A/N: (Just realized I kinda forgot one of these, woops) I do not own Shadowrun or any Shadowrun properties. Copyright belongs to the proper owners. Characters are (mostly) mine (made with some help from friends). Please read/review, and have fun. I also apologize for my really bad accents.
The rain made a satisfying staccato against my jacket as I cut through the sea of tourists. They always crowded the rainy streets of Seattle, their umbrellas forming a pulsating sea of multi-colored nylon. The Runner's Rest was just around the corner, hidden under a lively club where the clients were almost as bright and loud as the inside. The Rest was a standard meeting place for those who worked outside the law, the only rules were that you had to take your fights outside and pay for damage. I climbed down the steps, the solid brick foundation blocking out most of the club's bass. Behind the reinforced steel door was just what I expected: a dimly lit room with what appeared to be a real oak counter along one wall and plastic tables scattered about the room filled with undesirables like me.
"Cutty-man!" The bartender always had to announce my presence. I shouldered my way to the scarred bar and took the bottle he offered.
"It's 'Carver,' Ivan" The beer had a nice tang to it, I'd have to remember it for next time.
"Da, da, vutefur hyu say, Slicer," The old Russian troll laughed at his own joke too loudly. "Vut can Hy be helpink hyu vit?"
"I need room 3B," I said taking a swig to wash down the horrible aftertaste, not remembering this beer for next time.
"Oho! Sumvun iz doink buzy-ness!" All of the backrooms at The Rest were used for business meetings, the 3 section being the fanciest. He set a key down in front of me. "Hyu know vere it iz, Slicer, get movink. Johnny's already zere."
"Thanks," I finished off the beer and placed the bottle on the counter, taking the key. It wasn't uncommon for a Johnson to show up early and prep the room, but this one was over an hour early. I grumbled as I unlocked the door to the backrooms. The earlier they are, the more serious the run and an hour probably meant I was about to help change Seattle.
I stepped in to 3B and the familiar faux-furniture greeted me, but no Johnson. On the fake mahogany table there was a small note, everything else in the room was the same. I cycled my eyes through the standard spectrum, heat, x-ray, infra-red, even UV. The only thing I got was a faint hint of heat off the note. I walked up to the table and picked up the crumpled paper, *Who just leaves a note at a meeting place?*
The yellowed paper crinkled slightly when I picked it up and unfolded it. In a close approximation to chicken scratch there were what looked like coordinates for a hotel not too far from here, a room number *(3B, haha)*, and a time: =1955.= My display read =1948,= I had seven minutes to get there.
I bolted out the front door, throwing the key at the bar as my shoulder hit the door. I spun out onto the landing and looked up. There was a balcony just above me, perfect. I raised my right hand and launched it towards the railing, my hand trailing thirty feet of cord. *Everyone laughed when I had the harpoon mechanism put in my arm, who's laughing now?*
Using the momentum I had built up and the railing as a springboard, I jumped to the roof, thankfully the balcony was top floor. There it was: the hotel. I groaned slightly as I looked at the multi-colored rooftops I now had to run across and the various ravines between them I now had to jump. Clock read =1949.=
Steeling myself, I ran to the first edge and jumped, almost slipping on the rain-slick shingles as I landed. *Okay, that was way too close.* The other rooftops were much more manageable, I only slipped once more and had to use my hand to catch myself. =1953=
I jumped down into a crowd of tourists in front of the door and burst in. The lobby was a lot shinier than I expected. I ran down the nearest hallway and up the stairs two at a time. =1954= was the reading when I reached the third floor. Room B was right across the hall from the stairs and I knocked on the door.
"Another has arrived, it seems." A well-dressed human guard opened the door and stepped aside, letting me in. He didn't look to be too augmented, but with how expensive his suit looked he could get the concealed augs easily. Beyond him was probably the most ornate hotel room I'd ever seen. The center of the main room, in what turned out to be a suite, was occupied by a large redwood table surrounded by plush chairs. The walls were lined with shelves weighed down by ancient, leather-bound tomes. Sararimen blocked the other doors, except for the small kitchen and the bathroom. *At least I can still take a piss*
"So glad you could join us, Mr. Crenshaw." The voice was akin to something out of a nightmare, a children's cartoon, or both; high and squeaky and wavering. Definitely wouldn't forget anything this Johnson had to say. The person who had assaulted my ears sat at one end of the table, his shriveled old hands steepled against his chin while he rested his elbows on the table. His black suit seemed to be custom cut out of silk. The guy's shriveled face could have been elf, human, or something much, much older. *Damn, these guys are packing money if the Johnson is wearing still spendier clothes*
"Bout time! Can we get this show on the road already?!" The person wanting to know was an attractive looking human female with dark black hair with a small streak of bright green and a visor over her eyes. She was wearing a dark green windbreaker that seemed to be a few sizes too big and matching jeans. "I wanna get paid!" She returned to spinning her chair.
