Molly gingerly assists Manny, still recovering from the onslaught, keep a steady walking pace as they follow behind Aces. Although wounded and uneasy, they're surrounded by a sizeable almost military like escort that gives her this warped feeling of security.
Even though they were fully kitted in some of PetroChem's latest in combat equipment and really looked the part, most of them had criminal jackets no better than some of the worst dregs you'd find in DogTown. Trafficking and murder charges... drug distribution... rape and rioting, kidnapping, assault you name it. Molly's passive skim through their records give her a clear picture who these types are.
'What kind of savages like this would even have the mind to dial all of that tech in? Couldnt've possibly done it alone. Even moreso... what kind of psycho would take the time to kit out a group of wrecks like this... let alone how..?' She thinks to herself... watching the fixer shake hands, network and be approached by random locals throughout the street.
Mercs and punks confirm completed gigs and turn in items of interest while he doles out eddies and information before sending them on their way. Local business owners and street eyes touch bases and have questions answered. Molly gets a brief look at what the general dealings of a Night City street fixer looks like first hand. It was almost as if he was savior visiting his hungry flock.
"What are you, a fucking messiah?" Molly chuckles as the locals wander off... the 3 of them make their way toward Molly's parked Emperor while he responds.
"All manners of people from corporate counter intel to the dregs of the very streets we're walking on are in need of something. Whether its one thing or another, regardless of status or power, people are always looking for someone to 'take care of it'. In various places throughout Night City, I am indeed the man who holds the keys… sows the seeds… and can no doubt get you what you need… regardless of what that may be."
Molly scoffs and rolls her eyes with a smirk.. unable to resist some of his charm.
As they stop on a corner of the street, Aces finishes tasking his squad of PetroChem outfitted huscle and they disperse in various directions. He checks the time and glances over at Molly and Manny walking together gingerly in pain trying to keep up.
"Would you mind driving? We should get going." He says expectingly... promptly walking toward Molly's Chevillon Emperor.
Manny and Molly look at each other without saying anything.
The 3 are now driving to the slow, mellow rumbling of the SUV engine creating a comforting white noise. The lack of conversation in the car gives everyone the space to let their minds race. Fortunately for Molly, her and Manny have a covert communications link they use to talk to each other in proximity with no tell or flicker in the eyes... almost feeling like telepathy. As Aces looks out the window watching various streets like chess boards pass by, they sync up with each other in a familiar tone they both find comfort in.
=Hey.=
=Hey...=
=Shit was a close call back there... how you holding up?=
=Feel like... I got hit by a fucking Thorton that decided to reverse into me afterwards. Those couldn't have been standard issue X-22s… They had to have been modified... Increased concussive blast or... and those EMP effects… they weren't conventional…. feeling a... weird numbness in my wiring. Did a fucking kid throw those at us?= Manny says groggy while driving.
=Nothing around here is conventional… starting to learn pretty quickly the levels of obfuscation going on this deep in this city... this is uncharted territory for an op like this. Too many unknown layers, too many unknown factors... You think that kid got flatlined after we got bailed out just now?= Molly asks... an obvious tone of doubt... causing Manny to silently look over at her intimidated before she continues.
=Players at the top using the disorganized chaos and lack of law enforcement to sink their claws into the local populace… rack up owed debts, control the flow of valued information and... whatever the hell else they get up to out here. Makes players like this rat in the back seat here think they're actually somebody. Informed... confident and In control... the typical nature of your standard issue street fixer.= She says causing Manny to look at Aces in the backseat through the rearview mirror.
=He's certainly in for a rude awakening.= Molly concludes
After a short ride, the tires of the emperor screech to a halt on pothole ridden pavement. The trio exit the vehicle and make their way toward the stairs of a tattered 4 story flat. Molly and Manny waiting at the bottom of the steps watch Aces exchange a few words with a street punk guarding the door. Molly pulls out a smoke causing Manny to quickly produce a lighter and light it for her.
They standby idle feeling the remnants of a life or death struggle... their implants feel as though they've been pushed to an unfamiliar limit as the pair silently continue to gather themselves as best as they can. After several puffs and some active people watching together, they both catch Aces gesturing them up the stairs into the building.
They creak their way up the ratty staircase and exit out onto the roof... it overlooks an unassuming layout of a huge section of Rancho Coranado on a lazy, sunny day.
"What am I looking at here fixer." Molly asks, slowly walking toward the edge and surveying the area below.
Aces puts his arms out in a gesture of presentation. "Why, the keys to the kingdom of course! What you're looking out at is most likely the entirety of Marcus Santello's territory. The gang goon tasked with not only saving your life today but bringing you to this very area more than likely had an entire web of deception weaved and prepared for you to get tangled in. If I hadn't interfered when I did, then you would've no doubt been brought here after the staged 'saving of your life." He says gesturing quote marks
Molly looks on at the landscape... a now much more intimidated gaze of disbelief as the depth of that scenario sinks deep into her psyche. Aces picks up on it... digging deeper into hers.
"Pawn after pawn of red herrings and dead ends… all designed to wear you down and whither away at your perception and trust… with an attempt on your life behind Every. Single. Angle."
A dead silence takes over allowing Molly to take in the information and surrounding area... hearing only a high altitude breeze and the distant sounds of a chaotic and broken part of the city… shunned and ugly.
"And what are you expecting in return for this….. 'generous' offering." She asks still looking out at the landscape.
