All Chapters of The Caffeine System: Critical Heart Protocol: Chapter 81
- Chapter 90
164 chapters
Chapter 80: A Message from the Past
Three Hours Before the Deadly Test Drive.While Vanya and Luna were busy welding steel plates around the cabin of "The Toxic Goose" with a deafening noise, Raka was assigned to do a final sweep of the garage area."Find anything useful, Captain Limp," Vanya commanded from the truck's roof, her welding goggles reflecting the sparks. "AA batteries, spare copper wire, a flashlight, or even duct tape. Everything. We're not coming back to this place."Raka snorted softly, his healthy left hand sweeping across the dusty shelves in the garage manager's office, located on the mezzanine floor.His right shoulder was still tightly wrapped in a sling, and any sudden movement made his mechanical heart beat uncomfortably.Click-whirrr.79,800The office was a mess. Invoice papers were scattered on the dirty linoleum floor, its synthetic leather swivel chair was torn to shreds, and a desk calendar was frozen on the month the apocalypse began, two years ago. The smell of dust and mold filled the nar
Chapter 81: The Sound of a Motorcycle in the Distance
Raka Adhitama gripped the steering wheel with his left hand, while his right arm, still in a sling, rested stiffly in his lap. Behind his dirty shirt, the red digital number flickered with a calm yet intimidating rhythm. Click-whirrr.79,010 "Perimeter status, Vanya?" Raka whispered into the dashboard intercom, his eyes staring intently at the road ahead, illuminated only by the truck's iron-barred spotlights. "The surrounding area appears clear of massive biological signs, Captain," Vanya's voice came through Raka's earpiece, accompanied by the sound of rapid typing on a keyboard. "My thermal sensors aren't picking up anything but mutant rats in the sewers. Keep heading towards the northern sector toll gate. If we can reach the highway, we can cut our travel time by three hours." Raka nodded slowly. Beside him, Baginda was fast asleep in its foam "nest" in the passenger s
Chapter 82: Fifth Gear
VROOOOAAARRR!The diesel engine of 'The Toxic Goose' roared under the trembling press of Raka's left foot.The entire body of the truck, now clad in scrap steel plates, vibrated violently, as if its bolts were ready to come loose one by one and send them all flying apart into metal fragments.Raka gripped the steering wheel with a force that could have broken plastic. His eyes were fixed straight ahead, on the desolate, dark highway littered with wrecked vehicles.Only the truck's spotlights provided a hole of light in the thick darkness that swallowed everything."Vanya! This truck wasn't designed to go a hundred kilometers per hour on a road full of potholes!" Raka shouted into the intercom, his voice hoarse with dust and fear."Stop complaining, Captain!"Vanya's voice crackled in Raka's earpiece, accompanied by the clanking of medical equipment clashing in the back."The engine pressure is still within tolerance limits. At least according to my untested calculations. Keep your foo
Chapter 83: Balance on the Asphalt
SKREEEEEEKKKK! The screech of metal against asphalt exploded, deafening anyone inside the cabin. The rear left tire of The Toxic Goose had been shredded to pieces, leaving only the steel rim, which was now dragging on the road, spewing a waterfall of blue and orange sparks into the night air. The truck tilted to the left. Raka felt his body being thrown against the driver's door, while the steering wheel in his hands vibrated so violently that his palms felt numb. "HOLD THE WHEEL, RAKA! DON'T HIT THE BRAKES!" Vanya screamed from the intercom, her voice breaking up with the sound of clattering objects in the back. "I'M TRYING, DAMN IT!" Raka retorted, his teeth gritted as he fought the weight of the steering wheel, which was trying to slam the truck into the median. "Vanya! Activate that automatic tire patch system now or we're going to flip!" "Damn it! Hold o
Chapter 84: The Flesh Anchor
GRRRRRRRRRR! "Vanya! The engine's going to blow!" Raka screamed, his left foot stomping the gas pedal to the floor of the cabin. "He's holding us like a ship's anchor!" The diesel engine of The Toxic Goose let out a heart-wrenching roar, as if the pistons inside were being forced to destroy themselves. The speedometer needle on the dashboard vibrated violently, dropping slowly but surely. 70... 65... and finally settling rigidly at 60 kilometers per hour. In the rearview mirror, the sight was horrifying. The chain connecting the Rider's motorcycle to the truck's rear bumper wasn't static. It was pulsating. A layer of reddish flesh wrapped around the steel wire strands, emitting hot steam every time the Rider forcefully pulled his bike's brakes to add more load to Raka's truck. "Raka! I can't fix the tire patching system if the speed keeps dropping!"&n
