Neon Cortex (Neon Helix Universe Book 2) by Nik Whittaker

Author:Nik Whittaker [Whittaker, Nik]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-01-08T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

They made their way to the BitSlums in an AutoCab.

"So what are we expecting here?" Bella asked, pulling out a small side arm.

"Where the hell you been keeping that?" Salem jerked sideways at the sight of the pistol.

"A girls' got to have protection," Bella winked at him.

"Well, just keep it hidden, the last thing we need is some trigger-happy jerkoff seeing that and getting itchy fingers." Salem pushed the gun aside.

"Fine," Bella said, returning the pistol to its holster on her leg, her coat covering it from view.

"Anyway, I don't know what we're going to find here. I find it hard to believe that Samual Underwood is the person who took Kirsty directly. More likely, is that he had someone do it for him."

They got out of the car and stepped into the cooler night air of the BitSlums. The area was distinctly lower tech, its residents unable to afford the modern technologies. The lack of signals made the area easier on Salems' mind.

Taking a few steps down the street, they stood outside of a building, graffiti covered its facade.

"This the place?" Salem asked, as Bella checked her PDA.

"Yep, this is the last recorded address for Mr Underwood," she confirmed.

"Ok, he definitely didn't rise from the pile after we broke him then," Salem said, pushing the door open.

Inside, the smell of various drugs, alcohol and sweat hit them like a brick wall.

"Jesus!" Bella gasped, covering her face with her sleeve.

Salem didn't seemed phased by it, stepping over the threshold. The inner walls were all peeling paint, and the hardwood floor was scratched more than it wasn't. He turned and checked on Bella, who had moved a bit of fabric across her mouth and nose, nodding as she stepped in.

They checked the rooms as they walked through, a woman lay unconscious on a bed, a wire running from her arm into a small metallic box. Beside her, another man was fiddling with his own wire which attached to the box, he was trying to connect it to a socket embedded in his arm. Blood seeped from around the socket, it was a fresh implant.

"What the hell... " Bella stared at the scene before them.

"Never seen self-augmentation before?" Salem asked, "These poor sods can't afford to have the implants done professionally. They do it to themselves with basic tools, the results are never pretty. That box there is a Drug-Synthesiser, or DRS machine, it creates the illusion of any drug within the users mind. Originally, it was for rehabilitation use, y'know to ween people off the influence, but it ended up being too real. The machine still creates as much addiction and inflicts as much damage to the body was the real thing, the mind can't distinguish it."

"Reminds me of how I found you," Bella replied.

Salem ignored the comment and moved on to check the rest of the house.

At the far end of the building, they found a kitchen. A man sat at the table, staring at a bowl in front of him.

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