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Emerald Drifter
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I accept the gun and check that it’s loaded. When I click the safety off, Ne starts to laugh again.
“Hey, don’t be an idiot, L-“
I pull the hammer back and his giggle dies in his throat. I point it at his gut instead of his head, loose and casual. “You fucked up, Ne. Chidori and Nanako are the ones who sent me.”
“Hey. Lowry. Come on.” He stumbles back against his mattress, one hand up. “Come on. Let’s not, uh, let’s not do anything stupid, right?”
“Tell me who set this up, Ne.”
“Man, I don’t know! It was all via email! You think I actually like, meet people in a coffeeshop somewhere?” He holds up both hands, making his mouths talk to each other. “OH YEAH I’D LIKE SOME CONTRABAND PLEASE sure thing, buddy, lemme just write that down on a napkin GEE THANKS NE YOU’RE A REAL WINNER thanks thanks I sure do try –“
“I’m gonna wanna Take the emails to show them.”
“Lowry, you can’t, okay? If they find out I helped whoever it was out with this, they’re gonna kill me,” Ne whines. “We’ve been friends for a long time, yeah? We been buddies?”
“Not so much.”
“Hey. Hey, listen. I, uh – I got something you’re gonna be real interested in,” he stammers out. “You, uh, you know memories are a real big market, right? You do it right, the person doesn’t even know it’s gone, and there’s a lotta, uh, a lotta weirdos who collect stuff like that, so they’re easy to sell … I was buying bulk from a guy and uh, I was lookin’ through ‘em, and I found something you probably are gonna want.”
I nod for him to continue. He starts to giggle again, thin and high-pitched. “Four memories, yeah? Four that belong to you. You tell the Sukebun I didn’t plan any of this, that I wasn’t really involved all that much – you get ‘em to leave me alone – and I’ll give ‘em all back.”
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