Maria and Gabe sitting in a tree

[19:57] Maria Alberici: "So, yes, I guess we're done as soon as I can deal with this motherfucker." Maria grumbled from the nearby alley, wrestling with the shitty two-bit folding crowbar she got from the nearby utility store and the seals on this humble manhole that graced this finely established gutter -- who the hell thought it was a good idea to make a crowbar out of plastic, and why haven't they been fired yet? Anyway, it was just two hundred nuyen, can't complain about price. The doc's still pretty fit from her misdeeds back in the day, catch a look at her shirtless and see for yourself -- but the effort the Powers That Be put into stopping people from living in the sewers was just double that. Triple, maybe. After a while she got the damn cover out, thanks to a particularly well-timed stomp to the crowbar, however snapping the poor thing to pieces along the way: good riddance she thought. Maria rolled the trashbag containing that poor sod's head into the sewers beneath with a slightly disproportionate kick, and pronto -- she put the lid in place and gave off a little stretch, returning back to civilization and thusly her dear little clinic, Gabe included.

[20:05] Gabriel Gladstone: By the time she's returned, Gabriel's scrambled this guy's past so hard that it would actually tell you less if you analysed it, not more. He had, essentially, ceased to be and all thanks to the cleaner. The cleaner who's currently sitting back in Maria's chair, feet up on her desk and a mug of hot coffee in his hands. Of course, the mug was really more of plastic flask with a straw that entered into Gabe's neck because his mouth wasn't designed to be moved. He'd taken off his jacket and the turtle neck under that as well, revealing a tight, white and plain t-shirt. Of course, this exposed his arms and it was...Interesting how different his arms' skintone was to his face. From tanned and scarred to pale and perfect. Also of interest is the fact that the Chinese machine pistol he occasionally used had currently plugged a few holes in the body on the floor.

When she comes in, she can hear him shout out " 'Ey, took you long enough Mari. So, everything go as planned? You trash the head?"

[20:24] Maria Alberici: "Uh huh! He took a dip in phosphoric acid beforehand, too. Now about the rest? I'd flip his skin into synthflesh patches, but I'm out of catalyst."

She didn't even mind how cozy he had gotten on her dear antique wood desk -- it's older than everything else in the garage, because it came with the building -- because she did worse things on it when no one was looking. Hiding her dumb giggle with a swig of the cheap replicated coffee her home-soldered machine cooked up, the woman took a little moment to stare at the body in her repurposed garage -- her eyes twisted around a little bit, because boy, she was proud of Gabe for that one -- it's a clean job. No witnesses, no nothing. She had a big, dumb grin in her face. "Also -- good job on that one. I'll pay off the one I owe you later -- we have some spare Chinese mods in the back room. Close-range sonar vision, nanite powered. I think you'll love it."

[20:26] Gabriel Gladstone: If his face could move, she'd have made him immediately lose his cool. However, since it can't, she has to rely on the awkward swivel his head does as he looks at her. "Mods? You got more mods?" His hands clenched then. "Fine. Deal. Whatever. I need to get some more of this..." His black steel hand stroked along his chest then before the finger actually tore a slim channel from his pecs to his belly button, "Off of me. Out of me. When can you operator, Herr Doktor?" Sniggering, his feet dragged themselves off the table before they stamped on the floor and he sat forward, watching her as she came in. "You know, it must be fun being a real life mad scientist. How'd this guy start chasing you anyway huh? You still doing that aug harvesting, organ stealing thing you used to? The body should be fine to dump elsewhere. I've shot him in the chest, scrambled his past and most of the tortures been covered up by smacking him around with a bat; a mugging that went too far because he was some sort of former tough guy, maybe a detective; they won't know for sure no matter how hard they try."

[20:50] Maria Alberici: "So you want me to get rid of your entire chest cavity? Got it, dear, I'll just need a shovel and painkillers." She didn't even try to hide her contempt for the awfully generic instructions, walking over to the cleaner with a slight sway in her step. She's been drinking. Hopefully the alcohol breath won't be too bad, though. "And no, I haven't done that in years. I contracted with a Chinese supplier and I get a lot of shit shipped in overseas now. You know, Yan Medical stuff. It's all limited by the chips to human capacity. Be glad you've got your augs beforehand, it's getting hard to find even shit like my scalpels nowadays." Her voice, though, was unusually steady -- it's unclear whether she's got a gnarly amount of alcohol tolerance, or it's just some discreet piece of augmentation processing it for her. She leaned against the nearby wall, across the desk, just to be sure -- she shot a final look at the body before staring back at Gabe, like if she wanted to just be sure it was still there and hadn't crawled away or someso.

