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Black Sapphire was the crown jewel of Dogtown and the headquarters of BARGHEST. At the top of the ninety-ninth floor, in the northern tower, held a club and a casino, but it was only ever opened for special events or for meetings hosted by the ruler of Dogtown, Kurt Hansen. Yet this supposedly closed and empty area now contained one single soul within, a bartender who was silently and happily tending to the polished bar and checking the stock of pricy alcohols. If anyone saw this person, they would believe he was a vagrant coming to steal alcohol, seeing he wore a dirty grey hoodie and his hands were covered in thick gloves, his jeans were well worn and his shoes were coated in dirt.
‘Will you ever learn to give me a call before coming here on your own?’ a rough voice called out in the dark.
The speaker stepped into the light, revealing a man with cold cyan eyes and a frown that spelled impending doom to those who knew him and those who only heard of him. After all, he was the leader of BARGHEST and the unofficial King of Dogtown.
‘Where’s the fun coming here with an announcement? I prefer checking your security in private and I must admit, you guys have gotten slightly better than last time,’ the bartender replied cheerfully, a playful smirk on his scarred lips, completely unfazed by the displeased glare he was receiving. ‘Whiskey on the rocks, Colonel?’
The man’s glare only held for a few seconds before he let out a soft sigh and took a seat in front of the bartender. ‘Yes. And it’s just Kurt when we are alone, Desmond.’
‘Of course Kurt,’ Desmond replied, his smirk had softened into a gentle smile as he prepared the requested drink.
‘I’ve heard Konpeki has been sealed off,’ Kurt started once his drink was placed before him.
‘Yep, due to a successful assassination on the Emperor,’ the brunet added casually, as if they were talking about some minor street gossip instead of the death of the unofficial ruler of Japan. ‘Yorinobu has taken over Arasaka and has placed Konpeki under lockdown until justice is served for the murder of his father. Or until he finally leaves Night City, whichever comes first.’
‘Doesn’t this mean you have lost your main source of income?’ Kurt asked as he took a sip of his whiskey.
The bartender let out a contemplative hum before he answered, ‘Yes, but it’s not like I am in financial crisis because of this. I am a little more put-off by the fact that I have to close shop right after I took time to refurbish the bar and come up with a new menu. At least, Afterlife is forever open to me and I can earn enough there for my daily needs.’
Silence befell between them as Kurt continued to take simple sips of his drink while Desmond began to wipe the table. Here, the leader of BARGHEST was no different from any nameless patron in a bar looking for a drink and peace of mind.
‘So that means you are available,’ the ex-Militech soldier remarked after finishing his drink.
The brunet stopped cleaning the bar table to study the older man. ‘My availability depends on your request, Kurt.’
‘Nothing major, I will be hosting a party that will have everyone and anyone in Night City attending, so I need someone with a clear sight during the preparation and on the scene,’ Kurt said, his cyan eyes were locked onto the amber coloured ones.
Desmond raised an eyebrow at this. ‘You’re expecting the Red Death to slip into your party?’
‘Rats, not Death,’ the man corrected him while gesturing for a refill.
‘You don’t request dear old ME for a few rats,’ Desmond retorted lightly as his gloved hands moved with practiced motion. ‘Your hounds can handle those. So this means you are expecting something worse.’
The leader of BARGHEST did not respond to that and his eyes told the bartender to not pry, but Desmond was patient and unruffled by the former Militech soldier’s voiceless threat. They had known each other long enough to know how to advance this conversation, explicit trust in the other and complete transparency on important matters.
‘There is a little songbird who is requesting my aid to help her escape from her cage and she will be one of my VIP guests,’ Kurt started.
‘Let me guess, Netrunner and possibly someone deeply connected to your old life,’ Desmond theorized as he slid the drink to the Colonel, ignoring the spark of anger thrown his way. Hansen had never forgiven Militech and NUSA or forgotten the betrayal and abandonment, so any mention or allusion to either of those facts would get him to bear his teeth in anger. Only in private, for he needed to appear unfazed and calm in the public’s eyes and in front of his men.
‘You’ve heard something or is it your intuition at work?’ Kurt questioned.
‘I have my ways,’ the bartender replied with a wave of his hand and wiggling fingers.
‘Good to know that your intuition is still as sharp, I’ll need it.’
Desmond lost all sense of casualness as his expression turned serious. Kurt Hansen had never fully relied on him, for he had all the resources and manpower at his disposal to deal with most problems, unless the matter was perilous and required someone in the shadow to resolve. ‘Seriously Kurt, what got you so worry that you need me on standby?’
For a moment, it seemed like the Colonel wouldn’t answer and was going to leave. Slowly, the man reached for the refilled glass.
‘I intend to murder the bitch of NUSA.’
The honest answer dragged out an impressed whistle from Desmond.
‘Ambitious, but not the answer to my question,’ the brunet pointed out, knowing that getting the truth was no different from wrestling a thighbone from a starved hound. It required one to be patient and to wait for it to be worn down.
‘In exchange for her freedom, the little bird offers both the bitch’s head and access to lost tech that Militech has abandoned during the Unification War, located right beneath Dogtown,’ Kurt answered before he downed the whole glass of whiskey.
The bartender crossed his arms over his chest as he dug around his memories for any suspicious underground areas. While plenty, only one fit the bill for a secret technological testing ground. ‘Oh. That place.’
That brought a frown upon the Colonel’s face. ‘Is there any hole you haven’t crawled into since you came to Night City?’
‘Besides yours and my own, I’m pretty sure I got most of the undercity covered,’ Desmond responded with a shrug.
That earned him a scoff, which was progress in the bartender’s opinion.
