The apartment complex was mostly abandoned. It was kinda eerie on our way up. Advertisements along the walls and ceiling played to ghosts, making the halls twist and twirled with colorful lights that no one could see. Massive waste of electricity, but waste was the name of the game for Aythryn City.

There were a few Fang scattered around. They were way above the bottom feeders out front that were in charge of keeping people away. Most of them simply glanced at us and then moved on without interacting much. I did see a few familiar faces among the Fang that I chatted very briefly with.

Mira and I found a working elevator and took it up to the fifth floor. The guards up here were much more prevalent, as were the residents. Right out of the door, we stumbled across several Fang dragging an old man kicking and screaming from an apartment. "You can't do this! I've lived here for decades!"

"Gag him." One of the Fang commanded. Another one of the gangsters walked into the apartment and came back with a sock, stuffing it into the old man's mouth.

"Mfff-!" The old man tried to struggle, but he was well and truly held by the Fang.

"Mr. Yoshima, yes?" The Fang in charge looked at a data pad and then nodded to the old man. "Why didn't you take our offer? Now we gotta do this the hard way. You're gonna make me feel all guilty about throwing you out on your ass."

There wasn't a hint of guilt in the guy's eyes. Or any of them, for that matter. Although I sometimes forgot because they treated me relatively well, the Jade Fang were a gang at the end of the day. Gangs weren't sunshine and roses or anything close to that.

The old man had tears running down his face. "M-mmm-mfff!"

"Ah, sorry, can't hear you through the gag." The man chuckled and tapped around on his data pad. "Alright, throw this bastard out. You know the drill. Next is… five-sixteen?"

Mira shifted uncomfortably next to me and nudged my shoulder. "What are they doing?"

I waited till we were a bit further down the hall from the group. "Probably got hired to make the residents of this place disappear. It's a pretty common job."

"Why though?" Mira looked around the empty rooms, some with doors shattered or locks splintered out of the frame.

"All sorts of reasons. Someone probably wants to bulldoze this plot and build something different. When the residents don't take their deal… they get forceful." I shrugged. "Just the way it goes."

I, thankfully, never had to get involved in this whole thing back when I was working for the Fang. I couldn't look people in the eye after throwing them out onto the wet streets of Aythryn City. I knew from firsthand experience how awful of an experience that was.

"Should we do something?" Mira frowned and glanced back toward the group with a look of dissatisfaction on her face.

"Do what? If it wasn't the Fang, it'd be whatever other group was willing to do it. Maybe not now, but in a couple months?" I shook my head. "It's too late anyway. The land owner probably signed off on it."

And, although the Fang was being forceful, I was pretty sure it was standard operating procedure for them to try and cut several deals before getting to this point. Whoever still clung to their apartments had multiple chances to get off the train before it derailed.

There I went victim blaming though… really, if one of the resistant residents here would've approached a merc about this, they probably could've dug up dirt and stopped whoever gave the order. Those without power and connections would only ever end up living by the whims of those above. I was incredibly thankful for the interface in that regard.

We moved to the room that Mr. Bengoshi called down to us. Four elite fang enforcers stood around the door, all chromed and armed heavy enough to put down a riot should one break out. Seemed Mr. Bengoshi had a bit higher of a position than I thought.

The guards stopped us from approaching too close. "Who are you?"

"Relax, chum. We're with the Fang." I motioned to Mira to take off her rifle. She shot me a look, though complied and set it down against the wall. "He called us up."

"Hmm…" The guy's eyes flickered and he used some kind of chrome scanner. "Shiro? Under Elder Ishimaru…"

"Chek. That's me." I didn't realize I was in their system. It'd be weirder if I wasn't though, I guess. They were my main employers for a long time. Oh, and I had Master of Disguise disabled. Figure a familiar face would help, though it hadn't done much so far. "This is my bodyguard."

"Bodyguard now, huh?" Mira's voice echoed in my head. "There's worse positions, I guess."

The goon nodded and pushed open the door for us. "Sir, two here to see you."

"It's about time." Mr. Bengoshi, in his sharp suit, sat at a table covered in paperwork and blueprints. I was more interested in the latter, copying down the entire building's setup in a moment with Eidetic Schematic. "Shinobu said you'd be dropping by… you're shorter than I expected."

I barely held back a snarl and approached the table. When were the Eidolons going to release a Trait or Perk that let me grow taller? "You know me?"

"Ishimaru's little orphan." He chuckled, seemingly finding some pleasure in poking at my sore spots. "Yeah, I know you… though most of the higher-ups have heard your name at least. Your warning saved quite a few assets before the whole AEZ fiasco. So, what can I do for you? Crusade send you?"

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Unofficial business." Though I did have my badge on me. "I need a contract. I want to take over a family business. Cold Moon Solutions."

"Been a while since I thought of that company. Wait- Little Shiro? As in Tsukuyomi? That's you? Wow, you've really grown up." His eyes flicked over me from head to toe. He seemed to take a particular interest in my eyes. "Didn't recognize you there for a moment… changed a lot since you were a kid."

"I should hope so." I brushed the lock of silver hair back to the side and tucked it behind my ear. "You know me?"

Same question, though entirely different. The lawyer got a far away look in his eye for a moment. "Your father and I were old drinking buddies back in the day. Could hardly handle his alcohol."

"So I've been told." Dad always was more of a nerd type. What could I expect from a Netrunner though? That was back before it all became as complicated as it was in the modern age though. I wish I still had some of his old equipment…

"Thought you were dead, kid." He laughed lightly and shook his head. "You just show up as Shiro in our system. I'll have to go fix that."

