Kabuki Magic

The train's full as usual. You have people like me, poor, and their clothes all scuffed. The corpo dick-suckers and their bodyguards. And the normal-ish people. Normal ain't exactly the right word, but it just describes them perfectly.

I'm staring out the window, watching all the skyscrapers zip by, and the flight of various carriers. The bright yellow of the sunset in the distance. An explosion rings off a nearby bridge. The holo-screens on the roof of the train are projecting the recent news.

"This is N54, reporting another cyberpsycho attack on the bridge to Japantown..."

A man in a suit walks behind me, with the words Militech, embroidered on its side. Bingo.

I let go of the railing holding me steady, and another explosion rang out in the distance.

"...No sir. No, the roster is not finalized. The report will be in by 7:00 P.M, sir. Yes, sir..."

The man looks scared, most likely his boss. I look to my right, at the holo-clock on the wall. 6:43 P.M. No problem. The man pauses at the door of the train.

"Next stop: Kabuki Station; Próxima parada: Kabuki; Tsugi no mokutekichi: Kabuki"

I pull the signal disruptor out of my pocket, a beauty of under-the-counter Kabuki magic. Ironic. As soon as the door opens, my job is to "bump" into the Militech agent and fry his chrome into submission. He'll be out like a light in no time flat. After that's done, I grab his suitcase containing the roster chip and run like hell. Militech and the PD'll be on my ass as soon as I fry the gonk. "Never shoot the messenger" or something like that. Oh well.

I grab onto the railing on the opposite side of the agent, on the other door.

"Now arriving at Kabuki station..."

The train begins to slow down at a rapid speed.

5...

The people around us begin to stand up and crowd around the door.

4...

The train screeches to a halt.

3...

Time slows down.

2...

The doors open with a silent swish.

1...

The agent begins to take a step out, followed by the rest.

I take a deep breath.

0...

***

--- (Third POV)

Markus is currently dreading his life. His boss, the recruiting director, "entrusted" him with the new recruit roster for this year.

"A job only for me my ass. I didn't sign up to be a delivery boy..." He thought to himself.

He's relieved to know that his errand would be coming to an end, once he drops off the "package" to another agent in Kabuki. His superior just let him know that this mission was of the "utmost importance" and asked him about the roster's finalization. Unfortunately, the roster that was supposed to be finalized yesterday, was met with a multitude of complications. Complications that even he doesn't even know about. His superiors seemed to know what was complicating the roster but were "too above" him to let him know.

"I hate writing reports though... Ugh, this job sucks." Markus thought to himself.

"Now arriving at Kabuki Station..."

As the train began to come to a stop, Markus just realized he had missed his daughter's birthday.

"Damn it, I was too caught up in my job. I need to get a present before I head back home."

The train comes to a halt and the doors smoothly slide open.

As he begins to step out, he thinks about how much his daughter's grown these past few years. He smiles, reminiscing about her previous birthdays. He wanted to make sure his daughter wouldn't end up like him, working for a shitty corp and slaving his life away.

"What would she like? Maybe a new BD? Or I can get her a..."

Before Markus could finish his thought, he lost all feeling in his body. His sense robbed and his consciousness asleep.

Behind him, a kid with something similar to an old-fashioned taser is pushing the device into his spine. Markus hits the floor face-first, and the kid quickly scrambles to his Neural-Ports. With a swift push, the chip springs out and is grabbed by none other than Van.

The people all around are shocked by the events, the normal civilians with their gasp, the corpos with an angry shout, and the street-urchins either with a grin or impassive.

Before anybody could react, however, Van had already run out of the terminal and out into the chaotic streets.

An explosion rings out in the near distance, followed by gunshots.

***

--- (2 hours later)

The rain outside pours with no sign of stopping. Every so often, an NCPD cop car would zoom by with its sirens blaring. Drones and carriers alike buzz about in the air, spotlights searching the streets and every crevice they can see. The entire sub-district of Kabuki is under lockdown in an attempt to capture the thief who went against a corp.

Not bad, honestly. They reacted pretty quickly, quicker than I thought they would. Unfortunately, the NCPD already has my face, the miracle of advanced technology, huh? If Padre comes through, my name would be cleared from the database, and my ass will be on a train to Georgia.

Staring out the window of an abandoned warehouse, I see Kabuki in the distance under lockdown. I feel bad for all the other kids who look like me over there. I'm not religious, but I hope they'll find heaven or something like that.

Breaking my thoughts is a knock on the front door. I grab my pistol and cock it back.

"Sebastian Ibarra sent me."

I open the door and point the gun out, with its barrel gently resting against the genital area of a girl.

"Relax kid, I'm the slicer Padre sent. And you mind putting the gun down?"

"Yeah... Sorry."

The girl's dressed in an all-black net-runner suit, with her long black hair reaching down to her waist. Her gaze is sharp as a hawk with those green eyes of hers. She comes in and shuts the door behind her.

"Name's Vicky. You got that chip?

I toss her the chip, and she catches it in one graceful motion.

"...I'm counting on you."

"Don't worry kid, I'm a professional."

She slots in the chip in one of her Neural-Ports and her eyes light up.

"Get comfy kid, It'll take some time to break the ICE."

I look out the window, staring at the pale moon.

The night is silent for today.