Jose watched from the corner of his eye as a pair of steel-faced construction workers hoisted a fresh pane of glass into the empty slot left in the storefront. They were efficient in their work as they quickly filled the hole left behind before adding a couple of spot welds to ensure that the new glass was held securely in place.
That gonk hadn't been lying. He did, in fact, know a window guy. It hadn't even been a full day since the hole had been left there and it was already replaced.
And it would seem that Baba Park had taken mercy on the fellow as he was now a booth over, enjoying a bowl of borscht with plenty of bandaging draped over his skin. Still, he seemed to be in high spirits, joking around with the guy who had tossed him through the window in the first place.
``What an absolute rustic venue,'' Julian chided.
Jose stirred and looked across the table at the Arasaka Executive, watching his red visor scanning the space. He looked young with spiky green hair and a slender build. He didn't scream corpo at a first glance but his suit quickly gave it away as Jose could spot the gold cuffs around his wrists as he ferried a noodle dish into his mouth with a pair of chopsticks.
``One of my favourites,'' Jose replied, shrugging as he looked around the place. ``One of the few joints in this neighbourhood where my clients won't run into any issues while we talk business.''
Steph snickered. ``Do you bring many of us here, Mr. Villa?'' She batted her lashes. ``Are you seeing other corporations behind our backs?''
She was another executive, looking full-bodied as she filled her pricey suit, with curves in all of the right places. There was a filter where her mouth had once been, looking like a rebreather of some sort. Unlike the others, she didn't have a meal in front of her, instead contenting herself with a simple cigarette which she was currently half way through smoking. Her blue eyes twinkled as they met Jose's. They were the same colour as her short hair.
``More than you'd imagine,'' Jose replied, chuckling. ``I'm a busy man who knows how to get results.''
``The food here is very high quality,'' Aiden said, slurping down a spoon of borscht from their bowl. ``Can't even tell if the sausage here is lab grown or not.''
They were tall and slender, looking so awkward in their black designer turtleneck. An article of clothing which gave away that they were a third executive as it seemed to be made from natural farm-grown cotton. Their hair matched the colour of the turtleneck and was tied into a bun. Though the thought of natural quickly fell to the wayside as their arms came into view. Each of them was robotic and slender, with the bronze metal painted to replicate an exotic tattooed pattern.
``You try not to worry about it at these prices,'' Jose replied, winking at them.
``Probably easier to do when it's not on your dime,'' Julian teased, smiling back at him. ``Not that I mind of course.''
Jose chuckled and pointed at him with his fork. ``Hey, I'll never turn down an opportunity to brag about how generous my friends from Arasaka are.'' He then used this fork to stab into a perogy, motioning between the three executives with it. ``Especially not to any of those trade partners that you seem to enjoy hiring through me.''
``Well, your help is greatly appreciated. After all, not all of us are the bigwigs who get to call in Smasher whenever we want something done,'' Aiden commented.
``Not that I'd even want to call him in the first place,'' Steph muttered. She visibly shuddered as she glanced around the table, ensuring that she kept her voice low as if uttering his name would somehow make him appear. ``Saw that dude in the halls once and he called me meat.''
``He calls everyone meat,'' Julian quipped.
Aiden nodded. ``I think it's his way of saying that he likes you.''
``Yeah, well...'' Steph sighed. ``I'd feel a lot better if he didn't like me at all.''
``Well then you'd be dead,'' Julian shot back.
Jose popped the perogy into his mouth, chewing it. His attention went down to his other hand, spotting the recent patch job that had been done to the palm of it. He swore that the spot still hurt though maybe that was just his memories being a prick to him.
``By the way, Aiden,'' Steph said, nodding to her coworker. ``Congrats on the new mine!''
Julian perked up. ``New mine?''