"Or don't?" Ishimaru must've set me up without a last name to protect me. That guy… I needed to go drop by sometime and see how he was doing. Our last conversation was cut kinda short.

"Mmm… Fill me in on the situation." Mr. Bengoshi checked an ornate golden watch on his wrist. "I can take an hour break to handle this."

"Chek, so…" I quickly went over everything I knew. Cold Moon Solutions wasn't in a great state anyway. It was a surprise that it wasn't bought out by some other company by now. Then again, my blood uncle was always a stubborn old bastard.

Mr. Bengoshi took notes the entire time I was talking. He went silent for several minutes when I was done, leaving Mira and I to just chat silently using the Packheart Rings. Eventually, he finished up what he was doing and nodded his head. "Right, I'll get a contract worked up. You want full authority, right?"

"Preferably. I want to bring the company back to its glory days." I had quite a few ideas on how to do that too. Running a corporation though… I'd have to start hiring people. Couldn't just make robots for everything, unfortunately.

He nodded his head several times. "It's still a private family owned business, so that shouldn't be too much of an issue. Now, what will the Fang get out of this?"

"A cozy feeling in your hearts for helping out an old mikata?" I offered lightly.

"Hah- funny joke. The Fang does owe you one, though." He rubbed at his perfectly shaped beard. "Tell you what, I'll hand over a contract and we'll take care of anything… troublesome in exchange for the Fang having fifty percent off anything we purchase."

"Woah, woah, woah- fifty? What ever happened to owing me one?" That was just outright robbery. "Doubt I could even make back the material costs at that rate. I'll give you five percent at most."

He arced a brow and chuckled lightly. "We do owe you one… five percent is hardly anything though. How about twenty-five? For old time's sake, we'll drop it that low."

That was a massive drop- he must've been high-balling me to begin with to make me feel better about the twenty-five percent. It was still a massive cut into profits. Granted, it'd only be when dealing with the fang. I was never good at bartering, but I still had a few tricks up my sleeve.

"I think five percent is more than fair. Five percent off of seven hundred and fifty thousand is quite a bit."

"Damn, Shiro! What are you planning to sell that costs that much? Are you not getting back into the chrome business like your grandfather?" He lost the seriousness in his voice that he had when trying to set favorable terms.

"Flyers… After that, we'll see. I want to try and stay out of the arms business though." At least, legally. I'd need all sorts of permits to make firearms. Way easier to just sell them on the black market if I needed some extra Rayn.

"Flyers, eh?" The lawyer made a note. "We don't have a lot of those… custom, I assume?"

"Chek… so five percent is more than fair."

"At that point we aren't getting anything." He frowned and returned to his serious voice. "Look, twenty-five and we'll provide some additional security and manpower. Make sure nobody messes with you while you're in Little Yukoto."

"How about seven? More than fair." If I stayed at five any longer, he might just drop the whole deal altogether.

He shook his head. "I'll drop to twenty. You must know that it's quite a good deal. Our usual dealings are around a third off. I'm only going so far since we owe you one and our past relations."

Damn, there were a lot of people getting ripped off, huh? It wasn't a cut from their total profit, at least. Just a discount for the Fang. "I dunno. I could always find another lawyer."

"Then why haven't you?" He arced a brow and leaned forward over the table.

Cause I'm broke. A high quality lawyer would cost way too much for something like this. 'Course, I didn't say that out loud. "Because the Fang's always been close with Cold Moon. It'd be filial piety toward my grandfather to cut you guys a deal."

"How very generous." He closed his eyes for a moment and then shook his head. "Ah, what the hell. Fifteen. Lowest I'll go, though. At the end of the day, we still have to get something out of it. We'll give treat Cold Moon how we used to back in the day, too. You need anything on the corporate side, come to us. We'll take care of it."

"Then-"

"Take it, Shiro. He won't take another cut. This looks like it's already past his bottom line." Mira's voice whispered into my mind. "Push any further, and it might shatter."

"Fine, fine… fifteen." I shifted from foot to foot. That shouldn't hurt me too much. Besides, I didn't have all that much in material costs as long as I played my hand right with Transmutation. "All other benefits included?"

He sighed and shook his head. "Yeah- fine. Considering our two side's long cooperation… give us a flyer on the house when you get set up? So we can test it, at least."

Seven hundred and fifty thousand Rayn… but it'll leave a good taste of what I could provide for the Fang. To keep our relations positive it wouldn't be a bad idea. A bit funny that I'd soon be selling to both sides—both a gang and the Crusade. I should keep away from lethal weaponry on the flyers then. "Fine. We have a deal?"

"I'll write up a contract between the Fang and Cold Moon. I'll also write one for you and your uncle. Never liked that guy…" He checked his watch and nodded to the door. "I've got more work here. I'll leave them with Ishimaru in a couple days."

"Then we won't keep you."

Mira and I backed out of the room. The entire time, she played her part as the silent bodyguard perfectly. It was only when we were back out and heading toward the elevator, with her gun of course, that she spoke up. "That looked like it went well."

"Maybe…" I couldn't help but feel I still got ripped off. Should've brought Saint after all. "What'd you think?"

"When am I getting paid for bodyguard work?" She laughed to let me know she was just messing around.

"I already give you room and board!" I cried out in mock outrage. "'Sides, once I get finished with some projects, I'll make you some cool tech."

"Then I'll look forward to it."

— — —

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