Dreadwolf, Lord of Runes

About two hours after Kane and Luna left the Cyberkins building, their motorcycles came to a screeching halt in front of a large complex in the form of a cube. A massive amount of people were bustling around on the street going about their day.

This was the Outer Ring district.

This district essentially encircled the entire city, and lay at the edge of what could be considered the air purification tower’s effective range, beyond which lay the city's slums.

While not technically in the purification tower’s range anymore, it’s not like there was an actual dome around the city. Clean air leaked out often enough, making the slums more liveable than the wasteland outside of it. Which was exactly why so many people moved there.

The first thing they did after arriving was to scope out the surroundings. Looking around, Kane and Luna noticed a mixture of Cybers and low-talent Mystics, none of whom possessed the power to fight above the Core Awakening stage, and likely wouldn’t for the rest of their lives.

They were no more than a single rung above dregs.

“No matter how many times I see them, it always strikes me how the Cybers living here barely look human anymore,” Kane mumbled with a hint of disdain.

Unlike Cybers in the inner city, those in the Outer Ring sported older, more mechanical cybernetics. Many of them had janky, clearly cybernetic arms, or large metal goggles strapped around their heads to hold the processing power needed to operate their cybernetic eyes.

These were the people who worked the menial jobs that still needed doing.

As a result, the people here lived better lives than in the slums, but not much better. Especially because the Outer Ring was the place to go when you wanted to hide what you were doing, even from the overworked GSA, or if you were working against some powerful company or syndicate.

After all, the Outer Ring was the most densely populated area of Riftshade, outside of the slums. Of the approximately 35 million people living in this city, at least ten lived in the Outer Ring.

It was technically even safer to hide in the slums, but the rolling blackouts and air quality made it a poor place for anyone to conduct their business. Especially for the energy-dependent netrunners they were after today.

Unfortunately, that also meant that the manpower of any operations being conducted in this district was hard to predict.

Who could say for sure if it was a local operation with only Core Awakening stage Mystics and equivalent Cybers, or a group from the mid-level or core districts that might even hold fourth rank Domain Awakening stage Mystics and Cybers?

Kane removed his helmet and scanned the looming structure before them, his eyes narrowing against the harsh light. Beside him, Luna mirrored his actions, their shared tension palpable as they prepared for the unknown.

“So… have you thought about what kind of message we’re going to send, Master?” she asked him, curiously, uncaring for the people around them.

Kane shrugged and turned to Luna, “Depends on what we find inside. I don’t have the energy or interest in being creative with something I don’t care about, so if we have the ability, we’ll simply kill them all and be done with it.”

Some people heard what they were talking about, but they didn’t even look up. Instead choosing to start walking faster, hoping to get away from the area before things went sideways.

“Sounds good,” Luna chuckled callously. “Let’s hope they have enough money to visit the Opal Oasis!”

In a city like Riftshade, your life was often only as valuable as the next person you encountered deemed it to be, and it was no different for Kane and Luna. Thus, their approach to situations like this was usually very callous.

People die all the time in Riftshade, and the two of them were only concerned with keeping themselves and those they cared about safe. Which meant keeping Father off of their backs until they found a way to get out from under his influence completely.

Whatever the cost.

The pair turned around, and secured their helmets to the bikes, before securing those as well. Then, Luna grabbed a tactical backpack from her bike’s storage compartment, and secured it around her shoulders.

With everything ready, they moved into the building.

* * *

Inside, they found several stalls and store’s selling products. Such was the nature of most of these large building blocks in the Outer Ring.

They were like small, communal cities, filled with everything from food stores, to chop shops, to night clubs. These complexes usually housed anywhere from a few hundred to a thousand people.

“They probably cordoned off an entire section around the apartment Father pointed us to,” Kane mused as they moved through the building with most people giving them a wide berth. “We’ll have to get an idea of how strong they are, and then act accordingly.”

“Any idea who we’re dealing with, Master?” Luna wondered curiously, before an angry flash passed by her eyes. “That bucket of bolts better not be sending us after the Nether Cabal to torpedo our technique deal tomorrow.”

Kane shook his head, “No, I doubt Father knows anything about that deal just yet, we've been very careful. Plus, The Mecha Cartel and the Nether Cabal loathe each other on principal alone, they would never inform on one of their customers to the other.”

“I’m more worried that he’s sending us after a particularly difficult target, just to increase my chances of losing a limb,” he growled hatefully. But then he sighed, “Well, whatever. If they’re too strong, we’ll just have to see if we can negotiate.”

“Besides,” he shrugged. “It might not be anything. It’s not like every task he sends us on turns out to be some kind of test or game. Maybe this is one of those rare occasions where we just have to deal with the problem and move on.”

“Yeah, when pigs fly…” Luna grumbled with annoyance.

Kane chuckled, but found himself agreeing with the sentiment. He continued to stride in the direction of the apartment, purpose in his step. Poverty and structural neglect was all around them, but not as much as in the slums. There were no homeless either.

But that was no surprise.

Any Cyber or Mystic could find some way to make money relatively easily. As for any dregs that snuck in from the slums, they were kicked right back to where they came from.

At least most of the time. It’s not like compassion was entirely dead. Not yet, anyway. It was just rare.

A truth once again proven a few minutes later, when Kane and Luna were stopped by four young residents of the building.

“Hey! Glitch!” one Mystic, standing in a group of four, accosted Kane as he and Luna walked by.

Neither Luna nor Kane responded, however, and simply continued to walk. Half the time, jacked-up youths like these would give up if you didn’t appear intimidated. Especially if you were armed.

Unfortunately, not this time. But unfortunate for who?