An Engineer In Night City

Mark and Rogue shake hands as more intel, surplus weapons, ammo, and chrome changes hands. "Pleasure doing business with you, Rogue."

"The people after you had some serious firepower," she notes while glancing at a few special weapons, "it's not every day the market sees a railgun that strong."

"I almost thought about keeping it for myself, but sadly it wasn't compatible with my fighting style." Mark lied as naturally as he breathed, since the possession of this weapon unlocked a new line of military research, though he needs to unlock energy science first. Before he can fantasize about powerful weapons, he needs to finish the basics first.

"I heard you also went legit. What was the name of the company again? Lube It?" The older woman says with a tone hiding mischief.

Mark rolls his eyes good naturedly. "It's Wube Inc. grandma."

"Brat! Don't force me to spank your ass over my knee!"

The Engineer and the Queen of Afterlife stare at each other before they both break into laughter, the nearby Afterlife workers looking weirdly at the pair. Eventually, the two stopped laughing and resumed staring at each other in silence until Mark felt the awkwardness of the situation.

"I'm sorry for causing you so many headaches."

"Oh, so you are aware of it." The former Solo let out a long-suffering sigh, "I'm already used to it. You can't be Johnny Silverhand's friend without developing a thicker skin. Just take care, alright? Corpos aren't reasonable people, they see you pulling the impossible once, and they dismiss you as a fluke, they see you pulling the impossible twice, they make plans around your miracles."

"And if you pull the impossible thrice?"

Rogue takes a cigar from her pocket, turning it on with an old lighter that has the logo for the Samurai band. She takes a long drag before addressing Mark. "Then they offer you a job. Rumors say that's how Adam Smasher got his chrome."

Mark hums appreciatively, pondering the older woman's words. "Then, I just need to do one final impossible task, and tell them 'No,' eh?" Mark's subsequent grin looked too smug for Rogue's tastes.

"What do you plan to do with him?" Rogue changes the conversation focus to something more somber, "usually Afterlife stays away from private disputes between fixers and other Edgerunners to maintain our neutrality, but nobody likes people who starts gang wars as part of their operations."

Rogue can see a glint of danger in Mark's eyes. "If you can, discreetly tell anyone that have a problem with Dex to leave him alone for now and to contact me. I have a plan to deal with him, and I don't want him to escape and hide like a damn cockroach."

"I will see what I can do. Anything else that you need?"

"Actually, yeah. Do you know where I can buy some real food? I invited Yorinobu Arasaka to eat some homemade burgers, but I can only find SCOP food for sale."

Rogue stares at Mark, trying to find the joke in the man's statement. When she finds none, she takes another long drag from her cigar. "… I will set you up with my food dealer."

"Thank you, Rogue, you're the best."

"You damn bet I am! Now get the hell out of my bar, we need to set things up before opening."

Rogue shakes her head at Mark's fading backside. "Not a boring day with him. If he starts making music, some people might start to get nervous."