Chapter 104 When roommates choose Mexican and tacos

He received a message from Kia that she wanted to speak to him, she sent him an address and a time. He drove there, after telling her that he had an hour and she had agreed to meet him, he stood in front of a luxury residence, the security guard looked at him with irritation. Mainly because he was standing there in training gear, having come from sport. 

"You want?" 

Luke looked at the guard.

" Ah. Right, Mrs. Tennington is expecting me." 

The guard mumbled something into her microphone and seemed to be waiting for an answer. Luke had never understood how these people could communicate with such a mumble. 

"Follow me, please."

The guard turned and walked forward, a barred gate opened and Luke followed him into the facility, which looked like it had been spit out by a landscape architect. 

"Wait here," came the guard gruffly, and Luke was left standing in front of the facility building. Luke went to the overview map. He was surprised to see that the complex looked more like a city. He saw stores, restaurants, sports facilities. 

A throat clearing sounded behind him, he looked behind him, a woman around 60, he guessed. It was hard to tell with her genes anyway. Taller than him, fit as far as he could tell, scruffy blond hair, ashen gray eyes.

"You? "

"Huh? Oh, my ex wanted something from me."

She laughed. 

"Ninety percent of the people here have an ex."

Luke looked at the board again, the owner's name catching his eye. He had to raise an eyebrow. 

"Schmiernovski Group. " 

"That's right, they specialize in holo systems," came from her.

" Hhmm " Luke had to think. He had bought shares in this group and invested a lot of money before the whole marriage dispute had started. And forgot about it. 

"Why?"

"Nothing important, like I said, I'm waiting for my ex. It's just that punctuality isn't his strong point. "

" Like most people here. Why don't you wait in the lobby? There's a smoking area there too."

Luke nodded, she led him in, it didn't look any better inside, all shiny and luxurious, the waiting area was furnished with designer furniture. She left him standing there, Luke himself pondered, he sat down, lit a cigarette and pulled out his cell phone. 

He scrolled through the list and found the name Schmiernovski. He remembered that he had invested in the old Schmiernovski back then because he needed holoprojectors because of the Ai. He clicked on it, he still had the cheap projectors from Villa that he had looted. 

He took a drag on the butt, it beeped, which rather irritated him that it was beeping at the woman. She looked at it and the color drained from her face like the devil was calling. 

"Hello?" came from his cell phone and it was the woman's voice.

"What happened to old Schmiernovski?" he asked. She stared at him, hung up, came up to him, grabbed his hand and pulled him into a VIP room that was used for shows. 

Turned over her cell phone, which had Lannister on it. 

"Oha, I'm getting really old for using that name back then. What's with the old Schmiernovski now?" 

"That's me," came from her.

Luke had to think. She looked at him.

"Makeover, sex change, needed something new." 

"Well, then..."

She looked at him, speechless. Luke grinned. She looked at him.

"Back then, there was talk of the government conducting infiltration experiments on you."

" Yes " He turned into a female version of himself. Her eyes widened. Luke took a drag on his cigarette.

" So you're really here for the ex? What kind of ex? "

Luke groaned.

"Tennington."

Schmiernovski raised an eyebrow.

"Her?"

Luke grinned and resumed his form.

"Yeah, her. I have no idea what she wants from me. "

"I read that she lost a case against you, even if she tells it differently here."

"My lawyer pulled the rug out from under her feet. But since you're here."

He saw a slight unease in her eyes.

"I don't want to take anything away from you. "

He pulled one of the holoprojectors out of the nanopocket.

Schmiernoski stared at it mesmerized, Luke grinned. Schmiernoski was a technophile.

"Now, this here is a level 4 holoprojector. The latest generation of Miles comes close to their quality. "

Faster than he could react, she had grabbed the projector and was examining it.

"It's not from here..."

"From an alien mansion, let's say. The planet's authorities didn't give a damn. So how about investing in the company?" 

"You do realize that you're the only remaining investor and shareholder since then? Although new ones have come in..."

"Not really."

She sighed.

"As soon as the mountain went up, they left with pockets full of money. Except you."

He blew a cloud aside.

"Well, I forgot, I was busy with other people. So, what brings you to plant engineering?" 

Schmiernovski grinned.

"Taking money out of the pockets of the snobs, what else, teamed up with other small businessmen. The facility here is built like a resort so they can relax ... "

She was still turning the holoprojector, looking at it.

"Why are there crystals in there and no plug? "

Luke grinned, pulling a set of crystals out of the nanobag.

