Part 18 (1/2)
”Tasted good.”
”So, is there a problem?”
”I don't know,” the vid arcade owner replied. ”Is there?”
”Think we try cheat you?” Jak asked with a hint of annoyance, beginning to reach out for the thin piece of gold on the desk. ”Mebbe go elsewhere.”
Templeton moved incredibly fast for a fat man and s.n.a.t.c.hed up the gold. Dean knew Jak had purposely let him do sono one on Earth was faster than the long-haired albino when the teen put his mind to speed.
”h.e.l.l, boy. Nothing personal,” he protested. ”I think everybody under thirty tries to cheat my a.s.s. You wouldn't believe some of the kinds of counterfeit jack punks your age have tried to pa.s.s off on me. Thick or thin, coins or nuggets, paper currency or fake charge chits. I've seen more bootleg precious metals than you'll ever know. More fake jack floating around Freedom than the real thing.”
”What's your deal?” Dean asked.
”A good one. Your gold tastes right to my teeth and tongue, so I'll give you what you need.”
He took out two red lapel pinback b.u.t.tons and held them out to the waiting Jak and Dean. They took the offered pins and looked at them with puzzlement.
”Wear these at all times while in the arcade. If you lose your b.u.t.ton, you have to ante up for a new one. b.u.t.tons are coated with some chemical. I've got a sec screen that can read it. You won't be able to get in my arcade without wearing the pins, or an alarm goes off and you're escorted to the front to leave or to the back to pay.”
”What about the tokens?” Dean asked.
”I'm getting to them.” The man reached down to a silver device attached to his wide leather belt and pressed a thumb trigger rapidly, releasing a series of small, flat, round metal coins.
”Ten tokens each,” he said with a flourish.
”Bulls.h.i.+t.” Jak said, stressing each of the syllables.
The token salesman shook his head. ”There you go again. You albinos make it h.e.l.l to do business with any sort of wit.”
”Want twenty,” Jak said, gesturing to himself and Dean. ”Each.”
”Don't try and rogue us, mister,” Dean added, wanting to know where Jak was going with his request to double the deal, since he knew they'd already decided that an offer of ten tokens and members.h.i.+p was fair.
The larger man shook his head with a pained expression. ”d.a.m.n. A haggler. Christ save us all from hagglers. Okay. Fifteen. Each.”
Dean glanced over at his friend, ready to back the play if things went south.
”Eighteen,” Jak countered.
Templeton looked as though he were about to succ.u.mb to a heart attack. ”G.o.dd.a.m.n, boy, this ain't no roadside carny! Things are more cut-and-dried here! You want deals, go to a ville flea market! Find a street peddler! Dig in the graveyards! But don't ha.s.sle me with trying to skim a better deal than retail price!”
Jak didn't reply. He just waited.
Dean decided to play along. ”When he gets like this, mister, he'd rather cheat himself out of having a good time than spend extra jack on entertainment he thinks is a rip-off.”
”No refunds,” Templeton said icily, wrapping his hand around the gold.
”What you think.” Jak allowed himself to smile a feral smile, his lips peeling back and revealing his sharp canine teeth.
The owner frowned. ”Seventeen. My final offer, otherwise we can get as nasty as you want to be, son.”
Jak turned off the evil disconcerting grin. ”Deal.”
”Excellent!” Templeton crowed, and thumbed the coin changer at his side rapidly, spitting out the rest of the needed tokens to activate the vid games.
Jak and Dean left they way they came and entered the arena of noise and light.
”Didn't know you knew how to haggle, Jak,” Dean said.
”Sure. What first?”
Dean looked around carefully. ”We wait.”
Jak shot him a look of sheer exasperation.
”Hang with me, Jak. If we play some of these games n.o.body else is on right now, we're wasting tokens. I got a theory. See, they're punk games. s.h.i.+t vids that regulars stay away from. I think the most popular games are the ones you have to wait a turn on.”
Jak nodded. ”Makes sense. Which one you want wait for?”
”That red-and-black game,” Dean said firmly. ”The one called Mortal Kombat.” Brack and Dex were playing MK. They had their backs to the two newest members of the arcade as they busily worked the joysticks and b.u.t.tons to the game Dean had pointed out.
”One of a.s.sholes from earlier messing with?” Jak asked.
”Uh huh.”
The albino grinned. ”All right.”
Dean and Jak stepped past Mortal Kombat and stood behind another game, but that one hadn't even earned a pa.s.sing glance from any of the young people in the busy arcade. The game was called s.p.a.ce Invaders, and even to Jak's untrained eye the unit's graphics and controls looked primitive.
”Rather wait for something good than rush into a bad game.” Dean said.
”Uh-huh,” Jak replied, tuning out the racket of the many games and voices as best he could, while thinking to himself that Doc's verbal jousting might not be so bad after all.
Chapter Eighteen.
Ryan hadn't been flat on his back more than five minutes when another knock came from the flimsy hotel door.
”Want me to get it, lover?” Krysty said sleepily.
”No, I'm on it.”
Ryan swung open the door, expecting to see Dean and Jak.
”Now what?” he said, his voice annoyed. Before him stood a freshly showered and shaved Doc.
”Ah, Ryan, might you be interested in joining me for a nightcap to celebrate today's victory of man over machine?”