Cyberpunk: I'm Not a Scavenger - Chapter 9: Joining Forces (Patreon)

Pantheon let out a relieved breath, gave his Malorian a stylish spin, and slipped it into its holster. Then he turned toward Lucy, who was standing a short distance away.

The young netrunner leaned against the cold wall, her chest rising and falling gently.

The fight had lasted only a few minutes, but sweat had already soaked her short hair, plastering strands to her cheeks.

She pulled a cigarette from her jacket pocket to ease the tension of pushing her brain too hard. Her cool, delicate features appeared and disappeared in the smoke.

Pantheon walked over, unceremoniously snatched the cigarette she'd just lit, and took a deep drag.

The sharp bite of tobacco mixed with fresh mint and a faint hint of roasted brain.

It was a hard flavor to describe, but the sensation he'd missed for so long almost brought tears to his eyes.

New lungs really were wonderful!

"Phew..."

He exhaled a slow stream of smoke and looked toward Lucy.

The girl's profile was so exquisite it barely seemed to belong to this dimension. Pantheon couldn't help swallowing.

Who wouldn't be tempted?

"Hey, what the hell did you steal that made those Animals nutjobs so obsessed? They even went after a Night Corp train."

Lucy was still recovering from the fight, her brain running on overload.

When his words finally registered, she almost laughed in sheer irritation.

"Since when are we such good friends, Mr. Scavenger?"

Her reply dripped with sarcasm. She lowered her head slightly as streams of data quietly gathered in her eyes.

"Come to think of it, we're not that different, are we, Miss Master Thief?"

Pantheon grinned while quietly moving one hand toward his waist.

Persuasion check: catastrophic failure. Time to rely on the good old physical approach.

Lucy had her own ideas.

She wanted nothing to do with this unknown "Scavenger," even if he had just saved her.

She could always repay the favor some other time.

Unfortunately, she'd underestimated Pantheon's reaction speed.

His left eye suddenly went dark, robbing him of its sight.

At the same instant, he caught Lucy by her slender throat and pinned her against the wall, the thick barrel of his revolver pressed into her lower abdomen.

Pantheon grinned. Keeping one natural eye had certainly turned out to be a good idea.

"Save it. I'm not some clueless rookie who doesn't know what you're trying to pull."

Even like this, Lucy refused to back down.

"Scumbag! Pervert! Finally showing your true colors? Once a Scavenger, always a Scavenger!"

"Oh, really? Hehehe."

Pantheon laughed along with her.

He put on an exaggeratedly lecherous grin and licked his lips.

"Guess I'll have to search you myself, then."

His exaggerated leer was almost enough to make Lucy's skin crawl. She clenched her teeth and finally cracked.

Her voice carried equal parts embarrassment and anger as she forced the words out.

"You win, you creep! Let me go!"

Pantheon clicked his tongue a couple of times and released her.

He even took a gentlemanly half-step backward, though one hand stayed casually near his gun.

Lucy rubbed her wrist and reluctantly took out a package about the size of her palm.

"My job was just to deliver this to the designated location. I don't know what's inside."

Pantheon blinked without saying a word. Even a three-year-old could have understood what he was thinking.

"Do you really think I'd lie about something like that?" Lucy asked coldly.

Pantheon nodded, then frowned.

What could possibly be so important that the Animals would go to these lengths?

Lucy was wondering the same thing. Almost simultaneously, both of them turned toward the package.

Inside the plain wrapping was an equally unremarkable metal case.

The case was encrypted, but Lucy cracked it without much trouble.

Inside sat a vial of fluorescent dark-green liquid and a chip.

Pantheon unobtrusively took two steps backward.

Lucy rolled her eyes and inserted the chip into an external terminal.

As she decrypted it and examined the files, her expression grew increasingly rigid.

"It's a shard containing experimental data for a new drug, the Animals' latest anabolic regulator. They call it 'Chiron,' after the mythical healer who could cure anything."

"An anabolic regulator?"

Pantheon gave her a peculiar look.

"Those morons know what that is? With their brains, being able to tell cooked food from raw would qualify them as geniuses."

"Hah."

Something about Lucy's expression was wrong.

"They might not understand it themselves, but they can hire someone who does. A researcher fired by Biotechnica developed the stuff."

