Into the Belly of the Beast

Pops was already up for the rest of the night, so he didn't mind keeping watch; it gave him time to think, to clear his head.

Ky and Max were up promptly at 07:00, moving around quietly so as not to disturb the peace. Billy and Miz had moved to the downstairs couch after their impromptu intervention with Pops and continued talking until they both fell asleep in a precarious position. Billy was the first to stir, noticing Ky leaning against the pool table staring straight at him. Miz was curled into him, nuzzled against his chest and snoring lightly. His HUD now read 08:49.

Ky just couldn't help himself, "Y'know you two are fucking precious, right?"

At that, Miz was awake, raising a middle finger to Ky as she spoke muffled into Billy's chest, "Why didn't I toss him into the landfill when I had the chance?"

Billy answered, smirking at Ky, "I don't know, but I would've helped."

Ky stepped away from the table, his laugh trailing off into the garage. Miz pulled her face away from Billy's chest as she looked in his eyes with a smirk, "Mmrf. Morning, Tiger."

Billy smiled, "Morning back", as he kissed her forehead.

Pops walked into the room from upstairs, calling out, "V had some breakfast dropped off for us, it's upstairs if you're hungry. Breakfast burritos from Turbo and Matapang coffee."

"Fucking preem!", shouted Miz as she jumped off the couch, already halfway up the stairs. Pops chuckled as he turned to Billy, "She uh... she really likes Turbo... Ky has a point, y'know. Y'all look good together."

Billy rolled his eyes as he sat up, stretching with a yawn. Pops continued, a sincere smile on his face as he took a sip of coffee, "I'm not bein' flippant here, Billy. I've never seen her sleep as peacefully as she was on this couch last night. She feels safe with you. An' she needs that."

Billy smiled, looking down as he scratched the back of his head and said, "Look, I'm glad you approve. I really truly am. I just don't want to lose focus on what we have to do. And I feel like us being the center of attention is the worst thing for the crew."

Pops took a seat as he leaned in, "I admire your dedication, pup. But you might have realized by now, this is just how Ky vents the stress."

They shared a laugh as Ky walked back in, "All joking aside, you're good for her, and she's good for you. Nothing more to be said than that."

Billy answered, "Thanks Ky."

Ky continued, "Of course, that doesn't mean I won't bust your balls about it, given the opportunity."

Billy answered again through gritted teeth, "Thanks Ky."

They all shared a laugh as Pops said, "Go get yourself some breakfast. V wants us back at the Afterlife at 16:00. She's offerin' to outfit us with weapons, bodies, and vehicles for this gig, so she wants to review the plan."

Billy nodded, stepping to his feet and making his way upstairs. The smell of the burritos and coffee was a welcome change of pace. As he walked into a small kitchen space, Miz was leaning against the counter, seemingly in heaven, mouth full of food as she tried to mutter, "It's so-o-o fucking good!"

Billy smirked as he said quietly, "I know this is all new for us, cupcake, but I shouldn't have to tell ya not to talk with your mouth full."

She narrowed her eyes at him as she tossed a crumpled foil wrapper at his head. She muscled down the last bite of food and fired back, "Next time we're on the mats, you're going to pay for that."

"Oh, I'm good for that," he said with a laugh as he unwrapped one of the burritos and took a big bite with a groan of satisfaction. The syn-sirloin was the perfect mix of seared and juicy, the eggs, cheese, and potatoes providing a balanced texture in his mouth. His eyes wide, he looked at Miz with a mouthful of food and said, "Yeah, I get it now."

She winked at him as she joked, "Don't talk with your mouth full, Tiger."

He smirked and continued eating, taking sips of coffee between bites.

Downstairs, Pops and Ky were negotiating on who took a shower first, with Ky arguing Pops' mustache hairs would clog up the drains, followed by a laugh between both of them. Miz took advantage of the opportunity and jumped in first, kicking on the shower as she brushed her teeth and shut the door behind her. She had half a mind to invite Billy, but again, no privacy, and time was of the essence.

That didn't stop her from having a little fun. Back in the kitchen, Billy's holo pinged with a message. As he navigated his HUD, he was almost smacked in the face with a topless mirror shot of Miz squeezing her breasts together with a peace sign, a wink, and biting her bottom lip, her cyberware threading hot pink. His cheeks flushed as his pants tightened, and he nearly choked on his coffee. He could hear a light giggle from behind the door.

Back downstairs, Max was jacked into a terminal in the garage, eyes flashing blue. She was navigating her own cyberdeck, checking on her loadout of quickhacks. At the same time, she was still trying to find an outside method of accessing the H10 subnet. She didn't like being completely locked out. Not that she didn't trust V's word; she didn't, but there was no reason for V to give them bad info. But at the very least, Max could confirm that their new fixer actually knew what she was talking about.

She swore under her breath as she confirmed the findings. She was completely shut out. The only way in was jacking into a terminal directly connected to the inside hard-line. She could only hope that the subnet wasn't spiked. Her own ICE was good, but if they were dealing with anything like the Waterfront job, that had nearly scrambled her deck on the spot. She took a sip of coffee as she tried to flush the thoughts from her mind. They had nothing to worry about at the present, because they didn't yet know what they were up against. Take it as it comes, or as Ky had tried to reassure her on a regular basis, "Just fly the plane."

