Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works; all other characters and worlds belong to their respective owners. I'm just playing with them.
Betad by Priapus, Beans
The Architect
Chapter 02: Edgerunners
Sitting in the Overseer's office, I allow myself to show just a hint of the panic that is running through me. I had hoped this was all bullshit, some prank by a netrunner with too much time and skill. If it were, I could have hunted them down and put a bullet through their eyes to fix this.
But it isn't. This is no prank, no game. This isn't the Corp testing my loyalty or some Netrunner with a grudge. I am now the proud owner of Vault 001, registered as the Overseer of the expansive underground vault.
As it stands, this Vault was designed to hold up to two hundred and fifty residents for hundreds of years. It has an incredibly advanced water production system, which I understand. That's the part that scares me the most. I can look at the near-alien technology that looks like nothing I've ever seen before and understand it all. I know how it was made, I know how it works. I know how to create more.
There's a section of the vault dedicated to Bioscience, where both the food and water are produced. It has incredibly advanced hydroponics farms that produce fruits and vegetables for the vault residents, and I understand it.
I am a talented person. I graduated with top grades from a very competitive Arasaka Academy. Even still, I should know so very little about Bioscience. My skills lie in combat and netrunning, not biology or the other sciences. And yet, the moment I examine any of this, my mind just… supplies the information.
I've used a skillshard before, downloading an entire course's worth of knowledge into my mind. Sometimes I needed skills for a job that I just didn't have and couldn't risk bringing someone else in to help. This doesn't feel the same. With skillshards, the information or proficiency doesn't feel like it's yours. It feels alien, your hands move with a practised ease that feels unnatural. This doesn't feel like that. Even with the information clearly coming from the databank Zero put in my head, it feels natural.
I'm becoming increasingly convinced that Zero is a rogue AI from beyond the Blackwall. Their skill at bypassing my defences is beyond human, not even the likes of Alt Cunningham or Spider Murphy would have had such an easy time. I'm not arrogant enough to put myself up on the same level as them and Bartmoss, but I am very good at my job. Sure, I'd lose to any of those three, but I'd at least put up a fight. Zero practically danced through my defences, laughed at my counter-attacks and installed a databank that is physically too big to fit onto my systems.
But that doesn't explain the vault. I've run a million tests, and this is no trick. I'm not being made to see this through a compromised optic. This isn't some braindance being played directly into my head to make me think it's real. This entire structure appeared in seconds, which is impossible.
Only, it can't be impossible because it happened, right in front of my eyes. The Vault is real. I am sitting in the Overseer's office, looking over a map and reports of a base that can't exist. Getting out of the comfy, genuine leather chair, I set off down the clean, brightly lit corridors of my new base. Zero was kind enough to leave me a storeroom full of supplies, and I have a variety of different workshops I can use.
I have an armoury with everything I need to make the weapons that came with this knowledge dump. I have a garage and a mechanics' workshop. A robotics lab. The previously mentioned Bioscience wing, along with the medical bay and an autodoc programmed to act as my Ripperdoc.
Heading down to the robotics lab, I feel my hand twitch towards my holstered pistol as one of the pale white figures turns to me. It looks like a Ken doll that hasn't been painted, nude, but with no real features beyond its eyebrowless face. No hair, leaving the bald plaster-white head on display.
This is a Second-Generation Institute Synth. It's also a death sentence if anyone finds out about it, because inside that humanoid machine is a very limited artificial intelligence. Netwatch would kill me and destroy every trace of this vault if they learnt of what Zero had casually left waiting for me in this place.
I have ten of them, all programmed for maintenance around the vault. I know how to make more, and the robotics lab has everything needed to program them for whatever needs I have. Every horror story about AI flashes through my mind, and a part of me considers going down to the Institute Reactor powering this place and overloading it to cause a meltdown and wipe the vault out.
But I remain a corpo at heart, and the possible benefits stop me from just blowing this place up and calling it a day. Heading to the terminal, I access it and set their duties, while also uploading a program into the vault security system to track them at all times and report any divergence from their duties. I have enough problems as it is without adding rogue synths onto my list.
