Mistrunner - Chapter 21 - A Protection Racket

I won’t claim that my life since the Initialization has been all bad. I am continuously amazed by the many miraculous things that are now possible. But sometimes I feel like I’m the only one who realizes that all of those miracles came at a high cost.

Jeremiah Braddock III

Two days, all to myself. It was such a strange feeling, especially after spending months where my every minute seemed to be regulated. It felt almost decadent to wake up that first morning and not have any demands on my time. Of course, habits were what they were, and after taking care of my morning routine and having breakfast downstairs, I found myself at the training ground, where I put in a couple of hours of work. Then, I spent a little time at the range before deciding to relax back at the Dewdrop Inn.

Unsurprisingly, Jo was there to greet me. But she didn’t look happy; instead, her expression was one of concern. So, I sat at the bar and asked, “What’s up? Something the matter?”

She shook her head and placed a glass bottle of NuCola in front of me before saying, “It’s nothing. Just thinking about how unfair the world is.”

“In what way?” I asked, taking a sip of the carbonated and artificially sweetened beverage. It didn’t really have a taste, per se. It was just sweet, but that was kind of what I wanted at that moment.

She looked around, then said, “I’ll tell you when I get off. Maybe you can help or something. I don’t know.”

With that, I settled down to enjoy my beverage, but I couldn’t deny that I was a little worried by Jo’s demeanor. Normally, she was overwhelmingly chipper, so it was a bit disconcerting to see her so anxious. Whatever the case, I would soon find out what was bothering her.

An hour – and two more NuColas – later, Jo’s mother relieved her and she practically dragged me from the inn. We didn’t stop until we reached a mostly deserted area almost a quarter mile away. We went into an alley, where there were some old boxes. Sitting on one, she said, “Everything’s just so fucking horrible here.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused. Mobile obviously had its problems. It was a walled town in the middle of nowhere, and it was missing many of the comforts common to a city like Nova, but it wasn’t a bad place – not as far as I was concerned, at least. I didn’t say as much, though. Instead, I waited on Jo to answer my question.

“You remember those guys at the market a few months ago, right?” she asked. “The Tigers?”

“The ones wearing those horrible colors?” I asked, remembering the clashing orange and blue. The combination had practically burned my eyes, it was so horrifyingly ugly.

“I guess,” she said. “But fashion issues aside, you know what they are, right? They’re a gang, and they extort all the people around here. They call it protection, but if anyone doesn’t pay, the Tigers send someone around to make the owners understand the need.”

I nodded. “That’s common in Nova, too,” I said.

“Well, my mom and dad, they’ve been paying the Tigers for years,” she said. “Nobody goes against them ‘cause they help defend the city when we’re attacked. But it’s getting worse, lately. And…and…well, there’s this one guy...he used to be kind of nice, you know? Before he joined up. But ever since then, he’s gotten worse and worse until…well, nowadays, he thinks he’s entitled to whatever he wants.”

“What’s his name?”

“Jack,” she said. “And…well, he wants me, now. Told my mom and dad that unless they give me up – which they won’t, obviously – they’re going to have to pay extra.”

“Wait – give you up? Like…”

“It’s exactly what it sounds like,” she said. “It’s why they took me off the night shift and have me working during the day now.”

I looked around, suddenly feeling like I was being watched. It was meaningless paranoia, but after hearing that Jo had something of a stalker, it was understandable. “What do you want me to do?” I asked.

“What? Nothing,” she said. “What can you do?”

“Uh…”

My first thought was that I could just kill him. It wouldn’t be the first person I’d killed, and I had a feeling he wouldn’t be the last, either. However, I suspected that murder would be frowned upon, by both my uncle and by Jo. So, I didn’t suggest that. Instead, I said, “I don’t know. Maybe I could intimidate him or something.”

For a moment, Jo’s expression was one of surprise, but then she let out a laugh. “You? Intimidate someone?” she said between guffaws. “Seriously?”

I crossed my arms and waited for her laughter to die down. When it did, I asked, “You finished?”

