Chapter 9: Vindicators

The duo made their way into the deep underbelly of London's poverty zone.

Ben looked out the truck's window impassively. The growing influence of corporations, organizations, gangs, and dictators out in the world has led to the obliteration of the middle class, the number so small that it can equate to six digits for the entire world.

Ben grew up in a more well off home with his mother being a lead programmer for some virtual gaming company. He didn't grow poor, nor did he have to witness his mother sell her body for rent. He lived in a well off home in a world where it was normal to find corpses' in the streets.

It was normal for Ben to pass by shootouts on his way to school, to dodge muggings, and to avoid human trafficking streets.

The world was unforgiving, it wouldn't wait for you to grow up. You had to know how to do everything right out of the womb, and most of the time you don't.

"So what's the plan with the Vindicators? Are we going in guns blazing or are we going in cold for a transaction?" Ben asked.

"We should avoid as many gunfights as possible. Not just to avoid wasting bullets and getting injuries, but the more heat we build up, the more it will be possible for someone to realize something is wrong."

"What do you mean to avoid heat? I wouldn't be surprised if tomorrow some superpower decided to go to war for some nonsensical reason or for three different bombs to go off at some corpo building."

Ben turned to Sam. "Why would you even care about heat when most of the stuff that goes on in the world will mask our actions?"

Sam stopped the truck next to an outdoor concrete garage. "I thought you were supposed to be knowledgeable?"

"In what life?"

"No, knowledgeable in the merc business. Listen, what we do next will cause small ripples in the pond. Those ripples will alert the people looking for said ripples."

Ben was still confused. "What's stopping the Vindicator gang from leaking out our deal to the public?"

"Loss of face, obviously. I will have them give us their word that they won't leak the transaction. If they still do so, then I will leak the recording of the deal, making their promises mean less than garbage."

"Who the hell cares about the validity of someone's word these days?"

"Experienced mercs, corpos, gang members and the like. I thought you knew all of this with your being directly connected to the net and all?"

" I mean I was born like five days ago so..." Ben was going to keep the A.I identity as long as he could unless something unforeseen happened.

"Ok, I will teach you the ends and out on being a merc, but you have to pay attention to what I am telling you! These lessons will help you with being a merc, at least they have kept me alive all of these years..." Sam seemed to reminisce about older times.

"How old are you anyway?" Ben was genuinely curious. With cyberware improving faster and faster, so did human longevity. A person could look like they were in their early thirties and be a hundred years older than they actually are.

"....75....Why?"

Ben shook his head. "Just wondering since people in this kind of business don't live for very long, much less seven and half decades."

Sam nodded his head. "I have had a long life, been graced with friends who have died for me and two women whom I would sell my soul for if I had to."

"Wait, you have two wives?!"

"No! A wife and daughter! Where the hell did you get the idea I had two wives?"

"Harem is popular these days, especially among the rich, whether it's reverse harem or regular harem..."

Ben glanced out the window and gazed at the cloudy sky. "Though I hate it. Cheating in general infuriates me..."

"Indeed. People have a sick satisfaction when it comes to 'trying' new things."

Ben shook his head. "Are we close yet?"

"Actually we are here."

What appeared was a rundown factory, its walls falling apart making it highly inconspicuous.

"Before we go in, take this, it'll cover your identity, and you won't have to spend money to change your face." Sam handed Ben a gasmask.

Ben just gaped at the mask. "...…You want me to become a Krieg? Are you asking me to die?"

"What the hell is a Krieg?" Sam had no clue what Ben was talking about.

"Tsk, will I never find a fellow cultured person in this place."

The duo moved to the entrance of the run down old world factory. What they found was a flickering light and lit up camera that locked onto them as soon as they appeared. "Halt, state your purpose!"

"We've come to bargain!"

"Pfft!" Ben laughed at the quote Sam made by complete accident. 'This just tells me everything is gonna go swell. Who knows we may have to die a few hundred times to get the copy cat!" Ben thought amusingly.

The shutter door opened and Sam and Ben walked inside taking a mine elevator down. When they arrived at the lowest floor, they were greeted by tens of armed combatants with so-so cyberware. Their guns on the other hand looked like they were made of pipes and scrap.

'They aren't well off financially that's for sure...'

Winding around the maze-like corridor, the duo went up another declining elevator. After they made it into the room, they found a well built blond haired man who had green sclera, and red iris, and the pupil was red. He was wearing a black bulletproof vest and black pants with no shoes as well making him look...odd to say the least.

