"We've got her location!" Kiwi took off her helmet as she and Sasha high-fived, celebrating their success. "More or less."
"More or less?" Dorio opened her arms, confused. "What do you mean by that? You either find her or you don't."
"We've tracked her to one of the residential megatowers," Kiwi marked the target megatower with an X on the map. "But it'll be tricky moving forward. She's created digital echoes through nearly half the building. The ping bounces every twenty minutes, and she's left behind multiple data ghosts that merge and cannibalize each other."
"Translate that," Dorio asked, already feeling a headache coming on.
"Someone has to go in physically," Sasha pointed to several panels inside the building, lighting up multiple disconnected cables, "and connect these so we can pinpoint her exact location. But there's a small detail we need to keep in mind during the operation..."
"And that would be?" Faelan eyed the cables with annoyance, noting they were spread across multiple floors. Hoping for an easy job was a fantasy.
This fixer seriously had a problem with overcomplicating things.
"You have to connect all the cables from the first to the last within a twenty-minute window to avoid triggering an alert when the next cycle starts," Kiwi took over the explanation. "Then, she has to be neutralized again before minute twenty so she doesn't realize she's being targeted."
"Neutralized how?" Dorio frowned.
"You tell us," Kiwi looked at her intently, raising a questioning eyebrow. "Does this Vanesa girl have anything worth taking as loot—gear, data, money—or would you rather just gift her a bullet that takes a sightseeing tour from her frontal lobe to her cerebellum?"
Faelan rolled his eyes behind his glasses. He knew what Kiwi was doing.
She was testing Dorio.
If Dorio chose to simply eliminate Vanesa, she'd be showing focus—perhaps too much. But if she could secure decent loot after taking Vanesa down and get out clean, that would be the ideal outcome.
Other choices would shape Kiwi's perception of Dorio differently.
Faelan didn't stop or scold her—why would he? Even if he already had an opinion, Kiwi needed to form her own, in case he was missing something.
Dorio took a moment to think.
"The only thing I can think of is that she should have some specialized file encryption gear," she said. "She always encrypted everything, even the most casual messages."
Kiwi's eyes lit up.
"One sec—it's Vik," she said, calling a timeout while answering the call in silence.
"Hey, Dorio," Faelan tapped her shoulder with his palm. "This fixer, Vanesa—any problematic history? The kind that could come back to bite us if we zero her out?"
You know, how in games those seemingly minor choices can have really annoying consequences later on.
"Nothing comes to mind," Dorio rubbed her chin, digging through her memories. "I know her parents died in something called 'Project Platypus,' and I've never heard her mention a partner or any backup she might rely on."
So she either had no one, or was smart enough not to drop that info casually.
Kiwi's eyes dimmed, ending the call.
"If there are no objections, we move in two days," Kiwi looked to Sasha. "Try to get more details on the building layout." Then she turned to Dorio and Faelan as she headed toward the door. "Talk among yourselves about the entry plan. Fae will fill me in on the rest later."
"Where are you going?" Dorio asked.
"Update," Kiwi replied simply as she left.
Sasha put her helmet back on to dig further into the megatower's layout.
"Oh," Dorio had no complaints—better implants meant better results. Waiting two more days was annoying, but manageable. "Alright, how do we do this?" she asked Faelan.
Faelan looked her up and down, noting her height and muscular build.
"How good are you at infiltrating without drawing attention?"
"Uh…" Dorio froze under the question and stare, answering with slight uncertainty. "I'd say I'm not bad. I've done it plenty of times in warehouses and factories during jobs, and no one ever noticed me. As long as I know where the cameras are, it shouldn't be a problem."
You'd have to be pretty dumb to get caught knowing where the cameras are…
"It's not the same. Those are areas with a few cameras and maybe some patrol drones at most. Megatowers are packed with people."
Nosy people.
Every person could be a hidden sentry.
"What do you suggest?" Dorio crossed her arms. "Twenty minutes is too tight. Just getting to the panels without interference would take us fifteen minutes if nobody sticks their nose into our business."
"We split the tasks," Faelan didn't beat around the bush. "Look at the map—there are seven panels we need to connect. Three are on the lower floors and relatively easy to access. You handle those, and I'll take the other four."
