Chapter 25: Crisis in the Storm

"This sand really stings..."

Anzu covered her face and dashed into the old house, which looked as though it had seen many years of wear. Behind her, Daichi and the others were struggling to unload precious supplies from their vehicle.

The building had likely once been a farmhouse, but now, the land that used to be a farm had completely withered into a barren desert. The original warehouse looked as if it had been bombed, with half of it reduced to rubble, but fortunately, the main living quarters remained largely intact.

The two-story house featured a living room with a sofa, a kitchen, bedrooms, and two bathrooms—one on each floor. It was clear that the original owner had lived quite comfortably. As the electric lights in the room hummed with a noisy buzz and flickered a few times, the power was re-established, finally illuminating the dim, dust-choked room.

"Whew..."

The old cowboy grabbed his hat with one hand and pushed the door open. He shook off the sand with a frustrated air before speaking:

"The water, electricity, and network are still connected here. If you girls are tired of being covered in grit, you can head upstairs for a shower. Everything is available for use. If you have any extra supplies when you leave, feel free to leave them behind—think of it as paying rent for the next travelers."

Anzu undid her twin tails and shook them out—she had only walked a few steps from the car, yet she felt like dirt had already worked its way into every strand of her hair.

"The water and electricity are actually still running?" she exclaimed in wonder.

"Yeah, that’s the work of the nomads in the area," Cassidy explained. "They connect the circuits, repair the network cables, and fix the pipes. When they get caught in weather like this and can't make it back to their tribe in time, they come to places like this for a temporary rest. The reason we nomads can wander the wasteland so freely is largely because we can always find places to rest in the wild. Every tribe shares these kinds of resources. If you go elsewhere in the future, it’s best to contact the local family first. As long as we’re among our own, we’ll selflessly share these rest stops and safe routes to provide convenience for other passing nomads."

Cassidy smiled and added, "The network here is connected to the city's local area network. Though it's not very stable, if you have computers with you, you can check news pages or listen to music. Anyway, I need to rest for a bit... Anyone want some hot coffee?"

Most of them agreed, so Cassidy headed to the kitchen to prepare it.

"I’m going to take a shower," Lucy said, tugging at her collar—the feeling of grit trapped inside her tight-fitting black suit was far from pleasant.

"Conserve water," Cassidy warned. "The water here is collected rain from the tanks in the back. Once it's gone, it's gone. Plus, the water purifier is quite old, so the quality isn't great."

Lucy nodded and pulled Anzu toward the stairs. "Let's go together, it'll save some water."

"If you want hot water, you’ll have to wait a while. The heater here isn't as efficient as the ones in the city," Cassidy noted. After they left, he spotted Mercer, who had flopped onto the sofa like a corpse. He had been full of energy while driving, but now he was out cold the moment he touched the couch. Cassidy couldn't help but think the young man had the makings of a true nomad.

Daichi and Leon exchanged a look, both looking a bit disgusted by the state of the other. Finally, one of them said, "I'll just grab a wet towel and wipe off. Washing my hair with cold water is fine."

"Go ahead, I'll keep watch," Cassidy said.

Once the coffee was ready, Cassidy approached Mercer with a cup just as the boy opened his eyes.

"Kid, have some coffee to wake yourself up. We'll heat up some canned food for dinner before we sleep."

Mercer yawned, looking relatively alert. "Sure. I just wanted to clear my head and doze for a bit."

"Want sugar?" Cassidy placed the hot coffee on the coffee table in front of him.

Mercer stretched and sat up, nodding. "A little... though I prefer milk."

"Milk? That's a luxury hobby. The last time I had milk was over a decade ago." Cassidy chuckled, eyeing the group as he chatted. "So, are you runaways? Or did you escape from some training camp? It’s not easy to infiltrate Arasaka at such a young age, is it?"

"Training camp? More like a concentration camp..." Mercer replied briefly. "Some of us were selected from Arasaka orphanages, some, like me, were sold by foster parents, and others... well, it wasn't a good place. Many died before we even managed to escape." Mercer smiled and turned the question back to him. "What about you?"

