Edgerunners2077

V: 28

District: Wellsprings, Heywood

We're too late.

I knew this before arriving and yet, I refused to brace myself. I was clinging onto the sliver of hope that dangled in the back of my mind, praying (if there is a God) that my sources are proven wrong, and I dragged my butt from Corpo Plaza at four in the morning on a false alarm. But Heywood is a thick gray cloud of smoke that smelt like burning wood, plastic and flesh. The trailing ash was like ghost tails in the dark sky, haunting the Slums and making it hard to breathe as if these natives weren't going through Hell already. 

Traffic is every bit of mayhem as it is misery and to top off the obstacles, Valentinos were everywhere! From Palms View Plaza to Parque Del Mar, the streets were a frenzy. The sidewalk crime rate skyrocketed with members of the gang either rushing to the source of the fire or using the distraction to tie up loose ends. Stabbings were happening, left and right. Grand Theft Auto was being done when drivers were still behind the wheel. Bullet rounds were like fireworks, loud and overhead, with many too unbothered to fit on a silencer. 

On my way Megabuilding H2, I get an unsettling text from Becca.

Rebecca: David's acting weird. Psycho weird.

I chew on my bottom lip so hard I can taste blood. That idiot!  David used his fucking cyberware again, even after the shipping lot incident. You'd think any decent person with a head on their shoulders would have slowed it down. Taken it easy and become a strictly gun-based Merc without all the bells and whistles until we figured something out. But truth is, David Martinez couldn't go a day without his cyberware. It was a part of him and his ability to control that insane Sandevistan of his is what put him on the map. Gave him the gigs and glory, a heap of eddies and a hell of amount of street cred. Now the same tech that made him into a somebody was killing him by taking his mind first. And to think only a few hours ago we were tangled up in each other's arms fucking in my shower...

I get to David and Lucy's building and hightail it to their floor. The door leading to the condo off the elevator was kicked in, surveillance cams shot out by half a dozen bullets, two stray rounds embedded in the wall. 

Any normal person would have lost their shit, but I've seen and dealt with a hell of a lot worse. My brain switches to Merc Mode and I study the evidence with my Kiroshi Optics. This was nowhere close to a clean job. This was sloppy, even for a low-end criminal committing robbery. Whoever forced their way in wanted their presence to be known yet wasn't brave enough to leave the cameras running to leave us with a face. 

This was personal. 

I enter inside, glass shards from hung picture frames now shattered crunch beneath my feet. The last time I was here I snuck in through the window and walked in on David boning Lucy. Seems like so long ago but in reality, it wasn't. Time is such a fucked thing in this town. Days feel like years, and hours feel like months. I start scanning the damage for clues. 

"Lucyyy!" I heard David's voice cry out. He rushes through the threshold where the front door used to be in a panic. His eyes are wild like he was buzzed, high off his damn mind but I knew better. Cyberpsychosis has a hold on him. I'm sure soon his vision will start playing tricks on him, turning his friends into foes on in his mind. 

He turns and acknowledges me with a feral smirk on his face, which only confuses the hell out of me. I can't tell if it wants to fight me or fuck me. What about the 'Lucy hysterics' he had just a second ago? Can his mind even process how fucked the situation is, or is Lucy the only thing he cares about? 

"Lucy." David approaches and grabs me by the shoulders, pulling me into a squeeze. He's holding me so tight I could feel my bones aching and my skin pinching from his Gorilla Arms grip.