Chapter 45: SOS
Myers is getting reports that two Nomads destroyed her forces in Seaside Ravine. "This is awful. Hopefully, Watson gives me some results," Myers said to contact his FIA agent hearing explosions in the background.
"Madam, we are having a situation here. The town's air defense is still online. Our airship is getting shot at," Watson said as the connection was cut off.
"Damn it, what is going on over there," Myers said as she was in her office in the White House to watch the news of monsters popping up in the American wastelands. "Gee, like hell is appearing in these hellholes. They need to be contained in control for this nation to be back on track," Myers focused on her single foal to make America whole again and become the world's lone superpower.
Back with Stella holding onto something to think fondly of her younger sister Sasha. "This is the path you walk and now I need to walk it as well to prove myself," Stella said.
"Something wrong Stella?" Rebecca asked.
'I was thinking about her. Sasha, I am now taking up her crusade against Biotechnia," Stella said.
"She would be proud," Rebecca said to pat her tenderly on the back.
"I hope so," Stella said to hold onto a necklace lying on her Netrunner suit. "She made this for me when we were kids," she said to show Rebecca the necklace.
"It's so pretty, quite cute of her to do," Rebecca said.
"Yeah. You know we went down different paths. She became an Edgerunner and I became a cop. I thought what she did was stupid opposing the world to be a cyberpunk. I thought it was naive and stupid. Now here I am, trying to expose Biotechnia's dark secrets," Stella said.
"Runs in the family," Rebecca said as Stella nods her head.
"I guest. They cause the deaths of my mother, my baby sister, and my husband while ruining my life. This needs to be answered," Stella feels determined about this.
"That's my choom. What weapons do you want?" she asked.
"I got my weapons here," she pulls out her Kappa Smart auto pistol and the Tsunami Yurei smart bullpup precision rifle an upgraded model of the Tsunami's old Ramjet Rifle. It's based on the WA-2000 shape and form to hold 9 rounds and is semi-automatic.
"Pretty nice, I got a new pistol since I lost my two sidearms from that crazy four-armed agent. Check this out," Rebecca pulls out her sidearm the Rook aka the new Love which is a sleek pistol chambered for 5.7x28mm rounds with 24 rounds by default. She modifies it to have a holographic short sight, muzzle brake, laser sight, and an extended magazine holding 36 rounds. It also sports her ironic pink and green paint job.
"I am surprised you managed to defeat her," Stella said being deeply impressed by her feats.
"Why, she got cocky and I split her in half," Rebecca said.
"She is part of the FIA. The boogeyman/super spies of the NUSA, they were in Night City when the Unification War happened trying to take out an Arasaka Admiral who was aiding Night City's defense with his naval forces," Stella said.
"Seriously?" Rebecca asked.
"They are very dangerous. You got lucky," Stella said.
"I call it skill," Rebecca said as her kill count had been impressive since joining the nomads.
"You have gotten better than your days as an Edgerunner. Much better than before," Stella admits to checking her rifle. "Don't be cocky," Stella said.
"Stella, I learned that the hard way remembers," Rebecca said as Stella remembered her near-death experience with Adam Smasher which made her a better fighter in the long term.
"You are right, sorry," Stella said.
"You are such a worrywart sometimes," Rebecca said.
"Sorry, it's who I am," Stella said as Rebecca playfully patted her on the back.
"Don't worry, it's part of your charm. Hey babe, we are almost there?" she asked.
"Halfway, put on your old crop jacket?" Cortez asked as she was back in her normal nomad outfit along with the new pouch attached to the back of her hot pants.
"I don't have my armored jacket design finished. That gunship armor will be useful to make a preem armored jacket for my uses," she said.
"It's based on your old jacket, right?" Klunk asked.
"Yes, I miss that thing. I will make some changes to improve it," she said as she slipped the pistol into her thigh holster while having ammo slots inside her crop jacket.
"Well, we are getting close to the docks. Prepare for anything out there," Cortez said as they soon managed to park the truck and trailer into a building to hide it from the elements when they went on the mission to the island where Haze was located.
Cortez grabs a Masamune with a long-range scope and suppressor, a Metel revolver, and a VST-37 Pozhar with a 24-round drum magazine.
