My Cyber Psychosis is Task Prompt-Chapter 444 - 275: Breaking Free

"What should we do with the drones?"

John asked a critical question.

[Don’t worry, I’ve hacked its signal repeater and cloned our biometric info for random switching. Now there are over thirty Johns running around the city.]

Sora almost hummed.

"Is this part of the lesson too?"

[Nope, buddy. We’ve talked about this. You’ll never become a hacker in this lifetime unless you deal with the big guy in your head. Sorry, but while I can treat brain tissue dissolution, if you want to erase the remnants of a transcendent AI...nobody in the world has experience with that.]

Sora gave a suggestion.

[Don’t stress, just get yourself a hacker partner, leave the tech issues to the professionals, teamwork, each with their own role.]

"Not interested."

John was still a firm believer in his Lone Wolf theory.

"I don’t want to discuss this. Our more pressing problem is: what should the two of us do now?"

[Maybe, make a call?]

Sora reminded John.

They had completed the task of taking out Raphael. The usual process was to report to the middleman and settle the remaining payment.

[The people after us are from Rongju Company, right? Maybe Raphael had no ill intentions. We could just be guessing wrong.]

Sora’s words were a bit naive.

"How long has it been since we left the police blockade? The company dogs had already set up an ambush on the only way out."

John passed through an abandoned parking lot and hid in the shadow of a bridge.

Police sirens wailed overhead.

He searched his whole body but couldn’t find a traditional cigarette, glanced around, and looked for a less crowded vending machine.

[You mean... Raphael sold our whereabouts to the company, let them settle accounts and wipe us out as a bonus?]

"I’m not sure."

[That’s why you need to make a call. Even if it comes to tearing things open, there needs to be a face-off, right? What do we have to lose? We can barely catch our breath these days. Why not go for it with her!]

"..."

John was silent for a long time and then nodded.

[Mission update]

[Contact Raphael. (Not achieved)]

Rongju Group’s drones were misled by false signals, turning into blind wanderers.

The road pursuers didn’t dare to jump off a building like Sora. By the time they detoured, they couldn’t catch even a glimpse.

For tonight, they were safe.

But Rongju Company wouldn’t just swallow this humiliation. Unless Raphael took responsibility, John, the mercenary doing the dirty work, would be hunted by security until his death.

John sent Raphael a message.

Sora controlled his body, tilted his head up, and looked through a rectangle formed by his fingers:

[The contrast within the city is immense. We’re like insects in a crevice, probing the air...]

John shared a viewpoint with him.

Through the menacing concrete bridge, you could see neon lights blending in the air, sharply outlined buildings standing unshaken in the constant flow of light fog.

The night sky was too far away.

[Contact - Unknown user [Unread message]]

[Go to St. East Avenue, get on any emergency team’s hovercar and say your name is Atticus, we’ll talk about the rest when we meet.]

Raphael replied.

Without a specific meeting point, the rendezvous method described in the text message was likely a trap.

[Go to St. East Avenue. (Optional)]

[Maintain silence. (Optional)]

John had already made his decision.

Sora sped away on the Alloy RCH, not like a killer who just finished a crime.

St. East Avenue wasn’t far from City Core Square.

The commotion John caused was still fermenting. Every intersection had body bags and police setting up barricades, while wave after wave of drones flew overhead.

They stopped amidst the sound of sirens and headed towards an emergency team that had just landed across the street.

The ground had a holographic projection marking an isolation zone.

There was a clear sense that this hovercar was a premium package, crammed with six professionals. Besides the driver and medic, everyone was equipped with heavy bulletproof vests.

The tactical helmets were of the highest grade too.

If everything went as usual, they’d storm into the building where the incident took place, grab the person based on the client’s chip coordinates, and transport them to a contracted hospital for rescue.

John was locked onto by three guns as soon as he approached the barricade.

[Scan detected...]

John’s identity was scanned, but he still shouted as Raphael directed, to the soldiers by the hovercar.

"I’m Atticus. If you dare shoot, this month’s performance review will tank, you fools. Ask your boss to clarify this..."

John’s tone was fierce, though he felt uncertain inside.

[Wow, you really look the part.]

Sora laughed in his mind, always ready to escape through Sianweistan.

"Target client signed."

Someone ran out from the hovercar.

He wore a fluorescent vest, his arms were medical-grade prosthetic bodies, and he extended his hand, attaching a magnetic identity tag to John’s wrist.

"Isn’t this wrong? Just a second ago, there was..."

"A message from dispatch center said the team rescuing Mr. Atticus was wiped out. Now, we take over the rescue, and there’ll be others to finish the job for us."

Brief exchanges echoed from the hovercar.

John stayed silent, listening while he was strapped onto a stretcher like a seriously injured person, connecting tubes—filled with nutrients, merely for show as if in emergency care.

The hovercar lifted on the spot, accelerated in the city’s skies, cutting waves within a sea of lights.

[What are these people performing?]

Sora questioned in his mind.

John couldn’t open his mouth, just lay on the stretcher watching.

The group acted hectic, tossing out half-used items from the window.

Fierce wind blew into the cabin.

John listened as they repeatedly reported his physical status.

The nonexistent Mr. "Atticus" was reported to be shot several times, vital organs pierced, severely infected, and suffering prosthetic body leakage...

Suddenly.

The life detector emitted a loud alarm.

The members inside the hovercar sighed.

"Client confirmed dead, repeat, dead, file name Atticus, claim number XD7765..."

The hovercar began descending.

John was pulled off the stretcher and dumped on the ground.

At the same time.

Another group brushed past him carrying a body bag, entering the hovercar’s cabin, placing the blood-soaked "Mr. Atticus" in the spot where John had lain.

The vector engine roared.

The hovercar flew away.

John stood bewildered in the alley.

[Wow.]

Kenichi Sora exclaimed.

They walked onto the street outside, realizing they’d been delivered near the East District Underground Mall.

[Contact - Raphael [Unread message]]

[Received your intel, good work. Rongju Company will pay me compensation, or should I say... hush money, hehe. If the Eastern people knew they’re profiting off gang wars, they’d be furious.]

[More importantly, everyone knows now the consequences of ticking me off, making future negotiations easier. Thanks to you, no one will take me for a fool anymore.]

[Rongju Company’s pursuit of you ends here.]

[Come to the doctor’s to receive your remaining payment, you know which underground clinic I mean.]