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At least, in comparison to getting through the crossfire of a gang war unscathed. \n\n[url=https://kimberlyeab.carrd.co/]Visit my website to see where else you can find my work, follow my socials, join my Discord, or support me on Patreon/SubscribeStar![/url]", "description_bbcode_parsed": "Getting out of cyberspace is easy. At least, in comparison to getting through the crossfire of a gang war unscathed.

Visit my website to see where else you can find my work, follow my socials, join my Discord, or support me on Patreon/SubscribeStar!", "writing": "Chapter Seven\n\nSusie heard water break as a girl gasped desperately for breath in the neighbouring room. She poked her head back into it and saw that both Noelle and Kris were thankfully awake. They seemed exhausted but at the very least half of their face wasn't drooping or some shit. So, that was a win in her book.\n\n``Congrats on living, freaks,'' Susie jeered.\n\nNoelle blinked, going wide eyed at Susie's state. She must've looked like a real force of nature with blood still dripping from so many different places upon her person.\n\n``Yours?'' Kris wheezed.\n\nSusie scoffed. ``You know me better than that.'' She reached down and yanked them out of the ice bath, pulling them to their feet. ``Now get your ass into some clothes because we are bugging the fuck out of here.''\n\nThe poor little rich girl blinked, looking stunned as she looked around. ``Is that gunfire?''\n\nCatti scoffed. ``Two groups. Want you.''\n\nNoelle started to scramble out of the tub, reaching for her dress and trying to clumsily yank it on. Though apparently, she wasn't used to dressing under stress, getting her gown all sorts of caught up in her antlers. It would've been adorable if they weren't fighting for their fucking lives right now.\n\nSusie allowed her gaze to linger for a moment longer than strictly necessary before dipping back towards the hallway. She pulled a pack of NUSA Spirits out of her breast pockets with shaky hands, sliding one between her iron lips. Even without lighting it, she could taste that sweet all-natural synth-tobacco upon her tastebuds.\n\nThe hit felt amazing when she finally lit it, inhaling nice and deep. It really helped focus her and did a bit to curb her still shaking hands.\n\nThe hallway was still clear. Chara's thugs had proven to be an amazing distraction but they weren't ideal. For example, a blur crashed up to their floor, moving swiftly upon enhanced legs. This choom looked like he was one implant away from complete cyberpsychoses though Susie ensured that was no longer an issue for them as her pistol barked, ripping them in half with the sheer force of the blast.\n\nThat seemed to be an effective enough cure.\n\n``You have thirty seconds before I'm yanking you two out of here in your underpants,'' Susie snarled.\n\nShe glanced back at them and saw the duo desperately scrambling into their attire. They weren't winning any fashion contests but at least they were somewhat dressed by the time those seconds had elapsed.\n\nKris unfolded a small machine gun they had squirreled away and rushed over with it. They took aim, rattling off a quick burst as some Netwatch guy tried to round the corner, forcing them back into cover.\n\n``Did you two find what you were looking for?'' Susie snarled.\n\n``No, we did-'' Kris began.\n\n``We did!'' Noelle interrupted, sliding into a position next to Susie.\n\nShe was close, cradling a small pistol within one of her hands. That was by far the kinder weapon she had as she also started to flex the fingers of her other hand as well, showing off a web of razor thin wires which seemed to connect her digits.\n\n``We did?'' Kris asked.\n\nNoelle nodded. ``Long story, I'll tell you about it when we get our asses out of the frying pan.''\n\nSusie looked at Catti. ``You ready to go?''\n\n``Thought you'd never ask,'' Catti grumbled, getting out of her chair and grabbing her medkit before rushing over.\n\n``Berdly,'' Susie growled. ``Do you have any info to help get our sorry asses out of here?''\n\nBerdly chuckled. ``It looks like this building has a backdoor and there is a single car parked out there. Seems like it's a few of Chara's goons looking to catch anyone who comes out the backdoor.'' He hummed. ``Think you can take them.''\n\nSusie scoffed. ``How borged are they?''\n\n``Pretty borged,'' Berdly replied. ``See a few smart weapons too. Definitely a cut above the usual foot soldiers.''\n\n``Then I'm giving us fifty-fifty here,'' Susie grumbled. ``Just make sure to paint us a path out of this clusterfuck.''\n\nSusie pushed down the hallway, keeping her gun trained on the path ahead. As Noelle dipped into the hall, she gasped, covering her mouth with a hand. The princess might've had weapons but it seemed that she'd never had to use them before.\n\n``Angel above,'' Noelle whispered.\n\n``It was us or them,'' Kris said, nodding towards her. ``They were here to kill you.''\n\n``Still...'' Noelle began, shaking her head. She clearly thought better than to say whatever the fuck was on her mind. In a less tense situation, Susie might've found that kind of attitude adorable. Sadly, this was not that moment. Her pulse was hammering and her artificial jaw was strained with tension, threatening to bite her cigarette right in half.\n\nThey clambered down the stairs just as one of the Netwatch assholes was on his way up. Susie fired and missed her shot, putting it into the brickwork directly behind him instead.\n\nThis was it, the end, with him quickly taking aim.\n\nOnly, Noelle whisked her free hand upwards. There was a trick of the light as those razor thin wires slid through his dominant hand, severing it from his body at the wrist and slipping the gun away from him in the process. Blood fountained from the perfect wound though he hardly had a chance to scream as Kris rattled him with gunfire, sweeping him off of his feet.\n\nSusie blinked, looking at Noelle. ``Nice job, Jingles.''\n\nKris scoffed. ``I helped too, asshole.''