The change was stark and obvious the second we stepped into the back. Gone were the endless shelves of random nonsense. We were now surrounded by locked metal crates and heavy-duty wall shielding.

I was pretty sure the place could take a full borg or clanker head-on and still keep standing. Of course, whether the squishy humans would survive the experience was another question altogether, but the store would still be there and ready for a new owner.

Deeper in, shelves and display racks began to grace the armored plating, all dotted with more variations of firearms and melee weapons than I had ever seen in my life. We even passed through a large room swamped with display shelves that almost perfectly mimicked the store out front, complete with a bored clerk. The only difference was the merchandise in stock.

Then we were led past that and into a rather spacious office. It was all very 'understated wealth' in there. Actual wood, what was probably real leather, the whole shebang.

Too bad I was in no mood to appreciate any of that when I spotted no less than six mooks, three on each side of an impressively large and ornate desk. Behind the desk lounged a comically skinny man with a Mohawk.

As if our situation wasn't bad enough already, my premium quality eyes immediately spotted the tell-tale signs of cybernetic enhancement on every single mook. Arms, all of them. Eyes too. Couldn't exactly examine their legs, but I'd bet on them also being cybernetics. And they were all gripping guns of some kind, from a ridiculously large hand cannon to some kind of an honest-to-goodness SMG. Was that particular idiot looking to kill everyone in the room via ricochet?

The big boss himself, or at least I assumed the lounging skinny man was Yuri, worried me even more. Sure, he looked like he needed to put on at least thirty kilograms, but every bit of his exposed skin had those lines that marked it as fake cybernetic covering. Was he a full borg? And if yes, why the fuck had Amelia felt the need to volunteer us for death-via-angry-tin-can if things went wrong?

How the fuck was I supposed to even try and protect us?

"Well, well, well… little Amelia! Thought my ears were fucking with me when Tules told me who was here to see me. Tell me… did your father suddenly decide he doesn't need you anymore? Or didja somehow get away from him and are here to visit your poor old Uncle Yuri?"

I tensed at his words, no matter the teasing tone in which he'd delivered them. My fingers almost flexed fully to unleash the claws hidden within.

The only thing that stopped me was the sudden change in the mooks' body posture. They didn't exactly lift their weapons and sight me down, but they didn't need to. Their enhanced eyes had clearly tracked my subtle shift. Their response was equally subtle, but more than obvious.

They were a heartbeat away from unleashing a bullet hell on me, one that would more than match up to the difficulty level of those 'arcade recreation' games that were huge for a while.

"Do you really think Daddy Dearest would let me out without supervision?" Amelia, on the other hand, looked downright excited. "Now, if you could please stop trying to intimidate Adrian, I'd really appreciate that. He doesn't need the whole shakedown routine, Uncle."

The skinny man narrowed his eyes at me, then barked out a laugh. "Oh, fine, fine, out. All of you."

My stomach was still doing little flip-flops while the goons smirked at me, their stoicism melting away in seconds. A couple made to 'accidentally' bump into me on the way out, but Amelia's glare and sudden claiming of my arms so she could smush them against her breasts again discouraged that.

The move, I later noted, also did an excellent job of distracting me from the mooks' proximity as they filed out.

"Ya really are protective of this little shit you brought with ya, eh? Enough with that! Where's my hug, huh?! You don't see your uncle for years and you're too busy f- eh, messing with your boyfriend to pay attention to me?!" Yuri demanded, moving around the desk at a startling speeds and opening his arms wide for Amelia.

She giggled and abandoned me so she could jump into Yuri's embrace, squeezing him tight. "Sorry. You know my father. After… Well, after, he wouldn't even let me out if it wasn't for some specific reason."

"Yeah, I fucking know the guy," Yuri snarled. His cybernetic eyes did a weird thing where his pupils began to rotate and spark, visible only thanks to the cog-patterns that marked them. "Forget that lowlife, though. Well, actually, how didja get away from him? And who's this?"

He motioned towards me with narrowed eyes. Suddenly, the tension that had started to bleed out of me ever so slowly shot through the roof again.

"Oh!" Amelia dramatically exclaimed, like she'd forgotten all about me. Her eyes sparkled when she looked at me, though. I knew exactly what she was doing. "This is Adrian! He's the one who helped me get away from my father. We also started dating recently," she finished demurely, the picture-perfect image of innocence as her cheeks flushed.

"I see," her uncle(?) snapped off, sounding like the crackle of ice someone had taken a pick to. "Well then, it's very nice to meet you… Adrian, right?"

He extended his hand towards me, still using his left arm to hug Amelia to his chest. Amelia's hand shot out instantly to grip the sleeve of his expensive-looking suit.

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"No! I mean…" She flushed for real this time. "He, uh, has an issue with being touched by strangers. Not — not really surprising, after what my father put him through."

Yuri blinked at me. Then understanding bloomed behind those odd, dark blue mechanical eyes. "I… see."

With how he was looking at me, I really didn't think so. Then again, if he was familiar with Amelia's father, maybe…?

"Um, it's an honor to meet you, sir. I'm sorry, for, uhhh, almost attacking your men?" I winced when he just shot me an amused look, suddenly aware that I was rambling. "Amelia did not tell me we were here to meet someone she already knows."

I delivered that line with a glare in Amelia's direction.

She just grinned at me cheekily. "Oh, it's fine, isn't it? I made sure you wouldn't do anything reckless. Besides, it was an excellent way to see how you'd act in a tense situation. And you did great! No attempts to claw anyone up!"

