Hi everyone! Thanks for taking the time to check the story out. I'll be posting a chapter (or half of one) every Monday.
This is my first take at an actual book, so I'd love to hear what you think. Feel free to leave your feedback on a review, be it good or bad, just be honest.
After all, that's the only way to get better. Thanks, and cheers!
Shadowrun: One Big Maybe
Track 01 - All These Things I've Done
Vein was sitting atop his legs, crossed on each other. He held an old harmonica a whisper away from his lips. A set of five flat, blue hued monitors in front of him cut the darkness of the small apartment. Wiring hung from the ceiling into the monitors, then back down to a monster of a rig that served as a desk as well. The huge rig looked more like a dissected hover tank than a server. Lines of text swirled by the screens, forum threads on the Shadowlands BBS popping in and out, highlighting keywords, storing, closing, searching…
All of the furniture was improvised out of warehouse refuse. The chair he sat on was a round industrial cable rack, the kitchen was made of a couple broken-tip welders below charred ceramic plates, tool racks built out of cabinet doors... Only the monstrous rig and a couple hover drones lying next to it looked like they were worth anything. There was the harmonica too, of course: a relic from nearly forgotten times where music required actual talent, probably worth more to an antique dealer than everything in the place put together, Vein included.
He was staring eyes half shut into nothing. The silence in the room was enough to feel the low hum that coolant made while flowing through the tubing all across his rig. Vein wasn't blinking, he was nearly breathing, lost in a trance. He looked as if he was intent on catching something with his ear, as if trying to find his monster's heart beat to hang from and start telling some melancholic story with his harmonica, waiting for the perfect beat. It didn't come.
*BANG BANG BANG*
-Open up asshole!
Loud thumping on the door broke the silence and the monitors stopped churning out lines. Vein hissed through his nose, blinked a couple times and put away his harmonica inside his pant's left leg pocket. He stood up slowly, needing to fight through the stiffness in his joints. He wondered for how long had he been sitting like that. He grabbed a pair of old, bulky wireless headphones and placed them around his neck, turning them on. Fast paced bebop, full of bassy sounds started playing out of them.
*SLAM* *BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG*
-I know you're in there you piece o' drek!
-Chill man, I'm coming.
-You don't chill me motherfucker! Open the fraggin' door NOW!
*SLAM*
-Yeah yeah, I said I'm coming.
-Move it drek head!
*SLAM*
-You know what? I think it's open.
The door shook some, but didn't give. Vein walked towards the door and flicked a switch right next to it, a big angry troll's face flickered on a small holo-screen. Not a face actually, just a chin, a thick neck and a huge chest plate. He was a big one.
-Open the fraggin' door you freak!
*BANG BANG BANG*
-It's kinda tricky, jiggle it to the right when you push in. It gets stuck sometimes.
The handle made some jiggling noises to no avail, then the whole door angrily shook back and forth, making the holo-screen picture distort. Vein grabbed a couple wires coming from below the switch, the ending's insulation had been peeled off and the exposed metallic wires were bent in the shape of hooks, burnt to a nice dull black.
-Easy, easy man. Nice and slow, like petting a kitty.
A soft jiggle came from the door and Vein half smiled. He placed the hooks on his side of the handle and a few sparks jumped away happily, leaving little smoke trails behind. The door shook wildly and sporadically, then stopped, and a loud thump was heard on the other side. Vein flicked the switch off and unhooked the cables, then opened the door effortlessly, with one finger, to find a tree of a man on the floor, shaking like a fish out of water.
-Oh hey! There you are!
The troll's eyes were wide open, but his pupils were nowhere to be seen. His face twisted and his jaw jittered in an almost comical fashion.
-Ngaphnnn… gnnhnhn ghmn… ghhh
-Nice to meet you, Ngaphn. I'd shake your hand but I'm pretty sure that I don't like you… bitch.
Vein grabbed the hulk of a man from one of his plated combat boots and began dragging him inside. The troll had stopped convulsing and was out for a while. 10000 volts tend to do that sort of thing to a man. One of his horns got caught in the door's frame while Vein was dragging him inside. He stubbornly yanked without making any progress, so he decided to kick the thing at full force with his talon. The horn cracked and flew down the hall.
