Outrun - Cyberpunk LitRPG

I parked in a small lot just off of Saint’s Plaza, and then began my walk through the busy street market. Ferocious storms covered the evening sun, letting only the minimum light shine through the cloud-clay sky. A cool breeze, carrying the toxic scent of the ocean, chilled my arms as it blew just past the cathedral. Speaking of the cathedral, it looked almost as if a divine presence resided in it thanks to a small beam of sunlight splitting through the clouds to reflect off the ancient bell hanging from the tower.

Other than the small chill on my arms, the temperature didn’t bother me. I had taken to wearing a T-shirt, then the KSS Fused Panel ballistic armor I got from the Underground, and then my Techwear jacket over all of it. It was quite the warm combination, and the ambient cool of Aythryn City kept me from overheating. As a bonus, I would be able to survive a couple of shots to the torso if things ever go wrong.

It had been a while since I had been here last, and my primary destination was the same as the others: Yukoto Matrix. I cut through the massive market set up in the plaza, using the cathedral as a guiding hand to find the shop. It wasn’t long till I entered the significantly less busy side street the shop was on.

The inside of the shop looked the same. Bits and parts of terminals were scattered about in heaping piles that looked far too unstable. The lights were partially obscured by said piles and the racks were everywhere. The man behind the counter was also the same and immediately looked up at me as soon as I entered. His piercings reflected the neon into my eyes as they moved. “Welcome in. You looking for something in particular or just browsing?”

“Uh yes.” I glanced at the small pinned note in my HUD as I brushed my hair out of my face. It had an expansive list of stuff I would need for my plan. “I need a cyberdeck and a worm program.”

“Chek chek. What kind?” The guy’s eyes started to glow, and then the terminal on his counter shifted to a catalog.

I looked through the catalog before picking out two options. Softwork Q-10 was a small and incredibly low-end deck. It barely had a spot for three programs. To put that into perspective, my phone could run three, of which my PA and Blue Crusade back door were two of. It was horrendously weak, but the Softwork Q-10 could act as a medium to interface with a device, unlike my phone.

Course, it was a physical interface that I could do all by myself thanks to the interface jacks at my wrists, but using the deck would act as a median separating me from the system. It was a safety precaution which would allow me time to jack out if something goes wrong. Or at least that's the idea.

From my understanding, modern Netrunners tend to like internal decks more since they allow substantially faster reaction speeds at the small cost of getting fried. I dunno if I’ll ever get an internal one though. It was dangerous, and the increase in speed wasn’t worth the danger till I got far better at netrunning. Maybe level eight or nine Net. For now, I was happy with the external deck.

And! And it looked pretty cool! It was designed to look like a leatherbound book and hang from someone’s hip. It was super nerdy and almost looked like a fantastical wizard’s tome. Someone at Softwork had fun with the design. I loved it.

The Alpha-Tres Worm was similarly a weak program that was only capable of infesting a single device. It couldn’t do much other than allow me a backdoor onto said device, and would need to be physically installed to work. It also had the drawback of only having administrator authority for three actions before ceasing functionality.

Perfect for what I wanted. It was quite the costly program though at four hundred Rayn. Yeah, Net stuff wasn’t cheap, or at least most Net stuff. The Blue Crusade backdoor program was fairly common so its price had long dropped.

Well, the base levels at least. The one that allowed for cross Node searches was pretty damn expensive. I couldn’t get one even if I had the money anyway. The guy had already sold it last time I was here and I would only be able to find one in a Night Market sometime.

The programs the shop offered also weren’t anything too crazy. Most of the stuff didn’t go past five hundred Rayn, which makes sense. It was rare for anything over five hundred to appear in a shop thanks to its scarcity. Night Markets were the places to go, just like if I wanted a high-end gun or armor without having the proper papers. “Oh, and a pick, if you have one.”

The guy eyeballed me for a second before heading back into the store. He then returned with a small book-like device on a strap, a tiny data chip, and a small black thumbdrive-like device similar to the picks from Bo. “Here ya go, choom. Five twenty-five. You want some virtu-goggles too? Complete the package?”

The pick was twenty-five Rayn! Damn, I’m in the wrong business! The things were tiny. I could be making bank if I put some effort into making them… but I don’t have the right tools. I’d need a plastic 3d printer at the least. And I don’t have the contacts to sell ‘em.

“Uh yeah, and a bag of chips.” I may as well get goggles now. They’re kinda required for anything Net related… I flicked the payment to the guy and gathered my new items. Just like that, over half my money was gone again. I’d be making it back soon though if things go according to plan… if.

