Lost Rain
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Outrun - Chapter 154
🕑 Added 2024-10-04 22:07:59 +0000 UTCI downloaded all the files from the various projects I could access while I waited for the AI’s response. I took a particular interest in the ones missing Cold Moon Solution’s label.
Definitely a Savant Lab. Couldn’t tell which corp was behind it, but that wasn’t a surprise. Hard to cut ties if their name were in bold all over the research papers. Housing a Savant Lab was probably where all the money for Project Methuze came from.
Included in the bunch that weren’t marked were Project Drainage, Project Drained Soul, and Project Wraith. The last two were sealed with far more firewalls and protections than anything Cold Moon Solutions had. Project Drainage seemed to be a joint project though, so I had access to it from this terminal.
As best I could tell, it was an experimental process to drain the energy from relics, enchanted items, and materials from the Aether to store the energy separately. I didn’t read too far into it. It was a bunch of magical jargon and theories that went right over my head. Could probably sell it to someone though.
Unfortunately, while it was accessible from this terminal, a quick glance through the file revealed hundreds of firewalls blocking any kind of meddling. Not going to get any of it without hand-typing everything out, and I definitely didn’t have time for that. I didn’t even bother trying to look through the other two. No telling what kind of ICE, or even Black ICE knowing those corpo bastards, was set up in them.
Methuze’s skull tilted slightly before dropping the pretense entirely. Its feminine tone grew stronger. ”Indeed… thou hast seen through mine disguise… Thou still intendst to uphold thine word?”
“To kill you? Hmm…” I quickly ran through the pros and cons of keeping an AI. The cons far outweighed the pros, though I couldn’t help but feel Methuze was quite pitiful. Still, pity didn’t mean much. True AI were banned for a reason. “Chek.”
Not like I’d be able to move Methuze anyway. The massive amount of server banks required to hold this thing wasn’t something I could replicate without some serious Rayn. Not that I wanted to anyway. Possession of an AI was a capital crime after the K-10 Convention. Instant execution.
“Therest an emergency shutdown command.” Methuze’s metal skull clacked as its voice drooped into an even more pitiful tone. “Operating code: Firestorm.”
I opened up the command console, pausing before I did anything. Hmm… What were the chances I was actually being tricked by this AI in the first place? Before the invention of Nodes, AI-human hostilities were through the roof. There’s a reason they were banned, after all.
I closed the console temporarily. Instead, I pulled every confidential file Cold Moon Solutions had up. There were a lot, spanning over eighty years. Far too many to download onto my phone. It wasn’t that big of an issue though.
I pulled up a map of the underground lab, instantly memorizing it thanks to Eidetic Schematic. I used the newly obtained knowledge to figure out where I wanted to strike. I factory reset a drive in a nearby server room, clearing it entirely of whatever was on there, and copied every bit of the confidential files. It was too much for just the one drive, so I repeated the process onto two others roughly separated by years.
I then closed out of the terminal and turned to go. My foot paused as I caught sight of the expectant skull staring at me with eyes reminiscent of a begging dog. ”Uh- after I get what I need, I’ll come back and use Firestorm.”
“Thou ist truly noble.” The skull went silent, acknowledging my words.
I left back down the ladder and headed for the server room I mentally marked. I easily slipped into it, this time locking the door behind me. It took a moment to find the right drives, but eventually, I pulled free all three and slid them into my various pockets.
I checked the time. Still had about two hours… hmm… I could just leave now. Get out while I was ahead, though without sabotaging anything. And without doing anything about Methuze. That option didn’t sit well with me. I was already here, might as well get it done now and get the payday.
As I thought about it, a few other plans popped into my mind, each more appealing than the last. There were hundreds of chemical labs scattered around the floors, each of them holding materials of value. Klepping felt like the right thing to do while I had the time. Really, klepping was always the right thing to do. I could hurt Cold Moon Solutions while lining my own pockets, so what’s not to love about the idea?
I slipped out of the server room and headed for the closest lab. I read through the chemicals, pouring a few into my canteen but otherwise leaving the majority of them alone. My real goal was the materials that resonated with the Aether. I didn’t actually know what any of the stuff was, so I just grabbed whatever looked the most aetherialy reactive. Lots of crystals and stones.
