How To Live as a Cyberpunk Solver

52. kidnap

A cloudless wasteland.

As the early summer sun toasted the dry soil up and down, an arthropod with claws broke out from the heat, unable to overcome the heat. I straightened my head and took a few seconds to cool off my skin in the cool breeze, startled by the sound of a tearing hole, and hid again in the ground. Turtle-like gunshots followed a long time later.

Taaang-!

Max’s marksmanship was excellent.

Gun & Guns, which is known for its quality even in the Old Human Alliance, repetitive training that cannot be predicted with scavenger income, the stamina of a teenage boy to handle it, and a little talent, as a result of which he can hit a can at a distance of 500 meters. It became.

“Because there is no wind.”

“…Can’t I just give you a compliment?”

Max muttered as he pulled the bolt. Accurately hitting a target the size of a tin can in long-range sniping where a 1mm shake spreads at intervals of several tens of centimeters was commendable.

“This one is ready too.”

‘Gunsmith’ Layla took out the bullet box and put it out. Usually, they sell civilian paper boxes containing 20 to 30 rounds, but today they brought a military bullet box made of steel. The thump was heavy.

“It was pretty hard to get this.”

Leonard checked the painted surface. ‘100CRTG 50CAL’ is a federal military product, but it will be compatible because the basic model is the same.

“This bullet is also compatible with 12 gauge shotguns.”

“uh? Really?”

“Because if you put it in your shotgun and shoot it, it will fire. No, I’m not saying you should try it now…”

Leonard broke the seal and opened the box. The neatly loaded 12.7mm bullets were beautiful. Leonard wasn’t strange. There were three gun enthusiasts here.

“I’m also looking forward to it because it’s my first time using allied heavy weapons.”

“Me! Me! Can I shoot you?”

Leonard opened the feed cover, engaged the ammo belt, and released the bolt. Of course, I didn’t make any concessions.

“Cover your ears.”

I fired one shot first. Quaang-! A heavy hand taste that could not be felt with a small firearm was conveyed. One foot, one foot, another foot. Once I got used to it, I fired 3 or 4 shots at a time. Kwa Kwa Kwah Leung-! Quarreung-!

“Wow!”

Max covered his ears and exclaimed. Expensive weapons were expensive.

“profit! Don’t shoot them all! I want to shoot too!”

“You bought it with my credit?”

“Don’t be mean!”

Leonard let go of the handle with a few feet left for his young assistant. I didn’t know when and how it would be used, so it was good to know how to handle Max.

“Then me too…”

Gunsmiths are not applicable, but they pretended not to know for smooth future transactions. Kwak Kwa Kwah Leung-! Quarreung-!

The new weapon of the fixer has been harassing the beasts of the wasteland for a long time.

@

Leonard’s group finished shooting practice and loaded guns, bullets, and other equipment into a pickup truck. The results were very satisfactory. That’s why I was disappointed with the auxiliary equipment. Leonard and the gunsmith had a brief discussion about installing a folding mount in the luggage compartment and haggled over the price of bulletproof plates before moving on to credit issues.

“The fixer is rich, right?”

“Who?”

“I get 3-4 thousand credits for each request. Even when I asked for it, they didn’t cut a single penny.”

When the fixer images are displayed as a pie graph, ‘dangerous person’ was half and ‘Albuza’ was half of the half. Leonard replied indifferently.

“That’s the price of equipment and the price of life. Because it is expensive.”

“I admit that.”

“And requests don’t come often. It’s normal to last a month with just one bite.”

“I admit that too.”

The gunsmith looked up suddenly pathetically. It was understandable that he would come to me like an unemployed man and shoot me when other people were working. I was worried that there would be obstacles in the love business, but the rope came down at just the right time. T-T-T-T-T-DIC-

Leonard frowned at the caller floating in the corner of the brain chip. After thinking about it three times, I received it.

“Leonard Walker.”

Revealing your name means you are a stranger, and not saying ‘Leo’ means someone you don’t like.

-I’m Broker Hancock.

A-044 In ‘Sodom’ City, he was the second most famous broker after the rattle and the bald head. on the bad side.

“Dirty Hancock, I know.”

-Hey, it’s an honor that Hexagon recognizes you. I’m calling because of an appointment I made the other day.

“Isn’t that what I promised you?”

– I’m sorry to say that. Even if our fixer got rattled, it didn’t matter.

It was forced. The person who was beaten up would understand, and if it was Leonard’s reputation, there was nothing to regret. When Leonard tried to hang up, ‘Dirty’ urgently said how he knew.

-This is a 15,000 credit quest. It’s not contract killing, it’s not retaliation, it’s not blackmail. Think about it.

There is nothing morally regrettable, but 15,000 credits was a little disappointing. An opportunity to make up for expenses has arrived.

@

There was a reason why ‘dirty’ was in the name.

Dirty’s work was messy, like “brown nose” Cooper was a rattle because he flattered corporate executives, and “bald” Jake was bald because he was bald.

“It wasn’t a threat…”

“Definitely not a threat, but…”

Leonard and Max received the commissioned materials and crossed their arms alike. Leonard crossed his arms, so Max followed suit, but he was expressing his displeasure anyway. Sigma summarized the data displayed on TV in one line.

