Chapter 7: Trust

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The rain finally came to an end, washing away the lives of those that fell before it. As silence returned to the pit Kassix opened his eyes slightly. He leaned forward and peered out from under the outcropping that him and Dahr had taken shelter under.

"Wake up Dahr, Rains stopped."

"Ughhh, fine." Dahr slowly prompted himself up, and as he remembered the events from before their slumber, his eyes shot open in glee. "That wasn't a good dream right? Right?"

Kassix merely pulled the top of the arm to show him that it was indeed, not a dream. "So, besides being a severed arm of some sorts, any clue what this is and how much its actually worth?"

"Well, from what I can guess, its one of three things and each of them are hyper expensive." Dahr sat up and crossed his legs while beginning his explanation. "First, It's either an android arm, so its not a modification that humans can really use due to it being designed to be part of a complete system. While this will catch us a good price, it won't be near the amount we get if its option two or three."

"Option two would a completely synthetic arm designed to be installed to replace someone's arm. It basically uses a system similar to android arms, that's why the....veins...so to speak have the white blood of androids. If its one of those, then this will net us probably double if it were just an android arm."

"Double?! Didn't you just say it has basically the same system? Why would it be double?"

"The software, and I said similar, not same. This would be designed to hookup to the interface that one has installed inside their head." Dahr taps the side of his head as he said this. "With that connection, and the systems in place inside the actual arm, the arm would feel as if it is a real arm. Obviously not to the same degree as a real arm, such as you'd only feel pain if the arm was actually being damaged, unlike with our arms." He stopped caressing the synthetic arm to poke his own at that.

"I... see, also can you not caress the arm like its your child, its kind of freaking me out." Kassix still had the arm in his hand while all this was happening, and did not enjoy the look on Dahr's face while looking at the arm.

"Uh... Yeah, Sorry. Anyway, that's why it'd be more expensive in that case. In the third option, and what would be the jackpot if it were, it would be a Polymeliac arm, or an extra arm for someone. If it is one of the Polymeliac series, then it would have all the software and hardware onboard to simulate a third arm, or however many extra they buy. It'd be a top dollar product, but it'd be hard to sell since they are usually DNA coded to keep them from being stolen easily. We'll have to find someone who knows what it is, and can use those parts and crack into the software."

"Mmhmm." Kassix was just staring at him at the point.

"What?"

"Nothing, you just seem to really know your parts. So you wouldn't happen to know a scrapper then?"

"Not a scrapper, no but an enhancement mechanic, yes. He can at least tell us for sure what this is, and he may even buy it from us." Dahr was just beaming when he said that. "He's not in the pit though, he runs a legitimate business on Floor one."

"And he's willing to do business with us?" Kassix looked at Dahr again, wondering why this guy is so different from the other seemingly ruthless thugs down here.

"Yup, he's, a... uh... Old friend?"

"Got it, anyway what about the rest of this stuff?" There was still the orb that the hand was clutching, and the pile of mods that Kassix had grabbed while sliding down. Dahr picked up the mods one by one and looked them over, and after inspecting them put them back in into a neat pile.

"So most of them are just spare parts, and not worth that much, but that one I left on top is actually a T1 blood filtration mod, although it's faulty, it still works. This is basically what we were originally looking for. Normally this would be the find of a month, but..." His eyes slowly moved towards the arm.

"And this?" Dahr picked the metal sphere out of the hand and looked it over. "I'm not entirely sure, but I can definitely tell its hi-tech. Look, its got hair-line breaks in it for where it can open up." Dahr started to fumble around with it, trying to see if it opened somehow and could not make any progress.

"Let me try." Kassix held out his hand for it, and Dahr just shrugged and dropped it into his hand.

"DNA Sequence Accepted. Registering New Owner." A small robotic voice rang out from orb as it opened up and stood in Kassix's hand on four small spiderlike legs. Another section opened and a light scanned over Kassix from top to bottom.

"Registration Failed. Unable to Wirelessly Connect." After the voice said that, the orb returned to its original state as a metallic orb.

