It was a nice haul. A card for every kill. Cards for level ups. Cards for the occasional this or that. It added up to some nice stacks. We started laying them out and seeing what we could do with them.

We were able to combine two more copies of Bloody Knuckles into another Bruiser, then combine two of those into a new card called Enforcer. This one was rare.

 

 

Enforcer

Level 1 (Rare)(2CP)

Five times a day, activate for bonus 6-30 physical damage. Lasts 1 minute, 30 second cooldown.

Strength +1

Natural Armor +20

“Boss wants to see you. He said I wasn’t to take no for an answer.”

It was a really good card. To get another copy of Enforcer, we’d have to wait for another four copies of Bloody Knuckles, which could have otherwise been leveled into a Level 4 card dealing 4-32 damage, but the higher minimum and the vast potential on level ups made this new rare a much superior card. And that honestly seemed worth it.

And it didn’t provide the ally support that Bruiser did, but it felt like more of a priority right now to maximize individual damage capability.

We had a good chuckle over the picture, though. Looked a lot more like a gentleman from a beer ad than someone who would break your legs for not paying up.

We got another two copies of Static Shock, so I took the opportunity to meld them together. I briefly contemplated keeping them separate and instead distributing them to the other players back at the apartments, but we were the muscle and it felt necessary to keep as as tough as possible.

The resulting uncommon that emerged when the light died down was called Volt Surge.

 

 

Volt Surge

Level 1 (Uncommon)(2CP)

Activate three times a day for a bonus of 1-8 lightning damage on hand to hand and melee attacks. Lasts 1 minute.

While active, you have a 10% chance to stun an enemy for 1 second.

‘Volts, Amps, Ohms… doesn’t matter much as long as they dance when you apply the current.’

 

A level 2 Static Shock would have delivered 2-8 lightning damage on a 5 minute cool down, and I groaned at the resulting card. But Calamari gave a low whistle when the new card appeared.

Turns out that Stun was pretty great.

He explained that stun completely incapacitated opponents, making them unable to act at all. If they were spellcasters it stopped their spells in the middle of being cast.

And even though the power could only be activated three times a day, that minute of activation had a 10% chance of stunning your opponent on each hand to hand and melee strike.

“Sorry guys, I’m keeping this,” I told them, and equipped it again. Chuck had my number, and I needed the insurance for when he slithered back into my life after some revenge.

We received a card called Boosted Reflexes: Speed.

 

Level 1 (Common)(2CP)

Once this card is equipped, only a trained cyber doc or surgeon may remove it without killing the owner.

Cannot be tripped or thrown. (Passive ability).

Once a day, you can activate to double your speed for one hour. Each time after that, you take 6-18 shock damage that cannot be soaked.

“Sure they were fast, but all of them had that awful expression of constant misery and bitterness of living down in the Dregs, always breathing in the poisonous shit that hung in the lower levels.”

 

Chad stared at the card, licking his lips in a way that put me in mind of my grandmother at a buffet line.

It made me smile. A good memory for a change.

“Dude, this card is awesome!” he raved, standing over the thing.

I swore politely. “It’s probably the worst card in our mix. These cybernetic cards, you can’t drop them like you can the rest of them. And they hurt like hell when you core them. They’re not always bad, but they aren’t versatile.”

He sighed. “Man, yeah, makes sense. But I could be the Flash!”

We all had a snicker at that before putting the card aside and hoping to get several duplicates. Maybe we could mash them together into something better.

There was a Cybernetic Eye rare, which had the same effect: it was going to replace your eye forever, and only a cyber doc could remove it… at which point you’d have to live the life of a pirate, or get a different cybernetic eye.

 

 

Cybernetic Eye

Level 1 (Rare)(2CP)

Once this card is equipped, only a trained cyber doc or surgeon may remove it without killing the owner. Your eye is permanently replaced.

Night sight, infrared sight, limited x-ray vision

+3 Passive Perception.

“He lost his eye after a missed shot. They say he never missed again after that.”

 

We got several passive bonus cards for Agility, a Good Luck Charm that boosted luck passively, and a Strict Workout Regimen, which boosted Strength by 1. We even got a couple that boosted skills slightly. Since skill gains were so cheap and easy, I put them in the ‘lame cards’ pile.

