『Felix Karl Grimm』
"This does not seem like a high stakes mission" I said.
"This probably won't be a problem" I said.
"I am very strong, very few people can oppose me" I said.
When I get Time Travel powers, I will go back in and kick myself in the balls. Full force.
"Why the fuck are there so many of them!? Eat lead you fuckers!"
"Shit! Shit! This is bad!"
Ratatata! Bang! Bang! Boom!
In theory, this Arasaka convoy was not THAT valuable, in theory that is. The job was described as a medium importance one. A shipment of experimental implants. Only thing is, those fuckers at Raven lied to us to underpay us for a high importance mission, or they just wanted us to die. Regardless, they fucked us.
It was not a normal shipment of regular Experimental Implants, it was top of the line flagship working beta products. And when we hit it up, shit went south pretty damn quick. One moment we are attacking, and the other moment they send in fucking flying cars and far more armored vehicles.
Ratatata! Bang! Bang! Bang!
'Fuck!'
I tried peeking out of cover and shoot but was quickly dissuaded by heavy machine-gun fire. I managed to pick off some targets, but it was not easy. And I had to constantly keep an eye on the others to prevent them from being shot.
"Shit, counter Netrunners! I can't do shit! They have a whole team here!"
We were currently pinned behind an overturned armored truck. All things considered, we were performing pretty well against at least 20 armored Arasaka personal.
"Come out with your hands up, and we may NOT kill you!"
Healing the sound of the revved trucks and the shouting of enemies I sighed.
It seems like I have gotten too complacent. But I guess this is to be expected, this was just the nature of this world. The risk was always there, maybe I should have done further research.
Well, this was the story of how most Edgerunners went down anyway. It was the job of Icarus. You either give up your wings and resign yourself to never fly. Or fly too close to the sun, burn and crash. No in between.
If you asked an experienced Edgerunner how many died while messing with Corporations, he'll say it's easier to give a list of those who aren't.
One man with a gun and a dream cannot oppose a Megacorporation.
"Grimm! Grimm! What do we do!?"
Rebecca shook my shoulders with desperation while Lucy tightened her fist until her knuckles were white, her breath ragged and barely holding her composure together. The threat of brutal demise looming over them.
That's right, an Edgerunner cannot oppose a corporation. That much I have learned.
But I'm no Edgerunner.
I am the Gambler, the one chosen by Chaos. I do not have to play by the rules set by this world. I never had to, and I never did.
Truth is, the game was rigged from the start.
There was never a real risk here. A real gambler wins the bet before the cards are drawn.
"Rebecca, Lucy, I promise, after this I'll give an explanation, so just trust me please and don't freak out, ok?"
"Huh!? What the fuck are you talking about!?"
Rebecca said in outrage and Lucy looked at me as I had gone insane. But I had given them a heads-up and that would have to be enough. I quietly spoke in a measured tone.
"Giffany, your turn."
'Finally! I couldn't stand around watching those fucking bastards try to hurt my boyfriend for one second longer!'
From my glasses, in a voice only I could hear, Giffany growled, her voice sounded distorted with rage and static. Her yandere desires had to go somewhere. And she sounded like she was out for blood.
For a moment, I felt pity for our opposition before remembering that they worked for Corporations, and my empathy vanished.
Giffany with her work on Bartmoss' cyberdeck, she had become scarily good at cracking defenses, truth was, she had already infected every opponent with Daemons the moment they got within a kilometer of us. She was just waiting for my permission to let the fireworks fly.
'Time to end these worthless meat bags! Face your digital demise!'
'Kill Process!'
A moment of silence passed, everything went quiet, the vehicles stopped and so did the people. Only the sound of still smoking guns were still present before...
