Outrun - Cyberpunk LitRPG

“A-are you sure about this?” Feras timidly asked me as I set up the channel for our commlinks. “Woah, deja vu.”

I eyed the guy and adjusted my ballistic vest as we walked out of the parking garage. “Just here for a look around.”

We stepped onto the streets of Little Yukoto, not too far off from the area where the target warehouse sat. This section was rather populated, and there were more homeless people here than I expected. People constantly seemed to flow in and out of the bars in seemingly every building in droves, each more intoxicated than the last. Occasionally workers moved to and from the several surrounding warehouses blended into the city-scape, carting shipments to trucks.

Neon lights, age showing as they flickered and flared, illuminated the downtrodden faces of those who worked and lived around here. This area was the poorer section of Little Yukoto, and it showed in the tattered and torn clothing most people around here wore. New clothes simply weren’t the focus when you barely had enough money for food.

Everyone was strapped; you’d be an idiot not to be in this city, but they at least put in an effort to hide their weapons as most normal people did. Barely anyone had actual registration for guns, and waving one around was just asking for a Squire to give out a ticket.

‘Course, there were those who seemed better off walking around, but they were few and far between. Most were probably employees or execs of the small-scale corps that were prevalent on this side of the city. They were the exception though. Almost everyone around was on the poorer end of things.

A breeze blew by, bringing the radioactive stench of rotting fish from the ocean. A shudder racked my body and I rubbed at my nose as if it would help. That was only the tip of the iceberg of how horrible this place reeked. There were a fair amount of burning drugs, stale alcohol, rotting corpses, and piss all mixed together in one cocktail of nasal torment.

Feras shakily rubbed the back of his head. “I guess it's not so bad-” A gunshot and a scream echoed down from a nearby alley. “T-to be fair, that happens all over the city.”

“True… c’mon, the warehouse is that way.” Completely ignoring his attempts to act like a pitiful kid, I led us down a few roads, guided by the small map pulled up in my hud. I was a hundred percent sure by this point it was a fake personality.

The environment visibly degraded, and the taller buildings shrunk down to warehouses as the population out and about gradually turned more seedy. Signs of drug addiction, everything from the cut-up flesh of those addicted to Patch to the black veins caused by Dark Ether, were even more rampant than Bricktown, though probably better than East End. I haven’t really been in East End long enough to make a fair comparison.

As the people became more twitchy, whether through the effects of drugs or otherwise, they also seemed to degrade in IQ. There were plenty of people walking around with cheaper-end machine guns, shotguns, and rifles strapped to them like the Blue Crusade didn’t even exist. To be fair, they basically didn’t. There were a handful of Squire’s out and about, but they seemed to have more interest in listening to the gunshots than stopping them.

Still, just the same as elsewhere in the city, Sentinel prowled the streets. Worse, even. Sentinel had an increased presence 'round these parts than elsewhere in the city, so everyone moved about quickly and silently, not bothering others as they tried to get from point A to B. The larger number of trucks moving around made sense considering the pod crashed in the outskirts north of the city.

Raijin had a presence too. Smaller van-sized hovercrafts moved around in the sky, seemingly uncaring about us plebeians on the ground. Just their casual presence gave an oppressive feel to this entire section of the city… rather, a more oppressive feel. Aythryn City really doesn’t need the help being oppressive.

Eventually, we arrived before the warehouse recorded in Ajay’s logs. Thankfully, Feras showed his competency by not even looking at the place as we walked by, feigning complete disinterest as if it were just another day. He pulled it off better than me.

The warehouse in question was a dilapidated building sitting on a small plot of land. A high wall surrounded the entire plot and the building had a small courtyard area. Although the building was not in the best shape, the area was filled with boxes of stuff, and floodlights were set up everywhere around the courtyard.

As we passed by the gates, I watched the place out of the side of my vision the best I could. Several guards, heavily armed with above-average weaponry, patrolled around with several standing by at the doors. They were dressed like gangers, but were just a little off.

Their backs were too straight, their movements too uniform, and their weapons too high-end. Even their clothing, which looked to be the typical colors of a gang, wasn’t quite right. Instead of tears from wear, their clothing looked as if it had been artificially cut. The gashes were just a little too clean. Quite a few of them even had copper-tinted chrome with glowing red highlight rails inlaid into it- Sentinel tech.

It wasn’t till we moved out of sight and back closer to the main street that Feras spoke. “What do y-you think it is?”

“Could be a Scav Den… What about you?” I asked, dodging slightly out of the way as a kid's hands snuck toward my pockets. He instantly bolted as soon as I moved.

The grifter didn’t seem to notice as he rubbed at the stubble growing from his chin, dropping his pity act for a moment. Once more, he showed his calm but tired side. “It could be a Scav Den… their rifles weren’t low quality… Maybe a well-off gang?”

“Maybe.” I suspected something a little more than just a gang though… Most of Sentinel’s tech was military-grade, and they weren’t something just any ganger could get their hands on. Rather, they could, but military-grade gear was typically reserved for a gang's elites. This would have to be a particularly high-end gang not far off of the Neo-Jokers or Jade Fangs to field this much tech, and there's no way I wouldn't have heard about them till now.

