I told them about Niko and Keith as they were the other clan leaders. I did not talk about their appearance or where they lived. That would put them in too much danger. It was best to be vague. When they listened to me and stopped to let it sink in, we looked at each other across the table. They said "We obviously can't let the Conqueror faction win. However, the Researcher faction concerns me. What exactly are they doing?" I shrugged. "There are 3 clans in the faction out of 13. I'm sure that they are each doing something different. Cold clan leads this region and we don't get lots of communication down because we have human officers. I know Erosion Clan seems to be researching the human body in Nova City. They are our allies and they are not malicious towards humans. I'm not sure what Magnetic Clan is doing." I said honestly. "We know that there are cyborgs that actively want to work with us in peace. Can you tell us about those?" There was nothing to tell. I did not know where their hubs were or much about them. After the Next Stage I had not seen them. "Not my faction."
They took it for what it was. I was already given so much free information away. Like where the Water and Toxic transmission hubs were. That would screw them. They asked where the other hubs were. I just shook my head. "We don't know if you guys are trust worthy. For all I know, you could run to the other 6 people we need to talk to and then bring death squads to our doorsteps tomorrow." They narrowed their eyes. "This not a game! I know that you are human. Don't you care if people die!" Marion snapped. "I am also a clan engineer. I will care greatly if my clanmates die." I shot back. Marion rolled his eyes. Nancy put an arm on her cousins shoulder. "Who are the other 6 people?" she asked me. I plopped the binder down in front of me. "Here. These were gathered by Cold Clan when they gave my clan the assignment to kill you all. I talked them out of it. For now, at least. Hopefully, you get out of our hair and region now." I told them as I slid it over. They flipped through it all and their expressions grew dim. Cold Clan was very thorough with all of this. It really had everything in there.
Finished, I looked at their stunned faces. "There. Fuck you guys." I said. "Let me get this straight. You and your fellow officers know how to hack the AEP units, have a whole building dedicated to reconnaissance and a single self destruction cleared a 3 block radius?" Nancy said with narrowed eyes. "That is a lot to swallow." Marion added. I scoffed. "Get back to Stretch and Sky. I sub contracted this work to them for a damn reason and I'm pissed off now. You're not getting anything more off of me." I gave them the silent treatment for 5 minutes before they moved on. They then went back to Stretch and Sky. They continued talking for 15 minutes. They then came back to me. "I'm not talking anymore. This is their job. I just suck at blending in." I said. "We get that. They confirmed half of what you said, but it seems they are a bit... sheltered." I rolled my eyes. "What? You don't have sympathy for a first field mission? Heartless." I said with a smirk. Marion dropped his fist into the opposite palm. "So that's it. I can give them a pass, but man, do they need work. A restaurant sit down's easy."
