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Quality Assurance: DARWIN Yard Massacre · InkandNeon | Speculative Fiction Stories

• 0:01
  Ah, so you're the one that survived the Darwin
• 0:03
  Yard massacre. Thought you'd be taller. Tough
• 0:09
  and quiet type, huh? Well, I could work with
• 0:13
  that. Coffee? Well, get right to it then. Did
• 0:22
  you mastermind the heist of the prototype? If
• 0:25
  you don't say anything, Christopher, I can't
• 0:29
  help you. My name's Razor. Not here on your birth
• 0:33
  registration. Fuck your birth registration. I'm
• 0:39
  glad we finally have a dialogue. Whatever. Let's
• 0:43
  see here... Assault, murder, human trafficking,
• 0:52
  and illegal cybernetic augmentations. Quiet the
• 0:57
  rap sheet, my friend. Your laws, Blue. Not mine.
• 1:01
  Ain't no prisons in Coral City. You are right,
• 1:05
  but the companies are always looking for those
• 1:08
  who volunteer for the mines off world. Now, I
• 1:13
  can ensure you don't go there, but you need to
• 1:17
  tell me about the heist. You look smart enough
• 1:21
  already. Sounds like you already know everything
• 1:23
  about it. Entertain me. Tell me what happened.
• 1:30
  Start from the top. Do that, and I'll make arrangements
• 1:35
  for your release. You already know we stole from
• 1:40
  the Darwin transportation yard, alright? You
• 1:44
  know this. Let me go! Slow down. Slow down. We?
• 1:51
  Tell me about the others. Nothing to tell. Come
• 1:55
  on, Razor. You were the only one we found. Is
• 2:00
  there something you think I should know? You
• 2:03
  know what happened? Why are you so persistent
• 2:07
  on grilling me? We only know that you stole from
• 2:10
  a Darwin yard. And now, that stolen property
• 2:14
  is missing. Oh, I don't have it anymore. So you
• 2:20
  gave it to one of your accomplices then? You
• 2:25
  got no idea do you Blue? No idea on what? If
• 2:30
  you think I'm not a dead man already. You Blues
• 2:33
  always think you're so slick, so clever. Tell
• 2:39
  me what I am missing here. Catch me up. Educate
• 2:44
  me. Bring me some strong coffee. Then we will
• 2:50
  talk. I can see that you mean it. I can do that.
• 3:00
  Give me five minutes. But Razor, you better not
• 3:06
  be playing me. Well, the drugs I'm convincing,
• 3:11
  but here's your drink. What's the time? Razor,
• 3:21
  don't test me. You want me to tell you what happened?
• 3:26
  Tell me the time. It's 23 .70. Alright then.
• 3:36
  The Darwin transport yard. There we were. 13
• 3:41
  hours ago. I suppose it doesn't matter now. They're
• 3:47
  all gone. Worm. Myself. Gus and Violet. We approached
• 3:54
  the compound. So, who was the one that orchestrated
• 3:59
  the - Violet. She was the smart one. Don't bother.
• 4:06
  Officer, yes. No point in looking for her. Just
• 4:10
  listen, alright? We wanted to know, so fucking
• 4:14
  listen. Alright, alright. You're the boss. Tell
• 4:18
  me what happened next. Gus and - They delivered
• 4:24
  a large bomb to the depot. It served as the distraction
• 4:29
  to allow me to sneak into the facility. Violet,
• 4:35
  she called in the threat and was supposed to
• 4:40
  be on comms. The bomb that we uncovered was a
• 4:44
  dud. If the bomb was a dud, how do you explain
• 4:51
  the dead bodies we found? We didn't kill nobody.
• 4:59
  Despite making the job easier, Violet said we
• 5:03
  could hurt but not kill and only if necessary.
• 5:09
  Interesting. And did necessity arise? No. I got
• 5:18
  into the compound without a problem. Sneaking
• 5:23
  into these corporate dumps is nothing new to
• 5:25
  me. But immediately, something felt wrong. As
• 5:29
  I crossed a threshold into the building, I lost
• 5:32
  contact with Violet and the others. I assumed
• 5:37
  the depot had some kind of interference we didn't
• 5:40
  account for. And you didn't think to leave the
• 5:45
  way you came? No. When you start a job, you see
• 5:51
  it through. ExoSecurity. firewalls you can't
• 5:55
  bypass you take the risk they don't pay you easy
• 6:01
  okay so you said something happened yeah i kept
• 6:11
  going few guards were evacuating workers i slipped
• 6:16
  through one of the idiots tried to chase me he
• 6:20
  meant well he thought i was someone panicking
• 6:23
  But I only knocked him out. I did not murder
• 6:27
  him. And with that, I was able to get in, find
• 6:34
  the case of the prototype, take it and leave.
