Cyberpunk - Badland Madman [Cyberpunk 2077]

The Continental, The Glen,

The entire building that housed the Atlantis had already been renamed The Continental, both on CitiNet and official records. It was filled with Microbots on each floor that worked day and night to convert the building into the desired look.

The only living, breathing inhabitant of that building was a little boy, living alone in the luxurious penthouse on the roof, with a gorgeous view of the city. He was alone, but not sad or lacking spirit.

"Oh! So yummy!"

Lucas sat in front of the massive TV, watching a cartoon about a boy named Ben with an alien watch. He didn't know about it, but again, he didn't know anything. Last time he watched TV for fun was… he couldn't remember.

In his lap was a bowl of tasty ramen imported from Japan. It was the closest thing to the real thing, and Lucas loved it.

But still, when he eyed the massive glass window, he sighed.

"I wonder what Mr. Blackwell is doing right now."

####

Bellevue Overwalk, Kabuki,

[Take the right, Cyph. Go upstairs.]

Cypher went right, going out of the alley. The lights were turned off, no street lights, no lamps. His night vision feed through the brainwave interface showed him everything. He held the M221 Saratoga, aimed ahead, while listening to Atlas and following the hints.

It was a large apartment complex building. Not very spread out, but it was tall with more than twenty floors. The stairs he walked took him straight to the fourth floor. He didn't know why an entire walkway was designed to take you to that floor from outside the building, but it was there.

"Where's all the other folks living here?"

[They are inside. I have locked their doors and isolated their neural links. They cannot hear what we do.]

"See! That's why I ain't ever getting that shit in my head."

Cypher kept climbing until he reached the top of that stairway. Strangely, that single hallway could be accessed by two different stairways. And they didn't take Cypher to a floor, but rather one single door.

The entire complex and expensive multi-entry stairway was designed to take you to just one door on the third floor. That alone spoke of the importance of that place.

[Crouchwalk.]

By then, Cypher had become accustomed to Atlas, and he moved in sync with his AI friend. He instantly dropped to a knee and started crouch-walking, keeping himself hidden although it was all dark.

[Proceed left at the next turn. That path will take you directly to the door. There is a large man stationed as a guard. He remains unaware of the lighting change, currently occupied with his holophone.]

"Alright, let's keep it quiet for now."

Cypher carefully crouchwalked and took the left turn. The elevated alleyway curved from there, so he kept going forward against the wall.

Thup!

The suppressed single gunshot echoed for a split second. With absolute accuracy, Cypher shot the man in the head. But the very next second, he shot at the knee, urging the dead body to fall forward, instead of backward on the closed door.

Cypher stood up and walked over to the closed white door with Japanese written on it. Before proceeding, he paused, standing right on top of the fat body of the guy he just killed. He let his assault carbine hang at his side as he fixed his tie and balaclava.

"Only block the ones going for my head. Let everything else hit. I need that sting, or I'm not gonna grow."

[That is an idiotic idea. Putting yourself in danger will bring nothing.]

"Yeah, you're not wrong. But all I've done in this body is ride the edge. If I don't improve, my senses and skills are gonna go dull. Don't let me die, no crit hits, alright? I'll handle the rest with this suit. Oh, and throw on some music. Crank it through every speaker in the building."

[Humans are fascinating at times.]

"Thanks for the compliment."

Cypher grabbed his submachine gun and aimed it at the door. He didn't have to give any sign; he just let his heartbeat enter an eased state. Atlas sensed that and opened the door.

"Hah! Good one!" Cypher praised the music choice. It was the exact one he remembered from John Wick. Though he couldn't remember the song title.

[Two moving closer.]

He received all the information directly into his eyes and ears. He saw the incoming Scavs marked despite the darkness.

Thup! Thup!

Two shots, he killed them both. But those flashes created enough light for everyone to become alert. Cypher quickly rolled to the side.

Bang!

Gunshots struck where he had been standing before. He also saw where they came from and proceeded. It was a nicely furnished floor, a karaoke studio from the looks of it. Where he entered was the wide reception. As he went in the door, he reached a long alley with cabins on each side. But he noticed those cabinet walls didn't touch the ceilings.

It would have been a suicide if he hadn't had Atlas.

Cypher threw a grenade in one of the cabinets that had four Scavs hiding.

Boom!

The explosion lit up the entire floor. All the glasses in the distance shattered. Cries and screams rang out. Fire broke out.

"What is this place?" he asked.

[The establishment is a Tyger Claws-run karaoke bar. Scavs used it as a lure for women, slowly forcing them into making BDs, then XBD, and in the end harvesting them as dead bodies.]

"No holding back then."

Through his super supportive vision, he saw three Scavengers coming towards him from a distance. He saw them through the walls and prepared himself. However, he was stuck in a tight alley.

