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Chapter 12: Rock-a-bye baby.

I wake up in a cradle. It's a metal chair that humans have used for decades as a way of interacting with advanced computers. A series of white squares beset with blinking lights run down my arms and my chest tracking the path of my central nervous system, and even as I slowly come to a pair of white robotic arms descend from a white ceiling to pick the squares carefully of my skin as the simulation ends. 

My arms are bound by metal shackles to the bed.

Slowly the bed begins to move forwards, shifting me from lying on my back to standing me back up. The shackles recede smoothly and soundlessly into the table, disappearing without a trace into the smooth white plastic of the bed. 

Gently assisted by the cradle, I got slightly unsteadily to my feet. I stood in the pristine white room for a moment, squinting slightly in the bright light.

'Did you chose the colours in here Vale? Have you ever even heard of interior design? It looks like heavens waiting room in here.' My words were quickly lost to the featureless, slightly curved, almost organic looking walls. 

For a second I thought she hadn't heard me. 

Pressure suddenly registered under my arms as the pair of arms in the ceiling picked me up, my feet dangling over the floor as they lifted me bodily across the room. 

The rooms doors slide apart with a smooth 'Swishhhh' of moving air. The pressure under my arms remained in place. We sped through several equally white corridors and door until a blast of slightly smelly,  wonderfully unsanitised humanity assailed my nostrils as the final door between the AI's lair and the station outside opened. 

The arms chucked me out the door. 

I landed with a thud in a muddy puddle. 'Hey!' I yelled angrily at the pair of arms still hovering in the open white door. 'I came here with two shoes!'

My other boot landed in the puddle beside me, splashing me with yet more muddy water. 'And my wallet!'

There was a pause for a moment. Then my gun sped out of the doorway, propelled by mechanical hands and hit me square in the face. 'Agh! You bitch!' I held my nose in anguish and glared at the pair of arms. 

The doors mercifully slid shut, protecting the AI's delicate ears from the rest of my barrage of profanity. It had been worth a shot.

I don't actually own a wallet. 

I got to my feet and glumly regarded the sealed door for a moment. Well, this was a pickle. I thought for a second, then turned and walked down the street towards civilisation. Time to find Abby. 

*

Now Abby, when in sulk mode, could be found at any one of three locations which were as follows:

1). The Boatsman: A extremely dodgy bar that sold cheap booze, and didn't mind awfully much if its patrons indulged in the odd harmless bar fight.

2). Serenity: I mean... The easy way to describe this place is to say its a brothel. But really it's a place that defies much categorization. Staffed by an elite guild of women simply known as 'Delegates' only a select few are allowed to enter the Guild. Each Delegate is a counsellor, a spiritual advisor, a sexual partner and therapist all rolled into one and can be any or all of those depending on what their chosen partners require. Oh, and it goes without saying - you need to be rich. Like, dirty rich.

3). The least likely place of all... Her ex's girlfriends house. 

Well, I always like to start at the bottom of the list.