Everyone grabbed cards when they wanted them, and anything that no one wanted was set aside to see what they might be combined to make later. As the task went on, I pulled out and learned Fiery Clash, Smoker’s Wit, Shake Ya Moneymaker, Iron Defense, and Roly Poly Battle Bot. I failed to learn Enforcer and had to watch on as the card blazed away into nothing ness. But when a fourth Bloody Knuckles appeared, I melded that and made another Enforcer. Which I promptly slotted into my card slot.

And I pocketed Joker’s Wild. Who knew when that card would come in handy.

While we all filled up on cards, the discussion turned darker.

We began talking about whether or not we could just go and murder any NPCs we came across. Get cards, loot, XPs, and level up lickety-split, no problem.

But, seeing that real people were indistinguishable from the NPCs made of nano goop, I didn’t feel this was a good way to go about it. I opened my mouth to make that very point when our octo-friend butted in.

“Killing tens of thousands of civilians sure will be hungry work!” Calamari said. We all paused, and stared at him.

“What are you talking about? I don’t think we’ve ever killed anything for less than a hundred XP,” Beer Pong said, eyeing him with the glassy eyes of six beers in. “That’s dumb. You’re dumb.”

Calamari did a little bit of a dance and a twirl. “Defenseless civilians count as 1xp! They are the easiest enemies in the system and RANKED ACCORDINGLY!” His voice raised on those last words were giddy, and he squealed.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. Of course they were. It was, to be honest, a bit of a relief. I really did not want to run around killing families, even if they were robots disguised as people. But, at the same time, I could imagine killing thousands quickly, which made the gears turn a bit. I could just go to Heso Market with a rocket launcher and level up like crazy.

Calamari shook his adorable head, seeming to read my mind.

“There’s also reputation to consider!” Calamari said, and charged me another 5 Credits.

Oh yeah, that. Until I was actually powerful, going full murderhobo would lead to a bunch of quests against me, and I’d go the way of the Dr. Kevin Brightley. When the missiles and powered armor robot mech suits could show up in flying cars, I didn’t think I’d last long.

We began to heap them into piles after that: passive stat abilities, activated combat abilities (we got a couple for ranged weapons that looked quite tempting), auras, and cybernetic enhancements. The auras ranged from Charm boosts to make you more alluring to anyone who might find you attractive, Vigilance boosts that put everybody on something like a caffeinated alert status, to Strength or Constitution boosts.

There was even one that gave everybody a random elemental resistance, but only at 10%, which seemed like really low. Still, leveled up correctly over time, they could be bumped up to a level 5 which was a healthy 50%.

We’d keep them on hand.

And there were so many cybernetic-based cards. Cybernetics we saw: cyber hand, reverse articulated cyber legs (read: horse legs made of metal), a carbon fiber cyber skull, and a pectoral dart launcher.

The guys had a hoot over the last one. The picture on the card was two long, blowpipe nipples. It looks absolutely ridiculous.

We got several cards that granted spells as well, but they all required you to be a Caster class, such as Street Shaman, Street Sorcerer, or Adept, whatever those were.

We couldn’t even read them to be honest beyond those requirements.

Just got a notification that said Read Magic Skill 1 required and showed us a card and graphic full of nonsense letters. I was sure Doug would know, but I wasn’t about to go rewarding him with free crap after the stunt he’d pulled. He hadn’t done a single redeeming thing, even if he had reupholstered his entire apartment.

It was on my dime and that couldn’t fly.

The last one we got was a Summonation. A summon Cyber Ninja, to be precise.

 

 

Cyber Ninja

Level 1 Uncommon

Activate up to 3 times per day for 1 minute.

Minion is created from the HoloNet energies swirling in the city. Cyber Ninja has 14 in all attributes, deals 4-8 melee or 3-6 ranged damage, then vanishes into pixels. Each Cyber Ninja arrives with a different weapon. While active, your Finesse is considered +1.

“Ninja, Vanish!” –famed ninja warlord MS.

“Weird.”

“So three times a day for only a minute at a time?” Dragon asked, frowning. Like me, he was considering how to use a sudden ally materializing out of nowhere in tactical terms. Baffle your friends! Surprise your enemies!

