"Heh heh, are girls all you could manage?"  The sneer made Bryon grit his teeth.  Mer grinned, took her baton and smashed his knee. That was something she learned on the streets.

"The biggest men can still go down if they can't walk." Mer said as he cried out and crumpled to the ground. The rich father, Bryon Fisker, smiled as the bastard fell. Mer didn't wait for him to recover, or get his anger to help out. She took the baton and smashed it down on the closest shoulder. Brit took hers, and with unfamiliar strength, she crushed his other one.

"Argh!" He cried out and fell. He couldn't lift his arms now, but he tried so he could protect himself. Jana moved in and smashed her baton down on his other leg, right on the calf.

"Legs aren't fully broken, girls." Mer said sadistically. Bryon nodded, with a grin on his face as the others moved in and pummeled his thighs several times. They did the same to his forearms. Mer opened her bag, took out a serrated blade meant for meat.

"No! No!" He yelled, but Leen took the blade, cut open his jeans and clucked her tongue.

"No wonder she wasn't satisfied." Bryon was really happy when he heard that, and though he cringed, he also relished in the screams. Mer took out the collar.

"This will clamp onto his neck, and push into his spine, as well as his brain. Not only will it scramble what's left, it will download his memories, and scan them to find out if anyone hired him to hurt her, if he had help at any time, or he was just a sick fuck." Mer clamped it onto his neck, then clicked the button.

"Hrckkkkk." Bryon Fisker thought he had heard some awful sounds, but the look in the abuser's eyes, as well as the noise of the prongs drilled through bone turned his stomach a bit. The body shuddered, tensed, and went limp. Leen then took her meat knife and cut off his head.

"The quick answer is he was a moron with a small dick, and could only use his muscle to intimidate and keep a girl around." Mer checked her phone. "The boss will comb through the remaining, empty his accounts, and have him turned into animal feed." Leen took off the collar, while Mer frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"The boss says that Mr. Fisker booked a trip for his wife, himself, and his daughter. Must be a vacation to get her away from that freak. Since he's taken care of..." She looked at him carefully. "If you want to leave your girl at home, we'll make sure she's protected while you and your wife go relax. You can discuss with her, and decide."

"You've given me what I'm paying for. It was professional, and well handled. I'll talk to her, and if she wants to stay, I'll throw in a few grand for the job to make sure she stays healthy. In the meantime, I should pick her up, and take her home so her mother stops worrying." He said, the relief now obvious as the tension appeared to have already bled away from his shoulders.

"We'll stay here, and send a message to the girls to let them know you're coming around to pick her up."

* * *

"Even if you beg, not tonight, Jia." Even when she pouted, and he was weak to that, Bryon stayed firm. "Your mom will be more relieved when she sees how relaxed you are." Kata came over.

"Jia, you should go home and talk to your mom. If I had one who looked out for me as much as yours does, I wouldn't be out here. Go home, and sleep in your own bed. If she's fine with it, you can stay while they are on their vacation." Jia pouted, but finally sighed.

"I guess so. He's finally gone?"

"Yes." Bryon said with a smile. "He won't bother you again." Jia sighed and left with her father. Kata groaned, and felt her friend slap her muscled shoulder.

"Did something happen while we were gone?" Mer asked with a smirk.

"She gives real good head." Kata said reluctantly. "We hoped she could stay the night, to have some fun with."

"The boss already suggested he leave her with us for protection so they can have a couple's vacation. It's up to Jia to convince them. For now, we have another twenty grand coming to us." Brit grinned wide at Mer's words, and so did the rest. "Though we aren't rich, we have enough funds to stay warm, buy food, and buy clothes." Brit sighed.

"The first winter we've ever been able to say that. Boss has been good to us."  Brit looked around, appeared to come to a decision, and spoke.  "Any of you feel...odd lately?" Brit asked. Mer lifted an eyebrow. "Not sick. I've been unusually healthy lately. Stronger, faster. My muscles are leaner and firmer. I move faster. I don't think I could have smashed that guy's bones before, even with a steel baton.  At most, he would have been heavily bruised. This time..." Mer nodded slowly.

"Like his bones were brittle." The phone vibrated. Mer looked down at the phone, and sighed a bit.

"The boss wants to see us. Apparently, now that we've noticed, she'll explain the reason why."

 * * *

"Boss, why did you come to see us? We..." Aya held up a hand.

"This is your ground now. When you're in your own territory, you will feel some sense of comfort." Aya explained. She kept the hood on though. "I will tell you why you feel stronger, and faster, but some of you will also realize something else you're better at."

"I read faster." Leen said quickly. "And I am better at math." Aya nodded.

"You may believe some things to be different then what they are. One of those things is the date. December. Twenty fifteen." Mer's eye twitched. "I saw you freezing, starving, dying. I didn't want that, and I needed people. I took you, and brought you into my lab. I worked on you, and enhanced you." Mer stood up.

"Enhanced. That's how I feel." Mer said, and her eyes looked intense.

"The most vulnerable part of a person's body is at the base of the skull. The C1 and C2 vertebrae. One hard twist, things go bad, and you're either paralyzed, or in a hell that your body keeps you in. I replaced those two with an armored titanium alloy set that also acts as an interface into the brain. With that interface, and basic processing chips, along with a communications chip, you can do more things." She watched their eyes, saw the shock, and the concern. One was angry, but Mer was not. She already figured something out.

"This cost a fortune, didn't it?" Mer said quietly.

"Approximately two million per person." Even Brit, who was extremely angry became boneless, and senseless.

"You spent that much on us?" Leen asked, and not in a low voice.

"You are my people."  She let that sink in.  "These aren't prototypes, but first generation, and therefore, they are immensely expensive. I only gave the basics, but that is a foundation that can be built upon. The basic processing chip is ready to be engaged, as is the communications chip. They can also be upgraded. In the future, if you so wish..." Aya picked up one of their batons, and bent it in her hands. "you can be enhanced to a higher level." Brit stood up.

"Holy shit! But two million for each of us, to this point, already sounds insane! Further enhancements? Better chips? What will those kinds of things cost?" Aya grinned.

"Money is nothing to me. I make it hand over fist. What is important is a currency that few have, but your group has in abundance. Loyalty. Your loyalty to your people, your family, is what caught my interest." Aya stared hard at Mer, and waited. As she expected, Mer quickly grasped a subtle detail.

"There is a catch, isn't there?"