《Outrun – Cyberpunk LitRPG》


 Chapter 1

    Chapter 1If there is something I¡¯ve learned in my life, however short and tarnished it may be, it''s that everyone wants something. Anything. There is a wanton desire ingrained as deep as the trenches of the ocean. It''s human, I would say. In the close to six hundred years since the Arkhanikas had been discovered, countless wars and skirmishes had been fought over this cursed landmass.


    Even now, with most of North Arkhanika in shambles, people still fight each other. And for what? Desire? Not that I would label myself as anything better than them. Like I said, everyone wants something.


    From my outlook, oh so far away amidst the Outskirts, Aythryn City didn¡¯t seem to be the sinful cesspool it was. The megabuildings and corpo towers reached towards the skies like the fingers of fallen giants. Neon wrapped around the place like a cloak, shimmering in the light rain that befell the rotten streets. Advertisements flashed and holograms twirled, all trying to entice that desire we destroyers of worlds are known for.


    The glass windows and the metallic design of the majority of the buildings, looking as if they had been stacked on top of each other over centuries instead of decades, reflected the neon. The reflections added back to the entire ambiance, making the place glow. Kaijen influence was everywhere throughout the place, intermingling with gaudy splashes of color. Torii gates, at least the large ones atop the skyscrapers, were present even from here, several miles out into the Outskirts.


    The oblique grays and oppressive darks of the city hid behind the facade of light and color, just as the true darkness hid behind the appeal to desire. Aythryn City was home to many, being a megacity of its size it could and did support close to a few hundred million people. The city was one of the few places in the world that could accomplish such a feat, and it wasn¡¯t as seamless as it might appear on the surface.


    If it wasn¡¯t the corporate overlords exacting a toll of blood, then it was the gangs. Hundreds of smaller ones and several massive ones controlled the streets, outside of corporate areas of course. Savants and Scavs hid amongst the civilian population, raising a death count in no way inferior to the larger gangs and corpos.


    Truly, it was a city of hidden warfare. Only the naive corporate drones and uber-broke traveled without a pistol or gun of some kind, and even then they held knives and shivs. It was the type of place someone could walk from home to the superstores and be mugged several times if they weren¡¯t careful. The forces that attempted to protect the city could only do so much, and murder was so common most bodies were picked up by the truckload. Slab Co. made a killing on, well, killings.


    An entire section had even been abandoned by the ¡®law¡¯, becoming a den for those too broke to escape and the gangs. Even the most fearsome of gangsters kept out of the couple dozen blocks that formed the Scath Heights.


    The projects weren¡¯t much better, but at least they had corpo rent-a-cops patrolling the apathetic megastructures. Sixteen people crammed into a micro apartment, sharing their meager stamps for food, would invoke crime well on its own. Thankfully, I didn¡¯t have the great despair of living in such an exploitative environment.  S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I leaned my head against my motorbike, using my hair as a makeshift cushion, as I settled into the sandy outlook of mine. The desert Outskirts surrounding the den of avarice weren¡¯t much better than the city itself. They had their own host of problems, but at least I could breathe out here. The pollutants and scent of burning drugs and diluted aphrodisiacs were far too present throughout Aythryn City for my liking. Even if I had been living in such wretched squalor all my life, I couldn¡¯t get used to it.


    The air was one of the main reasons I entered the Outskirts on occasion. There was the chance of getting hunted by the Hawks, or a nomad family opening fire on me, but to just was quite the luxury. Assuming the sandstorms kept to themselves of course.


    It wasn¡¯t the only reason either. Sometimes it was nice to just- just get away from the overpopulated mesh of buildings. It did good for my mental state. Sure my bike¡¯s fuel to get out here wasn¡¯t free, but hey, it was far more affordable than a drug addiction. And AE3 wasn¡¯t too expensive compared to fossil fuels.


    I rubbed a hand across my face and turned up the music pounding in my eardrums. The harmonic beats and electronic distortions of lo-fi had been a favorite of mine ever since I picked up listening to music. It was far better than the punk and pop soundtracks of the modern era, and far more soothing than the ¡®pioneering¡¯ artists like


    .


    The earbuds - I was too poor to afford cybernetic audio suites - had done their job dutifully as I watched the city from my outlook. ¡®Course, my time out here hadn¡¯t been all sunshine and roses. I constantly kept my eye out for the gangs of the Outskirts, or worse, Dune Walkers. Even then, I would be able to see them coming from far away. As long as I kept movement to a minimum, I would be perfectly safe out here just as I had been the past few years. Movement attracted the eye, after all.


    The sky sat so far above, stars even further with only the brightest one or two poking through. Years of pollution, warfare, and bombing had drained the sky of its once brilliant stars. Only out in space, or the most secluded of areas, would more than a few stars regain visibility. For us plebeians who couldn¡¯t afford a casual jaunt into the great void? The sky was dark, almost as crushingly dark as the abandoned cities out in the wastes between populations. It''s true what they say; you don¡¯t miss something till it¡¯s gone, eh?


    My music crackled to a halt, pausing my reflections on the redundancy of life. I checked my handheld, popping the earbuds out as I went. Damn battery died. Right before the bass hit too¡­


    I had been out here long enough though. Long enough to get sand in spots I wish there wasn¡¯t any. Coming to the Outskirts was nice, but I could never live the life of a nomad. Sand in every crevice got real old real quick.


    I stood and put my things up on my bike as I prepped to head back to the city streets. A western breeze contested the heat of the dunes as it trickled up along my side, brushing my hair away. It carried with it the scent of the ocean in all its radioactive glory; salty with a slight twinge of nausea.


    I caught a flash of my face in the mirror of my bike. It made me incredibly uncomfortable to stare at the gaunt girl in my reflection. I ignored it as I usually did, straddling my bike.


    Far off came the racket of gunfire, the sound bouncing off of the dunes as if a bullet ricocheting to my ears. Even though night had fallen, the world never truly slept these days. The guns were probably some outland hooligans picking on their prey as they usually did. Wouldn¡¯t be the first, nor the last.


    A soft sigh escaped me as I looked up towards the sky. Some days- who am I kidding? Most days I wish I could¡¯ve been born differently. Been born one of with no worries under the freedom of space. It wasn¡¯t my lot in life though. I was bound to stare up at the sky in all its dark glory. The occasional star and glowing red- wait, what?


    My eyes snapped onto a glowing trail as it plummeted towards the surface. It was still in the atmosphere, but at the rate of its speed? It didn¡¯t take a rocket scientist to know it would hit soon. It looked like some kinda space debris, no- maybe a drop pod? Why would a drop pod be falling in the middle of nowhere?


    I should go for it. Maybe- maybe what? It was a fool''s errand to chase it down. If it wasn¡¯t some bigwig corpo gracing us with their ¡®divine¡¯ presence, it was probably something else way above my league. Like a BosSpace corporate craft. Even then, the Hawks or Nomads would get to it first...


    But what if? What if I could salvage something from the wreckage and get some Rayn off it? To have pocket money for a change would be nice. I wouldn¡¯t have to eat silage for once¡­


    Whoever was around was currently in a gunfight from the sounds of it. Maybe I could get in, grab something, and get out? I would have to be quick. Although there was a fight going on, it would only be a matter of time until others came to investigate the crash site. I would maybe have a few minutes to check the wreckage over. Then I would book it as fast as my bike could go back to the city.


    It was daring, it was dangerous, it was suicidal¡­ but this could be your big chance, Shiro! It''s what every single person in the damned city would want; a chance to get an edge on life. To get ahead of the rest. To have enough Rayn to purchase whatever their hearts desired. It all be yours if you just looked...


    My moment of hesitation was as fleeting as my resistance. I checked my weapon, a small ASCorp Sidewinder. It was more of a pea shooter than anything, but it would do. If all goes according to plan, I shouldn''t even have to use it. I kicked on my bike, the bulb still unscrewed to attempt to hide from prying Hawks and other scavengers of the dunes, and raced towards the object¡¯s LZ.


    My bike flung over a dune, sand flying everywhere as my destination came into sight. Whatever it was had crashed a minute prior in a ball of burning fire. The boom had been loud, overtaking the gunshots in the distance. Thankfully, once my hearing returned fully, I could still hear gunfire. Unfortunately, the boom had probably alerted the rest of the vultures out here.


    Lying in a crater of glass, the surrounding area still steaming, was a drop pod. Not just any drop pod, no. A Raijin International drop pod. I could recognize the arcing bolt of lightning they used as corporate branding anywhere. A very damaged drop pod at that.


    The thing, which looked to have once been white, was charred all over with what looked to be several bullet holes scattered throughout its egg-like shape. I kicked down the stand for my bike, leaving it idle as I raced towards the beaten pod. With as many bullet holes as were present, it would be a miracle if the person inside was still alive. If they were and I saved them though? Maybe I could get some kind of reward¡­ or be silenced.


    My eagerness faded to caution as I arrived in front of the door to the drop pod. The door was partially buried in sand and glass, which I promptly cleared with a quick sweep of my foot. Now with space, the pod¡¯s door popped open in a vent of steam as it smoothly slid up.


    Inside was barely smaller than an outhouse, and indeed that wasn¡¯t a bad comparison. The drop pod consisted of one seat with complicated terminals placed all around it. More importantly, there was a man slumped in the seat with a briefcase in his lap. About a dozen bullet holes were spread throughout his body, and he wasn¡¯t breathing.


    He was seriously borged out too. Even then, the firepower of whoever got him seemed to be too much as he was most assuredly flatlined. Er- at least he wasn¡¯t breathing.


    Well, one person¡¯s loss is another¡¯s gain and all that. I didn¡¯t have much time to be picky, so I leaned forward and grabbed the briefcase. As soon as my fingers wrapped around the handle, I heard a crack. A nanosecond later I felt the pain of a broken wrist as my brain finally processed the man¡¯s crushing grip.


    ¡°Agh!¡± I tried to pull away, but his chrome grip was far too strong to simply get away from. For one such as myself? This would most assuredly end in death. Stupid Shiro. If only you hadn¡¯t been so greedy, things could¡¯ve ended differently. Now you were going to die a dog¡¯s death in the middle of the desert-


    I met the man¡¯s icy cold cybernetic eyes, feeling the icy claw of the reaper. As soon as our eyes connected, his expression dropped and he slumped back into his seat once more, pulling me down onto his body.


    A moment passed as I sat frozen in terror inside the man¡¯s grasp. I felt a jolt of electricity buzz through my still-grasped wrist, slowly oozing its way up through my arm and to my heart. I tried to resist, but the electrical shock was too much as it paralyzed my limbs.


    The strength in the chrome hand released, as did the weird electrical buzz. I backed off the drop pod, loot left behind. Several sharp breaths escaped my frozen lungs. I could feel the awkward pain of a shattered wrist as I stared at the guy. Was he actually flatlined now?


    I carefully edged forward and checked his vitals. Definitely zeroed now. Must¡¯ve been the last of his life to grab me like that. I snatched the briefcase again before heading back to my bike. I wanted more but didn¡¯t have time to waste. It was far past time to delta.


    My shattered wrist made riding the bike difficult, so I gently pulled the jack from my wrist and inserted it into the port. Usually, I hate to do such a thing since jacking into anything tends to be overwhelming, yet I didn''t have a choice this time. I tucked the briefcase down in a saddlebag to hide it somewhat decently, and kicked it into gear, racing away from the crash site and the flatlined psycho. The sounds of gunshots had stopped at some point, and already I could hear engines roaring. My bike, as shoddy of a vehicle as it was, pushed itself hard as I forced the throttle faster than I had ever gone before.

 Chapter 2

    Chapter 2When I arrived on the outskirts of Aythryn City and felt the drops of rain, I thought it was a dream. When I pulled into Little Yukoto with all its familiar oriental decor and scattered neon in ukiyonese, I realized it was a miracle. When I arrived home, I finally awoke from my stupor.


    My home was an odd place, of which there was no doubt. I lived in the Ryu Container Yard. It was a massive shipping yard full of cargo containers. Once upon a time, it had been right on the shores of the ocean. Now with the recession of the water levels? It was a stranded port that eventually became devoured by the city as ¡®progress¡¯ inevitably moved closer to the waterside, wrapping around the rusting yard.


    As the population rose, and with a sudden surplus of abandoned cargo containers, the place had been turned into a small town of its own for the ¡®good¡¯ people of Aythryn City. The containers were stacked on top of each other, each one forming the container town with varied bits of shops and homes slapped together with, of course, neon acting like glue. Seriously, for however much neon was in the city, it''s a surprise it wasn¡¯t named Neon City, or just Neon for that matter.


    Anyway, the Ryu Container Yard was just one of the many sub-districts throughout the ¡®great¡¯ city. It was dingy. It was trashy. It reeked of cheap Tosta and even cheaper cigarettes. And yet it was home.


    I rode into the long blocks of the yard, occasionally broken up by what used to be freight warehouses. All around the yard sat the rest of the city, dominating the skyline with their abusive lights just as my wrist abusively screamed in agony. The cargo town was in the middle of the north side of the city, with the megabuildings edging ever further in from Downtown.


    People were out and about, chilling outside the container shops and stores as they enjoyed life. Most of them were busy cracking open a cold one, a box of smokes, drugs of some type, or all three. The glares and stares of paranoia were just another reminder I had arrived back home, as if the trash and stench weren¡¯t enough.


    The overall color of the Ryu Container Yard was quite overwhelming, with colors rapidly changing from one crate to another, all illuminated by the neon advertisements that permeated the city. The street lamps and bits of neon helped light the place up, but the ever-present bioluminescent graffiti was the true star of the show.


    I pulled in front of one of the crates, parking my bike as I grabbed the briefcase with my good hand. I tossed it up over the edge, and painfully worked my way up the ladder welded to the side of the crate with only three limbs to keep as much pressure as possible off of my wrist.


    Pulling myself up over the ledge of the crate, I worked my way to my very own cargo container, leaving my bike resting below. Thankfully I didn¡¯t have to worry about my bike too much. I had an agreement with the grandma living below that she would pop anyone trying to take it as long as I kept quiet during prime time.


    I shook off the remnants of sand, or as much as I could, outside the door. After putting in my security code, undoing the several deadbolts, and opening the other security door, I picked up the suitcase and entered my place. It was small, sure, but it was home. Man was it good to be back.


    A shaky breath escaped me as I set down the briefcase and locked everything up. My home had just enough space for a bed, desk, and tiny kitchenette. It was small, of which there was no doubt in my mind, but it was cheap. Free, actually, thanks to the ¡®generosity¡¯ of a ¡®choom¡¯. At least till I was eighteen.


    Plugging in my handheld, I settled down on the corner of my bed and checked on my left wrist. Every sharp pain let me know it was broken, which was worrying considering my normal profession required my hands. I couldn¡¯t even really grip anything as my wrist just hung. It hurt like hell. I¡¯d have to go get a Medech to check it out. It would chew into savings, but¡­ And he wasn''t open at this hour. I''d have to try and sleep it off.


    The briefcase sitting on my desk called out to me. I still hadn¡¯t even checked my ill-gotten loot. A brief moment of hesitation faded as I dragged myself over to it and popped it open. Thankfully it didn¡¯t have a lock or anything, nor did it explode.


    The briefcase was filled with important-looking documents covered in barely legible script. There was also a small phone, but I was in no way suicidal so I didn¡¯t turn it on. Who knows what kind of tracking tech the corpos have in their devices?


    This was great. Just great. I almost got myself killed for a few pieces of paper. I took a calming breath. Maybe I was looking at this wrong? Obviously, the man thought they were important, and whoever shot him thought they were important enough to flatline the guy over. And he had been a ¡®borg. No way a ¡®borg would die over just some papers.


    I settled down at my small desk as I began to flip through the papers. Most of it was technical jargon that flew over my head. One thing did stand out to me though; the triangular shield crossed over a spear, the logo of Sentinel Corp. After the first couple pages, I realized what I had my hands on as I flipped to a blueprint of an experimental cybernetic implant. I passed through a dozen others of varying types before I got to weapon blueprints, of which there were a couple dozen ranging from pistols to HMGs. I think. It was hard to tell, and they all looked unlike any gun I''d seen before.


    The ¡®borg, from Raijin International, had stolen experimental data from Sentinel Corp, the premier expert in military cybernetics and weaponry. Experimental data that I had in turn stolen from the man¡¯s corpse, assuming he actually died. In a word? Dead. I was so irreversibly dead if- when Sentinel Corp found me.


    I cracked my eyes open, my left one crusty as it usually was since it was low-end chrome. My head pounded and my wrist throbbed as I confusedly looked up at a message in front of my eye. The confusion was for a good reason. My eye was a low-end ASCorp Genov-4 Optic, which barely let me see let alone have a hud built in.


    ¡¸Connect to the Net


    - 3 Traits¡¹


    I blinked a couple of times and the notification disappeared. Weird. Not that I have time to worry about my chrome glitching. My wrist, the briefcase, and stolen Sentinel goods required far more attention. They were practically a ticking time bomb.


    After an  meal of Silage ExtraBland?, I hid the papers behind the liner of my fridge and grabbed the case and phone. I wasted little time grabbing my gun, getting back out to my bike, and heading out of the container yard to the city proper. I stopped on the outskirts of the yard and bought some over-the-counter pain meds, which significantly helped the utter agony in my wrist. They dropped the pain down to a dull throb. It was incredibly sad seeing my money just fly away...


    The streets were still wet as my bike slid over them, reflecting the moody sky and duplicating the eye-bleeding neon. People were out and about as they always were in the city that never rests. Homeless sat around in alleys, begging for Rayn as others dived into the rampant trash of the city.


    Little Yukoto was a beautiful section of the city, as long as I ignored the trash all over the place. Unfortunately, it only grew worse as I headed away from the main streets patrolled by Blue Crusade Inc, the main policing force of Aythryn City. Everything around was tall, nauseatingly so. The occasional megabuilding reached far up, the holograms and neon standing out under the solemn sky.


    The buildings themselves were an odd mix of jut outs and odd placements with an oriental flavor. Holographic tori gates were even set up over the road, a mockery of what they used to stand for. The streets and walkways were mostly covered by the hyperdense buildings protruding out with shadowed alleys and vendor carts scattered about. Neon was literally everywhere as if the color could help take away from the oppressive capitalism. It was almost sickening, yet felt perfectly like home.


    This section of the city held far more oriental structures and graffiti, which only made sense considering its title. You can¡¯t get more oriental than the capital city of Ukiyon. I drove under the red gates as lanterns swayed along with passing traffic, almost as prevalent as the neon signage trying to sell wares of every kind.


    First stop, I headed to a trash compactor on the far side of Little Yukoto. These days most garbage trucks only pick up from compacting stations throughout the city, so it was the best place to get rid of the potential trackers in the briefcase. Once I threw it in, I headed back out with a far lighter weight on my shoulders. Plan accomplished. Sometimes the best plan is a simple one?


    As for the phone? I didn¡¯t quite want to get rid of it yet. I knew some people that might be able to see if it was bugged. If it wasn¡¯t, it would be a waste of a perfectly good device. It would be nice to upgrade from my current phone, and the new one might even have a PA. Looked fancy enough anyway.


    I pulled up to a particular street in the sub-district of Sabyt, this one covered with businesses of all kinds trying to make their way into this malevolent city. I parked my bike close to a Blue Crusade patrol and headed down to Viceroy Street. It was the same mess as every other street, but this one held probably the most humane person I had met to date.


    I checked my pistol, its weight on my hip a small comfort, and entered a back alley. It was usually a very poor idea in the city, though there were few exceptions I knew of. I walked back behind the storefronts towards the middle of the block. No streets led back here, and the back alleys were a mess of confusion that always took me just too long to get through. At least it was clean- err, cleaner than most back alleys. There were even kids out playing with a ball under the watchful eye of their gun-toting parents.


    The alleys here weren¡¯t quite like the others and had residential doorways leading right out onto them. There was even the occasional store, though most were small in scale, probably due to only serving the nearby residents.


    It wasn¡¯t long till I neared the middle courtyard. This place was one of the few places throughout the city where I had actually seen real plant life. An ancient willow tree sat in the middle, its bark cracked and torn with age. Yet it still grew, whip-like tendrils of leaves gently swaying in the middle of the place. A couple of kids were gleefully playing tag under the tree, completely unaware of the dangers of the world.


    Not far away sat the rickety neon - ¡®course it was neon - sign hanging over my destination: Absolom Clinic. Oddly, the neon from the light was one of the only lights in the small courtyard, at least on the first floor, making it stand out in this secluded destination. I entered the place, the door chiming overhead as I swung it open.


    Immediately, I could smell the scent of industrial cleaners, close to what I imagine a hospital would smell. But this was no Medtech hospital. Its walls were good ole concrete, not the white panels I¡¯d seen in shows. The lighting was also quite dim, like what I imagine a personal garage would be like.


    An elevated mixture between a bed and a chair predominantly took up the majority of the space. Complicated machinery and scanners I wouldn¡¯t be able to point out from other bits of tech sat all around the chair. Other bits and bobs of medical equipment, all looking quite the same to me, were scattered about the place.


    The man himself, sitting off to the side of the surgical part of the clinic, glanced up from the book he was reading. He had a short buzz cut, like I had seen on some FSA soldiers. A moment passed as his eye focused on me, then a faint smile traced his lips. ¡°Shiro! Come on in, kid!¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Nael.¡± I stepped in as I fought off a bright smile. It was hard not to feel a jolt of joy in his almost radiant presence. As I said,  most humane people I¡¯ve ever met.


    The faint smile on his lips faded as he looked at my wrist. I wasn¡¯t even holding it weird or anything, he just knew. ¡°Take a seat.¡± He stood and began to gather some supplies before pulling a cart over to the chair.


    I wasted no time sitting down. ¡°I think it¡¯s broken and my eye is glitching out.¡±


    Nael nodded to himself several times as he pulled down a couple of machines over me. ¡°It is old tech. What happened to your wrist?¡±


    ¡°I uh-¡± If I tell him and Sentinel gets to me, I don¡¯t want to implicate him¡­ I can¡¯t do that to Nael. ¡°I slipped off my bike. Say, how¡¯s business?¡± Yep! Perfect distraction, as always. Great job, Shiro!


    ¡°About the same. I have some guys from Uranau coming over in a couple of hours¡­ you get to the Outskirts recently?¡± He asked as he slid past to my other side and began tapping on a terminal. In a second, I handed him the Interface Plug from its jack at my other wrist and plugged it in.


    I felt the warm buzz of electricity I always felt when jacked into something. ¡°Uh yeah. Last night I watched the sunset over Aythryn City.¡± S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°That''s great, kid. Your eye looks good to me. I¡¯ll reset it in a bit to be sure.¡± The table holding the terminal swiveled off to the side as he met my eyes. ¡°It''s good you¡¯re doing something for your soul¡­ just be careful out there, yeah?¡± He passed back over to the scanners.


    I laughed with a bit of over-the-top arrogance. ¡°Of course, Nael. Careful is my middle name.¡±


    He lifted the scanners back into position and shot a look at me. ¡°Rrrighhht¡­ careful, she says. Just like you carefully slipped?¡±


    ¡°It uh, it was an accident? You know how the streets get¡­¡±


    Nael sighed as he flipped a terminal around to me. An image of what looked like scattered marshmallows was on it- Oh, was that my wrist? ¡°Yeah, I get it. Your ¡®fall¡¯ entirely shattered your wrist. Then it looks like you kept using it, gonk. The bones have been entirely pulled out of alignment. It''s a miracle they haven¡¯t pierced through yet.¡±


    That would explain why the pain in my wrist had felt piercing. I guess it makes sense, ¡®borgs aren¡¯t considered strong for no reason. ¡°Is it fixable?¡±


    He pulled over a tank of some kind and a mask as he muttered to himself. ¡°I¡¯ll have to go in and reset the bones and Interface Plugs¡­ hmm¡­ maybe use a Calipen? Sorry, what did you ask, kid?¡±


    ¡°Can you fix it?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Doc is my middle name, after all.¡± He chuckled and passed me the mask. ¡°I¡¯ll knock you out and you¡¯ll be as good as new.¡±


    Unlike in most places- every other place, I trusted Nael. He had done good by my parents and had yet to let me down. ¡°Thank you, Nael.¡± I put the mask over my head and immediately felt the fumes begin to take effect.


    ¡°Sweet dreams, kid¡­¡±

 Chapter 3

    Chapter 3I awoke to the unpleasant sight of ASCorp¡¯s logo flashing in my eye for a brief moment. The pristine shield of Aetherium shone with a splendor that the North Arkhanika hadn¡¯t shown in years. The logo faded as the previous message returned.


    ¡¸Connect to the Net


    3 Traits¡¹


    I looked around the place as I heard voices. Near the entrance, Nael was talking along with two other guys. One looked ¡®borged out and the other was pure muscle. The borg had more metal than skin and looked like a rip-off robot masquerading as a human. From the look of things, it wasn¡¯t even high-end chrome. Looked like maybe a bunch of scavenged junk.


    The muscle guy didn¡¯t have nearly as much chrome. An almost boyish charm surrounded him, brightening the room better than any neon. His green eyes, chrome of course, somehow seemed to twinkle with mischief even though they were metal. ¡°...after the explosion?¡±


    Nael had the same light crease to his lips that I always saw as he spoke with the man. ¡°Where?¡±


    ¡°Everywhere!¡± The cheerful one laughed uproariously at his joke. It was the kind of laughter that made me want to join in even though I only heard the tail end of the joke.


    Nael glanced over, his crinkled eyes meeting mine. ¡°Ah! You¡¯re awake, Shiro.¡± He turned to the two guys. ¡°If you¡¯ll wait just a minute, I¡¯ll be right with you.¡±


    ¡°No problem, choom.¡± The muscle guy¡¯s smile remained as he settled up against the wall alongside his companion. His cybernetic eyes turned black, a sign of being ¡®logged out¡¯ and looking at something else on his HUD.


    Nael walked back over to me, a smile still present. ¡°Well, I fixed your wrist. Just lay off it for the next week or so and it¡¯ll be fine. Still having that eye bug?¡±


    I looked down to see the handiwork. It didn¡¯t hurt too bad, but I now had a line of stitches down the length of my wrist. ¡°Uh yeah. Something about connecting to the Net?¡± And something about Traits. Weird.


    ¡°Well, we could always see if it''s plugged in.¡± He chuckled.


    ¡°I can still see with it-¡± I started.


    He sighed and waved off my words. ¡°Just a joke. Really making me feel old here, Shiro.¡±


    Ah, must¡¯ve been some of those old-world jokes he liked to share. Most of them flew under the radar, but I tried to get them on occasion. ¡°Come on, you ain¡¯t that old yet.¡±


    ¡°Right, right¡­ whatever you say, kid. As far as my scans could tell, you¡¯re not infected with a virus or anything. Pass me your jack and I¡¯ll connect you.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± I twisted my wrist, the non-broken one, and pulled out a small cord from a hidden slot. The Interface Plugs and Neural Link were the most expensive piece of chrome in my possession, and they were damn nice to have for situations like this. The only downside was how overwhelming being jacked into anything felt. It''s like seeing in five dimensions instead of three.


    He plugged it in. ¡°Did that do anything?¡±


    ¡¸Processing¡­


    Successful¡­¡¹


    A sense of nausea raced along my bones, but nothing changed? What was this about success if nothing happened? Maybe it was a driver update or something? Weird¡­ I was looking to get a better optic anyway, maybe this was a sign to go ahead? Hmm¡­ maybe if I had a few hundred more Rayn¡­


    ¡°It says it¡¯s done. Nothing changed though.¡± I told Nael.


    He frowned. ¡°Weird. Tell you what, why don¡¯t you go a couple days and see if it pops up again? I¡¯ll look into it a bit more. That model is ancient, so I¡¯m sure there''s a bug or two with it.¡±


    ¡°How much do I owe you?¡± I pulled out my phone. It was several dozen generations behind the one I pulled from the briefcase, but it worked for my purposes. Texting, calling, and accessing my FIBB account was really all I used it for. Oh, and the Mapp?.


    Nael waved me off. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, kid. Your treatment technically isn¡¯t done with that eye of yours. Just pay me later.¡± He shifted attention before I could protest. ¡°Alright, Nabal, Silas, I¡¯m ready for you.¡±


    ¡°Bout time.¡± The borg spoke in a voice barely recognizable as a human. Damn, he seemed like the type of guy to die alone, eh? Hmm¡­ can he even clean himself? Isn¡¯t that like a toaster bath if you¡¯re a ¡®borg?


    I barely spotted the disappointed look the cheerful guy shot at the ¡®borg. ¡°All good, choom. Uranau brief you on what we need?¡±


    ¡°Of course¡­¡±


    I left the clinic in a slight huff. Nael always found some way for me not to have to pay him. Probably why I thought he was as good as he is¡­ It pissed me off. I had Rayn. I could pay. Not having to pay back when I was younger had been a blessing, but now? Now I was ready to pay off my debt, even if he likely wouldn¡¯t ever collect it. Unfortunately, my debt was higher than my savings. Once I got a bit more Rayn, I¡¯d pay him back.


    Worming my way back through the alleys, I returned to my bike and began the trek back home. I would rest for today, doc¡¯s orders, but tomorrow I would have to get active again. Life in the city didn¡¯t come cheap, and I was running low on Rayn as is. Silage for dinner then. Joy.


    I just finished eating when the box popped up in my vision.


    ¡¸3 Traits Received¡¹


    ¡¸Pick 3:


    Drug Dependency


    Drug Resistance


    Quick Healing


    Bruiser


    Gun Expert


    Language Extraordinaire


    Melee Expert


    Martial Artist


    Quick-witted


    Built to Destroy


    Gun-fu


    Savant


    Born Driver


    Beloved by Beasts


    Green Thumb


    Bear¡¯s Cave


    Improved Metabolism


    Trigger Finger


    Small Frame


    Wild


    Natural Speaker


    Genius Technician


    Fox¡¯s Grace


    Medic


    Programmer


    Netrunner


    Kinetic


    Adept


    Chipped


    Next Page >¡¹


    Now what in the hell was all of this? I spent the next thirty minutes trying to figure it out. Oddly enough, simply by intending to go to the next page, the list changed to a whole new set of thirty ¡®traits¡¯. Odd because I didn¡¯t even have an eye capable of a HUD, and yet it was running exactly like I did. I could even focus on one of these ¡®traits¡¯ and a full description lit up in front of my eyes. And yet no matter how hard I tried to close it, it sat open in my view. Tauntingly.


    An hour past roller coaster emotions. Was I going crazy? Surely not, then I must be high on something. There was an awful amount of Tosta smoke these days. Maybe- maybe I should just accept it as some strange event. Strange things were common in this wacky city, especially with the likes of Magus, Adepts, and Kinetics going about.


    My head hurt just from not being able to make the list go away. Even with my eyes closed I could see it, which shut off any attempt at sleeping through the weird. Maybe it was just some kind of trick on my psyche? Gah, fine! I would just have to pick three damn Traits.


    Three hours. Three damn hours I went through that list. I highly doubted anything would happen, but that delusional ¡®what if¡¯ factor made me take a serious look. If I was going to pick three, I was going to pick the best three. It took three hours, but I finally narrowed down my choices from the hundreds on the list.


    Some choices were easy to weed out, at least at first glance. All offered some kind of benefit that would help immensely. Take for instance Drug Dependency. At first glance, it was terrible, right? Wrong. Sure there were cons, such as easily becoming addicted to any drug I took, but then there were also the benefits: quintupled positive effects of every drug.


    Then it became easy to eliminate Traits again once I really thought about it. Exhibit A: Drug Dependency. Designer Drugs would be the only way of truly getting an effect out of it, but they were damn expensive. That, doubled with how often I was exposed to ambient drugs from smoke alone made me skip it. Seriously, it would suck if I happened to become dependent on Tosta after inhaling a breath of it on the streets.


    That being said, some were immediately eliminated. For instance, Green Thumb, which would make me better with plants. It was useless considering one of the few plants I had seen was outside Absolom Clinic. Beloved by Beasts was eliminated for similar reasons. Simply put, there were hardly enough beasts for it to have an effect. Except rats, but eww.


    Things like Chipped were also knocked out pretty quick. Chipped dealt with cybernetics, but I would have to  cybernetics for it to have much of an effect. Some were even too crazy to get. For instance, Lost Your Head on page three would decapitate me¡­ yep. I would somehow still be alive according to the description, but¡­


    Some I didn¡¯t even look at. Kinetic and Adept on the front page were examples. The horror stories of Kinetics and Adepts were surprisingly widespread for how few of them there were. I didn''t need to be losing my mind or body to some eldritch monstrosity, if they were even a thing.


    My three picks were:


    ¡¸Quick Healing - Restore wounds while resting. Fatal injuries will take longer.¡¹


    ¡¸Insight - Gain a sixth sense.¡¹


    ¡¸Fox¡¯s Grace - Gain the blessing of Fox, known for having a sneaky nature.¡¹


    Quick Healing, assuming all this Trait stuff was real for the sake of arguing, would be incredibly nice. Not only would it heal my wrist, but any future injuries. And trust me, injuries were far too common in Aythryn City. This place was practically vampiric after all. I had heard of so many legendary figures, whether they be Mercs or Edgerunners, falling due to accumulated injuries.


    Insight sounded impressive. It was a gamble, of which there was no doubt in my mind. Just having a sixth sense alone would be nice though. A bit of warning before danger strikes never hurts, and could potentially save my life.


    Staying alive was difficult in Aythryn City. So far I had succeeded, and intended to keep it that way. Stealth has been a large part of my life so far. My job, if you could call it that, relied heavily upon being a little rat, and Fox¡¯s Grace was the main one throughout the exhaustive Trait list that could help.


    That, and the blessing of Fox was promising. I wasn¡¯t a hundred percent sure, but if it meant what I thought it did¡­ simply being in touch with an eidolon could change the entire course of my life, let alone being blessed by one. But the chances of it actually being an eidolon were close to negative. And, assuming it was, did I even really want such a thing?


    As soon as I chose my three, I received a new message.


    ¡¸Choices Locked¡¹


    ¡¸Rest to Reboot¡¹


    I didn¡¯t need to be told twice. I had been wanting to sleep the past couple of hours, which was the main reason I even gave in to the delusions. As soon as I shut my eyes I was out like a light.


    I awoke bright and early, feeling oddly refreshed for such a shit night. I ate silage for breakfast, the bland stuff making my tongue hurt. I popped my bones, feeling a bit of relief as I caught a whiff of myself. I reeked something fierce. And I could still feel sand in places it should never be. Yep, definitely time for a shower.


    I had wanted to take a shower last night even, but showering at night was¡­ well, part of the issue with cargo container living was the lack of a personal shower and bathroom. Everything here was communal. To that end, I had long learned it was best to wait for the morning when the ladies of the night would be washing up. Strength in numbers and all that.


    The only issue with such a thing was, well, it was quite draining. They tended to be very social, especially today for some reason. I returned to my abode, clean yes, but entirely drained of my will to do anything.


    I collapsed onto my bed, after carefully removing any traces of sand I found, and stared up at my left wrist. I had noticed it earlier; my shattered wrist didn¡¯t feel the least bit of pain. Heck, even the scar from where he cut me open was gone. Nael was good, the best even, but this good? He had said a week, yet it had barely been a day for it to fully heal. Either he used some seriously expensive medicines, or- or maybe last night wasn¡¯t a hallucination.


    Fear. Fear was what held me back from admitting such a thing. I knew- I knew that power had to be earned or gained in some fashion. It didn¡¯t just appear out of thin air. Even Magus had to fulfill their contracts. There was no such thing as a free ride. My radiant fear came in two points; what would be the cost and where did it come from?


    There was only one place that logically made sense. It only popped up after I encountered the drop-pod in the Outskirts. What could¡¯ve- maybe when that guy grabbed me? That slow electrical jolt  been weird. Electricity doesn¡¯t go slow. At least not like that. What if in his final moments, he transferred some kind of disease or something to me?


    Dammit, Shiro! You shoulda shot the bastard when you had the chance, even if your peashooter likely wouldn¡¯t have pierced his borged-out body. Now you were stuck with this weird bug in your system.


    As if sensing my attention, the damned screen popped into my vision once more.


    ¡¸Name: Shiro Tsukuyomi


    Traits: Fox¡¯s Grace, Quick Healing, Insight


    INVALID DATA¡¹


    Damnit! If this shit is stuck in my vision again- oh, it went away¡­ I thought about it, and the screen came back. Then it disappeared when I wanted it to. At least it went away now¡­ Another problem arose as I messed around with it; I could see it with my right eye. My flesh eye. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It took me a bit to calm down and start thinking rationally again. From what it looked like, the thing almost seemed like a game status page. I had never played those kinds of games myself, but I knew about them from talking to others my age. Heck, my best choom was practically addicted to them when she was younger.


    No matter how much I wanted to deny its existence, Quick Healing had taken effect last night. That meant it was real, for better or worse. I tried to manipulate the interface, and it changed how it looked, but didn¡¯t show me anything new. The INVALID DATA message stuck around, so I decided to just ignore it for the time being till I figured out how to fix the error. Or it fixed itself.


    I felt something, almost like a buzz in the back of my brain. A second later my phone started to vibrate. Ishimaru, my ¡®employer¡¯, was calling. I picked it up. ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°Chiwa Shiro! If it ain¡¯t my favorite shtreetrat!¡± His voice, as it usually did, sounded as if he had quite a few intoxicants. Still, it failed to hide the steel only those who had put their life on the line countless times had.


    He was always like this. It was sickening, I guess? It should be the other way around, at least from what I¡¯ve heard. Flattery was the job of the employee, not the employer. But hey, at least he was an equal opportunist and treated everyone else this way too. ¡°Do you need something?¡±


    ¡°Yosh yosh mikata. Lishten, I got thish uh, thish thing.¡± His voice lowered, and I could almost see him speaking out of the side of his mouth like he was sharing some kind of secret. ¡°Private earsh only, if you catch my drift. Why don¡¯ you come down and ¡¯ll tell you all about it? Heavy Rayn ish in the forecasht!¡±


    Then he hung up without waiting for my reply. Not that I blamed him, I always accepted the ¡®jobs¡¯ he offered. I was too poor not to. I wonder what it was this time?

 Chapter 4

    Chapter 4I drove into Bukicho, a sub-district of Little Yukoto often called ¡®Sleepless¡¯. When the majority of people think of Little Yukoto, this is the place they thought of. Unlike the rest of the district, this little patch of land was pristine. It almost seemed like a corpo area.


    . There were still quite a few things that made it stand out, such as the graffiti across every surface. The stench too. Burning drugs were only undercut by the pollution covering the land. It was overwhelming how many mixed together, everything from Tosta to Kook.


    A tag in particular stood out. It was a neon dragon¡¯s head, done artfully in bright green. The paint itself glowed in the dim ambiance that was almost second nature to Aythryn City. The rest of the dragon¡¯s body was coiled behind it as if the beast was in mid-lunge with glowing fangs outstretched. It was nova sure, but it stood out thanks to how common it was. Almost every building held the neon tag, though only a few actually glowed.


    The tag was quite present throughout Little Yukoto, though nowhere near as active as it was in Bukicho. It made sense. The Jade Fang were more present in Bukicho than anywhere else, even if half of the district was their territory.


    I found a parking garage close to my destination. Most garages had screens placed periodically throughout them to display ads. This one did too, but the majority of the screens had been hacked at some point and just showed the Jade Fang tag. It was a common mark of land amongst gangs.


    Motorcycles were everywhere here, so mine didn¡¯t stand out as I parked it and headed out towards the streets. Before I went to my destination, I stopped by a street vendor for a synth pretzel.


    Ichiban was the most dominant street in Bukicho. Its buildings were slapped with neon signs, most being in ukiyonese. Red was the predominant color, followed closely by vibrant greens. A massive holographic tori gate sat at the entrance with a green dragon twirled around it. The entrance was probably one of the most iconic things about Ichiban. Whoever had set it up and designed it deserved a lot of respect.


    The street was packed with people. Throngs of civs, corporate underdogs, low-end gangers, and out-of-uniform FSA troops took up the entire street. I could even spot the telltale half armor of Blue Crusade Squires patrolling around. The entire place was a mesh of styles and lights that almost made my eyes bleed.


    And of course, the Jade Fang had a high presence. This was  street after all. This entire place was the HQ and primary income point for the gang. I could spot them everywhere, their glowing dragon tattoos a dead giveaway even if the other varied gang paraphernalia wasn¡¯t. Neo-grease was the style those between the middle and low-class subscribed to, wearing a mess of leather jackets and jeans mashed together with neon and lights. Flashy and flamboyant chrome was almost a requirement of the Neo-grease style. The katanas and tantos were even more evidence of their gang membership.


    As for why so many people were here in the heart of gang territory? The people of Aythryn City loved to have a good time. The Fangs capitalized on that desire the most out of any other gang. The entire Ichiban street was lined with bars, love hotels, brothels, gambling dens, and clubs. Even arcades in the vein of pre-WWIII were present. There was literally something for everyone on this street. And if not on the street, then the levels above.


    The Blue Crusade Squires ¡®patrolling¡¯ weren¡¯t actually looking to make any arrests, even if there were less than legal activities going on ¡®round here. It was common knowledge that they tended to not enforce low-end crimes in gang territory unless specifically asked. That and this place was favored by a bunch of corpos. An attack on Bukicho was a surefire way for Blue Crusade Inc. to lose their policing contract to some other company; the Golden Spine Consortium perhaps. They were starting to edge into the city.


    I parted through the throngs of people, slowly but surely making my way to the center of Ichiban. It wasn¡¯t too hard. My typical wardrobe had quite a bit of Jade Fang paraphernalia, so most people gave me space even if I wasn¡¯t a ¡®real¡¯ Fang.


    It wasn¡¯t long till I made my way to an indented part of the street. A large dragon¡¯s head gate blocked the path forward with several Jade Fangs standing guard, turning away almost everyone but Fangs. More than usual with heavier arms stood guard.


    I approached. One of them, a rather young-looking guy whose skin was still red, stopped me. ¡°Fangs only, gon-¡±


    A rather buff guy with a massive frame wrapped a chrome arm around the younger guy''s shoulder as he waved at me. ¡°Shiro! It''s been a while since I saw you last¡­ don¡¯t mind the new guy. Still learning faces and names.¡±


    I flashed a smile towards the man. For however intimidating the guy looked, he was really just a teddy bear. At least if you didn¡¯t piss him off. He could quite quickly turn into a grizzly with a vengeance. ¡°Shinobu! Your arm treating you well?¡±


    ¡°¡®Course. Thanks for recommending that clinic to me. Turns out the Fang¡¯s Medech messed up the nerve connections. Damn aho.¡± He rubbed his arm affectionately. ¡°Good as new now! It''s like I never even lost it. Ishimaru-sama call you in?¡±


    I nodded. ¡°¡®Course, never come around otherwise.¡± I really didn¡¯t like Ichiban. The scents alone were overwhelming, and add on to that the high amount of illegal goings-on ¡®round here made me hesitant to come in my free time.


    ¡°Right, right¡­ listen, maybe don¡¯t accept thi-¡±


    ¡°If it ain¡¯t my favorite merc!¡± A voice cut off the big guy as Ishimaru stumbled out towards the gate. He looked like the stereotypical elder hailing from the Kaij continent. Jade Fang''s robes clad him, covering his frame as his katana dangled haphazardly at his hip. ¡°She¡¯sh with me, guysh.¡±


    Shinobu nodded at me and mouthed ¡®good luck¡¯ before returning to guard duty.


    I walked into the small courtyard of the Jade Fang''s primary HQ, the Dragoon Saloon. Holographic sakura trees sat all around the yard, dropping little pink petals of light on occasion. Green, lush synthgrass covered the entirety of the courtyard with Fangs scattered about sitting on it. Most had drinks of some kind, as they relaxed under the admittedly beautiful courtyard.


    Off to the side sat a small fountain waterfall, trickling endlessly below ground. There was even a micro sun - giving off real heat - free floating just above the center of the courtyard. Every time I saw it I was impressed. Probably a magitech item of some kind.


    Pagodas sat around, gentle-smelling candles gently swaying inside. Plants, real plants, were everywhere, showing off the wealth that the Jade Fangs had. It was almost like walking into a botanical garden. A real one, not the holographic ones that were everywhere.


    An arm wrapped around my shoulder and I barely resisted the urge to shake it off. Then I felt almost the entirety of Ishimaru¡¯s weight as he used me like a walker while we headed to the bar. ¡°Ya¡¯ know, you shure do look prettshy today. You¡­ you cut your hair or shomethin¡¯?¡±


    Ah, good ole Ishimaru. Sloshed as always. At least he was a kind drunk, if a bit ridiculous at times, so I could bear with him. That and he could probably slice my body in two even while barely walking. ¡°No, my hair is the same length since the last time you saw me¡­ you said you had a job?¡±


    ¡°Oh yesh! Lesh- lesh get inshide.¡± He stopped leaning on me and ambled towards the bar on the other side of the gate. It was designed to look like an ancient ukiyonese pavilion. It even had the black-gray clay tiles and redwood that came to mind when imagining such a building. Or at least the first three floors did. Then it was a sheer building just like its surroundings.


    As distracted as I was, I didn¡¯t notice Ishimaru going down till I heard the thunk of his face meeting the synth wood floors. A bunch of Fangs glanced over, but no one laughed as I helped the drunk up. The people around here respect the guy too much to laugh at his sorry state.


    ¡°Thanksh Shiro. Who put that shtep there anyway? Sho reidikulu- redickulu- ridicul- dick. Heh.¡± He chuckled at himself as he nearly stumbled again.


    I barely managed to support him as we headed off to a corner booth. The Dragoon Saloon was packed to the brim with Fangs, but the corner booth was Ishimaru''s reserved table.


    ¡°You had a job?¡± I asked again. It was best to be patient with the guy, especially considering his position as an elder in the Jade Fangs.


    ¡°¡®Course! Yesh. Um- I think, I think, hmm¡­¡± He rubbed his hands across his body as he sloppily checked his pockets. ¡°Ah, right! I forgot thish thing wash built-in now.¡± His eyes glowed followed shortly by my phone buzzing.


    He raised his hand, calling over a server. ¡°You- you checksh that out. ¡®Mma get a drink. Shtarting to get parshed.¡±


    I nodded along with him as I pulled out my phone and checked the message. It was a picture of several torn-apart Jade Fangs tossed into a pile between two walls. A burning ¡®1%¡¯ sat behind the mound as seven men tossed something onto the corpses. Neo-Jokers by the looks of it. They even had the sculpted bright red hair associated with the gang.


    ¡°T-this¡­ this is out of my expertise, Ishimaru. You know I''ve yet to do anything but-¡±


    He raised a hand cutting me off as a serious look entered his eyes for the first time. ¡°Look. I don¡¯t like shending people to die. Thatsh not how the Jade Fangsh operate. We received that messhhage the other day. All we need from you ish to go to the placesh and check them out. The Matriarch doeshn¡¯t want to attack the Neo-Jokersh off of a picture.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t there better-¡±


    ¡°Not that aren¡¯t full membersh. You¡¯re the besht affiliate at getting around undetected, which ish why we called you. Before you refushe, pay is a thoushand Rayn. The Matriarch needsh thish done now, and dishcreetly. And, uh, no one will shushpect a kid¡­¡±


    Damn! The Jade Fangs were serious if they were offering a thousand Rayn. That wasn¡¯t the kind of money a gig like this entailed. Maybe two or three hundred at best. But why pay me so much-


    Ah, I see. Plausible deniability. They don¡¯t want to send a Fang into BrickTown, the Neo-Joker¡¯s territory, without first making sure they actually did the deed. Gang wars tended to be lose-lose even if there was a winner especially if a corpo or other gang took the chance to encroach.


    The Matriarch must be suspecting a setup. Not that the Neo-Jokers wouldn¡¯t do something so blatant, just that it could be a third group trying to take advantage of the potential gang war. Hence they hire me, or some other affiliate, to go check out the crime scene and see if I can¡¯t find something odd.


    ¡®Cept, I wasn¡¯t really even an associate. My relationship with the Jade Fangs was complicated at best. My parents died as members, and the Fangs were the ones paying for my container home. I didn¡¯t even want to join the gang, but¡­


    I saw it more as going to a fixer than trying to become a member. Maybe not how they see it, but they hadn¡¯t pressed me yet. Probably out of honor to my parents¡­ Still, since I was more a merc hired occasionally by the gang instead of an associate, it became far easier to send me and still have plausible deniability.


    Good ole gangs. Looking to make you consider them a family, then using and abusing till you¡¯re no longer useful. If only they didn¡¯t pay so much, I would¡¯ve never come to them for work in the first place. It truly is a major flaw to live in Aythryn City with too few connections.


    At the end of the day, the Rayn was good, and working for the Jade Fangs far exceeded being a flatbacker. That, and Ishimaru had always taken pretty good care of me all things considered. Very rarely was I given a job with excessive danger. Sure I lost some money because of this, but I was still alive and relatively unharmed.


    A thousand Rayn though... That was a lot of money. It would go a long way to paying off some of my debts. Or I could put some of it to a firepower upgrade. Or even upgrading the tools at my disposal. I had always wanted some more tech stuff like a drone or something.


    By the time I looked up from the image again, Ishimaru had already downed several cups of alcohol. I swear, his blood was more saki than anything else. I had never seen him sober in the close to seven years I was under his employ.


    ¡°Is there anything I should be wary of? Suspected Kinetics, Adepts, or Magus?¡± I intentionally try to avoid anything regarding the more magical side of the city. Mostly out of fear of the unknown, but they were just unsettling to be around.


    ¡°Probably not if itsh the Neo-Jokersh. And you shouldn¡¯t even have to fight. Jusht look around.¡±


    Right, they were the type of gang that looked down on everything but Apothecaries and Kinetics. He also made a good point. This was just looking around. ¡°Hm¡­ send me the detes and I¡¯ll check it out.¡± At the end of the day, I couldn¡¯t just pass up a thousand Rayn. It was more than I might make on several jobs.


    ¡°Yeah yeah¡­¡± His eyes glowed and I received another message. ¡°How long? Matriarch is very intereshted in thish.¡±


    I looked down at the message. The Jade Fang Netrunners had narrowed down the scope, but I would still have to end up searching five spots across the Sintith sub-district for the picture¡¯s location. And then they assumed I could actually find something? I was at best a pickpocket and petty kleptoid, not a badge.


    ¡°A day maybe. I don¡¯t even know if I¡¯ll be able to find something though.¡± I said.


    He downed another cup. ¡°Donshu, worry ¡®bout that. Jusht take shome picturesh of the schene. We¡¯re also gonna¡¯ let yoush borrow a few toolsh and shtuff to help out. Jusht try to bring it back in one piece?¡±


    I wonder what kind of tools they¡¯re giving me? ¡°¡®Course. I¡¯d have to pay otherwise.¡± S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°Great! Go to Taru and tell him I shent you. He¡¯ll getcha loaded up.¡±


    Just before he stood up, I handed him the phone I pulled from the briefcase. ¡°Could you get one of the runners to check this out? I want to know if there''s some kind of tracker or something on it. I¡¯ll owe you a favor.¡±


    ¡°¡®Courshe.¡± He stood, grabbed a bottle, and staggered off to another group without as much as a goodbye.


    The dismissal was evident, so I also got up and headed out of the Dragoon Saloon. Taru was the gun range owner, and gun dealer extraordinaire, just down the street from the bar, so I headed there and picked up the bag without any hassle. Now then, on to grab some of my tools, changing into less Fangy attire, and hopefully not getting pulled into an alley and shanked by a Neo-Joker. Yay, work!

 Chapter 5

    Chapter 5Bricktown sat directly to the east of Little Yukoto. As its name suggested, almost everything here was made of bricks. At least everything short of the megabuildings. They were still the mess of concrete and metal that was in the other districts.


    Even though the building material may have changed, this was still Aythryn City. Neon and trash were everywhere as could only be expected. The smog over here was far worse too seeing as Brick Town held quite a few of the industrial grade factories. The population density also changed up, there being less keijen influence in this area. I could actually read most of the signs, though there were still occasional shops and buildings with varied language.


    I passed by several bikers on my way through Bricktown. If not for the bright red hair, then the laughing mask icons on their cuts give away their affiliation quite well. Neo-Jokers. They were the ¡®owners¡¯ of Bricktown much in the same way the Jade Fang ¡®owned¡¯ Little Yukoto. Thankfully, they didn¡¯t bother me as I passed by.


    Stintith sat on the opposite side of Bricktown, literally on the furthest edge of the city. The drop in population was noticeable as I closed in on the Outskirts. Instead of constant traffic, there was just the occasional person or car driving around here. Even the Neo-Jokers had died down quite a bit.


    I heard an explosion somewhere as I pulled into a parking spot and began my walk off to the first location in Sintith. Just another Tuesday. Explosions were less common than gunshots, but this was still Aythryn City, the land of the free and dangerous.


    The first stop was an abandoned factory. It didn¡¯t stand out too much from its surroundings; Stintith was an ever-changing district with several companies going out of business every year. In a couple of months, the factory likely would be bulldozed and a new company would be set up before the same thing inevitably happened again. ASCorp was the only company established in Bricktown to last a long time. Most others, assuming they were successful, would try to get outta here at first chance.


    The factory had a chainlink fence around it, but c¡¯mon, this was the twenty-first century! No simple chain link fence would really keep somebody out. Especially since it didn¡¯t have barbed wire at the top. Talk about amateur hour.


    I cased the place for a while, waiting for night to fall. I had the weird feeling this wasn¡¯t the spot, but I was already here so I may as well check. I marked the cameras and their angles before I picked my spot.


    It was out of the way, so no person or device saw me as I hopped the fence and headed inward. The cameras likely wouldn¡¯t be active, but I didn¡¯t want to get caught breaking and entering - or just entering in this case - on film. Blue Crusaders weren¡¯t known for being nice after all.


    I edged my way around the factory until I got to a side entrance and found the door unlocked. The factory had been a car manufacturing plant, but now it sat empty. Or at least it was supposed to be empty.


    A Hooverville sat inside of it, complete with the pitched tents of probably a couple hundred homeless blokes. Most were sitting around fires gently burning, so there was plenty of room to edge around the place. I carefully edged around towards the offices, intent on making it up to the roof.


    I opened one of the doors and quietly worked my way into the offices.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± A ratty voice called from behind me, making me lock up for a moment as I glanced over my shoulder. Directly behind me sat a guy, his face absolutely covered in scar tissue.


    I reached for my gun, barely stopping myself as the guy seemed to be rather laid back as if he didn¡¯t care about my presence. Weird¡­ Maybe diplomacy would work? ¡°I- I¡¯m looking for something¡­ don¡¯t suppose you¡¯ve seen a group of Neo-Jokers around?¡±


    ¡°Ha. They know better to avoid tent cities. Nothing to be had from the poor¡­ you should probably leave. I don¡¯t mind, but some of the other guys ¡®round here are quite trigger happy.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Stupid Shiro. Why did you even think there was something here in the first place? It''s obvious nothing but the homeless were shacked up here.


    It was always embarrassing to be caught. I had been so sure no one was here when I first entered though, so how did the guy know? And wasn¡¯t Fox¡¯s Grace supposed to make Stealth second nature? I don¡¯t feel it with how easily this guy noticed me.


    I trudged back to my bike and continued, only slightly delayed by my bike''s refusal to start for several minutes. The second location I checked was an abandoned sewer treatment station. It stunk to the high heavens, and I didn¡¯t even try to get close to it. I could see the telltale signs of mutants even from fairly far out. No point in messing with them and getting myself killed. Or worse, infected with HMV.


    The third showed far more promise. A bit of searching on my worn-out phone revealed the company recently closed down, so there was little chance of it being a tent city already. I moved in, taking a similar approach to the last as I snuck in and looked around. This time I had to actually cut a part of the fence thanks to the barbed wire around the top. I was more careful than last time, checking the sightlines and making sure no one was around the areas I walked through.


    I looked around for a while, not spotting anything that looked familiar. Hmm¡­ the photo was between two small walls, maybe a hallway? No, that didn¡¯t feel right. The halls looked curved in the photo¡­ Maybe they were smokestacks and not walls? I found a spot that roughly matched the photograph on the roof. After a bit more looking around, I found an ashen patch of ground between two smokestacks. A spot further away held the burned remains of the ¡°1%¡± in a diamond of char.


    I checked the surroundings, looking for cameras but the area was a dead zone. Unfortunate. If there was a camera I might¡¯ve been able to try and klep the footage or something. Burning bodies in view of a camera would be too amateurish though. What was I even expecting? S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The scent of burnt pork was the first thing that hit my nose as a chilly breeze passed along the top area. Gross. No matter how many times I smelled it, which unfortunately was quite frequent around the city, burnt corpses always made me sick.


    Okay¡­ what now? How do I even investigate¡­ hmm¡­ should probably take some pictures. I noticed something as I snapped photos of the scene using a high-res camera I got from Taru. The bones were gone. Whoever burned the Jade Fangs either cleaned up or used a strong enough accelerant to burn the bones to ash¡­ I looked around a bit more. Something about the scene was bothering me, almost like an itch in the back of my head.


    The ash wasn¡¯t disturbed. No prints or anything. Sure the wind could¡¯ve covered some tracks, but all of them? Then the bones were probably burned to ash¡­ why did that matter? I dunno, but maybe one of the Jade Fangs actually good at investigation would know something, so I wrote it down.


    That itch remained though¡­ I poked around the place a bit more trying to figure out what was bugging me so much. It was like I had a sixth sense that something was wrong- maybe it was thanks to Insight? Could be¡­


    Honestly, I was so unskilled in deduction and investigation that it only made sense the thing with the bones was thanks to Insight. I looked around a bit more as I tried to think what the issue could be. I even began checklisting the things I knew about the Neo-Jokers as I looked around.


    They were a biker gang, . Probably parked their bikes down below somewhere¡­ maybe I should check that on my way back out. Um, they loved smoking. The Neo-Joker gang was one of the only places in the entire city to get authentic tobacco cigarettes-


    That¡¯s it! There were no cigarette buds around. Anywhere. I highly doubt the Neo-Jokers would clean up their trash at a crime scene. Especially not with the image they sent to the Fangs marking the kills as theirs. What kind of self-respecting career criminal would go through so much effort to pick up cigarette stubs and then send an image claiming the crime as theirs? It just didn¡¯t make sense.


    ¡®Course, there could¡¯ve just been no one smoking. But surely one out of at least eight would¡¯ve lit up at some point, right? Hmm¡­ maybe I¡¯m really not cut out for this investigation stuff. I marked it down as a potential clue though.


    I poked around a bit more, but nothing else stood out. Of course, I did my due diligence and took photos, collected samples of the accelerant using a Chemical Analyzer the Fangs loaned to me, and even used the fancy BugHound? to check for anything left behind.


    After that, I went back down and looked for where the killers parked. It really wasn¡¯t that hard. The freshly disturbed debris made easy tracks to follow as I came across a fire escape on the side of the building. I looked around a bit, especially across the street as I marked down the spot. There was a Thudder? vending machine right across the street the Netrunners might be able to get into.


    Other than that, the tracks were weird. Insight once again held my hand as I realized the tracks were from cars. The tiremarks were far too parallel to be bikes. Yet another sign the Jade Fang Matriarch was right. What self-respecting biker didn¡¯t drive a bike?


    Sure, an argument could be made that they drove a car to carry the corpses, but then why were all the tracks cars? There were at least eight - seven in the photo and the one that took it - people who did this. Surely at least one of them would¡¯ve driven a bike considering, you know, biker gang?


    So, what was my deduction? Right? That was the word for detectives? Hmm¡­ based on the clue- evidence, the Neo-Jokers likely weren¡¯t the culprits. Then who did it? Who would benefit the most from a gang war between the Jade Fangs and Neo-Jokers? Scavs and Savants obviously, but this doesn¡¯t really fit their MO. Most probably some other gang, though it could be a corporation looking to push the gangs out.


    I had a feeling there was more to this, but I simply didn¡¯t know enough. And I wasn¡¯t an investigator. Petty kleptoid, remember? Welp, I did my duty. Came to the scene, collected clues, and now it was time to head back and collect my pay. Yay!


    I returned to my bike just in time for my vision to be obscured once more by the box. I wasn¡¯t as irritated as I had been this time around though. Its evident power afforded it at least some attention.


    ¡¸Name: Shiro Tsukuyomi


    Traits: Fox¡¯s Grace, Quick Healing, Insight


    Stealth - 6


    1 Perk Point


    Perception - 2


    Local Novice (Little Yukoto)


    Data Pending - Duration One Week¡¹


    Weird¡­ so it was grading me on my skills? I got the feeling that I was right, and considering my recent feelings had been coming from Insight it probably was. So I had a week to show off my skills to this weird interface?


    I had a six in stealth. Was that good or bad? I had a feeling I wasn¡¯t too shabby at sneaking around- or at least I did till that hobo caught me¡­ what was up with that? Wasn¡¯t Fox¡¯s Grace supposed to help with all that? What a useless trait- I suddenly felt extreme danger at finishing that thought, so I skipped along to my next question.


    What was a perk point? I could buy a perk with it maybe? What good would that do though? I mean logically, assuming this was similar to games like I originally thought, perks would grant me some kind of benefit or something. How do I even spend Perk Points though?


    ¡¸Spend a Perk Point?


    Warning! Only use Perk Points when you are in a safe, well-ventilated environment!¡¹


    Well, that wasn¡¯t ominous. Nope, not one bit. I¡¯ll take the warning at face value and wait till I get back to my container before I mess around with the interface more. With that thought in mind, I straddled my bike and headed back to the Dragoon Saloon.

 Chapter 6

    Chapter 6I collapsed onto my bed in my little container. It hadn¡¯t even been a hard day, just tiring. Ishimaru had been as¡­ entertaining¡­ as always when I passed back the tools and my findings. He shared the same sentiment as me- it was a frame.


    I dunno much more than that, nor did I want to be involved any further. I could smell a storm coming a mile away, and I didn¡¯t want to be any closer than I had to. Unless they paid me more I guess¡­ as long as it wasn¡¯t a hit. I was fine with B&E, klepping, and even this new investigation shit, just not an assassination.


    Well, now that I have come back home, I may as well look at this interface again. I realized on my way back to the Ryu Container Yard that I had been pretty dismissive of the whole thing. Maybe it was a defense against the unknown? Maybe it was because of how absurd the whole thing was?


    Still, I couldn¡¯t exactly deny its existence anymore. Quick Healing  fixed my wrist in a single night. Insight helped immensely during this latest job. Only Fox¡¯s Grace seemed to lag behind a bit, but maybe it just hadn¡¯t had time to shine quite yet? Yep. Definitely not going to call it useless¡­ that was a dangerous thought according to the useful Insight.


    Okay, so I established it was real, and did work as advertised even if the ad had been lost in the wind. What now? How should I move forward knowing I could gain powers just as easily as putting in a point? It was a path to power, a rather easy one at that assuming I get the hang of acquiring these points. It was far cheaper than biomagical enhancements, cybernetics, or biotech, which made it far more accessible.


    If I game it right, heh, this could potentially be my path to accomplish whatever I want. Which was¡­ I dunno? I had been more focused on surviving Aythryn City than anything¡­ What do I want?


    Hmm¡­ this was concerning. What had my parents wanted? Surely that''s a good place to get inspiration¡­ Maybe have a family? But¡­ Did I really want one? Did I want to find a spouse, only for this cursed world to rip them away when I least expected it? Or worse, have a kid only to watch them spiral into depravity like so many others?


    Maybe a long-term goal could wait until I more naturally found one. How about the short term? Hm¡­ I- I want a shower of my own¡­ How embarrassing. What a weak goal to have. It was a start though! So, I needed money. And the best way to get money, other than selling my soul to a corporation, was to become an Edgerunner¡­ or at least a high-end merc.


    I already had an in with a fixer in the vein of Ishimaru. Maybe I should try to find a non-gang-affiliated one? What about Uranau? She was one of the most connected fixers in town. I technically had an in with her through Nael, if he could help.


    But my skills were sorely lacking compared to her standard. So now it boils down to git gud¡­ I can do that. Probably. The best way to do so: check out the Perk Point! Oh, and show my other skills off to this weird interface thingy to get more!


    I¡¯d like to spend my Perk Point now interface-sama? Was that too cringe? Maybe I should just keep calling it interface. Or maybe System would work better? What should I call it? Well, that question doesn¡¯t matter too much. I¡¯m sure something will come to me eventually.


    I¡¯d like to spend my Perk Point!


    ¡¸Spend a Perk Point?


    Warning! Only use Perk Points when you are in a safe, well ventilated environment!¡¹


    Yes!


    My vision blacked out as I felt my entire body collapse onto the bed.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Where am I?


    It''s so dark here. I waved my hand in front of my face, barely catching its movement. What happened? Oh no! Did that thing fry my brain?! I died, didn¡¯t I!? Stupid Shiro using something you have no understanding of! Now you went and got yourself killed!


    The darkness receded slightly and I found myself standing in front of a bookcase. At the top, in big bold letters, read ¡°Stealth¡±. The bookcase was filled with books of all shapes and sizes. Different names were across each of the titles, and over half of them were grayed out. I shot the thing with a speculative glance.


    So I just needed to pick a book from the shelf to get a Perk? My Insight was leading me to believe that was true. Oh, what would I do without you, my precious handhold? In all seriousness though, why books? This was the 21st century. One of the few times I had actually seen a book was at Nael¡¯s clinic.


    The space around me soundly faded away as a glitched screen effect blinded me. Before I could even follow what was happening, I stood in an ancient looking cave. Drops of water fell somewhere around me and pure darkness was everywhere. Everywhere except where I stood. ¡°Stealth¡± was spelled on the cave wall with fire, and below it were tiny orbs each with a different name.


    Interesting¡­ so I could change this place to better fit my standards? Hm¡­ what was with the cave then? I¡¯d never been in one myself nor a library. Why was it so dingy? Shouldn¡¯t it be something preem? What did I think was preem?


    My entire surroundings combusted into flame and I found myself standing in darkness once more. A second passed and light surrounded me. I stood in an ancient looking pavilion of the Ukiyon flavor. The paper walls caged me, and a shelf holding even older-looking pieces of jade was the only thing in the room. A flickering fire sat in mid-air above the bookshelf.


    A window off to the side gave me a preem view of the moon and a lone sakura tree dropping its petals in the wind. A small courtyard, similar to the one at the Dragoon Saloon, sat just outside the window.


    It wasn¡¯t necessarily preem, but it was peaceful. At least more peaceful than the bookshelf standing in the middle of darkness and the dark dingy cave. Even the scent here was refreshing. It was as if I were breathing in the cleanest air like some kind of corpo exec. It was also¡­ a bit racist? Was this offered because I¡¯m ukiyonese? Not that I hated it. It was nice, in a way.


    Enough messing around. I still needed to pick a perk. I looked at the available list of jade slips. Hmm¡­ can just these change to something else? It''s kinda hard to read them.


    As if my wish was the command for this place, the jade slips changed to what looked like ancient scrolls. Nova. And also a lot easier to read. The black ink was far better on the eye than green on green.


    I looked through the list, and soon I realized the grayed-out ones all had some kind of requirement I hadn¡¯t met. For instance one of them required I have two other perks and my Stealth to level twelve before I could take it. Most of the greyed-out ones simply required further levels though.


    So should I just pick one that is immediately effective? Or should I pick one to unlock another down the line? Hmm¡­ I can see the argument for both, but it was probably better to plan for the future? So, what looked good? Actually, what was the hardest one to get?


    The ones near the top of the shelf were blurred as if there was some kind of smog obscuring them. They also seemed to gleam and shine with a light promising their power. It was like looking at a legendary in a game, and yet I didn¡¯t meet the stat requirements to even see its effects.


    I looked through the list, passing by quite a few perks as I tried to figure out the best one to go for. After a long time of looking, I finally settled on one.


    ¡¸Illusive - At will, your form will become blurry like a shadow.


    Stealth 12Fox¡¯s PawCold-blooded¡¹


    Its requirements weren¡¯t too high compared to some of the others on the shelf. It stood out, not only because it sounded badass; all its requirements were reachable. Fox¡¯s Paw and Cold-blooded were both unlockable right now. After looking between them, I decided on Fox¡¯s Paw first.


    ¡¸Fox¡¯s Paw - Move with the silence and grace of Fox.¡¹


    Um¡­ now what? I picked one. Do I need to do something with the scroll? I looked around, noticing an easel in the middle of the room that definitely hadn¡¯t been there before. I walked over and rested the scroll on it.


    As if by magic - which probably wasn¡¯t far off from the truth considering how surreal all of this was - the scroll unrolled itself, revealing a beautiful painting of a sleeping fox curled up on a rock. The moonlight, shaded pink by the nearby Sakura leaves, graced the fox¡¯s fur with a brilliant glow that made the creature seem ethereal.


    I blinked, my eyes twitching as I realized it wasn¡¯t just a painting. I now stood a ways off, matching the perspective of the painting as I watched the fox blissfully bask in the light of the moon. A garden wrapped around me. Long extinct plants and flowers bloomed under the moonlight as rich silky grass filled the place. I stood on a wooden deck next to a rather large rock garden. On the opposite side of the garden sat the fox¡¯s rock.


    ¡¸Reach the other end without  hearing you!¡¹ S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Well¡­ that didn¡¯t sound ominous. And it can¡¯t be that hard right? I stepped off the deck into the rock garden, careful to not make a sound. And then my foot hit the ground. Almost immediately, sharp screeching pain arced along every part of my foot as I yelped at the sudden agony. My balance was thrown off and I hit the ground hard. All across my body, similar pain ruthlessly stabbed into me from all directions, as if the rock garden was an illusion hiding a bed of nails and glass. Blood poured everywhere, staining the rock garden red as I felt a nail stab through my retina, popping my eye.


    The fox on the other side turned and met my remaining eyes as she gloatingly laughed as if to mock me for being a failure-


    And then I was back standing on the deck as if nothing happened. I shakingly checked myself for injuries, but nothing showed. Not even a patch of red skin. Not even the ground where I fell was red. Even the damn fox looked as though she hadn¡¯t twitched.


    What the fuck? What kind of sadistic game was this?! There''s no way I¡¯m playing around with a sadist! I ain¡¯t a masochist! Surely there''s a secondary way out of here.


    I walked off the deck, intent on doing just that. I got a sense of danger, but I ignored it as I moved away. Just as my foot touched the soft grass, the sky above rumbled. I couldn¡¯t even react as a bolt of lightning struck me, seeming to settle in my body as pure electrifying agony coursed through my flesh. I could feel my flesh sloughing off, my bones burning, and my eyes turning to goo as I lost vision-


    And then I was back on the deck, staring at the snoozing fox. Damnit!


    I took a jittery step, going a different direction; back towards the pavilion. The second I stepped off, lightning seemed to hunt me down as it embraced my body. Desperate tears were already beginning to fall as I appeared once more and went in the other direction. And then I was back.


    My legs gave way, phantom pains of electricity still coursing through them. I hit the deck hard as I literally tried to pull myself together. It didn¡¯t work as I curled into a ball and sobbed. The pain had gone away, but the memory hadn¡¯t. No person should have to feel their brain turn to liquid in their own head as it leaked out their ears, and yet still be perfectly fine a second later. The worst part? The lightning hadn¡¯t even hurt as bad as the nails popping my flesh¡­


    C-c¡¯mon Shiro! P-pull yourself together! The pain wasn¡¯t that bad- A shudder went down my spine as the memory of a nail popping my squishy eye replayed again and again. It brought back memories, dipping me further into trauma.


    I don¡¯t know how long it took me, but I eventually managed to calm down enough to take a breath without choking on a sob. Near the end, I wasn¡¯t just crying from the memories of pain. My emotions had finally boiled over, and the grief I had been suppressing from years ago surfaced. It- it almost felt good, in a way. Therapeutic. To release it all.


    I lifted my head and met the gaze of the fox sitting on the rock. She had a slightly guilty look in her gaze as she stared warmly at me. The next moment she harrumphed as if disappointed and settled back onto the rock to take a nap.


    That- that bitch! I felt renewed vigor. This was all that damn animal''s fault! The perk was named Fox¡¯s Paw; why hadn''t I noticed before?! I stood up and began walking towards her. When I get my hands on it-


    I slipped midthought as my face once again met the nails.


    And then I was back, shaken anew.

 Chapter 7

    Chapter 7How long has it been? It felt like years had passed as I simply tried to make my way across the rock garden. Surely my body, my real body, was flatlined by now? Was this why the sadistic interface warned me to be in a safe place?


    I collapsed almost across the garden, my body weight shifting ever so slightly to the side as I tumbled down. I didn¡¯t even blink as I felt the- the objects enter my skin. It was nothing new, this pain of mine. Surely I had felt it hundreds of times as I tried, and failed, to cross silently. It was difficult. Even just the slightest misstep would make me feel this pain and restart.


    The fox¡¯s eyes, the beautiful warm eyes met mine. They gloated, and the tips of her snout upturned into what looked to be a smile even as its eyes crinkled. Ah, such a lovely sight. And then I was back to the beginning once more. The fox looked as though she hadn¡¯t even moved as the moonlight continued to shower her.


    How long had it been? I stopped counting after three hundred attempts. A period of time after that, maybe a couple hundred more, I started walking into the lightning just to feel something different. It was almost refreshing, energizing even, to feel the coursing strength of the lightning. It was like a caffeine shot after spending weeks only drinking coffee.


    That started a pattern. Every couple hundred failures I would bask in the lightning as if it was a warm shower and not electricity five times hotter than the surface of the sun. I don¡¯t know how many times it had been, but I faintly remember bathing in lightning only a hundred or so times. Of course, I had my little mental breakdowns every once in a while, but even those were a distant memory now. At some point, my mental state just declined to the point I wasn''t bothered by the learning experience.


    I could almost cross the garden every time. It was easy once I learned the tricks. For instance, to even take a step I had to perfectly hold my body weight and only step with the front of my foot, then shift my body weight as the rest of my foot came down. If even a part of my foot prematurely hit the ground, it would be impaled. After hundreds of times dealing with this pain of mine, I no longer even flinched as I would¡¯ve continued. Sadly, if any part of my body became impaled it counted as a failure and I would be teleported back.


    I calmly stepped off the deck, my face blank as I walked forward not even thinking about the motion. Muscle memory took over entirely. My steps were silent and I would¡¯ve definitely reached that cute fox if nothing changed. And yet things had to change. Of course, they had to change. It would be too easy otherwise.


    An eighth of the way there, the ground began to shift with each movement, changing from sand to wood, back to gravelly sand, and then to concrete. Every single step shifted the materials, causing me to change how I walked across them. There was no discernable pattern either, and the changes were random, causing me to adjust with every movement. Yet it didn¡¯t even break my pace. This? This was child¡¯s play compared to the later stages.


    Once I reached a fourth of the way, my feet shifted. Every step from here on out would change what kind of shoe I wore. In turn, it would affect how I needed to step to avoid making noises with the varied shoes. It would not affect the piercing pains though. No, those were able to pierce through anything with little effort.


    I took another step, and I was wearing clown shoes. Another, and squeaky chickens. Yet another, and just socks. I continued on, well used to making the calculations. Each step was silent as the last.


    Halfway there, my attire began to change with every footfall, causing me to have to shift postures and walking styles. The changes not only affected my center of mass, but they also could make noise. The rain jackets were the worst offenders. If even my clothes made a noise, I would be forced to trip and restart.


    Ah, the changing shoes and ground material didn¡¯t stop. No. That would be too easy. The effects stacked with each progression point, making it nearly impossible to actually succeed. And yet thousands of ¡®deaths¡¯ had made me capable of crossing. Time seemed to be on my side in this cursed space.


    And then I was three-fourths of the way there, passionately staring at the cute fox. She had truly been my only companion in what felt like years I had been moving along. Her gloating smiles and warm looks, which used to make me rage, drove me forward more than the thought of leaving this place. I couldn¡¯t wait to approach her and stroke the soft moonlit fur of my choom.


    I barely even noticed as items scattered across my path, causing me to change up my directions to avoid stepping on them and making noise. Everything from shattered bottles to crumpled leaves sat in front of me as I practically glided across the expanse.


    And then I was there, at the edge of the rock garden. This was the final part, the final part I had been stuck on for at least eighteen lightning strikes. But I had learned from my failures. I had adapted.


    A step forward changed the very gravity, distorting my posture, center of mass, and amount of muscle needed to make a quiet step. And indeed, my next step was quiet. Gravity changed once more, close to doubling what the norm was. I stepped silently. Then it lifted to what felt like a fourth of the norm. Yet my footfall was silent.


    I moved, calmly making the calculations until my foot fell against the wood for the first time. I dared not breathe as I stepped onto the deck opposite the rock garden. I moved carefully; I had long learned how to step across wood without noise.


    Just when I was there, my hand stretched to that glorious fur; it happened. The fox lifted her head and stared directly at me. A look flashed through her eyes, a look I hadn¡¯t seen before in the years we spent together. Pity, perhaps. And then everything faded to black.


    I awoke, on my bed, with tears silently pooling in my eyes. I had won, and yet I never felt so defeated.


    It was a long time before I moved. I just sat there, staring at the roof of my container as I ignored the noises coming from the city. But alas, all things must come to an end. My silent reprieve was shattered by the yearning of my gut and the glass texture across my throat.


    I slowly slurped down ramen as I sat at a shop just outside of Viceroy Street. It turned out two real days had passed that I had laid there under the effects of the interface. I figured some kind of time dilation must¡¯ve been in effect. I was sure, so sure I had spent at  a year of constantly failing in that abominable rock garden. I refused to believe that it had only been forty-eight hours. That just logically didn''t make sense. So time dilation was my working theory at the moment.


    The noodles tasted bland, as did everything else I snacked on on my way here. And snacked I did. I awoke with an insatiable hunger and thirst after waking up from two days of idleness. Unfortunately, everything tasted flavorless. Even the world looked bland, muted in its once radiant neon colors. The usual sounds and scents felt distant as if a filter was welded over my head. It was oddly nice considering how bad everything typically reeked, but very worrying. It was like I was sitting at a terminal, where everything was at an arms distance away.


    With a thought the interface pulled up, showing the results of my long-time suffering.


    ¡¸Name: Shiro Tsukuyomi


    Traits: Fox¡¯s Grace, Quick Healing, Insight


    Stealth - 6


    Fox¡¯s Paw


    Perception 2


    Local Novice (Little Yukoto)


    Data Pending - Duration Five Days¡¹


    Was it worth it? I dunno. Would I be forever traumatized by rock gardens? Most definitely. What did I learn? I learned that the fluffiness of a fox was a force that few could stand a chance against. I also finally gained a long-term goal; adopt a fox. Even if I had to fork over millions of Rayn to get one biogenetically made by the Agrican Foundation, I would. Just the though of petting luxurious fox fur put my heart at ease. Probably Stockholm Syndrome if I had to guess.


    But that was a long time coming considering how broke I was. For now? Absolom Clinic. I really,  needed Nael to take a look at me. I most definitely had something wrong with my head. Things wouldn¡¯t be so- so muted otherwise. That, and he had texted me yesterday about checking on my wrist. It felt like so long ago that I was injured.


    I had actually gotten several texts over the past two days, which was weird. Usually, it was just radio silence. One of them had been from Ishimaru; he thanked me for a job well done and told me the Matriarch sent her regards. It was a worrying message. Or at least it would¡¯ve been, but I just couldn¡¯t bring myself to care about much of anything anymore.


    My best choom also reached out, asking to meet up. She was in town for a couple of weeks and wanted to hang out while she could. Something even poked through the fog holding my heart captive: guilt. She must¡¯ve texted just after I entered that weird pavilion and it had been two days of no reply. I texted her back and told her we could meet up later tomorrow. Still waiting on a reply, but that was fine. I made her wait, so it''s only right I waited.


    Of course, I also received a couple dozen spam and scam that arrived on the daily. Most of them were instantly deleted, but there were a few I took the time to appreciate the creativity of. For instance, one person had sent me a message about a trove of uncovered Aetherium in the Eye Sea. He just needed some funding to go and retrieve it. Creative, yes, but entirely bullshit. Everyone knows Aetherium stopped existing on this planet back during the Aetherial Concourse. What a gonk.


    A low-pitched rumble skipped along the streets, causing me to look up. Up so far above, a flying vehicle the size of a bus flitted above the buildings as it flew south. I didn¡¯t recognize its model, but I did recognize the spear and shield logo of Sentinel Corp. It chugged along, swiftly making its way further to the south.


    Now, if this was Downtown or Portside I wouldn¡¯t think anything of it. Flyers of all kinds were down over there, probably as a show of strength or something else having to do with politics. Here though? This was Little Yukoto. The only flyers here were the occasional Medevacs from Medtech Solutions. Even those weren¡¯t all that common considering the price for a single trip.


    I finished off my bowl and paid the chef before walking down Viceroy Street. The right alley appeared under the neon glare and I slunk my way through. Even now, free from that cursed garden, I couldn¡¯t bring myself to make a noise. It was almost as if my muscles refused to even acknowledge the command to step loudly.


    I startled a kid as I walked beside him and came across the aged willow tree in the courtyard. I moved over to Absolom Clinic. Somehow, as silent as I was now, Nael seemed to immediately know I was there as his head shot up. ¡°Hey, kid! You uh- you okay? You look a little shell shocked¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah. I¡¯m just a bit shaken.¡± I tried to smile. It took far more effort than I remember to simply crease my lips. Did it even used to take effort? It was a natural expression, and yet my muscles felt half paralyzed by phantom pains.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you have a seat?¡± Nael sat his book down and slid over to the surgical chair. He really was the best Medech; able to spot an injury even if it wasn''t physical.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I sat down and simply just stared at his concerned face. This was dumb. What would I even say? I got sucked into a mystical realm and tortured for years? Oh, but I love foxes now, so it''s all okay! And don''t worry, it''s likely to happen again in the future!


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to speak, kid. I understand.¡± He leaned back into his chair and looked up to the roof. ¡°I¡¯ve seen something similar in my long years in the Medech field. I won¡¯t ask you what happened, but if you ever need someone to talk to, my door is open.¡± He paused for a moment. ¡±Or my DMs, as the kids say.¡±


    I chuckled at his joke. Everyone knows ¡®DMs¡¯ died with the K-10 convention back in ¡®44. His infectious chuckle joined mine, and soon I began laughing harder, tears coming to my eyes as I just laughed and laughed. It was relieving in a way, releasing the tension built up. It wasn¡¯t even a funny joke, and yet mirth snuck out into bouts of guffaws.


    My chuckles faded, though my smile remained without the effort it took to put it up. ¡°Thanks, doc. I needed that.¡±


    He ruffled my hair. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it, kid. Now then, why don¡¯t I check on that wrist of yours? It looked to be doing well. Oh, and you still have that bug?¡±


    I settled down as he gave me a checkup. I still wasn¡¯t a hundred percent, but I was feeling far better than I had been.


    S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 8

    Chapter 8The outskirts, as long as I avoided the gonks, was the best place to cool down and just relax. Well, cooling down was metaphorical, in this case. This place was burning hot from dawn to dusk, but as long as I lay up near the fuel tank I was okay. AE3 was an endothermic fuel and acted almost as a jury-rigged AC.


    I rested at my go-to spot as I watched the sun slowly slink toward the ocean to the west. The sky was a mess of blues, pinks, and even greens above the partly cloudy sky. My handheld played music loyally into my ear as I sat in the sand and just relaxed. Doc¡¯s orders. Well, not to come out here exactly. Nael had suggested I take a day or two and just find myself once more.


    With the beautiful sight of night setting across Aythryn City in the background, I became distracted as the interface came into my view once more.


    ¡¸Name: Shiro Tsukuyomi


    Traits: Fox¡¯s Grace, Quick Healing, Insight


    Stealth - 6


    Fox¡¯s Paw


    Perception - 2


    Local Novice (Little Yukoto)


    Driving - 7


    1 Perk Point


    Data Pending - Duration Five Days¡¹


    Yeah, I attained another entry to my list. Driving and at rank seven. I personally didn¡¯t think I was all that good of a driver, but the interface had rated me higher than it had Stealth. I also had a perk selection pending.


    I dunno if I¡¯ll pick one. I felt half dead after the thing with Fox¡¯s Paw, and had several traumas I doubt I¡¯ll ever overcome. Wouldn¡¯t it be worse with driving? Who knows, maybe the ¡®learning¡¯ process would require me to crash and die several thousand times. Wouldn¡¯t I then be too traumatized to drive? Was it even worth the Perk?


    Well¡­ that''s not to say Perks weren¡¯t effective. I  had yet to make a noise when moving. There was no doubting the effectiveness of Fox¡¯s Paw. Just¡­ was it worth it?


    My phone buzzed and I pulled it out to see a message from Mira, my best choom. ¡®Great! My entire afternoon is clear. Oh, and Pa¡¯ wants to see you too. Come over for lunch? I¡¯ll make cookies! XD We can go do something else after that.¡¯


    A smile traced my lips. ¡®Sure. Send me where you¡¯re staying.¡¯


    ¡®:D KK. Here!¡¯ The message was followed by a map pin on the south side of the city in the Oldtown district.


    It would be quite the drive, but well¡­ it would be good to see a familiar face. Damn, that also meant I¡¯d have to cut through the corpo zones. No way I was heading through East End on a bike. ¡®I¡¯ll be there.¡¯ I sent back.


    ¡®Nova!¡¯


    My smile remained as I watched the light fade over the city. Maybe life wasn¡¯t so bad after all¡­


    The next morning I slid out onto the streets further towards Downtown and the corpo districts with a mission. I had half a day, and I wanted to prove some of my other skills to the interface with the time.


    I parked a bit away wearing my finest clothes, or at least the ones with the least amount of gang colors, to blend in with the surrounding pedestrians. The people in this area were middle class, so there were far fewer gangers, icons, and graffiti. They were the moderate group, the ones that willingly went to work as corpo drones.


    This close to the corpo zones I started to see a lot of flashwear jackets and vests that had hologram projectors built into the very cloth. Most depicted simple art designs or had some kind of company name glowing just outside of the fabric. Flashwear was extraordinarily common amongst corporate drones and had long been the style of choice. It was so common it had almost entirely replaced business casual. Only execs wore suits these days.


    Those with more physical jobs tended to stick with techwear. Techwear was¡­ well, it was like someone took a military outfit, and then smacked on random buckles, straps, and pockets all over. It was just a bit out of my price range, but I desperately wanted some techwear due to the sheer versatility of the clothing. Most pants had at least six pockets. The amount of things I could do with six pockets...


    There were a few people now and then, however, that were literally walking advertisements. Hockers. I wasn¡¯t alone in my distaste for them. They sold their bodies to their corporate masters for just a few more Rayn. At least the audio variants of Hocker attire had long been banned. It''s funny, most of the time you couldn¡¯t even see what product the Hocker was advertising due to how it warped around the body. Definitely an exec decision that no one bothered to check the viability of.


    Anyway, with an increase in wealth came an increase in valuables. And, as a klepto- ahem,  of such valuables, this area was the prime target. Other spots in the city had their own issues, for instance, the actual corpo zones were too heavily guarded. East End was, well, East End. Even the south of Downtown wasn¡¯t too good of an idea considering it was the seat of governmental power and FSA troops were everywhere.


    An argument could be made for Portside, but I preferred the north edge of Downtown. I had better knowledge of the place and could escape more easily if I was caught. Not that I had been caught anytime recently. After I learned all the tips and tricks, and as long as I stuck to my normal comfort zone, then klepping pockets was easy. Almost too easy. I didn''t get the same thrill that bigger B&E jobs gave me.


    I casually walked around, eyeing the surrounding people as I listened to music through my earbuds. My targets were those that looked well off, but not  well off. Those with Vizors? made preem targets since the device blocked most of their view. Then, I simply had to check their pockets. Small devices were preem. Things like my handheld radio and even pocket watches could all be sold.


    I had long learned the common areas where people stored their stuff and how to spot the slight bulges. Just as long as I didn¡¯t grab a phone and alert the PA. Grabbing phones was a quick way to lose a hand. At least unless I had a Cleaner-Jack, but those were expensive.


    I spent two hours klepping items and concealing them on my body. My usual tactic was to get close, walk beside someone, and snatch an object before walking past. I made sure not to bump into anyone, a mistake of lower-level kleptoids. Most aware city dwellers would automatically check their belongings upon being touched. Keyword, . It still worked wonders on those in a rush or with the perception of a snail.


    I didn¡¯t just stay on one street either. No, that would be dumb. Squires of the Blue Crusade were out and about in their mess of armor and longswords. This close to the corporate zones they actually cared about petty crimes, and I definitely didn¡¯t want to be caught. They had the power of judge, jury, and executioner if need be, and the most common punishment for pickpockets was amputation. I rather liked my hands right where they were.


    I returned back to my bike around noon. The density of the crowds had lowered drastically now that people were at work, so there was no point in sticking around. Just as I mounted it, the interface popped up in my view of its own volition.


    ¡¸Name: Shiro Tsukuyomi


    Traits: Fox¡¯s Grace, Quick Healing, Insight


    Tracking - 3


    Stealth - 6


    Fox¡¯s Paw


    Perception - 2


    Local Novice (Little Yukoto)


    Sleight of Hand - 7


    1 Perk Point


    Driving - 7


    1 Perk Point


    Concealment - 8


    2 Perk Points


    Data Pending - Duration Four Days¡¹


    Interesting¡­ it looked like these Perk Points were given out every four levels based on Concealment. I had already suspected, of course, since the Stealth Perks had their unlocks capped by levels of four. Still, it was nice to have confirmation.


    I- I still wasn¡¯t sure if I even wanted to use a Perk Point again. At least not for now¡­ The last one had changed me. I found out when I accidentally touched the thermal side of my bike that even my reactions to pain were different now. I didn¡¯t cry or scream, I just accepted it and moved on with a cool detachment. That''s not normal. Not without a Pain Editor at least.


    I really didn¡¯t want to use another, but that desire to be better and earn more Rayn ate at the back of my mind¡­ I¡¯ll think about it more later. For now, my tentative reply to Perk Points was not yet. Even I knew the draw to power would eventually break down my holdbacks. Power could corrupt even the most pure of people, and I most definitely wasn''t pure.


    I slid the klepped items into one of my saddlebags and drove off onto the inter-city. The speed limit was much higher here, so I let loose and enjoyed the wind against my flesh as I sped down the highway. I still wasn¡¯t quite good, or comfortable, enough to drive between cars, so I took my time and just enjoyed the ride.


    The Corporate Quarter, as the corpo zone was officially called, in Downtown was the home base of many of the major corporations in the city. The Big 7, or at least the ones with a presence in the city, all had their regional offices here.


    Even with just a cursory look, I could spot the big bold letters proclaiming which building was which. Sentinel Corp owned a rather large building with the entire middle cut out into a landing bay of sorts. I could see the militaristic fliers taking off and landing constantly. I was too far out to see the exact nature, but they were probably similar to the one that flew over Viceroy Street.


    Medtech Solutions was set up in the largest hospital in the entire city. Their red cross symbol sat proudly on the white building as Medevacs took off and landed with their lights flashing. A massive hologram red cross floated above the building as if it wasn¡¯t obvious enough. Unlike other sections of the city, they had full authority to shoot down anyone dumb enough to fly in their airspace, so it was pretty barren around the hospital.


    Raijin International owned the largest tower in the entire city. The building looked like a weird mixture of a lightning rod and Ukiyon temple. Electricity arced all around the building as if to show off their self-proclaimed superiority. From this far out I couldn¡¯t tell if it was actual electricity or just holograms. Probably the latter seeing as the former would cost a lot of money. But hey, it  one of the Big 7 corporations. Maybe they did use actual electricity¡­


    Mystech was the only one I couldn¡¯t see, but that wasn¡¯t a surprise considering how they operated. Mystech went the opposite route of the other three and had a massive subterranean complex. It was all over the screamstream a while ago, which is the only reason I knew about it. Otherwise, I tended to avoid Mystech and all its products. Magic was not for me.


    The other three, the Agrican Foundation, KairoTech Global, and Shen Kang Keiji also had smaller buildings out and about, but they weren¡¯t as prominent in Aythryn City as the other four. Together they made the Big 7, our corporate masters in this day and age. When the giants came out to play, even the government would decide to stay.


    The only thing with more political force than the Big 7 was BosSpace Solar. They existed on an entire other spectrum from every other force, so it wasn¡¯t even a fair comparison. These days no one even tried to pick with them after they nearly vaporized half of the Varyth continent with their Orbital Piledriver.


    It wasn¡¯t long before I left Downtown and entered Oldtown, the seat of governmental power for the city. At least, as much power as the government could show off. Still wasn¡¯t a fraction to the Big 7, but then again nothing was. At least the FSA had a standing army. That was already miles above most other countries. Granted, said standing army was nearly constantly fighting off the Dune Walkers, but hey, at least they were there. And the whole Dune Walker thing was partially their fault to begin with, so...


    I stopped at a stoplight and checked my map as I worked my way through the city. Mira¡¯s temporary abode, because it was always temporary, was a few blocks to the west of the primary FSA base of Aythryn City. I wasn''t too far now.


    S§×ar?h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 9

    Chapter 9I stopped outside of rather fancy-looking apartments. It was in a nice section of the city, and I could see Squires and FSA Troops patrolling around the streets. Definitely a lot nicer than where I lived, but then again, that wasn''t all that hard to do. Simply having real walls elevated this place far above my home. Probably less breezy too.


    I found a parking spot and entered the building. Or at least tried to. The front door was code-locked. I called her for the code and then worked my way up the building to apartment 7132. I felt out of place in such a place, and I¡¯m sure the few people I passed thought I was up to no good as I finally arrived and knocked on the door.


    The door flung open as a blonde practically lunged at me. ¡°Shiro! It''s been so long!¡±


    I tried to wiggle out of the overzealous hug, feeling as if my lungs were caving in from how hard she was squeezing me. Has she been working out? No, she''s always been strong. ¡°M-Mira. Can¡¯t. Breathe.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, sorry. I¡¯m just so excited to see you! Come in, come in!¡± Her long, blonde hair flicked around with her peppy movements as she practically pranced into the apartment.


    Just from here, I could tell it was quite a nice place. The furniture was built into the home itself, each piece perfectly fitting into the space so as not to be in the way. The only flaw I saw was the roving band of holographic ads around the room. Probably some kinda of deal where the apartment was cheaper, but ads can be played constantly. They were common amongst apartments. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I followed her, nearly running into her as she half-turned. ¡°You comin- oh, sorry. I didn¡¯t hear you¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah. Right. You still have that cyber audio suite?¡± I asked my choom as I followed her into a spacious living room. Damn Fox¡¯s Paw causing me issues still! No, it''s fine. Just calm down, Shiro. No point getting upset right now.


    ¡°¡®Course! Never regretted getting the KairoTech Sentinel CAS. Well, seldom regretted¡­ there was that one time-¡± she cut herself off as her cheeks turned rosy.


    I chuckled at her expression as she guided me to the couch. ¡°Oh? Tell me more¡­¡± Her blush turned redder, so I decided to offer her a way out. ¡°Still don¡¯t know how they didn¡¯t get sued for that.¡±


    ¡°Right?¡± She asked a tad too quickly. ¡°Quite ballsy to name their product Sentinel¡­ so, how have you been?¡±


    I rubbed the back of my head. ¡°Umm¡­ been better? Just finished a job that paid quite well, so not too bad overall.¡±


    Her smile slightly dropped as a look of mild irritation creased her face. ¡°Are you still working for that drunkard?¡±


    I smiled helplessly. ¡°You know how it is¡­ how about you though? Have you been well?¡±


    ¡°¡®Course! Pa¡¯ and I¡¯ve been all over. Oh! we even crossed the pond! Vurn was quite pretty for being called the Shattered Isle.¡± Her eyes glowed and then a TV built into the wall flickered on. A picture of her looking out the edge of a flier popped up. Directly behind her sat a city built upon fragmented chunks of land. Half the city was even built upon the water. ¡°This is Veyth, the capital. Pretty cool, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, super cool¡­¡± Here she was going off on these adventures while I was still a lowly kleptoid¡­ hah. It''s not that I was jealous, no, I was definitely happy for her. It''s just¡­ well¡­ it was selfish more than anything. She was my best choom, and I maybe saw her a couple times a year. Stupid, Shiro. Her remaining here would mean staying in this cesspool of a city.


    ¡°How were the people there?¡± I asked with as much cheer as I could muster.


    Mira smiled and flicked to another picture, this one of an ancient looking wooden sailboat. ¡°They were interesting. Lots of piracy over there, but otherwise everyone was alright. They were heavily against federal governments though. Everywhere on the shattered isle was a city-state and ¡®Vurn¡¯ in name only.¡±


    ¡°Right. Makes sense after they antagonized BosSpace enough to get hit by the OP.¡±


    She swapped to a different photo, this one of a massive crater in the middle of the ocean. Ocean water poured seemingly endlessly into it and steam poured out in droves. ¡°Yep! This was the impact site. They say it punched all the way through the mantle. Insane, right?¡±


    It was insane. We, everyone on this cursed hunk of a planet, were just lucky BosSpace was the one with the Orbital Piledriver and not a power hungry corpo like Raijin. The amount of destruction Raijin could cause if it had its own OP couldn¡¯t be calculated. For sure they would at least hit Sentinel Corp¡¯s home city.


    ¡°Ah, but enough about me.¡± She turned back to face me. ¡°Wow! You look so pretty! Did you cut your hair or something?¡±


    Weird. She was the second person to say that¡­ ¡°Um¡­ no? W-what made you think that?¡±


    ¡°I dunno really? Hmm¡­ maybe it''s because your hair looks more luxurious than it did in the past? Or your face is smoother? Did you go to a sculptor?¡±


    ¡°You think I could afford that?¡± Body Sculpting was an amenity for the rich. Now that she mentioned it though, I also noticed the same thing the other day¡­ Maybe it was an effect of Fox¡¯s Grace? If it was related to the eidolons like I originally suspected, then I guess it made sense. Fox was known for being beautiful-


    I felt a rock drop in my stomach. If this interface thing was actually related to eidolons, then did that mean the fox back at the pavilion was actually  Fox? No. There¡¯s no way! That would be crazy¡­ unless¡­ no, it was probably just a simulated fox in no way related to  Fox¡­


    ¡°You okay, Shiro?¡± Mira asked, her eyebrows knit tight in concern.


    I phased back into the conversation and forced a smile. ¡°I¡¯m nova! J-just got lost in thought is all. What were we talking about?¡±


    She froze for a moment. ¡°Um¡­ what have you been up to?¡±


    I forced a laugh as I had a flashback to Fox¡¯s Paw. Nope! Definitely can¡¯t share that with her. ¡°I¡¯ve been uh, been investigating recently.¡±


    ¡°Are you finally giving up on B&Es? You could always join the FSA you know-¡±


    I cut her off. ¡°And spend my whole life fighting mutants and Dune Walkers? No thank you.¡±


    She shrugged her shoulders, tossing her blonde hair everywhere. ¡°All good, choom. Just- you have options, you know? You don¡¯t have to stay here if you don¡¯t want to.¡±


    The front door opening up caused us both to look over. I more so flinched, but she lasered onto it. A man, no, a soldier stood in the door. He was absolutely ripped and I knew for a fact it was all natural muscle. I spotted a slight warping effect across his skin, a sign of subdermal armor. Of course, he had bits of chrome everywhere like most people, but for the most part was flesh and blood. The guy had the same blue eyes as Mira, though his hair was a shade darker.


    ¡°Pa! Shiro¡¯s here!¡± She practically bounced over the back of the couch.


    He chuckled as he carried in bags of what smelled like fresh food. Not the cheap stuff either. ¡°I see that. How have you been, Shiro?¡±


    I smiled. ¡°Good, good. How have you been, Uncle Ezra?¡±


    ¡°Been better-¡±


    He opened his mouth to continue speaking but stopped as his daughter snatched the bags with a snicker. ¡°Shiro said the same thing!¡± She bounded over to the table, emptying the bags as she went. Looked like burgers.


    He smirked at me. ¡°Great minds think alike and all that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah. You great minds better hurry up before I eat it all!¡±


    I popped up from my seat. I knew from past experiences she could, and would, eat all the food.


    I sat across the table from Uncle Ezra after the meal. He wasn¡¯t technically my uncle, at least by blood. I didn¡¯t keep in contact with my parent¡¯s blood family for a reason. Uncle Ezra was my dad¡¯s best choom before he died. So close, in fact, they were almost like brothers. Hence I called him uncle.


    After Mira left and headed to the kitchen to make the promised cookies, he spoke up. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re alright? I¡¯ve seen that look in your eyes before.¡±


    I smiled, acting as innocent as I could. It was difficult. Innocence was a rare commodity in this tattered world, so I didn¡¯t really know how to copy it. ¡°What look?¡±


    He sighed. ¡°Come now, Shiro. Don¡¯t gaslight me. My subordinates have had the same look after a particularly bad op.¡±


    Right¡­ he had probably been through far worse than anything I suffered as a FSA commando. ¡°Y-yeah. I¡¯m good. Just uh, working through some things¡­¡± I lowered my eyes to the table. I couldn¡¯t bear to look at his serious face and still lie.


    ¡°Right. Well, if you ever need help you can tell me.¡± Uncle Ezra said. ¡°The FSA moves me around quite a bit, but I¡¯m sure I could pull some strings if you really need it.¡±


    I smiled, a genuine smile, at his offer. It hadn''t been the first time he''s said such a thing, and, knowing him, probably not the last. ¡°Thank you, but I¡¯m fine. For now, it''s nothing too serious.¡±


    ¡°When it does become serious-¡±


    ¡°I have Mira¡¯s number. I- I¡¯ll reach out if I¡¯m in serious trouble.¡± Damn, why did lying feel so rotten? I was already in serious trouble between my gang affiliation, stolen Sentinel papers, and sadistic interface.


    ¡°Alright¡­¡± We remained silent for a moment, listening to Mira butcher a song by as she cooked. ¡°You still have that Sidewinder I got you? Oh, and the emergency shiv from Mira?¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Never leave home without them. The shiv is in my boot.¡±


    ¡°That girl,¡± He chuckled, ¡°emergency shiv? I still have no idea where she got that head of hers.¡±


    ¡®Probably from you? You¡¯re the one that used to make me carry around a bowie knife.¡¯ I kept silent. We sat there for a moment before I decided to attempt and clear up the moody atmosphere. ¡°How¡¯s life?¡±


    He shrugged in a way far too similar to his daughter. ¡°Same old. Mira tell you we attended a summit in Vurn?¡±


    ¡°No. Just that you guys went. She didn¡¯t mention anything about a summit.¡± Classic Mira; leaving out basic information.


    ¡°It was pretty boring anyway. Some stuff about the DarkNet, but most of it was technical jargon that went over my head.¡± He leaned back into his chair, our serious conversation thankfully over.


    ¡°That''s¡­ interesting.¡± The DarkNet referred to the remnants of pre K-10 Convention internet. It was a very,  dangerous place for Netrunners, yet it offered a massive bounty to those who could survive its hellish landscape.


    The DarkNet had millions if not billions of rogue AI roaming about. At any point, a Netrunner could be attacked and fried by said AI. For some, it was worth it. The multitudes of AIs had been innovating and inventing bigger and better tech for decades, and even just one bit of said tech could sell for a lot of money. High risk, potentially high reward.


    Mira strutted back into the room with a ¡®kiss the chef¡¯ apron and comically large oven mitts. ¡°The party has arrived!¡±


    As if by mutual understanding, the previous conversation was dropped. ¡°Goofball. Did you make chocolate chip?¡± Uncle Ezra asked as he stood up and snatched four cookies.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Mira flexed backward, nearly toppling over as she dodged past her dad.


    I watched the duo for a moment before I too stood up and attempted to take a cookie.

 Chapter 10

    Chapter 10It had been a day since I visited Mira and Uncle Ezra. I hadn¡¯t been idle since then. I had gone around and tried to do stuff to get more skills to pop up in my interface, but nothing seemed to trigger it. I even briefly thought about spending all my money, all 1743 BP, on various items to try to get a skill. It was a tough argument, but I eventually just decided to get another perk instead.


    And so that''s what I was preparing to do next. I made sure I had water and food, had even splurged a bit and eaten well, and was ready for this.


    ¡¸Spend a Perk Point?


    Warning! Only use Perk Points when you are in a safe, well-ventilated environment!¡¹


    A single thought and my surroundings vanished. I blinked, and by the time my eyes opened, I was standing in the pavilion once more. It had been mid-day when I activated the interface, and yet the moon¡¯s light gently illuminated the pavilion. Not that I wasn¡¯t expecting such a thing. The moon had remained in the same spot the entire last time I was here.


    The room  changed minutely. Now there were four separate shelves scattered around. Stealth was still present, though the entire bookshelf was shrouded in darkness. The three new shelves were ¡®Sleight of Hand¡¯, ¡®Driving¡¯, and ¡®Concealment¡¯. Sleight of Hand and Driving were illuminated by a small ball of fire floating just above the shelf. Concealment differed in that two flames floated above it.


    Hm¡­ I got the feeling the flames referred to Perk Points. It would make sense why Stealth was dark considering I didn¡¯t have a point to spend. I hesitated for a moment before deciding on the Sleight of Hand Perks first.


    The list was as extensive as Stealth was, with about as many requiring other unlocks. After a bit of searching, eliminating a few Perks as I went, and I settled on one. There were quite a few good ones, but the one I picked looked too good to pass up. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡¸Double Jointed - Your joints double, allowing feats of unusual flexibility.


    Sleight of Hand 12Ambidextrous¡¹


    Thinking I was done, I went to get Ambidextrous only to find out it was locked behind level eight. Great¡­ I looked through this list again and ended up picking one based on its effect and not its branching path.


    ¡¸Hidden Hands - Your hands are less likely to draw the eye.¡¹


    I pulled the scroll off the shelf and walked over to the easel. A deep breath helped calm my mind as I prepared myself for what was to come. Surely this would suck, but the sooner I got through it the better. And hey, I was prepared this time for the suckitude. As long as I got it down before being flatlined by dehydration it was fine.


    Without time to second guess myself, I placed the scroll on the easel and it unrolled itself. A painting of a hand showed, though I couldn¡¯t really see what it was trying to represent. In fact, the picture itself was kinda boring. I lost interest as my vision faded away.


    And then I was back on my bed, as though nothing happened. A frown creased my lips as I checked the time. Barely a minute had passed. Hm¡­ did it not work? I got the feeling something had changed though.


    I brought my hand up in front of my face and then looked away. Nothing seemed to have happ- wait a second. My frown deepened as I looked down at my hands. I felt the irrational desire to look away from such a boring mass of flesh. It was weird.


    I looked away, and that sense of incongruence and apathy vanished. Then, as soon as I inspected my hands, it returned¡­ So Hidden Hands was active now? Why hadn¡¯t I suffered though? Not that I was complaining! I- it''s just that, I dunno, it feels cheap compared to the last time?


    I looked at the interface, and sure enough Hidden Hands was there under Sleight of Hand. Why did the process change? Something was weird here¡­ was it due to the name? The other one was Fox¡¯s Paw. Was it because I had Fox¡¯s Grace that the entire process of attaining the Perk changed?


    If so, I¡¯ll just happily avoid anything to do with foxes when picking my Perks from now on. And, since it was so painless, then I may as well go pick another. Thank you!


    ¡¸Spend a Perk Point?


    Warning! Only use Perk Points when you are in a safe, well-ventilated environment!¡¹


    I once more appeared in the pavilion. The only difference this time around was Sleight of Hand¡¯s fire had gone out. It seemed my initial assumption proved to be correct.


    I moved over to Driving¡¯s shelf and checked out the skills. Unlike the others, the choice this time around was easy, albeit expensive.


    ¡¸Jack of All Driving - You are equally skilled at driving all vehicles.


    Driving 16Sea VehiclesLand VehiclesAir Vehicles¡¹


    The decision between which of the three to start on was equally as easy. I only had a bike at the moment, so Land Vehicles would be the only thing to show an effect. There was very little chance I would be behind the wheel of a boat or flier anytime soon.


    ¡¸Land Vehicles - You are proficient in every land vehicle.¡¹


    I took the scroll and once more entrusted it to the easel. The ancient thing unrolled all on its own, showing a painting of a street surrounded by neon. I blinked, and then I was sitting in a car on said street. The neon grid-like forms surrounding the road looked like some kind of retro outrunner stuff. I was half expecting synth wave to play through the radio.


    The typical hyper-reflective buildings in outrunner art had been replaced by sakura trees with reflective leaves. Even the sun had been replaced by a low-lit neon pink moon. It was surreal, like how I had heard Netrunners saw the world.


    ¡¸ASCorp Horas - Reach the ending.¡¹


    Fuck.


    I gasped for air as I returned to my cargo container from the hellish pavilion. My throat and insides were literally burning with dehydration as I staggered to the fridge and pulled a bottle out. In seconds it was gone as I reached for another. And another. I was so thirsty I was half tempted to say ¡®consequences be damned¡¯ and drink from the tap. Probably get a disease while I was at it.


    By the time I was finally feeling alive again, I sat on the ground with my back to the wall. The cold metal felt good as if it could cool down my overstimulated brain. I tried to think back to the time I spent on the damn track, but my memories felt muted almost. It was as if it was all a dream. A two-day long dream.


    Although they were muted, I could still remember the basis of what happened. I was given simple instructions the entire time. Reach the ending. The issue had been the ending. As soon as I finished, which was easy since the Tarus was an easy car to learn, I was back at the beginning in a different car.


    Then that''s where it started to get hazy. I faintly remember driving hundreds if not thousands of vehicles, everything from bicycles to tanks, but I couldn¡¯t exactly recall the details. Basically, the Perk had put me through a long, long list of land-based vehicles and helped me learn how to operate them. Not become a master, mind you, just good enough to get them to move. It wasn¡¯t even painful like the Fox¡¯s Paw had been. Just long and draining.


    I checked my phone. No messages. I thought briefly for a moment before heading to the nearest vending machine for something a little more than silage.


    Come on, Shiro; it ain''t worth it. Surely there were better things you could be doing than heading back to the pavilion. And yet, I  to go back. Ignoring the absolute bitch of a time waking up half dead, it was fun. I was . I was growing at an unmatched rate compared to before the interface showed up.


    Oh, and I think I cracked the code on why Land Vehicles and Fox¡¯s Paw had been so long but Hidden Hands had been almost instantaneous. It was the type of effect. Both Land Vehicles and Fox¡¯s Paw required muscle memory and knowledge of how to do things, Hidden Hands didn''t. Its effect was almost magical in nature.


    So if I just picked the magicky Perks, I would be done almost instantly. Or at least that''s what I told myself as I headed back to the pavilion.


    I sighed as I popped my back and stretched. It was done. Every single one of my Perk Points had been spent.


    ¡¸Name: Shiro Tsukuyomi


    Traits: Fox¡¯s Grace, Quick Healing, Insight


    Tracking - 3


    Stealth - 6


    Fox¡¯s Paw


    Perception - 2


    Local Novice (Little Yukoto)


    Sleight of Hand - 7


    Hidden Hands


    Driving - 7


    Land Vehicles


    Concealment - 8


    Lethargic PresenceHidden Weapon


    Data Pending - Duration One Day¡¹


    ¡¸Lethargic Presence - Those in your presence grow tired.¡¹


    ¡¸Hidden Weapon - Weapons are more likely to be overlooked.¡¹


    Both were in the same vein of each other, and were prerequisites for Apathetic Presence at level 12. Thankfully, both were also the same as Hidden Hands, so I didn¡¯t spend another few days trapped in my own head.


    The effects were nice, and togglable. I found that out after getting tired really quickly. Yep, Lethargic Presence affects me too. To a lesser extent, I¡¯d say, since I knew it was the Perk''s effects. Maybe it just took the path of least resistance and projected a field of tiredness centered on my body?


    I decided to keep Hidden Weapons permanently active. There wasn''t a reason not to, but the same couldn''t be said for the other two. Lethargic Presence making me tired too was reason enough to not keep it active all the time, and Hidden Hands gave me a sense of incongruence that messed with my head. I should probably only activate it when I need it. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t disable the ¡®learned¡¯ perks of Land Vehicles and Fox¡¯s Paw, not that Land Vehicles needed it, mind you. More so Fox''s Paw. I was still as silent as a mouse. Quieter, even.


    I went to sleep early after a quick meal of silage. I may have been technically resting for two days, but my mental state was in tatters from fatigue. I hit the bed and instantly blacked out.


    I blinked awake, feeling the disgusting crust build up on my left eye fall to pieces under the weight of my eyelids. I rubbed the rest away, along with my desire to go back to sleep. I sluggishly ate breakfast - silage, yay! - and finally felt myself fully wake up.


    Hm¡­ maybe I should get a new eye. I had the Rayn, for once, and it would be incredibly nice to get something with a few more features. I was literally rocking the bare minimum, as evidenced by the crusty eye every morning, and it would be nice to have an upgrade.


    A state-of-the-art cyberoptic might be out of the way, but one with at least a hud would be nice. I could also probably get a Shift Lense implanted into my flesh so my eyes matched¡­ or not. Just the thought of someone digging into my eye made me shudder.


    I logged onto the First International Boswan Bank app and checked my account. 1732 BP. Hm¡­ I could work with that. And I could start paying off my debt while I was at it. It would take all my money, but Nael deserved to be paid.


    I checked my phone, which I still had to do manually since my eye was horribly outdated. Gah. Well, at least it''s not all my eye¡¯s fault. My phone was also several dozen generations behind and wouldn¡¯t connect even if I had a HUD-capable eye.


    A message from Ishimaru popped up. More accurately, from his PA judging by the coherency. ¡®Your phone checks out. Real high-tech anti-tracking software was already installed. You can come get it anytime you want.¡¯


    Well, at least I had some stuff to keep me busy today-


    ¡¸Data Pending Complete¡¹


    ¡¸Request Board Unlocked¡¹


    ¡¸You have [1] Request¡¹


    ¡¸Request - First!


    Cause mischief1 Skill Point¡¹


    Wut? Request Board? Then that means somebody, or , needs to be making the requests, right? Just what was this interface thing anyway? I originally thought it was a secret corpo tech, but there have been far too many pointers to eidolons. Hm¡­ maybe eidolons created this thing? But why? I¡¯m not even contracted to one.


    And what was up with this request? What kind of mischief do I need to cause? What scale even. Like blow up a city level or replace someone''s ice cream with synth mayonnaise level. And this was the first time I had seen Skill Points. So far it''s only been Perk Points and Traits.


    Gah! Too many questions, not enough answers. I¡¯ll just worry about this later. For now: Absolom Clinic.

 Chapter 11

    Chapter 11I opened the door, dodging out of the way as a kid burst from the clinic in a fit of laughter. He was a cute kid with chrome legs. ¡°Mama look! Mama look! I can walk now! I can walk!¡± He gleefully bounded about the courtyard.


    A warm laugh emanated from the shop. ¡°I see that!¡± I continued to hold the door as a worn-out-looking mother walked through with a nod of thanks.


    Smiling faintly, I entered the clinic to see Nael washing down the chair. Of course, his head instantly snapped onto me as if he had eyes in the back of his head. ¡°Shiro! What brings you here?¡±


    ¡°I want an upgrade,¡± I said. ¡°And I¡¯m here to pay off some of my debt.¡±


    He waved it off as he finished sanitizing the chair. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that debt, kid. You can pay me back when you¡¯ve struck it rich. What are you looking to have done?¡±


    ¡°An upgraded cybereye. One HUD capable, preferably.¡± I said.


    ¡°Anything in particular? A specific corporation perhaps?¡± He asked as he patted the chair.


    I took the hint and sat down. ¡°Um¡­ you have anything Sentinel? If not-¡±


    ¡°Sure, kid. They''re a bit expensive, but I¡¯ve got some Sentinel chrome¡­¡± He headed off to a side room and returned shortly carrying three boxes. ¡°This stuff ain¡¯t the most advanced, but they¡¯re probably better than most things on the market right now. There might be better magitech stuff, but I''m not active in that field.¡±


    Not that I blamed him. Magic was better left alone, in my opinion. ¡°What are the options?¡± I nodded my head to the boxes.


    He set them down on a nearby cart. ¡°Right, this one,¡± He held up one of the boxes, ¡°Is a Sentinel Vanguard T-43. Real nice piece of tech. HUD capable, has built-in image enhancement, and three levels of zoom. Oh, and this particular one can fit two other augments.¡±


    Nael put it down and then moved to the middle one. ¡°This one is the Sentinel Bulwark A-33. A bit cheaper than the other, but it has a feature that the Vanguard doesn¡¯t. Built-in infrared scanners. Sadly, that''s it, and it can only fit one other augment.¡±


    ¡°I know you said Sentinel, but this one is something special.¡± He picked up a worn-out-looking box. ¡°The Advent Phantom A-1. Advent is a tiny new corporation still in its experimental phase. Don¡¯t worry though, a buddy of mine is the lead developer there and they take chrome very seriously. Advent stuff isn¡¯t even on the market yet, but I got this as a ¡®test¡¯.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m okay being a lab rat.¡± Though if it''s someone Nael is vouching for, it can¡¯t be that bad. Wow¡­ guess I did have a lot of trust in the guy.


    He nodded his head. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t even mention it if I didn¡¯t think it was preem tech, kid. Hear me out before you turn it down?¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡± It wouldn¡¯t hurt to listen at the very least.


    ¡°The Phantom has an image enhancement, dual-zoom, and HUD. It''s even got an auto-cleaning film so you won¡¯t have to worry about particles. The kicker, though, is Advent''s proprietary tech. They call it Blackout. Basically, for a minute, anything technological will fail to spot you. Think hyper-advanced feature scrubber but for your whole body.¡±


    Damn, that was impressive¡­ too impressive. ¡°That sounds too good to be true.¡±


    ¡°Partly. Blackout is the reason the company hasn¡¯t gone public yet. It¡¯s got a few issues; it takes a day to fully reset the battery on Blackout, so it isn¡¯t too reliable yet. They¡¯re looking for beta testers though, which is how I got my hands on it.¡±


    It was tempting¡­ Did I really want experimental tech though? That was the kind of stuff Savants, those bastards, messed with. Would it fry my brain? ¡°What do I have to do as a beta tester?¡±


    ¡°In a month from installation, you¡¯ll have to head to their lab and do some tests. Nothing invasive, just making sure the tech works how it should be. My buddy, the lead developer, will probably also ask you some questions about how it felt and its usefulness. Oh, but you aren¡¯t doing this for nothing! You¡¯ll have lifetime access to their beta program for all of their cybernetics. Might not seem like much, but if Advent goes big-league like I think it will, beta access won¡¯t be buyable for all the money in the world.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re really selling this, Nael.¡±


    He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. ¡°Sorry, kid. My buddy has been hyping this up for weeks. I¡¯ve checked it myself though. It''s a good piece of tech.¡±


    It did have some good features. And this beta-access thing? Sounded quite nova, not going to lie. Hmm¡­ and I still have that Sentinel Corp research I might be able to pawn off to them¡­ No, I should probably just keep it for a while till things calm down.


    ¡°It won¡¯t cause me to Glitch, right?¡± No amount of benefits in the world was worth glitching. Losing control of myself and becoming a murder machine did not sound nice.


    ¡°No no. It''s based on Medtech stuff, so it''s perfectly safe.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try it.¡±


    I blinked my new eye a dozen times as I tried to adjust to the light levels in Bukicho. I was still getting used to the thing, especially with this new Image Enhancer. Everything was far clearer than they had been back with the ASS-Corp stuff.


    Oh, and I paid off my debt to Nael so I was broke again. Yay! I literally had 34 BP left¡­ At least I could afford Silage. Maybe I could go klep some pockets after this? The pay was shit, but at least it was pay. If I was lucky, I could get five Rayn per pocket. Assuming I wasn¡¯t caught, of course.


    The HUD was temporarily disabled, at least for now. I was waiting for the PA before I turned it on and got it all set up. Speaking of which, that was why I was headed for the Dragoon Saloon.


    I entered Ichiban Street, pushing my way through till I arrived at the gate into the courtyard. Unfortunately, Shinobu wasn¡¯t on duty, but I was still let in without much of a hassle. The courtyard beyond the gate looked¡­ different. Maybe it''s because I was tortured for so long in a similar place, but it didn¡¯t feel as warm as it used to. Or maybe that was thanks to the lack of Fangs enjoying life. The entire place was packed with Fangs, but they all had grim expressions.


    Don¡¯t let it bother you, Shiro. Not your problem¡­ hopefully. I walked past the throngs of Fangs and entered the bar. Damn, they were ready for war. The drinks were gone, replaced with cold iron. Everywhere was littered with weapons of some kind. Katanas, tantos, SMGs, and even a few rocket launchers were set up across the bar. Taru must¡¯ve been busy.


    Well, almost everywhere. Ishimaru¡¯s table was still empty of everything but himself and far too many bottles. I walked over and sat down across from him. ¡°What¡¯s going on around here?¡±


    He looked up, startled at my approach as he reached for his blade. He redirected and snatched a bottle. ¡°Oh, itsh you! Gang-war. The uh- the inveshtigation had pointed ush to the Shpydersh. The boysh and Neo-Jokersh are preparing to wipe ¡®em out.¡±


    Spyders¡­ hm¡­ nope, didn¡¯t ring a bell. Must be some nobody then. Sad that it had to come to this, but they really shouldn¡¯t have attacked one of the most dominant gangs in Aythryn City. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°Why all the weapons?¡± Surely they didn¡¯t need missile launchers to take out a gang. Or maybe they did? Send a message or something? That was a gang thing to do, right?


    ¡°You haven¡¯t heard? Shomeone kicked the nesht. Shentinel Corp is moving a carrier into town while they look for shomethin¡¯ or another. Might be the shtart of another cold war.¡± He rifled through his clothing before passing over the phone.


    Shit! What are the chances that has to do with me? No no. Stay calm, Shiro. It''s got nothing to do with you! Purely coincidence¡­ fuck. I need to lay low for a while. No! That would be an admission of guilt if I was already under suspicion¡­ I need to do something. Take a job or something. Just act casual as if I didn¡¯t have the very thing Sentinel was willing to move a fucking carrier in to get. ¡°You uh- you got a job for me?¡±


    He sloppily shook his head. ¡°Fangsh are bushy with preparationsh. Maybe- maybe Carone might have shomething? I¡¯ll let him know you¡¯re coming.¡± His eyes glowed briefly before I could even stop him.


    ¡°Ishimaru? I uh, I don¡¯t know a Carone.¡±


    ¡°Really? He¡¯sh the fixer down by Shakura Shtreet. Not ash good ash me, but decent.¡± He chuckled to himself. A second later a message came to my phone with Carone¡¯s detes. Probably Ishimaru¡¯s PA considering his eyes didn¡¯t glow. That thing made working under the old drunkard so much easier.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said as I stood up from the booth while checking my phone. Next stop: Sakura Street.


    Sakura Street was by far one of the nicer places in Little Yukoto. It was a street with low-level corporate execs and operators living up and down it, and it showed. Sakura trees, at least the hologram types, were settled all up and down the street hence its name. I headed over right after I set up my new phone and HUD.


    Nothing too complicated. The phone was still in its setup phase, so I just breezed through all the settings until it was how I wanted it. The only oddity, at least that I could see, was a phone number pre-inputted into the contacts. A bit worrying, but I¡¯ll trust the Fangs that the thing had anti-tracking software.


    The place was clean. Far too clean to be out of the Corporate Quarter. The people walking around had smiles on their faces, and they didn¡¯t appear to be obvious gang members. It was surreal. Even the vendors looked to be selling good food and not the garbage elsewhere in Little Yukoto.


    And yet I could tell this wasn¡¯t the corpo zone purely by the stench. Of course, there were the tell-tale scents of Tosta and pollution found all over the city, but I could also smell something a little more high-class: Dark Ether. Pretty expensive, but a very powerful trip from what I hear. Unfortunately for me, it smelled worse than a dying burning hobo. The nauseating scents would¡¯ve been filtered through Autoduct? if this was the Corporate Quarter.


    My stop was a building a bit off to the side. It was a small antique store of ancient-looking pieces of tech. Even someone without any awareness could tell something was wrong with the place though. Two chromed-up guards stood outside, packing obvious iron under their belts. They glowered at me as I entered the store, the one on the right stopping me. ¡°No weapons.¡±


    ¡°Relax choom, I¡¯m not armed,¡± I said and activated Lethargic Presence. Hidden Weapon was always active as per my decision earlier. No way was I going to meet a mystery man without a gun. Thankfully, the ASCorp Sidewinder was in the vein of a holdout gun, so I should be able to sneak it in.


    ¡°I ain¡¯t your choom, pal.¡± The grunt said as he patted me down. He yawned right as he passed by my small ASCorp Sidewinder, completely missing it. Must be more muscle than brain. ¡°Alright, go on in.¡±


    Yes! Thank you interface-sama! You truly do miracles. Should- should I try to liberate this guy''s pockets too? No. Best I stop while I¡¯m ahead. And it might cause me to lose the job if I antagonize this Carone fella.


    Behind the counter stood a rather young-looking guy. He wasn''t kaijen like most people in Little Yukoto. Looked more¡­ maybe Varythian? Regardless, he had some rather high end threads. A crimson suit, seeming to shimmer in the dozens of candles scattered around the room, clung to him.


    He glanced up at me, fire literally sparking off of his fingers as he lit a candle. A Kinetic¡­ pyrokinesis? Please don¡¯t be Caro-


    ¡°You must be Shiro¡­ Ishimaru said you would drop by.¡± The guy said. His voice was slow and smooth, drawing out each word as if teasingly. It was annoying. The fire idly trailed across the air in a feat that should be impossible. It snaked past me, though I didn¡¯t flinch at the obvious intimidation tactic.


    ¡°Carone?¡±


    He smirked, the fire twisted around and he caught it, turning it into a ball before snuffing it out into a closed palm. ¡°Indeed¡­ Ishimaru said you were quite skilled at investigation, yes?¡±


    That bastard! Not only did he send me to an Kinetic, he even lied about my skill set! ¡°I prefer more gigs with a more subtle touch-¡± he frowned, ¡°but yes, I am quite good at investigation.¡± Fuck! Now  lied about my skill set! Dammit Shiro!


    It took all of my training and stone-facing pain during the Fox¡¯s Paw ¡®learning experience¡¯ to resist flinching under his burning eyes. Really, by comparison to the fox, his gaze was nothing.


    ¡°Interesting¡­ I do have a gig then. A¡­  of mine was found dead this morning. Go find the killer, and report back. I expect this to be¡­ discrete. The Crusade hasn¡¯t sent an Inquisitor yet, and I need this done before someone reports the smell.¡± He twirled a flame around his hand. What a show-off¡­ though I couldn¡¯t blame him. Honestly speaking, if I had magic powers I would show them off too.


    ¡°Of course! Discrete is my middle name!¡± You¡¯re trying too hard, Shiro! ¡°Just send me the detes.¡±


    His eyes glowed red, and a message popped into my HUD. Its address was in¡­ let''s see here¡­ my PA pulled up the map app into my HUD and the location was at¡­ Fuck me. ¡°Your client was an exec?¡±


    At least the pay was good. 300 BP for a hopefully short investigation. Ah, but that was assuming I could actually investigate. Dammit all! Insight! Please carry me again!


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be a problem, no? Just approach with a¡­  touch.¡± Did he really just mock me?


    ¡°¡®Course not¡­¡±


    He leaned back and sat down on a rather comfy-looking chair, then tossed me a key. ¡°You are dismissed.¡±


    Bastard. I walked out of the store and headed back to my bike. Next stop, Timpton Tower. At least it wasn¡¯t a corporate tower. Still, it was an apartment building that catered specifically to corpo executives, so it would be annoying to get into. It was close to East End though, so it couldn¡¯t be  protected, right?

 Chapter 12

    Chapter 12I saw the problem almost immediately. Timpton Tower was covered in cameras and ID scanners. Most of the tech looked kind of old, but it would still put a dent in my entry. I spent several hours casing the place and taking note of the cameras and their angles.


    Of course, I didn¡¯t just stare at it like a gonk. Casing the joint in an obvious manner would potentially be a quick and very uncomfortable interaction with a Blue Crusade Squire. I instead sat across the street at a cafe, losing half of my remaining Rayn. Oh, the woes of being poor. At least the food was somewhat decent. Small mercies and all that.


    Hm¡­ I could probably klep an ID during rush hour¡­ as for the cameras¡­ maybe a hat and sunglasses would do? It was a time-honored classic and I could even throw on a holo-mask just to be safe-


    Nope! I was broke! Can¡¯t afford a holo-mask! Great. Just great¡­ Still, I could run back home and grab the hat and sunglasses. It didn¡¯t look like they had actual security guards, so as long as I kept my head down it  be fine.


    wasn¡¯t exactly reassuring¡­ Maybe I should use Blackout here? I could glide in invisibly according to Nael. This would be a good first attempt at the device, and the repercussions for it failing weren¡¯t terrible.


    Oh! I could totally go buy some fireworks too and set them off in the building. Surely that would count as mischief, right? Damn, I¡¯m really a genius? Oh wait¡­ Carone wanted this discrete. Dammit!


    Hmm¡­ probably best I wait till tomorrow for this. There¡¯ll be more gonks moving about and better opportunities to blend in with the crowds. I could go ahead and test Blackout tonight just to make sure. It was kind of embarrassing I didn¡¯t even know the extent of my own tech.


    I approached Timpton Tower early the next day during rush hour. I tried to blend in the best I could, constantly walking up and down the street while keeping my eyes peeled toward the building. Passing patrols of Squires were equally as attention-grabbing as the people moving in and out of the place.


    After waiting around for about ten minutes, my perfect opportunity arose. A rather young-looking guy ran out of the building, trying to tie his tie as he quickly moved down the sidewalk. He haphazardly threw his ID into his pocket, the lanyard still sticking out. Nova.


    I activated my Perks fully and bumped into him as he was moving. Usually, I wouldn¡¯t do such a thing, but the guy was obviously distracted by running late for work. As I said, distracted marks made for one of the few exceptions to the bump and pull method.


    My shoulder slammed into his, knocking me to the side. Other than his attempted icy glare, he kept moving with the usual slack-faced look of corpos. Er- not slack face necessarily, but the dead mask that they all tended to wear. Tsk tsk, running late as a corporate exec. He didn¡¯t even notice as I pulled his ID. What a gonk.


    After that came the easy part. I entered a relatively dead zone and activated Blackout with a simple mental prompt. Almost immediately I could feel the Advent Phantom start to heat up. Not to a burning level, but warm enough to cause a bit of nausea. I didn¡¯t let that stop me though. My time was ticking by as I swiped the ID and entered the building.


    From there, I took the stairs - taking the time to deactivate Blackout to save battery - up to the eighth floor. I stopped to catch my breath just before I entered the hall and put on a pair of thick gloves to stop my fingerprints. I then reactivated Blackout and quickly moved to the door. It heated it quite rapidly this time around.


    I already got the key from Carone, so the rather strict security didn¡¯t even bother me. The door handle was rather pristine as I slipped inside; it probably wasn¡¯t a B&E since the door was still in one piece. By the time I entered, the chrome eye was starting to approach a painful level of heat¡ªdefinitely a major flaw in the Advant Phantom¡¯s design.


    Beyond the door was a full view of the scene. A man, maybe in his fifties, lay dead on the floor in a pool of deepest crimson. The neon lights shining in from the windows partly illuminated the scene with roving fields of red and blue as if blood stained the whole room.


    I let out a silent sigh as I saw the man. His face sat twisted into an eternal look of surprise, and his eyes stared wide as if still trying to figure out what was happening. It was a common look amongst the slain, and a rather welcome one comparatively. The faces twisted into agony or despair were always the hardest to look at.


    A suppressed gag reflexively hit me upon approaching the reeking corpse. He was in a state of half-dress when he died with only pants on. Several bullet wounds were scattered about his bare chest. Small caliber maybe? Looked to be a similar bullet to my Sidewinder. Probably some kind of pistol, but I wasn¡¯t forensicsy enough to tell what kind.


    His wrist had the tanline of a watch, and yet there was nothing there. Maybe he died in a robbery gone south? Or east, I should say. Wouldn¡¯t be too surprising for someone from East End to come rob the place. And yet the door handle suggests otherwise.


    Hmm¡­ my spi- Insight senses were tingling. Something about the corpse just felt... . I looked at the man for a good long while before I realized it. The bullet wounds didn¡¯t have near the amount of blood they should¡¯ve had.


    I¡¯ve seen quite a few murder scenes in my life and even played a hand in a couple. Anyone living in Aythryn City should¡¯ve seen at least one in a decade and a half of life. Almost all of them gushed blood from bullet wounds. And yet the only spots of blood were the ones around his heart. Did¡­ did someone shoot him after he was dead? But why?


    If I were a murderer, why would I shoot an already dead guy? Hmm¡­ maybe to try and cover up the actual cause of death? Plausible. I inspected the wounds more thoroughly. One of them, on the right side of the heart, looked slightly wider than the others. At first, I considered a larger caliber, but the tattered flesh leaned towards a different weapon. Maybe a knife wound?


    So someone shot the guy to cover up a stabbing? Oh, maybe the murderer was also the one who took the watch? Maybe somebody got his keys and broke in to rob the place, only to find my man still at home. They used a knife as a reaction, and then to cover up their tracks the robber shot him. The ruptured heart would¡¯ve stopped blood pumping to the rest of the wounds.


    Assuming he was stabbed, why didn¡¯t he try to defend himself? He looked to have been stabbed in the heart, so the killer would¡¯ve had to get close to him¡­ someone he probably knew, which mostly eliminated B&E. He didn¡¯t have his guard up around the person. The lack of wounds other than the bullet holes suggested he didn¡¯t even try to defend himself.


    I took a picture of the clues and the corpse with my new phone before I began looking around the rest of the apartment. I spotted several valuable-looking items just lying around, so the theory about it being a robbery was iced. No way a robber would shoot someone and then


    loot the place. That would be a gonk move. Which also meant the disappearing watch was weird. I need to keep an eye out for it somewhere else.


    I stumbled across the bedroom, finding the rest of the man¡¯s clothes scattered about the ground. Maybe he had a lover who stabbed him? I looked around a bit more, noticing the wardrobe had quite a few¡­ kinky items. Fuckin¡¯ Aythryn City. In another, I found a bunch of new agey stuff. Crystals, wands, and the like. Most of it looked like gimmick items, though I wasn¡¯t versed enough in magic to say for sure.


    Okay, new working theory. Lover comes over. They do the deed, or maybe just get half undressed. Guy leaves bed. Lover kills him. Probably not premeditated since it was done with a knife. Realizing they just killed an exec, the lover shoots the body to hide the stab wound? Pretty brutal¡­ Oh! Then the lover steals the watch to make it look like a robbery?


    Or this was all just a red herring and he was assassinated by a corporate rival. Yep, never can tell in this damn city. Corporate assassinations and setups were almost as common as normal murders.


    I looked around a bit more, finding an odd amount of books on street magic and adepts. More importantly, I found his phone sitting on the nightstand. Password locked. That being said, facial recognition is a common thing these days sooo¡­


    I searched through the phone with my face covered, checking the recent messages. Most of them were work-related. Some were wondering where the guy, Davis apparently, was. I ignored most of them until I found something promising.


    It was a short message between this guy and some chic named Paris. They were talking about meeting up two nights ago, so maybe she was the killer? It would make sense. She had access to the apartment that night, and the means to get close enough to shank the guy if she was his lover. But why?


    I passed through the messages and checked the recent pictures. A rather awkward selfie of Davis and a flatbacker- no, based on her chrome, she was probably a doll. Paris maybe? It was dated at the same time they were supposed to meet up.


    I looked around a bit more, finding a firearm permit for Davis thanks to Insight. What a gonk following gun laws. He probably spent more money getting a permit than actually buying a gun. Anyway, the important thing to note was the gun fired small caliber rounds. A Tornado Arms Gale-17. It was a holdout weapon through and through, probably only good against people in cloth. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I snapped a picture of the rest of the evidence, including this Paris chic, and did one more sweep of the place. A knife from an otherwise perfectly organized kitchen was missing. The murder weapon perhaps? Oh, and no watch anywhere. Whoever flatlined Davis probably took it.


    I looked up Paris and Doll as keywords on the net. Almost immediately I got a dozen hits. Then it was as simple as cutting out everyone till I found the Paris I was looking for. Of course, the doll sites had pictures considering looks were the main selling point for such a¡­


    And who says you need to be a Netrunner to investigate shit? Easy. You¡¯re so smart, Shiro! Oh thank you, it comes naturally. Ah ha ha! Shiro, you could become the best investigator in the city! Oh, well, let¡¯s not go that far¡­ subtle touch was more my speed¡­


    According the the site I found, Lynn ¡°Paris¡± Parker was a relatively new worker at Build-A-Doll Inc. as a, well, doll. . I snooped around a bit more, seeing that she wasn¡¯t ¡®on call¡¯ on the site. Probably didn¡¯t show up to work. I would go into hiding if I did such a sloppy job at cleaning up a crime scene too. Good for her to escape such a life-


    Fuck! I need to actually find her to get paid¡­ Damnit! Okay, okay, if I was a doll and I needed to lay low for a while where would I go? Not to the pimp. That was just asking to get sold off to Scavs or something¡­ Family, maybe? Chooms? Run away to the dunes?


    Hm¡­ I needed better tools. I couldn¡¯t very well just track someone down considering the size of this city¡­ I could access the Crusade records and see if there were any Lynn Parkers recorded. But I didn¡¯t have that program on my PA, and getting one from a runner would cost money¡­


    Davis was dead, so surely he wouldn¡¯t mind a couple of his belongings disappearing, right? I mean, it was for a good cause! To find his murderer! Or at least that''s what I told myself as I snagged a couple of smaller fancy-looking decorations and a data slate on my way out the door.

 Chapter 13

    Chapter 13As it turns out, Davis was a poor bastard. The expensive-looking decorations? Expensive . They were quite cheap and I barely got a couple of Rayn each after arguing. The data slate sold for slightly more, but even then I only left the shop with forty extra Rayn in my account. Last time I come to Peter¡¯s Pawned Prawns.


    After that was done, I headed down to Saint¡¯s Plaza. It was a spot kind of close to Absolom Clinic, and one of the biggest street markets in all of Little Yukoto, if not the entire city. There was something for everyone for sale here, even some of the low-end less-than-legal kind. And, the scenery was preem to boot.


    Saint¡¯s Plaza sat at the foot of the biggest cathedral this side of the city. It was one of the few buildings around that didn¡¯t have the ever-present neon and advertisements shining brightly down onto us plebeians. Modesty was the name of the game for the building, yet that very modesty made it stand out against the backlit neon and excess native to the streets.


    The shop I headed for was a little place called Yukoto Matrix. I found it after asking Shinobu if he knew of a spot. That guy proved to be ever helpful and recommended this place. Apparently, it was where the Jade Fang Netrunners occasionally came for supplies.


    I entered Yukoto Matrix, immediately taken aback by the sheer amount of tech everywhere. Everything from replacement CPUs to full-on decks were stacked around the shelves in the room. There was so much of the stuff that even the lights were half-blocked, making the entire place kind of dim.


    A rather thin-looking guy stood behind the counter at the back of the room. As soon as I stepped foot in, his dim eyes lit up. ¡°Welcome in. You looking for something in particular or just browsing?¡±


    ¡°Um- my  said you sold programs?¡± I was so far out of my field here. I didn¡¯t even know what half the stuff was, and it was making me kind of antsy.


    ¡°Chek chek, choom. What kind?¡±


    ¡°Access to criminal records.¡±


    The guy nodded and vanished behind the desk. He returned with several chips. ¡°I gotchu. Just base-level criminal records and missing persons? Or something a little more¡­ advanced?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m on a rather tight budget. Hm¡­ what are these advanced programs though?¡± He had successfully piqued my interest.


    He flashed three chips at me. ¡°They allow access to the whole directory. Very expensive, but useful if you¡¯re looking for someone without a criminal history. The high-priced ones even allow access across nodes.¡±


    Damn, that did sound nice. And Lynn Parker would definitely be on there¡­ fuck being broke. ¡°Just the base one.¡±


    He shrugged and pulled a chip from the bundle. ¡°Thirty Rayn. You can always come back later.¡±


    Ah, the wonders of having a PA and HUD. I didn¡¯t even have to pull out my phone to pay the guy. Just make eye contact and send the money over. So nice. I grabbed the small chip and plugged it into my new phone as I headed back for my bike.


    I returned home and ate a light meal of silage, which was as  as always, and then began searching through the new program. Surprisingly, there were quite a few Lynn Parkers. Since this was the criminal records, they thankfully all had mugshots accompanying the files. Then it was the same process as the last, cutting through them until I found the one.


    ¡®Cept, course  Lynn Parker wasn¡¯t in the records. What a fucking waste of time and money¡­ how could she not be in the records though? This was Aythryn City where crime lurked ¡®round every corner. She must¡¯ve lived a sheltered life to not have a record¡­ but then how could she be a doll? Hmm¡­ something wasn¡¯t adding up.


    I swapped my query from criminal records to missing persons. After a few more tweaks on my search, I found a file. Lynn Parker, Scav kidnapping, deceased. It was a report from a few months ago. I would¡¯ve just passed on by, but the smiling face of my killer without the doll chrome sat on the front page of it.


    She was reported missing a few months ago by her brother. Their home address was in the East End, so disappearances weren¡¯t all that uncommon. It looked like a Blue Crusade Squire, those that were a bit further down the totem pole and usually directly served a Crusader, had gone to their house and asked some questions. Then, the Squire marked the case as closed.


    I was too tired to think any more about this. The rest of the search would have to wait for tomorrow. It was getting late, so I retired for the night.


    The choppy purr of my motorcycle assaulted my eardrums as I rode the crowded neon streets. Rain was falling, the water lightly striking against my patchy raincoat as I headed to my next destination: the Parker family¡¯s home. It was close to the projects, just about a block away.


    I thought about it while going through my daily routine. Why would Lynn Parker, a person I know to still be living, be marked as deceased on a police record? And then I realized I was thinking too hard. This was Aythryn City! The answer was obvious: corruption.


    That got me thinking. Why would someone want Lynn Parker marked as dead? As a Scav victim no less. The answer I came up with, which took most of the day, after taking in all the facts? So no one would look for her. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    See, she had doll cybernetics. Doll stuff was some nasty hardware. It overruled the owner''s original personality with whatever a client would want. Usually, this worked only on willing people and they could quit the doll override at any point. However, take this with a grain of salt since I know next to nothing about magic, what if it was magic?


    The idea came to me after I snooped around Build-A-Doll a bit more. Part of their sales pitch was ¡®making your nights magical¡¯, and the site said had a full roster of magically attuned ready to fulfill their customers'' every wish. The company, Build-A-Doll, might take its name quite a bit more literally than I originally thought. The buyer would say what they want, then the company would go and basically enslave a matching person to become a doll, and then sell the doll to the buyer. It was a perfect system, especially considering the disappearances could be written off as Scavs or Savants.


    Then, when Davis got his new doll, something in his apartment caused the magic to break. Or maybe he broke it himself. He did have all of that magic stuff everywhere, so the guy was obviously interested. Maybe he bought a scroll or something and used it to show off his ''prowess'' in magic.


    Or maybe Lynn broke out of it herself- doubtful. If this was a business built upon brainwashing, it was highly doubtful our damsel could break out of it on her own. A business built upon a flawed product wouldn¡¯t last long. Especially if the clientele was getting flatlined by said flawed product.


    The entire situation was fucked up. Suspected human trafficking, where the victim killed her trafficker, and I was hired to track down the victim? Gah! I feel terrible about this¡­ but it was the job. At some point, as any merc or Edgerunner would tell you, you just have to disassociate and do the job.


    Of course, this was all theory at the moment. Unfortunately, Carone likely wouldn¡¯t accept theories as a conclusive resolution to this investigation gig. I would either have to speak to Lynn Parker or head to Build-A-Doll to find out the truth. At the moment, talking to Lynn Parker sounded quite a bit better. There was  less of a chance that I would run into people involved with magic this way.


    I pulled into the right street and parked a bit back since there were so many cars parked everywhere. I began my slow jaunt up the street as I tried to figure out my approach for the family. It needed to seem plausible that I would show up. Hm¡­ oh, I was an orphan here for donations! Always worked. At most, I would be kicked out.


    My steps paused as Insight tickled at the back of my mind. This time it didn¡¯t take me long to notice the oddity. There was a cleaner van parked out front. Normally it wouldn¡¯t be too weird of a sight, but this was close to the projects. Who in their right mind would spend their little money on cleaning services?


    Something was wrong here¡­ maybe Build-A-Doll sent cleaners? Not the housekeeping kind, but the ones that make people disappear? I felt for my Sidewinder, taking a small comfort in its presence. It could just be nothing. I¡¯ll just go up and check, and if it''s too dicey I¡¯ll just keep walking.


    With a plan in mind, I slowly worked my way up the trash-coated stairs. The building¡¯s elevator was broken, so the stairs life for me. Maybe I should start doing some cardio? I seem to have taken the stairs a lot recently¡­


    I was panting for breath by the time I reached the eleventh floor of the building. I took a few moments to settle myself before I pushed out into the filthy apartment hallway. I passed by a man as I walked down the hall towards Parker''s apartment.


    As I passed by him, a frown creased my lips. I noticed even without Insight¡¯s help. He was wearing a cleaner¡¯s jumpsuit. Coincidence, or¡­


    A step came from behind me. The step, as quiet as it was, sounded like thunder to my ears after my time with Fox¡¯s Paw. I felt a cool tingle, almost like a blade, down my right side. I instantly knew it was Insight, but it felt¡­ different. Not quite painful, but a bit more tingly? Almost- almost like a phantom pain? It faintly reminded me of the time I stayed at the rock garden.


    I decided to trust it and dodged to the side as a knife cleanly slid by where I was just standing. The man, seemingly put off for a moment by my dodge, was a second slow in his recovery as I fully turned to face him.


    My instincts took over as I reached for my pistol, fumbling the grip as I felt that twinge a second before he slashed. It was almost as if I could feel his attack before he actually threw it, and I preemptively dodged to the side. The guy missed again, but he still had his other hand. Before I could even aim at him, he smacked the pistol from my grasp.


    ¡°Gah!¡± I felt my wrist snap to the side with the force of the hit as I backpedaled away from him. The pain brought back that coolness that I felt back in the pavilion and I felt my mind lock in. Insight saved me once more as I pre-felt a blade slicing toward me. A second later, his knife sailed through clean air as I flopped to the side.


    I got yet another preemptive warning of a lunge. He let out an aggravated growl and he lunged forward, stepping out to increase the force. ¡°Die!¡±


    This time I was prepared. I ducked into his guard and grabbed the knife hand, attempting to redirect the hit into a wall so he would drop it. Unfortunately, the strength of a fifteen, almost sixteen, year old girl who rarely worked out couldn¡¯t compare to a trained killer. I barely managed to redirect a part of his force before he stopped the strike.


    He grabbed my arm with his other hand, and I could feel the cool phantom pain of Insight across my chest. I couldn¡¯t dodge out anymore, so I did the next best thing. I wrapped my leg around his kneecap and pulled. Since he was still half-lunging in a weak posture and the trash-covered floor offered terrible purchase, I easily knocked him to the floor, messing up his slice.


    An issue arose in two ways. First, he was holding me so I also fell down. Second, he was still attacking, so his knife cut through the jacket. Unfortunately for him, he didn¡¯t put in enough force and it only half cut into my flesh, only barely short of bone maybe.


    I toppled onto the bastard and reached down into my boot as I attempted to push away his knife-hand. I used Hidden Hands, on my other hand while attempting to fully attract his attention onto the weak knife grapple as if I was making a last-ditch effort to struggle for my life.


    He sneered, an ugly look on his already ugly face, as he easily pulled the knife away, flipped me, and pinned me to the ground. Or at least that¡¯s what he thought. In the second before he could restabilize himself to plunge the knife into me, I pulled free the emergency shiv I kept in my boot - thank you Mira - and rammed it into his throat. I didn¡¯t even think as I put my full force into the strike, feeling bone grate against my shiv as it fully found purchase, glancing to the side of his neck


    A look of surprise flashed through his eyes followed by his head whipping back in a torrent of arterial spray. He tried to speak, but his blood was too busy choking him to allow air to pass through, let alone words. I didn¡¯t let up and sprung to my feet as I kicked the shiv, slicing through the muscles of his neck fully. The shiv roughly cut through and clattered into a pile of trash along with a chunk of flesh.

 Chapter 14

    Chapter 14I grabbed at my side as I watched the man die, feeling warm blood flow down. It didn¡¯t hurt, just felt cold. My entire body felt cool, an emotion brought about by my time enduring agony in the Fox¡¯s Paw situation. The only warmth I felt was the spray of blood that clung to my skin. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I didn¡¯t have time to lose. This guy was probably just the lookout. I bent over, feeling more blood come out of my side, and picked up my shiv, Sidewinder, and the guy¡¯s knife. I also searched his body, finding a Sentinel Wasp-2. Probably didn¡¯t use it in an attempt to keep this quiet. If he had¡­


    I shook myself free of the morbid thought. Part of me just wanted to leave, but another part of me was furious. Furious that I had been attacked for just walking around.


    I crept past the hall and found the Parker''s apartment. The door was ajar with its lock busted off, and I could hear the clatter of voices. There wasn''t a hint of duress in the voices. Hmm¡­ maybe a TV? I eased open the door and slid into the entry with my Sidewinder raised.


    The short entry hall opened up into a small living room space. A woman, wearing the same cleaning uniform as the other guy, was crouched over an unconscious man and a woman. The unconscious woman was Lynn Parker.


    The cleaner standing over them, her eyes zoned out. A wand sat in a hip bolster like it was a pistol. I paused for a moment before doing anything. Adept.


    I hesitantly raised my pistol. My only chance of surviving this is if I got the first blow before the woman could cast magic. The adrenaline was making my aim shaky, which was not a good thing when pointing at the two non-targets on either side of the woman. I stole my nerves, pushing off the weight of the shakiness as I locked in. My finger squeezed the trigger.


    Unfortunately, only one shot actually connected from my volley in part due to my fear of hitting the Parkers. It would truly suck to do all this to save them, only to shoot them myself. The woman let out a startled shriek as she toppled over.


    Insight triggered, and I felt a piercing chill slice through my chest. I dodged back behind the wall leading into the living room just in time for a literal sword of ice to crash right where I was standing. Adept then.


    I peeked around, the woman was struggling to move behind the couch for cover, which meant she was away from the Parkers. I didn¡¯t even hesitate as I launched the rest of the mag into her. I heard her startled cry, and then nothing but the TV playing in the corner. I waited a minute before peeking again to see her still form leaking out onto the carpet.


    I let out a shaky breath and slid down the wall to sit down. That cool wrath that came over me when I was first stabbed disappeared, leaving me a shaking mess. I always hated it: that feeling of adrenaline running rampant. There was no denying it was damn effective though.


    I grabbed at my side, the pain slowly starting to fade back into my senses. The woman¡¯s face, stretched in a grimace of pain, caught my attention. A dull throb coursed through my heart.


    Maybe once upon a time ago, I would¡¯ve felt bone-aching guilt for such a dreadful deed. Yet, this city had taught me survival could only be clawed out. If I was attacked, it was only right to attack back. Course murder was never an act I idolized, like so many others. There was a certain¡­ finality to it that never sat well.


    If I had to kill to survive, I wouldn¡¯t hesitate too much¡­ Was this really for my own survival though? I coulda just left after fighting the guy¡­ but if I hadn¡¯t flatlined the adept, then wouldn¡¯t the Parkers have died? They still might depending on Carone.


    I shook my head free as I attempted to calm myself down from the combat-induced adrenaline spike. I could think about this later. For now, I needed to figure out what to do about this- this mess...


    I left the apartment on shaky legs and grabbed the other body. Bile barely stopped coming up my throat at the feel of rapidly diminishing warmth as I grabbed the guy¡¯s arms. Then began the slow process of dragging the corpse into the Parkers¡¯ apartment.


    It left a trail of blood, but it blended in with the other fluids and trash that filled the hallway. The twisting neon and overall dimness of the hall helped quite a bit with that. Even the scent of burning Tosta, the most common drug in Aythryn City, covered the coppery tang of blood. Hardly even noticeable. And those who would notice it likely wouldn¡¯t say anything. This was the East End.


    After I dropped off the guy¡¯s corpse, I stared at the scene. Now what? I had two freshly flatlined corpses, two unconscious people, and a boatload of confusion. How did a simple investigation come to this?


    After I calmed myself down, I glanced at the two still sleeping off to the side. I was directly handing over a suspected kidnap and brainwashing victim to a person who may or may not want to avenge his client¡­ As if my shattered morality wasn¡¯t attacking me enough.


    Really, I shouldn¡¯t even be thinking about it. It was the job, and the job was done. I should just leave it alone and then never think about it again¡­ and yet I felt a pang of guilt gnawing at me as if was doing something wrong.


    What was the point of saving the Parkers from the adept if I was just going to hand them over? My usual justification for survival didn¡¯t offer too many hints¡­ rather it did, but I didn¡¯t like them. It wasn¡¯t my place to worry about the Parkers. All that mattered was my pay.


    I tried to think back to how I dealt with this kind of thing in the past, but most of my jobs had been B&E for the Jade Fang. I never actually saw the people affected by the job, and, well, I tried not to think about it. It was the way of the world.


    So I should just treat it the same, right? Just do the job and then leave. Don¡¯t think about it. It''s not like Lynn was wholly innocent; I was ninety percent sure she was the one who stabbed the client. This was Aythryn City after all; worrying about the damned would only damn myself. And yet I couldn''t help but-


    ¡°Did you find the¡­ killer?¡± The annoying voice of Carone came from my phone as I wrapped a bandage I found around my side. For being close to the projects, the Parkers had a rather extensive medical kit. I should really look into getting one for my own home.


    ¡°Um¡­ about that¡­ yes, but there were some¡­ complications.¡±


    ¡°Do tell.¡±


    I hollowly stared at the flatlined cleaners. I had already searched them for all their valuables. I found ID badges for Build-A-Doll, which all but confirmed my previous assumptions. The Adept even had a Tornado Arms Gale-17, and I would bet my bacon it was the same gun from the murder scene.


    They were probably the ones who went to the scene and shot the body to cover up the stab wound from Lynn. Build-A-Doll already had badges in their payroll, as evidenced by Lynn¡¯s disappearance being covered up, so it wouldn¡¯t be too hard to have it marked as a robbery gone south and the coroner to  the stab wound. Unfortunately, no one was currently capable of confirming or denying my theories.


    I glanced at the sleeping form of Lynn Parker. She was probably only eighteen or nineteen, and yet I was going to potentially end her life with my next statement¡­ Wasn¡¯t I no better than her captors? Her tormentors that put her in such a- a terrible situation to begin with? I should¡¯ve just gone to Build-A-Doll and not gotten caught up in this mess.


    Damnit!


    ¡°I¡¯m with the killers now, dead. The company that sent them after your client also sent them to clean a witness¡­ The cleaners had an¡­   when I arrived on the scene. Do you want me to bring the corpses to you, or¡­¡± Stupid Shiro! Lying to a fixer was so dumb! All it would take is a look at the corpse to know.


    ¡°Interesting. Hm¡­ flick me the detes. I¡¯ll send over some¡­  of my own.¡± There was the sound of a small explosion on his end. ¡°Shiro Tsukuyomi, I don¡¯t currently have a competent¡­ non-affiliated investigator on my roster. That is, assuming you would like another gig?¡±


    Was he trying to scare me? Good job, you know my full name. What a gonk. ¡°Sure. Just flick a message whenever you need me, though I like more subtle-¡±


    He hung up. Bastard. Well, at least I¡¯ve got a new source of income. I watched my bank account and felt a bit of exhausted glee as 300 Boswan Pulas entered it. I now had¡­ 312 BP. Still broke, unfortunately. And not sure if it was worth it? I mean, I did get stabbed in the side¡­ and killed two people¡­ but at least I hadn¡¯t potentially damned the Parkers.


    And, fresh loot! There was a pot at the end of every rainbow. The loot on the cleaners wasn''t anything extraordinary. The Wasp-2 I could probably sell for some extra cash. It was a light pistol, so maybe I could fetch twenty or thirty for it? Hmm¡­ maybe I should just keep it as a backup. Unfortunately, as with all attuned wands, the adept''s shattered as soon as she died, or I would''ve taken that too.


    ¡¸Melee Weapons 1 - Acquired¡¹


    ¡¸Firearm 1 - Acquired¡¹


    ¡¸First Aid 1 - Acquired¡¹


    ¡¸Evasion 1 - Acquired¡¹


    ¡¸Deception 1 - Acquired¡¹


    ¡¸Criminology 1 - Acquired¡¹


    ¡¸Brawling 1 - Acquired¡¹


    ¡¸Tracking - 3>4¡¹


    ¡¸Perception - 2>3¡¹


    Wow, that was a lot of messages. Has it been tracking my progress the past few days? Hmm¡­ so it waits until I¡¯m done with whatever it is I¡¯m doing before giving me skill increases. Interesting¡­ Also, I could¡¯ve sworn I tried to do some of those things back during the data collection period. Did it only give me Skills if my ''level'' was greater than one?


    I put a note in the unconscious Lynn¡¯s hand that Build-A-Doll killed Davis before I left. She might not read it and might end up becoming another corpse in the dumpster if she wasn¡¯t smart, but by that point, it was out of my hands. And I trusted someone who lived so close to the projects to know how the city works even if they were sheltered.


    I left the city shortly after and went to my usual spot in the Outskirts to calm down fully. Sure it cut into my remaining Rayn for AE3 costs, but the almost therapeutic nature of watching the city from the dunes, for me at least, was worth it.


    As I sat on the still-warm sand, my back against the metal chassis of my bike, I attempted to put my feelings into words. It was hard. Killing was never fun, and I didn¡¯t want to glorify it like others in the city do all the time.


    Eventually, though, the itching wound on my side grew past the point of ignoring it, so I decided to go ahead and return home to sleep it off.


    I tiredly awoke early the next morning. Sleeping had been a struggle¡­ justification barely helped my subconscious. On the bright side, my side was flawless, as if I was never even stabbed. Such a thing made me wonder, what would happen if I removed my cybernetics? Would my body automatically produce another eye? Did I even want such a thing to happen?


    Another part of me wondered if I could start selling my blood or something. It would be an easy, albeit painful, way of making money. Then I realized it was foolish since DNA cloning had reached the point where companies like Slab Co. could grow test tube limbs for reattachment. Even if I could abuse Quick Healing in such a way, I was better off just making Rayn some other less painful way.


    I checked my phone and saw a text from Mira. I shot back a response before heading to my cabinet for some  Silage ExtraBland?. It was probably the only food that I considered worth paying for the blandness.


    My phone buzzed and my PA automatically shot up the phone call onto my eye¡¯s HUD. Mira was calling. ¡°Hello?¡± I should really get an internal audio suite. I could answer calls and such without even having to verbally talk¡­


    Hmm¡­ maybe I should look into getting new earbuds before then? My new phone can do everything my last one couldn¡¯t, including playing music¡­ I kinda liked my handheld though. It had that retro vibe to it.


    ¡°Choom! Listen, I was thinking; why don¡¯t we do something fun? I¡¯m only going to be in town for so long, and¡­ well, you know how it is.¡± Mira said.


    I briefly thought about it. I didn¡¯t have anything going on, other than the Sentinel papers burning a hole of incrimination at the back of my mind. Oh, and the Tracking Perk, but that could wait. ¡°Sure. What do you wanna do?¡±


    ¡°Nova! Um¡­ gun range? I got this new rifle I haven¡¯t shot yet.¡± The excitement in her voice was palpable.


    I don¡¯t really want to stop that excitement. That, and this might be a good time to test out my Firearm Skill. Do I have to actually be in a firefight or can I just shoot at a target to level it? Oh, and I could try out the Sentinel ¡°I¡¯m down. Which one?¡±


    The line was frozen for a moment. ¡°Listen¡­ I know you don¡¯t like going near Blitz Base, but they have free ammo! All you can shoot!¡±


    Going near the FSA base was¡­ not my favorite thing to do. Ammo wasn¡¯t all that expensive - food cost more these days - but getting  ammo¡­ maybe I could even pocket some. ¡°Fine¡­ better not be like last time though.¡±


    ¡°Well, if you would¡¯ve just stuck with me you wouldn¡¯t have gotten locked in the stockade.¡± Mira used her snarky argumentative voice. Gah! It pissed me off.


    ¡°I had to use the bathroom!¡±

 Chapter 15

    Chapter 15The gun range I agreed to meet at wasn¡¯t on Blitz Base, thankfully, but it was still too close for comfort. This close to the FSA base the troops were everywhere. I guess it was similar to the Jade Fangs and being near Ichiban. Still a neonscape of advertisements, though the ads were quite a bit different compared to other places in the city; they were specifically targeted toward the soldiers. Social engineering at its finest.


    Parking was tight, so I had to walk a pretty long way to get to Falian Armory. When I arrived, Mira was already waiting for me by the door. ¡°Took you long enough! C¡¯mon, choom!¡± She snatched my arm and tugged me into the building. ¡°I already got a lane.¡±


    The atmosphere inside was¡­ intense. Almost every single person in the store was a FSA soldier. They weren¡¯t in uniform, obviously, but I could just tell. Maybe it was the way they were all built? Or it could¡¯ve just been the similar ¡®off-duty¡¯ style of simple tees and camo pants. I dunno, but we were definitely in the minority. Or rather, I was in the minority. Mira blended in perfectly with the soldiers in every way but demeanor.


    It didn¡¯t seem to bother Mira as she practically dragged me to a booth on the far side of the room and handed me earmuffs. ¡®Course she didn¡¯t need them thanks to her audio suite. Modern weapons had integral suppressors, though they barely dropped the noise to a level below needing ear protection for short-frame shooting. We were in a gun range though, and it could quite quickly hurt my ears. And that wasn''t even counting the sonic booms of ammo flying through the sound barrier.


    Mira slapped a crate of ammunition with a giddy smirk pulled across her face. ¡°Usually you have to pay for the ammo, but vets and family shoot free! I just had to kle- ahem,  one of Pa¡¯s badges to prove my identity.¡±


    ¡°Nice.¡± Nope! Not even going to question how she managed to sneak off with a badge. An elephant could sneak around better than her; a heavily armored elephant with spurs attached to each foot. In all actuality, Uncle Ezra probably pretended not to notice. It wouldn¡¯t be the first time, and I had a feeling it wouldn¡¯t be the last.


    She already had several boxes of ammo, and shells were everywhere around the lane. It looked like she had been shooting for an hour already before she came to get me. A rather sleek rifle sat on the table with a funky-looking barrel. The barrel had divots all along the top of it as if some gonk had struck it repeatedly with a pick. Its designation was clear on the side of the weapon: KS Squire-14.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t she pretty?¡± Mira stroked the side of the rifle like it was a dog. ¡°Fully automatic with a ¡®recoilless¡¯ barrel design. Not the best, but damn it is fun to shoot.¡±


    ¡°I guess.¡± I never got her infatuation for guns. I mean, I like them, sure, but that was because guns were effective.


    ¡°You wanna try?¡± She was practically begging me with her eyes. I was half tempted to say no just to see her expression, but that would be too much like kicking a puppy.


    I spent the next several hours shooting off and on. My hands shook the first couple of times, but eventually that faded away. Life in Aythryn City was violent, difficult, and shitty, yet it was simply life. The shakes faded as they always did, and I would continue as I always have.


    I wasn¡¯t the best marksman in the world, but I could hit the target pretty regularly. Maybe three out of ten shots missed entirely, and the rest were scattered about, but at least they were hits. That was with my new pistol. It was alright, but I liked my Sidewinder better. The Sentinel Wasp-2 had a weird quick pattern that was too erratic compared to my Sidewinder.


    With the rifle though? Terrible. Also, the ¡®recoilless¡¯ barrel was a massive lie. I hit maybe five bullets out of a mag in automatic, and slightly better with semi. Yeah, my accuracy was horrendous to the point Mira was making fun of me. To be fair, she had the right. Her accuracy was miles above mine.


    Every time we swapped, she would cleanly put the entire magazine into the target as if it were effortless. Her technique sat so far above mine that I doubt I would catch up even with the help of the interface. But what else can I expect from a military brat? She¡¯s practically been shooting since she could walk.


    Speaking of the interface; at no point while I was shooting or after did I get a message. It was dead silent. At least, till I caused mischief. Yep, I finally got around to that dang request from the Request Board. It was easier than I thought it would be and didn¡¯t require nuking a tower.


    After Mira went to go get more ammo, I manually adjusted the sights to be


    a little off-target. She was so confused when she tried to fire and missed over half the mag. Sure, she nearly bruised my face when she checked the sights, but the look of pure confusion on her face was nova. Mischief was quite fun, assuming it was kept past a certain line of course. Unfortunately, she also stopped letting me play with her new rifle, so I had to just stick to my pistol from there on.


    Anyway, it had been pretty fun and relaxing all things considered. I left her, still shooting like a maniac, by the time night was starting to fall. Of course, my pockets were mysteriously heavier and the ammo tins were oddly emptier than the leftover shells would suggest.


    ¡¸Name: Shiro Tsukuyomi


    Traits: Fox¡¯s Grace, Quick Healing, Insight


    Skill Points: 1


    Tracking - 4


    1 Perk Point


    Stealth - 6


    Fox¡¯s Paw


    Perception - 3


    Melee Weapons - 1


    Local Novice (Little Yukoto)


    Sleight of Hand - 7


    Hidden Hands


    Firearm - 1


    First Aid - 1


    Evasion - 1


    Driving - 7


    Land Vehicles


    Deception - 1


    Criminology - 1


    Concealment - 8


    Lethargic PresenceHidden Weapon


    Brawling - 1


    Request Board(expand)¡¹


    I settled onto my rather uncomfortable bed as I stared up at the interface. I had two major decisions laid out before me. Best to get the known side of the interface done first seeing as it would be easier.


    The pavilion had changed quite a bit since the last time I was here. The amount of shelves in this place had nearly tripled. Sure all but one of them were dark, but it still felt nice to see the mass of shelves. It was as if it was a visual representation of my accomplishments, however weak they were.


    I moved over to the flickering flame illuminating Tracking''s shelf and read through the list of scrolls. Most of them were almost immediately eliminated from my choice pool due to their effects showing up in the wilderness. I was a city dweller through and through, and that likely wouldn¡¯t change. My decision was much like the others, and I picked one that was a bit further down the list.


    ¡¸Panther¡¯s Sight - See tracks left behind.


    Tracking 8StalkStealth 4¡¹


    ¡¸Stalk - You are less likely to be noticed out of peripheral vision.


    Stealth 4¡¹


    It was quite intriguing. There were other Perks like it of course, but this was my first time picking a Perk that had cross-skill requirements. The tie in Perk was also a named one, this time being Panther. I was hesitant to pick something that might be related to such a dominant eidolon, but I couldn''t deny the power it offered. I grabbed the scroll and took it over to the easel. It unrolled into a painting of a forest. Deep in the forest, obscured by the darkness, two cat-like eyes caught the glint of the moon.


    A chill curled up my spine as I found myself lying on my bed once more. Nothing felt different, but I wasn¡¯t as confused as I was in the past. The Perk was present on the interface, so it would only be a matter of time till its effects showed up. Just to be safe though, I tested it using a mirror, and it did indeed become slightly harder to spot myself from my peripherals. It was almost as if my brain wanted to glaze over my presence and consider it nothing more than a shadow.


    Now then, unto this Skill Point. Just thinking about it brought up the list of skills, which also included quite a few at level zero. Everything from lockpicking to explosives sat on the exhaustive list of zeros. There was a little plus sign next to each of them, and the method of using the point couldn''t be clearer.


    What skill do I upgrade though? The obvious choices were Sleight of Hand, Driving, and Perception so I could instantly gain another Perk, but was I better off using the point on something a bit harder to level? Or should I ignore that and double down on my strengths?


    Think Shiro; what would be the hardest skill to level up? Most of the ones already on the interface were obtained naturally, so there shouldn¡¯t be as much difficulty leveling them up. I should get one that I didn¡¯t have then? Or one that I likely wouldn¡¯t ever get? That would be the most cost-effective solution.


    What to get though? There were so many ¡®useless¡¯ skills, like Dancing and Instruments. Heck, there was even a skill for accounting. Most of the useful ones seemed like a pain to get. Net seemed like a good one, it having to do with everything Net-based, and yet I didn¡¯t have a cyberdeck to capitalize on it. That was a similar problem throughout the rest of the Skills. They were good, but I wouldn¡¯t be able to use them. Others were simply useless to me, like the ones regarding magic knowledge.


    Hmm¡­ I¡¯m going with Tech. This probably won¡¯t be the last time I get a Skill Point either considering it was done through the Request Board. I could always pick a different one later if I dislike Tech. As for why Tech? Simple; the world is filled with technology of some kind. Knowing what went where and which does what would be incredibly useful, especially considering I know next to nothing about the subject as is.


    As soon as I tapped on it, I was transported into a dark room similar to the first time I entered the pavilion. A rather large fabrication table sat in the middle of the room with a terminal already blinking to wake. A single spine or quill slowly rotated on the screen.


    ¡¸Complete the task.¡¹


    Dammit, Shiro!


    I slowly munched on a greasy taco as I sat at my desk, not even caring that the synth meat was only half cooked, nor that the ¡®lettuce¡¯ was probably worse than iceberg. The worst migraine in my life had rolled in, and it wasn¡¯t the type of thing Quick Healing could take care of.


    Getting Tech from zero to one had been a slog and a half over the course of two days. I didn¡¯t just have the knowledge downloaded into my head, unfortunately. I had to manually learn about technology, how it worked, and how to repair it. Sure it was in a time-dilated space and there was nothing else to lose concentration on, but damn did it suck to come out of the darkroom and get hit with a face full of sunlight. On the bright side, I knew more about Tech and crafting than I ever thought I would. Nothing complicated or advanced, more so just toe-dip knowledge. One percent of a million was still quite a bit though.


    Most of the information was simply about safety and how some common stuff worked. It was tedious, but actually pretty interesting. Well, interesting except for the parts about blueprints. That shit sucked. One thing in particular I thought was cool was a layman¡¯s rundown on modern vehicles¡¯ thermoelectric engines and how they worked with AE3. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Was it worth it in the end? Probably not. I didn¡¯t even have access to a large enough space to make good on my new knowledge, nor did I have the parts. I could always find something on my phone, but money was the recurring issue. For the future though, I had some pretty nice plans. Maybe open up a fabrication shop of some kind and get out of klepping pockets. It was realistically only a matter of time till my sticky fingers slipped into the wrong pocket and I ended up dead in an alley.


    An added benefit of Tech was my understanding of the Sentinel blueprints increased slightly. . They were still far too complicated to make heads or tails of other than the device''s primary functions. I could point out which piece of chrome did what, and what kind of weapon each of the schematics were, but nothing more.


    Speaking of my phone, my PA sent a call to my HUD, causing the flashing light to make my aching head even worse. Caller ID: Bastard. ¡°Yes, Carone?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a gig for you. An Edgerunner needs an investigator¡­ A subtle one. Six hundred Rayn.¡± The annoying gonk was mocking me again. Surely he knew I meant subtle as in B&E, right? Not this sneaky go around and look at shit stuff that''s getting piled on me.


    I rubbed my head. The taco had helped, but the greasy synth meat only went so far. Still, better than silage. Granted, there wasn¡¯t much worse than silage. I¡¯m sure even raw meat would do. ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°Perfect. I¡¯ll let her know you¡¯re coming.¡± What? Does he expect me to actually have to meet up with someone? And did he say Edgerunner?


    ¡°What do you mean-¡± Bastard hung on me. If he didn¡¯t pay me, I would want to launch a fist into the guy¡¯s face. So what if he could control fire? And probably incinerate me before I got close enough... maybe not my best idea?


    My HUD flashed again; Carone sent me a location located on a side street of Bukicho: Big Mikes. Great job, Shiro, what did you get yourself into this time?

 Chapter 16

    Chapter 16Big Mike¡¯s wasn¡¯t too far away. The restaurant was a small affair, though that tended to be the case these days. As I stepped into it, the neon lighting of the city shone through the windows, lighting it up better than the flickering overheads ever could.


    Big Mike himself, according to the tag on his chest, sat behind the counter with a bored look on his face. And indeed, he was quite large. The name fit the man, though I couldn¡¯t help but wonder when exactly he started calling himself Big Mike. The joint was almost empty, not that it was much of a surprise. This place was on the outskirts of Bukicho, and Ichiban was far more of an attraction.


    Big Mike''s food looked and smelled pretty good, and the burgers themselves were interesting. It was the size of a pizza, but a burger. A few customers sat in their booths eating. Most were in groups looking to be corpo drones from the slack-jawed brain-dead look in their eyes. There were two¡­ colorful people though.


    One, a man, looked terrified as he gaped at his surroundings like a newborn. I made a mental note not to approach him. He looked the type to pull a gun at any second, and the dilated twitching of his eyes was less than reassuring. Dark Ether by the looks of his nearly black veins. Real nasty shit. Expensive too¡­ if he didn¡¯t look so jumpy I might¡¯ve considered cleaning his pockets.


    The other was probably the person Carone set me up with. It was a woman; a real tall one at that. Her muscles had muscles, and the aura of a barbarian seemed to fit her. Maybe that image was more so thanks to how she tore into the slices of burger with reckless abandon, not caring as bits of food went everywhere.


    She had a mop of fiery hair, and half of her head was covered in circuitry. Every time she opened her mouth to take a bite of the burger, two long fangs glinted eerily in the ambient neon of the street of the world. Her body was covered in Light Tattoos, though I couldn¡¯t exactly tell what they were supposed to be. They glowed red and shifted and twirled as if powered by her heartbeat.


    Her left arm was also chrome, though it looked slightly off. My eyes tracked up to a seam halfway up her bulging biceps. Wires were connected up through a port in her arm to the metal arm. A gauntlet, maybe? A flash of neon caught her right hand as she reached for another, showcasing four little notches. Ticklers, perhaps.


    Her skin, bulging as it was, had the slightly warped effect of subdermal armor. She wore a crop top, showcasing her six-pack. To be fair, I would also showcase my six-pack if I had one. My stomach was barely even bones though¡­ Maybe I should start eating more. Silage really didn¡¯t do anything but barely keep me alive. Ah, the eternal desire for money.


    I moved over and slid into the seat across from her after setting my backpack down. ¡°Carone sent me.¡±


    She gulped down the rest of the slice before her face cracked into a grin, fully revealing the metal fangs. I got the feeling it wasn¡¯t an intimidation tactic, but rather simply forgetting she had them. ¡°I was wondering who would show up¡­ wasn¡¯t expecting you to be so¡­ small?¡±


    ¡°Thanks?¡± Was that even a compliment? And yet it feels slightly demeaning in a way. ¡°He didn¡¯t tell me much.¡±


    She nodded her head as she waved at Big Mike. ¡°Want a burger? You¡¯re all skin and bones, and there ain¡¯t a better burger than Big Mike''s. He may look like he eats half his product, but he can make a damn fine burger.¡±


    ¡°I just ate.¡± Was she really an Edgerunner? She seemed¡­ not like I was picturing. I mean, she looked like an Edgerunner, but her demeanor was just¡­ Well, I thought Edgerunners would be, I don''t know, edgy. ¡°What¡¯s the gig?¡±


    ¡°Straight to business! I like it! Unless I¡¯m eating¡­ I¡¯ll make an exception.¡± She said magnanimously. ¡°How ¡®bout introductions first? Mesa Moonlit.¡± She stuck out a beefy hand. The hand with the Ticklers¡­


    Still, I don¡¯t want to irritate my employer. And she was supposedly an Edgerunner, so I didn¡¯t want to irritate her doubly so. Angry Edgerunner was a quick way to end up in a dumpster. ¡°Shiro.¡± I took her offered hand, feeling my bones crunch against each other as her massive paw covered mine. ¡°So, Mesa-


    ¡°Call me Iris. Everyone else does.¡± That¡­ didn¡¯t make sense. How does someone get Iris from Mesa Moonlet? Also, what was that last name? Moonlet? Maybe a fake name?


    My annoyance started to spike. It''s like she was actively avoiding talking about the gig. ¡°Iris, then. What did you wan-¡±


    ¡°Order up.¡± Big Mike dropped by with a tray holding one of the burger pizzas. He nearly knocked me over the head as he turned and walked back. The guy was beefy, and not in the same way as Iris.


    ¡°Thanks, Big Mike!¡± Iris happily called as she munched on a new slice. ¡°What were you saying, skinny?¡±


    I looked out the window at the passing traffic. Deep breaths, Shiro. It wasn¡¯t worth getting in a losing fight with a chromed-out Edgerunner. Or a guy that looked as if he could tank a shotgun through pure blubber. ¡°The gig. What is it?¡±


    ¡°Oh! I need your help. Investigation and stuff. Normally I wouldn¡¯t trust someone so small, but Carone said you were acceptable. That¡¯s high praise coming from the fire fanatic.¡± She said in between mouthfuls. She had somehow managed to eat a fourth already.


    I glanced around superstitiously. It was usually a very bad idea to badmouth a fixer. ¡°R-right. What is it you need me to do though?¡±


    Iris pulled a data slate and tossed it to me. ¡°A choom of mine was¡­  I wanna find the guys that did it. Simple, right?¡±


    I looked down at the data slate. There was a single line of text - a location - as well as an image of a guy covered in bullet wounds. ¡°Is this¡­ it?¡±


    ¡°¡®Course! That¡¯s why I need you! I tried to do it myself, but uh¡­ well, I¡¯m good at smashing faces, not other shit. So, think you can do it? Six hundred Rayn and you shouldn¡¯t have to use those boney arms of yours to fight.¡± She smiled as if she didn¡¯t just insult me again. I got the feeling it wasn¡¯t a corpo ¡®I insulted you but then gaslighted you¡¯ type thing; more just optional synapses.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do?¡± There was barely anything to run on.


    She gulped down the last burger. ¡°Nova! Where do we start?¡±


    I frowned at the woman. ¡°


    ¡°Chek chek, choom. You do the fancy investigation bits, and I do the face-smashing parts. Seamless teamwork at its finest.¡± Iris had a stupid grin on her face. Maybe that was just my thoughts on her IQ bleeding out. Seriously, how the hell did she survive as an Edgerunner? Or maybe being an Edgerunner required your brain to be missing parts.


    ¡°I usually work alone-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad  came to an agreement. So, where do  start?¡± There was a bit more steel in her voice this time around. Considering she could bend me in half, I was finding myself less opposed to a teammate.


    I sighed deeply as I pulled into the Trend Motel. It was a rotting mess of a place, but it was apparently the scene of the crime. I was half expecting the place to fall down at any moment as I parked my bike out in the parking lot. There were neon lights of very¡­ actions scattered around the place. Fuckin¡¯ Aythryn City.


    Insight triggered, and I looked up to see Iris standing out front. How did she beat me? I could¡¯ve sworn I left before she did, and she ordered another burger¡­ To be fair, I went and bought some investigatory stuff. Most of my Rayn went out the window once more, but I would double it if I did this right. That, and my bike has been having trouble recently¡­ maybe I should get it fixed, or look at it myself. Who knows, Tech might be of some help.


    Two hundred of my Rayn had been spent on a better backdoor program, so I could now access more of the Blue Crusade¡¯s files. The rest had been spent on various things I could potentially use. Oh, the joy of being broke once more¡­


    I decided to just do my best and ignore her presence as I walked up to her. Then I moved on by and headed for the stairs. Fucking stairs. I really need to do some cardio at some point. It was beginning to get ridiculous. Seriously, for a city as technologically advanced as this, why were all the elevators broken? Tech might be the best Skill purely so I could fix the elevators.


    Iris clomped up the stairs behind me, not showing the least bit of drain as we stopped on the fourth floor. Yes, . With how much muscle and chrome she had, it was a surprise she wasn¡¯t falling through the floor. If only they could make elevators as resilient as floors¡­ to be fair though, this place¡¯s tech was cheap. I had yet to even see a camera.


    ¡°So! How does this work? You walk in and then get all ¡°My senses are tingling!¡± Or is there some secret to investigating?¡± Iris asked me as I found our motel room. The door handle had been blown off. Someone definitely made a violent entry.


    ¡°''Course not.¡± It was far closer than I would like to admit. Insight truly carried me.


    I stepped into the room. It had a nice-sized hole straight out into a four-story drop of a back alley. It looked like a borg had full body charged straight through the wall.


    That was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of destruction. Bullet holes littered the walls as if a group had committed to spraying and praying. At least one shotgun and maybe a couple of SMGs on the spread pattern. ¡°Your choom, are they partial to a shotgun?¡±


    Iris walked in behind me, crushing a fallen bottle underfoot. ¡°Nope! He¡¯s partial to a-¡±


    ¡°Sword?¡± I asked as I saw trails of blood flung cleanly as if launched by a blade. Similar things weren¡¯t too uncommon with the katana-toting Jade Fangs. Some of them thought it looked cool to flick blood off a sword, though this looked as if it just happened in the course of the fight. It was especially common the few times I had been in the Underground.


    ¡°Wow! You really are good at this! Flame face didn¡¯t throw me a single-celled organism!¡± Iris laughed to herself as she leaned against the doorframe, causing it to creak ever so slightly.


    I set my bag down and slid on gloves so as not to contaminate the scene too much. It didn¡¯t matter in this case, but it was a good habit to get into. This way I wouldn¡¯t leave prints or anything in case an actual investigator, or worse - an inquisitor, rolled in. Would be really awkward to have the Blue Crusade raid my cargo container on suspected murder charges.


    The spent bullets were the first thing I looked for. I grabbed every shell, casing, and bullet I could find and tossed them into my bag. I even found the remenants of a flashbang under a cushion. Tech proved to be helpful as I spotted familiar markings of hand tools, suggesting it was handmade rather than factory. That caused me to look a bit more at it until I spotted a bat mark near the bottom of the thing. Creator¡¯s signature maybe? Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I moved around the room, careful not to disturb it too much as I took in the details. From what it looks like, Iris¡¯s choom had been casually chilling when the attackers came in. They probably hit hard and fast based on the flashbang and door.


    Still, as expected of the choom of an Edgerunner, he exacted a toll of blood for the attempted hit. There were chunks of flesh and blood everywhere, and most of them looked to be from the sword rather than the attacker''s guns. ¡°What¡¯s your choom''s job?¡±


    ¡°Inquisitor.¡± Right, the sword makes more sense now. Inquisitors were basically the detective variant of a Crusader. Still incredibly lethal with the longswords the group favors. Why wasn¡¯t this place crawling with the Blue Crusade though? They usually take hits on their own very seriously.


    And why the flashbang if they were going up against an Inquisitor? There is no way a power house such as that was even stalled by the flashbang. He definitely had some kind of flash suppressant or something.


    I glanced around the room, but didn¡¯t find any luggage. Probably using this place as a meet up then. Or he was just dirt poor- not if he was an Inquistor. ¡°You know why he was here?¡±


    ¡°I think he was meeting a contact.¡± She shrugged. ¡°I dunno. He just showed up at my door half dead.¡±


    Oh? He didn¡¯t head to a hospital? Or even go back to the Blue Crusade HQ? Very interesting. Maybe he was suspecting his coworkers?


    I looked around a bit more, but didn¡¯t find anything too important. Just bullets and shells. Whoever was here seriously lit this place up. ¡°It''s a wonder they didn¡¯t call in cleaners yet.¡±


    ¡°I threatened to crack the owner¡¯s skull if he did.¡± She said casually. ¡°You figure out who did it yet?¡±


    A sigh left me as I shot her an icy look. ¡°These things take time. I can¡¯t just walk in and instantly know what happened.¡±


    Insight was tingling though. I was definitely missing something¡­ I looked around with a finer comb, checking everything again. The blood trails in particular caught my eye. It was weird that half hand prints were on the drawers as if someone was trying to get into them.


    I looked a little closer into the drawer, and noticed a small recording device was taped up into it. Set by the choom maybe? Or the contact. Still recording, so it couldn¡¯t have been set up that long ago. I turned it off and pulled the chip. ¡°When did your choom show up?¡±


    ¡°I dunno. Maybe six hours ago?¡±


    Damn, Carone moved quickly. Well, it was good for me. These blokes don¡¯t just heal instantly, so they probably headed to a Medech or hospital after this... probably a medech. Hospital trips were damn expensive these days.


    Hm¡­ first things first, I should look into the bat mark on the flashbang. It was obviously homemade, so I might be able to get an approximate area of operation. ¡°I got what I needed. I¡¯m going back to my place to go over the evidence.¡±


    ¡°Nova! Where at?¡± The woman asked as she popped off the wall.


    That wasn¡¯t an invitation. ¡°I live in a cargo container. You won¡¯t fit.¡± Probably.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll just sit outside.¡± She was like a dog! Just wouldn¡¯t give up. The Rayn though! It was worth it Shiro! Just work through the pain of having her follow you like a puppy. A very dangerous chrome puppy. A potentially psychotic death puppy.

 Chapter 17

    Chapter 17Poring over the evidence was about as fun as sticking my hand in a blender. Even with the Image Enhancer in my chrome eye, spotting the tiny scratches on every bullet was a pain in the ass. That pain was only made the worse by Iris uproariously laughing ever so often as she watched some show with the granny below me. At least I was by myself, allowing me to better use View2? to understand how all this forensics stuff worked. Not necessarily hard, just complicated and very time-consuming.


    It was about an hour by the time I separated every bullet from the gun that fired it based on their ballistic rifling marks, showing at least five different guns. Mostly small caliber, though the amount of bullets suggested a submachine gun or automatic pistol. Not too long after, I matched the bullets to records in the Blue Crusade from other crimes. After pinning each crime onto a map, I centralized the crooks to the Scath Heights.


    The bat symbol also proved fruitful. It was from a gang that moved around the East End called the Wings. ¡®Course, I didn¡¯t find that out through searching the Net. No, I painstakingly went through Blue Crusade¡¯s files until I found matching symbols on confiscated weapons and then backtracked using their investigations. Seriously a pain in the ass.


    Still, that didn¡¯t pinpoint who the attempted killers were. The audio chip from the recorder did, or at least where I might find them. The first hour was just background noise and the TV, but then a door opened and a woman¡¯s voice spoke. ¡°You sure this is safe?¡±


    Next was a man, probably the Inquisitor. ¡°Yes. You are perfectly safe. Just tell me what I need to know, and I¡¯ll take down the whole group.¡±


    ¡°O-okay. I-if you can take them out, you¡¯ll be a true hero.¡±


    ¡°Just the job, Linda. Seeing crooks fall is all there is to it.¡± His voice sounded so suave as if he was a lone ranger back in the Wild West.