As long as there were vents, getting up unnoticed was no issue. Even if for some reason a vent fell within a camera's line of sight, Kiwi and Sasha could handle that. He just needed a few seconds' window.
"Yeah, about that..." Dorio scratched the back of her neck, uncomfortable. "I think you're overlooking something."
"Am I?" Faelan mentally reviewed the plan. Nothing seemed off.
"The thing is—and don't take this the wrong way, boss—you're a kid," Dorio said, using her hand to show their height difference. "I can pass in the area as someone looking for a bit of fun, but Japantown isn't exactly the kind of place where you see kids ruining the party atmosphere and the business that goes on there. If anything, it's where those kids get made—usually after too many drinks and bad decisions," she continued. "And honestly, you already look shady being so covered up. If you show up there, you'll become the center of attention before you can even say 'nova'."
Faelan stared at her, slack-jawed.
Not because he was offended, but because, well—she was absolutely right.
He sometimes forgot he was twelve now and assumed things like the adult he once was. Dorio reminding him that his age could actually be a problem was simply the truth.
"Sasha!" Faelan called the only one who could help him out. "Is there any vent access connected to the sewers or something like that?"
Being left out of Dorio's revenge plan just for being a kid… it wasn't fair!
"Checking," Sasha just lifted a finger, asking for patience without removing her helmet. "Nope. Easiest vent access is in the back alley."
"And the nearest sewer exit?"
"Eight blocks away."
"Yeah, that won't work." Faelan pinched his nose.
If he had to walk eight blocks to reach the megatower, he might as well go on foot directly. Unless...
"Thanks, Sasha. I'm heading out now," Faelan turned to the door. "Dorio, with me."
Dorio put on her mask and followed Faelan, confused.
By the way the two moved through the streets, she quickly realized what Faelan was doing.
"We're looking for scavvers?"
"Yeah," Faelan scanned the area, trying to catch the trail of one of those rats. "I originally wanted to postpone this, but given the situation, we need to try a few things ahead of time."
"What kind of targets are you after?"
"Three is enough, but one or two more wouldn't hurt. Doesn't matter what gender," Faelan replied. "We just need to avoid the ones that are too drugged out. I'd prefer them lucid if possible. You armed?"
Dorio raised an eyebrow, as if asking seriously, did you just ask me that?
"Anything quiet in your arsenal?"
"Yeah."
"Good," Faelan stopped when he heard the sound of flesh being torn—undoubtedly from someone violently removing implants. "I think we've got a winner," he said, pointing to a dead-end alley half-shrouded by the tall buildings and trash bins blocking the path.
Dorio zoomed her optics into the alley and confirmed what Faelan said: four scavvers were dissecting a green-haired woman with red extensions. Two had blood-soaked hands, not even bothering with gloves, while the other two stood guard, looking bored.
"What's the plan?" Dorio asked, hand slipping into her jacket.
…
"Shit, Ursula! First time your snitch's been right in a month!" said one of the scavvers, holding a metal lower jaw with three tongues, his eyes betraying inappropriate thoughts. "This shit's the latest model, just dropped two months ago—quick rinse and it'll sell for a fortune!"
Ursula, the chrome woman with a purple mohawk brushed to the right, clicked her tongue at the implant, uninterested.
"Tch! Guys are always thinking with the same part," the chrome woman complained without slowing her expert hands as she peeled flesh from the implant. "Now this is real gold!" she bragged, holding up what looked like two high-tech jelly balls with micro-wiring inside.
"Holy shit—are those MammoTech Full-Sync 69 implants?!" the scavver yelled when he recognized the blood-covered gear. "Those things just hit the market a week ago and they're in such high demand, even the dolls at Clouds can't get a pair!" he said with pain in his voice.
After all, one of the rules among scavengers was that whoever pulled out the part got to keep it. Then again, she probably knew that—he recalled how anxiously she'd been waiting for today's catch.
"Don't make that face," Ursula rolled her eyes while placing the implants in a separate box from the one they were carelessly dumping the rest into. "I'm not gonna sell them. I'll get the doc to install them and surprise my boyfriend with a nice little treat."
