Cyberpunk 2766AD

Vornn stalks the shadows looking for his next target. After his confrontation with Suzu he is eager to make a kill.
After sometime Vornn stalks his way back towards the crash site looking for more clues to track the next victim. Once he arrives he see’s the enforcers have began cleaning up the mess with clean up crews of workers. And then he suddenly hears something snap in the background. With the full strength of his speed he turns.
There in the shadows he see’s another.

Vornn switches his vision to enhance. And to his pleasant surprise in the shadows he sees Mal. He allows a slight of emotion to grace his frowning face and a thin smile emerges.

Mal sees Vornn and tries to flee. But yet speed is not on his side. Vornn leaps high up lands on a balcony one level higher.

Mal looks up. What’s he doing he wonders.

Vornn unsheathes his sword from the scabbard holding the hilt firmly he drops. The wind blows up his cloak giving him the look of a giant raven descending from the sky. Mal feels a sharp pain grace his skull in a straight line to his chin then through his stomach and finally his groin. Where’d that pain come from he wonders?

Suddenly he looks down to see blood dripping from the groin and then he watches himself slide apart from the centre. He’s dead before either side hits the ground.

Vornn takes his evidence with him. Today he’d earned his first 50 million. An enforcer stops him in his tracks. Vornn shows the sergeant his ID and his catch.

“S-sorry to h-have bothered you.” The sergeant waves his hand to allow Vornn to pass.

A shudder takes the sergeant as he looks at the menacing of the yellow glowing eyes under the shadow of the black hooded warrior.

 

I breathed a few words that would have gotten me slapped by my momma if she had been there. Okay...and if she had been motherly in any way yada yada. Water under the bridge.

My mind had come detached from my body a little bit but it spared some amusement for watching the warrior's continuing fall.

I really didn't expect him to get up but then he did, leaping to his feet as though stung and disappearing inside the building. I frowned.

He had taken a lot of abuse and just leaped up like that, would he come up the way we had and re-engage on the roof?

Calling for Kiara, hoping she hadn't been hit I looked for a way off of the rooftop. It wasn't close enough to climb off onto anything else. Why had Ghost suggested the roof? Why had I listened?

I thought about what had happened with the warrior and only one thing made any real sense. Hypo. Adrenaline. I became more and more convinced that he wasn't going to re-engage. Not now.

But he would be back and there was still old glowy-eyes to contend with. Not to mention we were exposed up here on the roof.

 

I wasn't paying attention anymore. I heard something. It was faint, but I could recognize gunfire when I heard it. It sounded like the police were rounding up the others already.

"Umm guys, can you hear that? I don't think it's safe to keep waiting for the bus. We should probably leave, like right now."

 

"Yeah, but we still need to find a way up to the midsection." says Fox. Just then they hear the bus come rumbling in. Unlike the one they rode before, this one looked a lot more modern. According the the front, its the one that goes from this station, up to the midsection of the city. "What do you guys say? Want to risk using the bus to get to a safer place?"

 

I look at it suspiciously. It doesn't look good, but I don't know any other way to get up there.

"Fine. But don't draw attention to yourself."

 

I pounded up the stairs... I can hear Tolva's footsteps right behind me, and the door to the roof is right in front of me. I shoulder-smash it, but it flies open way easier than I was expecting, and I go stumbling awkwardly, full speed, across the rooftop. I made it maybe 5 steps, and had nearly regained my balance, and someone set off an arsenal behind us: the *bang* and whistle of big heavy-duty bullets, and the sizzle of plasma... I hit the dirt without hesitation. The bark of a pulse-shotgun joined the fray before I'd managed to pull my pistol and roll to face our attackers. All I see is Tolva, scrambling like a mad-woman to the edge of the building and firing blindly over the edge. I jump up and run over, but by the time I make it, whoever it was is gone... all I see is a smashed ladder.
Tolva calls for me, I turn and look... man she looks pissed! But she's also bleeding, "Sh**! Are you alright?" I step closer and start looking at her shoulder, it's not too bad, but I'm sure it hurts like h***. She flinches... yeah, it hurts, and mutters something to the effect of "I'll live." Then I hear the whine of hover-car engines. Geeze, can't we catch a break? I spin around, pistol still in hand, ready to shoot something... someone... and i'm met by the sight of Ghost at the wheel of the flyer, and if he didn't have that mask on, I'd swear he looked smug, but something doesn't look right... he looks way too slender, and is that blood on his clothes?

