By Necessity: Fortnight
By TerraMGP
Kanina hated hospitals. She hated the pale, `calming' blue they smeared over every wall. She hated the bitter sting of antiseptic material and the hum of power though them to the pods and tools needed for modern medicine. Most of all she hated the sticky haze that held her mind as she struggled out of the carefully measured drugs that had been used on her. Subsiding slowly into a more welcomed twinge of pain while she clawed her way back to the waking world.
She heard the pod hiss and click even before her mind fully came to. Thick corundum-based glass shifting away from her and trading the stale leather sweat of her own nude body for the dull sterile nothing of the hospital. ``Fack.'' the bunny muttered, her throat feeling dry as sandpaper. ``I didn't think Seb could hit that hard. Here I was hoping to avoid these places after the last time.
The sound of a throat clearing made Kanina glance up. The young man in the lab coat who stood before the pod looked like he'd just walked out of a prom and into the turquoise banded uniform of a medical professional. He had a grin plastered on his face. It was genuine enough. Welling up with a sickening compassion and unnerving optimism which only served to accent all of the problems Kanina saw in this damn place. At least with Savvy she was greeted to the comforting smells of machine oil and ozone. The dirt and grime and that Cheshire grin which made you feel like you'd just been ripped off even if all he did was patch a flesh wound.
The doctor, a slightly stunted wolf with frizzy hair and a stocky frame, Took a half step forward as the pod door opened fully. He carefully guided the pod up to a full standing position while keeping an eye on Kanina to make sure she didn't fall over from vertigo. It was a common enough problem when you got enough chromework done and for Kanina the issues were even worse thanks to the Cygnus sensory augs Savvy had put in.
``Ah Fack.'' She spat.
``Everything ok, Miss?'' The doctor barked the words like a puppy. He waddled up in front of her and offered out a thin mossy green pullover gown. He kept on her with that eerily sincere smile until the bunny relented and pulled it on, after which he gleefully stepped to the side and offered a hand to allow her out of the pod.
``Now then, Ms. Kunitdottir.'' He murred ``Please take it slow. I'm Doctor Shultz. I'm not sure if you remember me from when we admitted you.''
Her eyes flicked over his face a moment. Everything still felt like a pained blur as she tried to get her bearings. She gave him a small smile and took a few stumbling steps free of the pod, barely managing to catch a nearby tool tray before toppling over on her own legs. ``Yeah, sure. Dr. Shultz. Thanks, Doc''
``It's ok if you don't, Ms. Kunitdottir.'' he laughed ``You were pretty banged up when you got in here and after everything you went though I'd be shocked if you remembered anything from the time you walked in that door.''
It was true. The last memories in her mind revolved around a growing feeling of nausea as she was sped to the hospital mixed with the lyrics to some awful pop-tune the drive hard decided was worth playing. Worse, her stomach still felt wrong. A lot of things felt wrong. ``I admit I wasn't expecting to wake up quite this spliced. I guess that crazy bastard did more than I thought.''
``Well the primary damage was thankfully minimal'' The doctor offered his hand again. When Kanina refused it he simply stepped off to the side to snag one of the chairs set out for visitors and pull it up next to her. He looked at her, she at him. Finally she sat and he wagged a bit while continuing. ``You had quite a bit of bruising on your neck and it looks like you suffered at least one impact that could have resulted in a himatoma. Part of why we rushed you into the medical pod. The, ahem, `buffer' in your jack against biofeedback data had also been worn down considerably. You know normally I tell patients not to modify their implants without direct consultation with their doctors. Especially such radical modifications. To be frank much of your augmentation is utterly unrecognizable to our database.''
``I guess that's what I get for chepaing out, huh?'' She laughed. Kanina's eyes shifting a bit from side to side. ``Well just so I know you guys at least replaced the shunt fuse, right? I mean my chrome may be a bit custom but I know those things were pretty standard.''
