Edge City Chronicles 12

A/N: Wrote this in 62 minutes. New record. END A/N

Well, I found a pretty good reason to stop at four when I got shot at point five as I was starting my assault, which was pretty telling, but I managed to avoid anything too serious. A through-and-through on my left arm hurt, but that blood clotting shit Doc had given me did wonders to make sure the wound sealed, and one of the other injectors made sure I wouldn't have any trouble before I could actually get back to Doc to get looked at. I swept the place clean, finding a lot of Scavs, now all dead, and another big fistful of cred sticks. I, even dim as I was, was starting to notice a pattern here, making it seem like the Scav dens all sent out their chrome at roughly the same time. That could explain their skittishness here, or the fact I was hitting dens, but I found an even easier explanation when I saw a pad one of them had been looking at when I popped him. There was a message a crazy cyborg with too much chrome was tearing apart dens left, right, and center and that everyone should either armor up or go to ground. Thankfully, these guys had very little armor and there were no borgs present, but it did show they would communicate with each other and one of their first instincts was to hide. It helped explained another of the reasons why they hadn't all been hunted down and the problem eliminated. 

I cleaned the place up before heading back to my apartment. I was torn on what to do, as I wanted the money and I wanted to make a good impression on Aces, besides the fact I had the case, which painted a giant target on my back, but I wasn't sure directing him to my apartment was a great idea. Still, I doubted I could hide from him, and it's not like I didn't plan on giving the case back, anyway, so I decided to just play slightly cautious and request to meet him at Applewood. It was a very small layer of annonymity, but it would help protect me slightly if he was too lazy to look into where I was currently living. Besides, with the creds I was making from this day and night of fighting, I was moving someplace a lot nicer. No offense to the former owner of this body or his mom, but the current apartment was a shithole in a terrible building.  

Aces pulled up to Applewood on a motorcycle, though it was a bit more leaning towards tank than motorcycle. The thing was fairly large and really blocky, with fat, heavy wheels and a massive frame. It also clearly weighed an absolute ton, though that didn't bother Aces at all, as he picked the whole thing up and set it down to the side after pulling up since there wasn't a full space open by where I was standing. He got a slight bit of a smirk when he saw the case, but otherwise walked up to me like nothing out of the ordinary was happening. That was clearly not true for everyone else around, as most people took one look, recognized a Failsafe, and got the hell out of Dodge as fast as they could.  

"I see you were a lot more successful than I was," he said with a nod at the case.  

"Damn straight, and no thanks to you, either," I groused. At his raised eyebrow, I continued, "Got shot just rolling up to the last place on the list. They had a message there from somebody talking about a crazy borg tearing through dens and killing everyone. Since I'm not super borged out, my hitting dens clearly wasn't what set them off." 

"Hazards of the job," Aces returned to my grumping, picking the case up and popping it open. He did a quick scan of the four vials before shutting the case and giving me a nod, "All four vials returned successfully. Glad you executed the mission exactly as I explained it." 

"Hey, I can pick up on subtext. Sometimes," I said with a shrug. 

"Good. I need to get this shit back to the lab ASAP. Here's the creds, and a small bonus for getting a bad booboo," he said, giving me another slight smirk as he transferred eleven thousand credits into my account. 

"Damn. Quickest eleven grand I've ever made," I said, looking at my new balance. "You need any more help in Edge City, call me first." 

" 'Fraid you'll have to borg up or something before then, kiddo," he said with a shake of his head. "Most of the stuff I deal with is way nastier than a couple Scav dens. You need some much better hardware before you can play in the big leagues." 

"Well, at least I have a headstart on that," I said, giving him a nod. He returned it, put the case in a sealed area at the back of his bike before putting it back on the street.  

"Careful with who you show all that new wealth to," he said before taking off, his motorcycle peeling out far faster than something that weighed more than an SUV had any right to go. The threat wasn't all that subtle, but it felt like more of a warning than a threat. He was telling me to make sure I didn't show the extra vial I had palmed to anybody I didn't one hundred percent trust, which was smart, but the only person I planned on showing it to was Doc, anyway. I doubted any other of my very limited contacts would even be able to tell me what it was or what it was worth, at least not and be fully truthful about it, so I was going with the only one I could trust. 

