The pair of them shared a smile with tears of joy and hope welling in their eyes. The past few hours had been agony for them both, they’d pushed all of that down though as they made their way towards rescuing Kay. Learning that their worst fears were, as of yet, unrealised washed away the growing panic and dread that had been building in them, replaced with an upswell of relief that granted them an ease that they didn’t know they needed.
‘Wh-what?! Where? Where is she? I can’t see her!’.
‘Not here! It’s…’, he took a breath and collected himself. ‘I summoned a spirit, and had it search around where Chuck told us to look for the Nitro Mizuchi’s base was in Redmond. It’s found Kay and she’s alive’.
‘So, what’re we waitin’ here for then?!’.
An aggressive sounding roar came from the engine as Kenda rev’d it in preparation for tearing towards where Chuck had directed them, but Wilde put his hands on the steering wheel to stop her.
‘No damnit! I need to astrally project there to see what the situations like!’.
‘What’d’y mean?! Do it while I’m drivin’!’.
‘I can’t! It’s… look I want to send my own…’ He tried to come up with the most basic of explanations for what astral projection was to a mundane person. ‘…ghost to see how Kay is for myself. The spirit has her location and has told me she’s alive but that’s all. I want to see if she’s hurt and get an idea about how she’s being held prisioner’.
‘So just do that as I’m drivin’!’.
‘I just told you I can’t! My… ghost leaves my body leaving it comatose while I’m astrally projecting. I need to return to my body to be able to move again, and I don’t have an instant return button I can press to head back, I need to know where it is. And if you’re driving down the barrens it’s going to take me time that we don’t have for me to find my body!’.
‘Fine! Just be quick ‘bout it!’.
Kenda begun furiously tapping her heavy foot against the floor of the truck, while her fingers drummed out an erratic beat on the steering wheel. With a metaphysical jerk, Pedro forced his astral form out of his body and floated out of the pickup truck, invisible to Kenda and all who were incapable of astrally perceiving.
Pedro entered a ghostly world, a reflection of reality in which magic and emotion were the core of everything. In the ruined wasteland of Redmond that meant everything was grey and dead to his eyes, save for the streaks of violence, despair and fear that were etched into the soul of the landscape.
Wasting no time Pedro flew far above the vast metroplex until he was close to touching the low hanging clouds, heavy with the promise of rain. From this high vantage point, with all of Seattle beneath him he then felt out towards the bond between him and the spirit that he had summoned earlier. It was like a thin but strong thread bound to his very being, all it took was a simple tug of it and he streaked through the sky at the speed of thought until he was floating beside it.
Looking much the same as it had when Pedro had summoned it earlier, the tattered spirit of man hovered above a grey, blob like structure that appeared very much similar to all of the others in their vicinity. The main detail that stood out to Wilde was this one had several figures standing on top of it, their astral signatures glowing bright against its lifeless surface.
Examining them in more detail he could tell that their aura’s were dulled somewhat, likely meaning that they possessed cyberware to some extent, though probably not to the degree that Kenda had. None of them seemed to react to either himself or his spirits presence, so it appeared that Chuck had also been correct with his assessment of their lack of magically inclined members. The spirit stretched out an elongated hand and pointed with long fingers that had several joints too many towards a staircase leading downwards.
Descending deeper into the building it guided Pedro through a mess of corridors that on his own would have been difficult for him to navigate. Being in the astral meant that it was impossible for Pedro to read signs or make out details about the environment that didn’t include either something living or inherently magical. They passed by several more figures wandering around, all with the similar dullness of their aura’s indicating cyberware; while none of them were heavily cybered-up it seemed that some amount of augmentation was prevalent throughout the Nitro Mizuchi’s. Wilde was slightly frustrated that he had no way of properly looking at them in the mundane world from the astral. He had a rough idea of how many of them there were and of how they were organised but no clue as to how well armed they were or what sorts of cybernetic augmentations they possessed. It was information that could be vital for his and Kenda’s upcoming assault, but he couldn’t learn anything. Frustrated, he carried on following his spirit until it brought him before a room not too far away from where the group of gangers were.