"Where are we going to dump it? I don't know any lakes around here. Also -- you ever thought about doing something about your crippling addiction to augs?"

[20:58] Gabriel Gladstone: "It's not an addiction, it's a pursuit of perfection. I don't have a problem." After asserting the fact that he clearly didn't have a problem and Maria was just a STUPID BITCH, Gabe shook his head at her, "Nah. Don't throw it in a lake. That's what a schmuck would do. Look, we throw it in a lake, that's a lot of effort to get rid of a body we already beheaded and it's unlikely some gangbangers would bring a body to their auto, so just. Chill. Schway? Schway. What we're gonna do is, we're gonna dump it into a bin in Tong territory. If any flack does happen, it's on them, not us. We both got pals with the Mafia, so should be fine. Y'dig? So uh..." His lip twitched as he sat forward. "Tell me about this uh...Yan Medical stuff...Anything good? I've been, I've been wanting to replace my spine...Boost reaction time and dexterity if I can..."

[21:15] Gabriel Gladstone: https://imgur.com/DN10W4y

[21:18] Maria Alberici: "You definitely have a problem, I'm sorry. I'll indulge you because of circumstances, but once you don't have a single inch of flesh left on yourself, please don't regret it. Bio replacement is expensive and I don't have the equipment. And you're not hitting up any official clinics anytime soon, cleaner boy. Anyway..." Maria yawned a little, stretching her back with an audible whirring noise coming from her arms: they looked indistinguishable from any human limb sans for the lines crossing her fingertips, usually covered by conspicuously-punctured leather gloves -- a damn fine job, if she had to brag. Made by her own hands to replace them. Also, I'm afraid not -- mostly civilian-grade stuff for grunts and work accidents. They do have a new novelty though -- subdermal nicotine pumps. If we swap the replicator circuitry inside for something else, that synthesizes another substance... we might have a very, very fun device. But why are you worried? You're a fucking cheetah in reaction time. You're not gonna get out-drawn anytime soon, y'know." The way her tone changed from giddy excitement to concern was sudden. Slightly overblown, perhaps.
[21:20] Maria Alberici: (( good .gif ))

[21:27] Gabriel Gladstone: "I don't want any flesh though, so it ain't a problem." He was getting aggravated by this line of questioning. Maria kept bringing it up more and more, since the last time when she's finished up his hands about how he'd have no flesh left and he needed to be careful; admittedly, requesting someone specifically cut off all the flesh on your hands and replace it with paneling as opposed to the more traditional style Maria had her own augs done was weird but-He immediately stopped thinking about it. It was a fact flesh was weaker than steel and he didn't want to ahve any of that weakness in himself. "Plus, if I went to a normal clinic, I wouldn't have such a pretty doctor worrying over me." As he said this, he tried to steal a look at her long, slender legs. They went on for miles and had just the right amount of muscle...Razor girls really were something else, even former ones. "What kind of razor girl becomes a Doc anyway...?"

His blue eyes blinked when he heard her mention the nicotine pumps. "Ngggh." He purred, actually purred at the thought. "Yeah, we could do something with that, couldn't we...Combat stims, some meth and coke...Yeaaaah. Slice me up Doc. Put them in me please~" His eyes shifted again, which was quite unusual, moving to a lidded, lusty gaze. He could actually feel himself twitch down there.

[21:51] Maria Alberici: "I knew you'd ask at some point. Thing is, I didn't stop being a mafia murderer to become a doctor, oh no. It's the opposite. And I'm actually not a doctor either. You know, the job's more like a mechanic than a doctor any day of the week, specially with boys like you around." She didn't know whether that was a sign of fondness or disdain for him, and her voice sounded at the least just as conflicted as her thoughts. "And certainly -- I'm pretty sure you won't mind smelling like compressed air and gasoline, given how you're almost going off on your pants for an implant? You're fucked up, Gabe. I like that." She gave him a little sweep of the hand near his thigh before heading off into the backroom a little, giving him a view of her ass meanwhile -- and by god, it was glorious. Even with a long, flowing skirt like hers, her rump was still pretty well-defined, together with a set of thick muscular legs. One can only imagine what she was like a decade or so back. "Hang on, I'm gonna go see if I find the circuit board. Long live nanite-grown junctions."