Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Nine - Lunch Time Chat

Fran ended up getting a reservation at... a perfectly ordinary restaurant. It was one of those nicer chains, the kind of place that sold expensive steaks and had a wine menu on the table next to a lit candle. It was a place called Chez Slowbane. More French, so I supposed Fran had a taste for that.

It was nice but not, like, insanely expensive. I could imagine my parents going to a place like this for their anniversary or something, or taking someone here on a second date.

Becky didn't fit in at all. It wasn't even her punk attire, she just didn't sit right for a place like this. We were led to a nice booth near the back, far enough from any windows that no one would be seeing us from outside, and only a few steps away from the door into the kitchens. It provided a nice ambiance, if one liked the sound of cutlery clattering and plates clinking coupled with the occasional barked order.

The waiter returned with some menus, then explained that we'd be served by the usual restaurant robot before dipping. I took one of the menus and looked it over. Yeah, not cheap, but not... insane. "I hope you're not too hungry," I said to Becky.

She laughed. "Nah! Breakfast wasn't too long ago. Though that run did open up my appetite. Do you two do portals like that often?"

"No," I said.

"Yes," Fran replied at the same time.

We looked at each other. "Ah, well, that was our second one together," I said.

"In only a week," Fran replied. "That rate is actually exceptional. A corporate team will usually only take on one portal a week, at best, and usually as a much larger squad, so the benefits are split even more."

"Yeah," Becky said. "Soloing is the way to do it. Mouse did a bunch of solo runs before. She said that they're what she needed to rank up."

"Mouse?" Fran asked.

"The boss of the River Rats," Becky said. "She's a C-ranker! Super strong, too. Taught me a few tricks, but mostly she does her own things. If you want, you could meet?"

"I think I'm good," I said. "So, uh, do we want to get to the heart of things right away?"

"Sure!" Becky said. "What's the big deal? Or are you just recruiting me into a small army of cute girls because I'm just that adorable? I will wear animal ears as long as they're mouse and-slash-or rat themed, but I'm not into BDSM."

"Uh," I said. "No? I mean... no? No. What... okay, let me start over from the start." Dammit. Becky had a way of just tossing a wrench into whatever I intended to say.

Fran gave me a look that was at once pitying and amused.

"I have... a way of obtaining knowledge about the future. It's inexact, and not always as clear as I would like, and that's all I can tell you about that. Any more and... honestly, it would be stupid of me to say. So let's keep it at that?"

"What? Are we talking Terminator, Hot Tub Time Machine, or more of a Tenet kind of deal? Or are we talking more of a Minority Report?"

"I've seen none of those," I said.

I think I might have come out and told Becky that I liked running over babies in a big rig and she would have had less of a reaction. "You've never seen... I mean, Tenet and Hot Tub Time Machine, sure, but Minority Report and Terminator? How?"

"I don't watch many movies?" I tried. "Isn't this besides the point?"

"No!" Becky said.

"A little, yes," Fran replied. "Go on, Deadline."

"Thanks. So, Fortress ENE is going to be destroyed, and I want to stop it."

Becky paused. She was clearly on the edge of a rant which I had just stalled out. "Really? Like, when?"

"In about nine--eight months and a few weeks."

"Oh, shit, that's forever from now," Becky said. "What's gonna do it? Nukes? Invasion from another country? Massive portal breach?"

"Yes. To the last of those. Several portals, from E to A rank, breaching all at once, or within hours of each other. I'll have more details soon enough, but for now, my goal is to... stop that. Either prevent it from happening at all, or having enough powerful friends in place so that when it does happen, we'll be able to turn the tide."

"I mean, eight months is a long time. Could probably hit C-rank if you go hardcore mode between now and then, maybe, but a C-ranker ain't gonna stop an A-rank portal."

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"Yeah," I said. "So it's a multi-pronged thing. In any case, I--" I paused as the robo-waiter rolled over, its screen flashing the restaurant's logo. Sitting back, I gestured for the others to order while I looked at the menu again real quick. I was kind of hungry, but... yeah, today had been active, but not that active, all things considered. When it was my turn, I ordered a salad with some chicken on top.

Becky ordered a steak, with all the trimmings, and Fran some sort of tartar sliders. "What you're proposing is interesting, but I'm not certain it's... economically interesting," Fran said.

"Keeping the city alive isn't economically interesting?" I asked.

"Not particularly, no," Fran said. "Firefighting companies are almost always state-owned because, while they're necessary, they're also generally not very profitable. Just because something needs to be done, doesn't mean that you'll come out the winner for having done it."

I shrugged. "This is somewhat out of my area of expertise, I'll admit. It's also one of the things that makes you so attractive."

"One of them?" Fran asked.

I resisted the urge to mention her eyes or her pretty face, and I definitely resisted the urge to stare down her blouse even if it required superhuman strength out of me. "One of many," I agreed instead. "My first concern is making sure we can. Whether we can make it profitable would be a secondary, or even tertiary, objective. Ah, but again, off-topic. Becky, the part of the city you live in, and the River Rats, will be hit pretty hard."

"I figured," Becky said. "We're well-positioned, you know? But... yeah. I'm not sure about all of this, DL. Sounds too big for me."

"What if I make it simpler, then," I suggested. "You help me and Fran, and we pay you. Not... well. You'd probably make more working in a corporate environment." Her nose scrunched up, cutely, in disgust at the idea. "But what we can't pay in money, you'd make up for in experience"

"Hitting portals on a weekly basis, as part of such a small team, would mean an incredible amount of advancement," Fran said.

"And you'd look cool doing it," I said. "Like one of the waifus in your gacha games."

Becky snorted. "Even I know that that's a sad reason to join... and it's even sadder because it's kinda really tempting. I've seen the two of you in your costumes, and you looked badass. I think I might be down for that. I don't exactly have work-work, you know? Just enforcing for the River Rats, but even that's not much."

"We'll cover costuming fees," I said. "Hell, if you're free tomorrow, I was planning on going to see my girl for that. Could bring you along."

"Was there going to be a need for it in the coming week?" Fran asked. "Something more public-facing?"

"Maybe... probably. I heard something. Anyway, I might be asking both of you to help with something this week. I don't know what kind of fight it'll be, but it might be big."

There was that breach on Thursday. That was going to be a pretty important event. Like, not in the grand scheme of things, but for us? Maybe. Another opportunity to work together, and since it was a breach, it would be like a tiny recital of the big Breach later on.

I'd get to see if Fran and Becky and I were up to capping a live breach.

"Big?" Becky asked. "What's that mean?"

"It means that we might be in the limelight, at least for some of it. So protecting our IDs will be a factor. And we might have to seal a portal. Probably another E-ranker."

"Meh, that's easy stuff! If it's only as hard as today's, I could do it with my eyes closed!" Becky said.

"I appreciate the confidence, but we'll have to see what it's like at the time. Between now and then, we have a few days to prepare. I need to work on my cover a little as well. Fran, can you free up time?"

"I... may be able to. You are aware that I'm usually quite preoccupied? I've marked today as a training session with a private tutor, but I can't do that too often without raising some amount of suspicion."

"Well, if it helps, maybe I can give you some... private lessons?"

Wait, no, I wasn't supposed to be flirting!

***