Novels2Search
Echoes
Ch.5:Delivery

Ch.5:Delivery

It takes a month before Aki gets them their second Job. Ellie was surprisingly willing to pass it along despite their last performance.

“It’s a delivery” he says “Got a shard we need to drop off to a small time gang called the Vipers in building Gamma, 21st floor”

“Vipers? Aren’t they pretty violent?” Alex asks.

He shakes his head “You’re thinking of the crew holed up in Sigma. This crew has a rep for being rough, considering the other small time gangs on their floor, but they wouldn’t be dumb enough to mess with a dragon, so we should be fine”

“Should?” Sasha asks

“Anything can happen. Last time proved as much, better be prepared for the worst just in case”

“The worst being?”

“Well, they’ve got about three dozen members”

“Fantastic” Alex says “what's the pay?”

“Two-hundred”

“Each?”

“Total”

He gets a few grumbles and muttered curses at that before he raises a hand.

“This isn’t nearly as risky as the last job, and from what Ellie’s told me the pay should have been significantly higher. Two-hundreds the best I could do for this job. Besides, it’s more about recognition than it is creds”

“More creds is always a plus though” Alex says

He sighs “it is, but for now we’ll have to make due”

-

It’s pretty easy to find seats on the skyrail to Gamma, turns out a shotgun is a decent motivator for politeness. Go figure. The Ramus is painted black now, with a chinese dragon coiled around the chunky piece of ballistic majesty, its tail starts at the stock and keeps going until its gaping maw reaches the barrel.

“Who’d you get to style the gun? It’s pretty preem” she asks

Aki seems taken aback by that. He stares at the ground for a bit before clearing his throat.

“I did”

“Bullshit” Sasha intercedes

“What? Unlike you two I’ve got actual hobbies, is that so hard to believe?”

Alex muses at that “No” she says “Just wouldn’t have expected you to be into art is all.”

“What’d you expect then?”

“Honestly? Netrunning.”

He gives her a look “am I really that boring?”

“C’mon, you can’t tell us that you haven’t at least tried it” Sasha says

“I’ve dabbled”

“Ha! Knew it”

He groans at the satisfied smirks both the girls give him.

“I’m not any good at it, just know a few of the basic languages. Besides, I can't test anything I make without the proper cybernetics or equipment.”

Alex shrugs “that’s better than either of us. I can’t wrap my head around any of the of that crap”

“Oh, It’s not so bad, you can borrow my primer if you want.”

They both stare at him after that statement.

“What?”

Sasha snorts “‘dabbled’, sure.”

-

Mega buildings are, generally, big as fuck. Gamma is no exception. Its form is a triangle of obsidian black metal, each floor its own microcosm of civilization, and to even hold the moniker of ‘mega’ it has to have well over five hundred floors. Alex doesn’t know how they can manage suck heights without the whole thing toppling over, but she’s not a physicist, or engineer, so she’ll just defer to their experts and trust in its structural integrity.

Although the government’s mostly incompetent, when it comes to Mega structures they’ve only had a few incidents. Her gaze lingers on the tower until a shred of yellow enters her peripheral vision. There on a bench not far, sits a man eating shawarma, his face is canvas of tattoos and piercings, around his neck are three chains, the largest of which reaches down to his stomach, he has the bench to himself, as well as a good few meters as people veer away from him.

He’s wearing mostly black, with just a hints of yellow on the trim of his jacket. She nudges Aki with her shoulder and gestures at the man with her head.

“Segador” he hisses under his breath

Sasha whips her head at them before following their gaze and mutters a curse. By this point the mans taken notice of the three kids gawking at him, and jovially he waves them over. They exchange hesitant looks before walking over.

“Buenas noches, friends!” he exclaims “to what do I owe the pleasure?”

Aki cocks an eyebrow, keeping a mask of calm plastered to his face “this is our turf, not unusual for us to be here”

“Ah ah ah” says the man “This here is the Dragons turf, your just the little lizards he tolerates to keep some semblance of order”

They just nod at that, not willing to argue the point and risk angering the man, which seems to amuse him, if the smile on his face is anything to go by. He takes a bite out of his shawarma, chews for a bit, then swallows.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Never seen one of my kind, have you?” they nod “fair, we don’t tend to leave The House”

“Why did you?” Sasha asks before hastily adding “if you don’t mind me asking”

The man waggles his shawarma, “why else but for this culinary delight? I know, I know. It’s off brand, but to deny my taste buds for the sake of fitting into a stereotype would be simply criminal!”

None of them comment that all of those present are, in fact, criminals.

He takes another bite, seeming to savor their fear alongside his meal. This time he chews with a laziness that must be purposeful, he hasn’t dismissed them yet so they stay standing, waiting. Finally, he swallows and continues speaking.

“So, what brings you here?” he asks “that kind of firepower isn’t lugged around lightly after all” he tilts his chin to the Ramus in Aki’s hands.

“We’re on a job” Aki responds

“What kind of job?”

“Delivery”

He groans “I don’t envy you. Still remember when I was on the bottom of the ladder and had to hustle from one odd job to the next. It was the fucking worst. Now they just call on me to kill people, much more satisfying”

They don’t know how to respond to that, so again, they just nod.

“Well, don’t let me keep you, good luck kiddo’s! Try not to get shot” With that sage advice the three of them quickly shuffle off into the crowd, heading towards the megabuilding. Aki pulls out his phone as soon as they're out of sight and calls who she assumes is Ellie.

“Aren’t we deep in dragon territory?” Sasha whispers “Is this some kind of power play? No way he came all the way here just for a donair”

“Shawarma”

“What?”

