Chapter 1: The Message
“How the fuck did I get myself into this mess?” muttered Jake under his breath. Neon signs blurred past as he weaved through the chaotic early morning traffic heading towards Kryos City’s most densely populated highway - Azure Coast Expressway. With every surge of speed, strands of his wavy, striking blond hair flailed wildly in the wind. Behind him, waves of black, armored SUVs closed in, their headlights cutting an ominous presence as they gained on him.
Jake's heart pounded in his chest, adrenaline surging through his veins. He glanced at the rear-view mirror, his cold blue eyes catching a glimpse of the steely, determined faces of his pursuers. They were relentless, and Jake knew they wouldn't stop until they had him.
As Jake turns his head to face the front, he notices the upcoming traffic light shifting from green to amber. “Shit!” he exclaimed. “The light’s turning red. Fuck it! No stopping now.” his thoughts raced, and in that split second, Jake revved his Viper RX7, causing the engine of his ghost-white sports bike to fill the air as the bike thrust forward. The bike’s neon-lit tires screeched as he tried his hardest to navigate past the oncoming vehicles, narrowly avoiding a collision at the last possible second.
Behind him, Jake heard the loud screech of tires, followed by the unmistakable sound of several vehicle crashes. “Fuck! That was close!”. The thought raced across Jake’s mind as he noticed the pursuers’ vehicles disappearing in the rear-view mirror, offering him a temporary respite. Without hesitation, he continued revving the engine of the Viper to its limits, desperately speeding towards Azure Coast Expressway.
Ahead, the highway forked into two paths - one towards the glistening, towering walls of Corporate District, the other towards the seedy underbelly of Kryos City that is The Wires. Making a split-second decision, Jake veered right, following the route into the narrow alley of Slum Street. All the while, his mind was racing, frantically thinking of the best place to hide and buy some time.
However, in Kryos City, where trust was a rare commodity and friends were even rarer, his options were severely limited. “Focus, Jake," he told himself, attempting to calm himself down. "You've been in worse shit before.”. But deep down, he knew he was fooling himself. Things just felt completely different this time around.
[Half an hour ago]
“What’cha got for me today, Boss Man?” Jake quipped as he clocked in for his usual job routine at Pulse Courier.
As he stepped in, Frank “Grizzly” Morgan, the no-nonsense boss of Pulse Courier, sat slumped in his office chair watching the 7am morning news. At over 6 feet tall with a stocky build, Frank’s appearance is as rugged as his nickname suggests. His once-thick hair has receded into a horseshoe pattern, and what remains is a salt-and-pepper mix that he keeps cropped short. His weathered face is marked by deep lines and a perpetual five o'clock shadow, evidence of years spent navigating the tough streets of Kryos City.
“Our top story this morning. TitanCorp facilities were hit late last night in what is just the latest in a string of attacks against the corporation by the rising insurgency group calling itself Vengeance," blasted the 7am morning news.
“Ah hell! This city is really going down the drain,” droned Frank.
“Going? KC has always been a shit hole,” Jake remarked. A puzzled look strewn across his face at his boss’s comments.
“Oh, you younglings weren’t around during the Cyber Renaissance days of Kryos City. Now, that was the peak. Things have been going downhill since the Great Hack Of The 22nd Century,” reminisced Frank.
“You know what…..Nevermind that. We’ve got a package pick-up at aisle 8. Delivery to The Wires, pronto. Customer wants this by noon. Uploading the details now,” barked Morgan, the wistful tone in his voice turning serious as he cut his reminiscence short. His Zenic 1.0 cybernetic eyes, ancient by the standard of Kryos City’s population, lit up in an instant as he uploaded the delivery information to the company’s prime server.
“The Wires?! Blackout Alley?! Fuck! I wouldn’t want to be caught anywhere near there, even with the sun up,” exclaimed Jake as he accessed the delivery details with his more modern Kurasaki MKII cybernetic eyes.
“Customer is paying a fat sum of money for this package. Tell you what. I’ll throw in a nice bonus for a job well done. Think of your sister, Mercer,” Frank retorted.
“Fine!” exasperated Jake, his head hanging in defeat. “Morgan’s right. I could really do with extra cash for Annie’s medications.”. The thought flashed across his mind as he picked up the package.
“Hey, what is in this package anyway? Can't imagine anyone paying express, given the mad amount you charge,” asked Jake.
“I don’t ask questions, Mercer. That’s how my business and I survived so long in this blackhole of a city,” sneered the burlish man as he lit another cigar. “You grew up in KC. You know how things work.”.
“Look.". Frank’s tone softened, a begrudging warmth peeking through his rough demeanor. “You’re a smart kid. You wanna waste your good years being a courier. Aren’t you getting tired of this?”.
“You know what? That’s what your mum said last night, too. But I’ve still got plenty of fuel left in the tank,” Jake cheekily retorted.
“Very funny smartass. Just get it done,” grumbled Frank as he pointed Jake to the door.
As Jake departed, Frank’s gravelly, raspy voice echoed from behind him. “Think about what I said, kid. Don’t you wanna make a difference in your life?”.
“Make a difference? Here in KC? Yeah, right. I’ve long since given up on that dream,” sighed Jake under his breath as he proceeded to stow the package in his bag while trudging towards the exit to his Viper.
