I froze up halfway to my bike, shocked beyond belief as the interface popped into my view.

「Melee Weapons - 1>2」

I- I hadn’t been expecting that of all things. What was different between this time and other times I had used Skills outside of certain areas? Maybe- no… hmm… maybe since I had Mira teaching me the entire time? I was actively learning how to fight better with a melee weapon, so the Skill went up? Then were the levels of the Skills based on my own comprehension instead of just an arbitrary number like I thought?

If so, maybe I should start trying to actually learn Skills instead of just blindly using them and hoping for the number to go up… Would this process work on some other things, like First-Aid? Why hadn’t I thought of this before?

I threw all that on the back burner as I arrived at my bike. It was all stuff I could test later. For now, I had a text from Carone. I received it an hour back but had been rather busy with, ahem, being introduced to new places. In particular, the floor. Repeatedly.

Anyway, my dagger was ready back at his shop. It was rather quick, to the point I wonder if he actually even had anyone look at it. Or maybe he himself knew how to identify enchantments and spells? He did own an antiquity shop, so he’d surely have to be skilled in identifying items to a certain extent, right?

I hopped on my bike and headed back North to Carone’s shop, feeling my bike cough and sputter all the way there. It felt like it was on its final legs, and I really couldn’t afford my bike to die like this. Public transportation was just too inconvenient in my line of work.

Thankfully, I arrived without much issue. The bell over his door rang as I entered the shop, announcing my arrival. The man himself wasn’t behind his counter, but that didn’t last long as he stepped out from the back room, the candles flickering to life.

He stared at me for a moment before heading back into the shop and returning with my dagger wrapped in a cloth. “Quite the… interesting piece, Shiro.”

”What’s it do?” I asked. Normally, I disliked magical items and anything related to magic, but I couldn’t help but feel a sense of anticipation.

He set the bundle of cloth down on the table. “The hilt holds an enchantment for durability. This is very common among enchanted weapons. The blade is more interesting though. It can paralyze someone or something for up to three hours once per day.”

Oh? That was actually really good. It offered some insane utility too. “Preem.” I grabbed the cloth bundle and slid it into my backpack.

His hand flared as he once more began to activate his superpower; flashy mode. ”Before you go, I’ve got a gig for you.”

That was fast. Usually, there was a bit more downtime between gigs… not that I would refuse, of course. I needed the money. “I’m listening.”

”It’s for another fixer. She asked me for someone with… investigative skills. Something to do with the Outlands, if you’re still interested.”

”’Course.” This could be a great opportunity for me to get to know another fixer. The more, the merrier. More accurately, the more, the more paying opportunities.

“I’ll send you her detes, shorty…” He nodded to me then headed towards the back room once more, dismissing me as if he didn’t just casually tell me how he really felt.

The location Carone sent me sat squarely on the northern side of the Portside district. The Jagged Clover Pub, offering authentic cuisine and beer better than your mother’s milk, at least if their slogan was to be believed.

It was a bit of a way off from the highway and main areas, and I could definitely tell as I approached. So much so, I was almost worried about leaving my bike unattended in a parking garage as I headed for the pub.

The area smelled rotten as if ages-old alcohol and too many ‘nights on the town’ had roved through this particular area. The cool chills from being closer to the ocean didn’t help my feelings of discomfort either. ‘Course, I could always be projecting my own social discomforts of having to meet new people and being in a strange place… nah, the environment just sucked.

I tried to ignore it as best I could, but everyone around spoke in a funny accent, increasing my overall sense of wanting to leave. At least this time, it wasn’t paranoia eating away at the back of my mind. Maybe I was finally in recovery?

Regardless, I approached the bartender, easily getting through the mob of people drinking all around. He was a rather large guy with massive chrome arms. Unfortunately, the image was ruined by dainty skeletal hands. “Aye, ain’t ye be a bit young here, lass?”

I looked around the place and nodded my head. “A bit. I’m looking for…” Carone’s message popped up in my HUD. “Athena Alexandria?”

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The bartender set down the glass he was cleaning and cast a side eye to a back corner of the room. “The lass said someone would be comin’. She’s waitin’ for ye in the VIP lounge; B4. Stairs be in the back.” The man grabbed his glass with his tiny hands and headed to a different patron.

I headed for the aforementioned stairs, the two stooges out front letting me by without any hassle. From there I walked around looking for the right booth. I found it on the third and highest floor of the pub. Really, the term ‘booth’ was a bit… disingenuous? The place was far closer to a private room than anything.

Booth B4 took up a corner looking out onto the city, granting a beautiful view of the Corporate Quarter and all its intimidating artistry. A woman sat in the booth covered in bags and boxes, looking what I could only describe as breathtaking. Literally. She actively choked a man out as I walked into the booth, making me think I was in the wrong place.

The woman looked up at me, her beautifully crafted chrome eyes catching the light. “I’ll be with you in a moment…”

The man, his face turning blue, gave one last desperate attempt to escape from her grasp. The woman, whom I seriously wished wasn’t the fixer Carone sent me to, actually chuckled as she casually took a long drink, not even bothering to put up a show as she easily took care of the guy.

