The ever devoted Machine Cult offers its blessings to the recently ascended Acolytes of the Machine Spirit, BookDevourer87, David Leatherwood and BEAN. They shall be efficient cogs in the machine for many days to come.
The menials may also rejoice at the arrival of three fresh new servitors, who have absolutely nothing to do with the previous announcement whatsoever I do so pinky swear.
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My... spirited march lasted for only two minutes before Jackie decided to butt in "Slow down, choom."
Keeping my increasingly steady stride, I said "We don't have much time to spare, Jackie."
"And if you keep barreling through people, some gonk will call the NCPD on your ass" He lowered his voice as he pulled at my arm "You are still moving all jittery, and some scopsucker will think you are going cyberpsycho."
I did stop at that "But I am perfectly lucid?"
"You think they care?" The Latino asked "They see a chromehead like you sending people packing, they think it is better to call MaxTac now and ask questions never."
MaxTac, NCPD's special anti-borg squad. Rumored to be made up of 'reformed' cyberpsychos and armed withe best weapons and armor Night Corp can get its hands on.
They were less an organization and more another Legend Night City residents spoke about in hushed tones.
Having those madmen called on me would in fact lower my chance of rescuing mom...
"Fine" I nodded and relaxed my posture somewhat "You set the pace."
"Good decision choom" He nodded and we started walking again, this time only making people give me cautious looks instead of having them leap out of my way in a panic.
My decision was proven doubly correct when we passed by a pair of cops on break, both of whom immediately zeroed in on me, one of them even reaching for his gun.
Thankfully, look was all they did, and we left them behind soon enough.
Jackie let out a tense breath.
"Cyberpsychos are really that much of a problem?" I asked as I avoided a pile of trash someone just dumped on the street.
"You live under a rock?" Jackie immediately asked.
Only for me to direct him a blank stare.
He offered a sheepish "Losiento" And chuckled "But yeah, there is at least a few psychos every week out here. And that's people with a third of your chrome as well."
"I see" I muttered "Guess I will have to see about getting my hands on some RealSkinn sooner rather than later."
"Probably a good idea." He nodded.
The rest of our walk was spent in relative silence, which left me with enough time to observe my surroundings.
Kabuki was a sub-district of Watson, a small town in its own right, it was considered to be one of the poorest areas of Night City. But despite its poverty, the area still had its charm, rugged and covered in trash as it was.
The main road was flanked on all sides by narrow streets and numerous small businesses, all of whom were in turn decorated with bright neon signs in large Japanese characters.
It was for all intents and purposes, little better than a slum.
But it was also lively, despite or perhaps in spite of the constant echoes of gunshots and violence surrounding us.
It was no wonder that I found myself being drawn in by the sights and noises.
So much so in fact, that I nearly stepped through Jackie when he suddenly rose his hand to stop me.
Saying nothing he pointed at a group of five teenagers covered nearly head to toe in tattoos of the oriental variety.
"Tyger Claw posers." Jackie whispered "They might try to start shit."
The lead one yelled something in Japanese as they walked up to us.
But the instant their eyes moved from Jackie to me all of them stopped in their tracks.
I said absolutely nothing as they took me in, merely increasing the threatening golden glow of my eyes as I clutched my shotgun like a club ready to brain them all without bothering to use my shells.
The leader straightened his back and looked just hyped enough to keep going.
But I just opened my mouth, and grinned at him.
The young man immediately paled, and quickly cursed at his 'chooms' leading a quick retreat while glaring daggers at me.
"Heh" Jackie chuckled.
"Funny when it happens to others, no?" I asked, feeling a bit amused myself.
"Being a death borg sure has its uses." He nodded 'sagely' "Let's keep going before they call the actual gangoons on us for the 'disrespect'."
Unwilling to waste anymore time on idiots, I nodded and we were off.
Soon enough we reached 122 Charter St., and thankfully Regina was generous enough to give us the actual location of the Scav operation, which made maneuvering the winding streets just off the main road less of a labyrinthine toil.
