Cyberpunk II 2786A.D. Las Vegas.

Inspector Brainnigan stood watching the medical staff removing the bodies of Pasha and Wraithling from the space port. Besides him taking notes detective Rowling.

“so detective what would you suggest created this mess.”

The detective looked up at the chief inspector.

“Sir this looks like a stereo typical shooting. From the notes I’ve taken I would suggest a high calibre gun maybe a Desert Eagle.” She replied.

“And who do we know who carries one of those.” Brannigan queried.

“Jazzman sir.” Rowling replied matter of factly.

*****​

Wolf entered the Royale Casino ready to play he took some cash to the trade in and walked away with 50,000 worth of gambling chips. He took his seat at one of the card tables and made his first bet laying down a straight 5,000

“And what’s your bet sir.” Said the smartly dressed dealer.

At the table two others sat, an elderly women and a large round man wearing a pair of glasses.

“Higher than the Jack.” Wolf replied in his gruff voice.

The dealer revealed the card as a Queen of hearts. Wolf smiled he was now 15,000 richer. The deal carried on. Eventually Wolf had bought the elderly women three matinees’ and a dry cider. He eventually left the table 75,000 richer than he started.

*****​

Jazzman entered Seths private lounge where he found both Seth Krokodil and Michael Stern drinking a glass of Mars standard vintage Vodka.

“Can I assume this run went smoothly.” Seth asked stroking his black goatee.

“Very I had some trouble landing. We have Cyber Police in the city.”

“Yes we know.” Said Stern.

“I had to kill two. But once they have been ID discovered well Brannigan will have what he requires to search this establishment. I would suggest moving the cartel Back to Mars. At least for protecting the profits sake.” Jazzman said in his deep dark voice.

“Its not a bad idea. But we run the risk of a Police blockade.” Seth spoke.

“We could divert to Saturn and then to Mars. They would be less suspicious.” Said Stern.

“I am inclined to agree perhaps you should have Adam do the run. It’s getting rather tedious here now.” Seth said.

Stern shot him a glance. And for a moment wondered how much more use Seth Krokodil could be before he tired of him. Vornn had already reported Tolva and Kiara here suspecting they were Cyber police hired at least. The thought pondered on. Perhaps Seth was the issue here and maybe it was time.

 

Pythola drove into Vegas from route 666 with three other female bikers from her gang. They parked up near the Royale casino. Pythola followed by the three Madonna, Sally Anne, And Rena went inside. The place was stacked with gambling boxes card tables spin the wheel and everything to gamble with. A large water fountain spurted out water near the main entrance and guards stood on every corner many attired in suits. The sounds of Elvis playing in the backdrop could be heard clearly. The casino was filled with people and as busy as an ant hive.

Pythola told her three to remain in the casino and she went passed a guard showing him a pass end up the stairs into the hotel section.
Once upstairs she went into an outdoor elevator. She stood watching from the glass the city of Vegas as she was taken higher and higher until she reached the glass dome of the top of the tall building. She stepped out to be greeted by Jazzman.

The large man escorted her to Seth’s pool at the other side of the massive dome. Seth pulled himself from the pool surrounded by naked women and men. A man and a women both semi naked went to him with a silk gown and covered his wet muscular body. Seth stroked his goatee with one hand while running a hand over his bold head. He looked Pythola up and down then went to a seat away from the pool. Another semi naked women came to him with a large cigar and lit it for him as he placed it over his lips.

“Pythola what brings you to my establishment?” he asked running his hand down the semi naked woman’s thigh.

“My troupe ran into trouble down route 666.” She throws him a data slate with Fox and Suzu’s face across the screen next to Spencer’s.

“And.” Seth said puffing on his cigar while another semi naked man rubbed his shoulders.

“They’re Cyber filth.” She said allowed.

Seth sat up shrugging the man from his shoulders and spitting the cigar across the floor. Jazzman stepped up behind her followed by another man attired in a suit.

“No fragging sh!t.” He bellowed.

