Character: Nebuchadnezzar
Player/Group: Fiona/Naomi Richardsen/Kaden Harlow (
@Kassia ), Aratone (
@BennyQ ), Norne/Johan (
@ThatGeckoGirl )
Location: Bridge Apartments (Jessa's Office) ------> A couple stops around the city ------> The Hanging Garden ------> A few more stops ------> Bridge Apartments
Time: Tuesday Afternoon ------> Wednesday Afternoon.
"You'll receive your items by Saturday. Had a slight delay in the shipping yard, seemed that someone busted my lights to kill a few vamps. No big deal, but we gotta pick up the glass, replace the lights, and get the show on the road." She shrugged and looked to Neb. "Be careful out there... Ya know... I'm not the sentimental type, this job doesn't allow it, but I'd be beside myself if I lost one of you. Credits are nice, but there's more to this life than that. Keep your eyes sharp and your reflexes sharper."
Nebuchadnezzar knew he wouldn't change her mind on Naomi so he didn't bother trying a second time, instead he focused on the better parts of his friend. "Appreciate it Jessa. Not just the goods but the concern. It's nice knowing we got a home to come back to after all the mess is made. I'll keep the kids safe. All of them." With that he waved and walked out of the office closing the door behind him. Taking note of the time he realized he had nothing on his schedule for the rest of the day. Changing that with a few calls Nebby set up a rather sudden meeting for a few hours from then.
Leaving the building Nebby mapped a route for him to 'jog'. He started off walking though. He didn't need to bring unneeded attention to the building. He walked several blocks down the street, sticking to the sidewalks and crossing only at intersections. Once he felt he was far enough away to really open up he turned down an alley, it was the safest place for him to move at any kind of speed without having to barrel through hoards of bodies. Before he could stake off though a trio of street thugs stepped out from the alcoves in the alley. It took only a glance for Nebby to see he had walked into their territory. The walls were tagged and it was easy to tell by the colors of the tags matching the colors worn by the three that it was their turf.
"Well shit in your hands and clap." He grumbled. He had no interest in hurting these idiots but he knew their type and they would push the issue. "Look, lets make a deal little man. You drop that knife and hit me like a real man. If you can knock me on my ass I will transfer my entire bank account to you. You don't even have to knock me out, just knock me down. If you can't then you fuck off and I go about my business. Sound good?" He had continued to walk towards the bangers arms held out slightly to the side, palms up in a lazy shrugging like position. "Come on boy, I can tell you're simple but it's a yes or no question."
That insult was enough to set the man off. Doing exactly the wrong thing he threw down the knife he was holding and stormed up to Nebby. "I'll knock your fucking head off." He snarled while throwing a wild haymaker. The slight smile that had been on Nebby's face fell away the moment the fist was thrown. The heavy thud of flesh against something harder, a distinct popping like snap of bones breaking, and a howl of agony all followed each other in quick succession as the fist connected with Nebby's face. The punch landed beautifully, right below his left eye. If he were a person he knew that would have easily broken his cheekbone and orbital bones, possibly even taking out a few upper teeth. The thug knew where and to an extent how to punch, but unfortunately for him, not WHO to punch. Nebby hadn't moved at all from the hit. In fact he cheated a bit and purposefully help rigid, not allowing his head to move at all with the blow. It could have saved the thug a bit of pain with the shattered hand but he felt the dude deserved it.
"Right. Now that you've gone and fucked your hand up on my face can you see that I am not the one to fuck with, but just to emphasize." Neb paused and glanced around the alley real fast for something to help prove his point. Not wanting to put a hole in a building he chose a heavy steel dumpster just a few feet behind his would be assailants. Kneeling down with his eyes still on the trio. Two staring between him and their injured friend, the injured friend holding his hand and cursing up a storm. Grabbing a chunk of broken concrete he stood up and pointed to the dumpster behind them. The two paying attention quickly whipped their heads around thinking it was a distraction of sorts only to see the alley empty behind them. In the moment they had their heads turn Nebby pitched the fist sized piece of concrete past them, a slight whoosh of the broken piece flying past. It slammed into the dumpster with an explosive boom. It was apparently empty so the sound echoed very nicely. It wasn't the sound that Nebby was looking for though. The side of the dumpster was visably caved in from the impact. Broken chunks were all around the ground where the concrete had hit. "Do you get the point now? Or do I need to start folding your clothes with you inside them?"
