Outrun – Cyberpunk LitRPG

Chapter 189

”I see…” Captain Roger frowned as he stared at a blown-up hologram of the Laurus Theatre. “Nothing we can do about the radiation. None of us are built to deal with it… I’ll call Athena. She might have other plans.”

Right, Athena. The overall boss. Kick it down the line, notice. Definitely recognized that little tactic. I really hoped that she wouldn't want us to go down there. Guns and monsters were one thing, but the ever-invisible and fatal nature of radiation was an entirely different matter. Especially considering I didn't have anything built for it. No telling what kind of havoc radiation could play on my body, let alone my tech.

And that wasn’t even talking about the security systems. If I was in a rad-suit and just one bullet punctured it, ruining the seal, I’d probably be dead before I could come up. Flatlining to radiation is definitely not the way I wanted to go out. 

Hmm... maybe there was a Perk for radiation resistance? That would be really useful. Too bad there isn't, like, a body or durability Skill. Hint hint eidolons? Maybe? Ugh, fine. Maybe there was some kind of medicine or Stim that could temporarily boost radiation resistance? That'd be quite a useful product for Medtech to sell. Maybe they have something?

“Chek chek. What about the Back Archives though? I disabled all the security, so it’s just the vault door.“ I motioned toward the blueprint.

Captain Roger rubbed at his chin. His chrome eyes glowed brightly as a frown dipped his lips. “Keep the combination quiet. I’ll send some guys down there over the next couple days. You said it was loaded right?”

I recounted a list of all the valuables I saw down there. “Chek. Super loaded. More than a couple million Rayn if we’re lucky.”

“Good… good… then all that’s left is to loot the place and delta.” He tilted his head slightly in thought. “Should take three or four days. Until then, can you look at all the Prowlers, Mice, and the APC? Make sure we'll be ready to get out of here when the time comes?”

I stood up and nodded to the captain. I thought about taking back the holo-puck, though eventually decided against it. I didn't even need it, and it was technically just lent to me by the captain. “No problem.” 

“Good. With any luck, we’ll be out of here soon.” Captain Roger waved a hand as he went back to studying the map. “Dismissed.”

— — —

The next week passed easily, and nothing too eventful happened. The entire company stayed in the Theatre nearly day and night, pulling out anything even remotely valuable. The Mice bulged with valuables after the first couple days. It was to the point I overheard several PMCs complaining they didn’t bring enough Mice to cart it all back and they had to leave some stuff behind.

It was good. Really good. The more they grabbed, the more Rayn I’d make from this. It was a bit sad I didn’t get a mystical relic or something from this trip. Still, I was looking forward to the money coming my way when all of this ended. At a quick calculation, I’d at least make fifty thousand Rayn. It was an insane profit from a single gig. Especially considering my typical payout. Athena truly set me up fro this one.

The entire week, I spent my time either scavenging various parts from the bots and mechanisms of the Laurus Theatre or fixing various devices for the Crimson Company. We were running low on supplies and equipment to keep repairing the fuel lines, but I managed to keep everything running. Barely.

Athena called back about the elevator in the Back Archives too. She ordered it sealed off and hidden for a potential future expedition. I simply disabled the entire mechanism for moving the shelf and made it better blend in with its surroundings. I also repaired a few of the bots and security after we'd pulled everything from the Back Archives. No one would get a free trip, though the bots weren't in great states.

And then we were off. We rounded all back up, loaded up for a fight, and set off from our base camp before the sun even rose. Driving back through the city to the Outlands was a bittersweet experience. The haunted holograms and creepy plants seemed to wave goodbye in an early morning breeze.

We broke past the outer layers of the city and once more entered the sandy Outlands. It was a bit of a shock going from hyper greenery and abandoned claustrophobic buildings to vast stretches of dunes and empty skies. It was also nice, in a way, to be free of all the stressors in New Tress City.

I spent most of the first day finishing up the rest of the documents I snatched from Cold Moon Solutions. Or, at least, part one of the documents. I still had decades of documents stored on various hard drives back home.

With sudden free time, I drew. A lot. At first, it was just various blueprints and designs for the turrets I wanted to build when I got back home. Eventually, I got bored of that and shifted to just drawing to draw. An influence from Yonrow, if I had to pin down why exactly I suddenly wanted to draw.

