Call me stupid, but that makes him a little more human, a little better than the other people who’d killed for their spots. Locke is just trying to punch up, same as I am. We share a common enemy, and the two of us are sane enough to realize we do.
“I’m Ken, andthisisHBS News,” the man on the television says before it goes black. It stays that way for three long seconds before the screen changes to the moving pictures again and the NPCs all come back to life.
“Order up!” Paddles says, coming over with plates heaped full of food I’ve never seen before. “Get some meat on your bones, Honey!Ribbit!Can’t have you wastin’ away when this man decides to give you the ride of your life.”
“I . . . what?” I ask, but Paddles is already moving away, off to do whatever NPCs do.
My eyes flick to Locke who is still staring after her. He meets my eyes and something passes between us, something I don’t have a name for. We’d looked intimate on the television during the recap, but we’re just two players watching each other’s backs. Right?
“Eat,” he says, looking down at his own plate. “You can’t watch my back if you’re malnourished.”
He’s not wrong. Besides, my stomach chooses that moment to loudly growl and makes him smile. The food does smell really good, better than anything I’ve ever smelled before. I grab a piece of meat from the plate, a long crunchy strip, and take a bite. The first taste on my tongue is heaven. The second is damn near orgasmic.
I lose a bit of my humanity while I eat after that, not caring if I make a mess or if anyone is watching. My Dross mentality kicks in and I eat until I’m sick with the richness of the food, until I damn near vomit from how much I eat, and then I eat some more. And then I pack the rest up and stick it in my inventory.
No food left behind.
No food left to spoil.
CHAPTER14
VESPER
“So . . .” I start as I sit back in the booth and pat my stomach. I’ve eaten far too much, my stomach bloated and aching, but I don’t regret it. Every bite of the food was amazing, even if I don’t know what most of it is. It was rich and full of flavor, the complete opposite of the shit we eat on Dross. I’d been excited for fruit before. That excuse for fruit is nothing compared to the cubes of fruit on my plate. Dox is going to lose her mind when she gets here and tastes some of this.
Locke meets my eyes from across the booth where he’s doing the same, his face almost sickly with the amount of food he’d managed to put away. “So?”
“You were a Black Abacus?” I ask. My eyes go to the bar code on his face. “A pretty important one it seems.”
He studies me, as if he’s trying to decide if I’m about to be an asshole or not. I don’t blame him. Black Abacus members aren’t exactly respected in Dross despite them being the only reason there’s a bustling economy. Without Black Abacus, there’d be no currency, nothing to exchange, and chaos would be rampant. People would kill each other for perceived value. Black Abacus keeps everything running smoothly, but the members of that gang aren’t exactly friendly. I’ve seen them brutally murder someone because they miscounted their credits. But the barcode on Locke’s face means something else. He wasn’t just a Black Abacus. He belonged to the woman at the top. Mother Remainder.
He was owned by one of the Big Five.
The Big Five are the conglomerates that run the trade industry of Dross. They set the price, the value, and how much an item could be worth. Without them, Dross crumbles into total chaos. With them, it’s not much better, but at least we have a bit of civilized currency. Still, working for the Big Five is almost a death wish and a blessing all in one. You’ll always have a job, but at what cost?
“Yeah,” Locke finally says. “I was one of the top Spine Jackers before I was . . . well . . . chosen for the inner group.”
“You get paid well?” I ask curiously.
I’d tried to be a Spine Jacker a few times after my first big fall, but I realized it wasn’t for me. It’s the heights. I can handle a lot of things, but once I get up past the twentieth floor, I start feeling queasy and my legs shake. Shaking legs aren’t exactly helpful when you’re that high up and I doubt I’d be lucky enough to survive another big fall from higher up.
“Sometimes,” Locke shrugs. “Sometimes the payment was good. Sometimes it was shit. Just depended on how the boss was feeling and if she liked you.”
I lean in closer. “What was Mother Remainder like?”
“A bitch,” Locke laughs. “She was an absolute bitch, but she ran her shit tight and she paid well when she liked you.”
“Did she like you?” It’s a silly question. The barcode on his face means only one thing in Dross. He belonged to her. She wouldn’t keep someone she didn’t like in her stable. But I don’t want to just assume. It feels rude. I prefer Locke speak about what he’s willing to. After all, the last Remainder Toy I’d met had been relegated to a bed in a Suffer Saint Home.
Locke hesitates. “Sometimes. Depends on if I was willing to whip my cock out or not.”
My stomach drops at the flippant way he says it, and I realize I’ve overstepped. “Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to?—”
“Don’t worry about it,” Locke says, waving away my apology. “That Union fucker that was after you in Dross, I assume that was a similar situation?”
“I . . . no,” I answer, flushing. “Orion is, was, an ex-boyfriend that didn’t take no for an answer.” I sigh. “And then Dox and I handed off a delivery back to its mother that he’d hired us to do after that, so he wasn’t exactly happy with the betrayal.”
Locke’s brows go up. “You willingly slept with the leader of a gang? Youbroke upwith the leader of a gang? I thought everyone knew you had to kill those fuckers and take over if you want out.”
