When I thought the meeting was finally going to come to a close, someone decided to speak up.
"Who gives a damn? Mana ports won't do any good for us anyway. Half the tech we have is barely able to utilize the shit in the first place." A man with a bit of a robotic voice said with a loud enough tone for everyone to hear.
I looked around the room for the source of the voice and it didn't take very long to notice the guy in the distance. A man wearing a full black trench coat with a hood over his head, I could just barely see the silver mask peaking out from the hood.
"No need to shut the plan down Rezex. We have been planning this for awhile and know what can be done with it." Tess responded with a more serious tone to her voice.
Rezex. Sounds like an important name to remember for the time being since he doesn't seem to be on board with this. So we've got Pinky, Tess, Reika, and Rezex so far.
Seems like relatively easy names for me to remember, not that I really want to get to know all of them. My goal is quite clear.
Get strong enough to make my own gang and recruit enough people to take out the filth of the streets. But if I can make it possible without a bunch of people, that would make quite a difference.
Less resources would have to be used and people could be trained appropriately.
"Sure, let's stick with this plan. I look forward to working with a gang known for their reputation as highly skilled assassins." Rezex said sarcastically.
The rest of the room seemed to be quiet for the time being so that wasn't too bad, but this guy seems to be a dick. I can be a bit of an asshole myself a lot of the time but I know when someone is trying their hardest.
I felt a slight nudge against my shoulder. "Keep away from that guy. Rezex doesn't care about the others here, it's a miracle he's here." Pinky whispered while staring towards Rezex.
"I'll remember that as the days pass. Thanks for that." I replied with a genuine tone.
I didn't actually plan to stay away from a guy like that, I'd be dumb to do that. I'm willing to bet he's got some strong metal to him or else he wouldn't be talking like that.
People like him usually have a lot more to them, at least that's the experience I've had growing up.
He'll be the perfect person to get close to.
"Why are you smirking like a fool? Something funny about this whole thing?" Pinky questioned with a bit of an irritated tone.
"Nothing at all." I answered while quickly getting rid of my smile.
Right now I can't handle someone like Pinky so I wouldn't even think twice about getting on his bad side. Actually, keeping this whole gang on the right side would probably be the best approach.
They can be an ally in the future if I play my cards right. It'll be quite the journey moving forward, I can say that much for right now.
I sat around listening to them bicker for a little while longer until they finally finished up with the meeting. People left the room pretty quick but I noticed that a few people were still here.
Pinky, Rezex, Tess, Reika, and even the doc was still here.
"I'll leave you to the boss, good luck." Pinky said before walking away.
Reika was looking right at me with the same look of disgust from earlier... When we first officially met in the operation room. She still doesn't know my name though so I guess that's an advantage I have.
Of course she is walking over here as well now.
"You really want to stay, I'm surprised. Am I going to learn your name or not asshole?" Reika asked with a bit of an attitude.
"Zero. No need to be that way. I'll help out here since you guys did save my life." I answered with a calm tone.
"Maybe there is some hope for you. I see you got the clothes we left for you, you don't look like a street rat anymore." Reika said as she took notice of my clothes.
"Yeah. Yeah. Can you tell me what I'm going to be doing and maybe get me something to use? A netgun perhaps. Usually is a lot more effective than a basic pistol or rifle." I asked after pushing past her comment.
( Netgun - Slang term for a smart pistol.)
"Yeah, we can get you a netgun. Don't waste our time. You still haven't given me a name." She responded with an even more annoyed tone.
"I did. Zero is my name." I said with a serious tone.
"Okay 'Zero' let's get you a netgun." Reika replied while making air quotes with her hands.
I followed her out of the room after that so I could get a netgun, a weapon that would be a lot more effective than standard steel. Metal wasn't the only way of being strong in the city of Kairox, we also need something better than steel.
(Metal - Slang term for Augments/cybernetics.)
(Steel - Slang term for guns that don't have any special modifications to them.)
I haven't thought about my old name in a long time so I don't really think it matters. Zero is good enough for people like this or just people in general.
Even Renji got used to calling me Zero.
I'm hoping he is doing alright out there, maybe he isn't being a complete bitch since I disappeared. That's the hope at least... But Renji might not ever leave that behind.
He's always been the soft one when it came down to anything we dealt with. That's a big reason I couldn't do anything sooner.
"Well, here we are. Our armory." Reika said as she opened up the door.