Freezing Shadows, Chapter 44

Chapter 44: Snakes

Fortunately, we made it to Detroit without incident. Didn’t even have ‘customs enforcement’ waiting for us at the small airfield near Ann Arbor that Whisper set down in, on the outer edges of what could be considered the Greater Detroit sprawl. Nice and quiet, just like Whisper liked it.

The ork looked at us as we got ready to drive our vehicles off his airship. “I’ll be sticking around for a week. Can stretch that to two, if needed, but not more than that. If you’re not back by then, you’ll need to find your own way back to Seattle. And make sure to shake any tails you have before getting back here.”

Left unspoken was the obvious statement that, if we showed up with half of NETworks corporate security force on our ass, he would leave us, in a heartbeat. Not surprising in the slightest. He couldn’t move about like a whisper if the Big 10 decided he was too ‘interesting’ to be allowed to fly without an escort, or worse.

It was an easy drive to the motel in Taylor that we’d arranged reservations at. The Taylor Inn was… well, it was what you would expect for 100 nucred a night, honestly. Simple construction, locks on the door were basic models, furniture all looked to be at least thirty years old, and there was a buzzing sound coming from the lights. But there was a basement parking garage that would keep our vans from being noticed, and the rooms were clean of any bugs (of both the living and tech types). Mattresses were at least new-ish, probably only a year or so old.

We took a moment to drop our clothes in the rooms, and then set about getting to work. Twilight and Babydoll would stay at the motel. Twilight’s job was to crack into the motel’s security, so we could get access to what cameras they had, before she began work on getting into the Nightelligence Solutions building’s mainframe. She’d be doing the slow way on that, to reduce the risk of discovery. Meanwhile, Babydoll would set up some of her spy drones to watch the corridors, and watch over Twilight while she was out of body.

That left the rest of us to take Berzerker’s van, and go visit the arms dealer Alisha pointed us to. Basilisk was a naga, of all things. Basically, picture a ten-meter-long serpent, human smart, capable of speech, and usually having some kind of magical ability. Oh, and they not only had venom, but were big enough to swallow a human or elf, if they wanted to. This one was a mix of green and teal, with lighter greens on the underside.

I’d actually tried out being a naga at one point in the beta. However, there were problems. First off, the point cost for a naga was expensive. You also had the issue where, being a snake, you couldn’t exactly wear most types of armor, which was a big fragging problem when bullets were a thing. Sure, the scales provided some armor, and you could invest in becoming a Magician or Adept to get some magic armor, but that was more points. Plus, no arms meant no hands, which meant you couldn’t use weapons. Worst of all, though, was the Uneducated negative quality that you got for ‘free’, which caused all kinds of problems when dealing with Technical, Academic Knowledge, and Professional Knowledge skills. Like sometimes you’d need to make a ‘success test’ just to be able to do basic tasks with your commlink.

For all the trouble, though, it had definitely been fun interacting with other people as a snake. Most people, whether players or NPCs, got a bit disconcerted when they had to speak face to face with a serpent that could literally eat them. Made for a nice twist on Intimidation.

“Well,” Basilisk said, as she finished reading the letter of introduction from Alisha. “It ssseems that the Pixie isss making good use of her time in ‘retirement’. Ssso, what isss it that you are looking for, hmm?”

That was the other thing about nagas. They tended to have a hissing sound when they talked, unless they were making a concerted effort not to. Part of the whole snake thing.

Iceblade’s Etiquette test: 14d6 = 6 hits, 2 Miss

Basilisk’s Perception+CHA: 8d6 = 2 hit, 3 Mis (4 Net Hits)

I nodded respectfully to the serpent. “We’ve been asked to do a hard extract and punitive strike in the sprawl. We need something that will definitely destroy records and experiments on site, but not bring down a skyscraper or the like. Target is a shielded underground bunker, but corp building on top of it. Bringing the whole thing down would draw far too much heat, but the client is clear that the bunker be cleared out, completely.”

“Ah, yesss. I know thossse typesss of jobs well. You have to balanccce the requirementsss of the moment with the needsss of the future, yesss? Sso, you are looking for sssomething that will dessstroy all traccces, without leveling the building? There are optionsss for that. But, how ssskilled are you with explosssives?”

“Me, personally? Not at all, beyond knowing how to pull the pin and toss a grenade. Two of my companions, however, have basic training in demo work. It is a specialized field, as you can imagine, and not a primary focus for most people.”

“That will be a problem, then,” Basilisk said. “These are not sssimple explosssives, yesss? No going like in the cartoonsss and jussst tossssssing a ssstick of dynamite in and shutting the door, you know? If you want to ensssure the data, asss well asss the physical material isss dessstroyed, you will need more than one type of device, and need to know where to put them. And I am correct in sssaying you do not yet know the exact layout of the facccility you are going to be hitting, yesss? Essspecially the load-bearing sssupportsss, and which wallsss have sssomething nasssty behind them or not?”

“You have a solution, then?”

“Yesss. My clutchmate’sss daughter, she isss sssomething of a rebelliousss child. She likesss making the booms, but isss not ssso careful with not being ssseen. She recccently got in a bit of a ssscrape with Marsss Indussstries, working with sssome shadowmen on a job. She essscaped, but they did not. It would be bessst if she were able to go to another sssprawl, where she isss not ssso ‘popular’, yesss? And if you are only in Detroit on thisss businessssss, then perhapsss we can work sssomething out?”

