The Dark Edge Chronicles - Hardwire

Braddox

The mineral water arrived and was half done by the time the door abruptly swung open to reveal Braddox and almost a dozen of his hard softwire companions, each looking as dangerous as a ravenous wolf.  Mordecai smiled slightly, straightening in the booth.  'Here we go,' he thought grimly, subtly gathering as much power as he could without dropping the temperature to noticeable levels.

While most wireheads had the ability to draw from their own internal energy resources to generate the required EM fields to do their work, more powerful psionics also utilized the laws of Thermodynamics to enhance the energy gathered from their bodies by drawing ambient energy from the environment around them. 

The more powerful the psionic, the easier they could draw ambient energy.  In response, and according to the thermodynamic laws, removing energy from a system increased order and decreased entropy.  A drop in temperature reflected increasing order.  And so, when energy was drawn from the air, there often was a noticeable drop in the temperature.

It didn't take the big mover long to spot the man in black, almost out of place with his leather jacket as the powerful Mordecai casually looked in Braddox's direction.  The Brotherhood softwire's face imperceptibly tightened before he was sweeping forward without a word or a look to Clyve, the maitre d' nervously dry washing his hands.  The movers and burners that had come in behind him, quickly spread out to surround the booth, taking strategic positions all over the room.  Much to the bartender's chagrin.

"Hey, what's going on here, Braddox?" the wiry man said, nervously wiping his hands on a white apron tied about his narrow waist.  "You know the rules about fighting in the bar.  You don't want me calling Ms. Tanner about this."

Braddox tore his eyes away from Mordecai's suntanned face just long enough to glare hotly at the slender man.

"This is Brotherhood business, Curly," he hissed tightly and the bartender's face blanched, as the bar's other patrons began to look around nervously.  "You'll keep yourself and Ms. Tanner clear of it.  Understand?"

"Perfectly, Mr. Braddox," Curly replied, swallowing heavily before running longer fingers through his close cut hair.  He then tugged his bow tie straight and studiously began to ignore the Brotherhood muscle that had abruptly taken control of his establishment.

Braddox dropped into the booth directly opposite Mordecai without asking before leaning forward, a hard expression on his face.

"Won't you join me?"  Mordecai managed to say with a slight smile before the big mover had a chance to speak, making Braddox's frown darken.

"My driver says that you claim to be some friend of mine,"  Braddox bit out, cutting quickly to the point as he ignored Mordecai's attempt at pleasantry.  "Yet you drop an insinuation that you were present at the airport when our men were taken out."  The dark eyes narrowed.

"Of course I've never seen you before in my life.  So, who exactly are you, Mr. Martin O'Hara and why shouldn't I kill you right where you're sitting?"

"A good question."  Mordecai's smile thinned.  "And one worthy of a man that appears to be as well-educated and cultured as you are.  Unexpected for a gangster."

"Gangster?"  Braddox grated tightly.

"Oh, I've seen your little network all over the city.  And neatly out of sight of the Normals.  It would appear that your ... 'Brotherhood' has decided to take on territory normally reserved for organized crime.  Prostitution, racketeering, money laundering, drug smuggling ... you know, gangster stuff."  His smile faded even further.  "Therefore, logically speaking, that would make you and yours gangsters."

For a moment Braddox fell silent, his face darkening as he kept his rage in check.  Then abruptly he threw back his close shorn head and barked out a loud roar of laughter.  Mordecai's smile warmed slightly as he calmly folded his arms over his chest and watched as Braddox continued to laugh, an almost mirthless sound that only made his henchmen shift nervously.