Bab 14: Chapter 14: Guided To The Abyss I
Make sure to check my Patre.on out if you want to support me and want to read advanced chapters: Patre.on.com/VQuintessence
[21 Chapters in Advance on Patre.on]
Chapter 14: Guided To The Abyss I
...........
Thus why he focused on creating tiny baby cyber spiders, using all the tools available to him in the clinic to facilitate their creation. They should prove useful for his next plan.
Boring would be how X would describe the following two weeks. Night City is the most thrilling place... For maniacs.
Unfortunately, he didn't get to taste the excitement, not yet as most of his time was spent studying.
Speaking of which, Y would describe life in Night City as exhilarating, a bountiful ocean of knowledge before him that he could never hope to finish for new knowledge is unearthed every single day.
Z, on the other hand, doesn't feel much. The only way he could describe NC is... Dangerous.
And naturally, as the guide, he often has to advise X not to put himself in precarious situations, thus X's lack of action.
Not today... Today started strong, with the sound of guns blazing at dawn, awakening X from his sleep.
The sound of gunfire isn't so rare around here in Little China, Watson. They're just usually not close.
People tend to avoid fighting around here as right by Vik's Clinic is a club run by the Tyger Claws, and if you disturb their business, they'll hunt you like the wild dogs they are.
Today, some individuals didn't respect the Tyger Claws' business. Those individuals were the Tyger Claws themselves.
X saw them as they walked out of the club, dragging two bodies with them, no fear of law enforcement whatsoever.
They then threw the bodies into the trash, pulling the trigger two last times just for safe measure, and went back.
The gunfire sound certainly did clear the streets about, if only for a few minutes as soon enough, people acted as if nothing happened, heading to their destination and passing by the dead bodies.
The streets were filled again with people moving about, likely going to work. It's after all very early in the morning.
"Good morning," Joi showed herself, materializing in a stunning glacier gray dress that perfectly showed her curves.
"Morning," X smiled as he sized her up and down, "You look... Gorgeous. I see you've taken it a habit to try everything the Net shows you."
"Thank you," Joi seemed gleeful, "I was created with only a limited option of customization. Now that I'm free, I can't help but want to try everything... Thank you, for freeing me."
"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," X let out a chuckle, but still warned her, "However, better be cautious. Don't touch anywhere related to gangs and corps, alright?"
"I know, I've only uploaded back-ups of myself to devices in this building, and using just those devices to elevate my computing power," Joi nodded.
"Let's go, we have a lot of work to do today," X stretched a bit and changed his clothes before packing his computer which has a backup of Joi.
Today, X wasn't going to the clinic. That's not the kind of work he has today.
Today's work includes a bit of danger. X made his way to the NCART train station, taking it to his destination, Old Japan Town, or at least, near it.
Old Japantown is a lawless Combat Zone located in central Night City, right by Little China, so it didn't take the train long to reach the surrounding area.
X got out, having to walk a while more to reach Old Japantown as befitting of a lawless combat zone, train carts avoid it.
Combat Zones are after all the most dangerous and lawless areas of Night City, the only justice here was from the barrel of a gun.
X, however, seemed unconcerned as he swaggered his way into Old Japantown, and the people there seemed to avoid him, at least some of them did.
X's clothing made them believe he was one of the Tyger Claws, further confirmed by the print of the gang's logo on his back.
Indeed, X's target is the Tyger Claws, specifically, someone from the Tyger Claws.
Their headquarters is certainly not here. The Tyger Claws in popularity around Kabuki, where the gang had set their new headquarters in the Nakagawa Kabuki Theater.
However, they also have a base of operations in Old Japantown as well, where they're working to rebuild some sections of their former home.
You might expect to see gang violence around, and you would be right. The area of Old Japantown, while mostly controlled by the Tyger Claw, still managed to attract some of the most despicable of eyes.
The Maelstrom are likely the most evil and chaotic gang in this godforsaken city.
Maelstrom are fascinated with cybertechnologies and the Net.
Its members frequently undergo extensive illegal body modifications, with many on the edge of developing cyberpsychosis or already suffering from it.
Their physical appearance is distinguished by their dehumanizing heavy cyberware augmentations and occult-inspired tattoos.
They are basically cyberpsychos that don't consider themselves humans, or rather, they despise humanity, seeking some kind of high in the hard cold metal of cyberware at all costs.
Old Japantown became their target many years ago, seeking to expand their influence to the area, thus why it became a battleground for the two gangs.
It wouldn't be surprising, though, to know that there are very few civilian casualties around here, and that's because there are little to no civilians in the area.
The lawlessness of the combat zone pushed civilians away and attracted criminals.
