"This sand really stings!"
Kyoko covered her face as she rushed into the old, weathered house that looked like it had seen better days. Behind her, Daichi and the others were struggling to unload precious supplies from the vehicle.
The house likely once belonged to a farm owner, though the land that was once farmland had long since turned barren and desolate.
The original warehouse looked as if it had been shelled, with half of it in ruins, but fortunately, the living quarters remained intact.
The two-story cottage featured a living room with a sofa, a kitchen, bedrooms, and two bathrooms, one on each floor. It was clear the forr farm owner had lived comfortably.
As the lights in the room buzzed noisily, flickering a few tis before steadying, electricity was restored, finally illuminating the room that had been dimd by the sandstorm.
"Whew."
The old cowboy pushed the door open with one hand, holding onto his cowboy hat. He shook off the sand sowhat awkwardly and said,
"The water, electricity, and network here are still connected. If you girls are bothered by all the sand, you can head upstairs to shower and shake off the dust. Everything’s usable.
If you have any extra resources to spare when you leave, consider it rent paid for the next travelers."
Kyoko untied her twin tails and shook them out, just those few steps from the car had made her feel like even her hair was full of grit.
"The utilities here are still working?" she exclaid in surprise.
"Yeah, it’s all thanks to the nomads around here," Cassidy explained. "They set up the electrical circuits, fix the network cables, and repair the water pipes. When bad weather like this hits and they can’t make it back to their clans in ti, they co to places like this to rest and regroup.
The reason we nomads can roam freely in the wilderness is largely because we always manage to find places to rest out here. Every clan shares these kinds of resources. If you ever travel elsewhere, it’s best to reach out to the local families as soon as you arrive.
As long as you’re one of us, we freely share these rest stops and safe routes to help other passing nomads."
Cassidy smiled and added, "The network here is connected to the city’s LAN. It’s not the most stable, but if you brought a computer, you can check so web news, listen to music, or sothing.
Alright, I need to rest for a bit. Anyone want so hot coffee?"
Cassidy’s suggestion was t with approval from most of the group, and he leisurely made his way to the kitchen to prepare the coffee.
"I’m going to take a shower," Lucy said, tugging at her collar, the feeling of a few small stones trapped in her tight netrunning suit was far from pleasant.
"Conserve water," Cassidy reminded her. "The water here is collected rainwater from the tank out back. Once it’s used up, it’s gone. Also, the water quality isn’t great because the purifier is old."
Lucy nodded and pulled Kyoko along upstairs. "Then we’ll shower together to save so water."
"If you want hot water, you might have to wait a bit. The water heater here isn’t as efficient as the ones in the city." After Cassidy finished speaking, he spotted rcer sprawled motionless on the couch, though he had been full of energy while driving earlier; the mont he hit the sofa, he passed out cold. One could only say this young man truly had the makings of a nomad.
Daichi and Leon exchanged a glance, both looking sowhat annoyed with each other, before finally saying, "I’ll just grab a wet towel to wipe off. A cold-water rinse for my head isn’t a big deal either."
"Go ahead, I’ll keep an eye on things for you," Cassidy replied.
Once the coffee was brewed, Cassidy approached rcer with a cup, and rcer’s eyes snapped open the mont he got close.
"Kid, have so coffee to perk up. We’ll heat a few cans for dinner before you crash."
rcer yawned, looking fairly alert. "Alright, just wanted to relax my mind and take a short nap."
"Want so sugar?" Cassidy set the hot coffee on the table in front of him.
rcer stretched, nodded, and sat up. "Just a little. I actually prefer it with milk."
"Milk? Now that’s a luxury. The last ti I had milk was over a decade ago," Cassidy remarked with a tone of amazent, eyeing the group as he chatted casually. "So, are you all runaways? Or did you escape from so training camp? Must’ve been tough getting into Arasaka at such a young age."
"Training camp? More like a concentration camp. So of us were selected from Arasaka’s orphanages, so, like , were sold by foster parents, and others... well, let’s just say it wasn’t a good place. Plenty died before we managed to escape," rcer explained briefly before turning the question back with a smile. "What about you?"