 

The four of them get into the back of the bus. The other people eye them as they get one. When they sit down, they hear the door and windows lockup. All the others, except the driver, stand up and pull out knives and bats. One of them says "Lets see. Between the four of you, we have $200 million dollars. We could buy places in the midsection for that kind of money."

 

“Well, h***,” I say thoughtfully, sticking the pulse shotgun back into my boot and then I yell so Ghost can hear me, “I almost shot your a**!”

Nothing like curb…well, roofside service. I pile into the backseat without a moment’s hestiation as soon as the car’s close enough.

 

a war erupts over my head as I pull the car into gear.

Injured or not I can keep up, and I will keep up. Slamming the shifter forward and jamming my foot onto the peddle the hover car turbines whine to life and begin their lift off. I watch what I can only guess a hunter. Perhaps the one that was after us before jumping off the roof. Tolva! Kiara! I can do nothing to stop my mind from screaming their names even I did hold my voice in check. Plowing the drive handles forward and the transport lurched forward and began to roar towards the roof of the building. Stupid call to head to the roof with no means for lateral movement.

I would guess I let their physical health overrule my judgment regarding our survival.

I see Kiara and Tolva leaning over the side of the building as I bring the car into view. Kiara spins and points brings her guns to bear upon me. I see her smile and relax a moment. Then I see blood flowing from Tolva's shoulder.

It looks like I am not the only one in need of repair. They just shake their heads at me and Tolva makes some kind of commentary about shooting me in the buttocks, I swear these women are obsessed with backsides.

"We need a secure location to recover" I comment as the car pulls away from the building.

We are like ducks out of water right now. Which is odd because ducks can run quite fast on land and even fly, which they still maintain a very good locomotion when not in water... I am going to look that one up, I might have that wrong, it could be sitting ducks, but then again most ducks sit to keep warm and can stand up and move at very accelerated rates... STOP IT!

I hope that Tolva can use the network hook-up of the car itself to gain the info we need. The GPS system is tracking this car's movements hence why I have not turned it on or asked it where to go. It would tell the main office that info. But if Tolva can hack it then we can get the info with out giving up any of our own.

 

"Well ****. See what you got us into Fox?"

I pull out my laser from my waistband and shoot the guy who spoke.

"Who wants to die next? There's a reason they want us so bad."

 

Fox stands and pulls out the small automatic laser gun from her waist band. When she pulls the trigger, out comes about fight quick shots. They all land in one guys chest. He falls over dead. The guy behind him takes a swing at Fox, but she blocks it in the palm of her right hand. Her hand crushes the bat as her tail plunges into the man's chest and comes out of his eye. When her tail pulls out, he falls down, in a pool of his blood. "Lets see, three down, about four to go. This is almost too easy."

 

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU SAY THAT? YOU JUST JINXED US YOU BITCH!"

Sure enough one of them slipped past Fox and charged him while was busy with another. The man knocked his gun away and then he took a swing with his bat that connected squarely with the side of his right knee, trying to disable him by. Fortunately he hadn't skimped when he'd had his prosthetic altered. That had taken three years worth of allowance to upgrade, and he didn't want anyone breaking it. Jimmy slashed the man across the back of the hand with his pocket knife and then jumped forward to tackle him.

 

Spencer heard the voice and observed the girl who entered. Her figure was swathed in the green backdrop of the night vision he looked through. Without a sound, he switched his cigarette over to his left hand and withdrew his shotgun. Like a spectre he moved; silently and gracefully. Slowly, he rested the barrels of the shotgun on the back of her neck.

