The following story was written with the assistance of AI Dungeon. For transparency, edits were only made for the sake of technical aspects like consistency, coherency, narrative structure, or formatting.
Key: AI Input, Human Input.
The two of you start packing. Backpacks with basic survival supplies like food, first aid, and hacking equipment. Derek also gets his Drive Gear equipped. It won't be too useful for your journey, but these plugsuits are necessary for interfacing with Rheas. You definitely are gonna need one though.
> You follow Derek to the student parking.
You find a small, but reliable-looking Gear Bike parked by the road.
Jack: "I think I can manage to ride one of these," you say.
Derek laughs.
> You say "Hey, who do you think rode it to your place when you turned 19?"
Derek: "Got me there. Let's ride."
Derek hops on, and you mount your new ride.
The two of you make your way through the campus roads. The morning is still young, but you're already running late.
> You speed your way back to Machina Sector G-6.
You slam your accelerator down as the two of you race through the streets.
The streets are empty save for a few stragglers here and there. Some are heading off to classes while the rest are dealing in alleyways. You can tell from some businessmen leaving 'em with cum stains on their pants, a clear sign that someone's new to using Cog-7.
> You say "You know, I'll be honest, of the big drugs gettin' peddled in these parts, I feel like Cog-7's not too bad."
Derek: "Yeah, it stops you feelin' sick for a few hours at least. Not sure about the nasty side effects, but at least not feelin' sick seems worth it.
> You say "Honestly, the only side effects come from disorientation, and if that's the only reason, we might as well ban halls of mirrors, you feel me?"
Derek: "Well said!" he laughs, to which you nod in agreement.
> You say "Chrome Sunsets can easily kill you. And Christmas Lands? Let's just say I'd rather go to hell than try those."
Derek: "Me too. But those are the only ones I'm aware of. Still, I'm sure some new ones will appear. They tend to do that.
> You say "They also go pretty quickly. Haven't seen any Happy Appys since I was 12. They were pretty harmless, but I guess that's why they never took off. Not enough of that thrill."
Derek: "At least you knew what you were getting. No hellish trips while high on that shit, just a nice mellow, UNLIKE YELLOW DEVIL!"
> You nod, and keep driving as you start reaching the seedy parts of the city.
Derelict alleyways start becoming more common. You can see neon signs advertising all sorts of shady businesses with dubious legality in the sector.
As you get closer, you can make out the sounds of shouting and laughing.
> You slow down to cruising speed as the streets become more crowded, and start calibrating your Hacker Antenna Horn.
You use the time to build up a little bit of data, messing with an enemy's Upgrades is your best means of a long-range attack.
Suddenly, you feel the street vibrate slightly from the approach of an engine.
> You say "The hell is that?"
Derek: "Listen!"
You hear a deep, rapid engine noise, almost like the rev of a high-horsepower engine.
Derek: "I think it's the Midnight Pawns!"
> You say "You've gotta be shitting me."
In response, a purple, neon-striped truck zooms down the road.
Trucker: "Go, go, go!" says the truck-driver through a loud-hailer as he revs his engine.
Out of the truck emerge around five other Gear Bikes, each one with the same neon purple color scheme. Yeah, it's the Pawns.
They quickly spread out, surrounding the two of you.
> You say "Lotta effort for a mugging, don't you think?!"
Out of the corner of your eye, you can see the Pawn gang members preparing their weapons.
> You say "Fine, don't wanna talk? Let's dance!"
Derek holds you tighter, bracing himself for the death race ahead.
> You speed towards the Pawn blocking you, then drift to the side to knock him out of his bike.
The Pawn is suddenly thrown from his bike, hitting the asphalt with a painful thud.
One of the Pawns starts shooting. He misses as bullets ricochet off your bike's armor, but can't penetrate it.
> You use your Horn to search for any Upgrades on the shooter.
You scan the Pawn, and due to his erratic movement you can't get a lock.
Suddenly, the neon purple Pawn shoots again, this time managing rotate your bike a bit from behind. While you're now turned to him and an easy target, you can see his Upgrades clearer as he drives towards you. A-Gel Synthetic Blade Hair.
> You hack his metal hairdo.
As you hack his hair, you can see the Pawn's body jerk in pain. Without the center of gravity, he loses control and falls off his bike.
> You barely manage to dodge some street signs as you get back on course.
You can feel your bike shudder slightly from a hit. You're not sure where it came from, your turn was all completed and you were back on the streets.
