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“Get him for me Tell him it’s Ephraim”

The Green just blinks at me

“Before I grow a beard”

“Keep up, pops Already called hiht temple where his neurolink went in His eyes narrow rebelliously “Told him a tinman aitin’”

A fewout the crack of the door leading to the back of his shop, where he does his repairs He catches randly, extending his arecko of a reen eyes enification lenses Bald headed In patched-up overalls without of the belt on his tiny hips Dullhis skull

“Ephraim, my dearest friend,” he says in a thin voice as he coa past the stacks of ht you gave Kobachi” He leans closer “I thought you were the Watchmen come back with cruelty on their minds Such nasty, nasty custo the severest discounts Sometimes they even demand…” His voice falters“…refunds”

“Refunds,” I say “The horror”

“I know I know But such times we live in No protection for the small-business owner Only taxes and extortion Such is to be expected from leaders who have never run a business!” He waves to a floating sign that says NO REFUNDS “But is it too much to ask for a literate militarized police?”

“At least they weren’t too upset about the shit knockoff lenses you repackaged in Sun Industries wrapping…”

He gasps “Repackage! Insidious accusation! And this, from a dear friend”

“More like insidious business practices Those lenses you fleeced me for scratched my cornea You’re as bad as Roduko”

“Roduko! How dare you” He sets his reedy hands on his hips and can’t find them because of the bulk of his tool belt, so he settles for crossing his ar Roduko is a two-bit Terran hustler without a kilobyte of consideration for his customer Profit Profit Profit They’re all the same”

“Irants or Silvers?”

“Either! Both! No care for being an institution in the Bazaar It’s all about what they can extract from their customers”

I senuinely amused at the small man He’s the most useless hustler I’ve ever met But somehow, someway, he’s reus resistant to any and all change Hell, I keep cooods I buy here are guaranteed to break after a week’s use Butelse in Hyperion is us like Kobachi Especially one that files off serial nuhost tech for fifty kilometers Even if the toys occasionally break