86. coffee
Leonard brought the coffee cup to the tip of his nose.
In the old days, there was a person called ‘Barista’ who roasted, ground, and extracted coffee to find the best taste and aroma.
“As expected, ‘real’ smells different.”
The broker chuckled at Leonard’s praise. It’s not the coffee of the mythical barista, but it’s ‘real’ coffee made from ground coffee seeds, so it couldn’t be compared to a low-quality drink flavored with chemicals. Max, who was born and raised on the ground, disagreed.
“Ouch-! It is bitter and tasteless than anything I ate before!”
“yes. There’s no way you know the taste of coffee.”
Any other solver would laugh at me for pretending to be proud, but Leonard was the son of a ‘real’ wealthy family who knew the ‘real’. The taste for high-end luxury goods like coffee was the best here.
While the humans were flirting, the all-purpose, non-human androids finished their work. It took less than a cup of coffee to find and verify the necessary information in that vast cyberspace, so it boasted special performance among autonomous androids.
“Dirty and filthy orders are over.”
To the extent that he expressed dissatisfaction with working alone, there was no doubt about his competence. Leonard tapped his temple lightly. Sigma transmitted the information with an expressionless expression. For Max, who has no brain chip, and the broker, who is paranoid about security, he did not skip an oral explanation.
“Since the last psycho-cyborg terror, there are 107,74,522 information searched for ‘Liberation Front’, of which 32,61 articles claiming to be a member of the Liberation Front or a major stakeholder.”
“Wow… what’s so many?”
“As the issue of psycho cyborgs is a common concern for the residents of the New Human Federation, other cities are also paying attention. Even in the underground cities there are people who claim to be the founders of the Liberation Front.”
“Ninety-nine percent of them are immature people who are hungry for attention. Cut out anything that is not credible.”
As soon as Leonard’s order was over, 90% of the data disappeared. Still, there were many.
“Among the information shared through the A-044 City public port, articles with promotional purposes, articles with uncertain sources, and articles with incorrect prerequisites were excluded.”
“precondition?”
“The conspiracy of the Old Human Alliance, the main crime of implant hackers, alien viruses, the appearance of ancient digital creatures, and so on.”
After each sigma example, the data decreased. In the end, all that was left was about 100 cases, including video information. At this level, I was able to take a day and thoroughly review it.
“Good work.”
When Leonard praised him, Sigma made a surprised expression. Like a second-generation Android, the changes are exaggerated and seem to be teasing, but judging from the years, it was something I was really happy about. He wasn’t an ugly owner who would just leave it alone.
“Now have a coffee and rest.”
“Mr. Leonard, all androids, including me, cannot consume food.”
“So I recommend it.”
“……”
If artificial intelligence rebels someday, we will have to accept it humbly, saying, “It’s coming.”
@
Leonard and Max were beholden to the broker’s office and inadvertently observed what the broker was doing.
A positive effect is that the prejudice of sitting in an office and earning credit for nothing is removed. As my job is a broker, and my job is a broker, all kinds of people came to see me.
A client asking to find a limb stolen by a scavenger, a client asking to kick out a gangster who is messing around in a store, a client asking to punish a cheating customer, a client asking to avenge a friend, a client asking to find a wife who left home, and so on, were countless. . Max got fed up after only one day.
“I’m out of my mind.”
We coordinated the request fee, reviewed the contents of the request, selected and contacted a suitable solver, notified the result, and received and shared the payment without omission. A client with no conscience who did not pay the request fee and dived was treated as a professional solver. For the first time, Max knew there was a debt collector dedicated to receivables.
Leonard said as he lay down on the sofa that was barely available.
“There is a reason brokers sweep credit.”
Actually, it wasn’t to the extent of sweeping it. Requests for 2 or 3,000 credits, which Leonard treated as his basic salary, were rarer than expected. Two or three hundred credits were enough to punish a scavenger. Even if I took 20% from there, it was at the level of Max’s pocket money. The broker massaged the implant eye and shared some industry wisdom.
“It’s difficult to do big things often.”
“why?”
“You have to have a big mouth to eat big things. They can’t even swallow small fish and their stomachs explode and die.”
So, I turned the phone around in search of a suitable size fixer. The 1-minute call principle was not only due to the company’s random wiretapping, but also because of its efficiency. He wasn’t in charge of just one request, so he could miss another request if he made a long call.
“Is Mr. Leonard a big mouth?”
The broker watched ‘big mouth’ Leonard Walker lying on the sofa reviewing Sigma data. I don’t want to see that nasty 6-year-old arrogant, but I couldn’t even lie.
“It’s true that he’s one of the best junk town fixers. It’s because I have a picky appetite, because there’s nothing I can’t swallow if I make up my mind.”
When Max recognized that his mentor and partner was the best, ‘Hee hee hee!’ laughed Perhaps that frivolous laugh bothered him, Leonard bent his head from the sofa and looked at him.
