Daoist Mystery

System Override 59 - In-Person Team Meeting

Chapter 59 — In-Person Team Meeting

Twenty-seven and a half million Eurodollars was not a sum that could be taken lightly by the vast majority of the human population. Not even Fei-Fei, whose own family’s company raked in enough money to dwarf that sum, in their hey-day at least.

Now, while her family faced the imminent bankruptcy of their company, they prepared to shore up their assets and live the rest of their lives comfortably somewhere...

System Override 58 - Bad Luck Jackpot (V1)

I drove away from North Oak at speeds that far exceeded the traffic limit. I was unused to riding around the highway with a full-on car at full speeds, but it was unavoidable in this case. The trunk of my car had all of my guns. I had planned to eject its contents on the final stretch of the race.

It wasn’t my usual loadout—none of my usual tech arms were there, like the Burya or the Achilles. Instead, I had just stuffed my trunk full of automatic and subautomatic rifles, a...

System Override 57 - Winnings (V3)

“So!” Jin said. “You ever hear about this vassal thing ‘Saka’s got going?”

What? What was he on about now? “Uh, yeah. Think Allister explained the concept to me some months ago. Slave corpos.”

Jin barked out a laugh. “That’s what you think? Nah, man. Think of it like… a company within a company. The vassal helps ensure the miniature company’s success, and in return, they get protection and backing, essentially becoming household members of their…” he he...

System Override 54 – Too Fast, Too Frivolous Part 3

Lucy exhaled a thin line of smoke and stubbed her cigarette out on the ashtray balanced on the edge of the cluttered coffee table ahead. Then, she lit another.

On-screen, the television’s livestream had cut to the track staging area behind the casino—lit up in twenty different shades of garish neon like some night rave’s dancing pit. Irritating, but ultimately, ignorable.

The casino’s back entrance opened onto a broad sloped platform jammed with Caliburn hypercars...

System Override 56 - Too Fast, Too Frivolous Final Part

The Critical Progress was getting too

System Override 55: Too Fast, Too Frivolous Part 4

Judy Alvarez slammed her glass down on the counter with a groan. She didn’t know why she was feeling so down. She just was.

It was one of those days. She could point to nothing specific on why today had to be this day. It just happened sometimes. Sometimes, the reality of… living would pounce on her when she least expected it, turning her into a chewtoy as that rabid beast dragged her around, making her remember her… feelings. Feelings ...

Chapter 53: Too Fast, Too Frivlous part 2

“So! You do much racing?”

I narrowed my eyes and gave him a sideways glance as we stepped out of the velvet-lined lounge and into a quieter hallway, the carpet soft underfoot and patterned like coiling snakes. We were on our way to get our cars, now. The races were beginning in about an hour, and there was a bunch of prep-work that the establishment needed from us. Like enforcing the disabling of our weapons systems and lobotomizing whatever self-driving programs we had on hand. The...

System Override 52 - Too Fast, Too Frivolous Part 1 (v2)

Edit tl;dr at the bottom

On my lowest, darkest days being ground underneath the bootheel of Katsuo or the uncaring administration of Arasaka Academy, or experiencing the darker realities of growing up in Arroyo, I would entertain a fantasy or two about one day owning a mansion in North Oak and riding into the subdistrict on my very own Rayfield Caliburn wearing an outfit worth a hundred grand.

Thing was, I’d always be pushing forty in those dreams, with decades ...

System Override 51 (v2) - Surprises

A/N: Decided to take a different angle--instead of the Biotechnica job, the story will focus on the race and corpo stuff for now.

I'm about 36% finished with the new chapter 52 that follows this chapter (that one starts at the day of the race). I reckon that it will take at least 2 chapters for the race arc to be done, but it might be 3 depending on what else I come up with and want to fit into the story.

Now onto the story :)

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I woke up, still insi...

System Override 52 - Vendetta (rough draft)

Chapter 52 – Vendetta

[We must consider the existence of Dead Man’s Switches,] Nanny said, leaning her back against the mirror wall inside the elevator. [Killing them would be nice and easy, but preferably, we should get a run of their system before getting rid of them.]

D: That’s gonna be a pain. But yeah, makes sense.

I knew that on the level I was headed towards, the Netrunning room was two turns away through a hallway, leading to a blast proof door that M1 access c...

System Override 51 - Metamorphosis

Nanny knocked me unconscious after I finished taking in all the metals—and finished the thermos of vinegar.

When I came to once more, I was inside my car, the outside of it surrounded by people wearing digital masks, carrying bats, crowbars, and guns.

From the link I had with the car’s system—connected to my cyberdeck—I could sense an outside breach progressing glacially. The guys outside were trying to pop open the car. They were hours away from that, still. The Ca...

System Override 50 - Chrysalis

Lucy chased away her hangover with a straight shot of vodka down her gullet from the bottle she had brought with her to Aldo’s warehouse. Hauling ass all the way to Rancho at twelve noon on a goddamned Sunday…

Why do I even put up with that gonk.

Said gonk in question was busy ripping drifts that filled the air with the smell of burned rubber, inside a pitch black hypercar that she was sure he hadn’t owned the day before. Say what you will about David, he w...

System Override 49 - Murk Man II (Version 1)

After a day of binge drinking in which nothing productive occurred at all except that we managed to conjure even more housing options out of thin air—inspired to live closer to Rancho because the Beef Suqaar turned out to taste fucking fantastic—I had a fitful sleep that Nanny could only barely salvage.

Thankfully, her assistance was enough to at least get me out of bed to start my day. 

First, I got my trip to Tijuana squared away—holding a seminar to the GSS family me...

System Override 48 - Day of the D (version 1)

The virtu’s one saving grace, in Judy’s opinion, was its brevity.

All told, including the Sandevistan bullet time, the gig took two minutes and fifteen seconds. That was, two minutes and fifteen seconds spent playing tango with the Strom while they emptied an entire clip at you, only to drag them around with one hand, using them as a shield to deflect a hail of bullets while fearlessly thrusting and slashing with a sword.

That was only the fucking st...

System Override 47: Badlands Derby

Lucy groaned as she got off my bike while I turned it off, holding her hand up to shade her face from the sun. It was only eight in the morning, so the weather was practically chilly for NC standards, but it’d only get hotter from here on out.

I had pulled up in front of Falco, Pilar and Becca, who were leaning up against a shinied up chrome and white quadra, several twelve-packs worth of beers stuck inside an ice box that sat against the car, protected by the shade it cast. ...

System Override 46 - One-Two Combo

Edit Tl;Dr at the bottom

It took about an hour and a half to get all the blood washed out of my clothes at some random laundromat in Watson—while wearing a different outfit that I had bought. Once that was over, I gave those threads to some homeless guy who looked to be my size or less and took off to Dorio’s favorite gym.

I parked in front of the building and entered, a guitar-case filled with all my weapons in hand. Felt it’d be easier to just drag ‘em w...

System Override 45 - XB(D)

Tl;dr edit note at the bottom

The moment I was clear of the Med Center, on my way to Kabuki to get to Japantown, I called Reyes.

D: Sorry, Capitan, I was kind of busy. What’s up?

El Capitan: You free to talk now?

D: Yes, I am. Anything I can do for you?

El Capitan: You tell me, kid. You ain’t ring me for a gig for a while. You laying low?

I furrowed my eyebrows at that. What was he getting at?

D: Not really. Just got caug...