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Did you know I wrote this over a week ago?

That's right, being a writer is my dream job but it has full-time hours and doesn't pay the bills. I want to keep writing these stories for everyone to enjoy and your support on Patreon or Ko-Fi helps make that happen. Supporters even get to see stories a week early to avoid all that pesky waiting. I also appreciate non-financial support like faving, voting, and following me here or on Twitter. Thank you so much for your continued support! Please enjoy the episode.

And with that out of the way...

Welcome back, my lovely reader!

Neon Warren is an episodic co-author effort between G.C.Stargazer and CanaiCreations. Several cyberpunk-style sources influence the story but most notably, it takes the most heavy influence from the world of Shadowrun.

We have brought our own styles forth to put a spin upon the dystopian near-future world, leaning hard upon CC's world-building and action, while keeping G.C's flare for character-building and sexy romance.

This tale will run the gambit of all sorts of relationships, from casual to full-blown romance. No pairing is off limits in the sixth world, so do not be surprised to see boy-love, girl-love, or heterosexual setups. Sex may take place in the aether of the Astral plane, in the static of the Matrix, or in the meatspace, inside a van parked in the back alley.

Let's jump right in!

--*--

Episode 1:

Never trust a fox

"Fu-" Sen hissed through his mawguard, unable to finish the slur as a gloved fist slammed into his muzzle. The world spun until he slammed chest first into the training mat under him, "-ck... ngh!" He winced as he rubbed his jaw. Even with the guard, it was a hell of a lot harder than it needed to be, and the instructor had explicitly said no head blows.

"Point for Derick," The instructor drolled out with a bored tone in his voice, the other fox hopping back from the downed twin-tail who thrashed his deep orange tails around, glaring up at the instructor. The older dog with gray showing against his muzzle snorted down at the kitsune as he huffed out, "Wanna bitch about it, shrine-pup? Maybe pray the pain away?"

The kitsune snarled and righted himself without a word. With a growl, he got back into stance, his tails whipping about faster as he punched his gloves together and nodded at the other fox across from him to continue the sparring match.

It had been like this from day one, you'd think he'd be used to it by now. The only kitsune in the lot, all the others just regular vulpine guys with single tails. A high and mighty spiritual kitsune bringing himself down to the common dog's levels as if trying to prove something.

The next point started and as soon as Derick moved in to throw a punch, Sen sidestepped and haymakered the other dog right across the muzzle. The fox literally spun around twice before slapping to the floor, clearly unconscious.

Sen spit his maw guard out. "Wanna call me for a fucking head blow, Sensei?!" Sen snarled, glaring at the instructor, his tails a blur and his blue eyes shining with anger.

The older dog sneered at the kitsune and nodded. "Point for Matsuma. Someone pick Derick up and get his ass an icepack or something," he growled the words begrudgingly as he waved a paw and stepped away from the sparring match.

--*--

"Your targets aren't going to wait for you to take the shot, let's go, Matsuma!" the firing instructor barked out right in his ear loud enough to hear through the ear guards. The kitsune snarled and squeezed the trigger on the high-powered rifle, the metal target offering a loud 'ping' as it dropped.

"Oh thank you very much, shrine-pup, next time present me with the fucking thesis you wrote while lining the shot up!" The instructor yelled loud enough for the rest of the trainees to hear as he stalked off to harass another would-be security agent.

That's how it went with training when you wanted to be part of the Inari-Corporations private security force. You had to have the skill, the discipline, and the fortitude to endure. Also, you had to be a vulpine; species prejudice was alive and well these days. No one was going to say drek if a megacorp wanted to populate their ranks with specific species, nationalities, or age groups. They could make whatever laws they wanted on their own properties.

Nearly thirty years ago, after over a century of the political system being influenced nonstop by corporation lobbyists, the courts made the landmark decision that corporations could declare their own properties as international territories. And so the age of the 'megacorp' began, effectively allowing corporations to make their own laws, as well as establish their own 'security' forces, which was a colorful term for their own military. If you stepped on corporate land, you played by their rules, and if you didn't, they would just geek your tail and bury you in a shallow grave somewhere.

"Come on, pup! You really letting a fucking kitsune show you up? Maybe you should be the one off praying at a shrine instead!" the instructor snarled at another trainee as Matsuma snorted out and shouldered his rifle, taking a look at the digital display of targets hit, seeing he had a commanding lead over the rest of them.

He was redressing in the locker room after the day's training, his ear flicking as he listened to some of the other guys grumbling in the shower, "Yeah, he's probably just using spells or something, you know how those kitsune are."

Sen slammed the locker door shut and rounded the corner to the group as he snarled, "What was that? You think I'd use some cheap spell to get my results?!" The rest of the guys offered the cursory jeers and excuses that it is exactly what a kitsune would do, why did he even bother arguing with these assholes at this point?

"You dipshits should already know the instructors are trained to recognize any sort of magical or spiritual drek someone does, get off Matsie's damn tails already!" A somewhat pudgy otter came trotting up with his own toothy grin, his fur still slick from his shower, his large wide tail wagging.

Dalton was the only non-vulpine in the class, a special op's candidate for infiltration missions, mostly aquatic based missions, but everyone in Inari started with the basics. You'd make a poor infiltration unit if you were a fox in a fox-only corporation after all.

Sen scoffed at the other guys before nodding to the otter joining in. "Not that I don't appreciate it, Dalton, but there's nothing to prove to them anyway. My marks speak for themselves, if you can't hack it, stop bitching."

"That's right! So stop getting your tails fluffed up over the pups gossiping and worry about yourself, mister number one in the class!" Dalton showed a toothy smirk to the kitsune. Naturally being the only other 'outsider' of the group, he'd gravitate towards him.

--*--

He lifted his muzzle as the nine-tails pinned the badge onto his crisp military uniform, the slightly smaller dog offering him a small smile as he nodded. "Well Matsuma, I must congratulate you on finishing with the highest honors in the academy and making it into our special forces division. Not many kitsune get this far as we are more inclined in... other fields." The vice president of Inari offered him a smug grin while rolling his myriad of tails.

"Thank you sir! I'm proud to serve Inari in the small capacity I can provide!" Sen barked out while looking straight ahead, offering a salute, his right arm lifting to show the faint gleam of titanium alloy.

The other kitsune frowned at the shine of metal but then nodded. "Rest assured, Matsuma, with marks like you made in training, I expect no small amount from you in the future," he spoke matter-of-factly as he paced along to the next graduate, one of only five out of the initial twenty.

Sen grinned broadly for once, patting the shoulder of the otter who'd been one of the few pillars of this grinding venture. The kitsune looked between their badges with pride, "We seriously pulled it off, even with that pack of assholes chomping at our heels, eh?"

Dalton offered a genuine smile in kind, "Because you had me at your side, giving you all the pointers, of course!" The otter smirked at the jab, "We're two of a kind here for sure, earned it without a doubt despite how rough it looked a few times."

"Not gonna lie, I might miss your ass after all this," Sen growled as he put his paws on his hips.

"Aww, you in love, Matsie? Didn't know you care!" Dalton laughed and playfully shoulder checked the fox. "C'mon, man. We're working for the same team, I'm sure we'll see each other plenty, let's go get a drink to celebrate!"

--*--

Sen shifted a paw to his hip as he frowned at his commanding officer. "Sir, with all due respect to the Ninetails, should an elite strike squad really be relegated to... guard duty?"

