Mistrunner 2 - Chapter 37 - Frame Job (Patreon)

They’re all idiots. Echo, for stealing from me. Ashleigh for tempting fate in the Emporium. The morons who thought they could get a quick payday by killing those Cyberdogs. I feel like I’m the only one trying to keep everything together.

Nora Lancaster

I stood atop one of the most central mega-buildings, looking down on the Garden. I was almost high enough to see into the more affluent districts. Almost. But I knew they’d never allow that to happen. They didn’t just stand above us on the social ladder; they did so literally as well. And it made me want to scream. For now, though, I focused on the fruits of my labor, a grim smile playing across my face as I beheld the results of my actions.

Pillars of thick, black smoke curled into the sky as hundreds of fires roared out of control in the streets below. Even as high as I was, I could hear the steady staccato of gunfire that heralded the escalation of the tribal war, and I knew that Nora and the Specters were being pushed from all sides. Blood was in the water. The sharks were circling. It would only take one push before it all started to fall.

The first blow had been the frame-up I’d staged in Elysium, which had been far more successful than I could have hoped. It hadn’t resulted in a war, but there’d been plenty of fighting on the streets as the Cyberdogs tried to collect their pound of flesh. But the Specters were strong, and they could endure the smaller tribe nipping at their heels. After all, they’d been built by my uncle. How could they be anything but the most powerful tribe in the Garden?

But without him, that power was tenuous, and the foundation upon which it had been built had crumbled into nothing. Nora and her lieutenants were trying to keep it from falling down around their heads, but they could only do so much, especially when my every action was calculated to undermine them.

The second blow had come when I’d framed Echo for embezzling. In better times, it might have been easy to sweep under the rug. But Nora’s grip on the Specters was too new; she had no choice but to make an example. When I watched Nora execute her, I was reminded of how my uncle had killed those mooks who had attacked me so long ago. Nora had always been capable enough, in the right circumstances, but she was just a shallow reflection of Jeremiah.

When I’d killed Ashleigh – or the Red Terror, as she was known in the Emporium – it had sent shockwaves through the Garden District. To that point, her reputation had been unassailable. The fear she instilled in her enemies had been palpable. Now that she’d been so thoroughly defeated, everyone had begun to wonder if it had all been for show. Had she really been as strong as everyone claimed? Or was it all a ruse? The mere question had been a blow to the Specters’ reputation. After all, if the Red Terror had been weak all along, how sturdy could the Specters’ standing really be?

It had only been a week since I’d killed her, and already, the conflict on the streets of the Garden that had previously begun to wane had bloomed anew. The Specters couldn’t even leave their territory without being assaulted by other tribes who wanted the reputation of unseating the kings of the Garden.

It was glorious.

But it wasn’t quite war. Not yet. To push them over the edge, I’d need to incite outrage. So, for that, I had chosen to target the closest thing the Specters had to an ally – the Coyotes. Once, my uncle had told me that if I ever needed to smuggle anything into or out of the city, they were the ones to contact. In fact, it was their tunnels that I’d used to infiltrate the silos, so they were already on high alert and looking at nearly everyone else with at least a modicum of suspicion.

More than normal, at least.

Which would make my task a lot more difficult, but it also meant that they were a powder keg on the verge of ignition. One small spark, and they’d explode, taking half of Nova City with them.

Metaphorically speaking. More literally, if I managed what I intended, they’d throw the Garden into open warfare and push the Specters – and Nora – even further against the wall. For me, it was the perfect chance to enact the penultimate portion of my plan.

To that end, I stepped away from the edge of the roof and made my way through the mega-building and down to the street. As I went, I saw just how twitchy the Operators were. If I hadn’t been wearing the blue armband of the Specters, they might have attacked me on sight. As it was, they only looked at me with suspicion.

Heading into the Specters’ territory, even if it was only one of the buildings on the edge of their turf, was risky, but I’d had no choice if I wanted to accomplish my goals. For now, though, I pushed that out of mind and focused on the task at hand: framing Wash, who was the man in charge of the Specters’ thieves.

A proficient burglar in his own right, he’d been a legend even before I was born. There was nowhere he couldn’t infiltrate, nothing he couldn’t steal, and on occasion, nobody he couldn’t assassinate. But more than that, he was a detestable man who was too smart not to have known what Nora had planned for my uncle. He knew, and yet, he’d done nothing. So, now he needed to pay.

So, after I left the mega-building, I ducked into an alley and summoned my hoverbike. Once I’d mounted up, I sped away, eventually crossing over Algiers. Unlike most of Nova’s tribes, the Coyotes had established their headquarters in the poorest district of the city, and for one simple reason – that was where all the warehouses were. From there, they could stretch their influence across the city’s entire shipping industry. And so long as they didn’t take too much, and they paid off all the right people, the Enforcers looked the other way.