Strictly speaking he could investigate the physical world in his present state. However, it would have involved him manifesting into the real world and opening him up to being spotted. Surprise was one of the few things on his and Kenda’s side for the moment and Wilde was unwilling to risk losing it so he made do with staying in the astral.
Slipping through the door like a ghost Pedro found himself in a tiny room, perhaps what was once a small office or a large store cupboard once. And its sole inhabitant curled in a foetal position in a corner, her aura marked with anger, fear, sorrow, hate, and shame.
Kay.
Instinctively he went to wipe away the tears that he knew were running down her face, but it had no effect. In the astral he was completely unable to affect the mundane world outside of some spells. Kay wouldn’t even know he was next to her unless she began to astrally perceive. She had no idea he was so close to her, that she would be free once again soon, as far as she knew she was all alone in the world.
Again, he was compelled to manifest into the physical world. Pedro wouldn’t be able to touch Kay, but he’d be able to look at her, to speak to her, tell her everything was going to be alright, to tell her that he hadn’t abandoned her, that he how sorry he was that he’d been too late to save her before, to hear her voice one more time.
As much as he wanted to do that, he ached for it, he held back. Because while Kay would be able to hear and see him so would anyone else, including any potential cameras that the gang had installed in their makeshift prison. He had the element of surprise on his side for the time being, one of the few things in his favour. If he lost it, the gangers might move Kay or contact whoever had hired them to capture her early. It was almost physically painful for him to have to leave her there, ignorant and alone but he needed to, if only for a short while longer. Pedro examined her in more detail before he turned away. She was devastated emotionally, but from a physical standpoint she was uninjured. It seemed that the gangers either had orders not to harm her or just understood that an injured captive required more care and attention than an unharmed one.
Turning to his spirit that had watched everything with an inscrutable demeanour he expended another of his owed services to issue it another command.
‘Do not allow any harm to come to her. She is to remain uninjured and safe within this room until I either I arrive to escort her out or she leaves on her own. Oh- ‘. Focusing on the half dead aura of Kenda’s that he’d witnessed in the past when he was curious as to how much cyberware she possessed, he projected the image of it to the spirit. ‘She is also permitted to escort her out of the room’.
It wouldn’t do if something happened, and Kenda ended up being attacked by his spirit if she wound up being the one to the room before him. Kay would never forgive him for that. He’d also feel bad about it Wilde realised.
With everything that he could accomplish in the astral done now Pedro floated out of the building once again as his spirit remained behind in its vigil over Kay. He gave the area another once over for any details that might be pertinent for him. A flash of movement too fast for him to properly follow grabbed his attention and he cautiously drifted down to where it once was to see if he could get an idea about what it was. The astral signature was faint, but he was certain that it had been another spirit, although he couldn’t detect any other details about it, only that it wasn’t his.
This was a worrying development.
Although he was far from the only magically active person in Redmond, let alone Seattle, the Nitro Mizuchi didn’t have anyone capable of summoning and commanding spirits amongst them from what Pedro had seen. That meant there was a chance it could have been from whoever had ordered them to capture her, perhaps sent to ensure that the job had been done. If that was the case, then he and Kenda were working under a time limit and would need to move fast. On the other hand, there were many magically active people in Seattle. It was entirely feasible that the spirit that he had caught a glimpse of was just passing through on an unrelated task. Or it could have been a free spirit just exploring.
It didn’t matter.
He knew where Kay was, and she needed his help. There was a chance there would be corporate forces incoming, but if they were they were probably further away than he and Kenda were. If they went in fast, grabbed Kay and drove away quickly they could avoid ever crossing them. Then it was just a question as to where they’d go from there. Pedro wasn’t quite sure what to do when they got to that point, but by then he’d have Kay at his side, they’d get through it together.
