How To Live as a Cyberpunk Solver

44. society

The information Leonard had was not great.

The latest electronic drug ‘Snowball’ created by the Volcano Gang facilitated the psycho cyborg crime, and the company sent ‘white coats’ to collect evidence, and for some reason they were impatient.

“Isn’t there anything really great?”

“…what did you have?”

Noah Lucas laughed like a wild cat.

“Let’s go over it before that. Why did you hire a fixer when it’s a job for a company?”

“answer! Because I’m happy!”

Max raised his right hand and said. Leonard covered his face and Noah Lucas laughed awkwardly.

“Maybe, but wouldn’t it be quicker to move the Federal Task Force (FAP) dedicated to psycho cyborgs?”

Although the Federal Task Force was not affiliated with a specific company, it could project its influence if it wanted to, as it was operated with corporate funds. If you show impatience to the fixer, mobilizing the riot police was quick and sure. Leonard tapped the table, then turned it over and gestured.

“Your turn. Throw up if you know anything.”

Since his career was his career, he had good morals, even if not as much as Leonard.

“It’s snowball. It wasn’t made by the Volcano Gang.”

Leonard’s brow furrowed.

“I can confirm that it came from there.”

“They did distribution. But not production. You can trust me because I checked it myself.”

It means that he confessed with a knife. It also meant that things were messed up.

“There are many hardships.”

“It’s our job.”

As the number of psycho cyborg crimes increased noticeably, Volcano executives also realized the seriousness and stopped distribution. It would have been nice if it had happened sooner or later, but the timing was bad. In this way, even if you rob the Volcano Gang, you will not be able to catch the torso.

“Did you say white coat?”

“You mean a corporate minion?”

“How many companies have white coat-implant doctors to study psycho cyborgs?”

“Isn’t that pretty? Rykov, Schneider, Fort Bionic, Highlane…”

“Among them, which companies will work in A-044 City?”

“The High Lane company.”

Leonard retrieved information about Highlane from the memory chip. Founded in 2075 by Lamar Bolfoss, the company’s CEO, in 2075, when groundbreaking was nearing its end, the company grew rapidly focusing on the implant brain business. Max gulped down his juice and joined the conversation.

“Isn’t that son more famous than President Volforth?”

“son? why?”

“Oh my God, don’t you watch the news? You’re a crazy 2-year-old who always gets into trouble. Gun threats, assaults, drug parties, hit-and-runs by construction workers…”

“A drug party?”

I don’t know if it’s a plant drug or an electronic drug, but it was important that it was related to drugs. Leonard and Noah Lucas immediately gathered Internet material. It didn’t take long.

“Can you draw a picture of this?”

The best solvers put their heads together and whispered.

“Why is the Highlane Saga looking for snowball makers and collecting addict samples?”

“It must have something to do with that madman. I guess, but he must have gone crazy.”

“Why did you mobilize a fixer rather than a corporate public security and riot squad?”

“I don’t want to inform the outside world. There are face issues and stock price issues.”

If the brain melted, the successor of a brain engineering company, it wouldn’t be a gossip.

“Are you having fun?”

“It’s only fun, so it’s a problem.”

Leonard and Noah Lucas carefully folded the picture and shoved it into the corner of the memory chip. It was fun, but it wasn’t something a solver would be involved in.

‘If I sell it on the darknet, I’ll get some credit, but…’

Leonard thought for a moment and then gave up as well. It wasn’t a hole-in-the-wall shop to the extent that the stock price fell, and there was nothing good about being branded as a company.

“Coming back for the first time, what about our request?”

“Finding Snowball is a quest that will end.”

There were three intermediaries who arranged this request. It was Bald Jake, Rattle Cooper, and Messy Hancock.

@

It’s not Leonard, but Noah Lucas, who has been rolling for 20 years at A-044 City, has no brokers he doesn’t know. It was only natural that the broker who survived the longest and who became the richest had a shorter career than Noah. So did ‘Dirty’ Hancock.

“yes. Thanks for being honest. No, it’s not that I’m reciprocating. just say thank you thank you?”

As the name suggests, it has a long tail that looks messy. Noah Lucas sighed and said quietly.

“Jung Then charge Leonard. that’s right. that’s right. Leonard Walker. The former Hexagon. I will help you once.”

“Boss. Who are you selling out now?”

“Is that so? stay with me now Are you saying it’s okay? I’ll give you a number later. Then hang up?”

Seniority was not for nothing. The mug was thick. When Leonard looked at him disapprovingly, he averted his gaze.

“You should work with Dirty too. Because I’m tired.”

“Why do you hand that tired thing over to me?”

“I am an adult. Treat me like an adult.”

Leonard responded by chewing on the candy.

Dirty’s fixer was poking around 15th Street. Because it is a place where all kinds of entertainment places in Junk Town are gathered, the distribution volume was the highest even though the percentage of brains pickled in electronic drugs was low.

“Hmm. greatness.”

Leonard took a half step back, clearing his throat. Noah Lucas looked at him curiously.

“what’s the matter?”

“I don’t get along well with gangsters here…”

“Where’s a gangster and friendly fixer?”

“It’s been bad lately.”

