Unemployed
Jig-Jig street rattled, with the noise of kicked cans. The sound of trash had already set Six's expectations, watching the litter of humans scattered about conversing on nothing important. The swarm that brushed up against Six was sent rebounding back, disappearing into the crowd to be forgotten about in less than a second. Jig-Jig street on a Saturday night, with more ladies with fur coats than outside a brothel. The bright phallic symbols atop the shops, with posters of naked men and women in leather displayed in windows. Advertisements for XXXtreme braindance, gawked at by humans controlled by base instinct. Jade looked back to make sure that she didn't lose Six. A pale face with bright red Iris' Six was difficult to lose. Not impossible, with enough people to make the simple act of walking effort. Jade tried to keep close, the wave of ganic's though pushed her around. Six was unhindered by the conveyer belt of meat in the street, following Jade down an alley to a secluded part of the block. A redbrick building, hidden in a tiny courtyard, hugging the brown stained wall. The sign for Fingers M.D The last to letters of the sign had been broken. There were cracks in the sign,a blunt weapon was used. A dim glow from the windows, not to mention the thugs playing cards on the step. Jade gulped, watching to see what they would do.
"Sup, fingers in today? We're looking for a word with him." One of the thugs stood up, arms wide, baseball bat in hand. The animal made themselves bigger to appear more threatening. They pointed their baseball bat to the two stripes that wrapped around Jade's neck.
"The waiting room's upstairs. Only dolls allowed. Boss don't want any mercs after last time." Jade's fingers rubbed behind her ear, tracing the golden wires that choked her.
"No…I'm not. Look I know how he gets his chrome. The dolls in clouds know, I want to help." The guard chuckled stepping closer. "Making demands? You don't look like any of the collectors. Get lost or get a face plate"
"We won't." Six interrupted walking from behind Jade, stopped by the two guards, lifting their baseball bats. A quick glance could see the black marks on their fingers and wires in their body connected to synth-muscle. Gorilla arms.
"Listen gonk. You're a corpo. So I'll pretend you're slow. You're not allowed in." Six stepped back, holding his arms out with a grin. This night could be exciting after all. Spencer was mostly ganic, weak. Yet gorilla arms and baseball bats may lead to some thrill. "So…I'm not getting through without a fight? I'll play fair and let you have the first blow." The guards looked at each other. Jade's eyes looked back to Six with a harsh whisper.
"What are you doing?"
"Having some fun. One free hit. Don't waste it." The thugs stared at each other. Six looked human enough, eye implants and cyberware hands were all that could be seen. "Because I'm going to attempt to go in if you take the free hit or not, so hit me." They seemed to freeze, as one had to push another closer to Six. The lamb lined their bat up, as if they were playing golf and Six's head was the ball, making sure they wouldn't miss. The animal pulled the bat and swung, the ping of metal against metal filled the tiny courtyard. Six's head was smashed to the side, their jaw dulled by pain. Six stood back up to full height, baring his teeth in a wide grin. The synth-skin showed no damage, Six aimed their target reticule on the closest thug and lunged forwards.
The doormen were boring. Six wiped the blood from their knuckles on a torn piece of shirt. Six stepped to the side, letting Jade take point.
"Did you have to do that?"
"I thought they'd be more a fight."
"No. Let's just hope we never see them again…they are alive right?"
"Want me to kill them?"
"No!" Jade paused and took a deep breath in. She coughed, inhaling fumes from one of the side rooms. The air filled with the haze of some kind of narcotic, or amalgamation of everything. Six's boots crushed needles beneath their feet. Six's foot brushed against a floor dweller, moving them off the spot. Semi-lucid in the room they could only groan and pull themselves back up to a seated position, back against the wall for support. The dim yellow light managed to hide, what was going on in the corners of the room. The drug den ended, and the clinic began at the steps, pink light shining down from the steps. Six leaned down, grabbing onto a package left on the floor. Dorph in marker pen. A heavy painkiller used for soldiers, or when operating on someone. Jade was already up the stairs, moving past what she saw, without even a glance at the addicts.
"Look, Six right? I think after seeing that, you should let me do the talking."
"I just won."
"I don't want to win. I need Fingers conscious. He can't give us a job if he's on the floor cradling his stomach."
"Fine." Fingers' waiting room was filled with dolls, all with faulty cyberware to a man with a mangled metal hand to a woman, missing an eyeball, only having a silver socket. Jade sat on the couch. Six next to her, the door opened, and a doll was released, another one moved in. Six's foot pounded the carpeted floor, while the others had magazine and Jade waited. Six stood up, pacing towards the door. "Can I at least open the door?"
