I took a deep breath and activated my Sandevistan.
The first knife flew toward the nearest target.
The second followed, aimed at the one slightly farther back.
By the time the second knife was in the air, I was already on the first guy.
My knife was buried in the back of his skull.
I pulled it free, spun, and hurled it at the third.
Three bodies hit the floor.
First things first: I retrieved my knives, then checked the only door in the room.
Silence from the other side.
I dragged the Scavs away from the doorway, patting them down as I went.
Nothing useful.
One revolver and two bats.
Pathetic.
I sighed, grabbed one of their jackets, and tossed the weapons inside.
Then I went back to the balcony, gathered the rest of the gear, and stuffed it all into the same jacket, tying it into a makeshift bundle.
There…
at least I’ve got a bag now.
I peered out the door and spotted the ripperdoc.
He was hunched over a table, examining a body he was about to dissect.
Jesus.
He was the only one in the room, which was good.
But he was standing sideways to me, which was less ideal.
Still…
The knife left my hand in an instant.
It flew through the cracked door and sank directly into the ripperdoc’s temple.
I felt absolutely zero pity for that piece of shit.
I walked over, patted him down quickly, and found nothing important.
Except for one interesting glove, one that connected to the ports on his hand.
I carefully removed it, wrapped it in some scrap fabric, and tucked it into my bundle of stolen gear.
Hm…
The guy lying on the ripperdoc’s table looked familiar.
The kid who’d bullied David the most.
I frowned.
In the canon, nothing like this happened to him.
But in the canon, David beat him up after installing the Sandevistan.
That probably would’ve happened today, not on the first day after the implant, and as a result, this guy wouldn’t have ended up here.
I touched his neck and raised my eyebrows in surprise.
Without hesitation, I called Regina.
“You finished?”
“In progress.
Working quietly, like you asked.
But I just spotted an opportunity for some extra profit from this job.”
“Extra profit?”
“Yeah.
On the ripperdoc’s table, the one I already dealt with, there’s a kid.
Corporate background.
His father sits on the board of the Arasaka Academy, as far as I know.
And he’s still alive.
A bit dismantled, sure, but alive.
We could make some money off this.”
“And how do you propose we do that?”
“Come on, do I have to teach you?
I could come up with a few interesting schemes, but you’ve been in this business long enough.
You know how to handle this without anything coming back to us.”
“Alright.
You’ve got brains.
Will he last until Trauma arrives?”
I checked the body again, feeling for a pulse.
“Pulse seems stable.”
“Then you wait for Trauma.
Don’t forget your main objective is to clear the Scav den.
The kid is just side income.”
“Got it.”
“By the way, think of a callsign.
If this works out, I can register it for you in advance.”
“Quiet.”
“What?”
“I want to be Quiet.
I like working like this.
Quietly.
Completing the job without anyone knowing I was there.
So Quiet fits.”
“Alright, not-Quiet-yet.
I’m calling Trauma.
They usually take about five minutes.
Hurry up before the hive gets stirred up.”
“Understood.”
I ended the call and moved quickly.
I checked the room once more, felt the kid’s pulse again, and headed for the next room.
Time was tight.
I didn’t waste any more time.
I wasn’t shy about using the Sandevistan either.
Five minutes was enough to clear the rest of the Scav base.
Trauma took seven minutes, though.
The kid was stable, so I just waited by him.
When the team arrived, I raised my hands in surrender, backed away slowly, and let them do their job.
“Hey.”
One of the Trauma team turned toward me, gun raised.
“Don’t move.”
“Wasn’t planning to.
There’s a door by the balcony leading to the bathroom.
Got a couple bodies in there.
I’m not a pro, so I might’ve misjudged their status.
Could be one of your clients.”
The medic nodded.
They checked the room quickly, then left without taking anyone from the bathroom.
So none of their clients were there.
Once they were gone, I gathered my haul and called Regina.
“Job’s done.
Trauma took the kid.
They also took the other body.”
“Good work.
You have a personal account?”
I smirked.
“Yeah.
But if you can set up a dummy account for Quiet, I’d appreciate it.”
“Fine.
Consider it a bonus from me.
You didn’t just do the job quietly, you kept your eyes open.”
“Thanks.
I’ve got a question.”
“Shoot.”
“I found an interesting glove off the ripperdoc.
Pro-grade gear.
Plus I collected some weapons.
Know any buyers?”
“Little China, Watson.
Megabuilding H10.
There’s a shop on the seventh floor called ‘Second Amendment.’ Tell them Regina sent you.
They’ll buy the glove.
Won’t give you full price, but they won’t rip you off either.”
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it, Quiet.
When are you taking the next job?”
My phone pinged with a message.
The account details for Quiet.
I linked it to myself and whistled when I saw the balance.
“Thanks for the generous payment.”
“That was pocket change.”
I raised my eyebrows.
Pocket change?
This five thousand eddies would cover my rent for months and buy food.
If I got at least a thousand for the weapons, I’d be comfortable for a while.
“For you, maybe.
For me, it’s solid money.”
I shook my head.
“I’ll take the next job tomorrow.
Today I need to unload the gear, pay the rent, and process what happened.”
“Fine.
Call me tomorrow.”
“What time?”
“Hm?”
“I know you need sleep.