The older grizzled fox gave the kitsune a tired look as he leaned against the wall near the guard post into the facility they were watching. "Careful with that tone, Matsuma, the wrong dog hears it, you'll be up a drek creek without a paddle... and why do you care? Credits are the same either way." The veteran dog offered a grin, a few of his teeth missing.

The kitsune looked irritated by the answer but nodded. The CO chuckled and shook his head. "Kit... look, you're going to see more action than you know what to do with as you go, just be thankful for the easy drek when it comes around."

"Fine, what is this place anyway?" Sen jerked a metal thumb back towards the place, his new cybernetic arm feeling just as normal as his old one did.

"You seen one mysterious factory or plant, you've seen em all, don't know, don't care to know. Less I know, less worries I've got!" The older fox barked out a laugh, then grunted as he shouldered his assault rifle as a trio approached the checkpoint. "Hey hey, far enough chums, let's see some badges please."

A lithe male turned to speak to the other two. All three of them were foxes, which wasn't out of the ordinary coming into an Inari facility. They made a point to keep their movements slow and paws in the open as the lead dog collected badges from the other two.

"Here you are gentlemen, I think you'll find them in proper order, sorry for any inconvenience," the black fox almost purred the words, his eyes glittering in the low lights of the checkpoint, clearly cybernetic, the pupils shifting and focusing as Sen snarled and tightened his grip on his own assault rifle.

The commanding officer scanned over the badges, then tapped them against the data pad he had been carrying at his hip, giving a shrug as he passed them back. "Checks out, guess you're clear to go in then."

Sen looked at the names that appeared then pulled out his own data tablet, quickly searching. "Sir, those names don't seem to appear in the faculty listings for the facility." The kitsune shot his eyes back, seeing one of the other two fox's tails clearly grow rigid.

"Clearance checks out, pup, we don't get paid to question and I'm too close to retirement to go ruffling the brass's fur over this drek, they have executive clearance," The older dog barked the orders in a stern tone.

"That's right, I wasn't going to flex rank here. I appreciate you being so thorough, gentlemen, but my time is credits, and I really need to be on my way with my associates, thank you." The black fox poked his snout up, pushing right between the two of them.

Sen growled but stepped back, not wanting to risk earning an infraction on his very first duty with Inari. The kitsune narrowed his eyes at the trio walking away with a sinking feeling in his gut. Once they were alone, Sen leaned close to mutter, "Sir, with all due respect, what's the point in checking ID if it doesn't match our system?"

"That's a question above your pay grade, rookie. If they get the green light, you let 'em pass, read me?" The CO cocked a brow at the kitsune, then flashed a one-sided grin. "You've got an eye for detail, that's good and I won't fault you there, but-" that expression dropped with a flat stare, "-you follow my lead, don't go sticking your snout where it doesn't belong. I didn't get this far by dotting I's or crossing T's. Keep your head down, understand?"

Sen exhaled from his chest with a curt nod, stepping back into his position across his senior officer with a slight frown, "Understood, sir." Twin tails twitched when they wanted to lash about in frustration as his expectations of duty were already cut at the knees. He'd caught a detail that should matter. In all that training, the goal had always been to get the correct, accurate results. Some post, let the people with falsified clearance waltz right past him, that'll be training well used.

It was a long quiet after the sting to his pride. Sen felt his collar rise as the idea of being some glorified checkpoint goon sank in, and this was all his CO did for decades? Some life.

An intense blast shook the structure. The plasteel flooring shuddered beneath their boots as the power and lights flickered. Sen fell against the console at his back with a curse, "What the slag was that?! An interior detonation?!"

"Hell if I know, I'm-" The CO's reply was lost in the next resounding explosion of the reinforced glass at the entryway shattering inwards, the heavy reverb of a grav-APC following after to further distort their senses.

The pair of officers dove to each side of the pass-check, behind two of the many rowed pillars along the open entrance. Muzzle flares lit up the roiling smoke, quick impacts along the edges of each smooth black column let them know accurate gunfire would suppress their position.

"Fuck! What the fuck is this?!" Sen snarled, back pressed up hard to the shuddering pillar with his side-arm draw and held at his chest, features furrowed as repeated bursts tore at the sides of his cover, "Sir! We need support, this is a damn breach and clear!"

The kitsune's tensed posture froze as the trio swiftly descended the stairs from the upper level, but even as Sen made to draw a bead the foremost fox deftly drew first, firing off a round that blinded him with lancing pain as it tore through his eye. The kitsune shouted in agony with a paw grasping at his face, firing off a few rounds at the escaping agents before they vanished in the haze.

Several more bursts of covering fire rang across the ruined central plaza before the pulsing thrum of the hover car eased away, leaving the scene a wreck. Sen slumped against the crumbling pillar at his back, wincing in a snarl of pain even as his head turned to see his CO spring over.

"Ah drek, that'll leave a mark." The seasoned fox sighed, shaking his head as he looked about the carnage of the place, "Not as much as this will on us, well, you anyway."

"W-what? Sir, what are you...why didn't you fire? Ngh, need to call this in, they stole something, intel...fuck if I know, but-" Sen reached for his vox, but a boot planted onto his arm, pinning it against his chest as the old fox clicked his tongue.

"Afraid not, pup. See, I've come too close to finishing my service for some ass-pull of a heist to ruin my record." The officer hefted his rifle upward, barrel tilted to the ceiling, "Hate to do this to you pup, but the rap for this'll be all yours."

The butt of the rifle connected to the kitsune's head, blacking out the rage of betrayal before it could even start. Sen had barely taken his first steps on this path, one he'd sacrificed and scorned all else in life for, just to get fed to the grinder. Guess the word on the street was right, you can never trust a damned fox, even if you are one.

--*--

Sen came to with a wince, the lights bright above him, he was in some sort of medical ward of the main building. His vision felt odd, the left side of his head weighed down with dressing as he recalled the stray shot he took that grazed his eye. Looking around the room, there wasn't much more than the medical table and a toilet, the door was clearly barred - this certainly wasn't the regular medical facility.

The kitsune's mind whirred like that damn grav engine on that APC that extracted the obvious infiltration team. Once his head cleared he rubbed at the bump there, snarling in fury as he recalled the whole reason he lost consciousness to begin with. He climbed from the table, a little woozy, and grabbed the bars at the door, shouting out into the hall, "Someone get your ass out here!"

He was surprised to see it was Dalton that came to him, the otter having been seated further down the hall. His old training buddy frowned at the state his friend was in. "Hey, you're awake huh?"

"The fuck are you doing here?" Sen growled.

He shrugged and looked away. "Heard you'd been injured, been checking on you off and on for the last day or so."

"I was out for over a day?" The fox rubbed his head, then lifted his ears, "Whatever, doesn't matter, that fucking drek-for-brains set my tails up! I told him not to let those three in but he just pulled rank on me, and now he plans to pin it on me!"

"Yeah, the higher-ups are pretty pissed off, they already plan to 'terminate' your employment," the otter said with a deep frown.

Sen's blood ran cold at those words. You don't get handed a pink slip when you get terminated from Inari; they're like most megacorps. Like the old world's mafia or yakuza, you only left the corp in a body bag.

"They can't just take his word though, there's surveillance, his recorder even scanned their damn badges! That's evidence, that's a lot of damn evidence I was doing my fucking job, and he just...he just stood there!" Sen snarled, grasping the bars as if it were the OC's collar, "What if, what if he was in on it? He knew they'd be there, he could turn a blind eye and-"

The kitsune felt a cold chill run down his spine, the realization dawning on him like the slug that had taken his eye, "-and he'd have some fresh off the program scapegoat." Maybe that was his rage talking, grasping at straws for the absolute drekshow that went down on his first mission.