``For military applications maybe.'' the Doctor added. He waved open a personal AR display and looked it over a moment. That soul-rottingly chipper smile returning in force. ``If you're worried about the dangers of another attack, though, I can at least assure you that you should be fine. Or rather took well enough. At request of your owner I won't pry too deeply into just how you sustained the injuries, but generally any time we get a patient with that much feedback over their jack I recommend at least three months recovery time. Mainly because we can only repair so much of the tissue damage with basic medical nanites and medication. Time for the body's natural healing processes to take hold is still going to be the absolute best treatment to ensure no long term effects from such an attack.''
Kanina gripped the thin foam pads of the chair and let her eyes slip shut. The woozy sickness and a twinge of discomfort rolled out of her in a lilting laugh. One that sounded far too weak and tired for her liking. ``I don't think I'll be getting into anything like that any time soon, doc.'' She sighed. ``Truth is I'd be more than happy if I never had to go though that slag again. Especially the choking. Oh, and the getting shot at, too. Pretty much all of it really. Pretty much zero fun across the board.''
``Well I can't say St. Andrews is particularly used to getting cases like yours, Ms Kunitdottir. Frankly I would have expected to see you get transferred to the Eir institute or even the medical facilities at the Mercenary Guild building since they tend to have the bulk of the specialists in this field.''
``Oh come on, doc. You seem like a nice kid.'' Kanina winced as she said it, realizing the man may well be far older than her. Then again with the way he acted it was hard to really picture. ``Look, You don't have to pretty it up. It's no big deal. I did something reckless, got my gear burned on some ICE and you guys had to patch me up. I mean sure I'm not used to getting choke slammed on a regular basis but I'm a big girl. Besides you're a way more professional outfit than my usual doc.''
The doctor quickly returned to his AR display. His actions rather indicative of the man gathering up files. It took an embarrassingly long span of moments before Kanina realized that she couldn't see it because her jack was probably still in reboot. Something that probably also explained the nausea and lack of balance.
It also seemed that the doctor failed to realize this at first. A few failed attempts to flick the files towards her causing confusion, then consternation, then panic. The actions continued on until Kanina finally gripped his wrist and shook her head, letting out a sigh. ``I presume you got a good enough look at my basic info, doc. Just send it to my jack later when it's rebooted. Plus, no offense, I'm not really gonna read it. I'm not dead and I have no plans on moving my ass more than I have to for as long as I have to. So I doubt there will be too much useful for me there.''
``Well I suppose if nothing else it shouldn't be too hard to get the files to you.'' The young wolf moved to the tray and snagged a set of carefully labeled medical bags. He set them gently into Kaninas lap and then shifted himself into an awkward position, his hip jutting out at an angle and chest sort of slumping. It was the kind of thing one might expect to see if you took someone who'd never felt relaxed before and told them to do so simply from seeing someone else.
From his smile Kanina could only guess the man was trying to instill some cool confidence in his abilities after the panic moments ago. Or maybe he was hitting on her. Or maybe he was just a dork. She didn't know. She didn't care either.
``Now normally we have a small recovery ward offered to patients so that they can finish healing and getting their wetware synched in a safe environment. Frankly considering the complexity of your case I'd normally insist on it for at least a few days. But considering who your owner is I feel safe in presuming you have a safe space to rest while you recover?
``Huh? Oh, yeah. Yeah sure.'' She nodded. Not that she was listening. Kanina was instead focused on the array of items in the bags. Checking the carefully detailed and labeled personal effects. Her piercing. What looked to be some very old carbon shrapnel from Woz knew when. Her glasses and case both stuck in their own individual baggie. A bemusing bit of neurosis that reminded her ever so slightly of Bri.
Then she paused. A stillness hit the room. A creeping static of agitation that shot though the doctor and seemed to stretch each silent moment out to an eternity. Kanina held up a small rounded rectangular object, flat and measuring about two centimeters at its longest point. She looked the item over again and again. It couldn't be. It was impossible. The nausea in her gut turned to a pit of dread and anger as the bunny finally turned her eyes up to the now trembling figure of the doctor. She shook the baggie for good measure She wanted his attention fixed on it.
