Chapter 4
Ratface’s revenge
keywords: Claws, Fangs, Rescue, Retribution
R4 retched and threw up a thin bile which looked nothing like the bar she had just eaten. She quickly downed the rest of her water. “Close your eyes, count to ten.” She began to count slowly, getting to three before she heard Chen call her.
“Hey, R4, you alright?”
“No.” R4 replied, counting before taking a deep breath. “Ok, you can do this.” She turned, and stepped back into the elevator room.
The second attempt was similar to the first, but on the third attempt R4 managed. Chen was already pressing the button for the elevator.
“Come on, come on, come on.”
[[New job has arrived.]] R4 jumped as her phone rang. As she took it out the job app was already open.
Investigate unknown murders
Team size: 1
Hazard: unknown
Company: Fangs of Mara
Contact: The Red Queen
Reward: Your life. Seriously head in the game here R4. Also 2000 exp, 1000 credits and legal protection if this goes bad. You have to survive though.
Nu’Grav is a dangerous place. The NGPD have open bounties for evidence, though what happens beneath the city is beyond their jurisdiction. Investigate what happened here. Count the victims, examine the wounds, examine what armor they have. Might not be a bad idea to pick up a weapon, they’re not going to need it. Also do not tell your companion about this job or you will have to share the reward.
R4 shook her head and began taking pictures. Chen was too busy trying to get the elevator working to notice. First she examined the room. There were six exits to the half circle room, which was about 3 meters in radius with a large round section taken out of the center of the flat section for the elevator. Next she examined the wounds, four parallel lines, claw marks. The cut was ragged. R4 found a section where the claw had cut into a bone and made sure to take a close up on video, shifting the camera so she could get the damage from several angles. As she examined it her right eye picked out dozens of small scratches.
“Did he cut them with a wire brush?”
“What? What are you doing?”
“I got a job to document… this.” R4 gestured. Her phone buzzed angrily. “And apparently the contact can listen in through my phone.” R4 went back to taking photos, when she froze. The body before her wore heavy black armor, and both of his arms had been replaced with heavy duty mechanical arms, one of which had been severed below the elbow. Wires stood exposed and artificial muscles still twitched weakly. Countless scratches adorned the edge of the cut in a random pattern. A quarter meter steel rod bearing a leather handle and etched with a complex looking golden knot lay just beyond his still twitching hand. R4 tried to pick it up, but it shocked her.
[[Electric Discouragement Rod: Tier 2 power spear. Host’s tier is too low to use this weapon properly. Safety protocols active, weapon will not deploy. User not recognized, weapon will deploy ever increasing shocks until a valid user is found. Made by Lok-1]]
R4 took a close up picture of the severed arm and the spear, making sure to get the Loki symbol. “Hey Chen, is tier 2 steel wool a thing?”
“Are you nuts?” She hit the elevator button hard, but rather than opening a voice spoke from a hidden speaker.
“Attention: this elevator is being used by a high value team and is currently unavailable without T4 priority clearance from a major corporation.”
“F***ing perfect!” Chen roared in anger. “F***ing Corp!”
“Attention citizens!” Both women jumped, but R4 saw the phone in one of the hands of the dead men. With a gesture she called it to her hand. “The 201’s Cyberpsycho division is on the way. Stay low, stay quiet, and we will be there soon!”
“Hurry up!” Chen yelled.
“Thank you.” R4 spoke into the phone. “If you can hear me, whoever attacked this group has killed a tier 2.”
“Never fear, for whatever fool dares trouble this city shall face justice!”
R4 barely heard the response. Her eyes caught on a blood stain that was out of place. She snapped a picture, then followed it with her eyes. A cold lump of dread settled in her stomach, yet she was compelled to step forwards. By some rote action or happy coincidence she began recording as she did. The blood stains she saw were not a splatter, but a long continuous smear. She followed it to one of the entrances, where it stopped. Following every horror movie victim to encounter such a thing she slowly looked up.
At first R4 thought the arm hanging off of pipe above was that of the victim, though she immediately picked up that it looked off. A moment later it twitched.
“It is here.” She whispered.
“What do you see?” R4 jumped at the shout coming from the phone, and the culprit peered over the edge of the rail. It trilled, and R4 locked eyes with the creature.
