Chapter 70 - Gloria's Reckoning, Cypher's Offer, Atlas' Kindness & The Damn Replicator I

Gloria Martinez was in tears, confused but more scared because she knew in her heart what she had done. She saw the NCPD officers brandish the warrant to arrest her. She felt her legs go weak.

"Mom? What's going on?"

"Stay back, David! Don't come here," Gloria warned, allowing the officers to put the cuffs on her. "Mom will handle it."

Gloria didn't want David to find out about her illegal dealings.

"No way! I'm coming with you, Mom! I know why they're taking you. It's him, ain't it? You don't gotta protect him. You sh—uh…"

Gloria frowned, her face losing color at what David had said, and how interested the NCPD officer looked. But then she noticed how David was clutching his head.

"Dee? What happened?"

"N-Nothing… Mom! I'll go with you."

"You need to go to school," Gloria sternly ordered. "I'll handle this."

"Hold it," an NCPD officer cut in. "He's coming with us. His own mouth tagged him complicit. A mom and her kid, stripping illegal chrome off dead gonks in the city. That's a preem feed N54 would eat up."

Gloria nearly collapsed at that; her heart pounded hard enough to explode. She angrily stared at David for making the situation worse than it already was. But for some reason, David wasn't speaking anymore, just clutching his head the entire time.

Knowing that speaking more may put her in more trouble, she kept her lips shut and let the officers take them. It broke her heart seeing even David put into handcuffs, but she knew she couldn't fight them.

Before long, she was seated in the back of an NCPD patrol car, David right beside her. The officers kept asking questions, taking the names of other EMTS who worked for REO Meatwagon. She had no desire to snitch on anyone. Besides, she was the head of the network in the first place.

Her sweating palms were twisting on each other, her right foot tapping on the car floor nonstop. In silence, she tried sending a message to all the lawyers she knew. But to her confusion, nobody replied. Even when those lawyers were known to get you out of such situations, that was their selling point.

In no time, they arrived at the Arroyo NCPD station. It was a spread-out, twin-storey building. Badges were everywhere, as well as some robotics. She kept her mouth shut and followed all the orders until…

Shhhhh!

A loud hum of engines echoed from the sky, and it grew louder.

She looked up as the officers were doing the same. Not far away, she noticed two large chrome-covered Rayfield Excalibur aerodynes approaching.

Moments later, the two aerial vehicles landed in front of the police station. The doors opened dramatically, and from them came out a large team of corpos. They were dressed in expensive clothes that Gloria knew would bankrupt her, even for just one of those suits.

The man at the lead was tall, with natural grey hair, but his face was laced with RealSkinn, seeing how perfect it looked. The eyes were shining blue the entire time.

Similarly, the men and women behind were of varying ethnicities, dressed in black suits and white shirts. Some had visible chrome, some had more hidden. They walked like they owned the place and… they headed straight towards her.

Gloria's jaw tightened as she realised this was likely the army of lawyers Meatwagon had hired. Seeing how the officers had also stiffened up, she knew she was done for. The chances of avoiding a prison sentence were nil.

"Officer Lars, you're working hard. Rare to see you making arrests."

Gloria gulped, watching the lead lawyer speak with the officer who had arrested her.

"Hah… nothing, just burning some calories, sir. What drags you down here? Didn't think any case in this dump was worth pulling you out of your tower. Nothing that major hits my little precinct."

"I know, Officer."

The lawyer didn't even look at Officer Lars and stared at her the entire time.

Gloria felt all the alarm bells ring in her head. Behind her, David was still silent, eyes dilated.

"Are you Ms. Gloria Martinez? Resident of Megabuilding H4?"

"Yes…?" She mustered enough courage to speak back, panning a look at the team of eight lawyers who stared at her with a judging gaze.

"Good. We're from Ashcroft & Kuroda LLP. I'm Reinhart Ashcroft, and we'll be your counsel on this case. Please sign here."

Huh?

Gloria blinked dumbly, looked up at the man's face, only now realizing that the hair was grey because he was old, and the face was chrome and… this man was a partner at the law firm. While she didn't know about the name, their use of the Aerodyne said enough. They probably served large corpos, she reckoned.

"M-Me?" She stammered, eyes wide. "I didn't call for you… Mr. Ashcroft."

"I know," Ashcroft replied in the most bland, unexcited way. He presented a large touchscreen tablet. "Our services have been retained, all costs settled. We will be present during questioning and secure your bail. Sign here."

Gloria frowned and looked at the screen. The entire contract was there, and she read some of it. It was basic, but the expenses were not mentioned anywhere. She had some idea who could have hired them for her, but why they'd do it left her questioning this.

All common sense suggested that if he knew about her shady dealings, he'd be infuriated. She had betrayed him, something that he had warned her about on the very first day.

Yet, no other lawyer had responded. She looked back at David, still in his Arasaka uniform. They really didn't want his name in this mess, which would ruin his future. To make sure that didn't happen, she did need lawyers.

"Alright." Gloria signed on the screen with an electronic pen. Her hand was shaking the whole time, aware that she'd be neck-deep in debt to whoever was paying them.

"Good. Officer Lars, proceed."

"Ah, of course. Please, follow me."

After that point, Gloria didn't have to say a single word. While they took her and David into the interrogation rooms separately, the lawyers were present both times. David kept complaining about headaches whenever he tried to speak, however.

By the time the interrogation ended, David was declared free to go as he was proven to be uninvolved. She also received the bail by then, and her charges were dropped to mere suspicion. Now it was up to NCPD to find the proof, or face repercussions for arresting her without any actual proof.

Ashcroft & Kuroda LLP was ruthless. They had already filed a countersuit against NCPD to build pressure.

Another half an hour later, she was headed to the police station's exit, where the lawyers were waiting for her.

"Thank you for helping us, Mr. Ashcroft."

"We did what we were paid to do. While we don't ordinarily engage in cases like this, the request came from an individual whom Ashcroft & Kuroda LLP considers critical to our future interests. We were also given explicit instructions to escort you to him. We can't legally reveal his identity, but he assured us you would recognize him."

Gloria's jaw tightened. By now, she had put the pieces together.

Who were Ashcroft & Kuroda LLP? They were a top-tier law firm that catered to large corporations. Who was the only famous corpo she knew personally and was close to in some way? There was just one name.

"Mom! Don't go. We don't have to do this. That—Ah!"

"David!" Gloria finally reacted and held her son as he clutched his head again.

Thud!

"Stop trying to speak his name, boy!"

All of a sudden, lawyer Ashcroft moved and gripped David's throat and nearly lifted him in the air, slamming his back into the wall behind. The face the man made was different, no longer nonchalant, but instead full of contempt and disgust.

Gloria panicked and nearly attacked. But before she could, Ashcroft put David down and stepped back, fixing his suit and tie.

"You have a foolish son, Ms. Martinez. Eighteen times, he attempted to disclose that person's name during interrogation. Eighteen times he stopped, each instance triggered by a headache he still fails to comprehend.

"Our clients' safety is non-negotiable. We do not take risks with our client's safety. Our netrunners have been active since we took the contract, and we won't allow a child to inflict permanent damage. Now, will you be coming with us? We have explicit orders not to compel you, so the decision is yours."

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