Dealing with me was harder to do than anything else that you could do. Because of that, people here just avoided me. The same was true for Brett and Paul. The 3 of us were untouchable. We had the cabs and the Red Grind. These were perfectly legal businesses. That just made things worse. They could not even criticize us for bringing crime to the town. Really, the only thing we did was support the rights of the cyborgs to exist here. Not all humans had qualms talking to or dealing with PEP units. Most just did not like the idea of Conquerors taking over. They also did not want to feel exploited or taken advantage of by the Researchers. I can understand all that. There was a massive disconnect between that and attacking random some PEP units out on the street. Most people when polled did not support doing that personally. None of them would step in to stop it if they were there when it was going on. I was going around to see what could be done. Something might happen if I went out to the park for some pointed relaxation. Quests and points of interests spawned in all over the place.
It was as I was walking that I stumbled forward and fell on the ground. Someone had shot me with a sniper rifle in the head. It stunned me for a few seconds. I got up just in time to see a black van speed towards me. Glaring at it, the van stopped right next to me with a screech. Several goons tried to drag me inside. I obviously was not going to let that happen. Pulling out my handgun, I started blasting them. There were toxic bullets in the magazine, so it did extra damage. They did not stand a chance. I sighed when one of their phones began to ring. Curious about who sent them, I decided to pick up the call. "So you made it, Brianne." the voice said. It sounded female to me. My interest was piqued. "Who is this?" I asked. She chuckled and replied "Don't you worry about that. I wanted to see if you really were as good as you claimed." I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. I'm not someone to mess with. Your syndicate is going to want to remember that going forward." I told her. Looking around for the sniper that shot me, I could not see anyone. They were a pro at least. More than likely, they were gone.
Sighing deeply, I waited for them to continue. "We have a lucrative business opportunity if you were willing to listen." She had nothing on me. I had infinite money and all the tech I could even need. I was the undisputed greatest clan engineer on the continent by far. It was not even close. They could not buy me. "That's not going to happen. You don't have anything I want." I said. "Is that so? Not even one of your AEP unit friends!?" she said mockingly. I was caught off guard. That admittedly made me pause. How could they have managed that? Even though I was really strong, AEP units were still considered boss level characters. There would have needed to be a powerful syndicate spawned commando to take one down. Maybe the woman I was speaking to was not all hot air after all. "Okay then. You got me. Keep talking. What clan are they from?" When she told me it was from Heat Clan, that was it. I was honor bound to help them out. They were our allies. Sucking my teeth, I said "Fine. Give me the meet up location and I'll be there. You better have them safe and sound for me."
Even if it was a trap, it would be good to make sure that anti-cyborg syndicates did not get their hands on AEP organs or intel that would make it harder for the coalition down the line. "If I find out who shot me, they are as good as dead. Goodbye." I hung up the phone and threw it in the van, but not before giving her my cell number. Our conversation was done. I got a text a minute later with the location. It said to come alone or there would be some big problems. I was pretty confident that I could handle it on my own anyway. There was something to do, so I decided to get right on it. Walking back to the depot, I got in a cab. It was time to go where I was told. It seemed that they were holed up in a warehouse in Heat Clan territory. It was on the opposite side of the territory from the transmission hub and the clan building. This was a few cities away from the coastline. It was going to take some time to get there. I was not in good standing with law enforcement. They would try to arrest, if not kill me. There was also the point that I was not actually that good a driver. I took a lot of side roads.
