The worst thing you can do to a person is give them everything they ever wanted. Ari had always believed that. To be fair, Ari had never had his knee-cap sliced off by a pissed off bounty hunter. Of course in this day and age they could fix that overnight IF you could pay and Ari paid his people well. Better than the Red Hand in fact. Better than any racer, even the Golden Boy of Grav-Cycle racing, should be able to manage.
Grant Marshall had already had his new knee 3D printed and displacer swapped. The technician said he could leave within the hour.
"Ain't science grand!" Ari remarked as he looked at the almost imperceivable lines that marked where the new and old tissue met. These days it was possible to fix, or even improve, just about anything part of you.
"Jane's a real bitch, but I did have it coming" Grant ignored his employers musings. "I suppose sneakin' up on her with a bat didn't buy me too many 'professional courtesy' points."
"Well try not to piss her off next time. That knee cost me more than I won last night."
"Like you give a damn", the bodyguard said coyly.
He did have a point. Ari shrugged his shoulders, "Meh... it's the principal of the... blah blah blah" as he waved it off.
Grant had a good chuckle, "Oi, maybe next time you bring me on the A-team instead of leaving me behind to get slice-and-diced"
Ari's expression soured as his employee mentioned his real source of income in such a public place. He started to feel the blood rise to his face, but he managed to calm himself.
Grant's wide eyed smile slipped away quickly. "Yiah, sorry boss."
Ari sat at the end of the bed, "No harm done, anyway since the last bit of business I did I need to keep the bounty hunters away 'til everything is done and delivered."
"About that," Grant interrupted, "The Red Hand technically allows its employees to take contracts even when they end up working against other members. They see it as a way to 'let the cream rise to the top' so to speak. Anyway, I know a bloke... well sort of a bloke. Goes by Jubal. He's good and he currently he's quite motivated to contract himself out. Needs the money for lawyers or some nonsense. The Hand's got really shite benefits."
Ari thought a moment, "Alright bring him on. Make sure he knows the ropes, and head back to the hotel after you're released. I'm going to take a ride."
"Thanks boss! You sure you don't wanna wait for me. Jane's not the type to give up after one try."
Ari considered it. He pulled out the surveillance footage from his bike. Looked clear, and he did have a lot of work to do. "I'll be fine."
______________________________
Ari's bike pulled itself up to the entrace of the hospital, "Hello Beautiful!" he exclaimed as he approached his favorite possession.
"Hello PRIMARY USER, where are we heading today?" his grav-cycle's AI spoke back through the helmet's speakers.
"Manual mode", Ari hoped on and sped off as fast as he could. As he pulled onto the main expressway he received a call. The display said it was from Grant's phone.
"Auto drive... Answer call... Grant, is it all setup?"
The voice that responded was not Grant's. Although he didn't recognize it.
"Oh you are definately setup Mr. Sarkissian."
The next moments were a combination and bright lights, loud sounds and pain. Ari came to his senses lying on the side of the road. The first thing he saw that the inferno that used to be his grav-cycle. Traffic had already routed itself neatly around the wreck and the soothing automated voice of the AI was playing on his helm speakers,
"You have been involved in a traffic accident. Please stay calm. Emergency services are on the way. Thank you for using Hei Long's new DisplacerSafe technology. DisplacerSafe, saving lives since CURRENT YEAR"
Ari calmed his nerves and rose to his feet to look himself over. Scrapes and bruiser but otherwise he seemd fine. He sat back down and took some deep breathes and to watch his favorite grav-cycle burn. At least he wasn't burning with it.
"Well damn!" the same unknown voice came back on over his headset, apparently the call had never disconnected, "you're a lucky guy Mr. Sarkissian. Guess I'll get you next time."
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