I knew I didn’t cut an imposing figure, but I suppose my training had given me an inflated opinion of myself. Or rather, of how other people might see me. The reality was that I was too small and too innocent looking to frighten anyone. And I knew it.

“Sorry, sorry. I know you’ve been training and stuff, but…c’mon, Mira. You have to know that wouldn’t work,” she said.

I bit my lip. “Fine,” I said. “What do you want me to do, then?”

“Nothing?” Jo said, seemingly confused.

“Nothing?” I echoed, also confused.

For a moment, Jo just looked at me, and then she said, “You don’t have to solve my problems. You know that, don’t you? Sometimes, friends just listen to one another’s issues.”

“Oh.”

That was definitely news to me. Of course, I’d never really had many other friends – or any, I guess – so it stood to reason that I wouldn’t know the unwritten rules of friendships. But still, it didn’t make much sense to me. After all, if I could solve her problems, I wouldn’t hesitate to do just that. What kind of a person would I be if I didn’t? Already, I was considering enacting my first plan and just killing the guy. It would’ve made things so much easier.

I didn’t, though. Instead, I spent the next hour listening to Jo complain about one thing or another. All the while, I made plans for how I was going to fix the Tiger issue. I’d been training for a while, so I felt confident in my abilities. If things went bad, I would just do what I had to do, but as it was, I realized I didn’t have enough information to make any real decisions. So, I endeavored to rectify that lack, which was how – hours later – I found myself crouched atop a building and studying the compound where most of the Tigers were based.

I was well aware that it was probably a stupid decision, and that my uncle would certainly disapprove. But I’d been training like mad for months, and I hadn’t gotten the chance to actually use any of my newfound skills. Besides, Jo had been nice to me, which was something new for me, and I wanted to believe that she was my friend. I wanted to help her, and that was that, as far as I was concerned. Whether or not it was stupid didn’t really matter to me.

In any case, I watched as garishly dressed mooks, some of which sported enviable mohawks, came and went from the compound. As I watched, I studied the building. It was surrounded by a low wall, maybe six or seven feet high, and looked like it had once been a warehouse of sorts. Other than that, I didn’t get much information; everything else was hidden from me.

So, I waited until night had truly fallen, and I descended from my perch. Crossing the street in a sprint, I slid to a stop next to the wall. My heart pounded out of my chest – not from exertion, but rather excitement. And a little fear. But I didn’t think the pair of mooks guarding the gate had seen me. Not really a surprise, given that I was wearing my black fatigues and the place wasn’t exactly well-lit.

I stood there for a long few moments, listening for any kind of alarm or alert, but there was nothing. So, I gathered my feet under me and leapt, grabbing the top of the wall and pulling myself up. Immediately, I saw a pair of surveillance cameras, turning in slow arcs at opposite corners of the building. When I focused on one, a menu flashed across my HUD:

Initiate Misthack? [Yes] or [No]

I chose the affirmative response, and a pair of number puzzles appeared on my HUD. I solved them both in the blink of an eye – after spending so much time training my mind, they were incredibly easy – resulting in another menu:

Misthack Successful. Options:

· Reboot System

· Hijack System

· Deactivate

The first was useless to me, so I ignored it, but the second seemed interesting enough. It would allow me to see through the camera, which could be useful in the right circumstances. However, the last was the option I was going for. So, I selected it, then repeated the process on the other camera, barely completing the deactivation before the camera swept in my direction. Letting out a sigh of relief, I slipped down from the wall and crouched between a pile of trash and a metal dumpster. Not the best-smelling of hiding places, but it was the best I could find.

As I knelt there, I saw a pair of timers in the top left of my HUD. One read seventy-five seconds, while the other read sixty. Once those timers ticked down to zero, the cameras would reactivate. So, I was on a schedule.

Glancing around to make sure the coast was clear – the Tigers didn’t really believe in tight security, apparently – I darted toward the back of the building, careful to keep my steps light. Even so, they were loud in my mind, and I felt certain that, at any moment, I would be discovered. If that happened, I would have no choice but to pull out my weapons. Things would get bloody, then. I didn’t want that to happen, so I took extra care to remain as silent as I possibly could.

