I decided to spend the next few days quietly. No jobs. No running around with Hiromi, although she was at school for the next few days anyways.
I was still sort of coming to terms with my own ability in murder, and I thought so ti away from missions where I had a gun in my hand was needed to sort myself out.
The plan was simple. Stay out of trouble and pretend to recover from the gig, so I would mostly stay out of sight of anyone that knows .
Lots of things kept occupied though. Crafting for one. The gig I had just accomplished. Everything in between.
Plus it didnt help that I had a lot of ti on my hands as I drove back out into the desert. Part of the desire was pure XP grind. Being able to really gun the engine on my Quadra Type-66 was amazing. Leaving giggling at points as I caught so air, or ca around a corner of a dune a little too fast and drifting a little.
Little XP alerts ca in, but it wasnt a lot. I wasnt doing anything truly crazy.
But I was on my way to get sothing I had left behind.
I soon ca up to the location. Slowing down as I ca up to the wreck of Scorpion's ride. Or at least pieces of it. The Aldecaldos must have already co by from the look of it. The car itself was gone, but I could see bits and pieces of tal left behind.
Plus the GPS told this was it.
I ca to a stop and started searching. The desert didnt like giving back what it had taken and after a long hour or searching that area of the desert I finally found it.
Like hell I was going to leave behind my HMG! I love that thing! I shot it out of a moving car! Its like I was in an action movie!
Its barrel was all I could see as I was sticking out of the desert, and as I slowly dug it out I winced.
Poor girl. I could instantly tell how bad of a condition it was in.
You see. I had a very special alert from the night before.
With a grin I once again looked at my nu.
*Crafting skill level up!*
I managed to get Crafting 1 from sewing that last night. Although I had stabbed my finger more tis than I really wanted to admit.
I rember thinking that Breach was the most information dense of any of the skills I had taken so far.
I was wrong.
Crafting made Breach seem like elentary school math compared to Calculus. It was so dense, with little bits of knowledge in how to craft tons of things. Explosives, weapons, clothes, armor, vehicles, everything. Plus tool knowledge for tons of pieces of equipnt, and the instincts on everything from making sothing to unmaking it.
I could also feel a big blackness in the knowledge like it was reaching for knowledge that wasnt there at points. Knowledge I already knew would be Engineering.
Two sides of the sa side. Crafting was doing it by hand. Engineering was closer to design work or maybe understanding more complicated crafting? I guess I would find out when I unlocked it.
Even without the knowledge though, I could feel the sort of impact it will have on my understanding of tech.
It was kinda exciting.
I realized quickly last night that sewing wasnt going to give much experience, even if it was really useful. I still needed to figure out a way of making patches for my Leotard. I might need to buy a new one, or just buy a Netrunner suit to cannibalize.
Still I had a feeling I would know a good way to do it once I explored Crafting a bit more.
But between Crafting and Gun Nut, I had a solid understanding as I pulled my HMG free of the desert. I knew she was dead. When she had been thrown from the car, she had hit sothing solid, a rock probably. There was a good chunk of her receiver smashed in. Her barrel didnt look too bad, visually, but Gun nut told it wasnt straight anymore. The pieces that let the barrel slide back after firing and be pushed forward with a spring were wrecked.
I sighed as I held her up. Coming all this way only to find out she had died. It was sad.
Not a waste, but just sad. She had really done work against the Wraiths, and we would have chewed them up if not for the car crashing.
I hefted her up and felt the sand pour out of her. I had co all this way. It would be wrong to just leave her though.
I nodded. I wouldnt just leave her. Ill fix you soday. Who knows. Maybe Ill even be able to give you a nice upgrade. I told the gun as I shook her out a bit.
Bitches do love cannons after all. I muttered giggling a little at myself as I carried her back to the car. She would sit in my passenger seat while I drove ho.
Well not quite ho.
I had learned more than just how to craft from my level up. In fact I learned what was probably the most important part of crafting.
Deconstruction.
I now knew how to take sothing apart to get at the useful bits.
Which gave an idea. Especially since I now had wheels.
