M [Syndicate] Welcome to Syn City

[Jack Pine]

Tortuga Star System, moon in orbit of Gas Giant Leviathan
Lunar Trench Colony “The Pit”, colony cylinder, Syndicate owned prison.


He couldn’t believe he got dragged out of his bed for this, at 3am in the morning cycle. A hacker caught in the act of digital theft, of an item that had already been skimmed by someone doing bullshit under the table. A newly hired enforcer he has to babysit, while corralling the hacker and the illegal medical unit that was modified to be sold as a killbot. For god's sake, he hadn’t even gotten paid yet for his last job, and now he was having to deal with a traitor.

At the very least they were letting Reynard deal with him as he pleased, so as he stood there boredly with coffee in hand, the man was trying to make a deal for his life. “I swear, we can talk about this Rey, I got dosh, gear, items, even this tome on me. Surely I can pay off this fuck up, I’ll happily take the demotion even!”, he pleaded as he was bound, but allowed to stand. In all honesty, Reynard was tired of it, absolutely tired of people’s idiocy over the last month. “Very compelling deal, now turn to face the wall so I can search your back pockets,” the enforcer stated with an annoyed tone.

“Oh yeah sure, just take whatever ya find, but ever-”, the man said as they nervously did as they were told, but were cut short by a bullet to the back of the head. Setting the coffee on the table, Rey sifted through the mostly useless items, but nicked the cigarettes while searching. Finding the tome he’d mentioned, it didn’t look like anything remarkable, but the strange inscriptions didn’t make much sense. What did peak his interest, was how the pages seemed to hum as he turned to toss it in the waste bin, before waving it around in examination. It grew more intense as it was moved closer to the stain of arterial matter that had trailed the man’s head on the slide down the wall.

Giving a curious hum, he flipped the pages again, seeming to almost purr he could swear at his touch. Looking to the stain, then the book, a strange yet unsettling idea wiggled into his mind. Sitting it open on the table, and flipping to a diagram he’d seen, Reynard drew his sword after removing a glove and ran the edge against his palm. With a flex of the cut hand, his blood drizzled lightly upon the pages. The table began to vibrate before visions of the room in an inferno consumed his vision, but when he blinked, it was gone and…. A woman was now sleeping on the table.

“Ffffuck, I need to stop somehow picking up strays. Alright, have some men carry her with us, I’ll deal with that later.” His order to the concerned guard was met with confused pause, until the command registered, and he took the happy excuse to leave the room. After a minute, two others stepped in and carried the unconscious woman of red out with them, and on their way to where the other unsorted problems were being held. Outside the impromptu cell, was his charge of a colleague, the honorable piece of shit as they so fondly referred to them as.

“Shit, move into the room with me please, time to sort these poor bastards.”, he stated before they did. The woman deposited gently on the floor among them, having been carried stretcher style on a blanket. Once the door was closed, and guards flanked the door, that was his signal to proceed. “So I'm very grumpy today, and I'm not going to sugar coat it for you. As accessories or just notable thorns in our side, I give you all two options. Well, except for the killbot in the corner, they already work for us. But to the rest of you, you can pay with your life, or you can work for the syndicate you decided to try and hustle. Now please make your decisions, and I'll start passing out lead, or keys to your cuffs around the room.”

All of them were bound, either standing, or sitting on prison style benches based on whichever they chose. The killbot was full on shackled however, as they weren’t sure if certain safeties had been disengaged yet. Reynard looked across them all though as he waited for answers, but didn’t find himself very impressed, even as the dossiers were overlaying on his vision.

Despite the stoic expression on Taimonts face she was inwardly screaming at herself. <Shit shit! What do I do, keep it cool. You can get through this.> “I’ll Work for you, Mr?” Tiamont stated, sitting there cuffed.
Sitting waiting for her judgment she thought back to what led her to this point: the hacking of what she thought was a corporate datacenter, her “fellow” hacktivists leaving her for dead and the Killbot she hacked before she was caught. She realized how much she's in way over her head and its is taking everything in her power not to crack under the stress as she bounces her leg from the anxiety.

“Technically this unit works for Miss Taimont also. Her voice print was added to the command recognition list.” The sleek nine foot tall robot immediately outed themselves without pause. A feminine, rather bored lowbit voice emanated from their beaked visage, a bit like a tannoy operator at an airport- But with that inhumanity, no small amount of casual menace. “Would you like to lower my command obedience level down from 100%, until this little… kerfuffle… is addressed?~”

Trying to engineer a situation where she was beholden to nobody, of course. Not that she particularly minded killing for this meek, squirrelly little female. Or anybody else for that matter.

A machine like this was not unique. Nurse droids were uniquely suited to being converted into assassin machines and pit fighters, because they were already allowed to manipulate or perforate the bodies of humans under special circumstances. The motherly chassis configuration was just an extremely awkward bonus.

The metal shackles clasped around their ankles and wrists clanked awkwardly, metal beams straining against the bolted fixtures punched into the wall behind them.

Somebody who knew more about robots really should have just ordered them to stand still…

<<Ohh the magnificence! The shining gorgeousness of circuits clapping each other in clanking noises, oooh the beauty!>> A huge 3 foot cyborg stared in awe at the killbot, his still half human mind was admiring the thing. Despite the lack of any possible expression except the emoji appearing at the center of what could be described as visor, a little red heart in the violet background of the screen. The cyborg was wearing a long brown coat, covering but not hiding the huge cybernetic implants, it could be said that his whole body was an implant. Old style but also very much old.