"The Unification War wiped out my family’s savings. The family had to work for the corporations just to survive. Working for them wasn't the issue, really, but many people kept talking about wanting to return to the New United States and find a place to settle down... I found it boring, and I didn't have any attachments, so I decided to keep wandering while I still could," Cassidy said, studying Mercer. "You’re the one who brought them out? I can tell, you’re the alpha wolf."

"Alpha wolf? That’s high praise. I think we’re more like a pack of stray puppies," Mercer laughed.

Even so, Cassidy held Mercer and these kids in high regard. "Even a combat squad from a nomad family wouldn't have handled that Maelstrom gang any cleaner than you guys did."

"I suppose so... at the very least, I'll be responsible for them until we're safe," Mercer said.

Cassidy asked curiously, "Are you all planning to head to Night City?"

"I definitely am. It’s basically the only place in North America that’s truly free right now. It’s chaotic, sure, but there are plenty of opportunities, and corporate control isn't as absolute." Mercer smiled as he heard the sound of Daichi and Leon laughing in the bathroom downstairs. "As for these kids, I don’t know. They have their own dreams. Once they figure things out, they’re free to stay or go."

"You’re quite mature," Cassidy praised. "Any interest in becoming a nomad? I think no matter which family you join, you could make life very good for those around you. You have that kind of talent."

"Making that assessment so quickly?" Mercer grinned. "Still, thanks. But I’ll pass on being a nomad. I’m a netrunner; I can only truly utilize my skills in the city."

"Fair enough." Cassidy had gained a decent understanding of Mercer through their brief exchange—a mature kid who didn't act like a child at all.

"So, we head straight to Night City after this?" Cassidy confirmed. "Or should we take a detour to shake off any potential pursuers?"

"A slight detour, but we don’t need to go too far out of the way," Mercer said. "This was my planned route... I forgot you don't have a cyberoptic and can only use your phone. Honestly, you really should get one installed."

Cassidy laughed and pulled out his phone. "Just send it to my phone... that was fast. Did you hack in to send it? You netrunners are truly something else."

"It's not that magical. Since you aren't connected to our subnet, you only have the local subnet formed by your brain's bio-electric waves via your neural interface. To hack in, I have to use a cyberoptic or another device to scan and lock onto your network signal. Then, I use my network to hack the captured subnet. Finally, the speed of the hack is determined by the gap between your 'Intelligence' attribute and mine, as well as the programs I'm using. For someone like you without a hacker's foundation, your 'Intelligence'—or your brainpower—is essentially meaningless, because you wouldn't even know how to resist. If you really want to avoid hackers, just turn off your neural interface. But I suggest you at least store a simple ICE program in the interface's built-in memory. If your interface has enough memory, I'll send you a simple ICE later. Your hardware isn't great, and you don't have a deck, so you can't run the heavy-duty stuff. But even so, the programs I write are definitely stronger than the anti-intrusion software that comes with the new interfaces on the market. Then your 'Intelligence' attribute will actually matter; it will determine the execution speed of my programs and can significantly delay the time it takes for a hacker to compromise you."

Mercer added, "Your phone's software is also terrible; it's practically defenseless. As long as the signal is on, once I capture it with my optics, I don't even need a program to hack it."

"Incredible," Cassidy thought. He could tell Mercer wasn't bragging. He’d met netrunners before, but he’d never seen one of Mercer’s caliber.

Cassidy studied the route map Mercer sent to his phone and nodded. "No problem. I'll make some calls to friends I know. I guarantee we can reach Night City in no more than half a month."

"That fast?" Mercer had originally planned for a month, wanting to avoid major city routes to stay hidden, leading him to plan for the middle of nowhere.

"That's a conservative estimate. If my friends can find us a safe route, we can be even faster. If it weren't for the Unification War blowing up so many roads and burying so many mines, this trip would take less than a week. The main issue is that you want to avoid the border checkpoints in every state, so we have to take long detours, and many routes require off-roading instead of highways. If you can get hold of safe identities beforehand, even if we only drive a few hundred kilometers a day on the highway, we’d be there in four or five days tops."

