Outrun - Chapter 470 - Payday (Patreon)

Our lifeboat slid into an abandoned pier in the middle of nowhere. The rotting wood looked like it’d fall apart at any moment. A fisherman’s boat sat abandoned ahead of us, with the entire back half of it torn off like something massive had snuck a bite. 

Way further south, the lights of the city flickered and flared to our side. This far away, the neon and rain mixed into a blurry haze. It was a familiar view since my overlook was also to the north of the city, but… this time it was a bit different. Crazy how small it all looked this far away. 

“I got it.” Tex grabbed the rope, and smoothly tied a loop into it. The shoddy lasso whipped forward and smoothly wrapped around a peg on the rotting wooden dock.

”Nice.” I grabbed the cryo case holding our biocomputer. Vox hopped off my shoulders, and smoothly jumped up onto the pier above us.

”What kinda cowboy would I be if I couldn’t lasso something?” Tex just shook his head, and jumped up onto the dock. He turned back and lowered his hand to me. 

I accepted his hand, and let him pull me up onto the rotting pier. At the end of the pier, a duo of androids stood there with rifles lowered. Just beyond that, a flyer was parked on the desert sands. Small dunes formed around the base of the flyer from where its thrusters blasted down.

A woman paced just in front of the flyer, flanked by four more androids. A set of high heels dangled haphazardly from one hand, and her other held a phone. She was talking into the phone with a business-like tone, though that faded as the two of us approached. “… call you back later.”

”The Hound didn't come himself?” Tex asked as we moved in between the androids. His hand dropped onto his the grip of his revolver, and his eyes flicked between all of the androids.

The woman slid her phone into her pocket, and put on a business-like smile. “He’s a busy man. That won’t be an issue, I trust?”

“Now why would that be an issue? Assuming you are actually from the Hound, ‘course.” Tex tipped his cowboy hat to her. “No offense.”

”None taken. It’s refreshing to work with people who can use their brains for once.” She stretched her hand out for the cryo case. “I’ll take you back to the city. As per the plan, you’ll meet him once more to get paid.”

Vox jumped up onto my shoulder, and watched the woman with glowing blue eyes. “We weren’t told where that’d be.”

The woman's smile never faded, but surprise filled her eyes as they flicked down to Vox. “Moonfall, I presume?”

“In the flesh… or metal, I guess?” Vox’s head tilted to the side cutely, and one of her ears tilted. “So?”

The woman just shook her head like it was a shame. Instead of just giving a straightforward answer, she had to prove she was a corpo through and through. Her voice slowed ever so slightly like a languid cat. ”My my, what’s with the impatience?”

”My my, what’s with the shitty powerplay?” I shot back at her. I lifted the cryo case holding the biocomputer, and ran a finger along its side. Red plasma shot out of my finger, and stopped just shy of cutting into the machinery. “Don’t forget who you’re dealing with.”

”The same could be said to you…” She glared past her smile. The glare quickly faded to a calm. “However, there’s no need to over complicate things. The Hound will send a location at midnight. Best be quick when the time comes. We won’t be in this city for much longer.”

“The others know they’re in for a time crunch?” I asked. Ronin was probably just now getting over his paralysis on the boat, and the other two were probably still trying to lose the heat they accumulated by attacking Mystech so blatantly. 

“Plans have been made for them all the same. Worry about yourself first.” She held out her hand. “Now, if you’d please? I’d like to confirm the merchandise.”

She had a point. I couldn’t give a shit about Lavender, but I’d feel a bit bad if I sabotaged Ronin. I handed over the cryo case to the woman. “Here.”

She snapped her fingers, and one of the androids grabbed the case from me. The bot held the organ transplant case up for her to inspect. With practiced ease, she popped open a view port on the front of the case to reveal a twisted amalgamation of brain and computer. “Ah, magnificent. Mystech’s scientists truly are wonderful.”

”If’n they’re so wonderful, why don’t you just hire them yourselves?” Tex tapped his foot on the ground, making his spurs ring out quietly. “Seems mighty easier than hiring the likes of us to fetch stolen tech.”

“Where’s the fun in that? My boss is more… a connoisseur of the world’s fineries than a lab head.” She waved to the cryo case. “This way is better.”