Ngaphn woke up tied to a 24 pack box of 1 liter leaded coolant bottles, inside the apartment's 1 by 1 shower. Zip tied and duct taped in place, there was little he could do, even for a troll his size. His chin laid on his chest and his eyes were still closed. His hands hurt bad, stinging where his skin cracked from the shock. He'd grabbed the door's hinge with both hands and ate the hit in full, not one volt was wasted. A 220 volt cable hung tight between his neck and a hook on the plasticrete ceiling, lucky for him, this one wasn't connected.
-Wh… wha…
Vein was sitting on an empty box of canned soup, tapping away on his cyber deck, about an inch away from the troll's feet. He grinned and raised his eyes, leaning forward onto the troll's face.
-You scared the drek out of me, I thought I'd fried you. Don't do that again ok?
Vein patted the troll's head a couple times.
-Phhh… wha… wherrr…
Vein's expression changed to one of frustration, he rubbed his nose's bridge with two fingers and sighed. He dropped his left hand to the side, which then flew to slap the troll's face hard enough to make the guy next door try and find where the smack came from, and leaving a well-defined red palm and fingers across. Vein shook his hand with a painful face while Ngaphn's senses came back to action. He raised his sight to find himself eyes locked an inch away from Vein's face. Startled, he jumped on his would-be seat and tilted to the side, but the cable around his neck kept him from falling over. His eyes went wide as he felt the tension around his neck and gagged. Vein sighed again, put his deck down, stood up and walked to Ngaphn's side, placed a foot on his shoulder and pushed, straightening him up. The troll coughed.
-What the fuck! You sick fraggin' freak!
-You kiss your mom with that mouth?
-Fuck you!
Vein's foot was still on his shoulder. He pushed and the troll started leaning again.
-Wait, wait! Don'tohfuckpleasedon't!
Vein stopped pushing and half smiled.
-See? That's better. Be nice chummer, it'll get you places.
-...
-Alright Ngaphn. Tell me who sent you and how you found me.
Vein rocked the troll a bit by pressing his foot on the troll's shoulder.
-Ok ok ok I'll tell you!
-And why do you keep calling me a freak? I know I'm not gorgeous but I'm not *that* fucked up, am I? Maybe in the head but not the outside.
-Lonestar's gotta bounty on you, it's all over the place!
-Bullshit. You can't fool a decker with made up bounties chummer, that's just plain stupid.
Vein pushed on the troll's shoulder again.
-I swear man! It's all over! Fuck, it's even on the news!
-On the news?
Vein raised his eyebrows in surprise, then started laughing when he realized what was happening. He slapped Ngaphn on the back.
-Hahaha! Aw man, I saw that news piece too! You found that pyro's address somewhere and figured you'd kick down his door and get that nu, right? Easy stuff, but you kicked on mine instead. Talk about bad luck!
-Wait, you mean… You're not that Avila freak?
-I'm afraid not, you dumb bastard. How the hell did you get that until now? They even showed his mug shot on the news, for cry's sake!
-I… I s'pose you don't look much like him.
Vein laughed again and leaned on the shower wall, shaking his head side to side. His big smile slowly faded into a frown, and he stopped laughing. Funny as it was, he'd been found. Even a dumb log like him could piece two and two together and realize he had a prize on his head too. It was time to pack up and fade out again. That sucked. He really had put some effort into the place this time, especially in the rig, and he felt some regret about letting go of it. He knew better than this, he knew he had to stay mobile, and now he'd have to waste time taking what he could and destroying the rest. Not one trace of even his shadow could be left behind.
There was also the question on what to do about the 3-times-his-size troll tied up in his shower.
-Oh man. You poor, dumb bastard. You really botched up, you know?
-Stop calling me dumb, asshole.
-I mean... Aw man. I can't let you go, but I don't want to kill you just because you have drek for brains… no offense.
-Fuck you man! I ain't stupid, you sick fuck!
-Don't push it Ngaphn, you're not helping your case.
-I'm not Ngaphn you drek! I'm…
-Don't tell me your name, idiot! Do you want to end up at an organ grinder?