She leaned back in the chair, taking a deep breath as she tried to calm herself. She cracked a smile as she caught the three boys in the other room, sharing a laugh and joking around. It was good to see their spirits high in light of the job coming up.

Miz made her way down the stairs, a towel wrapped around her neck as she was drying her scalp. Before she could even announce the shower was free, Ky had leapt over the pool table and rushed past her up the stairs. Pops chuckled as he said, "Well, guess that settles that", and he stepped into the garage to have another smoke. Miz walked up to Billy, who grabbed the ends of the towel, and pulled her to him. He looked her in the eyes and said softly, "You're trouble, you know that?"

She lightly punched his stomach and laughed, "The best kind", as she leaned in to kiss him. He had to fight the temptation to mount her right there on the table, but she did him a favor as she pulled away and said, "You talk to Liv yet?"

He shook his said as he looked down and answered, "No, but that's a good idea. I'll call her now."

With some hesitation, he let go of the towel, but not before planting a peck on Miz's forehead. He stepped out into the other garage as Miz walked over to join Pops for a smoke.

Billy pinged the call in his head, and smiled as Liv's voice answered, "Mornin', honey!"

He said, "Heya, Mom, just checking in. How's things?"

She smiled back, "It's goin'. Bosses met with Reyes yesterday to shore up details on the protection deal. He couldn't say enough good things about y'all."

Billy laughed, "Yeah, I guess we did alright. So you're going to have a regular presence there?"

She answered, "Looks like; probably still have Clay on door duty, but Reyes has promised rotatin' shifts of two guys inside at all times from open to close."

Billy was relieved to hear that as he said, "Good, means I can stop worrying about ya."

Liv paused for a second, "You okay, baby?"

Billy looked down as he answered, "Yeah, I'm... well, we got a job coming up later. A big one."

He could hear the tone shift in Liv's voice, "Miz and Pops and all the rest?"

Billy confirmed, "And then some. We're rolling deep with ten bodies."

He expected what Liv fired back with, "You be careful out there. Look after them, and make sure they look after you."

He reassured her, "I will, Mom. I love you."

He didn't expect what she said next, "Tell Pops I say howdy, and to keep his head down. I, uh... I'd like to see him back here some time. And Miz too."

Billy blushed at that. His mom had a crush. He tried not to crack a wide smile as she followed up with, "Be safe, honey. I love you too."

On the other side, Pops and Miz were enjoying a smoke in peace and quiet. Billy joined them and said, "Mom says hi, tells us all to keep our heads down and look after each other."

Pops chuckled as he looked at the ground, a slight hint of flush in his cheeks. Both Billy and Miz noticed, both of them trying not to smile.

The warmth of the moment was cut short by Ky yelling as he came down the stairs, "Alright old man, do your worst! It's not my problem anymore!"

Pops spat as he said, "God, I miss Falco."

--

[16:00-ish]

All five edgerunners were standing inside of a large soundproof chamber lined with opaque smartglass panes in a back room of the Afterlife. Chambers like these are where fixers met with mercs to discuss the most sensitive topics, away from prying eyes and perked ears. There was a long conference table running in the center of the room, with an organized medley of tac-gear, weapons, ammunition, and other equipment.

They had been waiting for at least fifteen minutes. Finally, the door to the chamber slid open, and V walked in, already decked out in her own tac-gear. As the door slid shut behind her, she locked eyes with each of the crew and said with a smirk, "I hate uniforms as much as the next gonk; reeks of corpo bullshit. But seeing as I'm introducing four new bodies to the mix, it'll help us avoid any friendly fire if we all know what to look for."

Nobody could really argue with her logic. She continued, "I tried to size up each of you as best as possible. Let me know if it doesn't fit, we'll see what we can do."

Ky was admiring all of it. Five matched sets of recent Militech collared aramid armor vests, drab tac-pants, fire and NBC-resistant combat boots, and some heavily modified short-barrel rifles complete with red-dot scopes. He had to ask, "W-where the hell did you get all this?! Like, this is preem hardware."

V smiled, flashing her teeth as she answered proudly, "Courtesy of Mr. Hands, a few Barghest shipments have gotten lost in transit during the recent unpleasantness."

Pops smiled as he chimed in, "I guess Bennett's boys are doing without?"

V answered again, "It's been decided by some very interested parties that a change in regime and occupation forces might bode well for Dogtown, and all of Pacifica. Meanwhile, us humble fixers just sit back and reap the benefits."

Miz picked up one of the rifles in one hand, holding it up as she said, "These aren't your regular-issue Kyubi, are they?"

Ky chimed in, "Definitely not factory-spec. Don't ask me how I know..."

V added, "Likely saw your fair share during the Unification War. No, these are a Barghest special-order. Barrel's been replaced with a custom-machined model; half the length, heavier at the muzzle to compensate for lack of forward weight, and an integrated suppressor. Shouldn't buck any worse than you're used to with a standard model. Might suffer on the long range, but we're not looking for pink mist a mile out anyway."

Everyone smiled and admired the carefully-curated gear on the table as V continued, "Anyway, suit up, and we'll meet the other four gonks that volunteered for this joyride. Locker rooms are just around the corner, back the way you came. If you need anything else, let me know."