\n\nNoelle flushed at the title, nodding quickly. ``Thanks for keeping my sorry ass safe in there.'' She grinned, looking rather nervous. ``So how about those post job drinks, huh?''\n\n``I wouldn't mind going for a few,'' Susie chided, winking at her.\n\nThey hammered down the stairs with Susie taking the lead, pushing the Netwatch prick's corpse to the side. The sound of gunfire was starting to die down out there. It was clear that one of the factions was getting a leg up on the other. Which was bad as it meant all guns were about to be trained upon her crew.\n\nSusie saw the fire door leading to the back and plowed straight through it, snarling at whatever was on the other side. These weren't exactly cream of the crop but rather three scared thugs who all whipped around and took aim at her. She must've been a terrifying sight with those bloody iron teeth dripping with hungry globs of spit, more feral beast than monster.\n\n``Get your asses out of here!'' she snarled.\n\nOne of the goons swallowed. He was some sort of possum monster. ``Chara said we aren't supposed to let any humans through.''\n\n``Do I look human to you, dipshit?'' Susie asked.\n\nThe first goon looked at a second who shrugged at him in turn. He then pointed towards Kris. ``They look pretty human.''\n\nKris scoffed. ``I'm a monkey monster.''\n\nA silence remained as the three thugs looked at each other as if trying to appraise the sincerity of that claim. Though their response came as one of them took a shot at Susie. The round slammed into the side of her snout, bouncing harmless off of the chrome. This was turning out to be a pretty good investment on her part.\n\nThe bark of a small pistol painted a small hole right in the centre of the gonk's forehead. It seemed that Jingle's was chopped full of surprises.\n\nIf Susie wasn't careful, she might?ve actually started to take a liking to the girl. \n\nShe scoffed.\n\nAs if...\n\nSusie rushed ahead, pumping her legs forwards as she pounced upon another of Chara's thugs. Her jaws moved quicker than her brain as she sunk her teeth into their flesh and bit down as hard as she possibly could. That familiar taste of dust flooded her mouth as she tore out those veins necessary for life. It was a terrible taste, so much worse than blood.\n\nThe last of Chara's enforcers attempted to scramble back but a burst from both Kris and Catti cut them down, tearing them to shreds without mercy.\n\nAs that brief orgy of violence settled, they were left alone with a functional SUV. It didn't exactly take a genius to figure out how the fuck they were going to be getting away from this specific clusterfuck.\n\n``Take that car and get your asses out of there,'' Berdly demanded. A map appeared in the corner of Susie's eye, projecting where they were going to go. ``This op has really kicked the hornet's nest. Netwatch, the Voodoo Boys, and Chara's Collective all seem pretty keen on trying to get here. I've mapped out the best route to limit any further confrontations.''\n\n``Don't need to tell me twice,'' Susie said, rushing for the driver's seat and clambering inside.\n\n``Shotgun!'' Kris called, leaping into the spot right next to her.\n\nThe backdoor then opened with Catti and Noelle both spilling into the vehicle. All four of them seemed to be marked by combat, blood splattering Noelle's pretty dress just as much as it tarnished the material of Susie's jacket, Kris' pants, or Catti's arm.\n\nIt was a good look, a hard-fought look.\n\nSusie slammed down upon the petal and the car squealed as it leapt away from the scene of the crime. The sounds of outgoing violence faded and were replaced with the... sounds of lesser violence. \n\nThey were still in Pacifica after all.\n\nWhen no cars peeled in behind them, Susie started to slow down, feeling more relaxed as she took the roads at a more cautious pace. In the distance, the mammoth towers of Night City's downtown were on the horizon, beaming with lights and digital billboards that crawled into the sky above.\n\nOne of those towers belonged to Holiday Corp, a monolith which was second only to Arasaka and Militech in terms of grandeur. Its logo was a singular stylized snowflake. Or at least Susie assumed it was a snowflake. She'd never really had the privilege of seeing snow before.\n\nShe glanced back at Noelle. Had the princess ever seen it?\n\n``First round of drinks are on me,'' Kris teased.\n\n``Drinks?'' Noelle asked. She seemed stunned by this before devolving into a proper fit of laughter. Susie had seen shellshock before and this was the textbook example. ``Who can even think about drinking after something like that.''\n\nCatti smirked. ``Me.''\n\n``I should probably...'' Noelle began.\n\nSusie flashed a smile at her in the rear-view mirror. ``Come on Jingles, are you really going to leave the rest of the crew hanging? You already said that you wanted to tag along.''\n\n``Crew?'' Noelle whispered.\n\nKris nodded. ``I mean we're still going after your sister, right?''\n\nNoelle pursed her lips together, nodding. ``Right.''\n\n``Ain't getting rid of us that easily,'' Susie said.\n\n``What happened?'' Catti asked.\n\n``Yeah, I was wondering about that too?'' Kris asked, looking back at Noelle.\n\nNoelle worked her jaw, looking between them. ``Where do I even start?''\n\n``Preferably at the parts where you dropped off my radar,'' Berdly grumbled over comms. ``No one ever drops off my radar.''\n\nSusie cackled. ``Forgot you were in there, bird brain. You joining us for drinks?''\n\n``Where's it at?'' Berdly asked.\n\nKris hummed. ``How about my brother's bar?''\n\n``Twist my arm,'' Berdly teased.\n\n``I'd probably break your freaking wrist if I tried that right now,'' Kris shot back, shaking their head. ``My pulse is still hammering.''\n\nThe two of them shared a laugh. \n\nSusie tuned them out as she kept the car on this new route, following her nav system. As she did so, she glanced into the backseat, seeing Noelle holding onto this dark little look as she stared out the window at the Holiday Corp building in the distance.\n\n``What happened in there, Jingles?'' Susie asked.\n\nNoelle frowned. ``I saw a ghost.''\n\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "Chapter Seven

