Blasterbot
Well-known member
He had Misty though. still good burn.
Loved the Mama Welles segment. jesus Jackie and every part of his story is one of my favorite parts to cyberpunk.
Ghost in the City Cyberpunk Gamer SI
- Thread starter Seras
- Start date
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- Tags
- cyberpunk gamer self-insert
Loved the Mama Welles segment. jesus Jackie and every part of his story is one of my favorite parts to cyberpunk.
Chapter 92
Seras
Well-known member
Two days. Of programming and I was…
Done.
My music box, or at least the code was ready. I just needed to finish putting it all together.
I flopped back onto the couch and just groaned. You would think coding something like this would take less time than a Quick Hack, and in some ways you would be right, but this was sorta… Complicated. A quick hack only did one thing, this box needed to be flexible.
I ran through my head what parts I would need and that list started to grow.
But it would be worth it. This was my pet project. Sure it was a glorified toy, but it was important for me to finish it anyways.
I got up to get dressed, stopped and realized I hadn’t showered in…
Okay so it’s been two days. I wince as I was very thankful that Jun hadn’t noticed. If he thought I wasn’t taking care of myself he would be upset.
I took a quick shower, and then realized I really needed to eat.
Okay downside to be constantly inspired. I was gonna have to start setting alarms if I was going to code anything.
I finished getting dressed and headed downstairs. Meatstick stall guy was outside the apartment like usual and I ended up devouring a few of them before I felt better. Now that I was properly taken care of. It was time to get back to it.
To finish the box I really needed some specific supplies. I headed out driving to the music shop I had bought my guitar from.
As I walked in the first few chords of Never Fade Away played above me.
Something that still made me chuckle a bit. Johnny would be rolling in his digital grave if he realized that Samurai were practically corporate jingles now.
I walked right through the many instruments laying around until I found what I needed.
A synth keyboard.
I popped my personal link into the slot to check if it had everything I needed.
“You obviously know what you want.” A voice called out and I looked up to see the sales person. The guy looked like a forty year old rocker stuffed into a corporate uniform.
His bushy beard completely covered the lanyard with his name on it.
“Yeah, just checking the code to see if this is the one I need.”
“Oh? Looking to make some digital music huh?”
“I just need to replicate a lot of different instruments.” I offered and he nodded before pointing above me.
“If you want a wide selection you want the Digi-tizer. The E-Numeral you are looking at, has a real wonky brass selection.” He offered pointing to another Synth.
“Oh. Thanks.” I muttered pulling out of the synth and moving to the next, after a few checks including running a few riffs on the keyboard because I had the ability and it was fun I nodded. He was right. The Brass notes sounded better.
“Damn. Was that Chippin In? Rare to see a kid these days know the classics.” He said and I just smiled with a shrug.
“Samurai were good. Johnny might be a bit of a bastard, but he knew his music.”
“Hah! Spoken like a true Rockerboy. You lookin to take the Digi?”
“Yeah, I’ll take it. Thanks. I’ll take that amp and a few bits and bobs as well. You guys don’t happen to have a holo emitter?”
“Oh? Looking to make some bitchin visuals too? Unfortunately not. Instruments and supplies only, but I know the place my band bought one. Just don’t tell the bosses I told you to buy from them.” He said with a wink and I laughed at that, and made the promise.
—--
Back home I was taking up 90% of the couch, and 100% of the table as I worked everything together.
The synth had a personal link port, so with the coding of that, and literally ripping the instrument apart and hooking it into my music box, I now had the ability to play just about any instrument purely through my link.
To save size, I kept the speaker, and amp as separate items, but there was another thing I needed to hook directly into the system
Three holographic display emitters.
They were a cool piece of tech, a lot of places used holographic TVs, the tech was well used, and it didn’t take me long to hook them into the music box, a bit of soldering a bit of fitting things together, a bit of adjustment to the power links and they were in.
Once I finished it, I sat back enjoying the alert telling me I got a few blips of XP for my Tech Attribute. But not a level up.
I really needed to work with tech more. It was too useful to ignore.
But I ignored that because it was done!
Well part of it anyways.
The code was complete.
The hardware was put together.
But now I had to actually create what I wanted using what I had.
First thing, I went into my room and dressed up. Brushed my hair. Did some makeup, which took a while because I hadn’t exactly practiced doing any makeup since I woke up. But I managed it. Making my eyes pop a little. Wearing a clean leotard and even cleaned up my jacket before slipping into it.
Okay then I went back out and had the music box actually record what I looked like. Standing still as the emitter slowly ran a scan over me. Creating a 3d image of myself, that it could add into whatever holographic display I wanted it to show.
Of course right around then I realized I would need images of the instruments as well.
Dammit.
I rushed back to the music shop. Carrying in my music box, I ended up dropping a couple hundred eddies, to the music shop guy to let me take scans with all the instruments, particularly the best quality, or coolest looking ones.
—--
Once more back in the apartment I was ready to start my first test.
I decided on a song and went to work. Plugged my personal link into the music box, and started with the most important part.
The music.
With my guitar in my hands mostly just to let my hands play over the notes, I started recording a track.
The sound of the guitar played back into my head sounded great, any error was easy to cut the correct chord back in, and I was off. Finishing the song with the guitar without any issue. I had played it a few times with just that already.
Then I switched to drums. Mentally creating the track. Using the Synth to recreate the noise of the drums as I played through the song adding in the drums to the guitar track.
Something I couldn’t do without all my Rockerboy knowledge. I had never touched a guitar set before outside of playing around in a past life, or while getting scanned in this one, yet I knew exactly how to use the Synth to create a digital track. What notes and how to get the sound right. It all flowed together.
Then I had to stop and do some work on creating unique sounds because some of the sounds used in the song weren't instrumental, I had to use my own programming skill to alter the Synths programming even further, to give me the ability to create entirely new sounds. Sounds that had only existed in my head.
Again and again, I played through the song until I had every beat sounding as perfect as I remember thanks to Perfect Musical Memory.
Guitar, drums, electronic, even the ending roaring vocals I managed myself. Every sound of the song pulled together completely from my brain, through a machine interface.
I loved the future.
And it was all silent as a grave outside my brain.
As I put the song together no neighbor heard it. It was just for me, and me alone.
—--
I hid behind my new stack of mess on the table when Jun came home, purposefully pretending I wasn’t able to see his judgemental look as I continued to put the display for the song together.
I ignored him when he came out later as well, as I was still editing the holographic display to match up.
I was watching a visual of what it would show on the laptop as I edited it mostly with my neural connection which was really really tough, but as long as I took it really slow, I could get better accuracy than going through it by hand.
The three emitters would all have their own image to display, and the track was finished, both with the guitar track baked in, and one without. Just in case I wanted to do a live play of the song.
And slowly it all came together.
Holographic tech was old hat to Cyberpunk. With my own computer skill it only took me a few hours to fill in the seven minute track.
Then finally it was ready. A single program with a completed version of a song that I recreated. Every note, every sound, every roar just how it was in my head.
I sat back blinking, realizing what I had just completed. That my music box was finally… Finally done. That it was working and everything was how it should be.
But I was way too hyped up to not do something. I stood up but stillled, unfortunately I was too embarrassed to just go out and start playing!
People would see me!
So I decided to fall back on my usual solution when I felt an urge to move.
Murder!
When I sold my debugging services to the netrunners, my trade had been knowledge on Scavs. Locations, holdouts, favorite bars.
Anything.
Everything.
Whatever they had.
While not all of them had direct Scav den locations. A few did.
Sure I could wait for my chooms… But it was late… Well early, the sun would be coming up soon.
But they might notice I was being weird! No one can know! If it goes bad the Scavs will all be dead anyways!
So I popped a shard into the music box, recording a copy of the song, quickly took a moment to etch the name of the song onto the shard, and went to grab some gear.
Considering the nature of the song…
My Carnage was selected. I didn’t use a shotgun often enough. I loaded one of my attachable pockets full of shells and looked around… What else could I take?
Katana was an option and I considered it. But I had to shake my head. It would be a little more finessey than I was going for tonight. This music wasn’t sword fight music, not unless you were carrying a greatsword or something.
Another time. Another song.
I did reach over into the medkit that I had been putting together from stuff I’ve collected. I grabbed all the MaxDocs I had and stuffed them all over the place, hooking them into whatever place I could. I was looking for a brutal fight tonight. Had to make sure I would walk away in the end.
I stepped out of my room right into Jun, who reached out and put a hand on my Carnage to stop me.
“Motoko?”
“Yes, this is Motoko?”
“What are you doing?”
I opened my mouth to answer and didn’t have a good enough answer.
“Murder?”
He frowned at me. “Details.”
“I know of a Scav den, I’m gonna go murder them… I uh, finished a song so I wanted to do a BD of me murdering a bunch of Scavs while I rocked out to it… It’s gonna be cool.” I explained trying to get away but Jun wasn’t having it.
“That’s… Motoko you are the weirdest person I know… I’m coming with.”
“No way!” I denied instantly. “It could be embarrassing! You can’t come.”
“Motoko you aren’t hitting a Scav den without backup.”
“Why? I usually do!”
“You usually have your chooms with you… I don’t even know how you keep finding these dens, they are usually hidden.”
“Internet.” I said smiling dopily at being able to pull out an old meme.
Jun didn’t get it.
“Why don’t you call your chooms then?” He argued and I grumbled, I had already explained that I didn’t want them to see!
“Fine! I’ll call in Ichi and Malcolm after I’m done to loot everything down. Now you don’t have to follow me.” My perfect reasoning delivered I moved to step around him.
He didn’t accept my reasoning.
—--
“This is so embarrassing.” I muttered as I parked the Quadra in the parking area for Megabuilding H11.
“I’m just here to make sure you don’t get in over your head.” Jun told me completely uncaring about how much I whined at him that I didn’t need supervision while murdering Scavs.
“I called Ichi and Malcolm. They’ll help!”
“You said you didn’t want to call them in until afterwards. I don’t want you in a firefight without someone to back you up. It’s common sense Motoko… The fact you are so skilled and keep forgetting that is gonk brain shit.” He grumbled at me. “You want me to trust you to fight, I do. But that doesn’t mean you skip basic shit.”
I huffed, but didn’t really have a response to that.
Fucking Jun. Using common sense and shit on me.
I don’t want common sense. I want action!
Whatever. I was a badass merc! Jun babying me would be water over my back!
I stepped out of the car and did the same thing I had done the last time I hit a Scav den in a megabuilding.
I found an elevator and went up to the floor above the one that I had been told was the den. Jun followed me around much to my irritation.
When I was there I circled the floor, searching for the usual signs, and while there weren't a bunch of emptied apartment buildings like there had been in the last one, they still had a whole section of the building cut off with trash and refuse.
“That’s them.” I told Jun as I pointed to the corner section of the building. This late at night the whole thing was bathed in red light and shadows, but it was still obvious where the Scavs lived.
“Sure you don’t need any help?” He asked, sounding more vicious than usual, but I shook my head.
This was my murder, get your own!
“Just sit tight and watch.” I told him instead, poking a finger into his side that he slapped away.
Then I focused, first I knelt down, and could just see a camera the Scavs had set up. As usual they loved putting up their little security system. Too bad they sucked at it.
My eyes blazed as I breached into the camera, nearly instantly slipping through the ICE and then moving through the security system.
There were four cameras hooked up around the place. None of them showed the actual ripper room, but that was just common sense. But one of the Scavs could be seen, resting on an old couch as he smoked a cigarette, and watched TV.