The troll opened his mouth to curse some more, but a spark of genius advised him to keep quiet and play along. He felt the urge to snap his captor's little neck with his bare hands. That was nowhere near happening, unless he could get out of this part alive.
-No, I don't wanna.
-Then hush, let me think…
The troll looked at him patiently, waiting for him to say something, while Vein was patting his pant's pockets. He finally fetched a pack of cigarettes out, pulled one out of the pack with his teeth and lit up. The troll was still trying to piece the young man together. His hair was a messy, black and scruffy doe that looked like it had never met a comb. He wore a black tee with a white cartoonish bear's face with a big smile full of jagged teeth. He had expensive, fancy looking data jacks installed on his left hand's palm and right forearm. He had a pair of green, worn out construction pants and brown construction boots full of scratches. Deckers were supposed to be pasty, wormy fellas, but this guy was fit too. He had well defined muscles without looking particularly buff, and was thin for his 1.85 meters height.
Vein took his time to smoke and ponder, staring at the shower's faded tiling. He was halfway through his ciggie when he dropped it on the floor and put his boot down on it.
-Stay here mate, I'll be back in a bit. Oh, and don't move too much, or you'll die one nasty death without me here to lift you.
With that, Vein grabbed his deck and slung it on his back. He turned his old headphones on again, still hanging from his neck, and grabbed what looked like a vaccine injection gun. Ngaphn could clearly hear the music playing off the headphones, some fancy electro tango stuff. The troll made a face of disgust on Vein's choice of music. Vein opened the door with that half smile of his, winked at the troll and closed the door behind him. As expected, the troll started struggling with his binds, but he nearly tipped once and so decided to wait it out.
Not ten minutes had passed when the door opened again to the sounds of fast paced electro tango. Vein crossed it carrying a heavily tattooed, unconscious man from the foot, hitting the guys head with the door frame. He drragged him in front of Ngaphn and kicked the man flat in the stomach as he let go of his foot.
-There you go.
-Him too? You really are a sick fuck.
-And you really are a dumb one, chummer. Take a closer look.
Ngaphn started at the tattooed man again with a puzzled face, until some lucky neurons of his connected with others, and placed the man's face on the news. His eyes and mouth blew wide open.
-That's the freak! You nabbed that Duncan Avila sick-o!
-I sure did, Ngaphn. Apartment 223, not 233.
-...fuck.
-First time the whole day long that you've used that word right.
-Wait... you stealin' my bounty too, you piece o' drek?!
-And you were doing so much better… He's my gift to you, chum.
-He's for… for me?
-Yes, for you. You give trolls a bad rep, you know? People talk about them not being the brightest of the bunch and I never bought it but then, there you are.
-Fuck you man. I know… I know I'm stupid alright? Who gives a drek. Fuck you.
Vein never expected to hear a confession like that one. Now he felt even worse for poor, dumb Ngaphn. Hell, if the troll was smaller, Vein might have adopted him, taught him some tricks like fetch or play dead.
The troll had a look of utter defeat across his face. He had sworn to himself that this bounty gig was his way out of a long line of bouncer jobs in filthy joints and pubs. He had sworn he'd go back to that last hell hole and rub the bounty's pay on his former boss's fat, slimy face. That asshole had dared to call him an "oversized, retarded ape", so he flung him out a half inch thick window out of pure rage. This bounty hunt couldn't have gone worse though, and he was thinking that the fat, slimy asshole had figured him right. He was nothing but a big, dumb chunk of beef bred to keep everyone in line.
Vein honestly felt bad for the poor fella, even felt responsible for the big guy's sad mood.
-Cheer up man. I was picking on you because you came for my head, remember? Besides, you're not stupid, you're just not doing this right.
-...
-No one can win them all going solo, big guy, you need a team. It shouldn't be hard for you either, every team needs muscle and you have plenty of that. Find some wise-ass in bad need of a big friend, some mage owing money to the wrong crowd, and you got yourself a team.
-...
-Oh, and a street name too, to build your rep on and keep the heat off of you. How about... Rhino? Yes, that's a solid one. 47Rhino in the BBS.