Reality rushed past him at impossible speeds as he willed himself back towards where Kenda had parked the truck. It was where she had left it, allowing him to reunite his physical and astral selves, awakening within. His entire excursion had taken little more than a few minutes but had been both informative and reassuring for Pedro.
The first thing he noticed upon waking up was a sharp ringing in his ears, followed by the clash of smells as the artificial pine scent that had dominated the interior of the pickup mixed with the stench of the barrens polluted air and… what smelt like gunpowder? Opening his eyes Wilde felt a gentle breeze caress his skin as he saw that the window next to him was rolled down.
‘What? Somethin’ wrong? Did that wake y’ up?’.
Kenda seemed mildly concerned about his wellbeing, but Pedro noticed her re-holstering her pistol in her belt.
‘Did what… W-wait, did you just fire your gun right next to my head! The frag is wrong with you?!’.
‘What, I had ‘t! There were some ganger lookin’ types walkin’ over with crowbars out! I had ‘t scare ‘em off somehow!’.
‘By shooting right next to my head?!’.
‘I opened the window!’.
‘Why didn’t you shoot out’ve yours?!’.
‘Cause they weren’t comin’ from my side dreck for brains! I had a clean shot through yours!’.
‘Why didn’t you step out and shoot at them?!’.
‘Coz I’m not a moron! I’m not steppin’ outta my truck so they can take pot shots at me!’.
‘Then why didn’t you just turn the truck around?!’.
‘CAUSE Y’ TOLD ME NOT T’ MOVE IT!’.
‘SO I COULD FIND IT! I MEANT DON’T DRIVE DOWN THE ROAD! NOT DON’T MOVE IT AT ALL!’.
‘BE MORE CLEAR NEXT TIME!’.
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They both took a moment to collect themselves and cool their tempers. Although for his part Pedro realised that he didn’t feel much in the way of anger towards Kenda for what she did. He’d rather deal with a little ringing in his ear rather than being shot by some barren’s ganger. It just seemed to be the default way he and his fellow rescuer communicated with each other.
‘So. Y’ gonna get back t’ doin’ y’r magicy ghost thing or what?’.
‘I’ve already done it. Kay’s there… she hasn’t been hurt but she won’t be able to escape on her own’.
‘The corps aint got t’ her yet?! That’s good right?! Y’ get an idea ‘bout how many’s there?’.
‘Around sixteenish of them or so. Roughly half of them were patrolling the building, the rest were in a room close to where Kay’s being held. Chuck was right, there’s no magic protections there, I was able to get in and look about without being noticed by them’.
He kept his spotting of a spirit to himself. The gangers made no reaction to his presence, and he detected no wards about the building, so he felt confident that it wasn’t one of theirs. While it was possible that it was summoned by a corporate summoner it was just as possible that it was passing through and he didn’t want to get in an argument with Kenda about being spotted.
‘Anythin’ else? Weapons? Drones? Camera placements? D’ y’ know how t’ get t’ Kay inside? D’ y’ think we could slip in an’ sneak her out?’.
‘I couldn’t see much else! It’s… astrally projecting isn’t just floating through the world. I can only really see life and magic when I’m doing it. So, all I know is how many are there, roughly whereabouts they were, and they didn’t have any guard dogs or the like with them. All the rest we’ll need to work out when we get there… That said I don’t think we’ll be able to sneak Kay out. She was trapped in a small room with only one door in or out. And like I said it was close to where a lot of them were hanging about. I also doubt that they’d be willing to go through so much effort to capture her only to just lose track of her, the rooms probably alarmed or got a camera covering it at least’.
‘Sigh, well that sucks. But least we know she’s ok for now and that we’re on the right track’.
‘Yeah. I left a spirit to protect her before I left. It’ll stop anyone trying to hurt her or drag her away unwillingly. So even if they try to move her before we get there that should slow them down’.
Kenda gave a toothy grin hearing that.
‘Good t’ hear! Alright, so can I start drivin’ now? Looks like those gangers are comin’ back with friends’.