That was it. They had seen enough. It was clear they were dealing with a 'borg and one that was giving them a chance to escape before disassembling them. The two uninjured men just turned tail and ran leaving their injured friend in the ally. "Damn." Neb watched them run off and then looked at the defeated look on the left behind ones face. "You should get better friends." He said as he walked by. "Go get that looked at, it doesn't look good." He said nodding to the mangled hand then gave the thug a wave before taking off into a jog, which was about the same as a normal person sprinting.
This was the second time he was attacked damn near in the open. First by the drugged up vamps. Now by some street kids. Arcadia was always rough but this was getting extreme. Changing his route Neb exited from the alley slowing to a normal walking pace just before he made it out onto the sidewalk. Turning into the flow of foot traffic he made call. The call rang twice before a cheery voice picked up. "Blue Sun Taxi Company, this is Janet speaking, how can I help you today?" Neb smiled at the bright greeting and introduced himself to the young receptionist. In a few short minutes he had ordered himself a cab, and gotten an agreement to stop by to speak with management.
An hour and a half later Neb was leaving the Blue Sun Taxi Company with a new partnership in the works. For a two hour window, a quarter of the company's fleet will be assigned to wait outside the Garden to give guests rides. They would still be making their fares but for those two hours after each drop off they would return to the club for the next passenger. Neb wanted people behind the wheels of the cars, not just an AI so he also managed to get a list of other companies that still staffed human drivers. His club was massive and he was going to need more than a handful of cars to keep his patrons safe. Using the cab he already had a meter on to take him to the bank he had the driver, a very lovely older man named Gerald, wait for him while he went inside to sign the final papers for the two buildings he had purchased, everything had been taken care of beforehand by his lawyer and all that was needed was his signature. He made a note to get Singh a gift.
Neb and Gerald spent the rest of the day driving around the city to the other cab companies that staffed human drivers and Nebby made the same deal with all of them. If Singh managed to get all the contracts in place that would give Neb nearly 70 cabs dedicated to his patrons in the evening before the curfew sirens went off. It still didn't feel like enough but he couldn't protect everyone. Some patrons drove, some took other means of public transit, and in the end, they were all adults. Their safety was their concern, he was just doing the best he could. Before parting ways Neb took Gerald out to dinner getting the man the best dumplings in the city, and introducing his new friend to Ma and Pa. After many reassurances that he would be okay, and a minor demonstration Gerald allowed Neb to pay him and walk the rest of the way to the Garden.
Waving goodbye to Gerald as he pulled away Neb turned from The Number One Kitchen II and started off towards his home. He still needed to pack up some things to bring to the Bridge and to check in with Mister. While walking he rang his lawyer up, who answered on the third ring as always. "Hello Singh, got those messages you sent me, took care of the signatures this afternoon and I'm on the way to the club now. Will you be able to get those interested parties to the office tonight?"
"Naturally Mr. Nezzar. I will have them there an hour after curfew sounds. You know how there type like to operate." A smooth, deep voice responded.
"Good to hear. I will see you there. Oh and I have some more work for you, I sent over the outlines already."
"Yes..... I saw them. You do realize you will be taking a loss in this deal right Mr. Nezzar?"
"Yes Singh, I do realize I will be taking a hit doing this but I will also hopefully start a trend again. I've been jumped twice in just as many days. Yesterday by some drugged out ferals, and today by some hoodlums. The streets aren't safe anymore Singh." There was a long pause in the conversation as both men contemplated the recent events in the city.
"I'm going to Erra's ball." Neb broke the silence with this sudden revelation gaining an instant and slightly panicked response from the lawyer.
"WHATTHEFUCK!? Did you just say what I thought you did?"
"Yup."
"You."
"Me."
"YOU are going to Erra's charity ball for the Ouroboros Orphanage?"
