Lost Rain
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Outrun - Chapter 187
🕑 Added 2024-12-20 23:04:01 +0000 UTCI stared down at my drone early the next morning. What I wanted to do to bypass the whole ultrasonic sensor thing was fairly simple. The sensor only knew something was wrong when the ultrasonic waves bounced back off something.
If I simply removed the ultrasonic sound waves, it’d likely activate a tamper alarm. I had to be careful and smart with how I approached this. My idea? Mute the original frequencies, then send back my own ultrasonic frequencies as if nothing were happening. Basically, I wanted to spoof the sound.
Hence the drone. The sound-canceling tech was already in my hands. Unfortunately, it was held hostage in the body of my drone. I’d made it easy to assemble and disassemble for future modifications though, so it was quite easy to break the sound-canceling tech out of the drone and get the model shifted to something else. Rest in peace drone. Or should I say pieces?
I made a few trips to the theatre. Mostly, I hunted for specific parts I knew either the bots, charging ports, or turrets had. It was old tech, but there was no reason I couldn’t repurpose it to support my newest efforts. I also helped a few of the Crimson Company PMCs as they needed it.
I did have to take a short break from the new sound-canceling to whitelist a batch of fifty ID badges, but that hardly slowed me down. What did slow me down was replacing the fuel lines of every Prowler again. By midnight I had a working model of the tech though.
It looked stuck together by tape and hope… and it was. I didn’t have the stuff to make a nice body for all the technical bits, so I kinda just slapped it all together as best I could with what I had. The end result was less than optimal. Aesthetically speaking, that is. Functionally, the thing was a beast. It was a bit rough around the edges, and the actual code for it was terrible, but it’d work with quite a bit of operator involvement.
Combined with another device I threw together from scrapped mechanisms and speakers--of which there were a lot of considering we were in a theatre--I created my ultrasonic spoofer. I tested it on some motion detectors I ordered some of the mercs to scavenge for me. It took quite a bit of trial and error to get everything just right.
Unlike the original Sonic Suppressor, my tech didn’t have the programs, processing power, or capability to ‘hear’ a sound and then mute it in a decimal of a second before it could escape its bounds.
Instead, I had to manually go through and set the frequencies to overlap and cancel out. There was a small bit of automatic adjustment, though it was only around the preset frequency. It couldn’t make large jumps across the spectrum. Meaning while It could mute the sensor, it wouldn't mute anything else unless I manually changed it.
Not that it mattered too much. I just needed the device to kill the ultrasonic sensors, which had a preset frequency. I had the whole moving silently thing down to an art form. Thanks, oh you traumatic Fox's Paw.
Honestly, outside of very specific uses, such as in this case or when I used the Sonic Suppressor, I didn’t really have much use for sound suppression tech. I mean, it was cool and useful, but I could get by just fine without it.
Still, it was damn nice to have. Not for a single moment had I been disappointed I kept the Sonic Suppressor back then. There was so much spin-off tech I could make with the ideas from the original.
Hmm… it could make for a great firearm suppressor now that I think about it. Get a rifle and stick one of my sound mufflers onto it… silent assassin just waiting to happen. Or I could reverse engineer its tech even more and make a sonic amplifier, creating some kind of sound weapon. I think there was one of such weapons in Sentinel's blueprints.
I probably wouldn't get much use of the tech considering my current lifestyle, but I could sell it at the Night Market for some extra Rayn. Call it the Universal Suppressor or something since it would work with all guns after calibrating it right. Throw in some anti-tampering explosives just to be safe and ensure it couldn't be reverse-engineered and I’d be set.
Hell, I could even size it up to create a suppressed aura. There were definitely people who would be interested in that. It’d take a lot more work and far more coding than I was capable of to get it properly adaptive like the Sonic Suppressor though. At least, at a glance. Maybe I could hire a Netrunner to handle the coding?
I could think about this later though. For now, my tech was done and ready to go. First though! A nap. It’d been a tiring day with a lot of walking around.
— — —
“Zuku!” A voice called from outside my tent, stirring me from my sleep.
I groggily rubbed at my eyes, feeling as though I’d barely gotten a few hours sleep. “Lia?”
”Yep! It’s me!” The Wolf Magus happily called. “Want to go watch a good show? The Growths are throwing down with a massive pack of Dune Walkers way to our south. Red-Six, Red-Five, T-1, and the Nomads are going to watch. Interested?”
“Ugh- what time is it?” I sat up, taking the momentary seclusion to drink water deeply from my canteen. It was so clear. Seriously, the water from the canteen was the cleanest water I’d ever drank. So much better than that rank water the Crimson Company passed out.
There was blessed silence for a few moments. My eyes slowly closed as I almost fell back asleep-
“It’s already four in the morning! Time flies!” I hate her. Morning people- ugh. Why? Why can they be so cheerful?
I slowly pushed myself up, got ready, and exited out of the tent to see Lia’s smiling face. “Is this safe?”
”Probably not. We’ll be going up one of the towers to watch though. Captain’s worried about them coming our way after their little brawl.” Lia shrugged. “A swarm of creepy plants and rotten corpses coming our way in the middle of the night isn’t ideal. We're to get set up to clean up any stragglers.”
