Outrun – Cyberpunk LitRPG
Chapter 266

Big Mikes was as it always looked… for the most part. A couple of his windows had been smashed and boarded up, glass still clinging to their frames. Likewise, there were bullet holes along the ceiling and back wall. The riots hadn’t been kind to the large man, it seemed. Thankfully, he didn’t look injured in the slightest.

My contact was already waiting for me when I arrived, sitting in the back corner as he typed away on a deck. I whitelisted him for Master of Disguise and approached. A mask covered the bottom half of his face, and a hat was pulled low over his eyes. “A kid?”

”Not very nice.” I slid into the booth across from him, nodding to Big Mike as he waved at me. I held up a finger to him and then tossed my scrambler onto the table. “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

He shut his deck, leaning his head on his fist. He pulled at the mask, shifting it around. “You were at Absolom Clinic, right?”

”Shiro.” It was common enough. Shouldn’t be too big of an issue with just that. Not that it’d matter. The only name I was actually worried about exposing was Zuku Ichima. No clue how the Crusade would react to that.

”Just call me Saint.” The guy introduced himself with a nod of his head. “Reporter.”

Reporter? What was he planning to do with that? Write an article about Medtech? Their Netrunners would have it down in seconds before anyone could even see it. Surely he had a plan with a bit more depth, right?

”So… you have a plan?” I asked Saint as Big Mike appeared, dropping off a pop. I didn’t really want one, but I figured it’d help having something to hold in my hands while we talked.

Saint nodded his head to the scrambler. “Information is the name of the game… I have connections. If I can get the evidence I need? I’ll write an article.”

Ugh- no way? Was he really just planning on writing an article and being done with it? I had such high hopes too… still, I came all this way. Might as well hear him out a bit more. “What do you need?”

”Hmm…” Saint stared at me for several long moments. “You won’t backstab me, right?”

”Not without a proper reason…” I shrugged, Honest Face hopefully helping him trust me. “Besides, I’m doing this for Nael more than anything.”

“Fair, fair.” Saint leaned back in the booth, staring out the window. “Medtech isn’t just sending contracts to clinics. Their operators are also moving in the shadows. Strongarm tactics. If we can get evidence of that? I’ll send it out to my connections.”

I stared at him for a moment, feeling my eye twitch. “And that’ll help?”

He shrugged, sliding his deck into a satchel. “The council might not move on it, but the other Big 7? Especially Sentinel and Raijin. They’re public opinion dropped massively after everything that happened recently. If they could raise it back up by pushing Medtech down? Besides, the city’s politicians won’t be able to sit still if two of the Big 7 raise a fuss.”

I could see where he was coming from. Any reason to knock their competitors down a peg, yeah? Where would he even get this evidence in the first place though? Couldn’t exactly break into Medtech’s HQ and root around… at least not without quite a bit of planning. And I doubt they were stupid enough to leave a smoking gun laying around.

“Look…” Saint checked the time and stood up. “I have an appointment at another clinic in thirty minutes. If you do end up finding something, call me. We can meet up. Just be careful. Medtech isn’t known for playing nice.”

“Chek.” Where did I even start with this? Maybe I should just go with my normal tactics… I could get out of Medtech after breaking in, at least. Plant a threat? Maybe even blackmail? A really big bomb? None of those felt like they’d do much. For now, I could stick close to the man for a bit to see what he knew before making my decision.

I followed Saint out of the restaurant, watching the reporter walk off down the street. My bike was in the other direction, so I turned around and headed on my way. A drop of ice water fell from a nearby roof, sending a chill through my body as it hit the back of my neck.

Reporting the truth in this day and age? He must have some extraordinary courage to look at the one of the Big 7 and decide to write about all their misdeeds. Suicide by corporation, huh? He had my respect, if nothing else. Assuming he wasn’t doing this because he was suicidal, that is.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get what I really wanted from the man. Still no idea how to approach this whole situation. He wanted evidence, but getting that would-

I paused on the sidewalk as I noticed certain people grouping up. Gangs were gathering back behind me. I recognized the tattoos and bulges of weapons underneath their clothing. They weren’t just packing small arms either…

It normally wouldn’t be much of a cause for concern, but this close to the Jade Fang’s territory? No gang would risk moving in on their territory. My gaze followed after them for a moment before I turned back around. It seemed Medtech caught his scent after all.

— — —

Saint sighed, leaning against a wall in the mouth of an alley as he pulled out his phone. He reread the message he just received, failing to hide his disappointment. Yet another clinic backed away from speaking out. He wouldn’t even have anywhere to start unless someone spoke out in the first place.

His mind drifted back to the kid at the burger joint. It was so stupid. So, so very stupid. A kid like her was more willing to face Medtech than the hundreds of clinics being hit by the corporations ‘offers’. Or even the ones that's been totaled in ‘gang violence’.

To be fair, he felt there was way more underneath her facade of a kid then met the eye. Speaking of eyes, hers were… unsettling? Like a predator watching prey. There was just something slightly off about them, but he couldn’t quite put it into words.

Back to the matter at hand though, did clinics just not see? Were they just so short-sighted that they couldn’t look past the benefits and threats of Medtech? They were aiming for a medical monopoly in Aythryn City. If that happened? There’d be no reason to keep their prices lower. 

The streets would run with homeless even more then they were now as people tried to desperately pay off medical debts that would only grow with each passing week. It’d be a crushing existence, and the entire city would suffer at the end of the day. All for short-sighted gains. 