Seth slung the data slate to Jazzman who caught it in a gloved hand.

“I can take care of them.” He said.

“Or Michael can have Vornn do it.” Replied Seth in an angered tone.

“I’ll have the word sent out anyway Boss.” Jazzman said.

Pythola looked Seth up and down and licked her lips.

“So do you think I can get myself in that pool and have some fun too.” She said with a wink.

Seth nodded to Jazzman to deal with the situation and turned back to Pythola.

“Oh I think we can have that fun without the aide of a pool.” He replied.

 

Wolf decided to book a room for a few nights so he left the gambling main hall and walked into the busy hotel section. Sat at the desk was a young women with blond hair wearing a smile serving some well dressed people. Wolf stopped at behind the posh couple waiting for then to go. Once they left he leant over the reception desk.

“I need a room for a few nights two or three.” He said.

The woman smiled and reached for a set of keys.

“That’s fine you can pay by night. When you stop paying or have lost everything on the gambling tables we’ll assume you’ll be checking out then.”

“Are you this friendly to everyone?” He asked.

She smiled and handed him a set of keys. “How will you be paying Mr er?”

“Cash.” He said handing over enough notes for a week.

“Oh and its just Wolf. No Mr nothing.” He furthered.

Wolf took the keys from her hand with a smile and locked eyes.

“That’s room 326 floor 9 you have a nice time now.” She said turning to the next customer.

Wolf turned to the elevator and entered. Uptight b!tch he thought to himself. The elevator took him up the nine floors and stopped. He left and wondered for a bit until he found his room. He opened it with the strange looking electro key. The door slid open and he entered. The room was of a fair size broken into three apartments. One for the lounge One for the sleeping room and the other a large enough bathroom. Wolf was impressed. The place was clean and neat with a great view from the balcony. He unzipped his leather jacket and removed his large Pistol placing it on a glass table by the red sofa’s. He removed the jacket leaving him in black jeans and a black tT-shirt. He also took a small device and extended the ariel. He scanned the romm for listening devices or the sort and found the room clean. He closed the Ariel gadget. A second later he flipped his com open. A holographic image of Chief Byrne appeared.

“Wolf.” He said.

“Sir I’ve acquired a room within the Royale.” He said.

“You’ll have assistance I have other cyber police in the city.” Byrne said.

“What do you want me to do now sir.”

“Hang tight look around. We’ve blocked another shuttle headed to Mars. This one went down with a fight. We’re also investigating traffic heading to Saturn. At the moment once you identify Seth he’s to be taken care of. Also Michael stern is to be taken out on sight. Be mindful of Vornn. Byrne Out.” The hologram faded.

Wolf stepped out onto the balcony looking at his wrist gadget. The gadget was a com line for aide.

 

I tried to ignore Fox’s thoughts on anger, listening isn’t one of my stronger points. My temper was telling me something had to be done.

"So do you think it matches my hair?", she says.

I give a soft smile, I don’t mind Fox at all she seems somewhat mellow. “Very spunky,” I manage with a chuckled. “what does a girl have to do to get her one of those.”

I stop as the doctor steps out into the hall. “Suzu Zeke’s awake now if you’d like to see him.”

I stand up and follow the doctor in, Zeke’s laying staring at the roof the doctor excuses himself and I sit besides Zeke.

“Who survived?” he asks me straight away. Funny the way he says it, the care in his voice wants me to be a part in his gang. To fit in with him and his.

“I‘m the only one,” I tell him.

His brows are creased in thought now. “We should have stopped we would have stood a better chance holding our ground.”

“Either way Zeke someone was bound to get caught it was just bad luck.”

Zeke moans I can see the frustration written all over his face. “What about the weapons?”

“I couldn‘t get there, If I went you would have died.”

“And you would have cared?” Zeke asks with a chuckle.

I frown I would have, but I don’t want him to know that. “Maybe,” I murmur. After a few moments I continue my voice lowered, “It gets worse Zeke, we‘re with the Yakuza.” Zeke’s face pales and my own stomach is doing back flips.