“He was eating shawarma, not a donair”

“Aren’t those basically the same thing?”

Alex only responds with a glare.

-

The 21st floor is a place of constant war, they can already hear the sounds of fighting and the moans of the wounded in the distance as the elevator presents them with what can only be described as a slum. There’s a simple reason for the current state of affairs, too many gangs, too little space, which is impressive considering the size of this place. The dragons' interests here lies only in how much drugs they can squeeze out of the gangs, in exchange they get the weapons and creds to fund the constant violence. To get to the Vipers they have to cross through the territory of about a dozen other gangs, Alex doesn’t remember their names, some mammals, some reptiles, this whole floor is obsessed with naming themselves after an animal. Ironic considering the name of her own gang, but at least they’re something cool instead of a viper, or a God forsaken boar.

“You know what’s on the shard?” Alex asks.

“Something about changing the prices, apparently our venomous friends haven’t been the most reliable with their deliveries. The gang wants them to know that they aren’t…thrilled with the delays”

“Oh, they won’t like that” Sasha giggles

Aki shrugs “probably not, but if they get antsy we can just shoot them. Guns are rare here, and used more for intimidation rather than actual violence, and they definitely don’t have any sort of cybernetic protection.You two could probably take a few with just your katanas”

“Wouldn’t Ellie be pissed if we just offed them?” Alex asks.

“Nah, we’re basically going to spit in their faces, it wouldn’t be surprising if we have to kill one or two. Ellie’s even given me her blessing to wipe out the whole gang if it comes to that.”

“Damn, they're that weak?”

“According to Ellie, most gangs holed up in the megastructures are”

“Why not join one of the big ones then?” Sasha asks “they’re basically tied to the dragons already, wouldn’t be that much of a change to integrate”

“Don’t ask me, my understanding of gang politics is shaky at best”

-

If the map on Aki’s phone didn’t tell them they’d entered Viper territory, they’d be none the wiser. They aren’t familiar enough with the aesthetic to differentiate between territories. Everything is stores and houses stacked atop one another, almost reaching the artificial lights at the floors roof, there are bridges and walkways at every level to allow for easier travel, ladders are soldered onto specific stacks to allow for vertical traversal without intruding on someone's home. It’s a little crowded, with people returning from work from one of the other floors, but most know not to get in the way of an armed crew of dragons. A few do, but it doesn’t take much encouragement to get them moving. There was even one idiot with a bat who tried to intimidate them, that was kind of funny, especially when Sasha shot him in the leg.

The Vipers have a grand total of four stacks to their name.

I know, impressive.

They approach what they think is their main stack, judging by the two guards stationed there with tattoos that are, well, certainly tattoos. The two failed art projects notice their approach, then they notice the guns and one of them says something to the other before darting inside the stack.

“What’s that about?” Aki asks

“He’s just getting the boss, sir” says the remaining grunt

Sasha giggles at that “hear that Aki, you’re a sir now”

“You need to let me borrow that shotgun sometime, maybe people will start calling me ‘madam’” Alex adds

“Next time”

“I’ll hold you to that”

A man with blue hair and black eyes emerges from the doorway, he’s quite tall, needing to duck under the doorframe and easily standing at seven feet once straightened out. He’s not wearing a shirt, showcasing an impressive amount of muscle. There's a slight stubble on his chin, which Alex muses he’ll have to shave soon, since the brown clashes quite dramatically with the blue.

“The Dragons send you?” He rubbles, his voice is deep, and he’s clearly not intimidated by the sight of their guns. Probably used to dealing with shows of force. She can respect that.

“Yeah” Aki says “got a shard for you, some terms need updating”

He scowls but nods “Zackery” he says before ushering them in. The room is surprisingly nice all things considered, there’s a table with a couch on either side, under all that is a brown carpet of synthetic furs, there’s even a few pictures hanging. He gestures for them to sit on one side as he settles on the other.

“Johnny, get me my tablet” he says, and the man who rushed inside originally leaves to grab the aforementioned tablet with haste.

“Is he usually so skittish?” Alex asks

“Only when guns are involved” Zackery replies

“Good survival instincts” Sasha nods

Zackery just chuckles at that, a bit of amusement reaching his eyes before he schools himself back to passive neutrality.

“So what's the score? You on punishment duty or something?” he asks

“Something like that” Aki replies, clearly not wanting to show how green they all are to this.

He sighs “what a world we live in, to send a bunch of kids to a shithole like this”

“We can take care of ourselves” Aki says, which gets waved away lazily by Zackery.

“I’m sure you can, could probably end a few of the gangs here with the heat your packing. Speaking off, was that shot earlier one of you?”

“That would be me” Sasha declares proudly pointing a thump to her chest

“Did you kill ‘em?”

“Nope!”

He nods, “good, killings not how we settle things on the floor, some dragons don’t get that and leave a mess over petty shit”

“Is that common?” Alex asks

“Common enough”

-

“These terms’ll end us” Zackery says with a scowl as he scrolls through his tablet. He’d been quiet since slotting in the shard, his face mirroring his slowly growing displeasure. “We can’t agree to this.”

“This isn’t a negotiation” Aki replies, crossing his arms “we’re just here to tell you how it’s going to go from now on, you’re free to complain, just don’t expect it to get you anything”

He lets out a growl, one aggressive enough that they instinctively reach for their guns, but he deflates instead.

“I’ve got people to feed” pleads the giant built like a brick house “I can’t do that with these prices”

“That’s not our problem”

His face hardens “no, it wouldn’t be” his voice is void of any warmth as he points to the door “get out”