As Jake approached the Viper, he reached out with his gloved hands and swiped it over the bike’s dashboard. A faint, blue light traced the path of his fingers. Upon recognizing his unique biometric signature, the bike responded with a low hum as its systems and motor came online. All the while, he couldn't help but have Frank’s words echoing in his mind. “Not like I have much of a choice. No one’s got room in their roster for a punk like me,” Jake sighed, cutting a deflated figure as he looked upward into the skyline. “At least I’ve still got Annie. That’s all that matters.”.
However, his musings were cut short by a short ping on his Holo-Phone just as he was ready to kickstart the Viper. “What’s this?”. A puzzled look formed on Jake’s face as he noticed a message from a number he didn’t recognize.
A faint, almost imperceptible flicker danced across his vision as his cybernetic eyes synced with his Holo-Phone. A translucent virtual overlay appeared in the corner of his sight, displaying the message across his field of vision as if it had been projected onto an invisible screen just in front of him.
An ominous message greeted Jake:
“Jake Mercer.
Someone’s about to approach you.
He’s NOT a cop.
Do NOT trust him.
Do NOT hand it over.
Trust NO ONE.”.
“What the actual fuck?” wondered Jake.
Before Jake could process what he had just read, a booming voice echoed behind him. As Jake turned around, he saw a tall, imposing figure approaching him. The man’s presence alone commands attention, with his broad shoulders and muscular build exuding an aura of raw power and intimidation. His face, chiseled and stern, set in a cold, unyielding expression that betrayed no emotion, and his eyes hidden behind a pair of dark-shaded sunglasses, masking his gaze, making it impossible to tell where he was looking or what he was thinking.
Flashing a badge, the man introduced himself, “Officer Kane. KCPD, Sixth Precinct.”
“Errr….Can I help you, officer?” a puzzled Jake looked on, surprised at this sudden intrusion.
“We’ve received a tip-off that you’re delivering a package that may contain crucial evidence to a case we are working on. We’re hoping you can cooperate with us by handing it over for investigation,” the man replied.
Jake’s mind instantly raced back to the message he had just received earlier. “This can’t be a coincidence, right?” wondered Jake, his grip tightening on his bag.
Thinking frantically, Jake blurted out an excuse, hoping to stall for time, “Sorry, no can do. Company policy. Maybe it’s better for you to take this up with my boss, Mr Morgan. You mind hurrying, though? I’m on a clock here,”
“I’m afraid I must insist. This is a very important case. You don’t want to be charged for failing to comply with the police, would you? That is a misdemeanor punishable with up to a year in jail. This, along with the charges of assaulting a cop, we could be looking at a long sentence,” insinuated Kane, his voice cool and calm as he delivered his threat.
“What?! I never….Fine! Geez, let me get it out of my bag.” Jake relented. “Jackass!” muttered Jake under his breath.
“By the way, you said you’re from the Sixth Precinct? How’s Sergeant O’Hara doing? I’ve seen him around the station a couple of times. Nice guy. Last I heard, he was planning to retire soon,” came a seemingly innocuous question from Jake as he pretended to scramble for the package in his bag.
“O’Hara? Yeah, the guy retired last month. We had a big farewell party for him. The guy’s probably enjoying his pension right now,” came the response, cool as ice.
Upon hearing the reply, Jake’s body tensed up. He got him. There was no Sergeant O’Hara. He made the story up on the spot. As his mind raced, wondering what his next approach should be, the entrance to Pulse Courier swung open with force as if a strong gust had blown the door off its hinges. Within seconds, Frank’s familiar raspy voice filled the air, “Mercer! Why am I still seeing you here? Time is money. Get a move on kid.”.
Suddenly, a loud bang rang through the air. A plume of smoke dissipated from the barrel of the gun into the air, twisting and turning like ghastly tendrils before vanishing completely. Frank’s body fell to the ground as blood pooled around his head and slowly trickled down the uneven pavement.
The stark red stood out against the grime and grit of the alley, a macabre testament to the violence that had just unfolded. Meanwhile, Kane’s hands remained steady, the weapon still aimed at the now motionless body sprawled on the ground. Silence settled over the scene, broken only by the distant sounds of Kryos City, indifferent to the life that had just been extinguished.
As the scene unfolded before Jake, his world seemed to slow to a crawl. The sound of the gunshot ringing in his ears felt like a distant echo. For what seemed like an eternity, he stood rooted to the spot, unable to process what had just happened to Frank.
“No…no, this can’t be happening,” Jake whispered, his voice barely audible, choked with disbelief. He could feel a surge of raw emotions flooding through him, a mixture of anguish, rage, and helplessness. His chest seemed to tighten as he desperately tried to hold in a scream. Meanwhile, his fist was clenched in futile anger as he stared at the lifeless body of his once-and-now-former boss.
Suddenly, another message flashed across Jake’s cybernetic eyes, “RUN”.
The message snapped him back to his senses. As reality sat in, Jake’s instinct instantly kicked into overdrive. With Kane momentarily distracted by Frank, Jake had a brief window of opportunity to swing his bag over his body and jump onto his Viper RX7, his fingers fumbling for the ignition, urgency etched across his panic-stricken face.
The bike roared to life, its powerful engine growling like a caged beast eager to be unleashed. With a swift motion, Jake kicked up the stand and revved the throttle. The tires spun for a split second, screeching against the asphalt, before gaining traction. Not a moment too soon, as Jake heard another bang. The bullet narrowly avoided him as it grazed the left sleeve of his jacket.
“He’s getting away! I need backup over here,” Kane’s booming voice trailed behind him.
“What the fuck just happened?!” pondered a visibly stunned Jake as he sped away. His entire world had just been upended.