Cyber Dreams 5.39 - One on One

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-Plum

Juliet lay on her back, her room on the gunship dark and quiet, only a few amber LEDs providing any illumination. She’d woken from a dream she couldn’t remember, and now her mind was too busy to go back to sleep. Her AUI said it was 0441, but her mind told her it was time to get up. She stretched, and feeling something cold tickle her chest, she reached down to lift the pendant she’d picked up the day before with Aya. It was pretty and not exactly what she’d expected when she’d dropped the lump of blue polymer off with the artist at the flea market, Raven Rose.

It hung from a silver chain—a circular pendant with the bullet at the center, suspended by tiny, hidden magnets on the outer silver ring. The artist had reformed the bullet; it wasn’t a flattened lump of polymer anymore but a dangerous-looking projectile. She must have put some kind of magnet and battery inside it because no matter how Juliet spun or pressed on it, it wanted to stay at the center of the ring. She could pull it out if she tried, but if she released it anywhere near the ring, it snapped back into place. Raven had decorated the ring with turquoise that matched the blue polymer; conversely, she’d adorned the bullet with veins of silver to match the chain. All in all, it was a pretty and unique piece of jewelry that still served as a reminder of a dangerous situation for Juliet.

“Do I need to charge this thing?” she mused, flicking the bullet so it spun at the center of the medallion.

“When you do that,” Angel said, “it creates a trickle charge that feeds the battery.”

“So, if I don’t play with it, the bullet will fall out of here eventually?”

“I suppose so.”

“So, she took it seriously.”

“Hmm?” Angel, apparently, hadn’t perfected reading Juliet’s mind.

“When I told her it was a reminder of, you know, almost getting shot in the head, she made something that I have to touch regularly. I can’t just put it on and forget it.”

“Ah, yes, I see what you mean.”

“Frida wants us there at 0800?”

“Well, she sent the message, but I assume it’s Tanaka’s request.”

“And I’ve got my appointment with Ladia at eleven?”

“Yes.”

Juliet sighed and rolled over, shifting left to right until the gel lining of her couch moved to accommodate her shoulder and hip. “I’ll try sleeping a little more,” she murmured, still clutching her new pendant in her fist. The next thing she was aware of was Angel softly telling her it was time to wake up. Her eyes sprang open, and she glanced at her AUI, noting that the time was 0710. “Wow, I actually fell back asleep.”

She took a quick shower, dressed, and chugged a liquid breakfast Bennet had mixed up the night before. By seven thirty, she was cruising toward the interdome highway and her “debriefing” at Tanaka’s office. She was eager to hear about his negotiations with the LCC, about Hawkins and Barns and their progress taking the criminal LCS officers into custody, and about the bounties they were all going to share. She wasn’t so eager to see Leo Applebaum. She’d cooled off a good deal with regard to the idea of his advances, and she wasn’t sure how awkward things were going to be after his confession following their escape from Life-Ultra.

She was also a little sad because Honey was already well on her way to Mars, and this would be the first sword lesson she went through without her company. Thinking of Honey got her thinking about Ghoul and the strange message she’d received so long ago. She’d already spoken to Angel about trying to use Ghoul’s likely compromised PAI to get access to the group from WBD that was after her, but she didn’t know when that would be appropriate. Shouldn’t she have a team in place with a strategy first? If so, she still had to work with Tanaka and his crew for a while. They’d gone a long way to earning her trust over the weekend, but she didn’t think she was ready to spill her guts to Tanaka yet, not about WBD.

Those sorts of thoughts kept her mind busy while she piloted the bike to her destination, and she almost felt a little surprised when she pulled into a parking spot by the elevators in the garage. She hardly remembered the ride. She hooked her helmet to the seat, walked to the elevators, and, a few minutes later, she strode through the doors to Tanaka’s office.

“Cutting it close!” Frida said by way of greeting. Juliet looked at her and then at the clock on her AUI.

“I’m three minutes early!”

“Come on, we’re meeting in the conference room. Everyone’s there.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry; I’m sure they’re only talking about you a little.” Frida winked at her, and Juliet smiled. Frida was cool; she might not fill the Honey-sized hole in her chest, but she was someone she felt she could talk to. The thought made her feel guilty, knowing Angel still had her daemons in Frida’s PAI, spying on everything she did.

As they walked, she subvocalized, “Hey, I’m thinking we should get our spies out of Frida’s head soon, don’t you think?”

“I almost feel like my daemons are operating for her own good as much as ours. If we keep working with this crew, they’re going to be at risk. Isn’t it nice to know I’d be alerted if something happened to Frida?”