Aces glances over at Manny watching over them during a brief pause. He hesitates slightly before responding... which silently catches Manny's attention.
"A Lucrative business interest of mine recently went up in flames... one of my runners involved in the operation was left..." Aces gets slightly choked up causing Molly to turn back and look at him. "She was uhhmm.." He clears his throat and loosens his tie slightly. "She was... left.. mangled nearly beyond recognition... without the data we pulled we would've been certain it was... was the work of a cyberpsycho."
He pauses thinking deeply of the sight before catching himself... he clears his throat again.
"Al...though the data was nearly fried beyond recovery by what looks to be an ace runner, we recovered the intake logs of the ins and outs of the establishments in question. There was a final intake of several clients the night of the incident then poof... up in flames... along with an unforgivable amount of resources and huscle under my employ."
"And I should give a fuck about this why." Molly responds in a serious tone causing Aces to smirk, prepared for the reveal.
"Before this unfortunate catastrophe, one of my primary points of contact involved in the operation gave me a call. Apparently one of the intakes turned out to be quite the weapon. She was sporting military grade combatware.. most of which was completely off market or had unknown specs. However, most intriguing were several of the datashards she carried in her possession. Redacted intel on various black projects involving none other than... PetroChem."
The presented information causes Molly and Manny to turn... focusing their full attention on him with a silent reaction of surprise and disbelief. Aces smirks... easily picking up on their reaction... acquiring their undivided attention.
"Who was this stolie." She responds.
Aces raises both of his hands in the air stumped. "Unfortunately both the Jane and the datashards were gone before I was ever delivered the goods... so too are my various contacts who happened to be involved." You see a quick flash of the countless corpses layed broken in blood throughout the bullet ridden and destroyed Pistis Sophia. "You could say it was... a... clean break of sorts.
"And you're after... what. Revenge..? Tch.. why don't you just cut your losses and look for another dump pile to call your own. I'm sure one's just as good as another. You look like you've got money."
"Well, I would hope that presenting you with all I've gathered along with the... saving of your life no doubt, that we would be able to tackle this mishap together. Indeed win-wins for both of us, on all sides. I can find the missing pieces to my recent investment gone up in flames and you can find your.… weapon." He concludes with a smirk.
Molly continuing to stare at Aces begins to smile right back at him with her signature dead stare of intimidation. She slowly approaches him... the heavy, high altitude wind picks up with debris and gravel crunching beneath her heavy combat boots with every step... intensifying the moment.
"You wanna know what I like about you? Even though... you… 'lord' over a shithole such as this-" She points back at the neighborhood with her thumb. "You still put in allll the effort to look and carry yourself as clean as possible. Its almost like some... corpo 'lite' if you will... heh... I would've never guessed that with enough dirt on you around here... you can actually come out clean on the otherside!"
Molly stops right in front of him face to face and looks up into his eyes... she gently places the palms of her hands on Aces' cheeks and gently begins rubbing them with her thumbs... catching him completely off guard... making him tense up with eyes wide open. Its as if the simple feeling of her touch has snapped him into a different mode of thinking... his mentality as a fixer giving way to primal intimidation… he raises his hands slightly, up to his waist in surrender.
"Oooo... you're just... so..... cute..." She murmurs seductively... a look of arousal mixed with pity on her face... staring deep into Aces' eyes as her mantis blades slowly engage. Manny smirks to himself and cross his arms as he takes a step off to the side.
Aces hears the crisp, sleek sound of the chrome's complex working mechanics right next to his ears as the blades slowly open like blooming flowers... hooking around the back of his head as they finish protruding while Molly strokes his cheeks with her thumbs.
"If we're working together... i'm sure... you wouldn't... mind-" She whispers seductively with a heavy breath... aroused as she wraps one of her legs around him... pulling his hips in between her legs.
"Giving... me-" She moans in growing pleasure, breathing heavy.
"EVERYTHING!-" She moans louder with her eyes closed tight... pulling him in even tighter with her leg.
Molly feels Aces' Mr. Stud implant lightly poke her inner thigh... causing her to open her eyes and mouth wide looking directly at him.
He instinctually takes a step back out of her grip... rattled and intimidated. A look of disbelief on his face as Molly retracts her mantis blades.. continuing suddenly in her professional voice.
"-You've got on this operation of ours... right?"
Aces quickly glances over at Manny still standing there with his arms crossed... he looks back at Molly in front of him... shakily pulling out one of his personalized, white and red datashards and handing it to her.
She quickly grabs it and steps toward him again right in front of his face... she speaks in a serious whisper.
"Good boy... now... with that... If you value your life, I'm gonna need you to stay out of my way until i'm finished or until i'm gone... understand?"
Aces stands in silent intimidation unable to find any words.
"Because if you don't... i promise... you'll no doubt soon learn-"
She steps in even closer... squinting her eyes and looking deep into his.
"I like to mix pleasure with pain." She whispers with a wince... a genuine confession before a tense silence... the breeze takes over on the rooftop.
Her facial expression transitions from serious to her usual smile and gaze as she lightly taps him a couple times on his cheek. He flinches.
She steps past him headed for the staircase with Manny quickly following behind her.
Aces stands left alone on the windy rooftop looking out into Rancho Corando. As fear slowly leaves his body, the rage slowly enters... he clinches his shaking fists tightly... Cutting to black.