Outrun - Cyberpunk LitRPG

I rested my head on my fist, idly watching Mira chow down on a massive burger like she'd been starved for months. This was already the third platter of pizza-sized burger that I'd bought. At this rate, she'd single-handedly chew through my wallet.

She shifted in her seat, wiping her hands off on a napkin. "Are you not hungry- why's she just watching me- damn, this is so good."

"Not really." It was a small issue with drinking Jack's Sun Kicker every morning. The smoothie was a perfect meal replacer designed to keep me satiated for a whole day after drinking it. Likewise, I didn't really have much of an appetite for a whole day. Especially not after just laying around and resting for most of that time.

Speaking of, what was I going to tell Mira? About everything that changed with me, anyway. Oh hey, I awoke this connection to the eidolons and they just shower me in cool stuff? I'd sound like a loon… though she'd probably believe me. My eyes weren't exactly mundane anymore, at least.

Hmm… maybe reveal it one at a time? It's not like I could share or give the interface to her… right? Eidolons? Voyeurs? I did ask about it in passing back then, but that wasn't an option, right? Even, like, a child interface with just one or two growable Skills would be cool. Anything to make her a bit stronger, really.

They were silent… They were always silent. Guess it was for the best that I didn't have their voices in my head all the time. That'd probably drive me insane. Even just one would be too much for me to handle. Crow might be alright, actually. He always seemed antisocial everyone I interacted with him.

My phone rang in my pocket. The HUD brought a caller ID for Saint up. I pulled out my phone and hit answer. "Hello?"

"Yo, Shiro. Got some big news… don't really want to discuss it over the line. Meet up?" He asked.

"One sec." I sat up slightly, pushing the phone away from my ear. "Is it okay if a… mikata comes by? He was invaluable in- um- finding you."

"A friend of yours is a friend of mine." Mira put on a bright smile. "Shiro really did grow up quick- I won't be replaced-"

"Never." I looked her dead in the eyes, hoping my message got across.

She slowly nodded her head. "Your eyes are really beautiful- is that a cat of some kind?"

"Oh- th-thanks." I glanced out at the window—which Big Mike finally got repaired—spotting my crazed panther eyes. Usually people just said they were wild and unhinged. "Uh- a panther."

"Cool…"

I shifted in my seat and picked my phone back up. "We're at Big Mikes."

"I'll be there in a bit." Saint hung up on me. The line beeped a few times and then went silent.

"Who is he?" Mira asked, tugging the beanie down lower over her head.

"A reporter… a good one too. He's working on a big story about- um- labs. Hopes to draw the public eye to it, or something." I wasn't a hundred percent sure. My memory of the past couple days was a little hazy. Sleep deprivation wasn't great. I remembered killing a lot of stupid Scavs though.

Mira's expression fell briefly at the mention of the labs. Her eyes shadowed over, though she forced another smile. "He sounds noble- sounds like a fool- how'd she meet a reporter?"

"Well… his name is Saint." I shrugged. Hard to get more noble than that. "Met him by chance, actually. We were both working the same job and teamed up. The rest is history."

"Sounds familiar." She shoved another slice of burger into her mouth and nodded. The beenie flopped around with the motion, though was held in place by the slightly shimmering halo.

"He was in a band." I shifted, laying up against the wall with my legs propped up down the both's bench. Was now a good time to ask about the exoskeleton? She was in a better mood than before… or would I just be ruining her mood by asking? Maybe… yeah, I'll just wait a bit longer.

We ended up ordering another platter of burger from Big Mike before Saint arrived. Mira flinched toward the door at the sound of the bell.The reporter slid into the door, flicking his hair to get rid of the rain water. The neon light shining in from the door caught the drops perfectly, highlighting his handsome face. "Yo, kiddo."

"Don't call me that, bastard." I shook my head, waving my hand to him when he approached. "Mira, Saint. Saint, Mira."

"It's a pleasure." He nodded his head lightly, though made no move to approach her. Instead, the handsome reporter slid in next to me. He casually knocked my legs off from where they'd been propped up on the booth's chair.

"Hey! I was sprawled out there!" I shout him as fierce a glare as I could manage.

"What was I supposed to do? Pull up a chair?" Saint shot back without any hesitation. He shifted side to side as if to mock me for losing my spot.

"Or ask?" I glared at the man. "Didn't anyone teach you manners?"

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

He shrugged casually and waved at Big Mike. "Manners don't apply when dealing with wild animals."

"Did you- did you just call me an animal?" How do I even respond to that? It was my eyes, wasn't it? Ugh- I needed to get the clone-flesh pulled soon.

"You've been rabid the past week." Some of his humor and joking attitude faded away. "You back to normal?"

"I've always been normal…" Except when I wasn't, but that was different. Hardly worth bringing up now that it was behind us.

Saint arced a brow. "Cause that's what a normal person would say."

"Pfft-" Across from us, Mira laughed lightly at our stupid argument. She hid her small smile behind her hand. The sound made me freeze up and sideye Saint. Maybe I could find some other uses for the reporter.

"You got any good jokes?" I asked.

"Off the top of my head?" Saint rubbed at his hair. "Um- a duck walks into a bar. The bartender asks him, 'why the long face?'"

Neither of us laughed. The silence stretched on. "Damn man… you could use some work on that."

"I panicked." Saint shrugged. "Don't know what you expected from me in the first place. If I could make good jokes, I would've been a comedian."

