The restaurant is a terrible dive. The lights are dim less to keep the atmosphere muted then to keep the customers from seeing how dilapidated the place is. All along the walls there are pictures and reviews talking about the place?s older glories, but it?s obvious those are long gone.
I guess I have a lot in common with the place.
The only good thing about the restaurant is its off corp net scanners, meaning you had to hack the place personally to get intel. And they have a couple of nice private rooms in the back, where people like me can talk business. Which is the main, scratch that, the only reason I?m here.
As I walk into the back room my ocular camera takes a few quick pics, then tosses them on the public net. There one of Hatate?s little programs compares them to previous shots of the back room to find the differences. After about a millisecond, Momiji and I get the images back. Voila. We now know where all the hidden bodyguards are.
It seems like there are 4 this time. More then usual, but still within nominal limits. A proper runner doesn?t visit their grandmother without an intel run, backup and an escape route after all.
Fortunately or unfortunately, my specialization is doing those intel runs. There aren?t many people who actually know how to use their eye cams out there, at least outside of professional journalists. Hell, most journalists suck at it these days. The new kids don?t know how to do any research outside the net. Not like us old timers.
?Now what,? you may ask, ?is a journalist doing making freelance black ops intel runs?? Well you see, I had to leave my old job because I did a very bad thing. I told the truth. You remember the story about Hakugyokurou causing the famine that killed New Dallas? The one that used facts, sources and proof? That?s my work.
Of course I wasn?t expecting my little journalistic hissy fit to go viral. But apparently some smart kid at SDM Enterprises saw a chance and pushed the thing all over the net. At which point I found myself being accused of crimes I didn?t think were possible anymore, with a full battalion of corp bounty hunters on my tail. The type that think not being dead when they kick in the door is ?resisting arrest.?
So I trashed my SIN, went off grid and moved to Chinatown. Been working as a runner ever since.
Anyways since the room was mostly clean, Momiji and I take a seat down at the table to wait for ?Mr Johnson? to show up. Momiji gives each of the hidden guards a glance, just to let ?em know we were still sharp, then she sets her katana down. She?s the only muscle for our little group, but she?s damn good at her job. I have no idea how she afforded her cyberware though. Sure wasn?t from the security job I got her fired from.
We wait for a minute, then Hatate gives us the heads up, and our contact walks in.
When I see Sanae?s face, I can tell something big is going down. Normally she?s all smiles. Now she looks concerned. Last time I saw her like this, the job was doing an intel run for a revenge hit on some half assed kidnappers that?d popped a family member. I don?t like those kinda jobs.
She sits down, nods once to both of us, then places a briefcase on the table. ?I?m sorry to do this to you, but I?ve got a rush job.?
This doesn?t bode well. My pulse quickens a bit as I think through the possibilities.
Still I can tell by her posture that Sanae is in a hurry herself. So I decide to wait. First rule of interviews, hasty people make mistakes. And in this interview her mistakes can save my life.
To be clear, Sanae is one of my favorite job suppliers, if for no other reason then she doesn?t have an obsessive need to hide from my camera. That sort of trust meant she isn?t likely to shoot us all after a run, just cause. And that?s always a good deal. But a contact never gives you all the info you need. It?s a corp thing.
The seconds tick by. I?m good at waiting. Finally Sanae continues, ?I?m not sure I really want to give this job to you. You?ve done a lot of good work for Yasuka corp, and I kinda like you. Well I like Momiji at least.? Sanae manages a smile with that.
I snort, while Momiji smirks. Sanae sits up and says, ?First off, I need you to understand, once I tell you this mission you can?t refuse it. It?s that serious. And if you fail it, you will die. So if you want to walk, walk now.?
Most runners either walk out or jump at the offer here. Most runners are morons. I decide once again to wait. Or specifically to stall for time while Hatate looks up possible leads. ?Can you tell us how much it pays without having to kill us??
