I switched it to "Derry" for a moment and said, "Oi switched it ta da Derry, Oi wonder how dis sounds. Jaysus, dis is awful, jist awful." Everybody cracked up again. I shook my head and started doing quick net searches for each of the options. Apparently, Derry was an Irish accent. Was that even considered British? I thought the Irish people fought a few wars to settle that question in this world. These days, after the resumption of the Irish monarchy, His Royal Navy was as likely to sink refugee boats coming from England as from anywhere else.
I finally found a candidate in what was labelled "Eton public school (RP)." Net searches revealed that contrary to what I would first think, a "public school" was really a very, very exclusive private school. That didn't make any sense to me at all and seemed to be entirely backward.
Still, I coughed briefly before stating, "Alright, I think I've got the correct one set. This is what they call a public school accent, I suppose." I blinked and grinned. Oh, I sounded just like the people from Downton Abbey now!
Kiwi chuckled, "Yes, that sounds a lot better."
Jean still laughed at me, but I pointed a finger straight at him. He had his techhair set in a ridiculous pompadour hairstyle and must have added a huge if neatly trimmed, silly beard that would look more at home in Afghanistan than here. He must have made these changes during the biosculpt treatment, and the combination was insane, but he definitely wouldn't be easily associated with his previous appearance, I supposed, "You're one to laugh! You look absolutely ridiculous!"
Kiwi and Ruslan started chuckling, and Jean ran a hand through his neatly trimmed dark black beard, "I think I look really distinguished."
He looked really... something. But it wasn't distinguished. Still, at least they were all wearing the semi-nice clothes I had demanded they get. If we were going to be spending one day and night in a high-end hotel, then we didn't need to stick out more than we had to. I intended to eat dinner at the restaurant downstairs at the hotel to give a chance for people to hear my posh accent and see my blonde hair. Also, the mask I would wear in the deal would not completely cover my hair, so it would be theoretically possible for investigators to correlate my identity to the guest staying the previous evening.
I did not think that Konpeki Plaza would reveal my identity, as they had a reputation, so this would hopefully send any Biotechnica investigators down a wild goose chase for a blonde-haired British girl that didn't exist. Still, I went ahead and activated my Kiroshi's camera dazzler system right now, in advance. It wasn't a perfect system, and I didn't have any clue how it worked, actually, but it was very effective in all the tests I had put it through.
Hopefully, none of this would be necessary, and everything would go smoothly and simply, but if not, I had a plan, a backup plan and an ace in the hole, just like Alt-Danny recommended. Hopefully, I wouldn't need to use the latter, which I had made tentative plans with Wakako for, as it would seriously impact my life going forward.
After everyone got done laughing at each other, we were more or less quiet for the ride over to where the other vehicle was stashed. We switched over to a similar van quickly, but this time Ruslan drove. It was hard to identify either Ruslan or Jean as anything other than "muscle" or "hired help." Kiwi was playing the role of a hired professional, so it would be weird for her to drive us to the hotel, even if she preferred to be the driver in our ops most of the time.
She could really multitask, watching numerous feeds from cameras and drones while simultaneously either driving herself manually or minding the car's auto-drive system; this generally left the two boys free to fire from the moving vehicle if necessary, and it was sometimes awe-inspiring to watch.
This stolen van had tons of weapons, which would be permitted inside the hotel's parking garage but definitely not inside the building itself. We wouldn't be able to take so much as a popgun inside.
The drive to the hotel was uneventful, if a little long. We weren't commented on, aside from getting a parking slip from a man sitting in a guard shack next to the entrance to the parking building. I had considered having them drop me off next to the entrance for verisimilitude's sake but decided us all entering the hotel at once would be better.
We walked together into an antechamber, nodding slightly at a doorman that said, "Welcome to the Azure Plaza."
The antechamber was slick as hell and looked like a place where you could briefly wait with an associate, but my keen eyes identified it as a security chokepoint despite all the gilding. There were men as big and strong looking as Jean and Ruslan standing next to a non-invasive scanning system of some kind. It was similar to the ones used in the Trauma Team tower, except gilded with real oak panelling.
