Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Damn. Jun whispered behind me as I turned away from the barn to see him already walking amongst the corpses. With a motion he tugged free the knife in the Raffens throat. Bringing it up to his face he looked it over. I remember. When you were practicing that. He said sounding a little off.

I uh spent some time on it. Its a useful skill. I lied. I really hadnt done much knife throwing since I played with it so long ago, but the instincts, the experience, the muscle memory was all part of Ninjutsu.

I could practically feel the blade still between my fingers. The motion I had made to throw it. I hadnt even thought about it. Just did what I knew was right.

Well. You cleared them out alright.

Go ahead and look around Jun, might find something you want. Im gonna call Scorpion.

Scorpion? Jun asked but I ignored his question as I turned away from him, took a few steps away and felt my eyes turn gold again.

I felt my foot tapping away for a while as Scorpion didnt pick up at the first ring, or the second, or the tenth.

Finally the call connected, and a grumpy voice came over the line.

*Fuckin hell. What!? Do you have any idea what time it is!* Scorpion cursed and grumbled on the line but I smiled.

*Hey Scorpion, you still need a car?* I asked ignoring his complaints, I was trying to do him a favor after all.

*What?*

I rolled my eyes at his question, the man must have been asleep he was really being slow to catch on.

*Wait Motoko? Why are you calling so late?*

*Cmon Scorpion keep up. Do you still need a car? Or rather any of the Aldecaldos? I have Six? Raffen Vehicles that are now ownerless. You or your family want them?*

*What?* I snorted, at least this time it was a what of surprise, and not just pure confusion. I let the call stay silent for a minute.

*Fuck you hit another Raffen Camp?* He asked blearily, obviously struggling to think.

*More like a pit stop. I was searching for someone else, and ran into them. So you want the vehicles? Ill give you a good deal for them.*

*Fuck. Yeah. Hold on. Give me Give me a minute. I need to wake up.* He grumbled a bit and the line went silent, as he must be paying attention to something other than the call.

While I waited I turned towards the bodies and started looting them. Each of them men of course had a weapon, rifles or shotguns seemed to be the preference.

I looked through the growing pile of weapons with an interested eye. I certainly didnt need much else, but it was always nice to see if there was something interesting among the chaff. I didnt find anything I wanted to add to my growing armory, but I did find a few pieces of interest. Optics, or little mods that I quickly uninstalled on the weapons and chucked into the Quadras trunk.

I could have some fun with some of that!

*Motoko. You there?*

*Course Scorpion, feel a bit more awake?*

*Yeah at least Im alive. You said you had six vehicles?*

I didnt respond right away, instead looking into the barn and taking a picture of the vehicles all parked. Then sent that.

*Yep.*

*Holy Preem. Very Preem. Motoko, you know we dont have the cash reserves for all of them, but I, well Im still stuck on my bike, I wouldnt mind an actual roof over my head.*

*Thats fine, listen if you can come pick them up, we can count it as an IOU. I dont really want to try and hold these until other Raffen decide to come find out where their buddies are, and I dont have the desire to try and sell them to a bunch of gonks. Pay me what you can, and maybe we can barter out some other stuff, but I know you're reliable so I gave you a call.*

The line went silent at my offer for a long while. Long enough I started to wonder if I had lost connection.

*Scorpion?*

*Yeah. Yeah Im here. Fuck Choom. I dont know what to say.*

*Say youll come take these off my hands and pay me what you can later.* I told him with a laugh which I got an almost strangled sound in turn.

*Alright. Ill get the Aldecaldos together. Well come take them off your hands, wont be difficult to get them repainted and keyed to us. Listen. Kid, I still owe you one. A big one, and this Ill pay you back somehow. I promise.*

*Dont stress so much Choom. Getting these out of the hands of Raffen is already a lot. Listen I gotta run. Ill send you the coordinates, but Im in the middle of something. Dont have time to hang around.*

*Yeah of course. Ill Ill keep in touch. Dont hesitate to come by if you ever need something.*

Motoko. Are we going to be waiting around all night? Jun asked, interrupting, and I threw him a one moment gesture at him.

*I gotta run. Stay safe Scorpion.*

*You too kid.*

I nodded, as I finally disconnected.

Okay. Ready to go? Loot anything good? I asked him but Jun just shook his head.

I just klepped some Eddie shards. They didnt have anything I wanted.

Preem! Follow me then I want to find that serial killer fuck before he can target anyone else.

I jogged over to the car pointedly ignoring Juns eyebrow as he looked around at the dead bodies around him.

--The roots of this story extend from novell bìn origin.

We drove to another farm nearby only for another miss.

While I drove I was looking over my stat screen. Since there was no traffic out in the badlands it was easy enough to split my attention.

4500 XP from the Raffen. None of them were big guys, so I only got 500xp a head.

Still that leveled me up again.

*Level up achieved!*

*One Stat Point Gained.*

*One Skill Point Gained.*

Level 9.

Of course as much as I wanted to start spamming stats again. I knew the rule. So the stat point was immediately dropped into adaptation for my arms. I twitched a little as the point went through. A coolness in my chest that I realized had actually been impacting my breathing as I tried to naturally shy away from the cold, eased. I inhaled, and exhaled. Feeling.