"Welcome cunts! What brings you to our fine fucking establishment? Guns? Ammo? Drugs? Women? ….Men? You need help killing somebody? You want something stolen? You name it, we've got it and will do it!" The guards that surrounded the man deadpanned at the reality of it all.

Sam was suspicious. "What happened to Rodrick Heights? Why isn't he here?"

The man on the chair pulled out his pistol like lighting. "First rule when negotiating with me is not to mention that piece of fucking shit! You hear me?! My name is Picard, remember it..."

Sam's eyes narrowed as he nonchalantly pulled out his HMG. ".....First rule when negotiating with me is not to pull out your gun less I start shooting, cause trust me I'll rip your spine out of your fucking ass if you pull that kind of shit with me...."

The two eyed each other before Ben got in on the action. "Dudes, let's not do this today. We're only here for the copycat, we know you have it and are willing to bargain for it." Bens voice was muffled through the gasmask, making him sound like a certain Korps of suicidal soldiers.

"Of course if talking isn't on the table then we can settle this like gentlemen and have ourselves a shootout, the choice is yours.." The two men backed down, but still had their guns out and started negotiating.

"One hundred million dollar-"

"Fuck no! You should be grateful we're even taking that thing off your hands since you're probably being hounded by England's government as we speak. Give us something better to work with."

Picard deflated a bit before countering. "Fifty thousand! Take it or leave it."

Sam was thinking when Ben called his holo.

[What?]

[Accept the deal.]

[Why? We don't have fifty thousand. If we skim out on this deal then-]

[Don't worry. We just need him to get the copy cat out so that we can take it during all of the chaos. Plus he doesn't know our real faces with the mask on.]

[Shit! They're here aren't they?]

[Yep! Found them on the camera feed. They're going down the first elevator right now with a shitload of goons. Not to mention the camera feed outside stopped as soon as I got a look at the two heavy bots that were waiting for the lift.]

[Ok.]

Sam looked back up at Picard. "Ok we accept, but we want you to show us the drone first."

Picard was suspicious at first but reluctantly agreed in the end. He got his goons to get the drone out and in the meantime keep Sam and Ben occupied. Since Ben was already in the camera feed, and the feed that the Vindicators were watching was something fabricated by Ben to delay the confrontation as long as possible.

"Here is the copycat! State of the art shape shifting metal, highly resistant to outside damage, and has ICE that would make an experienced net-diver die from anger. Ain't she beautiful?" The man was lost in his own world while Ben took it upon himself to run a diagnostic program through the drone.

They only had one more minute before the England's government burst through the front door, leaving Ben feeling antsy....as well as excited...

Ben glanced around the room checking for where the five extra people were in the room. When he was done Ben slowly got up and walked to the drone.

"Oi! Money first fuckwit!" Picard said.

"Ok, no need to get your panties in a bundle geez..." Ben reached into his jacket and took out his hand cannon as fast as lighting, shooting all of the guards in the room as fast as he could. Sam just kept his HMG trained on Picard who was about to shoot Ben.

When all was said and done, the only ones left were Ben, Sam, and Picard. "I didn't know you were so good with a gun..."

"I'm not. The model that houses my programming is a Ilya special forces bot. So shooting has been ingrained into my body." Ben took the drone into his hands, it wasn't very big, about as big as an American football.

"I see.... Well thank god for that. I can't really quick draw like I used to...." Sam then turned to Picard, shooting him with his high caliber HMG. But Picard saw it coming dodging to the side and running to a doorway and avoiding his death.

"I will kill you! All Vindicators, the negotiators have back stabbed, I repeat they have backstabbed! Get ready to intercept at the door!" Picard's voice boomed over a loudspeaker, alerting any and all people in the facility about the situation.

Ben turned to Sam. "What are the chances of the truck being taken?"

"One hundred percent. That means we're going with plan B..." Sam walked to a nearby ventilation shaft and ripped it open with his cyberware.

"Get in."

…..

"Fucking cunts! You'll rue the day you crossed me!" Picard made his way to the central room that housed most of the gang. When he made it in, he found everyone running about like headless chickens!

"What the fuck is going on?!" His voice boomed across the room freezing everybody in sight.

"Picard! We've been found by the fucking government, what else?!" One of the goons shouted.

"....Fuck."

BOOM!