"They're powered by energy crystals."

"Yeah, well," she looked from the crystals to him.

" And you're not going to a big company with this. "

" Pffff, let them find out for themselves and since I have side projects anyway. So you can take any crystal, even the cheapest one you can grow yourself. "

" Yes, but how does the electricity get in?" 

" That depends on whether you're interested or not."

She looked at him scrutinizingly and sighed.

" Okay, I'm in, but it has to be well planned."

"Come by my place tomorrow and we can discuss it."

He sent the address to her cell phone, his cell phone buzzing because Kia was sending messages asking if he was there yet. He sent her a reply. 

" Hhmm "

"My ex is taking her time again, is there any good coffee here? " 

" Yeah, they're all snobs. Come on."

He followed her into a fancy café, it was empty, the staff were sitting around a bit bored, they winced when they saw her.

" Pick a seat, it's all the same anyway." 

" Really? Then why these VIP seats?" 

" So they can spend more money, that's all. "

She reached into a pocket and pulled out a bright red rubber bracelet. Held it out to him.

" And this means?" 

" If you put it on, you can move around here and pay nothing. "

" Uh-huh ..." He put it on.

She looked at the employees. 

"Since you're going to gossip it anyway before I put the mail out. He's a higher priority than any resident here. There's only one red. " She stomped off, holoprojector in hand. 

Luke sighed and sat down at the counter. 

The clerk looked at him, a little intimidated.

"I'm harmless, is the coffee here any good?" 

" Well, it's just commercial coffee that we advertise as exotic. "

" Good, then I'll have one " Luke saw that the employee also had a bracelet that was gray. 

" All the employees have one of these wristbands, the boss says they're electronic and you can use them in the staff areas."

" Oh, then she took the cheap version. "

The employee looked at him in confusion.

"Well, she had the choice between ID cards, chip implants or wristbands."

" Oha " The employee came in with a pot of coffee, placed a cup in front of Luke and poured elegantly. 

He sat there for an hour, chatted to people, paid, went into the hall and looked at his watch.

"Well, time's up," he went to reception where a receptionist looked at him, she saw the bracelet.

"Tach, I'm not doing anything long and complicated. Is Ms. Tennington in the system?" 

She typed something into the system, frowning.

"According to the system, she left ¾ hour ago with a group of VIP sluts eh I mean residents. "

"I see, can you give her a message when she's back?"

"Sure..."

Luke thought about what kind of message he should give her. 

"Sir... I don't want to mess with your business, but the Tennington never comes to the reception. She always goes straight to her cheap place."

"Cheap place? I thought everything here was posh."

"Well, there are gradations, she's got the cheapest we've got."

"Really?"

She nodded. 

"Since they have a bracelet like that, I can show them."

"Hhmm okay."

She led him to the elevator, went up one floor, then down the hall and stopped in front of a door. 

"It has no panoramic view, no hot tub, no sauna."

Luke rang the bell out of spite. 

There was a shuffling sound, then a hungover brunette opened the door.

"Good Afternoon!"

She narrowed her eyes.

"Is Saskia here?"

"No. She wanted to talk to some guy about something until her friends picked her up to get drunk." 

"Really?" 

She nodded tiredly.

"Really, it's been bugging me for days."

"Oh, is that why?"

She looked at Luke.

" Because she and I share the apartment here. "

"Good, can you give her a message when she's back and sober? "

She nodded.

" Good, literally if I can. "

She raised an eyebrow.

"Saskia, have you ever heard of letting me know? "

"Really?" 

" Well, I'll let her sulk on the phone."

She stared at him in silence.

" You're the guy from the photo where she was throwing knives."

"Did she at least hit it? "

"Actually, no. " 

He grinned.

" He turned and walked to the elevator, the receptionist accompanying him.

He thanked her and left the building. Fidgeted to the moon, where a mountain of office work awaited him. 

Then he could mark the products from the earth and label them for transportation. Unfortunately for him, he had to travel on the transport ship as there had been a grouping error in the previous delivery. So he was allowed to sit in the cargo ship for 2 hours, 10 minutes before the local work. As it was a trading outpost, he went shopping. Lynx ambushed him and ate him in a VIP back room. 

2 hours later, bloodied, scratched and bitten, he arrived back on the moon, got out exhausted. Wrote his report and zapped downstairs. 

Where he saw Liz and Sarge in front of the alien holotv, with a race channel running. They noticed he was there.

"Luke, how much does a racing ship cost?" Liz asked.

