Chapter 72: Party

Chapter 72: Party

I sat in the backseat of a Vanguard and rested my eyes while we were stuck in traffic.

Status

Level:

19

EXP:

1830/1900

Musculoskeletal:

211

Neural Reflex:

65

Visuomotor Coordination:

87

Endurance:

59

Sensory Perception:

127

Upgrade Points:

0

Upgrades:

Stealth +7Hacking +3Cybernetic Engineering +10Stealth Technology +10Software Engineering +6Electrical Engineering +6

Enhancements:

SAID: Zenitech Sebastien v2

Optics: Mirage Tech Clear-Sights mk.12

Cyberarm (Left): Nova Tech Heracle Mk. 3

Cyberarm (Right): Nova Tech Heracle Mk. 3

Auditory: SocialCorp Echo IV

Cardiovascular: BioGen Lifepump 5

Miscellaneous: HSU Custom Shade

I took a look at the results of my hard work for the past two weeks from grinding out in the wasteland. I was so close, and I would normally just take another trip to attain that last bit of experience points, but the party I promised to attend with Joey was today.

This would be my first time at a large function where numerous corpos gathered. I knew these went on often enough, but I never had the connection or time to attend any of them. I also wasn’t very good at social events in general.

Most corpos were trained for them their entire lives as they attended their corpo schools, so I was seriously at a disadvantage here. Maybe not exactly in negotiation, but not being able to understand the nuances and implicit rules was definitely a huge disadvantage.

As we got closer, the surrounding neighborhood appeared significantly wealthier, with large estates and fancy mansions. I double-checked my own attire so I wouldn’t embarrass myself, looking over my newly bought suit just for this occasion.

The suit had the blue of my logo, with a white shirt and pocket square to fully represent the company colors.

Claire had a field day, helping us pick it out over a call, which was frankly helpful, as fashion wasn’t a subject I was well-versed in.

I knew we arrived when we passed through a fancy gate that led into the garden of the estate that belonged to Joey. There were neat flowers and trees planted in the middle of the two lanes of traffic and at the end of it was a beautiful fountain that stood before the mansion. The architecture seemed European to me, but most things with fancy carvings did.

A man with silver hair, who fit the textbook description of a butler, greeted me as I disembarked from the vehicle.

“Mr. Rollo Halls, I presume?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Thank you for joining us tonight. Allow me, Tio, to guide you to our esteemed master.”

As we walked in, I couldn’t help but notice the fancy-looking cars and flying vehicles that were parked by the fountain.

True to Authentic Corp’s name, all the proteins were authentic, with real chicken and pork.

Coming to this party is one of the best decisions I’ve made.

I took the next day off as well because we settled on a two-day break every time we returned from the wasteland.

With only the tidbit of experience points I needed, I couldn’t sit still and went off first thing in the morning. While I could have gone last night, the party yesterday went pretty late, and I was honestly too lazy once I changed out of my suit.

I went to the areas filled with bars and clubs to search around, but I came too late, or too early, depending on how you saw it. Either way, the area was deserted, so I could only drive around town.

The poorer areas were just as quiet so early in the morning as the activity during this time was all in the office areas.

It took me a whole two hours before I heard gunshots while waiting at a red.

I made a right and quickly chased after the source, only to witness three cars driving parallel to each other, exchanging gunfire. The cars were marked in gang signs and each represented their colors, dark yellow and neon green. Two of them belonged to the green gang, while the other belonged to the yellow one.

It didn’t take long before the yellow car lost control and crashed into a building, either due to damage to the vehicle or the driver.

Whichever it was, the surviving party celebrated by shooting into the sky as they drove off.

I followed after them and thankfully; they seemed completely oblivious as they cheered and occasionally took potshots at their surroundings.

They finally stopped when they arrived at a small apartment complex, entering into an underground parking garage.

I quickly parked around the corner and infiltrated the building from the backdoor. The security of the door was close to non-existent, and I made my way straight to the basement.

It wasn’t hard to find my targets, as they weren’t being the quietest, drinking away by the hood of their car. It seemed they had taken over a corner of the garage, setting up their own cozy little corner with couches and speakers that blasted music.

They only made it easier as I watched them shoot up on drugs and danced around. I turned on my active camouflage and approached in a straight line.

Let’s get this over with.

I took out my SMG that was attached to my lower back and made sure smart rounds were loaded up.

Kiri, mark all my targets for me.

‘Affirmative.’

With no real threat in sight, I moved close and got on top of one of their cars. From the vantage point that I had, overseeing their entire party in the corner of the parking lot, I pulled down the trigger on my SMG.

+10 EXP

+10 EXP

+10 EXP

+10 EXP

+10 EXP

+10 EXP

+10 EXP

+10 EXP

I wasn’t sure if there were more of them in the building, but my goal was complete.

I spent the rest of the day in the garage of my office. I still had the Vanguard I bought that I could tinker around it. With two additional points in electrical engineering, I immediately got to work.

By the time most corporate workers were well asleep, I finally emerged from the garage.

I didn’t emerge alone, though. I was accompanied by the baby I had been working on, and Thorne who tagged along.

“Rollo, please tell me you didn’t remove any of the safety features,” Thorne asked, with his cyberarms tightly gripping the seatbelts.

“Of course not. However, they may not help when I’m testing this thing at top speed.”

“...Do you really need to push it to the limit?”

“Of course, the fastest way to test energy efficiency and the motor output.”

“And the fastest way to our deaths,” Thorne muttered.

“Right, running into bullets is fine with you, but when we go a little faster, and that’s where you draw the line?”

“...Come on. Let’s get this over with.”