Ruslan and Jean went in first, and they both tripped the security detection system. Two of the large concierge slash security personnel stopped them. "Sirs, you will have to step this way so that we can make safe your integrated weapons systems."
I had been expecting that and warned them both to expect something of the sort. One of the other "concierge personnel" smiled briefly at us and said, "It should be just a moment, ma'am." I gave him a cursory glance and a short nod, barely acknowledging his presence. I was in character, you see.
I noticed that the bracelets they put on Ruslan and Jean were both heavier-duty as well as a little more stylish. Still, they were thin enough that they could be hidden inside the long sleeves of their shirts well enough.
Kiwi walked right on through without any comment, but when it was my turn, I got the red light again. The security guard said, "Ma'am if you would mind stepping over here for a moment to make safe your internal weapons." It was pretty much the exact same thing I had overheard them tell the boys.
I didn't notice what they had done, so I was pleasantly surprised when another man brought out a tray of bracelets sized to fit my more delicate arms. The security man asked, "Please select the one that is most pleasing to your aesthetic, madam."
I glanced down at them and picked one that looked like a silver charm bracelet, but I was sure it was made of something much more indestructible than that, as I was strong enough to break silver myself. I didn't touch it; I merely pointed to it and got a nod. I held my bare arm out and allowed them to affix the device to my wrist, allowing a gentle sigh at the indignity of it all.
"Thank you, ma'am. You can proceed," the security guy said politely, so I joined the rest, and we walked together to the front desk to check-in. The girl behind the desk surprised me. She wasn't quite a full-body replacement, but I judged that she had more cybernetics than me and Ruslan put together.
She bowed rather prettily, giving us all a glimpse of her sizable and cybernetic décolletage while saying, " Yōkoso . Greetings, and be welcomed to the Azure Plaza."
I returned the bow on reflex, although it was more of me inclining my head. Plus, it helped me to look down her blouse to identify which total skin replacement she had installed. It was an Arasaka model judging from my inspection at various zoom levels, which probably shouldn't have surprised me. Also, it wouldn't do to bow the same as the hotel's hired help, after all, if I wanted to pretend I was high class. I was trying to give the impression that I was at least a middle manager somewhere. Still, I was polite, "Thank you. We're checking in, one suite for one night," I told her while sending to her system my identification through peer-to-peer wireless transfer.
Although I had intended to rent two separate rooms, it was actually cheaper to rent a nicer suite that had two bedrooms but a shared living area. Plus, it was more in keeping with the illusion I was trying to portray, which was that they were my security.
The pretty girl rose up again and nodded, "Of course, ma'am. It also looks like you have the Sakura room booked for tomorrow from thirteen hundred to seventeen hundred hours; is that right?"
I nodded, "Correct."
She smiled and said, "Everything looks to be in order, ma'am. Please enjoy your stay at Azure Plaza." With that, she sent a digital file which turned out to be the unlocking key for our suite, which I forwarded to Kiwi and the boys. It looked like we were staying on the fifty-fifth floor. Not too shabby, when you considered the top twenty floors weren't hotel accommodations so much as either apartments on long-term lease or penthouse-style rooms that you needed to be a billionaire to even be allowed to rent.
We walked past a trendy-looking bar and restaurant that I would likely patronise later that evening and boarded the elevator. The elevator would only allow us to go to our own floor, which was interesting.
Our suite was down a hallway at the end, and I triggered the door with the digital key, which opened and allowed us entry. The room was... large, quite larger than I thought, and this was just the living area. The door closed behind us, and I said, in a bored-sounding rich girl's voice, "Please non-destructively disable all of the cameras and listening devices."
Jean already had his mouth opened, probably to comment on the swankiness of the room shut his mouth when he heard I was still talking in character. Kiwi nodded silently and got to work.
Ruslan and Jean silently explored all of the rooms in the suite, looking as though they were searching for threats, but I felt it was more likely they just wanted to see how nice the digs were. A couple of minutes later, Kiwi returned and said, "Got all of them. I'll be able to reconnect them all no problem tomorrow, so we don't have to lose the security deposit."