"There it is, the island and Haze in the background," Stella said to see the city covered in a misty fog. "Very spooky," she said as they found a speed boat to get on board.
"Okay, time to head for the island," Cortez said to get off to speed towards the island to hear the place no noise at all.
They arrive at the docks of the town to see the place sounds beyond dead. "Damn, it's too quiet out here," Rebecca said.
"Yeah, very eerie," Cortez said as Klunk had some concern detecting a fair bit of life signs.
"Monsters?" Rebecca asked.
"Human shaped," Klunk is confused for they are very human by his scans.
"Hoping someone can explain why they send out SOSs via radio," Stella said as they went through the docks with the mist making it hard to see. Rebecca looks up to see a sign of Biotechnia, looking proud to greet the world.
"Showoffs," Rebecca said.
"This place is a company town funded by the company. Everyone here is a Biotechnia employee," Stella said.
"That sucks, they pretend in Night City but here they are the real power here without hiding it," Rebecca said.
"We need to find a way into the city," Cortez said as the docks were mazes of buildings, warehouses, and shipping containers.
"I am detecting creatures, dogs but they are odd," Klunk said as Rebecca looked over to see a dog eating something.
"Oh, it looks sickly," she said as the dog looked over to see some parts of its fur were missing, its skin was greyish and its eyes were milky white. "The fuck," Rebecca said as the dog charges at her to tackle her to the ground trying to bite her neck.
"The hell," Cortez kicks the sickly dog off Rebecca to use his Masasume to put three rounds into its head to kill it. "Gee, what is wrong with this thing?" Cortez questioned. Several sick dogs appear to be very aggressive to charge at them.
They shoot at them several times but they don't stop and keep leaping at them while they dodge their lunges. "Shit, they have no implants," Stella said with her Netrunning being useless against organic targets.
Rebecca fires her M31A5 to tear into their bodies but keeps going to tackle Rebecca into a car. She dodges the lunge to pull out her new Love pistol to put rounds into its head to put it down. She looks over to see the sick dog rush at her to duck under its lunge to put rounds into its head but it's still standing to dodge incoming fire.
She catches it in mid-lunge to snap its neck killing it instantly. They managed to clear out the dogs. "Goodness, they were relentless," Rebecca said as they saw the dog take multiple hits before going down despite not having any cyberware on them.
"Could be powerful Bioware made by Biotechnia," Stella said.
"Let's keep moving," Cortez said as they found the stairs that led them into the city.
"Hello, anyone there?" a woman said on the radio for her voice sounded familiar.
"Yes, who is this?" Stella asked.
"Thank goodness, after that airship got destroyed. I thought no one was left. I am held up here in the apartment complex. I am housed here due to the hordes roaming the streets," the woman said to transfer her location to them. "Hurry and find me," the woman said.
"Don't worry, we will find you," Rebecca said as the woman was surprised by Rebecca's voice.
"Oh interesting, very interesting. The origin has come to me. Come soon, I would love to see you. Mother," the woman said to cut off the radio which left Rebecca.
"Mother, what the fuck," Rebecca said as Stella, Cortez, and Klunk catch on but need to worry about this horde.
"What is this horde she is talking about?" Stella wondered.
"We better check out this location and get a stat of the situation," Rebecca said as they looked up to see the dead city feeling eerily quiet frozen in time. "Seems like everyone was in a hurry," Rebecca looked over to see a bunch of cars piled up on the side.
"Panic but from what," Stella said as big towers with the Biotechnia symbol and banners stood boldly on the side of them. "Biotechnia signs are everywhere," Stella said feeling rightfully angry at this. "Whole town they have to themselves," she said as they heard crying nearby.
"Is that woman crying?" Cortez asked as Klunk detected the odd nearby. Stella goes over to see a woman sobbing behind a dumpster.
"Be careful," Klunk said as Stella went to check on the woman.
"Hey, are you okay?' Stella asked to tap her on the shoulder.
The woman turns around with her face grey, dry, and sickly along with the rest of her body. Also, her milky eyes gave Stella the creeps. She screams at Stella to lunge at her trying to bite into her neck as she kicks the woman away to fire her Kappa to land head shots but the woman tackles Stella into a dumpster.
