Borderline Joke (7)
‘Advertising your skills far and wide is a fool's errand.’
‘……But sometimes, it's not a bad idea to make sure your enemies know exactly what kind of mad bastard you are and what you're capable of.’
‘…Unfortunately, I learned that lesson too late.’
‘Remember this, young friend. This world… is a place where once you let something slip from your grasp, it's damn hard to pick it back up.’
These are the words you can hear if you strike up a conversation with the man wiping down glasses inside a quiet bar in Neo Haven.
Normally just an NPC who sells you booze, but sometimes he'll hook you up with dangerous jobs, introduce you to capable allies, or open doors to shady gear deals and backroom meetings. The shop owner, Schneider.
He's a character who provides solid support even in the main storyline, and given his bar's prime location where all sorts of rumors flow, players loved him as the ‘middle-aged cool guy’ or ‘sanity checker’—a fan favorite.
His detailed backstory… the devs never spelled it out, but the game dropped plenty of clues for speculation.
The overzealous way he fights off attackers during raid events.
The blurry family photo always decorating the shop interior… stained with what looks like blood.
……And the weird bug where Bloody Mary is the only cocktail he flat-out refuses to make, no matter how many times you order it.
“…? Why, sis?”
“…….”
The little girl, Mary, and her mom—Schneider's wife—stared blankly at me.
Even after I'd cleaned up the scumbag intruders, I was still a stranger. For their sake later on, the best move was to back off without any misunderstandings… but I wanted to express my thanks before I left.
“Yeah?!”
“…Huh?”
I approached slowly, gave Mary a hug—height difference be damned—then tightly embraced her mom.
“……I'm just glad you're both safe.”
They might find it unpleasant if they knew, but it felt like… some kind of absolution.
This raid might've happened because of me, but my actions had meaning.
Even if this was just the scenario of a game called Neo Haven Prime, if I could save innocent people like this… I'd follow through every time.
The short but warm embrace ended, and I pulled away.
“…Ah!”
“Ah, sorry…!”
I'd hugged them out of nowhere, and now I was trying to brush the blood off Mary and her mom's clothes… but thinking about it, the only time I'd ever seen blood brush off with your hands was on my combat suit. My face burned with embarrassment at how stupid that was.
…Time to make a cool exit. It wasn't too late yet.
…Probably.
I spun around quick, pretending to check my ammo—nah, actually checking it!—and slipped out of their home.
After that unplanned close-quarters brawl, I'd gotten a read on the situation. Instead of charging into the fray with this body like an idiot, it made more sense to head straight to the junk shop, grab the remaining hovercraft, and roll in.
I needed to give the shop owner an earful about our deal anyway.
…It was dramatic, sure, but didn't that famous general say something like it? Grab a tank and blow the enemies' heads off.
Crunch crunch…
Crunch… crunch… crunch…
But… the sound of footsteps kicking up sand multiplied behind me.
A quick glance back: little Mary with her sparkling eyes, and her mom—any wariness gone, wearing a warm smile.
“Um… now that the bad guys are dealt with, wouldn't it be safer to stay home…?”
“If there are still black syndicate goons lurking around town somewhere, it'd probably be better to stick with someone reliable.”
“Then… can I stick by the pretty sis?”
“No. You can't help the pretty sis, but you definitely can't get in her way, okay?”
She wouldn't burden me. Wouldn't ask me to protect her.
But for her daughter's safety, she didn't hesitate on the best choice.
……Truly, a woman as incredible as Schneider himself.
At this rate, I couldn't even imagine how captivating and terrifying the main leads would be up close.
Shiiiik…!
“Whoa…!”
“…This has ballistic protection, so. This time, you stick tight to Mom and keep her safe, got it?”
“Yeah! Yeah!!”
I shrugged off my jacket and threw it over the little girl like doll clothes—whump!
My cyberware was bitching about vital organs being exposed, but…
…What was I supposed to do? I couldn't just ignore it now that I'd seen.
I had no idea how many classes of ammo this unseen armor could stop, but putting it on her eased my mind a bit.
Creak… creeeak…
After confirming the mother-daughter duo clinging to each other, I slowly pushed open the junk shop's chain-link fence—lock smashed—and entered.
Piles of scrap metal and waste everywhere. Dormant massive compressors and robot arms.
The owner wasn't dumb enough to leave a pristine hovercraft out in this wide-open space, so he'd probably cleared out the big warehouse next door and stashed it there.
But… judging by the entrance, there were definitely uninvited guests with bad intentions already inside.
More than my earlier shoulder worries, my arms were going numb from holding the shotgun at the ready in constant tension.