"Yes, Ms. Rilberg, let's-" The old man began.
"It's Railroad, old coot!" The woman slammed her hands on the table, stopping her chair. "Hit so fast, no one knows what happened, just like a train."
"Ya, leaving a giant hole that lets everyone know what happened, just like a train." I finally registered the hulking ork figure in the chair next to her. He was wearing a set of dark gray, almost black, fatigues. "Name's Oneshot, I'm sniper cover for the op. This lovely lady next to me is Railroad, as she said. She's demolitions." As he stood up to offer me his hand, I noticed he was taller than me by half a foot, and bigger than most orks.
"Carver. Guess I'm muscle?" I shook his hand and sat opposite the woman, noticing the rifle case and duffle bag sitting behind the two. "Don't have any party favors of my own, sorry."
"That's fine, for now, Mr. Crenshaw. You're the infiltration squad, along with Ms. Rilberg. As he mentioned, Mr. Dowdy will provide cover and lookout during the operation." *So he has all our names, figured. This guy had his research done, guess I'm stuck*
"Mr. Lezonski, you may join us now." At his words an anthropomorphic toucan appeared in the chair next to me. *Holoprojectors, too, or did he hack my eyes?*
"Wassup, guys?" The toucan looked around at everyone sideways and waved enthusiastically. "I just go by 'Toucan.' Sure you all guessed that."
"Mr. Lozenski will be your hacker and virtual support. He will also monitor comm signals for the squad." The Johnson clarified.
"So, we don't need a wiggly-fingers for this op?" I asked. *Normally a Megacorp would have some magical defenses as well as physical. Guess we're not hitting one.*
"Mr. MacGrory should be with us soon." The old man said before closing his eyes and snoring lightly.
"Mr. MacGrory? Wasn't he a trid guy? The wizard that did the FX for all those old fantasy-style ones?" Railroad asked, pulling a deck of cards from her coat and beginning to shuffle them.
The eyes on Toucan's avatar freaked out momentarily before he said, "he is indeed. Best known for his work on 'Guns and Manabolts,' which was substandard in my opinion."
"That's just great!" By the way she said it, I don't think she thought it was all that great.
"What's wrong with wizards?" Toucan tilted his bird head inquisitively.
"...Nothing..." She muttered, shrinking in on herself.
"We had a bad one on a run once. She's still sore over it." Oneshot calmly explained.
"He was worse than bad! He... He did things... to the squad..." Railroad seemed to shrink into herself further at the memory.
"What kind of-" Toucan began before someone knocked on the door. =2002=
"That would be Mr. MacGrory, now," the old man was wide awake now and had seemingly not fallen asleep.
A dwarf walked in at that point wearing a seemingly expensive yellow suit and expensive it might have been, five years ago. He was short, even for a dwarf, barely coming up to the sarariman's lower ribs. On his face was a beard and not the type you see on most people, this was a full-fledged fantasy-dwarf beard composed of light brown hair.
"Diarnait MacGrory, at yer service." The little man declared, in what had to be a false Scottish accent, as he climbed into the last chair at the table. Railroad stared at him hard, her visor hiding her eyes. I imagine that they'd be full of hatred for the dwarf if we could see 'em. "Or, Magic-man as Ah've come teh be known."
"Thank you for joining us, Mr. MacGrory. Now," the old man continued as if nothing had happened, " the job is a simple retrieval run. An Aztechnologies lab is working on a prototype of particular interest to the one paying you. You will-"
"Aztech?!" Railroad exclaimed, "Isn't that a bit south from us, right now?"
"As I was saying. you will be flown down by way of private airliner, flown back in the same fashion, and then paid." The old man stared at Railroad expecting another interruption, but none came. "Very well, your ship will be departing at 0800 tomorrow."
"Sir, what's the pay like?" Oneshot asked as the old man got up.
"Should you succeed, the payoff will be more than enough," the old man answered as he began hobbling toward the door. I got out of my chair and cut him off.
"Digits, grandpa. How much are we getting?" Felt kinda bad bullying an old man like this, but I wasn't gonna do this run for anything less than 3K nuyen.
"10,000,000 nuyen if you must know. Each." The old man looked at me as my mouth dropped, a small smile playing across his lips. "Is that sufficient, Mr. Crenshaw?"
"Yes, uhh.. Quite, er, sufficient." *10 mil for a simple snatch and grab?! That's a lot even for a run against Knight Errant Security, not the media titan Aztech! Either this guy is loaded or we're all dead. Either way, they know our names so we're stuck in this.* I was shaken out of my reverie by one of the guards manhandling me out of the way and back into my seat.
The old man stopped at the door and turned to speak to us one last time before leaving, "All other information you will need will be found on the plane, or sent in Mr. Lezonski's case. 0800, don't be late." With that he left, taking his goons with him.