"This new drug neutralizes the side effects of different hormones and steroids. It means they can inject more powerful drugs, in greater quantities, without worrying about the consequences."

Pantheon understood at once. No wonder the Animals had gone berserk over it. To them, this was practically a miracle drug.

But something didn't add up.

How had information about such a miracle drug leaked out in the first place?

"Someone's leaking the research?"

"The researcher himself. He thought the Animals were wasting something like this, so he contacted a fixer to help him get away."

Lucy crouched with her arms wrapped around her knees, her voice low and drained.

A more terrifying possibility had just occurred to her.

If the drug really was that powerful, there was no chance the Animals could keep it for themselves.

Once word got out, the corporations would inevitably take an interest.

Then it wouldn't just be the Animals after her. Corporate agents would be hunting her too.

The thought brought back her days fleeing Arasaka, and Lucy withdrew into herself.

"I don't think the corporations will act," Pantheon said.

Lucy looked up.

"Without the samples and experimental data, they can't even tell if the drug is real. Making a move without knowing that isn't how corporations operate."

"Then there are the Animals. If they'd known about this from the beginning, you'd never have gotten the drug. That means they only found out recently."

"Finally, the fixer. All he had to do was wait for you to deliver the goods, and he'd get them without any trouble. So he's the least likely person to have betrayed you."

"But he could have sold out that idiot researcher."

A mocking smile appeared on Pantheon's face.

"Once he sold the poor bastard out, the drug data and the sample would be his alone. I'm sure he'd have plenty of ways to get a good price for them."

"Too bad he didn't realize the researcher had kept something in reserve."

"When the researcher found out he'd been betrayed, he sold you out in turn."

Lucy looked conflicted.

Her instincts told her Pantheon's deduction was probably right.

If the fixer called Old Dog hadn't gotten greedy, she could have completed her gig, taken her payment, and walked away.

Instead, his greed had dragged her into this mess.

The more Lucy thought about it, the angrier she became. Pantheon, meanwhile, could barely contain his excitement.

He grabbed Lucy by the shoulders, looked directly into her eyes, and spoke with startling seriousness.

"Miss Netrunner, do you understand what this means?"

He paused, his gaze practically blazing.

"It means the data and sample 'we' have might be the only copies left!"

"How much do you think that stupid dog of a fixer would pay to buy this information?!"

"A hundred thousand eddies? Five hundred thousand? A million?! With that kind of money, where couldn't we go? Europe? The Moon? Hell, even the colonies on Mars!"

His devilish whisper filled Lucy's ears. She silently began calculating, and her breathing grew quicker.

"Who said anything about 'we'?"

Lucy abruptly drew herself up, trying to regain some authority.

Pantheon chuckled and showed her the thick, solid barrel of his revolver.

"I'll give you another chance to think about your answer."

"I want sixty percent."

Lucy ground her teeth. Saying the words felt like cutting off a piece of her own flesh.

Pantheon stared at her as if she were an idiot and reached out to pat her head. She promptly slapped his hand away.

"No fever. So why are you talking nonsense?"

"Then how much do you want?!"

Lucy glared at him, mortified and furious.

"Eighty percent."

Even though she'd prepared herself, Lucy was still stunned by his shamelessness. The man had skin thicker than the city walls.

"Get this straight. The goods can stay in your hands, but they could just as easily end up in mine."

Pantheon smiled as he stated the brutal truth, leaving Lucy speechless.

"Of course, I don't want more people finding out and complicating things, so we'll still need your fixer."

There was no trace of fear on his face, only excitement he could hardly suppress.

"I'll handle the exchange. You cover me. I'll be the one taking the biggest risk!"

In the void, the wheel on his status panel slowly stopped spinning. The pointer came to rest on a mysterious rod-shaped object.

The Animals leader from earlier had dropped another new trait. With his strength boosted yet again, Pantheon was itching for another killing spree.

Lucy wondered whether she'd lost her mind. She was actually considering working with a cyberpsycho. But at this point, she didn't have much choice.

She took a deep breath, pushed her useless emotions aside, and spoke calmly.

"Have you thought of a plan?"

"Of course!"

Pantheon beamed.

"I've already got a plan. It's absolutely foolproof!"