Chapter 12: Chapter 12 – Murk Man Returns

"He's dead, Basil! Where are you? Are you alright?"

Panam finally got the fucker who shot me, and I couldn't even begin to explain how relieved I am that everything is finally over. My body was aching, my shoulder felt like shit, and I was covered in my blood, but the relief that washed over me when Panam gave the all-clear was like nothing I had ever experienced. Like a metaphorical noose that was getting ever tighter was just taken off my neck.

"*Urghh* I'm fine. I used a Bounce Back, and the wound closed. Up here!"

I slung my rifle over my shoulder, got up, and started waving my good arm to get Panam's attention. The bullet wound on my left arm closed up, but I could feel it hadn't fully healed yet. Every time I try to move it, I feel a foreign object grinding against my muscles and bones. It's probably the bullet, since the wound healed right over it. I'll get Vic to dig in there once I get back into town.

Panam saw me waving and jogged up the stairs to where I was. Once she got there, she saw all the blood on my left arm and gave me a worried look.

"Fuck! You bled a lot. Are you sure you're Ok?"

"Yeah. The bullet is still in there, so I'll have a doc pull it out once I'm back in the city. Other than that, I'm in perfect working order. Come on. I'll take you to Nash."

We made the short walk to the office, and I pointed at Nash's corpse on the ground. His body was face down, so you could see the gruesome exit wounds on the back of his head from when I shot him multiple times in the face. A pool of dark blood with bits of skull and brain matter radiated out from his noggin, staining his clothes and pieces of paper in a dark crimson. I walked over to him and kicked his body to face upwards. I wouldn't exactly put him in an open-casket funeral, but you can still tell who it was.

"Sorry I couldn't keep him alive for you to do the honors, but the crazy gonk lept at me, and I wasn't going to wrestle in the middle of a gunfight."

"No, it's Ok. Better him than you. I guess I'll have to settle for this."

I was scared that Panam not getting to pull the trigger herself would have pissed her off since this entire ordeal was based on her vendetta against Nash. She surprised me by responding with unexpected maturity; maybe she learned something from this hell run. While I was thinking this, Panam stomped over and gave Nash's corpse a few good kicks right in the side of his abdomen.

...Maybe not.

After venting her anger on the corpse, Panam turned around and prepped me for the meeting with the customers.

"You already know this, but I'll say it anyways. The meeting with the 6th Street is at Sunset Motel in half an hour. I've done plenty of gigs for 'em but keep your piece on you. You'll be my backup in case anything goes wrong."

"Sounds good, but I got something else I need to show you first. You're going to love it."

I walked past Panam and out of the office. Going down the stairs, I beelined it to the right and started going further into the tunnel. In the game, once you raise your Street Cred level to 40, you can get a unique side quest called 'Murk Man Return Again Once More Forever". And in this sidequest, you discover an abandoned Rayfield Caliburn in the Shiv hideout, free for the taking.

This Hypercar was worth hundreds of thousands of Eddies, but I needed someone familiar with the smuggling and illegal vehicles underworld to move it. Someone like a certain exiled Aldercado. Turning around, I looked at Panam and started explaining the story behind this Caliburn.

"Remember when I told you I was keeping an eye on the Shivs?"

Panam raised her eyebrow inquisitively, not sure where this was going.

"Sure, but what's that got to do with anything?"

"Well, I was keeping an eye on them because they got their hands on something I wanted to move. But first, have you ever heard of the Murk Man?"

"The Murk who?"

"Exactly. Some poor kid lost his parents, and he got it into his head that to be the change he wanted to see in the world, he would become a vigilante. Murk Man, as it were."

Yup. A mentally unstable orphan becomes a vigilante instead of appropriately dealing with his issues. He also builds a secret bunker in a cave and has the costly high-tech gear. Suuuuuper original idea. In the game, it's just a fun little Easter egg, but in the real world, it's the tragic story of a poor man unable to deal with the sad loss of his parents.