    There was a shifting of fabric as if someone had just sat down. ¡°Right. Okay, so-¡±


    Her voice cut off as a bang sounded off. A second later a louder bang followed by a high-pitched scream. Then it was a free-for-all of garbled yelling, gunfire, and metal on metal. The gunshots ended after a massive crash and thump. Probably the Inquisitor crashing through the wall.


    After the fighting stopped, several ragged breaths were picked up by the mic. ¡°Boss won¡¯t be happy about this.¡±


    ¡°No shit.¡± A second guy groaned in pain. ¡°Help me up.¡±


    There was the sound of movement and cracked glass. ¡°Damn Jonas, he got you good. Is that your intestine?¡±


    A third guy, slightly more nasally, laughed. ¡°That''s falling out? Yeah. Pain Editor is king.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s head to Larry¡¯s. He owes me a favor.¡±


    The first guy spoke again. ¡°Are we cleaning this up? Boss won¡¯t be happy about the Crusade sniffing around.¡±


    ¡°Those mutts won''t even know it happened. Our choom will take care of any blowback.¡± The voices continued, talking about nothing important as they faded away. Then there was nothing but ambiance for two hours before someone, Iris based on the voice, entered the motel room. About four hours after that I could hear my own voice.


    Thank you, Shiro, for wasting hours of your life on something pointless. Gold star! You wasted so much time tracking down each bullet and the flashbang, only to get a possible location off of an audio clip.


    Based on what I gathered, Iris¡¯s choom was meeting up with an informant about a gang or something. Likely not the Wings themselves due to that gang¡¯s seeming focus on weapons production, but maybe a related one. The boss who was getting tossed under the bus sent a hit squad of four shooters to make sure the snitch ended up in a ditch. Fighting breaks out, and the Inquisitor smashes through the wall to escape.


    So where did the informant go in all this? Did the Inquisitor pull her out with him when he went through the wall? Or did the hit squad get her? Well, it''s not  any of my concern. My job is just to find the guys who beat up Iris¡¯s choom, and I was pretty close to accomplishing that.


    ¡°You sure this is the place?¡± Iris asked. We were standing just outside of Larry¡¯s Custom Cuts, and it was filthy. That''s saying something considering the entire city was covered in trash, both the living and material. It was the kind of filth that would make me second guess walking through it, let alone having any kind of surgery. But that was the East End for you.


    ¡°No. It might be though.¡± Just like last time, I was running through almost entirely by the seat of my pants. Larry¡¯s Custom Cuts was one of four things that popped up in my search of the Net of ''Larry'' and ''Medech''. At least on this side of the city. I guess knowing the guns were around East End helped pinpoint the shop location at the least.


    It was a ramshackle shop a few blocks from the Scath Heights. It had the usual neon of a barber¡¯s shop, and yet none of the appeal. The entire thing looked like some kind of Scav den or chop shop, and I  wasn¡¯t looking forward to heading in. Even the area smelled more like piss than usual, but that might¡¯ve just been East End.


    Iris laughed with that stupid grin on her face. ¡°My knuckles have been thirsty! Are we finally going to bust some heads?¡±


    ¡°Maybe. Let me confirm this is the place before you do anything drastic though. It may not look innocent, but it could just be a Medech Barber trying to make a living.¡± It would suck if she went in and knocked a bunch of unrelated people over the head. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I could see the tattered remains of my morality screaming at me now. ¡®Great job Shiro! You led a psychopathic Edgerunner to a bunch of civs and let her loose!¡¯


    Iris popped her knuckles and cracked her neck with her fist. ¡°¡®Course! I ain¡¯t no barbarian. I can be¡­ ¡± And yet the disgust she showed for the word didn¡¯t comfort me in the slightest.


    I opened the door, hearing a bell ring somewhere near the back. This wasn¡¯t like Absolom Clinic where the entire thing was one room. This place had a front waiting area like a barber shop and supposedly a surgery room back behind. The entire place was filthy, and hair clippings were everywhere as if Larry hadn¡¯t cleaned in years, only brushed it to the side. I get it right, we live in a trashy city. But that doesn¡¯t mean your shop has to be nasty!


    A rather thin guy walked in from the back. I really, really hoped he wasn¡¯t Larry. For other people¡¯s sake. The guy was obviously high on Dark Ether, the black veins protruding from his skin all but proved it. Though, his eyes weren¡¯t dilated¡­ either way, a Medech on Dark Ether wasn''t exactly comforting. ¡°What do you want?¡±


    That wasn¡¯t a good way to keep customers coming back. ¡°We¡¯re here for Jonas. Boss sent us.¡± Yep, lying was the grand strategy I came up with to see if this was the place.


    His eyes narrowed in on me. ¡°I don''t know-¡±


    Iris shifted behind me, making the guy¡¯s eyes widen. She lightly tapped her right hand to her leg, the sharp blade of a Tickler poking out of the knuckle ¡®accidentally¡¯. ¡°So, where are they?¡±


    His face blanched, even the black veins significantly fading. ¡°Um- uh, t-they¡¯re in the back. I, uh, I have a dentist appointment.¡±


    Larry tried to run past us, but Iris stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, her massive hand dwarfing his frail bony form. ¡°Oh, and clean this place up sometime. This place looks like a dog park¡¯s dumping ground.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes ma¡¯am. R-right after my hospital visit.¡± Iris seemed satisfied, and the man sprinted out of the room.


    ¡°Well¡­ that was easy?¡± Not quite what I was expecting. Maybe I should put skill points into Intimidation? Or maybe Larry was just smart enough to get out when the wine turned sour.


    Iris laughed cheerfully and patted me on the shoulder, her massive paw almost knocking me to the nasty floor. ¡°See!  Now then, Jonas is one of the attackers?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Should be four others ¡®round here too.¡± I shared all this with her already! Twice! She must have an audio suite specifically designed to cut out things she didn¡¯t want to hear.


    ¡°Nova!¡± She cracked her knuckles and walked towards the back of the store.


    I¡¯m almost afraid to ask. ¡°Do you¡­ do you need help?¡±


    She waved me off gleefully. ¡°Against two guys? Nah! I doubt it¡¯ll take a minute, skinny!¡±


    I still followed behind her though with my pistol out. I didn¡¯t intend to shoot, but I would help out if she needed me to. The gonks had it coming for attacking an inquisitor.


    The back room was a cube-like room. Surprisingly, it was fairly clean. It seemed Larry actually cared about this side of his business. Four guys were hanging out covered in bandages, one guy even holding onto his gut. They were smoking - Tosta from the scent - and playing a game of cards around the guy on the Medech¡¯s chair. The guy, Jonas by the looks of his bandaged torso, was strapped down still. It wasn¡¯t too surprising. Medechs tended to strap people down during surgery so they didn¡¯t move about.


    ¡°Who was it-¡± The guy on the chair froze, causing his buddies to turn towards us. Silence only diluted by the chaotic city in the background ensued.


    ¡°So,¡± Iris said, ¡°the easy way or har-¡±


    As if they were waiting for her voice, everyone except Jonas reached for their weapons- two SMGs of some kind and a shotgun by the look of it. I ducked behind cover, but Iris didn¡¯t seem to care as she casually stretched out her chrome arm. In the time it took for them to draw, a shield unfolded from her arm.


    They unloaded onto the shield, causing the entire thing to glow red - magitech maybe - and her body began to simmer thanks to the Light Tattoos. Iris didn¡¯t even flinch at the oncoming fire and lunged toward the guy with a shotgun while blocking the other two with her shield.


    I thought she was going for a non-lethal attack. In hindsight, I should¡¯ve known better. As soon as she reached the guy, a eerily flowed through the room as her Ticklers popped out of her knuckles. The three dagger-length claws caught the light menacingly as she moved. Iris immediately slammed it into the shotgun guy''s head, causing him to drop as the blades punched through his face.


    The gunfire stopped as both had to reload. Iris took advantage, jumping towards them with a flying kick to one of the guy¡¯s chest. By the awful sound of crumpling bones, the kick had some power as he flew into the wall hard enough to shake it. He crumpled to the ground like tissue paper.


    The third guy managed to reload just in time for Iris to move towards him. He began to shoot, but Iris knocked the gun away with the shield. In one smooth motion, she stretched out with her fangs and tore out the guy''s throat. He collapsed backward as he gasped for air one final time. It was thankfully over before I could even shoot. Iris  was an Edgerunner after all.


    I glanced around at the three fresh corpses, feeling a surge of pity. Maybe I disliked killing so much because I could understand? We all suffered in this damned city, I had just been lucky enough not to piss off anyone. I could¡¯ve just as easily been any one of these three gonks if things had gone even slightly different when my parents died. I still could. All it would take is being in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Or accepting a gig that goes south.


    At the end of the day, it was better to feel at least some pity at the loss of life than nothing at all. ¡®Course, I wouldn¡¯t let my pity and desire to not kill someone stop me if it needed to be done. Dog eat dog world and all that.


    ¡°Damn, over already?¡± Iris sighed as she looked over to Jonas, who was struggling to move thanks to the restraints. Even her hair was flashing in such a way so as to make her look as if she was simmering with rage. ¡°What do we have here?¡±

 Chapter 18

    Chapter 18¡°I-I don¡¯t know nothing,¡± Jonas said as he tried to free himself, but the restraints were too strong.


    Iris smiled, rubbing some blood off her face as she moved to him with her Ticklers still out. ¡°I think you do. How about this? You tell me what I want to know, and I¡¯ll let you live.¡±


    Jonas tensed up and his throat bobbed. ¡°Really? You prom- No! He¡¯ll ice me anyway.¡±


    Iris rested her Tickler in his leg, easily cutting through his flesh like it was butter. ¡°He won¡¯t be alive for long if you tell me what I want to know.¡±


    ¡°He has a pain editor. Torturing him won¡¯t work.¡± I said from the side as my nose curled up at the scent of death. It wasn¡¯t pretty. Without the person being alive, the bowels always loosened upon death. Even just being in the room was starting to make me sick, even if it blended in with its surroundings.


    ¡°Oh really?¡± Iris didn¡¯t bother to stop as she punched her Tickler barely into the guy¡¯s neck around the collarbone. I thought nothing would happen, but then the guy started to scream. ¡°The funny thing about Pain Editors is the nerve clusters that make up the bioware become extremely susceptible.¡± She twisted the Tickler, causing him to go slack in sheer agony. ¡°Sometimes it''s hard to find the nerve cluster, but most low-end Medechs install it in the same place.¡±


    ¡°S-stop! I-I¡¯ll talk! I¡¯ll talk!¡± Jonas screamed as tears and snot flooded down his face.


    Iris withdrew the blade. ¡°Great! Who do you work for?¡±


    A look of resistance went through his face. It faded just as quickly. ¡°W-we¡¯re with the Flashes. It''s a gang on the outskirts of Scath Heights.¡±


    Odd name? Unless maybe they call themself that because they use flashbangs during combat like they had with the Inquisitor. Poor idea considering most actual powerhouses had some way of overcoming a bright flash.


    ¡°Where at?¡±


    Iris questioned the guy quite a bit more, but I checked out after a while. Surprisingly, she left Jonas alive. She had made a promise, so I guess that''s why? Or maybe she sensed my discomfort with the bloodshed. Anyway, I, with Iris¡¯s permission, snatched the SMGs and the shotgun. More weapons were never a bad idea, and I could just sell them if I decided not to use them.


    ¡°Preem work, kid! I even got the location of their HQ base after . Consider the gig completed. I¡¯ll let ole burny bunch know.¡± She stuck out her hand, but there were definitely bits of gray matter on it from when she stabbed the shotgun guy.


    I pointedly stared at the chunks. ¡°You sure you don¡¯t want backup or anything?¡± One woman against a gang was¡­ well, she  an Edgerunner.


    Iris chuckled. ¡°Against a measly gang? Not a shot! If I do though, I¡¯ll call in some of my group. You don¡¯t seem the combatant type.¡±


    Right. Who was I to offer an Edgerunner help fighting? They were the top dogs, the tip of the pyramid when it came to the gun-for-hire world. ¡°Well, then it''s been nice I guess.¡± S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Her eyes flashed and a message popped up in my HUD with her contact information. ¡°I like ya¡¯, kid! Tell you what, if I need an investigator again, I¡¯ll contact you directly. Cut out the pay for pyro pockets.¡±


    I sent my own contact to her. It never hurts to have a choom in a high place, especially considering that high place could probably wipe a gang, albeit a smaller one, by herself. Who knows? I might need that kinda thing one day. What was this called? Networking? Damn, I sound like a corpo now.


    ¡°Right, cya kid!¡± Then she just walked out of the barber shop as if she wasn¡¯t covered in bits of someone else''s body.


    I glanced around the room with thoughts of klepping something else, but everything here was too low-end to justify carting back. It wasn¡¯t worth the hassle of having to juggle three guns and a box of stuff on a motorcycle. That, and it probably wasn¡¯t worth pissing off a Medech? Assuming he wasn¡¯t pissed about his back room, of course.


    The rational part of me said it was probably a bad idea to go back and see the scene of mayhem. Something about seeing torn corpses didn¡¯t sound particularly fun. That, and Larry could return at any moment. That would be one awkward conversation I¡¯d rather avoid. Or at least that''s what I was thinking as I left Larry¡¯s Custom Cuts.


    ¡¸Perception - 3>4¡¹


    ¡¸Tech - 1>2¡¹


    ¡¸Deception - 1>2¡¹


    ¡¸Criminology - 1>3¡¹


    ¡¸New Requests!¡¹


    I zoned out as I stared at the messages. This was the second time I had gotten bulk messages from the interface. Did it save up and only give me skill levels after I did something? Or was it specifically tied to doing a gig and actually using the skills, not just grinding them? I was beginning to think the latter since leveling seemed to come in bursts around the end of a job.


    Or was it just that I hadn¡¯t practiced hard enough? I mean, I shot maybe two hundred rounds with my pistol and two hundred more with Mira¡¯s new toy. She had the lane most of the time, so maybe I just needed more practice. Well, it wouldn''t hurt to practice anyway even if the number didn''t go up.


    It could even be related to  I use the skills, and not just using them. I was hoping it was a lack of training, cause otherwise I would  to do stuff to level up my skills at all. Not the end of the world, but it tossed out any ideas of safely leveling up and becoming super powerful.


    ¡¸Name: Shiro Tsukuyomi


    Traits: Fox¡¯s Grace, Quick Healing, Insight


    Tracking - 4


    Stalk


    Stealth - 6


    Fox¡¯s Paw


    Perception - 4


    1 Perk Point


    Tech - 2


    Melee Weapons - 1


    Local Novice (Little Yukoto)


    Sleight of Hand - 7


    Hidden Hands


    Firearm - 1


    First Aid - 1


    Evasion - 1


    Driving - 7


    Land Vehicles


    Deception - 2


    Criminology - 3


    Concealment - 8


    Lethargic PresenceHidden Weapon


    Brawling - 1


    Request Board - 2(expand)¡¹


    ¡¸Request Board


    Eye of Avarice


    Steal an expensive object (>500 BP) undetectedCrow¡¯s Wheel of Wares


    Killer


    Kill 3 people1 Skill Point¡¹


    That- that went from zero to a hundred real quick. How did ¡®cause mischief¡¯ turn to ¡®kill three people¡¯? What was that leap? I- I don¡¯t to do a request, right? There was no negative for not doing a request, at least a visible one.


    I can¡¯t just go kill three people on the request of an interface. That¡¯s completely different from self-defense or ¡®it the job¡¯ I usually protect my sanity with. I would be actively hunting people just to feed my own power. Wasn¡¯t that the same thing as the corporations?


    Though, as much as I want to, I can¡¯t deny the probability that I¡¯ll kill three people at some point. It was life in the city, especially as a merc. Heck, I could¡¯ve easily done it just a while ago if it hadn¡¯t been for Iris.


    I really hated killing people though. The thought of taking life was just¡­ I still occasionally see the slain in my nightmares, even if they deserved it. But really, who was I to say they deserved it? What moral high ground did I, a petty kleptoid, have to snuff out someone¡¯s life? They tried to attack me, so they are automatically evil?


    A tremble went through my hands.


    Probably best I focus on something else that actually matters.


    Like the Eye of Avarice request. It was¡­ weird. First off, it would be incredibly difficult to find something worth five hundred Rayn and yet still be a size at which I can cart it off. Rather, the difficulty would be finding something that I could pull off. It would have to be a device or magic item of sorts. To put into perspective, a low-end assault rifle would be worth between two hundred and three hundred Rayn, so I would either have to steal a weapon from a heavily armed group, or something similar. Suicidal at that point. Maybe I could go for jewelry? But most jewelry these days is pretty cheap...


    The reward was also weird. I had not a clue as to what Crow¡¯s Wheel of Wares was. It sounded like a prize wheel just off the name, but could it be something so simple? And an eidolon¡¯s name showed up once more¡­


    Regardless, I would probably have to get a fixer to sell me information about one¡­ or steal it for the fixer. It doesn¡¯t say I need to keep it, just steal it without being noticed. Was I even good enough at Stealth to go unnoticed? Maybe. So far the majority of my perks were leaning toward disappearing from view. Heck, even my eye had Blackout.


    I thought about where I might find something valuable as I drove my bike home. It chopped and sputtered as I came to the occasional stops, but otherwise managed to struggle on through. The thing was starting to die on me. I really need to check it out.


    A short stop by an electronic store for a holo mask was also in the cards. It was rather uncomfortable being around Iris with my face out on display. It was a quick route to getting shanked in my sleep until I upgraded housing. My poor money, already disappearing.


    I stared at the shelf for Perception, my brain feeling tired purely from reading through the exhaustive list of Perks. There were so many, almost too many compared to the other shelves. Everything from a better sense of smell to my eyes auto-marking objects of value.


    I was hesitant about the Perks that increase my physical abilities in such a way. Would it only apply to my flesh eye? What if I lose my entire nose or eye, then what would happen? If I had both chrome eyes, would the Perk then become obsolete?


    Something to think about when those perks actually became available. For now, my decision was relatively easy.


    ¡¸Aetherial Perception - Sense Aether-attuned creatures and effects.¡¹


    Normally, I wouldn¡¯t take something related to magic. This, however, would prove to be useful considering I would get the benefits without the negatives. Since I¡¯m not an Adept or Magus, I wouldn¡¯t have the weakness of being attacked from the Aether.


    My understanding of the magically aligned was rather weak, admittedly. From what I know, Adepts and Magus basically stood in two realms at once, which gave them their power. By doing something in the Aether, they can cause an effect in the ¡®real¡¯ world, such as the Adept throwing a sword of ice at me.


    It gave them incredible power, yet also exposed them to double the danger of a mundane person. Since they existed in both at once, they were equally vulnerable to both. They would have to protect themselves from attacks of other Aether dwellers and from the attacks of the real world.


    I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about attacks from the Aether since I wouldn¡¯t be attuned. It would also give me the added benefit of being able to tell if magic had been cast around me. Prior knowledge regarding the magically aligned would allow better decision-making.


    As soon as I picked it up and activated the scroll on the easel, I was back on my bed. ¡°Argh!¡± My eye felt as if thousands of fire ants were crawling  of it. I rolled around, rubbing at my face in irritation. It didn¡¯t hurt nearly as bad as having my eye liquefied in my skull, but it was far more itchy.


    After a period of time, the pain faded to nothing as I sat there rubbing at it. I guess that answered my question. No, the Perk¡¯s effects did not apply to chrome. My left eye, the Advent Phantom, still felt perfectly normal. I¡¯d have to actually be around Magus or Adept to test out the Perk. Hopefully, it will be a long time before then.


    Before I went to bed, I also took a look at my new weapons. The two SMGs were both alright, but they had been through some shit. Their previous owners didn¡¯t take good care of them. One¡¯s barrel was so mucked up it''s a surprise it didn¡¯t misfire, and the other''s barrel was crooked. It''s a surprise they were even used in the first place. Both had their polymer bodies decked out with neon graffiti that literally hurt me to see. Have some respect, you damn gonks.


    I would be better off using my pistol than either one. I may as well just sell them to a junker¡­ or maybe I should keep them for parts? Tech had opened a new world of possibilities even if I had yet to explore it.


    The shotgun was in much better condition. After a bit of research, I found it was an old Rhymer S-32. It was a single-shot break action, so it would take quite some skill to use it effectively in combat. That, or some good cover. The gun packed a punch though, and would be able to fire through even mid-range ballistic armor point blank.


    For now, though, I was quite tired. My questions hadn¡¯t been answered for years, and they likely never would be. With such a thought, I laid down for some much-needed sleep.

 Chapter 19

    Chapter 19The next morning my phone rang while I was eating silage and the PA pushed it up to my HUD. Shinobu, the Jade Fang enforcer. Weird. He never calls me. ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°Chiwa mikata! Listen, I¡¯m in need of a¡­  talent. I¡¯ll pay you, of course, and even owe you a favor if you help me out.¡± He said.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked. Why was a Jade Fang Enforcer asking for my help instead of another Fang? Shinobu was quite tight with the Fangs, so he definitely had the authority.


    There was a pause, as if he had put the call on mute. ¡°... I caught wind of a shipment coming through Little Yukoto headed towards the Corporate Quarter. I need someone to help me, uh, examine the product.¡±


    So he wants me to steal something? Interesting¡­ still, why wasn¡¯t he calling in other Fangs? ¡°What¡¯s the shipment of?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ perhaps we should speak in person about this.¡± The man¡¯s gruff voice said. I could almost imagine him rubbing his metal arm as he did from time to time.


    I briefly thought about it, but I didn¡¯t have any pressing matters to attend to. Other than maybe checking over my back again. ¡°Uh, sure¡­ Big Mike¡¯s?¡± That burger looked so good¡­


    ¡°Hai. I¡¯ll be there in an hour.¡± He hung up.


    I stared up at the ceiling of my small room for a minute, enjoying the relaxation. It would be so nice to rest for a day or two. I¡¯ve been going and going near constantly since I got the interface¡­ Maybe I should take a break sometime? The Rayn though¡­ No, it was better for me to work while the gigs were abundant so I could prepare for a drought.


    Maybe I should also start thinking about alternative revenue¡­ klepping pockets wasn¡¯t sustainable, and it was only a matter of time till I got caught. I¡¯ve been thinking- the interface offered me a wide range of skills. It was just a loose thought at the moment, but maybe I could start using Tech or First Aid, or something and get a job somewhere. Maybe I could help out and patch up some of the Fangs, or use Tech to chop vehicles?


    Why, necessarily, do they all have to be used to propagate crime though? Maybe I could go legit and work under Medtech Solutions and help with Medevacs or something. Do I want to work under a corp though? I could- I could start my own business making guns or something¡­


    I grabbed my gear and headed out to my bike. I could think about all of this later. For now, money.


    I had already ordered a burger from Big Mike by the time Shinobu arrived. The price was high, but even the scent of others'' burgers was causing my stomach to rumble. I hope it''s just as good as everyone says it is.


    ¡°Chiwa, Shiro.¡± The big man said as he slid into the booth. Ironically, it was the same one that Iris and I had taken the other day. He was the quintessential neo-greaser, and even his face had grease on it. He really took the style to a whole new level. And, of course, he wore the Jade Fang jacket with the twirling glowing neon dragons. Even a blind man could tell he was rather high up since his jacket even had flashwear styling of ancient samurai armor overlaying it.


    ¡°Yes, hello¡­¡± There was a moment of silence as Big Mike brought a platter over. My stomach was on the edge of rumbling as I breathed in the delicious scent.


    Shinobu looked down at the burger before leaning in his chair. ¡°So¡­ the plan is to hit a small transport. Should be Netrunner stuff. Most of it is low-end programs, but I caught wind of there being some Daemons.¡±


    Damn, that was some expensive stuff. Even low-end Daemons could sell for around a thousand¡­ This is perfect. Just one of those programs could complete the Eye of Avarice request. But- ¡°What¡¯s the catch?¡±


    ¡°Its a corporate transport-¡±


    ¡°Are you insane?¡± Hitting a corporate Netrunner was a quick way to get flatlined in my sleep. I rather liked my face still being in one piece.


    He raised his hands placatingly as he glanced around. ¡°Small corporation. They¡¯ll barely have any security, and you¡¯ll only need to snatch it if things go according to the plan.¡±


    At least he didn''t go after a big, heck even a medium, corporation. ¡°Okay okay¡­¡± Did I even want to get involved? Hmm¡­ ¡°What¡¯s the pay?¡±


    ¡°Based on what you bag. Six way split regardless though. I¡¯m taking two for my informant and equipment fees, then there are three others.¡± He leaned forward and looked at me seriously. ¡°We¡¯re expecting at least a thousand a piece if my intel is right.¡±


    That was a lot of money. I could already feel myself wavering at the thought of lining my pockets. ¡°Why me and not a Fang?¡±


    He sheepishly rubbed his head. ¡°We¡¯re trying not to involve the Jade Fangs. If there were two Fangs, we would be obligated to give the Matriarch a cut since it would be a ''Fang activity''.¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t the Fangs get upset about you going behind their back?¡± That was the real kicker. I didn¡¯t want to ruin one of my main income sources for a bit of instant Rayn.


    ¡°No. The Fangs don¡¯t care about outside ¡®projects¡¯ as long as it doesn¡¯t blow back onto them.¡± Shinobu shrugged.


    ¡°Makes sense¡­¡± There was just one thing that was still bothering me. ¡°Why me though?¡±


    He smiled and lightly caressed his metal arm. ¡°You helped me out is the biggest reason. That, and I¡¯ve talked to Ishimaru-sama and he assured me you were preem.¡±


    That was oddly kind of the man. To cut me into a potentially big deal just because I noticed his pain and sent him to a good Medech¡­ I wasn¡¯t even the one who readjusted the nerve connections. And that ¡®talk¡¯ with Ishimaru was more than likely a drunken ramble. Could that even be trusted? ¡°Then what¡¯s the plan?¡±


    He glanced around once more, the dim neon glow catching the reflection of his arm as the metal bits tensed. ¡°Not here¡­ we have a place set up, if you wouldn¡¯t mind coming.¡±


    Fair, fair¡­ still annoying though. Why not just tell me to meet him at the place? Unless he didn¡¯t want to tell me until confirming I was in. Haa¡­ so annoying. ¡°Okay.¡±


    I cautiously followed Shinobu to an ¡®abandoned¡¯ apartment building on the north side of Little Yukoto after finishing my burger. It was sketchy, of which I had no doubt in my mind. I knew the guy a little, but I couldn¡¯t say we were great chooms, so I was plenty cautious. I carried the shotgun I snatched on my back as I went, and was prepared to bolt at any minute if something went wrong.


    Thankfully, my fears were unfounded as we arrived at the location. We easily moved to a room just off the main hall before Shinobu stopped me. ¡°The rest of the team is here. If you want to hide your face, now would be the time.¡±


    I thought about it for a moment before pulling my fox holo-mask from my bag and throwing it on. ¡°Thanks.¡± It was very reassuring that he would say something. I already knew he was a decent guy as far as gangers went, but it was nice to have some confirmation.


    ¡°No problem.¡± Shinobu smiled. ¡°Is just Shiro fine? It''s not a rare name.¡±


    Another good point. I hadn¡¯t taken to hiding my identity very much. I should probably come up with a handle. It would be nice to start building a rep so I could get better gigs. Later though. Hmm¡­ I never really thought about this, but do I come up with a handle, or am I just given one based on my accomplishments? For now, Shiro would work. ¡°Yeah.¡±


    He nodded and entered the apartment. It was a rather big affair and seemed as though the wall between two apartments had been busted out to grant more space. It was dim, but not dim enough I couldn¡¯t see thanks to the neon ambiance of the city shining in the windows.


    There were two people present arguing over a large paper map of the city. One was a rather stacked woman, though not as massive as Iris had been. She also had two chrome arms with hexagonal lights pulsing with a green light around the joints. I recognized the chrome; Medtech Extreme-ity was common amongst those looking for a little boost in power. Looked old though, maybe only a gen one or two. Probably the muscle of the group. Aside from Shinobu, that is. Though he was definitely the mastermind if he could cut me in.


    The other was a diminutive guy who looked as though he hadn¡¯t eaten for months. He had on a holo-mask of the classic hacker mask, as well as an AR Vizor?. I looked a bit more at him, spotting a non-flesh section of his arm that looked as if it could open up. A Netrunner perhaps?


    Both stopped as we entered, the muscle chick going for a gun and the other guy looking as if he would bolt. Both calmed down at seeing Shinobu and curiously eyed me. The Netrunner spoke first. ¡°Who¡¯s the chick?¡±


    ¡°This is Shiro, the thief. The woman is Kat, our muscle. And finally, we have Bo, the Netrunner.¡± Shinobu made quick work of introducing us. S§×arch* The N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the fifth?¡± I asked. He said there were four others.


    He looked confused for a moment before realization came to him. ¡°Oh, the fifth cut is for our fixer. She has agreed to find sellers and check all the loot for potential bugs.¡± Nice, he already had a plan to sell everything. That tended to be the second hardest part of any heist: fencing the loot.


    Kat seemed to lose interest in me. ¡°Great! Now that you¡¯re here, boss, won¡¯t you tell this gonk that we can¡¯t just hack their car?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we can! It¡¯ll be a simple thing for me to just get in and disable the engine, leaving them stranded.¡± Bo argued.


    Shinobu shook his head as we approached the map. ¡°Their truck short-circuiting will cause suspicion. They aren¡¯t supposed to know something is up until they start off-loading.¡±


    Bo looked as if he wanted to argue more, but he relented as he sighed and flopped a rather weak hand towards the map. ¡°Then what¡¯s the plan? You¡¯ve barely told us anything.¡±


    I lost interest in their ramblings as I looked at the map. It was a large map of Aythryn City with a red line drawn on it. Looks as if the transport, assuming the line was the transport¡¯s route, would move from Portside through Little Yukoto and down into Downtown. A blue line split off from the red for a few blocks before meeting back. There were even some figurines, though they didn¡¯t look as if they''d been placed yet.


    ¡°Right.¡± Shinobu walked over and picked up one of the figurines. It was a small transport truck, the kind with double doors on its back. ¡°Listen closely. A small start-up corporation, Shen Studios, will be moving a lot of programs through the city. They¡¯ve hired a secondary company, Yue Security, to move them from Portside to Downtown.


    ¡°My insider has informed me there should only be one Armored Truck coming through. Standard package, so two guards, and both will be in the front cabin. Maybe some vests and rifles, but nothing too serious. The standard operating procedure is check-ins every five minutes, and a direct panic button for the Crusade, so we can¡¯t be noticed.¡±


    He reached out to a stack of folders off to the side of the map and pulled out a picture of a Yue Security truck on the table. Then he also grabbed two blueprints and passed them to Bo and I. I looked it over, my knowledge in Tech slightly helping me to understand what I was looking at.


    He set the van on the line and moved it from Portside. ¡°This part took some social engineering, but the fixer and I already figured it out. To move the transport to a more desirable location, the fixer has set up some small-time local gangs to get into a fight, blocking the main path.¡±


    Shinobu then moved the armored truck down the blue line instead. ¡°Since they are corpo, they will take the next closest route available to save time, which is this one. Here¡¯s where we start moving in.¡±


    He picked up a small token of a bow and put it into one of the buildings near where the truck stopped. ¡°Bo will provide overwatch and let us know when the truck arrives.¡± He then grabbed the tokens of two cars. ¡°When he gives the signal, Kat and I will crash in front of them with boosted cars, forcing them to stop. We¡¯ll get into a fight, causing a distraction.¡±


    Motioning to me, he picked up a cat token. Probably shoulda used it for, you know, KAT, but whatever. ¡°This is when Shiro sneaks up and takes advantage of the distraction.¡± He moved me onto the truck. ¡°Then it''s back to Bo. My insider informed me Yue Security uses maglocks on their trucks and specialized keys to open them. Keys that the guards carry on their body at all times. This is where Bo comes back in. Bo?¡±


    He looked over the blueprint again. ¡°Right¡­ um¡­ I could probably use a pick and pop ¡®em open¡­ might take me a few seconds.¡± An intense look of concentration came onto his face as his vizor lit up a few times. ¡°I¡¯ll need a day to get a pick. After that, all I need is for Shiro to stick it into the door¡¯s socket. Any plan for the cameras? If I cut the feed, the cabin will notice, and I won¡¯t have enough time to set up a loop.¡±


    Shinobu looked at me. ¡°Good question¡­ Do you have anything for cameras in your bag of tricks?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it shouldn''t be a problem¡­¡± My biggest worry was the actual cabin itself. It had a mesh door where the shotgun seat could look back and check on the cargo. I would have to get in, and instantly get against the wall to avoid being spotted.


    ¡°Nova. After that, Shiro will move sneaky beaky like, and klep the goods. The programs will be kept in briefcases.¡± Shinobu passed me a picture of the inside of a Yue Security truck and the typical briefcases they used. Looked to be silver ones mostly. ¡°There will be six chips per case. My insider will mark the cases with the valuable programs with a strip of red tape around the handle. Take those, then take anything that looks valuable. Also, Bo, give Shiro some extra picks in case she¡¯ll need them in the truck itself.¡±


    He motioned between Kat and himself. ¡°We¡¯ll only distract for a minute to avoid  much attention. You¡¯ll have to move quickly and get out without being noticed. If our cover is blown before they get to Downtown, we¡¯ll have the full force of a corporation hunting us. Everyone for themselves at that point. They may be small, but they are a corporation after all.¡±


    Shinobu moved the truck to Downtown. ¡°By the time they realize something is wrong, we¡¯ll be ghosts in the wind. Questions?¡±

 Chapter 20

    Chapter 20Three days had passed since then, and I hadn¡¯t been passive. I went out and finally bought myself some techwear. It was expensive, nearly 130 Rayn for just a jacket and pants, but I had so many pockets now. Seriously, it felt like my pockets had pockets. My jacket had one on either arm, four on my chest, and one on my back. That''s seven pockets! The pants had even more. I doubt I¡¯ll ever use most of them, nor will I actually use the variety of straps and buckles, but it was still insanely nice to have. Best part? It was rainproof and tear-resistant.


    And I couldn¡¯t have picked a better time. Techwear blended in with most environments in the city, and I needed the added advantage. That, and I would have more than enough pockets to stuff with loot. I also took the time to get a larger backpack for more room, and some high-end form-fitting gloves. The gloves felt like a second set of skin, and would fully protect my prints. I lost nearly 230 Rayn on clothes alone, which was kind of depressing.


    Unfortunately, I was the only one without a CAS or comm link, so I had to go out and buy an earbud. It was a 100 Rayn just by itself. I felt tears at the time of purchasing it, but I couldn¡¯t deny its usefulness in a crew setting. So yeah, my bank account was back to 364 BP.


    About thirty minutes from zero hour, Shinobu pulled me to the side into a small room right near the ambush point. He even took out a scrambler and activated it before he spoke, which set me on edge. ¡°Shiro, the plan changed.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± My muscles tensed up. This wasn¡¯t good. Plans don¡¯t change thirty minutes before they are supposed to be enacted. I subtly prepared to bolt to my bike at the slightest hint of something foul.


    He put out a placating hand. ¡°Nothing serious, I just need you to do something extra.¡± He pulled out a cracked phone and handed it over to me. ¡°I need you to drop this while you are in the truck. Without anyone else knowing.¡±


    I instinctively grabbed the offered item. ¡°Why?¡± S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    He hesitated, looking as though he was fighting an internal battle with himself. The silence stretched on, causing my tension to turn up at a rapid rate. ¡°Okay, okay.¡± Shinobu sighed. ¡°Look, the fixer offered to drop her from the pool in return for ¡®accidentally¡¯ dropping the phone in the transport.¡±


    Then we were setting up a fall guy for this. The fixer must¡¯ve been offered money to make someone fall and decided this was the perfect opportunity. Since she was already getting paid, she offered up her sixth of the cut as payment. ¡°Then that would mean-¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I was originally going to take the extra sixth, but¡­ well, you are the one doing this for me¡­ I¡¯ll split her cut, whatever it may be, with you.¡± He shrugged. ¡°We both walk away with one and a half, as long as no one ever knows, and that phone is deposited.¡±


    I felt my tenseness fade quite a bit. He almost,  conned us. But, at the end of the day, he cut me in. I still think he¡¯s a pretty nice guy. Heavily biased opinion, but which one isn¡¯t? He didn¡¯t fully turn his back on me, so I wouldn¡¯t betray his trust. And we were all crooks anyway. ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll do it.¡±


    I could''ve argued for more of a cut, but at the end of the day, I was only getting a cut thanks to him. He brought me in, and he shared another half a cut so it would be best to not get greedy. Greed was the fall of many.


    Shinobu smiled his bear-like grin as he turned off the scrambler. ¡°Nova. Let''s head back before the others get suspicious.¡±


    It was time. The gangs were fighting, which almost entirely cleared off the streets. It was just us around under the light rain of Aythryn City. The roads reflected neon as I stared down at them, wondering about how someplace so broken could still look so beautiful. I''ve realized it in the past, of course, but the streets of crime and mayhem still look so pretty once all the people cleared off. It was weird.


    I stood in an alley, my back against the wall. The others were already in their posts, and Bo had cut the feeds of every nearby camera to make us ghosts. I forced myself to take low, deep breaths, and yet I could already feel myself start to shake as I did before every major klep. It was just so exhilarating.


    My earpiece rang to life as Kat¡¯s voice came through. ¡°Soo¡­ what were y''all talking about?¡±


    Shinobu replied. ¡°I know you''re bored, but now really isn¡¯t the time.¡±


    ¡°Aw c¡¯mon! While we wait? You might as well tell us.¡±


    ¡°I am also curious, and we have a minute before they roll up,¡± Bo said, his voice sounding cold and mechanical. A voice modulator?


    There was a stretch of silence, probably Shinobu failing to come up with a plausible excuse. I hate lying, but, well, I had to save him or we¡¯d both get pulled under. ¡°If you must know, I¡¯ve never worked with a crew before. I¡¯m usually a lone wolf. He was giving me some advice.¡±


    ¡°Lame. I was hoping it would be something more exciting.¡± Kat said.


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re about to get all the excitement you need. Target just turned onto our street. Your diversion method worked.¡± I could barely hear the rapid clicking of a deck. ¡°Twenty seconds out. Fuck! There are two of them coming in.¡±


    ¡°Shit! He didn¡¯t say anything about there being two. They both ATs?¡± Shinobu asked.


    ¡°No. Looks like an escort truck in front, and the AT at the back. Lots of com chatter in the AO though. I can¡¯t crack in without leaving a trace.¡± Bo said.


    ¡°Okay okay.¡± There was a brief pause. ¡°Okay. Keep going just like we planned. You think you can get by, Shiro?¡±


    I could practically hear the anxiety in my voice. ¡°I-if you guys distract well enough when I need to escape, it shouldn¡¯t be an issue. I¡¯ll have to dodge potentially four sets of eyes instead of two.¡±


    ¡°Right. Kat, don¡¯t hold back. We¡¯re going to get into a fistfight in the last ten seconds. The more violent the better.¡±


    ¡°Damn. Okay, boss.¡±


    A car rolled by my alley, sprouting a damn turret on top of it. On the side of it was a sliver of a moon, the symbol for Yue Security. It was a beast of a car, but not nearly as big of a beast as the AT. The thing practically took up the entire lane with its bulk. If it was built according to the blueprint, it had half-inch-thick walls that were fully bullet-resistant. Its armored windows were tinted and barred, although the passenger had his window slightly cracked.


    I didn¡¯t wait and moved out of the alley onto the street as soon as I activated Blackout. I moved like I was just a normal civilian. Right as I began to cross, a crash came from the front. Kat and Shinobu had made their move, causing the two vehicles to stop.


    I stopped behind the AT and quickly found the socket I was looking for. Pulling the pick, which was apparently just a one-time use quick connection device, my hand shoved the small black box into the socket.


    ¡°It¡¯s in,¡± I whispered as I kept my ears peeled. I heard shouts and curses from the front as my lungs froze with nerves. The cold rain was helping to keep me calm as I practically vibrated on the spot with excitement.


    ¡°Right.¡± A second passed. Two. Three. Bo replied on the fifth. ¡°I¡¯m in.¡±


    I heard a light, near silent, click from the door. I didn¡¯t open it all the way, just enough to slip in before I shut it just enough to look closed. I could feel my left eye heating up, growing uncomfortable from the use of Blackout.


    ¡°Forty seconds.¡± Our overwatch said.


    The inside of the truck was basically a giant box lined with boxes. Briefcases sat on almost every single surface, and there were even loose bags of chips tossed in haphazardly. Two cameras sat above either side of the door, but Blackout took care of those.


    I locked in, my nervousness subsiding as I regained total control of my body. This is what I was good at, B&E. I moved rapidly, my training from Fox¡¯s Paw kicking in as I avoided the scattered goods and slid up against the wall to avoid eyesight. Stalk played an unseen part as the guard didn¡¯t notice me crawling in from his peripherals.


    The guards at the front didn¡¯t seem to care as they casually chatted. I couldn¡¯t tell what they were saying since it was in another language, but they didn¡¯t seem panicked at all. In fact, they were both laughing without a care in the world.


    I glanced around, spotting the briefcases with red tape wrapped around them. There were two on opposite sides of the van. I peered at the grated door before quickly snatching one of them and pushing it into my bag. I thought about the blueprint then grabbed the extra pick, slotting it into the port on the side of one of the security boxes. While I waited, I carefully took out the phone and lightly placed it into a dead zone of the camera. I also took the time to grab as many loose chips as I could, pocketing them.


    I managed to get four bags before Bo spoke again. ¡°Open. Twenty seconds.¡±


    As carefully as possible, I cracked open the box just enough to reach in. My hand wrapped around something, and I pulled it out. It was another briefcase, but nearly black in color. I didn¡¯t hesitate to plop it into my bag.


    The last briefcase sat on the other side of the truck, but I was hesitant to grab it. If the guard looked back at the moment I moved, I would definitely be spotted. After a mere moment¡¯s hesitation, I decided to leave it till I was leaving. Until then, I grabbed another briefcase. It was a random one, but that didn¡¯t stop me from klepping it.


    ¡°Fifteen.¡± He said as my eye was practically on fire. It was hurting so bad, I was almost shocked my head hadn¡¯t caught fire. I sat dazed on the side of the truck as the heat only amped up. ¡°Now Shiro! They started fighting!¡±


    That jogged me out of my stupor as I practically lept to the back of the truck, grabbing the briefcase and pick as I went. I nearly stumbled out the door as my brain started to hurt from the heat in my eye. I closed the door as silently as possible and half stumbled from behind the truck and to the alley. A minute had passed, and Blackout ran out of energy, leaving me in the alley with my face all but being on fire.


    I collapsed into the alley, my face held up to the cool rain as I mentally checked out. The world was starting to swim, and I could feel my entire body sweating even though the weather was cool. A hand touched my shoulder, and Shinobu¡¯s face almost seemed to jitter in my eyes. ¡°Y-you okay, Shiro?¡±


    I nearly laughed as his face warped and twisted like a clown on a carousel. ¡°Yesh yesh, ne¡¯er better. Soh ot.¡±


    Shinobu¡¯s face crinkled with the force of his frown. ¡°You uh, you sure?¡±


    ¡°Jusht- jusht tired.¡± I blinkered. Or tried to. Stupid eyelid, not closing when I tell you to! Close, damn you! Why won¡¯t it- oh¡­ is it melted? A flashback of the lightning came back to me. ¡°Pfft! Strick struck.¡±


    What was happening to me? ¡°Mira thould ¡®e stho mad if I thied.¡± Seriously, what would she do if I died without saying goodbye? ¡°Sthurely ¡®e would thig ¡®e up to kill ¡®e hersthelf.¡± I laughed, realizing I had been talking aloud without meaning to. ¡°Sthupid Shiro.¡±


    The next couple of hours were a delirious blur, not even worth mentioning. The world warped and shifted with every movement of my pounding head. I felt like I was hungover, and yet the confusion of being high at the same time. It was an awful combination. At some point, my disjointed vision faded as a familiar voice called my name.

 Chapter 21

    Chapter 21I awoke on a bed. Not just any bed, no. This bed was so soft and comfortable, not at all like my own. I could just sleep here all day-


    I bolted upright, feeling myself tense up as I tried to remember where I was. The last thing in my memory was stumbling into the alley, laden with valuables and a burning headache. What happened? Where am I?


    Calm washed over me as my eyes took in more of my surroundings. The room looked familiar. Very familiar. What was I doing in Mira¡¯s room? The interface popped into my vision, distracting my line of thought.


    ¡¸Stealth - 6>7¡¹


    ¡¸Deception - 2>3¡¹


    ¡¸Request - Eye of Avarice - Complete


    Crow¡¯s Wheel of Wares¡¹


    ¡¸Use now?¡¹


    What? No, I don¡¯t have time for this right now. I stumbled off the bed, my foot catching on the railing. My own ¡®bed¡¯ was just a mattress on the floor, so the rail completely took me off guard. I slammed face-first into the wall as my ankle twisted at an awkward angle. I could already feel blood beginning to pour from my nose.


    The door opened quickly. "Are you-" Mira stood in the doorway in what I could only describe as heavily stunned. A second passed as she looked at me, before busting out into laughter as I held my nose.


    It took several minutes for Mira to calm down her laughter and my nose to stop bleeding. Several very uncomfortable minutes as she just laughed at me, her hurt choom, with reckless abandon. What a gonk.


    Now we were sitting in the living room, though a smile was still on her face. ¡°How¡¯d I get here?¡±


    She sighed and ran a hand through her long, blonde hair. ¡°That guy you''ve mentioned, Shinobu, brought you to us. You shoulda seen Pa¡¯. He looked ready to strangle the guy when he showed up carrying you half-dead with delirium.¡±


    Shinobu brought me? I knew he was a good guy, but damn. To think he brought me from a shitty alley across the entire city to Mira and Uncle Ezra. ¡°How¡¯d he know to come here?¡±


    Mira smirked. ¡°You kept calling out for me, and your PA brought my contact up on your phone. How sweet that I''m on your mind even when delirious.¡±


    ¡°Yeah well¡­¡± I got nothing. She  my best choom. ¡°What happened to me?¡± I had a feeling it was due to part of my brain burning with Blackout, causing a severe lack of mental facilities. Then Quick Healing healed me while I slept, which brought me back. Quite scary.


    ¡°Pa¡¯ thought it was a heatstroke-induced fever. Similar things happened with FSA troops all the time in the desert. Especially closer to the Eternal Sandstorm. He said he¡¯d bring you to a doctor if the symptoms didn¡¯t fade in a day.¡± She smiled brightly at me. ¡°And now you¡¯re fine! So, how¡¯d it happen? Shinobu was chased out pretty quick, only mentioning being on a job. Oh, he said to call him when you get the chance! Was it with the Jade Fangs?¡±


    Classic Mira, ever the spitfire. ¡°Shinobu  a Fang enforcer, but it wasn¡¯t a Fang operation. We knocked over a transport truck, and I overused some chrome. Caused me to overheat.¡± The overheating was a serious, serious flaw in the Avant Phantom. It was fine in almost all other ways, sure it could still use some improvements, but chrome that almost kills you is bad chrome. I shudder to think what state my brain would be in without the help of Quick Healing. Or what state the other beta-testers are in.


    Mira frowned. ¡°That¡¯s some serious chrome if it puts you in that situation.¡±


    ¡°Experimental-¡±


    ¡°You put experimental chrome in your body! Are you insane?!¡± She shrieked and stared at me as if I was an idiot. ¡°Do you want to glitch?¡±


    I raised my hands placatingly, but she swatted them down. ¡°L-look, it''s based around Medtech stuff, and it¡¯s mostly safe. The tech is even cutting edge. It¡¯s just- just that its extra feature is not quite finished.¡±


    ¡°¡± She grabbed my arm and started to pull me towards the door. Easily at that. The girl worked out, while I definitely didn¡¯t. Maybe that should change? ¡°Let¡¯s get that pulled out right now!¡±


    I dug my heels in. ¡°W-wait! I¡¯ll have it removed and upgraded in two weeks for free! They should have all the kinks fixed by then. And it won¡¯t be a problem as long as I don¡¯t use the extra feature.¡±


    She paused at the door. ¡°Two weeks? And free service for cutting-edge tech?¡±


    ¡°Y-yeah.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± She ran a hand along her hair, a sign I knew to mean she was thinking very seriously. ¡°Fine! You better not use that feature again though!¡±


    I sighed. ¡°Okay, ¡±


    Mira swept my legs and knocked me to the floor before I could even react. ¡°Serves you right. Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, young lady!¡±


    She wasn¡¯t the only one with a few tricks. I activated my Perks and sneakily snatched her leg, causing her to fall on top of me. And so began a wrestling match between two very unbalanced opponents. I lost. Terribly. She had the muscle and training advantage, and even with my underhanded tricks I couldn¡¯t do anything thanks to ignoring Insight.


    Though I¡¯d say I won when Uncle Ezra found her putting me in an armbar in the entryway and nearly whipped her ass blue. Good times.


    I stared at Uncle Ezra and Mira unwillingly as I put the call on speaker. They wanted to be around when I contacted Shinobu again. Something about checking his intentions? Weird, in my opinion. He  proved himself to be a good guy by bringing me across town. And it isn''t like this was the first time they''ve heard of the guy. I''ve talked about him in the past, but maybe it''s because they finally got a visual of the guy?


    Anyway, they were both fully trustworthy. I saw no problem with it, or sharing much of anything really. Well, except maybe the interface. I think it would be best if I never mentioned it to anyone.


    The call rang for a very short time before he picked up. ¡°Shiro? You alive, mikata?¡±


    ¡°Nova. Just a heatstroke from my chrome." I ignored Mira''s pointed stare. "How¡¯d it end? I wasn¡¯t all there.¡±


    ¡°Flawless! Well, except for the part with you wigging out. I was first to the alley, kept the vultures from snatching you and leaving. I was going to take you to Nael¡¯s, but you kept saying Mira over and over again, and I wasn''t even sure if you  injured.¡±


    Across the table, Mira smirked at me. I shot her a glare as I responded. ¡°How¡¯d the loot go though? I take it they didn¡¯t notice.¡±


    ¡°Like I said, mikata; flawless. According to my insider, they didn¡¯t know till several hours after they arrived at their destination. And thanks to the uh, ¡®extra step¡¯, they aren¡¯t on our trail at all.¡± He sounded excited, which I thought was a bit odd considering the big guy¡¯s usual demeanor.


    ¡°So how much are we looking at?¡± That was the real question I was interested in. Rayn. More specifically, how much would go to me?


    ¡°Right! That''s the best part. You managed to nab thirteen Daemons. Unfortunately, they were low-leveled ones so they¡¯ll only fetch about five to six hundred rayn according to the fixer. The assorted bags of chips were all low-end programs, so each bag is only worth about two hundred. There were five Black ICE programs too, so that added another three hundred each. The insane part is that black briefcase you snatched. Even my insider didn¡¯t know this, but it held an unbound Net Architecture. Guess how much?¡±


    ¡°How much?¡± The numbers already were making my head spin.


    ¡°That single device was level three, so it was worth three thousand Rayn by itself. We seriously made some bank, mikata. In total, we¡¯re looking at twelve thousand five hundred Rayn. After splitting that extra cut, we are both going to walk out of this with three thousand one hundred and twenty-seven Rayn. That¡¯s pretty damn good for how almost flawless the heist was. Word got back to the Matriarch, and she even promoted me for showing initiative.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s Nova! When will it come through?¡± I asked, already formulating plans for more heists. I''ve only done small-scale stuff in the past, and I didn''t realize quite how lucrative it could be if I moved my sights a bit further up. Sure, the danger was far more... but the Rayn!


    ¡°As soon as the fixer sells the lot off. There might be some minute variability in the pay since she is running it through a Night Market.¡± I could practically hear the grin on his face. ¡°Thanks, Shiro. I couldn¡¯t have pulled it off without you.¡±


    ¡°No problem. Just call me again if you need me. Oh, and consider that favor you owed me gone. Thanks for taking me out of the alley.¡±


    ¡°Of course! And Ishimaru-sama would¡¯ve had my hide if I got you killed in a gig. You might think he''s just joking when he says you''re his favorite, but he really does have a soft spot for you.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Nonsense. ¡°I¡¯ll see you later.¡±


    ¡°Cya.¡± The line went dead.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    I could feel both their eyes boring into me. The awkward silence broke as Uncle Ezra spoke. ¡°So three thousand Rayn, huh?¡±


    ¡°I guess so.¡± I almost couldn¡¯t look at him. I mean, they knew that I was a crook, but this was the first time they¡¯ve ever been smacked in the face with it. Usually, we just didn''t talk about it considering their connections to the government.


    Uncle Ezra slapped me on the back. ¡°Good job, kid. Your parents would¡¯ve been proud of you, even if they wished you would¡¯ve entered a different field. I still remember the gig where your father met your mother...¡±


    A smile sprung to my lips. He rarely talked about my parents. Guilt, I think. He was on deployment when they were killed, and he couldn¡¯t do anything to help me in the first seven months I was by myself. He didn''t even know they died till he returned to the city. The Jade Fang truly pulled through back then. ¡°Thank you, Uncle Ezra.¡±


    ¡°Eee! I''m so happy for you, Shiro! That''s some serious bank! So, what are you gonna spend it on?¡±


    ¡°I dunno¡­ maybe buy some parts and stuff and fix up my bike? It''s been acting up. Then save for a drought I guess.¡± I said. I hadn¡¯t thought of it. I could also upgrade my living conditions. Most studio apartments were around fifteen hundred Rayn a month¡­


    But then I¡¯d be moving out of my nice free cargo container. Hm¡­ best wait and see if my current streak of Rayn and gigs keeps up. It would be dumb to start buying without making sure my income was secure. Of course, I¡¯m not including the three thousand from the AT heist in my calculations. This kind of thing was a fluke at best. Unless...


    So my income, assuming I got at least two gigs a week like I had was somewhere in the around twenty-four hundred Rayn. Then, if I added on the time I inevitably spent picking pockets and  from people, I would be somewhere around thirty-six hundred. Silage is somewhere around three hundred a month plus the fifteen hundred from the apartment.


    I would have around eighteen hundred Rayn left over to spend on other things. That was assuming everything went well though. And not including AE3 prices. So maybe cut off an extra one or two hundred. Yeah, I think it''s about time I upgrade. No¡­ maybe after a couple of weeks. I still need to make sure my income remains stable.


    And maybe look at some alternative revenue streams. Maybe I should drop picking pockets entirely. It didn''t pay all that well compared to the time it took, at least with my skill level. I was much better off going for something else a bit more lucrative...


    ¡°I¡¯ve got an old tool bag I can give you. Might not be the best quality tools, but they''ll be free till you upgrade. Oh, and I could send for a mechanic to check it out. On the down low, of course.¡± Uncle Ezra said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about the tool bag, but definitely not on the mechanic. This''ll be a good experience for me." S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "You take the tool bag though. It''s not like we need it.¡± Mira said, nudging her dad in the side.


    ¡°Right.¡±


    I felt they were scheming something, but I couldn¡¯t exactly deny their efforts. ¡°Fine.¡±


    And that''s how I ended up in a cab ride the next day with not just a bag of tools, but a bag of medical supplies too. Oh, and a very high-end multitool that must¡¯ve cost at least seven hundred Rayn. Yeah, they were plotting something. I couldn¡¯t even stop and argue with them since my cab was waiting, which was even more annoying.


    The cab dropped me off back by Big Mike''s. It had been a bitch and a third to carry all of the stuff on my little, half-working bike and cart it back to my cargo container. It had been even more annoying to carry it up the welded ladder and into my home.


    I collapsed onto my bed- even calling my mattress a bed felt insulting after sleeping on Mira¡¯s. I stared up at the ceiling, as I tended to do these days. With just a thought, the interface appeared in my vision.


    ¡¸Request - Eye of Avarice - Complete


    Crow¡¯s Wheel of Wares¡¹


    ¡¸Use now?¡¹

 Chapter 22

    Chapter 22My vision faded till I once again found myself transported to an interface space. And yet, this one was different than what I was used to. I stood in a graveyard on a hill, one covered in a dark fog. The entire place, and even myself for that matter, was leached of saturation. It was like I was looking at an ancient black-and-white movie.


    Far off in the distance came the cries of crows, and yet I felt an immense amount of danger as I stared at the darkness surrounding the hill. The sense of danger far exceeded the levels of insulting Fox¡¯s Grace, and I was  I would die if I headed out.


    The graves around me were weird. Both in the sense that I had never actually visited a graveyard and that they were nameless. No, not nameless. Rather the names covering the gravestones were obscured by the dense fog. Items, thousands if not tens of thousands were scattered around in the darkness of the hill. They were hard to make out, but I spotted everything from a shiny toy car to an ancient longsword. ''Course, every item was the same faded gray hues.


    A chill went up my spine as nightly air breezed by, carrying with it a feeling of dread. I glanced up, spotting the moon. It was full and glowing red. The moon was one of the only spots of color in the entire space.


    A withered tree sat in the middle of the hill, with little red crystals dangling from its branches. A liquid, almost like liquified ruby, surrounded the tree in a mote. It was oddly beautiful, if not for the eerie ambiance about the place.


    For a brief moment, I considered activating Aetherial Perception, and yet Insight almost screamed at me that it was foolish. That I would most assuredly die if I tried to look further into the things in this graveyard.


    Just when I was wondering what to do, the fog condensed, the darkness converging, and covered a section just in front of the tree. Then the fog left just as quickly, leaving behind a massive wheel similar to the ones I had seen in a game show. Red text was written along the rim of the wheel, and yet I couldn¡¯t understand any of it. Crow¡¯s Wheel of Wares if I had to guess.


    With no other prompting, I slowly edged towards the wheel, feeling a small amount of rapidly vanishing comfort in the fact nothing had jumped out yet. I stretched out a hand, feeling revolted as it turned to just bones as it neared the wheel. I whipped my hand out, thankfully returning to flesh and blood after distancing from the wheel.


    The only path was forward, so I ignored the bone effect and grasped the edge of the black and red wheel. Immediately, I felt a chill roll down my spine. I was already committed though, so I pulled as hard as I could before backing up. If I was sitting, I would be on the edge of my seat as I watched the red and black blur together.


    The wheel spun, each tick of the pin against the black and red blur sounded like the eternal ticking of death ever approaching. I had chills down my spine the entire time until the ticking slowly came to a stop. I still couldn¡¯t read what it said, but that didn¡¯t matter as the interface popped into my vision.


    ¡¸Crow¡¯s Wheel of Wares


    Crow¡¯s Canteen of Chaos¡¹


    Was that¡­ good? It sounded weird. I looked around the dim graveyard once more as the fog began to coalesce upon me. Insight caught my attention, and I looked up into the tree. A crow, massive in size, sat upon the branches. Eight glowing red eyes met mine with a cold, calculative glare. Fear overcame me, and I found myself flinching away just as the dark fog covered my body entirely.


    Then I was back on my bed, my heart pounding with the unmistakable weight of absolute terror. It took quite a while to calm down, especially considering I saw the eye every time I closed my own.


    A weight sat upon my chest, drawing my attention once the insatiable terror faded. A canteen, black and bespeckled with what looked to be rubies sat there. It was shaped in such a way as to look like the wings of a crow were wrapped around the thing.


    I took it in my hand, immediately causing a window to pop up into my view.


    ¡¸Crow¡¯s Canteen of Chaos


    Alchemical Replication - Can replicate any liquid poured into it. The liquid can be changed at will but will take a day to replenish.Current: Water¡¹


    A magic item¡­ part of me wanted to hide the thing and never look at it again, but the other part recognized the usefulness of the canteen. The name didn¡¯t help at all in my unease at the rather luxurious-looking canteen.


    I picked it up and shook it slightly, hearing liquid slosh around inside. Popping the lid, I could see water slowly filling it up as it condensed alongside the walls of the canteen. It was a slow-moving process, one that would take a day according to the item¡¯s description.


    I moved over to my fridge and pulled out a pop, pouring a little of it into the container. The rubies decorating the item flashed with a crimson glow, though nothing else seemed to change. Physically, at least. Mentally, I felt as though I could interact with an invisible menu while holding it. Right now, there were just two options, though I could see how the item could grow to hundreds if I dedicated some time to it. It was a good reason to stay hydrated at least.


    Too bad there was no easy way to carry it around- a shadow condensed around my hand, and by the time it faded so did the canteen. With a simple thought, similar to how I summoned and hid the interface window, the canteen reappeared.


    Unfortunately, I couldn''t just sit around and play with the gifts of the interface, or gifts of Crow, which I didn¡¯t even want to think about. I sighed and tossed the canteen back into the shadow before grabbing the bag of tools and heading down to my bike. It was really about time I fixed the damn thing. It was practically a dirt bike and had been super cheap when I bought it, so it¡¯s not surprising that it might be broken.


    The first thing I did was check the battery with a multimeter. It was reading above twelve volts, so it wasn¡¯t dead, or really in danger of dying anytime soon. I used it almost daily, so there was no chance for parasitic drain to kick in.


    Then I went and manually checked all the fuses to make sure nothing was blown while I had the multimeter out. It was a bit awkward at first, but I eventually found the right way to stick both ends of the device onto the fuses¡¯ two sides.


    It was neither of those, so then I decided to check the thermoelectric semiconductors that helped power the thing and found sand clogging up the connection points between the AE3 tank and the semiconductors themselves. It was such a simple thing, and yet it was screwing with my bike to such an extent. So annoying.


    Disconnecting the semiconductors was an absolute bitch, but then actually cleaning them went fairly well. I looked it up to be sure, and I could just use soapy water to clean off the bits and bobs of the device. I left it to dry for a few hours while I looked through the screamstream on my phone.


    A few interesting things were coming up, such as superstars


    coming into the city for a concert. Is it wrong to hope they get hit by a bomb? Seriously, their music was shit, and yet everyone else seemed to like it. How? They literally took screamo, mixed it with pop, and then added in far too much crack for it to be anything good. And don''t even get me started on their cracked-head graphics.


    Oasis was also going to come into Aythryn City at some point, which was bound to raise tensions as the group annually did. Something about the opportunity to have fresh, non-synthetic food drove people up the walls. ¡®Course, Oasis was more than prepared to flatline anyone gonk enough to try and raid them.


    Something more interesting was the supposed arrival date of the Sentinel Corporation Supercarrier Phalanx was in just three days. It might be interesting to go look at it, which seemed to be a common consensus amongst most people according to the article. I had never seen a supercarrier, and it would be a good experience. It would also give me an idea of how truly fucked I would be if they ever discovered I had their stolen research. sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Speaking of stolen research, I had decided just to leave it behind my fridge¡¯s liner till I got a higher-level Tech and could understand the blueprints. The research was obviously precious, and I didn¡¯t want to just burn it and be done. No. It could be another leg up just like the interface. Who knows? Once my Tech reaches a higher level, I might actually be able to build some of the devices myself.


    Before long, the parts dried and I took them back out to my bike. It was even more annoying to put the thermoelectric semiconductors back onto the vehicle, and I even nicked my hand more times than I would¡¯ve liked with the clamps. I wiped the sweat from my brow and looked at a job well done.


    One thing left to do. I straddled it and kicked on the ignition, hearing it purr to life underneath me on the first try. I drove around the Ryu Container Yard once, feeling no choppiness or chugging of the thermoelectric chamber. It ran as good as new, if not better.


    ¡¸Tech - 2>3¡¹


    I looked at the message in stunned surprise. I wasn¡¯t expecting to get such a thing from such a simple task. Maybe I was wrong about the conditions of leveling a skill? I had assumed it was only through a gig that I could get them up, but maybe it¡¯s anytime I complete a project? Hmm¡­ this requires more testing. Maybe I should head back to the range and shoot a thousand shots or something. My skills with weapons were trash as is.


    There were other skills I was more interested in though. Specifically, Evasion. I hadn¡¯t had much of a look at it, but just the thought of dodging bullets was quite exciting. Assuming it got to that level, of course.


    ¡°You finally fix that bike of yours, dearie?¡± A cracked voice asked as I shut my bike off.


    I looked over to see my neighbor, the elderly woman who lives below me, standing at the door of her container. Granny Smith. ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± My parents had heavily promoted respecting elders back when they were still around.


    She smiled, showing her wrinkles¡¯ wrinkles flapping around with effort. ¡°That''s great! Do you think you could fix something for me? I¡¯ll pay, of course.¡±


    I don¡¯t have anything else going on today. ¡°I can take a look at it.¡±


    ¡°C¡¯mon in then.¡± She backed away from the door, allowing me into her cargo container. I walked in without delay, catching that scent that was particular to the elderly.


    Her container was like mine, exactly so considering they were manufactured the same way, and yet looked nothing like mine. Whereas mine was very barebones, hers was filled to the brim with furniture, decorations, and small collectibles. Noticeably, most of the decorations had to do with knights, seeing as kite shields and swords of all kinds were strapped to the walls. A massive TV dominated the space, only contested by an equally sized couch covered in blankets.


    ¡°My TV stopped working just an hour ago¡­ such a bummer too since my favorite show was on.¡± The elderly woman said as she moved to the couch and took a seat.


    ¡°Really?¡± I asked, only half paying attention as I made sure the thing was plugged in.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ you know, your mikata really liked my show. It''s been a long time since I last watched a show with someone¡­¡±


    Friend? Oh right, Iris hung out with the older woman while I slaved away to look at evidence. ¡°I¡¯m glad you enjoyed her company.¡± I surely hadn¡¯t. I started to attempt to diagnose the TV¡¯s issues. It wasn¡¯t turning on, so that was clearly the problem.


    Granny Smith chuckled to herself, though the chuckle sounded more sad than anything. ¡°Funny. She reminded me a lot of my grandson, back before he¡­¡±


    It wasn¡¯t the cords, at least I didn¡¯t think so. They were all in one piece, and my multimeter didn¡¯t show any issues. I pulled out an electric tester pin and tested the outlet itself only to see it not working. ¡°He?¡± I asked, half paying attention.


    The old woman sighed deeply, causing me to look over at her. Her shoulders were slumped as if she bore the weight of the world. ¡°He left to fight the Dune Walkers¡­ avenge his parents and all that. Haven¡¯t seen him since.¡±


    Damn, that sucks. To outlive two of your generations¡­ ¡°Is he alive?¡±


    Granny Smith shrugged. ¡°I didn¡¯t get a message from the FSA, so I sure hope so. It''s been nearly ten years though...¡±


    How sad. I hadn¡¯t interacted with her much, but she had always been a kind person. To spend your days idly waiting, hoping for your relative to reach out¡­ maybe I could help out? Uncle Ezra was quite high up in the ranks, so maybe he could pull the file and see where Granny Smith¡¯s grandson was.


    ¡°What was his name?¡± I pulled off the outlet cover and spotted the issue. Some of the wires had been frayed probably due to exposure to the elements.


    ¡°My little Eddie. Edward Franz Smith.¡± She said in a voice I recognized to carry some pretty heavy emotion.


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep an ear out for him,¡± I said as I fixed the outlet. It was a minor thing, all things considered. Far easier than most things shown to me in the initial acquisition of Tech.


    ¡¸Request - Suspicious Disappearance


    Find out what happened to Edward Smith1 Skill Point¡¹


    That didn¡¯t bode well. I really,  hope this isn¡¯t anything more to this than just a quick investigation¡­ yet the request suggested the entire opposite. Why would the entities behind the interface be interested in a  disappearance?


    The television flickered to life as Granny Smith excitedly clapped her hands together, the clap sounding more like bone on bone than skin on skin. ¡°Oh! You fixed it. Thank you, kid! How much do I owe you?¡±


    I shook my head as I gathered my tools back up. ¡°Nothing. Thank you for looking out for my bike all these years.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure? I¡¯m not hurting for money too badly.¡± She said as she pulled out her phone to send over money.


    My feet smoothly carried me to the door. ¡°I¡¯m sure, ma¡¯am. I appreciate the offer though.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ Well, good night then, dearie.¡±


    ¡°Good night,¡± I said as I backed out the door. It was ¡®bout time I started to look into this guy a bit further¡­

 Chapter 23

    Chapter 23I sat at Big Mike¡¯s, the neon afflicting my reflection as I stared out the window. The brightest sign on the street flickered, causing a momentary darkness as I looked at myself. I hadn¡¯t looked in a mirror in a long time, but I had changed quite a bit.


    The childhood fat had long faded thanks to my diet of Silage, though I was finally starting to fill out more with my recent eating habits. I could still see a few of my bones poking out, but It wasn¡¯t nearly as bad as it had been. I had some muscle and fat starting to fill in the gaps. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    There were other changes, of course. As others had pointed out to me, my dark hair was far more¡­ luscious? It had a sheen to it that was reminiscent of a model, though not quite to that extent. I was still very much a street rat. At least in my heart. That sheen caught the neon ambiance, twirling it around my dark hair and swirling it into a colorful mess as if a painter had flicked paint all over my hair.


    Ever since I got the interface - more specifically Fox¡¯s Grace, I suspect - my appearance had done a one-eighty. I wasn¡¯t a flawless beauty or anything like that, but I had noticed the changes. They were subtle, though they just kept stacking up. If I put a bit more effort into my appearance and diet, I could probably blend in with the sculpted faces of corporate execs without hassle. It was a bit worrying. Many people loved beautiful things without caring how they were acquired.


    Even my skin had turned almost flawless, the small scars and blips from puberty completely vanishing into smooth skin. Well, almost smooth skin. I still had a few scars, though only one was on my face. The jagged scar splitting my left brow down to my cheek was still as present as the day I got my chrome. It seemed even Quick Healing couldn¡¯t touch it¡­ Maybe because the scar tissue had been there for so long? It had been a long time since I last saw that bastard.


    A day had passed since I chatted with Granny Smith, and I had requested Uncle Ezra to look up Edward Smith and see what happened to him. I should¡¯ve known when the request popped up in my interface. It wasn¡¯t a one-and-done type deal like I had hoped it to be. That would be too easy for the Skill Point reward. Instead of simply giving me some information, he had asked to meet up somewhere. Hence Big Mike¡¯s.


    I sat across from both him and Mira, and I couldn¡¯t help but feel the tension in the air. They both had rather serious looks on their faces, which was an oddity for Mira at the very least. She was never serious, and the few times she tried to be tended to fail spectacularly. This time though, she nailed it. She wasn¡¯t even reaching for the food, which was by far the scariest part.


    ¡°So¡­ what is this about?¡± I asked as I idly grabbed a slice of burger in a bid to dissipate my nerves. It didn¡¯t work.


    Uncle Ezra sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he looked out the window. ¡°Where¡¯d you hear about Edward Smith?¡±


    That didn¡¯t bode well for the rest of our conversation. ¡°He¡¯s uh, he''s my neighbor¡¯s grandson. Why?¡±


    ¡°Why are you looking for him?¡± He asked. Unease was rapidly growing in me. The fact Mira still hadn¡¯t spoken was rubbing me seriously the wrong way. Mira was  silent.


    ¡°My neighbor wanted to know if he was still alive...¡±


    He cocked his head, staring at me for a moment with a seriousness I seldom saw. He tilted his head this way and that for a moment before sighing again. ¡°Right¡­ officially, Edward Smith went AWOL off of Blitz Base ten years ago.¡±


    I idly ran a hand along my backpack as I thought about Edward. I had packed it full of my equipment before I left. Just in case. Something about the phone call asking to meet up had clued me in on something being wrong. Maybe it was the tone of voice when we spoke of meeting up?


    Soldiers don¡¯t just go AWOL, not in this day and age. ¡°Is he dead?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t speak much more on the matter.¡± He stood up without his bag, seemingly forgetting that he brought it. ¡°I¡¯ll see you at home later , Mira.¡±


    Mira smiled for the first time in the entire meeting, which took a bit of weight off of my shoulders. ¡°¡®Course Pa¡¯. Safe travels.¡±


    ¡°You too¡­¡± His expression suggested a weight to those simple words, one that carried a much deeper meaning. ¡°I¡¯ll take a cab back.¡± Then he simply walked out of the restaurant without even taking a slice of burger.


    I sat there in a confused mess as I tried to piece together what was happening. Nothing was making sense, other than the fact I had definitely bitten off more than I could chew. Something was obviously going down. Were we under watch? It would make sense considering their reactions.¡°What-¡±


    Mira glanced around and then shook her head, causing me to stop. ¡°Hey, ¡­ I found this new . I¡¯m headed there next. Want to check it out? It might be in a  area.¡±


    A final chance for me to back out. And a warning. But she said so herself, Mira was headed to the ¡®arcade¡¯ anyway. No way I could leave her out to dry. And that Skill Point was calling my name. ¡°Nova! Your car?¡±


    ¡°¡®Course!¡± She smiled as she grabbed a slice of burger, acting as if nothing was going on. It wasn¡¯t hard to slip into normality as we had lunch together. We were just two friends eating a meal, nothing suspicious.


    It wasn¡¯t until we were driving towards Ichiban in the car, which just so happened to be filled with guns, that Mira spoke more freely. ¡°You¡¯ve dug us into a hole this time, Shiro.¡±


    ¡°Just what in the hell is going on?¡± Nothing was making sense. Or rather, I didn¡¯t want things to add up the way they were. As it stands, this might be quite the dive off a cliff.


    She sighed. ¡°Your man, Edward Smith, had his file under a heavy lock and key. ¡®Course, Pa¡¯ bypassed that, but in doing so became tagged by the mainframe.¡± So that''s what this is all about? That didn¡¯t seem so bad. As if sensing my thoughts, she continued. ¡°Pa¡¯s high up, you know that. So high up that it would take a General to pull such a thing.¡±


    ¡°Fuck.¡± How the hell was this all connected to something so big? This was just supposed to be a simple look around, not- not all


    .


    ¡°Yep! Anyway, Pa¡¯ is under watch for the time being¡­ he suspects a cover-up. If there is one thing he hates, it''s dirty laundry. Just so happens he misplaced the file for Edward.¡± She handed me the bag.


    I pulled out the file and read through it. It was short,  short. There were two files, the first simply stating he went AWOL. The second barely said anything other than Edward went MIA in the Underground - a massive array of tunnels, caves, and ancient abandoned systems below the city - after a scouting trip for something called Operation Beachhead. ¡°Operation Beachhead?¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t exist.¡± She glanced up at the rearview mirror with a frown. ¡°Hence the suspected cover-up¡­ Pa¡¯ kindly asked me to help you ¡®play around at the arcade¡¯...¡±


    ¡°Why not send in a squad or something?¡±


    ¡°He suspects he¡¯d get pulled into the military court quicker than he could say ¡®oh¡¯ by the person who messed with the files. This is some seriously high-level shit, and he won''t be able to do anything without solid evidence. That''s where we come in.¡± She glanced up again, this time drawing my attention.


    Insight triggered as I looked around, noticing a certain trend in the surrounding cars. They were hiding it well, but we were definitely being followed. I could recognize the ¡®undercover¡¯ vehicles with just a glance. They were too¡­ uniform compared to the others around.


    If this was so high up, why even bother? Sure it was a conspiracy, but so what? Conspiracies weren''t all that rare. ¡°Why does he want us to look into it then?¡±


    ¡°Because two hundred troops also disappeared around that time and half as many quick promotions. That doesn¡¯t just happen. He suspects a Fedra conspiracy, which makes the entire thing more volatile. And we¡¯ll give the families closure if we find out what happened.¡±


    Nothing in this world was quite that simple though. If he was credited, at least partially, with taking down a Fedra conspiracy in the military, he would be fast-tracked for a promotion of his own. Sure I would be getting the least out of this, but I didn¡¯t really care. Helping Uncle Ezra and Mira, especially after everything they¡¯ve done for me or attempted to do for me, was a reward in itself. And taking Fedra down a notch would be nova.


    Fedra was one of the biggest enemy organizations of our nation, however splintered it may be. The Free - or Fallen as most people put it - States of Arkhanikas put quite a large focus on the splinter-cell terrorist organization and offered quite a few benefits for taking out the cells. Hence the promotion, and the potential rewards for taking out a Fedra conspiracy.


    But this was all dependent on it being a rogue operation initiated by Fedra infiltrators and not an ordained black op trap. If it was a black op, we were more likely to get snatched in our sleep for stepping on someone¡¯s toes than being congratulated for taking out a conspiracy. ¡°Does he think it was a rogue operation?¡±


    Mira glanced back once more but didn¡¯t otherwise react to the tail. ¡°Yeah, otherwise the file would¡¯ve been sealed with a far higher authority. This also happens to line up with some other stuff he¡¯d been looking at, and it gave a perfect excuse to further look around.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re a bit underqualified...¡±


    She shrugged. ¡°A bit, but it''s not as bad as you think. I mean, you stole out of the back of an armored truck without getting spotted, and I¡¯m good at combat. As long as we move smart and leverage our advantages, it shouldn¡¯t be too bad. And he can''t hire a proper merc team without a paper trail, hence us.¡± Mira slowed down, pulling into a parking garage just within walking distance of Ichiban Street. Our tails, or at least the cars suspected of tailing us, drove by which wasn¡¯t too surprising.


    Mira sighed as she looked at the backseat filled with guns. ¡°I had wanted to bring along some of my beauties, but that will look suspicious to our watchers.¡± Then she reached back and grabbed several knives, SMG, and a pistol while managing to hide them all about her body. She also threw on a plate carrier, one that she quickly covered with a trench coat.


    ¡°Are we expecting a fight?¡± I already knew, of course. The Underground was incredibly dangerous. It was more so a question of how big of a fight. If we were going against actual Fedra soldiers, we probably wouldn¡¯t win without some serious luck. Or skill. And that was assuming we even got far considering the volatile nature of the place.


    ¡°Think you could hold a couple of these?¡± Mira asked as she picked up a briefcase and popped it open, revealing several different kinds of explosives. Mostly grenades, but I spotted some other kinds in there. Ah, explosives, the great equalizer.


    ¡°Why the hell do you just drive around with grenades in your car?!¡± Saying that I managed to stuff the entire briefcase into my backpack, as well as some additional equipment into my various pockets. Mostly auxiliary stuff, though I was impressed by the sheer variety. The back of the car was basically an armory in its own right, and I was almost scared to think what was in the truck. Among the auxiliary items, the most interesting thing I grabbed was a spool of micro-wire. It was a super thin wire that was difficult to spot and non-reflective.


    She shrugged. ¡°Why not? It¡¯s not like they¡¯re hard to get¡­¡±

 Chapter 24

    Chapter 24Backing out now wasn''t even an option. Mira looked as though she was going to go through with this no matter what, and I wouldn¡¯t abandon her. Especially considering I had my own vested interests regarding Edward Smith. More specifically, the Skill Point reward for finding the man.


    If I had to get into a fight¡­ It was regrettable, but things needed to be done. And Fedra sucked majorly. It was an open secret they were responsible for the Endless Sandstorm and the Dune Walkers after all. Or at least mostly responsible. They were the worst kinds of terrorists. They brought about the destruction of the majority of North Arkhanika in their hubris.


    I quietly followed her into Ichiban after she grabbed a bag, trusting Mira to know what she was doing. I tried to keep my eyes peeled for our tails, but it was nearly impossible to spot them in the mass of people. Especially considering the high amount of off-duty FSA troops to blend in with.


    True to her word, Mira pulled me into an arcade. We spent nearly an hour just playing around, though that didn¡¯t help the mounting tension across my body. The more we delayed, the more I was unnerved about the whole situation. It showed, especially in my scores.


    I also took the time to call Shinobu and ask a favor. Nothing serious, just requesting access to the Jade Fang¡¯s entrance to the Underground and to borrow some equipment. He was more than happy to help and promised it would be ready in an hour. Knowing a rather high-up Fang Enforcer certainly had its perks.


    At some point, Mira gleefully chuckled and tugged me toward the back of the room, citing a need for the bathroom. It was then that things started to finally hit into motion. Instead of heading to the bathroom, we snuck out the back of the shop into a filthy alley with several homeless people camped out in it.


    We skittered back into Ichiban Street through a different building¡¯s back door. Then we disappeared into the crowd, hopefully losing our tails in a far less obvious way than if Mira drove crazily. This way, it could be considered incompetence on the tails'' part for losing us rather than an intentional shaking from us.


    Neither one of us spoke for several streets. At least, not until Mira finally showed a look of relief. ¡°I think we lost them. Alright, Miss Investigator. Where are we headed?¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you should come with me? From what it looks like, they¡¯re only watching you and Uncle Ezra.¡± I hated to say it, but there was no denying the fact  wasn¡¯t under watch. At least, not yet.


    Mira nodded her head. ¡°We thought of that too, but whatever we¡¯re heading into potentially killed two hundred soldiers. You¡¯re shit with a gun, so I¡¯m acting more of an escort than anything. At the very least, I might be able to slow down an enemy long enough to make a plan. That is, unless you think you can move about the Underground just fine?¡±


    I rubbed the back of my head as I directed us to a spot closer to the backside of the Dragoon Saloon. ¡°I¡¯ve been down there a few times for the Jade Fangs¡­ you¡¯re right though. Probably best you come with me.¡±


    She followed me to a small building, completely similar to its surroundings. That is, except for the high amount of Jade Fangs patrolling around it. Like I said, I¡¯d already done a couple of minor gigs for the Jade Fangs in the Underground, so knew exactly where the entrance was.


    Shinobu had also come through. We were easily allowed through the security and grabbed some equipment. Namely glow sticks, flashlights, and masks.


    The Underground, for as much as it was a restricted zone, was a Combat Zone through and through which is why it was so guarded. At least on the surface gangs didn¡¯t just kill everything that moves willy-nilly. That was bad for business. The Underground wasn¡¯t quite the same.


    That disposition wasn¡¯t entirely without reason though. The Underground was filled with all types of hostile creatures and critters, everything from mutants to flesh-hungry ghouls. That wasn¡¯t even counting the Scav and Savants that liked to hide in the decrepit tunnels, nor other human elements. For the most part, shooting first and asking questions later was far safer.


    Inside the building was like a warehouse, with armed guards camping around a massive hole in the ground. A ladder was bolted into the side of the hole, going far down into the darkness below. And so began the long and tedious process of entering the Underground.


    I cracked a glowstick, shedding pale light on my immediate surroundings as I hooked it onto my backpack. The hole led deep below the surface into an ancient brick tunnel supported by metal rings every once in a while. Deep shadows sat all around me, and a chill settled amidst the worn and torn bricks. A scent, somewhere in between rotting sewage and mildew filled the entire place. Really, the fact I could even catch a scent through the mask covering my face proved the strength of the stench.


    The mask was quite a high-quality product, but it suffered from the same flaws as other similar ones. The biggest issue was the spiked difficulty in breathing. It wasn¡¯t too terrible, though it was uncomfortable. It was like I had to use double the effort to get the same amount of air.


    For however much the mask sucked, it was required down here. There was no telling what kinds of viruses and pollutants were trapped in the Underground. Sure, we might not need them at all, but I would rather not catch some terrible pathogen.


    I heard two feet slam into the ground and turned to see Mira finally completing the long descent. She wore the same mask as me, covering her entire lower face with the breathing apparatus and the rest of her head protected by a thin sheet of plastic. She tried to speak, but her words came out as muffled grumbles more than anything.


    I popped in my earbud and created a self-contained channel with just the two of us in it. A second later, she joined and her voice came across. ¡°This place reeks.¡±


    ¡°Just wait till we move deeper,¡± I spoke, my voice barely a whisper. Even then, my pricey communicator was capable of picking it up and transmitting.


    ¡°Can¡¯t wait!¡± She waved her arm in faux-cheer. It was slightly odd hearing her voice and yet not seeing her mouth move. She took a look around and then pulled her long hair up under a baseball hat.


    ¡°What¡¯s the plan?¡± I asked as I made sure my equipment was good to go. ¡°We can¡¯t search the entire Underground, especially if we avoid the main chambers.¡±


    Mira pulled her gun free. It was a submachine gun of some sort, potentially a Knight Security firearm based on its similar design to the KS Squire. I followed her lead and also pulled my Rhymer out. ¡°Avoid the main chambers?¡±


    ¡°Did you not do any research about this place? I don¡¯t wanna run into a ghoul or mutie nest.¡± Large chambers throughout the Underground were known to be gathering points of the various hostile entities.


    ¡°I faintly remember that¡­ A couple of the files that mentioned our missing Operation Beachhead had linked locations close to Talus Tower. Maybe we poke around there as best we can?¡± She suggested.


    Talus Tower was the furthest arcology out from the center of Aythryn City, and not too far of a walk above ground. Below ground? A confusing journey awaited us. Too bad I wasn¡¯t in good with any other group, otherwise I might¡¯ve been able to get us a closer entrance. Still, it was better to have a potential destination rather than not.


    I led the way as I pulled a map of the city up into my HUD. There were no flawless maps of the Underground, and the few decent existing ones were expensive. The best bet to get around with even a minimum of confidence in your location was to use a city map and guess. Even that had its flaws though considering the occasional cutouts of tracking as I moved under something too thick for the GPS. For similar reasons, communication systems also tended to fail down here unless it was a self-contained system like the one that linked me and Mira.


    Mira followed behind me, her feet splashing around in the putrid water settled in the brickwork. She definitely wasn¡¯t cut out for Stealth. I tried to ignore my growing sense of unease as we moved, a flawed attempt as any could be. Every shadow that moved caused me to flinch, even if it was only an unusually sized rodent burrowing back into its den as we passed.


    There was just enough light to see even without anything external thanks to the small patches of glowing lichen and glowing graffiti here and there, but nothing too crazy. In the same way, it strained our eyes to look out into darkness, the light of our flashlights and glowsticks left us unbothered by the wildlife as we moved through the ancient tunnel system.


    For the most part, we kept silent as we moved. Mira would only pep up to ask about things we passed, such as too-big claw marks or rotten corpses that looked as though they had been bitten in two. Most of the time, I could only guess about the monstrosities that inflicted such wounds. My main guesses were ghouls, though I gave that answer knowing that ghoul¡¯s claws never stretched that wide.


    Course, they could just be bladed weaponry from the occasional Jade Fang moving about the Underground. There were enough lines of flicked blood to prove they were active down here.


    At one such junction, Mira spoke up. ¡°What are we going to do if that group chases us down here?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯d have to fight through the Fangs first¡­ we could set up an improvised trap though, if you want.¡± I could easily rig something up with some of the grenades and the microwire.


    Mira looked around at the graffiti for a moment before shaking her head. ¡°It might hit someone unrelated. Probably best we don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± It was also a good reason to pay attention to our surroundings more in case there were other traps like ours.


    We passed by an assortment of collapsed tunnels and naturally forming caves cutting through our path, each time causing me to practically guess which one to take. We ran into quite a few dead ends, though that was preferable to other things we could run into.


    It had been about an hour or two before Mira put a hand on my shoulder, stopping me. She raised a hand to her ear and began to speak, though so quiet the mask canceled all noise except through our channel. ¡°Voices up ahead¡­ sounds like a small group.¡±


    I didn¡¯t doubt her for a second. Her cyber audio suite was far more sensitive than my ears. I pulled back a bit and stuffed the glow stick into her hand as I turned off my flashlight. ¡°I¡¯ll sneak up and check it out. You stay back and I¡¯ll call you.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± There was barely enough ambient light, cast by glowing lichen, for me to see the aggravation on her face. Not at me, no. It looked to be more towards her lacking stealth skills.


    I nodded, my motion probably lost in the dark, and moved my way forward. Fox¡¯s Paw kept my footsteps entirely quiet even in mostly unfamiliar terrain as I stalked forward, dodging a few bear traps set up. Eventually, I came across a cross-section.


    The tunnel on our left had collapsed, and the other two faded into darkness. On the floor of the cross-section sat a glowing symbol, a disturbing glow of two triangles with their tips pointed together. Anyone with half a brain cell would recognize the symbol for what it was: a Scav Mark sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Scavs were the lowest of the low criminals. They treated people, law-abiding and gangers alike, as nothing more than a product yet to be processed. They were the kind of scum who took people off the streets - not even children were spared - and brought them back to their dens to be ¡®processed¡¯ like mere meat.


    Cept, they weren¡¯t after the flesh. No, Scavs would rip and tear their victims to pieces, processing their chrome to sell while they were still alive. Scavs and Savants were tied with the highest body count in Aythryn City and had a kill-on-sight order from every faction. Even I, with my shattered moral compass, wouldn¡¯t feel too bad about flatlining them. They were the scum of the earth, and by killing them now I might save a hundred other people.


    The two standing over the symbol looked the type. A glowstick cast dim light around the cross-section, revealing their forms. They wore the typical mess of patchwork clothing associated with the down and destitute, yet their armor gave them away. Bits and pieces of chrome were sloppily welded together into makeshift armor, some still dyed by the blood of their victims. Like true psychopaths unafraid of catching any number of diseases and viruses, neither one wore masks. Scav Marks covered them with their infamous glowing red paint.


    I hid in the darkness and watched the two chatter, one of them was covered in cuts, most covered sloppily with a black tar-like substance. I recognized the drug at a glance: Patch. It was a highly addictive, flawed designer drug that gave its user near-constant adrenaline and slowed time for the user, but the high was incredibly short.


    I was worried for a moment about attacking the thin guy since he¡¯d be able to react nearly instantly, but that worry faded as I saw his constant twitches and jitters like he had far,  too much caffeine. It was a sign of Patch withdrawal, so he likely wouldn¡¯t be too big of an issue. Patch addicts had a hard time moving since their bodies were ''used to ''moving at the speed of Patch.


    They were both armed, though their weapons looked like homemade scraps more than anything. Shouldn¡¯t be too big of a deal to take them out, but I still backed up to Mira. Where there was one Scav, there would inevitably be more, and it would be foolish to just charge in without a plan.

 Chapter 25

    Chapter 25¡°Two Scavs with bear traps set up. Scav Marks are on the floor, so we might be near a Scav Den. Do we want to go around?¡± I asked Mira as soon as I returned back in range of her.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± She went silent. ¡°I doubt we can clear a Scav Den by ourselves, at least not without proper equipment. Anyway, we can mark the location for someone else to clear out? No way we leave their operation untouched.¡±


    I thought about it, but without a proper map, it would be difficult to mark its location. Difficult, not impossible. I just dropped a pin on the Mapp?. ¡°Yeah.¡± If someone was willing to come into the Underground to hunt Scavs, then simply pointing them in the right direction would be good enough. ¡°Are we going around though?¡±


    ¡°Do you want to spend another hour looking for a way north? And it''s just two. We could probably flatline the gonks without alerting the whole den.¡± The passion in her voice was evident. I could understand. This was probably burning at her to intervene at least somewhat.


    I bet my bacon the only reason she didn¡¯t want to attack the den was thanks to our current mission. So what if she didn¡¯t have her ¡®proper equipment¡¯? She was a crack shot, and could easily outpace any of the Scavs in combat. They were one of the weakest groups out there combat-wise since they only preyed on people through ambushes. In outright combat, even most low-level mercs could wipe a den with their team.


    ¡°Don¡¯t suppose you brought a silencer and subsonic rounds?¡± I asked, my voice tilted up with an ember of hope.


    Mira simply handed me a knife as we moved back down our tunnel. ¡°You know those are heavily controlled.¡±


    We hatched a quick plan after I relayed all the intel. Once she was in position - a bit of ways back from the Scavs standing guard - I moved forward with all of my Perks active. The tunnels were massive, so I easily skirted my way around the lantern''s light. Moving slowly, they didn¡¯t even see me as I passed around to the tunnel behind them.


    Then, I picked up a small pebble and tossed it into the only tunnel not occupied. The rock bounced down the path. It was the oldest trick in the book, and quite effective against terrible guards such as the two on duty. Immediately, the one not on withdrawals moved to investigate with a muttered curse while the Patch withdrawal guy just jittered in place.


    I moved silently, creeping up on the guy from behind as my hand tightened around the handle of the combat knife. Once I was right up on the guy, I froze for a moment, catching sight of sundered flesh stuck to his welded armor. The poor victim that was used to make such armor probably didn¡¯t even get the mercy of death before being ripped apart. Chrome of the dead tended to be locked up and required some effort to make it usable again. A flawed attempt by manufacturers to stop people from icing others for their chrome, I suppose. Much easier to keep someone alive as they rip it out.


    I struck like lightning and ripped the blade across his throat while I wrapped my hand around his mouth and yanked his head back. The dagger easily sunk through his flesh, grating against bone and chrome as the edge cut through the important bits. Blood instantly spurted up into my wrist as I pulled the guy down and finished him off.


    ¡®Course, such a move wasn¡¯t entirely silent. The other guard immediately turned back, but it was too late for him as well. Mira, for all her lacking stealth skills, was damn good at combat. Before he could fully turn around, she was already moving towards him, easily dodging the beartraps. Just as he was about to make a move of his own, she chunked a brick at the guy¡¯s head, catching him off guard as he hit the ground. She quick dropped the gonk with a smooth strike through his neck as she disarmed him in the same breath.


    And just like that, the Scav checkpoint was cleared. I shoved the dead Scav off of me, careful to avoid too much arterial spray as I looted him. Or at least attempted to. The guy had nothing of value on him, and I would probably have to


    someone to take his trashed gun off me. Not worth lugging it around.


    While Mira wasn''t looking, I summoned Crow''s Canteen of Chaos and washed off the blood as best I could with water. It was just easier if she didn''t know anything about the interface, at least as long as nothing goes stupendiously wrong. D-did you just jinx it? Bad Shiro! It''s like saying ''Is it over?'' A chill went up my spine as I cast a superstitious glance around.


    ¡°That went well,¡± Mira cursed us too as she cleaned her knife off. Her trench coat was covered in blood, but it looked as if the fabric was liquid-resistant. It easily slid off the garment and dripped to the tunnel''s ground.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I looked down at my latest victim, feeling only a fraction of the usual remorse towards murder. Really, could it even be called murder when I was simply taking care of society¡¯s trash? Scavs were the scum at the bottom of the barrel- no, they were the floorboards below the barrel... or was I just dehumanizing them to make myself feel better?


    Mira blinded me with her flashlight as she flicked it about the tunnels. ¡°Which one?¡±


    I also looked about, but the decision was fairly easy. Considering we wanted to avoid the Scav Den at the moment, we would continue on straight north. Most likely, the one that painted it came from the den. Using that tidbit of information and the direction of the Scav Mark, it was safe to say the den was to our east.


    We dragged the corpses a bit down the tunnel, delaying the eventual discovery of the flatlined gonks best we could. I also messed with their guns and permanently jammed up the barrels. Whoever tried to shoot it next time would be in for a nasty surprise. Then, we continued our journey down through the dastardly depths.


    Mira and I walked amongst the ruins of ancient sewer systems and subways. Dozens of paths had either led into dead ends or other groups which we promptly avoided the best we could. None of them were as easily identifiable as the Scavs had been, and we didn¡¯t want to get into a fight we might not win. While it was shoot first down here, avoiding trouble was also common.


    We had already put up quite a bit of distance between the Scav Den, and we were slowly closing in on Talus Tower as we walked parallel to a rail line. Debris cluttered the once pristine tunnels, and the metal rails had long rusted over.


    Mira stopped behind me, causing me to also stop as I heard her footsteps cut out. ¡°I hear something up ahead¡­ growling maybe?¡±


    I nodded to her. ¡°Might just be some rodents¡­ I¡¯ll go look and see if we can¡¯t sneak around if it''s something serious.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Mira looked to struggle for a moment before shaking her head. ¡°Good luck, Shiro.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, choom.¡± I turned off my light, and once more edged forward along the path with a silent note that I should ask for Low Light sensitivity when I meet up with Advent.


    I nearly fell after a while. A hole, covered in darkness, plummeted deep beneath the surface. Half the rail line had caved in at some point into a massive chamber with dozens of different pipes leading into it.


    The bottom of the hole was dark, and yet not pitch black. Massive growths of the glowing lichen ran rampant across the cavern, illuminating the surrounding areas semi-decently. It looked to have once been a control station of some sort, with hundreds of valves and pipes intersecting across the gargantuan chamber. It was hard to tell for sure. Age hadn¡¯t treated the place well at all. Debris covered the entire space, and several pipes had been busted by falling rocks. There was even a rail sticking straight up as if impaled into the ground by a giant.


    Shambling shapes stumbled around the rubble, light shining through the holes and thin spots in their flesh. The skin was stretched tight, giving a clear view of bones and rotting flesh. Eyes, forever lost of their humanity, stared ceaselessly around as they groaned and growled. Ghouls.


    Aetherial Perception triggered as I looked around, allowing me to see little kernels of something corrupted in each of the ghouls. It was nauseating to look at like I was staring at some kind of flame. Yet, the kernels gave off a sickening darkness that attempted to imitate light. Thankfully, they were quite far so it wasn¡¯t too big of an issue.


    I looked around a bit more before I radioed into Mira. ¡°C¡¯mon up. And watch your step.¡±


    Her quietest still made enough noise for me to clearly hear her creeping up long before I saw her. Every step would crush the ground underneath her as if she were intentionally trying to alert the ghouls below. ¡°What was it?¡±


    I just pointed down towards the ghoul nest. She edged up closer, though I could see the hesitation to approach the drop clear through her body language. For a moment, I was tempted to kick a rock at her feet like she was caving in the hole, but rationality won out and I resisted. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°Why are you smirking?¡± Mira asked as she backed up from the straight drop into the chamber.


    How could she see?! The mask should cover everything. ¡°N-no reason. Let¡¯s keep going.¡± I didn¡¯t wait for her as I started moving northward once more.


    ¡°Chek chek¡­¡± Mira pounded the floor behind me, every other step clanking subtly with a metallic click as her boots clicked against the subway rails. She really didn¡¯t have a clue about subtlety.


    The subway tunnel led true as we split through the darkness. Graffiti of an age long since past covered the walls. The occasional light paint artwork sat atop the foundation of ancient paint, depicting dozens of different types of gangs and icons.


    The subway had been such a good find. It went almost straight north and had enough branching tunnels and caves to easily get back into the sewer system if need be. ¡®Course, that also increased the likelihood of ambushes, but we thankfully didn¡¯t see anything bigger than the rodents and the occasional group we avoided until we were about a mile from Talus Tower.


    ¡°Damn, what happened here?¡± Mira asked as we approached a platform area of the subway. A long-abandoned train, its parts rusted and slopping off, sat flopped over at its station. The entire thing was so aged that even the windows inside were covered by debris.


    Bullet holes littered the walls of the subway tunnel, and the number of corpses sharply increased. The bones of the corpses sat in mere remnants of worn and tattered clothing. The shreds of fabric had been torn to pieces over the years they rested down here, making it almost impossible to tell who they once belonged to. Humans weren''t the only ones though; there were plenty of weird-looking animals and grotesque-looking vermin.


    Sure, corpses weren¡¯t anything new down here, but the amount of bones far outpaced the last several miles of occasional corpses. Just like elsewhere, they were mere remnants of gnawed bones, with many of them missing several. Most likely, the missing bones were taken by scavengers over the long years they had been down here.


    They were almost all human looking, though they probably weren¡¯t human in of themselves. Kinda. The state of the corpses, most only laying in tatters of long worn out, and slightly  human bones, suggested the majority were ghouls. It must¡¯ve been a rather large ghoul nest too based on the body count. At least thirty, though I got the feeling I was undershooting it.


    I walked around and pried a small handful of bullets from the wall after some time. All, though deformed to a certain extent, looked to be the same caliber. A preliminary guess says they came from different shooters based on the scratches from the rifling. ¡°Looks like a big fight.¡±


    I made a move to head further toward the platform to collect some shells glinting in the darkness, but was stopped by Mira. ¡°I have a bad feeling about this¡­ let¡¯s just- let¡¯s move in slow, okay?¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Insight wasn¡¯t triggered at all, so I didn¡¯t have a similar feeling. Still, probably best to listen to the resident combat expert. Or as much of an expert as she could be. She had been training for most of her life to fight, so she definitely had a far better grasp than I did.


    I moved forward, though moved slower to follow her request. I also checked several shells buried in dust as I went, noting down their markings as I put a handful into my bag. It was military ammunition, of which I had no doubt. Really, it wasn¡¯t too hard to find out. The FSA had a clear munition mark.


    ¡°I¡¯d say one of our missing squads traveled through here a decade ago.¡± I crouched down and brought my flashlight a bit closer to the ground. There were splatters of blood, looking slightly fresh. ¡°What do-¡±


    ¡°Look out!¡± Mira tackled me to the ground in the split second I felt the icy cool caress of Insight cover my body. We tumbled to the side, her strong form easily moving me out of the way as the oxygen escaped my lungs in a rough rasp.

 Chapter 26

    Chapter 26Insight flashed again, and I grabbed onto Mira and rolled with all of my might, falling off the platform and onto the rails. I landed on my back, the full weight of both of us crushing my spine into the rail hard enough to bruise.


    The drop in elevation gave us just enough time to recover from the ambush as we bolted to our feet. My light flashed to our attacker; a creature stood at the edge of the platform. It looked human- er, it looked like it  been human at some point.


    It had a repulsive hunger in its eyes reminiscent of a ghoul, and yet its body looked as if it had been heavily affected by HMV. Such a thing was incredibly rare. It was called  Mutation Virus after all.


    Ghouls were the victims of the incurable AGD, or the Aetherial Ghoulification Disease, and typically had invulnerability to other viruses and diseases. If, by some serious misfortune, a ghoul caught HMV shortly before AGD, both would kick into effect creating such a monstrosity.


    It had several limbs like a spider, its four original human ones slightly shorter than four bony protrusions. Its body was hunched back due to the shortness of its human limbs, and the thing stared down at us for a brief moment. Its mandibles, as if it wasn¡¯t creepy enough, clacked together sharply.


    Aetherial Perception triggered, allowing me to see a halo of corruptive influence about the things head. It was nauseating to look at, so I decided to turn the Perk off till I got back above ground.


    Mira reacted far faster than I, and instantly unloaded into the monster with her SMG. The muzzle flash illuminated the immediate area, casting a long shadow as the monster dodged out of the spray with all of the sickening agility its eight legs granted it.


    I didn¡¯t hesitate to follow in her footsteps and aim my shotgun, locking onto the spider creature the best I could. My spread was all over the place, and the kick hit me like a sledgehammer.


    The creature easily slunk behind the abandoned train, leaking rotten blood from a few points. For the most part, it looked entirely unharmed as it got behind cover. I backed up, keeping my gun levered at the subway train as I put up distance. We had the range advantage here, so it''s best we used it. Mira thought in a similar process to me, and we both moved back several yards.


    Mira cracked a glow stick and tossed it at the train, granting us a better visual of the monster¡¯s hiding place. She spoke, her voice several times louder than normal as it bounced around the subway tunnel. ¡°Shit! Just  luck to run into a variant ghoul.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re blaming me for this?¡± I asked in faux outrage, catching onto her plan immediately. I moved fast, my hand shaking slightly as I popped open the breach and shoved another shell into it.


    Ghouls were nothing more than instinctual hunters, with variants sometimes being a bit smarter. Such a low intelligence level made engineering its psyche, if I could even call it that, incredibly easy.


    ¡°Who else would I blame?¡± Mira stamped her foot and turned towards me, moving her gun loosely in my direction.


    At that moment, seeing our ¡®fight¡¯, the ghoul burst out from the train and leaped at us in a fit of speed. Jumping was generally a poor idea in combat. Since it was in the air, it was incredibly easy to track the monster since it lost its ability to dodge. I squeezed the trigger just as Mira flicked back and followed suit.


    The variant moved its limbs, attempting to block our efforts. It somewhat succeeded, halting its immediate demise. Fortunately for us, its limbs were almost entirely obliterated by our combined efforts as it hit the ground hard in a spray of rotten blood.


    The ghoul struggled to desperately crawl away with its last arm. It didn''t get far before Mira popped several shots into the monster¡¯s head, killing it in a spray of rotten gray matter. Good riddance... I may have some hangups about killing people, but the many bloodthirsty monsters in this world didn''t get the same treatment. At least, most of them.


    ¡°You okay?¡± Mira asked as she kept her gun raised and looked around for other threats.


    I finished my reload and pressed a hand against my back, feeling a definite bruise under my clothing. ¡°A bit bruised¡­ you?¡±


    ¡°Nova.¡±


    We waited for several minutes to see if something else would come running at the sound of gunshots, but nothing did. Cautiously. we moved back towards the platform and then moved onto the train itself. Since it was flipped over sideways, there were enough hands and footholds to easily get up onto the ruined vehicle.


    The top, or the side where the door had been, had a massive hole in it, and it was evident the train had acted as the variant¡¯s nest. I peeked into the hole only to see a mess of gore, half-rotten bodies, and blood splattered around like the twigs of a bird¡¯s nest. Bits of cement and metal were bent and wrapped around everywhere as if to further reinforce the train''s defenses.


    Mira gagged from over my shoulder and backed up several steps. ¡°That¡¯s disturbing¡­ man am I glad these things mostly filter out scents.¡±


    I didn¡¯t back off like she did and instead took a closer look at some of the corpses. Most of them looked to be Scavs based on the welded armor that ultimately proved useless for their survival. Good riddance. There were a few clad in destroyed armor though. ¡°Does that look like FSA armor?¡±


    Mira glared at me before moving back to the hole and peeking in. ¡°Yeah¡­ no way I¡¯m going to check it though. I- I¡¯ll keep watch.¡±


    Coward. I looked around the inside of the train a bit more, making sure there were no other threats, before jumping down into the variant ghoul¡¯s nest. My feet squelched against a rotten pile of clothes as I landed.


    The inside was just as disturbing as it looked from above. Gore and bones were scattered everywhere, though I mostly ignored them as I checked the armored corps. There, almost lost in the mess, glinted a FSA dog tag. I moved about the rest of the nest, collecting nine other tags. ¡°Looks like I found  squad¡­¡±


    ¡°Damn¡­ what a shit way to go. Anything salvageable?¡± Mira¡¯s voice echoed in my ear.


    I looked around more, but all of the gear had long been ripped to shreds. The variant ghoul had destroyed every last bit, probably in an attempt to better its nest. It didn¡¯t seem to like the guns though considering the small pile in the far corner of the subway train. All broken beyond repair. Since there were weapons, there was probably ammo buried amongst all the filth... I wasn''t that desperate though. Just the thought of sifting through rotting gore made my skin crawl. ¡°No.¡± I moved back to the drop-in and stretched my arms up. ¡°Help me up.¡±


    I could see her brows knit together as she leaned over the ledge and pulled me up like I was nothing more than a feather. ¡°Well, we only have a hundred and ninety-nine more to find...¡±


    I checked each of the tags. Fortunately, Edward Smith was not among them. There was a chance, however abysmally small, that he may be alive and Granny Smith didn¡¯t wait all these years for nothing. ¡°At least we know we¡¯re in the right area.¡±


    We took a short break at the platform to relax and eat, silage of course, before heading on. We had already been down here for several hours, and we would have to turn back soon if we wanted to make it back to the Jade Fang-controlled exit before dawn. It had already passed midnight, yet neither one of us wanted to sleep down here, so we pressed on.


    I checked the map. Unfortunately, we passed our mark by without a further hint of the military''s presence. We were a couple of miles off-track from Talus Tower too. The subway platform we fought the variant at sat just past the tower.


    Mira stopped me as we approached the end of the subway tunnel. The roof had collapsed at some point, and a cave branched out from it down into the depths of the planet. ¡°I think we passed it.¡±


    I checked the Mapp?. ¡°Let¡¯s head back to the platform. Maybe we can get up into one of the old subway stations.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Mira shrugged. ¡°You think we¡¯ll actually find all of the lost troops?¡±


    I stayed silent as I really thought about it. Originally, it was my opinion that we wouldn¡¯t find any of the two hundred. Now though? ¡°Not all of them¡­ probably find at least remnants though.¡±


    ¡°What do you think happened?¡± Mira bounced ahead stiffly.


    ¡°Who knows? As you said, Uncle Ezra suspected a Fedra conspiracy. I dunno about that though. It has too many moving parts.¡± It was common sense that more moving parts in a conspiracy directly equals fewer chances of keeping it hidden¡­ though it didn¡¯t stay hidden. Granny Smith was one of those moving parts that moved  out of line.


    Mira turned and glanced over her shoulder at me. ¡°Chek, but it makes the most sense. I mean, two  soldiers disappeared.¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡±


    ¡°We  getting chased around above ground, so obviously something is going on.¡± She rolled her eyes at me.


    My shoulders rose into a shrug. ¡°I guess. Still, it could be some other group than Fedra.¡± There were all kinds of groups in the world aside from gangs and corporations. It just feels a bit dumb to lock into it being Fedra without concrete evidence.


    ¡°I guess¡­ still, Fedra makes the most sense¡­¡±


    We returned to silence until we arrived back at the subway platform. Three of the exits were caved in, but one of them remained clear of obstructions. I didn¡¯t go in, however. Insight triggered, causing me to look around.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Mira stopped behind me


    I crouched down and got a closer look at the ground. ¡°There are footprints¡­ very recently.¡±


    ¡°Someone else is down here¡­ what are the chances it''s that group that was following us?¡± Mira¡¯s clothes rustled as she brought her gun back to attention and backed away from the entrance.


    I arced an eyebrow at her before following her back to the tunnels. ¡°You really think they followed us all this way without us noticing?¡±


    She shrugged. ¡°They coulda. Pa¡¯ always says thinking yourself infallible is a surefire way to fall.¡±


    ¡°I remember.¡± There¡¯s no way that we were followed though. No- we could¡¯ve been followed, but whoever this was definitely didn¡¯t follow us. ¡°The tracks show that they came from inside the subway station though. Maybe they came over upon hearing the ruckus caused by our fight with the variant.¡±


    Mira visibly tensed up, and her grip tightened around the SMG. ¡°Then this place is guarded¡­ we need to be super careful from here on in.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I stood back up and handed her the glow stick. ¡°I¡¯ll check ahead.¡±


    Although her mouth was hidden by the mask, her eyes and brows still let me know she was frowning. ¡°What if you get ambushed? This looks to be a rather large group, and I¡¯ll be too far back to do anything.¡±


    ¡°Like you could do anything if a Fedra death squad was camping out? We have a much higher chance if I scout, and then we plan over both of us falling into an ambush and dying. And! And there might not even be a Fedra ambush. It could just be Scavs or something.¡±


    ¡°Fine¡­ but- just be careful, okay?¡± Mira rested her hand on my shoulder, making me feel quite short now that we were standing like this¡­ when did she get so- so big? Or have I just not grown over the past several years? Damnit!


    I eyed her hand. ¡°No problem, choom. Stealth is my middle name.¡± Damnit! Why do I keep defaulting to calling stuff my middle name? Surely there was something cooler I could say. I just sound dumb.


    She chuckled, though it sounded far more forced than her usual laugh. ¡°Right. Alright, I¡¯ll hang back.¡±


    I nodded one last time at her before ascending the staircase into the station itself, careful to not leave any traces as I stepped in the already-made footprints to avoid leaving traces of my own. It opened out into a rather long hallway with dozens of abandoned shops lining it. The dust and debris covered the majority of their entrances, showing that no one had been through in a long time. It was odd, like looking into a massive time capsule. The tracks lead down the middle of the path, further into the depths.


    I ducked my head around a corner, spotting the ancient entrance into the place just past some turnstiles. As soon as I peaked, I saw an issue. Seven people were sitting around a cave entrance, all seven heavily armed. All seven were equipped the same, suggesting a group backing them. They looked to be arguing based on the rapid movements of two of the seven.


    I was hesitant to reveal myself for several reasons. The second biggest one is the shoot-first mentality of the Underground. The biggest reason was the feeling I got from the group. Their posture and uniformity was something that the local gangs and organizations didn¡¯t have; training. At least, the majority. I knew a few elite squads amongst the Jade Fang, but they were elites. They could easily outpace these squads.


    No, their equipment and obvious signs of training suggest something a little higher up from a gang, but not an elite team of operatives. Maybe a corporate security team, or some other paramilitary group like¡­ a Fedra squad¡­ maybe they were right after all. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    After seeing all I could, I backed up and very carefully made my way back to the subway platform to find Mira pacing back and forth. ¡°I¡¯m back.¡± I relayed the detes of the situation as I propped myself up against a wall.


    ¡°So they''re hostile one way or another, and the odds aren¡¯t in our favor.¡± She rubbed a hand across her eyes- rather, she tried to but was blocked by the mask. ¡°Can we- can we sneak by?¡±


    I looked at her like she was insane. ¡°Assuming you could even get into the station without being heard, then still no. They were standing at the entrance.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡±


    We were silent for a moment, both trying to come up with ideas on how to proceed. ¡°Do we want to just delta?¡± I asked.


    She shook her head. ¡°We can¡¯t just leave now that we¡¯re so close¡­ and besides, that group is most likely guarding this area. Even if we came back later, they might still be here. Pa¡¯ can¡¯t send an investigation squad without concrete evidence of foul play.¡±


    I didn¡¯t want to admit it, but the odds of this whole thing being a conspiracy were rapidly increasing. ¡®Course, there was the chance, however minor, that they were just a group traveling through the area. But she was right; there was a far higher likelihood that they were guarding this section of the Underground considering their actions. Otherwise, why would they stick around the area for hours after the variant fight?


    Mira quit pacing and looked over at me. ¡°Should we ambush them?¡±

 Chapter 27

    Chapter 27Howard stared at his two arguing subordinates with obvious hatred in his eyes. The masked helmets the squad wore blocked his compatriots from seeing his loathing. They had been going at it for hours now, ever since they were dragged out by the sounds of gunfire. There hadn¡¯t even been anyone there; the group had killed the variant and then left. Still, it was the job to protect the place and kill any intruders.


    It''s just too bad the variant was dead. It had been an incredibly useful deterrent for years. It would kill anyone dumb enough to approach, and they just had to sit back and relax without much worry. Heck, most of the time his squad was busy playing cards and not even bothering to guard except for the occasional patrol. Now they would have to actually do their job...


    Yet, the group had to investigate the gunfire and pull the entire squad from their various patrols. It was stupid. No one was even here. He wasn¡¯t the only one who thought so, as evidenced by two of his subordinates chewing into each other with their annoying voices. The protocols set by the gonk higher-ups that haven''t even been here were incredibly dumb.


    Really, he shouldn¡¯t even  here. He had been happy fighting on the front lines until he got that damnable ¡®promotion¡¯ that sent him to this cesspool below Aythryn City. And for what? To defend a practically empty room? Command was too stupid. But, orders were orders. He was just hoping to get promoted and sent back out. He would even take ghoul slaughtering duty over this- this boring shit. This wasn''t what he signed up for when he joined the liberation forces.


    ¡°Enough!¡± Howard shouted, his ears almost bleeding at this point. It wasn¡¯t the first time he had shouted at the two, and yet ten minutes later they would start arguing again.


    The two finally shut up for a moment before speaking in sync again. ¡°Yes, sir.¡± It was almost eerie how often they spoke at the same time considering they hated each other.


    Silence, blessed silence rested upon the group. He couldn¡¯t wait till they could leave and head back to the area they were actually supposed to be guarding. Just another hour, and they¡¯d fulfill the potential breach procedures and be able to go back. Just one more-


    A spray of gunfire echoed down the hall from the subway platform. All seven instantly drew to attention and as their training kicked in. There was zero hesitation as the group instantly dropped behind cover into firing positions. Howard didn¡¯t issue an order quite yet, instead waiting until the gunfire died down. After what sounded like a short skirmish, the shots entirely died off.


    ¡°Form up. We¡¯ll go check it out. Sven take point.¡± Howard¡¯s orders were sharp and concise, and the squad moved quickly into position. They were well-trained, and following orders was second nature.


    Howard moved to the back of the line, ¡®watching the six¡¯ was the excuse he usually gave, but he more so wanted a chance to escape in case things went south. The position had saved his bacon more than once. They moved through, easily hopping over the worn turnstiles, and into the hallway lined with abandoned shops.


    It was about halfway that an issue arose. Sven tripped, falling to the floor in a way uncharacteristic of him. Sven was usually a steady guy. That was his first hint something was wrong. The second in line instantly flashed his rifle around, the attached flashlight illuminating the area. ¡°Sven?¡±


    The man twisted on the ground, shifting as he attempted to pull himself back up. ¡°I just tripped over something.¡±


    Howard had a bad feeling. Trained soldiers don¡¯t ¡®just trip¡¯ over nothing. Something shifted down the stairs to the subway platform. Immediately, the entire squad flicked to the staircase and fired on instinct ingrained from years of combat.


    Howard also moved, though he didn¡¯t follow the same. He had better chrome than the rest of his squad, and his eyes easily spotted the ball-like object fly through the air and bounce in front of him. He grabbed the next in line and pulled him in front as a makeshift shield. ¡°Grenade!¡±


    An explosion rocked the area, causing dust and debris to fly everywhere as many of his squad gave final squeals of pain. Howard himself was knocked off his feet, though the worst of the shrapnel was caught by his body shield. He felt a bit bad about using his squadmate as a shield, but it was either himself or his squad in this case. If he died, who would report to command? That''s right, it was only his squad''s duty to die so he could live.


    In the next moment, Howard popped up to his feet and moved back immediately. His squad was still in disarray, but he was far more fearful about another grenade coming from below. People don''t tend to only carry one. A plan rapidly formed in his head. He¡¯d back up, then provide cover fire for the rest of his squad to pull themselves together. He moved, easily making up the distance. A glimmer of light from one of his squadmates got sent back, illuminating a thin shadow as his momentum carried him onward-


    Something snagged his foot, and Howard hit the ground hard. A plume of dust went everywhere as he heard another explosion near his squad. A shadow of movement caught his eye from inside one of the shops. He didn¡¯t even hesitate and unloaded at the movement, his heart pounding as he tried to figure out what was happening.


    Fear. Pure primal fear entered his head as he saw what he shot at. A chunk of debris with a thin cord was flying through the air. The object itself didn¡¯t inspire fear. No, the fear was caused by what it meant. Something was behind him, pulling with enough force to make the debris fly. He didn¡¯t even think, just rolled onto his back as he tried to twist his rifle around-


    A loud blast echoed in his ears. A familiar blast; the shotgun they originally heard oh so long ago. Icy cool spread through his body, and then his vision faded to nothingness.


    I ducked back into the shop and popped the shell out of the breach, hearing dozens of shots as I did. I fumbled for a shell from my pocket, taking several seconds longer than I should''ve to reload the Rhymer before peaking out again. The hallway was in absolute carnage. ¡®Course, there was the guy I shot point blank just outside of the shop. Then there were four dead guys from the combination of grenades from Mira.


    One guy, the closest to me, was just now getting up to his feet, splashing blood around from several serrations across his chest with each movement. I brought my Rhymer S32 to bear, hesitation pausing my finger on the trigger. The man reached with his tattered arm for his sidearm, forcing my hand. I fired, sending a blast of pellets at the guy. He jolted and fell back to the ground as a cold piercing sensation hit my arm and trailed up to my chest.


    I moved back into the shop but moved too slowly as a bullet grazed my arm. I suppressed a yelp and moved another round into the breach as the gunfire intensified. After a few seconds, I moved to peak again, only stopping as Insight gave me another icy warning. I hesitated, then grabbed a chunk of debris off the ground and tossed it across the hall. As soon as it cleared the door, a salvo of bullets flew under it.


    The moment the shooter¡¯s attention was on me, another burst of fire came from down the hall followed by silence. A moment passed, two. A minute. ¡°You okay, choom?¡± I asked through our channel.


    ¡°In one piece¡­ Did we get them all?¡±


    I waited a minute more before ducking out of the shop and checking the battlefield. Seven people were down for the count. ¡°Yeah. C¡¯mon up.¡±


    The first thing I did was check and make sure that they were all really dead, and not just heavily injured. None of them had a pulse. Seven armed and trained guards were wiped out in less than a minute by our ambush. I guess I should feel proud? That our plan worked and didn¡¯t blow up in our face, I mean. The adrenaline pumped around my body, causing me to shake now that the fighting was over. I allowed myself a moment before suppressing it best I could as Mira came up the stairs.


    ¡°You¡¯re bleeding.¡± She walked over to me, her eyebrows knit tightly together.


    I looked down at the trickle of blood staining my jacket and shrugged. ¡°Just grazed. I¡¯ll be fine.¡± I pulled my backpack off and searched through it before pulling out a bundle of bandages. Then I simply wrapped my arm up while the bandage slowly turned red. The wound wasn¡¯t particularly deep, so it wasn¡¯t a big issue.


    Mira moved down the hall and checked on the entry point the squad was guarding with her weapon raised. ¡°You think anyone else is coming?¡±


    ¡°I hope not. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be able to use the same tactic¡­¡± I sighed and glanced at the carnage around me.


    Mira pulled another grenade from her pocket. I had given her four of them in preparation for the fight. "I could trap one of their bodies."


    I shook my head. "Best we don''t. Same reason as before."


    ¡°Right... I¡¯ll keep watch then. Look at the corpses.¡± Mira ordered, sounding quite similar to Uncle Ezra.


    Looting corpses was about as fun as it usually is. I moved down the line, from one to the next as I checked over all of their gear and pulled anything useful. Unfortunately, there wasn¡¯t a lot. Five of their weapons, all Sentinel Breach-17s, were messed up by the grenades. Nothing major, and stuff I could probably fix if I had the time and the parts. Just some crooked barrels and jammed chambers. There were two that were still in working condition though, so I set both aside as well as all the ammunition I could find.


    The ballistic vests were in tatters for all but the last guy alive. The Rhymer had obliterated the first guy''s armor, and the rest were in a bad state thanks to the grenade. Just like the rifles; repairable if I had the time and parts. Unfortunately, I had neither, so we only had one working ballistic vest.


    They were all KSS Fused Panel vests according to the tags, rated at IIIA. They were capable of blocking handgun rounds, which roughly included seventy to eighty percent of SMGs. Theoretically, the armor should¡¯ve protected the gonk from Mira. ¡®Course, that was ignoring the fact her shot hit the small exposed gap of his neck between his face-shielded helmet and ballistic armor. Still, his armor had marks of several rounds hitting it, and I could feel a couple of bullets beneath the liner.


    There was nothing else of note ¡®cept for a shattered wand from one of the guys closest to the grenade. Thankfully, he had been taken out in the first explosion. Dealing with an Adept would¡¯ve been a serious pain, especially in this closed area.


    The rest of the equipment was either not worth the hassle of dragging around or busted. I briefly thought about grabbing a couple of the helmets, but they had built-in comm links. Who knows what kind of tracking stuff was hidden in the comm links, so I left them behind. Frankly, most of the equipment was left due to my inability in regards to Tech. I really should look at raising it. This was some good stuff I was forced to leave behind.


    As for personal items, the group didn¡¯t have any. None of the people had any form of identification, and they didn¡¯t even carry around phones. They were like a black ops squad, though admittedly far less equipped than an actual elite team. The lack of explosives amongst the team, even just flash or stun grenades, hammered home that the group were just low-level grunts; albeit trained ones.


    I also grabbed the microwire I used to set up the tripwires. The stuff was damn handy, especially considering its near invisibility and incredible strength. The stuff was as strong as a steel cable, and several times lighter. Too bad it didn¡¯t have the cutting-edge of monowire filament¡­


    I brought all of the goodies over to Mira. ¡°This is it.¡±


    Mira picked up a SB-17 and ran a hand across the receiver. ¡°Standard issue for Fedra.¡±


    ¡°You guys were right then?¡± I asked, seeing the uneasiness in her gaze as she stared down at the rifle.


    ¡°Chek chek. Pa¡¯ was seventy percent sure this was related to those bastards, but seeing this makes it more¡­ I dunno? ?¡± She strapped on the rifle as well as a bunch of ammo. "Regardless, the SB-17 is a solid gun."


    I looked down the hall towards the corpses. ¡°Could be a frame still. A terrorist organization makes an easy target for frames.¡±


    Mira shrugged, though it didn¡¯t have the usual definition her actions usually held. ¡°Does it change anything? Framing a terrorist organization suggests they themselves are committing acts of terror.¡±


    ¡°I guess.¡± Right, dehumanizing the group as nothing but terrorists was a typical call. It made it easier to look down at my hands and not see the red coating them. It was the same reason everyone called Scavs subsapient monsters.


    She motioned towards the bundle of loot left on the ground with her new rifle. ¡°You take the vest. I already have one.¡±


    I wiped the blood off as best I could and threw on the lightweight ballistic armor. It felt weird putting on a dead guy¡¯s armor, but it was better than getting shot. Again. I also grabbed an SB-17 and loaded up. I was unfamiliar with the weapon, but that last fight really honed in the issue with a one-shot shotgun. Having to get cover every shot increased my chances of getting suppressed. Still, the Rhymer was quite useful. Its power had been proven when it shredded through that guy''s armor at point blank.


    Mira looked about the shattered shopfronts and shook her head as she waited for me to finish strapping up. ¡°It''s always sad being in such a place¡­¡±


    I sat my bag down and began loading it up with the rest of the stuff I could fit. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°It''s just- you know I¡¯ve been out in the badlands a lot; even been within viewing distance of the Eternal Sandstorm.¡± She paused for a moment and looked around. ¡°I¡¯ve been to a lot of abandoned cities and structures, and they all feel the same. Almost lonely, yet a desperately desolate loneliness.¡±


    ¡°I guess.¡± I looked around, but all I saw were the abandoned shopfronts. Not this ¡®loneliness¡¯ she talked about. ¡°You uh- you ready to move on? Or do you need a minute?¡±


    Her head dropped as she sighed. ¡°Nova¡­ let¡¯s just get going.¡±


    We moved down to the entrance of the subway, and I could already feel the sheer discomfort of wearing the ballistic armor. It was almost like my every movement was stilted, which threw off my balance. It wasn''t a big problem thanks to the training from Fox''s Paw, but still a bit annoying. It was almost reminiscent of wearing a corset. And this was soft armor. Fox''s Paw had taught me heavier kinds were worse to move around in.


    The entrance into the subway was a long escalator that at one point had probably led to the surface. Now though, the entire thing collapsed halfway up. A natural cave cut it, leading further down into the depths.

 Chapter 28

    Chapter 28I glanced at Mira before heading in front of her, leading the way forward. The cave took an unnatural turn after a while, with pick and drill marks that had slightly smoothed away thanks to erosion. The temperature of the cave dropped too, making me quite thankful for my jacket. I edged forward, calling Mira to me as I stumbled across a massive cavern at the end of the mined tunnel.


    Lichen, in all its bioluminescent glory, lit up the place. The entire area was some kind of gargantuan storage room, almost like a buried shipping yard. Stacks and stacks of boxes covered the entire place, and there was a thin layer of nasty water covering the floor of the room. Beams crisscrossed the entirety of the space and rusted lights hung from them. Unfortunately, the wire work seemed to be incredibly frayed by years of small rodents gnawing on it, so there was little hope of turning the lights on.


    It looked like a normal, albeit massive, storage room, but something about it just felt a bit¡­ off. It was like there was a malevolence to the air that I picked up on thanks to Insight¡¯s chill down my spine. And yet, not the typical ¡®in danger¡¯ chill I usually got? It was heavily muted, and I wouldn''t have even noticed if I wasn''t paying attention. Maybe the sheer size of the place triggered Insight? Like there was  down here, but it was too big for Insight to pinpoint where?


    Regardless, I felt something was wrong. Just as Mira warned me back in the subway before the variant attacked, I decided it was best to warn her even if it was nothing. "Be careful. Something doesn''t feel right."


    Mira walked up behind me and froze in the same spot. ¡°That- that''s a lot of crates¡­ Why were a bunch of Fedra guys guarding some crates? Weapons stash?¡±


    ¡°Maybe-¡±


    ¡°Look.¡± Mira pointed out towards the center of the room, where a piece of graffiti done in blue Light Paint rested just below the water¡¯s surface. It was thirteen glowing blue circles set up to form a larger circle. I had seen enough FSA propaganda to recognize the symbol at a glance: Fedra. Looks like they were right after all. So much for being stubborn.


    Worse still, under the dim light of the paint, at least a hundred skeletons were piled into a massive mound. Another mound sat not far off, though the bones didn¡¯t look human. ¡°Fuck¡­ think it''s our guys?¡±


    Mira raised her rifle and stretched her muscles. ¡°One way to find out.¡±


    We moved into the massive chamber, taking our time to make sure there wasn¡¯t anything lurking in the dark. It was quite annoying to move through the chamber thanks to the layer of water covering the entire place, but we managed to make decent time. My choom took pictures the entire time, documenting what we found.


    After we got closer to the middle of the unsettling room, I popped the lid off of a rotting crate. Chrome limbs, the ancient-looking tech covered in rust, filled the crate from top to bottom. ¡°They working with Scavs?¡±


    Mira popped open another crate, revealing rows of dusty rifles long past their date. ¡°Probably not. Everyone hates Scavs. And this stuff is just sitting here. Scavs quickly sell their ill-gotten loot.¡±


    We sloshed through the thin layer of water, finding all kinds of goods in the varied containers. Everything from chrome to even piles of metal ore. It was like it was some kind of dumping ground for a freighter back during the K-10 Blockades. And the stuff was all ancient. It had the look and feel of stuff from the Second Great Depression.


    Yet, the timelines didn¡¯t match up. The K-10 Blockades were over forty years ago, and this warehouse was only set up ten years ago based on the disappearances of the two hundred troops and Operation Beachhead. Why would Fedra dump a ton of crates here? Unless... unless it wasn''t Fedra? No, that was just my stubbornness speaking.


    I checked a few other crates as we went until we reached the very middle of the place to find much of the same. Fedra¡¯s sign took up a massive area, and the mounds of skeletons were resting all around it. I moved over to the non-human ones and checked them first.


    They looked like some kind of four-legged creature¡­ rats, maybe? But they were big, at least a size bigger than the giant rats that scamper around the Underground. Their bones were also weird with odd growths and bony protrusions that seemed unnatural. There were hundreds, maybe even thousands of skulls peeking out from the pile of bones. Maybe some kind of special mutated rat?


    ¡°Shiro! Come here.¡± Mira¡¯s voice, sounding sadder than I¡¯ve ever heard her, called through the comm channel.


    I shuffled over to her, avoiding the central area of the Fedra sign. It gave me a bad feeling, which was par for the course considering this place. She was standing quite close to the mound of human remains. ¡°What?¡±


    Mira shifted to the side, allowing me to see dog tags stacked into a small pile just barely peeking over the layer of water filling this place. ¡°We found them.¡±


    I patted her shoulder and looked at the mountain of bones. ¡°Let¡¯s uh- let¡¯s grab all the tags, and-¡±


    My hair rose, and a distinct feeling I was being watched washed over me. A moment later, Insight pinpointed where, and I snapped my head up to one of the beams crisscrossing over the cavern. Four small red dots sat on one of the beams, the rest of the form hiding in darkness. I blinked, and the dots disappeared as if nothing was even there in the first place.


    ¡°I- I swear I saw something move.¡± I wasted no time and began scooping up tags by the handful and tossing them into my various pockets, not even minding the fact I was dumping handfuls of stagnant water too. We could look through the mess later.


    Mira snapped out of her daze and followed suit. ¡°What did you see?¡±


    ¡°I dunno. Eyes hiding in a shadow, I think. Let¡¯s just get out of here.¡± We already got what we needed. There was no point in sticking around, especially if reinforcements were on the way or a monster was lurking in the darkness.


    ¡°Right.¡± Barely a minute passed before we gathered all the tags. Mira led the way, charging back towards the entrance of the place as we barely took time to take more pictures. We moved quickly through the tunnels, eating up ground as we raced back to the subway station.


    The return trip, aside from dodging past a few groups of other mercs and even what looked to be a Sentinel operative team moving through the area, was blessedly uneventful. Whatever I spotted back in the chamber didn¡¯t chase or really even seem to care about us, so I chalked it up to some weird mutated creature. There were enough down here to go around. We had already marked the occasional danger points in the Underground on the way to the subway, so it was smooth sailing back.


    I was tempted to climb up another of the several exits we found just to get out, but doing so was suicidal. No way to tell if the group at the top was friendly, so we just stuck to the original plan of heading back to the Fang¡¯s.


    Before too long, we passed by the Scav chokepoint. There was no one guarding it, and the bodies had disappeared. Some kind of massive mutant creature based on the tracks of blood. Not our problem; at least, not anymore. Hopefully whatever it was would head into the Scav Den and cause some chaos.


    And then we were back at the entrance, dead on our feet. The climb back up was as annoying as always, especially with the added weight, but we managed. Course, halfway up I had to scream my identification to the Fangs on guard so we wouldn¡¯t be shot. Taking off a mask with only one hand was surprisingly difficult. On a completely unrelated side note; exhaustion enhanced by vertigo happened to be a terrible combination when clinging to a ladder.


    Mira pulled me up as I reached the top of the ladder, and an easy breath escaped my lungs as I finally took in some fresh air- or as fresh as city air can be. The Fangs around us looked uncomfortable, though that was probably thanks to how bad we reeked... or it was thanks to two heavily armed people coming up from the Underground?


    I tiredly wiped a hand across my face and took out my phone to check the clock. We had been down there well into the next day, and the sun was probably just starting to come up. ¡°Best you call in.¡±


    Mira set all of our borrowed gear down and then we walked out of the Fang¡¯s building. ¡°Yeah¡­ damn, I said maybe a day. He¡¯s gonna be pissed.¡±


    ¡°Good luck with that¡­¡± I muttered as I stretched out. ¡°What¡¯s next?¡±


    ¡°Shower. Then hand over the tags to Pa¡¯ and he¡¯ll sort out the rest.¡± She nudged my shoulder. ¡°Might even get some pay for his ¡®informant¡¯ that brought him the tags.¡±


    ¡°Some more money  be nice¡­¡± Especially considering I wasn''t planning on getting paid at all.


    ¡°Speaking of, what are you going to spend it on? Should be at least a thousand Rayn for the tags alone.¡± Mira said as we finally got back to where she parked oh so long ago.


    That was a good question. I had been thinking recently, mainly in my downtime, about how I wanted to spend the sudden inflow of money I¡¯ve gotten. ¡°Rent an office space or something.¡±


    Mira popped open the car door and raised a brow at me. ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ pickpocketing isn¡¯t exactly a concrete flow of money. It would be nice to have an area to work on some¡­ projects while I¡¯m waiting on a gig.¡± It was still a very loose idea at the moment. I could just get a larger apartment instead and set up a room there though. Hmm¡­


    ¡°What are you thinking of doing?¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°Maybe set up a fabrication shop as a front to make guns or something. I dunno.¡±


    ¡°That certainly¡­ an idea.¡± We arrived back at the parking garage we left oh so long ago. ¡°Um¡­ gun¡¯s though? Quite the competitive business¡­¡±


    I opened the door and slid into the passenger seat. ¡°It''s not very thought out yet¡­ maybe I should save a bit more and open up a garage or something instead.¡± People were always in need of a mechanic, regardless of who they were.


    Mira chuckled as she started up the car and pulled out of the parking garage. ¡°Well, maybe keep thinking about it? You could probably do all that in an apartment anyway... I didn¡¯t even know you handle mechanics.¡±


    ¡°I- I¡¯ve been busy, you know? Not super great yet, but I can do some small stuff.¡± I shrugged and looked out the window. ¡°Want me to come over after you drop me off? Or just go ahead and take the tags now?¡±


    ¡°Course! You could use a shower.¡± Maybe it was since we were back in relative safety? Some of the pepiness she usually had leaked back into her voice.


    I gazed at her with my nose upturned. ¡°I don¡¯t have spare clothes.¡± S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Mira eyeballed me. ¡°We both smell like rotten guts and sewage. And you can just borrow some of mine. You¡¯re  smaller than me, so it shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡±


    ¡°I am  way shorter than you!¡± My gaze turned hostile.


    ¡°I said small, you said short¡­ guilty conscience? You¡¯re like- a head and a half shorter than me.¡± She chuckled and ruffled my frankly nasty hair with her hand.


    I swatted at her as she reflexively dodged the strike faster than she had the right to. ¡°I¡¯ll show you short!¡±


    ¡°Hey, you better not- I¡¯m driving!¡±

 Chapter 29

    Chapter 29I sat back on the couch, wearing clothes that were a size too large, while I waited on my own to finish going through the washer. I had never appreciated quite how powerful modern washers were until now. Other than a few small tears and the bullet mark on the arm, they should be as good as new. They should even smell good if Mira¡¯s words were to be trusted. Too bad the chemicals took a seriously long time to dry.


    ¡®Course, I coulda just returned home and grabbed clothes. Mira made a good point though that I might be attacked by our tails. It was better to go ahead and stick together, at least until we were sure nobody was watching us.


    I was the only one around at the moment. Uncle Ezra was busy working, though Mira did inform him we were back and relatively safe. She herself was currently in the shower by the sound of it, so I took the time to go over my gains and rewrap my bandage. Yes, Quick Heal would heal it, but that wasn''t an excuse to practice poor medicine until it triggered.


    Resting in my hand was a dog tag, one of the many we pulled out of the Underground. This was it. Edward Smith. One among the many thrown into the pile of corpses. I wasn¡¯t staring at it though, no- I was looking at the interface menus.


    ¡¸Tech - 3>4¡¹


    ¡¸Firearm - 1>3¡¹


    ¡¸First Aid - 1>2¡¹


    ¡¸Evasion - 1>2¡¹


    ¡¸Criminology - 3>4¡¹


    ¡¸Request - Killer - Complete


    1 Skill Point¡¹


    ¡¸Request - Suspicious Disappearance - Complete


    1 Skill Point¡¹


    It certainly was a lot to think about. I now had two Skill Points and Perk Points to spend, and I wasn¡¯t quite sure what to do. At least with the Skill Points. The Perk Points would work themselves out when I went to the pavilion space to cash them in.


    I¡¯ve had the interface for¡­ nearly a month now? How could I not notice the issue? Skills seem to get exponentially harder to level after the first perk. I¡¯ve used Stealth off and on ever since the initial level six, and it''s only level seven.


    And, after all this time, I think I can say with confidence where my ¡®level¡¯ is regarding the world. From the best I can tell, level ten is the highest level that most people could reach. Then Edegrunner¡¯s or other ¡®specialists¡¯ in their fields could be put somewhere between level twelve and fourteen, I think. It was difficult to pinpoint for sure since the interface only showed my data.


    Anyway, the solution to the issue was to only use Skill Points on the initial Skill so I can get an initial burst of knowledge, or use them on Skills past the first Perk. Anything from level one to four would simply be a waste considering how fast leveling is at that point. Maybe I should save them in general? Only use them when I get to the highest point in levels to maximize cost-benefit, or whatever the corpo¡¯s call it.


    I could get them fairly easily though. Skill Points seemed to be the preferred reward for doing requests, so it wasn¡¯t as if they were impossibly difficult to acquire. I was better off spending them as soon as possible to increase my chances of survival. And, it would also allow me to take on bigger and badder gigs, which would give me even more chances to improve and earn money.


    ¡°Whatcha¡¯ thinking so deeply about?¡± Mira poked me in the arm, jolting me out of thoughts.


    ¡°Uh- I was just thinking about Granny Smith¡­¡± I held the dog tag up so it caught the light. Edward Smith¡­


    ¡°Ah¡­ yeah¡­¡± Mira slumped onto the couch beside me, her long wet hair sprinkling water onto me as she shook her head like a dog. ¡°Hard to believe two hundred soldiers were wiped out and nobody noticed for ten years.¡±


    I set down the dog tag on the coffee table, next to the others. ¡°Fedra covered their tracks well¡­ what do you think they were even doing down there?¡±


    Mira pulled out her phone and flicked it towards the TV in the corner of the living room. A second later, several pictures of the chamber popped up. ¡°Hard to say¡­ it looked like a stash, but the stuff there was too old- too worn out¡­ maybe they hid something there. They¡¯re known for needle in the haystack type stuff.¡± Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    We were silent for a moment as the picture of the hundreds of skeletons popped up. ¡°You¡¯ve been to other bases, right? I faintly remember you talking about it.¡±


    ¡°A few¡­ mostly I stay on FSA bases while Pa¡¯ goes out and does stuff, but I¡¯ve been taken along a few times after the battles. They like to hide in the husks of fallen cities and towns.¡± Mira shook her head. ¡°Damn leeches use Dune Walkers as cover.¡±


    We talked a bit more before turning the TV onto some dumb show to wait for Uncle Ezra. And when I say dumb show, I mean it. It was mini-golf of sorts, and yet they were using guns to shoot the golf balls instead of hitting them with clubs. The ones with the least shots fired to get the ball in the hole win.


    And then there was the twist, as most ¡®modern¡¯ shows required. While trying to shoot the balls through the complicated courses, the shooters were trying to dodge past a team armed with bats trying to beat them down. Truly a mess of elements, and I would much rather watch Urban Brawl or something.


    Urban Brawl and Baseball were the only shows I could actually stand on modern TV. Maybe it''s because they were technically bloodsports? Hmm¡­ anyway, they were the only things that could hold my attention. The other stuff was just scripted garbage- even the ¡®gameshows¡¯. Heck, even football had long fallen to scripted events. At least in Urban Brawl and Baseball, the teams weren¡¯t scripted.


    Baseball, Arkhanika¡¯s pastime, or something like that. It¡¯s funny; I had wanted to be a player way back when before my parents died. I stopped watching it since then. It was¡­ bittersweet? No chance of that childhood dream coming true now¡­ and my parents wouldn¡¯t have wanted me to be a player anyway. It  a blood sport. Still, I used to love watching the games as I dreamed about joining the Aythryn City Slashers.


    Thankfully, Uncle Ezra returned before too long, saving me from the agony of TV. He was fully kitted out in uniform and flanked by two soldiers. He turned to the two escorting him. ¡°Wait out here. This shouldn¡¯t take too long.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir!¡± They both saluted and took positions at either side of the door.


    Uncle Ezra closed the door behind him, and his serious countenance immediately dropped to tiredness. ¡°Glad you¡¯re both back¡­ injuries?¡±


    ¡°I was grazed by a bullet, but I¡¯ll be fine in a couple of days,¡± I said as I idly rubbed at my injured arm.


    He walked over and took a seat as he looked at the mess of dog tags. He immediately turned somber and sighed. ¡°Mission successful then¡­ how¡¯d it go?¡±


    We took turns recounting the trip down into the Underground. Mira did a far better job than I did at explaining the few times we got into combat, but I did a pretty good job at filling in the gaps between fights. She somehow managed to mess up telling those parts of the story several times.


    ¡°A Scav Den, huh?¡± Uncle Ezra asked as he checked the pin on my Mapp?. ¡°Did you tell the Fangs yet?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t had the chance. Why?¡±


    He pulled his phone out and marked down the location as well as the other POIs I noted down. ¡°It¡¯ll be a good exercise for one of my squads¡­ I¡¯ll send another group down to wipe them out soon.¡±


    Mira flicked the pictures she took up to the TV. ¡°And here¡¯s what we found in the storage cavern.¡±


    Uncle Ezra leaned back in his chair and ran a hand down his face as he saw the dozen or so pictures. ¡°I was hoping to be wrong¡­ A Fedra stash though, huh?¡±


    ¡°We think so. Looked like a freighter dumped all its cargo after the storms.¡± Mira said as she moved to a picture of dozens of rusted chrome sitting in a crate.


    ¡°Like I said, the place gave me the creeps. We didn¡¯t stick around long after finding the mound of bones.¡± I motioned to the tags. ¡°Just took those and got out.¡±


    He rubbed at his chin for a moment as he stared at the bits of metal. ¡°Right¡­ I¡¯ll get a couple squads down there to secure and investigate the area, as well as retrieve the fallen¡­ this¡¯ll ruffle feathers, so keep your head down for a while, Shiro.¡±


    I hummed non-committedly. ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡± If I was offered a gig or something, I would still take it. I needed the money, especially since I wanted to move out even more now. Using their shower registered just how badly I wanted a private shower of my own without having to share it with a bunch of strangers. And this one had  water! It felt so, sooooo good compared to the cold showers I usually take. That, and a better place would offer better security.


    He looked like he wanted to say more, but simply shook his head. ¡°Better than nothing¡­ they¡¯ll probably try to ¡®pay¡¯ my ¡®informant¡¯. It¡¯ll most definitely be a trap set by Fedra operators to track the paper trail¡­ other than that, you should be fine." There goes my payday.


    ¡°Oh, and don¡¯t talk too much about this. Sometime next week we¡¯ll contact the families and inform them of their loved one¡¯s deaths. Good job, you two.¡±


    ¡°What about the people who were following us?¡± Mira asked as she helped her dad gather all the tags up.


    He paused for a moment. ¡°Hmm¡­ no way to tell if they were Fedra operatives¡­ they¡¯ll probably go to ground. I have more than enough evidence now to get the attention of the higher-ups, so I¡¯ll call in a request to send out more troops to the streets. Since the parasites have infiltrated our chain of command, it¡¯ll give them even more reason to stay hidden¡­ still, watch your back, Shiro. Come straight to me or the Dragoon Saloon if you even feel the suspicion of attack.¡± With that said, he shoved the rest of the tags into a bag and headed out the door, taking his goons with him.


    I yawned, causing Mira to do the same. ¡°Alright¡­ I¡¯m headed back home then; I¡¯m really tired.¡±


    ¡°You could stay here-¡±


    I cut her off as I stood up. ¡°I¡¯ve got some errands to run.¡±


    In actuality, I wanted to be alone when I spent the Perk and Skill Points. It was better if I continued to hide the interface the best I could. That, and it would be hard to explain Quick Healing without bringing up the interface. Hmm¡­ I guess I could just say it was experimental tech? It could be the truth for all I know, but considering the way the rest of the interface worked, it might be a magic effect¡­ I really don¡¯t know much, huh?


    ¡°Right¡­ Goodnight, Shiro.¡± Mira yawned again and gave me a sloppy hug, drenching my shoulder as her hair slapped against me. ¡°Stay safe.¡±


    ¡°Night.¡± I left the apartment and started the tiring drive home with all of my equipment. It was quite a bit colder driving down the streets without a jacket on, and I couldn¡¯t help but wish my techwear could dry quicker. At the very least, it wasn¡¯t raining at the moment.


    Insight didn¡¯t trigger, and I couldn¡¯t see anyone following me. Still, Insight wasn¡¯t a hundred percent accurate. I took Uncle Ezra¡¯s advice to be careful and took a long and convoluted path back home, cutting through several back alleys a car wouldn¡¯t fit down as I sped home.


    I stopped and bought an XtraEnergy Quantum? on my way. The stuff was basically a heart attack in a can, at least at normal levels. They got around ''pesky'' health standards by selling the can as being three serving sizes in one can. I backed into a dead zone and poured some into my canteen before chugging the can and heading back to my bike. I also made sure to change it from producing water to liquid energy.


    ¡®Course, the stop wasn¡¯t only to grab a drink. It was common sense that if you were being chased, you kept running. It''s natural considering inbuilt fight-or-flight instincts. Hopefully, the stop would throw off anyone with a prying eye. .

 Chapter 30

    Chapter 30Pulling onto my street, I noticed a Blue Crusade Cruiser sitting at the corner. Was there a bust going on? I checked it out, noticing it was an actual Crusader¡¯s car based on the markings. Why was one here and not just squires? Usually, Crusaders only showed up for serious stuff, like a ¡®borg glitching out. Their squires usually do all the heavy lifting.


    I shifted it out of my head as I parked in front of my home. Before heading up, I moved to the container directly below mine and knocked lightly on the door. ¡°It¡¯s me.¡±


    ¡°It''s unlocked!¡± Her aged voice rang through the door.


    I opened the door and entered the elderly woman¡¯s container. ¡°Hey there, dearie. You- you okay?¡±


    ¡°Y-yeah¡­¡± I looked down at my limbs. I was shaking. Not just a little bit, but like, a lot. The caffeine, or whatever the synthetic chemical is these days, mixed with driving and my nerves about talking to Granny Smith had turned my body into a ball of stress.


    The elderly woman looked at me with a suspicious gaze. ¡°If you say so¡­ I do have Narcan if you need it.¡±


    ¡°What? No- sorry. It¡¯s just caffeine.¡± I ran a hand across the back of my head. ¡°I uh- I¡¯ve b-been looking into Edward¡¯s disappearance.¡±


    She patted the seat. ¡°Come, take a seat.¡±


    I took a deep breath and sat down on the couch. Telling someone their loved ones were deceased was incredibly difficult. Or so I¡¯ve been told. I¡¯ve never  to do it. Well, that wasn¡¯t exactly true. I didn¡¯t have to do this. Thinking back, she had just been talking about Edward, and I had jumped on to investigate it after getting the message from the interface.


    I started to speak, forcing myself to say it slowly. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry-¡±


    She nodded before I could say anything more. A flash of sorrow went through her face, and her complexion collapsed slightly before the normal look returned. ¡°It¡¯s alright, dearie¡­ I knew when he didn¡¯t contact me that something was up¡­ how did it happen?¡±


    ¡°I- I¡¯m not sure how much I can say. The official report should come out in a week or so, as should his remains¡­ he was among over a hundred soldiers I found.¡±


    ¡°At least he died amongst brothers¡­ Thank you for giving this old woman some closure. I-¡± She stopped and closed her eyes for a moment before meeting my gaze. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    She stood up and moved behind the counter of her kitchen. A sound I recognized as the dial of a safe ticked just under the sounds of her TV. Speaking of sounds, off in the distance came a racket of gunshots and cacophonous booms, drowning out any chance of hearing the rest of her code. She glanced up but otherwise didn''t react to the sounds. Such things weren''t uncommon. Granny Smith stood up, holding what looked to be a glove in her hand.


    ¡°I know you don¡¯t want money from me, but at least take this for your efforts, dearie. It''s not much, but it was incredibly helpful back when I was active. It''s just collecting dust now.¡± She handed over the glove before I could reject her.


    The glove unraveled in my hand, revealing its form. It had a bunch of complicated-looking circuitry around the palm. In the palm of the glove sat three silver balls linked together by a metal cord just slightly bigger than a microwire. It took me a second to realize it was a bola. And not just a simple one based on the circuitry.


    ¡°I know you work on the more dangerous side of town with the Fangs, so this might help you. It''s called an Electro-bola. After it wraps someone, you can make it administer shocks to keep them¡­ compliant.¡± She shrugged. ¡°You don¡¯t have to use it, but please take it.¡±


    I stared down at the thing. Electro-bola, huh? I¡¯ve never heard of one, but then again I¡¯m not much involved in the weapon side of things. Was it even a weapon in the first place? Or did such a thing count as a gadget rather than a weapon? Tazers count as weapons, so maybe?


    I thought about refusing before looking up into the sincerity of her eyes for a moment. Her heart was in her eyes, making it nearly impossible to refuse. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    We talked a bit more before I returned to my container with the new toy and weapons in tow. Much to my dismay, my PA sent a call to my HUD just as I opened my door: Iris.


    I stared at my mattress as a bad feeling washed over me, one completely unrelated to Insight. ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°Ah, beanstalk! I¡¯ve got a gig for you- a real simple one.¡± Iris¡¯s voice cut through my commlink. I could hear idle chatter in the background.


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯m super tired and just got home, so when do you-¡±


    ¡°Right now! I just need you to look at a couple of pictures, and tell me if anything stands out. Five hundred Rrayn if you can get a solid clue!¡±


    I¡¯ve already been going for nearly a day straight¡­ but it was five hundred Rayn for just looking at a picture¡­ I could maybe just pop over and check it out? ¡°Fine, fine¡­ where at?¡±


    ¡°Rime¡¯s Peak Lounge. Over by Portside. Ya¡¯ can¡¯t miss it. Oh, and tell the guards at the door Polar Moon asked for you and they¡¯ll let you in.¡± She became quieter as if her head was directed elsewhere. ¡°Told you I had a person.¡± Then her voice picked up. ¡°Cya in a bit, choom!¡±


    I tossed my gear down and looked through my closet. Unfortunately, the oversized clothes from Mira were the nicest ones in my possession other than the techwear, but they weren¡¯t dry yet. I would be a bit underdressed¡­ It should be fine. It''s not like I was headed to some high-end convention; I was just going to look at some pictures at a lounge. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I summoned Crow¡¯s Canteen of Chaos from the shadows. It took a day to refill completely, but there was already about twenty-fourth of the thing full of the energy drink. The inside of the canteen was deceptively large - to the point I suspected some kind of space warping - so it ended up being quite a lot. I chugged down the contents as I checked myself over.


    Rime¡¯s Peak Lounge¡­ sounded familiar, for some reason. Anyway, I was just going to look at a picture, how much trouble could this be?


    As it turns out, it could be trouble, and a substantial amount at that. Maybe because Iris was¡­ well, Iris, one important fact slipped my mind. She was an Edgerunner. As such, it shouldn¡¯t have been that big of a surprise that Rime¡¯s Peak Lounge was only the most popular and established lounge in the entirety of Aythryn City.


    Seriously. It was the type of place that not even corpo execs could get into on a whim. It was where dignitaries, nomad heads, and FSA generals could all be sitting within ten feet of each other and having a drink. It was the type of place that catered to the uber-powerful and rich. To put it simply, I was fucked.


    Rime Peak Lounge sat on the furthest out border between Downtown¡¯s Corporate Quarter and Portside. It was the tallest building around, only dwarfed by the Big 7¡¯s buildings. And, in my opinion, it was far prettier.


    The thing was a marvelous work of art, the likes of which straight up looked alien in the grim and overbearing nature of the city. The first dozen floors looked like a giant iceberg made of light gray stone, holograms, and blue neon. And not advertising neon and holograms- no, neon and holograms just for aesthetic purposes.


    The gray undertones of the first several stories helped prop up the rest of the lounge. Literally. Great chains anchored into the stone iceberg arced up, ¡®chaining¡¯ down a massive white iceberg. Although I couldn¡¯t see them, I read that there were machines up there that produced real snow and ice. The entire thing glowed ethereally as if it was granted down by a higher power rather than built by human hands.


    Of course, the security in the place was top-notch, potentially even higher than the Big 7s. Only those on the list were allowed in, and getting on the list was almost impossible for the common folk. You had to be  to get in. Unless, of course, they were invited in as is my case. Even with that restriction, there were enough people to have a party going at all times inside the lounge.


    There were thousands, if not tens of thousands of people out and about outside of Rime Peak Lounge. Although they couldn¡¯t get in, the area within a block was the hottest spot for bars and lounges in the city. Legal-wise, at least. Ichiban was also a hot spot, but it tended to cater towards more¡­ services.


    The place was popular. So popular the entire sub-district around it was called the Peaks. There was even a subculture of being around the lounge on the off chance of catching someone¡¯s fancy and being invited in. This subculture is what leads to the throngs of people always out and about outside the tower in the eternal party. They were insane bastards with no respect for others-


    That was an  way of saying I had to park several blocks away thanks to not having proper clearance to even get on the road to the lounge, and the other streets being blocked off by the mass of partygoers. I was horribly out of my element on the long, and arduous, walk to the doors.


    Halfway there, it started to snow. Not natural snow, mind you. The Rime Peak Lounge covered the entire area around it in a light blanket of snow, selling the aesthetic even more. Although it was over the top, I had to admit it was pretty cool.


    Long lines sat at each door, full of people hoping to get in even if it was in vain. I bypassed the line, getting hundreds of glares and stares from the people out and about. Music boomed loud enough to blow an eardrum, seemingly coming from everywhere and yet nowhere at the same time. It was as if the entire area around here was one massive nightclub, even if it was around noon.


    I got stopped a ways from the door, as did a hundred or so other people who were trying to get in. The guards of Rime Peak Lounge fit the aesthetic to a tee. They all had Chemskin, so their skin was a pale icy blue. They also all had Techair pulsating with a smooth pulse of snow and frost. The guards all wore elaborate armor designed to look as if ice had been molded to their bodies and then frozen into hues of silver and deep blue.


    A man stopped me, wearing the same look as the rest of the guards. Even his voice was modulated to sound as cool as possible. ¡°Name?¡±


    ¡°Uh, Polar Moon i-invited me,¡± I said, failing to suppress the nervousness in my voice. I was horribly out of my element, and acutely aware of the gazes I got. Like I said, I didn¡¯t fit in at all. Compared to the elaborate suits and costumes, I looked as if I just got out of bed. How I wish that were true.


    The man arched a perfectly sculpted brow, and his eyes glowed a brilliant aurora blue. ¡°Hmm¡­ Miss Shiro?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes, that¡¯s me.¡± Real smooth Shiro! Just keep stuttering your way through; it really shows confidence. C¡¯mon, just pretend like this is just another heist. Fake it till you make it, and no one should question you.


    ¡°A moment.¡± The guard¡¯s eyes glowed again, and a man in an elaborate silver suit approached. A servant by the looks of it, though he could''ve just as well been a guard. He had the ferocity of a combat veteran and filled in the suit perfectly. ¡°Escort Miss Shiro here to Polar Moon. Floor one forty-three, room seventeen."


    It was kind of weird that they weren''t searching me. I figured this would be the kind of place where you have to leave your weapons by the door. Hmm... maybe they were just that confident in their security forces? Or was there something else in the works? Either way, neither of the men seemed to care about my gun poking just slightly out, and it wasn''t related to my skill in concealment.


    ¡°Right this way, Miss Shiro.¡± Whereas the guard¡¯s voice was icy, the servant¡¯s was smooth like flowing water as he held a guiding hand to the door. The door into one of the most sought-after locations in Aythryn City by influencers and those that cared about their ¡®popularity¡¯.


    What have you gotten yourself into, Shiro?

 Chapter 31

    Chapter 31I followed him into the lounge, unmolested as I felt the glares of bystanders turn to envious stares. We passed through a frankly massive room with hundreds of waiters and several bars serving food and drinks as if they were free. Execs and other ''higher'' walks of life were out and about with borged-out bodyguards following them around like puppies. Chrome which looked too new to even exist was everywhere. I guess that''s why they didn''t search me- everyone here was strapped. Pulling a gun would be suicidal.


    And of course, the attire was out of this world. About half of the present people wore fancy tuxedos and dresses like we were in the most formal event of the century. Then there was the quarter that looked like Edgerunners and Mercs dressed in everything from freakin¡¯ power armor to flamboyant and far too frilly clothes. The last bit hurt to even think of a description for the frankly chaotic nature of their clothing.


    The servant guided me to an elevator, easily bypassing the couple dozen guards blocking the elevators like ferocious bears lurking in their dens. As soon as we stepped in, the servant hit a button and we zipped upward. The indicator on the elevator whipped through the numbers as the nightclub music blared through hidden speakers. In what felt like seconds, we moved from floor one to one forty-three, and then out into a maze of corridors.


    My guide must¡¯ve had a map pulled up in his HUD because it was a maze in the truest sense of the word. There were twists and turns everywhere, and extravagant doors each with their own style and look. The guards'' presence was far lower up here, though I spotted a few moving around every once in a while.


    The servant stopped in front of a particular door. A massive moon was painted on the door, and the frame was done as if it were a massive ice wolf wrapped around the door. He lightly knocked on it. ¡°Miss Shiro is here.¡±


    A moment later, Iris appeared at the door with a rather broad grin on her face. ¡°Shiro!¡± She flicked her hand at the servant, and he bowed before disappearing back down the hallway. ¡°C¡¯mon in, beanstalk!¡± She didn¡¯t give me a moment to breathe as she locked an arm around my shoulder and dragged me into the room.


    It was a rather large room centered around a massive half-moon couch. Everything here was done in dark and blue, and lights moved about as if they were sliding on ice. The couch itself was centered around a massive coffee table covered in blueprints and sheets of paper. A frankly imposing window took up the entire wall, looking out onto the entire west side of the city and the ocean beyond. It would¡¯ve been breathtaking if I had to breathe to take-


    My breath was stolen from my lungs by a- man? It was hard to tell exactly. He was by far the most imposing thing in the room, and his presence alone made me want to back out of the room.


    The guy, if I could even call him that, was quite unusual. He was some kind of werewolf exotic, and I couldn¡¯t be sure if it was thanks to HMV or implants. He had a feral light to his eyes that reminded me of a predatorial gaze, and I would be a fool not to notice his hair standing on end as he glared at me. His blue-eyed glare wasn¡¯t all hatred though; there was a protective light in it, as if he was protecting something extremely valuable.


    His fur was a rich black covering him from what looked like snout to paw. Chrome, done in black as if to blend in with his fur, covered him in enough quantities to look like a borg if he was human-sized. Deadly claws sat at the ends of his lupine-warped hands, looking as though they could eviscerate me in a moment. The borg werewolf¡¯s long ears twitched around in obvious unease as he shifted ever so slightly. He wore clothing in the vein of techwear but sized up several times to match his massive frame.


    A man, this one far more normal, sat on the opposite side of the couch surrounded by bottles. He wore the typical Vanguard Style I would match a higher-end merc with. Techwear basically with enough layers to prevent a small blade from hitting skin on the first try, a thick plate carrier, and pads on his joints that he probably didn¡¯t even notice. An impossibly dark shemagh wrapped around his neck like a scarf.


    A bandolier of wands fell from around his neck, and I counted at least five. An Adept, then. Magus don¡¯t use wands, so it''s always easy to tell. Especially since any Adept worth their salt carries a wand. Or several in this guy¡¯s case, but they were super expensive so having more than one was weird.


    Wands weren¡¯t strictly required for an Adept to use magic; at least, from my limited understanding. They could cast magic through a usually long and exhaustive process like what I caught that one Adept doing when I hunted down the Parkers. Wands were like quick magic. They already had a favored ¡®spell¡¯ built into them and could be instantly cast like the Ice Sword once they were bound to an owner. ¡®Course, bound wands break when their Adepts die.


    He didn¡¯t have any chrome- at least any visible chrome. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if his body was entirely natural. Magic tended to go wrong when interacting with the chrome in a person¡¯s body, so most magically attuned people strayed away from it and other forms of artificial enhancement.


    Iris stepped forward and tossed a pillow at the werewolf¡¯s face- snout? ¡°Stop trying to scare Shiro, Kaynis.¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡± The werewolf said, his voice deep and rich gravely, as he swatted the pillow out of the air. His claws shredded the thing to pieces, covering the couch in bits of fluff. He growled and then looked away from me, settling back down on the couch as I approached their setup.


    The Adept looked at me as Iris hopped over the back of the couch and sat down. ¡°This is your ¡®great¡¯ investigator?¡±


    ¡°Shove off, River. Don¡¯t be a dick. C¡¯mon! Take a seat, Shiro. They won¡¯t bite¡­ probably.¡± Iris waved me over and patted the couch next to her.


    I hesitantly walked over and sat down just in time to hear the werewolf- Kaynis speak. ¡°What are you wearing, pup?¡±


    ¡°T-they¡¯re borrowed clothes¡­ I¡¯ve been in the Underground and d-didn¡¯t have time to change¡­¡± Immediately a blush rose to my cheeks.


    Iris laughed and slapped me on the shoulder hard enough to knock me off the seat as she laughed. ¡°Well, you look cute, choom! And you don¡¯t reek! Bonus points. Better than the last time we had to venture down there.¡±


    ¡°T-thanks.¡±


    Insight triggered, and my gaze involuntarily snapped to the werewolf. More accurately, a frail girl tucked behind his fur and chrome-covered side. She looked as if she would collapse at any moment, and yet her blue gaze held a strength that was odd to see as she stared at me. How come I didn¡¯t notice her before?


    The werewolf shifted, and the girl was hidden from view once more. Protective father? It would make sense. No sense in poking the bear- er, wolf. I quickly looked away. ¡°S-so, this photo?¡±


    ¡°Right!¡± Iris popped up and raced to one of the side doors at a speed that far surpassed the human limit. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back! Don¡¯t be mean, especially you, fur-face.¡±


    There was silence for a moment before the Adept ruined it. ¡°You sure you can find a clue? Iris vouched for you, but you don¡¯t look like much.¡±


    I felt aggression- one probably brought on by my tenseness and far too much caffeine. ¡°What are you supposed to be? The crew¡¯s joytoy?¡±


    ¡°Why you-¡±


    Kaynis¡¯s deep, guttural laughter cut off the Adept. I met his gaze- his glare? Was he always glaring? He winced and twitched as the frail girl rammed her elbow into his side. ¡°I-I  you helping Iris with her¡­ project.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± I rubbed at the back of my head and stared out at the city¡¯s expanse beyond the window, ignoring River¡¯s glare. It was such a beautiful view; one that very few people in the city could claim to have seen. I felt like someone important as I stared out, and I wasn¡¯t even on the highest floor. I could see why execs got so full of themselves.


    ¡°Ah, but it was. She left without asking any of us for help¡­ her moniker stands true.¡± The werewolf¡¯s snout was odd to watch as a mostly human voice came from his terrifying maw.


    I adjusted my sitting position, forcing back the desire to start bobbing my leg. ¡°Her moniker?¡±


    ¡°I Require Intense Supervision.¡± River chuckled off to the side, seemingly letting go of his ire as he drank straight out of a bottle. ¡°Luna came up with that one.¡±


    Hmm¡­ maybe the girl was Luna? Even the name kinda fits considering Kaynis was basically a werewolf. Based on the overall attitude of the room, probably best not to ask too much. I wouldn¡¯t want to end up with a claw through my heart or something because of his apparent protectiveness. It was an irrational fear, sure, but the last thing I needed was a borged-out werewolf hunting me down.


    Thankfully, Iris returned shortly after with a data slate. She hopped over the couch, causing the material to creak as she slid in next to me and handed the slate over. ¡°Here. Check these out.¡±


    I grabbed the slate, suppressing a chuckle as River nearly fell off the couch. That chuckle immediately died in my throat as I looked down at the pictures. A chill settled on my spine, and intense paranoia wormed its way into my brain. The pictures were of the crash site oh so long ago. They looked to be shortly after I left, and several Hawks were tearing into it-


    Iris shook my shoulder. ¡°Hey, you good?¡±


    I took a deep breath and forced myself to remain calm. There were no cameras or anything out there, so the chances were microscopic that they traced anything back to me. Probably just a coincidence. I hope. I  hope. ¡°Uh- yeah¡­ sorry, just zoned out.¡±


    ¡°Right, you said you were tired on the phone¡­ anyway, like I was saying, any bit of info will help out immensely.¡±


    I flipped through the dozen or so pictures. ¡°What¡¯s this all about? I¡¯d like to help, but I need some more background info.¡±


    Iris met Kaynis¡¯s stare. The wolfman himself rubbed at his furry chin- snout? After a moment, his deep voice escaped his inhuman form. ¡°Hmm¡­ It''s not like it''s a secret¡­ Sentinel Corp. put a twenty million bounty on a briefcase from that wreckage. Any hint of where to find what we''re looking for, and we¡¯ll pay you. If it leads to us actually finding the briefcase, then we¡¯ll pay you one percent.¡±


    Fuck fuck fuck. Twenty million Rayn! Maybe I should just turn it over myself- no, I''ll get killed for even daring to look at the research. It was far easier to silence a lone and poorly equipped teenager than a crew of Edgerunners¡­ I''m fucked. Okay, play it smooth Shiro. ¡°Alright.¡±


    I looked down at the slate again as I tried to plan. Part of me wanted to just say nothing, but that would waste the trip and throw my shaky networking chance into the dumpster. It was best I revealed as much as I could without giving myself away. Being in the graces of a whole Edgerunner crew, especially one strong enough to have their own residence in the Rime Peak Lounge, would be invaluable. Heck, I was already going to get paid five hundred Rayn for the shortest gig I¡¯ve ever taken. Okay... how do I-


    ¡°See, she won¡¯t be able to-¡±


    ¡°Shut. The fuck. Up. River.¡± Iris¡¯s hair flared red as she glared at the man.


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 Chapter 32

    Chapter 32The man glared back at her, before shaking his head and taking another drag of his bottle. ¡°Whatever.¡±


    I waved the data slate to the group. ¡°You uh- you have somewhere larger I can put these images up? I¡¯ll walk you through what I noticed.¡±


    ¡°Chek chek.¡± Iris reached forward for a remote on the coffee table, but before she could a screen slowly started to rise out of the floor. It was a massive piece that probably cost several weeks worth of rent. ¡°Thanks, Luna.¡± Yep, definitely the girl.


    I flicked the images up to the screen and walked over to it. ¡°Okay,¡± I pointed to the Hawks milling about the wreckage, ¡°it''s obvious the Hawks were there.¡±


    ¡°Right. That¡¯s the angle every team in town is moving on.¡± Iris leaned forward and rested her chin on her knuckles.


    ¡°Because it''s the obvious answer. The Hawks most likely don¡¯t have whatever it is you¡¯re looking for though.¡± I spoke with confidence. Fake it till you make it, Shiro!


    River fiddled with another bottle. ¡°We figured as much¡­¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Iris asked.


    Kaynis, the werewolf, answered before I could. ¡°Because the bounty would already be collected. It¡¯s still out there.¡±


    I pointed to the side of the drop pod at the cut-off Raijin logo. Barely any of it remained, and what was left was blocked by the Hawks. It was incredibly hard to spot without foresight or someone pointing it out. ¡°This was a Raijin Industries drop pod, though I would hazard a guess and say this is a red herring.¡± I moved my hand to the dead guy slumped in the pod. ¡°I have no idea who-¡±


    ¡°Nathos,¡± Kaynis said. ¡°He is-


    an Edgerunner nicknamed the King of Death. He was said to be able to put a bullet through a cricket¡¯s leg from fifty miles out if things were set up right. More active across the pond, but he was feared in his short operating period.¡±


    Nathos. I need to remember that. Chances were extraordinarily high that I got the interface from him right before he died considering the circumstances. Coming here was already paying off in more than one way.


    I looked at the image for a moment before pointing to a mere half-erased pencil sketch of a line. It was impossible to spot and blended in perfectly with the nearby lines tracing the dunes. This is where I would make my money, and hopefully some good faith with this team. ¡°Do you see this line?¡±


    Iris spoke. ¡°Yeah, windlines are quite common on the dunes.¡±


    ¡°Except this isn¡¯t a wind line.¡± I zoomed in a bit more. The tread had been entirely covered up already, and only the bare minimum shape remained. ¡°I¡¯ve been in the outskirts a lot, and I¡¯m a hundred percent sure this wasn¡¯t caused by the wind. It''s too straight and uniform, and look at the slight way it dips into the sand.


    ¡°It looks like someone beat the Hawks to the crash site.¡± I motioned to the Hawk''s predominant tracks, which had yet to be covered by up. ¡°A m-motorcycle based on the track, and heading to the city.¡± And now to throw in a red herring. ¡°Maybe the Neo-Jokers? They¡¯re the biggest go-gang around. Could also be a Fang.¡±


    And now, I need to make it a bit believable. ¡°Chances are though, it''s someone not in a gang otherwise the bounty wouldn¡¯t still be up.¡± And add some extra spice. ¡°Whoever took it most definitely got rid of the briefcase though. No reason to keep it, and it would only add suspicion. Do you know what¡¯s in the-¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Kaynis used a tone that told me not to ask.


    ¡°Right¡­ well then look for whatever was stored in the briefcase, not the case itself. Sorry, that¡¯s all I can definitively say. There isn¡¯t a lot to go on.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Maybe get a Netrunner to check the cams and see if anyone was out and about that night. It¡¯ll be incredibly difficult, but twenty million is well worth it.¡± That was risky. I hid the briefcase as best I could on the way in that night, but I still could¡¯ve been spotted.


    Now to give myself more breathing room. ¡°Check the AE3 stations first, maybe. It takes a lotta fuel to get out and back, so the person probably had to refuel at some point¡­¡± I never refueled, so the only chance of being caught is through the cams.


    Kaynis stood up, his digitigrade legs propping him up far taller than he had a right to be. ¡°And yet you¡¯ve given us a hint we overlooked. None of us spotted the track. Iris will send you the money-¡±


    ¡°Brother.¡± A feeble voice spoke, instantly causing the werewolf to lock up. I glanced over at the source to see the frail girl pointing towards the window. Now that her Kaynis wasn¡¯t blocking my view, I could see she was maybe a couple years younger than me. Thirteen or fourteen, though she was incredibly weak looking to be the big bad wolf¡¯s sister.


    Luna¡­ was it a coincidence that her brother was a wolf exotic? It was probably an alias, the same as Iris¡¯s Mesa Moonlet. Heck, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the team had a Netrunner in their back pocket that could make all the aliases real considering their level. I really need to look up Polar Moon when I get the chance.


    I glanced out the window, instantly spotting a speck on the horizon as it rapidly moved in towards the port. In mere moments, an absolutely gargantuan ship with a flat surface pulled fully into the bay, blocking most traffic. A fleet of ships escorted it, each marked with the shield and spear symbol of Sentinel Corp. Dozens, if not hundreds of flyers were flying off from the surface of the massive ship as others landed. It seemed the Sentinel Corp Phalanx Supercarrier has arrived.


    The boat was about as intimidating as I expected it to be when I first heard of it. Definitely could cause a lot of damage if the corporation were to enter the Third Corporate War that people all around the world dreaded.


    That wasn¡¯t the source of my growing unease though. No, that was solely reserved for the other goliath of a vehicle pulling into the area. A ship a third smaller than the Phalanx was the sense of unease. Although it was smaller, the ship had the great advantage of flying in the sky.


    I recognized the thing from Raijin propaganda. It was Raijin Industries¡¯ Raiju, their flying fortress. The thing was roughly shaped like a massive stealth bomber from years long since passed, and yet had the sleek and strong body of a massive creature. Four ¡®legs¡¯ held propulsion drives that kept it in the air.


    Great. Just great. Now there were two behemoths moving enough assets to wipe the city off the face of the planet just because of the research notes. The research notes, I might add, that were currently hiding in probably the least secure place in the world; behind the lining of my fridge.


    Kaynis growled as he approached the wall of windows. ¡°As if one superpower moving in wasn¡¯t bad enough¡­¡±


    ¡°They shouldn¡¯t start a war, at least. Not with BosSpace¡¯s OP still in commission.¡± River said as he joined the werewolf at the window.


    ¡°Maybe not, but that doesn¡¯t mean they won¡¯t start a cold war¡­¡± Kaynis glanced back at Luna before shaking his head.


    Iris tapped me on the shoulder. ¡°Probably best to head home, choom. And uh- maybe look at getting better security? I¡¯ll send over the Rayn in a bit.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I nodded at the group before heading out to the door. The servant stood there and immediately perked up as I approached. I couldn¡¯t wait to head home and hit the sack.


    I stretched out my spine and rubbed my hand over the loose bandage wrapped around my arm. Pulling off the wrap of bandages, I found the wound to be entirely healed. There wasn¡¯t even a scar or mark on the flawless skin.


    I ate a quick meal, set the canteen to water, and then returned to my bed as I was pulled into the pavilion space. I had two Perks to pick from: Criminology and Tech. The flickering flames over both shelves shed light far better than the moon leaking through the paper walls of the pavilion.


    I moved over to Criminology first and looked through it. Criminology was¡­ an interesting Skill. From what I gather, it relates to investigation heavily; everything from checking rifling marks on bullets to using law enforcement databases to look up files. It was very similar to Perception, so I was quite curious how Perks would line up. After digging through the scrolls, I finally settled on one that looked interesting.


    ¡¸Cue - Everything has a cue, and you¡¯ll be able to see through them.¡¹


    It wasn¡¯t as overpowering as some of the other Perks I had seen, but I was incredibly aware of how deceptive people were. Hopefully, I would be able to look through such deceptive acts better. I carried the scroll over to the easel, and it unfolded automatically just as the others had.


    The painting was a cartoony rendition of an ancient oriental gambling game of some kind. A table sat up on a balcony of some kind of pavilion with the moon¡¯s light providing a gentle ambiance. There were two men and a woman sitting at the table with cards in their hands and golden chips laid out. One of the men put his card down as if folding, while the other couldn¡¯t hide a look of elation on his face. The woman was trickier to read. She had a business-like smile on her face that didn¡¯t show any emotions, though she was done in the same friendly cartoon style.


    It was so well done as if I was sitting in the poker room myself. I could even almost hear the laughter-


    ¡°Ahahaa! You finally admit defeat, friendos!¡± A snide, prideful voice that made me want to punch the speaker came from across the table.


    I looked around in a moment of confusion, realizing I was sitting on the balcony of a restaurant wearing the same ancient attire as the other three. I looked down at my hand, feeling mounting horror as my cartoonified body shifted under my hand. My actions were far more animated than usual, and I felt incredibly nauseated at the incongruence between my mind and body. What the hell was happening?


    ¡¸Win.¡¹


    I bolted upright on my mattress, adrenaline kicking my heart like a horse as pure joy raced through my entire being. I had done it! After what felt like years of playing poker with cartoon caricatures, I had finally won! I beat every contestant, everything from grizzled war veterans to talking animals. It had been a cartoon hell, and with every lost hand I had to read almost child-like picture books with various cues, but I had finally won! I was back to flesh and blood! S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In the next moment, my glassed throat brought me back down to reality as I crookedly moved and summoned the canteen from the shadows. As I rapidly gulped down the contents, I thought about my situation. Perhaps I should look into getting one of those Netrunner pods that keep Netrunners alive for weeks on end. I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about myself while I was in the pavilion that way. Ah, but it was too much money¡­ Netrunner stuff wasn¡¯t cheap.


    I could always scale down and get something else. I think Medtech makes portable cryo systems that aren¡¯t  expensive¡­ would it even work if I were in a cryo system though? And I would need someone else to pull me out of it once it was over. Okay¡­ how about something far simpler: an IV. They were quick and easy, and would solve my dehydration issue¡­ maybe when I had some more money.


    I took care of myself as best I could before returning to the pavilion. I still had another Perk point and two Skill Points I wanted to spend before doing anything else. Tech¡¯s shelf sat in front of me, covered in dozens of scrolls. I instantly zeroed in on one. It was too good to pass up, especially in my situation.


    ¡¸Eidetic Schematic - Never forget any blueprint, schematic, or plan.¡¹


    I threw the scroll onto the easel without a second thought. The scroll unraveled to a massive shelf with a bundle of blueprints covering it from floor to roof. Or rather, to the endless abyss above that served as a roof.


    I blinked and was back in my room. I waited for a moment, expecting a rush of power or something, but nothing came. A second passed as the headache from dehydration came back. It intensified, turning into a full-blown migraine as I twisted and turned on my bed, grabbing at my head.


    Fire flowed through my brain cells, searing my nerves as I felt a chunk of my brain . Pure, eternal agony traced through every bit of my head, suffusing the nerves as I let out a soundless scream. Then, the pain rapidly faded and I collapsed in a sweaty mess onto my mattress.


    It took a while before my mind returned enough to move. I shakily gathered my bag, threw on my clothes, and grabbed my hand-held radio before heading out to my bike. Rain slowly drizzled, smacking into my jacket as I straddled my bike. I felt weak all over as I sought the peacefulness of the Outskirts.

 Chapter 33

    Chapter 33I returned home after calming down. I thought deeply about it while I rested in the dune sea. That was twice now that I had come back from the pavilion to be assaulted by pure agony after selecting a perk. Maybe I should readjust my opinion on the mysterious things. There were three types, not just two. One that forced me to learn something through repetitive action, such as Cue, one that applied a near-magical effect to me, like Hidden Hands, and one that  a part of my body? Or maybe I was overthinking this and there were no definitive types amongst the Perks.


    I took a drink from the canteen and settled back down on my bed. I just had two Skill Points now. Then I would be done¡­ at least till the next level up. Was it worth it? Torturing myself in such a way? Or¡­ was it common? It¡¯s not too different than getting limbs and parts cut off to get bigger and better chrome, and doing that was the cultural norm these days¡­


    I shook my head, clearing out space to refocus on the Skills. I had been thinking about the two ever since I got them, and without a doubt I wanted to go for the initial level of Net and another rank of Tech. The two had great synergy with each other, and it was something I could start to monetize as soon as I got good enough.


    ¡®Course, a large part of me wanted to throw in points towards Stealth and get it maxed out as soon as possible. Double down on my advantages and all that. I was hesitant though. Being hyper-specialized in one Skill wasn¡¯t necessarily bad, but I wouldn¡¯t have the versatility needed to do some other stuff.


    I wasn¡¯t looking to be a jack of all trades- or Skills in this case. No, I wanted to have a couple of Skills to fall back on. Net and Tech were some good ones, but I was also interested in First Aid and Evasion to bring some variation to my skillset. They were both in the range of one to four though, so using a point on them would be a waste.


    I didn¡¯t immediately put my Skill Points in. It would eat up four days to get through both of them, so I decided to go ahead and stock up on food stuff so I could knock them both out without having to leave the container. Four days would also give some time for any potential heat to die down.


    I climbed down from my container and headed just down the street of the container yard. Bob¡¯s Bodega sat in the corner in all its neon glory. I pulled my jacket down to better block the rain as I headed to it. I quickly moved through the store, heading to the silage section of the place. For a moment, I looked at the hundreds of pouches on display.


    I didn¡¯t  sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    to get silage though¡­ I had money now, or at least enough to get actual food. As much as I wanted to go with the cheapest option, I couldn¡¯t deny how tantalizing the idea of getting ¡®real¡¯ food was.


    I skipped past the small pouches of silage and headed to the pre-packs in the store. Unlike silage, which was largely just grains filled with additives to be a little nutritious, prepacks were equal parts soy and grain-based. They also offered far better flavors and nutrient value, but they were ¡®course more expensive. Somewhere around nine hundred a month instead of the three hundred for silage.


    Having enough food to actually put on some weight and ascend past skin and bones was just too good to pass up on. I could actually support some musculature if I moved off silage and enjoyed something better. And maybe, just maybe, I might also be able to get some height if I made my diet better. It was a foolish dream, but a very attractive one.


    I could look for a gym membership while I was at it? Start building up some muscle instead of hoping to passively gain it. It would be nice to perform a takedown on Mira for once¡­ doubtful if that would ever happen though. She had more than just muscle helping her out.


    I looked through the flavors before grabbing a box of ¡®ramen-flavored¡¯ and headed to the counter. Three guys were sitting around smoking - tosta by the scent and slight green haze - as I checked out. Gangers by the looks of their attire.


    They weren¡¯t Jade Fangs. The Fangs were the overlords of Little Yukoto, but there were dozens if not hundreds of smaller gangs throughout the area that were just too small for the Fangs to bother dealing with. It was similar to finding an ant colony. It''s too much trouble to wipe out an ant colony, so most people just leave them. If they were fire ants though, and the ants started to bite and attack, the ant colony would quickly be wiped out.


    Thankfully, they didn¡¯t even try to interact with me as I breezed through the store. It was bad for business to assault compliant customers in most cases.


    The box of pre-packs cost four hundred fifty Rayn for two weeks'' worth of food. Gah, my money¡­ back down to just over thirty-three hundred Rayn. Still quite a bit, but I had a feeling it wouldn¡¯t last long. If there was one thing Aythryn City was good at, it was taking money.


    I set everything down and sorted it out before heading back to my bed. It was time. I mentally psyched myself before pulling the interface window up. Before I could second-guess myself, I tapped on Net and was pulled into an alternate space. It was very similar to the place where I learned Land Vehicles in. There was a colorful grid covering a pitch-black area. A terminal sat in the middle of the space, blinking to life. A single quill rotated on the homepage as I approached the device and prepared myself for a long and tiresome learning process.


    After everything was over, both Net and Tech, I moved over to the desk with a pre-pack and flipped on my handheld radio. They were¡­ interesting, I guess. It had more flavor than silage, yet not nearly as good as the synth food I could get from a restaurant. Still an overall improvement though.


    I relaxed, feeling the beat of music flowing through me as I started searching through the Net. There were two things in particular I wanted to look into: Nathos and the eidolons. They both hinted towards the origins of the interface, and it was really about time I put some effort into researching them.


    Nathos was an anomaly, and definitely a fake name as most Edgerunners had. He had a meteoric rise, coming out of nowhere as a powerful hired gun from the Northern Council in the continent of Reuthus. According to what little information I could find, he turned from a nobody to the Northen Council¡¯s top runner in just a couple years, and it looked as though nothing could stop him.


    He was incredibly popular in Reuthus for being one of their best fighters when it comes to their mutant infestation. Their infestation was quite similar to our own Dune Walker issue over here. Mutants actually had some level of intelligence though there were fewer of them overall.


    His notable achievement apart from fighting the mutants - and the one that got him on the map as an assassin - was the execution of Triste Corp¡¯s VP from the top of a mountain range over fifty miles away. Probably why Kaynis said the guy could put a bullet through a cricket¡¯s leg.


    He also was suspected of assassinating a Vurn City-state Senator through similar means. Countless other assassinations were attributed to him, but, as they say, a known assassin is a bad assassin. Most were simple suspicions based on matching MOs. The only one that was for sure him was the assassination of Triste Corp''s VP.


    Everywhere I looked, he had some incredible achievements all related to guns. If I was right in that I got the interface from him, then it seemed he pumped every possible Skill Point and Perk Point into making his firearms skill the best it could be. He specialized in shooting and became a true terror to his opponents.


    As far as I could tell, he had a promising future ahead of him as the King of Death. That is- until it all came crashing down, literally. He died during his infiltration of the orbital Sentinel Corp lab where he stole the research and plummeted back down to the planet, which is where I came in.


    Assuming he got the interface in the same way as me, then it must pass on when the current user dies. It was a little reassuring? As long as I was alive, which was a no-brainer, I shouldn¡¯t have to worry too much about others having an interface¡­ I hope. Thinking I was super special and the only one with this power would be a mistake. It''s probably best I still stay aware. Complacency would only get me killed.


    Researching the interface brought me to my second inquiry: eidolons. They were most definitely tied up in the interface, probably the very creators of the system itself. I don¡¯t know why or how, but there was no denying their touch. Everything from Trait names to Perk names to even the request board hinted towards them. So then, what were eidolons?


    Eidolons were the single strongest entities in all of the aether. They were the peak hunters, the apex predators of the dimension. They were also the source of a Magus¡¯s powers. A Magus would contract with an eidolon, and then gain access to said eidolon''s sprites to cast magic¡­ I think¡­ researching it was difficult due to how many theories there were about them.


    Magus, Adepts, Kinetics, and Apothecaries were a small fraction of the population, so there wasn¡¯t nearly as much information as I would¡¯ve liked. Most articles and pages were written from an outsider¡¯s perspective, so they were untrustworthy at best, and entirely false at worst. There were very few resources that came from a proven Magus on the Net.


    Who were the eidolons though? That was a bit trickier since there were so many of them. They all had a name and took the shape of an animal. For instance, Fox was an eidolon who appeared as a, well, fox. No one knows if they were the actual animals themselves, or if they were just beings imitating the shape to appear more approachable. It was a terrifying thought.


    The most common eidolons that granted their power to Magus were Fox, Wolf, and Bear, though there were dozens if not hundreds of other ones, like I said. Interestingly, there was no overlap. There was only one Fox, and every other fox of the aether was under ¡®her¡¯.