Susie heard water break as a girl gasped desperately for breath in the neighbouring room. She poked her head back into it and saw that both Noelle and Kris were thankfully awake. They seemed exhausted but at the very least half of their face wasn't drooping or some shit. So, that was a win in her book.

``Congrats on living, freaks,'' Susie jeered.

Noelle blinked, going wide eyed at Susie's state. She must've looked like a real force of nature with blood still dripping from so many different places upon her person.

``Yours?'' Kris wheezed.

Susie scoffed. ``You know me better than that.'' She reached down and yanked them out of the ice bath, pulling them to their feet. ``Now get your ass into some clothes because we are bugging the fuck out of here.''

The poor little rich girl blinked, looking stunned as she looked around. ``Is that gunfire?''

Catti scoffed. ``Two groups. Want you.''

Noelle started to scramble out of the tub, reaching for her dress and trying to clumsily yank it on. Though apparently, she wasn't used to dressing under stress, getting her gown all sorts of caught up in her antlers. It would've been adorable if they weren't fighting for their fucking lives right now.

Susie allowed her gaze to linger for a moment longer than strictly necessary before dipping back towards the hallway. She pulled a pack of NUSA Spirits out of her breast pockets with shaky hands, sliding one between her iron lips. Even without lighting it, she could taste that sweet all-natural synth-tobacco upon her tastebuds.

The hit felt amazing when she finally lit it, inhaling nice and deep. It really helped focus her and did a bit to curb her still shaking hands.