-...why the 47?
-Makes it sound like the 47 Ronin, and implies you're as tough as all of them put in one.
-Who's that? The 47... what?
-Ronin. A most epic group of samurai in recorded history. You should look them up when you get a chance, it's a really inspiring account.
-And why Rhino?
Vein bit his tongue to hold back on a couple remarks. He let the troll have a moment to think.
-Oh, I get it, 'cause I'm big.
-No chum. Because when you charge in, you're unstoppable. This one time aside, of course, but no one has to know.
Vein grinned while the troll considered the decker's words, hard to process for a simple minded guy like him. He did understand one thing right away: his captor had showed him there was still hope, that he still had a chance to be something, to be somebody. He lifted his head and found Vein's an inch away from his again, staring at him. He didn't bat an eye this time. Vein was holding up the vaccine gun.
-Don't freak out, it's just a sedative... for hellhounds.
-What the frag!
-Hey, you took 10 thousand volts and you're still here. You'll wake up groggy, sure, but you'll wake up.
Vein lowered the gun and placed it on Rhino's log of a leg, without looking away from Rhino's eyes.
-Hey… your eyes… what's with your eyes?
-Huh! Nobody's ever noticed before. Keep working on those observation skills, Rhino. Believe me, it'll pay off.
Vein stood up and ruffled the troll's head like you would a kid. Not in a demeaning way, more like a dad would. The troll smiled big and proud, before dazing off to 47Rhino-dreams, worth making action trivids about.
Rhino woke up sitting against the shower wall, his hands wrapped in gauze and not one part of him tied up. The apartment was completely empty save for Duncan Avila, sitting right in front of him. The pyro was the one hanging from the 220v wire around his neck and all tied up, his mouth duct-taped. Avila was still out, and sporting an alarmingly bulging black eye. He had a print out of a BBS chat taped to his chest, with a handwritten note of surprisingly good calligraphy, on the bottom left corner.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
/ CLOSED THREAD: BIG MEAN SMASHER LFG -47Rhino 20:34LOCAL /
/ Big mean smasher looking for group. I'm all the muscle you need. I just nabbed that Duncan Avila pyro solo. /
-47Rhino 20:34LOCAL
/ All the muscle = no brains. And if you're so big and mean, why are you lfg you big coward? /
-Allaboutthenuyen13 at 20:39LOCAL
/ The fragger trapped his door, got zapped with 10kv and burnt my hands. That won't happen with a team. I ain't no coward and I ain't no dumbass either. /
-47Rhino 20:40LOCAL
/ 10kv and you're still up? Bullshit, dumbass! /
-Allaboutthenuyen139 20:42LOCAL
/ We could use you chummer. How does 20% sound? /
-RedTailRat8 20:43LOCAL
/ That's robbery. We'll be give you the fair share, 25% /
-Puppeteer527 20:43LOCAL
/ Are you people for real? /
-Allaboutthenuyen13 20:44LOCAL
/ Ok we're game, 28% here, final offer. Solid nick btw Rhino /
-RedTailRat8 20:45LOCAL
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
/ 31%. We're a decker, a rigger and a mage. 31 beats the hell out of paying these repair bills for my drones. /
-Puppeteer527 20:45LOCAL
/ You got yourself a hulk, Puppeteer. Gotta cash this sorry ass sick-o. See ya tomorrow at (encrypted text: the stars, 9am). You'll know me right away. /
- 47Rhino 20:46LOCAL
/ WTF seriously?! You gotta be kidding me! 31% for the dumb beef?! /
-Allaboutthenuyen139 20:48LOCAL
/ Me stupid, me smash, me still make more nu than you. Bitch. /
-47Rhino 20:49LOCAL
/ Boy you just got OWNED lololololololol! /
-The Smiling Bandit 20:51PST
/ END OF THREAD: BIG MEAN SMASHER LFG -47Rhino 20:52PST /
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Welcome to the shadows, Rhino.
Your BBS password is "1nc0rr3ct".
If you forget, you'll get a hint… get it?
Oh and please, please burn this.
Atte,
V3in_Br3ak