 

Walking over to where Vector is lying on the bed staring at the ceiling, I look him over and he rewards me with a puzzled glance. He’s not a bad looking guy.

“I need your help,” before he can make a suggestion that involves getting lucky I hurry on, “have you ever done a tandem hack?”

He looks puzzled again and I reach down and lift one of his hands. The metal is smooth and even a little warm, probably conducting mild warmth from the real living part of his body. I angle it to remind him of the port in his palm.

“The information I want is in pretty deep and nobody's offering it up on a silver platter. It would be easier to have someone with me in cyberspace to run interference.” I grin and let his hand go.

“What about it, interested in a little online piracy?”

 

Susaro walks up to Fox. "The doctors say he should stay here for a while longer. We have a new bike waiting out front for you. Here take this." He hands her the key to the bike, a cell phone and tells her the number to it. Fox nods her head as he walks away. Fox had been watching what was happening inside of Zeke's room, with her new eye. She couldn't read everything that Suzu was saying, but she did catch the word Yakuza. Zeke seemed to go pale. Fox thinks to herself "I guess they aren't friends with the Yakuza."

Fox stands and enters Zeke's room. She writes down a number on a small slip of paper. "That's the number to my cell phone. Call me if you need any help." Fox walks out of the room. She retrieves her armor and leaves the make shift hospital. Out front there is a large, powerful looking motorcycle. It has four wheels, two large ones next to each other in the front, and the same in the back. She gets on and starts it up. The engine just seems to give a aura of power. She quickly takes off and heads back to the Blue Blood Hotel. Weaving in and out of traffic. "Man, I love this bike." She parks infront of the hotel and goes into her room. She decides to take and quick shower and then relax on the bed.

 

She asks me in that sweet seductive way if I want to have some fun with her. Only problem seems that her idea of fun involves feeding sharks in cyberspace.

Last time i did this was kinda fun, in it's own sick and warped way. Some days I miss the old keyboards and flat screens where if you screwed up the worst that happened was you may have lost a computer not lobotomized yourself.

"Sounds like fun" I muse out the words, Yah, fun, as in 'I wonder if I will taste like chicken'

 

I listen, mostly bored, to the planning discussion. The idea of a truck-jacking piques my interest... that sounds like fun. Then Tolva starts talking about hacking again... mentions something about a tandem hack to Vector. “What about it, interested in a little online piracy?” He looks up at her with the expression of a man on his way to the firing squad as he replies "Sounds like fun."

Guess I'm on guard duty. "Good luck, guys."

 

He doesn’t look real enthusiastic. That’s okay, he doesn’t need to he just needs to DO it.

“Sounds like fun.” He says in a way that means I think I just agreed to jump into a blender.

“C’mon,” I say, tugging his hand, “I’ll rig up a second connector. You’re a good fighter…right?”

It takes me a few minutes to strip some wires and rig things up. The connector had to be right opposite the other one.

“Sit here,” I tell him. Putting a chair right beside mine I show him how this will work.

“Ordinarily I would have you hold my hand so the connectors stay seated.” This is one part that makes me nervous, “However, you could pulverize my hand if things get...intense...so I think we need to keep our hands side by side,” I lay my arm over his so that our forearms are together, the connectors between us and toss Kiara the small roll of duct tape.

“Tape our forearms to each other and to the armrests,” I say quietly to Kiara, hoping like heck that Vector isn’t claustrophobic about having his arm bound. I lay a hotel facecloth over my arm to save the hair ripping fun of duct tape removal later.

 

Great I am being tapped to a chair. Just lovely. She did not look like the Kinky type when I first spotted her... Nope... I take that back... yes she did, so I guess I should not be surprised.

And I really did not like the way she said intense, it just did not sound like a good intense type idea.

Next thing I know the word rips apart around me and it feels like I am falling down a well with walls made up of zeros and ones. I can't tell if I want to orgasm or vomit, I think I might have done both, but I won't be able to tell until I get back from this psycho ride.

I will never understand how people could get addicted to this feeling.