It made him sick to imagine such a world. The death count alone would climb as people lost access to medical treatment or were forced into essentially slavery to pay off their debts. The balance of power would slowly tip toward Medtech, and then-

“Follow me.” A familiar voice came from behind him as a small hand tugged on his arm roughly.

Saint stumbled toward her, caught off guard as he lost his balance. When’d she get behind him? How’d he not notice that? “Shiro?”

”No time to explain. They’re almost here.” She glanced back toward the mouth of the alley. Unlike before, where her face practically radiated child-like honesty, she was completely cold. She was like a panther stalking prey through the forest. 

“Who-?” Saint cut himself off as he noticed what she noticed. Armed figures were slowly gathering on the street outside the mouth of the alley. Gang fight? An unfortunate ‘reporter’ would be caught in the crossfire, no doubt. Just another tragic death in this cursed city.

Saint stopped fighting her as she dragged him away, instead joining her. “You have a plan?”

”Working on it.” Shiro ducked into a side alley, leaning against an alley side door. By the time he caught up, she already had the door open and waiting. “C’mon. We don’t have much time.”

Shouts came from back behind them. He could hear with brutal efficiency thanks to his cyberaudio suite as one of them asked. “Are you sure we saw him come down this way?”

”Of course I saw him come this way. Let’s hurry up. Boss wants this done ASAP.” A different voice replied. It was deep, modulated.

Saint checked his HUD, ensuring the audio and visuals were recording. They weren’t nearly as good as his camera, but they’d do in a pinch. A hit squad coming after him because he got too close was as good of evidence as any.

Saint raced after her, following her through the back door. It led into a side hall of a mall bustling with people. In no time, they merged into the crowd. It took all of his focus to stick behind the girl and not lose her in the crowd. If she didn’t stop and occasionally look back to ensure he was following, he would’ve fell behind way before.

He sped up slightly to walk alongside her. “Why’d you come back, kid?”

“Don’t call me that.” Her face immediately went sour. It was kinda cute, like his younger sister had been when he poked fun at her. 

“Sorry.” His mood plummeted as he thought of his sister. 

Shiro glanced over her shoulder, her predatory eyes flicking across the mall with practiced ease. “Couldn’t exactly leave my best lead to die a dog’s death in the streets. Regretting that now, though.”

”So… you have a plan?” The irony wasn’t lost on Saint as he pulled himself back into a stable mindset. How the tables turned.

Shiro pulled him into a clothing store, keeping her voice low. ”Know how they tracked you? Anyone know you’re here?” 

He nearly went bankrupt having a Netrunner patch his gear and phone. No way Medtech could get through the ICE without at least a warning. It wasn’t a technological tracker. “My face?”

— — —

I shot him a look. Did he really just say my face? That was, like, peak narcissism. Maybe I should’ve left him behind after all. “Really dude? You want to brag now of all times?”

The man had the gall to look at me like I was the weird one. “Do you seriously not recognize me? Saint? Of Sorrow?”

“No? Is it really that important?” Sorrow? Was that a corporation? Kind of a nova name, actually.

He sighed, rubbing at his head. “I’m just saying. I’m well known from my band days. It wouldn’t exactly be that hard to track me down if someone posted about me.” 

Ah, a band. I guess that made sense. Would be kind of a waste not to go into some kind of media with a face like his. “Can you do something about that?”

”Not without a hammer and a lot of surgery.” He shot me an uneasy look. “I don’t think we have time for either.”

”No shit.” I shook my head, eyeing the crowd. The gang members had spilled into the mall, causing a minor disturbance here and there.

A group had followed us from the alley. Although I didn’t leave tracks, the same couldn’t be said for my new reporter friend. They must’ve called for backup too, because I spotted another group coming in from the front entrance, blocking the way out as they checked faces.

We still had time-

”So?”

I flinched slightly as he spoke up right beside me, drawing me from my thoughts. ”Why are you still here? Go buy a change of clothes? And a holo mask.”

“I’m broke.” Saint rubbed at the back of his head.

Seriously? ”Didn’t you just say you were famous?”

”I was famous.” He sighed deeply. “And setting up everything to be a reporter hadn’t been cheap. Do you have any idea how expensive it is for a Netrunner to set up an unhackable site?”

”No?” I can imagine though. I paid fifty thousand Rayn for ICE, only for it to be considering ‘basic’ by Nael.

He shrugged. ”Anyway… I don’t have much Rayn.”

Ugh- another broke bitch clinging to me. I couldn’t handle this. I rooted around in my bag, tossing my mask at him and stripped off my poncho. I immediately felt the winter chill in the air. “Swap me.”

“Right.” We traded outerwear, hopefully throwing off a cursory glance from one of the searching gang members. His jacket was nice, but it paled in comparison to my poncho’s artificial climate.

Saint wrapped the poncho around his shoulder. “Oh, this is nice-“

”Let’s just go.” I barely held back a glare as I dragged him back into the mall. 

Worse case scenario, we just head deeper into Jade Fang territory or I call for backup. They’d take care of the ‘invasion’ force without much prompting required. The Jade Fangs were particularly protective of this sub-district.

That was a worse case scenario though. Shouldn’t be too hard to lose them if they didn’t have an actual tracker stuck to my temporary companion. My skills would be more than enough for us to get out of here in one piece.