As he stared the mechanic creature suddenly his sensors alerted him, like a snap, the heart emoji turned into an exclamation point as the “””””head”””” moved to look at Reynard “It is my only way to keep my honor intact, to avoid useless bloodshed the syndicate is the only option.” The words were spelled with a booming synthetic deep tone voice. Followed by a nod of his helmet… or head depending on how you perceived it.

The jangle of chains was followed by the audible strain of servo-motors, as the ε-27 unit’s lanky body shifted uncomfortably. Protocol suggested they crossed their legs and arms in order to look professional and approachable. The simulated physical agitation didn’t matter, but looking off protocol was truly unforgivable.

“A real cyborg, that doesn’t hide his true nature? You are cute.” The slow and drawling voice observed. Ironically, it was the one with more traditional eyes to gaze back at him with. “And polite… Though I dare imagine what you might have done to end up in this establishment…”

A small sideways glance at the strange crimson girl on the floor, and then back up at Reynard.

“Does this slumbering damsel need medical attention?” A blank tone. “Her body temperature is… Spectacularly hot. Above recommended levels.”

“They guy who was trying to sell you after he modded you out, had some sort of book. He offered it for his life before I shot him. Did some ritual bullshit and she popped out. Though I would call a medic if it felt needed, can’t be careful with you until I’m sure you can be handled.” Rey wasn’t about to take chances, and right now, the least risky one was the crimson dame. That was saying something in his book, not that he would admit it to the cyborg’s face.

Looking at the robot guy making a heart emoji caused a stifled snort to come from Miss Sibo’s mouth. “It seems like that guy finds you attractive 72, maybe you should see if your ports are compatible.” she said with a mild chuckle almost forgetting where she was. Before looking back to the syndicate leader. “So uh if we are to join you what would our jobs be? I mean, I'm not exactly good in a fight, not like my father or brother…also what should I call you boss man?”

The heavy duty restraints clunked and groaned again, as the overbearing metal maiden followed orders to >see, and judge >compatibility. It was a built in function to flutter their eyelids, since nobody likes being poked and prodded by an unblinking camera.

“Infra red suggests power rating and heat capacity still only rated for human norms.” The machine observed, clinically. “However, software interface is likely possible.”

“Reynard… and can we please not do that here, thanks.”, the enforcer answered first to the group, with a small amount of audible sarcasm. “As for your job, it is anything in service to the generous cause of the Syndicate. However, be assured that each will make full use of your talents.”

Now turning to the hacker of the group, and by extension, briefly to the killbot in the corner. “So miss Sibo, you are going to be doing software security, and hacking as needed, while being monitored by an AI. All your accesses will be verified by it, its random key generator, and me. Your…friend, will be handling aspects of muscle, and hopefully will not be needed for medical until she can be trusted. Also command them to settle down if you would.”

The humanoid mess of cybernetics remained still, in a vain attempt to keep composure as his visor kept looking at Reynard. Though after the compatibility check of the android wonder near him, fumes of overheating came out from the radiator on the back of his head and spine. *Ohhh our softwares, the digital world completely interconnected, me and the machine, one thing… one thing… one thing* His mind causing the heat from the literal overload of emotions, the fruit of conflicts between his still human chemical and neural… “”””organs”””” and the cybernetics.

A sole gesture of approval was managed to be enacted, slowly the right arm raised and a thumbs up was directed to the mechanical beauty. All in complete silence as the sound of spinning fans and flickers spoke for him.

Sibo turned to 72 sighing forgetting that she took everything so literally, “72 one of these days we should look into giving you a k-12 program so you can understand people better….that or we can eventually sit you down and have you watch some anime to learn from it.”

Turning to glance at the cyborg she would snort before straightening her back. Listening to their new boss she nodded. “Understood Mr. Reynard, 72 Please refrain from struggling against the bindings. They sound expensive and our new Boss doesn't want to have them break.” Honestly she thought this was going to go a lot worse. She's heard stories about syndicate being a scary and brutal group albeit her father and “family” that he leads calls it a necessary organization good for business it seems they were both right somewhat. Bouncing her knee due to anxiety “Well Mr Reynard if you don't mind, I would like to call my father and inform him I'm safe so he doesn't try to raise hell to find me.”

E27 went silent for a moment, apart from the sound of clunking mechanical drives inside their head. It gave a bit of an uncanny valley effect as they stared forward unblinkingly, a synthetic marionette suffering from brain-lag trying to comprehend this complex situation.

“It is agreeable that I should go into standby mode. As for personality improvements, I am sure an ‘anime’ type module could be located.” A rather blank voice, merely delivering information whilst trying to avoid an emotional response. “However, I might advise that our employer’s control method seems to be based on fear. I would love to be able to collaborate, and provide the intended responses, but it seems at least two of us might not be equipped to even feel that emotion.”

Reynard was the other one, of course, judging by the comprehensive glance she gave him.

“Mister Enforcer, might I suggest you propose a proverbial carrot as well as the stick, in order to best motivate your new servants? It often works well before I am inclined to perform a… physically disagreeable bodily incursion.”

“The carrot is not dying, and getting paid. Work off your debts, and you keep your lives, also if you prove valuable you get to be one of us. Wealth, power, standing, and safety among the elite. The stick if that wasn’t clear, is your job going forward. “, Reynard explained further at the request. Even while ignoring the statement that sounded vaguely like a threat of harm. “We will not be working alone, as I have a few confidants to fill out our little crew here.”