This entire vault uses a different operating system, which will make hacking into it a pain in the ass for basically anyone who isn't me. To me, it feels as natural and normal as the system that is used worldwide. For anyone else, it'd be nigh incomprehensible. Either way, I need to improve the ICE on my vault and synths, just in case.
Watching the synths head off to complete their orders, I frown to myself before I head back to the Overseer's office. The tech at my fingertips is both awe-inspiring and worrying. There's a fucking teleportation array in the vault, that my databanks tell me was used by the Institute to deploy their courser synths to the wasteland. With its current range, I could teleport myself anywhere in the Eastern Badlands and at the edge of Santo Domingo, and then back into my vault, allowing me to move in and out without leaving a trail back to my vault.
Fucking teleportation.
The agent in me is thrilled by the concept because being able to teleport into high-security locations and then back out is a game-changer in the espionage business. I'll need to build relays to extend my range, which is risky because they won't be as well hidden or shielded as my vault, but the Biotechnica job could go a lot smoother if I can set up a relay near the underground research lab and bypass their security entirely.
But if word reaches Arasaka that I have teleportation tech, I'm fucked.
That's not even touching on the second biggest shock after the synths. This Vault comes with a G.E.C.K. unit. Better known as a Garden of Eden Creation Kit. I have the tech to turn the Badlands into a fertile utopia. Biotechnica would kill everyone within a fifty mile radius to get their hands on this.
Fuck the new fuel, if I gave this to Michiko or Hanako Arasaka, I'd rise to the top of the corpo ladder and Arasaka would crush Biotechnica under our heels. I wish I was naive enough to be willing to believe that it would end well for me. The higher you rise, the tighter the leash around your neck. I'd go from a mere intel asset to a keystone for Arasaka's Bioscience division, and that would come with immense wealth and a 24/7 guard, for my own protection, of course. I'd never take a piss without Arasaka knowing the volume and colour.
Going over the design plans I have access to, I find one that stands out. I have no desire to build myself a Pipboy, the clunky wrist-mounted device is basically useless to me… but one of the systems it has access to is not.
V.A.T.S., or the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System.
Well, I had been looking for a new set of cyberoptics to upgrade with. I need to test out this 'system' that I've been given, and what better way to do that than to make my own? My current optics have teleoptics, recording, low light and infrared vision. It's all rather basic, in truth. I think I can make something better than that.
Still, I could use some cyberware to scavenge for parts… sending a new work order, two of my synths head into the cave system to retrieve the bodies. I've taken over the cameras they had installed, and nobody has shown up since I cleared the place. I'll need to improve the cave system's security as well. As I proved earlier, a single corpo agent can bypass all the current security measures.
That said, I can't rely on harvesting Raffen Shivs like a scav with a semi-functioning moral compass. I'll need a supply of cyberware that doesn't come from my usual sources if I want to make my own. The parts here are useful, but they're not suited for making cyberware.
First things first, I need to start taking steps for the Biotechnica job. Jenkins is in full paranoia mode, and I should expect him to call up demanding to know what I've been doing and what I've achieved. If I can't give him an answer, he'll assume Abernathy has bought me, and then he'll try to neutralise me. I won't have things go to shit because Jenkins decided to micromanage. I might die, but I refuse to let it be someone as incompetent as Arthur Jenkins who takes me down.
So, despite being ordered not to use Arasaka assets, I need to use our usual sources to make sure that Jenkins can see that I'm working on the assignment, as ordered. The more he sees me doing, the less reason he'll have to go psycho and try to kill me out of paranoia that Abernathy has turned me.
Loading up my records on Sasha Yakovleva, I carefully read through them as I do my pre-job research and preparations. Daughter of Galina Valieva, a veteran who died due to neural degeneration. Sister of Stella Ramos, a member of NCPD. Her father is long dead. Nothing noteworthy there.
So, onto her crew and the job that went south. Maine is the head of a low-to-mid tier merc crew. Just a small-time player, trying to make it big. They've had a series of low-level jobs completed with few issues before Sasha went AWOL on them. She was one of their two netrunners, the second being Kiwi.
