Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Hours later I was driving a much drunker Hiromi home.

A night out had been Nice. We all ended up sharing the stories of what happened to us over the past weeks. We all shared the good and the bad, and in the end?

We actually felt like Chooms.

It was really nice.

Pulling up to Hiromis apartment, it took a bit of cajoling to get the drunk girl out of the car, and eventually I was forced to princess carry her as she kept falling and giggling.

Did I mention she was drunk?

It was a little awkward knocking on the door to her apartment, waiting for someone to answer.

Her mother didnt say a word, just an unhappy glare as I carried her almost snoring daughter into the apartment. After a minute of settling her on her bed, making sure she was laying on her side and finding a trash can that would work as a bucket, I hurried out of the dark apartment under the heavy eyes of the corpo woman.

But I was safe!

I escaped back out to the city where there weren't angry corpo mom glares.

Instead there was freedom.

I mean sure freedom sounded like NCPD sirens, which still hadnt entirely let up. The NCPD were practically leaving the sirens going through the night just to make sure their presence was felt.

But I shook that feeling away. Time to go home.

I was humming when I got home. Never Fade Away drifting in the air as I walked into the apartment and threw up a hand to say hello to Jun who was sitting on the couch when he leapt from the couch startling me.

Motoko! What happened!? Are you okay? Who did this? Ill kill them!

Wha? I asked before blinking, reaching up to my nose.

Riiiight.

Bar fight. I forgot. Sure the pain was there, but it was so little, I wasnt even paying attention to it. Considering how high my Cold Blood skill was, It wasnt even enough I needed to really use the skill to not feel it. And a nights sleep would set me right

Fuck.

Uhh. You should see the other guy?

Much to my shock this did not set my brother at ease. The initial instance of this chapter being available happened at N0v3l.Bin.

Who did this? He demanded in a growl holding onto my shoulders.

Some gonks at the club. Hiromi annoyed them by talking or something, and they decided to start a fight. Its okay Jun, really. It was kinda fun honestly. Besides. I won. I inform him ending in a bright smile as I manage to shake off his hands a bit so I could flex my arm.

Not that I had any natural muscle, there, but the image was important.

The club? Ho-oh?

Yeah. Some TC Gonks.

They touched you? You!? He growled and I realized Jun was actually getting pretty pissed, like Psycho level angry, not his usual hotheadedness.

So I reached up and grabbed his face between my hands.

Hey! Jun. Come on, come back. Everyone is fine. Deep breaths Jun-Nii. Deep breaths. I ordered, and while he instantly looked to fight, I didnt let him.

Chrome hands were stronk.

Jun-Nii? You back with me?

He let out a long breath out of his mouth that came out more of a hiss than anything else.

I never left! He snapped back, but I could tell he was back. His eyes were seeing me and not anyone else.

Right! I chirped at him as I let go, getting glared at all the while.

They should not have touched you! Not a Tyger Claw!

I kinda beat their ass Jun Plus it was fun.

Tsk. Ho-oh Club? That means Jotaro Shobo? That is the man in charge there?

Yeah good memory. Hiromi and I had a bit of a run in with him after the bar fight. He was super mad. Talking about punishment and stuff. Ichi showed up then, and name dropped the Kamikaze Id rather him not spread around that I worked with them, but it made Mr. White suit back off.

The Devil of Kabuki, said he would punish you? Ill kill him. Jun growled, his fists clenching and unclenching as he must have imagined murdering the Devi-

Devil of Kabuki? I asked before I felt it.

Realization.

Jotaro Shobo. The Devil of Kabuki.

The Devil of Kabuki. Jotaro Shobo.

That disgusting Mother Fuck- I cut myself off as my own hands clenched and I had to rely on Cold Blood to keep from punching walls and cursing up a storm.

I remembered that fucker now!

I had only done that quest once. But I remember! The Mox had wanted him dead, because he was a monster. That motherfucker kidnapped people only to torture them to make XBDs!

I made XBDs as well, but I murdered people that deserved it. Not kidnapped people that hadnt done anything. Not people just down on their luck nabbed by assholes like Jotaro Shobo.

You know of him? Jun suddenly asked, pulling me out of my rapid fire thoughts as I stopped my pacing in the living room.

Yeah. Ive heard of the Devil of Kabuki before! And the fucked up shit he does. I muttered. All the times I had met Jotaro Shobo sliding into my realization.

Of course I remembered the Ho-oh club now. I had thought the name was familiar. It was where you go to kill the Devil of Kabuki. A job that Regina? the fixer gives you on behalf of the Mox.