“I don’t sleep.”
“…who said what?”
It’s hard to believe when you see that, but it was the foundation on which ‘The Broker’ Jake built his reputation as a broker. Leonard solved one “big thing” after another, earning brokers credit and recognition.
Leonard also couldn’t make an income without being a broker, so the two were business partners in the true sense of the word.
“Even more so these days.”
“What about these days?”
The broker closed all the brainchip windows that Max couldn’t see and turned away. All urgent requests were arranged, so he had some time to spare. I couldn’t get a seat because I didn’t know when someone would get into an accident and whine, but at least small talk was possible.
“The famous fixers now are soldiers who fought in the war seven years ago, that is, during the New Human War of Independence. There are exceptions, like Noah Lucas, but most do.”
“I heard from Mr. Leonard.”
Including Leonard, Ryan Bourne, Logan Mays, and Elia Garden were also soldiers seven years ago. It was only natural that he had excellent skills as he had been equipped with expensive military implants under the pretext of war and accumulated many practical experiences.
“Of course, not all soldiers from 7 years ago are competent. All the incompetent ones are dead, leaving only the competent ones.”
“Um… I didn’t tell you about that.”
It was a hard thing to say for Leonard, who had killed those incompetent guys. The broker looked at Leonard waving his hand in the air and Sigma, who was appreciating it pathetically, in turn, and continued his explanation.
“But things are different these days.”
“…these days?”
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Judging by age or experience, Max, who is the latest among the recent ones, murmured. The broker realized the mistake and added it.
“Not our Max. you’re learning right Orthodox?”
I got a rough idea of what I wanted to say. When Max put on a serious expression, the broker nodded.
“yes. The wanderers who thought the floor was easy and jumped in recklessly.”
It was the story of a rookie fixer who had bullied Leonard and Max multiple times and even forced them to move into the broker’s office.
“Are there many newbies like that?”
“It keeps blowing no matter who blows it. Sometimes there are savvy ones, but most of the time they are lame amateurs.”
“Ah, if you don’t have skills, you’ll die soon.”
“Until then, it’s a problem to muddy the water.”
It was a problem for the intermediary. It is difficult to entrust the job because there is no verified skill or credit, but those who view the brokerage business as water are hired at a cheap price. Oversupply is not good in any market.
“There are rules even on this floor. It is an unspoken rule established with blood by countless solvers over the years.”
“Stop shooting at the broker’s office!”
Max brought out a rule he had been through recently. The broker smiled like a father of his age.
“There are quite a few including that. We do not mediate requests to multiple people, protect identity and confidentiality, compensate for unfair damage…”
It was a story I heard from Leonard once. So, I also knew that it was exceptional.
“Businessmen don’t keep things like that…”
“Because they have no morals. Thinking that credit is all it takes, they go to all brokers and put in requests!”
The broker suddenly raised his voice. It seemed that he had accumulated a lot while connecting with the company. He barely calmed down as Max shook his head.
“Even in such absurd cases, intermediaries tend to come to an agreement. Anyway, we have to stop the bowl fight. But things that know this wonderful rule as goat dung keep crawling out.”
It included the rookie solver who attacked Leonard.
“The drop in the ransom of fixers is also a big problem. They take away work because they can make it cheaper. I don’t mind a fixer like you, but a fixer who runs trivial errands is to die for.”
Max liked being treated as a set with Leonard. There was a sense of pride in being different from small fish like sewer moths and flies. However, no matter what anyone said, the floor was narrow. Even high-end coffee like Leonard could not be irrelevant to market changes.
“Jake, would you like to see this?”
“Wait a minute, there’s a phone call.”
The fixer and the broker talked about work at the same time. It seems unrelated to each other, but surprisingly it wasn’t. The broker said with a serious face.
“Damn it… Leonard, can you take care of a job for me?”
“I’m in trouble right now, but my arm isn’t mine.”
“It won’t be that intense. Your specialty will suffice.”
As if it was a fairly urgent matter, he swindled me with a request fee. He opened two fingers and quickly increased them to three. The hotel lot balance was 170,000 credits, so it was worth it. But Leonard shook his head.
“I think something bigger has happened. There’s a story about a crazy electronic chip that turns itself into a psycho cyborg…”
“uh?”
The broker widened his eyes. It wasn’t a good response from the customer’s point of view. Max’s soft eyes and Sigma’s hard eyes moved left and right.
“uh? what? why?”
“Is that what you want to do now?”
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Junk Town was heartless, so the one who disclosed the information first suffered a loss. The request fee, which had risen to 3,000 credits, quickly decreased to 2,000. It was Leonard’s job anyway, so he was in the position that 2,000 was a lot.
“What’s the reason you’re going to do it anyway?”
“I have to pay the grudge. You can’t live without being hurt?”
Opportunities to hit both the Liberation Front and the rookie solvers were rare. It meant that rookie fixers who were thirsty for work were doing something they shouldn’t.