Bud had walked away, improbably unscratched, from his last 
job —decoy— with something like a thousand yuks in his 
pocket. He'd spent a third of it on new clothes, mostly black leather, another 
third of it on the blades, and was about to spend the last third at the mod 
parlor. You could get skull guns a lot cheaper, of course, but that would mean 
going over the Causeway to Shanghai and getting a back-alley job from some 
Coaster, and probably a nice bone infection in with the bargain, and he'd 
probably pick your pocket while he had you theezed. Besides, you could only get 
into a Shanghai if you were virgin. To cross the Causeway when you were already 
packing a skull gun, like Bud, you had to bribe the shit out of numerous 
Shanghai cops. There was no reason to economize here. Bud had a rich and 
boundless career ahead of him, vaulting up a hierarchy of extremely dangerous 
drug-related occupations for which decoy served as a paid audition of sorts. A 
start weapons system was a wise investment.