Ravensdagger_Kittypunk_Cyberpunk_Kitrpg

Chapter Forty — The Plan

Chapter Forty — The Plan "This is the plan," I said.We were in the living room, and I was standing on the coffee table while Sharp sat on the edge of one of the sofas. Before me was my tablet, fully charged and laid out for me to use. It's had to have Sharp go into the settings and adjust it so that it used the 'poor eyesight' mode. Which did add to my monthly subscription, but whatever.It was worth it for the bigger letters and larger buttons. I found myself somewhat farsighted now that I was a cat, and it was somewhat annoying to try and read a monitor when it was too close."Plan?" Sharp asked."Did you think you'd be staying in my home for free? Getting fat and lazy? No. We're going to keep you working. This job has a payout of ten thousand dollars, which is a very respectable amount for a job that should only take a week.""Oh," Sharp said. She sat up straighter. "Is it edgerunner work?"I snorted. "More like... middleruner work."Sharp blinked. "Please don't make puns."Sniffing, I tapped the tablet with a paw. "I've discussed-" with much difficulty "-The details of this operation with the fixer. His name is Grandpa, and he's a somewhat well respected, older fixer in the north end of Boston Two.""His name is Grandpa?" she asked."He's eighty-two and had been a Fixer for longer than I've been alive," I said. "Not a high end one, but also one who knows not to stick his nose into things that are too hot. A lot of old mercs owe him favours. His rep is solidly... middle of the pack. He's not innovative, he's not the kind to take on legendary jobs, and he doesn't kick any hornets nests. It's why he's so old in a job that tends to kill young.""Okay, I guess," Sharp said. I could read the disappointment on her face already."This is a solid job," I said with an angry twitch of my tail. "Decent pay, low risk. You could live a good life pulling off two of these every month. In the meantime, it's the kind of work you can do with your level of skill, and it'll wet your toes without you tripping into the deep end."If only I'd had a mentor who helped me this way. I'd taken on some far too risky jobs without enough knowledge or prep in my youth. I'd come out of it unscathed, but that was more up to blind luck in some cases than actual skill.Jobs where I'd left evidence behind, or where I was seen. Sloppy errors that could have been prevented.Sharp nodded and leaned in a little closer. "So, what's the job?"Good, I had her attention now. I patted the tablet until I had a map open. It was a satellite-view map, a few years old now, but that didn't matter. This was a downloaded map, disconnected from any network, but it would do. "Do you see this building?" I asked.Sharp stared at the grey rectangle. "I see it," she said."Good. This is a warehouse some ways north of Boston Two. It's not in the city itself, but right on the outskirts of the suburbs. Our job is to sabotage it.""What's it holding?" Sharp asked.I gave her the best shrug I could. "It could be drugs, though I don't think so, it could be weapons, though again, I doubt it. For the level of discretion given and the price, I'm assuming it's parts, raw materials, or data of some sort. But that doesn't matter. It could be filled floor to ceiling with newly born babies, and we'd still have a job."Sharp blinked. "I'm not burning down a building filled with babies," she said.I rolled my eyes. Morals! "I doubt it's filled with babies."She crossed her arms. "Well, now I want to check to make sure.""Fine. That is part of doing a good job. This job calls for us to sabotage the building in a significant way. Fire is obvious. Other forms of destruction work as well. We don't need to annihilate it, just damage the warehouse. But, I want to play this as though it was a far more serious job. It'll get you the practice you need for future work." Without, I didn't say, putting her at any great risk.Even if law enforcement came around, Sharp could run, and if she didn't make it... well, it would only be a year or three. She'd leave prison with all sorts of level ups, I was sure.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement."So, we pop over there, make sure it's not a baby storage place, then... break the place up?" Sharp asked."If we're doing this the correct way. Which we are, then the right thing to do is to don a simple disguise and scope the place out first. We see what kind of security we're dealing with, who has obvious signs of ownership. Gang affiliation, the area, location of fences and cameras.""Like a spy!" Sharp said."Yes, like that."Shap bounced to her feet. "Okay! What do we need, then?""First, a disguise. You can't go there dressed as your usual self. Not that you stand out much, but we can improve that. As a cat, I can play the role of a stray and scout around the place a little as well."Sharp nodded. "I'm going to need a disguise, then! Does that mean we're finally going to go shopping?" I nodded, and Sharp grinned as she picked me off the table and gave me a spin. "Yeah! What are we getting?""A reasonable amount of clothes that we don't mind disposing of," I said. "You never wear the same thing to two scope-outs. We can hit up a local shopping centre. We'll want fast fashion. The kind of clothes worn by the greatest number of people."The kind of outfit that absolutely didn't stand out, but which also had a thousand copies going around. If Sharp was ID'd from her clothes as suspicious, the person trying to track her would get a thousand false positives.I'd heard horror stories of otherwise good assassins getting caught because they wore distinctive jewelry or tailored, or otherwise uncommon, clothes."We're going to want an outfit for the mission itself. That'll be something that covers all of your skin and that's otherwise utilitarian. We can stop by a shop that sells construction materials. Most of those will have hard hats and other clothes for construction workers."That wouldn't exactly be top-shelf combat gear, but it was usually hardy and came with lots of pouches and pockets. Also, it blended in well.A high-visibility vest masked many a suspicious item. Professional guards would question everything, but the common person tended to quickly place people in a box. 'Someone else's business' was a rather large box that was easy to exploit."Our budget is... I'd say two thousand. For all of the equipment for this job. Keeping in mind that a lot of it will be ditched at the end.""Oh... that'll mean we'll only make eight thousand?" she asked."Welcome to the world of expenses," I said flatly. "Count yourself lucky that you're not paying taxes."Sharp nodded. "Right. So... are we heading out now?""Are you that excited to buy a few shirts and some pants?" I asked.She nodded quickly. "Yeah! I've never really gotten new-new clothes before. Especially not stuff that I got to pick out myself.""Ah," I said smartly. Well, that was... a little sad to hear, actually. Retail therapy had helped me through a few rough spots in the past. I supposed it was normal for Sharp to have missed out on that but still. "Let's walk on over to the nearest shop, then. It'll give you a bit more exercise and some fresh air, and it's a good opportunity to learn how to scope out a neutral location!"She rolled her eyes. "Not everything has to be training."I harrumphed. She had no idea how valuable a few dozen hours of extra practice could be."I bet you have no sense of fashion."Sharp gasped in mock outrage. "I have seen your wardrobe! Even when I was living on the street I at least knew not to wear double denim. And your techware is outdated."I felt my eyes twitching. So, she wanted to play it this way, huh? We'd see who came out looking better in the end. "Are you calling me an old lady?""Not in so many words.""Who taught you how to be sassy? I'm trying to teach you how to be lethal, not how to have a sharp tongue. That kind of thing will only get you killed."

