Datafile 0020
Caldera looked into the mirror and saw a face she hadn't seen in a decade looking back at her.
Instead of the dull chrome that she had become so used to seeing covering the left side of her face, she saw only pink flesh. She tentatively reached her hand up and felt her cheekbone, the skin slightly warm to the touch, and then stroked her eyebrow, the hair jet black and course just like the one over her right eye. She ran the tip of her finger over the curve of her ear and snapped her fingers a few times, the sound bright and crisp.
As Caldera looked at herself, she realized the only telltale sign that this wasn't the way she had always looked was that her left eye was an almost neon green while the other was the muted blue she was used to.
“This...” she began, quickly realizing she was at a loss for words.
“I know, right?” Charlie said, his arms folded, a filthy rag dangling from his fingers. “I have to admit I think I fuckin' outdid myself this time.”
“How... how did you...”
“Like I said, the old eye was a major pain in the fuckin' ass to remove. But once that was done droppin' in the new one was easy. And since you were just here, I still had the files to accelerate growing all the bone and flesh I needed to rebuild that pretty face.”
“There's not even a scar.”
Charlie puffed out his chest and spoke with a hint of indignation. ”What the fuck do I look like? Some fuckin' back alley leech? You think I'm gonna go to all this goddamn trouble and then leave you with a face full of fuckin' scars?”
“And the eye works?” Korehammer said, finally breaking his silence as he stood next to the gurney Caldera was sitting on.
Charlie's arms flew into the air and his voice rose as he spoke. “Of course it fuckin' works Korehammer! I'm a professional for the love of Christ. Like I'm gonna put a defective piece of tech in someone's head. Especially with you ready to put a hole in my brainpan if I fuck up!”
Korehammer nodded at Caldera. “The fat pile of shit does have a point.”
Charlie shook his head as he refolded his arms and rested them on his stomach. “Damn fuckin' right I do. Go ahead and try it out if you're so concerned about my work. Just send a command to the eye to activate the HUD.”
“It has a heads up display?”
“Yep. Only you can see it. The liquid hard drive sends the image directly to your brain. You chose commands by looking at what you want to do. Like I said, this thing is state of the art military grade hardware.”
Korehammer looked over at Caldera and nodded. She closed both her eyes (another new sensation she would have to get used to.) for a moment and cleared her mind. When she reopened them she sent a thought to her eye to bring up the HUD. Instantly a green display appeared in her field of vision. A Jora-Te Neurobotics logo was in one corner and a dropdown menu was in the other.
Caldera opened the menu and activated several of the options in succession, including the infrared, x-ray scanning and night vision. Next she tried recording for a few seconds and then brought up her vitals and those of Korehammer and Charlie.
“You may want to get that cholesterol checked Korehammer.”
He smiled and looked down at the floor. “So everything checks out?”
“Yeah,” Caldera smiled back. “This thing is way better then the one I had. But what is this 'Observation' option I see?”
Charlie grinned and took a step towards the two of them. “That's something I added myself. It allows ya to hack into any surveillance system on the fuckin' planet and 'see' what it sees. You want to know what's on the other side of a door? Hack in and you'll have full access to the security feeds. Need to track someone down? Now you can jack into any city's optigrid and use the network to track down the poor fuck you're looking for.”
“That's pretty damn impressive, I have to admit,” Korehammer said as he gave Charlie a sideways glance.
“It's like I told ya before, I feel like I owe ya for all the trouble that piece of shit from Hachisuka caused.” Charlie then glanced over to the old BioCyber eye and the Helix, both still hooked up to a bioenergy generator on the table at the far end of the room. “Speaking of which, what do you two want to do with that thing? Cause you ain't leaving it here, not with that goddamn bio-tracer still active.”
Caldera deactivated the HUD and slowly tried to stand. Korehammer reached out his hand and placed it on her upper arm, helping to steady her as she got to her feet.
“That can wait for a few minutes,” Caldera said as she pulled back on her shirt, the pain from where Charlie had cut into her chest to remove the Helix almost gone. Once she was fully dressed she turned toward the ripper doc. “What do you know about neuro-signals?”
Charlie snorted derisively. “You two really don't fuckin' think much of me, do you?” He quickly put his hand out. “Wait, don't answer that,” he said as he walked over to the stool and heavily sat down. “What do you need to know?”
“Korehammer needs some kind of suppression tech so that his can't be read by a netrunner or anyone else.”
“What about you?”
Caldera smiled. “I'm former Sutoraiku remember, or did you forget that fast? Hachisuka takes care of that the day you join.”
Charlie squinted slightly at her. “How, if you don't mind me asking'?”
“They inject you with a liquid nanochip. It bonds with your DNA and makes your signal untraceable. It's obviously why they used that damn bio-tracer, so they could find me if they needed me.”
“Hmmm,” Charlie murmured as he rubbed the stubble on his chin with his filthy fingers. “I could probably do something similar. It wouldn't be complicated.” He turned and looked at Korehammer. “The problem is what the fuck are you going to do with all those other identities you use?”
