Apologies for the very sudden break but I felt super tired all of a sudden and really just needed to step away for a week. The usual program resumes henceforth.
On an equally bright note, the Machine Cult welcomes Eli Templeton to its venerable ranks. May their labors be a worthy cog in the Machine.
-----
The instant I sat back in my van and reactivated my Agent I got a call from Regina.
[Regina Jones: Finally!] She looked thoroughly stressed out [You done with the dojo?]
My eyes narrowed at her unusually emotional state.
[Just got back to my van. Why, what is going on?]
Her eye flashed with relief.
[Good... good.]
She breathed out.
[I've got an emergency. There was a cyberpsycho attack in Northside a few minutes ride away from your gig. I sent one of my experienced mercs but he hasn't responded since.]
Her eye narrowed.
[The NCPD detachment surrounding the place is going to call MaxTac if I don't send anyone else.]
My Supron's engine was already rumbling along as I began driving towards Northside.
[And why not just let them?] I asked.
She shook her head.
[Because I want the psycho alive, and my merc not turned to collateral if he is not dead.]
I felt a bit curious as to why she'd want a cyberpsycho but now was not the time to ask about it.
Instead I focused on more pertinent questions.
[Priorities?]
[My merc.] She answered instantly, much to my silent approval [Capture the psycho only if you can extract him without risking his death.]
Before I could ask more I saw her send me a stream of data filled to the brim with all the information I needed to do the job save for info on the psycho in question.
[Copy.] I said [On my way.]
Her expression flashed with something I couldn't quite place but then she nodded and ended the call.
---
The cops surrounding the blocked off storage yard naturally tensed as my van approached, many of them reaching for their weapons while others cautiously took steps that got them closer to cover.
Seeing the situation was already tense enough I didn't immediately get out and instead called out "This the 'psycho site?"
"Who is asking?" A dark-skinned man with one eye replaced by an archaic looking cybernetic and wearing a coat instead of the usual lawman kit asked with authority.
"Merc." I answered simply "Ms. Jones sent me."
They shared a few quick looks between each other "Alright." The man said "You can step out now."
As I was about to just that my eye landed on the katana sitting next to me, and finding I didn't quite care if Jugo was pissed at me, I grabbed the thing and mag-locked it to my hip.
The instant I stepped out of the van multiple cops cursed and one of them even started rising his shotgun in my direction.
Thankfully, their leader was quick enough to shout them down "Stand down, officer!" He barked and the man flinched away from him, still eyeing me as if he expected me to start butchering them any second now.
"I can see why you were so cautious." The lead officer walked up to me as I neared their group and offered his hand "Detective Ward, NCPD."
"Magos." I returned the firm handshake and promptly ignored his raised eyebrow at the name "What have you found?"
"We've already forwarded everything relevant to your Fixer." The man eyed me for a long moment before turning back to the cordon "We heard reports of fighting inside followed by deranged screams. The officers here closed the place off by protocol but we didn't have confirmation to call in MaxTac."
"And none of you here were curious enough to look into it." I nodded in understanding.
"Fuck that." One of the cops scoffed and spat on the ground "Don't get paid enough to fuck with 'psychos."
Detective Ward gave him a hard look but said nothing "The other mercenary arrived 24 minutes back but after an exchange of fire things turned silent." He directed one of the cops with a questioning glance and the man nodded.
So the Detective arrived after my colleague... Probably to confirm MaxTac deployment if the psycho wasn't going on a rampage.
'Made sense' I concluded cynically.
"My priority is extraction." I said and began walking to the edge of the blockade "Though a confrontation seems inevitable. If they manage to bring me down I recommend calling MaxTac immediately. You can't follow protocol if you are dead."
The cops around me all turned differing levels of grim at that statement but said nothing. It was ultimately just another day on the job and they couldn't afford to care if I lived or died.
"Yeah." The Detective breathed out, and just as I walked out of the protective wall of cars I heard him jog after me "I am coming with."
"Are you completely retarded?" I couldn't help but ask.
He narrowed his eye "The fact the bastard hasn't already butchered those officers is a damn miracle." He practically growled "I am not waiting around and praying when I can help stop the madman here and now."
I stared into his organic eye for a long few seconds and then slowly nodded "I do not guarantee your survival." And without waiting for his response I began marching in.
The man, to my surprise, let out a near inaudible chuckle at that "Eyes forward, merc."
We kept silent as we stepped into the storage yard, both of us feeling a sudden sense of eerie foreboding.
To make things even less pleasant, my Cyberdeck was sending out a constant [Ping.exe] pulse each and every second only to come back completely empty save for the rather obvious bait presented to our eyes.