The hallway was still clear. Chara's thugs had proven to be an amazing distraction but they weren't ideal. For example, a blur crashed up to their floor, moving swiftly upon enhanced legs. This choom looked like he was one implant away from complete cyberpsychoses though Susie ensured that was no longer an issue for them as her pistol barked, ripping them in half with the sheer force of the blast.

That seemed to be an effective enough cure.

``You have thirty seconds before I'm yanking you two out of here in your underpants,'' Susie snarled.

She glanced back at them and saw the duo desperately scrambling into their attire. They weren't winning any fashion contests but at least they were somewhat dressed by the time those seconds had elapsed.

Kris unfolded a small machine gun they had squirreled away and rushed over with it. They took aim, rattling off a quick burst as some Netwatch guy tried to round the corner, forcing them back into cover.

``Did you two find what you were looking for?'' Susie snarled.

``No, we did-'' Kris began.

``We did!'' Noelle interrupted, sliding into a position next to Susie.

She was close, cradling a small pistol within one of her hands. That was by far the kinder weapon she had as she also started to flex the fingers of her other hand as well, showing off a web of razor thin wires which seemed to connect her digits.

``We did?'' Kris asked.

Noelle nodded. ``Long story, I'll tell you about it when we get our asses out of the frying pan.''

Susie looked at Catti. ``You ready to go?''

``Thought you'd never ask,'' Catti grumbled, getting out of her chair and grabbing her medkit before rushing over.

``Berdly,'' Susie growled. ``Do you have any info to help get our sorry asses out of here?''

Berdly chuckled. ``It looks like this building has a backdoor and there is a single car parked out there. Seems like it's a few of Chara's goons looking to catch anyone who comes out the backdoor.'' He hummed. ``Think you can take them.''

Susie scoffed. ``How borged are they?''

``Pretty borged,'' Berdly replied. ``See a few smart weapons too. Definitely a cut above the usual foot soldiers.''

``Then I'm giving us fifty-fifty here,'' Susie grumbled. ``Just make sure to paint us a path out of this clusterfuck.''

Susie pushed down the hallway, keeping her gun trained on the path ahead. As Noelle dipped into the hall, she gasped, covering her mouth with a hand. The princess might've had weapons but it seemed that she'd never had to use them before.

``Angel above,'' Noelle whispered.

``It was us or them,'' Kris said, nodding towards her. ``They were here to kill you.''

``Still...'' Noelle began, shaking her head. She clearly thought better than to say whatever the fuck was on her mind. In a less tense situation, Susie might've found that kind of attitude adorable. Sadly, this was not that moment. Her pulse was hammering and her artificial jaw was strained with tension, threatening to bite her cigarette right in half.

They clambered down the stairs just as one of the Netwatch assholes was on his way up. Susie fired and missed her shot, putting it into the brickwork directly behind him instead.

This was it, the end, with him quickly taking aim.

Only, Noelle whisked her free hand upwards. There was a trick of the light as those razor thin wires slid through his dominant hand, severing it from his body at the wrist and slipping the gun away from him in the process. Blood fountained from the perfect wound though he hardly had a chance to scream as Kris rattled him with gunfire, sweeping him off of his feet.

Susie blinked, looking at Noelle. ``Nice job, Jingles.''

Kris scoffed. ``I helped too, asshole.''

Noelle flushed at the title, nodding quickly. ``Thanks for keeping my sorry ass safe in there.'' She grinned, looking rather nervous. ``So how about those post job drinks, huh?''

``I wouldn't mind going for a few,'' Susie chided, winking at her.

They hammered down the stairs with Susie taking the lead, pushing the Netwatch prick's corpse to the side. The sound of gunfire was starting to die down out there. It was clear that one of the factions was getting a leg up on the other. Which was bad as it meant all guns were about to be trained upon her crew.

Susie saw the fire door leading to the back and plowed straight through it, snarling at whatever was on the other side. These weren't exactly cream of the crop but rather three scared thugs who all whipped around and took aim at her. She must've been a terrifying sight with those bloody iron teeth dripping with hungry globs of spit, more feral beast than monster.

``Get your asses out of here!'' she snarled.

One of the goons swallowed. He was some sort of possum monster. ``Chara said we aren't supposed to let any humans through.''

``Do I look human to you, dipshit?'' Susie asked.

The first goon looked at a second who shrugged at him in turn. He then pointed towards Kris. ``They look pretty human.''