He quickly let go of his machine gun as he started to run forward to make it in time. His one hand grabbed the handgun, the other gripped the collar of the bulletproof vest as he pulled it over his face and front as protection.

As soon as he reached the end of that hallway, he leapt forward, spinning midair to look at the three Scavengers left in surprise at his entry.

Bang!

Cypher shot at one, square in the face on the nose. He fell to the ground and continued to roll himself.

Ratatatata!

The two remaining Scavs sprayed bullets at him.

"Fuck! It does hurt!"

He felt like countless paintballs had struck him far too close. But it wasn't enough to stop him. He jumped sideways, using the office-like area to his advantage. He crouched behind a table and flopped it over for cover.

But he didn't stay there. He left a grenade there and leapt away. As the grenade exploded, and the two Scavs got distracted, they took aim and drilled bullets into their skull.

[Cyph, do not pierce all their skulls. We need them.]

"Ah, damn, yeah. Good looking out. I almost forgot why we're actually here."

From there, he found the stairs and carefully made his way up. He got shot at and covered himself with his suit. But he noticed whenever Atlas intervened. Those moments meant it was a critical hit, and he took it as a challenge to never lead to such moments.

Bang!

He shot one through the narrow gap between the stairs. The Scav was trying to peek at him.

"Ugh!"

As soon as he reached the floor, he could smell something foul. Plastic flaps were hanging from the ceiling at the entrance of the floor, like a butcher's shop. And inside, he could see through his vision that twelve Scavs waited for him.

He quickly reloaded both his guns and took a deep breath. They knew he was going to enter from there, so he had to make it quick.

Woosh!

He leapt in through the plastic flaps and rolled to the side. He threw his last grenade towards the biggest concentration of Scavs and found cover while getting a dozen bullets shot into his suit jacket. It fucking stung.

"Did you make the music louder?"

[Yes. I am also blaring it in their ears through neural port."

Cypher laughed and got up. He covered his face with the suit and aimed. The Scavs, not all, but most, had optic implants that helped them see in the dark. But they weren't as good as what Cypher had.

He ate their bullets, and whenever he shot, one of them dropped.

By then, he had realized what the entire floor was. It was a large, empty hall with multiple operating tables. There was blood everywhere, on the floor, on the chairs. There were also a few dead bodies cut open.

It reeked.

Bang!

He ran straight towards the remaining five men; each step was followed by a sideways leap to dodge the bullets. He aimed with a relaxed hand, holding the gun in an impractical way. Shooting felt like a second nature to him.

"Shoot together!"

He heard the Scavs shout in panic. All of them began shooting at once. But he still charged towards them and made a low dive, shooting everyone's legs. But some of them had cyber limbs.

Bang!

He got into a close-quarter fight with the last two Scavs. Their entire lower half were cyberware.

"Fuck!" Cypher cursed when one of them kicked him in the stomach.

Bang!

He eased the gap, side-stepping as another kick came. He pressed his pistol under the Scav's chin and blew the guy's brains out. The last one was right behind him, no longer attacking, but retreating.

Thud!

Before Cypher even did anything, Atlas fried his brain. There was no escape for the Scavs from that hell.

[This floor is clear.]

Cypher moved for the stairs again, to the final floor where the hostages were also held.

[The remaining thirteen members are upstairs. That floor contains living spaces, captive holding, BD and XBD recording studios, and the local gang boss's office. The captives are in the XBD studio. Aside from their boss, the twelve members are waiting for you at both the stair entrance and the elevator entrance.]

"There's an elevator? Alright, send it up, keep them busy. I'm gonna try some wild stuff this time. When I say it, blind them for three seconds, cool?"

[You won't make it.]

"You don't even know what I'm planning. You can't read my mind."

[I have computed all possible scenarios, and I know what you will attempt. You will fail.]

"Yeah? Then I'm gonna prove you wrong."

[Real life is not a movie, Cypher.]

"Watch me."

Cypher checked his bullets again and walked upstairs. The music was loud, and another song was playing. His footsteps were inaudible, so he ran as fast as he could upstairs and reached the large single door.

"Now!"

He kicked open the door and saw eight men standing right there, aiming towards him. It was pitch black in there, but he used his night vision, jumped like a maniac, and did something crazy. Simply because he had the luxury to fuck around.

Bang!

He landed both his feet on top of the nearest man's shoulder, shot into the head, and jumped to another man. He shot him as well, albeit nearly falling. He leaped for the third one, and this time…

Thud!

"Fuck! You were right."

[I have recorded that from eight different angles.]

"..."

______________________

Check out Cypher X Panam, Cypher X Gloria, Cypher X Judy NSFW ART, and advance chapters at [email protected]/MrPlotThickens Or Subscribestar.adult/mrplotthickens

Advance chapters on [PATREON] are in long-form format. I have 8 long chapters of this story on P@treon. That's equal to 26-30 NovelFire chapters.