    Unfortunately, my search for knowledge about both Nathos and eidolons proved to be potentially full of inaccuracies. The Net was vast, and most articles and pages I read from were purely speculation or outright lies, especially in regards to eidolons.


    Nathos simply suffered from having almost nothing written about him, probably because most everything else was under the heavy restriction of the powers that be. It made sense. Covering up the actions and existence of an assassin was like step 101 for not getting caught.


    I took some time to do some other things, like research how to use the bola thing and some other stuff I was interested in. The bola was surprisingly easy. Just throw it at someone to wrap them up, then squeeze the glove into a fist to start shocking. The period of relaxing also helped me come to a decision I had been deliberating over.

 Chapter 34

    Chapter 34It was a little small, but there would be more than enough room to start messing around with stuff and setting up a small working area. The bathroom was tiny, but it had its own shower. Best of all, it was in a fairly well-protected part of town. Not too close to Ichiban to get caught up in any gang-related attacks, yet just close enough to benefit somewhat from the Fangs patrolling the area.


    The physical protection for the place left a little to be desired. It had the typical chain, bolt, and locks that most apartments had. The ones in this place looked new; They still had a shine to them that age would wear away. The wood around them was also a little discolored, though it was pretty hard to tell.


    The apartment had four rooms. The front door led into a cube of a living room with rooms on either side like the top of a T. To the right was the kitchen- or dining room I should say. Barely anyone actually cooks these days non-professionally. It was more a kitchenette with cabinets and a spot for a fridge. To the left was a small bedroom with an even smaller attached bathroom.


    The only downsides were the asking price for the room and the poorly scrubbed blood stains on the bedroom area¡¯s carpet... The landlord wanted sixteen hundred for the small studio apartment, which was just over base price for a studio apartment. He argued that since it had a view, it was worth at least that much.


    I kind of agree. The apartment was on the thirteenth floor, which was taller than most nearby buildings, so I had a pretty damn good view of the neonscape. I could even see parts of the Ryu Container yard peeking out from around taller buildings and the odd arcology. I didn¡¯t agree with the price because of that though; I agreed because of the location of the apartment. It was on the corner of an alley, and the fire escape could be reached by skirting around the faux balcony outside the window.


    Something that always irritated me about the cargo yard was the lack of escapes. If I was ever under attack, I had one way in and one way out. There were no second chances if I were caged in. Now though, I could escape if I was being hunted; say by a megacorp with a twenty million Rayn bounty out. ¡®Course, the hope was I wouldn¡¯t have to use it, but a bit of precaution wouldn''t hurt.


    Maybe I should set up a false identity to start operating by? It was something the majority of mercs did, so it wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea¡­ but it would be useless if I didn¡¯t find a way to start hiding my face. I need a mask, or a feature scrubber for my face. The mask would be cheaper and add versatility, but the scrubber would be less noticeable¡­ hmm¡­


    Thoughts for another day. This one was good, in a good place, and offered everything I wanted. The pay would be a slight issue, but I had plans for that. With a bigger, more secure place, I could start fabricating stuff. Especially with the knowledge I got from Tech 5. I already had ideas brimming in my head for stuff I wanted to start making. And I had the skills to actually start. Sure they would be rugged at best, but they would work.


    I needed to get in with a night market to start selling stuff though¡­ more things I could worry about later. I walked around a bit more before turning to the man waiting at the door. He was a slightly chubby guy, but he had a kind and honest face. It made me instantly suspicious of him. ¡°I¡¯ll take it.¡±


    ¡°Nova¡­ we can head back to my office for the contract and other assorted fees. Should be about five or six hundred extra Rayn on top of the monthly cost.¡± The chubby guy clapped his hands together in front of his synth-cotton vest.


    My poor bank account. I followed the guy back down to the first floor. I only had a few hours before I needed to head in towards Carone. After nearly an hour negotiating and carefully reading the contract, I forked over twenty-five hundred Rayn and received my key. The guy didn¡¯t ask for any form of identification, and I didn¡¯t offer one up, so it also wasn''t tied to my name at all.


    I spent the next hour checking the apartment for bugs or other spyware. Nothing stood out, though I would need a Bughound? to be sure. I checked all the usual places, but there really wasn¡¯t a good place to hide anything considering no furniture. Still, it didn¡¯t hurt to double-check everything just to satisfy my sudden onset of paranoia.


    I did find a duffel bag hidden in the vents with an odd assortment of items in it. Weird, but free stuff was free stuff. Most of it looked like it had to do with disguises, makeup, some wigs, bolts of fabric, and other sewing supplies. None of it was particularly high-end, but there  another commlink. Backup, I guess.


    Then I started the moving out process. It was rather easy since only a few things actually belonged to me. My guns, clothes, and foodstuffs were basically it. The furniture had come as part of the container crate, so I didn¡¯t own any of them. I left them behind for the next owner to appreciate. I also had to give Ishimaru a call to let him know I had moved out, which he slurred a congratulation over before assuring me he would take care of it.


    After everything else, I carefully moved the documents to my new apartment and hid them behind the mirror. As far as hiding places went, it was poor. I unfortunately didn¡¯t have the time nor furniture to hide it well. For a similar reason, the blood stain stayed where it was till I could afford to go buy some cleaners.


    I did take the time to look through the schematics and memorize them thanks to Eidetic Schematic. I dunno why I didn¡¯t do it before¡­ fear, maybe? It had hurt like hell to obtain the Perk, and part of me wanted to keep space from the Perk. It was stupid, all things considered.


    I wanted to burn the documents after memorizing them. A bit more thought stopped me though. They offered a lot of value outside of their intrinsic worth as instructions. Nefarious ideas were already starting to form about how best to use them. If Sentinel was willing to pay twenty million for them, then surely they could bulldoze a particularly annoying group. It was like a tactical nuke I could call in as long as I wasn''t caught. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Also, I could only memorize about a third of the papers. Two-thirds of the papers were technical documents discussing the prototyping of the weapons, and I couldn''t memorize those with Eidetic Schematic. Even if I burned what I could remember, those would still be damning. And it''s not exactly like I could take a picture of them to keep.


    With a higher level in Tech, I also partly understood some parts of the schematics. They weren¡¯t simple, that much was obvious. The weapons were mostly alternative platforms to the normal. There was everything from experimental plasma casters to cartridgeless ammo and even some more absurd stuff I couldn¡¯t understand. ¡®Course, I didn¡¯t even know where to start on making them, but I could at least get their functions.


    The chrome was similarly odd. Most of it was things that people could only dream of, like an arm that had a full arsenal of weapons stashed in it, or legs that doubled as a jet pack. My favorite from the bunch was an arm that could shift into a sniper rifle at will. There were even some alternative organs that had special functions. For instance, one of them was a heart that would actively increase stamina, muscle mass, and speed.


    ¡®Course, I could¡¯ve just taken photos of the schematics. It would¡¯ve been so much easier and way more risk-free. At least, if I wasn¡¯t trying to hide from the Big 7. They probably had some bullshit photo scrubber that could instantly detect I had photos of what they wanted and come snag me. Much safer to just keep things in meatspace.


    After moving everything, I was off on my bike and headed back towards Sakura Street. The streets felt odd as I drove down them. I had noticed it as I made trips to and fro for my errands. They were empty- or at least far emptier than they had been in a long time. There was less traffic out and about, both on foot and otherwise. Even the ever-present homeless population had receded back into the alleys.


    It wasn¡¯t hard to tell why. The occasional patrol of the Blue Crusade had been joined by patrolling groups of armed corporate operators. Sentinel had Armored Trucks moving about the streets as if we were in an active war zone, causing the air to spike with tension. Sentinel weren''t the only culprits. Raijin had a constant stream of flyers moving to and from their Raiju flying fortress.


    I parked my bike and started my walk towards Carone¡¯s shopfront. Everyone kept their head down as I walked around the less crowded streets- far more so than usual. It was especially unsettling when I walked past an alley and saw a pile of corpses not far off from the main path. All young gangers, it looks like, and they had been shredded by an HMG. Maybe one of them tried to contest an AT?


    I arrived at Carone¡¯s. I was searched by the bodyguards once more before I was allowed to enter, though they again passed over my Sidewinder and knife. And then I was allowed entry into Carone¡¯s antique store. It was still as musty as it had been the last time even with the several candles flickering with flames around the room.


    ¡°Ah, Shiro¡­ welcome back to my humble store.¡± Carone¡¯s voice was as snake-like as I remembered it being.


    I nodded at the man. This time around he wasn¡¯t trying any shitty pyrokinetic intimidation tactics at the very least. ¡°You said you had a gig?¡±


    ¡°Potentially¡­¡± He stared into my eyes for a moment before leaning forward onto the counter. ¡°You said you were good at subtlety? I need a¡­ , if you will before I recommend you to some of my crews. That is, assuming you want to do other things than investigate?¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked, feeling a little giddy. I was finally going to do what I¡¯m good at! And being introduced to a permanent crew would be interesting. The payouts tend to be bigger, though I don¡¯t have much experience in a crew setting. At most, it was that time with Shinobu¡¯s one-off crew.


    ¡°A client wants a¡­ of assets. A certain file. This-¡° He held up a data chip before setting it down on the counter. ¡°Also needs to be plugged into the terminal afterward, and it¡¯ll upload a virus. All without setting off any alarms. Twenty-four hundred Rayn for doing both silently. You in?¡±


    Twenty-four hundred Rayn? Heck yeah! I was just in need of some more funds. That was a month of my new rent, and I would be using my actual talents. ¡°Sure.¡±


    ¡°The target is Ajay Insurance.¡± His eyes glowed, and my PA received a message. ¡°That¡¯s the file name and link to the firm¡¯s site.¡± Carone tossed me the chip.


    A corporation, huh? Maybe because of how easy it was to knock over the transport; I didn¡¯t feel near the usual trepidation. I checked the file on my HUD and tucked the virus into my pocket: ¡®malwort.MP4¡¯. An audio file? ¡°Isn¡¯t this a Netrunner¡¯s job?¡±


    ¡°The client specifically asked for no Netrunners¡­¡± He stared at me for a moment as he tapped his chin. ¡°Alternatively, I have a different¡­ that has put a five thousand Rayn bounty on the corporation. They want someone to throw enough dirt at the corp to shake the pond. I doubt someone of your¡­  could do such a thing, but it  an option.¡±


    Bastards will be bastards. There was no reason to go about insulting me¡­ though five thousand Rayn was incredibly attractive¡­ That was some serious stuff. Maybe I should look into hiring out for this one¡­ like a real Edgerunner.


    Hmm¡­ to what extent does the dirt need to be? Something as simple as the CEO cheating on his spouse? Or something a little more complicated. Well, I¡¯ll keep it in the back of my mind for now and focus on the first two objectives. ¡°I¡¯ll think about it¡­¡±

 Chapter 35

    Chapter 35I leaned up against the wall of my new apartment and listened to the slow beats of music from my handheld radio as I took a swig from Crow¡¯s Canteen of Chaos. I had poured most drinks from the nearby vending machines into it and now had a full list of pops I could drink basically at will for free. Truly a priceless artifact just for that.


    Hmm¡­ maybe I should get some kind of acid and test that too? Or lava- would that even count as a liquid? Not to drink, of course, but never know when I need to melt something¡­ I settled the best I could against the wall as I looked down at my phone, pushing past the temporary distraction offered by the canteen.


    Go break into Ajay Insurance, Shiro! It¡¯ll be a quick and easy way to earn money- not. There¡¯s a reason the payout for this one was particularly high. Pay matched danger, after all. It had been two days of constant studying through the Net and watching the place for me to realize the true extent of trouble I stepped into.


    Plan A had originally been to break in at night and do this sneakily. I needed more intel though. Ajay Insurance sat closer to the southern end of Little Yukoto, so it was rather close. I ended up setting up at a Neo-seafood restaurant just across the street. Neo-seafood, basically, was a seafood restaurant that served synth fish¡­


    Yeah, it was as disgusting as it sounded. If I had to eat one more imitation shrimp, I might just puke. Seriously! Who thought imitating something spongy like shrimp was a good idea? There was no way real shrimp was as spongy as the synth version or people simply wouldn¡¯t ever get it.


    Thankfully, I had quite a bit of money saved up so eating at the place didn¡¯t hurt me financially. It was a bit expensive - and at most half as good as Big Mike¡¯s burgers - but at least it was food that offered a wider variety of nutrients than what the prepacks could provide. Synth food had synthetically altered semi-healthiness to it at the very least. ¡®Course, I was better off eating real food, but that was damn expensive in this day and age.


    While waiting and watching over the two days, I looked over the Net to get a better idea of what I was working with. Really, it was a good test of my skills. Getting Net to one hadn¡¯t turned me into a Netrunner or anything of the sort, but it did improve my ease of using the Net, operating systems, and set the boundaries for actually becoming a Netrunner.


    It had a very in-depth guide on hardware too, something I suspect was influenced by my Tech skill being level five already. If I had to say, I could probably handle most common and uncommon, heck even rarer hardware without an issue. The ¡®tutorial¡¯ had been lacking in actual hacking knowledge though. It sat closer to copy and pasting¡­ sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Unfortunately, I needed a deck - whether external or internal - to act as a medium for my Interface Plugs to really get into running through the Net and turn myself into an actual Netrunner. As it stands, I can¡¯t even interact with most systems on my own. Rather- I could, but it would probably fry my Neural Link.


    I shifted, fully feeling the discomfort of not yet owning furniture. I would have to look into getting some soon, but was hesitant to spend money quite yet. I only had eight hundred Rayn, and half of that was reserved for buying food. The rest was in my savings for next month''s rent though I had a sneaking suspicion I would blow through my saving plans.


    Anyway, Ajay Insurance¡­ as far as I could tell, it was a basic financial firm. They were a small corporation run by the CEO Ajay. I cyberstalked him across his various social media pages, and the guy lived quite the extravagant life. Every other week dating a year back he would go to big parties thrown by various yacht owners at the various marinas and post to his social media. Every single day he would post on social media, sometimes several times. He was quite prolific. His obvious love of attention could be a potential in¡­


    The issue, however, was Ajay''s business. The financial firm was quite small in size and acted as an insurance agency for civilian chrome. There was no way that it had enough money flow to support the CEO¡¯s expensive interests. There was something else going on here; something I should watch for lest I get caught up in it.


    I needed an entry to the place so I could look further into it and get the ball rolling for the gig. Without a doubt, I would need to access their servers. If I was any good at Netrunning, I would be able to just hack in semi-remotely to grab what I needed and upload the virus. Unfortunately, that wasn¡¯t in the playbooks. There was a workaround though.


    In this technological age, server rooms were practically vaults. They tended to be the most secure places in a building, even for small corps since they were the core of the Net Architecture. Thankfully, Net had enlightened me on a lot of basic knowledge, just not actually running the Net. If I accessed the server from the actual server room, I should be able to bypass the Net Architecture and any other cyber security defenses as an ¡®Admin¡¯ rather than an intruder. Hence came my plans to break in at night and access the servers.


    Of course, before any great heists, it was important to get the lay of the land, ie my two-day stakeout. Ajay Insurance sat on the second floor of an office building. It sat halfway down the street and acted like a corner thanks to the small side street cutting into the maze of alleys and complexes hidden by the block¡¯s face. It featured a grand window across the entire space that allowed me an easy view of the building¡¯s internals thanks to the dual-zoom augment in the Advant Phantom.


    During the day, there was a constant flow of workers and clients moving around, but the building shut down at eight every night. I had even managed to find Aythryn City¡¯s digital architecture archives and access them through the Blue Crusade backdoor, so I had a blueprint at the ready. Thanks to Eidetic Schematic, I instantly memorized the blueprint. It was rather nice that the Perk applied to all kinds of plans and prints rather than just the technical kind.


    Eidetic Schematic really shined considering my PA had some serious issues showing city blueprints in my HUD. Using the blueprint, I started to form a rough plan of attack while I watched from across the street.


    Unfortunately, Plan A got chopped almost entirely once Mr. Ajay activated the security on the first night. It was now way too close to plan Z for comfort. Heck, I might¡¯ve just considered outright abandoning the gig if I didn¡¯t think there were other ways into the place than a nightly break-in.


    Two turrets overlooked the room and motion sensors sat at every junction from the looks of things. The turrets were some pretty high-end stuff too. I had seen the model before, and they were nasty pieces of work.


    They were Errant Security¡¯s AR-Lockdown model. I would have to get closer to tell which version exactly, but it was trouble regardless. They were set to gun down anyone in their field except for those whitelisted. Maybe it''s just Ajay since he left after everyone else. They had dual detection thanks to their heat sensors and cameras. Each one sat standalone with its own daemon so a Netrunner couldn¡¯t brute force a shutdown and they had an eight-hour internal battery pack in case of power outages. The turrets were very expensive, and


    out of place in the small corp¡¯s building.


    They were placed at good points to overlook the entire room. I had managed to sneak by a single ES Lockdown a while back, but I had zero confidence in getting past two. The model''s only weakness was its detection radius had a rather small cone. Still, with two of them and several other security features to boot, the chances of getting by with my current skills were almost non-existent, especially since the ES Lockdowns would probably see right through Blackout with their heat detection. I did some rough calculations on timing, and I would have to be perfect to the second if I wanted in, which wasn¡¯t ideal.


    From what it looked like, my best shot was to get into the server with an alternative measure. It would be difficult, but not as hard as sneaking past several motion detectors and turrets. It would also be potentially a lot safer too.


    How would I get in though? IT was simple and easy. An IT gal just showing up could cause some suspicion¡­ I took another drink from the canteen before tossing it into the shadows. I was temporarily stuck coming up with a different plan.


    I researched the company a bit more and didn¡¯t see any mention of an IT department. It makes sense, the corp was tiny, so they probably didn¡¯t have one. They most likely contracted out to an IT corporation like a lot of smaller ones do.


    I need  to call me in. Well, not me, but their normal IT company. Then, I sneak in as the IT, get access to the servers, and profit. It had a lot of moving parts I would need to think about, and I would need a bunch of tools I didn¡¯t have at the moment. For one, a deck.


    Mainly just to actually access the servers and find what I was looking for. It would also jump-start my journey as a Netrunner extraordinaire- or a script kiddie until I learned to actually mess with code. Still, never overlook the power of programs. There were some incredibly powerful ones out there.


    There were a bunch of other minor things too, but I could work those out in time. The most important part of the plan is  calling in IT. Hmm¡­ I pulled up a map of the city¡¯s infrastructure. Usually, such a thing was heavily regulated, but my backdoor into Blue Crusade Inc. easily allowed me access to most of the city¡¯s archives. Not a day goes by that I don¡¯t appreciate my decision to buy the program, even if it was expensive.


    The map showcased every access tunnel, water pipe, and powerline beneath the city. It even showed a few entrances to the largely abandoned Underground. ¡®Course, the underground infrastructure wasn¡¯t part of the Underground, no, the Underground was far further under the ground than the infrastructure. The infrastructure just happened to be underground but it couldn¡¯t be confused with the Underground further under the ground. My head spun. Stupid Shiro, giving yourself a headache.


    I took a small break to finish moving the rest of the way in. Nothing too crazy, just stashing most of my stuff in the kitchenette since it was the only place with furniture. For now, until I could get a proper table to work on, the kitchenette would be my work and eating space.


    Also, I took the chance to take a comfortable shower. The only issue I had was drying my hair afterward. It had been a while before I hacked it off, and it was starting to show some length again. I thought I looked better with long hair, but it was just annoying to deal with at a certain point.


    I took a while and enjoyed the break to clear my head. After changing my radio to ancient jazz from the time before the music industry had become an autotune mess, I looked through several sites to figure out what kind of furniture I wanted to buy when I had the money. It was such a mundane concern that I felt a little stupid using it as a distraction for plotting a corporate heist.


    With my head cooled down, I refocused the city¡¯s infrastructure map on the building in question, memorizing every tunnel. I couldn¡¯t deny the excitement starting to coalesce in my bones as a plan slowly started to twine together in my head.

 Chapter 36

    Chapter 36I parked in a small lot just off of Saint¡¯s Plaza, and then began my walk through the busy street market. Ferocious storms covered the evening sun, letting only the minimum light shine through the cloud-clay sky. A cool breeze, carrying the toxic scent of the ocean, chilled my arms as it blew just past the cathedral. Speaking of the cathedral, it looked almost as if a divine presence resided in it thanks to a small beam of sunlight splitting through the clouds to reflect off the ancient bell hanging from the tower.


    Other than the small chill on my arms, the temperature didn¡¯t bother me. I had taken to wearing a T-shirt, then the KSS Fused Panel ballistic armor I got from the Underground, and then my Techwear jacket over all of it. It was quite the warm combination, and the ambient cool of Aythryn City kept me from overheating. As a bonus, I would be able to survive a couple of shots to the torso if things ever go wrong. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It had been a while since I had been here last, and my primary destination was the same as the others: Yukoto Matrix. I cut through the massive market set up in the plaza, using the cathedral as a guiding hand to find the shop. It wasn¡¯t long till I entered the significantly less busy side street the shop was on.


    The inside of the shop looked the same. Bits and parts of terminals were scattered about in heaping piles that looked far too unstable. The lights were partially obscured by said piles and the racks were everywhere. The man behind the counter was also the same and immediately looked up at me as soon as I entered. His piercings reflected the neon into my eyes as they moved. ¡°Welcome in. You looking for something in particular or just browsing?¡±


    ¡°Uh yes.¡± I glanced at the small pinned note in my HUD as I brushed my hair out of my face. It had an expansive list of stuff I would need for my plan. ¡°I need a cyberdeck and a worm program.¡±


    ¡°Chek chek. What kind?¡± The guy¡¯s eyes started to glow, and then the terminal on his counter shifted to a catalog.


    I looked through the catalog before picking out two options. Softwork Q-10 was a small and incredibly low-end deck. It barely had a spot for three programs. To put that into perspective, my phone could run three, of which my PA and Blue Crusade back door were two of. It was horrendously weak, but the Softwork Q-10 could act as a medium to interface with a device, unlike my phone.


    Course, it was a physical interface that I could do all by myself thanks to the interface jacks at my wrists, but using the deck would act as a median separating me from the system. It was a safety precaution which would allow me time to jack out if something goes wrong. Or at least that''s the idea.


    From my understanding, modern Netrunners tend to like internal decks more since they allow substantially faster reaction speeds at the small cost of getting fried. I dunno if I¡¯ll ever get an internal one though. It was dangerous, and the increase in speed wasn¡¯t worth the danger till I got far better at netrunning. Maybe level eight or nine Net. For now, I was happy with the external deck.


    And! And it looked pretty cool! It was designed to look like a leatherbound book and hang from someone¡¯s hip. It was super nerdy and almost looked like a fantastical wizard¡¯s tome. Someone at Softwork had fun with the design. I loved it.


    The Alpha-Tres Worm was similarly a weak program that was only capable of infesting a single device. It couldn¡¯t do much other than allow me a backdoor onto said device, and would need to be physically installed to work. It also had the drawback of only having administrator authority for three actions before ceasing functionality.


    Perfect for what I wanted. It was quite the costly program though at four hundred Rayn. Yeah, Net stuff wasn¡¯t cheap, or at least most Net stuff. The Blue Crusade backdoor program was fairly common so its price had long dropped.


    Well, the base levels at least. The one that allowed for cross Node searches was pretty damn expensive. I couldn¡¯t get one even if I had the money anyway. The guy had already sold it last time I was here and I would only be able to find one in a Night Market sometime.


    The programs the shop offered also weren¡¯t anything too crazy. Most of the stuff didn¡¯t go past five hundred Rayn, which makes sense. It was rare for anything over five hundred to appear in a shop thanks to its scarcity. Night Markets were the places to go, just like if I wanted a high-end gun or armor without having the proper papers. ¡°Oh, and a pick, if you have one.¡±


    The guy eyeballed me for a second before heading back into the store. He then returned with a small book-like device on a strap, a tiny data chip, and a small black thumbdrive-like device similar to the picks from Bo. ¡°Here ya go, choom. Five twenty-five. You want some virtu-goggles too? Complete the package?¡±


    The pick was twenty-five Rayn! Damn, I¡¯m in the wrong business! The things were tiny. I could be making bank if I put some effort into making them¡­ but I don¡¯t have the right tools. I¡¯d need a plastic 3d printer at the least. And I don¡¯t have the contacts to sell ¡®em.


    ¡°Uh yeah, and a bag of chips.¡± I may as well get goggles now. They¡¯re kinda required for anything Net related¡­ I flicked the payment to the guy and gathered my new items. Just like that, over half my money was gone again. I¡¯d be making it back soon though if things go according to plan¡­ .


    I stepped out of the shop and made my way around the market, only slowed by an LRAT Medevac totaling several stalls without a care. The LRAT, the vehicle Metech¡¯s Medevac team used, was shaped similar to a short bus. A heavily armored short bus that was known to tank several rockets without a problem. Where its tires would¡¯ve gone were it a normal bus, rectangular propulsion drives kept the thing afloat. The LRAT had several turrets all over it that were ready to fire into aggressors at any moment as it landed.


    The Shock Troopers, the Medevac¡¯s personnel, instantly went to work as they landed. None of their skin even showed thanks to the armor, and even their faces were fully covered by their tech helmets. The Shock Troopers all wore white gray and red with several glowing red crosses across their bodies.


    They spread out, pushing people back by force if necessary as they set up a space around a collapsed elderly woman. She was twitching something fierce and rolling around as the actual medics of the team tried to hold her down.


    The secondary medic of the team of five out on the field, the three others being guardians of the two, jabbed the woman with a needle before picking her up. The first medic helped carry the woman back to the LRAT, as the turret on the top of the bus-like vehicle pivoted intimidatingly. Just as soon as the Medevac arrived, they flew off toward Medtech¡¯s corporate hospital.


    Once they were gone, I continued and walked around the market, grabbing various mechanical parts that I would need for my project as well as a leather-bound journal and parts. I wanted to get this done as soon as possible so I could get some furniture.


    I got back to my bike laden with bags of metal and plastic bits and bobs. I had burned another two hundred Rayn on various parts and devices, mainly an ADF remote system. So much for ¡®reserved for food¡¯. If I didn¡¯t already have enough to finish out the month thanks to my bulk buy of prepacks, I would be quite concerned about eating.


    Stealing food was¡­ well- I tried not to. I could, ¡®course, but I didn¡¯t like it. Better steal something else to sell so I could buy food¡­ I did see the conflict¡­


    The drive back was less calming than usual. The increased Sentinel and Raijin presence set me on edge the entire time, and I wasn''t the only one. It looked like everyone was just as uncomfortable as the last.


    Halfway there, I realized I was going in the wrong direction. Muscle memory took over and I started heading back to the Ryu Container Yard rather than my new apartment. It would take some getting used to considering the last seven years of my life had been spent in the shipping container.


    Thanks to that screw-up, it was nearly night by the time I reached home. The elevator made getting back up to my apartment a breeze, and I couldn¡¯t help but appreciate not having to go up the stairs for once.


    A refreshing meal of a ramen-flavored prepack awaited me before I settled in and pulled out my new Softwork Q-10 deck. I didn¡¯t do anything other than boot it up, set passwords, and install the Alpha-Tres Worm software. Now, as soon as I connected to a device, I could run the program and infest it.


    Nothing complicated- rather, nothing complicated on my end. The program and how it all worked was far above my head, but I could at least understand the concept and how to run the scripts.


    Unfortunately, I still had yet to get furniture, so I had to work off the small kitchenette¡¯s counter. After I got my deck situated, I gathered up my tools - ever thankful to Uncle Ezra and Mira for the expensive gift - and brought over every bit I bought as well as the crappy SMGs.


    It took a bit to find all the right pins to pull, but eventually, I had both of them laid out in front of me in a chaotic disassembled mess. After a period of time, this was my decision on what to do with them. Scrap ¡®em for parts. I had other stuff I used, and they were just taking up space. A bit of a waste, though it did put the tortured graffiti guns out of their suffering. Rest in peace.


    Anyway, the parts, mainly the firing pin and the trigger assembly, were what I needed today. I pulled out the other stuff I bought at Saint¡¯s Plaza and scattered them across the kitchenette¡¯s counter. Most of it was scrap I may or may not use, but some of it had been a targeted purchase, such as the ADF system and some hydraulics.


    While I was in a disassembly mood, I took the chance to take apart and clean up my Rhymer S-32 and SB-17. As they say, ¡®take care of your gun and it¡¯ll take care of you.¡¯ I hadn¡¯t properly cleaned them, so now was as good of a time as any. For a similar reason, I tried to fix up my ballistic armor, but I would need some stronger stuff to get the blood stains out.


    I set everything down and headed to the shower. Now that I had one, there wasn¡¯t a reason not to take one every day. Especially considering how relaxing the warm water felt. Ryu Container Yard only had cold showers¡­


    It was nearly midnight by the time I settled down on the floor for¡­ bed? Does that still work if I don¡¯t actually have a bed? Do people who sleep in hammocks call it ¡®going to hammock¡¯? Hmm¡­ Regardless, I laid down on my blanket.


    I sketched out my plans for the device I wanted to build in the journal so I would have a rough schematic for tomorrow. Unfortunately, my skills in drawing schematics weren¡¯t quite as good as memorizing them. After a while, I fully slipped into sleep.

 Chapter 37

    Chapter 37The device I wanted? It was basically a small hinge. There was more to it than that, ¡®course, but that¡¯s what it resembled. The idea came to me after looking at the blueprints for Aythyrn City¡¯s power infrastructure and how each building got electricity as well as Node access.


    Nodes were¡­ complicated. They were the sophisticated center of a secure grand local area network spanning a city. In layman''s terms, they roughly made a large circle. Outside the circle, you can¡¯t access the Net without specialized equipment. Inside, you can. I wasn¡¯t too clear on the specifics, but Nodes were connected to a massive network spanning every city in the world and even those outside our planet as long as they had a Node.


    There was ¡®course more to it, but I never paid much attention to Nodes and Net blitzed by them. To fully understand how they worked and what made them different, I''d have to dive into history, the K-10 Convention, and the Dawn of DarkNet. That was a rabbit hole of complicated events I didn''t care to dissect at the moment.


    Simply put, they were essential. Every city that had a Node was protected by the full might of every corp working together. Nodes were the  time every corporation agreed to protect something altogether. ¡®Course, it was a mutual benefit, but still.


    So, to access the Node, every building is built with an access point, usually in the same spot as the rest of the infrastructure. Here¡¯s where my idea comes into play. I want to get down into that access point, and then mess with specifically Ajay Insurance. Most likely, they¡¯ll call in their IT company to fix their issues. That¡¯s part one of my plan.


    The device I worked on started from a hinge. I placed it down, grabbed one of the firing pins from the disassembled SMG, and tack-welded it to the hinge using the multitool and auto-darkening shades from my toolbag. Since the thing emphasized versatility, it made for a terrible arc welder. I would need to buy one in the future if I wanted to make a weld that would last, but it would have to do for now.


    I had learned to weld as part of advancing Tech to five, and it had been by far one of the most time-consuming things. Learning every process in several different environments had been a serious pain in the ass. Especially considering I had to repeat it with several different types of machines from top of the line to bottom. I still wasn¡¯t a master, but I was decent enough to get by as long as they weren''t stress-tested.


    After that, I attached a micro hydraulic cylinder to the thing. The idea was the hinge would move down, causing the firing pin to hit the wire and interfere with Ajay Insurance''s connection from a distance. It took a while to disassemble the ADF remote system, but eventually, I managed to get it all into parts. Then I hooked up the receiver to the micro hydraulic cylinder and connected the remote antenna to my deck. With the addition of the antenna to my deck it looked like my ¡®tome¡¯ came with a ¡®pencil¡¯.


    Then came the extraordinarily tiring attempts to program the remote system and get everything to work. After several hours of searching the Net with little progress, I left my apartment for Big Mike¡¯s to take a break, only bringing my ¡®essentials¡¯. I had taken to wearing my armor everywhere just in case, as well as my bag with various tools, gear, and my shotgun in it. Course, I had my Sidewinder too.


    I klepped some pockets before selling the ill-gotten loot to a nearby pawn shop for enough money to enjoy a nice burger at Big Mikes. It was about an hour after I entered the area that I finally walked into Big Mike¡¯s.


    Business seemed quite slow today. There were a group of corpos enjoying lunch off to one side and a man and a woman with cheerful smiles on their faces on the other. The duo, in particular, stood out thanks to their smiles, which was quite a rare sight to see non-drug induced. At least, they didn¡¯t look like they were high. Neither showed the typical ticks I would associate with the common drugs, though the man did occasionally wince and rub at his left chrome arm.


    I motioned to Big Mike, who nodded his plump head, and then headed for a table of my own at my usual spot. That put me just behind the duo. While I waited for some food, I got on my phone and shifted through a catalog of public schematics. With Eidetic Schematic, doing such a thing would eventually prove to be invaluable as my knowledge base grew- I hope. At the very least, it was a nice time waster.


    Most of the schematics were old-world patents that had gone out as the governing bodies started to fall, so they were typically obsolete. Still, a bunch of them had root ideas and concepts that were the basic building blocks for more modern technology. It also helped me conceptualize how some things worked.


    Occasionally, I would come across a more modern blueprint of parts of chrome or weapons, but they were few and far between. They typically belonged to corporations that had gone under and their assets either seized or stolen, so nothing was super advanced. Still, there were some ideas and concepts that I started to put together that appeared in the Sentinel schematics, albeit to a much lesser degree.


    Big Mike stopped by my table and set down the platter of mega burger as I transferred him the money I just earned and started to dig into the massive pizza-sized burger. Just as I was halfway through the delicious meal-


    A scream came from behind me as something pounded hard with a resounding thunk. I bolted to my feet, fumbling for my Sidewinder as I tried to figure out what was happening. I glanced around, marking everyone in the room subconsciously as I looked for the attacker, only to see none.


    The cheerful man spazzed out in his booth, his chrome arm going haywire as he randomly swung around, knocking against the table. The woman immediately tried to help the man, only to be knocked harshly over the head by the chrome. She collapsed to the side, a stream of blood pouring out of her head.


    His entire body locked up as he tumbled out of the booth, hitting the floor hard. His arm swung and swatted everywhere, even hitting himself as his body locked up repeatedly. A moment¡¯s hesitation passed through me before I grabbed my bag from the booth and started digging through it for my tools. Tech had just started getting into more complicated stuff like chrome with the latest level, though my knowledge was basic at best.


    While I was looking, I heard one of the corpos laugh hollowly with a whisper. ¡°Wonder if he has insurance?¡±


    Once I found the stuff I was looking for, I moved to the guy who was struggling against himself on the ground. I found the woman trying to move forward in a daze. ¡°Call a Medevac?¡±


    ¡°W-we can¡¯t afford one-¡± She was cut off as the man started screaming in agony once more. His entire face was turning red with the exertion from his arm.


    ¡°Just- just help me hold him down then,¡± I told her.


    With an objective to focus on, she started to move a bit more motivated. She left her daze behind and climbed onto the man, trying to leverage her body weight to keep his arm down and stop him from rolling around.


    It wasn¡¯t working till I jumped onto him too, and together we held his arm mostly stable. I moved quickly, looking over the chrome arm. It was a cheap civilian model that looked like a knockoff of a knockoff. It was scrapped together with multiple other pieces as evidenced by the several different corporate marks across it. Shen Kang Keiji and ASCorp were amongst the markings, though there were a couple of other ones I didn¡¯t recognize.


    After searching the arm for a moment, I found the access port on the bottom side of the upper arm, located just shy of the guy''s armpit. I tore off his bright green shirt to get better access before getting to work. It was difficult getting the panel open with his constant flailing, especially considering they were typically designed to only be opened by a Medech, but I managed with quite a bit of effort.


    The panel popped open, allowing me access to the arms hardware underneath the protective casing. Circuit boards and wires were everywhere in a half-assed mess with chords just hanging about without being properly secured. Components sat half embedded in their typical slots, not fully fitting since they came from other bits of chrome.


    Not only did I have access to the hardware, but I also had quite a bit of room to see where the arm connected to the flesh, which was a little sickening to look at as blood poured into the circuitry. Unfortunately, it was too dark inside to get a perfect view without the help of a light.


    I wasted no time comparing the insides to the dozens of other pieces of chrome I had seen on the public schematics and the view ones in the learning space for Tech. Surprisingly, Net also helped thanks to its detailed rundown on components. The insides of the chrome looked a little similar to the hardware of a deck. My knowledge could be defined as shoddy at best, but after a minute I narrowed down my options and started to mess with some of the cords.


    After a couple of moments, I disabled the right one as the arm entirely locked up, ceasing all attempts to twitch and move about. The man instantly went slack, though the trouble wasn¡¯t over yet. The inside of his chrome still had blood pouring into it in droves.


    I rifled through my bag looking for medical supplies, but unfortunately, I had left all of it in the bag back at my apartment. I made a mental note to pack some the next time before looking back up to the woman. ¡°Take him to a hospital.¡±


    A look of deep shame crossed her face, only twinged by desperation. ¡°W-we can¡¯t. I-it¡¯ll just throw us deeper into debt.¡±


    A sigh left me as I glanced down at the man¡¯s face, still twisted in pain. I could understand her concerns. These days being in debt wasn¡¯t as simple as trying to pay it back. Depending on who they owed money to, they could legally be forced into something akin to slave labor.


    Heck, even most hospitals would repo any chrome they had to make back some of their money, and hospitals were damn expensive. There¡¯s a reason I always went to Nael instead of one. Even just that wrist surgery that Nael did for me would¡¯ve broken my bank at a hospital, and probably with half the skill.


    I started to relock up the panel. ¡°Look. Take him to the Absolom Clinic. It''s in a bit of a shady place, but the Medech there will help you out. He''s good people.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± A bit of fire entered the woman¡¯s eyes, driving off the desperation. ¡°I d-don¡¯t know how to thank you.¡±


    I waved it off and returned to my booth. ¡°Just go.¡± S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The woman picked up the man and started to cart him out of the door. I looked down at my hands, blood from the man staining them. I tried to wipe it off as best I could, but it just wouldn¡¯t come off. I felt a sick feeling in my gut as I looked down at the towel slowly being stained with blood as I wiped at my hands, having a brief flash of blood splattering across my face-


    I shook myself free and stood up, abandoning my half-eaten burger as I grabbed my bag. My appetite had fled me. I sent a look around as I walked towards the door, noticing the completely apathetic looks of the corporate drones as they just continued with their meals. I couldn¡¯t exactly blame them; that was just how life was in the big city.


    Big Mike walked out from behind the counter with cleaning supplies as he headed for the blood. He stopped me with a bulky hand. ¡°Next time, on house.¡±


    I gave a small nod to the man and walked out onto the neon streets of Aythryn City.

 Chapter 38

    Chapter 38I pulled into the parking garage beneath my apartment building feeling quite a bit more relaxed even after the stress from helping that guy out. There was nothing like going out to eat when you didn¡¯t have to be somewhere¡­ sure, it ate the rest of my money up, but at this point that didn¡¯t matter too much to me. I was at the point where I would have to klep some pockets anyway if I wanted something. I was much better off just lasering in on my current gig.


    That relaxed feeling abruptly ended as I arrived in front of my apartment. The door cracked open, and I heard someone moving inside. Did they find me? Were the hunters already locked onto me?! I need to-


    To calm down¡­ it might not be Edgerunners hunting down the twenty mil bounty. Maybe it was the landlord? Or- or somebody else? Should I just delta? No. I bought this place, it was only right I defended it. Or at least tried to... but what if it was a real Edgerunner? I''d be offering myself on a silver platter... maybe I could come to a deal at the very least? It''s not a hundred percent that I would be killed if Sentinel found me.


    I shrugged off my bag and reached inside for the Rhymer- was it worth killing somebody over? I hesitated, my hand frozen in my bag for a long moment. I don¡¯t know who it could be or what their intentions are so no. I don¡¯t think it is. It could very well be my landlord. Maybe I really should delta for now¡­ but my deck and equipment are in there! Without that stuff, I¡¯ll have to drop the gig entirely. I''d be broke and potentially homeless...


    Gah! Screw it. Shoot first and ask questions- Just as I was about to make a foolish mistake, my hand caught on the bunched-up glove from Granny Smith. My hesitation mostly vanished as I pulled it and the electro-bola out. I put the glove on and grabbed the gadget as I nudged open the cracked door. I moved in, quieter than a mouse thanks to Fox¡¯s Paw, and closed the door.


    ¡°The hell?¡± A voice came from the kitchenette, though it was barely more than a whisper. I swung wide to give myself space to throw the weapon, catching sight of a guy leaning over my scattered tools and parts.


    I didn¡¯t hesitate before whipping my hand over my head, the thing caused a slight disturbance in the air as the silver balls followed my hand. I released as if pointing towards the guy, and the bola sped to him. Now, I wasn¡¯t trained in the proper throwing of a bola much more than some View2 videos. At this range though? It would be harder to miss.


    He must¡¯ve heard something because he turned around towards me right as the bola reached him. Right before it wrapped around his arms and chest, his hands clasped something on his chest and an ethereal glow encompassed him. That glow immediately vanished as I clamped my fist closed, sending a signal to the bola as he tripped toward the ground. Electricity arced all along the silver balls and wire.


    ¡°Gah!¡± He collapsed as he jolted around, slamming his face into the counter with a wet thunk. I continued to hold my fist closed, but he was silent as he lay on the floor.


    Was he¡­ was he dead? I hesitantly moved closer, watching out for signs of trickery as I reopened my hand. The electricity stopped and I leaned over him to check his pulse. Not dead, but definitely unconscious. This electra-bola was damn good! Thank you, Granny Smith!


    I stared down at the guy¡¯s back. Should I call the Crusade? They could take care of him and lock him up¡­ no. I need information. Why was he here? If he had caught the trail of the bounty, then I need to start running now. It was only a matter of time before the others caught me. But if he wasn¡¯t¡­


    My hesitation only lasted a minute before I slowly dragged him to the living room area and propped him up against the wall. He was affiliated with the aether, so I needed to be smart about this. I looked him over, but he didn¡¯t appear to have a wand. Probably a Magus then.


    One way to confirm. I searched his pockets, finding a wallet and phone. I pocketed them, ¡®course, but they weren¡¯t what I was looking for. I checked everywhere else, which was quite easy since he only wore a suit. Eventually, I found what I was looking for after remembering he clutched at his chest. A small silver amulet of a fox hung from his neck by a silver chain. It glowed faintly thanks to Aetherial Perception.


    The thing was a Focus. Adepts had wands and Magus had their Focuses. Magus used magic through a contract with an eidolon- rather, through said eidolon¡¯s sprites. In the same way that Adepts used wands to speed up magic, Magus used a Focus to speedily summon a sprite to do their bidding. ¡®Course, they could summon one without a Focus, but it was supposedly a long and tedious process worse than an Adept trying to cast magic without a wand. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Then, when a sprite was summoned, a Magus could do a couple of things. The main one was to use the sprite to cast magic, and the other was to have said sprite materialize into a physical form.


    Once I took his Focus, I took a step back and checked his ID. Feras Schlauer, barely a month into his seventeenth year. I looked at the photo and matched it to his face. And what a face he had. This Feras guy was incredibly handsome. He was also muscular, yet not over the top unattractive steroid muscle. He was quite tall too, standing at just over six feet according to his ID.


    His looks made sense when I thought about him being Magus contracted to Fox. It had shown up in my research over eidolons; Magus gained certain benefits when contracted to an eidolon alongside the ability to summon a sprite. In Fox''s case, it''s beauty and agility. Every eidolon had its own benefit, for instance, Wolf granted its contractors increased stamina and endurance.


    He wore a suit that seemed as if it had been nice at one point. It was creased in several places, and the buttons were all undone like he was a drunk who just stumbled out of a bar. Soft lights twinkled under the surface of the suit, though they blinked so fast I couldn''t focus on one before it went out again.


    His face was the main selling point though. He had the kind of face I could see on a movie star and could probably blend in with high society. A strong chin and perfectly symmetrical face were his predominant features helped along by flawlessly tanned skin. In a couple more years, I could see him being a real heartbreaker.


    Pure black hair clung to his head in a mess as if he hadn¡¯t taken care of it in the past week or so. Same thing for the scruff barely poking from his chin.


    I checked out the rest of his face, but I didn¡¯t see any signs of it being sculpted. Sculpting techniques were incredibly refined these days, yet they still left trace marks of the procedure if you knew what to look for. As far as I could tell, Feras was a hundred percent natural. I would expect nothing less of a Magus. Magic tended to go wrong when chrome came into play.


    The only major demerit in terms of looks came from the gash across his forehead from where he hit the counter. Unlucky scrub. Did I feel a bit weird checking out an unconscious guy? When it was put that way, yes. I like to think I was just informing myself about the intruder though.


    I pulled my SB-17 from the kitchenette and summoned the canteen. I dumped the thing over the guy¡¯s head before sending it back to the shadows. ¡°Wake up!¡±


    He shuddered to consciousness as he looked around like a feral animal. An intense look of concentration came across his face before it twisted into a grimace. His grimace morphed into a frown as he looked down at himself.


    ¡°Looking for this?¡± I asked as I held out the fox amulet.


    He looked up at my rifle in fear. ¡°W-what do you want? I-is this about the b-bounty? I already paid it off! Fuck! This is just my luck¡­¡±


    ¡°What? No- you invaded my apartment.¡± I took a threatening step towards him¡­ or I tried to. I couldn¡¯t quite stomp my foot down as hard as I wanted ¡®thanks¡¯ to Fox¡¯s Paw. I was getting better at controlling it, but I wasn¡¯t quite to that point yet.


    ¡°Please! Not the face!¡± His gray eyes screamed confusion as he shivered in the bola¡¯s cord. ¡°W-wait¡­ your apartment? This is  apartment t-though?" He raised his hands placatingly, or at least attempted to. The wire of the bola made that difficult. ¡°L-look, this is obviously some kind of innocent misunderstanding. Can¡¯t we just calmly talk this out?¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡± I sighed as I backed away from him and lowered my gun, though I still kept my guard up just in case. It wouldn¡¯t hurt me to give him the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully, this all just a misunderstanding¡­ maybe should¡¯ve burned those documents after all?


    ¡°Great¡­ um- p-peaceful introductions? My name is Feras, but my f-friends call me Face.¡± He tried to smile a bright, flashy smile full of boyish charm. I could see a corpo gal swooning over it, but if anything it made me slightly disgusted? Like I wanted to knock out several teeth?


    ¡°Feras, then. Why are you in my apartment?¡± I asked, ignoring his shivering.


    ¡°Um- I calmly came back home?¡± He shook his head, his eyes trying to portray his innocence. Even as his shaking body tried to evoke pity. ¡°This my apartment.¡±


    Was I the bad guy here? I dropped the rifle back onto its sling and headed to my bedroom. It was a chaotic mess with my sparse collection of clothes dumped into a pile. After hunting around, I found the contract and walked back out. ¡°I have the contract right here. My place.¡±


    ¡°Look, I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on here.¡± He shook in the bolas, and I was starting to think his shivering was actually an attempt to break free rather than fear. It was just a bit too consistent. ¡°All I know is-¡±


    I slammed my hand into a fist, sending the signal to the bola. It immediately sent a shock of electric compliance through the guy¡¯s body as he locked up for a moment. ¡°Stop that.¡±


    ¡°S-sorry. I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ll comply. J-just don¡¯t shock me again.¡± He completely stilled, not shaking the slightest bit. As I thought, an act¡­ a damn good one at that. One of the people I played cards against, assuming they were people and not AI or sprites or something, pulled a similar trick to cheat while I was learning Cue. It took me a long time to figure that one out.


    ¡°Am I really supposed to believe that my apartment just happened to already be owned, and that the owner broke back into it after I moved in?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t break in! My key still fits the lock! L-look, you can check. It¡¯s in my wallet.¡± He shifted to give me better access to his pocket. ¡°And, um- maybe the landlord calmly sold you the place since I hadn¡¯t been back in a while? L-look, I had gear stashed here! In the vents.¡±


    I pulled his wallet out of my pocket and ran through it again. Folded underneath the flaps sat a small key. I didn¡¯t have my key out at the moment, but it looked like a match. The lazy landlord had probably just put the lock back on the door without bothering to get one. What he was saying would also make sense. People die in Aythryn City all the time, so the landlord might¡¯ve wanted to start earning some extra Rayn. It would also explain that bag I found in the vent.


    ¡°Then it is no longer yours since you didn¡¯t renew your contract. Simple. It¡¯s time for you to go.¡± I slid the key into my pocket. ¡°And I¡¯m keeping this.¡±


    ¡°W-wait! You can¡¯t just kick me out!¡± He struggled in the binding of the bola for a moment and I was tempted to reactivate the electric bits again.


    ¡°Oh?¡± I started walking back towards him. I would have to change the locks after this, but that would cost money. Money I don¡¯t have. Gahh¡­ how annoying. Maybe I could convince the landlord to change it?


    ¡°Yeah! I-I don¡¯t have any money! You¡¯ll be forcing me out onto the streets!¡±


    I stared down at him like he was an idiot. ¡°And that¡¯s my problem, why?¡±


    ¡°L-look- You¡¯re some kinda techie, right? I saw your stuff in the kitchen. We¡¯re in the same field! I¡¯m a grifter! J-just give me a couple days and I¡¯ll pay you back for the apartment! You know how easy it is for us to get money if the work is good.¡± He was getting quite frantic now.


    ¡°Grifter, huh?¡± It fit¡­ his acting skills would fit a grifter, and it would explain why the contents of the bag had been costume stuff and makeup. Hmm... knowing that, I can''t help but second-guess everything I''ve heard from the guy.


    It was oddly convenient¡­ and weird. I could recognize that fact. It was just  convenient. Things were never this easy¡­ I had just about accepted the fact that eidolons were responsible for the interface. That being said, the guy was a Magus of Fox and I had Fox¡¯s Grace, so did the eidolon pull something behind the scenes? Or was it really a coincidence

 Chapter 39

    Chapter 39¡°Are you sure about this?¡± Feras asked me as I set up a channel for our commlinks. The guy was broker than me, so it''s a good thing he had some stuff stashed. He had also cleaned up quite well, turning from a destitute coward to a pitiful, though well-dressed, kid in need of some help.


    We were sitting at the neo-sea place just across the street from Ajay Insurance. I was broke. . Klepping pockets was convenient for chump change. ¡°¡®Course. That was the deal.¡± I passed him back his commlink and tapped mine on.


    The deal was simple. I¡¯d let him stay in the apartment at night, tied up of course, for a couple days if he helped me out. See- my plan was good. It was nearly flawless¡­ it''s just one  issue I had; getting the pick into the building and inserted into the receptionist¡¯s terminal. I could do it myself, but then I would burn my identity and risk being detected when I came in as IT.


    I was planning on reaching out to some of my contacts for some help. Maybe even go to a merc dive and look around for someone fitting my requirements. It would cost quite a bit of money to hire someone, but it would¡¯ve worked.


    Really, this guy picked the perfect time to break in. He gets a home for a couple days, and I get a couple thousand Rayn! Not necessarily a fair deal for him, but he agreed to it¡­ though I have a feeling that might be because I was holding a gun. Intimidation really  an effective strategy. Thank you, Iris, for teaching me! Too bad my stature doesn''t lend itself to intimidation very well.


    ¡®Course, there was always the chance he was a terrible grifter, or he straight up lied to me when he said he was one. Either way, it shouldn¡¯t really matter too much. I just needed another face to do something. If he messed up too badly, I still had backup plans.


    Feras twitched as he grabbed his commlink, but I wasn¡¯t sure if it was natural or not. That was the danger of grifters. Never know if their actions and ¡®tells¡¯ are real considering it''s in their skillset to con people. ¡°O-okay¡­ I just need to plug this into the receptionist¡¯s terminal?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Nothing too complicated.¡± I shrugged and pulled up my deck. I had already set up the pick¡¯s access and hooked everything up. Thankfully, most of it was copy and pasting commands so it wasn¡¯t too hard.


    Feras nodded and began to glow with the power of the aether. After a couple seconds passed, I felt like space split open just to my side as the entire area around us charged with aetherial energy.


    Just as quickly as the small rift appeared, it sealed itself shut. Not everything made it back through in time. There, on the ground next to our table, sat an adorable fox looking around the room. Its form shimmered like an old-time rendition of invisibility.


    The fox hadn¡¯t been ordered to materialize yet, so why could I see it? Usually, only the summoner or other Magus contracted to the same eidolon could see their sprite unless it materialized. Was Aetherial Perception just that strong? Or¡­ was it reacting with Fox¡¯s Grace? It''s a very intriguing question. Did I count as one of Fox''s people because of that trait?


    I held my reaction back and continued to stare at Feras as if I hadn¡¯t noticed anything. Knowledge is power, and it''s best I kept this particular knowledge to myself considering we were barely better than strangers. Still, I didn¡¯t miss the fox cutely looking up at me before bounding up onto his shoulders. Maybe- Maybe I should consider trying to become a Magus?


    Feras stood up and smiled at me as the fox waved its tail with crinkled eyes. So ! ¡°Right¡­ I¡¯ll uh- I¡¯ll be right back.¡± He headed out of the restaurant, taking the fox with him.


    I watched him go, wondering if his slip-ups and stutters were even real. Maybe he was just playing the part of an innocent and scared boy to evoke sympathy from me? It didn¡¯t matter too much. If I was right, it only proved his skill as a grifter¡­


    I watched him walk across the street, nearly getting hit by a Sentinel AT as it drove by. He vanished into the building, and a minute later appeared at the door of Ajay Insurance. I had a great view as he entered it and walked towards the receptionist¡¯s desk.


    Indeed, he was a grifter. And seemingly a competent one at that. His entire aura was different as he walked. He had dropped the innocent, frail boy act, and had an air of gentlemanly confidence. He also took the time to adjust his suit before appearing again, making him look styled rather than the weak mess that just sat in front of me. Even the cut on his head was hidden behind his bangs.


    The receptionist wasn¡¯t even paying attention as she messed around on her terminal. ¡°Right, nice and easy now-¡± sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°Don¡¯t backseat me!¡± Feras whispered harshly into the commlink as he approached the front desk.


    The receptionist at the desk turned towards him and her voice the commlink picked up her voice. ¡°Sorry? Did you say something?¡±


    ¡°Ah, I was just taken aback at how beautiful you are.¡± I couldn¡¯t see his face from here, but I imagine it pulled into a charming grin based on his voice.


    The receptionist tucked a lock of hair behind her head as a blush rose to her cheeks. ¡°O-oh, thank you, Mr¡­¡±


    Feras tucked his hand over his heart and bowed slightly. A stray breeze just happened to blow at that time, causing his hair to softly sway. ¡°Schel, M.T. Schel. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, lady¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh! I¡¯m Steffany. It''s rare to meet such a gentleman in this city.¡± She brushed her hair out of her face. ¡°W-what can I help you with Mr. Schel?¡±


    ¡°Ah, one of my clients has taken a keen interest in Ajay Insurance and requested I check the place out for her. I hope it''s not a bother.¡±


    ¡°Not at all! We have a company brochure for just this situation.¡± The receptionist turned away from the desk and walked back to a table along the wall. It was covered in cabinets, papers, and an odd black box. ¡°You know, you are probably best off talking to one of the insurance agents.¡±


    ¡°As opposed to talking to you? Hardly a competition.¡± The moment she turned around, Feras leaned up against the desk in a natural movement. Subtly enough that I couldn¡¯t spot his movements from here, he slid the pick into the side of the woman¡¯s terminal. I wouldn¡¯t have even noticed if not for my deck dinging as it started a connection to the pick.


    I moved fast, jacking into my deck. I slid the program through the temporary connection and ran it. In mere moments, the Alpha-Tres Worm infested the device. It was an oddly tiring process. ¡°Done.¡±


    Worms were specifically designed to infiltrate undetected through Net Architecture to a certain extent, so I didn¡¯t need to worry too much about it being detected as long as I kept my commands below a certain threat level. Basically, only simple stuff on the fringes of the system. It''s a good thing that simple stuff is exactly what I need.


    I glanced up just in time to see Feras flinch back as he shoved his hand into his pocket. ¡°Hot!¡±


    The receptionist turned around with a brochure in hand. ¡°Sorry?¡±


    ¡°I was just commenting on the weather.¡± Feras looked out the window, and his eyes locked onto me across the way. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize  was in the forecast.¡±


    I ignored his gaze and got to work on my deck. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize you were a bitch. Picks don¡¯t even get that hot.¡± Of course they got hot - the heat being the reason they break after one use - but not to the point of it being too painful to touch.


    The receptionist cut off his next words. ¡°Right? I thought it was just me getting hot¡­ Here you are, Mr. Schel. Is there anything else you need?¡±


    ¡°Ask about their IT company.¡± It would make things far easier if I could find out now. If not, I still had plan C.


    ¡°My client is a bit¡­ .¡± He rubbed his ear. ¡°She was heavily concerned about the servers going down. The last insurance company I found for her didn¡¯t do quite well¡­ see this?¡± He raised a hand, shoving his bangs back to reveal the cut. ¡°She wasn¡¯t quite pleased.¡±


    Steffany looked affronted. ¡°How terrible!¡±


    ¡°Indeed¡­ but what can you do before the rich and powerful?¡±


    Steffany smiled, hiding the sudden anxiety in her face. ¡°Oh, well, you won¡¯t have to worry about that here! Our boss contracted Artoras to handle everything, so you shouldn¡¯t have any issues.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Miss Steffany. I hope you¡¯re here when I return.¡± Feras gave a light bow of his head and then headed for the exit.


    I stopped paying attention and focused on my newest target, Artoras. While he walked over, I pulled up pages and looked through them real quick. Artoras Solutions sat at the top of the list for smaller to medium-sized corporations to hire out IT issues. They had a main office here in the city and had several hundred contracts all over. At least, if their proud boasts and five-star reviews were to be trusted. Probably bot spam.


    The nice thing is the company had a very strong PR team, and there were thousands of photos of various staff doing their job. It was a perfect resource for phase two of my plan.


    ¡°Y-you get everything?¡± Feras asked as he slid in across the table from me. He was back to his weak little boy act and wasn¡¯t even recognizable to the gentleman he portrayed just moments before.


    I looked at him for a moment, trying to see through the act. He was good. Damn good. ¡®Course, I see the Cues, but they were inconclusive and mixed with dozens of other Cues. Maybe this was his base personality?


    I slid my deck around to him, allowing him to see Artoras¡¯s employees. ¡°I saw you had sewing supplies in your bag¡­ you any good with ¡®em?¡±


    ¡°Maybe¡­ what¡¯s it to you?¡± His eyes shifted down to the photos before looking around at the other people enjoying their dinner. His posture and micro-expressions also changed, growing cocky and confident. Was this his true face?


    I got the hint. I needed to offer an¡­ incentive. No one worked for free. Heck, the only reason he agreed to help me in the first place was for a couple days of having a roof over his head while he got his feet back under him. ¡°I¡¯ll let you stay a bit longer, assuming you aren¡¯t insufferable.¡±


    ¡®Course, I recognized my approach was heavy-handed. It was a calculated decision to act accordingly till I got some more information out of the guy. For all I know, he really was a bounty hunter trying to get the document¡¯s location from me¡­ If anything, the fact he went along with me so far only made me more suspicious.


    ¡°I''m decent. I could probably make one of these outfits in a day or so¡­¡± He crossed his arms over his chest, entirely losing the remnant boyish innocence as he turned into a prideful asshole. ¡°I want a cut though.¡±


    ¡°A cut?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I mean, I¡¯d be helping you even more with your gig, so I want a cut of the profits. You¡¯re making what, a grand?¡± He looked at me, and I tried to keep my expression as neutral as I could. ¡°Ah, more?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°I dunno what you¡¯re talking about.¡±


    ¡°At least double then.¡± A confident smirk wormed its way onto his lips. ¡°I want at least four hundred.¡±


    I stood up and pushed my chair back under the table. ¡°I¡¯ll just make it myself.¡± I had Tech, so sewing couldn¡¯t be too hard, right?


    ¡°And risk ruining your entry?¡± His smirk grew in confidence as he casually pushed my chair out with his foot. ¡°You could also think of it as a retainer fee. You pay me, and I won¡¯t blab to that sweet receptionist.¡±


    I tucked my hand into my jacket, resting it over the Sidewinder. ¡°Blackmail, huh?¡± I leaned onto the chair, slowly pushing it back in. ¡°Counter offer. You apologize for your gonk behavior, and I won¡¯t pop a cap into your skull. The chooms with the Fangs are quite good at making corpses disappear. It would be so easy to flatline you and just move on with my life.¡±


    We stared at each other, the air between us growing with hostility. I wouldn¡¯t back down here though; I couldn¡¯t afford it. There was no way in hell I would let him just get away with his plans to blackmail me. The psychological effect was more expensive than the actual Rayn here. Would I actually flatline him for it? Probably not. But he didn¡¯t know that. For all he knew, I was the run-of-the-mill Aythryn citizen.


    Something had to give, and eventually it did. His gaze flickered away as he bowed his head. His posture and demeanor changed yet again. Gone was the cocky and confident man. Now he looked so terribly . ¡°S-¡­ I have my back to the wall here...¡±


    I stared at the guy for a moment. Was this another mask? Gah, I hate grifters. If this was real though, would I feel a little bad? The guy looked as though he had fallen through rock bottom ages ago. I could empathize with that, and he had my sympathy assuming this personality was his real one. Sometimes people just hit the ground hard in life.


    Or it could all be fake to manipulate me¡­ Damn grifters! Even with Cue, I couldn¡¯t tell for sure due to the sheer amount of tells he was giving off. It was like he was flooding my senses with so much information I couldn''t quite tell which info was real.


    I slid back into the chair and tried to think of an alternative. A compromise where we both win. I could be the bigger person here¡­ sure he tried to blackmail me, but I had threatened to murder him, so who was really in the wrong here? I reckon neither of us. Criminals will be criminals, after all.


    ¡°Tell you what¡­ I¡¯ll pay you two hundred since you¡¯ve barely been involved. You never even think of blackmailing me again, and the next time I get a gig I¡¯ll think about taking you on as part of my crew for full pay.¡±


    ¡®Course, my decision wasn¡¯t entirely based on sympathy. I wasn¡¯t a saint, or anywhere near one. It all boils down to mutual benefit. I couldn¡¯t deny the usefulness of a talented grifter. Especially one who doubled as a Magus. His involvement with this current gig had sped up my plans by at least a week. If I had known he would be involved beforehand, I could potentially be done with this already. And there was no denying I needed some help. Even if I could make the outfit myself, I wasn''t confident in my abilities.


    ¡®Course, there was also the weirdness of how we met that made me want to keep him close. As they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. He wasn¡¯t an enemy- at least yet. Still, it was best I kept him close to see if I could decipher what was going on.


    ¡°Really?¡± A bit of light reentered his exhausted eyes.


    ¡°You scratch my back, I scratch yours¡­ or whatever the saying is.¡± I offered him a hand.


    He grasped mine in a firm shake. ¡°Deal¡­ you won¡¯t regret this.¡±

 Chapter 40

    Chapter 40The next morning we both got busy and didn¡¯t really speak to each other- rather, I got busy while he slept in. For a guy without even a proper home  being tied up, he slept deeply. He awoke when I hit him in the face with his bag of stuff, but otherwise continued to sleep. I could appreciate his relaxed approach. And it made me significantly less nervous of him doing something in the night, though I would still keep my guard up just in case.


    What I couldn¡¯t appreciate is someone who constantly shifts and speaks in their sleep. I¡¯m not a heavy sleeper, by necessity. Even though he was tied up in the living room all night, every time he would talk and move about in his sleep I would wake up. It was seriously annoying. Heck, the first time it happened I almost shot him because I forgot he was even there. The last time I almost shot him to end my suffering.


    Although I was lacking sleep, I wasn¡¯t idle. The first thing I did was sneak up and grab the guy¡¯s phone. Course, Hidden Hands, Lethargic Presence, and Stalk helped me out, though it was probably overkill. He was lasered in on sleeping, so he didn¡¯t even notice as I snuck back to my deck, uploaded the Alpha-Tres Worm to his phone as well as turned on the tracking software, and slipped it back into place as if nothing happened. It was insurance, nothing more.


    I also took the time to go down and chat to my landlord. In turns out Feras had, in fact, been living here before I had the place. Nice to know he wasn''t lying to me since day one, though that still wasn''t enough to make me trust him fully. It did lower my suspicions of it all being an eidolonic setup though. It was purely coincidental... I hope.


    After that, I pulled my hair into a ponytail and started to work on the device. I needed to finish it up, and soon. I was just having issues with the ADF receiver connecting to the antenna. It wasn¡¯t as simple as setting a frequency and letting it go. As soon as it connected, the hydraulic would start moving at random, and I had no idea why it was happening. After several hours, I could confidently say it was a software issue and not a hardware one, which is just .


    Hours passed by as I swapped between surfing the Net for ideas, trying to do it myself, and taking breaks to rehash my plans. I also took the time to look over the blueprint of Ajay Insurance¡¯s building. I memorized it at first glance, of course. Still, it helped to look at something. It gave my mind more space to analyze and work through alternative plans in case my current one went bottom up.


    I was starting to get frustrated when I decided to take a break. I set down my deck, hopped off the counter, and threw some water into a prepack after removing the paper fork that came with it. After a few seconds, the heating element inside the prepack reacted with the water, and the ramen instantly heated up to a nice eating temperature. It was  much nicer than eating cold and dry silage.


    Just as I was about to start eating, Feras peaked his head in with a cute fox sprite wrapped around his shoulder. It had not materialized yet, so I ignored its presence as its fluffy fur swayed in a nonexistent wind. ¡°Uh- hey, c-can I borrow one? I¡¯ll pay you back!¡± He was back to acting out the innocent and cowardly boy.


    I sighed and lowered the fork with a bite of somewhat delicious food on it. At least his presence wasn¡¯t entirely a bother thanks to his sprite. ¡°Just how are you going to pay me? You have a grift planned? And when?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m getting back in touch with my c-contacts for a gig¡­ It¡¯s been a month, so some of them are understandably weary about c-contacting me back¡­¡± He rubbed the back of his head, nearly hitting the fox, and a fragment of drained Aythryn citizen peeked through his timid boy act. Still couldn¡¯t tell if it was a facade.


    I stared at him for a time as my prepack steamed in my hands. ¡°What happened? Anything that¡¯ll blow onto me by proxy?¡±


    ¡°No!¡± He said. ¡°Y-you don¡¯t have to worry about that. It¡¯s been taken care of¡­¡±


    ¡°Then at least tell me the story of the blood stain in my bedroom.¡± I said as I reached into the only non-empty cabinet in the kitchenette and pulled out a prepack.


    His eyes snapped to it. ¡°I uh¡­ about a month ago, a couple gonks broke in and beat me up. The blood is where I half bled out.¡±


    Note to self: get better locks on the door- who am I kidding? If someone wanted to break in, a little lock wouldn¡¯t do anything. It was incredibly easy to lockpick such a thing, and even the dial ones weren¡¯t safe. I knew from a lot of personal experience in B&E just how easy it was to get through them.


    I would have to splurge and get a high-end system if I wanted true protection¡­ but then my apartment would be marked as having something of potential value due to the stronger security. True protection came in either looking too poor to be worth the effort, or having  too strong protection to be worth the effort. Still, as evidenced by the growing merc field, strong protection isn''t even all that good anymore.


    I tossed him the pack. ¡°Then you also need to buy the cleaners to scrub out the blood when you get more money.¡± Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    He looked at me like I was a monster as he turned up his innocent boy act to the max. Even the fox looked at me oddly. ¡°Um¡­ o-okay¡­ I need to go in a bit to get the a-actual clothing for the uniform. You¡¯re kinda short, so-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m perfectly normal! I just- just haven¡¯t hit my growth spurt yet¡­¡± I slouched down against the counter. Any day now it would come. My diet was even better, so surely I¡¯ll gain some height¡­ at least an inch? Please? I¡¯ll take a few inches over a Skill Point if one of you wants to offer me one! Can the eidolons even hear my thoughts? Or is it more of a vocalization thing?


    ¡° A-anyway, I¡¯m assuming we don¡¯t have money?¡±


    ¡°Not yet.¡± My mind shifted from my height to a less depressing topic. The only thing worse than realizing you were broke was a broke calling you out on it¡­


    He backed up with the prepack. ¡°Chek¡­ I¡¯ll, ahem,  it. Enjoy your meal.¡±


    I did, indeed, enjoy my meal. During that time, I surfed around the Net and checked out guides on how to do stuff regarding hand-to-hand combat. It would be a nice Skill to have at least my toes dipped in. I was better off getting trained by Uncle Ezra or Mira, but it at least got me used to seeing the motions. After that, I quickly returned to work.


    After a few hours, in which Feras returned at some point, I finally had a breakthrough. It took hours before I finally found something that helped me on an ancient site. Apparently, the reason my setup failed was thanks to ambient interference scrambling the signals. It didn¡¯t offer a solution, but at least I had a potential cause for my problems.


    Shortly after some focused research, I found a solution; frequency hopping. It was something first used way back during one of the old world wars. Basically, the carrier frequency for my signal would rapidly switch between a wide band of frequencies in a preset pattern and act like a password. This way, only my commands would reach the receiver and the ambient interference wouldn¡¯t bother it.


    The issue arose thanks to the fact most remote systems had frequency hopping built into them for ease of access since ADF naturally had a lot of ambient disturbances. I had bought cheap though, and cheap had shot me in the foot. Funny how that works.


    It took a while to set it up, especially considering I was using copy-pasted spaghetti code I barely understood the function of. After several hours trying to get it all set up through trial and error, I sent a test through. I watched the hinge like an excited fox as it slowly started to push out of its cylinder and the firing pin made a light tap against the table.


    I nearly shouted with joy as I played around with the signals and moved it about. An intense surge of satisfaction coursed through me as I looked at my newest toy. Sure, it wasn¡¯t elegant and there were definitely better things out there, but I  it myself. It was incomparable in my heart.


    The little guy was just missing a single thing: a name. I played with it for a while as I tried to figure out what to call it. At long last, something came to mind as I watched the firing pin hit the table repeatedly: tapper.


    With all that figured out, I redrew the schematic in my journal and hammered in the details as I labeled it. I spent the rest of the night making two more tappers just in case.


    Feras stopped me just before I hit the sack. He was holding the uniform, which looked stunningly similar. I couldn¡¯t tell much of a difference between it and the real clothing. The patchwork, it being the company''s logo of a blue bird wrapped around a terminal, looked incredible. The guy had some talent at the very least.


    ¡°It¡¯s not done yet.¡± Feras said as he handed it to me with a drained expression.


    I arched an eyebrow at him and looked it over. ¡°What¡¯s missing?¡±


    He wearily pulled out his phone and showed me a picture of an Artoras employee. ¡°The badge. I don¡¯t have the resources to make one.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ what are you missing?¡±


    ¡°A lot of things. It¡¯ll be a couple hundred Rayn to get everything back to make this kind of stuff flawlessly.¡± He zoomed in on the badge. ¡°Corps are starting to make IRF-coded badges to prove they¡¯re real. I can¡¯t replicate that without some specialized equipment.¡±


    This was news to me¡­ what are the chances he¡¯s lying to me? Hmm¡­ not very high. It does sound like something a paranoid corpo would make to stop the very thing I¡¯m trying to do. Especially if it was an IT or security corporation. ¡°I¡¯m as broke as you¡­ Can I run without it?¡±


    ¡°No. Did you see that box behind the receptionist''s desk?¡± He scrolled through the images on his phone.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I thought it was weird back then.


    He stopped on an image and showed it to me. It was a similar-looking device. ¡°It¡¯s not exact, but close enough. Chances are high it''s an IRF reader¡­ the fact they have one in the first place is weird. That kind of tech hasn¡¯t made it to the smaller corps yet. Most likely, they¡¯re paying for Artoras¡¯s high-end package.¡±


    I frowned as I leaned up against the wall of my apartment. Part of me wanted to stay suspicious about this IRF coding, but he would know better about this kind of thing since his job is going in the front. If only I was more confident in my sneaking Skills... ¡°Is there a workaround?¡±


    ¡°How good are you at pickpocketing?¡±


    The next morning, after kicking Feras out to take a shower, I drove as close as I could to Artoras¡¯s headquarters on the northernmost edge of Old Town. The building was sandwiched between the ¡®historic¡¯ buildings of Old Town and the newer ones of Downtown.


    Feras had stayed behind to sleep in once I let him back into the apartment. I was weary about leaving him behind in the apartment by himself, but the worm and tracking software in his phone gave me a small amount of confidence. I checked the Mapp? in my hud and saw him still at my apartment building. Good.


    I already had on the uniform of the group. It was essentially a custom white button-up shirt and slacks. The symbol of the corporation was sewn onto the slacks and shirt. The corp thankfully didn¡¯t seem to be too strict on extras. Several of the pictures showed them wearing hats, jackets, blazers, and other assorted ¡®extra¡¯ pieces.


    I pulled my baseball hat, go Aythryn City Slashers, from my saddlebag and put it on. I also snagged a small lighter and a half-empty box of cigarettes I kept for a rainy day. Then I followed along with foot traffic to Artoras¡¯s massive glass front entry and checked it out as I walked by.


    The place was designed like a massive U with arms of balconies and offices surrounding a drop to the lobby. ¡®Course I already knew that thanks to Eidetic Schematic and the city¡¯s directory, but it was good to get a visual.


    A gaggle entered the building, mostly splitting into two. What looked to be employees headed toward the interior of the building blocked by armed security, metal detectors, and card readers. The other group, clients probably, headed to a reception area.


    I could sneak in the front, but it wasn¡¯t exactly my style. Instead, I headed to a side alley of the building to follow a tried and true method of mine. The roads in the alley were far more worn out than the main ones, and little pools of water were everywhere. Even back here, away from the mainstream streets, there were occasionally bits of neon reflecting upon those pools as the rain slowly drizzled down.


    My head kept low to block my face from most of the camera¡¯s around and my hand stayed tightly wrapped around the Sidewinder just in case. I fingered the lighter in my other hand as my feet carried me around back, spotting the Artoras HQ fire exit smashed between several dumpsters. A small piece of asphalt was placed by the door.


    This area wasn¡¯t exclusive to the pools of water building up. Floating in said pools were little cigarette buds. Most were random brands of synth-tobacco cigarettes, each promising to be better than the last while probably bringing increasingly dangerous effects. Heck, there were even quite a few Tosta ones.


    One kind in particular stood out. It was red and black instead of the usual brown and white. Printed on the paper was a laughing skull wearing a jester¡¯s hat; the Neo-Jokers. Someone around here appreciated real tobacco.


    Seeing as no one was there, I pulled a cigarette out and cut off a quarter before lighting it up. The area was obviously where several smokers came, and probably a camera dead zone to boot. No way they went somewhere where they could be recorded smoking instead of working.


    I hung outside for several minutes, waiting patiently with my nose wrinkled toward the stench of cigarettes. After a period of time, the door creaked open and a man poked his head out. Immediately, the cigarette flicked from my hands to a puddle and I put on a ¡®guilty¡¯ expression.


    The man wore a rather fancy suit. Exec, maybe? He chuckled and propped the door with the chunk before heading out with a cigarette of his own. It was one of the fancy Neo-Joker ones. ¡°You new here, kid?¡±


    ¡°Y-yes sir.¡± I stammered and put on a worried look. I may not be a grifter, but this level of acting was rather easy.


    ¡°Got a light?¡± He held the cigarette out to me.


    I fumbled for the lighter thanks to my ¡®nerves¡¯, and pulled it out. I held it aloft and lit the guy¡¯s cigarette. He nodded to me and took a long drag of his cigarette, letting out a breath full of smoke. I edged around him and headed for the door-


    ¡°Hey, kid!¡± The guy called out to me.

 Chapter 41

    Chapter 41I froze, making a quick calculation on booking it over turning to face the man. Eventually, my rationality won out over my fight-or-flight instinct and I turned back. ¡°Sir?¡±


    ¡°Next time, don¡¯t put it out so fast, chek? I won¡¯t tell if you won¡¯t.¡± He smiled and took a drag of his cigarette. The smoke came out pitch black and actually smelled kind of good compared to the cheap one I used. At least, for a cigarette. It was still terrible, but the Neo-Jokers sure knew how to make them.


    ¡°Thank you, sir.¡± I dipped my head and entered the building.


    Infiltration successful. Getting in was almost pitifully easy amongst medium corporations. They toed the line of easily infiltratable security and being so small everyone knew everyone. Such a thing definitely wouldn¡¯t have worked at Ajay¡¯s where the guy knew all of his workers¡­ or maybe not considering how vain he seemed¡­


    It definitely wouldn¡¯t have worked at somewhere like Mystech or Raijin where their security had security. Most assuredly not Sentinel. The place was practically para-military. Maybe Medtech? They were essentially a massive hospital, so it wouldn¡¯t be impossible¡­


    Anyway, I was in. Now came the complicated step of finding the right ID. I had talked to Feras about it this morning before he went back to sleep, and there was a high likelihood the IRF scanner was linked to the Artoras employee database. I needed someone who looked similar to me, at least enough so as not to raise any suspicions.


    I slipped out of my jacket, covering my chest with it to hide the fact I had no apparent ID. After that, I walked around the hallways, keeping my head down to avoid cameras and passing by groups. I kept up a calm, casual walk that looked as if I knew where I was going.


    Passing by a man, I snuck my hand by with Stalk, Hidden Hands, and Lethargic Presence active. Without anyone around noticing in part to their varied yawns, I swiped his badge and clipped it onto my shirt as a temporary measure. Thankfully, they weren¡¯t the kind of IDs with photos. Just names, department codes, and a few other pieces of information.


    Now came the difficult part, finding the right person. With the new badge, I became a lot more confident and took the stairs up to the second floor¡¯s offices. I walked around, nodding to a few people as I went and holding the same dead smile most of them forced. No one stopped me or tried to talk to me; everyone was too busy living their own lives to care.


    After turning down a few halls and following the directions of several signs, I arrived at the cubicle farm where dozens of employees were sitting at their desks working on various things. I checked the nearby placard on the wall; External IT Department.


    I didn¡¯t immediately walk in. I peeked through the cubicles, looking for a good target as I took in the offices on the edges of the halls. A guard passed towards me, and I started to move. Standing around would only look suspicious. I immediately entered the cubicle farm and headed towards the back. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Checking each one, I found someone that looked kind of like me, if I actually ate well, was taller, and older. If asked, I could play off as going to a sculptor. Preem. I ¡®tripped¡¯ into her cubicle, hitting the ground just in front of her with a light thunk. I twisted on the ground, further going into her cubicle.


    The woman instantly bolted out of her chair like a pack of Dune Walkers were after her. Then, her brain kicked into gear and she offered me a hand with the same dead smile most corporate drones had. ¡°Oh dear! Are you alright?¡±


    I may not be around corpos much, but I could read between the lines. By her stilted words and aggravated smile, she really meant ¡®get out¡¯. I took her offered hand, leaning on her as I swapped my badge with hers. ¡°T-thank you! Sorry for the trouble.¡±


    After that, I calmly exited the cubicle farm and headed for the stairs. Easiest heist of my life. Corporate drones just made for  too easy marks, especially after being let into their building. They were like sheep all gathered into a pasture for me, the wolf, to consume to my heart''s content. ¡®Course, breaking into anything important here would be incredibly difficult with the shepherds- I mean security, but simply snatching an ID? Child¡¯s play.


    Getting out of the building with my loot was even easier. For the most part, the security was here to keep people out, not in. I easily slid past the guards and exited out the front door, all while keeping my face obscured by my hat. After this, I really need to invest in a feature scrubber. They were pretty expensive luxury items, but not having to worry about cameras catching my face and the Crusade tracking me down would be more than worth it.


    I got back to my bike and started the drive towards Ajay Insurance. As I went, I had my PA call up Feras. Like a gonk, I forgot my bag¡­


    ¡°Hello? Who is this?¡± His voice came across my commlink.


    Right¡­ I forgot to give him my number. ¡°It¡¯s me.¡±


    He yawned loudly and there was the sound of rustling clothes. ¡°Ah yes¡­ you¡­ you still haven¡¯t given me your name. You know that, right?¡±


    ¡°Are we on a name basis?¡± I asked as I switched lanes and passed a particularly slow truck.


    ¡°We¡¯re practically living together, so yeah?¡±


    I growled into my headset. ¡°Way to make it sound weird. Fine. Zuku.¡± Not to self, Shiro is very bad at making names up on the spot. I literally just took the first part of my last name, Tsukuyomi, and changed it a bit.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the issue now?¡±


    The sound of a faucet turning on came across. ¡°You just don¡¯t seem like a Zuku¡­ whatever. To what do I have the pleasure of your call, Miss Zuku?¡±


    ¡°You want more Rayn?¡±


    ¡°Always.¡± His reply came quickly, nearly cutting me off.


    I nodded my head. A desperate desire for more Rayn had already been noted, but it was good to see I was right. Probably to pay off his debt, however much that is. ¡°I¡¯ll up your pay. Grab my bag and meet me at Ajay¡¯s. I want you to do overwatch.¡±


    The decision to have him watch over the area while I did my thing was entirely impulsive. I didn¡¯t want to pay him just for grabbing my bag. To be fair, having an overwatch was never a bad idea necessarily. Who knows, it could save me- No! Don¡¯t jinx yourself, Shiro!


    ¡°Sure. Which bag-¡±


    My PA brought another phone call up. Nael. I immediately hung up on Feras and answered him. ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°Hey, kid.¡± His voice held the usual smooth warmth it usually did. ¡°How are you holding up? Been a while since you checked in.¡±


    I laughed lightly. ¡°You know me¡­ just living the dream. I got a new apartment, and I¡¯ve been running all over the city for work.¡±


    ¡°Nova! I know you¡¯ve been wanting to move out for a while. It''s good you¡¯re getting out from under the Fang¡¯s thumb. And thanks for sending over that couple.¡± He paused, and I could almost picture him scratching his beard. ¡°Hey, it''s almost been a month since I installed the Phantom. How¡¯s it been treating you?¡±


    I dodged a car barrelling down the road. A second later I stopped entirely as a Crusade Cruiser blitzed by me with its siren on. ¡°Alright. It¡¯s got a few issues, but nothing too bad.¡± Other than almost melting my brain out of my skull. A  defect, all things considered.


    ¡°Preem stuff, eh? It¡¯s about time for you to head to Advent. Do you want to come with me? I¡¯m headed there anyway to catch up with my friend.¡± His voice got slightly quieter. ¡°I¡¯ll be with you in a moment.¡±


    Good ¡®ole Nael¡­ he must think I¡¯ll be nervous about heading to a corpo lab. He¡¯s right of course. Corporate labs freaked me out. Thankfully, it was only a corporate lab and not a hellish Savant lab. I hope I never have to stumble across one of those. ¡°I- I appreciate the offer, but you don¡¯t have to.¡±


    He typed away on something in the background. ¡°Alright. If you change your mind, just let me know.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. I¡¯m in the middle of something, but I¡¯ll head over in a couple days.¡±


    My PA notified me a text message had come across. ¡°I sent you Advent¡¯s location. Just ask for Doctor Fodisa and tell him I sent you. Good luck, kid.¡±


    ¡°Cya.¡± I hung up the call and finished my drive to Ajay Insurance.


    Feras arrived a couple minutes later as I waited patiently amongst the crowd. He handed me my bag and shook his head. ¡°I-I had a hard time deciding between the three bags in the apartment¡­¡±


    I slid it on. ¡°Well you grabbed the right one¡­¡± I pulled him aside and set up a channel for our commlinks. ¡°Post up somewhere nearby.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± He headed towards the Neo-sea food place we had been to the last time.


    I shook my head and entered an alley. After a couple of twists and turns, and scaring off a couple street rats, I found what I was looking for. A manhole cover sat in the middle of the alley.


    Reaching into my bag, I grabbed the multitool and used it to pry the manhole cover up and out of the way. Once it was moved, I slid down into the tunnel system. It was old, but not nearly as ancient as the Underground had been. The area was relatively newer, at least forty or so years compared to the centuries-old stuff buried beneath the surface.


    Still, it was cold, damp, and reeked quite a bit. There were several areas where it looked like homeless people had shacked up at one point, but they had long since either died or left. The access tunnels were very cramped with pipes of various kinds running this way and that.


    There was barely enough room to squeeze through for a normal person, so I was able to walk around mostly fine. Yeah, that stung¡­


    I pulled the blueprint of the tunnel system into the forefront of my mind and headed for the utility access point for the building as I pulled out a lockpicking set from my bag. It had been a long time since I had used them, but my skills from B&E¡¯s were  coming to play.


    It was rather easy to get to, though I didn¡¯t immediately head down the right tunnel. I stopped just at the entrance and took a deep breath. According to the blueprint, there was a camera watching over the entry to the utilities. It was far newer than the surroundings, and it had been part of the city¡¯s attempts to halt crime.


    I released the breath and activated Blackout, completely ignoring the fact I had told Mira I wouldn¡¯t use it again. It was just too useful, especially for times like this. I exploded into action, racing down the tunnel. It was rather short and ended in a barred door with the camera looking down the tunnel just above it.


    In a matter of seconds, I reached the door. I immediately crouched down and fiddled with the tumblers using the lockpick. Before my chrome eye could even heat to an uncomfortable level, I unlocked the door and entered the small utility room for the building Ajay Insurance inhabited. Once I was in, I shut off Blackout.


    The camera was new, yes, but it had a fixed arc, so I didn¡¯t have to worry about being spotted here. It was more of a keep honest person honest type of deal, just like locks. They worked but acted like a paper wall for anyone who actually wanted to get by them. Heck, the camera probably didn¡¯t even have good ICE protecting it. A Netrunner would be able to get in even easier than me.


    I thought about the blueprint again and slowly whittled down the various switches, pipes, valves, and panels till I narrowed down what I wanted; the Node access port. The actual access port itself was covered in a mesh and locked with a key, but the wires coming out of it weren¡¯t. A bit more looking through said wires, and I found the one for the office that Ajay Insurance took up.


    I immediately set to work isolating the line and then pulled a tapper from my bag. It was a bit annoying, but I managed to use the multitool to drill the small device into the wall just next to the line so that the firing pin sat right over the access wire. Preem.


    The tapper should hit the wire, not stopping the flow of access entirely, but interrupting it with each tap. For those using the Net, it should seem like random drops in quality. I threw everything back into my bag, pulled out my deck, and made sure everything was set up. I set the tapper to hit the wire at random intervals to better sell the idea.


    I activated Blackout once more and headed for the door. It was time.

 Chapter 42

    Chapter 42I exited out of the tunnel system, slid the manhole cover back into place, and headed for the seafood place. I immediately spotted Feras talking to a waitress as I worked my way over to his table.


    The waitress left as I sat down, and the guy frowned at me. ¡°I thought it was zero hour.¡±


    ¡°It is.¡± A smile sprung to my lips as I pulled out my deck. It was so nerdy. I messed around on it for a moment, pulling up all my programs and the connection to the worm hiding in the receptionist¡¯s terminal. I then sent a code to my little tapper to start and turned to watch the fireworks.


    I zoomed in with the dual zoom augment of my eye onto the workers across the street. Immediately, several of their faces dropped after I set the tapper to work. In just a matter of minutes, they grew increasingly frustrated and started to move about in a panic.


    ¡°Nova, they¡¯re mad. Now what?¡± He asked as he bit into a- a shrimp burrito? Gross. Where''d he even get the money to buy one? He''s been living off my dime this whole time.


    I held a finger up and waited patiently. Eventually, there was movement from the receptionist''s desk as she started to call a number. Days of work and hours of planning all for this moment. Immediately, I went to work and messed with the line, redirecting the phone call to my phone while spoofing it to look like Artoras¡¯s. It ate two of my activations from the Alpha-Tres Worm, but this is exactly what I had installed it for.


    I made my voice slightly nasally and higher pitched. ¡°This is Artoras Solutions, how may I help you?¡±


    Steffany¡¯s voice came across the line. ¡°Hi! I¡¯m with Ajay Insurance. We¡¯re one of your clients.¡±


    ¡°One moment please.¡± I clacked around on my deck, making noises like I was actually using it as Feras eyeballed me weirdly. ¡°Ah, Ajay Insurance. Yes, how can I help you?¡±


    ¡°Our Net connection is going haywire here. It''s glitching out and rapidly blinking on and off. Can you send someone to take a look at it?¡± Steffany''s stress levels were apparent not only in her voice but also in her actions as she practically paced around while rubbing at her hair. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°Of course, ma¡¯am.¡± I clicked around again as I checked the name on the badge I stole. ¡°Our technician, Seki Yusoko, has been dispatched. She¡¯ll be arriving shortly. Is there anything else I can help you with?¡±


    Steffany let out a relieved sigh. ¡°No. Thank you much.¡±


    ¡°No problem, ma¡¯am.¡± I hung up the phone and settled back into my chair. I had my PA set up an alarm for twenty minutes.


    Feras glanced at me before looking out the window. Rain started to fall, and the drops lightly tapped across the neon-lit surface. ¡°Could use some work.¡±


    I closed my eyes and shook my head. ¡°My specialty lies in subtlety in the first place¡­¡± Hopefully, the next one will be more in and out, and less week-long planning and more execution. Coming up with a workaround was a draining process.


    ¡°Still. If she was more attentive, she would recognize that your voice was stilted¡­¡± He shrugged. ¡°I reckon that woman is in a world of her own though. She seemed like the type that spends more time reading romance novels than anything else.¡±


    ¡°Yeah? Why do you say that?¡±


    Feras looked at me and shook his head. ¡°The same reason I¡¯d say you have no friends and are quite the loner based on your antagonistic attitude and mannerisms. It speaks of not being fully socialized in your youth¡­


    ¡°Step one of the grift; know who you are conning. Steffany practically ate out of my hand when I acted the gentlemanly type that shows up in fiction.¡±


    I stayed silent¡­ his words kinda hurt? He was right, which was the worst part. Mira, quite literally, was my only friend around my age. Granted, it''s not  my fault. When other kids were joining gangs or going to school, I was busy trying to earn money for food¡­ or was that just an excuse I gave? I enjoyed being alone, sometimes¡­


    There was a strangled silence between us. Feras continued to look out the window at the office space and I followed suit after a time. I mentally rehearsed everything as the timer ticked down.


    Eventually, it hit zero. I immediately stood and looked at myself in the window. The Artoras uniform clung to me, and the badge sat just over my chest. I had my backpack full of tools, and my deck sat just at my hip. I pulled my hair into a bun and settled the Slashers¡¯ hat back on my head. Something was missing¡­


    Right. I pulled the virtu-goggles out of my bag and threw them around my neck. ¡°Alright¡­ you ready?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll call out anything weird.¡± The guy tapped his commlink. He threw on that annoying boyish smile. ¡°Good luck, Zuku.¡±


    That name was cringe. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    Without further adieu, I left the neo-seafood restaurant and headed across the street. The first floor was a lobby area for the entire building with the landlord¡¯s offices filling in the space. I made my way through it while moving my hat to block the camera¡¯s view of my face and moved up to the second floor.


    Four corporations, all just as small as Ajay Insurance. The blueprints for the building had already been memorized, so it was rather easy to make my way to the right one. I entered the office space and was immediately noticed by Steffany. I made a subtle adjustment to how I held my head, blocking the majority of my face under the bill of my Slashers hat.


    ¡°Oh. You¡¯re finally here.¡± Her reaction to me was entirely different than how she met Feras. She had on the typical mask of every corporate drone, though hers showed several stress cracks.


    ¡°Nice. Now sell the part, and act completely disinterested in everything she says. You are superior to this plebian from a small corp.¡± Feras¡¯s voice came across the comms.


    ¡°Artoras IT specialist¡­ what seems to be the problem?¡± I imitated the drone mask, trying my best to ignore his voice in my ear. He was right, back seat driving got very annoying.


    Steffany headed out of the desk area before turning back. ¡°Right! C-can I see your badge? I need to add you to the system.¡±


    ¡°Here.¡± I smoothly unclipped it and handed it over to the woman with the artificial confidence of being from a bigger corporation. This was the moment of truth right here. About a week of planning and setting up all for this moment. My heart pumped in my chest, beating pure adrenaline through my system.


    She grabbed it and inserted it into the black box. ¡°J-just a moment.¡± She then clicked around on her terminal. After a couple seconds, all the terminals in the room stuttered and she let out an aggravated sigh.


    Feras was right, the thing was an IRF scanner. He was rapidly proving to be quite a useful person. If he hadn¡¯t said something, I would¡¯ve been caught right here and needed to make a run. He was still super suspicious, but- well¡­ he was handy. It was beginning to reinforce the notion that I ask him about the next gig to see just how helpful a second set of eyes could be.


    The woman looked down at her terminal and then looked back up at me several times with a slightly confused daze. ¡°You uh- erm¡­ you look quite a bit y-younger than the image here.¡±


    Feras¡¯s voice sparked to life in my ear. ¡°Put some pressure on her. She showed a weak will when I spoke to her; she''ll crack under the stress and ignore her suspicions.¡±


    I followed his advice. ¡°I had some work done¡­ I hardly see how that matters? You want me to fix your Net issues, or what?¡±


    ¡°R-right.¡± Steffany clicked around a bit more with a look of concentration on her face. Then she pulled the badge back out and handed it to me. ¡°Okay, do you n-need anything?¡±


    I moved a hand to my chin and looked like I was thinking quite deeply. ¡°Hmm¡­ should probably start with the servers. Make sure it''s not a city-side error.¡±


    ¡°I-I¡¯ll take you to them.¡± Steffany moved out from behind the desk for real this time and led me further into the office, passing several annoyed-looking workers.


    We moved back towards the rear of Ajay Insurance. I shifted and moved my head to hide my face from the cameras the best I could, disguising the act as if looking around the office. The servers were located right across the hall from the boss¡¯s office. Probably so he could keep a close eye on them.


    ¡°Here they are-¡±


    Ajay¡¯s door popped open and the man himself stepped out. ¡°Steffany! When is-¡± His eyes met mine, and he was quite the expressive person. ¡°Oh. Nova!¡± He crossed over and unlocked the server door. Full biometric locks including print and retinal on a vault-like metal door. Would¡¯ve been a bitch to crack if I came in the usual way.


    ¡°Just let me know if you need anything. The sooner this issue is fixed, the sooner these gonks can get back to work.¡± He headed back into his office as lightning cracked in the distance.


    ¡°Of course, sir.¡± I held the dead drone smile as Steffany started to move back towards the reception area. Corporate culture was disgusting, but it was damn easy to imitate.


    I wasted no time getting into the server room. Several server banks were set up along the walls, casting moody blue light everywhere as they ran. They stuttered harshly as I pulled out my deck; the tapper just hit once more.


    I moved over to a terminal in the room and flashed my Artoras badge over a scanner. The screen blinked a few times before letting me through the lock screen. Pulling the jack from my wrist, I shoved it into the small deck and then connected the deck¡¯s output jack into the server¡¯s terminal.


    Before I did anything, I pulled up the diagnostics of the server on the terminal screen. I had to make it look like I was actually doing something in case Ajay decided to check up on me. Then I threw on the virtu-goggles and plugged them into my deck too, turning them on as they connected.


    Immediately, my vision changed as they started up the Augmented Reality of the Net. I could still see the meatspace, though there was a dark grid pattern laid over everything like some kind of retro outrunner art. On second thought, it looked almost exactly like the space I had learned about Land Vehicles, though quite a bit less defined. Weird.


    Laying under the grid and over meatspace sat ancient-looking stonework covering the actual structure of the building. It looked as though I stood in some kind of ancient castle. Bookshelves covered the walls, each of them filled to the brim with glowing books of various shapes and sizes reaching far into a vaulted roof that reached several times taller than the real size of the floor.


    Every line and pattern overlaying my vision were bits and pieces of code. Netrunners in this space ruled absolutely and could shift and twist everything in here at will if they were good enough. I was not a Netrunner. If anything, I was a tourist lost in another world of confusing - albeit pretty - grids and art. At most, I could run the simple commands built into my deck¡¯s operating system. Thankfully, that should be all I would need.


    A tall figure loomed in the doorway, fully visible through the virtu goggles. It was a gnarled mass of twisting ooze roughly in the shape of a person. It looked at me, two glowing red pinpoints in the dark. After a moment, the thing nodded its grotesque oozy protrusion of a head and information popped up next to it in a similar box to how the interface looked.


    It was the daemon of Ajay Insurance''s system and a rather high-end one at that. The thing was a type called a Mimic according to the information that the system fed to my goggles. Daemons were interesting creations. They were very expensive and acted like the virtual guard dogs of systems. They were half AI, though the people who made them were very careful about limiting a daemon to being only half. True AI has been incredibly illegal ever since the K-10 Convention.


    Apparently, this daemon¡¯s primary defensive tactic was copying the code of whatever comes at it and sending it back. Quite the annoying daemon to fight, especially considering the other defenses that were bound to be spread throughout the Net Architecture. It might not win against a strong Netrunner, but it would surely slow one down long enough for an alternative solution to arise. ''Course, it would''ve wiped the floor with me if I had tried to hack into it.


    The entire sequence of events was an AR visualization of code and the system accepting me as an admin. I don''t know who originally set up the coding for the AR visualization, but they had my thanks. It was far more interesting than just looking at long lines of code.

 Chapter 43

    Chapter 43If I had an internal deck, I could walk around and pluck the various ¡®books¡¯ from the shelves. This entire AR scene and Net Architecture would''ve been a Virtual Reality that I could''ve interacted with to the full extent. Instead, since I only had an external deck, I was stuck with an Augmented Reality that I could only interface with through the deck. It''s like I was outside the Net, trying to move it around through the small strips of code written by my deck''s operating system.


    With that restriction in mind, I started a long and exhaustive process of looking through my deck¡¯s overlaid screen at Ajay Insurance''s hundreds of files stored on their servers. The search bar had been disabled entirely for some reason, and I couldn¡¯t just enable it with my current skills. So, I spent nearly an hour looking through the boring files of the insurance company. To better sell the story, I also changed the tapper¡¯s taps so they would be further apart like I was doing my ¡®job¡¯.


    After an hour, I found the malwort.mp4 file behind several hidden folders. I cast a superstitious look around, eyeing the server room''s lone camera, before discretely pulling a chip from my bag and slotting it into place. I downloaded the file and slid the chip back into the bag. Part one of the gig complete.


    I also took the time to copy over every important-looking file onto separate chips. I was limited on space, so only the ones regarding contracts, financial accounts, and data on their clients made it in. I might be able to find something to smear the corporation¡¯s name for the other contract. I''d be a fool to turn down a free five thousand Rayn. If not, surely the information was worth something to somebody.


    I glanced through the rest of the files, including a bunch regarding the corp¡¯s finances. Oddly enough, the security upgrades throughout the years were all paid for with alternative money streams. The Rayn just appeared in the corp¡¯s accounts as if a storm blew by, only to be spent on fleshing out the security. And it wasn''t a small amount. Ajay had spent far more money on setting up the Net Architecture than any small corp I had seen.


    My eyes caught on a purchase order for a rather strong safe. Ajay had repurchased one before the corp started to do well for itself- rather, before Rayn started to flow in from ''corporate investments'' according to the finances. Might be worth checking the boss''s office for some extra Rayn.


    He was in his office though. It would be kind of difficult to steal right in front of his eyes. I would need a distraction of some kind. Hmm¡­ ¡°Feras.¡± Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°Chek chek, Zuku.¡± He replied with a monotone tone, the comms barely catching the patter of rain against the windows of the restaurant. ¡°Everyone in the o-office looks just as bored as the one before them.¡±


    ¡°No, not that¡­ how would you like to be cut in?¡± I glanced through the servers, making sure I got everything as I began to pull out to the bare minimum to sell the act.


    ¡°Really?¡± A bit of energy crept into his voice.


    I did some quick math as I sneakily pulled the virus chip from my bag and plugged it into the server bank. ¡°Twenty percent.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ We''re going up against a corp, and pay needs to match the danger, right? Fifty percent.¡± He asked.


    ¡°Twenty-five percent. You¡¯re living in my apartment, leech.¡± It was still within an acceptable range. I would still be getting seventy-five percent of the profit, which should be more than enough to cover the apartment and my equipment expenses. Hopefully, it would also be enough to start getting into some other stuff I was planning.


    The sound of rustling clothes came across like he just sat up and a fork clattered against a plate. ¡°That''s kinda h-hurtful... ok! What do you need, boss?¡±


    ¡°Come pull Ajay out of his office for at least two minutes," I asked as I pushed the chip containing the virus into the server banks. I didn¡¯t immediately activate it, instead putting a ten-minute delay before the file containing the virus would open automatically.


    By the time I set everything up to fulfill the gig, I heard him speak again in his confident, gentlemanly voice. ¡°Steffany! How are you, dear?¡±


    ¡°Oh! Mr. Schel. Y-you came back?¡± The receptionist''s voice came across faintly. Her voice was far more emotional than the bored tone she used with me. Favoritism much?


    He chuckled lightly. ¡°Of course! My client has taken a keen interest in this place. She uh¡­ requested I speak to Mr. Ajay personally. She wants to move a storm if you catch my drift.¡±


    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be a problem! J-just give me a second.¡± She must¡¯ve backed away from Feras because her voice cut out. Only something about a big client came through.


    A few moments later, Ajay¡¯s door opened up from across the hall. He looked at me and I acted like I was hard at work, not even noticing his glance. He left, and a while later his voice came across the commlink. ¡°You must be Mr. Schel!¡±


    ¡°Am I good to go?¡± I asked as I glanced up at the camera in the corner of the room. I casually moved to a server bank outside of the camera¡¯s view and started ¡®working¡¯ on it in preparation.


    ¡° just a moment, don¡¯t I recognize you?¡± Feras¡¯s gentlemanly act dipped a little bit into a more frat-boy approach. ¡°Yeah, you were that cool guy at that party at the marina.¡±


    ¡°Ah! A fellow enthusiast!¡± Ajay¡¯s voice picked up, and I could hear him from the hallway.


    The tapper smacked again, causing the entire server room to flicker as the connection took a hit. Feras¡¯s voice shifted again, taking on a hint of concern. ¡°What was that?¡±


    Ajay laughed lightly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it; our IT technician is just working on the servers. Shoring up defenses and all that.¡±


    A suppressed chuckle escaped me. ¡°Shoring up defenses, eh?¡± I did the exact opposite with the virus. If anything, I was destroying their defenses.


    ¡°Might I see a bit of the process around here? My client wants me to get a full scope on the scene before coming to a decision.¡± Feras asked.


    Ajay laughed once more. ¡°Of course! Let me show you around."


    "Nova! Now is a good time?¡± The grifter said, hinting towards me.


    "Say, this client of yours... might I ask who they are?¡±


    "Sorry, choom. She wants anonymity until she settles on where she wants her accounts to be taken care of. You know how it is..."


    Taking a deep breath and pushing their conversation to the back of my mind, I activated Blackout. There were about thirty seconds left in the battery, and I needed to make them count. I moved to the door and peeked my head out with my Perks active. No one was paying any attention to the server room, or even this hallway. Most people were busy in their own worlds or watching their boss walk around. Feras did a preem job distracting Ajay too, so even the boss wouldn¡¯t notice.


    I darted across the hall and entered Ajay¡¯s office. He had left it unlocked- he  coming right back, so why lock it? The office had a grand RealWood? desk overlooking a view of the streets covered in paper. Several grand bookcases, significantly lacking in aesthetic appeal compared to the AR ones in the server room, covered the walls. Small paintings and sculptures broke up the monotony of books across the shelves.


    Thankfully, there weren¡¯t any cameras in here, so I disabled Blackout before it could even warm up. I looked around a bit more before spotting the safe. I was half expecting it to be behind a painting or something, but nope! It was just sitting there in the corner. And what a safe it was. At least an inch thick, though it looked like there was barely in storage room inside. It definitely focused on protection over storage space.


    I slid over to the safe and looked it over. It was a simple key lock, which was really a waste considering how beefy the safe was. It was like walling in a ferocious monster with reinforced concrete walls, but then you make the gate out of plywood. It was dumb.


    I pulled my kit out of my bag and grabbed the tension wrench and pick. From there, it was as easy as putting tension on the lock with the wrench while messing with the lock¡¯s tumblers with the pick.


    After about ten seconds, the lock popped open. I heaved the door open, revealing several folders, a dusty old war pistol with obvious corrosion, a dozen IDs for what looked to be clients, and a handful of pills I didn¡¯t recognize. Ignoring the pills and pistol, I took a minute taking photos of every single file in the folders to look over later.


    I also snatched one of the IDs that looked somewhat like me. I had been wanting one for a while, and it would do for now until I could afford to have my own made. Then, I put everything back how it was and closed up the safe. Activating Blackout once more, I darted back to the server room into the same camera deadzone. Blackout deactivated with enough juice to power ten more seconds left in the tank.


    I ¡®finished¡¯ my work, headed back into the camera¡¯s view, and started to pack my deck back up. ¡°I¡¯m all done. Keep talking to the guy for an hour so as not to arouse suspicion.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got to say, Mr. Ajay, your operation is quite impressive. Might we speak more of the¡­ specifics?¡± Feras asked.


    Ajay laughed happily. ¡°Thank you! Please, come to my office. I would love nothing more.¡±


    Just as Ajay was passing back into his office, I closed the server room¡¯s door. ¡°Mr. Ajay! I have finished with the servers. You should be good to go.¡±


    Ajay smiled and motioned to me. ¡°See? Best IT Technician¡­ might I ask, what was causing the issues?¡±


    My gaze flickered to Feras, who was smirking like an idiot as I shifted the weight of my backpack. ¡°Somebody made several shady downloads. Bloated up the connection and strangled it. Should all be good now.¡±


    Ajay¡¯s face immediately shifted. He turned¡­ apprehensive? ¡°Ah¡­ good¡­ well, then I¡¯m glad it all ended well. Mr. Schel, if you please.¡± He opened up the door, completely dismissing me.


    I took the chance and escaped the building with a nod of my head to Steffany. I made my way down and stepped out into the light rain. People passed me by, their heads held low as a Sentinel AT drove by, casting a dark aura on the streets.


    My eyes shifted to the sky, rain tapping my forehead as I spotted the Raijin Raiju hovering just north of the city. It seemed they didn¡¯t want to arouse irritation more than they had to, and the behemoth floated just outside of Aythryn City¡¯s borders. Flyers moved to and from the ship at a constant stream, which was almost as unsettling as the Sentinel presence moving around on the streets.


    I kept my head down just the same as everyone else and headed for my bike.


    I settled in against the wall - I can¡¯t wait to be paid - and brushed off the remnant water from my hair. Since Feras was out, I took the opportunity to enjoy a nice, hot shower. The water flowing through my scalp had rapidly turned into one of my favorite ways to relax now that I didn¡¯t have to stress in a communal one. It was maybe up there with chilling on the outskirts? Safer too... or at least it would be safer if I didn''t share my apartment like a gonk.


    Once I made myself as comfortable as I could, I looked through the photos I took of the files in Ajay¡¯s safe. They looked to be logs of purchases and shipments. I read through the logs before plugging in the chips containing the company''s finances. There was an odd point between the paper copies and the system copies. The system¡¯s copies had fishy write-offs at about the same time and the same price as the ones on the paper. Then, the ''investments'' would be returned almost instantly while the paper copies quoted a far higher increase in Rayn. Rayn that vanished. Probably into Ajay''s pocket if I had to guess.


    Was Ajay using company funds for personal benefit? If so, things were starting to make a whole lot more sense. The over-the-top parties and security systems showed he  money¡­ What was he buying and selling though? What was so profitable he could triple his money? Maybe he wasn''t buying anything at all though. He could just be laundering money for a cut of the profits.


    There was definitely something fishy about the paper logs, especially considering most of them were followed by freight drop-offs from Ajay Insurance''s corporate storage to a warehouse. A quick search through my deck and the specific warehouse popped onto it. It was a rather large one located on the northern side of Little Yukoto, just past Talus Tower. The corporation that owned the warehouse went under several years ago, so the place was supposedly abandoned. A gang, maybe? That would play into money laundering.


    Should I go check it out? This might be my opportunity to get that extra five thousand. If I could prove something shady was going on behind the scenes, I could triple the payout. Hmm¡­ I should probably wait for Feras. I was paying him, so I might as well milk all his efforts¡­ wait, I¡¯ll have to give him twenty-five percent of five thousand? Damn, that blows.


    While I waited, I also listened to malwort.mp4. It played out as a recorded conversation between two people, one I recognized as Ajay. They were discussing some kind of deal, though they never explicitly said what they were making the deal over. It was weird and suggested a less-than-legal deal. Maybe it was the deal between Ajay and whoever was using him to launder money? But who would know about the audio file and want to steal it?


    To be fair, dirty deals weren¡¯t rare amongst the corps. Every corpo wants to get their hands on a promotion or more money, and dirty deals were literally the building blocks of having Edgerunners and mercs a present force in society. It wouldn''t be too shocking for an interested third party to catch wind of Ajay''s deal and hire a merc to go and steal proof.

 Chapter 44

    Chapter 44¡°A-are you sure about this?¡± Feras timidly asked me as I set up the channel for our commlinks. ¡°Woah, deja vu.¡±


    I eyed the guy and adjusted my ballistic vest as we walked out of the parking garage. ¡°Just here for a look around.¡±


    We stepped onto the streets of Little Yukoto, not too far off from the area where the target warehouse sat. This section was rather populated, and there were more homeless people here than I expected. People constantly seemed to flow in and out of the bars in seemingly every building in droves, each more intoxicated than the last. Occasionally workers moved to and from the several surrounding warehouses blended into the city-scape, carting shipments to trucks.


    Neon lights, age showing as they flickered and flared, illuminated the downtrodden faces of those who worked and lived around here. This area was the poorer section of Little Yukoto, and it showed in the tattered and torn clothing most people around here wore. New clothes simply weren¡¯t the focus when you barely had enough money for food.


    Everyone was strapped; you¡¯d be an idiot not to be in this city, but they at least put in an effort to hide their weapons as most normal people did. Barely anyone had actual registration for guns, and waving one around was just asking for a Squire to give out a ticket.


    ¡®Course, there were those who seemed better off walking around, but they were few and far between. Most were probably employees or execs of the small-scale corps that were prevalent on this side of the city. They were the exception though. Almost everyone around was on the poorer end of things.


    A breeze blew by, bringing the radioactive stench of rotting fish from the ocean. A shudder racked my body and I rubbed at my nose as if it would help. That was only the tip of the iceberg of how horrible this place reeked. There were a fair amount of burning drugs, stale alcohol, rotting corpses, and piss all mixed together in one cocktail of nasal torment.


    Feras shakily rubbed the back of his head. ¡°I guess it''s not so bad-¡± A gunshot and a scream echoed down from a nearby alley. ¡°T-to be fair, that happens all over the city.¡±


    ¡°True¡­ c¡¯mon, the warehouse is that way.¡± Completely ignoring his attempts to act like a pitiful kid, I led us down a few roads, guided by the small map pulled up in my hud. I was a hundred percent sure by this point it was a fake personality.


    The environment visibly degraded, and the taller buildings shrunk down to warehouses as the population out and about gradually turned more seedy. Signs of drug addiction, everything from the cut-up flesh of those addicted to Patch to the black veins caused by Dark Ether, were even more rampant than Bricktown, though probably better than East End. I haven¡¯t really been in East End long enough to make a fair comparison.


    As the people became more twitchy, whether through the effects of drugs or otherwise, they also seemed to degrade in IQ. There were plenty of people walking around with cheaper-end machine guns, shotguns, and rifles strapped to them like the Blue Crusade didn¡¯t even exist. To be fair, they basically didn¡¯t. There were a handful of Squire¡¯s out and about, but they seemed to have more interest in listening to the gunshots than stopping them.


    Still, just the same as elsewhere in the city, Sentinel prowled the streets. Worse, even. Sentinel had an increased presence ''round these parts than elsewhere in the city, so everyone moved about quickly and silently, not bothering others as they tried to get from point A to B. The larger number of trucks moving around made sense considering the pod crashed in the outskirts north of the city.


    Raijin had a presence too. Smaller van-sized hovercrafts moved around in the sky, seemingly uncaring about us plebeians on the ground. Just their casual presence gave an oppressive feel to this entire section of the city¡­ rather, a more oppressive feel. Aythryn City really doesn¡¯t need the help being oppressive.


    Eventually, we arrived before the warehouse recorded in Ajay¡¯s logs. Thankfully, Feras showed his competency by not even looking at the place as we walked by, feigning complete disinterest as if it were just another day. He pulled it off better than me.


    The warehouse in question was a dilapidated building sitting on a small plot of land. A high wall surrounded the entire plot and the building had a small courtyard area. Although the building was not in the best shape, the area was filled with boxes of stuff, and floodlights were set up everywhere around the courtyard.


    As we passed by the gates, I watched the place out of the side of my vision the best I could. Several guards, heavily armed with above-average weaponry, patrolled around with several standing by at the doors. They were dressed like gangers, but were just a little off.


    Their backs were too straight, their movements too uniform, and their weapons too high-end. Even their clothing, which looked to be the typical colors of a gang, wasn¡¯t quite right. Instead of tears from wear, their clothing looked as if it had been artificially cut. The gashes were just a little too clean. Quite a few of them even had copper-tinted chrome with glowing red highlight rails inlaid into it- Sentinel tech.


    It wasn¡¯t till we moved out of sight and back closer to the main street that Feras spoke. ¡°What do y-you think it is?¡±


    ¡°Could be a Scav Den¡­ What about you?¡± I asked, dodging slightly out of the way as a kid''s hands snuck toward my pockets. He instantly bolted as soon as I moved.


    The grifter didn¡¯t seem to notice as he rubbed at the stubble growing from his chin, dropping his pity act for a moment. Once more, he showed his calm but tired side. ¡°It  be a Scav Den¡­ their rifles weren¡¯t low quality¡­ Maybe a well-off gang?¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± I suspected something a little more than just a gang though¡­ Most of Sentinel¡¯s tech was military-grade, and they weren¡¯t something just any ganger could get their hands on. Rather, they could, but military-grade gear was typically reserved for a gang''s elites. This would have to be a particularly high-end gang not far off of the Neo-Jokers or Jade Fangs to field this much tech, and there''s no way I wouldn''t have heard about them till now.


    He raised his hands slightly. ¡°I didn¡¯t sign up for combat. I¡¯m a grifter.¡±


    ¡°Coward.¡± Not that I could blame the guy. I wasn¡¯t very good at fighting either. Still¡­ ¡°Aren¡¯t you a Magus?¡±


    ¡°More so for utility than anything.¡± He hovered his hand right over the fox amulet. ¡°Look- you need to get in somewhere or talk to someone? I can do that. Attack a defended location? Hell no. I''m not gonk enough to even try."


    It''s a good thing I didn¡¯t necessarily want to get inside. All I needed was to confirm their affiliation to see who Ajay was working with. ¡°That¡¯s fine; I have someone else for that¡­ just find somewhere to keep watch. I need to know who they¡¯re working for.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ why am I here?¡± He asked as he looked up and down the streets.


    ¡°To be another set of eyes.¡± And because I wanted him to ¡®earn¡¯ his keep a bit more- rather, I didn¡¯t want to suffer a stakeout by myself while he did who knows what. What''s that saying? Suffering enjoys companionship? Stakeouts were by far the worst part of any job. If only they weren''t so dang necessary.


    He shrugged. ¡°Whatever you say¡­ I saw a building that looked alright. We could camp out on top and have a decent view of the warehouse.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Beat my idea of hiding in an alley like a homeless person.


    Nothing came of our little stakeout. Before long, I sent a message to Carone about completing the gig. Feras volunteered to stick behind and keep watch, so I left him on the roof as I headed to my bike.


    Just as I pulled out of the area, Feras sent a text that popped up in my HUD. ¡®Someone came out. Looked important considering the escort.¡¯ A second later, several pictures came across.


    Once I came to a stoplight, I looked at them. The photos weren¡¯t the best quality, probably due to his phone¡¯s camera being on max zoom. They depicted a younger man with curly black hair. His face was twisted into a soft smile that caused my hair to rise when paired with the crazed look in his eyes. Unfortunately, there were no distinctive features or logos I could equate the guy to.


    The drive to Sakura Street was slow even with fewer people on the roads. With the addition of Sentinel ATs prowling the streets of Little Yukoto, traffic in general had slowed down majorly. People actually abided by the laws under the turreted view of the heavy vehicles and it showed in the rate of flow.


    ¡®Course, I was no different. Especially considering they were out looking for me. I kept my head down until I got to Carone¡¯s antique shop. The guards did their job and searched me, this time finding my shotgun hiding in my backpack. Other than that though, I got in strapped.


    Carone idly played with fire, twisting it into complicated patterns, as I entered his store. His lips pulled into a business-like smile as the fire illuminated only one side of his face. ¡°Shiro¡­ the chip?¡±


    ¡°Nice to see you too.¡± I sighed and sorted through my bag before tossing it to him.


    He snatched it out of the air and looked it over. ¡°Right¡­ the client will be over any minute with the rest of the pay.¡±


    I nodded and looked around the shop. ¡°So¡­ wonderful weather we¡¯re having?¡± Thunder boomed just outside.


    He arched a brow as his finger tapped against the counter. The flame he controlled formed a small claw around his finger, following his taps. ¡°Indeed¡­¡±


    I remained silent after that, squashing my discomfort with the silence as best as I could. I slid off to the side of the room. Several minutes later, somebody else entered the shop just as rain started to tap against the window. S~ea??h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I glanced back, only to see the guy from Feras¡¯s photo. Two goons, who would give the gonks outside Carone¡¯s store a run for their money, stepped in behind the guy as he shook rogue water off his jacket. I backed further to the side and activated my Perks to blend in better. No point in gathering undue attention.


    Immediately, I caught onto what was going on. It would be impossible not to with the nature of people in Aythryn City. This guy, the one making shady deals with Ajay, was either planning a double cross or wanting insurance, hence he wanted the virus to be planted into Ajay¡¯s servers. He probably also wanted the malwort.mp4 file to remove any connection back to him.


    The man, oblivious to my speculations, approached the fixer¡¯s counter with a sickening smile that seemed to ooze malice. ¡°Mister Carone! My order is done?¡±


    Carone slid the guy the chip, marking him as the client and almost confirming some of my ideas. ¡°¡®Course¡­ the virus has also been uploaded.¡±


    ¡°I saw that last night! You sure work quickly.¡± His eyes glowed slightly as his gaze flickered past me. His eyes seemed to hold a¡­ a deeply unsettling heaviness. ¡°There.¡±


    The fixer¡¯s eyes unfocused for a moment as the flame swirled back and consolidated onto a candle. A yawn escaped his lips, causing the two guards to be infected and yawn too. I barely resisted the contagious urge. ¡°Confirmed. You¡¯re good to go.¡±


    ¡°Pleasure doing business.¡± The client nodded his head before leaving the store with his two guards.


    The door closed, though not before a puddle of water could move over the door''s threshold like blood oozing into the shop. ¡°Seems like a cheery guy.¡±


    "I typically make it a point to not... myself in my client''s lives." Carone¡¯s eyes flickered and my PA popped into my HUD showing me a twenty-four hundred Rayn transfer. Feels good to have money at long last. Already plans were beginning to form on how I would spend it- after deducting twenty-five percent for Feras, of course.


    ¡°Oh, and I¡¯ve potentially got a lead for that other client.¡± A light smile tried to force its way onto my face, evoked through imagining the sweet satisfaction of seeing five thousand Rayn enter my account.


    ¡°You should know by now¡­  speak louder than .¡± He smirked and twisted a fire to look like a sheet of paper. Said paper then slowly ¡®burned¡¯ away.


    I nodded and started to head for the door, catching his drift. ¡°Chek.¡±

 Chapter 45

    Chapter 45After topping off my tank, and pouring some AE3 into my canteen to test some things, I got on my bike and headed back north to the warehouse. Although we had gotten a face, we had yet to figure out what kind of group was behind the man and Ajay.


    By the time I returned to Feras on the roof, easily sneaking past the building¡¯s gonk security, I half expected the interface to announce level-ups. No such thing happened. Maybe it was because the powers behind the interface didn¡¯t consider the gig finished? Sure, the first contract was done, but that five thousand Rayn gig had been on my mind for a long time. Maybe because I didn¡¯t think I was done, the interface didn¡¯t think it was done?


    Feras immediately flinched back from where he sat on the roof''s edge, the fox sprite sitting next to him instantly starting to move defensively. They only relaxed once they spotted me. ¡°¡®Bout time¡­ d-did you bring snacks?¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t ask.¡± Now that I was close enough, I sent over the Rayn. Six hundred gone just like that¡­


    He immediately straightened his posture. ¡°Six hundred! Thanks, boss!¡±


    ¡°Anything change down there?¡± I asked as I stepped up to the ledge we were camped out on. The building we were camped on sat across the street on the other side of the block from the warehouse.


    I toggled the dual-zoom augment on my eye, zeroing in on the dilapidated warehouse. The guards were still camped out all around it with several on patrol around the sides.


    ¡°That guy returned shortly before you¡­¡± He tilted his head slightly to the side as he looked down on the warehouse. ¡°Why are we here though? We already got paid.¡±


    I paused and looked down on him for a moment. ¡°This is a lead on another gig. Very high payout.¡±


    He paused and met my eyes. ¡°Twenty-five percent still?¡±


    ¡°Chek.¡± A sigh escaped my lips as I moved to the edge and settled down off to the grifter¡¯s side. There goes another thousand Rayn¡­ think happy thoughts, Shiro. You¡¯ll still get thirty-seven hundred Rayn if things go well.


    Silence returned to the roof. After about an hour of sitting around, I moved back towards the roof¡¯s door. May as well do something while we wait. ¡°What do you want to drink?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­ Nova-Cola?¡±


    I went downstairs to a vending machine I saw on the way up and bought two Nova-Colas and a bottle of water. I made my way back up, finding a small janitor¡¯s closet to dump out the water as I went. Then I filled the thing up with AE3. Instantly the bottle chilled as the slightly glowing blue fluid poured out of the canteen.


    After doing all of that to test my experiment, I returned to the roof and chunked the Nova-Cola can at Feras. ¡°Here.¡±


    He caught it and cracked it open. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    I settled back down for the watch, though I also kept my eye on the bottle of AE3. After thirty minutes of waiting, something changed. The blue liquid in the bottle started to evaporate at a rapid pace, completely disappearing.


    A frown crept up to my lips. Originally I wanted to test if the AE3 from the canteen would keep its cold temperature over reacclimating back to a normal temperature, but this was a far more interesting experiment. I refilled the bottle outside of Feras¡¯s view and tried again, only to have the same result thirty minutes later.


    I tried it again with a different liquid after waiting for it to refill partially only to have the same result. It seemed as though liquids that came from the canteen couldn¡¯t exist outside of it for longer than thirty minutes.


    That wasn¡¯t quite right. I had been using it to sustain myself for a while in terms of hydration- maybe it didn¡¯t go away because it had already been digested? So would AE3 from it be able to run my bike as long as I refilled it every thirty minutes? Hmm¡­ But I wouldn''t always have time to fill up my bike before going, especially if I was getting chased. Just to be safe, I should keep at least half a tank of ''real'' AE3.


    ¡°So¡­ which fixer do you know?¡± Feras asked as the fox stretched out next to him.


    I looked over at him, taking a moment to process the question as I tossed the now-empty bottle into my bag. ¡°Carone¡­ you?¡±


    He stretched out like the fox and met my gaze, flinching back slightly as he fell back into his normal act. ¡°M-more of a freelancer. I¡¯ve been p-picked up in merc dives more than anything¡­¡±


    ¡°Never had the pleasure.¡± I¡¯d always been lucky enough to have close contact with a fixer since I was young. I have heard plenty of horror stories about merc dives though. ¡°How do those usually go?¡± S§×arch* The Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°Decent, I guess. It''s more of a bunch of one-shot crews than anything permanent. Can¡¯t trust anyone doing it either lest you get stabbed in the back.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Like I said: decent.¡±


    Sounds like the job I did with Shinobu. Yeah, I think I¡¯d rather stick with working for a fixer¡­ at least unless I want to start running my own jobs. Not sure if I¡¯ll ever do such a thing, but I couldn¡¯t deny it was tempting. I would be able to make a ton of Rayn without the need for a middleman- scratch that¡­ I would still need some to sell my loot, especially if it was high-end, and that''s where a fixer would come in once more.


    ¡°I-I¡¯ve been meaning to ask, but w-what do you specialize in? I thought you were a techie at f-first, but you got into Artoras and Ajay¡¯s pretty easy.¡± He asked.


    Was this a probing question to get at my weaknesses? Still, we  working together. It was a fair concern to wonder what your partner in crime was good at. ¡°Klepping mainly, though I have gotten somewhat decent at tech stuff.¡±


    He nodded and looked over at me, the fox following his motion and cutely blinking its big eyes. ¡°I could see that¡­ I¡¯m really only good at grifting and negotiating.¡± He tilted his head. ¡°W-well, I¡¯m also pretty decent at staying alive thanks to being a Magus, though I c-can¡¯t fight at all.¡±


    Good at negotiating? Then why did he fail every time he''s tried to negotiate with me- has he? Now that I really think about it, he''s gotten his way almost every time. I shifted my head back to the warehouse in irritation, catching sight of a dark box truck moving in. ¡°Movement.¡±


    Feras turned serious and tracked onto the truck alongside me as the truck pulled off the street and into the small courtyard in front of the warehouse. ¡°A shipment?¡±


    The box truck pulled to a stop just outside of the warehouse''s doors. A few moments later, a dozen or so of the armed guards poured out of the warehouse and set up around the outside of the box truck. They held their rifles at the ready as if expecting the cargo to put up a fight.


    The driver of the truck got out and walked around the back, unlatching and sliding up the door as he arrived. From our angle, we couldn¡¯t see into the truck. That didn¡¯t matter though as the ¡®cargo¡¯ started to move.


    Guards jumped into the vehicle, and a moment later a group of people were tossed out of the box truck. They all wore shackles around their limbs, holding them hostage as they hit the ground. The majority looked like normal citizens of Aythryn City, albeit on the poorer side. There were a few middle-class ones in the bunch though.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± Feras twitched as one of the guards smacked a woman upside the head with the butt of his rifle. The dual-zoom augment helped me watch in excruciating detail as the hit dislodged some of the chrome on her head, tilting it out as blood began to pour from the seams. ¡°Scavs?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I inspected the people a bit more, shoving aside the sinking feeling in my gut as I tried to focus on the details. ¡°Look, some of them don¡¯t even have chrome.¡±


    We watched the group of people get battered around by the group of guards as they were lined up for what looked to be an inspection. Every single one of them had faces twisted into fear and despair as if they already knew what awaited them.


    A non-compliant man tried to fight back only to be bashed over the head and outright shot, setting an example for the rest as they cowered in the line. ¡°Think it''s a Savant Lab then?¡±


    ¡°I-¡± I paused and looked around the operation a bit more before turning off the dual-zoom. The entire thing was just too surgical, too practiced to be anything else. ¡°It would make sense.¡± Fuck! That meant I had been working for Savants this entire time¡­ I felt sick.


    Feras popped up with a disgusted look on his face as the fox bounded up onto his shoulders. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the Crusade! We can''t just let this go on.¡±


    ¡°Just- just give me a moment. Let me think.¡± I said as my mind shifted into overdrive.


    Savants were arguably the worst group in Aythryn City. They held a similar position in the hearts of many to Scavs; one of intense hatred. Their kill count was only slightly less than the various Scav Dens around the city. They were worse though in some ways. Whereas Scavs were the floor below the barrel, Savants were the sewers below the floor. At least Scavs had the ¡®decency¡¯ to kill their victims after shredding them into sellable pieces.


    Savants were the same type of scum to take people off the streets, sometimes even preferring children, to be brought back to their labs for experimentation. They practically tortured their victims, sometimes for years, until the victim would inevitably die due to a failed human experiment. Some of the experiments I had heard of were truly the stuff of nightmares; like attempting to turn HMV into a bioweapon.


    The worst part? Most had corporate backing and funding. Although no corpo would ever admit to it, Savants were the breeding ground for products still in their experimental phase. If a corporation had a product or idea that ¡®required¡¯ humans, they would pull together a Savant Lab to test it in a black site with the victims of human trafficking. Truly a disgusting establishment.


    Okay, okay¡­ what to do¡­ what to do¡­


    A sickening idea popped into my head. I pulled off my bag and rifled through it before setting up my deck. I wasted no time sticking in the chip with Ajay Insurance¡¯s client database on it. Next, I scanned through the list and checked it back through the missing person¡¯s list from the Blue Crusade.


    One out of twenty people were on the missing person¡¯s list, which was abnormal. I filtered the client list, focusing on those without any relatives and in positions of poor income. To my absolute disgust, the number jumped up to everyone and three. I even recognized one of the women from the ID I took from Ajay¡¯s safe.


    Everything clicked in my head. The oddities I noticed over the past week. The absurd amount of funds that seemed to just pop out of nowhere. The expensive security that was far above what most small corporations could afford. Even the warehouse trying to blend in as a gang. Ajay was using his clients as fodder to sell to the Savant Lab, and the Savants were using them to, well, prove they were sick fucks.


    Logically, it made sense. Who better to use as a human trafficker than an insurance corporation? They would know everything they needed about their victims, including if anyone would come looking for them if they were to just ¡®disappear¡¯. Still, to think that Ajay was so greedy that he would sell out his  clients to-


    ¡°Zuku!¡± A hand touched my shoulder, and I jerked back in surprise, my hand going for my iron. ¡°Did you hear me? Are we going to the Crusade?¡±


    ¡°Just- no.¡± I shifted the direction of my hand and pulled out my phone instead. ¡°The Crusade will take too long with their red tape¡­¡± Not to mention they might not get Ajay. There was a way we could still play this though where I could cash in on that five thousand and ruin the Savant operation here.


    I flicked through my contacts, settling on one in particular. It rang for several seconds before a drunken voice came across. ¡°Shiro, to what do I owe the pleashure?¡±


    I held a hand up to Feras, stopping him from further questions. ¡°I think I found a Savant Lab on the north side of Little Yukuto.¡±


    The drunken cheer completely vanished from his voice as the Jade Fang elder turned serious. ¡°I¡¯m all earsh¡­¡±

 Chapter 46

    Chapter 46We remained camped out on top of the building for several hours after my phone call to Ishimaru, probably so the Jade Fangs could validate my info. Once several vans started to pull up around the warehouse though, we moved down and out of the building. By the time we got to the street level, the rackets of gunfire and occasional explosions had already begun.


    Of course, the Fangs were eager to clear out the Savant Lab as soon as possible. It was good PR for them, cleared out a hostile entity, and made the people around more accepting of ¡®protection¡¯ fees. Nothing makes a particular group look better than comparing them to someone worse.


    Then there was the minor detail of loot. If this one was ¡®secretly¡¯ sponsored by a corporation just like most Savant Labs, then there would be some good stuff stashed in there. High-end lab equipment, drugs, and ¡®course any data pulled from the terminals in the lab were all but guaranteed. That wasn¡¯t even considering the miscellaneous goods and stuff they could grab from the guards.


    We returned to my apartments and I shot a text to Carone about Ajay Insurance going down sometime soon. He didn''t reply, but the message turned to read a few minutes later. After that, I also sent one to Nael about heading into Advent tomorrow. Nael responded with a thumbs-up emoji and ''Good luck, kid.''


    ¡°So¡­¡± Feras said as I began to tie him up for the night. By this point, I hardly thought it was needed, but the guy¡¯s occupation  conning people. I''d much rather be safe than sorry. ¡°Y-you¡¯re in tight with the Fangs?¡±


    I finished up the knots. ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ they¡¯ll be able to wipe out the lab¡­¡± He frowned as I stepped back and appraised my handiwork. ¡°L-listen, I¡¯ll have enough money to go on my own soon.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ it¡¯s b-been nice, I guess.¡± He looked down at his tied-up hands. ¡°Other than t-tying me up every night, and not in a fun way.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t make me kick you out prematurely,¡± I said as I made sure the door was locked.


    He chuckled. ¡°Right. Look, I just wanted to say- just¡­ never mind.¡± He looked off towards the windows and settled down against the wall. ¡°Night, shorty.¡±


    I ¡®tripped¡¯ over his foot as I headed for my room, mercilessly crushing it under me. Twice. ¡°Night, leech.¡±


    For some reason, he groaned in pain as I settled in for the night.


    I awoke to the interface blinking in my bleary eyes. After checking the local news, I found out why rather quickly. Last night, Ajay Insurance ¡®mysteriously¡¯ burned down. It was mysterious because only his corner burned out, and only one person, suspected to be Ajay, was caught in the fire. I shut the news off on my deck and looked down at the interface''s near-holographic screen.


    ¡¸Sleight of Hand - 7>8¡¹


    ¡¸Net - 1>2¡¹


    ¡¸Intimidation - 1 Acquired¡¹


    ¡¸First Aid - 2>3¡¹


    ¡¸Deception - 3>4¡¹


    ¡¸Accounting - 1 Acquired¡¹


    ¡¸Name: Shiro Tsukuyomi


    Traits: Fox¡¯s Grace, Quick Healing, Insight


    Tracking - 4


    Stalk


    Tech - 5


    Eidetic Schematic


    Stealth - 7


    Fox¡¯s Paw


    Sleight of Hand - 8


    1 Perk PointHidden Hands


    Perception - 4


    Aetherial Perception


    Net - 2


    Melee Weapons - 1


    Local Novice (Little Yukoto)


    Intimidation - 1


    Firearm - 3


    First Aid - 3


    Evasion - 2


    Driving - 7


    Land Vehicles


    Deception - 4


    1 Perk Point


    Criminology - 4


    Tell


    Concealment - 8


    Lethargic PresenceHidden Weapon


    Brawling - 1


    Accounting - 1


    Request Board - (empty)¡¹


    Most of the Skills that went up were about as I expected. It was nice to see that helping that guy out with his arm leveled First Aid even if I didn¡¯t necessarily fix the problem. Accounting was a surprise though. I guess it makes sense, but it was one of the Skills I originally deemed useless. I still don''t see a point for it, though I could at least admit someone somewhere would find it useful.


    I briefly debated on spending the Perk Points now but decided not to. Not only did I have the meeting with Advent, but spending points also left me extremely vulnerable. I didn¡¯t want to be in such a state with Feras around. I trusted him a bit more than I originally did, but still not as far as I could throw him. He would be gone soon though, and I would be clear to spend away. sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I ate a quick meal, which I was running low on, and headed down to my bike. I hopped on and began the trek to Advent.


    Advent sat at the southern edge of Downtown, closer to Oldtown and the FSA base than my home. It was a bit of a journey to get over there, especially with traffic the way it is these days. Eventually, I pulled up to the place.


    Advent owned the entire building they were housed in, which meant I could safely mark the place as a medium-level corp. It was a sheer white building faintly reminiscent of Medtech¡¯s hospital. No windows or fancy architecture covered the walls as most corps liked, and it looked almost as if the building was just one big brutalist rock.


    I parked nearby in a small parking garage. Say what you will about Aythryn City, but at least the parking wasn¡¯t too bad here. Every block had at least one parking garage under it, so there was plenty of space. I had seen images of other places, like Veyth, the capital of Vurn, where gonks just parked out in the streets everywhere.


    I hopped off my bike and peeled off my helmet before locking it up to my bike. My hair was caught by a lone breeze, blowing into my face annoyingly. The wet strands, somewhat soaked by the light rain on the way over here, stuck to my cheek. I pulled it all back into a ponytail and secured it under my trusty Aythryn City Slashers baseball hat.


    Just as I reached the door, I got a message from Carone. ¡®Confirmed. Deposited 5,000 Rayn. From now on, I¡¯ll keep you in the books for higher stakes gigs.¡¯


    I checked my First International Boswan Bank account, and a big deposit of 5,000 sat in it. I felt giddy at the sight of nearly seven thousand Rayn in my account as fantasies of getting a nice, comfortable bed started to play on repeat. Or maybe even some scented shampoo? I haven¡¯t used any of that stuff since I was a kid. ¡®Course, I could also buy a gun or something¡­


    I shoved that thought to the back of my head and entered Advent. The door opened into a rather large lobby, which sat quite barren. Everything here was done in smooth whites and grays, evoking a certain detached vibe from the rest of the filthy city. Alcoves along the walls hid neon blue lights, casting a clinical glow around the lobby.


    Paintings of fancy-looking doctors, chrome, and labs were scattered about the clean-cut white walls. Each of them felt very out of place, though I couldn¡¯t exactly say why that was. There was almost a pattern to them that faintly triggered something in my memory, though I couldn''t say what exactly. Regardless, they looked very high-end if the golden frames were anything to go by.


    The lobby was quite large, though it wasn¡¯t filled near to the capacity for such a room. There were a few people scattered about, but nowhere near what I would expect from a corporation of this size. To put it into perspective, Artoras had dozens of people coming and going when I walked by it.


    While they were slightly lacking in population, they weren¡¯t lacking in security. Advent had at least a dozen security guards stationed around the entrance further into the building. They looked kitted out too. Heavy flak armor clad each of them, and their rifles looked mighty impressive. Shen Kang Keiji weaponry based on the design of reds, golds, and blacks. It was odd considering Sentinel was the preferred brand ¡®round here. At a glance, each guard wore at least fifteen hundred Rayn in gear.


    I walked across the lobby, trying to ignore the mass of security watching me like hawks. With so few people around, I felt uncomfortable as I approached the receptionist''s desk in the middle of the room.


    A rather lithe guy came to the counter and met me, one that was absolutely covered in scar tissue. Half his face was clad in circuitry and little neon lights as if to take away from the scar tissue covering the other half. ¡°Hi! Welcome to Advent Labs, how can we help you?¡±


    ¡°Um- I¡¯m here to meet with someone. Doctor Fodisa, I think.¡±


    The man tapped on a terminal. ¡°You must be Miss Tsukuyomi. The doctor is expecting you. Just head on through security, and someone will take you to him.¡±


    I nodded to the man and headed to security. ¡°Ma¡¯am, if you would surrender your weapons here, please. We¡¯ll keep them safe till you leave.¡±


    It was rather nice to see security that expected people to be strapped instead of the typical song and dance of being surprised every time someone pulled out their iron to surrender it. Only an idiot traveled around without being strapped somewhat, and most of the time it boiled down to corporate red tape.


    I didn¡¯t put up any struggle or hassle and even revealed everything I had on me. I was confident in sneaking at least my emergency shiv by most forms of security, but not past a metal detector. I would light up like a firework. It was much better to just leave everything here. Did I like it? No. Not one bit.


    Maybe I should look into getting some plastic weapons? Or just make them myself. I had some of the know-how, and that combined with the information from Sentinel¡¯s schematics should allow me to engineer a prototype at the least. Who knows? I might even be able to work around some of the defects in common plastic guns.


    Sure, plastic guns that could be taken past metal detectors were super illegal¡­ but so was murder. And klepping. And practically living in this day and age. Maybe I should look at something else though? They make plastic knives and stuff. Hmm¡­ maybe I should just splurge and buy a metal detector-proof gun. But I didn''t have black market contacts, nor the money at the moment...


    I walked through the metal detector and passed through security after they checked over my chrome and patted me down. For a startup corporation, as Nael told me back when I first got the cyber-eye, Advent Labs had some crazy good security. It did make sense though if I considered their level of experimentation. Blackout was some high-end stuff.


    A woman stood at the other end of the security, and she led me through the building. We didn¡¯t talk much, and she left as soon as she dropped me off at an office door. Doctor Fodisa according to the nameplate.


    I lightly rapped on the door, and a heavily accented voice called out. ¡°Enter.¡±


    I stepped into the doctor''s office. It was about as normal of an office as I would expect, except bits and parts of chrome covered absolutely every part of the place. There were even blueprints scattered about, which I glanced through and memorized. Unfortunately, most of them were unfinished and I couldn¡¯t make out their purpose. They looked to be prints for parts, but I couldn''t piece them together without a larger print.


    The doctor himself sat behind a desk, looking far too¡­ normal, I guess. I was expecting a doctor focusing on chrome to be chromed out himself, but he looked a hundred percent flesh. Heck, he even wore a pair of glasses. His skin was incredibly dark, and he looked like a first-generation migrant from Mandor. ¡°Ah, you must be Miss Tsukuyomi. I was wondering who my old choomba would give the phantom to¡­ How¡¯s it treating you?¡±


    ¡°It''s got a serious overheating problem when using Blackout, but otherwise a preem piece of chrome.¡± I offered as I took a seat across from him.


    The man nodded and passed me a port. ¡°Yes, some of the other testers mentioned similar issues. Unfortunately, it''s been decided that Blackout will be shelved for the moment. If you would jack in, I¡¯ll run a diagnostic check on you and make sure it''s good to be removed.¡±


    I pulled out my data jack and plugged it into the port. Immediately, I felt the familiar buzz of electricity that came with jacking into something. It wasn¡¯t quite uncomfortable, but definitely an odd sensation. ¡°Blackout is being shelved?¡±


    The doctor nodded. ¡°Yes. It was originally designed so people could get out of the oppressive feelings of society. Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t think of how it would affect crime- rather, I didn''t want to admit it. As such, Advent Labs has decided to shift into a new direction with our products.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Was this a classic case of a noble cause being warped by others? Oh wait, I was one of those others¡­ Still, I could appreciate a man with morals, especially one who was willing to throw aside profit for the sake of them. Such a thing was quite rare, and Nael was one of the only other people I''ve seen like this.


    Also, the doctor must have an incredibly high position in Advent to be able to shift the entire corp''s direction away from a more profitable venture. Maybe he was even the CEO? Regardless, Nael had some friends in some very high places.


    Doctor Fodisa clicked on a few things on his terminal before sitting back in his chair. He looked me over briefly. ¡°You a fan of the Slashers?


    ¡°I used to be. I haven¡¯t been able to watch baseball in a long time though.¡± I shrugged, not minding the small talk for once.


    ¡°Such a shame. I watch the Slashers all the time.¡± He smiled. "They''re up five two this season."


    ¡°Is Quitan Tearantino still playing?¡± I asked. It really had been a long time since I had checked in on sports. I hadn¡¯t exactly had the luxury to set up a piracy account to steal the streams.


    The doctor shook his head with a sad expression on his face. ¡°He got brained a couple seasons ago. Flatlined before the team¡¯s Medechs could get to him. Slashers haven¡¯t been the same without him.¡±


    That sucks. Quitan Tearantino was the best player of the Aythryn City Slashers back when I used to watch. His rough and gruff style of shredding and tearing apart the opposition made him a favorite in the blood sport. ¡°That''s rough¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Doctor Fodisa focused back on the screen. I felt the cold tingle of Insight and looked at the doctor. For the briefest moment, I caught the reflection of the Phantom¡¯s schematic in his glasses. That was all it took for the entire thing to be copied into my brain.


    Unlike the other schematics around the room, the one for the Phantom was complete. Considering that they decided to shelve Blackout, this kind of knowledge would prove to be incredibly useful once I figured out how it all worked together. Unfortunately, Eidetic Schematic only allowed me to instantly memorize a schematic, not instantly understand it.


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯re good to go. As a beta-tester, you are welcome to test out some of the other products free of charge since the Phantom will no longer be available.¡± He smiled apologetically.


    Nael was right back then. Being a beta-tester sure had its benefits. ¡°What are the options?¡±

 Chapter 47

    Chapter 47I left the place rubbing at my new eye as my tear ducts overflowed. They took the Advent Phantom, and by extension Blackout, back, which was a little bit of a loss. In the future though, I might be able to put together my own version of the device and get the utility of Blackout back.


    Did I feel a little sad to lose Blackout? Yes, yes I did. There was no denying the usefulness of the feature, though I could respect the doctor not wanting to push it through thanks to his own moral compass. Morals were a thing sorely lacking in this day and age, and, while annoying, was respectable. Additionally, I got a cool new piece of chrome to mess around with, so it wasn¡¯t all bad.


    My new cyber-eye was the Advent Ghost. It was arguably better than the Blackout in terms of sheer utility. It had a built-in feature scrubber, so I would hopefully never have to worry about a camera catching my face again. I lost the dual-zoom, which was unfortunate, but it came with something I knew that the doctor was very excited about.


    Doctor Fodisa called it the Genetic Optical Node Enhancer, or GONE. It apparently would allow me to look at DNA, and the eye would memorize said DNA as a Genetic Template. Then, with the memorized Genetic Template, it would automatically scan and attempt to match the DNA to other sources.


    It was extremely experimental, but a hundred percent safe according to the doc. At the moment it could only store one Genetic Template at a time, but they were looking at increasing the amount. GONE with the feature scrubber made the Advent Ghost a relatively easy decision compared to some of the other pieces of chrome offered.


    It felt off in my head as I headed back to my bike as if my vision sat a tad off-center than it used to be. The feeling was a peculiar, though familiar, one. Thankfully, the Phantom hadn''t caused such a reaction, but installing chrome wasn¡¯t always sunshine and rainbows. In severe cases, it could cause someone to glitch, diving them headfirst into a murderous rage.


    The annoyance of my new eye wasn¡¯t at that level. It was just a little dissonance with my vision and a subtle sense of wrongness. I should take things easy for a couple of days and wait for it to settle down. After I visit Nael, of course. I trusted him to check over the installation far more than the doctors at Advent.


    The drive to Viceroy Street was about as fun as could be expected with only one eye. It was hard paying attention to the road and traffic with an eye that didn¡¯t want to work, to the point that I decided to just drive with my chrome eye closed. It was dangerous, but I was better off not even trying to use it till I got more comfortable.


    I nudged open the door into Absolom Clinic, for once not immediately noticed by Nael. Another man, one that didn¡¯t feel quite like a customer, kept the Medech¡¯s attention. He wore a similar uniform to the ones I had seen the Medevac teams wear, though his seemed a little higher end. I activated my Perks and kept back slightly so as not to interrupt the two.


    ¡°... told you, I¡¯m not going back,¡± Nael said, a bit of frustration entering his voice. It was quite odd to hear. Never once had I heard him speak in anything but his relaxed tone.


    ¡°C¡¯mon, doctor. It¡¯s not the same without you.¡± Seeing that his tactics weren¡¯t working, the man shifted to a more business-centric tone. ¡°Look, I¡¯ve been authorized to grant you an incredibly competitive salary, at least sev-¡±


    ¡°Hey, kid. Just give me a moment.¡± Nael cut off the other guy as soon as he spotted me. It was honestly impressive. My Stealth may not be the highest, but he always seemed to be able to pick me out with seemingly little effort. Maybe his years as a Medech had vastly improved his perception. ¡°Dr. Carcinaten was just on his way out.¡±


    ¡°Real subtle. Alright, I¡¯ll get out of your hair.¡± The man stepped away, his eyes tracking to me. Eyes as in four, not two. The guy had what looked to be his two biological eyes, but he also had two slightly glowing chrome ones just above his eyebrow. It was incredibly off-putting to try and meet four eyes over the usual two.


    We passed each other as he made his way out and I walked further into the clinic. ¡°Hey, Nael. Sorry for interrupting.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, kid. How¡¯d your trip to Advent go?¡± He asked, pulling out his usual smooth tone as if the annoyance had been a lie.


    I motioned to my eye. ¡°Preem. Got a free new piece of chrome. You- uh, mind checking it over? It feels a little sideways.¡±


    ¡°Chek, chek. Take a seat.¡± He twirled the Medech chair to me as he went to grab some stuff. "How was Fodisa?"


    I sat down and plugged my jack into the port preemptively. ¡°He was an interesting guy.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± Nael said as he moved back to my side and tapped on his terminal. The various scanners and machines around the Medech chair started to whirl into action.


    ¡°He was a fan of Baseball. Kinda weird to see a doctor being a fan of a blood sport.¡± I felt a slight buzz as the diagnostics continued.


    He chuckled and met my eyes. I had a feeling he was more so checking out the Advent Ghost than anything. ¡°He used to be the Slashers¡¯ Medech back in the day. That was long before we ever worked together though, so I can¡¯t tell you much.¡±


    ¡°Wow. That''s impressive.¡± To think, I was just talking to someone who worked directly with my childhood idols. And he seemed to be a rather stand-up guy based on my short interactions with him. ''Course, it could''ve all been an act, but for once, I wanted to be optimistic about someone. Maybe since Nael vouched for him?


    Nael slid up all of the devices surrounding me and shut everything down. ¡°Alright, the installation is good. I can recalibrate it and that might help, but otherwise, I¡¯ll give you some eye drops.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­¡±


    I went through a series of calibrations and tests before getting up from the chair. Nael was a miracle worker, as always. The Advent Ghost no longer felt quite as off in terms of vision, though there was still a certain level of dissonance with how it sat in my skull. It was as if something wasn¡¯t quite right. Almost like a ghost sensation of another eye overlaying the chrome one, making me feel a bit nauseous.


    Nael passed me a small bottle with a stopper at the end. ¡°Drip it in your eye twice a day. It should just be a light case of Cyber Syndrome, but immediately contact me if it worsens. Especially contact me if you start getting irrational feelings of fight-or-flight.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± I grabbed the bottle and dropped some of the liquid onto the Advent Ghost. Almost immediately, a cooling sensation washed across my eye, dripping down under my skin. ¡°How much?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, kid. You¡¯re doing me a favor helping out my friend, so it''s on the house.¡± Nael waved me off as he usually tended to do. As soon as I stood up, he began to disinfect the chair and wipe it down. S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°C¡¯mon! You gotta let me pay you, old man.¡± I tried a couple of times to at least give him something, but eventually left as a couple and their kid came in.


    I returned to my apartment to find it empty. Feras had left at some point, though it looked like he was planning on coming back since his stuff still sat around. I took the opportunity to shower and relax since I had nothing pressing left- rather, nothing immediately pressing. There was still the twenty mil bounty and the chance of a Fedra strike team coming after me¡­


    After drying off, I laid down against the wall and took out my journal. I wasted no time copying every schematic and blueprint in my memory except for the Sentinel ones down onto the pages. While everything was in my memory, having a physical copy helped me process them a bit better. A memorized schematic didn¡¯t automatically grant me an understanding of how said schematic worked, after all.


    The one for the Advent Phantom was incredibly important to me, and I spent quite a while just trying to figure out its inner workings. The best I could tell, it used some kind of radiation to mess with optical devices.


    Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t figure out how exactly it worked thanks to the complicated mess of focusing lenses, some kind of radioactive core, and the micro batteries used to charge the whole thing. At least for now, it would remain a mystery just like the Sentinel schematics until Tech was at a higher level.


    A short break from screens was in order as my new eye began to water like a fountain. It stung as the droves of tears flooded down half my face. For the first time in a long while, I wondered if I should just go back to flesh and free myself of such a problem. Then the rational side took back over, pointing out the usefulness of chrome.


    After a short internal debate, I finally started on something I had been excited about for a long time: furniture! I already had a list I made in my free time, so I just flipped right to it and started to purchase stuff.


    A super fluffy bed, a nice only slightly stained couch, several metal tables to work on, and some other miscellaneous supplies and tools. Most of the stuff, other than the bed, was cheap. Altogether I only spent a hundred and fifty on furniture, with most of that being on the bed. Not too bad all and all, though some of the stuff I got was of¡­  quality.


    I also looked around as best I could for a 3d printer. Unfortunately, most of the modern 3d printers were explicitly kept out of civilians¡¯ hands thanks to the variety of permits needed to purchase one. Permits which were only given to corporations. Thankfully, this kind of issue was precisely what fixers are for.


    Confirming one last time that none were on the open market, I called up Carone. I could¡¯ve called Ishimaru, but he was probably busy with the Savant Lab I dumped into his lap.


    ¡°What do you need?¡± Carone asked as soon as he answered.


    I clicked through several pages on my deck, making sure I gathered the right kind of information. Although there were none on the open market, I could still find price ¡®speculations¡¯ on the Net. ¡°I need a printer.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ what kind?¡±


    ¡°A three-dimensional one. Preferably multi-medium, but just a metal or plastic one will do.¡±


    He was silent for a couple minutes. ¡°Alright¡­ I can get you a multi-medium for forty thousand Rayn, a metal one for thirty-five¡­ or an introduction to a Night Market. Someone  be willing to sell a¡­ lower-grade one there.¡±


    Those price points stung, though they were within my expectations. There''s a reason they weren¡¯t on the open market, after all. ¡°This Night Market then¡­ price point on detes to  a multi-medium?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ five thousand. I¡¯ll send you the Constellation Night Market¡¯s detes and entry pass. They¡¯re holding a tech market this week¡­ after a four hundred retainer fee, ¡®course.¡±


    Fixers- can always trust them to charge you more money than you want to spend. ¡°Alright.¡± Saying that I transferred the Rayn anyway. Going through a Fixer was far less time-consuming than trying to find one myself. And getting access to a Night Market wasn¡¯t a bad idea, especially one with an official name. Never know when I might need something.


    ''Course, I could buy the detes of the multi-medium one right now, but that would put me back in the red. I¡¯ll just make do with what I could find at the Night Market for the time being until I had a bigger backlog of Rayn. Maybe seven or eight thousand?


    ¡°I¡¯ll get you added to the list shortly.¡± He hung up. At least he didn¡¯t hang up mid-sentence like the last couple times. Maybe because I was approaching him as a client and not a merc for once?


    I sighed and looked around my apartment. It looks like I wasn¡¯t quite done moving about yet.

 Chapter 48

    Chapter 48The very air seemed to sizzle and crackle with the soft sputtering of electricity from a half-torn- no, cut power line. A bustling crowd moved about the cracked and broken pavement, uncaring about the electricity just the same as they were about the near-constant echoes of bullets not but a mile to our south. Their faces were drawn into hard lines, each a mask not all that different from a corpo smile.


    Children laughed and played amongst a few alleys, not caring that their play places were full of trash and the occasional corpse. They were one of the few non-artificial bright spots on this side of the city, and the people who lived around here would keep it that way. Despite the decay and destitution, the surrounding community had a sense of resilience. In a way, I felt more at home here than ¡®safer¡¯ places of the city I had been. It almost reminded me of Ryu Container Yard back before I could understand some things.


    Crusaders and more corporate forces kept a calm eye over the block, making sure that the gang warfare of the Scath Heights just to the south didn¡¯t try to encroach on more land. Although they kept out of the blocks that made up the heights, they were more than willing to protect the perimeter like it was the DMZ between two hostile nations.


    Joy-toy holograms danced and twirled in an attempt to entice the citizens with their movements, not even caring that by now most people had grown immune to such shallow acts. Soft music played from a nearby vendor¡¯s cart, completely at odds with the heavy feeling of the atmosphere from the long shadows of worn-out and bespeckled buildings. The chef casually flipped some kind of oriental food into a bowl, not caring about the chaos around him.


    The city¡¯s sky-tram drove through, uncaring about the long shadow it cast on us plebeians. The neon lights flickered defiantly from their perches as if to fight off the darkness cast by the corporate transport to no avail. The train hung from its rails without seeming to notice the small acts and ultimately meaningless acts of defiance. It moved suspended just a few stories up as it traveled at a rapid pace through the district with its screeching wheels.


    A scent toyed across my nose, evoking an exotic feeling as if spices had moved through the area recently. It was an incredibly odd scent, especially considering the destitute state of East End. Unfortunately, it was short-lived before the ambient stench of burning drugs and piss overpowered it once more. Smog played an unseen undercurrent, just as prevalent as the coppery tang of blood caught in the back of my throat.


    A breeze blew by, one of a sticky humidity that came with the turn of the season. Winter had long passed, and the temperatures were finally starting to heat back up for spring. Not that it mattered much for us on the streets. It''s not like spring would actually bring about plants or anything of the sort. At most, there would be a marginal increase in vermin and the beginning of migratory animals through the city.


    I checked the message from Carone and made sure I was in the right place. I stood in front of an abandoned, half-finished arcology right before the edge of the Scath Heights: Gehenna Housing. The thing was gargantuan, and probably would¡¯ve housed tens of thousands had it been finished, bringing about new life to this area. Now, it was a den of crime, squatters, and apparently a small Night Market for the next several days.


    I glanced around, my eyes catching on the various blood stains scattered about the broken pavement of the street as my hand rested on the SB-17 strapped to my neck. I tracked a streak of dry blood, spotting a woman who had been shot several times and left to rot just at the mouth of an alley. A couple of days old, maybe.


    Several others were in the alley, all as deceased as the last, though they looked more like OD¡¯s than the murder- or maybe self-defense? Hard to tell, not that I cared enough to look into it. Slab Co¡¯s trucks hadn¡¯t come by yet, so most of them were at least two weeks fresh. I averted my eyes. ''Couldn''t solve everything... there''s a reason the Blue Crusade had fewer patrols in this part of the city.


    The cold steel of the rifle felt comforting in my grip. I had felt foolish for wanting to bring it at first, but there was no denying that East End wasn¡¯t the most civil part of the city, especially not the muderhobo den of Scath Heights. As things stand, the unfinished arcology sat way too close to the heights for comfort.


    Maybe I should¡¯ve bought some backup? I was far from good at combat, so the chances of me getting attacked were unfortunately rather high. Sure, my rifle would have a strong deterrent effect, but all I needed was a ganger getting a rotten idea in their head.


    Hopefully, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem, though it was best to keep my wits about and make exit strategies as I entered. I already had a few planned based on the blueprints of the original structure, yet there was no telling how accurate they were considering the state of the arcology. Hallways and doors could''ve collapsed or filled with debris, cutting off my potential routes.


    I took a breath, making a mental note to look into getting a mask, and entered the front door of Gehenna Housing. Almost immediately, I was smacked in the face with the scent of half-decomposed bodies hidden under the overpowering scent of Happy. It was a drug known to cause extreme pleasure, so much so that users often suffered strokes or stroke-like symptoms.


    I tried to breathe as little of it as possible as I glanced around. Maybe I really should get a mask? Several armed guards- rather, what tried to look like armed guards, stood around the entryway. They were more kids than anything, each looking to be in the same gang. They wore patchwork clothing marked with a shattered red heart.


    Really, it wouldn¡¯t be too surprising if a gang was in control of Gehenna Housing. The gang was probably the same group peddling Happy.


    They were incredibly tense, especially at spotting my rifle. Several of them seemed to calm down at seeing my face though, causing me to consider getting a mask for a different reason. My face wasn¡¯t exactly conducive to intimidation.


    I flashed my phone, showing a verification image that Carone sent me last night. It was quite a surprising image due to the rarity of the sight. I had never seen a full one in person, but I knew what it was. Several stars formed a constellation of some kind, looking a bit like an off-rectangle.


    One of the kids, his skin a dull olive and looking incredibly dry, spoke up for the group like the leader as he pointed to a set of stairs. ¡°Market ¡®s on the third floor. Don¡¯ go snoopin¡¯, and there won¡¯ be problems, lady.¡±


    I gave a glance over the surroundings, noticing several people hiding in shadowy alcoves and under thick blankets like they were hobos. Several were in even more obvious spots, not even trying to hide as they sat around smoking. Probably senior members of the gang using the youngsters as bait. It was an unfortunately common tactic to get a gonk kid trying to prove something to act as fodder. Then, if they lived long enough, they would grow to be chrome-domes doing the same to a new generation.


    What was the relationship between the gang and the market? Did they host it? Hmm¡­ unlikely. It was probably an act of mutual benefit. The market hosted it here to gain the gang¡¯s protection, and the gang would get a chance to make some extra profit from the higher-than-normal amount of people moving through the area.


    I moved to the stairs the kid pointed out and went up several sets. For once, I wasn¡¯t even a bit winded upon reaching the top. My above-average amount of activity was finally paying off. I followed the direction from a few other gangers until I reached a dozen guards standing in front of the door.


    They were all wearing the same sets of gear, looking closer to PMCs than the typical mercs that guarded events. They each had a patch of stars set in the same roughly square pattern. So the Night Market wasn''t so simple after all. They eyed me as I approached, but otherwise didn¡¯t make a move to take my gun or stop me.


    After flashing the image on my phone once more, one of the guards handed me a small metallic card. It had the same image on it, though this one seemed far more detailed, like a full night''s sky... it really must''ve been a wonder to see the stars so long ago. ¡°Don¡¯t lose this. We don¡¯t offer seconds, and it''s your pass to the next market. Just scan it with your phone.¡± S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°Right.¡± I slipped the card into a hidden pocket in my jacket and entered the room they guarded. I entered directly into a massive half-finished ballroom of sorts. Market stalls covered the entire area, and there were thousands of voices raised in barter.


    So this was a Night Market¡­ I had heard of them and knew they existed, ¡®course, but this was my first time entering one. I guess I really am making my way up in the world, for better or worse. What''s next? Going into the corporate quarter on a daily basis? Ha...


    I entered the Night Market proper and started to pass by the stalls set up by various merchants, each offering an array of technology. About half of everything looked made in a factory, and the other half looked handmade. There was everything from gadgets and tools to industrial-grade machinery on offer.


    Most of the stuff looked incredibly intriguing, and I was half tempted to buy something several times. Before getting anything though, I needed to guarantee I got a printer. After a while of searching, I found a guy selling a variety of tools and machinery. He was set up off in the corner of the deteriorated ballroom, with several guards patrolling around.


    ¡°Ah, choombata! Come, come, view Suvroc''s wares. I¡¯m sure I have what you are looking for, and if I don¡¯t? I know who does!¡± The guy was very excited, or at least his voice sounded that way. I couldn¡¯t tell for sure thanks to the black nearly featureless mask covering his face. The only thing that stood out about it was the four red eyes set into the mask. Maybe he was a Magus? From what I know, four red eyes were common amongst Crow''s sprites.


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for a printer. You have one?¡± I looked through the hundreds of boxes around his massive stall, impressed by the sheer amount of merchandise this ¡®Suvroc¡¯ had.


    ¡°Do I! Something simple like a paper printer? Or maybe an ASCorp Metal Printer? Perhaps a KairoTech Multi-Medium one? Or something a bit cheaper, say a Softworks Plastic Printer?¡± He asked as his hand twirled and several boxes were pulled from his supply.


    Aetherial Perception didn¡¯t show anything, so he was definitely a Kinetic. Telekinesis, maybe? It didn¡¯t really matter what type of Kinetic he was, just that he was a strong one. Carone may think his little pyro tricks were intimidating, but the pure ease with which this guy moved about his merchandise was far more intimidating, especially considering how heavy they likely were. The mask was weird then? Why show off features reminiscent of Crow''s sprites when this Suvroc isn''t even a Magus?


    I looked through the boxes he showed, noting their pristine condition. They looked entirely untouched, which was damn impressive considering how filthy this place was. ¡°The Softworks one.¡±


    ¡°Right away, choombata.¡± Most of the boxes went back to their locations as one in particular flew through the air and settled on the table. The top of it simply opened up, allowing me to get a good view of the merchandise. It was in perfect shape, not even taken out of its packaging.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you a thousand for it.¡± It was a fair price according to what I had seen on the Net.


    The man raised his hand to his chest and curved backward. ¡°You insult the great Suvroc! This machine in its prime like this one is worth at least twelve hundred. You won''t find a fairer price elsewhere!¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯ll have to put it together myself, so anything over eleven will be a loss to me,¡± I said, feeling zero confidence in my bartering skills. And what a poor attack that was. ''I have to put it together myself''. Maybe it would''ve worked elsewhere, but this Night Market obviously catered to making and creating stuff.


    Another box floated from the background, this one far smaller than the printer. He popped it open to reveal several rolls of plastic filament. ¡°Look, twelve hundred fifty and I¡¯ll even throw in a bulk order of supplies needed to run the printer for free. It''s a great deal, choombata!"


    I hadn¡¯t thought of that. It had been my focus to get a printer in the first place, so I completely overlooked the fact that I would need resources to actually print with¡­ ¡°Fine¡­¡±


    ¡°Nova!¡± The man waved his hand and both boxes rested on the table. A board floated up behind him, illuminated by a neon light strip that twirled around it. The board had the guy¡¯s account information.


    I fed it to my PA and transferred the Rayn, feeling slightly bitter that I hadn¡¯t managed to talk down the price point at all. Wait a second, had the price gone up? What the fuck? Damn, I  need to work on my bartering skills. The printer had cost me sixteen hundred fifty in total, which wasn¡¯t ideal. That left me at just over thirty-five hundred, not including the money I still owed Feras.


    ¡°It was a pleasure, miss.¡± The guy turned to a new customer walking up as I stacked the boxes and headed for the door. Yep, definitely should¡¯ve brought back up- at least to carry my new gear.

 Chapter 49

    Chapter 49I set my boxes down by the door as Feras finished gathering up the last of his stuff. ¡°Zuku! Just who I was waiting to see¡­¡±


    ¡°Are you finally moving out?¡± I looked him over, feeling a bit unsettled. I swear his gaze looked off for some reason.


    He smiled brightly and slung his bag over his shoulder. ¡°Just about. I can¡¯t keep leeching off you forever¡­ my pay?¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± My heart ached as I transferred the twelve hundred and fifty Rayn I owed him.


    His smile brightened substantially as he checked his phone. ¡°Thank you, boss! And thank you for giving me a place to stay. I think it''s high time I get a move on though.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± It definitely was. I couldn¡¯t wait to have the apartment all to myself again. My Perk Points needed spending, and it would be nice to shower and sleep without any stress once more.


    He stuck out his hand. ¡°It''s been¡­ nice. If you ever need a grifter, or just some help in general, you have my contact.¡±


    I froze for a moment before taking his hand. ¡°Yeah¡­ you have plans?¡±


    ¡°Yep! Some of my contacts finally got back to me, so I¡¯ll be back in the flow soon. And I¡¯ve got a bead on a place to stay. You?¡± His excitement was as evident as his smile was bright.


    ¡°Relax for a week or two while I wait for another gig¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t wait till my bed came in and I could truly relax in its embrace.


    ¡°Exciting¡­ well! I¡¯m off. Don¡¯t be a stranger, Zuku.¡± He headed for the door, pausing at the frame. ¡°Hey¡­ you want to go get some food? I still owe you some ramen.¡±


    Oh? Was he trying to befriend me? What a los- actually¡­ It was kind of nova? Assuming this wasn¡¯t a trap or anything of the sort¡­ never can truly tell in this damnable city. Still¡­ I checked my guns. ¡°Sure.¡±


    There was no obvious reason to turn him down, and being around someone else was a good experience for me¡­ and it could be looked at as another networking chance. Right, it''s not like I was going just because I wanted a new friend. Gah, I really was pathetic.


    I took a breath, trying to relax in the comfort of my own home once more. I had just returned from the meal with Feras. It had been¡­ preem? It was so weird being around someone willingly and not because a gig demanded it. In the past, only Mira has come anywhere close to a similar position.


    I stared at the wall, feeling a bit¡­ lonely? That wasn¡¯t quite right. I didn¡¯t even like Feras much in the first place thanks to his nature as a grifter, there was no way I was feeling lonely that he was gone¡­


    It was the fox. Right. It was the fox sprites that I missed, not the Magus. No longer would I be able to appreciate their adorable snouts and cute little paws as they padded around my apartment.


    My gaze shifted as if its own free will. I tiredly rubbed at it, almost seeming to force away the oddness. Thankfully, it worked. I grabbed the eyedropper from Nael and dripped a couple of drops onto my eye, feeling the soothing sensation ease my vision back to the right place.


    I sighed and settled down against the wall. I couldn¡¯t wait for my new furniture to come in, but until then- Perks! I waited a couple hours to make sure Feras didn¡¯t come back before I allowed myself to be pulled into the pavilion once more.


    Sleight of Hand was first. I already knew what I wanted from the last time I picked a Perk for it, so I wasted no time.


    ¡¸Ambidextrous - You can use both hands equally well.¡¹


    I pulled the scroll off the shelf, the flickering flame above going out as the rest of the scrolls turned dark once more. I stepped across the moonlit pavilion on light feet, taking my time to enjoy the view of the sakura tree.


    I didn¡¯t know what the process of obtaining Ambidextrous would be, so I took some time to mentally prepare myself as I enjoyed the view. Eventually, however, my waiting had to end. I turned to the easel and entrusted the Perk scroll to it.


    The scroll instantly unrolled by itself, revealing a painting of two feminine hands. They were painted in a perspective as if a person was looking down at their own hands. A moment passed¡­ two¡­ I raised my head to look around, immediately feeling a strong sense of vertigo as I realized I had been transported to a different place at some point. The hands I was staring at, had, in fact, been my own.


    I stood in the dark corner of a library, the space seemingly full of books and yet I couldn¡¯t focus on any of them. A desk sat in front of me with several sheets of paper and pens. The papers weren¡¯t blank- no, they were covered in writing exercises for children who had yet to learn their letters.


    ¡¸Complete the task.¡¹


    I didn¡¯t immediately move to the desk like I did with other challenges. The library was quite intriguing, so I stepped away from the desk to look around. I reached for a book on one of the shelves, but a shock of electricity smacked my finger away before it could make contact.


    A frown creased my face as I tried again, only to be hit by a significantly stronger shock just shy of electrocution. I jolted back and rubbed at my hand. Note to self; books are dangerous.


    I moved away from the bookshelves as the notification flashed into my view once more. I lightly ignored it and moved on. After a few cases, the surroundings grew incredibly dark, as if the very light had been snuffed out. I could still see shapes in the darkness, but they made a chill go up my spine. They almost looked like faces, familiar ones at that.


    Something about the darkness beyond felt¡­ off. The chill spread throughout my body as if only death awaited me if I were to head into it. Or worse, being lost in this place with no way back.


    I slowly backed up, my heart pounding as I returned to the desk and took a seat. Might as well follow the instructions.


    I shifted slowly against the wall, feeling my joints creak and pop from a couple days of not moving in the slightest. I slowly stood up, my bones grating against each other due to the awkward way I had been sitting since starting the Perk process.


    Crow¡¯s Canteen of Chaos entered my hand in the next second and I gulped down water, drinking about half of it in one go to ease the agony in my throat. The soothing liquid flowed down the path of glass, refreshing me as I leaned against the wall. Then, just because I could, I swapped hands without a hitch.


    I stretched and made myself as comfortable as I could before looking through the missed notifications on my phone. The first message let me know my stuff had been delivered down in the mailroom of the building. Then there was the text from Ishimaru thanking me for exposing the Savant Lab. I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if I was in his debt now that he helped me out.


    Last but not least, Mira texted me about an hour ago. ¡®Hey! Pa just got his new deployment orders. We¡¯ve got a month before we need to go, so I figured we should go ahead and celebrate your birthday. I went by your container, but you weren¡¯t in¡­¡¯


    That sucks¡­ I was hoping they¡¯d stick around for a bit longer this time around. Orders were orders though, and the FSA rarely let Uncle Ezra have a long time off. ¡®I moved. Here¡¯s the address.¡¯ I sent her my new apartment¡¯s location. ¡®My birthday isn¡¯t for another two months, so don¡¯t worry about it.¡¯


    ¡®Still¡­¡¯


    After texting Mira, I headed out of my apartment and down to the first floor. Getting the boxes of furniture out of the mail room and up into my apartment was a pain in the ass. It was made far easier thanks to the elevator, but still an annoying process. The stuff was heavy, and the landowner didn¡¯t have a dolly I could borrow, so I had to slowly move the boxes while taking the occasional break.


    What made it worse was the gonks around me. I could feel their gazes on me as I rubbed at my eyes and carted my stuff to my apartment. Their gazes felt judgemental as if they could tell I bought the stuff with blood money.


    Once everything got moved up into my apartment, I started to put it all together. The tables were definitely cheap as I set them up, and felt as if they could collapse at any moment. The one I planned to eat off of didn¡¯t matter so much, but the other one worried me. It would seriously suck for it to collapse under the weight of whatever I was working on.


    Since they were cheap, they looked more like mere scraps with rough screw mounts than actual pieces of furniture. In fact, most of the legs didn¡¯t match at all, seemingly pulled from random other bits of recycled furniture. The work table itself had a massive dent on one side, which was still better off than the mess of dents covering the dinner table. I swear it looked much better in the photos from the seller.


    I also set up the 3D Softworks Printer, which was surprisingly painless. Everything snapped together rather flawlessly, and even the materials had their slots to be easily exchanged. I just needed some practice actually making stuff with it, and then I¡¯d be good to go.


    The bed wasn¡¯t as painless, but eventually, I tightened the last bolt and screwed in the final screw, turning the place one step closer to homely. Once everything was set up, I jumped onto the bed, feeling the soft mattress embrace my body. It wasn¡¯t top-of-the-line, but the bed was far better than the mattress I used back in the shipping container. I could just fall asleep on it-


    I shook my head and cleared away the drowsiness. I had one more Perk to spend before I fully got to relax, so I allowed myself to be pulled back into the pavilion once more. As soon as this was over, I could take at least a couple of days to relax and decompress. I really needed it. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I wasted no time before heading for a shelf that I hadn¡¯t seen yet: deception. The scrolls were laid out just as neatly as the rest of them, allowing me an easy viewing experience as I looked through them.


    Deception had some¡­ interesting Perks. There was a particularly high amount of them that would allow me to use my body to better sell what I was saying. Unfortunately, most of them were the kind I wouldn¡¯t want. It took a bit to read through them and narrow down the options, but one in particular stood out to me: Honest Face


    ¡¸Honest Face - Others will perceive you as a more upright and innocent person, allowing you to be ¡®honest¡¯.¡¹


    A light chuckle escaped my lips as I pulled it off the shelf. Innocence. Ha. Like I would ever be innocent again. I looked down at my hands as I walked to the easel, feeling reminiscent of a younger me. One without quite as many crimes upon her shoulders.


    I threw the scroll on the easel, half expecting to be sent out of the pavilion and back to my bed similar to Hidden Hands thanks to the description. Unfortunately, that¡¯s not what happened. As soon as I stared at the scroll¡¯s masterful painting, which depicted a joyful child unaware of the cruel truths of reality, I was pulled into another place entirely.

 Chapter 50

    Chapter 50It had been about a week since I returned from the pavilion, and I hadn¡¯t wasted it too much. I spent most of my time being a potato on my comfy bed and searching the Net for new tidbits of information and some videos on View2 over potential Skills I wanted to learn. In particular, I had been looking through stuff related to Tech, First Aid, and Criminology.


    Other than that, I also messed around with the printer quite a bit. It was an interesting process, and oddly entertaining to play with. Modeling exactly what I wanted to make was exceptionally hard, especially considering some of the limitations the free applications I used had.


    ¡®Course, I had to isolate said applications and cut off Net access thanks to their awful habit of copying what I made and sending it to bigger corps. Thankfully, there were many videos and tutorials for how to do such a thing, so it wasn¡¯t too hard. A bit of coding, but copy-pasting worked surprisingly well as long as no pressure was put on the spaghetti code.


    I had only made some simple toys and stuff with the printer so far, nothing that would be of any actual use in the field. I wasn¡¯t quite ready to start making anything of value yet, at least not with my current skills in modeling. Once I grew more comfortable, I would start looking at some other stuff.


    It had been a nice break from the hustle and bustle of living in Aythryn City. Like all good things though, my break had to come to an end. In this particular case, it ended with a call from Shinobu.


    I set aside the little toy I had just finished and rubbed at my eyes. It was one of several action figures I had started to make to help learn modeling. The first few had been terrible, but now they were to the point of having some simple moving parts. Nothing complicated, but they were surprisingly fun to make.


    The figure was a simple doctor in scrubs hiding their face behind a surgical mask. It was a hero I came up with; Doctor Absolom! Woe be those that harm others!¡­ or something like that. It was stupid, but I designed it intending to bring a couple around with me and give them to some of the downtrodden kids around the city.


    As such, I didn¡¯t want to pass around a murderous figurine since there were already enough of those to go around. Heck, I was one of them, so I should know. Anyway, there weren¡¯t any copyright-free heroes I could find that I liked, hence Doctor Absolom.


    ¡°Hello?¡± I answered the call and set my tools down, relaxing as I slumped down on my table. The cool metal felt nice on my face. It was starting to turn spring, and the desert around the city never helped the heat. Especially on clear skies like today.


    ¡°Chiwa mikata! You been well?¡± His gruff rumble of a voice came across the line.


    I wiped my hands off and headed for my bed to lie down. It was super comfortable, but I had been having a hard time sleeping on it for some reason. ¡°As well as could be expected¡­ you?¡±


    He sighed deeply. ¡°Busy¡­ someone tipped off the Fangs to a massive Savant Lab hiding out on the north side of Little Yukoto. It¡¯s been a mess dealing with it, especially with the remnants of the Spyders attacking us at every chance.¡±


    ¡°I uh- I thought the Spyders were wiped out?¡± They were the ones responsible for the original attack on the Jade Fangs which felt like so long ago. It''s hard to think that it''s only been a little over a month in a half since then. And since I got the interface. And since I iced those two cleaners¡­


    ¡°Us too¡­ There were some stragglers left though. Apparently, they¡¯ve found a trove of some high-end weapons. Been attacking small groups almost nonstop since. It''s a real shit show with the increased pressure from Sentinel and Raijin.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like it¡­ umm, what were you calling for though? It can¡¯t have been to just check up on me.¡± Nobody ever called me just because they wanted to speak to me.


    ¡°Right¡­ I need some help, mikata.¡± His voice suddenly lost its usual gruffiness and shifted to a more pleading tone as he proved my point. ¡°I can¡¯t pay you much in terms of Rayn, but I can offer you a massive favor.¡±


    Favors were almost as valuable as hard Rayn in the city. Sure, it depended on who from, but from someone reliable? He was reliable, right? ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to ask for my girl''s hand in marriage, and already got her father¡¯s approval. He even handed down her grandmother¡¯s, may she rest in peace, wedding ring.¡±


    A small smile came to my lips, as my annoying eye finally focused on the wall across from me. ¡°Congrats!¡±


    A bit of jovial cheer entered his voice ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°How come I didn¡¯t know you were getting married?¡± I asked. ¡°Heck, you never even mentioned you had a gal.¡± S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°We don¡¯t really talk much outside of Fang business, so¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± That¡¯s a depressing thought. Almost all of my interpersonal relations were related to crime. Or murder. ¡°Well, what¡¯s her name?¡±


    He was all too happy to talk about her it seemed, especially with the way his gushing voice sounded. ¡°Her name¡¯s Valerina. She¡¯s truly the most beautiful woman I¡¯ve ever met, both inside and out.¡±


    Valerina, eh? ¡°I take it she isn¡¯t a Fang?¡±


    ¡°Nope! She¡¯s an artist, and a good one at that. She¡¯s already got art out all around the city. And she¡¯s so sweet! She volunteers with Saint¡¯s Cathedral to help struggling communities all the time. She used to be a nurse with Medtech back in the day, so she offers free aid to those who need it. It¡¯s so refreshing being with someone so- so kind-hearted, you know?¡± He sighed happily.


    Not really. The closest thing I could maybe compare kind-hearted to would be Mira, but she¡¯s a battle junkie so... ¡°Yeah, I get it. Well, I¡¯m happy for you; getting a foot out of the door from all the gang stuff.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, mikata. I¡¯ll send you a wedding invite when we get everything planned. I¡¯m sure Valerina would love you¡­ actually, they¡¯re doing a health drive just south of Ichiban this week. Why don¡¯t you head over there at some point? Get a free check-up.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡± I was in good health thanks to Quick Healing, so I didn¡¯t really need it. Other than my eye, ¡®course. Still, I might as well go meet her. Shinobu was a good guy, so it wouldn¡¯t hurt to get to know his gal.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll let her know you might come by. I talked to her a bit about you back during the truck ¡®falling over¡¯.¡± He leaned away from his phone.


    ¡°Sure¡­ well, cya around.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, chow.¡± He hung up.


    Weird¡­ coulda¡¯ sworn he wanted help with something¡­ whatever.


    I checked my printer just in time for it to finish making yet another Doctor Absolom toy. I pulled it out, and cleaned off the residue from the printer, carefully scraping the excess plastic from the structure supports. I repeated the process with the rest of the parts.


    After everything was all cleaned up, I started to put it together, enjoying the simplicity of the task. The toy didn¡¯t do anything super crazy, but I did try to give it some moving parts to keep it entertaining. Its limbs could pop in and out of its sockets, and allowed them to be rotated around. It also came with a small syringe that could be popped into and out of the figure''s hands.


    After cleaning it all up, I set it aside and started to print one more, though this time adding a little bit more detail and cleaning up the model with what I learned from my latest print. After the process began again, I sat back and watched the printer¡¯s arm start to move around at high speeds.


    My phone started to ring. Shinobu. Again. I picked it up and hit the answer button. ¡°Yes?¡±


    Shinobue coughed lightly. ¡°I uh- I forgot to mention why I called you¡­ sorry, Shiro.¡±


    I laughed lightly. ¡°No problem.¡± He must really love this Valerina chick to forget why he was calling someone as soon as her name popped up.


    ¡°That ring that I mentioned? It was- uh, was stolen. I know where it''s at now, but I can¡¯t exactly get it back.¡± He said.


    How¡¯d he let the wedding ring get stolen? And who the heck was ballsy enough to steal from a Jade Fang enforcer? ¡°You want me to steal it back? Sure. Can¡¯t be too hard to-¡±


    ¡°Hear me out the rest of the way first, mikata? I am grateful for your enthusiasm though¡­ The problem lies in where it''s at.¡± He sighed once more, seemingly the weight of the world on his shoulders. ¡°Blue has it. The damn gonk got to the thief before I could, and now the ring is locked up.¡±


    "Blue¡­" I took a sharp breath in. So not so easy then. Getting into the Blue Crusade¡¯s lockup and then getting out would be nearly impossible. Was he trying to get me killed? It would be an easy way to get rid of someone. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡±


    ¡°I figured it was a longshot anyway, so it''s more than fine if you refuse. I do have a way in though, if you could hear me out a bit more?¡± He asked, desperation evident in his voice.


    ¡°Sure.¡± I could at least hear him out. It would have to be a really good way in though.


    He took a breath, and I could hear him rubbing at his chrome arm as he picked his words carefully so as not to say anything too incriminating. ¡°Ok¡­ it¡¯s like this. I know a Shoemaker who¡¯s willing to make ¡®shoes¡¯ for me, but I need someone without a rep, especially a gang-related one. That eliminates everyone I know that would be competent enough to pull this off.¡±


    ¡°Which brought you to me?¡± I had been incredibly lucky the few times I had been caught out in the past. Either something happened to distract the squires mid-arrest, or I got them on a good day. I¡¯ve never had anything more than a slap on the wrist, and a quick look through their records showed I wasn¡¯t even listed in them.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ anyway, the ¡®shoe¡¯ won¡¯t break under light usage. It might even hold out against some medium ¡®wear¡¯, but nothing heavy¡­ or so I¡¯ve been told.¡±


    A full fake identity package like he was talking about - one that could mostly hold up - would be invaluable to me. At a glance? Seventy-five thousand Rayn minimum. It would take a really skilled Shoemaker to set everything up for the identity with enough backing so it wouldn¡¯t fall like a house of cards. Especially for one that would make me a member of the Crusade. I can¡¯t even imagine how much effort would need to go into it, nor the true price.


    It was easily worth far more than a wedding ring¡­ at least in my opinion. If he was tight on money though like he said, he probably called in a favor. It''s crazy¡­ he must really love this Valerina gal. I guess it¡¯s true what they say; love does make people mad.


    It was stupidly dangerous, but if I pulled it off I¡¯d get a good fake identity and a favor from Shinobu? Hundred percent worth the risk. And! And I had been thinking of getting a fake ID recently. This would be far better than the one I took from Ajay Insurance.


    ¡°How much do you trust this Shoemaker?¡± I asked.


    He laughed lightly. ¡°With my life. I¡¯ve used some of his ¡®shoes¡¯ in the past- they¡¯re good stuff. As long as nothing goes wrong inside, the shoe will hold for your ¡®walking¡¯.¡±


    I really wanted that ID¡­ but breaking into the heart of the Crusade¡¯s operations? That was basically suicidal. There was a far higher chance that I would never come out again. Before I could say anything though, the interface popped into my view.


    ¡¸New Request!¡¹


    ¡¸Request Board(hide)


    Snakeskin


    Obtain a solid fake ID1 Skill Point ¡¹


    I stared at the quest, feeling sick in my stomach. It was like it was mocking me, showing that the eidolons thought I was a snake too. Nothing more than a psychopathic beast lurking in human skin-


    I shook my head, focusing back on his request. If I wasn¡¯t going to take his request, then I definitely wanted to now. I was already tempted by the fake ID, but add on a Skill Point too? The rewards were too good to pass up on. And it¡¯s not like I would even be doing something morally grey- just breaking into the Blue Crusade¡¯s evidence room and taking back the wedding ring that rightfully belonged to my good choom Shinobu.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m in,¡± I said.

 Chapter 51

    Chapter 51I walked through Ichiban Street three days later, somewhat surprised that it was still as popular and popping as it was in the past- no, I¡¯d say more so. It¡¯s as if the increased Blue Crusade patrols and roving bands of Sentinel and Raijin had only brought more life into the street. The crowd density was several times thicker than it used to be as people trailed around the street looking for a way to relieve their stress.


    Fortunately for the street urchins that prey upon this place, all prospective Fangs, that meant many more pockets to pick. I barely had to look around to see several dozen kids moving through the crowd like fish in water, easily slipping their nubby hands into pockets and klepping the loot.


    Seeing such a sight brought me back, way back when I was far younger and far less skilled. I still remember that one time I nearly got my wrist broken by a merc who caught me back before I learned to differentiate people. His eyes held a sort of unnerving psychosis. Probably would¡¯ve lost a limb back then if it weren¡¯t for a Fang ¡®conveniently¡¯ bumping into him¡­


    Say what you will about the Fangs, but they took care of their own. In a world of deception and misery, they were one of the few places with honor among thieves. It was rare, especially amongst the other gangs I¡¯ve seen through the years. Maybe it¡¯s because of the Jade Fang¡¯s strong ¡®elders¡¯ that kept them on track? Either way, it was damn impressive.


    I passed along, feeling the heat of hundreds of people packed tightly like odorous sardines in a can. Speaking of odor, there was the particular scent of drugs, spices, and aphrodisiacs that were common to this place. The light rain helped keep both the heat and scent down, but it was definitely still noticeable as if someone was trying to poison the air. Thankfully, a storm rolled in the last hour, otherwise it would¡¯ve been so much worse.


    I pushed a long lock of hair back behind my ear and adjusted my hat to block out the rain a bit better. Then, I stepped before the massive dragon maw gate of the Dragoon Saloon, already feeling the watchful eyes of the guards as I approached. I noticed a familiar face in the group- the boy who stopped me a couple of months ago. He nodded at me as I cast a critical gaze across his body.