"I, ME, Myself, this dude right here, is going to the Vampire Queen's Orphan Ball."
"Why?"
"I was invited."
"You get invited every year. You make a shit load of credits and you donate quietly, it's polite for them to send you an invite."
"Yeah, and after fifteen years of declining I feel that I might be coming off as rude. Like I don't want to be around those kind of people."
There was a long, long moment of silence. Nebby actually checked the connection to see if the call was still going. "Singh?" Nothing. "Singh are you there?"
"Sorry but did you just really say that to me?"
"What?"
"You have made it your life's work to avoid being around those kind of people. You get violent with those KIND of people. I have twisted the law in ways that should have me burned at the stake for witchcraft to make legal loopholes for you to get out of having to be one of those
KIND OF PEOPLE even though you are one!" Singh had began to raise his voice just a little towards the end. Not quit shouting at Nebby but a louder, sterner tone.
"Feel better?"
"Fuck you."
"I deserve that."
"You do. Damn it. You're going to stir up trouble aren't you?"
"Actually no. Strictly business this time. I met a girl that went through there and came out a pretty decent person in the end. Since I now have a face to connect to that place I wanted a more personal touch I guess. Show up and give my time not just my money."
"You know for someone without a heart, yours sure does bleed a lot."
"I know. It's a fatal weakness of the condition. Not even you were able to stomp it out despite your best efforts."
"Was that a jab at my what I am Mr. Nezzar?"
"Damn right it was Singh. Being a lawyer is the closet thing to being pure evil there is, and you studied to do it."
There was a pause before both men shared a long laugh.
"I'll see you soon Singh."
"Until then Mr. Nezzar."
Nebby ended the call with a grin on his face. Things were going to be busy for a while. He was called back into duty at a very inconvenient time business wise, but this was the kind of pressure he loved now. As he had told Jessa earlier in the day, he was literally built for multitasking now. Checking in on the Garden through it's camera system he watched the club empty before he arrived. He still had ten minutes before the sirens went off and he took the time to find the boss.
It was Nebby that was found first. He had barely gotten into the front door of the club when his shin was attacked by the shoulder of a 30lb miniature sabertooth tiger. "Hello Mister. Didja miss me?" He asked the ferocious motor beast weaving its body between his legs. Bending down he gave the massive black cat all the attention and love, making sure to give extra attention to his favorite spots, right between the ears and just an inch above his tail. The chainsaw disguised as a cat purred in satisfaction at the attention. "Sorry to dump this on you bud, but we have some work to do tonight. I finalized the purchase on the two properties next door. We meeting with underground crew tonight with Singh. You're gonna have to be there for this." Mister stopped his weaving and purring and stared up at Nebby for long moment before he slowly blinked at the kind of human he took care of. Nebby returned the trusting gesture and spent the next few minutes petting Mister until he was satisfied.
The pair eventually stopped their prolonged greeting and made their way to Mister's personal office. Nebby took a seat in the large chocolate leather chair, Mister perching on the top of it taking his spot behind Nebby's head. Neb started up the computer at the desk, the bright blue white light of the screen filling the room for a brief moment as the computer awoke. Logging in Neb started to pull up the pertinent papers needed for this next meeting. With the time to kill Nebby also went over the needs of the Garden. Putting in orders for the bars, checking event schedules, double checking payroll. All the minutia of running a business.
Neb worked through the curfew siren barely acknowledging the sound. It was about twenty minutes after that there was a knock on the door. "Come in." Nebby called. The door opened and a well dressed
man stepped into the room. "Hello Singh, how are you doing?" Nebby greeted the man as he got up from his chair to shake his hand. "I am doing well Mr. Nezzar. Hello Mister." The two shook hands and Singh waved to Mister who flicked his ears at the lawyer. Taking a seat across from the two Singh leaned back in the surprisingly comfortable guest seat.
"Before we get started on the new work you have unloaded on me I need to inform you that there has been a slight change in our plans. Mr. Robins is no longer operating the off the books friendly construction company, his replacement Mr. Clemens is still willing to come to you to discuss the job."
