The Chinese woman bares her teeth. You're not sure whether she's smiling or threatening you. Or both. Probably both. For a second you wonder whether she is pleased by being called "an evil", but then you remember that most assholes think they are the heroes of the story and don't technically want to be the bad guys.
"Well then, my nice Nepali big cop, if I'm a guest in this country, treat me like one. They said, in Nepal guests are treated like gods. Go ahead and do as your gods tell you."
She turns her neck, frowns, then decides to drop the thread.
"Business", she says briskly.
"Here is what I offer:
If you bring us the software, typification and research essays - that is, all the data there is to the project - that's the core. We'll grant you 15 k. Nuyen, not rupees. If you don't bring us the data, you get nothing, no matter what else you might bring or do. Same goes if you don't erase the data. That's part of the job, so it's necessary for the pay.
If you have hardware - prototypes, complete sets - we'll grant you up to 8 k more.
For bringing us the lead scientist you get another 8k. 3k is for a low-rank scientist or other employees who were in charge of the program. Same goes for a bugged kid.
Take it or leave it."
The waitress enters the room with a steaming plate of momos and simple wooden chopsticks. You count twelve momos.