Of course, they had plenty of other routes to get things in and out of the city. Some were above-board, but others were akin to my own route out of the city. Though unlike the Nats, their paths required no death-defying stunts or killer birds. They had the art of smuggling things in and out of Nova down to a science.

And they guarded that ability jealously; they looked the other way when it came to groups like the Nats, mostly because they paid tribute to the more powerful tribe. Rare was the organization that would go up against the Coyotes, and for one simple reason: nobody else could do what they did.

So, when I was looking for a group to enrage, they had been the obvious choice, if for no other reason than because I knew precisely how to do it. After all, the secret to their success was no secret. They had a map of Nova City’s entire infrastructure, right down to the access and drainage tunnels – an invaluable resource for people who made their money by moving things in and out of the city.

And I was going to steal it.

Once I got to the right block, I pulled into a shadowy alley and dismissed my Cutter. Once it had dissipated into Mist, I engaged Mimic and adopted a new persona: that of Wash, the Specters’ famous thief. Of course, being a famous burglar was kind of idiotic, so far as I was concerned, but he’d always liked the attention. For my part, I always thought a good thief would have been invisible, but his ego wouldn’t allow for that. In fact, as far back as I could remember, Wash had made a habit of boasting about all the things he’d stolen. I only believed about half of it.

More than that, though, if he’d been that talented, he would have been involved in my training. However, Jeremiah had hired an outsider to handle my infiltration instruction. That said plenty about what my uncle thought of Wash’s skills.

Once I was wearing the man’s face – and his body – I settled down to wait for nightfall. No self-respecting thief operated in the bright light of day, after all. Fortunately, I’d timed my arrival fairly well, and I only had to wait for an hour until the sun set. Another hour after that, and I was heading toward my target. Using Stealthand Camouflage, I stuck to the shadows as I approached the Coyotes’ compound.

Like most of the warehouses in Algiers, it was protected by a high wall, cameras, and auto-turrets. There were even Operators on patrol, proving the compound’s value. I’d done my research, though, so I already knew the location of my prize.

After watching the pattern for half an hour, I made my move. First, I used Misthack on the cameras, briefly deactivating them. As soon as I did, a sixty second timer appeared on my HUD. That was how long I had to get over the wall and get into cover. To that end, I repeated the process on the auto-turrets before taking a running leap and grabbing ahold of the top of the wall before heaving myself over.  I landed lightly and raced toward the building itself, where I crouched in the shadows as I waited for the timer to run down.

Things would have been different if the cameras had been equipped with thermal sensing, but that kind of cyber-tech was expensive. And besides, I still wasn’t completely sure if even thermal sensing could see through my skills. Maybe. But given that it was all Mist based, there was no certainty that the concealment was limited to the visual spectrum.

Either way, I was already past the first line of defense. Now, I just had to get inside the building.

So, moving as quickly as I dared, I crept along the side of the concrete building, dodging various plastisteel crates along the way. I had no notion as to their contents – perhaps they were even empty – but they weren’t my goal, so I didn’t stop to check. All I cared about was that they provided decent cover for my activities. After all, Stealth and Camouflagealways worked better when they were helped along by the environment.

Soon enough, I reached the backside of the building, where I found a huge loading dock and a crowd of people. Most were workers who’d been tasked with unloading a truck that, judging by the mud caked on its sides and tires, looked like it’d just arrived in the city from the wilderness. But there were Operators there, too, armed and armored with tech that would have been intimidating to most people. But I recognized the cheap nature of their knockoff cybernetics and the mundanity of their weapons. Even if I got into a shootout with these mooks, they wouldn’t pose much of a threat to me.

Still, I didn’t want to be seen just yet. So, I circled around, keeping to the edges of the property as I searched for an ingress point. However, I didn’t find anything in the back, so I continued around to the other side of the compound, which mirrored where I’d come in. Still nothing. Finally, I found myself at the front of the building, which was guarded by a trio of Operators who were engaged in casual conversation.

I scanned the area. The front of the building was nothing special – just a plain, concrete façade like every other warehouse in Algiers. However, there was quite a bit more security. There were cameras, auto-turrets, and even a couple of drones flitting around the area. The entrance to the compound was a gate manned by another few Operators. None looked very threatening, but that wasn’t the point. Sure, I could kill them all if I chose – probably – but that would ruin my plan. So, I continued to search for a way in, but I was sorely disappointed by the fact that the whole building was completely buttoned up.

Finally, I was forced to admit that I only had two options – brave the loading dock and try to sneak past the dozen or so men and women working in the area, or head through the front door. The three mooks who were supposed to be guarding it almost never even looked in that direction, so my choice was easy enough.

There were a few hovercars out front – probably some of the guards’ personal vehicles, judging by the garish colors and shiny trim – and I used them as cover as I drew closer to the door. And then, when the mooks burst into laughter at something one of them said, I darted forward and slipped inside.

I slid the door closed and pressed my back against the inside of the wall, my heart beating out of my chest. Even though I knew I wasn’t in any grave danger – after all, I felt confident even if things broke into a firefight – it was still a nerve-wracking experience. Fortunately, there was no one in the immediate area, so I took a moment to compose myself before heading deeper into the compound.