Dalton gave a defeated shrug at his friend. "Look, even if you were right, it doesn't look like they much care. They can use this whole incident for publicity, frame a story around the whole thing as a tragic, hostile attack," the otter offered a sad smile. "I really am sorry, you had the most potential, but life's just not fair sometimes."

"Go fuck yourself, Dalton, this isn't about being fair, they should check the fucking cameras! Look at the fucking data!" Sen thrust a metallic finger at his friend with a snarl, Dalton looking up at the camera on them as the fox mentioned 'cameras'. As if on cue the door to the hall slid open as one of the higher rank officers strode in, Dalton turning and offering a salute, but Sen just snarled at the other dog.

"You've said your goodbyes to your friend, you're dismissed," the silver tri-tailed kitsune snarled, the otter offering another salute and taking one more glance to Sen, offering a small nod to him before stepping out.

"What in the drek is this all about, SIR?!" Sen snarled and practically spat the title at the other dog. "Did you not look at the fucking cameras?!"

The other kitsune lifted his muzzle. "Don't be absurd, we did of course, but it seems the team that infiltrated the facility had managed to splice into the feed. We quite literally could pull no data from the event, except that it was your data pad that had taken the scans."

"That's insane! I was the one that told him to cross-check them because they didn't appear on the employee roster for the facility!" Sen hissed out, looking stunned at the information.

The CO clicked his tongue with a sigh and shook his head. "Look Matsuma, I know a liar when I see one, and you're not a liar, but I've got nothing to go on but that and the Ninetails want someone to answer for this. It's literally your word against that of a distinguished officer with nearly forty years of service, which would you choose?"

Sen slammed his fist into the bar with a loud metallic bang, saying nothing as he just stomped away from the door with a growl. The kitsune sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry soldier, all I can promise you is, I'll get to the bottom of this, and if I can dig up enough, I'll make sure you're honored posthumously." Sen snarled and looked over his shoulder as the CO just paced away, the whisper slide of the auto door snapping open then closed again, then silence and just the buzzing of the lights in the room.

--*--

He'd been transferred to a regular cell, it had been about three days since he'd been 'tried' and sentenced, with tomorrow being the big day. Sure enough, none would hear his side of things, siding with the tenured officer, because why wouldn't they?

Closing his eyes he tried to just drown the maddening thoughts of his pending execution out, maybe get some sleep so it'd get here sooner and be over with, not that he stood a snowball's chance of that. It was too bad he didn't believe in some kind of afterlife.

"You might want to move away from the wall..." A cute boyish voice spoke out. It wasn't in his ear though, it was in his head, straight into his wireless synapsis network installed in his spinal column. That got his attention, no one should have been able to get past Inari protective countermeasures.

"Huh?" He thought to himself, then heard the voice again.

"Are you stupid, get away from the wall already!" The voice shouted as he rolled off his cot and backed up to the cell bars. A small pinpoint beam of light started shining through the plasteel wall as he gaped his jaws, watching a small hole be carved right out of the side of the wall near the bunk he'd been laying on.

As the remains of the wall were pushed forward to slam into the floor at his footpaws, he saw glittering green eyes peer at him through dirty-blonde locks of hair on the other side of the new hole. A shiny set of white teeth showed, a canine tooth missing on the left side as another dog grinned back at him. He had golden fur with dirty smudges against his cheeks as he cooed, "Hey there, hope you're ready to go, sugar!" He barked and as suddenly as he appeared, he was gone.

Sen shook his head in disbelief as he slowly moved over to the hole, feeling cold air rushing in, and as he peered out he could see the fog clinging to the side of the building, easily over a thirty-story drop before him. He didn't get time to enjoy the view though as the other dog grabbed him by the collar of his prisoner fatigues and repelled right off the wall.

"What in the fuuuuck!" Sen screamed out as the golden retriever disconnected the tether he'd been hanging on, both of them entering into a freefall, the fog around the building clearing in microseconds to show them plummeting towards the cold hard asphalt below.

"Hold on real tight, sugar!" The other dog barked out as he hugged the kitsune. Sen just did as he was told, clinging to the slightly larger dog for dear life. An aerial drone intercepted them, locking onto a magnetic grav-harness the golden-furred boy wore, and their descent slowly eased until they gingerly landed on their footpaws right in the middle of an alley intersecting the corporate office.

"I think I'm gonna puke..." Sen grabbed his head, feeling dizzy, then barked as the other dog grabbed his paw and dragged him along in a dash.

"You'll have to toss it in the van, sugar, we gotta make tracks!" He barked a laugh as he pulled the fox along. Sen just did what his body told him, trying not to think as his adrenaline still was dialed to eleven.

They had only been on foot for a few seconds when the howling sirens started filling the air. He knew the protocol and that a whole division of security members would be pouring out of that building in seconds.

"Fuuuuck... get your ass over here, Wheels, you're gonna get us shot up at this rate!" The retriever barked out, and as they rounded the corner, a junky-looking van pulled right up with the side door already open. The propulsion jets that kept it off the ground looked about ready to give out.

"Ey! Need a lift?" The voice came straight into his headware again but before Sen could respond, the retriever tossed him right in, the kitsune barking as he tumbled into a duffle bag of ammunition clips. There was a sound of spraying gunfire as the retriever dove in with a bark of laughter. He toppled onto the fox while bullets plinked off the reinforced van's plating as it turned and, with surprising speed, pulled out of the vicinity.

"Woo! That was intense! I live for that kinda stuff, sugar!" The retriever barked out with a grin, sitting up nose to nose with the fox who just had his maw gaped, stunned. Sen offered up a shocked protesting yip as the other boy just licked his own chops and then shoved his muzzle right up against the kitsune's in a sudden kiss.

After just a few seconds of shock and feeling the other boy's tongue starting to move forward as his head tilted, the fox pulled back with another sharp yip, "Dude what the fuck?!"

"Ah he he... sorry about that, sugar, just adrenaline, and you're kinda hot, ya know?" The retriever rocked back with a smug smirk on his muzzle, his legs folded as he licked his chops again. "Doesn't the valiant knight usually get a kiss for rescuing the damsel?"

"If you're the valiant knight, I'm the evil dragon," the voice Sen had heard in his head called out, this time hearing it with his ears as the 'driver' of the van padded back from the front to them, a scrappy looking rat with a thick, wiry tail.

"Uh... what... who? I-... The hell is going on!?" Sen finally just barked out with clenched paws.

"Ah hell... we got some of your fans following us, you're a popular guy, aren't you?" The rat drolled out as he leaned against the side of the inner wall, closed his eyes, and nodded his head as if in focus. Sen gave another sharp bark as the van jerked and he tumbled forward, as luck would have it right back into the other dog's paws.

"Ha ha, hold on sugar! Don't worry, I won't kiss you again, not unless you ask anyway, but if you do, we're doing tongue next time!" He barked out with an amused grin, his other paw holding onto one of the bars at the side of the van while it lurched and juked about.

"Damn, it... you boys really making me jack in and use Bonnie again!?" The rat grumbled as he stomped back over to the cockpit of the van.

"Oh oh! C'mon sugar, this is gonna be good!" The golden retriever pulled the kitsune along. "Hold on tight like last time!"

"What?" Sen barked out but clung to the other dog, his eyes growing wide as the retriever pushed the door open and swung half his body out. "Are you crazy?!" The kitsune barked as he caught sight of nearly half a dozen armed Inari escort units chasing them, but then the same aerial drone that had given them the ride earlier swooped in, laying down support fire. As it did so, it also seemed to be filling the air with some sort of inky black smog.

