Solve the Debts

"He's fixing his door, Sir," said a voice. Man was wearing a black suit, shades, and was looking from a sedan on the side of the street.

"Doesn't look like he'd do anything other than do some manual labor and get his transcript."

"They shot this guy in the head. How's he alive?"

"Could be one of them mutants, Sir."

"Fuck, then why this fool working a dock worker?"

"Don't know, Sir. Personally, he doesn't seem like someone who'll have the balls to do anything other than expected."

"Anything suspicious?"

"He's selling some good meat buns, Sir."

"Excuse me?"

"He's been doing but selling meat buns and lifting goods all over the wet market, Sir. Other than that, there isn't really anything special. Ah, there is, lad is like twenty-years old and he just got his diploma. Asked around but it seems like he was missing some credits."

"So he's a loser?"

"Yup."

There was silence on the other side of the phone.

"Guess he got lucky. Go back. We're wasting time here while the rest of the bastards are moving up on our turf."

"Sure about that boss?"

"I am. Leave the loser alone. Guess surviving a bullet to the head gave him something to think about. And he made a scene, so snapping this guy's neck ain't worth the trouble."

"Roger, want me to bring you some meat buns, Sir?"

"Just get back here and shut up."

***

I fixed my door. I spent like 50 dollars on the door while I spent more than I should have on the doorway. I got some penalties because of the mess. Spent two grand on paying the bill as well. Fucking landlord here is some rich bastard living in the upper districts so there wasn't much to to say other than he demanded payment through wiring it to him. Also spent like four grand to pay for the phone from the guard I knocked out. Returned his pistol to him since I wasn't going to use it.

Like seriously other than the switchblade on my inventory wheel. The rest of my inventory was filled up with cleaning materials and some fucking tissues. Course, I take them out without anyone seeing. I could probably make a living being a magician. Just take out shit from the inventory wheel and then I'd be earning some cash. Too bad that isn't my style and I wasn't some narcissist who likes being seen by others. Not to mention that there are others who might find it suspicious and send some folks to observe me.

Let's see. I spent time selling meat buns. Carried some things in the wet market and then managed to pay some. Though the maze bank of this city gave me a small loan of 30k, but that shit got emptied after I paid some of my student debts and the repairs. Selling meat buns and then offloading them in the market wasn't going to pay for any of that.

That's why I have to make some loans and then pay them slowly. Thing is that I have to make money and in order to do that I need to do some serious shit. My inventory wheel can store some serious luggage, but other than that. I can't carry more than I can carry myself. If I can't carry it then I can't store it as well.

Vehicles and living things are off-limits. The restrictions work just like it was in a game. Though from the looks of it I can carry luggage and place it on the item slot. It'll be there as an item. But from the looks of it I can only store one singular item. If I place a crate of ammunition then it will be considered one. I can pull ammunition out, but it will occupy a space in my ten-wheel slots. So let's say that I get some bag full of cocaine then it'll occupy one space no matter how many packs of cocaine are inside the bag. Obviously I can't store a whole ship container worth of cocaine since it is beyond what I can carry.

It's like saying that I can place a gun inside the slot but not the bullets that are in the gun itself. So it works in the principle that I can place an item that holds items.

The thing is being a runner earns a lot of fucking money. And my broke ass is in debt because of said loans that I get. I know a person who can somewhat fix this mess for me. Thing is that no one gives a shit about some low-level wannabe thug. Prove yourself that you are worth trusting, get some rep, and then you get to do some runner stuff.

And I can't just walk to their place and say hey guys I'm like a thug as well so give me some biz and then fork out some paper. That shit doesn't work like that so I have to get noticed by some of the thugs in PFC's ring. After that some wannabe fixer comes up to me and tries to get me into doing biz with them. Low-level stuff. But my case isn't really that strange. Everyone who lives in this city knows that it isn't new for some idiot to try to do some business and then get shot in their first try. I'm fucking confident because of my cheats. I'm not that dumb to think that just because of these cheats everything will fall into place. I have an advantage but Pacifica isn't normal and there are some who can just fucking punch my head off my shoulders if I don't watch my steps. This city has one way of proving that you aren't the top if you're not careful. I've no plans to dip my foot in their business, knowing that there's going to be some beef with the Gipsy's and the Triads here soon. But the only way to earn cash was to do this shit in the first place.