I pinged him, letting the program unspool and slowly slip through the Scavs system to all of his buddies.
I smirked as the group all highlighted in my vision.
Okay. There were quite a few of them. This was a big den, and it was late.. Or early. So I guess they were mostly here resting.
It didn’t matter. I was already in their system. Weapon Glitch was prepared. My personal version of Weapon Glitch had been completed, and was ready for its baptism.
The war will soon begin.
I smiled. I was ready. I shushed Jun and waved him a bit away before closing my eyes. When I opened my eyes it would be go time. What was the movie term? A single take? I was going to clear this Scav den in slightly less than seven minutes the song would last. No fuckups would be tolerated. This was going to be pure adrenaline if I did it right!
I smirked to myself. Hopefully the Scavs could last long enough.
Then I exhaled ice.
Done.
My music box, or at least the code was ready. I just needed to finish putting it all together.
I flopped back onto the couch and just groaned. You would think coding something like this would take less time than a Quick Hack, and in some ways you would be right, but this was sorta… Complicated. A quick hack only did one thing, this box needed to be flexible.
I ran through my head what parts I would need and that list started to grow.
But it would be worth it. This was my pet project. Sure it was a glorified toy, but it was important for me to finish it anyways.
I got up to get dressed, stopped and realized I hadn’t showered in…
Okay so it’s been two days. I wince as I was very thankful that Jun hadn’t noticed. If he thought I wasn’t taking care of myself he would be upset.
I took a quick shower, and then realized I really needed to eat.
Okay downside to be constantly inspired. I was gonna have to start setting alarms if I was going to code anything.
I finished getting dressed and headed downstairs. Meatstick stall guy was outside the apartment like usual and I ended up devouring a few of them before I felt better. Now that I was properly taken care of. It was time to get back to it.
To finish the box I really needed some specific supplies. I headed out driving to the music shop I had bought my guitar from.
As I walked in the first few chords of Never Fade Away played above me.
Something that still made me chuckle a bit. Johnny would be rolling in his digital grave if he realized that Samurai were practically corporate jingles now.
I walked right through the many instruments laying around until I found what I needed.
A synth keyboard.
I popped my personal link into the slot to check if it had everything I needed.
“You obviously know what you want.” A voice called out and I looked up to see the sales person. The guy looked like a forty year old rocker stuffed into a corporate uniform.
His bushy beard completely covered the lanyard with his name on it.
“Yeah, just checking the code to see if this is the one I need.”
“Oh? Looking to make some digital music huh?”
“I just need to replicate a lot of different instruments.” I offered and he nodded before pointing above me.
“If you want a wide selection you want the Digi-tizer. The E-Numeral you are looking at, has a real wonky brass selection.” He offered pointing to another Synth.
“Oh. Thanks.” I muttered pulling out of the synth and moving to the next, after a few checks including running a few riffs on the keyboard because I had the ability and it was fun I nodded. He was right. The Brass notes sounded better.
“Damn. Was that Chippin In? Rare to see a kid these days know the classics.” He said and I just smiled with a shrug.
“Samurai were good. Johnny might be a bit of a bastard, but he knew his music.”
“Hah! Spoken like a true Rockerboy. You lookin to take the Digi?”
“Yeah, I’ll take it. Thanks. I’ll take that amp and a few bits and bobs as well. You guys don’t happen to have a holo emitter?”
“Oh? Looking to make some bitchin visuals too? Unfortunately not. Instruments and supplies only, but I know the place my band bought one. Just don’t tell the bosses I told you to buy from them.” He said with a wink and I laughed at that, and made the promise.
—--
Back home I was taking up 90% of the couch, and 100% of the table as I worked everything together.
The synth had a personal link port, so with the coding of that, and literally ripping the instrument apart and hooking it into my music box, I now had the ability to play just about any instrument purely through my link.
To save size, I kept the speaker, and amp as separate items, but there was another thing I needed to hook directly into the system
Three holographic display emitters.
They were a cool piece of tech, a lot of places used holographic TVs, the tech was well used, and it didn’t take me long to hook them into the music box, a bit of soldering a bit of fitting things together, a bit of adjustment to the power links and they were in.
Once I finished it, I sat back enjoying the alert telling me I got a few blips of XP for my Tech Attribute. But not a level up.
I really needed to work with tech more. It was too useful to ignore.
But I ignored that because it was done!
Well part of it anyways.
The code was complete.
The hardware was put together.
But now I had to actually create what I wanted using what I had.
First thing, I went into my room and dressed up. Brushed my hair. Did some makeup, which took a while because I hadn’t exactly practiced doing any makeup since I woke up. But I managed it. Making my eyes pop a little. Wearing a clean leotard and even cleaned up my jacket before slipping into it.
Okay then I went back out and had the music box actually record what I looked like. Standing still as the emitter slowly ran a scan over me. Creating a 3d image of myself, that it could add into whatever holographic display I wanted it to show.
Of course right around then I realized I would need images of the instruments as well.
Dammit.
I rushed back to the music shop. Carrying in my music box, I ended up dropping a couple hundred eddies, to the music shop guy to let me take scans with all the instruments, particularly the best quality, or coolest looking ones.
—--
Once more back in the apartment I was ready to start my first test.
I decided on a song and went to work. Plugged my personal link into the music box, and started with the most important part.
The music.
With my guitar in my hands mostly just to let my hands play over the notes, I started recording a track.
The sound of the guitar played back into my head sounded great, any error was easy to cut the correct chord back in, and I was off. Finishing the song with the guitar without any issue. I had played it a few times with just that already.
Then I switched to drums. Mentally creating the track. Using the Synth to recreate the noise of the drums as I played through the song adding in the drums to the guitar track.
Something I couldn’t do without all my Rockerboy knowledge. I had never touched a guitar set before outside of playing around in a past life, or while getting scanned in this one, yet I knew exactly how to use the Synth to create a digital track. What notes and how to get the sound right. It all flowed together.
Then I had to stop and do some work on creating unique sounds because some of the sounds used in the song weren't instrumental, I had to use my own programming skill to alter the Synths programming even further, to give me the ability to create entirely new sounds. Sounds that had only existed in my head.
Again and again, I played through the song until I had every beat sounding as perfect as I remember thanks to Perfect Musical Memory.
Guitar, drums, electronic, even the ending roaring vocals I managed myself. Every sound of the song pulled together completely from my brain, through a machine interface.
I loved the future.
And it was all silent as a grave outside my brain.
As I put the song together no neighbor heard it. It was just for me, and me alone.
—--
I hid behind my new stack of mess on the table when Jun came home, purposefully pretending I wasn’t able to see his judgemental look as I continued to put the display for the song together.
I ignored him when he came out later as well, as I was still editing the holographic display to match up.
I was watching a visual of what it would show on the laptop as I edited it mostly with my neural connection which was really really tough, but as long as I took it really slow, I could get better accuracy than going through it by hand.
The three emitters would all have their own image to display, and the track was finished, both with the guitar track baked in, and one without. Just in case I wanted to do a live play of the song.
And slowly it all came together.
Holographic tech was old hat to Cyberpunk. With my own computer skill it only took me a few hours to fill in the seven minute track.
Then finally it was ready. A single program with a completed version of a song that I recreated. Every note, every sound, every roar just how it was in my head.
I sat back blinking, realizing what I had just completed. That my music box was finally… Finally done. That it was working and everything was how it should be.
But I was way too hyped up to not do something. I stood up but stillled, unfortunately I was too embarrassed to just go out and start playing!
People would see me!
So I decided to fall back on my usual solution when I felt an urge to move.
Murder!
When I sold my debugging services to the netrunners, my trade had been knowledge on Scavs. Locations, holdouts, favorite bars.
Anything.
Everything.
Whatever they had.
While not all of them had direct Scav den locations. A few did.
Sure I could wait for my chooms… But it was late… Well early, the sun would be coming up soon.
But they might notice I was being weird! No one can know! If it goes bad the Scavs will all be dead anyways!
So I popped a shard into the music box, recording a copy of the song, quickly took a moment to etch the name of the song onto the shard, and went to grab some gear.
Considering the nature of the song…
My Carnage was selected. I didn’t use a shotgun often enough. I loaded one of my attachable pockets full of shells and looked around… What else could I take?
Katana was an option and I considered it. But I had to shake my head. It would be a little more finessey than I was going for tonight. This music wasn’t sword fight music, not unless you were carrying a greatsword or something.
Another time. Another song.
I did reach over into the medkit that I had been putting together from stuff I’ve collected. I grabbed all the MaxDocs I had and stuffed them all over the place, hooking them into whatever place I could. I was looking for a brutal fight tonight. Had to make sure I would walk away in the end.
I stepped out of my room right into Jun, who reached out and put a hand on my Carnage to stop me.
“Motoko?”
“Yes, this is Motoko?”
“What are you doing?”
I opened my mouth to answer and didn’t have a good enough answer.
“Murder?”
He frowned at me. “Details.”
“I know of a Scav den, I’m gonna go murder them… I uh, finished a song so I wanted to do a BD of me murdering a bunch of Scavs while I rocked out to it… It’s gonna be cool.” I explained trying to get away but Jun wasn’t having it.
“That’s… Motoko you are the weirdest person I know… I’m coming with.”
“No way!” I denied instantly. “It could be embarrassing! You can’t come.”
“Motoko you aren’t hitting a Scav den without backup.”
“Why? I usually do!”
“You usually have your chooms with you… I don’t even know how you keep finding these dens, they are usually hidden.”
“Internet.” I said smiling dopily at being able to pull out an old meme.
Jun didn’t get it.
“Why don’t you call your chooms then?” He argued and I grumbled, I had already explained that I didn’t want them to see!
“Fine! I’ll call in Ichi and Malcolm after I’m done to loot everything down. Now you don’t have to follow me.” My perfect reasoning delivered I moved to step around him.
He didn’t accept my reasoning.
—--
“This is so embarrassing.” I muttered as I parked the Quadra in the parking area for Megabuilding H11.
“I’m just here to make sure you don’t get in over your head.” Jun told me completely uncaring about how much I whined at him that I didn’t need supervision while murdering Scavs.
“I called Ichi and Malcolm. They’ll help!”
“You said you didn’t want to call them in until afterwards. I don’t want you in a firefight without someone to back you up. It’s common sense Motoko… The fact you are so skilled and keep forgetting that is gonk brain shit.” He grumbled at me. “You want me to trust you to fight, I do. But that doesn’t mean you skip basic shit.”
I huffed, but didn’t really have a response to that.
Fucking Jun. Using common sense and shit on me.
I don’t want common sense. I want action!
Whatever. I was a badass merc! Jun babying me would be water over my back!
I stepped out of the car and did the same thing I had done the last time I hit a Scav den in a megabuilding.
I found an elevator and went up to the floor above the one that I had been told was the den. Jun followed me around much to my irritation.
When I was there I circled the floor, searching for the usual signs, and while there weren't a bunch of emptied apartment buildings like there had been in the last one, they still had a whole section of the building cut off with trash and refuse.
“That’s them.” I told Jun as I pointed to the corner section of the building. This late at night the whole thing was bathed in red light and shadows, but it was still obvious where the Scavs lived.
“Sure you don’t need any help?” He asked, sounding more vicious than usual, but I shook my head.
This was my murder, get your own!
“Just sit tight and watch.” I told him instead, poking a finger into his side that he slapped away.
Then I focused, first I knelt down, and could just see a camera the Scavs had set up. As usual they loved putting up their little security system. Too bad they sucked at it.
My eyes blazed as I breached into the camera, nearly instantly slipping through the ICE and then moving through the security system.