In the morning I had gone down to the market to the sa repair lady that had once basically called an idiot for not knowing about the map function in my eyes.
She was kinda a bitch, but she was closeby.
Tools? She asked looking up from Oh I recognized it now. It was an internet port for ho use. Hook your TV or other devices into it to watch TV or get local web.
Yeah. Im looking to get into scrapping, repair, and maybe so tinkering. Best place to get tools for it? I asked, earning an odd look from the lady. Thankfully I guess getting my haircut and colored made look different enough she was willing to talk.
Ill give you a kit sure, thousand eddies. She offered brazenly as if it was just a thing.
Thats robbery for a tool kit. But Ill tell you what. Ill pay a thousand, if its a complete kit. If everything Ill need is inside it. If it isnt Well I know where you work. I said, trying to put on my coolest stare.
Dont go trying to threaten , kid. Market security will be more than happy to have you thrown out. Sothing about the way I spoke seed to work as the woman sounded a little spooked despite her tough words to the contrary. But after a mont she nodded. But yeah. Ill make sure its a complete kit. 1000 eddies.
A minute later I watched as she started putting a variety of tools from kits that she was selling into a single box. Although a few of the electronics she placed inside looked like personal equipnt, sothing she looked at shrugged and threw it in.
I really couldnt tell now if she was scamming . But, well better to just get what I need and lose so eddies than have to spend a few days going to different stores trying to find the basics. Besides, if I found out later she scamd .
I did know where she worked.
Here. This is everything soone doing so scraping, salvage, or repair needs. Im not here to teach you so if you dont know what sothing does, thats on you. She offered, handing the tool box.
Thank you. I agreed. My eyes going blue as I transferred the funds. A thousand bucks seems like a lot, but tools are always expensive.
I had hurried ho and after opening the box and poking around. It took a while to check over everything, but my Crafting 1 knowledge dump did give an idea of how almost everything works. So of the stuff was esoteric.
With that done and a firm understanding of what tools and things I had. I was actually pretty sure the lady hadnt screwed over. Overcharged ? Sure. But she had put in just about everything I would need.
With that I went into my room and put on so older clothes, things I wouldnt mind ruined, I found an old pair of gloves that I think once belonged to Jun, and an older pair of boots.
The glitzy ugly things I had no problem with ruining.
Then I took my toolbox out to my new car.
I had headed out to scrounge over the battle site. Not much had been left, and I was lucky to find my HMG still left over, but not my SMG. That was a pain. So instead of wasting more ti. I settled my HMG in the seat, walked around to the driver side, patted my car's hood, and started up her engine with a roar.
Lets go to the dump!
--
Oh god it stinks. I whined as I climbed another pile of trash looking for electronics, or anything else I could take apart.
Seriously, why did I co here!? Who was the idiot that said I should co to the dump!? Ill kill them!
No wait Motoko murder was still wrong against anyone not a scav, or a Wraith, or a bad guy in general.
Was telling soone go to the dump an evil act?
As I almost slipped and felt my foot fall into sothing wet and gooey, I decided yes. Yes it was.
Too bad the evil person was . I did this to myself.
Puking a little in my mouth I continued to work. If nothing else there was a lot of stuff here to scavenge.
I had already found a ton of stuff to work with. I didnt have any grand plans, honestly I was mostly looking for stuff I would definitely be able to fix, or at least take apart for parts to fix sothing else.
Grinding my Crafting skill was less about making sothing useful right now, and more about making sothing at all.
Really my big goal was just not to spend any money on this Well any more money.
Eventually I could even make grenades and such. I did have a bunch of them from that Wraith guy I killed. Crazy bastard was practically covered in them, I had klepped them all, and there were even so parts to make more.
I just wasnt going to try until I was sure I wasnt going to blow my face off.
But until then I was looking for good scrap.
And trying not to puke.
I grunted as I slowly ca back down the side of a trash pile with an old laptop in my arms. It had a bullet hole sure, but I could get a ton of stuff out of it.
Which is when I looked to my left and stopped.
No it couldnt be.
I looked around and I realized this area did look familiar.
I dropped the broken laptop. Focusing instead on what I was looking at.