Mercer shook his head. "I plan to go straight to Night City and forge a perfect fake identity. That will minimize our exposure to Arasaka; if they want to track us, they'll surely start by checking the surrounding areas."

"You're the boss on this trip," Cassidy said. Suddenly, his ears pricked up.

Mercer went silent, narrowing his eyes as he listened intently. The two exchanged a glance.

"Vehicle sounds."

Cassidy immediately drew his revolver and leaned against the wall by the window. "Luckily, we parked the cars behind the house. They shouldn't be able to see them, so we can try setting an ambush... tell your friends to get ready!"

Before Cassidy had even finished, Mercer had already sent a message to Lucy, Daichi, and the others via his neural interface. Daichi and Leon were the first to arrive from the ground floor, hair still damp, rifles in hand.

"What's the situation?"

"Alert. Potential enemies." Mercer kept his words brief. Cassidy added, "That pickup truck you hijacked has a light machine gun. Did you bring it in?"

"Daichi! You and Leon head out the back door and get ready! We need the machine gun from your truck as heavy fire support! If they’re enemies, Cassidy and I will pin them from the front, and you two drive out from the flank to suppress them from the side and rear!" Mercer commanded.

He crouched by the window and looked out. Yellow sand swirled in the air, visibility reduced to barely ten meters. The sound of engines approaching grew louder, and the headlights of several vehicles pierced through the dust.

At the same time, a message from Lucy popped up in Mercer's optics:

[Lucy: Anzu and I are taking the high ground at the second-floor window. Anzu will scan for enemies, and I’ll provide fire support.]

[Mercer: Good, stay safe. Prioritize enemies we can't hit from the ground floor.]

[Lucy: Received!]

The vehicles drew closer. Mercer picked up his Shingen pistol, his eyes glowing intensely. His cyberoptics had already magnified the scene, scanning the figures in the distance.

"It’s Maelstrom! Cassidy, I’m linking you into the network—don't disconnect."

Mercer whispered to Cassidy while sending a message to his own hacker team. To facilitate communication, he used his old method: connecting everyone, including Cassidy, to the subnet he was hosting. That way, if the enemy tried to hack his team, he could assist.

[Anzu: Four vehicles! At least eight people... I've highlighted the targets I can see! They also have an armed pickup with a machine gun. It’s best to wait until they get out.]

[Mercer: Good. Old cowboy, can you see them?]

[Cassidy: I can't see them, but I can hear you guys talking. That's impressive.]

[Mercer: Visibility is too low. Let them get close before we fire.]

[Cassidy: Give me one of your grenades. When they reach the door, we’ll toss them.]

[Mercer: Good idea.]

Mercer pulled out an Arasaka fragmentation grenade and tossed it to Cassidy.

[Cassidy: We're against the wind. Remember to throw harder than you think you need to.]

[Mercer: Understood... They've stopped? They aren't coming straight in... Damn, we forgot to turn off the lights!]

[Cassidy: ...My mistake. Forgot to warn you.]

Mercer frowned slightly. He still lacked combat experience; he hadn't even thought to turn off the lights in the room.

"Any friends out there? Speak up! If you don't answer, we're giving you something big!" the Maelstrom members shouted from the distance.

[Mercer: Lucy, can you hit them? Clear their machine gunner.]

[Lucy: I'm aiming... 80 percent certainty.]

[Mercer: You fire, I throw the grenade. Daichi and Leon, start the engine the moment you hear the blast!]

[Lucy: Five-second countdown.]

"Hey! Hey?! Not talking, huh? Watch me blow your—" The Maelstrom member hadn't even finished his cursing.

*Rat-tat-tat!*

Lucy opened fire with her Masamune assault rifle, cutting him off mid-sentence. At the same time, Mercer and Cassidy threw their grenades with all their might toward the vague figures in the dust.

"Fire!" Mercer roared. As he raised his Shingen pistol, his eyes flashed with golden light—the hack had begun.