Aiden nodded, swallowing another spoonful of their borscht. ``Apparently the executives were looking for a way to help secure resources for a new battery factory that they're planning to open next year. I mentioned that we could kill two birds with one stone by investing in a Nevada-based lithium operation.'' They motioned at their colleague with their spoon. ``Not only will the new operation provide about forty percent of the plant's lithium needs but it will also address a dire employment crisis in the area.''
``I wasn't aware that there was an employment crisis,'' Julian quipped.
Aiden snorted. ``That's what you get from skipping my briefs.'' They looked left and then right, ensuring that no one was listening in except for the people at the table. The only person approaching was Catherine who brought out three fresh drinks. Yet, she didn't seem to deter them from going on with their story. ``But demographic reports provided by the Nevada free state government showed that there was a nearly seventy percent unemployment rate amongst the young young adult age cohort. Honestly, they're dying for an investment like ours.''
Catherine started to unload the drinks. ``Young young adults?''
Julian got a bottle of the local pisswater, Jose another lemon sour, and Aiden a pink cocktail with a chili pepper in it. There was envy in Steph's eyes as she looked at the drinks, taking another puff of her cigarette to content herself.
Jose couldn't imagine what it must've been like for her to give up her mouth. Yet, he knew that not all augments were pretty.
``Individuals between the ages of eight and twelve,'' Steph answered, taking another puff of her cigarette.
Catherine looked at Jose in absolute horror. Yet, all he could do was shrug at this information. The world wasn't perfect and everyone knew it.
``Apparently the governor is very thankful to see Arasaka assets starting to make inroads back into the Free States,'' Aiden finished, taking a sip of their drink. Their train of thought was derailed, however, as they suddenly brightened. ``Oh shit! What's in this thing?''
Catherine stirred. ``Oh uh, strawberry soda, vodka, bitters, and a candied chili pepper.''
``Good shit,'' Aiden commented, nodding to themself.
Jose looked at Catherine and nodded behind her, away from the table. There was business that needed to be discussed and he didn't want to inflict anymore psychological horrors upon her. It was a hint that she seemed more than eager to take as she stepped away, moving back towards the kitchen.
``Anyways, I think that we have some business to discuss,'' he offered, looking between his employers. ``Shall we get started?''
Julian nodded and opened his mouth to speak.
Though Steph was quicker on the draw. ``Let's not forget the procedure before we conduct business, Julian.''
Jose looked at her and cocked a brow.
What the fuck was this gonk on about?
Julian chuckled. ``Right, right.'' He held a hand to his chest. ``Julian, he/him.''
Steph did the same. ``Steph, she/they.''
``Aiden,'' Aiden said, smiling at the other two. ``They/them.''
They then pointed to Jose who merely blinked as the attention of the trio shifted towards him. All of them were looking so expectant about something. And it didn't feel like that something was business.
What exactly did they want him to do?
Yet, it didn't seem like an answer would be forthcoming as they simply continued to stare, smiling politely.
``Uh... Jose...'' He took a sip of his drink. ``He/him?''
Julian then once again opened his mouth to speak. ``So...''
Steph held up a hand. ``Julian, aren't you forgetting something else?''
Julian sighed and bobbed his head from side to side, taking a sip of his beer before starting. ``This meeting is conducted on the unceded lands of the Karok, Maidu, Cahuilleno, Mojave, Yokuts, Pomo, Paitue, and Modoc peoples of California; along with being the homeland of the Nomad peoples of America.'' He then looked at Steph. ``Anything else?''
``Nope,'' Steph beamed, unable to keep the smile out of her voice. ``I think we've worked through all the stuff that corporate wants us to say.''
``What just happened?'' Jose asked, genuinely unsure of what to do. The whole exchange could only be summarized as deeply confusing. ``Are we... are we good to continue?''
Aiden winked at him. ``Corporate stuff to make sure we don't come across as problematic.'' They took another sip of their drink and then pointed a metallic finger at him. ``Anyways, Villa, how did the union busting go? Your report says that there was a body count?''
