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Freezing Shadows, Chapter 7
🕑 Added 2024-11-25 00:50:08 +0000 UTC
Chapter 7: Settling In
The other four arrived over the next hour. Fortunately, Berzerker and I had cleaned up before the first of them, Twilight, made it to the door. Not that I was a prude or anything, but it set the wrong impression about what I was gathering a team for.
The room was your standard motel room. Two twin beds, a flatscreen TV, and a chairs, one for sitting at the desk/table, and the other for kicking back. Better than a coffin hotel or hostel, but definitely not the lap of luxury.
“All right,” I said, once everyone was here. “So that everyone’s on the same page, my name is Iceblade, and this is Berzerker. We were minding our own business at a Stuff House in Tacoma, when some dumbasses tried to do a hit on a woman, and then proceeded to fail to kill an unarmed and unarmored civilian with a car bomb. They continued that failure by coming into the Stuff Hutt, waving guns and saying shit. That went about as well for them as you might expect.”
There were chuckles all around at that. “We were ‘liberating’ their belongings when the woman they failed to kill came up to us, and offered us a job. From now on, we’ll be calling her Ms. Johnson, especially on comms. Ms. Johnson was the mistress of a VP for Allegiant Designs named Mel Cozi. Only, Mel called it off once she got pregnant. Ms. Johnson decided that wasn’t going to fly, so, after the kid was born, she had the DNA tests done to prove he’s Mel’s kid, and blackmailed him, threatening to let his wife know if he didn’t keep the credits coming.”
Sexkitten groaned. “I swear I’ve seen this movie before.”
I grinned at her. “Well, coming from the anime catgirl, that’s saying something.” A round of laughs, like I wanted, and she flipped me off. “But all jokes aside, Ms. Johnson decided she wasn’t going to just run and hide. She’s asked us to write Mel out of the story. For payment, she’s offering ten percent of the slush funds Mel has access to, plus the collection of collector guns he’s got in his home. Last time she was able to check the slush fund, it was two million. Not saying that it is still two mil, but that’s what got us to take the job.”
Babydoll leaned forward. “Ten percent of two million, plus whatever we can get from collectible guns? Even split six ways, that’s a big payday. What’s the catch?”
“The catch is that we don’t have any info on how big the fund is now, and any intel on his security arrangements or schedule is almost a year out of date. Which means we need to figure out his schedule, figure out the security on his house, make sure that the guns and funds are there, and get away clean after doing the job. That’s more than two people can handle, which is why I put in a call to Alisha, who put me in touch with you all.”
Twilight raised a hand, and I nodded to her. “Not that I’m trying to be ‘that girl’, but who put you in charge? You think that, because you’re a guy, you can boss us around?”
“I’m in charge because I’m the one who put out the call, and got Alisha to give me your names. So, for this job, I’m boss. If everything goes well, and we maybe decide to keep working together, then we can talk things out. However, each of us have our areas of expertise, with some overlap. So, Twilight, when we need someone to ravage the digital world for us, that’s your time to shine. You know your business best. Same with the rest of you. Anyone have an issue with that?”
Sexkitten shook her head. “Not an issue with that, exactly. But I’m in a bit of a state, thanks to some ‘issues’ I just worked out with some people. Could really use a weapon, if someone has a spare.”
Babydoll grimaced. “And I could probably use some better armor if we’re going to be in a fight.”
Berzerker grinned as she pulled out the take from the earlier fight. “Well, fortunately, we have some weapons and armor that some idiots are no longer using. Can’t promise that they’re the best quality, but they’re better than nothing.”
Babydoll picked out the Armor Vest that the guy with the AK-97 Carbine had been wearing, and said, “Well, the bloodstains don’t exactly fill me with confidence, but it will do until we get our take from the job.”
Sexkitten, on the other hand, picked up the AK-97 Carbine, and the ammo we had for it. “I can work with this. Might not be the best weapon out there, but putting rounds downrange can be as useful as putting them in targets sometimes.”
With that settled, I moved to the next item on my little agenda. “Right, now, way I figured it, we’re already at about dinner time. I figure we order some food, and go over what we can do.”
Berzerker grinned. “I got a list of takeout places that delivered here when I was checking in for the rooms. And I made sure to let Ms. J know to talk to us when she wants something, so we can get it without triggering her accounts or anything.”