Luke sat down on the couch, exhausted.

"About 9 million, then taxes, spare parts, fuel, licenses, that's about 26 million," he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Then there's the hangar for parking, transportation with duties etc. etc. etc. then we're at about 390 million. "

Sarge and Liz stared at him.

"That's right, I saw a commercial contract about that a few days ago."

He pointed at the holo.

" Those can only go on race tracks, no more, because they're not suitable for everyday use. You can compare it to a racing motorcycle, which is tuned for racing. It's great on the racetrack, but if you want to take it off-road, you can forget it, even on the road."

" You can be a buzzkill sometimes and why are you so exhausted? "

He looked out to sea.

"Had sex."

" Oha... wait, weren't you at Kia's today...? " 

He nodded.

"Yep, was there, but since Kia is kia. She wasn't there. But I met old acquaintances and I'm going to make some money," he grinned.

"Then who with?" 

Luke looked at Liz.

"Well, since Kia didn't show up, I went to work, after office work I had to endure 2 hours of space flight. Because of a form error. And that's when Lynx caught me. He was dealing something." 

He wiped his face.

"Does she know you're the sex slave of an empress?" 

" Sure." He took out his cell phone and switched it on.

" You and the empress have a certain history together. She calls her flat-chested and vice versa udder package." 

Liz looked at him.

"Lynx was the ..."

Sarge looked at her.

"The one with Jannet's long ears and bust."

"Oh that one ... But why does she call the other one flat-chested, she's got a bust."

Luke shrugged his shoulders and frowned. 

"Just out of curiosity, Luke," Liz looked at him. He sighed, stood up, took off his T-shirt. There were bite marks on his shoulders and scratch marks on the rest of his torso.

"Holy shit..."

"Yeah, harder than you, honey, when you're on a roll," came from Sarge. She nodded.

Luke reached into his nanopocket and pulled out two translators, which he handed to them. 

" What are we supposed to do with these?" 

" So you can understand what they're saying over there." 

They put them on and activated them. Looked at the holo.

" Holy shit ... and I thought it was just background noise..."

" So I'm going to get something to eat. "

" No cooking?" 

" Since you all voted for Mexican and tacos on the bulletin board and I'm not doing the cooking thing." 

He zapped his way through the megacities of Western America, which ranged from San Fricsco to San Diego, one of the smaller but compact megacities in terms of area. He had to check out several stores, most of which only sold copies. This one was in a side alley and looked run-down. He didn't care, left the store, stopped on the way out.

Got goose bumps. It was Teheen and Lynx's birthday soon - it was bad that they knew each other and had it on the same day. He had an idea, stood in front of a shop window with expensive clothes. 

A security van pulled up, officers got out and approached.

"Sir," a Latino man began.

Luke looked at both of them and wondered what this was all about.

"Sir, are you Mr. Akim?" 

" Yes. What is it? Don't tell me the store I just bought food from is illegal. It's damn hard to find a good place."

He lifted the bag.

"No sir, it's about his ex-wife..."

Luke raised an eyebrow.

"She was arrested in a raid with others, very drunk and she's only saying her name." 

Luke sighed.

"And how did you know I was here?" 

The Latino pointed to the bag. 

" Oh, I see. Well then." 

He got into the car, stowed the bag in the stasis and then in the nano bag. They took him to the police station where L.A. had once been. Brought him inside. It was hectic, he was led to the cells. Past the drunks, the hookers, the felons, he stopped in front of a group cell. There sat a group of highly styled women, all high on drugs. Kia stood out, she looked the most normal. 

"Normally they get out when they've slept it off and paid their fine," said a female officer. 

"I see, and what kind of raid?" 

"We made a drug raid on a drug baron. Everyone here except his ex-wife is full. According to the measurements, her ex only had alcohol."

" I see..."

"Well, the others are being charged with illegal substances and according to security footage, your ex-wife was already drunk and barely responsive. "

Luke sighed. 

"All right, I'll take her with me. But she's paying for it herself." 

The officer nodded and watched as they opened the cell and took Kia out. Kia had vomit marks on her clothes and was swaying badly.

"I... I have a date with Luke..." came out heavier and slurred. 

The officer looked at her.

"That's all she's saying."

Kia's hand was placed on a tablet and it beeped positively. They walked past the cells.

"Yo bitch, when I get out, I'm gonna kill you!" came from an African-American man in an expensive suit.

Luke looked from him to the officer.

