A few days prior, in a small business district in Los Apagos…
Rico Sanroma tread proudly amongst the city-dwellers as he ducked and dodged between them, his companion close behind as they weaved their way towards Rico’s destination. It had been an eventful day so far…Autumn had seemed very anxious to get off of the Alliance and into the city to get herself a new arm to replace her prosthetic, and Rico, being the gentleman he was, was all too eager to oblige. Entertaining the opposite sex was his favorite pass-time, after all.
Soon, the two came to a stop outside of two buildings, set firmly in the cavalcade of other stores along the bustling walkway. Rico turned a grinned broadly at his vivacious counterpart, extending a gesture at the two buildings as he did so.
“Well now…we can either start with yer new arm…” Rico hand wavered over to the store on the left, affectionately titled ‘Jay’s Chop Shop’ (new saw-blade finger implants available!). “…or, if ya want, new duds,” the hand moved over to the building on the right, the subtly-named ‘Toxic Wear’ (Haz-Mat suits on sale, today only!).
“Your call, sugar.”
Autumn grinned at the name of the cybernetic store. "I think I want to rearm myself first, babe." She watched Rico curiously with a bright smile as she pushed her hair back behind her ear. "I think once I get that settled, you can help to get me out of these clothes." She said teasingly with a light laugh in her voice and a wink.
“Alright then. Common’, let’s see what Jay’s cookin’ up,” Rico said as he entered the cybernetics boutique.
The inside of Jay’s was would could be called akin to a tattoo parlor merged with a toolshop. Display cases on the walls and under the counter portray assortments of shiny appendages and doo-dads for all sorts of cybernetic needs. A few of the more menacing pieces of equipment were on display behind the counter behind perhaps the thickest panes of bulletproof glass ever conceived…a wise decision, seeing as most of the limbs behind the casing were either highly-dangerous or were (supposedly) made of precious and semi-precious metals. Jay himself, a wiry gent, slightly balding and sporting a pair of tantalizingly intricate cybernetic arms himself. Upon entering, Jay flipped Rico a shiny metal bird…Rico merely laughed and returned in kind, both of them smiling at the exchange.
“How’s it hanging Rico? It’s been years, man. Still got some great taste in the ladies I see,” Jay said as Rico went up to slap a quick low-five with his old buddy.
“Play yer cards right, baby, an’ you might get lucky today too…Autumn here needs some help with a new arm.”
“Autumn, eh,” Jay leaned over the counter to get a better look at the Armorer. His eyes suddenly began to buzz and whir, small metal juts extending outwards from the pupils…cybernetic implants, of course. “Got anything specific in mind miss?”
Autumn chuckled and smiled brightly at both Rico and Jay. "Old friend, babe?" She nodded to Jay. "I haven't gotten a new 'netic since I replaced my voice box so I'm at a loss as to what I want to do for my new arm since a Crooked Demon killed it. Any suggestions?"
Jay retracted his eyes and ducked behind the counter for a moment, before popping back up, a lithe lusterless cybernetic arm in his clutches. The arm was articulated in the muscle areas, ribbed along most of the exterior with little extra fluff. Jay patted the equipment softly as he set it down on the table. “Well, we got some new shit from AwesomeCorp’s Cybernetics division. Sturdy stuff if you aren’t looking for one with weapons in them…I think this brand is newer than Rico’s though.”
Rico flexed his arms at Jay’s mention of him, cybernetic arms covered in synthetic flesh. “AC 121’s. Good as any a’ the shit behind yer desk.”
“Right, right,” Jay rolled his eyes slightly. “Or, if you want something with doodads in ‘em, you could try some Zen Arms models. Or even some Claymere Cybernetics pieces…pretty reliable there, but they don’t carry guns in ‘em. What’s your preference?”
Autumn seemed to contemplate the question for a few moments, pursing her lips together before she responded. "With the gun models, is it possible to detach them from the arm to clean them? I'm kinda funny about my guns. And how's the recoil from the heavier calibers? But would be my options with the AwesomeCorp stuff?" She watched Jay's face intently as she placed her left arm behind her back, holding the back of her organic right arm.
“Depends on the gun,” Jay said. “Laser or Xaser don’t have kicks, but they drain battery pretty fast. Solid ammo tends to get a pretty small kick, but there’s limited storage space for the stuff without hampering the movement of the arm. That’s the thing about weaponized cybernetics…they’re a lot more fragile than solid stuff. Easier to break or malfunction, since you’re fitting something that don’t belong there in it. Rico here took ACC “Steelclutch” models because he’s a fucking lunkhead and went through three good Zen Arms Xaser-20’s when he used to gangbang around here.”
"Gangbang, really?" Autumn sounded amused as she grinned at Rico for a moment before looking back at Jay. "I was afraid of that. Let me see what you got on the regular non-weaponized models then, if you would please. I don't mind hard bangs but.. I would rather not have to blow out my shoulder if I don't have to."
“He means gangbang, like with my boys,” Rico added in suddenly in a huff. “I mean…with my gang. WAIT, shit, I went around with my old gang and banged…FUCK, no, wait. I just have a gang. We do gang shit. That’s all.”