"What's your read on the man?"
"You won't like him." Was the response and Neb just had to nod. Singh knew what he was about so Neb didn't feel he needed any more clarification.
The pair filled the time waiting catching up with one another, mostly Neb asking for more amusing stories about cases from the past. A couple minutes before the schedule time Singh moved his chair to Nebby's side of the desk and Nebby spotted the men, a group of three, park outside the front of the Garden. He allowed them in, opening the door remotely and using lights to guide them to the office. They waited for a long moment outside the office door before one of them finally had the thought to knock. "Enter." Nebby called.
The man that walked in looked like he could be water repellant with how oily he looked. The two with him were clearly supposed to be some kind of security. Singh was right, he could tell from the get go he wasn't going to like this man. The greasy one swaggered into the room and shot the occupants a sneer that he thought was a charming smile. "Hello Mr. Nuzzal." He said butchering the name with full confidence. "Name's Reggie Clemens. I took over the old man's outfit and I hear you are looking for some work to be done that doesn't go down on the blueprints."
It was only because Nebby was a full convert that he didn't wince at the stupidity of this man. Nobody would be that stupid to just lay things out like that. These conversations took finesse, and trust. Something Clemens had neither of. The man continued to prattle on, throwing around numbers and pulling out all kinds of new costs to be added. Neb had honestly stopped paying attention nearly the moment the man opened his mouth. He was here mostly for the sake of appearances, this was actually a meeting between Mister, Clemens and Singh officially. "Of course then there is the whole matter of keeping this out of the publics eye. We wouldn't want anything leaking to the public about the shady dealings going on in the cities biggest and brightest club do we?
The subtle threat was what finally pulled Nebby from his fugue. Signh new instantly the Clemens had fucked up and he froze mannequin still waiting for the violence to happen. But to his surprise it didn't. Mister lifted his head from the back of the chair and gave the Clemens a disdainful look. Lightly, well as lightly as a lynx sized cat could be, Mister hopped from the back of the chair to the desk where he sniffed around at the various stacks of papers there. He stopped at on in particular and quite purposefully pushed the entire sheaf of paper off the desk. Some of the sheets scattered and fluttered off to the sides while the majority just fell into a pile on the floor. Mister then took a seat in the spot the pages had been in and sat upright looking imperiously at Clemens.
"Damn it." The curse was whispered barely loud enough to be heard. Breaking the stillness Singh reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You fucking humans and your stupid god damn greed." He cursed then pointed to Neb. "I know he is your boss but lets at least try to salvage this. Please." Neb looked at the accusing finger and shrugged. "I just do what the boss man tells me."
The three men were beyond confused now, and that confusion was turning into anger. Clemens sat up straighter in his chair, eyeing the huge cat a bit uncomfortably. "I don't know what you two are going on about but we are in the middle of negotiations here.."
Clemens was cut off by Singh who had moved across the room faster than the humans could easily track. Clemens was lifted from his chair with ease by the front of his shirt. Singh's eyes were a bright blood red now and his fangs fully extended. "Shut your fucking face meat. I am busy negotiating your life right now. You have insulted my client." Singh's free arm shot out behind him to point dead at Mister. "Threatened his place of business and lively hood for a little extra money. Everything was already laid out by your predecessor. All the bribes, connections, officials that would sign off and turn a blind eye. Now I am trying to calm him down so he doesn't sic his attack dog on you because there is absolutely nothing I can or even will try to do once that dog leaves it seat." His hand had moved ever so lightly to point out Nebby.
Clemens was terrified, he was in the grip of a vampire dangling a foot from the ground and his life was being threatened. This was all wrong. After the old man's accident and him taking over Clemens had been able to strong arm most of the other contracts into giving him more. The kind of work they did was the kind of work that wasn't supposed to be known about, so many people paid up instead of dealing with the fallout. But now Clemens was dealing with a fucking leech, some weirdo club owner and a fucking cat that was supposedly the 'boss'.