With a light clicking of his claws Ratface dropped down from above. It stretched, its teeth clicking as its fingers began to shimmer. It let out a short trill sound that, despite lasting less than a second conveyed several ideas. R4’s translator managed to parse out a few ideas.
“Tired, Hungry, Good nap, Hungry, want breakfast, Hungry, found breakfast.”
R4 dropped both phones and threw up her claws just in time to catch the claws, or try to. Her own claws were thrown aside and only the reinforcements in her coat managed to save her a nasty cut.
“Run!” R4 called. She stepped back, her mind going a mile a minute. Ratface had cleanly cut through tier 2 armor, and she was tier 0. His claws had thrown hers aside, yet his claws had not cut through her coat. Either her coat was far stronger than she thought, or, “Initiate flare protocol.”
Strength flowed through her limbs. R4 saw the next blow coming and ducked under, before lunging for Ratface’s legs. She faked with a right hook, and struck with a left claw across his neck. Her blades skittered across hardened skin but she drew blood. Elated by her success she nimbly stepped out of the way of Ratface’s blow, only for him to whip around and lash out with a bony tail covered with strange barbed edges. This time her coat did not save her and a single barb sliced a shallow cut into her stomach. There was a flash of pain, which was immediately washed away by a euphoric sensation.
[[Caution: host has been afflicted with ravager toxin T1. Host is already producing ravager toxin, hostile toxin will have reduced effect. Documenting interaction]] R4 pushed the thought out of her head as she blocked another swing, this time blocking the tail again as Ratface quickly pushed her back.
“Shoot it, it’s only tier 1!” R4 yelled.
“You said it was tier 2.” Chen called back, but opened fire. R4 did her best to get Ratface’s attention, yet unlike The Lopside he had both his arms, as well as his tail. R4 soon sported several cuts, and while Ratface did as well he was still going strong.
“I’m out of ammo!” Chen yelled, dropping her third magazine to the floor. The moment she did R4 saw Ratface’s eyes gleam. It let out a trilling sound and his right eye glowed brightly.
“I hunger, must eat, flesh protocol, rage protocol, strength protocol,” It trilled
At that moment the elevator dinged and Chen dove out of the way as three heavily armored men charged out. One raised a shotgun that might as well have been a cannon at Ratface. R4 dove out of the way just before a blast louder than the end of the world sent dozens of pea sized pellets through Ratface’s head. The monster turned, its Tier 1 skull already repairing itself.
“What the F*** is that?” The shooter asked.
“DIE VILLAIN!” A second man yelled, a blazing blue blade seeming to appear in his hand.
“Initiate Flare protocol.” Ratface yelled, and R4 immediately felt a pressure roll out from the monster. Both she and Chen were flattened, and two of the heavily armed men were pushed back, but not the swordsman. He lashed out with his blade, energy coursing through the humming blade. He managed to force Ratface to block with both claws even with the additional energy running through him and in a feat of speed R4 couldn’t follow managed to nail him with a kick.
“Die-die you son-bastard of a corporate whore-wife. I will chew-eat your guts and Rip-tear your eyes out of your hollow-empty skull!” Her translator hit an error as the words “Mars, Mitian, Lok-1, Biotek, Mara, Hat Man, Dread Shadows, Juggernaut, Atropos, End of Days, and a dozen other terms flashed before her eyes. She received a notice that her lexicon was updated, but she had no time to process it. The creature had shunted half a gigabyte of information in to a two second trill.
The sheer venom of the creature’s words made the swordsman flinch, giving Ratface a chance to lunge. He held up his blade, to block, yet it was a feint. Ratface went after the shotgunner, but not without giving the swordsman a goodbye kiss with his tail.
“Vincent!” the swordsman yelled as Ratface brought down his claws on the man’s shotgun, cutting deep grooves into it. The weapon sparked, sending volts into both Ratface and Vincent, but Ratface recovered faster and bit into the man’s helmet, its long teeth shooting out to spear into the faceplate and pulling the rest into the bite.
