Cherry Pie

DROP THREE

DROP THREE

Hector knew what her vote would be, he could see it in her sparkling eye. The other one was augmented, so it wasn’t really that expressive to begin with. He didn’t really know how the sponsorships worked, so he sent a question to Tony, and he replied with the instructions. It was pretty easy, pretty much a blockchain contract like any other. He went over it a couple of times with Tony’s simplified language script and found it all right. No hidden addenda, no weird loopholes that he could see. These guys seemed to really want this deal. He said, “f**k it,” took a swig of ouzo and accepted it.

He waited a couple of minutes for the confirmations and then checked Pickle’s stats:

Name

Patricia Georgiou

Alias

Pickle

Strength

2

Speed

1

Strategy

3

Sexiness

1

Cup Size

D

Augmentations

22%

Team

Pies

Position

Enforcer (Sword and Shield)

Wins

4

Losses

71

Income

5500

Sponsorships

Pickle Juice Slushies

A thousand euro more every month, added just like that to her account. He could definitely work with that. Especially with all the hidden costs of owning a team. It was crazy, they needed s**t he hadn’t even thought about. Logos, websites, streaming services, social media managers, and he was contractually obligated to the Cyberpink tournament to provide them. Peeping toms needed a keyhole to peep from, you see. You had to make it large enough, and searchable online in neat, drop-down menus of decreasing lewdness. Thankfully, Tony was all too eager to fix everything for him. He had practically become indispensable, Hector didn’t even know where the team’s website was hosted, let alone go and work on it. Well, the man might be insufferable at times, but he was a wizard with computers. And he was drooling all over his keyboard since he started being around Cyberpink athletes all day. Hector decided to let the man have his kink. He would delay some payments for now, but he’d pay the man his fair share. He was doing things Hector hadn’t even thought about. He had linked news feeds and automations that Hector didn’t even understand. All the lecherous fanboys would be notified that second of the update in sponsorship, they’d soon put in their orders online. Pickle-coloured fanboy tongues, that was a funny thing to imagine.

Hector shook his head. A weird world to live in, that was certain.

He stood up, looked out the window, down at the illuminated street. People were still walking around, despite the shops being closed at this hour. Of course, trade didn’t stop just because the government-appointed schedule was over. Hector spotted the usual d**g-dealer at the corner, just a kid, barely 17-years old. And, predictably, there was a young girl chatting him up, about to score a hit. She had short hair and a nice figure and was dragging a travel bag behind-

Fucking Cherry.

Hector dashed down the stairs and went outside, then crossed the street. “Hey, Mike,” he said casually.

“Hey, Mr. Troy. What’s up?” the confused youth said, his eyes darting around. They both knew Hector wasn’t his usual customer.

“Oh, everything is fine. Oh, hey Cherry, didn’t notice you there.” Hector leaned on the streetlamp.

Cherry scowled at him. “If you came down here to stop me-”

Hector raised a hand. “Let me actually stop you right there. I don’t really care. But I do know that this young entrepreneur over here deals in crap merchandise with people who are new to the neighbourhood.” He slowly turned to Mike, meeting his gaze.

He was terrified. “Mr, Troy, I’d never! Honestly.” He snatched the blow back from Cherry’s hand and swapped it with another. Turning to her, he said, “Next time, lead with the fact that you’re Mr. Troy’s acquaintance, okay love?”

Cherry crossed her arms and looked to the side. “Whatever.”

“All done here? Come on upstairs, Patty has been waiting for you all day, she was worried about you.”

Cherry followed him for a couple of steps and then planted her feet on the pavement. “What are you gonna do, lecture me? Take it away from me?”

Hector turned to her, and put his palms up in the air. “You’re what, twenty-two years old? That means you’re an adult. And no, to be honest, I’d prefer it if you wouldn’t do drugs in my house. But if the alternative is you hanging out in the street, whacked out in some alley, then by all means, come inside. Seriously, Patty has been pacing up and down all day, she’s been driving me crazy.”

He took off and Cherry still stood there.

“I’m going inside, the door is open for when you make up your mind,” Hector said loudly, walking away.

An audible pout later he heard the travel bag skid across the street towards him.