"The Unification War wiped out my family’s resources. Our clan had to take corporate jobs to survive. Working itself wasn’t the issue, but many kept talking about wanting to return to the New United States, find a place to settle down and build a life. I found it boring and had no attachnts, so while I still could, I decided to keep wandering," Cassidy shared, studying rcer. "You’re the one who got them out, aren’t you? I can tell, you’re the alpha."
"Alpha? That’s high praise. I think we’re more like a pack of stray pups," rcer laughed.
"Even the combat squads in nomad clans wouldn’t have handled those Raffen Shiv as cleanly as you all did," Cassidy spoke highly of rcer and the kids.
"I suppose so. At least until they’re safe, I’ll take responsibility for leading them," rcer replied.
After a mont, Cassidy asked curiously, "Are you all planning to go to Night City?"
"I definitely am. It’s pretty much the only free place left in North Arica right now. Chaotic, sure, but full of opportunities, and corporate control isn’t as tight there," rcer said, a smile tugging at his lips as he heard Daichi and Leon’s laughter from the first-floor bathroom. "As for these kids, who knows? They have their own dreams. Once they figure things out, they can stay or go as they please."
"You’re really mature for your age," Cassidy praised. "Ever thought about becoming a nomad? I think no matter which clan you joined, you’d have the skill to take good care of those around you."
"Making that judgnt so quickly?" rcer chuckled. "But thanks all the sa. Being a nomad isn’t for , though. I’m a netrunner, I can only truly shine in the city." "Alright, fair enough."
After a brief exchange with rcer, Cassidy had a rough understanding of him, a mature individual who seed nothing like a kid.
"So we’re heading straight to Night City after this?"
Cassidy confird, "Or should we take a detour to shake off any potential pursuers?"
"A slight detour, but not too far out of the way."
rcer continued, "This was my original planned route. Forgot you don’t have a cybereye and can only make calls. Honestly, you should really get one installed."
Cassidy chuckled and pulled out his phone. "Just send it to my phone. Wow, that was fast, did you hack in to send it? You netrunners are sothing else."
"Not that miraculous. Without a connection to our subnet, you’re only operating on a local subnet ford by your own brainwaves through your neural link. To hack into it, I’d first need to scan with my cybereye or another device to capture and locate your network signal. Then, through my network, I’d hack into the subnet I’ve pinpointed. Finally, the speed of my hack depends on the gap between our ’Intelligence’ attributes and the programs and equipnt I’m using. But for soone like you with no hacking background, your ’Intelligence’ attribute, basically your brainpower, is pretty much irrelevant because you wouldn’t know how to resist my intrusion. So if you really want to avoid netrunners entirely, just turn off your neural link. Still, I’d recomnd at least installing a simple ICE program into whatever mory your interface has. If your neural link has enough mory, I’ll send you a basic ICE later. Your hardware isn’t great, and without a cyberdeck, you can’t run advanced ICE programs. Even so, the programs I write are far stronger than the default anti-intrusion software on newer neural links. Then your ’Intelligence’ attribute will actually matter, it’ll determine how fast my program runs and significantly delay the ti it takes for a netrunner to break in."
rcer added, "Your phone’s software is terrible too, basically defenseless. As long as your network signal is on and my cybereye picks it up within range, I wouldn’t even need a program to hack into it."
"Impressive." Cassidy could tell rcer wasn’t boasting. He’d seen netrunners before, but none at rcer’s level.
Cassidy studied the route map rcer had sent to his phone and finally nodded. "No problem. I’ll make so calls to friends I know. We can definitely make it to Night City in under two weeks, tops."
"That fast?"
rcer had originally planned for a month! To avoid main city routes and stay under the radar, his planned path was all through remote wilderness.
"That’s a conservative estimate. If my friends can find us a safe route later, we might even move faster. If it weren’t for the Unification War blowing up roads and leaving landmines everywhere, this distance wouldn’t take more than a week. The main issue is dodging state border checkpoints, which ans taking long detours and often having to trek through wilderness instead of roads. If you could secure safe identities in advance, we could stick to the highways. Even at a few hundred kiloters a day, we’d get there in four or five days max." After Cassidy finished speaking, he saw rcer shake his head:
"I plan to go directly to Night City to forge a perfect fake identity. This will minimize Arasaka’s reach. If they co looking for us, they’ll definitely start from the outskirts."