``Ok, doc. Maybe you can tell me why the Fack I'm holding this.''
--------------------
The second nap of the day. A calm, twisted thing. A slow and drawn out torture brought about by the immense under stimulation which plagued the young woman now curled in her childhood bed. To say the sensation was unfamiliar would be a profound understatement. Just looking dimly at the badly tarnished finish on the wall plates of her room. The practically threadbare black sheets gripping the thin foam mat that was her bed for so many years. Small packages and cloths that were too small just at a glance littering the thin brown carpeting with a small three step path between her bed itself and the door. The little room had been hers for so many years. Yet only now with her brain screaming for any sort of stimuli was Kanina forced to take in just how small and insignificant it all was. Her eyes darting to each detail with an unpleasant clarity.
There was one other option for distraction. Kanina felt it rolling around between her thumb and forefinger while she watched some small, sickly orange polygon twist and turn at the bottom of her vision.
Two weeks. It had been two weeks since she'd taken on the Tarot. Two weeks since they dared to use her and hurt her friend. Two weeks spent in that damn pod while doctors went though and ripped out every old aug they could. Each one now sitting piled up in their own little baggies at the far end of her bed.
She recognized each one. The auto-injector Savvy set her up with as a `welcome' gift for making it out of the outer ring. That and her first capsule of real leaf. Probably why she kept going back to the dirty old Liger. Then there was the `genuine' Lactic acid inhibitor and the oxy regulator that had been slipped in to her lungs back when she joined the Tarot. As expected both about as genuine as her fur color. The Chinese characters and Russian letters smattered over the face of them were both absolute gibberish. That they bothered to imitate the physical markings at all was kind of amusing though, what with the fact that Kanina had them sitting in her for the better part of a decade with no ill results. How much of that was down to Savvy tinkering was anyone's guess.
That was the part she really hated thinking about, though. Those big bucked teeth slipped over her lower lip as she mulled it. Her foot twisting and bobbing freely in lazy circles as it struggled to burn what stress it could. It was the kind of thing a run would really fix, if her whole body didn't ache. If she wasn't terrified of ripping or smashing some new implant. It was impossible to judge if she was more furious or more anxious and yet at the same time it really was starting to feel like it didn't much matter anymore. At least not until her body was once again her own.
Finally the little orange shape vanished from view. Kanina could feel her body tremble and twitch as the systems slowly began to boot up once more. The gaudy, fractal orange and green Kenna logo springing up before her eyes as the systems streamed though their newly integrated boot cycle.
``I'm gonna splice that bear when I get my hands on him.'' SHe muttered. Her fingertips digging in to the sheets and twisting the thin fabric. She looked at the HUD that now greeted her. Clunky and basic, the whole thing disgustingly sterile and impersonal. Soft little flecks of orange tooltipping every item around her within moments as they began the overly simplistic analysis which ruled the lives of every day sprockets. The longer she looked, the more the sight made her shiver uncomfortably. Kanina couldn't help feeling trapped in her own body. Her mind forcing out the HUD as long as she could while she attempted to think though a process to slip free from this pre packaged cage.
It would have been so much easier if the mere sight of the display didn't make her skin crawl.
Ultimately the bunny girl could do little more than lay there. Her body limp as she slowly picked though the sea of data to make whatever quick changes she could. Getting a proper violet tint on the HUD, tuning down the spam of useless information gathering,
She finally had a clock back. Problem was by this point Kani had no interest in looking at it very long. At some point she was going to have Savvy look all this over. Until then she had to at least make things bearable. It was bad enough she was starting from square one, but worse that it was a Kenna shell loaded in. One of those new, super invasive versions, too. It would take hours just to dig out her backup programs from all the nodes she'd stashed around and reconstitute... whatever she was going to name the new Avi. Fortune was nice, but she was at the very least `in retirement'.
