"You must be the Kid!" The tall, broad-shouldered man said like he was on stage.
Shit! Another faggot, he thought. Cigarette smoke tugged at him. This time he hoped he could fight it.
"You know, the Kid?" The man said again, his shirt opened revealing a gold medallion and a hairless chest.
"No, I'm not the Kid." Ernesto now knew this jerk came to see Kid. He looks like a pato, he thought, but maybe this time things will work.
Kid approached from behind. Bear was with him, smiling his usual dumb smile. The jerk turned around.
"You're the Kid!" He announced.
"Aaron?" Kid asked. Bear looked around, his optics glowing, trying to spot trouble. The bar was full of moneyed junkies, pompous dealers, cheap hookers -- the typical riff raff.
"He's clean... so far." Bear whispered, hardly audible even to Kid's souped up ears. Kid's eyes blinked in acknowledgment. He put out a hard -- the artificial one. Aaron grabbed it and pumped it like a junior exec eager for a promotion.
"Let's do business." Kid walked upstairs. Bear followed. He always did. Covering Kid's back, he mumbled something. Aaron broke his pose and followed too. Ernesto brought up the rear. Someone asked for another beer and Jaime, Ernesto's backup, sunk into the crowd at the bar.
Upstairs, Aaron sat down first. Kid frowned. Bear smiled, took off his sunglasses, wiped them, then put them back on. Aaron didn't notice the silver toned optics that were Bear's eyes.
Kid sat across from Aaron. He was smaller than both Bear and Aaron. Ernesto took his usual corner and craved a cigarette. He couldn't wait until this was over.
Aaron checked out Jaime's lay, Ruby, as she strutted in. He glanced her up and down like she was for sale. His shirt opened a little wider in expectation. Jaime would be pissed, Kid thought grinning. A holo-ad flicked to life in back of Kid, advertising beer made from algae malt.
"So, you have information." Kid stated.
"Damn straight. I always do. You want it, you have to pay." Aaron countered.
"What and how much?"
"Technical plans. Seven thousand."
"Plans of what?" Kid asked flatly, taking a beer from Ruby. Her prosthetic arm looked almost biologically real, but in infrared it was cold. She moved on to Ernesto, who almost downed the mug before it was in his hand. Aaron declined.
"Drug manufacturing kits."
"That's not marketable. 'Chemicals are for dinosaurs.'" Kid snorted the common pro-machine freak wisdom.
"There're still plenty of wetheads like me around to sell to." Aaron flexed his muscles, vainly showing his bare chest and curvaceous arms. "Fuck you and them. Come back when you're able to afford a new brain." Kid said getting up. These oldsters, he thought, always so narcissistic. Bear chuckled. He knew Kid's sense of humor and liked it.
Aaron grabbed his medallion and squeezed it. It telescoped into a knife. He leaped at Kid too fast for Bear to do anything. But faster than either Ruby shoved Ernesto's empty mug right into Aaron's temple. His body twitched as she removed the mug from his bloody brain, then it fell. She threw a pack of cigarettes to Ernesto who was sweating profusely.
"I thought you quit." Kid said staring at the medallion-knife. Bear smiled because he liked duets. Ernesto stood up.
"No, it's not like that, hombre!" He said.
"It's not like what, partner?" Jaime said from behind. "I thought we were a team." He slapped Ernesto. "Light up!"
Ernesto lit a cigarette. No use begging or explaining. He took a long drag and blew a smoke ring. If I could just float to the ceiling like this puff, he mused. He snubbed out the cigarette. "Fucking waste." He remarked pointing his head at Aaron's lifeless body.
Kid looked at Ernesto, frowned and turned away. "Clean this mess up." Bear smiled as he ripped Ernesto's head off with one swipe.
That's why we call him Bear, Kid thought. Bear wiped his hand off and Kid laughed. They all laughed..