Singh could smell the fear and confusion on the man and tossed him back into his seat. Or he had meant to, but tossed a bit to hard and put Clemens through the chair and onto the floor. "Mr. Clemens. I am going to make a few things very clear. My client, Mister Nezzar, is the cat. He is the legal owner of this club. His record is spotless as he is a cat and he is beyond human laws, so trying to blackmail him will make you look far more foolish than you already are acting. His employee, Mr. Nezzar, or as he is known on paper, Nebby K Nezzar, is a fiction. The man you see is a ghost. Literally and figuratively. Full conversion cybernetic human, a ghost in the shell if you will, but it doesn't stop there. Look into him and you will find he only has connections to this place. Mr. Nezzar only exists in the records of this club. The man that became Mr. Nezzar died in a fire many years ago. His death certificate is on public record. You can even go visit his grave marker. You can't level threats dead man now can you? As for the final point, I do not have many friends. Part of the condition. You know how us lawyers are. Becoming this made friends even more scarce. Mister and Nebby are not just clients. They are my friends."
The two guards had failed to make a single move, proving they were smarter than their boss. Singh took a couple steps closer to the sprawled out Clemens and towered over him glaring down a the slightly whimpering man. "Mr. Clemens is no longer in charge of this job. I don't care who takes over in his stead but we will honor the contract that the late Mr. Lewis had with us for construction. He had a good crew that did good work. Neb, please pick up the contract. One of these two gentlemen will sign and everything will continue to roll smoothly.
It was clear to see Clemens wanted to speak up but the burning red eyes pinning him to the floor kept his mouth shut. Singh glared down the pathetic man for a bit longer before finally turning away to face Mister. "My apologies Mister. I didn't mean to act out of place. I am just aware of the time needed to find a construction crew that will do the kind of work you want done and be off the books about it." The cat stared at the Vamp for a brief moment before slow blinking and then grooming himself. Singh let out a sigh of relief. Walking to the front of the desk he collected the scattered papers and quickly got them back into order. "Okay, if I could have one of you gentlemen come up and sign this then we can put this night behind us and you can get started on your work tomorrow. I trust there will be no more issues with doing the job?" Both men stared at Singh, then Clemens, then Mister, then Neb, then to each other before one finally spoke. "Is the cat really the owner?"
It didn't take much longer after Clemens was put in his place for the two others to admit they didn't like him, and were both patrons to the Garden, and had been on some of the work for the other parts of the building. They were long time members of Lewis Construction and knew what they were about. They made promises that Clemens wouldn't cause anymore issues with anyone as the all but dragged the man from the club.
Once they were gone Singh looked over to Nebby with a shit eating grin. "You did good back there."
"Me, you are the one that stole the show my friend." Neb shot back with the same grin on his face. "Teaching that little turd a lesson like that and still getting me to work done I needed. You're a gem."
"Yes, yes I am." Singh agreed taking the seat he had abandoned. "You do owe me for that though. I don't usually do the whole "I'm a scary monster that will eat you" bit. But those are some nice kids working for Mr. Lewis, such a shame he passed."
"Yeah yeah, I got you Singh." And he meant it. Singh was a long time partner and friend and Nebby would take care of him for looking out like he had. In fact it was because of Singh that Nebby knew about Clemens making a mess of things with other clients.
There was a moment of comfortable silence between the men before Neb broke it. "I know we don't do details of our personal lives, but I kinda need a favor on the personal side of my life. Not you getting involved personally or anything. Just some questions."
This caught Singh's attention. They had made it a point to stay professional and keep the details of their lives outside of work and small talk vague on purpose. Small talk subjects, and work related things were what they kept their conversations to and have for years. This was a night of firsts for them. "First you accept the invite to Erra's event, and now you are asking me for personal advice. I should walk away and not even ask but you have my curiosity, so go on and ask."
Neb almost let out a sigh a relief in spite of him not breathing. "Well I have gotten myself..." He paused while he searched for a word. "Involved? No that has connotations that aren't true. Entangled? No, still not right..... Fuck it." Tossing his hands up into a defeated shrug he stopped trying to beat around the bush. "I have a dealings with a newly changed vamp. She's the girl that made it through the Orphanage and the reason I am attending the event in the first place. She is new. Like a very new and isn't associated with anyone much like yourself so she doesn't have some creator giving her all her needs. She doesn't have a coffin for starters, so I know she isn't getting the proper rest during the day. Also there has been a shortage of '300 on the streets. Do you have any recommendations or connects that I can get in touch with?"