"Its a freaking A.I. pet! I've always wanted one but they are so expensive! Depending on the rank of A.I. in this thing it might be worth more than the arm!" Dahr was almost shouting at this point, and Kassix had to put an arm on him to push him back to sitting. Realizing his mistake he looked back and forth down the alleyway and sighed in relief that they still seemed to be alone.

"Why did it accept your DNA sequence though? Usually those are only unlocked after purchase and locked to those who bought them." Dahr looked just as confused as Kassix who had been staring at the orb curiously since he sat back down.

"I'm not sure, but I think I'm not going to sell this one, feels like it would be a waste since it recognized me, but what was that about the registration failing, do you know?" Kassix said this while poking at it, seeing if it would open again, which it would not.

"Your brain interface might be too low tech, or the software might be outdated if its one where you have to manually update it. If you want to keep it, I can talk to my mechanic friend about updating it if you'd like."

"Hmm, it's probably because I don't have one. At least Allie mentioned that I didn't have any mods, and it doesn't seem like that's common, at least not having the brain interface from what Dahr is saying." Kassix was deep in thought when Dahr just waved his hand in front of his face. "Oh, sorry I was trying to figure out why it wasn't compatible." Kassix tapped his finger to his temple while saying that. "But, nah, since its not compatible I'll work it out later."

"Alright, if that's what you'd prefer. Should we go ahead and go see him?" Dahr started to pack the mod and spare parts away into his jacket pockets.

"Actually, I need to head back to the disposal area, well back to around where we were. I left something behind." Kassix stood up and stuffed the arm back into his jacket while saying this.

"What do you mean go back?! Didn't you see what was happening there? I mean, I didn't see it, but I heard it still! What if those people are still there?!" Dahr wouldn't even let Kassix get a word in before he finished his spiel and ran out of breath.

"Yeah, but I can't leave it behind, but I get what you're saying. So how about this, I give you the arm, you get get it appraised and sold and we can meet back at the top of the elevators near where we met. That sound good?" Kassix didn't really want to trust him with the arm, but he also didn't want him to see the Chimera box.

"Do you have enough money to go up the elevator?" Dahr seemed content with that option, in fact he even seemed giddy at the chance to hold the arm.

"Wait, it costs money to ride the elevator? I didn't have to pay to come down here!" Kassix just turned to him with wide eyes at this, he didn't have any money, nor did he expect to need any.

"I mean, of course you didn't have to pay coming down, riding the elevator down is free, going up is what costs money." Dahr looked at Kassix a bit confused at that, how would someone function in the pit without having to go back up? "Kas... is, is this your first time in the pit?" Dahr couldn't help but laugh at that, he hadn't expected this guy who didn't even have a pair of pants to be that clueless about the pit. He took out a card and tossed it to Kassix, "Here, that card will let you ride up and down until it runs out of charge. I only bought it a year ago, so unless you find elevators particularly enjoyable you shouldn't run out for a long time." Dahr was still laughing and wiping away a tear while saying that.

"You're a strange one." They both had this thought in unison as they agreed on their plans.

"Well, I'll probably beat you there, so good luck Kas. Don't get killed by those guys, you are my good luck charm!" Dahr gave a wave as he jogged off with the arm hidden in his jacket.

"When did he start shortening my name?" Kassix just shook his head and began to return to the disposal area.

Luckily, it only took him around an hour to find the path they ran down. He questioned if he would have been able to find his way back if they ran any further, but despite it being maze-like Kassix was able to work his way back till he found the mountains of scrap again. He quickly ducked down and peered into there, and was greatly satisfied to find that there were no guards at the entrance or thugs digging through the piles.

"Maybe I could risk looking around for some more loot." He quietly talked to himself while working his way past the scrap. "It's so strange that just a couple of hours ago there was a giant fight happening up here, but its basically a ghost town now."

Kassix made his way past the three piles of scrap and headed towards the gate he originally came through.

"Well- Well- Well, Looks like one of the rats decided to come scurrying back!"