Stray Cat Strut Chapter Nineteen - Hardware

Chapter Nineteen - Hardware

In the 80s and 90s people kind of assud that the future would be cyborgs. We have early sci-fi and movies like Robocop to thank for that, I think. Theres sothing romantic about a person combining their weak flesh and powerful technology.

Unfortunately, romantic and realistic arent the sa.

--Techtransitionalism, a video essay, 2040

***

I sat on my bike, adjusted my helt, then finally decided to look at where Id be heading to.

I had a noon-ti appointnt with one Peter Silverbloom, a man that Id t in person all of once and yet whom I still kind of just... trusted.

Peter was a bit of a weirdo, but he wasnt a bad sort. In fact, it was the opposite. He struck as very nice. Not a saint or anything, but maybe the closest thing to that in a shithole like New Montreal. His service record was basically nothing but volunteer and non-profit work, and not the hyper-corporatized sort that was flashy and self-serving, but actual get-your-hands-dirty work.

And I had an appointnt with him in about half an hour.

So, where are you, Mister Silverbloom, I muttered.

Im assuming that was a rhetorical?

More or less, I said. Did he send his location for this eting?

Via email three days ago, then he sent three corrections since.

Wow, he really cant decide where to et? Is there a common thread here? Should I be worried about traps or sothing? I asked. My map app opened up and pins appeared in the locations that I assud he wanted to et in. They were all lower city spots, mostly close to the more urban parts of the city, but that was the only common thread that I could see at a glance.

Every location is a different non-profit. I dug into it out of curiosity, and it mostly seems as though Peter is just a busy man. His attention is constantly being diverted to issues with different groups within the city. He is quite good at putting out taphorical fires.

Huh. I guess that makes sense. This guys not gonna live long if hes spending this much ti chasing after problems. He wont be able to fix every problem in New Montreal. I turned my bike on and then gently rolled it off the side of the building. My flight drooped for a bit before I started to fly properly and then did a long, slow circle of our ho.

His success rate at solving those problems is quite impressive, and his record suggests soone who is genuinely selfless. Im happy to see you help him as it might help a lot of others.

You know, he sounds like a pretty good candidate for being a samurai, I said. Id never done any charity work before, and I was a bit of a bitch. I also couldnt picture Peter blowing up the mayor. Hed probably convince even that old asshole to be a better man. Or hed try, at any rate.

He has a lot of the traits that we search for. He lacks so others.

I locked in the last location Peter had sent into the bikes auto-piloting system, then let it lead around and out across the city. I dont know. He sounds like a nicer guy than .

Niceness is desirable. Peter Silverbloom is too nice. His desire to be diplomatic at all tis would be a hindrance. There are other factors as well, though they might be difficult to explain because of your cultural background.

My cultural background? I repeated.

You are human. You value human qualities.

That was needlessly cryptic and a bit creepy. I decided to cut that line of discussion off, it wasnt going anywhere except to make feel bad about myself. Besides, comparing yourself to others was a great way to fuck up an otherwise nice day.

Still, the thought worried at . Would Myalis be disappointed that she was stuck with my dumb ass if there were others out there that were so much better?

I swooped down to the lower levels, then slipped into a parking garage on the ground floor.

I could tell already that this place was a bit of a hole. The building was an older residential complex, long streaks of rust and gri clung onto the sides and the interior of the parking garage was filled with old beaters. Cars twice as old as were cramd into the corners and it looked like a number of them were parts cars.

There was a camp at the back of the garage, a few containers set in a semi-circle that enclosed a few tents and lean-to shanties. A few ripped apart neon-signs were stacked in the middle with a fire-hazard nest of wires leading to them. It provided a surprisingly bright light for that corner, which let see the folk hanging around there.

There were a lot of holess people. Although... I supposed that they did have a ho of sorts.

I got off my bike and started towards the back where there was an elevator. Peter was on the fifth floor according to what Id gotten from him.

One of the locals called out to , asking if I wanted so puff for cheap. I wasnt even sure what that drug was, but he raised a cheap inhaler my way, then took a hit from it himself and let out a giggle.

Nice place, I said as I slipped into the elevator and stabbed at the button for the fifth floor. I rubbed my finger off on my pants, the button was sticky.

The elevators stereo tried to play so ads, but soone had ripped the panel off and stabbed a screwdriver into it, so the noise was more of a gargling hiss that accompanied until I made it to the floor I was heading to.

The place was... old. Old and not terribly maintained. Paint was peeling and the stainless half-wall panels were marred by thousands of scuff marks. Still, it was more or less clean. Soone had swept the place and mopped the floors, so even if the flooring was cracked and worn down, it was still clean... ish.

I checked the address Peter had sent and compared it to the imprint of so numbers left next to a doorway nearby. Weird place, I said.

As far as I can tell its mostly safe.

Mostly?

Theres a drug production facility two floors down that doesnt et even the loosest of safety standards, there are several dozen ard people on this floor, and hundreds more across the rest of the building, there are addicts and gang-affiliated people spread around you, but for the most part, the local threats are unlikely to be able or willing to harm you.

Right, so mostly safe, I said.

The place Peter wanted to et at was in the centre of the building. There was an open space where a bunch of corridors ca and t in what might have been supposed to be a sort of town square area. There were two automated fast food places, a couple of boarded up stores, a pawn shop, and to one side a place called Death Bread, which was apparently where we were supposed to et.

I slipped into the entrance and took a look around. It was a bakery, of sorts. The food looked... actually, kind of decent. Next to all the prices--which were all in the low hundreds of credits, so even in the double-digits--were little plaques with expiration dates. Most of those were a few days ago.

A young woman ca up to , she had a smile, and no eyes. Her hand reached out to shake, and I realized that it was a skeletal prosthetic, one of those older cyborg arms. You must be Catherine, she said. The upper half of her face was a cavity with plastic skin and a trio of cybernetic eyes.

Yeah, thats , I said. You dont look like Peter, unless he had a serious makeover?

She snorted. Nah, Peters in the back dealing with sothing. I can tell him to drop it, if you want. Its probably not that important?

No, its fine, I said. So, youre his... assistant?

She shook her head a little. Her shirts neckline was just loose enough to reveal that her neck was reinforced. No, Im Laura. Friends call See-Three. Peter called over for a consult, of sorts, if you wanna borrow the corpo term. Nice arm, by the way.

Thanks. A consult, huh?

Laura nodded. He said you were donating a bunch of prosthetics. Dont know where youre getting them, or what sort they are, but I know my tal bits better than anyone else.

Howd Peter find you?

I work for a charity that fixes folks' cyberware for cheap. Poorly installed gear is a nightmare. Cheap gear is awful. Combine the two and you can make soones life not worth living real fast. Been there myself, so I try to help where I can.

That sounds like exactly what we need, I said.

A door further into the bakery opened, and Peter ca out. He saw , then smiled. It was ti to get to work, it looked like.

***