Kiwi, ex-child factory worker, was sold to a brothel as a joytoy. Suspected to have been the reason both the factory and the brothel burned down later. Possible anti-corporate alignment due to her past.
Dorio, Maine's input and part of the crew's muscle. Father was an athlete turned Animal, died in a shootout with the Voodoo Boys. Mother is a fairly successful athlete herself. Nothing of note.
Newest hire, a new runner to replace Sasha. Simply known as Lucy. No second name, no record at all. Someone has gone to great lengths to erase her past. Possibly Lucy herself. Allegedly a genius netrunner, Kiwi brought her into the crew. They've enjoyed a boost in success since she joined them. Interesting. I dislike working with unknown elements, but her skills seem legitimate. I'll look into her a little more and see what I can dig up.
Finally, a pair of siblings, Pilar and Rebecca. Children of a far more successful merc, Papa Sunrise, who is currently missing and presumed dead. Pilar is a crude techie, and Rebecca is an unhinged solo. Rebecca is responsible for over half of the crew's complications, often employing excessive violence on the job or simply ignoring the actual objective to do whatever she feels like at the time. She's dropped jobs on bouts of empathy that seem out of place on a girl who uses violence as the answer to every question. An unpredictable asset. Worth keeping an eye on if things go as planned. Outspoken anti-corp sentiments and a violent personality. She could attack me even if it isn't logical or against Maine's wishes.
If Maine was wise, he'd have dropped the pair by now. Their skills don't make up for the trouble they cause. The fact that he hasn't tells me he cares for his crew too much. I can use that. He thinks Sasha is dead, but the shard Jenkins gave me has proof of her being alive in the Biotechnica research site. It isn't recent, but it proves that Biotechnica took her captive after the job. If he's the type to see his crew as family, then he'll want to rescue her but he also seems realistic enough to know that his crew can't take on the higher-risk jobs.
Most mercs mistrust corpos, and for good reason. We see them as expendable, and they know it. If I hire them to aid in the job, the smart thing to do would be to refuse. I'm counting on Maine not doing the smart thing. Emotional attachments are dangerous for exactly this reason. They're exploitable.
Going over my contacts, I make the call.
"Seiji. I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon," Faraday says as he answers the call almost immediately. Faraday is a minor fixer working in Santa Domingo, with delusions of grandeur. He used to have Militech connections which he used to send mercs to cause problems for Arasaka, but Counter Intel took care of that. Getting him to defect was not particularly difficult, especially after sabotaging several jobs he had set up for Militech to make him look incompetent. His Militech handler lost his patience, and Faraday felt undervalued by Militech due to his ego.
Getting him to betray his handler was not difficult, and the damn fool thinks the entire thing was his plan. He wants to climb the corporate ladder himself, not realising he's just one of the ladder steps.
"You work with a group led by a man named Maine, correct?" I ask, cutting to the chase. I dislike people like Faraday because he's convinced he's smarter than everyone around him. I wonder how he'd take learning that we decided on recruiting him over a coin toss. Heads, we recruit him. Tails, we put him down to send a warning to other fixers not to get involved in corporate affairs. It was V's idea, after we'd spent two hours arguing over the benefits of recruiting him vs the issues with keeping such an arrogant asset under control.
Finding a coin was the hard part, to be perfectly honest. V didn't trust an app as she claimed I'd hack any tech-based probability method (she was right).
"That is correct. I can't advise you use them, however. They are problematic, with a fairly erratic success rate," Faraday replies smoothly. "If you need a crew, I can suggest several-"
"No. Set up a meeting with Maine's crew. It is important that they are the ones involved. I'm transferring the job details and payment details. Typical mid-tier corporate asset extraction," I say, cutting him off. Much like Jenkins, he's determined to prove how useful he can be to Arasaka and doesn't want a crew with someone as unreliable as Rebecca to fuck up and make him look bad.
"You'll be meeting them yourself?" Faraday asks, making me nod. I can read him fairly easily, his four eyes tightening as what I'm sure he thinks is a cunning expression crosses his face.
"I don't plan to advertise my Arasaka connections, but we want this to go well, so I'll be on the ground. Treat this like the Kang Tao job," I order. "Your usual payment will be transferred after the meeting is complete, regardless of the outcome."
