Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System

03:00

Though his shift had ended much earlier than usual, Nate felt the same exhaustion as when he worked the entire night. Thankfully, he wasn't held back today, allowing him to go home early, as promised.

His wife was already asleep, and so was his daughter. It was a little sad, but he was used to it by now. He planned to wake up early today so he could see his little bunny before she went to school, and after his next shift, they would be going on a vacation to visit his mother, allowing them to spend more time together.

~[ ]~

"Bye bye~"

Nate waved back at his little, smiling as he burned her cuteness into his mind. Her red bag seemed a little too big, and so was her blue coat, but that only seemed to add to her cuteness. Julia was holding her hand. In a way, he and his beautiful wife worked similar jobs, but while she was a receptionist at a local office, he guarded a nightclub that belonged to the gang he was a member of.

Now that he was awake, Nate could no longer hear the call from his bed. He finished some of the chores around the apartment then went grocery shopping. On the way, he passed some kid with ridiculous red hair, which reminded him that he hadn't been to the barber for a while. His raven hair was getting too long for his liking, so he decided to trim it a little.

Just as he reached his apartment, a message reached him from. His team leader was informing him that they have something that needs to b taken care of, and that his presence was necessary.

Apparently, some idiots raided one of the their supply vans and they needed to go retrieve the packages. Since noon was still an hour away, he saw no problem in going, not expecting it to take long.

In just a couple of hours, his team caught the thieves, smashed their teeth and retrieved the stolen packages. Nate made it home around 14:00, and since he had a couple more hours before Julie and Anne returned, he decided to make some spring rolls s they could eat together.

It took a while to finish the preparation, and though he had practiced a lot before, hims mother's recipe was still hard to follow. He also took his sweet time, wanting to finish cooking just as his family came home.

The minutes ticked by, and soon it was 16:00. Nate was done cooking so he set the table and sat down. A few more minutes passed, but he didn't think much of it. Once half an hour passed, he started to get worried, so he decided to send Julia a message. More time passed, but no one showed up, and his message received no reply.

Just as he was about to panic, a notification appeared on his OAM. He thought it was his wife finally contacting him, but when he saw the chatbox, his blood went cold.

[ [ ]: No need to panic. Your wife and kid are fine.]

The short text had the opposite effect. Nate didn't recognize the contact, nor did he remember registering it. Before he could wonder where it came from, another text popped up.

[ [ ]: With the kind of work you're involved with, you should've known this day would come, right?

]

Furious, Nate began tapping on the virtual, quickly composing the first threat that came to his mind, but when he sent it, the reply he got lacked any concern.

[ [ ]: Did you think playing the good dad at home would spare you?

That's not how the world works.

Now, we have a question for you.

Do you want your family to be safe?

]

He received a minute-long video recording. It showed the two people he cherished sitting in a windowless room. While both looked fine, with Anne idly playing with some toys, the subtle distress on Julia's face confirmed his worst fears.

After watching the video no less than five times, Nate replied "yes".

[ [ ]: Good.

We have some instructions for you.

]

The list arrived right after, but it wasn't what he had expected. Still, he didn't hesitate to follow them. Putting on his coat, he rushed out of his apartment, running toward a nearby parking lot. A car awaited him in one of the corners, with the key in the ignition.

It was an old piece of junk at the end of its life. He didn't know why he was tasked with driving it, nor did he care. All he has to do was dump the car like he was told. Anything if it meant keeping his wife and daughter safe.

Gritting his teeth, Nate tightened his grip on the steering wheel. Soon enough, he arrived at the Red River, which was still flooded from the rain last night. The sky was getting dark as well, and it looked like another storm was approaching.

[ [ ]: Now is the most important part.

From this point onward, you are mute.

You can't say anything about what's happening.

No matter what happens, your mouth must stay shut.

Little Anne is relying on you.

]

He was approaching the drop point. The messages arrived just then, and soon after, he noticed that another car had passed him before slowing down, blocking his path. Another one appeared to his left, and another one to his right. He didn't have to look into the rearview mirror to know that a fourth car was behind him.

It was a setup, and he walked into it with his own feet. He was led to an isolated corner in Red Cliff, which gave him a hint on who he was dealing with. Before long, he had several guns pointed at his head.

The bastards had identical face tattoos, all looking like corpses stripped of their flesh. He was dragged out of the car while one of them fiddled with the dashboard. The trunk popped open, and a light was cast on the interior. A heavy silence shrouded the area right after.

Among the black faced thugs, one of them had a complete skull tattoo. He met Nate's gaze then motioned for the others to drag him to the back. Nate had a guess about what was inside the trunk, but when he finally saw it, he couldn't help but grimace.

A naked man was stuffed into the small space. Cuts and bruises covered his entire body, and he seemed to be missing both of his legs, in addition to what was supposed to be between them. To make things worse, he seemed to have two large objects stuffed into him. One inside his mouth, and the other inside his rear.

The man's face was covered in the same skull tattoo as the others. He was undoubtedly a high-ranking member, which means the problem was already beyond solving.

"Did you do this?"

The question came from the man with the full-face tattoo. Turning to face him, Nate pressed his lips into a thin line.

A few seconds later, the sound of a single gunshot echoed through the area.