//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 - The Mare - Part Two // Story: The Freelancers // by OverHeart //------------------------------// “Making friends are we, Snowy?” the bat pony mare said joyfully. “Snowy?” Access said confused. “The young miss is referring to me.” the stoic synth responded. Starry Night gestured to Snowy’s flank, where its serial number was printed along with the logo of Equi-Tech, a stylized pony head with a flowing golden mane topped with an equally radiant halo. “SNW-Y9-2? Oh I get it, the first four characters. Very clever.” The bat pony mare extended a hoof toward the two in greeting. “I’m Starry Night, I’m a bit down on my luck as you can probably tell. I hope we can get along with one another.” The bat pony mare spoke with an almost upper-class tone and wasn’t the sort you’d expect to be relocated to the sprawl, it caught the two off guard and they stared at her for a few moments. Sheet Rock looked the mare over, she wore a short sleeved jumpsuit in a similar color to her chocolate brown coat. Her tone betrayed her origin as a former Upper-Canterlot resident but her choice of attire and the company she kept said otherwise, it was all very strange. “Well, you’ll find we’re quite accepting around here, unlike other districts.” Sheet Rock assured. “I find the best way towards fitting in is to make some acquaintances, correct? Please do come in, I insist!” The two found themselves being pulled roughly into the apartment without any time to protest and left the two with a bewildered expression. The shape was a perfect copy of their own as expected, though this one was mostly unfurnished save for a few small plastic seats and a small glass table the last tenant must’ve left behind. In one corner sat a stack of cardboard boxes and luggage cases that had yet to be unpacked. “Miss, Shouldn’t you unpack first? I mean you’ve just got here, we can leave the introductions for later, right?” Access said. “Nonsense! And please, call me Star, you don’t have be so formal.” she said playfully as she gestured for them to sit. The two sat down in a couple of the free seats, and not being used to pleasantries they couldn’t find the words to engage in small talk with someone they had only just met. Star noticed their apprehension and broke the silence with a few choice words. “Perhaps you two should introduce yourselves? I did welcome you into my home after all.” “Where are my manners, I’m Sheet Rock. Pleased to meet you.“ Access rolled his eyes. “I’m Access Granted. Good to see another friendly face around here.” Star nodded and smiled appreciatively. “Now we know each others names I hope we can at least get along. Snowy, introduce yourself as well while I get our guests something to drink.” The Synthetic stepped forward and bowed slightly. “Designation, Snowy. Model X Synthetic, personal assistant and network access terminal.” A message flashed up in Access’ vision from Sheet Rock. “What a strange pair, keep an ear out for anything suspicious sounding.” Access shot back a message of his own. “I’m not getting any weird vibes off of them honestly, but alright.” After a few minutes of rummaging through various boxes, Star trotted out happily with a tray of aluminum soda cans balanced precariously on her back. Access picked up the tray in his magic and set the tray down gently on the table. “There’s a lot of boxes here for just personal belongings, isn’t there?” Sheet Rock questioned. “I thought if my employers were going to kick me out of a property they practically gave me, I figured I should take everything that was technically mine. I don’t think they’ll miss any of it.” Star giggled mischievously. Access snorted in amusement. “That's the sort of thing I’d do. Just the right balance of petty and justified.” “What did you do to deserve being put down here with ponies like us? It must’ve been pretty severe.” Sheet Rock asked. Star fidgeted on the spot for a moment. “It’s a bit of a sore subject, needless to say my employer did and said some things I didn’t agree with as unsurprising as that probably is. I made the mistake of voicing those complaints and got relocated down here.” “Did they fire you too? That’d be a bit of a kick in the teeth.” Access added. “Thankfully they didn’t. For what it’s worth I work for Darkspace, who believe it or not, aren’t as evil as Equi-Tech or Crystal Dynamics, but that isn’t saying much. I’m just glad I got out of there with my job and reputation intact.” “You’re pretty forthcoming with that information, not many would take kindly for a corpo like yourself living among them.” Star shrugged. “Trust me, even up there in the upper city, you get screwed one way or another. No matter who you work for.” Access took a gulp of his drink. “Well that checks out, my father would agree with you.” “Who’d he work for?” “Some security company, I don’t remember which. He screwed up once or twice and was given the boot, dunno where he is now.” Star stared at Access strangely. “I guess nobody is ever truly safe from circumstance.” “Not so much circumstance, he should really have been more careful given his position. Course we had to move down here after he got the boot, but I don’t mind since I met some pretty swell ponies because of it.” he said as she gave a side glance at Sheet Rock. “Maybe we have more in common than I thought. What do you two do for a living, judging from the interfaces in your necks I would say something technical.” “We’re freelance Netrunners. We do it all, for the right price.” Sheet Rock stammered out. Star grinned. “My employer would’ve loved to hire you two if circumstances were different, they’ve been looking for someone who breached their systems a little while ago, whoever they were they got out with something really valuable.” “Should you be telling us that?” Access asked. “To be frank I don’t care, I have no love for Darkspace. Most ponies who work for them don’t either, not that they’d tell you that out loud.” “What got stolen?” Star shook her head. “No idea, the details were far above my pay grade. But it seemed pretty important, whatever it was.” Sheet Rock grinned at Access who responded in kind, Snowy looked at the two curiously but otherwise said nothing. “We’ve got this little project going on, you don’t have access to security keys or anything do you? If we can get what we need we just might be able to do something about Darkspace for you.” “Interesting. I only have the standard ones they give us all, why?” “Do you think we could clone them? If you want to hit back at Darkspace for screwing you over we might just have the perfect means to do so, just trust me on this one.” Star looked at them, highly intrigued but a little suspicious as she turned to her faithful synth. “Snowy, clone my keys and load them onto a chip for my new friends, wont you?” “At once, milady. Shall I load your contact details onto the chip as well?” “Please do.” Snowy paused for a moment as a chip ejected itself from the back of its neck where one of its limbs pulled it free and held it out. Access took the chip and slid it into his jumpsuit pocket for safe keeping. “I’m willing to help you out with that little project of yours, I can get you into the office I work at so you can use their connection to Darkspace HQ and pull whatever is it is you need. My only stipulation is that you use discretion as if you’re detected, they’ll be upon us in moments.” Star stated. Sheet Rock winced at the idea. “Why would we need to physically go there? We do our best work at arms length, you know?” “Those keys I gave you aren’t the ones they issue to Darkspace Netrunners so no remote access, You’ll have to pose as office staff or contractors. It’s really the best I can do on short notice.” “I say this to everyone who gives us a job, but you better not be lieing to us.” Star snorted. “I dare say you don’t have the time or inclination to vet me. If you want to believe me you can, and if you do this for me you wont regret it.” “And we’ll have to trust YOU to not sell us out to Darkspace, we’re not exactly on their best side either.” Star nodded. “I must admit, I’m curious to see what they’ve been hiding as well. That breach isn’t exactly sitting well with me, normally the ponies I oversee aren’t stupid enough to let the likes of you through. No offense.” “None taken.” Access and Sheet Rock said in unison.