bnc looks him straight into the face. "Jeez, omae, that's a real good question. Lemme think..."
And think she does.
"I guess running off with a random troll shadowrunner leaving behind everything I ever knew is definitely a candidate. But then, you all know this already, and don't wanna be the party pooper of my own party, do I?"
She again racks her mind, then her expression grows serious, as she nods to herself.
"I was seventeen. I was the most wiz codeslinger I knew, and I knew some codeslingers back then. But I lacked a proper sword. That is, that piece of gear that is as dear to any decker as a sword is to a samurai worth his name. I ran on Renate, as I called my deck. I called her Renate, because it wasn't even an Erika."
As she sees the confused expressions on some of the faces, she adds: "Erika MCD-1 is the name of one of the cheapest decks you get. A blunt Wakizashi, to stick to my metaphor. Renate was hardly worth being called a dagger.
Then came Dan. Dunno why, but many Austrians have a knack for English, French or Spanish names nowadays. He was the gang leader of the gang I was hanging out with at this time. He said, some fellas poked their noses a little too far into their territory. And one of them had a headware cyberdeck. Used to have, that is.
A real mucho grande wiz Novatech Navigator. A proper katana, amigos. But he named a price. A big price.
The fifty kay were not a problem. I mean, they were a problem but fifty grand for a Novatech was nothing.
Then there was the banging part. I was seventeen, remember.
The most insane thing was the Whoom story, though. Dan attempted to join the drug dealing business and attempted to mix that stuff himself. He had no real clue, though, so he needed someone to test it without word being spread and his reputation being ruined before he had a single customer. He wanted me to try his cheap self-brewn stuff."
She remains silent for a moment, then adds:
"I rose to the bait. I would have done anything for my dear Nova."
