The running, part 1. Ambushing the ambushers

Sly took us to his home. It was similar to my own home. Broken, abandoned house in a bad neighborhood. Homey and cozy, maybe. For me at least, it felt like home when I could hear the rats in the corners, and cries of pain every once in a while. Things with bad luck had an ugly ending in Redmond Barrens.

I had never known any deckers before. That’s why I made a mistake by promising to go and look after Nerdy when he wanted to do some research online. I will never, ever make that mistake again. It’s more boring than sitting at home waiting for something to happen. At home there is a possibility that something really happens.

We went to a hotel. It was a pod-hotel, where all the people buying a room went into small pods to sleep. They were smaller than the cage I had lived for months. Nobody could ever force me to go in one.

Nerdy went in and stayed there for seven hours. Maybe he did research online, maybe he slept. I don’t know, but I was bored. My skills in English are not enough to tell how bored I was. I sat there, in the lobby, sharpening my sword. I tried to get a reaction out of the receptionist, with no luck. I tried my best though. I went next to her, stared at her and cleaned my sword. She didn't even look at me. She seemed to hate her job, and apparently her life as well. I thought briefly about killing the next customer to get something out of her, but I decided it would not be wise.

After I was almost seriously thinking about exploding the door on Nerdy’s pod, he came out. Lucky for him. I was a bit cranky, hungry and annoyed. Nerdy seemed to be a bit tired, and he wanted to eat something. We went to a pizzeria nearby. I tried human-food. It’s wasn't that bad, but I prefer rats, or if possible, rabbits.

Later on we met the rest of the group. Opium wanted to take me to some examination. She wanted to have my head examined. It sounded scary, and I felt a flashback coming. They tried to convince me, it wasn't bad, I wouldn't be harmed, it would be OK. Because of my hesitation Opium tried to make me go by threatening to put me to the pod-hotel for another seven hours. I promised to go, if Sly went first. He agreed and we all left. Nerdy wanted to do some more research, and Jinx agreed to go with him.

We went to place with some people. Sly sat on a chair. I was curious to know what was happening, and the person doing the tests was more than happy to explain. I had never heard so messy explanation. He tried to speak like a doctor, but mixed some slang words to his speech. I wasn't sure what happened, but Sly seemed to be OK through the whole procedure. He wasn't in any pain. I agreed to sit on the chair too. It was over quickly. The person who was doing the tests said that I had probably suffered some brain damage or developmental disorders. That didn't sound so good. I assume it was the damage that I had from the laboratory, which destroyed my ability to see colors. I was happy no one was interested about my damages. I didn't want to explain, or make up a story. It was better this way. Nobody cared.

We started making some plans and preparations for the oncoming happening. We had chosen Slys apartment to be our base. We hired a human female named Blackie to give us some support with her machine gun. Then Jinx needed some protection for summoning elementals. I promised to go with him. It sounded more interesting than what Nerdy did.

We went to a seemingly quiet place in Barrens. It was more interesting to watch Jinx summon elementals than wait in a lobby. I saw that nothing appeared to happen in the Physical Plane, but in the Astral Plane had some action. Mana, that is apparently magical power or something, gathered around us. Apparently Jinx was doing it. I didn't understand, so I focused my attention to some gangers that had come to see what was happening. They stayed out of reach, but carefully watched the situation developing. I was ready to kick them further if they tried to make any trouble.

The summoning went well, and finally Jinx was ready. We returned to Slys apartment. There was yet again a new face for me. An elf-woman named Lina. She watched me carefully and suddenly I noticed that she was shining in the Astral Plane. Normally this means that she was either a shaman or a mage. I know now that whenever people stare at my aura, they read it. I myself have learned aura reading, it gives information about people. More information than what you can get by staring at the physical body. Now she knew I was a shifter. She said something quietly to Opium, and I am sure she revealed my true self to her as well. Better that way, it might be a bit startling if your team-mate transforms into an animal in the middle of the fight, without any warning.

We waited. Apparently there was going to be an ambush against us, but because we knew it, we had the upper hand. We were able to ambush them first.

It took couple of days before anything happened. Then, at night, it started. I noticed some auras moving quietly forward next to a wall. I grabbed my shotgun. I tried to show them to Opium, but she didn't notice. Maybe because she didn't see the Astral Plane. Hiding people were less hiding in the Astral Plane. The shined.

Suddenly Nerdy fired his pistol. Others started shooting as well. Because we were trying to stay out of sight, I didn't fire my shotgun. You can’t get a good dampener for a shotgun. Finally we were noticed. They tried to shoot at us, and I could finally start shooting myself. I killed one, and then my team wanted to go further away. I followed reluctantly. They wanted to stay away from the fight. Opium threw a smoke grenade.

I was there, waiting. From the radio I heard my team talking about the location of our enemies. They didn't know. It was hard to see in the smoke. I got bored and left. At first I of course told that to my team, that they knew I was on the move. I left my shotgun there and took my sword. It was more quiet than the shotgun. I moved stealthily. I noticed a person. I sneaked in front of him, jumped on a table and raised my sword. Apparently he was waiting for an attack, because he shot me. I hit him with all my strength. He fell down, and then I lost my consciousness.

When I woke up, I was hurting. I got up. A bullet dropped down from my forehead. Then somebody shot me again. I got mad. I transformed and launched after the shooter. At first there was three people running in front of me. Then two of them were shot. I kept on running. Then the first person was shot too. He got down on his knees, and I jumped on him. He smelled like the one who shot me. I bit him on the neck. He died. I decided to make a point and chewed his head off.

After killing my victim I walked calmly back to others. They were looking at Sly. He had also transformed. He was lying there, unconscious. He didn't have any wounds. Opium grabbed a hold of him and carried him to a car our enemies had come there. Others grabbed Slys and my stuff to the car and then threw all the bodies there too. Apparently two of them were alive. I didn't want to go in the car. It seemed too small. I felt out of breath. They lured me in anyway. I didn't want to transform there. I felt stronger in my feline body. I was still scared and anxious.

We arrived to a place. Apparently that was some persons clinic. I didn't care. I jumped out from the car, took my clothes with me and transformed. I dressed up and went to see what was the problem.

There was a human female named Nanny. Others gave all the bodies and the two living persons to her. Opium gave Sly to her as well. She didn't seem too happy to treat animals. I made it clear to everyone that I thought there was something seriously wrong with Sly. Shifters should heal quickly, and he didn't.

We got the information we wanted from the two living people. Other one was very helpful. He promised to arrange a meeting with the Mr. Johnson in question. Apparently my team had a bone to pick with this Mr. Johnson.