“Summoned minions may appear within three feet of you!” Calamari supplied VERY CHEERFULLY.

Dragon suggested dropping the ninja on top of an enemy, but Calamari poo-poohed that idea, given that the ninja was made up of something called ‘digitized light fiber’. Which was something like neon tubing and weighed around ten pounds total.

“Still, if we’re outnumbered or being chased, suddenly there’s a ninja to stop someone coming after us, or to take fire while we pop up and take out our targets.”

“It does sound like an excellent distraction,” Sug said.

Dragon, who had been leaving through a pile of cards in front of him, stood up abruptly, sending them flying all over the place. “Guys, I’m taking up the heavy weapon. Stayin’s machine gun is staying with me.”

We hustled over to look at what he was talking about. It was a card. It flashed silver as he twiddled it in his fingers, and a moment later we all saw a projection of it cast up into the air before us.

We got the boys outfitted, finally. Dragon went with a ranged weapon booster called Suppressing Fire.

 

 

Suppressing Fire

Level 1 Uncommon

Allow activation and fire of heavy machine guns without tripod and without penalty while mobile for one minute. Allow unlimited ammunition for one minute.

Activate 3 times a day while holding a heavy ranged weapon to add 5 ranks to your next Intimidation skill check. 1 minute cooldown.

“A Z pattern while charging them, that’s how you turn suppressive fire into SUPPRESSIVE FIRE.”

It was a good card. We’d have to get the crafters to make Beer Pong his own machine gun because I could see in the gleam of Dragon’s eyes that he was ever going to give up Stayin’s weapon.

“Good choice,” I said. “Phil, I saw you holding two cards earlier. Make a decision on them?”

Phil was the mechanic and while he’d proven himself in combat, he had also been the least assertive on the battlefield. I figured he would go for something more along the lines of his original military occupational specialty, and he didn’t disappoint.

“Poombah, yeah, I’ve just got one more slot open and I can’t decide,” he waffled, holding up the two cards in question. They glimmered into being.

 

 

Hotwire

Level 1 Uncommon

Activate once a day to turn on a vehicle you’ve gained access to. Vehicles with intrusion countermeasures have a 60% chance to lock you out.

You gain +1 Perception while this card is equipped.

“I ain’t never met a vehicle that don’t give it up with the proper touch.”

 

Take Aim

Level 1 Rare

Activate 3 times a day to automatically triple-critical a visible target from an ambush position using a long-barreled ballistic rifle. No cooldown.

You gain the conditions Sight Picture, Steady Aim, and ‘Breathe Relax Aim Squeeze’ when setting up for a snipe shot.

Wind and other natural conditions have no effect on you sniper shot.

“Don’t try to run. You will only die tired.”

My first thought was all-warrior. Go for the sniper card. I could see myself with that card, sneaking through the brush on some mountain hightop, or Gojira-highrise, kneeling down, lining up my reticle.

But this was Phil. And Phil was a mechanic. Plus the ability to just jank some vehicles was pretty badass on its own. The more I thought about it, the more certain I was that Hotwire was exactly what we needed.

“Great picks, Phil. I’d take Hotwire if I was you. Seems like it’s right up your alley.”

He grinned. “Thanks, Poombah.”

“Zoink,” Ice said, laughing, as he plucked Take Aim from the man’s hand. “Thanks for doing my homework, sucka!”

We all chuckled. It was a damn good choice for him.

“Don’t suppose anyone found a tank in those cards?” Sug asked. He had cards laid out on the floor in front of him, and his face showed what he thought of them.

“I think that’s the sort of thing I’ve gotta yank for ya,” Phil said. He winked. “But, damn, if anyone does find a card that is also, somehow, a vehicle — like some sort of transformer card, give it over. I watched all that stuff as a kid and I can’t imagine anything better than being a giant robot.”

I smiled. “Yeah, we’ll make sure to do that. Listen. You can all keep checking through the cards as long as you want. Feel free to take some reserves too, in case you ever feel the need to swap slots at the start of a new day. I’ve gotta hit the hay. Tomorrow I’m going to go find Doug, see if he got that intel that we need. We have a quest coming, one that is gonna mean major things to us all here. Might even be part of the way out of this whole place, and a step close to getting to Deus Ex.”