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We met up with Saint at Big Mike’s not too far off from Ichiban Street. The man had seen better days. His skin was flushed a sun-kissed red, and sand clung this him like a second set of skin. His sharp, yet somehow delicate features still managed to pull the look together slightly.
“Yo, Prince Charming.” Mira waved at the man, inviting him over to our table.
He stopped at the counter to get several drinks and then swung around to us. By the time he reached our table, he’d already downed one of them. “Hey. You guys wait for long?”
”No.” I waved my finger with the Packheart Ring on it. “Came over as soon as you headed this way… you forget to bring water with you out there?”
He downed another cup and sighed, running the back of his hand across his mouth. “Yeah. I’m not out of urban settings much.”
”That’s like, survival 101 for the desert.” Mira stared at the guy like he was an idiot. “And common sense.”
”I was in a bit of a rush.” He sat back in the booth and nodded his head to me. “You got the stuff?”
”You make this sound like a drug deal.” I rooted through my bag and pulled out my scrambler to hide our conversation. Once that was set, I handed over the heavy stack of papers.
He didn’t immedietly start reading through the contract. Instead, he rested his hand on it for a moment. “I know a lot of the tricks, but I’m not a real lawyer… you sure you want me to look through this?”
”Chek.” I already ran through it several times. There were a few terms that were iffy, but for the most part it looked like a good contract. For me and the Jade Fang, at least. The one between me and my blood uncle was absolutely brutal. If he was smart, he wouldn’t sign it. Not like I was going to leave him a choice.
Mira and I chatted about Baseball while he worked his way through the contract. A while later, he managed to get through both of them. “Uh, so, the one for you and your uncle is solid. You’ll basically own him if he signs. I was a bit worried about the Fang intercepting, but it looks clear.”
”And the other?”
”Its… there’s a few tricks here and there. It seems they really do want to establish a good connection, but they are a gang, after all.” He flipped through the packet of papers and pointed to several spots he highlighted. “I’d removed these terms.”
I read through one of them. “It’s a deal about them supplying me. Why would I want to remove that?”
”Because.” He flipped through to a different page. “That, with this, sets them up to legally be your only supplier. They’re trying to tie you in even further.”
I sighed and we worked our way through most of the contract, eliminating some terms and rewriting others. I thought Mr. Bengoshi would treat my contract well for old times sake and since they owed me one, but it seemed I was still thinking too lightly. It was fine. There was a reason I wanted someone to look through it.
Contracts, at their base, were an exchange between two groups. The one handing out a contract would always, always give themselves favorable terms. It’d probably be more suspicious if they didn’t. There was a limit, though, and subordinating me to the Fang passed it.
And, really, I didn’t have to sign a contract with the Jade Fang in the first place. I already got what I wanted, and my deal could be verbal. 15% off and a free bike didn’t have to be legally binding. Not to mention I didn’t really need anything from the Jade Fang in the first place outside of the contract. And contracts and crime had a funny relationship with each other.
I shook my head and took pictures of the several terms that’d subordinate me. I then sent it all off to Ishimaru.
Me: If the Fang wants an actual contract, don’t insult me like this. I agreed to one out of piety for what my grandfather built, but that doesn’t mean I’ll bend over backward.
I liked the Fang well enough, but they were a group of organized criminals at the end of the day. It wouldn’t be any skin off my back to drop contact altogether. Sure, they were useful, but that didn’t mean I should enter into a losing relationship with them… although I probably wouldn’t ever drop contact entirely. If they needed something, I’d help if I could. I wasn’t an ungrateful wretch that forgot the past.
“Thanks.” I tucked the contract with my uncle back into my bag and settled back into the booth.
“Don’t mention it.” Saint sighed and shook his head. “I would recommend taking it to an actual lawyer, but if you’re going to just ditch the contract…”
“I don’t really need it in the first place.” I nodded my head toward him. “How’s your work been?”
”Slow. The heights were completely blocked off without registering as a Troubleshooter or being with a PMC group.” He frowned and rubbed at his chin. “I was hoping to write a few more articles about that.”
“So you went with the Hawks?” The group of nomads outside the city were a real issue for intercity travel. Not that such a thing happened all that much anymore outside of massive convoys. There were a few routes patrolled, but even then it wasn’t super safe.
Saint glanced at my scrambler as if to make sure it was still on before nodding slowly. “I was looking into the monster trade. Have you heard of it?”
”I have.” Mira lifted a hand, then quickly explained to me. “Theres a large trade for buying and selling monsters of all kind. Capturing them alive is tricky, but just one is worth a lot of rayn.”
I almost asked what for, but I could probably guess at it. Expirementation, for one. All sorts of corps would want mutant creatures in their labs for various reasons. And monster fights were probably a thing. They had cockfights with chickens, so it would only make sense that there’d be monster arenas somewhere.
“Most of the well equipped nomads participate. That, cargo delivery, and scavenging make up their main income sources.” Saint shrugged. “There’s just been an uptick in trade coming from the Hawks, according to my sources.”
“Interesting…” It probably wouldn’t have anything to do with me. Not like I was in that kind of business in the first place. We talked about various things for a while until Saint finally left to go clean up.
Soon, it was just Mira and I sitting there. “What’s next?”
I checked my phone and then pushed myself out of the booth. I swiped my scrambler, tossing it from hand to hand. “Um—I’ve got a night market that’s just about to start. Can you come with me?”
”This that Constellation Night Market you talked about?” Mira tilted her head to the side and followed me out of the booth.
“Chek. I’d been meaning to stop by.” There were a couple things I wanted to buy. Namely, some stuff for power armor, better batteries, a couple programs, and some components that were annoying to build by myself. “I need help carrying stuff.”