“Nothing’s ever straightforward, is it, Angel?” Juliet’s mouth quirked into a half smile, and she shook her head, stepping into the conference room behind Frida. It was her first time in the room, and the reality of it matched up to her imagination pretty darn closely—windows displaying the downtown skyline, a long glass-topped table with a high-end holo-projector in the center, and eight comfortable-looking executive chairs, many of which were currently occupied. The crew were all there—Leo sat on the table's far side, back to the windows. Barns was across from him. In the center, facing each other, were Dora Lee and Hawkins. Tanaka sat at the head of the table on the left.

As Frida moved around to sit on his left, Juliet figured he wanted her in the seat closest to his right-hand side. The only other option was the far end of the table. “Hey, all,” she said, stepping into the room.

“Hey, killer,” Barns said, smirking.

Juliet paused, her chair halfway pulled out, and stiffened, turning to him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Shut up, Barns,” Dora said. Juliet looked from Barns, who smirked, to Dora, who smiled—much more friendly than when they’d first met.

It was Leo who cleared things up, “Don’t sweat it. They were just watching some footage of our, uh, departure from Life-Ultra.”

Juliet sighed and sat down, turning to Tanaka, noting the “boss” hadn’t so much as lifted an eyebrow at the banter. He cleared his throat and said, “We’ll cover some general business related to Lucky’s job over the weekend, and then I’ll meet with some people individually. Lucky, our lesson will begin at 0830. Will that be all right? Did you notify Honey, Frida?”

“She’s not responding . . .”

“She’s gone,” Juliet said, interrupting her. “She had to travel off-moon for a while. It was sudden.”

“Ah,” Tanaka frowned, the disappointment evident on his face. “That’s a shame.”

“Anyway, that time’s fine with me.” Juliet shrugged.

Tanaka nodded and cleared his throat. “The LCC has seized control of Life-Ultra’s properties and assets on Luna. The Earth-side branches of the business are under competing jurisdictions, and it looks like the attempts to get justice for the people harmed here will be a long, drawn-out legal affair. Nonetheless, the evidence we gathered yesterday and the witness that Leo and Lucky rescued from the culling will make eventual convictions much more likely. To that effect, with the help of my Luna-based attorney, I was able to negotiate a handsome reward from the LCC.”

“You mean you held our evidence hostage until they paid you,” Barns snorted. Tanaka stared at him, unblinking, until he looked down and muttered, “Sorry to interrupt.”

Tanaka turned his attention to Juliet. “Lucky, it’s my understanding that you offered to split any proceeds from this job evenly with the crew. Is that correct?”

Juliet looked around the table, smiling as she realized she suddenly had everyone’s attention. She wondered how things would go if she denied it. No doubt half of them had recorded her little meeting at Grave Matters. She hesitated just long enough to build some tension, but then she nodded. “Yeah, that’s right. We were splitting it six ways before you started helping, so I think it’s only fair we split it seven ways now.”

“Mm.” Tanaka nodded, “I thought you might say that. I won’t refuse my cut; I’ve been bleeding bits lately.” He gestured to Frida, and she started talking, pointing to a holographic pie chart.

“Tanaka secured a two-point-five million Sol-bit reward from the LCC. Split seven ways, that’s 357k and change. Of course, we have expenses to take off the top.” She tapped the air, and the pie chart shifted, showing a new distribution. “The lawyer fees, equipment fees, and our standard finder’s fee going to Lucky.”

“What the . . .” Barns started to say but shut himself up as Tanaka cleared his throat.

“You’d deny her five percent after what she went through?”

“Nah.” He folded his arms on his chest and frowned.

“So,” Frida continued, “after taking out Lucky’s five percent finder’s fee, the lawyer's fifty k, and a flat ten k to replenish ammo, pay for a deck Dora burned, and some other incidentals, that leaves just a bit more than two-point-three million to split. You’ll each receive a 330,714 Sol-bit transfer.” She looked directly at Juliet, winked, and added, “Unless you’re Lucky. Then you’re looking at a bit more.”

“Juliet, you just received a transfer of 455,714 Sol-bits,” Angel said. Juliet couldn’t maintain a poker face any longer—the job had already nearly paid for her upcoming cybernetic enhancements. She grinned ear-to-ear.

“Shit! I ain’t complaining about that payday!” Barns high-fived Leo across the table. Juliet looked around at the other grinning faces; even Hawkins and Dora were all smiles.

“That’s not all,” Frida announced, holding her hands out and tamping them down to get everyone to be quiet. “Hawkins and Barns were busy little bees all night Saturday and most of Sunday. Of the eighteen names we had on the list, they nabbed eleven. Five seem to be in the wind, and two are MIA, likely dead. We already sold the bounties to a broker, and they’re in the process of being shipped off-moon to New Atlas.”

