I opened my eyes.
“Well, Vik?
How’d it go?”
“I replaced some of your torso muscles.
You’ll need one more operation for a full replacement.
Come back in three days.
No heavy exertion, but light stretching is fine.”
I nodded.
“What about the Sandevistan?”
“Wait until the muscle replacement is complete.
This isn’t like regular chrome.
I haven’t installed any limits, so it’s only after everything’s finished.
And don’t forget to take the meds for your bones and ligaments.
I inject reinforcements during the operations, but still…”
“I haven’t forgotten.”
I nodded.
“Good.
Now get out of here.”
I stood up from the chair and headed for the exit.
I needed to grab Judy and Panam from Misty’s shop.
But as I approached the door, I realized things wouldn’t be that simple.
“You’re driving me crazy!
Can you be even a little more attentive?
I’m your girlfriend, remember?
Me, not V!”
I glanced through the glass window and saw everyone inside.
I didn’t hesitate, stepping in.
“You spend ten times more time with her than with me!”
“But Misty, I’m working…”
Jackie looked confused and annoyed.
“Working?
You?
You’re a fucking dreamer!
You want to be a legend.
And you’ve done jack shit to get there!
All you do is name-drop legends.
What have you actually done?
Saved up for better chrome?
Taken at least three jobs a week?
Built a solid rep with fixers?”
I shook my head.
Misty was on a roll.
“David, is Vik free?”
I looked at V and nodded.
“Yeah, he’s free now.”
“Good.”
She walked past everyone.
As she passed me, her long red hair brushed against me.
Smelled like citrus.
Damn.
“David?”
Misty turned to me.
I noticed she looked a little embarrassed.
“Hey, Misty.
Jackie.”
I nodded to the latter.
He gave me a curt nod and a hostile glare.
“What are you doing here?”
He leaned forward slightly, trying to loom over me.
“Me?
Picking up the girls.
We’ve got plans.”
“Then take them and go…”
“Jackie Wells!
This is my shop!
Panam and Judy are my friends!
David is my friend!
So.
Do.
Not.
Talk.
To.
Them.
Like.
That.
While.
You’re.
In.
My.
Shop.”
She emphasized every word.
Clearly, she wasn’t taking any crap.
“Misty!
They’ve got you wrapped around their fingers!”
“What?”
“They’ve brainwashed you!
When do they even live?”
“Actually, we have plenty of time and money for life.”
Panam stepped in.
“Yeah, I send my grandparents decent money, and even after that, we’ve got plenty.
Movies, restaurants, clubs, arcades.
We do all of it regularly.”
“Um…
what about bars?”
Jackie looked lost.
“Why bother?
None of us are interested.”
I shrugged.
“We’d rather go skydiving.”
I paused.
“Girls, we haven’t tried that yet.”
“Interesting.
And since you’re stuck in recovery with Vik, we can’t do missions anyway.
A little thrill like that sounds great.”
Panam nodded.
“I’m in too.”
Judy agreed.
“I want to go too…”
Misty bit her thumbnail.
“Hey, can I come with you?”
I shrugged.
“Sure…”
“I’ll take her myself!”
Misty looked at Jackie, typed something into her terminal, and sighed.
“You can’t afford it.
It’s a few thousand per person.”
“What?”
Jackie was stunned by the price.
Even I was surprised.
That wasn’t cheap.
You could buy older chrome for less.
“David?”
Panam looked uncertain.
“Relax.
You think I can’t spare a few eddies for a jump for the four of us?”
“That’s right.”
Judy nodded.
“We’re bringing Misty.
Tomorrow, we’re going skydiving.”
“I can’t accept…”
“Shut up.”
Panam cut her off.
“You’re our friend.
One free trip won’t break us.
David won’t go broke.
Right, David?”
“Yeah, Panam.
I won’t.”
I smirked.
“Misty, Panam will send you the time we’re picking you up.
And the dress code.
Your usual outfit probably won’t work for jumping.”
“Okay.
Thanks…”
Misty gave me a grateful nod.
Then she stuck her tongue out at Jackie.
“See?
That’s what a real man looks like.”
“You’re always comparing me to him!
You like him that much?
Then go join his harem and fuck him, you dumb bitch!”
Boom!
I crossed the room in one step and dropped Jackie with a single hit.
“Jackie, nobody’s after your girl.
Misty’s sweet, and if she were single, and if I were single, I’d probably try something.
But that’s way too many ifs.”
I shook my head.
“So here’s what you’re going to do.
You’re going to stand up, apologize to her, and tomorrow you’re buying her flowers and taking her to dinner.
And if you’re broke, go do a job.”
“Tch…”
Jackie slowly got to his feet.
“David, thanks, but you didn’t have to.
Jackie’s…
he’s like that.
But I love him the way he is.”
I shrugged.
“That’s your relationship.”
She gave me a grateful nod.
“But skydiving still stands.”
Misty nodded, gave me a warm smile, and walked Jackie to a chair.
“I’ll get some ice.”
We didn’t wait for the rest.
I was set on buying it.
“Decided to make a move on her?”
Judy asked as soon as the Thunder picked up speed.
“No.
She’s not my type.”
I shook my head.
“But putting her boyfriend in his place was necessary.”
“Nobody’s arguing there.”
We drove in silence.
Finally, we arrived at the seller’s lot.
It was a transport company.
The Behemoth had served them well, but it was time for it to go.
“This thing is junk.”
“I don’t know much about cars, but I agree with Panam.
Even to me, it looks like junk.”
I waved my hand, walked to the engine bay, and popped the hood.
The seller didn’t try to upsell.
He just answered my questions.
“The engine’s decent.
Some repairs, some replacements…”
I nodded.
“But it runs.
Can you put it on a lift?”
He nodded.
When the Behemoth was up, I scanned the undercarriage.
Same story.
Not new, but not completely wrecked.
“Twenty-five?”
“Take it or leave it.
Forty or nothing.”
I sighed and transferred the money.
He handed over the title.
I started the engine and got behind the wheel.
“Um…”
“Yeah, Panam?”
She gave me a sharp look.
“You have a license?”
“Bought it a couple months ago.”
“And you’re driving?”
“Yeah.”
“Fine.
I’ll take the Thunder.”
“I’m with Panam.”
Judy made her choice.
I didn’t argue.
We drove to Judy’s apartment, where we’d crash for the night.
I got out and walked around my Behemoth.
“Already regretting it?”
Panam smirked.
“No.”
I shook my head.
“Just sizing up the work ahead.”
“And?”
“I’d say a couple months.
With solo work, maybe six.”
“Need my help?”
Her voice was serious now.
“Yeah.
But first, we need to see if we can hack something or just buy it.”
“What?”
“A nuclear reactor.”
“Seriously?”
“All new AVs run on micro reactors.
We need one if we want to power your clan.
It’s the only way.”
“Are you insane?”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“We need it.
Just need to stock up on fuel.
We can find fuel through fixers, maybe even the reactor itself.”
“That’s…
actually brilliant.”
“We can ask Regina.
Maybe she knows where to get one.”
“Good.
That’s the smarter play.”
“But we’ll still need reactor schematics.
If it breaks, how will we fix it?”
“We’ll find them.
Install data, maintenance guides…”
“We can discuss this later.
Let’s go.
Judy’s waiting.”
We followed her inside.
“Food’s gone.
I’ll order pizza.”