Chapter Six - Fine Little Fighter


    Chapter Six - Fine Little Fighter


    Robotics and automation go hand in hand with the growth of artificial intelligence. If a company can replace most of its white-collar workers with a few AI and AI services, then why shouldnt it do the same with its blue-collar force?


    So the entire field of robotics, once lagging behind, suddenly gained the attention and budget it needed to supplant humanity.


    --The Electronic Workforce, a report on digital and mechanical automation, 2025


    ***


    Rac was a big girl who could take care of herself. She didnt need me. Shed lived most of her life without me, and in some pretty awful conditions at that.


    So it was stupid of me to worry. But I did anyway. I was tense, Trenchmaker in hand, primed to run and gun at a moments notice. Which was probably why I jumped when Coco tapped my shoulder.


    Shell be fine, the big woman said. Raccoon might be new to all of this, but shes a damned fine little fighter.


    Good merc, Garter agreed.


    I gave him a look and Garter glanced around, as if searching for the reason I gave him exactly that kind of look in the first place. Yeah, shes a good kid, I said. Emphasis on kid, though. I dont know what kind of stuff you guys do most of the time, but if this is an easy job for you, then your normal cant be all that safe. Racs... Racs her own woman, even if she isnt one yet. Im not gonna tell her what to do, or who to hang out with, but I will break fingers and blow out kneecaps if things go wrong.


    Spider: Scary.


    Spider: So, whats your story?


    Spider: You dont smell corpo.


    I snorted. Im not corpo, I said.


    Thats what corpo says, Coco replied, but she did it with a laugh.


    Focus, boy and girls, Garter muttered just as Rac slid back out from under the dented gate. What did you see?


    Rac sat on the ground, looking just a little flushed. She adjusted her full-face mask before she spoke. Its a loading room. Not much there. Some crates and stuff. But it looks like theres a few storage rooms. Big metal doors with electronic locks.


    Nothing too bad, Garter said. Did you see how to open the door, or will we have to crawl through?


    Yeah, theres a button, Rac said. But theres also a bot.


    Garter swore under his breath, and I saw his stance shift, getting ready to fight. What kind?


    Rac shrugged. I took pics, she said before glancing at Jerusalem.


    The teams hacker paused for a long moment, head tilting to the side as if in thought, then he nodded and I got a ping from him. An image. An image taken with a shitty, lower rez camera. Racs eye augs? Id never checked, but I imagined they werent top quality. Probably something after-aftermarket.


    Still, the image was understandable. It was a wide shot, several all-metal double doors, maybe made of stainless or something, then in the shadowy corner, a big shape, like a trash can turned upside down.


    No more security? I asked.


    Not that I can detect. The bot was also offline to begin with.


    I sighed, but kept my thoughts to myself. Would Myalis have warned me if it wasnt the case? Should I have asked... I should definitely have asked. Fuck.


    Jerusalem, keep an eye out for more sec, Garter said. Lets check the rooms, one at a time. Keep an eye out for more bots, and ceiling-mounted guns.


    We checked the rooms. Or rather, the team did. They had a method for it, opening the door, then scanning everything within before moving in. It was slow, but it was careful.


    It took a good ten minutes to scan everything, and by the end, the piercing enthusiasts were chomping by the bit outside to get in. Theyd found some paper masks to cover themselves up, which really ruined the whole lots of spikes vibes.


    Is it clear? Spikey face asked.


    Its clear, Garter replied, stowing his handgun away, which seemed to be the signal for the others to do the same. Come and get your stuff. Our parts done. Jerusalem, think you can do anything with that bot? He gestured to the corner where the bot was.


    It had four holes that I could fit a hand through on one side, and the other side was an exploded mess of tangled metal and melted plastics. The interior had caught fire at some point, or maybe that was the plasma rounds doing their thing. In any case, the machine was properly fucked.


    Jerusalem glanced at the bot, then shook his head.


    Spider: Battery might be worth something. But Its heavy and I dont have the tools to extract it.


    Yeah, nevermind, Garter said. I dont wanna waste half an hour down here for a few thousand credits that well have to split. Lets get going everyone.


    The street kids started moving in and out of the warehouse, carrying crates with them in teams. But we just... left. Back to Cocos van, which she started up right away, and then we did a three-point turn and started heading out.


    That was it? I asked.


    Like I said, easy job, Garter said. You know, you didnt carry yourself that badly. Not a pro, but not bad. Might be some hope to get you as a merc. If youre looking for that kind of work, that is.


    Ah, no thanks, I said. My kind of work is usually... different from all of this. Well, not that different, but different.


    Mysterious, Coco said.


    I snorted. Im usually shooting a lot more things and more stuff is trying to eat me.


    Ah, youre a cleaner, Garter said. You work for a PMC?


    Something like that, I said with a dismissive wave.


    This whole thing was weird. And... yeah, these guys werent so bad. Clean and efficient and probably better at their job than I was at mine. Maybe Rac wasnt doing so poorly.


    Id still worry though.


    ***