I waited for only the few minutes I said we would, then I ushered the three secretaries to their feet. They didn't shy away from me while wearing only bras, because their tops had kept their friend from bleeding out. I offered my jacket to them and they gave each other looks and then looked back at me.
I chuckled and took my jacket off, then easily tore the back off of it. Their eyes were wide as I gave that piece to the first woman and she quickly tied it around her chest. I then handed one sleeve and the left half of the jacket to the second secretary and the right sleeve and the other side of the jacket to the third.
The sleeve gave them a lot of extra cloth to secure the rest in place, so all three of them had a good portion of their chests covered now.
“You really are as sweet as Denise claimed you were.” One of them said.
“Thanks.” I said and bent down to pick Denise up.
“You can't carry me all the way to safety through a war zone.” Denise said. Her breathing had steadied and she didn't feel weak or in danger, which surprised her, because we really were in a war zone.
“Watch me.” I said and nodded at the back of the bus. “Can you step aside while I open that?”
“It's not a door.” The first one said.
“It will be.” I said and one of them let out a soft laugh.
They moved into the sideways seats just enough for me to get by. I walking on the windows on the side of the bus, which was the floor right now. I stepped close enough to the back of the bus and then kicked out with enough force to make it believable and used touch telekinesis to tear the entire back of the bus off and it crumpled as it skidded down the street.
“My hero the wrecker.” Denise said with a smile.
“Only because it was necessary.” I said and stepped out with the three secretaries following me. A glance around let me know there were a lot of people still on the streets, even his late at night, so I had a brilliant idea. I constructed a carefully worded warning that would show up on all the billboards and add spaces all across the city.
I set it up with the same propagation program I had shared with Delamain for his taxi ads and then set it loose at the far edge of the district. It quickly spread all over and would appear as soon as a cybernetic implant was close enough to activate it.
“Look at that!” One of the secretaries said and pointed up. A huge billboard above us had been showing a sex drug ad and had changed to show the message.
Tonight's police free experience was brought to you by Jerry Faulter. The Police Commissioner decided to save himself some money and fired the night shift of the police force. Everyone that is kidnapped, raped, beaten, tortured, or murdered tonight, and the friends and family of said victims, you all have him to thank for it.
That's definitely going to get some attention. I thought and walked up the street. Hopefully in time.
The three secretaries followed me up the street without question, their eyes darting around. They were expecting to get shot at again and I didn't blame them. I dropped my car into the closest alleyway and walked inside without stopping and the women behind me quickly followed.
“Oh, thank god.” One of them said when she saw the car and rushed over to it. The door opened for her before she reached it and she dove inside, her wide and slightly panicked eyes dimming slightly. The other two went in after her and there was just enough room for them in the backseat.
“I need to recline the seat.” I warned them and the woman behind the passenger side unbent her knees and grabbed the top of the seat to help me. “Thank you.”
She nodded and I hit the release. She pulled it back until it was almost laying flat and it locked into place. I carefully placed Denise into the seat and didn't bother buckling her in. Her friends leaned forward and braced her as best as they could with their hands. She looked both happy and grateful to them for that.
I went around to the driver's side and climbed in, locked the doors, and then drove out of the alleyway and into the street. I glanced over at the bus and saw several people exit through the much safer rear exit I had made and the mother and son were there. The boy waved and I stopped the car. I rolled the window down and the two of them walked over.
“The car's full.” I said, a bit uselessly, since they could clearly see the hurt woman on the passenger side and the full backseat. “I can come back...”
“We just wanted to thank you.” She said and hugged her little boy from behind.
I took a breath and let it out. “I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner.”
The woman smiled in understanding and then lied. “We only have a short walk ahead of us.”
I poked her mentally and saw the route she intended to take. She would not make it home if she tried any other public transportation. I checked the mental map of the city I had and found the best route.
“If you take the upper level pass on the next street, use the escalator on the left.” I said and gave her a stern look. “Only take the left one. The right leads down into another skirmish and you won't get through.”
The woman looked startled and then hugged her boy tighter. “How do you know?”
I pointed up and she looked up and gasped as she saw the city block-sized flying ship moving off to the right. “Eyes in the sky can see a lot more than those down on the ground.”
The woman looked back at me. “Upper level, left escalator.”
“Follow the walkway through the next building and stay on the upper floor. Don't descend until you're three blocks from here. If the elevator isn't working, there's a service corridor three doors back up the same walkway. Take it and the stairs. You'll come out on the same floor the elevator should take you to, then it's a straight walk through two more blocks to your building.”
The woman blinked her eyes at me in surprise. “How do you know where we live?”
I gave her a knowing smirk. “I know where everyone lives.”
“Cool.” The boy said and smirked back. “Where's Kino live?”
I gave him a look with a raised eyebrow. Kino was the nickname of the goldfish in the aquarium near his homeroom class at school. “Next to the little castle that sends out bubbles of air.”
The boy gasped and stared at me like he had stared at his mother's healed face.
