Browsing the Past
Cultists have one way of making themselves different from the usual diabolist. I have no love for the occult, mind you. However, there are folks who just really need a beating.
The cultist who Agent Hayes managed to secure was tight-lipped. Fanatical beliefs and dogged stubbornness made way for a beating where they had to infuse the damn cultist with blood and get him talking again.
Agent Hayes got enough so he called a Wizard to cast a hypnotic spell on the cultist. First tries didn’t work out well. When they broke the vow on the guy though. They were able to siphon his thoughts out and got us some info on the ritual they made.
We were expecting the ritual to be horrendous. It was somewhat usual with the blood offerings and the sacrifices. Vicar Liebert would flay us if we ever think of recreating the ritual in any possible way. Vicar Liebert’s a warrior of God and although he follows the old crusader doctrine; he still won’t allow the death of any innocent.
Agent Hayes told him we could go for clones, but that didn’t sit out right with Liebert too.
“Recreate this profane ritual and my men will make sure these tunnels are buried. We will guard this place if necessary. You will not recreate this ritual.”
Kei’s no wizard and Agent Hayes would rather not ruin his relations with the Crusader so that option wasn’t viable at all.
We got a temporary place not far from the mine. Two-story house. Living room and kitchen on the first floor. Bedrooms, bathroom, and showers on the second. It was a good looking house if you just ignore the part where it has no AC and they have ceiling fans instead.
The weather got hotter too as summer finally came to the land bridge continent. Kei’s only wearing her collared shirt inserted into her black pants. She had loosened up her tie and was scrolling through the data.
We can’t do the ritual. But what we can do is use the guys who had neutral processors to get data from them. The black box on their head records most of what they see and hear. These people have some since most of the time flesh pits prefer having their employees with this kind of wetware on their heads. Never been big on implanted tech so I couldn’t help out in this. Kei’s somewhat used to this work and although it feels unpleasant, watching these cultists do their work. It needed to be done. Thankfully, these wetware black boxes have timestamps so Kei don’t have to spend hours of footage and just watch the ones relevant to the ritual. Still, that’s hours of footage and being jacked in cyberspace takes a toll on your head. I have to check in on her after five hours since being in that space is tiring.
I found her data-jack and plugged in my reminder on her. She sent a message immediately and I assisted her out of cyberspace.
Kei lifts her eyelashes. I took out an auto-syringe and got her nerves working again. She’s sitting on a chair with a cooling system making sure her neutral processor isn’t fried.
“We need a data-jack on your head. I’ll buy you a neural processor too, Akun.”
“No thanks, Boss.”
She clicks her tongue and checks her top.
“Did you undress me or I did?”
“You did.”
She pulled on her bra peeking out and leaned on the rest of the chair.
“Could have gotten me some good food, my Assistant.”
“Did you want some ice cream or something?”
“You are a lousy assistant, Akun. Where is your proactiveness?”
“I did wake you up, Boss. And honestly I’d rather not walk around the town right now.”
She raises a brow.
“What got you spooked?”
“Everything in this place is fucked.”
It creeps me out. Something about the place is keeping me on my toes and honestly I think there are people in the crowd who are part of the cult, but are keeping an eye on the situation. And unlike the vamps and their ghouls in Vultan. They don’t have any tell-tale signs on them that would allow me to distinguish which one is sending messages to their fellow cultist trash.
“Well, they seem out of place from the rest of Changye, I agree. But we aren’t here to discuss their followings.” She stretches her limbs. “Besides, you really think the Church’s not going to have a field trip once they’re done with the rot in the flesh mines?”
“True.”
The TCU’s presence is already good enough since this place will have some good ol inquisition. Most of the citizens here are going to be questioned and trapped in this place. I even heard Agent Hayes talking to one of the contractors about where parts of the district should be cut off and the VTOL flying in and out of the airspace carrying tons of materials.
Kei searches for a cigarette and finds one. She seemed like she really wanted to smoke so I lent her my smoking pipe. Filling it with some fresh tobacco I got from Mai and then lighting it up.
“Oh this is spicy. Never did understand the hassle, but I kinda do now.”