***

"So…uh, is it Timotay? Timotei, Timothy?"

He looked down on me like trash.

"Look bruv," said Timothy. "You sure this place is right for you?" He looked at the piece of paper. I signed up for the Pacifica Fight Club for the money. He was my ring manager and his face says that he felt like it was a bad day at work. "Cuz bruv, you don't look like a thug -- hmm you look familiar. Been working at the docks?"

"Well, I need money."

"All these kids say that when they come walking here not knowing anything. Okay, anything you lost here, you hear? That's your fault. I'm your ring manager, so imma put some grand on you, capische?"

I agreed. "Can I bet on myself?"

"Sure, bruv. How much?"

"About 150?"

"Aight, try not to get your ass knocked out."

The stinky smell of sweat and the dirty ring with blood still on it was quite disturbing. Around this cage ring were college students and others who thought that it was a good day to watch someone desperate enough to get in the ring. Cage fighter matches were low-level stuff in this city. Street-level thugs who aren't up there in the hard-hitting bastards. You ain't going to find any city-level, Corporate Thug or any of them superhuman folks here.

Those 'professionals' who are usually hard-hitters aren't here thankfully. If I remember correctly this era shouldn't be that compared to the coming season where every damn professional is razing this city.

On the side of the ring I saw the bosses who are working for the fixers of this joint. Timotei here is probably a small-time fixer for the bosses here. Easy to tell who the bosses are when they are acting differently.

The referee told the fighters to line up. How it goes is easy. Folks from the left and right side fighting. When one man goes down, he enters. When all the fighters go down and one is left standing. He wins the pot for himself and those who bet on themselves get the cash.

I entered the ring second. I switched to watching over my shoulder. Ducked under a right hook. Returned the favor with a punch to the gut. It felt automatic to me. Me watching over the shoulder felt like I had perfect control of my body. Dodged two straight punches before docking him with a punch right on the jaw.

Round 1 was over, but fighters ain't. Had to dodge and counter. Thankfully it was one versus one most of the time since I managed to hit right. Didn't' feel like fighting cause I was feeling like I was pressing on the invisible buttons to punch, counter, and dodge. By the time I knocked out the third one. I knew that they were sending some who knew how to fight. It didn't feel anything when I was looking over my shoulder. Couldn't switch to first-person as well since I can't fight as well in it.

Thing is that it seems when I feel alarmed I get thrown out of my body to take control from the third-person. So no use switching to it when I also needed to fight. I countered with a haymaker and stomped on some dude's head. By that time everyone was looking at me strangely. Then again, I just knocked out some fighters who either had their hands raised like they know boxing and folks twice my weight.

I got out of the cage ring. They look at me like I'm some strange creature.

***

Timotei thought at first that this fool was going to go down first. Six-two, lean but toned, probably all that dock working. He had that look on his face. Failed college student who went to the docks. Timotei felt bad about the boy who was about to get his ass wiped in the ring.

For the first time. Timotei was glad that he didn't act normally towards the posers who came to him. This boy weaving through punches, dodging them naturally, then hitting back. Didn't care for the ringside noises. He was focused on winning that by the time he was done. All them fighters that they had for today were knocked out on their asses or lying down with their lips kissing the floor.

"How the hell did you know he was going to win?"

The bookie said to Timotei. Timotei raised a self-satisfied smile.

"You know me cuz, I got them eyes sometimes. Was worried about the boy, but for safety measures I trusted myself and got me some winnings."

The bookie nodded wordlessly. He handed Timotei his cut. He was about to walk back to his side when one of the boss's men asked for the kid to meet him. Timotei's eyes shined, hoping to get some rep for this.

***

Timotei was far friendlier when I returned out of the cage. He told me that one of the bosses was looking for me. Timotei behaved slimy that made me nervous enough to retreat back to looking over my shoulder.

"Boss, this boy here is named Nikolai. Niko, this is Mr. Shawn."