"You’re the boss on this trip. I’ll follow your lead."
—--
As soon as Cassidy finished, his ears twitched slightly.
rcer fell silent too, narrowing his eyes to listen carefully. Then, the two exchanged a glance.
"Vehicle sounds."
Cassidy imdiately drew his revolver, leaning against the doorfra to peer outside. "Good thing we parked all the cars behind the house. They shouldn’t see them, so we can set up an ambush. Get your friends ready!"
Before he even finished speaking, rcer had already used his neural link to send a simultaneous ssage to Lucy and Daichi.
Daichi and Leon on the first floor were the quickest, arriving at his side with rifles in hand, their hair still wet. "What’s going on?"
"Stay alert, possible hostiles."
rcer was brief, and Cassidy cut straight to the point. "Did you bring in the light machine gun from the pickup truck you stole?"
"Daichi! You and Leon go out the back door and get ready. We need that light machine gun from your truck for heavy fire support! If it’s enemies, Cassidy and I will engage from the front. You drive out from the side and suppress them with flanking and rear fire!"
rcer issued orders imdiately, crouching by the window to look outside. Swirling yellow sand filled the air, visibility barely ten ters.
The engine sounds from afar were closing in, headlights from several vehicles piercing through the dust, clearly visible.
At the sa ti, a ssage from Lucy popped up in rcer’s cybereye.
[Lucy: Kyoko and I have taken the high ground at the second-floor window. Kyoko will scan for enemies, I’ll provide suppressing fire for you.]
[rcer: Good, stay safe. Prioritize targets we on the first floor can’t easily aim at.]
[Lucy: Copy that!]
The vehicle sounds grew closer. rcer picked up his Kenshin pistol, his cybereye glowing brightly.
His cybereye zood in, scanning the vague outlines of the approaching group. "It’s Raffen Shiv! Cassidy, I’m connecting you to the subnet. Don’t disconnect."
rcer whispered to Cassidy while simultaneously ssaging his netrunning team via comms.
For ease of communication, he used the old thod, connecting everyone, including Cassidy, to the subnet with him as the host. This way, even if the enemy had a netrunner targeting them, he could provide support.
[Kyoko: Four vehicles! At least eight people. I’ve highlighted visible targets in my cybereye! They’ve got an ard pickup with a machine gun. We’d better wait for them to get out.]
[rcer: Good. Old cowboy, can you see?]
[Cassidy: I can’t see, but I can hear you all. Impressive.]
[rcer: Visibility is too low. Wait till they’re all close before engaging.]
[Cassidy: Toss one of your grenades. When they reach the door, we’ll throw them straight out.]
[rcer: Good idea.]
rcer took out the Arasaka Fragntation Grenade he carried and tossed one to Cassidy.
[Cassidy: We’re upwind. When we throw, rember to use more force than you think.]
[rcer: Understood. They’ve stopped? They didn’t drive straight over. Damn, we forgot to turn off the lights!]
[Cassidy: My bad, forgot to warn you guys.]
rcer frowned slightly; he still lacked so practical experience. Things like forgetting his room light was still on simply hadn’t crossed his mind beforehand.
"Who’s out there? Make a sound! If you don’t speak up, pal, I’ll serve you sothing big!"
The Raffen Shiv mber in the distance was already shouting.
[rcer: Lucy, can you take the shot? Clear their machine gun position.]
[Lucy: I’m aiming. Eighty percent chance.]
[rcer: You shoot, I’ll throw the grenade. Daichi and Leon, move the vehicle on my signal!]
[Lucy: Five-second countdown.]
"Hey! Hey?! Not talking, huh? Watch blow your heads..." The Raffen Shiv mber’s cursing was cut short.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Lucy’s HJSH-18 Masamune fired early, interrupting his rant.
At the sa ti, rcer and Cassidy threw two grenades with all their might toward the faint figures in the distant dust cloud.
"Open fire!!" rcer roared, raising his Kenshin one-handed while his eyes glowed gold, he’d begun netrunning!
--------
Bonus Chapter @ 700 power stones and the next one @ 800....
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