Joey pushed aside some of the parts cluttering his counter and dropped the heavy knapsack on top with an audible<span style="font-style: italic">thump</span>, followed by an aftershock of dreck.  She wrinkled her nose, but said nothing to the shopkeeper.  She didn’t expect him to see many customers in a day, after all, considering his competition in this district.  She gave him credit where it was due, at least, he did take care to dress well.  He was lanky, and smart-looking, but she thought his shop could use a woman’s touch.  Honestly men had little regard for the power of appearances.<br/><br/>She was here on business, she reminded herself.  Joey brushed the peach fringe from her eyes and proceeded to unzip the pack, extracting just one of the cores and holding it in front of her.  His interest wasn’t lost on her, but she knew how to squeeze a good bit of coin out of a buyer, and it involved maintaining the appearance that she knew what it was worth and wouldn’t settle for less.  Joey held it rather nonchalantly, twirling it in her hand and pretending to scrutinise the item.  She knew his eyes were on it.<br/><br/>“Most powerful model on the market, eight chambers,” she tossed the core for him to catch.  “Unused, I assume.” Jo leaned back on one of the holding racks awaiting his own appraisal.  The rack was not as sturdy as she predicted, and collapsed under her weight.  Jo caught most of it and set it back in its place, avoiding eye contact while she brushed the dust off of her legs. Something on the rack caught her eye in doing so.<br/><br/>“Is that a… no<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-style: italic">way</span></span>,” Joey picked it up, unable to mask her excitement, “They don’t even make these anymore!”  The object was an accessory, at first appearing to be a simple black choker.  She clipped it around her neck, then turned one of the dials on the buckle.<br/><br/>“One small step for man, and a giant leap for mankind,” she narrated, her voice emerging much deeper and decidedly male.  These vocal adjusters were originally intended as a gag for entertainment, but when they began getting used for criminal purposes, further production was outlawed.  The few still around were either kept or broken.  They were a rare discovery these days, so Joey wondered how it ended up in a shop like this.  She smiled inwardly, pleased at her finding, then cleared her throat.  Back to business.  “So, interested?”