“DIE MONSTER! NU’GRAV GIVE ME STRENGTH!” R4 watched as the swordsman’s armor glowed brightly, shedding immense amounts of heat as he charged, bisecting Ratface with a swing of his blade. Its legs dropped, tail still swinging and scoring a hit on Vincent and the swordsman both. Its torso continued to claw at Vincent, its claws failing to penetrate but leaving deep gouges in the metal and its jaw cracking the man’s faceplate.
“Don’t move!” The third man spoke in a robotic voice, drawing a hand cannon and in one smooth motion blowing Ratface’s face off, again. The torso dropped to the ground, the strength draining out of it but its jaw continued to move.
“Hungry.” It moaned, before the third man fired two more shots into its skull, the third shot splattering the creature’s head and the shot to the torso reducing it to chunks.
“What was that?” Vincent asked.
“Ratface.” R4 managed, slowly pushing herself up now that the pressure was gone. “The Dimdwell called it Ratface.” Everything hurt, and everything burned. Her head spun, and she had to settle for just sitting up. Several notifications appeared on her eye and her phone began buzzing like a hornet, but with a shake of her head she dismissed them and ignored her phone. “Ow, are we alive?”
“Cutter, check them.” The swordsman replied.
“Got it Boss.” They approached Chen first then R4, scanning them with some manner of hand scanner that resembled a gun with two barrels and a screen. “First one’s fine, the second one is suffering from exhaustion and has some cuts. T0 both of them.” They looked at the remains scattered around. “Looks like no other survivors.”
“Alright, you two stay here. Cutter, guard them. Harris, ride with me. We go forth, for the hunt!”
“No way, we have to get out of here.” Chen cried out.
“No, you’re staying right here.” Cutter replied. “That elevator takes five minutes each way, and we’re not letting you tie it up if we have to make a sudden escape. If you don’t like it you can find another one.”
“Fine, F***ing corpos.” Chen fiddled with her phone. “You coming? Nearest elevator is about a kilometer this way.”
“I think I’ll stay here.” R4 replied, finally managing to push herself up. “That thing had venom in its claws, and I can barely stand upright. Y’all go ahead, I’ll hitch a ride with these folks.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Your call, good luck getting eaten when more of those things show up.” And with that Chen was gone.
R4 ate another Kricket bar, then her last, her stomach greedily asking for more. “Dog rabbit, should have grabbed more.”
“Should have grabbed a gun, were you trying to take that thing hand to hand?” R4 eyed the armored figure, the voice was robotic but she had a feeling the person inside was a woman. “Leave that stuff for idiots like Issac.” The pair waited a few minutes, then she took out a tablet. “Might as well get working on the after-action report. What’s your name miss?”
“Rachel Smith.” The name felt false and ill-fitting in her mouth. R4 quickly left the elevator to find her phone. She pressed a button and received a notification that her info had been copied.
“Ms. Smith, care to comment on what that THING was? You said the Dimdwell called it Ratface, are you associated with them?”
“Aside from being the victim of a kidnapping, not in the slightest.”
As they waited R4 relayed her version of events to Cutter, a notification informing her NOT to mention Mara or Red. She wisely avoided mentioning the Ravager prototype, instead mentioning the Dimdwell had installed only a cyber eye. She also forwarded the images and video she had taken, which Cutter appreciated.
“You know, that water tends to be irradiated. You should get checked out.” Cutter recommended. “That, and you might want a new cyber eye. That one might have a tracker, and might be broadcasting. It isn’t now, not that I can tell, but consider it.”
“Yeah, just as soon as I get insurance.”
“That’s fair.” She hit a button. “You staying in Backner Basin?”
“How’d you guess?” R4 asked.
“Well one, it’s in your info. Second, that’s where everyone who’s new to the city stays. They call it Beginner Basin for a reason. Lots of lowlifes hang out there preying on folks like you.” Cutter replied. “Of course, you also don’t have a lot of money, so once they’ve cut their teeth they tend to wander to Greensfield or the industrial district. If we have any questions we’ll come knocking.” She paused before several red lights lit up on her armor. “And I recommend staying put, you do not want us to have to go looking for you.”
“Got it.” R4 quickly found the furthest corner of the round elevator and stood very still. She noticed that, as she had talked, her cuts had healed. After about 20 minutes Issac and Vincent returned.