Looking out the window on his side Wilde could see several dishevelled gangers wearing what seemed to be an assortment of rusting scrap metal and recycled trash that wouldn’t have looked out of place in Chucks junkyard as crude armour. They were creeping over carefully, hugging the walls and whatever cover they could take, but their choice in armour made them too loud to successfully sneak up on them. Wilde didn’t know who they were, but judging from the jagged metal poles, crowbars and sledgehammers they were carrying with them, along with the maddened look in their eyes, they weren’t interested in conversation. Pedro figured he and Kenda could probably take care of the gangers easily enough, but they had more important things to do.
Without waiting to hear his response the troll revved the engine of her pickup and sped away from the gangers, their mocking jeers lost in the noise. Neither of the pair in the vehicle paid any heed to them as they took another tight corner. A new tension had blossomed as they approached the location of their shared love, although this time it wasn’t between themselves. Rather it was the reality of the situation fully dawning on them both. They were going on their way to most likely get into a firefight with a well-armed gang in the barrens. They had no backup, no allies in the area to count on outside of each other and what they had brought with them. And that didn’t even take into the account of the potential presence of corporate forces getting involved. If they were present, then Pedro and Kenda’s chance for success drastically decreased.
There was a very real possibility that they were driving towards their deaths.
Pedro checked over his guns as he sat next to Kenda, waiting for her to get them to their destination. They were both fully loaded and in the pockets of his bright red armoured bomber jacket he had two more fully loaded magazines apiece for them filled with hollow point rounds. His katana was still with his bike in the back of the pickup truck as well, as far as weapons went, he was about as well armed as he could hope to be, although a small part of him wished he had more. He’d seen what explosive ammunition was capable of from his time at the gun range at Vega’s Urban Brawl arena. He’d have liked to have a few magazines of that. He hoped the Nitro Mizuchi didn’t have any.
Of course, for Wilde, his primary weapon wasn’t anything a person could just pickup and use. It was magic, and when it came to combat spells, he had a true gift. He had learnt some other spells for the utility they brought him, most of his repertoire consisted of spells designed to destroy or incapacitate. Burning, electrocuting, inflicting physical damage or just knocking a person out, he could do it all. Wilde had years of experience fighting in the Urban Brawl arenas, he was good at it. But there was something bothering him as he got closer and closer towards his destination, something that compelled him to speak up.
‘Kenda?’.
‘Hm? Yeah?’.
‘How many people have you killed?’.
‘… I… I don’t know. …probably killed that elf commander at the shootout I told y’ ‘bout. But even then, I don’t know if he died or if he maybe had some cyber in his head that protected him. Other than that… I don’t know. I was firin’ blind all the while at the ambush. I might’ve killed some other elves, but I doubt I hit anythin’. Before that I’d never killed anyone. Shot at some folk to scare ‘em, but never actually killed ‘em. Workin’ as muscle’s more ‘bout lookin’ big an’ scary, y’ know?... Why, why y’ even askin’ ‘bout this?’.
‘I’ve never killed anyone before. Ever… I’ve been in Urban Brawl matches that’ve gotten pretty extreme and people got hurt bad in them. But nobody’s ever died. Least not when I’ve been there. I mean I know it happens sometimes but, when it does nine times out’ve ten it’s an accident, and when it isn’t people get blacklisted… I’ve fought people before, but I’ve never tried to kill a person’.
‘You gettin’ cold feet? Wanna hang back?’.
‘No. Kay needs me, us. We need to get her out’ve there. I know what I need to do. Its… I’m just… I’m not looking forward to it is all’.
The truck slowed its speed somewhat and Kenda glanced over to Pedro.
‘Thought most folks out here in the barrens’d killed before. Not exactly a friendly spot’.
‘We’re not all a bunch’ve brain-dead gangers or cyberpsycho freaks-’.
‘Thanks’.