    I wasn¡¯t the only one to have grown and changed in the last couple months. The boy no longer looked boyish, and I wouldn¡¯t have even noticed him if not for his face. His limbs had been fully replaced by chrome ones, and he stood a couple of feet taller than he used to. A metal jaw covered the lower half of his face, and the rest of his flesh was warped with the subtle hints of subdermal armor.


    The guy stepped aside, pulling one of the other guards with him, allowing me entry. ¡°Welcome back, Shiro.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I tried to flash a smile at the guy. To my surprise, a small hint of a blush peeked over the metal edge of his jaw. I threw it to the back of my mind, trying not to hyper-analyze every little cue and tell as I walked past him. It wasn¡¯t that hard thanks to practice doing something similar with Fox¡¯s Paw. Still, it took effort.


    I passed through the dragon¡¯s maw of the gate, entering the courtyard of the Dragoon Saloon. It was similar to the first time I saw it; people were laughing and chattering all around whether they were sitting on the verdant grass or nursing a drink at the several short chabudai set up. It was oddly nice to see the Jade Fangs back to business as per usual.


    I cast a glance around, appreciating the holographic sakura trees ever casting their blossoms across the area. It¡¯s funny- this brought a subtle fear into my mind after the torture I experienced learning Fox¡¯s Paw. Now? Nothing. See! I was growing, if not in the way I wanted to.


    That thought was forced to the back of my head along with the rest of the things I didn¡¯t want floating around in the forefront, and I walked through the courtyard and into the Dragoon Saloon¡¯s pavilion. I cast a glance around, spotting the usual people scattered around the red-wooded room. In the corner sat Ishimaru, already drunker than any man had a right to be. He glanced up as if feeling my gaze and waved as if he wanted something from me.


    I politely waved back before spotting Shinobu settled down on the edge of the second floor¡¯s balcony. I headed up, the stairs set off to the side and made my way over to him. A dark suitcase sat at his feet. He waved me over to him, his long black trench coat billowing with the movement as his chrome arm glinted with the ambient light. ¡°Shiro!¡±


    Sitting down at his table, I couldn¡¯t help but curl my nose slightly at what he was drinking. I wasn¡¯t sure what exactly it was, but it was damn strong based on the stench. ¡°Shinobu¡­ I see you¡¯re enjoying your day.¡±


    He glanced down at his glass and sheepishly rubbed at his head. ¡°Haha¡­ yeah¡­ just trying to drink some of the stress away, you know? Fuck that kleptoid- Drew, I think.¡±


    ¡°Not really¡­¡± Though I had been thinking of trying it recently. The last week had been¡­ tiring.


    ¡°That¡¯s probably for the best¡­ not like I can get drunk anyway with my bio-monitor.¡± He slammed back the rest of his drink, not looking tipsy in the least.


    ¡°Sure.¡± I had heard biomon¡¯s were particularly annoying with that feature. Sure, they fought off almost all kinds of poisons, but the fact they fought alcohol made many people second guess getting one. ¡®Course, there were plenty of other reasons to not get one¡­ ¡°The shoe?¡±


    ¡°Chek chek, mikata.¡± He slid his hand under his coat and pulled out a black box about the size of a book. ¡°Here you go, Squire Zuku.¡±


    I grabbed the box and opened it up, revealing a full ID, Blue Crusade badge, and several passports as well as a sheet full of ¡®my¡¯ history. I ran a thumb over the ID, feeling a little weird seeing my face staring back under a different name: Zuku Ichima. ¡°You sure this will get me through?¡±


    My thumb traced over the badge, feeling the cool metal lettering under my skin. It was so weird to see a Blue Crusade badge not attached to a member of the Crusade. Ah, but it was. It was best I got into the mindset now. I was a Squire. Not the petty kleptoid slowly slaughtering her way up anymore, but an ¡®honest¡¯ law-enforcing Squire out to make the world a better place.


    I studied the Blue Crusade symbol, a heater shield with a wreath tucked behind it. Thinking such thoughts felt oddly¡­ cathartic. I was still young, I could hang up my life of crime and actually become an officer of the Blue Crusade. Or even go and become a doctor under Medtech Solutions. I knew better though¡­ in my heart of hearts? I loved the thrill of my current life, even if I had to deal with some not-so-great things from time to time.


    He nodded seriously. ¡°Scan the badge code. It¡¯s good stuff.¡±


    I followed his suggestion and ran my new code through my PA. In a moment, the code got a hit in the Blue Crusade database. Squire Zuku Ichima, 17, hired from amongst Aspirants two days ago by Inquisitor Ligh Strumgard. Sounded like a fake name. ¡°Ligh Strumgard?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Shinobu raised his hand as a waiter went by and ordered another drink. The waiter looked at me as if trying to gauge the best way to attack, before moving on. ¡°He¡¯s apparently an Inquisitor infamous for picking out Squires amongst Aspirants while drunk and then forgetting about them. No one will question you, and if you don¡¯t know something you can quote a lack of guidance.¡±


    A frown came to my lips as I rubbed at my eyes. ¡°Sounds like a deadbeat bastard. Why haven¡¯t they fired him?¡± S§×arch* The N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Shinobu shrugged. ¡°From what my shoemaker says, he pulls off some real hero shit four times a year, so the Crusade keeps him on¡­ and you know how they are. With as much effort as it takes to get through their ranks, they wouldn¡¯t want to fire one over something as small as this. They¡¯re understaffed as is, which is good for us.¡±


    ¡°I guess.¡± I stuffed the box into my pocket, intent on looking it over thoroughly later. ¡°You have the ring¡¯s location in their lockup?¡±


    ¡°Chek.¡± He pulled out his phone and messed on it before setting it down. A moment later, a message popped up in my HUD with the lockup¡¯s detes. Once more, I was ever thankful for the backdoor into the Blue Crusade database as the rest of the information immediately popped into my view. He wanted the evidence from the Idism case.


    ¡°Thanks for this. From what I¡¯ve heard, that ring has been handed down ever since the Aetherium War back in the late eighteen hundreds. It¡¯s quite literally priceless.¡±


    I smiled at him lightly. ¡°No problem. Happy to help you out.¡±


    He returned the smile and chuckled. ¡°You should smile more. You¡¯re really cute when you do. Almost like there''s a sense of innocence to ya¡¯?¡±


    ¡°T-thanks¡­¡± Was Honest Face pulling an effect? It was one of those learned perks, but it might¡¯ve affected how I smile and react in general just like Fox¡¯s Paw did with walking.


    ¡°I¡¯ve noticed over the past couple months. Every time I see you, you look more beautiful. Definitely inherited that from your mother¡­ say, I have a nephew-¡±


    I vehemently shook my head. ¡°I-I¡¯m good.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying, I know you don¡¯t have many friends, so¡­¡±


    ¡°I have plenty of friends! And I uh- I already have a boyfriend.¡± What?


    The enforcer looked needlessly surprised. ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°Yep, it¡¯s been a umm- a week now?¡± What are you saying, dumb girl? And why are you attempting to defend yourself before Shinobu? It''s not like he needs to know any of this stuff anyway.


    ¡°Really?¡± He chuckled, doubt obvious in his eyes.


    ¡°He¡¯s quite handsome?¡± Stupid Shiro! Stop saying shitty lies! Even more revolting, why did Feras pop into your head? You¡¯re so dumb you¡¯d probably drown looking up at a rain cloud! Though the world might be better off.


    Shinobu helplessly shrugged his shoulders as if some great disaster had just blown by him. ¡°Well then, nothing to be done about that¡­¡±


    I cast a gaze about the Dragoon Saloon, resisting the blush rising to my cheeks as best I could. ¡°S-so, about the gig¡­ I don¡¯t have a Blue Crusade uniform.¡±


    He pushed the suitcase around to me. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure about your size, but I did manage to acquire some. You can go ahead and keep all of this stuff. It¡¯s not like I really need it.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­ I¡¯ll be able to just flash my badge and get into the lockup without hassle?¡± I tapped on the table as I tried to mentally process the plan.


    ¡°Should be. You might have to bullshit your way through some extra paperwork, but it''s in a low-security lockup, so there won¡¯t be any real problems as long as you¡¯re careful.¡± He pulled a small evidence baggie holding a ring from his pocket and slid it to me. ¡°This is a close replica. Just swap it out with the real one, and no one will know.¡±


    Except for me and you. And how long till you made that just you? I shook my head, stood up, and snagged the ring and suitcase. ¡°W-well, I guess I¡¯ll see you when it¡¯s over.¡±


    Shinobu stood up too, abandoning his drink, and patted me on the shoulder as if he were planting a bug. ¡°Thank you, mikata. Seriously. It means a lot.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± I sighed and headed for the Dragoon Saloon¡¯s door. I needed to do a bit of research, but the sooner I got this over with the better. I could really use some sleep.

 Chapter 52

    Chapter 52I adjusted my clothing as I stared at the building across the street from me. The Blue Crusade Little Yukoto department sat in all its splendid glory, an ever-intimidating sight for the masses. Unsurprisingly, there were far fewer homeless and gangers around here, even in the alleys; only the truly desperate attempted to scrounge around this place.


    I gave myself a once over, making sure everything looked right. I wore the typical uniform of a low-level squire; a simple dark-blue, nearly-black button-up shirt and black techwear pants. A utility belt filled with boxes and pouches hung from my hip, holding my Sidewinder. Usually, they would be full of tools, but mine were stuffed with bits of plastic to make them look full.


    A standard issue plate carrier, good enough to block most small rounds, compressed my shirt tight to my chest. It was marked with the Blue Crusade¡¯s symbol and held ¡®my¡¯ badge. My walkie-talkie, actually tuned into Blue Crusade channels, sat slung at my hip and wrapped up around my shoulder. It wasn¡¯t  a walkie-talkie either. It was hyper-advanced, and could easily reach the entire city with its range.


    A long dark trench coat covered my small frame from the wind and freezing rain, marked with Blue Crusade along the back and arms. I knew about as well as anyone how intimidating seeing the coat could be. It had the added benefit of EMP threading, so I would be fully protected from pulse grenades if I had the misfortune of being hit by one.


    It also had a built-in ECM weave, so smart bullets would have a hard time hitting me. Not that anyone even used smart-bullets anymore. They¡¯re far too expensive per shot compared to normal bullets, so only an assassin or corpo operator  use a couple. Even then, it was iffy. There was no point in shooting away your money.


    Seeing as the shoemaker just set me as low level in the records, I didn¡¯t have any of the fancy silver armor that higher-level Squires, Inquisitors, and Crusaders had. It was fortunate because their armor was damn expensive with how much went into it.


    Shinobu had even managed to get a Blue Crusade baseball hat, which I used to keep my annoying hair back and out of my face. It was the same dark blue nearly black as the rest of my attire, and it was actually preem. My Slashers hat might have some competition now... if I got out of here alive, that is.


    It was seriously impressive Shinobu managed to get a full kit in such a short amount of time, to the point I was half worried he flatlined some random Squire and stole their clothes. Most likely though, he received the stuff from Taru, the Jade Fang Quartermaster.  .


    I took a deep breath, activated my Perks, and pushed all other thoughts to the back of my mind as I crossed the street. Several Squires were chatting at the door, though none of them even gave me a glance. I kept my head slightly tilted down and headed in. Confidence was key here, so I didn¡¯t let my abundant nerves slow me down as I walked through the doors of the Blue Crusade.


    As I moved, I couldn¡¯t help but reflect on my nervousness. I hadn¡¯t been this anxious since some of my first B&E¡¯s, and even then I don¡¯t think it had been this bad. I felt as though I had hyped up on caffeine or some kind of drug. Weird¡­


    The front door entered into a small lobby with several hallways leading off of it. As per usual, I had already memorized the entire layout of the building thanks to Eidetic Schematic. The layout was a little weird, as if the architects intentionally made it confusing to dissuade a gonk from breaking in.  .


    Either way, having it memorized allowed me to walk with purpose, which led back to being confident. No one but security stops someone when they look like they have something important to do. Though no one stopped me,


    I was just being paranoid... People were moving about in a constant flow inside of the lobby, headed from one place to the next. I didn¡¯t remain idle for long either and immediately set out for one of the many hallways leading out of the lobby. I resisted a yawn and walked through it, rubbing at my eyes as I went.


    I followed just enough behind a group of Squires to make it look like I was part of their group but not too close to catch their attention too much. We passed through several security gates, the Blue Crusade badge acting like one of those IRF cards. Every time one of the doors closed behind me, I could feel my heart speed up just a bit as my exits closed.


    They turned down a different hallway, towards the armory I think, so I continued by myself. There was a noticeably high number of Aspirants moving through the halls around me, almost as if they were expecting a break-in.


    The plethora of Aspirants wore simple clothes like I''d see of an off-duty Crusader. They weren''t technically full members of the Crusade yet, being mere recruits till they showed their worth, but I would a hundred percent lose a fight against one unless I got first strike.


    After shakily turning down several more halls, and passing by the various twisting operations rooms, I arrived at the low-security lockup. Since there were so many crimes constantly happening all throughout Aythryn City, there was equally as much evidence.


    Since there was so much of it, it was divided between several different lockups based on the type of item. Low-security lockup was the place for mundane items that were considered ¡®safe¡¯. No drugs, magic items, or weapons, but normal things¡­ such as Shinobu¡¯s ring.


    I stepped into the room; it was blessedly empty of onlookers. Heck, the place was barren except for a long counter on one side protected by a massive security barrier. The entire room felt like a cage. A jail cell.


    I wasted no time walking up and hitting the buzzer. A couple of seconds later, an elderly woman walked into the room on the opposite side of the counter. She gave me a long critical look as if nothing could get past her eyes. ¡°Fill this out.¡±


    Grabbing the clipboard, I moved off to the side and slowly filled out the information on the requisition slip. Most of it was stuff I already knew thanks to the detes Shinobu sent me earlier and other things that were in my ¡®shoe¡¯. The evidence I wanted was from the Idism Case.


    After finishing up with it, I slid the clipboard back under the barrier. The Evidence Technician grabbed it and cast a critical gaze over me as if she knew I wasn¡¯t really a Squire. Her beady little eyes watched me like a hawk, almost begging me to


    .


    I tried to not let my nerves show as I smiled at her, using what I learned from Honest Face to the best of my abilities. She looked down at the requisition slip with equal scrutiny before slowly moving back toward the evidence lockers. I knew better, her movements were just giving me time to admit to it all. To profess my guilt-


    I sighed and leaned against the counter, allowing myself a moment as the jitters coursed through me. My head pulsed with the beats of my heart, sending pain piercing through my brain as I tiredly sagged down and took a moment to breath-


    The door slammed open, forcing me to abandon my relaxed position and bolt upright. I glanced over my shoulder and immediately felt my anxiety spike to unprecedented levels. An Inquisitor stepped into the small waiting room.


    N-no, it was still too early to say. Maybe he was just here for evidence like me? It was seriously unhealthy to assume he was out to get me just because he showed up. This was the Blue Crusade building after all.


    Unlike Squires, Crusaders and Inquisitors wore the fully silver armor one would expect of a knight from way back when. ¡®Course, it had been innovated and improved substantially from then, but it definitely evoked a similar image. As far as I understood it, each one had personalized armor specifically made for them, though there were a few common points. For instance, Inquisitors all had eyes engraved over their heart. Fear dripped down my throat as said eye seemed to see right through me.


    The Inquisitor in front of me had his silver armor over the thick Crusade trench coat everyone here had on. Unlike some of the more outlandish designs I had seen, his was entirely focused on looking sleek.


    He only had on the silvery chest plate, bracers, and greaves covering him, unlike some of the super heavy-duty armor I had seen on the way in. An AR of some kind sat strapped to his back and two pistols were slung in the utility belt at his waist. The most intimidating thing about him, other than his aura, was his face.


    Just like every other higher-up of the Crusade, a smooth sheet of one-way silver covered his face entirely, blocking even the slightest micro expression from being read. Unlike some of the others, his was only a mask, allowing his black hair to peek out from the edges. Not that that helped the sheer intimidation factor the mask had. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The same longsword that every Inquisitor and Crusader wore as a sign of their office hung from his hip. Each one of them was a form of vibro-blade that could easily cut through steel, flesh, and bone like it was mere butter. Heck, back when I was helping Iris, I had seen firsthand how easily it could mess someone up.


    The Inquisitor looked at me, or at least I think he looked at me. His mask was tilted in my direction, and I stared at my form reflecting in it. It was as if I could instantly see every flaw with my disguise, and he was only waiting for me to admit my guilt-


    I forced away a tremor and attempted to straighten my back even more, turning my head into the light slightly to make me seem more open. I also opened my eyes slightly wider as I looked toward him, though not too wide to scrunch my face. They were very simple tricks from Honest Face. ¡°Sir.¡±


    He nodded at me, not saying anything as he continued to look towards me. Just as the creeping temptation to bolt started to feed into my mind, he moved to the wall and leaned up against it real casual-like.


    The elderly woman returned, drawing both of our attention. I nearly let out a sigh of relief as she carried in a box full of evidence and passed it to me. ¡°Oh, Inquisitor Strumgard!¡±


    Instantly, the ease I was feeling turned to ice-cold fear in my gut as a shudder went down my spine. I felt a chill as if Insight was warning me that death was but a moment away. That fear ate away at me even more as the Inquisitor spoke in an icey voice. ¡°Mary¡­ how are you?¡±


    The old woman laughed mockingly as she seemed to watch me from her peripherals. ¡°Preem, preem. Just helping out your Squire here.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± The Inquisitor turned his shielded face back towards me, exposing the guilt reflected in his mask. ¡°My Shquire?¡±


    Fuck.

 Chapter 53

    Chapter 53A feverish heat slowly displaced the cold in my body, causing sweat to soak through the brim of my hat. Why was it getting so hot in here? It felt as if the heat of a thousand suns had poured into the room while I wasn¡¯t paying attention.


    My flight or fight instinct almost kicked in, nearly forcing me to make a preemptive move. I bit my lip, attempting to reel in my screaming instincts. Even if I tried to run, there was no easy way out of here and I¡¯d have to fight through the entire station to get out.


    ¡°Yes, sir. T-two days ago, remember?¡± I tried to put on an innocent expression. In the reflection of the Inquisitor''s mask, my face twisted into a gruesome sneer, with a disdain for all life. Slowly, my eye started to glow red with blood lust-


    My heart pounded in my chest, the sound obtusely loud in my eardrums in the silence that followed. They both stared at me, almost mockingly. Finally, as if to end my misery, the Inquisitor spoke. ¡°I guess so¡­ is that the evidence from the Idishm Case?¡±


    I knew better than to give into my hope. I could see the sadistic distaste through his one-way mask. He was just cruelly drawing this out so as to make me squirm under the force of my own guilt-


    ¡°Y-yes, sir.¡± I chattered out. For being so hot, why was I chattering? Pull yourself together, Shiro! You¡¯re almost home free, just take a deep breath and calm down. Why was I getting so worked up in the first-


    ¡°Perfect, I was just on my way to grab it. Come along, Squire.¡± The man said in his ice-cold tone. He shifted, the reflection of his mask tilting away from my anxiety-wracked body. ¡°Thank you, Mary.¡±


    ¡°Um hmm¡­ you still owe me a cake.¡± The woman said as if that was some keyword to pass along a message. I it! This was just a setup. I was a fool to trust Shinobu. When I get outta here, he¡¯s the first person I would put a-


    The man¡¯s voice lost a bit of iciness as he sadistically chuckled at my plight. ¡°¡®Courshe, Marry. I¡¯ll bring one to you.¡±


    ¡°You better.¡± The Evidence Technician left the counter, going back into the lockers. Probably to report that I had been traded off to the Inquisitor.


    Inquisitor Strumgard led the way out of the evidence lockup, glancing over his shoulder to make sure I was following like a good prisoner. I could hear the pure loathing in his ice-cold voice as he talked to me. ¡°So¡­ My Squire? I do have some bad habits, but usually I remember a name at least¡­¡± He rubbed at the back of his head, probably sending a secret message to the others in the hall.


    The walls were slowly closing in on me, it was only a matter of time till I was suffocated by the Crusade. Till they stepped on my throat and-


    No, no¡­ I w-was just being paranoid. There was still a chance, however small, that they didn¡¯t know anything. I should just play along for as long as I could. I took a breath, the air surging into my lungs like fire attempting to devour me. ¡°Zuku Ichima. I-It¡¯s only been t-two days, sir.¡±


    ¡°Weird¡­ well, you were already taking the evidence I needed, so I must¡¯ve told you about my theory at shome point.¡± His voice slurred slightly as if he was holding in insidious laughter at my plight.


    I took another breath, attempting to force my unease back as we walked. My vision swam, everything distorting into a hellscape for a mere moment before it snapped back as my head throbbed in pain. ¡°Y-y-you were in a h-hurry.¡±


    ¡°I guess so.¡± He returned to silently leading the way; clearly not wanting to talk to a traitorous psychopath.


    As we walked, one of the dark rooms to the side seemed to digitize, growing impossibly dark. Faces and shapes ominously lurked in the shadowy depths. They were familiar ones, ones that had cried and screamed at me in nightmares. Yet now they were here, once more alive as if to drag me to Hell with them.


    A clawed hand reached forward from the doorframe, scraping at the doorway with an eerie screech reminiscent of the floundering cries of a young child. The long claws dripped with blood as it slowly moved towards me. I need to run. To fight. To get out of here-


    I slammed into Inquisitor Strumgard¡¯s back as he stopped, the darkness fading back into the shadows. I barely managed to keep a grip on the evidence as I stumbled back. He immediately turned toward me, intent on striking me down- ¡°You alright, Squire?¡±


    ¡°S-s-sorry, sir. Just jumping at the shadows¡­¡± I tried to give a well-meaning smile, though my reflection showed my true warped self. Maybe I would be better off if he  strike me down.


    ¡°Ah, I get it¡­ they shometimes seem to scream, don¡¯t they?¡± He chuckled mockingly, just playing with me like a cat and mouse. ¡°Well, we do have a psychiatrist on shtaff, if you need one.¡± He opened the door to an office just off the hall and stepped in, attempting to lead me into yet another cage.


    With no other choice, I followed after him, surprised to find the Inquisitor had his very own office. It was well lit too, leaving no room for the rampant shadows. For once, I took a relaxed breath. Now if something could just be done about the sweltering heat. ¡°I-I¡¯ll think about it.¡±


    ¡°Shet it down here.¡± He patted his desk as he cleared some room and sat down.


    I placed down the box, wasting little time to open it up. ¡°S-so, what was your theory again?¡±


    ¡°Ah, you know.¡± He slowly began to pull evidence out, carefully observing each one. He was just giving me time to stew, to rot. I knew it! They just wanted me to confess to my crimes, to give in. Maybe I should just pull my gun-


    ¡°I suspect that Drew Idishm was part of a bigger crime ring.¡± He pulled out the ring¡¯s small evidence baggy, looked at it for a moment, and then placed it somewhat close to me as if to mock all my efforts.


    I slowly leaned forward, psyching myself up to snatch it as I once again activated Hidden Hands. ¡°Course, sir. D-d-due to the kind of items he klepped?¡± I threw a guess out into the dark. I would play along for as long as they let me while I tried to formulate an escape plan. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± He held a thick black necklace up into the light to get a better look at it. This was my chance! I moved like lightning. Before my heart could beat twice, I took advantage of the blind spot caused by the necklace and replaced the real ring¡¯s bag with the one I got from Shinobu. I also shifted forward to hide my smaller movement with a bigger one.


    My heart pounded, sending hellish heat through the rest of my system. I slipped my prize into my pocket just as he set the necklace back on the table. He didn¡¯t immediately grab another piece of evidence, instead staring me in the eye-


    At least, my reflection''s dead gaze met my own with a wicked sneer. He reached out his hand as if to strangle me, and twisted it into a pointed claw. ¡°Hmm¡­ would you grab that paper for me, Shquire?¡±


    I glanced back, toward where he pointed, only to see nothing. There was no paper, no notes, or even a desk which they would¡¯ve sat on-


    ¡°Aw, I musht¡¯ve been mishtaken¡­ shay, you don¡¯t look so good, Shquire.¡± He finally pointed out the guilt twisting my face, and I was sure this time it was over as I looked back toward him.


    The silver of his mask seemed to twist and turn into malicious fangs as if he were a monster lurking for the right moment to strike. My hand twitched toward my belt-


    I looked away from the infernal silver surface of his mask and looked over the displayed evidence in a last-ditch effort to change the subject. I just needed to play along a bit more. Your escape plan was slowly coming together, just stall a bit longer, Shiro! ¡°W-where¡¯s the necklace?¡±


    ¡°What necklace?¡± He asked, tilting his head as if  was the insane one. ¡°You¡¯re really not looking sho hot¡­ Why don¡¯t you take the resht of the day off? Relax and cool down.¡±


    What was he saying? Was he trying to gaslight me? Of course, there was a necklace- unless this was all an attempt to frame me for stealing evidence. As if I would ever do something so foolish- wait¡­


    But wasn¡¯t this also a good chance for me? I could get out right now, and leave this place behind me once and for all. Ah! But this had to be just a chance to get me to lead them to my associates like the dirty traitor I was. I¡¯ll just go home. Hole up there and keep my rifle close at hand. ¡°I-I think that¡¯s an uh- a good idea.¡±


    I stood up to go, feeling the sweltering heat of the room as sweat slid underneath my clothes. I slipped a hand into my pocket and fingered the ring, reassuring myself that the gig was almost done. I just needed to get out. To wait for things to calm back down.


    I stepped toward the door, pausing as my hand touched the frigid metal of the door handle. What if this was all a trap? What if there was a squad waiting just on the other side of the door as if the entire thing had been a trick to try and get me to confess my guilts? Surely they were done with me now.


    The shadow cast by my body twisted in front of me, promising sweet darkness if I just gave in. I stood resolute, ignoring it as best I could as the seductive shadows twisted into malformations of chaos and bloodshed. Faces, eternal marked in my memory far better than even Eidetic Schematic could do, crawled up out of the shadows-


    ¡°Shomething wrong?¡± I could practically hear the sneer in his voice.


    I froze, the heat building throughout my body turning cool in an instant as the ice in my stomach churned. ¡°J-just wondering if you really forgot me?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± He coughed lightly. ¡°You¡¯re in my memory now.¡± His taunt burned at my ears, reminding me that there was no escape. He was just letting me back out into his sick little maze to run around-


    I twisted the handle, forcing my wooden legs to step one after the other. The heat returned with a frenzy, scorching at my insides as shadows twisted and pulled. I squeezed my eyes shut-


    Even the darkness of my closed eyes wasn¡¯t a respite. The shadows of light peeking through toyed with the dark, coming together in an attempt to bring about my demise. Should I even resist? Or just give into-


    My head pounded as I ran a hand over my flushed face. Something wasn¡¯t right.


    I could barely see through my swimming vision and the constantly stretching shadows as I half stumbled through the building''s hallway. I tried not to look too deeply at my surroundings, scared as to what lurked in them. For once, ignorance was bliss here, and I was all too down to not pay attention.


    I stepped out into the street, cool rain curling under my hat. It caressed my cheeks as if trying to help fight off the feverish heat burning at me.


    Yes. That¡¯s right. I needed to fight-


    Was I even in the right state of mind to fight? I cast a look backward, but my memory came up in a red fog. Maybe I should just find a place to run away to and lay low for a while. Go to ground and bunker down-


    Then what? That wouldn''t help. Not truly. Shadows were everywhere, it was only a matter of time till they got to me. Till they ripped and tore, sundered my flesh bit by bloody bit-


    T-they were just hallucinations.... nothing was there. I don''t think anything was really there. Were they real? The ghosts of the past coming back to haunt me? M-maybe I should just run away-


    No, t-they weren''t real. I glanced around the dark streets, the neon casting insidious glows of demonic figures grasping for me-


    I need help.

 Chapter 54

    Chapter 54I shifted, causing a muted string of pain to course through my spine. It wasn¡¯t pain as in hurt, but more of incredibly sore. Hesitantly, as if scared of what I would see, I eased my eyes open- rather, eye open. The Advent Ghost didn¡¯t seem to work, leaving me with just half my vision.


    Sitting up, I realized I was somewhere I had never been before. The bed I lay on sat in the middle of a concrete room barely big enough to fit the bed and definitely not big enough to fit two. I rubbed at my arms, feeling slightly chilly. My gear had been taken off at some point, and all sat in a heap near the end of the bed.


    Where even was I? I reached a hand up to the Advent Ghost. An eyepatch covered it, which I promptly removed. Nothing. A sickening chill went through my spine as I lightly probed at the empty orbital socket.


    Did Scavs grab me- no, my stuff was all in one piece¡­ and I still had life in me. Scavs were a one-stop chop shop; not exactly where someone would come out alive after having their chrome ripped out.


    Now wasn¡¯t the time for this. I threw on my coat and armor once more, finding slight relief in it all being together. Wherever I was obviously wasn¡¯t hostile- there was no way a hostile entity would let me keep my gun.


    My head felt light as I got dressed, lighter than it had in weeks. Maybe because I didn¡¯t have a chunk of chrome thrown into my eye socket? Regardless, it was nice. I felt refreshed as if I had finally been able to sleep peacefully after a week of constant insomnia.


    After kitting back up, and checking anything for signs of tampering, I moved for the door with my pistol out. Only Shinobu¡¯s wedding ring was missing. It was a bit off-putting to walk without my depth perception. It had been years since I only worked with one eye, so it took several steps to get used to it again. S~ea??h the N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It led out into a somewhat long, dimly-lit hallway, all the same boring cement. Doors, all incredibly similar to the one I stepped out of, sat all along the hall partially illuminated by the flickering overhead lights. The end of the hall loomed close to my right, capped with a metal door.


    I exited out of the hallway into Nael¡¯s clinic from a side door I didn¡¯t even know existed. The door opening and closing drew the attention of the room¡¯s inhabitants, who were both familiar faces. Nael stood over the other man, running checks on him. Immediately, I stowed away my iron.


    Nael glanced back towards me, his expression instantly brightening. ¡°Good to see you up, Shiro. Just give me a few minutes.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I nodded to the Medech and rubbed at my neck lightly. I felt¡­ off. Like I was missing something other than just an eye. It was like- like I had a crick in my neck that finally vanished after years of annoyance.


    A couple minutes passed, and I suddenly couldn¡¯t help but become immensely aware of what I was wearing. I had on the full Crusade kit, and even the badge was evident on my chest. I slipped a hand up and took off the badge. Nael knew I wasn¡¯t exactly clean, but impersonating an officer?


    It was a superfluous action. He had already seen it, so I just had to wait and see what he would say. Hopefully, it didn¡¯t lower his opinion of me too much. I don¡¯t know how I¡¯d feel if Nael started to look at me like I was some kind of fiendish crook.


    Nael finally moved, flipping up all of the complicated-looking machinery surrounding the Medech chair. ¡°You¡¯re good to go, Silas.¡±


    The man, the friendly-looking one from a couple of months ago, sat up from the chair with a wide smile and headed for the door. ¡°Thanks, doc.¡±


    Nael waved him off and walked over to me. ¡°How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Rested, I guess. Where¡¯s- uh, where¡¯s my eye?¡± I asked as I rubbed at my arms.


    ¡°I had to pull it¡­¡± He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. ¡°How much do you remember?¡±


    I tried to think back to my last memory, but all I could summon up were long nightmares of twisting demons and hellish pursuits. Before that though¡­. I was supposed to help Shinobu out with something, I think. ¡°I was working on a job?¡±


    He led me over to two chairs set up by the Medech table. ¡°Look, kid. I¡¯m not sure how to say this- when you got to me, you were Glitching hard.¡±


    ¡°W-what?¡± Fuck. The shadowed images in my brain started to make a lot more sense.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ thankfully, you seemed to be more inclined to flight than fight, which made it a lot easier. I removed your eye and Neural Link, but it''s been three days since then.¡± He leaned back in the chair, giving me a minute.


    Part of me wanted to curl up into a ball and cry, but the other wanted to laugh at the sheer absurdity of  Glitching. It¡¯s not even like I was susceptible to chrome! ¡°What caused it?¡±


    ¡°Best I could tell?¡± He shrugged. ¡°It was too much for you, or at least too much for now. There''s a reason most suggest spending a few months before getting chipped again.¡±


    ¡°So- so you removed both?¡± I asked. No wonder my neck felt so light all of a sudden.


    He nodded. ¡°The Advent Ghost is in my chrome bank till you want it back, but the Neural Link is fully broken. It''s a miracle it didn''t blow up when I removed it. In my professional opinion, you should give it at least a couple of weeks to rest and recover before doing anything else¡­¡±


    I tried to think about my bank account, sorely missing the HUD that could just pop up the numbers into my face. I could go for a couple of weeks with my current stash, but with rent coming up and all that-


    ¡°That being said, after the surgery on your neck to remove the Neural Link, your neck healed rather quickly.¡± He eyed me, though not with suspicion like I almost expected. ¡°It seems you might have a mutation to heal quickly, or maybe you¡¯ve awakened some kind of Kinetic ability?¡±


    Shit. He definitely noticed Quick Healing¡­ What should I say? A magical floating box gave me the ability to heal quickly? If I say mutation, that would mean it¡¯s replicable- no, that was just paranoia speaking... Nael is a good guy.


    Maybe I wasn''t back to a hundred percent quite yet. Rationally, I knew I could trust Nael. Yet there was an illogical side of me that just wanted to lie and get out, to get away as quickly as possible...


    Regardless, if word somehow got out? I would be hunted down by the big corps to be experimented on, without a doubt. Everyone would want a bit of Shiro Slushy if it brought them immediate healing.


    ¡°Kinetic¡­ a- uh, couple months ago.¡± It was the safest option. Everyone knows you can''t forcibly activate a Kinetic ability. Hundreds of billions had probably been sunk into it over the years, and likely millions have died trying, but the fact remains.


    He nodded his head. ¡°Right¡­ I saw something similar a few years back¡­ Rest for a couple days, and I¡¯ll look around for a better Neural Link. That is, if you even want to be chipped again?¡±


    ¡°As opposed to what? Not having an eye?¡± I asked as I stared at him.


    He stood up and grabbed a small dataslate before returning. A few seconds later, he handed it to me. ¡°You could go to Slab Co. and get a new flesh one¡­ that being said, with a new Neural Link, you should be fine. I¡¯ll watch closely too, and judge your body¡¯s reactions to the tech.¡±


    ¡°Ok¡­¡± I slid through the page, looking at the various offerings of Slab Co. They were the premier body dump in Aythryn City, so I had heard of them, but this was the first time actually being on their site.


    It was surprising, to say the least. They offered lab-grown body parts guaranteed to fit the genetic genome of the buyer to a T. And it was surprisingly cheap. At just fifty Ryan, I could have a whole new eye like I had back in my youth.


    Did I even want one though? Chrome was just¡­ better. At least, for the most part. There were the occasional glitches and bugs, such as what just happened to me, but they offered so many benefits.


    ¡±Regardless, at least three days before I chip anything back in. Rest. Let your body recuperate.¡± Nael shrugged. ¡±You can stay here if you want so I can keep an eye on you, but you are free to go home if you want.¡±


    At least he was giving me options. ¡°I¡¯ll go home. Take a shower.¡±


    ¡±Right¡­¡± His face scrunched up slightly. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll look around for a new Neural Link. Just take it easy for a few days. Oh! And Shinobu came by while you were out to grab the ring. Wanted me to tell you to call him when you get up.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, doc. I uh¡­ I didn¡¯t say anything weird, did I?¡±


    We waved his hand and turned to his terminal. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, kid. Nothing I haven¡¯t heard before... Good luck out there.¡±


    ¡±Thanks¡­¡± I left the clinic, finding my bike in the spot I typically park in. It seems habits are still strong even while glitching out. I pulled out my phone and checked it. Over a dozen missed calls from Shinobu, and one from Carone a day ago.


    I called up Shinobu. ¡°Hey-¡±


    ¡°Are you alright? I found you at Nael¡¯s clinic, but he only said you were stable? What happened? What went wrong?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Chrome issues, though I¡¯m good now¡­ I think¡­ Nael said you got the ring?¡±


    He laughed, though there wasn¡¯t any mirth in it. ¡°You seem to have a lot of those. Maybe you should look at getting your chrome from somewhere else? The Fangs have a supply-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± Receiving chrome from the Jade Fangs had been brought up before by Ishimaru, but I didn¡¯t want to be indebted to them any more than I already was. ¡°The ring?¡±


    ¡°Right. Yes, I got it back¡­¡±


    ¡°Nova.¡± I talked to him a bit more as I drove back to my apartment. Halfway home, he hung up, leaving me to stoop in my thoughts.


    Maybe I should just drop the experimental tech altogether. The last two times I had used Advent¡¯s stuff, it had burned me. Literally with the Phantom. The ghost was more of a mental burn than anything. Maybe I should just go back to normal stuff from the big corps?


    But the utility provided by the Ghost had looked so good on paper¡­ should I give them one more time? Heck, this time it wasn¡¯t even because of Advent¡¯s tech. It was my Neural Link that malfunctioned¡­ still, if I tried again, would it finally kill me? Third time a charm and all that?


    Was it even necessarily the chrome¡¯s fault? From what I heard, chrome was supposed to hinder and malfunction with those aligned to the Aether. There was a reason neither Magus nor Adepts had the stuff. Was my connection to the other dimension causing some issues?


    Or should I just go for a reversion back to flesh? It would be nice to be all¡­ once more. I didn¡¯t technically need any chrome, although I would be giving up a ton of potential power if I went back to flesh¡­


    By the time I got into my apartment¡¯s parking garage, I had come to a decision. For now, at least, I would continue with chrome. There were simply no other good options these days. And if I wanted to get better at being a merc, and hopefully get to being an Edgerunner, I needed all the power I could get¡­ maybe I should look into joining a crew?


    There was just too much to go over, so I tossed everything down and headed for the shower. For now, I just needed to take it easy.

 Chapter 55

    Chapter 55I messed around with my 3d printer for several hours, taking the time to relax and just create something. My Doctor Absolom figures were becoming more detailed as I improved my skills, and soon they would look mighty impressive. I had only used about half a roll of plastic filament to print too, so I should be good for a while at the current pace. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I slowly reviewed my memories over the last week as I made figurines, trying to remember as much as I could about Glitching. Hopefully, I would be able to recognize my tainted thought process if it ever happened again.


    At most, everything was a nightmarish haze as if I had been asleep. I remembered some of the major details and emotions, but everything in between was a mindless haze. Slowly, more details started to brighten in my mind. The constant fear. The heart sundering guilt. Even the way some of the shadowed morphs overrode my perceptions-


    I had to take a break for a few minutes to refresh and recenter myself. Realistically, there was no point in looking back at it much more. I already got my answer; extreme paranoia. If I noticed myself slipping down a paranoid slope- immediately seek Nael. Just like most things in life, it was far better for me to just compartmentalize it and move on.


    After I returned to a calm mental state, or at least mostly calm, I finally paid attention to the Interface. Not that I had been necessarily ignoring it; I just hadn¡¯t wanted the added stress at the time. Now it was a welcome distraction.


    ¡¸Request - Snakeskin - Complete


    1 Skill Point¡¹


    ¡¸Deception - 4>5¡¹


    ¡¸Criminology - 4>5¡¹


    ¡¸Name: Shiro Tsukuyomi


    Traits: Fox¡¯s Grace, Quick Healing, Insight


    Skill Points: 1


    Tracking - 4


    Stalk


    Tech - 5


    Eidetic Schematic


    Stealth - 7


    Fox¡¯s Paw


    Sleight of Hand - 8


    Hidden Hands


    Ambidextrous


    Perception - 4


    Aetherial Perception


    Net - 2


    Melee Weapons - 1


    Local Novice (Little Yukoto)


    Intimidation - 1


    Firearm - 3


    First Aid - 3


    Evasion - 2


    Driving - 7


    Land Vehicles


    Deception - 5


    Honest Face


    Criminology - 5


    Cues


    Concealment - 8


    Lethargic Presence


    Hidden Weapon


    Brawling - 1


    Accounting - 1


    Request Board - (empty)¡¹


    Small gains this time around, though I¡¯m not sure what exactly I was expecting. It¡¯s not like I could really even remember much of what I did. The Skill Point was nice, but I¡¯m not sure if I¡¯m up to using it. I don¡¯t think my mind is quite ready to be trapped in the interface space once more.


    I sipped some water from Crow¡¯s Canteen of Chaos as I stared through my list, eyeing each and every Skill. Maybe it was about time to start actually  to level one of them up? Maybe some focused leg work could help me get through the slow progression¡­ or maybe I was peaking? That was a scary thought¡­


    My eye trailed up to the list of Traits. It was kind of funny; I still had no idea what Fox¡¯s Grace actually did. I hadn¡¯t felt anything from it, nor had I noticed any significant benefit. Not that I¡¯m calling it useless! Don¡¯t get the wrong idea, oh ye'' eidolonic watcher¡­ just that I had yet to figure it out.


    Insight and Quick Healing both had obvious effects, ones that had proven to be invaluable throughout my time with the interface. Fox¡¯s Grace, on the other hand¡­


    What was even the point of the interface? I got it since I was in the right place at the right time, but why was the original holder chosen? Eidolons have only been a thing- or at least in contact with humans - since the Aetherial Concourse, so about a hundred and forty years. Why did they decide to give the interface to the original person?


    Did they want something from them? From Nathos? From ? It¡¯s not like they¡¯ve offered a whole lot of guidance or anything of the sort. The requests were the closest thing, but even they were almost in reaction to the things going on around me.


    Well, spitballing ideas without a backboard really wouldn¡¯t help me much. After cleaning up my small work area of any plastic residue and turning off the printer, I pulled out my phone. Work couldn¡¯t wait forever, so I called Carone back. I was supposed to take it easy, but as long as the gig wasn¡¯t anything too bad, it shouldn¡¯t hurt. And it would be nice to have something to distract me with.


    I arrived outside of Carone¡¯s storefront a few hours later, just as the sun started to dip in its endless journey. The heat of the day was significant, only helped by the mass of towering buildings casting long shadows.


    Noon was by far the worst time for the city- the sun made getting around annoying, and the lights and sights didn¡¯t work quite so great under it. The holographic advertisements were barely visible under the abundance of light, nor were the neon signs everywhere.


    Only those set into deep shadows were perfectly fine, their colorful glows all the more eye-catching. Unfortunately, the sheer amount of neon everywhere distracted from the catchiness, causing everything to blur together into one form- or maybe that was thanks to only having one eye.


    Far off in the distance, I heard an explosion as if a tank just fired in the middle of a city. With how this city had been going recently, it could¡¯ve very well been a tank. It wouldn¡¯t surprise me one bit if Sentinel had started to bring something a little bit heavier into play¡­ or it could¡¯ve been an Edgerunner after things went south.


    Regardless, it wasn¡¯t my problem. I turned back to what I was doing and into Carone¡¯s shop. I was back in my normal, non-crusade attire, and easily managed to slip my gun past the gonks at the door once more. At this point, they were more doorsteps than actual guards.


    For once, the fixer wasn¡¯t standing behind his countertop. I had to hit the bell once- twice¡­ okay okay, several times. It was just so satisfying, you know? Gah, Shiro, you really are childish.


    Carone walked out of the back of the shop, the candles all around the counter instantly sparked into life as if reacting to his presence. Neat trick. ¡°Shiro, you seem¡­ ¡± Yep, still as annoying as always. Why is it that he draws out every sentence?


    I waved a hand up to my eyepatch. ¡°Oh, this? You should see the other guy¡­¡±


    ¡°¡± I could see the skepticism strongly in his gaze. ¡°Are you still¡­ ?¡±


    ¡°¡®Course! I wouldn¡¯t be here if I wasn¡¯t.¡± I chuckled and smiled as innocently as I could. Turns out, thanks to Honest Face, acting innocent was quite easy.


    The skepticism dropped from his face, though he didn¡¯t look entirely convinced. ¡°Well, guess you don¡¯t really need both eyes anyway for this one. My¡­  wants someone who can track down the source of some¡­  messages. A thousand Rayn, and five hundred extra for keeping this quiet.¡±


    The pay was pretty damn good for just tracking down a source of messages. How hard could that even be? This would be nice- get back into the swing of things. It had been a while since the last investigation-type job. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m in.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Abernathy is the client.¡± He reached under the counter and passed me a laminated card. ¡®Visitor¡¯s Pass¡¯ sat printed in bold lettering across the length. ¡°He lives in Elysium. They don¡¯t like¡­ , so security might be an annoyance. Not a problem, yes?¡±


    Ugh- I was going to have to deal with a corporate executive, and not a small one if he had the privilege of living in Elysium. Hell, did it have to be Elysium? That entire section of the city was a hotbed for corporate greed. ¡°Not a problem¡­ What corp is he with?¡±


    ¡°ASCorp.¡±


    At least it wasn¡¯t one of the Big 7¡­ still, ASCorp wasn¡¯t small, so- ¡°Why not use a corporate operator?¡±


    Carone shrugged and snapped his fingers. I flinched slightly as a familiar clawed hand- The flame formed a hand, out of fire. The flames looked slightly bigger and brighter than the last time. ¡°Who knows? Execs have any number of¡­ .¡±


    That was a fancy way of saying they were pompous asses who cared more for their reputations than human decency¡­ Still, a paying job was a paying job. ¡°Alright. Does he know to expect me?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll call him¡­¡± He looked me dead in the eyes. ¡°Shortly.¡± Maybe it was some paranoid remnants from when I was Glitching, but I coulda¡¯ sworn that comment was directed right at me.


    ¡°Chek¡­¡± I paused for a moment as I looked around his shop, feeling a bit awkward. ¡°Well¡­ your antiquities look¡­ um- ancient?¡±


    Cue helped me spot a tiny flicker of¡­  on his face. ¡°Shiro?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir?¡±


    ¡°Leave.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Yep. Still a bastard.


    This was part of the problem with Elysium. It was basically one gigantic, sub-district-wide gated community, where the guards came heavily armed and the residents were all corporate executives. Quite the hellish place, if you ask me. At least in the city, when you saw someone drugged out of their mind you knew they weren¡¯t faking it. With corpos? They could smile and offer you cookies one day and stab you in the back the next.


    The guards stopped me at the gate because of course I didn¡¯t fit in with the typical crowd of people who lived in Elysium. I didn¡¯t have any fancy, custom-ordered clothes that could fit to a T, nor did I drive the bestest and baddest car. I was clearly slightly better than a street rat.


    That being said, I got through security rather easily thanks to the Visitor¡¯s Pass from Carone. They didn¡¯t even search me either, just waved me on through once I showed the pass. And then I was in.


    Elysium was¡­ something else. Compared to the rest of the city, I could really see the wealth disparity. Not even a foot in, and I could see real, vibrant grass the likes of which I¡¯ve only seen in the Dragoon Saloon¡¯s courtyard. Verdant lawns were at every house, showing off the wealth and prestige of those who lived there. Well-kept flowerbeds sat at every corner, showing a wealth of bounty. Unlike the city, the colors around the perfectly paved roads were far more natural.


    Houses, as if to impose their owner¡¯s superiority, loomed in a way far different than the high-rises and skyscrapers of Downtown. They were far shorter, the biggest one only hitting the third floor, but each and every house was individually loaned. There weren''t eight families squeezed into a single room like the projects, but just one living lavishly at the small price of their souls.


    It was so weird being here. The greenery on every side felt almost like walking into a time capsule of an age long since passed by, though there were the occasional reminders of the real world outside of this place. The fake smiles and looks as neighbors greeted each other. The glow of the neon backlighting the north. The ocean¡¯s scent of rotting decay that lingered even after being run through their Autoduct? several times.


    Elysium was sold as being the epitome of  by the corpos, so the little imperfections were well hidden under a veil of deceit and illusion as if nobody would notice as soon as they stepped in. Out of sight out of mind and all that.


    In reality, everyone here was a corporate lapdog, all rolled over in their owner¡¯s lap waiting for a belly rub. Most of the houses weren¡¯t even owned by the people that lived here- rather they were given to them under a corporate contract. And yet they still seemed to showboat around like it was  home.


    I cruised through the streets, careful not to draw more ire from the rampant security than I already was by just existing. Now, if I could just find my client without getting lost in the maze of houses, today would be a good day.

 Chapter 56

    Chapter 56I don¡¯t know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn¡¯t this. Mr. Abernathy didn¡¯t just own a house in Elysium, he owned a freakin¡¯ mansion. I had to double-check the address several times before I finally realized- yes, this is the right place.


    His house sat at three floors tall, not counting if there was a basement or attic. It took up a massive chunk of land and looked as if it was some kind of botanical garden wrapped around the front. Plants I had only seen in the holographic gardens scattered about the city were rampant, and the man obviously invested quite heavily in his garden.


    A neat, white picket fence surrounded the entire property, a silent warning to those who wanted to trespass. And trespassing would be a very bad idea. I spotted at least four turret mounts scattered about the garden, obscured by patches of fake grass. I probably wouldn¡¯t have even noticed them if the lawn wasn¡¯t freshly mowed.


    This house wasn¡¯t alone in its over-the-top protection. Several of the properties on this block, all hosting large and extravagant houses, had similar defenses. I had checked out a couple of them out of idle curiosity, but the roving bands of security kept me from getting too close. Not that I necessarily wanted to in the first place.


    Two gardeners were out and about, tending to the plants. They made me nervous. Their gazes caused Insight to chill over my skin, and I had a feeling it wasn¡¯t just paranoia this time around. Although the weapons were well hidden, both were armed and probably dangerous.


    Thankfully, I didn¡¯t have to get on anyone¡¯s bad side by trespassing. A manservant- a freakin¡¯ manservant stood at the edge of the fence line, waiting. As soon as I approached, the elderly man nodded to me. ¡°Are you from Mr. Carone?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± I said. How long had this guy been waiting out here? It had been at least an hour since I left Carone¡¯s.


    The manservant- no, maybe a butler? Regardless, he gave me a deep bow and then swung his arm out in an exaggerated manner. ¡°My Lady¡­ please, follow me. Sir is awaiting your arrival in the drawing room.¡±


    Damn¡­ imagine having an entire room just for drawing. I barely had a room just for my bed, let alone a leisure activity. Well, leisure for some. ¡°Sure¡±


    The butler led me through the front garden, down a windy path that showed off the pure splendor of it. It would¡¯ve been faster to just cut across the verdant lawn since the path seemed like just a chance to show off to guests, but I followed along behind the elder nonetheless. There was no point doing something to piss off my current boss.


    The sheer size of the garden was impressive, and it was evident that the man was compensated well for his work. There I was thinking I was headed for a measly corporate executive in a small standalone house, and now the ante has been upped all the way to a freakin¡¯ mansion. Just who the hell did Carone set me up with?


    After a couple of minutes, yes- , we finally arrived at the front door. The servant opened it for me, allowing me to enter the house''s grand entryway. I didn¡¯t get to ogle the wasteful extravagance for long before the man once again took the lead, directing me to a small room off to the side of the main hall.


    He knocked lightly on the door. ¡°Sir¡­ your guest has arrived.¡±


    A soft voice called from inside. ¡°Please, come in.¡±


    The butler once more opened the door for me. ¡°Presenting the Lady, Sir Abernathy.¡±


    The drawing room was¡­ not what I expected. I expected a room covered in art and easels, with crazy splatters of paint and artistic expression everywhere. This- this wasn¡¯t quite that. Instead, it looked just like a simple living room.


    Gold-inlaid furniture sat scattered about the room, from desks in the corners to soft-looking chairs, centered around a grandiose fireplace that looked large enough to house a BBQ. Shelves covered the walls, books of all shapes and sizes lurking in the wooden confines. Art hung from the walls, each more expensive looking than the last. This room alone was probably worth more than everything I owned. .


    The center of the room, though, wasn¡¯t furniture or art- no, it was a man. A rather large man, both in height and girth. He wore a  button-up shirt and a black vest over it. Gold-rimmed glasses desperately clung to his nose as he set the book down. His entire left arm was some kind of golden ASCorp chrome, and he had patches of metal interwoven into his skin in several parts. ¡°You are dismissed, Clarence.¡±


    ¡°Sir.¡± The butler bowed once more before retreating out of the room. The door behind me closed with a light click.


    The man pulled out a device, one I recognized as a bug scrambler¡­ and I thought  was paranoid. Once it turned on, his face cracked into a friendly grin, one which looked entirely genuine as best I could tell. ¡°You must be the one Carone sent over¡­ you¡¯re younger than I was expecting.¡±


    ¡°Hope that ain¡¯t a problem.¡± He cringed visibly at my phrasing.


    The cringe only lasted a moment before he waved his hand to a chair and the smile returned. ¡°Not at all¡­ might I ask your name? It''s best to know who you¡¯re working with.¡±


    I took the seat across from him. ¡°Zuku Ichima.¡± I mean, it was technically my name. At least, it was my name on my fake ID, so that had to count for something.


    ¡°I am Albert Abernathy, the Head of Operations for ASCorp.¡± He rubbed the back of his bald head. ¡°Did Carone tell you about my¡­ issue?¡±


    ¡°Something about letters?¡± I asked as I tried to make myself more comfortable on the chair. For how fancy it looked, it was surprisingly uncomfortable to sit in.


    He nodded and reached for his pocket, pulling out a handful of letters. All were in bright, eye-catching red envelopes. Mr. Abernathy¡¯s kind smile drooped. ¡°I¡¯ve been receiving threats for weeks. The Crusade won¡¯t do anything since they¡¯re only threats, but I need these to stop.¡±


    I stretched out a hand. He hesitated, refusing to hand them to me. ¡°I need to see them if you want me to try and track the person down.¡±


    He sighed and his shoulder slid back to the seat. ¡°Yes- yes, of course. I just hesitate- because, well, the  of these letters¡­ Carone assured me confidentiality would be maintained, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Once the job is over, it¡¯ll be like I never even saw them.¡± I offered and smiled gently. I tried to go for a mixture of a kind and innocent smile, drawing the perfect trustworthy expression.


    Mr. Abernathy handed over the bundle of letters. ¡°Right¡­¡±


    I cast a look over the letters, setting them down to the side for now. Nothing immediately stood out other than black smudges all over a couple of them. ¡°Do you know who might be sending them?¡±


    ¡°Miss Ichima, I am  Head of Operations for  of ASCorp. It could be anyone, from a disgruntled customer to a political opponent trying to get under my skin.¡± He waved a hand around the room. ¡°It could very well be anybody. That¡¯s why you are here¡­ and if you can solve this issue discreetly, you¡¯ll have a friend in a very high place.¡±


    I nodded my head and looked back down at the five letters. There was no indication of where they came from, but that didn¡¯t necessarily mean there were no clues at all. I opened them one after the other and read through the five letters.


    Each of them were, indeed, threatening, though not in the way I expected. I had expected some kind of threat to Mr. Abernathy¡¯s life or limb, but that wasn¡¯t at all what the letters were about.


    In a way, I guess I should''ve expected this instead. Every single one of them threatened exposure for something unless he paid a king¡¯s ransom, something which was apparently big enough to, and I quote, ¡®topple you like an obese pig sitting on a throne of beer bottles¡¯. I had to give whoever wrote it A for creativity at least.


    Of the five, three were marked with the same smudges as were on the envelopes. One of them even had what looked to be beer spilled all over it. After looking through the threats I looked up to my temporary boss. ¡°You know what they''re threatening? You don¡¯t have to tell me what it is - I¡¯d rather you didn¡¯t - just yes or no.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ The people who could¡¯ve known about it I could count on one hand. None of them would resort to something like this¡­¡± He dragged his flesh hand down the flaps of his face, sighing into his meaty palm.


    ¡°Can you tell me who knew about this¡­ situation?¡± I raised the letters to him a hair as I rescanned one of them.


    He shrugged, his face scrunching up as the fat coalesced in a worried expression. ¡°The CEO of ASCorp, but if he wanted me gone, he¡¯d just kill me and dump my body in the ocean. My wife might know, and so might my son, but they both live off of me, so there¡¯s no way they would. And maybe my old foreman, but she died a couple of years back.¡±


    ¡°This¡­ foreman. What was her name?¡± It definitely wasn¡¯t the CEO. Like he said, there were easier ways to get rid of someone than blackmail. I wasn¡¯t so sure about his family though, especially considering the backstabbing nature of corpo life. It was probably the wife looking to black widow her husband¡­


    His face shifted to a small, sad smile. ¡°Leanara Strun. She was an amazing woman. I paid for her to be interred in the Grayhill Depository back when she passed. Her poor son.¡±


    Still looked genuine¡­ Was he actually genuine or just better at hiding his Cues than anyone else I¡¯ve seen? It would be foolish to assume I was the master of telling Cues merely from a level four perk, and it had already been somewhat defeated by Feras just recently. It was good against normal people, but maybe not so much against those with lifelong experience of deceiving.


    Assuming this was real, I did feel a small amount of pity. Grief was... well, grief. Not the most profound statement, but anyone who''s been there would know. ¡°I¡¯ll get to the bottom of this, just give me some time.¡±


    Mr. Abernathy nodded, his bulbous neck jiggling slightly with the motion. His worried expression eased, falling back into a kindly smile. ¡°Right¡­ if you need anything else, feel free to drop by anytime. I¡¯ve taken a week¡¯s vacation to see this through.¡±


    I stood up from my chair, feeling no small amount of relief at leaving its painful grasp. ¡°Yes, sir. I¡¯ll be back sometime soon.¡±


    He rose too and stuck out his large palm. ¡°Well, it was a pleasure to meet you. If you solve this quickly, I might even throw in a little something extra for the help.¡±


    I left the room, following behind Clarence as he led me back down the winding path to my bike. Before I stepped off the property, the butler stopped me with a business card. ¡°My Lady, I greatly appreciate you helping Sir out. This is a stressful time for him, so if you need any help getting this done quickly, don¡¯t hesitate to ask.¡±


    I grabbed the card and looked it over. It had Albert Abernathy¡¯s number on it, as well as one scribbled in on the back. ¡°Chek.¡±


    Sliding onto my bike, I thought through the list of potential suspects. Leanara Strun. She was the least likely suspect, being dead makes it kinda hard to blackmail, but I might be able to find some records and see if she had any living relatives. I could just use the Crusade backdoor, but it would be more trouble than it''s worth to find someone based just off a last name.


    I queued in Grayhill Depository onto the Mapp?, and kicked my bike into gear. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 57

    Chapter 57Grayhill Depository sat on the highest floor of a building on the fringes between Bricktown and Little Yukoto. The building was the modernized version of a graveyard. Instead of bodies being tossed into wooden boxes and thrown into the ground like the past, they¡¯re typically burned and then their ashes stored in depositories all over the city. It took up far less space this way, or so it had been explained to me back when my parents were interred.


    I had to sign in before entering, which I did under my new alias; Zuku Ichima. After that though, I was free to look around at my own leisure. After pulling up the place¡¯s website on my phone, I found Leanara Strun¡¯s position in the directory.


    Grayhill Depository consisted of several massive rooms, each holding a chilly, solemn air that seemed to press down onto me as I walked in. The rooms were almost dead silent, the only noise being the occasional whisper and the trickles of small fountains in each room.


    Little square cutouts covered the walls like bank deposit boxes, each one marked with a name and date. Some had fresh synthetic flowers placed on the small alcoves next to urns of all shapes and sizes. There was everything from poorly welded together steel urns to ones that shone gold with speckled gems. The fancy one was most likely fake considering it still sat in its alcove.


    The area wasn¡¯t absolutely filled with people, but a surprising amount were milling around the area. Most had bitter looks on their faces and there were a fair few who were weeping quietly to themselves. People from all strata were gathered in the face of death, both the poor and the middle class.


    Certain areas seemed to have groups set up around, and they all talked at a slightly louder pitch as if they didn¡¯t care anything about respecting the dead. I could see small looks of frustration on a few of the grievers'' faces at the blatant disrespect, but nobody said anything.


    I wasn¡¯t sure what exactly they were doing over there, but by the way they were grouping up as if to block line of sight, it was probably some kind of drug deal. Or it could even be some kind of weapon smuggling. Either way, it wasn¡¯t my problem.


    A bit more searching, and I found the right place. Leanara¡¯s alcove was completely inconspicuous, blending in perfectly with every other alcove. Her urn was the typical treated wooden kind that most people got. sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    A small vase of flowers sat next to the urn, holding a real flower. It was quite surprising to see the wilted petals and leached colors of the flower. It wasn¡¯t as colorful as the synth ones or as eye-catching, but there was a certain level of beauty that synth stuff just couldn¡¯t obtain.


    Insight drew my attention to a note clinging to the neck of the vase just as the flower clung to its feeble life. The handwriting was sloppy, and there were stains from what looked to be tears along the bottom lip of the paper. ¡®Love you Mom.¡¯


    I headed back to the reception area of Grayhill Depository, catching sight of a pale man in gothic-inspired clothing quietly reading. As soon as I approached, he looked up. His eyes were chrome of some kind and had been changed from normal pupils to small black hearts. ¡°How can I help you?¡±


    ¡°Can I see the visitation logs?¡± I asked, keeping a low level of voice just like everyone else in here. Unlike some people, I could respect the solemn grief that most people had.


    The receptionist frowned, his black-painted lips pulling down sharply as he set down his book. I couldn¡¯t help but notice the man''s canines were longer than normal. ¡°What¡¯s it to you?¡±


    I pulled the Crusade badge from my pocket and flashed it at him. I had it, so it would be criminal


    to abuse the power it granted me. ¡°I¡¯d like to see them, please.¡±


    The guy¡¯s face seemed to pale even more than the white chemskin allowed. ¡°I-I¡¯ll have to get the manager.¡±


    ¡°¡®Course. I¡¯ll wait here.¡± I leaned onto the desk as the man scampered off to a back room. The Crusade sure had an effect on a person¡­ as I waited, I took the time to look around at the visible rooms from the reception areas.


    I looked around at the grievers, thinking about my own parents. It had been a long time since I visited their graves¡­ maybe I should go again sometime? I typically tried to avoid the place, avoid the haunting memories of a far happier time. It was¡­ easier this way. But it been a long time since I last visited¡­


    Before I could come to a decision, the goth guy returned with a frail-looking old man. The old man had an aggressive sneer on his face. ¡°Are you the Crusader? Shoo! Come back when you have a warrant. You aren¡¯t getting anything out of us.¡±


    I laughed lightly, slightly taken aback as a few puzzle pieces started to connect. I had nearly been caught enough by the Crusade to know how they worked, so I didn¡¯t even think about trying to get a warrant. ¡°Sure, I can go get a warrant¡­ but we¡¯ll have to search the whole premises¡­ make sure there¡¯s nothing,¡± I glanced around the place, ¡° going on, you understand.¡±


    The manager¡¯s face pinched up in a sweet Cue to let me know I had him exactly where I needed him. ¡°You-¡±


    ¡°Understand, the Crusade doesn¡¯t make threats. We make... I crossed my arms and stared him dead in the eye. "Or, you can let me see the full visitation logs and camera feeds, and I¡¯ll go on my way after getting what I want. Simple, no?¡±


    ¡°Gah! Fine. Frank! Show her what she wants¡­ just leave after you''re done. I don¡¯t want to see you.¡± The manager stalked off, surprisingly right toward the group of men, not even trying to hide that something was going on at this point.


    It felt bittersweet brute forcing my way into what I wanted in this way. In the past, I might¡¯ve tried to break in at night or something, but using the pure intimidation of the Crusade was also an effective strategy¡­ Maybe I should keep my trench coat stored on my bike? Go full Crusader when I need to? It felt oddly good to intimidate someone with the power of justice.


    Frank, the goth guy whose name definitely didn¡¯t fit him, had a seriously downcast look on his face as he guided me to the manager¡¯s office. ¡°R-right this way.¡±


    I followed him into a small office located in the very middle of Grayhill Depository. The entire place was a mess with papers and books scattered about at random. A small server bank and terminal sat on the far side of the room, equally as messy.


    He pointed towards the terminal. ¡°C-code is on the bottom of the keyboard. The visitor logs are on the shelf.¡± He headed for the door, moving in a way that faintly reminded me of an animal scurrying for safety. ¡°U-um, d-do you need anything else?¡±


    ¡±No. That¡¯s it.¡± I wasted no time heading for the logs.


    I¡¯ve never seen a flower actually wilt before, so I had to look it up on my phone to figure out the time that Leanara¡¯s kid would¡¯ve come. It turns out, most flowers wilt between three and five days if there aren¡¯t any kinds of preservatives in them.


    Looking through the logs, I narrowed it down to four days ago. One Christopher Strun came and visited Grayhill Depository near midnight. After finding him and the time, I looked through the video feeds of the same time, glancing through all of the people who arrived around that time.


    It took a bit, and some manipulations of the camera feeds to find the right one. Eventually, I got a clear image of a man walking in with the same vase I saw in Leanara¡¯s alcove. He was a well-built man wearing a heavily stained shirt. Grease, maybe. It faintly reminded me of the smudges all over the letters that Mr. Abernathy showed me.


    The man wore work clothes- jeans and a shirt that wouldn''t be missed if it were to be covered in stains. Maybe he followed in his mother''s footsteps and is working at a factory? It certainly narrowed down where I needed to look.


    After finding everything I needed, I took pictures of what I found and hopped onto the Crusade back door. It took a while to find the right one, but eventually, I found a small record for one Christopher Strun. He had been picked up a couple months ago for being in a bar fight just south of the primary ASCorp factory.


    Sometimes the right answer is the simplest. With my next destination in mind, I left the Depository behind and hopped back onto my bike. The factory wasn¡¯t too far off, so I headed there next as I put in a call to Clarence, the butler.


    I arrived outside of the factory and was waved through the gates rather quickly after getting stopped by security. Forklifts, hover sleighs, and trucks were everywhere as they constantly received products from the factory. The entire shipping yard was a mess of moving vehicles and crates of items, which made me a bit nervous considering how easy it would be to get crushed by any number of the vehicles around. All I would need is a single truck not to see my small bike and it would be over.


    Thankfully, nothing of the sort happened. I parked in their parking garage and moved to the front door where a man in grease-stained clothes already awaited me. ¡°Miss Ichima?¡± He asked politely as he stuck out his hand.


    I shook it, his easily encapsulating mine with a strong grip. ¡°That¡¯s me. You are?¡±


    He put on that typical corpo smile I¡¯ve seen around, though seriousness tinged his a bit more than usual. ¡°Micheal Scwarts, the current factory manager. Mr. Clarence informed me to give you whatever you needed on behalf of Mr. Abernathy.¡±


    ¡°Perfect¡­ Do you have a worker by the name of Christopher Strun?¡± I asked as he led me past the reception area.


    That instantly got a reaction as the corpo smile dropped into a frown. ¡°Yes¡­ if this is about that bar fight, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Those gonks didn¡¯t even-¡±


    ¡°No need to worry. I just need to ask a few questions.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± He sighed¡­ ¡°Sorry. If you¡¯ll follow me.¡±


    We headed through the hallways, passing by several offices as we worked our way out to the workshop of the factory. He opened the door for me, letting the loud hum of machinery into the hallway. Clanks and clatters rang constantly from the depths of the shop as workers moved from here to there. Several assembly lines were set up all over the place, each producing a different product.


    After stepping into the factory, Micheal Schwartz pulled the walkie from his belt. ¡°Christopher Strun. Christopher Strun. Copy?¡±


    A few seconds later, the walkie-talkie crackled to life. Ambient noise nearly drowned out his voice. ¡°Chek, sir.¡±


    ¡°Come to my office. Someone from corporate wants to talk.¡± He slid the walkie-talkie back into his belt and opened up another door for me, this one leading into a small office off to the side of the factory. Three of the walls were covered in a large, grated window, allowing full view of most of the factory.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I stepped into his office. It was quite cramped, and covered in a chaotic mess of files and documents. File cabinets covered the walls, each looking even older than the last.


    He nodded to me and started to close the door. ¡°Alright, when you¡¯re done, have Strun call me back.¡±


    I moved over to his chair to take a seat and wait. It looked far more comfortable than the other, and would hopefully assert itself. Put me on the upper hand. Additionally, it would give a physical barrier in case the worst comes to pass.

 Chapter 58

    Chapter 58Christopher Strun stepped into the office, spotting a rather short girl sitting in his boss¡¯s seat. According to his boss, she was from corporate, but she didn¡¯t really seem like the corporate type. Maybe because of the lack of professional attire? And yet, she had a clean, sweet face that any corpo woman would pride themselves on.


    A black eye patch, looking as if it just came out of the medical ward, wrapped around her left eye, leaving only her one peeper staring at him. It trailed back, hidden behind her dark hair and Slashers baseball cap. He personally wasn¡¯t a fan of Baseball but had watched a bit of the blood sport.


    He always disliked the corporate type. They were typically so condescending to  workers like himself. Hopefully, this conversation won¡¯t be too painful. ¡°Miss?¡±


    The girl, seemingly snapping back to attention. She smiled lightly, seemingly radiating an innocent aura. Hers seemed entirely genuine, lacking that kind of soulless gaze that most wage slaves had. It¡¯s odd, this was the first time he ever equated corpo and innocence. ¡°Right. Christopher Strun¡­ please, have a seat.¡±


    Christopher moved to take a seat across the desk from her. It wasn¡¯t the first time he had sat in this position, but it was a bit weird sitting across from someone different than his boss. ¡°May I ask what this is about?¡±


    ¡°You can.¡± The girl paused as if waiting for him to reply. Before he could though, she started speaking again. Classic corpo. ¡°What¡¯s your opinion on Albert Abernathy?¡±


    Christopher frowned as his back instantly straightened. This was the second time this year someone had asked him about the Head of Operations. ¡°He paid for my mother¡¯s funeral, and did right by us¡­ He even helped out with my rent after my mother¡¯s passing. From the few times I¡¯ve interacted with him, he seemed like a stand-up guy¡­¡±


    ¡°Interesting.¡± The girl started to tap on the desk, her nail sending a sharp reverb through the metal. She stared at his hands, seeming to take an interest in the grease covering them. He hadn¡¯t had time to wipe them off, so they were covered in smudges and marks.


    ¡°The other guy asked the same thing¡­ is there something going on with Mr. Abernathy?¡± He asked the girl.


    Her eyebrows creased upward as she completely ignored his question. Typical corpo. ¡°Other guy?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, he came by two months ago and called me out¡­¡± Christopher had a sick feeling in his gut, like there was something wrong. Rather, that he might¡¯ve done something wrong. He really hoped this wouldn¡¯t cost him his job.


    The girl frowned, though it didn¡¯t diminish the sweet and honest look she had about her in the slightest. He knew better than to judge a book based on its cover though. The girl could¡¯ve been an eighty-year-old woman with some eccentric tendencies for all he knew. He had heard tales about such crazies modifying their entire body to ¡®return¡¯ to youth.


    ¡°Did he leave a name?¡± She asked.


    Christopher tried to think back to about two months ago. ¡°The guy had come during our celebration for doubling our production from last year. Um¡­ Eli Usser, I think he said¡­ he was a bit shifty when he pulled me aside.¡±


    The person from the corporation leaned forward on the desk. Her hair shifted under her hat, letting several long locks into her face ¡°How so?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ it¡¯s like he kept looking over his shoulder like he was scared about something or another. I just thought it was weird since he seemed to have a pretty high position in the company. I don¡¯t know¡­ it¡¯s been a while.¡± He shrugged.


    ¡°Can you describe him to me then?¡± The girl asked and pulled out her phone.


    ¡°Um¡­ he had dirty blonde hair and a roundish face. Looked to be the type to eat well¡­ kind of young too¡­ Now that I think about it, he had scars all over his back. I only saw them because his shirt lifted when he took off his suit jacket.¡± He tried to remember more, but the rest of the details escaped him. ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t say much more.¡±


    The girl sighed and stood up from the desk as she stuck her hand out. ¡°It¡¯s alright. Thank you for the input, it has helped quite a bit in my¡­ investigation.¡±


    Christopher shook her hand and started to back up to the door. ¡°No problem, ma¡¯am.¡¯


    Just before he could exit the corpo¡¯s gaze and get back into the factory to work, her voice softly called out behind him. ¡°One more thing. What do you think of red envelopes?¡±


    He paused for a moment, his hand on the door handle. His thoughts tried to piece together what she was trying to say but failed. He turned back to see an innocent smile as if she really was just a kid and not a terrifying corporate operator. ¡°Red envelopes, ma¡¯am? I dunno¡­ I think I¡¯d prefer just white ones. Seems simpler.¡±


    ¡°Right. You can go.¡± The girl sat back in the chair. ¡°And call your boss.¡±


    Christopher walked back out into the shop with a breath of relief. He always hated being questioned by his corporate overlords. It was like if he responded wrongly just one time, he would be ¡®disappeared¡¯. At the very least, this one didn¡¯t go too poorly, and the girl didn¡¯t seem to be the type to do that. He hoped.


    Once he was a distance away, he pulled out his walkie-talkie. His eyes seemed to drift back to the office as he wondered idly to himself.


    ---


    I stared at the door for a moment as he left. To be honest? I don¡¯t think it was him. He didn¡¯t seem the type to blackmail. More importantly, a key factor came up as I watched him. Grease had been a clue to this thing from the moment I first saw those red envelopes.


    I looked down at my hand, where some grease had rubbed off onto me during our handshake. Unlike the grease all over Christopher Strun, the grease on the envelopes had been¡­ clean, for a lack of better words. It didn¡¯t have that same steely grit from metal grinds that had been all over Mr. Strun and now my hand. Heck, was it even grease to begin with? Or something else¡­ I¡¯d have to get back and look at them. Maybe this isn¡¯t quite as simple as I hoped for.


    I shifted my gaze out to the workshop, appreciating the flow of workers as they tirelessly slaved away at their jobs. It gave a nice backdrop as I pulled my thoughts together. It was surprisingly difficult. I felt scatterbrained¡­ maybe I


    still suffering some side effects from almost glitching¡­


    This Eli Usser he mentioned might be the culprit. And the name sounded fake to begin with. Eli Usser. Eli Us. Alias. It was a pretty common tactic to give names that weren¡¯t far off from the truth, at least in my experience. For instance, Zuku Ichima came easy to me since it came from two familiar sources, so it was easy to remember. S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Unfortunately, I would have to scroll through months of tapes to find a face for him, and even then it might turn up empty. ¡®Course, there was also the chance Eli Usser wasn¡¯t even related to this in the first place. He could just be some random corporate operator who happened to ask overlapping questions. Coincidences did exist, though the likelihood was admittedly low. Especially since the first letter would¡¯ve been right around when he visited Christopher Strun.


    My issue is that the people Mr. Abernathy mentioned all lack the motive to blackmail him unless I had overlooked something. The CEO could take him through simpler methods, his wife and son needed him to keep his job, and Leanara Strun had died. For now, I suspected that maybe the information slipped to a third party not on the list.


    With no other real lead other than a closer examination of the letters, this Eli Usser was the only chance I had. And Strun had told me the guy looked like he held a high position. Corporate politics were reason enough to resort to blackmail. Hmm¡­


    The foreman, Micheal Schwartz, returned to the office, drawing me from my rampant thoughts. A slight frown clung to his lips as he spotted me sitting in his chair, but it immediately curled into a corporate smile. ¡°Do you need anything else, ma¡¯am?


    I looked him over for a moment, attempting to chart my path forward. ¡°Your party a couple months ago¡­ where was it held?¡±


    The man instantly turned slightly paler. ¡°Ma¡¯am, I know it was against regulations, but I just figured-¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about that. I just need to see the video feeds.¡± I once more cut him off. I dunno what he faced in the past, but he seemed to have a serious problem jumping to the worst conclusions. To be fair, he probably thought I was some kind of corporate black op operator considering one of the highest members of ASCorp gave me the run of the place.


    Another point of oddity, now that I thought about it; why exactly didn¡¯t Mr. Abernathy just go to a corporate operator? Was this secret really so big he couldn¡¯t trust his own people¡­ unfortunately, getting an answer for that would probably put me in the line of fire. Best I just solve this  one and then leave well enough alone. I wasn¡¯t strong enough to start taking down corporate corruption.


    ¡°R-right.¡± He rubbed a hand across his gruff face. ¡°Mr. Abernathy paid for us to have a private party at Ruby¡¯s BBQ¡­ I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ll be able to get the feed from them though.¡±


    ¡®Course. Why would anything be easy for once? Why couldn¡¯t I just say, ¡®Hey, the son did it!¡¯ and be absolutely correct without even having to try that hard? Well¡­ on the bright side, at least it''s not like I¡¯m doing something dangerous¡­


    I left the factory and headed for my newest destination: Ruby¡¯s BBQ. Thankfully, it wasn¡¯t too far, so I didn¡¯t waste nearly as much AE3 as I did driving to Elysium and then back over here. Still, since I only had half a tank, I decided to test something I¡¯d been curious about for a while. I shifted the liquid of the canteen with but a thought, changing it to AE3. Hopefully, by the time I was done, there would be enough to top up my tank.


    I still had yet to test it. Now would be a perfect chance considering how much gas I¡¯m chugging this gig. Seriously, if I had to do too many treks back and forth, I would actually lose Rayn on this gig.


    The ride down there wasn¡¯t too bad. The occasional ganger waving his gun around didn¡¯t exist anymore in the face of Sentinel patrols and increased pressure from the Blue Crusade. That gave me time to enjoy the sights a bit more on the drive.


    Bricktown itself was about as bricky as usual. It would¡¯ve been a bit boring of a drive if not for the abundance of tags everywhere. Predominantly the Neo-Joker¡¯s tags, but there were some oddly artistic pieces scattered about.


    I even spotted a massive jade dragon marked over by a hundred small skulls. It was clearly the Neo-Jokers trying to cover up the Jade Fang¡¯s tag, but someone had turned it into a massive battle between the hundred skulls and the dragon. Seriously skilled.


    Ruby¡¯s BBQ sat right smack dab in the middle of Bricktown and was a booming place. For Neo-Jokers, that is. I pulled up to the building on my bike, taking in the sight of close to a hundred motorcycles pulled up at the entrance, half blocking up the road. Their logo, a laughing skeleton wearing a jester¡¯s hat, tagged up every surface around, leaving no one to question this was their turf.


    A duo of Neo-Jokers burst out of the front door, laughing uproariously as they staggered to their bikes. Their bright, flashy red hair caught my attention more than anything, and the lump dropping into my gut fell even further as their cuts caught under the neon lights.


    This? This complicated things.

 Chapter 59

    Chapter 59After a bit of indecision, I decided to return home for the night. Sure, I could just bust into the place and confiscate the camera feeds using my Blue Crusade identity, but that would also probably shorten my lifespan to a few hours if I was lucky. An alternate method was required.


    I slept on it, worked on some stuff, and in the morning I was more than ready to enact my newest hare-brained scheme. I packed my bag full of stuff I would need, including a tapper and my deck and headed for the restaurant.


    I looked up the building in the city¡¯s directory and plucked the blueprints. Ruby¡¯s BBQ basically had two components to it. A massive-looking warehouse, one that looked far too big for a simple BBQ place to have, and the actual restaurant slash bar area.


    Although my knowledge was quite limited, I would hazard a guess that the warehouse was some kind of Neo-Joker operation, especially considering the sheer number of gangers camped out front the other day. The warehouse connected directly to the restaurant, and the airlock hallway led right past the manager¡¯s office.


    Between the two - a potentially heavily guarded warehouse and a highly populated restaurant - it was a hard decision on the safest path. The warehouse offered less population, but I¡¯d probably be shot on sight. The restaurant offered far reduced danger, yet would require sneaking past at least a couple dozen gangers and various people.


    At least, that had been my thoughts until my scheming brain started to come up with a strategy to get into the manager¡¯s office.


    And that¡¯s how I found myself here, just outside of the warehouse in an alley. It took a bit to line myself up and find it, but now I stood before a fire escape headed straight for the roof of the building. I climbed up the rusted iron stairs, each step shaking rust-free into dust as the aged metal creaked with misuse.


    I half feared for my life until I hit the top and dismounted the rusty metal onto the warehouse roof. From there, it took a bit of searching to find what I wanted. A small shed on top of the building ¡®securely¡¯ locked tight with a deadbolt.


    That ¡®security¡¯ fell within a minute to my lockpicking kit, allowing me easy access into the shed. The electrical system for the entire warehouse''s lights sat here in all its splendor. I popped the door closed with my hip and got to work.


    After removing the panel face covering the intricacies of the several breakers and switches, I carefully cut and pried out the master switch, replacing it with a modified variant of my tapper. It had barely taken me an hour to jury rig the thing together.


    It took a bit to get everything set up, but I messed with the wires and replaced the master switch with my tapper. I set it up in such a way that it would be incredibly easy to remove, though still effective at what I wanted.


    It was time.


    I swiftly worked my way around the various ventilation units on the roof of the building, lightly jogging over to one of the pyramid skylights scattered across the roof. The rain had kept the window mostly clean, allowing my first view into the warehouse.


    Shelves sat in rows all around the place, reaching almost all the way up to the roof. Most of them were caked with dust, showing the long time that they had been abandoned. Boxes and debris cluttered the shelves, their original intent lost to the annals of history.


    Just from here, I spotted several guards moving about the place. All had the signature fiery hair of the Neo-Jokers and toted assault rifles of some kind as they moved around the place. Definitely a heavily guarded position.


    I went to work, undoing the several screws holding the skylight¡¯s panels in place, and carefully eased it off its mount, resting it on the floor. I checked my perks - active. Now or never. I tied a rope to one of the bulky ventilation unit¡¯s braces and lowered myself over the edge of the skylight.


    As soon as my feet tapped the tall shelf under the skylight, I ducked down. The shelves were thick enough that nobody  be able to see the rope and me standing on top of it, but it never hurt to be careful.


    I slowly slunk my way down the middle of the shelf, keeping low as I moved down to the far end of the warehouse. My entry point let me in several aisles to the side of the door leading into the hallway to Ruby¡¯s BBQ.


    To make up for this deficiency, I needed to hop from one shelf to the next. I switched my tapper on, giving it a five-second countdown till it would flip the switch. A deep breath filled my lungs. You got this Shiro. Just don¡¯t look down.


    Before I could second guess myself, I got a running start and lept freely towards the other shelf. At that moment, the entire warehouse turned dark as the lights shut off. I felt the true freedom of flight as my small frame sailed through the air like it had been launched by a cannon. My heart pounded ferociously in my chest, sending pure exhilaration through my system like a caffeine bomb had just exploded into my bloodstream.


    My eye adjusted quickly to the sudden darkness as I smoothly adjusted my angle. My foot caught on the next shelf, the force of my leap jolting up through my legs. I lightly controlled my momentum and balance to make no noise. The momentum carried me a few steps, though I returned to the center just as the lights flickered back to life, casting away the darkness.


    I took several breaths, forcibly calming down the pure exhilaration I felt from the maneuver. My pounding heart in my ears slowly faded, allowing me to faintly catch concerned voices. They were too faint to hear entirely, but I barely caught something like ¡®must¡¯ve been a power outage¡¯.


    I repeated the process several times, shortly arriving before the shelf closest to the door. I peeked over the edge, spotting my target. My heart hammered in my chest as I peeked up and down the aisle. No guards were around. I slowly crawled down the side of the massive shelf, moving from one shelf to the other until hitting the ground.


    Just as I about peeked at the corner, the ice-cold caress of Insight teased my skin. Immediately, without so much as questioning it, I ducked back under the shelf and hid behind a small box. Clicking a button on my deck, the lights instantly went dark.


    An aggravated sigh came from the mouth of the aisle as a dark shape moved into where I just stood. The skylight¡¯s streaming neon illuminated half the man¡¯s face as he idly gazed around.


    His eyes made contact with mine right as he yawned. For a moment, my brain froze as I fought the desire to yawn and give my position away. It was a brief, but brutal fight. Damn you Lethargic Presence!


    His gaze stayed connected for what felt like an eternity. I could¡¯ve sworn he saw me as my heart hammered several times faster than it had the right to. Maybe it was thanks to Stalk? Or is Lethargic Presence showing its dual consequence usefulness once more? He continued on without pausing a step as he stalked down the aisle.


    I let out a breath I hadn¡¯t known I had been holding and slid out from under the shelf. Once more, I peeked out to make sure the coast was clear. The aisles were completely clear. I slunk across the aisle and reached the door. Locked.


    But what did locked doors  matter? Nothing, as long as I had time. I knelt before the door and pulled out my lockpick set. The lock was a simple kind, allowing me to easily breach it and unlock the door.


    I slid through the doorway, immediately closing it behind me. I was in. And a lot more painlessly than I originally expected. Seriously, I didn¡¯t even know I had that kind of hop in me to get between shelves so easily. I guess I am finally growing. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The hallway was more of an airlock with two doors on either side of it. Sandwiched in between was my goal- the manager¡¯s office. I stepped up to the door and unlocked it too, allowing me access to where my treasure lay.


    Inside the manager¡¯s office wasn¡¯t exactly what I was expecting. In some ways, it resembled my apartment. A large desk covered in parts and boxes sat in the corner with an absolutely massive 3d printer blitzing away.


    I completely forgot what I was doing as I spotted the beautiful piece of tech. It was something that I had seen on the Net- a Raijin Industrial Plasticworks. Or RIP. Raijin proclaimed it to be the end of all other printers, at least those that were plastic only. And indeed, the piece of tech was so-


    A loud sound came from behind me. I whipped around, missing the grip of my pistol entirely as I tried to throw myself to the side. I ducked behind the desk and finally managed to pull the pistol free to find the intruder. Why hadn¡¯t Insight warned-


    The sound repeated, this time coming from a couch off to the side of the room. I flicked towards it, finger on the edge of the trigger guard as-


    A weak laugh almost bubbled out of my throat as I tilted my pistol away. A man, built like a cyborg unit, lay collapsed on the couch. Bright red hair came from seemingly every part of his body, making him seem more like a bear than a person.


    I slipped the pistol back into my pocket and turned away. As long as he remained asleep, there was no point in doing something¡­ Killing a defenseless man in his sleep was not ideal. I glanced at the printer one last time before moving to my target. The terminal.


    To absolutely no one¡¯s surprise: locked. I glanced around before picking up the keyboard. There, written down on a sticky note, were the username and password. Neo_eoN and the password was¡­ Nobodywilleverknow123. Real creative.


    I set them down and keyed them in, cringing slightly at the noise the clacking keyboard made. The stuff on the note worked, allowing me access to their system. It didn¡¯t take long to find the camera feeds, though not before I ¡®accidentally¡¯ looked through a folder called Schematics on the home page.


    The folder contained a vast array of firearms and how to make them. More specifically, how to machine and 3D print the parts before assembling them. There was also some more minor stuff in there, such as making cameras and motorcycle parts. It was an absolute treasure trove that I happily indulged in. Eidetic Schematic noted every dete down, ensuring I would be able to remember the stuff that really mattered.


    I finally settled in to look through the feeds. I already had the date from Micheal Schwartz, so all I had to do was scroll back through the saved recordings. From there, I tracked Christopher Strun until I spotted a man pulling him aside. He looks exactly like how the guy had described him.


    I copied the video clip onto my phone and sent it to Clarence. ¡®Does Mr. Abernathy know this guy?¡¯


    I didn¡¯t wait for a reply as I closed out all the tabs and locked the terminal back up. I cast a glance around once more, my eyes automatically drawn to the printer. It was so pretty¡­ unfortunately, it was far too bulky to carry out with me.


    Something else caught my attention. A golden statue of a fox sat on the coffee table by where the guy slept.


    ¡¸New Requests!¡¹


    ¡¸Request - Precious


    Steal the precious item


    Crow¡¯s Wheel of Wares¡¹


    Another request from Crow¡­ I wanted to take the statue  bad, but I just- I just couldn¡¯t. It was too big, and I¡¯d have to leave behind everything in my bag to maybe carry it out. That wasn¡¯t even including how much the thing probably weighed! But I wanted it so bad¡­


    I forced myself away, deciding to take a couple of spools of plastic filament as a cheap consolation prize. I needed material for my own printing anyway¡­


    One last forlorn look tracked the statue''s glorious curves before I began my trek back through the warehouse. Jumping with far more weight reduced the ease with which I cleared the gaps, but I still managed to get back and up through the skylight.


    I screwed everything in and fixed what I did to the breaker box. There was no point giving away the weaknesses in this place¡¯s security, especially considering I wanted to return for the statue¡­ I would need to be stronger though. Maybe it was really time to hit the gym?


    After I retreated back out onto the neon streets, my phone buzzed as a text came across. Unfortunately, the lack of HUD meant I had to manually pull out my phone and look. ¡®Sir said he looked familiar, but couldn¡¯t place him.¡¯


    ¡¯Chek.¡¯ That hadn¡¯t been as informative as I hoped¡­ maybe I could run him through facial recognition? That might take a long while to pick up the right guy.


    I passed by a TV store, with several TVs on display tuned to various stations. I idly glanced over it, freezing as Insight lightly chilled along my spine. That chill drew my attention to one screen in particular.


    A beautiful news anchor stood outside a massive tower. ¡±¡­ reporting live from ASCorp¡¯s Bricktown Supermarket. Aythryn City¡¯s ASCorp Supermarket General Manager, Mr. Kerat¨¢s, has agreed to an interview. Mr. Kerat¨¢s?¡±


    She waved her mic towards the man beside her. Dirty blonde hair clung to his head like a mop, and his face had the rounded shape of someone who ate well. ¡°I assure you! Everything is under control-¡°


    A screeching whirl cut him off as one of the robotic greeters whirled to life. It instantly twisted awkwardly, breaking several pipes and spewing black oil all over the man.


    He screamed something in anger, but I was too distracted by his face. A very familiar face. I glanced down at my phone, matching it up to him. Well¡­ this made things easier.

 Chapter 60

    Chapter 60The Bricktown ASCorp Supermarket had a rather apt name. The building was massive, easily taking up a block with its several-story tall structure. Half a block was dedicated purely to its parking lot, which had enough space to store at least several thousand vehicles.


    Said super massive parking lot sat almost entirely empty. The few things moving about the space were customer service robots roving around the neat aisles. It would¡¯ve felt distinctly post-apocalyptic if not for the hustle and bustle of the nearby roads. Heck, even a tumbleweed made of trash blew across the parking lot.


    The noon sun hid behind a vast bank of clouds as light mist permeated the air. The ambient neon of the city seemed to dance to an ethereal tune across the slightly wet asphalt. As if to emphasize that, a wind blew across the lot, causing the mist to twist and twirl as the neon reflected through it into one kaleidoscope of color.


    Since nobody lurked in the parking lot, I got a front-row parking space to the Supermarket. For the first time in my life, the walk into the front of the store was less than a hundred feet. Seriously weird.


    I trudged across the damp asphalt, idly curious as to why exactly the store sat shut down. Usually, this kind of place would be popping with life as the wage slaves and corporate drones came to spend their week¡¯s pay on one pointless thing or another, and yet now it lay entirely barren.


    The automatic sliding doors blinked red at me as they hissed open, revealing neon-tinged shadows beyond. The doorway sat like a maw, lurking for some unsuspecting pedestrian to enter and be lost in its maze of aisles.


    A large screen flickered to life across the short airlock entryway, casting a dim glow around its surroundings. A man, his features set with an almost creepy wide grin, moved robotically as he waved. He spoke in an annoying voice like he was talking to a toddler. ¡°Hi,  Mr. Cheers! Let  be the first to invite  in. Welcome to the -- ASSCorp -- Supermarket!¡±


    I paused my stride for a moment, chuckling in stunned surprise. Shaking my head slightly, I entered the dark store proper. Various neon advertisements scattered around the inside of the store flickered with half-life, sending an ominous glow around the largely abandoned store. A bassy buzz filled the air, seemingly coming from everywhere. Techno taps, hydraulic hisses, and robotic raps seemed to accent the buzz, drawing an eerie atmosphere when combined with the poor lighting.


    A robot vaguely resembling a trash can glinted neon as it slid out of the dim store. Light green neon highlighted a hole on the top of the bot. A stilted monotone voice called out. ¡°Please! Throw away -


    ASSCorp - in the trash receptacle, where it belongs.¡± It moved closer, pressing uncomfortably near my arm.


    Burning temptation to push the little bot over coursed through my mind, yet I barely managed to restrain myself from such a mischievous act. Nothing good would come of damaging a mega corporation''s property. Well, damage it more than its brain already was.


    The robot died in its tracks, losing the glow right around the lid. A man stepped out from behind a shelf wearing a jumpsuit as he walked over to the bot. ¡°Store¡¯s closed. How¡¯d you get in?¡±


    ¡°The uh- the door was unlocked¡­¡± I answered him as I looked around the supermarket. Now that I was inside, my eyes had rapidly adjusted to the darkness.


    ¡±Well, get out. Before I call the Crusade for trespassing.¡± He crossed his arms and rested back on his haunches.


    Thinking quickly, I whipped out my badge and flashed it at him. Intimidation or persuasion, hmm¡­ ¡°I  the Crusade.¡± Like it was even an option. Intimidation was just too much fun.


    The man stepped back onto his heels as his hands flew to the sides. ¡±S-sorry, ma¡¯am¡­ I didn¡¯t recognize you out of uniform.¡±


    When in doubt, wing it, right? ¡°I am- was off duty¡­ Crusade¡¯s understaffed. They called me in since I was in the area. We received reports of rogue robots? I hope you aren¡¯t in violation of the K-10 Convention.¡±


    ¡±W-what? No- no ma¡¯am.¡± His expression twisted into something awful. Not that I would expect anything less from somebody being accused of breaching the K-10 Convention. That was a quick track to execution.


    I crossed my arms over my chest and leveled a glare at him. ¡°So you say¡­ I¡¯ll need a full tour of the premises to confirm no¡­  dealings.¡± I can see why Carone did it now. The pauses really drew emphasis and showed control of the situation. Still a bastard though.


    ¡°I- you- this is way over my pay grade. I-is it alright if I go get my manager?¡± He asked, already backing up towards one of the aisles as if that could save him.


    I kept my gaze on him, somewhat enjoying the power as he seemed to wither under my eyes. ¡°Hmm¡­ I guess.¡±


    A look of relief crossed his face. ¡°Thank yo-¡±


    ¡°I guess you can take me to your manager.¡± I cut him off as the relieved look vanished like a ghost.


    ¡°Y-yes ma¡¯am¡­ follow me.¡± He started heading to one of the many aisles entrances, only pausing to make sure I followed.


    I moved after him, unfortunately having to take two steps to his everyone. His pace was also quick, giving me little time to look around. Still, what I could see was a confusing layout. The store¡¯s designs seemed to be made in such a way as to funnel shoppers to the middle of the supermarket. And there were no windows anywhere, similar to how a casino operated.


    That wasn¡¯t all of the predatory choices either. Various signs and advertisements sat around and hung from the ceiling. If they were working instead of their glitched-out flickering, they would be full of flair and flashy to draw people further in towards the ¡®winning¡¯ deals.


    We traveled far back, past all of that and at least a couple dozen stocking robots that were glitched out working in reverse. They pulled items from the shelves rather than put them on, leaving a trail of tossed-away merchandise behind them. One bot, seemingly trying to hand out brochures, ejected them like bullets out of a gun towards another, burying it under heaps of paper.


    It was abundantly clear why the store sat in a shut-down state. The store was in disarray and looked as if a hurricane had blown through, and every robot I saw seemed to be horribly glitched out. There were even oil spills everywhere, as if a blood bath- er, oil bath had taken place.


    Eventually, he led me back to a break room in the back of the store. It was pitifully small, not that it really mattered since it looked as though robots made up the majority of the workforce. A few people stood around, but only one caught my attention.


    With dirty blonde hair and a pudgy face, Mr. Kerat¨¢s caught my eye immediately. He stood in the middle of the room, looking over a terminal as he rapidly typed away on it.


    I was here¡­ now what? I hadn¡¯t planned this far ahead. I originally only thought of how to reach the guy, let alone what to do when I finally did. I needed to get him alone to question him and try to find some clues about the letters.


    The one who led me back here spoke up. ¡°Sir. The Blue Crusade is here.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Mr. Kerat¨¢s turned back towards us, his eyes passing over before entirely dismissing me. ¡°Where?¡±


    The guy just mutely pointed towards me. Taking that as my cue, I took a step forward. ¡°I need a full tour of your facilities to make sure there isn¡¯t anything breaking the K-10 convention.¡±


    ¡°¡± He dragged a hand down his face, leaving black smudges. Familiar black smudges. ¡°Can we do this another time? I¡¯m rather busy, and there isn¡¯t anything that would break the laws of the convention.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid not.¡± I took a step forward and emphasized my movements as I looked around the room. ¡°Understand, every robot in your facility is going haywire? A leading symptom of a Rogue AI. Wouldn¡¯t want one of those killers around, now would we?¡±


    He gave me a long look before slowly shaking his head. ¡°We¡¯ve just experienced a hack, nothing more. Still, if you insist, I will lead you around the robotics garage, even without a warrant. A proper investigation would be too much of a hassle with all that¡¯s going on.¡±


    ¡°It would be much appreciated.¡± I needed something a bit more though. If I just straight up asked him about the letters, he¡¯d know something was up. And I wasn¡¯t in uniform. ¡°Let me see your office too. Just to make sure.¡±


    His corporate smile brightened as his facial muscles twitched. ¡°Just to make sure.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± I smiled at him, trying to give my best disarming impression.


    It seemed to work as some of the tenseness from his shoulders released. Honest Face truly was a great Perk. He sighed and motioned around the room. ¡°Torrence, clean up here. See if you can¡¯t isolate the rogue- the hacked robots. I just got a call. A Netrunner from corporate is coming in tomorrow, so we just need to make sure nothing is too severely damaged at that time.¡±


    The man who brought me back here saluted. ¡°Sir.¡±


    Mr. Kerat¨¢s motioned to me. ¡°Follow me. The robotics garage is this way.¡±


    We walked back through the store. Back here was far cleaner than the front, as if whatever happened to the robots had prioritized attacking the front area where customers would come in. Whoever hacked this place was not only skilled, but smart to boot. Hit the corp right where it hurts. That being said, there were a lot of oil spills back here, so it wasn¡¯t entirely clean.


    Eventually, we made it through the chaotic mess of ASCorp products and arrived at a secluded entrance. It was a rather large garage door, having room to fit several vehicles through it with ease.


    Several robots milled around the door, bashing their heads into walls and a stocker bot was even trying to place what looked to be window cleaning supplies inside of another bot with mixed success. The hacker had done a number on this place.


    The dirty blonde-headed man waved a hand at the several bots as he keyed in a code onto a small control panel next to the garage door. ¡°As you can see, the hacker did a number on our operating protocols. But that¡¯s it. There are no AIs anywhere around here, just glitched protocols.¡±


    ¡®Course, I didn¡¯t really think that there was an AI somewhere around here. That would be corporate suicide for ASCorp, and they couldn¡¯t handle that kind of backlash. Still, I had to sell the point so I had a ¡®reason¡¯ to be here. ¡°Not on these ones.¡±


    He sighed as the panel flashed green. The garage door let out a loud clunk and started to slowly slide up, revealing a large workshop. Several tables were set up around the room, each laden with parts. Mechanics wielded tools and were working on dozens of robots scattered across the rooms.


    ¡°We¡¯re working hard to fix up the mess this  made, but it¡¯s been slow going. Take a look around if you want, you won¡¯t find anything shady back here.¡± He pointed towards the back of the room. A door led into a windowless room off to the back. ¡°Oh, and my temporary office is over there in the corner. I expect you can see yourself out, Crusader.¡±


    He headed forward and struck up a conversation with one of the workers, leaving me to my own devices. I spent a minute wandering around the workshop, trying to look as though I was actually investigating. To be honest, I wouldn''t know an AI even if it hit me over the head.


    Seeing all the different kinds of robots and their inner workings was very cool though. It even gave me some ideas on stuff I could start to make on my own. The only thing keeping me from making a robot entirely was the coding skills required to make it seem alive. Net hadn''t reached that level.


    I headed for the office after making my rounds. If there was anywhere that would have what I wanted, it was his office. It would also probably hold any incriminating evidence. If the smudges on the letters were from the robots'' oil like I suspected, then he likely hadn''t kept the stuff at home. Otherwise, he would''ve probably washed his hands.


    It was about as I would expect from a corporate office. There were filing cabinets everywhere, and papers were scattered around in neat little stacks. A desk sat against a wall, a small laptop terminal resting on it. I gazed around. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Where do I even start? I¡¯m used to chaotic messes, not this- this¡­ . I felt disgusted even looking at the neatly placed papers and files everywhere.


    What was I even looking for? Threatening letters? A written confession? I glanced around his office. Check the obvious places first, right? I moved over to the desk and rifled through the drawers. Nothing. At least until I got to one of the bottom ones. A stack of red envelopes lay neatly in it.


    There was enough evidence for me to pin him as the crook, but one thing haunted me. How? How would this random guy know about whatever it is that Mr. Abernathy wanted to hide if only four people knew about it? The why made sense, he was just eliminating someone above him on the corporate ladder. But the how?


    Maybe his laptop would have some clues¡­ I moved over to it and popped it open.

 Chapter 61

    Chapter 61I expected the terminal to be locked, but Mr. Kerat¨¢s had just left it on sleep mode. It booted right up to the desktop. The symbol of ASCorp, a pristine Aetherium shield, rotated in the background.


    My eyes tracked the room excitedly, making sure the door sat closed and there were no cameras. Then I started to snoop around his computer. I started with the email, running through most of the messages. The guy had an oddly high amount of ¡®singles in your area¡¯ spam emails, and about a quarter as much related to boring paperwork and requisitions dating a month back- nothing of interest.


    I didn¡¯t stop there and searched the rest of his computer, passing through the downloads, trash, and assorted files. A few were locked behind high-end encryptions, probably related to company secrets. I didn¡¯t even try to look into them. For all I knew, even an attempted access could alert somebody. Sear?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Some of the files proved to be revealing of a different kind of issue. The guy seemed to have a serious problem pirating movies. There were all kinds kept in there, from D-rate action flicks to ages-old romance dramas.


    Fortunately, I found something else of interest after a bit longer searching. The guy had a remote desktop app downloaded onto his computer, which allowed full access from his phone. After messing around with it for a moment, I got onto the guy¡¯s phone app and glanced through it.


    The call log revealed a lot of calls between him and unmarked numbers, and even more between him and a company phone. Interestingly, about a couple months back he started to get calls from a particular ASCorp phone. Consistent calls. Unfortunately, the log only showed the calls happened, and not the actual contents. Still, it was suspicious timing so I noted the number down on my own phone.


    I found something even more interesting in his messages. Most of them were boring number crunches related to work or the occasional short small talk between him and his ¡®friends¡¯. Based on what I read Mr. Kerat¨¢s really seemed like a boring kind of guy. A boring guy who was blackmailing my client...


    The thing of note was the same number from earlier sending messages almost every day starting from about the same time Mr. Abernathy received the first letter. The contents thereof were¡­ not something I could ever talk about with a straight face. They were full of over-the-top lovey-dovey shit. And it all looked one-sided like Mr. Kerat¨¢ carried the entire relationship on his back like some messed up stalker. I couldn¡¯t get past the first dozen before I had to start skipping through them from cringe alone.


    I skipped all the way back to the first message from the unknown company phone. ¡®Is it done?¡¯ Suspicious. Unfortunately, there wasn¡¯t a name associated with the number, just a letter: J.


    I looked through everything I could get my grubby little hands on one last time before shutting down the laptop. What was my next step now?


    I left the office, not spotting my culprit anywhere. Which was fine, he couldn¡¯t escape from ASCorp operatives or other mercs once I told Mr. Abernathy. After I got around to finishing this gig, that is. See, I wasn¡¯t quite done yet. From the messages I read, this ¡®J¡¯ set Mr. Kerat¨¢s up to the task of sending the letters to Mr. Abernathy. They seemed to be the true mastermind, and I couldn¡¯t in good conscience say I solved this when they could just prop up another dummy to go after Mr. Abernathy. Or maybe a more direct route...


    Worse yet, I had absolutely no clue who this J was. I did, however, have a plan. And a pretty solid one at that. It was simple; call the number. It was so stupidly simple and direct a toddler could¡¯ve come up with the idea.


    I worked my way out into the maze-like aisle, putting distance between myself and anyone who might want to overhear. Then, I simply pulled out my phone, typed in the number, and hit dial.


    A few moments later, the other line picked up. ¡°Hello?¡± A woman¡¯s voice came across, one that sounded as if she was in the prime of her life. And it was refined too, as if whoever spoke was a ¡®proper¡¯ lady.


    ¡°Ah yes¡­ ahem, I¡¯ve been trying to reach you. Just to clarify, this is?¡± I asked, dropping my voice down a pitch.


    ¡°Oh great.¡± The line went quiet for a moment. In the background of the call, I could hear a man¡¯s voice, sounding faintly familiar. Then, the woman spoke again, though it wasn¡¯t directed at me. ¡°I¡¯ll be right there, dear! It''s just another spam caller.¡±


    ¡°I assure you, ma¡¯am, I¡¯m not a spammer. I just want to confirm your identity before-¡±


    Just like that, ¡®J¡¯ hung up. Yeah, not my brightest disguise all things considered¡­ Seriously?! Gah! The more I think about it, the stupider I feel... Why did I have to go for such an obvious spammer start? Stupid, Shiro.


    I stared at an empty shelf for a moment, slowly going over the entire interaction as I tried to search for some kind of clue. Nothing. Other than the person sounding posh and high up, which I already suspected, there wasn¡¯t much else of note. ¡®Course, other than the rather helpful tidbit that Honest Face wasn¡¯t actually all that helpful in the case where the other party can¡¯t see said face.


    Leaving the area, and dodging by a bot as it spewed oil everywhere like a nightmarish facade of a fountain, I returned back to the entrance. The same guy as earlier sat next to a robot, tinkering on it as I passed by. He shot me a glance but otherwise pretended not to notice me. Fair.


    On my way out, Mr. Cheer, the artificial greeter, waved at me. His smile, so inhumanely large there was no way it wasn¡¯t artificial, seemed to gleam with a malicious light. ¡°Goodbye now, and please come back in the future!¡±


    Returning to my bike, I straddled it as I tried to think about what to do next for the investigation. My best bet was returning to Mr. Abernathy with what I¡¯ve found in the hopes that he¡¯ll be able to remember someone in particular who had it out for him.


    I could worry about the investigation later though. I noticed this in the last couple of months, but I¡¯ve got a real problem locking into only one thing at a time. Like, I  to finish what I¡¯m doing before doing anything else. For instance, working on an investigation and only focusing on the investigation even if it cripples my social life.


    Today, however, I had a place to be. I keyed Ichiban into my Mapp? and pulled up the best route to reach there.


    I stared at my reflection in a puddle. The dark patch over my eye combined with my clothing and long black hair gave me a moody look, and yet it didn¡¯t detract from my looks in the slightest. This may just be some faulty pride speaking, but damn did I look good.


    My skin had a healthy glow to it and my thick hair shone with life. The puddle warped my form slightly, twisting it. Yet even that couldn¡¯t hide the fact that I was starting to fill out. And! And! AND! I seemed to have gained a quarter of an inch of height. It was hardly noticeable, but I  it.


    A drop hit the puddle and scattered my reflection around as it twisted and turned into a gnarled building of marbled faces. As it started to settle back down, another stray drop smacked it, ruining my distraction.


    I brushed a hand across my cheek, brushing several loose strands of hair back under my hat. I looked up, the gray sky crying sorrowfully as lightning occasionally screamed in the distance. The cool water felt nice, refreshing almost. It  managed to take me away from this place.


    Unfortunately, a particularly bright flash caused me to look away from the storm-clad sky- to look right where I had been avoiding in the first place. The Jade Columbarium sat in all its bleak glory, the almost marbled gray stone seeming to hide several twisting and turning dragons. A squad of Jade Fang Enforcers stood around the entrance, watching each and every person approaching like hawks.


    I took a deep breath and stepped under the cover of the building, immediately feeling a chill down my spine as the solemn air met the icy ocean gale. My eyes closed almost on their own, trying to subconsciously hide from the place even as I stepped forward.


    A map wasn¡¯t needed as my feet automatically carried me into the place. Muscle memory, rusty from misuse, shook itself awake as I stepped one foot after another into the Jade Columbarium. Unlike in the past, my footsteps were entirely quiet as I passed by the mourners, just another ghost haunting this place.


    Little alcoves sat everywhere, each holding an urn. Unlike Grayhill Depository, all the vases here were basically the same. Other than the names and personalized writing on each one, they were all little, barely-lit jade urns. They looked almost like a capped-off trophy with two curling dragons acting as handles. Personal items sat scattered around the alcoves.


    A ceremony was being held off to the side of one of the rooms I passed through. Rather, several ceremonies by the looks of things. There were easily dozens of people gathered around the area as a man spoke. Did something happen recently?


    He wore what I could only describe as clerical robes, and looked as though someone had plucked him right out of Saint¡¯s Cathedral. His voice was smooth and relaxing as if he was offering a healing prayer. ¡°... their souls to our heavenly father, that we might see them again one day. Rejoice, for today is not one of reckoning, but-¡±


    I tuned him out as I passed through the area and moved on by. Still, I had mad respect for a priest willing to come out and do a service in the middle of Jade Fang territory. Not only in Jade Fang territory but at the heart of the Jade Fang¡¯s burial building. Practicing what he preached of love all, eh?


    I stepped into a specific room, the dragons hiding in the gray marble seeming to come alive and animate at my approach. The walls twisted and twirled as I gazed around. A lump sat in my throat as I saw the room sitting entirely empty. No grievers were back here, leaving me feeling a strange sort of isolation as I walked to the middle of the room.


    One step after another I headed in till my feet froze in front of a specific alcove. Two urns sat together, the dragon ¡®handles¡¯ intertwined with each other in one last eternal embrace. Names were etched into the synthetic jade: Ryouma Tsukuyomi and Akiri Tsukuyomi.


    My hand trembled slightly as I ran a finger across the meeting point of the two urns. The color in the spot I touched had long since faded, rubbed away by a foolish girl hoping to get one last hug from her lost parents. That was back when my eye was still flesh though, back long before I went to see my-


    I took a deep breath and rocked back onto my feet, forcing the thought away. Compartmentalize. The less I had to think of his vile face, the better.


    I gazed at the two items in the alcove. Unlike some of the other alcoves around here overflowing, only two items sat in this one. A baseball, the seams cracked from years of use, and a small silver flute. It''s funny, even after all this time I could faintly hear the flute¡¯s hauntingly beautiful swills playing in the background of my mind, accentuated by the laughing glee of a child.


    My eyes clouded up, some of the rain from earlier must¡¯ve dropped in, blurring my vision. I rubbed at it, chuckling slightly to myself. It had been so long, yet I still missed them so dearly. With a shaky breath, I knelt down on the ground in front of their alcove, too scared to lift my head.

 Chapter 62

    Chapter 62The next day, early in the morning, I stood outside of Absolom Clinic ready for my replacement chrome. I shrugged under the weight of my backpack, shifting it on my shoulder as I pushed open Nael¡¯s door.


    The clinic was¡­ in shambles. There was no nice way of putting it. Eight young children ran around, laughing and screaming as they messed with the Medech¡¯s tools and gear. About double that number, looking older in their early teens maybe, were neatly lined up against the wall, watching the chaos in near silence. Several of them had small smiles on their faces as they watched the younger ones move around full of energy.


    A woman sat at one of the counters spread all around the room, her head resting on her arms as she tiredly watched the rabble. Occasionally she would chuckle as one kid did something or another, but otherwise seemed content just to watch.


    Nael himself sat above his Medech chair, chuckling slightly as he patted a girl on the head. He held a small paper in his hand. ¡°Thank you, Tyra. I¡¯ll treasure it always.¡±


    The girl, looking barely three years old, maybe, smiled up at him with a mouth full of several missing teeth. ¡°No, tank you! Missta¡¯ Nail is ta¡¯ beddest eva¡¯!¡±


    Nael glanced up, his eyes meeting mine as he nodded to me. I didn¡¯t distract him for too long as he helped the little girl out of the chair. ¡°Ah shucks, Tyra. I¡¯m not the bestest, Miss Tanaka is.


    The woman sat up. ¡°Don¡¯t lie now, Nael. I¡¯m no one special, just a wayward soul hoping to help others.¡±


    Nael had a grin on his face as he guided Tyra back to this Miss Tanaka. ¡°I¡¯ve known you since you were almost as young as Tyra. Without a doubt, I can say you are the bestest.¡±


    ¡°It''s true! Missy Tanka and Missta¡¯ Nail are both the bestest!¡± The little girl laughed happily to herself as she ran off to join the rest of the rabble.


    That left just the woman and Nael. He motioned me over as he spoke to her. ¡°Shiro, this is a good friend of mine, Tris Tanaka. She is one of the owners running Saint¡¯s Hall Orphanage over by Saint¡¯s Plaza. Tanaka, this is Shiro.¡±


    Wow, no introduction Nael? I¡¯m hurt. Still, I offered my hand to the woman. ¡°I¡¯m a freelancer. Nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°A pleasure.¡± The woman smiled at me. ¡°A freelancer, huh? I¡¯ve got a bunch of kids your age running around the hall¡­ Well, if you ever need help, the Orphanage¡¯s doors are always open.¡±


    I smiled, trying not to let my teeth show too much. Like I would ever go to an orphanage. ¡°I appreciate the offer.¡±


    Tanaka, as if sensing my discomfort, shifted the conversation away. ¡°So, how much do I owe you this time around?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. It was only a checkup, so just bring me one of your world-famous cakes next time you come.¡± Before the woman could refute him, Nael pulled a classic move. ¡°C¡¯mon Shiro, I¡¯ve got something to show you. It¡¯s about what you asked for last time.¡±


    I tried not to chuckle as I spotted the frustrated look on the woman¡¯s face. I had been there many, many times in the past. ¡°Sure.¡±


    Nael led me back to a room I had never been in before. A massive door, almost reminiscent of a bank vault from back when paper money was used, sat at the opposite end. Instead of heading to it, he led me to a side room with several silver cylinders laid out. Small puffs of white fog left two of the canisters.


    Nael waved a hand towards them. ¡°I¡¯ve managed to find a couple of good quality Neural Links that shouldn¡¯t have a problem keeping up with your eye.¡±


    I eyed the canisters, spotting a Sentinel spear and shield, a Raijin lightning bolt, KairoTech Global¡¯s pyramid symbol, and surprisingly the crescent moon symbol of Mystech. ¡°These look rather high-end, Nael, I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll be able to afford them.¡±


    We waved off my concern. Literally. ¡°Then you can just owe me one. I know you¡¯re good for it, kid. Anyway, we can talk about all of that later. Let me introduce you to the four I managed to find in three days.¡±


    He moved to the Sentinel one and pulled the handle atop the canister. The inside of the canister slid up, revealing what looked to be a small puck. ¡°This is a couple gens ago, the Sentinel Neural Interface 4.6. Not the best of the best, but should be able to keep up with most chrome. It''s several times better than the junk ASCorp one you had.¡±


    Nael slid the puck back into the canister and then moved to the next one in line. ¡°The Raijin Neural Dilation Link is quite a piece of tech. It''s not as crazy as the other two, but it excels when interfacing with the Net. From what I¡¯ve heard, it''s the closest a person can get to speedware without the actual burden of speedware. Only on the Net though.¡±


    He repeated the process and moved to the one marked with a pyramid. As soon as he pulled it up, white fog oozed from its length. ¡°This is the KairoTech Gypto Fusion. As you know, KairoTech is one of the leading corps when it comes to biotech. The Gypto Fusion boasts the ability to symbiotically grow into your body. It becomes a hassle to remove, but give room for growth as you grow. I- I wouldn¡¯t recommend it. I think this particular product is a bit too ¡®bio¡¯ and not enough ¡®tech¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Which brings me to my last option. Honestly, this acquisition came by a complete surprise.¡± He ran a hand along the last canister. ¡°I don¡¯t like magitech on a fundamental level, so I wouldn¡¯t normally offer this-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± I heard far too many horror stories of mixing magic and chrome. Hell, I had even seen an insane Adept fry himself thanks to his chrome back in my younger years.


    ¡°Figured¡­ don¡¯t blame you, kid. So, what do you think?¡±


    Hmm¡­ the clear winner was the Sentinel one. It was average and bland, sure, but it was good at jack of all trades. The Raijin one would only be helpful if I was a Netrunn or something adjacent, and fell behind in specs from the Sentinel. The other two were¡­ not really an option. Having a symbiotic piece of tech sounded terrible, and the Mystech one wasn¡¯t even an option.


    ¡°The Sentinel Neural Interface.¡± I pointed to it.


    Nael nodded several times as he grabbed it and threw the rest into a small fridge. ¡°Alright, kid¡­ before we go on with the procedure, are you sure you want this? You just came off a Glitch, and adding more chrome is typically a poor idea. Still, the Glitch came from malfunctioning chrome and not from your body¡¯s inability to cope with the tech.¡±


    I could see his actual question between the lines. ¡°I¡¯m sure. You ah- you think I¡¯ll be okay?¡±


    He paused and stared me dead in the eyes. After a few uncomfortable moments, he slowly nodded. ¡°Yeah, kid. You¡¯ll be fine¡­ just maybe take a month or two to adjust before getting anything else.¡±


    ¡°¡®Course.¡± And it isn¡¯t like I had a long list of items I wanted to install into my body. The only thing partially on my mind was a deck, and even then I wasn¡¯t so sure if I wanted to go that route.


    ¡°Right.¡± He handed me the Neural Link¡¯s canister. ¡°Head on back. I¡¯ll be there in a minute.¡±


    I nodded to him and headed back to the Medech chair. A few minutes later, he had me lie on my back as he knocked me out.


    ¡°So, you made this?¡± Nael asked as I tried to readjust to having two eyes once more. The Advent Ghost still felt off, like there was a delay in how it shifted directions.


    I rubbed at the back of my neck, feeling as if a knot had been inserted into my spinal column. I refocused on what he held: a Doctor Absolom action figure. I had handed it to him while I was still recovering from the recent surgery. It looked slightly off, as did almost everything else in my vision. Almost like everything had an extra shadow?


    My surgery had gone rather well, at least according to Nael. I still felt a little sore, but after a night¡¯s rest, I¡¯d be back to the peak of health. Hopefully without any mental deficiencies this time too.


    With a thought, the HUD popped back into my vision showcasing the Mapp? in all its glory. It''s funny how much I missed the thing considering my short time with it. The HUD closed back down, returning my eye to normal vision as I looked back at him.


    I could feel heat rising to my cheeks as he looked over the thing, scrutinizing every detail. ¡°I uh- I¡¯m practicing my skills¡­ I know it¡¯s not very good-¡±


    Nael stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t sell yourself short, Shiro.¡± Was that a personal attack? Low blow, Nael¡­ damnit, Shiro! Now you¡¯re doing it too! ¡°It¡¯s very well made. And I¡¯m sure the kids will love them.¡±


    ¡°T-thanks.¡± I rubbed at my arm as he set it down on the counter.


    He smiled at me and tapped the figure¡¯s head. ¡°No, thank you. Kids can be a hassle to deal with sometimes, and I¡¯m sure many parents would appreciate a free toy to distract them with.¡±


    I grabbed my bag and pulled out the rest of the figurines. I only had twenty of the very best in the bag, which I handed over. ¡°If you say so.¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± He neatly lined them up. ¡°If you make any more of them, feel free to drop them by. I have to admit it is quite flattering to have my own action figurine, kid. Really takes me back to the years before all this techno mumbo jumbo took over entertainment.¡±


    ¡°Will do,¡± I spoke to him a bit more before leaving Absolom Clinic behind me. I walked through the alleys, getting back on the main street as I set off for my next destination.


    Kjoatmon Kicking the Sun was an odd name for a smoothy shop, but it was my destination nonetheless. It was the kind of seasonal venue that popped up every time Oasis came through the city, and acted as a way for people to still consume the freshest of fruit without the hassle of Oasis''s barter system.


    As for I decided to come to a smoothie shop? Simple. I completely overlooked it earlier, but a passing conversation reminded me that smoothies were liquids. Highly nutritious liquids that could completely replace food, as long as it was a high-end one. See where I¡¯m going?


    Hence, my arrival here at Kjoatmon Kicking the Sun. They served only the highest-end smoothies, guaranteed to come from fresh fruit and packed full of health thanks to buying their ingredients directly from Oasis.


    I entered the store, instantly feeling out of place amongst the see of high-end corporate drones slurping away at their variety of smoothies. The casual ease with which they drank an expensive drink was almost too much to bear. I forced the feeling of unease away and approached the counter.


    ¡°What can I get for ya¡¯?¡± A woman asked as she smiled dimly.


    I looked through the menu, even though I already knew what I wanted. It was expensive, but I was buying something I could drink for a long time, so the price would work itself off eventually. ¡°Can I get Jack¡¯s Sun Kicker?¡±


    I did some research before coming here, and apparently, the particular smoothie could replace food entirely. It was made by Jack to drink at dawn and be good till the next dawn; a must-have item for the corporate underdog looking to spend more time at work.  Or at least, that''s what their website said.


    A price point of seventy Rayn popped up on the terminal. I paid it, feeling the sting of money as my savings dropped below thirty-five hundred. It was still a lot of money, but rent was in a couple days so realistically I only had nineteen hundred. Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    As soon as the drink was made, I backpedaled out of the shop and headed to a shadowed corner. Thankfully, this was the Corporate Quarter, so I didn¡¯t have to worry about a random mugger or homeless seeing me as I dumped the smoothie into Crow¡¯s Canteen of Chaos. Just like that, I had my new form of sustenance.


    With a small smile on my face, I headed back for my bike. It was really about time I got back around to solving Mr. Abernathy¡¯s problem.

 Chapter 63

    Chapter 63Clarence led me into the mansion as soon as I arrived. I had called ahead and he stood patiently waiting at their massive parking lot of a driveway. From there, he led me through the garden¡¯s loop and into the home.


    ¡°Hey Clarence, how did the letters arrive here?¡± I asked as he held the door open for me. Maybe I could backtrack whatever Courier or postal service that delivered them and get a location to track.


    The old butler looked at me as he guided me along a grand staircase. ¡°Hmm¡­ they didn¡¯t come with the morning mail. Unfortunately, the security cameras have been going haywire for months, otherwise, we could reroll the footage.¡±


    ¡°Ah, how unfortunate.¡± They probably came in through a Courier then. Whoever sent the letters obviously had enough money to afford a Courier several times a week, so they likely weren¡¯t poor. Those bastards charged an arm and a leg for their services.


    We moved down a hallway to a rather sturdy-looking door plated in white with gold accents. His hand lightly rapped across the surface. ¡°Sir? Lady Ichima is here to see you.¡±


    ¡°Enter.¡± Mr. Abernathy¡¯s voice vibrated through the surface like it wasn¡¯t even there.


    Clarence opened the door, allowing me in. As soon as I stepped through the threshold, he closed it and backed away.


    Behind the door sat a grand study. It was closer to the few public libraries I had visited than any study I had seen. Bookshelves sat everywhere housing books that looked as if they predated WWIII.


    The man himself sat behind a desk, looking about as ancient as the books on the shelves. A terminal, this one see-through, sat on the desk as Mr. Abernathy typed away. ¡°Please, take a seat.¡± His kind voice said though he didn¡¯t even look up as he finished up whatever he was working on.


    I slid in across the desk from him, finding the chair to be rather comfortable. It was the exact opposite of the one in the deceitful drawing room. I sat there, looking around the room as I waited patiently for Mr. Abernathy to finish up whatever it was he was working on.


    After several minutes, he let out a sigh and closed down the terminal. ¡°Sorry about that¡­ the company doesn¡¯t know what vacation hours are.¡± He said with a joking smile. The corners of his eyes crinkled in a subtle Cue, showing his smile to either be genuine or crazy good acting.


    ¡°No problem, sir.¡±


    ¡°Nova¡­¡± He leaned forward, leaning over the desk. ¡°Have you found anything yet?¡±


    ¡°Yes sir. I¡¯ve eliminated a few suspects and found the perpetrator. He seemed to have been directed to send you the letters by another person though.¡± I didn¡¯t directly say who it was, fearful that Mr. Abernathy might take his irritation about the letters out on him. The guy could still prove to be useful, and I didn¡¯t want a pawn taken away so soon.


    Albert Abernathy smiled broadly and leaned back in his chair, looking as if a thousand-pound weight moved off his shoulders. ¡°Nova! This- this mastermind though¡­ do you have any clues?¡±


    ¡°¡®Course, sir. Do you know anyone whose name starts with a J?¡± I asked.


    The man leaned forward onto the desk and tapped on his chin. ¡°My secretary is named Jennifer¡­ There''s also Jerreca, the CEO¡¯s daughter. I¡¯ve met her a few times, but she is around your age.¡±


    ¡°This secretary¡­ she been with you for a long time? Or have a reason to get rid of you?¡± Technically, the letters only requested money, but it wasn¡¯t far-fetched to think the end game was to get rid of Mr. Abernathy.


    He gazed out at the study, his eyes growing slightly distant. ¡°It¡¯s going on twenty-six years now? She became my secretary back when I was just a foreman, and I highly doubt she would want to get rid of me.¡±


    Could be the secretary, but why try to blackmail her boss? After showing loyalty for twenty-six years, getting rid of her boss would be like removing the ground she walked on. Maybe not Jennifer then¡­ Jerraca could be the one, but it was doubtful for the same reason as the CEO. There were far easier ways to get rid of someone. Permanently.


    As for whether this Jerraca had access to those means? Most definitely. It was best not to underestimate someone, especially not the daughter of ASCorp¡¯s CEO. Although they were slightly in decline in recent years, they were and have continued to be one of the most trusted brands for over a century. Arkhanika¡¯s Standard Corporation had some serious firepower for sure.


    ¡°Can you-¡±


    The door burst open behind me, cutting me off mid-sentence. A woman marched through, fire in her eyes as she glared at me. ¡°Hiring a new maid, Albert?¡±


    ¡°Darling, I was just in the middle of a business discussion¡­ Ah, Zuku, this is my wife, Yasmine.¡± The man waved his hand towards the fuming woman, completely missing the cues of rage. It was almost impressive how oblivious he was. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°Pleasure, ma¡¯am.¡± I offered my hand, trying to be polite.


    She glared at my hand like I was a rat trying to touch her ¡®fair¡¯ skin. ¡°A business discussion? Really? With a little twelve-year-old? Why are you lying, Albert? Or is this business related to her being a flat backer? I¡¯m disgusted.¡±


    I leaned back in my chair, taken back by the pure hostility seeming to pour from her every pore. What was worse? Being called a kid not even into their teenage years? Maybe being called a prostitute? Or maybe even being called a detestable word like ¡®little¡¯?


    None of the above, in my opinion. The worst offense coming from the woman was to Mr. Abernathy. To think his own wife was accusing him not only of being a john, but a pedo to boot. Personally, I wouldn¡¯t let that stand.


    Mr. Abernathy, though, just flashed a kind smile at the woman as he winced. ¡°Darling, can we talk about this another time? This is a important matter.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s always another time!¡± The woman threw her hands in the air and stomped over to the door. ¡°Fuck you, Harlot! I hope you choke on my husband¡¯s-¡±


    ¡°Enough!¡± Mr. Abernathy raised his voice, for once losing his kind demeanor.


    His wife harrumphed and strode out of the door, ending her tirade with one last call. ¡°Filthy flatbacker.¡±


    ¡°Sorry about that. Yasmine has always been the type to jump to conclusions.¡± He rubbed the back of his neck.


    Honestly, I didn¡¯t care too much what the woman said. I had been called worse before, and by people who mattered quite a bit more. At least, at that time. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    ¡°Still, that woman¡­ Anyway, is there anything else I can help you with? The sooner this is taken care of, the better.¡± Mr. Abernathy¡¯s eyebrows knitted together. ¡°If some of my opponents caught wind of this, it could prove to be disastrous considering the timing.¡±


    ¡°The timing?¡± I asked.


    He nodded his head. ¡°Yeah, the CEO is holding an ''election'' for the new President of the company amongst all the top brass this month. It''s been a bloodbath as everyone tries to discredit the other.¡±


    Interesting. I can definitely see how being blackmailed would be bad. ¡®Course, it wasn¡¯t bad that he did something, rather that he left enough evidence to be blackmailed about it. Maybe that was why he hired out for this one? To avoid having a paper trail in the company? ¡°I see¡­¡±


    Mr. Abernathy¡¯s head dropped slightly, though he kept his kind smile the best he could. ¡°Yeah¡­you said you found the one actually sending the letters though?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    ¡°Good¡­¡± Relief flashed across his face. ¡°Ah, my family doesn¡¯t know about this matter. You mind if we keep it that way? Wouldn¡¯t want to scare Yasmine or Cole, my son.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± Hopefully, this matter will be resolved anyway. As things stand, my current solution to finding the mastermind was to simply ask them to meet up. Not through my phone, ¡®course, but through Mr. Ker¨¢tas¡¯s phone through his computer¡¯s backdoor.


    My cover was already blown though¡­ It would look strange if I showed up again, and unnecessary suspicion never did anyone good. Rather, it did the victims good, just not me. Hmm¡­ well, I could always sneak in.


    I returned to the ASCorp Bricktown Supermarket with high spirits. I already knew from last time just how dire the situation here was. They couldn¡¯t keep up with the robots, let alone the actual security systems.


    With that in consideration, I entered the building through the front door. Then, it was as easy as sneaking past the guy watching it, who was distracted by a robot¡¯s oil spill, and heading into the store proper.


    The occasional bot gave me a small fright, but I made my way to the Robotics Garage unmolested. Rather, mostly unmolested. There was that unfortunate situation where a robot tried to spew on me, though I managed to dodge the jets of oil. Whoever set that up had a seriously devious mind.


    The store looked moderately worse as I walked through it. Whereas there might¡¯ve been a few bots still busy cleaning up the last time I was here, now there were none. Every robot seemed to be in the same state of chaos, making a right mess of the whole place.


    The garage door was open, so I slipped inside with Perks active. All the workers were busy, well, working, so no one even noticed me as I worked my way around the room and to the office. I stayed low and listened intently through the office¡¯s door. Dead silent.


    A quick glance around revealed nobody had even noticed me, so I picked the lock on the door and slid into the office. It was dark, but my flesh eye rapidly adjusted to the darkness, leaving me still capable of vision even as my chrome one failed me. It was definitely odd considering my night vision had never been all too good.


    Moving to the laptop still set up on the desk, I wasted no time waking it up from sleep mode and going to the backdoor messaging. Since I had last checked, several messages had gone between them, professing the love between J and K. Rather, the love from Mr. Kerat¨¢s to J. J, for their part, remained mostly indifferent for some reason.


    Anyway, I sent a text to J from the backdoor. ¡®My love, it¡¯s been so long since I¡¯ve seen you last. Can we meet up soon?¡¯


    I searched around on the computer as I waited, and a reply soon arrived. ¡®It has only been three weeks though.¡¯


    What would a hopeless fanatic say in this situation? Hmm¡­ ¡®Yet every passing second without you is agonizing. You bring life to my drab day, enlightening my heart with love.¡¯


    ¡®Fine. Come to Fisher¡¯s Diner tonight, I¡¯ll be there. Oh, and don¡¯t tell anyone. Can¡¯t risk the heat.¡¯ The reply was cold, almost heartlessly so.


    ¡®Okay, my love.¡¯ I sent back to J. Then, just to make sure nothing went wrong, I deleted the messages and made it look as if nothing happened. I also sent a message to Clarence to tell Mr. Abernathy I had managed to set up a meeting.


    Now to get out of here. I stood up from the desk-


    The door rattled, and voices came from outside. Without enough time to think of how stupid it was, I slid under the desk and pressed myself out of the way. A second later, I heard the door crack open.


    Mr. Kerat¨¢s¡¯s voice came from just outside of my vision. ¡°-don¡¯t care. The Netrunner will be here in an hour. We can¡¯t screw this up, or corporations will have our heads. head. They¡¯re already breathing down my neck since that Crusader started poking around.¡±


    An unfamiliar voice spoke up. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sir. There are just too many out there, and they aren¡¯t responding. We¡¯ll have to send out all the men to wrangle them up.¡±


    ¡°Fine! Just get it done. Now!¡±


    ¡°Sir!¡± The sound of boots tapping the floor echoed as the door closed. I was so, so tempted to peek my head out and check the area, but rationality barely managed to hold me in the small alcove under the desk.


    A sigh came just as a set of legs stepped into my view.

 Chapter 64

    Chapter 64Mr. Kerat¨¢s¡¯s legs walked over to the desk, lightly dragging against the ground as if he didn¡¯t have enough energy even to lift them. Ever so slowly, as if to mock my pitiful attempts to hide underneath the desk, he sat down at the chair. It squeaked as his weight bore down on it, the wheels slightly rolling thanks to the sudden force.


    He didn¡¯t scoot in though, which would¡¯ve been a surefire way of finding me. Instead, he seemed to lean back into the chair and let his legs hang loosely as if he were trying to lie down in the chair. Yet another sigh came, causing my heartbeat to accelerate as his leg twitched in my direction.


    I held my breath, fear causing the air to sting at my lungs like ice. Adrenaline pumped through my system, forcing my heart to strike against my chest loud enough that was surprising the guy couldn¡¯t hear it. With that adrenal rush came that raw force of excitement I was so addicted to crashing throughout my body.


    A yawn came next; a long, carefree yawn as if he didn¡¯t have anything in the world to care about. It was the kind of yawn I could just envision him practically cracking his jaw as he opened his mouth too far, sending a reverberating pitch against my ears.


    I bit my lip, suppressing the urge to follow suit. He sat there for a minute. Two. Three. Each second that passed felt longer than the last, and my heart only seemed to accelerate even faster. Thankfully, something changed after nearly five minutes of him leaning back in his chair.


    A loud ringtone came from the room, nearly causing me to jolt from the surprise. Up above, oblivious to the fact he was literally sitting on top of me, Mr. Kerat¨¢s sighed once more. ¡°No rest for the wicked¡­¡± He mumbled.


    A low chatter came across the line, one I barely caught. It sounded like maybe the guy Mr. K talked to as he came into the office. ¡°She¡­ here¡­ now.¡±


    ¡°Fine- fine¡­ I¡¯m coming. Have her come through the back entrance. The front is too slick with oil. I¡¯ll be right there. Oh, and tell the men to clear out of the Robotics Garage and other staff rooms. I don¡¯t care where they go, but they can¡¯t stay here.¡±


    Mr. Kerat¨¢s sighed once more, standing up. His feet tapped against the floor as he headed for the door. It swung open, then closed, leaving me alone in the darkness once more.


    I took a deep breath, relaxing into the little alcove under the desk. No way that actually worked. It was such a dumb spot! Still, I didn¡¯t move yet. Mr. K said the men would clear out, so I patiently waited under the desk for ten minutes to give them time to clear out.


    In that time, Clarence sent a reply. I nearly thumped my head against the table as the notification made me jump. ¡®Where at? Sir Abernathy personally wants to lead a strike team to apprehend the culprit.¡¯


    A strike team? Seemed a little overkill to apprehend a blackmailer¡­ Still, it would rapidly finish up this gig if he did. ¡®Fisher¡¯s Diner, tonight. I¡¯ll be there.¡¯


    After enough time passed, I crawled out from under the desk and made my way over to the door. Pressing my ear to it, I heard nothing. No clanks of machinery, no tools clattering about, and no subtle conversations of workers. Best I could tell, the room sat dead silent.


    Carefully, so as not to make too much noise or movement, I pulled open the door. The garage sat in near complete darkness, only illuminated by the occasional terminal or charging station.


    I made my way to the garage door-


    Wait¡­ I looked back at the scattered parts and pieces all around the area. The cameras were supposedly out, and even if they weren¡¯t the Advent Ghost had the feature scrubber built into it, so nobody would come after me if some parts went missing.


    The temptation rose as I spotted everything out for grabs. Some high-end pieces would be a pain in the rear to get elsewhere. My foot reflexively took a step towards the precious loot glinting in the poor lighting. That''s all it took before I ravenously dove back towards the tables. Several take parts and pieces that wouldn¡¯t be missed disappeared into my bag.


    ¡®Course, I didn¡¯t just take anything and everything. I was careful to take the purely mechanical stuff so as to avoid any kind of hidden tracker. As I stuffed my bag full of parts and pieces, I numbly made my way back through the store and out to my bike. No one was around, all probably kicked out or greeting this Netruuner, so it was by far the easiest escape as I headed home.


    Fisher¡¯s Diner was on the fourth story of a small building west of the Corporate Quarter in Portside. The building sat fairly close to the ocean, allowing a view of it. Rather- it would¡¯ve if not for the highway built over his section of the city. One of the several support pillars just so happened to be right in front of the diner¡¯s window, blocking the view.


    Still, the owner hadn¡¯t taken that sitting down. The pillar was painted expertly to look like how the view should¡¯ve been- at least, it had been at some point. Years of exposure and graffiti hid the original painting from view, giving the whole area a ghetto vibe.


    And indeed, that was a fitting word for Portside. It wasn¡¯t as bad as East End, but everything in this section - outside of the Marinas, Yacht Clubs, and Shipping Yards - was in a state of decay. In a couple more decades? Portside might grow to be another East End.


    Then again¡­ maybe not. There were plenty of things in Portside that brought the population of Aythryn City to it, so there was a near-constant flow of money similar to Little Yukoto.


    Portside was home to the city¡¯s Urban Brawl league, the Slashers Stadium, and a variety of other entertainment. Sure there were the hotspots like Ichiban and Rime Peak Lounge, but those were simply hotspots. There was a lot to do in Portside, which kept the money flowing through the area. It was really only away from the main areas and roads that things degraded so much.


    I sat in a corner booth, alongside several other people. The lights for this booth had been set on dim, setting a low light level and obscuring us from any casual observation.


    ¡±Is this- is this really necessary?¡± I asked the people around me. Mr. Abernathy, Clarence, and two bodyguards sat around the table.


    Mr. Abernathy set down his fork. ¡°Of course. Can¡¯t be too sure.¡±


    I looked around at the other patrons, almost all of whom were incredibly buff. Although they were hidden pretty well, I also spotted several different kinds of weapons hidden under their clothes. A few of them even looked a bit familiar. Maybe from Ishimaru? He had a revolving door of mercs, so maybe? ¡°I guess¡­ seems a bit over the top.¡±


    ¡±This much is required to ensure Sir¡¯s safety in case the blackmailer gets violent.¡± Clarence skillfully delivered a plate of fresh fish before his boss. And not the cheap stuff from Fisher¡¯s Diner, but what looked to be real fish.


    ¡±Sure.¡± I sat back in the booth, feeling a bit¡­ stupid. Here I was, a lowly investigator kinda, surrounded by mercs and a bigwig from ASCorp for a lowly blackmailing.


    We sat around for nearly a quarter of an hour before a woman entered the restaurant. Although thick clothing clung to her and her face hid under a low hood, I recognized her. Yasmine.


    Across from me, Albert Abernathy stilled. ¡°Yasmine? She said she had dinner with friends¡­¡±


    Similarly, I froze up. I thought he had been saying Yasmine this entire time, but did he mean Jasmine with a wonky pronunciation? That would fit the ¡®J¡¯ moniker. She definitely had the means to set up the blackmail. And the motive, if her personality was anything to go by. She was a right old-


    ¡°But why?¡± Mr. Abernathy stood, and immediately the mercs all over the restaurant, which surprisingly included even the wait staff, stood too, blocking the entries. Seriously overkill, but I couldn¡¯t deny the effect.


    Jasmine¡¯s face crumpled for a brief moment before twisting. ¡°Albert! What is this? Are you following me now too?!¡±


    ¡°Wha- Yasmine? Were you the one? But why?¡± Albert cried out.


    For a moment, it looked as though she would deny it. Then her face twisted into a malicious snarl. ¡°You cheated on me and had a kid with another woman-¡°


    Or at least, that¡¯s what I thought she said. I was too busy wading through the array of over-the-top mercenaries. My job was done, and I really couldn¡¯t be bothered to deal with listening to the drama. I was a bit tempted to find out what exactly was going on, but I could put the pieces together on my own.


    Christopher was obviously Mr. Abernathy¡¯s son, even though he looked nothing like the guy, which explained why he was taken care of so well. It also explained why Leanara had her entire funeral paid for if she was Mr. A¡¯s mistress. This then brings motive; Jasmine was pissed about the whole affair and sought retribution. Best way to do that? Blackmail? Bam, case solved.


    It wasn¡¯t the most rational idea considering pulling the rug out from Mr. Abernathy would also cripple her own stream of income, at least from what he told me of their family dynamic. Then again, there was that saying ¡®hell hath no fury like a woman scorned¡¯. Fury can be quite crippling to rationality.


    I sent a message to Clarence containing the information of Mr. Kerat¨¢s as I headed out the door to the building. He replied with a ¡®Thank you. Mr. Abernathy will remember this favor'' and a notification that fifteen hundred Rayn had been deposited into my account. Tomorrow was rent day, so the money was definitely nice to have.


    On my way to my bike, the interface popped up into my vision.''


    ¡¸Tracking - 4>5¡¹


    ¡¸Stealth - 7>8¡¹


    ¡¸Perception - 4>5¡¹


    ¡¸Intimidation - 1>2¡¹


    ¡¸Name: Shiro Tsukuyomi


    Traits: Fox¡¯s Grace, Quick Healing, Insight


    Skill Points: 1


    Tracking - 4


    Stalk


    Tech - 5


    Eidetic Schematic


    Stealth - 8 S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Fox¡¯s Paw1 Perk Point


    Sleight of Hand - 8


    Hidden HandsAmbidextrous


    Perception - 5


    Aetherial Perception


    Net - 2


    Melee Weapons - 1


    Local Novice (Little Yukoto)


    Intimidation - 2


    Firearm - 3


    First Aid - 3


    Evasion - 2


    Driving - 7


    Land Vehicles


    Deception - 5


    Honest Face


    Criminology - 5


    Cues


    Concealment - 8


    Lethargic PresenceHidden Weapon


    Brawling - 1


    Accounting - 1


    Request Board - (1)¡¹


    Stealth finally went up? That threw a wrench into my plans. Originally, I wanted to spend my Skill Point on it, but now? Hmm¡­


    I looked through the list several times as I headed home. Nothing in particular stood out to me, and I was half tempted to just save the point for a rainy day¡­ but then it wouldn¡¯t be doing me any good. The two-day KO took out any reason to try and save them. By the time I would need a Perk or Skill Point, I wouldn¡¯t have time to be out of the game for a couple days. It was unfortunate, but not really an issue, I guess. I just need to only take on what I know I can handle.


    By the time I arrived home, I decided to just go with Tech again. It was the best option and one that had proved itself useful ever since I first picked it up. For now, it was a safe point sink till it got up to level eight at least. And, I found no small joy in the act of creating something, even something as simple as the Doctor Absolom figurines. It was... therapeutic, almost?


    I took a quick shower, drank some of Jack¡¯s Sun Kicker, which tasted strongly of oranges, and laid down on my soft bed. For a moment, I wondered if it was right to just go back into the interface and lock myself up all willy-nilly after my psychotic break, but then that worry faded as I popped the Skill Point into Tech.

 Chapter 65

    Chapter 65I gulped down an orange-flavored smoothie from Crow¡¯s Canteen of Chaos as I rubbed at my head. Studying for two days straight wasn¡¯t fun in the slightest, especially considering the pure density of the topics the interface put me through this time around. I didn¡¯t have any fun practical stuff, like learning to weld, but what felt like years of textbooks, tests, and questions from the interface about theory.


    It seriously sucked, especially considering most of the stuff was just entry-level and it was this bad. By the time I hit level eight, surely my head would feel like exploding if this kept up. Most of the topics were over robotics too as if my recent¡­ acquisition had influenced it.


    My back popped obnoxiously as I sat up and tossed the canteen back into the shadows. I could really use a nap¡­ And yet, I barely took time to take a nice hot shower before I once again threw myself at the interface. More specifically, into the pavilion.


    The paper walls gleaming in the sakura-shaded moonlight were as pleasant as always, and the scent of old, aged paper made me feel right at home in the place. Most of the shelves in the pavilion¡¯s small library were cast in shadow. More accurately, all but one: Stealth.


    I stared at the ancient-looking wood that formed the shelf. It¡¯s crazy to think that this shelf once stood alone here in the pavilion. In just a couple of months, since I first entered the place, it had grown substantially, flushing out fully to a small library from the lone bookshelf. It was kind of nice to see, like a physical show of how much I¡¯ve grown. Well, more physical than the interface.


    I enjoyed the peaceful ambiance for a few moments before starting my search through the shelf. I mostly knew what I wanted, but still, I checked the level eight Perks just in case something caught my eye. Most of them were at least somewhat interesting, or at least sounded interesting as I read a small portion of the names off the scrolls.


    ¡¸Spine Chill¡¹


    ¡¸Cold-Blooded¡¹


    ¡¸Ninja¡¯s Will¡¹


    ¡¸Urban Environment¡¹


    ¡¸Quiet Breath¡¹


    ¡¸Distortion¡¹


    ¡¸Burglar¡¯s Bad Break¡¹


    ¡¸Rookie Respect II¡¹


    ¡¸Unseen¡¹


    ¡¸Snail¡¯s Space¡¹


    ¡¸Robotic Sight¡¹


    ¡¸Concealed Strike¡¹


    ¡¸Slight of Sight¡¹


    ¡¸Observation¡¹ S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡¸Fast and Stealthiest¡¹


    ¡¸Controlled Contrast¡¹


    ¡¸Hidden Number¡¹


    There were definitely some good picks in there, for instance Spine Chill. Or at least, it would¡¯ve been incredibly good if I didn¡¯t have Insight. Others were interesting, like Unseen, which basically made it so that I could hide better if I had yet to be spotted. Or even something like Concealed Strike would be good if I was actually an assassin or something of the sort.


    I read through the rest of the scrolls just in case before settling on Cold-Blooded. I had already planned on getting it so I could unlock access to Illusive at level twelve, and nothing else really seemed to catch my eye. Rather they did, but I was more interested in getting the prerequisite for Illusive.


    ¡¸Cold-Blooded - Gain control of your body heat.¡¹


    I picked up the scroll and headed over to the moonlit easel. My hand, half outstretched, froze right before I could put the scroll on the easel. I took a deep breath, and let the easel do its magic as the scroll seemed to be sucked onto it and unraveled all on its own. A beautiful rendition of a lizard revealed itself.


    Before I could even blink, I was back on my bed¡­ okay, so not one of the learned types¡­ then what kind of-


    Icy cold pain shot through my body, feeling as though every bit of my blood froze all at once and yet continued to pump through my body in shards of ice. Stabbing thrusts of ice-cold blood poured through my body, agonizing everything as my body heat leached away from me. In a matter of moments, my core temperature dropped several times.


    S-so cold. I stumbled to my feet and nearly tripped as my frozen limbs refused to move. Every part of my body felt like frostbite had crept in as I tripped across the bathroom''s doorway. I crawled into the shower and threw the water to full blast at the highest temperature. The water pounded down on me, soaking me through my clothes with its blessed warmth as I curled up.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª-


    I stared out at the city, basking in the warm sand and enjoying its warmth for the first time in¡­ a long while. My little hideaway in the Outskirts had proved to be a bountiful escape once more, allowing me to settle down and just relax. Why had it been so long since the last time I was out here?


    The warm sand felt extraordinarily good underneath me as the evening sun slowly dipped below the horizon. The son¡¯s rays, peaceful and tender in their caress, warmed my skin as it fell. The warmth oozed up through my clothes.


    Cold-Blooded really did a number on me. Ha. Cold-Blooded¡­ What a misleading name. Best I could tell? It had nothing to do with the typical cold-blooded animals like I had assumed when I saw the perk.


    After recovering in the shower, drenched as I was, I tested the Perk out a couple times. Simply by activating the Perk, my body heat would leach out of me rapidly, which I wouldn¡¯t necessarily call ¡®controlled¡¯. Then, by deactivating it, my heat would slowly come back.


    It seemed practically useless outside of the rare occasion of thermal optics or cameras, but it was a requirement for Illusive, which was my end goal for Stealth. For now, it was one of those ones that I was better off leaving always deactivated, like Aetherial Perception. It was such a shame, especially considering how good it seemed on paper.


    Speaking of Perks, they kept... changing me. Every bit by little bit they warped my body. Aetherial Perception was my eyes, Cold-blooded my blood best I could tell, and Eidetic Schematic even mutated my brain! Was I- was I okay with that? Did I even have a choice in the matter?


    I could just stop spending Perk Points entirely... yet, it felt so good to get that rush of power after spending one. The little bits of pain and agony that spiked through me as I mutated were worth the trouble, I think... and it''s not that different than getting chipped. At least this way, I was still me with all my parts.


    So yes. I was okay with the mutations of the interface as the Perks changed my body. For the most part, they even seemed better than chrome. Chrome''s effects were very clear to me, but these mutations didn''t seem to have any ill effects aside from the initial bouts of pain. Hmm... Still, maybe I should stop getting them for now and just observe. Not only my physical but my mental as well to see if I could notice any kind of ill side effect.


    I settled down against the warm part of my bike¡¯s thermoelectric engine, feeling the warmth saturate my jacket. Far off in the distance, several Hawks crested a dune in the sea, sending sand flying everywhere as they seemed to fly across the Outskirts. Thankfully, they were headed in the opposite direction from me, so I could safely ignore the bolt brains.


    The city¡¯s flashing lights and neon drew my eye, as it did every time I came out here. And every time, it looked like a cesspool of neon. The megabuildings, arcologies, and corpo towers stretching for the sky always fell short, their goal always mockingly in sight. The metal and twisting concrete clashed with the reflective glass, looking like one behemoth amalgamation of a monstrosity.


    Flashing adverts and flaring holograms seductively sashayed around, an attempt to entice me to spend my money on whatever I desired. Money I was sorely missing thanks to rent. I missed paying in person since I was out learning Tech, but the funds had automatically been withdrawn.


    Oppressive shadows, cast by the dying sun, seemed to make the city warp even further into a monstrous entity. The darkness and neon wrapping around the buildings seemed to shift and shimmer as a light mist fell on the city. The shadows cracked in the dune sea, separating the land as Hawks and Nomads continued on their eternal merry-go-round.


    Oh, this shattered land of desire¡­


    Speaking of desire, what did I want? Outside of my long-term goals, of course. My short-term goal had been to get a place with a shower, and I could safely check that off¡­ Now what though? What did I, in my heart of hearts, really want? Other than more Rayn, ¡®course.


    I stared at the city for a good long while, trying to find an answer to that question. One came, but I shoved it away in distaste. Patiently, I waited. Nothing came to mind, though there were some minor wants that I could try to figure out while I waited for a true goal.


    I wanted¡­ friends. Eww¡­ disgusting¡­ but there was no denying that life had been rather more enjoyable sharing it with others. Mira and, I guess, Feras were about all I would consider ¡®friends¡¯¡­ should I join a crew or something? Get to know some people? It''s not like I¡¯m in the best place considering I rarely got out to meet anyone outside of a gig¡­


    I stood and shook the sand off of me as I got on my bike. I could text Feras at least, see if he wanted to go¡­ what did normal friends do? Sneak through a sewer? That didn¡¯t sound right¡­ Well, I could still see if he wanted to do something. Mira too, while I¡¯m at it.


    I drove into the city as I tried to think of what I could do. More friends would be an¡­ interesting goal to try and accomplish. I feel like I can¡¯t exactly force a friendship, so there was no easy way of doing this. Maybe I could-


    My bike sputtered and coughed just as I entered the edge of Little Yukoto near Talus Tower. The engine squealed, and the entire gear shifter locked up as my bike locked into neutral. A car blared its horn as I swerved into its way, attempting to come to a stop as my momentum carried me onward.


    Thankfully, my brakes still worked. I shifted over to the side of the road, slamming on the brakes as my pitiful bike came to a skittered across the road. Just as it fully stopped, the engine coughed one last time and died. I just sat there for a minute, stunned, as vehicles drove by, splashing water up onto my coat.


    I looked around to make sure there was no obvious threat aside from the migrant pedestrians. Nothing immediately stood out. I crouched down and looked over the old bike. After looking it over, I ran my thumb across a still-warm socket on the side of the main engine. As best I could tell, one of the thermoelectric semiconductors snapped off, which was so damn unlucky. I would have to buy another one and replace it if I wanted it to run again for an extended period.


    A small tingle of Insight coursed through my body. Not warning of danger, but warning of potential danger. I looked around the street one more time, catching the glint of eyes in the edges of the shadowed alleyways. They sat just far back enough to hide themselves from view, and yet close enough to act if need be.


    For a moment, my heart stilled as my mind jumped to the worst-case scenario. They were hunters finally catching up with me for that twenty mil bounty. A Sentinel AT passed by my parking spot, its headlamps briefly illuminating the dark alleyway. The smeared faces of teenagers, all wielding some kind of weapon, were illuminated for a brief moment.


    Probably just wannabe hangers then. Or maybe even the lowest rungs of a gang? It didn¡¯t matter. As long as I kept out of the alleys and their direct reach, they should leave me alone. Most alley lurkers were predators of opportunity more than anything.


    Just in case, I checked my weapons. I only had the electro-bolas and my Sidewinder on me at the moment, which wasn''t ideal. At the very least, my clothing was very protective, and I had on the vest. If I got shot, I might survive to get away.


    Okay, first things first, I need tools. And a replacement semiconductor. Should be easy enough. I keyed in the closest mechanic shop into the Mapp ? and started following its directions as I headed somewhere closer to Talus Tower.


    I turned down several streets, feeling the occasional tingle of Insight as I passed by the dozens of lurkers settled around this area.


    As I drew closer to the shop, a flash of silver drew my eyes to a silver figure standing in the middle of the sidewalk. A familiar silver figure. He stood in his custom-made armor, the eye on his chest seeming to look around with fervent glee as it sought out any kind of mystery. The sleekly armored figure stood crouched over a mechanical creation of some kind, kicking it over and over as if that would fix whatever problem he faced.


    Immediately, I made a break for it. Maybe he hadn¡¯t-


    ¡°Shquire! What a pleasant surprise!¡± The cold voice of Ligh Strumgard called out, causing an icy pang of primal fear through me before I could even get in three steps.


    Fuck my luck.

 Chapter 66

    Chapter 66For a moment, I wondered how, exactly, I had gotten here. And which person should I cuss out for putting me in this position? Shinobu? Nael for keeping me alive? Or myself for stupidly trying to run from the Inquisitor. Knowing my luck, that probably drew his eye more than anything. Why was he even here? Seriously, what shitty luck.


    I turned on my heel and smiled brightly at the Inquisitor. ¡°Ha- ha, S-sir. Good to- uh, see you again.¡±


    His silver aura seemed all-consuming as I faced him. It felt like my every act and action were under scrutiny as if he was just waiting to watch me struggle and laugh at my expense. The intense fear and guilt working through me felt¡­ extreme. Too extreme, though incomparable to how I felt when Glitching.


    I activated Aetherial Perception just to make sure of my suspicions, and he lit up like a firework. Every part of his armor seemed enchanted in one form or another, possibly with guilt or fear-evoking ones. Or at least that¡¯s what I suspected considering Aetherial Perception didn''t do anything but confirm the presence of the aetherialy aligned.


    Inquisitor Strumgard coldly nodded his head to me, that infernal mask blocking any of his microexpressions as it reflected my own all too clearly. ¡°Of course it ish! You are- uh- Zuku- hmm¡­ Ichima, right? Shee! I¡¯d never forget my precious Shquire¡­ .¡±


    Was he- was he drunk? Now that I thought about it, was he drunk the first time too? Everything had been such a haze back then; I barely remembered anything except fear and guilt. And yet, it was hard to tell for sure. He only slurred some of his words, and his ice tone made it even harder. He could just have some kind of weird wisp- doubted. Seriously doubted. He was probably drunk. Or at least tipsy.


    ¡°Y-yep¡­ that¡¯s me.¡± I hesitantly started to walk to him, ignoring my raging instincts. At the very least, Insight wasn¡¯t triggering, so I was probably safe. And running now would only look even more suspicious.


    He kicked the mechanical lump one more time before fully turning to me. ¡°I tried to get your contact information from the recordsh to , but your phone line was dishconnected¡­¡±


    I could practically feel the air turn hostile as he questioned me. I stared at the reflective mask covering his face, wishing I could see through it for some kind of Cue. ¡°Ha- ha¡­ My phone broke. I-I haven¡¯t gone to get a new one yet.¡±


    He nodded several times before reaching for one of his pouches. I half expected him to draw a gun or cuffs, but instead, he simply tossed something to me. ¡°Here.¡±


    Reflexively, I caught the object. It was a phone. A cheap-looking burner phone at that. ¡°Sir?¡±


    ¡°Now I can contact you till you get a new phone. Ah, and don¡¯t worry about the prishe.¡±


    ¡°T-thank you, Sir.¡± Fucking hell. Why can¡¯t anything ever be easy? Now I literally don¡¯t have an excuse to blow off the scary silver man. Hell, I might as well go buy a secondary phone now to better sell the Blue Crusade identity/ ¡°What- what¡¯re you doing out here though, Sir?¡±


    ¡°Weird, HQ didn¡¯t tell you when they shent you out to me? And why aren¡¯t you in uniform?¡± His voice came out endlessly cold, halting any hope of trying to get a Cue from it.


    I glanced down at my techwear jacket and pants. Definetely the Blue Crusade uniform... it would be utterly stupid of me to wear that thing around willy-nilly. It was a laughable idea, and whoever came up with it seemed to be quite dimwitted considering the state of the city.


    He thinks HQ sent me to him? Well¡­ it certainly made more sense than just randomly showing up thanks to my shitty luck. Seriously¡­ maybe I should look through the Skills again and try to raise my luck with something. ¡°No, Sir. Only to be discreet, hence my incognito clothing.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­ well, I¡¯m tracking down a clue. Or wash, until this dumb thing shtopped working¡­ don¡¯t shuppose you know a mechanic around here?¡± He asked as he turned back and kicked it again. His silver greave bounced off with a metallic clang, which saw people all around ¡®casually¡¯ retreating. Not that I could blame them.


    I walked closer, deciding to commit fully since I was already pulled in. Anything less than a full commitment to being a Squire might draw suspicion. Suspicion I couldn¡¯t afford from an Inquisitor¡­ maybe getting the fake ID wasn¡¯t such a great idea¡­


    What would a Squire do here? Fawn over and talk to their Crusader like it wasn¡¯t an issue? Right, I could do that. And it was a given for me to be helpful. At least, as much as I could be.


    The metallic hunk he kicked at was actually a Jaeger, a wolf-like robot used by the Crusade to track scents. It had the same silvery sheen as Crusade armor and looked incredibly sleek. Sharp claws of steel sat on each paw, capable of shredding through people like butter. That is- if their Shock-Maw didn¡¯t get their opponent first.


    ¡°I- uh- I know a bit about mechanics. I could take a look?¡± And hopefully think of a way to inconspicuously escape while I was at it. With the way things were looking though, it was doubtful¡­ looks like I¡¯m going to be a Squire one way or another.


    He popped up, seeming to straighten his back. ¡°Jusht my luck! Of course, Shquire Ichima. I knew there was a reashon I picked you from the ashpirants!¡±


    But you didn¡¯t¡­ I knelt next to the Jaeger and started to look it over. After a bit of messing around and trying to figure it out, I managed to open up an access panel on its back. I followed the prompts and scanned my Crusade badge. Seeing as I was the Squire registered to Inquisitor Light Strumgard, who ¡®owned¡¯ the unit, Jaeger''s systems accepted me as an admin.


    The panel popped open, revealing a fancy touch screen. Unit CJ29, at least according to the screen. The screen had dozens of options and settings, including a strobe mode of all things. A bit of rooting around from there, and I managed to unlock its protective ¡®fur¡¯ shell and got a deeper look at its insides.


    The insides of the little bot were¡­ complicated, to say the least. Thanks to my recent advancements in Tech, I somewhat got an image of what was going on, but most of the random-looking parts, gears, and wires went right over my head.


    Thankfully, the problem was a rather simple one. Several bullet shells had gotten caught in some of its servos somehow, completely halting its ability to walk around. That, in turn, seemed to have activated a kill switch inside the Jaeger to avoid damaging said servos with the debris.


    I pulled them out, though I really needn¡¯t have. Based on where they were and how loosely they were lodged. Several more kicks from the Inquisitor would have freed the servos and got the thing back up and running.


    After finishing up, I closed the Jaeger back up and reactivated it. In an instant, it jumped to its feet as its eyes lit up blue. A holoprojector on its back lit up, covering its back with a holographic Blue Crusade symbol. Lights all across its body lit up, accenting the sliver with the aesthetic blue lighting the Crusade was fond of.


    I stood back up and backed away from the machine. ¡°What are you- uh, you looking for, Sir?¡±


    ¡°, ¡° he coughed lightly, seeming to draw emphasis onto the word as if to reinforce the idea that there was no escape, ¡°are looking for that thief¡¯s shecond stash of ill-gotten loot.¡±


    That Idism guy? He was already caught though, so why keep moving on this case? Surely there were other crimes out there. Heck, I could point out several happening in view at the moment, let alone point to premeditated ones in gang territory.


    The robot wolf walked away from me on its metallic limbs and headed over to the Inquisitor as I processed what he said. Did he just volun me to come with him? Damn it all! ¡°A-are you sure he even had a second stash?¡±


    ¡°Of Course! Every good thief has a shecond stash.¡± He affectionately petted the Jaeger. ¡°And this little buddy will lead ush right to it.¡±


    But I don¡¯t have a second stash¡­ or even really a stash? Damn, am I a bad thief? No- no, I just haven¡¯t had a chance to set one up yet. That¡¯s right. It didn¡¯t speak of my klepping skills, just my organizational ones. Those being bad was an acceptable alternative.


    And it¡¯s not like I¡¯ve ever really stolen something I hadn¡¯t immediately sold afterward, so I had nothing to stash in the first place. Maybe I should find a place though¡­ that golden statue back in the Neo-Joker office called to me, and I didn''t want to steal it only to sell it. It would make the perfect addition to a new stash and would reward me a perk point.


    Hey! That makes a perfect new short-term goal; start up a second stash. And maybe I could start snatching for sport rather than for money. I did enjoy the ¡®acquisition¡¯ process quite a bit¡­ Maybe once my income stream was more consistent. I couldn¡¯t exactly sacrifice the time I could be earning money to set up a heist, at least not yet.


    The Jaeger¡¯s blue, glowing eyes flashed as it stuck its nose to the ground. ¡°D-did the Jaeger already have a scent before shutting down?¡±


    Inquisitor Strumgard started to move towards the Jaeger, his silver mask flashing the neon around as it moved. ¡°Yeah. Luckily found hish trail jusht down the road.¡±


    I followed as well, as much as I didn¡¯t want to. There was silence as we chased the mechanical wolf. People got out of our way as we walked, scared off by the combination of Inquisitor and Jaeger. It was my first time to walk down a sidewalk and have a complete bubble of isolation around. Kinda nice, if I had to say.


    Unfortunately, that silence ended as ¡®my¡¯ Inquisitor spoke. ¡°So¡­ have you seen or met my other shquires yet?¡±


    ¡°No, sir¡­¡± Shit, I really hope he doesn¡¯t want to introduce me and make me feel like part of the team or something. More people I had to keep up the act around would only weaken my story further.


    ¡°Really? I¡¯ve only got¡­ hmm¡­ five, I think?¡± He asked. ¡°They must be off doing shomething or another. I prefer a handsh-off approach, ash long as you come when I call.¡±


    Why was he asking how many Squires he had? At least a ¡®hands-off approach¡¯ would be beneficial to me, so it wasn¡¯t entirely unwelcome news. ¡°¡®Course, Sir.¡±


    Silence returned or about as silent as Aythryn City could get. We walked behind the wolf, stopping every once in a while to ¡®sniff¡¯ the air for whatever scent it was tracking. We followed it all the way to the base of Talus Tower.


    The gargantuan arcology towered over the surroundings in a similar way to the Big 7¡¯s buildings in the Corporate Quarter. Its vast sides were covered in advertisements and neon, making it difficult to tell where the rest of the city stopped and the building began.


    The building, built as a testament to humanity''s power and progression, acted as a self-contained city within a city. Every arcology was designed from the ground up to be almost entirely self-sufficient, and Talus Tower was no different. People could live their entire lives from birth to death and interment without leaving the tower even once.


    I had never been into Talus Tower, or any other arcology for that matter, but I had heard the tales. Crime and decay were just as prevalent as ingenuity and innovation. The conflicting nature throughout the technological leviathan of a building warned of the dangers of overreaching and neglect, though a look anywhere around the city would reveal the same.


    The robotic wolf led us through a backstreet and to a massive plaza. The plaza sat half under the first several floors of Talus Tower and half out, exposed to the air. The place sat absolutely packed full of people and merchants, somewhat similar to Saint¡¯s Plaza though far shadier. Metaphorically speaking, not literally. The entire place reeked of cheap drugs and booze.


    Unlike Saint¡¯s Plaza, massive arrays of holograms and advertisements floated around the plaza, some carried around small drones with holoprojectors while others came from stationary ones. The flashing colors lent a chaotic hand to the entire plaza, raising my anxiety just by looking at it.


    The Inquisitor chuckled, though the laugh sounded downright hellish thanks to his permanently frozen tone. ¡°Been a while¡­ shome things never change, I see.¡± S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    What would a real Squire do in this situation? Hmm¡­ maybe compliment and question their Crusader? ¡°Wow, y-you¡¯ve been here before, Sir? What for?¡±


    ¡°Ah, no need to be so nervous, Squire! And yes, though it wash a long time ago¡­ they brought me in for a day to look over some evidence of a sherial killer.¡± He waved a hand to the place. ¡°Arcologiesh are bad about breeding ¡®em.¡±


    He started to walk, and I hurriedly moved into action only to stop as he froze. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Sir?¡±


    ¡°Dumb bot broke again¡­¡± He nodded his silver head to the Jaeger.


    I frowned and crouched at the thing¡¯s side. A bit of finagling later, and I pulled up the metal beast''s touch screen. A long paragraph covered the screen as it flashed an angry red on and off. ¡°It lost the trail. Too many wayward scents around here tripped it up.¡±


    He nodded, his silver mask holding perfectly still as it reflected my image. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t tell if he was staring at me, or something else. ¡°Right¡­ looks like we¡¯ll have to do this the old-fashioned way then. Come along, Squire.¡± Before I could even say something back, the Inquisitor plunged into the throngs of people all around the plaza.


    For a moment, I contemplated taking the chance to run away. It would make me look too suspicious though, and I had no doubt the Inquisitor would be able to track me down. Seeing as I didn¡¯t have too many other options, I set the Jaeger to follow and unwillingly stepped after the man.

 Chapter 67

    Chapter 67I was half expecting to have to fight to work our way across the plaza. What a purely pedestrian worry. Rather than fighting, people actively backed away from the intimidating Inquisitor. I didn¡¯t even need Cue to see the fear blatantly obvious in most people¡¯s faces as we walked by. Rather, as he walked by the Jaeger and I swiftly followed.


    I noticed several groups of ''undercover'' looking groups of FSA soldiers out and about the clearing, which was... interesting. For the most part, their disguises were good. I had just spent too much time around the type and could pick them out fairly easily from the rest of the people around. Were they still watching the area after Mira and I found that underground storage area?


    Regardless of who was here, we easily passed through the plaza. Maybe it was because of his terrifying demeanor hidden behind enchanted gear? Or the giant sword strapped to his back? No one wanted to deal with us. At least, until something changed about halfway through.


    The moment we stepped into the part plaza hiding under the tower, three heavily armed men wearing bright red clothes approached. Each of them was kitted out with rifles and body armor. A massive TS sat on the front of their armor.


    It didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out what they were: Talus Security. Although I had never actually been inside an arcology, I heard quite a bit about them. The internal security basically acted like the police force of the arcology, ensuring its relative peace.


    ¡°Play it cool, Shquire. These guys are just poor intimidation.¡± Inquisitor Strumgard murmured to me.


    ¡°Sir.¡± I followed his advice and stood as still as possible to avoid drawing attention. Better they deal directly with the Inquisitor rather than me. My hand twitched as I suppressed the desire to get out as the security approached. So much for being ''poor'' intimidation.


    Or at least, that¡¯s what I would think if the leading guy hadn¡¯t tripped over a loose brick. The two following behind him were caught up in his flailing limbs, falling to the ground. Luckily, they weren¡¯t hurt as they tried to save themselves. Physically, that is. Mentally was still up in the air.


    Their intimidation immediately fell to pieces as they scrambled to their feet. As soon as the leader was up, he tried to reassert himself, but the ball was already well in our court as the Jaeger and I flanked Inquisitor Ligh Strumgard. The messed up clothes and off-centered equipment from the fall spoke of it being poor quality too, which didn¡¯t help their act in the slightest.


    The leader regained what lacking dignity he could and stopped in front of the Inquisitor. To the guy¡¯s credit, he didn¡¯t back down in the slightest. ¡°We weren¡¯t informed the Crusade sent anyone over¡­¡±


    ¡°And? Are you shuggesting we have to answer to you?¡± He laughed, each syllable of his laugh sounding like a blade of ice being sharpened.


    The leader backed down a bit, glancing back to his compatriots as if to reassure himself. ¡°¡®Course not, sir. Our- our bosses do have a mutual agreement though. You don¡¯t bother us, and we deal with the crime in Talus Tower.¡±


    ¡°I know that... We¡¯re merely here for a look around; you don¡¯t have a problem with that, right? Unlessh¡­ you have something to hide?¡± The Inquisitor¡¯s confidence was infectious as it infused me slightly. They really were just a poor intimidation tactic.


    The man fell for the verbal trap almost immediately. ¡°No, sir-¡±


    ¡°There you have it! Come along shquire, these men won¡¯t have a problem with ush looking around.¡± The Inquisitor made for the large entryway into the building proper seemingly without a worry in the world.


    I quickly followed after him, and the Jaeger came just behind me as we walked past the security forces. Was it really just that simple? A little threat here, a bit of intimidation there, and we easily had access¡­ maybe I should keep up with this Crusade ID better. Its uses were unparalleled, at least against the common rabble. I doubt the same tactic would be so good against any of the big corporations.


    Ah, but then I¡¯d have to be in uniform more often, and it could paint a target on my back. Hmm¡­ maybe I should carry around the trenchcoat and hat in my bag at the very least? They could easily fit if I cleaned it up a bit, and I could don the Crusade outfit to better sell my ID at any time.


    The leader of the security called out to us, but made no move to chase. ¡°Just watch yourselves! We don¡¯t need any more trouble¡­¡±


    Inquisitor Strumgard flopped his hand towards the guard in acknowledgment as we entered the entryway alongside dozens of others along the length of it. The entryway led into another grand room, reaching several stories up. It was only slightly smaller than the plaza. Small shops and restaurants covered the walls of the place almost entirely, only leaving room for several different-looking hallways leading to who knows where.


    ¡°Stay close, Squire. The hallways are like the streets and alleys of the city. It is eashy to get lost, and even eashier to get mugged for turning down the wrong way.¡± Inquisitor Strumgard told me as we walked toward one of the smaller hallways. It was dark compared to the rest of the place, but I managed to pick out some abandoned trash and boxes scattered around it. The hallway really did seem like a back alley.


    No, maybe more like the halls of a massive ship or something? They were almost tight enough to cause a claustrophobic to freak.


    We headed through it, the Inquisitor in the lead as we walked through the shifting hallways. Every once in a while, we would enter a populated area, but much of the place sat in disorder as small apartments and stores practically shared the same space.


    Arcologies were designed to be fully self-sufficient cities in of themselves, but the sheer size and girth of the place was surprising. Especially considering this was only the first floor of the titanic tower. Seriously, it seemed over the top. As it stands, bigger isn¡¯t always better.


    ¡±Do you know w-where we¡¯re going, Sir?¡± I asked as we turned down the nth hallway. I had long lost track of the path to get here, and the Inquisitor had just kept on trucking as if he had a plan.


    He turned back to me. ¡°I was following you?¡±


    Wut? You¡¯re in front of me, damnit! How did this guy manage to do anything with this level of incompetence? ¡°But I was following you- I¡¯m j-just a Squire, after all.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± He rubbed his chin, or at least the silver mask where his chin hid behind. ¡°Well, you make a fair point, Shquire Zuku. Why don¡¯t we ask a local then?¡±


    I looked up and down the dank hallway. Every door leading off it looked condemned, and it looked as if the owner''s belongings were tossed out into the hall. Half of them looked rotted, which was damn impressive considering most of the stuff was synthetic. ¡°Here?¡±


    ¡±Of course! Watch and learn, dear Shquire.¡± Inquisitor Strumgard walked over to a nearby door and lightly rapped on it.


    I sent one last speculatory glance as Insight came over me with that familiar chill. There were no footprints in the dust. No one had been here in a long time. ¡°Sir? No one-¡°


    The sound of fumbling came from behind the door, proving me entirely wrong. The door opened, and a little boy¡¯s face popped out. He twitched and shrunk back a bit before swinging it wide open. ¡°Wow! An Inquisitor! D-did I do something wrong?¡± He shrunk back, his eyes quivering as his arms trembled.


    ¡°No need to worry yourself, kid. We¡¯re just looking for directionsh.¡± His ice-cold voice and intimidating aura seemed to envelop the kid as he trembled harder in fear.


    Or not, considering how his face lit up and absolute joy. ¡°Oh! I¡¯m an arcology guide! I can show you around if you want.¡±


    What the hell? How incredibly lucky to knock on a random ass door and have it be not only be a guide, but an enthusiastic one at that. Surely this was suspicious¡­ was it a setup of some kind? And look at the way he¡¯s shaking! Cue numero uno for anxiety. Is he scared he¡¯ll be discovered?


    Apparently, I was the only one having such considerations as the Inquisitor stuck his hand out. ¡°What¡¯s your name, kid?¡±


    The kid eagerly stuck out his own shaking hand- uh, his fingerless hand. The kid had no fingers, just palms. ¡°Nick, Nick Tinsley. Everyone calls me Tens though.¡± He waggled his hand around.


    Was his nickname Tens because of his last name? Or on account of him missing all ten of his fingers... ¡°How much do you charge?¡± I asked the kid as I looked around. Insight wasn¡¯t chilling me, so there probably wasn¡¯t any immediate danger. Still, I carefully inspected my surroundings for any hint of something off¡­ nothing but squalor.


    ¡±Twenty Ryan per floor usually, but I¡¯ll do it free since you¡¯re the Crusade!¡± Nick¡¯s lips wavered suspiciously as he broadly smiled, showcasing a missing tooth.


    The Inquisitor¡¯s silver mask seemed to gleam in the low light of the boy¡¯s room as he nodded his head several times. ¡°Ah, well, I¡¯ll pay you fifty. Why don¡¯t you go on down to Shlab Co. and get yourself some new fingers?¡±


    ¡°New fingers?¡± The boy twitched to the side, though I was beginning to suspect it might¡¯ve been drugs rather than suspicious behavior. It was far too frequent, almost like a Patch addict¡­ but he didn¡¯t have the cuts. ¡°But chrome will cost me at least a hundred, and I¡¯ll have to find a Medech. I¡¯m saving, but that¡¯s expensive.¡±


    ¡°Slab Co charges only fifty. A lot cheaper, Nick.¡± I told the kid. If this was just all a convenient coincidence, and he wasn¡¯t a plant to guide us into an ambush, I would feel bad for the kid. It was quite sad not to have any fingers. Humanity relied on them heavily, and when they were taken away¡­


    How¡¯d he lose his fingers in the first place? Birth defect? Hmm¡­ Insight tingled, drawing my eyes to the clean cuts of his short stumps. Sure they had healed somewhat, but I could still see the original cut. Like someone had intentionally cut them off... Maybe a doctor then?


    Where were the kid¡¯s parents though? Surely someone must be paying for this small room- I looked around at the abandoned state of the area. Maybe not then. Maybe the kid was squatting here¡­ hmm¡­ another point of suspicion, alongside the ¡®lucky¡¯ find of the kid.


    The kid twitched in surprise, I think. Kind of hard to tell with his overall twitchy nature. ¡°Really? But every¡¯n always says I should get chrome?¡±


    It was weird to me too back when Neal told me about it for the first time. Corporate propaganda, if I had to guess, attempted to lock people into the single-minded path of chrome replacements. It worked for people like me who needed that little extra something, at least I thought it , but most normies and corpo drones were better off just sticking with flesh.


    ¡°Regardless, we need to find somebody, Tens.¡± The Inquisitor said, completely ignoring the way the kid jittered as he spoke.


    ¡°Oh! I get to help in a real Crusade investigation! Ah, this is so exciting!¡± Nick practically vibrated in place. ¡°Talus is a bit big though¡­ what do you know about the perp? Help narrow down the area.¡±


    The investigator tapped his chin and thought. Deep thought, I realized as the silence stretched on. With every passing second, the kid seemed to shake more.


    Time ticked by, and eventually, my patience wore thin. ¡°Uh, he would¡¯ve come and gone a lot¡­ probably had his own room too, on account of his job.¡± What else did I know about Drew?


    Rather, what did I know of thieves in general? I was one, so maybe base a description off how I would¡¯ve operated given the choice? ¡°Would¡¯ve like lots of ways in and out.¡± I continued. ¡°Probably somewhere more secluded. Would¡¯ve probably liked to avoid security as much as possible¡­¡±


    Nick started to shift from foot to foot as his face scrunched up. ¡°There¡¯s s a lot of areas like that¡­ maybe on the first or second floor though if¡¯n he wanted in and out and came and went frequently.¡±


    Inquisitor Ligh nodded his silver-covered head. ¡°Tens, If you can get us close enough for the Jaeger to find his shcent, I¡¯ll pay you a hundred Rayn.¡±


    Was the Inquisitor so drunk he forgot the original offer? That was worrying¡­ No wait, that was good. Maybe he would forget all about me if he drank enough? Maybe I should get him one of those "World''s Best Boss" coffee cups and a of ''creamer''.


    Nick¡¯s face lit up at the generous offer. ¡°I think I know a place!¡± S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    And he instantly knows a place? Even more suspicious! I guess I''ll find out if this really is an ambush when we get there¡­ the Inquisitor should be able to take care of the fighting, right?

 Chapter 68

    Chapter 68Nick Tinsley led us back through several hallways. At some point, we left the dark and dingy ones and entered more populated, well-lit halls tracing across the complex. Seriously, the building had to have been at least a mile wide to fit however many small shops and rooms on this floor.


    He narrated every bit along the way, talking about people by name, and reviewing all the major shops and restaurants. A little shop called Andre¡¯s came highly recommended by the kid and apparently came cheap enough for him to afford on his small budget. It supposedly had the best food in the entirety of Talus Tower.


    He was being oddly chatty with a couple of Crusaders; one even wearing potentially fear-inducing armor. It was¡­ suspicious. Really, almost everything about this ¡®Tens¡¯ was suspicious from the very moment I spotted him.


    After a bit, we left the populated areas once more, heading to a shadier section of the first floor. Not shady as in the abandoned area we originally came from, but shady as in seedy. We received several speculative looks, familiar ones I recognized from my jaunts around the city. Usually, I could just ignore them, but being out of my element in the confined halls made me a bit more nervous.


    Not nearly as nervous as Nick though. He twitched several times a step, jittering around as he stepped one foot after another. He was practically sweating as he led us to whatever destination we were headed for. Sweating from guilt? Hmm¡­ just in case, I rested a hand on my pistol-


    Paranoia¡­ was I being excessively paranoid right now? Was I about to start Glitching? Nick hadn¡¯t done anything wrong so far, and had only been helpful¡­ Still, his appearance and almost immediate guess was¡­ I relaxed my hand on my gun, casually letting it fall to my side. Even if I was right, what would I do? Shoot the cripple? Well¡­ yeah? And how much of this was caused by the Inquisitor''s enchanted armor?


    Just take a deep breath, Shiro. Maybe this isn¡¯t Glitching, just normal old paranoia. I- I¡¯ll stick it out longer and wait and see¡­ or should I leave now? But then that could arouse some suspicions from the Crusader. Just a bit more. I¡¯ll wait just a bit more and see¡­


    Inquisitor Strumgard spoke as we passed through a dark alley- hallway, drawing me away from my introspection and to him. ¡°The Jaeger is reacting.¡±


    I looked down at the little bot who had diligently followed along behind us. Its nose pointed into the air, and little motors worked to scrape it back and forth to collect whatever scent it found. A few seconds later, it slammed its nose just above the ground and started to strut forward.


    ¡°That means it found something?¡± Nick asked as he allowed the bot to pass us by, quivering in his shoes.


    ¡°Of course.¡± Inquisitor Ligh Strumgard sneered coldly; at least, it sounded like a sneer. It was hard to tell, and his body language suggested a different emotion¡­ almost relaxed? Damn, why was it so hard to get a read on this guy?


    The Inquisitor took charge once more, leading us as the kid fell in between me and the Crusader. At least, he led the line of humans. He himself followed the Jaeger closely, not giving it any chance to run on ahead.


    We turned down several hallways, leaving behind the area entirely for someplace else. What a mess. Seriously, I doubt even the original designer could move around this convoluted floor.


    Tens slowed down in front of me, causing my pace to grind to a halt. Once the bot, who kept on at the same pace, left my ¡®follow¡¯ range, it froze up and looked back toward me. ¡°We should be careful. The Storks are around these parts, and they aren¡¯t the friendliest to strangers.¡±


    I looked around, my nerves riding the edge even harder. ¡°Storks?¡±


    ¡°Ah, sorry. They¡¯re one of the many gangs in Talus Tower, though they are on the low end. Probably won¡¯t even appear before the two of you though?¡± He smiled broadly, his leg twitching back the way we came.


    We continued on, ignoring the steadily declining nature of the hallways and doorways. For the most part, the area was still inhabited, but occasionally we¡¯d come across a collapsed door as we chased after the Jaeger.


    Eventually, the Jaeger stopped before a door just like all the others in the hall. ¡°This it?¡± Inquisitor Strumgard asked. ¡°Weird¡­ I expected shomething stronger?¡±


    It was¡­ about as I expected, in all honesty. Just like the security back at my place, sometimes low key was better than high key. The door blended in with the surroundings, and we definitely would¡¯ve just walked on by if not for the Jaeger tracking down Drew¡¯s scent.


    ¡°What¡¯s the plan?¡± I asked as I looked around. The room was in an inconspicuous section of the hall, and no one was out and about.


    Inquisitor Strumgard looked at me- at least, I think he did. His shiny face plate tilted in my direction. ¡°What else? We go in.¡±


    ¡°Like this? Don¡¯t we need a warrant or something?¡± If I could just B&E whenever as a Crusader, it really would be worth investing more into keeping the ¡®shoe¡¯ polished.


    ¡°Warrant? For this?¡± He looked up and down the hall as his body leaned back towards the door. ¡°A bit of advice, Shquire, leave the red tape to the bureaucratsh.¡±


    ¡°Maybe I should go?¡± Nick Tinsley twitched as he took a slight step back.


    The Inquisitor paused for a moment before looking at the kid. ¡°Do you have an FIBB account?¡±


    ¡°¡®Course! Who doesn¡¯t in this day and age?¡± The kid told us his bank account information. He delta¡¯d shortly after receiving a hundred Rayn, jittering all the way.


    Huh... I dunno, I kinda expected something else than him just leaving? I guess it was just useless paranoia... . It was really about time I learned better...


    ¡°Right, watch closely, Zuku¡­¡± The Inquisitor took a step back and took a deep breath. Then he dramatically flinched towards the door. ¡°Oh no! A scream! Shomeone must be in danger!¡±


    What scream? I didn¡¯t hear a-


    The door crashed into pieces as Inquisitor Strumgard charged through it. The cheap material easily crumpled before his bull charge, deforming out of the way as he entered the small space beyond the door.


    The very small space, it turns out. Behind the door sat a hallway leading to yet another door. This one stood incomparable to the last, seemingly made of solid metal with several deadbolts scattered across its surface. Simple defenses, all things considered.


    At least, that¡¯s what I would¡¯ve thought if Insight¡¯s warning hadn¡¯t arrived. I stared at the space, confused as to what triggered it as I felt an ethereal chill unlike what I¡¯ve felt in the past. It took a few seconds before I flicked on Aetherial Perception and looked around.


    The entire area between the two doors glowed with a faint green light. Unlike the enchantments across the Inquisitor''s armor, whatever sat in the area was far more passive. Almost as if it was asleep? ¡°Sir, maybe we should-¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Inquisitor Strumgard turned to me, his foot catching on a chunk of the previous door. Just as I reached to stabilize him, he flopped backward into the green area. Mid-fall, what looked to be two dozen vines of some kind struck from the walls all over, whipping the entire area.


    As if the Inquisitor was some kind of acrobat, his body flopped to the ground. The dozens of vines struck towards him, missing entirely as he pinwheeled his arms and legs to try and regain balance. The vines brushed past his limbs, barely missing as the vines slammed into the walls opposite their starting points. Without having any effect, the vines nearly instantly wilted and disappeared into a cloud of black dust. The Inquisitor hit the ground, not a single vine having touched him, with a low grunt.


    ¡°Sir!¡± Thank you for going in front of me and eating that trap! ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    He sprung back to his feet, moving surprisingly agile as he regained his intimidating aura. ¡°Of course! I was just¡­ dodging that trap! Take notes, Shquire.¡±


    Dodging? Though it was impressive¡­ how lucky to get through the trap entirely unharmed. Maybe I need to be around this guy more? Get some of his luck to rub off on me and all that.


    He quickly turned back to the mission, approaching the door. His silver armoire gleamed as he shifted in place, rubbing at his chin. ¡°Hmm¡­¡±


    ¡°I could pick the lock?¡± I approached the door, making it past the small area with the now defunct vine trap.


    The Inquisitor paused mid-step as he headed for the door. ¡°Yeah¡­. It would be easier than knocking it down... Go ahead, Shquire.¡±


    I moved to it and slid my backpack over my shoulder. After a few seconds of searching through it, I withdrew my lockpick set and started to work on the door. I easily manipulated the tumblers, flicking through them with ease as I opened the first lock.


    From there, it was a simple process of repetition. One after another, I flicked open the tumblers, clicking them open. The final one soon came and passed as the door gave one final click. The door slowly edged open.


    Inquisitor Strumagrd moved past me, entering Drew¡¯s second stash. I followed shortly after, the Jaeger trailing behind the both of us as its mechanical tail swung back and forth. Maybe I should get one? They were damn useful, especially in this circumstance.