̵̱̹̚"̷̠̼̀̏Ą̸̌̾ă̷͇̘͠a̴̱͔̅͝h̸̰͚͋͐!̸̡͆̽"̵̈́ͅ ̷̙́"̵̼͉̈̕Ȟ̷͖̬e̵̺͓͑̓l̴̪̻͋p̷̭̓!̴̖̭͂ ̸̠̦̍̽H̷̩͌ẻ̵͔͔l̴͚̰̉̃p̴̮̊̇!̷̮̋͌"̷̠͌ ̴́ͅ"̴̳͊̕F̴̭̾̔u̷̮̍̑c̷̜̹͊ǩ̵̫͝!̴̣̊ ̸̜̠̐Ẅ̸̨͚͠h̸̳̖͊a̴̻̺̎t̶͈̽ ̸͔̀t̶̳́̉h̵̨̀ȩ̸̞͌̀ ̵̤̬̂̐f̴̢͈̀u̷̖̥͘c̴͇̽̑ḳ̴̻̄ ̶̖̝͝͝i̴̔̄͜s̵͕̍ ̶͖̈̒h̵͚̒a̴̺͊p̴̺̳͒͝p̶̖̈́e̶̘̹̒̑n̸̢͠ì̸̧̩͝n̴̢̟͑g̴̯̱̊̈́!̵̧̩́?̴̩̹̓̈́"̸̰͖̐ ̸͎̖͂"̷̠̭̊̆Å̶̪̓á̶̦a̶̯̋a̴͍̱͛a̵̟̫͆̎r̶̢̡̾g̷̡͔̈͘h̵̿̕͜!̴̣̤̿̑"̶̲̤͝ ̷̻̟̐"̴͖̇̈́À̴̢̒t̸̯̻̒̓t̵̯̆̀a̴̳͑c̵̱̎k̶̭̀!̶͛ͅ ̷̲̔A̶̦͇̿t̵͕̻̾t̷̰̀͠a̶͙̓̊c̴̤̈́k̷̳͝!̵͚̻͋"̵̜̾ ̸̻̰̊"̴̢̫̈́D̷̬̋e̵̥̬̾a̷̜̮̾r̸͇̯͘ ̷̦͍͑͘g̷̗̀o̷̡̎̓d̵̟̃ͅ!̷͎̌"̶̰̣̔ ̸̬͕̒"̷̬͚̅M̶̧̓o̸̖̔̃m̶̜͋̾ṃ̶̈́a!̸̮͝"̷̙̩́ "
Garbled, distorted voices scream, gunshots echo, people's bodies lose control, self-destruct while trying to kill their fellow men. She unleashes mayhem, all of these men are highly augmented. And all of those augments rebelled against their flesh, their neural implants ravaged their very brains. She was killing everyone and every piece of data here and thoroughly as possible, not leaving a single room for error.
Even though I gave her the command, I could not hold back a wince, Blackwall Gateway was disturbing enough in the game through a screen. While Giffany's not the same, it was incredibly disturbing all the same.
Rebecca hesitantly stepped out with an expression that could only be described as aggressive confusion. The sizzle of cooked flesh from the burnt implants was repulsive.
"What the hell!? You could have done that this whole time!? Wait, how the hell did you do that? You're no runner Grimmy."
Ah Rebecca, always delightfully simple and straightforward. She was not apprehensive towards me, just confused. Lucy on the other hand, got up with shaky legs and looked at the corpses with horror in her eyes. Her breathing uneven, to call her shaken would be a gross understatement.
"...A-AI. That was a Rogue AI, what the hell did you do Grimm?"
Her trembling hand reached for her gun, there was fear in her eyes, Rebecca turned to her in surprise.
"What? Really?"
I interjected, I looked Lucy in the eyes and raised my hands in a placating act.
"Lucy, just trust me for a second. Would I ever try to hurt you guys? I'll explain it all back in a more safe and private setting. But before that, we need to finish the gig. Ok?"
We locked eyes, a tense silence passed between us. I silently prayed that the spent time between us had built enough rapport for her to trust me like this.
After several tense moments, Lucy lets out a shuddering breath and relaxed ever so slightly.
"F-fine, I'll trust you. Not like I have a choice anyway. If that really is a Rogue AI, I'd probably die before I could pull the trigger on my iron."
"Yeah... I don't really get all this, so I'll just wait for you to explain it Grimmy."
I nodded and gave them a relieved smile.
"Thanks guys, now, let's get everything sorted."
We turned to the scene of the carnage and blanched. This was not going to be fun. Note to self, ask Giffany to find less messy ways of bringing upon Digital Destruction. We went around putting bullet holes and other such battle damage on the opponents to not make it so obvious. Afterwards, I rang up Capitan while sitting on the wreckage with a pretty pissed expression.
He picked up the call almost right away, he was about to say something before he noticed my expression and his brows scrunched.
"Eyy, Grimm, how's it going my friend? Why do you look like you throated a lemon?"
"The employer played me and gave me the wrong intel, they lied about the contents on the convoy. My friends and I almost died fighting a small army of Arasaka goons."
Capitan fell silent at my assertion, and I could see his face contort slightly.
"That so? Suit rats are going to be rats no matter what suit they wear. Still, to try and play me and put my mercs in danger? This gonk seems to have some balls that are too big for him, someone oughta give them some trimming if you catch my drift. I'll handle this gonk ass suit, I'm doubling your pay for this job, sorry Grimm, things like this sometimes slip through."
