It was near closing when Josie emerged from the back room, looking less than thrilled.

Her face matched Celeste's attitude after her run-in with Morgan.

"Whiskey," she said before Celeste could ask. "Whatever's cheapest, no ice."

"Comin' right up. $12. Actually…" She looked back at the top shelf. "I need a favor. I'm willin' to trade some five-finger discounts for it."

"Not now, Cee. Just want a good drink to take the edge off and clear my mind. That too much to ask?"

Exasperated, Celeste snatched one of the bottles off the top shelf, filled a glass to the brim with it, and handed it over. She didn't care how sloppy it looked, or that some of the whiskey spilled onto her hand.

Josie gaped at the glass. Then she turned bright red. "I'm not paying for that. I said bottom shelf, dimwit!"

It had already been a rough night. She'd been dwelling on Morgan's threat for nearly half an hour now, letting her words erode her sanity. Josie's attitude was the last straw.

"Call me a dimwit one more fucking time, and I swear to God I'll slap the taste out your mouth!"

She regretted the words the moment they left her mouth. She didn't feel sorry, or bad for Josie. But threatening to slap someone wasn't a great opener to a deal.

But before she could apologize, Josie rolled her eyes and threw her drink back as though in solidarity. "Rough night for both of us, it seems. Am I to take this drink as you sweetening the pot for something you haven't told me yet?"

"Yes. And there's plenty more where they came from."

"Alright, then. Spill it, Cee. What's eating you up?"

Celeste turned the music up again.

"Morgan Maselli just threatened to kill me if I didn't sign over the café."

Josie nearly spat her drink out. She lurched forward and slapped her free hand over her mouth to keep the liquid gold where it belonged. Tears touched the corners of her eyes.

"What the fuck, Cee?!" she cried once she gotten the drink down. "What the hell happened?"

Celeste quickly recapped her conversation with Morgan. Josie listened intently, shaking her head in bewilderment the entire time. But she didn't stop to ask questions. Only listened, and waited until Celeste was finished.

"Those were her exact words?" Josie asked. "You're sure she threatened to kill you?"

"I ain't from around here, Josie, but I think death threats are pretty universal. What am I supposed to do?"

"Well, you can't give it to her. She's right that she'd control the city from here. Gang territory is redrawn here. Political subterfuge is planned under this very roof. You wanna know who the cops are gonna mess with, and who they aren't? This is where you find out. Hand over the keys to Morgan, and you might as well hand over the keys to the whole damned city."

"But…she's the most powerful cyborg in the city, isn't she?"

"And one of the most powerful criminals, yeah. You sure chose a shit enemy to make."

"What about the offer she made?"

"What, to make you thrive?" Josie scoffed."A vague promise is the same as a threat, Cee. You saw what she did last night. You really think you should trust her?"

"Oh, so I should trust you, then?"

"More than Morgan, at least. I've been up front with you, haven't I? Once she has what she wants, there's no reason for her to keep alive. And, quite frankly, if anyone here finds out Morgan got the Cat because of you…well, they'll kill you in retribution. And that includes me."

Celeste deflated. "Are…are you fucking serious?"

"Lame that you're collecting death threats tonight, but like I said — up front and honest. But we've got common ground, you and I. I don't want Morgan on top, and you don't want anyone killing you. We're underdogs trying to topple the same foe. Now, how do we go about doing that…"

Yeah, but what happens when we're at the top, and we're not underdogs anymore Josie's more of a known quantity than Morgan, but I don't want either of them as enemies…

Except Josie wouldn't be that, if Celeste made herself indespensable. Or took Josie out of the picture entirely. Neither of which she could do just this moment.

Something to think on.

Josie bit her lip. Pressed her fingers into her cheeks and rubbed them thoughtfully. "She said the shop's rightfully hers? Maybe Bhasvah was going to sign it over to her initially?"

"I dunno. Didn't get that far. Skipped over the details and went straight to threatening my life. What do I do about that?"

Josie jerked her head toward the bottles. "You crack open one of those bad boys and drink with me so you can calm the fuck down. It'll help you think clearly."

There were rules against that, of course. And drinking with any one customer might make others thing her neutrality had been compromised.

But most of the main room had cleared out already. And what was a single bad impression against the possibility of death?

Celeste poured herself a glass of the same whiskey she'd given Josie, and began to drink. It was smooth and rich like butter, but still burned her throat on the way down.

"Okay, Cee. The key to approaching any problem is to figure out what's causing it in the first place. Once you do that, you can nip it in the bud. So?"

"Morgan will kill me if I don't give her the café. And you'll kill me if I do."

"Focus on the problem here, Cee."

Celeste deadpanned. "I am."

'The bigger problem!"

"Oh, right. Morgan gets the café, or I die."

"Which she wants, because…"

"It's the seat of power. And because…well, she made it seem like she should own it. And that there's something more here that she wants."

Could it be that Morgan had told the truth? Only Bhasvah would be able to back up her claim, and only one of the two could say for certain what "more" Morgan wanted here. And she dare not text or call him, not if Morgan had bugged her phone.

But then, that raised another question. Morgan knew of what she'd done in private, when not even Nancy had been there. If not a bug, then how else could she have known? How could she have had that information?

She posed the question to Josie, who only shrugged. But she didn't seem surprised.

"She's the closest thing to a machine other than an actual machine. Your guess is as good as mine."

"Then I need information from the owner, Bhasvah. Seein' that he left me in such a shit position, I'd prolly be fool to think he'd just tell me all I needed to know, right?"

"Kinda seems like he was set on screwing you over to begin with. So…yeah. Fool is one word for it."