The Tiger Claw gang of 15th Street was sharpening their swords for stealing the latest implant body. The humor was that it was a real knife, not a metaphor. However, it wasn’t Leonard who was being sliced right away.

“15-5 Siren’s singing point? Is this right?”

Leonard, Max, and Noah Lucas looked up at the crooked neon sign on the corner of the alley. The intense night workouts of young men and women were repeated in two-step motion. It was a little strange to go in with a woman and a child.

“Well, I’m not here to play.”

But I didn’t have to go in. A big window in the store! There was a sound, and a giant came out. No, it rolled out. A gun and a knife protruded from the fixer’s hands. But it wasn’t a surprise. The giant was unarmed and had a manly naked body.

“Hee-hee-i-!”

The giant looked up at Leonard and crawled out of the alley in fright. ‘If you go around like that, you won’t be treated well…’ Around the time I was worried, the second and third naked bodies came out. It was not a surprise event. Gunshots rang out several times, and screams erupted in various ways.

“Does it look right?”

The inside of the store was even more chaotic. Blood-stained women huddled in the corner and trembled, gangsters in dark suits—the Tigerclaw Gang—strewn here and there. Leonard crossed the flattened gangster head to find the culprit.

“Gee, I’m sorry for being busy.”

The ‘principal culprit’ dressed in skinhead looked back at Leonard and the others. The scan was over in no time. Only two arms were implanted below the shoulders, and the rest was living tissue. But that arm was unique. It was Schneider’s ultra-high-output Charge Arm.

‘Isn’t that what combat androids use?’

Skinheads have shown themselves that this is not necessarily the case. Kicking off the floor with one arm, he jumped up and pulled the other arm tight. He seemed unwilling to speak. Max exclaimed in surprise.

“Mr. Leonard!”

Leonard, on the other hand, didn’t bat an eye. The hacking ended at the same time as the scan, so the arm was pulled and fixed. If I had to fly like that, all I could do was hit my body. In fact, considering his companion, even that hack was unnecessary.

“Aren’t you polite to your senior?”

Noah Lucas kicked the wall on the right and flew off with a rebound and landed a knee on the side of Skinhead. It was almost at the level of instantaneous movement. Power is mass × acceleration, so no matter how lightweight the body was, it couldn’t be safe if you hit it that way. The skinhead broke through the left wall and disappeared into the room. The sound of something breaking was deafening.

Leonard looked at the proud Noah Lucas strangely.

“Since when did this floor start arguing with seniors and juniors?”

“I’m a kid, yes. You’re a brat.”

‘Isn’t Max dead?’ I asked, but the two seniors didn’t worry. Like Leonard’s light hack, Noah Lucas also lightly attacked. A knife built into the knee could be amputated at the waist. Indeed, it wasn’t long before it rustled. Except for a bloody nose and a bruise on his side, he was fine.

“…Isn’t that Tiger Claw?”

Contrary to his appearance, his tone was polite. Leonard shook his head.

“It’s someone else who does the same thing as you.”

Skinheads blow their noses! Unpacked and saw Max. To be precise, he saw the Japanese blade Max was carrying on his back.

“I must have misunderstood. sorry.”

‘Skinhead’ Kruger. He was a troublemaker who knew how to apologize. He was also a rare fixer in Junk Town.

@

The gang of 4 solvers got out of the messy 15-5 Avenue and huddled together in an alley where a pickup truck was parked. It was good to hide for a while as the Tigerclaw gang wandered the streets with their eyes closed. Skinhead Kruger politely requested.

“Could you loosen this arm?”

Leonard’s hack is still unsolved. Leonard swept through his hexagonal pupil to restore function. The skinhead moved his shoulder and admired it.

“As expected, Mr. Walker. I heard he’s the best hacker in Junk Town.”

“Not Junk Town, but A-044 City.”

Max and Noah looked at each other saying they couldn’t stop. After correcting ‘A-044, you are the best hacker in the city’, the skinhead looked at someone else.

“Are you Noah Lucas?”

“that’s right. I’m sorry for coming so suddenly.”

“I heard from Hancock.”

Max said, ‘I heard the story, but did you attack me?’ didn’t ask anything Because the skinhead didn’t pretend to know Max. Being courteous was not necessarily polite and kind.

“Compared to you two, I don’t know if I can help.”

It was a statement of distance. He seems like a difficult person to get close to, but I didn’t really want to get close with him either. Fixer wasn’t a social job.

“I heard that you are investigating the sale of snowballs.”

“Mr. Walker is looking for a snowball victim, and Mr. Lucas is looking for a snowball maker.”

“Then it will make sense. Shall we cooperate?”

Noah Lucas reached out. It was the confidence that there would be nothing they couldn’t do if there were members like this. The skinhead looked at the hand and said.

“I don’t like it.”

“What? why?”

“Because my request is over. Caught all the snowball vendors on 15th Street and retrieved their memory chips. It was the last song of the siren a while ago.”

He was a more competent solver than he looked. Leonard’s party looked at each other.

“Can’t you do this?”

“There is nothing that can’t be done.”

It’s an unexpected development, but it wasn’t without a way. As I said before, being a fixer wasn’t a social job. The gunknife came out again.

Traditionally, there were two ways to cooperate.