Monday, June 15, 2096
First time working with a real team outside of the little leagues. Bangkok in the summer—hot, sticky, and crawling with ops from every corp and government you could imagine. The job came in from Blink, a pro’s pro in the shadows, and I’d heard enough about her to know this was serious business. You don’t get invites like this unless you’ve caught someone’s attention. Guess all those gigs around Seattle finally paid off.
The team was solid. Blink’s our leader—adept, faster than anyone I’ve seen, and so damn quiet. Then there’s Slag, a street samurai with more cyberware than skin, carrying a chipped katana like it’s a piece of his soul. Whisper’s our mage. Dangerous in her own right, though she’s got that twitchy energy, always messing with new spells like a kid with fireworks. Hardwire’s the decker, a cocky kid but good at what he does. Ratchet rounds us out with his drones—guy’s got talent for making tech work when it shouldn’t.
We flew into Bangkok a week early to keep things low-key. Lots of waiting around. The city’s a pressure cooker, teeming with spies, runners, and corp muscle. You can practically feel the tension in the air. Slag’s been pacing like a caged animal the whole time, but Blink keeps everyone calm. It’s clear she’s done this a million times before.
Thursday, June 18, 2096
Finally, we get the call. The target’s a scientist holed up in a high-security corp district—one of the gated ones where you need a blood sample and a retina scan just to get a look at the place. He’s been working on something big—word is it’s about Matrix-Astral communication, though we’re not told much. Our job is to extract him without setting off a goddamn fireworks display.
Blink takes point, slipping through their security like a shadow. Everything’s smooth—almost too smooth. Whisper’s keeping the magical side in check, while Slag takes out guards with a little too much enthusiasm. Ratchet’s drones are in the air, scanning everything from above. Hardwire’s struggling a bit, but he’s good enough to open the doors we need.
We grab the scientist and make it out clean. No alarms, no sudden firefights—just a quiet walk back to the getaway vehicle. Bangkok’s streets feel tighter than ever, like the whole city’s watching us. We can feel the weight of the situation, but Blink keeps us moving, calm and steady.
Friday, June 19, 2096
The drive north is tense. We’ve got to smuggle the scientist out of Bangkok and get him to a hidden airstrip. There are checkpoints, roadblocks, all the usual stuff. But this is Bangkok, where corps and governments play tag in the shadows. We’re on edge the entire trip.
Ratchet’s drones keep us ahead of any patrols, but every second feels like something’s about to go wrong. Slag’s gripping his katana like it’s the last piece of home he’s got. Whisper’s quiet for once, probably sensing the tension. Blink just sits there, eyes half-closed, like this is just another day in the office for her.
We reach the airstrip just before dawn. The scientist boards the plane without a word, and that’s it. Job’s done, payout’s clean. Blink signs off, and we’re back on a flight to Seattle before anyone knows we were even there.
But something doesn’t sit right. Bangkok’s too full of whispers. The whole city’s a black ops playground, and we didn’t hear a peep about any other players. Either we’re that good, or someone wanted this to go off without a hitch. Either way, it’s out of our hands now.
Saturday, June 20, 2096
Bangkok stays with you. The city never lets you forget how close you were to something going sideways. But we got out, and we did the job. First time working with Blink, first time pulling a gig like that. And I didn’t just keep up—I held my own.
Feels like I’ve stepped into a whole new game, and the stakes are way higher than before.
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