Zombie Survival System

Alexandre thought carefully about what the suited man had said about this counterfeit Pip-Boy functioning identically to a real one... except, of course, for the missing data collection features which were almost the entire reason counterfeits were made to begin with.

Alexandre was very attached to his anonymity. If he had a real Pip-Boy, higher-ups might be able to collect more data from him than he wanted simply through him using the device. Looking back on his actions during the Hunter Exam, Alexandre realized that he'd made a mistake by showing Omega that he had power far beyond what any candidate should have.

Therefore, Omega and others would be taking extra measures to learn what they could about Alexandre. Getting this counterfeit would be even more important now for the sake of staying under the radar than it would've been before Alexandre revealed his hand.

Alexandre opened his bag of cash. "You quoted me 40K, right?"

The man in the suit gave a greasy smile. "Sixty, actually."

Alexandre jerked his head up in shock. "What the hell do you mean 60K!? We agreed on forty!"

The man examined his perfectly manicured nails as he replied absently, "Yes, of course! But that quote was for a second-hand Pip-Boy. This one's brand new from the assembly line and carefully modified by our programmers to be free of any little thing a discerning gentleman such as yourself wouldn't want."

Alexandre snapped, "But that's not what I asked for! What the hell are you trying to pull here!? Sell me the one I wanted!"

The man in the suit shook his head, adding some false apology to his tone. "Unfortunately, that's not possible. These are terribly hard to come by, you see. There were simply no second-hand Pip-Boys available for us to cannibalize and turn into what you wanted. It was necessary for us to purchase a brand-new model and rip out its pretty guts to create what you needed. I suppose if you want to wait a few days we may be able to acquire a Pip-Boy from the corpse of a dead Hunter."

A mocking glint came into the suited man's eye. "Of course, Pip-Boys are personalized far more than with a simple serial number. The nanobots paired with the Aurora system and the original owner are quite unique indeed, and, as I said before, they're attached to equipment you'll need to get separately. That is, if you use a stolen Pip-Boy, the goons at Hunter Academy will surely find you out eventually. The donor device simply must come from a legitimate source, and right now that means we had to buy it outright. $60,000 is what you'll have to pay, I'm afraid."

Alexandre was astonished. This businessman was much craftier than he looked. Alexandre hadn't ever mentioned that he was enrolling in Hunter Academy. "And what makes you think I'm going to be a Hunter?" Alexandre asked carefully. "There's all sorts of bounty hunter work in the world where a scavenged Pip-Boy would work just fine."

The man in the suit rolled his eyes. "My good sir, may I remind you that we're in the Underground? Information is merely a commodity to be traded like any other. As a gesture of good faith, I'll be blunt: You were investigated to ensure you weren't one of Terra Corp's paralegal goons ready to serve me papers for violating IP law."

Alexandre crossed his arms. He couldn't argue with the logic. Indeed, the suited man would've been a fool if he hadn't investigated Alexandre. It was still a frustrating situation. "$20,000 is just far too much. Knock 10K off the extra fee and we'll call it even."

The man tapped his chin with a perfect finger. "10K off the extra? More like 10%. I can give you a $2,000 discount. The final cost is $58,000—take it or leave it."

Every word out of the man's mouth made Alexandre want to punch him more, and this final condescension pushed him to his breaking point. Alexandre's eyes flashed bright blue and he curled his hands into fists...

But then Alexandre took a long, deep breath, remembering where he was. It would be the stupidest thing he could possibly do to attack a vendor in the Underground—not unless he was willing to throw his life away.

So Alexandre simply zipped up his duffel bag full of money and left the Pip-Boy on the table. "Take it or leave it?" he repeated back coldly. "I'll take my leave, then."

But just as he turned around, the suited man sprang to his feet and called out, "Sir, wait! Um, you've passed my test, yes! I know you're definitely, absolutely serious and certainly not an undercover lawyer! I can lower the price by another 5K! We can go all the way down to $53,000!"

Alexandre paused and gave it a long moment's thought.

Then he turned and gave a bone-chilling smile, his eyes still a gleaming blue. "Alright," he said. "Deal."

As Alexandre handed over the money, the suited man said, "You're a hard bargainer, sir! You know, a new Pip-Boy is worth over $100,000! You're already saving a hell of a lot even at $60,000!"

'And yet,' Alexandre thought to himself, 'you were just trying to tell me you bought this thing new just to modify it for me... You sly dog, I wonder where this thing really came from.' But he said none of this, only taking the Pip-Boy in his hands and examining it. "You wasted your money on that investigation," he said while looking it over. "And here I thought business deals were about trust and honesty." He put careful emphasis on the word "honesty," staring the man directly in the eyes.

A bead of nervous sweat appeared on the perfect skin of the suited man's forehead. "Um, yes, but we must strive for maximum care and quality in all things! I assure you, in perfect honesty, that you're getting utmost quality."

Alexandre zipped up his duffel bag again. "For your sake, I hope you're right. If you've swindled me, not even the cartel will be able to protect you."

The suited man felt true fear ripple down his spine. He was used to dealing with the scum of the earth, with the worst society had to offer...

Somehow, this kid with the Hunter eyes but who wanted to avoid the notice of Hunters was in a deadly class of his own.