"Of course," Faraday agrees smoothly. "I'll send the details for the meet up soon. I should warn you, they are not the most reliable group, nor are they overly fond of corporations."
"I know. I don't need them to like me. I need deniable, expendable assets," I reply coldly. As the call ends, I know full well that he'll likely poke his head into just what this job is. It's his nature. Predictable assets are the most useful.
I told V he'd be a problem. When I put him down, I'll be sure to rub it in her face that I was right to want to eliminate him. Plus, using Faraday was her idea, and she was meant to keep him under control. When he fucks up, she'll be the one that takes the blame.
– Lucyna Kushinada –
"I'm telling ya, I don't like this," Rebecca repeated, making Maine sigh for the fifth time in the last ten minutes. "I don't trust that wanna-be corpocunt shitbag."
"Faraday has been straight with us so far. Some of our best-paying jobs have come from him," Maine pointed out as they waited in the booth in Afterlife for their client. She couldn't deny that she didn't like the idea of this either. Why was the client coming to meet them instead of working through the Fixer? "The pay is good, and the client asked for us by name."
There it was. Maine wanted to 'make it big', and the idea that some big-time client had asked for their crew by name mattered to him more than he'd admit. Dorio said nothing, sipping her drink. Rebecca had insisted on coming along, though they'd left Pilar behind as they didn't need him insulting a client with his usual attitude and crude language.
"Rebecca, sit down and stop making a scene," Kiwi ordered tiredly, her mentor showing the slightest hints of annoyance at Rebecca. She liked the younger girl, but Rebecca was rather outspoken when she had a problem, and clearly thought that this job stunk.
As the meeting time approached, she looked over Afterlife carefully, looking for their client. They weren't late yet, but they didn't have much time until they were. As her gaze landed on one of the new arrivals, she stiffened. The handsome man, likely around her age (though cyberware made it increasingly difficult to tell), was walking straight towards them as if he owned the place.
She had never seen someone who screamed 'corpo' more, with his expensive black suit and tie, with a red undershirt. Maybe she was being racist, but his Japanese features and red optics screamed Arasaka to her, and it took all her self-control not to react.
He paused for just a moment, speaking to the woman behind the bar, before he continued heading to their booth. Maine straightened up, and Rebecca looked like she was wishing they hadn't taken her guns away. Entering the booth, he gestured and the wall closed to give them privacy. Lucy was also kinda regretting taking Rebecca's shotgun away as the most Arasaka corpo she had ever seen took a seat opposite Maine. The crew knew she had a problem with Arasaka, though not the exact details, and both Maine and Kiwi gave her warning looks as she stiffened.
Like she needed a warning, she'd spent most of her life hiding from Arasaka.
"You the suit that Faraday was talking about?" Rebecca cut in curtly before Maine could open his mouth.
"I suspect so," the man replied. "Seiji Moriyama. You must be Maine. I have to say, I wasn't expecting you to bring most of your crew with you."
If he was bothered by their presence, he didn't show it. Nearly expressionless, and she'd bet good eddies that he had hormone regulators helping to keep his emotions under tight wraps. He had very little visible cyberware beyond his optics, but that was usually a sign of good cyberware. The expensive stuff tended to be more aesthetically pleasing and could be hidden better than the bulky, cheap junk.
"I like to bring them with me to the table," Maine replied, putting on a gruff front. Dorio was sitting closest to Seiji. Her size would intimidate many, but Seiji didn't bat an eye at her challenging posture. "You asked for us, by name, but this isn't the type of job we'd usually take."
He wasn't wrong. This was a typical corporate espionage job, extracting an asset from a Biotechnica facility. They hadn't been given all the details, but they weren't usually picked for this kind of job because… well, they were too loud. Maine and Dorio weren't made for stealth, and that wasn't even mentioning Rebecca. It set off alarm bells, far too close to what she was certain was an Arasaka asset for her comfort. Had they found her and lured her here under the guise of a job?