Kris scoffed. ``I'm a monkey monster.''

A silence remained as the three thugs looked at each other as if trying to appraise the sincerity of that claim. Though their response came as one of them took a shot at Susie. The round slammed into the side of her snout, bouncing harmless off of the chrome. This was turning out to be a pretty good investment on her part.

The bark of a small pistol painted a small hole right in the centre of the gonk's forehead. It seemed that Jingle's was chopped full of surprises.

If Susie wasn't careful, she might?ve actually started to take a liking to the girl.

She scoffed.

As if...

Susie rushed ahead, pumping her legs forwards as she pounced upon another of Chara's thugs. Her jaws moved quicker than her brain as she sunk her teeth into their flesh and bit down as hard as she possibly could. That familiar taste of dust flooded her mouth as she tore out those veins necessary for life. It was a terrible taste, so much worse than blood.

The last of Chara's enforcers attempted to scramble back but a burst from both Kris and Catti cut them down, tearing them to shreds without mercy.

As that brief orgy of violence settled, they were left alone with a functional SUV. It didn't exactly take a genius to figure out how the fuck they were going to be getting away from this specific clusterfuck.

``Take that car and get your asses out of there,'' Berdly demanded. A map appeared in the corner of Susie's eye, projecting where they were going to go. ``This op has really kicked the hornet's nest. Netwatch, the Voodoo Boys, and Chara's Collective all seem pretty keen on trying to get here. I've mapped out the best route to limit any further confrontations.''

``Don't need to tell me twice,'' Susie said, rushing for the driver's seat and clambering inside.

``Shotgun!'' Kris called, leaping into the spot right next to her.

The backdoor then opened with Catti and Noelle both spilling into the vehicle. All four of them seemed to be marked by combat, blood splattering Noelle's pretty dress just as much as it tarnished the material of Susie's jacket, Kris' pants, or Catti's arm.

It was a good look, a hard-fought look.

Susie slammed down upon the petal and the car squealed as it leapt away from the scene of the crime. The sounds of outgoing violence faded and were replaced with the... sounds of lesser violence.

They were still in Pacifica after all.

When no cars peeled in behind them, Susie started to slow down, feeling more relaxed as she took the roads at a more cautious pace. In the distance, the mammoth towers of Night City's downtown were on the horizon, beaming with lights and digital billboards that crawled into the sky above.

One of those towers belonged to Holiday Corp, a monolith which was second only to Arasaka and Militech in terms of grandeur. Its logo was a singular stylized snowflake. Or at least Susie assumed it was a snowflake. She'd never really had the privilege of seeing snow before.

She glanced back at Noelle. Had the princess ever seen it?

``First round of drinks are on me,'' Kris teased.

``Drinks?'' Noelle asked. She seemed stunned by this before devolving into a proper fit of laughter. Susie had seen shellshock before and this was the textbook example. ``Who can even think about drinking after something like that.''

Catti smirked. ``Me.''

``I should probably...'' Noelle began.

Susie flashed a smile at her in the rear-view mirror. ``Come on Jingles, are you really going to leave the rest of the crew hanging? You already said that you wanted to tag along.''

``Crew?'' Noelle whispered.

Kris nodded. ``I mean we're still going after your sister, right?''

Noelle pursed her lips together, nodding. ``Right.''

``Ain't getting rid of us that easily,'' Susie said.

``What happened?'' Catti asked.

``Yeah, I was wondering about that too?'' Kris asked, looking back at Noelle.

Noelle worked her jaw, looking between them. ``Where do I even start?''

``Preferably at the parts where you dropped off my radar,'' Berdly grumbled over comms. ``No one ever drops off my radar.''

Susie cackled. ``Forgot you were in there, bird brain. You joining us for drinks?''

``Where's it at?'' Berdly asked.

Kris hummed. ``How about my brother's bar?''

``Twist my arm,'' Berdly teased.

``I'd probably break your freaking wrist if I tried that right now,'' Kris shot back, shaking their head. ``My pulse is still hammering.''

The two of them shared a laugh.

Susie tuned them out as she kept the car on this new route, following her nav system. As she did so, she glanced into the backseat, seeing Noelle holding onto this dark little look as she stared out the window at the Holiday Corp building in the distance.

``What happened in there, Jingles?'' Susie asked.

Noelle frowned. ``I saw a ghost.''

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