Page 23 of The Fall

Chalice looked to Kerr as if had the answers. That was a first. Hoping she wasn’t overreaching, Kerr went for it. “Your tech.”

Lusa exhaled sharply, somehow both polite and derisive. “At least you’re asking this time.” She scanned the Koffi shop and then focussed on Kerr.

The full bore of her dark eyes unsettled her deeply. Kerr’s heart scrambled to hide in her chest.

“You can’t have it. It’s incompatible with your cyberware,” Lusa said decisively.

“What’s it to you? We can decide that for ourselves, yeah?” Kerr looked to confirm with Chalice, but she was back to flirting with the red-haired one. Kerr was on her own with this. She only hoped whatever the outcome, she wouldn’t be the target of Chalice’s wrath. “We’re used to making things work.”

“You won’t be able to use DocPods either.” Lusa leaned forward, folding her hands.

“Can’t you just turn it…”

Lusa cut her off. “It doesn’t work like that.”

A few uncomfortable moments passed while Kerr bit the inside of her cheek, contemplating. “That’s why you needed the arm.” She took a better look at Piston’s old arm. They’d done more than fit it to the red-haired one. Upgraded capacitors. Higher tensile cables. Lower gauge wiring and larger harnesses. She was curious to see what sort of damage she could do with it, but the girl took no notice of her. Chalice consumed all of her attention.

Kerr decided to press her luck. “What if we asked you to do a job for us, yeah?”

“You’re aware this is Harpies turf, right?” Lusa glanced around. “Is this the sort of job you want to talk about here?”

Kerr looked to Chalice.

Thankfully Chalice hadn’t completely checked out. “Another time.” She slipped a piece of paper across the table to the red-haired one. “It’s the location of the filters. We have men there expecting you. Leave the chips with them.”

“If we find trackers, the deal’s off.” Lusa stood, pulling the red-haired one with her. “And there won’t be another one.”

Chalice focussed her Opti for a beat and then answered. “I’ve sent a message to the men. If you find trackers, you have my permission to kill them. We value a trade relationship.”

“You didn’t before.” Lusa raised her eyebrows.

“I assure you, it was a rogue element. He got what was coming to him. We don’t hold anything against you.”

Like hell. Kerr thought. She couldn’t understand how Chalice was being so calm about everything.

Lusa tilted her head toward the red-haired one. “And the arm?”

Kerr’ mouth fell. They weren’t seriously considering returning it, were they?

“It’s yours.” Chalice cut her off like nail clippers before she could make a scene. “We pay for our mistakes. We hope you’ll consider that when it’s time to deepen our partnership.”

Nodding once, curtly, Lusa stood, motioning for the red-haired one to do the same. Kerr wasn’t sure, but she thought Lusa swept her eyes across her as she did. She’d have to replay the Opti footage to be sure.

“We could also use replacement parts for that DocPod model, if you can print them. I gave Pinga a better way to contact us,” Chalice said.

Lusa nodded and gestured toward the door. Pinga left first.

After they’d gone, she grabbed Chalice’s arm. “Pinga? When did she tell you her name?”

Chalice raised her chin toward their host who arrived to escort them outside. “The other one is Lusa.”

“I fucking know who Lusa is!” Kerr stammered. “All of Tyton knows who she is.”

But Chalice was focused on other things. “We can’t use Pinga to get Model 2.”

“Because of your dad’s arm?”

Chalice’s lips formed a thin white line.