The pit or well or really whack roller coaster ride, or what ever this is starts to break apart and a physical word appears before me. It strange like looking at a picture, I can touch things that seem far away but are within reach yet I can move around like I am in a real physical world.

This is a whole lot different then my last few trips, this place feels a bit more stable, solid might even be the better word. It might be an aspect of getting used to the sensation, or part of the dual jump port, I am not sure yet.

And I have the dreadful feeling that I am about to find out in a way I will not be enjoying.

 

It is interesting, jumping with a partner, to see what form they will take in cyberspace. I have chosen to appear as a small golden sparkle. I’m not sure yet if this will be a difficulty for Vector. It’s becoming clear that he’s new to this.

When I turn to look at Vector he looks like…Vector. I can’t help a giggle that tends to bounce and echo around us.

“Do you want to appear as yourself or do you want a different form?” I ask him in the same disembodied way, “I find it’s easier this way but you may prefer to have arms and legs for now. Is my current form too distracting for you?”

We might as well get this settled now. I don’t want him distracted if the jump starts to go bad.

 

A golden sparkle. I suppose only in cyberspace does that somehow make sense.

A painful and drawn out thirty seconds later and I look like a dragon with black scales.

Ok this is kinda cool. I'll think of something a bit more original when I decided to do this for fun, which at this rate is pushing somewhere between Never and when pigs fly.

"Lead on" and I watch several small round yellow disks with smiley faces on them bounce around my form for a split second before fading into nothingness. Oh good grief! It seems if I try to show emotions in this place it takes the form of emocons, which explains how she can appear as a golden sparkle and not loose any emotional expression. Love it and hate it at the same time.

 

Okay, it’s hard not to laugh at that.

“Let me just turn those off for you,” I finally manage, “emoticons aren’t really great for what we’re about to do.”

We’re standing in an open meadow surrounded by trees. Lots and lots of trees. A crowded information sector. After shaking a tree to dislodge some fruit for the hungry tracker rats of the hotel we vanish into the woodland.

I didn’t warn him of the one really bad thing that can happen to you in cyberspace because it probably won’t happen. The chances are slim to none and I just put it out of my own mind.

We come to a shoreline and he looks worried as a dragon can look when I step into the water. Even though I appear as nothing more sparkle I can feel and see as though I have arms legs and eyes if I wish to. There is a glass bottom to the water again and I proceed outward, toward where there is no land ahead of us. There are small curling waves and it is peaceful enough if you don’t know that there is code in the trees, the water is code, the wind is code.

And any minute it could change.

Which is why I’m not tremendously surprised when the sharks show up in water that should not be deep enough for them. They dive as though the water is ocean-deep and their fins surround us as I find the panel under the water.

“Distract them!” I yell as they close in and I work at getting the panel open, “Remember…it’s all just computer code!”

 

The first thing Spencer did upon awaking was to swear, foully and bitterly. This trip was not going well. He was surprised that he hadn't yet lost any appendages. He had had enough of being ridden roughshod over. Time to get down to business.

He opened his eyes and took stock of his situation. He was laying on a hospital bed after being dragged through the desert behind a motorcycle, then dumped into a ravine after falling down a cliff. Slowly, he moved each muscle slightly. The pain was slight, blotted out by painkillers, but he could tell where he had been hit. The bruising was bad, especially on his torso. Two of his ribs had been broken, and patched. He had holes in his legs where the harpoons had bit. They were bandaged tightly, but they hurt worst of all. He'd be tender for a while, but technology was a wonderful thing. So were meds.

With an effort, he sat up. A doctor stood across the room, arms crossed as he eyed Spencer with mild interest.

"I was surprised. Not a trace of robotics anywhere in your body. Many would call that rare for this day and age. How do you feel?"

"Drugged."

"Logical. I've placed more of said drugs with your things. You'll be tender for a few days, but these will allow you to function fairly normally.

"Where's my partner?"