“Ms. Johnson is in the motel with us?” Twilight asked.
“Room next to ours,” Berzerker nodded. “The fact that you haven’t heard the kid crying shows that they didn’t cheap out on the soundproofing.”
“So, speaking of rooms, Berzerker and I will be sharing this one. Rooms 316 and 317 are ours, too, so you four can sort that out amongst yourselves. Physical keycards, because they don’t trust the network that much here.”
“Smart,” Twilight nodded. “I could still get through the locks, as could any hacker, but if someone is taking the time to hack our rooms here, instead of just breaking down the door, we got bigger problems. I’ll check to see what kind of camera coverage we have, here.”
“And I can set up one of my spy drones to cover the gaps, if needed. They’re little things, about the size of a housefly, but that’ll be enough to keep eyes on the elevator, and Ms. Johnson’s room, if they aren’t already covered.”
“Do it anyways,” I said. “Hacking the existing cameras is good, but any talented crew coming after us is going to hack the cameras as well, so having the spy drones is a good backup. I would rather be overprepared than caught by surprise.”
Shadowgirl spoke up for the first time. The adept liked to listen more than speak, from the looks of it. “Hence you putting a call out for a full team, instead of just getting a hacker, right?”
“Exactly,” I nodded. “So, before we get too far along, I’m guessing the four of you are players?”
That surprised them. Babydoll was the first to speak. “Wait, what? I mean, yeah, I am, but what would you have done if any of us weren’t?”
“Something we found out during the beta. The AI will filter talk of RL stuff, either muting it, or rephrasing it for NPCs. So, if any of you were NPCs, they would have heard some nonsense question, or just ignored the fact that I was speaking.”
“Hold up,” Sexkitten said. “You were in the beta? Are you the mysterious Seattle guy that people were talking about on the forums? No one could figure out who you were, some of them even tried clocking your login-logout times, but there were some crazy rumors there that you were spoofing the readings somehow, since you were online way too much for a pod.”
“Yes, I was the ‘mysterious Seattle guy’. And no, I wasn’t spoofing my login times. Truth is, I was a product tester for MetaTech, on a new long-term medical version of the pods everyone uses. Basically, for people with traumatic injuries, who wouldn’t be able to live a normal life otherwise. Beta testing the game was a very nice bonus.”
I held up a hand to quell more questions. “Point is, I’ve learned a few things about the game system, and how things work. Wasn’t able to carry over any of my characters from the beta, but the bonuses from being a Beta tester and pre-ordering allowed me to make a pretty good combat mage. I’m focused primarily on blades and pistols for normal attacks, and I have a good variety of spells on tap, but I also can dabble as the face of the party if need be.”
“Ooh, what were the bonuses for being a Beta tester?” Babydoll asked.
“My characters start as ‘Prime Runners’. Basically, I get 500 BP to start with, instead of 400, but the normal restrictions on how much you can spend on what are still in play. So, I have an edge, but not as much of one as you might think. I’m definitely not some god-tier character.”
“All right,” Shadowgirl said. “Well, I’m an adept. Decided to go for the whole ninja thing. I’m good at getting places I shouldn’t be, and I’m primarily a blades girl, but I also have a pistol because I don’t have the insane strength needed to make throwing weapons or archery worth it.”
“Well, I’m Berzerker. Can call me a heavy, because my cyberware definitely adds a few pounds, but also because I’m your heavy weapons girl. I have some lighter weapons like battle rifles and SMGs, but my baby is a light machine gun, or the grenade launcher. But, if someone really wants to get me in melee, I have a couple things for them, too. Oh, and I have this infusion thing that means I don’t register pain, which is where the name comes in.”
“Fine,” Twilight sighed. “I’m a technomancer. Means I can manipulate the Matrix with my mind, no commlinks or hardware required. I do have a normal commlink, as a dummy, and for external storage, but I don’t hack with it. And, well, my big weakness is that I put all my focus into my Matrix work, so I am not really that great at meat-world combat.”
“Good thing I’m here, then,” Babydoll grinned. “I’m pretty good with weapons in the meat and through drones. So, if we both do our out of body stuff in my van, we’ll at least be fairly well protected.”