Sanae?s smile widens a bit, but it quickly fades. ?6.7 million nuyen.?
I feel my throat tighten as I fight to keep from choking. I fail to keep my face straight that?s for sure. From the corner of my eye I see Momiji actually start a little. That?s 10 times the normal rate. I hope that Hatate and Nitori weren?t drinking anything when they heard that.
However 6.7 mil doesn?t mean anything to a dead guy. I push for more info. ?If this is anything other then an intel grab no sell. With that kinda money you?re better off hiring an assault team.?
Sanae shakes her head. ?It?s an intel run. In fact if the intel is damaged the run is a failure. We need everything intact.?
Finally Hatate comes through. The name ?Eientei Associates? appears in my matrix view. It?s a big biotech company, lots of cyberware stuff. Likely to have seriously dangerous security.
But then, I?m not the type to get caught.
Momiji gives me a slight nod, while Hatate and Nitori give their thumbs up over the net. I nod to Sanae. ?We?ll do it.?
Sanae returns the nod, then flips open the briefcase to reveal a huge mess of paper documents. CDs are better in my mind, but paper is harder to steal via hacking. ?We need some information from Eientei Associates within the week. We?ve got a map of their corporate net, as well as their direct login access points. You need to find these 5 files,? Sanae shows me a card with 5 names, so I take a picture and save it to personal memory. ?I?ve circled the most likely places for the data, but it could be anywhere. You need to get them and bring them here. I don?t care what you do to the originals, just get us those files. Intact. Decrypted would be best, though we can do it ourselves if you get it to us a day early. Casualties are not an issue.?
I have to ask, ?What are those files.?
?Something I?m sure you?d love to have on your blog.? Sanae says simply. ?In fact if you want to publish it go ahead. We don?t care.?
That sounds interesting. ?It?s hard to blackmail people when you?ve already released the material you know.?
Sanae stands. ?It?s not about blackmail. It?s about survival.? As she walks away, she says, ?I hope you can pull this off. Because if not, we?re all going to be in trouble.?
I?m a little worried by the dramatics, but not too much. Succeed or die has been the story of my life for the past couple of years. I?ve succeeded.
At least, so far.
Sanae?d clears the room, so Momiji grabs the case and we head out. As we pass the bar Hatate stands, pours her drink on the pants of the guy who?d been sitting next to her, and starts following us out.
I?m about to ask Hatate why she?d done that, when the stupid punk jumps up yelling something generally obscene and flips out a switchblade. As Hatate dashes past me, I turn to reach for my holdout piece. Then there are two cracks from a silenced pistol, and the punks brain decides to try to escape his head. I finish my turn but Momiji?d already reholstered her piece.
Wired reflexes are impressive things.
As me and the rest of the crowd stand about trying to think of what to do next, Momiji just flips the guy behind the bar a credstick. ?Sorry about the mess.? Then she puts her gun to safe, and goes back to walking.
There?s a reason she gets the same share as I do.
I take a few photos of the still to know who we might have pissed off, then I walk away myself. As we hit the street I ask our resident decker, ?Why?d you let that bozo get so close to you??
Hatate rolls her eyes, then focuses back on her hacking, ?Damn wannabe was making moves on me while I was working. Took my gasp at the pay dirt as being impressed with whatever the he was talking about. Stupid fuck couldn?t tell I didn?t give a damn about meatspace.?
Kids. ?And you call yourself a journalist....?
Hatate absentmindedly gives me a rude gesture. ?I?m not a journalist anymore, remember Aya? I?m a hacker. Thanks to you.?
?You were never a real journalist to begin with, Miss steal other people?s photos,? is what I wanted to reply, but that would only start a fight. And while she?s a shitty reporter, she?s an excellent hacker. We need her to have any chance of success.
Besides she?s the one who clued me in to the thug army coming to sift my brain for information with an icepick. And she?d gotten on the hit list because of it. I kinda owed her for that.
