Alpha Agent 2: A Cyberpunk LitRPG | Weak to Strong Progression Fantasy (A Progression Cyberpunk LitRPG Series), page 9
“So Angie, what were you up to before Michael brought you along for this mission?” Dan asked.
“Just doing menial bullshit.” Angie waved. “My team and I were in one of the safer cities. We didn’t get much local action and I drew the short straw and had to act like the over-glorified police in my city. That shit should be for the tier zeros. Let them parade themselves around and let us tier ones get the actual missions.”
“I see.”
“When Michael was desperate to put any team together for this heist, I immediately volunteered myself, no matter how hard or suicidal the mission was. I would have done anything to get rid of the boredom. Now, we get to sneak into enemy territory and steal some important crap for the shard. I think I hit the jackpot,” Angie said.
“Nothing to worry about, Dan,” Michael said. “Stick to the plan and play it safe. And if shit does hit the fan, I’m confident that you and the others will adapt and overcome any challenges thrown your way.”
Chapter 10
After a bit of small talk with Michael and Angie, Dan replicated Li’s way of thinking and dozed for the rest of the trip into Kodak territory. A sudden and forceful tap on the shoulder woke him, and Dan looked up to see Michael standing in front of him.
“We’re here, my boy,” Michael said. “Follow me and I’ll get you and Li your disguises.”
“Where are we in relation to the hotel?” Dan asked.
“We’re about a half-hour drive away. If we’d tried landing any closer we would have drawn a lot of attention, even with all the comm and radar scrambling Tim has done to confuse Kodak’s local airspace.”
Dan unfastened his straps and saw that Angie and Li were already up and awake, carrying their briefcases in their hand. He grabbed his too and all three of them walked out together with Michael. Once they stepped off the ramp, Dan could immediately tell something was seriously wrong with this place.
Irritation and tiredness already struck both his eyes., Dan assumed he should have been well rested after his short nap during the ride. A single glance up caused him to stop in his tracks. Instead of the serene blues or the overcast cloud cover like in Cerulean City, Dan saw nothing but a blood red skyline. Just staring at the sky made the fatigue in his eyes worse. He looked around and was unsettled to see that he and his team were the only ones around. The dropship had landed them in an empty lot in some suburban section. Dan made a quick dash across the lot and glanced down the street.
“Hey,” Michael said sternly. “We’re in enemy territory, remember?”
The scenery Dan saw down the street wasn’t any better. Half the buildings on one side of the block were demolished and the other half were abandoned, featuring smashed windows, boarded-up front entrances and juvenile graffiti art. On the road, Dan saw a giant sinkhole. Fumes rose from the crater.
A hand slapped Dan’s shoulder. “It’s a dump, I know. You grew up in a similar shithole as this one, so I think the scenery can speak for itself,” Michael said.
Dan stepped back and returned to the group with Michael.
“I don’t blame him,” Angie said. “I wish I could take pictures of how much of a hellhole this place looks. I don’t think I could last a week waking up to a red sky every day.”
Li nodded silently.
“Kodak’s urban planning leaves much to be desired, I will admit. But everyone stay on task. We won’t be here for more than a few hours,” Michael said. The agent pointed at a store at the end of the lot. “In that building, you’ll find packages that contain your disguises right behind the cashier counter. Put those on and then your rides will take you to the hotel.”
The three of them headed towards the abandoned shop and Li opened the unlocked front door. Not even a few feet in, all three stepped on shattered glass and had to carefully move around hanging electrical wires from a gutted ceiling panel.
“I pity the average Kodak citizen if this is what a typical suburb looks like,” Li remarked.
Dan glanced at the counter and saw the smashed glass that would have displayed products. He was the first to hop over the counter and spotted three small boxes each with their names written on them.
He set his briefcase on the countertop and crouched down to pick up his box. Opening it, he saw fancy business attire that consisted of black dress pants with a matching dress shirt. The extra accessories such as the tie and sleeveless vest were red.