In the middle of the blood splattered concrete field, curled over himself sat my rescue target.
A short blonde man wearing a light combat vest and military fatigues, his entire body twitching and his guts spilling onto the ground next to him, his assault rifle was rent into two and sprawled out in front of him.
The fact he wasn't braindead just yet confused me more than anything.
"Fuck." The Detective cursed and looked around.
My own Optics sharpened "Blood splatter suggests cutting weapons. Relatively short, probably curved."
My cold analytic voice seemed to draw Ward out of his terror as he nodded and focused, noticing the finger-drawn blood-emblems straight out of a Maelstromer's nightmare painted across every flat surface in reach.
The man clutched at his Nue handgun and focused back on the victim "Look at the gun, cut looks like it ripped more than it slashed, not what you'd expect from a sword or knife."
"Mantis Blades?" I posed, still scanning the surroundings.
"Probably." Ward agreed, moving behind me and guarding my back as our unease grew.
Just then, at the edges of my Audioreceptors I heard a whisper-hiss of "More offerings for the great ones!"
And it came from right above us.
I barely had the time to shove Ward away before a slender female Maelstromer chromed out of her mind crashed exactly where he was just standing, her heavy Cyberlegs telling me in no uncertain terms what the expected result of her surprise attack was.
Unfortunately for her, my inability to detect her made me thrice as paranoid as I was usually, and before her broken mind could even compute the lack of fleshy squelching impact, my Crusher was pointed at her face.
Her nine red Optics flared with red light and she had the barest moment to twitch aside as I promptly unloaded the entire magazine on her.
Her movements were jerky and unpredictable but my grip allowed me to follow her without resorting to blind fire, nailing her with ten out of my twelve shells and throwing her back with each successive hit.
Except for all the scrapes and dents, whatever subdermal armoring she had installed was more than enough to stop my dollar store buckshot shells.
"Of fucking course." I cursed and immediately leapt to the side with my Venators, moving just in time to avoid the wild slash of her pair of large jagged hand-blades.
I wasn't able to avoid the incoherent scream that followed, nor the odd static that seemed to penetrate my BlackICE without the program even detecting something was wrong.
Thankfully whatever the fuck just happened lasted for only a split second, distracting me only long enough to nearly eat a Mantis Blade instead of actually tanking it, as I managed to flinch away from the follow-up charge last second.
That didn't mean the still screeching Maelstrommer was suddenly not moving and she was already rounding at me with eerily precise movements.
But I didn't come in here alone, and the distinct bark of the Nue cut off whatever following attack the psycho planned, actually managing to penetrate her armoring somewhat and making her flinch away with an animalistic hiss.
"Hands in the air, scum!" Ward barked the order out, more on instinct than out of any actual desire to arrest the madwoman.
I found I agreed.
The air was filled by sudden charging sound, and exactly as the psycho recovered from her most recent beating she got the distinct pleasure of coming face to face with the Soviet borg killer.
With a glorious deafening roar, my Burya dislodged its tungsten slug directly into her disgusting mangled face.
Half of her head simply disappeared alongside a good chunk of the concrete fence behind her.
Except for whatever ungodly reason... she was still fucking standing.
And somehow staring at me, despite missing most of her brain.
I barely had time to drop my railgun and rise my reloaded Crusher as she began to charge at me with an even more soul-chilling scream than before.
Both mine and Ward's weapons discharged fully into her but that seemed to only slow her down, and in my panic I reached for the nearest object I hoped would stop me from needing to put myself back together again.
The thermal katana lit up with red light as I accidentally pressed the activation button and threw the blade up more as a stick to keep her away than with any actual skill or intent.
The scream also sent another round of static into my senses and with growing panic I prepared myself for the worst.
Except, when I blinked my eyes open I was greeted with a monomolecular Mantis Blade halted a few inches away from my face, and the eerie sight of three red optics glaring hatefully at me, before buzzing with electricity and shutting off as the vertically bisected body fell apart on both ends.
I looked at the slightly scratched blade, very carefully deactivated the thermal edge, and promptly slumped against the pile of whatever was stacked behind me "Fuuuuuckkk...." I exhaled and looked to my side "You alive, Ward?"
"She didn't touch me." The Detective said, sounding quite shaken himself "So much for not guaranteeing my life." He chuckled, no doubt to distract himself.
"It was a fair warning." I waved it off, looking up into the sky "No reason to just let you die though."
"Hah." He laughed lightly, his relief obvious "That's fair."