She takes a long drag of the pipe and exhales clouds of it. I can see that the meds are now working. Usually, most gearheads have their nervous system changed so they can endure the dive. And since most of the brain is focused on interacting with the brain-computer interface she jacked in. The body becomes impaired and is deprived of electric signals.
And once deprived of electric signals, sensation and movement would be lost, leading to paralysis and an absence of feeling in affected areas. The body's rapid involuntary responses would be impaired. Vital functions like heart rate, breathing, and digestion, regulated by the autonomic nervous system, would become erratic. Cognitive functions such as thinking, memory, and problem-solving would be compromised alongside coordination, balance, and control over bodily functions since they are allocated to the interface to which she jacked in. The absence of electric signals could lead to irreversible damage, further exacerbating the situation. So without electric signals, the nervous system's fundamental role in coordinating and regulating bodily functions would be profoundly disrupted. Kei’s not bodily equipped with bodyware to handle that so I have to make sure she doesn’t stay too long in there.
“How was the search?”
“Mostly degenerate shit. The way these flesh miners spend their life is curiously interesting and disturbing. Cutting through flesh, digging through the best part of the flesh, and then carrying storage carts to the processing center where you have butchers separating the flesh you can eat.”
“Yup. That’s how it usually goes.”
Kei wipes her face and stretches her legs this time. I sat down and listened as she continued.
“Most of the brain footage was about their life. How they went through all the tough times. Most of them got the processors when they immigrated from the Reich.”
“Lots of folk from the Reich huh.”
“Most of them are too impure for the Reich. The fourth Reich has a hard on for bioware, eugenics, and selection of good genes.”
“Anyway, other than them coming from 4R. They have this guy whose name changes every meeting who started preaching about having a better life for themselves and getting powers. All they had to do was follow the instructions.”
“Got the instructions?”
Kei sends a message through her mobile device.
“I have some of it. Turns out the guy they got alive is one of the few who got the instructions. He was in a vow, but he should have some brainware in his head we can pluck out of his head.”
I get her some water as she sticks her tongue out. She wants some coffee so I made her some instant coffee they stocked up on the kitchen.
“Well, Hayes should be plucking the head of the bastard soon. Thanks for the coffee, man.”
Kei takes a sip of her coffee while smoking the pipe.
“Good tobacco. I really need to get it on this.”
“It’s messy sometimes.”
“Eh, it’s fine. And if I’m in a hurry I can just pull some cigar or something.”
Habitually, she tried chewing on the pipe.
“Hey, don’t chew on the lip, will you?”
“They seem to enjoy some degeneracy here too.”
“What?”
“What I saw in the brain footage. Orgies and casual sex. You’ve been on one, Akun?”
“Sadly, no.”
“I don’t know. You seem like the type who’d be grinning at the chance of fucking two or three girls at once.”
“Sounds like a projection from you, Boss.”
She grins and laughs.
“Well, maybe I’d enjoy that, who doesn’t? Well, I don’t fancy getting my holes filled up though. Girls are much nicer most of the time.”
I crossed my arms and then gave her a look. She shrugs and takes a mouthful of coffee.
“That reminds me, Boss. You said you had an ex here. You think she’s around?”
“Hopefully not. Don’t want to find her in this shithole.”
She was thinking then decided on something.
“Okay, let’s see if I can get some.”
“We’re still in business, Boss.”
“And I need to know if she’s around here.”
She finishes her cup of coffee and hands me my smoking pipe. I wiped the lip of my pipe, emptied the bowl, and added new tobacco in it.
Sun’s bearing down on us when we were walking to the shop. The exterior of the shop’s rather simple and through the glass wall you can find some decently dressed people using the shop’s free connection to use their socials.
Cold AC air greeted us and for a second the eyes of the customers went on us. Kei looked around and then found herself a seat close to the window and checked on the menu. I sat across the table and checked what they were offering. I definitely don’t want to eat any meat-based food in this city so I had to choose the coconut pie. I was about to look for a waiter or a waitress to get me food when one of them stood next to Kei and gave her one healthy slap that made ripples on her cheek. I was thinking Kei would retaliate. But she grinned and looked at the blonde instead.
