Chapter 38: Chapter 38: The Hunter’s Allies
John walked out of the city in a daze.
He tried to say something to Eden:
"How is the arrangement for your sister’s funeral going?"
"It’s basically sorted. All living relatives and friends can attend. The room card you gave me is placed next to the flowers, buried with her ashes in the family cemetery... That place is narrow but surely cozier than the cold metal boxes of Eden City."
"Sounds not bad, I’d also like to die in a garden. Haha, it’s only been a few days, I thought going back home would take you ten days to half a month or so."
"A lot of things going on in Eden City. A few days ago, a case of cyberpsychosis smashed the Plato Company’s tech warehouse, causing a huge uproar throughout the city, even canceling my bereavement leave."
"I thought you were the boss; is there anyone who can deny Eden Weitz’s leave?"
"Looks like you’ve done your homework. Good, Harbor Company doesn’t print entry brochures, you have to rely on your own ears and eyes to learn anything."
John drove towards the outer ring road.
[Eden City - Suburbs HR18 Intersection Gas Station]
Next to the ring highway stood an abandoned gas station, Khast Petro’s billboard was left with only half a faded piece of cloth, and the rusty frame creaked in the wind and sand.
There are only a few gas stations left in the suburban area of Eden City, the others mostly looted by Exile and gangs. Those still operating either cling to a company’s site, pay protection money, or are under the control of street bosses.
The one John was looking at belonged to the scrap category, all windows broken, not even a decent door panel left.
A recon drone whizzed by overhead.
Above him hovered a sentry drone with a scanner.
At the entrance were two military armored vehicles, identical to the ones seen at the company headquarters last time, all painted with the Harbor Company’s logo.
[Scanning...]
[Primary weapon: Twin-barrel 25MM automatic cannon]
[Secondary weapon: 3x optics-guided thermal missile launcher]
Just by looking at this setup, John knew it wasn’t on the same level as previous street skirmishes and gang disputes.
The room gathered seven or eight people.
In the center was a portable folding metal table, cluttered with several monitors.
With a simple glance, John noticed terms like launch sequence, vector positioning, along with incomprehensible data streams and tactical systems.
Eden leaned on the table, starting the mission briefing.
This was mainly for John’s ears.
A few days ago, the Plato Company’s warehouse encountered a terrorist attack, and the cyberpsychosis was killed by the special action team, but a lot of experimental tech flowed into Eden City.
"Plato Company has issued bounties for every missing item. The one we are after today has the highest single price, and profits will be distributed as per the old rules once it’s done."
Eden pointed his chin at John.
A short-haired female soldier in the corner stood up, wearing a hacker cooling suit under her bulletproof vest, with a matte silver leather neck.
John immediately associated the name "Tinfoil" with a hacker in his mind.
She threw a chip through the air with a sharp gaze, crossing over two strong men and the metal table to land in John’s hand.
He inserted it into his neck, an information screen popped up before his eyes.
[Authorization request accepted/approved]
[Connected, team voice channel open, mission files extracted, images and related appendices downloaded, expanding now.]
"The target is a black metal sealed box, take care to recover it without damaging the tech files inside."
Eden’s cybernetic eye flickered.
John received a scanning plugin in the team channel, with the database connected to the Plato Company.
Eden continued, "Besides the recovery target, there is an additional termination target, a traitor from the Plato Company, reportedly an inside man during the warehouse attack, currently on the run."
"Other companies might try to snatch him, Plato has issued a hefty bounty for his termination, asking only for his body, not alive."
Someone in the room asked, "Who are we killing? Any photos?"
"No specific images."
Tinfoil answered, pulling over a computer emblazoned with the Plato Company logo and started operating.
Like John, everyone showed the previously installed plugin activating.
Tinfoil continued, "When the fight starts, every corpse needs scanning, the information will connect to Plato Company’s temporary database; once we identify the target, a notification will pop up."
Beep beep beep.
The launcher on the table received the precise coordinates.
Eden made a military hand gesture, everyone in the room picked up their gear and swiftly evacuated, the makeshift conference room vanished in an instant.
John drove the same car back.
Without tactical gear, he could only serve as the driver, with the tracking route already simulated in the map system.
Eden picked up a Plato tech rifle from the back seat for him.
"For self-defense, just keep the wheel steady."
"So our client is Plato this time, right? Damn, am I really going to work myself to the bone for the company so soon again?"
John sighed helplessly.
Eden checked the magazine, "You could have mentioned your issues earlier, I could just kick you off the driver’s seat."
"And then? Hitch a ride back to the city from the middle of nowhere?"
John joked along with the banter, "I’ve been hungry, broke, and almost died in a junkyard, I just don’t want to work myself to the bone for the company."
"Work to the bone?"
Eden chuckled coldly, "Harbor never has us working ourselves to the bone for the company, you can abandon any mission under any circumstance, and I won’t allow anyone under me to take bullets for the company dogs."
"Then what is this for?"
"Bounty money, get it? Maximize profits. Apart from the box and person to be handed over to Plato, take everything else back."
Eden chambered a round, aiming, adjusting his electronic sight, "Our business partners are always changing, and the souls sent to meet their maker all come from companies. Maybe tomorrow we’ll take another job, turn around and bleed Plato’s people a bit... Hmm, it’s quite normal."
"You don’t like companies either?" John asked.
"Lining up all the company dogs for a firing squad might accidentally include an innocent, but shooting every other one definitely misses no one."
Eden stated coldly and spoke no more.
The shuttle had already scanned the target and placed an electronic marker, a reducing number popped up on the car’s system.
[Distance - 4.15km↓]
"Target in visual range."
"Just one vehicle?"
"He’s a fleeing traitor of Plato, what do you expect, a parade with fanfare and a convoy?"
...
John slammed down the accelerator.
Tinfoil’s voice came through the team channel.
"Alert, there’s an armored vehicle, damn it, seems like they’re here to extract someone!"
"The target has unknown technology, could be they found a buyer."
"It’s Gaia Cells people, bulletproof data uploaded, switch everything to electromagnetic magazines."
...
"Welcome to Harbor, our usual team-building activity is going toe-to-toe with companies."
Eden’s chiselled face showed a smile.
He adjusted his tactical rifle and conveniently grabbed John’s gun to help switch to the new magazine.
[Mission Target Updated]
[Defeat Gaia Cells Soldiers 0/24 (Not Achieved)]