Sen figured that wouldn't do much, given all their units were equipped with advanced AI algorithms that wouldn't be fooled by some silly smoke screen - but then it became obvious that 'smog' was some sort of nanite cloud, as the other vehicles just started showering sparks and slowly coasted to a stop.

"Fuck... there went any of that bonus I'll end up spending, that's never a cheap trick." The rat groaned as the two dogs climbed back in.

Sen realized he was still clinging to the retriever, who was now petting one of his ears while cooing down at him. The fox yipped and snarled before shoving the other dog off him with a glare. "Keep your paws to yourself, chuckles!"

"And... we're clear... yeah we're clear... fuck those guys." The driver sighed and stepped over to the kitsune who was still panting and heaving, clearly not having had the adrenaline clear yet. "Whoa, breathe there big guy. I'm Wheels."

Sen took a slow huff, then shoved a paw out to shake the other smaller boy's. "Sen... and what the fuck is going on?"

The rat pulled his paw back and grinned, rubbing it through his messy red locks of hair, his own fur a familiar orange to Sen's but it also looked like it might have been dyed. Both his arms, however, were shaved clean to show a myriad of tattoos all over them, and the rat wore a set of overalls and a tank top to show them off.

"Wait... you're driving while just back here meeting and greeting?" Sen quirked a brow.

"Oh it's easy, I only need to focus when... whoop!" Wheels gave a squeak as they felt the van lurch quickly and heard a loud horn honking. "Yeah, yeah, drive faster next time!"

"I'm Angel, and I'm free later if you're not busy, sugar," the retriever shoved his own paw out with an eager grin. He was missing his left canine tooth and wore a bomber jacket, a set of goggles on his forehead, and upon further inspection, it was clear the wagging tail and his left leg were augmented like Sen's own arm. However, unlike the kitsune, he wasn't really making an effort to hide the leg - the jeans he wore were purposefully torn away to show a mismatched brownish-gold with a shabby faded faux fur against the chrome. The tail looked a little better though.

"Okay, first off, what the hell is going on, for like, the third time? And second off, I'm not gay!" Sen barked out with an awkward glare at the other dog who showed him an eager grin.

"Well, I'll let Wheels field the first question, as to the second statement, I'm not gay either, sugar! I've got enough love for all species, and all genders, sooo... you and me later, a hot cup of soykaf, maybe a burger? You know what? Fuck it, a cutie like you? I'll spend up and get you real coffee!" Angel offered him a wink.

Sen slowly blinked at that, frowning before he spoke, "I don't think I've ever had real co- Wait, no! I want answers already, are you some kind of go-gang or something? Why jailbreak me like that?" The kitsune looked about the interior of their van, seeing various higher-grade equipment scattered about such as smartgun-assisted carbines or reinforced drone parts. Some of it was cutting edge, others pieces clearly looked held together by extensive repairs or welded-on replacement parts.

Wheels snorted at that and put a paw on his hip, seeing the fox taking in his surroundings. "Does this look like a van some slapped-together go-gang would have? Don't answer that, payday."

"Payday?" Sen barked as he narrowed his eyes. "Someone paid you to jailbreak my tail? Who? You guys are insane, pissing off Inari."

"Heh, not the first time we've pissed the Big I off, won't be the last." Angel rocked back and flopped right back down to the floor on his rear. "We don't know the details, we just took the job, sugar."

"You took an assignment without knowing all the intel? What kind of outfit is this?" Sen snorted at that kind of thinking, but that was also his training and routine still fresh in his mind. He shook his head with a sigh, then perked his ears in realization. "You're runners, aren't you? Why in the drek would- You know what? Doesn't matter. When do we meet your employer, then?"

Wheels shook his head with another moody squeak, "Sorry our methods don't meet your approval, soldier-boy. We get drek done though, and it pays the bills. You'll meet the missus after we get that tracking tech out of your damn arm. You're not packing any headwear are you?"

Sen sat up straighter at the mention of tracking, growling with a look at his arm, "Fuck, they'll be dispatching more cleaners soon, we better make it fast." He met Wheels' question with a curt shake of his head. "Negative, too far below the pay grade for that tech...my one lucky break, huzzah..."

"What, and we don't count? Things are already looking up for you, sugar! You ain't dead, right? You had an Angel looking out for you today, that's a fact." The retriever gave a knowing grin and wink at the kitsune.

"Pay grade or not, that's some nice tech in your meat there. Is that delta-grade?" Wheels looked at the kitsune's arm with a cocked brow. Sen frowned and looked down at his arm, clenching his metallic fist a few times.

"You serious?!" Angel pawed over to him to look at it, his own tail wagging. "Oh, that's wiz! You lucky fox, you! Does it have any feedback delay at all, sugar?"

"Can you stop calling me- Ugh... no, feels just like my old arm in every way. That leg of yours doesn't?" Sen knew he was privileged that his first augment was corporate level, it's one of the appeals to joining up with the megacorps. Some tech enthusiasts will sign on just to get the primo stuff shoved into their bodies.

"It gets the job done, a little delay from when I tell it to do something, makes running and climbing fun sometimes, but I manage just fine. Didn't miss a step when hauling you through the alley earlier, did I?" Angel showed his teeth in another grin, that small gap showing on the left side of his muzzle.

"Yeah well, considerably less than this." Sen reached up, tapping the scarred area of his face where the replacement eye sat. It was still more than some street job, but a far cry from the expensive piece that served as his new arm.

"Ha! They shoved a cheap eye in your socket just so you could see the firing squad with both of them eh? That's so megacorp, isn't it?" Wheels gave a laugh and slapped the fox on the shoulder with a grin before turning on his heel. "We'll be over to the doc in about fifteen. Try not to fuck him, Angel, I don't need my van stinking of dog again!"

"Dude, she was in heat, what was I supposed to do? Your van was the only private spot we had!" Angel barked out with a little pout, Sen glaring at the dialogue in general as the rat padded off.

"Yeah frag that, anyway, you got some kind of dampener in this rust bucket or what?" Sen asked the returning pilot, "Fifteen minutes might as well be a whole day."

"Of course I do, you tried to connect to the net?" Wheels spoke out but this time it wasn't with his physical maw, it came from some speakers in the van, the rat already jacking back into the dash of the cabin.

The van didn't actually have a wheel or seats for that matter, the smaller boy just stood there staring out the front windshield, a thick cable strung from the back of his shaved neck to the console, patches of electrical tape dotting the length of the cord.

"So! How about that coffee?" Angel barked out with a grin, his artificial tail wagging behind him in a blur of golden faux-fur.

"You try to rub everyone you jailbreak, man?" Sen grumbled and tilted his head.

"Nah! You're just cute and seem like you have a fun personality." Angel showed him an innocent smile as he continued, "Last poor drek we jailbroke I had to cuff, gag, and drag out by force. Not every one of them is skydiving and hugging!"

"You guys fucking kidnap people too?" Sen growled.

"Technically we were giving him a career change, it's not kidnapping so much as theft and re-employment, you know how it is, yeah? Sometimes job transfers aren't so easy to do from corp to corp, and sometimes you don't get a say in your new position while you climb the megacorp ladder!" Angel showed another smile as he leaned back on his paws, kicking his augmented footpaw a few times.

"Whatever, I can buy my own damn coffee," Sen growled and looked away from the other dog's eager green eyes.

