Gaming The System [Book One]

by Parker Mayhem

  “I'm trying, I'm trying, this isn't exactly the easiest thing to explain to the DRIV,” Rico said without looking up.

  “We'll lose them.”

  Rico handled her secondhand driving surprisingly well as he rapidly tapped the instructions into the dash panel and soon they were off down the road after the bikes.

  The van handled the odd commands rather well. Rico had to physically touch coordinate after coordinate, a block or two ahead, trying to match and predict the Reaper's course.

  “You could throw it into manual,” Piper suggested unable to keep the excitement and frustration from her voice.

  Rico stared her down a moment before resuming his frantic taps on the screen.

  “I thought we were going for stealth and blending in and shit,” Rico said.

  "I don't care what you have to do, just don't lose them. I want to know where they're going. What they're up to?" Piper said as she reviewed the footage she'd taken at the bar.

  "Damn it!" She'd stopped recording only moments before the fight, and she'd been too stunned to start up again. "I didn't get any of it. We missed it all."

  She dropped her Jackpad in her lap and hit the dash.

  "No worries. I got you,” Rico said.

  A second later, her screen lit up and a notification flashed in her ocular display. She hit play.

  "Oh my god! I could fuckin' kiss you right now!"

  "This ain't amateur hour, you know?”

  Of course, it wasn't. Rico may be unconventional and downright unprofessional, but he was a hell of a camera guy. Amazing at his craft. She should've known better than to doubt him or his abilities.

  "You know who else isn't an amateur..." Piper said with a large grin as she pulled out the knife. "me!"

  Rico glanced from the road to her. "Oh shit. Nice. I can't believe you took it. I didn't even—“

  "Notice? Yeah, well, let's be honest, you were too busy crushin' on them to notice anything."

  "Ouch," Rico said with a fake pout.

  “Truth hurts sometimes,” Piper said with a huge grin.

  Rico cracked a smile back as their van slowed automatically behind a line of cars at a light. Piper glanced through the windshield, annoyed they had slowed and tried to find where their prey was.

  "Holy shit! Did you see that?" Rico shouted, pointing through the glass. "They're fucking insane!"

  She did see that and they were fucking insane. Piper watched in awe as the Reapers swerved in and out of the vehicles, making their way towards the intersection.

  “Shit,” Rico breathed, bouncing his leg.

  “Do it, manual, go. We're losing them!”

  Rico leaned forward, frantically searching for the right setting, the right button.

  “Come on!”

  “Got it!” Rico tapped a button and the panel in front of him slid up, allowing a small bowtie shaped steering wheel to slide out.

  The van’s computer warned them against the action in its casual female voice. Piper half expected it to start spouting the crash and fatality statistics of self-driving.

  Shut up, shut up, shut up!

  Piper pawed at the screen until the voice stopped.

  “Here it goes,” Rico said softly.

  She didn't miss the way his hands trembled as he took hold of the foreign object.

  “You got this,” Piper said with a nod.

  The van jerked to the left as Rico steered them out onto the opposite side of the road.

  “Please return to the highlighted route.” The DRIV scolded them. “Please return to the highlighted route.”

  Piper smacked the DRIV screen several times wanting to shut the damn thing up. It seemed to work for the moment.

  “Yes, there they are!” Piper shouted.

  She smacked Rico in the arm and he swerved, narrowly missing an oncoming vehicle.

  "Fuck!" Rico cursed as he glanced behind them.

  He settled back into his seat, stretching his neck. His hands trembling even worse. Piper gripped the arm of her seat, trying to calm her own shaking limbs.

  “I thought you said you knew how to drive?”

  “I do, do...I thought I did, it's not like I've had a lot of practice.” Rico’s voice had a slight tremor. “It doesn't look that hard!”

  "Well, maybe don't get us killed."

  "Ha ha. Thanks for the advice," Rico said. "What happened to wanting to kiss me?"

  "A momentary lapse of sanity." She teased back. "It won't happen again."