Korehammer quickly looked at Caldera, not bothering to try and keep the alarm from his face. She took a few steps toward Charlie, taking one of her Magnums from its holster as she did. “What do you know about that?”
Charlie stood and put his hands out to his sides, his voice taking on a defensive tone. “It's like I keep tellin' you, I'm the best fuckin cybertech in the city. Who the fuck do you think taught Rhyne what he knows? Who do you think fuckin' designed the Stasis Cradle in the first place? Honestly I was a little insulted you went to that sadistic fuck and didn't come straight to me.”
Korehammer gestured for Caldera to put her gun away as he walked toward Charlie. “You designed the Stasis Cradle?”
“Fuck yeah!” he exclaimed. “That worthless piece of shit hacked into my system and stole the design. Didn't discover it till months later and by then you already had the work done.”
“Why didn't you say anything?”
“Look, us ripper docs may live on the fringes, but we have a code.”
Caldera walked over to stand next to Korehammer. The two of them looked at each other, having the kind of unspoken conversation that's only possible between people who know each other more intimately than lovers. Korehammer then turned and slowly walked toward Charlie. He clumsily got up from the stool and met his gaze.
“We have a proposition for you Charlie. Due to recent events, we're in need of a hardware guy. Someone who is good at what they do that we can keep on a retainer and knows how to keep their mouth shut.”
Charlie rubbed his chin again, clearly thinking it over. “And would this be an exclusive arrangement or could I still take on other clients?”
Caldera walked over to stand next to Korehammer. “You can take all the clients you want, as long as you understand our projects come first.”
“How much we talkin' about here?”
“Fifty grand a month sound reasonable?”
Charlie's eyes went wide for a moment before he regained his composure. “Sure, that'll work.”
“Good,” Caldera flashed a smile as she took a step closer to Charlie. She could smell the cheap cigars he smoked when he exhaled. “And it goes without saying that if we discover you sold us out...”
Charlie started to turn around. “Yeah, yeah, you'll fuckin' zero me out.”
Caldera grabbed his shoulder and forcibly turned him around so he was facing her again. “Oh no. Not by a long shot. By the time Korehammer and I are done, you'll be wishing we would kill you. Clear?”
He swallowed hard before replying. “Yeah. Fuckin' crystal.”
“Excellent,” she said as she let go of his shoulder and backed up a pace or two. “How long do you think it'll take you to come up with some kind of neuro-signal suppression tech for Korehammer and his… unique needs?”
Charlie rubbed the spot where she had grabbed him as he answered. “Give me a day or two. Now that I know how Hachisuka managed it it'll be easy as balls to find something similar on the net and modify it so it should work no matter which NIIC Korehammer is using.”
“Excellent,” Korehammer said as he walked over to the table and grabbed the duffle bag. “And when you're done with that, this'll be your next project.”
Caldera watched as he reached into the bag and threw something at Charlie. It was small and looked like it was charred black from being exposed to high heat.
Charlie snatched it from the air and looked at it, his eyes slowly going wide and his mouth twisting into a small smile. He almost whispered when he addressed Korehammer. “Holy motherfuckin' shit. Is this what I think it is?”
“Yep. That my fat friend is what's left of a Chameleon Mask.”
Now it was Caldera's turn to be surprised. “Where the hell did you get a Chameleon Mask? That's some serious tech.”
Charlie was turning it over in his hands. “I've never even seen one before. One of these sold on the black market a few months ago for millions of cryptos. They're fuckin' ridiculously rare.”
“Let's just say it was a perk from my recent trip to Atlantic City and leave it at that.” Korehammer said as he closed the bag. “What I want to know is if you can reverse engineer it. That one is pretty well fried but if you're as good as you repeatedly say you are then maybe you can figure out how it works and replicate it.”
Charlie squinted down at the small blackened box. “Hmm. You didn't leave a lot for me to fuckin' work with. And just so you know, it could take fuckin' forever to make another one, if it's even possible at all. Like I said, you don't see Chameleon Masks every day.”
“But you think it might be possible?”
Charlie let out a heavy sigh. “Yeah, maybe.”
Korehammer walked over and put his hand on his shoulder. “Good. Now get your fat ass to work on the suppression system I need. We don't have all day.”
Caldera looked over at Korehammer and pointed at the cybernetic eye that until yesterday had taken up the majority of the left side of her face. “So what do you want to do with this thing Korehammer? Ito and his Sutoraiku team are likely already in NeoTokyo and it won't be long before they use it to try and find us.”
“Send it wherever you want,” he said as he shrugged his shoulders. “Preferably as far from us as possible.”
Caldera was lost in thought when Charlie suddenly snapped his fingers. “Fuck yeah. That'll be perfect.” He looked over at the two of them, rubbing his hands together. “You two mind if I keep that and send it to someone?”
Caldera and Korehammer glanced at each other and then at Charlie. “What do you have in mind?”