“Emily Rodriguez. Been a while.”
Emily Rodriguez is a striking woman with a commanding presence. Standing 5'11" with a well-proportioned, athletic build. Her piercing blue eyes speak of both kindness and a hidden intensity. Emily's golden blonde hair falls in loose waves around her shoulders, catching the light in a way that gives her an almost ethereal glow. Emily has toned muscles and has some EMP threading around her shoulders. She carries herself with a poise you wouldn’t usually find in someone.
I somewhat guessed Kei’s old flame wasn’t just going to be a normal waitress. I guess she moonlights as a merc.
“You ghost me. Now you bring this payaso with you. Here to rub old wounds. Kei?”
“Assistant. This is Emily. Emily, this is my assistant.”
She glares at me. I shrug my shoulders. Emily looks around.
“Where’s Eta?”
“She’s dead.”
“Can you tell me how?”
“Can’t because of the OB.”
“She died good then.”
Oh boy, she still has the hots with Kei. Just looking at how she’s looking at Kei seems to have awakened good and bad memories.
“I did hear some Agents are investigating what happened in the mines. Huh, to think they’d drag you here. Did you hear your biz has been good lately.”
“Yeah. So not to rub old wounds, see?”
She turns to me and then gestures for my order. She didn’t hear Kei out and seems to know what Kei wants.
“Eat. We’ll meet up and settle this.”
I sank on the booth’s cushion and smirked.
“Guess she’s going to beat you up. Jesus, did you really just fucked and dumped her or something.”
“Got busy honestly. Didn’t have time to do this and that.”
“You think she’s up to reconnect?”
Kei shrugs. For once, she didn’t have the confidence to guess.
“Depends really. I don’t know.”
She eyes me strangely.
“Should I?”
I shrugged and gave no answer. After eating some surprisingly tasty coconut pie, Kei squared up behind the cafe and fought her ex in a good ol fashion brawl while I enjoyed a cookies and cream latte.
Browsing the Past
Cultists have one way of making themselves different from the usual diabolist. I have no love for the occult, mind you. However, there are folks who just really need a beating.
The cultist who Agent Hayes managed to secure was tight-lipped. Fanatical beliefs and dogged stubbornness made way for a beating where they had to infuse the damn cultist with blood and get him talking again.
Agent Hayes got enough so he called a Wizard to cast a hypnotic spell on the cultist. First tries didn’t work out well. When they broke the vow on the guy though. They were able to siphon his thoughts out and got us some info on the ritual they made.
We were expecting the ritual to be horrendous. It was somewhat usual with the blood offerings and the sacrifices. Vicar Liebert would flay us if we ever think of recreating the ritual in any possible way. Vicar Liebert’s a warrior of God and although he follows the old crusader doctrine; he still won’t allow the death of any innocent.
Agent Hayes told him we could go for clones, but that didn’t sit out right with Liebert too.
“Recreate this profane ritual and my men will make sure these tunnels are buried. We will guard this place if necessary. You will not recreate this ritual.”
Kei’s no wizard and Agent Hayes would rather not ruin his relations with the Crusader so that option wasn’t viable at all.
We got a temporary place not far from the mine. Two-story house. Living room and kitchen on the first floor. Bedrooms, bathroom, and showers on the second. It was a good looking house if you just ignore the part where it has no AC and they have ceiling fans instead.
The weather got hotter too as summer finally came to the land bridge continent. Kei’s only wearing her collared shirt inserted into her black pants. She had loosened up her tie and was scrolling through the data.
We can’t do the ritual. But what we can do is use the guys who had neutral processors to get data from them. The black box on their head records most of what they see and hear. These people have some since most of the time flesh pits prefer having their employees with this kind of wetware on their heads. Never been big on implanted tech so I couldn’t help out in this. Kei’s somewhat used to this work and although it feels unpleasant, watching these cultists do their work. It needed to be done. Thankfully, these wetware black boxes have timestamps so Kei don’t have to spend hours of footage and just watch the ones relevant to the ritual. Still, that’s hours of footage and being jacked in cyberspace takes a toll on your head. I have to check in on her after five hours since being in that space is tiring.