“Huh, not bad,” Dan said.
Dan and the others began putting on their new disguises. Since they still had to wear their armor underneath the new threads, it didn’t take too long. Dan wasn’t ashamed to ask Li’s help in getting his red tie on correctly.
“You seriously don’t know how to put on a tie?” Angie asked.
“You would be surprised how much of a shithole the U.S. is,” Dan replied. “I could never afford an outfit like this.”
“The U.S.? You mean the Badlands?”
“Badlands?”
“Yes, that’s the nickname a lot of the agents use when they talk about the Americas,” Li said. “The U.S. government doesn’t even try to hide their totalitarian ways. Even the worst of the shards here at least put a happy face on for their people.”
Dan got a good look at both his teammates and saw they both featured matching outfits. Black business attire with red accents. All three grabbed their last accessories, a pair of sunglasses and a mask, both of which would cover their faces and further conceal their true identities. Dan folded his long coat as best he could to fit the empty slit along the bottom of his briefcase.
A notification reached Dan’s HUD and Michael's voice immediately filled in his head.
“We’ve got a severe thunderstorm approaching this entire city,” Michael said.
“How bad is it?” Li asked. “And will it affect our mission?”
“No. Even when we extract, our dropship should be able to handle anything short of a severe tornado. Your rides will be waiting outside. Dan and Li will take one car and Angie will ride another vehicle taking a different route.”
“We’re not arriving at the hotel at the same time?” Angie asked.
“No. Usually most meetings that Kodak has with Cresh arms dealers involve no more than one or two representatives. If you’re having a meeting about weapon shipments or development updates on prototypes, you usually don’t need an entire crew to convey such details. Having a trio of them walk into the hotel might draw suspicion. Dan and Li will arrive first and get themselves set up to find and steal the container. Angie will come in at a later time right after a shift change for the receptionist and a few of the guards to prevent anyone asking questions.”
“You took a look at the work schedules for some of the staff? That’s super intricate,” Angie said.
“It’s standard procedure when stealth is needed to complete a mission,” Li said. “Knowing all the stats such as when, where and how many enemies there will be in an area goes a long way.”
Angie frowned and scoffed. “Okay, I can accept being lectured by the legendary Michael Cynosa, but I don’t need any from a ‘specialist’ like you.”
Li snickered underneath his mask.
The team walked around the hanging wires again and stepped out of the shop. Dan spotted two vehicles parked on the lot, both with the familiar aesthetic of all-black bodies with red trimmings, bumpers and rims. The doors on both automatically opened for them to enter.
“We’ll see you at the hotel, Angie,” Dan said.
“Good luck, you two,” she said. “Sounds like you guys have the harder part of this mission.”
Dan hopped into the driver’s seat while Li entered and rode shotgun. Both tossed their briefcases in the backseat and the doors closed beside them. The car reversed and pulled out of the driveway on its own.
“Well, at least we can enjoy the ride in peace,” Dan said.
“You have an interesting definition of ‘peace.’ If I was a passenger looking out my window and I had to look at this dump…” Li said while pointing his thumb outside. The abandoned or demolished buildings combined with the red skies were far from pleasing to the eyes.
“You have a point,” Dan said. He noticed the car had taken a route that involved taking the same road where he spotted the sinkhole. Luckily, the on-board self-driving system gently swerved to the side and avoided the sinkhole.
Dan spotted a billboard with a peculiar ad. An attractive yet horrific-looking brunette with pale skin and bloodshot eyes with bloody tears streaming down her cheeks holding a katana pointed her finger at the viewer, a would-be potential recruit. Its slogan read, WE PAY, YOU SLAY. CRUSH OUR ENEMIES!
Dan pointed his thumb at the billboard. “Hey Li, check that out. That kind of looks like an evil version of Jane Sunheiser.”
The stealth specialist opened his eyes and glanced in Dan’s direction. “Hmm, indeed it does.”
