Antonio watched as people walked by, he had lost account of how long he had been sat here, all these people, all this commotion, it put him on edge, but he had a job to do, so he had no choice
[Hey pretty boy, what's taking so long]
Her voice, Lucy's, emerged from his mind, he still wasn't used to that, Cyberware communication was definitely something to get used to.
[Geez relax woman, the dude hasn't come out into the open yet, can't do shit but wait]
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[Well the longer we have to wait the more we put ourselves at risk, cops are all over the place]
She replied in annoyance, Antonio knew from the get go that she would be a pain in the ass, as well as bossy beyond anything he had ever experienced before, but she took his expectations to a whole nother level.
Just then another woman's voice rang in his head, another member of the crew named Mantis
[Hey bitches targets on the move, tracker has been planted, so get and do your fucking jobs]
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Antonio rolled his eyes
[Yeah yeah I'm on it, where's the target?]
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[Coming out now, should be on your left.....now]
As soon as she said it Antonio flicked his eye to his left, and there was the target, a mountain of a man, zooming in his vision Antonio grinned as he eyed the prize, a data chip in his neck port, nothing more than a green blinking light to give it away under its optical camo plating, as soon as he walked past Antonio was hot on his heals, weaving through crowd's of people like the wind, his gaze focused on his target;
[SYSTEM: Bioconductor]
[ENGAGED]
[SUBSYSTEM: Optical camo plates ONLINE]
Antonio felt a jolt go through his body before several plates opened across his entire body as a camo projection encased him, making him invisible to the naked eye.
Now was the moment to strike, rapidly increasing the speed of his approach Antonio felt another jolt through his body;
[SYSTEM: Bioplastic blood vessels]
[ENGAGED]
[SUBSYSTEM: Kerensikov MK3]
Time crawled to a slow, Antonio watching as someone who had fallen seemed to float I'm mid air, but he didn't stop, he had a job to do, now directly behind the target he reached his hand up and lifted himself in a cartwheel overhead of the mountain man, using his free hand to swipe the card before landing in Front of the man.
And then the hard part, he hit the ground running.
"HEY!, what the- HEY HEY HE STOLE MY DRIVE!" the man called out, fucking big mouth, now Antonio was on the clock before the cops showed up, so he put foot to pavement and just crept running, ducking and shoving people out of his way, how the fuck did the guy see him anyway?
Looking behind him Antonio's eyes whent wide, the targets eyes glowed red.
He had thermal detection optics, shit.
[ hey guys I need help, the targets got a lock on me and he's coming after me!]
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[I'm on my way, go go go!]
Mantis replied as the line suddenly cut
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[Newbie, get to the drop off now, don't fuck around, we'll pick you up] Lucy called
Antonio crashed into an alleyway wall as he turned the corner, the sound of heavy footsteps hot on his heels, but he didn't stop to check, he just kept running, dumpsters along the walls raced past as he ran, almost tripping over a cat that hissed at his approach before leaping in the air and scurrying up a fire escape ladder.
Up ahead Antonio saw a chain link fence, the gate bolted shut, Antonio was at a dead end, with how close this guy was he didn't have time to climb over without being grabbed, he was done.
Just as he spun to face the guy he just robbed, he was met by a chrome fist to the face, sending him flying back into the rattling fence, before he had a chance to react another massive hand wrapped around his neck, lifting him up into the air, his legs kicking out frantically, gasping for air
"Alright you little punk, give me back my property, you have no idea who your messing with" he snarled, hitting his body against the fence again.
Antonio grinned "I'm guessing one of the three bears?" He choked out with a chuckle, the guy just growled in anger as he slammed Antonio again.
"Where is it!" He yelled, getting right into Antonio's face
"Go to hell" was all Antonio could choke out, until suddenly the tension around his neck seemed to ease, looking at his attacker Antonio saw a trickle of blood running down his chin from his mouth, then the sound of metal being ripped from flesh, sharp and cold, before the mountain man fell to his knees, releasing Antonio from his chrome hands, before falling to the ground in a heap, dead.
"Dam newbie, cant leave you for five fucking seconds Huh?" came the voice of his saviour.
It was Mantis, standing 5ft 8 with green highlighted black hair, cut short to her neck, a cybernetic aesthetic implant over her nose and under her eyes, creating a thick black line, as well as one on her chin going down her slim neck and connecting to her bottom lip, glowing green eyes and plenty of piercings in her ears.
She wore a dark green camo bomber jacket and a thick studded belt hanging high on one side of her hips, low on the other, and a pair of dark form fitting leggings.
Her arms were mat black, constructed from what looked like carbon fiber, with glowing green neon between each plate, but then there was her weapons of choice, two Mantis like appendages blades emerging from her forearms, now smeared with the targets blood.