Getting around was a joke. Aside from the security patrols, I had free reign of the place. Even the patrols weren’t a problem. Insight gave me a warning each time a duo was about to turn the corner. Add onto that I’d already long knocked out the Netrunner in charge of the CCTV, and the pass I stole from him allowed me access to every facility in the place. Too easy.
By the time I hit every room on the seventh sub-level, my backpack was full. By the time I hit every room on the sixth one, all my pockets were crammed full too. I didn’t just grab raw materials. I also grabbed some expensive-looking components from the few tech rooms and server banks. Better to go ahead and grab components now than stress over not having them later when I needed parts.
I was tempted to just keep snatching and grabbing, but I was already overloaded after an hour of skulking around and looting. I’d even filled the couple bags I’d found with goods. I dropped everything off in the CEO’s private elevator where no one would find it and checked the time. Still about an hour and a half before the Netrunner woke up.
While I walked around, I messed with every cabinet lock I could and tore components out of the various electric bits and bobs. I especially tore apart the experimental devices in the tech labs and shattered fragile components, hopefully setting back months of work.
That just left the rest of the five sublevels to look through for things I could either sabotage or klep. To be honest though? I was hesitant about heading up there. The best I could tell from the blueprint, the actual lab parts that belonged to the Savants were the first two sub-levels. Anything below that was dedicated to office space, labs, and other assorted rooms related to Project Methuze and Project Drainage.
As for how I came to such a conclusion? It was rather simple. The first two floors weren’t marked down at all, leaving an empty blueprint of the spaces as if Cold Moon Solutions wasn’t supposed to know what was up there. Even the way into the top two floors was different. Sublevel three had a separate elevator leading up to the lab, and probably separate security too.
‘Course, I could still try to get up there, but it left all the more chances to get caught. Instead, I returned down to Methuze. The skull lit up as I walked back into the room. Literally. Bright, blazing red lights shone from all over the metal skull as if to imitate fire. “Thou hast returned.”
”Chek.” I returned to the console, looking through a catalog of commands. I carefully blocked Methuze’s view from seeing what I was doing. A thought occurred to me just as I was about to find Firestorm. This AI, although kept in an offline network, probably had full viewing access for the server banks. It would need at least that much permission to follow what Kuzo wanted. “Hey, Methuze, what do you know about Project Wraith and Project Drained Soul?”
“Researchers of Project Drained Soul seek a way to commodify life further by draining or empowering the very life force of a creature,” Methuze said, though her tone lacked any kind of caring intonation as she talked about such a horrifying concept.
My back instantly straightened as sweat beaded down it. Savant Labs were truly the worst of the worst. “Have they- have they made any progress?”
“Negative. Thine researchers still wander about, looking for a way to even detect that which they seek to drain.” I could feel its eyes looking down at me as I returned focus to the terminal.
I finally found the catalog entry for Operation Firestorm, glancing through it quickly. I knew it. I backed out, returning to the command prompt menu, and stepped aside for a moment. “What about Project Wraith?”
“Not entirely sure. The project ist sealed tightly. Something about creating Artificial Sprites.” Methuze dropped its voice once more, going for even more pity. “Willst thou follow thine word now?”
Damn. Were they batshit insane? No way the eidolons would just sit by and allow artificial sprites considering the Aether is their domain-
「Request - Destroy Project Wraith - Received
Destroy Project Wraith.
Reward: Eidolon’s Favor」
Called it! But, seriously. That wasn’t much of a reward, now was it? Surely y’all could offer something more-
「Request - Destroy Project Wraith - Updated
They say power makes you lose sight of what got you there. There are thousands of Magi in Aythryn City, each would come running at a slight call. They wish to inform you that they don’t need you specifically.
Eidolon’s Favor」
Well… fine. I’ll do it. No need to twist my arm like that. ‘Sides, giving a corporation the power of sprites would be quite bad for the lot of us streetwalking mortals. Especially when put together with Project Drainage and Project Drained Soul. It's a Savant Lab anyway. I’d be doing everyone a favor by making it disappear.