"So this Murk Man decides to set up in this mine and use it as his vigilante base. He bought a bunch of crap and started to turn it into a proper lair."

I could see the gears turning in Panam's head, wondering why I was telling her this story. Then everything clicked into place, and I swear I could see her eyes light up from realization.

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"But then the Shivs moved in..."

I nodded and continued my story.

"And then the Shivs moved in. The poor guy was forced to leave and abandon all his equipment here. The Shivs then got a hold of everything, but we cleared them out, so now it's ours."

As I finished my sentence, we came across two blue shipping containers. I pulled the bars, locked the containers up, and started to open the left side door with my hand. The hinges screeched as they broke free from the rust, and the hatch swung open to reveal one of the world's most coveted vehicles, an Rayfield Caliburn.

The look on Panam's face was priceless. Her mouth was agape, and her eyes sparkled cartoonishly like a little girl who had just gotten a pony for her birthday. Once she overcame the shock, she sprinted and started checking out the car.

"Holy crap, Basil! Do you know what this is? It's a Rayfield Caliburn! Quad turbo 8 liters V16 pushing out 1660 horsepower. 0-60 in 1.5 seconds and a top speed of 210 miles per hour. Oh, this is preem, this is reaaaaaaal preeeem. Brand new, this thing costs almost three-quarters of a mil!"

She continued to gawk at the car and probably would have made love to it if I'd left her alone with it for more than five minutes. Once she calmed down, she noticed how embarrassing she was behaving and straightened herself out. Remembering that this was technically my find, she cleared her throat.

"*Ahem* Sorry about that. I lost myself for a second there. Your intel led you to this, but I helped you, so I deserve a cut."

Panam knew she was being slightly unreasonable, but she also couldn't pass up on this chance. I stared her in her eyes as she started getting nervous about what I would say. She was fidgeting, and it was cute.

"Relax, Panam. We're chooms, right? You'll get a cut, I promise. How about this? You find a buyer for this, and I'll split the profits with you fifty-fifty."

Panam's eyes widened as she couldn't believe her luck. Fifty-fifty was way more than she probably ever thought she was going to get if anything at all. But then I saw a little twinge of guilt, and she sighed before continuing her thoughts.

"That's very generous, but I can't take that much. Twenty-five percent is fair. I already have a few contacts in mind who would be interested. Give me a few days, and I'll conta..."

I raised my hand to stop Panama.

"First, I appreciate you trying to take a smaller cut. Second, the amount of work you put in deserves a higher cut. Third, I want an in with the Aldercados. Fourth, you still owe me a favor for helping with Nash, so don't think of this as charity. Just be thankful and take the money."

"I'd love to, but about number three... This is a bit disgraceful, but the family has exiled me. Butt heads with leadership one too many times, so I can't help you there."

"Well, maybe giving them a job like moving a super rare car will get you back in their good graces? Hint, hint."

Panam thought about it and struggled for a few seconds before she finally sighed and accepted my offer.

"Fine. But we have to meet up with 6th Street first. We'll come back for this tomorrow and I'll talk to my clan. No promises however."

I nodded in agreement and closed the door. Before Panam and I could start making our way back up the tunnel, two loud thumps came from the other container. I took out my Overture and pointed it at the second container. Two more thumps came, this time a little louder. I looked at Panam and silently jerked my head toward the mysterious noise we had just heard. Panam silently nodded and also raised her pistol.

Panam walked over and used her hand without the gun to quietly remove the bar holding the doors shut. She gripped the handle and threw the gate open as fast as possible. The second the door opened, I leaned into the opening, revolver at the ready, and yelled for whoever was in there to down.

"Get down on the fucking ground! I'm not in the mood, so if I see anything but your face kissing the floor, I will drop you!"

I was expecting to see a hiding Shiv. Instead, I saw three young girls. One had her fist up, ready to start banging again, while the other two were huddled in the corner. They all stared wide-eyed at Panam and me, not moving a muscle like a deer in the headlights.

 

Author's Note

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