"Good fight there boy. You fight cold there."

I nodded. He offered a can of beer.

"You look cold in your face. Relax, will ya?"

I looked at Timotei who allowed me to speak.

"Still nervous about the fight. Adrenaline is still pumping, Sir."

Mr. Shawn laughed while holding on to his belly. He was a big pale man with two girls on his side. From the looks of it he runs one of the turfs here.

"Aye, a good fight like that. So, are you looking for employment? I could use a good fighter."

"Well, I do need some cash."

"Figured that out the moment you walked in here. So, you like all the students here? Worried about their student loans?"

"Kinda."

"Aye, a sad tale. Good honest young men have to do some hand dirtying. I understand. I understand. Thing is. You did well. I can respect that. A question though, what's with the scar, boy?"

"Got shot. Survived? Working on the docks when some mafioso's shot me and my co-worker. Woke up, somewhat survived and this and that. Kinda fell hard."

I told him my story. Mr. Shawn first looked at me dubiously until something clicked in him.

"Heard of that now that you mention. You got great luck. Though from the looks of it, it ain't enough you got lucky and now you are walking here. Harsh life eh, kid?"

"Sure is."

Mr. Shawn shooed the girls away. Timotei stood in the doorway with his hand on his piece. My body didn't look too worried. If anything I was readying my switchblade to be pulled out the moment I placed a hand in my hoodie.

"Assurance is what we need here, son," said Mr. Shawn. His voice became steely. He made a palming motion to one of the stools. I sat on the stool and leaned forward.

"See, we run biz only to those who we could trust. Yeah, you got good swings, you're an honest kid, telling me that, and I appreciate it. Thing is, are you here for a short time or a long time?"

"How much I'd earn in a short time?"

"Not much. You'd be watching doors and doing some stuff. But looking at it, you want some easy money. How you earn in the fight, ain't going to cover your cost, ain't it?"

He was hitting marks. I told him what I needed. He'll provide it for it but he needs assurance. And the greatest assurance that I could give was my word. I didn't raise myself up and tried to be honest against the dishonest folks. I can do it. Mr. Shawn wanted to help me do a deal so he told me this.

"You do this for me. And you get paid and we might do some deals. You're good with your fist and I can appreciate that. You know how to shoot?"

I nodded."

"Good enough for me. Brotha, are you good with that?"

"Sure thing, boss."

Mr. Shawn nodded.

"I'll contact Shawn. You give him your number and wait. And Timotei, give him some iron, alright?"

He nodded. I followed Timotei out of the ring. He gestured for me to follow in one of the backrooms and he sat on the bar. Offered me a seat next to him and threw me my cut.

"That's a good job well done."

He slid a pistol to me. "And that's for getting me some chance to do this deal."

I took the piece. It was enough for me at least. Shit, I might just have gotten myself into some serious shit. And if anything goes bad, it'll only means that I'm retarded for being this desperate about money.

I got to know Timotei. He was always going on about some vague threats. I said yes to whatever bullshit he was speaking and played the obedient thug. He offered me to get some with some of the girls. Thought about it, but they were looking like their legs were shaking so I didn't bother. And they had that crazy look on their eyes.

I returned home. I sat on the couch with the television on. Thought about what happened today. It felt dangerous. Though it got me enough cash to go for a week. Might be a good idea to lay low after this business.

Timotei's number was on my phone. He said he'd call me once the time was up. Wanted to save some energy so I slept. Couldn't sleep on my bed lately so I spent time on the couch until I heard the alarm clock ringing hard. Got up, washed myself, dressed myself up in a jacket, and black jeans with runner shoes, before going to the meeting point. Timotei waited in this black and blue striped muscle car. I got in without thought. He looked at me behind his shades.

"You're going to hold the duffle on the back. We are meeting with the Vasco Fam' so you watch out because they are sneaky as hell."

He started to drive. I leaned on the window while looking at the typical Pacifica City day. Hot as hell. Dusk clouding up and an uphill view to a much nicer neighbourhood. Pacifica City was built around this lagoon. I was living in a nicer place since my block and precinct is controlled by Timotei's boss.