    The area beyond the final door was entirely messy. I had to peak over the Inquisitor¡¯s shoulder, taken aback by the sheer quantity of loot scattered about. Bits and pieces sat everywhere, several of them standing out as high-quality items. It looked as though the guy had agreed to a housewarming party, in which each person unwittingly brought an expensive-looking gift to the owner.


    ¡°Touch nothing, Shquire. Just look for evidence.¡± The Inquisitor turned back and put the Jaeger in guard mode just outside of the door.


    I stared around at the mess of a room. ¡°Evidence of what, sir?¡±


    ¡°Anything suspicious.¡± He said.


    Well that really narrowed things down, now didn''t it? I walked around the room looking at the loot everywhere. Most, if not all, of the items on display were probably stolen. I¡¯d bet my arm on it.


    Thanks to that minor fact, everything looked suspicious to my eyes as I swept the place for any other details. Nothing immediately stood out, other than the loot screaming ¡®steal me¡¯, ¡®course. Most of the items seemed to be a completely random assortment, though I did notice quite a few marked with gang logos, such as a fancy-looking cigar box marked with the laughing jester skull of the Neo-Jokers. There were even several symbols I didn¡¯t recognize.


    There was also an offering of guns thrown about as if the guy hadn¡¯t cared about them. Assuming he was the one who set the vine trap, he probably didn¡¯t. Why would a Magus need guns when they had magic? Well, other than as a backup.


    Bookshelves lined the walls, holding most of the loot and stacks of books haphazardly tossed to the side. A couple of them were even stuffed full of designer drugs and pieces of chrome.


    Just in case, I inspected the area with Aetherial Perception, but the trap by the door seemed to be the only one. The only thing triggering my perception was the lowly items every now and then amongst the mess.


    Nothing really stood out to me-


    Insight¡¯s cool chill granted me a hint, one I followed as my eyes dropped to one of the bookcases lining the walls. It was faint, almost invisible, and buried under a pile of clothes, but there were small marks on the ground as if the shelf had been moved. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°Sir?¡± I called the Inquisitor and hesitantly headed over to it.

 Chapter 69

    Chapter 69Inquisitor Ligh didn''t seem to hear me as he inspected a coffee table covered in loot. For a moment, I considered calling his name louder. That moment passed as I realized a golden opportunity. Sure, taking something from out here could draw the Inquisitor¡¯s attention, but from whatever lurked in this secret area? And I could take whatever was behind it well enough on my own without the incompetent drunk¡¯s help.


    Whatever a thief kept hidden was bound to be good. Maybe even his gear since I hadn¡¯t seen anything but loot out here. And if it wasn¡¯t anything of use, I could still klep it for my new stash, as soon as I got that set up. This golden opportunity could quite literally become golden depending on whatever sat in the secret area.


    Taking in more details, I noticed that the front paneling of the wooden shelf had been worn down as if something had rubbed at it repeatedly. Maybe it didn¡¯t slide out like I originally suspected? It could slide down.


    I slunk over to the shelf and inspected it for any sign of a release or catch. Would it just slide open if I pulled on it? Before I tried, I checked the thing over with Aetherial Perception. Safe, at least for this side of the door. I locked a hand around the shelf, tugged, and pushed lightly. Nothing.


    Hmm¡­ if I were a thief, which I was, how would I hide the switch to my secret stash within a secret stash? Ah, and if I was an Adept, if that adds anything to the equation¡­ something simple? Like pull a book out and it triggers the door?


    I tried several of them, tossing them away without much thought. No dice. Something else then¡­


    I gazed around the room. There was so much stuff just everywhere, so it was kind of hard to tell. My eyes glazed past the walls as I looked around the absolute mess of a stash. Inquisitor Srumgard and the Jaeger stood over a small cot off to the side, looking around on their own.  S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In a moment of hesitation, I reactivated Aetherial Perception and looked back over the room. The guy was an Adept, so it was a little weird he only had one bit of magic protecting the place. If I was an Adept protecting a stash, this place would be loaded.


    I looked around, noticing nothing else in my shimmering gaze other than the items. Maybe I was wrong-


    My eye caught on the far wall from me. The area directly around the center of the wall looked as if there was a circle surrounding it. The edge of said circle seemed as though it tore in several places, leaving a ring of small fissures like the frayed fabric of a rug.


    As soon as I fully noticed it, the tearing spread, pulling off the entire circular area to reveal a hidden patch of a glowing area. Was it a misdirection magic of some kind? I deactivated my Perk, returning my vision back to normal as I stared at the once-hidden area.


    An array of plants hung from the ceiling, each one letting out a small foggy haze over the area, still managing to hide the area fairly well even though the cat was out of the bag. I could barely make out what looked to be a shield with two swords on it. I headed over, entering the field of the haze after a moment¡¯s hesitation.


    Now that I was inside it, I could feel a similar vibe to Stalk, as if the entire area was hidden from a casual viewer by the plants. I looked them over, curious as to what kind of plant could cause such an effect. They were oddly vibrant considering their effect, gleaming in an array of brilliant pinks. Each one had a small cup at the base of their stems, a pink-honey liquid gathering there as it dripped down the flower¡¯s stalks.


    It took me a second, mainly because my brain simply didn¡¯t want to admit it was there, but the liquid was where the effect actually came from. As soon as I realized that, I took a look at the Inquisitor. He stood reading a paper of some kind over by the cot.


    Take my chance, I stretched my hand forward. Immediately, the shadowy form of Crow¡¯s Canteen of Chaos appeared, which I snatched out of the air. The shadowy form turned corporeal as I grabbed it and unscrewed the lid.


    I pulled off one of the cups and dripped a small amount of the flower¡¯s nectar into the canteen. I wasn¡¯t quite sure what it was, but if I could reproduce the effect whenever I wanted, it would be damn nice to have.


    I threw the canteen back into the shadow and made sure neither the Inquisitor nor the Jaeger had seen anything before turning to the wall mount. The shield looked like a cheap replica shield bought from a carnival, but the two swords were something else.


    Both swords showed the silver sheen of a Crusader¡¯s blade, their long edges looking sharp enough to easily cut through flesh. Small blips of brilliant blue neon lined both of them, turned off at the moment. They were both works of art, and it was damn impressive that this Drew guy managed to not only get one, but two of them considering how hard Crusaders guarded their swords. And they were usually built with trackers inside of them. This Drew guy must know either a good techie or used some kind of magic to take out the tracker.


    I appreciated the swords more, feeling the slightly chill tang of Insight as I looked over one of them. A moment of confused inspection passed as I looked for what triggered Insight, I realized it was actually a masterfully made fake. The blade had several notches across it, ruining the sharpness the other one proudly broadcasted. They were almost key-like.


    Hmm¡­ I reached up and pulled the sword off the wall. It was a reach thanks to my, ahem- perfectly normal height. After a moment of struggling, I managed to knock it free from its perch, sending the other sword to the ground in a loud clatter as a spark flew.


    I glanced back to the Inquisitor, but he seemed as though he hadn¡¯t noticed¡­ was this hazy substance capable of blocking out sound too? What the hell even was this flower? Maybe I shoulda grabbed that Green Thumb Trait way back when after all¡­


    I picked up the Crusader sword, feeling my wrist creek thanks to the sheer weight of the thing. Were they all like this? I doubt I¡¯d be able to even swing one, let alone carry one on my back all day every day. Though, if I did it every day, the muscle would eventually build.


    Resting it against the wall, my eye caught on a small hole in the wall that had been hidden behind the real Crusader sword. Maybe? I lined up the fake, which was far lighter, and pushed it into the hole. It easily slid in, clicking against over a dozen tumblers in a deep lock that would¡¯ve been nearly impossible to pick with my current skills.


    I twisted it, feeling the low clicking of machinery through my palms. The rumble turned slightly louder as the bookshelf across the way slowly slid down into the floor.


    ¡°Shquire?¡± The Inquisitor called out as he walked over to the bookcase.


    I hurriedly made my way out of the haze and walked across the room. ¡°Sir-¡±


    ¡°Ah, good. You¡¯re here. Look at what I found?¡± His silver gauntlet reflected my exasperated face as he pointed to the hidden hallway.


    The hidden hallway that  found. That  struggled to open. Gah! Superiors were the worse¡­ ¡°Wow, Sir! M-maybe I should go first this time? You know, check for traps?


    He leaned up against the shelf and lightly tapped the Jaeger with his foot as if he were attempting to pet it. ¡°I guess¡­ you know how to check for traps too? What are they teaching Aspirants these days?¡±


    I secured my entry at the least. I moved past him, entering the dim halfway with Aetherial Perception activated. Once more, a faint tinge overlaid my vision as I arrived before a metal door even more impressive than the last. The tinge appeared like a pane of glass blocking the door.


    After a moment¡¯s hesitation, I pulled one of the bullets from my Sidewinder and lightly tossed it into the pane. As soon as it crossed the threshold, the walls grew mouths. The mouths looked like horribly twisted amalgamations of fly traps, which snapped down towards the projectile. They cleanly devoured the bullet and everything else in the space as if it never existed in the first place. They, just like the vines, faded into a cloud of black dust.


    I pushed on past and lock-picked the door with only a bit more trouble than the last one. It squealed slightly as it slid open, and I could hear the clank of armor as the Inquisitor left his position at the wall. With only moments to grab something of value, I slid into the hidden room within the hidden stash.


    The room wasn¡¯t what I expected. Like at all. In hindsight, it made a bit of sense with all the plant-based magics, but this was a bit¡­


    Well, the entire room looked like one vast circular garden. The room was filled with all kinds of plants, some even glowing with an ethereal light under the view of Aetherial Perception. Vines, showing various kinds of blooms, chased up the walls and hung from the ceiling, following a domed roof.


    The walls were covered in shelves peeking out of the vines, each one housing expensive-looking loot of some kind. I didn¡¯t have much time to check them though as I focused on the two things that caught my eye.


    There, sitting in the very middle of the room and surrounded by pillars smothered in vines, sat what looked like a circular altar. Water trickled from the altar like a fountain, making a sense of beauty with the lone flower that grew from the top of the altar. The flower looked like a bell and pulsed with a faint blue light across the blue bell. A small amulet sat at the base of the flower, showcasing a silver tree artfully twisting around itself into a knot.


    While the altar drew my attention through pure absurdity, the other thing of interest drew the kleptoid out of me. An armor stand sat not far off from the door, covered in an elaborate-looking cloak and robes. A mask sat over the lower half of the thing''s face. It wasn¡¯t just a poor respirator or anything like that; the mask looked incredibly high-end, like the kind I couldn¡¯t just go out and buy even with the right contacts. It was the kind of mask specifically designed for the outlands, the Eternal Sandstorm, and everything in between. The kind that specifically was hand-made for the environment by a Nomad or some equivalent.


    The clanking of armor came from the hall as I swiftly snuck over to the armor stand and pulled the mask off of the stand. I hid it in my clothes, trusting in my concealment as I also snatched an ornate dagger from a spot not far off from the armor stand.


    Conflict arose as I desperately wanted to take more, but I decided to play it safe and returned to the entrance. ¡°Sir! You should come and see this!¡±


    The Inquisitor entered the room, the altar reflecting off his silver face plate. ¡°Good work, Shquire. Why don¡¯t you- uh, take off the rest of the day while I call this in? Back to normal duties tomorrow, or until I call you.¡±


    Wow, he¡¯s sure getting rid of me quickly¡­ still, it was for the best to get out now with my loot. I could leave the actual crusading to the Crusaders. ¡°Sir.¡± I saluted him and left the place, searching for the exit of the arcology.

 Chapter 70

    Chapter 70I left the place after a confusing trip through the arcology. I did manage to find the mechanic store, so I fixed my bike up the best I could and headed back home. The Thermoelectric semiconductor cost a hundred and thirty Rayn, setting me back to just over sixteen hundred. Barely enough to pay for a month¡¯s rent. Good thing, I would have time to save up some more before then.


    As I settled on my bed, the interface popped into my view.


    ¡¸Tracking - 5>6¡¹


    ¡¸Criminology - 5>6¡¹


    Unexpected gains were good gains, at least¡­ Criminology was a bit confusing still. Working with the Blue Crusade seemed to fast-track its progress at least, so it was an easy Skill to level. And it had some good Perks, such as Cues.


    Nothing much to do with the interface at the moment. I took the mask from its hiding place amongst my clothes and looked it over in more detail. After a quick check for any kind of bug or tracker, I thoroughly cleaned it out and tossed it into my backpack. It would be another piece of valuable gear for me, one I would greatly appreciate if I ever had to go out closer to the Eternal Sandstorm.


    The ornate dagger also got a look over. It was made from some kind of jade and had a wickedly sharp edge. It also faintly glowed with an ethereal presence, which made me iffy about actually using the thing. Best I kept it for now and had someone look it over¡­ maybe Carone would know someone?


    I shot him a text that I''d be bringing it over in a couple of days and asked him for an identification price point. He replied with, ''Fifty Rayn.''


    It was a bit expensive, but, well, the dagger looked badass, to be frank. If it actually had something useful as its enchantment, I wouldn''t mind keeping the dagger. And! And it was an external item, so it mess with my chrome at all.


    I took a shower and went to sleep, brainstorming internally with things I needed to do while I had some downtime.


    ---


    I awoke bright and early. After a quick meal of Jack¡¯s Sun Kicker, I set the canteen to that weird liquid from yesterday, and I settled down at my tech table absolutely covered in bits and pieces I had been collecting. I had a goal in mind- to create some useful gear. As it stands, the only bit of tech I had helping me out was the Tapper. If I wanted to get into higher-end heists, that wouldn¡¯t do.


    What was the point of getting Tech to a high level if I never used it? An argument could be made that I never had the right stuff, knowledge, or space to build something helpful, but now? I had everything I would need to create some fun things. sea??h th§× NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    For now, I had a couple of ideas. I started simply drawing out a simple blueprint to the best of my abilities. The basic idea was a portable camera I could bring around with me. Using some of the knowledge from the Advent Phantom¡¯s blueprint, I designed the optical parts of the camera.


    Unfortunately, I doubted my skills and tools'' capability to make something small, so I designed it with a different focus. The camera would basically sit inside of a dark, one-way ball of glass. It would sit on a gyro stabilizer mount, and I would be able to toss the camera for a quick look around the impact area.


    In the future, I could turn it into a full-on drone or a microcam, but for now, this would do. And, since I was building it myself, I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about it having built-in trackers or backdoors.


    Once the blueprint was all finished, I started to print out the parts. The one-way glass would be an issue to get, especially considering how I wanted it and the durability, so I replaced it with see-through plastic. It took quite a bit of finagling with my printer, but I eventually got it just right.


    The plastic ball was the easiest part, and it came out as two black half spheres with small mounts on the inside. The idea was to put everything inside, then be able to click it closed and basically make a ball about the size of a baseball.


    The gyrostabilizer was a hassle to build. Mainly because I didn¡¯t actually know how to build one. After searching the Net for several hours, I managed to cobble together an old-world design. It wasn¡¯t the best, and there would inevitably be some shaking on my camera thanks to that fact, but it was something I could build.


    I salvaged some servos from the robotic parts I klept from the ASCorp Supermarket Robotics Garage, and 3-D printed the parts to fill in what I would need. It was quite a bit, including the rings that the servos would interact with.


    While I waited for the 3-D printer to start up, I began production on the camera itself. There were a few optics amongst the robotic parts, which I broke down and slowly started to build an optic closer aligned to Advent¡¯s design. Sure, the robot¡¯s optics were fine, but they were designed for utility robots, and as such weren¡¯t of the greatest quality.


    It was a tedious process, especially since the tools I had weren¡¯t designed with the micro applications I tried to use them for. After a long while, I finally managed to get the precision I wanted and boot the camera up. For now, it would barely have a lifespan of thirty minutes till I could get a better battery that could fit inside of the camera. The robots had internal power systems that were simply too big for what I wanted.


    By the time I finished setting up the camera, the 3-D printer finished up. I took all the parts and finally put together the gyrostabilizer. From there, I made a small mount for the camera, hooked everything up, and bolted it into the mounts of the ball.


    I closed everything up and proudly looked at my newest creation¡­ it needed a name to really be complete. How about¡­ Scouter? It fits the naming scheme with Tapper¡­ yeah, I like that. I proudly looked at the scouter, pleased with how it turned out.


    I took a deep breath and pulled out my phone, turning on the camera feed¡­ nothing. I frowned and popped the ball back open- and I forgot to set up the transmitter. Stupid Shiro.


    That started a long process of edits and rebuilds, in which I also added a small power button I could click with my thumb. Unfortunately, all of that took up too much space, so I had to go back and rework the gyro, which took even longer. All in all, it was past noon by the time I finished up all of my edits.


    Just before I could test it, a text message from Mira popped into my HUD. ¡®Hey! Want to go with me tomorrow to do something? We don¡¯t have much time left in the city¡­¡¯


    ¡®Course! Just tell me when and where, and I¡¯ll be there.¡¯ I sent back. She replied a minute later with the address. Plugging it into the Mapp?, I found it was a holo fight arena, which was¡­ intriguing?


    I¡¯ve never heard of one. Granted, Mira always seemed to pull out the randomest stuff, so this really wasn¡¯t all that surprising. And she was a battle nut, so a fight arena was right up her alley. The arena itself seemed interesting. It looked like it attempted to merge holograms and video games into physical activity, in this case, a fighting arena.


    While I was distracted, I took the time to stop and check out that haze liquid I snatched from the secret stash. I poured a bit out, the liquid flowing like honey as it cleanly poured out a bit onto my table. Almost immediately, the pink liquid started to emit that haze, though the cloud was incomparable to the one that had been around the plant. It also felt less effective, as if the flower had been boosting the capabilities of the liquid.


    Still, it was a better effect than not having anything, and already some fun ideas were starting to form in my head.


    Back to my cute little scouter. I clicked on the power button with my thumb, pressing it into the machine. A faint buzz of machinery twirled against my fingers as the gyrostabilizer kicked into gear. I checked my phone, pleased to see a rather clean feed. It was a bit dark, the tinted plastic shading its view, but that was an acceptable issue.


    Now! For the moment of truth! I lightly tossed the ball into my bedroom, excited to see if my plan would work. I looked down at the camera feed on my phone as the gyrostabilizer kicked into gear, keeping the camera steady as it sailed through the air. It flew gracefully, lightly tapping the ground-


    And the gyrostabilizer broke, causing the camera to descend into a nauseating mess of visuals. I put the phone down and dropped my head into my hands. Looks like it still needed some work¡­


    By midnight, I was sure I got every kink and issue ironed out of the device. I added small shock absorbers to the mounts of the ball, keeping the gyro safe from impact against objects. Then, because the camera sat statically, I also added some manual overrides to the stabilizer so I could tilt and turn the camera however I wanted. Its rotation speed was incredibly low, but it worked.


    Finally, I added a small channel inside of the thing where I could pour in some of the mysterious haze liquid to give the Scouter an additional level of obscurement. I¡¯m not sure how effective it¡¯ll be, but any additional level of stealth was better than nothing.


    I tested it several more times, happy with the results. It wasn¡¯t the best-made device ever, and it definitely still had some issues, but it was . Entirely mine. Sure, I took some parts and pieces from other tech. The end result, however, was entirely designed and set up by me. There was a sense of indescribable happiness deep inside of my heart as I looked over my finished Scouter.


    I cracked my neck and checked the time, setting the printer to make the parts for two more as I settled back and thought about what else I could do. My mind inevitably drifted to the blueprints ¡®I¡¯ stole from Sentinel.


    The weapons were my focus as they pulled up in my memory thanks to Eidetic Schematic. Now that I knew a bit more about Tech, I could discern the overall purpose of most of them, but still not the intricate details.


    Last time I could only recognize the cartridgeless gun, but now I could figure out the majority of them. Everything from highly experimental Gauss rifles to arc cannons and everything in between. They were so overly engineered and complicated that even other engineers wouldn¡¯t be able to figure out how they worked, let alone me.


    Still, they were entertaining to think of. And it was damn impressive that they were actually being made by Sentinel. Scary, because they would undoubtedly cause some mayhem, but damn impressive. It was easy to see why they wanted it back.


    Based on the fact the copies were paper and the corporation was willing to pay twenty mil for them, it was pretty safe to say that I might be holding the only copy of their research. It wouldn''t be too outlandish for the paranoid corpos to only keep paper copies of their precious research.


    Not yet, but maybe I should sit down and go back over the schematics and try to make something from some of them. The arc cannon looked promising for some kind of non-lethal option, and things like their plasma rifle seemed as if it would have some incredible utility for burning through some stuff.


    Maybe after I earned some more money¡­ back to my original goals then; earn money and steal some shit. But that could wait till after my day with Mira tomorrow. I left the table, printer running, and headed for bed.

 Chapter 71

    Chapter 71After waking up, I finished up production on the two additional Scouters. Now that I already knew what I wanted and how I wanted it, it took very little time to actually put them all together. I now had three of the cute little devices up and running, waiting for me to press their on switch.


    I checked the time. There was still an hour till my meet-up with Mira, so I grabbed my backpack with everything in it and headed for the door. I took the elevator down to the basement parking garage, incredibly thankful I didn¡¯t have to take the stairs.


    From there I moved over to my bike and gave it a quick checkover. Everything still seemed to be in one piece, which was good. The new thermoelectric semiconductor stood out from the others on my bike, its fresh sheen of paint unblemished by the countless trips into the Outlands the others had withstood.


    Maybe I should look at getting a new vehicle soon? Or maybe sink some money into repairing my bike fully with a new engine and some other upgrades? It was starting to wear down, and it would only be a matter of time before it fully failed on me¡­ more money.


    Rayn, ever the curse upon my shoulders. I could worry about that later though. I hopped on the bike and headed out onto the streets towards Sakura Street.


    The Sentinel presence finally began to calm down somewhat. There weren¡¯t nearly as many armored trucks roving the streets, and people were actually starting to somewhat return to normalcy. Even Raijin had calmed down, their flyers not nearly as present as they had been just a week before.


    With the tuned-down groups, it was almost refreshing to drive around the city again. It was still painful trying to avoid the crazed homeless diving out onto the streets or druggies with no sense of spatial awareness. The traffic still moved painfully slowly. And the rain still made driving a bike instead of a car slightly annoying.


    With that in mind, I dropped the dagger by Carone¡¯s antique shop and headed to my newest destination: Battle Born Arena. It sat over in Old Town, so it was a bitch and a half driving over. The highways made things faster, but it still took a while with all the traffic starting to come back out.


    I pulled off the highway and down several streets before parking in a nearby parking lot.


    Battle Born Arena sat on the fourteenth floor of a tall skyscraper in Old Town. As soon as I stepped into it, I was hit with holographic images of ancient knights fighting with swords, wizards casting magic, and archers letting loose arrows. A different display showed several WWII-era soldiers shooting back and forth at each other. Yet another looked as if it was plucked right off the streets with heavily armored groups fighting chromed-out enemies.


    People milled around, laughing and chatting. Screens in the background showed what looked to be live battles inside several arenas. People moved around, holograms clinging to their bodies thanks to specialized projector vests as they fought their opponents. Most were the fantastical setting, but there were a fair few of the WWII setting and a few others.


    Insight gave a chill on my wrist, causing me to reflexively jerk back as Mira catapulted past me, her arm outstretched. She tripped over her own feet, tumbling to the ground just past me. Before anyone could even look over, she popped back up to her feet with a broad grin.


    ¡±Shiro! I¡¯m so happy you came!¡± The grin seemed to grow wider as she bounced to my side.


    I  her to give me a light hug before backing out of the embrace. ¡°Yeah yeah¡­ can¡¯t believe you convinced me to  for fun.¡±


    ¡±It¡¯ll be fun! Just wait and see!¡± She tugged on my arm, pulling me to a front desk. ¡°So? Fantasy or modern?¡±


    It was an easy decision. ¡°Fantasy. I¡¯ve been shot at enough in my life.¡± And Crusaders used swords. It would look incredibly suspicious if I didn¡¯t know how to use one. This could be my time to pick up that particular skill¡­ S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The receptionist of this place, a woman in a cheap suit of armor, saluted with her arm to her heart as we approached. ¡°Welcome to Battle Born Arena, where we are  Born for Battle! How can I help you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to sign up a newcomer¡­ what do you want your tag to be?¡± Mira asked me.


    ¡°Uh- Moon?¡± It was about as simple as I could get.


    The receptionist started to mess around on a terminal behind the desk. A moment later, she looked back up to us. ¡°What kind of package do you want?¡±


    ¡°Gold. I- uh, I¡¯ll pay.¡± Mira shifted on her feet and pulled out her phone.


    The receptionist nodded several times before heading to the other side of the receptionist desk. There, the whir of a machine came. She returned a moment later with a card similar to a business card. ¡°Here you go. Just bring this whenever you want to play!¡±


    I took the offered card. It was entirely gold-colored and even had a metallic glint. Still felt flimsy though¡­ Moon was printed on it in big bold lettering. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    Mira pulled me away deeper into the building. We headed through one of a couple dozen side doors and entered a room faintly reminiscent of a changing room. As soon as the door closed, the wall panel shifted to the side and offered two of those holovests and a terminal.


    ¡°Okay, so you need to customize your avatar here¡­ just swipe your card and the menu should pop up,¡± Mira told me as she swiped her own golden card and grabbed a vest.


    I followed her actions, and a deep customization window popped onto the terminal. I spent a minute just looking through the options and barely got through a hundredth of them. The terminal offered everything from a simple hair change to giving yourself the appearance of an exotic. I could even get fox ears and a tail to really fit ¡®Fox¡¯s Grace¡¯.


    In the end, I decided with a simple customization. I blanked out my face entirely into a mask similar to Inquisitor Lights and turned my hair silver. Confirming my tiny amount of customization, I tossed on the vest. The moment I put it on, dozens of holographic projectors turned on, sending the holograms over my head as the illusion of my avatar covered me.


    I turned around-


    What the hell? I looked at Mira- or what was once Mira. Now, a battle-hardened veteran stood in front of me, her face covered in a crisscrossing of scars. Her jawline was impressively strong as if the woman could break a boulder with it. Short-cropped hair clung to her head, stained dark. A gaze that could shatter mountains came from her eyes, intimidatingly. The word ¡®Valiance¡¯ hung above her head. Mira¡¯s tag, maybe?


    ¡°What do you think?¡± Even her voice came out strong and grizzled.


    ¡°Impressive¡­¡± This kind of tech really was cool. It was nice to see an application for holograms outside of advertising¡­ and it gave me some ideas I might be able to cash in on with my own holographic projector. Yet another thing to add to the list of stuff I wanted to make. ¡°Now what?¡±


    ¡°Now? We fight!¡± Mira dragged me out of the room through a backdoor and we entered a massive coliseum. Screens covered almost every inch of the place, showcasing the varied fights that were happening throughout the Battle-Born Arena. There were so many that this place must¡¯ve owned several floors of this tower to fit them all.


    Mira led me to one of the various doors scattered around the area. A pure white room, resembling a massive cube, opened up before us. She walked over to a terminal on the side of the room. ¡°Medieval, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    She pressed a button and the place shifted, holograms coming to life all over the place. In a matter of moments, we stood in an old-age gladiator coliseum. ¡°Come here and pick your weapon! Armor is just aesthetic for what we¡¯re doing.¡±


    I headed over to the terminal to find a long list of weapons and armor. Very briefly, I thought about what I wanted. Then I decided it didn¡¯t actually matter since Crusaders used swords, so that¡¯s what I went with.


    A slot on the wall opened up, and a replica rubber sword slid out of the wall. I cautiously grabbed it, feeling slightly relieved the weight wasn¡¯t nearly as bad as the sword back at the secret stash. As soon as I picked it up, the hologram projectors turned the sword into a real longsword.


    I turned around to see Mira¡¯s hologram change as leather armor coated her. She likewise grabbed a spear from a slot on the wall, twirling it in her hand. Mid twirl, it shifted into an intricately carved dragon, the mouth opened wide to reveal the spear point ¡°I won¡¯t go easy on you, not a problem, right?


    Did Mira know how to use a spear? Damn, this is going to suck. ¡°Since when have you ever gone easy on me?¡±


    ¡°Exactly!¡± The hologram followed her own expression and smirked at me.


    Two spots on the ground lit up red. Mira headed to one and I to the other. She made for an imposing image as she stood there with her dragon spear. ¡°We¡¯re playing contact, so the first hit wins! Best two out of three.¡±


    ¡±Okay-¡°


    A voice boomed as if it came from the heavens. ¡°Round one. Fight!¡±


    Mira wasted no time in a straightforward lunge toward me. The chill of Insight across my thigh was the only warning I received as I dodged back out of the blow. The dragon spear approached, its illusion of a blade looking deadly as it closed the distance with me.


    Mira shifted her blow, splitting the air as she chased me with another lunge as I foolishly tried to put up some distance between us. Before I could even recover and pull out of the dodge, her blunted spear landed squarely on my chest.


    ¡°Argh!¡± An electric shock jolted my body - not so much painful as surprising - and the entire room flashed red.


    Mira twirled her spear and slammed the butt of it into the ground. ¡°You- do you know how to use a sword?"


    I shook my head. "Never had the chance."


    Mira tilted her head and stared at me for a few moments before sharply dipping her chin as if she had been having a conversation with herself. "Right! Well, I don''t know much about swords. I learned how to use a spear through doing, but you aren''t exactly...  at combat. No offense."


    "None taken."


    She walked over to me and traded her spear with my sword. After twirling it in her hand for a moment, she took up a stance. She held the sword mostly vertical to the left side of her body, her left arm tucked close and her right casually laying across her chest. "I''ve only ever watched or fought against a swordsman, so I could be wrong. For the majority of them, this is their neutral stance." The swapped us back.


    I imitated her stance as best I could, though I couldn''t just so casually hold the initiation sword. Sure, these game ones were far lighter than the real deal, but it was just an awkward hold. "Like this?"


    She intently stared at me. "Hmm... loosen your grip more. You''re white-knuckling that thing. Hold it loosely but secured, allowing it to carry a bit of a whipping momentum when you strike."


    I adjusted my grip the best I could. How, exactly, was I supposed to hold something without actually holding it though?


    "Well... that looks a bit loose."


    A deep sigh escaped me as I tried once more. Today was going to be a long day.

 Chapter 72

    Chapter 72I froze up halfway to my bike, shocked beyond belief as the interface popped into my view.


    ¡¸Melee Weapons - 1>2¡¹


    I- I hadn¡¯t been expecting  of all things. What was different between this time and other times I had used Skills outside of certain areas? Maybe- no¡­ hmm¡­ maybe since I had Mira teaching me the entire time? I was actively learning how to fight better with a melee weapon, so the Skill went up? Then were the levels of the Skills based on my own comprehension instead of just an arbitrary number like I thought?


    If so, maybe I should start trying to actually learn Skills instead of just blindly using them and hoping for the number to go up¡­ Would this process work on some other things, like First-Aid? Why hadn¡¯t I thought of this before?


    I threw all that on the back burner as I arrived at my bike. It was all stuff I could test later. For now, I had a text from Carone. I received it an hour back but had been rather busy with, ahem, being introduced to new places. In particular, the floor. Repeatedly.


    , my dagger was ready back at his shop. It was rather quick, to the point I wonder if he actually even had anyone look at it. Or maybe he himself knew how to identify enchantments and spells? He  own an antiquity shop, so he¡¯d surely have to be skilled in identifying items to a certain extent, right?


    I hopped on my bike and headed back North to Carone¡¯s shop, feeling my bike cough and sputter all the way there. It felt like it was on its final legs, and I really couldn¡¯t afford my bike to die like this. Public transportation was just too inconvenient in my line of work.


    Thankfully, I arrived without much issue. The bell over his door rang as I entered the shop, announcing my arrival. The man himself wasn¡¯t behind his counter, but that didn¡¯t last long as he stepped out from the back room, the candles flickering to life.


    He stared at me for a moment before heading back into the shop and returning with my dagger wrapped in a cloth. ¡°Quite the¡­ interesting piece, Shiro.¡±


    ¡±What¡¯s it do?¡± I asked. Normally, I disliked magical items and anything related to magic, but I couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of anticipation.


    He set the bundle of cloth down on the table. ¡°The hilt holds an enchantment for durability. This is very common among enchanted weapons. The blade is more interesting though. It can paralyze someone or something for up to three hours once per day.¡±


    Oh? That was actually really good. It offered some insane utility too. ¡°Preem.¡± I grabbed the cloth bundle and slid it into my backpack.


    His hand flared as he once more began to activate his superpower; flashy mode. ¡±Before you go, I¡¯ve got a gig for you.¡±


    That was fast. Usually, there was a bit more downtime between gigs¡­ not that I would refuse, of course. I needed the money. ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡±


    ¡±It¡¯s for another fixer. She asked me for someone with¡­  skills. Something to do with the Outlands, if you¡¯re still interested.¡±


    ¡±¡¯Course.¡± This could be a great opportunity for me to get to know another fixer. The more, the merrier. More accurately, the more, the more paying opportunities.


    ¡°I¡¯ll send you her detes shorty¡­¡± He nodded to me then headed towards the back room once more, dismissing me.


    The location Carone sent me sat squarely on the northern side of the Portside district. The Jagged Clover Pub, offering authentic cuisine and beer better than your mother¡¯s milk, at least if their slogan was to be believed.


    It was a bit of a way off from the highway and main areas, and I could definitely tell as I approached. So much so, I was almost worried about leaving my bike unattended in a parking garage as I headed for the pub.


    The area smelled rotten as if ages-old alcohol and too many ¡®nights on the town¡¯ had roved through this particular area. The cool chills from being closer to the ocean didn¡¯t help my feelings of discomfort either. ¡®Course, I could always be projecting my own social discomforts of having to meet new people and being in a strange place¡­ nah, the environment just .


    I tried to ignore it as best I could, but everyone around spoke in a funny accent, increasing my overall sense of wanting to leave. At least this time, it wasn¡¯t paranoia eating away at the back of my mind. Maybe I was finally in recovery?


    Regardless, I approached the bartender, easily getting through the mob of people drinking all around. He was a rather large guy with massive chrome arms. Unfortunately, the image was ruined by dainty skeletal hands. ¡°Aye, ain¡¯t ye be a bit young here, lass?¡±


    I looked around the place and nodded my head. ¡°A bit. I¡¯m looking for¡­¡± Carone¡¯s message popped up in my HUD. ¡°Athena Alexandria?¡±


    The bartender set down the glass he was cleaning and cast a side eye to a back corner of the room. ¡°The lass said someone would be comin¡¯. She¡¯s waitin¡¯ for ye in the VIP lounge; B4. Stairs be in the back.¡± The man grabbed his glass with his tiny hands and headed to a different patron.


    I headed for the aforementioned stairs, the two stooges out front letting me by without any hassle. From there I walked around looking for the right booth. I found it on the third and highest floor of the pub. Really, the term ¡®booth¡¯ was a bit¡­ disingenuous? The place was far closer to a private room than anything.


    Booth B4 took up a corner of the city, granting a beautiful view of the Corporate Quarter and all its intimidating artistry. A woman sat in the booth covered in bags and boxes, looking what I could only describe as breathtaking. Literally. She actively choked a man out as I walked into the booth, making me think I was in the wrong place.


    The woman looked up at me, her beautifully crafted chrome eyes catching the light. ¡°I¡¯ll be with you in a moment¡­¡±


    The man, his face turning blue, gave one last desperate attempt to escape from her grasp. The woman, whom I seriously wished wasn¡¯t the fixer Carone sent me to, actually chuckled as she casually took a long drink, not even bothering to put up a show as she easily took care of the guy.


    Finally, it became too much as he tapped on her arm, his eyes starting to lose their focus. The woman released him as he crumpled to the floor. ¡°That¡¯s free drinks for a week now, Jack!¡±


    Jack wheezed, clutching at his neck. ¡°C-chek¡­¡± He staggered past me, leaving out the door.


    It was just me and the woman left in the room. ¡°Athena Alexandria?¡±


    ¡±Who¡¯s askin¡¯?¡± Athena slid out of the booth, stepping into the light. Her long hair seemed to shimmer in the light as it transitioned through a kaleidoscope of blues, stealing my breath away as her cold, gray eyes met mine. The woman had the aura of a warrior about her, and the chrome to back it up. Her arms and legs looked to be chrome, and the rest of her skin peeking through her tight clothes showed hints of subdermal armor. Her chrome wasn''t the massive muscle-bound ones like Iris and most other ''borgs had but seemed to be more focused on agility and dexterity.


    ¡°Carone sent me. Said you needed an investigator?¡± I asked as I stepped closer to the booth, trying to hide the bit of anxiety coursing through my body.


    ¡±Ah! ¡®Course! C¡¯mon, take a seat¡­ he mention any of the specifics?¡± Athena asked as she slid back into the booth.


    I shook my head and took a seat across from her, forcing confidence into my actions the best I could. ¡°Something about the Outlands?¡±


    ¡±Chek! I need someone to go check on a group of Nomads. They fell out of contact two days ago, and I haven¡¯t heard a peep since. You up for it?¡±


    I shrugged, calmly leaning back as I tried to keep up the confidant facade. ¡°Depends. They the violent type? Would hate to sprout a bullet-sized hole for just going around.¡± Most nomadic tribes and groups tended to be a bit¡­ iffy of strangers. With good reason, I might add. Not everyone- heck, most people by this point in the Outlands weren¡¯t exactly a friendly bunch.


    Outside of the city-states scattered amongst the remnants of FSA and occasional town-steads, the Outlands were the Wild West. They were almost entirely lawless with a few bits of civilization being shot for peeking out into the lands. I dunno if the other remaining continents were the same way, but here humanity had definitely regressed. There¡¯s a reason most people wouldn¡¯t go out into the outlands.


    Well, that and the monsters prowling the dune sea. Dune Walkers were a staple, of course, but there were all kinds of nasty beasties out there. I hadn¡¯t done much research, which would have to change soon, but I knew of several monstrous species that wouldn¡¯t hesitate to prey on a human.


    Sand Sifters were a massive problem, their giant worm-like bodies could cause some serious damage. Eight Eyed Scorpions were known for their fatal stings. Lockfangs were downright ferocious once they got up on a person. And those three were barely stepping into the dangers, let alone the more- ahem, aligned creatures stalking the remnants of the FSA.


    ¡°The Leper-Khans are as peaceful as a flock of sheep¡­ mostly. They shouldn¡¯t give you any problems. I¡¯ll pay you two thousand to get out there and contact me within four days. You have a sat phone?¡± I shook my head, to which she responded by reaching into one of the many bags and pulling out a brick. ¡°This is a loaner. Return it when you get paid. Just call me when you get out there and look around.¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± I looked over the brick of a device. I had heard of sat phones before, of course, but this was the first time I had ever really seen one in person. Normal phones wouldn¡¯t work outside a Node, hence the requirement of a sat phone or other specialized equipment in the Outlands.


    Athena tossed her blue hair back over her shoulder and arced a perfectly shaped eyebrow. ¡±Shiro, right? Look, normally I¡¯d vet you myself, but Carone highly recommended you. Most of my gigs are more¡­ overt, I guess, but occasionally I¡¯ll have something like this crop up. Don¡¯t fuck this up, and I¡¯ll keep you on my short contact list.¡±


    Was that another dig at me? What the hell is up with people these days?! I took a breath and calmed myself down as I stood to go. ¡°¡®Course. I¡¯ll get it done.¡±


    ¡±Nova.¡±


    I asked a few more questions and got some more of the detes before heading out of the booth. I returned to my bike just as a light drizzle started up once more in its ceaseless cycle. With nowhere else to go and the time starting to pass ever closer to midnight, I returned home.


    As soon as I stepped into my apartment, I immediately wanted to put my head through a wall. Stupid Shiro! Why would you just go out and take a gig like that?! You don¡¯t even have a good ride!  sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I huffed a sigh and collapsed onto my bed, trying to let the rain tapping my windows calm me down. Assuming my poor bike could make it past a several-day trip through the Outskirts, it actually wasn¡¯t that bad. Food and water, a primary concern amongst the Outlands, wouldn¡¯t be too big of a problem with Crow¡¯s Canteen of Chaos. Same thing for fuel, though it would take some tight planning.


    My bike would be small enough to avoid most groups of humans, and hopefully agile enough to get away from any of the more¡­ monstrous issues out there. If worse came to shove, I even had that new dagger, my assault rifle, and shotgun to take care of things.  ¡®Course, that was assuming I was even spotted in the first place¡­


    Maybe I should hire out for this one? Get some kind of escort, even if it''s just one person? But that would cut into my pay majorly. Only the most desperate mercs would accept an Outland gig for anything less than a thousand starting. And it''s not like I had much room on my bike or could share the canteen.


    The environmental hazards, of which many were seen and unseen, would be mostly negated as long as I was careful and wore a mask. Heck, I just got that new mask, so the timing literally couldn¡¯t have been better. Maybe that unlucky run-in with the Inquisitor hadn¡¯t been a bad thing.


    As long as I was prepared, this really wouldn¡¯t be that bad¡­ I hoped. I grabbed my deck and settled back against my bed. I had a long night of research ahead of me.

 Chapter 73

    Chapter 73I went ahead and stocked up on AE3 just in case, strapping two jerry cans to the sides of my bike. My destination wasn¡¯t  far away from the city, so I should be good with just this much fuel. Sure, I could¡¯ve used the canteen and saved the Rayn, but I didn¡¯t want to mess with having to manually swap the contents and wait for refills while keeping track of a thirty-minute timer. Far easier to just keep it all as simple as could be.


    The nomadic group, the Leper-Khans according to Athena, were north of Sunderland last she had heard, so the trip wouldn¡¯t actually be that bad. Sunderland was a primary mining town about half a day¡¯s travel to the east of the city.  S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Since it was an important asset, there was even a road connecting the mining town to Aythryn City; the Sunder Stretch. A patrolled road. From Sunderland to the Leper-Khans would all be offroad though, so that''s when my journey would really get annoying.


    I checked my bike one last time as I neared the Sunder Strip. Fuel? Chek! Tools? Chek! First-Aid? Chek! Air quality probe? Chek! Spare parts I probably wouldn¡¯t even need to use but bought anyway out of the very real possibility my bike dies and strands me in the middle of the desert for weeks? Chek¡­ last but certainly not least, my weapons? Chek.


    I cast a glance back at the city. This would be the first time actually leaving my birthplace since¡­ ever, really. Sure I had the occasional trips to the overlook point on the north side of the city, but this was my first time actually this place...


    . That word held a weight I¡¯d never really felt before. It was an odd feeling, like a mixture of anxiety and excitement twirled together into a boulder upon my chest. It¡¯s not like I would never return¡­ and yet part of me felt that way. It was such a weird vibe.


    I cleared my head the best I could and slipped through several streets till I arrived at the Sunder Stretch. Just as its name suggested, the road stretched out before me as I pulled onto It and began my long journey away from Aythryn City.


    The Sunder Stretch was a long four-lane highway leading off into the desert. One with no speed limit¡­ bike go BRRR!!! I didn¡¯t slow down in the slightest, even as the road degraded with the occasional pothole here and there. I just went around them at over a hundred miles an hour, draining my bike for all it had.


    In the hour of distance I drove down it, the road sat almost entirely abandoned with only the occasional semi or armored truck heading to or from the city. Spots of the road had small dunes of sand blown across it from the surrounding desert. Occasional burnt-out vehicles sat pushed off to the side, long striped clean of any valuables. I even found a few areas with at least a couple dozen cars all lumped into a pile as if a giant had thrown them.


    In the distance, I could see a building every once in a while, a testament to the strength of humanity from before the Eternal Sandstorm and other various phenomena like the Dune Walkers wiped out cities and rural towns. They stood, lone wreckages of a time long since past.


    After about an hour of distance, I had to throw on my mask as the air quality probe started to wave around crazily. Other than that, it was a really boring drive out of the city. I half expected something of note to happen like maybe a Hawk ambush or Dune Walkers in the road, but nothing did. It was mostly just me out here with the ¡®soft¡¯ hum of my bike.


    A few hours after that the scenery finally started to change. Up to this point, the endless sea of dunes all around started to drive me crazy. Now though? Small outcroppings of rock popped up and far off in the distance dunes gave way to sandy mountains. The sky around the mountains was nearly black with smog, which was just¡­ perfect.


    It wasn¡¯t long before the sun was once more locked out of the sky by the smog, the warm desert air fading just as the light did. It was back to cool with unnatural splotches of heat by the time I hit the mountain range. Unfortunately, it was the only thing that returned to how it was in the city. The air quality only degraded further, probably due to the thick smog around the mountains.


    A few miles further into the range and I found why. I guess it wasn¡¯t called Sunderland for no reason¡­ massive chasms and endless mine shafts dotted the mountains, most of them long abandoned and caved in. Occasionally, great hulking machines and excavators were scattered about, emitting thick clouds of smog that did little to hide the corporate markings around their location.


    I put up more and more distance from Aythryn City. The hulks of machines grew more and more frequent as more and more people started to pop up among the mountains. Even the roads started to fill out with some semblance of traffic. It wasn¡¯t long after that buildings popped into view. First, a lone gas station. Then what looked to be a small community.


    Then all of a sudden the Sunder Stretch entered a valley between three titanic mountains, mine scattered everywhere across them. In the valley, dipping unnaturally low as if this entire place had once been a gigantic quarry, sat Sunderland in all its smog-filled glory.


    My phone¡¯s connection came back to life as I entered the range of Sunderlands Node, updating my location services as the Mapp? reconnected to their servers. I checked the Mapp and downloaded an offline satellite copy, something I should¡¯ve done long ago.


    I pulled off the Sunder Stretch and went a bit off-road up a small rocky dune, passing by several mines as the claustrophobic dune opened into a grand view of the place. I turned off my bike, sat back, and just enjoyed the newness of it all. I even tried to pull off my mask and breath in- it ended in my choking and sputtering before I tossed the mask back on.


    Sunderland sat in a pit of a valley, the sandy mountains surrounding it like the oppressive towers of Aythryn City. Most of the buildings were built into the steep slopes of the valley, their walls smog and sandblasted so they all looked mostly the same. The little bits of neon really stood out against the environment, but it wasn¡¯t nearly as prevalent as in the city. I¡¯d say maybe only a quarter as much?


    The entire town was an industrial boomtown, of which I had no doubt. Factories and the varied silver mines were the number one reason to come here, with tourism falling to the bottom of that list. The hundreds of corporate factories, their logos being the only thing freshly painted, constantly spewed pollution into the air as trucks full of resources came and went near constantly.


    Raijin International was the most common player from what it looked like; about an eighth of every factory and truck looked to be theirs. As if having a stranglehold on the fuel industry wasn''t enough, they were fully dedicated to attempting to get one on natural resources.


    Even the roads here seemed to be built for the explicit purpose of helping the industry. They were far larger than normal roads back in the city, having plenty of room for the smaller machines and trucks.


    The streets were almost entirely barren too, at least outside of the workers transporting resources. It was as if everyone in the city was at work, and only a few stragglers wandered the streets. I cast one last look around the sand-blasted city before driving back down to the road.


    I¡¯ll stay in Sunderland for the night and head on to the last location of the Leper-Khans in the morning. Maybe I could walk around the City for a while? This  my first time ever going to another city other than my birthplace. Sure, it didn¡¯t look like there was much to see, but surely there was , right?


    I pulled up the information for one of the very few hotels in Sunderland on my Mapp? and headed to it, keeping an eye on my surroundings as I went. Sunderland seemed to mostly have three types of establishments with only the occasional outside type; industrial, food, and housing. There were barely any entertainment areas outside of bars and clubs, at least from what I could see. Maybe I shouldn¡¯t go out after all¡­


    I booked a room on the Net so I could avoid¡­Eww. After I got the temporary passkeys, I parked my bike in the garage and headed out. I still had quite a bit of time, and I wanted to get a scope of Sunderland, my first external execution.


    Sure, it was a mining boomtown and not all that impressive outside of corporate factories, the smog made the air suffocating without my mask, and almost everything was stained in a mixture of black and gray, but there was a sense of beauty to it from the sheer difference from Aythryn City. I dunno¡­ it was definitely a biased opinion.


    Under the layers of ash and soot sat tags that had once been fresh. Really, it wasn¡¯t surprising. I could leave the gangs, but the gangs could never leave me. It was almost second nature to look for tags by this point, and I saw plenty of them around. Most were marked with some kind of pickaxe or drill, and there weren¡¯t nearly as many as in the city, but they were still there.


    People and traffic intensified as the minutes ticked by, the workers probably being released from the mines and set out on the various bars across Sunderland. I¡¯m sure not all of them were miners or factory workers, but their stained clothes and skids sure suggested it.


    Interestingly, only a few wore masks like I did. Most simply wandered around breathing in the air as if it wasn¡¯t a problem. Confusion settled in my mind for a good several minutes as I watched the people until I remembered they made automatic filtering augments for chrome lungs these days.


    Maybe I should look into getting one? Ugh- or maybe not. My last ¡®upgrade¡¯ had almost been my  upgrade. At least a month. I''d wait at least a month before making any important decision concerning that.


    Regardless, I walked around the town more, enjoying the new views and scenes that felt shockingly cool and interesting for how mundane they actually were. Eventually, though, I returned to my hotel, ready for a night''s sleep.


    The next morning, I briefly cleaned up my bike the best I could, especially paying attention to the thermoelectric semiconductors and getting all the sand out of them. It would seriously suck for my bike to break down once I got out there.


    I spent a bit topping off my bike with AE3 and myself with Jack¡¯s Sun Kicker, and then I was off towards my destination as the fragmented sun attempted to get through the smoggy sky. According to the fixer, the Nomads were last heard from about half a day¡¯s travel north of Sunderland.


    The travel out wasn¡¯t nearly as comfortable as the trip to Sunderland. There was no road or anything of the sort, so I was back to driving over the course dunes. I had to dodge between rock outcroppings and go around the occasional mine under the watchful gazes of corporate security, but all of that faded the further I got from Sunderland till it was just me, myself, and I headed deeper into the mountainous desert.

 Chapter 74

    Chapter 74Was- was this it? I checked my Mapp? again and again, lining up the landmarks on the satellite imagery and comparing them to the location Athena Alexandria gave me. There¡¯s no way, right?


    Although I didn¡¯t know much about the Nomad group, the Leper-Khans were supposed to be a prominent nomadic group known for their scavenging skills. They moved in massive camps, well protected from any of the more vulture-like nomads looking for easy pickings.


    I looked around the camp I found from my perch atop the closest mountain, wondering how exactly it came to this. The camp sat in the middle of several dunes, small lookouts erected on each one. Or at least, small lookouts  been built upon each one. They were all knocked over, the towers in pieces.


    I pulled my binocs out of my bag, sorely missing the dual-zoom augment of the Advent Phantom as I looked about. The camp itself was tossed like a salad, with bits of tents and temporary abodes scattered around the entire area. Personal belongings hid under the pieces of the camp, left behind as if the entire place had been evacuated instantly.


    Vehicles were scattered around as if the Nomads had just left them behind. Bits and pieces of equipment, metal, and tools were just left behind in the sand, glinting in what little of the light made it through the faint smog.


    The entire scene was¡­ odd. The camp looked as though they had been attacked, yet I couldn¡¯t see any bodies amongst the rubble. Sure, I was far off, so they might be hidden below the rubble, but surely I would¡¯ve seen at least one crumpled form.


    For a moment I even questioned if this was the Leper-Khan camp in the first place and not an ancient battle site. It was just too clean to have been a recent development- like in three days. That question was answered as I spotted the plethora of markings across the tents. A short, disfigured man wearing what looked like red fur armor was painted onto most of them. I guess Leper-Khan was quite literal in this case.


    Where would they have gone if there weren¡¯t any bodies? It looked like all of the vehicles were still here, so the Leper-Khans couldn¡¯t have just left, right? Were they¡­ abducted? But surely they would¡¯ve fought back, and there would be more signs of a fight.


    Too bad I don¡¯t have a drone to get a closer look. Maybe I should look at building one? Hmm¡­ I don¡¯t think I can quite get around to that yet. Maybe I could make a cheap sling or something to launch my Scouters further then? That would be a good alternative¡­


    Unfortunately, those were all ideas for the future. Seeing as none of those were viable at the moment, I stowed away my binoculars and kicked my bike into gear. I slowly made my way down the side of the mountain and to the camp proper, keeping an eye on the camp for any sign of movement or detail I missed.


    As I approached, I felt an ethereal tingle of Insight. Flicking on Aetherial Perception with a thought, I was surprised to find the entire Leper-Khan camp filled with an ethereal aura. Unlike in the past, this one was dark as if someone had put a pitch-black blanket over the place- no, that wasn¡¯t quite right. It didn¡¯t look pitch black, but the deepest, darkest red.


    It was unsettling to look at, and as I slowly drove into the camp, goosebumps broke out across my skin. There was a certain¡­ maliciousness in the air. It felt as if the very air was hostile to my presence, and the brief desire to delta crossed my mind. I mercilessly crushed it; I needed to complete this gig and get paid, otherwise all that driving would¡¯ve been for nothing.


    I wasn¡¯t the only one to feel the unsettling air either. There weren¡¯t any animals anywhere¡ªno scavengers, vultures, or signs of small rodents in a large area surrounding the camp. I felt a chill down my spine at the realization entirely unrelated to Insight.


    Speaking of Insight, as I approached I felt an insidious cool. It wasn¡¯t quite a danger warning, but definitely an unsettling vibe as if something could go wrong at any moment. Once more, the thought to just delta crossed my mind.


    I slowly made my way through the camp, finding the occasional blood stain, but still no bodies. There were even valuables still left behind in the camp, of which I was tempted to just¡­ yoink. Pissing off a Nomad group by taking their stuff while nobody was home wasn¡¯t exactly the best idea. Now, if I just so happened to conclude that the entire camp had been wiped out¡­ Well, free loot is free loot.


    I parked my bike in the middle of the camp and looked around. For once, I actually had the opportunity to use the core feature of the Advent Ghost, the Genetic Optical Node Enhancer. I hesitated as I booted up the program with a thought, my Neural Link feeding it into the cyber-eye. An overlay popped up, showing the program.


    Did I really want to just use it raw? What if it overloaded my Neural Link¡­ Hmm¡­ No, not worth the risk. I messed around in my saddlebags till I found my deck and pulled it out.


    After booting it up, I plugged in my wrist jack and started to go through the deck before I found the right connection port to my eye. From there, the program transferred from my eye down onto the deck.


    I looked around at the program for a while, messing with it as I tried to figure out how to get everything to work. I really should¡¯ve tested this function back at the apartment instead of out in the field in a recently savaged camp¡­


    After a bit, I managed to find the right way to run it and directed my eye to a small pool of blood under a tent. With a mental command, a loading circle popped up in my vision and a little pinpoint appeared on the blood stain. I held my eye perfectly still for several minutes as the thing analyzed the genetic makeup of the fluid, after which the circle disappeared.


    I checked back onto my deck to see the ¡®Template Catalog¡¯ function now held ¡®Sample A¡¯. From here, it looked as though I could directly transfer ¡®Sample A¡¯ into the ¡®Scanning¡¯ function of the program and start the GONE program in full.


    Overall it took several minutes, of which most of the time was just trying to hold still and not mess up the initial recording process of the eye. I looked around the wanton destruction, several different flicks of blood and DNA everywhere¡­ This was going to take a while.


    I moved around the camp, scanning every chance I could get. As I grew more comfortable with the process, the time it took slowly started to whittle down till I could get one scanned and uploaded to the Catalog in just a minute.


    By then though, I grew tired of the process. I had been actively swapping out the sole ¡®Scanning¡¯ template as I walked around, and none of the polls matched the other hundred percent. There were some matches, but most of them were in the way of familial recognition of like DNA rather than the same person.


    It was insanely weird. With the amount of blood everywhere, the injured people should¡¯ve left a trail I could follow at the least. And yet, it was almost as if the victims vanished into thin air, leaving neither trail nor body.


    And it wasn¡¯t as if a group had driven into the camp and snatched the bodies either! That theory was shot down when I noticed no new vehicular tracks across the entire area. Unless said hypothetical group walked into the camp and picked up every single corpse manually, which was a shit ton of effort, it was highly unlikely.


    I walked up to yet another collapsed tent, dry blood splattered across its surface in another bizarre scene. The chill of Insight I had been feeling the entire time focused for a brief moment, giving me a bit more direction. Sear?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Their corpse hadn¡¯t left a mark. I looked around, seeing the same thing in the other areas. Whenever the victims had been killed or whatever, they hadn¡¯t hit the ground. There wasn¡¯t piled-up sand nor bunched-up debris from the impact, just nothing. Sure, the shifting nature of the desert could¡¯ve helped cover it up, but for every single spot to be the same? Highly unlikely.


    Just what the hell was going on?


    I left the tents and moved over to the vehicles scattered about the place. They were by far the most bizarre thing about the entire situation. Sure, the camp being totaled was odd, but vehicles were literally the MO of Nomads. Without their supped-up cars, trucks, and bikes, were they even really Nomads?


    So, by a continuation of that thought process, what kind of Nomad would ditch their vehicles?


    I moved over to one. It was a large HV with its blocky style and high mobility; a Sentinel Prowler, I think. I faintly remember driving one back during the learning process for Land Vehicles. The Nomads had kitted out the vehicle with some high-grade ballistic armor and an HMG turret on the roof of the vehicle.


    I checked it over, finding the door surprisingly unlocked. After a bit of shopping around the vehicle and popping open the truck, I found out why. The entire electrical system for the off-road car was fried, leaving the maglocks and the rest of the vehicle dead. The Nomads wouldn¡¯t have been able to drive off even if they wanted to. It would take a full rewiring of the thing to get it running again. I might be able to do it with my current Tech knowledge, but it would take quite a bit of time.


    I also checked the turret, finding it to be a .50 cal belt-fed machine gun of some kind. It looked faintly Sentinel, but someone had drawn all over it with spray paint, covering up most of the normal markings. It matched the rest of the camp in its weirdness; it sat fully loaded, not a single shot fired. Whoever, or whatever considering the malicious aura, attacked the Leper-Khans hadn¡¯t even been fought off.


    I went around checking the rest of the vehicles and electrical devices, including some highly specialized radio equipment, to find them in the same state as the Prowler. It''s as if everything electrical had been killed in an instant. And I say in an instant thanks to some of the clocks around the camp all being frozen at the same time. Whatever happened here happened fast, probably before the Nomads could even think of putting up a fight.


    Just what happened here? Nothing made any sense. I walked around the area looking for more clues, but they all proved as inconclusive as what I already found. Eventually, I set my sights outward, finding several prints outside as if the Nomads had run away from their camp. Most had tracks going from and to the camp though, as if they had come back.


    I walked around the perimeter of the camp, eventually stumbling across a mass exodus of footprints leading back up toward the mountains.

 Chapter 75

    Chapter 75After a bit of indecision, I decided to leave my bike behind. If whatever short-circuited the Nomad¡¯s vehicles was still active with whoever left the camp in a mess, I didn¡¯t want it to be fried. I would lose out on an immediate escape, but it would be even worse if I was stuck out here with an hours-long repair before I could leave the area.


    For a similar reason, I also decided to leave the Sat phone behind. Not before calling in to Athena though. ¡°Hello?¡±


    The brick of a phone crackled to life. Athena¡¯s voice was muted, covered up by a static buzz. ¡°Copy. Have you arrived yet?¡±


    I looked around the camp. ¡°I think so. This place was totaled almost entirely. No Leper-Khans, or even corpses of them. Just some blood and a lot of broken machinery.¡±


    Her reply came several seconds delayed. ¡°¡®Was afraid of that¡­ is there anything salvageable?¡±


    ¡°Chek Chek. A lot of stuff. The electronics are toast, but I could probably get them up and running with some time. I also found a trail leading into the mountains. Might be the remnant Leper-Khans.¡± I replied.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ or an ambush¡­ Look around the camp for a black box. About the size of a small book. If you find it, bring it to me without opening it. I¡¯ll multiply your pay by ten.¡± The static crackling of the Sat phone grew incredibly loud for a moment. ¡°Otherwise, go and see if this ¡®remnant¡¯ group has it. Remember, don¡¯t open the box.¡±


    ¡°Chek Chek¡­¡± I slung the phone back into a saddlebag and looked around the camp once more. This box was worth twenty grand to Athena. Just what was inside of it? Some kind of high-tech superchip? Or maybe some kind of mystical item? Or even blueprints?! That  be par for the course. I wouldn''t say no to some free knowledge. Every little bit helped.


    Gah! I haven¡¯t even found the thing and curiosity already ate at my insides¡­


    I spent close to an hour wandering around the camp, checking each broken tent and under every bit of rubble for the black box she mentioned. Nothing. I did manage to find inside the largest tent several dozen shattered chains and useless padlocks, which was¡­ concerning.


    nothing¡­ oh, who am I kidding? The box was definitely locked up here. There was no way this could be anything else. I mean, the cryptic warnings not to open it, the shattered remains of a camp, the dark freakin¡¯ aura around the entire area?! They all pointed towards the box being some seriously bad news. Even if I did find it, did I want to risk my life for it? Was my life really worth a measly twenty grand?


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Although it would be nice to have that kind of pocket money... I could invest into some cool stuff, or even finally set up that stash for my future of thievery¡­ or save it for that 3-D printer I¡¯ve been wanting¡­ what was the question again?


    Whatever, probably wasn¡¯t important¡­ anyway, this box. It wasn¡¯t in the camp, at least that I could see. My best bet? Either a straggler ran off with it or that large exodus expedition had it. My bet was on the latter. If It was really worth so much to Athena, there is no way they would abandon it. Especially considering remnant Leper-Khans would need the Rayn to fix up their camp. Or whatever was left of it.


    That, and it would be the easiest to check off. Far easier to meet up with a large group than to go off and track down each individual track leading out into the desert. A large group probably wouldn¡¯t have made as much distance as a solo too, so chances were they camped out somewhat closer.


    I followed the trail for a while, which was rather easy all things considered. This part of the desert was decently cool thanks to the faint smog blocking out most of the sun, and there was no wind around me. Probably due to the mountains blocking most of it, if I had to guess. The path led to a short mountain, more like a large rock hill than anything, not too far off from the camp.


    I paused as the trail led up a winding path of sand into the desert mountains, Athena Alexandria¡¯s words getting to me as the rationally paranoid side of my mind kicked into gear. The path would be the perfect spot for an ambush. If I were to follow it, my vision would naturally be cut off by the winding nature of the path.


    The moment stretched on as I decided against it. Sure, it could just be paranoia, but I was better off safe than sorry. And it might very well be that the remnants of the Leper-Khans were the ones ambushing. If there even was an ambush. Their camp been ravaged what looked like a couple of days ago. They most definitely had  security.


    Instead of going up that part, I doubled back to a rock side of the mountain. It wasn¡¯t nearly as hospitable of a climb, but would hopefully be safer. Less chance of an ambush¡­


    I started at the base and slowly made my way up the rocks. The rock side of the mountain sat at about a seventy-degree angle, give or take a little. It wasn¡¯t necessarily a hard climb as I clambered up it, and wasn¡¯t nearly as draining as I felt it should¡¯ve been. Hell, I had been exhausted from a set of stairs, and now here I was; climbing the side of a mountain without issue.


    Granted, it was more like climbing baby''s first rock wall thanks to the angle and plethora of natural hand and foot holds, but still. And it wasn¡¯t as if it was a small rock wall either. The thing stretched on and on, but eventually, I neared the top.


    With one last huff of breath, I pulled myself over the ledge, my limbs only feeling a little sore from what should¡¯ve been an exhausting climb. It was weird. This wasn¡¯t the first oddity I¡¯ve noticed recently either. Back when I was trying to get into Ruby¡¯s BBQ, my agility seemed to be much greater than it had any right to be.


    I mean, I know people get stronger by exercise, but, like, I don¡¯t exercise. I shouldn¡¯t have seen that much improvement over a short time¡­ hmm¡­


    I shook my head free of distractions and focused on my surroundings. I could think about all of this later.


    The cliff flattened out into a divot as if a massive monster had taken a bite out of the mountain. In this ¡®alcove¡¯ sat an abandoned mine. Long abandoned based on the rotting remains of wood and collapsed entrances. Broken down bits of ancient machinery, long scavenged of anything valuable, sat around like ghosts of a fallen empire. Rock outcroppings so rounded the cliff face like jagged teeth, giving me plenty of room to hide in.


    People moved about, no more than maybe ten or eleven. They had clothes similar to what I spotted scattered about the Leper-Khan camp, so it was an easy identification. They were Leper-Khans. Or at least what remained of the Leper-Khans.


    The group looked haggard, settled around patchwork tents and accommodations. Surprisingly, the group was made mostly of the elderly. A few teens were among the elders, probably within a couple of years range of my age.


    Where was everyone else though? Surely they couldn¡¯t be all that was left, right?


    Should I just go into their temporary camp? Announce my presence so as not to be attacked¡­ or sneak in and look around¡­ hmmm¡­ my instincts wanted me to be all stealthy and ¡®borrow¡¯ from this group, but, well, I was hired as a scout. What better way to find out what happened to the Leper-Khans than just asking one of them?


    How to do this though¡­ hmm¡­ I held back for a moment, activating my Perks as I tried to blend into the surroundings. Approaching from an off angle probably wouldn¡¯t be the best of introductions, especially considering the state the people were in. I was most likely better off just approaching from the normal path.


    I worked my way around the cliff side of the ancient mining area, keeping low and slow as I slunk my way over towards the winding path that originally led me to the camp. I made it without any hassle, nobody sounded an alarm or anything as I arrived closer to the area. I moved up a rock outcropping, getting some height as I looked over the path.


    Two people stood guard, seemingly the only two normal adults in the camp: a man and a woman. The woman had seen better days with bandages wrapped around her face and torso, already stained with sand and blood. The man was in significantly better shape. I couldn¡¯t see any indication of an injury. Both were armed with assault rifles and what looked like lightweight ballistic vests.


    They both stood on either side of the path, using the natural curvature of the mountain to block someone coming up¡¯s view. A massive machine sat in the path, forcing it into a narrow section just wide enough to stand comfortably. Perfect cover, assuming no one brought a gun that could punch through the rusty metal, of course.  Not necessarily an ambush as much as a well-placed outlook¡­


    I pulled out one of my Scouters and pressed the power button. I crept to a better position and set the device up to spectate the guards before looking around the area more.


    I found a couple of other people keeping guard, though not as well as the first two. They stayed close to the camp, giving someone like me ample opportunity to sneak around. Three other adults and four armed older teens prowled around the outskirts of the camp, keeping the elderly and younger ones safe. They all held similar rifles to the ones the guards used. S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I slunk back over to the place I came up, using the rocks and machines as cover the best I could. I gave one final glance at the place, marking everything that seemed important into a mental map, and worked my way back down the mountain.


    The journey down wasn¡¯t nearly as smooth as the journey up. I was moving down first and foremost, and I took my time so as not to slip and fall. Not too much time considering my Scouter only had thirty minutes of battery, but enough so I wouldn''t fall off by accident.


    It took quite a bit of work to focus my mind, blocking any thoughts of slipping and falling. It helped somewhat. I continued my descent, slowly working towards the ground one rock foothold at a time. Sweat finally started to trickle down my brow as I made it to the last dozen feet.


    Then, before I knew it, I was back on the sandy embrace of the ground, the fine particles wrapping around my feet as if to show me how much it missed me.


    Once down, I made my way back around and to the winding path. I made sure to kick as many pebbles and as much sand as I could, making enough noise someone would definitely hear me coming.


    I popped the Scouter¡¯s view into my HUD, the image quality coming across as fuzzy and grainy thanks to not only the distance but also due to the cheap nature of the transceiver. Definitely something I needed to replace when I got the chance. And the battery life too. Thirty minutes was too much of a limiting factor.


    As I worked my way up, I couldn¡¯t help but question my decision. I had absolutely no guarantee they wouldn¡¯t just shoot me and be done with it. Sure, Athena said they were as peaceful as lambs, but that wasn¡¯t exactly reassuring. Any Nomad group out in the desert had to be well-versed in combat.


    Right as my will to continue started to fade, I arrived at the machine blocking the path. I checked the cam footage, ready to bolt if one of the guards looked to be overly hostile. Maybe it wasn¡¯t too late? I could leave and pretend-


    ¡°Who goes there?¡± A male voice called out from behind the machine. In the Scouter, I spotted the man checking his gun. A moment later, he turned the corner made by the machine, his rifle low but ready. ¡°Who¡­ are you?¡±

 Chapter 76

    Chapter 76The man wore what I would expect of a desert dweller. Baggy clothing capable of blocking out the sun and yet thin and light enough to keep cool. A mask clung to his face, a staple for this part of the world. He gripped his rifle tighter in his hands, his knuckles turning white with the pressure.


    I placatingly raised my hands and flashed the most innocent smile I could. ¡°Woah there, friendly! Friendly! Athena Alexandria sent me.¡±


    ¡°Athena?¡± The man frowned, and what I could see of his face sinking with emotion that seemed to work through his entire being. There was an equal amount of rage and maybe fear? Hard to tell with the many conflicting Cues. The mask covering the lower half of his face also didn¡¯t help. The moment passed and his face twisted into a calm facade, though his eyebrows were still knit tightly in poorly disguised anger.


    I held my hands further apart, watching the Scouter¡¯s camera overlaying my HUD for the other guard. She maintained her position, though she seemed to grow twitchier with every second that passed.


    I hadn¡¯t noticed before since I only used it up close, but it was kind of difficult to make out any details with the camera being of a poor quality. They really cheaped out on their robots¡¯ optics, huh? Something else I needed to think about when rebuilding the device. Of course, assuming I had enough Rayn to get better supplies. I really hope this group has that box.


    ¡±Chill mikato, I mean no harm. Athena-.¡±


    ¡±Quiet! Let me think¡­¡± The man snapped at me as he lowered his rifle entirely. His face twisted into a grimace as he tapped his foot against the ground. ¡°Okay. Okay, follow me. No funny business though. No one here will hesitate to put you in the sand. ¡±


    ¡±Chek chek, after you.¡± I slowly lowered my hands, subtly activating Hidden Hands as I kept my hand close to my gun. Now that I had an in, there shouldn¡¯t be a fight. Keyword: shouldn¡¯t¡­ though my chances of getting out of here alive if things went south were incredibly low.


    So things just couldn¡¯t go south¡­ and it isn¡¯t like I¡¯m an enemy. We, the Leper-Khans and I were both hired by the same person, so we be allies¡­ . There was blood in the air though, and I couldn¡¯t say with a hundred percent certainty that things would go down the way I logically expected considering the state of the group.


    I followed him through the narrow passage by the machine, feeling an increasing sense of claustrophobia as I entered the path to their camp fully. In the Scouter¡¯s overlaid HUD, the woman flinched as the man came in, looking like she might shoot at any moment. ¡°Tabur? What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Now that I was closer and didn¡¯t have to contend with the grainy view of my Scouter¡¯s feed, I could see the hints of chrome under the bandages, the edges seeming to ooze a constant stream of blood. They were too covered up to tell what kind or even what corp made them, but they looked like they were still active.


    The man seemed to imitate me, placatingly lowering his hands. ¡°Relax, Cota. Would you take her to the elder? I¡¯ll- I¡¯ll stay and keep guard.¡±


    The injured woman¡¯s shoulders dropped as her entire complexion seemed to fall. ¡±What¡¯s the point? It¡¯s not like we¡¯ll even be able to stop that- that


    if- when it comes back-¡°


    Tabur coughed lightly, cutting the woman off before I could get any more details. Still, she had said enough. That . What an unsettling statement. Was it just one entity that wiped out the entire camp then? Just what could¡¯ve one-sidedly turned over a camp of Nomads without much of a fight? I only knew the common monsters of the dunes, and nothing came to mind that could accomplish such a feat.


    Definitely wasn¡¯t Dune Walkers, that much was sure. They were powerful, but they moved in groups¡­ it could be a variant I guess? Did Dune Walkers even have variants? Gah, I should¡¯ve done some more research before coming out here. Stupid, stupid Shiro.


    ¡°Just take her to the elders. Oh, and go take a rest to change your bandages. Blood is starting to seep through again.¡± He adjusted his face mask and then returned to his original position, though he kept his eyes on me.


    ¡°Follow me.¡± The woman sighed and slung her rifle over her shoulder. Her hand caught a faint beam of sunlight, reflecting off the metal. It was interesting. Everything that had been electronic down in the camp had been disabled, and yet the woman¡¯s chrome seemed to work just fine. It wasn¡¯t some kind of localized EMP then¡­


    I tried to pass along a friendly smile, even going so far as to imitate Mira¡¯s cheer. ¡°¡®Course!¡±


    Cota just glared at me as she squared herself up and led the way into the camp. ¡°Nova.¡±


    As we walked around the bends, I minimized the HUD for my Scouter. The additional vision was nice to keep track of things, but trying to watch two things at once was starting to make my stomach toss and turn. Something I would need to practice if I wanted to use the device more consistently.


    We worked our way up into the flattened part of the abandoned mine. Several people turned over expectantly, only for what was visible of their faces to become clouded with disappointment and suspicion at seeing my sma- lithe form.


    It was an interesting dynamic to witness, and one I could empathize with. Nomad groups were practically large families, and they must¡¯ve been looking forward to seeing just one more familiar face. Then that ember of hope was crushed as they spotted a complete stranger striding into their camp.


    A rogue breeze carried through the camp, nearly knocking over the several tattered tents. It felt cool. Too cool to be from the desert heat. I shivered as the breeze cut through my jacket like it wasn¡¯t even there.


    Cota didn¡¯t stop for a second and led me to the elderly group in the middle of the camp. All but one of them took the younger Leper-Khans aside, away from me. Not that I could blame them.


    ¡±And who is this?¡± The one remaining, an older man with a slight hunch to his back and what looked like oil all over his face asked as we approached. He wore the same-looking mask as everyone else in the camp. His voice sounded ancient, a low amount of kindness hidden under the rough rasp.


    ¡±Athena sent me. Your group fell out of contact.¡± I answered, stepping in front of Cota so as to establish myself in a bit more dominant of a position.


    The man nodded several times and motioned to a hunk of metal that had been pulled into the middle of the tattered camp. ¡°Please. Take a seat¡­ you¡¯ve seen our camp?¡±


    ¡°What was left of it.¡± I shrugged and took a seat on it. ¡°What happened here?¡±


    The man¡¯s shoulders shook as he ran a trembling hand down the side of his face. ¡°We were slaughtered¡­¡± His eyes seemed to cloud up as he looked off in the distance. A moment later he shook his head. ¡°You have a way to contact Athena?¡±


    ¡°Chek. Not with me though¡­ I could try and repair your radio systems back down in the camp, given the time.¡° I offered.


    ¡±That would be nova¡­ ah, maybe I should introduce myself. Eobar, the temporary leader of the Leper-Khans till ours either returns or¡­¡± He shook his head. ¡°Athena give you any instructions?¡±


    ¡±Only to find the Leper-Khans and a small black box that should never be opened.¡± I looked around the camp, eager for that twenty thousand Rayn. ¡°Don¡¯t suppose you know where it is?¡±


    His eyes momentarily flicked to one of the tattered tents. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t. Even if I did, that thing is cursed. Best it stays out of human hands for as long as possible.¡±


    Cursed? Fucking hell; it was just my luck to be tasked with retrieving a cursed object in the middle of a desert. What¡¯s next? Ghost, ghouls, or Dune Walkers were going to attack?  Maybe all three? Speaking of terrible occurrences, Sentinel would also ¡®happen¡¯ to track me down just as they attacked.


    ¡°Hypothetically speaking-¡°


    ¡°There is no box hypothetically. Let sleeping dogs sleep.¡± The elderly man frowned. He opened his mouth to speak more-


    A sharp keening cry came across the camp, cutting off every bit of noise under its all-encompassing might. It sounded like the screech of an elk; or at least what the holo-zoos showed for an elk¡¯s cry. It was sharp and high-pitched, though this one was warped almost as if someone was crying. The cry echoed, ricocheting off the mountains and seeming to double in amplitude with each passing moment. S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The sound was haunting and caused an immediate headache to form as I clutched at my ears. Before I could recover from the screech, my chrome eye glitched out, only returning to normal as silence descended upon the camp. Well, it''s mostly normal. The camera¡¯s connection had been cut off entirely, leaving me with no eyes on the way into the camp. I should¡¯ve had several more minutes of battery.


    The silence that followed was deafening, unnaturally so. It felt like the entire world had been put on mute, the sound waves trapped as they trembled in the air. An unnatural chill followed the screech, turning the desert air cool enough that I could probably see my breath if I wasn¡¯t wearing a mask.


    Everyone in the camp froze, several bursting into terrified tears as they moved. Most fell to the ground, gripping their heads as they just laid out. A couple ran into their tents as if they were trying to hide. Hide from what exactly-


    My body froze up, locking together as Insight sent a cold so dominant and powerful it was all I could feel. It wasn¡¯t a mere warning of danger. It was death. Death was imminent. There was no escape. Only death.


    The cold was overwhelming, but I had already faced death once. Twice. An uncountable amount of times back when learning Fox¡¯s Paw. This much wasn¡¯t enough to keep me down. I shook off the shocking chill as best I could and stood up.


    I looked towards the elder of the remaining Leper-Khans, finding his face frozen in a sheet of white. He chartered as a strangled cry came from his throat. He slammed his eyes shut, throwing himself to the ground. Sand and small rocks flew from his impact site. ¡°D-don¡¯t look at it. Whatever you hear, don¡¯t open your eyes!¡±


    All around me, the Leper-Khans followed in as they closed their eyes and tried to just curl into a ball and disappear. For a moment, the cold warning of imminent death faded, replaced with a small glimmer of hope.


    If it was just the man telling me to not look at whatever was coming, I would have ignored it. Not looking at your attacker was incredibly stupid. How was I supposed to fight back if I couldn¡¯t even see what was attacking me?


    And yet Insight more than backed up the man¡¯s claims; the deathly chill pushed me to just close my eyes and follow the rest of the camp. To curl up and not react to anything.


    I followed the man¡¯s advice, closing my eyes as the chilly air seemed to only grow colder. I dropped to the sand, the warmth remaining in it comforting my body as my whole body felt like chattering worse than when I activated Cold-Blooded.


    A moment passed as the unnatural silence stretched on. The only things breaking it up were hushed whispers around the camp and several people sobbing uncontrollably.


    It was suffocating. And then something changed. Oh, how I longed for silence.

 Chapter 77

    Chapter 77Insidious whispers broke out all around me, seemingly coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once. The temptation to look around, to try and catch a glimpse of whatever was happening, ate at me. Only the frozen cool of Insight kept me from doing so. Its warnings of death being all around me only seemed to increase as the volume of the whispers did till the point I was surprised my flesh didn¡¯t freeze over entirely. My blood sure felt frozen as it pumped through me though.


    The whispers turned to voices, to crying desperate voices. Far off, as if the whispers were trying to bury it, I heard a cry. A childlike plea. ¡°Mom?¡± Then the voice faded entirely, lost in the sea of whispers.


    The whispering abruptly stopped as if whatever was happening was all just a lie. Slowly, the sound of a gentle breeze blowing reached my ears even if the breeze didn¡¯t. Several birds even chirped as the light seemed to fade from the thin parts of my eyelids. Childish laughter spawned around me as the tone shifted entirely.


    A voice, a woman¡¯s voice, called out to me. It sounded familiar, so close to the faint memories of my mother¡¯s voice and yet not quite there. It was full of joy and cheer just the same as she had always been. ¡°Ah, there you are! I¡¯ve been looking all over for you.¡±


    For a moment, I wanted to believe it. I wanted to open my eyes and see Mom just one last time, even if I knew she wasn¡¯t really there. She was dead though. Dead and gone. Her and my dad both. I had seen their bodies before they were cremated. This was just a faulty illusion.


    The birds'' chirping faded down to a lower pitch as the woman infectiously laughed, speaking as if she could read my mind. ¡°C¡¯mon silly, no wonder you can¡¯t recognize me. How are you supposed to recognize me with your eyes closed?¡±


    The birds stopped chirping, and the woman spoke again. Her voice sounded off in the absolute silence. A bit of her joy faded, turning to sadness. ¡°Oh don¡¯t be that way! It¡¯s me. Just look. You¡¯re hurting my feelings¡­¡±


    ¡±Please?¡± She whined, her voice growing more distant as if this was my last chance to see this ¡®familiar¡¯ person.


    The tone shifted entirely, turning into an angry snarl as a different voice spoke. This one familiar in a different way. It was similar to a voice I never wanted to hear again, even had the same accent as it screamed in rage. The voice rolled with rage and writhed with wrath. ¡°Look! Just look at me! How dare you! After everything you¡¯ve done, you can¡¯t just look away and pretend you can¡¯t see me!¡±


    Something big and heavy hit the ground somewhere around me, clattering against the small rock outcroppings.¡±Fuck you bitch! You did this to me! And now you can¡¯t even bother to look at me.¡± The twisted voice yelled at me to the point I could even feel spittle smack my face.


    I buried my head in the sand, feeling the course material press up around my mask as I tried to drown out the voices. I couldn¡¯t resist in the slightest, at least if Insight could be trusted. I didn¡¯t even know what it was, let alone if I could fight it.


    The rage and wrath billowed around me as in the distance I heard a different voice buried under the layers. A young boy called out, sounding around five or six years old. ¡°No! No, let me go! Help! Someone help!¡±


    I tried to remain calm as I pressed my hands into my ears, ignoring the shouts and cries for help. The voice sounded young. Too young. I don¡¯t remember there being anyone that age in the camp. This- this wasn¡¯t that bad. If it was just this much-


    My heartbeat picked up as something latched onto my leg. Not physically though. It was more of a phantom sensation. A bit like the ethereal vibe of Insight but with an absolutely vile feeling to it. It felt like rotting worms and wriggling maggots working under my skin, eating at my flesh. The phantom insects hardened to claws digging into my skin in a phantasmal feel.


    I kicked and twisted in an attempt to get away from the sensation, but it easily followed from me, digging deeper. The claw slowly slunk up my leg, only fading as a whimper came off from my side back over by where Cota had been.


    A voice, far deeper and guttural than anything I heard before, as if the very abyss spoke, muttered, ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll just kill you then.¡±


    I waited, expecting to feel a spike in Insight as it brought down a lethal strike onto me. Instead, it stayed the same. Paralyzingly cold yet tame at the same time. The trait had yet to fail me, so I put my full faith in it as I tried to block out everything happening around me.


    It¡¯s just a bluff, Shiro. If this creature could¡¯ve killed you immediately, it would¡¯ve already done so. Just stay calm and ignore it. Nothing will happen-


    Something- something warm and wet splattered across my cheek followed by a splattering of impacts across my clothes. I grit my eyes tighter, attempting to ignore the disgustingly slow movement of the liquid as it oozed down my face. It itched, an infernal burning just beneath my skin, as it slowly skittered down my face.


    I gave it my entire focus, feeling as it slowly worked its way down my chin, my neck, eventually working into my clothes. The warmth slowly faded, turning to an icky chill as a rogue desert breeze teased past its path.


    I tried not to think too deeply about it as I retracted into the back of my mind the best I could, attempting to block out the world. The creature tried several different voices and tactics to get me to look at it, all of which I promptly tried to ignore the best I could.


    Some time must¡¯ve passed as I grew distracted, only a familiar voice drawing me out of my thoughts. It was the elder, speaking calmly. ¡±It¡¯s okay. You can open your eyes now¡­¡±


    For a moment, I was tempted to listen to him. To open my eyes. To see for myself. Only the frigid, death-guaranteed chattering of Insight across my body kept me from giving in to temptation. It beat and wailed against my mental state, demanding I just curl into a ball and wait. To ignore the world.


    The creature spent a long time trying everything it could to get me to look at it. It touched me with its phantom caresses of writhing insects, completely incapable of actually affecting me in any way. It shouted and cried, twisted voices and conversations to provoke me. Occasionally I would hear blips and cries of despair being abruptly cut off, but nothing else seemed to break through the unnatural silence.


    My body shivered uncontrollably on the desert sand. The heat had long since leached from my body, making the digging sensation of the sand feel all the more raw. I felt tired, so tired. The constant cold from the double attack of Insight and the cool air surrounding this demonic creature ate at my energy, leaving me entirely drained.


    Just as my physical strength waned, so did my mental. If something didn''t change soon, I was afraid I¡¯d crack under the constant assaults. I tried to bury myself deeper away, small rocks scattered in the sand cutting up into my face and arms as they drew blood.


    By the time the wounds stopped bleeding, the cool air slowly faded as the voices quieted down. They turned from the occasional scream back to normal voices. Then they receded down to mere whispers. Before long, the noise stopped entirely and quietly returned, though this time it wasn¡¯t an unnatural silence.


    The air slowly started to warm up as Insight finally calmed down, the constant chills of death halting entirely. Still, I stayed down for a while longer. Only once I was sure there was nothing did I finally peek open my eyes, scared of what I might see.


    Day had shifted to night at some point, only the moon and the brightest stars providing the bare minimum light. And yet I could see all too clearly. The camp sat in complete disarray, the tents ripped to shreds with several of the massive machines dented and tossed around as if they were mere toys. S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The Leper-Khans themselves were done. I looked around the camp, only spotting three other people among the once fairly sized camp. All of them were still on the ground. Splatters of dry blood dyed the sand red, not even remnants of their clothes or chrome left behind.


    After regaining my stability, I looked towards the elder. He was gone, just the same as everyone else. Only Cota lay still shaking in the sand, her eyes twisted tightly.


    I took a deep breath and just sat back down for a moment. Two. Three. I needed to decompress. Once I recentered myself mentally enough to keep moving, I shifted over to the woman¡¯s side. ¡°It¡¯s gone. You can open your eyes now.¡±


    ¡±I knew it was a trick. Got that street slicker too, huh?¡± She muttered bitterly before curling up tighter on herself.


    For a moment I wondered how I could convince her. Then I simply patted her head, remembering how it hadn¡¯t been able to imitate touch very well. ¡°It really is gone now.¡±


    She stilled entirely before slowly sitting up. Cota slowly opened her eyes, her bandages blocking her eyes slightly as she looked at me. Then the camp. She immediately slammed her eyes shut as tears began to pour out in droves.


    I sat there awkwardly as she wept, brushing sand off my body. She didn¡¯t keep crying for long before sitting up and wiping her face, forcing strength onto her face as she pushed herself off the ground and started to head over to the other still-living Leper-Khans.


    She turned her head back and pointed to the way out of the camp, tears still in her eyes. ¡°Just leave. Get out of here.¡±


    I mutely snuck over to the tent the elder had looked at, feeling raw all over. Not just physically, but mentally too. Everyone was down or to busy trying to collect themselves to notice me.


    I searched the collapsed tent for mere moments before finding a slightly opened black box, blood splattered all over it. I swiftly shut the thing and locked it up, giving one last glance around the area as I tossed it into my backpack. Small valuables were lying around, but I- I just didn¡¯t feel like stealing anything.


    I gave one last glance to Cota walking around rousing her kin and wandered back down to the path I came up on, which felt like oh so long ago. A blood splatter marked the wall with no sign of the man in sight. I knew by now what the splatters meant though.


    I made my way back down to the original Leper-Khan tent, thinking about the box the entire way. Should I even bring it back to the city? They called it cursed; was it the origin of the monster? Was it tied to the box?


    If this monstrous entity that could flatline others so easily if someone merely looked at it broke out in the city, it would cause thousands of deaths nearly instantaneously. Did I even want to risk the chance of bringing it with me?


    I half-heartedly looked it over with Aetherial Perception, finding a pitch-black malice barely contained by the box. There was so much hatred pouring off of it, that I myself felt wrathful before I swiftly shut off Aetherial Perception, cutting off the infectious emotion.


    What to do?


    ¡¸Request Received - Owl¡¯s Inquiry


    Owl would like the boxRequirement - Interface Expansion - Skill level >12Reward - ?¡¹


    ¡¸Request Received - Fuck ¡®Em


    Crow requests the box. Explicitly wants it to be known that he only wants it so he can break it and spite Owl. ¡®Kaw kaw KAWWW!¡¯Requirement - Interface Expansion - Skill level >12Reward - ?¡¹


    ¡¸Request Received - Gimme


    Fox wants the boxRequirement - Interface Expansion - Skill level >12Reward - ?¡¹


    Now what fresh hell was this?

 Chapter 78

    Chapter 78I stared at the interface window for a long time as I half-consciously walked towards the original base camp of the Leper-Khans and my awaiting bike. The interface was a welcome distraction from, well, what just happened.


    What all would happen during this Interface Extension? If it was a requirement to directly give over the box, then maybe it would expand my connection to the Eidolons. That was¡­ worrying. It''s not like I could stop leveling even if I wanted to anyway. And the only way I knew how to get rid of the interface was¡­ not quite an option. I rather preferred being alive.


    Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t a good distraction. I had to shift my attention away as I tossed the matter to the back of my mind. It was all stuff that would have to wait for this Interface Expansion once I got a skill to level twelve¡­


    My feet paused at the edge of the camp, a chill moving down my spine as I felt the familiar ickiness of the creature¡¯s malice. It¡¯s crazy how much things could change with just a simple shift in perspective. I rubbed a hand against my elbow in an attempt to calm myself. It didn¡¯t work.


    I cautiously moved through the destroyed camp, understanding what each and every blood stain meant putting an entirely different feel over the place. This was literally a ghost town. I stared at one bright spot of red reflecting a rogue beam of moonlight as my feet slowed their march.


    I almost became one¡­ that thought was sickening, nauseatingly writhing in my gut. That was the closest I¡¯ve ever been to death. Just one wrong move and it would¡¯ve been over¡ªno second chances. Not even the interface could¡¯ve changed that. If they had the ability to resurrect, Nathan, or whatever his name was, wouldn¡¯t have stayed dead. King of death, hah.


    Forcing myself to keep moving, I looked about the camp as I worked my way through it to my bike. The Leper-Khans were basically wiped out. Especially considering how many stains were here. I don¡¯t even an eighth of them escaped alive. Sure, there were a few left, but there was no way they could regain what they once had. That- that unseen entity wiped them out almost in totality.


    Which meant loot¡­ honestly, I just wanted to return home and not even grab anything. It felt weird¡­ I  want to steal. There¡¯s a first time for everything, I guess.


    I huffed a sigh as I lightly kicked aside a cracked jewelry box. Still, I would beat myself up later over not taking anything, so I went through the camp, remembering the areas I had already searched. Most of the stuff was too big, and unless I fixed up and hotwired one of the cars, I wouldn¡¯t be able to take it with me.


    Still, I went around and grabbed all the shiny bits and bobs I could find, some loose mechanical parts and pieces that looked promising, and even managed to take off one of the .50 cal from a vehicle. The .50 cal took a ton of space and I probably wouldn¡¯t ever use it, but it would look good in my stash at least. And when else would I be able to get the beast of a gun other than here? No way I could buy one in the city at an affordable price.


    After damn near loading up, and jury-rigging a strap for the massive gun as well as a ¡®borrowed¡¯ tarp to cover it, I straddled my bike. Thankfully it kicked on in one try, not shorted out like the tech that had been in the presence of the unseen monstrosity.


    Damn. Speaking of tech, I definitely forgot to grab my Scouter¡­ should I- should I go back and get it? But that would mean facing the Nomads again¡­ well, it was fairly cheap to begin with. And I needed to almost completely revamp my designs, so I¡¯ll just leave it¡­


    On that note, I checked my other Scouters to find them in a similar state as all the tech in the camp; shorted out. They were completely toast. Great. Just great.


    Well¡­ at least I escaped with my life? Could I even say I really escaped? More so that the monster just let me go than anything. Why did it leave in the first place?


    Thankfully, my phone and other gear were fine since I left that stuff with the bike. The sat phone was also good, which gave me pause as I pulled it out of my saddlebag. What do I even tell Athena?


    I didn¡¯t want to give the box to her. Not only because I was scared of what it would do in the city and didn¡¯t want buckets of blood on my hands, but also because the Eidolons took an interest in the thing. I didn¡¯t know who I¡¯d give it to yet, but one of them were definitely going to get it. What should I do with the box until then? I could leave it out in the desert somewhere¡­


    I reached for the phone and rang the woman up, carefully schooling myself so I wouldn¡¯t let any details slip. ¡°Hello?


    ¡±Copy. Report.¡± Her voice was short and clipped, and I could hear the background chattering of what sounded like a market in the background between static.


    ¡±The Leper-Khans are down to single digits. Some kind of monster that killed upon being seen¡­¡± I took a deep breath as I came to a decision. ¡±I- I didn¡¯t find the box. There¡¯s too much going on up here to track it anyway¡­¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Several seconds of static came across the satphones speaker as I adjusted my sitting position on the bike. ¡°Very well¡­ come on back. I¡¯ll report the item of interest¡¯s circumstances to the buyer. Cold Moon isn¡¯t going to like that¡­¡±


    For a moment, I thought I heard her say Cold Moon, but I chalked it up to the sheer tiredness. ¡°What about the pay?¡±


    ¡±The original as agreed upon. Two thousand. And don¡¯t forget to bring me back the sat phone.¡± The line went dead- er, went more static actually. I hung up and tossed it into my saddlebag.


    I drove back to Sunderland, only taking a short enough pause to get something to eat. Jack¡¯s Sun Kicker


    an effective replacement for food, but nothing beats a good ole burger sliding down my gullet¡­ I missed Big Mike. This burger didn¡¯t taste as good.


    I should go back when I get back to the city. His burgers were the best I¡¯ve ever eaten¡­ and the people there were less nosy. Everyone here kept staring at me weirdly. It was disconcerting. It felt like there was some big secret I wasn¡¯t privy to.


    I ignored the stares and looked out the window of the small burger shop, whose name I didn¡¯t even bother to look at since I would never return, and saw the short, black-stained buildings in all their smoggy glory. I missed the city. It was funny, all I ever wanted to do was leave in my youth. Yet now? Now I miss the familiarity of the known world. I wanted to go back. I to go back. That was a first.


    And way back when, I always dreamed of going out into endless forests and magical landscapes like any dumb kid would, not endless seas of Dunes prowled by lethal monsters just waiting to strike at one wrong step.


    At the moment, I didn¡¯t want to leave the city again. Maybe in the future, but for now I just wanted to go back to the familiar danger of Aythryn City. At least till I got stronger. I wasn¡¯t ready for this.


    I finished up the burger and headed for the hotel I got last night. I easily rebooked the room and took a long shower, just then noticing the trail of blood down my face and collarbone as well as the small cuts and bruises all over my body and clothes from the rubble when that beast attacked.


    No wonder people were giving you weird looks, stupid¡­


    Yet oddly the cuts and blood did little to detract from my looks. I dunno when it happened, but I had turned quite pretty if I do say so myself. Maybe I was finally maturing? Ah! Maybe I could even grow some more!


    The next morning I set out after filling up on AE3. My bike chugged smoothly, not even reacting in the slightest to all the strain I had been putting it through as I set off back down the Sunder Stretch. Not even the heavy .50 cal could keep it down, which was reassuring in a way.


    My wounds were already healed from Quick Healing, further proving it was a wise choice. My clothes? Not so much. I¡¯d have to get replacements soon¡­


    The drive was as long as it was tedious. I left the mountains, passing through miles of endless desert on all sides for hours. The only things of interest were the rare other drivers and the occasional Crusade Cruiser. Thankfully, before long I finally spotted the glow of light on the western horizon.


    I almost felt a tear drip down my face as the spectacle drew into view, the homesick feeling in my chest fading as I spotted Aythryn City once more. Just as the view made my homesickness disappear, it also put a weight on my back. I became intimately aware of the box as I slowly approached.


    Should I really bring it into the city? What if someone steals it? Or if the few remaining nomads were found and pointed me out as the likely thief? I would for sure be searched by whoever set up the contract to begin with.


    Too bad there aren¡¯t any volcanoes around here¡­ I could try breaking it, but what if that releases that monster instead of destroying it? And I definitely didn¡¯t want to bring it into the city where it could be found easier.


    Whoever set up the contract had enough money to fit a massive bill, so they couldn¡¯t just be nobodies. If it was an operator or Edgerunner, they would definitely use it without a second thought, not caring about casualties. If it was a corp? Good chance the box was just experiment fodder.


    It was much safer to just give the box to an eidolon. It was much safer to just give it to one of the eidolons. Specifically, to Crow. The interface message said he wanted it specifically to destroy it¡­ I would have to wait till one of skills gets to level twelve first though.


    Where to put it till then?


    I looked up and down the street, not noticing anyone, and then swerved off the road and into the desert. I drove a long way around the city, eating up my fuel as I moved to the north side. I drove up to my overlook area and hopped off my bike.


    Finding a nice, secluded area of this already secluded area was easy as I started to dig a deep hole. Sand piled up around me as the hole grew deeper. Then, I pulled the box from my bag.


    It was just a simple black box, looking entirely harmless in nature. What was even inside of it? I hadn¡¯t looked back at the camp¡­ I couldn¡¯t help but grow curious of what could cause such wanton chaos-


    No, stupid Shiro! Resist the temptation. I swiftly tossed the box into the whole, buried it, and hopped on my bike before I could do anything incredibly idiotic. Giving one last look to the spot, I kicked the bike back into gear and restarted my journey back to the city. Back to home.


    By the time I reached the outskirts of the city, the familiar scent of smog met me as I took off my mask. This kind didn¡¯t smell as toxic as it did in Sunderland and actually felt a bit comforting¡­ for all of five minutes before I threw the mask on for that sweet, sweet freshish air. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I desperately wanted to return to my apartment and just sleep. Just relax. Before then though, I need to finish this gig up. I cued it up on the map and headed for the Jagged Clover. I gave a polite nod the the tiny-handed bartender and worked my way back to the booth.


    Athena Alexandria was by herself this time as I entered, disassembling a rifle. Shen Kang maybe? Don¡¯¡¯t see too many of those out here¡­ probably some old-world paranoia about their products and the fact Sentinel and Raijin dominated the market in most of the FSA, if I had to guess.


    I held out the sat phone as I walked up to her. ¡°Here. Done as promised.¡±


    ¡±¡¯Course¡­.¡± She grabbed the phone and looked at me from head to toe. ¡°You look like you¡¯ve been through hell¡­ still, you did a fine job. Nothing you can do about the Leper-Khans being such big fuck ups. I had high hopes for that group too¡­ I¡¯ll call you again if I need to.¡±


    I gave her a half-hearted salute as the Rayn entered my account and headed for the door.


    ¡¸Tracking - 6>7¡¹


    ¡¸Perception - 5>6¡¹


    As I left, I had my PA pull my account information up into my vision. All of that work¡­ for two thousand and some levels¡­ was it worth it? Was this really a win for me?


    No. My gut instinct said no. This was not a win. Sure I got out alive with loot, but this didn¡¯t feel like a win in the slightest. If anything, it showed my weaknesses and fragility outside of a very small set of circumstances. I had been entirely helpless as that creature stalked about, muttering harassments to me. I needed to get stronger. To be better.


    But that would all cost money¡­ the best I could do now is polish my current skills and wait for another good-paying gig to pop up.

 Chapter 79

    Chapter 79I spent about a week just lazing around, enjoying my life, and trying to cool down after all that happened with the Nomads. I got back to work on my Doctor Absolom figurines, tweaking and messing around with them to get them to a higher quality. I even managed to find out how to make the 3D printer use a hexagonal print grid to further enhance the durability and strength of the toys. I doubt they would need the enhancements, but it was good practice for the future.


    It was a therapeutic and helpful time waster, but it wasn¡¯t the only thing I did during that time. For one, I talked to Mira and hung out with her quite a bit, which was nice. She was always¡­  at the least.


    During that period I thought long and hard about getting an upgrade to my chrome. I just- I didn¡¯t feel ready yet. I still felt the effects of Glitching even after all this time, though they were thankfully starting to fade away. That, and the whole¡­  with the Nomads had fouled up my mind. I was better off just waiting to be as normal as possible before getting a new piece of metal surgically implanted into my body.


    I did, however, still go and see Nael in that time for a checkup and to drop off the toys. Maybe in the future, I could start branching out into some other ¡®superheroes¡¯. He knew something was up the moment I stepped in. I didn¡¯t explain anything to him, but he still just sat by my side as we listened to reruns of some ancient music on the radio. It was nice.


    In his professional opinion, I need to take it easy for a while longer. Just sit back and relax. Enjoy the time off while I had it and reject any gigs that seemed like they would be taxing. It was obvious advice, ¡®course. And I agreed. My next gig, whatever it may be, would have to be slow-played.


    Basically, my key takeaway was to stay inside and locked up so nothing stressful would happen. For instance, my God-awful luck bitting me in the ass again, and something like Inquisitor Strumgard showing up. It was a completely irrational fear. That was a one-in-a-million fluke last time. Surely nothing similar would happen again, right?


    Just as all breaks did though, mine ended with a call from Feras of all people. I really didn¡¯t know what to expect as I picked up the phone. I hadn¡¯t spoken to the guy since the last time we ran together¡­ so much for keeping up a friendship. Mira, you are still my best - and only - friend.


    ¡±Hello? Zuku?¡± He asked, his voice low as if he were trying not to be heard.


    ¡°Yeah?¡± I replied as I set down my latest variant of the Doctor Absolom figurine. This one had a built-in speaker that gave inspiring voice lines. I copied down Nael¡¯s voice, with his permission of course, and ran it through an SAI so I could get it to say whatever I wanted, which was a fun project.


    ¡±Hey, you busy?¡± He asked, and in the distance, I could hear the chattering of voices. Young voices. What was going on?


    ¡±Not at the moment. You good, mikato?¡±


    He coughed lightly and his voice filled out a bit more and returned mostly to normal as the sound of a door thumping came across the speaker. ¡°Nova¡­ I¡¯m in the middle of a gig. I could use some help, especially from someone of your shor- supremely beautiful stature given the circumstances.¡±


    Weird. I could¡¯ve sworn I almost heard a death wish. Must¡¯ve been the wind. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡±Look, can we meet up and talk about it? This one is¡­ tricky. I can¡¯t crack it by myself. Pay is good though, in terms of gear and Rayn. You¡¯ll get a fifteen thousand split. The client has even offered late-stage experimental gear too, stuff that won¡¯t ever hit the market if you get my meaning.¡± He said.


    Ah, some good stuff then. The Rayn was good, about what I would expect from a dangerous or complicated type of gig. The gear was what was really promising though¡­ I was always in need of some more gear.


    I stared at the fifty cal in the corner covered up by a small blanket as I thought about his request. ¡°Uh- yeah. We can meet up. Big Mikes?¡±


    ¡±Sure! I¡¯ll meet you there¡­ and I¡¯ll bring along our other partner. He likes to eat, so he¡¯ll love to come.¡± A third guy, huh? Another grifter perhaps? I can¡¯t imagine another person as annoying and of similar looks to Feras. Still, a gig was a gig.


    ¡±And since this is a business meeting, I can expect you to pay?¡± I asked cheerfully.


    ¡±Gah- look- fine. I¡¯ll pay. Business expenses, I guess. In an hour?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª


    I adjusted my Slashers hat, tucking my long, messy ponytail under the brim. Unfortunately, I could never make a perfect ponytail and there were always loose locks and strands that blew into my face. Maybe it was about time I cut it?


    A small bell rang over the door, causing me to look over. Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t anyone I knew. A gaggle of corporate drones slouched into Big Mike¡¯s small restaurant, letting in a rogue breeze of pure humidity. Rain splattered to the ground around them as they headed for a booth.


    I zoned out as I rested my head on the table, taking the opportunity to just sit back and relax as the coolness of the table radiated up through my skin. The table itself reeked of half-washed burger grease and burnt fries, but that did little to put me off as I enjoyed the couple moments of silence.


    Then the bell rang again as a new group entered. Feras stepped into the store, followed closely behind by a massive guy big enough to contest Big Mike. He looked way younger though, probably closer to my age.


    I tiredly flopped a hand at the door. Feras immediately nodded to me and walked over, but his companion didn¡¯t follow. Instead, he looked dead on towards Big Mike. Big Mike stared back at the guy as a weird energy filled the space between them. It was a challenge. A provocative dispute none but the two of them could understand.


    Big Mike didn¡¯t even hesitate as he moved faster than I¡¯d ever seen him, firing up the grill in mere moments as he started not one, not two, but five of his supermassive burgers. Only then did Feras¡¯s friend seem to relax as he walked over to us with a cheerful smile on his face.


    Feras smirked as he slid into the booth, the scared little boy act he used to pull nowhere in sight. Only calm confidence with a hint of excitement shown as he sat down opposite me. ¡°Hey, Zuku-¡±


    His friend slammed down onto the booth¡¯s seat, launching Feras against the window with a light thunk. ¡°Oops¡­ you alright there-¡±


    I lifted my head off the table and leaned back into a more comfortable talking posture, the big guy going quiet as he looked at me. Was there something on my face? I ran a hand behind my ear and tried to smile innocently at him, Honest Face kicking in as I adjusted my expressions to the perfect one.


    Just as Feras peeled himself off the window, the big guy punched him hard in the arm. He fell black, splattering against it with a thunk twice as hard. His nose in particular hit the window hard.


    ¡°What the hell, Torren?¡± Feras cried as he recoiled from the window holding his nose.


    ¡±You didn¡¯t tell me-¡° He glanced at me then looked away. Then, he seemed to compose himself and held out a meaty paw towards me. ¡°Nice to meet you, I¡¯m Torren. Torren Schel.¡±


    I hesitated for a moment before grabbing his hand. Rather, before his hand completely smothered mine as we shook. ¡°N-nice to meet you too¡­ I¡¯m Zuku.¡±


    Feras leaned back towards the table, still rubbing at his face. ¡°Torren here is our bruiser. If there¡¯s a violent problem, he¡¯ll fix it. A self-proclaimed min-maxer.¡±


    Min-maxer? What does he do? Min on exercise and max on food? ¡°I feel safer already?¡±


    ¡°I get that a lot.¡± The big guy smiled broadly.


    Feras snorted and shook his head as he motioned to me. ¡°Zuku is an¡­ investigator, of sorts. And a thief, I think.¡±


    I nodded my head. ¡°So what¡¯s this about?¡±


    The table went silent for several moments as Big Mike walked over with several platters of burgers, a smirk on his face. Once more, Torren and Big Mike locked eyes, a conflict passing between them in a moment. This time, Torren receded and accepted the burgers as Big Mike triumphantly smiled, showcasing a rather large gap between his two front teeth. Then, he strode away full of confidence as his blubber swayed.


    Feras gave me a critical look before shrugging. ¡°Have you heard of SPS? Sentinel Private Schooling?¡±


    ¡°Um-¡° I paused as I searched through my memory. ¡°Not exactly. I¡¯ve heard of corporate schools though. Why?¡±


    ¡°Recently, SPS has had a few¡­ disappearances. Officially, they¡¯ve been marked up as Savants and Scavs doing their filthy work. Unofficially, there wasn¡¯t a proper investigation in the first place.¡± Feras sent a message which my PA promptly pulled into my HUD. There were twelve names on a list.


    Torren gulped down a burger easily. ¡°The corpos are too busy sticking their heads up their asses- err, rears to give it a proper investigation.¡± He spoke, his voice surprisingly clean. I was half expecting him to be more¡­ thuggy.  ¡°Which is where we come in.¡±


    Feras frowned at the other guy. ¡°I was getting to that¡­ our client is concerned about their daughter, Quora Kalis. Hence they hired me. I managed to track down their daughter¡¯s disappearance to be potentially related to the other eleven disappearances at SPS.¡±


    ¡±And then you got stuck?¡± It made sense. Instead of continuing to ram his head into a wall, he headed to me, an actual person somewhat skilled in investigation. Grifting can only go so far.


    ¡±Chek chek¡­ Listen the pay isn¡¯t all that great for something as dangerous as infiltrating a corporate school. That being said, the client has offered all new corporate identities to use.¡± Feras glanced around. ¡°As well as some cool tech.¡±


    I get why he wanted to bring me into the fold, but what about this Torren guy? Why did he need a bruiser? It was just a school- oh. Right, a school. It suddenly made plenty of sense. I was only in the school system for a couple years back before my parents died, but I remember it being dreadful¡­


    ¡±What¡¯s this tech?¡± Torren asked as he shoved another slice of burger into his maw. He didn''t know? Was Feras bringing him in at the same time as me?


    Feras glanced around at the people in Big Mike¡¯s and lowered his voice. ¡°They call it shock troop padding. Basically, it''s a set of pads that can bleed off momentum, allowing for a slower fall.¡±


    Damn, that was impressive. Already scenarios ran through my head of all the ways I could use something like that. Falls from high buildings after a heist or so, etching similar would become a viable escape. It would be invaluable in the cityscape.


    ¡°And the ID¡¯s?¡± I asked. I wouldn¡¯t mind adding another identity to my growing roster.


    ¡°Solid through and through. I¡¯ve been told that they will hold up under any level of scrutiny, and so far mine held up.¡± Ah, so Feras has already been established in the school long enough to test the ID¡­ has it really been that long since I talked to him?


    ¡°Sounds fun. I¡¯m in.¡± Torren said as he finished the last slice of burger, neither Feras nor I getting a bite to eat from the lot. He lifted his head triumphantly, what looked to be a gloating look on his face. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Off behind the counter, Big Mike watched us with a fire in his eyes. He didn¡¯t say anything, just grabbed his spatula and headed for the stove.


    ¡°I¡¯m in too, I guess¡­¡±


    Feras smiled brightly. ¡°Perfect! Your first day of school is in three days. The client will get the IDs in one.¡±


    I sighed as I rested my head back on the table. I guess summer was over then. It was time to head back to school.

 Chapter 80

    Chapter 80¡°You- you want me to wear this?¡± I held up the in disbelief.


    Feras looked confused, though I could see a bit of glee hidden in his eyes at my sheer discomfort. ¡°It¡¯s just a skirt? Haven¡¯t you worn one before?¡±


    ¡°I-its been a while.¡± Since back before my parents died to be exact. Skirts didn¡¯t exactly leave much room to hide a gun or klepped items. Looks like I would have to rely on Concealment and my Perks to make it through.


    ¡°Well, the SPS has a school uniform. You¡¯re going to have to squeeze into this. Don¡¯t worry, I made some modifications to help.¡±


    ¡±You calling me fat?¡± I¡¯d have to into it. He had to make some ? He was definitely calling me fat. I had been finally filing out to a perfectly healthy form recently with the help of daily nutrition from Crow¡¯s Canteen of Chaos, but surely I wasn¡¯t already fat.


    His face bled of all color. ¡°What- no- no I wasn¡¯t. It- it''s just a phrase. You are perfectly skinny and short, not a hint of fat on you.¡±


    Did he- did he just call me short? ¡°It¡¯s truly unfortunate,¡± I said as I stalked over to the fifty cal in the corner of my living room. Looks like it would have some usefulness after all.


    Feras, as if sensing the chill of death, slowly started to back away. He nearly ripped over a loose cord as he stumbled back to the door. ¡°W-what is?¡±


    ¡°That you died today-¡°


    ¡°Your ID is in the bag. See you at Big Mikes!¡± He bolted out the door, leaving behind the bag of uniforms on my work table. I stared at my door as it swung closed for a moment. Coward.


    Tomorrow was my first day back to school, and I couldn¡¯t be more ¡®excited¡¯. Today, though, we were supposed to meet up with the clients for the first time. Rather, Torren and I were supposed to meet the clients for the first time. Feras was already acquainted.


    Apparently, Torren was driving us which was¡­ uncomfortable. I¡¯d rather just take my bike, but the two insisted on a team bonding exercise. And because they only had one guest pass. I dunno, felt fishy to me. I fully loaded up, keeping my weapon¡¯s safety off and ready to draw if need be. Gah, it was moments like these I really wished I had spent more time practicing with guns.


    As I headed for the door, I took a sneak peek at the bag. It was full of uniforms neatly folded and placed in it, about a dozen off a quick count. Not only were there black skirts with bronze highlights, there was a white blouse, and brilliant red necktie.


    I also saw the ID they had gotten me. Apparently, I was now Lady Meno Maeni, the granddaughter of an archduke from the archipelago nation of Pyrus in the Eye Sea. Why exactly was I a noble? Couldn¡¯t tell you. I don¡¯t have a hint of nobility in my body, at least as far as I know. No telling what my ancestors got up to back before the world went to shit.


    I ran the ID myself as I headed down. Not only had they set me up as nobility, but an incredibly high-ranked nobility at that. It was simply unbelievable. And yet, as I pulled every bit of information I could about Pyrus¡¯s Maeni Duchy, I found information about Meno. Or of myself, I guess I should start saying. Meno Maeni¡­ what a weird name.


    The Maeni family was a reclusive noble family of Pyrus, tracing their origins back to before the World Wars way back to when the country first became a country. There was almost nothing on them on any platform I searched, which was good all things considered. Less information would give me more wiggle room if my ¡®origins¡¯ were questioned. That being said, I did manage to find pictures of ¡®me¡¯ in my youth on a .PY site from their government. It was damn impressive they managed to get so much done in a couple of days. S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The girl in the photos was almost an exact match for me, eerily so. If I didn¡¯t know better, I¡¯d say I was looking at a doppelganger and not the product of a regenerative image creator.


    They were a bit old-looking, but that could be explained away with some excuses about stylization or an older camera being used for ¡®traditional¡¯ reasons. It was extremely odd to see ¡®myself¡¯ in the boots of wealth and prestige considering my life thus far has been anything but.


    I wanted to look more, but unfortunately, the ding of the elevator notified me of my arrival at the bottom floor. Before I turned that part of my HUD off, I had my PA send a message to Shinobu. ¡®Hey, could you take a crack at this ID? Try and break it? I¡¯ll owe you one.¡¯


    As I stepped out into the rain, leaving my apartment, a reply came. ¡®No problem, mikata. I¡¯ll let you know if I find anything.¡¯


    I closed the HUD fully and headed for my bike, hopping onto it and starting the drive over to our meeting point.


    ¡ª¡ª


    Torren was already waiting out in the parking lot of Big Mike¡¯s as I arrived. He sat in a large, not-so-sleek sports car¡ª a Dioni Aria if I remember correctly. It was a bit annoying to drive since the gear shifter had a poor time shifting. The Aria was an extremely low-end sports car.


    It looked as if he had been here for a while considering the large bag of take-out burgers- of empty takeout burger wrappers. ¡°It¡¯s about time.¡±


    Feras rolled up a few seconds behind me, parking his mo-ped off in a parking spot. It was fitting, somehow, to see the guy drive a mo-ped. Feras took off his spiked helmet and headed over without hesitation or embarrassment. ¡°You get your uniforms? They were a pain in the ass to personally adjust, Sir Trovare.¡°


    ¡± Trovare?¡° I asked, feeling a sinking feeling in my gut as I approached.


    ¡°Ah yes, m¡¯lady. I am your esteemed knight, accompanying you to get outside education.¡± The big guy bowed slightly, seemingly finding some difficulty in dipping low.


    I watched the guy struggle to get as low as he could for a moment before arcing an eyebrow at Feras. ¡°What¡¯s up with that anyway? Couldn¡¯t have been cheap to set up something like this.¡±


    He shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t really know? We¡¯ll have to ask when we get there¡­ you ready, Torren? Or do you need a couple more minutes to get some more food to go?¡±


    ¡°Really? That¡¯s an option?¡± The big guy¡¯s face lit up, only to be brought back down as he saw Feras¡¯s expression. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m ready.¡± He sighed and cleaned up all the food wrappers, tossing them into the back of the car.


    The car was only a two-door, so Feras had to crawl into the back, stumbling amongst the wreckage of wrappers. Really, Torren¡¯s car was quite a mess. I don¡¯t see how he could find anything in here, let alone in a high-stress situation like a wreck or gunfight.


    I slid in behind Feras as Torren started up the car- or tried to. The engine turned over several times though nothing happened. ¡°Give me a sec.¡± The guy reached across my lap to the dashboard and retrieved a small black and red screwdriver. He slid it into a small gap just above the stick shifter and manually released it. Then, trying again, the car whirled into action.


    The whole sequence was practiced, showing the guy had an obvious familiarity with the car. ¡°Have to do that often?¡± I asked.


    ¡±About once every couple of times. A bit annoying, but not too bad.¡± He shrugged. ¡°What¡¯s the address?¡±


    ¡±Arisen Tower, off of Corporate Circuit.¡±


    ¡±Ah! The one that looks like a cross. Yeah, I¡¯m familiar.¡± Torren shifted the gear to drive and slammed on the gas pedal, pulling out into oncoming traffic without a hint of hesitation. Then he swerved over to the right lane and continued on as if nothing happened.


    I checked to make sure my seatbelt was as tight as it could get as Torren sped up. ¡°H-hey, uh, is there anything we should know?¡±


    ¡±About?¡± Feras calmly replied from the back of the car.


    ¡±Y¡¯know, about the school. Or the clients¡­ or anything?¡±


    Torren nodded and looked back at Feras. ¡°Oh yeah, I meant to ask about that-¡°


    ¡±You¡¯re drifting.¡± Feras cut him off as I watched in horror as we drifted ever closer to the other side of the street.


    ¡±Oh yeah¡­¡± Torren turned back to the street with a light chuckle. ¡°Forgot about that¡­¡±


    He forgot he was driving? Get me out. Get me out now! ¡°I-I think I can walk-¡°


    Feras sighed and I heard the sound of crumpled trash as he shifted around. ¡°A guy forgets he was driving one time¡­¡±


    ¡±That¡¯s pretty serious!¡±


    Torren squared his shoulders back and sat up ramrod straight. ¡°Don¡¯t worry; won¡¯t happen again, m¡¯lady.¡±


    I heard Feras laugh from the back as I tightened my grip on the oh shit handle above my door. ¡±He¡¯s just messing with you. This thing¡¯s got cameras on the front.¡±


    I¡¯m- I¡¯m not sure that made anything better. That meant half his vision was blocked by the cameras while he was driving. Granted, it wasn¡¯t completely insane. I was well aware of professional drivers who even fully jack into their cars to drive better and get more control. Not sure how much I trusted it personally.


    ¡±S-so, the school?¡± I asked again, welcoming a distraction to get me out of this shit show.


    ¡°Right!¡± I looked in the rearview mirror to see him grab his chin. ¡°Uh, basically, almost everyone there is an elitist pig. Don¡¯t worry, you both should fit in just fine considering your status as nobility.¡±


    ¡°Damn¡­¡± From what I remember, schools were already pretty bad with bullying and all that. Add in corporate elitists though? This was sure to be an interesting experience. Hey, at least I was on the elitist side of the fence for once. Maybe it wouldn¡¯t suck too much?


    Feras shrugged. ¡°It is what it is.¡±


    ¡°More importantly,¡± Torren eagerly asked, ¡°how good is the cafeteria?¡±


    ¡°They have a full selection of items-¡° I tuned out Feras¡¯s reply, not seeing the importance of such a thing. Instead, I thought more about what kind of persona I should try to go for. I was going to be a noble, and I couldn¡¯t exactly act the exact same now, could I? A noble acting like a street rat was bound to cause some conflicts. What exactly was noble-like behavior though?


    The car was silent by the time I turned back in. ¡°Hey, Feras? How should I act nobler?¡±


    Torren replied before the grifter could. ¡°Simple. Just smile like you did at me the other day, and nobody will remember what they were thinking about-¡°


    Feras jabbed the big guy in the side, interrupting him. ¡°Don¡¯t give bad advice. Um¡­ act haughty and better than everyone else. It would be best to put down others and stomp on the little guy as much as possible. Oh, and throw on the cold facade and aura that you had when we first- uh, met.¡±


    Got it. Be an absolute jackass. I could do that, I think. I mean, it couldn¡¯t be that hard. There were so many jackasses in the world it must be rather easy.


    ¡±Oh, and Torren? Probably best you act offended and angry at any negative comment to Zuku. Get in their faces. Rough ''em up a bit, chek?¡± The crunching of trash and wrappers punctuated his voice.


    ¡±Chek?¡± Torren glanced back. ¡°Isn¡¯t this just a school? Won¡¯t I be punished for beating a kid?¡±


    ¡±Err- no. It¡¯s a corporate school, don¡¯t forget that. If you can get away with it, no one will care enough to look deeper. Just hit in areas where the bruises aren¡¯t visible and out of cameras'' line of sight.¡± With that helpful piece of advice from Feras, the car went silent.

 Chapter 81 – Real one

    Chapter 81 ¨C Real oneArisen Tower sat in the ¡®small¡¯ fenced area of the Corporate Circuit with practically a private army of troops patrolling around everywhere. As soon as we entered the gate, we were stopped and had to give them a pass, which was reassuring. Not because the security was good, that much didn¡¯t reassure me in the slightest, but because we actually had to come all together due to not having more passes.


    And have no doubt that the security was good. It would be a tough nut to crack with cameras sitting everywhere leaving very few blind spots. Guards fully kitted in combat armor and geared with rifles patrolled around nearly constantly too, which took care of most of the blind spots. I could maybe get in, but it would take a lot of effort, skill, and planning to pull something off in the Corporate Circuit.


    After that, we skirted around a block and arrived at our stop. It did faintly look like a cross. It was a rectangle rising high into the sky with two ¡®arms¡¯ sticking out of it.


    ¡°Who are our clients anyway?¡± They must¡¯ve been at least a bit high up to live here, and if they were they should¡¯ve had the capability to hire out more professional mercs or turn this issue over to corporate operators.


    ¡°The clients are Mr. and Mrs. Kalis. Mrs. Kalis is the assistant to the assistant of the assistant assisting the Head of Net¡¯s assistant.¡± He took a deep breath. ¡°A bit of a mouthful that... Mr. Kalis is a janitor.¡±


    Oh, so they were both rather low on the totem pole then¡­ the pay made sense, but how the hell did they manage to set up such good IDs for me and Torren while at the same time managing to steal such high-tech loot? It just didn¡¯t make sense. Well, I guess we¡¯d figure it out when we spoke to them. Which should be any moment as Torren pulled into a parking spot.


    Torren unlocked and turned off the Dioni Aria and looked back to Feras. ¡°Anything we should know about the clients?¡±


    I popped open my door and got out of the car, leaning the seat up so the grifter could get out. ¡°Or their security?¡±


    ¡°Be on your best behavior. They are corpos, after all.¡± Feras replied as he stomped out of the trashy back. ¡°Security is- gah!¡±


    Feras tripped out of the door, his foot caught on wrappers as they held him back into the car. I reacted quicker than I thought I ever would be able to, getting underneath and catching him. Unfortunately, while my agility had been making rapid improvements recently, my strength hadn¡¯t. I fell with him into the door and we both hit the ground.


    ¡°Ugh!¡± Luckily, the fall was broken! For Feras, that is. I broke the fall so he got out all peachy while I bruised my back under our combined weight. The air was knocked out of my lungs in one brief moment.


    Feras rolled off me quickly, his face a shade of red. He stood up and offered me a hand. ¡°Uh- sorry, Zuku¡­¡±


    I gasped for breath as I pushed myself up and took the offered hand. ¡°L-last time, hah, I try t-that. How much do you, hah, weigh?¡±


    ¡°Not that much¡­¡± He rubbed at the back of his neck.


    Torren walked around the car chuckling. ¡°At least it wasn¡¯t me. You would¡¯ve become the asphalt.¡± He said it so nonchalantly as if it was fact and not a joke¡­


    Feras snickered as I glared at the two. ¡°Let¡¯s just go meet our client.¡±


    ¡±Right¡­ thirtieth floor.¡±


    Surprise surprise, the elevator was broken. I clicked on the button at least a dozen times trying to get the damn thing to work, but it never came down. Fucking elevators.


    ¡±C¡¯mon, Zuku. Let¡¯s just take the stairs.¡± Feras called out.


    I sighed and followed along behind Torren and the grifter. We headed up the stairs, and it actually wasn¡¯t that bad this time around. For me and the bruiser, that is. Feras on the other hand... He was panting hard and sweat dripped from his brow by the time we hit the right floor. We walked out into the hall as Feras cleaned himself up just in time to hear a light ding as the elevator door opened.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯ve got to be kidding me.¡± What the hell? Was I just cursed? Was there some little gremlin that followed me around making sure elevators just wouldn¡¯t work? S§×arch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡±C¡¯mon.¡± Feras sighed and headed for the clients'' apartment. We traveled down several perfectly clean hallways and well-lit corridors before he knocked on one door in particular.


    A few minutes later, the door swung open as a rather worn-down-looking man opened the door. ¡°Who- oh, it''s you.¡± The man glanced at me and Torren as he failed to give a polite corporate smile. ¡°Come on in.¡± He swung the door open and receded down the hall.


    Feras led the way with Torren taking the rear as we headed down the hall and to a small living room. The man, Mr. Kalis I presume, moved over to a sofa and took a seat. ¡°My wife isn¡¯t here, but anything I can do to help.¡±


    ¡°A couple of questions.¡± Feras pointed to the two of us. ¡°And to introduce my uh- my associates here. They''ll be helping me out, see?¡±


    ¡°Right, right¡­ please, take a seat.¡± Mr. Kalis motioned to a sofa.


    We all settled down as Feras took the lead. This was his specialty, after all. ¡°First, I wanted to ask about the IDs. Why nobility? And how solid are they?¡±


    Mr. Kalis chuckled lightly as he nodded his head several times. ¡°The back door that we used to set up yours was closed, so we had to go with something else. Thankfully, my wife noticed that ¡®Meno¡¯ looked almost identical to the daughter of Archduke Maeni.


    ¡°We called in several favors to get all of that set up. As long as someone is checking from within Aythryn City¡¯s Node framework or a part of Sentinel, the ID is uncrackable.¡± He shrugged, his corporate smile cracking somewhat. ¡°And it made sense such an exclusive family would send a protector. Hence Sir Trovare. Don''t worry, he''ll blend in with the other ''hidden'' bodyguards.¡±


    I guess that made sense. Still, it was weird how similar I looked to this daughter of Archduke Maeni. ¡®Course, I knew it wasn¡¯t an entirely uncommon thing. People had almost doppelgangers on occasion considering how big the world is. Or I guess I should say the solar system if I were to include the BosSpace Colonies in that scope.


    Feras shifted on the couch, leaning forward slightly. ¡°Now, I need to know if your daughter ever mentioned run-ins, conflicts, or friendships with anyone at the school. Specifically the first two.¡±


    ¡°Ugh!¡± The man scratched his blonde head. ¡°Only a couple of things come off the top of my head. Claire Collon is her best friend. Um, I think she mentioned really disliking Sean Sentinel, the CEO¡¯s son. Or one of his many sons I should say. And she really liked Tristen Trapper. Other than that¡­ sorry.¡± His corpo smile finally shattered as tears came to his eyes. ¡°God, I wish I paid more attention when she came home.¡±


    Feras asked a few more questions, Mr. Kalis¡¯s expression dropping further and further the entire time. It was deeply uncomfortable to be around and actually see a corpo have emotions. He still held out hope that Quora would be returned safely, but it seemed as if he was starting to accept she would never walk back through their door.


    By the time we left, the man was bawling his eyes out as he looked through old pictures of his daughter.


    Torren dropped us back off by Big Mike¡¯s and we went our separate ways after a short planning session. I hopped back on my bike and headed home as I thought of the shit situation I found myself in. Thankfully, the situation was already at rock bottom, so it''s not like it could get any worse.


    I spent several hours remaking three Scouters, forcing the components into a smaller ball. I managed to recycle the two I brought back with me, so that was nice. Then I made one more from the components I stole from the ASCorp Supermarket. Unfortunately, that was the last optic so I couldn¡¯t make anymore without going to buy some more parts.


    I also started work on designing a tiny microphone and speaker. I didn¡¯t get very far in the speaker department with my limited knowledge of that whole field, but I did get a somewhat decent prototype microphone about the size of an earbud. It wouldn¡¯t be of much help for now since it could only pick up a tiny area, but it was progress nonetheless.


    Throwing on the dreaded uniform, I checked myself out in the mirror. I had become incredibly pretty at some point, and actually washing up fully and wearing some nice clothes brought that out. It was weird to think I had grown so much with just a bit of nutritional care. If only I grew taller too¡­


    The uniform itself felt incredibly breezy, which was just about right. Yet another reason I hated skirts. The blouse wasn¡¯t too bad, nor was the necktie. There were also a couple of jackets to wear over the blouses, but Feras had only provided three shoved into the back of the bag, so I wasn¡¯t too sure if I needed to wear them. They were the same bronze color Sentinel seemed to love with bright red seams. It really pulled the whole uniform together.


    The skirt was terribly uncomfortable, but this one had been modified substantially. I found that out as I reflexively tried to stick my hands into my pockets and succeeded. To my shock, I found the skirt had been masterfully modified to have pockets hidden under the flaps of fabric in such a way they were entirely invisible to an outsider.


    I checked the stitching and found it to be the exact same as the stitch work on the last outfit Feras made me. Although I would never say it to his face, the pockets were a nice touch. One that was incredibly helpful as I would have room to store things like, oh I don¡¯t know, a gun? Or maybe I could klep- ahem, ''aquire'' some loot from the school? It was a high-end private school, so surely there must be something of value just ''laying around''.


    I put on a cold and ruthless expression like Feras suggested. Or at least tried to. Unfortunately, my facial structure and poor intimidation skills made it far less hostile than it should¡¯ve been. If anything, I was downright cute like a little puppy instead of a ferocious wolf. How disappointing.


    Should I try something else? Cold and ruthless wasn¡¯t my forte to begin with. Every time I¡¯ve intimidated someone it''s been with the help of an identity to back it up, such as IT or Crusader. That kind of intimidation would fall apart upon prolonged exposure like what I''d have to deal with in the school. I had a feeling I was better off putting up an act I could keep up with little effort than one that might fail.


    With that thought in mind, I instead switched over to a cutesy and honest expression as I smiled brilliantly at the camera. For a moment, even I was stunned as the smile seemed to turn my already pretty features completely radiant. I shifted to a look of mock anger, while still trying to uphold Honest Face. I even reversed some of my knowledge from Cues to pull the whole thing together. It worked, just not in the way it was supposed to. And, as much as I absolutely loathed the thought of admitting it, being a little shorter helped sell the whole thing.


    It wasn¡¯t what Feras suggested, but it would feel - and hopefully look - more natural to actually pull off. And maybe get a better toe in the door to talk to people? Everyone likes a friendly face, right?


    I swapped out of the uniform and laid down for an early night¡¯s sleep so I would be well-rested for school tomorrow. It didn¡¯t work. I lay there for what felt like hours, shifting about every once in a while as I tried to just sleep. Surely I wasn¡¯t that nervous about going back to school, right?


    Unfortunately, those nerves were compounded a thousandfold as I received a message. Not a message from my PA, no, my other phone. I read it out, my heart pounding in my chest as dread settled in. ¡®Shquire! I have need of you.¡¯


    Well¡­ shit.

 Chapter 82

    Chapter 82¡¯Sir, you already put me on a case, remember?¡¯ I sent back, icy cold resignation hitting home. This was my last chance to get out of whatever hellish case he wanted to drag me into.


    A few moments later, my phone started to ring as he called it. I hit answer, ¡®course. Not like I could just hang up on ¡®my¡¯ boss. Well- I could. Unfortunately, I needed to appear ever the willing and helpful Squire to avoid attention.


    Inquisitor Ligh¡¯s voice came across as incredibly muted. What sounded like- like gunshots echoed through his phone. Just what was going on? ¡°Zuku¡­ did I already tell you of thish?¡±


    A scream of agony came across the line along with a wet thunk. Just what the hell was happening? Did he call me in the middle of a firefight? ¡°Yes- yes sir. You had me doing something else though. Unless you want me to drop what I¡¯m currently working on? And are you okay? What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°No no, shquire¡­ ah, by happenstance, let¡¯s say someone in the chain of command forgot what exactly you were doing¡­ what¡¯sh your current case?¡± His voice cleared up, losing the muted quality. ¡°And it was just a small-time gang, nothing to worry about?¡±


    What should I say? The truth? Or lie to him and hope he doesn¡¯t try to do any follow-ups. Screw Shinobu for putting me in this situation, seriously. Especially if the Inquisitor was combat-capable enough to take out an entire gang by himself. That¡¯s like on the level of Iris. ¡°I¡¯m uh- I¡¯m attempting to infiltrate Sentinel Private School.¡± sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I could envision the Inquisitor rubbing at the bottom of his silver mask as he went silent. ¡°That works out then¡­. New orders, Shquire!¡±


    ¡±Sir!¡±


    ¡±Shift your infiltration to investigate the people in charge of the school. That could be the principal, janitor, teachersh- anyone!¡± His phone¡¯s mic started to faintly pick up the sirens of a Crusade Cruiser.


    I barely managed to hold back a sigh as more slop was tossed onto my plate. As if the current gig wasn¡¯t going to be difficult enough.¡±Chek chek.¡±


    ¡±Ah, you¡¯re looking for anything - as the kids say these days - sus.¡± Then the inquisitor hung up, leaving me entirely confused as to what kids he was around and how many decades ago were the days he referred to. The confusion hung with me like a mental torture as I settled back down. Thankfully, not for long as I finally drifted to sleep.


    ¡ª¡ª


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll attending our school, Lady Meno. We pride ourselves on giving only the education.¡± The head principal of Sentinel Private School smiled at me, though I couldn¡¯t help but feel disgusted by how smarmy the skinny guy sounded.


    He was rather young to be a principal, maybe only in his thirties. Or was that common? When I think of principals, I always get the same image of a chubby, balding man in his sixties or an intimidating woman in a pantsuit. Either way, Principal Bously wasn¡¯t like either of those.


    He was, as I said, in his thirties with a full head of slicked-back hair. It would¡¯ve been fine, but he made the unfortunate decision to have a mullet and slicked-back hair, which was just¡­ awesome.


    He looked as though he had some work done for Techhair since every other strand of hair glowed faintly with a red light. Maybe it was in style to only get half your hair done now? The glowing hair would¡¯ve been fairly intimidating if he wasn¡¯t so tall and twig-like. Hell, a stray breeze might¡¯ve been able to kill the guy. The most durable part of him was the thin metal plating that ran across his face in three streaks.


    The principal gave off a disgusting vibe that made me want to avoid him. Still, he one of the dozens of targets the Inquisitor gave me. I smiled politely, using the full benefits of Honest Face and Cues to keep up a perfect facade of innocent youth. ¡°Thank you.¡± I bit my tongue, barely managing to hold back a customary ¡®sir¡¯. I was a ¡®proper¡¯ Lady now. I couldn¡¯t just be calling anyone and everyone ¡®sir¡¯ and ¡®ma¡¯am¡¯.


    Torren sighed behind us as he followed along, ever the ¡®loyal knight¡¯. His every step dragged against the perfectly polished floor of the school¡¯s main hallway as if he were trying to leave trenches to ruin the perfection.


    Truly, the hallway itself was¡­ extravagant. Bronze floors, black walls, and bright red neon strips acted as highlights for seemingly the entire school. Trophies of various unimportant events and competitions lined the halls, each one polished to a sheen as if they weren¡¯t decades old.


    Class was already in session, Torren and I being held up in admissions for a while, so the halls were entirely clear of anyone except me, Principal Bously, and Torren. Still, what I had seen of the staff was much like the school itself- perfect to a T. There wasn¡¯t a single misplaced strand of hair or mismatched hint of makeup anywhere.


    I looked around, glancing out the myriad of windows. We were high up, so I had a splendid view of the entire city and the snowscape around Rime¡¯s Peak Lounge. Far off in the distance sat the ocean and Sentinel¡¯s Supercarrier Phalanx in perfect view.


    I cast a closer look around the ¡®perfection¡¯ of the place, trying to spot anything imperfect. It was difficult, and the only things I could come up with were the hundreds of plants scattered out and about. Flowers of all shapes and sizes brought life to the otherwise ¡®perfect¡¯ space, making it feel far more homely. Something itched at the back of mind as I stared at them, but I couldn¡¯t place it as I shifted to a different floral arangment. Whoever decided on them should get a massive pay raise.


    Using that ¡®childhood wonder¡¯ of new surroundings and curiosity about how everything looked, I hid my true intentions to check out the security systems of the place. The school had cameras on every hallway with security gates that could probably be dropped down at any moment. And I knew for a fact that this place had some seriously loaded-up guards considering how protected the entrance to the tower was. We wouldn¡¯t have been able to get through if not for being new students and the principal himself awaiting our arrival. It would be difficult to do anything covert here¡­


    I tuned back into whatever the sycophant principal was saying. ¡±¡­ said, if you need anything, anything at all, don¡¯t to call me. It would be my esteemed to help you, my lady.¡±


    Yep, disgusting. ¡°I appreciate the offer, but I doubt I¡¯ll need to consider how splendid this school is. My grandfather wouldn¡¯t send me to anything less.¡±


    The principal blushed. He seriously blushed from just that? Disgusting. ¡°Oh you, Lady Meno. Your compliments will be a in my .¡±


    Please- just please let us arrive quicker so I didn¡¯t have to deal with this shit anymore! Where was Feras when I needed him?!


    Thankfully, angels come in many shapes and sizes. Torren spoke as we entered a side hall, his voice several octaves lower than normal and an unnatural deepness that would give me chills if I heard it in the dark. ¡°Is this it?¡±


    ¡±Ah, so it .¡± The man gave several cues showing his aggravation, the least of which was his glare at my ¡®knight¡¯. Most of those cues vanished as he smiled back at me. ¡°Time just seems to fly in radiant presence, Lady Meno. Go on ahead, Mr. Jarvis, your instructor, is already expecting you. Oh, and Sir Trovare too, of course.¡±


    My ¡®fair knight¡¯ stepped in front of me and lightly rapped on the door. A moment later, he swung it open and held it for me.


    I don¡¯t know what I was expecting as I walked in, but it definitely wasn¡¯t¡­ . The classroom itself was fine. It was well-cleaned and looked as if the janitors had spent a lot of effort getting everything just right. Just like the rest of the school, small plants hung and sat around, making the entire space feel far less hostile. A massive wall of windows sat on the far side opposite of the door.


    Instead of the cliches spread out around the room like I thought would happen, most of the people looked almost exactly the same in the front two rows. The girls were all pretty, with a shit ton of makeup across their faces. Most of them had incredibly subtle signs of sculpting. The guys were handsome I guess, though it definitely looked as if most of them were on some kind of steroid which ruined the appeal. Overall, they held that corporate sameness that I would expect from children of middle-line executives. Not too outstanding, but wouldn¡¯t blend in with the ¡®low-class¡¯.


    It wasn¡¯t till the back half of the class that the classroom became far more individualized. Students had different expressions, wore their clothes differently, and different. There were even additions of chrome and biomods scattered around. I would peg them closer to either fitting into the ¡®high¡¯ end of the corporate ladder where they didn¡¯t care since their parents could take care of things or the ¡®low¡¯ end.


    Surprisingly, Feras sat in the very back corner, looking incredibly drained. He winked slowly as I made eye contact with him, that same tired-of-life expression that he used to have plastered across his face. Still couldn¡¯t tell if it was an act.


    The teacher, Mr. Jarvis, bowed his head slightly as we came in. The light board in the middle of the class clicked off as he straightened out and put down a marker of some kind.


    He was about the same age as the principal I think, but he looked far more refined and gentlemanly. His beard and black hair had streaks of white in it and his face seemed to hold a charm as he smiled. ¡°Ah, welcome, Lady Meno, Sir Trovare. Please, come on in.¡±


    Okay¡­ you got this, Shiro! First impressions were important, so don¡¯t fuck this one up. I put a broad and innocent smile on as I used every trick in the book to shore up my posture and expression into a regal, yet still young and adorable look. ¡°Thank you!¡±


    In the back, I could see Feras flinch as I completely ignored what he recommended I do. He ran a hand against his face and shook his head. Weirdly, he wasn¡¯t the only one that flinched back. Maybe I took them off guard? Were they expecting a cold and ruthless granddaughter of an Archduke?


    ¡±Class,¡± Mr. Jarvis motioned to me and Torren, ¡°These are the exchange students I was talking about. Lady Meno and Sir Trovare of the Maeni Duchy from Pyrus. Please, come introduce and say a little bit about yourselves.¡±


    ¡±Go ahead.¡± I ducked slightly behind Torren, hiding partly behind the big guy.


    Torren chuckled as if it were normal and gave a polite bow to the class as he spoke in his deep voice. ¡°Hello, I am Trovare Lukheart. I¡¯m an expert fighter, and enjoy long walks on the beach¡­¡± He paused to wink at the class. ¡°My Lady and I are here to further our studies.¡±


    He stepped aside, leaving me just standing there. I flinched back slightly and thought of that moment I tripped getting out of Mira''s bed and slammed my face into the wall. Instantly I could feel heat rise to my cheeks. Perfect. ¡°H-Hi. I¡¯m Lady Meno Maeni- b-but please just call me Meno¡­¡±


    Unlike when Torren introduced himself, the class spoke up as I did. All of their voices came out together, slowly drawing out the syllables of ¡®my¡¯ name. ¡°Hi Meno¡­¡± What is this, some kind of fucked up AA meeting? They were all in sync too¡­


    ¡°U-Uh, I like reading? Oh, and mechanics are cool¡­ umm¡­" I bowed slightly. "P-please take care of me.¡± That was a thing that people said, right? Gah, most of my school experience outside of the first couple years comes from shitty NovelFires¡­


    I peeked up through my hair, which I had braided back into almost a crown of locks. It took far too much effort, and it had come loose so my vision was half-blocked by it. Still, I took in the reactions. Most of the people in the room looked a little stunned for some reason. The best reaction I got was from Feras who subtly gave me a thumbs up underneath his desk.


    Mr. Jarvis coughed lightly. ¡±Right. Take a seat anywhere, Lad- Meno and Trovare. We were just getting into advanced trigonometry.¡± What the hell? Everyone here was like fifteen to sixteen and they were already in advanced trig? What kind of hell hole did Feras drag me into?!

 Chapter 83

    Chapter 83Several of the students around the room stared at me like I was a piece of meat as they ¡®subtly¡¯ scooted over to make room for me. Not room for Torren and me, just me. It was weird. Were they- were they trying to include me? This isn¡¯t how school is supposed to go. They should mock and kick me to the back of the room- right, I¡¯m a noble. Must be because of that¡­


    Instead of picking a seat with any number of strangers, I moved to an abandoned back window seat. It was far enough back I should be able to sneak away from attention and had room for Torren to sit next to me and ¡®shield¡¯ me from the others. Also, it wasn¡¯t near Feras at all. No point giving any hints. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I sat down, catching a few disappointed gazes. They quickly turned away with a flush from the boys and girls in the room as Mr. Jarvis coughed once more, gathering the room¡¯s attention on himself. ¡°Alright, where were we? Forgetting where I was isn¡¯t a good sine¡­¡±


    I sighed as I straightened my back into a ¡®noble posture¡¯. The top of my desk changed, it being a screen, and pulled up the book the class looked at. This was going to be a long day¡­ I knew I should¡¯ve brought my handheld radio.


    ¡ª¡ª


    Surprisingly, I had an extraordinarily easy time following what Mr. Jarvis was saying. ¡®Course, after it was all filtered and translated by my lessons in Tech. I guess it made sense. Math and science were important parts of getting Tech to work. I must¡¯ve picked some of this stuff up somewhere along the way? If anything, this was helping to concrete some ideas that had already been floating around. Shore up my foundations and all of that.


    Mr. Jarvis walked around, handing out paper homework. Paper. It was so weird. Was this something posh schools did? I could¡¯ve sworn everything had been digital way back when. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to have this done by-¡°


    A bell rang, cutting him off entirely. Students all around the room stood up, completely ignoring him as they stuffed stuff into their bags¡­ right, I need a backpack¡­


    ¡±The bell doesn¡¯t dismiss you, I do.¡± Mr. Jarvis half-heartedly called as he flopped a hand to the door. No one seemed to hear him as they headed for the exit. ¡°Dismissed.¡±


    I stood, Torren quickly falling into step beside me. The remaining students in the classroom, mostly those in the back though there were quite a few from the front, stalled. Quite a few of them sneaking glances at me for some reason. They even had expectant and friendly expressions like they wanted to  to .


    Thankfully, Torren pulled off his role as a loyal knight to a T and stepped in between myself and the others, immediately causing their expressions to fall as they slowly strode towards the door. Big W for the guy.


    I ignored them as best I could and headed to Mr. Jarvis¡¯s desk as he sat down. ¡°U-um, Mr. Jarvis?¡±


    ¡±La- Meno. Do you need something?¡± Mr. Jarvis smiled politely.


    ¡±I- I didn¡¯t receive a schedule or supply list or- or much of anything¡­¡± I ¡®timidly¡¯ pressed my fingers together and looked the other way.


    Mr. Jarvis sighed and ran a hand through his hair. ¡°Right¡­ Principal Bously should¡¯ve given you all of that¡­ okay. I¡¯m your homeroom instructor, so you¡¯ll return here at the end of the day for the last hour. I¡¯ll have everything ready for you by then.¡± He looked at his terminal and quickly wrote some stuff onto a piece of paper. ¡°For now, follow this. I¡¯ll get you a map and all too later.¡±


    I took the offered paper and looked it over. My schedule was eight hours with lunch being the fifth. ¡±T-thank you¡­¡±


    ¡±Yo, Mistah J, I can show Lady Meno around. Ain¡¯t a problem.¡± A girl walked up as she smacked on a piece of gum. She had a Mohawk- rather, three Mohawks. One down the middle of her head and two on either side. Heavy black makeup was splattered around her face and she had several piercings.


    ¡°Ah, I would appreciate it. I¡¯ll give you ten bonus points for the help.¡± Mr. Jarvis smiled and turned back to his computer.


    ¡±Thanks Mistah J.¡± She led us out of the classroom and into the hallway. The girl turned toward me fully and eyed me over, her gaze quickly passing to Torren as she stuck out her hand. ¡°Nice to meetcha! I¡¯m Claire. Claire Collins¡­¡±


    I returned the handshake, forcing an innocent smile as my mind whirled into action. She was the best friend of Quora Kalis, our missing girl. ¡°Y-yes. I¡¯m Meno Maeni- but you already knew that¡­¡±


    ¡±Ay, don¡¯t sweat it. A bit of reintroduction never hurt anyone.¡± The girl shifted to Torren as her voice shifted, taking on a roll to it. ¡°And you, big guy?¡±


    Torren glanced at me with a mystified look on his face as he engulfed her hand in his. ¡°Baron Trovare Lukheart. Pleasure, Miss Collins.¡±


    Oh, I like that. Going for a strong but distant type, ay Torren? Also, I was a big fan of how he was blocking out social interactions for me. Not only because social interactions were disgusting, but they also made me seem like a hot commodity since not just anyone could approach me. Hopefully, it wouldn¡¯t backfire and would further increase everyone¡¯s desire to interact even more so than just sycophantic tendencies towards the granddaughter of a duke.


    Claire smiled with a laid-back look as she lazily turned and started to walk down the hall. ¡°Next we got marketing and business management. Basically manipulation 101, but that don¡¯t sound polite.¡±


    I sighed as we followed her to our next class, the students forming a sea that flowed alongside us. Hopefully, this one wouldn¡¯t be a drag.


    ¡ª¡ª


    By the time lunch rolled around, I couldn¡¯t be happier. First was math, then that Manipulation 101 class, Corporate History, and Social Studies. The last three were quite the drag.


    Marketing and Business Management wasn¡¯t as bad as Claire made it seem. It was actually more so focused on the runnings of a business, what we needed to know, and how best to sell a product. Still, I could see where she came from, especially during a short market analysis. That was all off my first impression though¡­


    Corporate History was basically just a brainwashing class. The teacher was some kind of Sentinel fangirl that never grew up and constantly spewed shit about how great Sentinel was. Occasionally there would be some interesting facts about the company, but most of it was corporate propaganda. Disappointing, but about as expected.


    Social Studies was far more on propaganda and manipulation in my opinion. Although we didn¡¯t get into much today, it seemed to be almost entirely focused on studying society and what made it tick.


    I continued to be a hot commodity in every class and so far the teachers seemed well enough. I managed to keep up with the shy girl act as best I could while observing all I could for the two gigs that had been thrown onto my plate.


    I hadn¡¯t really talked to anyone else yet - Claire and Torren acted as solid foils to keep people away - but that wouldn¡¯t last much longer. Lunch hour was bound to be full of social interaction one way or another.


    Torren and I - him carrying all of our papers and assignments since I was a ¡®proper lady¡¯ and couldn¡¯t do it myself - stepped into the lunch room. I looked over at the guy who looked far more excited than I had ever seen as he held our stuff. To be honest, I could get used to a man servant following me around holding my shit¡­ too bad they cost so damn much¡­.


    Claire turned towards us and waved a hand to the large room. ¡°This is the lunch room. If it a food, the kitchens here can make it. You might have to special request it, but the chefs will make anything you want. Ah, and the pay for access should¡¯ve been with your admissions, so don¡¯t worry.¡±


    I looked around the room, spotting several people with packed lunches. ¡°W-what about them?¡±


    ¡±Ah, they refused the extra charge. Probably a low-income household. You shouldn¡¯t have to worry about that,  Meno.¡±


    ¡°Ah-ha¡­ yeah.¡± Right, I came from a ¡®rich household¡¯. ¡°I- I¡¯m not too hungry today¡­ you go on ahead Sir Trovare.¡±


    ¡±Thank you, m¡¯lady.¡± Torren eagerly headed for the line, closely followed by Claire. For the first time today, I was entirely alone. Insight tingled as I felt the eyes of dozens on me.


    Glancing around the room, I caught several eyes and just as many turning heads. Idly rubbing at my arm, I couldn¡¯t help but feel¡­ nervous. Like, incredibly so. This was my first time without Torren keeping me from  all day¡­


    I moved through the cafeteria with as much regal shyness as I could muster, heading to a back corner of the cafeteria. A seven-person table sat pressed up against the window entirely abandoned.


    As soon as I sat down, I could feel someone approach from behind. I half hoped it would be Feras or Torren come to save me from the death trap of my own making. Unfortunately, it was a complete stranger.


    The guy who walked up was a bit- well, I¡¯d hate to stereotype people, but he seemed like a jock. He wore the same uniform, but his jacket had been swapped out for a lettermans showcasing Sentinel¡¯s colors proudly. He was definitely in my class, but we had yet to speak.


    The guy had chrome eyes that sparked with a lively red electricity and his palm had been replaced with some kind of chrome I wasn¡¯t familiar with. ¡°You mind if I take this seat?¡±


    ¡±O-oh, not- not at all.¡± I shyly bit my lip and ducked my head.


    The guy slid in across from me and set down his tray. Looked like some kind of steak, maybe? ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve spoken yet. I¡¯m Sean.¡± The guy gave a dip of his head. The way he said his name aggravated me though. He spoke as if I should know who he was.


    ¡±Meno Maeni- ha¡­. You already knew that though.¡± I shifted in my seat and rubbed at my wrist.


    Two more students walked over, bickering the whole way as they approached. One of them gave off warm Cues the entire time like a cheerful dog. He had shaggy blonde hair and a friendly smile even as he argued with the other.


    The other guy was like his complete opposite. He stood tall, a cold expression frozen on his face as he lightly pushed up his glasses. Why he wore glasses in this day and age was up in the air. Short-cropped black hair sat on his head.


    I barely got to the tail end of their conversation as the glasses guy snidely muttered to the other. ¡°¡­ probably won¡¯t even notice a scrub like you, especially with Sean already here.¡±


    ¡±Just shut it- she only has to see my eyes. I¡¯ll be able to convey my sincerity  then.¡± The friendly dog-looking guy spoke too, his voice getting progressively quieter.


    ¡°Keep telling yourself that-¡°


    ¡°Hello! I¡¯m Aaron.¡± The dog guy gave a large smile as he walked over with his lunch tray. ¡°Can I sit with you?¡±


    ¡±I-I guess.¡±


    The other guy that came with Aaron frowned and moved opposite the table from him. ¡°Jayce. I¡¯m sitting here.¡±


    ¡°O-ok¡­¡±


    The three guys stared at each other across the table as they ate in relative silence. The glares weren¡¯t exactly hostile, but they definitely weren¡¯t friendly. As soon as they finished eating, I had a bad feeling the conversation would actually open up. I didn¡¯t even have to act as I squirmed uncomfortably at the atmosphere that filled the table.

 Chapter 84

    Chapter 84I plucked at my dumb skirt as I watched all of them eat. My stomach sat on the edge of growling, and I almost regretted my decision to skip food today... and that''s after drinking Jack''s Sun Kicker this morning! Maybe I should bring a cup with me fill it from the canteen whenever? A normal cup would be a lot less eye-catching.


    Aaron, the dog-like guy, smiled brightly at me. ¡°So, I haven¡¯t seen you around here before?¡±


    What a shit pickup line. ¡°O-oh, I¡¯m new. J-just started today!¡±


    Jayce glowered at Aaron, not even looking at me as he asked, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡±Meno Maeni¡­ Jayce, right?¡± I put on the biggest and brightest smile I could in hopes of easing along the conversation. Sure it was disgusting social interaction, but it had a purpose. Sean Sentinel, the son of Sentinel¡¯s CEO, was on my list of individuals from Mr. Kalis.


    Jayce froze for a moment, probably shocked I got his name right after only hearing it once. The moment passed as he slowly nodded his head and his cold blank expression returned. ¡°Meno, huh? Odd name¡­¡±


    Sean coughed lightly. ¡°I think your name is beautiful, Lady Meno. Don¡¯t mind these fools.¡±


    ¡±Th-thank you.¡± I forced another blush to my cheeks and looked down. Ever so slowly, I twirled a loose lock of hair behind my ear.


    Aaron quickly spoke up, shooting a subtle glare at Sean that wasn¡¯t all that subtle. ¡°Your name matches you in b-beauty.¡±


    Has school rotted these guy¡¯s brains? Why do they keep bringing up beauty? Guess it''s a good thing I dropped out after all. I can¡¯t even imagine what my life would¡¯ve been like if I had grown up like this lot.


    Sean tapped his metallic palms together once more. ¡°So, do you have any hobbies, Meno?¡±


    Did he not hear me earlier? I could¡¯ve sworn he was in my first hour. ¡°I- I like to read¡­ and mechanics are cool. I uh, absolutely love art too.¡±


    I shrugged and sent a glance around the room, ignoring most of the common rabble. Three things immediately stood out to me. First, Torren¡¯s plate was absolutely loaded as he went through the cafeteria to the point it was a surprise he could even hold it up. Second, there were far too many eyes on our little table. Most of them seemed like idle curiosity, but there were a few that stood out with more calculated Cues. There were even quite a few who looked on with poorly hidden hostility. Third, the three guys seemed like they must be pretty popular as I caught sight of far too many teenage girls staring at me in envy.


    I dropped my observations and returned to whatever Sean was saying. ¡°¡­like me could only love high-class hobbies. In particular, I find Holo to be quite entertaining. Don¡¯t you agree?¡±


    ¡±I-I¡¯ve never tried Holo, so I wouldn¡¯t know.¡± What the hell was Holo?


    Aaron laughed lightly. ¡°Holo is alright. Not quite exciting enough for me though¡­ you said you were interested in mechanics?¡±


    I put on that radiant smile once more. ¡°Of course! It¡¯s all so- so interesting.¡±


    ¡±I-¡°


    Torren finally returned, cutting off Aaron as he walked up to the table with his plate laden with food. The plate looked like it would snap under the pure weight of the food as he gently set it on the table like it was a precious child. He looked around, seeing that there were no seats for himself around me.


    ¡°This- this is Trovare, my closest mikato.¡± I flashed an innocent smile to Torren.


    Torren gave a nod and moved around the table to an empty seat, sitting down and immediately diving into the food with a muttered, ¡°Hey.¡±


    ¡°Mikato, huh?¡± Sean said with a well-hidden sneer on his face. If it wasn¡¯t for the subtle twitching of his eyebrows and a slight tilt of his mouth, I never would¡¯ve noticed it.


    Part of me wanted to get in his face about the sneer, but that wasn¡¯t Meno. I calmly wrung a hand through my hair. ¡°¡®Course! A-and bringing him around puts my grandfather¡¯s mind to ease¡­¡±


    ¡°Grandfather?¡± Jayce asked as he pushed up his glasses.


    Sean took an even more prideful look onto his face. ¡°Lady Meno here is the granddaughter of Archduke Maeni of Pyrus.¡±


    ¡±Ah.¡± Aaron nodded as he snidely looked at Sean. ¡°Makes sense why you took such an interest then-¡°


    Sean coughed lightly once more, his voice sounding incredibly posh as he stared Aaron dead in the eye. ¡°Someone as lowly as you could never understand my interests.¡±


    Torren chuckled, the pitch being incredibly deep just the same as his voice. ¡°Classic corpos.¡±


    Aaron¡¯s friendliness dropped significantly. ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡±


    ¡±Ah, you just fit the stereotype is all.¡± Maybe he didn¡¯t want to get into a fight on the first day? Regardless, Torren quickly changed the subject. ¡°M¡¯lady, how are you holding up so far?¡±


    It worked, and the conversation tilted back towards asking me questions. I tried to keep up the best I could, though it was difficult when they started asking about my ¡®home¡¯. I had done some research about Pyrus, ''course, but their questions were very pointed. Eventually, though, lunch ended and my next hour began. Claire ever so kindly popped back up after lunch to guide us.


    After that was a rather boring Tech-ed class. Basically, it seemed to be an introductory class to all things technological, specifically surrounding the Net and the baseline dos and don''ts. It was all stuff I learned back when learning Net from the interface, so I breezed through the class with a light nap.


    After that, things got more interesting. Claire came to get us the same as the last couple of times after class. ¡°Oh, you two have different classes.¡±


    ¡±We do?¡± Torren asked as he gave me a side-eye. I subtly tried to give a nod of reassurance. It was difficult as I also tried to keep up a slightly panicked look.


    Claire looked over our hastily scrawled schedules with a small frown on her face.¡±Yeah, looks like¡­ Meno has a STEM class and you have a Physical Education class. Um¡­¡±


    ¡°O-oh.¡± I tried to sound as disappointed as possible as we stepped out into the hall. It was surprisingly easy. The day had been rather nice with Torren blocking all attempts by students to talk. His leaving meant facing the tides of teenagers by myself. I''d rather fight Dune Walkers.


    Claire led us through the throngs of students until we reached our first destination: the STEM classroom. I smiled weakly at Torren. ¡°See you later.¡±


    He nodded and looked around the classroom quickly. ¡°Have fun, m¡¯lady.¡±


    ¡±I- I will.¡± I gave a more resolute nod and headed into the classroom.


    Unlike the other classes I had been in throughout the day, the STEM class had forgone the typical rows of desks. Here, the tables were all smacked together into groups of four. Almost every seat in the room was filled.


    A student- no, a young-looking teacher based on the staff lanyard half shoved into her pocket, walked over to me at the entrance of the room. ¡°Ah, you must be Lady Meno. I''m Mrs. Broadsworn. I would say have a seat anywhere, but most of these are taken¡­¡±


    ¡°She can sit with me!¡± A bright voice called from over my shoulder.


    I looked over to see a cheerful-looking blonde sitting with two other girls. All three were decked out in a full assortment of makeup, their original skin barely visible below it. No, that wasn¡¯t quite right. The blonde didn¡¯t have as much makeup on as I thought. It looked more like Chemskin.


    The teacher nodded several times. ¡°Okay. Have a seat over there by Christine. Christine, would you mind helping Meno to get all caught up with our current project?¡±


    ¡°Of course not, ma''am,¡± Christine said. She seemed to be well-mannered. Really, what was up with people making corporate kids to be spawns of evil? They really weren''t that bad.


    I headed over, intentionally stumbling over my feet slightly. As I sat down, a student from every table stood up and headed towards a back counter. There, they all started to pick up what looked like model buildings made out of small plastic rods.


    ¡°We were just getting into our theoretical Quaker engineering,¡± Christine explained. ¡°Oh, sorry. I¡¯m Christine Valmont.¡± What the hell is a Quaker?


    The other girl still at the table, a brunette, smiled warmly. ¡°I¡¯m Trisha Vern.¡±


    The one who went to get the project returned. She had a thick mane of what looked to be natural red hair. ¡°Did I miss introductions? I¡¯m Jayne Voils.¡±


    ¡±N-nice to meet you¡­¡± I said as I looked over their project. It seemed pretty solid all things considered. They went with a stilt supported structure that was lifted off the ground- err, table.


    ¡±So basically, we decided...¡°


    Time flew by as I chatted with the group. They were all incredibly friendly, to the point I was confused about my location. This was supposed to be a corporate school, and yet  so far had been quite nice. During was weird.


    In that time, I helped out in building reinforcements for their plastic model. It was rather nice and simple work. And I found out what a Quaker was. Apparently they were an eight-legged beast known for toppling buildings by causing localized earthquakes. They were a real problem across the pond.


    It was about when class neared its end that things became far more interesting though. Christine put one last plastic rod onto the model, patching up a hole in the wall. ¡°So, Meno, you have any hobbies?¡±


    What was with everyone asking that? Was there an ¡®introductions¡¯ guidebook somewhere? I missed. ¡°Oh, I- I like mechanics. And I adore art. I-I¡¯m not very good at it, but I find it all so fascinating.¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t the only one.¡± Trisha laughed. ¡°I love it too. Speaking of, there¡¯s an art gala being held this weekend. Do you want to come? I can get you an invite.¡±


    An art gala, ay? Part of me wanted to instantly shoot down the idea since it would involve more social interaction, but that small side was instantly shot by the rest of me. I was just wanting to ¡®borrow¡¯ some loot and create a stash, what better way of scouting out ¡®donors¡¯ than an art gala?


    ¡±R-really? It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve been to one.¡± I rubbed at my arm. "I would love to come! If- if that''s okay."


    ¡±Course girl! Becky, you probably don¡¯t know her yet, is the daughter of the host! They¡¯re supposed to have some extravagant pieces this time around too¡­¡± Trisha cast her eyes sideways as if telling me some major secret. ¡°I heard there¡¯s even supposed to be some stuff from Cwalu.¡±


    ¡±Really?¡± Damn, that stuff was expensive. Anything brought back from the ¡®land of the dead¡¯ was bound to be.  S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°Yeah-¡°


    The bell rang, cutting her off.


    The three started to pack everything up. Christine waved me off as I tried to help. "It''s your first day. You go on ahead."


    "T-thank you." I rubbed my arm and headed for the door. Claire and Torren already awaited me out in the hall. As I came out, a smug smile faded from Torren''s face and returned to the ''knightly'' neutrality he had been going for all day.


    Claire clapped her hands together as she spotted me. ¡°Alright! Last class of the day. Ready?¡±


    ¡ª


    I flopped onto my bed and I took a moment to settle myself back down. School had been¡­ not exactly as I remembered, and yet it had been the same in some ways. Still a drag, for one.


    But it was kind of nice? Sure there were¡­ ew, but interacting with people my age-ish had been a refreshing change of pace. Sure, they were all probably from uber-wealthy families and I wouldn¡¯t share anything in common outside of my lies, but it was still kind of nice.


    Other than that, my targets had been¡­ interesting. I¡¯d have to get the other two''s opinions, but as it stands both were slightly suspicious.


    Sean seemed to be an elitist, which really wasn¡¯t all that surprising considering where he came from. Elitism could be a scary thing. And Claire- well, Claire seemed to be completely unfazed by her best friend''s disappearance. Sure, she could¡¯ve already moved on, but it still seemed a bit quick.


    As for the Inquisitor''s request, nothing stood out to me yet. To be fair, I had only been around most of the teachers in passing, so there was still ample time to find something amiss.


    Overall though, I had a surprisingly good day back to school.

 Chapter 85

    Chapter 85I looked through the list Mr. Jarvis gave me, mentally calculating how much I would need to spend on it. Thankfully, there was only a bag and some writing utensils on the list, so I already had most of the stuff. Sure, I would have to clean out my bag, but at least I wouldn¡¯t have to go buy a new one.


    Speaking of things I need to do, several more points of interest came to mind. For one, if I wanted to attend the art gala I would need to get a high-end dress so as not to stand out in ¡®low class¡¯ clothes- ah, but galas usually had a theme, right? Guess getting clothing together would have to wait till I was officially invited and told the theme. Hopefully, it wouldn¡¯t be something too obnoxious.


    I also need to get to making some better tools- or maybe buying some of the low-tech ones. Unfortunately, that would also have to be thrown on the back burner like so much else. I needed a metal three-dimensional printer to make a lot of the stuff I wanted, and I simply didn¡¯t have the Rayn to afford one.


    Once again, money was the problem. So much for being a thief. What kind of thief had issues with money? Right¡­ a bad one. But I wasn¡¯t bad! Just- just taking my time to, um, establish myself and set up a stash somewhere.


    A sigh let me as I stood from my bed and approached the window of my apartment. I stared out of it, appreciating the view. The cold uncaring facade of the city lay out before me in all its wretched splendor. Rain wreathed the city, as it always did, each drop alit in small sparkling blazes of neon.


    I lost myself, thoughts adrift, and just stared for long moments. My brain worked and twisted, bringing forth a constant array of ideas and potential plans for the future.


    My phone rang, drawing me away as my brain settled down back to its normal pace. I took a deep breath and hit answer. ¡°Sir.¡±


    ¡°Shquire¡­ how goesh the infiltration?¡± Inquisitor Ligh Strumgard asked.


    I relaxed my body against the window pane, embracing the sticky cold flowing through it. ¡°Good.¡°


    ¡°Good, good¡­ lets not talk over the phone though. Meet me in my office.¡± I half expected him to say more, but nope! He just hung right up without another word.


    I sighed as I tossed my phone onto the windowsill. My head lightly tapped against the window as I felt the cool radiate through my forehead. it calmed the raging emotions inside me, allowing me a moment of peace. A moment that ended just as briefly as I headed for my closet.


    ¡ª¡ª


    I picked at the Blue Crusade trench coat as I walked up the street, feeling uncomfortable under all the Crusade insignias. It wasn¡¯t- well, it wasn¡¯t me. If anything, it was the opposite of Shiro the thief. Shiro the thief who¡¯s barely stolen anything as of late¡­


    That would change soon though, hopefully. That art gala seemed to be quite promising. If not, I had a few other avenues I could go down to find something worth stealing. Oh, and I still needed to find a place for my stash¡­


    At the very least, I wasn¡¯t the only one in Blue Crusade attire, so I didn¡¯t stand out. As I headed towards the entrance of the Little Yukoto Blue Crusade HQ, I couldn¡¯t help but feel a strange sense of nostalgia.


    It had been a while since I last walked through here, and as I entered and walked through the halls it felt entirely different. Instead of the dread and despair that settled deep in me like the last time, I felt a strange sort of reluctant acceptance of the whole situation.


    It took a bit to remember where exactly his office sat thanks to my memories still being somewhat hazy of that time, but eventually, I managed to find the right door. I adjusted my hat, tucking my annoying hair even further into its recesses, and built up the courage to knock on the cracked door.


    ¡°Come in!¡± A familiar voice called through the thick synth wood.


    I eased the door open, half expecting an eldritch monstrosity to claw its way towards me like from what I could remember of the last time. Nothing of the sort happened, though it might¡¯ve been preferable as I stepped into Inquisitor Ligh¡¯s office.


    The familiar scene evoked hints of flight instincts all throughout me as a memory of stretching shadows replayed through my mind. I dug my nails into my palm to escape from such memories, sucking in a cold breath of air as I looked around the office.


    I think it remained much the same, the biggest difference being the two chairs in front of the Inquisitor¡¯s filthy desk. One of them was occupied by a raven-haired woman. Silver armor covered parts of her trench coat, showing just how accomplished she was.


    Thick pauldrons, a sturdy chest plate, and well-sculpted gauntlets and grieves protected her. The only thing missing was the mask, but that would only come once she was finally promoted from Squire to Inquisitor.


    Her left arm sat in a black sling, not cutting away from her intimidating figure of near Inquisitorialness in the slightest. Her face was rather pale, and as I stared at her, her eyes met mine. They were cold, dead things. Little life sat in them. The dark brown nearly black iris evoked a similar feeling to that of a dead fish.


    The woman looked to be maybe nineteen, and yet she looked as drained as a ninety-year-old. Her pale skin looked as if it would slop right off her muscles as she lightly nodded to me.


    ¡±Ah, Shquire Zuku! We were just talking about you.¡± Inquisitor Ligh leaned back in his chair. ¡°Take a seat.¡±


    I followed his order and unwillingly sat down. As I moved, I got another glimpse of the woman¡¯s eyes, finding them to be just as unwilling and dead as I felt.


    A flash of silver drew my attention back to the Inquisitor as he waved a hand between the two of us. ¡°Hope, thish is Zuku Ichima, my newesht shquire. Zuku, meet Hope.¡± Sear?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I held out a polite hand to the woman as I tried to put on a friendly smile. ¡°Nice to meet you.¡±


    Hope flopped a hand to my own, her handshake even more of a dead fish than her eyes. ¡°Yeah yeah.¡± She sighed deeply. ¡°I¡¯m a combat specialist. Never lost a fight.¡±


    Why would a combat specialist be under an Inquisitor? That didn¡¯t make sense. Hope should¡¯ve been a Squire of a Knight at least. And she never lost a fight? I call bull, yet I wouldn¡¯t say it to her face lest I get beaten. ¡°What happened there then?¡±


    Inquisitor Ligh laughed. ¡°Ah, so you have losht a fight, eh?¡±


    Hope¡¯s depressed eyes flashed around the office as she settled back into her chair as if accepting death. I didn¡¯t think it was possible, but her eyes seemed to bleed out even more of her will to live. ¡°I lost to gravity¡­ It doesn¡¯t count.¡±


    ¡±Shure it doesh!¡± The Inquisitor fished through his desk, retrieving a shiny silver flask and taking a drink below his mask. He must¡¯ve seen me staring at him as he slowed down and sheepishly tipped the flask to the side. ¡°It¡¯sh uh- it¡¯sh water, don¡¯t worry¡­¡±


    Water my foot! Still, there was no point arguing about drinking habits with someone who was technically my ¡®superior¡¯. ¡°So, uh, you asked me to come in?¡±


    Ligh nodded several times, his mask reflecting the light into my eyes annoyingly. ¡±Right! Hope here will be joining ush on thish case since you¡¯re¡­ indisposed. Between the three of us we should be able to rip and tear through evidence. Zuku here has successhfully infiltrated SPS earlier today. Zuku?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m uh- I¡¯m posing as a student to get in and out. So far, everything seemed mostly normal for a school. I still don¡¯t know what I¡¯m looking for though¡­¡± I shrugged. Unless they wanted a minute-by-minute rundown of my day, that was a good enough explanation without giving too much away.


    Hope sat up a bit in her chair. ¡°We had a snitc- a witness report seeing someone with a SPS staff tag meet someone else we¡¯ve been keeping an eye on¡­¡±


    The Inquisitor took a long drag from his flask. ¡°More or less, yeah that¡¯sh about right.¡±


    She flopped back once more, tiredly tossing her working arm around. ¡°We lost who we were tracking, hence asking you for help¡­¡±


    ¡°Look through their files if you can. Check their phones or notesh or anything for a mention of ¡®Oberon¡¯ or ¡®The Circle¡¯.¡± The Inquisitor shrugged. ¡°For now, do it by hand. I¡¯ll try and get some of the nerd- I mean techiesh, to whip something up to help.¡±


    ¡°Chek chek.¡± I made a mental note to look further into the two keywords. Something about them felt weird to me as I threw them to the back of my mind, but I didn¡¯t exactly have the time to think further about it.


    Inquisitor Ligh Strumgard tilted his flask all the way up. His shoulders shifted around in pure disappointment as he sighed even more lifelessly than Hope. ¡°I- uh- I¡¯ll be back.¡± He stood and walked behind us out of the room.


    Hope sagged back into her chair, her casted arm slumping down against her body. She sat like that for a moment before her dead fish eyes met mine. ¡°You should probably quit.¡±


    I nervously chuckled. ¡°What? Why?¡± Was my cover blown already? Did she know?


    The woman lightly shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ve talked with his other Squires. Working for the Inquisitor is a surefire way of-¡° She went quiet as the door slammed open. Her voice died down to a mere mutter. ¡°Well, you¡¯ve been warned.¡±


    Inquisitor Ligh stepped back into his office as he whistled an uppity tune from decades ago. He held a small plastic water bottle in his hands, the contents of which I highly doubted were water. ¡°Ah, don¡¯t mind me.¡±


    That being said, the man tripped getting around his desk. His mask slammed face-first into the desk as he slumped down. The bottle slipped from his grasp as it neatly glided into his desk and a pen bounced up to replace it. In a mere second, he turned from a tripping drunk to a perfectly professional Inquisitor busy with paperwork.


    At that exact moment, someone opened the door wider and leaned in. ¡°Ah, good. Those documents you wanted came in, Ligh¡­ mind if I ask what all of this is about?¡±


    ¡±You can ashk, Commander. You can askh.¡± The silver-clad man leaned back from his desk, setting down the pen as he coughed lightly. As he started to speak again, the faint slur in his words disappeared entirely. ¡°You two are dismissed. I expect good results.¡±


    Fuck, the Commander was here too? What kind of shit was this, and why was I caught on the pile of it? And why the hell could Inquisitor Ligh just blatantly ignore the highest-ranked official in this building with flippant disregard?


    Still, the sooner I got out the better. Hope seemed to think similarly to me as she bolted before I could even stand up. I nodded to Ligh and headed for the door, brushing within inches of the Blue Crusade Commander.


    Unlike every other higher-up of the Crusade, he wore entirely normal - though completely black - Crusade clothing. Not a hint of silver was anywhere on his body. The hood of his trench coat cast a long, unnatural shadow over the Commander¡¯s face. Said shadow twisted and twirled as if a great monster hid in it.


    I forced myself to look away, though the image of his figure stayed imprinted in my head as I passed by. Every hint of his features were entirely hidden as I felt his eyes track me through the warnings of Insight.


    One step at a time, I walked out down the hall. As soon as I turned the corner, my control over myself collapsed as my limbs turned to shaking noodles.

 Chapter 86

    Chapter 86As much as I didn¡¯t want to, the next morning I awoke bright and early and headed for school. Still, today would hopefully prove to be more exciting than anything. I had some plans to hopefully help out with my double gig. After school, of course. There would be less people walking around. Now I just needed to get through my first several classes without too much of a hassle.


    From the get-go, that thought process was flawed. In the first hour, just as everyone sat down, a student walked into Mr. Jarvis¡¯s class and waved a note to the teacher. ¡°Um, I¡¯m here for Trovare? Principal Bously wants him.¡±


    Mr. Jarvis took the note and gave it a quick glance before nodding. ¡°Trovare, head on down to the principal¡¯s office. You, uh, you know where it is right?¡±


    ¡°I remember.¡± He spoke in his low-pitched voice. Torren glanced at me, an uncomfortable look in his gaze as he tried to pass a message I just couldn¡¯t grasp. Then he packed up all of his stuff.


    And just like that, I lost my stalwart protector in my first hour, opening the door to a world of uncertainty. Almost immediately, as the door closed behind Torren¡¯s massive frame, several people stood up. A brief staring contest broke out amongst them until only one remained: Sean.


    Sean slicked back his hair with his hand, flashing an arrogant grin as he picked up his bag and walked over to the desk Torren just left. ¡°Hope you don¡¯t mind me sitting here, Lady Meno.¡±


    I tried to give a shy smile, imagining something along the lines of a terrified rabbit as I controlled the muscles of my face. ¡°O-of course not.¡±


    ¡±Nova!¡± Sean tossed his stuff down and settled down at the desk.


    Mr. Jarvis coughed at the front and rubbed a hand through his salt-and-pepper beard. ¡°Alright, now that that is done, let¡¯s get into class, yes? Where were we?¡±


    The first ten minutes passed surprisingly peacefully. I fully tuned into Mr. Jarvis¡¯s lesson, interested in learning more and feeding my roots in Tech with his teachings.


    That peaceful learning ground to a stop as Sean passed a note to my desk. ¡®So I hear you are interested in art? There¡¯s an art gala this weekend. Accompany me?¡¯


    After reading it, I looked up to Sean to see him giving his biggest and brightest smile, his eyes crinkled with the full self-confidence of someone who would get his way. Almost immediately, I wanted to say no just to crush that arrogance. And yet, I paused.


    If I went with Sean Sentinel, of  Sentinel family, would I be able to meet more interesting and wealthy ¡®donors¡¯ than if I just went by myself? Hmm¡­ but then I¡¯d also be under the spotlight more. I thought about it a bit more, completely ignoring Mr. Jarvis¡¯s lesson as I tried to figure out how best to ¡¯borrow¡¯ loot for my stash.


    ¡¯Course, this would also be a prime opportunity to get to know Sean better and look into him. He very well could¡¯ve been the one that made Quora disappear.


    After coming to a decision of non-decision, I wrote down on the paper with one of my newly bought pens. ¡®I didn¡¯t bring my dresses from Pyrus.¡¯


    Sean frowned as he looked at the note, then passed it back to me. ¡®I¡¯ll have one made for you if you come with me. The theme is Wonderland.¡¯


    A free dress? Say less. ¡®Course, that was on top of other benefits I would be milking from the guy. And all I had to do was hang out with him for a bit, which I needed to do anyway for the gig. ¡®Sounds fun.¡¯


    ¡¯Nova! What¡¯s your number, and I¡¯ll send you the detes.¡¯ He passed the note back.


    I froze for a moment before writing down the number for the burner phone Inquisitor Lighstrum got me. Just as I passed it back, Mr Jarvis coughed from the front. ¡°Meno, I see you are  in my class. Care to solve the problem on the board?¡±


    I popped to my feet, a blush rapidly rising to my cheeks as I worked Honest Face as best as I could. I plucked at my skirt slightly and peeked up under my hair. ¡°S-sure.¡±


    I headed up to the light board and looked over the equation. It was something I faintly remembered, but it had been a while. I took a long time solving it, double and triple-checking my math to make sure I was right. Eventually, I got the solution. I stepped back and sheepishly curled a stray lock of hair around my finger. ¡°I-is this right?¡±


    Mr. Jarvis looked impressed for some reason as he looked it over. ¡°Yeah. Go sit back down.¡±


    The rest of the class passed without incident. Sean behaved himself and didn¡¯t pass me any other notes. The dopey grin on his face was a little concerning as was the far-off look in his eyes. The guy looked like he was as high as a kite for the rest of the class.


    I grabbed my bag and got up to leave, wondering where exactly Torren ran off too. I remembered the route to my second hour, so I just nodded at Claire and headed on my way. Torren seemed to have been doing a rather good job buttering her up, so thankfully she wasn¡¯t on the list of people I needed to force interactions with. Speaking of, just what was Feras doing all this time?


    My second hour was a lot less exciting. Torren returned to little fanfare, an irritated look on his face as he rubbed at his chest. That look immediately disappeared as he spotted me and returned to his neutral expression.


    Marketing and Business Management passed by rather slowly. The teacher tried to make it as interesting as possible, but the subject matter was just too¡­ different from what I was interested in. That wasn¡¯t to say it was a bad class. It would be a perfect class for those entering into management or starting up a business when they graduate. It just wasn¡¯t, well, what I was looking for.  sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Corporate History, the class I had dreaded the most even after just one day, was next on the chopping block. I took my seat, Torren taking his next to me as he sighed. We hadn¡¯t had much time to communicate, Feras wanting us to take a couple of days to form our own opinions before we met up again, but it seemed that the big guy also disliked the class.


    As I looked around the room, it seemed that was a common sentiment. Quite a few students were outright sleeping without a care, and several were on their phones, completely ignoring the teacher as she ecstatically tried to get our attention.


    Before class could really even begin, a student walked in with a note. ¡°The gym teacher wants to see Torren.¡±


    The big guy bolted up, an excited look on his face as he got to leave the worst class of the day. He shot me an apologetic look and bolted out the door before I could even wonder what exactly was happening.


    Immediately, a guy slid into the recently vacated seat and flashed me a charming grin. ¡°I don¡¯t believe we¡¯ve met yet, beautiful.¡±


    The guy had long, dirty blond hair and was built like a lean jock. Bright, vibrant blue eyes met my own, the corners crinkling slightly under his smile. His eyes were incredibly blue, to the point I checked several times to make sure they weren¡¯t chrome. As best I could tell, they were normal flesh, though they could just be some kind of high-end cyber optic.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m- I¡¯m Meno Maeni¡­ you are?¡±


    The guy slid a hand back through his hair and sent me a flirtatious look. From off in the distance, I could hear several girls sigh weirdly in sync with his motion. ¡°Tristen. Tristen Trapper.¡±


    Immediately, I resisted the urge to perk up as I smiled shyly. Tristen Trapper was the last of the three people name-dropped by Mr. Kalis. Course, the culprit could¡¯ve been someone outside of those three, but the three were good starting points for now.


    Tristen leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, forcing his muscles to bulge slightly under the school uniform. ¡°So, Miss Maeni, or at least I¡¯m hoping it is Miss.¡± He chuckled lightly to himself, his laugh accented by several sighs.


    ¡±F-for now¡­¡± Not like I had anyone to begin with.


    ¡°How fortunate.¡± Tristen smiled at me. All around, I felt the prickling chill of Insight as the Trait picked up several malicious stares. I looked around, noticing the majority of them. The girls who sent them poorly hid their malice as they stared at me. One even outright met my eyes.


    Those weren¡¯t the ones that worried me though, no. The one that worried me was the one I couldn¡¯t pinpoint where exactly it came from. Fan girls were seriously scary. Wait¡­ could one of them? No, surely not. Making twelve people disappear was a bit¡­ crazy. Still, it may be an avenue to pursue at some point.


    Trisen Trapper laid out on his desk, blowing a lock of hair out of his face. ¡°When did you join our  school?¡±


    ¡°Um, yesterday?¡± I rubbed my arm and scooted away from him a bit. The guy was just- just so much?


    ¡±Ah! I was out recording that day¡­ say, want to come to the studio? I can show you my newest track before it releases?¡± Tristen swavely winked at me.


    Just who was this guy? Out recording¡­ studio? A musician maybe? It would make sense why I haven¡¯t heard of him then. Modern music is just so- so terrible. ¡°I¡¯m- I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m terribly-¡° Wait no, this was a good opportunity too. ¡°Sure, t-tomorrow I¡¯m free?¡±


    ¡±I look forward to it!¡± Tristen smiled and wrote down a number on a piece of paper.


    I looked through the number, memorizing it as I added it to my burner phone. ¡°What band are you in?¡±


    The guy raised his hands above his head, suavely trying to lean back into a relaxed posture. ¡±You must be from out of town¡­ I¡¯m the lead singer for Aythryn City¡¯s own Soarin¡¯ Flyin¡¯-¡°


    ¡±Tristen! Thank you for volunteering!¡± The teacher called from the front, her hands on her hips as she pouted slightly. ¡°Please explain Sentinel¡¯s major victory in late 1939 against the pirates in the eye sea?¡±


    Tristen bolted up. ¡°Oh, um-¡° He tried to speak, completely failing to mention anything comprehensible. I barely kept in my chuckle as he floundered in front of the whole class.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought!¡± The teacher called. ¡°Now sit down and pay attention.¡±


    Tristen took her advice, taking a seat with a far more rigid posture than what he used to have. He looked at me, tried to give a reassuring smile, and then actually paid attention to the teacher.


    The rest of the class passed without anything of note happening. Well, other than the attempted brainwashing by the teacher. It didn¡¯t really work too well considering over half the class were doing other things instead of paying attention.


    Social studies passed much like Business Management, the hour slowly ticking by as Torren kept everyone from interacting too closely thanks to his intimidating frame. Thanks, buddy,


    And then it was time for lunch. Torren immediately split towards the cafeteria line and muttered, ¡°Cya!¡±


    I stepped through the doorway, immediately getting slammed in the face with the scent of far too many kinds of food cooking. I winced at the strong scent, feeling my head throb as spicy and sweet mixed with bitter and disgusting in my nose.


    Pausing momentarily in my stride, my eyes tracked to the table I sat at last time. It was entirely full of faces familiar and unfamiliar, with one spot remaining closest to the window. The spot I sat it last time.


    I caught sight of Sean, Aaron, Jayce, and even Tristen hanging out with expectant looks on their faces. Two others, students I had yet to meet, sat alongside them. A guy and girl based on their uniforms, but it was hard to tell outside of that. They looked almost exactly the same, the only difference being in their hair length and style.


    Yep- nope. Not doing that. I cast my eyes around the room, eyeing any available seat. There were quite a few around, but one caught my eye immediately as I headed over. Christine spotted me and happily waved a hand as I approached their table, completely abandoning the people who stole mine.


    ¡°Meno! What a pleasant surprise! Come, come sit with us, girly!¡± Trisha called and scooted her chair open, opening up room for me to come join their small group.


    For once, I didn¡¯t have to force the smile as I moved towards the open seat.

 Chapter 87

    Chapter 87¡±I can¡¯t believe it! Sean actually asked you to the gala?¡± Christine laughed as she put on the finishing touches to our project.


    I looked around the room, catching sight of many people looking over in interest. ¡°N-not so loud! And is it that rare?¡±


    ¡°He rarely talks to anyone not in his tower.¡± Jayne shrugged. ¡°Much less ask someone to an event. It seems you¡¯re quite the hot topic, Lady Meno.¡±


    I rubbed at my arm and leaned back in my chair. ¡°P-please, just Meno¡­ I¡¯m here for school, so I¡¯d rather it be kept simple.¡± That, and hearing ¡®Lady¡¯ this and ¡®Lady¡¯ that was really starting to get under my skin. It wasn¡¯t so bad the first day, but it was incredibly irritating. It¡¯s like people worshiped the ground I worked on just for being born the right way. And Pyrus isn¡¯t even that big of a country!


    Trisha patted me on the shoulder. ¡±Don¡¯t mind Jayne, girly. She¡¯s just jealous-¡°


    ¡±No I¡¯m not!¡±


    Christine dropped the other parts of the project and leaned forward towards me. ¡°Jayne¡¯s always fantasized about a Prince Charming coming to sweep her off her feet-¡°


    Jayne slapped her hands onto Christine¡¯s mouth and her face turned as red as a neon advertisement. ¡°You promised not to say!¡±


    ¡±And you promised not to tell anyone I volunteered at Saint¡¯s Cathedral, yet here we are!¡± Christine glared at the girl.


    Right before Jayne could try and defend herself, the bell rang to announce the end of class. This time, I actually got to help pick up everything before I headed off.


    Torren wasn¡¯t whisked away from my last hour, so it passed in relative peace. I didn¡¯t miss, however, the dozen dozen students making eyes at me. And it was downright impossible to miss the way Sean looked toward me like a love-sick puppy even without the assistance of Insight.