"That depends." He said. He drew on his cigarette and blew the smoke past her face. "Who are you?"

 

Fox turns to see Jimmy tackle the man. Two of them tried to attack her from behind, but with one swipe of her tail, both of their necks were slashed open. She turned back to see the last one, trying to escape. Fox shoots him in the back. She walks to the front and wraps her tail around the neck of the driver. He pleads for his life, "Please. They paid me, and I was scared." "Take us to a private area up in the midsection." He nods his head and the bus takes off, upward to the midsection.

 

“We certainly do.” I agree with Ghost, “The only problem being that anyone – and I mean anyone - who we go to now will want that fat juicy reward.”

I mull over the possibilities for a minute before continuing.

“Hospitals are out, free clinics are out…but I have an idea.” I added as a possibility came to mind. “The guy’s straight as a corkscrew but he is a doctor, of sorts, and there is an angle I can use with him. Kiara, if you can switch seats with me, I can get up front to the network hookup panel.”

Kiara needs to crawl over the seat to the back and I to the front.

 

Fine by me... I half-stand in the cramped cabin and climb over the back of the seat as Tolva squirms past me to the side, swapping places somewhat neatly. Once I'm finally in my seat, I glance out the window at the cityscape zipping by. It's the first semi-calm moment in what feels like hours... and in the quiet, I come to a profound realization.

"I'm hungry."

We need to stop... somewhere... and eat, or we're gonna stop from sheer exhaustion way before we reach any semblance of a safe port.

 

I stand up, a little shaky after finishing off the man I tackled. I've never killed anyone before. It was suprisingly...easy. The funny thing was that I could have gone down just as easily as that guy. I'd only gotten lucky. Who knew that having my leg taken off as a kid would someday save my life? I sit down, hoping the others can't see my left leg shaking up and down.

 

“The guy’s straight as a corkscrew but he is a doctor, of sorts, and there is an angle I can use with him. Kiara, if you can switch seats with me, I can get up front to the network hookup panel.”

The image of a veterinarian that has affairs with his patients flashes into my mind. and a grin pulls across my face. I wish I could say to myself that would be the worst that Tolva has dragged us to in times of need, but I would be lying to myself. I'll never quite figure out how she knows who she knows, but then again I never asked because I am quite sure I do not want to know.

As long as this guy can fix us, he can do what ever else he likes.

"I'm hungry."

I have missed that, they would need nourishment. The uniforms still have credit cards on them.
"get down" I force out the words to Tolva and Kiara as I peel off my mask and pull into the Nasty Burger 2 drive though.

They think I have gone stark raving nuts, and I do not blame them. But they listen to me for that brief second and turn away from the window and duck down.

I feel my face contort and pull against itself "I would like 2 mega vita-booster blended food stuffs, with a side of pure condensed carbohydrate polyfoodcompound"

The guy behind the counter nods takes the card and runs the order. I feel my skin almost bubbling from this effort but they need to eat. After I get the food in the car I burn off I let my face relax. Lucky for me the guy seems apathetic to life and that is just the way I like things, but that was still far harder then I had expected. I feel like an anorexic mannequin right now.

"lead on fearless leader"

Why would anyone want to follow a fearless leader, I mean that is insane. You want someone that knows how to gauge risks and dangers and if they truly are fearless they will just get you killed.... I need to stop that thought NOW.

 

Fox walks over to the kid and grins. "That was your first kill wasn't it? Well, get used to it. Until we are in New Tokyo, its kill or be killed, kid."

 

Ghost’s little trick with the food is good. It smells wonderful but there is a task I need to do before eating.

When the connector is rigged up I plunge it into the heel of my left hand and close my eyes, watching the colors, sound, images…it is always different and this time it is a rush of pleasure, to be back in this cyber-world of signals.

