Day 12

[from Project Nero]

Usually, when Nero entered Forza's garage, rock or metal music would be blaring out at high volume, and Nero would have to either shout over the top of it or just simply shut off the stereo in order to make himself known. On this occasion, however, he was surprised and rather amused to find Forza quietly singing along to Christina Aguilera of all things. Rather than interrupt, Nero silently took out his phone and began to record to unsuspecting mechanic.

It took Forza a full thirty seconds to realize he was being filmed. When he did, he immediately exclaimed, "Fuck!" and quickly switched the stereo off, while Nero chuckled and stopped the recording. "You upload that and I'll turn you in," he snapped, his anger covering his embarrassment.

"Oh, yeah, just you try it," said Nero with a grin.

"You threatening me?" asked Forza, who couldn't help grinning back.

"You threatened me first," Nero pointed out.

This gave Forza pause for thought. "Alright, you got me there," he admitted. "But you better be deleting that."

"I already deleted it," said Nero reassuringly, as he quietly mailed the footage to Summer.

"Good," said the oblivious mechanic. "And if anyone asks, I'll tell 'em it was System of a Down."

"Gotcha," said Nero, sliding his phone back into its wrist-mounted case now that the damage had been done. "Just out of interest, why were you listening to that, much less singing it?"

"I dunno," said Forza, shrugging, "I was just listening to the radio, it came on, and…it's catchy, alright? Now, are you actually here for some reason, or just to poke fun at me?"

As they got down to business, Nero's expression grew more serious, and Forza started to calm down. "I need your black market contacts," said Nero. "Well… Alexis, Carmen and I need them."

"What for, man?" asked Forza, heading over to his computer.

"We're raiding another cartel base in Santa Lupe," said Nero. "We're gonna need a few things for our attack."

"Like what?" asked Forza.

"Well, first, we're gonna need an attack helicopter-"

"Whoa, whoa…seriously?! A freaking attack helicopter?! With machine guns and missiles and shit?"

"Missiles might be a bit excessive," admitted Nero, "but yes, an attack helicopter with miniguns. Sec-"

"Okay, first of all," Forze interrupted, "it's gonna be pretty hard to get hold of one of those, and if I can, it's gonna be damned expensive. You're paying for all this, right?"

"Of course," said Nero.

"Great," said Forza. So yeah, no promises. But if I do get hold of one, when you go flying in on it, you better be blaring Ride of the Valkyries at full blast."

"Hell no; I'll be blasting your sweet cover of Christina Aguilera," joked Nero.

"I knew you didn’t delete that!" exclaimed Forza, lunging for the phone. "Give it here!"

"Alright, alright," said Nero, holding him off, "I'm deleting it, for real this time. See?" He held the phone up so Forza could see him deleting it.

Forza, not knowing it had already been shared, retreated back to his computer, safe in the knowledge that the embarrassing footage was gone forever. "Alright," he said, calming down again. "What else?"

"Alexis wants a sniper rifle. At least fifty rounds of ammunition, as well. She wants some tracer ammo as well, but I'm not sure that's a good idea; it'll give her position away."

"I'm pretty sure you can get tracer ammo where the trail only appears after the bullet's travelled a certain distance," said Forza. "That's probably the kind she's after. I'll put in an order for that, then."

"Oh, okay then," said Nero. "I don't pretend to be an expert on guns, so… anyway, the last thing I'll need is some high explosives. Enough to blow up a whole complex. You might have to split that order up so it doesn't look suspicious."

"Why not just get some missiles for the helicopter, like I suggested?" asked Forza. "Those'll do the job, and they'll look pretty damn cool."

Nero shrugged his shoulders in agreement. "Okay, missiles it is," he said.

"Alright, I've got all of that down," said Forza. "I'll get in touch with my contacts and see what I can get you. Again, no promises on the attack helicopter, but I'll do my best."

"Okay, thanks, man," said Nero, smiling appreciatively. "Let me know once you have them, and I'll send you the money."

"Will do," said Forza. "That everything?"

"I think so," said Nero. "Okay, I'll see you around, then."

"See ya, man," said Forza, as Nero headed off.

***

"God dammit, Nero, I thought you deleted that video!"

Nero chuckled as Forza's voice barked through the phone at him, easily audible even over the helicopter blades. "You mean the Christina Aguilera one? I did."

"Then what the hell's it doing on YouTube?!" he asked angrily.

"It's on YouTube?" repeated Nero, chuckling even more. "Oh geez…Summer must have uploaded it-"

"You showed it to Summer?!!" Forza was indignant.

"Yeah," admitted Nero. "I didn't think she'd put it on YouTube, though-"

"It's not funny, man!" snapped Forza.

At this point, Nero was laughing so hard he had to take a moment to try and calm himself down before speaking again. "How m…how many views has it gotten?"

"Thirty-seven, but that's not the point!" said Forza. "You're violating my trust, man! How'd you like it if I violated your trust?"

"Alright, okay, I'm sorry," said Nero, finally managing to stop laughing. "I'll get her to take it down as soon as I can."

"Why, what are you doing now?" There was a pause, then: "Wait, are you in a helicopter?"

"Yep," said Nero.

"The helicopter?"

"Yep," said Nero.

"Are you on your way to the-"

"On the way back, actually," said Nero.

"Did you blast Ride of the Valkyries?" asked Forza suddenly.

Nero's response was to turn back towards Alexis and shout, "Turn the stereo back on," pointing at the phone to indicate why. Silently, Alexis complied, and the iconic tune filled the helicopter once more. Even with the music blaring, and the blades whirring loudly, Nero could still hear Forza cheering in delight. "Am I forgiven?" Nero shouted down the phone.

"Are you what?" came the reply.

"I said, am I forgiven?" asked Nero, a little louder.

"Hell yeah you're forgiven!" yelled Forza. The line fell silent for a while, allowing the pair to appreciate the moment, Nero watching through the still-open door of the helicopter as the sun slowly sank beneath the shimmering horizon.