X had planned his route carefully, avoiding any areas that had even the scent of the Maelstroms, sticking primarily to areas under the control of the Tyger Claws.
Even with such safety measures, X still heard gunfire nearby and the sound of shouts and laughter of pure insanity, likely the Maelstrom.
X quickly changed his route, walking by the shadows of the alleyways until he reached his destination, a damaged building, as most buildings around are.
There were a lot of Tyger Claws around, and some laid eyes on him, but he seemingly didn't care, kept calm, and walked in.
"Oh no no no, pretty boy, this no place for a white cracker like you... Unless you're willing to pay with your tasty body of course,"
X finally faced opposition in the form of a mostly naked Japanese gangster, the only thing covering him being his briefs.
The stranger's body was completely covered with Asian luminous tattoos, something the Tyger Claws are famous for.
Something else they're known for is their Katanas, one of which he was using to block X's way up the stairs as he sat there with a cigarette in his mouth, not smoking it mind you, but chewing through it.
X showed a frown on his face, making the gangster amused, and maybe things would've escalated if X hadn't said the magic words, "But Johnson told me to stay here til tomorrow?"
"Johnson? Tch, go and pick any empty room," The gangster seemed rather annoyed by that revelation though he didn't forget to remind X as the latter walked upstairs, "Hey! I'm still available if you need a good beating in bed!"
X ignored him and walked up, though strangely, the gangster grinned and chuckled, "Johnson found himself another victim... Ah, fresh meat and their desire."
Johnson happened to be Vik's client, the high-ranking gangster that had the Berserk implant installed, someone X studied thoroughly.
He knows that the Tyger Claws mostly comprised of the Japanese, one of the largest gangs in Night City with a number of approximately 5,500 members.
A white boy like him is basically an outsider and isn't usually welcome around here unless he's one of the expendables.
The expendables are aspiring mercenaries who are seeking fame and riches, specifically through joining the dominant gangs of NC.
They're very easy to use, just send them to do dirty jobs till they die. Most mercenaries are aware of the gangs' dirty tricks, but as the gangster said, some are just fresh meat, street kids who are none the wiser.
[Joi, let's start] X typed in his computer, took a deep breath, having found himself a room.
[Ready] X saw her response in his computer as he eyed his target, the largest building around which he could see through the window.
The large building is exactly the Tyger Claws' base of operation in Old Japantown, and there lies Johnson, the unsuspecting prey.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
VQuintessence
VQuintessence Make sure to check my Patre.on out if you want to support me and want to read advanced chapters: Patre.on.com/VQuintessence
[21 Chapters in Advance on Patre.on]
Bab 15: Chapter 15: Guided To The Abyss II
Make sure to check my Patre.on out if you want to support me and want to read advanced chapters: Patre.on.com/VQuintessence
[21 Chapters in Advance on Patre.on]
Chapter 15: Guided To The Abyss II
...........
[Ready] X saw her response in his computer as he eyed his target, the largest building around which he could see through the window.
The large building is exactly the Tyger Claws' base of operation in Old Japantown, and there lies Johnson, the unsuspecting prey.
Johnson is the man's English name as it is easier to pronounce than his original name.
He's well regarded in the Tyger Claws, although his influence mainly revolves around this side of NC, Old Japantown.
There is a reason he set his eyes here, in contrast to the top brass of the Tyger Claws who prefer business.
He's not good at business, and his philosophy is quite different than theirs, favoring force over anything else.
The top brass of the Claws believe business is preferable to war in the long run, but many of the rank-and-file gangers are sadistic brutes prone to violence.
Abduction, torture, sexual assault, and cruel or unusual killings are just a few examples of their depravity.
Therefore, many of the Tyger Claws prefer his ruthless methods. X knows because he studied him thoroughly.
In fact, X had studied the entire gang thoroughly, at least as much as he could before going forward with his plans.
X first made sure there were no hidden surveillance devices in the broken room before getting to work.
[We have at least thirty minutes after connecting to their Net before we are detected, so let's consider it at most thirty minutes]
X typed in his computer as he started his work, just in case there were any covert listening devices around, although unlikely.
[If there is no opportunity, then consider the operation a failure, and immediately clear our traces] X ordered.
[I understand... 1... 2... 3.... Connection initiated]
[If necessary, you can overload this computer's hardware... It will be useless after today]
All X needed was to connect to the Tyger Claws' private network, and he's now close enough to do so.
That would normally be something that's very difficult if he didn't have Joi to help.
Thankfully, Joi is a capable artificial intelligence, a bit backward but still more than enough to infiltrate the Tyger Claws' network and send a simple code in.
The base of operation of the Tyger Claws in Old Japantown doesn't have Net security strong enough to cause Joi much trouble.
It would've been a different story if they had targeted the Tyger Claws' headquarters.