Beams of light follow sparkles, ones and zeroes seem to scream past me and then it all makes sense just as it always does. I appear to be standing in a translucent blue room, the walls glowing and fading with a heart-like beat. Going to a wall, I see transcribed lines, drawers, buttons, and bins.

They aren’t real. They’re constructs to help me make sense of the cyber world. I could just as easily make this scene into a meadow with animals representing the data I need. Right now I just need something simple.

Touching data lines transcribed across the top of a big bin opens it after a few tries. This is the GPS system. Tracing my fingers over the walls quickly I take care of the mapping that we need. Ah, so Peter has moved up a level since I last saw him. Good for him.

Closing the bin and setting it as I wish I go to a different wall and spend some time hiding things, finding things, misrepresenting a few things.

I go to the door, reluctant to depart. And then I’m falling back into the seat of the hover car, starved and a little annoyed at the real world, yanking the connector from my hand.

“A sit-down dinner has been reserved under our real names at the second level about two miles the opposite direction from where we are going.” I grin. “That should keep someone busy.” I glance at Ghost, "And the GPS is set and dampened. It should lead us in without giving us away now."

 

I sit back up and give Ghost a funny look from the back seat as he slips his mask back on. I wasn't expecting it to be THAT easy... but I got no complaints as I accept my burger and half the fries... at least that's what this CRAP is disguised as; 'Nasty Burger' is well named. Oh well, food is food. I dig in.

“A sit-down dinner has been reserved under our real names at the second level about two miles the opposite direction from where we are going. That should keep someone busy.” Tolva remarks from the front seat after I've had a few bites. I give an impressed chuckle. "Nice trick."

 

The black of unconsciousness was penetrated by a brief glimpse of a map. The image kept flashing in Zu's brain until finally he came out of his coma. His forearm hurt and his stomach was in knots. He rolled over and threw up. His migraines had subsided. Guess that woman did something useful, he thought and rolled up his sleeve. He grimaced at the duct-tape. He knew he was going to have to get it taken care of professionally.

Zu rolled out of the piano tarp and headed back to the street. His attention was drawn to people stopping and pointing up occasionally. To his displeasure, pictures were being flashed on a zeppelin overhead, and one of them was his. Zu flipped his hood up and kept it drawn low. He ducked into an alley, flipped open the panel on his arm, and keyed in an address. He needed to get out of the slums, and he needed to do it immediately.

 

Harry stands there looking at Fox. He smiles with the flesh side of his face. Yet the grin from the metallic teeth showed an insane side to Harry Page.
He takes out his gun using his targeting eye he glimpses hard bringing in a magnification of his target. Raising his arm he fires. The shot screeches from his gun like a rocket from a launcher. Searing through the air the shell grazes into Fox’s cheek spinning him around to Face Harry. Harry now reloads and fires again. The second shot screams from the barrel and slices past Fox.

Harry’s one downside. Too big and very clumsy. Anger frustrates through him and he launches himself slamming over the bonnet of a parked flyer landing hard. He jumps stumbles slamming hard onto another bonnet. He rolls off and lands feet down facing Fox. Using the brute force of his strength he plants a fist into Fox’s jaw.

 

"I almost envy our decoys, now I believe we have a vet waiting for us?"

The rust colored crap seeping from my arm is starting to annoy and we are going to need a change of clothing.

Blood might not stain black, but it gives it a funny sheen and I doubt we will have time to do laundry.

I force the steering wheel into the direction she tells me to go. Tolva has been the un-offical leader of our small band of insanity since Pinter fell, she has not lead us wrong yet, and I doubt that she going to start now.

 

“Well, not exactly,” I mumble when Ghost talks about a vet, “he’s actually a mortician. Just pretend to be dead and he’ll be perfectly comfortabl stitching you up.”

Pouncing on the bag before Ghost can mow down the rest of the fries I make sure I get my share plus my Nasty burger. When you’re not hungry, they truly are nasty. When you are this hungry it’s the finest cuisine ever.