It worked out great as I really should get the damn hole in my arm looked at as well, so I sent Don a message asking if he was awake at this time. He said he was about to shutdown for the night and it was good he was a night owl. I sent him a picture of the arm as I returned to the apartment and slid the vial in my rig again, and he told me to get my sorry ass down there double-time. I couldn't resist grabbing at least all the bags with chrome and one of the boxes before I headed back out to the subway and rode down to doc's place. I went through the back this time, as it was late and the noodle shop was closed. Don let me in through his little garage, cussing me out for still hauling in loot on a wounded arm but I ignored him. It wasn't going to kill me and I wanted the stinky shit out of my apartment first thing. Don could deal with Scav smell instead of me. 

"Fucking hell, kiddo, you need some chrome arms or something here," he grunted as he forced me into the chair and started working. "Easier to fix and less likely to take damage." 

"Just a little hole, Doc, not a big deal," I returned, which only frustrated him. 

He patched me up, muttering about me using the injectors, though his mutters about that were positive, as it apparently both helped keep me going and helped for the treatment he provided. He had me patched up with some more advanced medtech in a handful of minutes, using some kind of advanced spray that immediately started repairing my skin over the wound when he was done. It was interesting to watch it work, but we had business to take care of, so I pulled my attention away and back to the doctor.  

"Got stuff for you," I said, thought that was obvious. 

"Yeah, I see it, kiddo," he grumbled, wheeling over to look through the pile. I let him get on with it, waiting until he straightened up and wheeled back over, checking my arm before giving me the bill. "Stuff's worth about five hundred. Treatment for the arm is a hundred. I'll transfer you four." 

"That works," I said with a shrug. "I got something better, though." 

"Something better?" he asked, quirking one brow at my tone and statement. 

"What do you think of this?" I asked, carefully pulling the vial from my coat, thought I was pretty sure the thing was basically bulletproof.  

Don had a far different reaction than I expected; instead of looking at it curiously, he reacted as if I had just proudly presented him a live hand grenade with the timer already counting. "Put that away!" he hissed, glancing around the shop as if someone was watching us. 

"So, you recognize this?" I asked, not putting it away but instead shaking the vial a little. I thought he was going to pass out when I did that, judging from his pallor.  

"I haven't seen it in person before, but I recognize it just from seeing it," he said, still glancing around nervously. "Where the fuck did you get your hands on a whole vial of The Serum?" 

"I don't know what The Serum is, but this is what that Failsafe was looking for. He gave me an inaccurate count of the number of vials and when I returned the number of vials he said were missing, he just gave me a smirk and said to be careful who I showed off all my loot to," I explained. 

"Good God, kid," Don said, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands. 

"Is it that bad?" I asked, frowning at him a little when he finished. 

"Well, yes and no. If the Failsafe doesn't think you stole it, that's the biggest worry," Don said, said as he straightened up on his stool. 

"But?" I asked. 

"But, we can't get rid of this," Don said. "It's too hot a commodity, kiddo." 

"Okay, but can you explain what it is?" I asked with some exasperation in my tone. 

"Right, it's a vial of The Serum," Don said. When I gave him a blank look, he sighed and continued, "Look kid, it's a miracle drug. There've been rumors about it for a couple years now, two or three, but it's apparently in high, high demand in the wealthy circles. I mean, the really wealthy circles, like CEOs of major corps and international business owner kind of circles." 

"Oh…" I said, frowning at the vial. If it was both that hot and that rare, unloading it was not going to be easy. "But, what's it do that they're all going bonkers for it." 

"It's the new miracle drug, so that's already something," Don said with a shrug. "Supposedly, if you're an old fogey, it can de-age you, like, by a lot. If you're not an old fogey, it can give your body an overall, permanent boost. That's all pretty good already, but there's a couple reasons people are talking about it as a miracle drug. First, most drugs that do shit like that are separate packages; having a single drug that can so holistically treat a body is pretty crazy. Second, it's non-targeted, meaning anybody can just get a vial and inject it and it works. Other drugs with a similar level of effect need a team of specialists to analyze your baseline and tailor the drug precisely to your. Finally, the craziest rumor of all is that this shit works on chrome. It's not impossible, but a drug that already does all the other shit, is person-agnostic, and does chrome. That's wild." 