Moreover, the infiltration didn't involve any malicious access as all X needs is a way to send a specific code to Johnson.
Johnson was Vik and X's client, and the latter personally saw the installation of the Berserk implant which is basically an operation system.
It takes the place of what was previously your spine, thus it needs an operational code by which it functions.
X used that to sneak in some harmless pieces of code in the refilling sessions, and all he needs now is one last piece of code for all of those codes to assemble and form malware.
Joi's job is to help deliver that piece of code to Johnson's internal agent, the latter being the modern-age phones.
Normally, the implants would have some security system in place, but X made sure to leave holes in most of Johnson's implants, especially in his Berserk implant and Internal Agent.
Therefore, the moment that X and Joi had access to Johnson, they also acquired access to the Tyger Claws' Net through him.
Johnson was unaware, but at the very moment, anything he saw through his cyber eyes, X could also see.
However, he soon became aware. The moment he sat down and finished his Cuban cigar and put it down, he found himself paralyzed.
Even if he wasn't alone in his office, people would still find it hard to notice as Joi picked the perfect moment as X instructed.
The man's arms fell naturally on the chair's arms. He was unable to move even a muscle, completely paralyzed.
That loss of control was horrifying, especially for someone of his stature. Dread slowly took over him, realizing that he had just become a lamb for slaughter.
The Berserk cyberware replaces the spine, and most importantly, it replaces the spinal cord.
And considering that the spinal cord is the column of nerves that connects your brain with the rest of your body, allowing you to control your movements; that would mean complete paralysis if Berserk stopped functioning.
X not only got to see with his own eyes the danger of chroming up, but he also was the one to cause it.
[Hello. My instructions will be clear and brief. If you do not follow my instructions, I will deactivate you. Blink if you understand]
"... Y... Y... Yeah," Johnson didn't blink but tried to speak, taking the opportunity to see if he could scream and alert someone... He could barely talk.
A complete spinal cord failure typically does not directly affect speech or voice.
However, it can affect the diaphragm and other muscles involved in breathing, which is what happened, or rather, what Joi, calculated.
Thus, Johnson could barely breathe, let alone scream, but he could think, although the shortness of breathing was starting to make him a little dizzy.
Whoever was targeting him is powerful. Hell, they were able to completely shut off his operation system, Berserk.
The identity of the attacker must be a corpo. The only other possible option would be his Ripperdoc.
However, the problem is that he sought an outside Ripperdoc to install his personally handpicked Berserk implant... Could he have done that?
How? Johnson did regular checkups with people to make sure the outside Ripperdoc didn't mess anything up, and there were no problems.
That leaves corpos... Some kind of corporation has targeted him, but why? Unfortunately, Johnson didn't have more time to think about it nor did he need to as the female voice stated the answer for him.
[In a moment, I will restart your spinal cord. You will get back control. Then you will link to the computer before you]
'I will get back control,' Johnson was stunned.
[I'm an AI. I can process things faster than you do. Now, I'm in your body, so everything you attempt to do, I will know before you do it, and I will paralyze you again... Follow instructions]
[After you link to the computer, I will proceed with my job. Your job then would be to invite Hamada here and have him link to any device in this building... We'll then deactivate him]
[We know he's your enemy, your competitor in the Tyger Claws for Old Japantown. Therefore, after his death, you should have more control]
[And sometime after which, someone will contact you with a business deal for a specific area in Old Japantown... You'll accept that deal, and you'll forget we ever made contact... Understood?]
If Johnson could let out a sigh of relief, he would've done so. However, he couldn't, not when he was starving for more oxygen. He could only blink as an affirmation.
Johnson finally got back control over his body, sweating profusely out of dread.
He hates corporations, and he hates them exactly because he knows how powerful they are.
The Tyger Claws isn't strange to business with Corpos either. It's in fact a very common occurrence.
However, Johnson has never faced something like this, ever. Whoever has eyes on him is very powerful.
Normally, he would be happy to get rid of his enemy, Hamada. That's why he was chroming up so much lately. He was planning on getting rid of him, and he had to go quickly.
Not this time though, Johnson wasn't happy. He didn't want to fall into the hands of corporations' webs of deception and control.
However, he could do nothing now but obey. He has no choice. The corpos have targeted an area in Old Japantown, and they will do everything to get it.
Hamada and Johnson's conflict was merely the easiest way to get it discreetly. That's how the latter interpreted the situation at least.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA
VQuintessence
VQuintessence
..........................................................
[ 1000 Power Stones For An Extra Chapter!!! ]
..........................................................
Status Power Mingguan
200+ Peringkat
Power 
3 Power
stone Anda mungkin juga menyukai
Komentar Paragraf