The locals immediately took cover or hid when they saw me and Jackie, but none tried to stop us as we found our way to an old building.
The doors were already opened, the lock looking to have been blown off by a shotgun shell, and staircase within looked like it could just barely support my weight.
A few squatters that looked more filthy than the trashbags they slept on quickly scurried out of our way as we made our way up, and soon we stood before the apartment indicated by Regina.
Immediately, we were hit with the smell of blood and rot, Jackie recoiling while I simply stepped inside.
The scene awaiting within was nothing less than a slaughter.
Over a dozen bodies lay strewn about, most of them sprawled over operating chairs or tables, and one stewing in what looked to be an unactive freezer, the ice having long since melted and turned dark red.
"Jesucristo" Jackie whispered as he clutched the golden cross around his neck "I've been to Scav haunts but never one like this."
"No one thought to call the NCPD" I noted as I approached one of the corpses that looked to have died in combat, rolling it over despite the stench and examining the wounds "Died to a shotgun shell to the chest. All implants were removed as well."
"How are you so calm, man?" Jackie asked, still clutching at his cross, his shirt now drawn over his nose.
"It's just meat" I shrugged, something that seemed to unnerve him for whatever reason.
Not caring for any of that nonsense, I moved to another Scav corpse, finding that she had died to a low caliber headshot, likely a sidearm, and also had all her cyberware removed "Check to see if there is any cyberware left at all. I have a hunch."
"Yeah" Jackie nodded distractedly, and a minute later reported "Not a screw left."
"Must have been other Scavs then" I muttered, it only made sense.
No one called the NCPD, and the few bits of packaged food I could see were left undisturbed which meant not even the hobos dared enter the apartment since the fight happened.
I ignored the blood coating my hand and scanned the room for electronics.
Unfortunately, the Scavengers were not stupid enough to set up cameras in what was almost definitely a temporary base of operations, but luckily I did find a still functioning laptop.
Quickly scanning the thing, and finding no virus traps, I opened it up and connected with my Personal Link, powering it up with my Biogenerator and immediately scrolling through all the information and messages on the less than well maintained machine.
Most of it was just 'business deals' of both the mercantile and informational variety.
Either deals to offload the cyberware to some less than honest ripperdocs, who were unfortunately not stupid enough to use their real names or addresses in the transactions.
Or messages from 'contacts' who would alert the Scavs in the area about vulnerable victims with valuable cyberware.
Had I not grown up in this damned city, it would have probably made me sick, but all it did was serve to feed my cynicism. Life was worthless, you had to fight for it or you would be eaten by those more decisive than yourself.
One string of messages was different to the others however.
K: You made noise like I asked?
Igor: Yeah, our deal still on?
K: Just lure the bitch to your location and we will do the rest. Eddies will be waiting for you once we get her.
Igor: Good, dumb whore should have known her place.
K: Just keep alert.
Igor: Yeah, yeah, don't worry about me.
What parts of my face could move twisted into a hateful glare as the puzzle slowly assembled itself.
My mother's hunt on the Scavengers had not gone unnoticed, and after she killed enough of them they decided to set a trap for her. The five idiots strewn across the floor were probably used as bait without any intent of actually helping them fight her off.
They even ripped their cyberware from them like they weren't even human...
But why was my mother's body missing?
If they wanted her dead, they could have just shot her in the head and extracted her cyberware...
Suddenly, I found myself standing utterly still "They want to prove a point."
"What?" The now much calmer Jackie perked up.
"It was an ambush." I said "She killed too many of the worthless wastes of air, and they decided to capture her."
The Latino's face hardened at that "If they took her-"
"I know, Jackie" I interrupted with a growl "I know. The damn idiot knew she was drawing too much attention to herself but still kept going just so I could continue with my experiments. All I have done for her was torment her with my existence and now-"
A hand landed on my shoulder as Jackie gripped it firmly "Not over till it is over, homes. Don't spiral on me now. There is still a chance."