• 6:40
  There was some pretty heavy security in the room
• 6:43
  with the prototype. There were supposed to be
• 6:47
  automated guns, tripwires, security, EMP. Now,
• 6:55
  don't take this the wrong way, but your story
• 6:58
  doesn't seem to add up. None of that was there.
• 7:05
  Okay, why? I don't know. Don't ask me. I had
• 7:12
  a job, I went in, wrapped the case, and I left.
• 7:17
  And as you left, you didn't see the bodies? Of
• 7:23
  course, I saw the bodies. The guards. When it
• 7:27
  happened, I thought it was just a commotion.
• 7:31
  Maybe one of them was getting tricky with the
• 7:33
  bomb, the dud. I caught someone playing the hero
• 7:37
  trying to crack it. I didn't expect to walk amongst
• 7:40
  corpses when I left. Keep going. The person who
• 7:46
  did it, I only caught a glimpse of her. To begin
• 7:49
  with. Yes? Why are you looking around? Are you
• 7:56
  sure we're safe in here? We're safe. This is
• 8:00
  the CCPD precinct. It hasn't been an attack here
• 8:04
  since maybe 300 years. You can trust me in this.
• 8:09
  I only managed to see her coat as she fled. But
• 8:13
  the bodies, Edward, you can smell it, can't you?
• 8:17
  In the air. It was like metal ozone. You could
• 8:21
  taste it. Made your mouth flare up like an electronic
• 8:25
  rainbow. The guarder knocked out. He had his
• 8:31
  neural jack torn clean from the base of his skull.
• 8:34
  Given what she is, I'm guessing she did the same
• 8:37
  to all of them. You keep mentioning this she.
• 8:42
  Does this she have a name? Come on, you know
• 8:45
  who I'm talking about. No Razor, I do not. Going
• 8:50
  to have to tell me. The white mouse. You mean
• 8:54
  that, that, what, Trench City Merc? She's not
• 8:58
  just a Merc. Have you been living under... I'll
• 9:02
  be honest with you, Razor. I don't like your
• 9:05
  attitude. However... I'm plain dumb. I'll admit.
• 9:13
  It's the best way to get information. Now, continue.
• 9:17
  Just assume I'm stupid. Wish granted. I went
• 9:23
  to the secondary safe zone. Since comms were
• 9:28
  dead, we had a backup plan. It was under the
• 9:31
  assumption that perhaps they were caught, that
• 9:35
  you guys had captured the team. Little did I
• 9:38
  know how I wish that was true. And what happened?
• 9:43
  As I got to the secondary safe zone, that's when
• 9:47
  I saw her. The white mouse. She was standing
• 9:51
  there. holding three bloody jack chips in her
• 9:54
  hand. She made damn sure I could see them. And
• 9:59
  the white mouse? What did she do? Nothing. She
• 10:04
  didn't say a word. I knew what she wanted. So,
• 10:09
  I dropped the prototype. And I ran. There was
• 10:13
  no way I was dying too. I'm loyal to my friends,
• 10:17
  but not to corpses. See, you mentioned something
• 10:28
  interesting. Just one interesting thing. You
• 10:34
  said she was holding three jack chips in her
• 10:38
  hand. Yeah. Wasn't there five members of your
• 10:46
  crew? That means only yourself. One other possibly
• 10:53
  survived. I... Come on, Reza. Didn't take you
• 11:02
  for an intelligent man, but I don't think you're
• 11:04
  stupid. What aren't you telling me? I didn't...
• 11:10
  How did I fuck that up? I guess even street thugs
• 11:16
  can go into shock. If it's anything. it adds
• 11:21
  a um how can i say this nicely it adds validity
• 11:26
  to what you're saying you see i've thought perhaps
• 11:29
  you might be trying to deceive me but well if
• 11:34
  you're lying and you do know we survived and
• 11:37
  i give you kudos for being quite the actor if
• 11:41
  not well you have my sympathies for your friends
• 11:45
  don't need your fucking sympathy Ryo, getting
• 11:51
  back to it. Do you even understand what you stole?