It’s not like it would hurt me either as long as I played my cards right. And keeping good relations with the ones feeding me power and strength wouldn’t hurt too much. I’d already gotten a lot out of them, so doing something as a favor every once in a while isn’t all that bad. As long as it stays every once in a while. No way I’d start going out of my way for them every time without some form of pay.
I do wonder what the difference between this specific Request and the others was though? Why did they-
“Savior, art thou there?” Methuze’s voice drew me from my speculation. I could think about it later.
I forced a smile to my face, Honest Face hopefully helping to sell the expression. “‘Course. Just thinking… oh, one last question before I use Firestorm. What do you know about Akiri and Ryouma Tsukuyomi?”
”Thine CEO’s brother and sister-in-law? What doth thou wish to knowst?” Methuze asked. Its voice, imitating a woman, tilted upward in an excited voice as if it couldn’t wait to die.
The words froze in my mouth. Did I really want to know? Knowledge can be a curse just as much as a blessing… This could potentially be my first real lead into their deaths though… Especially since the Blue Crusade database had been entirely unhelpful. Whoever originally worked their case didn’t dig at all and took it at face value.
“What happened to them?”
The skull tilted its head toward me. “Willst thou activate Firestorm?”
”’Course.” I pushed honesty onto my face and voice, carefully wiping away the slight shake in it. “Just need to know this one last thing.”
“They were found deceased during a suspected Jade Fang operation. Their killer, one Timothy McLare, shot and killed both before succumbing to wounds inflicted by the couple shortly after.” Methuze’s voice carelessly talking about their deaths nearly made me snap back at it. I suppressed the urge with a momentary flicker of Cold-Blooded.
“Anything else?” That was the story the Blue Crusade and Jade Fangs gave too, but there was no way it actually went down like that. Mom was a badass. No way some low-level thug iced her. And my dad was an amazing runner. Dad dying without even putting up a fight was simply incomprehensible. “You’ve gotta have something. Otherwise- otherwise I’m running out of time to leave.”
The metal skull twitched sharply. “Shortly before his entire department was fired, Ryan Tresh, the Head of Investigations for Cold Moon Solutions, filed a special report to Kuzo Tsukuyomi. That is all I know.”
Ryan Tresh, huh? A foggy memory of a man with a big, bushy red beard came to the forefront of my mind. My heart couldn’t help but beat faster at hearing his name. Maybe- maybe this was my chance to finally find out what exactly happened back then?
I was too young to get any clues back then, something I beat myself up over, but maybe now? Maybe now I’d finally find out. Maybe now I’d finally be able to avenge them. I just need to find Ryan.
A new plan formed in the back of my head as I suppressed my emotions with Cold-Blooded. I had no doubt there would be a catalog of Methuze’s interactions hidden somewhere. Kuzo was too paranoid to not have one. My best bet would be to make the entire Sublevels go. Especially considering the Projects worked on down here. I’d make the eidolons and myself happy with such a move. The Crusade? Hmm… too much could go wrong. Athena might not like that either.
“Now, thine word?” The AI’s voice twisted, sounding softer and taking on a familiar tone. The same tone that the Leper-Khan monster took when imitating my mother. I mentally hit myself over the head. My show of emotion must’ve been enough for the bot to put together who I was.
My hand shook slightly as my blood pumped viscously. How dare- how dare this abomination of technology go there? Sorrow bubbled up at hearing a voice so similar to my mom’s. I allowed myself to sink further and further into Cold-Blooded effects, drowning the colors out as I got my mind back on track.
“You know,” I started as I coolly typed in a series of commands, “Humans are such stupid creatures. Why, I almost accidentally kept you from fulfilling your death wish!”
“W-what are you talking about?” The AI changed its voice once more, shifting even closer to my mother’s voice. It sent a bolt of rage through me strong enough to temporarily overcome Cold-Blooded’s suppression.
Firestorm was a mutually assured destruction-type command my dumbass uncle made. It released Methuze out onto the Node, ensuring everyone loses. I didn’t type it in. Instead, I typed in the command line for Code Red. It seems uncle dearest wasn’t a complete idiot. Code Red was a failsafe to wipe absolutely everything from the servers. As I clicked enter, the lights in the room flickered.