So much for cheering Mira up. I shouldn't have even asked. The table drifted into a lull when Big Mike carried over a fresh platter of burger. Mira wasted no time digging in, and Saint followed a few minutes later.

After a few moments of silence, Mira spoke up from across the table. "Y-you helped her find me- you look familiar- since when were reporters so handsome?"

"'Course! I couldn't just leave her hanging. I'm glad you're safe. And I get that a lot." Saint easily realized what was happening with her chrome even without me having to say anything. Not a surprise though. He read through those files almost as much as I did.

"Thanks." Mira rubbed at the crook of her elbow, eyes drifting to the table.

"Always happy to help…" Saint looked her over for the first time since sitting down. A broad grin worked its way onto his face. "And I see you're a fan?"

"I… am?" Mira looked back at the reporter in confusion.

"Yeah, that jacket was one of our lines." His grin turned down slightly at the edges at the reminder of his old band.

The jacket with the broken adverts? How could he even tell? "Pass me your jacket. I'll fix it."

Mira didn't even hesitate, passing it over to me. "So… what brings you by, Saint?"

"Just- you know." Saint motioned to me. I pulled out the scrambler and tossed it onto the table. "It's about the corporation behind the Savant Lab."

Hmm… on second thought, maybe this conversation wasn't the best idea in front of her? I set down the half disassembled holo-projectors built into the jacket. "We can-"

"No- it's fine, Shiro- I don't know if I can- fighting always cleared my head- I should get in another fight." She lost control again, letting all five thoughts out at once.

"We're not going to fight." I shot a look at Saint. "But I can take you somewhere if you want? After Nael's Neurologist takes a look at you."

"Fine…" Mira crossed her arms. For a moment, the old Mira peeked through. There was a battle-lust in her eyes that made even me uncomfortable. It didn't help that she was definitely more unhinged now. "So?"

"Right- short story short, it was Tornado Arms. They're hoping to branch out into the chrome field." He pulled out a deck and started to pull up files on it. "Heard of them?"

"Chek." I used to use a pistol made by the corporation… I felt an odd sense of betrayal. That was just how corpos rolled though.

I looked up to Mira. She had that same stone-cold expression, arms crossed like nothing in the world bothered her. Her pupils trembled slightly though. That alone reinforced the notion she wasn't ready to be active again. If she ever was in the first place. I didn't want to sideline her, especially since she was a battle fanatic, but…

"They link to… heavy dealings across the city. A source who grew disillusioned with their work revealed two more labs not on the list." Saint sighed and flipped the screen around, showing a map of Aythryn City. Two locations were marked, one in the AEZ and the other under Little Yukoto.

"AEZ one's been taken care of." I went back to fiddling with the holoprojectors idly. "Any luck with the other three?"

"Nothing concrete. Hopes are high though." Saint pulled his deck back. "What's the plan with Tornado?

Bringing down Tornado… just leaving trackers in their facilities wouldn't work. They weren't just a small corp that Raijin could bulldoze without any second thoughts. Tornado was popular and massive, though not quite to the Big 7's standards.

Hmm… maybe shift targets? They were an arms corp, right? And I did have the Sentinel files still. Sentinel, who was currently acting like a hedgehog while they licked their wounds. If I played my cards right, I could start some strife.

Did I even want to though? Pitting them against each other- it could start another corporate war. Tornado Arms wasn't just an easily bullied corp. They had branches across the world. Granted, BosSpace would get involved before it blew up too big… but I'd potentially be sacrificing hundreds of thousands of people for revenge before then. Was that right?

I- I didn't know. I didn't even know where to begin to think about it all. The table naturally drifted into silence while I worked on repairing the holo-ads. After adjusting a few more connections, the holograms lit up across the fabric to reveal a crying eye.

"Nice!" Saint picked up the jacket, holding it out. "Been a while since I saw our symbol like this."

"Sorrow?" Mira held out her hand for the jacket, sliding it back on once he handed it over. "Was that your band- were they good?"

"Was." His expression shifted away from the usual cheer he had, turning much more neutral.

Mira tilted her head to the side. "What happened?"

"A sad ending. Hova went down to nomads. Nobody survived." His expression melted into one of pure, genuine sorrow. It was so heavy that I was taken off guard by the usually smiling reporter. "I went ahead of the band by a few days…"

He stopped talking with a shake of his head. The mood around the table plummeted even further. It seemed we all had tales to tell…

After a few seconds, he put on a radiant smile to try and cheer us up. "But that's in the past now. I run City of Sorrows, bringing the tragic tales around the world to the forefront of the media."

"Around the world?" That was news to me. I thought he was just a local reporter… "What brought you to Aythryn City?"

"A boat. I went broke setting everything up. Haven't really had a chance to move on." He shrugged. "It'll come sometime though."

We talked a bit more before Saint left to deal with another meeting. Nothing major, just some small talk about the goings on around the city. The mood picked up slightly, but never really rekindled back to how it was originally. The drive back to my apartment was quiet. Mira and I were both lost in our own thoughts.

My mind drifted between a burning rage that wanted to watch the world burn for how corrupt it was, and a choking sensation when I thought of the potential ramifications of a Tornado-Sentinel war. There wasn't a clear answer here, and that made it hurt all the more. Especially with Mira hugging me tightly the entire drive back.

I parked up in the flyer bays at the top of the BC Gym and led her back down to my apartment.