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A couple of days had passed very quickly since we solved the problem of a certain Parker. We hadn't been working, dedicating our time to our hobbies and each other. We had also just been hanging out in the Aldecaldo camp, as there were no problems in the camp that required our intervention.
And just as I was about to call Rogue or Regina myself, the latter called me.
"Listening..."
"I need your help..."
"Details?"
"I recommended a very cool braindance editor to the Moxes, a guy who used to work for WNS. He's really, really good, and he didn't get fired from his last job because of his work; he just started running some scams of his own... Anyway, that's not important. The main thing you need to know is that he went to one of the Moxes' bases to edit a braindance, but Hal apparently messed up somewhere..."
"Let me guess, the girl went cyberpsycho?"
"Yeah... right now, she's in the warehouse, and her actions aren't attracting too much attention, but with every minute that passes, the chance of her breaking out is getting bigger and bigger... and that's not all. Max-Tac would deal with everything. But Hal couldn't get out, and he's hiding from her in the warehouse..."
"Address?"
I immediately got a message with extra details, which I forwarded to Panam. And in almost a minute, I got a response from her that it would take us about three hours to get there.
"I'm out of the city, and it's a three-hour drive to get there..."
"We don't have that much time..."
Regina sighed.
"Well... we could always order an av from Delamain, but that kind of trip would cost a fortune..."
"I'll pay for it..."
I nodded a couple of times.
"Alright, let's do it like that. I'll ask Del for a 'receipt' with the departure and arrival points and I'll send it to you, and you'll reimburse me."
"I agree..."
"Then that's it... although, no, what about the Moxes?"
"Hmm?"
"Well, I mean the one who's gone cyberpsycho, and the others who might have survived..."
"If they survived, help them. If you can neutralize the one who's gone crazy... I have some contacts who are doing research on cyberpsychosis, or rather, on pulling people out of that state. I can't guarantee that she'll be helped there, but at least it's not zeroing her out..."
"Well, you're right about that... alright, end of comms."
"End of comms."
I immediately hung up on Regina and called Delamain, whose services I had never used before.
"The Delamain company is happy to welcome you. You've come to us for the first time, and as a sign of our appreciation for the trust you've shown us, you are entitled to a ten percent discount on all ground transportation."
"Thanks, I'd like to order urgent transportation on an av, from the coordinates in the Badlands to a spot in Night City."
"I apologize, but we do not provide such services."
"From what I know, you do... it's included in the Excelsior package, as well as a few less expensive packages like Platinum and Gold."
"Do you wish to purchase the Excelsior package for this trip?"
"No, just the Gold package."
"I'm grateful for the trust you're showing the Delamain company. I would like to remind you that combat mode is only available in the Platinum and Excelsior packages. Do you still wish to purchase the Gold package for this trip?"
"I confirm, the Gold package."
"I would like to remind you that payment for such packages is made upon the arrival of the vehicle. However, it also requires a certain down payment."
"I understand..."
I first gave Delamain the spot where he had to pick us up and the spot where he had to drop us off.
"The av's arrival time is thirty minutes."
And after that, I paid for the Gold service package. I could have done it later, of course, when we got into the av, but... there's a small catch. The package starts to work from the moment you pay for it, not from the moment you place the order.
"I wish to use the privileges of the Gold package. The vehicle must pick us up from the first spot as soon as possible and also deliver us to the destination as soon as possible."
"Recalculating... the av's arrival time is seven minutes..."
I nodded.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome; it's just my job."
The call ended. I sprinted to my combat suit, put it on, and also put on the rest of my gear, which included pistols, knives, and tonfas with energy blades. The other girls were getting ready just as fast, even Panam. This time, though, she wasn't going to be the driver; she was going to be an assault girl, providing cover for the runners along with Becca.
"Alright, ladies..."
There was about a minute left until Delamain's arrival. The silhouette of an av flying toward us from Night City was getting bigger very quickly.
"The Moxes are in trouble... Judy, contact their leader, ask her what they were trying to do with this guy Hal... and also how many girls were supposed to be in that warehouse where he was editing the braindance."
"Got it..."
"Are we supposed to save the Moxes?"
Judy asked this question, and her eyes were already glowing, showing that she was trying to contact the Moxes' leader.
"No, we have to save Hal. According to Regina, he's a very cool specialist, and he didn't get fired from his last job because of his braindance editing skills. And it seems that Regina needs this guy a lot, but she's not against us spending some time on giving first aid to the Moxes and neutralizing the one who's gone cyberpsycho..."
"And what do we do with her after that?"
The av landed in front of us, and we got in. After that, I connected to the on-board computer through my personal port.
"Identity confirmed. David Martinez. Destination set. Flight time fifteen minutes. We wish you a pleasant flight."
"Thanks."