"Yeah? Gonna take it out of your corporate stipend?" Angel growled teasingly as the other dog flinched. "Even if you did have credits, do you know where to get it, Sen? You ever been out of your little corp-life?"

"My family used to tend the shrine in-" He bit his tongue.

"In the Inari corporate arcology?" The retriever fired back with a knowing smirk.

"Yeah, just another dog in the kennel to you lot, huh? Nicely kept enclosures and all that." Sen sighed with a shrug, "Wasn't for me."

Arcologies were massive self-contained living habitats corporate citizens could live within. It wasn't uncommon to be born, raised, work, and die in an arcology for some wageslaves, the only 'vacations' they might have being trips outside to nearby locals.

Angel scooted closer and bent his metallic leg, resting an elbow on it. "Look, Sen. I'll shoot straight with you, you're gonna need to learn to live outside of that mess and quick. You think you've got experience, but you're a pup being thrown out in the big cold dark world. The street will chew your hot little ass up and spit you out in days, if not hours."

"Your motivational speech is moving to say the least. Is this a segue to saying you'll protect and help me if I give it up for you?" The smaller dog snorted and folded his ears, already growling.

"Ha! I'm not that kind of guy, Sen! We'll get that burger and coffee, my treat, I'll get you up to speed and be your mentor where I can, no tail needed." Angel gave him another wink as he leaned back.

"Why? Why do you give a drek if I'm just your payday?" The kitsune growled but lifted his ears, showing he wasn't as on edge as prior.

The retriever offered him a cool smile, his dirty blonde bangs hanging down over one eye. "Because I got most of my fucking left hip area blown off getting out of a similar mess? I guess I get having to transplant out of that life and into the shadows."

Sen winced and looked down at the other dog's hip, the torn-away pants covering the thigh area, but he realized the tail wasn't separate, it was just attached to the main area. "Damn... that's rough, how long ago was that?"

"About four years ago. I was twenty-one, same age as you are now, sugar. Sure wish I had some military-grade wear to shove into my meat back then." Angel laughed then offered the fox another cute grin. "Ah well, at least it stopped short of my cock, be a shame to have to have that augmented, always been pretty proud of it."

"You just had to fucking go there, didn't you? Heh... ruin the tragic backstory with that?" Sen offered a small grin to the retriever.

"It's my specialty, can't get down too long or I'll become a depressed wreck and no one is here for that!" Angel offered back a playful bark, then bit his tongue cutely as he looked up to the top of the van, as Wheels spoke out through the system.

"Okay, we're about at the meet-up location, make some room for the good doctor. I've still got two T-birds tracking our location, so we're going to have to get this drek done while we drive."

Sen gave a nod and leaned against the van wall out of reflexive memory, going into a brace like he'd done in dozens of combat sims. He looked at the retriever with a lift of the chin, "How many times you guys done one of these while mobile?"

Angel laughed at how serious Sen looked. "Like, every time basically. Megacorps don't like losing property. This'll be easy, it's not like the doc is shoving new metal into your meat, just gonna jack into the system and prune that tracking program out of your tech."

The kitsune cracked a grin at that, giving a nod and relaxing best he could given the swaying of the van, "You sure you aren't doing this just for the thrill of chasing a new hoop?"

Sen saw the retriever stick his tongue out cutely at him. "Sen, I think you saw from earlier, I do this for a lot of the thrills that come with it." Angel scooted to the side as the door to the van swung open with a loud hissing sound, cool air from the night rushing into the interior as the vehicle settled to a stop.

Another vector thrust was heard as a sedan-style vehicle quickly pulled away and the whole van visibly dipped as a very large bull climbed into the cabin, having to tilt his head to avoid slamming a spanning horn against the entrance. There was a dressing of wires draped on both the horns he sported, electrodes and lights seeming to glitter along the boney masses.

He didn't look like some kind of doctor, wearing blue jeans and a faux-leather jacket, a small set of spectacles on his snout that clearly showed a myriad of vid displays in one lens. "Credits?" He drolled out as the door slid closed and the van took back off, feeling like it had to struggle to get back into the air.

"Here you go, doc!" Angel produced a credstick that looked tiny in the massive bull's paw. The doctor snorted and tapped it against a datapad in his other paw, seeing the transfer process.

"Hmph... there better not be a bomb in this one like the last time," The bull snarled with an irritated look at the kitsune. Sen presented his arm and the doctor sighed and rolled his clearly cybernetic eyes. "Take your shirt off so I can see what I'm working with, fox!"

"O-Oh, right!" Sen barked as he quickly peeled the prison top off, Angel offering an approving whistle at the well-defined muscles and abs under the thin coat of fur, the normal arm just as toned as the new one.

The bull grabbed his titanium wrist and jerked him forward, then shifted his paw away. "Keep your fucking paw out like that in case the spurs or bayonet or whatever the hell Inari likes to put in these deploys, understand?" As the doctor gave the orders he was already unraveling one of the cables around a horn, moving his massive paw over the shoulder area of the arm for a jack point.

Sen frowned and nodded as the much larger male gripped the bicep of his artificial arm, the bull taking a steadying breath before plunging the cord into the jack-point. There was a long bout of silence after that, just the doc sitting there, unmoving, unspeaking, just the sound of the van's vector engine whirring and sputtering.

"Crazy when you think about it huh? We're just sitting here, but he's literally in combat right now." Angel huffed out, a bit of respect in his voice as he continued, "We call him doc because he specializes in breaking down security in implants, but he's very much a hacker too, ya know?"

"Yeah, I don't know how the guys in the cyber-security division do it, it's so far beyond- Whoa!" Sen barked out as his arm felt like it wasn't even his anymore as the large blade slid from his wrist in a quick shink of titanium.

"Fuck!" The bull bellowed as a loud popping hiss came forth as he wrenched the cable-free with a snarl, a curl of smoke trailing from it.

"You okay, doc?" Angel perked his ears, this obviously not a normal event given the surprise in his own eyes.

"It's fine, just didn't expect that level of ICE, you were going to be on one of their fucking strike squads weren't you?" The doctor grumbled as he ripped the whole cord off him and tossed it into the van, reaching to a small messenger bag to pull out a new cable, the smell of burned fur lingering in the air as there was clearly a scorch mark on the back of his neck where he plunged the cable back in.

"Alright, now I'm serious, let's see what you've got mother fucker..." The doc snarled with a glint in his cybernetic eyes before he jacked back into the system. Sen just frowned and blinked down at the whole thing, not even able to move his arm at this point, just feeling the weight of it on his body.

"Never seen the doc so serious, if he can't crack that, I'm kicking your ass out the door, payday be damned, I can't just let T-birds follow my tail all fucking night," Wheels spoke out over the van's system.

"Gee, thanks a fucking lot!" Sen growled, then barked as he felt a jolt of sensation return to his arm as the blade slid back into place.

A few seconds later the bull yanked the cable out of his shoulder, giving a sigh as he tossed it over one horn, running a large paw over his bald head that was clearly covered in sweat. "That was not worth the pay, that fucking thing burned through one of my personal ICE systems before I could shut it down."

"You'll have to take it up with the boss if you want more pay, doc. I gave you the only credstick I have and I got bills to pay myself, ya know?" Angel gave him a grin and shrugged.

"Tracking signatures have faded, we're dark," Wheels said calmly as he paced away from the console with a sigh, looking exhausted.

"Why are you so tired looking?" Sen looked back to the rat curiously.

"Because I wasn't the only one dealing with drek, pup. While I was fighting off tracking ICE in your meat, the rat over there was fighting off wireless shutdown protocols bombarding the electrical systems of the van," the doc cooly explained before leaning back to take out a handkerchief and wipe his forehead.