“Guess that leaves me,” Sexkitten said. “I’m pretty heavily augmented, as you can see. I can back Shadow up on infiltrating, and I’m good with automatics. And I can shred with blades, including my claws, or hand razors as they are supposed to be called. Oh, and I have these tailored pheromones, so I can chat people up pretty well? Not saying anything about our fearless leader, but there are a lot more guys here, than in RL, so some of them might take a woman’s touch.”
“None taken,” I grinned. “Ideally, we’d have someone for every role, and someone who could cover for them in a pinch. That isn’t always possible, of course, but it is a good goal. Speaking of covering for people, how is everyone situated on transport? I’ve got a racing bike, which can color change if needed.”
“I’ve got a Bulldog,” Berzerker said. “No color-changing. Couldn’t afford it. But there’s plenty of room for people and gear. That’s where I keep most of my guns when on the job.”
“I also have a Bulldog,” added Babydoll. “I do have the color changing option, but I had to sacrifice most of the seating to add in drone racks so I could launch some of my babies while on the move. Got a VTOL drone for long-term overwatch, and Steel Cougar for combat, loaded with an LMG to bring the hurt.”
“I have the Tsarina you probably saw as you were coming up from the lot,” Twilight said. “Subcompact, with a passenger in front of the driver kind of cockpit vibe. Up-armored it a bit, the concealed kind. Didn’t have money for further mods, though.”
“I came by cab,” Sexkitten sighed. “Something else I’ll have to fix with my share of the take, for sure.”
“I’ve got a racing bike, like Iceblade,” Shadowgirl said. “Nothing too special about it. Certainly no weapons or anything like that.”
“Right. So, tomorrow, I want us to split up. We’ll need to check out Cozi, figure out the security on his house, and his schedule. Someone will need to stay here to cover and make sure that our paycheck doesn’t get herself into trouble. Ideas?”
Babydoll raised a hand. “Are you going to be doing the out of body thing that mages can do? Scout around as a ghost, or whatever?”
“Yeah. At the very least, I’ll be able to tell if there are any wards we need to worry about. Twilight, I expect you’ll be deep diving the Matrix? You want to do that here, or someplace mobile?”
“Mobile. Preferably someone else’s car, so I don’t have to drive while shaking off dumpshock if something tags me. Babydoll, have seats for two in your van?”
“Yeah, I can fit up to three passengers. Any more than that, and we’d need a second ride.”
“I’ll come with you then,” said Shadowgirl. “I’ll check things out, find the best place to infiltrate, if we need to.”
“Berzerker and I hold down the fort, then?” Sexkitten asked, before looking over to the heavy gunner.
“Sounds good to me. Ms. J already knows me, and we’ll introduce you to her, as well. And, with the firepower we have, we should be able to keep them safe from anything short of a full-on elite corpsec strike team.”
“Perfect,” I grinned. “Now, let’s order up some grub.”
Comments
Solveen Dathe Rizzal
Thanks for the Chapter. Was this sentence below supposed to be a slang reference to the Stuff House, or just a mistake? Also am I the only one who thinks 'talking shit' makes a more common turn of phrase? Regardless, thanks as always for the awesome story and amazingly clean chapters, some books I read give me the Heebie-jeebies... alter.? "They continued that failure by coming into the Stuff Hutt, waving guns and saying shit." "They continued that failure by coming into the Stuff House, waving guns and talking shit."
Gustavo Campanelli
Nice group, they might be starter characters, but having Mage, adept and Technomancer covers a lot of bases, the others aren't as impactful excepting more niche situations. I love the drone controller addition. With 6 people there's some overlap which means if somebody is taken out or dies, somebody else can take that place.
Iron Akela
So a mage, an infiltrator adept, a technomancer, a weapon specialist, a Gillette, and a rigger. Good group. I did laugh when Berserker called an LMG a heavy weapon, but skill wise it is and availability won’t allow bigger at chargen, so it’s all good :o)
Robert Gardner
TFTC
Sanginius
Am Liking where this is going,, thank you for the chapter.
Cyrus McEnnis
Gotta say I'm digging this story - then again, I used to read the Shadowrun novels back in the day >.> I know you've already written a few books in this series - do you want any ideas for cosmetic chrome or anything like that?