"Claw?" Yuri echoed. He focused in on my glove-covered hands, his pupils doing the spinny thing again. "Hrm. Also, niece of mine, don't go picking up any of your father's bad habits now, you hear? People aren't meant to be stress-tested and evaluated."

His tone was gentle, but Amelia's face rapidly went through several different shades and emotions before she settled on 'contrite.'

"Sorry, I… I didn't mean it like that. I just wanted you to know that you can —"

"Amelia, it's fine," I sighed, giving her a slight smile. It wasn't completely sincere, since her apparent uncle's comment had stirred up a few ugly feelings in me too, but I genuinely didn't hold the tiniest bit of resentment against her. "As you said, you were there and you stopped anything from happening. Really, I need to work on not being so… twitchy."

"You did great, honest!" Amelia chirped, abandoning her uncle to give me a hug this time.

I shot him a somewhat smug smile. He glared at me.

We understood each other.

"And thank you. I'll do better," she added quietly, even though I had the impression Yuri still caught every word.

"Bah. Flirting right in front of family! Disrespectful youngsters these days." The reedy man scowled as he made his way back to his almost comically large swivel chair. I blinked, suddenly realizing he had set up the room as a perfect old time-y ganger stereotype, right out of the cartoons.

Suddenly, most of my doubt that he was directly related to Amelia evaporated. The silliness was, apparently, both permanent and inheritable.

"Now, while I am thrilled to see you, I know that you wouldn't have come here on a whim. This is definitely one of the places your father would suspect you'd visit after running away from him. So, what can I do for you that merited taking this kind of risk?"

Yuri's expression had suddenly focused. His voice had grown colder. The mere mention of Amelia's father seemed to put the man on edge, and the threat his niece was under clearly didn't sit well with him. He almost sounded like he disapproved of her visit.

"Yeah, well… How do I put this. Ummm, we need to do some slightly risky stuff if we want to secure our independence and freedom from my father, so… Well, I'll be sending this guy here on some dangerous missions soon. I figured we should at least get him quality equipment so he doesn't get himself killed in a particularly stupid way." Amelia slapped my chest with a strained smile.

"This guy? He don't look like he can stand up to a breeze! Ya sure it's him you want going on these… 'missions'? I could get you a couple of my more reliable guys."

I bristled at the accusation, but Amelia was on point again.

"No, no, I assure you, he's more than capable. Don't let his adorable appearance deceive you!"

I wasn't sure what I thought about her defense of me, but at least I wasn't feeling stabby.

"Well… if you say so. If I remember your love of lists correctly, I'm going to guess you've got one put together for this?"

Amelia totally didn't start pouting. "Send him the list, Adrian."

I smirked Yuri's way as my eyes pinged his, sending the list over as I was directed. Really, 'the list' wasn't all that long, not once I'd started vetoing Amelia's ideas. Even if she had the money for that sort of thing, which I seriously doubted, I did not need full-body mechanized armor or ten grenades of six different types. Or a grenade launcher, for that matter.

Somehow, I had a feeling that Amelia would prefer it if I just levelled the mercenaries' HQ before getting anywhere near it. I wonder what gave me that impression?

"Hmmm, everything on here's easy to get. We'll need to personalize the armor a little, because you're kinda scrawny, kid, but that's not a ton of trouble. We need to do that sort of thing on the regular anyway, though it's typically scaling the armor up rather than down. You sure you don't want anything else, niece of mine? 'Cause if not, I can have this batch of equipment shipped to your preferred address in an hour."

"Mmm, there is one more thing. But before that, shouldn't we settle the payment?" Amelia quirked her brow at her uncle, who immediately sighed in response.

"Amelia, you are on the run from your father. I bet you don't have a good way to earn more money. If anything, I should be asking you if you need my support."

"Hey! I'm fine! I'll have you know my funds will last me a good long while. I'm also pretty sure you're going to accept payment."

"And why's that, you little menace?"

"Because it's money I stole from my father," Amelia purred, sending her uncle a wide, toothy grin.

The man froze for a second, then burst into laughter. "O-Oh, that's just precious. Ya managed to rob him blind on the way out, ey?" Amelia didn't correct his misconception or explain her long-term money theft. "Fine, fine, but yer getting a discount, even if it's just for making me laugh at his expense."

"That's fine," Amelia agreed a little reluctantly. Apparently, she knew she wouldn't be able to talk him down from that point. "Just make sure it's not a huge discount. You know, of the ninety-nine percent variety."

"Yeah, yeah." Yuri waved his hand dismissively, gracing his niece with a sunny smile. Really, it did wonderful things to make him look more human. With all the clear signs of cybernetic enhancement and his gaunt form, he mostly resembled a stern skeleton dressed in impeccable clothing. "Now, let me repeat myself: ya sure this is all you want to get? Some heavier armor wouldn't do ya wrong, for a start."

This last comment was directed at me. I shuffled uncomfortably. For some reason, the idea of stuffing myself in heavy armor made me feel all sorts of uncomfortable. Couldn't tell if it was just me feeling that, or if my cybernetics were weighing in on the subject. But either way, I really rather wouldn't.

"Yeah, I'm sure. It's not like I'm a bruiser or tank type." I flapped my arms around for emphasis, which at least made Yuri snort in amusement.

"Yah, that's true enough. Infiltrator type, then? Amelia did mention something about claws."

"Something like that."

"Fine, be all mysterious with the guy trying to get you suitable gear," Yuri groused, turning his attention back to his niece. "What about you, little menace? Want to make any changes to the list? Need me to get you something else?"

"A few things, if you can." Amelia's faux casualness suddenly gave way to a hungry growl. "I need new eyes."

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