I didn't go out much, obviously. Or at all. We ordered in or counted on our wonderful employees for food and other necessities. Still, after everything had settled down, we could easily peek through the windows to track the progress of the neighborhood's recovery.

Day by day, the street was gradually being restored to its former state. The rubble and bodies were removed first, practically overnight. Road maintenance came next, since crater-sized potholes were not very conducive to normal neighborhood operation. Then slow repairs began on the walls of all nearby buildings. Once that was complete, it was almost easy to pretend that nothing had happened.

But it definitely had.

Melania and Tirgo put it best: there was a quiet tension in the air. Everyone was looking at each other with distrust. The people with visibly obvious cybernetics were treated the worst.

Ironically, this made the mercenaries the number one threat in everyone's eyes, despite the cowardice they had displayed. A crowd even formed briefly to protest the mercs' presence in the neighborhood. Peacekeeper droids broke that up before the mercs could organize a response themselves, which… Well, it was a good thing, I felt certain.

It didn't take long for the distrustful looks of the locals to turn into full-on avoidance. Neighborhood residents ducked into buildings or behind any other nearby shelter whenever the mercs were out and about. Again, hilarious. These people had chosen to dip out at the first sign of trouble, and here they were, getting treated as some kind of apex threat.

My amusement was, of course, tinged by a healthy dose of wariness. But that surfaced past the disdain only when the mercs finally came back to visit us, their captain at the front.

It wasn't a surprise. We had set up the date, after all. I still couldn't help but feel like they were intruding as we watched their arrival through the cameras.

Melania greeted them and led them to the same room as before. The mercs' silence and wooden stances didn't help my anxiety. Neither did their numbers.

Eight people. That's how many the glorious merc captain felt like he needed to bring for a chat with a ripper.

"I hope the recent events haven't tempted you to change our agreement," the captain began, his eyes sharp and cold as they gazed at Melania.

Our stand-in ripper grimaced, but proceeded with a relatively polite smile. "They have not. We've acquired the cybernetics you wanted, and I am ready to install them. I assume the recipients are present?"

"Yes, they are present."

He raised his hand, and four mercs stepped forward. Two were visibly missing limbs, and one moved with the unsteady gait of someone wearing a low quality prosthetic leg. The final one had sunglasses on, and something told me that was less of a fashion choice and more because they didn't want anyone seeing their eyes.

"These are the four who need your services. James for arm and eyes, Billy for the leg, Riley for the other arm, and Sabs for the eyes. How quickly can you get it all done?"

"About… three hours. If you really want us to rush things, like you indicated last time?"

"Yes, that would be preferable. I don't want to linger here for too long." The brave captain tried to conceal the panicked look in his eyes as he glanced around the room, but obviously failed.

Really, it was a wonder they dared to call themselves mercenaries at all. Sure, they had the training and the equipment. But did it really count, if they only ever went after slum dwellers and people who couldn't defend themselves?

"That is… unfortunate, but I can manage," Melania said smoothly. "I will maintain my normal level of service quality, in spite of the rush. Now, if you four will follow me?"

The four nodded and moved forward, but so did their captain, causing Melania to freeze.

"Yes, Captain?"

"I will be coming with you," he declared, like he was laying down the law. "I want my people properly guarded while they're vulnerable."

My muscles tensed as I glanced at the door connecting us to the rest of the clinic. It was obviously not where Melania would take those guys to drug them up, but I was rapidly shifting to a combat mentality.

"No, you will not." The steel in Melania's voice shocked me. Obviously, we were never going to agree to the captain's terms, but I wasn't expecting the woman to turn him down so boldly. "There are procedures we follow here. Those procedures guarantee the success of our surgeries and the safety of both patients and staff. I won't be breaking them for anyone."

Patch instantly stiffened. "Really, now? Is that the way you want this to go? I've already warned you what might happen if you lose our —"

"Protection?" Melania snapped, letting actual anger leak into her voice. "From what? Cyberpsychos, hmmm? Or is there some other threat I should contact the Peacekeepers to protect us from? Because I didn't see you rushing out to fight the other day, so I'm starting to wonder how much your 'protection' is really worth."

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A tense silence enveloped the room. The mercs gripped their weapons, their eyes travelling from Melania to their captain and back. The captain himself was rapidly developing a tic in his left eye. A vein pulsed visibly at his temple.

Then Melania hissed in a breath and closed her eyes for a second. Opening them, she let the breath out.

"I am willing to stick to our original deal, but only because we made it in advance and I am not the kind of woman who goes back on her word. I'm warning you now, though. The next time you want something from me, we'll be renegotiating things. I don't fucking value being shaken down and then denied the safety you promised me. So, choose: either we get this fucking over with, or you can call this deal off and we can renegotiate. Including the price hike I'll add in for getting to watch me work."

If I wasn't in love with Amelia, I might have developed a small crush on Melania right then and there. Really, the woman's presence seemed to swell and fill the room as she faced the idiots down.

We totally needed to give her a hefty raise.

"Fine," the brave captain eventually bit out, stomping back over to his chair. "But if any of them 'tragically pass' or experience any cybernetics-related problems, I'm coming back for your fucking ass."