But Del's image had already disappeared.
"Lucy, to answer your question, we'll hand her over to Regina. She has contacts who deal with the problem of cyberpsychosis, and a small chance of getting her personality and life back to normal is still better than just zeroing her out."
"Well, yeah..."
"Girls..."
I looked at the runners.
"...I'm not the one to teach you, but don't mess with the Moxes' network. Who knows what and how that girl's cyberpsychosis and Hal's actions have messed with it."
We flew in silence after that. We got there pretty fast, though.
"Attention, there are no landing spots for the av at the destination..."
"Thanks, Del. You can just drop me off without landing. Just open the door, and I'll jump out. It's only about ten meters high..."
I shrugged.
"Twelve meters, thirty-seven centimeters."
"That's not important. But if it's not too much trouble, drop the girls off on the roof of that warehouse, getting as low as you can."
"Understood."
The av's door opened, and I easily jumped out of it. After pushing off the side of the building I was falling past, I turned my fall from purely vertical to diagonal. And with a roll when I hit the ground, I completely killed my momentum and immediately headed toward the warehouse, activating my Sandevistan at the same time.
I jumped and flew into an open window on the second floor. In my hands were my tonfas, whose blades I was ready to activate at any moment, but there was only one Moxie in a very bad state. I didn't talk to her; I just walked past her and injected her with an injector, which should stabilize her condition in a minute or so. After that, I went through the office, slotting shards in, and only after that did I go out into the main part of the warehouse.
The girl downstairs was, indeed, out of her mind...
I couldn't make out what she was shouting. Even though she had some kind of weak Sandevistan, she was too slow compared to me. So I just ran along the upper level of the warehouse and, in a jump, I crashed into the girl, hitting her a couple of times with my unactivated tonfas. It didn't work; it didn't knock her out. I could see that, but what should I do?
I didn't really want to beat her to a pulp. She might pass out from the pain, but it wasn't her fault...
I sighed and almost completely turned off my Sandevistan. Even so, I was stronger than her. So even with a speed a little slower than the girl's, I could still hold my own.
"Do you understand me?"
"Aaaah! I'll zero you out!"
"So you don't understand me? That's a shame... I guess I'll have to zero you out after all..."
I shook my head.
"N-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!!!"
Her voice seemed to split and take on an electronic tone.
"I'll zero you out!!!"
"Quiet Man, we've broken into the Moxes' network, although it's a little inconvenient to work through third-party resources that act as buffers between us and display the information for us like it's on a monitor. But... in short, this Hal, from what we saw, intentionally messed with the braindance..."
I frowned.
"Intentionally?"
"Exactly. Millie, the girl who's gone cyberpsycho, turned him down, and from her words, judging by a video recording my girls managed to pull, it wasn't the first time. Also, judging by circumstantial evidence, Millie's cyberpsychosis is Hal's fault. And it wasn't an accident."
Regina frowned.
"Circumstantial evidence?"
"Yeah, the girls are gathering more detailed information right now. So I'm in a bit of a dilemma. On the one hand, I have a job, and if I fail it, my reputation will take a hit. And on the other hand, I know perfectly well how you would react if I completed it and then those details came out..."
"Ugh... I'll help you solve this dilemma. Hal has to survive, but we can't just let him go. If he's guilty, I'll punish him myself... a car will be there... in an hour. A car for the girl and the survivors will be there at the same time."
"Got it."
The call ended, and I shook the girl a little. That made her stop howling her "I'll zero you out!"
"Listen to me..."
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"
I shook her again.
"Stop struggling, you can't put up any resistance to me."
"I'll zero you out!"
"Yeah, yeah..."
I looked at her sadly.
"It's better if you remember all your friends who tried to stop you. Some of them are still alive..."
I had glanced at the warehouse as I was crashing into the cyberpsycho girl, and my optics allowed me to say things like that with confidence. Serious injuries, but most of them were alive... I mean, while a girl is in the throes of cyberpsychosis over a specific person... And she wasn't trying to zero out everyone and everything, although I guess that was temporary. It's rare for a cyberpsycho to be able to control themselves during an active episode. And during a passive phase, they just become like vegetables...
Although passive phases are extremely rare. As a rule, cyberpsychos are in an active phase, and that's when they're zeroed out...
The existence of a passive phase is only known because Max-Tac didn't show up to a few calls...
"A-re-they-alive?"
"Yeah..."
"I... did-I-kill-them?"
"No, you didn't zero them out, although if they don't get help, they might flatline soon."
"He-lp-me..."
That word was especially hard for her to say, and tears started to stream down her eyes.
"I'll kill you! Hal! I'll zero you out!"
I shook my head and, after contacting the girls, I gave them permission to enter the warehouse to give first aid to all the girls who could still be helped...
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