Villa nodded, working his jaw. He could feel that phantom pain in the palm of his hand at the mention of a body count, remembering a certain high calibre stray bullet. It was enough to make his hand clench, nearly shattering the glass against his cybernetics.
``A bit of one,'' he admitted, saving the glass by putting it down. ``I went in with a few bodies to try and intimidate the strikers into abandoning their picket around the factories main entrance. Things got problematic after one of the strikers shot at us. In response a small firefight broke out.''
Aiden shook his head. ``No, no, no, that's not what happened.''
Jose looked at them. ``Pardon?''
``They fired on you,'' Aiden stated, pointing at him with a coy smile. ``That's correct. But in return your crew experienced a discharge of weapons aimed in their general direction.''
Jose just looked at the corpo, puzzled at what the fuck that was even supposed to even mean. ``Pardon, choom?''
``Firefight makes it sound like you committed a similar act to theirs,'' Steph explained, taping out another cigarette from her pack and holding it between her fingers. ``Instead, if you say you discharged your weapons, it sounds more technical. You know, it kind of obscures what actually happened and helps dispel some of the responsibility.''
``Even better, you could further soften it by saying you experienced a weapons discharge while ensuring the transit of Arasaka property in and out of the factory,'' Julian added, smirking. ``Makes it sound like this was just another workday and that they were the party that was disturbing it.''
Aiden nodded. ``If anything, the strikers were in the wrong for positioning themselves in the manner that they did.''
``They really did put themselves in the line of fire,'' Steph said, shaking her head as she let out a heavy sigh. ``Shame that they made you do what you had to do.''
Jose felt his grip tense a little more, feeling a bit of anger start to bubble forth from deep inside. Still, he was used to corpos, he could work with corpos. Their money was good and he knew as much. It was because of this fact that he managed to keep his cool.
``Anyways, after our weapons were discharged, there was a prolonged engagement near the factory's main entrance.'' He paused and looked at them, getting nods that his word choice was correct this time around. ``In total, we sustained three casualties and the strikers took about ten. We also lost six of the hostages in the exchange,'' Jose then revealed his hand, showing off the repair job done to it. ``Thankfully most of my crew's injuries were pretty minor.''
Julian nodded. ``We're any of the hostages injured?''
``No,'' Jose replied, frowning. ``Unfortunately, they were all iced.''
Aiden chuckled and wiped at his brow. ``Well, isn't that a relief? You know what they say.'' They looked at Jose who merely cocked a brow. He very much did not know what they said about this kind of stuff. ``A death is cheap; an injury is a lifetime of worker's comp. So, you saved Arasaka a pretty penny in that regard.''
``We read that there was an explosion,'' Steph commented, leaning forward to look him in the eye. ``What are the details on that?''
Jose tilted back his lemon sour, taking a generous sip from it. He honestly felt like he had never needed one more in his entire life. Yet, even this could only do so much to help get rid of his aggravation. ``It seems that the gonks had put explosives in the factory and set them off once shit got heated. Obviously, I was unable to do a proper assessment during the fight... er... weapon discharge incident but it seemed that there was damage to your uh...''
He motioned with his hand, knowing that whatever term he used was likely going to be wrong.
``Assets,'' Julian finished.
``Assets,'' Jose repeated, nodding resolutely. ``I'm sure you'll get a better idea once you start to pick through the wreckage but it seemed isolated to the last part of the production line.''
Catherine slid back over to the table, offering a nervous smile. ``Can I get you folks anything else?''
The three corpos looked at her and shook their heads, a gesture which was mimicked by Jose himself.
``Just the bill,'' Jose stated.
``Oh boy time to see what the damage is,'' Steph quipped.
Jose scoffed. ``Do you corpos already have the report? I know that Araska can be a little quick about this but...''
``I meant the bill,'' Steph interjected, rolling her eyes. ``It'll be a couple of days before our teams can get onsite and start to sort through what's lost, what's salvageable, and what's still in a working state. Shame to lose so much human capital though.''
