Netrunner Threat

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Marta's heavy punch pressed down like a steel plate, pinning Cade in place.

The Animals had a reputation in Night City for a reason. These people, whose flesh could overtake ordinary cyberware, had earned that name.

Inside the transparent tubes on Marta's back, stimulant drugs poured madly into her body. Feeling himself start to lose ground, Cade twisted his hand and clamped down on Marta's wrist.

"Can you move, Rebecca? Get out first."

Cade had not finished speaking when Marta's arms suddenly erupted with force. Cade was lifted off the ground in an instant, then she hurled him into the wall beside them.

The massive inertia left Cade unable to adjust his posture. He could only brace against the wall with his arms to keep his spine from taking the impact. The instant he hit, web-like cracks spread from his palms, and his cyberware hissed under the load.

Rebecca's malfunctioning cyberware gradually recovered. She hurriedly warned Cade to watch the camera above.

Cade drew his pistol and fired twice. The camera shattered.

Whoosh.

Marta's huge body was not slow. The moment she threw Cade away, she rushed in front of him and swung a punch, trying to knock him out.

Cade quickly raised his fists to guard his head. The force of the blow sent his pistol flying.

With no other choice, he traded punches with this beastly boxer. Using Barghest military grappling techniques, he attacked Marta's lower body relentlessly, coiling around her footwork like a viper.

Marta growled, leapt up, and smashed downward with a fist.

Their fists collided. Cade staggered, and pain shot through his entire arm.

Gorilla Arms should have raised his battle excitement, and with the Pain Editor, Cade should not have felt much.

But even with cyberware support, what should have been an even match began tilting against him because Marta was enraged. This battle-hungry Animal was a natural drug vessel.

Rebecca dragged herself toward Cade's dropped pistol and grabbed it with all her remaining strength.

The sights wavered as she aimed at Marta's back.

"Damn netrunner."

Rebecca felt as if both arms had lost their bones at the same time. Her fingers refused to obey.

Bang.

The trigger squeezed during the shaking. Because Rebecca did not have a ballistic coprocessor installed, the ricocheting round bounced from the floor, missed Marta, and flew toward Cade, passing almost against his cheek.

"..."

Cade pressed his lips together. Cold sweat burst across his back.

'What the hell?'

Rebecca realized this kinetic weapon was not something she could control. She clenched her teeth, threw Cade's pistol away, and grabbed the rifle.

Cade needed to buy Rebecca a chance to act, so he used continuous heavy punches to hold Marta in place. As the operating time extended, his arms grew hotter, and his muscular stamina gradually dropped.

The instant Cade felt his arms about to lose strength, gunfire cracked.

Bang, bang, bang.

Automatic fire swept from low to high. With her cyberware malfunctioning, Rebecca could not control the recoil, but several rounds still drilled into Marta's broad back.

Marta's body froze for a moment.

Cade seized the opportunity. His Reflexes perk activated again, and an uppercut slammed into Marta's jaw.

Crack.

After the sharp sound, Marta swayed backward a few steps and then crashed to the floor.

Heat vented from Cade's arm. His optics also displayed a warning that the Gorilla Arm was overloading.

Rebecca aimed at Marta on the ground and unloaded into her while cursing nonstop. Cade watched Marta twitch under Rebecca's fire until she gradually stopped moving.

This bastard was way too strong. Cade felt lingering fear.

Rebecca wanted to check whether she was really dead. But the moment she approached, Marta's ugly face snapped open its eyes. Golden pupils locked onto Rebecca.

Blood made Marta's speech muddy. "Hands was right. You should all die."

Cade's heart tightened, and he rushed forward with his fist raised.

'Fuck. This was exactly when he hated not having a Sandevistan.'

Marta grabbed Rebecca's wrist. Rebecca kept firing into her, but Marta's thick hand suddenly exerted force and tore at Rebecca's arm.

Rip.

Her arm was nearly torn off.

"Fuck!"

Cade smashed his fist into Marta's head. Half her skull collapsed, spraying solids and fluids.

Now Cade deeply regretted it. He should have thrown one more punch earlier and killed this bitch outright.

Seeing Marta finally go still, he quickly turned to Rebecca. Her left arm dangled, and blood poured from inside her sleeve.

"Bastard. Go handle the netrunner. I can walk."

Rebecca clutched the arm that was still connected by only skin and flesh, her expression twisted as she shouted at Cade to move.