Better.

One more step.

But what was I gonna do with all these skill points? I had four of them saved at this point, and that was a lot.

But I didnt really need to spend it on anything. Most of my skills were getting close to the stat cap, or they were something I would grind once I had some better tools.

Looking at you Quickhack. One of these days I was gonna get an upgrade to my Netdeck and get some actual toys.

In the end I just pushed it away. I would think about it when I wasnt mid hunt for a serial killer.

That one alive?

Yeah.

Okay Im going to call NCPD. I told him, earning a hesitating nod from Jun.

I dialed the number and a few moments I was put to a recorded message, and not even a person.

That was so NCPD I couldnt believe it.

I went through the menu needing to select three options and pay a 10 eddie bill, before the line connected.

NCPD what is your emergency?

I have two young men that have been kidnapped and pumped full of some kind of drug by a psycho. This guys definitely a serial killer. These two are alive, but I doubt they are his only victims.

Estimated wait time for a patrol vehicle is Fourty-five minutes to your current location. Thank yo-

Hold on! These kids might be dead in fourty-five minutes! Look at this! I backed up and took a picture before sending it down the line.

Miss, we don't accept pictures. Nor will NCPD alter our deployment speed. Another 10 Eddies will be deducted from your account for the lengthened call. Thank you fo-

This is the Meat Man. The Serial killer. Dont sit there and tell me no one is interested in that!

The line was quiet for a moment. Please hold.

I blinked.

Well that was easy.

A minute or so later the call was answered.

This is Detective Stints. If this is a game, Ill bash your skull in.

That was Certainly an introduction.

Its not. I have two people that were kidnapped and drugged, and a dead psycho serial killer that is probably your Meat man. At the least he had practically every news article mentioning him saved to his personal computer. I just need an ambulance to come get these people before they die.

You tried to send a picture. Send it to me now.

I didnt just send that. I sent that picture another about the location including the mines and the dead body.

The line was quiet for a few minutes.

Ill be on my way. A patrol car will be there soon. Stick around. Ill have questions.

Sure. Just make sure they know about the mines. Ill clear up as many of them I can. But this guy was crazy.

Ill make sure the patrol car knows.

The line ended.

Chatty guy isnt he? I muttered but at least I got something.

NCPD is actually showing up? I didnt expect that. Jun muttered as he caught up with me.

Yeah You ever heard of the Meat Man?

Jun blinked and then frowned. Yeah, a little. Urban myth?

I think this guy was him, at least he seemed very interested in what the news said about him.

Im glad you put a bullet in him. Jun said simply with a nod and to my surprise he reached out and squeezed my shoulder. You did good. But we should probably get out of here before the cops show up.

You can if you want. But Im staying. To make sure.

Jun let out a sigh and nodded settling in to wait.

The next twenty minutes were mostly spent doing three things. Checking on the two people that still hadnt woken up but at least were still breathing. Long silences.

And explosions.

I was trying to disable the damn Mines, by breaching them and wasnt getting too far. They actually kept exploding on me, but at least as I tried I was getting rid of them, and of course I was getting the wrong XP alerts.

*100 Engineering XP Gained.*

I was doing the Quick Hack Breach, but getting Engineering XP.

Dammit system! I need a manual! Where is my Prima Official Guide!?

I shook it off and kept working, at least I was getting something, and Engineering was awesome. Then we heard it. The roar of a car coming down the road. Jun Ill flag them down.

No. Jun said suddenly grabbing me and holding me back. Just let them work at their own pace. NCPD dont like people walking up to them. He told me holding me back as he rested against the Barn wall.

Fine. I agreed it made sense

I guess.

The gate was already open and the flashing lights of the car suddenly turned in, but stopped before coming close. Two officers stepped out both waving flashlights, one with a pistol in his off hand, and the other carrying a Copperhead. The assault rifle had a powerful flashlight on the end and he was waving it around, but kept an eye on Jun and I.

Both men were like startled cats, looking at every step.

I guess the warning about mines had gone through That and the many craters that now littered the yard.

Finally both officers got close enough and lit Jun and I up, despite both of us being under a light.

No sudden moves. Put your hands up! One roared and I felt Jun obey begrudgingly, and I quickly followed after. The two officers approached and actually forcefully put us both on our knees and started handcuffing us both.

I could feel Jun muscles tense beside me, but I just turned and gave him a smile which had him relax.

Evening Officers. I mentioned despite grunting around the harsh hands handcuffing my hands behind my back. The two-

Quiet! The guy handcuffing me snapped, and I was thankful that he didnt actually strike me like he motioned too.

Not because I was worried about him hurting me. Funnily enough I actually knew ways to break free of Handcuffs. Ninjutsu as always being the MVP.

No, I was worried Jun would have ripped the cuffs off and started beating the cops to death.

A few moments later we were both secured by the officers and the one with the handgun went into the barn to look around.

He came out a minute later cursing and the two officers pulled away to speak in rushed whispers to each other.

Although at least in the end the grabbed their radio and started sending messages along.

Told you we should have left. Jun whispered side eyeing me.

Its fine. Just a Okay they are idiots, but hopefully this will all go well once the detective gets here. I said, voice filled with hope.

Things did not in fact get better when Stints did show up.