Billy spoke up, "Might need some leg holsters. Pops and I both shoulder-carry, and Ky carries in-waist at the small of his back."

V smiled, "Good eye, kid. I'll dig some up for you."

At that, she turned and exited the chamber, leaving the door open for them.

In the locker rooms, Ky had no issues getting his gear in order. It was all old-hat for him. Pops was experienced enough over the years that he had little issue. Billy was able to mostly figure it out, but Ky was gracious enough to help him with the armor vest without giving too much lip.

He spoke like a platoon sergeant looking after his boys as he pointed out the various clips, fasteners, and other odds and ends of the vest to Billy. Before he had a chance to put it on, V ambushed them, impressed with what she saw as she said, "Oof, good looking, fellas. Here's the holsters you asked for. See you out front."

Ky laughed as he nudged Billy, who was blushing beat red and standing shirtless in the locker room. Pops chuckled as he grabbed a holster and affixed it to his right leg.

Thanks to Pops' guidance over the years, Miz had no trouble getting situated before lending a hand to Max. V met them at the door with a pair of rebreathers as she said, "Since you two are getting the literal shit end of the job, these ought to help."

They both grabbed the masks; V noticed Max had left her Kyubi on the bench, and called out to her, "You, uh... you forgetting something?"

Max replied bluntly, "Na' need'a weapon. Deck do wha' I need."

V chided her, "Same principle as a condom, honey. Rather you have one and not need it than the other way around."

Max stopped for a second before rolling her eyes and walking back to grab the rifle, slamming in a magazine and chambering a round. She locked eyes with V the whole way back to the door before exiting. V turned to Miz and said, "Yeah, this is going to be fun..."

Miz shrugged and chuckled, patting V on the shoulder as she walked out the door. Cool as she appeared on the surface, she was still jumping for joy at getting to work with THE Legend. On the downside, she could already feel the armor vest restricting her movement. She wasn't about to openly argue with V, but it would have to come off at some point.

The boys met the girls in the hallway leading back to the bar, V walking between them to lead the way. Miz took one look at Billy standing upright, cool as can be with his hands hanging off the open front collar of his vest, rifle slung to the side. She mouthed a whistle to him as they turned to follow V before pinging a private holocall to him, "For the record, I want to rip that vest off and fuck your brains out on the bar."

Billy's cheeks burned as he answered her, "You're about to climb into a twelve-foot shit-flooded drainage pipe, and you're thinking about fucking me?"

She giggled quietly to herself, "I'm about to climb into a twelve-foot shit-flooded drainage pipe. Thinking about fucking you is the only thing keeping my breakfast down..."

Billy smiled, "That's fair. Glad to know I make the cut."

Miz smiled back, "And then some, Tiger... hey, be careful out there."

His heart fluttered as he replied, "You too."

As they walked up the stairs, V already had 3 matched Villefort Columbus vans waiting in the parking lot, drivers and extra bodies standing beside them, suited up to match the crew. Pops raised his eyebrows as he lit a cigarette. It was an impressive show of force.

They stopped as V raised her hand. As everyone gathered around, she spoke, "Van 1, me and Pops; ground level insertion at Kennedy and Duzois, work our way in from the side to surprise the main entrance crew. Van 2, Billy and Ky, loop around on the Ferris Boulevard Bridge, insertion at the parking deck, top level; work your way down. Van 3, Miz and Max, dock duty; insertion below the Watson Bridge, move on foot to the main drainage pipes."

Everyone nodded as V continued, "No one engages until I give the signal. If we play this right, we can draw them out thin enough to create some gaps. Let's delta."

As the Afterlife huscle piled into their respective vans, V turned to Pops, "You got crew-wide comms?"

Pops smirked as his eyes flashed orange and a crew-wide holocall pinged, "Comms check."

All gave clear, and Pops continued, "Bringing in V."

V spoke up with a smile, "Crystal clear. Be good to see you chooms in action."

--

[1 hour later]

The actual ride for each team was only five minutes, but they were careful to move deliberately, not stepping over one another or jumping the gun as they made their approach. V and Pops, and two other Afterlife mercs, were carefully positioned on the corner of Ellison and Duzois, peeking around to observe and tag their surroundings. So far they had counted six bodies patrolling the main square in front of the H10 block. Billy and Ky and another merc had met no resistance on the top level of the parking deck, and were waiting patiently for the word to move in. Down by the docks, Miz and Max, and their single escort, were positioned outside the drainage pipes, rebreathers on. The masks didn't do much for the smell, but at least it filtered out any nasty shit they would otherwise breathe in. Miz finally spoke up in the holocall, "Hey, you guys know that old saying about the 'bowels of the undercity'? Well, I think we're staring down the asshole of the city."

Ky laughed as he remarked, "Man, you girls get to have all the fun."

Max rolled her eyes. Miz replied, "Alright, climbing up and moving in."

V spoke up, "Escort says you removed your vest?"

Miz smirked as she was standing there in nothing but her trademark aramid weave sports bra, tac pants and boots. Max had also removed her vest, her netrunner suit rising from the pants up to her neck. Miz answered, "Easier to move without it. If these tunnels are as tight as you say—"

V cut her off, "Just... be careful, okay?"

Miz smiled, "Copy. Thanks, V."

