I spent two weeks in the ship. There weren't any problems, and I got new friends. They were some kind of pirates or sailors, and they said they’d be there again in five to ten years. Maybe I’ll meet them again someday.
I had been a bit worried about the ship sinking, but luckily it didn’t do that. Two weeks in a ship and I felt the ground move underneath me. It was solid ground, but two weeks of standing on a ship made me move with the waves, even if there weren't any waves.
When I arrived in Seattle, the otaku called me to them. I went there immediately, because they had all my stuff. They had a new headquarters. I hoped nobody had touched my stuff, because it would be a pain to get new explosives. And the few jobs I had done for the otaku, I hadn't gotten paid at all. So it would be even more annoying if someone had stolen my stuff while I was away.
When I arrived to the headquarters (a small building, abandoned, nothing flashy, but apparently good enough for a bunch of kids living together), I went directly to make sure my stuff was there. They still were. In boxes, but everything was there. Then I paid attention to things around me. There was Rugh, Opium, Nerdy, Shrew, Jinx and a human male called Random. He was in a wheelchair.
The otaku told us that we should go with them to the Renraku Arcology to destroy an evil AI called Deus. I had heard about Arcology. It was this huge building in Seattle. It had been shut down because of some problems, and it was heavily guarded from the inside, so the police didn’t have much luck in raiding it. I didn’t feel like going and getting myself killed in some dangerous place without pay.
The otaku told us that there was an army in the Arcology; they were trying to raid it and claim it. They were also trying to save all the people from there. And the things that guarded Arcology were the evil AI Deus and its soldiers. Deus had living soldiers and robots. Nerdy claimed that we should save his mother while we were there. So apparently he was going. I didn’t quite get his fixation on his mother. I still don’t get it. I've known him for a couple of years, and he still makes me confused with his constant need to talk about his mother.
Opium wanted to go. Rugh also. Random said to go with them also. Shrew seemed to be thinking about it, but when the otaku promised to help her find out who she had been in the past she agreed to go. I was the last one to think about it. Then I decided that if they would promise to find out the exact location of the lab I would go. They promised to help when we got back. I started to think about filling the place with explosives and exploding the shit out of it. And torturing the workers to death. I would finally have my revenge. Well, if I didn’t die before that.
We all got a lollipop from a bowl. They said there were different colors, but they all seemed similar to me. I grabbed one, and then the otaku told us there was 10000 nuyens taped to each lollipop. It was something to use to get ready for Arcology. Opium had lots of good contacts, so we made a huge order for ammo and guns for her. Then we paid her and I went to Juggler to ask for some bullets for my shotgun. I also bought a new shotgun. He didn’t have the ammo I wanted, but he had some experimental ones. I bought them. I bought some more ordinary and exploding ammo.
I returned to the headquarters. There was some grenades and protective clothing. Others had bought more than one set, but I didn’t have enough money, so I got only one.
After we had made our preparations for leaving, I and Rugh took Shrew to Barrens. Rugh tried my new ammo on a wall. The wall started burning. It burned a few seconds. The new ammo seemed nice. Opium had given Shrew her gun to try out. Shrew tried, and apparently she didn’t know how to use it properly. I gave her my shotgun to try, after I had changed to normal slugs. She did a few shots, but didn’t seem to know how to use that either.
After we returned from Barrens, Rugh and Opium had some business with some person to deal with. They needed to kill someone. They asked if some of us wanted to go also. I promised to go after Opium and Rugh promised to go with me to the lab and help. Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen neither in months. Opium took off some time after Arcology, and I don’t know when Rugh left the team, but they are not answering their phones… Shrew came with us, and Nerdy and Jinx.
Our target was located in a sewer somewhere. The target could be a vampire, or that’s what they said. It was interesting. I hadn't heard much about them. From some movie trailers I had learned that sunlight was bad for them, and wooden stakes. Opium said that they got hurt from normal guns as well, but they were quick healers. Just like me…
Rugh and Opium did the organizing, and then we left. We went to the harbor. There was a small boat for us. I was a bit skeptic about the boat, but others went in, so I followed the example. We could’ve gone via land as well, but there was some kind of gang war there. I would've liked to take part in a gang war, but others didn’t.
We arrived to the entrance to the sewers. It seemed a bit small, but not too small. I just felt a bit claustrophobic, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. So we went in.
After we had walked a while me and Nerdy found some tracks, and started following them. We followed them until they ended. I told the others that my senses would be more sensitive if I was in my real form. Others promised to take care of my stuff, so I took all my clothes off and transformed.
I sniffed around a bit and then decided to go back, where we had seen some tracks earlier. Maybe I could get more out from them, as a leopard.
I tried to follow tracks, but every track I found ended. The scent ended as well as the tracks. But I had fun. I had never tracked anything with a group. Normally I had been tracking things alone, but now I had a bunch of people with me. After a while I started thinking about tracking. I had noticed that normally dogs were used to track things. Not cats. Maybe they have better sense of smell. Or they are more obedient.
After a while we arrived to crossroads. The sewer split into two tunnels. And suddenly there was some kind of Astral Projection. Apparently it was some kind of spirit. It wasn't big, and it asked what our business there was. I tried to reply, but it didn’t seem to understand me. So I transformed and asked sharply what it wanted. It thanked us for listening and disappeared. I told about the spirit to others, and noticed that Nerdy seemed to have some trouble seeing me naked. He seemed funny, and I felt like it would be even more fun to joke around a bit, on his expense, of course. But the sewer was cold, and I was faster when moving with four feet, so I transformed again.