A fridge.
A very familiar fridge.
I walked over and with a hesitant hand I lifted the lid.
Imdiately I closed it ran a few feet away and lost my lunch.
Oh god that sll!
Yep. That was a decaying Rache Bartmoss. As I heaved out my guts my brain was processing what I had just found.
V had found him in 2077. But it was still 2075. Had no one found him in two years? Really?
I finished clearing my mouth and hurried back this ti I opened the fridge without breathing I reached in and grabbed his Netdeck.
Quickly took a picture of the inside of the fridge, and slamd it shut.
Then I ran away. Gasping a dozen feet away as I tried to breath without slling rotting corpse.
The Netdeck still slled too though. I shivered hurried back to the car. I was gonna stuff this in the trunk and not open it again until I had a plastic bag or sothing to seal it in.
Fuck. I had found Rache Bartmoss.
--
So I now had a plastic bag with Rache Barmosss netdeck sealed inside, hidden in my room.
That was Gonna be sothing I deal with later. No way I had the ability to check the insides without having my brain lted.
And honestly? I didnt trust Nix. In the Ga you take it to the Afterlife where a Netrunner called Nix hacks into it. He nearly gets brain fried but you rescue him.
Afterwards he tells V there wasnt really anything interesting inside, gives you so special Quickhacks and sends V away right after.
Rache Bartmoss basically created Netrunning. He was The greatest. Period.
I always got suspicious in the ga dealing with Nix. He always treated V like an amateur even after saving his life.
So I was going to skip that entire thing. Ill grind up my skills and crack the netdeck myself soday.
Until then?
Well I thought about talking to Wakako about the fridge, but It will keep. Literally.
If no one would have found it in two years I think its safe where it is. Especially since I already took the valuable bit.
So I pulled out my haul from the dump and grabbed my toolbox.
Ti to get to work.
First My HMG was settled onto the living room table to get a good cleaning and going over, once it was at least clean I set her in my room for now.
Then considering that leveling Technical Attribute was just as slow as Intelligence, I decided to combine them. While I was slowly taking apart the old electronics and other toys I had found. I was also listening to my Mother's Netrunning guide, and hacking the radio.
*100 Technical Attribute XP Gained*
---
While grinding hacking was kinda boring in a way since for the most part it was just going through code as you tried to slip through the security. Grinding Crafting was more interesting.
Like sure it was slow, but you were getting more than just the XP.
Every ti I took apart sothing I was getting equipnt for more stuff in the future. I was finding neat little surprises inside expensive pieces of equipnt that still worked despite the ruined exterior.
So it kept my interest a lot longer. Although even so I did get bored eventually.
Stretching, I decided to stretch my legs and grab a al. Besides it had been a few days of playing around with tech I hadnt really talked to anyone since I got back from the Badlands.
So I started sending off everyone I knew a text.
*Hey Hiromi, still in school? Is it at least interesting?*
*Ichi, hows work? Are you still stuck at the club for extra protection?*
*Dr. Vik. Its Motoko, havent had a chance to talk to you since we t up. I hope the chro has been useful. Ive actually been looking for so stuff, I was wondering if you could help? I need to update my optics, Im thinking Kiroshi. Let know if you have any deets on where I could get a set? Thanks Vik.*
With that I felt at least that I wasnt hiding away from the world entirely.
Even if I did things kept changing.
The Claw-Strom gang war had been expanding. Mostly Ive been kept up to date on the news which I would let play while I was taking stuff apart.
The war had spread. It was becoming a full out gang war. Because when you are shooting people on the streets sotis you get so collateral.
Right now The Valentinos were shooting both sides whenever they ca into their territory. Turns out soone well loved in the Tinos had been killed in the crossfire between Strom and Claws.
Tinos were pissed.
6th St were also shooting on sight, but purely to keep Claws, or Strom from moving into their territory.
This of course ant the Moxes were started to buckle down as well. The Claws getting hit hard which made them hyper aggressive.
Mox girls and boys were paying for it. So they were arming up as well.
The entire north side of the city was turning into a warzone.
Damn.
I was firmly staying out of it. Other than Jun I had no connection to the entire trouble.