  "Doubtful. You know you can't resist me."

  Piper shook her head with a laugh. The thrill was intoxicating. She wanted to ride that high the rest of the night. Keep that momentum. They'd have one amazing film at the end of this. They needed to find the damn Reapers.

  They flew past another vehicle and Piper hit the dash again. "There! There!"

  "I see 'em."

  "Don't get too close."

  "I know what I'm doing."

  That made one of them. She wasn't really sure what they were doing. What exactly were they trying to accomplish? Run them off the road? Force an interview? She only knew they'd found something truly interesting, something people would pay to see. They needed to dig in deeper, they had to know more about them.

  Ahead of them, the Reapers darted into the oncoming lane and passed several cars. Piper stiffened.

  "They see us," she said as she grabbed the "Oh shit handle".

  "No, it's fine," Rico said as he waited for a chance to pass the car too.

  She bounced her leg in her seat. It wasn't working, they were going to lose them.

  Rico gunned the throttle and within a few seconds they'd nearly caught up to the Reapers again. A light ahead turned red and several cars slowed. She felt their van slow as the dash display flashed and verbally bitched about their rapid approach. Rico prepared to stop.

  The rumble of the Reaper's engines picked up and Piper stared in awe as the two bikes swerved around the stopped vehicles and blasted through the intersection.

  "Oh shit!" Rico said as Brevek narrowly missed a crossing car. "I'm doing it, I'm doing it,” he chanted.

  She couldn't tell if he was preparing himself or her for what he was about to do.

  Piper closed her eyes as she felt the force push her back in her seat. Next to her, Rico screamed like a mad man on an adrenaline high as he swerved again into the oncoming lanes and plowed through the intersection.

  Horns blared around them, and she was positive they had been flipped off by more than one angry driver.

  "Holy fuck!" Rico laughed and punched the ceiling several times in exhilaration.

  When she finally opened her eyes, she saw the taillights of the motorcycles up ahead. They had made it through. By some miracle, they were still alive. She whipped around in her seat and stared out the back window, praying they hadn't ended someone else's life.

  Somehow they'd cheated death and spared everyone else's too. She let out a deep breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding, then a yell of excitement of her own.

  Again, the engines raged louder as the Reapers sped ahead.

  "They know," Rico said.

  "They know," Piper agreed.

  She wanted to tell that she'd already pointed that out, but where would that get them?

  “Now what?”

  “Don't lose ‘em.”

  “Obviously,” Rico said with a quick glance her way.

  "Go, go!" Piper shouted as they came upon another intersection.

  They were already spotted, they might as well try to catch them.

  The van raced faster as Rico pulled them in and out of lanes, around slower and stopped cars, into oncoming traffic and through red lights. Each near miss sent their DRIV computer into fits.

  “Please return to the highlighted route.”

  “Can we shut that bitch up?” Rico shouted.

  “I wish I knew how!”

  Piper had taken up slamming the display every time the voice started berating them.
>
  The traffic seemed to thin out the farther they tailed the Reapers into a trashy, sad excuse for a city. It might have once been a thriving town, but not any longer. Half the buildings looked ancient and decrepit. Empty shells of the urban titans they once were. It was safe to say they'd detoured into the Dead Zone slums. There was shitty, then there was shitty.

  Graffiti and vandalism blanketed almost every surface that rushed by their windows. She couldn't imagine being out there alone. Thank God Rico's judgment was as poor as her own.

  The Reapers cut left down an alley and Rico tried to follow. Maneuvering the much clunkier van proved to be a challenge. The side glanced off the edge of a building with a loud CRUNCH, but they still managed to squeeze down the narrow pass.

  "They took the next left." Piper ignored the cosmetic damage and focused on keeping her eyes on the Reapers.

  She had to hand it to Rico, he took the turn like a pro, even avoided any further damage. They came to a screeching halt when the alley narrowed further and makeshift walkways across the gap blocked their path.

