Chapter 24
SHE IS… NOT DRUNK.”
“Nope.” I drop Jasa’s alcohol-sodden body into a chair.
Manuel winces, looking about to protest at the corpse slumped on his one piece of operational furniture, but then subsides. “Weren’t you supposed to be protecting her?”
“Can’t win them all.” I sigh as I let my revs deactivate, massaging my temples.
It wasn’t a long journey here, but it was tense.
DeGov drones wandered past several times doing face recog.
I actually have no idea what would have happened if the system had registered the person I was pretending to help along was dead, but I cannot imagine it would have been good.
“This is true,” agrees Manuel. He shifts his portly form with a hint of nervousness. “Though, Azure. You know I can’t refund—”
“No, no. I’m not here for that. The Slabs worked perfectly. You do good work, Manuel.”
He visibly relaxes. “Damned straight. So…”
“I need another DNA wash.”
“Really enjoyed that first one, hey?” Manuel shrugs. “Sure. I’ve still got the samples, so I can just—”
“Not with Shart’s DNA.” I still shake my head from instinctive irritation at the name. “With hers.”
“Oh.” Manuel’s eyes glint as he stares at Jasa’s corpse. “Oh.”
“Possible?”
“Possible.” He chews his lip. “Off-net sequencing of the DNA will be expensive, though. Probably take a few hours.”
“Time’s fine. But I don’t have anything to pay you with.”
He gives me an exasperated look. “I gave you several thousand yesterday, Azure.”
“I like to spend,” I say with a shrug.
“Hmm.” He’s unimpressed. “You’re going after her tokens?”
“The thought had crossed my mind.”
“So what you’re telling me is that you will have tokens. If I help you. You want to pay me after the job’s done.”
“That is an excellent suggestion, Manuel!” I beam at him.
He does not smile back.
“Fine. Be like that. But if this works, I’ll double what you made on the Slabs.” I say the words in a playful, sing-song manner, dangling them.
He continues to stare at me for a long, long second.
“Just a bigger asshole,” he grumbles as he waddles toward the door to the lab. “You’re carrying her down.”