    Just as class neared its end, my phone buzzed with text messages. One came from Feras to a group message with Torren and I in it. I could see it thanks to my HUD, but the bruiser had to fish out his phone to look, drawing the ire of Mr. Jarvis. ¡®Don¡¯t forget our meetup! Meet me at Golden Apartments after school.¡¯


    The other came from the love-sick puppy himself. ¡®Meet me at Crystal Aesthetics tonight? For the clothing, ¡¯course. Sooner we get them on it the better!¡®


    ¡¯I¡¯ll be there.¡® Then, because I was too lazy to type it out again, I copied it and pasted it into the other chat.


    ¡ª¡ª


    ¡°So, what do you think?¡± Feras asked, his face hidden below his hoodie¡¯s hood. He sat on the only sofa in the room. He took a long drag from his bottle, the faint scent of something fruity hitting my nose.


    I glanced around the rundown apartment our ¡®brave leader¡¯ called us to from my vantage point atop the unwashed bed. I pulled my legs up and crossed them. ¡°School sucks?¡±


    ¡±No, about the people? Have you noticed anything yet?¡± Feras asked, his voice sounding oddly croaky from the sofa. He shifted, his Cues a confliction of comfort and discomfort. The cheap synth leather of the sofa squealed as he squirmed, splitting my eardrums sharply.


    ¡±They¡¯re a bunch of classic corpos; assholes to everyone not in their click.¡± Torren shrugged, his shoulder clipped the moldy wall he leaned up against. ¡°You couldn¡¯t have picked somewhere better, choom?¡±


    ¡±This place was cheap!¡± Feras cried out, once again having a weird tick to his voice. Was he high? Or drunk, knowing my luck.


    I tried to look under his hood somewhat, but he kept blocking my vision with his positioning and hands. ¡°What¡¯s with the hood?¡±


    ¡±N-nothing.¡±


    Our bruiser snorted sharply. ¡°Sure¡­ c¡®mon, m¡¯lady asked you a question.¡±


    ¡°Ow screw off with that nonsense, Torren!¡± Feras squirmed even harder, seemingly clutching his chest out of habit. Probably to the fox amulet he kept, if I had to guess.


    Torren closed his eyes for a moment, causing Insight to pulse helpfully. It wasn¡¯t a danger ping, but more of a subtle warning. One with an ethereal tinge to it. Without hesitation, I flicked on Aetherial Perception to find a small amount of Aetherial energy gathering around the guy. Was he a Magus too?


    Several moments passed, and then the gathered energy burst out, turning into a dim glow. So an Adept then¡­ I hadn¡®t been around very many of them since getting Aetherial Perception, but it definitely wasn¡¯t the same as what happened when a Magus summoned a sprite.


    A ¡®rogue¡¯ wind blew from out of nowhere, bringing some level of airflow to the lacking room. It gathered, condensed, and then blasted towards Feras. It hit him hard, barely causing an effect outside knocking his hood off.


    Taking the opportunity, I swiveled my attention to Feras¡¯s face. Feras¡¯s fucked up face. Bruises covered the entirety of it, mostly centered around his nose. One even prominently looked like a footprint. ¡°What happened to you?¡±


    Torren chuckled, seemingly uncaring about the other guy as he crossed his arms over his chest and returned to his neutral position against the wall. ¡°Classic Feras. Finally got into a situation you couldn¡¯t talk your way out of, eh?¡±


    A flush rose to Feras¡¯s cheeks. ¡°Har har. Laugh it up Torrential. At least I don¡¯t look like an overgrown toad.¡±


    ¡±Hey! It¡¯s just the effects of Min-Maxing, you know that!¡± Torren immediately defended himself. ¡°And at least I don¡¯t look like I got stepped on a dozen times!¡±


    ¡±A dozen and one, I¡¯ll have you know-¡°


    ¡±Boys!¡± I called, interrupting their hissy fit. ¡°Can we get back onto topic?¡±


    ¡°R-right.¡± Feras sheepishly rubbed his neck, his arm half obscuring his face as he flicked his hood back on. Now he wasn¡¯t actively blocking my view, I could clearly see into the shadows of his hood for the full extent of the damage. It wasn¡¯t pretty.


    ¡±Chek chek.¡± Torren sighed.


    ¡±Nova.¡± I leaned back against the bed¡¯s headboard, the wooden breaking under my weight as I crumpled back into it. ¡°Gah!¡±


    I pulled my way out of the wall, shooting a glare at Feras. ¡°You really should¡¯ve picked somewhere better.¡±


    ¡±It was cheap!¡±


    ¡±So are hourly motels.¡± I looked around the dilapidated room. There was probably even asbestos everywhere based on the condition of the place. In the bathroom, I heard a rat or something skitter around the pipework. ¡°And they aren¡¯t near as, uh, unfriendly.¡±


    ¡°Well, you guys pitch in next time! It won¡¯t have to be so cheap then.¡± Feras sighed and looked around the room, his nose curling in disgust.


    Has he never done this before? ¡°You¡¯re the leader. It¡¯s your expense, not ours. That¡¯s why the masterminds usually get double the cut.¡±


    Feras tossed his hands up. ¡°Fine! Next time we¡¯ll go somewhere better¡­ anyway, you guys notice anything about the investigation?¡±


    ¡±There seems to be a ton of malice and hatred everywhere.¡± I said.


    ¡±Welcome to school?¡± Torren shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s how most of them are. Add in a fair dose of horn dogs too though.¡±


    I guess? Still, it seemed a bit¡­ over the top? Surely it wasn¡¯t this bad everywhere else. Hell, I thought someone might even shank me after Tristen talked to me. ¡°Maybe.¡±


    ¡±Okay, what do you think of the targets?¡±


    Torren shook his girth head. ¡°I¡¯ve been  other games. Haven¡¯t interacted with anyone except Claire. She seems overly nice.¡±


    Yeah, because she¡¯s hard into you dipwad. How did he not notice something so obvious? ¡°Uh, Claire seemed to move on pretty quick from her best friend¡­ Not exactly a nail in the coffin, but still weird.¡±


    ¡±Thank you! See Torren? Take some tips and stop playing around.¡± Feras sighed. ¡°Yeah, I noticed the same thing. From what I¡¯ve seen of her, she also seems to hate most people.¡±


    I shared a look with our bruiser. She seemed quite chummy with him. ¡±Sean seemed weird. I¡¯ve got some things set up to better take a look, but for now, he just seems like a cocky elitist? Could be our guy if Quora rubbed him the wrong way. He definitely has the means.¡±


    Feras nodded and wrote something down on his phone. ¡°Yeah, I thought mostly the same too.¡±


    ¡±Really? Just looks like classic daddy issues to me. Daddy doesn¡¯t love him, so he acts out.¡± Torren suggested.


    He could be right, but then that might show he did it even more. Maybe this time the guy escalated to killing almost a dozen people and making them vanish all for Daddy Sentinel¡¯s attention? ¡°Might be more motive.¡±


    ¡±What about that Tristen guy though?¡± Feras suggested. ¡°Seemed like a total chrome dome.¡±


    I guess it could''ve been him. Still, he seemed kinda... dim? ¡°He definitely seemed to have a small cult of fangirls following him. Maybe one of them did it? Make the competition vanish and all of that?¡±


    Torren leaned back against the door. The wood creaked, but didn¡¯t snap apart like it did under my much lower weight. ¡°Are we sure it''s even a student? Principal Bously seems  suspicious.¡±


    ¡±That guy¡¯s just a brown noser. Maybe one of the teachers though? The gym teacher in particular seems to hate low-class students.¡± Feras suggested.


    ¡±Haven¡¯t met him yet. The principal does seem likely¡­ I have plans to get some info out of him, but it¡¯ll have to wait a few more days.¡± Hopefully, Inquisitor Lighstrum could get me something good to use on the principal. He did promise something from the Blue Crusade¡¯s techies.


    Our fearlessly bruised leader rubbed a hand across his face, groaning slightly. ¡° anyway, I¡¯ve got an in with a group that might know something too.¡±


    ¡°The gym coach wants me to join a sports team, particularly baseball or some kind of fighting one¡­¡± Torren shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll ask around the jocks.¡±


    ¡°Preem¡­¡±


    ¡±Is that it then?¡± I asked as I checked the time on my HUD. sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°Why? Got somewhere else to be?¡± Feras shot me a look as he took a large drink from his bottle.


    I smiled at him, pulling my best innocent look. ¡°Who? Me? As a matter of fact, I do! A date, even-¡°


    ¡°Ugh!¡± Feras grasped at his throat, his face turning red as he choked on his drink. He entered a coughing fit, only helped by Feras as the big guy hurriedly slammed his massive paw into the grifter¡¯s back over and over.


    Feras¡¯s face cleared up, turning bright red once more as Torren absolutely pounded the hell out of his back. ¡°S-stop! I¡¯m- gah! I¡¯m good!¡±


    Torren looked at me, smirked, and then whacked the guy one last time. ¡°Just had to make sure.¡±


    ¡°S-so, a date?¡± Feras asked, his face crumpled as he tried to breathe and calm himself down from his rough beating.


    I looked down at my phone, the message from Sean popping up on it. ¡°Kind of. I¡¯m heading to get clothes with Sean. He invited me to an art gala this weekend. Figured it would be a good time to get to know him better and maybe find some clues. All part of my master plan. You should try it sometime?¡±


    Feras frowned, confusion evident as his eyebrows creased. ¡°Dating guys?¡±


    ¡±What? No? I mean having a master plan?¡±


    ¡±Pff!¡± Torren burst into laughter, slapping our ¡®great¡¯ leader on the back.


    ¡°Hey! Watch it, you oaf! Can¡¯t you see us civilized folk trying to have a conversation?¡±


    Torren stared him dead in the eye. ¡°Low blow, man. Low blow.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I realized as I said it¡­ anyway, your master plan.¡± Feras quickly jumped to a different subject. ¡°¡®Finding¡¯ some expensive art would be nice too?¡±


    ¡±You got it!¡± I gave an innocent smile as I popped off the bed. Channeling my inner Mira, I happily sauntered toward the door with all the cheer I could muster. It was rather easy. For some reason, I was in a really good mood today. ¡°Cya!¡±


    ¡±Stay safe. Don¡¯t trust him too-¡°


    I closed the door, cutting Feras off with a slight smirk on my face. That smirk faded as I stepped out into the filthy halls of Golden Apartments. If anything was golden about the place, it was the piss stains all over the walls. The entire place wreaked to the heavens, making me wish I packed my mask. Maybe I should carry it around?


    I could think about it later. I left the building, cleaning myself up slightly as I got on my bike and headed for the place Sean sent in his text: Crystal Aesthetics.

 Chapter 88

    Chapter 88Crystal Aesthetics was¡­ well, about what I would expect based on its name? It sat on the forty-fourth floor of Albany Rise, showcasing the entirety of the city with a crystal clear three-sixty view of the city.


    Crystalline statues sat all over the place, each wearing lavish clothing that looked more expensive than everything I owned combined. The flashes of neon from the city skyline beyond the windows flashed through, hitting the crystal statues and decorations as they split into a myriad of rainbows all over the place. It was honestly impressive. Not only did it look nice, but it was free since the light came from elsewhere.


    There were dozens of people hanging about. They stood in tight clusters, seemingly doing nothing but loitering. Weird.


    Overall, the place was quite-


    ¡°Beautiful, but lacking compared to you, Lady Meno,¡± Sean said as he approached from behind Torren and me, a confident smile etched onto his face. He had changed at some point, now wearing a classy button-up shirt and slacks. The top button of his shirt was unbuttoned, revealing the top of a frankly pale but chiseled chest. ¡°Still in your uniform? And with your¡­ mikato?¡±


    Three bodyguards- no, two bodyguards and what looked like an attendant approached right behind him. The two guards were borged out, each strapped in with several  visible weapons and body armor covering their chrome. The attendant was an elderly man clad in a sharp tuxedo, yet not too sharp to draw attention away from his charge. I barely caught his gaze, his eyes sharper than someone his age had a right to.


    I could practically feel Torren tense up behind me as he squared off with the other guards. The other two took the change, not so subtle flexing as they shifted in posture. I wasn¡¯t meathead enough to know who was winning, so I decided to stay out of it.


    ¡±W-we went to eat. Didn¡¯t have time to run back and, uh, change¡­¡± I shrugged, trying to ignore the way the guards stood there, menacingly. Stay calm, Shiro. They were just doing their job. Your cover is still good. ¡°S-so, what¡¯s the plan?¡±


    The distraction seemed to work as Sean looked around Crystal Aesthetics. ¡°This is Master Telos¡¯s shop.¡± His eyes flashed with pure respect, though that dimmed down to a low tone of disappointment as he kicked the ground slightly. ¡°He¡¯s extraordinarily picky though, even having the gall to not take my father as a client. Doubt he¡¯ll see us. Which is fine. Everyone who works here is the best in the business. So, what do you want?¡±


    Master Telos? ¡°Just whatever you think is best¡­¡± Wait, that didn¡¯t sound right. ¡°My- my uncle was the one who usually set this kind of stuff up.¡±


    Sean nodded several times, seemingly not hearing me as he led our group over to one of the side rooms. Interestingly, the side room was also made out of crystal in its entirety, though it seemed to be a one-way mirror. We could still see out, but I hadn''t been able to see inside when approaching.


    The inside of the room was rather simple. Just some couches shoved up against the wall, even the cushions looking to be made from crystals. A tall bar stool sat in the middle, a lone seat awaiting its muse. There weren''t decorations, and the furniture seemed nice, but not quite as expensive as their reputation would suggest.


    ¡°Bertram,¡± Sean called as we stepped in, the two guards moving to flank the sides of the doorframe. Torren stayed just a step behind me me, watching my back as I looked around the place.


    The older attendant approached like a shadow. ¡°Young Master?¡±


    ¡°Go fetch a Crystal Aesthetician.¡± Sean turned toward me, a polite smile blooming on his face. ¡°It¡¯ll just be a minute¡­ so, what kind of art do you like?¡±


    ¡±O-oh, you know¡­¡± What kind of art  I like? I¡¯ve never really thought about it. ¡°I l-like sculptures¡­ silver is- is probably my favorite?¡±


    Sean moved over to one of the couches, sitting back on it with a relaxed expression. ¡°Really? I prefer more¡­ unique items.¡±


    ¡±Like?¡±


    ¡±Stuff from Cwalu- but that tends to be rare. WWII relics in particular are interesting-¡°


    A man raced into the room, Bertram hurriedly following behind him. The man looked every bit like a crazy scientist, his hair in long tuffs of gray curls sticking out of his head. He even had a lab coat on, several dozen needles, and different colored strands of thread pulled through it.  ¡°Where- ah!¡± The man¡¯s eyes seemed to light up as he saw me.


    ¡±M-master Telos!¡± Sean popped to the heels of his feet. ¡°I wasn¡¯t expect-¡°


    ¡±Hush boy!¡± Master Telos drew uncomfortably close to me, staring into my eyes like a ravenous dog. For all I knew, he was one considering how he spoke to Sean He stalked around, muttering to himself. ¡°I saw from the security feed, but in person? Even more stunning! Smile at me, girl.¡± S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I forced a light smile to my lips before I could really even think about it, using Honest Face¡¯s training to adjust my ghost of a smile. ¡°Um¡­ sir?¡±


    ¡°Ah! Perfect! The peak of perfection! Just what I¡¯ve been looking for! That childhood innocence, unstained by this unclean world! That look entirely missing from every corporate street rat to come prowling through my little abode¡­ And yet there is a tinge of¡­¡± The guy glanced towards the security all around the room. ¡°Mischief. Not overwhelming, but just enough there.¡±


    Mischief? And the way he looked around¡­ did he know? If he knew why wasn¡¯t he saying something then? I don''t think I had made any indicators, and I was hyper aware of such things as of late. Was it something else? ¡°Sir-¡°


    The crazy man pointed his finger in my face. ¡°You! You are perfect! Be my muse!¡±


    What? Just what in the hell was going on? How was this lunatic the Master Telos Sean seemed to be so respectful of? ¡°Um¡­¡± I looked to Sean for some help, but he just stood off to the side, his eyes full of shock. Torren wasn¡¯t much help either. He just not so subtly shrugged at me.¡°Sir?¡±


    ¡±Please, just Telos.¡± The man clapped his hands several times, calling out, ¡°Assistants! What am I paying you for? Hurry the hel- heck up! My muse awaits!¡±


    Several people raced into the room, half of them looking sleep-deprived and the other as if they died of exhaustion weeks ago with only their chrome still running. Two ran to the nearest outlet and set up a table with a coffee pot. Three others ran around setting up lights  so they shined onto the central chair.


    A duo brought in an abundant assortment of art supplies and bolts of fabric, far too much for any sane person to go through. Another of them brought in a dog of all things, one bright golden and with a happy smile on its face. It was weird seeing a dog as a pet like how they used to do it. Most of my experience were with the rabid ones living in back alleys.


    ¡°I, uh, I never agreed?¡± I asked, a frown coming to my face as I watched the circus. A potentially dangerous circus if the man actually knew something.


    Everything in the room froze, even the dog going almost entirely rigid as Master Telos looked at me slowly. His grin dipped, a frigid aura filling the room as Insight warned me of danger, but not in the normal sense. This time it felt almost¡­ feverish?


    Master Telos laughed, his voice echoing off the crystal walls. ¡°Yes! Yes! I didn¡¯t think you could be better, but you are, my dear! That defiance in your eyes! That uncaring attitude! That scarred innocence! Perfect!¡± The psycho wasted no time moving over to a setup easel, his hands moving over the dozens of brushes with practiced ease.


    ¡±Um¡­¡± I looked around the room, all of the assistants avoiding my gaze. Well, not so much avoiding as taking the opportunity to sleep. It was impressive how quickly the lot of them passed out while still standing with perfect posture. The others in the room - the bodyguards, Torren, Sean, and Bertram - just stared at me blankly.


    Torren snapped out of whatever daze the rushing assistants and crazy guy put him in. He looked at me, his neck and facial muscles twisting as if to speak, before he looked around the place and went back to stillness.


    Sean seemed to snap out of whatever daze he was in the second fastest out of the lot, a broad smile coming to his face. ¡°This is perfect, Meno. You¡¯ll be the star of the show with Master Telos taking care of you.¡±


    ¡±Star of the show? Please! My muse will be the star of the universe!¡± Master Telos laughed maniacally. ¡°You came for the art gala this weekend, I presume¡­ right little Sentinel?¡±


    Star of the show? Star of the universe? I didn¡¯t ask for any of this. I just wanted something good enough to not immediately make me stand out as poor, not an overly extravagant dress. And I still hadn¡¯t agreed to anything!


    ¡±Don¡¯t call me that¡­¡± Sean muttered, but he didn¡¯t have that usual cocky tilt to his voice. ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡±A masquerade?¡± Maser Telos paused whatever he was doing as he stretched out his hand. The golden dog immediately walked over, its tail wagging happily as the lunatic started to pet its head. ¡°It''s been a while, but it should be fine.¡±


    ¡±Um- okay?¡± I shrugged, giving into the man¡¯s fanatical gaze. It didn¡¯t really matter who made my clothing at the end of the day since Sean was  enough to cover the price. ¡°Do I need to do anything?¡±


    Master Telos rubbed the dog¡¯s head harder, a brilliant smile on his face. ¡°Just stay here and I¡¯ll have plans drawn before too long.¡±


    ¡±Nova¡­¡±


    ----


    I sighed, rubbing at my back as Sean, Torren, and I stood alone in the room. Well, mostly alone. Bertram and the guards were still around, but Master Telos and his slave- assistants left to go finalize designs, whatever that meant.


    Sean sat down on the couch and chuckled slightly as his guards and Bertram made their presence as scarce as they could. ¡°Wow¡­ crazy how things work out, huh?¡±


    I stared at him, feeling a bit conflicted as I answered. ¡°Sure is¡­¡±


    ¡±So! Um- what¡¯s your favorite color?¡± He asked, his hand rubbing at the crook of his elbow as he leaned back.


    Torren snickered from the background, barely managing to keep his laughter to himself as the two other bodyguards glared at him.


    The snicker made a light laugh escape me as I moved to the couch and took a seat across from Sean. It was oddly funny to see the nervous Cues coming from the guy. ¡°It¡¯s a bit cliche, b-but I like pink? Not too much of it, but it¡¯s a nice color.¡±


    My actual favorite colors were black and gray. They were just too versatile to not like. They were perfect. Perfect for clothing since common stains never sat too visibly. Perfect for their ability to blend in. Perfect for thieves. Perfect for me.


    Pink was alright. Not my favorite, but I didn''t hate it.


    ¡°Really?¡± Sean asked. ¡°I like red¡­¡±


    . Sean  liked red, the primary color of Sentinel. What was up with this though? Why was he asking me normal questions? I was expecting something a bit more¡­ corpy? Not questions that were so corny.


    I should shift gears a bit. Get him more onto a topic that I actually wanted to talk about. ¡°SPS is a pretty cool school.¡±


    ¡±Right!¡± That conceited pride returned to his face. ¡°Father sunk some pocket change into the place to get it decent. You should see where my, uh-¡° Sean¡¯s corporate cockiness dipped into a drained loneliness that vanished just as quickly, ¡°-my siblings are going, though. That place is stunning through and through. Way better than SPS.


    Why was he soloed out in SPS then if there was a better option? Well, I could think of several dozen reasons, none of them particularly good for the guy¡­ probably best not to ask. I didn''t want to expose myself to even more drama. Anyway, there were other, more important things on my mind. ¡°SPS is nice, but is it safe? I¡¯ve heard about several disappearing students¡­¡±


    ¡±Who the hell is spreading such rumors?¡± His face twisted into an annoyed grimace.


    ¡°J-just something I heard.¡± I rubbed at my arm and dropped back my confidence a degree, fading back into my role.


    Sean sighed, his face softening somewhat as he placatingly raised his hands. ¡°Look, SPS is perfectly safe. Father ensured that. No one can go in or out without notifying security. And those disappearances were dubbed as runaways that didn¡¯t even take place at the school. Not too rare considering who attends SPS.¡±


    The conversation drifted after that, jumping through a variety of topics as he asked me various likes and dislikes. It wasn''t quite what I wanted from the guy, but it gave me a better picture of ''Sean Sentinel'' as a whole. Not too bad.


    I held back a sigh as Master Telos barged into the room. Originally, I hoped to get more out of going with Sean to this place in terms of the gig, but it looked like all I would get was a fanatical stalker. At least the clothes should be nice.

 Chapter 89

    Chapter 89Heyo!


    To celebrate hitting chapter one hundred, Patreon is 11 ahead, I''m holding a Q&A open to all(aka free)! If you have a question burning in the back of your mind or otherwise want to stab holes in the story while I run around trying to patch it with ducktape, then you are more than welcome to come participate!


    Q&A link if you''re interested: /posts/106083775?pr=true


    Master Telos ended up coming and going at least half a dozen times before he finally settled on a design. A design I still had yet to see. That lunatic left with a ¡®Come see me Friday¡¯ and nothing else.


    By the time he left, Sean had passed out on the couch and I wasn¡¯t much behind him. Unfortunately, I still had far too much to do to go to sleep now. I discreetly summoned Crow¡¯s Canteen of Chaos under my jacket and set it to produce XtraEnergy Quantum?. I still had a long night, and I needed a boost in energy.


    Torren walked with me out of that hellhole, only splitting up once we were out of view of the building. Then, I headed for the nearest robotics store.


    ¡ª¡ª


    The gala was in three days, and I had plenty of stuff I needed to prepare before then. Night had long fallen by the time I entered my apartment with bags full of supplies and five hundred Rayn lighter. I was now stuck barely below what I would need for rent, but hopefully, I¡¯d be able to make it back soon. If not? There were plenty of pockets in need of liberation.


    I tossed everything near my work table and popped my back. Taking a long swig of XtraEnergy, I looked through my apartment and allowed myself a moment to relax. Then the caffeine hit and I got to work.


    First things first, I pulled Principal Bously¡¯s email off the school website and sent a message. It might not have the effect I wanted, but if it did, then I would soon have a perfect opportunity to gain some essential knowledge for a later plan that was still in its early stages.


    Quite simply, I need gear. Gear that wouldn¡¯t be traced back to me through purchases or have pre-installed viruses, hence needing to make it myself. This time though, I had a better plan than when I made my cute little Scouters.


    First things first, I got the 3-D printer up and into action. I wanted to make mics, one small enough to be easily hidden and yet powerful enough to pick up a conversation. Instead of trying - and probably failing - to make one myself from scratch, I bought a bunch of different types and different headphones and audio modules from the store. Between them and the micro batteries, that was where the bulk of my Rayn went.


    While the printer booted up, I checked my materials. I was on my last roll of wire, but I should be able to get most of the stuff I needed to get done finished. I hope. After that, I pulled out my sketchbook and started to draw out what I wanted. It was an extremely rough blueprint pooled together through ancient prints on the net and my own Tech knowledge, but it would do.


    I went around, disassembling all of the headphones and mics, skillfully taking apart the pieces until I had an assortment of components out in front of me.


    I wanted a few things in particular. Basically, microphones worked by transmitting sound waves into electrical pulses, which then were picked up and recorded by a machine. The reason I bought so many different kinds was too get the smallest possible components for my newest creation.


    I got to work, mixing and matching components until I got the smallest magnet I could find. Once I had it, I set up a basic model on my deck and sent it to the printer. As the printer whirled into action, I started to put together the components. I started with the diaphragm, the part that fluctuates as sound hits it, and cut it down to size with my multitool-


    And it broke. Great. I tried again with a different one, taking more time to ensure I wasn''t putting to much pressure on it. Eventually, I got it down to the right size. Then, it was as simple as hooking it to the magnet, coiling a wire around the magnet, and connecting that to the smallest amplifier I could find.


    While I waited for the printer, I also started to set up the receiver and transmitter on the mic. I wired in a transmitter, allowing the electrical pulse amplified by the amplifier to feed into it. Then I hooked the transmitter to my deck''s receiver, the same one I used in my Tapper and Scouter. Hopefully, it would allow the mic to wirelessly transmit recordings to my deck. Add on the battery to that, and I ended up with a microphone a tad bit smaller than my fingernail.


    The printer finally finished my parts, and I pulled out the casing for my newest toy. It was nothing complicated, just a black hexagonal box with a small see-through layer around it. I made it a bit too small, but with some grease and lots of pushing, I managed to get the parts all into it and set it up.


    I tested it it a couple dozen times, running it and adjusting the diaphragm till I got it just right. The noise sounded a bit warped thanks to the relatively cheap diaphragm, but other than that it ran just fine.


    ¡°Hello," I whispered, the mic sitting on the table.


    ¡°Hello,¡± My voice, sounding a bit warbled, echoed through my deck.


    A grin split my face as I ran a finger over my newest toy. What to name it¡­ how about¡­ Listener? It fit. It was a bit on the nose, but oh well.


    I tested my new Listener several times, finding it to be rather¡­ impotent. It worked wonderfully for what I needed, but only in the range of my deck. At least, I assume based on interactions with Tapper. Unfortunately, I wasn¡¯t near good enough at Net to try and figure out how to ping-pong the signal to extend the range. Theoretically, I knew it was possible, but actually executing it? Yeah, way out of my skill range.


    I made one more Listener, tossing the two of them into my bag for later use. I checked the time: midnight¡­ I could go to sleep¡­ or I could stay up a couple hours later and work on other projects I need to get done. Yeah, I liked that idea.


    I slid over to my sketchbook and popped it open, glancing through the myriad of terribly drawn blueprints. Eventually, I hit an empty page and got to work- err, at least tried to get to work. My mind froze as I rested my pen on the page, going completely blank.


    I tried for several minutes to no avail. Okay, okay¡­ I just need to take a step back. What did I want? I wanted a calling card. Every good thief had a calling card to claim the crime. I¡¯ve never had one, but now was the chance! It would be the chef¡¯s kiss to my next set of heists. S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I stared down at the paper, trying to brainstorm ideas. Eventually, I just drew, hoping I would like something. A couple hours passed with me mindlessly drawing, my brain unable to settle on anything


    I dropped the pen, feeling drained. It had been hours and yet I hadn¡¯t accomplished a thing. I still needed to do a ton of stuff too! Like rework my Scouters now that I have better materials. Or work on some gadgets I had been thinking of. Or even run some tests on my Perks, which I had been pushing off for far too long¡­ But it was so late¡­ I sighed, finally shutting everything off and headed for bed.


    ¡ª¡ª


    I was drained throughout my first several hours, barely capable of keeping myself awake. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t drink more XtraEnergy Quantum since I set the canteen to produce that hazy substance from that thief¡¯s secret stash this morning. Doubly unfortunate, Christine and crew weren¡¯t here today either, so I had no help staying awake.


    Eventually, during my Social Studies hour, a shaking student walked into the room. ¡°E-excuse me. I-I-I¡¯m here f-for Lady Maeni. The p-p-principal wants to talk to h-her.¡±


    Poor girl. I thought my stutter was too much with my whole shy act, but hers was downright torture to listen to. Maybe I should tone up my own stutter? Would that make it more believable?


    And It¡¯s about damn time he called for me. I gathered my stuff, pulling my two little Listeners from my bag and swiftly hiding them in the hidden pockets of my skirt. I tossed the rest of my stuff to Torren who took it with a begrudging nod.


    I stepped up to the kid who came to get me. She stepped back nervously, ducking her head slightly. ¡°D-d-d-do you k-know the way?¡±


    ¡±Yes.¡± I had only been to the office once, but the school had maps posted everywhere. Maps that counted as prints for all intents and purposes to Eidetic Schematic. I knew my way around probably better than students who had been coming to SPS for years. At least, by the book.


    The principal¡¯s office sat in the entry hall centered around the elevators and stairs coming up to the school¡¯s section of the office. His office sat on the third, and final, floor of the school, looking down onto the open-concept entryway.


    I stepped into the office area, and a secretary immediately snapped to look at me. She paused for a second, a corpo smile forming mere nanoseconds later. ¡°Lady Maeni! The principal is waiting for you.¡±


    ¡±Thanks.¡± I headed to an imposing door. Insets of lights all around the perimeter and inside of the door cast an imposing red light over me as I lightly rapped my knuckles across it. Before doing anything further, I used my jacket as cover to pour some of the haze liquid out into the outer casing of the mic before banishing the canteen back to wherever it came from.


    The door slid open, revealing the room beyond. It was quite elaborate. Little red lights everywhere evoked a certain foreboding. The lights centered around a large desk, sharp lines of metal imposed upon itself like a tamed beast to form the desk. Behind it stood a massive leather chair. Probably real leather too, if I had to guess.


    Principal Bously half stood from his large leather chair as I entered. ¡°Ah, Lady Meno! Please, please, come on in¡­ take a seat.¡±


    I moved over to one of the chairs sitting in front of his desk. ¡°I-is this about my email?¡±


    ¡±Of course¡­ you said your grandfather was worried for your safety?¡± The guy asked, a concerned frown on his face. Based off of his cues, it was a real concern.


    I nodded, casting my eyes down and dropping my eyes. ¡°He- he heard of the d-disappearances of those other kids¡­ after m-my mom- well, he just wants me to be safe.¡±


    The smarmy guy nodded understandingly. ¡°I can get that¡­ I assure you, our security is top of the line. Nothing will happen here.¡±


    ¡±H-how sure are you?¡± I asked, looking around his office with concern.


    ¡±Most of our stuff is directly from Sentinel Security, so its- well, it¡¯ll be faster if I show you. You mind walking?¡± He stood from his desk, fixing his jacket.


    ¡±Not at all.¡± I smiled innocently. Using the moment he was distracted by my smile, which only seemed to get easier and easier to do as the days passed, I activated Hidden Hands and leaned forward. Resting my hands on his desk to ¡®assist¡¯ myself in standing up, I swiftly slid one of my Listeners into his pen cup before standing up. It looked like a mirage, bits and pieces blending in with the surroundings, and my brain almost trying to insist it wasn¡¯t there.


    ¡°Preem.¡± He smiled, attempting to be charming? And the slang... sure it was common, but it almost seemed as if he was trying to set me at ease. It was hard to tell since the comb-over, slicked-back mullet ruined any chance of that happening. And yet I couldn''t help feel a bit more relaxed... must be the plants. They make everything feel more homely.


    He guided me out into the hallway, pointing towards one of the security gates on the roof. ¡°As you can see, we have ways of stopping intruders once they¡¯re detected. As soon as a gate drops, security is notified and will be on the scene within a minute. There¡¯s nothing to fear in that regard.¡±


    He motioned towards the ball cameras all over the hall. ¡°Cameras were strategically set up to get full coverage with a dedicated guard watching them twenty-four-seven. Heat sensors sit on every corner, and we even have laser grids that come on after the day ends, so you don¡¯t have to worry about someone sneaking in and setting up a bomb or anything of the sort.¡±


    He led me around the halls, pointing out security systems seemingly without a care. He even showed me the turret systems they had in the main entry hall to ¡®discourage¡¯ invaders. ¡°The school is perfectly safe. If anything, your grandfather should be more worried about you getting home safely. Trovare seems a bit¡­ young. I could set up an escort-¡°


    ¡±T-thank you, but Trovare has been trained since a baby to protect me. I t-trust him with my life.¡± The words felt bitter as they left my tongue. Trusting someone with my life. Bleh. Maybe only Mira and Uncle Ezra could be in that tight-knit group. Definitely not an almost complete stranger I¡¯ve barely worked with. Heck,  I still kept my gun loaded and ready around the guy. When I had it, of course. Hard to carry a gun around a school, which was reassuring.


    Feras too for that matter. I still don¡¯t know why I let the guy stay in my apartment so long ago¡­ Maybe because I trusted Fox, yet another entity I hadn¡¯t actually met to form a proper opinion on? Stupid, Shiro.


    The principal looked slightly disappointed. ¡°Well, if you ever need something from me, just ask. Even if it¡¯s something as minor as personally reassuring your grandfather of the security here.¡± Yeah, something ¡®minor¡¯ like that. If I really was this granddaughter of the archduke, there¡¯s no way in hell I¡¯d let him do something like that based purely around the greed in his eyes as he spoke. ¡°It would be my greatest pleasure to help you, Lady Maeni.¡±


    Lady Maeni, ay? ¡°That would be my grandmother¡­ please, just Meno.¡±


    ¡±R-right. Class should be ending soon. Go on ahead. I¡¯ll be in my office if you need me.¡± The principal walked off with a bow, leaving me in the hall.

 Chapter 90

    Chapter 90I stared at the clock, watching the minutes tick by as I played with a pen. I spun it round and around on the table, idly staring at the clock without too much thought in my head.


    Well, that wasn¡¯t exactly true. I did have thoughts, but most of them were fleeting. Like how I would get into the school if need be. Or the fact my Listener in the principal¡¯s office would be out of range as soon as I left the building.


    Mr. Jarvis went on and on at the front of the room, trying to teach us about some kind of scientific method mumbo jumbo. It was the last hour of the day though, so I wasn¡¯t the only one zoned out waiting for the sweet ring of freedom.


    Torren shifted next to me, casting his gaze around the room before his eyes met mine. He just sighed and nodded his head, seemingly as drained as I felt. He mouthed, ¡®Fuck Feras.¡¯


    A light exhale of air through my nose, not a snort in the slightest, came from me as I shifted and stared out the window. Glad to see I wasn¡¯t the only one feeling that sentiment.


    Unfortunately, the wonderous view from the classroom did little to push me into sleep. Between all the traffic and constant hubbub of flyers heading to and fro, there was just too much going on. That wasn¡¯t even considering the flashing lights of speeding Medevacs and occasional Crusade flyer as they headed all over the city in an almost consistent flow.


    I looked back at our resident grifter and leader, noticing that I  wasn¡¯t the only one. The guy¡¯s face looked even worse than yesterday with what looked to be fresh blood streaks under his chin. Deserved. A hundred and ten percent deserved. And yet¡­ he looked extremely pitiful as he met my gaze?


    I looked away. That¡¯s what he gets for dragging Torren and I into this- this mess. And for what? Barely enough Rayn to pay rent? Well, at least I would get some cool tech out of this¡­


    Maybe he should¡¯ve taken the bodyguard though? Torren has barely had to do anything but lug around my stuff. Hell, school has been nothing but a breeze. A slow breeze, sure. Still a breeze though. I¡¯ve barely even had to interact with the rest of my ¡®team¡¯ this entire time. Too easy.


    The clock caught my attention once more. Just a few more moments till freedom- wait, no. I have a meeting with Tristen, right¡­


    The bell rang, sentencing me to yet another long day. I gathered my stuff, avoiding Sean¡¯s probing looks as he practically pleaded with his eyes for me to talk to him. The loneliness on his face, hidden rather well behind a cocky young master facade, was rather tragic. Poor guy.


    Still, it didn¡¯t stop me from racing out the door. A cool warning of Insight passed through me, hitting twice with its chill as I moved through the floral-covered door of the classroom. I ignored it for once, tripping over something in the way.


    In mere moments, two strong arms caught me before I hit the ground. ¡°Woah, watch it there, my Lady.¡± Tristen laughed, helping me to my feet.


    My Lady? Disgusting¡­ At least when Torren did it, it was manageable. But this? I felt like puking.


    A forced blush rose to my cheeks as I backed up and dusted myself off. I dipped my head, my hair flowing easily over my face to hopefully cover my frozen expression up. ¡°Th-thank you¡­¡±


    ¡±Aw, don¡¯t mention it. I was just coming to get you. That is, if you still want to come to the studio with me?¡± He asked, a playful smile on his lips. The kind of annoying playful though, where he already knew what was going to happen and was just messing around. It was¡­ irritating, to say the least.


    I shifted my hair out of my face, slipping a Listener into my hand as Sean stepped out of the classroom. A plan rapidly took shape in my mind as I called out, ¡°Of course- Oh, hey S-Sean!¡±


    Sean¡¯s face immediately lit up as I called him out. A wide smile sprung to his lips- only to crash and burn immediately as he spotted me with Tristen. ¡°Oh, Tristen. What a .¡±


    ¡±Oh, it¡¯s you, Sentinel.¡± Tristen put a haughty expression on his face, the light around him seeming to twist with a ¡®holier than thou¡¯ type vibe. He brushed his hair aside and leaned up against the wall.


    ¡°Tristen here was just offering to show me his studio. D-Did you know he was in a band?¡± I asked as I lightly tugged on Sean¡¯s arm, bringing him over.


    Sean smiled, the corners of his eyes appearing tight for an entirely different reason. ¡°Of course¡­ Father personally signed him.¡±


    ¡±What can I say? I¡¯m just that good, my Lady.¡± Tristen laughed lightly, offering me his arm- his arm holding him against the wall. He slipped nearly falling face first before managing to twist it into a bow to me. ¡°A-after you. We can go in my personal Northwind.¡±


    Northwind¡­ Northwind¡­ didn¡¯t sound familiar. Still, it was probably some kind of rich thing. Still, I took his arm and took the opportunity to stick my little listener into his pocket with Hidden Hands.


    ¡°O-okay!¡± Feras walked out of the classroom, staring at me amid all the targets while he was just off to the side. I looked him dead in the eyes as I called out. ¡°Oh, Sean¡­ you want to come? I-if that¡¯s okay?¡±


    Tristen¡¯s smile died immediately in a complete imitation of Sean¡¯s. He managed to recover with a grin that wasn¡¯t half bad. ¡°Why would that be a problem?¡± It would¡¯ve been a lot more convincing if each word wasn¡¯t spoken through gritted teeth. "The  the !"


    He wasn¡¯t the only one with gritted teeth. Feras was in a similar boat as he met my eyes. He gave me a light nod and then headed out, leaving down the hall with a slight limp. Sucker. I really thought he would¡¯ve been doing a better job with all this socialization stuff considering he called himself a grifter.


    Cocky pride fell back onto Sean¡¯s face. ¡°Then I¡¯d love to! I¡¯ve always heard how  you were, Tristen.¡± His grin grew as he stared into Tristen¡¯s eyes with a passion. Was there something going on between the two? ¡°We can even take  Windrider. It¡¯s a more up-to-date version of the Northwind, you know.¡±


    ¡±Of course¡­¡±


    And that¡¯s how the three of us ended up heading to Sentinel Studios.


    ¡ª¡ª


    As it turns out, the Northwind, and by extension, the Windrider, were flyers of the Sentinel variety. I found that out as we headed to a dock near the roof instead of the ground floor like I normally did.


    From there, the flyer was basically like a car. Except it flew¡­ But it felt like riding in a car. Sure, a car that constantly swayed in the wind and felt like it was going up and down a  bumpy road, but still a car.


    It was a definitely high-end vehicle, done in sleek black, red, and bronze accents. For all intents and purposes, it looked like a car too, with large block protrusions right where the tires would normally rest. It was even as cramped as a car¡­


    The three of us sat in the back with Bertram driving and a guard in the passenger seat. I, unfortunately, had to sit in the middle of the two. It was quite tight with me smashed between them. Whoever designed these things definitely hadn¡¯t actually thought they would be full of people.


    Thankfully, flyers were damn quick. We arrived at Sentinel Studios before I could explode from all the angst between the two boys. We offloaded onto a small landing pad offset into the building, Bertram seemingly appearing outside the door as he opened it for us. ¡°We have arrived.¡±


    Tristen slid out, waving his hand around the place. ¡°Welcome to Sentinel Studio! This is where all the magic happens!¡±


    ¡±¡­¡± I heard muttered from behind me as Sean slid out of the flyer.


    I pretended not to hear as I smiled at Tristen. ¡°S-so, what kind of music does S-soarin¡¯ Flyin¡¯ make?¡±


    ¡±Little bit of this, little bit of that.¡± Tristen said as he led the way to a large door leading into the building. ¡°We¡¯re rapidly moving up the leader boards. If things go well, we¡¯ll hit the top spot within a year.¡±


    ¡±I-Impressive.¡± I said as we walked through the halls of the studio.


    ¡±Yeah! The band is great. With my leadership, we¡¯ll be the biggest stars in this city!¡± A grin filled his face as he swiped his card over a reader on the door. It didn¡¯t work. He swiped it again and again, each time blinking red. ¡°T-that¡¯s weird¡­¡± S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Sean sauntered up and easily swiped a card of his own, the reader turning green as the door slid open. ¡°. Your card is broken.¡±


    ¡°Ha ha¡­ yeah¡­ I¡¯ll see if my manager can¡¯t get it fixed.¡± Tristen¡¯s face twisted momentarily, returning to normal as he smiled ¡®reassuringly¡¯ to me. ¡°Well, how about a small tour?¡±


    He continued to brag as we headed through the place. And it was quite a big place. There were at least a dozen sound rooms and easily double as many amenities. Everything from a pool hall to an actual swimming pool sat atop the tower with exclusive access for Sentinel¡¯s sponsored bands. Eventually, he led us before one in particular.


    ¡°And here is my band¡¯s room! Mr. Sentinel has set us up with all the fixings-¡°


    ¡±¡° Sean quietly interjected.


    ¡±so we have everything we need! C¡¯mon, I¡¯ll show you all our records.¡± Tristen headed over to the large terminal shoved up against the wall. He clicked through several programs before finally clicking play on one.


    Immediately, loud, headache-inducing throbs of a guitar played through the room. The throbs were followed by malicious beats of a drum, horribly off and yet somehow managing to mesh into the guitar as auto-tune did its work. Then, I heard Tristen¡¯s voice, I think at least. It was hard to tell over all the post-processing effects.


    ¡±I¡¯m so fuckin¡¯ lucky!


    Don¡¯t you wish you were my buddy!


    Don¡¯t you wish you were me!


    Everything would be free,


    I¡¯m a fuckin¡¯ money tree!¡±


    The rest of the song played out, not getting much better. It was nowhere near as good as the stuff on my old handheld. Even the lyrics were trashy, over half being curses and the other nonsensical slurs while the entire thing was almost all Tristen just bragging. It was tough to digest.


    ¡±So? What do you think? That¡¯s our top song!¡± Tristen happily leaned back in his chair, nearly falling as the chair lurched back. He barely managed to stabilize himself as he wiped the panic from his face.


    I swallowed a laugh. Not only at Tristen''s repeated failures, but at the irony of the world. Of course the song about shitty was top of the list. ¡°It¡¯s- uh- it¡¯s nice?¡±


    ¡±Yeah! We love it too! I¡¯ll show you some other stuff, and then my band will be arriving soon.¡± Tristen smiled as he led us back to the actual sound booth.


    ¡ª¡ª-


    I sighed as I stepped into my apartment, drained beyond all belief. Tristen was- well, he was a handful. Other than his over-the-top ego though, there wasn¡¯t anything that stood out about him. His singing was subpar, his band was subpar, and the only reason he was succeeding was thanks to Sentinel¡¯s investment. At least, that''s what I gathered.


    Sean was entertaining throughout the entire day, at least. His constant cuts and snide remarks nearly made me laugh a couple of times. Sean really didn¡¯t like Tristen. Maybe because of Torren¡¯s aforementioned daddy issues?


    As for whether he was our guy or not? I couldn¡¯t say. The guy was a class S narcissist, but that didn¡¯t necessarily mean he got rid of a dozen people. That being said, he vanished several times during our time in Sentinel Studio, and I was far more willing to bet he said something less censored then.


    I tossed my bag onto my desk, scattering some spare parts I had yet to clean up, and pulled out my deck. From there, I hooked in and pulled up the free sound recording software I¡¯d been using.


    Two new files sat at the top of the list. Listener-1.mp3 was five hours long, having cut off when I left the range of SPS and the device resting in the principal¡¯s pen holder. Listener-2.mp3 sat at a similar length around four and a half hours. As I booted up the device, I settled back down and prepared myself for a long night of listening in.


    Before I could get too far into the track of Principal Bously¡¯s office machines and terminals buzzing, a shady-sounding text came from the Inquisitor. ¡°The stuff is ready. You know where to meet me.¡±


    For once, I wasn¡¯t disappointed as I threw my crusade gear into my bag and raced out of the apartment. Anything was preferable to the bore of surfing almost entirely empty recordings.

 Chapter 91

    Chapter 91Inquisitor Ligh Strumgard and Hope Esquire, or whatever her actual last name was, sat in his office as I knocked on the open door. Their very serious conversation halted as both looked up at me.


    Inquisitor Ligh stood, his silver-clad arms raising slightly. ¡°Shquire! So glad you could make it.¡± S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Not like I had much of a choice... ¡°¡®Course, Sir.¡±


    Hope smiled politely at me, the smile dragging sharply as her eyes seemed to sag with bags. ¡°Greetings.¡±


    ¡°Come along now, shquiresh, Vald awaits ush.¡± Ligh stretched out his arm, grabbing his silver long sword from its resting place against his desk and slinging it back into place. He pushed past me and out into the hall, his silver armor reflecting the light blindingly into my eyes. I flinched back slightly, only to feel a hand on my shoulder.


    ¡±You get used to it.¡± Hope offered with a smile that seemed as though it was meant to be reassuring. Instead, it came across as oddly threatening? It was like she put too much effort into it.


    "Which part?"


    "Well... none of it?" Hope frowned. "Sorry, Damien is better at this kind of stuff."


    Damien? Still, I didn''t ask as we pushed out into the hall. Probably another Squire if I had to guess, but it wasn''t that important. Hopefully, I could find a way out of this position soon? I really hope so, at least.


    I followed the duo down the maze of halls inside of the Blue Crusade Little Yukoto Department. We passed by several rooms I¡¯d never seen before, finally coming to a stop at a heavily armored and guarded door. Two Crusaders, Squires based on their half-silver armor, flanked the door armed with rifles. They cleared the way as Inquisitor Ligh walked between them.


    Inside the room was about as I would expect. The entire place was fully armored up, looking as though it was more akin to a bank vault than anything. A tall man with dark mutton chops stood behind the counter. A Blue Crusade hat sat tightly pulled down almost to his eyes.


    ¡°Vald.¡± Strumgard icily called as we entered.


    The man stoically nodded. ¡°Ligh.¡±


    ¡°You got what I ashked for?¡±


    Vald looked at me and Hope before shrugging. He reached down below the counter, pulling out a bottle of-


    The Inquisitor stepped in front of my view. By the time I peeked around him, the bottle vanished. ¡°Ah, no, not that one. The other thing?¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Vald nodded, the dangly bits of his beard flapping. He stepped back into the armory proper, returning a few moments later with a box. He rooted around in it, tossing small devices to the side. Finally, he settled on one and slid it across the counter. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to sign for it.¡±


    With that, the man left us alone as he went back into the armory with the box. Ligh Strumgard snatched the device, raising it up to his reflective mask. ¡°Here it ish. The Back End Doorway. Or the BED. The techies whipped thish thing up a while ago, but I completely forgot about it till recently. Here.¡± He tossed the thing to me.


    I lunged forward, barely catching the device. It looked like one of those ancient phones back before touch screens. ¡°Sir?¡±


    ¡±Shign.¡± Ligh passed me a clipboard from the counter.


    I took it, still looking up at him in confusion. I started to sign S- I caught myself and put down Zuku Ichima. ¡°What is this?¡±


    ¡±Just plug it into a terminal or hold it near a phone for it to create a Crusade backdoor. Then one of the nerdsh down in the command center can look through the data and shend it to me.¡±


    Got it. Keep the thing far away from any of my stuff. ¡°Is this legal?¡± I asked as the Inquisitor walked out the door without the slightest pause in his stride.


    Hope laughed from beside me, though her face told a different story. It was entirely drained of all life, hanging limply just like her broken arm. ¡°To be young again.¡±


    ¡±What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± She turned away from me, following after the Inquisitor. ¡°Hey?¡± I called one last time to no avail.


    -- -- --


    I returned back to my apartment feeling incredibly uncomfortable with the BED in my pocket. As soon as I stepped in, I made sure the device was off and placed in my kitchenette, the furthest point from all of my stuff. I  didn¡¯t need the thing sending my data to the Crusade. Not that I had anything super incriminating, I think. I hope.


    I checked the time, seeing I still had several hours till it was time for bed. With more to do on my plate than I wanted, I set the recording of Principal Bously to triple time and cranked it up to full blast.


    With the sounds of devices beeping and the occasional heavy breathing of the principal as he worked on whatever it was principals worked on acting as background ¡®music¡¯, I got to work on some of the other projects I¡¯d been planning for a while.


    First and foremost, I took out my scouters. I set one aside to keep as a... trophy? Was that a fitting word for this? Regardless, it felt fitting. I didn¡¯t want to forget where I came from, especially as I worked to improve the model.


    The others I disassembled for parts. From there, I made some minor adjustments. It took quite a bit of effort, but I managed to write an extremely simple program to disable the gyro till I manually turned it on. This way would hopefully save battery over just running the gyro the whole time. Unfortunately, that was about the extent of my Net skills, so I couldn¡¯t do anything else in that regard.


    I also put in the new batteries, cutting my stock down to three left as I made two new Scouters. With less space and weight from the battery, I could safely cut down how strong the gyro would need to be, so I also managed to shrink that part down.


    ''Course, with shrinking everything to size, I had to reprint the casing for my Scouters. I set it to print, but it would take a while-


    ¡°Sir?¡± Principle Bously asked, drawing my attention to the audio file. ¡°Whatdoyouneed?¡±


    I skipped back and slowed down the track back to normal. This was the first time I heard anything from the guy of interest. Was he talking to someone higher up in Sentinel?


    A phone rang, something I missed the first time around. ¡±Sir?¡± Principle Bously asked, this time at a much more understandable rate. He had that same smarmy tone to his voice. Except worse. If it was an eight for me, it was a ten for whoever the guy spoke to. ¡°What do you need?¡±


    A moment passed, and the mic failed to pick up the person on the other line. It was a thrown-together piece of tech after all, so it made sense. ¡®Course it wouldn¡¯t be able to pick up everything with clarity.


    ¡±Ah, my ! They go well- no, they won¡¯t interfere with our plans.¡± Another moment passed, during which the principal audibly gulped. ¡°Yes, sir. Teenagers are already a susceptible sort. It makes it easier to prove my theories. Hopefully, I¡¯ll soon be ready to move on-¡°


    The principal went silent as a door opened. A lady, maybe his assistant, called out, ¡°Principal Bously, the Trouse family is here again about their son.¡±


    ¡°Again?¡± The guy sighed. ¡°Just stall for a while. I¡¯m on an important phone call.¡±


    ¡±Of course, sir.¡± The door thunked as it shut.


    ¡±Sorry about that. I¡¯ll be ready when The Circle calls for me. If things go according to plan, with some great results too-¡° The line beeped several times, cutting him off as the other person hung up. Principal Bously sighed as the sound of shuffling clothes came across. ¡°Gah, I really need to get out soon... maybe Meno will be my way?¡±


    I felt a chill go down my spine as he called ¡®my¡¯ name. After that, the principal left. Shortly following, the audio file cut off entirely.


    I sat still for a moment, my hands paused mid-motion on my printer. It was certainly a lot packed into that interaction. Based on the way he spoke, it didn¡¯t seem like it was some corporate executive Bously was brown-nosing. Who else would he call sir though?


    And he mentioned The Circle. That was one of the two things Inquisitor Ligh asked me to look into if I''m not mistaken. I cut up the audio file, separating the part from the rest of the boring bits. I didn¡¯t immediately send it to the Crusader though, instead just saved it to my phone.


    It wasn¡¯t worth the risk of the Inquisitor doing something now that he knew his target. Especially since it would likely screw up the investigation into Quora¡¯s disappearance.


    With that audio file down, I shifted over to Tristen¡¯s and got back to work as it played at several times its speed. Most of the file was conversations with me considering he was around me almost the entire time he was in the range of my Deck.


    By the time I got through creating my newer and smaller models of Scouters, henceforth known as Scouter 2.0, the file played something interesting. I skipped back and put it down to normal speed.


    ¡±My band is here, I¡¯ll be right back.¡± Tristen said in that narcissistic way of speaking unique to him. I remember the moment from the recording happened while he was showing us some of the other musicians in Sentinel Studios.


    ¡°We¡¯ll w-wait here then.¡± My voice came across as disgustingly sweet and innocent. Did I really sound like that?


    The sound of clopping shoes played as Tristen left the room we were in at the time and headed for another. ¡°Remember: best behaviors.¡± He said, this time his voice sounded oddly normal. The typical self-confident and overindulgent tone was nowhere to be found. Instead, he seemed almost scheming?


    A murmur came from the background. It was too low to pick up with my mic.


    ¡±Of course it matters! If I can get with Meno, I¡¯ll be able to secure us a seat at a duchy in Pyrus.¡± Tristen sighed. ¡°Look, sugar daddy Sentinel doesn¡¯t actually care about us. As soon as we graduate or leave his son, he¡¯ll kick us to the curb. This is a good chance to get a more permanent backer! Don¡¯t fuck it up for me.¡±


    He paused, listening to someone before speaking again. ¡°I got this. Just trust in the process. I¡¯ve got my usual look up around her. I just need to slowly melt it away to look vulnerable as if she were melting my  heart.¡±


    A question came from the back. It was impossible to hear clearly.


    ¡±We agreed not to talk about Marc. I dunno where he went, but he¡¯s obviously left us. So what if he wouldn''t approve.¡± Tristen said.


    The rest of the track played out with Tristen arguing for a few minutes before I popped back in. From there, it was much the same with very little of note occurring. It definitely wasn¡¯t as jam-packed as Bously¡¯s recording had been.


    Really, there wasn¡¯t much to say from Tristen¡¯s recording. The only thing I could say for certain was he wasn¡¯t as shallow as he acted. He sounded entirely different around his band than when around me. Not that it mattered too much. A facade didn¡¯t mean he necessarily got rid of some people. It just meant I should be more careful around him.


    Really, I needed to be more careful in general. The two people I bugged both mentioned targeting ''Meno'', which was unsettling. There was no telling what other people around the school thought. Especially with a crim on the loose already making about a dozen students disappear.


    I finished up my projects, tossing the remnant pieces to the side as I shut down my deck. Overall, some interesting conversations. I would definitely have to look deeper into all of this to get a better grasp of what was going on. It was still too early to say.


    Unfortunately, it was getting pretty late. Before I went to bed, I tried one last time to get a good design for my calling card. No dice. But I did get an idea I liked. My calling card would have a moon on it somewhere. Heck, it could even be a small model moon. It just needed to have a moon.


    Calling cards were made by criminals for one of two reasons: to claim the crime or to mock law enforcement. Why not do both? Having a moon on it was just too good to pass on considering my name.


    My eyes were drooping too much to continue though, so I set my sketchpad aside and headed for bed.

 Chapter 92

    Chapter 92Mr. Jarvis¡¯s math class passed without too much of a hassle. Once again, Torren was pulled away by some weird circumstance, leaving me wide open for Sean to come and mess with me. I passed notes with him, this time far more subtle than the last. Other than that, I half paid attention and half wandered around my brain. Really, that¡¯s how most of the day passed.


    I couldn''t be blamed. Honestly, there was just to much on my brain. What was this ¡®Circle¡¯ that the Inquisitor was so keenly interested in? What was their connection to the principal? Who was behind the mass disappearances? And what should my calling card be? I was still stuck coming up with something good, but I had several ideas in mind.


    Oh, and I couldn¡¯t stop thinking of the gala. I was¡­ excited? I guess? I wasn¡¯t excited for the event itself, having to keep up a facade and act all noble got real tiring real quick, but more so for the things I wanted to do during it. Mainly gather information.


    After my first hour, most of the classes zipped by. During that time, I took the opportunity to nudge up to my primary suspects as best I could and hit them with the BED. It was surprisingly easy. The students had the danger sense of a snail, so that combined with Lethargic Presence and Hidden Hands made things not even a challenge.


    Classes were about as boring as always. The teacher of Marketing and Business Management went on and on about proper methodology to get the most out of your workers, which I mostly ignored. It¡¯s not like I would ever be in charge of a corporation or anything similar¡­


    Corporate History was the same bullshit as always. Sentinel was apparently the savior of humanity and wanted nothing more than to rule all of the planet to protect human interests and history. Or something like that. It was hard to pay attention with Tristen bothering me.


    Social Studies also came and went, this time the teacher focused more on propaganda than in the past. We had a deep analysis of ads, what was effective, and keeping with the times. Thankfully, the bell cut him off before he could get into another hour-long tirade about how Sentinel¡¯s advertisements could be so much better if he was in charge.


    Then came lunch. Once again, Torren split off to the cafeteria line with Claire. I paused at the door, looking around the place as I tried to figure out what I wanted to do. Christine and Co were back laughing at their table, and my original one was still overcrowded with faces I didn¡¯t really want to bother with.


    But having them in the same place was such a good opportunity... gah, the sacrifices I make. I would be better off just hanging out with them and trying to gleam any kind of information since that was my job... I just really didn''t want to...


    Still, that didn¡¯t mean I had to go over immediately. For once, I decided to take advantage of my privileges and headed for the food side of things. After waiting in a brief line of chattering students, I was at the front.


    A chef, wearing the typical white clothes and hat I would associate with someone in his position, smiled at me in that normal corporate way. ¡°What can I get for you?¡±


    Damn, probably should¡¯ve thought of this beforehand. ¡°Um- maybe a smoothie or something? Something healthy.¡±


    The chef stared at me for a moment before nodding. He yelled back to the kitchen in a language I didn¡¯t quite catch. Maybe Sovet? Then he motioned me toward the end of the line before moving on to the next student behind me.


    I passed through the rest of the way, another chef placing a large cup out as I arrived at the end. She bowed to me slightly. ¡°Sentinel Supreme Supplement. Made with the freshest of ingredients guaranteed to give your body the right conditions to maximize growth. Enjoy, miss.¡±


    ¡°Th-thank you!¡± I grabbed the cup, slightly taken aback as I looked down at the drink. I just wanted a smoothie, not- well, this. Sentinel Supreme Supplement, huh?


    I left the cafeteria line, looking out at the rest of the room. Torren sat close to the line, already half scarfing down a mountain of various kinds of food as Claire watched him with large, adoring eyes. He paused mid-chew and met my eyes as he tilted his head.


    I nodded to him and skipped past to find Feras sitting with a bunch of guys. They were all quite¡­ large? They looked like bodybuilders or something- no, that wasn¡¯t quite right. Maybe guards? But they were in student''s uniforms. Maybe a similar situation to Torren? What was going on over there? Should I- should I help him?


    Feras met my eyes, shaking his head slightly before he turned his attention back to the people around him. Guess not then.


    Finally, I looked at my original table. Sean eagerly stared at me from across the room, Tristen following his gaze several moments later. I gave one last glance to Christine laughing and having a good time before moving to the dreaded table.


    About half way through my supplement smoothie, which tasted oddly like those peanut butter banna sticky brown cows my parents used to get back when they were around, a rather interesting conversation started up.


    Sean pointed his fork to the male twin. "I know you know what I''m talking about. I heard they''re already thinking of moving the Supercarrier out."


    "Good!" Aaran smiled, an imaginary tail wagging behind him. "It will calm some tensions."


    Jayce frowned. "It will make us look weak. What about Raijin''s - what was its stupid name? - Raiju? Are they going to leave it in the city?"


    The male twin, I still had yet to get his name, shrugged. "Probably. My father said they needed it elsewhere though, so whatever they were doing with it here would have to be put off."


    The female twin nodded in agreement. "He seemed pissed. Whatever they were doing here must''ve been important."


    I felt sweat coalesce all over my spine but otherwise decided not to comment. Eventually, Sean looked at me before shifting subjects to one a lot less... pointed.


    The rest of lunch passed uneventfully. I felt the normal tinge of Insight that I had been feeling ever since I entered the school, but other than that it was fine. Rather boring, but fine. The people around the table got into a one-up contest that lasted the entire lunch. By the end, I highly doubted they were telling the truth. I refused to believe that Sean actually hunted down a Raijin Ninja all by himself.


    I kept my attention focused on Tristen throughout the entire time, slowly starting to pick up some deeply hidden Cues and motions. It took some effort, but since I knew what to look for it was relatively easy. He had the same mannerisms I would associate with Feras, though to a much less refined degree. It became easy to look through his cocky guise and see the scheming and cool rationale behind every word.


    I was happy to get away from him once lunch ended.


    ¡ª ¡ª


    After school, I drove my bike around the city, making sure to take plenty of twists and turns as I ducked through alleys and side streets. Not necessarily the smartest decision considering the plethora of gangs that would be happy to feed me a bullet and klep my shit, but I wanted to be sure I didn¡¯t have a tail. It has been a worry ever since I started attending SPS. I had yet to actually notice one. Still, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to be careful.


    I drove the long way through Old Town to the south of the Corporate Quarter and looped around through East End to get back to Little Yukoto. It was a time-consuming process, but one I¡¯ve done several times by now just to be safe.


    I stopped by my apartment, grabbed my gear, and changed into far more comfortable attire. I also restocked my bag with my guns and the SB-17 rifle. Finally, I headed for Mortas Motel just on the end of the Rye Container Yard.


    Mortas Motel took up the bottom five floors of a megabuilding. It sat hidden behind several other stores, roughly shaped like an L. It had its own parking lot only accessible through a back alley into the hollowed-out space of the building. Several supporting pillars sat spaced out around the area. The only way into the area was through the alley, which was just¡­ . Feras  knew how to pick ¡®em.


    As I pulled in, I couldn¡¯t help but notice just how- well- how dark the place was? Sure, it was back off the street and entirely out of the sun, but the entire place was done in black and dark shades. Ghostly shifts of paint were everywhere, giving the entire place the feel that something was watching me. Skeletons sat on benches around the place, and other decorations I would associate with Hallow¡¯s Eve were scattered about everywhere.


    Still, they weren¡¯t the biggest discomfort about the place. That honor belonged to the people everywhere. Dozens appeared as ghosts, vampires, and skeletons. And it wasn¡¯t like they were just dressed up- no, several of them had Chemskin, Light Tattoos, and other more permanent fixings to appear as the creature of choice. A poser gang maybe?


    The typical chill of Insight followed me around as I looked around, several gazes pulsed specks of cold through my body. Was this even the right place? The parking lot was so desolate it was easy to spot Feras¡¯s moped close to the building.


    I looked around, seeing Feras half slumped over between two skeletons. A rather large fox sat on his lap, glaring around at its surroundings. Did he fall asleep-


    My eyes caught blood seeping through his shirt. I didn''t waste too much time approaching the guy. Hopping off the bike and grabbing the medkit I had yet to bring back into my apartment, I rushed over to his side.


    The fox on his chest, a materialized sprite by the look of things, looked at me with happiness in its eyes. And yet it didn¡¯t back off as its tail straightened out with an apologetic look. I got the message. ¡°Feras?¡±


    ¡°Ah, h-hey Zuku. H-how are you?¡± His eyelids fluttered as his eyes cracked open. ¡°S-she¡¯s with me.¡±


    The fox calmed down, its pure joy radiating through as it bounced off Feras and gave me access with its tail wagging wildly. It watched me for a moment before the aggression returned and it stared out at our surroundings.


    ¡°Idiot,¡± I muttered, kneeling beside him. The chills of Insight only intensified as I knelt beside the hurt grifter. Was this a trap? No, of course, this was a trap. Damnit, Shiro!


    ¡®Get here now!¡¯ I sent to Torren as I drew my pistol and set it beside me. Insight¡¯s warnings lessened, but they were still present. If I had to guess, they were still in the wait-and-see phase of deciding if we were worth the effort of robbing.


    Hell, it was surprising Feras hadn¡¯t already been robbed considering his condition. The materialized sprite must¡¯ve kept any potential threats at bay, though foxes weren¡¯t exactly terrifying. Bear and Wolf had that going for them a lot better.


    I pulled up his shirt, pausing as he let out a hiss. There was- well, there was a lot of blood. Everywhere. I was no medical professional, but that was bad. Really bad. A bandage was half pressed onto his side, though it was sloppily done and blood pooled around it. ¡°Did you get a room yet?¡±


    ¡°N-no. I¡¯m fine. Really. Let me just stand-¡±


    I held the idiot down as the cute fox looked back towards us. ¡°Stay. What happened?¡±


    Feras coughed lightly. ¡°A- uh, a disagreement. Had a knife. S-summoned sprite too late.¡±


    ¡°He stabbed you?¡± I asked as I cleaned off some of the blood with a bottle of saline from my kit.


    Unfortunately, it was only a small bottle so I almost ran out before stopping it back up. I had yet to introduce it to my canteen, or any other medicine, which was really stupid. Sure, healed quickly. The same couldn''t be said for my coworkers.


    ¡° nicked me in the s-side. D-didn''t think i-it was that deep.¡± Feras turned over slightly and passed his hand down to his side, just above his hip.


    With most of the blood cleaned up, I could see a rather long gash just under his ribs. I poked it slightly, blood oozing up as he hissed. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°N-no you aren¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± He''ll have to get stitches to completely stop the bleeding. I dunno if I can do that with him sitting like this though. Hell, I don''t think I can do it at all-


    An engine roared as a Dioni Aria sped into the parking lot. It whipped around, its headlights flashing past us as it pulled into a parking space across the way. The car barely turned off before Torren jumped free of it, his feet heavily hitting the asphalt. He looked around, an aggressive look on his face as he stared at the people out and about.


    The fox looked like it was about to attack as I called out. "He''s with us." The fox backed off, though it kept its eyes peeled as it started to walk a perimeter.


    The warnings from Insight receded. They didn¡¯t leave entirely, but fell back. As if plotting. Planning. This was bad. Should we leave? The booming of engines drew my attention to the exit. The only exit. Five cars pulled in, blocking the way out. ¡°You picked a bad spot, Feras.¡±


    The grifter coughed. ¡°Y-you said a m-motel. Th-this one was ch-cheap-" His head lulled, his entire body going limp as he slumped down onto the bench.


    I checked him over. His pulse was weak. Lost too much blood? With only a brief hesitation, I pulled free the canteen and hid it as well as I could below my jacket. I caught a few drops from him as well as the saline solution. Unfortunately, my canteen was full of the haze liquid and by the time it refilled, it would already be too late to use the new stuff.


    I called over my shoulder to Torren. ¡°Get us a room. Any room.¡±


    ¡°Should I rent one?¡± Torren asked as he moved over to us.


    ¡°What? No.¡± I looked around, eyeing the multitude of nutjobs in costumes gathering around. There were only a few cars around. I highly doubted this motel was even active anymore. ¡°Kick one open or something.¡±


    A door on the far side of the motel opened. A man dressed like Frankenstein came out armed to the teeth. Several of the costumed people headed in, returning just as armed as the first.


    ¡°Shit.¡± Torren moved to the closest door and kicked it. For such a big guy, he had a shit ton of muscle. The door popped open, the lock splintering in a spray of wood debris.


    I wrapped a temporary bandage around Feras as best I could and carried- tried to carry him. My lack of muscle finally caught up though, and I barely moved him before Torren plucked him from my back and stepped into the room. The fox hustled after, pausing at the door to look at me.


    I gave one last glance to the gathering storm of freaks before following the two in. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    This?


    This was going to be rough.

 Chapter 93

    Chapter 93I shut the thick synth-wood door, my eyes catching on the wrought iron accents covering it. And it wasn¡¯t just the door. Wrought iron bars done in a gothic style covered the windows too, hopefully providing decent cover. Assuming they were real iron, that is.


    I turned to face the rest of the room which was done in dark reds and deep blacks, casting a moody feel. The dim lighting didn¡¯t help anything either. A red shade covered the only light in the room, shading the entire room like it was covered in blood.


    The entire place was dusty as if it hadn¡¯t been used in a really, long time. If the gang outside attacked all visitors like they were posturing toward us, then the motel probably hadn¡¯t seen anyone except for the posers since they moved into the area. It would explain why the parking lot was so desolate at least.


    Torren carried Feras to the room¡¯s bed which just so happened to be a large open casket padded with dark purple fabric. I moved to the barred windows, throwing the thick curtains closed to block vision in and out of the area. ¡°Pull off that shade.¡±


    Torren punched the light shade, sending it tumbling to the other side of the room. Clear, white light spread through the area, giving me a far better view. ¡°Got it. Feras good?¡±


    ¡±Maybe¡­¡± I muttered as I set down the medkit and looked him over. The cut went down below a layer of fat. "Does he have a Medevac Insurance?"


    "I doubt it. Not too many outside of the corps or Edgerunners do. We''re too far down the totem pole for that."


    "." I took a breath and pulled on a pair of gloves from my kit. Regardless, Feras wouldn¡¯t be able to hold out too much longer as is. If nothing happened to the grifter, he wouldn¡¯t be alive long enough for it to matter what we decided to do with him.


    Using the last of the saline solution, I cleaned off what I could of the wound, clearing the area to get a better view. Then, I took the sterilization spray from the kit and sprayed it all over the cut area. Feras groaned in his sleep, attempting to twist away as I held him down.


    The fox eyed me, two cool pinpricks of Insight making me intimately aware of its actions. Then, as if accepting I wasn¡¯t actually hurting the Magus, it dropped its gaze and moved closer to the door. Its scruff bunched up, aggression evident on its face as it scented the air.


    ¡±They¡¯re gathering out there, Zuku.¡± Torren said. I looked up to spot him peeking through the curtains. ¡°We have a plan?¡±


    ¡±When would I have had time to make a plan?¡± I growled as I pulled out butterfly bandages and a gauze wrap.


    Torren sighed. ¡°I was just asking¡­ how¡¯s he?¡±


    I lightly shifted the unconscious Feras, exposing his side better as I cut off part of his shirt. Then, I pressed down with a gauze pad applying pressure to the wounded area. ¡°Uhh¡­ not great.¡±


    ¡±How not great is not great?¡± Torren asked. ¡°And what about-¡°


    ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± My hand shook as I held down on the wound. ¡°Just- just give me a minute.¡±


    ¡±We might not have a minute.¡± The bruiser muttered as he slid the curtain back shut and leaned against the wall. ¡°I counted fifteen. Ten armed with guns. Five melee. Less than half looked capable.¡±


    Okay. Okay. Only fifteen. That wasn¡¯t bad¡­ no actually, that was terrible. Let¡¯s take stock? I had a bruiser whose capabilities I still didn¡¯t know, a downed Magus, a fox sprite, and me who was dogshit at combat¡­ but at least I was geared. I glanced at Torren, seeing him entirely ungeared. The ''bruiser'' didn''t have a gun or even armor.


    What to do¡­ what to do¡­ Our leader was out cold, and Torren didn¡¯t seem to have any plans of becoming the fill-in. That just left me to make the decisions... Damnit!


    Chill, Shiro, chill¡­ Could I call for backup? I might be able to get the Inquisitor to bring a squad. Hmm¡­ ¡°H-how many do you think you could take?¡±


    Blood seeped up through the bandage, soaking my glove in sickly warmth and drawing my attention back to Feras¡¯s gaping wound as the big guy replied. ¡°I could easily take the melee goons except their leader without effort. Uh- maybe at least half the ranged ones if I had time to prepare.¡±


    Okay, okay¡­ could he really take on two-thirds of them by himself? He the bruiser, but I had yet to see him do his role- no, I needed to trust him. Not like I had much of a choice in the matter anyway. And it was his job. Surely Feras wouldn''t have just hired some guy without any capabilities, right? But surely he also would''ve checked our meetup point and made sure it was a good spot...


    Should I flee? Get out while he distracted- no. No. I won¡¯t just abandon the team when the going got potentially lethal. It wasn¡¯t me. I couldn¡¯t do such a foul thing. At least not while there was still a chance. And it''s not like I could get out on my own without some serious luck considering they had the exit barricaded. I had a higher chance of survival sticking with Torren.


    ¡±How much time to prepare?¡± I asked as I pulled off the pad from Feras as the bleeding slowed, swapping it out for a new one as I once more sprayed his cut with the sterilization spray. Then, I used butterfly bandages, pulling together his wound and bandaging the edges of the cut together. I quickly wrapped him in gauze to support the patch job. It wasn¡¯t a particularly patch job, but it was the best I could do with the current situation.


    ¡±Just long enough to cast Wind Ward.¡± Torren closed his eyes for a moment and then nodded his head. ¡°It¡¯s tier four, so maybe a couple of minutes? I won¡¯t be able to react to anything while casting.¡±


    I peeled off the gloves and grabbed my bag off my back. I pulled the SB-17 AR out and clicked off the safety with a heavy breath. ¡°Okay¡­ I¡¯ll try and get some support.¡±


    ¡±Got it.¡± Torren moved to the side of the room, sitting down on the couch. He shut his eyes, going entirely still. I kicked on Aetherial Perception, spotting the gathering of energy around the big guy similar to when he cast that breeze spell the other day. Only this time he was gathering far more than the last.


    I moved to the window seal and peeked out of the heavy curtain. The gangers were getting more and more rowdy, several of them hooting and hollering as they brandished their guns. None of the gonks seemed to be wearing body armor, but I did notice one of the melee guys, a vampire, had the minute warping of subdermal armor.


    Several of them were chromed up, thankfully only looking to be basic Medtech and ASCorp models. At most, I could expect them to be slightly stronger or faster than a normal human. They looked like scavenged pieces based on the nonnative parts, so they probably wouldn¡¯t have access to anything crazier. Probably got them from Scavs.


    I pulled out my burner phone and called Inquisitor Ligh. No answer. I tried again with Shinobu to get the same result. I thought about calling Mira, but chances were she wouldn''t get here in time. I had one last contact that might answer though: Hope.


    ¡±Hello?¡± Hope''s tired voice called as the line connected.


    ¡±Oh, thank God¡­ I need help.¡± I let out a brush of air as my heart rate settled slightly.


    ¡°What''s going on?¡± She asked, not even a moment of hesitation in her voice. I heard shuffling in the background shortly followed by the clicking of a gun.


    ¡°I''m pinned in at the Mortas Motel. Little Yukoto. I don''t have my badge or anything on me.¡±


    Hope sighed. "I see why you didn''t call the Crusade..."


    Most gang activity was met with overwhelming force on both sides. Even before I hung around them, I knew the Crusade thought along the lines of stab first and ask questions never. There was a high chance we would be indiscriminately shot by Crusaders if they pulled up and we were in a firefight. If only I brought my badge and walkie talkie things might¡¯ve been different. But no. I had to leave those at home, didn¡¯t I?


    A moment of silence passed. ¡°Okay¡­ I''m a few minutes out. Detes?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re pinned in by a poser gang. Fifteen of them. Moderately armed?¡± I checked all of their weapons. Seven of the ten ranged ones had cheap-looking SMGs that my body armor could probably take a few rounds of. The other three were loaded with ARs. Raijin, based on the black and blue color scheme.


    ¡°Can you hold out?¡±


    ¡°Probably¡­ I¡¯m with a¡­ contact. One of the ones helping me infiltrate the school. He said he could take ten, but if he can¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡±Right... pretend I don''t know you then. Have you called the Inquisitor?¡±


    I peeked out the window, seeing them start to hype each other up. Their hoots and howls sounded like a pack of animals ready for a hunt. ¡°I tried. No reply."


    "Of course..." Hope sighed drearily. "Probably don''t need to call in backup, especially so we don''t blow your cover... Okay. I''ll be there in a bit." The line went dead. A moment later I heard the roar of cars as a few of the ones blocking the way drove further into the area.


    I slowly breathed, trying to calm down my racing heart as I watched the poser gang start to close in on our borrowed room. The vampire with subdermal amor led the way. He carried a rather massive katana that looked to be the most expensive weapon the lot of them had. He clicked a button on the side and the blade slowly started to glow red hot. Nova. Just nova.


    My heart rate only seemed to climb higher as they approached. I was in a terrible situation with both of my companions out of it. If they rushed now, only the Fox sitting by the door would be able to do anything to help. Insight sang like a siren of the incoming threats, only making my anxiety grow worse.


    After a moment of hesitation, I activated Cold-Blooded. The heat in my body immediately dispersed as if I had been hit by an endothermic grenade. My heart naturally slowed as a shiver raced all over me. A cool calm filled me, one that had almost faded to the recesses of my mind. Maybe it was thanks to the inevitable feelings of death? The cool faded deep enough to reawaken memories I''d almost managed to bury.


    Right. I¡¯d faced death before. This time the odds were far more favorable than they had been. You got this Shiro. It was just some gonk gangers. Easy stuff. You got this. You got this. I got this. I shivered as my brain calmed to cool rationale. This was a kill-or-be-killed situation. I couldn¡¯t afford to hesitate. I brought my rifle to bear, running a last-second check to make sure I would be good.


    Torren let out a shuddering breath from my side. I momentarily flicked on Aetherial Perception to see the very air itself condensed into a turtle-like shield around the big guy. The hexagonal panels of the shield fused, becoming stronger with each passing moment before coming to a rest as a slight green haze naked to the human eye.


    Torren¡¯s eyes flickered open as he returned to awareness. He paused a moment before rubbing at his arms. ¡°Did it get cold in here?¡±


    ¡±You ready?¡± I asked, my voice sounding oddly slow to my own ears as my head raced with half-baked plans and ideas.


    Torren immediately nodded. ¡°As I¡¯ll ever be. You have a plan?¡±


    ¡±Hit them hard and fast before we get trapped in here. All it would take is a single grenade... Think you could take him?¡± I asked as I pulled the curtain back slightly and pointed to the man with subdermal armor. He definitely seemed the leader of the group considering his chrome and blade.


    Torren stared at the man for a moment before slowly nodding. ¡°No problem. I won¡¯t be able to do much with all of them up though. Those ARs especially will pop through my Wind Ward.¡±


    ¡±Chek¡­ what about-¡°


    A voice called out from the parking lot, cutting me off entirely. ¡°Come out now and surrender! If you do, we promise to take  care of you! Right boys?¡±


    Several obnoxiously loud laughs sounded from beyond the motel room¡¯s window, each one prickling Insight with danger. And yet, in my cool head, I could pick up some certain tones of uncertainty amongst our attackers. There were Cues of several of them being unsure about this. I looked out, and yeah- some of them were scared. Of me or Torren? Doubtful. Probably scared of Feras. A good Magus could easily wipe them out. Too bad Feras was both unconscious and entirely incapable of fighting them off at the moment.


    ¡±We¡¯ll give you five minutes to decide! Oh, and so you don¡¯t get any ideas! Charlie!¡± The voice called again. I looked out through the window to see it was the katana-toting one in subdermal armor.


    One of the AR guys in the back hunched over, pulling a bag off his back. He pulled free a device of some kind before turning it on. Just as the thing kicked on, I got a certain layer of feedback looping through my PA. I checked my phone to see it was out of service entirely. Must be some kind of jammer?


    As if in reaction to the first guy, a second AR-wielding one guarding the exit pulled out a device from one of the cars. He tapped on it for a second before setting it up back behind the car out of my sight. Almost immediately, the light pattering of rain from the exit and the occasional boom of thunder entirely stopped. Only the ambiance of the Mortas Motel mixed with hoots and hollers from the poser gang remained. Some kind of noise isolator?


    These guys were prepared¡­ too prepared. Either they must do this often, or this was some kind of ambush- I shook my head, pulling free of that dangerous spiral of thought. They must just do this often. As far as I know, no one would want to ambush me outside of , but he made it quite clear as long as I stayed away he wouldn''t bother hunting me down. It wasn''t mercs from Sentinel either. Twenty mil would see a lot more skilled mercs and Edgerunners headed my way long before a group of lowlife posers.


    ¡°That complicates things.¡± The bruiser ducked back behind the window and leaned up against it as he wiped his palms. ¡°So?¡±


    I stared at the soon-to-be battlefield for a few more moments, creating a mental blueprint of the scene as my mind slowly chugged along. After a moment, I came to a decision and backed away from the window.


    I fished around in my bag for my commlink, setting up a local channel. The range wasn''t as good, but it would get through the jammer. After searching Feras, I found his and set it up too before tossing the link to the bruiser. ¡°Here.¡±


    Torren caught it, not even hesitating before pushing the earpiece into his ear. ¡°Chek¡­ good call.¡±


    I nodded as I heard his voice twice, once aloud and another through the earpiece, and then backed up to the bathroom. Once out of sight, I doused myself with the haze liquid from the canteen.


    Immediately, my reflection grew distorted in the mirror. It wasn¡¯t much, but every little bit would help. Hopefully, the effect of the liquid and my Perks would give me the advantage in the firefight that would ensue soon.


    ¡±Woah.¡± Torren whistled lowly as I stepped out of the bathroom. He looked at me, though his eyes kept swimming away as if he was forcing himself to. ¡°What happened to you?¡±


    ¡±Is now really-¡° S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    A loud engine roared one last time from outside the room. The leader of the gang called out, excitement evident in his voice. ¡°One more minute!¡±


    I shared a glance with Torren and the fox. With a minute left to spare, I checked my rifle one last time as I quickly spilled my newest half-baked plan.

 Chapter 94

    Chapter 94¡°¡­ but it is all reliant on you. Can you do it?¡± I asked, my voice oddly cool to my own ears as I resisted the urge to shiver. Cold-Blooded was doing its work, and I could feel the creeping cool helping to keep me calm with every frigid heartbeat.


    It wasn''t that the Perk kept me calm per se. It was more so that all of my emotions felt muted, drowned out below a frozen ocean. Even my heartbeat felt dull, far slower than it should''ve been given the situation.


    He looked up at the room''s roof, eyeing the dark grooves. ¡°Maybe¡­ Wind Wave might be too weak¡­ maybe Wind Slash?¡± Torren frowned. ¡°Are you sure though? This will be one of my last spells if I cast it. Well, this and Transmute.¡±


    Transmute? What was that? Doesn¡¯t matter. ¡°Yeah. Do it. Before our time runs out.¡±


    ¡°You got it, boss.¡± Torren once more closed his eyes, energy coalescing around him. Half a minute passed, in which I took the time to drag Feras as lightly as I could to the bathroom and hopefully out of range from rogue bullets. I also threw one of my last wraps of gauze around him to help hold everything together.


    Just as I returned to the main room, Torren¡¯s eyes flashed open with a green light. Immediately, an ethereal wind blew from nowhere, collecting on the big guy¡¯s hand. Before I could even blink, the wind shifted, twisting into a long blade. That blade launched as he slung his hand forward, slicing up through the roof.


    Wood creaked and groaned, shattering under the pressure of the Adept¡¯s Wind Slash. The blade cut up cleanly, taking a massive chunk of the floor with it. The area immediately around the cut fell from the roof, leaving a gaping wound up onto the next floor.


    ¡±What''s going on in there?! Final call! And no more messing around!¡± The gang leader called from outside.


    ¡±Now!¡± I whispered to Torren. The bruiser nodded, stepping below the hole and going entirely still with his hands cupped. Without giving myself any time to hesitate and trusting my newfound agility, I sprinted toward him.


    I placed my foot onto his cupped hands, using them as a springboard to launch myself up. He assisted, pushing upward as my body catapulted up through the hole in the roof.


    My tech jacket caught on a splinter of wood, tearing open a jagged slice into the fabric, but I otherwise slid through the hole with relative ease. I hit the ground, bleeding my momentum into a dead silent roll as I readjusted my grip on the SB-17.


    This was my plan. I wasn¡¯t a fighter, but I was a thief. When sneaking into somewhere, always approach from an off angle if not going through the front door. Applying that logic to combat made sense in my mind, but it was a gamble to leave the protection of the room below. Still, my heart stayed steady as I followed through with it.


    Below me, I could hear the door open up followed by a roar from Torren. A wet squelch immediately followed, but I couldn¡¯t afford to waste a minute wondering what was going on down there. I would just have to trust my team- err, trust Torren. Feras was still as useless as always.


    I moved through the room, it being just as dusty as the last, and slowly popped the door open as I activated all of my Perks. I moved low as I exited the door and got out onto the second-floor balcony of the Mortas Motel. The balcony railing was made of thick wrought iron wall panels, granting me good cover while leaving room in between the gaps to peek out.


    The darkness of the Motel, mixed with the haze liquid and my Perks, made it so Insight didn¡¯t even hint at me being spotted as I took up a vantage point over the gonk gangers.


    Most of them were still scattered about the parking lot, the AR-wielding three further out than the rest to take advantage of their longer reach. They looked super relaxed, almost as if this was a normal everyday thing for them.


    Cold filled my mind as I raised my rifle and sighted it onto the furthest thug by the exit, the one who turned on the noise insulator. Slowly, my sights overlapped with the glowing skeleton tattoo over the guy¡¯s face. My hand shook even through the effects of Cold-Blooded as I raised a finger to the trigger.


    Was I really about to do this? Again? The trembling in my hand grew stronger, only fading as a slow beat of cold filled my brain. I allowed a moment to sink into the sensation. To give up worrying. To give up my hesitation. I had to be alive to feel guilt.


    I once more lined up the shot.


    And then I pulled.


    A scattering of bullets fired from my rifle, the kick jerking my aim way off as my unprepared muscles failed to properly control the recoil past the first couple shots. I didn¡¯t even check the results of my burst as I dropped to the floor in preparation for retaliation.


    None came.


    Instead, I heard a massively delayed call from the leader, ¡°Ambush! Ambush! Take cover!¡±


    Below me, I heard a loud thunk as the balcony¡¯s floor tremored. I mean, I knew Torren was big, but to cause such a tremor-


    I spotted a red mess of flesh launch from below me through a gap in the wrought iron railing. The mass flew into the parking lot, splattering blood everywhere as it skidded across the ground. Several splotches of blood flew off and hit a ghost ganger, dying her white costume red. She screamed and sprayed with her SMG towards where the meat projectile came from. As it rolled to a stop, I saw it was a head covered in blood.


    ¡°You good?¡± I quietly asked into the squad channel.


    ¡°Never better,¡± Torren said, his voice sounding mostly the same and yet ever so slightly¡­ off.


    Cool rationale flooded me as I realized I had been foolishly just sitting in one place after the first burst. I slunk back into the shadows of the balcony, moving out of sight from the gang as I started to crawl along the length of the balcony. Once I was far enough away, I pushed myself up with my rifle at the ready.


    Another tremor shook the balcony as the sound of something being torn apart came across the comm line. I didn¡¯t hesitate to use it as a distraction to fully peek over the railing, my rifle aimed towards the first AR-wielder I spotted who operated the jammer. He had ducked behind a car in the parking lot. It would''ve been good cover, but I had the high-ground advantage.


    I opened fire, this time managing to control my burst better as the rifle bucked in my hands. Ten shots ran out, at least three of them hitting the man before a stinging pang of Insight hit me. I ducked out of the way immediately, almost dropping my rifle in haste.


    Unfortunately, it was too slow as a bullet grazed my shoulder, cauterizing a burning path across my skin as it blew a hole through my clothes. I hit the ground hard as the bullet slammed into the wall, sticking halfway out of it. An AR round. The last guy might have some kind of chrome eyes to track me better?


    ¡°There¡¯s a rat on the second floor!¡± The gang leader called out, his voice trembling with rage. ¡°What are you fools doing? Shoot, you dumbasses!¡±


    A spray of bullets whizzed over my head, sending sharp shards of concrete everywhere as they drilled into the wall. The pangs of cold throughout my entire body kept me grounded as I crawled along the wall, ducking under my jacket to get away from the shards hitting me.


    ¡±Good, Zuku?¡± Torren called through our line.


    ¡±Pinned, but mostly uninjured. H-¡° I threw myself flat as Insight sliced through my back. The second my chest hit the hard floor, a stray SMG round flew through a gap in the barrier close enough to cause my clothes to ripple with the force of the projectile. I scampered in the opposite direction, but it must''ve been just a lucky shot since nothing else came close. ¡°You?¡±


    A loud, blood-curdling scream came from the bruiser¡¯s direction. The scream sounded even louder through our commlink. A wet crack resounded through the link¡¯s connection before Torren started to speak again. ¡°Great. The melee duds are done. Am I clear to head out?¡±


    I crawled forward more, taking a risk to glance out through a gap in the balcony. The first two AR gonks were dead, their bodies oozing blood onto the pavement. The last one had moved, blending in with the rest of the costume-wearing idiots behind the occasional parked car or support pillars. ¡°One left. Can you hold?¡±


    ¡±For now.¡± Torren went silent. A moment later, another ball of meat grotesquely curled in on itself launched from below the balcony. This one was aimed, flying with enough force to knock over two of the gonks with SMGs. One of the gonks outright lost a limb with the force of the impact, instantly going unconscious as he rapidly bled out.


    ¡°What the hell are you using?¡± I asked as I slid along the wall further. Once I was far enough out to be away from the majority of the spray, I started to scan the survivors for signs of the AR.


    Torren chuckled, the laughter sounding entirely bloodthirsty. If I wasn¡¯t already near frozen over, it would¡¯ve sent a chill down my spine. ¡°Pure muscle, princess. Pure muscle.¡±


    Before I could reply, I spotted the final target. I shot up, tracking my rifle to him. Maybe because of the hazy liquid¡¯s effects? Or maybe Stalk? Regardless, I had a few moments before anyone realized I was there. In the few moments it took to get focused on him and get my rifle aligned properly, he spotted me too. His feral, red eyes went wide as his werewolf costume trembled. He was the only one to spot me as the chrome in his eyes locked fully onto me.


    But it was too late.


    I squeezed the trigger, immediately feeling a chill of Insight as he pointed his rifle toward me. I forced myself to calm down as my mind tracked the trajectory of Insight. It would hit a little off-center of my chest. Instead of pulling off the attack to get cover, I went all in, firing off the rest of my mag toward the goon.


    ¡°Argh!¡± Just as the mag clicked empty, two bullets caught me in the chest, hitting with enough force to stagger me back. I groaned as my chest ate the entirety of the impact, my stolen ballistic armor barely doing its job to stop the bullets before they got through. And yet that meant all of the impact was absorbed by my chest. I dropped to the floor, the breath knocked out of my lungs.


    ¡±Zuku? You still alive?¡±


    It took a few moments to breathe once again, but as soon as I did, I called out to Torren. ¡°Hah, all three, hah, down.¡± I took a gulp of air as I felt the coolness of my blood flowing through my body once more. Not even the rushing heat of adrenaline could shake it off. ¡°Just SMGs and the leader.¡±


    ¡°Nova,¡± Torren called. A moment later, a massive form sprinted free from our original room. A rogue light caught on his face, revealing similar features to Torren, and yet his entire body was built with muscle instead of fat. He had so much muscle, in fact, that the ground literally vibrated with every forceful impact of his feat like he was some kind of ''borg.


    His clothes looked exceptionally baggy as they barely clung to his frame. With the first several steps, his muscular foot tore through his shoes as though they were tofu, leaving the guy to run barefoot.


    The guy, Torren¡¯s look alike, immediately cleared the distance between the first closest ganger, stretching out an arm to catch the surprised gonk¡¯s barrel as bullets sprayed from it a moment later. The person redirected the barrel, using the fire to kill one other ganger as he wrapped a meaty paw around the first one¡¯s neck and jerked. His muscles contracted and the head popped off like it wasn¡¯t even attached in a fountain of blood.


    ¡±T-Torren? What¡¯s going on?¡±


    The muscle-bound maniac paused, the hesitation long enough for the rest of the poser gang to react as they lit him up. The bullets whizzed past the man, somehow seeming to warp around him. I flared Aetherial Perception briefly, spotting a familiar green shield around the guy pulsing with each projectile. Torren sighed. ¡°Kind of busy.¡± S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Torren threw the head like it was a baseball, smacking another ganger in the face. The guy fell back, his body twisting with the remnant force as his head snapped in the wrong direction.


    The shock of seeing Torren look¡­ entirely different wore off under the onslaught of Cold-Blooded, returning me to that mental calm. I took stock of the situation, looking around the battlefield as I planned my next course of action.


    There were only five gangers still standing, including the leader. All of their attention was on the massive muscles of Torren as he lunged towards another, leaving me completely free to move.


    I popped up from my crouch, staying low as I sprinted to the other side of the balcony before leaning over it. I lined up my rifle once more, aiming at the furthest gonk from Torren. He stood behind a car, using it as a brace to unleash hell on my ally. Not that it would help him. I opened fire.


    My rifle clicked.


    I immediately ducked back down behind cover as I fumbled for a spare magazine.


    The leader of the gangers let out a furious shot. ¡°How dare you! Fight someone your own size, coward!¡±


    Says the guy that brought fifteen versus three- two¡­ I peeked over the balcony rail as I slid the magazine into position, spotting the leader slashing viciously toward Torren with his glowing blade as the rest of the gangers futilely tried to light the big guy up.


    Torren reacted quickly, thrusting his latest victim up as a shield. The burning blade easily sliced through the unfortunate costumed freak, tearing through his body like tofu. The blade slowed as it passed, coming out of the now corpse with barely enough force to burn a patch of Torren¡¯s hair as he dodged out of the way.


    My hand trembled as I slid back the charging handle, chambering a round into the rifle and prepping it once more. Then, I aimed down the sights towards one of the gangers. Unleashing a load of rounds blasted my shoulder back as the recoil once more got the better of me, sending over half my mag awry. Only one round needed to connect though, and it did. The ganger hit the ground with a startled cry.


    ¡°Help!¡± Torren called through our channel as he threw himself into a dive.


    I shifted tracks, aiming at the leader as I pulled the trigger. The rifle thudded in my hands, each round flying true as they hit the leader. And then bounced off. Or at least most of them did. Those not redirected by his subdermal armor were caught in the folds of the chrome, burning patches in the synth skin that once covered it.


    ¡°Someone shoot the rat!¡± The vampire called as he swung his sword off in my direction.


    That was all the distraction Torren needed he grabbed one of the riffles and batted it at the man. For his part, the leader reacted quickly as he brought the sword up to bear. It did nothing to stop the force of Torren¡¯s hit though.


    Torren¡¯s borrowed rifle hit the flat of the blade, splintering it as he let out a squeal of pain. The fragmented blade parts peppered the leader and the bruiser, almost as if in preparation for what was to come. Then Torren¡¯s fist connected with the leader¡¯s chest, throwing the guy backward. His subdermal armor saved him from any visual damage, but the spray of blood from his mouth suggested some internal damage.


    The leader dropped what was left of his blade, trying to grapple the big guy as I reloaded once more and lit up one of the last remaining gangers, instantly killing her as she desperately tried to reload. The kills left a bitter taste in my mouth, but the frigid blood coursing through my body did a good enough job of obscuring it.


    Where was the other- a scream came from below, back down at our original room. Feras. I didn¡¯t hesitate as I threw myself over the balcony railing, hitting the pavement as I twisted into a roll, sending pains through my bruised chest. The flesh wound from the previous bullet burned as pressure was put on it, but thankfully didn¡¯t reopen as I sprinted for the motel room.

 Chapter 95

    Chapter 95"Damn rat!" A flash of Insight gave me time to duck down right as a chunk of metal whizzed over my head. My head stayed neutral as I looked back, spotting the gang leader¡¯s outstretched arm, stuck mid-throw. That only lasted a moment before Torren gripped it and twisted the chrome backward like a twig.


    The gang leader didn¡¯t scream - maybe a Pain Editor? - but he did grit his teeth and slam his other fist into Torren¡¯s face. Torren barely flinched back as he kept his grip on the other arm. He twisted, throwing the guy onto the ground, and slammed his entire body weight onto his chest in some kind of grapple.


    He''d be fine. I hope.


    I threw myself into the opened door of the room, my rifle raised and ready. My eyes rapidly adjusted to the dark as I looked around, half expecting to see Feras¡¯s corpse drug out into the main room. Instead, something entirely different lay before me.


    The last gang member, this one dressed like a jack-o-lantern, lay down on the ground. The fox, its fur covered in blood, licked its bloody lips as it sat on the guy¡¯s chest. Bits of arterial spray sputtered from the ganger¡¯s torn open throat, bringing back faint memories of that short time I spent with Iris.


    The guy shifted one last time in his death throw, barely capable of moving as the cute creature looked up at me. It looked¡­ less cute covered in its victim¡¯s blood. The fox hopped off the guy''s chest, once more taking its position outside the bathroom as it licked the blood off its paw and looked up at me.


    The room itself was different than I remember. I could be wrong, but a body halfway through the wall into the next room wasn¡¯t there the first time around. And one of the other corpses was almost torn entirely in half. The other two were in states of dismemberment without heads. Just what kind of drugs was the bruiser on?


    I let out a cold breath I hadn¡¯t even known I was holding as I leaned up against the side of the doorway. I swallowed back bile as I stared hollowly at the absolute carnage. ¡°You need help, Torren?¡±


    ¡±Don¡¯t worry about it, princess.¡± Torren called, his voice straining but entirely confident. ¡°This is the most fun I¡¯ve had in weeks.¡±


    If you say so¡­ I let Cold-Blooded drop, instantly feeling my legs start to go limp. I moved off to the side, right next to the shattered window, and slowly slid down the wall as the strength left my limbs entirely. Something squelched underneath me, but I was too scared to look what it was as I took a moment.


    My shoulder burned where the bullet grazed me, sending fiery tendrils of pain blazing outward. It wasn¡¯t the only spot that ached. My ribs and entire chest hurt from the SMG rounds my body armor caught, feeling like sharp ice under my skin. My side bled somewhat consistently as I pressed down on it. Nothing felt broken. I hope.


    That wasn¡¯t even mentioning the cold.


    So cold.


    So very cold.


    All of the body warmth had left my body almost entirely, leaving me involuntarily shaking in my boots as I my body tried to generate kind of heat.


    kind of heat. Even my heart felt half frozen as it slowly tried to pump frigid blood through me.


    I wrapped trembling arms around myself, feeling the shakes spread through my entire body, as I ducked under my jacket further. They weren¡¯t the only things spreading. My emotions, finally unmuted, returned with fury as my body started trembling for other reasons.


    Had I really just done that? It felt- it felt . Wronger than the last several times. I shivered once more, feeling the ghost impacts of the rifle as my hands squeezed the trigger.


    Repeatedly.


    I dropped my head between the knees, folding up on myself to keep what little heat I had as the cracks of the rifle replayed in my mind. For a few moments, I couldn¡¯t tell what exactly I felt bad about. Not the murder, I don¡¯t think. They attacked me first. Or they were going to. I just defended myself.


    I think- was it because of the Perk? Because I used Cold-Blooded to hide from what I was doing? It didn¡¯t even feel like me pulling the trigger. I almost, could convince myself that it me. That it was someone else.


    It had stolen my hesitations just as easily as I had stolen the gangers¡¯ lives. A tremble went down my spine. Cold-Blooded was far scarier than I thought-


    A sharp crackle echoed through the earpiece in my ear. ¡°He¡¯s dead. Feras good?¡±


    I hesitated a moment as I lifted my head and looked down at my shaking body. I couldn¡¯t let him see me like this. See me so weak. That was a death sentence in this line of work. I took a shaky breath and activated Cold-Blooded again, finding twisted solace in its effects.


    The hurricane of emotions faded away. As did my attention to the pain and coldness of my body. They were still there, but instead, I just cataloged them and moved on. As simple as that. Once I knew I could talk without issue, I replied, ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Nova.¡± Torren sighed. ¡°Are good? I got the feeling you weren¡¯t quite a combatant when we first met.¡±


    ¡±Preem. Just a bit banged up.¡± My voice sounded hollow to my own ears. ¡°You?¡± I had several other questions I wanted to ask the bruiser, like what the hell just happened to him, but now really wasn¡¯t the time to have a fireside chat.


    His voice returned to normal. ¡°Content. Feras warned there wouldn¡¯t be a lot of fighting on this one, but this''ll tide me over for now.¡±


    I flicked the safety for my rifle and pushed myself off the floor, letting the SB-17 hang loosely as I looked about the motel room. ¡°You like fighting that much?¡±


    ¡±Zuku, there are three things in this world I love. The three Fs.¡± Torren¡¯s voice doubled for a moment as he stepped into the motel room. The doubled voice stopped as he plucked the earpiece from his ear and turned it off.


    ¡±Oh?¡± I arched a brow at the guy as a beat of cold crushed the horror at seeing Torren back to normal and absolutely coated in blood. It looked like he bathed in the stuff while I wasn''t watching..


    He opened his mouth to reply, closing it when he saw me. A flash passed through his eyes, almost like he wanted to ask me something, but it faded as he continued. He looked far more serious than I¡¯d ever seen the guy. ¡°Fun, fighting, and food¡­ So this has been a pretty good gig so far. All I can eat, free food. You¡¯re kinda fun sometimes, I guess. And now this!¡±


    I don¡¯t think I get it, but sure? Gigs were good if they paid well, not if they were . This one was mediocre at best. Worse, actually. It had far more danger than what we were originally led to believe, it didn¡¯t pay all that well. Still, that tech was too interesting to pass up on.


    I looked out past the door at the corpses scattered around the parking lot. ¡°Now what?¡±


    ¡±I¡¯ll take Feras to a Medech we know.¡± Torren shrugged. ¡°And don¡¯t you have a meeting?¡±


    Shit, I¡¯d forgotten all about that. I was supposed to meet Master Telos today for the final fitting. Could I- could I even go to see him like this? I looked down at my blood-soaked clothes - hard not to get bloody considering the amount of it splattered around the motel room - and the bullet holes scattered about my jacket. That wasn''t even mentioning my wounds. No, no I couldn¡¯t.


    Torren hustled to the bathroom, coming out with Feras in his arms. What about the loot?¡±


    ¡°Drop him off then take whatever. Assuming it''s still here. We¡¯ll talk about it once we have a meeting. Chek?¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± Torren walked out the door, the fox following him closely. He paused at the doorway. "Thank you, by the way. Probably would''ve been far worse off getting out of this on my own." He left before I could reply.


    Okay, okay¡­ what did I need to do?


    Without annoyances like emotional baggage, my mind worked far smoother as a set of actions immediately came to mind. I left the motel and headed for my bike. Without a moment¡¯s hesitation, I drove over to the jammer the gangers had set up.


    The jammer was about the size of a propane tank and shaded a pale tan. The entire thing had several jury-rigged wires and batteries strapped to it in sketchy ways.


    It looked like some kind of KairoTech Global device, at least based on the pyramid symbols all over it and the buttons in a language I definitely didn¡¯t understand. Still, I could recognize a stop button no matter the language. They were typically the big red ones.


    I smacked the button and checked my HUD. Back online. I snatched the device up and strapped it to my bike before moving over to the other only thing that immediately caught my interest in this place: the noise isolator.


    I found it buried under my first victim''s body. I shoved him off of it and picked the device up. It was significantly smaller than the other device. It looked like a data slate with some extra bits attached to the top and bottom. After tapping on the data slate portion, the screen turned on.


    Small symbols were scattered about a massive-looking box area. The words Sonic Suppressor sat in bright white at the top of the boxed area. For a moment, I couldn¡¯t figure out what was happening or how the thing worked.


    I zoomed in on one of the symbols, recognizing it as a smaller device. Then it clicked that the symbols were small devices set up around the motel, working together with the main data slate to suppress all sound in the area. exactly was still up in the air.


    I checked the time- not near enough to find all the bits and pieces. A frown creased my lips as I saw Torren gently place Feras into his car and head for the driver''s side. What to do-


    Oh! Hope! I sent a quick text to her and left the Sonic Suppressor close to where I first got it. ¡®Fine now, fight over. ''


    A moment later, a return message came. ¡®You alright?¡¯


    ¡¯Yeah.¡¯ I headed for one of the cars blocking the way, trying to turn it on. No dice. The thing was locked with a bio key, and considering its owner just died¡­ I shifted the gear into neutral and headed for the front.


    Torren drove over and hopped out, helping me push the car out of the way. We repeated it for the others, which were also locked with bio keys. No chance of me klepping one without a bypass¡­ and I really wanted a car. They would be so much easier to cart my shit around with than a bike.


    Torren gave me a mock salute before heading back for his car with the still-sleeping Feras. Just as he entered, I got another text from Hope. ¡¯Nova. You leaving?¡¯


    ¡¯Important meeting for the infiltration. Can''t miss it.¡¯ I felt a bit bad about the whole situation, but that feeling drifted under the cold. I swung my leg back over my bike and followed Torren out of the Mortas Motel¡¯s sketchy alley entrance. ¡®I appreciate you.¡¯


    ¡¯Yeah, yeah. It¡¯s not like you dragged me away from home to help you on my day off and then leave before I even get there.''


    ¡¯Thank you.¡¯ I sent back as I split off from Torren and headed to my apartment.


    Hope sent back a skeptical nodding emoji, which brought a smile to my frozen face. She seemed quite nice once I got passed her resting murder face and dead tired way of moving around.


    Without pesky emotions getting in the way, I easily started to analyze just exactly how the fight went as I drove home. One thing stood out as I switched lanes and skirted past a slow car: I needed to be stronger. Maybe when I got some more Perks and-


    No, that wasn¡¯t right. I needed to have better decision-making in the first place. More Perks would help, but they would only hide my poor decisions, not fix them. Especially in similar situations. I replayed the mental analysis, nitpicking the fight for what I could¡¯ve done better.


    Immediately I noticed an issue: information. Rather, a lack of information. The only way I gathered information was by peeking out the window, which was incredibly dumb. What if I was shot? What if I hadn¡¯t seen everyone? What if there were people just outside the door at a weird angle?


    I had several tools for information gathering on me from when I first drove into the motel parking lot - my Scouter and Listener - so why hadn¡¯t I tossed them around? It was literally their entire purpose. Thankfully, it didn¡¯t matter this time or we¡¯d be in an entirely different situation.


    That wasn¡¯t the only mistake though. My hesitations when pulling the trigger, although mostly driven off by Cold-Blooded, were objectively a weakness that would get me killed. It was stupid. Not sure how to fix that one though, so moving on. S~ea??h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    My aim could use a of practice. Especially considering how easily the kick threw me off. I probably looked like an amateur while shooting. If it wasn¡¯t for the advantages of having an off angle, Stalk, and the haze liquid obscuring me, I probably wouldn¡¯t have even gotten one of them. I have gotten any of them. How did Mira do it?


    And my body was incredibly weak. I could do better. I had thought about it jokingly in the past, but it was really about time I hit a gym or something after the gig was over. I could think of several reasons not to, but at the end of the day, being able to lift someone and shoot a rifle without too much of a hassle was too important to keep skipping workouts. I could figure that one out later though.


    Before I arrived at my apartment, my brain tracked through dozens of smaller details I could¡¯ve done better. Most of them were minor things that would''ve helped out a bit here and there.


    I drove into my apartment¡¯s parking garage as I wrapped up my breakdown of the fight. My biggest flaw about the entire thing was positioning. I shouldn¡¯t have even been in Mortas Motel in the first place. I wasn¡¯t prepared in the slightest when I arrived, and that by far outstripped the other mistakes. I should¡¯ve done some more research instead of just trusting Feras to pick a safe place.


    The root cause of all of this though? I¡¯ve grown too lax since getting the interface. This was all stuff I¡¯ve done far better in the past- well, except the actual fighting.


    I need to step up my game. And soon. I won''t be able to survive the increasingly volatile situations I''m finding myself in otherwise.

 Chapter 96

    Chapter 96I looked at the clothes Master Telos made, idly watching as the silver highlights caught and twirled under the neon shining in from my apartment¡¯s window. Getting the thing had been rather painless. After cleaning up as best I could, I simply went and finished the fitting process. It barely took any time at all. Sean had been more than happy to pay for the whole thing too, which was nice. I definitely couldn''t afford it, not that he knew that.


    Sean was a bit suspicious that Torren hadn¡¯t come with me, but I managed to fabricate a lie about ¡®my grandfather¡¯ setting him on an important mission after dropping me off since I would be with Sean and his ¡®capable¡¯ bodyguards.


    I checked the clock one more time, seeing a few minutes ticked by while I just stared at the clothes resting on my work table. The Gala was coming up rapidly.


    The outfit itself wasn¡¯t a dress like I thought it would be. Apparently, that was so ¡®last year¡¯. As were full face masks.


    It was a pair of sharp black slacks and a black button-up shirt, both of the sleeves already rolled up. ¡®For style¡¯ according to Master Telos. Silver strands highlighted the seams and twirled into fun and lively patterns while still staying subtle enough to not overpower the black.


    Two black, fingerless gloves came with the ensemble. A pure white vest would cover the shirt with a bright silver tie underneath. It looked cozy and warm, which was good. I could use the warmth.


    And then came the part that actually mattered considering the, you know, Masquerade. The mask Telos designed was that of a rabbit. It was a pure white half-mask that would reveal the entire lower half of my face. Silver highlights swirled on the mask much like the button-up shirt.


    All together, it looked rather nice. Master Telos called it ¡®Obscured Innocence¡¯ or some other stupid name. Didn¡¯t  matter considering this was a one-time event.


    I rubbed a hand over my shoulder, feeling the smooth skin. Quick Healing was as helpful as ever. All my injuries from yesterday were completely gone. Well, at least my physical ones.


    My eyes shifted to the window, for once missing the near-constant flow of rain that almost always pounded it. I stared out, wasting my time away as my mind lazily drifted through the things I needed to do tonight.


    An alarm flashed in my HUD. I took one final deep breath, stood up, and headed to change.


    -- -- --


    ¡°I¡¯m so glad you could come with me.¡± Sean smiled charmingly as he led the way ever so far in front of me. He was dressed in a similar attire, though he had a red button-up. Each of the buttons held the shield and spear symbol of Sentinel. He had on a legate''s helmet with a sharp red plume flowing from it.


    We followed along with a flow of guests down an extravagant hallway inside the Sentinel Center. It was a massive building just outside of the Corporate Quarter. I cast a glance around, looking at the pure extravagance of the place. Everything here seemed to scream wealthy, and the security wasn¡¯t excluded from that.


    The security, by the way, was incredibly fierce. We were subjected to several searches on the way in, making me extra glad I left my pistol behind. The guards were all decked out in the latest and greatest gear from Sentinel, though they still managed to be fairly hidden and in the background compared to the partygoers.


    Non-human security was even scarier. I spotted at least two cameras watching every hall we¡¯ve been through. Sensors were absolutely everywhere, probably capable of noticing a mouse when everything was turned on. And there were far, far too many turret slits hidden amongst the decorations just waiting to pop out and annihilate everyone here if need be.


    That wasn''t including the metal hounds positioned at intervals, each one dressed to hide amongst the decorations. The Sentinel model wasn''t nearly as good as the Blue Crusade''s variant from Knight Security, but they were still damn scary.


    ¡°O-of course!¡± I zoned back into our small entourage, of which Sean and I made up two of the four in it. A guard and Bertram followed behind us, both wearing boring black suits and nearly featureless black masks. Strips of neon red acted like eyes on the masks.


    We stepped through two grand doors, entering a massive ballroom. I felt like I stepped back into a painting as I walked forward. The entire place was done like some kind of fantastical fantasy ball, even going so far as to use candles and lanterns to provide light.


    The place was packed with people chattering, dancing, and inspecting the dozens of art displays scattered about. A massive row of tables stacked with food and drinks sat to the side, feeding a constant flow of people as they moved through it.


    ¡°Shall we?¡± Sean stepped in front of me and turned back. He looked like something straight out of a romance movie standing there with the gala going on in the background. .


    I walked forward out with him, entering the gala. Almost immediately, Insight warned of too many gazes to count locking onto me- no, not me, but Sean. There were just too many of them even if I wasn¡¯t the target. About a dozen people pushed up toward us, obviously recognizing Sean.


    A woman in a dress made of pink feathers and a flamingo mask waved herself with a fan also made of pink feathers. ¡°Oh my, you are quite stunning in that outfit, Sir. And so is your friend!¡±


    ¡±I couldn¡¯t agree more!¡± A man, older based on his gray hair, said. He wore a weird steampunk outfit of some kind. "About my proposal-"


    Several others complimented similarly, sucking up to the guy. They tried to keep it subtle though, and all of them acted as though they didn¡¯t know Sean was Sean. They all referred to him by his outfit and not by name. Maybe some weird masquerade rule? I dunno. Rich people were weird.


    Sean took it all in stride, probably used to such things, and guided me off to a corner of the room. We brushed past at least a couple dozen other sycophants before reaching a table. Once we arrived, Bertram and the guard took up positions blocking the main flow from reaching us for a few moments of blessed peace.


    ¡±Sorry about that¡­ you look so pretty in that, by the way. The bunny mask really draws out your eyes and smile.¡± Sean leaned back in his chair.


    I smiled shyly. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    I spotted Sean¡¯s face turn red through the gaps in his helmet. ¡°N-no problem.¡± He cast his gaze out towards the rest of the room. ¡°The dancing and partying are supposed to last three hours, then comes the auction, and then one more hour of partying. Is there anything  want to do?¡±


    Klep shit? But that wasn¡¯t the answer he was probably looking for¡­ unless- no. Still, it was kind of him to ask me. I half expected him to just have me follow him around everywhere. ¡°Uh, I-I¡¯d like to look at the art displays.¡±


    ¡±This  an art gala¡­¡± Sean stood from his chair and walked around the table. ¡°I¡¯ll be back. Do you want anything to eat?¡±


    Jack''s Sun Kicker was as good as ever. ¡°I¡¯m good.¡±


    Sean nodded and walked off, pausing briefly to talk to his two watchdogs in a low voice. The guard followed him as he entered the crowd. Bertram stayed behind in the same spot, not moving an inch. I  S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    feel his gaze though, which was odd considering his head was in the complete opposite direction.


    A girl walked past Bertram without even giving the butler a look. She wore an iridescent array of feathers formed into a colorful dress similar to the flamingo lady. Hers, though, was of a peacock. The entire ensemble was extremely reflective, flashing me in the eyes as she approached.


    The girl walked around to me and offered a hand. Her eyes, absolutely coated in makeup and glitter, squinted at me from behind her full face mask. ¡°You came with Sean?¡± Ah, maybe it wasn''t a rule?


    ¡±Yes?¡± I offered my hand back, clasping hers.


    Her hand tightened around mine, her fingers attempting to dig into my skin. It failed since her grip strength was rather poor. She leaned in and whispered to me. ¡°Just because he invited you doesn¡¯t mean anything. Stay away from him if you know what¡¯s good for you.¡±


    I wanted to laugh at her terrible intimidation skills, but instead, I hid it behind a smile. Let¡¯s see here¡­ what would Meno do in this situation? ¡°I-I¡¯m sure I don¡¯t know what you mean?¡±


    The peacock girl flinched back, her eyes widening for a second before she released my hand and stepped away. ¡°Good. ¡±


    As the girl stocked off, several others approached, seemingly emboldened by her. A pale white guy in what looked to be ancient samurai armor took a seat across from me. An oni mask covered the lower half of his face. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind, little rabbit?¡±


    ¡±Of course not.¡± I smiled, trying to hide my irritation. I''m not sure which was worse: the name or him just sitting down. At least he asked.


    The man flinched back like I threatened him and then nodded several times. ¡°Ah, yosh, yosh¡­¡±


    A woman in a flowing white toga moved in beside the man. She had two white wings that just barely fit into the chair with her. A golden helmet with an attached halo covered her entire head. ¡°I won¡¯t be a bother?¡±


    ¡°Not at all.¡±


    The woman started up a conversation with the samurai, but I checked out as they started mentioning production rates and such. I barely paid enough attention to catalog the information in case it might be useful one day.


    A woman in a cat outfit took a seat, moving one seat closer to me than the others. She didn¡¯t say anything, just sat down with a triumphant look in her eyes. That look faded into a sneer as she looked at me, and her face almost begged me to say something to her about it.


    I resisted the urge and smiled innocently.


    Even more people came, rapidly filling in the seats till there was just one left beside me for Sean. Nobody really spoke to me. There was a bit of small talk, but nothing too major outside of that.


    The lady next to me, wearing what I could only describe as a doctor, a falcon, and a Dune Walker all tossed into a blender, asked, ¡°So, how do you know that strapping young lad in the centurion helmet?¡±


    It took me a few moments to realize she was asking me. ¡±W-we go to school together. He invited me to the art gala since I like art¡­¡±


    ¡±Oh! SPS! How do you like it?¡± The halo lady asked me from across the table.


    I replied, answering more and more questions as the rest of the table started to get in on the conversation. None of them asked questions about me per se, and there was a vague disinterest in everyone¡¯s expressions as if they didn¡¯t  care what I had to say. Probably just trying to keep up appearances.


    That continued for several minutes before Sean returned. He must¡¯ve eaten over there since he came back empty-handed. ¡°Lady Rabbit, won¡¯t you come with me?¡±


    I hopped up out of my seat and headed over to his side, happy to leave the group behind. I cast a glance back as we left, catching a plethora of irritated faces. The cat lady in particular looked like she swallowed a sardine for the first time in her life as we sauntered off.


    Sean was stopped over a dozen times as we worked our way through the crowd. Every single time, he would respond and offer small talk with the people stopping us like it was his solemn duty. It was incredibly annoying, but eventually, we made it to the first art display.


    The first display was a series of paintings attached to a glass wall with people on either side of it. The paintings were aged. The paint looked worn out and a few even had spots where it had chipped off. Most of them were landscapes of ancient cities and times long past. One of them even featured a horse-drawn carriage headed down a brick road.


    ¡±It¡¯s crazy how far we¡¯ve come, isn¡¯t it?¡± Sean sighed and looked at a large painting of a cityscape from the eighteen hundreds. ¡°Life must¡¯ve been so much simpler back then.¡±


    I tried to think back to what I knew of that period. It was unfortunately little. Oh! ¡°Y-yeah, but it was harder in other ways too. Wasn¡¯t the M-Melting Plague during that period?¡±


    Sean nodded his head, his expression hidden behind his helmet. ¡°The first ever magical virus to hit Veryth¡­¡±


    We moved on, glancing at several of the paintings before the sycophants got brave enough to approach. One, a man dressed like a robot, eyed the painting we watched before speaking up. He looked entirely out of place compared to most people''s classy looks and animal masks. ¡°You know, the  was originally done by Wofenbern as a series of three? I own one of its triplet paintings, the .¡±


    Sean looked disinterested, but this was the exact thing I came for. I smiled brightly at the man, tilting my head up to better catch the light. ¡°Really? That¡¯s so impressive!¡±


    The man, taken aback for a moment, rapidly nodded his robotic head as he grinned broadly. ¡°Of course! I keep my collection locked up in my vault, obviously, but I bring them out for public viewing every year or so. Feel free to come by when I do!¡±


    That particular conversation repeated itself dozens of times as we moved down the length of the art display, sometimes even several times for a single one. There were even a few times when two people got into an argument about whose collection was better, naming off dozens of extremely expensive paintings as if they didn¡¯t care who just so happened to overhear.


    About halfway through, Sean realized my interest and also started to engage with the varied people who approached, which just egged them on further. It truly was a peak opportunity to gather information.


    We shifted displays, heading for a series of display cases holding smaller statues and sculptures. ¡°You said sculptures were your favorite?¡± Sean asked as we approached an ancient-looking cat made out of pottery.


    ¡±Yes! There¡¯s just something so- so impressive about them.¡± I smiled brightly, not having to force it as I leaned towards the cat sculpture. It had been painted at one time, but the paint had worn out over the centuries since it was made.


    ¡°Silver ones?¡±


    ¡±Those are the best, but I like sculptures in general.¡±


    ¡±Ah, the !¡± A passerby called out, noticing our attention on the piece. ¡°You know, I have the only cast in the world of this piece. Any more, and the experts were afraid the  might break!¡±


    ¡±Really?¡± I smiled energetically at the woman, hoping she would tell me more.


    She moved closer and waved a hand to the pottery. ¡°Of course! They did it in silver encrusted with sapphires. Quite the beautiful sculpture.¡±


    My grin widened as I found a prime target. ¡°Tell me more!¡±

 Chapter 97

    Chapter 97The first part of the gala passed with Sean and I moving from one display to another, idiots following us around as they told us about one piece or another they held in their private collections. Some even spoke of the security with some slight prodding from me. With my ''innocent'' questions, most of them divulged exactly what I needed to know for a late-night jog. It was far easy. It was like the entire party had their guard down when around Sean. It was literally a paradise for me.


    A stage near the front of the room lit up as spotlights shined onto it. A man in a simple tuxedo took the stage, the only one in the room without a mask on. He tapped on the mic, sending loud thumps through hidden speakers as everyone turned towards him. Interestingly, the peacock-dressed girl stood just behind him. She must be the event organizer''s daughter. What did Christine call her? Vecky? Vicky? Whatever, didn''t matter. Just a nobody to me, though maybe I should try and warm her up to get further invites to this kind of party?


    The man shot his arms wide with a bright smile. ¡°Welcome esteemed guests to the fourth annual Heritage Art Gala, sponsored by Sentinel.¡±


    A round of applause broke out as the man stood there with a bright smile on his face. ¡°Now, if you all would please find a seat, the auction portion of our gala will start soon.¡±


    Sean offered his hand to me. I froze for a moment before lightly placing mine in his, allowing him to take me back towards the table we originally sat at. By the time we arrived, the table sat entirely clear of partygoers. Sentinel guards sat in every seat except ours and Bertram stood at attention to the side. It brought a smile to my face as I sat down.


    Attendants broke out from the shadows of the room, giving pamphlets and auctioning paddles out as they passed by the crowd.


    ¡°So, what was your favorite piece out there?¡± Sean asked as Bertram brought us two glasses of water.


    I idly toyed with the rim of the glass, instantly shooting down the urge to drink it. No point in leaving DNA so easily accessible. Though, to be fair, it was so easy to collect DNA they probably already had a mountain of the stuff if they really needed it. ¡°Probably the ¡±


    The piece in question was a massive replica of ancient-era Yukoto done in pure silver. It was quite a sad story behind it too. The entire thing apparently took the artist thirteen years to build as a gift for the third emperor. The artist died on the thirteenth day of the year just after finishing it. Nobody came to check on him, leaving the artist and his masterpiece to be buried by time until about a century ago.


    ¡±It was impressive.¡± Sean nodded, receiving a pamphlet and paddle after Bertram got them from an attendant. ¡°That¡¯s some serious dedication, especially considering the lifespans were much shorter back then.¡±


    ¡±Yeah¡­ what about you?¡± I asked.


    Sean rubbed his chin. ¡°It¡¯s hard to say. The items I¡¯m looking forward to weren¡¯t out on display, them being in the auction and all. Maybe ?¡±¡¯


    was an old painting from the Dark Ages. It showcased the first Crusade tearing across the land, taking peasants and supplies as they headed to vanquish a great demon in the middle of the Eye Sea. The painter must have painted it shortly after the original Crusade set off though, because the entire thing infamously fell apart once they hit the sea''s shore without any boats.


    The tapping of the mic came again as the man once more drew all attention. ¡°Again, welcome! For those who don¡¯t know me, I am Duke Yarrow. Not Duke as in noble, but Duke as in my name!¡± Several laughs echoed across the massive room. From the way the laughter sounded half-forced, I had a feeling it was one of those jokes the guy liked to tell at every opportunity.


    Mr. Yarrow smiled joyfully before holding up one of the pamphlets. ¡°Now, this here is your guide to the auction. As you see, every piece is recorded.¡± I looked over Sean¡¯s arm at the pamphlet as he flipped through the pages. There were easily dozens of expensive artworks with starting bids in the thousands of Rayn. Interestingly, the last page was just filled with question marks.


    Mr. Yarrow flipped to the page in question as projectors turned on, blowing him up so I could see way better. ¡°As some of you have noticed, the back page isn¡¯t quite as helpful. I¡¯m sure some of you have heard the rumors, but we managed to get pieces from Cwalu this year! The last page is dedicated to those rarities.¡±


    He leaned toward the mic, talking out of the side of his mouth as if he was letting the room in on a secret. ¡°And some of them are even magical!¡±


    Voices broke out across the room as discussions instantly started. Sean wasn¡¯t exempt as he leaned back in his chair. ¡°How¡¯d he manage that?¡±


    I had a different reaction than most people. My brain instantly fell back onto the box from the nomad camp, locking up my body in memory of the sheer fear I felt at that time. Was it just a coincidence? Or was that box supposed to be headed here? A chill went down my spine at the thought of it. No- no, just a coincidence.


    I relaxed before anyone could notice, flicking on Cold-Blooded for a brief moment to distract me before switching it back off. Beside me, Sean shivered as he glanced around. Thankfully, Yarrow spoke up once more, drawing all of the attention. ¡°Without further adieu, let''s get this started!¡±


    A woman sashayed onto the stage, presenting a masterpiece painting of a cave. Weird candles were scattered around the painting, seemingly flickering with fire. ¡°This is a . For over a century, it hung in Vurn¡¯s Royal Palace. It''s come a long way since then, eh? We¡¯ll start the bid at five thousand Rayn!¡±


    Instantly an attendant called out from the back. Mr. Yarrow nodded. ¡°Five thousand there, five thousand there. Can we get a seven-five hundred? Seven five hundred?¡±


    ¨C ¨C


    The rest of the auction played out about as I would expect. I watched in rapt attention as paintings, sculptures, and other works were sold for tens of thousands as if Rayn fell from the sky. In the back of my head, I noted down every person. Sure, they were wearing costumes and such, but it really wasn¡¯t all that hard to figure out considering most of them were so boastful about themselves. Hell, I already knew more details about them then I had any right to considering just how many people came to brag to Sean and I as if their little collections somehow meant they deserved a promotion. Corpo politics, I guess.


    Sean bid on a few, most of his bids going fairly uncontested. Things started to pick up when the Cwalu items were pulled out though. Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Mr. Yarrow smiled broadly, bowing his head slightly. ¡°Now we¡¯ll start bringing out our Cwalu collection. These items, as many of you know, are exceedingly rare. The magic ones are even more so. Now then, let''s start with our first item, yes?¡±


    A woman brought out a painting covered in a tarp. The image of the projector changed to that of the painting. It was a mother happily playing with her son as a bird flew by in the background.


    ¡°Karl Franz painted back in the late seventeen hundreds. The country of Destin shipped it to Cestain just before World War Two started up, and then it was lost to history. Our brave explorers found and reclaimed late last year, and since then it''s changed.¡± The woman pulled off the tarp, revealing to the crowd.


    As soon as my eyes landed on it, I felt a- a peace come over me, calming the turmoil in my heart. It felt almost like the times long since past when Mom would wrap me in her big hugs. That thought immediately brought ice down my back, ruing the sensation. The feeling was faintly reminiscent of that false sense of calm that the Leper-Khans'' beast brought about. ¡°It has become a Mesmer class item capable of bringing peace to all who look at it. No side effects were reported. Now, let''s start this off at-¡±


    ¡°A million!¡± A man shouted from the back, a hint of desperation in his voice.


    ¡°One million! Good! Can we get-¡±


    A woman cried from close to the front. ¡°Three million!¡±


    From there, the bidding devolved into a shouting match. By the end of it all, the painting went for a whopping fifty-one million. I couldn¡¯t even wrap my head around that number, and yet here the uber-rich were, just passing it as if it were nothing. Hell, even just half a million could get me set to buy all I needed and then some.


    The next items sold slightly for less, not being magical in the slightest, but then came more and more magical items, each selling for more. The most expensive one was two hundred and fifty million. It was a simple plastic poncho that could take a tank round and shrug it off as if it were nothing. Probably should¡¯ve gone for more in my opinion.


    ¡°And we save the best for last!¡± Mr. Yarrow called as a man carted a box onto the stage. As soon as I saw the box, I felt an ethereal impulse of Insight so exceedingly sharp that it caused a gasp to rip from my throat. It felt like ethereal talons slicing through my brain.


    ¡°Meno?¡± Sean asked, looking at me with concern.


    ¡°I¡¯m f-fine¡­ just a cramp?¡±


    Sean looked confused for a moment. Then his face flushed strawberry red as he looked away for some reason. What a weirdo. ¡°R-right¡­¡±


    I shifted my gaze from him back to the box and activated Aetherial Perception. The entire stage and front side of the room were shrouded in a deep white glow. It looked as if the Aether itself had been overlaid onto the stage. I flinched back as sweat rolled down my back, remembering how the creature from the box''s aura looked. It was so, so exceedingly similar. And yet, there wasn¡¯t any malice to the aura. Just curiosity.


    Mr. Yarrow pulled off the box, revealing an iridescent egg sitting on a silk cushion. It seemed to shine with an internal light as if the egg held an entire universe inside of it. Sean gasped from beside me, just as many people across the room did.


    ¡°This egg was pulled from ground zero in Cwalu. We lost fourteen men on that trip. It was hidden in an ancient ruin of sorts deep below the earth. The archeologists we hired to investigate claimed it was the ruins of the Cwalin, the indigenous race of people who went extinct long before the civilized world found Cwalu.¡± Mr. Yarrow ran a hand over the egg, the light inside seeming to grow brighter. ¡°No one knows what''s inside. The egg is resistant to all kinds of scans and tests. Starting bid? One hundred million.¡±


    Outroar spread across the entirety of the room. One person, in particular, shouted above the noise, his voice carrying so well I half suspected it was some kind of Kinetic ability. ¡°For just a pretty stone?!¡±


    All of that faded into the background as I stared at the egg with an unfocused gaze. My eyes were instead locked onto a message popping into my vision.


    ¡¸Request -  Eidolons¡¯ Order


    Get the <redacted> egg


    1 Trait point


    Eidlonic Favor¡¹


    I felt the breath freeze in my lungs as I read the message. I had to reread it several more times to make sure I hadn¡¯t horribly misread it. And yep, they were offering a Trait. My mind shifted to the overwhelming usefulness of the Traits I originally selected. Insight alone was worth any amount of effort thanks to its sheer versatility. The egg seared into my mind as I reread the message again, pausing on the Request''s title. This was the first time I''d ever received something more than just a simple ''request''. This one felt like it had some weight behind it. And it wasn''t just one of the eidolons either.


    I started at the shining egg. I had to get it. More accurately, I had to keep track of who bought it so I could steal it from them. Who-


    Mr. Yarrow pointed directly at us. ¡°One hundred million! Can I get a one-fifty? A one-fifty?¡±


    I looked over to see Sean casually putting his paddle down. He smiled at me, his teeth barely visible below his helmet. ¡°Its beauty still falls short of you, Lady Rabbit.¡±


    ¡°T-thank you¡­¡± For once, the blush was genuine as I hurriedly looked away. I flickered Cold-Blooded, removing the heat from my cheeks as the cool refocused my mind. At the very least, stealing from Sean would be far easier than someone else.


    ¡±No problem.¡± Sean smiled widely-


    Only for that smile to crack slightly as someone else in the background shouted, ¡°Five hundred million!¡± I was too distracted by Sean and missed whoever shouted.


    ¡±Five hundred million! Can we get six? Six? Is anyone out there with a six? Six?


    Sean frowned. He looked over to Bertram, who held up six fingers. Then he raised his paddle.


    ¡°Six hundred million there in the back-¡°


    ¡±A billion!¡± The man cried out again. This time I followed his voice to see a man in a lab coat. He had a cheap paper mask of a crow taped to his face, barely covering anything at all. His eyes had heavy bags below them, and he looked as if he hadn¡¯t shaved in weeks. There was a cocky air to him as if we were all just ants living in his world.


    Sean slumped back into his seat, his eyes radiating unwilling defeat.


    ¡°A billion!¡± Mr. Yarrow looked around. ¡°A billion and one?¡± No one raised their paddle. ¡°A billion, sold to the buyer four-five-two!¡±


    I eyed the crow mask. He wasn''t one of the ones I''d spoken to beforehand. I''d have to get my hands on the guest list to get an identity down or something. I eyed Sean. He probably wouldn''t get it for me without asking some serious questions. Welp, shit.


    Mr. Yarrow pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at his face with it. ¡°Well, ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our auction this year! Buyers, head down to reception once this is over and they¡¯ll take care of you.¡±


    ¡°A billion Rayn, really?¡± Sean sighed and shook his head as the music started to play again. ¡°Well, you want to leave now or party for another hour?¡±


    I looked at the time on my HUD. ¡°Leave? I have to take a call from my grandpa tomorrow morning¡­¡±


    Sean stood and offered me his hand. ¡°Then I¡¯ll walk you out, Lady Rabbit. Thank you for joining me tonight.¡±


    I smiled at him, a true genuine smile as I dreamed of my future holding items of such vast wealth. And that mysterious egg. Things just got more interesting. ¡°My pleasure!¡±


    He nearly stumbled as he guided me back to the main door.


    On our way to the exit, I made a detour to the crow mask guy for ¡®one last look¡¯ at . As we moved past him to the sculpture, I activated Hidden Hands and slid the BED from my pocket. It was child¡¯s play to figure out which pocket he kept his phone in. My years of picking pockets weren¡¯t all for nothing.


    I ¡®tripped¡¯, narrowly missing the crow mask as Sean caught me. Sean''s strong arm wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me back up to my feet. ¡°Careful there, Meno.¡±


    ¡±Thank you.¡± I gave a light smile as I slid the BED back into my pocket. Hopefully, that would be all I needed to figure out the guy¡¯s identity. If not, I''d have to raid the Yarrows or something.


    Sean led me back to the massive silver sculpture of . To keep up the pretense, I spent several minutes walking around the sculpture, carefully inspecting it even as my mind fell onto a different topic.


    Not long after that, Sean led me back the way we originally came into the gala and we finally left into the warm night air.

 Chapter 98

    Chapter 98As soon as I returned home, I changed into more comfortable clothes and got busy writing in my notebook. So many names, faces, and detes to remember floated around my head, and I was worried about forgetting some of them. Every mark I gathered information on had their detes written down and a brief search of them through their net for even more information.


    Those of particularly high interest, such as the lady who owned the silver and gem-encrusted cast of the , I marked with a moon. Only eight of the fifty-six names I wrote down got that honor. Once I was done, I sat back in bed and reread through the list to make sure I didn¡¯t miss anyone.


    Now then, that took care of finding ¡®donors¡¯. I just needed to find a place for my stash, get my calling card up and ready, and make sure I was actually good to go snatch the goods. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I looked through my gear. I wasn¡¯t in the best place to klep shit, but I also wasn¡¯t in a bad place either. Between my Perks and toys, I  be able to get through most mid-level security without a hassle.


    My biggest worry was my face being seen while out on a heist. The Advent Ghost had its feature scrubber built in, so I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about cameras spotting me, but people still could. The answer to that was obvious.


    I dug through my backpack for the mask I grabbed from the other thief¡¯s stash. It was alright, I guess, but there wasn''t enough cover to hide behind. I tossed it onto my work table and got busy making designs.


    I settled on a rather simple black mesh sheet instead of anything fancy. It was extremely similar to the featureless mass Bertram and the guard wore at the gala. The sheet had two crescent-shaped holes to act as eyes with the same one-way plastic I used on my Scouters.


    After sending it to the printer, I started to tear apart the other mask. I carefully documented the entire time, taking it apart piece by piece. I took pictures and drew up a blueprint for it all so I¡¯d know how to get it back together as I disassembled it into pieces.


    The almost featureless black mask finished up in the printer, so I took it out and got to work. It was a bit of a pain in the ass to get all the technical bits transferred over, but I managed to get the entire breathing apparatus from my original mask onto my new one with minimal screwups.


    By the time I was done, I had a full face mask that would guard my face during heists. The bottom part of the mask was the black mesh from my original, so it would also double as protection from poisons or atmospheric conditions. I knew from listening during the gala that some of them favored using gasses as a defense. The mask honestly looked a bit creepy? I slid it on and breathed deeply, feeling cool fresh air in my lungs.


    After that, I got to work on my calling card. Of course, I knew calling cards weren''t exactly the brightest idea for trying to lay low, but there was no way in hell I wouldn''t claim a crime. Or at least claim it under a different identity. I worked late into the night settling on a design I liked. It would take some parts I didn¡¯t have though, so I¡¯d have to get them in the morning. I put up my stuff and headed for a warm shower.


    ¨C ¨C


    Early the next morning, while I was gulping down Sentinel Supreme Supplements, which, surprisingly, was  than Jack¡¯s Sun Kicker even though it tasted better, I received a message from Feras. ¡®Thanks for saving me. New meetup Hellanis Hotel. Today, just after noon.''


    I checked the time. I still had quite a bit until then. Or at least enough time to get my calling card all finished up. While I went about my daily routine, I sent a message to the Inquisitor. ¡®Used the BED on a suspect. Send me the information?¡¯


    Then I headed out onto the streets of Aythryn City. I needed one thing in particular to get my calling card up and running: a holoprojector. Now, I could just go out and buy some, but that would take Rayn.


    There were easier ways to get what I wanted though. In this case, it would also help the ''fine'' people of Aythryn City with each holoprojector I acquired. I got on my bike and headed to the south side of Little Yukoto, the edge that jutted up against Downtown.


    Once there, I found a spot to park my bike and started to walk down the streets for targets. It wasn¡¯t long before I spotted my first victim amongst the crowd of people heading into work for the day.


    The woman wore flashwear, which was exactly what I wanted. Her coat had a pop-up ad of the newest car from Schweigon International. It was some absurdly expensive sports car that only idiots with a lot of money would get.


    I slid up next to her, changing my pace to match hers as my eyes scanned her jacket for the holoprojectors responsible for the advertisement. Surprisingly, it took quite a bit of effort to actually find the small glass beads poking out of her jacket.


    Her particular model had eight micro-holoprojectors built into the fabric. Four along her shoulders and four along the bottom edge of the jacket. The ones on her shoulders would be too much effort, so they were out. The rest though? They were up for grabs.


    I activated my Perks and got even closer, whipping my knife from my jacket. In one smooth motion, I tripped past her, cutting off the bottom edge of her jacket as close to the projectors as I could. Just before anyone could look at me, I stuffed the strip of fabric into my pocket and hurried on by.


    Out of my peripherals, I spotted her checking her pockets. Then she shook her head and continued since I ¡®hadn¡¯t¡¯ stolen anything. A smirk came to my face as I used the crowd to get behind her once more to see the stretched advertisement. I couldn¡¯t even tell what the ad was anymore.


    I spent a while repeating the process again and again, collecting forty holoprojectors before I called it good. With my new loot in tow, I headed back home.


    It took me a while to get the holoprojectors free from the wiring and fabric of the techwear I klepped them from. It took even longer to check all of them for bugs or tracking software. Thankfully, flashwear was made to be offline entirely, so there wasn¡¯t anything hidden in the pieces I cut free.


    And then it was time for the meeting. I was a bit sad to leave my project unfinished, but I figured the gig was more important at the moment. I tidied up my workspace and headed out.


    ¨C ¨C


    ¡°So¡­ are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?¡± I asked as I leaned back onto the room¡¯s bed.


    Feras sat at the hotel room¡¯s desk, and Torren leaned up against the wall. Nobody said anything since I first entered the room. Torren looked like he honestly just didn¡¯t care all that much, and Feras¡¯s face kept flushing red like he was going to speak, but held himself back every time.


    Feras sighed, wincing as his hand jumped to his side. ¡°I fucked up¡­ sorry. I should¡¯ve checked the place out first¡­ and I should¡¯ve realized how bad the stab wound was before I headed to the Mortas Motel.¡± Feras shook his head.


    I arched a brow to him. ¡°You got stabbed  the motel?¡±


    ¡°One of the students at SPS found me out. Sent their guard after me.¡± He ran a hand over his side idly. ¡°So I¡¯m a dropout now.¡±


    Shit, that wasn¡¯t good. They would be all the more suspicious now considering a mole was already found. ¡°Who was it?¡±


    ¡°Jeremy Snyder. He''s one of the jocks. I  he might¡¯ve been our guy since he was good friends with three of the victims. He was an airhead though. Completely forgot about the three of them after they disappeared.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Still doesn¡¯t explain the others though.¡±


    ¡°Where are we at in the investigation then? Should we just back out entirely?¡± I asked. Sure it would suck to lose out on the rewards, but one of us was already stabbed. Add onto that we almost died to that poser gang, and the rewards really didn¡¯t look worth it. I wanted to stay in just for the cool tech since it would help immensely in future heists, but I wasn''t quite sure how the other two felt.


    Torren spoke up from the wall, ¡°I don¡¯t think Claire did it. She''s too much of an airhead and seems to have a hard time focusing. Hell, she didn¡¯t even know who Quora Kalis was when I asked her.¡±


    . They were supposed to be best friends. Did Quora lie to her dad about who her best friend was? But he seemed so certain... I can ask around Monday. Maybe she was lying about it?


    I thought back to my interactions with the other two primary suspects. ¡°I don¡¯t see Sean doing it, but Tristen might? He¡¯s heavily into his career though, and murder would jeopardize that. Maybe not him then. What about the other victims? Is there anything on that angle?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been looking into,¡± Feras said. ¡°None of them have anything in common other than SPS and some common friends. It''s like some mad person just went around and snatched the first person they saw.¡±


    ¡°Weird,¡± Torren muttered.


    It  strange. The whole gig was weird from the get-go. In the first place, how did so many students go missing, and barely anyone talked about it at school? To me, that feels like one of those rumor mill things that  should be talking about.


    Then there was the whole oddity with the principal and his experiments- wait¡­ were the missing kids his experiments? Did he take kids from the school? That was ballsy, but he would definitely have the means and the motive-


    But he seemed like such a nice guy! Sure, a little bit of a suckup, but that didn¡¯t mean he was responsible for the disappearances. And who knows? Maybe that experiment wasn¡¯t even a bad thing in the first place? He was such a nice guy, after all.


    My head hurt for a moment, distracting me as I thought about the Inquisitor for some reason. I shook myself, the pain fading as I tried to remember what we were talking about.


    ¡°Regardless, I¡¯m out. I can still play support, but my cover is blown entirely.¡± Feras motioned to his side. ¡°And they  don¡¯t want me back.¡±


    ¡°Should we try to find the body? Or bodies? It might be easier than trying to find the suspect from amongst the crowd.¡± Torren asked.


    ¡°Stupid idea.¡± Feras shot his idea down. ¡°Where would we even start searching? If someone wants to get rid of a corpse in Aythryn City, they easily can. Really dumb idea.¡±


    ¡°It''s a  better idea than going to Mortis Motel.¡± Torren crossed his arms, shooting a glare at the grifter.


    Feras glared back. ¡°Well, next time, how about you arrive on time? Wouldn¡¯t have even an issue if you got there when we said to.¡±


    Woah, woah, woah. Why was he saying ?  definitely was the one making all the decisions as the team leader. This was going downhill. I raised a hand, drawing their attention. ¡°Let''s shift subjects for a bit?¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡±


    ¡°Fine!¡±


    I sighed as I looked between the two sulking on either side of the room. ¡±What did you loot?¡±


    ¡±I got out with the rifles. Uh, I pulled out the little thingies for the sound-suppressing thingy¡­ I also grabbed the pieces of that guy¡¯s blade. Figured I might be able to sell it. Or maybe get it fixed? Wouldn¡¯t mind having a katana like that.¡± Torren shrugged. ¡°You?¡±


    ¡±Just the jammer.¡± The jammer and the suppressor would be so nice for my future crime spree¡­ ¡°I want to keep the jammer and the suppressor if that¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll fix the katana and you keep the rest of the shit. Deal?¡±


    Feras coughed lightly. ¡°What about-¡°


    Torren broke into uproarious laughter. ¡°Right, like we¡¯d give the guy who threw us into danger  didn¡¯t do anything to help a cut. Good joke, buddy. "


    "


    Torren ignored the grifter. "Sure, sounds good to me. Oh, any chance you can paint the blade green?¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± Just as soon as I figured out  to make a katana in general. Anyway, that left just one matter I was still caught up on from Mortas Motel. ¡°What was up with that transformation of yours?¡±


    ¡±Oh. It¡¯s a spell that changes all body fat to muscle.¡± He flexed his arm, pushing up his muscle. ¡°What was up with you though? I had a hard time seeing you just standing there.¡±


    Ah, min-maxer. I get it now. ¡°It¡¯s uh, an expensive liquid. Makes people and objects hazy.¡±


    Torren nodded. ¡°Feras  say you were a thief¡­¡±


    ¡±Nova talk guys... what about the investigation?¡± The grifter grumpily asked from the side of the room where he''d been abandoned.


    ¡±Another week.¡± I thought about the BED. There were still plenty of chances to find something of value. ¡°Then, if nothing new, we pull out?¡±


    Torren pushed himself off the wall. ¡°Sounds good to me.¡±


    ¡±I¡¯m already pulled out.¡± Feras shrugged. ¡°Alright, keep me in the loop though so I can report back to the client. I''ll ask around some contacts. See if there''s something of note outside of the SPS that might be related.¡±


    ¡±Fine.¡± I popped off the bed and headed for the door.

 Chapter 99

    Chapter 99As soon as I got home, I started work on my calling cards once more. I took measurements of the holoprojectors and then tinkered around on my deck, getting the model just right. It wasn¡¯t anything crazy, just a simple playing card.


    The playing card was a light gray, contrasted sharply by a dark blue crescent moon in the dead center of it. The two corners where a normal playing card had the number or letter were punched out, leaving a small gap. The card itself was a bit thick since it was completely hollowed out for electrical parts.


    I got the card and then started to wire up the holoprojectors into it. They fit almost perfectly into the two holes. I only needed to fill some extra bits of the plastic for them to pop in. From there, I wired them up to a battery in the center of the card.


    From there, I reprogrammed the two holoprojectors. It was surprisingly easy to do. I hooked up my deck to their microchips and it opened up a program to edit what they projected. They didn''t have any protections, which made sense considering where I got them from. They didn''t have a connection to the Net at all either, which completely removed any chance of them getting hacked. There wasn''t much of a need to give them protection.


    I spent a while trying, and failing, to get a good projection of what I wanted. It was way harder than the static models I was used to doing for my three-dimensional printer. Instead of getting what I wanted, the projection looked like a blob of jello by the time I was done.


    I gave up and searched the net for one¡­ after finding the right file to fit what I wanted, I tossed it into the program. The projection looked nice, but it was a bit off. I fixed that by messing with the sliders and changing the color scheme to something that would fit the card far better. I also adjusted the model to fit the card and manipulated some parts of it.


    I unplugged my deck, sending one last command to turn them on. Instantly, the playing card was lit up with fire. Neon blue fire arced along the edges, casting a blue glow across the silver card. It looked extremely realistic to the point I involuntarily flinched back as the flames danced.


    The card sat there, on my desk, flickering with a faint blue flame that illuminated the dark blue moon. I watched it for a few moments, a smile forming on my lips as I stared down at my newest creation.


    From there, I disassembled the card and changed the blue moon in the middle to a button of sorts so I could turn the projection off and on. It wouldn¡¯t do to have a bright, glowing card on me when sneaking around places. After that, I managed to make eleven more of them before my printer''s final spool of wire went out.


    A frown worked its way across my lips as I pulled the empty spool out of the printer. They weren¡¯t exactly cheap, and I wasn¡¯t swimming in wealth at the moment. The current gig was taking up too much time for its payout, which sucked considering I was already behind on rent.


    Where would I-


    Oh. Yeah, that could work. With a thought, the request tab popped up in my vision.


    ¡¸Request - Precious


    Steal the precious item


    Crow¡¯s Wheel of Wares¡¹


    I thought back to the warehouse restaurant combo I got the request from. What was it again? Bury BBQ? Ruddy¡¯s BBQ? Something like that. It wouldn¡¯t be too hard to get back into if I was lucky. More importantly, the Neo-Jokers had a printer set up there with extra spools of plastic.


    I could grab the requested item, get the reward, and get more wire all in one fell swoop. ¡®Course, the reward was probably the biggest part of this whole idea. Crow¡¯s Canteen of Chaos has become a staple since I originally got it. It was an important part of my kit, and all but guaranteed long-term survival if I was ever out in the wilderness thanks to its infinite nutrients.


    All that being said, what else could I get from the wheel? An infinite bag that could hold everything I owned? An infinitely reproducing block of steel? Or maybe even something weird, like an immovable rod that ignored physics? Excitement already started to cross through me. sea??h th§× N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Walking around my apartment, I started to gear up. I also dumped out my bag entirely, packing extremely light so I could get out with more stuff. I brought little more than my deck, devices, tools, mask, calling cards, my Sidewinder, and the jade dagger I got from Drew, the thief. I also set the canteen back to the haze liquid.


    Then, I headed out to my bike for my first heist in a long while. I cleaned it out, pulling everything I had left on it back into my apartment. I wanted to get out with a treasure trove this time, so I wanted room to store shit on my bike and saddle bags.


    I cleaned up as best I could and then hit the road. At the very least, this¡¯d be a warm-up before cracking the corpos on my list.


    ¡ª ¡ª


    I spent a couple hours watching the place, Ruby¡¯s BBQ apparently, to see if anything changed. It looked mostly the same, the only difference being several more bikes parked out front than the last time. Maybe since it was the weekend?


    Nothing stood out other than that, so I went like I did the last time as I threw on my new mask. I walked around the block, getting out of vision as I entered the alleyway between the buildings. From there, I worked my way around back to the fire escape I used in my original heist.


    The entire bottom floor had been chopped off since the last time I was around. I checked the rusty bars, and they were definitely chopped, not rusted off. Maybe the Neo-Jokers wised up since I was here the last time?


    I looked around, spotting a dumpster off to the side of the alley. I moved over to it, hopped on, and lined myself up. I got a running start, the lid of the dumpster bouncing underfoot, as I leaped from it with my arms outstretched, catching the rusted bar of the fire escape. As soon as my grip locked on, the bar creaked loudly as it shifted in a light splattering of dust that my mask kept me from breathing in.


    I winced as I tried to pull myself up onto it, failing miserably. I took a deep breath, straining as I barely managed to get myself up over the lip. I rolled the rest of the way, fully getting onto the groaning fire escape.


    Not immediately climbing up, I took a moment to tie some of the microwire I got from Mira oh so long ago around the bars of the escape, creating a short rope down to ground level.


    From there, I went up the stairs of the fire escape. Just like last time, it creaked and groaned, threatening to collapse under me. I didn¡¯t let that slow me as I peeked over the edge of the roof. Nothing immediately stood out to me until I locked onto the electrical shed on the other side. A camera panned slowly from one side of the roof to the other.


    I waited for it to get to its furthest arc, then raced across the roof to the shed. I slid into the shadow of the building, stopping just below the camera as it panned back to the fire escape.


    Once it got back to its furthest arc, I pulled a Tapper from my bag and jammed it up into the gizmo responsible for turning the camera. It shifted, clamping onto the Tapper as it froze in place. Not exactly what it was intended for, but it worked nonetheless.


    Hopefully, the stalled camera would be less eye-catching than a broken camera for whoever watched the feeds. If not, then I had minutes at best before they sent anyone up here.


    Just to be safe, I dropped a Listener right below the camera and linked it up to my earpiece. Hopefully, I¡¯d be able to hear if someone came up and investigated. If anything, I should have a few seconds warning before shit hit the fan.


    I moved to open the door to the electrical shed. They had set up several more locks since the last time I was up here, but what were more locks really supposed to do when the first one hardly took a few seconds? I easily unlocked each of them and popped open the metal door.


    The inside of the shed changed significantly from the last time. Not that the old electrical panels had been removed. Funnily enough, I spotted my original Tapper still linked to their light system. Several more panels had been added. It took a bit to figure out what I was looking at.


    Whoever set up the grid was nice enough to label what each of the breakers and switch boxes were for. Most of them were related to additional security systems of the facility. They really beefed the place up since the last time.


    One set of controls in particular caught my eye: vault controls. Unfortunately, all the new stuff was hooked into security systems of their own that would go off with the slightest change of voltage, so I couldn¡¯t do anything from this side without setting off the alarm preemptively. Or at least I didn¡¯t want to try. I could probably manage to divert the voltage and get a workaround, but it wasn¡¯t really worth the risk.


    What did they have in the vault though? Part of me - a large part of me at that - wanted to forget the original mission and find this tantalizing vault of theirs. I could be set for a  time if I just-


    No, bad Shiro! You  the statue and spools of wire first! Maybe after that was over though? Risk a return trip back for them? Hmm¡­ wait and see how things are going, then make a decision.


    After looking through the security systems, I was half tempted to jack into them with my deck and try to work around them so I could access their cameras. Then the rest of my brain caught up, along with the realization that I definitely didn¡¯t have enough skills to manage such a thing.


    Looks like playing with the lights was about the extent of what I could deal with. I did, however, mentally mark down the positions named on the circuit breaker for future reference. I also reset the link to my deck for the old Tapper just in case.


    I slid back out of the electrical shed, careful to stay out of view of the jammed camera as I moved back to one of the pyramid windows. They had also received an upgrade since the last time with far beefier bolts and screws instead of the half-rusted ones. In fact, the entire thing looked new, windows and all.


    I dropped my bag to my side and sifted through it for my tools, then undid the bolts that kept the pyramids down. Carefully, I slid the glass panel to the side just like last time and looked down into the warehouse. Unlike last time, I pulled a Scouter from my bag and Crow¡¯s Canteen of Chaos. I filled in the hollow outer layer of the scouter with the liquid, almost immediately losing sight of the thing. Trippy.


    The scouter sailed through the air as I lightly tossed it onto one of the racks a bit ways across the room. I slid back down, using the cement box below the pyramid as a backrest as I pulled out my deck and connected up to the Scouter. From there, I set it to auto-transfer to my HUD before putting my deck back up.


    The Scouter overlooked one of the many rows of tall industrial shelves. The lights were as dim the last time, so it took me a minute to figure out what exactly I was looking at.


    They added more stuff to the shelves since the last time, a lot more at that. Almost every shelf was stacked with boxes, most of them marked in a language I couldn¡¯t quite read. Maybe Sovet? It looked Sovet at least. Still, the boxes meant more cover for me.


    I watched the Scouter¡¯s view for a while longer, catching sight of guards walking around. They upgraded since the last time in terms of gear and hands it looked like. Now there were duos on patrol instead of just a solo.


    ¡¯Course, I could put two and two together. Since the last time I was here, they must¡¯ve upgraded from a simple stash to something far more important. It was the only logical reason for all the money sunk into the place. That thought process, combined with the security for a ¡®vault¡¯, suggested the back side of Ruby¡¯s BBQ had become a major storehouse for the Neo-Jokers.


    Did that make me more hesitant about popping in to klep their shit? Yeah. Would it stop me? Well, I was already here¡­


    I doused myself in the haze liquid, slid the deck back into my bag, and dropped over the side of the pyramid, silently falling into the darkness below.

 Chapter 100

    Chapter 100I stabilized myself as my feet hit the top of the rack silently, immediately dropping into a crouch to further hide my form. I took a moment to calm my breathing, made sure my Perks were active, and grabbed my Scouter from its resting place. Then I crept along the top of the rack towards the restaurant end of the warehouse.


    Instead of immediately crossing the racks to get to the right aisle like last time, I took my time and watched the security of the place. There were far more guards around than previously. At least ten groups of two were on patrol around my area, and I spotted a small contingent of guards off by the garage door entrances into the warehouse playing some kind of card game.


    Thankfully, though, there wasn¡¯t a guard by the door like the last time. The door into Ruby¡¯s sat alone, though not unguarded. A camera rested just above the door, bolted into the wall. From the angle it was pointed, it would see anyone approaching though the angle was too far up to see the door itself.


    I watched the guards, waiting for the right moment of their rotation before jumping across the racks. I sailed through the air, feeling a moment of pure adrenaline as the ground vanished below me. Then my feet hit the rack. I controlled my momentum with a few steps, bleeding it off as I silently readjusted my posture.


    I repeated the process, feeling a strong sense of deja vu as I arrived in the same position as last time. I crouched towards the side of the rack, watching the patterns of the guards further. Unfortunately, life wasn''t a game so I couldn''t a hundred percent trust the patterns.


    Once a duo of red-headed Jokers moved down the aisles, clearing the lane running down the racked wall of the warehouse, I jumped across to the far side. My feet barely caught the lip of the rack. I swung around, flipping my center of balance as I rolled forward onto the rack with a light grating of metal as my foot clipped a loose bar.


    I checked over the side; no one seemed to notice. I slid down the side of the rack, keeping as close to the wall as possible as I dropped down to the ground floor. I practically hugged the wall right underneath the camera to avoid its gaze as I tried the door: unlocked.


    I slid into the hall leading to Ruby¡¯s BBQ. No cameras, for some reason? The hall felt like it would be the opportune place for a camera¡­


    Regardless, I closed the door quietly behind me and moved over to the office. Locked. Not that it mattered. It had been a while, but I partially remembered the lock. It popped open with minimal effort.


    The office looked almost exactly the same. The beautiful piece of technology, Raijin¡¯s RIP, sat along a good length of the wall as it swiftly printed out what looked to be gun parts. Massive mounds of guns were tossed to the side, half-finished but enough to arm a small army once they were. The desk was as stuffed with internal gun parts as the last time. The guy was still knocked out on the couch-


    I paused and eyed the guy through my mask''s lenses, turning on Lethargic Presence as he snored away. He was the same ¡®borged out ganger as last time, curled up on the couch with a half-empty bottle of whiskey in his hands.


    I silently drifted across the room, keeping an eye on the guy as I made for the terminal first. If I remember right, the password was¡­ Nobodywilleverknow123? I think? And Neo_eoN was the username¡­ maybe?


    Typing them into the terminal unlocked it, giving me access to their security feeds. Did they not have a dedicated security guard? Or was the guy passed out drunk supposed to be the guard?


    I worked through the security, trying to find other connection points, but it was just this one in the system. Or at least that I could see. They could have a Netrunner plugged in somewhere- no, probably not. My cover would already be blown if they did.


    I sifted through the cameras, finding the one right above the door. I wanted to just disable it entirely. Instead, I took an old clip from their saved recordings and spliced it. Then I slung the clip on repeat over the actual camera, effectively blinding it without turning it off. It was a temporary fix, bypassing any daemons they had in their system since it was the master terminal, but it would hold for now. Hopefully.


    I looked through the rest of the cameras, catching sight of one looking inside the vault. It was a massive room made out of pure metal with finished guns and mounds of drugs everywhere. There were quite a few precious-looking items too, further tempting me to find and swipe all I could.


    Still, I was of the mindset to wait and see. I went ahead and did the same thing, splicing a looping video over the actual camera just in case. I checked the rest of the security, noting the gangers¡¯ positions and the layout of the rest of the warehouse as well as alternative security measures.


    The vault had heat sensors in it tied to some kind of knockout gas and several turrets set up into the roof. I thought about trying to disable it, but I wasn¡¯t net savvy enough to know if they had a fail-safe, so I left the systems active. Nor did I actually know  to disable it. I had ways around it anyway.


    I set the terminal to rest mode, shifting my attention to the prize. A golden statue of a fox, jewel-encrusted with rubies, sat on the coffee table next to the man. I moved over to it, watching the way the light given off by the RIP reflected off its beautiful surface. I reached out a hand, tracing its snout. As I felt the cool gold, a warm arc zipped up into my hand.


    A jolt of ethereal insight met me a moment too late as I touched the fox. I recoiled as I felt my skin grow hot, only fading a few seconds after touching it. Aetherial Perception revealed the entire thing glowing with a strong presence of ethereal energy. . But I could figure it out later.


    I cleared out my bag, shifting stuff out of the way as I picked up the fox and slid it in, again having that tingle go through me. The statue was heavy, though not nearly as heavy as it should¡¯ve been. Was it hollow, maybe? Regardless, it made it much lighter to carry. I slid the statue into my bag and made my way back out into the hall, my eyes briefly catching on the spools of printer wire. This would take multiple trips.


    Before I left, I dropped a Listener onto the table, hooking it up to my earpiece the same as the last one. Instantly, the sounds of light snores echoed through my ear. I let it fade to the back of my head as I focused on other things.


    I snuck out back into the hall, cracking the door open and rolling a Scouter underneath one of the shelves. Its feed popped up into my HUD, granting me vision of the warehouse. I paused, waiting a moment as a duo crossed the lane before turning down an aisle.


    I took the chance, slipping through the door and immediately climbing up the rack set against the wall. In no time, I arrived at the top of it. From there, I moved to line up with one of the aisle¡¯s racks. The fox statue weighed me down significantly, so I needed to adjust to that. I did the rough mental calculation, shifting my landing spot down a level from the top of the rack.


    Taking a breath, I started a silent short sprint before flinging myself through the air. The weight caught me more than I thought it would as I lost balance mid-air. In an act of sheer desperation, I swung my hands out for a metal bar, latching onto it as it rattled fiercely. A tearing sensation of my skin ripping apart flashed up the nerves of my hands as they grew wet, and yet I managed to hold on. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Footsteps came from below me as a duo of flamboyant red-headed guards hustled out of the aisle. I held my breath, holding absolutely still as they paused several layers below me. They looked around the dimly lit area with their rifles up.


    ¡±But I swear I heard something!¡± One of them whispered to the other.


    The other guard laughed lightly. ¡°And look, there¡¯s nothing. You really need to lay off Whisper, man.¡±


    The first guard looked around one more time, slumping slightly as he dropped his rifle back down to neutral. He looked around, briefly casting a glance up to me. I could only hold still as he looked away and sighed. ¡°I guess¡­¡±


    ¡±C¡¯mon, who¡¯d be gonk enough to attack us in the heart of our territory?¡± The second guy patted him on the shoulder. ¡°Now let''s get moving before Alexei bitches at us again.¡±


    They continued, moving back down an aisle. I let out my breath, the pain in my hands starting to get to me. For a moment, I resisted the idea, then I gave in and activated Cold-Blooded. The pain instantly vanished under the waves of cold as I hauled myself up the rack. I wiped off the blood as best I could with my jacket.


    My hands still stung mutely as I climbed up back onto the top, but I barely even noticed as I leaped across the gap onto another rack. I continued, returning under the initial skylight I used to drop into the warehouse.


    Should I go ahead and leave now? Run the statue back to my bike? But I was in a time crunch. At any moment, if that guy woke up from his drunk sleep, he could see the statue gone and raise the alarm. I listened to my earpiece, hearing him still snoring away. Hmm¡­


    I grabbed onto the microwire I left attached, feeling it sink into my bloody palms with a muted jolt of pain as I climbed up it. Once I pulled myself through, I dropped the statue from my bag, letting it rest up against the concrete. I also took the time to wrap a loose piece of fabric around my hands, stopping the bleeding for now. I really needed to get some gloves when this was done.


    Then I hauled myself back over the edge, dropping back onto the rack hungry for more.


    *******


    Maki woke up as something wet hit his chest, a headache pounding in the back of his skull. He groaned, scrunching his eyes closed as memories of last night¡¯s party floated back to his mind. The parties were the only good thing about this damnable position the Neo-Jokers put him in.


    He raised a hand to his chest, grabbing at a bottle, only causing more to spill onto the floor. He wrapped his chrome hand around it, gently picking it up and moving it to the coffee table he knew would be beside him. Maki dragged his other hand across his face, rubbing sleep from his eyes as he started to shift and get more comfortable on the couch.


    He flinched back as a slicing pain came from his shoulder, a cold sensation rapidly flooding his body from the source of the pain. Before he could even react, his body locked up, losing all functionality as he confusedly tried to move his limbs. Nothing. Not even his chrome limb moved as he tried to shift.


    He tried to speak, to call out for help as the paralysis spread through his body. The world around him warped, the shadows seeming to grow sinister and the furniture shifting unnaturally. His heart started to pound, compounding the paralysis as he froze staring at the darkening world. He could feel it, stabbing in the back of his head.


    Dread.


    Deepest, darkest dread dragged through his veins, following a step behind his heartbeat. He tried to wake himself up, recognizing the patterns as a nightmare. Nothing worked. He couldn¡¯t even move his arms. Mika blinked, about the only thing his body was capable of, and stared at the clock across his room.


    It ticked, the second¡¯s hand passing around the clock slowly. Ice fell into the bottom of his gut, spurring on the dread. Clocks weren¡¯t supposed to be so clear in dreams.


    He felt cold. So very cold. It was as if the temperature of the room dropped rapidly, leaching his body heat as if to sustain some monstrous entity. Maki recognized the cold. They were the chills of death


    The shadows twisted once more, this time his eyes catching on a piece of fabric as it shifted. Fear ate at his mind as he slowly started to pick out a shape blending in with the darkness. A human shape. The head of the figure twisted unnaturally, staring down at him.


    Its eyes, crescents of pure darkness, were the only thing he could see of its face. The rest hid under its hood, shadows dancing around like wraiths. His heart pounded faster and faster as its abyssal eyes met his.


    The demon approached him, holding a jade dagger that gleamed in the light. His heart skipped a beat as the demon placed the knife on his throat, gently brushing his neck. The feeling of the blade tracing his Adam¡¯s apple like the touch of a lover was at great odds with the abyssal darkness holding it. A warped, decrepit voice spoke quietly from its shadowed maw, ¡°Soooo ."


    He held his breath as the knife nicked his throat, blood welling up. Then the demon backed off, walking out of sight. ¡°Lucky bastard.¡±


    For the next three hours, he heard stuff shift around in his office, twisting this way and that. Every single second filled with fear, with absolute dread of what would happen if the demon came back for him. His chrome was good, but nothing he had could fight the likes of that- that entity.


    Long after the paralysis faded, Maki finally grew the balls to lift his head and look around the office. The demon had vanished, leaving the place in a tattered mess.

 Chapter 101

    Chapter 101I stared down at the man from out of his sight, feeling the blade in my hand. I shifted my gaze down to the blade, to the blood tracing down its length. It was surprisingly effective. I mean, I  it could paralyze things thanks to Carone, but this was the first time I ever used it and saw the effects for myself.


    I let out a sigh as I stared around the office. I had three hours now to move shit. I wanted to be out of here and gone by two at the most. I started with the spools of wire. There were fifteen of them up against the printer. My bag could fit two at a time, and my saddlebags could maybe fit three each. I decided five was a good number to snag so I could still have room for anything else. It would take at least three trips.


    I was in a time crunch now, so I started moving the spools. They were easier than the statue had been, but not by much. The first trip was a bit rough, but the third was the easiest since I only had to move one across the warehouse.


    Still, by the time I hauled myself up onto the roof and into the pile of my loot, I was starting to feel it. My legs burned from the constant work, and my arms felt even worse. S§×arch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    And yet that kleppy little kobold in the back of my head whispered to me. There were still treasures inside the Neo-Joker warehouse. Treasures practically begging to enter my bag and leave this place that didn¡¯t appreciate them. It was impossible to tell it no.


    I didn¡¯t immediately move though. I took a minute to catch my breath and then loaded up my bag with the statue while I carried a spool of wire. It was best to play it safe for now and move the loot I already had before going in for more. Over the next thirty minutes, I carted all my new possessions to my bike, hiding them in the saddlebag.


    Sweat temptation ate at me as I pushed the final spool into one of them. I barely had any room left anyway, I might as well just leave. And yet, the thought of all that stuff crying out for me to ¡®liberate¡¯ them froze me in my footsteps.


    ¡°This is stupid¡­¡± With extreme willpower, I resisted and marched on back to the alley, up the escape, and back into the warehouse. I dropped down onto the rack, pausing as I eyed my surroundings. Now what? I didn¡¯t actually know where the vault was in the first place, and I had - I checked the time - about two hours left until the chrome dome in the office unfroze.


    I walked the length of the rack, watching my surroundings for any hint of a vault door. I don¡¯t know what I was expecting, but the far side of the racks was just a loading bay.


    I jumped from rack to rack, careful to stay out of sight of the gonks walking around. The warehouse just continued on and on. My brain hurt for a moment as I dredged up the blueprint for the place I took a look at so long ago, but it was summoned up perfectly.


    Where would they even hide a vault? I was thinking it would be on the outside walls of the warehouse, but those lead right out into the alleys. I sat down, laying back against a crate as I mentally walked through the blueprint.


    The only spots for a vault to be hidden would be underground with a hatch somewhere in the warehouse, or¡­ in Ruby¡¯s. Ruby¡¯s had several stories above it that the vault could¡¯ve been hidden in too¡­


    The thought of checking all of that wilted my desire to find it, but I pressed on back to the manager¡¯s office. As the door shut behind me, and I stayed outside the view of the paralyzed ganger, I paced back and forth, trying to puzzle together its location.


    No idea.


    Before going any further, I moved over to some clothes tossed into the corner and cut off a jacket''s sleeves. I rewrapped my hands several times, making sure no blood would leak out while I was moving.


    I shifted focus and moved back to the terminal on the desk. I also took the opportunity to swipe half a bag full of parts and various weapon bits from the desk. More parts never hurt.


    I clicked around on the terminal, swapping between camera feeds and through the security system for any sign of a clue. Eventually, I got back to the camera inside of the vault. The angle wasn¡¯t quite right, but I could see the large panel door on the side of the vault, not the roof. Maybe not a hatch then?


    I eyed it for any more clues. The door wasn¡¯t a typical vault door like I¡¯d seen in the past. Instead of the round ones that were pegged into the wall and could resist all sorts of impacts, this one was a large square panel that could slide out of the way. The camera was a bit too blurred to make out all the details though, so I wasn¡¯t quite sure. Funny how shit cameras always were considering the basic level of tech these days.


    Not that seeing any of that helped me- wait¡­ good security was either too good and scared people off, or so subtle no one knew to break in. I¡¯d been thinking it was the first this whole time since it was, well, a vault inside a gang storehouse. But what if it was the second?


    I rechecked the cameras, mentally keeping track of each one''s location on my mental blueprint of the building. I slowly combed through them, combining them all up until I had only a few dead zones.


    Most of them were chopped thanks to the logistics of the positions, but one in particular stood out to me: the airlock hallway. It was the perfect spot for a vault, considering both doors could be closed and locked without issue.


    How do they open it though? I searched around the place, checking everywhere in the office and hallway until I stumbled upon an inconspicuous keypad inside of an air duct. I wouldn¡¯t have even noticed it if I hadn¡¯t thought to check the vents specifically. Most people thought it was good hiding spot, but if '''' people think its a good hiding spot, then it isn''t.


    This guy was dumb enough to leave his password out and about, so surely I could find- wait, it was a three-number keypad¡­ surely he didn¡¯t¡­ there¡¯s no way someone¡¯s  dumb. It would take chrome dome to a whole new level. But he also hadn''t changed his password since the last time either...


    Before trying it, I moved out through the hallway and locked both doors. Then I jogged back and put in the code: ¡®123¡¯. A second passed, two, three. The light on the small keypad turned green, sending a bolt of disbelief powerful enough to run over Cold-Blooded through me.


    I moved out back into the hall, feeling numb. A seamless panel on the wall started to move, sliding into the wall and then off to the side as it revealed the vault proper. There''s no way it''s that easy, right? Who the hell set up the passwords for this place anyway?


    Their misfortune was fortune though. I didn¡¯t immediately go in, instead opting to strip off my jacket as I felt the freezing cold beats of Cold-Blooded through my body. The heat sensors inside wouldn¡¯t be an issue and the camera was still looped from earlier.


    The inside of the vault was loaded with drugs and guns, of which I mostly ignored in favor of the other stuff. The guns were 3D printed mostly, and the drugs simply didn''t interest me in the slightest.


    There were crates of ammo and explosives off to a corner, body armor of various kinds neatly folded off to the side, even more guns, a bunch of tech stuff, and several briefcases stacked up. Then there were all different kinds of drugs that I glazed past.


    I moved to the armor first, checking all of it out. For the most part, the armor was the heavy-duty kind that offered full protection, somewhat similar to a Crusader¡¯s, but of much less quality. There were even a few that seemed to have been made with stealth in mind. I recognized the fabric from my time in Tech¡¯s learning space as thermal and anechoic fibers. Also maybe blackout considering how it looked?


    I stuffed the stealth suit into my bag without a second thought, quickly followed by a single set of the heavier armor. Already plans were starting to go through my head of what I could do with them.


    Then I shifted to the briefcases, popping each of them open as I looked through the loot. Most of them were chips of various kinds, but I did manage to find five ounces of gold in one of them, which I immediately pocketed. Free Rayn was free Rayn. I left most of the chips alone. I didn¡¯t quite know what they were.


    I moved over to the tech, my hands itching to just grab it all even if I knew I barely had room for more loot¡­ I really need to get a car. Most of the stuff screamed at me to take, like the several sexy drones or the armed quadroped bots, and yet the fear of trackers kept me from it. The last thing I needed was for the Neo-Jokers to track me down. I could look through the armor and everything else easily, but not the tech without quite a bit of time. Time I didn''t have/


    Sorrow came to my eyes as I turned away completely. I  needed to start carrying around a BugHound. I forced myself to shift away, looking off to the side at a crate full of files.


    I walked over, surprised to find mostly schematics for vehicles and weapons. Ah, not just vehicles, though. They were schematics for smuggling compartments and various other kinds of modifications. I raced through all of them, so much information instantly being memorized that my brain was practically melting by the time I was done.


    I had to take a minute for my headache to stop before moving on. The first bulk was blackmail materials for various politicians, merchants, and corporate executives. I promptly stuffed my bag with them, filling it entirely.


    The last bits were a bunch of fake IDs, communication logs for what looked to be previous operations, and a map of the city covered in safe houses. The map counted for Eidetic Schematic, so I instantly memorized every Neo-Joker safe house marked on it.


    I looked through the communication logs briefly, but most of it was boring stuff I couldn¡¯t be bothered with. Well, not boring, but stuff that would take a lot of time to look through.


    I felt strong sifting through the files. At my fingertips, I had the power to destroy a part of the Neo-Jokers. If I just sent the files to the Blue Crusade, I could bring down half of the gang just like that.


    They definitely had several failsafes, or at least they should considering how old the gang was, so I wasn''t gonk enough to think I could bring down the entire gang. At least the Neo-Jokers were mostly contained to Aythryn City unlike the Jade Fangs and the Viento Cartel. Not that I even would bring down the gang. That was just asking for chaos to spread through Bricktown.


    I wanted to grab more but knew I was already pushing my luck. And yet I felt so powerful here as I klepped valuables from the Neo-Joker vault uncontested. The feelings of absolute control and wealth that always hit me on high-end heists overruled Cold-Blooded briefly, bringing me a level of ecstasy and power I hadn''t felt in a long time.


    They were a dangerous combo. I took a few moments to allow Cold-Blooded to reassert itself before doing anything else. Arrogance was the fall of many.


    I stopped by the grenade cases. I filled about half my pockets with grenades, managing to fit twelve of them in the various pockets of my tech wear. The other half I was stuck full of det-cord, plastic explosives, and other bits and bobs. They were far too useful and hard to acquire for me not to grab any of them.


    Before leaving, I moved several of the boxes into a small platform in the middle of the vault. There, I pulled out one of my calling cards, clicked it on, and stuck it in between the gap between two crates. Instantly, blue holographic fire raced along the edges of the card as it sat there bringing a smirk to my face.


    I felt dangerous for a whole other reason as I moved out of the vault loaded with explosives. I snuck back to the office, messing with the keyboard to close the door, and then headed back into the warehouse stuffed to the brim with loot.


    This time, I moved far more carefully and slowly as I climbed up and jumped from rack to rack. Just one misstep, one hard hit on my legs and I might not have to worry about anything anymore.


    I snuck back out of the warehouse, grabbing my devices and returning everything to normal as I went. Then, I headed down the rusted fire escape and disappeared into the alley.

 Chapter 102

    Chapter 102I collapsed onto my bed with my med kit, my arms practically dead from hauling up all the shit I klepped from the Neo-Jokers. Carting loot was one way of getting a workout, I guess.


    I took a moment, finally deactivating Cold-Blooded as I curled up in bed under the warmth of my blankets. I wrapped my hands in bandages as I lay under the bulk of blankets. The wounds ached and throbbed, but there was no point doing anything more since I''d be healed as soon as I fell asleep.


    Once warmed up enough, I stood up and returned to my newfound loot. First things first, I emptied the explosives from my pockets and hid them alongside the fifty cal I yoinked from the nomads. It would  suck to go kablam because I tripped. I was more excited about the det-cord and plastic explosives than anything. They were my ticket into places I normally wouldn''t be able to get into.


    Then I set the spools of wire up next to my printer and put a new one in. Mission accomplished, I guess. The spools were the main reason I went back to Ruby''s BBQ in the first place.


    The statue found a nice home in my bedroom. I still got the warm tingle as I touched it, but I¡¯d have to worry about that some other time. More accurately, I''d have to take it to Carone some other time. Or try and find someone else who could analyze it.


    The armor went next to my workshop. I had some plans for it but now wasn¡¯t the time. I would like to integrate the armor into something I could use at some point, but that was a future development that would take quite a bit of time and resources. I''d probably have to hit a Night Market to get stuff.


    The blackmail files I hid by taping them up under my table. A pretty shit hiding spot all things considered, but there weren¡¯t too many good spots remaining. I''d have to give them a proper look through later to see who I had dirt on now. ''Course, I could sell the files, but  could become the blackmailer. Someone trying to save their skin could be a very helpful resource if used correctly.


    I dumped the gun parts out of my bag alongside the rest of my scrap. I didn¡¯t really have plans for them at the moment, but I¡¯m sure I could think up something at some point. If not, I''m sure I could repurpose them.


    That just left five ounces of gold. I pocketed them for now as I gazed around my apartment. It was quickly being filled up with stuff, to the point that only a few more heists would run me out of the room. That, and anyone walking in here would immediately see all kinds of illegal goods.


    Finishing the gig immediately jumped to the top of my list so I''d have time, closely followed by finding a stash. Oh, and I needed to fix that katana for Torren, which I had yet to even look at. I was probably forgetting about a dozen other things I needed to do, but they would pop up eventually.


    As I set my bag down and looked around my loot, a new notification popped into my vision.


    ¡¸Request - Precious - Complete


    Crow¡¯s Wheel of Wares¡¹


    ¡¸Use now?¡¹


    I hesitated a moment, taking the time to go lay down on my bed, and psyched myself up before mentally agreeing.


    ---


    My vision slowly faded back in, darkness surrounding me as my eyes barely picked out shapes hidden in it. The darkness faded slightly thanks to a dim red glow bringing enough light that I could start picking up details in the nearly pitch-black space.


    Dark fog covered the graveyard I found myself in as a chill blew across my skin. The place looked mostly the same as the last time I was in this desolate space, and yet the graves and items hidden in the dark fog had changed slightly. Their orientation and positions had shifted as if I were on a different hill entirely.


    And yet, everything else was the same. The same dread-inducing fog surrounded the hill. It swam around out as if to hide some monstrous entity from sight. The same tree bleeding liquid ruby sat in the middle of the hill, a mote of the beautiful substance oozing around at its base. The same black grass covered patches of the graveyard. The same crimson moon hung in the sky as a creepy beacon of wrongness.


    Crows cried from out in the distance, their haunting wails ominously echoed across the fog. I stood there, in the dim light of the crimson moon, for what felt like an eternity before something changed.


    The dark fog converged, much the same as last time, but this time it wasn¡¯t only just the Wheel of Wares that was revealed. All around me, on the tips of the graves and the bars of decrepit metal fences, little blips of shadowy fog compressed into avian shapes.


    At the same time as the Wheel of Wares appeared, the compressed fog blew back, revealing hundreds if not thousands of dark forms watching me. Outside of their shadowy forms, all I could make out were the four glowing red eyes of the crows and their mocking cries.


    I turned away, feeling the chills of dread as I looked at the wheel in all its dark glory. The nearly pitch-black, withered wood creaked as the Wheel of Wares rested on a dark patch of grass. The same liquidized ruby that covered the tree seemed to bleed out of the wood, forming into words in a language I couldn¡¯t read.


    Insight warned me of the thousands of gazes, and yet there was one in particular that locked up my body as I started towards the wheel. Ever so slowly, I shifted my gaze up past the withered wood of the tree, peering up through its branches.


    The same massive form of a crow, resting on the tree as if it were a throne, covered the entire top side of the tree. Most of its form was obscured by the dark fog and withered branches, but what I could see looked like liquid darkness. Its eight, ruby-red eyes held a calculative glow as they peered down at me.


    I didn¡¯t dare continue inspecting the creature as I shifted my gaze back to the wheel. I wasn¡¯t sure the last time, but now I knew it was truly  eidolon. Crow watched me, in his dark majesty, as I inched towards the wheel. Truly a stressful thought.


    I tried to not let his frightening gaze get to me as I stretched a hand toward the wheel. As my hand approached the wheel, my fingernails chipped off, fading into the dark fog as if they never existed in the first place. My flesh soon followed, flowing off my pristine white bones. It didn¡¯t hurt, but the sight was revolting enough for bile to rise to the back of my throat as I wrapped my skeletal hand around the dark wood of the wheel.


    A cold, electric tingle coursed through me as my bones met the wood, feeling absolutely disgusting as I put pressure on my arm. I could  my bones, meaning it wasn''t just an aesthetic change. My white bones creaked and groaned as I started to spin the wheel, sending little shocks of wrongness up my arm. A dark thought wormed into my mind- what would happen if I fully entered the flesh-scraping aura of the wheel?


    I spun the Wheel of Wares, snapping my arm back as the flesh and blood reformed around it, returning to normal. I rubbed a hand up and down my flesh and watched the wheel spin. It ticked like a clock counting down towards my death date. With every passing moment the red and black blurred together, and I felt ice continuously drop further and further into my stomach.


    The wheel slowed down, each tick taking longer than the last. The wheel stopped at one point, the red pin pointing at words I couldn¡¯t understand. The interface popped up with a translation.


    ¡¸Crow¡¯s Wheel of Wares


    Crow¡¯s Celestial Compass¡¹


    A compass? I guess it could be helpful- wait, no, this probably isn¡¯t just any compass. Crow¡¯s Canteen of Chaos wasn¡¯t just a canteen, so maybe there was something special about it? Or maybe-


    The cry of hundreds of crows drowned out my thoughts, sending echoing wails throughout my skull as if seeking to destroy it. The pure concussive force of the constant caws nearly drove me to my knees in pain, but thankfully it didn¡¯t reach that point. The shadowy fog surrounded me, dragging me out of Crow¡¯s dimension. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Light returned to my eyes, and I found myself lying on my bed just the same as when I left. A weight rested on my chest, revealing it to be a compass as I lifted my head and checked.


    The compass was cylindrical. It was made from a deep, dark black metal, the metal shaped in such a way to look like feathers were wrapped around it. Bright red rubies slightly glowed on all four sides, the top, and the bottom of the piece.


    I flicked the latch for the lid open, the top part of the compass springing open to reveal an intricate array of crystals and dark gears slowly twisting around themselves. They were dead silent. Glowing scarlet lines popped up above the compass face as if holograms, rapidly centering themselves so the thickest one pointed north.


    ¡¸Crow¡¯s Celestial Compass


    The Celestial Compass has led many a wanderer both to Hallowed Havens and Hostile Harbors. A gift born of the celestial meeting between the corporeal and immaterial.


    Find a Hallowed Haven


    Find a Hostile Harbor


    Find a Dimensional Dissonance


    Generate a Dimensionally Dissonant Dart


    3 charges


    Regenerate 1 charge a week¡¹


    Oh? Flavor text? I might not play video games, but I can spot flavor text when I see it. Why didn¡¯t the canteen have anything for it?


    Anyway, the compass seemed interesting. I traced a finger down it, feeling the cool metal under my skin. Hallowed Havens and Hostile Harbors were a bit of an odd choice of words, almost akin to pirate speech, to the point I wasn¡¯t sure if I even  to test it.


    I mean, how hallowed are we talking about? Like a holy grounds type deal or just a fancy way of saying a safe spot? A bigger issue was how hostile? If I used it, would it lead me to a Sentinel hunting party? Or just a gang¡¯s territory? And what the hell was a Dimensional Dissonance?


    So many questions, and yet I couldn¡¯t answer most of them even if I wanted to thanks to the recharge timer. It would be a waste to use a charge considering it would take a week to recharge.


    Hmm¡­ maybe I could find a good spot for my stash with the Hallowed Haven side of the compass? I wasn¡¯t so much worried about that function as I was about the others, at the least, so it might be worth trying.


    I picked it up and waved my hand, channeling the same sensation of the canteen disappearing. Shadows enveloped my hand, shrouding it out of sight. By the time they cleared, the compass vanished. I played with it for a moment, summoning and banishing the thing repeatedly. Crow''s rewards sure were convenient.


    I moved from my bed, got dressed in a far more comfortable outfit, used some makeup to slightly distort my face, and then headed out the door with the five ounces of gold in my pocket. It was time to make some actual money off my heist.


    I found a gold to Rayn shop close to Sakura Street called Golden Rayn. Real classy name and their logo was even ¡®classier¡¯. I headed in, finding a woman in a skimpy golden outfit barely consisting of a sports bra, cut-up jacket, and booty shorts. ¡°Welcome in, darlin¡¯. What can I do for ya?¡±


    I dropped an ounce of gold onto the desk. ¡°You buying?¡±


    The lady eyed me for a moment before leaning over and inspecting the golden disk. ¡°Ninety-nine, huh? Not too often we got such high purity¡­ you mind if I test it, darlin¡¯?¡±


    ¡±Go right ahead.¡± I sighed and leaned back. No reason not to- well, there were reasons, but I figured I could sneak back and clean out the shop if she messed with me. Or maybe I could do that anyway? They must have some insane security though considering they were still in business. Shit, maybe I should''ve-


    The lady picked it up and walked back into the store. A minute later she reappeared with the disk of gold. ¡°Alright, looked legit. Twenty-five hundred good witcha¡¯?¡±


    I bit my lip hearing the price of a single ounce. Of course, I had looked it up on my way over, but seeing the numbers on a screen and hearing it in person were two different things. I should have looked around the vault for more of them. ¡°Sure.¡±


    She matched my eye, my PA acting as the go-between for the sale as twenty-five hundred Rayn entered my account. Funny how easily I earned my month¡¯s rent compared to the gig I was on. It was over double the amount of Rayn in just a single day. It felt¡­ bittersweet?