Signh was a bit surprised at the requests, they were not what he was expecting but it was a pleasant surprise to see a human concerned for a Vamp. "Honestly any coffin will do, but I do know a guy that makes custom jobs for Vamps. Padding, climate control, entertainment, massage function, hell he had one model that was essentially an isolation chamber, water and all." Singh reached to the desk and grabbed the legal pad and pen and wrote down the details of the contact. "You don't have to tell him I sent you. He doesn't care who you are or who it's for, he just likes to build them."
Glancing up from the page he gave Neb a sheepish smile. "You do realize that I don't partake in A'300 correct?"
"Yeah, I figured as much. You've been around a lot longer than this stuff. What you do to eat is between you and your food. Can you get me some or should I keep looking around?"
"I will see what I can do, but I would also keep an eye out for a more reliable source. Of you could have your friend do what I do." Singh paused giving Nebby an assessing glance, which was met with an elegantly raised eyebrow. "Use the blood banks. It's legal and there has been a system in place for them to give to Vamps for decades now."
Neb considered the idea and decided to not reject it out of hand. "Thanks Singh. I appreciate it." Nebby took the notepad and read the address, his internal GPS locating the building with ease. "I'll give him a visit tomorrow." Setting the pad on the desk he turned back to Singh and leaned forward in his chair, elbows on knees and head forward. He was obviously excited about what he was going to talk about. "So have you seen it yet?"
The conversation quickly changed from business to the newest installment of a highly popular romance serial both men openly enjoyed. Hours were spent talking and just enjoying the company before Signh had to excuse himself. It was deep in the night when he left and Nebby decided to spend the remaining night hours looking over his new buildings. Mister joined him on his inspection. One was a medium sized single story warehouse that had been used for storage before the company renting it out failed to make payments. There was going to be a hallway connecting the main club to this building and two breezeways. He had several ideas for the space but one thing he knew he wanted for sure was for it to be able to dressed as a classical ballroom. This way he could honestly say that he has the biggest balls in the city.
The second building would take a lot more work. It was a three story office building and he was going to have to gut the inside to make room for any kind of dance floor. He also considered cutting out the middle of the second and third stories and making them into a pair of balconies looking down on the dance floor on the ground level. Nebby and Mister spent the rest of the night poking around the new properties, plotting and laying out plans for what he wanted to do with the buildings. He already knew that he would be connecting them to the subbasement he kept out of the club's blueprints. Most of the buildings he had absorbed into the sprawling club had a basement level, and generally they were used for storage, two of the bigger ones were used as underground dance rooms. Below all of them was an emergency shelter of sorts. It started as a backup saferoom for Hunters but Nebby being Nebby he got carried away and just kept growing it with the rest of the business. Fortunately it had only been used twice since he had it put in, and both times were over a decade ago.
The sun was nearly up when Mister and Neb returned to Mister's office. The cat took his rightful place in the chair behind the desk and curled up onto himself and fell asleep while the 'borg gave Mister an affectionate scratch behind his ears before leaving him to rule the world. "I'll catch you later Mister." He said to his boss as he left the room, getting a half hearted meow in return. "Yeah yeah, I'll stay safe."
Nebby stood outside the ostentatious front entrance to the club looking up into the steadily brightening sky. He spent several minutes just standing and staring straight up. "I miss sleep." He muttered before lowering his face and starting off into the city.
He spent the better part of two hours just walking and taking in the city. He avoided the darkest of alleys and knew what streets to not go down, even in the daylight. He was just pointing his gun at the clock at this point, trying to kill time. Once the morning curfew siren sounded he changed his direction and started to a goal. He had a body shop he needed to visit to check in on the upgrades given to his alternate ride. Putting a little speed into his step Neb made it to the shop in just over an hour. As he walked up the place looked to be closed still, but he knew better. Georgette was one of those people that forgets to eat once she got her hands on a project, so forgetting to turn on the open sign wasn't a huge deal for her. Walking to the door he checked and it was actually unlocked this time, and intact.