I’d also been meaning to set up a stall and sell stuff. I hadn’t started to print rayn using Transmutation to create and sell various rare materials yet. Part of that had to do with how heavily monitored they were, but that wouldn’t matter at a night market where illicit trade was the name of the game.
There was a bigger reason, though. If I started to sell extremely rare materials like gravitic or rykon crystals, the stuff that made my Blinder work, I’d likely get marked. From my understanding, even just a small trade of that kind of thing was tracked down by interested parties.
Until I figured out a work around, that money-making scheme was on pause. If I did set up a stall, it would probably be for finished products of various kinds. I wasn’t quite ready for that, though, and I definitely didn’t have enough manufacturing power to produce bulk goods to sell.
— — —
This time around, the Constellation Night Market was located inside of an abandoned nuclear plant on the far outskirts of Oldtown. With innovations in ‘green’ technology and larger energy requirements for the city, the entire thing was abandoned. It was too close to the city’s sprawl, and they intended to bulldoze it for something else.
That, uh, that never happened. Instead, the plant had just been sitting, exposed to the elements, for decades. That is, until the Constellation Night Market chose to use it as their newest location. The stalls themselves were all located in the cooling stacks which had been filled to the brim with scaffolding and layers.
I went through the exact same song and dance that usually accompanied entering the market. After that, though, Mira and I were free to roam around for everything I’d need.
It was uncomfortable to be in the market this time in particular. Usually, Aetherial Perception and Insight rang in tandem faintly with various minor magics. This time, however, they both buzzed like a bee stuck in my ears. All around the place, platforms were lifted up by magic, supporting the multi-layered approach Constellation went with this time around. It directly set me on edge.
We eased our way through the crowd, Mira sticking close to me like a bodyguard. I let Fear the Reaper run on low to keep a small, subconscious circle around me. Even still, I kept one hand near my holster just in case.
No one looked straight at us. Everyone had their own troubles, and a wayward eye could cause even more. At the end of the day, this was a den for illicit trade, not the neighborhood bodega.
First up were the power armor components. They weren’t anything too complicated. Up on the third layer, I found a vendor with all sorts of powered armor that looked half scavenged.
Most of them were Type-T7s, the most available set of power armor on the market. Basically, they were just exo-frames encased in the ceramic composite plates. It was little more than movement assisted bomb squad juggernaut armor that could shrug off basic rifle fire and reduce the lethality of explosives.
The sets of armor that Shen Keng maniacs wore were just a bit better than T7s. I thought back through the schematic for the one maniac that I ran into way back when. They were way more focused on mobility and lacked some of the heavier plating.
Even just a set of T7 sold for 500,000 rayn out of the box, and it was the lowest end power armor on the market. Sold by Sentinel, so it wasn’t much of a surprise that there were several sets here. Sentinel practically gave away weapons and armor during the whole Circle incident.
I already had the blueprint memorized from several run ins with downed Sentinel operatives during the whole Corvin, Corrupted Greater Sprite, incident. They were strong, but severely lacking in mobility. Outside of front line engagements, just normal ballistic armor was better for getting around the city.
”Ah, miss! Are you interested?” The merchant noticed me and waved toward the tattered sets of armor. He, or scavengers he associated with, probably plucked them off of dead Sentinel troops in the AEZ. “Here are the finest exo power armor suits, capable of protecting you in any conflict with their thick, composite armor plating!”
The guy looked like he was just throwing out stinger phrases. Anyone with even a hint of research could see most of his suits were in rough shape. I threw on an Honest smile and tilted my head to the side like a clueless buyer. “Oh, really?”
”Indeed! Here—I have a special offer for you.” He moved toward a set that looked the most complete. It was still banged up, though it at least had a new coat of paint. “T7 armor is quite valuable. Just for today, I’ll sell you this for only eight hundred thousand rayn.”
Mira snorted behind me and shook her head. I tactfully ignored her and put on a shy expression as my plan shifted. I also adjusted my accent slightly, taking on a more refined air. It’d been a while since I slipped into my Meno act. “I don’t know… is it still in good condition?”
”Of course! You have my word as a seller. If there’s any issue, I’ll refund it!” Although the man said that, his greedy smile wasn’t exactly comforting. Based on his Cues, he was probably thinking along the lines of ‘once I sell this, I’ll never see this clueless idiot again’.
To be fair, I looked like a gene-modded daughter of some high-end aristocrat. It was a side-effect of Fox’s Grace increasing my charm. With its enhancements ever since I got the interface, my looks had steadily increased past the standard for natural straight to extremely expensive gene and bio mods.
With just a bit of acting, some help from my Perks to appear clueless and innocent in a way only an extremely sheltered daughter could be, and the help of Mira who looked like some elite bodyguard with the halo and exoframe, it was all too easy to slip into a noble girl act.
“Hmm…” I nodded to Mira. “How about my bodyguard tries it to make sure it all works? If it's still in good condition, I’ll buy it for nine hundred thousand.”
His eyes widened, though a hint of suspicion broke his confidence. “It was only eight hundred, miss”
”Oh? Was it? Whatever, money isn’t an issue.” I waved a hand like a posh aristocrat and nodded to Mira. “What do you think?”
”Your will is my will, young miss.” Mira fell into the noble guard persona without much prompting from me.
The seller’s grin widened ever further. He practically screamed satisfaction at hooking a big fish. The poor sucker had no idea what was coming… I didn’t feel bad though. He tried to scam me first. 800,000 for a set of armor that was worth 100,000 at best was outrageous. Really, I was doing the whole market a favor.