Outrun – Cyberpunk LitRPG

Chapter 185

“So what do you think?” I asked Captain Roger. I’d already explained the situation to him.

“Hmm…” Captain Roger’s voice cut out for a few moments. “What did you say the odds are of this working out?”

“High. At least seventy-five percent sure that everything will run okay. We can test it with just one person first though, just to be safe.” I looked through the terminal. “I’d just need a few days to get everything up and running- oh, wait. Do your people have feature scrubbers?”

I was planning to add everyone’s faces to the security system, but scrubbers would make that pointless. If I had one, others would probably have one too. They were a staple in the merc world, I think. It was another layer of protection and anonymity that few would pass on.

“Everyone has one. They’re a requirement.”  There was a slight pause as if we lost connection for a moment. “How much of a delay are we looking at?”

Okay, wrench successfully thrown into my plans. How do I go about this then? I idly tapped on the side of my head as I stared down at the terminal. Renold probably had a feature scrubber too… do I have to make ID badges for everyone?

Ugh. I don’t have the equipment, nor the time to make a bunch of ID badges. Hmm… maybe we can scavenge this place for old ID badges and rewrite their permissions. It would be way easier that way. Between the offices and this room, I could get half the company in at least.

I ran a rough calculation. By my estimate, there were about seventy or so people on this excursion. Could take a while to get everything set up, especially since I can’t just add their faces to the system and be done with it all. “No more than two days. Might be a bit quicker if I had some help. A few people searching for ID badges would be perfect. Otherwise, I can just kill the security entirely and let everyone in now.”

“Hmm… okay, go ahead with adding ID badges to the whitelist. I assume everyone will need to have their badges on at all times?” Captain Roger asked.

“Chek.” The security system was tracking Renold based on his badge, at least. I was about ninety percent sure if he took it off, he’d get recognized as an intruder. There was a sea of bones to remind me what happened to intruders.

The man sighed deeply. “Right, I’ll brief them… On a different note, notice anything peculiar while you were in there?”

“Other than the fact this place is a mass grave?” Peculiar… like the abomination down in the sublevels? Or peculiar like other signs of other groups being in here? Or was he looking for something in particular?

“Yes.”

“Nothing much. Signs of a subterranean complex beneath the theatre, but I haven’t started looking at it yet. Got some nasty security protecting what I suspect is the way in.” I would rather not face off against a bunch of murder-bots with rocket pods… although, it would be a good opportunity to copy down a blueprint for a rocket. Never know when the know-how on how to make those beauties could come in handy. Would be a serious boost to my firepower regardless.

“Interesting.” Captain Roger’s voice cut out as something interfered with the reception. “...entioned there might be something like that, but she wasn’t sure. Have you seen the Archives yet? They’re our main goal. Supposedly, there are original manuscripts worth millions to the right people.”

Worth millions? Did I hear that right? No wonder Athena wanted to hit this place. If there were just a few of those, it’d easily pay off the cost of sending out the merc company out to New Tress City. It was a gamble though. This place had been abandoned for ages.

Millions though… just the thought sent a shiver down my spine. Oh how great it must be to see more than five digits in my bank account. I can’t even imagine spending that much money on an old, musty manuscript. The rich and I lived in very, very different worlds.

“We saw them.” Renold joined the conversation as I hastily typed away on the terminal, looking through anything else I might be able to use.

Unfortunately, my lack of Net skills held me back from doing anything too crazy. If we had a real Netrunner, they’d probably be able to ping every ID badge in this place at least. 

Maybe I should look at hiring one when I get back to the city? I’d need one for some of my future heists. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to start establishing connections now. Hmm... too bad me and Net just weren't meant to be.

I looked up to see Renold lazily kicked back in a chair, his feat slung up onto a bank of data drives. He had a cigarette dangling from his mouth as he lazily stared up at the roof. Must be nice to just sit back and relax while I did all the hard work.

Renold pulled the cigarette out and puffed foul smoke into the small room. “They take up a rather large place underneath the theatre.”

“Nothing seemed too important in there," I added. "Might be something in the Back Archives though? Would explain why the security was so strong.”

If they had a bunch of books worth millions, then it would make sense for all the security protecting it. Maybe the underground structure’s entrance was somewhere else? Where though? Maybe a hidden shaft in one of the offices?

“Oh? Have you taken a crack at it yet?” Captain Roger asked.

“No, sir. Been busy trying to get you lot in here so we can loot and delta.” Though hearing about manuscripts worth millions made me slightly regret that I hadn’t taken a crack at it yet. At least, while I was alone. 

Ah well, probably best I don’t try to screw the Crimson Company over and pocket one such manuscript. Connections and all that. And if they found out, I’d be entirely at their mercy out here. I’d rather not toe that particular line. A million Rayn wasn’t worth my life.

And I didn't have the connections to fence them. It was pure trouble if I klepped one for myself no matter how I looked at it. Not to mention the two of the fixers I interact with don't seem to be the posh executive type.

Athena was more militaristic than anything. Probably had contacts with corporate enforcers at best. As for Carone? I couldn't quite put my finger on him. At first, I'd been impressed. The more I saw of the world though, the more I suspected he was a small fry.

The comm's connection once more dropped, leaving the comm lines crackling. “... hit it hard? Or will it need your delicate touch?” 