After about ten minutes of awkward silence between them, Dan finally saw activity outside the vehicle, though only just barely. He didn’t know if what he was seeing could be quantified as actual civilization. Dan saw a random citizen here and there, but it seemed like there were only a dozen people per block.
“Isn’t it supposed to be the evening right now?” Dan said.
“It is,” Li said.
“Then why aren’t there more people out? I’d assume people would head to bars or something. There’s only three other cars with us on this road.”
“I haven’t heard much good about the quality of life in Kodak-owned territory. That’s all I can say. From what I’ve seen with how they treat their citizens, I don’t feel one bit sorry whenever I put a slug into a Kodak agent’s head or slit one’s throat,” Li said.
Dan watched as a poor old man limped along the sidewalk while grabbing into the walls with his hand to maintain balance. A mother and her infant child frantically ran past that same old man. Dan swore he saw tears running down her cheeks.
The vehicle made a turn and Dan saw a trio of Kodak agents. All three were dancing and waving their guns in the air like hooligans. Dan recalled during one of Jane’s training sessions where she drilled trigger discipline into him. Playing with guns and getting injured or killed because of negligence was the most embarrassing blunder for an agent.
He watched as one of the Kodak agents waved around a CMA rifle with his finger still on the trigger. Dan didn’t recall that rifle having a safety switch and winced.
It didn’t take long for the car to reach the end of the street and turn right. Along the sidewalk, Dan saw another patrol of Kodak agents. He used the term “patrol” loosely as he saw the same ridiculous and obnoxious dancing and posing from this group just like the last one. This time, all three of them discharged their weapons into the air while screaming and laughing.
Li scoffed at this display. “Animals. They’re just wasting their resources. I could never look at myself if I just wasted my bullets shooting air for fun.”
“No kidding,” Dan said. “I had to fight for food back where I came from. Talk about being so spoiled that shooting guns in the air on the street is somehow a nice pastime.”
Li shrugged. “That’s Kodak for you.”
Dan took his eyes from the side window and focused straight ahead. The outside view was just depressing. Not only was the scenery and architecture rundown and poorly kept, but Kodak agents acted like belligerents and the regular citizens—in more ways than one—barely limped along while trying to make the best out of their circumstances.
An odd pressure inside his head began gradually building up. Now his head was pounding.
Ah shit, Dan thought.
He remembered being unexpectedly knocked out by a strange headache during a training session with Allen. Dan had assumed it was simply exhaustion from being drilled by Jane for a month straight without a break.
Luckily, the headache waned and faded into a dull ache in the back of his eyes.
The car stopped behind a line of vehicles ahead. Dan pressed and held a button to roll down the side window and poked his head out to see what was up ahead.
“That doesn’t look good,” Dan said.
“What do you mean?”
“It’s another group of Kodak agents. This time, it looks like an armed checkpoint.”
Dan saw three cars ahead along with a few obnoxious brats in Kodak armor. Their jeep was parked off to the side while the squad was shouting and heckling some poor driver ahead. Dan’s ears picked up the screaming match between one Kodak agent and the driver.
“My daughter has a surgery she needs to go to. Leave me the fuck alone!” was what Dan heard.
One agent walked near the backseat of the car and punched the side door, leaving a sizable dent on the side. The group finally stopped their harassment and allowed the vehicle through.
Dan leaned back in his seat and rolled the window back up.
“They don’t know who we are. As long as we don’t give them any problems, we should be good,” Li said.
“And what if they do?” Dan countered. “They punched some poor guy’s car ahead and left a nasty dent before letting him go. He had a kid that needed to get to the hospital. I’m not so sure about us not having a problem. We don’t have all day to get that container.”
Li crossed his arms. “We’re Cresh arms dealers. They won’t mess with us. Even if they tried, we can simply just kill them.” Li reached towards the back seat and opened up his briefcase. He took out the handgun along with the silencer attachment.
“In that case, I counted four of them. All of them without helmets,” Dan said.
