Cath

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Light wobbled forward as the girl collapsed, concerned for her wellbeing. Then he realised what may have happened and wobbled back again, looking at Senjen. Then suddenly the strain lights put on his vision receded. Colours remained, and he could clearly see movement as a few people got up from their booths across the atrium. A spike of adrenaline flushed through his system and his suit’s skin automatically thickened. He looked for exits and spotted a staff door on the opposite side of the kitchen.

“Princess!” The man wailed, kneeling over his inert daughter and clumsily feeling her face.

“Talk to me baby, what's wrong?”

The old woman was barking orders in the kitchen. Two large bald men got up from a booth by the edge of the atrium, one of them went to the edge and looked down towards the entryway and the other jogged over to help the man they’d met. His eyes glowed blue; Light guessed he had some kind of eye implant.

“What did you do?!” The man turned and shouted in their direction.

“Nothing! Right?” Light protested, holding manipulators out to either side of his body in a gesture he was pretty sure looked innocent to Humans. He looked at Senjen for backup.

Then a loud crash and tinkle of glass sounded in the atrium. Then another. The man standing at the edge drifted backwards, feet disengaging from the mag-floor and arms limp. A spray of blood glinted in the half light. Screams and shouts wafted up from the lobby.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

The man sniffed at Senjen, wiped his nose with one hand then made a face and looked behind him. “Whatever, man.”

Light spun around inside his suit and looked out of the windows. The Grand Concourse was beginning to transition to night time. He couldn’t see anything or anybody out there watching them, but he knew that didn’t count for much.

”I don’t know. I suppose It's possible, though perhaps that's what the atrium tech is there to stop? I’d really like to avoid getting involved any more than we currently are. Lets just stay quiet and get out of here as quickly as possible. Keep that chip close, that unlocks our money I think.” He’d been in a ‘casino’ before but had never seen the appeal of giving away money with no sure chance of return. Some QV he’d known had discovered the appeal and gotten deep into debt.

“Umm. Are we done here?” Light ventured.

“Stay there. Just need to verif-Ahh, here is my little princess!” The man chuckled, holding out his arms and crouching down. The old woman tottered over in her food-stained apron with a big smile on her face, holding the hand of a girl. The child clutched a pink stuffed animal close to her chest and eyed Light and Senjen curiously. Even as she went into the man’s embrace she looked at them.

“Have you eaten?” The old woman asked them both gruffly.

“Err, yes. Thank you.” Light replied, his stomach grumbling violently.

“I’ll make you both some noodle soup.” She decided, turning and shuffling back towards the kitchen.

“Ma, leave them alone, they’re leaving after we check this little piece of info. Here you go princess.” The man shouted after his mother, before softening his voice for the girl. He gently stroked her forehead and her eyes rolled back.

The man stood up gradually, then looked back at Light and Senjen, beaming proudly.

“This is my daughter. Isn’t she the cutest?”

Then the girl collapsed on the floor, a background hum that Light hadn’t even noticed before stopped, and the lights went out.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“I really hope not.” Light replied to Senjen’s message. Glancing anxiously about him.

Senjen’s scan did reveal that the chandelier had its own high-tech power source. One of the small appendages on it swung to him. The Utaysi received a Guangzhou club branded message with a 20% off one year membership discount code. The message then repeated on a few mirrored surfaces around the club, visible only to him.

-

Light held up one of his appendages to stop Senjen sending the file just yet.

“We agreed twenty five million galactic credits for safe delivery.”

The man dabbed around his mouth with a crisp white napkin from off the chef’s pass then chucked it away.

“Collect it from the casino vault on your way out. Come on, I don’t have all day.”

He held out a beringed hand palm down and grabbed the air with his fingers.

Light huffed. He would normally insist on cash up front. But since he was already up forty three million and was desperate just to be done with this job, he conceded.

“Ok…where is that?”

“Second floor in the back, come on!”

“Alright! Give it to him.”

The man took the file eagerly and his eyes rolled back as he inspected it. Then he cracked a broad grin and pulled a brightly coloured disc chip from his coat pocket. He flicked it through microgravity to Senjen, then yelled over his shoulder in a non-standard language that required both their translation packages to match and download from scratch.

A tiny old lady looked up from the kitchen and shouted back just as loud. Light had scarcely noticed she was there. They argued back and forth unintelligibly a few times before the translation kicked in.

“Ma stop! Put that down and just get the girl!” He gestured wildly.

The old woman shook her head and muttered something under her breath, slinging a kitchen towel down and doddering away.

The man looked back and grinned again, before pinning his eyes on Senjen.

“Who are you, a custom Myrmidon or something? I was only expecting seafood.”

Seafood was a disrespectful slur on QV, indicating the species could or wanted to eat them. Light was beginning to lose his patience with this man, and it showed across his suit.