”Sure, sure. Yeah, I could see that.” I dusted some loose sand out of my hair. When we get back to the city, the first thing I want to do is take a long, steamy shower. The feeling of hot water cleaning the grit off of me… I can’t wait. I’m starting to really hate sand.
”Ready to go, Red-Metal? The squads are all loaded up. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!” Lia led the way toward the awaiting convoy of vehicles. Fairly large convoy for what’s supposed to be a stealthy trip.
We loaded up and left the compound for the city. The sun hadn’t come up yet, so the night sky lay in clear view for us as we glided across sand-swept streets. Seriously creepy being in the city at night.
We moved along to the other side of the city, parking pretty far away before making our way up a set of stairs. A lot of sets of stairs. And then we were up on the thirtieth floor overlooking a building collapsed into a park.
The ambient lighting from ghastly holograms shined down just enough to give us visibility on the absolute mess of a fight down there. Corpses swarmed over the rubble of the building. They were faintly visible through a sandstorm that settled over the area.
Fighting against them was the ever-malicious Growths. They met the swarm with smaller numbers, though they constantly regenerated the few cut down by Dune Walkers. It was an all-out fight between the two sides. And quite entertaining to watch from afar.
The Dune Walkers seemed to be winning the brawl as they surrounded the Growths and beat them into submission. Unlike the walking corpses though, the sapient plants weren’t so simple.
Great roots flung themselves into the sky, sending sprays of sand everywhere. An ancient tree entwined with a building swayed, shifting free from its perch. The malevolent entity stood up on its roots, using them like legs as it moved for the pack of Dune Walkers. Its limbs cracked, slamming down into the horde as it easily eviscerated the bunch. Blood and viscera soon soaked the tree red.
“Woah, didn’t see that coming…” Lia shuddered next to me. “Imagine if we ran into one of those things?”
Renold toyed with an unlit cigarette. He then lit up his chrome hand with the internal lighter, pushing his thumb forward until it was lined up with the massive tree. ”Nothing a bit of fire couldn’t deal with.”
With the inclusion of the tree and several other nearby plants joining the Growths’ efforts, the battle ended shortly. The Dune Walkers were slammed into the dunes as the light sandstorm that accompanied them vanished. The green critters down there resettled amongst the sand and foliage as if they were never there.
Lia jumped up excitedly, pumping her fist. “Pay up Renold! The Growths won!”
”You guys bet on which side would win?” I asked as I glanced around at the PMCs surrounding us. There were quite a few dramatic sighs as Rayn exchanged hands.
“Course! Easy Rayn like this doesn’t just fall from the sky!” Lia pulled out a phone, checking it as Renold made the transfer.
Damn it! I should’ve gotten in on this. She’s right. And the Growths had several obvious advantages. As far as I was aware, Dune Walkers were just shambling corpses that were individually weak. At least, this far out. I’d heard tales of a Dune Walker Colossus that supposedly roamed further inland near the Endless Sandstorm.
Growths on the other hand, as shown here, had the capability of being individually strong. Very strong, based on that ancient-looking tree that uprooted itself.
We watched the battlefield for signs one of the sides would continue on, though nothing happened. Looked like we’d get a nice night without having to fight off a horde. A general festive mood filled the group as we moved down to the vehicles and headed back for the camp.
— — —
Several hours later, I finally returned to the Back Archives with all my tools and gear ready to go. I stopped just before the combat bots guarding the door and ensured everything was up and running.
Blinder, Check. Cold-Blooded, Check. Various assorted stealth Perks that ultimately wouldn't matter since they couldn’t see me anyway? Check. Last but not least, the sound nullifier and emitter combo wouldn’t have a name since I’d only be using it once? Check.
I easily opened the door once more, slipping into the hallway as I took a deep breath. Moment of truth. I took a step forward, pausing as I entered the range of the first group of sensors. The passive infrared thermal sensors didn’t react, nor did the seismic sensors.
I slowly edged up as the ultrasonic motion sensor seemed to glare down at me. No reaction. I couldn’t see or hear the battle of frequencies my tech had with the security defenses since it was out of audible frequencies, but it seemed my tech was winning as I took another slow step forward. Then another. No reaction.
I eyed the bots. I was probably fine. My tech was good. I made it after all. A very big worry was that I’d get halfway across the hallway before any of the security reacted though. I’d get fully blocked in and annihilated without any chance of escape.
To be fair though, I don’t think the bots had that level of awareness nor that advanced of protocols. For the most part, they seemed the type to open fire without ever second-guessing their targeting arrays. For better or worse.
I continued, passing by the first set of bots slowly. Then the next. Before I knew it, I was on the other side of the long hallway, easily bypassing the entire sensor array and robotic security.
It took nearly ten minutes to get past. I had to move extremely slowly thanks to my tech’s slow processing. I also had to constantly input where the motion detectors were so the emitter could send back the spoofed frequencies.
And then I arrived before the massive vault door. At some point in my career, it would have posed a problem. Heck, even recently such a massive door with dozens of security features built into it would've been an issue.