  "Damn it!" Piper smacked the hand rest on her door.

  Rico leaned forward, shifting in his seat as he glanced behind them through the back window.

  Holy shit, he's going to try it.

  The dash screen showed the view from the backup cameras but Piper couldn't stop herself from turning around too.

  She closed her eyes and hunched down in her seat as Rico tried to reverse back around the corner. The scraping, grinding sound of the metal on brick, knotted her stomach. She tried to tell herself it didn't matter. That it was all in the pursuit of the masterpiece. Once it was done they could afford to wreck a hundred stupid vans.

  Piper tapped her foot impatiently. It was taking too long. They were losing them for sure. She cursed DRIV voice as it stated the obvious. “Warning close proximity…”

  Yeah, no fucking shit.

  Of course it couldn't offer a DRIV assist out. She tried. Several times, punching in several coordinates outside the damned alley.

  “Route not available.”

  Thanks for nothing, lousy piece of…

  “Route not available.”

  Fuck it!

  She grabbed the door handle and pushed.

  “Hey, what are—” Rico started but she was already off and running.

  Behind her, she heard Rico cursing as the door slammed shut.

  She was running. Her mind solely driven by one thought one goal. She had to find them.

  She ran deeper into the alley, pushing on, farther than the van had been able to go. She ducked under some low hanging boards and fallen debris, wondering how the hell the Reapers had made it through. When she made it out onto the other street, she stopped, turning in the emptiness. They were just gone. Disappeared. Nothing. She listened for the ferocious roar of the engines and realized she hadn't heard them for quite some time. They'd failed.

  She felt like hitting something, throwing something, anything destructive but when she finally let herself scan her surroundings a little closer, her boldness and nerve vanished.

  Dark buildings towered over her, making the ghostly street seem even darker. She was suddenly very aware of how alone she was.

  Several times she swore she heard rustling or saw a figure move in the shadows. She was vulnerable, exposed. She felt like she was being watched.

  The hair at the back of her neck crept up on edge, sending an unwelcome chill down her spine.

  Her legs begged her to run and she took a step back toward the alley when a flood of light hit her and her muscles froze.

  Relief hit her full in the gut as she recognized the profile of the van framed in the light.

  “Jesus Christ! You scared me! What the fuck were you thinking?” Rico shouted as he hopped from the van and ran toward her.

  “We lost them! I don't know how but we did.”

  Rico looked incredulous. She tried to force a smile she didn't feel.

  “We'll get ‘em next time. Can we go? Please?”

  She nodded slowly and followed him back to the van. She didn't think they'd get another chance. The reapers wouldn't let them tail them again. Not when they knew they were being watched. No, the moment had passed. The opportunity, lost.

  Ch 24 Anthony Ortiz

  There was a time when the night shift was the easiest. Or at least that's what Ortiz imagined. Sure, the hours were shit, but there was usually an abundance of "down time". All the inmates locked down, lights out; a cakewalk really. Or it should've been. That all dissipated the moment they gamed the system.

  It seemed like the second the lights cut out, all hell broke loose. Like it was somehow a private invitation for chaos. Instead of busting drug deals and seizing contraband, you spent the shift trying to stop them from flooding their cells and starting fires.

  Ortiz reminded himself of the hefty shift differential. It was the only way he could make it. Most of the shift, he felt more like a zombie than himself. Sluggish. The adrenaline of stomping out a mattress fire only did so much to wake you up. The crash after the buzz was horrendous, the fog almost seemed to swallow him whole. A few times, he let himself into the kitchen's walk-in freezer to wake himself up. Or hurry back to the break room to pound multiple cups of coffee. The last thing he wanted was to go down because his senses were dulled. Because he'd gotten careless and exhausted himself. Not before he had a chance to realize his dream. Life was a gift, granted, sometimes a shitty gift, but you needed to make a go of it and live deliberately.