"She went to the hotel down the street." Spencer nodded and threw his feet over the bed. It was then he realized that he didn't have his sunglasses. The realization made him feel naked...exposed. The good doctor sensed his discomfort. He pointed to a small footlocker.

"Your gear is in there. You do well in hiding who you really are."

"I don't need a philosophy lesson." Spencer said shortly, putting on his shades first. The doctor shrugged.

"Good luck, Mr. Spencer. And good hunting." Spencer pulled his long jacket on and withdrew his shotgun. He nodded at the doctor and walked out.

It was a short walk to the hotel. He stepped up the stairs to the room and knocked. Fox opened the door, dressed simply in a white shirt and shorts. The relief he felt at seeing her again was intense...stronger than he had expected.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

 

Fox nods and sits back onto the bed. "I'll be fine, just a little bit more cyber than I used to be." She taps on her new red cyber eye. "I lost pretty much half the left side of my face thanks to a shot of plasma. And my left leg is now cyber from the bottom of the thigh, down. Thankfully the synthetic skin they had is top notch. It looks and feels completely real, just like my cyber left arm. They even connected it to my nerves so that I can feel it just like normal skin. So, are you alright?"

 

“Remember…it’s all just computer code!”

Oh that makes me feel soo much better. I think.

A quick run across the water, which is odd because I would think you would have to swim in the water, but here I am running on it. Well to get technical I am flying but it feels like I am running.

Maybe that is just the nature of the code and the mind. You have your body, and no matter what you look like, you are still you.

Makes sense in it's own way.

Perhaps the issue is if I am running they know to chase me. What if I stand still and go inactive?

Worth a shot.

I watch the Sharks stop and head back towards the little glowing golden dot. Ok. Not my best plan.

I guess now is when I make some more noise. It looks like I am breathing fire, it even kinda feels like I am breathing fire in a strange way, but what I really just did was delete about a dozen e-messages.

Oh that pissed them off.

I swear they look meaner this time around then they did last. Might be perceptions, but be just the nature of the program. The issue here like any firewall is not to fight it, but bypass it.

I am discovering that bypassing means running it into a circle and then into places that it should not be able to go. It seems to slow it down the more I force it to try an catch me. Just as long as they do not hit me I am keep this up.

I hope Sweet Cheeks knows what she is doing.

 

I help strap Tolva and Vector down to the chair, then watch as they both go in together. Vector twitches and groans softly a couple times. Heh. He's new at this. I give a little half-grin, then I hope that Tolva can guide him well... they have a tough job ahead of them.

After a moment of watching them to make sure nothing horrible is happening, I saunter over and examine the impressive selection of guns Vector brought back with him. I pull out my own pistol and examine it. They gave me back the same pistol I had when I got arrested... fully charged, but 20 year out-of-date tech. I smirk and toss it on the end of the bed, away from the other guns, and pick up a pair of the plasma pistols, weighing them in my hands, testing the balance, peering down the sight. I like. I shove them in my waistband, one in each side, then I grab one of the solid-shot pistols and tuck it in the back of my waistband. I grab one of the riot rifles... not really my style, but it's good for guarding, and start pacing the room, alternately peeking out the curtains on the windows, glancing at Tolva and Vector, and peering out the peephole on the door. I don't expect anything to happen, but with our luck, I just don't know.

 

"Yes. For now. Still human. We have a plan?" Spencer says as he crosses to the chair near the bed.

 

I am submerged, opening the portal and when it opens I have to grab Vector to fall through with me.

The sharks shouldn’t be able to get through; I left a routine that will repel them.

Free-falling hand-in claw with a dragon (he will see it as a golden sparkle in his paw) in pouring water for God-only-knows how far is more than a little scary. Thankfully, I’ve taken this trip before and I’m ready when we fall into the deep black pool, the water slapping past us and bubbles shooting up all around, the underwater sound loud and burbling.

We shoot to the surface and I look up, sinuous shark bodies can clearly be seen above the now-closed high glass ceiling.

“Come on.”

I lead Vector to the rock wall and move along it, searching, finding the right rock.