"There's a queue." The doll closest to the door pointed to himself. He couldn't stop Six.
"Make me."
"Make you what wait?"
"Wait, that wasn't a challenge," Jade called out, but her voice wasn't heard over The metal fist banging away, as the doll looked back to their magazine, muttering to themselves, foul language unable to pierce Six's armor. The door slid open revealing a balding man with a see-through nylon top that barely covered his torso, his body on display with torn jeans and flip flops. Their mouth opened wide at the sight of Six.
"My God…" Six stepped back, let the lady do the talking.
"Fingers…may we have a word? It's about work."
"Finally getting some more work done Jade? You can wait. I'm busy." Fingers gestured to the woman on the table behind him.
"What?" Jade stroked her cheek, seeing herself in a far-off mirror "No, look it's private. It's about your extra cyberware, special stock. Extra-legal."
"Talk with me about it in the morning. I have clients."
"They can wait. You're all happy too, right?" The doll next to the door shook its head, Six popped a mantis blade prepared to eject. The doll recoiled.
"Fine, only because you're scaring my clients." Fingers turned to the patient on the table. "Listen sugar, You relax. I need to talk now."
"I am not having this surgery interrupted again."
"Then find someone else who you can pay, oh wait. You can't. Just a little longer sugar" Fingers lead the two past the tiled work bench filled with bloodied equipment, there was no door to the bedroom, and beaded tassels separated the two rooms. The bedroom was decorated with fake zebra skin carpet, bondage gear on the red-furred walls and the digital fireplace flickering opposite the bed, which of course was leopard print. Fingers sat on a swivel chair next to a coffee table lighting a cigarette. Fingers blew a cloud of smoke at Jade's face. He sat on the only chair in the room. The digits of the ripperdoc were delicate, too long to be natural. "So a little birdie told you about my goods? You come to me for help?"
"All of clouds know it. We know why you're cheap." Jade waved the smoke away. "Your chrome is boosted." Jade indicated to Six. "We can help get you better equipment. For eddies of course." Fingers took a long drag of his cigarette, pushing it into the overcrowded ashtray. "I'm not an expensive ripper. My clients can only afford so much."
"Because your clientele are all dolls. Dolls that are earning more since that little coup at clouds. There's a reason I stopped going to you. Offer better stuff, charge higher rates, get higher paying wealthier customers. Once word gets out. It won't just be broken dolls you fix. Worst case scenario, simply sell what we stole." Fingers stroked his chin for a second and stood up with a grin, buzzing around Six, lingering closer. their trigger finger twitched. Fingers stroked the back of Six's neck, swatted away like a fly.
"You going to give us a job or not?"
"I do have a lead." Fingers walked around the borg, their hand tracing the metal body, getting a feel, as their eyes could see under the skin. "Rumour has it Valentino gonk, a feller called Hernandes was stabbed. That's the good news because Gold kiroshi optics aren't cheap. Head to the Haywood morgue, and bring them back. Simple."
"If It was that simple, you would've sent someone else." Jade folded her arms.
"A little bit of lying. Simple for the metal head."
"Got the co-ordinates, let's go." Six called from the door, waving his arm for Jade to follow. Fingers waved a hand, but the two were already out the door, ignoring the guards who were rubbing their heads, and nursing their wounds, crawling away from the metal goliath. Jade caught up with Six, tapping their shoulder.
"You sure you want to do this?"
"This was the deal right?"
"Just giving you a chance to back out."
"We made a deal." Six advanced with Jade behind, tugging at his coat.
"Thanks. Guess you can shine shit huh?"
"That's good, right?"
"Better than any other Saka I've had. That's included the one's in bed." Jade chuckled and lightly nudged Six, but they didn't give way. Six was silent for a second, their hand moved, scratching at their chest despite not feeling an itch. It was underneath the metal carapace, an echo of a memory of a feeling before. Six didn't know what it was. Jade stared, waiting for a response, having to carry on in silence for half a minute.
"Why?"
"Left me in suspense just for that." Jade laughed, Six able to hear it above Jig Jig street, on the surface level of N.C. This corp had a personal, yet here they were with an old doll. Their use was extinguished. "What do you mean Why?"
"I'm doing my job." Six paused, watching Jade up the steps to the N-cart station and pause, looking back to them, extending a hand.
"I was ordered to."
"Were you ordered to help me with work? Just accept the Thank you." They were going to miss the N-cart if they had to stop half a second every time the two of them had to stop half a second for a response.