"Shit, this complicates things, hey you gonna sit on your ass all day or are you gonna get goin to the drop off?" She said with a huff, bending down to check if the dude was completely dead, Antonio getting a perfect view of her big round ass as she bent over, using her blades to check for his breath.
"Staring at my ass isn't gonna get the job done newbie, I'm not the kind of girl to sleep with anyone and everyone, but do this job right and you might just see what your gawking at in it's full glory" she said, looking behind her at Antonio giving her ass a shake.
Antonio was up like a shit at that point, darting up and over the fence in a blink of an eye, before setting off running again as the distant sound of sirens echoed through the city.
"Fucking horny dude" Mantis said with a chuckle before darting up a nearby fire escape.
__________________________________________________
[Approaching the drop off now]
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[It's about fucking time punk, I thought you'd passed out at the sight of blood, thanks for that by the way, just another thing to add to the pile of shit I gotta deal with]
Lucy sounded really pissed, but glad the job was almost done
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[ Hey it was him or me, and if it was me you wouldn't have the chip]
Antonio fired back, not wanting to be on this crews bottom of the food chain, he wasn't gonna be pushed around
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Lucy chuckled
[Shit, newbie you got some serious balls, so depending on how this goes, il decide weather I wish it was you or him]
He finally reached the drop off, a garage in a rough looking part of the city, a big neon sign above the door, the wound of distant gunshots and the odd siren in the distance, definitely a rough part of town, Antonio hurried over to a door, illuminated by a buzzing light above, looking around to check if the coast was clear he rapped his knuckles on the door.
He was quickly met by the door swinging open and the cold steel of a handgun pressed into his cheek, the cold lifeless gaze of a red line of light across this guy's face seemed to scan him up and down, this guy had no hair, and a long black beard, no shirt, scrawny thin appearance, and oversized long arms.
"Did Lucy send you?" He questioned, his voice sounding mechanical and glitchy, but somehow still human, Antonio gave a hurried nod and produced the chip from his pocket.
"Ye-yea she did, now can you get that thing out of my face?" He said, swatting the gun out of the way, only for it to return now pressed against his chin.
"Not so fast tough guy, gotta scan ya so I know you ain't gonna snitch or stab me in the back" the rasped, a bright blue overtaking the red line of what Antonio assumed were his eyes, a beam of light scanning across them up and down his face.
"Alright, your clean" he asid before lowering his gun, Antonios pulse slowing as the gun was removed from his head, then without a word the guy took the chip and shot a beam from his eyes into Antonios neck, exactly where his drives were located.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
[FUNDING RECEIVED]
[AMOUNT: +5000000
[CUT- 20%]
[TOTAL FUNDS: +1000000]
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
The text appeared in Antonios eyes, that much for one job?, there was just no way, in his original really he would have never seen a figure this big in three lifetimes, and now here he is working for someone he hardly knew, stealing god knows what for god knows who and this is just his cut?
"Pleasure doing business with you, send Lucy my regards" the guy said before shutting the door in Antonios face.
[Is it done, I see the money, did Lukas get the chip?]
came Lucy's voice, Antonio groaned, he was still not used to that
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[Yeah, yeah he got it, so now what?]
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[Now, you get your ass back here and celebrate another pay day with us, you work for me now remember dumbass?]
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Antonio let out another groan, pinching the bridge of his nose and looking skyward
[I've got a name ya know, it's Antonio, I think I've earned that much at this point]
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[Fine then, Antonio, good job, il see you back at base, il send Mantis to pick you up, just stay put]
All Antonio could do was act inconspicuous until Mantis arrived, so he simply leaned against a wall of a building, out of direct light and not drawing attention to himself.
After what felt like an hour he saw a vehicle pull up in front of him, it looked like a high tech muscle car, jet black, slimer than any muscle car he had ever seen, instead of headlights it had a solid line of light from one side to the other, and a bullbar over the grill, no windshield, the bodywork seemed to follow into where it should have been, the wing mirrors were replaced with camera's that shifted into the car doors as they opened, with a panel sliding across to cover them, it had off-road tires and a solid spoiler, with exhausts on either side of the car, emerging just behind the doors.
From our of the vehicle, Mantis emerged, stepping out and leaned on the car roof, resting her chin on the roof
"Hey there tough guy, you need me to save your ass again or you need a ride?" She chuckled.
Antonio couldn't help but crack a grin "definitely the second one, how were you after I bolted?"
"You mean after you stared at my ass and bolted after I promised you a good long look?, yeah I was good, couple of cops sent to the hospital, but other than that it was easy sailing" she stated as they both got into the car.
"Now then, we got time before the crew meets up to celebrate, and I believe I made you a promise" she said in a soft voice, tracing her fingers up Antonios leg before putting that car in gear and driving away, Antonios hearts racing for what she had in mind.