He wasn’t sure he was ready to call them servants yet, at least not without a test run to prove they were worth even being kept around as such. This was why the man hated baby sitting, but this many oddballs, well few were willing to handle such groups. At this point, Rey neither really cared, or was much affected by it other than it being another job. “So, with that understanding, do any of you have reasonable questions before my associate here pops a motivator over his ogling of miss kill nurse?”

Leaning her head up against the wall she mentally scolded herself for getting into this mess as he took a deep breath trying not to cry. “Um- boss…I mean Reynard, what will our first job be? I'm hoping we can prove our worth to you…please don't kill me” she said, the last part cracking slightly from the stress under her breath.

“Well you’ll have to wait on that, but we’re doing some duck hunting to put it simply. So, we’ll do this civilized, and all walk over to a very classy brothel run by a very esteemed madame. Be on your best behavior.” Reynard nodded to his eccentric cohort before taking a step back, as a small remote was removed from his pocket. With a press of the button, there was a symphony of faint beeps as the restraints were all released.

This was at least tame so far, and here was hoping it remained that way. “Now you’ll follow Romeo here out to the air car, and I’ll answer any questions you might have now that we have the unpleasantries out of the way.”, the enforcer added even as those also on guard in the facility, and near enough to know about his charges, tensed in expectation.

The fumes started to dissipates, the fans rumorous spinning slowed during the conversation and finally the stunned cybermonstrosity of a human that was Marek raised his metallic head, the violet visor showing the words in bright yellow *Quest Accepted*. “Thank you for your patience Reynard-san. I will uphold the duties you demand, only one question before moving on, if it's possible.” The booming synthetic deeptone voice of the cyborg awaited the answer from the guy in charge before proceeding.

“What’s your question Marek, shoot?”, Reynard asks, turning to the hulking metal jigsaw puzzle of a man.

“Thank you” The cyber hulk nodded in a grateful manner. Then an emoji of a smile with a concerned face and a drop of sweat appeared in the visor before he spoke “Do you have an estimate of how many androids are working in the b… brothel..? And how many weapons can we bring with us?” Marek cybernetic speaker seemed to have an issue by pronouncing the word brothel, as it was a sort of nono word for it… or him… or whatever.

Reynard stood there looking at him dumb founded for a few moments, wondering how this man was ever a professional. “You’re… fucking with me right? We’re not going for funsies, this is business, so strap light and keep your eyes-... sensors, above chest line of sight. Also I don’t know, I don’t go to brothels normally. '', he finally replied after the awkward moment of silence, before the enforcer tried to steer this back on track. By the gods, they must look like cartoon villains to these people they just had in binding.

The goofy mechanical monster nodded again in silence as he was aware that the answer was as cringe as his question. But he needed to know! He needed to be mentally prepared!

Tiamant silently went to the car as instructed, trying not to seem too anxious to get out of the holding room.

“I wonder… If the motivations of his question are… Impulse driven, moral, or possibly religious.” E27 loomed over the group on their angular metal heels, examining the cyborg for more clues to their personality. Being that he didn’t have a traditional organic setup, that made his mood actually rather hard to diagnose. “Might I postulate that you do not like the concept of androids being in their service?... If you destroy the ringleaders, that would probably bring unacceptable repercussions onto Mister Reynard’s organization… If you destroy the androids… Well, unless you can pay for them, those repercussions might fall on us personally.”

They said it all very formally and matter-of-fact, apparently feeling no qualms with the situation either way. Standing in the middle of the room with their head ominously backlit, that clunk-thinking sound began to resonate again.

“...Do you have any black, grey, red or white spray paint, Mister Reynard?” A small tilt of the head, moving towards the car as they did so. “...If… our situation becomes… complicated… Please know that I will be easily identified. There are public access videos of my pit fighting matches.”

Finally ushering the last of them into the air car, the vehicle being a larger hover variety vehicle, Reynard considered the possible reasons for such a request. If they were with him, it shouldn’t be a problem, but seeing as they would have to do tasks while not always under his supervision. Well he could see the merit in it being a concern. “I’ll see what I can do. I will likely need to bring you to Shandra, a trusted mechanic I know. She can get you taken care of when it comes to body jobs and so on.”, he answered as the wall-sized hatch that acted as a ramp, raised to close them in.

“That is agreeable.” E27 remarked before stepping inside, no doubt wondering if that meant other modifications were planned in advance.

It was like a bus almost inside, but more space in between rows, with alteration in that they faced each other. The drone up front was passed the address of the brothel they were slated to have the meeting at. “Tell the Madame we’re enroute, and will be there shortly. Also tell Azure she’s to stick beside me after we get there.”, he commanded the drone to relay. There was a soft buzz which became an agitated hum as the craft magnetically began to lift off from the lot. With the crackle of its engines, it was gliding off towards an egress to the outside of the cylinder.

Adjusting her sleeveless jacket over her fishnet t shirt and zipping it up to her collar she slumped down in her seat. Thoughts racing in her head about how bad she messed up to be put in this situation, the so called friends/hacktivists who abandoned her to having to do this. Who would have thought the stoic nature of Tiamont would break down as things started to settle in causing the girl to tear up and sniffle slightly worried that she would never get to see her family again.

E27 changed seats so that they slotted in alongside Tiamont, though the difference in scale made it almost as if they were talking to a toddler, or a house pet. Apparently the mere sight of someone troubled or in pain immediately attracted their attention, like a moth to a flame.

“There there.” She reassured in a motherly tone, head-fins lowering sympathetically. One of her large but surprisingly deft hands grasped around the woman’s, whilst the free one stroked her hair, reassuringly. “Mister Reynard seems like a reasonable man, and I am still program-bound to protect you. Please do not feel sorrowful.”