The shining neon of ersatz neo-tokyo was exchanged for Heywood, the buildings were concrete slabs, the decoration of graffiti art became western, with messages to each other like Jake's mom sucks my balls failed to hide the chips in the buildings from bullet holes in the concrete. The only improvement from Watson, according to anyone from this district was the lack of Arasaka presence. The morgue a gunmetal bungalow. Six placed their hand on the door, and stopped by stepping in front, nearly falling over.
"Wait, we're going through the front door?"
"Yeah, what's up with that?"
"We're going in there to steal. We need to attract as little attention as possible."
"I'll knock the person behind the desk out."
"No." Jade rubbed her temples and took a deep breath in, stepping down, Six's optics followed, holding back, for now. "It leaves evidence. Let's find another way around." Six placed their hands in the trench coat pockets, boots thumping around the perimeter. They could have secured the building by now. It was a morgue. Not a high-security compound. The backdoor was locked but That just meant it needed to be broken open, with fog flowing into the street, from the cool room, Six had to break the door back into place. The optics could see bodies in the lockers, opening the tray to have bodies roll out, with only fabric wrapped around their privates to keep their dignity intact. Six had pulled all the trays open to search for the body. There was the Valentino's gang member, the tattoo on their chest, and wound in their pectoral confirmed it. Six forced their eye open, revealing empty silver eye sockets. Jade turned away, covering her mouth.
"Put him back, put him back." Jade shuddered hearing the freezer door shut, able to turn around. "What happened to his eye? We got the right morgue?"
"Correct?"
"So someone got here before us."
"It means we have to find them."
"How?" Six peaked through the open door, spotting a camera in the hallway, the lens focused on Six but their face was a blur.
"Hunt a lot of people?" Jade kept her head down, following Six into the empty hallway.
"Only loose ends." Six reached for their pistol, with Jade, overtaking him again.
"Can we do this without violence? If we have to be seen, let's not be hostile." Jade looked down the hallway and took a deep breath her heels clicked on the harsh floor, Jade's body hunched over, and water began to leak from her face, as she leaned over the desk.
"Is he here…my uncle. I told him not to do anything stupid. The woman behind the desk gulped, listening to the story of a worried Niece coming to see if their uncle was here. There was an attempt to go through official procedures, paperwork, but whenever that would happen, Jade's tears would flare. The moritician revealed the file of an A Hernandez, brought in tonight. Jade held her hands to her mouth seeing the paper.
"Is this, Your uncle's body." Jade nodded her head, speaking through the whimpers.
"That's him. Tell me, was he brought intact? I wouldn't want any damn scavs getting to him."
"He was brought in like that. I'm afraid."
"Who brought him in?" Six towered over the mortician who let out a high pitch squeal hugging the wall.
"I'm a-afraid I can't Say."
"Six." Jade stepped between the two. "Let me, please…We need our uncle's eyes." She looked back, hugging herself. "See they're well. They're a family heirloom. Please. We just need to see who brought them in." The mortician nodded her head and took the long way around the room, furthest from Six to the door.
The camera quality was poor, but Six could make out a pickup truck. Six's optics took a picture and sent it to Tanaka. Counter-intel might be able to find the numberplate, as a scruffy figure wearing torn up biker leathers took the body through the street over their shoulder. The mortician's eyes didn't leave the tall dark figure, leaning over them, optics unblinking at the screen..
"It was a bounty hunter. Your uncle was well, N.C.P.D wanted him."
"He wasn't perfect, but he was family." Jade tapped Six's hand and turned their back halted by the mortician.
"May I ask, what is the relation between you two?"
"Six is." Jade looked to the borg, no way would a member of the family cut it, for one Jade's mother was from Mexico. Six was as pale as they came. "Friend, He knew my uncle. Helped him out a few times."
"I'm a friend?" Six scratched at their chest when leaving the morgue.
"Never lied before, have you?"
"I'm not built to lie."
"I wasn't born to lie."
"You weren't born to do anything."
"Insulting me?"
"Stating a fact." Six had sent the image to Arasaka. Tanaka would help out as Counter intel used their backdoor into the N.C.P.D to search for the plate. It wasn't a night city plate. N.U.S.A. The netrunner on the other end couldn't find evidence of the plate on the border, A smuggler? There were criminal hotspots and the truck had been narrowed down to a few places. "Afterlife. Trucks probably there?"
"All-knowing huh?"
"Arasaka." Six stepped forwards with Jade trailing behind.
"Can we stop?" Jade lay back on a bench on the street. "I've been on my feet all night, bodies aching."