I found her data-jack and plugged in my reminder on her. She sent a message immediately and I assisted her out of cyberspace.
Kei lifts her eyelashes. I took out an auto-syringe and got her nerves working again. She’s sitting on a chair with a cooling system making sure her neutral processor isn’t fried.
“We need a data-jack on your head. I’ll buy you a neural processor too, Akun.”
“No thanks, Boss.”
She clicks her tongue and checks her top.
“Did you undress me or I did?”
“You did.”
She pulled on her bra peeking out and leaned on the rest of the chair.
“Could have gotten me some good food, my Assistant.”
“Did you want some ice cream or something?”
“You are a lousy assistant, Akun. Where is your proactiveness?”
“I did wake you up, Boss. And honestly I’d rather not walk around the town right now.”
She raises a brow.
“What got you spooked?”
“Everything in this place is fucked.”
It creeps me out. Something about the place is keeping me on my toes and honestly I think there are people in the crowd who are part of the cult, but are keeping an eye on the situation. And unlike the vamps and their ghouls in Vultan. They don’t have any tell-tale signs on them that would allow me to distinguish which one is sending messages to their fellow cultist trash.
“Well, they seem out of place from the rest of Changye, I agree. But we aren’t here to discuss their followings.” She stretches her limbs. “Besides, you really think the Church’s not going to have a field trip once they’re done with the rot in the flesh mines?”
“True.”
The TCU’s presence is already good enough since this place will have some good ol inquisition. Most of the citizens here are going to be questioned and trapped in this place. I even heard Agent Hayes talking to one of the contractors about where parts of the district should be cut off and the VTOL flying in and out of the airspace carrying tons of materials.
Kei searches for a cigarette and finds one. She seemed like she really wanted to smoke so I lent her my smoking pipe. Filling it with some fresh tobacco I got from Mai and then lighting it up.
“Oh this is spicy. Never did understand the hassle, but I kinda do now.”
She takes a long drag of the pipe and exhales clouds of it. I can see that the meds are now working. Usually, most gearheads have their nervous system changed so they can endure the dive. And since most of the brain is focused on interacting with the brain-computer interface she jacked in. The body becomes impaired and is deprived of electric signals.
And once deprived of electric signals, sensation and movement would be lost, leading to paralysis and an absence of feeling in affected areas. The body's rapid involuntary responses would be impaired. Vital functions like heart rate, breathing, and digestion, regulated by the autonomic nervous system, would become erratic. Cognitive functions such as thinking, memory, and problem-solving would be compromised alongside coordination, balance, and control over bodily functions since they are allocated to the interface to which she jacked in. The absence of electric signals could lead to irreversible damage, further exacerbating the situation. So without electric signals, the nervous system's fundamental role in coordinating and regulating bodily functions would be profoundly disrupted. Kei’s not bodily equipped with bodyware to handle that so I have to make sure she doesn’t stay too long in there.
“How was the search?”
“Mostly degenerate shit. The way these flesh miners spend their life is curiously interesting and disturbing. Cutting through flesh, digging through the best part of the flesh, and then carrying storage carts to the processing center where you have butchers separating the flesh you can eat.”
“Yup. That’s how it usually goes.”
Kei wipes her face and stretches her legs this time. I sat down and listened as she continued.
“Most of the brain footage was about their life. How they went through all the tough times. Most of them got the processors when they immigrated from the Reich.”
“Lots of folk from the Reich huh.”
“Most of them are too impure for the Reich. The fourth Reich has a hard on for bioware, eugenics, and selection of good genes.”
“Anyway, other than them coming from 4R. They have this guy whose name changes every meeting who started preaching about having a better life for themselves and getting powers. All they had to do was follow the instructions.”
“Got the instructions?”
Kei sends a message through her mobile device.
“I have some of it. Turns out the guy they got alive is one of the few who got the instructions. He was in a vow, but he should have some brainware in his head we can pluck out of his head.”