“Find anything? There is at least one more of those things out there.”
“Found a bunch of scratch marks, couple of shadow critters that were smart enough to run for their holes before Mr. Flaming sword decided to burn them to ash.”
“They are evil and must be purged.” Issac replied matter of factly.
“Sure buddy, we’ll get to them in time.” Harris replied, patting Issac on the back. “What are we doing with the girl, is she a witness?”
“Yep, already debriefed. Take her back topside and cut her loose. She’s been in the city less than a week and already been kidnapped, forcibly chipped, and encountered two cyberpsychos. Welcome to Nu’Grav.”
The other two entered the elevator and R4 heard the soft whir of the motor as it ascended. The three division members took off their helmets. All three had the form of odd attractiveness that nanite augmentation tended to bring. Vincent was bald, yet his skin was free of blemish and his chin had a sort of squareness associated with honesty and hard work. Blue eyes seemed to project an innocence that could only be manufactured. Cutter had short red hair in dreads that faded to pink then white and contrasted against her darkened skin. Both of her green eyes were clearly cybernetic as they had a trio of tiny skulls surrounding the pupil. She had been wearing make up, and before R4’s eyes it seemed to fix itself.
Issac, he looked like he had been ripped from a magazine cover post photo shop. Short blonde hair seemed to reform into place, his tanned skin free of blemish and his chin square and strong. He smiled showing off dazzling teeth that were just a bit too shiny to be bone. His brilliant blue eyes locked on R4, yet only benevolence remained there.
“Hazaa! Then we shall return victorious and celebrate another victory. Tell me fair maiden, will you join us in our revelry?”
R4 blinked once, twice, “Are y’all fer real?”
“Issac, take it down a notch.” Cutter’s voice was soft but firm. “You’re going to break something.”
“Right,” R4 noticed some of the shine leave Issac’s eyes. “Still, another success and we should celebrate.”
“I’m game, Cutter?”
“I want to go over that creature you guys fought, Ratface?” R4 nodded. “Apparently there was another one. I need to get a head start if these things start popping up.”
“Eh, you’re no fun. How about you miss?”
R4 eyed Issac. He was handsome, but a trill of fear shot down her spine. How had she gotten kidnapped, she searched her memories and found them fuzzy. “Some other time, I have to go home and make sure whoever grabbed me didn’t ransack my home.”
“The villains. Then at least allow me to walk you home. It’s a dangerous city after all.”
Vincent smiled. “That’s a great idea Issac.”
Cutter looked worried. “Just be home by 10, you don’t want to be half way through a diagnostic when the boss calls.”
“Sure, no problem.”
Stepping out of the elevator was like stepping into another world. The dark damp air was gone, replaced by the scent of bio- diesel fumes and metal. As the team stepped out they were quickly approached by a young woman in glasses and blonde hair. She was not armored, favoring a black suit and skirt with sensible heels.
“Uh oh. Hey Ice Queen. I don’t suppose you’re here with good news this time.” Vincent spoke hesitantly.
“For the last time my name is Inlee, and you have a gig. If you don’t get right now you’ll get stuck in rush hour traffic.” She eyed R4. “And who is this?”
“A rescue from below.” Cutter spoke up.
“I’ll mark it to the city’s tab.” She pointed to a large black vehicle that looked like something between a van and a tank. “Now move.”
“To glory, HAZAA!” Issac called and charged towards the large black van that waited for them. Within moments they were gone. Inlee eyed R4 for a moment before taking a picture of her and stalking off towards the street. As she approached a black car pulled up and opened its door. Within moments she was gone and R4 was alone.
A sudden urge gripped her, one strong enough to distract her from the phone ringing in her pocket. Looking around she found she was standing next to a four lane street next to a tall metal building. Looking up and down the street she saw that countless other skyscraping buildings reached up in defiance of gravity and the heavens. The one next to her was marked in bright Neon letters “Mars: Peace through Force” yet that is not what called to her. Higher, even above the building, a symbol of a blade crossed with a gun floated in the holographic sky. R4’s teeth buzzed, her eyes locked upon that symbol. More than sleep, more than food, she needed to get up there.
