A torrent of liquid poured down from hundreds of different points above, flooding the street in a veritable toxic stew. Above ground rain was just a minor inconvenience, but before it reached the undercity it always picked up the industrial runoff from the megacity’s industrial sectors. In some places the chemical slurry would only give you mild skin irritation, in others… Well, there was a reason why the gangs down here didn’t have a problem dealing with the bodies after a gang war. Thankfully the original city designers had apparently planned for flooding, so most of the runoff ran down the middle of the streets and we didn’t have to wade through the sewage in order to get everywhere.

  Even though it only sat a few feet from the fast flowing chemical soup, the main thoroughfare was bustling. Most of the street lamps had burned out long ago, but this particular section had a plethora of neon signs and advertising holograms that lit up the area. It was so well lit that many street vendors felt relatively safe setting up stalls and hawking their wares. Normally I’d check if anyone had a good deal on stolen nutri blocks, but today I was in a hurry. I carefully weaved my way through the crowd, steadily making my way closer to the biggest eyesore in the entire district, the pile of rubble we called ‘The Shelter'.

  Rumor was one of the big one of the megacorps in the city, Indico Automation, was looking for good publicity, so they decided to do some “Charity Work.” Building a shelter for the less fortunate? Best publicity there is. They spent a couple weeks putting up the foundations, brought in media to cover everything, and once they had what they needed the entire project stopped. No one was ever going to follow up on its progress, and the corp had what it needed.

  Not that it was a complete loss. Once the corp left the locals descended on the site like vultures. Anything that could be taken away WAS taken away, even the wiring in the walls. Indico’s construction crews spent a couple weeks setting up the site, and we spent less than three days stripping the place, leaving nothing but the concrete pillars and rubble behind.

  Now it was just another reminder that we couldn’t count on those above ground for anything. Fuck them.

  As I vaulted over the street, and entered the field of rubble I finally caught sight of Dante, my contact. He was actually hard to miss. Dante was a big guy, well over six feet tall and built like a tank, but that’s actually not what caught my eye. It was the garish outfits that both he, and the two thugs standing next to him were wearing. The neon scorpions were a fairly popular gang in the area and their gang colors, a combination of neon blue and orange, made them stand out a bit. I typically avoided working with the gangs, it rarely ended well and I promised Jane I wouldn’t, but I was desperate. And as far as gangs went, the Scorpions were one of the better ones. They took taxes from the locals, but actually enforced some semblance of order, unlike some of the scum elsewhere in the sector.

  “Teddy!” The big man waved at me energetically as I approached. “For a minute I thought you might have stood us up.”

  “I got caught up in the crowds around the market… stop fucking calling me Teddy, you know my name is Evelyn.”

  “Yeah, I know,” he smirked. “But you run around everywhere in that bloody hoodie with fucking bear ears. Everyone calls you that these days.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s not everyday I find something made of Synthweave around here. I still can’t believe someone threw it out.” I paused. “Plus, it’s comfy as fuck."

  Dante looked me up and down then scoffed. “Whatever you say."

  As the two of us were chatting I glanced over at Dante’s bodyguards. The Scorpions were usually pretty casual, loafing around and joking with one another, but these two were taking their jobs extremely seriously. They were at attention and scanning the area. In addition they were both armed with old, pre Incursion, SMGs. Most gangs could barely afford to arm themselves with rusty pistols, so either the Scorpions armory was a lot better off than anyone suspected, or Dante went out of his way to tool up for this job.

  My eyes flicked back to Dante. “What’s going on? Your message said you wanted help with a little scavenge work. Your boys look like they’re going to war,” I said quietly.

  The big man slowly scanned the area, and when he was sure we were alone he stepped up to a broken doorway and gestured for me to follow. “It is a minor job, probably,” he grumbled. He stuck his thumb at one of the gangers over his shoulder. “Marco there found something, and we need someone to check it out."

  “So you needed me because of my salvaging expertise?” I asked, confused.

  He stopped at a pile of rubble, as far as I could tell it was no different than the rest of this mess. “No, it’s because you’re tiny.”

  I couldn’t keep the scowl off my face. “Four foot five is not tiny, I’m just a little petite for my age."

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Whatever you say." He crouched down and gestured towards a hole I hadn’t noticed before, “There aren’t that many people that are small enough to fit in there, but mature enough not to try and screw us over. Not that sixteen is super fucking mature, but it’s better than our other options.”

  I crouched down and checked out the hole. It appeared to be an old ventilation duct, half buried by the rubble. It was wide enough for me to squeeze through, but after about a foot it looked like it intersected an intact duct which angled down. That would be tight, even for me.