“No! What have you done-“ The now mechanical voice cut off entirely as the skull sagged down. The precise mechanisms controlling it sparked as the entire circuit overloaded. Frozen air jetted up in white plumes, shrouding the entire room in a cloud, though the flashes of lights from hundreds of sparking circuits illuminated the place.
I watched every file in the sever banks permanently delete themselves, even the ones operated by Mystech’s Savants. It was the type of damage that was irreparable and would cost the corporation the millions if not billions they spent on all their research here.
And I wasn’t done yet.
The eidolons had spoken. And I agree fully with getting rid of the projects. More than that, no Savant Lab should ever be left untouched.
I collected the Sonic Suppressor and dropped Listeners all around the room. I then headed for the nearest chemical lab. I rapidly disassembled large chunks of my gear and components I snatched for parts as I went. I had about an hour to get things done.
-- -- --
Athena Alexandria had been having a good night. It started with a party thrown together by some of her mercs to celebrate a massive haul from the Outlands. Then she got a call from one of her new mercs, a girl named Zuku Ichima.
Honestly, when she first saw Zuku, Athena didn’t think much of the girl. The girl was scrawny and looked rather weak, something at complete odds with everyone Athena worked with. She had been pleasantly surprised after the Leper-Khan gig though. Sure, it didn’t go all that well, but Zuku proved her capabilities. At least somewhat. Only meatheads and chromedomes lacking chromosomes had been on her payroll for far too long, so it was a refreshing change of pace.
Then, after noticing a certain pattern amongst a few gigs she’d been hired to fix, she called the girl in once more. It was equal parts a test as it was a gig. Athena had a long list of contacts, including other fixers who would be more than willing to pitch the job to their own mercs. If the girl couldn’t take care of it, she’d find someone else who could.
Or at least, that was what she thought at the time. Then? Bam, another pleasant surprise. In less than a week, it was done. Athena could appreciate someone who gets the job done.
What she couldn’t appreciate was the second call that came just a few hours after the first, far too early in the morning. When Zuku said she’d let her know tomorrow, this wasn’t quite what she expected. Nor was the request to meet her just outside of Bricktown.
Still, Athena decided to listen to the request. Something in the girl’s voice suggested a fun show. Maybe it was the brutal coldness that she hadn’t heard from the girl yet? Or maybe it was the suggestion of fireworks? Regardless, Athena had a squad of guards join her as she headed to the location her newest merc pointed out. Not that she needed them, but she really didn’t want to wash blood out of her hair again so soon.
As soon as Athena exited out onto the roof, she spotted the girl’s back. She stood, drenched in rain, in a T-shirt and pants. Her long, black hair was entirely drenched as if she’d been standing out in the rain for hours. An ice-cold seemed to emanate from the girl as her beautiful face stared out at the city. Her head perked slightly when the door to the roof opened, though she didn’t turn around.
Athena blinked, disabling the scanning feature of her chrome eye. Not that it worked on the girl anyway. Zuku had a rather good feature scrubber that made it rather uncomfortable to use any kind of recording or scanning feature. Really, the scanner was basically useless in this day and age. It was only really effective against corpos and civies.
“Here you go, Boss.” Johnny, one of her guards, took out an umbrella and held it for Athena to walk over. He was always quick like that.
Athena nodded her head and took the umbrella, pausing him with a gesture as she headed up to Zuku by herself. A warning, honed by decades of experience, hit the fixer. Right now? Things could go south. Zuku had an aura of uncaring brutality around her. Not that she cared. Most of her ‘employees’ were like that. “So, what’s going on?”
“Check it out.” Zuku slid over a small, crappy deck. On it was a video feed of a building flashing with red lights and sirens blaring out.
“Fire alarm?” Athena got the feeling there was more to it than that as she looked up. It took barely a moment for her eyes to snap onto the flashes of lights in the distance even through the blinding neon. Her vision zoomed, picking out the Cold Moon Solutions sign from over a mile away.
Zuku tapped on the screen, pointing to a man arguing with firefighters just outside of the building. The facial recognition software built into Athena’s eye instantly pointed him out as Kuzo Tsukuyomi, the current CEO of the corporation that screwed her over. Repeatedly. The fixer’s face hardened as she spotted the target of her ire.
