The Price of Life

[cheshire_kitty]

Location: An unnamed metropolis

Working with others was never one of Dietrich’s strong points. However, this time he had no choice - it was one of the stipulations the client had set for this assignment, one that paid very handsomely. The objective of the assignment was relatively simple – track down and rescue Annie, the kidnapped daughter of the client. Yet Dietrich couldn’t help but be a bit curious about the level of secrecy that this assignment involved.

Usually when the child from a rich family is kidnapped, the child’s picture would be plastered everywhere and on every screen. In addition to this, the family would attempt to initiate contact with the kidnapper to plead for the safe return of the child through the media but, his client seemed to want to keep the abduction of his daughter a secret. Perhaps, the girl is an illegitimate child he wants to keep secret. Either way, this was none of his business and potentially losing a well playing client to satisfy curiosity was foolish.

***​

​

Although the meeting was not for another half hour, Dietrich was already at the agreed upon location. The contact had wanted to see how Dietrich and [member="Switch"] – the other slicer he was partnered with would get along.

 

[Switch]

Switch bumped past another pedestrian as she beat a steadily quickening pace to the meeting location, her eyes not leaving her wrist as practiced fingers swiped through rows upon rows of raw data. She was a bit early, but the slicer had always found herself unable to relax when she was plugged in. No matter how many times she read and reread her findings, the only piece of certifiable data she could gather about her new partner was that there was no data. Nothing that interested her, anyway.

Turning a final corner, she could see a young man matching the physical description she'd received. Gritting her teeth, Switch made her final approach, coming to a stop just out of arms reach of the young man.

Just means I'm only getting half... Taking one last deep breath, the slicer took hold of the unfinished cigarette pinched between her lips, flicking it a good distance away from the two of them.

"Dietrich, right?" Despite her annoyance, Switch kept her tone even. The last thing she needed was for this deal to go south before it even started.

[member="Dietrich Klein"]

 

[cheshire_kitty]

Dietrich looked at the woman before him. Switch perfectly represented the description that had been provided to him by the contact. Although she concealed it well, Dietriech could sense from Switch the same annoyance he felt about this situation.

"Yeah. You must be Switch. I would say nice to meet you but it's clear that we're both the type who prefers to work alone but at least our payment will make up for this slight annoyance." Dietrich extended his hand towards Switch.

[member="Switch"]

 

[Switch]

Switch took a small amount of comfort in the fact that he somehow seemed just as annoyed as she felt. Despite everything, that small realization managed to cheer her up, if only a little bit. Bridging the distance between them, the former pirate took the young man's hand in a steady grip, meeting his steady gaze with one of her own as she looked him over.

If she had to pick a word to describe this guy, she would have to go with understated. His poise, that getup, even his demeanor was putting out an fairly effective vibe of look elsewhere. Neither overly handsome, nor too pretty, Dietrich had a rather androgynous appearance, made even more so by his lack of displayed emotion at the moment; she certainly couldn't put an age on him. The only thing about him that even remotely stood out to her was that hair. That ponytail of his was a perfect handhold in a fight, which just so happened to be why she'd recently cut her hair short.

Regardless, they didn't have to pretend to like each other, something that, strangely enough, was causing him to grow on her quickly. In harsh contrast her earlier tone, a warm smile spread across Switch's face as she returned her hand to her pocket.

"So partner...What's your take on the girl?" She had only done a cursory investigation into the contract, and it was clear as day that something was a little left of center. A regular kidnapping alone would result in a city-wide amber alert, let alone one whose father was willing to pay what she was charging. "Some kind of foul play?"

[member="Dietrich Klein"]

 

[cheshire_kitty]

"Possibly or it could be the bastard daughter of some rich nerf herder. Either way, I don't really care. I just want to track down and retrieve the brat as soon as possible so we can get paid.” To Dietrich, the girl was no more important to him than the lost items he had been sent to retrieve in his past missions. Actually, he would have much preferred retrieving items rather than people – especially children. For some reason, Dietrich could never get along with children no matter how hard he tried to get along with them; children never seemed to like him. If only the payment wasn’t that much...

Klok, klok, klok. Dietrich could hear the sound of footsteps approaching them. Coming towards them was a well-dressed man with a gaunt face who looked to be in his mid-thirties.

“Wonderful,” the man smiled. “Seems like the two of you are getting along. It appears that my client’s worries were unfounded as expected. Money never fails to unite people who would otherwise not even give the other a second look.” The man stopped in front of them. “Hello, Dietrich, Switch. I am the contact that will represent the client.” The contact nodded as he spoke the name of each slicer then offered his hand.

Dietrich grabbed the man’s cold hand in a firm hold and shook it, maintaining eye contact. “Nice to meet you too, sir.”

[member="Switch"]

 

[Switch]

"-I just want to track down and retrieve the brat as soon as possible so we can get paid.”

Nodding her agreement, Switch turned her attention away from her partner, a prepared response dying in her throat to the approaching sound of some fairly expensive sounding shoes. Her gaze traveling up a relatively expensive outfit, the slicer's found herself face to face with a new man. The way that smile of his affected the contours of his face made her skin crawl.

After some transparently rehearsed introductions, Switch to a relaxed posture against the wall behind her, crossing her arms over her chest. "So... Where do we meet this guy?" The woman couldn't quite muster the same level of professionalism Dietrich had displayed. She was eager to get this all behind her as soon as she could.

[member="Dietrich Klein"]

 

[cheshire_kitty]

"The kidnapper has yet to send a ransom demand but we believe he is hired by someone who has a grudge against my client. We have information that the exchange will be taking place two days from today at twenty hundred hours at a yet to be decided location. This is a very time sensitive matter as once Annie is in the hands of his client; we believe the man will try to use her to blackmail us, threatening to sell her into slavery. If possible, I would like you two to find and retrieve her and possibly the kidnapper before the transaction takes place. The child's safety is paramount; the kidnapper's however is not. That being said, kill only if necessary as we would like to ask him a couple of questions." The man did not stop smiling. His smile was one that looked as if it was hiding something sinister.

“Understood,” Dietrich replied curtly. “So, we track down the girl and or the location of the exchange and retrieve her and the kidnapper alive, killing him only if necessary and contact you to hand over the child and receive our payment. That is all right?” Dietrich tried to conceal the suspicion in his voice. This mission is too simple for the price we're paid.

“Correct. I’m glad you understand.” The contact took a couple of A4 sized envelopes out from his coat and handed one to each of the slicers. “I would have sent these files over HoloMail but my client does not trust technology and insisted I provided you two with hardcopies. Any other questions?"

Dietrich shook his head. He had all the needed.

[member="Switch"]