I stepped out of the shop and made my way around the market, only slowed by an LRAT Medevac totaling several stalls without a care. The LRAT, the vehicle Metech’s Medevac team used, was shaped similar to a short bus. A heavily armored short bus that was known to tank several rockets without a problem. Where its tires would’ve gone were it a normal bus, rectangular propulsion drives kept the thing afloat. The LRAT had several turrets all over it that were ready to fire into aggressors at any moment as it landed.

The Shock Troopers, the Medevac’s personnel, instantly went to work as they landed. None of their skin even showed thanks to the armor, and even their faces were fully covered by their tech helmets. The Shock Troopers all wore white gray and red with several glowing red crosses across their bodies.

They spread out, pushing people back by force if necessary as they set up a space around a collapsed elderly woman. She was twitching something fierce and rolling around as the actual medics of the team tried to hold her down.

The secondary medic of the team of five out on the field, the three others being guardians of the two, jabbed the woman with a needle before picking her up. The first medic helped carry the woman back to the LRAT, as the turret on the top of the bus-like vehicle pivoted intimidatingly. Just as soon as the Medevac arrived, they flew off toward Medtech’s corporate hospital.

Once they were gone, I continued and walked around the market, grabbing various mechanical parts that I would need for my project as well as a leather-bound journal and parts. I wanted to get this done as soon as possible so I could get some furniture.

I got back to my bike laden with bags of metal and plastic bits and bobs. I had burned another two hundred Rayn on various parts and devices, mainly an ADF remote system. So much for ‘reserved for food’. If I didn’t already have enough to finish out the month thanks to my bulk buy of prepacks, I would be quite concerned about eating.

Stealing food was… well- I tried not to. I could, ‘course, but I didn’t like it. Better steal something else to sell so I could buy food… I did see the conflict…

The drive back was less calming than usual. The increased Sentinel and Raijin presence set me on edge the entire time, and I wasn't the only one. It looked like everyone was just as uncomfortable as the last.

Halfway there, I realized I was going in the wrong direction. Muscle memory took over and I started heading back to the Ryu Container Yard rather than my new apartment. It would take some getting used to considering the last seven years of my life had been spent in the shipping container.

Thanks to that screw-up, it was nearly night by the time I reached home. The elevator made getting back up to my apartment a breeze, and I couldn’t help but appreciate not having to go up the stairs for once.

A refreshing meal of a ramen-flavored prepack awaited me before I settled in and pulled out my new Softwork Q-10 deck. I didn’t do anything other than boot it up, set passwords, and install the Alpha-Tres Worm software. Now, as soon as I connected to a device, I could run the program and infest it.

Nothing complicated- rather, nothing complicated on my end. The program and how it all worked was far above my head, but I could at least understand the concept and how to run the scripts.

Unfortunately, I still had yet to get furniture, so I had to work off the small kitchenette’s counter. After I got my deck situated, I gathered up my tools - ever thankful to Uncle Ezra and Mira for the expensive gift - and brought over every bit I bought as well as the crappy SMGs.

It took a bit to find all the right pins to pull, but eventually, I had both of them laid out in front of me in a chaotic disassembled mess. After a period of time, this was my decision on what to do with them. Scrap ‘em for parts. I had other stuff I used, and they were just taking up space. A bit of a waste, though it did put the tortured graffiti guns out of their suffering. Rest in peace.

Anyway, the parts, mainly the firing pin and the trigger assembly, were what I needed today. I pulled out the other stuff I bought at Saint’s Plaza and scattered them across the kitchenette’s counter. Most of it was scrap I may or may not use, but some of it had been a targeted purchase, such as the ADF system and some hydraulics.

While I was in a disassembly mood, I took the chance to take apart and clean up my Rhymer S-32 and SB-17. As they say, ‘take care of your gun and it’ll take care of you.’ I hadn’t properly cleaned them, so now was as good of a time as any. For a similar reason, I tried to fix up my ballistic armor, but I would need some stronger stuff to get the blood stains out.

I set everything down and headed to the shower. Now that I had one, there wasn’t a reason not to take one every day. Especially considering how relaxing the warm water felt. Ryu Container Yard only had cold showers…

It was nearly midnight by the time I settled down on the floor for… bed? Does that still work if I don’t actually have a bed? Do people who sleep in hammocks call it ‘going to hammock’? Hmm… Regardless, I laid down on my blanket.

I sketched out my plans for the device I wanted to build in the journal so I would have a rough schematic for tomorrow. Unfortunately, my skills in drawing schematics weren’t quite as good as memorizing them. After a while, I fully slipped into sleep.