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Chapter Forty-One — In Matters of Taste

Chapter Forty-One — In Matters of Taste I was right, Sharp's taste in clothes was questionable at best.It wasn't so much that she picked poor pieces. She found some nice pieces. A blouse here, some nice pants there. She had a good eye for what fit, though she did lean more towards the baggy side of things, and had a clear preference for things with many pockets, which was fine.Techware was always in, just like jeans and black in general.The problem came when Sharp combined things.A nice top with nice pants sounded cute, but the top was a modern techwear piece in bright greens with orange highlights and the pants were flared out Nouveau-Disco things with tech-bedazzle.I quickly had to set up a veto system, and guide Sharp towards not just trying on anything she thought was cute.A good outfit was about more than its individual parts.And a good disguise-which was what we were shopping for, and something I had to remind Sharp of rather constantly-was something that would blend in with the background and not have you stand out in any meaningful way.I let her pick out a few things, here and there, because... well, the girl might have maybe deserved a small win, but I put my paw down on more than one glitzed out item, and I didn't care how much neon it had or how many LEDs were woven into it.In the end, we returned to my place with a dozen large shopping bags filled with clothes."Did you want to stake out the place tonight?" I asked as Sharp shouldered her way in and then started to fiddle with the security system. We'd gone through the trouble of adding her as a permanent guest with return rights, and myself as another 'cat' in the system.Obviously, I didn't have a security system that would target my own cats, that would be silly.Cyanide ran up to greet us, and Sharp set me down. The cat gave me a sniff, then started to rub herself around me while saying her hellos, but I was mostly listening to Sharp."I'd like to," she said. "Should I get changed?""Yes, yes, hello Cyanide," I said when the cat became impossible to ignore. "Yes, you're the prettiest baby, mhm, mhm."It was rather awkward to babytalk my baby while she was taller than me, but I did what I could."Mommy, Arsenic ate all the food again, and Belladonna left, and I'm hungry! I haven't eaten in forever Mommy!""Sharp, feed the cats," I ordered.Sharp rolled her eyes, and a moment later I was scooped up. "I fed them before we left. And they have an automatic feeder.""They like it better when you feed them yourself. And the auto-feeder doesn't have wet food," I said. Did she not listen to my discussion about cat food that very morning? It didn't matter. "Once you're done, we'll pick up a gun or two and go to the range. I want you armed before we head out, and before you're armed, I want to make sure you know which end of the gun goes bang."Sharp's eyes had lit up already, and it was a wonder she wasn't squealing. "Really? I get a gun?"This was a bad idea. "You get a gun, but only if you can learn how to handle it! I don't need you to shoot your own foot off, or fail to learn how to handle a firearm. In fact, that's the first thing we're going to look into... after you feed the cats."Sharp ran across the house towards the kitchen, and Cyanide showed me just how much she cared by scampering after her, nails scratching the floor the entire time as she tried to catch up.I sighed and made my way upstairs, something made far more difficult by my small stature making steps annoying.I had a few guns hidden in my house, of course. Some here, others there. Just in case. Most, however, were in my office upstairs locked in a gun safe, because anything else would be unsafe and irresponsible.Also, Arsenic liked to chew on things he shouldn't, and I had an irrational fear that my dumb baby would end up shooting himself somehow.Sharp caught up to me, breathing a little heavily and still carrying the clothing bags we'd come in with. "Put those in my bedroom," I instructed. "Then come and help me with the safe."Stolen story; please report.The