“It’s a kidnapping.”

Reading it aloud made it even more obscene. Max asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Do you often get requests like this?”

“It happens often, but not very often. Usually it just kills them.”

If the purpose was an implant, it was convenient to carry it in pieces, and if knowledge and information were the purpose, it was simple to retrieve the memory chip.

“Isn’t Leonard cheating because he doesn’t do contract killings?”

“You don’t need to hire me until you increase the difficulty of the quest, right?”

Since catching them alive is harder than killing them, the commission fee went up several times. Even the target was a former public security agent. With military implants and weapons, there was no reason to increase the burden of failure.

“What are you going to do? Will you accept?”

Sigma asked stiffly. Rest was recommended, but not more than a day had passed. If it was a person, if it was a mother or wife, they would have increased all kinds of nagging.

“I quit my job, and if I lived in Junk Town, I could do it, but…”

Although Leonard is not a pigtail who cries out for love, friendship, and the power of the moon crystal, it was embarrassing to not know the purpose of the client. Max whispered softly.

“Fifteen thousand credits.”

“great. let’s do it.”

It’s an easy task compared to finding cargo that has gone nowhere, but it’s about the same price.

Once I made up my mind, the plan came out right away. I opened satellite maps and city maps to check the location, reviewed the time when there would be no disturbance, the entry point, and how to escape in case of emergency. I would have to go and investigate the exact thing myself, but it was more helpful than starting without knowing anything.

“The 17th street is close to the detention center, so the police are dispatched quickly. If possible, do not use a gun.”

“uh? Can’t we use our new baby?”

“It’s not us, it’s not the baby. And this is not a gun to use.”

Leonard drew a few lines from the main street of 17-2nd Street, where the target was, to the back alley.

“Leave your car here, and memorize the side roads because you will be approaching by this route. If you actually go there, there are many people and there are many obstacles, so you won’t find it right away.”

“Wow…”

“I’m going to bring down the brain chip as much as possible, but if it’s not possible, I’ll have to knock it down by beating it, so don’t approach it first.”

“Wow…”

“If nothing’s wrong, we get out of the driveway, but if anything’s wrong, we escape this way, this way, and this way. It’s the B, C, and D routes respectively, so check first when you arrive at the site.”

“Wow…”

Leonard looked curiously at the gaping assistant.

“Why do you keep coming?”

“This is my first time working like a professional. Every day, they attack and crash! Bread! Bread! and come out.”

“…it used to work like this.”

Again, I wasn’t sure about anything until I visited the site. At worst, the target could be missing or already killed. As if Sigma had something to say, he turned the voice function on and off again. I’ve been using it for almost 4 years, so I thought I’d have to send it to a mechanic. Leonard got up from the couch.

“Get your weapon. Let’s go.”

@

‘Dirty’ Hancock was competent as a fixer broker.

I parked the car in an alley on 17-2 Avenue, checked the surrounding geography, and waited for the target. From the third dark window on the 4th floor, I was able to confirm the target ‘Gordon Greenwood’.

“Is this competent?”

“This is enough. If you knew what the level of brokers was like in the past, you would be speechless.”

There were many idiot brokers who sent fixers to the wrong city because they couldn’t confirm the location of the target. Of course, there has never been a middleman who has been earning a living like that. Just as the solvers were filtered out through life and death, only the skilled brokers survived.

Leonard checked his revolver and got out of the car. It’s not an honorable thing to catch people, but there was no need to save yourself before committing it. I put my hands in my coat pockets and calmly climbed the stairs.

“Room 404. No. 404. Is it here?”

Leonard checked the lake and knocked lightly. A nervous reaction came out because I thought someone might not be from the public security system.

“Who!”

“Are you Mr. Greenwood?”

“There is no one like that!”

So, who will answer now? Leonard used the last of the 101 persuasion techniques developed by sociologists to be the most effective. He smashed down the doorknob, broke it, and kicked the door. Max was curiously pleased.

“Also! This is Leonard!”

Leonard didn’t respond. It was because he had to subdue Mr. Greenwood, who was frightened and drew his pistol.

“Safety first!”

At the same time as the hacking program was uploaded, a straight line was inserted under the chin. I don’t know which one had an effect, but it definitely had an effect. Former police officer Gordon Greenwood collapsed without a sound. Max removed the Lycos handgun from the floor and flirted.

“Is this too easy?”

“I did it. I.”

There was no point in making multiple plans. It was over when I put it in the car and brought it to the client. However, 15,000 credits was not the donation of a fixer who dreams of becoming a hotel owner. The sound of the doorknob turning was distinctly audible. Leonard and Max reflexively drew their guns and aimed in the direction of the sound. If it wasn’t for an abduction request where you shouldn’t shoot if possible, you would have pulled it once.

“Dad?”

Anyway, it was good that I didn’t pull it. Even a cyborg with a lack of bodily fluids had a hard time shooting a 5- or 6-year-old girl and being calm.

“You never said you had a child, did you?”

“…Can’t say I’m competent.”

He was a young and innocent kid. In other words, it was a living person without a memory chip. There was a troublesome witness.