Chương 633: Chapter Seventeen - Grasping at Paper Straws

"No luxury has survived recessions and economic downturns better than the humble drive-through coffee, because when you only have five dollars to your name, you can still afford a four dollar cuppa." --Except from The Second Big Depression, by Economist Wayne Wright, 2026

"So... yeah, bye man," I said. Radikal smiled right back.

"Yes. It was genuinely nice to speak with you, even if we strayed from our initial topic. Have a good... ah, afternoon, Stray Cat."

"See ya, Doc," I said before terminating the call. Leaning back after the image of the old guy blinked away, I reached up and brushed a hand through my hair. That was my early afternoon chore done. We'd ended up talking for an hour where I was initially expecting the call to last like, ten minutes at most, but Radikal was surprisingly fun to talk to. We have jack shit in common other than being Samurai, and yet I could see myself being his friend. In a 'grab a beer after work' kind of way.

I was just standing up when my projector blinked to life right in front of me. On instinct, I reached for my Trenchmaker, but it was just Radikal again.

"Stray Cat? Forgive me, please, but I realized as I terminated our call that there was something I forgot to communicate with you."

"Oh, uh, shit, go ahead," I said.

"Yes, yes, again I'm sorry. I was speaking with Susano this morning, when he happened to be awake as I was, and he mentioned to me that a samurai from the Keiretsu is heading to New Montreal, and it's possible that she would be showing up at your place to meet you." I shrugged.

"Alright? Anyone I should worry about?" Radikal seemed to consider that.

"I don't believe so? It might be best to consider them as a friendly ally coming for a visit."

"I can handle that," I said. The house was clean enough, and I didn't mind making more samurai friends.

"Good, good," he said with a nod.

"In that case, goodbye for real. Have a nice afternoon."

"Ciao," I said as his image winked out.

"So... who's coming to visit?" From what I can glean from public records, she's a long-term member of the Keiretsu. An experienced vanguard who elected not to participate in the Martian crusade. A 'she' huh? Well, whatever. I'd see them when they showed up. Placing my hands on my hips, I stretched my lower back out, then twisted left and right.

"Okay, it's... almost one. I should grab something on the way over to the Family, yeah?" Heading over in the Bastion would make the most sense, but if things went long and Lucy needed a ride back, I could just send the ship over to pick her up. Which left my bike. The bike was also conveniently able to fly into aerial drive-throughs, so I could grab something unhealthy on the way over. I deserved it after that physical torture I'd been through in yesterday's class. Before I left, I ran upstairs and got changed.

I'd worn old jeans and a loose t-shirt for the meeting with Radikal because it was all over screens and he was probably not a stickler for looks. When meeting the Family? Well, if Emoscythe was here, she'd probably have something to say about projecting power with my appearance or something. Basically, if I showed up looking like some nobody girl that was clueless, they'd treat me exactly like that.

I slid into a suit of exo-armour and then shrugged on a long coat with my Stray Cat logo on the back before tucking a Laser Pointer SMG in the small of my back and replacing my Trench Maker where it would be within easy reach in a thigh holster. It wasn't exactly like showing up in a war mech, but the armour gave me a couple of inches of height, and it was sleek as shit. I looked myself over before leaving.

Emoscythe had helped with the image for this one a while back, and I was rocking the dangerous bounty-hunter look. I liked it. I wouldn't ever admit it out loud, but it made me feel kind of cool. Obviously, being actually cool was about being chill with yourself to the point where you weren't trying to be cool at all, so I wasn't going to open my dumb mouth and let people know. If anyone asked, this armour and coat and shit was all the most efficient stuff I had access to at the moment.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. With a nod to myself, I moved back downstairs, straddled my bike, then shot out of our building and up past the midday air traffic.

"Myalis, can you poke the Family and let them know that I'm on my way? Just want to check in on things, make sure our projects are moving along at a good pace." On a scale of one to sixteen, how passive-aggressive should I be with the message?

"Uh... like, a two?" I said. No. I'd rather go all-in. Message sent. What did that even mean? I... didn't feel like I had the energy to untangle Myalis' fun at the moment though. I turned my bike down and flew over to a drive-through coffee place that didn't have too long of a line, and five minutes (and a couple of thousand credits) later, I was flying with one hand on the handles and the other holding onto an ice cappuccino. Fuck the bounty hunter look, this sugary shit was tasty.

The Family's HQ in the middle of the city looked busier than I remembered it being. Traffic around the building was constant, and it wasn't just hovercars and vans. There were a few vehicles that were definitely some samurai's ride.

Jolly Monarch had to be around because there was half of a chess set floating nearby, each 'piece' the size of a suburban home but made entirely of metal and probably filled with enough firepower to level a small town, and the 'samurai only' parking on the roof only had a couple of spots free. I parked my bike in between a large armoured van painted in a deep black with no obvious windows or doors and a sweet little blue roadster with sick flame decals. No idea who either belonged to. New samurai in the region?

Or just more New Montreal samurai that I hadn't met? Actually, it might have been out-of-towners. The call just before the Phobos incident had brought in a lot of people from outside of the region to help, and that could mean that the Family was playing hotel. I climbed off my bike, then slid open the front of my helmet so that I could sip through the straw of my ice cap... the damned straw had turned to mush at the bottom though.

"Fucking paper straws," I muttered. I was all for saving nature and shit, but only when it wasn't inconvenient. I ended up drinking from the lip of the cup like a barbarian as I made my way over to the main entrance. Within, I found three people in suits waiting for me. They all smiled corpo little smiles and greeted me with handshakes. One of them, a slightly older guy with greying hair, spoke for the others once the introductions were over with.

"How can we assist you today, Miss Stray Cat?" he asked.

"Just want an in-person update," I said.

"Where is Eric, or Piper?" I asked. The two of them had been my sorta-official liaisons with the Family. I wasn't exactly attached to either, but it was easier to deal with a familiar face than not.

"They're on their way," the man assured me.

"Your arrival was unexpected, and neither were on-duty at the time."

"Uh-huh," I said. The trio started to lead me further into the building, but I wasn't sure where we were going, exactly. Fortunately, a few corridors in, we were met by Eric who ran over while adjusting his tie.

"Miss Stray Cat," he said with a nervous smile.

"I'll take it from here, gents." The trio hesitated, but clearly Eric here had some sort of leg up on them because they slinked away after a while.

"Sorry about that," he said.

"I understand that you're not fond of overly formal arrangements. Ah, but we're being run ragged right now."

"Things are bad?" I asked.

"Things are busy," he said.

"I... am permitted to speak candidly?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

"The Family is using the end of the current crisis and its involvement within it to bolster its own reputation and standing. That means a massive PR campaign, lots of outreach, and we need to ensure that all of the work we do now is above the usual standard, to avoid any reproach from any competition."

"You've got competition?" I asked. He shrugged.

"The government?" Well shit, that made some sort of sense.

"Alright. Well, I hope I didn't give you guys too much work."

"You did, ma'am, but trust me, the higher-ups couldn't be more pleased. You'll be happy to note that their pleasure reflects well on your own Family-related projects."