Charlie was looking at the Helix as he spoke. “This ass clown who came in here a few months ago. Wanted a fuckin' ton of work done. Software upgrades, dermal re-sequencing, all kinds of weird shit. When I finished he used some kind of internal taser to knock me out and ran. Fucker never paid me.” He looked over at the two of them. “But I got his address. I figure I'll send him a little gift and if a Sutoraiku team happens to pay him a visit too, all the better.”
Caldera smiled, shaking her head slightly. “And where might this yono be located?”
Charlie looked over at her. “Vegas.”
“That's perfect,” Korehammer said as he started walked toward the door. “Once you get the neuro-signal issue taken care of we have business in New York. Anything that will keep the Sutoraiku off our asses for as long as possible will be a help.”
Charlie squinted as he looked at Korehammer. “New York?”
“Yeah,” he replied as he slung the duffle bag over his shoulder. “Brooklyn to be precise. Why?”
Charlie grunted as he looked back at the Helix. “Just count your fuckin' blessings you're not going to Seattle. There's a lot of chatter on the scroll that something big might be going down.”
Korehammer looked over at Caldera and saw some of the color leave her face. “What kind of chatter?” she asked, her voice filled with concern.
“I don't pretend to understand most of it,” Charlie said without looking up as he adjusted the bioenergy generator. “Sounds like some fuckin' gang shit. One saying their going to wipe out the other. Got the impression someone is planning a surprise party and some bangers are gonna get fucked good.”
Caldera walked over and forcibly turned Charlie around so he was looking at her. “Did they mention anything else? Any names?”
Charlie looked at her like she was a bit crazy. “What the fuck do you care if a couple gangs wanna zero each other out on the other side of the country?”
“Names goddamn it! Did they mention any names!”
“The only one I caught was Dawn-something.” Charlie had broken into a sweat. “That's the gang that's about to have a real bad fuckin' weekend.”
“Shit,” Caldera said under her breath, letting go of the ripper doc. Then she looked over at Korehammer. “The traitor.”
He was nodding his head. “They must have scheduled that meeting of the leaders you mentioned and the traitor found out. They're going to try and wipe the DawnSword off the map.”
“DawnSword!” Charlie exclaimed. “That's the tag. Never heard of a street gang with a fuckin' name like that but I sure as shit wouldn't want to be a member.”
Caldera glanced back at Charlie. “Does the talk on the net mention a date? When this is going to happen?”
“Nah. It sounded like they know where but not when.”
“Good. They don't know when the meeting is taking place. We still have some time.”
“Time to do what?”
“We have to get a line on Mattix and let him know everything has been compromised. Then hopefully he can get a hold of the DawnSword leadership and warn them.”
Korehammer walked over to Charlie. “How long will it take you to get the suppression tech done?”
“If you two would get the fuck out of here and let me get to work I can probably get it finished by tonight.”
“We'll be here at seven. Get it done.”
Charlie sighed heavily. “Fine.”
Korehammer and Caldera walked out of Charlie's shop and stood on Dickinson Street. It was early morning and the rain had started to fall again. The streets were nearly empty as most of The Plex was still in bed, sleeping off whatever pleasures they treated themselves to the night before.
“So how do we get a hold of Mattix?” Korehammer asked.
“I don't know yet.” Caldera began to pace on the sidewalk, her arms folded. “We can't use the normal channels since they are probably compromised. The traitor has to be someone pretty far up the chain of leadership if they know where the meeting is taking place. Most of the leaders of the individual cells didn't even have that data yet. That means we can't trust anyone.”
“Except each other.”
“Right,” she said, a slight smile on her face. “I think it's best if we just head to Brooklyn as planned and find Mattix, talk to him person to person.”
“Unless he's the traitor.”
“Shit,” she replied. “That never occurred to me. We could walk right into a trap.”
“Is there anyone in the DawnSword who you would trust to get some information from? Someone you actually know and have met IRL? Not on a holo?”
Caldera sighed. “There is one person. When I found the resistance she was the one who trained me, showed me how the organization worked, how to kill the bloodsuckers. She's as close to a friend as I can think of.”
“But can you trust her?”
“I think so. She left the resistance a few years ago but as far as I know she's still plugged in, keeps tabs on what's going on.”
“Why'd she leave?” Korehammer asked.
“She thought we were playing it too cautious. That we should have taken the fight to the vampires. Start striking first instead of always reacting. She felt like we weren't making a difference so she quit. There was a rumor going around she started fighting on her own. Finds places where vampire clans meet and slaughters them all except one, who she sends back with the message that she's coming for them.”
“Jesus...”
“Yeah. You think I'm hardcore? You haven't seen anything yet.”
“So where do we find this one woman bloodsucker killing machine?”
“Last I heard she had a safe house outside of Baltimore. We could start there.”
“Sounds like a plan. We'll head back to the Dolphin so you can crash for a few hours. Then once we have the neuro-signal jammer we'll head out.” Korehammer looked at Caldera. “So does your friend have a name?”
“Yeah. It's Amber Helsing. But most people just call her The Blood Hunter.”
Korehammer stopped short. “Wait. Helsing? As in...”
“Exactly.”