It was a long and arduous task. One that she broke up by keeping the readouts for her new chrome up and ready. Just as she suspected the doctors had done it on Sean's say-so. A coiled neural stem for her jack. Hell dozens of different tweaks. A new cache for autoskill programs. Her reflex boosters and sense boosters both clearly higher. Or at least that's what she could glean from the few numbers she understood. She let her hand flop heavily to the floor and fumbled around for an open and half eaten bag of sugary generic foam bits. The first few bites filled Kanina's mouth with an explosion of bland and vaguely vegetal uniformity. A sensation only barely beaten out by a flavor that could only be describe as `sweet' in an unpleasantly raw form. The pattern of munching, working and reading carried her though Woz knew how many hours without a thought. And then the door slammed shut, and her ears perked hard.
``Kanina. You up sweetie?''
``In here, mom.'' She muttered
``You see the ham and cheese I set out for you, Kanina?''
``Yeah mom.'' She hadn't. she hadn't been out of bed. Knowing their food printer the whole thing was probably sitting there as a big droopy mess on dried out sponges. ``I wasn't really that hungry. I think I'm going to see how Bri is doing a bit later. If you want I can nab something on the way back for us to make it up to you.''
``I don't need you to `make it up' to me, Kanina.'' The white furred bunny woman poked her head in and sighed softly. ``You haven't been following the doctors orders at all, have you?''
``Doc said rest. I'm resting.'' SHe shrugged.
``I know that look, sweetie. Your old mom isn't as blind as you think she is.''
Kani rolled her eyes and sighed gently. The last thing she wanted was her anger to spill out on her mother. ``This is helping me relax, mom. When I can actually look at my HUD and not want to vomit then I can probably get a nap.''
``I still think my little hero needs herself a good nap.'' Haunani chided. She walked into the room with a bottle of water and a small bag of vegetable chips. Setting them down on the bed and snatching up the sugary nothingness.
``Hero? Mom, why do you think I'm a hero?'' Kanina pulled herself up and sat on the bed, eyeing her mother carefully.
``I told you I'm not blind. I mean I didn't quite know what you were working on until everything happened and Lord Thaenson contacted me.''
``Wait. He called you?''
``Well of course. My baby doll goes out and not only saves her best friend, but thwarts some big secret plot against the whole company by herself? I mean I admit I was rather angry for that first week there. After all if I'd known you were running around trying to play corp spy all this time.'' SHe shook her head and bit back a sob. Kanina now finally able to see a few tears forming in the woman's eyes. ``He promised me he was going to get you the best care, and with the reward money''
``Reward money?'' Kanina was doing her best to remain calm. Gripping the sheets and twisting them until her knuckles felt like they'd pop. Everything in her struggling to keep that stupidly chipper smile.
``Well I mean, I don't know what you had planned. But there's still plenty left over. That said'' she slapped her hands together and grinned ear to ear. ``The place? It's ours now. All ours. Can you believe it? I never could have dreamed of anything like it!''
``Wow. That's... that's great, mom. Really great.'' SHe glanced off to the side and took a few slow breaths to calm herself. Maybe it was the new systems still integrating. Maybe it was malnourishment. But most likely it was just good old home grown all natural rage.
In spite of that, in spite of everything, Kanina still offered her mother a warm smile and took the water. The liter-sized bottle flowing down her throat in a single breath and a hand full of chugs. ``Look. I still got some things to do, like I said. Plus I still gotta check on Bri today.''
Haunani's face darkened a bit. She nodded somberly and reached out to grab her girl by the hand. Giving it a firm squeeze. ``Listen. You just be careful, ok? And eat something. I don't care how big a hero you are little Kanina you need to take better care of yourself, and listen to your mother a bit more often.''
``Yeah. Yeah I got it mom.'' She nodded ``Don't worry. I'll just be gone a few hours.
---------------------
Sean should have been pissed. It was the only thing on his mind for the past two weeks now. He should have been furious about how hard the stations security forces dropped the ball on this. And to a point the was. He should have been furious about some punk, upstart gang trying to game him. To take his little gem. Probably to extort him. No, he was pissed about that. Hell he'd probably just toss them to Ilka if the worst offenders hadn't already paid. Part of him even wanted to be pissed at his own household. The mischievous toys that set up the damn dating profile for him and got him to meet up with Brinna in the first place.