‘-I… I wasn’t talking about you. It’s… most people here didn’t choose it, they either get forced here, have nowhere left to go, or just had the bad luck to be born in the barrens. There are gangers and killers out here and people die all the time here yeah…But you keep your head down, don’t start something stupid, you’re fine. It’s how I’ve got by’.
‘So what? You’re above it all?’.
‘That’s not what I mean. I, I just. I never set out to be a killer… doesn’t mean I can’t do what needs done. Like you said I do live in the barrens. I know that sometimes it’s either you or the other guy. I just don’t feel great about it either’.
‘…Yeah, that’s fair’. She said with a gentle nod as she steered the pickup through a maze of long forgotten half scorched half crumbling backstreets. ‘So why y’ wantin’ ‘t know ‘bout how many folk I killed’.
‘I don’t know? Just wondering if there was something to make it… easier I guess? I’m willing to do this for Kay. I’d do anything for her. But this is… it isn’t easy when you have this long build up to it’.
‘No, no it aint… Like I said I’ve maybe killed one guy an’ that was more outta desperation an’ blind luck than anythin’ else’… I seen some killers before. Some came from bigger syndicates that’d use smugglers t’ shift their product into Seattle. Some worked directly for some’ve the more… dangerous smugglers, some were shadowrunners keepin’ a low profile. From what I saw they either didn’t care ‘bout who they killed or used drugs an’ drink ‘t deal with it’.
‘Think I’d rather be sober pulling off an attack like this’.
‘Heh, me too. I dunno… I guess we gotta just focus on the fact its either them or Kay… An’ anyways these’re a buncha dreckhead ganger scumbags that grabbed a stranger of the streets for a payday. These aint nice folk. They don’t even operate outta Redmond for the most part, they just carved out a little bit’ve territory in the ass end’ve nowhere t’ give ‘emselves a place t’ raise hell without getting’ the security services involved or hurtin’ their bottom line. Place’ll be better off with ‘em gone’.
‘Yeah. Yeah, your right’.
Pedro replied with a confidence in his voice that his eyes betrayed that he didn’t really have. Not fully at least. He loved Kay more than he’d loved anyone else, enough to do anything to save her, to face the forces of the megacorporations themselves if needed. Dehumanising the gangers that they would most likely be killing soon did help somewhat, and a part of him did want them to suffer for the emotional trauma they inflicted on Kay for nothing more than nuyen. But there was a small, niggling part of him that still disliked the idea of becoming a killer.
He wasn’t like his mother before him. He wasn’t a healer, he was a fighter, it was in his blood, it was in his soul. But Pedro had always prided himself in having certain standards; he had avoided joining a gang precisely because he didn’t want to wake up one day and find himself to become a callous killer.
Wilde had told himself that Urban Brawl was a sport that gave him the opportunity to embrace his more violent and aggressive aspects while still being fairly safe, but was it? Or was that a lie he’d convinced himself was the truth. The thought of how his mother would have looked at him if he ever became one of the masses of casual killers that stalked Redmond haunted him. How would she think of her only child if she could see him now?
His mind was a spiral of thoughts, emotions and memories all clashing against each other as he got closer and closer to his destination. It was only the sharp jerking of the pickup stopping that jolted him out of his stupor and forced him back into the moment.
‘Alright. We’re here’.
There was a flat finality to Kenda’s voice. A certain hardened tension. A resolve. He hated her for having such conviction where he found himself wanting, he wondered if her extensive cybernetic enhancements had deadened her emotions to the point where things like this didn’t faze her in the same way it would a normal person.
Backing the pickup into a rubble strewn alleyway the cybered-up troll parked before examining their surroundings. Satisfied that they hadn’t been spotted she pressed a button under the dashboard, at which point the back panel behind the pair’s heads dropped down revealing a matte black military looking shotgun along with a couple of boxes of ammunition. Kenda took it and loaded the gun before stepping out of the pickup, putting the shotgun over her shoulder with a strap and holding her hunting rifle in her hands. She hugged the wall of the alleyway tightly and gestured for Pedro to join her which he swiftly did.