It was nice to just clear my head and let my pencil guide me along the paper. Every other time I’d drawn had been extremely technical and a bit draining, so it was a good chance of pace. Most of my, albeit lacking, artistic pursuits were dedicated to the various monsters and scenes I'd seen in the city.

The simplicity of the work allowed me to think through the value I got out of this particular gig. It was like nothing I’d ever done before. Almost every step of the way, I’d gotten something out of it.

Even as far back as arriving at the Crimson Company’s HQ and getting immediately put to work provided me with valuable experience in vehicle repair. Every other repair job since had been a nice boost to my confidence when it came to tech-related things.

The constant fights also proved to be nice. I had yet to see my Skill gains from the trip, but my combat-related Skills would probably get a good boost. And observing how others approached combat situations had been… informative. I couldn't approach it the same way, unfortunately. I had no confidence in frontal assaults with my current skillset and chrome. An ambusher's life for me, it seemed.

The dozens of miscellaneous blueprints I snatched from various mechanisms were also a good boost to my knowledge. Especially the high-value ones like the combat bots and rockets. It was only a matter of time till I could make my own gear like that.

I also still had the claws and feathers of that weird Aether bird. No telling how valuable that all could be. Spirit Cleaver bark, which seemed to have a similar effect, couldn’t be bought even if I had money. Things were looking up.

I had some ideas on how I wanted to use the claws and feathers, but all of that would have to wait until I did some serious research. No way I wanted to mess around with opening and closing the Aether willy-nilly. That was just asking for some twisted abomination to escape the Aether and ice me.

With the Crimson Company gig coming to a close, I couldn’t help but reflect on how nice it’d been to be part of a Private Military Company. Not quite for me overall, but I wouldn’t mind teaming up with one again in the distant future.

Having a team to back me up had been incredibly helpful. It was to the point I wanted to form a team of my own when I found the right people. Having others with skills that weren’t quite in my purview had been quite useful. Don’t know how well such an idea would turn out since I had some minor trust issues, but it was a nice goal for the future regardless.

Being around other people for a change was… not awful. Humans were social creatures, or so I’d been told. It’d been draining at first, but I grew to like Red-Six quite a bit as the days progressed. Especially Lia, though it wasn't by much more than the others. They all had their quirks.

Our trip through the Outlands was just as uneventful as our escape from the New Tress City, for better or worse. The convoy had to dodge something called a Tonkor, but otherwise, nothing happened of note.

And then I could see Aythryn City on the horizon. Home sweet home. I couldn't wait to take a hot shower.

— — —

Unfortunately, wait I must. As soon as we got back to HQ, Captain Roger and I had to report to Athena. She apparently specifically requested I come with the captain. 

My parting ways with Red-Six was quick and simple. Yonrow simply nodded and went on his way to one of the buildings in the Crimson Company’s compound. 

Sergeant Hampton clapped me on the shoulder as he walked past and headed for the HQ. “You did good, Zuku. It was a pleasure working with you.”

”You too.” I smiled slightly at the guy as he passed me by.

Lia pulled out her phone. “Let’s exchange contacts! It was good working with you. Maybe we could go out to get something to eat.”

“Sure.” I exchanged contacts with her. Making friends was something I was admittedly bad at. And it never hurts to have a competent Wolf Magus on my call list. “I know this nice burger joint. The chef there serves pizza-sized burgers.”

”Oh! Sounds delightful! Well, I gotta get going to Wolf’s shrine. Cya, Renold!” And just like that, Lia headed and caught a taxi.

Renold nodded to me as he left, returned with a bunch of car polish, and started lathering up the Prowler. “Wanna help me out?”

”I uh- I have to go, unfortunately.” Fortunately, actually. Polishing a car did not sound like a good use of time. Granted, I never fell in love with a car like Renold seemed to have. “Cya around.”

”Yeah, yeah.” Renold waved me off as he worked on the Prowler.

I, after a long time, got back on my bike and set off. Feeling the wind running through my hair and the relatively cool and wet weather of Aythryn City gave me a nostalgic feeling. I’d only been gone four weeks, and I’d surprisingly missed this place. Especially the moisture in the air. The dry dessert winds had continuously dropped my hydration, but back here? So god to be back.

Of course, that is until I nearly got hit by a drunk driver and watched a homeless woman get pancaked by a passing car. Only for said pancaked woman to get up revealing a body of full chrome, pull a gun, and execute the driver. Some things never changed. The city moved on just the same without me, as it would for anyone else. 