He should be pissed. But he wasn't. Bri was safe, and that was what counted.
Unfortunately the whole thing felt like a repeat of the last time this happened. He'd been back to her home a few times. Had plain cloths guards posted nearby. And a few other things that he wished would get him a bit more at ease.
Now she was busy sleeping. Her teacher `persuaded' to give her some time off from her apprenticeship and her parents now able to stay home more and provide some basic support. He'd be there too, if it wasn't for Oversight.
The morning had been meetings. Nothing but. Strings of people seeking the time and attention of a man who had far less control over what was going on than they thought and who could literally not care less about whatever stupid showoff projects they wanted to have done. Dozens of men and women offering hollow supplication in the hopes that some personal benefit may come of it and not one of them seeming to realize just how little he wished to be here.
Much of the afternoon Sean had managed to dodge by walking the halls and pulling one of his favorite little tricks. Slipping along the small self contained work tubes and peeking his head in for a few moments with a look of upbeat concern. Seven years he'd been doing this and not one of them called him out on it. The bear vowed that the first one who did would get a whole box of steaks from his own private farm back on Faeroes. Seemed like a particularly safe bet to make with himself.
The last hours of the day were just creeping in during the seventh circuit around the work floor. He rounded the corner on his way to the lab only to feel something hard thud into his chest. The bear looked down into a familiar pair of red eyes and bushel of purple fur broken by one sharp diamond-shaped patch of fur over one eye.
``Gah! What are you trying to do, give a guy a heart attack?'' Sean gasped. He fumbled backwards and gripped the corner where Kanina was trying to right herself. A well practiced scowl replaced by a mix of frustration and surprise.
``Well I wasn't expecting you to barrel around the corner like a lummox. Sheesh, you'd think a class 1 highborn like you would know how to manage proper hallway etiquette.''
``Sorry.'' he muttered, then stopped and looked her over again. ``Wait what are you doing out of bed? Better still why are you here?''
``I took the rail.'' Kanina muttered. ``Which, by the way? I wouldn't have to do if someone hadn't decided to keep me in a med pod for two weeks. As for I got in here?'' SHe scoffed at him glibly and waved her AR ID into the air before her. ``I'm your `Slave'. Remember. Or under consideration, or whatever. Seems like your employees were worried you'd be pissed if I wasn't let in.''
The two figures shuffled around a bit. Sean seemingly seeking a spot to get comfortable, Kanina wandering like a boxer with everything to prove. She made her way to the far wall and leaned back against it to regain her composure. Foot tapping slowly at the carpet.
``Yeah, well. You feeling ok?'' He smiled brightly at her and leaned in a bit. She just glanced away and left the man shifting awkwardly in place. ``Great. Here I thought I could make it out of here without any more grating confrontations.''
``How's Bri?'' It wasn't the question at the forefront of her mind. It should have been. But it could at least be the first from her lips.
A long pause, then a nervous laugh as Sean slipped his hand into his pocket and popped open a small plastic container. He downed a few of the mints from the packet before holding it up for Kanina. She stood still with her arms crossed and tapped her foot at a near thump.
``She's... there. It feels like she ended up backsliding hard. The guys who snagged her, Corpsec doesn't' have an ID on them yet but she, she saw them take all three down. Her parents are watching her right now.''
``But you're not?'' The bunny growled.
``Can't. Got people riding my ass. Gotta wait until work day is up. Though I still feel like I need to figure out a way to get some more time off.''
That didn't seem to shift Kanina's mood much. She paced along the wall a few times and twitched her tail nervously. Glancing up and down the hall. Her eyes catching a few people. Nicely dressed men and in what passed for designer suits. The kind of trash she'd spent her whole life grifting to stay afloat. How many of their kids were pushing the crystals she'd helped to make? How many of them got their little rainy day, `in case of divorce' cred accounts tapped by one of her crew? She glanced back at Sean and twitched her nose angrily. The bear was still so utterly, insufferably aloof it made her feel sick.