They were careful to avoid the steady stream of flowing sewage as they climbed on top of the massive pipe before swinging in from the top. As their boots splashed into the stream, Miz could feel her stomach churning. Max's eyes began to water and she tried not to heave at the stench.

Rifles at the ready, they began to move in. Miz's eyes flashed red as she scanned for any threats.

Back in the square, Pops asked V, "So, what are you thinking?"

V surveyed the situation as she answered, "We got five guys mobile, one heavy technical at the top of the stairs, plus whatever's in the parking garage."

From across the square, she saw two heads pop up briefly; their escorts. They signaled to her that two targets were standing in the parking deck entrance. Her eyes flashed orange for a second, and the escorts trained their rifles on the parking deck. She turned to Pops and said, "Zero in on the technical; fire on my signal."

Pops smirked as he asked, "What's the signal?"

V smiled and flashed her teeth as she slung her rifle down, handing it to Pops, and stood up, "You'll know."

With that, she turned to walk out in the open. Her hands raised in the air, all of the goons in the square took notice, moving into position to surround her and close in. Pops had to admire the balls on this woman.

She stopped in the middle of the square, hands still raised, as five goons took position around her. They were all standing only a few feet away from her as she said calmly with a wave, "Heya fellas."

One of the goons called out, "The fuck you think you're doing?! This whole block is sealed off. Get a move on while we still let ya, bitch!"

She smiled as she said, "That's no way to treat a guest."

She raised her right hand up in a fist, the interconnected modules of her gorilla arm shifting and sparking, before slamming it down into the concrete. All five goons were enveloped in a sphere of electric energy, bolts arcing out, frying their cyberware instantly as they all fell to the ground. There was a small impact crater left in the ground as V was down on one knee in a cloud of dust and smoke.

Pops determined that must be the signal, his sights trained on the heavy machine gun mount. He let loose a single suppressed shot, catching the goon with a clean headshot. At the same time, their escorts each let loose a single shot, dropping the goons standing in the parking deck's entrance.

Pops signaled an all clear, the escorts confirmed, and they all rushed from cover to meet V in the square, creating a protective cover around her. Pops reached back, handing the extra rifle to her as he joked, "So, why'd you hire us again?"

V laughed as she answered, "Because you've got skin in this game, same as I do. Didn't want to rob ya of the fun."

Pops smiled, "Well, we're in it now. Good work, by the way."

V called out in the crew-wide holocall, "All teams go loud and start moving. Clear any trouble in your way. Square's going hot any minute now."

As soon as the words left her mouth, a bullet snapped into a concrete t-wall nearby, sending them all running for cover. Several goons appeared at the top of the stairs, unloading into the square at anything that moved.

From cover, V peeked around to see one of the goons moving for the machine gun mount. Her eyes flashed blue for a second and the mount began to smoke and spark before exploding, taking the goon with it. A pair of ceiling-mounted turrets descended in front of the main atrium gates, actively scanning for targets. V attempted another quickhack, but grabbed her head and recoiled backwards, losing her balance.

Pops laid down a burst of covering fire before running over to V and pulling her back behind cover. Her eyes were shuttering red and blue, and pain was written all over her face as she gripped her head with both hands. Her brain felt like it was on fire as she screamed out. Finally, her eyes returned to normal as she shook her head. Pops looked down to check on her, "Hey, you okay?! What the hell was that!"

Still fuzzy, V answered, "As soon as I tried to hack one of the those turrets, my whole deck got scrambled, it felt like my head was on fire. Whatever ICE they got is running through the entire block grid. Need to warn the others."

"Got it", Pops nodded as he pinged the crew-wide call, "Whatever y'all do, do not try to quickhack anything connected to the block's main grid. V just got scrambled all to hell from a turret."

Max spoke up, "It de same 'Saka ICE we run into on de Waterfront job. No hacks 'til we reach a terminal inside."

V laughed and fired back, "Yeah, I know that now."

Their conversation was cut short by three more goons showing up from the parking deck entrance, laying down fire on Pops' and V's position. The mercs across the way opened fire, forcing the goons back into cover. Things were starting to heat up.

Billy and Ky made their entrance into the parking garage, carefully navigating the corridors before stopping for cover. Billy signaled to Ky, two goons standing in the open area, one looking in their direction. Ky nodded, readying his rifle. He gave a silent three-count before stepping out, firing two suppressed shots. The goon facing them was down before he could call out. Another two shots, and the second goon crumpled to the floor. Ky's face was stony, his jaw clenched as he tapped Billy on the shoulder to move. They ran quickly to the next pillar, checking for any contacts. The coast appeared clear, and they moved between the pillars to make their way down.

Miz and Max approached the end of the drainage pipe, coming to a junction that opened into a series of large tunnels. The air began to clear; the stench was still present, but less potent compared to the confined spaces of the pipes. Their escort leaned out to peek around the corners, signaling all clear from both sides. Miz stepped up onto the ledge, covering one side. The escort covered the other side as Max stepped onto the ledge. A grinding sound caught their attention as a turret descended from the tunnel ceiling, immediately finding its target. Miz turned, releasing a hail of gunfire as the escort pulled Max out of the way. The turret smoked and fizzed, throwing sparks as it emitted another grinding noise before going still, lifeless.

