Chapter 31: Blade Runner
The arrival of the Cthulhu at TURBO drew gasps of amazement from the patrons. The car was an exceptionally rare and valuable sight, and everyone in the bar knew it. Maine took a sip of his drink and discreetly pulled Dorio closer.
"You think it's another fixer?" Dorio whispered to Maine, his eyes locked on the sleek black car.
"I hope so," Maine replied to Dorio's question, leaning in closer as they both watched the Cthulhu. "However, if you look, Kiwi and Lucy are trying to stay out of sight."
"Shit," Dorio muttered under her breath.
As the tension in the bar heightened, the door to the Cthulhu smoothly swung open. Out stepped a woman with an unmistakable blue cat at her side, capturing the attention of everyone present.
Maine looks at the woman… And she makes eye contact with him. "Fuck," The borg mutters under his breath.
"Maine, she's walking towards us." Dorio mutters
"Yeah, I can see that," Maine replied, his eyes tracking the woman's every step.
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Helen had gotten out of her car, and Maine was right there in the open. This was a great time to approach him.
"Maine," Helen said with a curt nod.
"Who in the hell are you?" Maine asked, eyeing her with suspicion.
"I am Helen Wick… I was hoping to hire you to track someone down for me," Helen stated, her cat running between her legs.
Maine remained skeptical. "Right… I don't know how you heard about us, but why do you think we would help you?"
"I am looking for Lucy Kushinada," Helen explained.
"Really, why would you be looking for them?" Dorio asked.
"Oh, I found traces of them on my server in my house," Helen revealed. Nyx began to paw at her leg and drew her attention to a girl hiding behind a car.
"Ah, apparently I don't need to hire you after all. Sorry," Helen said, starting to walk away.
Maine's hand drifted to his iron. "I think it would be best if you stopped right now."
Helen stopped in her tracks, turning her head slightly to glance at Maine without fully facing him. She spoke with a cool, measured tone, her hand hovering near her holster.
"Listen, I don't want any trouble here, Maine. I'm just looking for Lucy. I have some questions I need answered." Helen says
Maine chose to escalate the situation further.
Maine's hand tightened around his iron. "Look, lady, you better start talking fast. Why are you after Lucy? What's your real game here?"
Helen kept her composure, realizing Maine was actually pretty dumb. Did he really think she wanted to hurt Lucy? She just wanted to know why she was leaving a trace at the apartment. She lowered her hand away from her holster and began to explain.
"Lucy was poking around a Max Tac-owned apartment. Leaving backdoors in their systems, spying on a Max Tac Bladerunner. Do you know how dangerous that is?" Helen asks
Maine's grip on his iron loosened as he listened to Helen's explanation. It seemed his initial suspicions were misplaced.
"I get it," Maine responded, his posture relaxing. "That's a dangerous game she's playing. But why the interest in a Max Tac apartment, anyway?"
"I don't know we would have to ask her," Helen says looking over at the car Lucy is hiding behind.
"MAINE! SHE'S MAX TAC!" Lucy shouts before quickly ducking back behind the car.
Maine and Dorio both snapped their attention to Lucy's warning, their eyes wide with alarm. They had just let a Max Tac agent approach them Maine had gone to quick draw only for his cybernetics to malfunction and lock up fully.
"Lucy Run!" Dorio shouts as she is also quickly drawing her iron.
Helen had her gun already out before Dorio could blink and the Byura had punched clear through the steel frame of the Liberty Armes Liberator.
The shot rang out and had managed to get every single person's attention, the normal party going on at TURBO was about to become a mob.
Lucy was running
"Damn girl, Nyx stop her," Helen says to her cat
"A FIGHT O HELL YEAH!" Rebecca shouts shooting off her carnage.
Helen had already activated her Sandevsitan and sighs to herself as she is stuck dodging bullets.
"Remember Helen, nonlethal," Helen mutters to herself.
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Nyx was relentless as he sprinted after Lucy. His synthetic limbs moved with rhythmic mechanical precision, allowing him to make progress and start to close the gap between them with each stride.
As the chase weaved through the chaos of TURBO, Lucy darted into a alleyway.
"Why in the hell is a cat chasing me!" Lucy exclaimed as she caught sight of Nyx's cybernetics. An idea struck her, and her eyes glowed as she activated her cyberdeck.
Lucy launched an attack on Nyx, thinking it would deter him. However, the cat's systems quickly deployed a defensive measure known as Black ICE. As the digital barriers formed, Lucy flinched and stumbled, falling to the ground and struggling to get back up.
"What kind of cat has Black ICE?" Lucy moaned in pain.
"Why did you have to run, we just wanted to talk." Nyx says
"Ah, my nerves and brain must be fried. I think that cat just talked." Lucy groans out as her vision goes dark
"Meow," Nyx responds
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Helen sighs to herself throwing a broken in half shotgun to the ground. There are dozens of bodies strewn about, none of them critically injured although they were certainly in pain.
Helen glances at Maine who is still experiencing full lockout, having watched the entire fight.
"I live near Gloria, come and get Lucy after I have a talk with her," Helen says as her figure blurs and she vanishes.