“So, to be clear, you are suggesting that we bring the little slitherer along with us on the job, letting her set up and set off the devices, and then taking her with us when we head back to Seattle?”

Basilisk nodded. “That isss correct.”

“What kind of accommodations would she need on the way to Seattle?”

“Jussst what luggage she can carry on her back. I will ssspeak with Alisha, and get transssport and a placcce for her to ssstay in Ssseattle. But getting her there isss the hard part. She cannot exactly pretend to be jussst another elf, no?”

“Other than demolitions work, what else can she do? Can she at least defend herself in a fight?”

“She isss a magician, asss well, but she prefersss getting ‘up clossse’ with people, inssstead of using gunsss. She hasss an Armor ssspell, amongssst othersss. She will, at leassst, not get in your way.”

Iceblade’s Negotiation (Bargaining): 12d6 = 4 Hits, 2 Miss

Basilisk’s Negotiation (Bargaining): 8d6 = 2 Hits, 2 Miss

“We buy the explosives from you for ten percent above wholesale price, your niece sets the bombs up and sets them off, and the girl’s pay is in transport out of Detroit, and introductions to some of the people we know in Seattle. Whether she sinks or swims will depend on her abilities, at that point.”

“That isss impossssssible! Thirty percccent above wholesssale, and three thousssand for my nieccce.”

“Fifteen percent, and the girl negotiates her pay separately.”

The naga paused for a moment, and then nodded, sharply. “Deal. I will call her in and ssstart getting the deviccces together.”

Basilisk put a call through on her commlink. A couple minutes later, another naga, with similar green and teal, slithered out of the back room. They hissed something to each other in their own language, before the older snake slithered back into the back, leaving them alone.

The younger snake turned our way, and said, “Hi, I’m Boomer. Ssso, thisss is awkward, but I recognize you from the ‘bassse tour vlog’ on the forumsss. Babydoll’s teammate Sexkitten, yesss? And that would make you the Mysssteriousss Sseatle Man?”

I raised an eyebrow, and said, “Yes, that would be us. Beta, or just ignored the warnings about IBCDD?”

“Beta. I wasss in the New York ssserver. There for ssschool. I logged in while in Detroit after graduation, ssso here I am, with NPCcc family. But I wasss already ssset to move out to Ssseattle, IRL, thanksss to a job offer. ‘Aunt Basssilisssk’ sssaid that you’re negotiating my bomb-work on a job for helping me get there, in game, yeah, plusss sssome pay?”

Berzerker chuckled, and said, “Well, damn. What is it like being a snake lady?”

“Not ssso bad. I made sure to grab the Magician quality, ssso I can at leassst defend myssself. And had sssome focusss work done. Sssussstaining timesss two, Health and Manipulation. Use them for Increassse Reflexes and Armor, mossst of the time, but I alssso have the Magic Fingersss, Orgasm, Improved Invisibility, Manabolt, Heal, and Assstral Armor ssspellsss.”

I nodded slowly. “Good loadout, there. Two illusions, one to disable a creature and the other to hide from cameras, and solid spells all around. Might want a physical combat spell later on, so you can actually attack things like drones, but solid, all in all. Pick a mentor, or skipped it? And what tradition?”

“Went Adversssary, with bonusss to Manipulation ssspellsss and Counterssspelling. Shinto tradition, sssinccce the backssstory isss the family came over as ‘sssecurity paracrittersss’ for Matsssuhama. Lessssss than willing, but managed to get out from under the contract. That’sss how I ssstarted, anywaysss. Unfortunately, they ssstill have recordsss on me, and the recccent businessssss with Marsss Indussstriesss makesss it worssse, ssso a fresh ssstart in another sssprawl is actually jussst what I need.”

“All right,” I said. “Here’s what I’m willing to do. We’re on a job with light direct pay, one of those ‘favor for a favor’ gigs. But you do the work for us in setting up the bombs and setting them off, I’ll make sure you get to Seattle, and I’ll even get you an introduction to a couple people who can help you get started. Sound good?”

The snake started fidgeting nervously on her coils. Body language was tougher to read on a naga than it was on a human or elf, for obvious reasons, but this came through loud and clear. If she was human, she would for sure be blushing bright red right now. “Um, well, the forumsss during the Beta were full of your ‘exploitsss’. They sssay you had many sssatisssfied cussstomersss. And, well, I’ve never gotten to be like that with a man, you know?”

The girls did a very good job of not laughing at the poor dear. Fortunately, this wasn’t the first time I’d heard something like that in game. I offered her a smile, and said, “Well, with your current shape, the parts don’t exactly align too well. However, I know a virtual sex club in game where you can customize your ‘body’. So, tell you what. You do this job with us, and, when we get to Seattle, I will not only put in a good word for you with some people I know, and keep you in mind for future explosive endeavors, but I’ll take you to that virtual club, where you will make your body like it is in real life, and I will absolutely destroy your holes, for everyone in the club to see. I’ll even get Sexkitten, here, to record it so that you can have it as some ‘private viewing material’ later on.”

“DEAL!”