The pain of torn nerves hammered Rebecca's mind like a sledgehammer. Only after seeing Cade pick up his gun and rush into the network room ahead without hesitation did Rebecca finally relax. Blood kept surging from her mouth and would not stop.

That impact had been brutal.

Her steps began to wobble. She could only lean against the wall and slowly sit down, hugging one knee with her remaining arm while staring blankly and gasping for air.

Buzz.

The camera in the netrunner's workshop rotated. The moment Cade's Self-ICE detected a quickhack, he fired and destroyed the lens.

The automatic door in front of him could not stop him either. The brute force of the Gorilla Arm turned him into a demolition crew.

The netrunner scanned Cade's cyberware information, cursed, and quickly disconnected. He pulled the network cable from the back of his head, then removed an encrypted digital shard from his system. It contained downloaded information and the payment from Hands.

Bang.

The door groaned under the strain. One arm pushed through the gap.

The terrified netrunner instinctively drew his gun and fired at the arm reaching inside. Most bullets seemed to hit steel. Only one or two drilled into flesh.

The metal door warped, bulging open a gap. The way Cade squeezed through nearly made the netrunner wet himself.

"What the fuck are you?"

The netrunner screamed in a trembling voice while moving toward a small door behind him. Cade raised his gun and shot him in the calf.

The man's eyes lit red. A quickhack progress bar appeared in Cade's vision too.

As Cade slowly walked toward him, the Cyberware Malfunction quickhack finally completed its upload.

"How does that feel?"

Cade's body trembled. Electric arcs and sparks burst from the gaps in his cyberware. Amid his terror, the netrunner felt a trace of relief.

But the next scene would haunt him for however long he had left. His quickhack only made Cade's steps pause for a moment.

"Fuck. You have ICE?"

Cade kicked the gun from the netrunner's hand, controlled his strength, and punched the netrunner's eyes twice in succession. Blood and electric arcs sprayed instantly.

'No eyes. How would he upload now?'

Cade crouched and ignored the netrunner's screams.

"I have one question. Did Hands find Angie's location?"

"You think I am going to answer? Fuck you."

Cade pressed his fingers onto the netrunner's collarbone and dug downward. Barghest knew this method very well.

The netrunner screamed.

Cade dug for a full half minute, enough that the man's collarbone cracked.

"Hurts? Then answer properly, idiot."

Sweat covered the netrunner's forehead. His mouth trembled as he shook his head.

"It has nothing to do with me. Angie's position was easy to find. Found it ten minutes ago. Really. It was Hands's order. I only did the work."

Cade's gaze darkened.

He had dug so much information out of V and was about to seize this foundation.

Now he could only hope Angie could withstand this round.

Hands, that old bastard, was not honest at all. He did not plan to spit out even a sliver of the meat in his mouth. He was protecting Marta to the death.

While Cade thought, the netrunner hurriedly shouted:

"Don't kill me. I know you are the one going against Hands. I hacked your phone ages ago. Did you know that? I heard your calls with Angie. I... I also know you have a connection to Arasaka. Hey, listen. Let me go, and I can keep the secret."

"Really."

Cade paused. Phone communications were this dangerous? V had told him this thing was pretty safe.

'Looks like he would need to find another method later.'

Also, why did this netrunner's threat feel strangely familiar?

'Shit. Wasn't this one of Cade's own routines?'

Cade gave a cold smile. "You know that much. And then?"

He guessed the netrunner was about to threaten him, probably by saying he would send the information to Hands and have Hands expose Cade, and so on. It would be that kind of speech.

Sure enough, the netrunner issued a long, messy chain of threats. His nonstop noise made Cade's head hurt. Blind now, the man thought Cade was holding back, and confidence gradually returned to him.

"In Night City, you should know better than to mess with us netrunners."

Cade felt this guy probably could not read the situation.

"Choom, guess why I dare snatch food from Hands's plate. I can piss off the Voodoo Boys. What the hell do you count as?"

The netrunner froze.

Cade's hand closed around his neck and suddenly tightened.

Then came a dull crack.

The netrunner's throat and cervical spine were crushed.

Cade's expression turned strange.

"You tried to copy me."

He cursed, searched the netrunner's body, and found the encrypted digital shard. At the same time, he stood and fired several shots into the server. The signal jamming ended with it.

Thinking of Rebecca's condition, Cade did not pause at all. He rushed back outside at full speed.

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