• 11:57
  How am I supposed to know? Why do you care so
• 12:00
  much? Because a dangerous criminal now has top
• 12:07
  secrets. Who built the bomb? Worm. I guess Worm
• 12:13
  was the tech savvy one. Worm used to be an electric
• 12:17
  kid before he joined our little gang. Right,
• 12:20
  because that dud bomb was built using the white
• 12:24
  mouse's propriety blueprint. You could say she
• 12:27
  had copyright over it. Oh, what a thing in such
• 12:32
  a quaint little place. What the fuck are you
• 12:35
  talking about? See, Darwin's security wouldn't
• 12:40
  have panicked over a regular bomb. They are quite
• 12:43
  well versed in those things. Admirably so. No,
• 12:48
  you see they panicked because it was hers see
• 12:54
  you probably wouldn't understand Fully but she
• 12:58
  designs her bombs in a way that is worthy of
• 13:02
  praise multiple combinations Triggers and pretty
• 13:09
  much you don't know what's kind of set one off
• 13:13
  Anyway, you see the white mouse has become something
• 13:19
  of a problem. She has assaulted delegates. She
• 13:24
  has destroyed Terran vehicles. All round been
• 13:29
  an absolute menace to the good folk of Pacific
• 13:34
  City. Those that come here wanting to have a
• 13:39
  good time to share their wealth with the less
• 13:45
  fortunate. you should say and now she has gone
• 13:51
  along and stolen one of Darwin's prototypes something
• 13:57
  that was meant to go on display for the good
• 14:01
  folk to enjoy something that you were paid to
• 14:07
  steal now i don't know why she gave this worm
• 14:14
  fella the blueprint Yeah. Ugh. What the fuck?
• 14:50
  I know. I know. I'm sorry. You can't fucking
• 14:56
  do this. Ow! He's trying to kill me. It's so
• 15:01
  bad. After everything you went through. After
• 15:05
  all you survived. You can't fucking do this.
• 15:10
  You're CCPD. Rest assured. if it brings you any
• 15:14
  consolation the ccpd didn't want me here either
• 15:19
  see i am what they call a quality assurance officer
• 15:24
  and unfortunately to ensure the quality for my
• 15:31
  clients you only need to ask some questions only
• 15:34
  that pink matter in your head can tell me i know
• 15:39
  i know i'm sorry don't worry This isn't going
• 15:43
  to hurt a lot. Not for me, anyway. Fuck you,
• 15:49
  you... I know, I know. I'm a terrible person.
• 15:53
  But hey, I don't owe you anything once you're
• 15:56
  a corpse, right? The hell? Already there, mate.
• 16:01
  Already there. Whether you know this, White Mouse...
• 16:09
  Whether she is a hero or just simply a gun for
• 16:14
  hire. I caution you, listener. Keep whatever
• 16:19
  shady dealings you must have to a minimum. Because
• 16:23
  while these corporate hounds are about as they
• 16:27
  track their prey, I must tell you that they have
• 16:31
  also developed a taste for blood. They will stop
• 16:34
  at nothing to please their masters. So I urge
• 16:37
  you. Double check those blind spots. Make sure
• 16:42
  your weapons are loaded. Make sure you can trust
• 16:45
  the person you bring with you on your next job.
• 16:48
  And above all else... Stay safe. Good night.
• 16:55
  And good luck. Ink signing off. Well, that was
• 17:06
  not... how i saw that ending hi listeners or
• 17:11
  listener it's me neon you probably remember me
• 17:18
  but this isn't this isn't about me i just wanted
• 17:23
  to drop a quick message before i sign everything
• 17:25
  off for the night all the logs that are restored
• 17:29
  and crafted take a lot of time so if you would
• 17:33
  like to support ink and neon just consider doing
• 17:37
  the whole liking and rating and all that sort
• 17:40
  of stuff on whatever channels you're listening
• 17:43
  on I know it's boring and it is a lot to ask
• 17:46
  but it really does help us expand our reach so
• 17:52
  we can keep doing this not that I think ink is
• 17:55
  gonna stop anytime soon but I'm sure he'd appreciate
• 17:59
  it thank you so much and as ink said please be
• 18:04
  careful out there No matter what you're doing,
• 18:08
  all right? There are a lot of bad people. But
• 18:10
  you guys, you might be the good ones. Good night,
• 18:14
  everyone.