Stray Cat Strut Chapter Nineteen – Security Theatre

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Stray Cat Strut (A cyberpunk system apocalypse!) - Ongoing

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Drear's Ten-Tea-Cle Café (An insane Crossover about cute people and tentacles) - Hiatus

Cinnamon Bun (A wholeso LitRPG!) - Ongoing

The Agartha Loop (A Magical-Girl drama!) - Volu Two Complete!

Lever Action (A fantasy western with cha!) - Volu One Complete!

Heart of Dorkness (A wholeso progression fantasy) - Completed!

Dead Tired (A cody about a Lich in a Wuxia world doing Science!) - Ongoing

Sporemageddon (A fantasy story about a mushroom lover exploding the industrial revolution!) - Ongoing

Past the Redline (A girl goes too fast, then she does it again) - Completed!

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Noblebright (A shipcore AI works to avenge humanity) - Completed!

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No Strings Attached (An Elden Ring/Bloodborne inspired progression fantasy) - Ongoing

Save Scumming (A ti-looping system apocalypse) - Ongoing

Chapter Nineteen - Security Theatre

"As the rich get richer and the poor envy them more, the need for security to protect the world's elites only grows. There is safety in anonymity, but so of the elites do have public-facing personas, and that is where the modern security apparatus cos in."

--How Not to Get Mobbed, a six part guide, second edition, 2051

***

"Found him," Shy muttered.

"What was that?" I asked as I felt the ears on my head twitch. I wasn't sure if I had to ask for clarification or not, but it was better to ask and not appear too weird than let people know that I had cyberware that let spy on people really well. That might creep soone out. Not that I minded for normies, but the samurai with were ostensibly friends.

I wasn't one for politeness... because fuck that; but even I could understand that there were lines that you didn't cross. If my cybernetic ears let hear the weird noises soone made in the washroom then I sure wasn't going to ntion it. It was common courtesy or whatever.

"Ah, he's in a place called the Rockfort building? It's more or less to the north-east of the city."

"I know that one," Crisis Mode said. "It's a large hexagonal building. Dark grey, not too far from the middle of the river. It's not old. I think I rember seeing it go up."

"Cool," I said as I stretched up and flicked so switches. "Alright, so do we have a plan for this one?"

"I don't think so?" Crisis Mode said. "Are we going to ask Libre about it?"

"Nah," I said. "If he wasn't a whole entire asshole, then maybe I'd poke him and see what he thinks, but I don't know if he deserves the head's up. And you're a samurai, Crisis, you don't need to ask for permission to go do anything."

"Right, of course," Crisis Mode said.

"It took so ti too," Shy said quietly. "When I beca a samurai I... spent a lot of ti taking care of my own things, and I didn't leave very often. Just to make so points, then I'd go back ho. But, ah, Stray Cat's way of doing things is sotis good? Saving people is good. Sotis saving them in a loud way saves more people later."

"Aww, thanks," I replied as we finally started to lift off the ground. "But I wouldn't say that doing things the loud way is always the best. Eventually, if too many of us start tossing important people off of rooftops, the important people will stop standing so close to the edges."

Once in the air, I angled us in the direction that Shy had indicated and started to fly forwards. I kept the thrust low and made sure to turn on the ship's collision detection systems.

"Myalis, can we connect to the local air traffic net?" I asked. "Don't want so soccer mom with a van full of kids ramming into us if we can avoid it."

I felt Crisis Mode giving a stare at that, but like, it wasn't wrong, was it?

"Okay, so,we still haven't decided how we're doing this. I see three options. One, we drop Shy off nearby and let her sneak in. Maybe I can do the sa? We find our guy and then escort him out, or ask him so questions in there. Second option, we go in loud. I still have... eh, so ammo left over, and I can always reload the rockets. We find out where he is and dig him out, possibly from the side of the building if needs be."

"That's insane," Crisis Mode said.

"It'll send a ssage," I said.

"That we're insane?" she asked.

"Yes? That's a valuable ssage to send, I think. People have respect for insanity. You might not put a lot of respect on the average stray, but when it cos at you hissing and spitting you learn to back the fuck off."

She shook her head. "What's the third option?"

"Three, and this is the boring one, we park the Bastion and ask politely."

"That might be the nicest solution," Shy said.

Fine, whatever. We ca upon the building, and Crisis Mode was right, from above it was a giant hexagon, with a pattern of hexagonal windows around the sides next to hexagonal wall panels. Soone had a thing for the shape, I guessed.

I looped us around, then ca down for a landing near the topmost floor. I gave it good odds that the Commander wasn't in the basent or lower floors.

Assholes always seed to want to occupy the top of whatever building they were in.

I shut the Bastion down, then stood up. "Okay. We probably won't encounter any trouble, but just in case, arm up?"

"Can I have a minute or two?" Crisis Mode asked. "I think I need to switch out so of my armour?"