I get her some water as she sticks her tongue out. She wants some coffee so I made her some instant coffee they stocked up on the kitchen.
“Well, Hayes should be plucking the head of the bastard soon. Thanks for the coffee, man.”
Kei takes a sip of her coffee while smoking the pipe.
“Good tobacco. I really need to get it on this.”
“It’s messy sometimes.”
“Eh, it’s fine. And if I’m in a hurry I can just pull some cigar or something.”
Habitually, she tried chewing on the pipe.
“Hey, don’t chew on the lip, will you?”
“They seem to enjoy some degeneracy here too.”
“What?”
“What I saw in the brain footage. Orgies and casual sex. You’ve been on one, Akun?”
“Sadly, no.”
“I don’t know. You seem like the type who’d be grinning at the chance of fucking two or three girls at once.”
“Sounds like a projection from you, Boss.”
She grins and laughs.
“Well, maybe I’d enjoy that, who doesn’t? Well, I don’t fancy getting my holes filled up though. Girls are much nicer most of the time.”
I crossed my arms and then gave her a look. She shrugs and takes a mouthful of coffee.
“That reminds me, Boss. You said you had an ex here. You think she’s around?”
“Hopefully not. Don’t want to find her in this shithole.”
She was thinking then decided on something.
“Okay, let’s see if I can get some.”
“We’re still in business, Boss.”
“And I need to know if she’s around here.”
She finishes her cup of coffee and hands me my smoking pipe. I wiped the lip of my pipe, emptied the bowl, and added new tobacco in it.
Sun’s bearing down on us when we were walking to the shop. The exterior of the shop’s rather simple and through the glass wall you can find some decently dressed people using the shop’s free connection to use their socials.
Cold AC air greeted us and for a second the eyes of the customers went on us. Kei looked around and then found herself a seat close to the window and checked on the menu. I sat across the table and checked what they were offering. I definitely don’t want to eat any meat-based food in this city so I had to choose the coconut pie. I was about to look for a waiter or a waitress to get me food when one of them stood next to Kei and gave her one healthy slap that made ripples on her cheek. I was thinking Kei would retaliate. But she grinned and looked at the blonde instead.
“Emily Rodriguez. Been a while.”
Emily Rodriguez is a striking woman with a commanding presence. Standing 5'11" with a well-proportioned, athletic build. Her piercing blue eyes speak of both kindness and a hidden intensity. Emily's golden blonde hair falls in loose waves around her shoulders, catching the light in a way that gives her an almost ethereal glow. Emily has toned muscles and has some EMP threading around her shoulders. She carries herself with a poise you wouldn’t usually find in someone.
I somewhat guessed Kei’s old flame wasn’t just going to be a normal waitress. I guess she moonlights as a merc.
“You ghost me. Now you bring this payaso with you. Here to rub old wounds. Kei?”
“Assistant. This is Emily. Emily, this is my assistant.”
She glares at me. I shrug my shoulders. Emily looks around.
“Where’s Eta?”
“She’s dead.”
“Can you tell me how?”
“Can’t because of the OB.”
“She died good then.”
Oh boy, she still has the hots with Kei. Just looking at how she’s looking at Kei seems to have awakened good and bad memories.
“I did hear some Agents are investigating what happened in the mines. Huh, to think they’d drag you here. Did you hear your biz has been good lately.”
“Yeah. So not to rub old wounds, see?”
She turns to me and then gestures for my order. She didn’t hear Kei out and seems to know what Kei wants.
“Eat. We’ll meet up and settle this.”
I sank on the booth’s cushion and smirked.
“Guess she’s going to beat you up. Jesus, did you really just fucked and dumped her or something.”
“Got busy honestly. Didn’t have time to do this and that.”
“You think she’s up to reconnect?”
Kei shrugs. For once, she didn’t have the confidence to guess.
“Depends really. I don’t know.”
She eyes me strangely.
“Should I?”
I shrugged and gave no answer. After eating some surprisingly tasty coconut pie, Kei squared up behind the cafe and fought her ex in a good ol fashion brawl while I enjoyed a cookies and cream latte.
