Under the circumstances, I could not blame him for having reservations. "Sorry. That was really insensitive of me." I said. He reluctantly nodded and said "It's okay. I'm just... a bit nervous." Sparks was still pretty bent out of shape. It was apparently something that could tank morale. I sighed and said "Well, they are going to be gone for weeks. In the meantime, we have a job to do. We also have to be careful around the syndicate goons. They could strike at any moment." Spark looked off to the side nervously. "I came over because I was hoping you'd help me with a mission. There is a firefighter that is getting too close to the library. I have to eliminate him." I nodded happily. "Of course we can do it together. How do you want to do it? Do you want to go in guns blazing? How about a sneaky assassination? We could even use your X-frame." He lit up at that. He had the XF-09M model. The color scheme was a bright orange biometal with yellow accents. The head was canine with a long snout and ears on top. A jet of radioactive sludge could fire from the mouth. I liked it. His chest puffed up.
Catching the look of pride as he sank into the back of the X-frame was nice to see. He then stood up and we got to the lab where the weapons were. I got him a riffle that had bullets that penetrated armor better. "Thank you. If I use this, I'll be able to kill him easily." he said. There was a secret exit for the X-frames. We used it and appeared on the outskirts of the town. "Follow me. I know where he is." he said. He hurried along and jumped to the top of a building. I had to run 3 blocks. There were people shopping inside this store, so I ducked out. I had to put on my mask to disguise myself. I ran in and climbed my way up the stairs. People saw me do this. I had no doubt they were going to call the police on us. Once I got on the roof, I saw sparks laying down with the rifle. He was lining up a shot. "I was waiting. Should I take the shot?" he asked. I nodded and said "If you have the feel for the wind and angle, shoot when you feel ready." He turned his eyes back to the gun. A few seconds passed before he pulled the trigger. "Target eliminated." he said. We escaped using his big X-frame.
As we added more PEP units to the clan and payroll, the clan grew in power and prestige as they got the sexual upgrades and the X-frames. There were now 10 cyborgs that were part of the clan. They were a well-supplied and accomplished group. Many of them had taken part in high profile tasks with no problems. That meant that they were pretty great for what were supposed to just be grunts and low-level units. When a stereotypical jock, complete with a backwards cap, muscle shirt and shorts, came to the depot, I knew something was going to happen. He asked to speak to the ones in charge. We took him into the same room we spoke to the officials in. Once we closed the doors and sat down, he introduced himself. "My Primitive Exploration Prototype designation is PEP-02109. I have something to say." he said. "You have a name?" Brett asked. "Nope." he said proudly. I wondered if this was some sort of joke. It was not like he was a local. One of us would have seen him around. "Why don't you have a name?" Brett asked. "Because I don't need it. Names are for humans." he said.
Keeping our cool was needed. We already knew that he was a PEP unit. With how low the model number was, it was safe to say that he was pretty high in his specs. As a group of non-cyborgs, we needed to figure out what to do about this. "What do you want?" Paul asked. "You've been taking care of the grunts in this town. That's good to see, but don't you think that your stockpile would better serve other clans and such?" the cyborg said. I said "If you want to have an alliance, you need to give us some information. Are you a clan leader or technician? If so, we can talk." He smirked and said "I'm the leader of the Volition Clan. We run a volleyball and fitness gym down by the beach. I have 10 subordinates whose designations range between 03452 and 04992. They are much more worthy of the stuff you have compared to you guys." That struck a nerve, but we were listening. "What will you do for us?" Brett asked. He leaned closer and said "We're stronger, faster and better. With all the tech and weapons that you have, we'll solve any problem you have." We asked him how. He just smirked.
