Maniac’s Mayhem-Chapter Thirty-Five: Plan For Disaster Hope for Salvation
The fall of government was slow at first, but once the corporations had a grasp on the political underbelly, it was only a matter of time before everything collapsed. With the collapse of government, keep also the fall of many public institutes like firefighters and police. Vestiges of these institutes might still exist in some place, but they mostly cater to the rich and powerful.
This all makes the life of the average citizen a lot more dangerous even if we ignore the fact of possible alien attacks. Even if you were one of the lucky few people to be rescued by the remaining vestiges of these institutions, the bills that they stick you with might as well be worse than getting robbed most of the time.
-- How public safety collapsed a small documentary by The Purple Truth
I never considered how difficult it would be, to be inconspicuous while driving an ambulance. I spent about an hour finding a proper parking space to hide the thing. Not that it matters that much if people know I was here, it is just that I prefer to not have people trying to break into it so that they can grab the non-existent medical equipment.
I put the topic of city planning out of my mind, and walk up to the nondescript apartment and knock on the door. I hear some shuffling on the other side, then I hear an electronic buzz coming from the side. I look in the direction of the sound and notice a small pin hole in the side of the wall. A camera. Well, at least they are careful. I smile and wave at the camera.
“What do you want?” John's voice comes from the other side.
I pause, then realizing I am still in my disguise, one that they have never seen before, I grin. Time to have some fun. “Oh, nothing important, sir. I am just here to make sure you pay your taxes. This unit has been late for several months. Do you mind letting me inside?”
“You don’t look like a government worker.” he replies with suspicion in his voice.
I nod “That's correct, but you see, this is a highly unstable area, so we are required to look more like the locals if we wish to work in this area.” I smile “You know, safety and all that.”
It stays quiet for a bit, then John's voice comes again. “How many are with you?”
“Three or four. Do you count a calculating AI as a separate entity or not?” I ask, grinning wildly.
“How many of you are combat focused?” John asks, sounding more confused by the minute.
“Two, I think. Not sure if the AI could operate a smart weapon or not. Then again, we don’t have any guns, so it's not really important.” I answer.
“Is it a good idea to tell me all of this?” he finally asks.
“I have learned that people are a lot less fearful and violent, if you put all your cards on the table. Does this mean that I am allowed inside?”
“Fine, but try anything and we will retaliate.” John states in a threatening tone.
I hear several locks unlock, and then the door opens. John stands there; he looks healthy, hair a bit untamed, and has a bit of a beard growing in. His clothing looks old and faded but I can see bits of armour poking through. John leans out of the door and looks around.
“Where are the rest?” he asks, once he settles his gaze back on me.
I blink, and then understanding dawns.. “Ah, they’re here,” I say, pointing at my head.
John nods. “Ah, remote connection.” he seems to relax even more. “Well, come on in, but I have to tell you ,we are renting this place. I'm not sure how much money you will actually earn from this, but I am sure you can get a proper appraisal of the place.”
I shrug as I follow him inside. “I mean, my goal was just to get inside not to get your money, so I call it a success.”
John instantly stops and turns around grabbing for his gun. I disable my disguise and smile wildly. “Hey John, how have you been?”
“For fuck’s sake! Can’t you do anything the normal way?” he curses at me, which is fair enough, I guess.
I scratch my cheek “Yeah, I think you've thrown your lot in with the wrong company for that. Good news though. I made contracts, so you officially work for us! I even made sure to include back pay.”
“And what kind of benefits would that bring us?” He asks, raising one eyebrow.
“Uhm,, free healthcare, ooh, and you will be allowed to stay at the company's hotel free of charge. Normally there would also be samurai equipment, but we have to go back to Germany to pick those up, so that has to wait until later.”
John just nods. “You are definitely not the strangest boss I have ever worked for.”
I gag. “Don’t ever call me that again.”
John shakes his head “You are strange.”
“Huh, no, not that. A boss. Awful word that one.”
John sighs “Anyway, you have good timing. Everyone is here.”
We enter a small living room, where I see Mio hunched over her tablet and Davis on the couch. I can’t see Eva, well not with my eyes at least, my sensors tell me that she is behind the door with the stun dagger ready.
“So I'm not dead.” I say as I enter the room.
Mio just chokes, and Davis gives me a weird look and Eva just pouts.
“So you are saying I don’t get to stab you with this fancy knife.” Eva says as she leaves her hidey hole.
“You can try, but I'd have it shoved up your ass before you can even blink.” I say with a smile, my eyes challenging her.
“Nah, I'm good.” she says, putting the knife away. “So you're back, does this mean our plan has changed?”