"So the whole time me and you were just back here shooting the drek, Wheels has pretty much been in live combat?" The kitsune blinked at that with surprise in his eyes. He had some basic ideas on cyber combat, but he wasn't a hacker or driver, he specialized at dealing with physical issues.

"Yeah, the systems can't hurt me directly like the doc since it's wireless, but to do what needed to be done with your arm, he had to jack straight in. However, they sure as hell can try to tear down the systems on the van and bring us to a stop," Wheels explained as he lifted his muzzle. "Take a listen, you can probably hear my baby is purring a little louder now."

Sen gave a small nod, then felt the bull squeeze his arm as he spoke, "Pup, I'm gonna offer you some advice, won't even charge you a consultation fee for it."

"What's up?" The kitsune asked, flexing his paw a few times now that he had full motor control again.

"I just jailbroke this gear like they did your tail back there. This is military-grade tech and there are more than a few that'd geek you just to rip it out of you and repurpose it for themselves. You are quite literally worth more dead than alive right now. When you've got some credit to your name, I'd strongly advise you to get a fur job on this thing so you're not standing out like a juicy target," the doctor frowned and released his arm after explaining.

"You know what, doc? I'll cover him, so book it for me, and now that all this drek is sorted, we'll get him to your normal place right now," Angel said with a grin.

"Real coffee and a fur job, guess you didn't need that bonus as much as you said, eh Angel?" Wheels snorted out and folded his shaved tattooed arms over his chest. "Van's gonna rock, it's just Bonnie landing," As soon as the rat spoke, there was a loud thunk and shudder from the roof.

Sen had already pulled his shirt back on and frowned at the retriever, then looked down at his arm, clenching his paw into a fist a few times. He'd been so proud of it, but it made sense, and as much as he wanted to argue with the other dog, he really didn't have a paw to stand on at this point.

"The road to the nine hells is paved with good intentions they say..." The doc just grumbled the words as he pulled out his datapad to book the appointment.

--*--

Sen flexed his augmented arm a few times before turning it over this way and that, looking over the limb that appeared just as normal as the natural now, fur immaculately grafted to the cyberware so well it was almost like it was never replaced.

"Doc, that's unreal, I can't tell where any seams are or that it's not my own damn fur!" The kitsune grinned in amazement at the finished work, still sitting in the patient chair in his lower combat fatigues only.

"Of course, you can't, think people would come to me with hard-earned dosh if I did some shoddy patch-job? Feh." The seasoned male snorted as he rolled away on his chair with his tray of tools to clean, then stopped with a turn of his head, looking over his glasses, "Don't go punching any walls with it, your chrome will show through again easy enough."

"Whatever you say doc, thanks for the tip." Sen picked up his shirt in his lap, starting to slip it on again only to pause when he heard a huff off to the side, blinking to see it was Angel.

"Oh no, you can leave it off, sugar. You worked hard for that bod, that much of it still meat you might as well show it off!" The retriever grinned cutely, having remained with Sen after Wheels had dropped them off and generously covered the operation fee.

"I'm sure you'd love that, fetch." Sen rolled his eyes with a grin, tugging down his shirt the rest of the way before standing from the chair, stretching a bit from the "absolute still" he was told to be.

"Fetch huh? I mean, if we're speaking dog, I can roll over and beg, sugar." Angel laughed with a wink before jumping a bit in his seat when doc swiveled about with a grumbling growl.

"None of that drek in my clinic, y'hear? Take that hoop-sniffing business outside. I run a clean operation here, don't need dog drool on my equipment." Doc had already turned back around halfway through speaking, replacing tools or canisters after the sizable use of synthfur.

"Alright, alright, no need to kill the good vibes, doc. We'll be on our way!" Angel gave an exaggerated shrug behind the older male's back, making Sen grin a bit as they gathered up their jackets to step outside.

They'd be out of sight, the 'clinic' was tucked away into a sizable hab-center where the community largely looked after its own. The area was an outer section of the plex where anyone from a meta to burnout took refuge from the bustling blocks of the inner city, where there was at least a partial sense of security through eyes and ears of those in the grind.

Once the door hissed closed, Sen tugged the collar of his jacket up then shoved his paws into his pockets as the two started a walk toward the hub where they'd soon meet Wheels. "He's got a tough act, but I didn't expect the help from him, or any of you really. Job or not, your crew has done more than the pay...hope I'm worth all this." The retriever had even ducked into a clothing store with him to get some new threads so he wasn't trotting around in a prisoner outfit.

"You remember what I said, dontcha? You already showed that when I spirited you away from that cell, sugar." Angel smiled with a genuine tone, shrugging as they padded along the corridor of rockcrete, footfalls echoing softly in the graffiti-laden hall. "Nobody knows if they're worthy or not, but it's not about that to me. You want to make a difference, like the good doc back there? Or you only in it for yourself? Now don't answer honey, those are questions to ask yourself, mhm."

Sen nodded with a shift of his lips in thought, his boots thudding along lightly as the retriever strolled alongside him. To go from ditching decades of family tradition to being sky-dived out of the job he'd been hosed out of, this was an insane turn of events. Yet, Sen felt like he'd possibly made a friend again.

The kitsune frowned to himself as his mind thought of Dalton, the only real comrade he'd made at the tower. He hoped the otter hadn't been caught up in anything because of his crazy escape, someone that kind in all this deserved better.

Angel threw an arm around Sen's shoulder as he barked out, "So, about that coffee and-" Both of them lifted their ears as their synaptic feedback kicked in, hearing Wheels voice speaking to them.

"If you boys are done with your date, the missus will be wanting to meet us in the next half hour, we should probably get our tails to the locale. She's keen to meet her new investment!"

"Investment?" Sen growled, already sounding on edge.

"It's not as bad as it sounds, if anyone's investing in your fine tail, it's me!" Angel showed a playful grin as he pulled the slightly smaller dog with him toward the rendezvous spot with Wheels.

Once back in the van it only took a few minutes to arrive at the meet-up place. The vector thrusters tapered off as the van slowly came to a halt before one of the nicer clubs in the area, a repurposed office skyscraper that had been gutted to allow for upper floors to be makeshift hotel rooms for patrons, with the first three levels just completely knocked out to make room for a sprawling club.

An irritated-looking doorman was stepping up, an assault rifle clearly strapped on the dalmatian's back. "What in the frag are you assholes doing, just parking that-" He bit his tongue as Angel hopped down and flashed a single orange card from his sleeve.

The other dog grunted and took it, tapping it against his forehead as the data quickly processed. "Apologies, chummers, Ms. Jane just arrived a few minutes ago, should be in her private booth, you know the way?"

"We know the way, yeah," Wheels said as he hopped down last before the Van picked up and just thrust off, assumedly to go park, or maybe just circle the area.

The dalmatian nodded and walked back to the front as the doors slid open with a hiss, a loud violent thrum of bass spilling out along with the heat of the club. "Welcome to the Rhinestone Tower. Enjoy your night, gentlemen."

Sen walked into the club to see lasers and strobes cascading through the lower floors, a small mass of clubgoers dancing in splintered groups to the synthetic angry thrash of music from the band on stage. The floors of the top two levels had been knocked out mostly with only the stairwells remaining intact along with the support beams from the building. Some of the floors remained in place on the previous third level, offering balcony overlooks of the dance floor, and makeshift private rooms for VIPs with the credits to throw out for them.