A port opened on her wrist, and she pulled out a jack. Instead of worrying about catching a virus or any kind of trap left in the cryo case, she directly jacked into the device. A tremble went down her spine, and she zoned out entirely while inspecting the biocomputer.

After a minute of silently standing on the pier, her jack snapped back into her wrist. She jolted back, and waved her hand. The android took the cryo case onto the flyer. “Still in perfect condition. My boss will be pleased.”

“You said something about a ride back?” Tex shifted from foot to foot, and looked back to me. “I don’t know about you, partner, but I don’t fancy a long walk back to the city.”

“I have a ride coming.” That, and I didn’t much fancy being stuck in a flyer with an unknown woman. To each their own, though.

”Hm-hm… giving away our meet up point, I see?” The woman’s eyes narrowed. “And here I heard Nightshade was professional.”

”Don’t get your panties in a twist, lady. Moonfall’s the one coming to pick me up.” I really, really didn’t like her attitude. Might be worth dodging a job from the Hound if it came again… that, and this job was just weird. It’s like he didn’t know I was a thief.

“Ahem, after you, miss.” Tex stepped between the two of us, and waved his hand forward. 

“My, a man of standards?” The woman shot me a look as if to say unlike some people. And, like, congrats, she totally had me. 

“Whatever.” I nodded to Tex, and left the flyer behind. The androids passed by me, and all got on the flyer. A minute later, it took off into the sky trailing a small gust of sand.

”How close are you?” I asked Luna.

”Just a couple minutes.” A ping over the harbor popped up on my HUD. “ I was busy scrambling the runners trying to track you two.”

“Thanks.” Luna… I should take her to do something soon. I really didn’t give her enough credit for saving my hide. ‘Course, I’d also be leaving the country soon for her, so…

I found a dune, and plopped down on it to look at the city. Honestly, as far as jobs went? Not too bad? Sure, things went horribly south with a high-level Adept. That guy was an exec and not a combatant at the end of the day, though. It could’ve gone much worse for us.

Next time I got a job, though, I’d have to do things my way. The only thieving I did during that entire job was picking pockets. If I was in charge—well, getting into the vault itself sounded like a good enough spot. I was really hoping I’d be able to use Lexi to do so, but things didn’t quite work out how I wanted. 

I glanced up, and spotted Luna high up above me. The Roughrider steadily dropped through the air, and came to a park just next to me. “Someone call a taxi?”

”Just in time. I was about to take a nap.” I slid onto the bike in front of her, and we zipped into the air to head back to the city. We had a few hours till midnight… should be just enough time to clean up and take a short nap.

— — —

The last meeting of our cheerful little group wound up being in the Underground, close to the Ryu Container Yard. ‘Course, close was loose considering how deep the Underground actually was.

Vox clung to my shoulders as we slunk through a buried subway. Ruble lay collapsed onto the path in several places, and trails moved through the place. Most of them looked old, but there were several sets of fresh prints.

I crouched down next to the fresh ones, and let Panther’s Sight do its work. Shadowy forms slowly pushed up out of the footprints, and revealed the people that left them behind. There were several human-sized blobs that were nearly impossible to tell apart. Mixed in with them, though, a frankly lumbering brute left behind massive prints. It seemed Levi was already down here.

I checked on my mental map of the Underground. We should be getting pretty close to the area. I stood up and once more started to make my way through the darkness of the underground. Slowly but surely, I approached.

Tex stood just outside of a subway platform smoking a cigarette. The moment I even got near, he drew his revolver in an instant. It snapped up in my general direction as I froze entirely. “Who’s there?”

I was totally immersed in the shadows, and hadn’t made a single noise since coming down through my workshop’s entrance. I’d even avoided several potential firefights with all manner of ghouls, mutants, and mercs. How did he notice me? 

“Nightshade.” I slipped out of the shadows, and deactivated Illusive. His revolver flicked in my direction. He rolled it around his finger, and smoothly slid the gun into his holster “You really should stop smoking so much. How many is that today? One pack? Two?.”

”A bullet’ll kill me quicker than lung cancer.” Tex leaned against the wall just next to a set of stairs leading off the subway platform. He took a slow drag of his cigarette, and let out a ring of smoke. “S’pose I’ll get a chrome lung now that you said something, though.”