“Perfect for headshots then,” Li said. “I’ll get yours too. If it really comes down to it, you kill two and I’ll kill two.”
Li gathered and readied both handguns, passing one over to Dan. He looked around for a spot to conceal the pistol and found a gap between his seat and the door.
The two cars ahead were “inspected” and allowed through the checkpoint before Dan’s car finally rolled up. He took a deep breath before he lowered his side window and looked at the Kodak agent.
Up close, the agent wasn’t anything noteworthy. Dan had gotten used to the general look these Kodak agents adopted. Pale almost ghostly skin with bloodshot eyes. The wicked grins all four had on their faces didn’t help their appearances either. Even the corrupt cops Dan had encountered in his hometown could at least put on the front of being professional.
“Well, what do we have here?” the agent said. The only thing differentiating this one from the other three was the nose piercing and gold teeth. “You really think you’re hot shit or something.”
Oh great. A roasting session, Dan thought.
“Guys, check this man out,” the agent said, pointing at Dan. “This guy is wearing a fancy business outfit and the guy looks as average as he can get. You think you’re gonna pull bitches looking like that? You think those sunglasses look cool on you? The dude’s a fucking poser.”
Dan wasn’t exactly offended. Honestly, he wasn’t impressed. This asshole barely looked any older than he was so he could understand the jokes not landing so well.
“Tell you what. Why don’t you give me those sunglasses and I’ll let you be on your merry way, hmm?”
Dan didn’t have time for this shit. He simply reached into his pocket and brought out his fake ID card. “Look, asshole, I don’t have time for games. I’m an arms dealer who’s going to be talking to VIPs from your shard. If I’m late for my meeting, I’ll report you and your buddies for disrupting our operations. I’ll see to it that you’ll be scrubbing toilets for the rest of your career.”
The agent dropped the grin immediately and so did his other three associates. He looked to his other teammates and only got a few shoulder shrugs and confused looks in response.
“Who the fuck do you think you are talking to me like that?” the agent spat. “I can drag you out of this car and crack your skull open like an egg.”
Dan narrowed his eyes at the asshole. “I just told you who I am and where I need to be. Maybe I should step out of this vehicle and pick out the wax from your ears.”
“Try it,” the agent seethed.
Dan had heard all the usual taunts and obnoxious comments from gang members and other degenerates growing up. In his younger years, he had always bitten his tongue at his mother’s request to prevent getting into trouble. Once he turned thirteen or fourteen, he’d finally grown a backbone and would answer back to those losers, even if it put his life in danger. He’d gotten sick of letting those assholes get away with taking shit to his face.
These Kodak agents were no different. Dan reached for his silenced pistol with intentions of settling this situation, permanently. But something grabbed his other wrist. He glanced and saw Li had grabbed him.
“That’s enough of this,” Li said. He shifted his gaze towards the Kodak agents outside. “What my friend failed to mention is that we’re arms dealers from Cresh manufacturing, a sister company owned by Kodak.”
The Kodak agent with the gold teeth stared at him along with the others.
“We design the armor you wear and the weapons you carry. We have an important meeting to attend with your bosses. It would be a shame if new deals couldn’t be made if we were late due to your actions. Think before you act, agent. Or else your career will be cut short by your bosses for such a major disruption to our operations.”
Das was impressed. Li articulated himself better than he ever could. He realized that it wasn’t enough to simply look like the person you were impersonating. You had to put on a convincing act as well. He wasn’t surprised, as Li was a stealth specialist and was probably experienced in entering enemy territory with a disguise to blend in.
Dan gritted his teeth. He had almost started a fight with this batch of Kodak assholes and lost sight of the mission.
“Fucking idiot,” one of the other agents said. “Let them go or else we’re all cooked. I don’t wanna be a fucking janitor.”
The agent with the gold teeth looked back at Li, then fixed his gaze at Dan. While he was obviously still seething at Dan’s insolence, he knew it wouldn’t be wise to start an altercation with Cresh arms dealers, regardless of who started it first.