"Stan's a lucky bastard," the scavenger muttered, shaking his head as he crouched to check the underside, hoping to find a couple decent parts. "Hmm?" He noticed Ursula had stopped moving. "What are you doing? Come on, hurry up and let's get outta here before the stench kicks in. I'm in the mood for a dürüm and I found this synth stand that makes a pretty damn good one—the sauce is insane."
But Ursula didn't move.
The scavenger frowned, sensing something off, and turned to look behind him—toward the same spot Ursula was staring at, her face growing paler by the second.
And then he saw it.
Holy shit, it was him.
The hooded figure who had turned his cousin Mike into human jerky. He could still remember how he found him, standing with a weapon drawn, mushrooms sprouting all over his body.
The mushrooms didn't even taste good. Didn't give a buzz either.
But it was definitely him—the myth, the legend.
The butterflies floating around him, the wooden staff, the roots—what the hell?
At some point, roots as thick as his arm had grown out of the walls and were holding Zakarias and Valgen in place—tied up like human croquettes!
His first instinct was to duck behind a metal container and call for backup on the gang channel—but he quickly realized the signal was jammed.
He saw Ursula slowly raising her hands. That woman—tougher than a cyberpsycho—was surrendering?
Something wasn't right.
A quick peek showed that alongside the monster, there was someone else, armed and aiming at his crew while inserting chips into the other scavengers—probably suppressors of some kind to keep them from pulling anything stupid.
"What do I do?" he thought, heart pounding like a souped-up engine. "I don't wanna die and end up like Mike—dried meat with mushrooms! I still have half a burrito in the fridge!"
He'd waited in line for three hours to get one of the best burritos in the area!
And the taste? Totally worth it!
If God wanted him dead, He could at least wait until the damn burrito was finished!
The worst part? They didn't bring guns.
Sure, they always carried a couple knives—basic tools for dismantling people—but no pistols or firearms today, since this job was supposed to be quick and quiet.
Grab the woman, take her apart, get out.
How the hell were they supposed to expect that guy to show up?!
Before he knew it, the four of them were kneeling in a line, legs entangled in wooden roots sprouting from the floor, necks bound by what looked like plant-based ropes.
He noticed they were spaced out in a strange pattern.
"Let's keep this simple," Dorio said, pulling out the sealed wooden bottles Faelan had given her, mist still curling lazily around the cork stoppers. "One person, one chance. I give you the vial, you drink it, and if the results are good, that guy won't kill you." She gestured toward Faelan, who was currently playing the part of the intimidating silent type. "Any move that isn't taking the bottle I give you, and you're down to zero."
Dorio started by handing the vial to the nearest one—Valgen—then stepped back to a specific distance.
"You think I'm an idiot?" the guy held the bottle as far away from himself as possible, too scared to drop it in case it popped open by accident. "There's no way I'm—ARGH!"
To Ursula and the others' shock, Valgen's refusal triggered a grotesque transformation—he slowly began mummifying, flowers bursting through his skin while his chrome dulled and cracked from rapid wear.
In less than two minutes, he'd turned into the most bizarre flower vase they'd ever seen.
"Yeah… it's really not a good idea to piss off my boss," Dorio said in a flat tone as she retrieved the bottle from the now-desiccated corpse—partly talking to herself, still internally reeling from seeing the infamous rumors play out firsthand.
"Shit, he's real," thought the three remaining scavengers—up until now, a tiny part of them had still hoped it was just some wannabe impersonator trying to make a name for himself.
Ursula noticed it—right when Valgen refused, the butterfly-masked guy tilted his head slightly just before everything went down.
Were the corps testing some kind of new bioweapon using this guy as the carrier or something?
Yeah, her gut told her that had to be it.
But that didn't ease her anxiety when Dorio handed her the bottle and the legend took two steps closer, like he wanted front-row seats.
"Whatever this is, I just hope it works fast," Ursula thought as she uncorked the vial and swallowed the contents in one go. "At least it doesn't taste bad."
It had a strangely bitter flavor with a sweet aftertaste—if someone told her this was going to be sold as a drink, she'd probably buy it regularly.
Faelan tightened his grip on the wooden staff, eager to see the results of the experiment. Dorio leaned slightly to get a better view but kept the specific distance she'd been told to maintain.
The other two scavengers half expected Ursula to foam at the mouth and collapse, but…
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" x2