Now though? It was the least of my problems. With Technical Expertise, I easily bypassed all the security and directly looked into the inner workings of the vault door. Knowing how everything linked up and how it all worked made getting it open a cakewalk. Especially since it was a dial lock. I could practically read the code as I put it in.
The door loudly unlocked as the thick rods holding it in place popped open. The massive vault door cracked open as I heard the bots behind me turn around and face my direction. I slipped in before any of them could react, quickly closing the door behind me to keep anything that might pose a threat back.
I went ahead and locked it back before taking my first look at the Back Archives. The room was rather massive, made from some kind of rich wood and fancy golden decor. It gave off an extremely posh study vibe, completely different from the other Archive room.
And Back Archives wasn’t a great name for the place. If anything, it looked closer to a private museum. Of course, there were shelves covered in books, files, and assorted papers. The space, however, wasn’t completely filled with such shelves.
There were dozens of display stands holding up artifacts and valuables that would’ve belonged in national museums. I spotted things from all over the world with a particular interest in relics from the indigenous people.
I walked the aisles, appreciating all the Rayn that could be gathered from such a place. It was literally a small treasure trove. At a glance? Millions of Rayn. Assuming there were a few original manuscripts scattered here and there, that is.
I continued to investigate the area, completely ignoring the panning turrets and irate security as they looked around for the intruder. I was practically invisible to everything here, so very little posed a threat. At least, for the next four minutes according to the Blinder’s sensors.
Even the bots weren’t an issue. Though, interestingly, the ones back here were only equipped with melee weapons. Lots of shock batons, a couple of swords, and other assorted weapons that could be used without hurting anything in the archives.
I moved fast, so the motion sensors could detect me. Or at least, I assumed they could as they swarmed in my direction. I solved that by setting up my newest tech in the middle of the room and turning it on at max volume. It easily drowned the ultrasonic frequencies, ‘blinding’ the system.
It knew I was here, but not where. And with so many valuables, it was probably coded not to attack without knowing the intruder’s precise location. Too much could be lost in a momentary firefight. Or, at least, I assumed the system was set up like that since none of the turrets opened fire and the bots were only armed with melee weapons.
With most of the threat taken care of, I took a chance to look around. The pure wealth here was interesting, but it wasn’t quite the goal. Not yet, at least. I needed two things in particular: shut down the security and look for an access shaft into the underground structure.
One of these issues seemed as though it’d be solved rather easily. A massive bank of terminals sat along one of the walls. I slid over to it, ignoring the patrolling combat bots as I took a seat and turned everything on.
Password locked. Really, I shoulda seen such a thing coming. I tried to get access with one of the badges, but it only flashed with an error and remained locked. I rapidly vacated the area as four patrolling bots came to investigate. I had no idea how to bypass it, so there was no point sticking around.
That meant it was time to return to an old-fashioned style of taking care of security. I moved around the space, sabotaging every bot, turret, and sensor I could get my hands on.
I had to take a quick few breaks to hide in an ornate wardrobe, but otherwise, it wasn’t even an issue taking care of everything. It got easier and easier the more I sabotaged until nothing was left. I did have to throw things around to trip the seismic sensors on occasion when they were pinning me in, but that was a very minor issue.
With my safety ensured, I dusted my hands off and started hunting for the suspected underground structure’s access shaft.
Comments
Gardor
Yeah, I'm not very familiar with tabletop gaming but what I've picked up on through osmosis leads me to believe you're running on a "milestone" based leveling system. I guess I just like experience based systems more. I guess this would defeat the purpose, but I wish her "milestones" were building and using tech, to get tech levels, vs doing a thousand little things over a week long period to successfully complete a full heist (for example). Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that just described "experience" based, so I'm not really sure where the line gets drawn. Google says experience based is a more steady progression based on a characters actions, but like, milestones are also based on a characters actions, the actions are just lumped together, and take into account a sort of subjective grading of how the missions outcome. Again, not expecting you to change the core mechanics of your world, I love the story, I'm just a whiner.
Lost Rain
It makes thematic sense, but I originally set it up this way so the level ups would make narrative sense and I wouldn’t be restrained by xp numbers
Scholar of Endless Knowledge
Give her some loot! And maybe find an item that the fox or raven like to get something from them.
Gardor
This is just my litrpg addict rearing it's ugly head, but I'm very excited to see her level ups from this mission. Seems like she's gonna have some big gains, from how effective and crucial she's been. I've said it before, but having the level ups be doled out after whichever task is complete has always been my least favorite part of this story. Dunno, it just usually seems arbitrary. Like, is this mission "complete" when they leave the abandoned city? When they get back to their home city? When they deliver it to Athena? When Athena sells the items they stole? It's all the value judgements that annoy me, I think. Also when she does some smaller activity for herself, and whether or not she gets xp for it, sometimes seems contradictory. But I guess since there isn't like, an impartial AI running her system, it's several rather mercurial spirits, it does make thematic sense. I just like watching numbers tick up more routinely, I think. I know there's a system update (or deeper system access, or whatever) planned, which may or may not change this mechanic, I'm just whining to whine.