Walking in need looked around the still dark lobby and saw no one, but could hear a faint sound coming from the back. "Georgette!" He called out and waited for a moment but got no reply. Deciding to move further into the building he called out to her again and still go no answer, but he could hear the sound of someone working clearly now. "You're worse than me." He grumbled and walked to the back of the lobby and into the shop proper. Nebby was glad that everything in the shop was man made. If not it would be an absolute horror show. Cybernetic limbs were all over the place, half finished bodies hung from lifts, and then there were the smaller bits just laying around. It looked like a robot butcher house and in the middle of it all was a
woman elbow deep in the the chest cavity of a limbless torso. "Georgette." He called out to her once more, this time with sing song tone. This time she heard and yelled back. "Just a second." She grumbled at him then with a grunt and a whispered curse for good luck she attached the last wire she was working with. "There we go." Pulling her arm from the torso she turned and looked at her guest. "Well shit in a bag and punch it. If it isn't Nebby. How ya doing babe?" Upon seeing Nebby her face lit up and she crossed the room to fold him into an embrace. "Are you already here to pick up the new shell?" She asked pulling away from the hug but still holing on to his arms and looking him over.
"No not yet Georgi, I'm just coming to check up on the progress."
The older woman smiled and blushed just the tiniest bit at the cutesy nickname Neb called her, she also swatted his arm. "Everything is already installed, and it is good to go." She informed him.
"Already? That was fast, I only put in the mod order Monday." He was kind of surprised at the speed which Georgette managed to get the work done.
"Yes already, I was only putting on some additions, it wasn't like I was doing a full overhaul of ground up rebuild. The worst part was the hands, but luckily retractable claws are a pretty common choice of self defense so I was able to adapt some things to make it work with the new model."
"Excellent, would you mind if I gave it a look?" Georgette didn't mind and lead Neb tough the safety hazard of a shop to the holding bay. Inside were the completed projects ready to be delivered or picked up. In one of the holding cells was an exact copy of Nebuchadnezzar, minus the tattoos. "It's still weird to see myself like this. I mean this is going to be my body soon."
Georgette snorted out an indelicate laugh. "Why do I feel like you wouldn't have a problem staring at yourself all day? Are you complaining just for my sake?"
Neb laughed with her. "I can see some vain people really liking this, and as much as I love myself, which is a lot. I still find it unsettling to look at myself like this." Despite the heebie jeebies he got from staring at his empty shell. It would be his 3rd once me moved to it. It was a direct upgrade to what he was wearing now, so only a touch better in most specs, but with the alterations Georgette gave he would be far more deadly. This shell had no built in offensive capabilities other than raw power while the new one had a few surprises built in. He wanted to give it a ride but hated the process of moving his cyberbrain from one shell to the next. Linking up the computer hooked to the shell he read through the diagnostic reports and was impressed with Georgette's work as always.
"It looks great Georgi, thanks a ton for rushing the job for me, but you didn't have to. Can I keep it stored here until I need it? I really don't want that thing hanging around the house with me."
"Of course I can keep it here for you babe. Just give me a ring when you need it, I can have it delivered to you."
Neb smiled at the woman and gave her a hug which she returned with gusto. "How are the wife and kids?" Nebby asked once he pulled away from the hug. The next little while l was spent with Georgette filling Nebby in on her wife, their two kids, and three grandchildren over a pot of strong coffee.
Once the conversation wrapped up Neb got a second hug and left the shop feeling much better knowing he had a backup in place for when this one broke. It was always a matter of When, when you were dealing with cybernetics, but in his line of work, that When usually came sooner than later.
