Chapter Thirty - Cat Nap Mishap


    Chapter Thirty - Cat Nap Mishap


    I heard that she did it because the mayor said something about her girlfriend.


    --Sam-I-Yam, gossip forums, 2057


    ***


    I woke up because of a buzz in my head. A call over my augs.


    Groaning, I turned in bed and tried to ignore it, but the call rang again, and I snapped my eyes open. I was in my room, covered by thick blankets. The room itself was cold, a fan on sweeping cool air over anything not bundled up. Lucy was next to me, breathing slowly and evenly.


    I blinked a few times, then took in the time. Two fifty-six, in the AM.


    I shifted to the edge of the bed, then sat there for a moment as I processed things. Why? I asked. I wasnt coherent enough to make that any more specific.


    The origin of the call suggests that its important enough to be let through. Im sorry for waking you up.


    I groaned, then stood up, turned, and fixed the blankets around Lucy. Id left a gap open, and I didnt want her to get cold. She grabbed the blankets in her sleep and curled up tighter around them.


    Hello? I muttered as I answered the call.


    Cat? a familiar voice asked. It took me a moment to place it though. See-Three, the cyborg chick in charge of the prosthetics place. Wed sent over the first shipment just yesterday. Or Lucy did, in any case. She was taking care of all of that stuff for me.


    Yeah, thats me, I said as I padded across the room towards the washroom. If I was gonna be up anyway, I might as well take a piss.


    Someone broke into our place, See-Three said.


    I paused by the entrance to the washroom. Are they still alive? I asked.


    Yes? We didnt have anyone staying there overnight. That was probably a mistake. I got a turret thing from... I think its your girlfriend? Wife? But we just got it, it wasnt installed yet.


    Okay, I said. Do we know who it is?


    Im talking to someone right now. I think its just some local punks. I dont think its the gang that runs the floor were on, but the one two floors down. I dont know anyone well enough to ask, and the clinic doesnt exactly have a lot of loyal customers yet, See-Three said. She sounded pissed, and tired.


    I sighed. Ill call you back in ten minutes, I said. Are you at the clinic?


    I am.


    Alright, stick around there. Stay safe. Ill come over. Try to get, like, an inventory of what was taken.


    That can be arranged, of course. Call it one thousand-two hundred for a full set?


    I glanced at myself in the mirror, just in one of Lucys oversized T-shirts. Yeah, sure, I said.


    A box appeared on the counter with a thump, close enough to our toothbrush cup to make it rattle. I started getting dressed.


    It was actually tricky, the outfit didnt just go on like a coat, it had its own pants kinda built into it that I had to squeeze into first, then I had to contract my arms a little to fit the top part on. It was built more like a jumpsuit than normal clothes, but without the usual puffy formlessness of a normal jumpsuit.


    I dont think anyone else would be able to comfortably wear this one. I shrugged it on in the end, then looked in the mirror again while zipping up the front.


    I looked like... a ninja bounty-hunter.


    Alright. I suppose thats the kind of look I was aiming for. It was badass, but it was also pretty much exactly as Emoscythe had designed it.


    Alright, I said.


    Youll want to retrieve your weapons before you leave. Theres a sleeve for your Void Terminus, and a holster for your Trench Maker.


    Mhm, I mumbled as I left the washroom while checking my remaining points.


    Current Points: 32,371


    More than enough to cause some mischief.


    Cat? Lucy mumbled from the bed.


    Ill be back in a bit, I said. Just gotta take care of something.


    Lucys head fell back down, and I suspected that she was too out of it to make any sort of sensible reply.


    I went and found my boots in the corner, then while stumbling into them I grabbed my favourite handgun, checked to make sure it was full, frowned as I realised it was missing one round, and then I realised I didnt care that much about one round before I tucked it in place.


    The coat had a flap at the back and a magnetised harness that let me wear my smaller bullpup-style Laser Pointer at the small of my back, where the coat would cover it entirely. Then the sword went into a long, flaccid sheath hanging from my other side. It was a snug fit, and I tried to be mature about the way it hung there.


    I was ready for war. A small war, but war all the same.


    The last thing I did was grab my helmet on the way through the main part of the house. I fitted it on just as I walked outside and started for my bike.


    It was just past three in the morning, and someone, somewhere, was going to regret waking me up.


    ***