I check to make sure Nitori was actually in the car before hopping in. Pulled too many Taxi switches to fall for that crap. The little Rigger kicks her machine into gear as soon as we were all in. ?So,? she asks cheerily, ?I bet you want to see Marisa, right??
Nitori?s always on the ball. ?You called it.?
?Why Marisa?? Momiji asks me.
?We need someone to help us with the security. There?s no way it?s all going to be online. Which means we need a thief,? I explain.
Momiji considers the matter for a moment then shrugs. ?Well considering the payout her usual fee won?t be too bad.?
Hatate pulls herself out of net mode long enough to add, ?And we can get our cyberware checked while we?re at it.?
---
Marisa looks at the name on the card I flashed her and simply shakes her head. ?Not interested.?
?Eh?? Nitori pouts at her old friend, Marisa. ?I thought you were willing to steal from anyone!?
?I?ll steal from anyone, but only on my own timeframe,? states Marisa simply. ?There?s no way you?ll have the kinda info I?d want for a raid on Eientei in a week. I?d want a month of intel gathering before I stepped foot in the place.?
Well this is information. Not the information I want but info none the less. ?Why would you need that much time? What makes this corp special??
Marisa frowns, probably considering whether or not she can skim a few nuyen off us. I won?t budge of course, and while Nitori doesn?t have much of a poker face, she didn?t catch Marisa?s wordless bribe request. Nitori?s the only reason we met Marisa, but she still is terrible at reading the thief. Amusing how that works out. Of course Nitori?s really terrible at reading anything other then traffic. But her engineering and driving skills are second to none.
Finally Marisa gives in. ?The firm?s biotech yeah, but military grade biotech. The way they do high security? They flood areas with bugs and chem agents and your clearance is they give you the antibodies and filters you need to not die. Heard they give their employees a warning when they enter secure areas cause they?re polite, but anyone who?ll use smallpox to keep you out of their filing cabinets is not to be fucked with.?
Okay, this? This is bullshit. I?m good at being sneaky. Hell we?re all good at being sneaky, but that?s just ridiculous.
Then again, the way Marisa's talking maybe she has another option. Might as well give it a shot right?
?I don?t suppose you know a way to get around this??
I watch Marisa?s face closely as she chews her lip. ?I... know someone. Or rather Alice knows someone. But I can?t make any guarantees. In fact it may be worse bringing her along then not.?
Marisa claiming someone?s trouble? They must be a saint or the devil themselves. Still... ?Somehow I can?t imagine taking her along would be worse then smallpox. Who is she??
?Used to work for Eientei. She actually managed to get fired for ethics violations. Somehow,? Marisa said.
Of course I konw better then to trust the official report on events. After all I had apparently ?advocated the violent overthrow of the government,? even though we don?t HAVE a government anymore. ?Real ethics violations or trumped up ones??
?Real ones,? Marisa sighs and shrugs. ?Though I suppose she could have been the fall guy for a project that got blown to the public.?
I consider some of the ethical violations I had committed in the last week and decide to take my chances. With an interview at least. We can deal with the rest later. ?Could you set us up a meeting??
Marisa reluctantly nods. ?I?ll ask Alice when she?s finished jabbing electrodes in your friends.?
I shake my head. ?I?ll never understand how those two can stand it.?
For some reason Marisa and Nitori both give me an incredulous look. ?You had people replace your eyes, Aya,? Nitori says. ?After the other two are done, you?re going to have Alice stick needles in them to check for retinal damage.?
?That?s different. The eye cams are for real work.?
***
The interview with Medicine went perfectly. The fact that she didn?t show late was a mark against her, but she did sweep the room properly before heading to the booth the rest of the team was sitting at. Best of all the girl was all smiles. The best way to avoid suspicion is to look like you know what you?re doing.
Seemed like I?d been right. She?d been the fall girl for one of Eientei?s more questionable experiments. She was guilty as sin of course, but these days morality was a good way to get executed by internal security.