  When his time was finally up, he retreated to his locker, thankful the other officers had already punched out. He wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone, especially the meat heads that populated the shift. It was like Malone had grabbed Jenkins and hit clone in some lab somewhere. Dealing with the one was bad enough. Night shift seemed to attract all the guys playing tough, but when it really came down to it, they were just too chicken shit to sign up for MAX. He shouldn’t judge, he knew that. It wasn’t like he’d committed either, but he was willing to bet he’d gotten a hell of lot further than they had. Looking back, he could only recall one person signing up for MAX since he started, and it had been a woman. Vera, or something like that, he couldn’t quite remember. It had been only a few months after he started but he couldn’t recall anything else about her other than the day she signed up. That, he would never forget. Everyone looked on watching her closely, not quite believing what they were seeing. When she’d left, there were murmured whispers trailing her. The air was heavy, like they had just watched her sign her own death warrant. Maybe she had. He hadn’t heard if she was still around. Still alive. Probably quit. That’s what usually happened. People realized the deadly mistake in the first week and bailed.

  Ortiz shut his eyes and took a deep breath. It was one shift and it was over. He'd made it. He just wanted to go back to his shitty apartment and crash. Recharge. He could probably sleep the whole weekend.

  Ortiz carefully packed his bag with the couple of spare uniforms he kept on hand. He'd learned that lesson the rough way his first week. It wasn't uncommon for an inmate to spit or throw, some other horrifying bodily function, at you. And some god awful disease wasn't in his long-term plans.

  He tossed his bag over his shoulder and shut his locker before moving to the time clock. He swiped his badge and placed his palm to the scanner. The LED at the top registered his punch with a green light and he headed for the door.

  He walked down the deserted corridor towards the exit and saw the high-security door from the admin building open. Cursing his luck, he slowed down. The last thing he wanted was to have to make nice with Malone, Delgado, or some other corporate type. It was one thing to be on the clock and have to interact but he'd punched out. They were on his time now.

  He stayed tucked tightly in the shadows and prayed for a little good luck. To his surprise, a familiar non-corporate face came out.

  Ortiz glanced over his shoulder, half expecting Piper or Rico to appear. He was sure h
e remembered them taking Jenkins up on his offer of a night out on the town. Jason had turned it down but he should've taken off hours ago. Hell, Ortiz had seen him leave with them. So why was Jason leaving the admin building in the middle of the night?

  Of course, there was a logical explanation. Ortiz knew himself well enough to know his suspicious nature was getting the best of him. Making him see things that weren't there. Populating every nefarious thought in his head. Being surrounded by cons had a way of twisting the good in you and crushing your optimistic view of people. If he ever had one. He liked to think his had been stomped out much earlier in life. The prison system was just a cautionary reminder.

  Ortiz backed against the wall and watched Jason push his way through the first set of doors. He was probably more like himself. A driven, goal oriented person; he'd probably stayed behind to finish some sound bytes or an interview. He probably wanted to be out of that shit hole just as bad as he did. The sooner the better. He couldn't blame him for that. Most rookies only lasted a couple of weeks before they figured that out and ran the other way.

  Still...the situation just didn't quite sit right with him.

  Ch 25 Piper LaRue

  Piper folded her arms and leaned back in her chair as she listened to the inmate talk. She was exhausted. They'd stayed out searching for any signs of the Reapers. It was like they just vanished. Another dead end.

  They were extremely good at what they did, she’d give them that. They’d wasted the entire weekend sorting through the slums, scanning for the Reaper’s bikes or the demons themselves, and still had come up with nothing.

  Story of my fucking life.

  She kept eye contact with the inmate as he spoke, thankful the guy seemed to love to talk. Truth be told, she didn't have the energy to guide or pry the interesting stuff from him. Hopefully, he’d come up with it all on his own. He seemed to be doing a half way decent job, so she let him continue.

  "Everyday is about survival. Will I live long enough to see tomorrow? Is this the moment it all ends?" The inmate's eyes glossed over as if lost in introspection. "Prison was dangerous enough before, but now..."