"Well. Fuck," I said, staring at the vial in some trepidation. "I thought this was going to make my already big payday look like peanuts. We can't fucking sell this." 

"No, but we can do something nearly as good," Doc said. 

"What?" I asked, giving him another blank look. 

"Come on, kid, use that damn brain of yours. Your damn head's big enough, it ought to be a massive thinkin' machine up there," Don scolded.  

"Hey, hey, watch it," I said, frowning at him. 

"Kid, the de-aging thing is why the old fogeys want it. Well, plus the chrome stuff, since they already have top-of-the-line chrome outside of what Dao Heavy Machinery has, and all their shit is super proprietary," Don explained. "But, I did just say it does two things…" 

"Oh, shit," I said, glancing between him and the vial. "But, is that safe?" 

"Hell if I know, but if it doesn't kill ya, it'll make ya stronger, and all that," Don said. I frowned at him quite intensely and he eased up, holding up his hands and saying, "Look, this is definitely The Serum and we definitely can't sell it. That would paint a target bigger than all of Edge City on your damn back. That really only leaves one option, since I’m sure as shit not storing it here, and I doubt you want it in your apartment, either." 

"Take the drug," I said with a sigh. 

"Hey, if you don't want to…" Don said, glancing at the vial. 

"Fuckin' hell, Doc," I grumbled, laying back in the chair. "Hit me with it." 

"I would say just relax and I'll take care of everything, but I don't know what this shit does," Don said, wheeling across the room to get an kind of injector that could take vials inserted into the back. He slotted The Serum into the injector and then looked at me after he had wheeled back over. "You ready?" 

"No, but fuck it, we ball," I said, getting a genuine eyeroll from the doctor before he pressed the hypo to my neck and pulled the trigger. I could feel and hear the hiss as the injector was emptied, the tool pushing the entire dose of drug directly into my bloodstream. At first, I just felt a cool sensation in my neck, and Doc watched me with a slightly quirked eyebrow, but that lasted all of five seconds.  

"Fucking shit. Feels like molten iron in my blood," I grunted, gripping the arms of his chair tight enough I could feel joints in my fingers and wrists popping. 

"Can't help you there, kiddo, just gotta ride it out," Doc said, giving me a bit of a helpless look as he slotted something into his overhead tool and swung it down. "I put this thing in offline mode and put a fresh storage stick in. What happens here will stay partitioned, but all I can really do is observe." 

"Fuck me sideways," I cursed, gripping the chair harder and then relaxing before gripping hard again. It felt like the drug was melting my bones while setting fire to my veins. I hadn't ever felt this kind of pain and I cussed and made a few vile oaths as it worked its way through my system.  

Fifteen minutes later it calmed down and Doc continued to take readings and study what was happening. After five minutes of that, I was recovered enough to want some damn answers, saying, "What the fuck was that, Doc?" 

"Man, it did a number on you, but in a good way," Don answered. "Reconfigured your cardiovascular system in a way I didn't think was even possible, not for a single dose of any drug, and reinforced your bones. Hell, your muscles are the same size but fifteen percent denser, and I don't think it's even fully finished. You're a new man, kid, and I almost mean that literally. I wouldn't believe these readings if I wasn't seeing them right now with my own damn eyes." 

"But, it's good?" I asked, rubbing at my neck where the injection had started. 

"Good? Kid, you're gonna be a walking tank even without chrome after this," Don said before quickly correcting himself. "I mean, don't get a big head, but you're stronger, tougher, need less sleep, and half a dozen other things that are still percolating. Fucking hell, this really is a miracle drug; even these scans are worth their weight in gold." 

"Don't go shipping those around," I snapped, still dealing with the residual pain. 

"They're safe, kiddo. I know what I'm doing," Don grunted in response, still paying attention to the scans. 

"Shit," I muttered, collapsing back in the chair.  

"Eat before you pass out," Don commanded, getting some ration bars out of the cupboard. The things had the flavor and texture of old cardboard, but they were packed with calories and nutrients. Don, the bastard, made me house three of the fucking things before he let me pass out on one of the cots in the back section of the room, which I did as my head was still hitting the pillow. 

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