There were four cameras hooked up around the place. None of them showed the actual ripper room, but that was just common sense. But one of the Scavs could be seen, resting on an old couch as he smoked a cigarette, and watched TV.
I pinged him, letting the program unspool and slowly slip through the Scavs system to all of his buddies.
I smirked as the group all highlighted in my vision.
Okay. There were quite a few of them. This was a big den, and it was late.. Or early. So I guess they were mostly here resting.
It didn’t matter. I was already in their system. Weapon Glitch was prepared. My personal version of Weapon Glitch had been completed, and was ready for its baptism.
The war will soon begin.
I smiled. I was ready. I shushed Jun and waved him a bit away before closing my eyes. When I opened my eyes it would be go time. What was the movie term? A single take? I was going to clear this Scav den in slightly less than seven minutes the song would last. No fuckups would be tolerated. This was going to be pure adrenaline if I did it right!
I smirked to myself. Hopefully the Scavs could last long enough.
Then I exhaled ice.
Remember little slayer, the only thing they fear is you.
What a blue ball, all that build up for the song and then a cliffhanger. Guess I will just have to wait
Seras
Well-known member
I had to break it here. The next section is larger than a normal chapter all on it's own.
Carrot of Truth
War is Peace
Feel like Jun would start to become concerned that his sister might be a borderline serial killer.
Seras
Well-known member
*Proud Onii-chan noises.* "Look at how quick she ripped off that Scav's head! That's the move I did while we were wrestling last week!"
You forget just what sort of person Jun is.
xachariahxx
Well-known member
That song?
just kidding.
just kidding.
Karmic Acumen
Well-known member
Wasn't the real Jem just a kid and therefore too young to kiss any guy no matter how good-looking?
xachariahxx
Well-known member
No, she was an adult. The love triangle with her, her boyfriend, and her alternate persona Jem was one of the bigger plot points I remember.
Mostly I was making a joke at Motoko and the holograms.
I agree. Completely.
Seras
Well-known member
I agree. Honestly if you woke up in a new world with superpowers, there is no way you wouldn't faff about with them.
Chapter 93
Seras
Well-known member
Chapter 93, or as I like to call it.
The Only Thing They Fear Is You(Motoko.)
Music above is reccomended while reading. Maybe put it on repeat though? The timing doesn't 100% work I've noticed.
----
When I opened my eyes I was recording. Staring straight over the edge to the Scavs home. Not that the people watching this in the future would know that yet.
I could feel my breath coming out icy cold, but it wasn’t enough to stop the excitement I could feel pulsing up.
I pulled the shard out of my pocket. Flashed it in front of my eyes.
Looked at the name of the song etched into the plastic.
The Only Thing They Fear Is You.
I slotted it into my neck. A little less than seven minutes.
That’s how long I had to murder all of the Scavs.
Because a moment later the music started. The sound mirroring an ancient, at least by this years reckoning, musician.
I mean if people considered Samurai to be oldies, then The DOOM Eternal Soundtrack would be considered the same.
Before the song could get going without me I leapt. My feet hit the ground on the floor below just as the first drop hit and I rolled forward to bleed off speed before jumping up to my feet, and then I was moving. I didn’t care about cameras.
I didn’t care about noise.
I was the Boss Monster. They would learn to fear me.
I blew the door open with my Carnage, not bothering with the lock, as I let all my hatred for Scavs fill me.
Cold Blood was all about control. I had only used it in one way up until now. Used it to suppress everything so nothing could interfere with the cold calculus of combat.
But I wasn’t here for cold blooded murder.
Instead, I flipped the script, I brought out all my rage, my hatred, my disgust for these people.
That feeling of horror mixed with certainty that I had to kill them.
That murder was the only option.
I saw my first Scav as I burst into the first room. The details were unimportant, but I noted them anyway. A former apartment now taken over as a recreation room for the Scavs to relax in, alcohol and drugs strewn across the table sitting under the holo TV.
As he saw me, I let that rage fill me.
As he tried to leap out of the chair at my entrance, it was time. Weapon Glitch slammed into his system, bouncing again and again as my entire Cyberdecks RAM was used in repeat.
I had figured out the best way to make sure no one could shoot me, was by simply hacking them over and over and over again.
It was a loop Quickhack. Every time my Cyberdeck would get enough RAM to run the program again it would do so throughout the system without my direct attention. As long as the network didn’t alter its security it would be an endless disruption of weapons.
I was already in their security.
Their weapons were now useless.
The first Scav didn’t even get a chance to pull the trigger to find out how fucked he was.
I leapt a snarl on my face as I cleared the distance.
From the entrance to the Scav standing in the indented recreation area, was more than twenty feet across.
I slammed my Carnage into the fuckers face like a club at the end of my leap. His scream of pain went ignored as I didn’t end there. I rolled past him to bleed off momentum and then I was on him again fist raised and slammed into his already broken and bleeding face.
Again and again. I hammered him. Even grabbing his head and smashing it into the table until I was sure he was dead.
Breathing deeply, but not heavily. Adrenaline surged through me. The music was still going, and so was I.
I moved. Leaping and practically bouncing off the walls, moving more like an animal than man as I surged into the next room. Leaping through the broken wall connecting the apartments. The Scavs were reacting, shouting for help at the sounds of my gunshot, alarm that something was attacking them. The flipping of their normal predator and prey dynamics as always making them fearful. Their bleating calls were just noise telling me where they were.
The next room was a ripper room. The stink of blood and dead bodies filled it, but I barely hesitated leaping right over a ripper chair that had an elderly man laying across it, body ripped open the face of one of the Scav ripper docs moving away obviously realizing he was in danger.
He screamed as my fist slammed into his face with all my weight and force behind it.
I loved my new ankles. Superman punching a monster in the face was the best.
He went down, but he wasn’t alone.
Carnage flipped up and his buddy who had an Ajax roared as he tried to open fire on me only for his gun to beep and not fire.
Mine did.
He went down in a torrent of blood as the carnage turned him into a newly painted wall. That done I flipped the carnage barrel up to the ceiling and slammed it right into the face of the ripper doc, ignoring his crying pleading for mercy as I continued to hammer his skull into the floor until the metal stock of my shotgun hit concrete.
Okay. Now I was breathing a bit heavy.
It felt fantastic. I pushed the cold blooded control even higher. Rage and hate flowed and it was all I felt.
I glanced up to see another Scav peeking into the room. The moment he saw me, he made an attempt to shoot me only for his gun to fail. This guy leapt back into the room once he realized it, which is the only thing that saved his life as I brought my Carnage down and blasted where he had been.
I charged, leaping into the room he had just escaped into and came out into a roll.
Four soon to be dead Scavs faced me.
Excellent.
I had all the time I needed to aim my shotgun at them and fire. I didn’t hit any of them as they fled into cover, but it did make them scramble around. Which is why the gonk that had just tried to shoot me suddenly had an intimate meeting with Carnage-chan! As I slammed her into his face like a baseball bat.
I love this shotgun. Doesn’t matter if you literally beat someone to death with it, it’ll still fire!
But before I could kill him he kicked out, his much longer legs slamming me away and forcing me off my feet for a moment, as I rolled and then came out of it with my Carnage raised.
“No! Wa-!” His pleadings ended with Carnage sounding off followed by the heavy cycle as I cocked the next round.
“Kill her!” One of the Scavs screamed out trying to do just that.
They would fail. These pathetic mewling creatures would not kill me.
One guy obviously pissed at what he saw charged me, a knife drawn and ready.
He didn’t expect me to charge him back. He knew how to use a knife. I would even say he was pretty good.
I didn’t care.
I wasn’t fighting. I was raging. I slammed into him, ignoring how he nicked my side with the knife, the blade skittering off my leotard or subdermal, wasn’t sure which as I slammed into him.
He screamed as I used one hand to literally slam my thumb into his eye socket so I could grip his face were musical, flowing perfectly into the song pounding in my head as I proceeded to try and beat him to death with the carnage in my right hand.
I ignored his attempts to at first stab me, and then just try to desperately get me away.
Neither stopped me.
His death came regardless, as my thumb wormed its way through to his end.
Then there were three, before I could even rise up though. There were once again four.
“Cyka!” A voice roared out, and this time I was caught off guard.
They had realized their weapons weren’t working against me, but it turns out it didn’t matter.
Big fuckin’ Scav decided to remind me I wasn’t invincible.
He blurred, a Sandy activated and suddenly I was the one being punched across the room. Out through a hole in the wall and into the ripper room I had just come from.
I coughed, blood flowed.
It hurt, but I would live. I pulled a MaxDoc and huffed it. Letting the adrenaline flow.
I could hear russian. Scared russian, and a firm confident voice.
Ah. The fucker had taken my Carnage. I added it into the next round of Weapon Glitch. Then, as the music once more peaked in my head.
I rose up slow and steady.
They had knocked me into a mess off medical equipment and storage the ripper room had, so as I stood metal clattered and glass shattered off me.
The firm russian voice from before wasn’t so firm anymore.
They were looking at me.
I cracked my neck, and spit the blood out of my mouth.
Big borg fucker had my Carnage. He aimed it, and like a good girl she just clicked, already disabled. Eh she only had one round left anyways.
I bared my teeth, a rumbling snarl leaving my throat in time with the roar of the guitar in my head. Then I moved.
My speed surprised Sandevistan Scav, but he activated his implant again probably a fearful reflex, as he suddenly shifted from where he was when I leapt to right in front of me. My leap was aborted, he slammed into me.
All too many pounds of him hitting me like a truck and this time he followed me back into the room pounding me into the concrete wall in a clatter of equipment.
He knocked the air out of me. He hit me hard, hard enough to rattle my head. He had me pinned against the wall as he was already starting to beat on me.
Too bad, he hadn’t managed to actually kill me.
I threw a fist back, and his Sandy speed kept him from getting slugged, but that was fine.
I had fought people with Sandevistan. The Dojo had taught me a lot about how they work. Their strengths and weaknesses.
That there was always a time limit, and not every Sandy was the crazy shit that David had.
I raised my arms up in a guard as he punched back Sandy speed punches slamming me back into the wall, and my shoulder ached from the stress of trying to keep my chrome fists from slamming into my own face.
It was a moderate success.
He hit me again, and then again, and suddenly he was moving at a normal speed..
Something I had been told. When a Sandy turns off and you go from super speed to normal? In that moment you felt like you were suddenly moving in slow mo. You felt the shift as time changed.
I had spoken with a few people that used the sandy and they all said the same thing if you could get them to admit it.
The moment the Sandy turned off was their weakest moment.
Quickdrawing my Burya, I slammed it right into his mouth before pulling the trigger.
His head separated in two from the force.
I hurt. My vision was a little woozy, but that was just a concussion, and the BD would still be recording fine. I was definitely bleeding internally. Easily fixable once this was over. Lungs were struggling to breathe. He had knocked the wind out of me twice.
But I was in control. I forced my body to breathe. I forced myself to stay on my feet. Because the rage wasn’t gone.
The Scav fell backwards as I pushed him away, letting his bulk fall and revealing the three Scavs from before.
Ah, no it was six now. There was a moment of silence. Or maybe that was just my ears ringing. Close range Burya shots do tend to deafen me for a moment, but as I watched.
I smiled.
Fear. I could smell it. I took a step forward.
“Fuck this!” One of them screamed and tried to run.
I shot him, just to prove a point.
