Outrun - Cyberpunk LitRPG

I followed behind Mira, watching our back in case something heard the noise and came to investigate. Thankfully, it wasn't an issue. As far as I could tell, we were well and truly alone down here. At least, within the range of Mira's hearing.

The cave took an unnatural turn after a moment, with pick and drill marks slightly smoothed out thanks to erosion. The temperature of the cave dropped too, making me quite thankful for my jacked. We edged forward, stumbling out into a massive cavern at the end of the the tunnel.

Lichen, in all its bioluminescent glory, lit up the place. The entire area looked like some kind of gargantuan storage room, almost like a buried shipping yard. Stacks and stacks of boxes covered the entire place, and there was a thin layer of repugnant water covering the floor of the room.

Beams crisscrossed the entirety of the space and rusted lights hung from them. Unfortunately, the wire work seemed to be incredibly frayed by years of small rodents gnawing on it, so there was little hope of turning the lights on. Visibility wasn't too bad though thanks to the bioluminescent lichen.

Vines dangled from the rafters and grew along the crates. They were dead husks though. How'd they die? If they grew down here in the first place, they should've been fine? Weird.

It looked like a normal, albeit weirdly placed, storage facility. Something about it though… it just felt off. There was almost a malevolence to the air I only picked up on thanks to Insight. And yet, it wasn't an 'in danger' vibe. It was heavily muted, and I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't paying attention.

Maybe the sheer size of the place triggered Insight? Like there was something down here, but it was too big for Insight to pinpoint where? That was a worrying thought.

Just as Mira warned me back in the subway before the variant attacked, I decided it was best to warn her even if it was nothing. "Be careful. Something doesn't feel right."

Mira flashed her light across the nearby crates, illuminating thirteen circles set up to form a larger circle. "That's a lot of crates… Fedra store house, maybe?"

I looked around, spotting more and more of Fedra's marks. The entire cavern was full of them. Most of the crates were rotten though, and the water was impossible to see through all the particles. "Maybe-"

"Look." Mira pointed out towards the center of the room. In the dim light of her flashlight, at least a hundred skeletons were piled into a massive mound. Another mound sat a bit of ways off, though the bones looked like some kind of critter.

Something roiled in my stomach. "Think it's them?"

Mira raised her rifle defensively and took a step forward. "One way to find out."

We moved down into the massive chamber, taking our time to ensure nothing lurked in the dark. It was annoying to get around thanks to the water pulling at my boots, but we managed. Mira took pictured the entire time, documenting everything we found.

I popped the lid off a rotting crate. Chrome limbs, the ancient-looking tech covered in rust, filled the crate from top to bottom. "They working with Scavs?"

Mira popped open another crate, revealing rows of dusty rifles long past their date. "Probably not… everyone hates Scavs. Sides, this stuff looks ancient."

We sloshed through the thin layer of water, finding all kinds of goods in the varied containers. Everything from chrome to even piles of metal ore sat around in crates with no discernible pattern. It was like some kind of dumping ground for freighters. Considering the age, maybe back during the K-10 Blockades? No- maybe even older. Potentially even the Second Great Depression.

The timelines didn't match up though. The K-10 Blockades were over forty years ago, and this warehouse was only set up ten years ago based on the disappearances of the two hundred troops and Operation Aperitus. Why would Fedra dump a ton of crates here? Unless... unless it wasn't Fedra? No, that was just my stubbornness speaking by this point.

We checked a few other crates as we went. Nothing really stood out aside from how useless most of this stuff was. Age hadn't been kind… but then why have a guard on it? Nothing made sense. Still, we pushed on toward the piles of bones.

I started with the animalistic ones. Looked like some kind of four-legged creature… rats, maybe? But they were big, at least a size bigger than the giant rats that scampered around the Underground.

Their bones were also covered in odd growths and bony protrusions that seemed unnatural. There were hundreds, maybe even thousands of skulls peeking out from the pile of bones. Maybe some kind of special mutated rat? Definitely a pack animal.

Did they kill each other off? No- that didn't make sense. They were all piled up, so there must've been some survivors on the human side. But who? And why didn't they report back in?

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"Shiro!" Mira called out, sounding sadder than I'd heard her in a long time.

I shuffled over through the rotten water. She stood right next to the mound of human remains. "What?"

Mira shifted to the side, allowing me to see dog tags stacked into a small pile. They just barely peeked over the layer of water filling the place. "It's them."

I patted her shoulder and looked at the mountain of bones. "Let's uh- let's grab all the tags, and-"

My hair rose, and a distinct feeling I was being watched washed over me. A moment later, Insight pinpointed where, and I snapped my head up to one of the beams crisscrossing over the cavern. Six small red dots seemed to glow in the dim lichen, with the rest of the creature hidden in darkness. I blinked-

The dots disappeared as if nothing was even there in the first place. "Did- did you see that?"

"No?" Mira flicked her flashlight up toward the beams. "What was it?"

"I- I swear I saw something move. Let's- uh- let's just get out of here. This place is giving me the creeps." I wanted no time and began scooping up the tags by the handful. We could look through them all later.