“Shit yeah, we did!” Barns leaned to the left, grabbing Hawkins by the shoulder, jostling the smaller man back and forth. Juliet was beginning to see a pattern—it was almost as though Barns functioned as the vocal reaction for the entire group. Even Leo managed to keep quiet most of the time. “What’s the damage, lady boss?”

Frida smirked, shaking her head, but humored him with the response, “143k for the bounties—we lost twenty-five percent off the top for trading them to a broker, but I don’t think any of you wanted to transport those dirty cops back to New Atlas, yeah?” Nobody spoke up, so she continued, “So, Hawkins and Barns, you get an extra five percent each off the top for doing the nabbing . . .”

“Woo! Shit yeah!” Barns pumped a fist in the air, and Juliet groaned.

“Which leaves,” Frida growled, staring at the mercenary, “128,700 for the rest of us to split. Here comes a transfer.” She tapped the air.

Again, Angel spoke up with the good news. “We just received another transfer of 18,385 Sol-bits.”

“Yes!” Juliet was surprised that Dora was the one to speak up this time. “I’m getting that new immersion rig.”

“Good!” Frida laughed, “But we’re not done yet. Those dirty corpos had some offline bit lockers. Some were unlocked, and Dora cracked the others . . .”

“They weren’t using much encryption. Simple passwords.” Dora smiled around the table, shrugging.

“Fucking-A! Nice one, Lee!” Barns pumped his fist again, and Juliet couldn’t hold back the groan that slipped out.

“Relax, killer,” Barns said, and Juliet was glad they were separated by Hawkins because he tried to reach over and jostle her, but she leaned out of reach.

“Do you want to know how much?” Frida’s tone wasn’t unlike a parent’s or teacher's. When Barns and everyone else looked at her expectantly, she gestured, and the hologram produced a new pie chart split into nine segments with a total at the bottom—187,233.”

“Five percent for . . .”

“Me!” Dora raised her hand, smiling.

“Exactly. Which means each of us gets another 25,410 Sol-bits, while Miss Lee gets a bit more.” Frida sat down and looked at Tanaka. “That’s it for the paydays.”

“Good.” Tanaka looked around the table. “Everyone feeling a little more flush? A little better about things here on Luna?”

Of course, it was Barns who answered, “Best payday we’ve had in years. I’m not gonna lie.” Again, he leaned behind Hawkins, holding a meaty palm up, trying to lock eyes with Juliet. She relented and slapped his palm, and he pumped his fist. “Yes!”

“I’ll debrief each of you individually. Lucky, you’re up first. Come to my office when you’re ready.” Tanaka stood, nodded to the group, and walked out.

While the others started talking all at once, mostly about what they would do with their sudden cash influx, Juliet looked at Frida, raised an eyebrow, and asked, “Is that normal?”

“Him wanting to debrief us? Yeah.” She started to say something else, but Leo spoke up from the other end of the table.

“Hey, Lucky.” When she looked at him, raising an eyebrow, he asked, “You ever gonna tell us your name? I mean, your handle’s cool and all, but . . .”

Juliet stood, scowled at him, and said, “We’re not there yet.” She tried to soften the words with a smile, and then she winked at Frida and said, “I’m going to get debriefed.” Despite her bravado, she felt the back of her neck burning as she imagined what they said about her as the door clicked shut. “Dammit, Applebaum,” she groaned softly.

Angel was in her corner as usual, “I don’t think it was nice of him to put you on the spot in front of everyone!”

“Yeah. Lost some major points, didn’t he?” Juliet stepped over to Tanaka’s office door—it was slightly ajar. “We ready?” she subvocalized.

“Yes! I don’t know how this could be a bad meeting . . .”

“Oof! Again, with the jinxing, Angel!” Juliet grinned and knocked on the door. “Tanaka? Can I come in?”

“Come in!” he called immediately. Juliet stepped through and pushed the door shut behind her. He was at his desk, and, unsurprisingly, a naked sword on a soft white cloth was before him. It looked like he’d been sharpening it. He looked up and nodded at Juliet’s waist. “I see you wore the practice blade, not the sword I gave you.”

“The sword you loaned me,” Juliet chuckled. “I wore this one because we’re having practice, yeah? I’m not on a job.”

He nodded to one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Sit, please.” When Juliet complied, sitting with a sigh, he asked, “How are you?”

Juliet lifted her shoulders, sinking down in the chair a little more. “Fine.”

