How To Live as a Cyberpunk Solver

53. party

Leonard’s Hexagon module had a cognitive impairment function.

They could not be seen clearly by surveillance cameras, and if necessary, their faces and clothing could be hidden. It’s not completely covered like a mosaic, but it’s enough to make you worry when you pass by.

If you are anxious about cognitive impairment hacking, you can delete the other person’s memory chip. Real-time backup is not done unless you are a thorough entrepreneur or a paranoid patient with obsessive-compulsive disorder, so if you remove an external chip, you easily forget about your appearance.

“If you’re a normal cyborg.”

“Then what shall we do? Stand, stand, no way… that young gore…”

Max gave him a contemptuous look. How vicious is the mentor when he himself is not particularly good?

Leonard was terrified and looked at the kid who alternated between ‘Dad’ and ‘The Fixers’. It seems that the world experience is short, so I can’t grasp the situation. It was only natural that he hadn’t even walked in a few years.

“I guess I can just leave it…”

was only 6 years old I don’t think I’ll go to the public security and report it, and even if I do, it’s unlikely that lazy bastards will listen. Max protested inappropriately.

“Isn’t that as serious as it is? Who will take care of me if I leave it here? Aside from starving to death, a mean grown-up took me away and just, just, just…”

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

Leonard put the revolver in his holster and lifted the fainting Greenwood up. Then the kid squeezed the greenwood pants. It was a sighing situation.

“What are you doing?”

“What shall we do?”

“…Take care of that kid.”

Max’s expression brightened. It was embarrassing to kill or leave it alone, so there was no other way.

“It looks a bit like a kidnapper now. Boss, when are we going to make the threatening phone call?”

“Don’t mess around and follow me quietly. It hurts when that kid cries.”

As always with fixers, nothing went according to plan.

@

Leonard looked back and forth between Gordon Greenwood, who was tied up in the back seat, and the little Greenwood, who was sitting in front of Max. I don’t know who the client is, but since he insisted on abducting me, I don’t think he intended to kill him.

‘It can’t be.’

If it was a good solution, I would bring a basket of fruit or, no, fruit is too expensive, so I would bring a basket of potatoes and not hire a fixer. In all probability you will see blood, and it will not be beneficial to a child’s psyche. So the place I visited was the three-way intersection south of Tail Town.

‘Gunsmith’ Layla greeted a regular customer with a talkative face. After a long silence and confrontation, he said a word.

“…is the second daughter?”

“It can’t be fun anymore.”

Leonard nudged the kid. A thick wrinkle formed on the gunsmith’s forehead. It didn’t look like an implant.

“Do you think this is a daycare center?”

“It’s a regular request, but take care of it for one day.”

If you leave it to ‘broker’ Jake, you will get a ‘dirty’ request, and if you leave it to the Twins, you can’t trust the gangsters around you. Not to mention the jingling that only knows the credits or the protruding jaw belonging to the Liberation Front. Among Leonard’s shallow connections, the only person he could trust was Layla, the ‘gunsmith’. Judging by Max’s treatment, he didn’t seem to hate children. Indeed, I was reluctantly given Little Greenwood.

“What about my dad?”

Little Greenwood grabbed Leonard by the hem of his coat and asked. Even when I was young, I noticed something. He doesn’t seem like a good father when you look at him, but he seems worried because he’s a father.

“Mr. Gordon Greenwood has business with you.”

“…don’t kill me.”

A six-year-old junk town kid with no education, but he seemed to understand what ‘death’ meant. When Leonard was that age, death was the exit of an animated character, so he was much precocious than Undercity Bourgeois.

Leonard removed the boy’s hand and climbed into the pickup truck. Max laughed and waved, but the kid didn’t respond.

“I’m not crying though.”

“You know it’s no use crying.”

“Really?”

I couldn’t tell. Leonard cleared his throat and called ‘Dirty’. I received it right away because it was time to work.

“The work is finished.”

– Oh, wait a minute.

Unlike ‘intermediary’ Jake, who was chased by call time, he was relaxed. puck! puck! Quick-! help me! The sound was painful. Noah Lucas was right. He was a rather tired man.

– That’s it. Uh, so… You caught Mr. Gordon Greenwood?

“Call the client’s location.”

-Let me check before that. You caught it alive, right?

“Are you suspicious now?”

There was emotion in his voice. I really didn’t mind being suspicious. ‘Dirty’ laughed awkwardly and made excuses.

-Do you suspect Leonard Walker? can it be It’s just a procedure. procedure.

“Client location.”

– You don’t have to. Treat it roughly.

“…What?”

-A bullet in the head… By the way, Mr. Leonard doesn’t take commissions to kill. Then take off their limbs and throw them in the sewer, or break them up and sell them to scavengers. Wouldn’t you like to pay for an energy bar?

Leonard stopped the pickup truck on the shoulder of the road. Somehow, it required concentration.

“I’m not a troubleshooter who prying into my client’s circumstances, but this requires some understanding. I tried to kidnap you, but you want me to kill you?”

‘Dirty’ chuckled at Leonard’s protest.

