Unfinished Cyberpunk Story

Old Ghosts

A Cyber Generation Story.

Strangely enough as I grew Older the World had somehow once again become a much larger place then it used to be and far more quiet then I think any of us thought it would be in the Year 2055.

It was one of those perfect moments when everything just stops, there was no noise and nothing moving and everything was Empty as far as I could see and I for One did not mind it at all.

For me those moments were becoming far more frequent as of late as this once overcrowded Sprawl was becoming a Ghost Town with each passing day.

In the Year 2020 the Population of the earth was Several billion! Now, well between those who had died from the Various Bio Plagues to those who had died from One of any Number of wars to those who had just left to go to the Stars, well now that Number was far, far smaller.

As for some of us, those Die hard Solos like Myself who had fallen between the Cracks, we were far to jaded to Die and far to Cool to care.

Plus, no matter what even now, there was always another Angel to play, another war to fight, another Song to Sing and another Story to Wright and this tired old City , well she still had a few Tricks left for us.

It Was June, it was foggy, it was Wednesday. Johnny Spanglish and his Band were playing live and my good friend Jackson was buying and that dear Reader is how this story of Old ghosts began.

First though I should Introduce myself, my name? Well I had worn several over the Years and I had long Forgotten the One I was Born with so lets call me Tailor for this story shall we?

As for what I was doing walking the Empty Streets that Wednesday Afternoon? Well there are many names for what I had done in my life, I had started as a media -Oh I was so Young and full of myself back then, I was going to rip open all the Secrets of the Dirty Little Wars being fought just outside the Gleaming Walls of Neon city.

Then I took my First Bullet, blew out my Left Leg not Three days into the “Shit”. Well good Ol' John Q Uncle Sam was not going to let my Young Ass go to Waste, no Sir. They fixed up my leg nice and good they did with a brand new cyber leg and my Life as a Solo began. War back then did not make any sens, you never knew who you were fighting or why? You just garbed your Guns, Humped your Pack and Fought the good fight till someone told you to stop or you got hit.

I traded causes and names half a Dozen times before I found myself back in the Sprawl, after all the Crap I had seen I could never go back to Nice Clean neon city-Nope I was a Cowboy now.

So after the Wars I just drifted from Job to Job like every other Solo who did not fit in anywhere but the Sprawl. I ran Guns for the Nomads, Managed a Rock Band, Did Black Opp Mercenary Jobs down South for the Corps, even got Married for all of Five Seconds. Yeah I had my self a Time or two, Fuck I think Folk still talk about that Time Brennan and I Blew up that A.I !

Then the Apocalypse came...And went and after that

Well then it just did not matter as much did it..

So, Ol' Tailor stayed in the Sprawl and kept just Chugging along. Like I said there was always another problem to Solve and always another tale to tell and that my friend brings us back to the beginning now doesn’t it?

It was June, it was Foggy, It was Wednesday Johnny Spanglish and his band were playing live and my good friend Jackson was buying.

The Bar was old, like 1950's old. With real wood on the floor and real fish in the Tank. Guys like Sinatra and Shadow-jack had dinner in this place. Now it was as empty and forgotten as the rest of us.

“When are you going to let me upgrade that Leg of yours Tailor?”

“Give up Illira, you know My boy loves his gear just the way it is. Has a story for each one of them, don't you Tailor ?”

“Well I am comfortable with what I have, last time I let you upgrade my Cyber's I had a headache for Two Weeks Illira.”

“Yeah but it was a fun Tow Weeks Lover.”

She smiled, perfect white slightly sharpened teeth at me and brushed her shocking blue hair away from he Pink eyes..

“You changed it back to Blue?”

“I’ve been feeling Nostalgic”
She smiled again, Jackson stood up. Hugged me and then pointed to a chair, a Drink was already waiting for me.

Illira “The Mouse” was a Purist, she still worked in Chrome,Steal, Hydraulics’s and Circuits. Considered her self an Artist, had no use for the Bio Vat Grown parts. She was also a Registered Attorney and occasionally I guess she was the Jill to my Jack.

Jackson, well he was a lot of things, most of them loud. He made his living in the world of Vids now, he had that kind of face. The kind a Mo Cap rig loved, he could be any one and anything under the Green Screen. Before that, well like me his past is Multiple Choice depending on who you asked and which Lie he was telling. I knew he had seen Combat, lots of it. Maybe even more then me and that he was Deadly in a fight.

I did not care as long as he was buying and the Soup was as good as I remember it to be in this Place.

Spanglish and his Band were on stage and belting out One of there hits “No Matter Where You Go.”

“To what do I owe the pleasure Jackson?”

“Didn’t you here Lover, Jackson hit it big.”

“I just got back to this end of the Sprawl yesterday Illira, you know that. What did I miss.”

Our relationship was Chaotic at best, we enjoyed each others company and maybe even loved each other but we both had our wounds, sometimes I would wake up and she would be gone. Sometimes she would wake up and I would be. Maybe someday we could work each other out and walk off together into that Sunset, but not now. As it happened I had been “off the reservation” for a few, doing things that well, have nothing to do with this story.

I took a sip of my drink, it was Beer. Just good old fashioned Beer, I never could get a taste for all those weird designer drinks. Beer was good enough for me when I was a Grunt and it was good enough for me now.

“Go on.”

“I picked up a gig as a Doppelganger and get this not just any Doppelganger but someone very High Up in the corps. I cant tell you who but the Job pays 15K a week!”

“Shit!”

15K a week, that’s more then I ever made in my life, even during the whole thing with me, Brennan and the A.I. That was some serious Cred.