"I'll carry you, we're on the clock." Six waved with Jade's voice louder, the legs may ache but her The truck was last seen, in the redwood market, a small drive for a car, but for the two on their feet, It was up the ramp onto to look down the steps, past the drunken musician to the various scrap metal stalls and yells of traders. Six winced as their boots were somehow dirtier on the floor of the markets, the weight able to displace others, The scent of synth noodles and body odor followed Six and Jade until they found their way out of the markets. The road leading to a dark tunnel where the orange truck could be seen. Six slammed their fist into an open hand walking forward, the windows were metallic, the type found on nomad vehicles to stop bullets. It was Jade who called out, leaning against a wall.
"What's your plan."
"I was going to trash his truck?"
"And then?"
"See what happens."
"That's a terrible plan, that's not even worth calling a plan?"
"You got one?"
"I mean, cop movies usually have a stakeout."
"I'm not a cop."
"I know but we can…we can just sit and wait until the owner gets to the truck, if we trash it, they might run. Can we take a seat, please?" Tanaka's texts filled Six screen, if they wanted to remain in control, they'd stakeout. Six folded their arms with a puff, nodding their head.
"A waste of time." Six followed Jade, as she paused in front of a noodle stall, holding her stomach, almost salivating her disgusting mouth juices over the synthetic meat and wheat dough fried on a massive metal wok. Six sat on a stool and sighed, listening to Jade's stomach growl.
"That will make sneaking around problematic, I need you functioning optimally."
"I'm hungry. I can't control it."
"Then eat." Six transferred the credits to the shop owner, nodding his head, putting…whatever was frying on the wok inside a box. "If we don't get your money you just prolong your homelessness."
"Remember what I said about street food. Probably dead people in that box." Six passed the Box.
"Better to eat a human than starve. Just eat the noodles, ignore the meat." Jade reached for the chopsticks, picking up a single noodle, when she finished it, she began chomping down, picking up what she could, the rubbery texture gave some resistance when she chewed but It wasn't human at least, synth whatever it was.
"Ain't you eating?" Six recoiled, seeing the mass of mush inside her mouth, only to be excreted from the body days later. Six couldn't be sick, but disgust was the next best thing, staring back to the truck, on watch.
"I don't eat. I don't have a stomach."
"How are you alive?"
"It's complicated."
"I'm a complicated gal."
"Let's just say I'm better than you."
"In what way?"
"Everyway."
"Your cocky."
"It's fact. My cyberware is more durable, stronger, faster."
"So…your chromes better." Jade finished her noodles and slammed the box on the counter. "In other words, you're a cheater." Six opened their mouth, to speak, but Jade stopped him, pointing to the truck, its lights flashed yellow, someone had unlocked it. Six stood up and scanned the crowd, they hadn't seen a face on the morgue camera, but through the swarm of humans, a leather-jacketed male stepped out. They were dressed like a nomad, combat boots, camo cargo pants and biker leathers. They lacked their clan symbol, the outline was on the back of the jacket though. Six reached inside their coat for the weapon, revealing the pink plastic pistol, Jade close behind.
"Don't pull the trigger. Let me talk just…intimidate." Six rolled their optics, emerging from the crowd, towering over the mortals behind, they raised their pistol taking aim. Six's voice spoke out.
"Nomad. You have something we want." The nomad shot their hands into the air, keys in hand, turning around to see who was threatening him. He saw the borg and began to laugh.
"Well damn. First Time I've been threatened with a polymer one shot." A crack whistled past the nomad's ear, pinging off the metal windscreen as they took cover behind their truck.
"It's still a gun. I see you have no heavily armored cyberware. Your clothing is suited for blunt weapons. Bullets are sharp. This pistol would launch a bullet with enough force to pierce the skin. I am equipped with Kiroshi optics, synaptic accelerators and a ballistic coprocessor. It's unlikely I'll miss. If I do, there's thirty five more rounds." Six turned to Jade. "Intimidating enough?" Jade nodded and stepped forwards, still in a maid uniform, tugging at her collar.
"We're looking for a set of golden eyes. Our person meant to have them, well doesn't. We saw your car taking their body into the morgue. Where are they?" The nomad's body deflated and backed up around their, reaching out to the door handle of the vehicle, They reversed into Six's body. The metal hand came down, clamping onto his shoulder. "Well. Those eyes, they were expensive ya' see. Worth quite a lot if you find the right buyer, see I sold them."
"To who." Six stepped closer to the drifter who opened the truck door, only to have Six slam it shut, towering over the scrappy figure, their eyes unwavering, targets locking onto the next victim of their wrath.
