, but she knows a lot more about our organizational status and how our information gathering efforts are proceeding.”

 Emma leaned forward and excitedly began rattling off details. Kat tuned her out. Jasper, Heather and Davis were paying close attention, but it was all information she’d heard before a dozen times. Still, their allies needed to know, and if their unknown opponent could hack Belle’s security system, that meant that no electronic records were completely safe. The only way to be sure was face to face transmission with data being stored away in personal repositories only.

 She made eye contact with Hestia. The older woman was drinking one of the beers that someone had left out on the counter. Kat suppressed a shudder. She’d tried the brew before, and as Nina swore by it, the gutter ale was beyond foul, tasting more like chemicals than anything that involved barley or hops.

 Kat glanced out into the crowded bar, silently wishing for the guard to return with the hard candy she’d sent him to retrieve on a whim. At least that would be a distraction from the awkward cramped proximity of the crowded booth.

 As if on cue, she spotted the guard shouldering his way into the bar. The locals didn’t bother him, but they gave him a lot less respect than they had Merrimac. From his slightly too new gear to his stiff walk, the man smelled like corporate security and everyone in the room knew it.

 A couple steps behind him, a tail slipped into the building. Kat’s blood ran cold.

 The guard wasn’t an infiltrator. He was supposed to guard executives and shareholders, not sneak into places without being followed. Still, it was a bit disappointing how easily he’d he’d been tracked back into Neon Crash.

 Kat opened her mouth to say something to Heather when her eyes caught a flash of blue hair from the person following the guard. She didn’t wait for an explanation. Gravity rippled around her as Kat’s knee contacted the bottom of the cheap table, tearing it free from the cheap bolts that kept it moored to the ground.

 Drink went flying everywhere as the table was launched into the air, flipping slightly so that its flat surface was between their alcove and the bar’s doorway.

 All hell broke loose.

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