Having met up with our reinforcements, Flo’s team, who frankly looked like they needed more saving than us, we returned to the surface level with the entire group without incident.
I witnessed the aftermath of what shook the entire building earlier as there was an enormous hole in the wall, next to the backdoor I entered from.
Once we were outside, it became a lot more chaotic as the former test subjects went their own way and scattered. Our group immediately went back to our cars.
“We should be good now. You can head back. Thanks for your help, we owe you one,” The large mercenary, Flo, energetically said, despite how worn out she looked.
“No problem, I’ll take you up on that favor. Are you sure everything is okay now, though? No corpo hit squad chasing after us?”
“Neuro Nexus is a startup corp at best. We’ll be fine.”
“What about the police?”
“Ha, good one, the ECPD only shows up after incidents to do cleanup. All right, we’re set. Let’s hang out at Haven sometime once Leo gets his shit fixed,” Flo said as she stepped into the back of her armored van.
I waved her off as I got in the driver’s seat of my car. Thorne, who had been following me, got into the passenger seat.
Watching the former test subjects scattering into the streets, I started up the car and was about to leave when the back door clicked open.
“All right boss, I’m ready for a new adventure. Let’s get going!” A cheerful red-haired teenager declared from the backseat.
“I don’t remember offering to hire you or to give you a ride, Claire…” I said as I turned on the auto drive.
“Come on, you heard me when I said I’ll be sticking with Thorne. An offer to him equals an offer to me.”
“Claire…” Thorne looked back and sighed before turning to me. “Can I ask you to hire her as well?”
“Sure, that’s what I intended, but it’s not like I have a company or anything yet, so don’t expect much.”
We drove aimlessly for a while until I decided to bring the two to a motel near my place first. Sarah and Caleb were still in my place, so it would be too crowded to have these two stay over as well.
Speaking of Caleb… Oh right, I still have to buy him ice cream. They’re probably asleep by now, so I guess he’ll have ice cream for breakfast…
----------------------------------------
After a night of well-deserved rest, I was fully charged. I quickly got ready instead of lazing around, as I was expecting guests later.
Yesterday, when I left Thorne and Claire at the motel with some money to pay for their rooms, food, and the clinic fees for removing their tracker. We decided to meet up this morning at my place to plan things out.
As I basked in the hot water during my morning shower, I brought out my status sheet as I deliberated about my next steps.
Status
Level:
4
EXP:
50/400
Musculoskeletal:
51
Neural Reflex:
15
Visuomotor Coordination:
12
Endurance:
8
Sensory Perception:
37
Upgrade Points:
2
Upgrades:
* Stealth +7
* Hacking +3
Enhancements:
SAID: Zenitech Hoth Mk.3
Optics: Nova Tech Stars Mk.4
Cyberarm (Left): Nova Tech Mudra Mk.6
With two people under my care now, I had to start earning more so I could pay them. Overall, it wasn’t a terrible trade to have two employees that I could trust… Well… more trusted than the average employee I would find off the streets.
Following my plan, I went ahead and dumped my new points into cybernetic engineering.
Status
Level:
4
EXP:
50/400
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Musculoskeletal:
51
Neural Reflex:
15
Visuomotor Coordination:
12
Endurance:
8
Sensory Perception:
37
Upgrade Points:
0
Upgrades:
* Stealth +7
* Hacking +3
* Cybernetic Engineering +2
Enhancements:
SAID: Zenitech Hoth Mk.3
Optics: Nova Tech Stars Mk.4
Cyberarm (Left): Nova Tech Mudra Mk.6
A familiar rush of knowledge entered my brain. I felt like I had gone to college studying the subject, just condensed into an instant instead of a few years.
I knew the materials requirements that are or are not compatible with the human body, the procedure to install them, and the tools required. Though I doubt I could create anything close in capability to any of the cybernetics I’ve seen, not without more upgrade points.
Upon walking into the living room, I noticed an argument between Sarah and Caleb. It seemed like Caleb wanted to have the ice cream for breakfast while Sarah forbade it until lunch. I ignored the argument that had nothing to do with me and proceeded to make my food.
I spent the time after breakfast looking up the procedure for starting a business in this city. It seemed like there were different classifications of businesses with a clear distinction between the local run-of-the-mill businesses, being where I would have to start from, and corporations that were further divided into several levels.
If a business did well, it could then apply for membership to join the Elevate City Consortium, which would mark the transformation of a business becoming a corporation. They would enjoy various benefits, being in a higher social class from all the other riffraffs. However, you would need to pay an annual membership fee depending on the tier. In return, they would reduce your tax rate and various conveniences related to importing and exporting.
By the time I finished arranging a law firm to complete the paperwork for establishing my business, the doorbell to my apartment rang. Thorne and Claire arrived, so I introduced them to the raider siblings and got comfortable before starting our discussion.
“To start things off, I plan to be opening a cybernetic clinic and I will be hiring you as my assistants for now as there isn’t really a fixed set of duties for you guys yet.”
