Sign of the Dragon (Tatsu Yamada Book 1) by Niall Teasdale (e reader TXT) 📕

‘You,’ Tatsu replied. ‘For tonight. Thirty thousand yen.’

‘Are cops allowed to hire prostitutes?’

Tatsu shrugged. ‘Sex work in general was decriminalised in twenty-sixty-five. Assuming that all participants are eighteen years old or over.’

‘I know. You’re overpaying for Chiba.’

‘You’ll earn it.’

‘And I got out of that life. I just dance. And I keep bars between me and the customers.’ Kobayashi seemed to consider that a closing argument; she turned and started away. Then she paused and looked back over her shoulder. ‘But if you buy me dinner, I might consider taking you home anyway.’

Tatsu took a couple of quick steps to close the distance. ‘Works for me.’

~~~

Kobayashi was a cheap date. They went to a burger place not far from the club. The dancer did order a double-layered burger, fries, and a soda, but it was not exactly putting a dent in Tatsu’s budget. They ate at a table in the shop since Kobayashi was still deciding how the evening would go.

Kobayashi frowned at the basic-looking burger Tatsu had ordered. ‘That… looks weird. And not very appetising.’

‘I doubt you’d like it. Since we’re here and they do cyborg food, I’m eating with you.’

Kobayashi’s expressive eyebrows rose. ‘You’re a cyborg?’

‘Full-body prosthetic. Everything’s metal and plastic aside from my brain.’

There was some thoughtful chewing. ‘I’ve never done a cyborg. Not a full-body one anyway.’

‘Does that make it more or less likely that we’ll end up in bed?’

More chewing. Kobayashi was having to think about it, which was not a great sign. ‘Less, but I’m not letting that stop me. I haven’t decided whether you’re getting any yet anyway.’

Cyborgs had something of a complex status in society. Obvious cybernetics were viewed as either an indication of poverty or just plain weird. Those with fully prosthetic bodies had a reputation for violence since a lot had been used in the war, or people just had trouble dealing with the idea of a human brain in a robot body.

‘I’m aware. I have an ulterior motive for asking anyway.’

‘Oh?’

‘I want to know if Vasilev knows who killed his boss. I’m wondering whether you heard anything while they were at your table. People tend to forget dancers have ears.’

Kobayashi frowned. ‘I try not to hear what the customers are saying. I don’t want to know.’

‘I’m sure, but I bet you hear things anyway. If Vasilev starts a war over this, Chiba’s going to end up in a mess. I just want to head trouble off before it starts.’

More thoughtful chewing, with added frown. ‘I don’t think he knows. No, I’m sure he doesn’t. They were throwing names around. All of them were dismissed. They’re as in the dark as you are. After you left, Vasilev told the others not to do anything unless they were sure they knew who issued the contract.’

‘They’re sure it was professional?’

‘Seemed like it to me.’

Tatsu nodded. It had looked professional. It had looked skilled and professional, and they had used a sword. Yakuza? Had Vasilev put his foot on the wrong toes outside of Chiba? That was really Nakano’s problem, but she would mention it to him. She turned off her sense of taste and bit into her burger; the things were better tasting than the nutrition bars she normally ate, but not that much better.

‘I’ve decided,’ Kobayashi said. Her burger was gone, and she was eating fries from the paper carton with a rather delicate, deliberate action which was weirdly sensual.

‘About what?’

‘Whether you’re getting lucky. You are.’

Tatsu gave Kobayashi a wry sort of smile. ‘Not bothered about me being a machine then?’

‘I am, but I’m curious. And you’re hot. You better be good.’

‘Well, I’ve never had any complaints…’

9th July.

‘I’m complaining,’ Kobayashi gasped.

‘You are?’ Tatsu crawled out from between the dancer’s legs and then up the bed to lie beside her.

‘Yes. Don’t you ever get tired? If we keep this up, you’re going to kill me.’

‘I get sleepy. I need as much sleep as anyone else. My muscles are reactive fibres and motorised actuators. They don’t get fatigued.’

‘Don’t your batteries run down or something?’

‘I have a fuel cell. It needs refuelling once a month and maintenance is weeks away.’

‘Shit. You are going to kill me.’

‘The paperwork would be a pain. You’re safe. We’ll take a shower and then get some sleep.’

‘You’re going to make me fuck in the shower.’

‘I won’t make you do anything. But we are going to have sex in there, sure.’

Kobayashi sighed. ‘I guess I’ll die happy.’

~~~

‘How did you end up in Chiba?’ Tatsu asked. She was watching Kobayashi eat. Kobayashi’s apartment was not too bad. It was basically identical to Tatsu’s since a lot of the housing in Chiba had been put up using the same government plans when they had realised how bad the refugee problem was getting. It was a single room, about three metres by two with a chunk taken out of the corner opposite the window for a ‘sanitation cubicle.’ This was a metal frame holding textured, translucent plastic panels containing the shower, sink, and toilet. Both sink and toilet came out of the wall when you needed them. Very space efficient. The bed folded up against the wall on one side, and you pretty much had to fold it up to get to the door which took up the rest of the back wall. You could also fold up the desk into the opposite wall from the bed, covering the entertainment screen as you did so. Storage came in the form of drop-down bins which emerged from the ceiling when needed. Very compact, very cheap. The main difference between Kobayashi’s place and Tatsu’s was that the dancer kept hers cleaner.

‘I slept with the wrong guy,’ Kobayashi replied. ‘I