"Hope you don't take offense Nik, but the thing is I got you checked out. Heard that you were dragged to the precinct after making a fuss. Even got you on vid."

"I was panicking, man. Hard not to when you almost got your head turned into brain matter."

"True. Anyway, your story checks out, Boss knows it ain't your fault so he lets you in this matter."

If it didn't. I doubt I'd be riding shotgun with Timotei here. It took us fifteen-minutes of driving before we reached this wide-spaced alley where the Vasco Fam was waiting for us. Saw three of them alongside one on the roof.

Timotei got out first. He looked behind us and nodded at a spotter. I followed Timotei while the duffle bag was on me. I switched to watching over my shoulder as Timotei starts dealing with the thugs from the Vasco Fam.

"Yo, man, what's up?"

"Carlito, nice to see you man, are you up ready for this deal?"

"Sure, sure," he looked at me. "Who's the kid? Didn't know there was another?"

"That so?"

Timotei made a sign on the back of his hand. "Mr. Shawn right? He said to bring me this newbie. He carries the bag for me, harmless. So about how we deal with this before any coppers come? So how about we get this shit done, aigt?"

"Sure, sure, we do this nice."

One of the thugs brought a briefcase filled with money. Timotei wiped his hands before approaching.

"500k?"

"500k. The goods?"

Timotei motioned me to come. I unzipped the duffle and showed the packets of cocaine. No, it was strangely colored, different from the white stuff that you'd identify.

"You mind, cuz?"

Timotei looked around. Took one sample packet from the side of the duffle. "Here ya go, it's all real."

Carlito tested it. He got this spazzing out reaction after taking one of the drugs. He placed the packet on his pouch and started talking about the deal. Then the exchange was done. It was going well. Then I saw one of Carlito's goons fall to the side. His crew fell, electrocuted.

Our spotter fired.

"Oh shit, it's the fucking vigils' man. Fuck run, run!" Carlito and Timotein ran to the nearest building. Timotei tried to reach the car when a round popped two of the wheels and made the engine smoky.

"Not my fucking car!"

"Damn they found us!?"

"What do you think, fool?"

"The money!"

I held on to the money and strapped it on my bag.

"Alright, I'd be walking out with Carlito here, make sure the drugs are alright. You got a car, here?"

"I do," then he glared at me. "You ain't trusting this green, right?"

"What choice do we have? You got the drugs, and I ain't going to be the reason that Boss Shawn whoops my ass, understand?"

Carlito glared. "You better make it back. Cuz prison ain't going to be nice to you, friendo."

They ran without me. If anything I don't feel like it was some kind of assurance. I started running away as well. When I was in cover, I placed the briefcase full of money into the inventory wheel before running like a free-runner in the urban jungle. Saw that someone was chasing me with extreme finesse as well. Slim figure, white hair, and terrifyingly agile that made my nuts shrank.

And she was wielding this slim blade around her hip. Once she catches up to me I'm screwed and landing my ass back to prison.

I looked at my status.

[Health: 100]

[Armor:10

[Wanted Level: ✰✰✰]

[Reputation: Nobody]

Something was going down when I got three stars immediately.

"Continue resisting arrest and I will subdue with lethal force."

The chick chasing me shouted on her external speakers. I continued running and thanks to my strength and stamina bar being maxed out. I manage to vault over obstacles. Leap gaps and making trouble for the chick chasing me.

***

Audrey had been running after this thug for minutes now. It was supposed to be a raid after the Vasco and the Sullivan Family that were running around the streets of Portown. One was to bust the asses of the local thugs working for them. It was easy work according to the chief.

"What is this?"

"Rodes, what's this?"

"Don't know. Ain't' detecting anything special other than he's a great athlete."

"I'm having a hard time catching up. Calculate a path for me."

"Roger that,"

Rodes sent a calculated path. Audrey stopped chasing, changed direction, and went down a path where she could intercept the thug. She tackled the thug through a plywood wall, expecting to take him down.

He ducked.

She saw the thug ducking down, then doing a forward roll before continuing on running.

"You got him?"

"He dodged!"

"Seriously?"

"Need another calculated path, Rodes."

