Heywood

October 22nd

2069

Sophie slipped into a tight alleyway, away from the sharp midday sun, and slotted Padre’s shard into one of her neck ports. She’d been cautious, unsure whether there would be some kind of malware or virus but her concerns proved unnecessary. The shard booted cleanly, displaying a series of files that scrolled across her optics. Probably best to go see Vik anyway, just to make sure there wasn’t anything.

Names, locations, and a rough outline of the group’s movements over the past week appeared before her. It was a surprisingly large group, over 15 of them to be precise. Padre’s information suggested they were providing storage and transportation, though it didn’t seem like they were actually acquiring and harvesting anyone themselves.

Regardless, Sophie had no kindness to spare for such people. She would take any opportunity she could to kill them, even if her new fixer wouldn’t be happy with her.

Pushing aside her growing anger, Sophie disabled the shard and slipped it into her jacket pocket. With a deep breath, she mounted her bike and rode toward the address listed in the files, her mind already turning over the best way to approach the situation. She settled on simple observation to begin with before formulating a more detailed plan.

The target was a crumbling apartment complex, its façade marred by graffiti, shattered windows, and scorch marks. A collection of beat-up cars cluttered the front lot, their hoods scratched and dented. Sophie parked her bike a safe distance away, hidden in the shadow of a broken-down bus stop.

Sliding into the shadows of an abandoned alley nearby, she shed her clothes into her inventory. She retrieved her combat gear after ensuring there were no cameras around. The netrunner suit slipped on and her plate carrier went over it, filled with ammo and a selection of grenades. Her pistols found their places in holsters on either hip and her knives were sheathed on her thighs. Lastly, her thermal katana fit securely across the small of back.

The roof of a nearby building offered a vantage point, and Sophie scaled its side quickly. Once she reached the top, she crouched low, peering over the lip of the building at her target.

Through cracks in the apartment’s broken blinds, she caught glimpses of movement; figures pacing, talking, and laughing. She followed the advice Vik had sent her after her rushed escape from Misty’s anger, adjusting her new Kiroshis. Immediately, she felt the purchase was worthwhile as the scene was magnified before her eyes.

Four teens moved through the building casually, seemingly enjoying what they were doing. However, she was fully aware that there were more people in the group. As she went to change positions, her eyes caught on something.

There was a damaged ventilation shaft at the top of the building. The metal was rusted and warped, the bolts barely holding it in place. It was the perfect entry point, considering nobody ever seemed to expect someone was in their walls. Or am I weird? Is it not normal to use the vents? Realising her thoughts were branching off, she refocused.

For hours, Sophie watched the building, methodically changing her position every so often to gather as much information as she could. She confirmed the presence of at least 13 people in the building, though she was sure there were more. One of her notable observations was how…undisciplined the group was. They believed they were completely safe, a feeling likely brought about by their numbers.

The monotony of her observation was broken when a dark van pulled into the lot. Its engine sputtered as it came to a halt and two teenagers jumped out, dragging a bound and struggling girl between them. Sophie’s breath caught, her pulse quickening as she watched the grim scene unfold. The scene hit far too close to home and she almost missed a vital piece of information as her memories threatened to spill out.

The captors were met by another teen standing near the entrance, who gestured for them to hurry inside. Beside him however, was a scav. The hologram mask and mismatched chrome gave it away. With scav presence confirmed, she focused on the captive. Her optics zoomed in on the girl, who looked no older than sixteen. Her face was pale, streaked with dirt and tears, and her terrified eyes darted wildly as she was forced through the apartment’s broken door.

Sophie’s jaw tightened, her hands trembling as her fury boiled to the surface. She wanted to act immediately, but a thread of discipline held her back.

She fired off a quick message to Padre, along with photo evidence of the activities: ‘The group is working directly with scavs. They just brought in a girl’.

The reply came moments later, though it felt like an eternity: ‘I see. Cleanse them, Sophie. Let no sin remain unpunished. Protect the innocent, for their cries have reached heaven’s ears’.

Sophie felt her mouth shift into a grim smile. She had permission to purge an emerging group of scum and she would find great satisfaction in seeing their blood splash across the walls.

Pulling her pistols from their holsters, she double-checked the suppressors before securing them again. Her blades too, were given a once-over before returning to their proper place. She flexed her fingers, rolled her shoulders, and prepared to move.

The gap between the buildings wasn’t small, but Parkour’s instincts were telling her she could make it. She leapt and for a moment, feared she wouldn’t make it. Just as her stomach started to drop, she landed softly, her boots finding purchase on the cracked concrete of the apartment building’s roof.

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The damaged ventilation shaft appeared before her, the metal creaking faintly in the wind. Sophie knelt beside it, her hands working quickly to pry the warped bolts free. The shaft gave way with a groan, and she carefully set the loose panel aside.

The darkness inside felt like a gaping abyss, filled with the worst of humanities horrors and she mentally prepared herself.

With a final glance toward the empty lot below, Sophie slid into the vent, disappearing into the darkness.

-----------------------

Crawling through a horizontal vent shaft, Sophie made her way towards the light she could see emanating from in front of her. She kept her movements slow and careful, ensuring she didn’t bump into the vent walls or make the entire thing shake. The last thing she needed was to be filled with bullets because the vent system was shaking as she crawled.

She eventually reached the light source, an open grate that allowed her to peer into a room. If her assumptions were correct, she was on the top floor of the building, which perfectly fit with the way she preferred undertaking stealth missions.

Looking into the brightly lit room, she was immediately greeted by a single teen seated at a desk, watching live camera feeds with a bored expression. She double checked and realised he wasn’t actually looking at all. Instead, she saw a braindance wreath wrapped around his head. At the same time, a system mission appeared.

New Mission

Eliminate all hostiles in the building and free the prisoners.