    I headed for the door, my hand brushing over the gold disks in my pocket. Part of me wanted to just sell all five of them now, but another part said to save them for a rainy day. Regardless though, I didn¡¯t want to sell all five to Golden Rayn. I wasn¡¯t sure how the Neo-Jokers would react, but if they scoured gold shops for five ounces popping up I didn¡¯t want it to track back to me. It was a bit of an irrational fear, all things considered.


    I headed for my bike, hesitating between selling the rest to different stores or keeping them. The Rayn would be nice, but it wasn¡¯t enough to get the stuff I really wanted. It¡¯s not like the gold price would drop if I held onto them either. Hmm¡­ well, I could always sell them some other time.


    I turned on my bike, feeling the soft hums of the engine, and headed back home.

 Chapter 103

    Chapter 103School¡­ Why did I ever agree to this? It was slow, it was monotonous, and I was losing attention faster than ever. And yet, I must suffer on. At least it wasn¡¯t all bad. Whoever was responsible for the flower arrangements changed them over the weekend. An all-new assortment of soothing purple flowers sat around Mr. Jarvis¡¯s room.


    I peered around my class as the teacher prattled on about math stuff, my eyes idly noting the dozens of faces. Any one of these students could be the mastermind behind the disappearances- or none at all. It¡¯s funny to think that in almost a week of investigating, none of us had gotten anywhere. Hell, Feras was out of the school entirely.


    I was oddly loose and relaxed this morning. Even the constant faint ticks of Insight that usually plagued me at the school were quieter than normal. Guess I was finally getting used to coming here, eh? Regardless, it was quite nice. I had a rather tense weekend all things considered.


    My first hour passed as relaxed as could be. Mr. J didn¡¯t even give us homework, which was nice. Monday blues were a real thing, I guess. Even Sean looked a little out of it. It was hard to tell, but instead of making googly eyes at me like usual, his eyes looked half-empty.


    Several people ran into each other as they left the door, each looking as tired as the last. Was there some kind of massive party everyone went to last night? They  looked dead on their feet. I waited till they all left before I followed out the door.


    As I stepped into the Marketing and Business Management classroom, the first thing I noticed was the flowers had shifted around here too. They were also different from last week, but a lot of them looked like the ones from my last class. Guess they were all in rotation? They must pay their gardener a fortune if he swaps out the flowers every week. I put it out of my mind as I tried to focus on the class.


    The teacher yawned loudly as he called attendance, causing half the class to yawn immediately after. I barely managed to stop myself as I watched them giving in to temptation. What suckers to allow a psychological trick to get to them.


    Other than that hiccup though, Marketing and Business Management passed rather quickly. Instead of teaching, the teacher spent the entire class talking about our end-of-year project. It was some investing and management competition to see how much our brains soaked up information over the year. The most interesting thing about it was what the teacher called ¡®no holds barred¡¯. Basically, anything went, including blackmail and whatnot.


    It was a bit jarring hearing about how close summer was considering I just started a week ago, but no one else looked surprised. To be honest, I almost forgot summer breaks were a thing considering it had been so long since I attended a proper school.


    I guess it would be an easy out regardless though. Nothing like ¡®Meno going home¡¯ to drop the identity and all. Then, I could probably just resurrect it whenever I wanted to¡­ or I¡¯d be better off going with some other identity that would be easier to upkeep.


    Class ended before I noticed and I was well on my way to Corporate History. Even the chatty teacher of Corporate History seemed to tone it down a notch today since it was Monday. Not that half of the class was even aware of it considering they were passed out. I also dozed for a minute, but it was just a minute!


    It''s not like she was talking about anything interesting anyway. Just the alleged interactions between Sentinel and Cwalu back before the continent was hit by the first, and last, Aetherium Bomb and turned into the land of death that we all know and fear today. Apparently, Sentinel was a supporter of Rowbel back before Cestain, and by extension, Destin, devoured them and became the sole rulers of the continent.


    Now, if she talked about the fall of Rowbel and all that, then it might¡¯ve been more interesting. Instead, she droned on and on about the trade deals between the country and Sentinel and the successful fights against pirates on their long voyages. Ultimately, the discussion was a pointless brag fest as per usual.


    The hour passed as if a dream and the next hour of my day came around: Social Studies. What can I say about it? It actually wasn¡¯t a slog to go through for once. The teacher slurred through attendance and gave a brief speech about how seeing was better than just hearing.


    After that, he threw on a movie about the innovation of advertisement over a century. The movie was about two decades old though, so it spent the entire time comparing the groovy advertisements of the 1970s with the third cybernetic uprising of the 2070s. Yeah, the ads were much better in the 1970s. Far groovier.


    As for the teacher? He passed out as soon as he hit play. It was just a guess, but the guy looked drunk as he snored loudly at his desk. It was a surprise he was even able to come into work today, let alone teach class. Well, okay, maybe teach was a bit of a strong word for what he was doing¡­


    I spent a while surfing the net on my phone instead of paying attention to the movie. First, I looked through cars for sale, but there weren¡¯t any that were in my price range. That¡¯s fine, there¡¯s more than one way to skin a cat. I just needed to go about being in the right situation to ''acquire'' one. I would need to be properly repaired though. Everything


    The other things I looked up were places for rent, ancient maps of the city, and anything of the like. I was hoping to find an inconspicuous hole in the wall I could use for my stash, but most of the places I found were in bad spots or far too high of rent. Considering I was barely scraping by with my current rent, that wasn¡¯t a good thing.


    It was looking to be a rather smooth and easy day, as I stepped into the hall. A student approached me and Torren. She was a jittery gal, practically vibrating on the spot. It was a little weird seeing her so active and everyone else so passive. ¡°Lady Meno? Principalwantstoseeyou!¡±


    ¡°Wha-?¡± I rubbed my eyes in confusion.


    ¡±Sorry. The Princ-i-pal wants to see you.¡± She sounded it out slowly, almost seeming to force herself still for a moment before her jitters continued like she was some Patchy.


    What was this about? Why would the Principal Bously want to see me? I glanced at Torren for a brief moment. He was looking away, oddly entranced by a purple flower in a pot next to the door. To be fair, it was a really, pretty flower-


    ¡°Lady Meno?¡± The girl asked, bouncing in front of my vision.


    ¡°R-right¡­¡± What¡¯s up with me today? I knew the nightmares were getting worse, but usually it isn¡¯t this bad? Usually, I could at least focus on the day-to-day activities¡­


    I split off from my guard, heading down the packed halls to Principal Bously¡¯s office. The assistant smiled at me as I stepped into the door. ¡°Oh, Lady Meno! Go on in.¡±


    I flashed what I hoped was a charming smile back to the lady as I headed for the door. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡±Lady Meno! Please, take a seat.¡± The principal smiled kindly as he motioned to the chairs in front of his desk. He was always so kind. Why did I even think he was a suck-up when we first met?


    I took a seat, glancing around the room. It seemed the florist responsible for the rest of the school didn¡¯t skimp out on the principal¡¯s office. There were all kinds of plants scattered about, all in fresh bloom. It was oddly warm in his office though, almost like the AC went out.


    ¡°You-¡° I yawned loudly, tears springing to my eyes. ¡°S-sorry¡­ you wanted to see me?¡±


    The principal leaned forward, adjusting a fan on his desk to let me have some airflow too. How nice of him. It brought with it the lavender scent of the plants scattered around his desk. ¡°Of course, Lady Meno. I was just thinking about you!¡±


    ¡±You were?¡± I asked, blinking slowly as my mind tried to figure out if I¡¯d done something wrong. Why would he-


    ¡±Oh yes, me and my assistant both¡­ you don¡¯t mind if she comes and joins us, right?¡± He smiled gently.


    ¡±No?¡± Why would I care about that? Hmm¡­ should I care about that? I blinked. What was I thinking about?


    As if she was waiting for me to speak, the assistant stepped into the office, wheeling behind her something on a cart. I couldn¡¯t quite make out what it was, but I was so dang comfy I couldn¡¯t bother to turn my head. I yawned again, my eyes dipping as I blinked sleepiness out of my eyes. I hadn¡¯t slept well in days, but this was a bit-


    Principal Bously snapped his fingers, drawing my attention back to him. ¡°Ah, there you are! Thought you fell asleep for a moment.¡± He chuckled, a full belly laugh. ¡°Do you remember what we were talking about last time?¡±


    ¡±S-security?¡± I mumbled, letting my head fall back onto the chair. Was it just me, or were the chairs far comfier than the last time? I was even getting a nice cool tingle throughout my body, which helped with the heat in the room. Wait, a cool-


    ¡±That¡¯s right! Security! You know, it''s kind of funny. Over the weekend, we had a warning about our security¡­¡± Principal Bously stood, moving around his desk so he was sitting on the front of it. He reached down, picked up a lime green plant, and placed it in my lap.


    I barely managed to grab it, subconsciously holding it steady as my mind drifted to follow the conversation. ¡°W-warning?¡± I let out another deep yawn as I settled into the chair further. It was getting kind of cold in here, eh? Guess the AC wasn¡¯t broken.


    The assistant started to do something beside me, but I was barely conscious of one conversation. I didn¡¯t want to lose track of what we were talking about-


    The principal snapped his fingers in front of my face, drawing my attention back to him. ¡°Yes, a warning¡­ you wouldn¡¯t happen to know anything about that, would you?¡±


    ¡±N-no?¡± Not unless the warning was about three teenagers breaking into the school undercover. How chilling would that be? Chilling¡­ chills¡­


    ¡±Heartbeat spiking.¡± The assistant murmured to my side for some reason.


    The man raised his hands placatingly. ¡°No need to be so tense, my lady. We¡¯re just discussing security like your grandfather wanted us to.¡±


    ¡°Grandfather¡­ wanted¡­¡± Aw, that¡¯s right. I was acting as Meno Maeni. How did I forget that? I ran a hand over my forehead, trying to press past all the fog that had taken residence there since this morning.


    ¡°Yes, your grandfather¡­ remember him?¡±


    ¡°Heartbeat dropping.¡± The assistant said.


    I yawned again, closing my eyes for just a minute. Why were we talking about heartbeats? Did my grandfather have a heartbeat? No- he¡¯s dead. I remember going to his funeral when I was younger, along with hundreds of other people? Why-


    Fingers snapped in front of my face again. ¡°Come on, Lady Meno. This is important. Can you focus on my voice?¡±


    ¡°S-sure.¡± I blinked, feeling a trembling cool chill through my-


    ¡°Heartbeat spiking.¡±


    ¡±You¡¯re about to drop the plant.¡± The principal pointed at my lap.


    I glanced down, my hands slowly going to the edges of the plant¡¯s pot. Weird. I forgot I was even holding it. ¡°T-thanks.¡± S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡±Heartbeat steady.¡±


    Principal Bously leaned back, resting his full weight on his desk. ¡°Meno, we¡¯re chooms, right? I¡¯ve helped you out a ton since you first started here, even giving you special treatment to show you all our wonderful security systems, right?¡±


    ¡±Y-yeah?¡± Choom was a bit of a strong word, but he was a nice enough guy. And he was right, he had shown me special treatment. Did that make us-


    ¡±You can be truthful with your chooms then, right? Chooms don¡¯t betray chooms after all.¡±


    He¡¯s right. What kind of choom betrays their chooms? ¡°S-sure.¡±


    The assistant muttered. ¡°Heartbeat steady.¡±


    Principal Bously leaned forward, a cheerful smile etched across his lips. ¡±Great! Since we¡¯re such great chooms, tell me, who are you ?¡±

 Chapter 104

    Chapter 104¡°Who¡­ am I?¡± The cold running through my body spiked, dropping ice through my bloodstream. Insight. That¡¯s right, it was Insight. Was I in danger? I didn¡¯t feel like I was in danger¡­ but Insight has never lied to me.


    ¡±Yes, choom. Who are you?¡±


    ¡±I¡¯m-¡° Something isn¡¯t right. This feels wrong. Why¡¯s my head so foggy?


    ¡±Heartbeat spiking.¡±


    Why are they watching my heartbeat? This isn¡¯t right. I need to get out of here. This isn¡¯t right. Gah, my head! Why was it so slow? It felt like molasses replaced my brain without me noticing. Only the chills of Insight sending icey pangs of cold through me allowed me a fraction of focus. The cold hits- cold¡­ cold¡­ right.


    I mentally flicked on Cold-Blooded, feeling my blood freeze over in an instant as the fog in my head cleared partially under the frozen tirade. I carefully schooled my expression, keeping it as lackadaisical as possible as I shuttered my eyes, trying to get my mind back running as the worst brain freeze ever broke through my skull.


    The assistant spoke up from my side. ¡±Heartbeat plummeting heavily.¡±


    Out of my peripherals, I watched her mess around on a tablet. A tablet connected to a strap around my arm. I recognized the setup; she was checking my vitals. When did that happen?


    It was even more of a wake-up call as the ice flow of my blood fought back against my desire to just go to sleep. I had yet to take drugs willingly, but the sensation reminded me of the few times I¡¯d gotten second-hand highs from the sheer amount of smoke around the Ryu Container Yard-


    ¡°Her pupils are still dilated¡­ we¡¯ll continue.¡± The principal snapped his fingers annoyingly in front of my eyes. ¡°You there? C¡¯mon, you can trust me, your choom. What¡¯s your real name?¡±


    I carefully controlled myself as my mind tried to catch up with what was going on. I needed to buy time. I curled up on the chair, wrapping my arms tightly around myself. ¡°S-so cold¡­¡±


    I felt a woman¡¯s hand wrap around my wrist, barely resisting the urge to toss her off and get out of here. ¡°Her temperature has dropped severely, sir.¡±


    When did it start? I tried to think back, but the entire morning was one steady decline of tiredness and relaxation. What- my eyes dropped to the plant that shifted off my lap as I curled up.


    I flickered Aetherial Perception on, nearly going blind as the entire office lit up like a firework. Every plant in the office had a halo of ethereal energy radiating off of it, similar to the haze plant I saw in Drew¡¯s stash way back when.


    ¡°Might be an allergic reaction like Christine and Boris had¡­¡± Principal Bously muttered.


    The puzzle pieces slowly started to click together in my mind. The plants were all over the school. I thought Insight was warning me of the other students ever since I first entered, but what if the warning was of the plants? In the recording of the principal, he mentioned running experiments on teenagers. That, paired with what they were trying to do with me- were they running mind control experiments?


    Even now, warring against the effects of Cold-Blooded, a back part of my mind was pleading just to listen and follow the principal. To just mentally give up and give in to his gentle-


    I shifted my gaze, eyeing the plants out of the corners of my eyes. A large part of me wanted to deny their existence. To pretend they were just pretty flowers that wouldn¡¯t bother me. To let them fade into the background as if they weren¡¯t even there.


    The feeling was similar to the complete apathy I originally felt when I found those haze plants in Drew¡®s stash. I knew they were there, I knew they were potentially harmful, and yet my mind was being tricked into  they didn¡¯t matter. Into  there was nothing there. Thankfully, blasts of headache-inducing frost blocked that voice from overpowering me.


    What else was going on- No, now wasn¡¯t the time for this. First things first: survive. I can think about it after we get out of here.


    Principal Bously snapped his fingers in front of me again like a hypnotist grabbing the attention of their victims. ¡°As soon as we¡®re done here, we can move somewhere warmer! Tell me, who are you?¡±


    ¡°M-Meno Maeni, the granddaughter of Archduke Maeni¡­¡± I lied, slowly speaking the words as if I was still under the effect of whatever they were doing to me.


    ¡±Hmm¡­¡± Principal Bously frowned. I could see it in his expression though. Every Cue read ¡®Was I wrong?¡¯


    He must¡¯ve been sure I wasn¡¯t  Meno before he dragged me in here, and now that I was ¡®telling the truth¡¯, I could see the confusion settling. The doubt. And, though it was hidden, the fear. Was he¡­ afraid of me? No. Not me. Of Archduke Maeni. Of messing with the Archduke¡¯s granddaughter.


    ¡°Sir?¡± The assistant asked from my side. ¡°Are we-¡°


    The principal held out a hand, silencing the assistant. The frown on his face deepened as he pushed through his concerns. ¡°Who is Trovare?¡±


    ¡±B-baron Trovare is my guard, sent by  grandfather to protect me.¡± I answered, trying to manipulate that fear in him. ¡°He¡¯s supposed to defend me long enough for the rest of my guards to come.¡±


    I needed to get out of here alive. Pronto. The best way for that? Continue acting. If he decided I really was Meno, the principal wouldn¡¯t dare to attack me. That fear would control him better than anything I could do. If he decided I wasn¡¯t? Well, Sentinel¡¯s security could come at his beck and call and get rid of me without much of an effort. No one would ever know where I went.


    ¡±Hmm¡­ Do you know this person?¡± The principal pulled a picture off his desk and held it in front of my face. It was Feras. Was that the security breach he was talking about? Was Feras screwing me over even after leaving? Damn that useless idiot! Grifter my ass.


    I leaned forward slightly, my eyes still half closed as I swayed drowsily. I forced a deep yawn before answering. Beside me, the assistant also yawned, though she cut it off as the principal glared at her. ¡°He¡¯s in my first hour. Didn¡¯t show up today.¡±


    ¡±And what of this?¡± The principal, if that¡¯s even who he really was, held up my Listener into the light. It had been crushed, bits of wire hanging out. It looked as if the micro transceiver had been destroyed entirely by¡­ a pen maybe?


    Ah, so that¡¯s the real reason he was suspicious. Or at least one of them. I figured I¡¯d be long gone before that would bite me in the ass. I should¡¯ve known better. Maybe I should add a self-destruct to- No, don¡¯t get distracted, Shiro. ¡°A¡­ I d-don¡¯t know? Looks like scrap metal.¡±


    ¡±Heartbeat is still steady, albeit extremely low, sir.¡± The assistant said from my side. ¡°Three minutes left before Hippocampus Degradation.¡±


    Hippocampus Degradation? That really,  doesn¡¯t sound good. I wish I could call for backup- no, I should¡¯ve called for backup when I first noticed something was off. Now it was too late. No way Feras could get here, and Torren might still be under the effects of the flowers.


    Not that it would matter anyway. If they kicked up a fuss, Sentinel security would put us down. It was basically an admission of guilt, especially if Feras popped up. I could still get out of this.


    The principal let out a growl, twisting back around to grab a different plant. He handed it to me, my hands loosely grabbing at the pot as I stared into space. ¡°Damnit! We¡¯ll have to start the rewrite early¡­¡±


    The new plant also glowed with an ethereal light now that I knew what to look for. More importantly, it gave off a sickly sweet scent that brought a cloudy feeling to my head. That sensation was blasted apart with every pulse of thick, cold blood through my head. I tried not to breathe as deeply, wishing I had my mask with me. It didn¡¯t work.


    The assistant stood up. ¡±Should I call in Trovare-¡°


    ¡±No. The archduke likely put him through mental training. We aren¡¯t at the stage to mess with that level of mental acuity yet without the subject noticing.¡± Principal Bously¡¯s face twisted in irritation. ¡°Call in the next person on the list.¡±


    ¡±Sir.¡± The assistant moved, pulling the strap off my arm and rewrapping it around the tablet as she tidied up the room slightly. Then she slipped out of the room.


    The principal spoke to me, poorly hidden irritation in his face as he tried to control his expression. ¡°Close your eyes, Meno. Focus on the sound of my voice.¡± He waited for me to follow his instructions. ¡°Good, you¡¯re doing good. Now imagine how you first walked into here. Imagine that relaxed and comfortable sensation of settling deeper and deeper into the chair.¡±


    The principal continued to drone on for several minutes as he repeated keywords and phrases, but I stopped paying attention after I realized what he was trying to do. The guy was attempting to put me into a trance to make me forget the past several minutes.


    It was good news, all things considered. If he was going through the effort of making me forget this happened, then his suspicions of me not being Meno must be just that: suspicions. Iwouldn¡¯t be disappeared if he was putting in the effort.


    ¡±When I snap my fingers, wake up and forget the past ten minutes.¡± Principal Bously commanded. He didn¡¯t wait as his fingers clipped each other, a sharp and crisp sound echoing forth from them.


    I jolted ¡®awake¡¯, rubbing my arms fiercely to fight back some of the frigid cool of my Perk. ¡°Where- Oh, sorry principal. I m-must¡¯ve fallen asleep for a few moments.¡±


    The man eyed me suspiciously for a moment before his usual smarmy smile- it was always smarmy, right? Why was I thinking it was kind when I first walked in? How deep did these effects- ¡°Not a problem, my Lady¡­ I just wanted to discuss how you were fitting in.¡±


    ¡±I-its going alright, I guess.¡± I was fitting in so well that I became part of this freak¡¯s experiments without even realizing it. I should¡¯ve turned him over to the Inquisitor as soon as I found something. Why hadn¡¯t I?


    ¡±Good, good¡­ how are you liking your classes?¡± The suspicion didn¡¯t quite leave his eyes, though his expression loosened slightly.


    ¡°T-they¡¯re fine. Corporate History is a bit of a drag, but o-other than that they¡¯re fine.¡± I doubt I would¡¯ve been able to stay calm enough to continue the conversation as if he didn¡¯t just try to brainwash me if not for Cold-Blooded. I can¡¯t believe I thought the Perk was useless. I really need to set aside some time to look through the rest of my Perks and double-check them.


    ¡°So I¡¯ve he-¡°


    The bell rang cutting the principal off. I jumped up from my seat. ¡°S-sorry, I guess time flies¡­¡±


    Principal Bously waved me to the door as he turned to some papers on his desk. He didn¡¯t take his eyes off of me though. ¡°Go on ahead. I pulled you out of¡­ lunch? Go ahead and take lunch with the younger students.¡± S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡±R-right¡­¡± I slowly moved towards the door, desperately holding myself from rushing. I was so close to freedom. It would be horribly stupid to do something suspicious. My hand gripped the door handle-


    ¡°Oh, Lady Meno?¡±


    I froze, feeling like an idiot for jinxing myself. I turned back around slowly as I forced another yawn. ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°You forgot your bag.¡±


    ¡±Right¡­ sorry.¡± I went back to my seat, carefully avoiding eye contact as I grabbed my bag and left the office. I passed by another student walking into the office. Probably the next person on the guy¡¯s list.


    No one stopped me as I left and headed for the lunch room. I spent the rest of the day taking it slow, acting as if I was half asleep. The entire time my brain ran through ideas, spine-chilling simulations of how things could¡¯ve gone down, and observations of the almost zombie state everyone seemed to be in.


    Torren seemed a little better off, but not by much. I decided against warning him in case we were under watch as I suspected. Thankfully, the rest of the day passed by without anything terrible happening. At least, so far.

 Chapter 105

    Chapter 105¡°Are you shure?¡± Inquisitor Strumgard asked.


    I shifted the phone against my ear, motioning to Feras and Torren as they entered Big Mike¡¯s. ¡°Yes, sir. I have to go now. I¡¯ll be out of contact for a while until I tie up some loose ends.¡±


    ¡±Right¡­ I¡¯ll round up a shquad. Meet me at the War Room in the HQ in an hour. It¡¯sh about time we busted this bashtard.¡± The Inquisitor hung up as I slid my burner phone into my pocket.


    The two approached me, both already changed out of their school uniforms and back into normal attire. Of course, I also had on my tech jacket, ballistic vest, and pants once more. Unfortunately, I hadn¡¯t had time to patch them up so there were still bullet holes in my clothes. Or merc style as some people call it.


    ¡±Tie up loose ends?¡± Feras asked. He looked unconcerned, but his posture looked slightly unsteady. I couldn¡¯t quite tell if it was thanks to his injured side he was holding or from a sudden flight instinct.


    I nodded my head to the duo. ¡°I think I figured it out.¡±


    Torren waved at Big Mike, flashing some kind of sign toward the large chef. The chef nodded to him, a malicious look in his eyes as he fired up the grill. ¡°Oh?¡±


    I eyed the guy. He looked quite a bit more energized now that he was out of the school- rather, now that he was outside the field of the plants. ¡°Did you guys notice anything strange about the school?¡±


    Torren slid into the booth, Feras wincing directly behind him as he followed. The grifter frowned as he rubbed his side. ¡°Other than none of the cases having solid connections outside of SPS? Hmm¡­¡± A slow hand traced an imprint of a shoe still bruising his face as he flinched. ¡°The students seemed quite a bit more hostile than what I would expect, even considering the status of the school.¡±


    ¡±They were quite hostile¡­ the jocks and guys in PE were particularly loaded with testosterone, it seemed.¡± Torren shrugged. ¡°But that¡¯s just school for you.¡±


    ¡±Is it?¡± I thought back to it. ¡°The people I met seemed extraordinarily affectionate towards me. Like, to the point of obsession. Even some of the ones I never spoke to.¡±


    On top of that, though I¡¯d never admit it, all too frequently my act wasn¡¯t quite an act. That sentiment only grew stronger with every day that passed. It was almost as if my inner emotions were set to ten instead of the solid three I tried to keep them at.


    ¡±What are you getting at?¡± Feras asked as he tried to get more comfortable. It was unfortunately difficult for the guy considering Torren took up well over half the booth.


    I glanced around the room, thankfully the restaurant was empty outside of Big Mike who was too busy cooking to pay attention. I didn¡¯t want to reveal anything yet, instead opting to get their unbiased opinions. ¡°We can all claim hormones as the reason for everyone being so¡­ emotional. What if there was more to it?¡±


    Feras¡¯s frown deepened as his eyes took on a speculative look. ¡°It would explain some things. For instance, how quick they were to beat the shit out of me- and even send someone after me with a knife¡­¡±


    ¡±I guess?¡± Torren frowned. ¡°Still just seems like a typical school. What¡¯s bringing this on?


    I leaned forward, dropping my voice to a whisper. ¡°I was interrogated by the principal today.¡±


    The mood at the table turned icy in a mere moment. Torren locked up, his voice sounding oddly terse. ¡°In what way?¡±


    Feras raised a finger, pausing the conversation as he pulled out his fox amulet. The silver piece glinted in the neon lights shining through the windows as he twisted it around. A look of focus passed over his face for the briefest of moments, the concentration fading as Insight warned me of a shift in the atmosphere.


    I flicked on Aetherial Perception as a rift opened up, the back side of it appearing completely transparent. From the rift stepped a small fox. Its tail waved cutely as it looked around the table. It paused for a moment of me, a look of joy passing through its eyes.


    Feras followed the sprite¡¯s gaze, locking onto me as I tried to pretend I couldn¡¯t see anything. A frown crossed his lips, almost immediately being obscured by Cues of pain as he lightly touched his side. They looked too convincing to tell if they were fake.


    He motioned with his hand as his gaze locked back onto the fox. The fox tilted its head towards the Magus, seeming to listen intently for a moment before ethereal energy coalesced around its fur. The energy expanded rapidly, creating a bubble around us.


    ¡±What¡¯d you do?¡± Torren asked, his hand caressing a ring around his finger lightly. I was a bit surprised he noticed, but on second thought the guy was an Adept. He could probably feel any kind of shift in the Aether.


    ¡±Anti-Spy Scryer''s Bubble.¡± Torren shrugged. ¡°It¡¯ll block all sound or signals from getting out. Anything we say will sound like we¡¯re talking about the weather.¡±


    I frowned at the Magus, though the frown vanished as I watched the fox do a cute little twirl and vanish back into a rift. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you do this the last few times?¡±


    ¡°I just learned over the weekend.¡± Feras looked taken aback slightly. ¡°My Shrinemaiden couldn¡¯t teach me till I gained more Favor. Wasn¡¯t too hard. For some reason, my Favor has been skyrocketing recently.¡±


    I raised a hand, waving it towards the grifter. ¡°Woah, woah, woah, slow down just a sec. What was all of this about a Shrinemaiden and Favor?¡±


    ¡°Ugh¡­¡± Feras looked confused for a moment. ¡°Oh, sorry. Forgot most people still weren¡¯t aware of how it all works¡­ okay, after a Magus contracts with an , they can summon sprites to cast magic. Following?¡± Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°Chek.¡±


    ¡°A Magus can only cast magic they know, and to learn more takes what we call Favor. Typically, it¡¯s cheaper to spend Favor with a Shrinemaiden than it is to ¡®buy¡¯ a Revelation. Favor is- it¡¯s like a currency between Magus of the same .¡±


    ¡±Stupidly complicated if you ask me.¡± Torren shrugged. ¡°Adepts are so much easier. Just read a Tome. Done.¡±


    My brain felt like it was expanding a thousandfold under the way they just casually talked about growing in power. And here I thought  was the special one with my Interface that made me work my ass off for even a hint of strength¡­ Torren can literally just  to grow stronger. What dumb shit was that?


    And what was up with this Shrinemaiden still? Fox had a shrine? Wait- for that matter, did the other eidolons have shrines? How come I never knew of this before-


    ¡¸Request - Favored Shrine - Received


    Five Eidolons have requested you visit their shrine first


    Reward: dependent on which one you go to¡¹


    I felt a migraine build up in my head as even more shit slumped onto my plate. As if almost being brainwashed wasn¡¯t bad enough. Could this day get any worse- Oh wait! For one blissful moment, I almost forgot I had to go to the freakin¡¯  with the Inquisitor! Dammit, Shiro! You really know how to screw yourself! Why can¡¯t you ever just-


    Feras coughed lightly. ¡°Anyway, you were interrogated?¡±


    Right, I could think about all this later- woah, Deja Vu.


    ¡°I should¡¯ve noticed sooner, but the plants all over the school are-¡° I paused for a moment, picking my words carefully so as not to reveal the full extent of Aetherial Perception, ¡°-weird. Either you guys notice your emotions becoming more volatile around certain areas or you suddenly grow sleepy around others?¡±


    Torren¡¯s voice sounded hard as something clicked behind his eyes. ¡°Like today.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Like today. I was already under their effect when I was summoned to his office. He used the plants to put me in a trance-like state, one in which I was compelled to answer him. I barely got out without revealing anything.¡±


    ¡°Some kind of genetic pheromone manipulation maybe? It¡¯s not a Magus at least. The Aether only has Eidolons¡­ err, mostly. There are the Fallen and Remnants too, but uh- probably not them. I doubt either have high enough intelligence to do anything like this.


    Interesting¡­ Fallen and Remnants, eh? Here I though the Aether was only sprites and the eidolons¡­ hmm¡­ something to look into if I find the time¡­


    Torren leaned back, dropping a hand to rub his side lightly. ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯ve read of this. I¡¯m focused on wind, so I¡¯m not very up-to-date on it, but there¡¯s an entire branch of plant-based spells. I¡¯d have to go and take a look, but it could be an Adept¡¯s doing.¡±


    Thanks for the input guys! Not like I didn''t already know all of that... useless. Well, mostly useless. I filed that tidbit about Fallen and remnants away, whatever they were. Something else to look into when I get the time. ¡°Regardless- Could it be possible none of the disappearances were related since they were all individuals? That the plants acted as a sort of accelerant on the homicidally minded?¡± I asked.


    Feras shrugged. ¡°Possibly.¡±


    Our conversation paused for a moment as Big Mike came carrying a mountain of pizza-sized burgers into the area of Feras¡¯s Ant-Scry Spying Bubble or whatever it was called. He shot a triumphant look to Torren before sauntering off back to the counter. It was¡­ an odd look on the big guy.


    Torren¡¯s eyes lit up, and it looked like he only barely managed to hold himself back. ¡°It could go deeper. You said yourself that you were in a trance state. Could he be  the disappearances? I mean, think about it. Claire didn¡¯t even  her best friend.¡±


    ¡°My thoughts exactly.¡± I shrugged. I didn¡¯t mention knowing about him experimenting or ¡®The Circle¡¯ since I wasn¡¯t sure how much Inquisitor Lightstrum wanted to keep under wraps. That, and I didn¡¯t want to reveal a deeper connection to this whole thing.


    To me, though, that knowledge only solidified that the disappearances were sick acts of experimentation. It made sense. The kids would be easy targets.  the creepy black organization would be messing around with brainwashing and mind control.


    Feras piped up as Torren dug into the burgers. ¡°If it''s only as deep as magically enhanced hypnosis, we might be able to break it given the right situation. See for sure.¡±


    I checked the time. Just enough to run by my apartment before heading to the Crusade HQ. ¡°Yeah¡­ regardless, we need to stop attending the school to avoid the plant¡¯s effects. You have Claire¡¯s number?¡±


    Torren nodded around a mouthful of food, swallowing it down. ¡°Chek chek. I could¡­ call and ask her to meet me? Then we put her in the right situation and break the hypnosis?¡±


    Feras spoke up, a frown deeply embedded in his face. ¡°What if Claire was forced to kill Quora?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Torren¡¯s eyebrows knit together.


    Feras paused for a moment, nodding his head. ¡°Right, I spoke to some of the other friends of dissapeared students in my time. Only about half of them were in similar states.¡±


    So then they aren¡¯t all mind wiped. I lightly rubbed a cold spot on my arm. ¡°Then why wipe the memories of only half?¡±


    ¡°Maybe they only needed to wipe the memories of half.¡± Feras tapped his knuckles on the table. ¡°Maybe only half were involved in the murders of their friends. Think about it.¡±


    Torren put a bit of burger down, a look of seriousness in his eyes. ¡°We don¡¯t know for sure they¡¯re all dead-


    ¡°Think they¡¯re still alive?¡± Feras interrupted.


    Torren glared at the grifter lightly, continuing as if he hadn¡¯t said anything. ¡°But if he had the power to force a someone into killing their choom, why use it against students?¡±


    ¡°To test it.¡± I piped up, carefully picking over my words. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s unstable, or maybe it¡¯s only good against kids. Hell, I broke out of it, so it isn¡¯t full proof. At least not yet.¡±


    ¡°Regardless, we need to try and break Claire out of it. See if we can¡¯t find out more from her. Our guesses will only be that at the end of the day: guesses.¡±


    I was fairly certain Quora was dead. The idea that Claire killed her made sense, but I could see what he was saying. ¡°We¡®re trying paint with only half a brush.¡±


    ¡°Chek, but weird way of putting it. I could cast minor illusions around her of Quora. Try and force her to remember.¡± Feras offered.


    ¡°You can do that?¡± I asked. I really didn¡¯t know much about either of their magical capabilities, do I?


    He shrugged. ¡°Yeah, but they aren¡¯t very strong. Visual and audial only.¡±


    ¡°Like a ghost,¡± I said. ¡°Might be able to shatter the hypnosis if she saw the ghost of her dead friend. Her dead friend she potentially murdered.¡±


    Torren sighed, quietly muttering. ¡°We don¡¯t know that yet¡­¡±


    Ferras snagged a slice of one of the massive burgers in the stack. ¡°I¡¯ll let the clients know¡­ Damn¡­ they¡¯ll probably want to be there when this goes down.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not gonna¡­ like¡­ kill Claire, right?¡± I asked. ¡°Because if we¡¯re right, then it technically wasn¡¯t her fault.¡±


    Ferras eyed me, a flash of the city¡¯s neon reflecting in his eyes. ¡°Our job is just to find the killer, not to worry about what happens after.¡±


    ¡°Chek, chek¡­¡± I stood up, grabbing a slice of burger as I slid out of the booth. ¡°Sounds good to me. We can get the minor details some other time. I  need to get going.¡±


    ¡±Oh, another date?¡± Feras asked as he smiled cheekily. Another mask if I had to guess. His expression and posture were slightly tense.


    ¡±With Death.¡± I sighed as I headed for the exit, giving Big Mike a wave as I did. The last thing I saw of the restaurant was Big Mike¡¯s stubby arm and wide smile as I stepped out onto the neon streets.

 Chapter 106

    Chapter 106The War Room sat in a basement level of the Blue Crusade Little Yukoto Department. It was a fairly wide room in a high-tech style with strips of white lights lining the walls. Brackets of metal supported the ceiling. A large lit-up table sat in the middle covered in holographic maps. The atmosphere was¡­ heavy as I walked in.


    Inquisitor Ligh stood around the table alongside two other Crusaders. Both Knights, if I had to guess. They both had the crossed swords symbol of Knights on their silver armor. One wore heavy-duty armor covering almost head to toe and the other wore extremely light armor that barely covered her vitals. Full helmets obscured their faces with sheer silver masks, a telltale sign of Blue Crusade higher-ups.


    Four Squires stood around the two Knights, three of them partially covered in silver armor and the other one in just the normal ballistic vest and Blue Crusade trench coat. A noobie Squire, like me. Well, hopefully not ¡®like¡¯ me considering I was little better than a spy turned slave.


    Hope stood at the Inquisitor''s side. She flashed a tired smile at me, though it looked more like she was baring her teeth threateningly. Subtle Cues read as friendly though, I think. To be honest, I wasn¡¯t quite sure why she was here since her arm was still broken.


    Her movements drew the others¡¯ attention to me. The heavy atmosphere turned to one of immense dread and guilt as all three of the silver-covered Crusaders turned to me. I barely held myself from flinching back as I saw myself reflected in all three of their face coverings. I flickered Cold-Blooded, giving myself a moment of ice-enforced calm as I continued my stride and approached the table.


    Inquisitor Strumgard waved an arm to me. His voice was as unsettling as ever. It''s icey cold with forced inflections like he was trying and failing to sound human. ¡°If it isn¡¯t the women- err, girl? Shquire of the hour! C¡¯mon in. We were just discussing shtrategy.¡±


    The heavy Knight spoke as I felt his eyes bore holes through me. His voice sounded even and calm. ¡°I don¡¯t believe we¡¯ve met, yet.¡±


    ¡±S-Squire Zuku Ichima. I was just brought under Inquisitor Strumgard¡¯s uh,  recently.¡± I answered as evenly as I could and glanced at the table for a distraction. It was projecting a small hologram of a blueprint- of the tower SPS resided in - as well as a map of the surrounding area.


    The man nodded ¡°Knight Zaval.¡± He pointed to two of the Squires in armor. ¡°Those are my Squires: Squire Verlon and Squire Encis.¡±


    ¡°Greetings.¡± Squire Verlon bowed his head slightly, his dark blonde hair flopping into his face.


    ¡±Hello.¡± Squire Encis frowned at me, eyeing my arms for some reason. It¡¯s not like he could see anything under my trench coat.


    ¡±Knight Amity.¡± The woman jacked a finger at the other armored one and the noobie. ¡°Squire Cronch. Squire Sterling.¡±


    The other one in armor eyed me for a moment but didn¡¯t say anything. The noobie gave me a charismatic smile. ¡°Nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°Now that drivel ish done with, my Shquire here was the one infiltrating SPSh. The plan is to snatch the principal of the school¡­ One Vio Boushly. A corporate drone who hadn¡¯t done much with hish life until he was offered the principal position at Shentinel Private School. He took the position lasht year. Shuspected fake identity. What are we walking into?¡± The Inquisitor asked me.


    I tried to think back to the security. ¡°Uh, Sentinel armed guards are capable of pouring out if need be. The school itself has every hall and corner locked down by cameras and sensors. There are plenty of turrets everywhere and security gates capable of deploying from the ceilings.¡±


    I paused for a moment, sending a look to the Inquisitor. He didn¡¯t respond to it, but Hope flopped her head encouragingly. Or she was just passing out? Hard to tell. ¡°The biggest threat is the plants all over the school. I¡¯m not quite sure what¡¯s going on with them, but they can affect the mental state of those exposed to them. I felt heightened emotions and increased drowsiness. I¡¯m not aetherialy aligned, but I suspect magic.¡±


    ¡± you didn¡¯t mention anything about magic, Inquisitor.¡± Knight Amity folded her arms as her two Squires shifted uncomfortably.


    My Inquisitor shrugged. ¡°I- uh- I thought I shent it in the file? No? Okay, the guy we¡¯re after is known to use plant magic. Um¡­ was there anyone else of note there, Shquire?¡±


    ¡±The assistant. From what I could see, she¡¯s in on it.¡± I shrugged, trying not to flinch as all three of them turned back to me. Seriously intimidating. ¡°I could only get so much information in a week.¡±


    Knight Amity rubbed the bottom of her helmet as she peered down at the map. ¡°Are we going to have to worry about Sentinel forces?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± My Inquisitor shook his head. ¡°I called in some favors. Still, arreshting him inshide the school is decidedly a bad idea conshidering it would essentially be attacking a bunker inside of a heavily guarded fortressh.¡±


    Squire Sterling raised a hesitant hand. ¡°Are we  him to fight back?¡±


    The Inquisitor nodded. ¡°He won¡¯t come easily. His¡­


    that put us onto his tracksh was a tough fight. Our besht bet is to hit him on the way to school early in the morning.¡± Light Strumgard messed with the hologram projector, manipulating it to a street right outside the school. ¡°Shquire Hope here has been watching the principal and other VIPsh to get their schedule.¡±


    Oh? Are we not informing them of the larger game at play here with this ¡®circle¡¯? Hmm¡­ for a policing force, the Blue Crusade sure has a lot of trust issues. Back when I got that job with Iris, the Knight hadn¡¯t wanted to call for help from other Crusaders either. The cloak-and-dagger approach worked for me all things considered, but still.


    Hope stepped up, rubbing a tired hand at her eyes as she looked down at the hologram. ¡°Our best bet is to hit him hard and fast. He lives about a block away from the school and walks every morning, meeting up with his assistant on the way. Our ideal ambush spot is here-¡± Hope struggled to manipulate the hologram with just one hand, but eventually got it. The projection showed the stoplight just outside of SPS¡¯s tower. ¡°We get him between locations. Tomorrow morning. Block the road and set up dummy traffic.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you need us?¡± Knight Zaval asked.


    ¡°Yesh.¡± The Inquisitor motioned to Knight Amity. ¡°We¡¯ll be responsible for hitting him. You, on the other hand, need to head in and search his office.  hish office. It''s the best we could get short term, and we really don¡¯t need Sentinel breathing down our necks harder than they are. Make sure to grab his computer. Shquire Ichima tried to use a BED on it, but the techies couldn¡¯t breach the ICE. You know how finicky they can be.¡±


    Right. I was wondering why I hadn¡¯t heard anything about that. Sucks the device wasn¡¯t as useful as I thought it would be if they still had to get through all of a system¡¯s defenses. Nothing could be easy, I guess.


    ¡°The BED?¡± I couldn¡¯t see her face, but I suspected Knight Amity arched an angry eyebrow based on her voice. ¡°The BED that''s been deemed an Invasion of Privacy and against Civil Rights?¡±


    ¡°I prefer the term ¡®Gentle Observation of Privacy¡¯.¡± Inquisitor Strumgard scratched his silver mask. ¡°And by catching criminals, we¡¯re protecting Civil Rightsh! It all worksh out, Martha.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t call me that, Ligher. I would complain to the commander, but I doubt he¡¯d do anything. Squire!¡± I snapped to attention as the Knight stared me down. I think, ¡°I doubt this drunk  told you the BED was highly illegal and locked up for a reason. Return it to the Crusade. Consider this a ¡®Gentle¡¯ warning.¡±


    I glanced at the Inquisitor who nodded his head slowly. ¡°You heard the bitc- Knight. Put it on my deshk as well as a report. Skip the minutia unless it involvesh the principal. Other than that, you¡¯re free to return to regular dutiesh and relax.¡±


    ¡°Sir.¡± He didn¡¯t need to tell me twice. I briskly walked out of the War Room and headed back to my apartment. I guess I should¡¯ve felt a bit bad about not being part of the squad going after Vio Bously, but I was ready to be done with this entire gig. Definitely wasn¡¯t as relaxing as it first appeared, though it has been mostly successful at getting my mind off of¡­ well, the box.


    It was only a matter of time till I got whatever the Interface Expansion was and would have to decide on the murderous entity. I still had time though. At least until I got a skill to level twelve.


    Writing up the report wasn¡¯t too bad, but it  time-consuming. Once again, the Net saved my bacon as I pulled up copies and templates of Blue Crusade reports and just filled in the blanks. I also carefully reworked the actual sequence of events to better fit my narrative and exclude anything that might mark me as suspicious.


    Of the things omitted were the attempted interrogation, my identity used, and almost anything else that could blow back onto me. I wasn¡¯t a real Crusader, nor was I even getting paid for that matter, so there wasn''t a reason to do it all legitimately.


    I brought everything back to the Blue Crusade Department late at night. The Inquisitor left his office door unlocked, so I slipped in with the BED and report. I slapped them onto his desk, barely resisting the urge to swipe something from his office.


    That didn¡¯t stop me from looking around though. It was mostly just filled with boring paperwork and cheap paperweights. A stack of papers with a sticky note tacked onto them sat off to the side of his terminal next to his keyboard. BED was written on the note.


    I glanced around, eyeing the office for cameras as I stretched, ''tripped'', and knocked the papers off his desk. ¡®Panicking¡¯, I quickly moved to pick them all up, glancing through each of them in turn. Every single page had a full dossier of the people I hit with the BED.


    One page in particular stood out to me; the top of the page printed with ¡®Dr. Carl Langstrum¡¯. I glanced over the sheet, recognizing it as the crow mask guy from the gala. Filing that into the back of my head, I tidied up the stack and headed back out of the office like I wasn¡¯t even there.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    I leaned up against a concrete pillar in the middle of an abandoned and falling-apart parking garage. In the distance, I could hear traffic and occasional gunshots muted by the thick walls of the garage. The place had chunks fallen out everywhere, leaving drops onto the floor below. Broken pipes were everywhere as they dinked with the slow flow of water.


    The garage was right within the sweet spot of the projects and the Scath Heights where no one wanted to be and even fewer people wanted to repair anything. It was incredibly dark. The only lights around were the neon bits shining through the occasional fallen part of a wall or bullet hole. The storm covering the night sky didn''t help anything. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It was, in part, my fault. After we checked the place, scaring off a group of homeless for the night, I cut the power to the lights. Outside of the messy homeless camp, there were signs that this place had been used as a dead drop or by gun dealers in the past, but the thick layer of debris and dust everywhere pointed towards it being out of use for a long time.


    I checked the time. Almost midnight. Still had several minutes till it was time. Torren would call over the comm channel once Claire showed up, so I zoned out slightly and focused back on the notes pulled up onto my phone.


    Dr. Carl Langstrum - a rich scientist interested in developing biotech organs and medical technology. Or at least that¡¯s what I managed to find off the Net. He had an impressive amount of accolades and was credited for helping on several projects from Raijin to KairoTech Global. He was a rare free scientist not bound to a single corp.


    He was also a very controversial figure. He was a leading developer of the ¡®exo-womb¡¯, an external womb for pregnant women who either couldn¡¯t or didn¡¯t want to carry their child to term. The device had a failure rate of fifty percent when it was first released. Many scream streams posed the guy as the next major mass murderer for developing and producing faulty tech. He won the slander lawsuit, though I suspected he bribed the judge.


    The guy had an army of private security at his beck and call, and well-trained ones at that. There was a video clip floating around about an attempted assassination on the guy. The assassin didn¡¯t get even a block before he was swarmed and killed by private security. They were closer to PMCs than anything, though they still had some signs of solo mercs.


    Based on more current scream streams about the guy from smaller media companies, he¡¯s been hitting auctions and markets mass-buying magical items and trinkets, of which there''s been a massive inflow over the past couple of months. It didn¡¯t take a genius to put two and two together- he¡¯s shifted research to the Aether. If that assumption was right, it unfortunately meant the egg was in his research lab. His extremely well-guarded lab.


    Even the lab''s blueprints weren¡¯t obtainable by normal means. The city archives had the blueprints, but I recognized them as a simple apartment building rather than a lab. Probably paid someone to do a switcheroo.


    Getting the egg wouldn¡¯t be easy. I''d have to put it off along with most of my other requests for now. The reward was a Trait point, so I can¡¯t imagine in any world where the Request would be simple considering how stingy the interface normally is. Hell, it has been over a week since I¡¯ve gotten a Skill level up thanks to its dumb requirement for me to finish what I¡¯m doing.


    Seriously, why couldn¡¯t I get stronger just by reading a dumb book like Torren-


    As if he felt me thinking about him, Torren called across the comma. ¡°She¡¯s here.¡±


    I sighed, dropping my phone as I pushed myself off the pillar. ¡°Chek¡­¡±

 Chapter 107

    Chapter 107¡°Everyone in position?¡± I asked, getting four affirmations. Mr. Mrs. Kalis were here in front of me. Feras and Torren filled them in on what we, or at least what Feras and I, suspected happened while I was busy with the Crusade.


    I thought we¡¯d go another day or two before making the plan concrete, but it seemed the duo, and the parents for that matter, wanted to get done with this as much as I did. Couldn¡¯t really blame them. I was ready to sleep in and stop going to school too.


    Ferras was hidden at the meetup point, deep in concentration as he focused on his Minor Illusions. Torren wasn¡¯t much better as he cast some kind of magic out of sight. He said it was to set the mood, whatever that meant. If it Claire, it would help draw out the guilt of her crimes. Supposedly, the overwhelming emotion should be able to break through whatever magic warped her mind. Not sure about all that.


    That left me to run the whole thing since our leader was down for the count and also meant I was the one with the parents. We stood a floor above the meetup point and gathered around several holes punched in the concrete. This floor was almost entirely pitch black, making it nearly impossible to see us from the floor down unless she had some kind of night vision like I did.


    ¡±A-are you sure it was her?¡± Mr. Kalis asked. He looked shaken about the whole thing. He wore dark clothes to blend in with the terrain and had a duffel bag wrapped around his shoulder.


    ¡°We let her come over for sleepovers, and this-¡° Mrs. Kalis¡¯s face crumpled. Her husband wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She ducked into his arm for a moment before managing to put on a corporate facade. ¡°They said mind control?¡±


    I shrugged, motioning for them to keep it down. It would only be a matter of time before Claire got within hearing distance. ¡°Suspected. Trovare thinks it was someone else."


    "Principal Bously though? He seemed like such an upstanding gentleman. To think he was-" Mr. Kalis''s voice broke. He sniffled roughly, continuing after a few moments with a steal in his voice. "Are you


    We''ll find out shortly," I replied, looking away from the pure emotion of our clients.


    We fell into silence for a few moments as we watched through one of the holes in the roof. My vision revealed itself to be surprisingly good as I peered through the darkness of a ramp leading up onto the floor below us. Claire walked up hesitantly. Her eyebrows were twisted in confusion and her eyes danced around fearfully.


    Claire walked into a neon green light shining through a gap in the wall. Immediately I felt the two next to me tense up, though neither made a move to do anything but watch. The girl idly ran a hand through one of her three mohawks, brushing the hair back into shape.


    ¡±Claire~¡± A voice sang from the shadows of the parking garage. It was a girl¡¯s voice, sounding perfectly sweet and kind. Gotta say, Feras, nice touch.


    Claire walked hesitantly forward, her piercings quietly clacking against each other. ¡°Trovare? Is that you? Whatcha doin''? When you said you had somethin'' ta show me-¡°


    Something flickered around two of the cement pillars supporting the place, causing Claire to jump back. ¡°T-Trovare?¡±


    ¡±Silly Claire,¡± the voice said, drifting into a laugh as if she heard the funniest joke ever. The laugh shifted into a hauntingly cold cackle. ¡°Can¡¯t recognize voice?¡±


    Beside me, Mrs. Kalis had a tear trickle down onto her cheek. She whispered, barely quieter than the cool breeze flowing through the garage, ¡°Quora.¡±


    Her husband pulled his arm tighter, hugging her tightly as he nodded along.


    "Quiet," I whispered to the couple. I mean, I get it, I really do, but if they blow this it¡¯ll all be for nothing. That and trying to set up something similar wouldn''t work either since she''d be expecting it.


    Claire stepped towards the middle of the parking garage. ¡°Who¡¯s there? This- this isn¡¯t funny!¡±


    ¡±Oh, it is, Claire~! Two friends reuniting. Isn¡¯t it just ? I thought I¡¯d never see you again.¡± Quora¡¯s voice called out with an accusatory note to it. Although the voice sounded cheerful and happy, there was an undeniable coldness to it. It made even me uncomfortable.


    Claire gripped her head tightly with a hand. ¡±I- I don¡¯t know you. Who are ya?¡±


    The shadows shifted as a girl walked out from behind one of the cement pillars. I recognized her face from the pictures of Quora. Feras outdid himself. The illusion looked extremely realistic. Well, except that it didn¡¯t shift the dust at all as it stepped into the light. Hopefully, Claire wouldn¡¯t notice? Or maybe she would and it would sell the whole ghost act better.


    ¡°It¡¯s me, Quora. Your friend. Did- did forget me after what happened? Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll never forget you, Claire~¡± The ¡®ghost¡¯ of Quora approached closer and closer.


    Claire turned into a shaking mess as she held her head, staring at the Minor Illusion. ¡°I- I don¡¯t- Gah!¡± She bent over, grabbing onto her skull with enough force to tear several strands of hair from her mohawk. She groaned, twisting away from the lights slightly. ¡°Q-Quora?¡±


    ¡±That¡¯s right! Do you remember me now?¡± The ghost quickly approached touching distance.


    ¡±Ch-chek. What happened? Why¡¯s my head hurt so much?¡± The girl rubbed her head as a bit of blood trickled out of her nose. ¡°Quora, what happened?¡±


    ¡±Don¡¯t tell me you forgot what happened too!¡± The illusion chuckled, each laugh sounding colder than the last as it spread its arms out.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Claire stepped forward for a hug. ¡°You¡¯ve been gone-¡°


    Her arms brushed right through the illusion, causing the girl to step back in confusion. Immediately, the temperature in the parking garage dropped cold enough for our breath to turn visible. The illusion of Quora slowly tilted her head up, staring into Claire¡¯s eyes as blood began to pour out of her eyes and mouth. ¡° killed .¡± S§×arch* The N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Claire stumbled back, falling onto her hands as sharp shards of rubble tore into her hand viciously. She left a trail of blood as she tried to back away from the illusion. ¡°No- no- no- oh God!¡±


    She froze, curling into a ball as the illusion of Quora vanished into the wind. Sobs racked her body, growing more wretched with each passing moment. Creepily, blood was mixed in with the tears. ¡°What have I done? What have I done?! I¡¯m sorry, Quora! I didn¡¯t mean it! Please- please come back¡­ what have I done? T-this can''t be real... oh God!¡±


    "Th-that''s enough..." I turned to look towards the Kalis family. They were hugging each other deeply, tears in their eyes. Mr. Kalis unslung the duffle bag from his back, handing it to me as he spoke quietly, ¡°Our payment.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure? We still don¡¯t-¡°


    ¡°We¡¯re sure.¡± Mrs. Kalis had tears in her eyes as she stared down at the girl shrieking and crying below us. ¡°We¡¯ll- we¡¯ll question her ourselves too, but this much¡­¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± I nodded my head to the two. It was their gig, their call¡­ Just¡­ ¡°What are you going to do with her?¡±


    ¡±Ask some questions¡­ after that¡­¡± Mrs. Kalis stared down in sorrow.


    ¡±Quora would want us to forgive, but-" Mr. Kalis''s face twisted in pain as he looked down at the sobbing girl. "But we need to find her body first. After that... things won''t be the same, but Quora wouldn''t want us to punish Claire for this."


    I don''t even know what I''d do if I was in their position. Makes me think of the guy who killed my parents, Timothy McLare. If he wasn''t dead already, I wouldn''t even have hesitated to put a bullet in his brain. Mind control or not. Guess that says more about me than I''d like to admit. Then again, it was easy to say what I should''ve or would''ve done and entirely different to actually do it.


    Mrs. Kalis locked eyes with me. ¡°And the principal? That- that devilish bastard behind all of this?¡°


    I shrugged, glancing over my shoulder to the exit. ¡°Above our pay grade. He''s a high-level Adept at the very least, far above our capability to take care of. The kind of Rayn needed to put a bounty on his head¡­ but give it a day or two. We called in some favors. He won¡¯t be free to roam much longer.¡±


    ¡±Thank you¡­¡± The couple turned away from me, speaking quietly to each other.


    I took that as my cue and headed for the back exit, calling over the comms, ¡°That¡¯s a wrap. Let¡¯s delta before anything else can go wrong.¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± Torren sighed as the cold in the air faded away to its normal temperature. ¡°Heading for the fire escape.¡±


    ¡±Same.¡±


    I turned back to check on the Kalis family before undoing the zipper of the bag and checking it. There were three data chips in there, each marked with a piece of tape saying ¡®1000 R¡¯. Then there were what looked to be three sets of devices each with five pieces. An instruction manual, handwritten, sat buried under all of that as well as a schematic.


    I fished out the schematic as I exited out of the building onto the fire escape, instantly memorizing the plans for the Drop Chute. Guess they changed the name since Feras told us about them. The print was extremely technical and revolved around something called Gravitic, whatever that was. For the most part, though, the five devices in each set looked like thrusters of the ionic variety.


    I stuffed it back into the bag as I met up with the others on the fire escape. ¡°That went well. Nice touch with the cold.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± The big guy looked a little down as the fire escape thundered under his footsteps. ¡°Got the pay?¡±


    I tossed him the bag. ¡°Chek.¡±


    Ferras spoke up from the front of our group. ¡°That went better than I was expecting. She broke so, so easily.¡±


    ¡±Would you break slowly if your dead best friend¡¯s ghost showed up to confront you?¡± Torren asked a bit defensively. ¡°Damn, I really thought it wasn¡¯t her too¡­¡±


    ¡±Please.¡± I laughed at him, sidestepping the potential minefield about Claire. I had mixed feelings about the whole situation to begin with. ¡°Everyone knows ghosts aren¡¯t real¡­¡±


    Ferras looked over his shoulder, staring me dead in the eyes. ¡±Do they?¡±


    I paused for a second, my steps slowing down. There were a ton of ghost stories everywhere, but there were always other rational explanations¡­ but what about the Dune Walkers? Did they count as reanimated? Or that- that cursed beast from the Nomad camp. Could that count as a ghost?


    No, ghost stories were just that, stories. Aether entities didn''t count. Regardless, stuff along the lines of the cursed beast was closer to wraiths or revenants than proper ghosts. At the very least, it wasn¡¯t haunting me. That I knew of-


    I hurried up, my steps dead silent, and fell back in line. All of us were deep in thought as we hit the ground floor.


    Torren sighed deeply. ¡°Damn. I sorta liked her. Other than her weird desire to watch me eat.¡±


    "Just the job." Feras stepped ahead of us, seeming unbothered. I was a bit envious of that detachment. No way I could fully commit to the illusion of Quora like he did without some serious help from Cold-Blooded, at least. Then again, being so detached probably wasn''t all that great mentally...


    "What are we going to do about that bastard principal anyway? I- I''ve got some connections. I can call in a favor to make him disappear." Torren said though he had a slightly hesitant look on his face as if he would rather not use said connections.


    "It''s fine." We hit the street level, stopping as we all looked at each other. "I''ve already got the ball rolling with the Crusade. They''ll take care of it."


    Torren shuddered. "How''d you manage that? No, don''t answer that... if it''s the Crusade though, they aren''t exactly known for being gentle... good."


    I nodded my head, patting the big guy on the shoulder. I felt guilty- no, that wasn''t quite right. Maybe empathetic? I empathized with Claire a bit. It was a seriously shit situation all the way around. Someone in power using those under them like this, especially when said underling couldn''t resist even if she wanted to was always shitty to see. At least we could do something about it this time. It was only a matter of time before the Crusade fully got involved. Too bad I didn''t have connections back when I first got to work with Carone...


    It¡¯s not like she was dead, anyway. Who knows, there might even be a happy ending in there somewhere¡­ stupid, Shiro. You forget this is Aythryn City, where the happy endings are rarer than good people. Claire would probably have a life full of guilt ahead of her. Probably try to drown out the emotion like every other corpo, yet another cog in the great machine slowly being ground to dust. Like Feras said though, it was just the job. I was better off with a clean break from this whole situation just like I usually do. It was safer that way. For me, at least.


    We split the loot and headed our separate ways. Torren got the blueprint since he took a hit monetarily after the fight with the gang at Mortas Motel considering how expensive the jammer and Sonic Suppressor were, and Feras took the manual with a promise to send us pictures of every page.


    I was okay with the loot distribution as I headed towards my bike, stuffing the Drop Chute into my bag as I cleared the thousand Rayn off the chip using my phone. I already had enough illegal blueprints, and the manual would just be another piece of junk left to rot somewhere.


    As I got to my bike, I cleared my alarms as I tried to detach myself once more. At long last I¡¯d be able to sleep in.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    The next morning, I awoke bright and early as I jolted free of my bed. I tiredly rubbed at the bags under my eyes and summoned Crows Canteen of Chaos to gulp down Sentinel¡¯s Super Supplement.


    I checked my burner phone, spotting several messages from Sean, Tristen, and the rest of the people at the school.


    ¡®No school, choom!¡¯ Came from Christine.


    Tristen to fish another date out of me. ¡®No school today¡­ how about we meatball somewhere to study?¡¯


    ¡®If you need help catching up, don¡¯t be afraid to message me! Today would be a great day to tutor you.¡¯ Aaron, the puppy kid, sent.


    There were dozens of other messages, most of them from people I don¡¯t remember speaking to or giving my number to. It was kind of scary. I needed to get a new burner as soon as possible. I had a bit of a weird feeling knowing it was highly unlikely I ever see any of these people again. At least, unless my shit luck kicked in once more at some inopportune moment.


    After a moment to think about it, I cleared all of them from my contacts except Sean¡¯s. I actually kind of liked Sean. Sure, he was a corporate asshole, but he grew on me over the last week. I kind of felt bad using and then ditching him without a word. ¡®Did you hear what happened? The entire school is shut down while the Crusade runs an investigation. Father was pissed the security lost control of the school.¡¯


    I deliberated for a moment before sending him a message back. He was the only one I messaged.¡®Yes. My Grandfather is moving me back to Pyrus for the summer due to the security threat.¡¯ Grandfather... I felt a hint of longing in the depths of my heart, though I quickly washed it off with a pulse of Cold-Blooded. This damn gig making me too sentimental.


    ¡¯Are you coming back to finish your schooling?¡¯


    I waited a few moments, deciding to kill his hope before it could fester. ¡®Probably not. Grandfather decided for me to finish everything on Pyrus.¡¯


    ¡¯When will I see you again?¡¯ There were no emoticons, but I felt a ghost sensation of lonely sorrow as I read the message. Maybe it was just my own emotions peering back at me through the tight wall I usually caged them in.


    ¡®Maybe one day.¡¯


    ¡¯I¡¯ll eagerly await that day, Lady Meno.¡¯


    I tossed the phone to the other side of my bed. I sighed as I stared up at the ceiling. I don¡¯t exactly know what I was thinking messaging him back. It was impossible to make friends when you were lying to them about who you were and spying on them. I sighed again and looked up the morning scream streams from the Corporate Quarter. It didn''t take long to find the right incident. The Crusade got into a large-scale firefight with the principal of SPS, who the news was calling an ecoterrorist, early this morning. He took his assistant hostage, killing her when the Crusade wouldn¡¯t back off. After that, he summoned a forest of plants to try and evade arrest.


    The fight apparently tore up a city block before the Crusaders on the scene could end it. After they severely wounded him and took him under arrest, every plant in the school went haywire and turned vicious. Two janitors were killed and some of the teaching staff were severely wounded. Thankfully, a Knight and two Squires to be nearby and evacuated the civilians before too much more damage could be dealt.


    I¡¯m so glad I got to sleep in and miss that shit show. I can''t even imagine how badly things would''ve gone had the boys and I tried to take the principal on by ourselves. I made the right call.


    I slid my phone onto the charger and got up and moved for the day. As I took a nice warm shower, my mind jumped between all the things I needed to do now that I was free again.

 Chapter 108

    Chapter 108As soon as I got dressed, the interface finally popped into my view. I didn¡¯t look at it though, and it faded to the side of my vision in a more translucent state.


    Instead, I took a minute and sat down at my desk with a notepad. This was something I¡¯ve become increasingly aware of, but what was the point of the interface and all this power if I don¡¯t have the intelligence to use it right? Strength didn¡¯t only come from the stats.


    I leaned back in my seat and thought back, carefully picking across my actions over this last gig. It was the closest I¡¯ve come to being screwed over entirely since I first got the interface. I shudder to think of what Vio Bously could''ve done to me if his disgusting claws had the opportunity to sink into my head. Of the things he could''ve  me do.


    I grabbed my notebook, flicking to a new page as I took a drink from Crow¡¯s Canteen of Chaos. Then, I started writing down what happened from the beginning of the gig to the end, carefully noting every detail as my mind kicked into overdrive to analyze.


    There were tons of issues with how I went about things in the first place, but before I rag on myself, I want to complain about others. To make myself feel better, of course.


    For being a team gig, I rarely interacted with Torren and Feras as a team. Everything was after the fact in our little meetings. I had a solid excuse of almost always working by myself, but at the end of the day, it was just that. An excuse. I should¡¯ve done better about teamwork.


    Ah, there I go, ragging on myself anyway. So much for that sentiment¡­ anyway, Feras made for a shit leader. Outside of the initial conversation about the gig, he didn¡¯t step up at all. It''s like he was barely even there, which is a bit ironic. I''d think a grifter would make a good team leader. Apparently not.


    My most recent memory of working in a team - the truck heist with Shinobu - the Fang had led far better and gave clear and concise instructions. Shinobu had spoken with authority and clearly defined what each of our roles would be to better facilitate communication. Each of our roles during that short gig used us most effectively. The bruisers fought and distracted, I stealthed, the runner ran, and the leader led.


    That, and the Fang actually had a plan. I think Feras just threw us into the school without much of a plan at all. Not that I think I could¡¯ve done much better, but still. We were in a bit of a free-for-all the entire time. Or maybe free fall would be better.


    Our communication was also terrible. We only really spoke about the gig at our meetings. Sure it was in a school setting so it was a bit harder to actively communicate, but we barely even tried. If we were in constant communication about what was happening, we could¡¯ve helped Feras before he got stabbed and I could¡¯ve gotten help before the principal tried to mind-swipe me. And Torren could''ve gotten help- no wait, he never actually needed help...


    That wasn¡¯t even mentioning the cluster fuck at Mortas Motel¡­ Really, that was the point that we had the best teamwork, and Feras wasn¡¯t even fully present. Torren showed up to kick ass, especially with his weird Transmutation Min Maxing. Definitely didn¡¯t see that coming. Kinda feel bad for making fun of the guy. Clearly, he knows what he¡¯s doing when it comes to a fight.


    As for the MVP of the gig? Hmm¡­ I¡¯d say Torren, all things considered. He did his job as a Bruiser perfectly, still managed to get outside his role for critical information gathering over Claire, and was a present part of the team. Not to mention he saved our bacon at the Motel.


    Feras on the other hand... Feras failed his job as a grifter and got found out, he did manage to get info, but he was hardly part of the team. There are some serious problems if the team leader isn''t actively a part of the team. That wasn''t even mentioning the Mortas Motel fiasco.


    I also failed at my job since I got caught, I did a decent job gathering information considering I was gathering info for several gigs at the same time and managing to run stuff for personal jobs, and I like to think I was a pretty present part of the team. I wasn''t perfect, but I wasn''t terrible either. Especially considering social interactions are down there near fighting for my preferred roles. I''d rate myself above Feras, but not by much.


    Regardless of how effective the team was,  had my own problems. There were plenty to pick from. First and foremost, I should¡¯ve used Aetherial Perception. If I would¡¯ve just flicked it on, I could¡¯ve realized what happened so much sooner. My only excuse was the effects of the plants messing with my head, but that wouldn¡¯t be a problem if I got in the habit of using Aetherial Perception in the first place.


    And that was the crux of the issue. I never use Aetherial Perception outside of the warnings from Insight. Mainly since it made me nauseous and uncomfortable for prolonged activations. I need to get in the habit of flicking it on even if just briefly so I don¡¯t keep getting caught out by Aether shit. This was the second time in recent memory that it has screwed me- back when I was glitching and now.


    I also should¡¯ve called in the Inquisitor as soon as I realized the principal was with ¡®The Circle¡¯ or whatever. I wouldn¡¯t have been in a position to get mind-swiped in the first place if I had done that. There were two reasons I didn¡¯t, and neither one of them were good: complacency and greed.


    The greed part was just to finish up Feras¡¯s gig and get some cool toys, toys I still need to test sometime soon. Greed has been a bit of an issue for a while, but I do need to get better about knowing when enough is enough. Especially considering the crime spree I want to go on sometime soon. It''s not my primary stumbling block though.


    The insidious nature of complacency was. I noticed this back after the firefight at the Mortas Motel, but I¡¯ve grown complacent since I got the system. I¡¯ve allowed what should¡¯ve been the greatest tool to ever grace my fingers to become a crutch I¡¯m leaning heavily on.


    Insight hasn¡¯t helped at all. It¡¯s a catch-all for danger that I¡¯ve allowed to overrule my own senses. Like, I should¡¯ve recognized Mortas Motel was shady and gotten out immediately instead of waiting for Insight to warn me. It was stupid. The place was obviously sketchy. Only one way in should''ve immediately set my streetrat instincts off.


    I also should¡¯ve recognized the plants were suspicious considering Drew¡¯s stash had plant traps in them, but instead not only did I ignore Insight - magically induced apathy or not - but I waited till I was in mortal danger before my brain finally decided to kick in.


    The interface granted me easy mode, and I¡¯d fallen back into it. Only, the world didn¡¯t  a difficult slider and I only screwed myself the longer I tried to coast. It was stupid. I could do better.


    That was part of the reason I wanted to start doing this kind of after-action report so I could catch the stupidity and improve. A lot of this stuff I pointed out was the second time it¡¯s happened. I don¡¯t want there to be a third.


    I finished writing it all down, looked through the list of things I could do better, and then leaned back. I flicked through the pages of writing, carefully nitpicking every detail further. Then, I ripped out the pages and set it on fire. No point in leaving a literal notebook about all my misdeeds lying around.


    Finally, I paid attention to the interface window that had been trying to get my attention since I got dressed.


    ¡¸Tech - 6>7¡¹


    ¡¸Stealth - 8>9¡¹


    ¡¸Sleight of Hand - 8>9¡¹


    ¡¸Perception - 6>7¡¹


    ¡¸Melee Weapons - 2>3¡¹


    ¡¸Intimidation - 2>3¡¹


    ¡¸Firearm - 3>4¡¹


    ¡¸First Aid - 3>4¡¹


    ¡¸Evasion - 2>3¡¹


    ¡¸Deception - 5>7¡¹


    ¡¸Criminology - 6>7¡¹


    The reward panel was bittersweet. I did a terrible job  got rewarded for it. Substantially. It was almost like the interface was trying to enforce my complacency. It made so much sense how the last owner died, especially if he was a combat junky. It only took a single moment in a fight for everything to go wrong.


    ''Course, the rewards weren¡¯t all for my actions in school. The interface also calculated everything I¡¯ve done in between the start of the gig and now. I still don¡¯t know how I feel about it working like that. What if I get into a gig that lasts a year or longer? Would I just be shit out of luck? No. I''d just have to rely on alternative methods to strengthen myself like other people.


    I sighed and pulled up the whole interface.


    ¡¸Name: Shiro Tsukuyomi


    Traits: Fox¡¯s Grace, Quick Healing, Insight


    Tracking - 7


    Stalk


    Tech - 7


    Eidetic Schematic


    Stealth - 9


    Fox¡¯s Paw


    Cold-Blooded


    Sleight of Hand - 9


    Hidden Hands


    Ambidextrous


    Perception - 7


    Aetherial Perception


    Net - 2


    Melee Weapons - 3


    Intimidation - 3


    Firearms - 4


    1 Skill Point


    First Aid - 4 Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    1 Skill Point


    Evasion - 3


    Driving - 7


    Land Vehicles


    Deception - 7


    Honest Face


    Criminology - 7


    Cues


    Concealment - 8


    Lethargic Presence


    Hidden Weapon


    Brawling - 1


    Accounting - 1


    Request Board - (5)¡¹


    Two Skill Points for Firearms and First Aid, which was nice. Not that I would use them quite yet. I finally got a chance to work on some other things, and I really don¡¯t want to give it up for two two-day naps. At least not yet.


    I slid over to my printer, booting it up for a moment before shutting everything down and flopping back into my chair. I didn¡¯t want to work. Like at all¡­ there were things I needed to do though. I couldn¡¯t just mope around all day.


    I glanced around my apartment, spotting several projects I needed to work on. The KSS Fused Panel vest I had been using sat off to the side, several bullets hanging in the lining. I needed to repair it at some point soon, though I might just be better off buying or obtaining a III+ vest considering the number of ARs around here. My clothes were similarly in need of repairs.


    Then there was my mask. Nothing too special there, but I wanted to try and integrate more tech into it. For instance, a commlink so I wouldn¡¯t have to block one of my ears if I needed to use it. Or maybe some kind of LED lighting for the eyes to make them look more intimidating if I needed to. An advanced HUD would be cool, but I don''t have the coding skills for that. It would also be nice to integrate ballistic-resistant materials into it at some point like a proper helmet.


    Finally, there was the katana I still hadn¡¯t repaired yet. Of the three, the last seemed the most appealing so I could finally pay Torren back for that time at the Motel. I grabbed the broken katana taken from the poser gang¡¯s leader and finally looked it over. The katana¡¯s blade had been well and truly shattered by Torren¡¯s hit, leaving about an inch of the blade sticking out of the hilt.


    It took me a minute to disassemble the parts that remained, leaving me wondering just how it all worked in the first place. The thing basically consisted of the battery and capacitors for the weapon, which meant the heating element must¡¯ve been in the blade itself.


    I flicked up my deck and surfed the net, sliding through dozens of images of thermal blades mostly by Raijin. Unfortunately, no matter how much I looked around, I couldn¡¯t find blueprints for how to make one. Raijin probably pulled some net sorcery to wipe the net of their ''proprietary tech''. Which just left me to guess how it all went together.


    From what it looked like, most thermal blades went with a layered approach of some sort. The blade itself tended to have two parts. The front half of the blade - the slicey part that turned red hot - sat mostly detached from the thicker back half. There were long sections of air separating the two from each other with only the occasional connection point for stability


    Or at least, that¡¯s what I thought at first glance. My levels in Tech weren¡¯t just for nothing though. The connection points were probably where the heating elements of the blades were as they heated the front of the blade.


    This was just a guess, but most blades were detached probably thanks to the ease of heating. It was a lot more efficient to heat the detached part of the blade than the entire thing considering only the front half would need to do the cutting. That, and the electronics in the back section would be safer since they wouldn¡¯t be facing as much direct heat.


    I could probably make the backside out of steel or something, but the blade was the important bit. If I had to guess, the last blade was a fairly cheap metal to save on costs, which was why it shattered fairly easily. Then the back side of the blade wasn¡¯t necessarily built to reinforce the blade''s structure as much as to hold the electronics, so it also broke right away.


    I could do better. Though it would take quite a bit of effort to get everything right considering I don¡¯t have a printer to work metal easily. I¡¯d have to buy roughly the right shape and then hand tool it to get it right¡­ or I could go ahead and invest in a plasma torch now. Hmm¡­


    I looked around the synthwood floor of my apartment. A plasma torch probably wouldn''t be the best idea. Which brings me back to getting somewhere else set up as a stash house and possibly a workshop. I could start up a bunch of other projects if I had more space. And I wouldn''t have to have my illegal printer out in plain view for anyone to see;


    For now, though, I sketched out a pretty simple design for a thermal katana focused on ease of repair and structural stability. I decided to go for a bolted approach so it could be broken back down quickly in case I needed to adjust or change something on the blade.


    I drew and redrew the schematic several times, trying to nail down not only form and function but also aesthetics. I dunno about Torren, but if I was walking around with a thermal katana, I would want it to be badass and intimidating, not some foam cutout look alike. Eventually, I settled on a design, packed my bag, and then headed for the door. I still had a lot to do today.

 Chapter 109

    Chapter 109My first stop? Fox¡¯s shrine. I managed to find it with a quick search of the Mapp?. It was in the Sabyt sub-district about a block from Viceroy Street and Absolom Clinic.


    As for why Fox over the other Eidolons that were participating in the Request? C¡¯mon, that was easy. Fox was the one I was closest to out of all of them, though close wasn¡¯t necessarily a word I¡¯d use to define our relationship. But I had her Trait and Perk, which counted for something.


    Now that I think about it, I¡¯ve interacted with Crow the most out of the elusive bunch. Between all of his Requests to klep shit and my face-to-face meetings with him via his Wheel of Wares, he was definitely up there.


    Fox¡¯s Shrine sat at the tippy top of Vixen Tower, which seemed to be a tower solely dedicated to service and shops. I looked through the directory on my way in, and the tower had at least three food courts scattered around its floors with hundreds of shops filling in everywhere between. It was a massive shopping tower and even had an indoor amusement park taking up the first several stories.


    Then, it was thankfully one long elevator ride up to the top. The first two elevators I tried quit working as soon as I pressed the button, but the third time proved to be the charm. I was worried I¡¯d have to climb over a hundred flights of stairs for a minute there.


    The elevator opened up to another world- well, not really. I could still smell the stench of the city and the ever-present neon gleamed in the distance, but the shrine was like a sanctuary in the midst of it all.


    The place looked as though it had been plucked out from my interface, actually. The shrine sat in a massive patch of grass and artificial hills that covered the entire roof of the tower. Off to the side, there were rock gardens and small ponds with stone lanterns calmly flickering around. Trees provided nice bits of shade scattered around with a few city folk resting up against their trunks.


    A familiar massive pagoda sat in the middle of the garden, reaching high into the sky. I¡¯d seen this place from my spot on the outskirts of the city, but I never knew quite what it was.


    The pagoda was done in shades of blue and black. Its walls shined with an internal light that would look quite spectacular in the night. The corners of the roof had intricate stone foxes lying on them, lounging around the place. Back behind the pagoda sat a massive tori gate framing the rest of the city in what I could only call picturesque.


    It felt like I was walking into an ancient world as I looked around. I couldn¡¯t spot one sign of anything technological outside the several people around. There were no lights, signs, or anything of the sort. Even the sounds of the city, which should¡¯ve still been fairly loud, sounded muted as if a layer of water blocked off the shrine from everything else. It was quite peaceful.


    But of course, this wasn¡¯t just any shrine. No, I could see the signs of it being something quite special without any effort. Foxes stalked around the place, playing around in the grass without a care. Some lounged around in the shade, sleeping peacefully within reaching distance of the city folk resting. Some lay in the trees, watching over everything. A few mischievously stole a sleeping man¡¯s lunch from his bag, snacking it down as the poor guy slept on blissfully unaware.


    Not all of them were physical though. For every materialized fox in the area, there was one that was still in its sprite form. The pangs of the Aether hung around them as they played around much the same as the others.


    As soon as I stepped free of the elevator, I flicked on Aetherial Perception. The entire place glowed faintly with the pagoda shining like a spotlight in the middle of it. I wasn¡¯t quite sure what the enchantments were, but they felt faintly like some kind of calming effect. Also probably a wind block of some kind considering how gentle the breeze was this high up. I decided to stay vigilant of my mental just in case.


    Foxes sat along the path occasionally, unlike the others playing around. These ones were quite large, at least the size of a wolf. They sat in strong contrast to the playful ones around them. Each of them seemed a little cold as they carefully observed everything like guards.


    Another note of difference was what they wore. Unlike other foxes, these wore what looked like black plate armor. Sapphires sat on their shoulders, shining with a protective light. Each piece of the armor must¡¯ve cost a ton, and yet I spotted at least sixteen of the guard foxes scattered around the place.


    Two of them sat on either side of the elevator. As I exited, they both stood up, their tails wagging playfully as the massive sprites lost their cold indifference. One bounded up to me, rubbing its armored side against me. Unfortunately, I was quite sho- erm, they were quite tall, so it nearly knocked me over as it hit my hip.


    I laughed lightly and dropped a hand onto its head, rubbing it slightly. The one I pet shot a triumphant look at the other. The other one harrumphed loudly and returned to its spot by the elevator. The other followed me as I headed off further onto the roof.


    It was a bit weird having my own personal escort as I walked around the place, catching plenty of looks from the gathered foxes as they inspected me for one reason or another. Some extremely small ones looking like babies tried to approach me, but were scared off as the fox growled at them deeply. They were so cute as they scampered around with little yips.


    I walked through the gardens, the armored fox closely following me, and took my time to look around as I waited for the notification that the Request was completed. It never came. Though I did get a sense of tranquility and calm that not even the neon flashes of the city skyline could take away.


    Maybe I needed to actually enter the pagoda? I headed there next, pausing momentarily as two wrestling foxes tumbled through the stone path. One grabbed the other by the scruff, easily launching it into a nearby pond. The red and white-scaled koi fish scattered as the fox struggled back to land.


    The winning fox let out a cheerful cry and headed back to the object they were fighting for: a silver watch. Only, a third snuck up while they were distracted and already vanished with the prize.


    I chuckled to myself as I headed for the entrance to the pagoda, checking my pockets to make sure I hadn¡¯t been a victim of these cute bandits yet. Thankfully, the answer was no. Still, I kept my eyes wide open as I headed for the blue and black building.


    The wood. actual wood I think, doors to the pagoda were wide open as I stepped into it. The inside was a fairly large room with benches centered around a massive silver statue of Fox. The statue of her was wrapped around a rock, staring intently down at the door with a sort of superiority and cunning to its eyes. Two large sapphires acted as the statue''s eyes, and the whole thing altogether must¡¯ve been quite expensive.


    Candles and lanterns were scattered around, burning with a weird blue fire. The flickering flames illuminated massive paintings on the walls., each depicting what looked like ancient Ukiyon. No- that wasn''t quite right. The structures were about two-thirds ancient looking and a third early two thousand ish.


    A woman carefully polishing the statue¡¯s fake fur turned back as I stepped in. She wore a baggy black shirt with detached sleeves falling over her hands. The shirt¡¯s seams were highlighted in brilliant blue with each thread done to look like a crescent moon. She wore a blue skirt, contrasting sharply with the black shirt.


    A mop of curly blue hair fell from her head, perfectly framing her - quite frankly - beautiful face. A bright smile, looking a bit like a corpo one but somehow more genuine, lit up her face as she saw me. She didn¡¯t even try to hide the look of confusion as she spotted the fox guard with me. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen you here before. Welcome to Aythryn City¡¯s Fox shrine.¡±


    The fox bumped me on the side before walking off to sit by the door. I glanced down at it briefly before looking back up to meet the woman¡¯s blue eyes. ¡°Thank you¡­¡±


    ¡°Are you a Magus?¡± She set down the cleaning supplies and stepped over to me, folding her arms in her sleeves.


    ¡°Oh, no¡­ my uh, my coworker is though. He talked about this place the other day, and I got curious.¡± I shrugged.


    ¡°Ah¡­ weird. Normally only Her Magus have the same feeling you do¡­ and the guards typically ignore outsiders." She smiled politely, though her confusion deepened. "Well then, feel free to take a look around. If you have any questions, I¡¯d be happy to answer them.¡±


    That''s weird. What is she sensing? The Trait maybe? Why hadn''t Feras sensed something similar- ah, but she was a Shrine Maiden. I wasn''t sure about the Magus ranking, but surely she had a higher rank than the grifter.


    ¡°I uh- I do have one question.¡± This one¡¯s been weighing on the back of my mind since I first heard about this place. ¡°I didn¡¯t even know there were eidolon shrines until a couple days ago. My coworker and I were¡­ , so I didn¡¯t ask too many questions, but why the shrines? Do Magus eidolons?¡±


    I¡¯d always thought it was more of a contractual thing, but hearing about the shrines made me rethink that sentiment. That, and paired with the words Feras used like ''Favor'' and ''Revelations'' had a more religious feeling to them.


    The woman glanced at the statue and shook her head with a chuckle. ¡°Ah, I can see your confusion. No, we don¡¯t worship eidolons. I mean, I¡¯m sure there are Magus that do, but generally, the sentiment is no. Lady Fox made it abundantly clear not to treat her like a god back when she first started taking on Magus about a hundred years ago. As far as I¡¯m aware, all of the eidolons voiced similar statements.¡±


    ¡°Then why all the-¡± I waved my hand around the place.


    ¡°Tax write-offs.¡± The Shrine Maiden grinned. ¡°I¡¯m only partially joking. Fox¡¯s Shrines are primarily meeting points for her Magus, which we need for various reasons. They¡¯re also spots where sprites can freely exit the Aether and materialize, at least within the bounds of the sanctuary.¡±


    Ah, that explains all the fox sprites around. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± The woman bowed her head slightly and then walked off back to her cleaning supplies.


    I spent a while just walking around the place and inspecting all of the murals. The woman finished cleaning and left the main hall of the pagoda for somewhere marked as employees only, leaving just me and the fox in the place.


    I meandered over to the statue, staring up at its expert workmanship. I felt a kind of pressure descend into the hall. It felt almost like gravity amplified a couple times, but only for my mental state. The weight pressed down on me as I looked up at the statue¡¯s face, seeing the sapphire eyes seem to sparkle with life.


    ¡¸Crow isn¡¯t the only one with cool toys.¡¹


    ¡¸Request - Favored Shrine - Complete


    Fox Charm Bracelet¡¹


    Did- did Fox just send me a message? The pressure faded entirely as I stared at the interface for several moments in confusion. Since when could the eidolons use the interface like that?


    And what¡¯s this Fox Charm Bracelet-


    A plume of ghostly pale blue fire appeared over my hand. From the fire dropped a bracelet I barely managed to catch. It was made from a blue string tied over itself again and again, giving it a fair amount of thickness. Silver brackets shaped like crescent moons backed the string. Three fox charms in various poses, made from something that looked like a pearl, rested at intervals over the bracelet.


    ¡¸Fox Charm Bracelet sea??h th§× Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Unlike Crow¡¯s tacky rewards, the Fox Charm Bracelet wasn¡¯t stolen. The bracelet was crafted with love by an ancient scholar and brought to life by the brilliant and intelligent Fox¡¯s blessings. Being blessed by the best Eidolon has granted the bracelet a series of effects.


    Slightly increased natural charisma


    One-time use: Create Minor Illusion


    One-time use: Create Minor Foxfire¡¹


    Wow. I never realized Fox was so¡­ . And what is with all the attacks at Crow? So what if his loot was stolen? I highly doubt I¡¯d ever get  as useful as Crow¡¯s Canteen of Chaos. Seriously. I didn¡¯t realize quite how strong it was when I first got it, but not having to worry about food and drink is  too strong.


    Why would Fox¡­ is it jealousy? That¡¯s the only thing that could make sense. Going off the descriptions and previous interactions, was Fox jealous of Crow-


    A pang of Insight hit me, promptly making me shift tracks as the armored fox cautiously approached me. It stared up at the statue before meeting my eyes with a look I could only describe as apologetic. Then, it gently bit my jacket and pulled me to the exit. I glanced one last time at the statue before following the fox back towards the elevator.


    Guess she was kicking me out. Thanks for the free bracelet I guess.

 Chapter 110

    Chapter 110Next stop: Absolom Clinic. I was close, so I might as well stop by and see how Nael is doing. I walked to Viceroy Street, leaving behind my bike as I ¡®enjoyed¡¯ the scents and sights of Aythryn City.


    I flicked on Aetherial Perception about every hundred steps. There were a surprising amount of things that glowed under my enhanced sight. For instance, a lot of the bigger ads, especially Raijin¡¯s, glowed. If I had to guess, it was probably some enchantment to make the ads more appealing. Or something like that. It was nauseating to look at.


    Outside of that, the walk through the city was about as unpleasant as I remember with the ever present stench of drugs, filth, and pollution.


    I decided to splurge a bit and get some ramen from one of the thousands of food carts scattered around the city. It was quite good. After being on a diet of purely liquid sustenance for weeks outside of that one time at Big Mike¡¯s, it felt weird to be eating food again.


    Nothing like staying off of soylent to really hammer home just how bland it actually was. The chef, a little old South Arkhanikan woman, had put some synthetic eggs into the dish to make it at least have a bit of flavor, but there was only so much she could do. I got one to go.


    I caught the hands of two pickpockets on my way to the clinic after stopping to eat. I got some sick kind of satisfaction at seeing the kids¡¯ faces twist in horror as they realized they were caught. Still, I didn¡¯t raise a fuss and let them go without any issues. I remember the desperation back then and the horror of being caught in the act. Still, if I got pick-pocketed in the city, it was no one¡¯s fault but my own.


    I dived through the surprisingly safe alleys into the center of the complex Absolom Clinic sat in. It looked about the same as usual with the ancient tree resting in the middle of it. Someone had planted small blue flowers all around the tree.


    My heart beat unsteadily as I studied them and flicked on Aetherial Perception. Thankfully, they were just normal flowers. No hint of the Aether surrounded them in the slightest.


    I walked into Absolom Clinic, finding Nael sitting off to the side as he listened to some old-world radio while writing in a book. My footsteps were dead silent and all my Perks were active, and yet he still managed to lock right onto me as soon as I stepped foot into the place.


    ¡±Shiro! How you doing, kid?¡± His face curved into a calm smile as he closed his book.


    I couldn¡¯t help but return the smile. Nael just had that effect on people. ¡±Pretty good. You?¡±


    ¡±Ah, you know how it is¡­¡± He waved a hand. ¡°You don¡¯t look injured this time around?¡±


    ¡±Can¡¯t I just come say hi to my favorite Medech?¡± I tilted my head innocently, using the full weight of my training over the past several weeks to pull off a cutesy look.


    Nael shuddered. The bastard. ¡°I guess¡­¡±


    I offered the bowl of fresh ramen. ¡°I got you some food too, if you want.¡±


    ¡±Thanks, kid.¡± Nael pushed out a chair to his side. ¡°You¡¯re looking good. Finally started eating right?¡±


    Well, not necessarily  but he didn¡¯t need to know that. ¡°Something like that.¡±


    ¡±Finally filling out.¡± Nael smirked. ¡°I won¡¯t have to worry about you blowing away in the wind now.¡±


    ¡°Har har.  funny.¡± I slid into the chair and handed him the bowl of ramen.


    He took it and gazed at me from head to toe. ¡°On the bright side, you look a little taller than the last time I saw you.¡±


    I immediately sat up in my chair, not even trying to resist the smile splaying across my face. ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡±Chek. Maybe an inch or two?¡±


    ¡±Hey, gains are gains.¡± I flexed my arms. Unfortunately, the flab- muscles barely even moved.


    ¡±Whatever you say, kid.¡± Nael dropped his hand onto the radio, running a hand over its edge as it blared the classy jazz from ages long past. ¡°You¡¯re being careful out there, right? I¡¯ve been hearing rumors of mass disappearances around the city.¡±


    ¡±¡¯Course!¡± I tapped my thigh. ¡°Never leave home unarmed.¡±


    Still, maybe I should start bringing some heavier-hitting gear around. I had the money now to get or make some nice stuff, so there wasn''t a point to keep moving around with just a weak pistol. Hell, I didn''t even have my body armor on since it still needed repairs.


    ¡±That¡¯s a relief¡­ It¡¯s kind of funny; I had a similar conversation with your mom. It would¡¯ve been-¡° he eyed me, ¡°-maybe eighteen or nineteen years ago.¡±


    I sighed. ¡±You never talk about her¡­¡±


    He shrugged, his usual smile fading away a bit. ¡°She was one of many patients that stopped walking through my door one day.¡±


    ¡°What was she like?¡± I asked quietly, half expecting the Medech not to answer. He never said much about my parents, but they were how I was introduced to him in the first place.


    The silence stretched on before he sighed deeply and rubbed his hands together. ¡°A wildfire. The first time I met her, she awoke in my old clinic with zero memory and immediately tried to stab me.¡± He chuckled. ¡°She passed out from the head rush though.¡±


    ¡±Sounds like Mom¡­¡± It lined up with what I remember of her. A rush of joy in an otherwise bleak life in the city. God, how I miss her. And my Dad for that matter. I could afford some real flowers now. Maybe I should bring some to their alcove?


    ¡°Your father was about the only one that could be around her without being immediately attacked for the first couple weeks.¡± He shrugged his shoulders, taking a deep breath. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since then though.¡±


    I wanted to keep asking questions but took the hints to change the subject. If he didn''t want to reminisce, there was no point in forcing him. Well, there was a point, but I didn''t want to force him. ¡°So what¡¯s new in the medical field?¡±


    Nael laughed, his calm smile returning. ¡°I¡¯ve been doing some research over your disposition towards chrome, actually. As far as I can tell, it''s similar to what Magus and Adepts go through, but to a lesser extent. If I had to guess, it might be something with your healing Kinetic ability running interference. You might outta look at biomods or magitech if full cybernetics are still on the fritz.¡±


    How thoughtful of him. I haven''t really thought about further enhancements since my eye glitched out. I still feel like it''s too soon to try anything. The memories of crushing guilt and fear still haunt me some nights.


    Hmm... to be honest, I dislike the thought of magitech and biomods in general, but I wasn¡¯t sure how much of that was just prejudice. Hell, I was already part magical considering the nature of my current array of abilities. ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep watch then. I¡¯m not a massive fan either since they can¡¯t be fixed as easily, but  you¡¯re looking for enhancement, it might be the choice. In my professional opinion, you shouldn''t get anything and  even downgrade, but I know what kind of field you''re in. ¡®Course, at the end of the day it''s up to you, kid.¡±


    ¡°Chek.¡± I think I should hold off a bit longer still. Especially with my new Perks pending and all that. I also wasn¡¯t quite sure how magitech would be affected by Quick Healing, Cold-Blooded, and other such ¡®gifts¡¯ that affected my body. Would they clash and cause another glitch or worse?


    And I didn''t really want anything to begin with. I didn''t have a burning desire to cut away parts of my body for improvements like so many other mercs and runners. At least not anymore. Still, I couldn''t deny how helpful they were.


    Especially if I get caught out in combat like what happened at Mortas Motel. Having subdermal armor back then would''ve been incredibly helpful. Or maybe some kind of leg enhancement to get around better.


    Nael shrugged and tapped on the countertop. "I''ll run some more models and tests to make sure before anything."


    ¡°Thanks, Nael... oh, that reminds me.¡± I flipped my bag around and sifted through it for a few moments before my hand landed on what I was looking for. I withdrew, revealing a brightly colored action figure. It held a goofy-looking rifle in its plastic grip. ¡°Finally got done with Doctor Absolom, V.3¡±


    I pulled a string on the back and the little figurine spoke. Its voice sounded like Nael¡¯s, but a bit deeper and with more vibrato. ¡°Stop, foul fiend! Face the might of my syringer!¡±


    I pressed down on a tiny button hidden on the figure¡¯s weird-looking rifle, causing a small syringe to pop out attached to a string. ¡°Eh? So, what do you think?¡±


    ¡°You dork.¡± He stretched out a hand towards my face. It took all I had in me to resist flinching away from his hand as he ruffled my hair. ¡°The kids loved the last batch; they¡¯re already all gone. The parents were very grateful- well, you know how it is.¡±


    ¡°Chek.¡± I shifted my gaze down to the little figurine. Maybe I should start making enemy figurines so it''s not just Doctor Absolom? Hmm¡­ it can¡¯t be people though. That would defeat the purpose in the first place. Maybe some kind of monster? I¡¯d have to think more about it later.


    We chatted for close to an hour before Nael got new clients. I dropped off the rest of the figurines and slipped out of the clinic while he was distracted, though knowing the Medech he knew exactly when I left the place.


    I was in a good mood as I slipped onto the streets and headed back to my bike. That was the social stuff done, at least for now. I did need to go see Mira, but I could wait till later for that. Now I just needed to gather some materials and head back to my apartment.


    My next stop was in Bricktown, so I got on the intercity and veered through Little Yukoto¡¯s traffic. I arrived shortly about a block from Tike Metal Co.


    Tike Metal Co. was my solution to the temporary metal crisis I found myself in. It was a small, family-owned company without any apparent connection to a large corporation. Not that that last bit mattered too much. No one would care that I went and bought some metal in the grand scheme of things. They specialized in custom creations from a variety of alloys, which was exactly what I needed at the moment.


    I stepped into the shop, a bell ringing over my head. The shop was set up like a museum with displays of worked metal and sculptures scattered around. Most looked to be simple steel, but some were made from titanium and aluminum alloys. There were all kinds from gigantic lizard monsters with LED lights built into their spines to lifelike statues of Dune Walkers in their state of bodily disrepair. Ironically, the Dune Walkers seemed to be silver.


    ¡±Hallo! Velcomen. How can ve help you?¡± A man asked from behind the counter, setting down a multitool. He seemed to be in the middle of repairing a radio.


    ¡±I¡¯m here to put in an order.¡± I said as I approached the counter. ¡°I need a Ti-Cube Alloy plate.¡± I pulled my notebook free from my bag and pulled a page out covered in my chicken scratch, handing it to the man. ¡°Here¡¯s the dimensions.¡± S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The guy looked it over for a moment as he nodded his head. ¡°Chek. Ve can do zis. Ti-Cube isn¡¯t cheap though.¡±


    ¡±That¡¯s fine.¡± I grabbed the page back and stuffed it back into my notebook. I already knew as much when I was researching what the blade should be made out of. Ti-Cube alloy was the best I could find, boasting a high tensile strength, corrosive resistance, and more importantly, high thermal conductivity. The only drawback was its price.


    ¡±Six hundred Rayn. Ve vill have it ready by the hour.¡± The man turned, shouting in another language to the back. Sounded Destinic, though that guess was probably influenced by the guy¡¯s accent more than anything.


    It hurt as I transferred over the Rayn. Especially knowing I still had several things to buy for the katana. Still, with as much money as I pumped into fixing the thing, it probably paled in comparison to the jammer and suppressor¡¯s combined cost.


    I left the shop, my time now ticking by as I rushed to my next destination. This one was a hardware appliance store. I spent some time buying a plasma torch and the internals for creating some heating elements. My basic idea was to run electricity through with a high enough resistance to generate heat. That, all over the blade and at a high voltage,  get it to an appropriate heat level.


    I also snagged a bunch of sheets of steel and some power tools, dropping me down by another nine-sixty Rayn. It was a bit expensive, but the torch was the main culprit. I opted to get one with a built-in air compressor so I wouldn¡¯t have to go buy one of those too. I barely managed to get the boxes strapped to my bike and covered up.


    Then it was back to Tike Metal Co. to pick up my purchase. They handed it over without much fanfare, which I was appreciative of. I got the sheet in the basic shape of the katana in an already heat-treated state. I¡¯d have to shape it and put an edge on it myself, but that wasn¡¯t too bad. At least it was already curved.


    I wanted to do the curve myself since the whole process was interesting. Katanas got their curves from the tempering and stacking of steel and carbon. The quenching process caused parts of the metal to shrink, causing a natural curvature. A Ti-Cube sheet wouldn¡¯t react the same way, so getting the initial curve was required. Less I could mess up, I guess.


    I managed to get everything packed up, but it was a tight squeeze. All the more reason to go snag a car sometime soon. Still, that wouldn¡¯t happen anytime soon with just barely over thirty-four hundred Rayn left in my account. Well, unless I found a good ¡®deal¡¯.


    Instead of immediately heading home, I opted to drive by Ruby¡¯s BBQ. It was stupid, of which there was no doubt in my mind. But I couldn¡¯t help the thrill and endorphins going straight to my brain as I drove by the scene of my crime.


    It was shut down, and there were armed Neo-Jokers all over the restaurant. The alleyways had guards walking around, and it looked like several guys were up on ladders installing new security. It would be a tough nut to crack if I ever decided to hit the place again.


    I got a couple of glares as I passed by, but they seemed more general animosity than anything. There was no warning from Insight. Still, I just did a quick drive-by before getting back on the road to Little Yukoto. No point in tempting my luck to go bad.


    There was still plenty I needed to get, but for now, this would do. The rest of the stuff I wanted wouldn¡¯t be found in just any store anyway, so there was no point trying.


    For instance, ballistic armor required a permit past a certain point. It would be much faster and easier to find a Night Market dealer. It was a good thing I had an in with that Constellation Market or whatever it was called.


    But that all could wait after I finished fixing the thermal katana.

 Chapter 111

    Chapter 111I started shaping the parts as soon as I got into my apartment. It was a bit risky sending sparks and fire everywhere, so I moved my workstation into the kitchen. Slightly less flammable, but still not quite safe. I¡¯d just have to be mindful of the fire hazard. And it''s not like this would be a common situation, but I really needed to get this done.


    The blade part itself was almost done outside of fixing up the joints to attach to the heating elements. Oh, and the blade actually needed to have an edge sharp enough to cut. It didn¡¯t need to be the sharpest thing ever since the heat part of the blade would easily let it slice through stuff, but it did need to be as good as I could get it with what I had.


    I pulled the blade free of its wrapping from the metal company and set up my grinder. It was a hand tool, so it wasn¡¯t exactly the best machine to use for what I wanted, but it would do for now. I rigged up a mount for it using several of the gun parts stacked together and some old boxes in a jury-rigged vice grip of sorts. Then I flicked it on. The grinder whirled into action, the squeal of machinery echoing through my apartment. It was a bit shaky, but I fixed that by bolting into place.


    I grabbed my handheld radio and put in earbuds, drowning out the screeches of the metal under old-world jazz. The smooth trills of trumpets and brassy blasts of trombones soothed my soul as I returned to work. I also threw on some thick gloves, tossed on my mask so I wouldn¡¯t be breathing in metal dust, and tied my long hair into a ponytail.


    Before doing anything, I checked through my notes just in case I was forgetting something. Nothing stood out. I ran the edge side of the blade through the grinder, carefully managing my pressure and grip to have a consistent grind across the surface. Sparks flew, though not as many as I would expect, as the Ti-Cube blade ran through the grinder. I pulled it out, the metal barely even deformed past the heat treating.


    I sighed and flipped it over, running it through the grinder again. And again. And again. I repeated the process, the songs blaring into my ears blended together as the shape of the blade slowly came into view. I had called it a blade for a while, but it was really just a block of curved metal with some parts sticking out the back when I first got it.


    After hours of grueling work, the blade fully looked like a blade. Or at least as close as I wanted to get it without swapping over to a finer grit grinding disk. Before doing that, I went over the blade slowly and evened it out to have one consistent shape and edge. The ridges from where I messed up were dropped down to one fairly flat blade.


    I changed the grinder head, swapping it for a finer grit before going over it slowly. I worked the blade, getting it to a sharper edge. It wasn¡¯t paper thin by the time I stopped, but I did test it on a cardboard box. It easily sliced through the thing. Not the most impressive, but it was good enough for me. If Torren wanted a better sword, he¡¯d have to go actually buy one, not have me make a scuffed one.


    I took off my gear, wiped the sweat from my brow, and took apart the grinding fixture I put up. Next came getting the rest of the blade to the right shape. My basic design had two sheets of metal sandwiching the heating and electrical elements to act as support for the structure and to protect the relatively fragile electronics.


    I traced the shape across two plates of steel, carefully drawing what I wanted the shape to be. It was the back end of the blade, so it was curved as well though quite a bit wider. I also drew spots for several brackets that would help hold the entire thing together.


    It took a bit of finagling to get set up, but I managed to get my plasma torch hooked up onto my metal work table and grounded. Since I didn¡¯t want to cut through my table, I hung the plates of steel off the side.


    I threw my gear back on and then picked up the small gun-looking plasma torch. As soon as I pulled the trigger, an arc of electricity shot out onto the metal, turning to hot plasma in mere nanoseconds as the air compressor kicked on. The Plasma easily cut through the metal as if it wasn¡¯t even there.


    Tech had, thankfully, been quite thorough in its teachings, so the torch was something I¡¯d already used in the learning space. I wasn¡¯t a master at it, and my hands were a bit shaky as I traced the outline on the metal, but I wasn¡¯t inexperienced. Molten metal blasted downward, splattering my kitchen¡¯s tile in quickly dimming specks of brilliant orange.


    I carefully cut the first piece out, having to pause and flip the piece around on my table halfway through, then moved on to the next after making sure nothing caught fire. As I started cutting the second piece, it dawned on me that I probably should¡¯ve stacked them together and cut them at the same time so they¡¯d end up more uniform. It was too late for that though, so I steadily cut out the second piece and the brackets.


    I flicked off the plasma torch and eyed my handiwork. They weren¡¯t beautiful by any means, but I had the rough shape of the back half of the blade mostly done now. I unplugged the plasma cutter and swept up the bits of metal and shavings everywhere, taking some extra time to take a drink from my canteen.


    Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t have water set and drank more of Jack¡¯s Sun Kicker. It didn¡¯t work quite as well at hydration, so I had to actually get water from the tap like a plebian. Thankfully, the apartment had rather clean water, unlike my place at the Ryu Container Yard. It wasn¡¯t as good as the water from the canteen, but it wasn''t absolutely horrible.


    I took a brief break and then got back to it, running my grinder on the edges of the steel to even out any of the roughness from my cutting. It took a long time to go around every piece and get them smooth. Err, about as smooth as I could. There were some spots where my shaky hands took off a bit too much with the torch, but I had to leave those so I wouldn''t be taking off too much metal.


    Next, I got my new drill and popped three holes through both parts, making them just wide enough to run a bolt through them. I slotted everything together, sliding the Ti-Cube blade onto the mounting brackets of the steel, and laid it all out.


    The blade fit perfectly into the gap of the hilt. I drilled a hole through the tang of the two pieces, along with a metal spacer, and ran a bolt through the hilt of the katana. The tang for the thermal katana was quite small compared to how they used to do it in the old days thanks to needing space in the hilt for the electronics. It still wasn¡¯t a thermal katana yet, but it actually looked like it could do some damage once I put it all together.


    For the next several hours, I wired the capacitor bank and the battery that originally came with the blade up the gap between the two steel layers. It was a pain in the rear, especially considering the high voltage I was working with. And I needed to go out and buy a DC-to-AC converter for the battery so my heating elements would work. It was a mess figuring out how to fit it in the hilt.


    It took even longer to get the actual heating bits done. I wrapped the coils around the blade¡¯s connection points and set up the finished circuits so they would run through the blade. The resistance of the blade to the electrical currents would then generate heat.


    I finished the internals and then sandwiched them between the two steel sheets. From there, I ran three bolts through the blade to hold it all together, each bolt having a bracket to help hold it together. The connection points to the Ti-Cube blade were the weakest links. Somehow I overlooked the fact the blade was held together purely through the indirect pressure of the bolts. Something to fix on my next iteration of the blade.


    For now, though, this was just a test to make sure everything worked more than anything. I hit the small switch on the original Katana hilt, causing a small red bulb just under the hilt wrapping to glow red. I waited a moment for the electricity to start working through the heating elements. Two. Three¡­


    I flicked it off after nothing happened and cracked open the blade, glad I decided to go with something easily disassembled. As it turns out, I shorted the converter out, accidentally grounding it to an exposed wire.


    After disconnecting the power supply, a rather nifty rechargeable battery about the size of my fist, I fixed the issue and visually ran back through the blade, finding one other spot at the final heating element where I similarly screwed up.


    I rescrewed the bolts, fixing them back up. This time, the light turned on, quickly followed by the blade starting to glow. The heat spread out from the connection points into the rest of the katana blade as the entire thing turned a dim orange after several seconds. The heat remained, growing brighter and brighter for several minutes.


    Then something popped in the back half of the blade. The entire thing went into sparks, followed by a buzzing vibration before I could switch the thing off. I had to wait for it to cool down before starting work on the thing again.


    This time, when I opened the blade and hilt back up, smoke poured out from the converter. It took me several minutes looking through the various parts before I realized the katana blade got so hot it melted the rubber casing off of one of the wires, shorting the entire thing. The converter barely saved the rest of the hilt¡¯s internals from being hit by the backlash but at the sacrifice of itself.


    I tossed the blade parts onto my desk and leaned back against one of the kitchen counters. This was getting more and more expensive as time passed. I had some ideas on how better to get the blade set up, but none of them were exactly cheap. On top of that, I¡¯d have to go buy a new converter tomorrow. It was already so late.


    First and foremost I could use some kind of ceramic instead of metal for the back half of the blade, which would help the heat feeding back somewhat. My other idea was to incorporate a circuit board and thermometer into the design to control the output of the heating elements.


    Both had their pros and cons. The ceramic would be annoying to get set up, especially considering its relatively brittle nature unless I splurged on some specialty caramels. I had some ideas to get in the right shape, but they were just ideas. Ceramics were only briefly touched in the interface.


    The thermometer would be the most difficult to set up out of the two, though probably the cheapest. It would be annoying to figure out how to get it all to mesh together properly, but the biggest issue was I would be regulating the heat output of the katana, effectively weakening its damage potential.


    To be fair though, with the insane amount of strength Torren could wield, it didn¡¯t really matter if I turned down the heat a bit. And it''s not like it would weaken the blade too much. It would still be a katana heated up to the point of glowing.


    Cleaning up my kitchenette slightly, I headed back to my living room and started to do some exercises. Nothing fancy, just some bodyweight exercises, but it was better than nothing. Exercising before bed was something I wanted to get into a habit of, especially considering all muscle fatigue would be healed as I slept.  Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I moved until my muscles started to burn, then a bit past that before heading to the shower and then bed. The whole time, thoughts of the katana and how to get it working were on my mind.

 Chapter 112

    Chapter 112Early the next day, I went out and bought everything I would need, dropping yet another hundred and thirty Rayn on parts. It wasn''t all a waste, at least. I was getting experience out of this if nothing else.


    The fried circuitry was as simple as switching it out, but the other improvements I wanted to make were more complicated. I decided to go with a heat-controlling approach. It was the cheapest to set up and would fix a few other problems with the blade, like battery life and sustainability. And hopefully would keep the blade from becoming to malleable at higher temperatures.


    I got back to my apartment and got to work. I managed to snag an actual heat regulator instead of just a thermometer, which was nice. It automatically did everything I would want it to do without making me figure out how to get it all connected. It was as easy as connecting the heat sensing bit to the blade, and then sticking the heat regulator onto the katana. I had to reshape the base of the katana to get it to fit without weakening the structural integrity, but even that wasn¡¯t too much of a problem.


    Then I easily set the minimum and maximum temperatures and connected it to a switch leading from the capacitors to the rest of the circuit. In theory, it should turn off the heating elements once it gets to the maximum heat, while still allowing the capacitors to fill, then turn them back on once the blade gets to the minimum temperature.


    I got everything rebuilt. It weighed a bit more than it originally did but hopefully would work better this time. I flicked on the blade, the small bulb on the hilt lighting up. A low hum filled the air as the blade started to glow hot. As soon as it turned red, the humming dimmed slightly. The blade lost a bit of heat, and then turned back on, keeping it a nice blood-red color.


    I set it up and let it run for a while, listening to the soothing buzzes of electricity as I thought through the process of making the blade. To be honest, I probably could¡¯ve just used a wire as the part that got hot and had everything external instead of hidden between two sheets of metal, and it would¡¯ve been way easier.


    It wouldn¡¯t have looked as cool, or potentially lethal, but it would¡¯ve been a lot cheaper¡­ ugh, something to think about the next time. If I ever make a thermal katana again, that is. I doubt it though. I wouldn¡¯t necessarily have much use for one.


    I checked the katana, finding it still running just fine. I¡¯d let it go for another couple of hours just to make sure there weren¡¯t any faults, recharge the battery, and then hand it back off to Torren.


    Until its battery finished, I wanted to work on some other things. For instance, my mask. It was really inconvenient to have to use my commlink and my mask. Sure, they were designed to not block noise too much, but what if the earpiece blocked just enough sound that I missed some audio cue of someone walking up behind me?


    That was just one of the adjustments I wanted to make. There was also that stealth suit and armor I got from the Neo-Jokers, and it was really about time I set up a full suit for gigs instead of just going in my clothes and body armor like a broke bitch. Hmm¡­ maybe I can even incorporate the mask into the armor? Kill multiple birds with one stone.


    I moved over to where I stashed the two sets and pulled them out, looking them over. The heavy armor looked similar to a Crusader¡¯s, though not as shiny. It consisted of greaves, vambraces, a chestplate, and a full helmet. The helmet was flat and angular, with sharp edges and fins along its cheeks. It frankly looked a bit alien, especially without any viewing ports. Instead, it had four pinpricks of light around where the eyes should be, hiding small cameras. Or at least, it would when the thing was charged.


    The heavy-duty protective armor, after I snooped around for its information, was rated as level IV. Not quite as good as a Crusader¡¯s armor, but what was I really expecting? The armor would provide about the same level of protection as heavy subdermal armor at least. And the armor was surprisingly light. It felt no heavier than a backpack with everything on. A fully loaded backpack.


    The stealth suit, or whatever its actual name was, had specialized threads woven into rather skin-tight clothes with pitch-black padding covering everything important. It was far lighter than the heavy armor, feeling as though I was wearing air when I tried it on. It wasn''t sized properly, but I could probably fix that.


    It was built to capture thermal signatures, making heat sensors not even a problem. That combined with the threads'' anechoic properties, which practically eliminated vibrations, made it quite useful. It came with a deep hood that could cover the face. Based on the way it seemed to devour light, it was probably done in some kind of blackout too.


    I had two options. I could leave them as is, one set for combat and one for stealth, or I could merge the two. They would lose out a bit in their perspective fields, but I would have just one set, making it far less likely to get caught out in the wrong armor. It would be especially helpful if I fucked up during a heist and had to get out under fire.


    That, and I wouldn¡¯t have to decide which set got which upgrades, and would only have to worry about maintaining one kit. Hmm¡­ I would mostly be taking a hit in the stealth aspect if I incorporated them together, but I¡¯ve gone this far without some fancy threads. It would still be an overall improvement to my capabilities.  I''d be protected.


    I¡¯d need some supplies to do a good job of merging the two though. Some blackout paint for the armor to start with. I could also try and incorporate Blackout at some point from Advent¡¯s tech. I still had that blueprint floating around in my head thanks to Eidetic Schematic. Maybe change out the cameras inside the helmet for something else too?


    But that all would need money, equipment, time, and a Night Market for some of the stuff, so it was on the back burner for now. I¡¯d keep them separate till I was ready. It would be nice though. Maybe I could push the armor as a new identity for taking care of more high-risk gigs I didn¡¯t want to be attached to the name of ¡®Shiro¡¯.


    Damn, how many identities did I have by now? Stupid Shiro and her amateur klepping skills, Squire Ichima and her investigative skills, Lady Meno and her innocent clumsiness, and then this new one?


    Still, they were all tied to my face. The armor would be a nice turnaround, and I could use my skills more consistently without worrying about things going bottom up. If worse came to pass, I could just ditch the armor and live on as though nothing happened. Yeah, the more I thought about this, the better I liked it. I¡¯d just have to be careful about how I did things. I could even allow my real identity to drop out of the game altogether.


    I wrote some notes and messed around with some designs on other things that were interesting. I also tried to do some more research on Carl Langstrum, the doctor who bought the weird egg, to no avail.


    I checked back on the katana, finding it dead after running for two and a half hours. Not an amazing battery life, but it would do. I took the katana apart one final time, adding green neon bulbs along the blade. It would chop off some battery life, but Torren wanted the katana green. I also ran to a corner store and bought some green spray paint, which I splattered all over the katana blade. No clue if the heat would make it peel off, but whatever.


    I reassembled and plugged the katana into an outlet to charge back up. I also sent a message to Torren. ¡®Katana is fixed. Want to meet up?¡¯


    ¡¯Nova! Yeah, I¡¯ll bring the rest of the noise thingy¡¯s parts. In four hours at Maroo¡¯s?¡¯


    Maroo¡¯s? I checked the Mapp, finding Maroo¡¯s to be a bar located in East End¡¯s sub-district Dios¨¦, just south of the Scath Heights and north of Oldtown. Dios¨¦ was the type of place the Cartels liked to hang, so I was a bit iffy about heading there. That, and I¡¯d never actually been to the sub-district.


    I didn¡¯t want a repeat of the Mortas Motel, so I did a more thorough sweep of the Net for the place. It looked safe enough but looks could be very deceiving. Who knows? With my luck, it was probably the hangout of some minor gang again.


    ¡¯Can we go somewhere else?¡¯ I sent back.


    ¡¯I¡¯m in the middle of something. It¡¯ll probably be a couple of weeks before I can meet up with you somewhere else. It¡¯s a hundred percent safe, choom. I''ve been coming here since I was a kid.¡¯


    ¡®Fine.¡¯ But I wasn''t going without loading myself up. I filled my bag with supplies and grabbed my guns. I even stuffed two of my grenades into my pockets. I briefly thought about throwing on the heavy armor, but it still looked the exact same as the Neo-Joker¡¯s other sets, and I didn¡¯t want anyone to link it to me. It would have to wait till I could make changes.


    I did put on my old armor even though it wasn¡¯t in the best shape. Anything was better than nothing. Hopefully, I wouldn¡¯t need it, but there was no telling with my shitty luck. As long as I stayed clear of the Viento Cartel though, everything should be fine.


    While I waited for the battery to recharge, which took just over twenty minutes, I did more research on Dios¨¦ and Maroo''s just in case. I memorized every blueprint I could of the place from the city archives, preplanning several escape routes just in case. I  didn''t want to get caught out again.


    I checked the time. Seeing as I had several hours, and I adjusted some plans and grabbed my new Drop Chutes.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    The Outskirts was my next destination, far from any cameras or eyes of onlookers. It took a while to find the right kind of dune, one with a hard sandstone cliff dropping down onto the sand and far enough from where the Hawks operated. The Drop Chute, at least according to the manual Feras sent me, only activated after a minimum height to help conserve battery. That height was just over a story, which wasn¡¯t an issue for most people. Definitely not an issue with chrome limbs or spring tendons.


    The part of the cliff I stood on was just over two stories. I was a bit worried about injuring myself if the thing didn¡¯t activate properly, but the drop was onto sand which would help. And it''s not like the injury would be permanent in the first place thanks to Quick Healing.


    I strapped the pods to myself. There were five parts to the Drop Chute. They looked a bit like playing cards with a slightly wider base, though there was one that was significantly larger. They stuck out in an almost triangular shape. Two of them went around my shoulders, the large one went around my lower back, and the last two were supposed to go around my hips.


    As I put all of them on, I hit a small button on each of them. They all turned on with a dim purple glow coming out of the ¡®thruster¡¯ end. They did look rather sick. They were still in the prototyping phase from Sentinel, so they hadn¡¯t gotten hit yet with Sentinel''s overdone color scheme. The purple on silver was oddly appealing.


    I looked down at the two-story drop and mentally psyched myself up. According to the manual, I needed to jump and lean back a bit in mid-air as if I were leaning against a wall.


    I took a deep breath, then tossed myself off the top of the rock face. I adjusted, the Drop Chute helping somewhat to manipulate my posture. As soon as I hit about a story fall, my momentum only increased as time passed, the chutes kicked on with a low whine.  Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The speed bled off of me as five pinpricks of heat hit my back. In a mere moment, they lowered my drop speed as if I just hopped and hadn''t fallen two stories. I slipped on the sand, tumbling down the small dune half in shock at just how effective they were. Sure, it was only a two-story drop, but they were damn impressive. I was expecting them to not even work in the first place.


    Already, visions of high-octane escapes by jumping out of skyscrapers played in my head. Or even stealthy jumps out of a building. They would provide so many more options for infiltration and extraction after I tested them more.


    I spent a while longer messing around with the devices, testing them from various heights. The highest I got was a sandstone cliff about five stories tall. The Drop Chute handled the drop perfectly, further enriching some plans I had. I even tested increasing and decreasing my weight with stuff from my bike to marginal differences.


    Before long though, the batteries died. They handled twenty-five falls without any issues. Based on my observations, they would probably die before stopping a drop from a hundred stories up, so that was something I might want to look out for.


    Or maybe I could wire it up to an external battery somehow. Hmm¡­ They also seemed to have an overheating issue I would need to watch out for. Maybe I could run some kind of cooling system through a harness? I could also make a switch somewhere to easily activate them instead of having to hit each one manually.


    Regardless, my appointment with Torren was rapidly approaching and I could think about this later. I loaded back up on my bike and headed for the city.

 Chapter 113

    Chapter 113Dios¨¦ was a sub-district I had yet to go to. Really, it wasn¡¯t all that surprising. I¡¯d avoided most of the East End considering the rep it had. No point getting my head blown off just to go on a tourist trip. Or worse, if I decided to travel into the Scath Heights.


    Dios¨¦ was a bit like the rest of the city with its towering buildings and strips of neon everywhere, but the buildings here were more stacked on each other then anywhere else I¡¯d seen. Its towering buildings - as opposed to towers stacked on each other like the rest of the city - looked more like a one or two-story building was built, and then another was built on top of it.


    The cycle repeated till there were hundreds of shady alley-looking passages all built under artificial hills of cement and steel. All of which the intercity highways passed high above, giving a perfect view as I drove into the sub-district.


    The further I went into it, the more gang activity I spotted. Unlike the bright red hair and bikes of the Neo-Jokers or samurai-inspired clothing and tattoos of the Jade Fangs, which made it painfully obvious when the gang was around, the gangs around here - at least the small ones - had a kind of swagger to them. It was hard to put into words. It wasn''t quite Insight, but just a feeling I had as I drove down a road going over top one of the ''hills''.


    I''d done enough research to know just how many gangs were in the area. The Viento Cartel was the one I¡¯d have to look out for though. Much like how the Neo-Jokers controlled the majority of Bricktown, the Viento Cartel was in power of East End. Or at least parts of East End. This place was a breeding ground for smaller gangs of desperates.


    I wasn¡¯t just pulling that out of nowhere either. In my research of East End, which included scouring he database of the Blue Crusade, I found East End had the highest crime rates in the city, most of which were gang-related activities for small gangs. I always knew that hence my apprehension towards East End, but it was nice to have factual data to prove it.


    Still, as long as I avoided confrontation and didn¡¯t intentionally flag myself as someone suspicious, I should be fine. I rode down the roads, crawling through traffic. I had to pass through far too many tunnels, buildings making up the ceiling and walls of the passages, as I worked my way to my destination.


    Maroo¡¯s sat right in the middle of Dios¨¦. As I drove up and parked in a garage marked with symbols of green stripes everywhere, I got my first good look at the place. I mean, sure I had seen pictures off the Net, but seeing the place in person was different.


    Maroo¡¯s was one of the few buildings on the top ''layer'' of the city. Three bouncers stood around the entrance, each armed with SMGs of some kind. It was reassuring to see, in some twisted way. If I got shot, the body armor should help at least. They probably had some heavy hitters in there somewhere though.


    I went through my preplanned escape routes as I walked toward the club, axing over a dozen of them as I got a better look around the place. I eyed the line for a moment, katana strapped to my back, and then stepped off to the side to send a message to Torren. ¡®I¡¯m here. Big line and I don¡¯t want to wait.¡¯


    A few seconds later, the big guy replied. ¡®Gotcha¡¯. Skip past the line and I¡¯ll be at the door in a few.¡¯


    That didn¡¯t bode well. Here I thought Maroo¡¯s was just a popping club and Torren was a patron. I guess I should¡¯ve known better than that. If he could come let me past the line, then he had some level of authority in the place¡­ that just left the question, what group was he with?


    A large part of me wanted to back out, but I felt that greed flaunt its deadly head. He had the rest of the parts for my Sonic Suppressor. I weighed my options for a moment.


    I could stay, do the trade, and leave with a fairly high chance of exposure to a group or situation that could prove annoying. Or I could leave now, be stuck with the katana for another two weeks if not longer, and potentially irritate a guy strong enough to rip a guy¡¯s head off with ease. Oh, and I wouldn''t have the Sonic Suppressor...


    Decisions, decisions¡­ hmm...


    I¡¯ll stay. It was a bit risky, true, but it wasn¡¯t like I was a weak little rabbit. I had grenades that could mess people up if need be. That, and I¡¯d rather stay on good terms with Torren. As they say, it''s best to leave bridges unburned.


    I headed for the door, nearly tripping over a guy as he slumped over unconscious and fell out of the line. I nimbly hopped over him, passively noting the dozens of red marks all over his arms. Probably a druggie.


    Two of the guy''s chooms were picking him up, carrying him back out of the area, so I didn¡¯t do anything but keep on keeping on. I arrived at the front door before too long, catching irritated looks from those in line. Why do I keep finding myself in this situation?


    One of the bouncers stopped me. Now that I was a bit closer, I got a full picture of the level of danger I was dealing with. All three were decked in some moderately expensive chrome. One had a processor sticking out of the side of his head, another had some extremely beefy chrome arms, and the last had some kind of chrome legs.


    I couldn¡¯t see exactly what kind thanks to his clothes, but the legs plus the tickler sockets at his knuckles made my gut clench. Could probably run me through before in less than a second.


    The beefy guy crossed his arms, the imitation metal muscles rippling as he frowned down at me. ¡°Get back in line, pendejo.¡±


    That¡¯s not very nice¡­ I waited a few moments at the door, ignoring the guy for a moment as I checked the Mapp? and made sure I was in the right spot. It was more of a nervous tick than anything. ¡°I¡¯m here for someone.¡±


    Torren appeared right as the guard looked like he would blow a gasket at me. ¡°Zuku! She¡¯s with me, Pedro.¡±


    The bouncer glared at me for a moment longer before stepping out of the way. The one with the processor chuckled and patted him on the shoulder. ¡°Go on in, miss.¡±


    Torren waved a hand to the bouncers as we stepped into Maroo¡¯s. There was a small airlock-type area before we got out into the clubbing part of the club. Torren led me through the groups dancing like there was no tomorrow, most of them incredibly intoxicated to the point there might not be a tomorrow. He nodded and spoke with several people, but the music was too loud for me to make out what he said without effort. I didn¡¯t bother trying.


    Eventually, we walked up a back set of stairs, passing by several armed guards. Once things quieted down, Torren asked, ¡°How¡¯ve you been, Zuku?¡±


    ¡°Just working on some stuff. You?¡± I asked as we stepped into a dimly lit hallway. Private rooms sat spaced evenly along it on one side and the other was a boothed balcony looking down onto the dance floor.


    ¡±Nova! My uncle got me set up with another gig.¡± Torren smiled, cracking his knuckles idly. ¡°This one is going to be a lot more my pace, you feel?¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± We fell silent for a moment as we passed yet another set of guards. These were kitted with Sentinel chrome, an extremely noticeable uptick in security. I even recognized one of their arms as Sentinel¡¯s LA Mesa, which was basically what you get when you cross chrome and a belt-fed assault rifle. Super uncomfortable to be around, to the point I was tempted to jump off the balcony and escape.


    The pale green light tattoos covering the guards didn¡¯t make me feel any better either. Nothing immediately stood out to me, but I didn¡¯t move in this area so it was hard to tell what was a gang tattoo and what wasn¡¯t. Lost of skulls and crosses either way. ¡°Who¡¯s in charge of Maroo¡¯s anyway?¡± I tried unsuccessfully to keep my tone casual.


    Torren didn¡¯t seem to notice as we finally hit the top of the stairs. ¡°Oh, just the Viento Cartel.¡±


    Oh, it was just the Vie- I froze up as we hit the top of the stairs. The hallway here was much wider with several high-quality doors blocking the way into private rooms. That wasn¡¯t what made me lock up, no, that honor would belong to the man - if I could even call him that - exiting a doorway down the hall.


    I may not be familiar with the people of Dios¨¦, or anywhere for that matter, but some people had a massive reputation even a no one like me knew of. The man standing down the hall was one such person: Carlos ¡°El Soga¡± Garc¨ªas. Smaller scream streams all over the Arkhanikas loved to talk about the guy.


    El Soga, aka ¡®The Rope¡¯, may not have the most frightening nickname, but that was before you heard the stories. El Soga was one of the Viento Cartel''s four main enforcers, and his kill count was probably in the thousands. He was well known for hanging his victims, usually off the side of buildings in very public executions.


    The guy looked more ''borg than human, and he was entirely covered in military-grade chrome. Most of it didn¡¯t look familiar, but the parts that did? Dangerous. Most of the stuff looked like a mix between Raijin and KairoTech of all things. It was seriously weird seeing KairoTech¡¯s stuff in Aythryn City, more so than Shen Kang shit. The guy''s synthskin was heavily warped with signs of heavy subdermal armor.


    I guess the mix match of gear made more sense considering the position of the Cartel. Unlike the Neo-Jokers, the Viento Cartel in Aythryn City was just an offshoot with the bulk of the organization in South Arkhanika. It was closer to the Jade Fangs under the Ryuu Syndicate.


    El Soga looked over to us, forcing me to activate Cold-Blooded to keep my calm and not book it. The guy glanced between me and Torren with a smirk on his face, laughed, and then stalked off up the hall. I didn''t know how I should feel by his actions. It was preferable to being strung up to die, I guess. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    "The katana?" The shocks of cold kept me somewhat grounded as Torren led us off to one of the private rooms without a hint of concern on his face. That fact was more concerning than anything. Just who was Torren?


    I swapped off the Perk, shivering slightly as I became intimately aware of how cold everything suddenly was. I slid the blade off my back and passed it over to him. ¡°Mostly. I had to redo the entirety of the blade though.¡±


    The sheath was just a poorly tossed-together rope bit. Torren whipped it out, turning it on without a moment¡¯s hesitation. The weapon lit up, crimson red accumulating on the blade. He waved it, the low hum of electricity and the hissing of the thermal bits meeting fresh air emanating from the sword. ¡°Nice¡­ very nice.¡±


    I watched him play with the deadly weapon as my mind whirled into thought. At first, I figured his wanting me to fix it was a cost-type deal. After looking around on the Net for so long, I was intimately aware of how pricey the thing could get. But that was assuming he was a broke merc like me and Feras. Seeing him here, in a private room inside of a Viento Cartel stronghold, made me rethink that sentiment. Rayn not being on his ¡®Three Fs¡¯ was also starting to make sense.


    Torren flicked off the heat elements with a wide smile on his face. ¡°Good job, choom. Here.¡± He grabbed a duffel bag and handed it to me. ¡°The Sonic Suppressor.¡±


    I checked the bag, making sure everything was in there. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it¡­ " The big guy suddenly felt a lot less friendly even if nothing about him actually changed. "Hey, I got a new gig if you want to join? Good Rayn.¡±


    I took a calculated step to the door. ¡°I¡¯m in the middle of some things. ¡®Sides, like you said, combat isn¡¯t my strong suit.¡±


    Torren shrugged. ¡°Chek. Well, if you ever need a bruiser, you know where to find me.¡±


    I glanced around at the rather high-end private booth. ¡°Sure do¡­¡±


    His fat fingers traced the hilt of the thermal katana. ¡°Want me to walk you out?¡±


    ¡°Nah, I got it. You look like you can¡¯t wait to play with your new toy anyway. Wouldn¡¯t want to keep you.¡± I slung the bag over my shoulder and headed for the door. To my honest surprise, no one stopped me nor did anyone say anything as I walked out the door and headed for my bike.


    Before heading home, I made a stop by my spot in the Outskirts to truly calm myself down.

 Chapter 114

    Chapter 114Once I got home, I headed for bed. It was really about time I got to something I¡¯d been pushing off for a couple days: my Perk Points. I didn¡¯t want to spend both all at once though, so I¡¯d do one now and one later. I figured it help with my mental to not be trapped in the learning space for so long.


    As I was pulled from my soft, comfy bed into the ancient-looking pavilion of the interface, I couldn¡¯t help but appreciate just how soothing the place was. When I first entered the place, it had been a little eerie. With the addition of more shelves and my growing comfort with the whole interface, it was quite a peaceful place. It almost felt like a private library secluded up in the mountains, all just for me. It was pretty nova.


    I headed off to find my first shelf: First Aid. It was the exact same as every shelf in this place, though the glowing ball of fire granted me vision of the lower parts of the shelf. I looked through the list, noting down the ones that seemed interesting. There were a ton of Perks I just outright eliminated, as per usual. I slowly worked down to a list.


    ¡¸Second Wind¡¹


    ¡¸Soothe¡¹


    ¡¸Jury Rigged Equipment¡¹


    ¡¸Medic!¡¹


    ¡¸Eidetic Transcripts¡¹


    ¡¸Doctor¡¯s Tools¡¹


    ¡¸Universal Donor¡¹


    ¡¸Rooky Diagnosis¡¹


    ¡¸Calming¡¹


    ¡¸Silence¡¹


    Of those, I managed to narrow it down to just four of them. Most of them were fairly easy to knock off once I thought about what setting I¡¯d be doing First Aid in. For instance, Rooky Diagnosis would allow me to figure out what was wrong with a patient, but I''d be able to see a stab or bullet wound.


    The four I narrowed it down to were Silence, Universal Donor, Calming, and Second Wind. Silence was quite interesting. Basically, it would allow me to silence any patient so they wouldn¡¯t be able to distract me or others while I worked on them.


    At first glance, it was a nice quality of life Perk for a Surgeon, but it said ¡®any patient¡¯. That got me wondering, if I threw a knife at someone for ¡®surgery¡¯, would they instantly stop making noises? Not that I was an assassin nor would I get much use out of it, but it was an interesting question.


    Second Wind had a lot more practical applications. Basically, when I run entirely out of stamina, I¡¯d be able to regenerate my body back to peak conditions. It was incredibly attractive, but its conditions made me pause. It could only be used when I was actively patching someone up or heading to someone to patch them up, and it had a week-long cooldown.


    Calming would allow me to, well, calm anyone under my care. I wasn¡¯t a hundred percent sure what it meant since the description was pretty useless, but it seemed very helpful with potential applications outside of First Aid too. Or at least more obvious applications outside of medical situations than Silence.


    And finally, Universal Donor. It changed my blood, making it ideal as a donor''s blood. I first picked it out of the mass of scrolls thanks to the recent experience with Feras bleeding out. I was curious about what the eidolons'' meant by ideal, but it was definitely a spur-of-the-moment pick rather than anything else.


    After a moment¡¯s hesitation, I picked up the scroll I wanted and headed for the easel.


    ¡¸Calming - Calm those in your care, allowing for easier treatment.¡¹


    I hung it on the easel, watching as it magically unfurled to reveal a masterwork painting. The painting was of a person, their face an indescribable blur, calming another with an outstretched palm. It faintly reminded me of those old pictures of cowboys calming their horses.


    How exactly do these paintings come to be? Is there an eidolon somewhere carefully making every stroke of a brush to give these things so much detail? Or were they fake and generated just like the rest of the pavilion? Or was the pavilion even a mental construct in the first place? Hmm¡­


    I blinked, suddenly in a black space. A gurney sat in the distance of the darkness, a white light beaming down from the heavens onto it. A pale man with a knife stuck in his stomach was draped across the tourney, his chest rapidly rising and falling. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡¸Calm your patient down.¡¹


    I let out a long breath and headed for the gurney. Maybe I should¡¯ve gotten Universal Donor instead. It would¡¯ve probably just been one of those body ones that hurt for a bit but otherwise were fine. It would''ve been quicker at least.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    My time in the learning space wasn¡¯t as bad as I thought it would be. I woke up a day later, far shorter than any other time I¡¯d taken a ¡®learning¡¯ based Perk. It was quite a confusing observation when I woke up.


    Maybe I learned all I needed to faster than any other time taking a Perk? It made sense at least. It also wasn¡¯t entirely without merit. Calming had indeed been quite a bit easier than the other times. It felt like a breeze compared to some of the other ones.


    The entire process was equal parts recognizing what my patients were going through and knowing what to say to get them to calm down. The latter side of that was more difficult. The whole empathy thing was damn easy.


    Cues allowed me to practically read their emotions at will, though it became a bit more difficult the more injured the patients became. , agony was a bit harder to read through once it caused someone¡¯s entire body to crumple up.


    It wasn¡¯t just the one patient I had to go through. As soon as I finished with one, another would pop up. Everything from children to the elderly, from emotionless ''borgs to fully flesh humans were tossed onto the gurney. It was a different trying to calm down a murderous ¡®borg with enough chrome to make robots blush than it was to calm down a child with a- erm- ¡®misplaced¡¯ limb.


    The same tactics and words didn¡¯t work every time either. I had to hand-craft my manipulations based on my observations and what I learned from previous attempts. It was honestly a bit fun, like trying to put together a puzzle.


    I know the interface probably didn¡¯t mean it this way, but it was also practically a masterclass on manipulating emotions. Hell, I even tossed in Cold-Blooded - which surprisingly worked in the learning space - a couple times and used intimidation to calm people down. My failures were also points of learning how to escalate the situation, which might be useful.


    I shifted on my bed, summoning Crow¡¯s Canteen of Chaos and taking a deep drink. I briefly thought about running through Firearms while I was here, but managed to talk myself out of it for now. Instead, I hopped up, stretched, and headed for my printer.


    Instead of doing any of the important things I had to do at some point, I wasted a couple hours printing Doctor Absolom action figures and workshopping my newest additions to the action figure series. For now, I¡¯m calling the idea the Wretched. Basically, they were a couple different kinds of insectoid monstrosities for Doctor Absolom to ¡®fight¡¯ against. I could think up a backstory or something later, but for now, that¡¯s all they were.


    I got bored and turned my attention to the armor. I didn¡¯t start doing anything too crazy, just slowly disassembling and reverse-engineering the helmet. With every part I took off, I carefully drew it out on a blueprint so I could remember exactly how and where everything went together.


    It was surprisingly simplistic. Outside of the thick plates of metal to block bullets, there wasn¡¯t all that much going on inside of the thing. There were plenty of spots where stuff attach, but the helmet was bare bones. Just a battery behind the skull, the LEDs, a nonfunctional breathing apparatus, and the screens and cameras that acted as the thing¡¯s eyes.


    I was already thinking of improvements for it. For one, take out the LEDs or at least add a toggle for them. Nothing like glowing eyes to give away my position, though they could be pretty nice for intimidation tactics. Then I could drop my old mask, take the breathing apparatus out of it, and put it into this one. Add in a voice modulator to boot just in case.


    Then, if I was feeling good about it, I could swap out the cameras. They were rather low-end ones, and I had a bank of knowledge in my head I could rely on to get something better. Maybe some kind of thermal or infrared on top of normal. Oh, and add Blackout from my old eye. Maybe sized up a bit though to reduce some of the heat build-up and connect it to the battery.


    I¡¯d have to repaint it, but not with just any paint. I doubt I¡¯d be able to find what I was thinking of in the wild, so probably a Night Market or something. Even if it was out on a store¡¯s shelf, there were other things I wanted at a Night Market anyway. Especially if I wanted to add Blackout.


    I¡¯d also need some other panels of armor plating. I could probably disassemble some from body armor or subdermal armor if I needed to. I had a faint idea to attach the Drop Chute to the armor while I was at it.


    If I was thinking along those lines, I could grab some cheap chrome and see if I can¡¯t make some other improvements to the armor based around them. I didn¡¯t want to chop off my arm for a super strong chrome one, but maybe I could incorporate some parts of the chrome into my armor to boost my strength? Hmm¡­ sounded complicated. Maybe start off with something simpler for now.


    It would be a good alternative to chrome though; just get a super-powered set of armor. Maybe add an exoskeleton to it while I was at it? Some kind of power armor would be badass and effective... now that I think about it, I don''t think I''ve seen power armor yet? It''s always cybernetics these days.


    I was a bit over halfway done with my disassembly when I got a call. I set down the tools and leaned back in my chair. My cheerful mikata¡¯s voice called through the line as soon as I hit accept. ¡°Shiro! How you doing?¡±


    ¡±Alright, I guess. Just got done with a gig. How about you, Mira?¡± I asked.


    The cheer in her voice died down noticeably. ¡±Hey, listen, we got some bad news the other day. They¡¯re shipping Pa'' and I out tomorrow.¡±


    ¡±Really?¡±


    ¡±Chek. Something about mass disappearances- er, even more mass disappearances across the FSA. Pa thinks it''s a Fedra plot, as per usual, but we don¡¯t actually know. We¡¯re being moved to the East Coast.¡± Mira sighed.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Damn, that''s across the entire continent.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ so we want to take you to dinner tonight since we¡¯ll be missing your birthday. Are you good to come?¡± She asked hopefully.


    I looked around my room. Not like I had much going on tonight anyway. ¡±¡¯Course. Just tell me when and where.¡±


    Mira chuckled lightly. ¡°Silly, you¡¯re supposed to tell when and where. It¡¯s birthday.¡±


    ¡±I¡¯m not good with restaurants. You pick for me. Consider it a present to me.¡± I joined her in laughter. It wasn''t the first time I''d had such an argument with her.


    This time, Mira gave in rather quickly. ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s go to the Red Rabbit.¡± My PA pulled a message up to my HUD from Mira. It had the location and time on it. ¡°Pa said don¡¯t be late!¡±


    ¡±Chek chek, I¡¯ll be there.¡± I set a reminder for myself. We talked a bit longer before she hung up to go do something else.


    I had some time till the meetup, so I spent half of the time finishing my disassembly of the helmet. It really wasn¡¯t that complicated outside of the metals used in its production and the bulletproof lenses covering the cameras.


    The rest of the time I used tracking down the card for the Constellation Night Market. It ended up under my bed, somehow. I scanned the card, receiving a one-time invite to their next market in a couple days. It was in some warehouse close to the ocean. I marked it down and scanned the surrounding areas in the city archives, memorizing the layouts of buildings and making several escape paths as I did with Maroo¡¯s.


    Then it was time to go meet Mira and Uncle Ezra.

 Chapter 115

    Chapter 115I checked the map idly even as I calculated my exact position based on my surroundings. They were a bit different than the city archive¡¯s map, but the level of variance was within my expectations. It was becoming more and more apparent the archive couldn¡¯t be a hundred percent trusted, either thanks to cartographical error or reasons more intentional.


    I was about a block off of the Constellation Night Market''s current location. It had been a couple of days since hanging out with Mira and Uncle Ezra. It was a nice get-together and send-off. Hopefully, I''ll see them again in a year or two.


    I spent my time doing some maintenance and messed around with my gear. I didn¡¯t do anything too crazy, instead just enjoyed life and relaxing. I pumped out more Absolom figurines and more Wretched, but that was about it in terms of making things.


    I worked my way over to the right warehouse. I was in the part of Portside that was dominated by warehouses and shipping yards, with only a few restaurants and residential areas hidden amongst the massive buildings.  Light levels around here were quite a bit lower, thanks to the lower amount of advertisements and only occasionally working streetlights.


    And of course, everything had that fine layer of Portside grit over it. The people weren¡¯t excluded from that either. I took more care than usual to avoid back alleys and vagrants just in case the desperate tried something desperate.


    I checked my equipment, fully loaded of course, and made my final approach. The warehouse was a fairly small one based on the blueprint from the city archives. I didn¡¯t see how they¡¯d manage to have such a massive Night Market housed in it if the turnabout was comparable to the last.


    The front entrance had nine guards calmly standing around, all armed to the teeth. They looked to be the same group as last time, more PMC than freelance merc. They were all dressed the same, looked the same, and armed roughly the same in a weird sense of uniformity that usually wasn¡¯t seen outside of the corps. All of them had that patch of a roughly rectangular constellation on their arms.


    I approached the guards, none of them reacting to me in the slightest outside of the one in the middle. He tracked me with his eyes, observing my movements like a hawk watching its prey, as he stepped forward.


    I fished my phone out and held up the image I was given after scanning the card. ¡°Here for the market.¡±


    The lead guy approached, staring at my phone. His eyes shifted, revealing them to be some kind of chrome. Probably a scanner of some sort, if I had to guess. ¡°Clear.¡± Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    One of the other guards opened the door for me, allowing access to the darkness beyond. I could easily pierce through said darkness, ¡®course, but I was more focused on the leader of the group.


    He reached for his pocket, causing my shoulders to pull back tensely as my hand itched to grab the grenade in my pants. He pulled out a metallic card. It looked exactly the same as last time- an off rectangle constellation of some sort surrounded by a sea of stars.


    He offered it to me. ¡°Don¡¯t lose this. We don¡¯t offer seconds, and it¡¯s your pass to the next market. Just scan it with your phone.¡±


    Woah, definitely deja vu. That was, like, the exact same thing I was told last time. I snagged the card, slid it into the inner pocket of my jacket, and headed into the building without another word, though I did carefully watch them out of my peripherals.


    The inside of the warehouse was¡­ not what I expected in the slightest. Instead of the compact place being tightly packed with stalls and buyers, it was almost entirely empty. Well, not empty since there were shelves covered in dusty boxes around everywhere, but there weren¡¯t stalls or people. I walked around, the dimness of the place having no effect on me as I followed a trail of disturbed dust.


    I spotted several guards along the way, each as loaded up as the last. They didn¡¯t do anything, just eerily watched me from the shadows. Or at least, it would¡¯ve been eerie if I couldn¡¯t see them just fine.


    The middle of the warehouse sat entirely void of racks or boxes. Instead, several armed guards stood around a massive hole in the concrete. The hole was big enough to support what looked to be modified swing stages hanging over it. There were three of them scattered around the hole like makeshift lifts. A PMC stood on every platform as an operator.


    Should I just leave? This wasn¡¯t part of the plan. I didn¡¯t have any knowledge of where the lifts might lead to. I made escape plans for the warehouse itself, not for an underground section of it. And who knows, it might even lead down into the Underground proper.


    I took a deep breath. I didn¡¯t actually need to go to the Night Market. Realistically, I just wanted to get parts and supplies to make some new armor to help out with my planned spree of heists. The armor would help, but I didn¡¯t  it. I hadn¡¯t needed it in the past, at least.


    On the other hand, having better armor would help me stay alive if things went south. And they had a high likelihood of going south. My next several heists were going to get complicated. They would be the biggest heists I¡¯d ever tried to pull, outside of maybe that one on the Neo-Jokers.


    But even then, that was just a gang. I¡¯d be going against corporations that had been designing security for potentially centuries. Sure, I had some insider knowledge of the security systems I¡¯d be trying to breach, but that could only carry me so far. Especially if they had anything daemon or Netrunner related, and I knew for a fact one of the places I wanted to hit had a Netrunner on top of several private security forces. The guy hadn¡¯t shut up about how much he spent on security.


    Blackout, the tech, would help immensely in all aspects, but I¡¯d need a radiation core to get the damn thing to work at a minimum. The Night Market was my best bet for finding the right kind of materials to make one. I¡¯d also need a bunch of other specialized materials for some other gadgets I had in mind.


    I took a deep breath and flicked on Cold-Blooded. My body instantly chilled as my thoughts calmed down and my emotions bled out. With a more focused mind, I ran some calculations and thought a bit deeper about my situation.


    With a sigh, I deactivated the Perk and headed to the closest lift. Logically, I¡¯d be fine. With a group as big as the Constellation Night Market, which either owned or operated their own private military contractors, there was very little chance I¡¯d be attacked inside of their Night Market. Unsafe Night Markets tend not to last long, and Constellation must¡¯ve lasted a  long time to be as big as it is.


    The operator didn¡¯t speak as he calmly clicked on a control panel¡¯s button, lowering us down into the depths. We remained dead silent as the lift left the light of the warehouse. It was a rather long way down, at least seven or eight stories though I suspected more.


    The lift exited out into a large cavern. It wasn¡¯t as big as the one Mira and I found, but it was several times larger than the warehouse. Stands and stalls sat scattered about the place, packed tightly like sardines. Some of the structures even looked more permanent, as if this was a recurring place for the Constellation Night Market.


    Lights and lanterns dangled from the rock ceiling, shedding dim light all over the place. Some stalls were covered in lights while others basked in the darkness. The rocky ground - not as rough as I expected it to be - was uneven in places, allowing some stalls to be higher or lower depending on where they were set up.


    Low whispers of negotiations held sway over the place, the conversations quietly echoing around. Lanterns flickered on lit paths, casting inconsistent light all over the place. Dim figures wandered about the various stalls. Several people were tailed by what looked to be armed guards, revealing their wealth even without directly showing it off. I didn¡¯t blame them. I wish I brought a guard or something to help carry stuff out of here.


    The stalls were lined with goods of all kinds. Whereas the last one had a theme, tech, this one didn¡¯t seem to have one. Everything from potions glowing with ethereal pulses to homemade-looking chrome sat scattered around the various stalls. There were even several people with food stalls set up, catering to the shoppers. I appreciated the hustle as they vented delicious scents all around.


    I had several things I wanted to get, but I paused for a moment and checked how much money I had. I brought along the four ounces of gold, so I had ten thousand at the very least. Add onto that thirty-five hundred Rayn- wait, rent was in three days¡­ okay, add onto that nineteen hundred Rayn, and I was in a better spot than the last time I was here. Still not as much as I wanted though.


    I wondered about the stalls, eyeing the things on sale as I meandered about the place. I flicked Aetherial Perception intermittently, staying vigilant to any effects or items that resonated with the Aether. There were a surprisingly high number of them. Even tech stalls had an item or two that were enchanted. Some even gave off auras, like the items taken from Cwalu. It was deeply uncomfortable.


    It was due to this vigilance that I caught an ethereal strand sneaking through the air, lightly wrapping around my wrist. I didn¡¯t immediately react to it, instead turning on Cold-Blooded as I tried to figure out what was happening. The strand loosely tugged me off toward the back side of the cave, almost as if asking me to follow it. It was such a minute thing, I doubt I would¡¯ve even noticed if not for Aetherial Perception.


    Should I try to break it? Or see where it''s leading me¡­ I was relatively safe in the Night Market, and I had grenades if things looked like they were going south¡­


    After a few moments of hesitation, I decided to loosely follow it. I worked my way through the stalls and market stands, the strand pulling me toward a permanent-looking pavilion in the back filled with merchandise. A familiar form stood in the loaded pavilion.


    Suvroc, the four-eye masked kinetic that sold me my printer, stood calmly behind a table covered in machines of various kinds. A flash of Aetherial Perception revealed the strand connected to a small golden coin resting on top of the table. As soon as I closed the distance with it, the strand broke apart, reforming as it snaked off towards the rest of the Night Market once more.


    ¡°Ah! Welcome back! Come, come, choombata! Come view poor Suvroc¡¯s wears! I¡¯m sure I have what you¡¯re looking for! And if I don¡¯t? I know who does!¡± The man spoke in the same slightly crazed, ecstatic tone to his voice as the last time.


    ¡±How have you been, Suvroc?¡± I asked as I stared down intently at the coin, trying to figure out what exactly its purpose was.


    The four red eyes of the mask seemed to stare into my soul. His head flicked down to the coin before looking back up at me. ¡°Suvroc is good! Very good. Recently, I even acquired this mystical coin!¡± He grabbed the gold thing, waving it around. ¡±It helps bring potential customers right to my shop!¡±


    His words¡­ I don¡¯t know why, but the way he casually offered information about the coin... it was almost as if he knew I felt it and was offering a peace deal. I needed to be careful of this guy. ¡°How intriguing¡­¡±


    ¡±Indeed, indeed. Come now, what can the great Suvroc do for you?¡± The person bowed his head, waving his arms around the merchandise.


    I looked around at the guy¡¯s wares. Most of what he had was machinery or stuff related to machinery. ¡°I don¡¯t think you have what I¡¯m looking for.¡±


    ¡±Suvroc knows who does though!¡± He waved his hands out towards the rest of the market.


    I thought through my list of items. Most of what I wanted I¡¯d already seen on the way here, but there were a couple things. ¡°You know where I can find a Rykon shard?¡± Rykon was the material used in the radioactive core of Advent¡¯s eye.


    ¡±Ah, looking to make a bomb? I doubt anyone here sells enough for that¡­¡±


    ¡±What- no. I just need a couple small slivers.¡± What the hell? The Net didn¡¯t say anything about Rykon and bombs. Just that it was a rare radioactive material highly reactive with electricity.


    ¡±Oh¡­ well, ole¡¯ Merlo could probably sell some to you. She¡¯s a purveyor of crystals, you could say. Look for the massive banner covered in gold symbols and ask for the purple ones.¡± Suvroc leaned forward onto his table. ¡°Say, how about a game?¡±


    ¡±A game?¡± I asked, feeling a bit apprehensive. I don¡¯t know what it was, but something about this guy gave me the creeps. It''s like he knew more than he should even if his way of speaking made him sound like a dumb child.


    ¡±A simple game! Suvroc¡¯s fourth favorite game! You share a bit of information, and then I share a bit of information. It could be about anything, the more interesting the better!¡± Suvroc¡¯s voice contained such mirth and excitement that it had to be fake. Even Mira didn¡¯t sound quite like this.


    I thought briefly about it, and Cold-Blooded helped me to calmly analyze the situation. I didn¡¯t have anything to lose from such a game. Er- I did, but as long as I said something mostly unrelated to me it wouldn''t be an issue. ¡°I guess¡­ hmm¡­¡± What could I say? ¡°La Soga was in Ayhtryn City a few days ago.¡±


    ¡±How interesting¡­ okay, Suvroc finds this acceptable. The  have been incredibly active in the city as of late. A massive battle broke out the other night between over a dozen different  Magus.¡±


    Cold-Blooded kept me from freezing up more than I already was. ¡°How ¡­ you know why?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ for a price!¡± Suvroc rubbed his hands together.


    I promptly took a few steps away. It was interesting, but I needed all my money. At least until I knew how expensive this shopping trip would be. ¡°I¡¯ll go see Merlo then.¡±


    ¡±Take care, choombata!¡± Suvroc turned towards the next person approaching his stall. Aetherial Perception revealed the same strand loosely wrapped around their wrist.


    I turned away from the stand, heading back towards the rest of the Night Market.

 Chapter 116

    Chapter 116¡®Ole Merlo wasn¡¯t that hard to find. A brilliant purple banner hung above her market stall, covered in golden symbols just like Suvroc said. Her stall was more of a large, rich purple tent covered in golden threads than the market stalls elsewhere in the cavern. Every bit of her tent was covered in what I could only call occult paraphernalia.


    Crystals dangled on golden chains, each pulled into crazy shapes and dimensions. Feathers of birds, some looking even older than me, hung from dream catchers or were fastened into wands. Stacks of crystals of all kinds were everywhere, each more misshapen than the last. Banners hung from the tent¡¯s poles, displaying prominent colors and bright shades.


    I cautiously approached, flicking on Aetherial Perception. To my surprise, there were barely any items in the entire shop that glowed with anything of the Aether. The only thing I could see that resonated with the Aether was a stack of books off to the side of a rack.


    ¡±Welcome, welcome, young dreamer. I am your oracle, Merlo. Don¡¯t tell me, you want a crystal from my fine collection.¡± A middle-aged woman approached me, her body bent deeply in a bow. She wore a forest green dress with simplistic frills and baggy sleeves. A witch''s hat sat off-centered on her head. A polite smile wormed across her lips, not quite corpy but in the same ballpark.


    ¡±Maybe.¡± I eyed the place. A good eighty or ninety percent of her wares had crystals on them, so it really wasn¡¯t that good of a guess. ¡°I was told you have nice purple crystals?¡±


    ¡±Ah, come, come, child.¡± The woman waved her arm, the sleeves of her dress hung loosely as she led me to a rack covered in purple crystals. Her expression was pensive, though her muscles were tensed slightly as if the look was forced to hide her actual expression.


    I was only knowledgeable enough about crystals to recognize an expensive gemstone when I saw one, so most of the stuff on the rack looked unfamiliar. The majority of it looked lab-grown if I had to guess. I did recognize a few small natural-looking amethysts, however.


    I checked each of the crystals, trusting Suvroc didn¡¯t just send me on a wild goose chase. To my surprise, there were actually pieces of rykon in the collection. They looked almost exactly like amethyst, but the core of its structure took on a deeper blue pitch than the rest of the crystals on display. The deep blue almost appeared powdery inside the rest of the material¡¯s structure. I wouldn¡¯t have even noticed it if not for having spent the last couple days looking up information on it.


    I carefully picked out all the rykon I could from the shelf. There were five fingernail-sized pieces of the material. The stuff was entirely safe to handle, at least in its base state, so I didn¡¯t have to worry about interacting with it. ¡°How much for these?¡±


    The woman eyed me, then looked over my selection. ¡°Ah, the mighty tazelphine. You have a good eye, child. Each piece is said to grant immense beauty to its user, though its peaceful exterior hides its powerful use in curses. Twenty Rayn each.¡±


    Tazelphine? What the hell was that? I inspected the crystals again. This was definitely rykon. Or at least I was almost a hundred percent sure I knew what the stuff was. Maybe


    didn¡¯t know? It would make sense why she just casually had the stuff on display instead of locked up somewhere.


    Wait, how did Suvroc know what they were then if Merlo didn''t? And he knew immediately what I was talking about without having to look it up or anything. A chill went up my spine. I needed to be more careful around that guy.


    It was good for me though. Twenty was way cheaper than the actual prices for the stuff, at least from what I saw on the Net.¡° ¡®Course. My sister loves stuff made of t-tazelphine.¡±


    ¡±Then I¡¯ll tell you what. I¡¯ll give you a discount for the precious crystal if you buy one other item from my shop to help you in your journey.¡± Her expression slipped minutely, revealing a careless smirk mixed with boredom.


    A discount would be nice¡­ And I''d already planned on checking out the books. ¡°I¡¯ll look around, I guess.¡±


    ¡±Nova.¡± The woman walked back to the front of the tent, calming waiting at the front. ¡°Call for me if you need help identifying any of my mystical wares.¡±


    Everything else in her shop didn¡¯t hold my interest. A part of me did want to look through her other ¡®crystals¡¯ to see if I couldn¡¯t find something else out of the ordinary. Sadly, I wasn¡¯t well versed in materials and elements enough to pick out stuff outside of what I¡¯ve researched.


    I did, however, have an interest in the books off to the side of the room. The ones glowing under Aetherial Perception, mainly. I flicked through the stack, pulling free three books.


    The first one was named ¡®Outsiders And You¡¯. The entire thing looked like an ancient grimoire, though the ink and slightly chemical scent hinted that maybe it wasn¡¯t all that old. I held it in my and for a moment, feeling a sickly, disgusting vibe from the thing. It was a repulsive sensation as if I would become unclean just by touching it. Even Insight strongly pulsed through me, warning against even looking inside of the book. I promptly set it down.


    The next was ¡®Herbalist''s Guide: Mystical Agriculture¡¯. I flicked through the page, finding each one stock full of information about various plants. The plants weren¡¯t quite normal though. Each one was depicted with magical effects. I wanted it for obvious reasons. Interestingly, there was a crystal structure on the back of the book that faintly reminded me of a camera.


    The last was named ¡®McMan¡¯s Travels¡¯. Once again, Insight pulsed, pushing against any ideas to read it. I listened to the instinct, setting the book down.


    I grabbed the Herbalist Guide, carrying it with me to the woman. ¡°Can I get this too? My grandfather owned something similar.¡±


    ¡±Of course, child.¡± A flash of greed flicked through her eyes. ¡°You know, I got this from a man in a rush to get out of the city. As far as I can tell, it''s a collector''s item. Since you are already offering such great patronage to my shop, I¡¯ll sell you everything for a hundred and fifty Rayn.¡±


    What the heck? What about the discount? Still¡­ a hundred and fifty Rayn was far cheaper than buying the rykon at full price. Maybe I could still get that discount though? I put on an act, wincing slightly as I frowned down at the book. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡±


    ¡±Ah, of course! Your discount! My apologies, a hundred Rayn for the whole lot.¡± Merlo magnanimously waved her hand toward the items.


    I sighed deeply, as if the price hurt, and nodded along. ¡°Okay.¡±


    I transferred the money and hightailed it out of the shop before Merlo could realize just how badly I was ripping her off. Chances are, she didn¡¯t even know the books in the corner were Aetherially attuned. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have sold one for near as cheap.


    Tossing everything in my pack, I headed towards another market stall I found on my way through the place. A sign board, done in fluorescent paint, hung over a rickety synthwood stall. It read ¡®Pete¡¯s Paints!¡¯ Another synthwood slat, looking as though it was ripped off a fence, read ¡®Specialty paints and more! Just ask, and I¡¯ll have it!¡¯


    I approached the man behind the stand. He wore a drama mask, covering up most of his face. A ball cap tightly pressed down on his head, shrouding him in shadows. ¡°What kind of specialty paints do you have?¡±


    ¡±Anything you could want.¡± He sighed, motioning to racks of paints and ingredients behind him. The guy even had a paint mixer down here. ¡°What are you looking for?¡±


    ¡±Blackout paint.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Or something similar.¡±


    ¡±Blackout¡­¡± The guy tapped his chin slowly. ¡°I have Darkside. It absorbs ninety-nine point eight percent of light.¡±


    Blackout out was ninety-nine point nine¡­ but really, it was just one decimal. It shouldn¡¯t matter all that much outside of very particular circumstances. ¡°Will it stick to metal?¡±


    ¡°Of course. All my paints can be used on almost any surface¡­¡± The guy sighed again, tiredly flopping his hand to the back of his shop as if the entire thing was a hassle. ¡°Do you want any supplements mixed in?¡±


    ¡±Oh?¡± Supplements? Is he going to mix in stuff? ¡°Will it mess with the light-absorbing properties?¡±


    ¡±Hmm¡­ depends.¡± The guy reached under his stall, pulling out a piece of paper. ¡°Here¡¯s a full list.¡±


    I grabbed the sheet, surprised to find it exactly like a restaurant menu of some sort. There were a substantial amount of additional supplements, like way more than I thought. Paint was supposed to be pretty simple, and as I read down the list I was becoming intimately aware of how complicated it could get. ¡°What¡¯s self-healing paint?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s paint that heals naturally¡­¡± Damn, dude. Thanks for the information. ¡°I recommend getting thermal absorption with it. The self-healing needs energy to work, and the thermal absorption can charge it with a blowtorch or something similar.¡±


    Thermal absorption? That sounded nice¡­ just one thing though. ¡°How much will it cost me?¡±


    ¡±Hmm¡­ self-healing and thermal absorption in Darkside.¡± The man pulled out a phone, tapping on it several times. ¡°How much?¡±


    Uh, I wanted to paint my armor. Oh, but I should also get extra for future projects. ¡°A gallon.¡±


    ¡±Hmm¡­ eight hundred Rayn.¡± The guy offered, setting his phone down.  S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Oh, just eight hundred- what the hell? Eight hundred Rayn?! Even Blackout was only around two fifty for a gallon from what I saw. ¡®Course, that wasn¡¯t including the license for it, but still! Okay, okay¡­ calm down, Shiro. It¡¯s not  paint¡­


    My heart ached as I thought of something else. ¡°Okay¡­ can I also get a pint with adjustable chroma added in?¡± I had a plan to make some togglable highlights to push home any intimidation tactics.


    I held my breath as he pulled up his phone again and ran some calculations. ¡°Sure. An additional two hundred Rayn. Oh, and adjustable chroma will lower the paint''s light-absorbing properties by point two percent while inactive.¡±


    My heart ached as I nodded my head. ¡°I¡¯ll take it.¡±


    The guy nodded, tapping on his phone once more. ¡°Okay. Return in thirty minutes, and I¡¯ll have it ready.¡± Then the guy adjusted his ballcap and walked back to the paint mixer.


    I sighed as I moved away from his stand. I saved on rykon, which I expected to take almost all my money, only to be wombo comboed by frickin¡¯ paint. That¡¯s just about right.


    I wandered around the Night Market, entranced by the goods on sale. I bought a few things from a chemical vendor. I finally got my hands on some liquid nitrogen, which was pretty cheap. Only five Rayn for a liter. If I didn¡¯t need a license to purchase it, just like almost everything else in the world, I¡¯d already have gotten some. I found a secluded spot to dump the thing into my canteen.


    I did think about getting some other stuff from the guy, like hydrofluoric acid, but I was apprehensive about handling it. As far as I know, a high concentration of the stuff could cause necrosis in less than a minute. I didn¡¯t necessarily want to have something like that without more knowledge about it. Well, that and it was damn expensive.


    I also managed to swing by and buy a box of random chrome from a massive market stall. The guy fashioned his entire setup like a casino with bright and dazzling lights. His whole shtick was basically loot boxes. He sold the cheapest bulk of chrome that I found, so I bought a fairly large mystery box of stuff from him for five hundred Rayn. It made moving around the market a bit more difficult.


    There were so many other things out on display as I wandered around, each one calling out to purchase them. If I hadn¡¯t just spent a bit over sixteen hundred Rayn in less than an hour, I would¡¯ve been more than happy to get any number of them. Unfortunately, as things were, I was too broke to get most of the stuff without putting myself in a super tight pinch. I could only stare in frustration.


    It was even more depressing when I found a section detached from the rest of the market by a thick stone wall. Beyond it were all sorts of explosive vendors, each hawking the best and brightest. I had to force myself to walk out of there.


    Thankfully, the temptations didn¡¯t last much longer as the thirty minutes passed. I returned to Pete¡¯s Paints and paid for my gallon and pint. It hurt to hand over so much money just like that, but I needed the stuff for my plans.


    With my arms full of goods, I backtracked out of the Night Market and to my apartment. Overall, I was happy with my purchases. I was just about to start putting together my new armor when I got a call. ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡±Shquire! I need you in my office. Yeshterday.¡± The guy hung up before I had time to even say anything back.

 Chapter 117

    Chapter 117Stress ate at me as I worked my way through Blue Crusade¡¯s headquarters. Why was he calling me so urgently? I could think of dozens of reasons, and none of them were good. Has someone figured me out? Was my cover blown? Should I flee the city? Try to get away from the Blue Crusade? I could go to a city aligned with the Golden Spine Consortium.


    Or was it something else? Had the Neo-Jokers found out it was me and turned me in? It would be just my luck to be arrested because a  turned me in. Or was it some other kind of bullshit? Maybe even the Jade Fangs? They¡¯d been quite recently- er, at least quieter than usual. I hadn¡¯t heard from Ishimaru in a while.


    My hands were shaky as I trekked through the hallways to the Inquisitor¡¯s office. My every step, I had to remind myself to calm down and I was just under the effects of the various Crusader¡¯s masks. The crushing paranoia wasn¡¯t even my own to begin with.


    I stopped at the doorway. This was the last chance to flee. Nah, c¡¯mon Shiro. Don¡¯t wimp out. It''s probably nothing. Hell, it might even  something in your favor for once. Maybe you won¡¯t get shot in the foot just by interacting with the Inquisitor for once. I lightly wrapped on the door.


    The Inquisitor¡¯s icey cold voice called from beyond the door. ¡°Enter!¡±


    I took a stabilizing breath and wrapped my hand around the cold handle of the door. It was frigid and yet felt searing at the same time as I opened the door and stepped in.


    The Inquisitor sat at his desk, as per usual. Hope sat across the desk in a chair, peacefully dozing off. Or at least she  dozing off. She snapped to attention as the door¡¯s hinges squeaked. She rapidly blinked at me, rubbing at thick bags under her eyes. ¡°Hah¡­¡±


    She actually looked in much better shape than the last couple times I¡¯d seen her. The thick bags were slightly less thick as if she managed to get at least thirty minutes of sleep. Her arm was also free of her sling for the first time since I¡¯d met her.


    I stepped just behind the chairs in front of his desk. ¡°Sir?¡±


    ¡°Good, you¡¯re here¡­ take a sheat.¡± Inquisitor Ligh nodded to the chair next to Hope.


    Take a what- ah, take a seat. Right, that¡¯s what he meant. I slid in across from him, taking the opportunity to glance at what he was working on. It looked like ledgers of some kind. His hands blocked the majority of the page, so I couldn¡¯t tell what exactly they were for.


    The Inquisitor shifted his head between the two of us, pausing longer on my face than on Hope¡¯s. Then he pulled out a device from below his desk and activated it. It looked like a hockey puck, though with plenty of wires and thorn-like protrusions sticking out of it. Maybe a Scrambler? It looked like Shinobu¡¯s from oh so long ago, though this one seemed far more high-tech. The shield and wreath symbol of the Blue Crusade sat on top of it.


    The guy¡¯s next words immediately set me on edge. ¡°What I¡¯m about to shay doesn¡¯t leave thish room, clear?¡±


    ¡°Sir.¡± I nodded, feeling my muscles tense up. I had a bad feeling I was about to hate what he had to say.


    ¡°Sure, whatever.¡± Hope leaned down onto her palms, resting her head gently.


    ¡°Good.¡± The Inquisitor leaned back in his chair. ¡°Vio was found flatlined in his cell this morning, hanging from the rafters. The coroner¡¯s first guess was suicide.¡±


    Suicide, eh? Didn¡¯t think the guy had it in him. Guess facing prison would be too much for the maniac who ruined so many lives at SPS. Though, the timing was a bit-


    ¡°It¡¯s suspicious, Inquisitor. He was like a rat when we took him in, even taking his own subordinate hostage.¡± Hope slung her shoulders into a half-hearted shrug. ¡°No way he¡¯d ice himself.¡±


    The guy hummed. ¡°My thoughtsh exactly. High chancesh we have a parasite amongsht us. The cameras just  to short out during Vio¡¯s ¡®suicide¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Do you want us to root them out?¡± I asked, feeling a sense of trepidation. It would be difficult to root out one amongst the hundreds of people who could¡¯ve had access to Vio. Not impossible, but definitely time-consuming. Hell, it could¡¯ve even been El Soga. I doubt it, but it did match his MO mostly. He liked to do things far more publicly though.


    ¡°No. I have a different mission in mind.¡± The man reached into his trench coat and pulled out a piece of paper. ¡°I managed to extract some info from Vio before his untimely demishe. I¡¯ve got the location of a safehoushe. You two will raid it without me, hopefully throwing our little worm off as I run dishtraction.¡±


    The thought of raiding a base of our mystery group sounded  delightful. Hope sat up straighter as I felt my soul leak out of my body. ¡°What are we expecting?¡±


    ¡°Heavy defenshes, but should be moshtly abandoned. From what I could tell, it¡¯s a central gathering point left largely alone outshide of a defender or two.¡± Inquisitor Ligh¡¯s voice seemed to drop several degrees. ¡°Lethal force ish authorized.¡±


    Hope¡¯s face drooped slightly. I couldn¡¯t quite tell if it was just sleepiness or something else. ¡°Backup? The other squires could help us out.¡±


    The Inquisitor¡¯s shiny silver mask flashed in the light as he shook his head. ¡°They¡¯re both running important jobs for me¡­ Zuku should be all the help you need.¡±


    I¡¯m sure my expression turned sour as I heard the guy. But what was I going to say? That I sucked at combat? I was supposed to be an actual squire who received training and everything as an aspirant before I was promoted. Sure, my records showed I was only trained briefly, but still.


    I shifted focus. ¡°Where¡¯s it even at?¡±


    ¡°Underground, underneath Oldtown.¡± The Inquisitor passed me a map. ¡°Roughly in between the FSA bashe and the Corporate Quarter.¡± sea??h th§× Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I looked at the paper, mentally marking down the exact address. I pulled out my phone, quickly pulling the area up in the city archives. Unfortunately, the archives were typically barren of anything related to the Underground, and that little fact proved to be true this time as well. It would be quite a bit of guesswork to find the place.


    Hope looked over my shoulder at the piece of paper. ¡°We¡¯re going to need supplies. Masks, at least.¡±


    ¡±Got it covered.¡± The Inquisitor pulled two masks from below his desk. They looked like typical gas masks, though less bulky. ¡°Don¡¯t head to the armory and requesht anything for thish. We want as little trail as posshible. Ask me directly if you need something.¡±


    That sucked. Hmm¡­ maybe I could get equipment out of this still? ¡°I¡¯m low on equipment though. I never got fully kitted thanks to supply shortages back when I was promoted.¡±


    Hope frowned. ¡°I could¡¯ve sworn you had a vest though.¡±


    ¡± It¡¯s got holes in it. I could probably wear it and be fine, but¡­¡±


    Inquisitor Ligh rifled through his desk, pulling out a mostly blank piece of paper. ¡±That¡¯sh fine. I¡¯ll write up a requesht. Just getting the base equipment we give to shquires shouldn¡¯t be problematic.¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t that take a while though?¡± Hope shifted in her seat, her eyebrows pulled tightly in concentration. Probably trying to piece together a time frame, if I had to guess.


    The Inquisitor remained silent for a few seconds as he started writing on the paper. ¡°Go in three daysh. They may have bumped up the security since Vio was caught, but if we don¡¯t make a move immediately, they might calm down. The Crusade isn¡¯t known for taking things shlow.¡±


    We discussed the particulars of the raid over the next hour, though my mind was only half present. Hope already had a plan to get down there, which was nice. Plans of my own were starting to form in the back of my mind over how I wanted to approach this. I had three days to prepare.


    As soon as we were done speaking, I headed home. There were three things I wanted to do at least. Read the Mystical Agriculture book, make Molotovs if possible, and cash in the final Perk Point for Firearms. Not in that order.


    I tossed my stuff off to the side, locked up my apartment, and headed for bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was transferred to the pavilion. I wasted no time heading for the Firearms shelf.


    Just like First Aid, this was the first time this particular shelf was present here, so I wasn¡¯t a hundred percent sure what to expect.


    ¡¸Killer¡¹


    ¡¸Death Stalker¡¹


    ¡¸Aether Shot¡¹


    ¡¸Kill Clip¡¹


    ¡¸First Shot¡¹


    ¡¸Medic¡¯s Intuition¡¹


    ¡¸Quiet Killer¡¹


    ¡¸Gun-Nut¡¹


    ¡¸Critical Hit¡¹


    ¡¸Mark of the Merc¡¹


    ¡¸Bash¡¹


    ¡¸Ancient Firearms¡¹


    ¡¸Threat¡¹


    ¡¸Marksman¡¯s Endurance¡¹


    ¡¸Killer¡¯s Touch¡¹


    There were a lot of interesting Perks for Firearms. For instance, Killer would grant twenty times experience gain for all Skills, but I could only gain experience through killing. An incredibly powerful Perk, but the drawback was too much for me. That, and it would lock me into a path I didn''t really want to follow.


    Quiet Killer was the same thing as Silence for First-Aid, which was interesting. Basically, if I hurt someone with the intent to kill them, all of their actions would turn dead silent. I wasn''t sure what all it entailed though. Like, what if they knocked something over? Would that make noise? Or if they shot a gun, would the gunfire make a noise?


    Or even Ancient Firearms was super interesting. It was solely dedicated to muskets and the like from way back when. It was focused on boosting their effectiveness to compete with modern weapons through magical means as well as granting me intimate knowledge of them. Extremely tempting, but I doubt I¡¯d be able to buy a musket or flintlock anywhere. I¡¯d have to make my own, and at that point why not make something better?


    I looked through the list, but nothing spoke to me. I sat there for who knows how long just reading each of them over and over. Eventually, I decided to go back through the rest of the scrolls just in case I missed something I would like. Eventually, I found one.


    ¡¸Dexterity - Increases weapon handling and movement speed while wielding a firearm.¡¹


    It seemed a bit out of place at first glance. It was one of those Perks, like Death Stalker or Ancient Firearms that had dual requirements. In this case, it was Sleight of Hand and Firearms to level four.


    I immediately grabbed it and moved to the easel. I wanted it purely for the amp to move speed. If there was one thing I noticed during my rare fights since I got the interface, it''s that I was far too slow. Insight gave me warnings every time I was about to get shot, but I was just too slow to dodge them. Hopefully, this one would help.


    I tossed the scroll onto the easel, revealing a beautiful painting of someone in the midst of reloading. They were on a massive battlefield somewhere, and there were dead soldiers all around. It was so realistic, I could even make out sweat peeking out of the person''s skin.


    I braced myself, expecting to be thrown out onto the battlefield at any moment. Dexterity seemed like one of those that needed to be trained after all.


    Instead, I was tossed out of the interface and back onto my bed. I only had a few seconds of stunned confusion before I first felt it. Fire seeped into my skin, scorching my insides. A reactionary scream ripped from my throat.


    I felt my nerves ignite, but that wasn¡¯t even the worst of it. My brain seemed to be the central point of the Perk as my blood felt like magma pumping through me. I desperately tried to resist the agony. It was the worst kind of pain, one that ate at my very being. I curled into a ball, trying to get away even as the burning torture worked its way deeper into every part of me.


    I tried to distract myself by looking out the window. It didn¡¯t work. My senses pulsed, causing bile to creep up my throat as I stared at the falling rain. In one moment, the rain fell at a normal rate. Then it slowed to a crawl, gravity seeming to stop as the fire scorching me turned even hotter. Then it sped up well past its normal pace as I skipped in and out of awareness. Eventually, the pain grew too much as I passed out.

 Chapter 118

    Chapter 118Three days passed since my conversation with the Inquisitor. Even though the perk didn''t trap me in the learning space for days, I still slept through an entire day. It left me with a day and a half to prepare for the raid thrown into my lap.


    The armor and all my projects were tossed onto the back burner as I threw myself into learning. I started with the Mystical Agriculture book, skimming through each page in an attempt to memorize all I could about potential threats.


    I didn¡¯t realize it at first, but there were too many pages in the book considering its size. The book seemed to have some kind of enchantment on it that allowed far more pages than there appeared to be. I couldn¡¯t quite figure out how it folded space to store more than it should, at least not logically. It hurt my head to try, so I moved on to other things. At least, for now. If I could figure it out and replicate it through technology though, I''d be able to make some crazy cool inventions.


    I finally found out what that haze liquid was. It was the nectar of a plant called the Hibisen Bloom. I¡¯d probably just continue to call it haze liquid, but it was nice putting an actual name to my tools. Apparently, the plant was fairly common in the Shattered Isles.


    There were far too many plants in there for me to get a true grasp of everything, and there were some that were downright unbelievable. Hell, there was supposedly even an extremely rare flower in Coltis known as a Phoenix Spring that could rejuvenate a person, healing them of any injuries and diseases. It sounded too good to be true.


    On the flip side, there was a tree called a Spirit Cleaver somewhere in Cwalu. Its bark was said to be so sharp that it could kill someone just by caressing them. To make matters worse, it experienced rapid growth when exposed to blood. Once it reached a certain point, it could cut into the Aether itself, draining the life out of anyone who approached.


    I wasn¡¯t sure how much I believed some of the plants to be real. Some of their effects were just too fantastical. At the same time, North Arkhanika was plagued by the Eternal Sandstorm, which quite literally hasn¡¯t stopped since it started, so there was no denying there were strange occurrences and effects all over the world.


    When I got bored of reading, I swapped to tinkering on my newest toy. It had been a pain in the ass to make, purely since gasoline was so hard to find these days. I had to pay nearly fifteen Rayn a gallon when I finally found a gas station that sold it, which is just absurd. Outside of that, making Molotovs was actually quite easy.


    For my uses, I didn¡¯t necessarily want it to stick as much as start a small fire, so I didn¡¯t add anything to it. It was as easy as filling a bottle with gasoline and then sticking a ripped-up shirt into the mouth of the bottle. I only made two of them, though I could probably make seven or eight if I really wanted to.


    They were bulky and hard to carry though, so I just stuck with two. Hopefully, I wouldn¡¯t even need to use them. The book had raised my paranoia about plants several times though. That, and my- erm, recent experiences with the blasted greenery.


    The main point of it all though was learning how to make them and adding gasoline to the canteen. Now I could make Molotovs just about anywhere in the city. Bottles and discarded clothing were fairly easy to find by rifling through trash, and I had an infinite source of short-lived gas now. Course, assuming I set the canteen beforehand.


    The time off also gave me time to really think about what I was dealing with. There was something larger at work here, I just couldn¡¯t quite place my finger on it. I didn¡¯t have nearly enough information, and the Inquisitor had been on a need-to-know basis. At most, I could guess they were trying to cause strife throughout the city, though not to what end. It was annoying, but hopefully, I¡¯d have some answers soon.


    For now, though, I only knew a few things about the group. They were obsessed with plants, at least from what I''ve seen so far. That, and they weren''t the good guys, not that such a thing even existed these days. They just seemed ever so slightly more evil than the other shadowy cabals scattered around. Probably a biased opinion considering recent events.


    A timer went off on my phone, causing a yawn to leak from my lips as I set the Mystical Agriculture book down and tapped on my phone. I stretched out, popping my back several times as I snagged my Crusade hat. As I threw my hair into a ponytail and tossed the hat on, I thought better about leaving the book and slid it into my bag.


    I put on all my gear, the thick trench coat causing me to sweat a bit as I went around gathering my stuff back up. I also decided to bring a couple spare bottles and some bolts of cloth for in-the-field Molotovs if I needed them.


    Then I was off back to the Blue Crusade HQ. Instead of going in like normal, I headed around the back of the building towards an underground parking garage. Crusader Cruisers filled the place, to the point I couldn¡¯t see anything not of the Crusade. There were a few sexy-looking bikes scattered around, but for the most part, everything was either KS¡¯s Keep or Calvary model.


    The Calvary Models were fine pieces of machinery, each one capable of hitting top speeds in mere moments. They were more akin to an old sports car than anything, emphasizing a fast and sleek design. The Keep model was the exact opposite. They looked closer to watered-down tanks, with the durability to match. I remember seeing one drive through a building without even stopping when I was younger.


    Hope sat in one of the Calvary Cruisers with her feet kicked up out the window. I headed over to her, catching the rank fishy whiff of Grees as I passed one cruiser in particular. I rapped lightly on the passenger side door as I looked down at her.


    Hope yawned, her jaw stretching so wide it looked like it might crack. She slowly slid back into a normal sitting position and unlocked the doors. ¡°Your stuff is in the back.¡±


    I nodded to her then moved to the back to get at my newest toys. The best part? They were free. And Inquisitor Ligh hadn¡¯t skimped out on me either.


    I immediately threw on the ballistic vest, marked with the Crusade¡¯s crest right over my heart. It came with a harness for everything else I received from the Inquisitor. Unlike when I originally got some Crusade equipment, this time I actually got the stuff and not just the clothing.


    I checked through all the equipment, trying to memorize where it all would sit and what all I now had. Most of them were common sense items. For instance, I got a pair of handcuffs, a taser, flashlight, pepper spray, baton, knife, and a second radio. Then there was the pistol, neatly in a holster.


    The new pistol was Knight Security¡¯s Saber-19, a rather sleek and powerful pistol. It was definitely more lethal than my Sidewinder, at least. It came with seven mags, five of them black and two of them gray. It took me a moment to realize the two gray ones were silver bullets. Probably for Dune Walkers and their ilk, if I had to guess.


    As soon as my hand wrapped around the pistol grip, time seemed to slow down ever so slightly. My brain kept up its normal pace, but everything around me felt and looked as if they moved just a little bit slower than they should¡¯ve. The effect made me slightly nauseous and my body felt sluggish as it moved faster to keep up with my mind. The feeling faded as I mentally toggled Dexterity off for now.


    My newest Perk, instead of just making me a bit faster, seemed to make everything else a bit slower. I wasn¡¯t a hundred percent sure how it worked, but my best guess was something along the lines of the time dilation effect from the learning space. It wasn¡¯t truly dexterity, to the point its name and description were entirely misleading.


    I strapped everything else in and headed for the passenger seat. As soon as I slid in, Hope kicked the Cruiser into drive and we were off. The radio played the newest hits of the city, though it was so quiet I could barely hear the horribly written songs.


    I stared out the window, enjoying the silence that sat between us as the city drifted by. It wasn¡¯t till we were just passing the Corporate Quarter that she spoke up. ¡°You ever been to the Underground?¡±


    ¡±A couple times.¡± I replied. ¡°Not the best spot to go for vacations though.¡±


    Hope laughed lightly as she rubbed at her eyes. ¡°You can say that again¡­¡±


    "You?"


    "Once, when I was young and dumb..." It sounded like there was quite the story there, but she didn''t contiune.


    I remained silent for a few moments. ¡°What even is this ¡®circle¡¯ that we¡¯re hunting down?¡±


    ¡±Honestly?¡± Hope tossed her shoulders back. ¡°I have no idea. As best I can tell, they¡¯re a bunch of nature fanatics. Wrong country to be one of them though.¡±


    Fair, the country was almost entirely desert. Unless they worshiped sand, there really wasn¡¯t all that much nature around these parts. ¡°Weird.¡±


    ¡±Chek. Inquisitor Strumgard first caught their scent three months back on a botched heist down by the docks. He thinks there is something larger at foot here. Some grand scheme to bring down the city.¡±


    ¡°Is there?¡±


    Hope let less a big yawn, swerving into the other lane as my heartbeat spiked. She regained control and continued like nothing happened. ¡°Probably not. Though Ligh is well known for being in the right place at the right time to end major conspiracies, so who knows? It''s above our pay grade anyway...¡±


    We returned to silence as Hope pulled off the inter-city highway. Not long after that, Hope pulled into a decrepit alleyway filled with trash. She bulldozed right through most of it, taking several zigzagging turns almost too tight to fit. We nearly smacked a homeless dude as we went around a particularly tight corner.


    At some point, the alleys slipped underground, buried beneath newer buildings and streets. The signs of habitation faded as we drove deeper, eventually pulling into a long-forgotten parking garage. Burnt-out remains of cars sat scattered around here and there. The place looked largely abandoned to the rats. Just like most of the city then.


    ¡±How¡¯d he even know of this?¡± I asked as I stared around the parking garage. It was one of those places in the city that were so buried under progress that everyone forgot about it. Not even the city archives showed this parking garage to exist when I scanned the thing.


    ¡±Good question.¡± Hope turned off the car, and popped open her door. ¡°Probably a meeting point from some old case of his, if I had to guess. Or maybe he was just lucky and stumbled across it?¡±


    That did seem like the kind of bullshit the Inquisitor would pull. At the end of the day, it didn¡¯t really matter how he found it, just that he did. ¡°He said to look for the elevator shaft.¡±


    I looked around, the darkness no problem to me as I spotted the elevator up against the far wall. ¡°Gah!¡± My hands flung to my eyes as a bright light seemed to pierce through my retina.


    Hope flickered her flashlight away, twisting it to the side of the garage. ¡°Oh, sorry.¡± Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡±Yeah, yeah¡­ you got the masks?¡± I asked as I clicked on a flashlight of my own. I didn¡¯t need it, but I might as well play along. Not that I thought Hope would turn on me for the oddity, but it was better to hold my cards close to my chest.


    ¡±Here.¡± Hope tossed one to me as she slid her own onto her head.


    I grabbed the thing out of the air and looked it over. It looked closer to the conventional double-filter gas mask than the last couple of masks I''d used. The Jade Fang¡¯s masks were of a high quality, no doubt. Funny that a gang has better equipment than the Crusade, at least in this regard. Crusader armor is top of the line maybe only up there with BosSpace stuff.


    Still, it was better than nothing. I took off my hat and slid it on, having to adjust my ponytail to get out of the way of the straps. I threw my hat back on and took a tentative breath through the mask. The air came across clean, though it had a plasticy artificial taste to it. I strapped my flashlight to my vest while I was at it.