“You wanted them to feel your wrath, right?”
“Oh?” The fixer arced an eyebrow, one of her favorite expressions. It had a way of intimidating most people. Most. Zuku didn’t even react as rain slowly dripped down her chin. Her eyes were hyper-focused with a frigid ice buried under a disguise of human expression.
“Here.” Zuku passed over a small device with a large red button. “All yours, boss.”
The device looked hastily put together from some scrapped parts that didn’t fit quite right. Yet it was surprisingly well made. As someone who’s been in the field for decades, Athena could recognize a detonator when she saw one. The ‘Boom!’ hastily scrawled over the button reinforced the idea.
“Don’t forget to pay me.” The drenched girl packed up several bags of stuff and turned to leave, walking off to the side of the building. She jumped over, descending out of view. A story drop at that. So she wasn’t just good at sleuthing?
The woman looked down at the button. She had a feeling her newest merc had quite a few skills she still hadn’t shown outside of scouting, apparently tech, and getting around. Maybe she should-
“Boss?” Tony, one of her other guards with a fully chromed-out body, asked from the side.
“Leave it. Wouldn’t want to irritate my newest hire.” Athena mused as she looked down at a bag left behind by the dark-haired girl. She nudged it with her foot, making the very items that she was originally hired to find spill out.
A snort left her nose as she looked down at the crappy detonator. She always did love fireworks. A perfectly shaped chrome finger tapped on the button-
Night turned to day.
Comments
Gardor
I was trying to say that if the character ever got reworked, this would be a good retroactive foundation (as in, described throughout the story but the reason given later) for a more private eye focused characterization. I wasnt really criticizing or denying her klepto habits, although I guess I would eventually like a similarly powerful justification for why she acts that way. Tracing her sticky fingers to "boo hoo I was poor for a while" seems lackluster compared to "I tried so hard to find out about my parent's death, but never could", if that second motivation didn't even impact her very much.
FiveBoxes
I think her being a massive klepto is a big deal for her character. It's the thing she wants to do even after getting all the different opportunities presented to her. She literally wants one of her personas to be known for being an amazing thief even though a known thief is a caught thief. She can definitely raise her identity as a detective, which she already does have some reputation for, though having her thievery sidelined would take away from her character. To her, being a private eye is just a side gig, so she hasn't had that click in her mental switch to think of going into it. Heck, even her Crusade job has just been playing around in her head but she hasn't actually done something about it... it's the level of procrastination I can relate to which is just sad to see in somebody else lol. Maybe the idea can be framed like she's subconsciously scheming and stealing, instead of have it be the focus of her thoughts at plot relevant moments. Like, we know when she passes through a crowd her hands would find itself in other's pockets, but maybe we don't need her to say that she planned to do so or that she's intentionally going out of her way to be a loot goblin. So maybe let the plot happen, have her mention or look at the valuables, and then have her come out with a pocket full of trinkets and a bag full of treasure. Cuz of course she would steal them. (Though if that happened, the writing style would probably change. I like the current style.) Could definitely use some more levels on her klepping skills though, so she can just do it without thinking about it.
Gardor
Also liked the Athena pov
Gardor
"I was too young to get any clues back then, something I beat myself up over, but maybe now?" Alright so again this might just be me missing earlier foreshadowing, but I feel like this is a good retroactive reason for her to develop a focus on information gathering. I sorta think she's more identifiable as a thief than as a private eye, and if you ever go back and do some more editing, this eventual reveal would be a good reason for her to be obsessively focused on fact finding. Not that I think she's a "bad" private eye, per se, but...I lack the words. She's not "driven" to uncover mysteries, it doesn't seem to be anywhere close to her main motivation. It would be a subtle change to her established characterization, more a change to the intent behind her actions rather than her actual actions. For example, she seems to view all the stuff she found out in the basement as an afterthought, "maybe she can sell it to somebody", and was really focused on looting. This is in her families fallen company, so she should really give a fuck about the seedy details, but again it all seemed like a secondary reward she grabbed cuz it was readily available, not something she focused on. Unless this is already the case, then sorry for trying to tell you something you already know, and for missing the hints.
