Chapter 12

I jogged into the apartment after hitting the gym.

Unfortunately while I got a few body XP alerts while pumping iron. I didn’t get anything for an hour of using the punching bag. I think I was running into the end of the diminishing returns for that particular grind.

The idea of finding a fighting pit was getting more and more tempting…

I shook that off and decided to check my stats.

Motoko Kusanagi
Level 2

Body 5
-Athletics 5
-Street Brawler 3

Reflex 3
-Blades 2
-Handguns 3
-Assault 2
-Driving 2

Intelligence 2
-Breach Protocol 2
-Quick Hacks 2

Cool 2
-Ninjutsu 2
-Cold Blood 2

Technical attribute 1

2 Stat point.
2 Skill point.

Perks.
Ambidextrous Blades 2
Quickdraw Handguns 2
Gun Nut Assault 2
Parkour Athletics 2
Grappling Street Brawler 2
Drive By Driver 2
Cat-like Athletics 5
Cool Nerves Cold Blood 2
Danger Sense Ninjutstu 2
Wall Breaking Breach Protocol 2
Cyber Security Quick Hack 2

That Technical attribute was looking real low… But I also knew that it was going to be an expensive stat to train. I didn’t have a lot of junk stuff I could mess with, and without a car it’s not like I could drive out to the dump to grab scrap.

So I pushed it to the side for now. Soon. Very soon I would set some time down to do some crafting. Cause crafting is broken.

Instead I refocused on my other stats Body was high because it was easy to just exercise.

Reflex was high-ish, but mostly because It had a lot of skills. But it was also not moving a lot.

Intelligence was the same, but it had less skills… So far. Although I had noticed it would pop when I had studied the Netrunner guide. So studying would help… that felt really boring though.

Cool. I shivered the only time it went up was when I killed. I wasn’t sure what it’s deal was. But I had a way of grinding it. I just refused to do it.

For now.

Then there at the bottom I saw something I had been pretending didn’t exist.

Stat and Skill points.

I could level a stat and skill twice. They were just sitting there. My initial thought was to balance out my skills, but that was a trap. Specialization at low levels, jack of all trades at the end.

“I could level Cool.” I told myself. The idea of increasing my stealth was… Appealing. It was one of the biggest force multipliers I had. Don’t have to worry about getting shot if they never knew you were there.

But was it the right choice? Intelligence might be better. It was… hard to level in a way. More time intensive at least. And I could upgrade my Netrunning. That appealing future where I walk into a group of enemies and they kill themselves without me having to lift a finger was tempting.

Or I could increase my Reflex. Since I had so many skills under that stat it would give me a lot to grind. Not that I wasn’t already able to grind most of it.

“Ughhhh.” I groaned as I rolled over and put my head into a couch cushion and groaned as loud as I could.

“I’ve always been terrible about deciding.” I reminded myself. Hoarding items or stat points in games until long after I should.

I shook it off. I shouldn’t be getting lost in my own head. “I have lots of things to keep grinding.” I reminded myself even if my XP was slowing down.

“I need a job. Something to get me out of my head.” I spoke up to the empty room. I think I was past the point of hiding in my apartment and grinding basic skills. I think it was time to start acting like a real Street Kid.

I sent a message to Wakako, and Ichi.

*Got any Gigs lined up?*

Then I rose up and started doing some Knife training. I probably won’t get much from it, but I wasn’t going to sit around doing nothing.

—–

An hour later I got a message from Ichi, saying he had nothing currently.

Then I got a response from Wakako about a Gig. I had practically cheered jumping up and down for a moment in the apartment, as I rushed to get dressed in my gear before I checked the message and deflated.

It was a courier run.

I sighed. Slapped my cheeks a bit to focus myself, and stepped out of the apartment.

A gig is a gig. I needed to prove myself still. I was only a kid. Not every job is going to be about sneaking into a Tino chopshop to steal data.

It was incredibly boring, doubly so since I didn’t have a car. I picked up the package from a small noodle shop over in Heywood. Took the bus or train up to Kabuki. Handed it off at an old apartment to a girl that didn’t even fully open the door along with a chain holding her door closed. Got paid in practically ennys. And walked home.

*Package confirmed. Gig is closed.* That was all Wakako sent me.

I was back home and groaning into my cushions within an hour.

—–

The next day I got another Gig from Wakako. This time it was a woman that wanted to get something from her boyfriend’s apartment after a fight, and wanted protection.

It ended with me pistol whipping the boyfriend. Which did give me an alert for Street Brawling XP which was nice, and the woman got her Shard she had left behind.

*Client is happy Gig is closed.* Wakako sent me as I was on the train back home.

—–

Wakako ended up sending me a Gig request without prompting the next day.

A woman had been carjacked and robbed by a small time gang. Some group of chooms that decided that their little family meant they were a gang and had started doing some carjacking in Rancho Coronado.

I wasn’t hired to bring back the car. Or get revenge on her car jackers. No, that would have been… fun.

No she just wanted her wedding ring back and was actually paying the fuckers ransom for it. I was the middleman.

I had even asked if they wanted them dead. But nope. The ring was the absolute priority.

I sighed and ended up taking the bus down.

They wanted to meet in a gas station parking lot.

I internally cringed when I read that detail. A gas station? Not an abandoned warehouse or a gang house? A gas station?

I sighed as I stepped off the bus. Taking in the dusty gas station and rundown neighborhood.

This was the place.

With a grimace I noticed five teenagers, the youngest probably younger than me all waiting on the steps infront of the Gas Station.

Dammit. They fit the description. Worse? They definitely noticed me just get off the bus.

Fuck how embarrassing.

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What kind of merc took the fuckin bus. There goes my rep.

Unless I flatline them all?

No. They were kids. I sighed, shoulders slumping as I approached them.

“Archer and the… Bad boys?” I grimaced as I asked.

“That’s us Choom. Shit you’re just a kid? You our middleman?”

“Apparently Wakako has a sense of humor.” I informed them although none understood. I did. Wakako you bitch. Send the teenager to deal with a gang of teenagers? Yeah I got the message.

Maybe she was a little pissed with me bothering her every day? I would have to figure it out later.

“You got the ring?”

“Yeah? Maybe, maybe not. You got our eddies?” the tallest boy. Their obvious leader stood up a shotgun gripped in one hand and resting on his shoulder asked.

“Confirmation of the item first. Payment after. No need to turn this into some XBD action star bullshit. Client wants the ring, willing to give the eddies. Don’t make this difficult.” I told him a little bored. Honestly. What did Wakako think I was?

He didn’t seem pleased at how bored I was, and his little groupies were looking trigger happy, but none of them really worried me.

I was 99% sure I could outdraw them all.

Even if the idea of killing a bunch of kids didn’t sit well with me, even with my gamer brain. I sighed. “Just prove you have the ring. I will transfer half. You give me the ring I transfer the rest. You got me outnumbered. I am sure you want the eddies more than you want a ring. Right?”

“Yeah. Guess so.” He said glaring a bit. Dug around in his pocket with his off hand never taking his hand off the shotgun before pulling out a little wedding ring. I did a quick check comparing it to the image I had been sent.

Match.

“Alright. Here is half.” I said, my eyes going blue as I deposited the eddies in his account.

Honestly it was pocket change. A few hundred eddies. This little gang was probably pretty hard up.

“Alright.” He took a step forward and offered me the ring.

When I went to grab it I caught it. A motion out of the corner of my eye.

I almost sighed.