“Ok, cool with me as long as you’re paying,” Claire replied with a smile while Thorne solemnly nodded.
“I’ll be paying you both 5,000 credits a month for now. I’ll also cover all your expenses within reason until your first paycheck.”
They both nodded and seeing as they had no comment, I continued, “I’ll be dealing with the bureaucracy side of it for now, so I want one of you to deal with our current inventory over there and the other to search for potential properties for the clinic itself.”
“Oooh, real estate shopping, I always wanted to buy my own place. I’ll do it!” Claire energetically raised her hand.
“...I’ll do the inventory then.”
“Sounds good. I look forward to working with both of you.” I smiled and shook their hands.
Great, bureaucracy time, woohoo, so exciting…Hopefully, this won’t take too long.
----------------------------------------
It turns out starting a local business wasn’t too hard but a cybernetic clinic was, simply because I had no credentials to operate and the alternative methods… weren’t something I could afford right now.
Seeing how I was mainly targeting mercenaries anyway, I decided to simply start an underground clinic.
The major disadvantages were mainly no access to licensed suppliers, being unable to advertise with legitimate avenues for an unlicensed clinic, and minor things such as being unable to do business with most companies like insurance without a hefty surcharge.
The major advantages were simply no taxes. As an unregistered business, I wouldn’t be paying any taxes to the corporate overlords.
This also meant that I didn’t have much to do now that there was no bureaucracy to do for the past week, so I looked for suitable locations with Claire during the day and started hunting for experience during the evening.
Sarah and Caleb had left during this time after I saw them off with the Chief Steward I had hired. She gave me regular updates, as half of her payment was still with me.
Claire seemed to be finishing up her talks with the owners of all the places she found and wanted to go over the options with me to finalize our choice soon, but before that, I barely had enough money to cover all the fees and rent.
Which was why today, I headed to a clandestine clinic that Flo introduced me to sell off some of my wares.
I drove to the Neon District and found a dark stairway in between some bar and a nightclub that led down to a large metal door that looked like it could withstand a small bomb. There were no signs or anything throughout the entire way down. I’m sure if I hadn’t been told of its location, I would have thought it was just some backdoor for a building.
Pressing on the intercom, I backed away from the door and stared straight at the peephole while I waited.
“What do you want?” A feminine voice spoke at a fast pace.
“Dr. Rad? Flo introduced me to this place. I have some business with you.”
The door clicked open automatically. Inside was an identical door with turrets hanging from the ceiling beside it. I walked in and the door closed behind me.
After a few seconds, the second door opened, leading me to a brightly lit area with a few chairs neatly lined up. A large glowing sign stood in my path with the words ‘Wait here and don’t wander or you’re dead!’ written on it.
It seemed like I came a little early compared to the rest of her clientele, as it was noon and there wasn’t anyone else here. Before I had a chance to sit down, a thin girl with purple hair walked out from the back. Though her most distinct trait was all the tattoos she had.
“Follow me, you looking for a checkup, new chrome, or what?” She turned around and asked while she started walking away all jittery, as if she had too much caffeine.
I sped up to keep up with her before replying, “Actually, I had some cybernetics to sell, brand new.” I held the bag I was holding to emphasize my point to her despite she hadn’t turned my way.
“Let’s have a look.”
We moved into her operating room and proceeded to lay out all the cybernetics I brought on a table where she then examined them.
I took the time to check out her setup, which comprised a simple terminal by her operating table that listed her products. I couldn’t match the variety she had at the moment and needed to pay extra to the corporate salesperson because I didn’t have a proper license.
Soon, Dr. Rad finished inspecting the cybernetics and quoted me a price. She seemed to offer about half of what it retailed for, which was pretty good considering she would have to sell below the retail price. Otherwise, people would simply go to the legit clinics unless they really didn’t want any records of their hardware.
“I still have more of the same kind if you want. I can get it here within the hour.” I continued to hawk as I only brought a few of each model I had.
“No thanks, maybe next time, no reason to hold too much stock. If that’s all, you know the way out.” She started to ignore me and started working on some half-completed cyberarm.
“Do you happen to know any other places that may be interested in buying?”
She paused for a second and put a finger to her chin, “Hmm, there may be a few. Not sure though, I don’t really contact them that often. Here I sent their info to your SAID.”
With the transaction complete, my balance displayed on my optics was much higher than before. I exited and restocked before I made my way to the locations she sent me to rinse and repeat the sale.
Some contacts I visited completely ignored me and shooed me away, while some only bought limited quantities.
Now I know how those salesmen pestering me feel. Maybe I should’ve cut them some slack.
As evening approached, I made my way to the last contact I had gotten, in some warehouse on the outskirts of the city. There weren’t much here besides a couple of chop shops.
Just as I exited my car, I heard a thunderous noise coming from just around the corner. I instantly jumped back into the car with my gun unholstered, ready to leave at a moment’s notice.
“Sigh, come on, I just wanted to sell my stuff in peace today…”