Beyond

"Finally reached the last of your stock?" Tibor asked, eying Jo's bag greedily. "Another truck is bound to break down soon enough," she said. "Besides, you have plenty for now." "Then why should I take what you're offering?" He asked, his tail flicking. "I saved the best for last," Jo said, rather smugly. She dropped the bag onto the table. Tibor eagerly started rummaging through it. A slow grin came across his lip-less mouth. Out of everything that comprised his clutter, wires were the rarest, and the most vital at times. "Thirty," Jo said, naming her price. "No way! This is barely anything," Tibor said. "Well, if you don't want it…" she said, reaching to take the bag back. Tibor quickly wrapped his long, thin fingers around it. "Fifteen," he offered. "Twenty-five," Jo countered. "Twenty.” "Fine," she said, much to Tibor's surprise. She usually held out a bit longer but even she knew the worth of the wires was limited. He grabbed a small pouch of coins and ran a finger over them as he counted, then dropped a handful of silver hexagons into Jo's open palm. Her fingers closed around them and she stuffed them into a pocket. She nearly reached the door content with her profit, but her hand brushed something inside the inner pocket of her jacket and her grin turned to a look of consideration. She turned back to Tibor and walked to the table, casually pulling herself to sit on the corner where there was the least clutter, half facing him and half facing the corner of the room. She crossed her legs and slowly pulled the gun out of her pocket as though she were holding a gift…a gift with a price tag. Tibor looked at the weapon, half in awe and half concerned for Jovita's unpredictable manner, as she turned over it in her hands. "I need a power source," she said. "One that will last for a while." "How much can you pay me?" He risked asking. "Twenty DPEs," she said simply as though she'd pulled the number out of thin air. Tibor chuckled and shook his head. "And how much charge do you have?" He asked. "No idea," she said. She held the gun readily in her right hand, not pointing it at anything…yet. "Do you want to find out?" "So, twenty DPE, the cost of an overpriced bag of wires, for a charge worth over ten times as much?" "One with renewable power." Even with the weapon she was pushing it. "Where do you think I would even find something like that?" "I know you have connections to the black market. Don't play dumb with me," Jo said. "Even if I did have what you're asking for, twenty isn't worth a fifteenth of it and we both know you won't shoot me," Tibor said. "You sure?" There was something unnatural in her voice that made Tibor want to question his reasoning, but he held onto his assumption. "Don't forget that we've known each other for years," Tibor said. "I know Zoren won't be too happy with you killing someone." "You don't know a thing about me. Zoren doesn't control me and I don't do things based on what he'd approve of." "Sure," Tibor said, unconvinced. "If you're so positive I'm no danger to you, look up my name." "What?" "You have access to the database. Look up my name," she repeated. Tibor raised an eyebrow, not knowing what she expected him to find. He shuffled through the mountain of parts on his desk until he found a dark pad with a cracked screen and improvised wiring exposed on the back. His odd fingers danced across the screen, and then his eyes scanned over the results of his search. He lowered the tablet to look back up at Jovita, who was now obscured by the barrel of the gun. He pulled open a drawer and took out a small device, the same color as the weapon. Jo took it, ignoring his horrified expression. She found the panel where the charge attached to the side of the gun and slid it into place, admiring the now-complete weapon. "Thank you very much," she said distractedly as she hopped off the desk. "I always knew you were intelligent." "I take it I won't be seeing you again, then?" He asked, forgetting the money she owed him. "It's been fun," she said with a mock salute, letting the door close behind her. Tibor looked back at his tablet. She was right, he had no idea who she was. Jovita Ló-Rran was much more than a petty thief.