Save Scumming

Chapter One Hundred and Eighty-Five - Reset ReBeck

I had some time before I had to start setting up for Seraph's appearance, and I could always Reload again, so I pulled out my laptop, downed an energy drink, then did some quick research.

Mostly, I looked into some of the things that Louise had talked about. As it turned out, yeah, companies did sometimes try to poach people. The usual way was to offer loads of cash and benefits. A proper capitalist citizen wouldn't say no to someone offering them twice as much in annual pay.

The more violent sort of poaching? Yeah, there were signs of it around as well. Surprisingly, some people had been... okay with it?

I felt like something was off about that, and it took some mentions on a forum I stumbled upon of mind-fuckery for me to start suspecting that some of the corps had some real sleazy shit going on.

I wasn't sure if that was just weirdos on the internet being weird, though. I could have been something else. Maybe if they did sit me down at the Seraph HQ, offer me a nice breakfast and a dozen bricks of cash, then I'd consider changing employers.

Fat chance, but I could see it working on some people. And if it didn't, they'd just disappear me.

I then did the smart thing and explained my entire situation online and waited for the snarky replies to come in. That was about as unhelpful as I expected it to be, but some of the replies were so wrong that they looped around and gave me ideas for what to do.

One guy suggested going to ground, even linked some clandestine guides on how to do it.

That was an idea.

Yeah, I had to try something, and at this point, I wasn't willing to repeat this whole day over and over again. I was tired of it. I wanted this thing done with, so that I could move on with my life and do other things.

That meant being safe, at least for a while.

So, I Reloaded, and this time, I ran through the whole sequence with textbook precision. I hid Mister Couchtop, laid my traps, fucked with the breakers, and waited. When Seraph showed up, I sniped their sergeant in the leg and fucked up their radio, then called the cops and Luna Corp, to add some spice.

Then the confrontation with Ernest. That part was difficult, more so than the rest, but the satisfaction of seeing his ugly mug crumple when I nailed him? That was sublime.

Almost as soon as Glover hit the ground, I set a new Save point.

Was it wise?

No. Probably not. But honestly, I couldn't handle chasing perfection for too much longer, and I needed to just move on. This point was as good as any.

I stood back as Luna Corp showed up and then had its little stand-off with Seraph while the police filled the street with sirens and unnecessary lights. Almost as soon as I could, I walked over to my boss and nodded to him. "Eldur, hey. Thanks for showing up," I said.

"No problem," he replied. I wasn't sure if it was just me, but I had the impression he was standing a little back. Had I spooked him? "Can you tell me what happened here?"

I licked my lips, then nodded before giving him the abridged version of things. I saw the squad coming in, was out of the apartment when they hit it, I ran off, fought Ernest, and now we were here. "I think I know why they were here," I said.

"You do?" he asked. I'd obviously perked his interest up with that.

"Yeah. Look, they've been trying to poach me. I might have been downplaying my shit at Luna Corp a little? Not too much, but yeah. Seraph found out,told me I was hot shit, and wanted me to join. They were real subtle about it. Off the books? I said no. I'm fine at Luna Corp. It fits, you know? And I like you guys. So yeah. Then this. I didn't think they'd go this far."

I saw Eldur's hands tighten.

Obviously, it was all bullshit. There was no poaching attempt as far as I knew. But that wasn't what Eldur was going to report, and when he did, it would leak. Someone at Seraph, which was big enough that I was sure that one hand rarely talked to the other, would take it as truth.

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It would muddle the waters and... well, it fit some of what Louise had told me. Sometimes, the best way to handle corporations was to use their tools against them. In this case, I'd prime Luna Corp to think that Seraph was trying to steal some of their up and comers. It was a typical-enough move that it would pass the sniff test, as it were. Especially since this kind of thing was meant to be clandestine with little to no paperwork.

If Luna Corp wanted an easy win, all they'd have to do was warn other small corps that Seraph was trying this kind of shit, and then the ball would be back in Seraph's court.

"Okay. We have a C-ranker coming in," Eldur said.

"Louise," I replied.

"Yeah. Think you'll feel safe going with her?"

I shook my head. "No. Not that I wouldn't, I just... I talked to a friend. They'll let me crash at their place. Uh. I'm going to lay low for a while. Maybe a week or so? I need to sort out a new apartment and all that."

"Right," he said. "Dammit. Let me report this as outside interference. I don't want you running out of sick days over this."

"Yeah, sure," I said.

That was nice of him. I wasn't sure I wanted to quit the corp just yet. There were a few things that I gained from being an active member. Contacts, training, and a few easy portal runs. As long as I couldn't get that easier elsewhere, then it was worth being part of Luna Corp.

There was also the fact that I knew--more or less--that Luna Corp wasn't involved in the breach that took Fortress ENE down. I couldn't trust them, but I could rely on them?

Or maybe I was being too emotional about it.

"I'll pop out," I said. "Cover me? I don't want Seraph following me out of here."

"We can do that," Eldur said. "Do you have a way out of here?"

I nodded, then gestured to the parking garage just a building down. I had my bike stashed away in there. He understood, then he did as he said. A few orders and Luna Corp guys were up in Seraph's business. Not quite starting a fight, but definitely taking up space. With the police around, and Louise arriving on the scene, it made things rather chaotic. Enough that I was able to slip back into the apartment to pick up Mister Couchtop.

The cat wasn't too helpful, meowling the entire time, but that was fine. We left out the back and I jumped the fence. A few applications of Shadowbolt to the rear door of the parking garage blew off the lock and I was able to get in and get to my bike. With a helmet on and Mister Couchtop's carrier firmly secured, it wasn't too hard to get going.

We hit the road, riding out and around and then pushing well past the speed limit to get out of the area, even if there were a bunch of cops around. They were too busy for one girl on a bike at this hour of the morning.

So, that left me with the choice of where to go next.

Plain Jane was my first thought, but... no. She was nice, but I didn't want to lean on her too hard. Fran was... a lot of trouble. Staying with her recently proved that. The woman was insatiable, in her own way, and while I kinda liked that, I needed some time to think things through with her.

I'd fucked up.

I had to get my mind straight on how badly and how much, but I'd fucked up.

So, that left one friend.

I sighed as I rang her up while still riding along.

"Huuu?" was the reply as soon as the line was picked up. "Who this?"

"Becky? Sorry for waking you up," I said.

"Huh? I just went to bed."

"It's... six," I said.

"Yeah?"

Right, of course. Becky might have been fun and all, but I wasn't sure how reliable she was. Still, she was a good person, even if I was already regretting this. "Hey, sorry to bother you, and to wake you up, but I had a bit of an emergency come up. Would you be down to meet?" Then I thought better of leaving it at that. "I'll pay for breakfast?"

"Oh, shit, sure."

***