“Delicate. The bots there are armed with rockets. Unless someone in the company wants to go up against that in a tight space?” I know I wouldn’t. I don’t think subdermal armor would be much help against a direct impact either.

The line once more filled with crackles. “...know of… have to go. Sandstorm coming…”

“Chek.” Ah, a sandstorm. Yep, that would make sense. Probably why Captain Roger cut out so much even though we were relatively close to each other. Was it a normal sandstorm though? Or something nefarious? I don't think I could ever look at sandstorms the same way after that Dune Walker one.

Red-Six and Red-One were probably out in the middle of it too. Poor suckers. I called out to Renold. “Hey, check the piles of bones for badges. We might be able to get the guys outside in.”

“Sounds good to me.” Renold stood up from his seat, putting out the cigarette. “Sandstorm, eh? Think it's more Dune Walkers?”

”No way we’re that unlucky, right? Twice in one trip is… well, actually, I might be that unlucky.” Thinking back to my constant misfortune with the Crusade and astronomical probabilities, there was a chance. My luck has never been great.

Renold easily found a few. We were in the command center, so anyone in here must’ve had some level of authority back then. There were just enough badges for two and a half squads in here. It was quite easy to reintegrate them back into the system and whitelist their RFIDs.

Once I was done with that, I flicked my Blinder back on and shut everything off. No way was I going to be the first person to test if the whitelisting actually worked. Especially considering the nearest bots were the combat ones just outside the door. I nodded to Renold and faded back out of the security’s sight once more.

We worked our way back down to the foyer and towards the door. Just before we could leave, one of the bots stopped us. “Leaving already… sir?”

”I’m going out to fetch the mechanics. To fix this place up, you know.” Renold easily misled the bots. 

While whitelisting everyone, I’d marked them as mechanics. It gave them plausibility to poke around where a mere mid-manager shouldn’t. And with a mainframe as ancient as this one, plausibility was all we needed. If Laurus Theatre had a Daemon in their system, or maybe even a full rogue AI, it would be impossible for such a small misdirection to work.

The bots backed out of the way, letting us pass towards the open entryway. Already, sand spilled in constantly as the sandstorm raged on. I double-checked my gear, making sure everything was secure and my mask was on, and then stepped out into the abandoned city’s sands.

Visibility was low. Not super low seeing as I could spot the Prowlers set up in a defensive position around the entrance, but low enough I couldn’t see much past them. I also didn’t see anyone outside the Prowlers. Must all be inside taking cover from the sand.

Renold passed me as I flicked off my Blinder, heading for one of them. No idea how he could tell the difference between the two, but he somehow managed to pick out Red-Six’s Prowler. He got in the driver's seat.

I followed in his tracks, moving over to my seat and getting into the car. Or, at least, attempting to. Lia lay sprawled out across the entire back seat, her long legs dangling off of Yonrow’s back.

”Mmm- sorry. Give me a sec.” Lia sleepily called, attempting to shuffle around and get back into her own seat. It took a while. The Magus was damn tall, and it took a ton of effort to get folded back up just right. Being small had its perks.

”How’d it go?” Hampton asked Renold. The two chatted as I waited to get into the vehicle.

Once I was in, I offered one of the badges. “These should let y’all in. In theory. We need a brave volunteer to test them for the rest of the company first though.”

”I’ll do it.” Yonrow, the ever-taciturn gunner, put down his sketchpad and grabbed one without hesitation.

Hampton raised a question from the front. “Do you want to just leave the Prowlers out here?”

Although he framed it as an innocent question, his tone suggested something different. He was back in the teaching tone that he used the last time he thought a decision was poor.

And I could see why. Leaving expensive Prowlers out to the mercy of the sandstorm and whatever monstrosities lurked in the city was a bad idea. I thought through the blueprint of the building briefly. Now that we had easy access, there was really no reason we should be restricted to this entrance on the far side from the HQ.

“You lot head back to base camp then. There are a couple doors connecting the parking garage to the theatre directly. I'll try and get one open.” I shook some sand out of my hair. It was a futile effort, especially considering I was about to get back out of the Prowler.

Renold passed his ID badge over to Hampton. “Here, take this. I’ll drive over. No way I'll let one of you beasts wreck my baby in the sandstorm- at least, I hope that’s okay?”

The last question was to me. Probably remembered last minute that Captain Roger put me in charge. Ugh, this whole leadership thing was a waste of time. “Chek. Hampton’s with me then. We’ll see the rest of you shortly.”

I looked over to the entrance of the theatre, pausing before I got out. If I opened the door in the parking garage, then this would be just a weakness in our perimeter. “Think you guys could blow up the sand around the entrance to hide it again?”

Too bad I wasn’t all that great with the fine adjustments of explosives, otherwise I’d do it myself. My last foray into explosives, back at Cold Moon Solutions, was evidence enough of my lacking skill. What was supposed to be a small-scale explosion ended up taking the entire building with it.

”I’ll do it.” Yonrow said. I got a weird sense of deja vu from the guy as set down his sketchpad once more. “I’ll blow it in five minutes. Get far away.”

”Check.” I looked around the Prowler, enjoying its relative safety before opening the door a crack. “Then I’ll see you guys in a bit.”