บท 276: Captive Audience
"What do you mean 'everyone is gone'!?" Ori scowls after the duo explains recent events.
Arasaka had someone located their base and performed a coordinated assault, someone had sabotaged their security systems and given the fuckers a tour guide on the place.
They barrelled through after breaching the entrance, blasting David with an EMP before putting him down with tasers. Rebecca fought back with a holdout pistol but she went down next too. Sasha, Kiwi, and Falco had been close by the security room during this, allowing them to see it all on the cams.
David, Leo, Rebecca, Lucy, and Kiwi were gone, kidnapped. And if Ori hadn't come back when he did, Falco and Sasha would've been next.
"What else is there to say, those suits ran off with them!" Falco sighs, lifting his hat and rubbing the back of his head, only to awkwardly pull away at the red staining his fingers. Hopefully, that wasn't his blood...
"We need to leave, Arasaka will send more men here soon, and we already know where our friends are..." Sasha adds.
...
"We'll take the AV, I'll drop you off at the Aldecaldos and move into the city, Rogue probably knows something, even if it isn't immediately useful."
"Sounds like a plan, first we need to stash what we can in it though, no point getting the short-stack back if she guts us for forgetting her guns." Falco shrugs.
----------------------
David's eyes flutter open as he lets out a groan, he instinctively tugs his arm but pauses at the sound of jangling chains hit him, along with his inability to move. "W-wait, what...?"
He looks down at the chair he was restrained in, arms held down to the armrests, along with the heavy collar around his neck that occasionally beeped, like a depleted fire alarm.
"Another collar...?" he grumbles as he glances around, spotting Kiwi, Lucy, and a gagged Rebecca nearby in similarly dire straits. The short-stack was the only was awake, struggling against her bonds with a furious glare.
"L-Lucy! Kiwi!" he exclaims, trying to wake them up.
"I'm afraid there will be out of sorts for some time still, Runners can be a pain to hold, so we extracted their Neuralware..." David turns to the speaker and pales as he sees her, Hanako Arasaka, with Adam Smasher and another highly modded ninja. "We would have done the same for you, if the sandevistan in your possession wasn't the only thing keeping you alive."
"What...?"
"Did you think all sandevistans required full removal of the spine?" Hanako disdainfully shakes her head, "Any attempt to remove or replace it now would leave you a paralysed husk. Not that this option is yet off the table."
David's eyes trail to Lucy, specifically the deep-dive port that was usually covered by synth skin. There was scar tissue around her temples, a quick hack-job at removing her implants without caution for aftercare. Kiwi was similar, except they'd removed her entire lower jaw too, leaving her tongue dangling morosely from the hole in her face.
"W-what did you do to the others?" he grouses, wondering where Sasha, Falco, and Leo were.
"Some of your associates managed to escape, that is fine. I am counting on your comradery."
"MMmffpph!!" Rebecca's angry muffled shouts drew attention, resulting in Smasher stomping over to her.
"Quiet, meat." he growls, gripping a ponytail and pulling on it hard enough to topple her over.
"'Smasher!', bet your feeling real fucking manly after the boss almost took your head off. Figures you'd come after us when you're scared shitless-"
*Thud!*
David's teeth crack and his jaw breaks as he's backhanded into a nearby wall, the chair restraining him shattering and allowing the chains to drop to the floor. He rolls to the side ignoring the sharp pains in his face, then sprints straight for Hanako... Only to stop when the ninja draws a glowing red mantis blade from his wrist and rests it on his neck.
"Cease your foolishness. Hanako-sama still wishes to negotiate... Oni, cease your belligerence."
"Fuck off spandex." the borg growls in response before stomping out of the room, hands twitching, grasping and releasing habitually.
Hanako looks to David and gestures at the spare chair in the corner, "Please, sit, we have much to discuss."
The merc continues to glare at her, stubbornness overriding instinctual fear of the heated blade near his throat. After a couple seconds, he relents, reluctantly stepping away and leaning against the chair in a ready stance. "Get your threats over with."
She quirks an unamused brow at him, stepping her gold-covered fingers, "If it is threats you want, it is threats you'll have." she drops a finger in his friend's direction, "Obey, or they will all die... Or worse."
"And how'm I 'spose to know you won't do that anyway? Arasaka don't have the best rep around..." he retorts, tone spiteful.
"You will have my word as heiress and CEO of Arasaka. I will even have legally binding contracts written if you wish, just know that any agreement we make here today may not be changed afterwards."
...
She lets out a sigh, "I see I will have to convince you then. I will start with the biggest objection you are sure to have. I Want you to kill Zombie, Orville Quadrano."
"Go fuck yourself." he spits before he's even aware of his mouth moving... He doesn't take his words back however, his response would've been the same, if more 'polite' given the situation.
She nods and lets out a tired breath, "Take a hand." she states simply.
David blinks as blood splashes, Lucy's left-hand flies as the ninja's blade cuts through it. His input doesn't even react, whatever surgery they performed on her was keeping her knocked out... It didn't stop her wound from bleeding profusely however. "Y-You..."
"Let us try again. You will obey me, and your friends may leave with only one limb missing." Hanako repeats.
"You think we'll fucking obey you after that!?"
"Anot-"
"WAIT! Wait..." he grinds his teeth, "Stop her bleeding, we can talk..."
ความคิดของผู้สร้าง 
Niggross
Niggross Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
If you like my content or want to read ahead please go to : https://www.p.atreon.com/Nagross, I'd appreciate it.
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
ShinAmazake
Kingsprovince
Faruk Ereng
Daniel
Peter Evans
Frank
บท 277: Anarchism Inbound
"Fuck outta the way 'Emmerick'" Ori grouses and pushes past the Afterlife bouncer with a hood over his head.
