Easy Job

The Kusanagi slid into the opened wall-sized door of her destination. It was a warehouse. One that seemed old and broken down from the outside, but once in, Lei knew it was untrue.

Everything about the place was state of the art. Advanced in all facets alongside the sheer space within. Catwalks spanning the ceiling…supply lines running throughout the place. 

The armored Millitech truck was sitting in an enclosure, a pile of dead bodies nearby. Both of Meredith's Borg bodyguards were currently beating the absolute shit out of a man in a suit and tie. He was covered in blood and seemed to have been taking a beating for a while. 

Gone were the yells of pains and screams. It had reached the point of barely audible groans and squeals. Those animalistic sounds were drowned out by the Borgs' massive fists smacking soft skin. The crunching and snapping of bones and ligaments were far more audible.

Stout, the corpo lady herself, was leaning against the vehicle. The same cigarette from earlier still in her hand…just less of it remaining. Lei had reached the area in record time. 

"I told you before that there was a leak in Millitech. I've long since dealt with the mole responsible, but there are plenty of things that have to be cleaned up." The cold woman spoke up as the sickly girl approached.

".............................."

Meredith Stout tossed her cigarette and pulled out a sleek pistol. It was crafted with carbon fiber highlights and seemed to have two grips with the trigger being in the middle. A tech pistol. The Millitech Ticon. This beautiful pistol was actually quite old in its manufacturing, though its functionality was quite brilliant. 

The Ticon was a three round burst pistol. When the trigger was held down though, it would charge the burst and send it out as one shot. A timed release of the trigger could essentially turn it into a semi auto. This weapon could be held with one hand or two. 

"This man here…" The cold woman gestured to the half dead man. "...Is from Akari Heavy Industries. A small software and structuring company. Taking advantage of the information, he hired a third party to steal our company's prototype weapon schematics." She explained. 

Lei observed the situation unfolding before her. This corpo woman spoke as if she knew she wouldn't be interrupted. Taking long breaks in between each set of words. Were all corpo's like this? The sickly girl couldn't help but ponder this. 

"He decided to hire a third party. Therefore, I will do the same. Infiltrate this small arms facility and retrieve my schematics. There should only be a few traps in the floors below." She finished. 

With a raise of her hand, the Borgs stopped beating on the man. Meredith slightly raised the Ticon pistol to the meat corpse. An exquisite sound radiated from the weapon as it charged. Once she released the trigger, a powerful tri bullet shot out of the barrel, completely exploding his head. 

"I would prefer it if you completed this right now…but everytime I see you, your face looks worse. I'll give you two days."

"...You make it seem as if there's benefits to finishing today." Lei commented.

"Mmm…how observant. Yes. Do it today, and I will add something nice to your already great rewards."

"Like what?" 

"I'll be waiting here. Elevator's over there." 

Meredith ignored Lei's question and pointed to a nearby elevator shaft. The sickly girl rolled her eyes before slowly walking over. To any onlookers it would seem as if she was taking her time. This was far from the truth. Her body was tired and still recovering from her last episode. Of course, she knew how to poise her steps in order to look normal. 

This corpo lady though…she wasn't a normal person. As Lei walked away, Meredith's eyes narrowed with a bit of concern. It was unknown if such worry was over the girl's well being or the completion of the job. Her face quickly returned to its cold demeanor as Lei reached the elevator shaft. 

"Descending into the pits of hell now. See you on the other side." She joked. 

Stout waved her hand in response. Almost like shooing Lei away. Rude. The sickly girl rolled her eyes before clicking B1. The floor below ground level. There were three basement floors that Lei would have to search. 

'If there's one thing I know about you, it's that you roll your eyes with the perfect bitch face.' Johnny commented. He glitched into reality and leaned against the wall. 

'You felt the need to tell me that…why?'

'Boredom. If I could, I'd clear these floors myself. Just to feel alive.'

'Only a few traps…yeah right. Probably a death machine murder Borg down here.' Lei commented. Johnny shook his head.

'I don't think that's the purpose of this gig.' He revealed. She raised an eyebrow in response.

'How so?'

'If I know anything about these slimy bastards…it's that things aren't ever that simple. If she wants you to complete a job and she's still waiting above, this isn't about the job. Maybe this is a goodwill check.'

'Bullshit.'

'Give you an easy job. Pay you with incredible rewards. Maybe even give you a good fuck. Basically locking you in for the next job. And that job will be a shitshow.' He explained. Lei couldn't help but smile.

'I hope it's like that. Not really planning on running around today. Guns only.' She said.

'Can see that plain as day, you gonk. So can your input.'

'She is NOT my input.'

'Whatever. Your fuck buddy.'

'Language, Johnny! Geez.' Lei complained. Did he always have to be so vulgar?

Lei pulled out the Burya from its holster and held it with both hands. As the elevator doors opened, she accelerated her mind. Only a crack was visible through the doors but it was enough. A sweeping ping went across the area and highlighted any and every piece of machinery. 