As she began searching for a fire escape she could climb some logical part of her brain reminded her that certain fungi drove ants to climb as high as they could. Yet she dismissed it in her search. Finding the fire escape was easy, the only problem was it was up about a floor with a collapsable ladder blocking it. Up above she saw three men in business attire smoking.
“Hey, can ya’ let me up?” She asked. One of the men nearly dropped his cigarette when he saw her. The three men looked down at her, then looked at one another.
“Why?” One man asked.
“I want to see the city from the top.” It wasn’t a lie.
“The answer is still no. Roof access is only for execs of the Mars corporation.” He made a gesture with his cigarette. “While your taste in clothing is on point, can’t let you up.” His phone buzzed. “Dang, got to get back.” He turned and pulled on the door, nothing. He pulled again. “COME ON!” R4 saw his arm open up, several lights beginning to glow as his hand charged up.
“Wait Rom, if you rip the door open you’ll set off the alarm and Giy will know we’re out here.” one of the other men exclaimed. “We have to pick it.”
“And do you have a lockpick?”
R4 eyed the building, took a step back, and jumped. With a little telekinesis she anchored herself to the wall for just a moment, and quick as a wink pulled herself up to the fire escape much to the surprise of the men currently on it. “Let me give it a go.” The men looked at each other, but stepped back. With a gesture her tool arm was open and within 6 seconds the door was open. “There ya’ go.”
“That was a tier 1 door.” Rom muttered.
“Tier one in strength, but tier 1 locks are REALLY hard ta’ carve right since the metals are so tough. Unless ya’ spring for the REALLY good locks tier 1 are usually easier to pick than normal. Not sure if that’s true with a tier 2, never tried it. Now best get in there ‘fore yer’ boss catches ya.” R4 winked. “I won’t tell if you don’t, if ya’ get my meaning.”
“Right.” And with that R4 was alone on the fire escape.
The climb was quick, and R4 ignored several notifications as she ascended. Twice she had to manipulate a hidden latch to drop another section of the fire escape, yet she made it to the top. As she stepped to the roof she found herself looking over the city, yet at the same time she was not.
Nu’Grav was a city of tiers. The lowest tier was separated from the rest of the world only by a line on a map and a section where the well paved roads gave way to crumbling infrastructure. She looked back at the world, her home for the last 25 years. If she peered very hard she could almost believe she could still see the great tower her father and grandfather had poured their lives into building, that her brother had given his life to protect.
Then she turned towards the city. In the fading lights the neon and LED made the towering walls of the artificial island that housed the upper districts glow like something out of a dream. The ever present steam and fog from the geothermal plants that surrounded the upper city cast the structures in a fuzzy haze, further amplifying the effects of the dream. While the middle section was easily accessible, at least to visit, the three meter wall and the checkpoints at the ramps ensured anyone who visited knew they were just visiting.
Yet it was the center of the city which held the true marvels. The center of the city was not just a space, but a huge arcology. Its towering T4 metals were covered in lights, ads for everything from soda and cars to firearms and cybernetics flickered across the thing. Even higher was the great space elevator which reached up into orbit.
“Nu’Grav, the city of Tiers. Birthplace of the first true AI. Home to one of the two space elevators on Terrazzo.” R4 said, taking a picture with her phone. “For now.” As she did her phone buzzed one final time. “32 missed texts, four messages, and a whole lot of notifications. Guess I’d better deal with those.” She looked down from the roof. “After I get down.
Getting down was easier than getting up, and even in the setting of the sun the lights of the city were more than sufficient illumination. R4 considered hailing a cab, but a quick check on one of the many apps that came with her phone indicated they were a premium. Also a notification from the job app appeared.
Climb as high as you can high
Team size: 1
Hazard: blood spotted
Company: Fangs of Mara
Contact: The Red Queen
Reward: Reflection and 30 exp
Coming up from the tunnels can be disorienting. Climb as high as you can to get a look at where you are. This has nothing to do with losing your GPS signal, don’t worry about it. Bonus exp if you manage to get past those folks on the fire escape.
R4 shook her head. “Ok, now how did you even know about those? Are you… are you looking through my eye? Am I broadcasting?” She opened the app and examined her eye, only to notice a new cyberware had appeared on her My Mesh app.