"So, what's the plan guys?" Toucan was the first to speak after a few minutes of silence.
"That'll depend on the rest of the information, Toucan," Oneshot said as he stood up. "My eyes are reading it as pretty late, and I haven't eaten yet. Let's go get some chow, Railroad. See you all later." Grabbing his rifle case, he maneuvered his bulk around the table and left. Railroad slid the cards into her coat pocket before grabbing her bag and hurrying after him.
"Food does sound good. Peace," With that the brightly colored bird disappeared.
"Tha' leaves jus' you and meh, laddeh" I don't know if Magic-man was trying to be friendly or not, but his raspy voice made that line way too creepy. I stood up and headed out.
"Nope, just you until tomorrow," I said over my shoulder as I walked through the door. After the door closed, I strolled down the hall and out of the lobby at a leisurely pace. *10 millon for a milk run?! There must be something else going on.*
I spotted Oneshot and Railroad next to a gray sedan having a heated discussion. *Whew, a relationship in this kinda biz? That's a baaaad idea.* I kept walking and headed to my favorite noodle stand.
"Cuttah-man! You want noodoes, yes?" Mr. Wong of 'The Wong Wok' was always excited to see returning customers.
"Carver," I corrected him, seating myself at the empty stall. "The usual, please. Extra soy, too. Where's everyone else?" Normally this place had at least a couple other lowlifes eating some of the only real food you could get in this town.
"They awh on wun. No come back, yet," Mr. Wong didn't sound too happy about this as he prepared my dinner. He had a lot of repeat customers that ended up not returning at some point.
"I'm sure they'll make it back here, Mr. Wong," Don't know if it helped, or if either of us believed it. We both fell into silence.
"Heah is you noodles, Mr. Cuttah-man," Mr. Wong broke the silence, setting a steaming bowl of noodles in front of me. "Thank you foh wepeat business, yes."
"Thank you for the amazing food," I really didn't want to tell him but as his longest customer, I had to. "I'm part of a run on Aztech. We leave tomorrow. I'll get some noodles when I get back."
Mr. Wong froze at the news; running on a MegaCorp wasn't easy but the money on this one was too good. Silently, he placed a small tray of sweet buns next to my bowl. "You come back, Mr. Cuttah-man, and you get flee noodoes fo life."
"I will, Mr. Wong. No way am I gonna die with free noodles on the line," I gave him my most reassuring smile and ate my noodles. He seemed to perk up at what I said, or at least he smiled. Neither of us said anything while I ate my meal. I left twice what the bill was when I got up and left.
My eyes read =2256= when I walked into my small apartment. I didn't live anywhere too special, really. The door opened into a small hallway, with a coat rack, that led into the small living room. An old blue couch occupied the far wall of the room, with an old tridscreen taking up the wall opposite that. The thing was built in, so I left it. In front of the couch was a fakewood coffee table flanked by matching chairs. Two doors led to the small kitchen that had a window to the living room, and the bathroom. I had to go through the kitchen to get to my bedroom, which only had my bed and a few drawers of clothes.
I set an alarm for =0630= and packed a small bag with some clothes from my drawers and snacks from the pantry. *Shouldn't be down there too long* I checked my cybernetics for any wear and tear: none that I could see. I opened up my left arm to check on my Hushpuppy pistol: all good. Safe in the knowledge that everything worked, I took a quick shower and went to bed.
Next thing I knew, there were flashing lights and the whole world was shaking. After a short panic attack, I realized the lights were flashing =0630= again and again across my vision, and that my eyes came with a vibrate function for some reason. I blinked away the alarm and shuffled across my apartment to grab some pain meds. *I really need to get that vibrate taken care of* After taking care of my bathroom-based morning routines, I moved back to the kitchen and began a pot of coffee, glorious coffee. I got dressed while the soycaf machine was working it's magic, we finished at the same time. I drank my soycaf carefully, savoring the sensation of heat and energy flowing through me.
I finished my cup of liquid energy and my eyes read =0724= *Time to get moving.* The rendezvous wasn't too far away, but punctuality is important. The streets were full this early in the morning, so I decided to take the rooftop path like last night. The meet was supposed to be a warehouse, which struck me as an odd place for a plane. Sure, the long, straight road might make a good runway, but it's usually cluttered with trucks and cargo.
I came upon the designated warehouse with its door hanging slightly open, eyes read =0751= *Made it sooner than I expected.* I pushed through the doorway to see a large dual-rotor helicopter sitting in the otherwise empty warehouse. Oneshot popped his head out of the chopper's door and waved me over. *This isn't an airliner. Johnson's lied twice now, definitely not a simple milk run* I walked over to the chopper and climbed in.
The inside certainly seemed expensive, though. Couches ran along either side of the cabin, with a low table within arm's reach. Railroad and Oneshot were nestled against each other, taking up one end of the long couch. I slid myself down the opposite couch until I was even with the two lovebirds. My foot clicked against something under the table; it was a small, black case.
