Outside World

Those were the main three emotions that showed in my memory. I took out a lot of them, before they flipped the stunfield over me. They then raped me, beat me into something that barely resembled a human by breaking almost every bone in my body, before simply throwing me down between the buildings. I landed on a hover, smashed into the inside cabin and killed a passenger. That was what saved me in the end.

I woke up some six months later, in a med facility. The doctor had shaken his head, amazed that I still lived. My recovery took some time. God knows it had already taken six months by then, but I basically had to learn to walk again. The whole process took almost two years. The medical bill was something monstrous, as well. I smiled as memory took me down a familiar road. The bill was big yes. In the beginning, that is. But one of my good friends, and sometimes lover, Ceegee, was a really good cyberwizard, and he took care of the bill for me. And the dear man did it as a favour as well. No, he didn’t pay it...

After that I spent a long time on honing my body. It took very long, but today I’m faster than I ever was. I’m running without any type of implant whatsoever, as I don’t really like the idea of spending more time learning how to work my body again. Once was enough for me. I did have one small adjustment made to my body, or it was done to me by order of one of my friends. Not really my choice, but I wasn’t in any state to object, and it does help. My nervous system is slightly jacked up, made faster than ordinary, augmented, whatever you want to call it. What it means is that I have reflexes that would make a muscle-grafted idiot joeboy weep. And had, in the past.

I take another breath, calming myself, and booted open a small window. A small switch on my suit takes care of the autocamo, and I run the program simulating the clothing of the gang I’m delivering for. Acid green lightning flowing across black. Not my taste, but hey, this city caters for everyone.

The window opens into a maintenance corridor, running right around the building on this level, snug against the outher wall. I slip through, into the dark of the corridor. My shades compensate again, lightening the area enough for me to get the rough outlines of objects. Twenty metres ahead of me I see a faint rectangular glimmer, like molten gold. It dims momentarily , now and again as guards move across it. Their movement is irregular, denying me the chance to establish a pattern.

See, I could have gone the regular route, in by the front door of this particular hole, and be escorted to the feet of the leader of this gang, but I am one of the best, after all. These people expected a high class thief/courier, so that’s my role. You need respect in this city, and I made them respect me. My plan was simple. I will appear, as if by magic, in front of their leader, having bypassed the elaborate security as if it wasn’t there. Simple. Really...

The door was right in front of me now, small dust-coated wires and crap running across the back of it. Now if I remember correctly, the ceiling was really low here, and pipes, gas and water, ran across the ceiling. The corridor also had a funky U-shape. So if one should kick open the door, lob a flash grenade into the corridor, you should be up into the piping before the guards have time to react. If they react, start to look upwards, the grenade should go off, temporarily - about a year, with surgery - blinding anyone stupid enough to be facing the direction of the blast, while knocking them out cold for at least an hour.