I am a merc, and that is what I'm good at. Apart from counterintelligence, of course. 'Corporate espionage!'
But sometimes I really want to be an author too, writing about my adventures as a merc, working under the fixers, or writing guides, like `Top 10 gangs in NightCity!` like that dude Sam Bram on Holonet.
In my opinion, the best gang out there would be The Mox, but unfortunately they are also the weakest. But the absolute worst would be a close tie between Scavs and Wraiths. Maelstrom are a bunch of cult members with weapons in their hands. Animals are a bunch of children on steroids; they just try to make themselves look intimidating. Valentinos, Tygers, and 6th Street all fight for either something they believe in, or they fight to make money.
Now Voodoo Boys… At least the Pacifica version can be classified, in my opinion, as `doomsday preppers`. Since their inception, they've been trying to make contact with rogue AIs from behind the wall, in hopes that it would grant them either protection from an all-out AI war or asylum behind the Blackwall. That is why they've got such a hard-on for Johnny's engram, to make contact with Alt. Well, I'll give them exactly what they want, but after that, there'll be no Pacifica faction of the gang. VDBs will be exclusively based out of Dogtown.
And that was why I was standing here, leaning on the railing of the shopping complex of Pacifica, overlooking the lawless state of the borough.
Lucius Rhyne's move of separating Pacifica from official NightCity records was a stroke of genius that he needed to gain votes from the people of NightCity, but I often think about the ramifications of that decision that we'll see in the future, because this decision flies directly in the face of Arvin accords.
'This'll give NUSA the leverage to raise questions about the independent state of NightCity. And now that they have our future mayor in their pocket, the absorption would be even easier.' Johnny piped up from beside me, where he was sitting on the railing and smoking like a fucking chimney.
"The corporations would never allow NUSA to gain their foothold here, you know that."
'Unless Arasaka decides to pack up and leave. They were the major players who forced NUSA to sign the ARVIN accord in the first place. But now that Yorinobu is dismantling Arasaka, it won't be long before they have to leave NightCity.'
"I genuinely hate it when you're right." I said with a frustrated sigh. As much as I like Paralez, I definitely don't want to be a part of NUSA. They will severely restrict our way of life; sure, it'll offer the people a greater security, but it'll choke the life out of our freedom.
Wallowing in my self-pity would've done me no favors; thankfully, my target finally walked into my sight. Placide was walking out of the butcher shop and limping his way towards his office… or more like a guard outpost. Just a few seconds of waiting, and he was about to pass me by when I called him out, "You Placide?"
Alert, he turned around; with tense shoulders, he looked around, and finally his gaze fell onto me, his expression twisted in mild disgust. "Who's asking?"
"Hands sent me. Said you had a job." I said calmly before pushing myself off the railing. To be honest, I don't really need a lot from him, just for him to take me inside.
Staring at me for a few seconds, he gave me a jerky nod and growled, "Come," before turning and walking away from me.
"You ever been to Pacifica?" he asked, glancing at me over his shoulder without stopping.
Absent-mindedly I nodded my head before saying, "Yeah, but I'll be honest, this place has got nothing on Dogtown."
"You've been to Dogtown?" He turned and looked at me with surprise. Looking at him in confusion, I just nodded and said, "Yup." I will never understand why people think it is such a big deal that I've been to Dogtown. Everyone in NightCity looks at me as if I've been through a fuckin' warzone.
After walking through the complex for a few seconds, we stopped at a balcony, and he told me all about the GIM and the infestation problem it is having. Nodding, I kept up the facade of a clueless merc and asked, "So that's my target?"
"Yes. Now follow." Smirking a little, I cracked my fingers and put my hands in my coat's pockets, where I kept all the goodies! (e.i my grenades.)
Sitting down in front of him, I started cooking two flashbangs in my pockets and calmly said, "Now! Before we get down to business, I have to tell you, I'm not here to take any job." Looking up from his computer screen, he narrowed his eyes and looked at me with a confused expression.
Smirking, I said, "I'm here to meet Brigitte." and watched as his body tensed up, and noticing him, the rest of the people in the hallway also got ready, looking a bit weary.
Standing up, he slammed his hands on the table and leaned forward towards me, "You won—" Before he could finish his second word, I took out the two grenades and threw one in his face and one behind me and shut off my kiroshis for just a sec. Hearing a loud bang and surprised screams, I opened my eyes and took out a gun in one hand and fired blindly behind me, and with the other I took out Sir John Phallustiff. And start beating the ever-living shit out of Placide with it. The added humiliation of getting beaten by a fuckin' dildo is just an added bonus.
With a sick grin, I was still firing blindly behind me with 'plan B', and beating placide with every inch of his life when the glass doors finally opened, and Mama Brigitte finally walked in on the chaos. "Who are you?!" she asked, leveling a gun at me.
Dodging a shot from behind, I quickly grabbed Placide and used him as a human shield, as I said, "I'm here to meet you." Giving Placide one more hard smack on the head with the dildo, I threw him towards a guy holding a gun with shivering hands and turned to Brigitte. "I have a relic in my head, one that has the consciousness of Johnny Silverhand." I said, pointing to my head, and just as I expected, her eyes widened in surprise and a very mild excitement, which she covered up quickly. "Now I know you wanted it, so please just take it; take it out before it kills me."
Seeing the desperation clear on my face, she smothered a pleased look, and with a quick nod, started walking and said, "Of course. This way." Glowering, Placide stood up while holding his swollen head and stared at me with anger. Giving him a smug smirk, I hurried after Brigitte.
'I guess that was revenge for making you his kamikaze, huh?' Johnny asked with an amused expression. Inwardly laughing, I nodded my head before schooling my expression and quietly followed Brigitte. While walking, I coughed and swayed a bit to keep up appearances. It wasn't long before we were in the decommissioned subway turned netrunning den. Keeping up the pretenses, I stopped and with a slightly annoyed and worried voice asked, "Wait, why are we going in the net? I thought you were going to remove the relic."
Without looking at me, she turned towards a monitor and let someone else lead me to the ice container. "That will come later; once we make contact with Alt Cunningham, we won't need the relic and can safely destroy it."
"Okay," I said in a reluctant voice, and got in the container. It wasn't long before everyone else got ready, and finally we took a dive into the net.
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Hey guys! thanks for reading! please do consider rating, commenting and saving, it'll help me immensely! also I feel like Gollum now, running and chasing after my precious Powerstones. So please, do consider throwing some my way please!