Chương 102: Book 2 - Chapter 22 - Gangland Diner

I stared at the front of Fanny's, which was an upscale restaurant not far from the shelter; At least, it was upscale for the undercity. I'm sure if it was topside it would have been the cheapest, lowest quality, greasy spoon joint. It occupied the entire bottom floor of one of the commercial buildings, had tiled floors, private tables and booths, a massive counter to sit at if you were alone, and had people serving you at your seat. Nyx informed me that, on the surface, it would be known as a 'diner'.

I'd never been inside, way too expensive before I became a samurai, and with the samurai meals there was no reason to head there after being chosen, but today was a special occasion. I'd contacted the heads of the local gangs, and requested a meeting at a neutral location, which ended up being Fanny's. A month ago I would never have imagined booking an entire restaurant, or talking to the gangs from a position of strength, but times had changed. Even though I arrived a little early, the outside was crowded.

There were half a dozen small groups huddled around the area, different gangs eying each other up. I had no doubt that someone would have started a fight, if my bears weren't occupying the area. I casually walked to the front door, trying to ignore the stares I was getting from pretty much every single person on the street, and headed inside. At the rear of the diner were half a dozen people, each sitting at their own table.

I'd recognized most of them, Dante from the Neon Scorpions, Elaine from the Saints, Jessup from the Brokers, and two girls I vaguely recognized; they used to be members of the Void Runners. Beside the people I recognized, there was also someone from the Junkers, and Obsidian Order. Far more than I expected, far less than I'd invited. The two girls from the Void Runners, or Wall Walkers as they remnants now called themselves, saw me first and scowled in my direction.

Not that I could blame them, I did kinda put them on the street. I was actually a little surprised they survived until now. As I got closer, the rest of the gang leaders turned, and stared at me warily. It made me a little self conscious. Since the tables were a little spread out, I walked over to the counter, climbed up on one of the stools, then sat down on the counter so everyone could see me. I caught the woman behind the counter giving me an angry look, but decided to ignore her.

"Howdy all, glad you could make it," I said.

"Like we had a choice," one of the Walker girls scoffed, "everyone knows what you did to the Walkers. No one wants to mess with you, or risk getting on your bad side."

"That was your boss's fault," I shot back.

"She was planning to attack me first. You're just lucky I didn't leave you all in the building when the bears attacked." The girl stared daggers at me, but she didn't talk back. Across the room, Jessup cleared his throat.

"So… Why did you call all of us together? You mentioned this meeting was optional, but implied it would be in our best interest. Why are we here?"

"Right. I guess I could have mentioned that earlier," I mumbled, "The reason I called you all here is to figure out a way for us all to co-exist." There was a moment of silence, then someone burst out laughing.

"You've moved in, displaced some of the locals, flooded the area with surveillance and armed teddy bears, and now you want to talk?" Dante asked incredulously.

"I've been busy," I replied with a shrug, "no one complained when I cleaned up the streets after the incursion. Plus, it's not like any of you can dislodge me, so it's better that we try and get along."

"Most of us thought you'd push out and start taking over additional turf once you had enough forces, are you telling us you're not going to do that?" Elaine asked. The woman was dressed all in an all-white outfit, not quite a suit, but the closest you'd get around here. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"Fuck that. What the hell would I do with more territory?" I huffed.

"The bears are there to defend me, and my family, and everyone just feels safer around them, so that's created a buffer zone."

"So they'll just back off, if someone wants to move in and take over those streets?" the man from the Junkers asked. He looked scruffy, with his dirty overalls, and greasy stained shirt. I knew they spent most of their time deconstructing stuff, but I assumed they could have found something cleaner.

"Fuck no. It's a no-gang zone, and it's going to stay that way," I replied. The man snorted, "So, why the fuck did you gather us all? To lord your strength over us?"

"No. Fuck! I want to try and make things better around here, and I wanted to ask for you… maybe not for your support, but not to fuck with the people involved." Everyone in the room just stared at me like a crazy person, so I sighed, head in hands.

"I want to start a school, teach the local kids some transferable skills, so they don't have to sift through trash their entire lives."

"Why?" came the question, from someone across the room. I didn't bother to look up and see who.

"Because I honestly think that'll improve things in the long run. Let's be honest, life down here sucks, and now that I have the ability to change things, I want to do it."

"So, you're asking us to support this project of yours, draw potential recruits out of our territories, what do we get out of this?" Eliane asked.

"Ah! Good question!" I replied, actually sitting up and pointing in her direction.

"I didn't expect you to do this for free. I figured I could maybe bribe you all to work with me, and get along, at least for a little while."

"With what?" Jessup asked, actually sitting up for the first time.

"That depends on all of you. I'm currently gearing up to do some construction, so I can offer my services to shore up the buildings in your neighborhoods, or maybe provide you with tech to improve the area. I have a lot to offer." I paused for a moment, "but no weapons, or anything destructive."

"Like what?" Dante asked.

"How about public use fabricators? I can probably print a few out with patterns for furniture and other utility options. You and your people can turn the scrap into usable items, or shit you could sell. I'm sure if you worked with Jessup, and the Brokers, you might even be able to find a market for some of the shit you make." A couple people glanced over at the big man in the suit, who just shrugged. It's not like I ran this by him beforehand.

"Can we request other shit? Maybe get you to pull your fucking squirrels out of our territories?" The person from the Obsidian Order asked. I didn't know if they were a man or a woman, because they had a heavy black outfit, complete with a veil. I don't know why the entire gang decided to hide their identities, but at the same time, I didn't feel like asking.

"I won't do that… yet. I'm sure many of you have heard that the Guiding Light has been poking around lately, and even though not everyone believes they're a threat, I do. The squirrels are helping me track them down. When I'm finished dealing with them, I'll consider removing them, but not yet."

"You're not doing a great job of establishing trust. Not willing to back off your bears, leaving your squirrels in our territory, I don't see why we should trust you," One of the Wall Walker girls mumbled.

"So don't, I'm not forcing you to. I'm here to inform you that I'm not going to try and expand, and offer you advantages for working with me. If you don't want to work with me, that's fine. I'm not going to force you. Any other questions?" The gang leaders all exchanged looks, trying to determine what their rivals would do, but no one spoke up. After a few seconds of silence, I hopped down from the counter.

"Feel free to think it over. I don't need an answer right away, I still need to build the building. Just message me once you decide." Since most of the gang leaders appeared to be on their augs, and I didn't want to disturb them, I wandered up to the front. The street outside was, thankfully, still quiet; no violence had broken out. I took it as a good sign, if they could get along together, at least for a few minutes, maybe they'd be willing to work with me.

I stretched, popping my shoulders before sliding into a booth by the door. It would only be a matter of time until they told me their answer; Hopefully it would be worth the wait.