  “I don’t get it, what am I looking at?” I asked

  Dante stood up and dug into his pockets before pulling out a beat-up pack of cigs.“Probably nothing.”

  I narrowed my eyes, trying to pick out some detail that I missed “You don’t bring fucking SMGs to check out nothing Dante,” I spat. “What the fuck am I supposed to be looking for?”

  “Remember when Indico pulled out there was talk about them leaving a bunch of equipment behind?” he asked, lighting a cigarette and taking a long drag before continuing. “The gangs fought for days trying to get their hands on the juiciest shit, but all we managed to pull out of this place in the end were some basic power tools.”

  I finally put two and two together. “You think there was better stuff buried in the fighting? That’s nuts.”

  “Maybe. Probably. But a room full of construction equipment would be worth a tidy sum, and around here that’s more than enough to attract the bottom feeders. That’s why the boys are here, insurance." He crushed the cigarette butt under his heel and crouched down again “If it’s down there you bring it up and we’ll sell it. You’ll get ten percent. If there’s nothing we’ll pay you for your time, deal?”

  The corner of my lip curled up “What if I find it and try to salvage it myself?" I asked.

  “You’re not that stupid. Which is why you’re here, and not someone else,” Dante grumbled.

  I couldn’t help but let out a laugh, eyes never leaving the darkness before me. “It’s true, I’m smarter than the average bear,” I mumbled softly. There was a moment of silence as I considered my options. “Gimme fifteen percent and it’s a deal,” I finally said.

  I nearly smashed my head when Dante patted me on the back. Fucking gorilla. “Then it’s a deal.”

  **********

  It didn’t take me long to prepare. My tools were sufficient for salvaging, but not spelunking, so Dante had prepared a flashlight, a rope, and some radios for us to communicate with. I did have a cybernetic augmentation to send messages with, but my hardware was about twelve generations out of date. I was lucky that I could even receive messages at the best of times, so it was important to have a backup.

  Just as I was about to climb into the duct a message filled my vision.

  There was a moment of silence, before Dante burst out laughing. “Well missy, are we going to do this, or you gonna run home and hide from the big bad aliens?”

  I snorted, “Please, you know the Antithesis almost never get down this far, and even if they do, where would wego? The ‘shelters’ we have down here certainly aren’t going to protect anyone.” I crouched down and tied the rope around one ankle, I didn’t want to risk it getting caught up if it was around my waist. “Not like anyone around here pays attention to the warnings anyways, I’m certainly not going to be the one to start now. Let’s do this.”

  I slipped into the vent fairly easily. The passage was exceptionally narrow, so it was a good thing I wasn’t claustrophobic. Even though the flashlight Dante gave me was crap, barely managing to illuminate a couple feet ahead of me, it was enough to tell the duct was clear. I slowly crawled ahead, straining my ears, listening for signs of the duct shifting, eyes slowly shifting back and forth, looking for signs of damage. The last thing I wanted was for this thing to collapse on me, plenty of scavengers lost their lives while rubble shifted, I wasn’t going to be one of them.

  Inch by inch, foot by foot, I made my way forward until I finally came upon a vent set in the bottom of the duct, with a darkened room below.

  “Dante, I found something. Looks like a room, I can’t make anything out from here. Need to pop off the vent, I’ll update you when I’m inside,” I whispered into the radio.

  There was a moment of silence. “I hear you. Be aware Dwayne heard some movement up here, we may have company, so move quickly.”

  “Got it.” I let go of the radio and let out a quiet, “Shit!” If someone spotted us working out here it would only be a matter of time until the vultures arrived. There was no time for subtly, so instead of looking for the bolts or screw I pulled out my pry bar. The vent groaned, there was a series of pops, and then the casing came loose, falling to the floor below with a loud clang. I grabbed the edge of the vent, pulled myself forward, after slipping my legs through the opening. I hung there for a moment, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness before dropping into the space below.

  I flicked the light around the area, it was disappointing. Mostly empty shelves, a couple hand tools, ladders and various fittings. Not the payday we wanted. I started reaching for my radio, when the flashlight illuminated the back of the room, and I stopped. The machine was about the same size as a dumpster, dull metal with a touch display mounted front and center. There was no way this should be here, no one with half a brain would leave it behind.

  My hands were shaking. “Dante, are you there? Call your entire gang here right now. They left a fucking fabricator here. You hear me?” I waited a few seconds. “Dante?”

  A series of cracks echoed down the vents, I knew that sound. Burst fire. SMGs. I paled slightly. There was a massive fight going on right now, right next to my only exit.

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