Wakako and I both appreciated that very much, I thought. I nodded at her and said, "Thanks." Then Ruslan and Jean returned from their explorations, and I said, "Alright, it's eleven hundred. We don't have anything to do until fourteen hundred tomorrow, so we're all on our own until then. Can do whatever you want inside the hotel. You're each given a seven hundred and fifty eddie budget, so you don't have to look poor. Anything above that and its on you and will be deducted from your pay."
They both grinned; even Kiwi smiled a little. Although we were in a resort where prices were inflated, seven hundred and fifty dollars a piece was enough to eat and probably hit the BD parlour or some other amusements. I was going to get a massage myself. When I mentioned that, Jean grinned, "Oh, that sounds like a good idea."
I frowned, immediately realising what he was thinking, "Jean, here, massages are just massages. If you want companionship of some carnal variety, that is a separate service. Don't embarrass us by assuming all of the masseuses are prostitutes."
Although I was pretty sure that was an extra service that you could ask for when you got a massage, I imagine it shifted the masseuse to one that was also a sex worker. Jean had the decency to look a little abashed as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Ah, yeah, a course, mon."
Ruslan just grinned at him and then turned to me, "So, when should we meet back here to do the preliminaries?"
I thought about that. We had to meet the Biotechnica people at two in the afternoon, which meant we should be in the Sakura room by one. In the worst case, and they got drunk or didn't sleep enough tonight, it would take me a little time to detoxify them. I had some stimulants on hand for the latter contingency. I nodded, "No later than eleven thirty. We'll plan to be in position at the Sakura conference room at thirteen hundred."
Everyone nodded. I grabbed the small luggage I had brought with me and had Jean carry, and Kiwi did the same. We each went into our separate bedrooms.
Kiwi, with no shame at all, stripped naked with me gaping at her. She had a number of unusual body art as well as two obvious Midnight Lady accessories. She laughed at me as she saw my expression and then said amusedly, "You know, you're pretty old-fashioned." She fished out a set of silk pyjamas and, with that, jumped into one of the two beds, disappearing under the covers and sheets.
"These got to be Egyptian cotton sheets," she commented, muffled from being under the sheets and the duvet.
I just chuckled and grabbed my pyjamas as well. However, I intended to take a long bubble bath first. I had been on a shower-only lifestyle since I arrived in this world. A long, luxurious hot bubble bath while reading a book sounded divine.
After William awoke at zero five hundred, exactly, he reviewed some of the non-urgent correspondence that he had received in the three hours that he was down for a sleep cycle. While it was technically possible for him to go without sleep for weeks, it was universally agreed that at least a small sleep cycle every night was beneficial for, well, everyone.
Although he had never really had the same issues with cyberpsychosis as the average man did, it wasn't entirely because he was "built different." He also followed all the directions of his very expensive doctors, as well.
The report he was reading was from the team he had built in Night City to look after Annette's daughter. They had reported several weeks ago that Taylor was working with a Yakuza fixer, who had been in contact with so many people that it was difficult to say precisely who was related to Taylor's business.
The old Japanese witch did not speak or send a message that wasn't highly encrypted. Although the family had giant quantum computing supercomputer clusters for signals intelligence reasons, not only was the encryption somewhat quantum-resistant, but he didn't really have the justification for trying to snoop in depth on her. The costs were not inconsequential, considering the many other uses the family had for this limited resource.
Taylor was almost as paranoid, which privately made him feel good about Annette's girl, but he worked along the periphery, using the metadata from both parties' communications, if not the actual content, to build a fairly good idea of what was going on.
He got confirmation not too long after that Biotechnica's Night City office activity increased. Although the family didn't have any contacts inside the Italian Megacorporation as a whole, they did have the usual intelligence assets in lower-level positions. Biotechnica Night City was expecting something that the upper tier of management was very interested in.
From there, his team put Taylor on twenty-four-seven surveillance. The message he was reading now suggested that the exchange was going to happen imminently, as they had trailed her to the local Konpeki Plaza. That was an ideal place to make an exchange with someone you didn't trust, as Arasaka would ensure no violence would happen on their premises.