Then I holstered Burya and rushed them. The first guy had been smart enough to try and grab a melee weapon. A hunk of wood from a chair I think. I took the blow on my forearms, not even feeling it compared to the Sand Scavs hits, and the wood broke apart. So did he when I reached up and grabbed him by his jaw and started slamming my chrome fists into his face.
His attempts to bite down on my chrome fingers were pointless, he fell backwards, and as he fell I jerked his head to slam him into the side of a table.
That either killed him or knocked him senseless because he didn’t resist as I raised up his head and battered him into the table a few more times.
His buddy slammed into me. Grappling me as he tried to body me down. I slammed my forehead into his nose despite how it made my head spin and started punching.
He started punching.
Me punching in his throat did more than him punching my face. He gasped as he fell to his knees.
I rose up and kicked him across the face before leaving him to die with his broken esophagus.
Three more to go.
They had all grabbed weapons. One had grabbed a knife from the guy that tried that earlier, the other two had metal rebar.
I smiled out another snarl as I grabbed another MaxDoc in the stillness of the fight and huffed it down. The surge of adrenaline should mask the sudden lowering of pain.
I stalked forward but not towards them, I stopped at where Carnage had been left behind and kicked her up into my arms.
The music peaked.
I moved. Like she was a baseball bat I weighed in, blocking the first gonks swing with the rebar only to leap up and drop a kick right into his nose. I could feel it break on my boots as I flipped back and the other two surged forward.
I blocked and parried the rebar and knife, keeping the weapons away from me even as my breath came out in a desperate wheeze.
Even as I was pushed back and back.
They could have had me. They were good. Working together to keep me from ripping either one of them apart.
But they had done something stupid. They backed me into a corner.
So I leapt. Backwards. My boots slammed into the concrete wall and then I kicked off, my ankles more than making up my bodies weight launching me up and over their heads.
And towards their buddy whose nose I had broken.
He didn’t have time to react, too busy trying to see through his busted face.
Carnage fell onto the back of his head, and something snapped.
I hit him again just to make sure.
Then turned towards the two.
Carnage shifted to one hand, as I reached to my hip and drew my own knife.
“Fuck this.” The one with the rebar said sounding panicked as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a fucking frag grenade.
He yelled out something in Russian, that I was just going to assume was fuck you, and threw it at me.
I dropped my knife. I grabbed my Carnage in two hands and knocked the grenade to the side.
Then I leapt at them.
The man screaming as I slammed into him, was a moment I was doubly glad I was recording.
We went down in a jumble of limbs as the grenade went off. Shrapnel pinging around the room, but I had a gonk between me and it. Unfortunately the pinging metal didn’t actually do any harm to the gonk I was using as a shield.
Fortunately I did. Both hands grabbing his face I plunged my thumbs into his eyes and with that had full control of his movement.
I slammed his skull into the floor using all the muscles I had at my disposal, even jumping putting all my weight into his skull.
I looked up expecting to have the guy with a knife trying to stick me, but he was nowhere to be seen.
No.
No one escapes.
I rushed to follow, jumping over garbage and the junk the frag grenade had strewn around as he raced away like a madman he leapt through what was once the front door to an apartment into the hallway splitting the Megabuildings apartments, then raced across the way and into another set.
I grinned as he had gathered even more Scavs for me to kill.
Idly I slowed and fixed my Carnage, reloading her as well, five shells in, before pumping her loudly, the noise echoing through the complex.
The next room was obviously another rest area. Far enough away the Scavs could take a nap without having to hear the ripping of bodies apart, or the screams of mercy.
Both of which I would make sure they heard soon enough.
I stepped into the opened door to see the group all readied for me.
Guns were aimed at me and triggers were pulled but other than clicks, or other bad noises nothing fired.
Seven.
I fired.
Six.
Madness. They charged me, or fled. The group was disorderly, despite some of them potentially being ex-soldiers, they were Scavs now. Some charged, some fled, all would die.
I fired again, and again.
Another Scav died, as they finally reached me. Swinging a Cut-o-Matic at me. I instantly fell in love.
A chainsaw sword? A chainsword that actually worked? For me!?
I wanted it.
I leapt straight up disappearing from the Scavs sight as I lined up a shot. Carnage fired and he turned into a puddle below me that I fell into. Blood coating me as I fired again clearing some room long enough for me to bend down and pick up my new chainsword.
I grinned ferally as I felt it buzz back up.
I leapt forward, dropping my Carnage as I slammed into the first Scav that was an instant too slow to avoid me.
Blood hot and messy coated me as I ripped into the monsters neck.
The Scavs started running.
I chased them. Leaping from filth to filth. Their attempts to resist were unable to stall me out as I battered down any defense.
I looked around as I grunted my Chainsword was stuck in the head of one of fuckers. Stupid chrome skull.
There was still one more. The same gonk that had fled from me in the first place I had purposefully left him for last, but he wasn’t in the room anymore.
He was back the other way?
Hah! The coward had tried to escape while I was distracted with his chooms! Unfortunately I still had him in my sight, his own agent was telling me exactly where he was. I raced back through the hallway, back into the Scavs work room.
The music was building up to the end.
And my own voice, demonic and angry roared in my ears.
‘Rip and TEAR. RIP AND TEAR!’
He had escaped back into the ripper doc room. Into another section that was covered in the plastic sheets to stop blood splatter. He was trying to hide.
He screamed as he saw me. As I ignored his attempts to hide from me.
I slammed into him like a wild cat. He screamed in terror. A true guttural horror note as I promptly began beating him to death.
I smashed my fist into his face over and over as he desperately tried to fend me off. Punches were slammed into my face and chest, that I ignored.
It hurt, but pain was passing.
Murder was forever.
Hands balled, I slammed both arms down into his face again until his struggling ceased.
Until bone bent.
“Rip and Tear.” I said, exhaling along with the songs only lyrics. “Until it’s done.” I whispered breath hoarse and heavy, I probably had a busted rib in there somewhere, but it was just… Cathartic.
Even if I really shouldn’t have enjoyed that as much as I just had.
“A-aha!” A voice weak and terrified squeaked from nearby.
I looked away from the broken body beneath me. Eyes focused and hand already reaching for my Burya.
Six red optics met my own.
Maelstrom.
The Only Thing They Fear Is You(Motoko.)
Music above is reccomended while reading. Maybe put it on repeat though? The timing doesn't 100% work I've noticed.
----
When I opened my eyes I was recording. Staring straight over the edge to the Scavs home. Not that the people watching this in the future would know that yet.
I could feel my breath coming out icy cold, but it wasn’t enough to stop the excitement I could feel pulsing up.
I pulled the shard out of my pocket. Flashed it in front of my eyes.
Looked at the name of the song etched into the plastic.
The Only Thing They Fear Is You.
I slotted it into my neck. A little less than seven minutes.
That’s how long I had to murder all of the Scavs.
Because a moment later the music started. The sound mirroring an ancient, at least by this years reckoning, musician.
I mean if people considered Samurai to be oldies, then The DOOM Eternal Soundtrack would be considered the same.
Before the song could get going without me I leapt. My feet hit the ground on the floor below just as the first drop hit and I rolled forward to bleed off speed before jumping up to my feet, and then I was moving. I didn’t care about cameras.
I didn’t care about noise.
I was the Boss Monster. They would learn to fear me.
I blew the door open with my Carnage, not bothering with the lock, as I let all my hatred for Scavs fill me.
Cold Blood was all about control. I had only used it in one way up until now. Used it to suppress everything so nothing could interfere with the cold calculus of combat.
But I wasn’t here for cold blooded murder.
Instead, I flipped the script, I brought out all my rage, my hatred, my disgust for these people.
That feeling of horror mixed with certainty that I had to kill them.
That murder was the only option.
I saw my first Scav as I burst into the first room. The details were unimportant, but I noted them anyway. A former apartment now taken over as a recreation room for the Scavs to relax in, alcohol and drugs strewn across the table sitting under the holo TV.
As he saw me, I let that rage fill me.
As he tried to leap out of the chair at my entrance, it was time. Weapon Glitch slammed into his system, bouncing again and again as my entire Cyberdecks RAM was used in repeat.
I had figured out the best way to make sure no one could shoot me, was by simply hacking them over and over and over again.
It was a loop Quickhack. Every time my Cyberdeck would get enough RAM to run the program again it would do so throughout the system without my direct attention. As long as the network didn’t alter its security it would be an endless disruption of weapons.
I was already in their security.
Their weapons were now useless.
The first Scav didn’t even get a chance to pull the trigger to find out how fucked he was.
I leapt a snarl on my face as I cleared the distance.
From the entrance to the Scav standing in the indented recreation area, was more than twenty feet across.
I slammed my Carnage into the fuckers face like a club at the end of my leap. His scream of pain went ignored as I didn’t end there. I rolled past him to bleed off momentum and then I was on him again fist raised and slammed into his already broken and bleeding face.
Again and again. I hammered him. Even grabbing his head and smashing it into the table until I was sure he was dead.
Breathing deeply, but not heavily. Adrenaline surged through me. The music was still going, and so was I.
I moved. Leaping and practically bouncing off the walls, moving more like an animal than man as I surged into the next room. Leaping through the broken wall connecting the apartments. The Scavs were reacting, shouting for help at the sounds of my gunshot, alarm that something was attacking them. The flipping of their normal predator and prey dynamics as always making them fearful. Their bleating calls were just noise telling me where they were.
The next room was a ripper room. The stink of blood and dead bodies filled it, but I barely hesitated leaping right over a ripper chair that had an elderly man laying across it, body ripped open the face of one of the Scav ripper docs moving away obviously realizing he was in danger.
He screamed as my fist slammed into his face with all my weight and force behind it.
I loved my new ankles. Superman punching a monster in the face was the best.
He went down, but he wasn’t alone.
Carnage flipped up and his buddy who had an Ajax roared as he tried to open fire on me only for his gun to beep and not fire.
Mine did.
He went down in a torrent of blood as the carnage turned him into a newly painted wall. That done I flipped the carnage barrel up to the ceiling and slammed it right into the face of the ripper doc, ignoring his crying pleading for mercy as I continued to hammer his skull into the floor until the metal stock of my shotgun hit concrete.
Okay. Now I was breathing a bit heavy.
It felt fantastic. I pushed the cold blooded control even higher. Rage and hate flowed and it was all I felt.
I glanced up to see another Scav peeking into the room. The moment he saw me, he made an attempt to shoot me only for his gun to fail. This guy leapt back into the room once he realized it, which is the only thing that saved his life as I brought my Carnage down and blasted where he had been.
I charged, leaping into the room he had just escaped into and came out into a roll.
Four soon to be dead Scavs faced me.
Excellent.
I had all the time I needed to aim my shotgun at them and fire. I didn’t hit any of them as they fled into cover, but it did make them scramble around. Which is why the gonk that had just tried to shoot me suddenly had an intimate meeting with Carnage-chan! As I slammed her into his face like a baseball bat.
I love this shotgun. Doesn’t matter if you literally beat someone to death with it, it’ll still fire!
But before I could kill him he kicked out, his much longer legs slamming me away and forcing me off my feet for a moment, as I rolled and then came out of it with my Carnage raised.
“No! Wa-!” His pleadings ended with Carnage sounding off followed by the heavy cycle as I cocked the next round.
“Kill her!” One of the Scavs screamed out trying to do just that.
They would fail. These pathetic mewling creatures would not kill me.
One guy obviously pissed at what he saw charged me, a knife drawn and ready.
He didn’t expect me to charge him back. He knew how to use a knife. I would even say he was pretty good.
I didn’t care.
