Aaron grunted as he drank his fourth glass of beer. "Have a seat."
His cellphone rang. He scowled as he read that his boss was calling.
"Boss," he said, over the breakbeat that boomed from the speakers. "I'm still on break."
"Aaron, you can stay there."
The man's heart sank and his ears splayed back as he involuntarily bared his teeth. "What happened?"
"I'm sorry but, we're going to lay you off."
"What the f--- do you mean!?" His outburst attracted several stares from the patrons.
"It's just that we have someone who can do your job better. Name's Gustave Nyobe. Demands a high wage but the guy's astoundingly strong ó metal reinforced skeleton and class 2 limbs."
"You hired a f---ing gleamer to take my job!?" Several hostile stares ó from both the Augments and Baselines were shot Aaron's way at his casual use of the slur.
"Aaron, if you'll take a few courses in augment maintenence ó at your own expense, though we'll reimburse some of the cost ó we'll hire you as an external augment repair tech."
The German Shepherd's mouth was open in a snarl and his ears were pinned fully against his head. "F--- you! I'm not working with them!" he growled. "I quit!" He snapped the phone shut.
He ordered another beer and turned to the man. "Dumbass decided to fire me and replace me with an Augment. The nerve of that bastard!"
----------------
Taking Axel's words into consideration, Soren parked in a side street of his development and shut the engine off.
He opened the trunk. "Okay, get out. I have some...business to attend to with those Purifier freaks!"
At the same time, he looked around for something he could use as a weapon. A discarded pill vial was by his foot. Scowling, he kicked it into the sewer. There wasn't much he could use, maybe a few discarded bottles, lumps of concrete or rusted rebar.