"You two let any of your gear spill over here?" That would be a lot of gear, since this table was quite wide.
"No, all of our gear is over there," Oneshot pointed to the duffel bag and rifle case from last night, laying on the ground at the end of couch.
"Besides, he left us all something, it seems," Railroad added before burrowing herself back into Oneshot's massive chest. "Left me a nice shiny new toy, and Oneshot here got a new gun."
"Huh, interesting," I commented, mostly to myself. *I wonder if this is coming out of our pay.* I opened the leather-bound case half-expecting it to blow up on me, or be completely empty. It was neither. Instead, inside the case was an intricately carved, bone-handled knife in a matching bone sheath. The sheath was beautifully carved into a dragon's head, mouth at the top, and the handle was carved into the shape of the great dragon's fiery breath. I couldn't help but whistle appreciatively when I saw it. Slowly I picked it up by the handle and hefted it experimentally. I couldn't contain a slight giggle as I discovered the knife was perfectly balanced for me. *Okay, I have to see the blade!* Reverently, I drew the flames from the dragon's gaping maw and realized that it was a vibro-knife. I gasped when I noticed that what I held could cut through almost any armor like it was hot synth-spread. I paused to admire the beauty for a few more moments before twirling the knife around to properly test the grip and balance. The grip felt like it was made for my hand no matter how I held it, and the balance remained superb. *This thing is amazing! I get this and the 10 mil?! No way!* I was brought back to reality by a giggle from across the table.
"Something funny, Railroad?" I asked, sheathing the knife and fixing the sheath to my belt.
"Oh, nothing," she said as she stifled another giggle fit.
"Stop teasing the man. You were the same when you saw your toy, remember?" Oneshot said, poking her side playfully.
"Stop that!" She managed to yell at him through laughter. "You know I'm ticklish, not fair."
"What'd he get you two?" I asked, noticing the other item in the case; it was a plain manilla folder.
"He got me a new rifle, nice and shiny," replied Oneshot. Not too surprised, really, that he got another rifle. "And a new set of drones, which is nice. My last set were getting kinda worn out."
"You'll see what I got during the run, Carver," Railroad followed with a mischievous grin. I knew it had to be something nice. *Probably a 'nade launcher, or something.*
"Now we just need Magic-man, right?" Railroad's face darkened when I mentioned the wizard. "Look, we're gonna need him for this run, you can geek him after if you want."
"No, I'm getting paid extra not to," Railroad declared and burrowed further into Oneshot's bulk.
"Extra naht te wot, lassy?" Magic-man popped his head into the chopper door. "Em Ah late?" He clambered in and scrambled onto the couch on my side. Curiously enough, his foot didn't touch anything. I shot Railroad a puzzled look. She returned it and shook her head slightly. "Wha' ar' ye two glancin' abou' fer?"
"Surprised you don't have a pack or something," I lied. "I thought wizards had to use components, or something."
"Ah see. Common misconception, laddy. Y'see, we onleh be usin' tha' fer story purposes." He pulled a collapsible baton out of a coat pocket. "Wands do help, though." At that point, a panel opened on the front wall; Toucan's avatar taking up half the screen, the old man's face taking up the other half.
"Now that we are all present, let's begin," the speakers did not help with the old man's voice. "You will all find a file folder under the table in front of you. Open it." I took the folder out of the box I had left it in and flipped it open. I was greeted with a picture of some device, it's location, and science jargon I didn't care about. I saw that everyone else had their folder's open with the same amount of interest, even the dwarf. "What you are all looking at, is Aztechnoloy's newest pet project. It is the first known fusion of magic and technology; one of a kind, as it were. My employer would very much like our R&D department to get their hands on it to see how Aztech has done this. Security will be tight, as you will see on page two of the folder" We all flipped pages simultaneously. *Professional, nice. Guy's just missing a trid-presi.*
"The second through fourth pages are maps of the facility where the device is currently stored. The red dots mark guards, the lines their normal patrol route." The first floor map was pretty red. "Red triangles are cameras and their field of view." Lots of triangles on the page. "Blue dots represent automatic gun emplacements, blue triangles are rocket emplacements. Mr. Lezonski will be handling those while the squad moves in." No blue on the first page, but the second page had blue lining the hallways and at every corner. *Holy fuck, what is this place? Even ARES isn't this heavily sealed!* "The target is on floor three, along the north wall. It is the golden cup." There it was, right where he said. Thankfully security wasn't any heavier up there.
"Boss, where do Ah fit' in?" Magic-man asked. "I d'na' see aneh magical barriers on th' map. Or in th' rest of the briefing, fer tha' matter."
"I was just getting to that." The old man smiled and I wished that he would never smile again. "The source we got this from could not detect magical barriers or determine astral security."