"That's fine," I said. "We'll be in the back. There's a washroom just there if you want privacy, but it's a little cramped."

"I lived in an apartnt that wasn't much bigger, it's fine," she said.

Fair enough. Shy and I wandered to the back of the ship, and I took the spare ti I had to reload the Bastion's guns. Those rockets had been a half-dozen points each, it turned out. Worth it, obviously, since they'd made a lot more than that, but it still hurt to spend a bunch of points to reload.

A few minutes later, Crisis Mode exited the front of the ship and then settled a bag down onto the ground. By the way it clunked, I assud it was her old gear.

Her new stuff was a step up. It was more white armour, on a teal-ish bodysuit, only the suit looked a little thicker, more padded down with so under armour that looked like it could take a hit.

The overarmour was all white panels shaped around her body. It was very... well, I didn't have the words for the exact style of it, but it was very modern military. A few pouches, so faulds and a breastplate and overall look that suggested so curvature to it without being all sexed up.

"Nice," I said.

She nodded, then slid a helt on. It had one of those cool T-shaped visors at the front, and I could tell that there was so sort of HUD inside as well, plus it made a cool hissing noise as the helt sealed itself.

"It's comfortable so far. A bit heavy, though."

"Worth it," I said. "Just wait until you explode, you'll appreciate it."

"Explode?"

"It happens," I said. "Shall we?"

We disembarked and discovered security was waiting for us already. Three guys, looking mighty nervous to see us, which was probably for the best. If they were comfortable that might be a bad sign.

"Hey," I said. "We're here to see the Commander."

"He's not here," one of them said.

I stared at him, then glanced back at Shy. She shook her head. "Okay," I replied. "We're here to look for the Commander, then."

"He's not here," the moron repeated.

I squinted at him. He had a security vest on, but under that wore familiar-looking fatigues, and while I wasn't a gun-nut, the pistol at his side looked standard-issue. I muttered under my breath. "Myalis, he ex-army?"

One mont... yes. Private Gauthier. He is marked as having reported for duty every day for the last month.

"Look, Private. We're here to see the Commander under the authority of 'I fucking asked twice already' and if you don't want to help, then I'll fling you off the side of this here building to warm the pavent up for your boss."

The private wasn't happy with that, but he did back up a little. Another, calr security guy led us in, but instead of rushing towards the Commander, we were brought over to a security station a floor down.

There were more guards here, and a big X-ray machine next to one of those little conveyor things. "You're going to have to disarm," soone said before placing a plastic bin on the conveyor.

I stared.

Then I locked the audio in my helt. "Myalis. I still have that decoy catalogue, yeah? How many guns can I buy for... say, twenty-five points?"

A lot.

"Good. Can you... help with this?"

Oh, with pleasure. Lower back.

New Purchase: Decoy handgun

Points Reduced to: 9,409

I frowned for a mont, then reached to my lower back and felt sothing fall into my hand. I brought my hand around, and discovered a small handgun. I placed it in the bin.

Right pocket.

New Purchase: Decoy handgun

Points Reduced to: 9,408

I followed Myalis' instructions. Not that they were too complicated. The security guys were all kind of just standing around, bored. Clearly so alarm had called a lot of them over, either as a show of intimidation or because they were expecting trouble or sothing, so I had a bit of an audience.

New Purchase: Decoy handgun

Points Reduced to: 9,407

New Purchase: Decoy grenade

Points Reduced to: 9,406

New Purchase: Decoy handgun

Points Reduced to: 9,405

New Purchase: Decoy assault rifle

Points Reduced to: 9,404

New Purchase: Decoy grenade

Points Reduced to: 9,403

New Purchase: Decoy handgun

Points Reduced to: 9,402

"You're going to need another bin," I said as I dropped in another little bullpup assault rifle.

The guy stared, then slowly moved the bin down the conveyor. It trundled into the X-ray machine and started to set off every alarm in there.

I reached into a small pouch inside my coat and plucked out a grenade, then another, then another, then another. The box had twelve of them by the ti I followed Myalis' instructions and reached into one of the deeper pockets of my coat.

I removed a sniper rifle that was almost as tall as I was. It didn't fit in the bin right.

And... inner jacket, left side.

New Purchase: Decoy rocket propelled nuclear launcher

Points Reduced to: 9,391

I blinked at the description on that one before reaching into my coat. What I pulled out was a tube. There was a foot-ball-sized device on the end with a radiation-hazard symbol worked onto the side. The text SINGLE USE NUCLEAR DEVICE. STAND WELL CLEAR, was stenciled across the tube.

The guy behind the machine was sweating. The others weren't talking all that much.

"And... that?" he asked, gesturing to my Trenchmaker.

"That?" I asked. "Novelty lighter. Don't worry about it."

***

A note from RavensDagger