Jotaro had no problem kidnapping even Moxes to scroll XBDs of.

Jotaro Shobo?

Jotaro Shobo was a dead man walking.

The decision was made. All I had to do was figure out how I wanted to get it done? Loud or quiet?

No, I took a breath. I would need some advice on this. This would be complicated. Very very complicated, my connections with the TC was useful at times, and at others it was a noose.

So I shook the disgust at myself for talking to that man, and not knowing away. I was in the moment.

Its okay Jun. I told him, Jun having been hovering around as I went off in my own head at the realization of who I had been interacting with.

Doesnt seem okay. Motoko? Imouto? Jun asked, his face worried and I could see the stiff way he held his hands as if wanting to grab me, but not sure if he should.

Really Jun-Nii. Im okay. I think Ill probably go talk to Wakako tomorrow about it. Might get some advice. But I guess I just wasnt really ready To actually been hanging around someone like that, and I hadnt even noticed.

Of course. The truth was worse than that.

I had forgotten.

Jotaro Shobo was a monster, but only a side quest. A little gig you could do, that unless you actually paid attention, you wouldnt even need to hear the guys name.

How many horrible people, monsters, or evil things happened in the game that I wasnt remembering?

I brushed past Jun and headed into my room. I had taken to mostly sleeping on the couch surrounded by parts and pieces of my tinkering or my laptops to grind with, but what I needed now was no distractions.

I sighed once the door closed behind me. I started stripping weapons settled on a dresser, their holsters ready to be buckled on when I got dressed, as I slipped out of my Leotard, out of my armored clothing that made me feel like a badass, and into something comfy.

Then I sat on the bed and laid back. What else did I forget? So rather than sleep. Rather than spend a night grinding, I started thinking back to the game. To the anime.

To everything I hadnt been thinking about as Id been either having too much fun grinding, or too murderous to think about.

Jotaro was just one mission. Were there any other gigs that I should remember? So I started thinking back.

The first thing that popped into my head?

That fucking sick fuck! I gasped remembering the farm. River and his stupid quest. The creepy fuckin cartoon that I swore if I ever had to watch again I was gonna uninstall the damn game.

The creepy bastard and his farm Fuck. I dont remember the name of the farm. I would have to jump onto the map I had installed, and see if I cant find it. Hopefully it will actually be listed.

I took a deep breath and let it out.

Okay. That was one thing that needed to be dealt with, maybe even sooner than Jotaro.

What else?

Wait. That Scav Ripper Shit. I cant remember what his name was, but he shouldnt be hard to find. He had an open Ripper shop. Hopefully he is already set up, and Ill go and put an end to his bullshit, anyone willing to pretend to be a doctor only to rip them apart for pieces for scavs deserved a messy death.

Maybe even get some more Scav den data from it.

That made me think of Fingers.

Starting a firefight for what? Imouto As I learned. You need to bank the fire of your bloodlust. He said, surprising me.

The car finally came to a stop, still invisible to the Wraiths in the night but I looked away from the farm to Jun.

Okay, who told you that? That didnt sound like you at all. I demanded and to my delight he actually looked a little embarrassed.

Sensei.

I snorted before chuckling at him, Jun was soon pouting at me.

Alright. Alright. I guess I guess we can just ignore them. I said, sighing a bit. Fuckin Wraiths.

I didnt say that. Jun offered after a few moments and I blinked at him, as he smirked at me. I simply wanted to be sure you werent rushing into a fight for nothing. What do you hope to gain?

Numbers?

No, I couldn't exactly tell him that. Plus..

He was right. Morgan's Solo Guide. That book I never even finished reading way back when. I had taken some of the words to heart, made my rules, only to forget them when I got kidnapped.

I wasnt some psycho, killing for fun.

I was a merc. A Solo. Someone that did what she did for a reason, and what reasons do I have for killing a bunch of Wraiths?

I know a Nomad. We clear this camp, we can let him know. Probably make some good eddies for the sale of the Wraith cars. That plus we get any weapons, and eddies the Wraith have on them.

And what is the risk?

I blinked.

Risk? From a bunch of sleeping Wraiths in the middle of the night?

Jun you are vastly overestimating those gonks, or underestimating me. I could probably kill every wraith in that camp without them ever knowing I was there.

His quirked eyebrow told me he didnt believe me.

I felt an actual smile stretching my lips.

I bet you complete control over the radio, I can do it. I offered which surprised him for a moment but then he chuffed out a laugh.

If you cant. I control the radio not just on this trip, but from now on.

