Chapter 14: Round About
David and Helen sat around and talked for a while until the teen fell asleep. Helen of course by that time had sent a discrete text to Gloria to come and pick him up after work.
Apparently, the sugar in the tea was too much for him.
There was the promise of top-end cyberware if he graduated top of his class which is something she didn't mind fulfilling. The kid was brilliant and genuinely nice.
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Adam Smasher was in his personal room in Arasaka Tower. The space is dominated by a sleek, minimalist design with sharp edges and dark, polished surfaces. The color palette is dominated by blacks, grays, and metallic accents, creating an atmosphere of cold efficiency.
Adam had personally checked every single system for tampering.
With a sigh, the iron giant sat down on his bench most chairs not able to hold the weight of his dragoon frame.
The tower computer, a mess of old and new tech, held many secrets and petabytes of pre-dataKrash information. Opening his computer system the steel giant had frozen in shock.
Crunch.
The floorboards gave out from Adam jumping to his feet.
"Where the fuck, what the fuck!" Adam Smasher shouts
The entire floor of Arasaka Tower shook slightly due to the behemoth of a borg punching clear through the concrete wall bending and breaking the steel rebar.
"Uh, Adam Smasher Sir!" A voice squeaks at attention behind the man.
"What" Adam Smasher grumbles out turning around and glaring at the woman.
"Y-you wished to speak to me, sir?" Valerie
"Yes Valerie, sorry I had managed to find some damage from the breach… ON MY PERSONAL FILES." Adam Smasher
"I a-am sorry I let her get away sir." Valerie says
"Don't be, she was likely a professional. I just wish that the hit on the transport wasn't there as a distraction. I definitely would have had an interesting fight." Adam Smasher says
"You mean the three Mox members who you completely dismembered sir?" Valerie asks
"Yes, they were useless pieces of meat, hopefully, this one will be interesting once we meet, I'll do my best to find her." Adam Smasher says
"Right what did you wish to know sir?" Valerie asks
"Tell me about her and what she did. Were you able to record the interaction?" Adam Smasher says
"Of course sir," Valerie says holding out a BD
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Helen was sitting down with Gloria at the kitchen table while her son was still asleep on the couch in view.
"Thank you for watching my son," Gloria says
"Of course, thank's for sending him to pick up my cat," Helen replies.
"It was no issue he does need to get out more," Gloria says
"Whatever happened to David's father?" Helen asks
Gloria leans back breathing out a sigh.
"Were you ever in a relationship? Where you thought they were the one?" Gloria asks
"Im a widow Gloria, Johnathan… God Loved that man, He meant everything to me and then one day they took him from me." Helen says sadly wishing she had grabbed the alcohol.
"Who took him from you?" Gloria asks
"It would honestly be best if we didn't talk to much about it. It's all dead and gone. I am retired now." Helen says
"Retired working for Max Tac?" Gloria asks
"I told your son if he graduated top of his class I would sponsor his chrome up to 80k as long as he went to the ripper doc I recommended," Helen states
"You, why?" Gloria asks dumbfounded.
"He's a good kid. Hell, if you were to allow it I wouldn't mind training him. Though I assume you have a good trainer for him already." Helen states
"T-training him!? WHY?" Gloria asks
Helen however remains silent.
Gloria looked overly puzzled.
"You mean to tell me that you are throwing a street kid into a corporate academy, for him to get top of his class and work at Arasaka above the people who were legacies? Yet you didn't train him to try and fight off the assassination attempts?" Helen asks
"That's actually true!?" Gloria shouts
"Yeah? It's actually kind of a regular. I mean I remember the first global corporation I worked for having its top leaders assassinated before it was bought out once its stock dropped too low." Helen states.
"What company?" Gloria asks
"Embassy-Garden, although now it's all owned by Konpeki a subsidiary of Arasaka," Helen says
"How old are you?" Gloria asks
"Gloria, I was born last century," Helen states flatly
"You don't look a day over 35." Gloria states in shock.
"Well thank you. Next time we talk about our relationships, I'll bring out the bottles of wine." Helen says
"True, it's time I got David home. I'll think about your offer of training." Gloria says walking over to the couch to get her son.
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"IT'S A MOTHER FUCKEN JO JO REFERENCE!!!" Adam Smasher shouts crushing the BD recording in his hands.
"I don't get it sir," Valerie says
"You Valerie are probably one of the most competent people here." Adam Smasher says
"Realy sir?" Valerie asks
"I counted three hits on the intruder while she was moving with a Sendvistan of a superior quality." Adam Smasher says
"What did she do to your stuff, sir?" Valerie asks
"All of my pre-Krash data has been overwritten by a smut piece of trash called Boku No Pico." Adam Smasher grumbled