“I don’t mean in general, today, but after Life-Ultra. How are you?” He sounded genuinely interested, concerned, even, and Juliet found herself feeling a little annoyed by how their roles had shifted over the weekend. Still, she pushed that sensation down for the moment, determined to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“I’m fine. Really. I know it was a lot; we were in some deep water there for a while, but I’ve been in bad situations before. Too many times.”

“Like when you ran into me.” He didn’t smile or frown, and the statement sounded almost innocuous. Still, it brought back a flash of memory that Juliet hadn’t focused on in quite a few days—Tanaka’s cold eyes as he threatened her and beat her. She couldn’t decide if she should be angry at him or proud of him for not shrinking away from what he’d done.

“Yeah, sure. Like that. I’ve been in lots of other situations, though—some recently and some before we ever met. The point is, I don’t feel traumatized by what went down at Life-Ultra. In fact, I feel lazy for not helping Barns and Hawkins yesterday.”

“Mm.” Tanaka made that annoying humming sound he sometimes did when he was thinking about what you said but didn’t want to grace you with a response. He stared at her for a minute, then said, “Did you notice my glee when you and Leo came out of the depths? When Dora drove us away?”

“Yeah. It was weird.” Even though she meant what she’d said, Juliet smiled at the memory, at Tanaka’s almost perpetual grin as they drove away from the disaster scene.

“Yes. Well, Dora had just shared with me the footage of your rush up the stairwell and your use of the blade I loaned you. You used what I taught you, but you used it like a master, not a novice. My mind raced with the possibilities. Are you a savant? Have you been holding back in practice? Do I have the next Kenzo Adler on my hands?” He paused long enough for Juliet to wonder who Kenzo Adler was. She supposed he was a sword master of some sort. “I was excited by the prospects.”

“Well . . .” Juliet started to say, but then he continued speaking.

“After I met with the LCC, though, I did much thinking. You don’t move that way in practice. Sometimes, I can see glimpses of it. Sometimes, you learn a stroke, a counter, or some footwork very quickly, faster than I think possible, but you never move with such fluidity for such a long time. I’ve even seen Leo trip you up. It was like another mind took over your body in that stairwell. Like the part of you that can do a perfect movement in practice pushed you to continuous perfection, several minutes of it.”

“Tanaka . . .” Again, she tried to formulate a rational explanation, but Tanaka wasn’t done.

“Then there’s the mystery of your past. There’s the way you beat me, for instance. Consider your ability to do so many highly skilled tasks—pilot interceptors, infiltrate networks, and surprise Frida and me despite our security. I could go on. Your lack of trauma from Life-Ultra—your own admission to being in ‘lots of situations’ like that. Come on, Lucky! Tell me something to make all of this make sense!”

“Are you okay, Juliet?” Angel asked, clearly disturbed by the sudden turn in the conversation.

“I’m fine,” she said aloud. Tanaka’s eyebrows creased, but he looked more suspicious than puzzled. Before he could ask her what she meant, she pressed on, “Look, Tanaka, you wanted to help me, right?”

“Yes . . .”

“But when you told me that, you thought I was someone else, right? You thought I was a lost girl in trouble. That my ‘victory’ over you had been some kind of karmic justice, not my skill, not your screw-up.” He frowned, his brows drawing together, and Juliet could see she’d hit a nerve. “Well, maybe it was some combination of things. I’m past the point where I want to lie to you, so I’m just going to say there are things about my past that I won’t share with you yet. Can we work together some more? Can I get to know you better? You weren’t wrong, Rutger—I need help. I’m just not ready to tell you what kind of help I need yet. I’m not sure you’re the one I want to ask for it.”

His scowl smoothed out, and he nodded very slowly. “Not yet?”

“Right. Not yet, but I want to. I want to trust you, Tanaka. Just give me some more time.”

“And the sword? Are you pretending to be a novice?”

Juliet barked a short laugh. “Is that what you think? That I’ve been faking in practice? Listen, I’m going to explain this as simply as I can—I’m a fast learner, and I have custom programs and hardware that can let me mimic movements almost perfectly if I practice them enough. It’s not real, though. I’m not as good as I seem when that happens. But, Tanaka, I want to be! I want to be good. I don’t want to rely on cheats. So, can we please keep practicing? I promise I’m not faking!” Again, Juliet laughed, imagining what it would be like to pretend to be a novice while she was secretly an expert.

While she spoke, Tanaka began to nod, and his smile returned. “This is good. Very good. I knew you had some technical skills and cyberware that was beyond average. Thank you for explaining. We have much work to do, but I’m very enthusiastic about your potential. Today, I will release Leo from sword practice. You and I will begin one-on-one lessons.”