Gaston sat across from a man who wore a casual business suit. Guarded by two well-built bodyguards with armor plating vests and a bioshield generator configured for defense.

“The Orients are quite calming isn’t it, Mister Hardy?”

“That they are, Sir.”

“Good work on what you’ve done in Neo-Tokyo.”

“I don’t recall doing anything special, Sir Donovan.”

“Protecting the Controller of the Defense Grid. Finding Constable Yu who had made a contribution. Participating in the battles here and then. That alone is fine work – beyond the duty that you have.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

“I heard that you are working alongside Ms. Forster? I was surprised that she came here. And from what my birds told me. She seemed to be dining with a hitman.”

“Familiar with Hild, Sir?”

“She works for us.”

“Really?”

“It’s part-time. Sometimes her targets are paid by some of our sponsors.”

“Is it okay to tell me this?”

“You have worked with us for seven years now. You, Janna, and Reginald are valuable. Reginald is a valuable intelligence officer. Janna, though can be a bit childish and foul-mouthed, has a switch that makes her valuable enough to trust her in some of the affairs of the UEDF. Well, you know how colder she is when she’s not around an old friend.”

“Was surprised the Consortium allowed her to come.”

“The Cult was a problem. Not just anyone. They needed someone who could handle the problem.”

“Guess Hild asking about Mortimer has something to do with this.”

“Not everything is a chance of fate, no?”

“Guess not.”

Gaston shrugged. He eyed the two bodyguards.

“Mr. Hardy. What do you think of this new world?”

“Terrible. But better than the last few years.”

“We recovered gracefully. You always see in movies that during a time of calamity. Humanity would go back to being savages. Yes, it did happen for a few months, but when the military rolled in. Everything went well. Society returned back to what it was and we showed no mercy to those who tried to break the world further.”

“Some of it at least.”

“It can’t be helped. Poorer countries have less control and from the very start have been lacking order. Resources are lifelines. The interesting thing about our society today is that the cataclysm raised some lands as well. Many countries are arguing which island belongs to who. But leave that to soldiers and leaders. Our interest is more aligned to the idea of securing breakers and the flow of ichorium to the correct party and how they should be dealt with Yu”

Gaston didn’t reply.

“So what do you want from me, Sir?”

“I want you to monitor the situation with Yu and Travis.”

“Travis? Here?”

“He is here. I believe that he will be coordinating with you as his handler – if you will.”

“What about my work?”

“It can somewhat wait.”

“That’s interesting. So you’ll have Janna take the work then? Lady Romanov got ears on this?”

“She does. That woman isn’t simply in the Breaker business. You know that well. How would that explain that amount of money she makes every year? She herself handles her own tech and supplies the trade of some weapons. Most of her lions are armed to the teeth and even the lowest ranking have greater gear than most of the breaker companies. Not to mention that she buys a lot of companies and makes them a sub-group under the Lions.”

“So she’s not after just the ichorium?”

“Oh, she is after the ichorium, Mr. Hardy. Illegal Ichorium that has the mutate purity effect.”

“And are we going after her?”

“No. She is very valuable. Not to mention she made use of her influence to make her virtually untouchable. Her PR alone is enough to put us in a bad spot. That woman has contracts with governments, and she has Jakob Stoll and Hilda Valeria on her side. Two who are renowned in the business. Breakers don’t usually show off themselves. At least the professional ones. The point is that she isn’t easily hurt by anything. Even dirtying her wouldn’t work at the moment. Not to mention that she has made quite a contribution to the world.”

Gaston eyed the generators on the bodyguards.

“Quite an improvement. This disruptor tech.”

“Isn’t it? It keeps breakers from using their powers. But unlike the previous versions, this one cuts them off immediately, disrupting the bioenergy that allows them to use it. Doesn’t work on some people, but it helps.”

“So you want me to work with Yu and Travis?”

“Yes. Well, do you agree?”

“No.”

“I expected that. But what can I do? You aren’t easily persuaded and the threat of debt does nothing. I can’t threaten Janna either. Such a shame.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

‘I am not suicidal. She has political power, despite her nature. Nonetheless, I want you to think about it, Mr. Hardy. I only trust a few to do the job right.”

“You put a lot of trust in us, Adolf.”

“Gaston, I know who to pick. I wouldn’t be in this position if it wasn’t for that.”

Adolf leaned back with folded arms. The two bodyguards eyed Gaston while their eyes harden behind their glasses.

“Travis could do that. Yu isn’t so bad either. The question is why you’d need me for this. Are you expecting mutates? Druggies fueled with ichor in their veins?”

“We need to do this while you are not using bioenergy. Guns and anti-ichor tech.”

“So there’s a fight.”

“And I want to have you and Travis working together. Dismantling an entire scene isn’t your job. But taking on the hardest part of the dismantling is your job.”

“I am a Freelancer.”