Chapter 85: Espresso at Over 100 KM/H
"One swing. Focus, Raka. Don't look down!" he muttered to himself, even though his teeth were chattering violently.The wind howled past Raka's ears, carrying the smell of burning rubber and a foul odor from the bio-mechanical motorcycle behind him.His free right hand now felt for the weathered wooden handle of 'The Builder's Wrath' at his waist.[System: Relative Speed Detection: 55 km/h.][Available Kinetic Energy: Very High.][Procedure: Use the truck's inertia as a force multiplier. Don't miss, or you'll become a permanent stain on this asphalt.]‘Shut up! I know!’ Raka snapped internally.In the cabin's rearview mirror, Raka could see Baginda still pressing its chest against the steering wheel with a ridiculously panicked face.The goose was actually keeping the truck straight, even though its wings occasionally hit the turn signal lever.Raka took a deep breath, locking his gaze on the pulsating, taut chain of flesh between the truck and the Rider's motorcycle.He twisted his b
Chapter 86: The Walking Tire Shield
STAP! STAP! STAP!The first impact of Raka's feet on the highway asphalt felt like trying to land on a spinning grinding disc.The momentum of 105 kilometers per hour nearly snapped his ankles, but the A.E.G.I.S reactor in his chest pulsed with a painful, high frequency, sending an instant command to all his motor nerves.‘Damn it! Hot! Hot!’ Raka screamed in his head.The world around him turned into blurry streaks. The truck "The Toxic Goose" roared right beside him on his left, while 'The Rider' glided on his right.Raka was squeezed between two giant machines, running on the deadly black asphalt.[System: Activating Kinetic Synchronization. Mode: Accelerated Road-Runner. BPM: 280 (Mechanically Compensated). Warning: Shoe sole temperature is rising drastically. You're burning rubber, Raka. Literally.]"Vanya! I'm running in hell!" Raka shouted towards the intercom, his eyes squinting against the wind that felt like razor blades."Good! Don't slow down!"Vanya's voice came from the
Chapter 87: Barista on the Front Line
CRACK!The circular saw blade from the Rider's front wheel slammed into the asphalt surface, creating a blinding shower of sparks and leaving a deep gash right under the heel of Raka's shoe."Woah!"Raka performed a short horizontal leap. In a normal world, jumping on asphalt at 120 kilometers per hour would be the fastest way to shatter every bone in one's legs.However, for Raka, the leap felt like a slow-motion push from a steel spring.He landed back on one foot, the sole of his shoe making a nauseating screeching sound. White smoke from the burning rubber now billowed up his pant legs.[System: Perfect Maneuver! Style Score: 9/10. Shoe Sole Integrity: 4%. Warning: You are now running on a layer of thread and hope. If you jump one more time, you will land barefoot.]"System, stop giving me a score! Give me a solution!" Raka shouted.His breath felt like fire burning his throat. His mechanical heart whirred with an increasingly high-pitched sound, vibrating violently behind the pol
Chapter 88: A Leap of Faith
"I'm going to die..." Raka whispered, his heart pounding at 350. "I'm really going to die today." The world seemed to stop spinning in Raka's eyes. Ahead, the highway asphalt was severed, leaving a twenty-meter-wide gaping chasm with total darkness below. The remnants of concrete and rebar jutting out from the broken bridge looked like giant teeth ready to chew up anything that fell into them. "Vanya! It's not just broken, it's a chasm!" Raka screamed, his voice hoarse and swallowed by the wind. "We're not going to make it across!" "Shut up and listen to me, Guinea Pig!" Vanya's voice exploded in Raka's earpiece, sounding more excited than afraid. "I've installed two Corporate kinetic thrusters under the chassis! Get into the truck bed now! If you stay on the asphalt, you'll fall!" "Get in how?! I'm running at a hundred and forty kilometers per hour!"
Chapter 89: The Tireless Rider
CRASH! CLANG! "Ouch! My bottle of acetylcholine solution!" Vanya's shrill scream cut through the chaos inside the truck bed. The hard impact from the landing off the twenty-meter-high chasm had truly turned the contents of the mobile laboratory into a pile of medical waste. Vanya was thrown from her command chair, her body hitting a rack of test tubes and ending up buried under a pile of burlap sacks and tilted monitoring equipment. Raka grimaced, his hands gripping the vibrating metal floor of the truck bed. His chest felt as if it had just been hit with a sledgehammer. His mechanical heart spun wildly, emitting an unstable whirring sound. "Vanya! Are you still alive under there?!" Raka shouted, coughing as dust from the burlap sacks filled his lungs. "I'm not dead, but my professional credibility is being threatened by this mess of equipment!" Vanya's muffl