Finally, it became too much as he tapped on her arm, his eyes starting to lose their focus. The woman released him as he crumpled to the floor. “That’s free drinks for a week now, Jack!”

Jack wheezed, clutching at his neck. “C-chek…” He staggered past me, leaving out the door.

It was just me and the woman left in the room. “Athena Alexandria?”

”Who’s askin’?” Athena slid out of the booth, stepping into the light. Her long hair seemed to shimmer in the light as it transitioned through a kaleidoscope of blues, stealing my breath away as her cold, gray eyes met mine. The woman had the aura of a warrior about her, and the chrome to back it up. Her arms and legs looked to be chrome, and the rest of her skin peeking through her tight clothes showed hints of subdermal armor. Her chrome wasn't the massive muscle-bound ones like Iris and most other 'borgs had but seemed to be more focused on agility and dexterity.

“Carone sent me. Said you needed an investigator?” I asked as I stepped closer to the booth, trying to hide the bit of anxiety coursing through my body.

”Ah! ‘Course! C’mon, take a seat… he mention any of the specifics?” Athena asked as she slid back into the booth.

I shook my head and took a seat across from her, forcing confidence into my actions the best I could. “Something about the Outlands?”

”Chek! I need someone to go check on a group of Nomads. They fell out of contact two days ago, and I haven’t heard a peep since. You up for it?”

I shrugged, calmly leaning back as I tried to keep up the confidant facade. “Depends. They the violent type? Would hate to sprout a bullet-sized hole for just going around.” Most nomadic tribes and groups tended to be a bit… iffy of strangers. With good reason, I might add. Not everyone- heck, most people by this point in the Outlands weren’t exactly a friendly bunch.

Outside of the city-states scattered amongst the remnants of FSA and occasional town-steads, the Outlands were the Wild West. They were almost entirely lawless with a few bits of civilization being shot for peeking out into the lands. I dunno if the other remaining continents were the same way, but here humanity had definitely regressed. There’s a reason most people wouldn’t go out into the outlands.

Well, that and the monsters prowling the dune sea. Dune Walkers were a staple, of course, but there were all kinds of nasty beasties out there. I hadn’t done much research, which would have to change soon, but I knew of several monstrous species that wouldn’t hesitate to prey on a human.

Sand Sifters were a massive problem, their giant worm-like bodies could cause some serious damage. Eight Eyed Scorpions were known for their fatal stings. Lockfangs were downright ferocious once they got up on a person. And those three were barely stepping into the dangers, let alone the more- ahem, magically aligned creatures stalking the remnants of the FSA.

“The Leper-Khans are as peaceful as a flock of sheep… mostly. They shouldn’t give you any problems. I’ll pay you two thousand to get out there and contact me within four days. You have a sat phone?” I shook my head, to which she responded by reaching into one of the many bags and pulling out a brick. “This is a loaner. Return it when you get paid. Just call me when you get out there and look around.”

”Chek.” I looked over the brick of a device. I had heard of sat phones before, of course, but this was the first time I had ever really seen one in person. Normal phones wouldn’t work outside a Node, hence the requirement of a sat phone or other specialized equipment in the Outlands.

Athena tossed her blue hair back over her shoulder and arced a perfectly shaped eyebrow. ”Shiro, right? Look, normally I’d vet you myself, but Carone highly recommended you. Most of my gigs are more… overt, I guess, but occasionally I’ll have something like this crop up. Don’t fuck this up, and I’ll keep you on my short contact list.”

Was that another dig at me? What the hell is up with people these days?! I took a breath and calmed myself down as I stood to go. “‘Course. I’ll get it done.”

”Nova.”

I asked a few more questions and got some more of the detes before heading out of the booth. I returned to my bike just as a light drizzle started up once more in its ceaseless cycle. With nowhere else to go and the time starting to pass ever closer to midnight, I returned home.

As soon as I stepped into my apartment, I immediately wanted to put my head through a wall. Stupid Shiro! Why would you just go out and take a gig like that?! You don’t even have a good ride!

I huffed a sigh and collapsed onto my bed, trying to let the rain tapping my windows calm me down. Assuming my poor bike could make it past a several-day trip through the Outskirts, it actually wasn’t that bad. Food and water, a primary concern amongst the Outlands, wouldn’t be too big of a problem with Crow’s Canteen of Chaos. Same thing for fuel, though it would take some tight planning.

My bike would be small enough to avoid most groups of humans, and hopefully agile enough to get away from any of the more… monstrous issues out there. If worse came to shove, I even had that new dagger, my assault rifle, and shotgun to take care of things. ‘Course, that was assuming I was even spotted in the first place…

Maybe I should hire out for this one? Get some kind of escort, even if it's just one person? But that would cut into my pay majorly. Only the most desperate mercs would accept an Outland gig for anything less than a thousand starting. And it's not like I had much room on my bike or could share the canteen.

The environmental hazards, of which many were seen and unseen, would be mostly negated as long as I was careful and wore a mask. Heck, I just got that new mask, so the timing literally couldn’t have been better. Maybe that unlucky run-in with the Inquisitor hadn’t been a bad thing.

As long as I was prepared, this really wouldn’t be that bad… I hoped. I grabbed my deck and settled back against my bed. I had a long night of research ahead of me.