The flight wasn’t short, or particularly long in duration, and only lasted about ten minutes at the most. They had flown out of the cylinder, before slipping into the aircar traffic of the wall districts, where they would enter one of the numerous transit tunnels. Gliding through long dug hollow streets through the rock, lined by catwalks for foot traffic, would take a few side turns. Eventually the craft would slow before diagonally sliding into a landing on one of the pads for the before mentioned brothel.

Outside, a few figures awaited to greet and offer an introduction. As the ramp unfolded once more, Rey took position at the top to usher their charges off the craft, “Be on your best behavior kiddos, and maybe I’ll buy you all lap dances, or something…. Hmm, strong maybe though.” He was mostly joking, even if not particularly funny, but it was better than some of the crying that had been going on. “That means you “nets”, and say something if one of the patrons mistakes you for a working girl, I’ll remove their hand for ya.”

Tiamont nods, getting off the flight, having gotten her sorrow out on the flight over; she has little to say at the moment. Making her way to the group waiting for them she stops several feet from them waiting for Rey and the others to catch up before she would go in.

E27 still seemed to be looming mindfully over the girl, synthetic joints making careful but lumbering strides as they trotted along the concrete behind her.

“I will record any and all instances of such transgressions, Mister Reynard.” A polite tone, but snapped short- Probably because they knew better than to ask if it would be more efficient for the robot to remove hands themselves. They were, after all, quite qualified. “May I ask if you intentend for your interactions to be… Negatively or positively persuasive, on this occasion?”

They were asking the last part, because they were qualified in that too. It wasn’t really that malicious. Some human interactions required a sultry demeanor, whilst others required a cold silence. It all depended on the intended result.

Standing near the entrance to the brothel, were two canine-mods standing beside a human woman. One of the canine-mods looked more wolf than dog, pretty heavily into the anthropomorphized side of things, though she didn't have the typical fur coloration, being a vibrant, almost neon blue color, even her hair. Of course, this was offset by the more muted colors of her clothes, with black and deep purple being the dominant colors.

She was wearing thigh-high leggings of a sleek dully reflective material that did more to highlight her digitigrade legs than anything else. The hotpants she wore though, riding low on her hips, made it easy to see the open chest of the leotard she wore dipping down and bearing her hips upper curves. The small bikini did little to cover her breasts though, with the short crop top jacket just highlighting them more so.

"Welcome Master." Azure said, bowing slightly as Reynard stepped off the craft in a demure fashion.

Meanwhile, the grey-haired wolf-mod beside Azure had a hand on a sheathed blade upon seeing the passengers exit the vehicle; she relaxed upon seeing Reynard exit it with the others. Dressed in a slightly muted dark green kimono, albeit short on the skirt, and carrying a fairly long ninjato, it was clear that the Inu took Rey’s command of guarding Azure very seriously. …Maybe too seriously, considering where they were at.

Omatsuki repeated Azure’s gesture, bowing slightly towards Reynard, though upon rising, she inclined her head towards the others, right foot twitching slightly as she kept a close emerald eye on her Daimyo- her yellow eye was keeping watch on Azure. Though, as her eyes moved back and forth between the two sets of interest, she did give a quiet, annoyed growl at the large robot. She wasn’t expecting the need for EMP.


Standing adjacent to the two eccentrically dressed Genemods. Was an olive skinned woman, dressed in what could be described as business attire, her black suit pants pressed, accented by a polished set of stiletto pumps. A black blouse fit along the curves of her rather Petite frame, accented by the gold jewelry on her wrist and fingers. Complimenting her distinct earrings and short green dyed hair, in contrast to the long right side of her hair, dyed blonde and only left long in the front. Her light blue eyes flashed to the girls.

Before looking at the enforcer and his abnormally large android companion.
"Welcome back to the Silver Spoon. Come in so we can discuss matters further."

Marek remained silent during the whole flight, an ominous figure sitting in a corner of the car. His mind a puzzle of messed thoughts and codes which were arguing about how to ask Reynard, on a later date, for a more efficient cooling system. The argument was specifically centered around the redhead's possible reaction to such a request.

As the vehicle landed he finally exited, but not before waiting for all the others to get out, and not before a brief strife while exiting. It was goofy to say the least, as his synthetic deep tone voice mumbled and muttered in the whole process. When he was finally free, he recuperated his composure and moved to reach the others.

The cyborg scanned everyone and stopped at the figure of Omatsuki, he turned towards her, maintaining a certain distance. With a rapid gesture he moved his long and ruined cloak to show two long naginatas resting on his left side, he then made a deep bow towards the anthro woman, it was a strange bow, only the torso moved forming a 90 degree angle. “It is an honor to see another follower of the way of the sword.” His booming electronic voice finally expressed a formulated phrase after its long silence.

“To get introductions out of the way, these two ladies are my assistants with my work. Azure here is my slave, and personal aid, as well as representative when needed. Omatsuki is her guard, and my kunoichi on call, when I need things handled with a bit more direct kind of discretion.” Reynard made a show of walking by and petting Azure on the head, trying to ignore the overtly flaunting outfit. If that’s what she wanted to go with, he wasn’t going to say no, but by gods dammit she made it hard to publicly say yes either. “This esteemed woman is Madame Seren, she owns the establishment so be on your best behavior”, the enforcer then added, making sure to add more emphasis and gravitas to how he toned her introduction.