-From the beginning, Mr. Gordon Greenwood was not the target.

“then?”

– This is going to be a long explanation. Hmm. Simply put, the client is Jane Greenwood, no, Mr. Jane Ritz. Ex-wife of Mr. Gordon Greenwood.

“…damn.”

It took 3 seconds to understand. ‘Dirty’ elaborated as if to make it clear.

-Yes. It’s a custody battle. People on my side don’t get it, but white collar people take rights very seriously.

“What didn’t you kill?”

-Still, since they are mixed flesh, they don’t seem to want to kill them. Or sorry for the child. Isn’t this mother going to confess that she killed your father?

“But you want me to come and kill you now?”

-The client’s request is ‘make it invisible until the trial day’. The request is complete. I’ll report on that as well. What about after-sales, customer service?

Actually, it was easier to kill. ‘Dirty’ finished insignificantly.

– Now we’re done. Gordon Greenwood is listed as missing, the client and his biological daughter live happily, and the fixer and broker receive credit as compensation. Aren’t all of them WINNERs except for one?

Leonard felt a strange sense of deja vu. Important things were missing from the contents of the request and additional explanations. I needed confirmation.

“Who has that child now?”

-Yes? Will the client have it?

It’s clear now. I don’t know if Gordon Greenwood smuggled it in, or if the kid found it on his own, but no one knew he was at 17-2 Street in Junk Town.

@

Leonard took out a piece of candy and offered Max one. Cigarettes are a good atmosphere, but I need sugar, so the lollipops weren’t bad either.

“Should I ask for a ransom for something like this?”

“……”

When Leonard pretended to hit him with candy, he quickly took a defensive stance.

“just joke! Joke!”

Leonard put the candy back into his mouth and leaned against the guardrail.

There were not many cars on the roads out of town. A bird with an unlucky cry passed by, a strangely large tumbleweed rolled around, and the silence fell.

Leonard said as the candy melted and he felt the sharp end of the stick.

“In this case, you should talk to the person concerned.”

“Which party?”

Leonard pointed his chin to the back seat of the pickup truck. Perhaps that was a signal, the car door burst open and Gordon Greenwood jumped out.

“You motherfuckers! Don’t be quiet!

Leonard strained his nerves without lifting a finger. It seems that they made an ambitious plan to take Max hostage and steal the vehicle, but it was thwarted as soon as it started. Thanks to this, the secret of their first meeting has been solved. It’s not hacking, it looks like he passed out because he was hit. said Max, loading his double-barreled shotgun.

“Just do as Mr. Dirty says.”

“What about the kid?”

“I take it to the client. do you know Could you give me a lot of honorary money?”

“Are you, you… the fixer Jane hired?”

said Gordon Greenwood, clutching his head. Max said, ‘Why are you awake?’ When asked, Leonard replied, ‘It’s the person involved’. Gordon said yes or no.

“I don’t know how much the woman said she would give, but I, I’ll give you twice as much. so let me go My daughter… My daughter, where is my daughter Jessie? You son of a bitch! I hope Jesse…!”

I couldn’t come to my senses because I had over-applied the brain chip.

“If Jesse is a 5 or 6 year old kid at your house, he is fine. I’ve brought you to a safe place, so don’t worry.”

“Is that true? If it’s a lie…”

“Oh really! What if it’s a lie? Does this guy keep forgetting his position? We’re the ones holding the gun now, right? Why do you keep threatening me?”

Max cocked the gun. Gordon Greenwood opened his eyes and shouted ferociously.

“Help me!”

“…see the change of attitude.”

“No, after hearing it, it makes sense… Seeing that you haven’t killed it yet, you don’t seem to have any thoughts about it either. If possible, please help me.”

He said he was a former public security officer, but his reasoning was unusual. Leonard chews a candy and then strikes a stick! Spit it out.

“There is such a thing as morality in this world, so double commissioning is difficult.”

Gordon Greenwood’s expression turned grim again.

“But by kidnapping you, the request is over.”

His expression relaxed a little.

“There are people who want you to die, but there’s no reason to listen to that, and if I’m just worried, will it be enough for you to appear at the court alive?”

His expression changed after each sentence. Gradually the fun got on.

“If it’s like that… if it’s like that, don’t worry. I’m taking Jesse to another city. I will never appear in A-044 City again.”

“Let me ask you one thing.”

Leonard beckoned Max to put the gun away.

“Wouldn’t it be better for a child to grow up in a rich family rather than being raised there? Are you conceited that I can take better care of you? Or selfishness?”

“That… that…”

Gordon Greenwood couldn’t answer. Whitetown isn’t necessarily beautiful, but it’s better than Junktown, which is full of gangsters and drug addicts. At least Max, who grew up in Junk Town, thought so.

“What are you going to do now?”

“You said it earlier.”

Leonard, on the other hand, was from an underground city. As you can see with a bit of reasoning, he was a young boy from a rich family. So I didn’t generalize.

“You have to talk to the person in question.”

Now the kid will decide. Will it be Jesse Greenwood or Jesse Ritz?