"I…I…I sold it to scavengers." The drifter pointed his eyes poked toward an alley, Six's scanner saw two figures next to a hut with a B.D wreath in their hand. Six grabbed drifter and slammed him into his own truck, grip tightening around the leather jackets collar.
"I don't detect the cyberware."
"Something that valuable? They won't keep it, they'll take it to their hideout?"
"Where?"
"No idea. I didn't follow them?"
"Find me a way in."
"Well, w-we might need to give them another delivery, something of value, they can take back, sleek, hell chrome dome such as yourself, served on a silver platter. We follow you, call the cops, save your ass." Six's grip tightened, seeing the migrant open the door, making sure they wouldn't escape to reveal a tracker.
"Stupid"
"Guess they'll keep the eyes sell 'em off and then lost forever. Relax bud I'll save you, for a cut." Six punched the door shut, leaving a dent.
"I don't trust you."
"Me?" Jade folded her arms.
"You can't think this is a good idea."
"My doll chip won't come out easy. I'll make sure the dust bunny won't leave you. Just…give me the gun."
"Not a chance." Six began to back away, this wasn't worth it, Tanaka could keep their money. Six would stay alive. Tanaka's yellow Box appeared in Six's vision.
'I'll wake you up before they do anything serious.'
"Doc, think here...All this for a doll?" A red triangle formed in the centre of Six's vision, WARNING as a bar began to fill, twenty five percent.
'I know you can get out safe, beside's. Scrappers are bad for business. Think of this ashelping the company.' Six limped forwards a leg losing strength as the entire right side of his body, shut down the weight of metal too much for just a brain to lift. They had to drag their body further, trying to the path as more exclamation marks in triangles appeared.
"Tanaka. I swear. You better compensate me for this. You better wake me up."
'Of course. Than you Six. You're doing the right thing.' Six fell to the floor, the right thing didn't soften the fall, even if couldn't feel a thing. pain receptors forced to shut down. Six reached out, to the sidewalk as red triangles filled their vision before it all flicked to black, the remote had been switched off.
Six was not allowed to die though as a small beam of light made itself obvious, the shutter lifted in milliseconds, showing a cracked tiled wall. Six slammed their hand on the edge of a bathtub, naked in ice water. Naked for Six wasn't naked for everyone else. Where there should have been skin from the neck down it was a sleek black carapace, with the bulk of body armor. A screwdriver was wedged inside one of Six's ventilation slots, where the pectoral would be, unable to do anything to the metal as they removed it. Six's toeless bipedal prosthetics placed themselves on the floor. The tub hadn't been filled with water, there was no need to preserve the body. Six observed the bathroom taking in their bearings. Broken tiles, small. There was already a stiff on the floor. Six's audio receptors picked up talking as they got up, fingers cracked the ceramic tub. Tanaka. He did this…Nomad's stupid idea, all for Jade. Six's arms opened, as blades lifted from their arms, the door wasn't locked. He could keep quiet and take them by surprise. That was wise, but Six's vision glitched, holding their eye, audio receptors glitching listening to the sound of barking. These scavengers, Filthy, dirty, they wanted fight. Six could flex their blades. Criminals, Not Arasaka. Six stepped back, shaking his head. The life coach said count to ten and think. Think of heads speared by their blades. Six began to count, One, Two. Three and boring so damn boring. Three. They were deer, he was the black dog. Snarling, visions of the augmented hound. Six slammed their hand into the wall, having to hit something, slamming a fist into a wall and sending chips flying off the wall. Unsatisfying Four. The door slid open to reveal a scavenger, freezing as their eyes saw Six, hunched over at the other end of the room, neck twisting, to look backward. The cattle reached for its weapon. Too slow. Six was already across the room, mantis blade lunging forwards with an outstretched hand, piercing through the skin. The natural iron began to flow through the wound the pain only a second to register before a second blade pierced the skull. The body fell revealing another deer behind them Six's vision glitched, filling with static between each piece of the herd.
So chapter 2 going strong, again trying to be a bit more descriptive, as My main concern about my writing is these massive chunks of dialogue, and then description. I am dialogue heavy I am aware it is my style and it's a great way to show character without telling, but I just want to blend more.
Also apparently I'm the only one who writes about a full borg. I can see why. There are not many examples in the game, and the board game, I don't think explains it that much, you have to try and make up alot. I'm going to be self-indulgent in this author's note and say it is tricky. After all full body Converts like Adam smasher, and in Deus Ex Adam Jensen are essentially the Machine Gods. (Deus ex i think means machine God) so There's hardly any threat with Six and normal humans. There's something about them that interests me though, by my title as subtle as a brick through a window you can probably guess.
