" Crimson Red P.C.B " Chapter 16 "Joy Ride" (Cyberpunk Fiction)
The tension and stress In Britneys brain, Jarome was gone. She hated herself that he left her because he thought this job was too dangerous or walking the line of moral decency on the wrong side. That she wasn't covering him during the last shoot out with Lone Star. The fact that Megana was not concerned when he left disturbed. This partnership was shaky at best and In the passenger seat of the self driving auto-taxi was a lonely plastic and metal cube that felt like a prison cell. This was still a suicide mission to her and knew she had to do something. Raven seemed a little more responsive than she did an hour or two ago but giving this kid any sort of magic protection amulet would not make her into a veteran runner. Glancing at two in the back behind a sheet of plastic and then the dash in front of her, outfitted with a payment method monitor with a credit stick reader and a very User friendly graphical user interface displayed on the terminal meant for destination input and payment. She wanted to smash the thing, so frustrated with Megana, but did not want to set off any vandalism alarms in the taxi.
“ Do you need the Address again " Megana asked knocking lightly on the glass in front of her, communicating with Britney.
“ NO, I know what the freak on the phone said. I'm just thinking “ Britney replied
Then the idea struck her. The taxi computers and artificial intelligence was flawed, and she knew how to exploit it. but it would be difficult, she had never hijacked a car like this.
“Look in that damn book you bought and look for a spell that will get me into that driver and steering column area I'm going to pay for our destination in cash because I want to jack it... “ Britney said as she reached into the pocket of her jacket to find twenty dollars crumpled up and bloody. She forgot how the bills got blood on them, but she thought it might be Jaromes' blood. “This is for you Jarome” she said under her breath while flattening the bills and feeding them into the machine. Then she put her finger to the touch screen to select the location.
Megana took out the old book that had almost a three-inch wide spine to it, A real encyclopedia of spells for any archetype religion, healing words based on the sacrifice made from Jesus son of God, to vanishing spells that derived from worshiping the element of light. The ability to use one's will to bend light to reflect the viewers' perspective. A levitation illusion that was earned by submitting to Inch Allah, even a meditation technique that regenerated open wounds or burns for any adept who reflected upon the teachings of Gautama Buddha.
“Talk to me, tell me when you find something that can melt through it or something. Let me know when you're finished, and wait for my cue to actually do it. I will need access to the steering column “ Britney said as she seemed to have clear intentions, Flipping down her V.R. headset and pulling her matrix Data cable from her bag, The auto cab pulled away from the curb and entered traffic as she connected to the Matrix and felt the sensation of falling into unrealistic turbulence. Sometimes the connection felt like that, quick to turn the stomach or send the brain into a wave of simulated intoxication. Then she was left floating amongst data transactions. Terabytes of information spun in tetrahedral patters around her until she gained her bearings and reached for the cloud. Phone numbers, Taxi company listings, finding the taxi they were currently using and seeing the red “Dispatched” title next to the cab number. This is where Britney knew she had to get creative. She wanted to make herself a drone operator account login with top-level user privileges. She began with the website. Attacking with structured query language inputs until she could find a flaw.
Meanwhile, Megana was willing her spirit totem to manifest with new knowledge in the Projecting to the Astral and seeing her wolf spirit in flashes of memories of the past. The years between age five and almost twenty five. She lived as that small wolf pup, alone in the forest of her tribal reservation, even as new gas station was built. The tax-free cigarette where sold and The casino was built from the profits. All while she hid in the woods, hunting, killing. A canine, who did not eat if she did not kill. Was she a disturbed human now after that, possibly, survival of the fittest in true life or death situations was something that only loosely applied to humans. Magana blinked out of the vision glaring at a reflection on the metal and plastic barrier between her and the robotic steering column twisting on its own as they turned on an intersection of the road.
“ Don't space out on me, this is your fight, remember? I think the murders in this city are bad, yes, But you are the one who called the whole vampire cult an abomination of magic. Jarome left me too, Make that fucking worth it for me. Megana, I'm talking to you. “ Britney said, not taking her eyes out of the V.R. display. Creating a new data entry table within the taxi companies web-site she started manipulating the code to include a new employee file, filling the form out with a false name, picture, and identity. She created her account and went back to the same page over her taxi number with new controls over the way the cab worked. She could cut the signal from the drone pilot back at the station and the cab either setting off a lot of alarms or shutting the cab off completely. To be able to actually take control of the taxi herself she knew she had to bind her drone receiver into the engineer access panel in the drivers seat part of the car. “ Melt this damn glass or something, now, Megana. “
Megana regained focus out of her vision and nodded thumbing through the index of the grimoire once more until she found a section called Totem of Wolf. And about four pages of spells that directly gave her hope. Nothing about fire but a spell called Transmutation of Matter. The text stated that the person would have the ability to change an atomic structure of any matter into a different state than the previous, then another description under that of changing ice into water then into steam. Holding her hand to the book and feeling confident that she could preform the spell she held her hand to glass inside the taxi separating them from the drivers seat and each other. With a glowing heat the glass began to glow and then it all shattered and crumbled all over the taxi as golden sand. The alarm began to sound a siren in the taxi and swerved off the road to pull over. A voice came over the old speaker com in the taxi.
“Vandalism of a taxi is a misdemeanor and this company reserves the right to press charges under the authority of private police force section one-five seven. Your doors will remain locked until our private security arrive”
“Shut up... “ Britney replied to the machine as if it would respond a different way in conversation, but it didn't. It repeated the same recorded message coldly and digitally until She jumped into the drivers seat of the car and broke open the fiberglass steering column with her Bowie knife. She then tore the ignition start wires with her hand and reengaged the cars engine and pushed the gas peddle with her right foot, squealing tires away from the curb.
Raven burst out laughing as the hijack was a success so far and took out the pistol she was given out the window and fired warning shots into traffic. People in cars imediatly panic at the loud sound of gunfire and some pull over or get out of the way.
“Calm down kid, we don't know what we are in for but maybe we can turn this slag all around. If this is a trap, then maybe we can use Lone Star chasing us as a distraction for targets. We need to get there first and set up our positions before anyone can get a shot off “ Britney spoke loudly over the sound of the cars alarm and automated voice. " Get out the C-4 and start rigging this car to blow.”
Megana reacted by opening the canvas duffle bag that contained the explosives and picking them up out of the bag. Glancing out of the window to a slum of old brick homes. A long Industrial district with a few disheveled properties that were worth less at this point then the ground they were constructed upon. This is the place the phone message had told them to come. And as they approached the address they could tell from the lights and the huge figures outside that this place was a party. Kegs laid out on the front lawn of dead brown dust and gravel.
Britney drove past slowly and then looked for a place to pull over. Any minute now, and security forces would be there to arrest or kill them all, A few minutes before they would be caught in the cross fire.
Big dick playa in da house!!