“Good luck.” I said and held a hand out for her to shake.
She didn't even hesitate and shook it. I gave her the minor upgrade package I gave to a lot of people back in the Worm universe. I figured she was going to need it. It was a very long way that they needed to go.
“Keep her safe, little man.” I said to the boy and held a hand out to him.
Unlike his mom, he didn't take it and looked at her instead. She nodded and smiled warmly to him, so he nodded back and shook my hand. I gave him the same package, just in case.
“Thank you again.” She said and stepped back.
I rolled the window up and turned the car to drive up the street. We would reach Atlas Incorporated in a few minutes and I would take care of Denise's wounds and also give her and the others a few upgrades as well. It would keep us all busy as the rest of the city tore itself apart.
*
The Valentinos expected hits all across their territory from two of the rival gangs that they had the most conflict with. The Sixth Street Gang and the Maelstrom Gang. After the first hour of the night's festivities, their interim leader named Gustavo Orta realized that not only were the Sixth Street gang not targeting them, there was no sign of the Maelstroms at all, not even their cars.
He contacted everyone loyal to the Valentinos and spread the word, which gave them the motivation to fully claim the highly contested sub-district called Vista del Rey. The Sixth Street Gang had been trying to push into that area for years, because it bordered the more wealthy sub-districts near the city center and North Oak.
With the other gangs somehow busy doing something else and leaving them all alone, the Valentinos easily secured the area for themselves and established a permanent presence that would always be there. No one would ever be able to take it from them now.
*
Wakako Okado, the Fixer for the Tyger Claws, soon suffered from her mistake of spreading their defensive forced too thin. An RPG, or rocket-propelled grenade, blew out the front of her pachinko parlor and destroyed half of the machines.
The attacks had come so suddenly that she didn't even know who was responsible for it. That was true until a Sixth Street Gang colored car crashed into the newly opened space and through the rest of the machines and right into her office.
As luck would have it, Wakako had been in the secret security office with the netrunning gear as she coordinated their own forces as they stormed into what they thought was the Sixth Street Gang's main area of operation. She had thought it was almost too easy as their strike forces took down what little resistance had been there for them, and now she knew why.
“Dammit, we missed her!” One of the mooks from the Sixth Street Gang shouted as he climbed out of the wrecked car. He reached back and pulled out his partner and glanced at the useless arm that had been crushed against the dashboard when they hit. “I told you not to brace yourself like that, you gonk.”
“Fuck you, too.” The other guy said with a laugh and grabbed the dead arm by the forearm and twisted. It shattered at the elbow and he tossed the useless junk aside. “Let's go, she can't have gotten far.”
A group three cars came to a stop just outside the wrecked pachinko parlor.
“Get in! We're hitting the Cloud Club next!” One of the passengers shouted.
The two guys exchanged looks and spoke together. “She could be there.”
They ran for the closest car, a convertible, and hopped in. Just as Wakako was about to send a message to the megabuilding up the street to warn them of the incoming attack, three bright red beams from above, each about a foot across, tore through all three vehicles and they exploded and huge fireballs.
To Wakako's shock, none of the flames of flaming debris touched anything on either side of the street. It would have damaged most of the surrounding businesses and apartments if it hadn't somehow been contained within a dome of what looked like a blue energy shield. Then, as if by magic, everything was sucked up into the air and disappeared.
The old woman gasped and quickly changed her current viewscreen to one that showed her most of the district. Her blood ran cold and her wizened face drained of color as she beheld something that was clearly not the trash cargo hauler that she had expected to see. She was too stunned by the sight of the massive flying ship to register that the car inside her office had been taken as well.
“According to these preliminary measurements, that thing is over 170 metres, or 560 feet long. It's 135 metres or 450 feet wide, and it's over 10 metres or 33 feet high.” The man at the security console commented, his hands shaking as he checked the numbers again. “Just... just for comparison, the three storey building we're in is about the same height at around 10 metres.”
Wakako stared at the image of the ship as it move off. “Are you telling me that a three storey building is somehow flying around Night City?”
“N-n-no, Lady Okado.” The man said and swallowed nervously. “I'm saying a three storey building the size of a city block... or 5 acres of land... is flying around the city.”
Wakako turned her head from the awe-inspiring sight to stare at him. “What did you say?”
“The mass readings alone have bottomed out the equipment.” He said and showed her the last number shown. It was 300,000 metric tons before it shut down.
Wakako moved away from the display and she didn't want to admit it was true. Because if it was, then she had made a terrible, terrible mistake by informing her old friend and close confidante about Atlas. In fact, it was a mistake so terrible that she needed to try and correct it as soon as possible.
But first, instead of doing what she had just resolved to do, she turned to the console and sent out a priority message to everyone. All Tyger Claws were to retreat immediately. No exceptions.
“Lady Okado?” The security man asked, unsure.