He raised his hands slightly. “I didn’t sign up for combat. I’m a grifter.”

“Coward.” Not that I could blame the guy. I wasn’t very good at fighting either. Still… “Aren’t you a Magus?”

“More so for utility than anything.” He hovered his hand right over the fox amulet. “Look- you need to get in somewhere or talk to someone? I can do that. Attack a defended location? Hell no. I'm not gonk enough to even try."

It's a good thing I didn’t necessarily want to get inside. All I needed was to confirm their affiliation to see who Ajay was working with. “That’s fine; I have someone else for that… just find somewhere to keep watch. I need to know who they’re working for.”

“So… why am I here?” He asked as he looked up and down the streets.

“To be another set of eyes.” And because I wanted him to ‘earn’ his keep a bit more- rather, I didn’t want to suffer a stakeout by myself while he did who knows what. What's that saying? Suffering enjoys companionship? Stakeouts were by far the worst part of any job. If only they weren't so dang necessary.

He shrugged. “Whatever you say… I saw a building that looked alright. We could camp out on top and have a decent view of the warehouse.”

“Sure.” Beat my idea of hiding in an alley like a homeless person.

Nothing came of our little stakeout. Before long, I sent a message to Carone about completing the gig. Feras volunteered to stick behind and keep watch, so I left him on the roof as I headed to my bike.

Just as I pulled out of the area, Feras sent a text that popped up in my HUD. ‘Someone came out. Looked important considering the escort.’ A second later, several pictures came across.

Once I came to a stoplight, I looked at them. The photos weren’t the best quality, probably due to his phone’s camera being on max zoom. They depicted a younger man with curly black hair. His face was twisted into a soft smile that caused my hair to rise when paired with the crazed look in his eyes. Unfortunately, there were no distinctive features or logos I could equate the guy to.

The drive to Sakura Street was slow even with fewer people on the roads. With the addition of Sentinel ATs prowling the streets of Little Yukoto, traffic in general had slowed down majorly. People actually abided by the laws under the turreted view of the heavy vehicles and it showed in the rate of flow.

‘Course, I was no different. Especially considering they were out looking for me. I kept my head down until I got to Carone’s antique shop. The guards did their job and searched me, this time finding my shotgun hiding in my backpack. Other than that though, I got in strapped.

Carone idly played with fire, twisting it into complicated patterns, as I entered his store. His lips pulled into a business-like smile as the fire illuminated only one side of his face. “Shiro… the chip?”

“Nice to see you too.” I sighed and sorted through my bag before tossing it to him.

He snatched it out of the air and looked it over. “Right… the client will be over any minute with the rest of the pay.”

I nodded and looked around the shop. “So… wonderful weather we’re having?” Thunder boomed just outside.

He arched a brow as his finger tapped against the counter. The flame he controlled formed a small claw around his finger, following his taps. “Indeed…”

I remained silent after that, squashing my discomfort with the silence as best as I could. I slid off to the side of the room. Several minutes later, somebody else entered the shop just as rain started to tap against the window.

I glanced back, only to see the guy from Feras’s photo. Two goons, who would give the gonks outside Carone’s store a run for their money, stepped in behind the guy as he shook rogue water off his jacket. I backed further to the side and activated my Perks to blend in better. No point in gathering undue attention.

Immediately, I caught onto what was going on. It would be impossible not to with the nature of people in Aythryn City. This guy, the one making shady deals with Ajay, was either planning a double cross or wanting insurance, hence he wanted the virus to be planted into Ajay’s servers. He probably also wanted the malwort.Mp3 file to remove any connection back to him.

The man, oblivious to my speculations, approached the fixer’s counter with a sickening smile that seemed to ooze malice. “Mister Carone! My order is done?”

Carone slid the guy the chip, marking him as the client and almost confirming some of my ideas. “‘Course… the virus has also been uploaded.”

“I saw that last night! You sure work quickly.” His eyes glowed slightly as his gaze flickered past me. His eyes seemed to hold a… a deeply unsettling heaviness. “There.”

The fixer’s eyes unfocused for a moment as the flame swirled back and consolidated onto a candle. A yawn escaped his lips, causing the two guards to be infected and yawn too. I barely resisted the contagious urge. “Confirmed. You’re good to go.”

“Pleasure doing business.” The client nodded his head before leaving the store with his two guards.

The door closed, though not before a puddle of water could move over the door's threshold like blood oozing into the shop. “Seems like a cheery guy.”

"I typically make it a point to not... involve myself in my client's lives." Carone’s eyes flickered and my PA popped into my HUD showing me a twenty-four hundred Rayn transfer. Feels good to have money at long last. Already plans were beginning to form on how I would spend it- after deducting twenty-five percent for Feras, of course.

“Oh, and I’ve potentially got a lead for that other client.” A light smile tried to force its way onto my face, evoked through imagining the sweet satisfaction of seeing five thousand Rayn enter my account.

“You should know by now… actions speak louder than words.” He smirked and twisted a fire to look like a sheet of paper. Said paper then slowly ‘burned’ away.

I nodded and started to head for the door, catching his drift. “Chek.”