"So Ah'm goin' in blind?" Magic-man sounded like he knew the answer and wasn't pleased. "Grea'." He definitely wasn't pleased.
"Think of it as an opportunity to test your adaptability," I couldn't tell if the old man was being sarcastic or not. "I will now leave you to your planning, Mr. Lezonski has the rendezvous coordinates for when you retrieve the item. Your ride will be available to you for a week, should you take longer you will be on your own to bring the item back and you will not be compensated. Good luck." The old man's face disappeared and Toucan's filled the whole screen.
"Okay guys, what's the plan?" Toucan asked, cocking his head.
"Well, first let's see if you can actually get in to the computer," Railroad said, sitting up straight. "Next would be verifying our intel on the place; see if the old man was lying about anything. Can you do that and report back?"
"Yes, sir!" Toucan saluted with a brightly plumaged wing and paused slightly. "Er.. ma'am." Railroad chuckled slightly and waved it off.
"It's fine. Just Railroad in the future," she relaxed a bit, leaning against the back of the couch. Toucan's face vanished and she sighed. "I swear he's new to this... Magic-man, you and Carver will do a circle of the complex and see what magic defenses they have if any. Carver, look for any and all infiltration paths. We'll compare them to what Toucan finds. Me and Oneshot will look for nests for him to sit in while we run. Sound good, people?"
"Haven't disagreed with one of your plans, yet," Oneshot said, stretching.
"Seems good to me," I began looking at the maps we had, memorizing window and door locations. *I wonder if she's ever worked military or something*
"One question: who put you in charge?" Magic-man asked with an edge to his voice. *Better now than during the run, at least*
"She did, when she came up with the plan and divvied out tasks first," Oneshot replied, an edge growing in his own voice.
"Calm down, big guy," Railroad laid a hand on Oneshot's shoulder, her voice calm. "No one made me boss. We can change the plan if you have a better alternative."
"Nah, the plan's fine," He slumped against the couch.
"Good," Railroad nodded. "Now we just need to hear back from Toucan, or land. Either of which might take a while." So saying, she took out her deck of cards and began playing an old game I didn't know the name for. Oneshot pulled an H&K SMG from his case and began disassembling it. I continued studying the maps. Magic-man continued pouting.
"Okay, guys," Toucan's face appeared on the screen a few hours later. "I've gotten in to the point where I can see what's going on but I didn't want to go any farther just yet. They have a lot of ice around admin accesses, yet authorized non-admins can see all of the security. Ice looks standard, so it'll take time but I know how to walk around it. Other than that, the info looks good; you might even think someone handed the info over to him from inside."
"Good job, Toucan," Railroad said as she packed up her cards. "One more thing: how good are you at rigging?"
"Ummm... Well... I have the compatible software to do it, but I haven't done it on a run yet," Somehow, the bird-avatar looked ashamed.
"That's okay," Railroad slipped her cards into her coat pocket. "Think you can grab us a plain-looking SUV and run it like a non-runner filled car?"
"Should be able to, ya," Toucan said, seeming more confident. "I'll look at local dealerships and used lots to see if I find anything."
"Awesome. Remember, we don't want anything too flashy," Railroad reminded him. As Toucan once more disappeared to do his work, we all fell upon our routines.
A few more hours later, an alert appeared on the screen. "Dropzone-15min." *That was a quick ride.* We all began to pack up and gear up. I placed the folder back in the box and hoisted it in my left hand; good shield if necessary. Oneshot and Railroad put away their guns and cards and pulled out matching armored helmets, sliding them on and fixing them to something under their coat lapels.*Probably armor under those coats.* Magic-man pulled himself off the couch, where he had seemingly fallen asleep. *Guess we were too loud, or something.*
By the time we were geared and ready, the door we had all climbed through slid open. *Damn, this bird is smooth.* We unloaded from our ride one by one, with Magic-man taking the lead since he was closest, followed by me, then Railroad, and Oneshot picked up the rear. Magic-man and I unloaded rather casually, even though I was on edge myself. Railroad and Oneshot came out tactically, covering the door and each other with their weapons. Oneshot was wielding the SMG from earlier and it looked like Railroad had a matching one.
"Shit, we didn't look for a place to crash, did we?" I surveyed the surrounding area, my cyber-eyes compensating for the light from the setting sun.
"There's a cheap motel over this way. Follow me," with that, Magic-man started off towards a cluster of tall buildings surrounded by a sea of shacks.
"Damn, this place looks horrible," Oneshot commented, following the dwarf and putting his SMG into an at-ease position.
"Seriously, why would a 'corp build out here?" Railroad asked, flanking me and mirroring Oneshot's gun positioning.
"Because we're still a few miles from the actual ci'y the lab is in," Magic-man shouted over his shoulder at us. "We've landed on the fringe of Tenochti'lan. The major Aztech research facili'ies are about ten or fifteen kilometers away, give or take."