"Hey-" he tries to grab him but only gets a glare in response, now recognising Ori's face. "Y-you can't be here!" he quickly says in a low tone, glancing around to see if anyone else had the realisation.
"I got biz, now I'm gonna see Rogue if you like it or not. Think you can take me? 'Cuz I've been itching to beat some gonks face in for a bit now."
...
"Go, she's in her lounge... But cause any more trouble for us and you'll be leavin' either way."
Ori strides through the club, noting the sparser population of mercs than usual, likely due to Arasaka's increased efforts to ferret out 'opponents'. He doesn't even need to say anything to the next bouncer, both from Emmerick's warning and the look on his face when he spots him.
He pushes into the lounge and pauses at the other occupants aside from Rogue... Nix, the Afterlife's main Netrunner, and V, who was looking a lot worse than the last he saw her, with pale clammy skin, bags under her eyes, and a tired look etched into her form.
"Zombie. You better have a damn good reason for barging in here," Rogue scowls, "I'm barely getting by keeping her," she gestures at V, "Now you've given Arasaka another reason to screw with me."
"I've got the best reason. Those fucks kidnapped my crew, and I want your help to get them back." he glances at V, "Maybe Johnny get some giggles from kicking their shit in too..."
Rogue sits up at that, folding her arms in feigned empathy, "...How? Thought you fell off the map. Even with all their resources they can't look under every rock and crevice in the desert."
Ori shrugs, "Don't matter, though... If I had to guess though, probably a leak from the Aldecaldos." he states, not mentioning his suspicions of Leo, from the recordings the guy had vanished not long before the raid, which meant he was either taken out first or knew it was coming. "Now, you gonna help or not? I got Eds, if that wasn't obvious."
Rogue taps her arm, "What specifically do you want done?"
"Whatever you can do. Give me as many mercs as you got, give me the location of Hanako Arasaka, tell me where they're holding my crew, everything and anything."
...
"Mercs? I'll ask around, see if anyone wants to opt-in on a suicide mission. Intel? I ain't got much, aside from Arasaka movements, fifty-thousand for that."
"Fifty-K...?" he growls and V leans to the side to give her better access to her gun. Everyone knew that Rogue was ripping him off, taking advantage of his situation to gouge him. Fifty thousand wasn't much to him, but that didn't mean he'd let himself get fucked in the ass.
"Fifty. Unless you got another Fixer you can run off to?" Rogue drawls and picks at her nails in her familiar uncaring act.
...
"Fine, fifty for everything you got on Arasaka." he says, eyes flashing as he pays her.
"Pleasure doing business," she glances over at Nix, "Tell 'em."
--------------------
"Christy." Ori greets with a sigh in the dingy hotel room. The spy was sitting in a chair beside the bed which was covered in laptops, shards, paper, and other things she'd stolen or found.
She wasn't able to abandon the city with the rest of the crew due to her role. Socially infiltrating important people meant leaving was as difficult as entering. Thankfully, while everyone was in the desert, she'd managed to keep a toe in Arasaka biz.
"Ori, long time no see... Y'know, this kind of reminds me how things were before." she gestures at him, his weathered outfit that was covered in dust, sand, and grime. In comparison she was practically glowing, sparkling corpo dress and a face caked with carefully applied makeup and chrome.
"Some things change, some don't. You'll always be backstabbing cunt-"
"And you'll always be the horny mutt who'd cling to my leg." she cuts him off, "Wanna keep flinging insults or check what I've gathered?"
Ori sighs, "Yeah, whatever." he takes the shard she holds out to him, names, people, places, subnets, shell companies, etc. Lots of things that mattered and didn't all on the single chip, thankfully, it didn't take too long to get to the meat of it.
"So, this just confirms what Rogue had. Arasaka pulling agents back to their tower, presumably to protect Hanako against whatever hair-brained scheme we come up with... She knows I'm pissed." he mutters. Some of the intel actually contradicted Rogue's, which instantly put him on edge. There were many reasons that could be, but the main one was... Sabotage.
"Probably wants to avoid another Holocaust. I'd do the same." she remarks, not noticing the twitch in his eye at the mention of it.
He turns and begins pacing, thoughts clouding with doubt. Christy, wasn't the most loyal person, he was aware. She'd basically been forced into the crew, and only moved to help them in Vegas because it was that or dying anyway. Aliya Hammond would have had her killed to tie off a loose end regardless.
Here and now? When she'd been out of contact for a while, and with the ability to ask for amnesty, to return to Night City in full, with the possibility to rebuild her career and reputation?
Ori glances over his shoulder at her as she looks through a laptop, "Say, what're your plans after this? Whatever happens, it's not like any of us can stay in this city afterwards." he vaguely says.
"Seattle, I hear it's on its way to becoming America's next mecca." she idly says.
"Yeah? Sounds good, that's where Judy said she was going wasn't it?... Christy." he asks, stepping closer and locking eyes with her, "What do you think about folks 'selling their souls'?"
"Selling their souls?"
"Yeah."
...
She firms her lips and jaw, "I think it's a loser's game. You do it once you'll do it again, eventually people'll know your sich and you'll land in a pit sooner or later."
"That so?" his tone shifts as he places a hand on her shoulder, "'Cuz I seem to remember you betraying me before... Tell me, Christy, why should I trust you now?
ความคิดของผู้สร้าง
Niggross
Niggross
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
Kingsprovince
Faruk Ereng
Daniel
Peter Evans
Frank
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
200+ การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
0 หินพลัง 
ความคิดเห็นย่อย