The escort let go of Max, signaling the direction they needed to move. Miz could already see the ceilings lined with more turret pods as she readied her rifle and moved forward. This is going to be fun.

--

Back in the square, Pops and V were pinned down by fire coming from both the parking deck and the main entrance. They had already dropped at least 12 goons at the stairs, but more kept coming. The escorts across the square were laying down covering fire and attempting to move, but Tooley's forces had superior cover and full visibility.

Billy and Ky had cleared the garage. They left their escort to guard the elevators as they made their way down to the ground level to give a helping hand. They took cover behind the last pillar before the entrance. It was 100 feet from where they were standing, with no cover. They counted three targets. Ky tried to signal a plan to Billy, but he was cut off by Pops in the holocall, "We're in a pickle here. Beaucoup bad guys, very little cover, can't advance."

Change of plans. Billy pointed back to the openings on the second level as he called out to the crew, "We're moving to cover you from the second level. We have full view of the square from here. Our escort has full visibility of the garage, so should be able to watch our backs."

Ky answered, "Billy, you take overwatch on level 2, I'll work from level 1, escort will cover us."

Billy gave the thumbs up to Ky and they split from there. Ky signaled to the escort to keep watch, receiving a thumbs up in return.

As Billy approached the open gap overlooking the square, he heard three back-to-back double taps. Ky pinged the call, "Bad guys at deck entrance cleared; in position."

Billy called out, "Clear the ceiling turrets, they're chain fed, so they're not running out any time soon."

Ky took aim with his rifle and fired several shots in rapid succession. One turret began to fizzle and smoke, crashing into the ground from it's mount and creating a small explosion. A second round of shots, and the second turret fell as well. The goons retreated back to avoid the fire and smoke. Pops smiled, signaling to V to move her ass as he stood up to cover her.

The garage escort fired several shots, dropping a goon rushing Billy, but his weapon jammed as he yelled, "Fuck! Billy, three o'clock!"

A second goon was barreling towards Billy as he turned and slung his rifle down. The goon had no firearm, just a machete. He took a swing, to which Billy dodged to the left. The goon lunged forward, Billy dodging back to the right as he deflected. He gave a heavy right hook, breaking the goon's jaw as the machete dropped and the body crumpled like paper to the floor. Billy instinctively kicked the machete out of reach as he returned to his overwatch. The goon was left groaning in pain in a pool of his own spit and blood.

Ky had already advanced out into the square as he looked up at Billy and said, "Why do we even bother giving him a gun?"

Billy smirked, giving a middle finger to Ky as he surveyed the main entrance and followed up, "Good shooting on the turrets, looks like the goons have retreated back into the building. Gates are wide-open."

Pops chimed in, "You're not seriously thinkin' 'bout rushin the front door, are ya?"

Billy fired back, "It's not great, but if quickhacking a turret was enough to scramble V, what're the chances the elevators are even running?"

Ky agreed, "He ain't wrong, hoss. We're sitting ducks if we wait out here for the next wave. Might be we bring the fight to them, catch 'em off guard?"

Billy laughed, "Look, I'm not wild about hoofing it up 60 levels on foot using the stairs, but until Miz and Max release the lockdown, I don't think we have much choice."

Pops relented, "Alright, check weapons, let's move up."

--

Miz stopped for a moment to thank whoever was listening that they wouldn't have to leave the way they entered. Not just for the smell, but they'd made so many turns, she barely knew which way was up at this point. Except for turrets at every junction point, the sewer tunnels were largely unguarded, which left her on edge. It should not have been this easy.

They neared the end of a long tunnel, no turns left to make; it opened into a small circular area resembling a cistern with a watertight hatch overhead, ladder leading up. The low ceiling and hatch were marked clearly in multiple spots:

Urban Residential Center - Zone 10 Property of Night Corp, est. 2040 NO ENTRY - AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY

Miz looked to Max and their escort and shrugged, "Nowhere else to go, right?"

Max smirked, although you couldn't see it behind the mask, as Miz slung her rifle down and reached up. She gripped the round handle, her arms flexing as she struggled to turn it. It finally gave way, creaking as it slowly loosened with each turn. With a heavy thud, the hatch loosened completely, and she was careful to pull it down slowly. Their escort stepped around and quickly readied his rifle up to clear the hole before giving a thumbs up. Miz climbed up first, careful to scan around them, before signaling to Max to follow. The escort gave the all-clear, closing the hatch behind them.

Miz removed her rebreather as she came to a startling realization in her HUD; they were being jammed. They had dropped from the crew-wide holocall. Here and now, they were alone. She signaled to Max with her hand making a phone signal before cutting across her neck. Max nodded, also removing her rebreather as her eyes flashed blue for a second. Confirming all traffic in or out was jammed, she shook her head. They moved down a tight corridor, following aged and worn signs to find their way. Red lighting from overhead was mixing with steam cutting through the floor grates, providing a dim and eery ambiance.

As they made another turn, Miz noticed the temperature dropping and condensation building up on the pipes around them. Had to be cooling units; they were getting closer to the main server rooms. The rapid change in temperature sent a light shiver down her spine, goosebumps forming on her skin.

They came to a dead stop as Miz heard the dull clunk of boots against the floor grates, shoving Max and herself into a nook out of view. As the boots passed overheard, a voice was speaking, "Like hell anyone's going to be enough of a fucking gonk to try and come through the sewers."

