drunkenly kiss his cousin not so very long ago, and Arch's look—shock, bewilderment, and yes, disgust as well—was something that Padraic would never forget.
Since that night, they had drifted even further apart. Padraic didn't want to go to Japan, didn't want to talk to anyone about his tech, but he wanted to disappoint his cousin even less.
Arch set it all up, and inside of two hours, Padraic was at a coffee shop in downtown Milwaukee, meeting with a well-dressed man wearing an entirely untrustworthy grin.
"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Dahl,” said the corporate bodyguard with a pleasant smile.
When he shook Padraic's hand, Padraic could feel the dull heat of constantly moving cybernetics just under the skin of the man's palm. Arch had mentioned how deadly and effective the man was, but he had neglected to mention that Jenner was also as short as a teenage girl and had a grin like a jack-o'-lantern.
"Pleased to meet you, too, Mr... uh, Jenner?"
He laughed, and Padraic caught another glimpse of too-sharp teeth.
"Just Jenner, please, Mr. Dahl. Mr. Jenner is... someone else entirely, I suppose.” He took a long slurp from his orange soda, never taking his nearly black eyes off of Padraic or losing the faint smirk.
"Now, I want you to tell me all about what I'm going to be protecting and how much of you needs to survive in order for me to do so."
In all honesty, Padraic couldn't say that all of him needed to survive. His brain and the delicate ports at his breastbone could keep the system functioning even if the rest of him was gone, and with a faint feeling of reluctance, he told this to Jenner.
"Hmm,” Jenner said thoughtfully.
"Of course it would be a lot better if you could keep me in one piece,” Padraic said hastily. “My, er, meat cushions the leads, and pulling the inputs from my breastbone would be problematic to say the least. The system would be quite pricey to replace."
"Exactly how pricey?” Jenner asked with interest.
"Um. Very?"
Jenner made a face.
"Everything's about accurate accounting these days. I like to know what my incidentals might be."
"Right. Um, continuing on, at the most basic level, the neural net is an information storage and retrieval system, coupled with a basic capacity to execute software. Practically any amount of data can be uploaded almost immediately, and it can be retrieved just as fast. For security purposes, there's an extremely high level of encryption that can be engaged. I was originally thinking that it could be used in-house..."
"Spies."
"Beg your pardon?"
"You're carrying espionage cyberware,” Jenner said flatly. “How much information can you store?
"Enough to handle all of the information that a company would need stored,” Padraic said. “Like I said, it's specifically intended for storage and transfer purposes..."
"And with data transfer still instantaneous? Package that with some really good code-breaking software, give you a good team to work with...” Jenner grinned. “In the right hands, you'd be one dangerous little brat."
"It was really made for in-house use,” Padraic protested, but he could see where the other man was going. Jenner patted his arm reassuringly.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure that nothing happens to that gorgeous little piece of hardware that you've got netted to your brainmeats."
Look reassured, look reassured , Padraic tried to tell himself.
"Thank you,” he said numbly. “No, really, thank you so much."
* * * *
It turned out that traveling with Jenner ensured one of the most trouble-free check-ins that Padraic had ever experienced. He was relieved when he didn't set off any of the security portals, and Jenner didn't go through them at all.
"Too much weird gear,” said Jenner easily. “It would just freak them out."
"What about freaking me out?” Padraic muttered. He realized that he would have to sprout another hand to really hang on to his carry-on and find and present all the documentation that the security
Since that night, they had drifted even further apart. Padraic didn't want to go to Japan, didn't want to talk to anyone about his tech, but he wanted to disappoint his cousin even less.
Arch set it all up, and inside of two hours, Padraic was at a coffee shop in downtown Milwaukee, meeting with a well-dressed man wearing an entirely untrustworthy grin.
"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Dahl,” said the corporate bodyguard with a pleasant smile.
When he shook Padraic's hand, Padraic could feel the dull heat of constantly moving cybernetics just under the skin of the man's palm. Arch had mentioned how deadly and effective the man was, but he had neglected to mention that Jenner was also as short as a teenage girl and had a grin like a jack-o'-lantern.
"Pleased to meet you, too, Mr... uh, Jenner?"
He laughed, and Padraic caught another glimpse of too-sharp teeth.
"Just Jenner, please, Mr. Dahl. Mr. Jenner is... someone else entirely, I suppose.” He took a long slurp from his orange soda, never taking his nearly black eyes off of Padraic or losing the faint smirk.
"Now, I want you to tell me all about what I'm going to be protecting and how much of you needs to survive in order for me to do so."
In all honesty, Padraic couldn't say that all of him needed to survive. His brain and the delicate ports at his breastbone could keep the system functioning even if the rest of him was gone, and with a faint feeling of reluctance, he told this to Jenner.
"Hmm,” Jenner said thoughtfully.
"Of course it would be a lot better if you could keep me in one piece,” Padraic said hastily. “My, er, meat cushions the leads, and pulling the inputs from my breastbone would be problematic to say the least. The system would be quite pricey to replace."
"Exactly how pricey?” Jenner asked with interest.
"Um. Very?"
Jenner made a face.
"Everything's about accurate accounting these days. I like to know what my incidentals might be."
"Right. Um, continuing on, at the most basic level, the neural net is an information storage and retrieval system, coupled with a basic capacity to execute software. Practically any amount of data can be uploaded almost immediately, and it can be retrieved just as fast. For security purposes, there's an extremely high level of encryption that can be engaged. I was originally thinking that it could be used in-house..."
"Spies."
"Beg your pardon?"
"You're carrying espionage cyberware,” Jenner said flatly. “How much information can you store?
"Enough to handle all of the information that a company would need stored,” Padraic said. “Like I said, it's specifically intended for storage and transfer purposes..."
"And with data transfer still instantaneous? Package that with some really good code-breaking software, give you a good team to work with...” Jenner grinned. “In the right hands, you'd be one dangerous little brat."
"It was really made for in-house use,” Padraic protested, but he could see where the other man was going. Jenner patted his arm reassuringly.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure that nothing happens to that gorgeous little piece of hardware that you've got netted to your brainmeats."
Look reassured, look reassured , Padraic tried to tell himself.
"Thank you,” he said numbly. “No, really, thank you so much."
* * * *
It turned out that traveling with Jenner ensured one of the most trouble-free check-ins that Padraic had ever experienced. He was relieved when he didn't set off any of the security portals, and Jenner didn't go through them at all.
"Too much weird gear,” said Jenner easily. “It would just freak them out."
"What about freaking me out?” Padraic muttered. He realized that he would have to sprout another hand to really hang on to his carry-on and find and present all the documentation that the security
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