``So what did you tell her then? Did you tell her why those guys came after her? Or who they were?''
``You mean does she know they were part of your gang?'' Sean asked softly.''
``She doesn't know abut the Tarot. Not that it matters now. But you at least have to know who they were working for by now.''
``I don't.'' The bear sighed. ``All she knows is that they snagged her and you caught sight of it. Sent me your tracking info for her, Corpsec got on it and she was saved.'' Sean sighed and shoved his hands into his jacket pocket ``as opposed to the last time she had to deal with them. I'm sure our meeting with her psych next week is gonna be tons of fun.''
``So you didn't tell her about the gang?'' Kanina sighed.
``Kinda figured `your best friend went on an action hero spree and took a bunch of thugs out almost getting killed in the process' was something to save for when she's a bit more stable. For now I've just been trying to dodge it whenever she asks anything major.''
``Really? And how have you been dodging me being gone for two weeks?'' SHe muttered.
``Poorly.'' The bear shifted his weight back and sighed. ``I promised her you were fine and that you'd be in soon. I kinda lucked out though. She's been passed out more often than not for the past two weeks. Not even sure she knows what day it is.''
``Yeah, well'' Kanina scoffed. ``You know you wouldn't have to `explain' anything if you didn't trick me into a pod so the docs can jack up your newest conquest with a bunch of fancy new toys you bought.''
``Bought? Who said anything about bought?'' Sean chuckled.
``You did.'' The words grinding out though Kaninas teeth as she eyed the obnoxious tailored suit the bear wore. Somehow hating it even more than his shallow attempts at `common' clothing. ``I mean, you didn't say anything. But you're the one who picked out what they loaded in me.''
``Well yeah. But I didn't buy it.''
``Requisitioned it. Took it because you own it, whatever.'' She sighed.
Sean shook his head and leaned back with that insufferably smug grin on his face. ``Oh that? Nah. I'm not sticking my little gem's best friend with off the shelf slag. That's all stuff I designed.''
``I. Wait, what?'' Her brow quirked.
``Well it's not like you're new to getting some Chrome, Kani. I kinda figured you knew what Thaneson as about.''
She nodded a bit and looked him over once more, as if some physical aspect of his character would prove to her that he was lying, or joking, or whatever he must be doing. Her eyes caught him pointing up instead, drifting to a small physical plaque which read `Lab 1A. Private use, Jarl Thaneson.'
The two fell silent. Kanina could see his growing amusement. A furious smile crossing her lips even as she seemed to rip him open with her eyes.
``What? Didn't think I knew my way around a design program?'' he beamed.
``No,'' Kanina scoffed ``Just trying to think if `can't justify hitting his stupid face' is an acceptable reason for hitting someone in their stupid face.'' The bunny girl slowly leaned back away from him and instead settled onto the heels of her shoes. She took a few small sharp breaths and then winced. ``So what, Now you got your hooks in me and can make sure I play nice? Is that it?'' She scoffed ``I'm surprised you didn't rip out everything and just swap out my limbs.''
``And why in Hel's name would I do that?'' Sean muttered.
``Well ya sure didn't have a problem switching my gams out, Savvy!'' she snapped.
``I don't know what that means.'' Sean grumbled.
``Of course you don't.'' She screamed. Kanina actually stepped up to him and leaned up. Her ear perking up a bit as she heard the sounds of footsteps from down the hall. ``Look, maybe it's different when you have enough jink to buy a damn planet. But where I come from stealing someone's chrome is not ok. Not to mention all the data I had on that drive.''
Kanina shifted and narrowed her eyes. The two guards started to move forwards again only to be stopped by Sean lifting his hand. His big blue eyes fixed on her. ``Look if this is about your data, I didn't look at it when I transferred. I mean come on, That would be a pretty shitty thing to do, right?''
``Transferred.'' Kanina glanced cockeyed up at him and then looked back down at the floor, Her HUD bringing up a large secured node set into her current data cache, one just big enough to likely contain everything she had before.
