Chapter 13: Broke
"Wait, hold on." Sun Jack, clearly overstimulated, averted his gaze and took deep breaths.
"What's wrong, darling? Don’t tell
you don’t like . What kind of girl do you like? I can be anything you want," purred the catgirl as she pressed her soft body against him. Her glowing-stocking-clad leg lifted and rubbed against him.
"No, no, no, just... hold on a second." Sun Jack quickly extended his hand, pushing her away. "I just had my wounds stitched up; I can't handle any intense activity. Next ti, I promise."
At that mont, Song 6's head popped up from between the pale flesh of three won, a vape pen clamped in his teeth. "Bro, cut the crap. The treatnt center's D-class nanobots patched you up ages ago. What, are you into n now?"
As he spoke, Song 6 shoved an almost-naked woman toward Tapai.
"First ti? Don’t worry, big sis will teach you," the catgirl cooed. Her tongue flicked out, wrapping around a blue pill, which she playfully aid at Sun Jack’s mouth.
Suddenly, the room darkened. Sun Jack's instincts kicked in; his modified tal prosthetic arm shot out, grabbing the catgirl’s wandering hand.
Before he could react further, Tapai stepped in front of him with a gun raised. A loud "pop" echoed, and a spotlight illuminated a host on the far stage. The man, dressed in a shimring purple sequined suit, bellowed, "Bannyabo ne bassebo!"
"Switch to Chinese! My bro doesn’t understand a word!" Song 6 shouted, casually throwing in a generous Little Dragon Tip. The host imdiately switched to Mandarin.
"Ladies and gentlen! Welco to Club 69, where the fun never stops!!" His voice was thunderous.
"And now, let’s give it up for the amazing performance by Blues F4! Big Bird~~" He dramatically swung his arm for emphasis.
"Big Bird~~ Spin, spin, spin!!"
The stage exploded with raucous music as six scantily clad n entered, sticking close together in a "state train" formation. They moved in sync, bodies swaying rhythmically as the train picked up speed.
To win over the audience, the perforrs went out of their way to aim their gyrations at Sun Jack and Song 6, giving the patrons the best visual experience they could muster.
"My eyes! My eyes!!" Sun Jack scread, clutching at his nearly blinded vision as he bolted for the exit.
Outside, as the cold rain dripped onto his head, he leaned against a railing, gasping for air.
Even though he had escaped, the ntal contamination of that scene refused to leave his mind. "It’s over. My brain is done for."
"Why’d you run out?" Song 6 sauntered over, his clothes in disarray, his neck covered in red lipstick marks. "Bro, Linda Linda’s heartbroken. She thinks she’s not attractive enough."
Sun Jack rubbed his wet hair with his tal hand in frustration. "You bring
to a place like that as soon as we hit the city? Real classy, thanks a lot."
It had all been too fast, too intense. Sun Jack just couldn’t handle it after everything he’d been through.
And seriously, he could never accept the fact that... certain parts of won could glow.
Sun Jack was utterly drained—physically and ntally. "Pay up. 30 @coins for getting you out of there. I need to settle in this city before doing anything else."
"Don’t have money," Song 6 replied bluntly.
"What?!" Sun Jack spun around, extending his tal arm to grab Song 6 by the collar. "Say that again. You’ve got no money?!"
"I really don't have money. Kill
if you want, I’m still broke," Song 6 said, looking completely unfazed, like a pig unbothered by scalding water.
"Bullsh*t! You’ve been live streaming all this ti, and you expect
to believe you’re broke? You even ordered drinks just now! Still gonna claim you have no money?!"
"I did have so, but it’s all gone. Don’t you rember how we made it here?"
"There's no way you burned through a whole 30 @coins!"
"And don’t forget, that arm of yours? That’s mine—WolTech’s Black Titanium Combat Prosthetic. Do you know how much that would cost to buy? Can’t that cover the debt?" ??????????Е??
"No, it can't," Tapai interjected. "We signed a rescue agreent after his arm got snatched, so it doesn’t count toward any later compensation."
Just then, a hover vehicle with black spray paint floated slowly past overhead.
"Chill out, don’t get the BCPD on us," Song 6 said with a grin, trying to smooth things over. "I didn’t say I wouldn’t pay. I’m just saying I don’t have the money right now."
Sun Jack could tell from Song 6’s carefree attitude that unless he tied him up and forced it out of him, he wasn’t going to get a single coin. The guy wasn’t wrong, though—the money they used to buy their way out earlier had indeed co from Song 6. Plus, this slippery character was, begrudgingly, a friend. Right now, he was the only person Sun Jack knew in this massive city, and he might be useful later.
"Fine, whenever you’ve got money, you can pay
back then." Sun Jack knew the odds of getting the cash back were slim to none, but saying this would give him leverage for future favors.
Hearing that he didn’t have to cough up the money, Song 6 imdiately brightened up. He threw his arms around the two of them, calling out "bro, bro" enthusiastically.
Sensing the mont was ripe, Sun Jack chuckled and leaned into the camaraderie. "Since we’re bros now, you’ve gotta help a bro out when he needs sothing, right?"
"I really don’t have money," Song 6 said, his face falling again.
"I don’t need money. We’re new in The tropolis, with no place to stay. How about letting us crash at your place for a few days? That’s not too much to ask, is it?" Sun Jack slung an arm around Song 6’s shoulders.
Right now, their priority was finding a place to stay. Anything was better than being holess on these streets.
After thinking for a mont, Song 6 replied, "Can’t stay at mine—I’ve got roommates. But I can find you guys a place to stay."
"Thanks, bro." Sun Jack lightly punched him in the chest in gratitude.
"One more thing. Could you help
get a neural system? Let’s call it a loan—I’ll pay you back when I’ve got the money," Sun Jack said casually.
Of course, this was a total bluff. He didn’t have any neural system in his head to begin with, but he needed one to survive in this world. He’d realized along the way that having a neural system here was as essential as owning a smartphone in modern society. Without it, he’d be completely cut off.
Even if Song 6 had handed over those 30 @coins earlier, Sun Jack didn’t even have a network account to install one.
Song 6 crossed his arms, tapping his gold tooth thoughtfully with his pitch-black fingernail for a mont. "Fine, but this is the last favor, alright? Stop trying to take advantage of ."
"How’s this taking advantage? We’re bros! Bros are supposed to help each other out, right?" Tapai chid in, throwing an arm around Song 6’s shoulder. Compared to Sun Jack, he seed to be adapting to this world much faster.
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