Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System
Chapter 213: Operation Wolf Slayer. (Part 01)

Chapter 213: Operation Wolf Slayer. (Part 01)

Saturday. First day of everyone’s favorite two-day weekend. It was the part of the week when every employed man and woman would get a decent break. Most used it to get some much-needed sleep, others took care of matters they had to ignore during the week.

That is how most people saw it. The majority with no wealth of assets, forced to work their lives away in exchange for the bare minimum.

Those who own everything didn’t care much about the days. They had schedules, true, but the wealth they had long since accumulated made it so they wouldn’t have to plan their lives around a sequence of seven days. They can work when they want, they can rest when they want, and they can plan their events whenever they want.

With a wealth like theirs, the Stahlwölfes and the Romanos had no need to choose a Saturday for their wedding. The 10th of December just happened to fall on that day. To them, it didn’t matter that the event had been held on such a day, but for the employees who would have to carry the burden that came with it, the timing couldn’t have been any worse.

"Fucking damn it..."

Ben Wire grumbled under his breath, his short arms dipped in white foam as he raced to wash a long platter. His long, pointy nose felt itchy all of a sudden, but trying to scratch it only made things worse.

"Damn it damn it damn it damn it!"

[Ember: Excessive cursing is against hotel policy. Please refrain from using vulgar language.]

When the message popped in front of him, he could only grit his teeth and seal his anger, causing his entire body to tremble.

[Ember: I do not see your hands moving!]

’FUUUUUUUCK!!!’

His days of washing dishes should have been over. For years, he had worked to get that promotion, but what was the point if he was going to be forced to face the sink afterward?

’Why the hell did this happen to me!!!’

Normally, he wouldn’t have sacrificed his weekend for any reason, but this wasn’t just any weekend. Because of the big event taking place on the higher floors, the hotel was offering a great bonus for those who came in to help keep things going.

Ben had picked a few extra shifts that day, wanting to farm as many rewards as he could. The first part went like normal, but things changed once the night shift arrived. Something felt off when no one showed up on time. If one or two people were late, no one would have noticed, but the entire staff not showing up?

Thankfully, not everyone left as soon as the clock hit 17:00, so they managed to keep the dish pit going. Someone received a message after a few minutes informing him that the trains had stopped working, then another called in and reported that he couldn’t make it because of the traffic.

It only took a few searches to find out what was going on, but before the news could settle in, the remaining staff began receiving termination messages. No one was keen on getting fired without a reason, but since the message came with a threat to leave the hotel, no one argued and simply left.

The messages kept coming one by one, and a few hours later, only the five supervisors remained in the dish pit, forcing them to do all the work on their own.

Something was happening outside, they all could feel. A faint tremor shook the building at one point. The eeriness of being trapped in a windowless room was slowly driving them insane, and before long, one of them snapped.

"Fuck this shit! I’m getting out of here!"

The first one tossed his apron and gloves before bolting out. No sooner had he done that than the others took off as well. Ben was the last one to make up his mind, but eventually he took off as well. The wave of terminations was likely a system error, so he figured that would still be safe even if he left now.

[Ember: We are currently understaffed. Please return to your post immediately.]

"Fuck you!"

He cursed his luck and just kept running, holding on to the hope that he would be able to keep his job after the disaster had passed. Then again, maybe coming back wasn’t a good idea. Who in the world wants a career as a dishwasher anyway?

[Ember: Your contract has been terminated. Please leave Blue Ember’s premises immediately. Failure to comply will be met with lethal force.]

Another message, and another reason for him to leave and never come back. Ben grabbed his coat, the only thing in his locker, and bolted toward the exit. The staff elevator felt awfully slow, and by the time it reached the first floor, his goblin-like face was covered in sweat despite the low temperature.

The others had long since left, not bothering to wait for him. Since he had no vehicle and usually relied on the train, he realized that he might be stuck in New City.

"Fucking hell!"

Bursting out from the employee entrance, he felt a hint of relief for a moment. He straightened himself while drawing in a deep breath, but the warm wind caught his attention, and he just happened to look at the sky just then.

"Holly-"

One gets to see a lot of things while living in a big city such as Neo-Vatra, but some things are still limited to TV screens and video. One of those things was the Ark, an aircraft carrier that sails not through the sea, but through the sky itself.

The flying monstrosity looked like a massive slab of iron, angular and imposing, its surface littered with cuts and holes. Zooming in on it with one’s OAM revealed a map of complex machinery and alloy plating that shifted and moved in some areas, revealing docks from which smaller aircrafts took off, quickly filling the sky like a beehive.

Countless turrets and cannons lined its flanks, some sitting still while others moved as if taking aim. Its propulsion system drew two massive rings on the bottom of the hulking monstrosity, each glowing with pale blue flames that blasted a wave of heat through the area, steering winds powerful enough to lift people off the street.

War. As soon as he saw the armada bloating the sky, Ben understood that war had started. That was the only explanation, and since the Ark wasn’t supposed to enter the city’s airspace under any condition, it could only mean that things were much worse than one might expect.

Ben noticed the swarm of airmobiles gradually descending to the ground and realized that he was awfully close to the center of whatever mess was about to take place. Ending up as collateral damage far from what he wanted in life, so he forcefully regained his bearings and took off running, only to stop a second later.

Someone had just passed him, walking in the opposite direction with slow, unhurried steps. Ben wouldn’t have cared about such a lunatic any other day, but something about this one stood out—a vibrant red color that covered his entire head.

Ben recognized that color, and he recognized that back as well. A face popped up in his mind a moment later, and his mouth moved as he spoke the name. No sound left it, however. A spark of pain had pierced his head, forcing his eyes and mouth shut. He thought it was the usual headache that came from exhaustion, but another followed right after, and with it, the flood gates opened, and the agony filled his mind.

Clutching his head, Ben collapsed on the cold concrete floor. He clawed at his skull, but the pain only kept getting stronger and refused to subside. His mouth spread wide as he released a tortured cry, but his voice suddenly left him, and his body twitched to a halt, forever frozen with the fear of death engraved in his eyes.

~[ ]~

"This is insane..."

Finn stared at the sky, his face pale from seeing the gigantic warship casting its shadow over the New City district. It was a scene straight out of a science fiction movie, and if it wasn’t for the people’s familiarity with the flying metal construct, as well as the giant Radmir Union emblem on the side of the warship, one wouldn’t be faulted for thinking they were in the middle of an alien invasion.

Coming back to his senses, the boy quickly opened a messenger app and typed a message.

[Finn: What the hell is going on here!!!?]

Having heard about the raid on the Stahlwölfes, he had expected to see some great spectacle when it all started. Several hero teams were involved, after all, so it was bound to turn into some big event. What he didn’t expect was for the army to send in an entire warship.

[Dante: I have the same question.

Vik said nothing about this.]

Knowing that there would be a raid a month in advance was already an achievement—Most people only started to suspect that something was about to happen when the roads were closed the trains started to go offline. They couldn’t fault their fixer for not knowing the exact amount of force the authorities were going to use.