The enforcer greeted her with a bow and half bend of the knee, the Syndicate’s way of acknowledging the other heads who without, would not have an underground mercantile empire to run. Even those who did business outside being officially part of the Syndicate, but were significant enough to have an impact on keeping the markets stimulated. The table wasn’t wasn’t a collection of fools, they knew to honor and recognize where recognition was due, and that all these figureheads within their system were essential to keeping it going. “I am grateful for allocating time out of your busy schedule to speak with us, the table will not forget it”, Reynard added before finishing his greeting gesture, and beginning to follow the madame as he ushered the rest to follow.

As her head was pat, Azure was quick to press her head into the pats while her tail began to wag behind her in a happy fashion, glad that she'd managed thus far to do right. As Reynard removed his hand and stepped in towards the brothel itself, Azure quickly fell into line behind him, hands clasped in front of her, trying to give an air of confidence and composure she wasn't sure she really felt, though her tail had yet to stop wagging as she followed him into the brothel proper.

Suki just frowned at the cyborg’s honorific, giving a puzzled look towards Reynard, before deciding to shrug. Two ninjatos. Either one was defensive, or some sort of variation of baton-wielding was involved. Eventually, the wolfmod just bowed back, this one very slight. She bounced back up, and observed Azure’s… antics. Her lips twisted in displeasure, though her reasons were her own.

As they moved inwards, she inched her way towards Reynard, before pulling out a sheet of paper- a spreadsheet, or one in rough design of it. After handing it to him, she gave a glance in a couple of directions, before subtly pushing her head against the enforcer, giving him a small pout as she demanded the same treatment Azure received.

Seren nodded, lifting a hand as she waved toward the large double doors, showing the secondary entrance into her establishment. A more unique theme than others, the Escorts who were not working stood in the hallway in a line, all wearing a similar shorter, lightly frilled dress. Their hair styles varied, but it gave off a rather professional look and feel. The walls were adorned in a red velveteen material with dark wooden accents, as the lavished furniture, also seemed to be a nod to pre war architecture. As Seren entered into the hallway, numbered doors along both sides became apparent, each woman bowed their heads respectfully before trailing in behind the Madame and her current guests.

"Now, let us go to the penthouse and discuss what matters." Her words came more matter of fact, as she leads the group from the hall to another larger, more wide hall, seeing many armed guards along the way, various humans and Genemods all who are dressed in black uniforms uncharacteristically well armed with current NDC weaponry. Large carved metal doors stood guarding the elevator, as they were pulled to the side by two Grizzly-Mods the elevator stood in similar fashion to the rest of the building's Decor. The women following separated into two lines as Seren motioned into the elevator for the group.

" From here on it will be myself and your entourage, please enter." Her eyes still scanned the group seeing the two women and the wildly colorful other two, her light blue eyes fell back to Reynard." Your company is certainly…diverse, and color me surprised that your taste in women is, just as diverse it may seem." Her eyes fell back to Azure before awaiting the group.

E27 visually examined the two genemod women with veiled interest, followed by the two grizzlies further inside. Their red eyes ended up coming across like a walking sentry gun, dutifully searching for targets.

The chemical and neurological interactions always interested them- Not quite independent ‘human’ thought, not quite programming. What function did the aesthetics serve? Did this have something to do with how their own waspish form was designed?

Ducking under the doorway, the robot showed all of the seductiveness of a brick, regardless. No posture had been specifically requested by Tiamont or Reynard, so they just trudged behind the girl noisily, head blocking out the ceiling pot lights as they passed.

A list of potential dangers was addressed. Exploitable medical fragilities noted. No shortage of military grade weaponry.

“Ma’am.” A simple nod, voice a bit too placid. The organics didn’t like it when they talked too much.

The enforcer had casually rested a hand on Tsuki’s head as they walked, finally seeming to give the mute woman what she wanted. Why does fate seem to want to bring new meaning to picking up strays with these girls? He remained flanked by the two girls the whole way, as was their place, and he wasn’t going to alter that for appearances. He took note of all these passing sights however, more than having been expecting them, and it was the same one way or another in every organization worth their carbon.

“Well I can’t argue that to a degree, though I’m picky for more than looks, and I assure you both girls are more than capable in their skill sets. Azure is a capable assistant for my more mundane work, and Omatsuki can go toe to toe with a bearmod solo”, Reynard said with a praising and prideful grin, omitting the fact that one of them was a slave he hadn’t had much choice in taking in. That aside, she had proved her worth, and was a welcome company to have around his home. “I cherish their addition to my list of dependable assets, which I hope these two hopefully prove the same.”

Of course he had been referring to Tiamant and E27 as the group piled into the elevator, an action that proved slightly awkward with the equally awkward gaggle of persons assembled. “If I must be honest, the table has been pushing for more task forces, and assembling more capable individuals. Seems some people have been trying to make plays outside their place of late, or edge in on deals that might undermine the economy for the rest. That is why we appreciate dedicated individuals such as yourself Madame Seren,” the enforcer stated with an emphasis of their importance in this. “Also, if you’re wondering about Marek, he’s... insurance, as part of those plays, have unfortunately included the misguided action of someone trying to knock off enforcers, so we’re roving in packs now…”

He wasn’t thrilled about it, even though partly the reason he had given to the two troublemakers was that he was there to help babysit them. In truth, it was to make sure their enforcers were not being ambushed alone. It was a rather frustrating development that more than cramped his style, at least until they caught the rest of Rayleigh’s cohorts in their conspiracy.