Checking the time, the distance to his next location and when it was supposed to be open Neb found he had a bit of free time to kill between leaving here and getting there. Heading towards his destination he kept and eye on the buildings around him until one caught his attention. A small cafe tucked between two high rise buildings. He could tell it was one of those little hole in the wall places that usually get overlooked by the masses but maintains a great business due to word of mouth. Those places just had a feel about them. Going in he admired the simple but clean design of the place. A dozen little round tables with 2 to 4 chairs at each. Going to the counter he looked at the menu that was hand written of all things on a blackboard. "Oh wow, that is something you don't see often anymore. You took it way back." He said with laughter in his voice. The woman behind the counter returned the smile and explained how her Grandfather had opened the place and chose to use the retro style because he felt the world was loosing touch with the physical and getting to into the digital. Which Neb had to agree with to an extent. He ended up ordering a Cobra Chai latte, which was a hot Chai latte with extra cinnamon and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper, and a cranberry scone. Both were excellent and Neb marked the place in his internal map as somewhere to return to. Thanking the woman he left and continued his way to his last stop.
Neb stood outside of his destination checking and rechecking the address Singh gave him. It was correct but the building he was looking at looked condemned. Bored up windows, the security gate lowered on the door and bad graffitti all over the face of the building. Deciding to give it a look he walked around the building. The back was in worse condition than the front with with piles of random debris stacked against the building as well as the bored up windows and graffiti.
"Around the corner, in the alley." A slightly distorted voice rang out from seemingly nowhere. It was just a quick scan for Neb to find the camera on the corner of the roof. He waved at the camera and started walking around the corner. In the alley he saw a door and walked to it. As soon as he was in front of it there was a loud thunk of a heavy lock being disengaged. The door opened outward allowing Nebby to enter.
The place had once been some kind of store once from the open floor layout, which was filled with tables and shelving, and those were piled high with tools, scraps, parts and paints. "In the back." The voice said breaking Nebby from his concentration. Walking through the maze of shelves he made his way to the back where things opened up more. An
old man sat hunched over something his six arms all acting independently of each other as he worked. "Whatcha here for?" He asked without looking up from his project.
Neb just rolled with the strange little man. Artist and their quirks. "I was told you make custom caskets for Vamps to sleep in, I'm looking to buy one if you have any ready."
The man finally looked up at Nebby and and he could feel the man brushing over his systems, not prying just seeing what he was dealing with. "You're no vamp." He commented and his hands all stopped working sitting their tools down. "I have a few that are already ready that haven't been claimed yet. They are not custom jobs so don't expect anything to fancy." With a wave of half his hands he gestured Nebby to follow him further into the building. They went though a large doorway that was missing both doors to the back, which was the final give away to Nebby. This place had once been a small grocery store of some kind before being repurposed. The back was far more organized than the front, finished products on display. About halfway down there were four caskets on tables with their lids opened. Each was an honest to Gods work of art and Neb was momentarily stunned at the craftsmanship. "These are beautiful." He complimented and walked up to them looking them each over.
The man, who never introduced himself gave Nebby a rundown on each one. The only difference between the four was the outer look, they all had the same features. Nanofoam linings for maximum comfort, full net connectivity, touch screen built into the lid, and external cameras to see what was going on outside the closed casket. Neb ended up picking the most
tame of the offerings. With a quick exchange of credits Neb was packing up Naomi's new bed. He used three straps, two across the sides and one length wise to secure the lids and provide him a hand hold. Lifting the several hundred pound casket with relative ease he thought about calling for a delivery truck but chose against it.
With the casket slung over his shoulder like an oversized duffel he thanked the strange artist and left. His walk through the city earned his approximately ALL of the strange stares. He was a man walking down the road with a fucking casket over his shoulder. The two hour walk gave Neb plenty of time to enjoy the attention and confusion he caused. The fact that he kept bursting out into laughter didn't help the scene any, but the looks on some of the people faces were just too much, and the silly thoughts he was imagining them thinking only made it worse.
Once he was finally back to the apartments he went to the back to use the service elevator not wanting to have to maneuver the bulky casket through the lobby and into the much smaller tenant elevators. Exiting the elevator he entered the apartment and called out to anyone there. "Hunters I'm home~!" He carried his load to the common room and sat it against the wall out of the way. He wasn't going to just put it in Naomi's room without permission.
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