Being a Doppelganger was the Job to have if you worked in Jackson’s world, it was sort of a combination of Stunt Double and Decoy. The Doppelganger took on the role of the Client, looking like him, acting like him, taking all his meetings and risking a head shot every time the Doppelganger went out. It was more then just a Bod Sculpt, for the length of the Contract the Doppelganger “Was “ the client, personality chips made that a possibility

It was the ultimate in Life Model decoy and personally I had only herd of maybe Four Doppelgangers who survived the Job.

“Well, shit Jackson. That’s amazing, who is the Client?”

“You know I cant tell you that tailor.”

“Cant blame an Old Media like me for trying.”

I took another sip and studied Illira's Pink Eyes. My old “Spider Sens” was tingling, I sensed a Story and maybe a chance to share some of Jackson new found Wealth, before he got his Head Blown off.

“15 K, huh Jackson? A Week? Shit, I can think of maybe Eight guys in the Sprawl that can afford that.”

'Stop it tailor, you know I cant break Confidentiality.”

“When does the job start?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

“Whose doing the Sculpt? Professional Interest you know.”

“Ah that I can tell you Illira, its Sammy Haida.”

“Haida? He only works off shore, ADP* still has a Open Contract on him.”

“Guess he either did his time or the Client slipped ADP some Green, all I know is its Haida”

“He's a God Damned Master, and a Butcher from what I hear Jackson. Does things to Kids, hes another reason why I say stay away from that new Bio tech Shit. Give me good old made in the USA chrome any day!”

She slammed her Cyber arm down on the table to make her point, then put her Flesh arm on my shoulder.

I had herd of Haida, everyone had after he did the Body Sculpt for that Rock Star, first full Human to,”Monster” Conversion. He was good, and expensive and One sick bastard if you believed the Talk. He worked off shore, where ADP had no jurisdiction and his Clients could afford to pay off any Solos looking to collect Haidas Bounty.

“Hey Illira, its a Party. Don t bring it down, Lets drink, eat and enjoy the evening God damned Sprawl hardly ever has ones lovely as this huh?'

he smiled, leaned back with drink in his hand and looked around as if he owned the place, and for tonight he did.

So we ate, drank, swapped stories of the Old days, Danced to the sound of Johnny Spanglish and for a few hours pretended we were Human.

Around Midnight Jackson said his good buys, he had to be up and ready for his Sculpt at Six. He paid the Bill, walked out the door and vanished in to the back of a Peddle cab and the Fog.

Illira took my hand and guided me in to a kiss.

“What ya thinking Love?”

“What do you mean Mouse”. I playful kissed her back , we held each other and let the Fog cling to us.

“I know that look Tailor. You smell a Scobby*”

“Nah I'm just thinking?”

“Thinking gets us in trouble Mister.”

“Us?”

“Told ya, I'm feeling nostalgic Whats going on in that Big brain of yours old man?”

“Well Mouse, whens the last time you herd of any one Contracting a Doppelganger? And bringing in a High paid Doc like Haida? That’s serious, serious Green.”

“Yeah, its Corp Money. He said the Client was Corp.”

“What kind of Corp needs a Doppelganger, whens the last time a Corp ever touched Terra Frima? A Year, maybe Two?”

“Hum I see what you Mean.”

She paused for a Second, Snapped her fingers and Teasingly said

“Holly Money Clips Bat Man, theirs only One Corp in the Sprawl who can afford a Doppelganger, afford Haida and still has some connection to us Earth Dwellers.”

I played along

“Yes Old Chum, to the Bat Mobile!”

“We don't have a Bat Mobile.”

We singled a passing Pedi Cab and gave him Directions There was no reason for us to get involved in whatever Jackson was involved in. Most likely it would end badly, these things always did when the Corp's were involved. We should have gone home and made love, but Jackson was a friend and the man had just bought us Dinner. Didn’t seem right to let him do this on his own, and if Illira and I could walk away with some of that 15K burring a Hole in Jackson Pocket, well that would just be Disney* now wouldn’t it?

Follow the Money a wise man once said, Following the pedi cap would be pointless we would lose it in the Fog and besides we were unprepared for what Sharks might await us. No, a smart Runner follows the Money.

Fact: There was only One Corp that still dealt directly with the Sprawl. One corp that could afford a Doppelganger and actually need One and only One Corp that would be Brazen enough to ship Haida state side to preform the Doppelganger Conversion.

Domo Co.

Follow the Money: All we had to do , to barrow a Phrase is “Know where they are?” For that Illira needed to do a Run, we needed some place where she could Plug in and Data Mine the Information we needed. Nothing Fancy, a simple Cyber Cafe filled with Glitter Dolls and Cos Play Samurais, I shudder for the Future of my Sprawl. We ordered some Coffey and Illira Plunged in.

It wasn’t a deep run, nothing Fancy. She just needed to look up something simple, so simple that no One would bother to hide it because it was so simple. The Flight Times of Shuttles coming in to the Sprawl from L-1 Orbit, and after A few minuets of her run the Mouse found it.

“Get us some Muffins to Go Lover Boy, we need to book it to Lunar Port.”

“Lunar Port? That’s way out in the middle of nowhere?”

“Yeah I know but that’s where the 8:15 AM shuttle from L-1 booked by our friends up on high”

She pointed to the 4D poster of Domo Co on the wall, gulped down her Coffey and walked to the door.

“No Blueberry this Time Tailor, they tasted like Shiva last time.”

“There are no more Blueberry's Mouse, so yeah they do taste like Shiva”

I grabbed a few Cinnamon Muffins and One fake Blueberry just piss the Mouse off.”

A Pedi Cab would not get us out to Lunar Port by 8:15 AM, Lunar Port was out in what they used to call The Coast, back when there was still Water in the Ocean.

• ADP=Armored Defense Police.
• Scobby=Mystery
• Disney=A happy ending.