I did not think it was too far off for us. The X-frames were more of the mid-game activities, especially for the low leveled PEP units. We had to wait for the X-frame sexual upgrades to unlock. In the meantime, all of the cyborgs in the clan had the upgrades. They could start making PEAs at any time they wanted. They probably were waiting for a directive from the transmission hub. I asked if they were going to do it. They looked at me blankly. "It's up to the transmission hub. There's no real need for the PEA units right now." Quinn said. "So, how are you guys going to have sex!? Don't think you can just use me to get off." I challenged. Cole smirked at me. "We still have the synthetic fluid. It's the best of both worlds. We can have sex and not worry about getting anyone pregnant." he said. That was good to know. The 3 of them then stood up straight and stared directly ahead. They must have been getting an order from the transmission hub. They all looked at me nervously. "We have to assassinate a new target." Daniel said. I asked who it was. "The mayor." I raised an eyebrow. It was weird.
Donning our disguises, we had to first go find the mayor. He was walking around and stopping for lunch at a hot dog stand. Once that was the case, I let Daniel take the shot from my back with one of the weapons from the lab I had developed. He got the mayor and he was totally obliterated. We then had to make our getaway from the alley and we were scott free. We took the disguises off and the others went to the library. They got some minor prizes for such a high-status target. It really did not make much sense to me. It was on the news for days. Not only were the people mourning the loss, but the scrappers and reprogrammers were scouring the streets for the low status cyborgs to lynch. Several of them fled to us and the library to get shelter and safety from the lynchings. We got them some decent clothes to wear and let them stay with us. We then hired them as our new talent. They were named Marcus, Benson, Jane and William. It was a grunge rock band and we called it "Quadrilateral". As they got to work, we got a single out to the public in a week. There were still lynchings.
Even the most brutal of the televised killings of PEP units were approved of. They were shot, crushed, burned, stabbed and decapitated. Some of them nearly turned my stomach. It made all the PEP units in the clan upset. The humans working here were pleased when they saw it on the television. I made sure that the cyborgs got to work and stayed under the radar. They got working on producing and performing their music. Along with the songs they had did before this, they had enough for the first full albums for 6 Cs, Wild Child, Robot Strings. The albums were released, and they did pretty good. They broke the top 20 on the charts. In their specific genres, they were in the top 10. That was pretty respectable for a new studio. The local paper and TV news came to do some interviews again. We could not refuse them since it would be seen as very suspicious. We allowed them access to the lounge like last time. Quadrilaterals were not on the table. They were the most at risk. and they could get a sit down with any band they wanted. The local paper was more interested in Robot Stings.
For reasons I could totally understand, the TV station wanted to give another in-depth interview to 6 Cs. Pop music was just more popular. They all were watched just as closely as the last time to make sure that they were not going to do anything really stupid. A reporter chuckled and said "With all this security, you would think there was something to hide." This was not a time we could be lax on security. If they did anything that might give them a single clue that they were PEP units, we were going to kill them. Obviously, the topic of the death of the mayor and the recent killings. They gave standard non answers about it. The reporters tried to press them for more. "Is that all you think about it? Surely, the PEP menace has to come to an end as soon as possible?" the reporter talking to Robot Strings probed. Kim said "All violence is pretty horrible. I have been trying my best to focus on my music to get out of the negative headspace." "It's something we just have to deal with in today's world." Simon added on. 6 C's were more provocative. Cole said he was used to violence. Cody did not care.