I winced. If I messed up and had to listen to the Us Cracks and the Pon Pon Shit or something? I might actually go Cyberpsycho

But proving I was a badass and winning a bet against Jun? Totally worth the risk.

Deal. Just stay here. Unless you hear gunshots. Shouldnt take me long. I told him, then I looked forward and blinked as I activated the BD recorder. Might as well get another benefit from this little side quest.

Then I slipped out of the car and into the darkness of the dusty desert road. Cactus and bushes surrounded me, and I could hear the sound of a radio in the distance. My blood turned to ice as I crept forward.

My eyes let me see just fine, but it was because of that, that I knew I had to be even better.

If even one Wraith had good optics and noticed me creeping along?

Jun would win our bet!

Plus they would shoot at me. That too I guess.

But as I moved in closer and closer stalking amongst the bushes and cactus, I knew this would work.

These guys were even more confident than the Maelstrom had been. After all, The Raffen were the predators of the Badlands. As much as the Nomads liked to talk big and tough, the Raffen were feeding on the Nomads, not the other way around.

So I crept in. My eyes flashing in scans looking for any defenses, only to find nothing.

Not even cameras. Just nothing.

Just a few Raffen outside, and probably more inside.

So I crept closer every inch of my body working in tandem to keep me out of sight. To keep me quiet. Until I was in the shadows of the barn.

I slipped inside.

No one noticed. No one even heard my footsteps as I slipped around the open barn doors and I was inside. The lights inside were old. Most didnt work.

A perfect environment for my work.

I went to the far back of the barn. Just to check for any security.

Nothing. Just a few of the old barn stables filled with tents, or sleeping bags. This was obviously not the Raffens' home. Just a place to spend the night despite the giant painted on Wraiths outside the barn.

Their vehicles were also inside. I went around to each of them just to make sure they were all empty.

All but one.

The poor Raffen sleeping in his back seat didnt notice me as I poked my head over the side door to stare at him for a moment. His door was locked.

His security wasnt good enough to stop me. I didnt even bother closing the door when I was done just pulling him mostly out of the car so he wouldnt bleed on the interior.

Then it was time.

The poor Raffen were split up. Sleeping or hanging around drinking and whiling the night away. It made sense. It was getting late.

A glance at my integrated clock in my Kiroshi, something I didnt tend to think about, showed the time.

2:07AM

A good time.

The second guy lost his life to a knife through the throat while he was sleeping in his little sleeping bag.

The next I killed by cutting through his tent rather than trying to unzip it. He died just as quickly.

I didnt feel much as I slowly cleaved through the sleeping Raffen.

They werent even a threat as the sleeping men died one after another.

Six sleepers in total.

3000 xp.

Then I had to deal with the three outside.

I considered how to do it. They were split apart, but all chatting with each other.

Difficult.

I could grab my gun, but that wasnt how I wanted to run this.

So I turned back inside and searched a few of the corpses for what I wanted.

I smiled as I found plenty of what I needed.

Then I stood up from the shadows.

I loved stealth. I loved sneaking around, but there was something truly freeing about walking openly out of the barn up to the first guy who was sitting down on some old garbage.

One of his buddies noticed me as I walked up to him and let my knife slam into his throat and out.

My other hand was already moving. The knife I had looted whistled through the air. Hitting

Mostly where I wanted. It was a little off.

I really needed to up my Reflexes some more.

On the other hand, even as one man died, and the other gasped as a blade appeared in his chest I was pulling a third blade from my waist.

With a little flourish I lined it up even as the third Raffen tried to react. Tried to rise up and draw her rifle sitting at his side.

The whistling blade put an end to that, as she fell crying out breathlessly. I swiftly threw another blade, this one actually landed where I wanted. Her throat suddenly blocked by a solid piece of metal put an end to her as she writhed on the floor dying.

I had checked every inch of the inside of the farm, and I hadnt seen any of them wandering around in the night so I was fairly confident I was done.

My eyes turned gold.

*Motoko?*

I reached down and slipped my blade into the second Raffens throat, he was bleeding out on the ground a knife in his chest, lung pierced, but I put him out of his misery as I answered Jun.

*All Clear Jun-nii! Come on over, lets loot up.* I told him before dropping the call. I could hear my Quadras engine start up a few moments later as the car rumbled off the road and towards the farm.

Perfect.

Loot. XP. And I could send a message to Scorpion. Maybe the Aldecaldos could use a few more cars? I peeked into the barn noticing there were a few Raffen vehicles now ownerless.