“The job is done, Mr. Tanaka.”
Twilight had just gotten back from her journey into the Matrix. Maybe an hour had passed, all told, since I put her on the couch. I figured she was taking her time, and going slow. Haste was the enemy when you tried to be stealthy. No clue why her face was flushed when she exited the Matrix, though. Something to unpack later.
With job complete, we all gathered around the table in Babydoll’s warehouse. A quick glance at everyone, and I pulled out the burner commlink we’d been given at the meet, to make the call. We needed the rest of our payment for the run, after all.
“I saw in the news that there was quite the disturbance at the Silver Lake facility.”
“That would be the first layer of distraction. We contracted some extra help to distract the matrix security while we infiltrated the building and ‘hacked’ their external security, making it look as though we were going after their accounting files. While this happened, another member introduced a vulnerability into the internal server, allowing our hacker to do the main job. Even if they discover the vulnerability, the obvious trail leads to a different project, one canceled several years ago as a tax write-off.”
“Hmm. It is not as I envisioned, but you have done a good job in obfuscating the true purpose of the job. And within a week, as requested. And the zero fatality clause?”
“No deaths for the corpsec, including the matrix workers. We made sure that the non-security personnel were safely out of the way, as well, so that there were no corporate deaths at all. We made sure that the external contractors used nonlethal attacks, as well.”
“Excellent. I am transferring the rest of the promised funds now. I look forward to future endeavors.”
I checked, and the funds were there. “Transfer confirmed. A pleasant day to you, Mr. Tanaka.” I took a breath as I hung up the call, transferred the money to our six accounts, and then threw the disposable in the trash. Looking around at the rest of the group, I said, “Well, that’s a second run in the books.”
Sexkitten checked her Status screen, and nodded. “Yep, and looks like we got credited with another four karma. Good stuff.”
Babydoll grinned. “You know, with a payday like this, we could probably find a good team base. Somewhere that we can all go in on, and make into a solid headquarters, at least when we’re on the job.”
Twilight frowned. “So, keep our own separate living situations for the day-to-day and our own little bolt-holes for when we need to disappear for a bit, but a place to stage out of when on the job?”
Berzerker nodded. “It is a good idea. And, no offense to you, Babydoll, but we should probably put it somewhere a bit more high-scale. At least somewhere that we can make things a bit more livable without attracting the wrong attention. A warehouse works, though. Just not in Redmond.”
Babydoll shook her head. “None taken. I got this place because it was cheap, after all. But, a warehouse in a better part of town? We’d be able to store our vehicles there, especially if Berzerker and I got ‘civvie’ vehicles, so we weren’t always driving around with a ton of gear.”
“Actually, we should probably all get ‘work’ and ‘normal’ vehicles,” Sexkitten nodded. “Even if we aren’t going to be rigging things like Babydoll or driving a tank like Berzerker, having a vehicle that we can reasonably take on a job and one that would blend in with the civilians when we need it to just makes sense.”
“Well, in that case,” I said, “we should probably get started with the shopping. And, more importantly, with finding a property that we can go in on together. Assuming everyone is on board with that idea?” I didn’t direct the question at anyone in particular, but my eyes did meet Twilight’s as I spoke, causing her to blush slightly.
“No objections from me,” she said, quickly. “I’ll get to work looking at property listings. Any district in particular you were thinking about?”
I grinned at her flustered reaction, but didn’t mention it. “We’re a mixed-race and mixed-metatype group. Everett would probably be the best bet. Blue collar area, but there are a bunch of abandoned warehouses and the like from businesses that went under in the Crash. Places like Bellevue might be pretty, but groups like us stick out a lot there. Way too many questions, and we would never find a warehouse for a decent price in the area.”
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Babydoll nodded. “And if we can find one with waterfront access, that opens up more options for us. Never know when we might need to acquire a boat, and having someplace already capable of housing it would be ideal.”
“Smugglers will likely have most of those locked up,” Sexkitten said with a frown, “but smugglers end up skipping town for one reason or another all the time. With the influx of players, especially stupid players, we might be able to take advantage of someone being an idiot and drawing too much heat to a smuggler, forcing them to move operations.”
Twilight blinked at something, and then motioned to the table. The view changed, showing one of the local news stations. A very frazzled-looking man was speaking. “—still trying to determine what set off the violence, but we do know that, approximately ten minutes ago, a running gunfight began in Edmonds neighborhood of Everett. There are reports of military-grade weapons and explosives being used, and the trail of destruction certainly lends credence to that statement.”
“Any word on who the combatants are, Jeremy?”
“Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to get close enough to tell for certain, Sarah, but some locals have said that the attackers are terrorists who were trying to wipe out one of the local business owners for some nefarious reason.”
Twilight muted the news report. “That’ll be a player causing trouble, no doubt. If the ‘local business owners’ were smugglers, then they’re likely going to be looking for somewhere else to set up shop with all the attention this is going to get. At the very least, some of the people in the area may be looking to move.”
“Well, that’s both good and bad,” I said, looking at the muted video.