"What chance?!" I demanded, the table buckling under my grip "All I have on the one that took her is the letter K. And they extracted the Neural Links from the bait so I can't even hack that!"
"What about the locals?" Jackie asked "A few eddies here and there, and someone might tell us where they went."
I paused, a sudden thought occurring "You go and do that. I am going to check the net just in case." Without bothering to look at him I wired him a thousand eurodollars "Let's meet downstairs in twenty."
He hesitated for a moment but offered a slow nod "Sure thing, choom. Meet you downstairs."
The moment he left the apartment, and I heard his footsteps going down the stairs I let my rage free, grabbing on the laptop and hurling it into the wall with a furious scream, the cheap cement and brick crumbling under the force of the blow.
Despite my lack of need for it, I found myself breathing heavily, my Cyberheart beating far harder than it needed to, or was even programmed to, my hands shaking and fingers twitching under signals I knew I did not send.
Knowing the symptoms of a panic attack for what they were, I let myself crumble on the floor, and just stared into the ceiling for a good five minutes, my twitches lessening with each second that passed.
Finally, without bothering to get up, I activated my Cyberdeck, and uploaded a wide-range [Ping.exe] immediately revealing dozens of cameras outside the building.
Cycling through all of them, I searched for the one that overlooked the most likely approach for a vehicle, logic dictating that the Scavs would use overwhelming numbers to hunt down a notorious enemy, and soon found the most likely culprit.
It was a semi-open secret among the netrunners of the EdgeNet cafe that NightCorp, the corporation responsible for the vast majority of Night City's infrastructure, had backup memory caches in their cameras that kept recordings for up to a week.
Typical corpo filth, but filth I could now use.
And soon I found myself blitzing through the recordings, Regina's information once again coming in clutch as it contained the approximate time of my mom's arrival.
My breath caught as I saw her strolling into the building, Optics narrowed into a furious frown and Igla shotgun hanging from her hands ready to use at a moment's notice.
Focusing on the present, I pushed the recording forward, speeding on until I saw a brown van park in front of the building, disgorging a group of what must have been Scavs, all of them armed to the gills and many sporting visible combat cyberware.
Their leader was a massive specimen, shorter than me but taller than all the other Scavs by a head at least, and armed with a Defender light machinegun, his back visibly sporting a long spinal implant.
Most likely speedware of some kind?
Not important. He would still die.
I tried scanning his face, but the camera was the most basic of its kind, and all I could get was a pair of glowing blue optics with the rest hidden under a bandana.
Holding back my annoyance I let the recording keep playing.
And soon, some ten minutes later, the group rushed back out of the building, five of them sporting differing levels of damage, while the leader tugged at the unconscious form of-
My hands clutched so hard I could hear the reinforced chrome creaking under its own weight.
"Finally got the bitch." A lanky woman with a helmet over her head bit out harshly "Why not just zero her here and now, Kliment?"
Before she could so much as twitch, 'Kliment's' form blurred and she gasped and fell back, clutching at her chest while heaving for air, while the rest of the Scavengers laughed at her.
"It's Koschei while on the job, you dumb whore." He growled, words coming out with a thick Russian accent "And this bitch killed too many of us to just zero her like that." He chuckled darkly "Oh no, she has to beg for death before we kill her."
"She also has some preem chrome on her" Another man added, voice giddy "Going to need great care to take those babies off her."
The leader grunted in agreement.
"Sor-ry" The grounded woman bit out.
"Just shut the fuck up and get in the van" He kicked her leg "We've already wasted enough time."
I ended the recording and found myself feeling utterly blank as my rage went beyond being furious to outright apocalyptic. Without a thought beyond the task, I rolled up to my feet and left the apartment.
Jackie was already waiting for me outside, pacing around with worry clear in his eyes before he saw me "Had any luck?" He asked.
"Got a name." I bit out "And there is a chance she is still alive."
Unsurprisingly, this did not cheer the Latino up.
There were fates worse than death.
"I, uh" He shuffled "I asked around. But all I got was that they left in the direction of the Kabuki Market."