Autumn grinned. "Babe, we all do weird shit in gangs. It's a common initiation thing in some areas. Nothing to be ashamed of."
“No! No, you got it wrong, dammit. There’s a chick in there too. And…” Rico slouched a bit as he realized his babbling fit wasn’t as becoming as he would’ve liked. Instead, he turned to Jay, who was stifling a fit of giggles behind his counter. “…and will ya get the damn ‘netics already Jay? Sheesh, we got other things to do, baby.”
Autumn beamed at Rico and rocked on her heels and gestured at him. "If you say so, babe. What did ya call yourselves?"
“The Devilfish,” Jay interrupted modestly, producing another arm, heavier than the other and placing it on the counter besides the more lithe, less-shiny one.
"Devilfish," Autumn replied curiously, tilting her head to one side to appraise the salesman's face for a moment before looking at the arms he had to offer. "What are the specs on the non-shooty arm?" She gently placed her hands on the counter in front of her, tracing the outline of one of the arms with one of her fingers on her right hand.
“’bout 2,000 DA for the pair, so I’ll cut the deal at 1,000 DA if you just need one. This model here,” Jay tapped the smoother, shinier arm with a few clinking sounds of metal upon metal. “is an AwesomeCorp Cybernetics “Steelclutch”, 3rd generation model. Mixtures of aluminum and durandium composites mostly, with some good ol’ steel components making up most of the skeletal structures. Reliable design, no weapons means it runs of either biologically-produced energy or battery, depending on what you want. Rico uses the older versions of this fella…although, the difference ain’t that big. Maybe some better stability and a slimmer fit.”
"What's the maintenance cycle look like on a bio energy one? The less things I have to change batteries on the better. And.. what other models do you have for me?" Autumn inquired appraisingly as she lifted up the other arm carefully to judge its weight. "I do, only need one at the moment. I don't intend on another matched set for a long while if I can help it." She smiled softly despite herself as she ran her right hand gently over the surface of the metal like she was petting a small furry animal.
“Biological power runs off of natural emissions…blood flow, electricity. Doesn’t take much to power the arm…and you usually have to give it a good cleaning once a month, depending on what kind of work you’re doing. Grimy job means grimy cybernetics,” Jay explained expertly as he thumbed the display on the wall behind him. “…yeah, I have a few other models in back. Gimme a sec.”
As the cybernetics dealer traveled to the small doorway behind the counter, Rico leaned up on the counter and stared idly at the merchandise. “Not much for ‘netics, eh?” Rico commented on Autumns last statement.
"It's not that. It's just that I'd rather not replace things that I don't have to," Autumn commented softly for a moment, pausing to fully work out a response. "I know most people have this spiritual connection to 'netics but... when I feel the cool metal against my skin I just feel like I'm slowly losing parts of myself I can never fully get back. It might just be that I'm still not quite used to my legs. I guess the option of not using anything could be a better choice but I don't want to be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of my life or a mute witness to the world... the cybernetics remind me of the mistakes of my youth and.. sometimes I think the weight is greater than I let on." She smiled suddenly and shook her head, "But never mind that. No use dwelling on the things I can't... change. I'll learn the connection eventually, or feel more at home with the warmth of live 'netics against my skin."
“…oh.” Rico’s eyes trailed off to the side for a moment, obviously not expecting an answer like that. “Hrm. Well shit…I ain’t got a ‘connection’ with my ‘netics. I preferred my ol’ arms, now that I think about it…but, hey, like you said, better than runnin’ around swingin’ stubs. Lost my arm when I was young, too, didn’t know any better then either. They ain’t all that bad…you get used to ‘em after a bit, ya know? ‘course, it don’t hurt to have a good set a’ strong ‘netics when somethin’s on the line…and when I cover these babies up, the ladies can’t tell the difference. Makes it way too easy, hehe,” Rico chuckled jokingly, not wanting to sound too deep in thought about the issue.
Autumn smiled as she set the arm down on the counter again. "I'm sure you would've had nice buff arms without the 'netics. Unless you weren't one that did much heavy lifting with the Devilfish." She turned her face towards him and watched his face for a moment as some hair fell forward onto her face. "I don't think about them on other people, I usually don't care if the arms wrapped around me are metal or flesh, so long as they are holding me for a little while," she almost had a soft, shy tone to her voice for a moment as she made that last comment, with a warm smile on her face.
Catching tones of the female gender just happened to be on of Rico’s many fortes. Rico drew up from the countertop and turned his torso towards the armorer, crossing his arms and giving Autumn a sly little smile amidst an expression of piqued, curious interest. “Is that a fact, sweet cheeks? Oooor, an offer?”
Autumn batted her eyelashes at her Sergeant, pursing her lips together. "Could be a little of both, you never know what might happen," she replied cooly. "We have two weeks of shore leave so anything is a possibility. I'll have to pay you back for helping me out somehow, I'll just have to let you decide on what that might be."
Rico’s grin just grew broader. “I think I can come up with somethin’ or two.”
