Fixers (Beautiful_Disgrace and I)

"Of course you don't," Luce said idly. "Why would you? You've never had to worry about it, when you have money, it's as easy as getting it. When you're part of the system and have money? Well, then the world is your oyster. You can get everything you want because you're a good little dog of the Corporations, keep the rich happy and fuck the poor. We eat what we find here, Rayna. God knows what our beef is completely made of."
 
"Don't you have money, Luce?" Rayna asked as she sipped on her tea through the straw she was given. She was a Fixer, so didn't Fixer's make good money? More than the waitress did, for sure. "Why can't you just get real meat or tea from somewhere else?"
 
"I have money, yes...but I'm not part of the system, anything I get is illegal...same for you," Luce murmured. "Just because we have money doesn't mean we can get everything so easy, I'd rather spend money on what can keep me alive."
 
"Oh. That's right." That's right...she wasn't legal anymore. She didn't even exist since she had no chip. "..ever thought of becoming legal again? It cost a lot of money but...I know that there are people out there who can give someone a new, legal identity. I looked into it before I left." The cost of a new identity would probably be equivalent to a decade worth of work as a Fixer. It was hard to save up that much, even harder to find a person willing to risk being caught forging identities. But it was possible.
 
Luce scoffed in annoyance. "Why? What the fuck does that bring me, Rayna? If you have regrets, you should have kept the damn chip in your head. I was never legal in the first place, why would I want to part of the shitty world when I can thrive in the dirt?"
 
Rayna was silent for a moment as the waitress brought out there food. She then waited for her to leave, and she looked down at her plate. "You've never wanted to just be a normal person? There is a world between rich and poor...and it's a nice and simple world. That's what I want."
 
"I'm not normal," Luce muttered. "Getting a chip in my head and acting like it isn't going to change who I am, and getting yours taken out isn't going to change you, either. You're still some rich girl who wants to play pretend, you just think you can handle it."
 
"Maybe.." Rayna started as she started to cut up her omelette into many different pieces. "But that has nothing to do with pursuing things that I want. Even if I play pretend..if I'm happy that's all that matters. I'd like to settle down and have children and be normal after I make enough money for a new identity. Maybe one day I'll tell my future husband who I am, and it won't be pretend anymore."
 
"Uh huh," Luce said blandly. "You really don't get it, do you? You say you do, but you don't understand what it is we do, or what it does to you...guess you'll find out." Her optimism disgusted her, and maybe made her a little envious. She could never be like that, ever.
 
"Yes, I will find out." She said before she gently pushed her fork into a piece of the omelette. She could definitely taste the difference between what she used to have and this. But it wasn't bad. "Luce, do you think I will become like you when this is all said and done?"
 
"...And what's that supposed to mean?" Luce muttered in annoyance. "What do you mean 'like me'?" Here was the Rayna she was familiar with, the one who threw out stupid questions that made her want to cave her face in.
 
"Strong. Wise. Courageous. Knows how the world works." Rayna looked up at her with a smile. She did look up to Luce and it didn't seem like she could think bad of her in anyway. "You're very smart and you know how to take care of yourself. I want to be like that."
 
"...Oh," Luce mumbled, her expression almost blank. "Well, if you live long enough?" she shrugged. She...didn't really know what to do with something like that... "This kind of life is all about surviving and adapting, if you can do that...then probably?"
 
"I'm glad to hear that. It makes me have a goal while I chase my dreams. I know it's next to impossible but...I have been dreaming about it for a long time. There's a good chance I'll die long before I save up enough money though." She laughed a little, something that..should have been depressing just seemed like a joke to Rayna. Though it was something she occasionally worried about. She didn't want to die before she knew what living was like.
 
"Guess we'll find out," Luce said, picking at her food a moment before dunking her biscuit into the gravy and taking a bite. She really was a weirdo, wasn't she? "Anyway...this is our type of food, enjoy."
 
"It tastes fine to me. Though I was hungry so...everything tastes good." She decided to let Luce work on her meal instead of talking. When she was finished she looked around for the waitress so they could pay their bill, but she had avoided their table the entire time they were eating. "We're going clothes shopping after this?"
 
"Being a Fixer is half about style, after all," Luce snorted. "Or so Aernir and Wizard tells me," Although, there was some truth to that...you get a very distinct image, and your reputation fed off that.
 
"But those two just wear plain clothes..." Rayna said as she scratched her head. And technically...so did Luce. Or maybe her idea of style was much different than theirs? The waitress came over and placed the check on their table, telling them they could pay on their way out. She really didn't seem to be in a good mood.
 
"Not really," Luce murmured. "See, Aernir? He always dresses like that, same general look, anyway...kind of like a calling card, you know? We're halfway gutter trash celebrities, you get a certain style about you, people might hire you...at least, that's the thought."
 
"So basically you wear the same thing all the time?" If that was the case, she'd be picking out something she really, really liked. Something that was her...something easily recognizable.
 
"Well, not exactly...but kind of," Luce murmured, wiping her mouth with a napkin when she was finished. "It just makes us feel like we're...special, I guess," Luce murmured. "Like we can be somebody when we're not really anything."
 
"Everyone is something." Rayna said as they got up to pay the bill. For a moment she thought of Aernir, the only other person aside from Luce that she knew better than she should have. "Do you guys...ever talk to each other or do you just go out on missions together?"
 
"...Meaning...what...like...socialize?" Luce said, hands in her pockets as they headed out. "Friend kind of socializing?" Truth be told, she had never thought about 'what' they all were, friends? Allies? People who had the same morality?
 
"Yes, friend kind of socialize. Do you know anything about each other?" She wondered how long they had all been together, but she would ask one question at a time. She then looked towards their car and saw a couple of thuggish looking people inspecting it. "...Luce." She muttered, wondering if they knew anything about who the car actually belonged to.
 
"I see them," Luce murmured. Wasn't the kind of car they usually had around here, it had no real security. It was just a stolen thing that Wizard was considering selling, might be a good idea when they got back. "Always gotta make things complicated...welcome to street life," she smirked. "C'mon, let's take out some trash."
 
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