‘You worry that this little bird of yours is luring you into a trap?’ the bartender prod as he took the empty glass to the sink.
‘I prefer that over whatever hidden agenda she has,’ the leader of BARGHEST answered, bringing his elbows to rest on the glass table and hiding the lower half of his face behind interlaced fingers. Cyan eyes observing a board that only existed in his mind.
‘Hmm, so you think that she has an ulterior motive behind this exchange,’ Desmond voiced out the man’s uncertainty as he washed the dirty glass, studying the man’s eyes.
‘Who doesn’t?’
The brunet pointed at himself.
That brought out a light chuckle from the older man. ‘True enough, you’re probably the only gonk in this city who doesn’t have any ulterior motive to speak of.’
‘Yet, you enjoy this idiot’s presence,’ Desmond added teasingly.
‘Only in small doses,’ Kurt replied, wrinkles deepening around his eyes.
The younger man chuckled as he dried his hands, leaning against the table. ‘Do you want me to keep an eye on this little bird of yours? Act as her butler?’
Kurt snorted at that. ‘As if she deserves such hospitality.’ His cyan eyes took a calculating turn. ‘No, seeing you already know of the place, think you can collect some data caches?’
‘Not going to be easy, the battery in that place is dead. Whoever has left that place has made sure that the main powerline is cut off for good. Even if I manage to get around all the locked gates, I still need power to the control room to extract anything,’ Desmond answered while rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
‘There’s probably a backup generator within the lower levels, assuming that the water hasn’t gotten to it, but it might require a boost,’ Kurt murmured, his eyes turned crimson as he accessed the list of inventory. ‘If I provide you with a miniature battery, think you can get the power back on long enough for an extraction?’
‘It’s doable, might need your techies to give me a rundown on possible patch-ups I need to do and your dwellers to get me a hard drive to hold the data,’ the brunet answered with a confirming nod.
They discussed what other equipments Desmond might need, possible issues that might come up in the exploration, whether they should considered multiple trips and the risks of drawing attention from scavengers and fixers alike.
‘Hmm, I believe we got most of the troubles covered, we can continue at a later date,’ Desmond said as he checked the time on his phone.
‘You should consider getting an upgrade, that phone is more a liability than anything,’ Kurt remarked, staring at the old device with contempt.
The bartender chuckled at the remark as he pocketed his phone. ‘I’ve told you, implants and me don’t mix very well. Besides, I’m a little old fashion.’
‘That’s not called old fashion, it’s dead and extinct,’ Kurt corrected in a beat, watching as the bartender put everything back in place before leaving the bar area.
Desmond simply shrugged in response, seeing this was an argument that was brought up from time to time, and he wouldn’t budge on this. Same as he wouldn’t budge on how he was leaving this place. His steps were light and confident as he jumped onto the railing and balanced on the polished metal, staring down at the glowing neon lights of the isolated district and the distant dark ocean beyond the thick worn walls.
‘The view never gets old, does it?’ Kurt asked softly, observing the territory he had built beside the younger male.
‘Never,’ Desmond admitted with a small smile, just enjoying the faint bit of fresh breeze, rare and few in this city.
Peaceful silence settled between them, only the occasional distant noises of sirens and gun shots sounded.
‘You look like you want to fly away.’
Desmond made a questioning hum as he turned his gaze to the companion beside him.
‘Every time you stand here, you look like a bird longing for the wide sky beyond this damn city,’ Kurt elaborated, eyes never leaving Dogtown. ‘While I see the empire I’ve built from the blood I’ve shed.’
‘It is an imposing empire you’ve built, but I’m just not interested in it. Too much trouble in keeping everything running,’ Desmond commented. ‘As for wanting to fly away... I don’t have any wings to do that.’
‘If you want–’
‘Come on, Kurt,’ Desmond interrupted Kurt gently. ‘I’m not going anywhere, at least not yet.’
‘...You’ve already paid your debts, I got Dogtown and my hounds can handle whatever my enemies throw at me,’ Kurt pointed out.
‘Can’t you just accept that I just like sticking around because of you?’
The ex-military snorted in response.
‘Besides, I have several friends of friends and fancy bars to tend to. I am quite the busybody when things get festive around town,’ the bartender added with a note of pride.
‘Ah yes, I forgot you are a blackmailer.’
That earned Hansen a light kick on the shoulder.
‘I’m a gossiper, not blackmailer. I trade secrets, not monetary gain,’ Desmond berated him in a mock-stern look.
‘Whatever you say,’ Kurt drawled as he lightly pat away the dust on his shoulder. ‘Now off you go before I decide to push you off myself.’
A smirk returned on Desmond’s lips as he gave a mock-salute to the man beside him. ‘Nighty night Colonel.’
With that, the bartender tilted forward, arms spread out, and let gravity take hold of his body.
From an outsider’s perspective, it certainly seemed like a suicidal move, but Kurt Hansen had long gotten used to the man’s bizarre antics, from always searching for high nesting grounds to leaping off tall building without fear.
In a way, the Colonel was envious of the bartender, because Desmond lived his life with a sense of freedom that could only belonged to birds, the first creatures to escape from godforsaken cities. Yet, this avian of a man chose to remain, willingly returned to the belly of a beast instead of flying away towards the world beyond Night City, all for a soldier who had been abandoned by his country.
The leader of BARGHEST did not know how long Desmond would willingly remain in Night City nor could he even understand what kept the man by his shadow. He only knew that this was the one person he would never ever cage, for there was beauty in things one could never obtain. That beauty shone its brightest in Desmond and his continuous return was what settled the hollowness within his heart.