You’re not living on holy spirit.
When should I call so I don’t bother you?”
“I’m up by seven.
Food doesn’t affect my work.
If there’s a night job, I don’t mind calls from my solos.”
I nodded, which probably showed on her screen.
“Got it.
I’ll call at seven thirty tomorrow.”
“So early?”
“Start early, finish early.
There’s a lot to do in this world.”
I smirked.
“I haven’t even had a girlfriend yet.
All my time got eaten up by school.”
I bit back a curse.
I wanted to stay polite with my fixer.
Not just with her, either.
While I was taking out those Scavs, I realized having a reputation as a polite, quiet solo who always gets the job done was a pretty good strategy.
It meant I’d live longer.
At least, I hoped so.
Getting to Watson and Megabuilding H10 was easy.
I took the metro.
The stop was close to the destination.
I found the shop on the seventh floor without any trouble.
“Hello.”
“Hey.
What do you need?”
“I’m from Regina.
She said you buy weapons.
Also a ripperdoc glove.
I found them fair and square, and I doubt the original owners are coming back for them.”
“Well…”
The shopkeeper shrugged.
“Since Regina sent you…”
He waved me toward the door, led me inside, and took me to the back room.
“Show me what you’ve got.”
I untied the jacket and laid out the weapons, the bats, and the ammo.
Then the glove.
“Hm…
Condition is shit, to be honest.”
“I can see that.”
I shrugged.
“Red price for all this crap, except the glove, is fifteen hundred.
But since I’m basically selling it all in bulk…”
I shrugged again.
“Hah.
You’ve got a good eye.
I wouldn’t give you fifteen hundred, though.
Name’s Robert Wilson, by the way.
Friends call me Robert, and I’ve got a feeling you’ll be in that category soon.
Now, let me show you why fifteen hundred is too much for this junk.”
He started pointing out barely visible wear and tear, signs of internal wear, and other defects.
“So?”
“You’d get about a thousand if you sold it yourself.
But that takes time.
So you’d get around seven hundred from me.”
“Hah!
Good one.
Normally, yeah.
You’d get five hundred, not seven.
But since you’re from Regina and this is your first time here, I’ll give you eight hundred.
Five in cash, three store credit.”
He smirked.
“Deal?”
“Yeah.
What about the glove?”
“What about it?
I don’t know anything about those.
I can give you two hundred now, or I can take it on consignment.
You might get more later, but when?
I don’t know many ripperdocs.
I’d have to put it on the black market.
It’s a hassle, and you probably won’t see results for at least a couple months.”
I scratched my cheek.
I knew he wasn’t lying.
Sure, I could doubt him, but in this world, you had to trust someone at least a little.
And based on the game, though I knew better than to rely on that entirely, Regina was my favorite fixer.
Dakota came second.
The rest annoyed me.
So trusting Regina’s judgment was safer than trusting no one and living in constant fear.
“How much would I get in a couple months?”
“How should I know?”
“Just ballpark.”
“Tch…
six hundred, minimum.
If it’s in good shape, maybe over a thousand.
That’s after my cut.
In good condition, you’re looking at about twelve hundred.”
“Three hundred now, and three hundred store credit.”
“You’re out of your mind.
Two fifty cash, a hundred store credit.”
“Two ninety cash, two fifty store credit.”
“Jesus, you’re cutting my throat.
Two sixty cash, one fifty store credit.”
“Come on, I’m going to spend it all here anyway.”
I shook my head.
“Two eighty cash, two hundred store credit.”
“Two seventy cash, and fine, two hundred store credit.”
He reached out his hand.
I shook it, satisfied with the negotiation.
“Great.
Let’s head out front.
I’ll pay you there.”
I nodded, and he escorted me back to the shop floor.
Now Robert was behind the security screen, and I was on the other side.
“Here’s your cash.
Better count it.
We’re all human, we make mistakes.
Once you walk out that door, no take-backs.”
I counted the cash, gave him a thumbs up.
“All good.
Now let’s see what you’ve got.”
He slid a terminal toward me, and I dove into his catalog.
“Oh, a small tech kit.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Got a medium?
I can’t afford a large, especially since finding one used is tough.
A used medium should run around five hundred.”
“Well, I’ve got one.
My old one.”
He sized me up.
“Militech.
Comes in a standard case.
All tools intact.
But I won’t let it go for five hundred.
A thousand, minimum.
And that’s only because it’s about twenty years out of date.”
I nodded knowingly.
A kit that old wasn’t great.
On the other hand, for the kind of junk street gangs use…
you didn’t need anything newer.
“Say, hypothetically, how much would a large kit cost?
Also outdated.
Doesn’t have to be Militech.
TechTronika would work.”
“For an outdated one…
you could probably find one for ten thousand.
Militech or Kanto would cost way more, even outdated.
Unless you go with Nokota…”
“No, no, no.”
I shook my head firmly.
“I’m not touching that garbage.”
“Smart man.”
I counted out a thousand from my cash, adding a little from what I’d found on the Scavs.
It was worth it.
“Alright.
I also need a scope and a really good silencer for a Unity.
I want it quiet enough that the shot is almost silent.
Also, I’m planning to upgrade it later, so it’ll need to handle more power.”
“Got it.
Let me see what I’ve got.”