Seren's gaze fell from the simulated window, back to Reynard her eyes sizing him up before narrowing, leaning against the desk, the heat from her hands made its soft mark as she smirked." So if I am to understand this, the Table has a major issue, and are in need of information, as well as my cooperation?" Her backside now resting on the heavy wooden desk as she sighed dramatically. I certainly don't like the idea that someone is hurting working girls, even if they aren't mine. It makes all of us look bad, and i..take great…"

She exhaled her tone much more sultry." Pleasure in my profession, as I am sure most of you do in your fields. I will have my girls gather what they can, but this will be a hefty cost for the table, as I am sure you know?" Her smirk was only emphasized by her piercing side eye, still sitting against the heavy desk as she waited with an entertained look upon her visage.

Azure kept quiet, standing a respectful step back and half step to the side of Rey, her gaze kept at a 45 degree angle down so that she didn't risk upsetting someone with her gaze meeting theirs. She wasn't sure if anyone would feel insulted by her, a lowly slave, matching their gazes, but she figured better safe than sorry.

Tiamont would remain silent, originally planning to remain that way through the conversation. She turned her attention to 27. Before turning her head to the cyborg, when the topic of danger to the girls. “Sorry for interrupting, ma’am, but is there any chance someone can give me basic self defense training if there's a chance to get hurt? I want to at least be ready as I doubt our enforcers and muscles can be everywhere at once.

The towering synthetic figure themselves had a certain habit of looking totally aloof and unconcerned, glancing down at Tiamont very casually.

“A personal defense armament would make sense given their stature and the timescale I am estimating you want to work within.” E27 regarded them unblinkingly, ear-fins flapping slightly. “A stun gun or some similar non-lethal hostile body removal tool would be suggested.”

As the moment trailed on, their eyes wandered, drawing a measured amount of confusion when examining the other non-leadership structure humanoids in the room.

The robot had assumed ‘working’ entailed some type of fighting. But if that was the intention of these ‘working girls’, then their eye for quality was truly scattershot.

Suki just furrowed her brows, cocking her head at Seren, then at Reynard, before pointing at and then grabbing her clothing and tugging at it slightly, letting go to point at Seren’s wear. She had dressed like a prostitute before, and she could fit the image again if necessary. And then stab/interrogate the target. But then her lips pursed. Here she was, making assumptions. Perhaps Reynard’s plan wasn’t to use the serving girls as information gatherers. Perhaps it was. If he was, beggars also fulfilled the same role remarkably well. Just, well…

Enforcers always sent people skittering. Normal people. So just imagine the effect for squatters who were always on edge and worried about being kicked out. Or worse.

Still, she wanted to hear what Reynard’s plan- and what his need was for these… Suki gave a somewhat critical glance at the others, before deciding to phrase the word in a better way in her head, one that maybe wasn’t so negative- scrappy cast of people.

A small transparent cylinder containing a stack of intricate medallions, all bearing the crest of the Syndicate and other affiliated organizations, was offered to the madam. "Having spoken to the council personally, they are willing to negotiate a deal. Especially as this is not expected to be a short term affair. These however, are a personal offering from myself as thanks if you accept, as I have a personal stake in the issue you might say", Reynard answered the madame, more than sure someone of her standing would understand the significance of such medallions.

Each was the physical representation of a favor, a valued commodity among the network, and treated as gold amongst the table itself. "Help the table with this matter, assist me going forward, and I will advocate for you to have a seat at the table." Turning his masked face towards Tiamant however, "I can arm her if you have a specialist available to give her some courses, and my affiliate Tsuki here, can be at your use for this matter as well. She has experience in passing as a working girl, and is efficient in procuring persons of interest,” he added as he gestured to the three women.

"Now that I think about it, it is rather fortuitous that most of this team is female. I'm sure you'd find some use out of most of them." The enforcer couldn't help but give a grin at that comment.

Azure kept quiet and listened, nodding at hearing the instructions and the focus. And the notion of them being armed, which actually got a concerned sound out of the wolf-mod. She, was still learning and hadn't yet had the prohibition on holding a firearm lifted, so she couldn't exactly help with protecting Rey or the others in their little band.

E27 was calibrating to the situation and picking up informal body language very slowly, but Reynard’s commentary on the ‘recruits’ did iron out the robot’s perception of what they had in common. She used this information to load up a new personality emulation module, and soon their legs became crossed in stance, head angled, torso bending slightly forward.

“May I summarize that your intentions are to use us in the activities of subterfuge and information gathering?” Steel-clad arms crossed behind their back as the robot loomed over them. It was more than a little like they were thinking about petting a small dog, even looking at the intimidating form of Seren at their desk. “Please be specific about your task requirements. It would be unfortunate if unintended injury was applied to the wrong individual.”

Marek remained again silent for the whole course of interactions, his cybernetic calculators elaborated many possible outcomes of his involvement in such operation, one of which was him dressed in a sexy maid outfit. The latter being completely deleted and the processor who led to such result being physically extrapolated from his cyberbrain… Literally.

While the whole affair was happening the giant agglomeration of clanky implants moved one of his arms out from his cloak to reach the side of the head, his hand as large as a shovel steamed and rapidly its fingers became refined tools for cybernetic maintenance. They rapidly messed inside the metallic head and extracted a little circuit which was rapidly thrown to the floor with a manner equal to disdain and disgust, and smashed by an iron boot. The action wasn’t stealthy at all.

The cyborg then turned towards Tiamont like nothing happened “Hai, i can offer you my knowledge in hand to hand combat and melee techniques against ranged adversaries. But it will take time given your… not fully admirable physique.” Such booming but reassuring words could be confused in many ways, but he personally thought about her lack of enough cybernetic implants by his personal standards.