He let out a long exhale and I heard him light up a cigarette, he took a long drag and spoke "Damn shame about the other merc though."
And just like that I was up on my feet, marching over to the man and letting out a quiet sigh of relief as I realized he still wasn't brain dead.
"Twenty minutes until flatline." I muttered and heard Ward hiss in surprise behind me "You are one tough motherfucker..."
I already began unpacking the field tools I had on me as a matter of course and without looking back to Ward I called out "Why don't you go tell your boys to call off the death squad while I check on him?"
I could hear him shuffle hesitantly, but one did not go through a horror show like this with someone and not develop at least a degree of subconscious trust, and he ultimately grunted "Fine, I'll be outside." And walked out.
The third syringe of nanites was already emptied out into the man's or 'Little Mike's' bloodstream and I was stitching his gut together with plastic wire when Regina finally answered.
[M.] She greeted quickly [What do you have for me?]
[Psycho is dead, had to go for the kill.] I informed her as I worked [VIP is critical but I am stabilizing.]
[How critical?] She demanded.
I didn't bother answering and simply forwarded her my initial diagnosis.
[Fuck!] Her lone eye widened as she skimmed through it and focused back on the holo [You sure you can fix him?]
[Not with the tools I have here, you will need supplies for that.] I answered half absently, directing my nanites to reconnect the multiple rents in the man's innards [I will stabilize him and that is that, however.]
[What is it?] She asked.
[You will ask no questions, and share no rumors.] I said, deadly serious even as I still worked [He will live and that is all you will ever know of what is about to happen.]
She narrowed her eye suspiciously.
But I knew she wasn't an idiot.
[Fine. Do what you can.] She bit out [I've sent a driver to your location, she'll be there in five.]
[Copy that.] I nodded [Stabilization will take around three more minutes.]
[Good.] She said and for a while I believed she had ended the call then and there, distracted as I was.
[Hey M.]
I was thankful for my natural lack of expression as it how startled I was.
[Yes?] I asked as I sprayed some heavy antiseptic down the comatose man's throat.
[Thanks.] The Fixer said, the sound coming out forced but sincere.
I simply nodded [Always a pleasure, Ms. Jones.]
She exhaled a noise that came suspiciously close to a snort and shook her head, ending the call.
A second later, my account was 30k fatter.
---
The driver in Ms. Jones' employ gave me one final wave as she blasted off in her armored car, leaving me behind feeling distinctly annoyed by how the day went.
Mostly because the sun was already starting to set and I was covered in gut juice.
Thankfully, distraction came as I had hoped and Ward walked up to me, looking me up and down but not voicing any of his conclusions aloud.
"Your superiors satisfied?" I asked as I leaned back against my van.
The man tried to hold back his eyeroll and only half-succeeded "They always find a reason to weasel out of paying out any bonuses but at least no one will be losing their jobs today."
"That a normal concern?" I asked, completely unsurprised by the idea.
He gave me a look that said 'What do you expect me to say here?' and shrugged.
Feeling another bout of cynical thoughts I forced them away with a dry chuckle "Right." I said "How can I help you, Detective?"
He pretended to look around but I could see him checking if any of his fellow officers were listening. Seeing as none were he turned back to me "I usually don't trust mercs but I've got a good gut feeling about you."
"Too soon." I deadpanned.
He seemed confused for a split second before turning slightly green and huffing out in morbid amusement "Jesus Christ." He shook his head "Point is, detective work isn't always easy and sometimes I need backup. You up for it?"
My eyes narrowed briefly and I shrugged "So long as the pay is fair, I don't mind some righteousness in my life." My voice told him exactly how righteous I considered his work to be "You sound too naive for this city, officer."
"It got me this far." He didn't back down even slightly and a moment later I got a notification about his contact request.
He offered his hand and simply said "River."
Rolling my eyes I returned the handshake "Michael."
As the man walked away to rejoin his colleagues I couldn't help but decide to truly help him if he ever needed it. A police officer not yet suffocated by this city's filth was someone I wouldn't mind counting among my friends.
It was odd... meeting so many people who went beyond my cynical expectations in recent days.
"Well." I muttered as I got back into the van "I don't hate being wrong from time to time."
My light mood lasted for all about ten seconds as I began unpacking and then went to place the scratched thermal weapon on the other seat, only to be reminded I'd have to deal with the Tyger Claw madman I called a business associate as soon as I returned.
For a brief moment, I was so very tempted to just say fuck it and kill the Tyger Claws.
"A borg can dream..." I sighed, and started the engine.
-------
And he dreams of powerstones!
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