[[Non-cyberware]]
Mars Corp Lionskin coat (T0): Stylish, comfortable, bulletproof.*
*Armor rating 1
Red Queen Living jacket (T1): Designed by Mars Corp, Warranty voided by The Red Queen. Provides 1X+1 armor without penalty.
NETSET basic phone (T0): For calls texts and the apps you just can’t live without.
NETSET basic phone (T1): Warranty voided by The Red Queen. What are these roaming charges you speak of? Can display images only visible with a Ravager Eye. Charges based on resonance. Voice commands via resonant recognized
NOKE Shoes: Already done
N/A. Just regular shoes. Given what you’ve been walking in probably want to replace them though.
Mars Corp Survivalist line (T0): Stylish enough for the office, durable enough for a firefight.
N/A. Regular clothes. Not everything can be special. Might want to wash them though
Mars Corp Tactical water bottle (T0): Slaughter your thirst.
N/A. Still a nice water bottle. Has a tiny UV light in the bottle to kill off pathogens, powered by resonance with minor tweaking. Not really important in an urban setting, but handy if normal drinking water isn’t available. Does not filter out toxins.
[[My Cyberware]]
Cyberware: Cybernetic implants, or what others will see
Subversion: Aspects of the ravager prototype. These are hidden from most users but advanced sensors may detect irregularities and reveal these. The exact limits are unknown
Gentek Basic skeleton reinforcement (T0): a basic skeleton given to children with brittle bones
RAVAGER_PROTOTYPE (T1): Due to its experimental nature the ravager prototype is highly variable. The ravager may alter other cyberware’s function. Current deployment 45%. Proper ascension is required before it can reach 100%
Note: This cyberware is still in development. Please leave your notes and experiences to help those that follow you.
Gentek Biomonitors (T0 passive): Monitors user’s body to alert them to damage
Regeneration cyst (T1 Passive): Monitors and repairs the body. Heals cuts and treats poisons in minutes. Appears to create stem cells at an accelerated rate. Repairs scars in hours. May be able to regenerate fingers, possibly limbs? (Moderator Red Queen has requested refraining from testing this)
Telekinetic cyst (T0 Active): Ravagers hosts have been noted to use telekineisis at short range. It is theorized these unusual clusters of nerves and cysts have something to do with it. (Moderator Red Queen has moved this as telekinesis seems to come from the entire body, not just the hands).
Telekinetic Claws (T0 Active?) Allows for the host to extend claws from the hands, and possibly the feet and mouth. (Moderator Red Queen has marked this to be revised as while it has to be activated there is no cost)
Mars Corp Cyclopes cybereye (T1): A single eye cyberware designed to replace missing vision. Grants the ability to see in low light conditions and at range of up to 2 kilometers. Allows the user to record data
RAVAGER_EYE (T1): A single eye which allows the user to zoom in on distant targets without losing peripheral vision. Can focus on up to two objects at a time at up to 5 kilometers. Grants thermal and dark vision at close range, while also allowing the host to see hidden messages. This eye is armored (hardness 5). Allows the user to record data
Mars Corp Military hardened MESH (T1 Active/passive): Provides connection and power to a number of small devices and cyberware. If user is targeted by unauthorized hacking attempts they may retaliate with damaging ICE
Innate human mimicry (T1 Passive): H0$t is HO0Man. U no C33. (Moderator Red Queen has dictated this needs edits)
Flare protocol (T0 Active): Forces power through all subverted tissues. Increases all subverted cyberware and tissues by one tier for a short time. Recharge 2 ATP([X][O]) Cooldown 10 minutes (0 remaining). Causes permanent damage to the host.
Digital Key ring: holds codes and log in credentials
Keys to the kingdom (T1 Passive): Holds key codes and log in credentials. Holding multiple keys from the same company may allow for unauthorized access based on programming flaws.
Unknown model Tool arm: Provides a number of small tools.
Ravager toxin reserve: Possible?
Osteoblast/clast microfactorum: grows and dissasembles small tools. Also stores mundane tool arm tools.
“Still in beta testing I, wait, Permanent damage? I used that twice. Dang.” R4 shook her head. “And what is ATP?” Her stomach growled, and she reached for a bar that was not there. “Guess I’d better get home for dinner.”