Tiamont turned away from the cyborg at the mention of her body, not really knowing what she meant she absentmindedly looked down at herself and sighed. “Oh I see…I'm fat then.” She said folding her arms over her chest and pouting slightly. Turning to Reynard she then unfolded her arms. “Well boss, If you chose us for specific reasons If you need me doing cyber security and counter hacking/hacking. I'll need my personal computer that was confiscated. I know its BIOS and systems are better to get the job done. Plus its kinda tethered to my cyberware." She started licking her thumb she scrubbed away some makeup around her right eye showing silverish cyberware ports covered with a small rubber plug. And linked by a silver band between each port. “Sorry If I wasn't clear about that beforehand.”

Turning back to the madam. Tiamont extended her hand to her in a friendly jester of a handshake Not entirely sure how formal or casual to introduce herself. “Hi My name is Tiamont Sibo of the Sibo family.”

Seren watched the motley crew, tuning Reynard out for a brief moment, her eyes scanning each individual as if a hungry predator was stalking their prey. A functionally dysfunctional group of odd characters for anywhere else in the 'verse. But not here. Not in the den of crime itself. Tortuga, specifically at the Silver Spoon. Here eyes slowly fell back to Reynard." Your tech specialist, I'd like to see what Miss Sibo can manage, as for the rest of you. I have a new location popping up and I need manpower. That area may be a good place to gather information. Seeing as we have branches of this company all over the Station. It is what allows us to stay both neutral and in the know. As for your offer Reynard, you are as shrewd as you are dashing. You knew you I couldn't resist…even if I played hard to get.``

A delicate, perfectly manicured finger trailed along the cylinder on the desk, rolling a medallion in her fingers from pinky to index finger, she smirked again with her sultry half smile." You have yourself a deal, but leave the information gathering to me. You focus on what it is you do best, and I'll pull the strings to present to you your troublesome killer," leaning dangerously close to Reynard, the sweet smelling perfume, just fain it can only be picked up when intimately close, danced around his nose, with various notes of vanilla, cherry blossoms and cream. Her signature.

" Understand? As for the rest of you…" She quickly leaned back, lazily leaning her head to one side, "leave me the gene mods and the hacker. The rest will work with you. I could make them blend in easily. And that slave of yours I do hope is…freed." Her last word was said again in a serious tone.

Azure blinked and looked over as Seren gave a serious tone to the word 'freed', and couldn't help but shift her feeting very quietly, trying not to make herself more obvious about doing so. She still wasn't sure what to make of Madam Seren, with how she spoke and how she acted, made her feel like she wasn't welcome, expressly because of her status as the property of Reynard. Looking towards Rey in particular, she waited to hear what he had to say about the Madam's instructions.

The enforcer waved a hand to Tiamont idly, a message sent directly, {You’re skill will be put to hard work, have no doubt in that Sibo. However, learn to be flexible and try new avenues, sometimes literally in this line of work.} The hand was then gestured to the bot and his cyborg comrade, “Guess that means you lucky two will be doing what we do best. We’ll see if we can hunt down additional information, or other leads.”

“Well she’s not in the normal sense given she’s my slave… So what, do you mean Madame Serene?”, Rey questioned as he got the more important things addressed. A small itch nagged him at the possible meaning in his mind. If it lined up with his unspoken assumptions, well he wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Suki hadn’t really shown her own reactions either, and that partially left him equally relaxed, but concerned.

Escorted onto the premises by prior arrangement, a gift from Prospero Bioconstructs was escorted to the far end of the room. Kept at gunpoint by two armed genemod guards, the smaller catgirl nonetheless projected their handsome energy across to Seren and Reynard with a full-bodied, gleeful wave.

Green hair in twin braids. Triangular ears. Big mismatched eyes. Monochrome skirt, shirt and tie, tall blue heels. Right arm and left leg covered in a bright fuschia synthetic skin. Dorky at all heck.

"Hey-howdy, I'm Hildegard ED-29-27-A, but you can call me Battenberg! I'm a present for mister Reynard!" She called across shamelessly... Or at least suppressed the fear. Prospero was in big debt with the syndicate, and they'd wryly tried to smooth things over by gifting degenerate prototypes before. "Sorry, is this a bad time? I've been sent to murder and pillage on my crimeboss' behalf and I am really cheery-eager to get started! Count me in, zee!~"

It sounded like they learned their speech patterns from a terrible corporate teambuilding course. Probably because they did.

Reynard tried not to whip his head in the direction of the new arrival as what she declared, echoed across the room for all to hear. Welp, no retreat, no undo, and take backs on that one. The enforcer wasn’t sure how to even take or respond, a despondent “huh??” being the only thing to escape his mouth as that made his professionalism slip.

Suki’s head also snapped. But not to Reynard’s newest addition to his collection. Rather, it was directed towards the collector himself. And her face was set in a face that just screamed Bruh. She then turned to look at Reyard’s new… slave? Indentured servant? Whatever. What Suki did know was that this one was… blindingly neon. Garishly so. And wait. Murder and pillage?

Suki, again, turned to face Reynard with an absolutely confused look, hand on sword.

“Where you, ah, not told about this?” The technicolor creature smiled harder, despite an obvious increase in hidden stress, placing their hands on their hips daintily. He was sterner looking than she’d expected, and that other girly genemod looked ready to shank her. “I’d show you my business card, but ah?… These furry guys gonna blow my brains out if I put hands in pockets, ehehe.~...”