“I get the good,” Babydoll said. “We’ll have a better chance of finding a decent building for cheaper than we might otherwise be able to get. But what is the bad?”
I chuckled. “Well, we saw something like this in the Beta. Until people found their stride, all the chaos they caused put different security companies on a war footing, almost, and all the fun toys got a lot harder to get without some big background checks or already having connections that would vouch for you. So, getting weapons, ammo, explosives, combat drones, and so on is going to get more problematic for a while.”
“So, if we’re going to get good toys, we should move fast?”
“That’s one option,” I nodded. “Of course, seeing as we already have two jobs down, with a minimum of craziness, we may be able to work connections easier than some of the other players. Especially if we get more jobs, and build our rep.”
“So, oh wise Beta player,” Sexkitten grinned, “what should we do with this pile of money we just got for doing a job?”
“Just like we said we were going to do. We find a ‘work base’, make sure it has some defenses, and then everyone makes sure to have a ‘civilian’ vehicle, and a ‘work’ vehicle, so we can help separate them from our different identities. And we’ll also work on upgrading weapons, drones, and so on.”
Babydoll nodded. “You know, if we’re going to a space that’ll have actual workable space? We could kit out a workshop, so we could maintain some of our own gear. Also, I was looking through catalogues, and saw some drones you could use for vehicle repair. That’d help cut down future costs.”
I decided it was time to let another secret from the Beta slip. Well, not really a secret, just something that wasn’t widely advertised. “Fortunately, some of this can be handled with the in-game systems, just like how we all managed to ‘find’ our living spaces and boltholes during character creation. We do have to put in some actual work in game, but the devs know people playing this game aren’t interior designers, and don’t want to go actually building things, and all that kind of stuff.”
“Wait, really?” Sexkitten asked. “You mean, there’s a ‘housing’ system, like in other games, and you don’t have to go following up on classified ads?”
“Sort of,” I said, swiping a hand to open the game interface, and manipulating it to mirror in front of the other five. I opened up the ‘Social’ tab, and then went to configure my Matt Whitemane identity, who solely existed for having deniable property. Opening up a new ‘Lifestyle’ under his name, I started configuring things.
“Now, we’ll start with guests, which is what the system will treat this as. Each person after the first adds to costs, obviously. So, we have five guests, since there are six of us. Check the box for sharing costs equally, naturally. We’re a team, after all.”
I started adjusting the different facets of the Lifestyle. “Starting with Neighborhood, that’ll be Middle, since that is what most of Everett is. Necessities as High, since there are six of us, and we’ll be needing more living space. Comforts as High, because we don’t want to be roughing it while we’re on the job. Entertainment as middle, since we’re not doing cosmetic gene treatments or exotic cruises on the job. Security as middle, because above that has more people on payroll as 24/7 security guards, which will get us more attention.
“Now, slipping into qualities, we’ll start with Positive ones. Free Access makes it harder to trace back to there through the Matrix. Inconspicuous Housing for the physical world, making it harder for people to find us. Well Made means it is going to be a quality building that’ll keep us warm in winter and cool in summer. And Workplace gives us extra room for all the vehicles, drones, and workshop stuff.”
I took a breath, and said, “Now, balancing that out with Negative qualities, so we aren’t spending a whole ton every month. If we’re going with a warehouse, then unfortunately Ambusher’s Delight is a general given, with the open plan. Rough Neighborhood is also a given, with recent history. Trigger-Happy Landlord and Worse Neighbors will probably give us a gang or syndicate in the area, but so long as we keep bills paid, and don’t draw attention to the area, we should be OK.”
I did a final tally, and showed it to them. “All that together? Comes out to 1500 nucred a month, each. And we’ll have a solid base that we can work out of, and possibly upgrade over time.”
Sexkitten looked up from the display in front of her, and said, “So, how would this work?”
“Well, once we finalize the design plans, I send it to you, the other five people going in on this, and you accept it with the game system. Then, one of us approaches a contact, and let them know we’re in the market for a place of this type, and they’ll ‘just so happen’ to find someone and make the connection for us. They’ll have finder’s fee, obviously, but we won’t need to go tracking everything down ourselves.”
“Count me in, then,” she said.
I looked around the room, and everyone nodded, so I did just as I said, finalizing things. Then, I got back on my commlink, and made a call. “Hey, Alisha? Iceblade here. That team you set up for me? We’re making it a permanent thing, and need some digs. Thinking a warehouse out in Everett. Can you hook us up?”
“Glad to hear the girls are working out. How many are you dating?”
“A gentleman doesn’t tell, Alisha, you know that.”
“And you’re no gentleman. So, how many?”
I chuckled, and said, “I decline to answer that question while they’re all staring at me.”
“Spoilsport. Fine, I’ll put a lookout, see if a connection can be made. You know there’ll be a finder’s fee, right?”
“Way of the world. How much?”
“1k. And only because there are some good properties up for grabs right now, so it is a buyer’s market.”
“Sending it now. Catch you later, Alisha.”
Frozen Soul -
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Book I - Game Start
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