Hyper-Reality - Session 010

A GURPS cyberpunk solo Actual Play

Things are slowly gettin’ good. Thanks to all y’all who’ve stuck around! - Sophie <3

Capsule Hotel, West Roseland, Chicago; 09:30 AM

Expected Scene.

Don started when the door to his hotel capsule flung open. Riley strode in, caught him sitting in bed with a moustache of powdered Red.

Turned out he wasn’t alone. The smile melted from Don’s face when Riley’s companion came in. The moment the door swung shut behind him, the bald, broad man lunged at Don’s throat.

Quick Contest
Don’s DX vs Dutch’s DX
Dutch wins.

Don caught the man’s arm. Its partner broke through, fastening a callused, tight grip around Don’s throat. He’d find himself pinned to the ferrocrete wall, wrinkling his nose at the guy’s booze-stained breath.

“It was you!” barked the man. “It’s gotta be! Fuckin’ rat!”

“Who the fuck are you?!”, Don spat.

The man drew his iron. “Who the fuck are you?”

Don Testarossa
Fast-Talk: 13 - Success.

Despite the sitch, Don grinned. He’d seen his share of unhappy customers, and a burly gutter-rat slingin’ iron was nothing new.

“Alright, alright! Ya got me! Lemme go and I’ll give ya the sitch.”

The man glanced at Riley, who’d reply with a tentative nod. He let Don go, but kept a finger on his gauss pistol. “Speak.“

“Name’s Don. Don Testarossa. Arms-dealer, heartbreaker. Y’know how it is, right?”

That drew a snicker. The man twirled his pistol, picked up a tiny beige chip near his feet, “Dutch. That’s how it is, in the biz... Had one of ‘em public sensies, eh?”

Don deliberately shrugged. “Came with the room! Private massage, Nipponese gal. Happy ending, if you know how to game ‘em.”

Dutch flicked it aside, swept his crimson visor across Dan’s bruises and bandages.

“I see how it is. Bad night, banged up. Had t’ get your rocks off somehow.” Dutch cocked his gun. “Gimme one good reason I don’t ice ya.”

Don Testarossa
Fast-Talk: 9 - Success.

“Better yet, I got two. First up? Riley’s makin’ moolah under me. Got himself a shiny new toy, too.” Dutch’s gaze followed Don’s, finding Riley cleaning the lens on his laser rifle. “I get the gist y’all go way back. Lemme walk, and I’ll take good care of him.”

“Yeh, that’s all good. What about me?”

Don Testarossa
Streetwise: 9 - Success.

Don arched a brow. “You lookin’ for a gig, big shot?”

“Ain’t we all. What you got on tap?”

“Full house,” Don lied. “Contacts from Calgary to the Congo. You need guns, there’s a Somali gal in Eastside sellin’ primo iron. Don’t ask where she got it.”

Dutch turned to Riley. Had a short, silent talk on the brainwave. The pistol returned to its holster, and was replaced with a handshake.

“You’re lucky ya talk smooth, hick-boy,” Dutch said, before yanking him forward. “I ain’t got all day.”

Apartment tower, West Englewood; 04:00 PM

Altered Scene.

The humid stench of sweat and rot haunted every corner of the crumbling residential tower. Lights flickered, footsteps shuffled, and gunshots echoed through concrete. Where the power was out, long, darkened hallways glowed with neon graffiti.

Velvet remembered her fear. Nowadays, she’d grown used to such derelict spaces, and found comfort in their barren embrace. A pack of gangers, a slimy pusher, the kids he’d just sold a gram of Red; there was nothing to do but keep walking. And if anyone made a move, a quick glimpse of her iron was all the clearance she’d need.

At last, she was here. She’d step off the rusting steel elevator, and quickly find the apartment where her client lived.

Velvet Grader
Computer Hacking: 9 - Success

Her homebrewed scripts sliced right through the lock panel’s outdated ICE. As she entered the apartment, she heard the elevator clatter to pieces.

Apartment 2506

The place was a damn crime scene. All it needed was some crossed holo-tape, and a few Badges poking the stiff.

Velvet Grader
Forensics: 6 - Success

She’d died recently. Maybe hours after she’d called. As Velvet crouched down beside the puddle of dried blood, she noticed defensive wounds on her arms, and a knee so broken, it bent backwards. The killing blow was a slice down the right torso, like a mantis blade ran her through. It’d have to be a big one, though. Cleaner and meaner than anything she’d seen in her college days.

Then she heard the door panel. She staggered back, fully expecting a grizzled old Badge to stick her up. Instead, the textured steel slid open to reveal some sort of black android. Scratch that, gynoid. It strode in without a word, faced her with a pair of vivid green eyelights. The moment it snapped its fingers, a warning appeared in hyperreality.

Velvet Grader
Computer Hacking: 8 - Success

Velvet knew the rules. With a thought, she’d manifest triple-layers of ISA-9 ICE, shatter the warnings to burning pieces. It’d drain her battery, give her one hell of a fever, but it made her brainwave virtually uncrackable.

That is, unless it beat her in realspace.

Velvet saw the gynoid leap across the room, black metal twintails streaking behind its head. Her frail legs barely let her dodge a kick that would’ve snapped her spine. She drew her laser pistol, fired shot after shot as she circled the plastic dinner table, till she tripped hard onto the ferrocrete.

As Velvet scrambled for her pistol, the gynoid’s foot stomped her hand. Blood-red warnings told of broken bones.

The gynoid stepped off, ignoring Velvet’s agonized groans. Instead, it’d wait until Velvet had drained her brainwave’s batteries, and apply a knockout derm on her arm.

Velvet Grader
Perception: 11 - Success

When the gynoid bent down, Velvet noticed a familiar pattern on its shoulder. Triple arrows in delta formation, just like the ones on her cyberdeck.

As the world began to blur, a quiet, wavering voice escaped her. “Artemis...?”

The gynoid replied with silence.

Chaos Factor: 5 ➤ 6

Character List 3:
- The Gynoid
- Velvet

Threads:
< To be decided. >