Chapter 205

Miguel Hernandez

 

Everything was falling apart! Just because he had taken the drugs! They should have been his anyway! Who cares that Daniel that Tino fucker thought it was his. Miguel was important, not some street scop fucker!

 

But now, despite having flatlined the gonk for refusing to do what Miguel wanted, everything was going wrong.

 

The first attack had almost worked, if not for his bodyguard. And now Father hired an entire horde of Animal Hustle to protect him…

 

But now Father had gone quiet.

 

“Well!?” He yelled at the Animal that was the leader of the Squad.

“Told you already. We were hired to protect you. Not to find out what’s up with your pops. Eddies are already paid, so we do our job.”

“And I’m telling you to find him!” He yelled, but the animal didn’t even acknowledge his words, just going back to pumping weights.

 

Fucker.

 

Father was an important man! He had ties to the mayor! There was no way some street trash Valentino would touch him! He’s probably just… Busy.

 

His thoughts were interrupted once again by the sound of a loud engine roaring up the street,

 

“Someone kill that fucker driving the Caliburn!” He screamed. It had been hours where the same Caliburn would drive up and down the street outside revving the engine and making noise.

 

Miguel had no idea who it was, probably some rich brat driving his fathers car that he had no right to. But it was infuriating, as the engine was loud enough it was constantly disrupting Miguel’s thoughts.

 

Then it happened, just as he was going to start yelling for the Animals to go do what he said for once, the animal that was with him suddenly rose up. “Runner!” He managed to shout just before he roared and groaned as the spark of electricity ran up the Borg’s body and he tumbled onto the floor shaking.

 

Then the gun fire started.

 

Adrenaline shot through him, and he reached for the engraved Overture he had left on the table beside him, but it was gone.

 

Nothing was on the table.

 

“Wha-” He was cut off as everything ended.

 

—–

 

*Target Eliminated.* I confirmed into the group comm, and then turned. Overture raised I dropped two rounds into the Animal that was protecting the target.

 

*250 XP Gained.*

 

*750 XP Gained.*

 

Hmm. That Animal was probably the leader then.

 

I stepped over the bodies and left the room, entering in the mansion’s massive open floor plan to see my team clearing up already. The sound of gunfire as they peppered twitching bodies coming out in short bursts.

 

Well that was easy.

 

I walked past my team, and dug under a table to pull out the Tachikoma that was hiding there.

 

Well that had been pretty easy. Blinding and locking down the Animals with Short Circuit, letting my team move in and kill them easily.

 

“Clear over here!” I called out having checked my little area and making sure all the animals were dead. My call prompted everyone to join in, calling out that they cleared everyone.

 

I wasn’t seeing any more lines from Ping either, so we had gotten everyone.

 

I looked outside and noticed the robots slumped over. I had turned them all off from the security center, meaning all of them could be recovered. THose were expensive, and Hiromi would be very happy we had snagged them intact.

 

Plus robots were neat!

 

*Alright Ichi, let’s bring in the truck.* I called over the line and I turned around and just smiled as Rebecca and Malcolm both looked over the mansion and all the stuff that was just laying around.

 

A few moments later Hiromi pulled in with Malcolms Caliburn, and then the massive Behemoth Ichi was driving came in, and turned for easy loading.

 

I really did love it when everything came together.

 

—–

 

“Cheers!” I called back as I smashed my soda into Rebecca’s drink.

 

“That’s right! We’re the best!” She shouted out and more people called out their agreement as they raised the alcohol we paid for to celebrate our gig.

 

It still felt weird to me to do this, but Rebecca ran with Maine and had a better idea on how the normal edgerunner celebrations went.

 

Once again we were outside Turbo’s and cheering our success to the world. I suppose in this case, considering the Animals were used to working as mercs, and weren’t known for holding grudges against that sort of thing, and the target and family already flatlined, I felt pretty comfortable with talking about our success.

 

We were now once more flush with eddies, the small amount from actually completing the gig, and then a whole lot more for stealing everything of value in the mansion.

 

I had even stripped the security system server and packed that away, because that sort of thing was good eddies.

 

I watched on from the top of the Quadra enjoying the atmosphere, even if it wasn’t really my thing.

 

It was purely by chance. A headlight turning off the ramp flashing a bit of light into the sky, causing a reflection that had me glancing over.

 

Rainbow pastel colors.

 

I stilled as I looked up over the city skyline and there it was.

 

A familiar hair color that stood out in the colors of Night City. Waving gently against the stars as a familiar women leaned on the wall of her apartments roof, smoke trailing slowly into the sky.

 

Before I could think I stood up, reaching over and grabbing one of the Brosefs, already planning my path.

 

I raced up the street towards the familiar apartment complex, and then smiled as I started moving.

 

A food stand onto a rooftop, then taking a moment and jumping across to a windowsill then across to another and then back and forth until I climbed up onto the roof of the apartment complex.

 

I sauntered over and let myself go cold as I wasn’t sure how to do this properly. So I figured, fuck it.

 

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

I walked over making sure to scuff my boots loudly so she wouldn’t startle at my sudden appearance.

That was something fun to do to fuck with my friends, but not her.

 

“You know. There’s a party going on. You’re welcome to join. It’s open to everyone.” I offered openly as dropped the sweating bottle of Brosef onto the ledge beside her arms. Our eyes met. And I nodded, not wanting to push it. There might be time for that another time. “Well, offers open. Feel free to enjoy the beer.” I offered and then since I wasn’t in the mood to take the long way, I put my hand on the railing, and just leveraged myself over.

 

“Wait!?” She gasped as I disappeared over the edge, and I flashed her a confident smirk upwards as she suddenly reacted as I fell.

 

Lucy Kushinada. A little different than I remember. Her outfit was a bit less confident. But it was definitely her. I sent her a cheeky wave as I fell, before I stopped my descent, by bouncing off a ledge, hitting a street light spinning around it a bit and then landing softly on the sidewalk and sauntering back to the party.

 

—–

 

I pushed myself hard once again. The weights went up and down as I worked myself as hard as I could. That final level up for training Body was constantly teasing me. I wanted that little bit more!

 

Sweat poured down my face, across my Kiroshi, but the feeling didn’t matter. There was only one more push after the next. And the one after that.

 

What was discomfort?

 

What was tiredness?

Both only lasted moments, while improvement lasted forever. Temporary pain was something I could deal with.

 

So I pushed once again. The weights held in my hands tightly as my core screamed, and my legs felt numb.