Strong Enough 4.4

Shot Caller 4.4

“Welcome to Casa del Becca!” The woman throws her arms wide, electric-alice blue skin shimmering in the mood lighting. “Mi casa ass su casa. So, pop a squat, chooms. We got shit to do!”

Becca’s apartment is like Becca. Small, messy, and full of life. Gun bits—receivers, casings, firing pins—lie scattered around the floor between dirty laundry and old takeout. A standing screen blocks off part of the room for privacy, and while the whole space is bigger than the room Taylor just hauled all her stuff out of, it’s not much bigger.

The crew (including Lucy, not including Sasha) shuffles into the room. Becca flops down on the couch, making space for Taylor and Emma. Lucy grabs the chair. David looks around for a moment, blushing at the sight of Becca patting her lap, before deciding to lean against the wall. His foot starts tapping against the carpet. Becca fails to hide a pout.

Taylor takes a breath.

Pilar pops his head out from behind the privacy screen, brown mohawk flopping to the side. “Hey, Beccs. What’s the brat pack doing here?”

“Get a fucking job!” Becca throws her shoe at his head, and he vanishes back into his room with a laugh.

“And why am I here.” Lucy glares. “This isn’t a job.”

“It will be,” Taylor replies. Her optics glow deep red, an affectation. But right now, friends or not, she’s an edgerunner. More than that, right now she’s the boss, and she needs to remember that.

Lucy rolls her eyes. “Cause you and princess got kicked out of your little shithole apartment?”

“God, why are you always such a bitch?” Emma asks.

“Because I have to—”

“Behave, Lucy.” Taylor turns towards their white-haired runner. Even on short notice, Lucy showed up with her makeup on: red triangles under her eyes and on her lower lip. She always wants to look sharp, untouchable, like you’d bleed if you tried.

She’s also, Taylor knows, second only to David for what she’ll do for a quick buck. Taylor’s crew needs the cash, and even now that they’re moving onto bigger and better jobs, that need hasn’t gone away. The eviction was only one more expense: the newest item on an extensive list.

“You can leave,” Taylor says. “Wakako probably won’t have something for us until next month. So if you don’t want to be here, follow through or else shut up and listen.”

Lucy grimaces, crossing her arms. A second later she shifts in the chair, kicking her legs over the arm so that she doesn’t have to look at Taylor.

Taylor takes a breath. “It’s true, Emma and I got kicked out of our unit.”

“Y’all can crash here tonight, if you need,” Becca says.

“Thanks, but we all know that’s not a long term solution.”

Becca frowns. “Why not? Better you guys than my brother.”

“Like I want to put up with the whining if we kick him out,” Emma says.

“Yeah fuck that noise.” Becca sighs. “But it’s not like we can find anything cheaper now.”

“And when, exactly, is your lease up?” Taylor asks.

Becca shrugs. “Bout four months.”

Lines up perfectly with the end of the semester. Not that Taylor cares about her attendance record right now.

She stands up, walking to the other side of the table. Four sets of eyes follow her, but Taylor ignores them. She has a lot of experience ignoring unwanted stares, today, she just turns that to a more useful end.

“Take a seat, David,” she says.

“Ah, uh—”

“Aww, c’mon Davie!” Becca waves. “Promise I don’t bite, ‘less you want me to.”

David blushes, but a small push from Taylor sends him over to the couch.

Taylor faces away from them; hands folded behind her back. Her mother’s sleek white coat sits comfortably over her shoulders. She pinches the cuff between finger and thumb, feeling the weave. All the little fibers, wrapped tight.

She turns. “When your lease is up, they’re going to raise the rent.”

Becca pulls a face. “Don’t gotta tell me that.”

“They’re going to raise the rent, a lot.” Taylor turns to Emma. “Am I right?”

“Only computers can time the market,” Emma shrugs, but she doesn’t look happy. On the ride over, she went through listings, trying to find anything in a reasonable price range. “But right now? Everyone’s jacking prices to the moon.”

“It’s been happening under our feet since the Storm,” Taylor says. “I just didn’t think to look.”

“What’s happening?” Lucy swings her legs back to the floor. “Rent going up? Next you’ll tell me that the smog’ll be bad tomorrow.”

