Some people would call it feeling smug, but I'd just call what I felt 'satisfied with a job well done'. I did my best to keep my face neutral as I sat back in my seat and pocketed my bullet again. But I would be lying if I said it didn't feel good to see the impressed look cross her face. I looked away.
It helped me school my features into neutrality when I remembered I wasn't there to impress anyone. I was here to blend in. Here to just appear as a simple augmented human. A competent one, sure, but still just an augmented human. Impressing someone too much would just make my job harder if it gave me out as what I actually was.
Shit. Now I sure wasn't feeling smug anymore.
And I needed that reminder to stay neutral, when she insisted next that her business came first. I kept my eyes on the wall for a few, long moments (though I was watching her through one of my nearby drones, so small they were easily concealed in a busy environment like this one). She was scrutinising me really hard... And I didn't like that. But it wasn't like I could argue. I was the one seeking to get 'employed' here, no matter how much I wanted to take the lead.
I still needed someone to fly me there and get me some 'legitimate' access... And ugh... It was planetside. I fucking hated being on planet... There was always a risk of getting stuck... And the options for getting out were limited.
But this was my best lead. And she was my best chance. I needed her to trust me so she wouldn't dump me down there with no way out in the middle of the mission...
"Fine. Your mission, your business," I relented. "Mine shouldn't disrupt yours. I have something to retrieve." That wasn't fully accurate, but I didn't want to give it all out. Not just yet at least.
I resisted raising an eyebrow at the gesture, and that's when I realised she was using some sort of interface. Something I didn't know about, so it was either custom, or something I'd never encountered before. Which was just as fair, honestly. SecUnits' education models suck, and it's not like we're loaded up with everything out there. Plus, I wasn't exactly the most recent model.
I filed that away in my database for later, and took in all the documents and the map. The contract didn't interest me (it had been scrubbed of anything relevant to me, which, again, was fair), but the notes and the map caught my attention.
I downloaded both into my internal system after running a thorough check for malware. I didn't have any data on the place before now. So this was invaluable. Even if the deal didn't go through between us, I at least wouldn't be going in blind.
But I wasn't even thinking of double-crossing her. She seemed okay enough, so far. And I still needed a ride in and out.
"That's where my business comes in," I told her as I turned the wireframe map around to focus on her highlighted points. That was kinda funny, too, that our goals overlapped so much, but I didn't think much of it at the time. "I know, I know. Your business first. But as I said, I won't disrupt it. I just need access to the system before you take it offline. I won't be long. And once I'm done, you can do whatever the fuck you want to it. I'll even help you take it down."
All I needed was the files. The incriminating evidence of whatever operation was happening there. Hopefully incriminating. Or I would have wasted my time even coming here.
But I was confident. And hopeful. I know, it's rare to hear me say that.
I glanced at her when she asked me if I had questions.
"... Yes. A couple." I nodded. "Do you have a means of transportation to get to the destination?" I hadn't seen anything about that, either in the ad, or in the documents she provided now. But that was the main reason I was responding to this ad in the first place.
But there was something else that bothered me. She obviously went there first, hence the map and recon. And that meant she ran into that 'small private army'. Unprepared. Probably getting caught by surprise.
That she managed to survive and escape was either a show of luck, or a show of skills... or... A trap. But I had time before I needed to focus on that option.
I couldn't resist, I ran a quick scan of her (which confirmed she was unaugmented, only had an interface. And this device which was definitely custom, now that I had a better look at it). But I was no medical system... I was a SecUnit, meant to interface with a MedSys. But without one, I was missing parts of my functionalities.
She didn't look injured, as far as I could tell, but I couldn't be sure, so I asked her anyway, "Are you injured? After your run-in with the... small army? I have to know, because this could be detrimental to the mission if you are. And I'd rather find out now than in the middle of a high-risk situation."