It is a pretty well-known fact that I'm now considered one of the best mercs in this city, and not just among the fixers and lowlifes, but also among the general public. This time I didn't try to hide myself as much as I did the last time, because what would be the bloody point? After the Dashi Parade, Arasaka would be on my ass, no question. It won't matter if I try to stay underground or not, I will be found, and if that is going to happen anyway, then why not actually flaunt the fucking rep I'm building here?!
The result? People in our line of work actually recognize me, they look at me with fear and respect, mostly respect, the police try to turn a blind eye to half of my crimes, and there are a lot of times when I don't even have to take out my weapons, my rep alone forces people to back off.
All in all, I'm probably a pretty scary person to any everyday Joe. But it seems that doesn't extend to a certain blacksmith, who's glaring at me pretty intensely at this moment… and I'm quite ashamed to say that I'm getting a little nervous here. "You lost my gun?"
"A-alright, now let's be real here, it wasn't me who lost that thing, Wilson…" I said slowly, trying to calm him down a bit.
"You lost my gun, V."
"Technically, it was my iron." God, I sounded like one of those annoying nerds saying that.
"I was the one who made it! Under the goblin laws, it belonged to me!"
…This fucking weeb is a bigger nerd than me it seems. "...You're reading too much Harry Potter fanfic." Saying that, I slowly walked away, pulled out a plastic crate from a dark corner, leaned it against the wall, and sat on it. Looking at him, I could see that his demeanor did a complete 180, from being angry and annoyed to sheepish and amused. "I'm surprised you actually know what I'm talking about."
Laughing, I just shook my head. I used to read a lot of fanfics during my time in Arasaka, usually I used to jury-rig my optics to show fanfic instead of stock market data. It was somewhat hard to read, but it helped a lot during boring meetings. But this isn't something that Wilson needs to know, so… "Can we get back to the real issue here? I need a gun, a unique gun. Can you do it?"
"Everything I make is unique, V," Wilson said with conviction, while straightening his back. To be fair, his items are unique, but I'm not just talking about simple modifications here.
"No, I'm not talking about a modified Lexington, Wilson, I want something completely new."
After thinking about it for a few seconds, he slowly nodded his head and took out a datapad and a stylus and immediately started writing or drawing something on it. "Alright, I can do something new. But it'll take time."
Nodding, I stood up and walked over to the counter and saw that he had already begun designing the gun. Clearing my throat, I slowly and sheepishly asked, "How much time are we talking? Because I need this thing in the next four days…"
Hearing the time frame, his eyes bulged out of his head. Waving his datapad around, he exclaimed, "Did you just say four days, you gonk?! I need more time than that." Sighing in resignation, I went back and sat down on the crate. Seeing my disappointed expression, Wilson put his datapad down and asked, "Until then, why don't you take a look at some of my other merchandise?"
With a deep sigh and irritation on my face, I once again stood up and dramatically leaned on the counter. "What do you have?"
Hearing that, Wilson's eyes lit up with excitement. "Now, you said that you want something new and different, well… three months ago, a customer came in and sold me two pretty unique guns. Said that her 'master,' the original owner, doesn't need them anymore." Saying that, he bent down and took out two shiny pistols… or they looked like pistols?
"What the fuck are these? Cannons?" Picking up the guns, I instantly noticed how heavy they were. They both looked like normal Unity guns, but instead they were too heavy. It almost felt like they were two blocks of stainless steel.
Turning the guns over in my hand, I slowly read the inscribed words on them. "Hellsing ARMS .454 Casull…" "Jesus Christ is in heaven now…?" With an incredulous expression on my face, I looked up at Wilson and asked, "The fuck is this?"
With an equally confused expression on his face, he just shrugged his shoulders and gently said, "Fuck if I know, I asked her the same thing, but the Brit just said that her master had flair for the dramatic." Taking one of the guns from my hand, he pointed out the inscribed lettering on the side of the pistol. "In fact, that's his name there."
"Alucard?" Reading the name, I laughed at the absurdity of it for a quick second before gently murmuring, "With a name like that, you're bound to have flair for the dramatic." Once again, in my hand, I noticed how long the barrel of the guns was. They were bound to be very good shots, but they were still too heavy. They could be used as a very good melee weapon if I could get them to work like that. "Are they any good? Because they are almost too heavy to lug around if they are not."
"Oh, they are amazing! Originally they used 13mm custom rounds!"
Hearing the answer, I once again raised my eyebrows in surprise. "Do they still?"
"No, I customized them to use .45 ACP now, much more manageable and easily found." Well, that's a relief because no one actually uses 13 millimetre anymore.
"They are heavy… are they solid enough to be used as a melee weapon?"
"Oh yes. Both of them are like solid blocks of steel. They can take a punch and dish out just as much."