"Fuck," she fires more shots until the woman falls over and dies. "What is wrong with her?" she wondered as they heard screaming nearby.
"I am detecting a ton of enemies. There is something wrong with these people," Klunk said as they saw over 100 people who were twisted and mutated, their clothing was in various states of disrepair and their hair was falling apart.
"Looks like a zombie movie," Rebecca said as they pulled out their guns to prepare for a fight. The beastly humans scream to rush at them at full speed. They lit them up with bullets that didn't stop them despite getting hit several times.
"Gee, they don't stop," Stella said as Rebecca used a Gash grenade to let the lasers slice up groups. One of the sickly humans rushes at Rebecca without an arm still trying to kill her. She pulls out Guts to split the male apart with a buckshot.
"Goodness, they just keep coming," Rebecca said as they killed but the monstrous humans kept coming without pause.
"Everyone, just run. You will be swarmed and turn into one of them," the woman said on the radio.
"Make way for the location," Cortez hacks a car to make it speed into the crowd of sickly humans while Stella moves the cars to make a makeshift barrier to slow them down. Cortez and Stella snap their fingers to make all the cars explode, taking out a bunch of sickly humans and setting them on fire.
"You are close by. Turn to the apartment building to your left," she said as they went inside to see its ruins. There will be an elevator you can take to my location. It's safe up here. I blew up all the staircases which lead up here. It's a safe house I made when I got here," the woman said.
"Got here?" Rebecca asked to go into the lift to head upwards.
"I was sent by Revolution Genetics Incorporated or RGI for short to steal Biotechnia's secrets here but I was forced into it. When I had the chance, I broke off all comms and tried to escape but the hordes you saw cut me off. I have been surviving here for weeks now," the woman said.
"Those guys are Biotechnica's rivals. They are the powerful company in the Antarctician Collective," Stella said as the Antarctician Collective is a recent nation based in Antarctica climate change has altered that landmass making some certain able to house human towns and port cities.
"That is nuts," Rebecca said.
"You said it mother. I didn't have much of a choice. My birth is not natural and I was sold off after DreadZone," the woman said. Everyone knows what is coming but Rebecca is confused by this.
"How the fuck do you know that?" she asked as they reached the floor high up in the complex to loom over the hordes below.
They get inside to see a familiar face as she stands 4'10 tall, sporting long green hair, chalk-white skin, and green and red cyber eyes. She is wearing a blue skintight bodysuit fitting her pear-shaped figure. Also has burn scars on the left side of her face.
"I was there mother, I was born from your genetics and your mind. I am your clone daughter, Mom," the Rebecca clone appears to go up and give Rebecca a big hug. "I am so happy to see you. It's been too long," the clone said as Rebecca was shocked by this.
"Fucking seriously," Rebecca said.
"Bismarck did make clones of you," Cortez said not being surprised by this.
"Indeed, as backups if you failed," Klunk said.
"Yes, they are right. When you were bought from Corpo Plaza after Adam Smasher split you in half. Trama Team saved you and gathered quite a bit of your DNA which was used to make my body here. Then Bismarck used a program called Geppetto heavily based on Soul Killer made by Biotechnia for their cloning program. It involved scanning your brain, pulling in all your memories and personality, and making multiple AI copies that can be put into cloned bodies and bring them to life hence the name," Clone Rebecca said.
"Clever indeed," Klunk said.
"Wow, so you are here. It's nice to meet you," Rebecca said to return her hug. "But I get why you would call me mother but I am not comfortable with that. We are like twins like Stella and Sasha. I am the big sister while you are the younger sister, does that work for you?" Rebecca asked.
"Sure, I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable sister. We are family regardless," Clone Rebecca said to let her in her safe house. "Please make yourself at home. We are going to be here for a while," the clone said to bring them into the living room.
"We are here to uncover the secrets of this place to put Biotechnia on notice. Letting the FSA know of their dark deeds," Stella said as the cloned woman felt Stella's determination.
"Well seems like our interests are aligned. I will help you out. Having met my older sister here is a big bonus. I always wanted to meet you," the woman said.
"Preem, what should we call you?" Rebecca asked.