When I find it the scene shimmers and changes completely like a foggy mirror clearing.

We’re under a table. There are chair legs and black-and-white linoleum. Vector is huddled up into a dragon-y ball trying to keep from lifting the table with his head. I hush Vector before he can speak and a set of legs walks by the table.

We stay hunkered there, listening. Another set of legs, this time in blue jeans, walks by and a voice speaks from almost over our heads.

“When is the truck due?”

“The one from Palo Alto?”

“Yeah.”

“Four-eighteen.”

“A lot of work.” The voice doesn’t sound happy, “I had plans.”

“So did I, Carl, but Viktor wants that truck unloaded right away. You know he gets cranky if the stuff stops moving.”

The conversation moves on to dinner plans and moves out of the kitchen.

Grabbing Vector by the ear, I drag him out from under the table and bolt out the kitchen door…

…Which leads directly into one of those pulsing dark-blue corridors. Bingo.

I move down the corridor, looking at the doors to see what might be useful. Coming to one marked ‘arrivals’ I have to try for several minutes to open it before it finally gives way and we slip in, closing it behind us.

 

"For now, the plan is to continue doing jobs for the Yakuza, and hope that we get the attention of Seth or Stern soon, so that we can take them down. Also, under the guise of working for the Yakuza, we can kill some of the other crimebosses, and not have anyone think we're doing anything odd." Fox lays back on the bed and stares at the ceiling. "So, if you don't mind me asking, what have you been upto since the whole thing went down, in LA?"

 

OK that is it. I am going with a smaller form when I have the time to play. Right now I am in some blue room that says 'Arrivals'.

Place looks like a shipping warehouse with all kinds of packages being unloaded and loaded in a pointless cycle. But each package is info we might or might not need.

The people moving the packages seem to have numbers fly across their foreheads like file names or numbers or something.

Credit hacks are easy compared this junk.

"Your call here glow bug"

 

We move among the people quietly and they pay us no mind. It’s an odd feeling but none of their software has detected the intrusion so they don’t see us.

In about six minutes we have what we need. Not everything we need…but enough to make this work.

I turn to leave with the dragon and find I can’t move at all. ****.

“Vector,” I hiss, “Vector…”

He looks puzzled. He doesn’t understand. I change a few things so that he can see me in a silvery, shimmering human form, my foot and ankle caught tight in the gluey ‘sticky trap’ that was my worst nightmare.

“Vector, you need to go out,” I tell him as calmly as I can, “but under no circumstances should you unhook me from the connector in my hand, do you understand?”

I feel pale and weak. It is going to take all of my skill to keep from being detected while he’s gone.

“If you do, I could lose my consciousness into the machine. Eventually it would kill me.

“You and Kiara have to take the information we’ve found and go get the chip. Hijack the truck…it’s on its way from Palo Alto, it’s his company, Branson Trucking and it’s sleeper number 45587.

“Get inside, the chip is in his office safe, it opens to 33-5-92,” I stop to shake him, “Are you listening? This is really important, Vector. You have to either unplug the correct server or else destroy the facility…at least the server room. The proper machines have to be neutralized before I can get loose. Do you understand?”

He looks shell-shocked and I shake him again.

“You have to do this, Vector. If you can’t then you have to shoot me – the real me. If I’m stuck here I can’t live outside. Can you do this?”

 

Pythola emerged from Seth Krokodil’s large bedroom pushing the double doors aside and completely naked. The sun was shining through the large window covering the luxury carpet in a bask of light. Behind her stood Seth krokodil attired only in his silk gown and running a hand down Pythola’s back down to her bare buttock which heralded the tattoo of a python snake running from the right buttock down her right leg. He smacked her softly.
With the motion pythola quickly spun around taking one of her short knifes from the small glass table between couches and stopped with the blade to his throat.

“Never.” But before she could finish she felt the press of cold metal to the back of her bold head past the long ponytail tied tightly and hanging from the base of her head.

She slowly turned her cats eyes to see Jazzman behind her dressed in his black suit and pressing his Desert Eagle pistol at the back of her head.

