Stray Cat Strut Chapter Thirty-Five - Outfoxed

Chapter Thirty-Five - Outfoxed

Samurai and law enforcent 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 ca 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 so sergeant sort who was accompanied by a lawyer in full SWAT gear. They assured that everyone would be punished to the full extent of the law, and then so.

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 co out of it alright. I didnt need this many people having a heap of resentnt against .

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 ti going after it. Ti and maybe so resources.

I decided to do sothing 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?

So, I said. Tracked the goods down to so group called the Janitors a few floors down. They sold everything to so 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 ho to get so shut eye, then Ill be back before were ant to open. Soone 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 et 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 up? Yeah, I said. See you around. I need to talk to soone about sothing.

We said our goodbyes just as I was arriving in the parking garage where my bike was waiting for . I hopped on, flicked on the engine, then roared out of the building in a rush. I had sowhere else to be right then.

My first step was to send the next person Id be chatting to a quick text, asking them if they were even available and awake. I got a reply within seconds. It was wordy, but it made it clear that they were willing to at least discuss things.

So I turned my bike towards a ga building in the distance. House Four Three. This ti I parked where it would be easiest to get to where I wanted to go, got off my bike, and I strode through the building without a care.

Within a couple of minutes I was standing before the muscular fra of the Barber Shops bouncer. The sa full-borg that Id passed with Rac a while ago. Ive got business with Millenium Animal, I said.

He looked up and down. You were with Rac, he said.

Yeah.

Huh. Didnt recognize you, last ti, he said as he stepped aside. Go on in, Miss Samurai.

I nodded then slipped past and into the Barber Shop proper. The place was a little less lively, probably owing to it being... almost six in the morning. The sun was going to co up soon. The sort of person that liked to party late was gone by now, and even the early partiers hadnt gotten out of bed yet. It was that magical ti of day where everything is at its calst, and it showed in the choice of music.

So softer jazz was playing, the lights were slightly dimd, and the only people in the main dance area were a pair doing a little swing routine, with frequent stops as one showed the other how to do so specific moves.

I found Millenium Animal in the act of standing up at the bar. Hey, Myalis, whats the sitch with this guy?

How deep do you want to dig?

Surface level shit, I muttered.

Millenium Animal, born in 2001, has been a Fixer in New Montreal for twelve years. Before that he has a record of rcenary work extending back another ten years, mostly specialising in information gathering, corporate spywork, and private detective work. He has a few black marks on his file, but nothing egregious or which I think youd have a moral issue with. He does seem fairly reliable.

Lets see about that, I said as I walked over to Millenium. He extended a hand to shake, his left, and I reached out and shook. Hey, I said.

A pleasure to see you once more, Stray Cat, Millennium said. He smiled, and with his face looking like a foxs, it ca off as exceptionally sly. I like the new look. Intimidating without being terrifying. Its a fine line to walk. He let go of my hand and grabbed onto the lapels of his suit.

Thanks, I said. So, how does a tired samurai go about getting you to help her with a problem?

Millennium chuckled. First, a drink? Or at least a seat?

I nodded and followed him to the bar. We grabbed stools at the far end of the bar, where we werent under any lights and where it was surprisingly a little quieter. The bartender glanced our way, then kept on minding their own business. If I wanted sothing, I could order it via a local aug-app. I didnt.

So, how can I help you? he asked. I would usually keep on with the pleasantries, but I have the impression that youre in sothing of a hurry.

Not exactly a hurry. Its just... I have better things to do than look after this, and you seem like soone that I can maybe trust with my little problem.

Certainly, he said with a nod.

Right, right. So, so 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 sothing valuable?

Just so prosthetics. Like I said, 3d printed. I can make more. But its the thought that counts. Those were ant 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 off, overall.

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

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 tis, his fox eyes lighting up as he checked out sothing I couldnt see. I received the information, he said. But it will take so ti to review.

Look, all I need is soone who can track things down, figure out where they ended up. And maybe soone 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 mont. 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 ti. That makes sense. Twenty points of anything? Or from pre-existing catalogues?

Pre-existing, I said. And Im holding veto rights. If soone 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 rcenaries tend to crave getting their paws on samurai tech.

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

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

***