As the short man spoke to her companions, Aeryicka walked over to a window and managed to get it open. As soon as she did, Cray flew in and perched onto her shoulder. Finally, the man finished his speech and she raised her hand as though still in school. "I have question. What is sealurk?"
"And does it taste good?"
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Tom found himself unusually unco-operative, and politely smiled, but wanted to see how the group handled themselves without his silver tongue to get them out of whatever mess they got in to.
But they account themselves just fine and his co-operative spirit resumes. "Why, yes, I'll have a mentat," he politely quips, taking one of the dissoluble lozenges. He's never had a mentat, but he's always regarded them as one of the few drugs he promised himself he'd try, if he ever got the chance.
He muses a moment to allow the intellect-enhancing drugs to infuse his system. At last he pipes up, "So you want us to storm an objective that you've already had -three- of your own sorties fail at, into an entrenched and established foe, and recover an item of inestimable pre-war technology, and for this you offer the sublime reward of a hearty slap on the back, and whatever small rubbish and garbage we can dredge up, from a wreck we might not even be able to access, least of all find any usable salvage on.
Well, truly we would be fools not to throw away our lives on such abundance.
But let us say that we--for whatever reason--actually wanted to see recompense ourselves, as well as incentive to not just sell the desalinization machine to your competitors, what say we call the currency division at half? You get something where before you had nothing, as well as your mission accomplished, and we share in the bounty of a job done well?
As you say, we are NOT thy kin, and so must needs be motivated to move hand and risk heart. Else we shall go back into the waste and you can continue to dream about drowned coins and a machine still out of your reach.
Come come," Thomas finishes up, the Smile of Brotherhood on his face. "Say it is so and we shall love you for it."
A sly grin forms over Razor's face after Thomas's speech, and he stands up and walks over to the man, tilting his head at the armored suit the self-proclaimed lawyer wears. "It appears you are the brains of the group, then. The weaponry and armor of twenty men is aboard that ship, as well as the equipment of one of my higher lieutenants. This is not mere 'rubbish and garbage' as you put it. Very well, though, as you say, I will compensate you half of the money... but I will add a single caveat: Your man in the power armor said his metal armed associate and himself are capable mechanics, so part of this job will include making minor repairs to the machine from water-logging, and setting it up on the rig. The tug will have a radio from which to let us know when you are successful, and I can then send a proper ship forth in force to man the rig."
"I am prepared to offer a deposit of 1,000 caps per member of your group in advance for your equipment needs on this endeavor. If you take my money and walk, gentlemen, I will spend quite beyond that amount to have you hunted down by the finest bounty hunters I can get my hands on, because reputation matters much more than money to me. I will have you rotting in cages outside of the city walls for as long as we can physically keep you alive if you break faith. Is that understood?" He pauses and looks at the bird as it flies in and shakes his head. "...and I'm not paying a share to that...horribly filthy looking thing. Your robot is a different story. Now to answer your young lady's earlier question, a sealurk is a pest. They walk on two legs, and seem as if a fish or crustacean evolved to man, but have a hatred for true humanity. Their scream is concussive from a distance, and their claws are razor sharp."
He pauses at Mickey's question. "I rather imagine they taste somewhat like crab, though I haven't had the pleasure. Bring me the meat of the queen and king, and I will have my finest chef cook us a dish in celebration. If that will be all...?" he leaves the phrase hanging in anticipation of any reactions.
Aeryicka frowned as the man insulted Cray, who let out a raucous cry. But he didn't really understand what was said, right? ...Right? "It alright, Cray, mean man not know you. We prove him wrong," she told the bird quietly.
Statement:So, we are now to be lobster fishermen. I believed these degradations to my existence were in the past. Oh, how I was wrong.
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"A mere one thousand caps is hardly worth risking the ire of someone such as yourself, you need not worry about that." Fitz replies to Razor.
To EH-RK: "Ah, but remember that lobsters are red when cooked. They should be your natural enemies, red foes hiding behind a white and blue facade."
"Well, ah, suppose we should be going then?" Fit says, and heads for the elevator.
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Thomas smiles ans shakes the man's hand. "Done and done! And no, I am not the brains of the operation. I am simply gifted with the ability to see a mutually profitable path forward, and phrase it so gently that it seems that Heaven itself moves our hands.
And of course, fixing things that help the people of the land is one of the few joys left to us. I pledge that every effort will be expended toward it's repair."
Tom turns toward EH-RK. He felt bad for the machine, and wanted to make him at least feel good about the current mission. Really, he got to kill stuff and break things, so why not be happy about it? "Ah! But did you not hear our good employer? They have a king and queen, which means they have a form of government even WORSE than communists! The have a Monarchy! At least in Communism you have a shadow of a meritocracy, since the man in power must stay in power. In Monarchies you don't even need that! 'Tis but the accident of birth that decides leadership. And Communists at least take from everyone and give it to some. Monarchies take from -all- and give to ONE! Surely wiping out such a backwards and slavish community will bring you some succor?"