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You absolutely need some liquor courage for some of the things you're about to ask. You take a shot of sake before pointing at Maruyama. "So. You manage a Cleaner firm. What's that like?" If a Cleaner of all people is hunting you down, maybe you can gleam something useful out of this.
Kiara perks up at this question, "Huh! I've met a lot of Cleaners or Agents who worked for an Office but I never met a Manager before."
"Section Chief, not Manager. Minor difference." He taps his fingers against the table. "For the most part? Boring. The one thing they don't tell you when you rise up in the ranks is you stop actually going on fun missions. It's all paperwork from there."
"I can relate to that." Gregory nurses his bottle of cheap beer. "Every single action you have to do for a business has to be marked down on a million documents. Red tape as far as the eye can see."
"Exactly!" Maruyama snaps his fingers. "Hell, even the grunts aren't spared from it. Once we get a mission from an interested party, we have to get a contract from them then we have to get our grunt to sign a contract agreeing to follow to the rules and requests of THAT contract and-" He starts to blabber and blabber on, throwing around jargon you can't quite wrap your head around.
"-And sometimes we don't even get paid since half the time, they sneak in a due by date in the tiniest font imaginable. That's why I don't bother accepting hit missions anymore. <span class="mu-b">Most of the bastards who ask for it have an expiration date of two days, maybe three at most.</span>"
You perk up at this tidbit. He's on a time limit when it comes to bashing your head in, huh? "Really? I would think if someone wanted someone else dead real bad, they would be less picky about it."
"Maybe if it's someone important like Mr. No Eye-" He jabs a thumb at Gregory. "But that's too risky for smaller Offices like mine to accept. Sometimes I still consider taking them since the amount of money they give is INSANE. <span class="mu-b">We're talking about $5000 for the more high priority targets.</span>" So you doubt you can bribe your way out.
"Does your place offer your employees equipment when doing these hits or is it all out of pocket from the contractor?" Kiara chirps out her question.
"We offer a little. <span class="mu-b">Bulletproof vests and a handgun are always given</span> but if it's important, they also get supplied with a temporary cybernetic to <span class="mu-b">improve their physical durability and natural healing.</span> Lest you got an EMP or a dozen bombs, it's hard to keep them down for good."
"Wait, you said a lot of the people don't even pay you that often. Guessing you got a lot of horror story clients, huh?"
"OH MY FUCKING GOD, YES!" Maruyama slams his hands on the table. A manic grin crosses his face, to equal parts amusement and horror to Kiara and Gregory. "Just last week, I had some motherfuckers who nearly made me rip my hair out."
"Oooo. Spill the beans. Maybe I know them." Kiara pulls out her notepad.