“The Storm ripped through the heart of Night City. But it ripped mostly through housing blocks.” Taylor looks at her crew. “That was on purpose. They wanted people they could rip apart to build more borgs, and because of their location, the took out some of the most expensive places to live in the whole town. Thousands, or more, suddenly needed to find a new place to live in the most expensive city on the continent.”

Taylor takes a breath, resisting the urge to pace. “What happens when rich people need a new place to live?” she asks.

“They just go buy it?” David asks.

“They buy it. From someone. This isn’t pre collapse NC,” Taylor says. “There’s not a bunch of vacant inventory or investment properties. People live here. So when the upper managers all need new places to live, they push out the next lower group, and then that group pushes out the next, and the next, and the next…until you reach the bottom in a city that already experienced a homeless boom right after the Storm.”

Taylor and Emma are on one of those lower rungs. They grabbed a studio in a megabuilding before someone else could, someone who couldn’t afford to even look at a more expensive place.

“And now they’re gonna do it again.”

“What do you mean, again?” Lucy asked. “There’s no more Maelstrom.”

“There are still lots of people who need a place to live,” Emma says. She worries at her lip, eyes flashing as she trawls through different sites. The Academy network gives access to all sorts of useful data, and Emma has been trawling through it her entire life. “The Storm was a tragedy, but for the three housing corporations in Night City? It’s an opportunity. There was a big jolt in rent prices right after the Storm, but the demand for housing didn’t go away. If anything, it’s getting worse.

“Arasaka is using this opportunity to exert more control over Night City; they’re bringing people in. The other corps aren’t just going to let that happen. There’s gonna be more military, more consultants, on top of everyone already here, and a lot of them are going to be very well paid.”

“Meanwhile, the places that used to cater to those very well-paid people, just got condemned,” Taylor picks up. “And anyone who grabbed a spot in a mega-building and didn’t get fired won’t want to stay there. Any place, fucking every place, is probably gonna jack rent to the moon the moment they get the chance, because there’s a lot of renters that’ll pay whatever they need.”

Becca looks a little lost. “Isn’t that just normal?” she asks.

Lucy and David on the other hand, get it right away.

“Fuck.” David runs his hands through his hair. “Our lease is up soon too. What you think it’s gonna be?”

“Emma?” Taylor asks.

“Just based on the listings, I’d be surprised to see less than twenty percent,” Emma says.

Lucy slumps back against the chair.

“Have something to add?” Taylor says.

“My landlord has almost the entire building on monthly contracts. He raises the prices ten percent min, each time.”

Taylor frowns. No wonder she’s so hard up for cash. But she’s still paying. That’s the problem.

Someone will pay.

Emma leans over to Rebecca. “It matters because the increase is going to happen everywhere, and it’s going to be a lot. It’s not going to stop, and you know that the rent never goes back down.”

“There’s always some dumb gonk, wants to live in Night City,” David says.

“What, and you just figured that out?” Becca snaps her fingers. “Just like that?”

Taylor, David, and Emma all share glances.

“This is the type of thing people are trained to find,” Emma says. “We’ve literally had classes on it.”

Becca whistles, laying back on the couch. “Damn, the other half lives wild as fuck.”

“You don’t have to praise them for it,” Lucy says. “That’s the reasons we’re in this mess.”

Taylor nods. “And that’s why we’re gonna cut our way out of it.”

“Oh?” Becca perks up. “Finally, a language I can speak. What’s the deets?”

“First, let’s rope Sasha in. While we were picking up Lucy, I asked her to run down the property manager of our old building.” Taylor also had Emma send her a summarized set of her data. Whether the runner has any experience in housing data, it won’t be hard to see how steep the line is.

The line always goes up.

<Hey everyone!> Sasha says on conference call.

“Sash!” Becca’s eyes glow. “How yah been, choom? I missed our girls nights.”

<I knooooooow! Any-anyway, Scarlet. Found your girl>

“Fast.”

<Was easy. She’s in the obituary list for a day ago.>

“Wow, someone bumped her off fast,” Becca says. “Hundred to Zero.”

“Someone flatlined her before the evictions,” Taylor says. Another mark in the column that the Megabuilding owners wanted to get the jump on the market and raise their prices first, when the demand would be sharpest.

Taylor put a little dent in their plans. They’re gonna have to fix a lot of units before they can rent them out. But they’ve started the race; now everyone else will be jumping in until there’s not a single red-enny left on the table.

