Chapter Thirty-Five - Outfoxed


    Chapter Thirty-Five - Outfoxed


    Samurai and law enforcement go together like matches and open containers of gasoline. Its generally a terrible idea to mix the two, unless your intent is to light a bonfire.


    --Chief Jeffrey Waters, Winner of Most Corrupt Cop, 2046


    ***


    It took over half an hour for all of the local police to show up, but when they did, they did in force. Twenty-odd guys and girls in full body armour with taser guns, pepper spray, and LMGs came barrelling onto the floor. Soon anyone wearing jumpsuits was pressed to the floor, hands tied behind their back.


    They werent being gentle about their arrests, and I found it hard to care.


    I spoke for a minute with some sergeant sort who was accompanied by a lawyer in full SWAT gear. They assured me that everyone would be punished to the full extent of the law, and then some.


    I told them to chill the fuck off about that, then let Myalis handle the charges. A few of these idiots were in for a rather terrible rest-of-their-lives, but most of them would come out of it alright. I didnt need this many people having a heap of resentment against me.


    Once everyone was cuffed up, I walked into the nearest elevator and up. Myalis had done what she could to track the truck that had left with my shit, but that trail went cold far sooner than I would have liked.


    If I was going to track down my stolen crap, then Id need to spend time going after it. Time and maybe some resources.


    I decided to do something entirely different instead.


    The first step was calling See-Three. Hey, I said as soon as the line clicked.


    Hello? See-three said. Any luck?


    Some, I said. Tracked the goods down to some group called the Janitors a few floors down. They sold everything to some third party already and things went cold. I think the clinic should be safe for now. We might want to take a serious look at upping our security. Or... yeah, lets talk about this later.


    Alright, See-three said. One of my friends agreed to stay here for the night. Ill be returning home to get some shut eye, then Ill be back before were meant to open. Someone needs to explain to our first clients that we dont have their limbs.


    I ground my teeth. It didnt take long to make the first batch, right? Try to delay things like, six hours? Im sure we can at least get half of their things made again.


    That would be nice, See-Three said. The last clients we were supposed to meet tom--today were all warned that the first operations might go long anyway.


    Cool. I said. So, things werent entirely a disaster.


    Thank you, Stray Cat. I dont know about anyone else, but I, at least, appreciate what youre doing.


    Well, didnt that just warm me up? Yeah, I said. See you around. I need to talk to someone about something.


    Right, right. So, some fuckwits stole from a clinic I opened up. A place to hand out basically-free prosthetics to people that need them. Nothing too good, but still basic samurai tech, even if its the mass-produced printed sort.


    I imagine they stole something valuable?


    Just some prosthetics. Like I said, 3d printed. I can make more. But its the thought that counts. Those were meant to help people, not be yoinked away the night before they were gonna be installed. Its a bad look for my clinic, and it kind of just pisses me off, overall.


    Millennium Animal nodded along, seeming entirely sympathetic with my problem. Do you need help making an example of someone?


    Nah. I need help tracking the goods. Myalis, can you package what we have up and send it over?


    Certainly.


    Millennium Animal blinked a few times, his fox eyes lighting up as he checked out something I couldnt see. I received the information, he said. But it will take some time to review.


    Look, all I need is someone who can track things down, figure out where they ended up. And maybe someone that can get my shit back too.


    Thats two jobs, he pointed out.


    That was fair. Okay. So what would that cost?


    Hard to say without verifying everything. Retrieval will, of course, depend on who has your items, so thats even harder to predict the cost of.


    I worked my jaw. Ten points to find the prosthetics. Ten more to retrieve them, negotiable if it was actually hard.


    Millennium Animal froze up for a moment. Thats generous.


    Twenty is what Id make over two days, which Ive got the impression is what Id lose if I did it all myself, I said.


    Ah, buying time. That makes sense. Twenty points of anything? Or from pre-existing catalogues?


    Pre-existing, I said. And Im holding veto rights. If someone wants a plague bomb from my Esoteric Explosives catalogue, Im saying no.


    Thats eminently fair, he said. I can think of a number of people who might be interested. Its not as worthwhile monetarily, but mercenaries tend to crave getting their paws on samurai tech.


    Uh-huh. One last thing, if its possible, keep my involvement on the down-low?


    Thatll be complicated, but I think I can manage it, he replied.


    ***