Hatate of course ran a background check, and we spent two days confirming she could be trusted on the run. But after she cleared out we had a new member, for the low price of 600k nuyen. Most payable on completion of course. Never run with someone who asks for more then 1/6 cash in advance. You want being sold out to the corp you?re hitting to be a net loss.
One more trip to Alice?s chow shop later we had new nose nanofilters and antibodies for a slew of diseases that?s existence in weaponized form probably violated several of those old treaties.
Then came the hard part. Hitting the place.
***
?So that?s the plan?? Medicine texts me as we sat in the subway. ?Seems kinda simple.?
?Simple is best kid,? I text her back. ?Especially with security this good.?
Hatate nods while pretending to be engrossed in her matrix game of minesweeper. ?The better the tech security the less likely people are to question those inside the security. Same with net stuff.?
Momiji jerks her head slightly as she pretends to scan the subway for runners like us. I nod and go back to scanning recent medical reports. Corp security would be scanning the local net soon. They weren?t supposed to, but only a moron thought they didn?t. And it?d only get worse on the corps internal net. It was time to shut up.
Still Hatate was straight on. When she?d hacked the net to put our SINs in the big database of wage slaves she?d found there were only two notes attached to them, employee or executive. They didn?t bother writing down who was cleared for what, figuring their agents would handle it.
Bet some bright eyed hacker kid thought that was a real slick way of keeping things simple.
As the train comes to a stop I take a deep breath and step on out into the human traffic jam, quickly followed by my ?assistant,? my ?programmer,? and my ?security.? I?d of course taken pictures of everyone when they were all dressed up in corp ware. I thought Medicine and I filled out the lab coats nicely, and I know Momiji would be getting more stares at her "natural assets" then at her mechanical aids. Hatate, of course, looked like her mom had forced her to wear the suit (it was Nitori actually) but it fit her hacker charm. I?m sure on certain message boards pictures of her would gain an appreciative following. Which is why I posted them.
Okay that?s not the truth. I posted them to calm my nerves, because what was coming up is the most dangerous part of this whole mess.
I can?t spare a glance behind me, as I walk through the crowds. A professional wouldn?t do that. What I'm supposed to do was get in the security line, swipe my ID like a good like scientist, then walk on and start making money for the company.
So I get in line. I imagine for the regs it's dull as all out, but for me it's like walking on pins and needles. I try to pass the time by reading the scientific journals.
As I sort through the half truths, I wonder if Medicine is doing the same. Hatate?s of course playing minesweeper, and Momiji probably is as well. Never did figure out where she?d got that habit.
Finally we get towards the front of the line. I frown in annoyance when the idiot in front of me swipes their card wrong and has to do it again. As the idiot sheepishly moves on I swipe my card properly, then walk through the detectors. The security man sees my gun of course, checks to confirm I'm allowed to pack it, then nods me through as he see's I'm legit.
As I walk through the outside matrix nodes shut off. That's the reason we have to go through this garbage of course. No corp let the outside net in their buildings. This isn?t the old days when hackers like Hatate could waste a system from the comfort of their own home. You have to walk into the building and log in to their private network.
Finally I can look behind me. I can?t go on without my support staff after all.
Medicine passes with flying colors. I was a little worried that someone might recognize her, but apparently her fall from grace had been a while back, and largely unreported.
Hatate?s next. She pisses off the security guards with all her eye rolling and sarcasm, but that was standard for Hatate. When we?d started this line of work I?d worried about it. By now I just figured it was in character and let it slide.
Momiji just flashes her card and walks through. She knows exactly how far she can push her security outfit apparently, because the guards don?t even blink. Seeing that everyone is all in line, I turn to face the hallways again. ?Alright let?s get to work. I want the samples all cataloged by lunch.?
Medicine plays along smoothly. ?Sure thing boss!?
?Just remember to let me get on net before you start dictating,? Hatate says.
