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<span class="mu-r">“Any chance that I can get a direct line to you instead of having to go through your secretary?”</span> you asked.
She frowned slightly. <span class="mu-s">“I usually do not give out my personal information so freely.”</span>
<span class="mu-r">“Not even to prospective freelance operatives?”</span>
<span class="mu-s">“‘Prospective’ being the operative word.”</span> she replied.
<span class="mu-r">“Ah! Was that a pun? Did you just make a pun?”</span>
<span class="mu-s">“I did no such thing.”</span> Sable protested.
You waved a hand dismissively at her. <span class="mu-r">“It’s alright. No need to be embarrassed. I won’t tell anyone.”</span>
At once, you both looked at the bodyguard in red armor. She glanced between you and her boss, before letting her gaze settle on Sable. <span class="mu-r">“I won’t breathe a word, M’lady.”</span>
Silvija groaned and muttered something in Symkarian that you interpreted as: <span class="mu-s">“Not you too.”</span>
<span class="mu-s">“Look, I cannot give you my personal number, but what I can do is provide you with a radio transceiver with access to a channel that only me and you share.”</span> she suggested. <span class="mu-s">“Will that be sufficient?”</span>
You nodded. <span class="mu-r">“That works out nicely. If you can get it to me before you walk me out, that’d be great. But, could you do me one last favor and apologize to the operatives that were taking part in the Electro job? I don’t want there to be any bad blood between us.”</span>
Once again, a small, almost imperceptible grin threatened to break through Silvija’s stony demeanor. <span class="mu-s">“I will let them know. I’m sure it will be a welcome surprise at our next team meeting when I announce it.”</span>
Well that sounded embarrassing. It’s a good thing you wouldn’t be there to witness it.
Slowly and deliberately, you raised your hands and rose from your seat. Both women watched you carefully as you did so, and you tried your best not to make any threatening moves. Sable rose as well, but she obviously didn’t get the same treatment as you.
<span class="mu-r">“It was a pleasure meeting you, Ms. Sablinova.”</span> you said, slowly extending a hand towards her.
To her credit, she didn’t hesitate to shake your hand. It was a strong, firm handshake as well.
<span class="mu-s">“Likewise. This meeting was surprisingly productive. It is my hope that we can both benefit from this arrangement.”</span>
You agreed wholeheartedly. You could easily see yourself doing work for Sable International in the future, and vice versa. You just had to hope that she ended up liking the other Desperados.
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>Silvija Sablinova has been added to your Contacts!
After being escorted out, Sable handed you a tiny, disk shaped radio with only a single button in the middle. It was a lot sleeker than Hill’s clunky ass pager, and it took up much less space. Maybe you’d try to have Prowler take this apart someday.
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Once you were far enough away, you decided to start calling Callisto’s sewer phone. You knew that she wouldn’t answer right away, so it was usually a good idea to call ahead of time at regular intervals and wait for her to get there.
(Cont.)