She fired two electric bolas.

The thug dodged by skipping to the side, then using that chance to tick-tack on a ledge.

"He dodged!"

The stamina and reflexes of the thug made it clear that he was a free-runner. It was absurd that she was losing him!

"Rodes, path?"

"You can corner him. Follow the path."

Audrey nodded. She made a mighty leap, bounced off a water tower and then tried to hit the thug with a fist to the gut, only for her fist to run past his right shoulder. She saw him staring him down with his hazel eyes, grabbed her wrist, and then threw her on the wall.

"Audrey!?"

"I'm fine, Rodes."

She stood up. Then glared at the runner's figure climbing up the wall effortlessly. "Are you sure this guy is not augmented?"

"He ain't. Checked his vitals and electricity running around. He's well-trained. Didn't think that the Sullivan Family would have this kind of folks around them."

"What about Timotei and Carlito?"

"They are running well. Choppers are following them, but there is a fat chance they get caught."

"Shit!"

Audrey started running. She started sprinting very hard as she broke through obstacles and got close to the back of the thug again.

"Going in hard. Activating pursuit mode on this."

"Roger that."

She zipped in like a bolt of lightning.

But like before the bastard dodged once more and started running.

"Oh no you don't!"

She threw a lasso that grabbed the guy. She tried to throw him on the ground when he suddenly pulled with both hands, then twisted the lasso before freeing himself.

"Fuck, this guy got moves!"

"Look, I don't want any trouble," the runner said. "Haven't done anything big, I'm just low-level, man."

His voice was muffled by the half-mask he was wearing.

"Seriously? After running away like that and dodging me?"

"Seriously! Come on man, I just want to pay my loans!"

Audrey looked at him confused, but at the same time. She felt like the voice was familiar.

"Still, you're under arrest for peddling drugs and being accomplice to crime!"

"Come on, man!"

The thug didn't run away. He tried to sprint, but Audrey fired a bolt on his path. "I warned you. Lethal action is authorized."

The thug stared at the bolt before looking at Audrey with his hands raised.

No way she'd lose to a thug, she thought.

She rushed in. The thug ducked and weaved her blows, then hitting her with a right hook. She swung her stun baton. The thug steps back, before making a straight jab targeting her chassis unit.

"Damage on chassis."

Rodes said in her ear. She raised her weapons silently.

"I don't want any trouble. Just leave me be."

The thug said again. Audrey had enough of that excuse. She carefully rushed in, ducked under the thug's blow before trying to land a kick on the side of the ribs. The thug raised a leg, blocked the attack, then used the force of the attack to pivot his upper body into doing a kick which she narrowly dodged.

"He hits hard!"

Audrey frowned. She was sure that her kick would have made the thug's limb swollen. The thug raised his hands once more, before jabbing at her two to three times. The first fist landed on her chassis while she blocked the rest.

"Discharge now!"

"Activating stun discharge!"

Audrey thought about capturing the bastard. But the sudden evasion through throwing himself back while making use of his weight made Audrey baffled. Her suit couldn't move. The thug eyed her before he approached, taking out a switchblade.

"Audrey!"

She imagined the worst. Nonetheless, the thug stabbed the blade in the pack on the back, took the panel, and then armored locked her. She didn't know what he did, but it neutralized her suit that was holding on to her limbs.

"Shit! He cut off the connectivity panel! Sending a drone now! Shit!"

The thug pried the baton off her hands and pushed it inward with his palm. The thug looked apologetic as he pocketed the baton.

"Sorry about this," he said. "This ain't personal."

"I'll hunt you down, thug."

The thug eyed her for a second before sighing. "It's not a sin to do anything in your power to lift some of life's burdens. If trying to survive this fucked up city is evil. I guess everyone's evil, eh, madam?"

It made little sense to Audrey. Then again this city always had one way of breaking even the kindest people. Nonetheless, it doesn't excuse what they do. Excusing evil, tolerating it even the slightest, disgusted her.

She snorted at him. The thug's hazel eyes were cold. His face became tired as he walked away and then took a cat leap over to the next building. Audrey's eyes dilated as the thug disappeared from her field of vision.