“I’d be more worried ‘bout catching all manner of diseases without a mask. Didn’t anyone tell you to wear a mask down here?” Really, smoking in a place like this was a whole new level of addiction.

“That’s what this things for.” Tex pulled on the rebreather hanging for his neck. “Air quality probe came clear enough to breathe, too.”

So he wasn’t as clueless as he looked… Honestly, I should probably build an air-quality sensor into my armor at some point. It sounded like a handy thing to have, especially if I was going to head to less hospitable places like this.

”The others here?” I was more interested in Lavender specifically. I had a micro bug in my utility belt just waiting to be placed on him.

”You’re the last one, princess.” Tex pulled a mask dangling from his neck, and resettled it over his face. His voice came out ever so slightly muffled. “Mighty spooky how you just appear like that.”

”Even scarier that you noticed me.” How sharp was this guy’s eyesight that he picked up on me? It definitely wasn’t any noise I made. Fox’s Paw alone ensured that, but my underarmor also used anechoic fibers to block any noise I might make.

Tex just shrugged, and climbed the stairs. I quickly followed after him up the stairs. The first thing that hit me from the small shopping strip at the entrance of the old subway was the scent. Dozens of ghouls lay dead where they were killed all around, and four androids patrolled the area. The Hound sure loved his mechanical defenses.

Near the back, where the shopping strip was caved in by mounds of rock, light shone through an ancient restaurant. Vinci’s… I bet the original owner of this place never thought it’d be used as a meet up for a bunch of criminals.

Levi leaned against the side of the restaurant with his heavy arms crossed over his chest. His eyes lit up, literally, when he saw me. “Little woman here. We start now.”

The Hound himself sat at a counter typing away on a deck. Two androids stood on either side of him. He looked up from his deck, and snapped it closed. “Indeed. We can start.”

I was… a little late. I severely underestimated how long it’d take me to get here from my workshop. To be fair, it wouldn’t have taken me long above ground. I didn’t have access to my bike, though, and I moved through the tunnels quite slowly.

”Been keeping us in suspense this whole time, mate. Finally going to cough up the rayn?” Lavender sat on the rotting remains of a table with his legs slowly swinging. The purple pulses through his armor looked quite a bit weaker then they had. 

“Naturally.” The Hound slid six chips onto the table. “As we agreed upon. The biocomputer was secured safely, and is headed toward my client as we speak.”

Lavender hopped off the table, and immediately moved to grab one of the chips. The moment he passed through me, Hidden Hands activated and my arm darted forward. I disguised my actions by making it look like I was just adjusting my gauntlet.

The micro bug, small enough that it’d be easy to miss, shot out of my hand and slammed into the back of his knee. It was a place he shouldn’t bother looking at for any reason, and totally blended in with the fabric of his suit. I ensured as much when I made it.

“Thanks, mate.” Lavender swiped the chip off the table, and headed toward the door without a second look behind him. Just like that, he left us all behind. 

“Unpleasant fellow, isn’t he?” The Hound nodded to the rest of us. “Your rayn awaits. And… I might have another job opening, should you wish.”

”What job?” Ronin asked. He was looking a little worse for wear than earlier, though the paralysis had long worn off.

The Hound grabbed his deck, and stood up. ”I wish to procure a set of Crusade armor… if you can manage to acquire a set without the Crusade cracking down, you have my contact information.” 

“Levi rip it off the corpse—“

”No can do, my large friend.” The Hound immediately put that foolish thought to bed. “I need it acquired subtly. The Crusade can’t even know it’s missing.”

”I reckon you’re out of luck in that regard, partner,” Tex said. “The Crusade watches their armor tightly.”

“I’m well aware… should you manage it, though, you have my contact.” The Hound pulled up the sleeve of his suit, and checked his watch. “I must be going. Anythony Sancho has a life-saving surgery soon.”

Ugh, corpos. The Hound was the one that had us nearly kill the man, yet he’d probably show up at Medtech with a smile on his face. And how was Anthony not dead? I saw the back of his head explode after Tex shot him. Medical practices in the modern age really were borderline miraculous. 

The hound left, quickly followed by the rest. I grabbed the chips, and sat back to give them some time to get out of here. Once I was sure I wouldn’t run into anyone, I once more headed back through the Underground.