I wasn’t fighting. I was raging. I slammed into him, ignoring how he nicked my side with the knife, the blade skittering off my leotard or subdermal, wasn’t sure which as I slammed into him.
He screamed as I used one hand to literally slam my thumb into his eye socket so I could grip his face were musical, flowing perfectly into the song pounding in my head as I proceeded to try and beat him to death with the carnage in my right hand.
I ignored his attempts to at first stab me, and then just try to desperately get me away.
Neither stopped me.
His death came regardless, as my thumb wormed its way through to his end.
Then there were three, before I could even rise up though. There were once again four.
“Cyka!” A voice roared out, and this time I was caught off guard.
They had realized their weapons weren’t working against me, but it turns out it didn’t matter.
Big fuckin’ Scav decided to remind me I wasn’t invincible.
He blurred, a Sandy activated and suddenly I was the one being punched across the room. Out through a hole in the wall and into the ripper room I had just come from.
I coughed, blood flowed.
It hurt, but I would live. I pulled a MaxDoc and huffed it. Letting the adrenaline flow.
I could hear russian. Scared russian, and a firm confident voice.
Ah. The fucker had taken my Carnage. I added it into the next round of Weapon Glitch. Then, as the music once more peaked in my head.
I rose up slow and steady.
They had knocked me into a mess off medical equipment and storage the ripper room had, so as I stood metal clattered and glass shattered off me.
The firm russian voice from before wasn’t so firm anymore.
They were looking at me.
I cracked my neck, and spit the blood out of my mouth.
Big borg fucker had my Carnage. He aimed it, and like a good girl she just clicked, already disabled. Eh she only had one round left anyways.
I bared my teeth, a rumbling snarl leaving my throat in time with the roar of the guitar in my head. Then I moved.
My speed surprised Sandevistan Scav, but he activated his implant again probably a fearful reflex, as he suddenly shifted from where he was when I leapt to right in front of me. My leap was aborted, he slammed into me.
All too many pounds of him hitting me like a truck and this time he followed me back into the room pounding me into the concrete wall in a clatter of equipment.
He knocked the air out of me. He hit me hard, hard enough to rattle my head. He had me pinned against the wall as he was already starting to beat on me.
Too bad, he hadn’t managed to actually kill me.
I threw a fist back, and his Sandy speed kept him from getting slugged, but that was fine.
I had fought people with Sandevistan. The Dojo had taught me a lot about how they work. Their strengths and weaknesses.
That there was always a time limit, and not every Sandy was the crazy shit that David had.
I raised my arms up in a guard as he punched back Sandy speed punches slamming me back into the wall, and my shoulder ached from the stress of trying to keep my chrome fists from slamming into my own face.
It was a moderate success.
He hit me again, and then again, and suddenly he was moving at a normal speed..
Something I had been told. When a Sandy turns off and you go from super speed to normal? In that moment you felt like you were suddenly moving in slow mo. You felt the shift as time changed.
I had spoken with a few people that used the sandy and they all said the same thing if you could get them to admit it.
The moment the Sandy turned off was their weakest moment.
Quickdrawing my Burya, I slammed it right into his mouth before pulling the trigger.
His head separated in two from the force.
I hurt. My vision was a little woozy, but that was just a concussion, and the BD would still be recording fine. I was definitely bleeding internally. Easily fixable once this was over. Lungs were struggling to breathe. He had knocked the wind out of me twice.
But I was in control. I forced my body to breathe. I forced myself to stay on my feet. Because the rage wasn’t gone.
The Scav fell backwards as I pushed him away, letting his bulk fall and revealing the three Scavs from before.
Ah, no it was six now. There was a moment of silence. Or maybe that was just my ears ringing. Close range Burya shots do tend to deafen me for a moment, but as I watched.
I smiled.
Fear. I could smell it. I took a step forward.
“Fuck this!” One of them screamed and tried to run.
I shot him, just to prove a point.
Then I holstered Burya and rushed them. The first guy had been smart enough to try and grab a melee weapon. A hunk of wood from a chair I think. I took the blow on my forearms, not even feeling it compared to the Sand Scavs hits, and the wood broke apart. So did he when I reached up and grabbed him by his jaw and started slamming my chrome fists into his face.
His attempts to bite down on my chrome fingers were pointless, he fell backwards, and as he fell I jerked his head to slam him into the side of a table.
That either killed him or knocked him senseless because he didn’t resist as I raised up his head and battered him into the table a few more times.
His buddy slammed into me. Grappling me as he tried to body me down. I slammed my forehead into his nose despite how it made my head spin and started punching.
He started punching.
Me punching in his throat did more than him punching my face. He gasped as he fell to his knees.
I rose up and kicked him across the face before leaving him to die with his broken esophagus.
Three more to go.
They had all grabbed weapons. One had grabbed a knife from the guy that tried that earlier, the other two had metal rebar.
I smiled out another snarl as I grabbed another MaxDoc in the stillness of the fight and huffed it down. The surge of adrenaline should mask the sudden lowering of pain.
I stalked forward but not towards them, I stopped at where Carnage had been left behind and kicked her up into my arms.
The music peaked.
I moved. Like she was a baseball bat I weighed in, blocking the first gonks swing with the rebar only to leap up and drop a kick right into his nose. I could feel it break on my boots as I flipped back and the other two surged forward.
I blocked and parried the rebar and knife, keeping the weapons away from me even as my breath came out in a desperate wheeze.
Even as I was pushed back and back.
They could have had me. They were good. Working together to keep me from ripping either one of them apart.
But they had done something stupid. They backed me into a corner.
So I leapt. Backwards. My boots slammed into the concrete wall and then I kicked off, my ankles more than making up my bodies weight launching me up and over their heads.
And towards their buddy whose nose I had broken.
He didn’t have time to react, too busy trying to see through his busted face.
Carnage fell onto the back of his head, and something snapped.
I hit him again just to make sure.
Then turned towards the two.
Carnage shifted to one hand, as I reached to my hip and drew my own knife.
“Fuck this.” The one with the rebar said sounding panicked as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a fucking frag grenade.
He yelled out something in Russian, that I was just going to assume was fuck you, and threw it at me.
I dropped my knife. I grabbed my Carnage in two hands and knocked the grenade to the side.
Then I leapt at them.
The man screaming as I slammed into him, was a moment I was doubly glad I was recording.
We went down in a jumble of limbs as the grenade went off. Shrapnel pinging around the room, but I had a gonk between me and it. Unfortunately the pinging metal didn’t actually do any harm to the gonk I was using as a shield.
Fortunately I did. Both hands grabbing his face I plunged my thumbs into his eyes and with that had full control of his movement.
I slammed his skull into the floor using all the muscles I had at my disposal, even jumping putting all my weight into his skull.
I looked up expecting to have the guy with a knife trying to stick me, but he was nowhere to be seen.
No.
No one escapes.
I rushed to follow, jumping over garbage and the junk the frag grenade had strewn around as he raced away like a madman he leapt through what was once the front door to an apartment into the hallway splitting the Megabuildings apartments, then raced across the way and into another set.
I grinned as he had gathered even more Scavs for me to kill.
Idly I slowed and fixed my Carnage, reloading her as well, five shells in, before pumping her loudly, the noise echoing through the complex.
The next room was obviously another rest area. Far enough away the Scavs could take a nap without having to hear the ripping of bodies apart, or the screams of mercy.
Both of which I would make sure they heard soon enough.
I stepped into the opened door to see the group all readied for me.
Guns were aimed at me and triggers were pulled but other than clicks, or other bad noises nothing fired.
Seven.
I fired.
Six.
Madness. They charged me, or fled. The group was disorderly, despite some of them potentially being ex-soldiers, they were Scavs now. Some charged, some fled, all would die.
I fired again, and again.
Another Scav died, as they finally reached me. Swinging a Cut-o-Matic at me. I instantly fell in love.
A chainsaw sword? A chainsword that actually worked? For me!?
I wanted it.
I leapt straight up disappearing from the Scavs sight as I lined up a shot. Carnage fired and he turned into a puddle below me that I fell into. Blood coating me as I fired again clearing some room long enough for me to bend down and pick up my new chainsword.
I grinned ferally as I felt it buzz back up.
I leapt forward, dropping my Carnage as I slammed into the first Scav that was an instant too slow to avoid me.
Blood hot and messy coated me as I ripped into the monsters neck.
The Scavs started running.
I chased them. Leaping from filth to filth. Their attempts to resist were unable to stall me out as I battered down any defense.
I looked around as I grunted my Chainsword was stuck in the head of one of fuckers. Stupid chrome skull.
There was still one more. The same gonk that had fled from me in the first place I had purposefully left him for last, but he wasn’t in the room anymore.
He was back the other way?
Hah! The coward had tried to escape while I was distracted with his chooms! Unfortunately I still had him in my sight, his own agent was telling me exactly where he was. I raced back through the hallway, back into the Scavs work room.
The music was building up to the end.
And my own voice, demonic and angry roared in my ears.
‘Rip and TEAR. RIP AND TEAR!’
He had escaped back into the ripper doc room. Into another section that was covered in the plastic sheets to stop blood splatter. He was trying to hide.
He screamed as he saw me. As I ignored his attempts to hide from me.
I slammed into him like a wild cat. He screamed in terror. A true guttural horror note as I promptly began beating him to death.
I smashed my fist into his face over and over as he desperately tried to fend me off. Punches were slammed into my face and chest, that I ignored.
It hurt, but pain was passing.
Murder was forever.
Hands balled, I slammed both arms down into his face again until his struggling ceased.
Until bone bent.
“Rip and Tear.” I said, exhaling along with the songs only lyrics. “Until it’s done.” I whispered breath hoarse and heavy, I probably had a busted rib in there somewhere, but it was just… Cathartic.
Even if I really shouldn’t have enjoyed that as much as I just had.
“A-aha!” A voice weak and terrified squeaked from nearby.
I looked away from the broken body beneath me. Eyes focused and hand already reaching for my Burya.
Six red optics met my own.
Maelstrom.
Carrot of Truth
War is Peace
Spouting off one liners reminded me of something.
EDIT: Well that's lame Youtube age restricted Duke Nukems one liners.
EDIT: Well that's lame Youtube age restricted Duke Nukems one liners.
xachariahxx
Well-known member
I wonder if the public is open to the Doom music.
"Great fight braindance, what a preem edgerunner. Fuck scavs. 8.5/10.
Would be a 10/10 but I have no idea why she listens to such dated oldies style music.
It's sounds like what my grandpa would listen to."
"Great fight braindance, what a preem edgerunner. Fuck scavs. 8.5/10.
Would be a 10/10 but I have no idea why she listens to such dated oldies style music.
It's sounds like what my grandpa would listen to."
Daaaaaayyyyuuuuuuumm girl!
She totally went medieval on their asses!
Ah good...Maelstrom...a suitable reason for 'Oni' to get involved.
She totally went medieval on their asses!
Ah good...Maelstrom...a suitable reason for 'Oni' to get involved.
Chapter 94
Seras
Well-known member
My heart was suddenly beating in my ears. Teeth grinding. If I wasn’t already a bit out of breath I was sure I would be screaming with every exhale.
MAELSTROM.
My hand instinctively already reaching for my Burya to put the monster down.
I snapped my eyes shut. Inhale. Exhale.
I opened my eyes feeling at least myself. I wasn’t sure if that feeling had been from all the rage I had been pumping into myself, or just…
Maelstrom.
But my hand fell away from my Burya. I didn’t need to kill her. The girl was barely alive.
Broken. Ripped apart. White borg blood mixed with red real blood covered her. I was honestly shocked she was still alive considering how much blood was dripping from her onto the floor.