"C'mon sugar! I'll dance with you when we're done if you're down!" Angel linked an arm with the smaller dogs and tugged him right along as the trio of boys made their way to the stairs, Sen's footpaws stumbling for a moment to shake off the sights and loud music before he paced up with them.

A few flights of stairs later they stepped out onto the balcony overlooking the dance floor. A pawful of booths was scattered about, with one tucked into the corner. As they approached it, the thrum of the music seemed to dampen, the laser and strobes seeming to be more muted as the natural light of the ceiling lights reclaimed the chaos.

A small female sat at the booth, holding a martini glass in her left paw, long crimson-red claws encircling the smooth surface as she cupped it. Some sort of synth-hol swirled in the container, flecks of brightly colored specks that could pass for glitter or large grains of rock sugar, which caught the occasional wayward laser and scattered into a million fragments against her paw.

She was clearly a rabbit given the elongated right ear that lifted upon their approach out of the platinum blonde locks of hair, meticulously groomed as if she'd just left a salon. The hair swept across her forehead in a jagged array of bangs, the tips faintly dyed to blue, making the piercing green eyes that looked back stand out all the more.

The rabbit was flanked by two guards standing behind her - one a large hulking stallion, holding a high-powered shotgun in both his paws, the other a smaller rabbit, so decked out in chrome he was practically humming with electricity, his own shotgun on his back with two sub-machine guns at his hips. Still, even with that kind of muscle, the real threat was clearly present before the two males, the small female giving off the aura of a calculated, hardened killer that wouldn't hesitate if needed.

"We're back, ma'am! Mission accomplished!" Angel barked out cheerfully, shattering the tension as he rubbed the back of his head with a cheeky grin showing his missing tooth.

Her green eyes shot to the retriever, then leveled onto the kitsune before them as she showed a predatory grin before taking a sip from her synth-hol cocktail, a small imprint of crimson left at the edge of the glass before she finally spoke in a smooth voice of absolute confidence. "You have, my little Angel, and I see you brought my new investment home to me. I do so appreciate it when you do things in such an... efficient manner."

"Investment home?" Sen muttered with a frown, feeling a chill run up his spine at the words.

"Yeah yeah, you know I'm not here for all this, ma'am. Can you square me away so I can bounce?" Wheels piped up with a squeak.

The green eyes shifted to the rat and the rabbit showed her teeth in a grin before lifting her muzzle. "I saw the footage you shared from your drone, the credits are already in your account, including a little something to reimburse you for your... extra measures."

Sen looked surprised by that but Wheels didn't as he gave a nod. "Thank you, ma'am, this is why I'm happy to keep running with you even if I'm not official." Wheels spoke out with a respectful and grateful tone as he reached over and smacked the kitsune on the shoulder. "Have fun, pup, don't let that fifty caliber maw of yours spout off drek your nine-millimeter ass can't back up, okay?"

The rat trotted right off with a whip of his tail, the rabbit offering a relaxed gaze as he left. "He's a peach, isn't he?" She cooed out then locked her green eyes back up to Sen's lone blue one as she answered his question, "Yes, my dear kitsune, you could say I purchased you as it were, you're more or less mine now so to speak."

"Uh... Ms. Jane?" Angel asked with some concern in his own voice, as his golden ears perked at that declaration, but Sen just snarled out in a bark.

"You think you own me because you had me fucking jailbreaked, lady?!" He clenched his paws into fists, his twin tails fluffing right up. The male rabbit settled his paws on the SMGs at his side, and the stallion straight up took aim at the fox with his roomsweeper.

"Boys, behave, afford the poor thing some room to be shocked," the bunny known simply as Jane cooed out. The two bodyguards shifted back to a neutral posture as if they were her puppets, hooked up to her own synaptic network.

The fox gulped as he realized his position, that stallion had already been prepared to blow him into paste, and at this distance, there wouldn't be any getting out of the range of it. Darting his eyes up, he also could see small sentry guns mounted in the ceiling aimed right at him.

With a sigh, the rabbit slowly finished off her synth-hol cocktail and plunked the martini glass down on the booth table. "Angel, be a good dog and go get me another. Boys, escort my retriever if you would. You, Matsuma, sit down, we need to talk alone."

The other three boys snapped right to the orders, the rabbit and stallion offering the kitsune a heated glare before walking off. Angel's own glance was more of concern as he called out, "Sen, man, it's gonna be fine, just hear Jane out, okay?" He offered a last bit of advice before heading back down the stairs for the long walk to the bar.

Composing himself, Sen slowly took a seat across the table from the rabbit. Upon looking at her straight on, that 'right' ear was actually her only ear, as the blonde hair seemed to just strategically cover the spot where a left one should have been.

Jane showed her teeth through crimson lips and shifted a finger to her right temple near her eye as if making note of the cheap one he sported. "You're not the only one with missing bits in you, my fox."

"I'm..." Sen looked up at the sentry guns, then hardened his gaze before snarling out, "I was already expecting to die tomorrow, don't think I'm afraid to be gunned down here. I'm not your slave, Jane."

She rolled her green eyes and grinned, but it looked more like a predator ready to tear into his throat than one of sincerity. "You're full of spirit, and stupidity, but spirit." She gave a giggle and pushed her paws to the table, folding them as she offered another cold smirk. "Allow me to explain your situation, my fox..."

--*--

"Inari is going to want to know why your signal went dark for over an hour, you know." Jane laced her fingers together as she grinned over at the male sitting across from her, the crimson claws shining in the lasers against the cream-colored fur.

"I'm part of the infiltration division, it happens, you let me worry about that." The otter gave her another nod before shifting a credstick and data tablet forward.

The stallion collected the credit stick while the other bodyguard collected the tablet. Both of them hesitated then spoke in unison, "Checks out, ma'am."

"Tsk... alright, I'll bite... let's be clear on something though, this payment is hardly sufficient for extracting from Inari. I'm having to call in outside help and put one of my best dogs on it. I should charge you ten times this much for what you're asking... This much will barely cover just getting the ICE out of your friend's arm you know." Jane scoffed as she held the datapad, scanning over the details of the request.

Dalton hissed through his teeth and looked away. "Look, that's literally every credit I have right now, I can pay you more as-"

"Do I look like a fucking loanshark or bank, Otter?" She nodded as the stallion tossed the credstick back to the table but she kept holding the datapad, scanning through it as she continued, "You don't get to my age in this biz by doing charity work for every corporate shill that waddles up to you needing a favor."

He glared down at the credstick, his teeth clenched as the rabbit sighed and brought the pad up closer, shielding her face but for her scrutinizing eyes. "Infiltration huh?"

"That's what I was trained for, yes." The otter met the rabbit's cold green eyes as she offered a predatory grin.

"I know a good investment when I see one. Keep your credits, I'll spring your dog from the pound for you, otter." Jane smirked behind the screen as she felt the pieces sliding into place.

"What do you want in exchange?" Dalton picked back up the credstick with a frown.

Those steely green eyes peered over the datapad as the rabbit answered simply, "You." She hummed then looked the details over as she continued, "You owe me one for this, my choosing, no questions asked, if I tell you to geek your own mother, you do it."

Dalton frowned and lifted his muzzle before whispering, "The look in your eyes says there's more to pay than that."

Jane tapped the datapad in her paw with a hum, looking the Kitsune over in the display. "Not on your part, my chum... Not on your part at all."

--*--

"Dalton..." Sen muttered his friend's name, feeling a pang in his chest, remembering one of the last things he did was scream at him. The otter had been playing it cool that whole time while making these arrangements.