The boots turned a corner and subsided, and Miz stepped back into the corridor, careful to tread lightly as she searched for a hatch. They were sitting ducks like this. Max tapped her shoulder, pointing to a hatch at the end of the corridor. Bingo.

They were careful to lift the grated hatch slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible. Miz cinched up the sling on her Kyubi, moving it around to her back. Tight as these corridors and tunnels were, keeping a rifle at the ready was a liability; it left no room for adjustment or recovery. Miz could do a lot more damage in hand-to-hand. She cracked her knuckles, making her way forward. She was careful to check every corner she came across, Max following two paces behind. They stopped at a corner as they heard boots approaching. Miz flattened herself against the wall as best she could, holding her arm out to keep Max back as well. The goon passed by them, oblivious to their presence. Miz stepped in behind, placing a calculated strike into his kidneys. As he reeled backwards, she grabbed his head with both hands, jerking clockwise with a crunch. She placed his body on the grates lightly, trying not to alert anyone else.

They both stepped over the body and continued, reaching another corner. On the other side was a glass sliding door, revealing clusters of servers inside. Miz and Max smiled to one another, before Max's eyes went wide looking past Miz. A goon had stepped into view and was staring directly at them. As he called out, Miz crashed through the door, shielding her head with her arms. That's going to hurt later.

She slammed into the goon's torso, knocking him back as bits of broken glass fell to the floor. Unable to stop her forward momentum in time, she stumbled and fell into him. He reached up to swing at her, but she was able to recover and block, deflecting his fist with her left hand as her right arm exploded into a mantis blade. She drove it through his skull, the blade glowing hot red. There was a light sizzle as the blade cooked the broken flesh before Miz retracted it and stood to her feet. Two more goons appeared on either side of her from behind the columns of racks and cages. Max stepped through, popping the right goon's head with a burnout quickhack. At the same time, Miz had her Unity unholstered and ready as she unloaded four rounds to her left without turning her head. The left goon's body collapsed against the wall, sliding down and leaving a trail of claret.

Max looked at Miz with shock in her eyes. She knew what Miz was capable of, but had never actually seen it in person. Miz was in a different world now. Her eyes and cyberware threading were pulsing red as she looked down at Max and said with a smirk, "Pick your jaw up and move."

She kept moving forward, Unity at the ready as she scanned for bodies. Even thermal optics weren't much use in an environment like this. The heat thrown from the servers masked any body signatures that would otherwise light up like Christmas. She indicated to Max to break right as she took the left side, and they both worked their way around the room.

They reached the far end of the server room, and were met with a lone terminal mounted into the wall. Jackpot.

Max ran to the terminal, Miz sliding in behind her to keep watch, irises still red. After a second, she called back to Max, "Hey, before we lost the signal, V said to be careful about the ICE? Don't get scrambled, babe."

Max smirked as she answered, "Perk o' havin' seen dis befo', I code my own ICE agains' it."

Miz looked back to see Max craning her neck to show a slotted shard. She chuckled, "And you didn't think to share that with V... why?"

Max didn't say anything, but Miz could see the look on her face and followed up with a whistle, "Jesus, remind me never to piss you off."

Max jacked into the terminal with her personal link, waiting for a second to see if her own countermeasures were worth a damn. She smiled as she didn't get scrambled this time, but she had some hefty encryption to break through. This was going to take a while.

--

The interior of the block was unusually quiet. Something wasn't right. There's no way the goons would have just retreated and disappeared. Pops slung his rifle down and around to his back as he unholstered his revolver. He looked to V and said, "How's your head?"

She nodded, "Still spinning, but I'll manage."

Ky took a deep breath as he said, "You get scrambled too? Same thing happened to Max on the Waterfront job, so she wrote her own countermeasure against it."

V smirked, "Would have been nice to know going into this."

Ky smiled, "Yeah, well, I guess you girls are even now."

Billy spoke up, "Hey... anyone heard from Miz or Max in a while?"

That caught V's attention. She checked her HUD quickly before answering, "Whole building's jammed; all waves in or out. Even our comms standing right next to each other are no good."

Pops' brow furrowed as he said, "All we can do is keep pushin', hope Miz and Max can do what they do best."

Their conversation was cut short by a hail of gunfire landing near them from another level. They all dove behind a flight of concrete stairs, waiting for a chance to move. V's jaw clenched as she unholstered a Malorian 3516, a one-of-a-kind gift from an old friend. Pops couldn't help himself as he admired the weapon, "Hello-o-o nurse."

Jaw still clenched, the corner's of V's mouth flared into a slight smile as she looked at Billy and said, "Hey, rookie! On my word, stick to my ass and lay down cover fire."

Billy unholstered his Liberty, nodding to her. He took a deep breath as Ky gave him a sincere pat on the shoulder. After a few more seconds, the fire ceased, and V said, "Now!"

As she broke around the corner and up the stairs in plain sight, she swung the Malorian around and fired as fast as she could, the shock and sound of the hand-cannon rattling everyone's teeth. Billy followed close behind, his Liberty sounding like a child's toy in comparison.