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“Hmmm. Not really. I haven’t come this far off my ship on a job before, but most drops are somewhere with lots of people. Maybe the restaurant just isn’t…doing well?” The concept of having food prepared and delivered to your table didn’t appeal to Light much. Some QV still had a deep-seated desire to capture or cultivate their own food. Hence why he had his own little aquarium farm on the ship. That tube of paste earlier was obligatory nerve-sustenance, not a happy choice.

“I think if they were suspicious they probably would have dealt with us before we got here. Let's go to the front and use the handshake I was given. Remain vigilant of our surroundings and be ready to flee.”

It wasn’t until they got closer to the front of the building that you saw it was all shielded. They passed through an almost imperceptible barrier just before vaulting a short set of steps to the doors. They slid open for them, and a comfortable warm breeze rippled Light’s suit as they ventured inside.

They were in a well-appointed reception chamber. Seats for various species littered the walls, soft rugs covered the floor and sumptuous artworks in relief laden the ceiling. They mostly depicted Humans and other unrecognisable organics.

A Human man and a woman stood magnetised to the floor. They were dressed in what Light presumed were smart suits of this particular style. They both had their heads bowed when they entered, but the woman looked up and offered a friendly smile as they approached.

“Welcome to the Guangzhou club and restaurant. How may I help you?”

“Only if the cherry blossom is in full bloom?” Light replied, repeating the phrase he’d been told.

“Very well, sir. My colleague will show you to your table.” The woman replied, her smile not faltering. The man looked up and nodded to them both, gesturing for them to follow.

Light looked at Senjen and gave the QV-equivalent of a shrug, then followed.

The building was roughly rectangular, with an enormous atrium in the middle. Four more floors opened out above them, with guide ropes for diners to safely navigate between them. Attached to the ceiling of this atrium was an object that at first glance looked to be a giant chandelier. But it didn't look quite right somehow. It was gunmetal grey and too bulky to just be a set of lamps; some of the appendages weren’t even emitting anything perceivable. Light pointed it out to Senjen.

“That's how I know we’re in the right place.” He said, cryptically referring to the VC. There was always some strange, dangerous looking tech hanging around where they were involved.

The waiter took them up a guide rope to the top floor at the back. Dining areas ringed the atrium, all with large plate windows out over the city and numerous different seating configurations. Light did spot people of different species eating, but only enough to fill one in every twenty tables. All the wait staff were Humans dressed in smart red waistcoats over crisp white shirts and dress trousers.

On the back of each floor was an expansive open kitchen ringed by VIP seating and more large windows. The receptionist led them towards the chef’s pass, where another man in a dark suit, white bowtie and white straw hat ate hungrily from a bowl. He looked up as they touched down nearby.

“Notice anything untoward yet?” Light messaged Senjen privately.

“Help you?” The man asked, putting the lid on his bowl. He had slicked back hair and a small growth of hair around his mouthparts.

“Umm…Only if the cherry blossom is in full bloom?”

The man laughed.

“Hand it over.”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

“In a place with no law, anonymity is the next best thing. You can’t retaliate against something that doesn’t really have a presence. I thought I had that anonymity too, but it seems no longer…Serves me right for not bringing my BangStick with me.”

Light was quite pleased to be able to grasp onto Senjen’s tail again. His new suit made him feel a lot better, but that ordeal had still taken quite a lot out of him. He could still feel the pressure on his respiratory system where the droid had been choking him.

“Hmm, perhaps. I’m not sure I can really ‘relax’ until this thing inside me is gone. But I suppose a couple of days wouldn’t hurt. I hear there is a full QV hunting park somewhere. And a beach! I could test out my new suit…For now though, let's just focus on getting this job done. Then we can take stock.”

The rest of the journey to the Guangzhou restaurant took about half an hour. It was a tall, thin building at the end of a terraced street with more tall buildings either side. It had a large neon sign at the top, and five floors with plenty of windows. A magnetised walkway led down the street towards it with bollards either side to encourage walking over floating.

Light studied the building and shivered once they were within line of sight. Despite it being the middle of the day, he couldn’t see anyone outside on this street.

“I’m getting a bad feeling about this.”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Light hummed in general acquiescence at what Senjen said.

“Perhaps you’re right. We may have to plead ignorance and throw ourselves on their mercy.”

The QV did find he was warming to the Utaysi a little more after their shared experience. He had given away that they were carrying precious cargo, but had the nous to negotiate with the strangers and extricate themselves from the situation. Senjen seemed like a practical, useful sort of assistant to keep around right now.

“The VC is a bit of a mystery to me, quite frankly. I never deal with them directly, just through intermediaries like this restaurant we’re heading to. l I get the sense they have interests in a great many areas, as they’ve had me transport things from all over this sector. So perhaps the VC is a group of different businesses with a common goal?”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Connie shook Senjen’s hand, then grasped it tightly when he made to move away and leaned in ever so slightly.

“Remember. Make sure you drop this off without raising suspicion.” Then she leaned out again and smiled.

“You’re free to go, gentlemen. Safe travels.” She released Senjen’s hand, and gave Light a casual salute.