"The drug lord. " 

" Aha " Luke stepped up to the cell.

"What do you want Hä?" came from him as he came closer. 

Luke looked at him. 

" Is that your girl huh? My boys and I have fucked her so many times! And she moaned like a whore. "

Luke scratched his head.

"Uh-huh, are you hoping I'll smack you and you'll get out of here? "

He took a step back.

"I'll tell you what I'll do if you find a good lawyer to get you out of here. If I visit you and you touch her, if I visit you and one of your boys touches her, I'll visit you. No matter which visit."

He came closer, getting quieter so the Baron could hear.

"I will kill you, but before you die, you will watch everyone else die before your eyes. If you have a family or pets, them too. "

He stepped back.

"I'm going to sue you! Motherfucker! "

Luke looked at the officer. 

"What's his name?"

"Simon "Killer One" Kink." 

Luke pulled out his cell phone, clicked through his database, typed in the name and smiled.

"Can I speak to the prosecutor?" 

"Eh," she led them both out. Luke waited while Kia dozed on the bench. A tall African-American man came in, smoothing his suit.

"You wanted to see me?" 

" Sure, there Killer One."

The lawyer rolled his eyes.

" Yeah, that asshole, we've been after him for years and on very thin ice."

" Well, I can help you with that."

" You can do that? "

" Of course, because I said back at the press conference that I picked up a lot of idiots."

He looked at Luke.

" Ah Specter ..." 

Luke grinned.

" Right, well was. So if they give me a tablet, I can give them something."

The lawyer pulled his tablet out of his jacket and handed it to him. He took it, clicked through, slid the file onto the tablet and held it out to him. 

The lawyer took it, clicked on the folder, his eyes grew wide.

"How..."

" Assassination attempt on drug cartel, something is building up to find ways in. "

" And why are they giving this?"

"Because he threatened my ex and otherwise I would have killed him myself and made a huge mess of things. I don't want his hopes of getting out to fail and him sitting in a cell." 

"Hhmm, but you're very open..."

" Oh, I threw in his gang as a bonus. "

Kia slammed off the bench.

Luke sighed.

"Oh excuse me, I need to get this boozy corpse to bed."

He walked over to Kia and lifted her up. 

"I can get you a car."

Luke looked at the lawyer.

" Thanks, but you have other options. Good luck." 

He fidgeted away, out the door of Kia's apartment. He put his hand on the box, she biewed, wanting a password. 

"Kia, password for your pad?" 

She barely responded, mumbling something he didn't understand. He reached through the door and opened it from the other side. 

The apartment was quite large, expensively furnished and untidy. What surprised him most was that the rooms were labeled. Kia's room was a pile of clothes in cupboards, with a bed in the middle. He switched on the light, Kia's cell phone was on the bed. He sat Kia on the edge of the bed, reached for the cell phone and turned it on. 17 missed calls from her lawyer and messages that were more about how he had found someone better and was fed up with Kia. 

Kia gagged and vomited. Luke groaned. He dragged her into the bathroom. Put her in the shower. Somehow he felt transported back to the best days of their marriage, when he had done the same thing several times. 

He undressed her, washed her. Dried her off and put her in a T-shirt and shorts. What surprised him more were the many bruises on her body. Kia sat swaying on the edge of the bed and stared ahead of her.

"I... I... really wanted to be on time... " it came out of her. 

He squatted down in front of her.

"And then what? " 

She looked at him, smiling.

"I wanted to have my feet massaged. " Her smile disappeared, she looked in front of her.

" I washed my feet especially ... "

" Really? And why?"

Kia looked in front of her, then at Luke.

"My feet hurt ..." 

He couldn't help but grin. 

"And how are you going to pay for that, Kia? " 

She looked at him. She hiccupped. Pulled up her T-shirt.

"I'll pay with my body," she stammered.

Luke shook his head, mostly because she was struggling

He sighed, tapped her forehead and she tipped back, falling asleep instantly.

"Get some sleep first." 

He ran a hand through her hair after adjusting her shirt.

"Yup. Like sheepskin."

He grinned and looked at Kia, who was starting to snore. 

Luke switched off the light and zapped home. Except now there was more going on.

Ned looked at him.

"Getting dinner, you were out late."

He grinned. 

"Had to bring home another boozy corpse." 

He pulled out the bag of food and set it on the table. 

They stared at it like hungry animals.

"But it's not from here," came from Sarge.

"I got this from the mainland, little restaurant." 

Luke opened the packets and was always amazed at how much they could all eat.