“Repeat that every ten seconds until everyone acknowledges it.” Wakako said and stood. “Get our people back inside.” She walked to the door and it stayed shut, since it had activated when the buiding had been attacked. “Open this door.” She ordered calmly. When it didn't happen, she turned to glare at the man.
“I-I-I can't.” He said and moved away from her anger. “It's a safety protocol! It's automatic!”
“Open it.” Wakako said and walked over to the desk and pulled a small revolver out of the top drawer. “Now.”
“It's a failsafe, Lady Okado!” The man pleaded. “Only the leader can...”
*BANG!*
The man's lifeless body fell to the floor and the old woman pushed him and his chair aside and started looking for the door release. After a few minutes, she confirmed that he was right. She screeched in frustration and threw the useless gun at the solid metal door that worked like a bank vault door. Only a manager with the proper key could open it after an emergency was declared.
When Wakako tried to gain an outside line, both on her own and on the equipment, nothing would go through. She could only contact her own people. So, she did. She sent a message to her eldest son to come back and retrieve her.
After ten seconds of no response, she felt a foreboding feeling. She tried to contact her next eldest, then the next. In her mind's eye, all she could see were those foot wide red beams as they cut through every gang vehicle in the city. Her messages soon became frantic as she desperately tried to contact any of them. Where were they? Why weren't they answering her pleas for help?
*
Several of the smaller Boostergangs thought that this was their time to shine. With no cops to bring them down and the major gangs all fighting each other for territory, or just because they could, the rest of the city was essentially up for grabs.
One group was called the Inquisitors and they hated the roided out overly cybernetic gangs. They searched through what they thought was the Maelstrom Gang's main hideout, only to find a completely empty warehouse and garage. The chop-shop was gone, as were the surgical bays, car parts, cybernetic parts, and everything else that the Borged out gang used to have.
“Holy shit! They knew this was happening and cleared out!” One of the gang members shouted. It echoed off the walls.
“Fucking cowards.” Their leader said and everyone nodded in agreement. “Who's the next worst gang on the list?”
“Roided out or too much cyberware?” His second in command asked.
“Either or both. I don't care.” He answered. “We came out to get revenge on them and it's about time we made them pay for abandoning their humanity.”
“Well, we don't have the numbers to hit the Tyger Claws, so their out.”
“Not even now?” One of them asked.
“I saw some clips of the fighting in Sixth Street territory as the Claws tore through it. It's not pretty.” Another guy said and a few of them cursed.
“There is that Posergang down in Heywood and a Chromer Gang not far way from them in Santo Domingo.”
Everyone perked up at that. With most of the fighting happening in the other districts, those places were practically empty.
“Yeah.” The leader said and smiled. “Let's hit them.”
“And hit them hard!” The others shouted and then cheered.
Half an hour later, they had accomplished their grizzly tasks and carried the blood-covered cyberware back to their car. Just because they hated when people chromed out too much, that didn't stop them from benefiting from rescuing them from their upcoming cyber-psychosis. That those lives were lost right after being saved was not their problem, or so they had convinced themselves.
Several bright red beams ended their self-delusion when it cut through their cars and they exploded.
*
The various Fixers throughout Night City had been swamped with requests, some at the last minute. Most of them they couldn't accept or even arrange on such short notice. The information ones were easy and quickly passed along to choice mercenaries that they knew or had a decent reputation with.
The other jobs were a mix of assassinations, firebombings, kidnappings, home invasions, escort missions, food deliveries, package deliveries, weapon purchases, and everything else. It was a huge mess an none of them were left out of the chaos.
A few even thought they could benefit from it, especially by arranging a few fortuitous things that only they would know would help them. Most of them did try to keep a balance, except when it came to jobs against the very gangs they usually dealt with.
Despite claiming to be independent, they had their favorites. Sebastian 'Padre' Ibarra was partial to his old gang, the Valentinos. Wakako Okado was partial to the Tyger Claws. Dakota Smith in the Badlands on the outskirts of the city was partial to the various Nomad gangs. Rogue Amendiares had been a solo merc for years until she retired and now she was one of the most fmaous fixers in Night City, mostly because he also ran the most famous club in Night City, the Afterlife Club.
Out of all of 12 that existed in and around Night City, only one truly neutral Fixer could be found. Regina Jones. She used to be a reporter for the nightly news until it was bought out by a corporation and they changed all of the programming to become entertainment and stopped all actual news from being given out. It was all sensationalized.
So, she quit to become a fixer that exposed corruption, righted wrongs, and wasn't focused on making money and actually helped people get by in Night City. On this night, that would be remembered for a very long time, Regina closed up shop and refused all work offers, even the information ones, and wouldn't benefit from anything or would cause anyone else to die.
To ensure her stand, Regina unplugged her cyberdeck and brought it down into the basement to give to Judy, whom looked extremely scared as she hugged the still hurt Evelyn Parker. She didn't offer them any encouragement or words of wisdom. She just put the deck on the floor and sat down beside it. Neither Judy nor Evelyn spoke to her as they huddled together on the small couch and waited for the night to be over.