They both made it to the top of the stairs, V turning to breaking the corner before grabbing Billy and pulling him in. The fire resumed, chipping off bits of concrete from the stairs and balcony walls as they both reloaded. They knew they couldn't keep this up. Since the entire building was a dead zone, no quickhacks. V thought for a second before asking Billy, "How fast can you run?"

Billy smirked, "How fast do you need me to?"

She replied, "We need to get over to the other side, see if we can move up and get the drop on them."

Billy asked the obvious question, "What are the chances they've got another crew covering from the other side?"

V answered, "It's a chance we'll have to take. Ready on my word?"

Billy nodded, listening for the sound of gunfire to cease. After several seconds, he had his window, and was gone before V could say anything. He broke across the atrium as fast as he could, rounding the first corner. He immediately slid behind the cover of a scop cart as gunfire erupted from both sides of the atrium. Now he was pinned down, and they had full visibility on his position. Nobody was going anywhere until Max broke the ICE on the grid.

--

Max's eyes were a flurry of activity, breaking firewalls and encryption down one by one as she tried to find and eliminate the source of the ICE. Miz kept a watchful eye, scanning for any movements in the server room. Thankfully only one goon so far had been stupid enough to try and approach. Out of nowhere, Max screamed out as she grabbed her head and fell to her knees. Miz knelt down next to her, watching her eyes shutter as she began to drool and slump over. Miz had to do something, but she couldn't just jack her out of the system. There was no telling how deep she was in the grid.

Max finally regained her faculties and looked up at Miz as she shook her head and wiped her mouth. Miz asked, "Holy shit, are you okay?!"

Max had a blank stare on her face as she answered, "Is no' jus' ICE. Is an adaptive AI. Dis fwom beyond de 'Wall."

Miz's eyes went wide, "So, we can't break it?"

Max rubbed her head, still fuzzy, as she said, "It shif' and mov' to ot'er nodes when I try an' isolate. Na gonya lock dis down wi' de systems live. We need to pull power."

Miz knew just enough to ask, "What about the battery backups?"

Max shook her head, "Fo' de nodes only, no network. We pull power, de nodes are isolated fwom each ot'er, but we have direct access from dis terminal. Find de main breaker boxes."

Miz looked at Max with concern. Max smiled and readied her rifle as she nodded her head towards the far wall of the room. One problem with the megablocks is they were severely over-engineered. Everything was tied to the servers, even the lights. Except for a few emergency services, there were no simple analog circuits. If you didn't have the servers, you didn't have control of the building.

Miz checked her HUD. The time read 20:19. The sun had set at this point, meaning the rest of the crew above ground would be in the dark when the lights went out. Save for Pops, everyone in the crew had low-light optics built into their Kiroshis, courtesy of a firmware update from Vik; this could actually work in their favor. It would have been nice to be able to warn them, but all Miz could do is help Max and hope the rest of the crew saw the opportunity to move. This was the first time in a long time she had been genuinely worried; this was also the first time there was someone on the crew that she loved— Love?! What the fuck?!

No time; deal with that later. Miz found her target. Three huge breaker boxes against the wall, each with their own switch and handle. Miz took a chance and called out, "Max! I got three boxes, pull all of 'em?"

Max called back, "Wi! No time to trace, kill i' all!"

Miz took a deep breath as she reached up with both arms. The handles were heavy, and she had to lean into them and pull down to get them to budge. With a heavy bang, the first box was dead. She could hear an entire row of servers whirring down before the batteries began beeping, indicating a shift to backup power. She reached up for the second handle, finding it easier to move. Another bang, another row down. The third handle took Miz bracing her feet against the wall and pulling down as hard as she could. Not likely anyone had needed to hard-reset the system in a long time. Finally, the handle gave way and she heard the third bang; the last row of servers was down.

With that, the lights in the room went dark before the emergency floodlights kicked in. Miz called out, "Hey Max, you good?!"

From across the room, Max answered, "Wi, I sti' have connection fwom de terminal; now to find de ICE and end it."

--

Back in the atriums, the entire block went dark. After a few seconds, emergency floodlights kicked on, illuminating the exits. The goons' assault had stopped for the moment. Ky tapped Pops on the shoulder and whispered, "Stay on my ass."

Pops nodded, and they made their way up the concrete stairs, careful not to trip over the broken bits. V was on edge as they turned the corner, and she instinctively had her gun pointed directly at Ky's head before he deflected it away and said, "Woah now, boss-lady. Don't give me a reason to hate you, too."

V scoffed with a sign of relief as she lowered the gun and whispered, "Billy was pinned down around the corner, but with the lights out, we have to take the chance these goons don't have low-light optics like we do."

Ky nodded, "Say no more, I'll grab hi—"

"No the fuck you will not", Billy fired back, appearing out of thin air, "Y'know, Vik never told me these Kiroshis came with night-vision... fuckin' preem."

Ky laughed as he punched Billy's arm and said, "Yeah, only problem is now we have to keep an eye on Pops on account of him being mostly 'ganic."

Nobody had noticed, but Pops' eyes had been closed since the lights went out. He slowly opened them as he adjusted to the dark and said with a stern tone, "I can see jus' fine."

Billy smirked, "I don't know about you guys, but I'd take his word for it."

V cut in, "If Billy was able to make it over here without them seeing, they have to be blind right now. They have teams on either side, but we have the advantage. Don't fire unless you absolutely have to; it'll give us away."

