050: Eurus

The muscular man called Armored Behemoth stepped out and blocked her path.
"What's your rush?"
Oros reached out to stop him.
She kept her eyes fixed on John, her gaze carrying thought and confusion. "Pardon me, Mr. John, can you... pull up our records?"
John didn't answer, reading the data instead.
[File: German nationality, EU STU Incident wanted criminal, suspected of terrorist attacks and arms smuggling (Special Intelligence Service file), fixer, disappeared after the 71 political scandal of Messiah Corporation...]
Oros's eyeballs were flashing as well.
She was certain John had recognized them and couldn't help asking, "Whose database did your prosthetic eyes use for the scan?"
John tapped the elevator panel.
The car didn't move.
"F***, what is this?"
[Status: Out of Service [Under Maintenance]]
John activated his scanning interface.
A yellow stream of data flowed between the elevator panel and the strange woman.
Oros stood up.
"Don't blame your Black Gold Gang brothers for not tipping you off. We're on a secret visit, and even they didn't know someone was coming for you."
"Phew—I came to the right place."
She put away her e-cigarette and knocked on the door.
"Mr. John, the elevator's temporarily out of commission. Care to sit down and chat?"
"Fine by me."
John knew he couldn't run. "That hunk behind you looks like he's ready to crush my skull at any second."
"You mean Behemoth? Oh, don't worry, he's actually quite simple-minded and friendly... well, most of the time, anyway. In short, I mean no harm, just brimming with curiosity."
"How much do I owe for the damages?"
"Money... Oh, you mean the drone? I actually have nothing to do with Iron State Logistics. I only wore that uniform to get close to you, but now that you've seen right through it, there's no need for it anymore."
Oros knocked on John's door again.
"I should be sitting on your sofa right now, but I managed to knock out the system for the entire building yet couldn't hack my way into your front door... They said you're a good driver, but no one mentioned your hacking skills."
Her confusion continued to mount.
"Honestly, you don't look like someone who plays in cyberspace. If you know any badass hackers, you can introduce them to me."
John still didn't answer.
He stepped forward, swiped to open the door, and received an access warning from Black Light.
Oros had knocked out the apartment building's local area network, preventing the information from getting out. Although she hadn't successfully hacked in, John decided he would upgrade his security rating further later on.
Armored Behemoth didn't follow inside.
Oros hummed a tune as she walked into the living room, her arms swaying to the blues playing on the speakers, seeming to approve of John's taste in music.
"Can I get you something to drink?"
John asked like a host entertaining a guest, though his heart was tightly wound. After licking blood off blade edges for so long, to suddenly have someone breach his lair...
It was one hell of a thrill.
"A glass of filtered water will do. Hey, I want to know how you—"
"Hey."
John lowered his cup to interrupt her. "You have too many questions. Can you introduce yourself first?"
"Oros Grenada, didn't your scan already tell you? Stop playing dumb; your expressions are much more honest than your mouth."
She pointed at herself.
"I operate over in Europe, quite familiar with Plato and Raiki Industries. This time I'm on a long-term business trip to Eden City, probably staying for a few years."
"You're a fixer. What do you want with me?"
"Fixers need mercenaries. The last time I came to Eden City, I wasn't even as tall as a coffee machine, and there weren't many names in my phone book. Someone recommended you, but I didn't expect you to have already hooked up with Necktie."
"Just taking what we need from each other."
"Not getting along well? It's fine to be straight about it. In the circle, he's... the type with great performance reviews but terrible feedback."
Oros had a wasp waist and a curvaceous figure, baring her midriff where a flash of gold shimmered amidst the faux leather.
"Working with a fixer who's all talk must feel pretty insecure, right?"
John caught her drift, smiled helplessly, and retorted, "Working with a newcomer like you doesn't sound very promising either."
"You have to try it to find out."
As Oros spoke, she suddenly pushed John backward onto the sofa.
"WTF?"
The water in John's hand spilled.
Before he could react, a heavy weight pressed against his waist, and a feminine scent mingled with the lingering trace of an e-cigarette washed over him. Their lips were about to touch, and the air grew somewhat ambiguous...
"I heard you had Necktie check employee information for Iron State Logistics?"
Oros pulled out a card and blocked the space between their lips.
"No matter what you're trying to dig up, management definitely knows more than the grunts. Here's the address of an Iron State Logistics supervisor. When you've figured things out, call me there."
[New contact added - Oros Grenada]
"Huh? What the..."
John took the object in a daze.
It was a business card for an old-fashioned freight car processing plant.
"You're not bad-looking, but don't rush. A man has to prove his character before he can prove his bedroom skills. Have a nice life, John~"
Oros stood up and brushed her fingers across John's lips.
She smiled, pulled out her e-cigarette, glanced around the room, and left.
John's mind was in a bit of a mess.
He pulled open the door; the hallway was completely empty, and the elevator floor numbers steadily ticked downward.
John returned to the room and immediately called Cabinet.
[Oros... What? Can you spell it out? Eden City doesn't seem to have anyone by that name. Do you need me to look into it for you?]
"Never mind."
John pinched the bridge of his nose. "I need to buy some things. I'll send the list over shortly; mail it to me tomorrow along with the blueprints."
John needed to upgrade his apartment:
First, he would sever his system from the apartment's local network, creating a sub-server tethered to the public internet. Even if the entire building's network went down, it would switch automatically and send signals to him through the Atlanta Virtual Net.
John placed his order and hung up the phone.
This baffling fixer had left him entirely bewildered.
Wanting to get more information, John thought of Oros's nationality and immediately sat up straight to call Eden Weitz.
[Tch, John, watch the time.]
Eden had been woken up.
"Oros Grenada. Ring any bells?"
[Where'd you hear that name?]
His tone turned serious.
"She was right in front of me just a moment ago. She hasn't been gone long."
John described what had happened when he came home tonight.
Eden pondered for a moment after hearing it.
[Oros debuted during the German gang riots. She's not old, and she was very active during the last Corporate War, hovering among several multinational corporations. I don't know what Eden City has that could attract her here, but it certainly won't be anything small.]
"So she's a dangerous person, basically? She has a bodyguard named Armored Behemoth, and that brute's arm is thicker than my head."
[Then you got to see two living legends in one day.]
Eden expressed mild surprise.
[Behemoth is a mercenary for Messiah. The 71 EU coup spilled over into Germany, and he went missing after corporate higher-ups were assassinated. Oros disappeared around the same time.]
"Two big shots, then. Why'd they come to mess with me?"
[No idea, but be careful. Especially don't lie to her.]
Eden revealed a bit of information to John.
[Oros's prosthetic eyes are experimental cyberware with micro-expression reading and emotional analysis algorithms. They say she can even detect pulse and heartbeat data, so it won't help you even if you have a surgically modified poker face.]
"Politicians must be shivering in their boots."
[Uh-huh, you guessed it. That's how she made her name in Europe.]
"Then what should I do?"
[If you're determined to make it big in Eden City and someone like Oros Grenada brings you work, just say yes right away.]
John didn't answer.
He didn't have any specific pursuit of fame or status; he had stepped onto the streets in the first place simply because life had hit rock bottom and he wanted a slightly better existence.
Seeing John stay silent, Eden took the initiative to ask.
[Ready to become a big shot?]