"You'll understand why I chose you soon enough," Seiji promised. "I understand that your team is more used to smash and grabs rather than infiltrations, but I will handle the espionage myself. I need a distraction, and your team tends to be noisy."
"Wait, you're going on the job, too?" Rebecca asked, tense and ready to explode. "I'm telling you, I don't like this Maine. Nothing good comes from the client getting involved."
"I assure you, I will not be a liability, Rebecca, and my participation is non-negotiable," Seiji replied bluntly, making Rebecca stiffen and swivel her glare toward him. "I picked your crew for more than just your reputation for flashiness."
As he spoke, he placed a shard on the table and flicked it across to Maine. Maine hesitated, and she could tell Rebecca was trying to tell him to decline with her eyes. As Maine went to grab it, Rebecca beat him to the punch and grabbed it first, sticking it in. She was extremely loyal, but far too unpredictable.
Rebecca's eyes flashed as she went over the information, then her face dropped from a mistrustful scowl to a furious glare as the shard came out, her hand shot into her oversized jacket and pulled out a gun that they'd missed on their brief search. Maine got out a shout as Rebecca lunged across the table, sticking the barrel under Seiji's chin with the fiercest scowl she'd ever seen on the short girl's face.
"The fuck you playing at, psychosuit?" Rebecca spat, finger on the trigger. Seiji just stared at her with a worrying indifference. "Start talking, choom, before I start blasting."
"Rebecca, what the fuck are you doing?" Maine asked, his tone a mixture of anger and worry. He was right to be worried as Rebecca turned to him, and the second she took her eyes off Seiji, he moved. Rebecca's arm malfunctioned, spazzing out as Seiji swept her legs from under her, taking advantage of the weird way she was perched on the table to knock her down at speeds that just screamed Sandevistan, Rebecca letting out a shout of surprise as she was flipped onto her back, Seiji lunging forward as his sleeve retracted and a mantis blade revealed itself, pressing against Becca's throat. The entire movement barely took a second, and Seiji stared down at her before snorting and moving back.
His mantis blade retracted, the sleeve of his fancy suit sliding back down. Did he have a custom suit made that retracted so he could use his mantis blades without ruining it?
"Get your crew under control, Maine," Seiji ordered, lounging in his seat as Rebecca went to grab her gun again. Maine grabbed her arm, getting a betrayed look from the younger girl before she scowled and yanked it back. Did she not realise that Seiji could have cut her head off? The edge of his mantis blade looked different, and everything he had just screamed high-tier corpo assassin.
"Look at that fucking shard, and tell me I was wrong," Rebecca challenged, making Maine go to look for the shard before realising that Kiwi had grabbed it in the chaos.
Kiwi's reaction was far less explosive, as she removed the chip and passed it to Maine. She said nothing, silent and thoughtful beyond the tightening of her eyes. Lucy knew Kiwi well. The older netrunner was basically a mentor to her. She knew Kiwi was disturbed by whatever she saw.
Maine finally chipped the shard, his eyes widening and his fists clenching. Rebecca looked like she was seconds away from lunging over the table again and trying to bite Seiji, Kiwi had gone almost completely still.
Dorio looked calm, but the muscular woman rarely looked bothered by anything. She hadn't missed the way Dorio's posture had changed, looking more prepared to fight Seiji if it became necessary.
"She's dead," Maine finally said, pulling the shard out. "The building blew up with her still inside it."
"And yet, that footage was a month after the job she allegedly died on. Biotechnica rarely goes for executions; it isn't in their playbook," Seiji replied, leaving Lucy confused for a moment. She was not putting an Arasaka shard into her system. Not a chance in hell.
"What the fuck do you care?" Rebecca challenged, making Seiji look back at her. For just a moment, she saw the amusement on his face. "Why tell us that Sasha is alive? You want us to believe your cold, black corpo heart felt sorry for her?"
And the pieces fell into place. Sasha, her predecessor. Kiwi's former 'student'. Kiwi had told her about Sasha and how she'd put herself first and gone off script, getting herself killed on what should have been a simple job. Dorio sat up quickly, her carefully relaxed posture gone as she shared a look with Maine.