Pops answered, "V and Ky take this side; Billy and I can handle the other. Go loud on my signal."

They all nodded and bumped fists before splitting up. Pops and Billy moved deliberately and carefully, but quickly over to the other side of the atrium, careful to avoid the flood lights and any debris from the onslaught. If they could get the drop on both groups, it would clear the path to the top. It didn't help Tooley's case that the goons were mouthing off to one another about the entire block going dark. Their voices were echoing down, allowing V, Ky, and Billy to echolocate and tag them in their Kiroshis; only three more levels to climb.

Billy stopped for a moment, asking for Pops' personal link. Pops raised his eyebrows, but obliged, and Billy plugged it into his own neural interface. Pops' HUD flashed a request for an incoming connection, followed by Billy's echolocation data on the bad guys. His eyes flashed blue, and he cracked a smile with a chuckle as he gave Billy a heavy-handed pat on the shoulder before releasing his personal link.

As they climbed the last set of stairs, Pops had his revolver at the ready as he warned Billy with a whisper, "Switch off your night-vision."

Billy nodded, readying his Liberty as his eyes returned to organic vision. He blinked a few times to help adjust to the low light. Pops sent a loud whistle echoing across the atrium, as he and V both ignited flares at the same time time, tossing them into the crowds of goons in front of them.

Billy opened fire, instinctively aiming for kneecaps and not heads. Pops noticed, letting him take the lead as he finished them off. He meant what he said to Billy the night before. He knew it was hard to keep one's hands clean in this life, but he wanted to keep Billy from experiencing that as long as possible.

Pops was quickly reminded that Night City was the wrong place for hopes and dreams. Another goon was rushing down the stairs towards Billy, and Pops called out to him. Billy turned, barely dodging a gun pointed at his head as a shot rang out, producing a small spatter of blood. He deflected the gun down, not even registering what had just happened.

Billy grabbed the goon's arm, wrenching it outwards and ejecting the gun from his hand. The goon followed up with his free arm, holding a knife as he tried to plunge it into Billy's gut. Another dodge, Billy grabbed the other arm, shattering the goon's wrist before grabbing him by his belt and throwing him over the balcony wall with a yell. A few seconds passed, and the screams ceased with a heavy splat.

Billy turned to Pops, a fire in his eyes, his jaw clenched, breathing ragged. Pops looked at him calmly, but there was a sorrow, masked by genuine concern. Pops motioned to his ear, Billy now realizing his right ear had been clipped by the gunshot. The pain set in as he reached up and felt the blood running down the side of his face. His face took on a look Pops had only seen from one other person. Billy was completely detached from the whole situation. He was in another world now. He readied his Liberty as he moved towards the steps, motioning Pops to cover his rear.

--

Max's eyes were still flashing blue, but there was a smile on her face. She was getting closer. Instead of trying to isolate which node held the live AI, she had resorted to blowing away the remnants left on every node using the original hash from the Waterfront job. Even if the AI could morph and shift itself, it still relied on a base file hash to work as designed. Unless this base hash was recomputed and uploaded into the source code, the same key could be used on any instance of the ICE to decrypt and remove.

As Max's eyes returned to normal, Miz had returned and was keeping watch. She smirked as she said, "Ya know, you have a really pretty smile."

Max punched her arm, "Ky na gonya le' us have a menage, so cut de cwap."

Miz laughed and said, "Are we clear?"

Max nodded, "Wi, jus' need power an' it all shoul' come back."

Miz walked back over to the breakers, shaking her arms loose as she prepared for another workout. While the handles were looser this time, they still gave plenty of resistance as she flexed her core and pushed up with both arms. Three successive bangs, followed by the power whirring back to life. The servers screamed for a few seconds before calming down. Another minute or so passed before the lights, central air, and other services came back to life.

Max gave a thumbs up as she confirmed the jamming was also gone, and spoke up in the restored crew-wide holocall, "Bonswa!"

Ky nearly yelled in everyone's ears, "GOD DAMN, it's good to hear your voice, babe!"

Billy cut in, "Miz with ya?"

Miz answered, "I'm right here, ya gonk."

Billy followed up with one word, "Hi."

Miz blushed and bit her bottom lip, "Heya, Tiger. How's everyone holding up?"

Pops smiled, "Better, now. Think we've cleared out most of the heavy forces. Probably still a few stragglers on the way to the top."

V spoke up, "I'll bet the power was you girls?"

Miz answered, "Yeah, according to Max, our ICE is actually a beyond-the-Blackwall AI captured by Arasaka and developed into an adaptive learning encryption system."

Ky chimed in, "...the fuck?!"

Miz continued, "Yeah, every time Max would try to corner it, it would shift and move to another node. Problem is the hash key's never been changed, so once we pulled power and isolated the nodes, she was able to decrypt and disable using the same key from the Waterfront job."

V followed up, "Good call. And on the power too. That saved our asses; Tooley's gonks don't have low-light optics."

Miz smiled as she said, "Probably better that we move together from here? Elevator's shouldn't be far from us."

V answered, "Yeah, move in force, make quick work of any leftovers before the big baddie. Meet on Level 7, we'll hold it down 'til you get here."

"Copy that", Miz confirmed, "See ya shortly."

--