Reaching the end of the building, I peeked around the corner and saw another camera. I deactivated it the same way I’d taken care of the other two, then, seeing that the coast was clear, turned the corner. Luckily, that’s when I spotted my way in. Along the back side of the building ran a fire escape; accessing it would require a pretty impressive leap on my part, but, over the past few months, my attributes had progressed to the point where my constitution exceeded an Unawakened human’s potential. So, I felt confident that I could make it work.

That decided, I crept forward, keeping low to the ground just in case there were any patrols I might have missed. I wouldn’t avoid detection for long, but it was dark, and I was dressed all in black, so maybe it would give me enough time to react.

In any case, it was unnecessary, because I reached the fire escape without issue. Then, I leapt, my fingers outstretched. For a moment, I didn’t think I was going to make it, but when my fingers brushed against that rusty metal, I gripped it tightly. A moment later, I pulled myself up. There, I waited for a few seconds, my breath coming in short gasps; I hadn’t really exerted myself, but my heart was going a thousand miles an hour. So, I took a few deep, calming breaths before mounting the steps of the rickety fire escape.

If I’d been any heavier, the thing might have collapsed under me. But as it was, I made it to the top without much issue, and I soon found myself next to a rusted metal door. I tried the knob, and to my surprise, it was unlocked. My first impression of the Tigers had been accurate – they really didn’t care so much about security. And I was more than willing to take advantage of that fact.

I turned the knob and winced at the resultant screech of a mechanism that hadn’t been used in years. It wasn’t overly loud, but in my ears, it might as well have been a building-wide alarm. Still, I bit the bullet and continued the turn, opening the door only slightly to get a good look inside. Fortunately, there was no one in the hall past the door, and I slipped inside, my eyes darting around to see if there were any surprises waiting on me.

There weren’t, but I heard the muffled sound of thumping music and raised voices somewhere far below me. Someone was having a party, it seemed. Or maybe it was just a normal Tuesday for the Tigers; that wouldn’t have been so surprising. Many of the gangs back in Nova City were held together by desperation, drugs, alcohol, easy money, and the camaraderie that came from frequent parties. The gangs in Mobile seemed little different, from what I could tell.

I stalked further into the building, passing several rooms along the way. I felt certain that they were the gang members’ quarters, but I couldn’t be entirely sure. At each door, I paused to listen for occupants. I didn’t hear anything, but I wasn’t so naïve as to think they were entirely unoccupied. I would just have to be quick about my task and hope that nobody chose that moment to leave their bedroom.

Hurrying along, I found my way to the end of the hall. As I reached the last door, it slid open of its own accord. Cursing my own stupidity, I activated my Arsenal Implant and retrieved my nano-edged knife. It was only about nine inches long, and I wasn’t nearly as skilled with it as I was with my firearms. But it had the advantage of being silent – a necessity at that moment.

The man in the doorway never had an opportunity to react before I slammed my blade up and into the bottom of his chin, destroying his brain in the process. He collapsed silently, held aloft by my embedded knife. Blood spilled out of the wound, coating my hand as I felt panic rising in my chest. I hadn’t intended to kill anyone, but there I was, with a mook’s brain shish kabobbed on my blade.

Luckily, my Combat Focus cleared my mind enough that I was soon dragging the body back and away from the doorway. It hissed shut. Looking around, I debated what to do. I could stash the body in one of the rooms, but that came with a couple of problems. First, I had no idea if any of those rooms were occupied. If the one I chose had someone inside, I’d end up with another body on my hands. And even if the room turned out to be unoccupied, the owner would eventually return. If that happened before I made my getaway, I would be burned.

No - I needed somewhere else to store the body. And I had a good idea for that. So, I started to backtrack, being extra careful to keep the man’s blood from dripping onto the floor. I couldn’t stop it completely, but I hoped that by flipping him over and using his shirt as a makeshift bandage, I could keep the worst of it at bay. I was only moderately successful.

In any case, I made it back to the fire escape with little difficulty, where I unceremoniously tipped the body over the edge. It landed with a sickening crunch that I did my best to ignore. A couple of minutes later, I’d descended the metal stairs and dragged the body to the corner. After deactivating the cameras again, I carried the corpse back to the dumpster and, with a sigh of relief, settled it into its new home.

