#anywhere

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Frank walks Tweak to the trod.

"You gonna salvage that car? The engine is primo shit."

"I do not know yet."

"Well...look, I be good, but I gotta kid works wit' me, an' she badass, both on engines an' bodywork. You want us t' fix'er up, you tell me." She looks at the trod. "That fancy-pants what try to push you 'round...he trouble?"

"You heard what he said."

"Yeah. Yer girl, goin' wit' one of them? Must be a kick in th' teeth."

He grunts, eyes forward. "Not the worst."

"If you say so." She looks back at the Lodge, juts a thumb that way. "Yer girl...healers done seen her? All kinds?"

"Yes."

"An'...." she trails off awkwardly. "There be anything I c'n do...you tell me." She shifts uncomfortably, knowing she doesn't have any skills that might help.

"I need to find this guy. And who he works for."

"This is because of me, Tweak. We both have things in our past that could bite us in the ass; this is one of mine."

"I need to find him."

A deeper frown. "Oh. This is that kinda shit." She nods. "Yeah. I gotchoo. I keep lookin' into shit. Look, I got his contact info, mundane name...alla that shit. You gotta phone?"

Frank pats his pockets, produces one, hands it over.

Tweak does something that's half technological and half glamour, and the kid's contact info is in Frank's phone. "Stuff on this list? I ain' s'posed to be sharin' wit' nobody. Nobody. But...for you... " She finishes with an expressive shrug.

Frank looks at the phone as he takes it back, nods, pockets it. "Thank you, Tweak. What do I owe you?

She sucks her teeth thoughtfully, looking at the device in her hand. "I get to keep this. If you gonna repair th' car, you let us make a bid on th' job. Same deal if you gonna scrap it for parts. It be like robbery to only ask fer that, but you got shit goin' on, an' I gettin' stupid in my old age."

"Soon as it can be released, the car is yours. And the .... thing... is yours but I need to know if you learn more about it. Anything. Agreed?"

"Yeah, got it. Good deal." She spits into her palm and offers it out to him to shake.

He spits and shakes.

Her hand vanishes in his grip, and she smirks. "An' when you wan' me to give the Rig a proper overhaul, you lemme know."

Frank nods without a glimmer of humor. "You want an escort home?"

"Well, I got this shit," she holds up the coin from Olgar. "If he ain't talkin' out his ass, this should get me home okay."

"He wasn't. Ok. Safe travels, and let me know when you get there."

A sneer. "Yeah, yeah...later, Rigger." And she steps into the trod.

Frank waits till she's gone, then heads back to the Lodge.... (End)