"Because he wants whatever Sasha found on Biotechnica's systems," Kiwi cut in. "She hid whatever she found on the deepnet, and Biotechnica couldn't find it, so they took her alive. You, and whatever corp you work for, wants what she found."
"Correct. You're right, Rebecca. I don't care about Sasha. Whatever she found was enough to send waves through Biotechnica, and they're working hard to find and shred it, but they haven't succeeded yet," Seiji explained, his tone cool. "Finding a hidden datafort without a start point is a matter of dumb luck as much as it is skill. I'll admit that I'm surprised Sasha has managed to stop them from finding it in the seven months she's been missing, but I'm hoping that retrieving her from Biotechnica's grasp will allow me to find it for myself, and if not, that Kiwi will be able to help track down her former student's hidden data."
"Maine. She betrayed us. All she had to do was grab the data the client wanted and leave. She got herself into this," Kiwi said, her tone colder than Seiji's. Again, she could read the woman who recruited her well enough to see the hurt that she was trying to hide.
"Fuck that. Some fucking corpo is experimenting on her," Rebecca shouted, slamming her hand on the table as she glared at Kiwi. "We're not leaving our girl to be poked and prodded until they've had their fun and toss her corpse into a landfill. I swear, if this is a trick, I'm gonna scatter your fancy tech across the Badlands in a few thousand pieces, suit."
"I'm sure you'd try. My intel suggests that she is still alive, though the condition she is in cannot be confirmed beyond that. She's been used as a test subject for whatever research they are running, and since they decided to handle it in a blacksite that doesn't exist on the books, I can only guess what they are trying to hide," Seiji continued, her tone blunt. Maine did not appreciate the calm explanation, every muscle tensing. "I'll be blunt. I have my own ways of getting the intel from Biotechnica. My sources suggest that they have no truly talented runners at the blacksite and don't want to call for one, likely because they are running off the books and don't want to bring the spotlight onto them. That's probably why they still haven't got what they want from her. I will be doing this mission, with or without your crew, but if I handle it with a different crew, Sasha would become a loose end once the job is complete."
Openly admitting he'd probably kill Sasha if they didn't take the job was not well received. Rebecca's glare became downright apocalyptic, Maine's posture aggressive, even Kiwi sat up straighter despite her words. If she was right, and he was a corpo, then he'd likely take Sasha back to his own corp where they'd have their netrunners rip her mind apart for the data.
Bastard.
"Attacking a blacksite isn't like breaking into an office," Kiwi pointed out, more to Maine than Seiji. Her words carried a simple message. This is out of our league.
"I have the plans, with three netrunners we can disable their security and prevent them from calling for reinforcements," Seiji pointed out, confirming that he was also a netrunner. "Biotechnica won't admit they owned the blacksite, despite it being under their farms. The staff is small, and most of their security is mechanical. They use obscurity as their best defence. As long as we get in without setting off alarms, once we're inside, we'll have time to smash and grab. Between the three of us, deleting their security footage will be easy enough. We'll simply have to leave no one behind who can identify us."
Lucy stiffened at that. In her mind, she saw another blacksite where a group of children desperately tried to use their netrunning skills to escape from their Arasaka overlords. She heard the gunshots as they were cut down, one by one, until only one little girl was left, the only one who escaped. This wasn't the same, but Seiji's casual reference to zeroing the staff made her wonder if someone like him had said the same when they'd tried their break-out. Just wipe the slate clean so nobody could identify them.
What was he planning to do with any other test subject?
"So, kick down the door and wipe out these corpo-scumbags? Never thought I'd like a corpo's plan," Rebecca growled, hatred clear in her tone. She glared at Seiji, mistrust in her eyes, and then at Maine, warning him to take the job, a rapid switch from her earlier position. Rebecca was going to try, either way.
She was the newest member of the crew, and even she could tell that Rebecca was almost ready to grab her shotgun and head to the Biotechnica Flats, gunning down every suit she saw until she found Sasha. Pilar would probably join her.
"The pay is good, more than we'd usually get from a handful of the small-time jobs," Dorio added, her tone hesitant. Dorio was almost like the team mom, in some ways. Her words were logical, and all business, but it didn't hide the emotion in her tone. She wanted to take the job.