Mira started to help me, dipping her hands into the disgusting water. "What was it?"

"I dunno. Eyes, I think. Might be some beast that calls this place home." We already got what we needed. There was no point in sticking around longer and inviting that thing to attack us.

We quickly gathered up the tags and worked our way back out of the cavern. I don't know what, but something about the place made me extremely uncomfortable. I just couldn't quite figure out why that was.

Mira took point once more, leading the way back toward the metro and subway platform. She paused a few times to take pictures, but not for long. It seemed she was picking up on my urge to ghost.

The return trip, aside from dodging past a few groups of other mercs, was blessedly uneventful. Whatever I spotted back there didn't give chase, nor even seem to care about us. I chalked it up to some weird mutant creature that was too scared to be around us. There were enough of those down here to go around.

We had already marked the occasional danger points in the Underground on the way to the subway, so it was smooth sailing back. I was half-tempted to try another exit just to get out, but that was suicidal. No telling if the group at the top was friendly or not, so we just stuck to the original plan and headed for the Fang's.

A while later, we passed the Scav checkpoint. It was unguarded, but the bodies had disappeared. Looked like some kind of massive mutant beast based on the blood trails. Whatever it was headed toward the den, likely seeking more fresh prey. Not our problem. Not anymore, at least. Hopefully whatever it was would cause some chaos.

And then we were back, dead on our feat. The climb back was even more draining than the way down, especially with the added weight, but I managed. Mira forced me to tie us together with microwire just in case either of us slipped. She climbed first.

Halfway up, I had to scream my identification to the Fang on guard. Taking off a mask with one hand was surprisingly difficult. On a completely unrelated side note exhaustion enhanced by vertigo was a terrible comb when clinging to a ladder.

Mira pulled me up when I reached the top, and any easy breath escaped my lungs. Back on solid ground. I pried off the mask and took in some fresh air- or as fresh as city air could be.

The Fang around us looked mighty uncomfortable, though that was probably thanks to the stench radiating from us… or was it thanks to two heavily armed people popping up from Underground? Regardless, we left the premises pretty quick after returning the borrowed gear.

I tiredly wiped a hand across my face and took out my phone to check the clock. We'd been down there well into the next day, and the sun was probably just starting to come up. Couldn't exactly see past all the skyscrapers, though. "Best you call in."

Mira shook out her golden hair. It looked noticeably less glossy than usual. "Yeah… damn, I said maybe a day. He's gonna be pissed."

"Good luck with that…" I muttered and stretched out. My spine popped in at least a dozen places. "What's next?"

"Shower. Then hand over the tags to Pa' and he'll sort out the rest." She nudged my shoulder. "Might even get some pay as 'informants'."

"Some more Rayn would be nice…" Especially considering I wasn't planning on getting paid at all. Outside of the Skill Point, that is.

"If we get any, what are you going to spend it on?" Mira asked as we finally got back to the parking garage she parked in oh so long ago. Thankfully, the car was still in one piece.

Good question… I'd been thinking recently, in my little downtime, about what I wanted to do with my sudden inflow of Rayn. "Maybe rent an office space or something?"

"Oh?" Mira stripped out of her gear and tossed it into the trunk. I followed her lead and tossed the ballistic vest back there. It'd take some serious scrubbing to get the smell out.

"Well… pickpocketing isn't exactly a concrete flow of money. It'd be nice to have an area to work on some… projects." It was still a very loose idea at the moment. Hmm…

Mira shot me a look over the top of the car. "What are you thinking of doing with that?"

I shrugged and popped open the door. "Maybe set up a fabrication shop as a front to make guns or something. I dunno."

"That certainly… an idea." Mira slid into the driver's seat and turned it on. "Um… gun's though? Quite the competitive business…"

"It's not very thought out yet… maybe I should save a bit more and open up a garage or something instead." People were always in need of a mechanic, regardless of who they were.

Mira chuckled and started up the car. She patted me on the shoulder. "Well, maybe keep thinking about it? You could probably do all that in an apartment anyway... I didn't even know you could handle mechanics."

"I- I've been busy, you know? Not super great yet, but I can do some small stuff." I shrugged and looked out the window. "Want me to come over after you drop me off? Or just go ahead and take the tags now?"

"Course! You could use a shower." Maybe it was since we were back in relative safety? Some of the peppiness she usually had leaked back into her voice. It was drained though. I wasn't the only one about to fall over.

I gazed at her with my nose upturned. "You're not much better than me. 'Sides, I don't have spare clothes."

Mira eyeballed me. "We both smell like rotten guts and sewage. And you can just borrow some of mine. You're way smaller than me, so it should end fine."

"I am not way shorter than you!" My gaze turned hostile.

"I said small, you said short… guilty conscience? You're like- a head and a half shorter than me, pipsqueak." She chuckled and ruffled my frankly nasty hair with her hand.

I swatted at her. She reflexively dodged the strike faster than she had the right to. "I'll show you short!"

"Hey, you better not- I'm driving!"