Kate- Enters Cherry's boudoir, opulent, decadent. Spots dark wood, a sculpted padded couch covered with red velvet cushions.

  Wood?

  Cere- Louis the XVI, it's a classic style. Priceless.

  Kate- Sits slowly, uncertain, feeling herself sink into a puffy cloud. The springs provide just enough resistance for perfect comfort and good posture.

  *Moans*

  Cherry- "Like it?"

  Kate- "Where were you hiding this thing? This new?"

  Cherry- "A client gave it to me last year. It was imported from a derelict castle in Europe and restored."

  Kate- "Fuck, who's Mr Wallet?"

  Cherry- "I don't kiss and tell, dear. SHE was quite insistent I kept this on the hush!"

  Winks

  Kate- "How positively scandalous!"

  Hides her mouth and emotes a coquettish laugh.

  Cherry- "Sometimes you need a little softness in your life, a bit of back SUPPORT to get through though time..."

  Cere- That's your cue... about as subtle as a dynamic entrance with an assault shotgun.

  Kate- *Sigh!*

  "I could use some help getting back on my feet. I just... don't want to be a burden."

  Waits breathlessly.

  Cherry- "Poussin, everyone deserves a hand when they are down. Do you think I would refuse to help family?"

  Kate- "Nope and that's exactly why I never asked, I don't want to impose..."

  Cherry- "Awnser me this: Imagine Alana was in trouble and you had the power to help, would you?"

  Kate- "No question!"

  Cherry- "And if she kept reffusing, how would you feel?"

  Kate- Takes a second, a sinking feeling invading her gut. Looks down in shame.

  "Shitty... ... ... sorry."

  Cherry- Caresses her cheek and raises Kate's eyes to meet hers while smiling.

  "Hey, none of that..."

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Kate- "I guess I just wanted to stand on my own. You know, bootstraps..."

  Cherry- A hard bitter look birth in her eyes. Frustrated tone.

  "Ah, yes, the old propaganda allowing the rich to call poverty a personal failure. Did you know that originally the expression "Pull yourself by the bootstraps" was an ironic dig about asking for the impossible? You can't fly by pulling yourself off the ground."

  Kate- "I just didn't want to be needy..."

  Cherry- "Honey, we all are. We are social animals, alone in the wild, we die. For two hundred-plus years, some people had every financial interest in making us forget that. Divide to reign."

  Kate- Brain heats up in realization. Nods.

  *Sigh!*

  "You're right... can you help?"

  Cherry- "I will, but I don't want to make the same mistake twice. What do you want me to do? What do you want to do? Keep doing what you do? A new job? You were clear enough about not being ready to come back..."

  Kate- "I want to give this a real try. Not sure ho yet though..."

  Cherry- "I have a suggestion, something I thought about for a while, I made some initial inquiries already some time back."

  Kate-" Shoot!"

  Cherry- "Ever heard of Harold Mcneil?"

  Kate- " THE Harold Mcneil? Guy's a fucking legend, the oldest chasser still alive and active."

  Cherry- "He's an old friend of mine... he's getting to old for this shit, and he refuses to take a rejuvenation treatment."

  Soft, sad smile.

  "He needs someone in the field to replace him, someone with more finesse than his frontline guy. Harold would stay active in a support role."

  Cere- I guess it is a good time to find a murder to fly with...

  Kate- Don't start with the bird thing!

  Cere- but Mcneil? I'm not sure, the guy's a relic. I'm not sure you want to sign up for diaper changes and hold his arm to go grocery shopping across the tunnel.

  Kate- Mom wouldn't suggest someone that far gone.

  Cere- Your funeral! Though, mine too I guess. I protest! Don't become a dodo Kate.

  Kate- "I'm in."

  Cherry- "Great! I'll let him know. Expect his call for an interview soon."

  Kate- Brain splatters inside her skull in sudden anxiety.

  "Interview? I thought..."

  Cherry- "He's his own man. All I can do is put you two in contact. The rest will be on you."

  Kate- Slowly nods.

  "How did you guys meet?"

  Cherry- The corners of her mouth strain at what seems to be bad memories.

  Kate- There is a story in there...

  Cherry: "Here... before the Sakuras. He was a young cop back then. He refused a bribe for looking away. He paid dearly for it. But that's not my story, maybe one day he'll tell you."

  Kate- "... ... ... !!!!"

  Shit, I was forgetting Hui!

  "Hey, hum... Mom?"

  Cherry- Oh oh! What did you do this time?"

  Kate- Freezes, gulps.

  "That obvious hun?

  Cherry- "Poussin, I'm 128 years old and helped raise over fifty children. I've seen it ALL."

  Kate- Right...

  Nods

  Cherry- Coaxes

  "Out with it..."

  Kate- "I got some help from Ma Hui to get here, she spotted me on Clarex and food and she asked me to say hi to you for her in exchange."

  Cherry- Turns cold.

  "Lady Luck has been vying for Angel Tech for twenty plus years at this point. You'll need to learn to spot people who want to use you better little gélinotte. To her, you're not a protégée, you're a wedge to get in my good grace."

  Kate- "That bitch been playing me! I will..."

  Cherry- "Leaves her to me."

  Makes a cruel smile.

  "She did help you, better than other... methods she could have used. I'll have to thank her properly this time."

  Kate- Raises an eyebrow.

  Cherry- "Mar-E, be a dear and ask some of our Compandroids to have my Louis XVI, sanded, restained and refurbished. Once it's done, send it to Ma Hui's home in dome 12. I'll write her a nice thank you note."

  Kate- "Wait, you have her home address? It's a fucking state secret at this point, her corpo patron do be protective of the mistress."

  Cere- This is awesome, a multi-million credit thank you she can't refuse, rolled into a discrete slight and a threat simultaneously. This is the kind of shit the best of the best a Corpo diplomatic core would do.

  Kate- You mean spies...

  Cherry- "I have my ways!"

  Kate- "I hope she won't be angry."

  Cherry- "She'll be fuming but she won't be able to say anything about it. Don't expect her to keep mentoring you. She won't give you any grief though, except maybe a strained smile."

  Kate- "Where did you learn to be that devious."

  Cherry- "There was a period in my life when I had nothing to do but wait... so I visited a brothel in Westeros for a while."

  Kate- "What?"

  Cherry- "Nothing, just some silly VR."

  Kate- "I'll have to find myself a new printer and a place where I can have my implants done safely."

  Cherry- "We can print it here, we have access to generic patterns and I'll give the word to Daniella for the implants. I'd feel safer if you used our in-house stuff for your prosthetics from now on."

  Kate- Burning shame blows up.

  "Not sure I want to dirty Angel Tech with this line of work."

  Cherry- Takes a long hard look at Kate.

  Kate- Squirms.

  Cherry- "So that's why you crippled your cybernetics? Not because you wanted to avoid attention to yourself... Tourterelle, it's time you stop punishing yourself for what happened. It was never your fault. Before you leave have Daniella fix them up, she'll remove those limiters. It will be safer for you and for the public if you have the full range of functions. Don't worry about the job, Harold is picky with the job, he won't do anything I wouldn't approve of."

  Kate- Nods slowly.