Kiwi said nothing, utterly silent as she brooded. Rebecca fidgeted as the silence went on, eyes flickering around the booth.
"When is the job?" Maine finally said, slumping down in his seat. He couldn't hide his frustration at how they were dancing in this corpo's hand, but he wasn't going to leave a member of his crew to be experimented on.
"One week. Friday, past midnight to limit the number of people on-site," Seiji said, showing no emotion at the unsaid acceptance. If he hadn't shown off that he was a Netrunner, she'd have tried to hack him to make sure this wasn't a trap, but whoever he was, he was dangerous, and she would rather stay quiet and blend into the background. He'd not looked at her once after he took his seat, and that was how she preferred it. "I will acquire the patrol paths of the Biotechnica Flats guards and drones. The hardest part will be getting to the blacksite without causing any alarms. I expect the patrols will be heavier around the blacksite entrance, but not too much as that would make it clear that they have something worth protecting."
As he spoke, he rose and gestured for the walls to lift, the sounds of Afterlife filtering in again.
"I'll be in touch."
They hadn't said they'd take the job, they didn't need to.
"I really fucking hate that guy," Rebecca finally said, her hand rising to where his mantis blade had been pressed against her throat. "But we're doing it, right?"
"...of course we are. Fucking corpo has us by the balls and he knows it," Maine finally agreed.
"We could do it early, without the fucking samurai," Rebecca suggested, perking up. Samurai was right. She wasn't the only person who saw Seiji for what he was, a corporate assassin.
"We cut the client out of the job, no Fixer will deal with us again," Kiwi pointed out bluntly, making Rebecca scowl. "You don't fuck your Fixer, you don't fuck your client. The only two rules that matter to mercs."
"Not to mention, I'd rather not spend the rest of my days looking over my shoulder for some corpo assassin. He doesn't seem like the kind to take kindly to backstabbing," Dorio pointed out. They didn't know for sure what corp he worked for, even if his look and outfit screamed Arasaka, but fucking over a megacorp as a bunch of mercs was how you became a cautionary tale. Even the legend of Silverhand ended with him dying, and they weren't legends.
"Only when he's not the one holding the knife," Rebecca scoffed darkly. Lucy laughed at that, quietly and unhappily.
"Lucy, did you try to hack him?" Kiwi asked, making her shake her head.
"Not worth the risk," Lucy said, making Kiwi hum. Lucy stiffened, realising that Kiwi had tried. That was why she'd been so silent toward the end. "What did you see?"
"The weirdest ICE I've ever seen. Never seen anything like it. I wouldn't even know where to start," Kiwi admitted after a moment. Lucy paused at that, her gaze turning to where Seiji was just turning the corner and going out of view.
What the hell had they gotten themselves into?
— Bonus Scene — Misty Olszewski
Watching Jackie leave, Misty hid the concern from her expression and gave him a wave goodbye. She knew he trusted his corpo friend, even if she'd never actually met V herself. Plus, he wasn't as spiritual as her, and he didn't need her dark thoughts darkening his latest job.
Instead, she smiled as he left and waited until her hot-headed gonk of a boyfriend was gone before she let her worry show. She truly loved him, but she'd always known what Jackie was. He lived for the danger, always aiming to become a Night City Legend.
Before her, three tarot cards lay on her desk. She always drew a tarot for Jackie before he went on a job.
The Fool, reversed. Recklessness, being taken advantage of. The Hanged Man, upright. Sacrifice, uncertainty. Death, upright. An ending.
She tried to find an interpretation that didn't paint such a dark picture, but she knew that she was reaching. Tarot was as much about the interpretation as it was the cards drawn; ten different readers could get ten interpretations. Every interpretation she came up with felt false because the first felt so true.
Putting the cards back, she drew a single card for herself.
The reversed wheel of fortune felt mocking. Bad luck. Lack of control. Unwelcome changes.
Almost to prove that, despite her years of dedication to the more spiritual ways, the cards were just that. Cards. She drew one more.
The Tower, upright. Chaos. Upheaval.
Disaster.