I start down the hallway while I pull up the special research article I?d prepared for this. Accessing a map would set off all kinds of flags, but a report on underground science work by famed renegade journalist Aya Shameimaru? That was good reading for a little corp worker bee like ?Maya Sharon.? The fact that the first letter of each paragraph happened to give me the directions I needed for the building? Well that was just gravy.
First thing I take a left through some vacuum sealed doors. A little pop up tells me that if I wasn?t allowed into a Red clearance room I?d die horribly due to nerve gas if I didn?t turn around. How thoughtful.
I ignore my hearts demands that it be allowed to run out of my chest, and passed the message on to my stomach as well. My face would only show boredom. I was allowed to be here. The only thing that was happening was that security was wasting a little more company time.
There's a decontamination blast, in case we were leaving I guess, then the inner doors open. I walk down the sterile white hallways, ignoring the random people in lab coats and suits walking around me.
I have to admit, I was very happy I didn?t die horribly.
I keep ignoring everyone as I walk. They aren?t important to my perfectly legitimate job. Let me see... Down the hall, take a left, down two flights of stairs. The reason my movements aren?t perfectly smooth is because I'm one of those jerks that reads and walks at the same time. Not because I'm a spy. Just another boring coworker.
We enter another security gate. This time the pop up informed me that people without Gold clearance would die of weaponized Ebola. Fun. The decon blast hits us, then the inner doors open.
I make a mental note to thank Alice and Medicine later when I fail to die of Ebola.
The hallways here are still pure white, but there are a lot less people. Makes sense, we?re entering more secure areas. Still the guards ignore us. Of course we have full right to be here, they think. We aren?t dead after all.
Now if I could only tell my nerves to calm down as well I?d be the perfect spy.
This time Medicine takes the lead. Somehow she's still smiling.
First we go down a corridor with lots of steel grey lab doors. Then down an escalator. Straight down another empty hallway, then a left past the bathrooms. Another left past the water cooler, and down another long uninteresting hallway. Finally Medicine stops at an elevator and hits the down arrow. The doors open and we walk in.
Just as the doors start closing a security guy runs over and jams his hand in the door. The doors open again and my heart stops. But it starts again as I see the bored look on his face.
He hits the button for the floor above ours and gets off without saying a word. We all get off on the next floor.
The entire floor is secure, so right out of the elevator we hit a security gate. This pop up states that anyone without White clearance should just turn around. They didn?t even bother telling you what you?ll die of. If you?re cleared for that you?ll know what?s not killing you, I guess.
The inner doors open. We walk in.
The halls are almost completely empty. My eyecams however pick up loads of hidden surveillance. This was obviously high security.
I turn towards Hatate, ?Alright let?s hurry up and get this done with. We have more important things to be doing back in the lab.?
Hatate put on a terribly fake smile. ?Of course Ms Sharon. If you want speed we?ll need to get closer to the main signal.?
I put on my best frown for the cameras. ?Of course. Medea if you?d lead the way??
Medicine isn?t as quick on the uptake with her fake name, but I don?t think the cameras will notice. ?Uh, sure Maya. Let?s go.?
I follow Medicine as she heads off. I'm really glad we?d found her. Even with a map I was lost down here. And somehow I don?t think the black clad security guards we were passing would give directions.
Finally we reach a door with an actual keypad. Hatate is busy setting up her programs still, so I take a quick pic of the room. The cameras appear in red, and then their range of view appear as well. I move to block off the cameras? view of the pin pad then plug myself in. A press of a button wakes the pad up and it generates random numbers on each key. I press in a random code and it beeps in protest as the code fails.
Of course when it checked the code it sent the correct code to my wares. I quickly punch in the code that popped up and slip the wires back into my sleeve as the door opens.
And everything goes to shit.
There?s a woman inside. Purple hair, red eyes. Sleepy look. Uniform is obviously corp high end security. That?s bad.
Her eyes open wide. ?Medicine!? But you got fired!?
That?s worse.