> You say "Okay, two out of five bikers... hey, Derek, look in your bag's right pocket, should be some Short Circuit Mines there!"
As you start to speed up, you suddenly feel the vibrations again under your motorcycle. This time, you see a neon purple neon-striped motorcycle speeding up next to you.
> You say "THROW 'EM DEREK!"
Derek throws the mines as you speed away from the attack. One lands on the road, next to your enemy's motorcycle, while the other lands on the sidewalk, near a fire hydrant.
> You use your horn to detonate the mines.
The explosion is surprisingly small, but it's enough to turn your enemy into a human fireball. The other sends that fire hydrant flying... somewhere. You didn't have time to check the trajectory.
> You say "I'm sure that's nothing."
Another Pawn speeds up, and tries to ram you off the road. You use your rearview mirror to check if he's aiming for a head-on crash.
Jack: "YEP, POINT BLANK!"
> You floor it in reverse and move out of the way.
The Pawn flies off the road, off the side into a walkway, and tumbles down the stairs.
> You get to the last Pawn biker's side.
He speeds towards you, trying to ram you off the road.
> You have Derek take the handlebars, and mount the side of the bike, making sure that your left arm's free.
Derek takes control of the motorcycle. The biker speeds right next to you, bearing a chain with a shank on the other end. He swings it at you.
> You grab the chain with your Biomech Arm.
Your hand grabs the handle of the chain as it slices through the air, and you yank it back.
> You toss the chain towards the trucker behind you.
Your toss catches him off guard, and he brakes so hard that the truck tips over. You speed up so that you're right by the biker, and grab him by the neck.
> You say "Okay then... now that you and your buddies are outta commission, tell me, WHAT'RE YOU AFTER?!"
The biker's eyes widen, and he sputters.
Biker: "We're after... the money! The truck's full of money!"
Jack: "Oh really?"
> You say "That 21st Century truck with YOUR gang's paint job all over it?"
The biker nods.
> You start lowering his head to the street while still speeding away, just enough to intimidate him.
You let the biker think that you're going to kill him. If he's scared enough, he might give you the information you need.
> You say "You really think I'm that stupid? TALK!"
The biker quickly glances to the pavement, then looks back at you.
Biker: "Centurions, they sent us! They didn't wanna deal with your case, so they put out a bounty for a little horned cop-killing twink with an arm Upgrade!"
> You say "Those motherfuckers..."
The biker starts laughing.
Biker: "That's why we couldn't resist! I killed three thinking they were you! One with my chain, two with my bike!"
Jack: "Well, good for you," you scowl.
> You say "I might've let you live if you left that last part out."
> You press his skull against the street while you're still speeding.
The biker tries to squirm out from under you, but his skull is crushed. The blood from his crushed skull leaks down the road, and he disappears from view.
> You sit back down behind Derek, and wipe the Midnight Pawn's blood off your left hand.
Derek: "Well, that didn't take long."
Jack: "Eh, they're not the smartest gang in the system. They'll be back, and just like this time, we'll wipe the floor with them."
> You say "... I'm sorry you had to see that. That side of me."
Derek shrugs.
Derek: "It's fine. I know you'd never kill me. Besides, I'd be worried about you if you couldn't handle yourself out here."
You blush at the comment.
> You say "R-right... still, would be nice to be done with it once we're out of here. Maybe get this arm replaced with another Typing Upgrade."
Derek nods.
Derek: "Yeah. Maybe we can get it taken care of after we make our haul, or maybe we should just leave it. I think it helps you."
> You say "You just like getting edged with the claws, don't you?"
Derek's eyes widen.
Derek: "Eh... maybe."
You lean in and gently ruffle up his hair.
> You say "You're too cute."
Derek is about to say something, but a pair of voices distracts you.
???: "Hey, you two! Get your asses over here!"
> You turn, already re-calibrating for what might be a brawl.
As Derek brakes, two men walk up to you, one short and balding, the other tall and skinny.
> You recognize them, Leo and his brother Nidas from the Spartans. You breathe a sigh of relief, then realize you were so caught up in the moment that you almost sped past HQ, and start sweating.
Jack: "Ah, shit. Did we miss the fun?"
Nidas glares at you as he crosses his arms.
> You say "SO, um, yeah. Derek, these are some guys from my Spartan crew. Leo, Nidas, this is Derek! Y-you know him, I've mentioned him a few times!"
Leo extends a hand, and you shake it.
Leo: "Nice to meet you."
Derek stares at you suspiciously.
Derek: "Yeah... nice to meet you."
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