Edgerunners2077

V:17

[Bourgie: is used an insult to call someone 'lower class']

[Del Coronado Bay: The body of water located on the west side of the city, connecting to the Pacific Ocean] 

[Dock: slang meaning sexual intercourse]

[Caretaker Drones: Designed by Corpos to fill the void of the missing parent while the workers attend their corporate jobs. These bots were vigilant at caring for their assignments, which was anything from playing Hide-N-Seek, preparing meals and using their mechanical bodies to shield the child from a stray bullet]

[Delta: is Night City Slang, meaning to leave usually in a haste]

[System Reboot/ Reboot Optics: is a quickhacking ability used by Netrunners to covertly target a system's optical cyberware which renders them blind for a period of time]

District: Kabuki, Watson 

Cool, casual and not suspicious. 

We leave the wheels behind, parked just along the edge of highway before the South Allen Street exit. Just two Bourgie thugs skimming the strip, or at least that's the image we were going for. The average no-good, nobody, wannabe gangsters. Why? Because those faces litter Kabuki like the bodies that trash the Del Coronado Bay. All too common and if you're not paying attention, not much to look at either. We need to blend in for this mission to go over well, and David and I intend on doing just that. 

There's a small cut in between the building next door and the shipping lot fence, not big enough to be considered an alleyway, but wide enough for us hooligans to walk through. The building in question appears to be a rundown laundry mat; the side windows boarded up and scribed the words WE ARE CLOSED were engrained with spray paint across the front doors. 

Perfect!

In other cities, two grown people behind an abandon building may come off as sketchy, maybe even something to call the authorities over. But in Night City, it's our way of life. Most gonks down here either smoke, dock or do Glitter on the side streets. To the naked eye, we will be one in the same.

Just as we make it near the laundry mat, I take out Evelyn's cigarette case from my back pocket. I always keep it near just in case Johnny bothers me for a smoke. Only this time Johnny didn't put the idea into my head, I did. Pulling out a cig, I light it and take my first pull. My face instantly sours, but I bite back against the taste in my mouth. Can't make myself out to be an amateur. Yet the tobacco leaves my tastebuds feeling hot and grimy. I hate it, feels like whole diaphragm is on fire. 

Johnny: OHHHH SWEET JESUS! You're telling me you did that all on your own? Christ! About time! Tired of begging around like some lost pooch! Geez, I can't believe it. This must be my lucky day.

I roll my eyes, my tear ducts threating to water from the smoke. "Take it all in, Asshat. Might as well since we gotta make a little of a show out of it." I take one more puff and pass the tobacco to David. He takes it, looking at me dubiously.

"I don't smoke." He says flatly, pinching the cigarette in between his fingers awkwardly. 

I shrug with both shoulders, "You do now. I need us to look like lowlifes for a couple of seconds while I pinpoint all of the surveillance cams and turn them off one by one." 

He starts to curse then pauses mid-sentence, it's a single digit of mine over his lip that shuts him up. "It was either this or make-out like thirsty virgins and we're definitely not doing the second one." I insist, "Smoking causes little distress from anyone who maybe onlooking, like the guard at the booth." I point nudgingly with a single tilt of the head. "If we're going to slip past undetected, we're going to need to play smart."