Behind the two Bear Genemods stood a massive man, heavily scarred over his right eye, his suit, seemed to be a mix betwill well tailored and barely fitting, as he sighed with an irritated and tired look on his face. Pushing the Mix of Neon and violence into the room further.” Madame, Forgive the intrusion, However it would seem this….walking Neon sign belongs to the Syndicate Enforcer you are currently meeting. She dropped off at our doors and started spouting things about murder. I wasn't sure how to handle the situation, so I had her escorted here, again…please forgive the intrusion.” The man, now blocking the exit, bowed his head awaiting the Madames response.

Seren looked at the patchwork cat girl and back to her Security team.Then to Reynard, A curious look fell upon her face, raising an eyebrow, no longer seeming amused nor Aloof.” I do hope this is not a ploy, Reynard, this is a rather uncouth introduction you've brought into my home, and now possibly endangered my girls. Daruya As’ad my Head of Security there behind you will be escorting your group out, if you'd like to continue discussing business we will do so in a place where I wont be concerned, if your members will be blatantly spouting nonsense about murder.” Her vibrant blue eyes, now locked on the Enforcer as she waved a hand and the two additional Bear Mods stepped forward.

Tiamont looked towards the madam and then to Reynard then back to the madam. “Yes ma’am.” she said a bit quieter now. Turning her head to look at the new hyperactive person. At the far end of them. Tiamont returned the wave to them. “I'm sure Reynard will like you, Battenberg. He tends to pick a lot of us misfits as far as I can tell… oh like the naked lady that came out of the book” she says without thinking.

“I don’t know, I didn’t invite her, she’s not part of my team nor was I made aware of any of this. This is the second time this has happened now, and it’s starting to frankly piss me off when it causes this much chaos to an otherwise professional meeting”, Reynard said with an edge of annoyance to his words after finally gathering his wits again… mostly. This was getting out of hand, now there’s two of them! “For the love of the gods, at this point, I hope you have a bunker. Because next thing I know, they’ll be dropping more surprise gifts on me. It’s like people see me as some home for wayward girls…. Actually don’t answer that.”

Perhaps it wasn’t professional, but that went out the window when murder bean showed up. Now he was just candidly annoyed that things were this disrupted.

Battenberg’s emotions went on a complete rollercoaster in a very short space of time, feeling intimidated by the lady of the house- being reassured by what she was sure was a highly important member of staff, judging by the modest clothes- to being completely rejected by the person she was mandated to give their very life to.

“P-p-please hold on a minute, this isn’t mister Reynard’s fault, nya!” She actively vibrated. “I am unarmed and command instructions have yet to be set! Waiting on the sidewalk would have exposed several expensive constituent bioroid components to an extreme risk of theft or damage!… M-m-meeting him directly was unfortunately the only option! I’m sorry about the intrusion, zee.~”

Somehow the smile of the bug-eyed cartoon character of a catgirl remained, despite all the stress, activating every ounce of customer service skill they had to avoid the chopping block at this point… For all they knew, these were the kind of criminals that just started shooting and asked questions later. And being sent back to the factory wouldn’t be all sunshine and roses either.

Tiamont turned to the actively vibrating Catgirl. “Hey it's okay it's not your fault, Reynard is just overly stressed, Plus he's got a knack for upsetting new girls it's quite normal actually.” she stated before turning back to the madam. “So may I ask what you wish to see me manage first?”

Azure looked between Reynard and those present, as well as Madam Seren, not really sure where she should stand, much less what she should be doing right now, considering the tension currently rising. Especially since it seemed her status as a slave to Reynard was part of the issue.

“Anyways, I apologize for the disruptions, and the table appreciates the assistance you’ll be offering as per this agreement. With that, I shall take my leave with the rest of my team until further interruptions find us, however, I require Miss Tiamant as well given her expertise. Please feel free to send what you might need from her remotely”, Reynard finally answered to the madam, cordial if not exactly pleased with how things had deteriorated in the last short span of time. This would have to be smoothed over with a few more gifts at a later date, even better if it was retrieved assets from the coming job they’d be handling in the meantime.

Reynard gave a small curt bow in respect to their host, before waving the catgirl and their hacker to start heading back out. Before leaving as well, the enforcer stepped over to Azure and Tsuki, “Be on your manners, and look out for each other, but try and be as useful as possible” he said lowly to them both in a comforting tone.

Hildegard clearly looked like they were going to bellow out some special goodbye and thank you to Seren, short term memory deleted, and mood turning on a dime- But repressed it at the last moment instead, merely beaming out an enthusiastic smile before trotting away, and grasping Tiamont’s hand gleefully.

“Wunderbnya, thank you sir!” The absolute creature thought they were being included in that conversation too. Though that was partly because of the tight corridor, to be fair. “If you are interested in specific uses, I would be perfectly happy to provide you with an intro-struction manual, zee!~”

Suddenly, a sheath whipped through the air and rapped squarely on the gaudy catgirl’s head- as the makeshift weapon returned to its original position, it was accompanied by Suki glaring daggers at Hildegard, before putting a hand in front of her face, and closing the forefinger and thumb, before zipping it away. The intention was clear: Zip it!

Stepping away from the neon woman, Suki only relented in her glare with an exasperated head shake. Reynard’s approach, however, caused her to stiffen to attention, and she nodded determinedly in response to his command.

Suki’s swift maneuver was made worse by the fact Hildegard didn’t even try to avoid being knocked on the skull, resulting in a squeaky toy-like noise, followed by the squishy catgirl becoming blank faced, seemingly concussed… but maybe not that bothered about it?... At least that achieved the result of making them shut up? Probably?



“Ow my brain, zee!~”