I stilled, everything that I was struggled with a decision.
On one hand, Maelstrom. Kill her. Painfully.
On the other, she was a victim of Scavs. No one deserved that. Funny how my two most hated enemies were responsible for this situation.
My eyes flickered as I scanned her. She had a rap sheet. I read it over still unsure what to do.
“Natalie Desanto AKA GearSlot.” I said finally my eyes bored into her optics. As if I could kill her by just glaring.
“A-are you-*cough* D-did Kamhead send you?” She asked, quietly a desperate hope in her voice.
The sound of it left my tongue tasting of ash, and a disgust welling up in me.
It’s all fun and games to put people in a pit to fight for their life, but get put into a Scav den and suddenly they are the victim! I raged inside my mind. My hands gripped so hard I could feel the blood coating my palms run down my fingers. I shifted them, to keep from breaking something internally.
“No, I was not sent here by some Maelstrom piece of shit! I happily kill you fucks whenever I get the chance after what you monsters did to me!” I roared back, my voice throaty and raw. My insides were still not doing great. I should really stop and take some MaxDoc to heal up again, but my hands were struggling to do anything but grip my own arms now as I glared at the Maelstrom in front of me.
All I could see is those fucking optics staring at me.
“Oh.” She muttered a raspy sigh escaping her. “Figures.”
I stalked up to her. For the first time in a while my arms felt wrong. Like just being around some Maelstrom made my phantom limbs act up again, as if I had an extra set of limbs already reaching for her throat to throttle her to death.
My head felt quiet. The song ended so it was just me and her and the sound of dripping blood.
Just me, and her.
Her life in my hands. She was dying regardless. Body torn into by Scavs. Another victim of them just as I had been…
I exhaled and it came out more like a growl. But the breath was ice cold on my tongue.
Suddenly I reached out and grabbed her face, uncaring about the blood I left there as I pushed her head to the side. She whimpered in fear and pain. As she knew a beast was here to kill her.
But I wasn’t a mindless beast.
I pulled the shard that was in her neuroport.
“I’m not going to rescue you, but that should be what was blocking your agent. Call some of your chooms. If they care about you, maybe you’ll survive.” I bit out crunching the shard in my hand. Fucking Scav shit made to shut down someone from being able to call for help.
Then I started walking away. I couldn’t deal with this shit!
“W-wait! W-where are we? I don’t know where to tell-Tell them to go!” She begged weakly, desperate.
My feet stomped into bloody flooring halting me cold.
“Megabuilding H11 Floor 37. Tell them to get to the North West side. Should be obvious where to go.” I ground behind clenched teeth, as I started taking another step away. I wanted to get out of here.
Then she was coughing, I could hear the blood in her synth-lungs. I had killed enough people to know what someone dying sounded like.
Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!
I turned around and grabbed a medkit off a pile of bodies. Fucking Scavs. They obviously took care of each other in here when needed. They had a full medical kit all stocked up. I thrust a MaxDoc into her hand, which would help a little, but grabbed a canister of borg blood.
I jammed it into her, not caring to be gentle. She whimpered, but it obviously helped. Blood pressure surging back as her breathing evened out, even giving her the strength to take the MaxDoc.
“There, that’s all the mercy I have for someone in Maelstrom.” I told her firmly. Slamming the medkit back onto the table beside her and storming off.
As I turned the corner I came across the dead Scavs, and remembered what I had been doing here.
I turned off the BD recorder, and grabbed a MaxDoc of my own.
I also needed to find a damn bathroom. Jun would freak if I came out this covered in my own blood like this.
My irritation spiked when I realized I would have to go hunt down my knife, I had dropped my Carnage somewhere as well.
Plus Ichi and Malcolm would be on their way soon, and so would a group of Maelstrom.
Fuck. Fuck!
I found a bathroom, but stopped before cleaning up. The sight of myself covered in blood gave me an idea. Instead I called Jun.
*Motoko! You okay? It went quiet!*
*Jun change of plans. I need you to stay up there… Scavs had a victim in here they are fucked, They are calling for someone to get them out of here, but I don’t want you to get involved.* I said ignoring his worried tone.
*Motoko? What’s going on I can come down to help if someone is dying. I know some first aid stuff.* Jun’s voice asked, obviously concerned.
*Maelstrom. The victim is a Maelstrom girl.* Considering how much I want to kill her, and her fucking friends, I doubted Jun was much more reasonable.
*Did you kill it?* Jun asked, suddenly his voice sounded a little dead.
*No, I didn’t kill her! I just said… She was already in pieces.* I told him, and don’t think I didn’t notice how you called her an it Jun. That’s rather telling Onii-chan. *It’s ruined my mood though. Jun just let me handle this. Some of her chooms are going to come pick her up. That will be that.*
*No. If more Maelstrom are coming I should come down. Make sure they don’t ever leave, we can-*
*Jun, if the Maelstrom find out you are here alone, they are going to send a hit squad to take you out. Just… Stay hidden up there, I’ll patch you into the cameras so you can keep watch, but I just want these fucks gone so Malcolm and Ichi can loot… Please just stay cool. I know… I know this isn’t comforting. But I have an idea. It’s not like I plan on being gentle with the fucks.*
*It’s your gig.* He said suddenly just as flat as before, then the call ended.
Fuck.
—--
I had called Ichi to let him know the situation, so he wouldn’t park too close until I let him know it was clear. Then I waited. Forced to listen to the Maelstrom woman slowly die even with the blood injection and MaxDoc.
My foot was tapping in irritation when finally the elevator started up and three Maelstrom came stepping out carefully onto the floor with guns in hand.
Of course I let them approach.
Let them find the broken open entrance door.
I stalked them. My silent steps more than capable of bypassing their chrome audio equipment. The fact I had access to all the cameras meant I could stay around the corner always completely hidden from their stupid Optics which were difficult to get around.
“Fuckin’ hell this really is a Scav den! I guess GearSlot was right. Think she was actually klepped, or she just leading us into a trap?” One of them asked suddenly.
“Fuck off, she was legit, now find her!” The other growled out and the first made a motion that I knew he was rolling his nonexistent eyes.
“Just cause you fuck her sometimes…”
“No! Because she is one of us, and we don’t let Maelstrom get fucked by Scavs.” He grumbled as they stepped into the first rooms.
“Fuck, look at that scop!” The first Maelstrom whistled as they came across the first body I had left, head bashed in across the table.
“Guess Gearslot was right. Some solo came through here, wiped them out. C’mon!”
While I followed them along. I was recording. The moment the elevator rose to the top I had started recording again.
The Only Thing They Fear is You 2 Electric Boogaloo.
I waited for them to find their choom. Unfortunately for the Maelstrom, each had already had their security breached through as I tracked them.
I was now in control.
“Fuck Gearslot you look like some truly rusty shit.” The guy that sounded actually worried about her muttered when they found her.
“Fuck you.” She wheezed but she sounded relieved. “Now get me… Get me out of here.” She begged and the big guy nodded, already reaching down to pick her up.
“Hell no! Look around, look at all this chrome!” The stupid fuck said.
That’s it. Can’t allow them to even consider that.
The stereo that the Scavs were so fond of started up with a thought from where I was hiding, literally crawling among the corpse of the Scav ripper doc I had murdered before.
The first guitar riff echoed through the room.
“The fuck? Where’s that song coming from?”
“What song is that?” The third asked looking around more in interest at the notes.
“I think… I think the girl, the solo wants us to leave.” Gearslot muttered quietly in the big Maelstroms arms.
“What? Fuck that! This is our territory! It’s our chrome! Some Fleshy cunt can-”
That was when I dropped the darkness on them.
For stupid worthless chrome junkies their optics were usually high end, giving them vision way better than a normal person could have.
Even if the chrome was a disgusting mess.
But it was still just chrome.
Still able to be shut down.
Two of them instantly lost sight.
“What? Fuck I can’t see!” Stupid and the other gonk that wasn’t holding his injured choom suddenly lost their right to see. The third the big fuck that was carrying the girl was allowed to retain his vision. I wanted at least one of them to see this.
I moved.
As the song pulsed through the radio, I slammed into stupid fuck. Carnage bashing his knee in and then whipping around to smash his face. Sending him crumpling to the floor at the unseen attack. Then I slammed the barrel into his cheek putting weight behind it so he could really feel the pressure of the barrel pressing down on him. But I wasn’t looking at the gonk that was a split second from losing his head, I was staring at the big fuck with the girl in his arms.
My bloodsoaked body glaring with all my might. Every ounce of barely restrained rage on display.
The voice that came out wasn’t my normal one. Sexy Motoko voice was in play mostly to make me sound older. “Only warning. Take your chooms and get lost.” I pumped the shotgun just so stupid would know exactly what was pressing against his stupid face.
Then I let my hack finish processing. I blinded them all got up, leaping away, and then bouncing again leaving the ripper room, as I deactivated the quick hack for the entire group.
Just as their sight had disappeared, it suddenly came back, as I undid the attack. I also tweaked the stereo. Letting the sound dimm down so it was just a faint rumble in the background. A warning if they were smart.
I watched on from the camera system as I moved to a place they wouldn’t find me even if they looked.
“Bitch!” Stupid cursed as he rose up his gun waving this way and that, but after a few seconds he realized other than his chooms he was alone. “Where did she go!?”
“Don’t know.” The big guy said but as he had been holding his injured output firmly actually trying to protect her even with his vision lost. “But let’s not find out. Move your shit, we’re leaving.”
Stupid fuck looked like he was going to argue but eventually he just cursed and spit onto the floor following the other two.
I watched as they got into the elevator and left. I knew Jun had been watching too, so I was actually impressed they got away without being murdered.
Time to check on my brother, get my crew to loot this place, and deal with everything.
Fuck.
—--
“I told you Jun, I’m fine. I’ll stop at Viks to get checked out.” I told him grumbling. He had seen how much blood I had on me from the cameras, and it seemed he had taken all the feelings he had about seeing Maelstrom and not murdering them, towards smothering me.
“You don’t look fine.” He grumbled as I drove us as quickly as I could away from the Megabuilding.
This was supposed to be fun! It was supposed to be a glorious orgy of violence and brutality! Fun! I was supposed to be the Doom Slayer against acceptable targets! Like a game, but more real!
But now all I could think about was how it ended. The bitter taste in my throat at being reminded Maelstrom existed.
“It totally ruined my song.” I grumbled, the fact I had been so happy to finally finish an awesome song felt so… Far away now.
“What song?” Jun asked, almost startling me and pulling me out of the spiral of just frustration I was feeling.
That’s right. It was actually done. Like done done… I felt a tiny bit of that happiness in finishing the song and music box come back, as I popped the shard from my neck and stuck it into the Quadra’s stereo.
The song started and I could tell the noise surprised Jun as my heavy riffs dropped into the heavy drums.
Okay, so maybe seeing Jun’s face perk up in interest as he listened to a song I played helped my mood a bit.
I stopped on the street in front of the apartment complex to let Jun off at home. Despite it being so late, I did want to go see Vik. Just to get a checkup. But as I parked Jun surprised me by popping the shard out of the stereo before I could stop him.
“Jun!”
“Nope. This is mine now.” He told me actually teasing me, before racing out of the Quadra before I could stop him.
“Hey! Get back here! Give it back!” I called out as I started to slip out of the Quadra, but Jun pointed right at me.
“No! You are injured, go to Viks!” He demanded and I stalled which gave him all the time he needed to race inside.
“Bastard!” I yelled at him, but he just laughed as he raced inside.