It put me back into a somber mood as rain started to fall from the sky. I snuggled back into my warm poncho and made my way to the Jagged Clover. 

As soon as I stepped in, I temporarily whitelisted a few people for Master of Disguise that I recognized. Athena's men, I think. The tiny-handed bartender waved at me. “Welcome back, lass. They’re awaitin’ you upstairs. The usual spot.”

“Thanks.” I worked my way up to Athena’s booth. As I knocked on the door, I heard the idle chatter of several people. Seemed Captain Roger had already arrived.

”Come in!” Athena’s voice called through the door.

I entered the private booth to see two more people than I expected. Of course, there was Athena and Roger. There were also two others though. Seemed military at a glance. I’d recognize them from anywhere after spending so much time with Uncle Ezra and Mira.

Athena and the two military guys sat at the table while Roger leaned up against the far wall. I joined him, staring out the window at the passing cars below as I tried not to listen in too deeply to their conversation. No point getting involved and hearing something I shouldn’t.

Thankfully, it seemed to only be idle chatter. They talked a bit about a bounty on a Fedra general, though otherwise didn’t talk about anything of note. Seemed more like a chat between old friends. And there was no way she'd just invite us into a private conversation if they were sharing secrets. After a few minutes, both the military guys got up and left, leaving just me, Captain Roger, and Athena.

Athena, looking ever breathtaking, called over to us. “Come on, take a seat. I won’t bite.”

Captain Roger moved first, sliding into a booth. “Good to see you too.”

”I take it the gig went well?” Athena asked as I followed closely behind the PMC leader.

”Very.” Captain Roger said. “Five old original manuscripts, a bunch of artifacts, and a ton of miscellaneous items my guys pulled from all around.”

”Nova!” Athena smiled brightly, tapping on a call button off to the side. “Send up some Whiskey. What do you want?”

”Nothing.” I easily replied. Getting a drink would mean sticking around longer. Now that we were back in the city, I really couldn’t wait to get back home. I could feel the sand pressing into me.

Roger shrugged. ”Whiskey is fine with me.”

“Just Whiskey then.”

A voice came across from the intercom. It was the bartender down below. “Aye, boss.”

“What do you want us to do with the loot?” Captain Roger asked.

Athena ran a hand through her luxurious hair. “Hmm… Send over all the stuff to my warehouse in Little Yukoto, Roger. It’ll be a few days until I get an estimate. My fences will be able to get it all sold off in a week at most.”

Captain Roger moved to get up. I let him out as he walked off and started a phone call. That just left me and Athena sitting at the table. Athena looked me over from head to toe. “So, how’d it go for you, Zuku?”

”It was… interesting?” I shrugged as I thought through the events of the gig. “First time I’ve worked with a group this large.”

”I see you’re still in one piece.” Athena raises a perfectly sculpted brow. “Did you make yourself useful?”

The door opened as the bartender brought in a bottle of Whiskey and several glasses. “Here, boss.”

“Thanks.” Athena immediately poured herself a glass and sipped at it. “So, Zuku?”

”Uh- yeah, I like to think I was useful. Getting into the theatre was a piece of cake for me. Easily disabled the security and got the rest of the company in to loot.” I gave a brief recount of the events.

Athena nodded along with the entire recounting of events, asking the occasional question. “Glad you held up to my expectations… I’ll have your payment in a week. Otherwise, I’ll contact you if I have something.”

“Right.” It sounded like a dismissal, and perfectly lined up with Captain Roger getting off his phone call. I slid out of the booth once more for the captain. “Then I’ll get out of here.”

”Ah, before you go.” Captain Roger passed me a card with all of his contact information on it. “Send me a message sometime. We aren’t hiring Techies at the moment, but you’d make a good fit for the team coming in every once in a while.”

I instinctively grabbed the card. “You sure?”

”That’s high praise coming from you, Roger.” Athena leaned forward on her hand. “It seemed you did a better job than you implied, Zuku.”

“If we hadn’t had her, we would’ve lost the APC and probably got caught by Urjune Company reinforcements. Not to mention the vehicles constantly degraded in the city. You did good, Zuku.” Captain Roger’s chrome eyes seemed to twinkle.

“Right, I’ll send you a message.” I didn’t quite know how to take the praise, so I just nodded and turned to leave. This time, thankfully, no one stopped me as I left and finally headed for home. A nice, warm shower awaited me.