Light shivered as he looked from the Human to down on the mezzanine floor. His suit could make out tiny holes all over the deck where tungsten bolts had pierced just minutes ago. He dragged his gaze out over the shop too. The only thing he could see was the droid by the door looking directly back at him.

“There’s just one thing I need to do, Senjen…Can I go see the owners of this shop?” He directed the last bit back to Connie. She pursed her lips then nodded.

“Make it quick.”

The QV floated down from the mezzanine and headed to outside the fitting rooms. The mother and daughter combination had been joined by a strapping young son huddled on the floor. He must have come out of the staff area when he heard the commotion. Two droids stood over them.

Light approached gingerly, aware all three of them were staring balefully at him for apparently causing so much trouble. He detached a small blob of gel from his suit about the mass of the access card they’d been given earlier. He then loaded two million credits onto it and flicked it over to them. The daughter hesitantly grabbed it up.

“For the damage. Sorry.” Light said bluntly, before scurrying away and out the front door as quickly as possible.

“Is it terrible that I feel relieved to be alive? That was strange, right? Those poor people…” He blabbed to Senjen as they fled down Tanguska Boulevard.

“I don’t know how we can lie to the VC. They find out everything eventually.”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

Light undulated gladly upon learning Senjen was unhurt.

“I’m about ready to live as a desert hermit after this.” was the wry retort to the Utaysi’s comment about his suit. Light felt bad for mocking the elder QV’s choice of suit considering all the distress they’d caused. He was just desperate to relieve the nervous tension while Connie examined the file.

Connie gave Senjen a stiff smile when he commented on the outrageously unlikely odds of their meeting.

“Our job is to make the impossible a reality.”

Light slouched when it came for him to make the big decision.

“I have worked for the VC for a long time, and had no intention of betraying them. But I don’t see we have much of a choice, thanks to you.” He gave the Human a flash of anger, hurt. Connie didn’t react.

“Make the exchange, let's get this over with.” He said resignedly.

She immediately extended a hand for Senjen to touch. Contact between them would pass 50m GC and a small data packet in exchange for the correct file from Senjen’s memory.

“And your business card, so we can contact you.” Connie said once it was done.

“Now, conclude the drop as normal. We will monitor you until it is complete, for your safety.”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

The front door of the warehouse opened, and a chime sounded. Light turned and recoiled at the sight of another identical combat droid pointing a gun at him. RIDA Sr made to run away but he stopped her, then presented a pliant colour display. The robot stalked into the room, quickly surveying it while keeping their weapon trained on the pair of visible QV.

Behind the droid came a Human female in full combat gear. Light didn’t think it was the same one as they’d talked to in the hangar, but frankly they all looked alike to him so he couldn’t be sure.

“Hello gentlemen. Thanks for waiting - I’m Connie." So not the same Human after all.

“Lets have a little chat up there, shall we?” She pointed up to where Senjen was before gracefully lifting off and floated up towards the mezzanine.

“Put the shopkeepers together.” She ordered, and the droid closest to Light grabbed RIDA Sr.

“Don’t worry, they won’t hurt you.” Light tried to look reassuring, even though he was terrified himself. He then made to follow Connie up to the mezzanine. As he did so, he noticed the corrugated side access door rattled open and a third droid padded inside. They were now well and truly surrounded.

“Let's see what we have here, shall we?” The Human said curtly as soon as she landed next to Senjen. She flicked on a wrist readout and studied the copy of the file given to the monitor.

Light gave his assistant a worried look as he arrived too. “You ok? Unhurt?”

“Ok. We’ll take this file off your hands and give you fifty million credits.” Connie started after a pregnant pause.

“But none of us want the VC to know they’ve been cheated. Least of all you. So we’re going to give you a file to deposit with them that looks identical. You can collect your money from them too, and continue working with them. Everybody wins. Alright?”

Price of Life (EliteCommander and Cath)

The droid paused, still holding RIDA Jr still with one hand. Their head swivelled slowly to look towards Light and RIDA Sr, who cowered behind a few layers of floating gel suits.

”The Vermillion Consortium will be furious if we give away their cargo. There goes my treatment plan.” Light sighed and studied Senjen as if he were a mirror. He felt resigned to the situation, despite the dire ramifications for him. He just didn’t have it in him to sacrifice these hapless QV.

”What is going on?” RIDA flashed at him.

”Don’t worry. You and your daughter will be free to go soon.

“What is your delivery fee?” The droid replied eventually.

“Fifty million Galactic credits!” Light called from across the shop, not daring to show his face. That was in fact double what he had agreed with the VC, but he was going to need a bit of ‘danger money’ if this was truly the route they were heading down.

“That is acceptable. We will have to check the file to verify its authenticity. My Monitor will approach you with a drop box. Remain calm and still.” The droid said immediately.

There was a bit of noise from out the front of the shop, like a few sets of feet activating the magnetic pavement nearby. The corrugated side access gate rattled lightly.

The black disc that had been hiding near Senjen emerged from behind a gel suit and floated closer to the Utaysi. It sent a request for him to execute the file in an isolated virtual environment.