``See?'' Sean smirked proudly. A hard right hook slamming into his gut for the trouble. ``Gahh, what was that for?''
``What do you think?'' She snapped. The guards once again inching closer before the bear stopped them.
Sean took a few deep breaths to get himself stable and raised back up with his shoulders a bit straighter now. Kanina found it a bit odd how his face and body changed so much with just a slight shift in posture.
He said nothing, which only drove her rage.
``You could have told me sooner. Besides, if you were going to transfer everything over why not leave what I had in place? Maybe save me a few days recovery time?''
``Ask what?'' he growled. ``Hey, Kani, Mind if I rip out this Cygnus junk that will leave you dead or a vegetable in twenty years? Is it cool if I replace it with a full on custom suite as some small measure of thanks for the shitshow those asshole gang mates of yours put you though?'' Or maybe for setting your mom up with some funds so she doesn't have to struggle and you don't have to run in such shit crowds anymore?''
``Yes!'' Kanina screamed. She hit him again, wincing. Unlike Seb this bear seemed to have some real abs under his fat. Not that it stopped her from doing so again and kicking the tip of his dress shoe. ``Gah, Woz fucking damn it all to the deepest nodes do you not realize how facked up this is? Damn it!'' Her fist slammed the wall behind her. A mistake that came to light just as the pain began to dance though her digits. She spun back around and tucked the fist under her arm. Her whole body just collapsed under its own weight leaving Kanina shivering with rage as she gazed up at the ceiling over the rims of her glasses.
``Do you really not get it?'' She asked. This time her voice was tired. Weak. The fire in it having dwindled to low embers.
``I guess I didn't.'' he bellowed angrily. Then stopped as the anger faded from his face. The bear slumped his way down across from her and the two sat silently for a long time. Neither looking each in the eye for the longest time.
``So, how do I know you didn't bug me, or screw with my head, or my `ware?'' She muttered. ``I mean, more than you already have.''
Sean shrugged softly and lulled his head back. ``Well, I'm sure a nice gal like you has a regular allydoc she goes to. Guys any good I can imagine he should be able to get you cleared. Hell, from what I saw the guys more than good enough. Whoever sketched up those reflex wires of yours was not concerned about non-use ticks.''
``... So it's just the stuff in the folder, right? Some tweaks to my jack. Making stuff safer, Whatever a `metabolic regulator' is...''
``Basically something I made that they decided wasn't really useful enough for line troops. Kinda just does what it says on the tin.'' He shrugged ``Figured it was a fair swap for that lil torture box shutting down your lactic acid production. Gods it's a wonder your legs aren't made of paste by now.''
She nodded softly and took another breath. The bitterness still in her voice no matter how hard she tried to drive it out. ``And the skill cache? That's legit?''
``Better than most of the stuff on the market. Load it up however you want. You could even go all gunslinger and come after me if you want''
She closed her eyes a moment, Kanina nodding softly. She opened the few bits of data already in it, her eyes shooting open wide as she growled. ``Ok, what the fack is this?'' She spat.
``What?'' Sean tried so hard to keep a straight face. His growing grin twisting though the burgeoning guilt he felt.
``Advanced Maid package, Cooking. Cleaning. `Handmaiden services'?''
Sean finally toppled over laughing at the last item. The big professional looking bear now a heap of bemusement as Kanina tried like hell to keep herself set on anger.
``Oh Woz, I can't delete them either. What did you do?''
``What?'' Sean laughed. ``If you're going to be Bri's handmaiden, I figured you'd want to get all the skills needed to play the part. Why was I missing something?''
``Oh hell there's literally a neural pattern for a proper curtsy in here. What the hell were you thinking you big oaf?''
``I was thinking it would be hilarious.'' Sean laughed. ``And it was!''
``You're an ass.'' She pulled off her shoe and whipped it at the bear. The heel bouncing off of his nose drawing out a loud, nasal `ow'. The sound started Kanina laughing, which set Sean off again. The two simply laughing together there in the hallway with a few confused onlookers hanging by.