Turrets. Drones. Computers. Cameras. Deactivation and Short Circuit quickhacks were casually sent to the hostile forces and cameras. Time sped up to normal, allowing the quickhacks to actually set in and take effect. 

Only then did the doors fully open. Lei casually walked down the halls. There was no pause in her stride. She kept to a purposeful route, one that followed the lines of her recent ping. 

It didn't take long to reach the computers and terminals. Plugging her jack into one of the ports, she quickly surfed through the system. Her strain on the net left no trace like a digital ghost. Their ICE was strong…but there was no netrunner holding it all together. Without them, all it took was a bit of time. 

Nothing worthwhile popped up on the monitor nor in her display. Seems she'd have to go down another floor. Lei's high heels made elegant taps as she returned to the elevator. On to B2.

It was the same deal on this floor. The same amount of ceiling turrets alongside a few drones. Easily dealt with cameras and computer rooms. Computers that coughed up no juicy schematics. Down to B3 it seemed. 

When the elevator opened on the final floor, all that greeted her was darkness. No lights. A massive underground room spanned the whole floor. There was a large active terminal at the far end of the room. Most likely the target. Green writing kept flashing on the black screens. 

Even though it was mostly an empty room, the cooling fans added noise to the surroundings. Such a large terminal needed cooling. Most definitely. Lei casually pinged the terminal but came up with nothing. Seems that was the only thing here. 

The sickly girl reached the terminal with laziness in her steps. Right before she jacked in, a sound reverberated from above. It sounded machine-like.

VMMM

A red light appeared on the ceiling. They resembled…eyes. Taking a closer look, the red light illuminated just a small bit of its surroundings. Lei almost jumped out of her skin. 

'Fuuuck.' Johnny couldn't help but comment. 

A behemoth sized robospider was perched on the ceiling directly above her. Eight armored legs alongside metal tusks. A heavy duty, threat eliminating type of robot. 

'It didn't appear in my initial scan…' She complained silently. 

The spider watched her without moving. It didn't make even a slight deviation. This alone kept the sickly girl on high alert. Unfortunately, this wasn't the only problem. 

VMMM VMMM VMMM VMMM VMMM 

Several red lights powered on throughout the floor sized room. All across the ceiling, several massively oversized spiders appeared with a flash of red. The darkness hid their exact features.

'I can't lie to you, Loralei...' Johnny glitched beside her and puffed a digital cigarette. 'I've never seen something so fucked in my years of living.'

'They're huge…and…might be fast. I could die here without my speed.' She revealed. 

These robot spiders seemed to have some anti scan ecms built into their system. It was impossible to get a digital lock. Just like her cloak. A cloak she wasn't currently wearing.

'Even with your speed you could die. How much stamina do you have in that state? Look at you.' He countered. 

Lei couldn't help but agree. Glancing to the entrance, she scanned the elevator door. It was locked shut. Another trap. She immediately turned back to the murder bots above. Wait…

'They still aren't moving.' She realized.

Did they not see her as an intruder? Maybe…they were waiting for something. Lei turned to the terminal. As she moved her hand toward it, multiple red eyes followed. 

'They're waiting for you to jack in. Crafty bastards.' He said. 

'Then let's give them what they want.'

As soon as she jacked into the terminal, a message popped onto her display. This caused her to smile in understanding. Typical defense protocols. Verification.

[Enter your employee ID]

It was obvious what would happen if she typed something incorrectly. What a conundrum. Would the robospiders notice if she breached the ICE?

"Only one way to find out." She muttered. 

Lei took a deep breath…then she got to work. Move through the nodes. Avoid deliberately placed malware. A trap. Avoid the black hat filled with botnets. Encrypt the log code…breach the firewall, exploit the backdoor. Finally…bypass the employee ID and release a cloaked logic bomb. ICE breached.

There was no reaction from the spiders. They remained perched on the ceiling. Eyeing her every move. With her senses focused above her, she scrolled the database for the stolen schematics. 

Bingo. Everything was here. Utilizing the admin mode, she removed it from the company database alongside the backups. Of course, these were sent to her own database. Never knew when something like this would come in handy. 

Lei slowly backed away from the terminal. Every click of her heel left a quiet tap. It felt quite loud now that these murderbots were watching her. After an excruciatingly long backtrack to the now unlocked elevator, she pressed the G* button. Ground level. 

VMMM

Immediately, the spider bots dropped to the ground and charged at her. Fuck. Their steps were loud, causing the ground to scream with every movement…and they were fast. 

The Burya took aim at flux speed, sending out several shots before a second had passed. Each bullet froze in the air as if waiting for time to resume. Once she had emptied her entire clip, time sped up. 

Legs were blown off of some spiders while others took no damage. Some of them were hit right in the eyes, causing them to shut down on the spot. 

"Close the damn door!" She growled at the elevator. It felt too long. 

Right before the horde reached her, the doors closed. Dents were immediately blown into the heavy material. It didn't seem like the end. Two spider legs slowly pried the door open. 

KABLAM

Only to be obliterated by the Burya. This allowed the elevator to finally ascend past the door frames. She was safe.