"You sound like you spent a lot of time here," I jogged forward to catch up to the dwarf.
"As Ah'm sure ye figured out, I used ta work fer Aztech makin' movies," replied Magic-man, his demeanor darkening. "Until some wageslave go' a few names mixed up and I go' canned."
"Personal run for you, then?" Oneshot asked, just behind and to the side of us.
"Vereh," he pointed at a flickering neon sign. "Tha's where we're stayin'." The indicated building was a tall, six storey, adobe building that looked like it had definitely seen better days. Neo-aztec designs covered the crumbling exterior, or at least where they hadn't fallen off, yet. "Dinn'e le' the outside fool ye, this place could survive a second Awakening."
The three of us following the dwarf shared a skeptical look but continued to follow. The front door was a heavy stone slab with colorful engravings of Aztec design. As we approached, the doors swung open of their own accord, and the view of the inside clashed with the outside facade. The furniture was bright and colorful, like a jungle meadow covered in flowers. Tall columns of stone shot up to the arched ceiling ten meters overhead with vibrant green vines carved and painted onto them. The vines continued down the sides of the ceiling, partially obscuring what looked like Aztec drawings. We made our way through this synthetic ruin to the front desk: an alcove seemingly carved out after the rest of the place was built. We purchased three rooms next to each other on the highest floor and headed up.
The Aztec designs carried throughout the building, even in the elevator. Our rooms were high up, so the elevator ride wasn't the shortest but it sure beat taking the stairs. The hallway beyond the elevator doors was similar to that of the columns and ceilings of the foyer; purposely antiquated with vines carved into it. Each door had a different picture on it on this floor, mine had what looked like a great feathered serpent, Magic-man's had a bird with a really long tail, and the door Railroad and Oneshot's room had a massive beast clawing it's way up from something.
The next few days went buy without much excitement. Toucan found an old beater with an old rigger setup that Railroad and I had to fix up. Magic-man didn't sense any magical barriers when we cased the place, and the map seemed accurate from what I saw. The only problem during prep-time was trying to sleep with the noises that came from the couple's room. After five days of preparation we were ready to run this place.
"Okay, everyone remember what they're supposed to do?" Asked Railroad over sub-vocal comms.
"Yup," I replied over comms, even though she was right there.
"Sit here all day and try not to let y'all die," Oneshot chimed in from his perch across the street. The complex was a squat three-storey structure that didn't fit in downtown Tenochtitlan, especially since it was surrounded by large empty lots on each side. I say empty due to a lack of buildings, they were actually full of work cars, delivery trucks, and a few bits of heavy machinery that Railroad and I were to use as cover to approach the building.
"Aye, Ah si' here on me ass an' try not te fuse te the buildin'," Magic-man was up next to Oneshot, keeping an eye on everything since we didn't need him to get past a barrier.
"Got the car ready a few blocks away, guys," Toucan's happy voice popped in, his face appearing in the corner of my vision. "I'm also into the security feeds which I will patch through to Carver and Oneshot." Shortly after he said that his face was replaced with a view of our intended entry point. The view was sweeping back and forth because it was a security camera and I counted three different guards moving through that one hallway. "Should have the turrets in a moment."
Railroad and I waited behind some wageslave's sedan. She kept an eye on the surroundings while I watched the guards. *This is going way too smooth.* A few minutes later, we hear a small exclamation of triumph from our hacker as an automatic turret materializes at each end of the hallway. I see a guard's face covered in confusion, then shock, as the turrets open fire on the guards inside. The camera is covered in a light layer of red as the guards turn into red clouds under the automatic fire.
"Dude! We coulda just clubbed 'em and tied 'em down!" Oneshot did not seem pleased by Toucan's actions.
"What's your problem?" Toucan replied. "I thought your whole job was killing people."
"When it's absolutely necessary," Oneshot took a deep breath. "Look, my rifle is loaded with stun so I just knock out the people chasing our people. If you check my record you'll find a lot of captures with few kills."
"Sorry man, but it's too late to be telling me this," Toucan honestly seemed sorry about this. *I'm running with weirdos.* I motioned to Railroad to start heading towards the building and we began ducking in and out through the parked cars. "I won't activate the other levels, but the guards on the third floor are gone."
When we got near the building, Railroad stopped behind a car and unslung her bag. She immediately pulled out a small device and pushed a few buttons. Gauging distances for a few seconds, she pulled her arm back and tossed the device up to the third floor. The device was of course an explosive and it detonated on impact leaving a large hole to the third floor. I walked over to her and wrapped an arm around her waist after she got her bag back on.
"Up we go," I said simply as I shot my hand up. It grabbed onto the lower lip of the hole and we ascended the side of the building. The cord shouldn't break under this weight, but the motors made a decidedly unhappy squealing sound during our ascent. Footing was a bit tricky when we got up to the third floor, since it was covered in human soup. Thankfully my hand reeled back in with no protest.
