Chapter 38 - Bird In The Cage, Messy Tunnel, Lasting Impressions & Rising Chicken II

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Rancho Coronado North,

It was late at night, and he should have been in his bed. But there he was, riding shotgun in the fiery, tanned beauty's truck, heading out of the city into the Badlands. At least she wasn't boring as she talked a lot on the way.

Panam had approached him when he was having dinner with Misty at a decent food stall. He planned on taking his new car on a ride alone and enjoying the thrill of speed on the way home. But all he ended up with was Misty's somewhat jealous gaze at Panam.

He had to give it to Panam, however. She was feisty, hot-headed, but also an honest woman. First thing she did was apologise to him for aiming her gun at him. She had finally learned the truth about Nash from Rogue herself. And she had also learned about the secret base Nash was building.

"I'm going to kill every single one of them."

She was seething, and Cypher had nothing to say about it. He just stared outside the window, sad because he didn't get to test drive his new car.

Dealing with a bunch of Wraiths wasn't a big deal to him, or maybe it was just his messed-up nervous system that didn't understand threats and risks normally. Killing, shooting, and driving were a natural part of the old Cypher's life, now his.

He had a greater reason to not look at her, however. There was no denying that Panam was one gorgeous woman and… sadly, that was enough for the 'Groin Wars: the rise of the brick'. And as someone knowledgeable of the Cyberpunk world and its future and lore, he was somewhat attracted to her as well.

But he had no plans to make a fool out of himself by acting like a pussy-starved fiend. He'd done it with Misty that afternoon, so things were under control.

"Well, a good Wraith is a dead Wraith," Cypher responded.

If I knew Nash had already started building the cave base, I'd have gone alone.

He recognised the way. She was taking him to the Rocky Ridge Mine Tunnel. He didn't expect a big firefight, however. He had already killed Nash and his closest gang members.

"That's right!" Panam slammed her fist on the steering wheel. "And Rogue? That bitch had the nerve to pair me with a fucking Wraith?"

Very feisty.

He hummed a nod, using his glasses to interact with the God AI. Too bad, he didn't have a Neural Link and couldn't do everything mentally. Even to speak with the AI, he had to speak physically. But at least the AI could speak into his ear directly.

"There it is." Panam dimmed the headlights. "Your call. I smash the truck into the tunnel, and we hit them by surprise."

"Nope, feet only. Zero idea how many guys, or if they booby-trapped stuff. Nash is dead, so they're gonna be a hot mess without him running things. I'd put money on them already scrapping with each other."

She didn't argue, which surprised him, and she eased off the accelerator. "You serious? We're throwing away the element of—"

He cut her off. "Then the truck will be the element of surprise. Not us. Soon as we hop out and start swinging guns, they'll already be swarming. We roll up on foot instead, then the real surprise is my round punching through some unlucky fucker's skull."

"Alright. If that's how you wanna play it, then fine."

Nodding, Cypher quickly got out of the truck before her and spoke into his glasses.

"Hey buddy, can you take the inside cams and tell me how many bodies I gotta drop?"

That was a very simple request, Cypher believed. If the fucker could sneak into Militech and fuck around with Blackwall, then this was a walk in the park.

Instantly, the God AI's response came, a deep, heavy voice that was too recognisable. [I am able, Cypher. If you so require, I may also compromise their cyberware. Each of them is equipped with a Neural Link.]

"No, not right now. We save the nuclear options for when I'm trapped, otherwise I start leaning on you too hard. I gotta keep my edge sharp. And I really don't want folks guessing a netrunner was involved. Anyone with half a brain will clock the pattern. All Neural Links getting hit is not subtle."

Done talking, he opened the door again and grabbed the big duffel bag he'd brought along. He always kept it at Vik's shop ever since Panam snuck in and aimed her gun at his head. It also helped him be prepared for action at any time of the day.

But instead of grabbing his guns, he put the bag on the ground and started doing jumping jacks.

"What are you doing?" Panam walked over to his side, holding an assault rifle and a pistol.

"Warming up."

"Are you serious?"

Cypher eyed her with a deadpan look, still doing jumping jacks. "I ain't got chrome, Panam. No nuts and bolts jumping when I tell them to. I gotta warm up my body first."

"I don't have chrome either."

She had a point. But Cypher's issue was something else. Normally, the rush of adrenaline would be enough to get you moving. But that only happened if the situation was affecting you. In Cypher's case, he didn't feel nervous, or scared, or anything. This was just another Tuesday to his head. No rush, no panic. And that meant his body wasn't prepared for action.

"Gimme a sec." He started doing push-ups, then a dozen situps, and finally neck stretches.

Only after that did he open the bag. He quickly put on an Arasaka polycarbonate-laced bulletproof aramid vest, a pretty expensive thing in his possession. Then he slung a DB-4 lgla double-barrel shotgun on his back, grabbed his pistol, a Constitutional Arms Liberty. Finally, he grabbed the holster belt and placed the DL-18 blaster on his hips just in case he needed the extra power. There were also three frag grenades.

"Seriously? A vest? You look silly." Panam scoffed, leaning against her truck, arms crossed.

Seriously? Now?

When he eyed Panam, looking like a hot mess, the surge of that rush that was supposed to make him agitated for the battle did the opposite.

Bricked up in a fucking firefight. Great.

"Let's go." He held the regular pistol and headed towards the mine's entrance.

Right then, the God AI spoke into his ear, giving him a detailed description of what to expect.

[Cypher, there are eleven individuals inside. Five are asleep. The remainder are working. They appear to be constructing a habitat for long-term use. I accessed their computer terminal. They are in communication with other Wraith factions, speaking of Nash's death. They are positioned two hundred meters in at the tunnel's widening.

[They are actively expanding it further, though only one side is open at present. No permanent structures are established. They are relying on tents for shelter. Two men stand watch. The others are seated around a fire pit. The first two you will encounter carry assault rifles. Three of those seated carry pistols. One is armed with a shotgun. Those sleeping each keep a pistol beneath their pillows.]

Cypher just nodded in silence and walked inside the tunnel, taking the lead because he didn't want Panam to fuck this up with her trigger-happy fingers. There was plenty of space to take cover behind the massive hydraulic arms holding the tunnel's structure from collapsing.

Then finally, he noticed extra light in the distance, and he knew this was it.

He kept to the left against the wall, as it was mostly dark. He slowed down further, keeping his footsteps silent, crouch-walking.

The God AI, being insanely intelligent, resumed assisting Cypher. Not only did he speak, but he also somehow gave a direct feed into his AR glasses, marking the enemies in front of him with a red dot marker. The marker moved in real time, giving him a continuous feed of where the enemy was. One by one, all eleven were marked in his view.

Finally, he neared the edge of the wall before which the tunnel opened up. He looked behind at Panam and gestured that he had eyes on them. She gave him a nod to take the shot, and that was it.

This is fucking helpful.

He really liked what the God AI had done.

One more step, he leaned forward and eyed the camp. It looked much different from the future Nash's base. This one was dirty, crude, and not much to go about. So, he aimed at the two holding assault rifles. They weren't even doing their guard duty, just standing and chatting with each other.

With a single hand, he aimed, took a deep breath, and…

Bang!

He fired the first bullet, deafening the tunnel with the loud ballistic sound. The humming of vents got overpowered by the loud noises that followed. It was a headshot, and soon Cypher took the next one.

Bang!

He dropped the second guy holding the assault rifle, again, straight to the head.

There it is! My motorbike!

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