That mollified my anger slightly, picking Capitan has yet to disappoint me. But pay was not what I was after.
"Actually, Capitan. Instead of the double pay. Would you mind setting up a "private meeting" between me and this client? I have something I want something from Raven."
He rubbed his chin in thought.
"If you say so, I won't say no to more scratch staying in my pockets. I'll arrange your meeting, do whatever you want with them, if you want my advice, shooting them in the balls usually makes them feel some real remorse. No one fucks the Capitan and gets away with it. Closing the gig, I'll send some men for the delivery and soften up our client for you."
With that, Capitan closed his gig and I turned to Rebecca and Lucy, I mentally commanded Giffany to bring my car over.
"Alright you two, let's get somewhere more private."
"...Alright."
"Sure."
Ugh, I really disliked this awkward mood.
✧―✧―✧―✧「」✧―✧―✧―✧
『Felix Karl Grimm』
I sat down in front of Rebecca and Lucy inside my apartment, the drive there was eerily quiet other than the sound of the engine. Lucy looked tense, like a coiled spring ready to break free while Rebecca looked annoyed by the whole ordeal.
"Alright! That's it, we're here! Spill the beans Grimmy!"
"...Yeah."
Rebecca shouted while Lucy stood silent, lighting up a cigarette and taking a drag.
I closed my eyes in thought.
Seems like its time to come clean, fully.
That was right, I was planning to tell them about the Chaos Gacha and the Multiverse.
Why? Because I wanted to trust them, and because I wanted our relationship to be real. Relationships do not matter much when you are going to leave this universe and move onto the next one.
I disliked hiding and lying. I was not one for deceit.
I liked Rebecca and Lucy, and I wanted them to know me properly. I think they are trustworthy.
Besides, if that trust was misplaced, I lose nothing. They can't talk about the Chaos Gacha to anyone that would believe them, nor use the knowledge to any meaningful advantage. My stay in this world was transient, temporary. Even if the whole world hunted me down, it means little to me.
And, y'know. Giffany can fry their synapses if they really do betray my trust that badly.
The real question was how I would reveal the information without looking more mentally ill than I already am.
I leaned forward on my seat with my hands clasped together and spoke sincerely. No need to beat around the bush.
"Lucy, Rebecca, I am not actually from this world."
Rebecca raised an eyebrow.
"Choom, did you take a hit to the head?"
I shook my head.
"I guess a demonstration is the easiest way to believe me."
Snap!
With a mental prompt, my Precognition was replaced by Low gravity, I created a low gravity zone around us and immediately Lucy and Rebecca felt the changes.
"Whoa! What the fuck!?"
"What is this...!?"
I snapped my fingers again and let go of the zone as they stared at me with profound confusion.
"That, was magic. Or a Supernatural ability. It allows me to decrease the influence of gravity on an area mentally. Something not possible in this world. As far as I'm aware at least."
Rebecca took the lead in questioning as Lucy's brain seemed to shut down. Her very rational world view conflicting with the information I was putting down in front of them.
"Bullshit! How did you do that? Some secret corpo tech?"
I crossed my arms and leaned back.
"As I just said, Supernatural Ability. Why do you think I'm so good even without Cybernetics? My other ability, Pre-cognition allows me to see moments into the future, and I have inhumane reflexes, agility and dexterity on top of that."
Rebecca rubbed her forehead while Lucy looked down at the floor.
"What the hell..."
"This is ridiculous."
I sighed upon seeing the disbelief on their faces. I wish someone more qualified than I was could explain this.
...Oh wait, I know someone who can.
A/N: Classic Cyberpunk, all Edgerunners, no matter how strong learn this lesson. You can pack as much chrome and willpower as you want, one man cannot win against an army. Morgan Blackhand is the greatest Solo because he knew this and never pushed his luck too far. But that only applies for Cyberpunks, not a Gambler of Chaos. Grimm thinks it might be the time to start pulling off the kiddie gloves and start approaching the world as a gambler and not an Edgerunner.
Lucy and Rebecca are in for a wild ride. This revelation is always fun to make, there are worlds beyond your own, while you worry about corporations, there are world where people level mountains over minor disputes and Satans dressed as magical girls freezing entire chunks of the entire planet. What do you guys think about the upcoming reveal Becca and Lucy are about to get? I'd love to know.
______________________________
If you like my works and want to support me and my works you can do so at my P*treon at: p*treon.com/BronzDeck. You can also read up to 10 chapters ahead on all of my works and read my snippets there and participate in story polls.
Just replace the * with an a.