Nodding my head at his words, I slowly cleared my throat and looked over at him before asking, "Alright… how much?"
"Ten thousand eddies."
Hearing his words, I immediately slammed the guns down on the counter and exclaimed, "You must be out of your goddamn mind." From what I've seen up until now these guns are good. They are great, actually, but still they don't justify that amount of price. "2500. Each."
With an offended expression, Wilson waved his arms around. "Oh, come on! They are great pieces of iron! Plus I customized them too!"
Okay, fair, yes, he customized these guns, but let's be honest here. "They are second-hand guns, plus with how heavy and long they are, I'd have to get custom holsters and jackets for them! 25 is perfect!"
Listening to my words, his face immediately soured a bit, but after a while, he reluctantly nodded his head. Taking in a big sigh, he looked at me with a pained expression on his face and exclaimed, "...Fine! 25, each! But in return I want full creative freedom on the custom gun I'll be making for you!"
Looking at him in confusion, I scratched my forehead before slowly asking, "...You want full creative freedom on the gun that I'll be using?"
Smiling, he crossed his arms in front of him and leaned a bit over the counter before saying, "Come on, V! A little trust here!"
To be completely fair, Wilson is actually a very good gunsmith. He has never made anything that has not been extraordinarily good, so I can give him this much trust at least. "Fine… but you better not make something with explosive rounds, and also can you please add a silencer to it?" Seriously, I really do need weapons with a silencer on them from now on, because I generally don't want to make any kind of ruckus out there anymore. I want to get into a situation quickly and then get out of there quietly. No need to make such a big fuss out there.
"I'll see what I can do."
Glaring at him with narrowed eyes, I growled out, "Wilson…"
"I'll see what I can do!" Exclaiming that, he circled the counter and gently started pushing me out of his shop. "Now get out of here and don't get back until next week."
Shaking my head at his antics, I waved my hand and exited the shop. "See you then." Walking into the hallway, I could see many people walking around, just meeting each other, having a good time generally, and a few of them were fighting in the ring next to me. I was about to walk up to my apartment when Johnny suddenly appeared in front of me.
"Call me crazy, but that name, Alucard…" Seeing his fingers pointing to the gun in my hand, I took them out and brought them between us. "What about it?"
Leaning close to the guns, he looked at them with a very careful eye and slowly said, "I think those are Dracula's guns…"
Muffling my laughter, I moved to a quiet corner in the hallway before anyone could see me laughing, talking to myself, thinking I'm beginning to go cyberpsycho. Once I was alone, I looked at Johnny again and raised my eyebrows before asking him, "Dracula?"
Before Johnny could even answer me, a small yellow icon pulsed into a corner of my HUD, and Haezy replied, Reverse Alucard and you'll get Dracula, but I don't think there are any supernatural ties to the thing.
Hearing her answer, I finally understood what Johnny was actually talking about. And to be completely honest, it is a crazy coincidence, but I don't think there are any supernatural ties either. Turning the gun around in my hand, I read the names and inscription on it once more. "Hellsing… Hmm… Haezy? Can you please run a search on what exactly this Hellsing is?"
One sec… according to the files I found in Militech and Trauma subnet, it seems like they are an old British mercenary organisation. It says that they reported directly to the old monarchy. With a quick glitch, I saw as the RAM counter went down two or three slots, and suddenly information started flying across my vision. "Are they not working anymore?"
There is no information regarding their current status.
"Hmm… In any case, I've sorted out my gun problem, now I only need to address the next part."
Intrigued, Johnny raised an eyebrow and looked at me before asking, "Next part?"
Smiling, I jumped up from the bench that I was sitting on and turned towards him before saying, "My Quadra Vigilante will be ready in a week or two, so I'll need another fast car."
Nodding, he glitched away and appeared on the bench that I was just sitting on and took out a cigarette before lighting up. "Okay… well, you do have that Quadra Turbo R, the one you got from Estavan?"
Rolling my eyes, I smiled at him mischievously and leaned down towards him and said, "Yeah, but… I was thinking that it was time to go a little… old-fashioned, something a little more retro."
Straightening up, he immediately took off his glasses and looked at me with wide eyes and an excited expression on his face and exclaimed, "Wait… are you saying what I think you are saying?!"
In return, I just smirked and straightened my clothes, removing any wrinkle or imaginary dust that was on them, and cheekily asked, "How about we go and get your Porsche back, Johnny?"
Instead of answering me, he suddenly glitched away from my vision and I heard a voice from behind me. "We have no time to waste! Let's go, V." Turning around, I saw that Johnny was standing in front of the elevator and pointing towards it, a very excited expression on his face.
His mood did a complete one-eighty…
Chuckling, I shook my head and gently started walking towards the elevator. "He's just a child who's stuck in a grown man's body."