"Okay, we're in," Railroad radioed in. "Any other guards on this floor?"
"No, just some turrets I have temporary control of and some researchers cowering in a closet," Toucan calmly replied, his bird avatar looking strangely serious.
The two of us crept along, being careful of any changes that might have been made. I took point through the sterile white corridors covered in what used to be the guards with Railroad covering our rear with her SMG. As Toucan said, we didn't see another guard on our way through.
"Okay, gimme a sec," Toucan muttered to himself. A little bit later one of the doors along the hall popped open. I confirmed the location on my map; it was the right room. I opened the door slowly and peeked in. The room was empty on every wavelength I could check. It was one of the larger labs, a 30 by 40 space, with tools and datachips lying scattered on the equally scattered tables. The only table that seemed to be even slightly organized was in the rough center of the room.
I approached the table while Railroad watched the hall. The table in question was smaller than its counterparts and had an odd green box on one end. I flicked up an image of our objective and it was a close match. I grabbed the box and headed back to Railroad. She stepped back, opened her gear bag, took the box, dropped it in, and closed the bag back up.
"Mission accomplished," I said half sarcastically.
"Not yet," Railroad chuckled. "We still have to fight our way out, remember?"
"Oy, ye tuu migh' wanna ge' a move on," Magic-man's voice came on and seemed worried. "A barrier jus' popped up, an' it looks nasteh." *Oh, that's why he's worried.* Railroad and I exchanged glances before speeding toward the hole we came in.
"Can you drop it?" I asked, my cyber limbs more than a match for keeping up with Railroad.
"Ah can try, laddie, but I cannae promise anythin'," Magic-man replied uncertainly. The comms became filled with a low chanting in a language I didn't even want to try and identify.
"Hey guys, I did some perusing to try and find any record on our prize," Toucan's face appeared in my vision. "Looks li-e t-y w-e tr-yi-g to -tr-l t-e b-. W-t's go-g -n? -'m l-ng si-al! B- ba-." His avatar was replaced with static.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," A well-tanned, muscular man replaced the staticky portrait. "Please tell me you didn't think this was gonna be that easy. Did you?" The man mocking us was wearing nothing on his torso and a brightly colored feather headdress. "Don't worry about your friend, we didn't ice him, just took over his signal. That means the guns are ours again. If you don't want to be pureed like our guards, please put what you took back."
"Sorry, but we have a contract to fulfill," Railroad replied.
"We do, but we respect your guns and property and will return it right now," I hastily replied as the guns began popping out of the walls. Railroad gave me a strange look and I hope I gave her one that said I had a plan. She sighed and we began walking back to the lab room. The path was still clear, but you could see employees peeking through the windows with big smiles on their faces.
We got back to the room just fine, but I was a bit nervous. I hadn't done anything like what I was about to do in years. Railroad unslung her pack and set it down between us. I opened it and began pawing through the gizmos in there, even though the box was on top. After finding something that would work, I motioned Railroad over as if I couldn't find the box. With both of us hunched over the bag I flicked out a small blade and began opening the box. It looked a like a standard storage box, only it was green and covered in strange symbols. I carefully peeled the adhesive back while Railroad made a show of searching through the bag.
In the box was a bizarre amalgam of wires and metal and... flesh? Certainly looked like tattooed flesh was pulled tight over certain areas of the device. I slipped the weird thing into an inner pouch of the backpack and placed an explosive in the box. Railroad had set the high-yield explosive for only a few minutes, so we'd have to hurry out without drawing further attention. I resealed the box and held it up so the cameras could see it.
"Took you long enough," The muscled man sounded pleased to have his device back. Sucks to be him, I guess. The whole ordeal had only taken us a minute. "Put it back where you found it and leave."
We did just that. I set the box on the center table while Railroad put her pack back on. Sharing a momentary look, we began calmly walking back to our entry point. The turrets had receded but the inner windows were all filled with researchers smiling and jeering the failed 'runners. I couldn't help smiling at the thought of this place in three minutes.
Besides the researchers in the windows we had no trouble getting back to our hole. Two minutes. I grabbed onto Railroad and slowly winched her down. When she hit dirt I let go, grabbed onto the hole and lowered myself. Minute and a half. We began walking towards where our rigged car was said to be parked. Our getaway car was an old yellow van that seemed to almost be turn of the century, probably a retro model. Oneshot and Magic-man were already waiting for us. Thirty seconds.
"Well, we can't really return to the Johnson without the dingus, so what do we do?" Oneshot asked, defeat and anger touching his voice.
Railroad dropped her pack into the back of the rental wagon and pulled out the device. "We go to the Johnson and get paid." As she said that, the timer reached zero on our bomb. Where we had just been, where all the jeering researchers were, was replaced by a bright flash of light and a huge wall of fire. My ears adjusted themselves so all I heard was a soft popping noise, but the shockwave was enough to send bits of debris jumping and skipping across the street.