She drummed her bloody claws on the table for a few heartbeats, letting the kitsune realize what happened as if she already knew he'd come around. Eventually, his eye snapped back up to hers, the implanted one a split second behind before it focused. "What do you want?" He asked, sounding tired.

Her teeth showed in that hungry predatory grin as she shifted to rest her chin on her folded paws, lifting them from the table as she braced on her elbows. The position made the elegant suit she wore push forward, showing there was a plump swell of breasts tucked into that silk, the rabbit's teeth looking surprisingly sharp in those moments.

"Let's be clear on something, doggy... You need not be my property or slave. Your friend has or will pay for the service I rendered for him. You have been freed and spared your execution, I hold no claim upon you, Matsuma. You are a free dog to do as you please."

"Uh huh?" He cocked a brow while sounding skeptical, his eyes unable to help but notice the position of her chest before they darted back up, the rabbit offering a smirk as the younger male took in her figure.

Jane grinned at this young dog nearly half her age ogling her even if briefly. "They're real, you know. No implants, just bio-nano treatments to keep my tone and figure on par. Angel can't keep his eyes off them." She cocked a crooked grin at the fox as he gave a small huff, shaking his head at getting caught, even though he only stared for a nanosecond.

"Uh... S-sorry? What do..." He growled and folded his arms, squarely focusing on her. "What the fuck do you want already?"

She cocked her head back with a smirk, her blue-dyed bangs flittering across her sharp green eyes as if she approved before she leaned back once more, pushing her paws together, fingers drumming on one another. "As I said, you are a free dog, Matsuma, turn tail and walk right out that door, you'll not find a knife or bullet in your back from me."

"There a 'but' in there, lady?" He tilted his head.

"Where did you get the wardrobe? I expected you to arrive barepawed in prison fatigues." The look in her eyes said she already had the answer as she showed another sharp grin, her green eyes glittering in the dim light of the booth. Sen grit his teeth and looked away, instantly seeing where this was going.

"My Angel has taken a shine to you, but he can't do for you what I can. Your system identification number, the thing that makes you, you... it was assigned to you at birth, and it'll be what they file you away with when they pull you from the slab. The instant you buy something, from a new shirt to a cup of soykaf... You know what'll happen, don't you?"

"Yeah, I'll get a nice fat target reticule on my tail, and Inari will come looking for their tech," Sen sighed and pushed his paw through his own onyx-colored hair as he looked down at the table.

"Hm hm... I can erase you Sen Matsuma, I can make you never exist, and then give you a new SIN, but that... now that is an expensive and sought-after service." Jane shifted a paw, resting her cheek in it as her other drummed her bloody claws on the table, an infinitely amused smirk playing on her crimson lips. "What to do... what to do... or perhaps better to say, what will you do, doggy?"

"I get it, you're offering me this, but I have to basically sell my soul to you, right?" He snarled with heat in his voice, glaring at the smirking rabbit.

"Sell your soul? Don't be so dramatic..." Jane lifted herself up from her seat, leaning over as she pushed a paw against his muzzle, those claws digging in past the orange fur at his jaw as she looked deep into his eyes. "I'll make you rise like a phoenix, my fox, give you new life, but you'll certainly be indebted to me for a time."

Sen bit his lower lip, feeling a shiver roll up his spine, he could smell the perfume on her, a luxury most never could hope to afford, then her own natural odor coming to the front to make an exotic cocktail for the senses, his stomach twisting. Those emerald eyes hardened, then he saw the right one finally shift out of focus, the iris turning purple as it scanned over his wide left one, then she settled back once more.

He huffed out in shock, "Whoa... what did you... just do? Those aren't-"

"I said my tits were real, but I said nothing about my eyes, doggy. They're the best credits can buy." She smirked and nodded as the trio of boys she sent off started to ascend the stairs. "I'll see if you're going to be a good dog like my Angel. I'll offer you a job soon, finish it, and I'll get you a new SIN. Keep behaving, and we'll see about getting you a proper eye as well."

"And me agreeing to all this isn't going to like, lock me into servitude?" The kitsune sat up with a frown.

"Oh of course it will, but within reason. I don't make a habit out of breaking my best tools, doggy. You'll pay back my investments in you, and then you'll be part of my warren, just like that retriever you've taken a shine to." Jane showed her teeth in a cool grin and simply held her paw out, palm open as the aforementioned retriever walked up and slid the new synth-hol cocktail into her claws, his own tail wagging.

"Seems I've little choice in the matter, fine." Sen folded his arms and frowned.

"Life's full of choice, my fox, just not all are wise ones, you are showing wisdom in your situation," Jane cooed as Angel offered a little smile to the fox, a look of relief in his eyes. The rabbit nodded to the stallion who produced an orange card and tossed it to the table before the kitsune. "Bring that with you tomorrow, twenty hundred hours."

Sen collected the card, it looked like a basic mag-lock key. Tucking it into his pocket he tilted his head. "What do I do in the meantime?"

Jane offered him a grin, her green eyes glittering as she took a moment to sip her new cocktail before simply huffing out, "Survive. Let's see you make it back to me in one piece, that'll show me you're worth my time. Now get out of my booth."

The kitsune rose from his seat, growling, but he saw the other rabbit give him a cold look as his paws shifted to his SMGs and the stallion just withdraw his roomsweeper again, lifting his own muzzle. With fluffed-up tails, the fox spun on his heel and stomped away from the booth, and moved to the stairs.

Angel frowned and folded his ears, his tail growing limp from the wag it had been in. He looked back to Jane and huffed out, "Uh... ma'am I-" The rabbit held her paw up and the dog bit his tongue, halting his words.

The sound of thrumming synthetic music filled the void for several seconds. The rabbit took another sip of her synth-hol before sighing, "You've taken a liking to him, haven't you, my Angel?"

"Yes, Ms. Jane," Angel responded pointedly.

She gave a roll of her eyes and nodded. "New orders. Go protect my investment, ensure he makes it back here tomorrow night."

The retriever showed that bright eager grin, his tail wagging behind him as he barked out, "Yes, ma'am!" He spun on his heel to leave and catch up with Sen.

"Oh and, my Angel?" He looked back at her with perked ears as Jane showed him a toothy grin. "Try to have fun and show him a good time, the poor thing's been through a lot."

"Of course, ma'am!" He barked out and didn't bother with the stairs, just hopping right off the balcony.

Sen was just padding off the last few steps growling to himself, not even sure what he was supposed to do. Did she expect him to just squat in the fucking alley for the night? He only made a few more paces forward before Angel just suddenly landed right on the ground in front of him with that gapped grin.

"Fuck!" Sen jumped back with a growl as the retriever laughed and stood up from his bent knees, the sound of a servo motor hissing in the knee joint of his one cyber-leg.

"Sorry for the scare, sugar! You didn't think I'd let you just trot off alone without a credit to your name do you?" The retriever seemed to just slide gracefully right over to the other dog, linking an arm with him. "C'mon, I owe you that soyk- coffee, yeah? Then you can crash at my place tonight until your meeting tomorrow!"

The kitsune didn't really feel he had much say in the matter, his footpaws already in motion as the retriever that started this whole thing off cheerfully led him out of the club and back into the sprawl.

--*--

Next Episode:

A tender emotion never felt, a swell of a heartbeat from another's touch. Is this what it's like to be truly alive? Is my life my own, or will it always be within the bloody claws of another? Will you support me to the end as you promise, even as my paws grow crimson with blood? A life for a life, a love for a love, is it even my place to do such a thing?

Episode Two: You never forget your first.

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