‘Ok. So the place is just down the next street or so I reckon. Aint many cars ‘bout these parts so I don’t wanna drive too close an’ give’em a clue we’re here. I’m thinkin’ I get closer, use my rifle ‘t scope out the top’ve the buildin’ an’ see what the gangers look like, what their packin’, if there’s camera’s, y’know? When we know that, y’ do y’r astral, ghost walk vision thing an’ see if their still doin’ their same thing, if there’s more’ve ‘em, less’ve ‘em, or whatever. Once we got an idea’ve that we take out the ones on the roof first, slip in the ground floor an’ make our way ‘t Kay. If y’r spirit thing can keep her safe, we should be able ‘t get ‘t her in the chaos an’ confusion. We fight our way ‘t Kay, grab her, an’ fight our way out back ‘t here ‘an drive off. Whatdya think?’.
‘Sounds good. Let me grab my katana from the back first before we move out though. Don’t want to be going back and forth’.
‘Yeah. Also, before we head out can you do some magicy type stuff t’ make sure nobody turns up while we’re away and steals my wheels. I’m thinkin’ a quick exits gonna be important’.
Wilde considered Kenda’s request. He didn’t have any specific spells that would help protect the pickup without making it an obvious target to anyone passing by; a glowing forcefield was hardly subtle. It would also require him to divide his concentration to maintain it, and he had other spells in mind that he would rather be sustaining. The only other viable option would be for him to summon another spirit to protect the pickup while they were away. He wasn’t sure if he had it in him to summon another spirit equal to the spirit of man that was now guarding Kay, he wasn’t as talented a summoner as he was a spellcaster, and the process of summoning spirits could be just as draining as casting a spell. If Pedro had to use his magic, he wanted it to be directly helping the rescue of Kay, not wasting it on something they might not need if nobody happened upon the truck.
‘I can only cast so much and don’t want to waste a limited resource. How about this? I astrally project again, scope out around here to see if there’s anyone around who might try and steal your truck. Then I zip off back to the Nitro Mizuchi’s place, check to see if anything’s changed and come back. If it looks like there’s nobody about, I figure the trucks safe enough’.
‘Ok. I’ll keep an eye on y’ an’ have a lil’ look round myself’.
He made himself comfortable in his seat in the truck before he slipped back into the astral. Pedro stared at her astral figure as his own hovered above the pickup. It was faint, far fainter than the aura’s of the Nitro Mizuchi’s he had seen earlier, with thick blurry streaks of dull grey running through it, the same dull grey that made up most of the buildings and refuse of the barrens. But muted as it was, he could make out some emotions running through her, anticipation, excitement, resolve, uncertainty, anger, fear, all flowing and clashing about her as she wandered around.
This came as something as a surprise to Pedro, seeing the emotional state of Kenda as opposed to her exterior. The cybered woman came across as icy cold as she had described her plan of attack, confidant as she loaded her guns. In reality, she felt as troubled as he did. It felt odd for him to have this insight into her, to see a degree of vulnerability from his rival in Kay’s affections. Wilde had always viewed the woman as nothing more than an interloper into his own relationship with Kay, he had never really considered her as a person. After spending time with her though, being united in a shared mission, learning about her own past, he felt… a lessening of antagonism towards Kenda. Not something he would call friendship, but an easing of hostilities between them, perhaps the start of a grudging acceptance of her.
Pushing these musings to the side for the time being, the young spellcaster dashed around the area that they were in at speeds that would have been difficult for him to handle were he in his body. Pedro looked though the ghostly ruins of building and even dipped into the shadowy remains of the sewers of Redmond that lay beneath their feet. He could find no trace of any living person around them, only a few animals, mostly devil rats sculking around. This made sense to Wilde after everything that he had learnt about the Nitro Mizuchi gangers in the Redmond barrens though; they were in the barrens for casual violence, not to engage in illicit business. People like that didn’t tend to attract much in the way of neighbours fortunately enough for him and Kenda.