Who also happens to be a terrorist, came Haezy's deadpan voice.
Getting into the elevator, I punched in the down button and began waiting as the elevator slowly started making its way downwards. I was just waiting in the elevator when suddenly my phone started ringing. Looking at the information, I saw that it was Mosley from all the way back then.
"Huh… why's he contacting me?" "Moesly? That you?" Picking up the phone, I saw that Mosley was completely dishevelled and he was extremely anxious about something.
With a grimace on his face, his avatar leaned in towards the camera and he began, "Yeah, hey V. Listen… I kind of need you to come in…" Hearing those words, I immediately felt a shiver travel down through my spine, because those words are never good when they come from the mouth of a NetWatch agent. "Come in, as in?"
"Come in as in, I was given an assignment by Lucas Fleck to make sure you meet him!" Mosley screamed from the other side. And now I immediately understood why he was so dishevelled and anxious. Looks like the director is still doing his tough boss act.
"V? You there?" Shaking myself out of my musings, I lightly laughed and asked, "The director? What does he want?"
"I don't know, but I was told to bring you in… I believe he just wants to talk to you." I mean, obviously, I'm essentially a rogue agent, so obviously he wants to meet me. "So can you please come in?"
"Yeah, sure, why not," in fact I'm a little excited about this meeting. I've missed that demented old fucker. "Alright, I'll come in. When do you need me?"
The relief was palpable on his face. Sagging in relief, he said, "Oh thank God! Tonight! He said that he'll meet you at his daughter's favourite bar… you know what it means, right?" He trailed off as he looked at me questionably.
My face immediately lit up as I remembered what he was talking about. "Oh yeah, I'll be there tonight."
Sighing in relief, Moesly turned towards the camera. "Sometimes I forget that you're also a NetWatch agent, and not just a merc."
Ending the call, I straightened up just in time to see that the elevator had reached the ground floor of the megablock. Popping my metal joints, I walked out of the building and started walking towards a coffee cart which was a few metres away from the building. I honestly don't mind the coffee from the vending machine too much, but there's something that I genuinely love about a good handmade cup of coffee. Plus the walk to the cart gives me enough time to get my bearings and plan the next steps ahead.
Reaching the coffee cart, I gestured to the guy for a cup to go and quietly leaned against the street pole on the sidewalk, and started waiting.
Sure enough, just a few seconds later, Johnny appeared right in front of me, with his glasses in his hands. "Who's Lucas Fleck?"
A badass grandpa? "He's the di–"
I was just about to explain when Haezy cut me off and a little too hysterically started shouting, He's the director of NetWatch! And one of the most dangerous people this side of Blackwall!! Miss Valerie, why are we meeting him?! He will instantly detect both Johnny and me! And… and then he…
Okay… I get what is happening here. "Let me guess, he was the one who decided to send you behind the Blackwall the first time?" I didn't get a reply back, but Haezy's icon was still pulsing in the corner of my vision, which is answer enough. Poor girl. "Doesn't surprise me really. The director personally oversees operations when it comes to AIs."
If you know that, then you know that he'll instantly see us both, and then he'll send us back again!!
Hearing her words, Johnny immediately straightened up and looked at me with surprise and a questioning look on his face. "Wait… he can see us both? What? Like Songbird?"
"No, not like Songbird, she's just another everyday hacker." I could see that my words deeply surprised Johnny, which was evident by the fact that he didn't just take off his glasses, but threw them away in shock. "I know, it sounds ridiculous, but that man… he runs a custom program that he built himself, custom optical cyberware that some secret KGB lab made specifically for him, and a custom cyberdeck, and if that's not enough, then the fucker also has more than 50 or 60 small liquid-cooled cases with him at all times."
"What do you mean by cases?"
"RAMs, Johnny. That fucker doesn't have any other cyberware on him, just a custom cyberdeck, optical chrome for better upload, and a fuck-ton of external RAMs plugged directly into him so that he can annihilate anyone without even twitching a single muscle." I can see that my description here is not doing any favours for Johnny and Haezy's stress levels, but if we're going to meet the director, then these two need to know what we'll be dealing with. "He literally sees everything when he looks at someone. The moment he glances at me, he'll immediately see Haezy's signal, which is connected to every single subnet out there. And he'll see you because of how the Relic is fused to my neural pathways…"
Just as I finished my explanation, the guy from the coffee cart thrust a cup of coffee in front of me. Taking the drink, I quickly paid him and called my Thornton. Taking a sip of the bitter drink, I looked around and saw my car coming into view.
Time to go retro again!
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Alright guys! thanks for reading! If you like this chapter then please comment, and review this fan fic. now I'm going to do a extremely cliché shit here, if i receive 10 comments or 5 reviews, then I'll drop another chapter!