The woman has her pistol halfway out, when Momiji springs through the door and takes a cut at the woman with her combat knife. The woman is fast though. She catches the knife hand at the wrist and draws her own blade, which Momiji catches at hilt with her armored gloves.
Medicine?s dragged Hatate through the doors like a good girl, when I pull my own piece into play. Of course against people moving that fast I?m just an annoyance, but I pride myself at being a good annoyance.
The woman?s already seen my gun and jumped back a full 4 feet and to the side when I pull the trigger. Sadly for her there?s no bullet, but a massive flash.
Even full eye replacements can?t handle that kind of strobe without blinking. She blinks.
Which is more then enough time for Momiji to draw her gun and empty the clip in the woman.
The alarms start blaring the very next second. I barely manage to roll through the doorway before the security door slams shut.
Momiji is already placing the explosives for our exit. Medicine is checking the security girls pulse, and Hatate is in her hacker trance. I wander over to Hatate first to see if I can get any idea on what?s going on. Normally net fights are completely hidden until shit goes wrong. Fortunately, Hatate likes to talk to herself when hacking.
Sure enough she?s muttering away. ?Okay, black ice, no issue. The DDoS feints I set up should be keeping corp from getting reinfocement. Let the worm go do it?s work and get ready for security. Oh there you are. Pretending to be a subroutine. Let?s rock.?
It sounds like Hatate has things under control, so I turn to Medicine. She?s arranging the body now. I walk up to her. There?s a journalist trick to asking very touchy questions, one that?s served me well in this line of work too. ?Was she a friend of yours??
Medicine shook her head. ?Not really, it?s just, she was the one who helped me keep the money I needed to survive after getting fired, what with all the lawsuits and whatnot. She seemed like a nice person.?
We manage to shoot the only nice person in the building. Wonderful.
?What was her name??
Medicine wipes her eyes and says, ?Reisen.?
I nod. ?I?ll write up something good for her, okay.?
Medicine looks away. ?Seems wrong for the people who shot her to do that.?
?Hey, if everyone agrees you were a nice person, the public will probably believe it.?
Medicine just nods. Momiji?s walks over and puts a hand on her shoulder.
After a few seconds she says, ?They?re going to realize that the nerve gasses they?re pumping in aren?t working soon. We?ve got maybe 2 minutes before they?re here in force.?
I stand up and walk back to Hatate. She?s frowning now. ?Damn! Double teaming's bullshit. Got 4 of five. Maybe I can... Got it! Disconnected bitch! Now to grab the last file....?
?We need to hurry,? I say in the calmest voice I can manage.
?I?m downloading now it?s just, SHIT!? Hatate stabs at her holographic keyboard then screams. I grab her as she convulses. Her pupils are wide and there?s blood leaking from her nose. Dammit, everything was going fine until now!
?Pull out Hatate!? I yell.
Hatate takes a breath and sits up. ?Just five seconds! Take that! Ha, formatted the bitch?s brain. Okay security?s gone, and the file is ours. Wait, there?s an embedded ICE file!? It?s okay internal will clean it out just need to distract it for....?
I see her eyes widen in terror and I slam her decks shutoff switch. The whole thing shorts, and I scream as pain rips through my hand.
Hatate stiffens, then limply collapses into my arms.
*I quickly place her on her back and reach for a pulse. ?Hatate! Hatate!? There?s no response. Her eyes are blank.
I rip open my lab coat looking for the pocket difibulator. It takes me too long to find it, far too long, but I?m not going to give up. I place the pads on Hatate?s chest and trigger the pulse. Nothing. I do it again. Nothing. Again! The piece of shit goes red. ?I don?t have time to recharge!? I scream at it.
A hand falls on my shoulder. I know what that means. All the energy leaves my body.
Fortunately Momiji does all the work that needs to be done. She pops the memory core out of the deck, then pulls the pin on an ID trash grenade and places it almost reverently on Hatate?s chest.