I was going to powerbomb his ass the very next time I caught him sleeping. I decided, but it was with a much lighter feeling that I slipped back into the Quadra.
—--
Thankfully Vik was able to take care of me. To my surprise he hadn’t been in his clinic when I got there. I actually had to call him up.
Turns out Vik actually had a life outside of waiting around in his clinic for my gonk ass.
It gave me weird vibes, like meeting a teacher outside of school.
“You have a fracture in your skull, and two of your ribs kid.” Vik unfortunately hadn’t been happy at me, when I explained that I was still feeling pain even after ‘healing.’
“I figured. Broken bones don’t tend to heal up without sleeping.” I explained and he just sighed rubbing at his head with one hand not covered in Ripper needles.
“Alright, kid. I’m glad you came to me for me to check you out, so I won’t yell at you too much.” He offered with a warm hand on my shoulder as he thankfully let me off easy.
I hadn’t actually told him just why I was a bit more beat up than normal. Hopefully he won’t find out it was something I basically did to myself.
“Well I want you to rest then, here, for observation. Head wounds like that… Skull fractures are serious kid. So rest. I’m going to make sure you don’t have a brain hemorrhage in your sleep.”
With those orders from Vik what else could I do? I leaned back and closed my eyes.
—--
With a clean bill of health and skull back to how it should be I left Viks the next morning. intending to go see Judy to drop off the new BD. Unfortunately I was still kinda covered in blood. I had washed up a bit, but there was only so much I could do without a change of clothes and a shower.
So I went home instead. Did just that, and even took a few moments to get some food in me. Then I raced over to Lizzies.
I had cut out a bit of the BD already. Mostly just everything after meeting the Maelstrom victim. I didn’t want anyone to see how rattled it had made me. I had kept a copy of me messing with the second Maelstrom group, but that wasn’t going to be handed over to Judy. It wasn’t good enough to really bother with.
Lizzies was quieter than normal, being so early in the morning when I pulled up. Rita wasn’t even the one guarding the door, but another girl that I had seen around, but hadn’t spoken with. I waved at her as I passed and got a nod in return.
The insides were still active, but slower than normal. People were mostly hanging around in little corners rather than packing up the place, but I moved through.
Judy’s realm was how it always was. Dark and hidden away, but to my surprise, Judy wasn’t actually here.
Huh.
I shrugged, it would have been nice to talk to her, but it is what it is. I grabbed the shard with the virtu on it and placed it onto Judy’s desk. Knowing she would get it. I was a few steps away before I stopped and quickly picked it back up.
Etching the name of the BD onto the shard with a grin before putting it back nice and obvious on her computer there. Now she would know what to call the BD for Nox.
Showing my mature and reasonable mentality I also sent Judy a text letting her know it was on her desk, including that the BD was a bit more brutal than before so she should be ready. As tempting as it was to leave it as a surprise, that might not be an entirely nice thing to do for someone kinda doing me a favor by fixing up my virtu.
With that I headed back out of the club into the sunny California day.
I blinked at the sunny bright day, raising my hand over my eyes as I glared at it.
“Nah fuck that.” I grumbled heading to my car. I was going to go hide in the apartment… Maybe get some Ramen first.
—--
I was on the couch with a bowl of to go ramen in front of me as I looked through my system alerts.
Eighteen Scavs.
I hadn’t actually counted last night.
I had brutally murdered eighteen Scavs.
Seventeen 500xp alerts, and one 1000xp alert was in the listing.
9500xp was nice on its own. The level up to level 12 was great.
But that wasn’t even all that my system had given me. I had used skills I didn’t often practice. I had fought in a way that I never had.
Street Brawler had leveled up, and considering how early I had got those alerts, I might have gotten a good way into the next level if it wasn’t already maxed out with Body at 7.
But better than that, I leveled Annihilation! Annihilation 5 also unlocked a perk. I had to go back and check to even remember what perk I had picked before, and it was Recoil Reduction. One of the reasons I was able to even use my Burya without breaking my arm. I was a little hyped at wondering what I would pick next!
Quick Hacks 7. Also popped up in the list. I guess my rolling Weapon Glitch had been good for more than just giving me a brutal melee.
I had gained a lot from that fight.
I stretched as I considered what to do with my points.
I’ll admit a big part of me was tempted to put the stat point into intelligence.
Just to see. What was 11 in a stat/skill? What did it mean?
But I shook off the temptation. Instead I went to my adaptation page and pushed another point into my arms.
Militech Condor *Adaptation Militech Condor 5/8*
I exhaled and I shrugged, and honestly. I couldn’t even really feel the difference so much anymore. Sure they still gave weird signals sometimes. Falling asleep on my arm only to wake up and feel like someone else was touching my face was a weird recurring issue in the morning.
But it felt… Normal.
I felt normal.
Well, I felt normal enough. Ignoring the slight itch of my Subdermal. The ache my ankles gave me in my calves as they forced bone and muscle to move in ways they wouldn’t normally. Or the small minor things that I felt from time to time.
In the end. It was just me.
I smiled and nodded looking at my skill points.
Did I want to spend them?
I had two…
Nah there wasn’t anything that wasn’t already close to max level that I couldn’t level up pretty quick.
Rockerboy staring at me still at level 6 was tempting to actually grind out though.
I did finally finish my music box! I grinned as I stretched, wiggling my toes as I finished off the ramen.
Time to make some songs!
I reached over and plugged my personal link into the box humming as I started on a new track. I was thinking… Samurai. I nodded, decision made. Let’s see how I compare to Johnny.
MAELSTROM.
My hand instinctively already reaching for my Burya to put the monster down.
I snapped my eyes shut. Inhale. Exhale.
I opened my eyes feeling at least myself. I wasn’t sure if that feeling had been from all the rage I had been pumping into myself, or just…
Maelstrom.
But my hand fell away from my Burya. I didn’t need to kill her. The girl was barely alive.
Broken. Ripped apart. White borg blood mixed with red real blood covered her. I was honestly shocked she was still alive considering how much blood was dripping from her onto the floor.
I stilled, everything that I was struggled with a decision.
On one hand, Maelstrom. Kill her. Painfully.
On the other, she was a victim of Scavs. No one deserved that. Funny how my two most hated enemies were responsible for this situation.
My eyes flickered as I scanned her. She had a rap sheet. I read it over still unsure what to do.
“Natalie Desanto AKA GearSlot.” I said finally my eyes bored into her optics. As if I could kill her by just glaring.
“A-are you-*cough* D-did Kamhead send you?” She asked, quietly a desperate hope in her voice.
The sound of it left my tongue tasting of ash, and a disgust welling up in me.
It’s all fun and games to put people in a pit to fight for their life, but get put into a Scav den and suddenly they are the victim! I raged inside my mind. My hands gripped so hard I could feel the blood coating my palms run down my fingers. I shifted them, to keep from breaking something internally.
“No, I was not sent here by some Maelstrom piece of shit! I happily kill you fucks whenever I get the chance after what you monsters did to me!” I roared back, my voice throaty and raw. My insides were still not doing great. I should really stop and take some MaxDoc to heal up again, but my hands were struggling to do anything but grip my own arms now as I glared at the Maelstrom in front of me.
All I could see is those fucking optics staring at me.
“Oh.” She muttered a raspy sigh escaping her. “Figures.”
I stalked up to her. For the first time in a while my arms felt wrong. Like just being around some Maelstrom made my phantom limbs act up again, as if I had an extra set of limbs already reaching for her throat to throttle her to death.
My head felt quiet. The song ended so it was just me and her and the sound of dripping blood.
Just me, and her.
Her life in my hands. She was dying regardless. Body torn into by Scavs. Another victim of them just as I had been…
I exhaled and it came out more like a growl. But the breath was ice cold on my tongue.
Suddenly I reached out and grabbed her face, uncaring about the blood I left there as I pushed her head to the side. She whimpered in fear and pain. As she knew a beast was here to kill her.
But I wasn’t a mindless beast.
I pulled the shard that was in her neuroport.
“I’m not going to rescue you, but that should be what was blocking your agent. Call some of your chooms. If they care about you, maybe you’ll survive.” I bit out crunching the shard in my hand. Fucking Scav shit made to shut down someone from being able to call for help.
Then I started walking away. I couldn’t deal with this shit!
“W-wait! W-where are we? I don’t know where to tell-Tell them to go!” She begged weakly, desperate.
My feet stomped into bloody flooring halting me cold.
“Megabuilding H11 Floor 37. Tell them to get to the North West side. Should be obvious where to go.” I ground behind clenched teeth, as I started taking another step away. I wanted to get out of here.
Then she was coughing, I could hear the blood in her synth-lungs. I had killed enough people to know what someone dying sounded like.
Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!
I turned around and grabbed a medkit off a pile of bodies. Fucking Scavs. They obviously took care of each other in here when needed. They had a full medical kit all stocked up. I thrust a MaxDoc into her hand, which would help a little, but grabbed a canister of borg blood.
I jammed it into her, not caring to be gentle. She whimpered, but it obviously helped. Blood pressure surging back as her breathing evened out, even giving her the strength to take the MaxDoc.
“There, that’s all the mercy I have for someone in Maelstrom.” I told her firmly. Slamming the medkit back onto the table beside her and storming off.
As I turned the corner I came across the dead Scavs, and remembered what I had been doing here.
I turned off the BD recorder, and grabbed a MaxDoc of my own.
I also needed to find a damn bathroom. Jun would freak if I came out this covered in my own blood like this.
My irritation spiked when I realized I would have to go hunt down my knife, I had dropped my Carnage somewhere as well.
Plus Ichi and Malcolm would be on their way soon, and so would a group of Maelstrom.
Fuck. Fuck!
I found a bathroom, but stopped before cleaning up. The sight of myself covered in blood gave me an idea. Instead I called Jun.
*Motoko! You okay? It went quiet!*
*Jun change of plans. I need you to stay up there… Scavs had a victim in here they are fucked, They are calling for someone to get them out of here, but I don’t want you to get involved.* I said ignoring his worried tone.
*Motoko? What’s going on I can come down to help if someone is dying. I know some first aid stuff.* Jun’s voice asked, obviously concerned.
*Maelstrom. The victim is a Maelstrom girl.* Considering how much I want to kill her, and her fucking friends, I doubted Jun was much more reasonable.
*Did you kill it?* Jun asked, suddenly his voice sounded a little dead.
*No, I didn’t kill her! I just said… She was already in pieces.* I told him, and don’t think I didn’t notice how you called her an it Jun. That’s rather telling Onii-chan. *It’s ruined my mood though. Jun just let me handle this. Some of her chooms are going to come pick her up. That will be that.*
*No. If more Maelstrom are coming I should come down. Make sure they don’t ever leave, we can-*
*Jun, if the Maelstrom find out you are here alone, they are going to send a hit squad to take you out. Just… Stay hidden up there, I’ll patch you into the cameras so you can keep watch, but I just want these fucks gone so Malcolm and Ichi can loot… Please just stay cool. I know… I know this isn’t comforting. But I have an idea. It’s not like I plan on being gentle with the fucks.*
*It’s your gig.* He said suddenly just as flat as before, then the call ended.
Fuck.
—--
I had called Ichi to let him know the situation, so he wouldn’t park too close until I let him know it was clear. Then I waited. Forced to listen to the Maelstrom woman slowly die even with the blood injection and MaxDoc.
My foot was tapping in irritation when finally the elevator started up and three Maelstrom came stepping out carefully onto the floor with guns in hand.
Of course I let them approach.
Let them find the broken open entrance door.