safe wasn't plugged into anything. I hated those easily-hackable 'modern' safes, and had gone out of my way to buy something old with a turn-dial lock. Now I regretted it a little because I could have maybe opened those fancier new ones as a cat.Sharp entered the code and got it on her third try, then opened the safe. I had a small rack within with a few rifles, and above that some show-box-sized dividers with unloaded handguns, magazines, and boxes of ammunition.I had another, larger safe, but that one held a few more... tactically-appropriate weapons. I'd start Sharp off with something easier to handle first. "Right... if we're hitting the range, then we'll need those ear muffs up there, yes, those. Now, grab that black bag there, the scrunched up one. It's a duffle."Sharp did as instructed, and then I pointed out a few guns for her to pick up. "This one?" Sharp asked as she raised a rifle."Yes," I said."It's... kinda dinky?"I gave Sharp a flat look. She was holding a lighter, wooden-stocked rifle, chambered in 22LR. It was dinky. That was the entire point of it. "And you're a dinky shooter until proven otherwise."Sharp glanced into the safe, specifically at an anti-material rifle that just barely fit within. But she didn't complain and loaded the gun into the duffle after I showed her how to check that it was empty.We followed with a small handgun, then a smaller break-action shotgun. I wanted to give her a wide range of experiences with different kinds of guns, and that meant trying a few things.First, though, I'd try and see if she could hit the side of a barn. "There's a range nearby, just out of the city. We're going to have to call up another auto-taxi, but it's a nice space. I know the owner. He'll give you shit for not knowing how to handle a gun, but if you're nice and polite he might show you how to shoot straight without smacking you with his cane.""That sounds a little abusive," Sharp said.I shrugged as best I could. "You'll learn fast."I had her pack up a couple of hundred rounds as well, and then get changed into something nondescript and comfortable. Jeans and a sweater. I dressed up myself. There were a few pieces of clothes here and there that I liked dressing my cats in... well, mostly Mercury. He was the only one that would allow me to dress him up. The others squirmed and protested.I'd only ever gotten a few cute pictures of Cyanide and Arsenic with little bows on their heads.Belladonna was right out.That kitty would shank anyone who dressed her up... even if she would be so cute in a little vest!Sharp helped me dress myself, which was still a little humiliating. Then she helped me put on a small cat-sized hat. It had the added benefit of covering my ears a little, which muffled noise. As far as ear protection went, it wasn't ideal, but it would do.The auto-taxi arrived just a few minutes later, and we rushed out of the house to get in. Then it was a short, twenty-minute ride to the outskirts of the town and into the countryside proper.The McFarlane range was once a farm, and it showed. There were a few old barns and a big farmhouse in the centre. One of these barns had the back opened up onto an old field where dirt was stacked up to the sides and a hill served as a backstop about a kilometre back.An old man was sitting out on the front porch of the house. He barely stopped rocking as the taxi let us out and Sharp looked around curiously."Now, who might you be, girl?" he asked."Uh, hi!" Sharp said. She shifted the bag on her shoulder a little. "I'm Sharp! I was told that there was a shooting range here?""Hmpf, might be," he said. "You with the feds?""Uh... no?""Good, good. Getting too old for shoveling open holes in the dirt." He stood up, one knee cracking, the other was entirely made of metal. "C'mon, lemme open up the range. You're in luck, I was waiting for someone else to show up to use the place in a bit, so no harm in getting it open early.""Oh, thanks!" Sharp said."Careful with that man," I warned. "He's killed more people than you've met."I liked Clemus, he was a good sort.

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