Chapter Three - Taxi

“The closer you are to ground level, the poorer you’re likely to be.

It's the way it is, you know? Shit’s dragged down, and down here is where it stops.”

--Quote from a vagrant, Chicago Megacity Complex Four, 2039

***

“Guns!” I cheered.

“Guns!” Lucy cheered right back.

“The ability for humans to be amused by anything that can make a projectile move fast is fascinating,” Myalis said.

“Oh, come on, don’t tell me you’re not keen on weapons and the like, not with the amount you have available.”

“Oh no, don’t misunderstand. The Protectors are also keenly interested in weaponry in all its forms, but more from the viewpoint of someone who wishes to have the most effective tool at their disposal at any given time.”

“That just sounds like an excuse to compare cannon sizes to me,” I said. “Speaking of; modular guns, what do you have?”

“There are two slots on the back of your armour, over your shoulder blades. They are relatively small.”

I shifted my shoulders around, the armour moving languidly along with the motion.No satisfying servo sounds either, which kinda sucked, but made sense if the suit was supposed to be stealthy. “I need something with a bit more kick than my last shoulder-mounted guns. The railgun was alright, but the plasma casters were too bright, and they didn’t have enough oomph to them.”

“Ah yes, more oomph,” Myalis agreed. “You seemed to enjoy the railgun. Perhaps two smaller rails, designed to fire silent rounds. The overall rate of fire would be lower, but each shot should mean a dead opponent as long as you’re not fighting Antithesis that are too armoured.”

“Railguns use ammo, right?” Lucy asked. “Maybe we can use the fabricator to make you some! Save some points for later.”

I nodded. “Genius. Yeah, two railguns then. I liked the last one, it made things dead in a way that I liked.”

“Might I suggest a railgun catalogue then? Your options are otherwise limited.”

I nodded. “A cheaper catalogue, maybe?”

“I think this should do! “

Class I Subsonic Rail Weaponry

Points reduced to... 11,401!

“And two railguns.”

New Purchase: Class I Stealthed Micro Rail Launcher (two units)

Points Reduced from... 11,401 to... 11,301!

“That wasn’t expensive,” I said as two boxes appeared. I opened them to reveal... a mess of rods and pipes and little servos, all next to a sharp-looking gun painted a deep black.

“Lucy, could you lend Catherine your hands?” Myalis asked.

“Oh, I’d love to insert something into Cat’s back,” Lucy said.

I shook my head and turned while dropping carefully to one knee. My shoulder panel opened, and Lucy fiddled with the railgun for a moment before it slid into place. Like putting a square peg in a square hole.

Once both were in and connected to my augs, I had them deploy.

They weren’t as imposing as my last railgun, but maybe that was for the best. There were certainly a lot sleeker, and sat just over my shoulders when deployed. Also, they glowed pink from within, which was a plus.

“Nice!” I said. “Okay, we just wasted like, ten minutes, easy. I need to get going. Kiss?”

Lucy got onto her tiptoes, and we wasted another half minute before I broke off and rushed to the last of my equipment.

There are holsters in your thighs. They should conceal your holdout weapons and reload them if you place some ammunition within.

That was cool. I slid my trusty old Trench Maker into a slot that opened on my right thigh, then my Claw went into a similar opening on my left. I slung on the strap for my Icarus, then tossed my long coat on top of everything else. “Right, I’m off!”

“Helmet!” Lucy said. “And kiss!”

“Oh!”

I picked up my helmet and slid it on, then waved to Lucy as I squeezed out of the room, careful not to mess up the door.

The Twins were in the corridor, both of them holding onto juice boxes and what looked like bags of chips. They stared at me.

“Uh, gotta run for a bit,” I said.

“A’ight,” one of them said.

I felt awkward in my armour as I slunk out of the penthouse. It wasn’t that it didn’t move right, or felt wrong, it was just... kind of strange. It felt like I had some tight clothes on, but at the same time I could feel the air moving around me as if I were in loose sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt.

Grabbing the handle was a bit strange, my hand wasn’t exactly where I thought it was. Maybe that was it? My sense of where my limbs were was being thrown off.

I’d get used to it.

I made sure to close the door carefully behind me as I stepped into the hotel’s corridor, then I turned towards the elevators and noticed the two rotating guards next to it staring at me, wide-eyed.

“Probably looks a bit scary, huh?” I asked as I came closer.

“Yes, ma’am,” the one on the left said.

Well, at least people were taking me seriously in this.

I flicked through my augs, then went fully invisible, my jacket following a moment later. I knew that my gun, between my jacket and armour, was still visible, but someone would need to be at just the right angle to see.

“What about now?” I asked.

The guard wasn’t looking my way when he replied. “That’s, uh, not much better, ma’am.”

“Wonderful,” I said.

The elevator door dinged open, and I stepped in before jabbing the button for the lobby.

Once I was on the ground floor, I switched on the muffling on my mask. Didn’t need anyone to hear me speaking. “So, where’s Gomorrah and how are we getting there?”

She’s in the eastern side of the city. Unfortunately, none of the automated taxi services will drive someone there, and taking the public transportation services would both take a long time, and be a needless risk.

“The subway’s not that bad,” I said.

The infrastructure hasn’t been properly maintained since before your birth, and the amount of gun violence in the underground is so high that you are as likely to be shot while taking the night train as you are to be hit by friendly fire in an active incursion.

“So, how do we get there?” I asked before stifling a bit of a yawn. Maybe I needed a bit of sleep. Maybe I should have gone to sleep when I got home instead of messing with Lucy.

A non-automated taxi. One is waiting for you outside.

I nodded along as I moved across the lobby, then through one of the revolving doors onto the parking tarmac.

A car lit up in my vision, highlighted in pink until I started making my way to it. It was not an impressive ride. Some car from the early 30s, with a dented fender and one light that flickered intermittently.

Yes, that is the best they had.

“I’m going to need to look into getting my own ride one of these days,” I muttered.

I’ll add it to the list. You do have a somewhat significant number of points remaining.

“Might not have an incursion for a while, and besides, I want to spend a lot of those on the security of the museum-slash-orphanage.” I moved around the cab, peeked through the window and waved at the driver who currently had a finger in his nose up to the knuckle.

I pulled the passenger side door open and sat down carefully. I just barely fit.

The driver stared out the side, past me, and looked both confused and a bit scared.

I felt like an idiot a moment later, and flicked off my invisibility. “Hey.”

“Oh,” he squeaked.

“Hey, don’t worry,” I said. “Just looking for a ride over to, uh... this address.” I pointed to the computer jammed into the car’s dash and held in place by what looked like a strip of tape. Myalis caught on and the screen flickered before showing a new address.

“Ah, right, yes. The client is supposed to sit at the back?”

I looked behind. The seat had a fist-sized hole in it, and what looked like cigarette burns all over the pleather. “This chair looks more comfortable. And you don’t need to be afraid or anything, I really do just need a ride.”

“That place isn’t very safe,” he said with a gesture to the car’s computer.

“I mean, no offense, but your setup here doesn’t look like it’s made to carry VIPs from one mansion to the other.”

The driver squirmed. “You will have to leave fast. We land, you leave, I go. And I want payment upfront.”

I felt my eyebrows rising. “Alright, but only if you tell me about the area on the way over. I’m not from the nicest part of this city, but even our neighbourhood wouldn’t warrant that kind of response.”

“Yes, fine,” he said. And then he slammed his foot on the gas, and we chugged along at a perfectly reasonable speed while making an unreasonable amount of noise.