It was only then that I realized just how out of my depth I was. I’d decided to infiltrate the Tigers’ facility on a whim, and I’d done so completely unprepared. All my lessons had stressed the necessity of proper preparation, but at the first opportunity to do so, I’d charged in like an untrained mook. My trainers would have been ashamed.

But the damage was already done, wasn’t it? I couldn’t just leave. I had no illusions about my dumpster-diving friend remaining undiscovered, and when the Tigers figured out that someone had killed one of their own, they would go on high alert. If I decided to come back another day, I’d probably face much tighter security.

Besides, Jo’s problem wasn’t just going away. She needed my help. Even if she hadn’t asked for it, she was damned sure going to get it.

No – I had no choice but to keep going with my plan.

So, I retraced my steps, doing my best to disguise the blood as I went. There wasn’t that much of it on the ground, but when I got back up the fire escape and into the hall, I was confronted with a red mess. With a groan, I summoned a spare shirt from one of the extra storage spots in my Arsenal Implant, and I went to work cleaning it up. It took me about fifteen minutes, but I managed to do a decent job before finally moving on.

I held my breath as I activated the door at the end of the hall. It slid open, revealing an empty balcony. I crept through the doorway and peeked over the edge to see a party in full swing. There were plenty of Tigers, all identifiable by their horrendous orange-and-blue clothing, but there were quite a few unaffiliated people there as well. The music, which had so far been little more than muffled background noise, became so loud that I could scarcely hear myself think.

As a girl who’s always appreciated loud music, that kind of thing normally doesn’t bother me. However, when said blaring music is horrible, it puts a decidedly different spin on it. I did my best to ignore it, turning left and following the balcony, all the while staying as low as I could so they couldn’t see me from down below. My black fatigues would instantly mark me as an outsider, and then…well, there would be more than one dead body to worry about if that happened. Maybe even mine, depending on how competent these Tigers really were. I didn’t want to find out.

I made my way to a doorway in the corner, and when I opened it, knife at the ready, I experienced my first bit of good luck. In fact, I’d hit the jackpot because the room beyond housed a security terminal. There were plenty of monitors, too, but I didn’t care about them. If I could jack into the terminal, I’d have access to everything.

Stepping inside, I closed the door and locked it behind me. Wasting no time, I quickly crossed the room and popped open the port on my wrist. It had been installed at the same time as my other cybernetics, but I still hadn’t had a real chance to use it. Either way, I knew how it worked. Inside was a retractable cable – seemingly metallic but feeling like plastic – with a fat connecter on the end. I sat in the chair next to the terminal, pulled the cable out, and plugged the connector into the appropriate port. Instantly, a new message opened on my HUD:

Secure Terminal: [Enter Password] or [Mistwalk]

Obviously, I didn’t have a password, so I selected the second option. I didn’t have much experience with Mistwalking, so I was a little surprised to be greeted by a much more elaborate number puzzle. It took me almost a minute to complete, and it included fairly advanced equations. Luckily, those were nothing new, so I completed it without issue. When I did, I gained access to the entire system.

One of the benefits of having increased my mind attribute was that I could now process information much more quickly than ever before. So, it didn’t take me long to sort through the various options and home in on the security feeds. When I did, I discovered that my previous assertion that the Tigers didn’t take security very seriously was spot on. Their laziness was my benefit, I suppose.

Over the next hour, I downloaded their files, all the while keeping an eye on the security feeds so I wouldn’t be surprised. When I was finished, I felt certain that, buried somewhere within all that information, was the key to getting the Tigers off Jo’s back. I just had to find it.

With that done, I quickly retreated back the way I’d come, left the building, and climbed over the fence. It wasn’t until I was halfway back to the inn when I started noticing all the strange looks I was getting from pedestrians. It took me far longer than it should have for me to realize what they saw – a teenage girl who was absolutely covered in blood.

Yeah – maybe I wouldn’t fly as far under the radar as I’d anticipated. I could only hope that my uncle wouldn’t hear about it.