I started following the tunnel the spirit had disappeared into. Jinx made a small spirit. Then another spirit appeared. The new one went to talk with Jinx’s spirit. I felt a bit hurt by this action, but I listened to what the spirit said and then transformed and told what the spirit had told. Then I asked my clothes back. Nerdy seemed to have more problems with me being naked.
Soon after I had dressed, there was a shiny Astral thing there. I told about it, and Rugh concentrated and appeared in Astral Plane as well. Rugh stared at the thing. It stared us, me first. It felt like it read my aura. It feels like someone is trying to dig up my secrets. I don’t like it.
Rugh told us that this thing was the person we were looking for. Others seemed to just stand there so I decided to get closer to this aura. It asked me to stop. It thought that I was hostile, and it would do something soon. I looked behind to notify others to do something as well. They started following me slowly.
Finally Rugh said he would talk to the aura further away. He left us there to wait. I wasn't happy. No fight. Still no fight. I didn’t know back then what was to come. More fights than I could ever imagine.
Rugh talked with the aura for a while, and then he came back. He said we could go. I was happy, because the sewer was a bit too damp for my taste. And we didn’t have a fight. So I was eager to get out to the open and maybe pick a fight with some idiot.
I had heard that someone was looking for us in the streets, so I spent my time in the otaku headquarters. It was quite comfortable after my own place. There was a bed, a warm bed. Well, there weren't that many rats, but maybe it’s a good thing sometimes. And I could always hunt.
And at this point I should mention that there was one otaku boy who had a crush on Shrew. And an otaku girl who had a crush on Nerdy. Well, I can’t quite understand why the boy had a crush on Shrew, but maybe he liked it rough. But the thing I really didn’t get was why the girl liked Nerdy. Well, they are humans, who knows.
Shrew was dropped off by Liu. Apparently he had had enough of her. It was unbelievable funny occasion when they came by. The boy who had a crush on Shrew tried to give her flowers. Shrew slipped behind Liu, to hide. The boy tried to give the flowers from between Liu’s legs. I started laughing out loud when Shrew seemed to start panicking. She grabbed Liu’s jacket and tried to climb up. The jacked was slippery or something, because Shrew lost her grip and was left there, hanging on a troll. Her feet were around Liu’s waist. I almost fell off my chair. The boy finally gave up and offered the flowers to Liu to give to Shrew. She asked him to drop the flowers in the bin, and that’s what happened to the flowers.
We waited for a couple of days for the time to go. Nerdy visited, and I tried to see what was happening between him and the girl. And I also tried to spy on Shrew and the boy, but most of the time everyone spent time on their computers or slept.
And then the day was there. Others had taken care of the equipment, so that the only thing I had to do was to force myself in the minibus we used to drive to the starting location. I was hoping to hear more about Nerdy and the girl or Shrew and the boy, but the bus was too small. All my energy went on feeling anxious and nervous and claustrophobic.
We entered Arcology via sewers. The tunnels were unbelievably narrow. I had to force myself to walk. I felt the sweat dripping. My hands were shaking. My breathing was shallow. I was terrified. I was about to start remembering the small cage, but then we were in a big, wide, open space. It was a big parking lot underground. It was full of dusty cars.
We started sneaking towards a door that would lead inside the Arcology. Suddenly the door flew open. Some people ran out, and others went down. I noticed that the people running didn’t notice us. They were running away from something, they were overwhelmed by terror. They fired their guns towards the door and the hallway. And then there was an explosion. One of them fell, and another tried to walk him out from there.
I had a perfect place to watch the events. I had snuck next to one car. I saw everything, but no one saw me. And then I saw what they were running away from. I tried to attract Random’s attention, but he didn’t seem to understand my hand signals. I hope he understood the one I showed him after.
Two robots flew through the open doorway. They killed the people who had run away from them quickly. Apparently the people were soldiers. After the killing the robots noticed us. I started to aim, but I had to stop aiming to dodge a grenade. Then I started aiming again, and I managed to destroy one of the robots. It exploded.
Suddenly some of the group dropped unconscious. I didn’t go back to check up on them, because we had lots of other people for that. I went to see if the soldiers were dead. They were, so I grabbed their guns and ammo. The group wanted to go and take care of their wounds in some safe place. I followed.
While walking towards Arcology I noticed a change in the Astral Plane. The further we walked, the dirtier it got. It seemed dirty, gloomy, nasty. I didn’t know why. I wasn't a mage. I decided to ask someone later. Now that I think about it, I think I forgot.
Everyone wanted to go to a small room to rest. I couldn't make myself go there. I thought that I had already gotten my share of small spaces on that day. So I stayed behind, and sat next to the door. I started kicking the door. Every five minutes. After the third time Rugh came out and threatened to do unspeakable horrors to me if I continued. I decided to stop.
After a few hours I kicked the door again, out of boredom. Some guy came out to say that they were trying to sleep, and would appreciate the fact that I could be quiet. I wanted to plant some explosives to the door, but decided not to. I tried to take a nap myself.
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