Chapter 22:

Epilogue: The Future Never Ends

Cyberpunk Ghostwriter

December 1, 2666

Smith Lance’s day starts early. He wakes to see a familiar ceiling. With a long sigh he slides out of his bed and heads to the living room.

The smell of smoke was wafting around the room.

“Time to wake up…”

“You hungry?”

He turns to face the raven haired freeloader who has invaded his spare room.

“Not particularly…”

He turns to look at the charcoaled remains of what might once have been food on a plate on the counter.

“Oh, come on! It’s not that bad…*crunch**Munch*”

“Spit that shit out. You’re going to get sick. I’ll make something.”

“*Spit*Oh thank goodness.”

“*Sigh*”

The detective grudgingly moves into the kitchen and starts up the coffee fabricator. He looks in his fridge for something else to eat.

“Where’s the other one?”

“Amity said she had something to check out. She’ll be back later. It’s probably something about number 3 and 4.”

“They’re still in the wind?”

“Yup. Well one of them is probably dead.”

“…Just tell her to stay out of trouble. I can’t bail her out if she gets caught doing something shady. I’m not on the force anymore.”

“Don’t worry, she’s careful.”

“Yeah I guess…unlike you.”

“Hey! But true I guess…”

The detective pulls out some leftover stuff from the fridge and starts up the stove. He pours the stuff into the pan and puts it onto the stovetop. There is a small ding as the coffee is finished. He pours it into his mug and takes a big sip.

“Hah…”

The smell of leftovers wafts into the room. He takes the pan off and pours the food onto two plates.

“Nice!” Said Elusia gleefully as she picked up a plate.

The detective sighs and heads to his bathroom. He wets his hands, slicks his hair, and checks his beard.

“Finally, grew back…”

His hair had been heavily damaged by the fire and subsequent collapse of the mansion. The paramedics that rescued them had to cut most of it off for the nanomachines to fix the damaged tissue.

‘Ugh. That was humiliating…though I wonder how we got to the medical center in the first place. It was like one moment, I was in the middle of the fire and the next, right in front of the door. And my injuries somehow weren’t as bad as I thought they were.’

The detective pondered this for a moment but quickly shook it off and continued his daily routine. He did his daily maintenance on his artificial limbs and exited into the living room. Elusia was sitting at the counter, scarfing down her food.

Well, his food.

“Slow down, you’ll choke.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“By the way…what the heck are you wearing?”

Elusia was currently dressed as a giant ear of corn wearing a striped uniform.

“Oh right…remember that corn guy I sort of robbed a while back?”

“How could I forget that.”

“Yeah…well anyway, I came back to him to apologize, and he agreed to forgive us if I did some work for him. He’s actually a pretty reasonable dude as long as you don’t piss him off.”

“Seriously?”

“Yup. And turns out, he used to be the head of some major gang, and he agreed to use his connections help us out with that other problem…”

“The Temple, huh…”

After the incident, the Temple had been investigated by the police chief and had shut it’s doors. However the main instigators involved with the crimes had escaped, and taken most of their equipment and data with them. The detective recalled what his old friend had told him.

‘We raided the facility and we found a bunch of evidence to everything that they’ve been doing for the last few decades. But, by the time we arrived, most of the essential personnel were already gone, along with all the stuff they were working on. We’re going to keep looking, but don’t get your hopes too high, they’re careful and experienced. Oh yeah, by the way…that dinner reservation is coming up. Don’t try to weasel out or I will hunt you down myself.’

The image of the expression on her face when she mentioned that last bit gave him shivers.

“Well anyway, I’ve gotta go! See ya later!”

Elusia finished up her meal and dashed out the door in a flash.

“That damn girl…”

The detective picked up the plates and tossed them into the automatic cleaner.

He walked back into his room and started putting on his usual attire.

“Nice.”

He smiles satisfied with his look. The detective put on his watch and heads back into the living room. He pours another cup of coffee and sits down.

“Hah…I’ll never get tired of this view.”

Outside he could see the bustling cityscape. The flying Skycabs streaked across the air and he could see crowds of people walking around the streets. Far in the distance, large construction sites were built around the damaged areas from the incident. The tower that had once proudly erected into the sky was now a shell of its former glory. Large damaged areas littered the building and the debris could be seen from miles away. The city council had done their best to start damage control, erasing any evidence of their involvement. Thanks to the large amount of issues created, Elusia and the other’s involvement in the affair was quickly and quietly resolved, and pushed to the side. As part of the deal, the detective had to resign from his post immediately, which gave him immense pleasure as he handed over his badge and shot his former boss in the foot, literally. Suddenly there was a ringing noise coming from behind him.

“Incoming communication.”

The detective pulls out his terminal and answers the call.

“Hello sir. A new case has been sent to the office. I will send you the details now.”

“Thanks TOX.”

The detective pulls up the new window and reviews the data from TOX.

“Hmm…tell them we’ll take the case.”

“Yes sir.”

“By the way is, that guy there yet?”

“Yes, he arrived a little while ago. His new cybernetic implants seem to be functioning well.”

“Great. Tell him to meet me at the scene.”

“Yes sir. I will also be there.”

“See you.”