Outrun – Cyberpunk LitRPG
Chapter 262

The elevator slid into the depths, arriving dep in the underground facility before too long. The Adepts around me chattered about this and that, but it was mostly mundane stuff. Lots of worries about the state of the city. It seemed recent events were still weighing heavily on people’s minds even a month later. Then again, I guess it’d be stranger if they weren’t worried when a massive chunk of the city was destroyed in an instant. 

I followed the group out of the elevator, trailing along as we moved through a long hallway. It was white, or at least, had been white at some point. Dark footsteps marred them, and dust seemed to cling to every surface. A bot ahead moved along the floor, attempting to clean up. It made no progress.

We headed for the locker room just before the main chamber. This facility’s main Aether Jump Frame was located there, and it was likewise the heaviest guarded location in the entire underground area. 

It's a good thing the main chamber wasn’t where I wanted to go. My goal lay in the backup storage, where they kept all the spare equipment. Much easier to klep from then the main chamber, though a bit harder to get to.

They treated the Adepts that mined for them like contractors here. There was no trust. That being said, over half the place was restricted to my current disguise as a miner. I’d be questioned if I went deeper into the facility then the chamber, lockers, or break room.

I ‘headed for the bathroom’, splitting off just before the locker room and taking a few side hallways. The security was heavy all throughout this place. Not so much human guards as mechanical. It was perfect for me.

I ducked into the bathroom, taking advantage of the blind spot to activate my Blinder and disappear from mechanical eyes. I walked deeper into the facility, bypassing the patrolling androids entirely as they walked around. With the androids not questioning me, the few people in the halls likewise kept to themselves. Oh the power of a confident stride.

Hmm… I checked my mental map, lining up my location and zeroed in on my target. The backup storage facility lay on the floor below. The entire floor below was a restricted zone. 

Unless I swapped disguises into maybe a technician or a guard, I wasn’t getting down there. Not to mention the elevator access was guarded by actual people. Not so easy to get by.

Luckily, I didn’t have to. My current plan would take much longer, though it would hopefully be much safer. And funner. It was the first time I was trying something like this instead of going through the proper door.

I worked my way into an abandoned hall, stopping just outside of a cleaning closet. Its lock didn’t even last a few seconds thanks to Technical Expertise showing just how deep each tumbler needed to be. 

I slipped into the room and stretched out lightly. I was in position. This was the part I was unsure about, but likewise the easiest part of the heist. The storage facility should be directly below me from here.

Now, from what I saw of the schematics for this place, it was one of the few rooms with sensors all the way around it. In the past, I would’ve had to use some tactic to blind the sensors before I made my move. Now? Now I didn’t have to worry so much about it.

There were a few reasons, but the main one was how valuable everything inside of this room was. They couldn’t afford for a turret to just spray randomly into it, so the sensors were only linked to an alarm. From the time the alarms tripped, I had a minute, maybe two, before guards would pop up.

I cleaned off a space of the storage room, shoving stuff aside to get clear access to the ground. The plan was pretty simple, all things considered—blast through the ground and into the storage room. 

I slung my bag off my back, digging through it for the supplies I brought specifically for this heist. First and foremost, I took out the Sonic Suppressor and set up all eight anchors. With a single press of a button, I didn’t have to worry about noise leaving the room. Step one complete.

I rooted through my bag, shoving some stuff to the side to pull out a drill. It wasn’t very big. Off the shelf, really, though I had modified it slightly to give it more power. I wanted to make one of those giant drills that I’d seen in the Constellation Night Market a few times, but they weren’t exactly ideal to carry around by myself. 

I shoved my earbuds in, listening to some relaxing music. The soothing beats would hopefully make this a bit less boring and save my ears from any major pain.

With the noise cut off, nothing leaked out once I started drilling a hole into the ground. Concrete dust piled up as I put my full body weight onto the drill, forcing it deeper and deeper into the floor. 

Once a small hole was created, I pulled back and lifted the drill slightly. I rooted around for the can of cutting fluid I brought along, soaking the drill bit and filling the hole before I went back in. The drill slowly but steadily ate through the concrete. I pulled out about halfway through, worried I might set off one of the sensors if I moved much deeper. Should be good enough.

I repeated the process several other times, making a ring in the concrete. I had to stop and take a break a few times to let the overheating drill cool down, but it was honestly not that bad aside from one of my drill bits breaking. Always bring a spare. And, the longer I stayed here, the more the security guards’ attention would drop. It’d hopefully delay a response even further.

With a series of holes making a ring about double my size, step two was done. I wiped sweat off my face, my arm coming back gritty from the combo of dust and sweat. I wiped off the drill and stashed it back into my bag.

Now came the part I was most excited for. My time back with the Crusade’s explosives experts had been incredibly useful. Of course, making big bomb was important, but I had questioned them about shaped and breaching charges more than anything back then. It was easy to blame my curiosity on the fact that we were setting them up all over the Underground. In actuality? I was more interested in using them to get into places.