I had to end this fast and precise.
“Fuckin' hackers, goddamn…! While the other kids are bustin' their asses, I thought this'd be sweet gig suckin' honey, but if we head back like this, the boss is gonna love that, you prick!”
“No…! This ain't just any hovercraft, it's corporate shit, I tell ya?! Fuck. If it was some roadside junker, I'd have cracked it already!”
“……What kinda morons are these…?”
The closer I got to the warehouse, the more the conversation drained my will to fight. It was like those voyeur pervs I'd killed earlier—maybe someone had set a trap using these half-wits.
“!!”
No. Too early to relax.
Peeking through the slightly ajar warehouse door, I spotted a guy jabbing wires from the back of his neck into the vehicle's outer panel, struggling away.
His implants looked like total trash aesthetically—I'd gone pure spec from the start—but in the metropolis, any hacker worth their salt had modification scars on their fingers or wherever. Essential stuff.
A city-bred hacker in a gang was high-value manpower, and who knew what cute mods he'd gotten besides….
Bang!! Crack…!
“……Fuckin' shit?!”
The muzzle flashed, and the pricey hacker buddy took a long trip.
I'd aimed for the body to avoid missing from shaky aim, but his head exploded—lucky break. The other guy was so startled he tripped and couldn't even draw.
I charged in before he recovered.
“Black syndicate gang, right?”
“……City bitches really do walk around in just their undies… it's true.”
“….”
Bang!!
“?! Aaaaagh---!! Fuck!!”
Seemed too dazed, so I put a clean hole in his thigh to let in some fresh air.
His buddy dies right in front of him, killer with a gun staring him down, and his priority is ogling underwear…?
The hedonism rampant in this world was insane. Even my head hurt.
He pressed his thick hand hard on the wound, trying to staunch the bleeding somehow.
Felt a bit like amateur torture and made me uneasy, but right now, use every tool available.
“Fuck… fuck!”
“…Hey. Tattoo on your forearm… glowing implants. Phone? Comm?”
“……Boss sent a comm to head back to the bar.”
Maybe ‘cause he'd experienced the class difference firsthand…? He was compliant now, softening my resolve.
Sparing a small-time thug like this wouldn't lead to catastrophic butterflies, right…?
“Tell your boss you're bringing the hovercraft back. Oh, and Mary, Mom—don't stay there, come on in quick.”
“…Got it.”
Sensing an out from my hesitation and the mother-daughter entering, he followed orders meekly.
Before the original story kicks off, sure, there were people I could save by acting.
But conversely, the butterfly effects could snowball—who knew how big.
…Nah? On second thought, letting a grudge-holder live might cause bigger problems?
“……Ah. Right.”
“?!”
Scanning my biometrics to open the hovercraft door triggered a clear mechanical voice announcing my registered identity.
Dr. Whatever-his-name had registered this fake ID on his own… but now that they'd heard, no choice.
The world was shoving my finger toward the trigger… blame the too-high-spec corporate product.
“W-wait! I swear I won't tell a soul…!! Credits! Yeah, I got some saved up…!!”
“…No intention of leaving loose ends now. Trackers are pain enough.”
Confirming the sharp mom boarding the hovercraft with Mary's eyes and ears covered… I pulled the trigger.
They'd seen enough ugly already, but less exposure couldn't hurt.
“Ugh… my arm hurts….”
“Sis! You okay? Can I tell Dad about you? Yeah?”
“Yeah, yeah….”
Vreeeeem…!!
Boom!
The hovercraft lifted off, smashing through the warehouse door as it launched.
The net was still flooded with curses—no word on casualties yet.
Makes sense with enemy encounters this frequent; this response time was plenty fast for backup.
Vrooooom---!!
“!! It's here! Hovercraft!”
Even bursting into the open lot in front of the bar amid heavy gunfire, the crude human turrets didn't shoot this way.
Hell, they welcomed it like friendlies.
No real resistance—I parked right in front of the better-equipped, flashier-dressed guys.
Originally planned to ram and crush with the vehicle itself… but if they were rolling out the red carpet, I had a gift queued up.
Hit the controls to pop the doors and moved toward them.
“Buckle up tight…!!”
“Yeah!!”
“……Be careful.”
Ping…!!
Strict warning to my two passengers complete, I yanked the pin on a frag grenade.
Doors flew open, green death arced into the sky.
“Fire in the hole, you fucks…!!”
These idiots were done; clean up the rest, and the mess ends….
……Wait, that grenade.
Frag, got it—but how many seconds till boom…?
Wait, what fuse model even?
Cyberware…?
Ah. Fuck.