<Also means you can’t klep your money back>

Taylor nods. “That was the first plan. But if the corp flatlined her, they’ll already have emptied her accounts.” She takes a breath. “We’re gonna have to aim higher.”

Lucy raises an eyebrow. “Higher?”

Emma gives Taylor a worried look. How refreshing. Taylor can’t help but smile.

“There are still solo landlords in NC. Not a lot of ‘em. But some.” She takes a step forward. “Some of them, I think, are getting a little too comfortable.”

“Been a while since someone strung up a leech,” Becca adds. “I think it was during the original Mox riots? Man, those were good times.”

“That’s your plan?” Lucy asks. “You wanna gank someone who owns a building, force them to sell, then zero and dump ‘em in the bay? You think that shit’s gonna fly?”

“What’s our other option?” Taylor spreads her hands. “Try to run even more gigs? Move to Pacifica, maybe? No, that’ll burn us out.” The fire that’s sparked inside her has ample kindling. Taylor won’t let it be doused just yet. “I think that having our own crew means calling our own shots. We’ve been dogs for Wakako and the other fixers, and they’re barely giving us enough to keep a roof over our heads. It’s time we make a move of our own.”

“That’s—” Lucy glares. “We don’t need that type of heat.”

<You-you know> Sasha says. <Lucy’s building is run by one such solo owner. Man’s got friends and connections, but he also has enemies.>

“And if we run this job just right,” Taylor says. “Everyone will think his enemies got to him.”

“Until they look at the paperwork,” Lucy shoots back.

“Oh please.” Emma rolls her eyes. “That part’s easy. Academy students are expected to operate their own shell corps. The school even has discounted legal services for exactly that.”

Taylor ignores David’s muttered, “we are?” and continues, “We just got our crew stable,” she says, “and then NC threw us into the shredder. That’s not gonna stop happening. You know why? We’re all bleeding out most of the money from our gigs just to make rent.”

“That’ll change, though,” Becca says. “Oh, like, I’m down to flatline some landlords or whatever. But we’re getting some real jobs now, like you said, Scar. Right? Some real money coming in.”

Taylor sighs. “The problem, is that everyone thinks they can pay us less than we’re worth.”

Becca frowns. “Cause we’re the brat pack.”

“We have one and a half people over eighteen on payroll,” Taylor says. “People notice.”

“Normally,” Emma says, “we’d be able to ride it out. Lady Wakako doesn’t short us, but she’s only one fixer, and she calls us.” An irritation that Wakako seemed happy to leave in their relationship. They weren’t a full crew looking for gigs, they were just a specific tool that the Lady of Westbrook had close at hand. “But even if the money’s getting better, slowly…”

“We’re splittin’ it a lot of ways,” David says. “And if we all end up having to pay even more money next month, and the month after.”

“We will never have our feet under us,” Taylor says. “Until we realize that we’re already drowning.”

“It’s a classic tactic,” Emma adds. “Keep the subject just barely able to survive. Make sure they’re never comfortable or able to relax. It makes people very easy to manipulate.”

“Or worse,” Taylor says. “It makes them make mistakes.”

Edgerunning isn’t a business that forgives mistakes.

Lucy frowns. Emma folds her arms. David’s shoe taps against the carpet.

Becca breaks the grim air with a grin. “Well fuck. Guess we’re takin’ over a building then! Lucy, what’s the guy like, he come around often? Think we can just roll up and grab him off the sidewalk?”

“No he doesn’t come around.” Lucy huffs, but she pulls herself back together. “I haven’t seen him in the building at all. Barely even sends messages. Sure as hell doesn’t answer maintenance calls.”

<Aaron Lombard> Sasha’s voice chimes through their ears. <Second or Third son of a European Exec.>

Emma huffs. “Second or third? He must have tried to zero his older brother.”

<Or he succeeded and they wanna save face! Anyway. He doesn’t live in the building he owns, go figure. Still trying to track down anything more than that. He’s had a few high profile flings with XBD girls, if that’s useful.>

“I can ask if any of ‘em worked at Lizzy’s,” Becca says.

<More corporate types. Like Clouds or Ruby Dreams.>

Becca frowns, half pouting. “Dolls aren’t XBD actresses. Most of ‘em don’t even need to double dip.”