“That you are. But you are also a man with a dream of reaching the new planet that we have decided upon. Mars awaits you and I think it would be to your best interest if you have a way to increase your chances of getting a ticket. You are a smart person, Gaston. You know that Lady Romanov isn’t getting a ticket out of here yet. Not until she has everything arranged and is ready to enjoy herself out of this world.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“That’s all I ask of you, Mr. Hardy.”

Gaston got out of the car and watched it make its way to the town. He stayed on the road for a good ten second before walking to the side. He then checked on his messages and found one leading him to a foreigner pub.

It was a new one sitting near a small beach. It was mostly empty other than a few who were paying dollars to keep their booths. On the farther side of the pub, the two are eating fries and drinking beer.

“Sup.”

“Yo.”

“You ladies doing fine?”

“Kinda. We decided not to fight. Sit down. Hmm, you’re lacking bioenergy. Don’t have that tingle on your aura. Ah, met up with him?”

“You know Mr. Donovan is here then.”

“Scouted for him. The man has a price on his head. Ah, so you know about the arrangement. You don’t look grim enough so I’m guessing that you haven’t accepted it. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of Janna here. We are okay for now.”

“That makes me worry.”

Janna didn’t answer. She drank her beer quietly while browsing her phone.

“Will it be okay?”

“Don’t know. All I know is that there is importance in this.”

“Asking about Mortimer and then this. Must be a connection then?”

“Could be or could be not. How much did he tell?”

“That you aren’t as freelance as I think you were.”

“Could say the same.”

“Janna, are you involved in this?”

Janna looked at Gaston. She then eyed Hild.

“Not that involved. You know how I hated working with that prick.”

Janna loses that laidback back expression. The professional that was hiding beneath that irritated demeanor came out. Hild visibly loosened up at the sight of that one-eyed look.

“Donovan has always been eyeing your client. A Russian woman from a family that had lost prominence for the past hundred years suddenly emerges and becomes one of the largest, organized, and well-earning companies of the century. It would be far stranger if they left them alone.”

“So, why go after the mafioso of this country?”

“Probably ichorium, as always.”

Janna answered confidently. She took a sip of her beer, and then placed her phone on the table.

“Donovan probably wants to take a pot shot now. My advice to you, Gato? Don’t let him bully you into accepting it. If I know him well, he’d have an operative partner up with a local here to dismantle the operation. I don’t particularly like how the Babaika Lions do some of their operations. But they are good at what they do.”

Gaston folded his arms, “What about you? Any opinion on Donovan?”

“I don’t care much. He pays me to do work and I do my work well. I do disagree on your assessment. Donovan can be a piece of shit, but he usually pays well. Knowing you and him. He probably offered you benefits in regards to the two of you having a dream to live on mars.”

Janna glared. Gaston remained silent. Hild laughed covertly and then leaned on the table with hands cupping her chin.

“You two really are so eager to do anything when it comes to reaching your desired place.”

“No thoughts then?”

“Oh, I have. Mars is a paradise according to reviews and socials. And I’ve seen enough footage and photographs that are unmodified that they are really selling everyone on how beautiful mars is after it got terraformed, but the thing is that Mars presents less opportunity for me. You think inflation is bad? Then imagine Mars with their absurdly high prices and population that consists mostly of old men and women who have the spending ability to stay on Mars. No young man or woman stays long on Mars. Do you know what Mars is? A tourist planet and a mining planet. Mars itself is a logistics nightmare. Yes, we have split-realm ships, but it’s not enough. The distance itself still needs working and these ships travel based on the amount of ichorium. Mars isn’t heaven.”

Janna acted unsurprised and folded her arms. She behaved as if she had listened to this for a million times. Gaston relaxed on the back of the booth.

“You really didn't think that we don’t know that? That we haven’t thought of planetary immigration? Leave the home planet behind to live on a planet 33 million miles away?”

“No, I think you do. If it’s just leaving this planet. You can do it. But I doubt you two would stay stable. From the start, you two are looking for sponsors who can keep you two well-fed and allow you not to work for the rest of your days. Am I right?”

“Bravo. Sure got us.”

Janna said without a tone in her voice. She had a glare that could kill and she wasn’t using her grumpy face. Gaston poked her on the shoulder. Her face loosened and went back to her perpetually irritated face.

“Fine, I won’t mention it. Gosh, you two still confuse me. Not that it matters. I like you two better when you don’t make it clear. Makes our relationship spicy.”

“Creep,” Gaston said.

Hild grins, “Doesn’t apply to me. Geez, we three used to live together and do stuff together. You make me feel like I’m some stranger to your lives now.”

Gaston took the beer can that Janna offered.

“Remember. You were the one who left first. Not us. Your problem and Janna’s problem started with you in the first place.”

“We aren’t going that way, yet. Leave it alone, Gato.”

“Okay, fine, I’ll leave it. We have a truce in the first place.

“Glad that you understand, Gaston.”

Gaston stared at them. There was a whole problem underneath all of this. He could mention it, but it’ll ruin the truce. Not to mention that his mind was occupied by what Donovan said to him. As much as he hates to admit it, he knows that having Donovan support him would make life far better if he really does leave this planet.