Blaedergil's Host C.M. Simpson (first e reader .TXT) đ
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- Author: C.M. Simpson
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âYour contract isnât up,â she said, and my confusion must have shown.
She gave me an evil grin.
âWhat? You thought weâd just let you walk away?â
I had, especially since it had been just over a year since she and Mack and Tens had pulled me off Depredides. My answer must have shown, for that grin got wider, and she let me go so I could lean on the wall, and watch as she paced the other side of the room.
âYeah. Our bad. Mack was looking just as confused, when we called him in.â
I raised my eyebrows. Theyâd what?
âHe is one of our instructors. We do have his numberâand we have people all over the place. He wasnât hard to find. You, on the other hand...â She moved back to stand a couple of paces in front of me. âYou are showing signs of being one devious son of a bitch. I like that in a girl.â
She did?
âSure I do,â she said, and I realized sheâd gotten back into my head, and managed a groan of protest.
Delightâs look of sympathy was not convincing.
âAww, sweetie,â she said, and laid a hand on my cheek, âIâm sorry.â
She gestured to the cell around me.
âThis place has everything you need, but youâre going to have to earn itâand that includes the amenities.â
She turned away.
âYour terminal is over there. You want a seat? You earn it. You need to pee? Better get that first assignment done, because clean-up costs extra.â
I wanted to ask her why Iâd been brought back in, but she didnât give me time, and, now that sheâd mentioned it, I was going to need those âamenities.â
âYou earn everything from here on out.â
Out, hey? I wondered how long that would take me to earn. It was not a question I was going to ask, though. I wasnât going to give her the satisfaction. Way I saw it, I was going back to Basics... in the Advanced class.
I looked around the cell, then glanced back at Delight. She was watching me. As soon as she saw she had my attention, she pointed to the work station, sheâd indicated before.
âWe want access to that file. Youâll want waste disposal, soon.â
Now, that she mentioned it...
The look I shot her was just short of filthy, but it didnât dim the evil grin lighting up her face.
âBest be quick, then.â
I didnât argue, just moved over to the station. It was exactly the right height for standing.
âLet me guess,â I said. âThis is a rental, and more furniture can be earned.â
I didnât need to be looking at her to know that her smile just got wider. It snuck into her voice, and rubbed the fact in my ears.
âClockâs ticking.â
The file was easy, considering the necessities it was paying for, but I didnât tell her that. I just went through the code, and did what had to be done. Added a tweak here, removed a line there, defanged the beast that would reduce the rest of it to a garbled mess, otherwise, and sent the decrypt where I was told.
It was only after it was gone that I realized I should have sent a little code-gift of my own, and, by then, it was too late. Which turned out to be a good thing.
âDo you want to know what happened to the last person who booby-trapped an assignment?â Delight asked, as though reading my mind, and I felt a chill wash over me.
No, I decided, I really didnâtâand was glad I hadnât given them the excuse to enlighten me.
I donât think Iâd ever been so grateful to see a san unit in my life.
Delight watched me go in, and she was still waiting when I came out.
âYouâve earned yourself a time-out.â
I was about to ask her how, when Iâd done everything sheâd asked since bringing me in, but she was already explaining.
âWhen you went AWOL after Ghoul went down, the order came down to terminate you. Mack asked for more time to get you on track...â
He had? And he hadnât told me what was on the line? But Delight wasnât giving me any time to ask questions. She just kept on.
â...and youâve shown some improvement, which is why weâre having this discussion.â
I held onto the urge to breathe a sigh of relief. Something told me I wasnât out of the woods yet.
âWhat...â
But Delight held up a hand.
âYou want to get back to your training schedule with Mack?â she asked, and I nodded.
âThen you need to earn the privilege.â
The computer made a brief sound, and I glanced towards it.
âRemember the extra tasks you did in training?â
I flicked a glance towards her, nodded, and then sidled over to where I could see the screen.
âThis time you donât earn extra credits.â
I lifted my head, looking over my shoulder as she turned towards the end of the cell.
âThis time, you get to earn your way back into the training program, and pay back the costs of your retrieval. Mackâs not cheap.â
I froze, felt my eyebrows rise.
Mack had agreed to retrieve me?
Delightâs grin took on a nasty edge.
âIt was a race. If he got to you before Tyson could get you back to the station, you got a chance at having him back as a supervisorâprovided you earn enough credits to recover his and Tysonâs retrieval fees inside the next three months.â
I didnât want to know what would have happened if Mack hadnât gotten to me in time, but I did want to know how much time I had left. Delight had anticipated the question.
âYouâll find an invoice on the terminalâand the countdown.â
She turned, as though to leave, and then turned back.
âYouâve got to pass your training, as well as earn your way back into the Advanced program.â
I wanted to ask her âor else whatâ, but I didnât dare. She told me anyway.
âYou fuck this up, Cutterâand thereâs an airlock with your name on it.â
I felt my face go pale, and wanted to tell
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