Difficulty: Medium

Rewards: 2000 L-Coins, 2000 Eurodollars

Dismissing the notification, she tried to look further into the room but no matter where her eyes travelled, there didn’t seem to be anyone else in the room. Did I really just get lucky? The first room I find and it’s the surveillance room with a mentally absent guard.

Feeling confident, she peeled open the grate in front of her slowly before dropping it onto a ragged couch below her. She poked her head out and immediately retracted it. A camera, hidden in a blindspot, swept past the vent she was in. She waited until it swiveled back in the opposite direction before slipping out of the vent.

Immediately, she dashed straight over to the base of the camera and with a quick flick of a knife, slashed the wires behind it. They sparked, then the camera lost power, drooping like a chastised child. She quickly turned around and crept up behind the teen still lost in a braindance.

The room was suddenly filled with the heat of her thermal katana as it sliced through her target’s neck, removing his head. It fell to the ground with a dull thud while Sophie caught his corpse, preventing it from falling and making noise. She gathered the body and put it in the corner of the room, out of immediate sight.

When she grabbed the severed head, she felt a flicker of guilt for snuffing out such a young life. However, that guilt was swiftly squashed when she looked through all of the cameras in the building. Specifically, the cages filled with people and the harvesting room drenched in blood.

Her teeth clenched as she disabled the building’s camera system, ensuring it couldn’t be used to track her. The security on the system was significantly lower quality than what Cain had, considering there was no timer initiated after turning the systems off.

With her initial attack completed, she moved to the door. Her chrome hand fastened around one of her pistols, drawing it in preparation. The door slowly swung outwards and Sophie immediately peeked into the part of the corridor she could see. Her eyes scanned the empty hallway, finding no threats.

Slowly, she looked around the corner, using the door as cover to check the opposite side of the corridor and the parts she’d previously been unable to examine. It was all clear, so she carefully moved out of the security room, continuing to stay behind cover.

Finally, a quick check confirmed there were no hostiles in the corridor. She moved down one end to a door and carefully opened it. Her eyes swept across the room, clearing the far corners and finding one of her targets. He was unarmed and as he looked up, his eyes widened in shock.

She didn’t give him a chance and three bullets punched through his body. Blood splashed through the air as he slumped backwards and she heard a gasp. Sophie stepped inside and swiftly turned to her right, where another unarmed teen was sitting.

They looked at her, eyes begging for mercy but she refused. They too, collapsed in a bloody heap. She confirmed the room was empty before exiting, closing the door behind her. Turning, she began making her way back along the corridor.

Suddenly, Sophie heard a stomping sound from further ahead. A cursory examination revealed what she suspected was a staircase. She returned to the still open security room door and crouched behind it, staring in the direction of the footsteps.

A giant of a man came into view, face covered by a hologram mask. That’s not the scav I saw earlier, she thought to herself. She realised that there were multiple scavs in the building, meaning she now had an unknown number of hostiles. Still, there wasn’t much she could do about it except continuing what she was already doing.

Her eyes sharpened when she spotted the light machine gun strapped to the man’s back. No matter what, she couldn’t let him use it. She stepped back into the security room as he approached the open door, muttering something inaudible, though she thought it was something about ‘investigating’.

Just looking at him, she realised he likely possessed significant defences, either from chrome or his actual clothes. Her pistol wouldn’t be effective against such an armoured target but her katana would be. It would also ensure she maintained her stealth.

She holstered her pistol quietly and drew her katana. Her target was the man’s throat. If the attack landed properly, he would die instantly. If not, it would hopefully silence his voice. She mentally counted down as his footsteps approached. 3…2…1…Now!

With a burst of speed, she lunged forward. The burning hot blade of her katana pierced forwards, directly towards his throat. To the man’s credit, he pulled himself up just enough to avoid being skewered. However, the blade still cut through the edge of his vocal cords.

He roared in pain, yet it came out as a near-silent wheeze. Sophie took advantage of his confusion to slash downwards, removing his left arm from the shoulder down. A retaliatory punch came flying towards her and she ducked. The fist hit the edge of the doorway and shattered it, sending small pieces of debris flying.

With the man’s body completely open, Sophie took the opportunity to spin and swipe her blade across the man’s stomach. Cloth and flesh parted under the heated edge, though it wasn’t as deep as she wanted. Still, he stumbled.

In a burst of agility, she jumped onto his bent knee before launching herself upwards, twisting herself to avoid the roof. He threw another wild punch in her direction and she was forced to abandon her offensive, blocking the blow with her blade. It cut through his organic knuckles, removing a finger but the force contained in the attack pushed her backwards.

Sophie landed in a crouch, blade clenched tightly. Her opponent was wobbling but his face carried an angry snarl as he reached around with his remaining hand to his gun. At the same time, her left hand reached down, drawing one of her pistols. She was faster, considering she wasn’t injured.

A flurry of bullets flew through the air towards the man’s face and he abandoned his attempts to reach his weapon. His arm came up, blocking her assault but also his vision. It was a clear error, one that Sophie took full advantage of. She dashed towards him and her blade flashed, cutting through one of his legs.

He toppled to the ground with a pained wheeze, still lashing out in a futile attempt to hit her. She timed her approach perfectly, darting in and plunging her blade through the man’s eye, burning his brain.

He fell still and she took a moment to catch her breath. She quickly sheathed her katana before reloading her pistols. At the same time, she looked around and frowned. “Fuck.” She hadn’t paid it much attention during the relatively short confrontation but the man’s wild behaviour had made a lot of noise.

The corridor walls were damaged and even as she took a moment to gather herself, she could hear rushed movement on the floors below her. Stealth was out the window she realised. Her eyes landed on the scav’s Defender LMG and her mind lit up with a plan.