"It is a start" I nodded and began walking.
"Shit, hold up" Jackie called as he began jogging after me, this time not bothering to tell me to slow down "We still have no actual idea where to find her."
"Maybe" I agreed, not slowing down "But someone else might."
My Internal Agent was already connecting me to Regina.
Three rings later, she answered.
[Regina Jones: Magos]
[Magos: Miss Jones. I have some information, and another request.]
[Regina Jones: I am listening]
[Magos: It was an ambush, local Scavs were used as bait to lure my- Svetlana out. They picked the local Scavengers clean after they were killed and grabbed her. I managed to get their leader's name. Goes by Koschei, but real name seems to be Kliment. They left in the direction of the Kabuki Market.]
The Fixer hummed consideringly, showing no emotion in her sole Optic.
[Regina Jones: I will be honest, I did not expect you to actually call back.]
[Magos: I am not stupid enough to go back on an agreement, especially since I am in need of more information.]
[Regina Jones: Information on 'Koschei's' location no doubt.]
[Magos: Correct.]
She stared at me through the holocall for a long moment before speaking.
[Regina Jones: And what do you plan to do with this information?]
It it not god damn obvious?!
[Magos: Rescue Svetlana and slaughter every single one of the bastards.]
She was silent for a long minute, letting me stew in my thoughts as I pushed past a few Kabuki residents, practically shoving a fat man into the ground because he was too slow to get out of the way.
The fucker started yelling at me, but a pointed tap on my shotgun shut him the hell up.
Finally Regina spoke.
[Regina Jones: I would usually entrust this to one of my more experienced mercs but I doubt I am about to dissuade you from going there.]
[Magos: Correct.]
She exhaled.
[Regina Jones: Fine, rumors say the basement of the Kabuki Motel has been taken over by Scavs, and the name Koschei has also been making the rounds in the area. Clear them out and confirm the kills, and I will pay you five thousand eddies.]
I almost skipped a step then.
[Magos: That is... surprisingly generous.]
The Fixer raised an eyebrow.
[Regina Jones: Someone as chromed up as you with your faculties intact doesn't come about that often. Consider this a test, and a chance. Sending you the deets now.]
My hand twitched to my weapon as I saw the location in my mind's eye.
[Magos: You have my deepest thanks, miss Jones. I will inform you of the deed after it has been done.]
[Regina Jones: Good luck.]
And the call ended.
"Got something?" Jackie asked as my eyes stopped glowing.
Gripping my shotgun with enough force to dent metal I grinned "We have a location."
Jackie's grin was just as bloodthirsty as my own "Good. Let's go and get those bastardos."
'You wanted to make her beg for death, did you?' I growled internally as my Cyberdeck began churning under my mind's direction 'Don't mind if I return the favor.'
---
The hustle and bustle of the afternoon market dimmed down as we entered the Kabuki Motel, the automatic establishment's lack of staff serving to mask our approach from any curious looks.
"This the place?" Jackie asked, unholstering his Unity.
"Through the garage" I said, voice flat as I hacked into the building's electronics "This way."
The doors to the garage opened up seemingly on their own, and one minute of searching later we came upon the sight of a familiar van, a trail of blood and other fluids leading into a nearby passage.
"We are here" I said, taking hold of my weapon and uploaded a [Ping.exe] "No cameras inside, I will have to see them to hack them without going full dive."
"We doing this the old fashioned way then?" Jackie grinned.
Nodding in response, I hacked the reinforced door barring the way to the 'abandoned' auto-mechanical workshop.
The moment they split open, I was met chest to helmet with the woman from the recording, her entire body freezing halfway as she was about to open the doors from within.
There was no hesitation in my furious mind as I rose my shotgun, pointed it directly at her center mass, and pulled the trigger.
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The forge hungers for more stone!
The moste terrible locale of the Patreon has 11 chapters written in advance if you are into that sort of thing (at patreon .com/ Rastislav156) as well as 13 chapters of Sorcerer's Tale for those of discerning taste.
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