Cyberpunk Edgerunners: Corporate war

Informant

Night city. a futuristic dystopia filled to the brim with corporate agenda and criminal activity. not a day goes by without a crime here and there. Sometimes it ends in a shootout between the NCPD and the local gang members. resulting in a lot of casualties usually. but believe it or not, the rabbit hole of crime goes even deeper and complex in the underbelly of the city. criminal networks, Hitmans, illegal weapon smugglings. it’s got it all. and if you talk to the right people… you might just make a living.

“nice to finally meet you, uhhh….” the man spoke casually as he leaned into the table.

“Frank. the name’s Frank” he spoke. looking awkward and fidgety.

“right! Frank. i knew that, i knew that…” the man spoke again. leaning back into the booth couch. eyeing the man up and down. seemingly assessing his character. but Frank seemed to be distracted by something as he looked at his surroundings a bit. but that’s probably because they’re both seated in a booth inside a strip club with scantily clad women dancing on stages, surrounded by men and women while club music blasts throughout the place. it's so loud that it almost drowns out their conversation earlier. “so, tell me… Frank. Have you considered changing your name? cause your name sounds kinda dull y’know.” the man starts before immediately getting sidetracked.

“uhm… n-no? c- can we just cut right to the chase please?” Frank seemed to be in a hurry as he urged the man to take this conversation of theirs seriously.

“Alrighty, Frank. serious fellow aren’t ya? no small talk kinda guy huh?” the man comments. his casual demeanour clashing heavily with Frank’s. “okay. you looking for information right? well? spill the beans. whatchu need?” the man leans into the table again. preparing to listen to Frank’s request.

“okay…. I'm working for this corporation. and I think there might be something fishy going on inside.” Frank says as he hands the man a file to which the man opens. revealing pictures of the corporate building that Frank is supposedly working in. “I'm wondering if you got any info on it…”

“ah. yep. you’re gut ain't wrong there Frank. something definitely is going on there.” the man reveals which made Frank pipe up.

“i knew it!...” he mutters to himself before going back to listen for what the man has to say about it. but then silence. The man didn’t tell him anything after confirming Frank’s suspicions. This made him impatient. “well? out with it!” he says. a little louder than he should’ve as he garnered a bit of attention from it through weird looks from the other people in the club.

“Look man. I can't be giving out information without payment first, alright? bad for business. Now fork it over and I'll tell.” the man says as he signals the man to hand him the money. Frank sighs before he starts looking intently at him. “what? Do I have something on my face?” the man quips.

“there. I wired it to your account.” Frank says as the man receives a notification about a money transfer inside his robotic eye.

“Oh man! Quite the rich man aren’t ya Frank? Would you consider being a regular client?” the man jokes which didn’t really amuse him at all.

“Just tell me already!” frank yells. again, gaining the attention of everyone in the club.

“okay. okay. Now what I heard from the grape vine, and from some of my working buddies… is that the corporation that you're working with… they’re working on some top notch weapons. Now, I don't know what kind of weapons. but what i do know is that if those things hit the streets. oooh boy… expect a little drizzle of red rain.” the man tells him. silencing Frank into shock as he reels back fromt eh information.

“my god… i thought it was just a business company…" Frank mutters as he holds his head.

“yeah… a lot of companies do that. they say it's just a Business company but it’s all a cover to what's really going on behind the scenes.” the man says as he pats Frank on the shoulder. snapping him out of his thoughts. “Well, that’s all I got for ya big man. pleasure doing business with ya.” he says as Frank only manages a nod before getting up to leave. but then he stops. Then he looks back over to the man which earned him a questioning look.

“by the way… you never told me your name…” Frank says.

“oh. yeah. can’t disclose that to ya. only trusted clients can get that perk.” he says with a smirk. Frank abides but not before hearing a voice behind him.

“Tetsuga!” the voice said, revealing his name as the owner of the voice brushes past Frank to get to Tetsuga. “finally found you! look i  got something-” the man tries to tell Tetsuga something but gets cut off short by him.

“Yeah. I hear you.. but I'm kinda in the middle of something.” Tetsuga tells him. causing the other man to look behind him and see Frank standing there, then back to Tetsuga.

“middle of w- oh. oh! oh.”  the man mumbles now realising what he’s done.

“Tetsuga huh? sounds like a dull name.” Frank says. using Tetsuga’s words against him.

“touche Frank. touche…” Tetsuga says with a chuckle. a little surprised at Frank’s little show of humour. Frank turns to leave but gets stopped one last time as Tetsuga calls out to him. “ oh, and Frank!” he says. Frank looking back around to see him.

“you didn’t hear it from me ‘kay?”