The grenade goes off quietly, but Hatate?s body catches fire almost instantly. A runners final sendoff.
I notice Medicine helping me up and I start pulling myself together. I don?t have time to recognize the hole in my heart. I have to ignore it and move on, or we?re all dead.
I still keep watching until the flames die down.
Then I give a nod to Medicine and look towards our escape route. Momiji?d already cut down to the abandoned storm drains that were our escape route. I guess I?d missed that. I can?t afford to sit any longer, so I run to the hole and jump in.
It?s a stupid move, but I manage to not twist my ankle somehow. Medicine drops down after, and Momiji is with us a second later. She takes the lead again as we started running down the tunnels.
A few seconds after we make it out the explosives we?d planted go off. The corp boys would have to find their own way into these tunnels.
With that blast done I switch to IR and shut off my flashlight. ?Medicine, you have IR eyes??
?No,? the small red blob next to me said.
?Then take my hand. I?ll guide you.?
The small woman cautiously takes my hand, then catches it in a death grip as she turns off her flashlight. I hold on to her as well as I can, then follow Momiji down the cool blue storm drain.
We run for about ten minutes, taking turns seemingly at random. The map in my system however told us we were on course.
Then, as we round a corner, the place explodes in light.
My eyes immediately switch to normal vision, just in time to see muzzle flashes start. I dive for cover and Medicine gets separated from me. Probably for the best, since people are trying to tag me with tracers. I pull out my flash gun, and shoot off a strobe followed by a quick pic.
There?s a bit more gunfire, then silence.
?Clear,? says Momiji.
I flip on my light and confirm that all the targets are down. ?Nice work catching them before they could move from those spots.? Then I look behind to see where Medicine is.
*She?s lying on the ground. Even in the terrible light I can see blood spreading out.
We?re both over there in a flash. It looks bad. Really bad. Her eyes are unfocused. Momiji pulls out some quick bandages, while I grab her hand. ?Hey Medicine, I?m right here, just hold on a bit okay??
Her eyes seem to move towards my voice and she smiles. ?Oh... good. I thought... I?d gotten lost, again.?
Then she slowly goes limp.
I wipe my eyes as Momiji arranges her neatly and closes her eyes, then pulls out another grenade. I promise myself her family would get her cut, if she had any. She?d guided us true.
We stand next to the blue flames until they finally die down, no matter how stupid it may be.
This time it's my turn to bring Momiji back to the mission. I place my hand on her head, and she stands quickly and starts running again. Her pace is more brutal now, but I can take it. Especially since I want to live.
We make it out of the storm drains without any more incident, and hop into the real sewer. Then it?s just a few more blocks until we head up, popping up in an alleyway. We run to the end of it and catch Nitori pumping the meter full of creds. Her eyes grow wide as we run up to her. ?Where are the others??
?Gone,? I mange to say. ?We need to go. Now.?
Poor Nitori looks heartbroken, but she jumps in the car fast as she can. Momiji gets into the back and helps me get in as well, before Nitori peals off. I doubt there will be any more pursuit, but we?re still going to lie low for a bit.
Nitori obviously wants to know what went down, but I?m in no state to tell her. Later I?ll write it up like a proper reporter. But now....
I look over to where Momiji?s inspecting the data core. ?I hope whatever is in there is worth it,? I say.
Momiji simply shakes her head. ?Nothing was worth that,? she says.
I look at Hatate?s empty seat, then think on Medicine?s smiling face and close my eyes. She?s right.
***
We hide for another day before signaling the drop off. Without Hatate we can't decrypt the files so I want to pass them off early.
I still feel like shit, and given the whimpering Momiji was doing in her sleep, so does she. Nitori just spent the whole day crying. I wished I could have let her talk it out with Marisa, but until the run was over that was far too dangerous. For both of us.
Nitori solemnly drives us to the meeting place, and Momiji and I get out. The restaurant is still a shitty dive when we come in. But at least no one cared we?d shot someone there before. We head to the back room.