I rooted through my bag, pulling out a hard case filled with chemicals and explosives. It contained about a quarter of my leftovers from the Night market. I slid a pair of gloves on and carefully got to work creating shaped charges. 

One by one, I filled the drilled holes with them, linking them back to the center of the circle. This time around, I opted for fuses instead of an electronic initiator like the Crusade had. Fuses were simpler, easier to get, and I didn’t have to worry about a Netrunner noticing my signal. 

A wheel slowly formed on the ground as I finished up my preparations. I stood up and grabbed the Sonic Suppressor anchors, stashing them back in my bag. No point in muting the explosion and risking the anchors. The alarms would start going off anyway. I stashed everything important in my bag and backed out of the room. 

“Haah.” A sigh left me as I held the fuse in my hand. The charge built up through my body channeled out through my finger, sparking against the fuse. It caught, the fuse slowly burning down its length.

I closed the door and slunk down the hall to a safe enough distance. No one was out in the halls. It’d already been an hour since the shift-change, and the guards were probably lazing around somewhere, leaving the androids to do proper patrols.

I reached into my backpack for a duffel bag wadded up inside. It wasn’t just any duffel bag either. I’d run a collapsible faraday cage through the entire inside, blocking any communications and protecting things inside from EMPs. More importantly, trackers and other assorted tech wouldn’t be able to get a signal out once closed. I didn’t have to worry about being tracked back as long as it was in the bag.

I likewise pulled the pistol free, allowing time to slow down as Dexterity took effect. I pushed my mask onto my face, letting the breathing apparatus cleanse the air. My breathing slowed and calmed. I was in the eye of the hurricane now.

A second ticked by. Two. Ten. Did I mess up the fuse? It should’ve gone off by now? I hesitantly stared at the door. Just as I was about to go check-

Boom!

The door blew off its hinges as smoke and dust filled the air. I waited for a second before sprinting for the plume of dust. I was on the clock now. Burst Step sped up my movements even further as I ducked into the dust filled room.

I moved for the hole in the ground, blasted open by my charges. Rebar and metal used to reinforce the floor were splayed wide, blown down into the room like the walls of a cage. I dropped through the hole, falling into the storage room.

The air was cluttered with rapidly settling dust, making it difficult to see for a few moments as I scanned the room for-

The alarms started blaring loudly, sending a keening spike through my ears. I winced as I moved for a cabinet on the far side of the room. It’s locked popped off easily enough, allowing me access to drawers full of components. I crammed stuff into my duffel bag as I moved through the room, grabbing whatever I could. It was basically a smash and grab, though on a much higher scale than a streetside bodega.

About thirty seconds now, ish. I moved to the far side, where larger pieces of tech were kept. Aether Anchors lay on shelves, collecting dust. 

There were hundreds of these devices. They looked like pyramids, kind of. The stair-stepping metal led up to a cylindrical hole at the top. I grabbed five of the head sized devices, throwing them into my bag.

A few other things slipped in as I moved for the Tethers off to the side. They were much smaller, allowing me to grab a dozen of them. The Tethers were cube-like devices with tubes running along them, each about the size of my hand.

About fifteen seconds left. I could hear shouts from beyond the reinforced door leading out to the floor beyond. Stay for more? Like that was even a question. Of course I was going to stay for more. 

I moved across the room, shoving Aether materials, expensive-looking components, and other stuff that looked important into my bag at will. Each item sent a surge of pure adrenaline through me, creating a feedback loop as I tossed more and more into it-

The door behind me creaked noisily as it started to open. I locked up for a moment as I mentally pulled on the connection to the spectral crow I’d left on the building-

Space distorted as my senses twisted. Vertigo hit me like a sledge-hammer as I lost grasp of which direction was which-

My feet hit the ground as the unsettling sensations faded away entirely. Cold rain poured from the sky, cooling my flushed face as I stood on the roof across from AC Paper Co. Just like that, I was out.

「Bounty - Kleptoid - Complete

• Steal valuables

• Reward: 3 EF」

I started at the notification for a moment. I hadn’t even meant to do that. The bounty had Crow’s name written all over it though. I guess EF wouldn’t be that hard to get at this rate.

”Heh.” A laugh leaked out as I looked at my bag full of loot. Across the street, AC Paper Co sat in absolute silence. Metal shutters had fallen over the windows and doors, blocking the way in and out. It was probably supposed to keep the intruder in. Instead? It only kept the security from giving chase.

I shook my head and put all of my gear with shaky hands. The sheer adrenaline kept me from holding still. I mean, sure, I planned and plotted every part of the heist, but actually pulling it off exactly as I envisioned? And this was one of the Big 7! Let’s not forget that!

I suppressed another laugh as flyers appeared in the distant sky. The trajectory… from Raijin’s tower. They weren’t going to take this lying down. Already their forces were on the way over. Best I get out of here, yeah? Nothing stupider then hanging around the scene of the crime.

I gave the place one last look before dropping off the building. My Drop Chutes let me gently fall to the ground as I made my way back to my bike. As I drove, I didn’t speed or anything of the sort. I just merged back into traffic, another face amongst the crowd.