"Audrey, you alright?"

"Fine. The thug left and took some of my armaments. What about the rest of the raid?"

"Gone to shit. Vasco and Sullivan are buddies. They worked far better than expected and thus we are in this mess."

"No one keeps a tab on a guy like this?"

"Pulled some info just now. From the looks of it he was just a hired thug. Simple stuff like delivering."

"So I lost to a newbie? To you, did he look like a newbie?"

"No. If any newbie from a gangster family can move like that. Then we'd need more ops teams here on the ground. Repair drone is going to fix your armor locked. I'd send word to R&D about this."

***

I landed on a galvanized roof. No one was following me so I continued running until I found a hiding hole. I looked at my status.

[Health: 36]

[Armor: 0]

[Wanted Level: ✰✰]

[Reputation: Nobody]

That was awfully dangerous. Not only that, she took half of my health. A few more exchanges and I would have been killed or possibly fatally injured. I looked at my inventory wheel and I ate some of the snacks I stored, raising my stats back to at least fifty.

With my health stable. I took out the clothes that I stored from the inventory and wore them and walked out of an alley. Saw some coppers roaming around. They found me suspicious so they searched me. All of the incriminating items were in my inventory wheel so they found nothing, even my phone was in my courier bag.

Got into this burger-joint. Spent thirty-minutes before walking back to the fight club where Timotei should be. As expected, the club was empty. Snuck around the place, hiding from figures until I spotted the Big Boss yelling at Timotei. Carlito was around the corner with some of his crew.

"You trusted a fucking greenie? Look, the drug's safe, but you owe ne now you dumb fuck!"

The Boss had no trust in me getting out clean. I took the briefcase of cash out of my inventory wheel and walked out of the shadows. All of them pulled guns on me to which I responded with a nervous laugh and a raise of my hands.

"Eh, hey boss."

The boss took a step forward. He eyed my clothes and the briefcase.

"You are here. That's the money, Carlito?"

Carlito squinted at the briefcase. "That's the dough alright."

Mr. Shawn held the slide of his pistol. He looked behind me. "You followed boy? How'd you get out?"

I told them the story. I consider myself as a good free-runner and told them that I got lucky because the chaser's suit got armor-locked.

"So after that I got some clothes, went inside a burger-joint and then waited till the heat died down."

Mr. Shawn was half-convinced. Timotei shrugged his shoulders while Carlito… he was just high as fuck on some crack or something. One of Mr. Shawn's associates searched the area. They also had me search for any wires or trackers. I was clean so they had no choice but to accept what happened. If anything Mr. Shawn looked at me like I'm his precious star athlete that won him his gold cup.

"Son, you know that most of our runners other than these two fools were caught?"

From the looks of it, the gov conducted a raid in the district. Locked up known associates and had them jailed. They'd probably get out in a week or two. But Mr. Shawn was appreciative. I brought the money back despite the awful situation.

Proved myself as a good runner. But I wasn't dumb enough to think that this was all good. I was still wary and waiting for anything that might kill me. Mr. Shawn briefed everyone about how shit went down. I listened while keeping watch of my own body. When I'm looking everywhere in third-person, I have a 360 view of my surroundings. I got four eyes in total when I'm in this state so I found myself with no blind spot. I wasn't sure if I could trust them.

After I got my cut, the boss said that he'd keep my number if he had any biz to offer me. Told him that I wasn't into killing, but would work well in delivering stuff. Boss Shawn laughed at me for being too 'demanding' but he told me to fuck off after a while.

***

Surprised him alright. Seeing the kid come back in fresh clothes and a briefcase. Timotei stayed on the couch while the Boss lit his smoke.

"We might've found a treasure."

"Are you sure about him, boss?"

"Been in this game for a long time. Kid's clean. Got good running legs and he still has that dumb moral naiveté you'd expect from a greenie. And do you have anything to add? We ain't got exactly anyone around right now."

With the raid spooking most of their runners and muscle. They didn't have that much choice either. And if anything, it amuse Mr. Shawn that there is still at least some inkling of hope in this operation of theirs.

Pacifica City always had one way of fucking things up and making things amusing.