"Oh, I am Rebecka. Call me that. I am looking forward to working with you," Rebecka said as they looked to see the safehouse is quite comfortable here.
"Nice digs," Cortez said.
"It's quite nova luck that I managed to find this person. Too bad the folks here were turned into Runners," Rebecka said.
"Runners. Those zombies down there," Rebecca said.
"I detected they are still alive. Not undead," Klunk said.
"Like your little buddy said. They are mutated by the Fury Virus made by the labs underneath this island. It's like super rabies mutating humans and animals into rage-filled monsters. Rushing and killing anything they get their hands on," Rebecka said.
"Interesting, act similar to that disease," Klunk said.
"Yes, losing all self-preservation and speech to be governed by pure aggression and violence. They travel in hordes and they overwhelm anyone that gets in their way. Don't get bitten, scratched, or fluid in your blood. You will become one of them in due time," Rebecka said.
"Damn like a real survival horror game," Rebecca said as Rebecka sighs.
"Oh, I wish this was one, I would be enjoying myself but it's a nightmare. You all need to set in and we will get over what we need to do. I will show you all to your rooms," Rebecka said.
"We can share up," Rebecca said to Cortez.
"Oh, big sister, you have a lover in this big guy?" she asked.
"Yep, he is my main squeeze," Rebeca said as Rebecka looked up at him.
"You are pretty cute, I hope you treat my big sister well," Rebecka said.
"She is very important to me. I would go to hell and back if it meant to keep her safe," Cortez said with a strong conviction which made Rebecca blush from his kind words.
"Oh baby," Rebecca reaches up and kisses him on the cheek.
"You both are cute together. Hopefully, I can find happiness like that. Here you go, this is the room you will be using," Rebecka said.
"Thanks, we should set up and rest up to figure out what to do next," Cortez said as Rebecka showed Stella her room to sleep in.
"Here you go," she said.
"Thanks, Becka," Stella said playfully to go inside.
Rebecka goes off to the window to look down to see a horde of enemies down below. "Fuck, so many Runners down there," she said to go over to her workbench to work on her weapons.
"Hey there little sis," Rebecca comes up to greet her to sit next to her by the window.
"Hey there, I was looking down. This place is so eerie but with you all here. It becomes more tolerable," Rebecka said.
"I must ask. How many of there of you?" she asked,
"Oh well, there are at least 7 I know of. There is me, the second one is in space, the third one was taken by Militech, and the other ones I don't know," Rebecka said.
"I see. Damn, one is in Militech?" Rebecca asked.
"Yes, and she hates you badly. Most of us love you but the rest are not happy. Expect them to seek you out and try to kill you," Rebecka said.
"Well, I will not go out without a fight,"
"Quite the fighter, we got that from you. I am very happy to meet you here big sister," Rebecka said as Rebecca remembers Maria with a sad look on her face.
"Here I am, discovering I have a little sister and more of them out there too. I am in Pillar's position, I can't waste this," Rebecca thought as she felt happy that she had more family out there.
"Something wrong?" Rebecka asked.
"No, I was thinking. I am happy too to meet you. Finding out I have a little sister is very exciting," Rebecca said wanting to embrace this sisterly relationship openly/
"Good, I don't want to weird you out," Rebecka said as Rebecca shook her head.
"Oh no, I have been through too much to be freaked out by anything at this point. It's good I have blood family," Rebecca said.
"I agree. Working with the Revolution Genetics Incorporated is hellish. I will get a second chance with you guys," Rebecka said as Rebecca looked over at the burn scars on her face. "You curious about this?" she asked.
"Yeah, if you mean?" she asked.
"Well, these are remainders just like your tattoos. Reminding me of my past and keep pushing forward to make better choices. It proves I am not just a copy of you and I can be my own person," Rebecka said as Rebecca patted her on the back.
'Damn straight. I think we will get along just fine. I need to catch some Zs. I will see you later," Rebecca said as Rebecka showed a bright smile.
"Sweet dreams," Rebecka said as the mist cleared up a bit. "I am grateful you are here big sis. It's been so lonely and now I am truly happy to meet you," Rebecka said to rub her burn scars on her face tenderly for the real mission to uncover Biotechnia's dark secrets with their new ally Rebecka is about to begin.