I stalked them. My silent steps more than capable of bypassing their chrome audio equipment. The fact I had access to all the cameras meant I could stay around the corner always completely hidden from their stupid Optics which were difficult to get around.
“Fuckin’ hell this really is a Scav den! I guess GearSlot was right. Think she was actually klepped, or she just leading us into a trap?” One of them asked suddenly.
“Fuck off, she was legit, now find her!” The other growled out and the first made a motion that I knew he was rolling his nonexistent eyes.
“Just cause you fuck her sometimes…”
“No! Because she is one of us, and we don’t let Maelstrom get fucked by Scavs.” He grumbled as they stepped into the first rooms.
“Fuck, look at that scop!” The first Maelstrom whistled as they came across the first body I had left, head bashed in across the table.
“Guess Gearslot was right. Some solo came through here, wiped them out. C’mon!”
While I followed them along. I was recording. The moment the elevator rose to the top I had started recording again.
The Only Thing They Fear is You 2 Electric Boogaloo.
I waited for them to find their choom. Unfortunately for the Maelstrom, each had already had their security breached through as I tracked them.
I was now in control.
“Fuck Gearslot you look like some truly rusty shit.” The guy that sounded actually worried about her muttered when they found her.
“Fuck you.” She wheezed but she sounded relieved. “Now get me… Get me out of here.” She begged and the big guy nodded, already reaching down to pick her up.
“Hell no! Look around, look at all this chrome!” The stupid fuck said.
That’s it. Can’t allow them to even consider that.
The stereo that the Scavs were so fond of started up with a thought from where I was hiding, literally crawling among the corpse of the Scav ripper doc I had murdered before.
The first guitar riff echoed through the room.
“The fuck? Where’s that song coming from?”
“What song is that?” The third asked looking around more in interest at the notes.
“I think… I think the girl, the solo wants us to leave.” Gearslot muttered quietly in the big Maelstroms arms.
“What? Fuck that! This is our territory! It’s our chrome! Some Fleshy cunt can-”
That was when I dropped the darkness on them.
For stupid worthless chrome junkies their optics were usually high end, giving them vision way better than a normal person could have.
Even if the chrome was a disgusting mess.
But it was still just chrome.
Still able to be shut down.
Two of them instantly lost sight.
“What? Fuck I can’t see!” Stupid and the other gonk that wasn’t holding his injured choom suddenly lost their right to see. The third the big fuck that was carrying the girl was allowed to retain his vision. I wanted at least one of them to see this.
I moved.
As the song pulsed through the radio, I slammed into stupid fuck. Carnage bashing his knee in and then whipping around to smash his face. Sending him crumpling to the floor at the unseen attack. Then I slammed the barrel into his cheek putting weight behind it so he could really feel the pressure of the barrel pressing down on him. But I wasn’t looking at the gonk that was a split second from losing his head, I was staring at the big fuck with the girl in his arms.
My bloodsoaked body glaring with all my might. Every ounce of barely restrained rage on display.
The voice that came out wasn’t my normal one. Sexy Motoko voice was in play mostly to make me sound older. “Only warning. Take your chooms and get lost.” I pumped the shotgun just so stupid would know exactly what was pressing against his stupid face.
Then I let my hack finish processing. I blinded them all got up, leaping away, and then bouncing again leaving the ripper room, as I deactivated the quick hack for the entire group.
Just as their sight had disappeared, it suddenly came back, as I undid the attack. I also tweaked the stereo. Letting the sound dimm down so it was just a faint rumble in the background. A warning if they were smart.
I watched on from the camera system as I moved to a place they wouldn’t find me even if they looked.
“Bitch!” Stupid cursed as he rose up his gun waving this way and that, but after a few seconds he realized other than his chooms he was alone. “Where did she go!?”
“Don’t know.” The big guy said but as he had been holding his injured output firmly actually trying to protect her even with his vision lost. “But let’s not find out. Move your shit, we’re leaving.”
Stupid fuck looked like he was going to argue but eventually he just cursed and spit onto the floor following the other two.
I watched as they got into the elevator and left. I knew Jun had been watching too, so I was actually impressed they got away without being murdered.
Time to check on my brother, get my crew to loot this place, and deal with everything.
Fuck.
—--
“I told you Jun, I’m fine. I’ll stop at Viks to get checked out.” I told him grumbling. He had seen how much blood I had on me from the cameras, and it seemed he had taken all the feelings he had about seeing Maelstrom and not murdering them, towards smothering me.
“You don’t look fine.” He grumbled as I drove us as quickly as I could away from the Megabuilding.
This was supposed to be fun! It was supposed to be a glorious orgy of violence and brutality! Fun! I was supposed to be the Doom Slayer against acceptable targets! Like a game, but more real!
But now all I could think about was how it ended. The bitter taste in my throat at being reminded Maelstrom existed.
“It totally ruined my song.” I grumbled, the fact I had been so happy to finally finish an awesome song felt so… Far away now.
“What song?” Jun asked, almost startling me and pulling me out of the spiral of just frustration I was feeling.
That’s right. It was actually done. Like done done… I felt a tiny bit of that happiness in finishing the song and music box come back, as I popped the shard from my neck and stuck it into the Quadra’s stereo.
The song started and I could tell the noise surprised Jun as my heavy riffs dropped into the heavy drums.
Okay, so maybe seeing Jun’s face perk up in interest as he listened to a song I played helped my mood a bit.
I stopped on the street in front of the apartment complex to let Jun off at home. Despite it being so late, I did want to go see Vik. Just to get a checkup. But as I parked Jun surprised me by popping the shard out of the stereo before I could stop him.
“Jun!”
“Nope. This is mine now.” He told me actually teasing me, before racing out of the Quadra before I could stop him.
“Hey! Get back here! Give it back!” I called out as I started to slip out of the Quadra, but Jun pointed right at me.
“No! You are injured, go to Viks!” He demanded and I stalled which gave him all the time he needed to race inside.
“Bastard!” I yelled at him, but he just laughed as he raced inside.
I was going to powerbomb his ass the very next time I caught him sleeping. I decided, but it was with a much lighter feeling that I slipped back into the Quadra.
—--
Thankfully Vik was able to take care of me. To my surprise he hadn’t been in his clinic when I got there. I actually had to call him up.
Turns out Vik actually had a life outside of waiting around in his clinic for my gonk ass.
It gave me weird vibes, like meeting a teacher outside of school.
“You have a fracture in your skull, and two of your ribs kid.” Vik unfortunately hadn’t been happy at me, when I explained that I was still feeling pain even after ‘healing.’
“I figured. Broken bones don’t tend to heal up without sleeping.” I explained and he just sighed rubbing at his head with one hand not covered in Ripper needles.
“Alright, kid. I’m glad you came to me for me to check you out, so I won’t yell at you too much.” He offered with a warm hand on my shoulder as he thankfully let me off easy.
I hadn’t actually told him just why I was a bit more beat up than normal. Hopefully he won’t find out it was something I basically did to myself.
“Well I want you to rest then, here, for observation. Head wounds like that… Skull fractures are serious kid. So rest. I’m going to make sure you don’t have a brain hemorrhage in your sleep.”
With those orders from Vik what else could I do? I leaned back and closed my eyes.
—--
With a clean bill of health and skull back to how it should be I left Viks the next morning. intending to go see Judy to drop off the new BD. Unfortunately I was still kinda covered in blood. I had washed up a bit, but there was only so much I could do without a change of clothes and a shower.
So I went home instead. Did just that, and even took a few moments to get some food in me. Then I raced over to Lizzies.
I had cut out a bit of the BD already. Mostly just everything after meeting the Maelstrom victim. I didn’t want anyone to see how rattled it had made me. I had kept a copy of me messing with the second Maelstrom group, but that wasn’t going to be handed over to Judy. It wasn’t good enough to really bother with.
Lizzies was quieter than normal, being so early in the morning when I pulled up. Rita wasn’t even the one guarding the door, but another girl that I had seen around, but hadn’t spoken with. I waved at her as I passed and got a nod in return.
The insides were still active, but slower than normal. People were mostly hanging around in little corners rather than packing up the place, but I moved through.
Judy’s realm was how it always was. Dark and hidden away, but to my surprise, Judy wasn’t actually here.
Huh.
I shrugged, it would have been nice to talk to her, but it is what it is. I grabbed the shard with the virtu on it and placed it onto Judy’s desk. Knowing she would get it. I was a few steps away before I stopped and quickly picked it back up.
Etching the name of the BD onto the shard with a grin before putting it back nice and obvious on her computer there. Now she would know what to call the BD for Nox.
Showing my mature and reasonable mentality I also sent Judy a text letting her know it was on her desk, including that the BD was a bit more brutal than before so she should be ready. As tempting as it was to leave it as a surprise, that might not be an entirely nice thing to do for someone kinda doing me a favor by fixing up my virtu.
With that I headed back out of the club into the sunny California day.
I blinked at the sunny bright day, raising my hand over my eyes as I glared at it.
“Nah fuck that.” I grumbled heading to my car. I was going to go hide in the apartment… Maybe get some Ramen first.
—--
I was on the couch with a bowl of to go ramen in front of me as I looked through my system alerts.
Eighteen Scavs.
I hadn’t actually counted last night.
I had brutally murdered eighteen Scavs.
Seventeen 500xp alerts, and one 1000xp alert was in the listing.
9500xp was nice on its own. The level up to level 12 was great.
But that wasn’t even all that my system had given me. I had used skills I didn’t often practice. I had fought in a way that I never had.
Street Brawler had leveled up, and considering how early I had got those alerts, I might have gotten a good way into the next level if it wasn’t already maxed out with Body at 7.
But better than that, I leveled Annihilation! Annihilation 5 also unlocked a perk. I had to go back and check to even remember what perk I had picked before, and it was Recoil Reduction. One of the reasons I was able to even use my Burya without breaking my arm. I was a little hyped at wondering what I would pick next!
Quick Hacks 7. Also popped up in the list. I guess my rolling Weapon Glitch had been good for more than just giving me a brutal melee.
I had gained a lot from that fight.
I stretched as I considered what to do with my points.
I’ll admit a big part of me was tempted to put the stat point into intelligence.
Just to see. What was 11 in a stat/skill? What did it mean?
But I shook off the temptation. Instead I went to my adaptation page and pushed another point into my arms.
Militech Condor *Adaptation Militech Condor 5/8*
I exhaled and I shrugged, and honestly. I couldn’t even really feel the difference so much anymore. Sure they still gave weird signals sometimes. Falling asleep on my arm only to wake up and feel like someone else was touching my face was a weird recurring issue in the morning.
But it felt… Normal.
I felt normal.
Well, I felt normal enough. Ignoring the slight itch of my Subdermal. The ache my ankles gave me in my calves as they forced bone and muscle to move in ways they wouldn’t normally. Or the small minor things that I felt from time to time.
In the end. It was just me.
I smiled and nodded looking at my skill points.
Did I want to spend them?
I had two…
Nah there wasn’t anything that wasn’t already close to max level that I couldn’t level up pretty quick.
Rockerboy staring at me still at level 6 was tempting to actually grind out though.
I did finally finish my music box! I grinned as I stretched, wiggling my toes as I finished off the ramen.
Time to make some songs!
I reached over and plugged my personal link into the box humming as I started on a new track. I was thinking… Samurai. I nodded, decision made. Let’s see how I compare to Johnny.
Karmic Acumen
Well-known member
Kind of a mood whiplash. I didn't even realize last chapter that she was looking at a scav victim instead of random Maelstrom gangers.