Which reminded . I sent out one more text ssage.
*Jun. Please still be alive.*
I hadnt heard from Jun in a while. Once again he was not responding to texts or calls.
So with that done I headed outside. I was just buying my routine mystery at skewer when I got a text in return.
*Hiromi: Im free bitch! We going partying!*
*Sorry Hiromi. Im not really up to a party tonight. Glad you are free though.*
*Hiromi: Uuuuugh you are the boringest crazy person I have ever t!*
*Hey, I'm not crazy!*
*Hiromi: Scav Den. SOLO.*
*Which I did fully trusting that I could do it and survive. Mostly.*
*Hiromi: Hence the crazy. Any news about Jun?*
*Nothing.* I sighed as I walked around the block mostly just to do sothing other than stand around as I got so fresh air.
*Hiromi: Ill ask around so of the Claws I know. I know the war is getting pretty bad, so hes probably just busy.*
*I hope hes just busy. I really do.*
*Hiromi: Alright enough about bad stuff. What have you been doing? I talked to Ichi and he has been jobless since his glorious Shobo-Sama is keeping everyone close to the club. So I know you havent done any jobs with Ichi. No more scav dens right?*
I didnt know how to respond, technically I hadnt hit a Scav den.
Technically.
*Hiromi: RIGHT?*
*Not a Scav den. I did so work for Wakako involving a nomad. It kinda blew up.*
*Hiromi: WHAT THE FUCK MOTOKO! Im coming over!*
*Okay Im just walking the block.*
I laughed a little. It was nice to talk to Hiromi even if she was very Hiromi. She was my best Choom after all.
I ended up getting back to the apartnt and camping out waiting at the entrance for Hiromi to show up. The roar of her Kusanagi was sothing I could hear long before I saw her, and I was groaning because I could tell she was speeding like crazy.
Hiromi Slow down you gonk. I grumbled as I waited for her to co around the corner nearly drive into a lamppost, miss it by a bit and skid up onto the sidewalk in front of the apartnt.
MOTOKO!
Hello Hiromi. Do we need to talk about speed laws? I asked but she ignored as she jumped off her bike and started looking over. Her hands poking and prodding.
Im fine. I told her earning a glare from Hiromi.
You did sothing stupid again!
It was a gig! An official gig! It went bad when the Raffen Shiv showed up. But it turned out alright. I told her with a shrug. Well, except my new baby got destroyed. They got pissed when I was firing the HMG out the side of the car and we ended up flipping. My HMG Died Hiromi. Im Sad. I whined a bit at her.
What the fuck Motoko! You Thats fuckin Nova. You fired that big ass thing out the side of a car? A moving car? She asked suddenly perking up as I gave her a tidbit about the story.
Oh it was way more Nova than that, they were behind us so I opened the passenger door rested the gun against the door and was firing backwards halfway out the car.
That is the preest shit I ever heard. You crazy girl! She pulled into a massive hug squeezing as hard as she could. Im gonna have to stick to you from now on, cause you are gonna get flatlined doing such preem shit.
It wasnt that bad. Cmon lets park your bike in the garage I want to show you sothing. I grinned as I urged her back to the bike and hopped on patting the seat infront of so Hiromi would get on.
She did, looking like she wanted to keep hugging or lock away in a dungeon so I could stop doing Preem shit and get killed.
When we pulled into the garage Hiromi parking right next to my car which was in Juns spot. Hiromi was actually grumbling about it as she parked next to his spot.
Whos in Juns spot? She grumbled to and it was only by pulling her back that I stopped her from kicking my car as she got off her bike.
I am. I told her once I pulled her back as I walked up and opened the driver's door. Want to go for a drive? I teased her as I slipped inside.
Bullshit. This is a Wraith car, it even has their markings on it.
Yeah I need to get it repainted. The previous owner wont mind. I hinted as I cocked my head to the passenger door.
Wait, you're being serious? She asked, suddenly looking from to the car.
Which is when I started it up. It roared to life.
Hiromi happily jumped into the passenger seat a mont later looking around as I closed my door and pulled out.
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