"That will not be an issue, Captain." Melania forced so much sarcasm into that title, it almost came to life and clobbered Patch over the head. "Now, follow me."

The four idiots did, shooting weary glances at their captain every few seconds until the door closed behind them and they lost sight of him.

"Phew." Amelia suddenly exhaled and leaned into me. "I swear, that was hot."

I gave her my best unimpressed look.

"What? You can't say it wasn't!" she protested. "And it's not like I'd cheat on you. I am free to admire!"

I just shook my head, but I lost the battle against the smile that forced its way onto my face, making Amelia crow in victory.

—

It didn't take long for the four stooges to be knocked out and presented to us. They were laid out on stretchers and practically naked, having already gone through the customary required shower before surgery.

We hadn't enforced the shower rule during the neighborhood emergency. There hadn't exactly been time for it, and Amelia's abilities made it kind of unnecessary anyway. Still, even with my ripper's awesome powers, it was best not to risk contaminants and infections.

"Okay," she whispered to herself, flitting amongst the four. "Okay, let's start with… you." She pointed at the guy missing his leg.

The stretcher was very fancy. It even lifted to line the guy up perfectly with the surgery table, and then gently deposited him on it, all with minimal work on my part.

Yep. it hadn't taken Amelia long at all to convert me into cheap (paid in kisses) muscle. But I enjoyed helping her out, and it wasn't like I had anything else useful to do while she operated on people.

Watching her work was as fascinating and gross as ever. Flesh trimmed. Nerves exposed and properly categorized. Cybernetic fetched, heated to the right temp, and prepped. Everything flowed flawlessly. Thanks to her hands, and a tiny bit of Essence, the operation barely took half an hour.

Then my lover paused, stepped back, and started gnawing on her bottom lip.

"Amelia?"

Her eyes snapped over to me, looking temporarily startled that I was there at all. "Oh, sorry. Lost in my thoughts. Ummm… Well, I know we planned to experiment on these guys, it's just… what if I mess it up? What if I can't keep my influence subtle?"

I shrugged. "Then a fight breaks out while we're in our clinic. In our own space, with no traps or cameras or defenses to help them, and with four of their guys on our side. We'd crush them."

I felt exactly as confident as my claims suggested. Sure, it would cause a ton of trouble with the other mercs, since they'd know exactly where their captain and comrades died, but hey. We'd blow up that bridge when we crossed it.

"You're right. Yeah. You're right," she mumbled. "It's just… I'm a little worried, you know?"

I sighed and stepped forward to envelop her in a brief hug, trying my best to avoid the few icky spots on her surgery outfit. "Amelia, you'll be fine. This won't transform you into some kind of monster that's going to turn me into a brain dead follower while I sleep. I mean, come on, you've snuggled with me so many times, and I could be just as much of a threat to you."

She stiffened at being called out like that. Eventually, though, she relaxed and stepped back, after landing a peck on my chin.

"Thanks. I know that, I just… Never mind." She situated herself right behind the merc's head. "Let's do this."

Her hands began to ripple and glow, and then she stuck them straight into the man's skull.

His limbs twitched under the operating table's restraints. His whole body jerked a second later, but then he went completely still.

Amelia's look of concentration, meanwhile, intensified. Sweat started to bead on her brow. Nearly ten minutes passed before she stumbled away from the guy, breathing heavily.

Naturally, I was there to support her in less than a second.

"I've got you. I've got you," I whispered, cradling her to my chest. I only spoke up again when I felt her rapidly beating heart settle down. "How did it go?"

"I… I had to fight them. My arms, I mean. They really want to alter brains one definitive way alone. It was a struggle to get them to do what I wanted, but I think I managed."

"Should we wake him up and check?"

She hesitated, but only for a moment. "Sure."

I undid the restraints as she injected drugs into the guy, neutralizing the effects of the anesthetics he was on. When the expected amount of time for them to work passed and nothing happened, Amelia paled and began to fidget.

I was just about to slap him, or apply some adrenaline or something, when he finally came awake with a gasp.

"W-Wuh… where am I? What?" He was looking around like anyone waking up after a surgery might.

Until his eyes landed on Amelia, that is.

The second he saw her, his expression slackened into blankness. He immediately dragged his body upright, got off the table, and knelt in front of her.

I knew that Amelia was good, and that he wasn't in as much pain as he would have been after being operated on by any other ripper. But I also knew he was still experiencing some pain, or at least discomfort.

He moved like he felt none of that.

"How may I serve, Mender?" he asked, with no emotion or inflexion.

Amelia hissed out a breath, her expression caught between relief and intense unease.

"Behave like you're not under my influence," she ordered.

The merc immediately jerked back as if he'd been slapped, life and animation returning to his features. "The fuck's going on around here? Why am I kneeling? Why am I —"

"Enough. Obey me!" Amelia shouted.

The transformation that came over the man was profound and instant, rendering him a mindless drone once more.

A shiver raced down my spine. I couldn't quite identify all the emotions flaring up inside me. What I could tell, however, was that the whole display was… kind of hot?

Did I have issues?

I cleared my throat. "Well, it worked."

Amelia sighed, looking extremely conflicted.

"It sure did."

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