The entryway was mostly empty – just an unmanned desk, a few ratty couches, and a dark screen on one wall. As far as I knew, their headquarters was also a functional shipping business. It was a front, but they still did legitimate jobs, and the entryway was their point of contact with potential customers.

I ignored most of the décor as I crept into the first hall, making a beeline toward the stairs. Nothing important would be on the first floor. Instead, I needed to go to the third level, where I knew the leader’s office was located. That information had cost me a few thousand credits, but I hoped it would be money well spent.

There were a few Coyotes around, but none of them were terribly alert. Why would they be in their own compound, which was protected by multiple guards, a bevy of cameras, and a multitude of auto-turrets? If they couldn’t feel safe there, they wouldn’t feel safe anywhere.

As a result, I didn’t have much difficulty reaching my destination, though to get into the office in question, I was forced to use Misthackto unlock the door. The office itself was nothing special – just a desk, a few filing cabinets, and a security terminal. But with Observation running, I couldn’t help but notice the false wall that turned out to be concealing a safe.

This one was a real doozy, and when I connected to it, I realized that it was far outside my ability to unlock. Thankfully, I didn’t need to because that safe was just a decoy. Instead, the real prize was behind the bulky metal container. To get to it, I had to draw my nano-bladed knife and use it as a lever. After that, I slowly inched the safe forward, bit by bit until it reached a tipping point. Then, I let gravity do the bulk of the work as I gently lowered it to the floor.

That’s when I found my prize, which was a simple plastic tube.

Most people would have dismissed it out of hand due to its mundanity. Besides, who used hard copies anymore anyway? Paper wasn’t exactly a scarce commodity, but it was rare enough that almost everyone stored information on chips or security terminals. But the Coyotes knew those were vulnerable to people with the right skill set – people like me, in fact. So, they’d chosen a different route.

“You’d better put that down, friend,” came a scratchy voice from behind me. I slowly turned around and saw the very person I’d expected to see.

Roberto King. The leader of the Coyotes and one of the more powerful men in Nova City. Or at least among the lower class confined to the Garden and Algiers. I didn’t think his personal strength could compare to my uncle’s, but he’d definitely been one of Jeremiah’s contemporaries.

I held up my hands, saying, “You got me.”

I knew that I had no chance of copying Wash’s voice, so I chose to use a voice modulator instead. It was a simple program I’d installed into my interface, but it did the job fairly well. He had no idea that I wasn’t a man, even if he might have suspected I wasn’t the person I was imitating – which wasn’t certain.

Roberto was a tall, thin man with narrow shoulders and the smooth movements of a person who knew exactly who he was and what he could do. He wore a broad-brimmed hat, a red tee-shirt, and jeans. Around his waist was a thick leather belt held together by a giant, jewel-encrusted buckle, and his feet were clad in a pair of snakeskin boots. Holstered on one of his hips was a revolver that his reputation suggested he knew how to use. His only visible cybernetics were his eyes, which glowed green.

I didn’t know his class, but I suspected it was something akin to Patrick’s, which meant that he probably had skills and modifiers associated with using pistols.

So, he was a dangerous man, even to me.

“Wash?” the man asked, squinting at me. “What the hell?”

I shrugged, unwilling to say anything else. At the same time, I initiated Misthack, and a message appeared on my HUD:

Misthack Successful. Options:

· Reboot System

· Overcharge

· Disable Cybernetics

· Upload Ghost

I selected the third option. In the same instant, I mimed tossing something at him. He reached for his gun, but I dove to the side. That’s when his eyes went dark. I darted past him, dragging my nano-bladed dagger out of a sheath at my waist before raking it across the back of his ankles. He cried out and fell forward as his Achilles tendons gave out, but by that point, I was already sprinting down the hall.

I didn’t bother with Stealth. Nor did I disable the cameras. I needed them to see me. I needed them to know that they’d been victimized by Wash. So, clutching the plastic tube that contained the tribe’s greatest treasure, I made no effort to conceal my identity.

Other than Mimic, of course. But they didn’t know about that.

I was down the stairs and through the door before any of the mooks on guard even knew I was there, and the moment I leapt over the gate, I knew I was home free.

A few seconds later, I dipped into an alley and activated Stealth before storing the tube in my Arsenal Implant. Then, I changed my disguise, using Mimicto adopt an entirely new persona before following the alley to the other end. Once I was there, I took a turn. Then another at the next intersection. And another after that. Before long, I was completely out of the Coyotes’ limited territory.

And more importantly, I’d gotten exactly what I’d intended to get. Not the map, though I expected that would be valuable enough. Instead, I had accomplished my goal of framing Wash. Soon enough, the Coyotes would turn on the Specters, and as a result, they’d be even closer to complete collapse.

And I hadn’t even had to kill anyone.

That would change, and soon.