“Apparently enough of them do for it to be a type.” Lucy huffs. “I need a smoke for this nonsense.” She fishes out a cig and a lighter, sliding open the window. “Can’t believe I’m considering it.”

“Your rent must be really high, then.” Emma smirks. “Care to share.”

“4k, and the heater doesn’t work.”

“Bad form.” Emma shakes her head. “Killing a guy like that is a public service, a corporate good.”

“Those are the opposite,” Becca says.

“Not when I’m involved,” Emma replies.

“Wait a sec.” David stops, glances towards the window, and keeps his voice low enough not to carry. “What, so we zero this guy, and then we all move into his building? Won’t that be suspicious”

“Emma?” Taylor tilts her head.

Emma clears her throat. “Aaron Lombard’s ‘enemies’ will take over and renovate the property, after evicting all of his friends as well as anyone running a grow op or something similarly heinous. Then, they’ll decide to undercut the market, offer much more reasonable rates. We will just happen to be first in line for much more reasonable prices, some dumb luck.”

Sasha giggles over the call. <I started sleuthing, and I think-think there’s even a penthouse unit. It’s not like, a nice penthouse, but…>

“There you go.” Emma waves her hand. “Emma Barnes, the daughter of one of Arasaka’s Upper Legal Managers, will just happen to get the penthouse. And afterwards if she decides to move a bunch of her friends in for sex and parties, well.” She shrugs. “Isn’t that just healthy living?”

“If I had to live in the same unit as you, I’ll shoot myself.” Lucy takes one last drag, flicking the butt out the window before shutting it. “And don’t worry, I scanned for anyone who could eavesdrop.”

“Conspiracy to commit murder isn’t even an imprisonable offence,” Emma says.

David pulls a face.

“You can keep your own apartment,” Taylor says. “We’ll even get someone in to fix the heater.”

Lucy nods once. “Fine. I’m in. We have a goal, and we have a target.”

“You know I’m in!” Becca cheers.

David nods. “I don’t…I’ll convince my Ma. But we’ve been talking about moving out of the mega building for years.”

<I just need someone to help me move my bed> Sasha says <I’ll have some clean room requirements, but looking at the floor plan, it shouldn’t be an issue>

“Already picking rooms?” Emma shakes her head. Then she turns to Taylor. “Do you even have to ask?”

Taylor’s smile grows wider. “Perfect. We have a crew. Now all we need is a plan.”

“Can’t we just shoot him?” Becca asks.

“We need to capture him first, maybe unharmed, if he has a Trauma Team subscription. So, first step, recon. We need to find Aaron and find out how to access him.”

“We’ll need a secure location to convince him to transfer his property.” Lucy frowns, thumbing her bottom lip. “That’s not just a data breech. You need authentication, sometimes in person.”

“Add it to the list.”

“Oh man I knew this was a great buy!” Becca bounces off the couch, dashing into her room. She returns a second later with a beat-up whiteboard on wheels. “Preem, ain’t it!”

“Where did you even find that?” Emma asks.

“Antique shop! Smart board doesn’t even need a special stylus.” Becca scribbles ‘spy on target,’ ‘secure location,’ and ‘authenticate the transfer’ on the board. “What else?”

Emma sighs, but she doesn’t hide her smile. “We need an enemy. If this comes back to us, lots of people will be mad. Instead, we need to point the figure at someone else. Hiding the real owner will be easy, but we need a fake owner that won’t get questioned.”

<How convenient> Sasha says. <Because-because Aaron Lombard has bad biz with none other than Arasaka>

Taylor raises an eyebrow. “How is he still alive?”

<I mean, it’s all just gossip. B-but it looks like there was this Doll>

Lucy snorts. “It’s always a woman.”

Becca cackles maniacally and scribbles all of that down on her board. “Hell yeah, Scar! This is the best gig we’ve had in ages! Fuck fixers. Let’s mint our own eddies, yeah?”

Taylor nods. In her chest, the fire roars. “We’re going to do much more than that by the time we’re done. We have our target, we have our ‘murderer,’ all that’s left to do is commit the crime.”

“Stop talking to me like that, baby,” Becca grins. “I’m gonna finish too soon!”

On the couch, David chokes on his spit. It’s a long night.

It’s the first of many.