I realize something is wrong the second we open the door. My mind makes the connections immediately. Sanae?s already there, and the corp goons are standing in the open. I move to shut the door and run, when pain exploded in my kidney. Like someone say, slammed the barrel of a gun there.
I get the hint, and allow the man behind me to steer me with the gun to one of the chairs. To my disappointment Momiji ends up in the chair next to me.
I open my mouth to say something harsh to Sanae, but then I see the fear and pain in her eyes. She didn?t sell us out.
?So how?d you find us?? I ask casually.
?Simple. We just made some guesses from the camera information. You use this place as a drop point far too often.? A figure walks in from behind us. An older woman. My mind matches her face to some press releases. Eirin Yagokoro, IntSec of Eientei.
?Sorry about that mistake,? Sanae says to us. I give her a friendly nod. Have to keep my cool. It's all I got left.
Eirin?s eyes unfocus a bit as she checks some messages, then she sits down in her own chair, sadly out of arms reach. ?So now that we?ve dealt with your friend, we can get down to business.?
A cold emptiness began to fill me again. I try to shake it off. Nitori was good, and getting an ambush set up would be harder outside. She might have made an escape. ?Well, if you want my personal opinion Ms Yagokoro, that red and blue striped tie makes you look like a tool.?
Pain erupts in my head as the thug behind me pistol whips me. Tears sting my eyes. Eirin just smiles, the smug bitch. ?I?m more concerned about why you went after those files, and where the backups are. If you?d be so kind to tell me.?
Sanae shrugs. ?You know why we want the files. We were going to use them to destroy you. Or at least keep you hiding from the press so you couldn?t pull that little hostile takeover.?
Eirin sighs. ?How plebian. I suppose I shouldn?t have expected much better.? She pulls out her own pistol. ?Still they could cause problems.? She turns to us. ?Where?s the data and your backups??
?If we tell you are you going to let us go?? I ask sarcastically.
Eirin gives that smug smile again. ?Sorry, we find that killing people that target us is a good deterrence. However, your friend here,? she waves the pistol absently at Sanae, ?could be left alive. She?d have to go to prison of course, but that?s better then dead.?
?Having infiltrated a prison I can say that?s not true for you corp weaklings,? Momiji says. The guy behind her slams her face into the table, but Momiji doesn?t seem to care.
Eirin ignores the violence and simply nods. ?Well there?s also the fact that I?ll torture you if you don?t tell me. Normally bodies with ?signs of torture? are as good a deterrent as bodies of people you actually tortured, and much safer. But Reisen was a close personal friend of mine, so in this case I really tempted to make an exception.?
Momiji gave a sigh. ?Well if you want a bit of a hint, you should fire your security.?
I look over at Momiji and see her giving her special ?I?m gonna do something awesome? stare. It gives me a bit of hope.
Eirin must have missed it though, because she plays right along. ?Why is that??
?Because they can?t tell the difference between your corp boys' second rate kidney bombs and my room clearer.?
Eirin drops her pistol, while Sanae and I just stare. Who knew Momiji?d been wandering around with the ability to waste the whole room with an errant thought?
Finally Sanae smiles. ?I always did like you Momiji.?
The goons finish playing catchup to the conversation and start to panic. A few run for the door, but the latch is a bitch. They won?t make it.
Eirin snaps out of it and gives us a nod of respect. Then she pulls another pistol. I guess she figures it?s better to die shooting then sitting.
Me? I want a question answered. I turn to my friend. ?So Momiji, where did you get the money for all that fancy gear??
She smiles broadly. Biggest smile I?ve ever seen on her face. ?I?ll tell you later.?
?Bitch.?
I can?t help but chuckle.
Eirin?s pistol goes off with a crack, and I dump my final memories into the net as the room explodes.
That's a runner epitaph after all.
***
[I'm sure I did the music wrong. Oh well. Blame Keine for that. The rest is my fault.]