“Think about it.” He said.

She released her grip letting Seth back away and fasten his gown still looking at her un augmented naked body.
Jazzman holstered his pistol inside his jacket and backed away remaining at a distance but close enough.

“Never do that again Mr Krokodil guard or no guard I’ll slit you red.” She finished what she intended to say before been interrupted.

Seth laughed out loudly while pouring a glass of fine red and taking a long sip yet his eyes remained fixed on pythola as she dressed.

“You’ll pay before you touch me again.” She said snidely.

“Oh but I already have. Now you’ve had your fun I have a job in hand for you.” He said place the glass on the tables edge and entering the balcony from the glss dome that covered the top of the Royale.

“You shall seek out Kiara and Vector and slay them.” He said.

“Why me what about one of your own.” She queried.

“Because You’re here and my own will also be doing the same. You forget b!tch you work for me. I own you and you do as I say when I say.” He turned to face her scowling face. The beauty was an endless dream within her she was certainly any mans desire.

“Now get out.” He said.

She was gone within seconds taking the elevator down.
Jazzman stood at Seth’s side. “We have another cyber pig here. A lone biker arrived in town. Booked into the hotel. My source reports he came from the route road and took out too of the Bulls bikers en route here. Sounds like a pig to me.” Jazzman said.

Seth turned to face the tall dark skinned man.
“Don’t waist time kill him.”

 

Cypher stepped into the pain hall of the Royale attired in green plate armour and looking menacing enough for anyone close to step aside. Holstered at his waist he carried a Plasma Pistol and a stub pistol. The stub was a high calibre shooter. His hair was long and tied back in a neat tail. The left side of his face had a series of web design metallic’s running from the forehead down to his chin and what looked like a zip down the centre of his face. A scare reminder of his conflict with the warrior Vornn.

Adam saw Cypher enter the establishment and waded through the crowds of people dressed smartly in his black suit. He stopped in front of the armoured gun slinger and brushed his hand through his brown hair. Cypher looked him un and down taking a data slate from his hand. The slate had a list of names to kill. Tolva, Vecto, Kiara, Suzu, Fox, Zu, and Spencer.

Cyhper looked up at Adam.

“How much.” He asked.

“Each.” He furthered.

“Michael Stern remembers you and therefore trusts you’ll not fail him this time guns slinger. Your pay will be 70 mill each. Nothing more nor any less. Do not fail us gain.” He said,
Cypher stood still for a moment sizing up his options when Adam removed his black shades momentarily revealing a yellow glow from his eyes and placed them back over his eyes. Cypher back away.

Adam watched as the gun slinger left the crowded establishment of the casino.

 

This hack is taking way longer than usual, and I'm starting to get worried. Tolva and Vector both are looking a little on the pale and drawn side, but I also know the cardinal rule: never ever ever unplug someone by force. All I can do is fret and wait. Suddenly, Vector lurches forward with a huge gasping breath, like a drowning man who just broke the water's surface for that life-saving breath of air. He blinks dazedly at me for a moment, and he seriously looks like he wants to throw up, then he hurriedly unhooks himself...just himself.

I stare at Vector with narrowed eyes. "What's wrong?" I growl in a tense voice. I'm not actually mad at him, but something is VERY wrong, and he's the only target I can take it out on. He sits in stunned silence for a few more seconds, then seems to snap out of it and fills me in, giving me the short version of what happened in cyberspace. "Sh**...sh**...sh**...sh**... SH**!" I barely manage to stop myself from punching the wall... they might not notice the dent in the ceiling, but they'd have to be blind to miss a hole in the drywall right at eye level, and I don't feel like dealing with a damage deposit, even if its not my credits. "Ok, so... long story short, we have to jack a truck, sneak in and steal a chip, and shut down a server... or blow it up? Let's get a move-on." I look back at Tolva, still plugged in, a faint grimace across her face. "Don't you worry... I'll... we'll get you outta there. I swear it." I say very softly. I don't think Vector hears me.