"Think you could help me out? One underdog helpin' to lift another?"

Josie smirked. "Now we're talking transactions! That's what I like to hear. Help you, how?"

"What information do you want in exchange for information on Morgan?"

"Hah! Nothing's worth that much. I'm not trying to get on her shortlist like you. I like living!"

"Fine," Celeste rolled her eyes. "What about Bhasvah?"

"The owner of the finest establishment in the city? Still more than you can afford. Shoot lower, Cee."

Information trading was off the table for this one. Celeste mulled it over for a moment. "Your offer to get implants…is it still on the table?"

"'Course it is. But unless you've got the social security numbers of everyone in here, including Morgan, I can only 'borg you out so much. You're aiming in the right area, Cee."

It wasn't much, but there was an angle Celeste could work.

"My search for info doesn't have to be exclusive to my needs. I can search Bhasvah's place and get extra dirt for you, as the rest of my payment."

Josie lifted her eyebrows. "A tempting offer. But you assume there'll be more there of interest. I could give you an implant, and you come back empty-handed. I'd never know if there was truly nothing of value to me there, or if you took the info for yourself and lied about it."

"You know where I work, Josie," Celeste said with an exhausted sigh. God, working with criminals was difficult. "Why would I do that?"

"Why would you take a job at a coffee shop where customers die regularly? Or come to a city of cyborgs with nothing but a phone and good vibes? I don't know why you do the things you do, Cee. I just know they're not what I would do."

"Oh my God, okay, please shut up, I get the fucking point. So what do you want?"

"Hmm. How's about…a down-payment?"

Money. The bane of Celeste's existence, but something that she could actually give.. "I'm almost broke," she said. "How much are we talkin'? Is there any way I can pay you in installments?"

"I don't do installments. Too many people wind up running away, or in an obituary before their last payment. But," Josie said with a slowly broadening smile, "this is Radiant City. There's more than one way to pay."

Nothing about that sounded good. Not Josie's tone, her choice of words, or the order in which they were arranged.

"And…ahem, what does that entail, exactly?"

"Oh, Cee. Asking questions like that makes it sound like there's a price higher than your life!"

"Just cut to the chase!"

"How much money do you have in your purse right now, not including a card?"

Why do I get the feeling that money's only a part of it? She could've asked for this up front, without all the cryptic taunting.

Celeste had left most of her money at home, in case she was held up or misplaced her wallet. It turned out she'd made a wise decision. "A hundred," she answered. A lie — she had another twenty in there. But Josie didn't need to know that.

"Eh. Yeah, sure. That'll do."

Celeste pulled the two bills out and handed them over. But Josie looked at them as though offended. "You make it look like a drug deal. Be discreet! Anything you hand over, hand it over with your palm flat so everyone can see it, and there's no questions what was traded. You don't want people here thinking you're hiding secrets, do you?"

She opened her palm. "That's exactly what we're — "

— Josie's movement was so fast that she nearly missed it. Her eyes glowed. Steel reflected orange neon. And then the blade pierced the palm of Celeste's outstretched hand and plunged into the counter top. The pain was so sudden and fierce that her first scream came out choked, because she hadn't had the breath ready for it.

The dollar bills were pinned to her flesh. She tried to yank her hand back reflexively but found that she couldn't, that the strength of Josie's plunge had left the knife embedded into the counter like a nail in a piece of furniture. And her hand was just hardware.

Tears ran down Celeste's cheeks. She screamed until her voice was hoarse. She screamed until she realized that nobody was coming to help, because everybody was too busy minding their own business and didn't have the bandwidth to get mixed up in hers. A wave of nausea crashed down on her. She bent her knees, wanting to curl into a ball until the pain went away, but realizing that it wasn't possible with her hand stuck.

"I give you tech," Josie said, "and you give me flesh. An even exchange for a down-payment, I think. Remember who you're indebted to, Cee."

Her voice hadn't changed at all. Celeste glared at her through tears and opened her mouth. But Josie held up a finger, her eyes wide with a yet unspoken warning. "Watch what you say next," she said. "Our transaction isn't yet complete, Cee. I can still renege. You've made a powerful enemy. By helping you, she'll be my enemy, too. If you think this is bad…it's nothing compared to what she might do to us. So you know what it is I want next? Think before you respond."

Celeste licked her lips and tasted salt.

And then she understood. This wasn't just a matter of payment. This was a matter of seeing if she had the strength of character to make Josie's gamble worth her while.

If she had what it took to survive.

Celeste clenched her teeth. "Yeah. I do."

Josie's grin broadened. "Show me."

Celeste she grabbed a shot glass and the most powerful whiskey within arm's reach. Her hand trembled so much that she poured a glass's worth, most of which ended up in a sweet, sticky mess on the floor. She threw her head back and took one shot, then another. And then she grabbed the hilt of the knife.

One quick motion. Don't mess around. Just —

She yanked it out.

And screamed.

Her first reflex was to grab her wrist and flex her fingers, which was a terrible idea. It only made the pain worse.

"Thank you," Josie said, and took the knife from her. She grabbed a napkin off the counter and wiped the blood away, then dropped it in a nearby trashcan. "Meet me in the parking lot after closing, and I'll hook you up with what you need."

"W-wait. Before you go…you said Morgan could do worse to us than this? What do you mean by that? She doesn't strike me as the sadistic type. But if she is, then…"

Josie frowned. Her eyes grew wide. Sad. "This city can take more than your body, Cee. So much more."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'll see you after work, Cee," she said, and went quickly out the front door.