The Girl with the Cat Eared Headphones
Chapter One
Rolling over in bed, her extended arm touched warm and she awoke immediately. Honey brown eyes blinking away sleep, she smiled at the sight of him. Her mop of thick black hair poked out from under the white duvet as her almond shaped eyes fluttered open at her touch, partially covered by the intricate facial tattoos that demonstrated her affiliation. A look of horror overtook her as blood poured from her mouth. "Serenity…" She choked out as the duvet stained red. "Why…"
"Marina!" Bolting upright, Serenity Midori found herself covered in chilling cold sweat. Yet another nightmare. Serenity breathed heavily, and looked around her. The queen-sized mattress covered in stuffed animals lay on the distressed wooden floor, paint peeling from the walls to reveal the brick underneath, which was then covered up with various posters of video games she liked. What was once used for a kitchen table now served as a desk for her equipment, which took up much of the open space in the apartment, the rest filled with figurines, gaming consoles and other things she had won by hacking arcade machines. The minifridge was empty save for half a bottle of ketchup and a few cans of beer, the cupboards full of salty, sweet and unhealthy snacks that she lived from.
What had once been a happy and cheerful home had become a hole for the recluse she had become. She plucked her flip-phone from the floor where it had been charging and saw that it was nearing 2am. The floorboards creaked slightly due to the base from the club below, and reluctantly pulling herself from bed, Serenity decided to go earn her keep. Pulling on a pair of black thigh high stockings, Serenity dressed in one of her various seifuku and pulled on her headphones, which blinked with pink LEDs in the shape of cat ears. Stuffing her bag full of snacks as well as the required equipment, she exited through the fire escape and down to the busy side street.
The Neon Velvet was always busy on Saturday nights, a line out the door of regulars and newcomers trying to be hip and edgy. Pushing her way to the front of the line, Serenity adjusted the bow that rested on her chest and was met at the door by a 6-foot ork with large canines protruding from his lower jaw, and sand colored skin. He wore a dress shirt and dark pants that barely fit his 200-pound frame, the sleeves rolled up to display large arms covered in shamanistic tattoos. "Busy night, Cletus?"
"It's always busy on weekends, little kitten." He replied fondly, stepping aside. His head turned upon hearing moans and protests from those still in line. "Shut the glitch up, all of you! I decided whether you get in or not, so show some glitching respect!"
Thanking the large ork, Serenity stepped through the heavy graffitied doors and into the Neon Velvet. It was as if the Northern Lights had been captured within the walls, the dry-ice smoke swirled blues, acid green, hot pink and every other color imaginable. Bodies molded together on the dancefloor and seemed to pulsate to the rhythm of the music like a single organism. "Serenity!" Turning her head, the human girl looked in the direction she heard her name from over the booming music. A tall and slim elf woman known by the alias of Cherry, clad only in leather G-string with red sequins and spiked nipple tassels, maneuvered herself nimbly around the pole as it rotated thanks to a small motorized drone of Serenity's creation. "I've got your drinks covered for the night cuz Jade called off sick!"
Making a heart shape with her hands, Serenity made her way across the crowded dancefloor to the long bar that ran across the whole back wall. Taking her usual seat at the bar, one of the bartenders made his way to her. "What kind of milk can I get the little kitten?" He was a dwarf named Ezra, who had a special beam built behind the bar so that he could see over it and served the strongest drinks in blocks.
"I'm feeling like some Taéngelé tonight. Cherry's good for it." Serenity admitted, and watched the man pour as she sorted out her gear. "Thought I'd come check on the security drones since I'm awake at this godly hour. How's Grelda and the little ones?"
Placing the glass of amber liquid on the bar, Ezra watched as the petite decker shot it back and nodded for another. It was her favorite hard liquor, made of honey and anise, full-bodied and sweet with a pleasant bite of licorice, and a healthy ethanol kick. "They're good, doctor says the little shits are coming along well, grown to the size of lettuce, I'm told." Serenity nodded, please with the news. "I take it that the reason why you can't sleep is the same reason why you're drinking the hard stuff?" She nodded once, and entered the club's security systems with her new cyberdeck. Everything appeared to be in order, only needing a few updates. "New gear?"
"It's the new Fairlight Excalibur. The Holy Grail of cyberdecks." She replied, a smug grin coming to her chapped lips. "Every decker dreams of owning this deck, and luckily I could afford it after my last run, only had to dip into my winnings from the last game tournament I played." Serenity had multiple money schemes on the go, from selling items she won at arcades and professionally playing video games to the less legal shadowrunning and winning game tournaments underhandedly.
"You and them games, I never understood them." Ezra muttered, shaking his head. "But at least they keep you off the streets and out of a cell, or worse a hole in the ground." Serenity nodded; her origins for becoming a shadowrunner were bittersweet, as it always reminded her of things that she would rather forget. Deciding to distract herself with one of her legal pastimes, the girl knocked back the last of her Taéngelé, and began to pack up her things. "Later Ezra, give the wife my love."
It had begun to rain when she walked out the door, accidentally hitting Cletus in the arm. "Takes more than a little bump to hurt me, little one." He smiled, and Serenity returned it. Cletus had always been the type to give tough love, but his kindness towards people he liked was endless. The weather had scared away more of the line of people, so it was quieter. "Well, as quiet as you can get with the glitching advertisements 24 hours a day, 7 days a week."
"Money never sleeps, so why should anyone else?" Serenity agreed, opening her pastel colored umbrella covered in caricatured multicolored fish. She walked through the streets of Chicago towards Sapporo, also known as J-Town, where most of the people of Japanese descent spent their time immersed in their home culture. Chicago during the 23rd Century was full of neon and grime, most streets were lit by signs and garbage fires, with flyers and newspapers littering the streets. Entering from a side street as the door opened automatically for people exiting, she walked into one of her favorite, large chain arcades. "Now what game to play?" Serenity made a round in the arcade, seeing various new prizes in UFO and claw machines, as well as new gachapon pods. Every size of stuffed animal and characters from anime series', posters and humongous bags of chips and sweets, there were even watches from advertisers that paid to have their claw machines in the arcade.
Seeing a large, loaf-shaped Shiba Inu stuffed animal in a claw machine, Serenity made her choice for her first target, and took out a large coin purse full of tokens she had previously bought from another arcade across the city. The video security cameras had previously been hacked by her, and were discreetly programmed to recognize her features and erase her from the security footage as well as the movement of the machine she was using. She inserted 5 tokens and received a free play and slowly inched the plush towards the opening in the corner of the machine. Pulling out her cellphone, Serenity flipped it open and, pretending that she was sending an instant message, instead opened a file she had created when she originally decked the machines in the arcade. She clicked the appropriate file and played a few more rounds, inching the plush more before clicking the tab that would compute to the machine as payout, allowing the claw to firmly grasp the prize and bring it to the opening. A short victory melody played as she collected the plush and placed it under her arm as she continued her rounds in the arcade. "I think I want one of those big bags of chips too."
The next game was a little different, as each prize was attached to a string of thread that needed to be cut in order to win the prize. It required immaculate timing, or some simple decking. Serenity only inserted one token and pressed the payout tab, so it would automatically stop at the proper time to win the chips. It would simply look like she was really good at the game. She did the same to win a large bag of cheap chocolate truffles, only taking two tries so she didn't catch attention.
Serenity took out a bag of chocolate covered pretzels from her satchel and continued to walk around the arcade, until a commotion outside attracted her gaze. She met a pair of familiar eyes from the other side of the window.
Hi everyone, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my Shadowrun story. I'll do my best to be periodic with my chapter uploads, so please be patient 3 lots of love, Chiharu