"Hey gu-s," the staticky image of Toucan reappeared. " My ma-n sys-em is f-ied, so - have to us- my ba-kup. It's n-t as go- so I'm go-a be cu-t-ng in a-d ou-. I di- fin- out w-at th- de-ic- is, be-o-e I g-t bo-ed. I-'s bas-al-y a b-g wh-s-le."
"Wait, a bug whistle?" Oneshot's voice raised in pitch slightly. "I ain't a fan of bugs, so is it the deterrent kind or the attraction kind?"
"It's th- co-tr-l ki-d," Toucan replied, as serious as he could be through the static. "Th-re we-n't exa-t de-ai-s, so I'- n-t qu-te su-e. Re-eva-t n-tes we-e pr-b-bly ke-t ha-d cop-."
"Well, we kinda blew up the lab, so can you still run the car?" I asked, piling into the van. I didn't much care what the device did right now, I just wanted out of Aztech's gaze ASAP.
"So-y, no," Toucan answered. "Th- pr-gram th-t le- me ru- th- -an is -n my f-ie- ge-r. I'm u-el-ss fo- n-w."
"Null sheem, omae," Oneshot squeezed behind the wheel, destroying the bits of the rigging setup he couldn't move. Railroad clambered into the passenger seat while Magic-man and I climbed into the back. After the doors were closed, Oneshot shifted us into gear and drove off at just above the local speed limit.
"Okay Toucan, send us the rendezvous point and let's leave this place," I said. *This was still way too easy. It feels like just a milk run but nothing is ever just a milk run.* Toucan shot us the coordinates for the rendezvous and Oneshot drove off, probably following a GPS overlay on his eyes. There were no complications getting to our destination, which turned out to be another warehouse with the same dual-rotor helicopter waiting inside.
"Gu-s, we sh-ul-'t ha-d thi- th-n- -ver," Toucan's avatar reappeared, still skewed by interference. "I'v- be-n t-ink-ng ab-t wh-t I -ead, a-d t-is de-ce c-uld -o s-me se-io-s da-ag- in th- wr-n- h-nds."
"Ya, but we're being paid way too much not to hand it over," I told him. "Besides, what would we tell the old man? 'Sorry, but our hacker had a bad feeling you guys were evil and would take over the world with this thing you're paying us to steal?' Look, if they do anything too major with it, another 'runner group is probably gonna be hired to stop them. Or maybe by Aztech to steal it back." I hopped out of the van after Oneshot parked and walked over to the chopper.
The inside looked the same, only this time I was the first person in it. I moved down to my spot on the couch, the lovebirds resumed their position, and Magic-man slid in to where he had sat on the way down. Toucan's distorted avatar filled the screen.
"It was mighty easy though," Oneshot said after we had all been sitting there a few minutes. "Maybe this is a bad idea after all."
"Look, I'm anxious about this thing too," I said, "but this is probably the largest payoff we're ever going to see." I sighed heavily. "Look, after we get paid we can steal the thing back, so ka?"
"No, not really," Railroad said. "In case you forgot, he has our names. Our real names. We can't be the ones that rob him." She had a point.
"M-yb- we h-re a-oth-r tea- to s-eal -t b-ck?" Asked Toucan. "W-ul- b- w-ir- f-r a ru-ne- to b- a Jo-so-, bu- th-s wa- we -e-p ou- n-mes c-ean a-d st-ll g-t -aid."
"Bird's got a good idea there," agreed Oneshot. "We pay them standard fee of a few thousand each, they steal it or slag it, and we keep a ton of nuyen ourselves."
Everyone agreed this was probably the best course of action, even Magic-man. It was decided that Railroad and Oneshot would handle things after we all split since they knew a few more fixers.
Mr. Johnson was waiting for us when we landed back home.
"I take it you have the device?" His old face had a small grin on it.
"Ya, it's right here," Railroad unslung her backpack and pulled out the device. It was glowing with a slight pale-green color now. Something told me we'd need to hire as team ASAP before that thing did whatever it was supposed to. One of Mr. Johnson's guards immediately took the device and placed it in a sealed container large enough to fit it's original with similar runes. A second guard handed us each a datachip.
Upon slotting the chip I saw the agreed upon amount and transfered it to a handful of smaller accounts. After slotting his, Magic-man walked off in one direction while Railroad and Oneshot walked off in the other. I pinged Railroad and Oneshot to wait up and jogged after them.
"What is it, Carver?" Railroad asked, clinging to Oneshot's side. I sent them both my public comm code.
"If you ever need something cut up, give me a ring," I said, walking alongside them a bit.
"Sure thing," Oneshot said. I got comm codes for both of them. "Likewise."
I walked with them a few blocks before turning towards the Wong Wok. Time to get me some noodles for life. Maybe I'll get that vibrate in my eyes dealt with tomorrow.