“I don’t know what the plan is, so I'm not sure. Would you care to enlighten me?” I say sitting down on a chair. “Unless we need to get some other stuff out of the way first.”
“No, I think we have a good plan.” Mio says, walking over to me. “Angela Murphy works at a brothel four streets down. John will pose as a client and get her out of there. In the meantime, Eva and I will go get her son, Tucker, he goes to a somewhat normal school.” She says, showing pictures of different location, as well as the picture of a little boy with red hair and golden eyes and a picture of Angela. Fuck, she doesn't look that good. Not dying, but definitely less energetic than on the videos.
“Why don’t we just approach her? And I don’t know, just say that we are here to help.” I ask. I know people are skeptical, but still.
“Maybe now we can.” Eva says “But that brothel is owned by a local gang. They take the women to some kind of secure place to stay when they are not working, and there is a lot of gangsters around the brothel, so, we didn't want to risk it.”
Suddenly my body grows hot and I nod. “Thank you, that makes sense. Okay, just one change to the plan, I am taking John's place as the client.”
“I don’t think putting attention on her by having a girl ask for her is a good idea.” John says slowly.
I smile “Good point. Lyssa?”
All of them jump back instantly, and I smile, as a 3d render of a man appears in my vision. Perfect.
I look at them and ask, “Does this work?”
“I need me one of those, whatever it is.” Eva says.
“I’ll see what can be arranged later.” I say with a smile “John, you have subdermal armour right? I'm pretty sure I saw it in your file?”
“Yes, not anything fancy like samurai can get, but it can block some low calibers, and might save my life from a higher caliber.” John answers.
“Good. I want you to go get Tucker, then. If they’re really under gang control, they will be keeping tabs on the kid, so I want someone there that can protect him. Mio, I am going to need your tablet for a bit after this.”
“Why?” Mio asks, cradling the tablet to her chest defensively.
“They might have put trackers on him. I need you to disable those, and I will give you some new software to play with.” I explain.
Mio slowly nods at that.
Okay, last thing. Eva, how good are you at driving?”
“Decent, what kind of car do you want me to drive?” she says with a big smile.
“An ambulance,” I say with a smile.
“Come again?”
“An ambulance,” I repeat.
Eva just blinks, then shakes her head “Fucking samurai” she murmurs under her breath before she breaks out in a wide grin. “You know what? I can probably drive one just fine.”
We continue hammering out details for a while longer. It’s all just minor things, like backup plans for the backup plans, as well as distributing some combat drugs and tickle gas. Honestly, tickle gas is even worse than the stupid acronyms she uses most of the time. Anyway, once that is sorted, my new point total will sit at a comfortable 430 points.
‘Lyssa, am I bad with money?’ I ask while I consider my habits.
Is this a joke?
I frown ‘No, why?’
You don’t have any money, actually, you're still several thousand credits in debt, so you have negative money.
‘Oh right, I forgot about that.’ I consider it for a second, then shrug ‘Lyssa, any chance we can just remove all data of my debt existing?’
You have access to a class two hacking catalogue; Lyssa can make it look like you never existed.
I pause, then frown. “Hey Mio? Can you think of any issues if I just delete my existence from the web, like proper scorched earth?”
Mio looks up from her tablet. “Well, normally I would say that's impossible, but considering your occupation, I guess it might be possible. There might still be some papers or an unplugged flash drive somewhere with your data on it.”
I put the tips of my fingers together as I look at her, “Right, but would it cause any issues if I did it,regardless of whether there is a paper trail or not?”
Mio scratches her chin. “Well, I guess employment might be hard.” she looks at me, “But I guess you don’t care about that. Banking is hard, but if you have the tech to nuke your digital footprint, you have the tech to just create a bank account, so I guess that won’t matter.” Mio frowns, deep in thought, then snaps her fingers. "Kids!” she exclaims.
“What about them?”
“If you don’t exist online, it would be extremely hard to contact you if something happens to one of your children. They have no way of contacting you since you don’t exist.” Mio says, a victorious smile on her face.
“I don’t have any children… well, I have Daisy, but I think they know who to call when they find a war hyena.” I say.
“You must be having so much fun every day, saying the most insane things and backing them up with proof.” She says, shaking her head, but with a big grin on her face.
“Well, okay then. You heard her, Lyssa. Nuke that bitch.” I say with a wide grin.
Lyssa would like to inform you that in this instance the bitch in question is you.
Lyssa's voice announces over the speakers while Mio just giggles.
I roll my eyes, “Yeah, yeah, you are just free to destroy. Show those government programs who is the boss, and all that.”
And just like that, Evelin Vance ceases to be.
.
!
Chapter Thirty-Five: Plan For Disaster Hope for Salvation
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