``I'm more worried about their cybernetics, if I'm being completely honest,'' Aiden quipped, working their jaw. ``We invested some pretty top of the line production augments into that site.'' They then glanced at Jose, smiling at him. ``Did you by any chance minimize damage to non-organic body parts while discarding your weapons?''
Jose scoffed. ``I'll be honest, shit hit the fan and we just started fi...discharging. My job description was to get rid of the strikers while minimizing damage to the factory. And last time I checked, there were no more strikers blocking you.''
``I'd hardly call an explosion minimal,'' Steph quipped, grumbling. ``In fact, I'd say that is pretty significant.''
``I mean I'd like to see another team get around that,'' Jose commented, motioning to them. ``If you'd prefer, during the next strike you could try talking it out with them instead of sending me in to fix your mess.''
Steph looked at Aiden who in turn looked at Julian. The three of them seemed equally petrified by such a suggestion. It was this kind of reaction that Jose was very familiar with. The fear of the alternative was what kept him busy with a steady supply of work.
``He did destabilize the entire union structure in that plant,'' Aiden commented.
Julian nodded. ``And his example will spread throughout neighbouring facilities.''
Steph nodded. ``Fair point.'' Her attention then shifted to Jose, giving her head a small bow. ``Sorry, I didn't mean to devalue your contribution to the team, Villa. You're a valued member of the Arasaka family.''
``Last I checked, I wasn't Japanese,'' Jose chided, scoffing at the remark.
Steph's eyes creased, the closest she could get to smirking without lips. ``It's a corporate family, Villa, not a biological one.''
``Sounds pretty horrifying,'' Jose replied as he pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his breast pocket, placing them down upon the table. ``I know you corpos have different ideas than us mere mortals... but corporate family?'' He shuddered. ``Makes me thankful that I'm only an outside contractor.''
``Kind of like a corporate in-law if you really think about it,'' Aiden teased.
``I'm...'' Jose clenched the fingers of one hand, glancing at them as he worked his jaw. ``I'm just a contractor. Please just refer to me as a contractor.''
Why were they so obsessed with trying to make him family? Why were all corpos like this?
``Regardless, we'd like to thank you for your hard work,'' Steph said, reaching out and touching a hand to his own. ``This should be more than adequate for covering the fees of you and your men.''
A bar popped up in the middle of Jose's feed, loading a transaction in a matter of moments. It then promptly flashed a six-figure eddie sum going into his account. Sure, the amount would be withered by the time it reached his chooms but it did feel good to see it sitting there for now.
``And if you're ever looking to join the family...'' Aiden started.
Jose quickly shook his head. ``Sorry, choom, but I like freelancing too much for that. Plus, I have plenty of family already.'' He winked at them. ``Thanks for the offer though.''
``Well, we'll make sure to keep you in mind if anything else comes up,'' Julian offered, watching as Catherine came back over. She placed a bill down in front of him and he proceeded to look it over, whistling as he did so. ``How is food this good, this cheap?''
Catherine chuckled. ``Family secret.''
``Does the secret involve biolabs?'' Steph teased.
Catherine bit her lip and looked towards the kitchen.
Jose followed her gaze, seeing that Baba Park was perched at the doorway, looking out upon the table. She was smoking a cigarette, looking oddly critical as she met his eye. Though she at least didn't brandish any weapons this time around.
``Yeah sure,'' Catherine stated, chuckling nervously as she rubbed at her arm. ``Let's go with that. It sounds better.''
There was a tick, a moment of silence, as two of the corpos looked apprehensively at the meal in front of them. Steph, for her part, no longer seemed jealous about the fact that she lacked a mouth, seeming oddly relieved about it, in fact.
``If it isn't a biolab...'' Aiden started.
Jose chuckled nervously. ``So, you folks should probably get back to the waterfront. Do you need a ride?''