    I glanced over to see Hope giving herself a final check-over. She popped the trunk open and retrieved two rifles and a bag full of magazines. I recognized the model as the one Mira used way back when. The KS Squire-14, I think. Right, it also had a ''recoilless barrel'' that was a blatant lie.


    She handed me one, along with a dozen mags that I slid into my backpack. ¡°Inquisitor Ligh managed to get us some heavier stuff under the pretense of ¡®ordinance training¡¯.¡± She also handed me a couple of flashbangs I promptly strapped to my chest.


    Normally, I¡¯d doubt their effectiveness since flash resistors were a fairly common feature in chrome eyes, but we were going up against fanatical plant Adepts, so they would probably actually work. That, or the psychos had some super photosynthesis plant that would absorb the light and devour us. I don''t think I saw anything like that in the book, but who knows?


    ¡°Nice¡­ We ready then?¡± I asked as I started walking over to the elevator. Hope joined me a step later, her silver armor reflecting some of the light from our flashlights. She held a rather massive spool of cire and two harnesses slung over her shoulder.


    The doors were shut, though that proved to be a nonissue. Hope easily pried them open, revealing the elevator shaft. Normally, elevator shafts had a ground floor. This one, though, gave way to a deep dark drop into the abyss below.


    I heard Hope''s tired sigh as we stared down the deep shaft.

 Chapter 119

    Chapter 119My feet hit the shattered remains of an elevator, nearly causing me to stumble. I regained my balance with little effort, unclipping myself from the harness as I cast a look around.


    The deep shaft dropped into what seemed to be some kind of ancient maintenance closet, with workstations and pieces of pipe scattered around here and there. A thick layer of dust covered everything. Thick pipes and control stations covered the walls, looking as if great worms were stapled into the sides of the room.


    Hope descended first, so she already waited for me with her rifle in a neutral stance. She leaned against the wall, a cautious eye on the only door into the room. ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡± The mask muffled her voice, making it a bit harder to understand her.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad to be back on the ground,¡± I said as I checked myself over, making sure everything was still in its place. Once I was sure my gear was all good, I started up a mental map, keeping track of where we were in comparison to our exit.


    Hope pushed off the ancient table she leaned on, heading for the door. It creaked and groaned, dust shaking off of the ancient metal as she forced it open.  ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    I followed her out of the maintenance room into a tunnel. It looked to be an ancient subway of some kind based on the rusted and tattered rails going up and down the length of it. Rubble covered almost everything from the several points where the ceiling of the ancient structure had failed over the long years of abandonment.


    Out here wasn¡¯t as dusty with several fresh tracks. Most of them looked to be simply from rats and other vermin, with a few looking like larger creatures of the dark. There were also odd dimples everywhere, little pinpricks of scattered debris. There were a few human-looking prints in the dust, though most were faded as though no one had come through here in a long time.


    I glanced back down at the human tracks. Why hadn¡¯t they checked out the maintenance room? An answer revealed itself easily as I checked back the way we came. The door to the maintenance room had been covered in bricks at some point, blending in with the walls of the subway tunnel as part of a clever camouflage. Maybe the Inquisitor did it to hide the entrance? Somehow, the thought of him hauling down bricks to hide the door was incredibly funny to me.


    Hope sighed deeply, the sound coming across just as muffled as her voice. ¡°Um, which way?¡±


    ¡°I thought you knew?¡± I glanced up at the woman curiously, catching her expression as she looked down the dark tunnel. The light of her flashlight caught the ambient dust in the air, making the place look almost foggy. Her eyebrows were knit together in what looked to be solid confusion, but there were subtle hints of something else there. Fear, maybe? It was hard to tell through the mask.


    ¡°Look, I¡¯m good at many things. Navigating the Underground and its infinite darkness is not one of them.¡± She paused, eyeing me speculatively. ¡°You know how to get around or are we just going to stumble through the tunnels hoping to find our destination?¡±


    I looked up and down the tunnel, adding everything I could see to my mental map. ¡°Maybe.¡±


    Stepping in front of her so my front was mostly out of view, I swiftly summoned Crow¡¯s Celestial  Compass. In a flash- err, in a crawl of shadows, the masterfully crafted device appeared in my hand. I clicked it open, idly watching the gears and red crystals as they worked to an unknown rhythm.


    Four lines of crimson, visible as if glowing yet not giving off any light into their surroundings, appeared over the top of the compass, allowing me to center myself. We dropped in a mile to the west of the safe house''s suspected area, meaning we needed to go east. Unfortunately, nothing could ever be easy. The subway tunnel ran almost straight from north to south.


    Maybe the Hostile Harbor feature could help guide me to our destination? Or maybe it would lead me to a ghoul or mutant nest¡­ probably shouldn¡¯t risk it, at least not until we got closer to our destination. Who knows, it might not even work at all.


    I banished the compass back into the shadows, doing a one-eighty back towards the south. ¡°This way.¡±


    I could feel Hope¡¯s almost hollow eyes on me as I walked past her quieter than a mouse. She fell in behind me shortly after. ¡°If you say so.¡±


    We walked the length of the subway tunnel, going about a quarter of a mile before our first chance to break east came up. A collapse in the tunnel revealed a natural-looking cave on the left side of the subway.


    I motioned to the collapse. ¡°We need to go eastish.¡± S§×ar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°Chek.¡± Hope walked faster, taking point as we approached the side with our rifles raised. I mentally toggled on Dexterity, feeling that familiar sense of wrongness as everything slowed down slightly. It was like the entire world was moving through molasses, with me being the only exception. My movements still weren¡¯t perfectly getting across, adding to my growing unease. It felt like I was a warm knife wading through the molasses compared to everything else though.


    The dilated time allowed me to take in more details as my mind gained the freedom to wander about the slowed world. The rubble in the tunnel had been shifted by something at some point, the larger chunks of rubble off to the sides of the place. There were also signs of drag marks everywhere, disturbing the scattered rocks and fallen bricks. Barely visible crimson splotches looked fairly recent, some in the shape of a pawed foot.


    There were also those weird spots all around, as if someone slammed a pickaxe into the rubble. They looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn''t say why.


    Hope¡¯s light flashed over the area, showing the cave to be slightly larger than the subway it broke off from. It was long enough for her light to not reach the other end, though the bowed shape of the tunnel didn¡¯t help anything. Oddly, the cave was extremely rough, with striations that resembled some of the places I saw back in Sunderland. I mentally drew it onto my map as her boots clicked on loose bricks.


    As soon as I followed her into the cave, my nose picked up a rotten scent somehow getting through the mask¡¯s filters. I nearly gagged as it hit me full force, with the scent only growing stronger as we progressed. It held a slight sterilization to it that burned slightly. Up ahead, Hope froze as her light panned around the angle of the bowed part.


    I had way too much time to analyze everything as my brain worked faster than the world around it. To take in the details as Hope¡¯s shoulders arched up and her rifle slowly snapped into place. To see her fingers tense in preparation. To hear the slow shouted warning. "Con-ta-ct, fr-on-t!"


    I was only a few steps behind her, so I followed her lead as I also raised my rifle up. Just before I could reach her, the first shot rang out, the world moving slow enough I could barely track the bullet''s distortion of the air as it sped by. The slowed time caused her automatic rifle to turn semi-auto to me, each shot with a significant gap between it.


    And then I was there, rifle raised, and seeing what she saw. The odd cave ended in a disgusting mound of flesh. Everything from small mole-like creatures to humans dangled about, sucked dry of all their nutrients, and placed amongst rubble as if to make a shield around a nest of gore and skittering clicks.


    A disgustingly massive spider sat in the middle of the nest, half slumped over with part of its grotesque head blown off from Hope¡¯s rounds. And still Hope fired into the gore-coated corpse, guaranteeing its death as the body twitched with malicious intent. It was like a snake, crawling to us even without half its brain''s mental functions.


    My eyes were drawn elsewhere as I let go of my rifle with one hand and reached for my pocket. My hands moved too slow for my liking as my brain kept up its ¡®normal¡¯ pace, processing everything with a body too caught in time to react. And yet I didn¡¯t let go of the rifle, using the warped time to process everything.


    There were other bodies all around the nest- no, the spider¡¯s den. They weren¡¯t sucked dry like the others. They were still alive and wriggling. There were humans moaning and groaning, rats squeaking, and moles grunting as they thrashed in the webs. The still-living creatures caught in the webs were coated in gore and bloated near beyond recognition. Some of them were choking on rotten, half-liquid meat, as if the spider fed them chunks of its prey.


    My hand finally entered one of my pockets, wrapping around a bottle. My other finally released the rifle, time speeding back up, and reached for a lighter. The slow thudding of Hope¡¯s rifle returned to normal as she fired away into the nest, finishing off whatever malevolent energy allowed the spider to keep moving out of the den. It was halfway to us, blocking parts of the den at the end of the cave with its massive body.


    My hands finally moved in time with my mind as I worked to light the Molotov, my eyes never leaving the ¡®living¡¯ creatures in the webs. I recognized the spider, or at least its species: A Pervider. Horror stories were sung about them amongst the poor and downtrodden, and I had heard a fair many amongst the people in the Ryu Shipping Yard. About how occasionally one would break out onto the surface, and suicide was a better decision than being caught.


    Just as the tattered shirt of the Molotov caught flame, the ¡®living¡¯ creatures all throughout the den thrashed harder, some even falling from the webs that held them as if they could sense the fire. Warped blobs started to move underneath their skin, causing the skin to tense and stretch like rubber as the creatures screamed in agony. And it wasn¡¯t just one. Thousands of blobs moved throughout them.


    One man¡¯s ¡®jaw¡¯ moved as the skin finally stretched too much and popped like a pimple, revealing a gore and pus-covered baby spider. Its awful gaze, pure loathing for the living hidden behind its beady eyes, seemed to reach me and Hope even as we were far off.


    That scene wasn¡¯t an isolated incident as more and more, thousands, maybe even tens of thousands, broke free of their hosts splattering fresh gore amongst the den. For a moment, a small moment, I could smell agony. It turned visceral, burning my nose as spiders crawled from throats, ceasing the ability to scream and cry.


    The Molotov was in mid-air before I even realized I threw it.


    I watched, hesitation freezing me my eyes shifted to the grown Pervider. More accurately, to the liquid dripping from its arm-sized fangs. I grabbed my rifle loosely, Dexterity activating once again as the world slowed down. I used the time to think, to think about the pros and cons. And then I moved, greed winning over the rational part of my mind insisting this was a terrible idea.


    As I passed Hope, the Molotov shattered inside the den. It was a bit off-center, but that didn¡¯t matter as the flames splattered everywhere, catching the gore and web-covered place on fire almost immediately. The fire spread instantaneously, the webs acting as the perfect conduit for the purifying red. Enough screeches for a chorus filled in the air, followed by near-silent sighs of relief. The screams of the living stopped even as the young Perviders'' continued.


    A small voice, so light it might¡¯ve been nonexistent, whispered, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    I reached the larger spider¡¯s corpse, carefully blocking Hope¡¯s view as I summoned the canteen and held it under the Pervider¡¯s massive fangs. A single drop of venom fell into it, and that was all I needed.


    Just as I banished the canteen, Insight''s chilly phantom pain arced up my side, stabbing deep beneath my ribs. It continued out of my chest and through my hand. I grabbed my rifle once more, the slightest touch all I needed as the world slowed. My head pounded, the warping perspective on time finally getting to me with dull spikes of pain.


    I forced my body to back up as I tried to figure out what caused Insight to flash. The Pervider, some demented manifestation of fucked willpower, managed to sweep one of its spear-like legs toward me. The blood-covered limb¡¯s trajectory was in line with my dodge, causing me a moment of panic as I watched in slow motion.


    My eyes drifted to its blown apart head, the lower part of it with its mouth and fangs all that remained- no, that wasn¡¯t right. A single, beady eye remained. It was filled with the clouds of death, and yet pure, unholy hatred managed to wrangle back the death clouds as it met my eyes.


    This wasn¡¯t just hatred, I realized as I met its demonic gaze. This was pure loathing of my entire existence. It was evil incarnate, praying for my demise even as it spitefully tried to bring me down with it. It didn''t even need a brain, the seething hatred causing enough of a reaction in of itself.


    Hope yelled, her words slowly reaching me, ¡°W-a-t-c-h¡ª¡°


    Three things happened almost instantaneously. One, I flared Cold-Blooded to calm myself and think. Two, the spider¡¯s obese body lunged impossibly forward to catch me. And three, I brought my rifle into position.

 Chapter 120

    Chapter 120Time seemed to slow further than Dexterity allowed as my finger pulled the trigger. Every millisecond felt torturously slow as my muscles brough the trigger back and the lance-like leg of the Pervider arced to me.


    The first shot whiffed entirely, slinging just over the spider¡¯s leg. The second was much better, ricocheting off the Pervider¡¯s durable leg and slowing its attack. The third, fourth, and fifth followed as they deflected the leg off course.


    By then, the rest of my body caught up with my brain, shifting backward in a leap out of the way. I felt the air rush past as the leg scythed mere inches from my face, snatching a loose strand of hair with it. A brief pain echoed from my scalp as the loose strand ripped out of place.


    And then I was free of its reach. I disabled Dexterity momentarily; my course was already set, and I felt like I moved on autopilot. I quickly backpedaled away from the horror of a spider, my aim adjusting from the thing''s leg back to its head. The kick started to get to me, so I shifted to a burst fire directly toward the thing¡¯s remaining eye.


    I missed, though it didn¡¯t matter as the burst of bullets destroyed what was left of its head in a spray of gore. My burst was followed by Hope¡¯s rifle tearing into the thing, guaranteeing its death for the third time as it stopped twitching entirely. Still, we unloaded, destroying everything we could. We both reloaded, listening to the chilling death cries of countless baby spiders as they burned in the raging fireball.


    My heartbeat slammed in my chest as I shifted focus to the rest of the den behind the spider, wary of more threats. A few of the babies crawled free of the mangled fireball, tracking fire further into the webwork covering the place. In minutes, the entire place would turn into an unstoppable bonfire.


    The smoke was already starting to fill the place, making it hard to see past as our flashlights reflected off of it. Thankfully, the masks were of a good enough quality the smoke didn¡¯t affect us, though it did add a certain flavor to the air.


    Hope¡¯s hand tapped my shoulder, nearly making me flinch out of my skin as adrenaline spiked through my body. My fight instinct kicked in, barely held back as I forced myself to calm down. Her thumb arched back towards the way we came. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Chek.¡± My voice was barely loud enough to be heard over the crackling of fire. I looked over my rifle, swapping out the magazine as I followed her swiftly back down the cave path. Much like last time, Hope went first as she swept the southside with her rifle raised.


    I followed her movements, sweeping the north side for more contacts drawn by the sounds of fighting. The subway tunnel was just as abandoned as when we left it, though it was quickly filling up with smoke from the cave as the fires raged on.


    Hope double-tapped my shoulder with one arm, her other holding up her rifle still without any apparent issues. I knew she was strong, but she didn''t even twitch as she held up the rifle one-handed. ¡°Take point. I¡¯ve got our flank.¡±


    We shifted, though we didn''t drop our guards. I probably would¡¯ve dropped my guard as soon as we exited the cave if I were by myself, but Hope¡¯s tension kept me from relaxing as we moved down the subway tunnel. She followed closely behind me, her rifle never dropping as we moved.


    Another chance to break off appeared, this time onto an ancient subway platform. We hopped up onto it, carefully keeping watch. The platform was a simple thing with broken benches and piles of rubble scattered around. The staircase leading up out of the platform had been long caved in by rubble, blocking the path. On the other side of the platform sat another set of subway tracks still going north to south.


    ¡°Tracks,¡± I called out as I looked the place over. Dust and debris covered it, though fairly recent tracks in the shapes of boots cut through the place. Little spots of displaced pebbles and shifted rocks made crystal clear tracks to my eyes. I counted them, carefully looking them over as I kept an eye on our surroundings. ¡°A squad of four or five moved through her recently. Maybe a couple days old.¡±


    ¡°Think it''s them?¡± Hope asked as she swung her rifle from one side of the platform to the other, causing shadows to shift and twirl as her attached light passed by, revealing several other marks and clues.


    I checked them out for any other details, though nothing stood out. Well, other than this area being high traffic. There were dozens of older tracks scattered about. ¡°Maybe. Too little to go off of, though we are within a mile.¡±


    Hope dropped her rifle, twisting back to look at me. She finally seemed to calm down from her ''shoot-first-ask-questions-never'' reaction. ¡°Chek¡­ are we going to talk about that nest?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s there to talk about?¡± I looked through her mask, meeting her eyes as if daring her to bring up the fact I almost got myself killed. Again. Dumb Shiro. ¡°We killed a threat and moved on.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Hope looked like she might say something else, then seemed to shift tracks. ¡°Got any more Molotovs?¡±


    ¡°One.¡± I eyed her. ¡°Enough stuff to make a couple more, maybe.¡±


    She nodded her head. ¡°Good call then.¡±


    ¡°Fire is exceptionally useful down here. Most critters are terrified of it, and those that aren¡¯t¡­ well¡­¡± Underground tactics were something I briefly looked into after my trip with Mira down here a couple months back. Fire was the number one recommendation. It was another reason I wanted to get Molotovs so bad before coming down here.


    Hope motioned to the tracks. ¡°Can you track? I was never very good at it back in the academy.¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± Up here on the cluttered platform wouldn¡¯t be too big of an issue, but I wasn¡¯t so sure about down the tunnels.


    I carefully followed the path cut through the rubble, my training from Fox¡¯s Paw kicking in as I subconsciously avoided anything that would make noise. Hope walked close at my back as she noisily kicked about loose rocks and scattered chips of concrete.


    The path led close to the wall and buried the staircase of the platform, almost cutting straight east before dropping back onto the subway tracks. We followed it, my eyes catching the little hints of scattered debris and occasional footsteps. The tunnel split northeast as we followed it, leaving behind the platform.


    At some point, I noticed an additional set of prints next to the group I tracked. They were small paws, closer to a dog than some kind of vermin, at the same age. I paused, stepping back to find where they first appeared to try and figure out where the creature went. At some point, the tracks just vanished into the air. I wandered around the area, Hope wearily watching our surroundings, looking for any hint of the creature.


    The tracks just vanished. Or rather track.


    Did the creature just disappear? That¡¯s not how things- no, wait. These were magical fanatics, right... Maybe a materialized sprite then? Then, whoever the Magus was, sent it back after its job was done.


    We continued following the path, leapfrogging from one potential clue to the next as I puzzled it all together in my mental map. We were close. Really close. I motioned to Hope, backing up far enough we wouldn¡¯t be heard by anything. ¡°It should be right ahead of us¡­¡±


    Hope looked herself over, seemingly to make sure everything was in the right place. ¡°How do we want to do this?¡±


    ¡°Quiet till we have to go loud is my vote¡­ also, keep your eyes peeled. If this is anything like the stash Inquisitor Ligh and I raided, there¡¯ll be magic traps waiting for us.¡± I flicked on Aetherial Perception as I mentioned it to her, catching a slight glimmer up ahead of us.


    ¡°Ready?¡±


    I gave myself a once over, pulling out my mag just to make sure I reloaded. ¡°Chek.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got point.¡± The armored squire walked ahead of me, casting long shadows from her light. They danced and twirled along the walls, remarkably unsettling as we advanced.


    I took advantage of said shadows, flicking off my gear and submerging myself in the darkness with my Perks active. I had armor now, yes, but I¡¯d much rather Hope get shot than me considering she almost had a full suit while I just had my vest.  S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    My rifle stayed leveled as I switched Dexterity back on, flickering Aetherial Perception every couple seconds just to be safe. We slowly approached the first glimmer I spotted from further down the tunnel. My eyes and brain slipped past it several times, forcing me to refocus myself every time as they finally accepted the existence of Hibisen plants.


    The mind-warping plants ringed a tunnel, hurting my head even as Aetherial Perception helped to keep me grounded. The offshoot itself was a rather wide tunnel lined with small light bulbs. Parts of it looked smoothly worn out of the rock as though it was manmade, though other parts looked as if an unplanned collapse naturally widened the path.


    A hazy substance filled the area, much like the Hibisen plants the first time I dealt with them. Our flashlights reflected off the haze in the air, making visibility even poorer


    I stretched a hand to Hope¡¯s shoulder, tapping it twice as she continued without pause. There wasn''t even a hint in her posture that she noticed the obvious tunnel as she kept on following the subway path.


    Hope tracked my eyes, looking towards the tunnel just the same as me. Then, as if her head wore ice skates, she glazed right over the cover of the Hibisen plants without notice. ¡°What?¡± Her muffled voice asked.


    I sighed, tugging on one of her arms as I stepped towards the hole in the wall. ¡°Just trust me. You¡¯ll see.¡±


    ¡°With what? I really don¡¯t see-¡± We crossed the threshold of the haze, causing Hope to lock up as she dropped into a shooting stance. She was silent for several moments as her gaze passed around the space.  ¡°Damn.¡±


    She dodged up against the mouth of the tunnel, taking up a firing position as she stared down its barely illuminated depths. Her finger trigger twitched as she gazed back at the flowers, though it stayed nothing more than a twitch as she shifted back to the tunnel.


    ¡°I think this is it.¡±


    ¡°No shit¡­ you weren¡¯t kidding about the magic plants.¡± Hope kicked her head back the way we came.


    ¡°Expect worse,¡± I muttered as I followed her out of the haze liquid¡¯s interference. While inside the bubble it overwhelmed Aetherial Perception, making it impossible to seek out other kinds of wicked plants lurking down here.


    The tunnel shrank as we moved through it, dodging the occasional mechanical booby trap laid out. Surprisingly, there weren¡¯t too many more magical traps and those that existed seemed to just not function as we moved. The path, which had once been large enough to fit several cars, slimmed down till we were single file, Hope taking the front.


    The pathway shifted, changing into a more natural-looking cave system than the almost perfectly smooth stone we had just been traveling through. The ground remained fairly smooth, the rock worn away by apparent months of travel.


    I flickered Aether Perception, catching sight of a small red puck ¡®on¡¯ the ground. I pointed it out and we stepped over the thing, easily making its purpose null as we approached. We weren¡¯t so lucky with the next one.


    Hope froze in front of me as a subtle click filled the air.

 Chapter 121

    Chapter 121¡±Damnit!¡± Hope didn¡¯t even twitch as her body locked up entirely.


    I froze, my eyes staring at the back of her head in horror as the slight click reverberated in my head. My gaze slowly drifted down to her foot, ignoring the slight tremor in her hands. ¡°Don¡¯t move.¡±


    ¡±No shit!¡± Hope took a deep breath, though her voice still came shaky. ¡°Okay, okay¡­ we have two options. Either you continue the mission and leave me behind, or head back up to the surface and call bomb squad.¡±


    I ignored both of the options, which were frankly quite shitty. Either way, I¡¯d be leaving Hope behind to die. If the land mine didn¡¯t ice her, the creepy plant cultists would.


    I dropped to my knees, carefully checking her foot. Her step caused some of the debris covering the floor to shift, exposing the top of a mine pressed tightly down into the rest of the device. Some of the dust blew off, revealing ¡®ASCorp BBM Mk. 4¡¯. Knowing what it was wouldn''t help though since we were far enough down to not connect to the Node.


    Okay, okay, okay¡­ Deep breathes. I could deal with this. It was just a dud mine. What¡¯s the worst that could happen? Both of us splattered across the walls of the tunnel? That just means I can¡¯t mess this up.


    But before that, Hope¡¯s tremors were starting to become more and more noticeable. I thought back to the training for First Aid¡¯s Perk, speaking in a calm, even tone. ¡°It¡¯s not that bad. I¡¯ll have you out of this in no time. It''s just a dud anyway- won''t even be an issue.¡±


    Should I activate Cold-Blooded and get a hit of reinforced calm- no, I''ve been using it too much recently. That, I''ve noticed leaches the warmth out of the air around me like an endothermic reaction. The sudden cold might make things worse. If she started shivering it might ''fix'' whatever was broken in the mine.


    ¡°Not that bad? I stepped on a fucking land mine, and you¡¯re going to tell me it''s not that bad?!¡± She barely kept herself from shouting, but it was a near thing. I looked up at her through her mask. It was hard to tell, but based on the way her eyes were trembling, I¡¯d say the rage was just a cover-up for plain ''ole fear.


    ¡°It could''ve gone off immediately after you stepped on it like it was supposed to. And I''ve been in worse situations before.¡± Granted, most situations were my fault to begin with,


    they didn¡¯t rely on my fledgling technical skills, but still.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even try.¡± Her shoulder twitched back, and the tremors stopped entirely as if she was rallying herself. ¡°No point in both of us going up. You- you go on ahead. I¡¯ll keep watch here. M-make sure no one sneaks up on us.¡±


    I ignored her once more, breathing evenly and slowly. It wasn¡¯t just normal breathing though. I intentionally made myself audible, trying to shift the atmosphere. It was a psychological technique from Calming and when telling someone to ¡®just breathe¡¯ wouldn¡¯t go over so well. ¡°Here, I¡¯ll go disarm that other one back there to make sure, but this really isn¡¯t an issue. Just don¡¯t move.¡±


    ¡°Not like I have much choice. I¡¯m telling you, go on ahead¡­¡±


    I headed back to the first mine, keeping Hope in my view the entire time as I lightly asked. ¡°How¡¯d you meet the Inquisitor?¡±


    ¡°I- uh, I was picked out of the academy when I was fourteen. He was walking behind me and tripped, falling onto me.¡± Her voice took an odd tone.


    I carefully dusted off the top of the first mine, shifting the debris covering it to the side. I wasn¡¯t an expert in explosives in the slightest, but mines were mostly mechanical in nature. At least, outside of the explosives. If I picture it as just a really, really big one-time-use gun, then it was something I¡¯d already dealt with in the past. ¡°Then what happened?¡±


    ¡±I threw him over my shoulder. We- uh, we¡¯d been practicing combat readiness that month, so it wasn¡¯t uncommon for the instructors or other students to attempt a pin out of the blue.¡± Hope¡¯s voice rapidly calmed as she spoke, and her breathing evened out somewhat.


    I pulled my backpack off my back and rifled through it, finding my set of screwdrivers. After finding the right one, I carefully went around the top casing of the mine, unscrewing it to reveal the internals. Assuming it was the same kind of mine as Hope stepped on, which it  be, it wasn¡¯t all that complicated.


    I carefully looked it over, checking the firing mechanism for the device as well as all internal components. The mine was fairly simple all things considered. Stepping down on the pressure plate compressed a spring, which then launched a firing pin into... some kind of charge? It should''ve gone off as soon as she stepped on it... but what kind of explosive was it? Damn it, Shiro! You really should''ve brushed up on your explosives knowledge beforehand...


    It took me a minute of carefully looking around to figure it out. I think. The mine seemed to be a bouncing betty type, using the charge''s explosion to lob another explosive up into the air, maximizing damage to the chest and head. Then again, I was no explosives expert so probably not. It was just what the mechanical side of things suggested. I was quite hopeless when it came to explosives outside of fascination.


    It was a brutal weapon, though Hope seemed to have stepped on a faulty mine. Maybe Inquisitor Ligh''s insane luck rubbed off on her? Still, there was no telling what might set it off. Maybe the pin simply got jammed and the slightest twitch of a muscle would set it off. Maybe whoever made the mine forgot to put a spring into it. Maybe whoever laid it down even forgot to pull the safety pin- not that last one. The mine compressed, so the safety pin definitely wasn''t still in it.


    Right, Hope¡­ I looked up to see her starting to panic again. ¡°How¡¯d that go down?¡±


    ¡±What- oh¡­ I thought my life was over, hah, when I saw the flashes of silver go over me. I nearly had a heart attack as I realized I tossed an Inquisitor over my shoulder.¡± She laughed, though it sounded like it pained her to force one out.


    ¡±I can imagine. How¡¯d Inquisitor Strumgard react?¡± Disarming the mine would be tricky. The firing pin was partially encased by the spring, so I couldn¡¯t just remove it without setting the blasted thing off. The spring itself was held in by groves on the pressure plate and the body of the mine. It would be hard to get out while the mine wasn¡¯t primed, let alone while the spring was already compressed.


    I checked it out further, trying to figure out what went wrong on Hope''s. There was just too much though to tell for sure. For one, the firing pin was only loosely placed in its chamber. It could''ve tilted to the side during deployment, falling out of the way. Or maybe it was caught in the spring? Or the explosive was just a dud to begin with, completely invalidating the rest of the device?


    ¡±He was impressed. Offered me a promotion from Aspirant to Squire then and there. Been with him ever since.¡±


    ¡±Yeah? What¡¯s the craziest thing you¡¯ve done on the job?¡± I shifted the conversation, keeping it going to hopefully keep her mind off the impending doom under her foot.


    Disarming Hope¡¯s mine would be more difficult than I thought. The firing mechanism itself would be almost impossible to touch without setting it off, but I couldn¡¯t just lift the explosive out of the device without setting it off either. Hmm¡­ unless¡­ no, that¡¯d probably set it off too¡­


    Hope continued to remain silent for a while, eventually speaking as I tinkered with the explosive. ¡°There was this one time we got in the middle of a gang fight down at the docks. It ended up being a five-way fight, not including us. Over two hundred people died and thirty more were arrested by the time it was over.¡±


    Damn, two hundred people? ¡°What were they fighting over?¡±


    ¡±That¡¯s the thing, someone messaged every one of the gangs mentioning a treasure trove at the docks, which kicked off the whole thing. There wasn¡¯t even anything there in the first place though.¡± Hope sighed. ¡°We never did find out who was behind it in the first place¡­¡±


    Okay, okay. Maybe it wasn¡¯t so hopeless. I could probably manually hold the spring down and then take off the explosives- ah, but then I¡¯d need the casing off and Hope¡¯s foot would block that¡­ shit¡­ Maybe I could unscrew- no, the screws would be hidden by the compressed pressure plate. What to do... what to do...


    There was one method I could use, but it was risky and would require some precise timing. First, though, I need to have my stuff ready. I pulled my last tapper out of my bag, quickly disassembling it till I had the small hinge in hand. I slid the hinge under the payload of the mine in between the spring¡¯s coil, blocking the firing pin entirely just in case. I carefully unscrewed the payload part of the mine, lifting it up and out of the area.


    ¡±Okay, this one¡¯s disarmed.¡± I called out, trying to give Hope a boost in, well, hope. I tested the now disarmed spring with my hand, running some quick calculations. Then I went around and found a right-sized rock, weighing somewhere between thirty to forty pounds. It was a bit unwieldy to get over to her, but I managed.


    I slid over to her, kneeling to get a better view as I hefted the rock closer. ¡°I¡¯m going to guide your foot with my hand. Don¡¯t resist me in the slightest, and I¡¯ll have you off this thing in no time.¡±


    ¡±Are you sure?¡± Hope asked. I could hear the weariness in her voice.


    ¡±Wouldn¡¯t be doing this if I wasn¡¯t.¡± I took a deep breath, working through what I needed to do in my mind before going into action. In one swift, but gentle, movement, I pried off Hope¡¯s foot as I slid the rock onto the pad, holding it down. My heart hammered in my chest as I stared at the dastardly contraption, half expecting it to go off in my face. It never did. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    With a calm I didn¡¯t feel, I let go of Hope¡¯s foot. ¡°Th-that wasn¡¯t so bad, now was it?¡±


    Hope stared down, meeting my eyes with an expression of pure gratitude. It quickly faded as she regained her composure like a true professional. ¡°No, no it wasn¡¯t¡­ what are we going to do with that-¡° she waved to the mine.


    ¡±Leave it?¡± I said, half joking. It was an incredibly tempting suggestion though. ¡°Or we could detonate it from a safe distance. I won¡¯t be able to disarm it with my current tools.¡± Rather I could disarm it, but why play with explosives when I could just not¡­ other than the fun factor? Dying in an explosion wasn¡¯t fun though¡­


    ¡±Let¡¯s finish the mission first though¡­ the explosion would definitely alert anyone in the area.¡± Hope suggested.


    I looked through the gaps in her mask, noticing the slight tremble in her eyes, as her voice returned to normal. I nodded along with her. ¡°Let me take point then. Unless you¡¯re confident in spotting other landmines?¡±


    ¡±No¡­ you sure though?¡±


    I flashed a winning smile she couldn¡¯t see thanks to the masks. ¡°¡®Course!¡± Not. Who would ever be sure about face-checking a minefield? Er- mined tunnel, in this case. ¡°Do we need to take a minute?¡±


    ¡°No! I mean, no. Let¡¯s just get this over with, okay?¡± She wrung one of her hands lightly before taking a deep breath and raising her rifle back up, the action seeming to help her lock back into the mission.


    ¡°Chek.¡± I spared her one last glance then took the lead, heading further down the tunnel. She fell silent as she fell in behind me, though I could feel the anxiety of her gaze as she stared at me.


    We ended up rounding five more mines before something changed. I spotted most of them well in advance, but Insight spared me from stepping on the second to last. I disassembled the five rather swiftly now that I knew how they worked, which I promptly stored in my bag. I now had the components for six landmines if I ever needed them. About half of them weren''t functional for one reason or another. Most of them had a poorly aligned firing pin. Guess there was a reason the circle was made up of Magi and Adpets.


    As we were walking, my periodic flashing of Aetherial Perception drew my gaze off to the ceiling of the tunnel. A massive plant, hidden in a recess by the darkness, hung ominously. It was a mess of tentacle-like vines and claw-like bark centered around one massive maw. It looked like the fucked up mutant cousin of a Venus fly trap, though this one came with plenty of spines, teeth, and claws. Just past where the plant hung, a little further down the tunnel, sat a metal door.


    I held out a hand to Hope, stopping her from advancing as I silently pointed up at the roof. She paused for a moment, eyeing the plant. ¡°Molotov? Or just shoot it?¡±


    ¡°What are the chances it¡¯s friendly?¡± Hope asked rhetorically. ¡°They must have a way of getting past it.¡±


    Somehow, I doubted their way would work for us. It wasn¡¯t some kind of magic, at least¡­ no wait. A faint image of the silver tree necklace in the thief''s stash came to mind. Maybe it was some kind of enchanted jewelry? Regardless, we didn¡¯t have it.


    ¡±I guess this is where we go loud then.¡± I sighed, mentally preparing myself.

 Chapter 122

    Chapter 122Hope and I set up further down the tunnel, behind a mound of rubble from a partially collapsed roof. Rather, Hope set up while I edged close to the monstrously large plant.


    Unfortunately, I was the quickest between us. It was weird being the best at something for once, but I didn¡¯t let it get too far into my head. Hope wearing some fairly heavy armor. Course Dexterity helped my movement speed, but it was more mental than anything.


    I eyed my path back to her, locking it into my mind as I pulled my last Molotov from my bag. I locked eyes with her through our masks, receiving a nod as she braced her gun on the rubble.


    It was simple to light the Molotov, but that¡¯s where simplicity ended. I don¡¯t know if it was from the sudden fire or what, but as soon as the Molotov caught flame the giant plant on the ceiling shifted. The tentacle-like vines dropped, revealing their sheer girth as they hit the ground with a surprisingly meaty thunk as the stone chipped.


    My hesitations vanished as Insight¡¯s chills wracked my body. Being near this thing was a bad idea. I let loose the Molotov, my other hand instantly snapping to my pistol. My feet were already pounding silently into the stone, catapulting me through the cave as the glass bottle shattered.


    A thunderous crash of debris stung my ears as something heavy fell behind me, shortly followed by the cracks of several bullets whizzing past me. A beastly screech burst from what I could only assume was the plant creature. It was horrendous, digging into my eardrums with a promise of violence. Dexterity worked against me, elongating the screech far longer than it should¡¯ve as a familiar headache started to pound in the back of my head.


    I raced down the path, bullets going wide around me. My legs moved as fast as they could, and I flung myself over the mound of rubble Hope perched behind. Mid-roll, I grabbed my KS Squire braced against the rubble, and twisted back to face what Hope blasted away at.


    I should¡¯ve brought more Molotovs.


    Just outside the door, momentarily frozen as fire licked up its disgusting body, sat a creature straight out of my nightmares. It looked like a mass of swirling green tentacles built around an unnatural maw. It screeched again, the maw¡¯s lips pulling back to show bone-like fangs and serrated teeth. Fire flicked across it, but the warm glow was quickly quenched by the mass of tentacles smothering it. The plant simply tore out the charred bits, tossing them to the sides of the tunnel in a spray of sickly green ichor.


    Flicking Aetherial Perception on, I was stunned to find its aura changed significantly. Its ''awake'' aura looked entirely different than when ith ad rested on the roof. A deep pitch of warped green mixed with bloody red swirled around it, radiating a malevolence faintly reminiscent of the creature from the Leper-Khan camp. It was heavier though, somehow more wicked than the thing had been-


    No, that wasn¡¯t quite right. There was an underlying current to the plant beast, one which felt ancient and purely evil. The ancient evil didn''t originate from the creature itself. Instead, it felt like a subtle undercurrent simply wearing the plant like a puppet. It was almost impossible to spot that underlying current trough the rest of the plant, and Insight warned against looking too deeply at the dark green, nearly black shades hidding inside the creature.


    My finger twitched to the trigger even as my brain struggled to process what I was looking at. In that moment as my first bullet fired out, the creature . Like a minotaur charging down its maze, it flung itself down the tunnel toward us using its vines like legs. Each movement shook the walls of the tunnel, hammering against the stone in a spray of chips and dust. My rifle kicked in bursts as I shot at its maw, the bullets tearing through its body like paper. Yet the thing continued, the holes visibly repairing themselves.


    ¡±Wh-at the he-ll is th-at?¡± I heard Hope ask beside me, her voice mostly muffled by the loud bangs of our rifles. Out of my peripherals, I watched her slowly swap mags, her movements smooth even through the warped time of Dexterity.


    The creature approached a quarter of the way to us as my rifle kicked out the last of its shots. Insight tingled as it flung a loose rock at me with one of its vines. The thing didn¡¯t travel extraordinarily fast, so it was easy enough to dodge out of its way. The rock flew past me as I swapped mags, Dexterity helping my actions to be mostly smooth even without the skill and training of a true Squire. At least, until I missed the charging handle.


    About halfway to us, Hope shouted, ¡°Get do-wn!¡±


    Right, the plan. I didn''t need her to tell me twice. I ducked behind the rubble, expectantly waiting. I didn¡¯t have to wait long. The pounding of the things vines against the stone walls of the tunnel beat at my ears, quickly followed by a world-devouring boom.


    My ears ached as several more followed it in succession, tearing at my eardrums and turning my world into a noiseless mass of light behind my eyelids. The light cut off, leaving a constant ringing in my eardrums as I struggled to sit up. Nothing looked right. My brain struggled to figure out where and what I was as I flinched back against something hard.


    A hand soundlessly patted me on the back as the world drowned in a high high-pitched ringing, destroying any sense of cohesion. I dropped my gun, allowing time to flow normally as the hand grabbed my arm and hauled me up to my feet. I nearly collapsed as I looked around, everything was covered in a thick veil of dust.


    The ringing faded as a form moved around me, nothing but a shadow against the dust cloud. The dust settled slightly, and Hope appeared calling something to me. A frown crossed my lips as I tried to understand what she was saying. The mask ruined any chance of me reading her lips though. S§×arch* The ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It started as a whisper, slowly getting louder with each passing second. Her words forced themselves over the insidious ringing. ¡°Zuku! Zuku, can you hear me? C¡¯mon, focus up.¡±


    ¡±M¡¯ yeah. Chek.¡± I shook my head, dislodging a faint layer of rock dust that coated me. I took a deep breath, tasting plastic- right, I had a mask on.


    ¡°Good. Just- just take a seat for a few moments. I¡¯ll go keep watch. We need to move on soon. They definetely know we''re here now.¡± Hope patted my shoulder one more time, hefting her rifle up and moving down the tunnel.


    I took her advice, slumping down against the wall as I closed my eyes against the brightness of her flashing light. I flicked Cold-Blooded on, feeling ice fill my veins as a cold headache beat at the inside of my head like it wanted to get out. It was merciless in its cool brutality. The Perk hurt worse than it helped for once, so I flicked it off.


    I checked myself for injuries, rubbing around my head for anything obviously wrong. There were a few pebbles lodged in my hair here and there, one even pressing deep enough into my scalp to bleed, but nothing to bad. At least not on the surface. I felt like I had a concussion as my brain slugged along. Would Quick Healing take care of brain trauma? I sure hoped so.


    As the moments ticked by, the world shifted more and more into focus. Once I was sure I could walk without tipping over, I hefted myself back onto my feet and looked around. Right, my rifle.


    I picked it up, gazing back at the scene of destruction. All six modfied mines had gone off, blowing apart the surface of the tunnel and causing a partial collapse. There was still room to maneuver around, but it was definitely tighter than it had been. There, half buried under piles of rock and with several dozen holes blasted through it by the land mines, lay the charred remains of the plant creature.


    Its vines were curled in on itself, almost like a dead spider. From what I could see of its maw, it lay half open drooped onto the rocks. A massive rock crushed most of its ¡®head¡¯, with smaller bits of debris covering its entire body. Pale green ichor pooled under the rubble, seeping from the mass of monstrous greenery. It sizzled and smoked where it hit a rock.


    Hope stood just past it behind a pillar of stone, using it as cover with her rifle aimed right at the door. Or rather, the doorway. As my vision returned to somewhat normalcy, though with a few bright spots here and there, I realized the door sat open. I didn¡¯t open it, and the explosion was too far to open it¡­


    I shook my head out, causing a shooting pain to course through it, and raised my rifle back to a firing stance as I stepped up behind Hope. ¡°I¡¯m good to go.¡±


    She glanced back, her eyes searching mine for a moment, before nodding. ¡°Nova. Someone¡¯s down here with us¡­ probably waiting to ambush as soon as we step in¡­¡±


    I glanced towards the door, mentally ticking all the reasons I didn¡¯t want to step through it. The list was long, mostly ending in me dying a horrible death. ¡°Damn¡­ think there¡¯s another way in.¡±


    ¡±Do you?¡±


    ¡±No¡­¡± My finger tapped the side of the rifle in thought as my headache died down slightly. ¡°Hmm¡­ You have a plan?¡±


    Hope sighed. ¡±Working on it.¡±


    I quickly thought through the contents of my bag. ¡°I¡¯ve got a camera. Could toss a flashbang in, then the camera. Might distract whoever¡¯s keeping watch enough for us to get a visual of the interior.¡±


    ¡±Better than going in blind.¡± Hope looked back towards the mound of rubble. ¡°Think they¡¯ll have another one of those¡­ ?¡±


    ¡±I hope not.¡± I really don¡¯t think we¡¯d be able to take another one down anyway. At least, not without some serious danger. The thought of that tentacled menace getting up close and personal with me sent chills down my spine. If its ''blood'' could melt stones, I didn''t even want to imagine what it could do to my body.


    I reached back for my bag, pulling out a Scouter as Hope prepped a flashbang. I clicked the power button on it, easily linking it up to my eye¡¯s HUD. I got a look at myself as I adjusted to the alternate viewpoint, seeing my face mask absolutely coated in dust and grime. ¡°3. 2. 1.¡±


    I tossed the Scouter a second after the flash, quickly averting my eyes. A loud bang echoed past the door, followed by a flash bright enough to illuminate us far back in the tunnel.


    As soon as the light faded, I looked through my Scouter, relaying everything I could to Hope. ¡°It looks as though it''s some kind of old, ornate cistern.


    ¡±Dozens of pillars sit evenly spaced all around the place, holding up massive arches all over the roof. Plants and vines are hanging from almost every surface, though the ground looks mostly clear of obstructions. The pillars seem like they could be good cover.


    ¡°Around the edges of the rooms are some walls of vines and foliage, looking as though they''ve made rooms here and there. The entire place is well lit too thanks to a massive AE3 generator on the far side of the chamber.


    ¡±Uh, there¡¯s two contacts in there that I can see, potentially more in the rooms. Both are at a table in the middle of the chamber. Both are crumpled on themselves, grabbing at their heads. We could probably flash one more time and storm them before they pull any magic tricks out.¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± Hope tapped on my shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m taking point. I¡¯ll get the two in the middle, you watch our backs.¡±


    I disconnected from my Scouter, taking a moment to readjust myself back to normal vision as the headache returned. I ignored it and raised my rifle, following closely behind Hope. Just as we reached the door, she pulled a flash out and primed it. ¡°On three.¡±


    I followed her motion, grabbing the flashbang she gave to me back on the surface and nodded to her. ¡°1. 2. 3.¡±


    We both tossed, pausing for a moment. As soon as they went off, Hope moved with the agility of a professional. The moment she passed the door, her rifle barked several times, followed quickly by two cut-short screams.


    As soon as I entered the door, Insight screamed at me. Out of my peripherals, I spotted several vines flying toward us like spears. Before I could think too deeply, I flung myself at Hope¡¯s back, knocking us both to the floor and past the first row of pillars.


    The impact knocked the air out of me as I rolled off of her, catching sight of the vines lancing  the stonework as if it wasn¡¯t even there. Off to the side of the room, hidden mostly by the vinework, I spotted a person waving a small green wand. Dexterity helped line up my shot before whatever the person was casting could go off, and then I took it.


    The kick of my rifle was worse on the ground, ramming my shoulder into the stone hard enough to bruise as the burst of bullets hammered through the vines. The person dropped, though I couldn¡¯t tell if they were dead or not.


    Hope fired again off towards the back side of the massive cistern. As I pushed myself to my knees, I saw that she was already up and in cover behind one of the pillars. I followed her lead, half crawling behind a pillar before standing fully. I quickly reloaded, wincing as I saw half the mag still left over.


    I flicked on Aetherial Perception, nearly going blind as the brightness of the Aether pounded into my eyes. The bright flashes of the Aether felt like they were attempting to strangle my bruised brain. I had to blink several times before I adjusted to it enough to distinguish the lights. Most of them were just plants giving off a dim light. I spotted a significantly brighter pulsing light in the far back corner of the room.


    ¡°Contact, back right! Looks like something heavy.¡± I called to Hope as I flicked off the Perk, shifting my gun¡¯s angle.


    Hope barely had enough time to adjust her position before the vine wall burst in a spray of wood splinters.

 Chapter 123

    Chapter 123I could only watch in horror as  burst from the vine wall. The scattered debris obscured it into a humanoid shadow, but even then its presence felt . A sense of maliciousness emanated from the thing, one much stronger than the maw creature. I didn¡¯t even need to flick on Aetherial Perception to feel it.


    As the dust cloud faded, its inhuman nature showed itself. The thing looked to be made entirely out of ebony bark and twisted red vines. Thorns sprouted from every surface of the vines, oozing a blood-like ichor. Snapped limbs branched out of the creature in every direction, the occasional tattered leaf hanging on for dear life.


    Its face, a twisted amalgamation of tree and human, glared with blood-red eyes. It had no mouth, at least not a visible one. It twitched uncaringly as Hope shot it. Unlike normal bark, the thing¡¯s ¡®skin¡¯ didn¡¯t splinter or break. A scratch traced along its cheek as the bullet deflected off, hitting the back wall.


    I joined Hope, unloading onto the wood creature as it approached us with a steady gate. Each of our bullets was about as ineffective as the last. Our only saving grace was the thing¡¯s incredibly slow movement speed. It¡¯s like it was trying to drag an entire forest along with every step, slowing it down drastically.


    Insight chilled my head and back as the creature lifted one of its arms. I ducked back behind the pillar just as massive thorns tore through the area like bullets, pounding into one of the support pillars with enough force to embed them deep into the bricks.


    One of the thorns snagged my arm, instantly ripping through my jacket like paper. It tracked a jagged cut down the length of my forearm. I barely held back a scream, flicking on Cold-Blooded to help calm my nerves as I stared at the wound. Blood oozed up, blocking my view of its severity.


    ¡°You alright?¡± Hope called, glancing over at me.


    ¡°Ch-chek!¡± I wasted no time popping open my bag. I grabbed one of the loose bolts of cloth, tying it into a makeshift bandage around my arm. Cold-Blooded helped me calmly get over the constant stings of pain even as it forced a headache.


    The creature¡¯s face cracked as it split into a jagged mouth and screeched, sounding reminiscent of wood being ground into mulch. It took a step forward, flinching slightly as one of Hope¡¯s shots hit a thick clump of vines. It roared as the vines twisted and twirled all over its body ravenously twitching toward us.


    Hope shouted to me as she ducked back behind the pillar, popping a new mag into her rifle. A hail of thorns tore around the sides of the pillar, one bouncing off of her chestplate. ¡°Aim for the vines! They¡¯re not as durable!¡±


    A cool throb of pain arced up my injured arm as I grabbed my rifle, the world seeming to slow around me, and shot another burst toward the creature. My aim wasn¡¯t good, splattering all around its bark face. One of the bullets caught a vine, rupturing it in a spray of ichor as the creature flinched again. Not that it mattered too much as the vine quickly grew back-


    An explosion echoed down the tunnel into the cistern, causing me to freeze up in confusion for a moment. Right, the mine. The rock must¡¯ve slipped off-


    The creature raised its arm again, this time causing me to preemptively duck behind cover before Insight could warn me. I glanced over to Hope, seeing her do the same a moment behind me. Several high-pitched dinks echoed as a couple of thorns caught Hope¡¯s silver bracers. They bounced off without any effect, not even leaving a scratch on the shiny metal.


    I ducked back mostly behind cover, reloading my gun. The creature moved ever closer, closing in enough to swing its arm toward Hope. It¡¯s still way too far to actually hit her, so why-


    A red vine unfurled and flung out like a whip, whistling as it flew toward her face. Hope dropped her rifle, drawing a slightly glowing knife from her hip as she ducked underneath the vine. Just as it passed over her head, she struck like lightning, slicing through the menacing tendril. The creature screeched in pain as it missed another hail of thorns.


    Using the pillar as cover, she sheathed the knife, kicked her rifle back up into her waiting hands, and ran for a spot further back in one smooth motion, dodging under another burst of thorns without even turning around.


    I laid down several bursts into its side, hitting several vines that seemed to cluster around its back. Most of my mag went wide, as per usual, but one caught a cancerous-looking growth on its back, making the creature roar again.


    I hid behind the pillar and hit the release catch for my rifle, dropping yet another empty mag as I reached for a reload. My hand only grasped air. I looked down, wincing as I saw only one mag left. I slid it into my rifle, though-


    ¡°Watch out!¡± Hope screamed.


    I didn¡¯t need to be told twice as instinct took over, propelling me away from my cover and to the opposite side of the room. Behind me, I heard a titanic crash and something heavy hitting the ground, though I didn¡¯t turn to look as I raced for safety.


    Insight once again sent phantom pains across my back and arms as I threw myself to the side, tearing open the wound on my arm again as I hit the brick floor. A dozen thorns flew past where I just stood as the creature let loose a menacing screech.


    I ducked behind a toppled table, calmly ignoring the corpse slumped up against it, and looked back. The original pillar I hid behind was gone, replaced by free space and a pile of rubble as the wood creature roughly remodeled the place with a bull rush. The thing itself was half caught under a collapsed arch, though it didn¡¯t look like it would stay that long as every tug of its legs shifted the mound of rubble.


    Hope took the time to reposition, running and gunning with surprising accuracy as she nailed almost every single one of her shots in full auto. Damn impressive.


    I didn''t slack. With sudden free time, I threw my bag over my shoulder and quickly rifled through it. I pulled free an old bottle, setting it on the ground as I summoned the canteen and shakily started to pour gas into it. With my other hand, I searched through my bag for a piece of old cloth, tearing it into strips with my boot. I lightly doused the strip with the canteen and stuffed the strip into the mouth of the bottle, tying it around the neck.


    I managed to make one more Molotov before a splattering of rubble warned me of the wood creature¡¯s escape. I tossed the canteen back into the shadows and slung my bag over my shoulders as I hefted my shoddily made Molotovs.


    The creature¡¯s attention shifted back to Hope at some point as it whipped towards her with its vines swinging wildly. Hope expertly dodged each strike, deflecting those that she couldn¡¯t with her silver bracers without any issues. She even managed to cut the thorn-laden vines several times as I raced back into range to support, though it mattered little as the vines rapidly regenerated.


    Its back was to me, exposing fully the bulbous growth of vines on its back. The red vines gathered there, burrowing down under the creature¡¯s skin and then branching out all across its body. As soon as I was within throwing distance, I lit one of the Molotovs and tossed it at the creature¡¯s back.


    The Molotov shattered, sending flaming gasoline all over. I picked that moment to unload into the center mass of vines with my rifle, shooting for all I was worth as my bullets danced across its body.


    The wood creature staggered, dropping down to a knee with a shriek as the fire charred and burned its way through the wooden defenses. The vines all over it went ballistic, smothering the flames much like the mawed creature did.


    While it was dazed by the fire, Hope took the opportunity to approach it with her knife. Instead of backing off like a sane person, she proved herself to be a true member of the psychopathic Blue Crusade. She shoulder-checked the beast, knocking it to the ground as she rammed her knife into its eye socket. A fountain of red ichor sprayed up onto her mask.


    The creature weakly threw its arm at her, which she promptly dodged. She followed up her attack by slamming her foot down onto the knife, wedging it deep into the head of the beast as she kicked off back away from it.


    My rifle clicked empty again as Hope raised hers, unleashing focused hell nearly point blank. Each shot seemed to perfectly hit into its eye sockets, the bullets ringing as they hit their brethren. I threw the rifle over my shoulder and pulled at my last Molotov, throwing it at the beast''s face.


    As the flames entered its mouth and eyes, it let out one last, weak screech. The twitch and wiggling body of wood froze, going entirely still. The vines fell limply as the malice seemed to fade away. Hope quickly snagged her knife back as the flames started to burn away the creature properly. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I flicked on Aetherial Perception, my body going rigid. I saw the same dark green, nearly black shades of the Aether as I saw on the mawed creature. Unlike every other interaction with the Aether I¡¯d seen so far, this one seemed to have a mind of its own. Two deep, abyssal eyes gazed through the branching darkness, passing over me like I wasn¡¯t even there as they glared at Hope. The glare continued till the darkness faded under the constant ebbs of the Aether.


    Hope sighed, slinging her rifle back over her shoulder as she took a deep, raspy breath through the mask. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I twitched, shaking my head and looking down at the brutalized face of the creature slowly burning away. She probably could¡¯ve taken it by herself, to be honest. Hell, she practically did. My fire support was lackluster at best.


    I followed her lead and shifted my equipment around, though I did keep my hand close to the Saber-19 just in case. ¡°Now what?¡±


    Hope looked around the cistern as she pulled out two pairs of black gloves, handing one set to me. ¡°Spread out. Look for clues, I guess. Be careful though, no telling what kind of foul sorcery these fanatics have whipped up. I¡¯ll check the bodies. CSI isn¡¯t coming down here any time soon, so just look for now, then we¡¯ll gather what we can and haul it back up to the surface.¡±


    I nodded to her, heading for the table in the middle as she walked off towards the far side of the room. I carefully stepped over the two corpses, only checking them enough to confirm that, yes, they were completely dead. I did take the opportunity to snag one of their necklaces though. There¡¯s a fairly high chance the necklaces were their key to getting through all the plant security. Better safe than sorry.


    The central table was covered in circular drawings and written in some weird script I couldn¡¯t read. Every letter, if that¡¯s what the symbols were, was done in a style I was starting to expect from these fanatics; some looked like flowers, others looked like trees. Regardless, I couldn¡¯t read them.


    I shifted the stuff to the side, tossing my bag onto the table. I spent a few minutes as Hope meandered around to the various corpses carefully taking care of my arm. I wasn¡¯t too worried about the wound since it would be gone by tomorrow, so I just slathered it in gauze and wrapped it up tightly without even bothering to cut off my coat''s sleeve. Then I was off to look for clues, as Hope suggested.


    I paused for a moment as I spotted a plant I recognized. While Hope was busy finger-printing a corpse, I pulled out the Mystical Agriculture book and flicked through it briefly to see if I could find out what the thing was.


    A light flashed from the crystal on the back side of the book like an old-timey camera. Then, the book flipped through its pages without any input from me, stopping on one in particular: Lunar Bloom. I stared down, surprised at the auto-search function.


    An idea sprang to mind as I headed over to the burning remnants of the wood creature, holding the book up like the last time. It flashed again, flipping to a page for the ¡®Corrupted Dryad¡¯. I looked through the page briefly before bookmarking it and tossing it back into my bag. I could read later when I wasn¡¯t in the Underground.


    I moved off to the room where this ¡®Corrupted Dryad¡¯ emerged from, entering through a proper doorway instead of the massive hole the thing tore through the vine wall.


    The room looked to be some kind of office, even having a desk and filing cabinets against the backside. Bullet holes riddled almost everything, most of them probably mine. All sorts of plants sat everywhere, of course, but there were also a fair amount of maps. I looked through most of them, memorizing the structures. They appeared to be from all over the city without any apparent similarities.


    My mind froze as I caught sight of a large map buried underneath the rest of them. I wasted no time pushing everything to the side, my hands brushing past aged and yellowing paper as Eidetic Schematic worked in overdrive.


    An ancient map of the old city¡¯s underground facilities, back before they had been buried super far beneath the surface, sat in all its glory. I didn¡¯t think these kinds of maps even existed, but before my very eyes was a massive map of the entire Underground. And it wasn¡¯t just the old architecture either. There were dozens of new, smaller markings and denotations all over the thing, mostly centered around Oldtown, Little Yukoto, and East End. The thing had to have been at least a century old.


    I memorized it, catching sight of hundreds of interesting places as an idea slowly started to form in my mind. I moved quickly, sabotaging the map with small rips here and there over certain locations, using a pen on the table to make incorrect passages, and tore off a massive chunk of it centered around ancient Little Yukoto, which I promptly burned to ash. Since I already had it locked into memory, there was no point leaving a perfectly good map for others to use, especially with the plan forming in my mind.


    Excitement pounded through me as ideas meshed together, though I let them fade to the background of my mind as I set about looking for other clues. I could think deeply about this some other time.


    I looked around several other areas, finding a plethora of magical relics and books on various topics of the Aether. There were, of course, a shit ton of books on various plants. There was even a room full of fertilizer off to the side. I didn''t touch anything out of fear of a trap, though I was incredibly tempted to swipe a particularly shiny tree statue.


    Almost everything was written in the weird plant glyph language, so I couldn¡¯t understand most of it. I could mostly make sense of the maps and the drawings, but everything else? Right over my head.


    Several recurring symbols did appear though. Two were the most common. There was a tree symbol that twisted itself into a knot. It was the same one as the necklaces. The other symbol was a massive circle with a weird script all inside of it. Three circles sat evenly spaced around it, each with its own script inside.


    One thing was sure though as I walked around, this was a massive group we were going up against. A massive, well-armed, and highly set up group.

 Chapter 124

    Chapter 124Hope and I ended up having to make seven trips up and down, only breaking for a little bit when we got back to the elevator chute. No, that wasn¡¯t quite right. took a break. Hope continued on hauling boxes of evidence up to the surface while I ¡®kept watch¡¯ at the bottom. I offered to help, ¡®course, but she turned me down since my arm was injured and all that. Still too bloody to get a good look at, and I didn¡¯t want to expose it more than necessary down here with all the contaminants.


    They¡¯d send a squad of Crusaders down here at some point in the next week to box up and snag whatever was left, but the chances were high the place would be cleared out either thanks to looters or returning members of the Circle. And that wasn''t considering the high likelihood of someone in the squad being dirty.


    We were just grabbing all the important bits that we could, mostly maps and coded paperwork. I did mark the location down in my mental map though. There were quite a few plants around here that I wouldn¡¯t mind snagging if I had the chance. Especially the Hibisen.


    Oh, and we found out why the mine blew up. Rather, we found the chunks of why the mine blew up. One of the Circle cultists apparently tried to make a break for it while we were busy fighting and the gonk tripped the mine. Worked for us, at least. No witnesses, for better or worse.


    By the time we finally got everything out and back up the surface, Hope going so far as to pull me up so I wouldn¡¯t strain my wound, I was ready for bed. It was super late already. As Hope pulled out of the alleys onto the street, the city was still alive and thriving even as the night grew old. The neon lights never stopped, the brightness oddly comforting as I drifted off.


    ¨C ¨C ¨C


    A hand lightly shook my shoulder, causing me to flinch back and throw- my arm twinged in pain underneath the wraps of bandages, freezing my motions. I blearily rubbed the sleep from my eyes as I calmed down slightly, remembering where I was.


    ¡°Rise and shine, Zuku.¡± Hope sighed, looking at me with obvious envy in her eyes. ¡°Your arm okay?¡±


    ¡°Nova.¡± I groaned, twisting in the car seat as if that would alleviate the burning pain in it. The sleeve of my trench coat stuck to my skin uncomfortably. I switched on Cold-Blooded again, feeling myself cool down drastically as the pain faded to a background reminder.


    Hope tapped me on the shoulder again as I started to drift back off. ¡°Why don¡¯t you go see Doc Holly? I¡¯ll- uh- I¡¯ll take care of the boxes if you¡¯ll write up the report.¡±


    A jaw-crippling yawn broke free from my lips as I languidly stretched, the seatbelt pulling tightly on my chest. ¡°Chek chek¡­¡± The fog in my head cleared slightly as I registered what she said fully. ¡°Doc Holly?¡±


    I met her eyes as she stared at me, the heavy bags underneath seeming to sink even further for a moment. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right¡­ first injury on the job?¡±


    ¡°Something like that.¡± I groaned, unbuckling the seatbelt and sliding out of the cruiser carefully.


    A message popped into my HUD with an address. ¡°She¡¯s the night doctor at the gym. She¡¯ll get you all sorted out. Probably give you a couple days off too, if you¡¯re lucky. Send me a message with what she tells you. Oh, and if she asks what happened, tell her it''s classified.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± I popped open the back door, grabbing all of my gear and bag. I threw on what I could, carrying the rest with one arm ¡°You sure you don¡¯t want help?¡±


    ¡°Chek¡­ The Inquisitor is probably still up and around, so I¡¯ve got to report to him. Wouldn¡¯t want you caught in an hours-long conversation. You really should go get that checked.¡± Hope waved her shiny silver gauntlet to my arm. ¡°Probably infected with where we¡¯ve been.¡±


    Ew, thanks for reminding me¡­ would Quick Healing even help an infection? It''s for healing, so logically it should, but the interface lacks logic sometimes. Take for instance Dexterity having nothing to do with dexterity. ¡°Okay, okay, I¡¯m going.¡±


    I got a few steps out, my stuff slung all over my body chaotically, before a voice froze me in my tracks. ¡°Hey Zuku!¡±


    I turned slightly back around. ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Leave the rifle. We¡¯ve got to return those.¡±


    I sheepishly turned, putting on an innocent look as if I hadn¡¯t realized I was carrying it. The only thing that beat new toys was free toys¡­ or something like that. I lightly placed it back in the car. It didn¡¯t really matter, I guess. I got enough worth out of this raid anyway with that map alone.


    Oh, and the Pervider venom. Nasty stuff, but extremely helpful in a medical emergency. It basically put whatever it infected into stasis, keeping them alive even with lethal injuries. It was how the people in the den were still alive with the babies crawling around inside of them-


    A shudder went down my spine as I shifted tracts, throwing those images into the back of my mind as I arrived back at my bike.


    The gym¡¯s location wasn¡¯t that far off from the Blue Crusade, so it barely took a few minutes on my sputtering bike to reach it. I¡¯d have to give the vehicle another glance over at some point.


    As for why I headed for a doctor instead of the tried and true method of sleeping through it? There were actually quite a few reasons. The simplest one was just curiosity. Curiosity about this gym in the first place, but also curiosity about what else the Crusade offers as benefits other than an in-house doctor and a small gym.


    Hope was also expecting a doctor''s note, which was just perfect. I really didn''t even need a doctor in the first place, but she was technically my superior.


    The real reason, however, was thanks to something Hope mentioned: a couple days off. At least, days off from the Blue Crusade. There were plenty of things that I needed to get done, and soon.


    Primarily, finally set up a stash. And I needed to finish my armor and get it to a good state to use¡­ actually, reverse that order. Get the armor done first, then use it to safely scout out stash locations as a test run. But that was all for tomorrow. For tonight, visiting the Crusade doctor was the last thing on my list.


    I pulled into a parking garage on the opposite side of the street, one which was absolutely filled with Crusade Cruisers. There were a few civilian vehicles here and there, but they were few and far between. It wasn''t a worrying sight in the .


    As I stepped out onto the street, I realized the Blue Crusade gym was really small, almost like a laundromat more than anything. It sat on a block barely peeking out between two corporate bodegas selling the same stuff as almost every other one. A dim, but surprisingly clean, alley sat between one of the bodegas and the building.


    The block was rather tall though, reaching into the sky like a defiant giant. Heck, I wondered if I was in the wrong spot even with the Blue Crusade¡¯s symbol dimly glowing above the door. Blue neon spelled out ¡®BC Gym¡¯.


    Surely there wasn¡¯t space in there for a doctor¡¯s office  sea??h th§× novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    a gym, right? Unless it stacked up, I guess¡­ though up above this type of setup were usually cramped apartments and such with the occasional store or service thrown in.


    Standing out here and speculating wasn¡¯t doing anything though. I headed for the door, a small bronze bell ringing gently as I pulled it open. There wasn¡¯t any entryway into the place, just a room filled with equipment. Off to the side of the door, pressed up against the shuddered windows, sat a small desk.


    I got a few looks as I stepped into the place, most of which I ignored. Most of the looks were full of awe or amazement for some reason. There weren¡¯t any adults around, not even behind the counter. Almost everyone was a kid or teenager, working out as if there was no tomorrow- wait, scratch that. There were a few twentyish-looking people out and about helping the various kids. Trainers probably.


    I headed for the counter, which was staffed by a kid a bit younger than me. He stood at attention as I walked up to the desk.


    ¡°What can I help you with, ma¡¯AM?¡± His voice cracked, causing a barely perceptible wince that he mostly covered up.


    ¡°I was told to come see the doctor here?¡± I looked around the fairly small gym. ¡°To be honest, this is the first time I¡¯ve been to this one.¡±


    ¡°Chek.¡± The guy rifled around on a terminal behind the counter, a hint of suspicion in his eyes. Just stay calm Shiro, act like you belong and no one will question you¡­ He clicked around on the terminal before holding out a scanner. ¡°Your badge?¡±


    I pulled it off and handed it to the guy. Outside of the occasional door in the HQ, this was the first time someone¡¯s actually scanned the badge. I had to force myself to breathe normally as he scanned it. The screen flashed at him a few times before he handed it back.


    ¡°Welcome, Miss Ichima¡­ uh, this part is the Aspirant Gym. Most Crusaders and Squires head through the alley entrance to get into the building proper. If you head through that door-¡± He pointed towards the back wall at an ¡®employee¡¯s only¡¯ door, ¡°-and take the first door on your left, you¡¯ll exit out into the lobby. The doctor¡¯s office is on the third floor.¡±


    Oh? Quite a bit bigger than I expected¡­ At least that explains why there were so many empty cruisers yet nobody was around. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Happy to help, ma¡¯am. Oh, and the- uh, the cleaner¡¯s is on sublevel one.¡± He offered with, carefully looking to the side as he avoided meeting my eyes.


    A frown crossed my face before I got a whiff of myself. I looked down at my trench coat, catching sight of several jagged tears here and there from where it got caught on the occasional rock. The loose sides of the coat that hung below my knees were caked in mud and¡­ just mud. I didn¡¯t want to think about what exactly covered my lower half. Hell, there were even patches of singed fabric from my many recent escapades with explosives. Yeah, a shower and cleaner wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea¡­


    I nodded to him and headed off towards the back side of the room, carefully avoiding messing with anyone as I headed for the door. It would seriously suck to get slathered in mystery goo by a stranger.


    I followed the directions, entering into a short hall and then immediately taking a left into an actual lobby. A few Squires came and went, but for the most part, everyone just headed on through without stopping. I joined, attempting to exude confidence as if I knew exactly where I was and where I was headed.


    Beyond the lobby sat a massive gym, filled to the brim with clanking machinery and sweating people as they destroyed their muscles. There was so much exercise equipment I could scarcely see the back wall through it. Most of them I didn¡¯t have any idea how they worked. The stench of sweat surprisingly wasn¡¯t all that bad. A vanilla scent covered everything expertly.


    Almost everyone was dressed in similar clothes, giving a weird sense of uniformity. That isn¡¯t to say they all wore the same stuff though. There was a fair slathering of clothes typical of what I would expect from a gym, but they were all designed the same. They were all a dark blue, nearly black digital camo with bright blue highlights. Small Blue Crusade symbols hid on the clothes, leaving no guesses as to where they came from.


    Then there were the psychopaths exercising in their armor. Most of them were Knights, though as I walked through the mess I spotted several Squires in their partial sets. Quite a few of the Knights even had additional weights strapped to their armor¡­


    Well, I guess maybe it wasn¡¯t all that bad of an idea. Better to get used to moving in armor than get caught out thanks to it.


    The back wall had five elevators on it. I hit the button for one, patiently waiting for it to come down. The doors slid open as the elevator dinged. Just as I was about to step forward into it, the doors slammed shut hard enough to sever a limb. It dinged again, opening once more. I hesitated this time, watching it with a growing sense of apprehension. The doors slammed once more.


    I turned heel and called another elevator, casually pretending as if I wasn¡¯t involved in the first one at all. This time, the elevator came down full of people. As soon as they all vacated it, I stepped in and hit the button for the third floor.


    There was a small guide on the panel of the elevator.


    Sublevel 2- Shooting Range


    Sublevel 1- Cleaner/Repairs.


    Ground Floor- Gym.


    Floor 2- Crusader Shop(Public).


    Floor 3- Doctor¡¯s Office.


    Floor 4- Restaurant(Public).


    Floor 5- Crusader Shop and Restaurant(Crusaders Only)


    Floor 6-8- Pool


    Floor 9- Varied Sports Courts


    Floor 10- Seminar Center


    Floor 11- Day Care


    Floor 12- Admin Offices


    Floor 13-73- Crusade Apartments.


    Floor 74-75- Flyer Bays


    Yeah¡­ so quite a bit bigger than I thought it was. Hell, they even had their own shop! At the end of the day, Blue Crusade Inc. was truly still a corporation.


    I wonder how much of this stuff I have access to though? And are they free? Or just taken out of my paycheck, the one I don¡¯t get¡­ I guess I¡¯ll find out shortly.


    The elevator doors slid open, revealing a clinical lobby like I¡¯d expect to see at a hospital. It was fairly empty compared to the gym, which is about right considering the time of day. Rather, time of night. Those fanatics at the gym had burned the midnight oil already and were fast approaching the morning¡¯s supply.


    A nurse stopped what she was doing as I hesitantly approached the lobby¡¯s counter. ¡°Uh, hi¡­ I was told to come here?¡±


    ¡°Of course, how can we help you?¡± I took a closer look at the nurse as she spoke, noticing she wasn¡¯t like the other medical professionals I¡¯d seen. She was entirely packed with muscles, to the point she¡¯d probably outclass everyone down in the gym.


    I rolled up my tattered sleeve, revealing dark red bandages slowly oozing out blood. There was¡­ quite a bit more than I was expecting. Did my body even have that much blood in it? Well, I guess not anymore.


    The nurse bolted upright, pushing a button on one of the consoles. ¡°Doctor Holly, emergency inbound. Extreme blood loss. Come with me.¡± She hopped over the counter easily, lightly supporting me as if I would collapse at any moment.


    And here I was hoping I¡¯d just get a slap on the back and sent home to sleep¡­

 Chapter 125

    Chapter 125Doctor Holly carefully stroked her newest patient¡¯s arm, eyeing the stitches she had used to hold the thing together. It had been a rather simple procedure all and all. Just a transfusion of synthblood and thoroughly cleaning the wound, though the girl¡¯s occasional gasps of pain had been a bit distracting. The girl was definitely in shock though, the gasps came infrequently enough and her nearly frozen skin was a dead give away.


    Never in her life would Holly have thought she¡¯d say this, but she almost felt bad for the pain she caused her newest patient. Usually, the idiots of the Crusade caused her enough trouble she was never bothered by it. Well, mostly unbothered by it.


    Her patient, one Zuku Ichima, looked up with large, watery doe eyes. ¡°A-Am I good to go?¡±


    ¡°Almost.¡± Doctor Holly said as she forced herself up and towards a terminal. She looked over the results of her newest scan, finding it to be just as weird as the last results she got. This one was a brain scan, revealing the Squire¡¯s brain to be just a bit... well, her brain¡¯s synaptic response was different than a normal person''s.


    If that''s where the difference stopped, Doctor Holly wouldn¡¯t show much interest outside of making a note in the Squire¡¯s file to check for any neurodivergent signs. No, the doctor found the entire brain to be one mess of oddness.


    For one, the Hippocampus, Prefrontal Cortex, and Visual Cortex were slightly enlarged. She couldn¡¯t tell its exact effects by just the brain scan if there were any at all, but it was yet another interesting note. She¡¯d expect to see such a thing in only the most exotic of biomods, or the craziest. Yet she couldn¡¯t find any signs of previous surgery, suggesting some kind of mutation.


    It was a bit odd, but more and more mutations had been popping up over the years, so Holly didn¡¯t think too deeply about it other than briefly wondering if that conspiracy theory of big corps dumping mutagens into the city¡¯s water was really true.


    ¡°Was there an infection?¡± The girl asked from where she sat on the examination bed.


    Doctor Holly looked up, catching sight of the worry in Zuku¡¯s face. Something inside of her shriveled, almost like watching her little sister in distress. ¡°No, but I¡¯m going to give you some medicine to take just in case.¡±


    The innocent relief, followed by a blinding smile warmed her heart. ¡°Thank you!¡±


    ¡°O-Of course¡­¡± The doctor turned away from her the blinding sight of the girl, refocusing on her terminal. She had learned over the years that some things were better off just being avoided, such as the girl¡¯s crazy high charm.


    She shifted her attention fully back as she looked over another reading. Other scans of the Squire revealed minor oddities. For instance, her muscles were extremely springy. Not all that odd seeing as several other Crusaders shared that similarity. What was odd was the muscle mass in general. The girl had way less muscle mass than every other Crusader the doctor had seen over the years.


    To be honest, it was a bit of a relief seeing a normal person again. Since she had been hired, all she saw were the same muscle-bound idiots of the Crusade with little variation between them. And don¡¯t even get her started on the ones roided out to oblivion. The bulging veins sent disgust shivering down her spine every time without fail. sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Thankfully, the more recent results were at fairly large odds with what she got when the Squire first came in. Her heart rate was back to normal, no longer beating at a very worrying thirty-three beats per minute. Heck, her heart rate was what brought up this whole deeper dive in the first place. With the amount of blood the Squire lost, her heart rate should¡¯ve been more than anything as her heart tried to use blood it didn¡¯t have.


    Doctor Holly chalked it up to some kind of new combat drug or something caught in the Underground. It wasn¡¯t the first time she¡¯d seen them, though the Crusade had been cracking down on combat drugs as per her request. She wasn¡¯t exactly sure what happened to the Squire, what with it being classified and all that, but she had been around the block enough to recognize signs of the Underground. The filthy trench coat was a dead giveaway.


    ¡°So- how much do I owe you?¡± Zuku asked, drawing the doctor from her thoughts. She had a pitiful look on her face, as if someone had just given her a beautiful new puppy and then brutally punted it. Into a furnace.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Doctor Holly shifted her attention from her terminal backup to her distraught patient, once more feeling that peculiar sensation as if she was doing something wrong. ¡°Oh, uh- nothing? Most of the facilities here are part of the benefit package. This is your first time here?¡±


    The girl¡¯s disarming smile returned. ¡°Well, I try not to get injured¡­ and I work with an Inquisitor, so combat isn¡¯t all that common.¡±


    ¡°Good practice.¡± The doctor paused as a nurse finally brought a small white bottle to her. Doctor Holly checked out the label briefly and wrote some notes down on her terminal before heading back to the girl. ¡°Here you go.¡±


    The girl grabbed the bottle, looking it over. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Chek¡­ I know you can¡¯t say much, but can you tell me where in the Underground you were?¡± Doctor Holly asked.


    ¡°Oh, um¡­¡± The girl froze up, her hesitation obvious. Probably the order of some numb nuts Crusader paranoid over their own organization stabbing them in the back. Idiot. ¡°Oldtown.¡±


    The doctor sighed. ¡°That''s a relief. Okay, we don¡¯t have to worry about the parasites under East End or the fungal growths under Portside. Those antibiotics should be all you need, but come back if something crops up.¡±


    Doctor Holly went back to the examination room¡¯s terminal, grabbing a sheet of paper beside it and a pin. The least she could do was to get the poor girl some time off. So young, and yet already being sent off to the Crusade¡¯s battlefield. Her file even said she came from Satcha Orphanage before it burned down.


    Holly  hated how the Crusade treated the hundreds of orphanages they operated, practically using them as seedbeds for Aspirants. And yet, she couldn¡¯t say anything too negative about it. For all its faults, the orphan programs took in kids that probably would¡¯ve died in a gutter anyway¡­ she should know, having come from one.


    The doctor finished the note, handing it over. ¡°Okay, hand this to your Inquisitor. Five days off, then light duty for the next week till the stitches fall out.¡±


    Zuku¡¯s face lit up like a spotlight, nearly blinding the doctor. ¡°Oh thank you!¡±


    Doctor Holly sighed as she handed it over. This was always the favorite part for her patients. If only she could find a spouse who looked at her like her patients looked at doctor¡¯s notes, she¡¯d be set for life. ¡°Alright, you¡¯re good to go.¡±


    The girl bolted out of the bed like she hadn¡¯t walked in with severe blood loss and left before the doctor could say anything else. Holly sighed deeply as she returned to the ever-growing mountain of paperwork.


    ¨C ¨C ¨C


    Freeedooommmm! As soon as I left her sight, I dropped the pitiful act. I practically skipped down the hall as I headed back for the elevator. I was more than ready to head home and hit the sack. I didn¡¯t even look back as I left the creepy doctor behind.


    Seriously, the way she looked at me¡­ a shudder went down my spine. It was like I was a rat in her lab, ready to be poked and prodded to divulge all my secrets. Deeply uncomfortable, though my discomfort might''ve been influenced by my overall unease being around Blue Crusade faculty. Even my very real and rational worry couldn¡¯t drive off my tired cheer as I arrived at the elevators.


    My tired cheer remained undiminished even as an elevator froze and the second plummeted down the shaft, having broken from its wire. The third time''s the charm and all that.


    I moved to hit the ground floor, pausing as my tattered sleeve came into view. Maybe I should check out the cleaners while I was here. Then- then I could go and lay down in my blessed bed¡­ after taking a shower. Probably get something to snack on too¡­


    Oh, and I need to mentally catalog some information, such as East End having freakin¡¯ in their Underground! Seriously, what the hell was wrong with that place? I wasn¡¯t entirely sure if Portside was much better with supposed fungal growths. Learning stuff like that made me a bit more hesitant to head Underground, at least not without some assurances. I¡¯ll ask Nael when I get the chance if he''s dealt with them before.


    My hand slid down to the button for sublevel one. The elevator helpfully dinged as it closed, sliding slowly down. I leaned up against the wall, nearly falling asleep on my feet thanks to the chill elevator music. It wasn¡¯t quite smooth jazz, but there were no lyrics to it.


    The elevator doors slid open on the first door, allowing a Knight in. His armor was battered, deep gouges torn into the chest plate and arms. Even his helmet hosted a slit near one of his eyes, allowing an icey blue pupil to stare out of it. He gazed at me, instantly banishing any sleepiness as I stood up straight.


    Knights were already terrifying enough, but what the hell beat this guy up so badly? I¡¯d seen rifle rounds bounce off of the Blue Crusade armor easily, and yet tore such deep gouges into his armor. My mind danced with thoughts of dozens of monsters I¡¯d heard tales about, wondering if one of them might¡¯ve done it.


    Then a chill went down my spine as I looked over his armor. Whatever tore his armor to shreds had . This guy beat something that could so easily tear his armor, he didn¡¯t seem hurt in the slightest. As if I wasn¡¯t scared enough of the Crusade.


    I looked away, attempting to distract myself to little avail. Already I could feel the cocktail of guilt and fear from the armor''s enchantments, though it faded quickly. All this time around the Blue Crusade was starting to make that particular enchantment less effective. They still probably had a host of terrifying enchantments though. No need to get complacent around them¡­


    The Knight shifted his frigid blue eye to the elevator¡¯s panel, then leaned against the wall similar to how I was just a few seconds ago. ¡°Crazy night, huh?¡± His voice threw me off, sounding cheerful and friendly even as his barely visible eye radiated stern badass vibes.


    ¡°Huh- y-yeah¡­ crazy knight¡­¡± Thankfully, the elevator doors slid open as we arrived at our destination. I got out before he could say anything else, freezing momentarily as I entered the place.


    It looked like a dry cleaners shop I might expect to find in one of the mega apartment buildings or arcologies. It was a fairly large room centered around a counter, though there were doors leading into other areas. Behind the counter sat racks and racks of clothes, vests, and armor.


    A little old woman, her skin as pale as a vampire¡¯s, sat behind the counter slowly sewing together a sleeve. Although I stepped out of the elevator first, I took a step to the side, allowing the Knight to go ahead of me in feigned adherence to seniority. Practically though, I wanted to see how he handled it.


    Unfortunately, what I saw didn¡¯t help me much. The guy just handed over his badge and walked to one of the doors without saying anything. I idled a minute, pulling out my phone to pretend I was doing something important.


    A few minutes later, the Knight returned holding all of his armor and clothes. He had changed into the same style of clothes I¡¯d seen others in the gym wearing. Crusade digital camo sweats and a loose t-shirt. Additionally, he had on a full silver face mask, though this one was entirely unenchanted. He handed everything over to the lady, and then back to the elevator.


    I waited for the old woman to put away the Knight¡¯s gear before approaching myself. I decided to go with a peppy, friendly approach. I splattered the friendliest smile I could on my face. ¡°Hi! Um- I¡¯m new here, but my superior said I should come down here?¡±


    The older woman eyed me, unimpressed. She sighed, leaning over the counter slightly to get a better look at me. ¡°Hand me your badge, girl.¡±


    I passed it over without much hesitation. It was always a bit nerve-racking to hand it over, though I tried to not let it show on my face. I mean, I logically  it would be fine since the shoe had so far fit perfectly, but there was always that little bit in the back of my mind that warned me of how easily this could all go wrong.


    The woman scanned it, then held it back out to me. ¡°Inquisitor Ligh, huh? Next time you see him, tell that bastard he still owes me for poker night.¡±


    The sudden image of the old lady playing poker with the Inquisitor popped into my head, nearly drawing a chuckle. ¡°Of course, ma¡¯am.¡±


    ¡°Nova¡­ head to room 5, change into the clothes there, and then bring me everything else.¡± The woman grabbed her sewing needle, pointing towards one of the side rooms before continuing with her project.


    I followed her instructions, heading to the side room. I found a pair of sweats and a t-shirt much like the Knight¡¯s resting inside of it. To my surprise, they fit perfectly. Not too snug, but not so baggy as to get annoying. I gathered up all my gear, thankful that I left everything important locked away on my bike, and headed back out of the room. I did keep my badge and a few other things like it though. I set my bundle of clothing down on the counter.


    The lady wrinkled her nose at my bundle of clothes. Being out of them, and having held them up to my chest on the walk over, I got a better sense of just how bad they reeked. I couldn¡¯t fault her in the slightest. ¡°Come back in two- three days, and I''ll get them ready and fixed up for you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you!¡±


    She made a noise. I couldn¡¯t quite tell if it was a growl or an acknowledgment, but I took it as my sign to leave. I headed back for the elevator, once more with a pep in my step as I headed for freedom- more accurately, as I headed for home and a nice, hot shower.

 Chapter 126

    Chapter 126I awoke bright and early, tiredly dragging myself out of bed to take another shower for all the cold sweat. Nightmares about spiders were the worst. The entire night, the creepie crawlies crawled into my sleep, digging around underneath my skin. Well, not the entire night. I didn¡¯t get back to my apartment till almost dawn.


    I washed out the terrible taste in my mouth with plenty of Jack¡¯s Sun Kicker and checked my arm. It was perfectly healed, leaving not even a speck of tarnished skin. Hmm¡­ maybe I should get some makeup or something to make a fake scar. It¡¯d look a lot more believable than being fully healed after a single night.


    The late night and early morning left me horribly cranky as I set the canteen to XtraEnergy Quantum?, though I did feel much better after the shower.


    I shook my head, sending a splatter of water around, focusing on everything I wanted to do. First thing¡¯s first: armor. I snagged the pieces from where I kept them stashed and looked the sets over. I also took measurements of the Drop Chutes while I was at it.


    I pulled out my notebook and spent a couple hours drawing out designs and plans, carefully thinking about everything I would need. Then I headed out to go buy stuff.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    I returned several hours later, arms weighed down by bags and fifteen hundred Rayn lighter than when I left, leaving me with just enough to cover rent and have nearly five hundred spare. Most of that went into getting metal parts made from my friends at Tike Metal Co. and a rather high-end battery pack. The rest went to batteries of various kinds and a small touch screen.


    I also took the time to run the doctor¡¯s note by the Inquisitor. He wasn¡¯t in his office, so I just put it on his desk and left quickly. It was funny, for once I didn''t show up in uniform and nobody looked at me sideways. Yet when I was in uniform I could feel the eyes of suspicion constantly.


    I started with the helmet after throwing my newest stuff to the side. I disassembled it once more, my hand easily going through the motions since I had its reverse-engineered blueprint already memorized. I also took apart my previous mask, taking out and disassembling the breathing apparatus. It was an easy thing to swap out all the parts and implement them into the helmet. It was all something I¡¯d done before.


    I put the helmet all back together and threw it on. Breathing was a bit more difficult than it had been due to the slats blocking the filters slightly, but it wasn¡¯t unmanageable. If anything, it was better this way since I¡¯d be able to breathe safely  be protected from rogue bullets.


    Next came my changes to the eyes. Thankfully, the original cameras for the piece weren¡¯t the bullet-resistant parts. No, that honor belonged to tiny transparent disks sitting just in front of them. The mask would be just as bullet-resistant with or without the cameras.


    I didn¡¯t do anything too drastic, just took the entire camera and LED component out, replacing them with slightly better ones from my spare robotics parts courtesy of ASCorp. It was more of a temporary fix than anything. The robotic cameras weren''t fancy by any stretch of the imagination.


    I looked the helmet over a couple times, making sure everything looked and acted fine. There was more I wanted to do, such as incorporate actual thermal cameras or something, but for now, the helmet was more of a side project than anything.


    How to do this? I wanted to disassemble the armor and the stealth suit and incorporate them into one piece. The easiest way was probably to just wear the stealth suit under the armor. I''d get all the benefits of the thermal absorption threading, though the anechoic side of things would suffer a bit. Not that it mattered too much since I could already get around perfectly quiet without them. And they might add a layer of shock absorption to the armor.


    I looked over the heavier set one more time. Its arm braces came down to just over the top of the palm, cutting into a rather sharp point that stuck out just slightly if my fist was clenched almost as if to help a punch. It dipped down to the underside of the arm, fully wrapping around it up to the wrist.


    The upper arm was largely exposed until rather unintrusive shoulder guards. They were fairly lightweight as far as armor went, mostly there to ward off glancing blows or direct shots to the shoulders. They didn¡¯t cover fully, leaving plenty of room for mobility.


    The chest plate was a full piece, protecting the front and back in almost one smooth sheet of metal. The sides had a scaled plate design that offered fairly good protection and breathability without blocking the maneuverability too much. There was a curved spike protruding up out of the chest plate, covering the neck and chin from the front.


    Then there were the greaves. They were solid pieces covering just the front of the legs with straps to hold them in place. They stopped just above the ankle, closer to a shin guard more than anything.


    I went ahead and threw on the stealth suit, feeling the fabric constrict around my body into a skin-tight mess. It was a bit trippy looking down at myself and being entirely unable to see any contours thanks to the fabric''s resistance to light.


    Just to test the fit, I put on the armor too. Immediately, it grew uncomfortable. The pauldrons, chest plate, and greaves pushed down on the pads of the stealth suit, but there  spots where the padding protected areas the armor didn¡¯t such as the thighs.


    I took it all off once more, grabbed a knife, and slowly started to cut out the padding. It took a while, mainly because the fabric was tough to cut, but also since I didn¡¯t want to cut into the actual clothing part of the suit. I left most of the padding that wasn''t in the way.


    With my adjustments, I tried again to get a much more comfortable fit. It still wasn¡¯t perfect since the armor itself was designed for a, erm, taller person, but I had a plan to get around it slightly. All of that would take some more advanced tools and equipment to make though, so it was on the back burner for now.


    I painted the whole thing, liberally spreading it around until the entire armor looked like one formless black mass. I put it back on just to see what it would look like from an outside perspective, and it was downright terrifying. The properties of the paint made it so there weren¡¯t any reflections of light, making it difficult for my depth perception to track. I raised my arms in front of my chest, and they just , blending into the black mass. It hurt my head as if I was staring into the void itself and not at the mirror.


    I went back through, adding the other kind of paint that could light up. What was it called? Adjustable Chroma, maybe? Regardless, it was a tricky process getting it painted onto the right spots without the ability to see contours, but I managed off of feel. The paint also acted as a conduit for electricity, making it so I didn¡¯t have to run wires underneath everything to power the Adjustable Chroma. It made me wonder if I couldn¡¯t use it as wiring for other parts too¡­


    To control the lights, I cut out part of the right arm brace and implemented a small touch screen. It was an incredibly simple thing, though I did have some difficulties getting it to link up to the paint itself. After a few hours of testing programs, and wiring in a couple of the batteries I just bought into a jury-rigged mount of the arm, I finally got it to work.


    After hours of grueling work, I put it all back on and tapped a button on the touchpad. In my bathroom mirror, I watched a formless black mass grow three glowing blue eyes in a crescent shape. I adjusted a part on the touchpad, and blue lines spread out all over the mass. They slowly pulsed as if breathing. It was eerie to look at under a light but in the darkness? A shudder went down my spine and  was the one wearing it. Intimidation was about to be far easier to level.


    The inability to make out the contours and depth of the armor also acted as a form of protection. Without the ability to see where my armor stopped and the fabric started, it would be impossible to make a shot specifically targeting an unarmed part.


    It would be good for intimidation at the very least. As I grew more used to how it looked though, I realized it probably wouldn¡¯t be as good for sneaking around as I thought it would. Pure black surfaces weren¡¯t as common as dull and dark grays, especially in an urban setting. Especially with all the neon. Outside of the city everything was sand, so it would probably stand out even more there, at least during the day.


    It was a bit crushing, but expected. The true strength of blackout came with a Diffraction Module, but that was a far-off dream more than anything. They were top-of-the-line, something I doubt I¡¯d be able to get any time soon. Or ever. I¡¯m not even sure I could manage to get one without special ordering it from a fixer or stealing it myself. Maybe it was a bit preemptive to blackout my armor¡­


    Not all was lost though. At night, it would probably be good out in the wilderness. Everything was dark thanks to the smog blocking out natural light, at least everywhere I¡¯d been.


    Anyway the last thing I wanted to do, and the thing I spent the majority of my money on, was incorporate the Drop Chutes into the armor. They were damn useful. For now, I didn¡¯t have a plan to help with the heat generation- er, I had a plan, but not the resources to make it. The battery life was something fairly easy to fix up.


    I ran the numbers, checking my blueprints several times to make sure everything would line up. I only had one shot at this, unless I wanted to break into the Neo-Joker¡¯s stash house again.


    I started by cutting out small holes in the back of the chest plate with my plasma torch, which was as fun as ever to use. Nothing too large, more so just gaps for wiring to fit through than anything.


    From there, I broke open one of the drop chutes. I already had the blueprint memorized, so it was rather easy to get it all opened up. That didn¡¯t mean I disassembled it entirely though. While I did have the blueprint memorized, I didn¡¯t exactly know how it all worked together. S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    For one, the thing relied on something called a Gravitic Chamber to work. I did try to do some research and figure out what Gravitic was, but the most I could find were ghost traces of it in archives and ancient message forums. It reeked of a coverup, especially since I had a device that ran off of it. From the blueprint, I knew it was some kind of crystalline structure that reacted with electricity, but not much more than that.


    Anyway, there were four main parts to the Drop Chute. The Gravitic Chamber, Processing Module, The Battery, and the Micro Ionic Thruster. There truly was a lot thrown together in the small device.


    I left the Gravitic Chamber, Micro Ionic Thruster, and Processing Modules alone entirely, not trusting myself to be able to fix them if I screwed them up. I did rewire its battery though, linking it to the high-end battery I bought. The battery was about the size of my palm, offering a battery life of one kWh, which is quite a bit of juice, so it  be able to power the Drop Chutes and any other small-scale tech without an issue.


    It took a bit of finagling, but eventually, I got the paint to act as a conduit to power the thing. From there, I linked up its activation button to the touchscreen on the wrist.


    It was a bit of a pain in the ass to get everything working, mostly since I was still trying to figure out how the Adjustable Chroma paint worked in the first place, and then had to use my newbie Net skills to set up a simple program to run the thing. Eventually, I got the programs all set up so I could just hit a small button on the touchscreen to activate the Drop Chute. I tested it a few times, turning it off and on, but it would need a field test to be sure.


    I similarly rewired the other five Drop Chutes through the armor. It was a bit different for the larger one of the set, but only in size. I got it all hooked up without too much of an issue.


    Then I went around and welded in the plates I bought from Tike Metal Co. over the Drop chutes, leaving small gaps for them to function. The metal was an exact match for the armor, which had been why it cost so damn much. The welds were a bit ugly since I still didn''t have a full-on welder yet and I used a different kind of filler than normal, but they would hold.


    After that, I unhooked all the wires and removed the battery as I started up my final effort to get the armor where I wanted it. It was a painstaking process, but I managed to pop the armor out a bit using a mixture of heat and effort right around the middle of the back.


    I inserted the battery into that small popped-out space, used some of the leftover padding to create a pocket bolted into the armor, and rewired it all backup. I also welded on an additional layer of armor onto the back side to reinforce it, which took up the last of the metal I bought.


    After nearly a full day of working on it, I stepped back and looked over the armor. There were spots here and there, such as the added metal plates, where I¡¯d have to repaint it. All the wires would have to be painted over too, but other than that? The armor looked good. Hell, it looked like a menace.


    I messed around, repainting everything once more and stress-testing my new toys. Then I took a quick shower and headed off to bed, my head swimming with things I needed to do soon.

 Chapter 127

    Chapter 127Rent was today, which was just¡­ . There goes sixteen hundred Rayn, leaving me with just four hundred. I need to get another job soon¡­


    But until then, my stash so I could finally get on with some other plans! And it would be free if I had any luck. I¡¯ve been thinking about this for a very, very long time; where should I set up? Everywhere had their dangers, but the number one thing I was afraid of was someone else finding it. It needed to be in a secluded location, have good security, and be hard to track down. Bonus points for being hard to track me back to.


    After hours of deliberation, and a rather helpful look at a map, where better to put it than the Underground? It was  secluded, only the occasional merc squad headed down there for one reason or another. Oh, and cultists I guess. Rarely did anyone head down there, which helped security. It was rife with monsters, so it had good natural security. And I could easily lose tails in the Underground, so it would be hard to follow me back. Oh, and I could enter the Underground from almost anywhere in the city, so I could just disappear after a heist.


    The more I thought about this, the more I liked it. Especially after I memorized that map marked with the thousands of structures, tunnels, and caves. My mind was also rife with hundreds of entryways, so I could literally enter from wherever.


    I took a while, sitting back and thinking through the map in all its detail. My mental focus was largely on the Little Yukoto area, though I did keep my mind open about other districts. Or at least, most other districts. East End with their supposed parasites and Portside with its fungal growths were out¡­ though they would provide additional security. Hmm¡­


    The Corporate Quarter was also largely out. I could head into it and set up a base there, but there was no telling what the corpos have set up in their slice of the Underground. Mystech also had an underground complex, possibly even reaching the Underground in depth. Well, probably reaching the Underground. Corpos love their over-the-topness.


    So really, I was just keeping my mind out for Little Yukoto, Oldtown, the fringes of Downtown, and Bricktown¡­ wow, there really were a lot of ¡®towns¡¯ in Aythryn City. How come I never noticed that before? I''m surprised Portside wasn¡¯t called Port Town.


    Out of everywhere though, Little Yukoto was my preferred district. Not only since it was close to home, this a shorter walk than, say, Oldtown, but I was also more familiar with the area. That, and I¡¯d ripped Little Yukoto off the map that the Blue Crusade had.


    As I went through the sections of the map for viable places, I wrote down their approximate locations. Then I went back through the list, narrowing down my options to the three best, though I kept the rest in mind. It was important to get to the right place, so I didn¡¯t want to just settle for something suboptimal.


    I prepped my gear, gathering supplies, materials, toys, and various tools for an extended trip into the Underground. With any luck, I¡¯d avoid combat entirely, but I could never be too sure. I loaded up with my SB-17 AR and my old faithful Rhymer. I even packed my newest pistol, Saber-19, and its silver rounds just in case.


    Of course, I brought explosives too. I made three Molotovs, packed the last flashbang from Hope, a fair length of det-cord, and a couple of frag grenades just in case.


    As for my armor, I didn¡¯t immediately put it on. I didn¡¯t want the thing to track back to me, and just a single camera spotting it leaving my apartment could potentially do so. Instead, I tossed it into my bag. I¡¯d throw it on when I actually got to the Underground or an entrance into the Underground.


    My bag weighed a ton as I headed down to my bike, and I couldn¡¯t help but feel I overpacked a bit. That thought vanished when I remembered all the different ghouls, mutants, and monstrosities dwelling in the deep. This trip would also be my first solo trip down there in a long time, so I¡¯d rather not get caught out. There was a high chance the places I wanted to check out were already inhabited too.


    My first stop before doing anything though? Big Mike¡¯s for a nice, juicy burger to ease my nerves. Then I was off for the Sabyt sub-district, the one Absolom Clinic sat in. If the map was correct, there was a small entrance over there that would do nicely.


    I mentally overlayed the city map of Little Yukoto over the ancient map of the Underground, comparing landmarks and distances till I narrowed down where exactly the entrance I wanted sat.


    I narrowed it down to an apartment¡¯s basement, one that was rather difficult to reach. I parked my bike in a nearby parking garage and walked around the block I thought it was in as I rechecked my path. Traffic in this part of the city was low, the Intercity above drawing most of it away. The Intercity highway¡¯s pillars cut into old architecture and the sidewalks, making plenty of narrow gaps and corners.


    Thankfully though, no one seemed to really care about this area. The only people I saw were those coming or going. Part of that had to do with the lack of businesses in the area. These buildings were ancient, built back when residential buildings were just single-purpose without bodegas and stores built into them.


    I eyed my target. It was a jagged structure, the bricks word closer to spikes and sharp points more than anything thanks to the decades, hell maybe even a century, that it sat here. It blended in, all of its features shared amongst the couple of blocks along this road.


    Massive billboards and holograms covered almost every surface of the building, advertising various wares and illicit services. Most of them were glitchy, the graphics jumping around and pixelating due to years since their last repairs. Tattered radar dishes sat at almost every junction, each pointed in different directions as crackling wires hung loosely all over the building. A mess of oxidized copper pipework scaled up the sides of the brick apartment building.


    I headed to the place''s entryway and was stopped at the front door by a rather new-looking code lock. An ancient camera sat up in the corner of the entry, staring down at me with a beeping red light. Wasn¡¯t expecting that. No way I could hack into this...


    Putting on an act, I threw on my best innocent expression, leaning forward to hit the code lock. I tried one two three four five, to no avail. The code lock rang, and a yellow warning light flashed up at me. I put on a confused expression and leaned back at the building¡¯s street marker. I shifted my expression to understanding as I walked back out of the camera¡¯s view.


    It was all a bit unnecessary, at least as long as nobody was actively watching the cameras for the place. If there was active security though, I didn¡¯t want to alert them that I might be doing something nefarious.


    I looked around the place, mentally checking my city map as I tried to look for a workaround. Unfortunately, the apartment building was sandwiched tightly between two buildings, so there wasn¡¯t even an alley I could try to take advantage of.  S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    That left me with a couple options. The first was the easiest, find a different location. Seeing as I liked the area this was in, its incredibly low traffic was ideal for discretion, I leaned towards my other options. The way I saw it, I could go out and hire a Netrunner to get the code for me, but that would be a bit of a waste. Or I could attempt entry through¡­ alternative measures.


    The roof was probably open, so that was an option¡­ how to get up there though? I wandered around to the apartments next door, though this time I spotted the security beforehand. I checked the other just to be sure, but all three were locked down with electronic security.


    I shifted my attention to the alleyways. Both of them were absolutely filthy, and the one to the right of my mark was inaccessible due to a collapsed fire escape. The other alley, in a similar state of trash buildup and filth, got around the whole fire escape collapsing due to age by simply not having one. There were marks in the brick as if there had been one at some point, but it had long been replaced by pipe and wire work.


    I eyed the pipes. They were varied and dominant enough that I might be able to climb up them if I was careful. Yeah, if I squinted , I could almost pretend they were a rock wall and not a poorly connected mess of thick copper pipes. I cast my gaze around the alley, checking for any security I might¡¯ve missed on my initial sweep. Nothing.


    First things first, gloves. There was no way I could get up this thing and not cut myself, so I went ahead and pulled on a set of gloves. I shifted the weight around in my backpack, getting more comfortable with the way it moved around.


    Then I was off. I climbed up onto a pile of garbage that at one point might¡¯ve been a dumpster, using it as a springboard to latch onto a pipe hanging down over the alley. I hastily pulled myself up onto it. From there, it ran horizontally, so I pulled myself up onto it, walking along its length. The entire thing groaned underneath, though I tried to keep my mind off of falling as I jumped up and latched onto an AC unit. It was just wide enough to get a good grip on.


    From there, I shimmed along the edge of the unit, swinging to latch onto a bracket for the pipe. The metal gave a bit under my weight but held strong. I climbed a series of brackets as though they were a ladder, pulling myself up a fair distance. Then it was a simple process of repetition, going through the motions as I climbed from one pipe to another, with the occasional AC unit thrown in there.


    Sweat dripped down my head, some of it caught by my Slasher''s hat, as I pulled myself up and over the final pipe. The edge of the roof was within reach, so I crouched down into a spring and jumped up for it. One of my hands pulled a loose brick off the wall, the other bearing my full weight for several terrifying moments. Then I latched the other onto the bricks and hauled myself over the edge.


    I tumbled onto the brick, my bag squishing me with its weight as all the air left my lungs. A groan escaped my lips as I rolled over, trying to get my breath back under control.


    The roof of the building connected directly to the one I wanted into, so once I felt calmed down enough, I simply walked over and hopped the retainer wall. Cigarette butts covered the roof, a thin layer of ash over most of it. The building reached quite tall, the Intercity maybe a story or two above. The constant rumbles of traffic over it were oddly soothing.


    I tried the door- unlocked. I swept the dust off, getting my act together as if I were just another resident, and then entered the building. The door was a typical fire escape, the red strips over it warning of a fire alarm that would never go off. I pulled the map of the building up as I walked, locking down onto places of interest throughout the place. Most of the rooms were just normal ole apartments, though the security room was on the highest floor alongside the offices.


    I headed for the security room first, carefully keeping my head down and cap covering me as I passed through security. The Advent Ghost had a built-in feature scrubber, so my face should just show as a blur on all cameras, but it never hurt to be safe.


    A camera looked down at the security door, though no other camera watched the area. It was simple to walk on by, then loop back to the camera and unplug a wire from the ancient tech.


    Then I picked the lock on the door and carefully entered. A bank of monitors and servers covered one wall. The other had a small cot, a guard sleeping peacefully on it. He was snuggled tight to the cot, a blanket wrapped around him and a teddy bear clutched tightly in his hands.


    My steps were dead silent as I entered the room and headed for the monitors, carefully pulling them out of sleep mode as quietly as I could. It booted up to a login screen for ¡®Realm of Retribution¡¯, some kind of RPG game. Last log on? A couple hours ago after a full night of playing. Wasn¡¯t hard to put two and two together.


    It took a bit to figure out how they had their files set up, but eventually, I found their security feeds. I did the same thing as when I infiltrated the Neo-Jokers. I took the parts where I appeared on the cameras and overlaid them with looped footage, entirely erasing my electronic presence.


    Once I erased my traces, I looked through the rest of the system. It seemed as though they used a rather sophisticated facial recognition software, something completely out of place with the ancient rest of the tech. It was a trivial matter to add my face and name to the list, green lighting access for the future. I also put in a residential password so I could get in through the door if there was a next time.


    After that, I loaded back up the game screen and left the guard to his rest, slipped out of the room, reconnected the camera, and headed down towards the basement.

 Chapter 128

    Chapter 128The basement was a multipurpose area. A hallway split down the middle, connected to the stairs and elevator on one side and a door on the other. Two rooms split off from the hallway: a laundry room, chatter barely reaching my ears over the hums of machinery, and a gym. The clangs of metal on metal and soft grunts alerted me to several people working out in it.


    I¡¯d already checked the cameras for the place, so I already knew the only two positioned down here were in the gym and laundry room. I just needed to make it to the room across the way, then I should be able to freely enter the room with the supposed entrance to the Underground. Hopefully. There was always the chance the maps or my calculations had been off.


    I headed down the door, carefully keeping away from the lines of sight as I approached the doors on either side of the hall. Rather, the doorways. Neither of the rooms had doors attached to the frames. I looked closer at the walls, noticing they were rather weak structurally. Probably added on to the basement at some point rather than part of the original structure.


    I darted across the gap, my steps and gear as silent as freshly fallen snow as I headed for the opposite side of the hallway. I tried it, finding the door locked. It was just a mechanical lock though, so I popped it open in no time and slid in.


    The door entered into a small supply closet, causing a frown to spring to my lips. Racks filled with cleaners, spare toilet paper, and other supplies filled the space. This wasn¡¯t on the map. Now that I think about it, neither was the gym or laundry room¡­


    Where was the entrance though? Or had the original owners of this place bulldozed it when building up the apartments? Hmm¡­ Dang old maps and their uncertainty.


    I took a step, feeling a flush of Insight hit me. I was missing something¡­ but what? I mentally retraced my steps, rechecking my map several times. I paced back and forth inside the closet, carefully rethinking as I tried to figure out where exactly I had gone wrong-


    Wait, my steps¡­ How many steps did it take to get to the hallway? Something was wrong here. Why was the hallway so short? The ancient schematic of the basement I found showed it to be quite a large area, but then that wasn¡¯t exactly right either? Only two-thirds of the space was in use by the laundry room and gym. This place is missing a third of its space. Hmm¡­ It could just be a discrepancy in the schematic. The thing was ancient after all.


    Or it could not. I eyed the supply closet further, catching sight of an oddity on the back wall. The bricks were different. It was barely visible, but the striations of the bricks were slightly off, as was the hue. It was slightly more yellow. A bit newer than the rest of the brickwork in the basement, though only by maybe a year.


    Was it a fake wall? I tapped on it several times, but they were brick, so it was hard to tell. I looked around the room further, catching sight of a worn-out mark on the ground. Something had scraped the tile up.


    I pulled on the shelf slightly. I was getting stronger recently, but it still took a bit of effort to force the shelf off of the wall. Like, more than should be possible considering it was a simple shelf. Even the weight of the cleaners and all that shouldn¡¯t have been making it too big of an issue.


    Then I heard a quiet mechanical grinding as the shelf gave way, pulling slightly off the wall. I strained, the mechanical noise getting louder as the shelf swung out, one side pulling off the wall.


    I looked down, catching sight of a tattered rip cord attached to the shelf. The other end disappeared into the wall. With one final tug, I managed to get the shelf pulled as far as possible from the wall. The ripcord pulled quite far out of its hidden slot.


    The mechanical grinding increased by several times as the shelf slowly pulled back to its resting position, the bottles of cleaner and rolls of toilet paper shaking slightly as the surface moved. A catch released, and the back wall shifted. Dust fell off of it as the entire thing shook momentarily. S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Then the wall split into two, pulling apart to reveal an ash-covered room. I eyed the place. I paused only a moment, pulling out my rifle before taking a hesitant step forward under the effects of Dexterity. I shifted my eyes from shadow to shadow, weary of danger.


    There was a set of footprints headed toward the back room, but they were almost entirely covered up. If I had to guess, it had been maybe thirty or forty years, give or take some time, since anyone had been down here. The tracks were also one-way. Unless they backtracked carefully by stepping on their own footprints, whoever ventured down here so long ago hadn¡¯t made the return trip. My hands tightened around the rifle''s grip.


    The place seemed to be some kind of ancient bar. If I had to date it, it would be at least a hundred years old purely based on how the wood elements of the room looked. The bar, barstools, and tables scattered around were charred in a way only real wood reacted to the fire. Synthwood got all droopy and melty more than charred. So either this room was from a period before Synthwood really took off, or it was an extremely extravagant place.


    I took a hesitant step forward, disturbing the ash slightly. I adjusted my balance to stir as little of it as possible, carefully stepping in the path of the old prints. Dozens of skeletons lay around here, scattered about the place. The char and ash made it difficult to spot, but bullet holes lined almost every wall. What happened here?


    I flinched back, rifle up and ready to shoot as I heard a grating behind me. My guard relaxed slightly as I saw the hidden door to the place close by itself. Probably set on a timer or something. I¡¯ll need to take a look at the mechanism before I leave. Probably could do with some grease and fixing up if I wanted to turn this place into a more permanent passageway. Maybe even clean up the bar?


    A far-distant idea of me owning the place, and turning it into a proper business came to mind if only to better hide my tracks. The amount of money for that kind of thing though¡­ still, it would be cool. A super secret entrance into a super secret and popping speakeasy, which was actually just a cover for a super secret passage into a super secret stash house full of loot was the kind of thing that made my mind tick. Or was it just the secretness of it that was so attractive?


    I walked closer to one of the skeletons that caught my eye, noticing several shattered bottles all over the place. Did they use the bar¡¯s own product as an accelerant? It was likely. The skeleton¡¯s clothes had all been burned away in the fire, but the chrome hadn¡¯t. Or should I say prosthetic? The thing was ancient, almost entirely non-mechanical in nature. Hell, the thing was closer to a peg leg than anything.


    I tried to think back through what I knew of history, but I couldn¡¯t quite place it other than knowing that the thing was ancient. At least older than the Cyber Panic in twenty-eleven. Probably way older, all things considered.


    Maybe back when- hmm¡­ What did that fangirl teacher of Corporate History call it? Prohibition? That sounds right. It was one of the few things she talked about that wasn¡¯t directly related to Sentinel- no, that wasn¡¯t quite right. The only reason she brought it up was thanks to old rumors that the CEO of Sentinel got his starting investments from running several ¡®Businesses¡¯ at the time.


    Ah, no that actually made sense. If this place was an old speakeasy back from prohibition buried with time, some things started to click. For instance, the weird hidden entry. The ancient wood, the old chrome, and probably more if I were to look around further could hint at it. The ash probably acted as a preservative for some of the stuff here, and aside from the person whose footsteps I tracked, I doubt anyone had been here since the fire. Too much debris and the skeletons probably would¡¯ve been removed.


    Was the apartment built after the speakeasy then? I knew the apartments were old, but I didn¡¯t think they were about a hundred and fifty years old¡­ The blueprint hadn¡¯t been dated though, so I guess it could¡¯ve been. The amount of renovations this place would¡¯ve needed to stay in good shape after all that time would be astronomical.


    I left the corpse, heading back to the tracks. They split off, heading to the bar before looping back. I gave a cursory glance behind the bar, but it was empty except for shattered bottles. Either it had been emptied before the fire, or whoever left the tracks got to anything left over before I did.


    I followed the tracks into a kitchen area. Even back here hadn¡¯t been spared from the fire, ash coating just about everything. An old walk-in freezer sat open, four skeletons bundled up in the corner of the place¡­ Food had rotted to nothing and shattered jars sat scattered all around the place. Surprisingly, there was one jar still in good condition full of what looked like pickles.


    The tracks meandered around the kitchen for a while, the open cabinets and drawers suggesting the person had searched through the place. Then they headed towards a back room. Still no sign of the supposed way down. I gripped my rifle tighter and entered into an office of sorts.


    Er- it was more of a study. It reminded me of the posh drawing room where Mr. Abernathy met me, though way older and more suave. Or at least it had been. Ash covered everything, though to a lesser extent than the rest of the place. The walls were burnt-out bookshelves, nothing but ash remaining of the books that once called them home. A massive desk sat on the back side of the office, covered in the ashen husks of two lamps and several pens. A skull sat on it, staring almost judgmentally at me. The rest of the skeleton lay scattered off to the side, taking ''Rest in Peace'' to a whole new level.


    A silver frame lay down against the wall, and the original painting burned out. Where the frame would¡¯ve hung, however, sat a fair size safe. Unopened. Though it looked as though someone had briefly tried to get it open with a crowbar or pick.


    I held myself back from immediately heading to it, panning over the place carefully as I flicked on Aetherial Perception and watched for traps. Nothing. The tracks led back behind the desk, so I followed them once more.


    Behind the desk, a fair-sized pit framed by splintered and rotted wood sat. The hole descended into darkness, the bottom of it hidden by sheer rock faces and clumps of rotten wood from where the flooring fell out. The tracks led to the drop in the floor before stopping abruptly. Had they descended? Hmm... no rope marks though.


    I kept an eye on the pit as I headed for the safe. It was trivial to unlock it, though it was a bit weird that my knowledge of safe cracking still applied to a safe from so long ago. I guess there hasn¡¯t been much improvement in purely mechanical safes outside of more resistant materials. Well, maybe only slight improvements. The safe was far easier than some of the stuff I¡¯d sprung open.


    The door creaked open, revealing stacks and stacks of small paper- no, not paper. Money. The old currency from before the Fall of the USA. Worthless now with the world¡¯s conversion to Boswan Pulas, or Rayn as it was more commonly known, but probably would¡¯ve been quite a lot back then.


    A small back book sat pressed against the wall. I flicked through it, finding pages full of names, affiliations, and debts. Nothing too important since so much time had passed, but probably could¡¯ve been useful a while back. I could look through it fully at some other point though.


    There were a couple gold coins marked with an eagle¡¯s head. Good ole gold. Two ounces, so another five thousand Rayn just from the vault. Things were starting to look up.


    Maybe I should try to start hitting some of these older places and find abandoned loot? Might be worth it? Especially if I targeted stuff around the K-10 Crash when a lot of records were lost. There were all sorts of abandoned goods still left out there. Hell, checking old stashes was one of the most common jobs for more combative Mercs. I could think about this another time though.


    I stashed the two ounces into an inner pocket of my backpack and looked under the worthless paper, finding another small black book and a keychain smothered in keys. I went ahead and grabbed it, stashed the keys in my bag, and looked through the book.


    It was written in code, though a rather poor one. I checked the Net for a code cracker and got it translated almost instantly. It appeared to be a codebook full of destinations, times, and other details. Probably stash locations, if I had to guess. Might be helpful, though I highly doubt any of the stashes remained.


    At the back end of the book was a blueprint of the Speakeasy, one which I memorized instantly thanks to Eidetic Schematic. There were several hidden compartments all over the place, but I could check those out on my return trip. If there was loot, I didn¡¯t want to load myself down too much. For a similar decision, I decided to put everything except the gold back into the vault for safe, heh, keeping and locking it back up.


    I took the opportunity to armor up now that I was away from prying eyes. That, and it was now or never. Down in the depths would be too late, and I needed at least my helmet on for the rebreather. That, and it would be an easier descent with the weight of the armor more evenly distributed across my body than centered on my back.


    Then I started to rope to repel into the dark pit. It was rather annoying to get everything set up, my only real experience from watching others, but eventually, I managed and started my descent into the depths for the third time in recent memory.

 Chapter 129

    Chapter 129I anchored myself to a wall just before the drop into a tunnel, recentering myself and pulling out my SB-17 just in case. Then I slowly lowered myself down. I peeked out of the hole, carefully scanning my surroundings for threats, before dropping into the tunnel properly.


    The tunnel seemed to be some kind of sewer or storm drain. There were two passages on either side, moss and some faintly glowing lichen covering the walls and ground. Down the middle of the passage sat a shallow pool of mildewed and stagnant water.


    It took a bit of maneuvering to get over onto the sidewalk of the passage since the drop fell right into the shallow water, but I managed. The one that came before me, however, hadn¡¯t managed quite so well.


    In the pool of water sat an ancient leather chair. It was beaten and battered, looking as though it had hit every single rock on the way down here. Shattered and rotten wood floated in the water around it.


    A skeleton sat on the toppled chair, at least mostly. Time and scavengers hadn¡¯t been kind to the corpse, leaving shattered bones scattered around and dozens outright missing. The maid, at least based on the tattered remains of the uniform, hadn¡¯t died easy. It was a long way down... the mostly submerged bones now acted as a platform for a bed of moss.


    I stared at the skeleton for a few moments, feeling a bit ashamed at the relief I got from seeing the person dead. No, not relief that they were dead. Relief that their knowledge died with them. I was probably the only one who knew about this particular entry and the speakeasy-


    Wait, how did the map even know about this place in the first place? For that matter, how did the Circle find all of the stuff on the map? No one had been to the speakeasy in several decades based on the state of the place, so they couldn¡¯t have found it like that. And I highly doubt the Circle just stumbled across every part of the Underground¡­


    Was it some kind of ground-penetrating radar? No, it couldn¡¯t be. Part of the problem with the Underground was its depth, and the materials between the surface and down here made it impossible to scan. Radars wouldn¡¯t work¡­ unless it was some kind of magical one? Was there some kind of spell that let them scan the place?


    I shook my head, my hair shaking loosely in my helmet. It didn¡¯t matter. I couldn''t find an answer just thinking about it.


    I checked myself over, setting several magazines up all over my belt. They slightly ruined the effect of the paint, but it was fine for the most part. Then I was off, prowling the darkness as I mentally recorded my journey. My internal map slowly turned more and more three-dimensional as I walked down the drainage system.


    The map of the Underground I snagged from the Circle showed this particular spot had a cave-in on one end. I summoned Crow''s Celestial Compass, aligning myself and checking to see if even a small, out-of-the-way spot like this was marked right on the map. And indeed it was. I turned back, heading towards the other side.


    I crawled out of the drainage system, the entrance half buried under rubble, and into a subway. It was a rather tight squeeze, but I managed to get out and back into a guarded stance in a few moments.


    I looked around the rails, catching sight of several signs people had been moving through here recently. Little scuffs here and there, spots where the debris had been dislodged, and scattered dust that had yet to cover everything again. It looked as though it had only been one group though. Outside of that, this section of the subway hadn¡¯t seen anyone in a while. There weren¡¯t even signs of critters around. Rather, there were signs of them going, but none of them coming back.


    I followed the curve of the subway, dropping down into another series of tunnels. The one I followed had collapsed at some point, creating a slope of debris down into the other.


    The new tunnels were odd, seemingly closer to ancient military tunnels than anything. They were wide and tall enough to practically be an underground road, and by the husks of vehicles here and there, it had been at one point. I summoned Crow¡¯s Celestial Compass, checking the alignment of the tunnel. It headed north to south.


    Good. I mentally retraced the map. I had a couple dozen other passages that cut through ahead of me, but I was looking for a service door of some kind. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I stayed sharp as I edged along the darkness, the bulwarks of stone all around me offering little protection. Occasionally side doors and support brackets offered cover, but for the most part, it was a sheer passageway. Outside of debris, that is.


    Occasionally I¡¯d pass by a burned-out car, abandoned truck, or others of the like. Signs of a rather recent battle marked most of them and corpses of ghouls littered the path. The constant sound of scurrying filled the place.


    Most of the vermin didn¡¯t notice me. The normal ones, at least. There were tons of mutants down here, several cat-sized rats even freakishly having up to eight eyes all over their skulls. It was a creepy vibe walking amongst the mutant vermin, though only two or three of them actually noticed me, baring their teeth at my passing.


    The ones that noticed me calmed down and kept eating after I passed though, so I didn¡¯t open fire even as my fingers twitched. Doubt it¡¯d be effective anyway. There were so many vermin around here they could rush and kill me fairly easily if I disturbed the masses¡­ I shifted my hand to my belt, hovering over the flashbang just in case.


    The entire path set me on edge. The further I moved south, closer to Downtown, the more corpses of ghouls were left to rot on the ground. Rather, they had been left to rot. More and more skeletons were picked clean, and tracks and shifted debris pointed to a swarm of something far larger than a rat going through the area from several split-off caves and passes. And recently too by the looks of things.


    The rat populace thankfully died down as the tracks of the larger entities made themselves known, but their beady eyes, barely lit by some glowing lichen on the roof, seemed to eye me from back behind.


    I was all too glad once I found the right side door. I got out of the military tunnels and entered a small repair shop of some kind. Most of the stuff here was ancient, though I did grab a couple unopened bottles of grease and some other dusty stuff to use back up at the speakeasy.


    A cave cut through the wall of the repair shop, though it was quite high up. I moved a shelf over to it, the metal screeching far too loudly in my ears as it grated against the concrete floor. Once it was in place, I used it as a makeshift ladder, climbing up and into the cave. The cave went at an upward angle. I followed it for a while, having to squeeze past several spots where it winded around and narrowed. Eventually, it led to a drop in the ground.


    I carefully eased up to the hole, ignoring a rather small spider on the back end of the cave. The insect wasn¡¯t the first I¡¯d seen, and definitely wouldn¡¯t be the last. As long as they stayed normal sized though, it wasn¡¯t an issue.


    I caught my breath as I eyed the drop. The cave overlooked a small intersection for what looked to be maintenance tunnels of some kind. Rusted pipes and twisted wires covered the walls, the walls cracked harshly even as spots looked worn smooth by ancient water flows.


    Three people stood idly chatting around an electric lantern resting on a Mond of rubble. One of them pulled a cigarette from his mouth, muttering something to the guy beside him that caused both to laugh. The third was a woman busy spray painting the wall, though she chuckled too.


    All three wore fairly decent ballistic vests and had on clothes far too similar to be anything but a uniform. They all wore dark gray t-shirts and pants, even having on matching boots. A blue-gray striped armband sat on each of their arms. The first man and the woman had brand new chrome arms slightly gleaming in the light of their lantern. It looked rather high end too. The third guy had a bunch of wires and circuitry sticking out of the side of his head.


    I eyed them for a moment before backing off. The group was right in my way¡­ how close was I anyway? I did some rough calculations, using the landmarks I¡¯d passed to track down my exact location. I wasn¡¯t too far off the first spot. It was supposed to be a massive cellar of some kind.


    What to do¡­ hmm¡­ as of right now, they hadn''t noticed me. Chances they were friendly? Closer to negative than positive. That, and if this was a guard outpost, then there were probably far more of them. What were the chances they were at my first location?


    I pulled Crow¡¯s Celestial Compass from my pocket and, ready to test a feature I hadn¡¯t gotten around to using since I got it. I looked at the black mess of gears and slightly glowing crystals. How did I use it? Do I just think ¡®Find a Hostile Harbor¡¯? No way it could be that simp-


    A small red button popped out of the side, almost like a pocket watch. I hesitated for a moment, admiring the device''s ingenuity. Crow¡¯s stuff really was the best. By far the best-


    A chill of Insight shifted my thought process to suddenly press the button. The gears inside of the compass froze for a moment, then the crystals began to glow an ominous deeper red as the gears spun into action. They ticked faster and faster until, after a moment, the entire compass went dark. Even the needles on top for directions turned off entirely.


    A faint ethereal burst, caught by Aetherial Perception at just the last moment, shot out of the compass. The red glow expanded like a halo, rapidly covering ground, and disappeared into the walls.


    Crow¡¯s Celestial Compass let out a faint chime as the gears kicked back into action and the crystals glowed even brighter than before. The projected lines of the cardinal directions returned, though only for a moment before they twisted, twirling into a thick arrow pointed northwest.


    I ran some calculations based on the angle and my knowledge of the place, feeling a sinking feeling as I realized the arrow aligned with the cellar I wanted to head for.


    Okay, okay¡­ this is why you picked several locations, Shiro. Maybe the others would be better? Don¡¯t be stupid and get in a pointless fight against an unknown enemy¡­ although¡­


    Who  the enemy here? Sure they were a group of mercs, probably PMCs based on their uniformity, but  were they? I unfortunately wasn¡¯t all that learned on the various PMC groups, or mercs for that matter. What an oversight. I should do some more research when I get back to the surface.


    But who were the ones below me? I tried to think back to the times I¡¯d seen PMCs. That, plus new chrome¡­ maybe some corporate safe house was nearby? Or- or a Savant Lab¡­ It was too soon to say for sure, nor did I want to get in there and investigate. Still, I mentally made a note. I could turn over the info to the Jade Fang and they¡¯d check it out. Or at least send a scout to see.


    I backtracked entirely, heading back down through the cave and back into the military tunnels. The return journey was even more nerve-wracking than the one down the path had been. The entire time, the scurrying of rats seemed to follow me. I even tested it a couple times, pausing only to hear nothing. It was horribly eerie.


    Eventually, I made it back to the subway and the noises halted entirely, though I still got the feeling something was wrong. Insight didn¡¯t warn me of danger though¡­ I still kept up my guard. Insight hadn¡¯t warned me initially back at the Mortas Motel either.


    I even paused momentarily to set up a simple tripwire trap just inside the subway using some microwire and a grenade. If nothing tripped it, I¡¯d come and collect the stuff, but if something did¡­ well, if I was being followed as I feared, it was better to solve the issue as quickly as possible.


    I checked my mental map a couple more times, lining up with where I needed to go for location two of three. I did stop by my entryway, which was fairly well hidden by the mound of rubble at its connection point to the subway. I dropped off the stuff I snagged from the repair room where my rope was tied off. No point in carrying it around the whole time.


    I also set up two more tripwire traps in quick succession.  There was a high chance it was just paranoia, but if it wasn¡¯t¡­ I took a few moments to take some calming breaths, the oxygen tasting refreshingly clean through my helmet.


    Then I headed down the opposite direction of the subway from where I first went. For a while. the tracks of the other group kept me company, but they cut off not too far down the subway tunnel. They crossed over a platform and disappeared into the darkness as I continued my journey.


    I carefully watched my surroundings the entire time, eventually stumbling across a subway train rammed through the wall. It was super sketchy, but after retracing my location, I realized it was supposed to be the access point to the next tunnel that would lead to my second spot.


    I didn¡¯t like it. A bad feeling lay deep in my gut. If I was an ambush predator, the train would be the perfect spot to strike. It¡¯d also be a good spot for a den for some other creature, though the lack of tracks suggested it had been abandoned.


    I hesitated briefly before the train, using the time to sling my rifle back over my shoulder and pull my Rhymer S-32 shotgun out of my bag. Ole reliable felt comfortable in my grip as I headed towards an ajar door of the train.

 Chapter 130

    Chapter 130The subway train lay on its side, tipped over from when it derailed and slammed through the subway¡¯s wall. It was a bit tricky to get in, slightly reminding me of the mutant ghoul nest Mira and I found back when we were searching for Granny Smith¡¯s grandson¡­ speaking of Granny Smith, I wonder how she is? I should go visit her- ah, I could think about this some other time. Now definitely wasn¡¯t the time.


    I managed to wedge open one of the doors, sliding inside once it was open enough for me to slip by. My feet hit the ground, my steps quiet though the sudden impact caused the metal to tremble slightly. I easily slid to the side, using one of the train¡¯s brackets to stand on to avoid creaking metal.


    My shotgun stayed high, ready at a moment''s notice to blast anything that might jump out. The silence of the Underground sounded deafening in my ears as I slowly crept up the length of the tilted train. The subway car ended, its door blasted apart probably from the impact.


    As I reached the door, I couldn¡¯t help glancing over my shoulder. There were no bodies in the subway car. Was this thing abandoned when it was flipped- no, someone would¡¯ve had to have driven it to get it to fly up and through the brick wall so harshly. What happened here?


    A skittering of claws hit my ears, faintly hearable in the far background. I was sure of it now; something was behind me¡­ something with some level of intelligence if it avoided the tripwire trap. Should I set up an ambush here or further in? I won¡¯t be able to dodge as well in here, though there is cover. Hmm¡­ if it''s small enough, it¡¯ll have ample room to dodge and ample cover. Probably best I set up outside the train. Whatever kind of creature it was, it was cautious. As long as I don¡¯t reveal that I know anything, it¡¯ll probably keep stalking me, waiting for the perfect chance.


    A plan briefly worked itself out in my head as I sped up slightly, jumping across a small gap to the next subway car. My jump was good, easily clearing the gap as I slid through a shattered glass door.


    I made my way through the next car, finding some difficulty in just how steep the thing was. I had to use the subway seats and bars as a makeshift ladder to get up, though I kept at least one hand on my gun at all times in case my stalker decided now was a good time to strike. I crawled up it and out the subway car into the next one over, the one that went through the brick.


    This one ended in a control cabin, one that was dented harshly. It was hard to tell where the control cabin started and stopped, to be honest. The entire car was destroyed, all the glass shattered and mounds of savaged metal and bricks lay all over the place. I finally caught sight of the first set of corpses.


    Three skeletons lay under piles of rubble, two with more shattered bones than not, and one in a fairly good condition. Or as good as a condition a skeleton could ever be in the Underground. Scavengers had long been through here, leaving missing and gnawed bones. I caught sight of several shiny bits and bobs, though I could come back to loot later.


    The control cabin dropped into a rather large maintenance room with several halls leading out of it. The room was vaguely circle-shaped, and was quite large. Not quite as big as the Circle''s cistern, but still would take a bit to walk to the other side.


    I wrapped a length of microwire around a fairly stable rail and hopped down, instantly activating my Perks. With my full suite of stealth enhancements, I ghosted up against the wall underneath the train, carefully avoiding anything that might crinkle or crumble under my feet. I moved so the view from the subway train would be entirely blocked by the bit sticking out. Then I hefted my shotgun and waited.


    And waited.


    And waited.


    Several minutes later, a bit of dust shook free from the wall, the only sign that something was up there. Whatever it was moved with dead silence- at least until one of its claws clicked against something. I stopped breathing entirely, afraid the rasp of the respirator would alert the creature.


    After a few moments, a shadow dropped from the train.


    My finger squeezed the trigger instantly, shattering the silence with a concussive blast as a spray of metal launched to the creature before I could even see what it was. My shotgun was already tossed to the side and my rifle half raised before the creature could react properly, letting out a screech of agony as it finally registered the shotgun blast.


    It leapt backward, leaving a trail of dark ichor as I finally realized what I was dealing with. A creature, too mutated to call it anything in particular, glowered at me with two beady eyes that seemed to glow with an inner light. It was roughly wolf-shaped, though it seemed closer to an overgrown rat than anything.


    It had already changed its course of action by the time I brought my rifle up, launching towards me as it swung its tail like a whip. The tail twitched, showing several deadly looking barbs, but it was too far to actually hit me. The tail cracked off to the side, not enough range to make any impact.


    It was far too close for me to miss, so I unloaded full auto into the creature. The kick from my rifle hammered into my shoulder, trying to throw me off course. Not that it mattered. With the creature this close, the kick from the gun wasn¡¯t bad enough for me to miss entirely. Sure, my bullets were scattered crazier then a blind archer, but at least they hit the taget.


    The first ten bullets hit it before it reached me, slowing the beast down. The rest of the mag slowed it even further, each bullet dropping the thing''s momentum substantially till the last five bullets hit its frozen body, exasperating its already lethal levels of blood loss.


    Still, the thing acted as if driven by a pure desire for mutually assured destruction. It flung its tail at me, the sharp barbs seeming to have a metallic glint to them as Insight warned me of imminent danger to my thigh in the gap between my chest plate and greaves.


    I ducked, Dexterity helping me to move just fast enough to catch the blow with the bulk of my chest plate instead. The impact jarred me sharply, though the tail deflected off, scratching the paint off with a sickening whine of metal. I stumbled against the wall, surprised by the sheer brutal strength of the blow.


    I stumbled to the side, one hand hitting the magazine release catch to drop my spent mag to the ground. I used the other to push myself off the wall into something between a leap to the side and a pushup as a cold tendril of Insight wrapped around my throat. The tail cracked loudly and whipped through recently vacated space as I felt a drop of cold sweat drip down my back.


    Before it could try one last time, I pulled back the charging handle and fired a dozen bullets into its head, carefully bursting the rifle so I could focus on accuracy. The critter finally stilled as half its head blew off in a shower of gore.


    I watched it, guard still fully raised for a full two minutes as I caught my breath and slowly backed away. Once I was sure it was dead, I approached the beast, taking in even more details as I tried to figure out what it was.


    After several minutes trying to piece together its species, slowly watching as the last of its blood oozed out through its thick fur, an aggravated huff left me. I¡¯d spent so much time looking through bestiaries of the Underground, only to fail in recognizing a creature. Was it all a waste of time- no, I probably just happened to run into the only creature not recorded. That''s right, it was just a bit of faulty luck, nothing more. Surely I¡¯d recognize everything else¡­ I hope.


    I reloaded my shotgun and rifle, even taking the time to grab my dropped magazine and refill it with some loose bullets I kept in my bag. I lurked in the shadows for several more minutes in case anything else decided to wander over to us, though nothing did.


    Once I was assured nothing else would come, I checked out the rodent. And I have to say, the thing was quite impressive. Its fur looked rather unnatural, having just the right amount of curl to weave itself into a rather complex pattern. The weave acted almost like a natural ballistic weave, and I found about a dozen shotgun pellets barely penetrated the matted substance. It was a rather impressive, if quite disgusting, sight. The weave seemed to trap blood and viscera, leaving the thing¡¯s fur a disgusting mess of hair and coagulated blood that only boosted its own defensive properties.  S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Its tail was far more interesting though, at least to me. It had an almost metallic feeling in my gloves, feeling more artificial than natural. I was more mechanically than biologically minded though, so I only gave it a quick look over before shifting my attention away.


    I hauled myself back up the line of microwire, pulling myself into the subway car to get a closer look at the corpses. Based on their attire, they were probably all mercs, though high-end ones. Were they trying to drive the train down here?


    That was kinda¡­ . How about instead of a super secret stash, I had a super secret subway train that I could drive around everywhere? Of course, that was without thinking about the plethora of downsides¡­ such as derailing and ramming through a wall. And subways were one of the main methods of travel down here, so little chance of keeping the subway hidden without some serious investment.


    One of the skeletons had signs of being seriously chromed out, and the other two weren¡¯t far behind it. One looked like it- he based on the occipital protuberance, shape of the cheek and jaw bones, and formation of his hip bone- looked to be a bruiser of some kind. He was the furthest buried, leaving his chrome dented beyond any hopes of salvaging anything from it besides maybe the metal. Plenty of parts looked as though they had been swiped since his death, leaving gaps in his corpse.


    The other, one I couldn¡¯t tell for sure who or what they were since their bones were splintered to near nothing, had a bunch of old speed-enhancing chrome, though since it was more lightweight the chrome was in an even worse state than the bruiser. Someone had already picked through and taken all the good stuff.


    The only one in relatively good condition had thin lines of chords and metal where their nervous system would¡¯ve been and several data jacks. I recognized the lines as a Neural Link, which was an easy sign of wealth¡­ or at least it should be. They were expensive enough that most normies and even low to mid-level mercenaries wouldn¡¯t have one. Not that they were super useful unless you had money.


    I should know. My Neural Link came from my Grandfather back when I was much younger, a Cold Moon NL 3.0, boasting adaptability to grow as its host did, something more often seen in KairoTech Global¡¯s products. Unlike KairoTech stuff though, mine was purely mechanical. It was one of a couple hundred made and by far the most expensive thing I had. Maybe even everything combined wouldn¡¯t match the price.


    Too bad everything went south before I could get a good Neural System Interface. Instead, I was saddled with a cheap knockoff. If I had one back when I first got the Advent Ghost, glitching would¡¯ve never been a problem. What did it matter if I had massively increased chrome connectivity if the NSI, the translation from computer to brain side of things, was garbage? It was like running an extremely high-spec computer with a CPU a century old. It just wouldn¡¯t work out very well¡­ and it didn¡¯t.


    Then again, it probably wouldn¡¯t have helped... Maybe? Nael seemed to think my reaction was similar to how Magi and Adepts reacted to chrome, so maybe it wouldn¡¯t have done anything even if I had a good NSI. I was practically charged with the Aether by the eidolons themselves¡­


    Usually, I was against taking chrome from corpses, half because it was a disgusting process to hack off bloodied limbs, and half because it was highly impractical thanks to the lockdown and anti-tampering features most modern chrome had. Oh, and it was a bit disrespectful to the corpse. This time, though, I snagged the neural link. It wasn¡¯t in amazing shape, with several dents littered across its surface, but it was in good enough shape I could probably salvage some components to use on other things on the off chance the anti-tampering bit was in the destroyed sections. Then again, it was heavily damaged, so maybe not. There was a reason previous scavengers left it behind.


    Other than that, I scrounged around the train finding nothing else. I did find some shifted rubble suggesting that at one point there had been several boxes scattered about, but nothing was left except for the corpses of whoever originally looted the place. Probably took away most of the good chrome too, leaving only the broken and shattered stuff.


    There was nothing left here for me. I gathered up everything once more and set off for my second location.

 Chapter 131

    Chapter 131The large room on the other side of the train cut off into several tunnels, practically creating a maze. At least, for a normal person. Most ended in dead ends or branched down into other tunnel systems, making this a hub of sorts. Or at least, that¡¯s what the hundreds of prints moving through the area suggested. Only one path, in particular, led towards my goal.


    I left the larger chamber, entering a rather small passageway similar to the maintenance shaft the three mercs guarded. Rusty pipes lined the walls and long dead electrical wires hung. The occasional bulb would¡¯ve cast illumination at one point, though now most of them were busted.


    The tracks died down to just a few, though most of them turned back when the path narrowed significantly.


    I stepped around the glass shards, ensuring my feet were as quiet as ever as I followed the tunnel. If the map was still correct, like it had been so far, the tunnel led to another large chamber connected to a rather secluded room. The room was my goal. It looked well-defended and seemed to have rather thick walls.


    The maintenance tunnel angled down, burrowing further into the depths. I walked in near absolute darkness, the occasional bit of lichen the only ounce of light down here. I wasn¡¯t a hundred percent sure what kind of species the lichen was, but the stuff had a damn impressive reach. I¡¯d noticed it almost everywhere throughout the Underground. It consistently grew in not only the easiest-to-reach sections of the Underground but also the most secluded.


    I followed it for a time, a yawn splitting my jaw as I slowly approached the next chamber. The tunnel ahead of me cut off, leading into a pitch-black room. For the first time in a while, I actually had a somewhat difficult time seeing through the absolute darkness of the place. A rush of Insight hit me as I cautiously took a step forward, entering the cavernous chamber. I walked forward hesitantly-


    My body tumbled forward, my foot hitting nothing but empty space. I reacted quickly, tossing the entirety of my body weight back and shifting my center of gravity to regain control. I started to fall, barely catching myself at the last moment as loose rubble fell into the hidden chasm. I backed away, my breath feeling like ice as it cut savagely at my lungs. My limbs trembled from the shock of adrenaline, causing my heartbeat to grow erratic as I tried to calm myself down.


    I momentarily flushed out the stress with a flicker of Cold-Blooded, cleansing myself of the overwhelming emotion from the near miss. A few calming breaths helped cleanse the rest of it, as did the realization that I would¡¯ve been fine either way. I had the Drop Chutes ingrained into the armor, so falling wasn¡¯t even an issue anymore¡­ for the most part.


    After several seconds longer, in which my eyes finally adjusted to see the darker edge of the pitfall into the abyss, I finally heard a faint noise from the pit. Did- did the rubble just hit the bottom?


    A sick feeling entered my stomach as I approached the edge far more carefully. Even if I logically knew I¡¯d be fine with the drop, the thought of falling for so long still burned at me. I hadn¡¯t even tested the Drop Chute for higher falls than the fifth floor. Would they even work as advertised for such a long drop?


    I peeked over the edge of the chasm, catching sight of the bottom. The chasm bottomed out into what looked to be a massive underground lake so far below. The exact details of the bottom were hard to make out, some kind of haze- or maybe steam covered a fair chunk above the waterline.


    The same glowing lichen that was everywhere throughout the Underground grew in massive bundles just over the water¡¯s edge, bringing just enough illumination to the darkness to see the murky liquid. The pit dropped for a long, long time, slowly widening into an even larger space a heart-stopping distance below. The water shifted with currents large enough to be spotted even from up here.


    I flicked on Aetherial Perception on a hunch, immediately seeing a dizzying array of color- or colorlessness? Or was it nothingness? No- there was a color, but it writhed in a dizzying array of obscuring strands, each one vying for dominance like self-aware tentacles. My heart hammered in my chest, overcoming my calm as my eyes tried to pry away the nauseating twining of-


    I looked away, feeling an instant migraine as my brain whirled in confusion at what lay so far down there. Aetherial Perception typically gave me a feeling to go along with the visual, but this time the feeling confused me just as much as the visual. It didn¡¯t feel like an eidolon, nor did it feel like the presence of the plant creatures the Circle cultists used. It didn¡¯t even feel like the nomad¡¯s slaughterer. It felt entirely alien, as if it didn''t belong here. As if it shouldn¡¯t exist-


    An even sicker feeling hit me as I shifted my mind away from the depths. Whatever lay down there, I was better off never setting foot in such a deep place¡­ the dark, uncertain waters evoked a certain kind of fear deep inside of me that I¡¯d never felt before. It was a primal thing, demanding I get as far away from this place as possible. Even being near the pit gave me an unsettled vibe.


    On one hand, it was a terrible thing. On the other hand, it was something good. Just another natural defense for my stash if I decided to use this one. Assuming the place I wanted was in good condition. I looked around, noticing most tracks either headed off the edge of the chasm or immediately turned back. None continued.


    Thankfully, the chasm didn¡¯t cut through the room entirely. It left a small walkway, maybe the width of a car, on the far left side. It did cut through everything else though, even the wall. As I headed for the walkway, I looked down through where the chasm intersected the wall. Far off in the distance, I could see another chamber cut into by the chasm, but it was too dark and too far to make out any details.


    I edged around the chasm and headed for the cave on the other side. Drag marks marred the mouth of the cave, instantly shooting my guard up even further as I raised my rifle and stalked forward. The drag marks were old, old enough that I couldn¡¯t see any other kind of mark aside from them.


    As I entered the mouth of the cave, I noticed bones. At first, they were just small animal bones. Rats and other vermin scattered around here and there, stripped off flesh. Bones were everywhere in the Underground, so it wasn¡¯t an odd sight, but that combined with the drag marks suggested some kind of predator in the area. Or at least one  been in the area.


    I double-checked my Perks, making sure they were active, and headed further down the cave. The bones were scattered, though they grew larger and larger, soon turning into human skeletons. There weren¡¯t a lot of them, but there were enough to raise my nerves several times.


    The lone bones turned into piles just before I reached the back of the cave. It wasn¡¯t just human bones, but even larger beasts of the Underground. Some I¡¯d never even seen before and looked far too big to be real. There was even a set of rib bones that were as tall as I was.


    This is a bad idea, Shiro. Turn back now before it''s too late. This was obviously an apex predator¡¯s den. Just get away while you still can and all will be fine. You have other spots to check-


    I peeked around the final bend in the cave, finally seeing the backside. Or rather, the nest. Mountains of bones lined the sides, creating a white and yellow bowl-shaped area covered in patches of fur and skin. The backside of the wall, the entry to the room I wanted to scout out, was formed by a massive closed vault door and the crumbling architecture of a long-destroyed building.


    That wasn¡¯t what grabbed my attention though. No- what grabbed my attention was the creature lying in the middle of the bones, hidden tightly into the mass and snuggling a spine close to its chest.


    It was human at some point, though it would¡¯ve been hard to tell for sure if I hadn¡¯t recognized the creature. It was extremely tall, probably triple my height. Pale, patchy skin stretched over its body, seemingly pulled tight from decades of malnutrition. Its bones strained under its skin, each of its ribs making massive waves in the pale gray skin. The creature was as thin as a pencil in parts, deceptively looking to have no muscle mass.


    Then came its ¡®adornments¡¯. Bones covered the creature, seemingly grafted into its skin. Its face and head were completely obscured by the skull of some large antlered creature. It wore it like a helmet, though I knew it was fully grafted into the creature''s body by this point. Other bones covered parts of its body, acting as armor.


    I slowly edged backward, fear nearly taking over. I was even too scared to flicker on Cold-Blooded, worried that the sudden burst of cold would alert the creature. Of course I recognized it. In all my research, it was one of the few creatures with a high enough danger level that even squads should run instead of even trying to engage.


    I doubled back, only to be blinded by an interface screen.


    ¡¸Request Received - Worthy Opponent


    Kill the Wendigo


    Reward: 1 Skill Point¡¹


    Yeah, not worth it. What was the point of a Skill Point if I ended up dying to get it? Although¡­ It would be helpful. Some of my Skills were soon to hit bottlenecks. With a boost of knowledge, I could really stand to improve myself. That, and I could also snag some other skills I hadn¡¯t gotten yet¡­ or double down and try to get one to level twelve so I could finally get the Interface Expansion.


    I forced my legs forward, back towards the maintenance tunnel. There still wasn¡¯t a point in all of that if I was dead. Wendigos were extremely deadly variant ghouls. If it was just their physical condition, they would already be deadly enough with their deceptively fast movements and strength. Add onto that their other suite of abilities, like their ability to  bones, and it was a bad day for anyone trying to kill one. I  didn¡¯t want to end as just another addition to the pile.


    The interface flashed again.


    ¡¸Request Updated - Worthy Opponent S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Kill the Wendigo


    Reward: 2 Skill Points¡¹


    I paused¡­ the creature was quite secluded. There was a high chance it hadn¡¯t eaten in a while, so it might be weakened- No. Bad, Shiro! Death! Remember death?! It¡¯s not worth it! Nothing they offer to give you-


    ¡¸Request Updated - Worthy Opponent


    Kill the Wendigo


    Reward: 1 Skill Points and a pancake¡¹


    ¡­


    ...


    Now that¡¯s just insulting. Which of those bastards was this request from? Remind me to never-


    ¡¸Request Updated - Worthy Opponent


    Kill the Wendigo


    Reward: 1 Skill Point and a Perk Point¡¹


    Was it a typo? Do eidolons even  typos? And why were they so desperate for me to kill the Wendigo?  Which one of those bastards wanted me to throw my life away so much?


    Still¡­ a Perk Point. This was the first time such a thing had been offered so far¡­ surely it was free Perk too, which could be insanely useful. It was basically a free power-up. Free at the cost of throwing my life away, that is.


    Was killing the Wendigo even viable? It would eviscerate and devour me in a matter of seconds once it realized I was here. Okay, okay¡­ what do I know about Wendigos in the first place? Other than their brutal strength, speed, bullet-resistant durability, power to control bones-


    The odds were stacked against me. However, there were a few things in my favor. It didn¡¯t know I was here, for one, and seemed to be in some kind of hibernation considering it hadn''t left its den in so long that there weren¡¯t even tracks of it anymore. On top of that, its intelligence wouldn''t be all that high.


    At the end of the day, it was a variant ghoul. Sure, it was a special variant of a ghoul, but still¡­ Wendigos were a type of creature created by AGD, though HMV didn¡¯t play any effect as it did with the mutant ghoul I fought so long ago. They were formed purely through the Aetherial Ghoulification Disease, though from what I¡¯ve read their creation was a bit more involved than with normal ghouls.


    I looked around the chamber and the chasm as a plan slowly started to form in my head. It wasn¡¯t impossible to kill the beast, though it would be damn close. If I played my cards right though¡­


    First things first, I needed to set up to see if my plan was even possible. With a flash of blue fire, a bracelet appeared around my wrist as I started to plot.

 Chapter 132

    Chapter 132I looked back over my setup, feeling surprisingly confident in my plan. Rather, plans. I stood, hidden in the deepest shadow I could find, just inside of the cave leading back to the rest of the Underground.


    I traced the blue and silver bracelet on my wrist, caressing the remaining fox charm on the Fox Charm Bracelet. With a thought, the bracelet vanished back into a plume of ghastly blue flames. It took a while to get it all set up, but now it was all ready.


    The chasm vanished, buried underneath a platform of seamless rock. The cavern now looked as though it had a slightly rough, but still seamless floor. Almost like a boss fight arena, now that I think about it¡­ or that might just be my nerves talking.


    My phone beeped nearly silently, alerting me that an hour had passed since I first set up. A sigh escaped me as I took a few final breaths to calm myself down. I was ready. I hope- no, I was ready. Plans A-F were good to go, and then hopefully I wouldn¡¯t need any more than that.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± I whispered silently to Feras as I took out the canteen and walked over to my designated spot just near the hidden drop into the chasm. I tipped it over, dumping its contents out.


    Blood dumped out of the canteen, splattering down onto the rock below me. It splattered splendidly, crashing around into a fair-sized puddle before the stream cut off. I only had an hour for it to generate blood, so there really wasn¡¯t all that much. Before banishing it, I set the thing to produce gasoline.


    As I raced back into the cover of the cave, I heard movement. It was faint; a small clattering of bones as a mountain in the distance shifted. Then came the cracking, the horrid splintering of dry bones as something weighing far too much put its weight on them. I couldn¡¯t help but think what it could easily do to me if my plans failed.


    A scream, a blood-curdling screech that froze the blood in my veins even without help from Cold-Blooded, erupted from deep within the cave on the other side of the wall. The hair raised all over my body as instinct struggled with logic. Some long dormant part of my mind tried to warn me; a predator woke up.


    Wendigos were extremely sensitive to the scent of blood. Specifically human blood, though anything probably would¡¯ve worked. The scent, although fairly weak to me, acted like catnip for the Wendigo, drawing it out of its hibernation as it scented something delicious in the air. At least, according to what I read on the Net.


    I could smell it before I saw it. Its rotten flesh radiated such a strong scent that it even managed to partially carry through my helmet¡¯s filter. With the rotten scent came a faint feeling. A coldness that seeped to my bones, and a hunger that sought to devour the world. The hunger, gnawing in its awfulness, worked into me even though the rotten scent of the Wendigo made bile rise in the back of my throat.


    It took barely a few moments before a shape emerged from the cave. Long, gangly limbs hung down as it skittered across the ground on all floors. Bones moved with it, almost as if a white trail of destruction. Its limbs, supported by a mass of ever-shifting bones, pounded the ground with each step.


    Its spine protruded sharp enough to cut through its stretched-out skin. Now that it was free from the mounds of bones, I could see scars and chunks missing from its emancipated flesh. Irregular scarring from bite marks covered the beast, though I had a feeling they were self-inflicted.


    Through the gaps in the skull grafted to its head, I could see its horrid face. Deeply sunken eyes, mere beads of a frenzied yellow light, hid under the orbital sockets of the skull it wore. Its mouth showed sharp teeth and fangs freely. The lips that once covered its rotting teeth had long since been devoured by the flesh-starved beast. Blood-red pus festered from old wounds and dripped from the Wendigo''s eyes.


    In a moment of sheer stupidity, I switched on Aetherial Perception. Instantly, insane vertigo hit me as I saw the corruption that other ghouls had. Only, this time was much, much worse. If the normal ghouls were pebbles, and the mutant was a boulder, then the awful creature before me could only be a mountain of diseased Aether. Sear?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    My breath caught. My lungs refused to work as I took in the full sight of the warped Aether surrounding the Wendigo. A chilling, bone-rattling cold seemed to envelop the surroundings as if just the creature¡¯s presence was a call to terror. Not just terror though- the ambient hunger grew as it approached.


    I couldn¡¯t even see the creature. A massive whirlpool of darkness and corruption seemed to devour the surrounding Aether, leaving a trail of fractured space behind it. The fractures looked as though they were attempting to mend themselves, though the effort fell relatively flat as a thin line of darkness kept the space from healing.


    For the briefest of moments, as I stared at the voidal abomination that devoured its surroundings, I swear I felt something stare back. In that briefest of glimpses, pure, unadulterated madness assaulted my mind as I felt something in me start to crack. Aetherial Perception shut off on its own, freeing me from the splintering presence of the demonic beast.


    I felt the instant desire to flee. To run away. Only cool rationale kept me still as the creature raised its head and sniffed around in a deeply unsettling vibrato. Wendigos were fast. It was almost guaranteed to catch me if I tried to run.


    The Wendigo stalked forward, slowly edging closer to the hidden edge of the chasm. It moved slowly, almost as if feeling something was wrong. Its mangled hand, warped into a disturbing mess, dug into the rocks easily as it paused just before the drop even though the illusion covered it.


    If the creature had lips, it would¡¯ve been frowning as it stared forward to the blood just within reach. Its eyes, which blazed with bestial frenzy, faded slightly as a fragment of intelligence peeked through for one long, nerve-rattling moment.


    The wicked being howled, tearing a clawed hand through the illusion. The bones surrounding the hand extended further than the actual limb almost like a mace. I felt a burning in the back of my head as the false ground flickered, fading away to reveal the pit. The Minor Illusion from the Fox Charm Bracelet was already stretched thin to do all that I wanted, so it offered no resistance as the illusion was destroyed.


    And just like that, Plan A was done. It relied too heavily on the creature¡¯s intelligence being microscopic, so I didn¡¯t think it¡¯d work in the first place. The creature no longer hesitated. It raced to the far side of the room where the walkway was, intent on crossing over the blood stain. Its gate was a mixture of lunging and stepping, so much so that there were moments when none of its limbs even touched the ground.


    It was during one such moment that it crossed over the walkway. It¡¯s limbs stretched down to grasp the ground-


    Only to hit nothing as it fell through Plan B. The entire side wall and walkway faded away as the illusion was shattered. In actuality, the real walkway and wall were far off to the side, leaving a sizable gap of chasm. The terrible beast plummeted with a malevolent screech, falling out of sight.


    I grabbed my pistol, time slowing down as I carefully moved to the edge, checking where the Wendigo was. It had fallen far in the short moments of its free fall, though that didn¡¯t matter all that much as its clawed hand dug into the side of the chasm. It hung three-quarters of the way down, its eyes radiating hatred as it scrambled to stabilize itself.


    I took a breath and then rooted through my bag for a Molotov. I lit the thing, approximated the distance and arc I would need, and then launched the flaming bottle with all my might.


    Something in my shoulder pulled awkwardly at the motion, though I ignored it as I watched the bottle sail through the chasm. The throw was too high, hitting just above the Wendigo on a rock outcropping. The bottle shattered, sending glass everywhere as the gasoline caught fire. It dripped down onto the creature, causing it to scream with all its might even though only the bones making up its armor burned.


    I quickly threw my last two Molotovs in quick succession, though they only seemed to piss off the Wendigo more than anything. By now, it had managed to grab back into the rock face, turning into a hanging fireball of bones clinging to the chasm¡¯s wall. Deep, deep below, the water churned as the fragments of the Molotovs hit.


    I switched to one of two grenades, pulling it free and lining it up just the same as the Molotov. The twinge in my shoulder turned painful as I pulled the pin and chunked the explosive. Although it was smaller, the device weighed a bit more than my improvised Molotovs.


    It missed, hitting the chasm¡¯s face just below the Wendigo and exploding in a blast of metal fragments and rock shards. Although the explosion itself missed, the fragments easily hit the underside of the beast, though most bounced off its bone plating. The real effect came from the shockwave, which caused the ravenous creature to pause its ascent momentarily to stabilize its grip.


    That moment was all it took as I tossed the last grenade I had on me. It flew through the air, hitting exactly where I intended. It dropped right in the gap between the Wendigo and the chasm¡¯s wall, sliding down to cause the most destruction.


    The grenade exploded beautifully, the bright light seeming to stun the Wendigo as it launched off where it grappled the wall. Fragments of bone fell all around the creature as it plummeted down to the water below.


    It twisted, managing to even out its fall. The bones all over its body shifted, gliding along its limbs as they seemed to morph. I was too far away to make out the exact details, but I watched in horror as a whip made of bones flung out from the now-naked beast¡¯s arm, latching onto the stone.


    Its fall stopped entirely as its momentum rocked the Wendigo in and out of view. The creature hung just inside the gargantuan cave with the subterranean lake, its form partially obscured by the hazy mist that covered the place.


    The creature screeched again, the sound greatly diminished by the distance between us. I reached for my rifle, desperate to get this over with. It was weakened now, its bone armor gone entirely into the whip. Now was my chance.


    Just as time slowed once more thanks to my grip on the rifle,  parted the waters just below the Wendigo. The dark waters obscured its shape as a tendril reached up quick enough to look normal even through Dexterity¡¯s effect.


    The Wendigo¡¯s reaction was slow as it twisted and turned on its bone whip. Before it could do much of anything, the tendril wrapped around its leg and pulled. The ghastly beast put up a good fight, desperately hanging onto its bone whip, but eventually, its strength failed it as it was pulled into the darkness.


    I watched as it disappeared below the waters, half in happiness that the Wendigo was gone and half in horror at whatever pulled it down. The waters far below thrashed for several long moments, though they eventually went still. Patches of flesh floated up to the surface, though even those quickly submerged into the dark waters.


    I flicked on Aetherial Perception in just enough time to watch the voidal black hole of corruption seemingly fade away. The Aether still wasn¡¯t healed of the corruption entirely, though it looked as though the veil was slowly pulling together from where the ravenous monstrosity fractured it.


    My vision returned to normal as the bone whip still attached to the rocks cracked and splintered, turning back into normal bones. I collapsed backward as a stupified laugh escaped me.


    ¡¸Request - Worthy Opponent - Completed


    Kill(?) the Wendigo


    Reward: 1 Skill Point and a Perk Point¡¹


    After several moments, I flicked on Cold-Blooded to help calm down and get back to it. First things first, I went and disassembled plans C and D. It took a bit to get the det-cord safely back down from where it lined the entrance into the cavern.


    It took even longer to disassemble the hastily built net for the last of my microwire. The stuff was so damn useful. I really need to look at getting more of it. I ran through it entirely too quickly.


    While I was busy doing that, I glanced through my status for the first time in a while.


    ¡¸Name: Shiro Tsukuyomi


    Traits: Fox¡¯s Grace, Quick Healing, Insight


    Skill Points: 1


    Free Perk Points: 1


    Tracking - 7


    Stalk


    Tech - 7


    Eidetic Schematic


    Stealth - 9


    Fox¡¯s Paw


    Cold-Blooded


    Sleight of Hand - 9


    Hidden Hands


    Ambidextrous


    Perception - 7


    Aetherial Perception


    Net - 2


    Melee Weapons - 3


    Intimidation - 3


    Firearm - 4


    Dexterity


    First Aid - 4


    Calming


    Evasion - 3


    Driving - 7


    Land Vehicles


    Deception - 7


    Honest Face


    Criminology - 7


    Cues


    Concealment - 8


    Lethargic Presence


    Hidden Weapon


    Brawling - 1


    Accounting - 1


    Request Board - (5)¡¹


    Honestly? Not all that bad. I¡¯d have to sit down and really think about where I should put my new Perk point.


    As for the skills, it was a bit easier. I had a bunch of skills at level seven. If I wanted to, I could instantly level them up with my new Skill Point and get a new Perk. Or I could continue to double down on the Perks that I would need the knowledge for.


    For instance, Firearms might not be a bad idea to level up. I¡¯d never actually received proper training with a gun, so it might help to lean into it a bit more.


    If anything though, I was more tempted to level Tech. Getting it to eight would be a relief, but every Skill Point I put into Tech majorly boosted my knowledge of how everything worked together. It had been a while since I last spent a Skill Point, but I¡¯d probably get the most use out of Tech.


    Or I could get Evasion up to four. Getting a Perk for that would probably help my survivability. Hmm¡­


    I could also look through the list of Skills again and see if one doesn¡¯t catch my eye now that I know what I¡¯m doing a bit better. Surely there was something else that I could start leveling-

 Chapter 133

    Chapter 133I had to clear quite a few piles of bones away before I could even think about unlocking the massive vault door. I couldn''t help but feel giddy as I approached the dial lock, my klepto instincts tingling with excitement.


    It took quite a while to crack the thing open. It was old, old enough that it had been literally buried with time, but it was probably quite something back in the day. Keyword, back in the day. Now? Now it was disconnected from any external systems and relied solely on the lock.


    Unfortunately, age had worn away parts of the mechanism, so by the time I got the combination right, the thing popped open on its own. I¡¯d have to look at fixing it or maybe changing it out entirely, though it would be a major pain in the ass regardless of what I decided.


    The vault door whirled and clicked as the mechanism inside twisted and turned, pulling thick metal poles out of the wall. One after another, they clicked as they fell back into place inside of the door, unlocking the thing.


    I pulled on the handle, feeling quite a bit of resistance for a few moments before something holding the joints of the vault door gave. A rush of stale air escaped the vault as the door lurched, nearly sending me to the ground as I slipped on a rogue rib.


    I barely managed to catch myself as the interface popped into my view.


    ¡¸Net - 2>3¡¹


    ¡¸Perception  - 7>8¡¹


    Oh? Why now and not when the request was completed¡­ ah, but it''s always been based on achieving my goals. And I really like this spot aside from the mess, so did my goal of finding a stash count as complete? Interesting¡­ Could I psychologically trick myself- ah, no that wouldn¡¯t work. The eidolons were obviously watching me like I was some kind of streamer, so no amount of trickery would work¡­ unless¡­


    Still, not too much leveled up this time around. Better than nothing I guess. And I got another Perk point. It¡¯s been a long time since I looked at Perception¡¯s Perk list though. I can¡¯t quite remember if I had my next one planned or not.


    And it was about damn time Net leveled up. Honestly, it was the slowest Skill by far excluding the ones I never used like Brawling and Accounting- oh wait, there was also driving¡­ I don¡¯t think it''s leveled even once since I got it, and I drive quite a bit¡­


    I guess my dislike for Net was mutual¡­ although I couldn¡¯t help but feel the slow progress was partially my fault. I mean, I got some basics of Net, but the whole coding and hacking side of it never really meshed well outside of program manipulation. Maybe I just didn¡¯t have any talent in it?


    But that opened up another series of questions. Did that mean I was talented at everything else? Did talent really matter when it came to the interface¡­ a horrifying thought flowed through my head. Net took a long time when I first learned it, like longer than the other Skills. Calming took half the time.  sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Added together, that meant the time frames weren¡¯t set in stone. What if it took me so long to learn something that I died in real life? W-would I get kicked out of the interface before that happened? Or would I just fade into death never knowing what happened? A chill went up my spine.


    A-anyway¡­ there were more important things to do right now. I slipped the door open just enough to get inside. I gotta say, it was quite impressive. The vault was big. Like really big. Big enough to easily be a solid stash. And it was already a literal vault, so anything in here would be fairly well guarded once I shored up some of the defenses.


    Before heading further in, I checked out the walls of the place. With the vault door moved out of the way, I got a good gauge of how thick they were. The walls, at least on the front side, were quite thick. They looked to be some kind of composite concrete, though I couldn¡¯t tell exactly what kind. Whatever it was, the stuff was resistant enough to keep its shape even after it was swallowed by the ground and left without maintenance.


    For the first time since entering the Underground, I clicked on a flashlight and shined it into the vault. The insides of the vault were quite something. Everything was either made out of a smooth black marble. Rows and rows of deposit boxes reflected back toward me in a golden glow. Most hung loosely open, their contents long since taken away. A few remained closed, which I¡¯d have to check out at some point.


    After seven rows of marble and gold deposit boxes was a rather large space centered around several tables. Golden deposit boxes still lined the vault. The tables were piled high with bundles of paper money. Back in the day, this must¡¯ve been a fortune, but now it was as good as kindling. Secure metal carts sat all around the place, each filled to the brim with money and loose bills.


    One of the nine tables, the one in the back right corner, had been cleared off at some point. Noticing the oddity, I headed over. As soon as it came into better view, I spotted a skeleton slumped down behind it.


    I cautiously moved forward, checking the scene out. The skeleton had several duffle bags scattered around, all of them empty. One of its arms was an ancient piece of chrome, seemingly only capable of being moved like a natural limb. It was a far cry from the enhancements and advancements of modern cybernetics, though it was probably quite the luxury back in the day.


    Clutched tightly in the skeleton''s bony hand sat a snub-nosed revolver. Its grip seemed to be made from a black pearl of some kind with delicate silver engravings running up and down it. The rest of it was done in some kind of dark metal similarly engraved with silver, though most of the silver engravings were focused on the cylinder.


    I felt a strange pull towards the revolver, enough so that I literally took a step back at the odd feeling. I flicked on Aetherial Perception, seeing a slight aura encompassing the revolver.


    After using Aetherial Perception for so long, I was finally starting to pick up on some clues. The revolver¡¯s aura reminded me of the nomadic slaughterer and the box. After doing some research, I felt confident enough to say they were Remnants; relics of the past naturally infused with the Aether.


    The jade dagger, which had been enchanted to have its effects, had a sense of organization to it. Most enchanted items I¡¯d seen this far felt similarly organized. Remnants, however, had an underlying chaotic vibe to them such as the chaotic colors of the box¡¯s beast.


    This revolver didn¡¯t necessarily have a color to it as much as it had a feeling. It was hard to put an exact emotion to it, but the sensation was close to a burning surprise. Of course, it similarly had a chaoticness to it, though it felt much weaker than the box.


    I hesitantly picked up the revolver. The thing felt cold to the touch, and I couldn¡¯t help but feel as though I was doing something wrong as I hefted it and looked down the sights. It was incredibly weird. Four shots were still in the chamber, which I promptly emptied before stuffing the thing into my bag. I could get it checked out later.


    I eyed the rest of the skeleton, picking up on what killed it after a few moments. Its skull had several fracture marks on it, all centered around a hole on the back right side of the cranium. After shaking the skull out a couple times, a small bullet plopped out of it.


    Did the person shoot themself? The bullet was a dead match in caliber to the other rounds in the revolver. Considering it was missing a bullet, it made sense¡­ still, the way the skeleton lay on the ground didn¡¯t seem like a suicide. I¡¯d expect to see the arm crooked or at least signs it had been crooked to put the gun against their head before pulling the trigger.


    Sure, the arm could¡¯ve fallen out of position as the corpse dropped, but even the location of the bullet was weird. The person would¡¯ve had to pull a feat of athletics just to get the gun into the right position to shoot. Weird¡­ but ultimately not my problem.


    I checked out the rest of the vault, walking around its perimeter and inspecting the bits and bobs all around. Honestly? I quite liked the place. Sure- a lot of things needed some work, but overall it had the basics down to be somewhere exceptionally useful.


    I could probably remove the banks of safety deposit boxes- err, no, keep one. Yeah, I could keep one and turn it into a wall. Then I set up three rooms in the vault. It would clear out a lot of space. Maybe turn one into a bedroom or something for if I needed to stay multiple days on end.


    With the Canteen, I didn¡¯t necessarily need to worry about running water or food down here. I¡¯d have to run a wire down here though if I wanted access to the city¡¯s node. It was a double-edged sword being so far down here, especially inside of the reinforced vault. On one hand, nothing I snagged would be tracked through electrical means. On the other hand, it would be impossible to get a connection onto my phone or decks.


    That just left one other thing I would need to worry about, but even then not too bad. Electricity could be taken care of with a generator. Preferably a high-efficiency generator to charge up a battery bank. I had unlimited AE3 and gas, though the prior would probably be better to avoid carbon dioxide poisoning.


    Speaking of poisoning, the air when I opened the vault was incredibly stale. Vaults of this size usually had a few built-in ventilation shafts as a safety precaution. I checked around the area, finding eight vents on the floor and four built into the walls near the ceiling.


    They were held in by screws, so pulling off the cover wasn¡¯t an issue. And yeah, I probably shoulda'' seen this one coming. The ventilation shafts were all bashed to pieces and buried in rubble. I¡¯d have to clear them out at some point.


    As for the rest of the vault, the hundreds of deposit boxes, both large and small, would be the perfect places to keep various items. I could probably tear off the doors of most of them to create instant storage shelves. The rest would be handy for keeping high valuables on the off chance anyone actually found this place, though I¡¯d have to overhaul the security.


    I could shove the tables up against the walls to clear out some space. Maybe even toss a few of them. The carts¡­hmm¡­ I might be able to disassemble them into parts. Some plans I had in mind might be able to benefit from them.


    The same goes for the security. All of it was inactive after years without any kind of maintenance or power, but cameras sat in all corners of the vault as well as staring down the rows of deposit boxes. Several spots indicated a potential turret of some kind too, which would be interesting. There were even a couple of spots on the walls that looked as though something was supposed to pop out.


    Of course, I¡¯d need to dust everything off too, but that was low down on the list. Oh, I¡¯d have to take care of the body¡­ and the thousands of corpses right outside the door. It was a bit disrespectful of the dead, but I could probably shove them all down that chasm¡­


    Definitely would need to set up some deterrents around here and reinforce the route back to the shaft leading up to the surface. I needed to cover up my tracks and some other things that might help hide this place even if someone followed me down into the Underground¡­.


    I could set up several false doors and try to blend entryways into the walls similar to the room Hope and I descended into. Obscuring my passage was probably the best thing I could do down here if I wanted to ensure my own safety.


    Oh, and I needed to drag all my stuff down here. Especially the illegal bits. It would be nice to drop everything even remotely hinting towards Shiro Tsukuyomi and allow my real identity to just fade into obscurity¡­ or at least fade into a position that wasn¡¯t quite so illegal. It would be a good front for my other activities at least. Especially considering my favorite hobby, which was liable to make quite a few enemies.


    Who knows? When I made enough money maybe I could even make the dream of buying the apartment building and turning the speakeasy into an actual speakeasy a reality. Distant dreams, but they might happen one day¡­


    For now though, how about I get this place cleaned up the rest of the way?

 Chapter 134

    Chapter 134I cleaned up the inside of the vault, dusting off the tables and shoving them to the sides as I had planned. For now, I also tossed out the skeleton into the other stacked bones just outside the vault door. I still haven''t decided what to do with all of them yet. Would anyone buy bones? Is that a thing these days?


    Surprisingly, the interface chimed up once more shortly after I dusted and shifted around my new furniture.


    ¡¸Cleaning - 1 Acquired¡¹


    So there were Skills for this kind of thing too, eh? I do faintly remember seeing it when looking through the Skills list, but most of the stuff on that list had long faded to the back of my mind. I really should look through it again.


    Still, Cleaning? What good would the Skill do for me? Give me a job as a maid for some rich asshole? Might as well give me a skill for sleeping¡­ Actually, a Sleeping Skill sounds really nice. Maybe it could have Perks to give me benefits for being well-rested... not that I ever truly was well-rested these days.


    Anyway, the Cleaning Skill seemed a bit odd. I might be able to find something of worth out of it. And who knows? Maybe its Perks were good? Something like using the Aether to clean dust would be cool. Super niche, but cool nonetheless.


    Hmm¡­ does cleaning rust off of metal count as Cleaning? Oh, could it help clean up blood maybe? It would be nice to be able to remove my DNA quicker from scenes. Maybe my initial reaction  a bit harsh.


    Why hadn¡¯t I gotten it already though? Surely I¡¯ve cleaned up¡­ before¡­. Now that I think about it, I haven¡¯t really cleaned anything since I got the interface¡­ and even before. I liked organized chaos, so while I had picked up some stuff here and there I hadn¡¯t  spent time just cleaning anything until just now.


    I looked around the slightly less messy space, picking apart everything I still needed to do. At the very least, I¡¯ll be able to power-level it quickly.


    I spent several more hours cleaning everything up. I even managed to shove all of the bones out into the trash chut- I mean, dispose of them properly into the chasm¡­


    Heh. Imagine in one or two hundred years from now, some archeologist finds the mounds of skeletons down there and thinks it''s some kind of ritualistic suicide point. Maybe some cyber cult ''embracing the abyss'' or something... maybe I should carve nonsensical signs and symbols and toss them down there too.


    And I was right about power leveling Cleaning. I wasn¡¯t sure how the interface calculated this particular Skill, but I did manage to level it up.


    ¡¸Cleaning - 1>3¡¹


    Under the massive¡ªand quite frankly disgusting¡ªnest of bones and tattered skin, I managed to find quite a bit of chrome. All of it was ancient, the newest one being forty or so years old. I could probably scrap them for some smaller parts and whatnot. At a glance, there were about two or three hundred assorted bits and pieces? Not a bad haul. If I were to sell it all, I might be able to get a couple grand, if I was lucky. It would be a serious pain in the ass to haul it up to the surface though, so most of it was destined to be scrap metal.


    I stepped into the vault and looked over the door. It was fairly simple to get the back panel of it off. Although the vault door would be tough to get through from the front, the back panel was just bolted on to allow access to the mechanics for maintenance.


    I pulled off the panel and looked through it, carefully observing how the mess of gears and dials were set up. What looked like blood had dripped into the door at some point, making a chain reaction of damaged bits and pieces. Fairly simple fixes all around as long as I had the right parts.


    Or I could go ahead and upgrade it directly instead of repairing the dial lock. Hmm¡­ repairs first. I¡¯d want to put in some kind of electronic lock, and I didn¡¯t have the infrastructure in the vault setup for that kind of thing yet. In the future though...


    Thankfully, I should already have most of the parts needed to fix it up. Older chrome ran off of gears and hydraulics more than pistons and microservos like more modern stuff did. Or even synthetic muscles like more advanced pieces. Since they didn''t have batteries powerful and small enough for chrome, most of the older tech was built to run purely off of mechanical energy. Quite impressive stuff, if I had to be honest. The biggest drawbacks to the old tech were precision, comfort, and a near-constant need for repairs.


    I stripped several pieces from the stack of limbs in the corner of the cave, stripping them into several stacks of different parts. By the thirtieth piece, which just so happened to be a bionic lung of some kind, I found the right array of gears. I stripped out the several lock actuators that had gone bad, replacing their gear work.


    A yawn escaped my lips as I also took the chance to reset the dial lock to my own code. It was buried under the rest of the mechanisms in the door, but since I was already going through and replacing parts, it was easier to just get it all done now. I had to stop a few times to get some specific types of parts, which resulted in a quarter of my stack of chrome quickly turning into stacks of salvaged parts.


    I reassembled the vault door and test-ran it a few times. The internals were a bit grindy, but nothing some grease couldn''t fix. Unfortunately, all my grease was left back under the speakeasy, and I didn''t want to walk through the Underground just for some. Next time I came down here I''d fix it up.


    After that, it was already getting super late. I barely managed to withhold a yawn as I shut the vault door and headed out into the relatively clean area outside my new stash. I¡¯d have to power wash it or something to clean off the stains¡ªand stench probably¡ªbut for now it looked way better than it did originally.


    There was still a lot I needed to do, but for now, the rest of it could wait. I was incredibly tired after a long day, and there was no chance I wanted to sleep down here. At least, not until I reinforced the vault and cleared out the ventilation shafts.


    I retraced my steps, this time not running into anything that wanted to kill me. The corpse of the giant-rodent tail-whip creature disappeared at some point, which was worrying. I¡¯d probably have to track down and kill whatever scavenged it sometime in the future. It would be unfortunate to get ambushed by my new neighbors.


    The subway through the wall wasn¡¯t as annoying to get through this time around. The rodent hadn¡¯t been near as kind as I had been when it entered the thing. Bits of metal were torn and gnawed into a rather gaping hole. Honestly, it was a bit strange; I hadn¡¯t heard it in the slightest. Hmm... unless something else came through here while I was checking out the stash. What were the chances it was friendly?


    I backtracked to the small sewer, grabbed my stuff, and started the long ascent up the shaft. It was tiring as usual. Maybe I should get some kind of auto-ascender? If I was going to start coming and going from the Underground it would be a lot smarter than doing everything by hand¡­ and far faster.


    At long last, I reached up to the rotting wood and used the ledge to haul myself back up and into the speakeasy¡¯s office. I took a breather, before finally stripping off my armor and returning back to plain clothes.


    As I stuffed the armor back into my bag, I checked the spot on it where the vermin¡¯s tail had struck me. Although it was barely visible, a hairline fracture in the paint took away from the abyssal aspect of the armor.


    How''d the paint guy say to fix it? Thermal absorption or something like that, right? I grabbed my lighter and held it under the fracture. Within seconds, the dark paint absorbed the heat and its self-repairing properties showed themselves. The hairline fracture healed, returning the armor to how it had been before the fight.


    Honestly? I was quite impressed with the entire set. Sure, I hadn¡¯t used any of my more exciting features down in the Underground, but the test still ended up being quite successful. And rather eye-opening.


    The armor was durable enough to protect against the vermin¡¯s tail whip, which had been a pretty strong strike. I still needed to test it against rifles, but it would probably pass without fail¡­ I guess I could shoot it myself to test it at some point.


    Its stealth properties worked like a charm- when they worked. Not even the Wendigo spotted me; It had single-mindedly been after the blood splatters. The biggest issue was the absolute voidness of the armor. I thought it might be an issue when I first painted it all up, but this test run proved the issue to be real. Once something saw me, they were able to track me quite easily. That issue would only become more apparent the brighter the area. The Underground was near pitch black though so the effect wasn''t that strong comparatively.


    I did have some workarounds; some were quite simple while some were pretty complicated. The simplest would be to just wear a cloak over the armor. Classic rogue style. A camo cloak of some kind could easily help me blend in, and if I lined the inside of the cloak with more paint, I would look like some kind of abyssal entity wearing the cloak like a shell. I''d also have to do something about the armor if I wanted to wear it out on the streets to get from point A to point B. It attracted the eye too much with it being voided out heavy armor.


    Other than that, the armor was kinda hot. The Underground was usually pretty chilly and I was sweating down here. Specifically, my lower back right where the battery pack was. Maybe I should look at getting some small fans or something? Or- or maybe some kind of cooling enchantment. I know the Crusade puts that kinda stuff on their armor. My opposition to magic was slowly starting to break down, so I might think about it. It would be quieter at least.


    Course, there were some other things I noticed, but those were the main ones. Overall, I was happy with the armor. For the most part. Well... maybe not. But I could improve on a lot of that.


    And my new stash location was pretty good! It would take a while to get fully set up down there, especially since carting stuff to and fro would be annoying. It was big enough to turn into a hidden workshop too so I could move my printer and stuff down there. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    And now that I had a stash, I finally had a spot to store my goods. Speaking of goods, my current loot was a bit lacking... how bout I go get some new stuff?


    -- -- --


    The next morning, I headed to my first target on the long list of names I acquired during the art gala: Christoph Von Franz. He was some kind of accountant for one of Sentinel¡¯s many, many subsidiaries. The guy was quite low on my list. He didn¡¯t seem all that wealthy, nor did he have anything that really spoke to me.


    Similarly, he didn¡¯t have amazing security. The guy was drunk when I talked to him and hadn¡¯t held back as he bragged about his ¡®excellent¡¯ security. He talked a big game about some kind of Mount Knocks vault, but as best I could tell Mount Knocks was a clothing corporation under Sentinel. They did sell vaults, but they were slightly better than your everyday gun vault. If anything, they were insanely overpriced since they were a brand item.


    The real issue would be the building''s security, not Christoph¡¯s private systems. Blackout was still in the plans for my armor, but I needed some precisely made parts, so it wasn¡¯t an option till I got a 3D metal printer¡­ or hired Tike Metal Co. to make them. I didn¡¯t exactly want the schematics for the parts to be floating around though, so I was better off just making them myself.


    That, and it would be expensive to get such small and detailed parts made. At that point, might as well save for the printer. I wasn¡¯t too far off either. If I pulled all my gold and Rayn together, I had about seventeen thousand Rayn. Carone said he could get me one for thirty-five thousand, or a multi-medium for forty, so I was about halfway there.


    Anyway, that brings me back to the current heist. Nothing Christoph bragged about really spoke to me, so I wouldn¡¯t mind selling most of what I got for some extra Rayn. Might be able to get a couple grand here, which would be a nice supplemental income and good practice for the larger heists on my list.


    Christoph Von Franz owned a penthouse suite on the hundred and nineteenth story of the Whitechapel Center. As best as I could tell, the first forty floors were shops of various kinds, with the forty after that rented out to various corporations. It was only the last forty that were actual apartments. Similarly, it was the last forty that I¡¯d have to watch closer for security.


    Getting in would be easy. Just enter like any other customer then take the stairs to the top. It would be a long climb, but I could use an elevator to get up quite far without arousing any suspicion.


    Getting out would be easy. Christoph¡¯s penthouse suite faced out towards a building eighty stories tall. Said suite had quite the view, or so he bragged about. That also meant it had glass windows which would make the perfect jump point for the Drop Chute. Snatch the loot, smash a widow, and jump out to safety. Of course, after that descend out onto the streets of the city and either vanish into the shadows or enter the Underground for the perfect escape.


    The only parts I was concerned about were moving through the apartments section and actually getting to the Mount Knocks vault. The armor was a bit too conspicuous, even with a coat covering it up. But hey, that¡¯s what casing the joint was for. It was really about time I got on that.

 Chapter 135

    Chapter 135But before I go out and spend a couple days prepping for the heist, there were a few other matters I wanted to attend to¡ªnamely my points. At the moment, I had two Perk points and one Skill point.


    As soon as I returned home, tired as I was, I opened up the interface and entered the Perk pavilion. This time around I wanted to grab a Perception Perk. Considering I was about to go on an intelligence-gathering trip, it made sense to do it first.


    I arrived in the ancient hall before a large shelf covered in ornate scrolls. A flickering fire illuminated the shelf as per usual, however, it wasn¡¯t alone this time around. A second ball of fire, flickering in a more ghastly hue, sat just beside it. In fact, the ghastly fire sat above every shelf, illuminating them all. Must be the free Perk point.


    I was a little tempted to wander around and read every scroll, but I was here for the Perception Perk, so I held myself back. Barely. I doubled down my efforts to reading the various names and short descriptions of the numerous scrolls on display. Now that I was level eight in Perception, there were quite a few interesting new ones.


    I narrowed down the list to just three this time around.


    ¡¸Superior Hearing¡¹


    ¡¸Technical Expertise¡¹


    ¡¸Locational Awareness¡¹


    All three seemed pretty nice. Superior Hearing had the most obvious effect out of the three. I wasn¡¯t sure how superior it would be though, and I had a slight worry about not being able to control it.


    Technical Expertise basically would allow me to diagnose what was wrong with a device or machine almost instantaneously. It would be rather helpful, especially for making new toys or trying to repair ancient stuff. The most use for it, though, would be for stuff I was entirely clueless of their inner workings, such as the Gravitic Chamber or Advent¡¯s Blackout Radiation Chamber, which was what the whole thing worked around.


    And lastly, Locational Awareness. It was the most simple out of all three of the Perks. Based on its description, it would allow me to always know my location, no matter where or when I was. The when part was a bit confusing though. Did it mean I would know what time it was too? Or was it referring to some kind of time travel- surely not though. If there was time travel, the world would already be fucked, wouldn¡¯t it?


    Out of the three, I leaned more toward Superior Hearing and Technical Expertise. More so the latter. I didn¡¯t grab it for one solid reason though. Unlike most of the other scrolls on the shelf, it was half phantasmal. I could read it, but I couldn¡¯t pick up the scroll. Technical Expertise required Tech level eight.


    Which brought me back to where I started, though in a slightly better position. Did I want to wait to spend my Perk point? I had been thinking of using the Skill point on Tech, so it wouldn¡¯t be that long of a wait all things considered.


    I leaned up against the shelf and stared out the window of the pavilion, taking in the peace-evoking view of moonlit sakura trees as I ran through several scenarios and questions. Eventually, I decided to just wait.


    I was a bit worried about leaving the space since this was the first time I¡¯d ever wanted to leave without picking a Perk. It proved to be a nonissue as I was whisked back to consciousness a few seconds later.


    Before doing anything else, I shifted my canteen to produce Sentinel¡¯s Supreme Supplement smoothie in preparation. It was something I should¡¯ve done before even entering the Perk pavilion.


    I shifted gears, instead grabbing my notebook before settling back down on the bed. With a thought, the Skill list came up instead. I looked through it briefly, writing down every Skill I had yet to acquire. There was a surprising amount of them, everything from artistic Skills like Sculpting and Writing to Alchemy to even something called Void Mobility. Might be referring to getting around in space, but I wasn¡¯t a hundred percent sure.


    Only once I was done with that did I actually go and pick my Skill. Of course, I picked Tech. I had a lot of considerations for what I should pick, for instance catapulting Stealth to level ten, though, at the end of the day, Tech was the one I picked. It was by far the most useful considering the direction I was headed. At least, for now. I¡¯d have to probably start leveling Stealth if I wanted to face off with Edgerunners or the megacorps. Or heck, even the larger gangs.


    After making my final decision, my vision turned entirely black. After a few seconds, my perception shifted and I felt as if I stood in an empty abyss. A light flickered on in the distance, revealing a small reading desk.


    I headed over to it, well accustomed to how the learning spaces of the interface worked. As soon as I approached, even more lights flicked on all around me, revealing rows and rows of bookshelves. I stood in a fair-sized library, surrounded on all sides by books.


    ¡¸Read¡¹


    I stared at the interface prompt in dismay. Read what? Surely- surely it can¡¯t mean to read all of the books, right? That was just-


    The books shifted, all of them taking on a red glow. Well, almost all of them. One of them had a slight green glow to it, which drew my eye to its spine. It was Mechanisms and You: A Noobs Guide to Industrial Maintenance, something I¡¯d read in the past.


    Damn it! Does it really want me to read all of them? How the hell was I supposed to get through this library in the limited amount of time I had? Breathe, Shiro. Just breathe¡­ might as well start somewhere.


    I sighed deeply as I grabbed the closest book: Physicist¡¯s Guide to Mechanical Engineering.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    I exited the interface space feeling surprisingly well rested¡­ for all of a couple seconds till the rest of my brain caught up with the agonizing amount of information I¡¯d just gone through. This particular level of knowledge had been particularly brutal. Not only did I have to read hundreds¡ªmaybe even thousands¡ªof books, but after each one I had to go through a proving scenario to show I understood what was in the books.


    I failed quite a few of the scenarios, which forced me to go back through the books and retry. Sometimes I even failed repeatedly, dragging out the whole process. I drowned out my sorrows, and the agony in my stomach, with long drags from the Canteen.


    Once I was feeling better, I shifted over to the window of my apartment and sat down, staring out at the traffic for a few moments as I settled back into my own skin. This wasn¡¯t exactly how I thought I¡¯d end up when I first set out to spend some of my points, but well¡­ not everything goes as expected.


    I¡¯ll wait a couple days till I get a Perk though. In the meantime, I¡¯ll scout out a bit more. How to do that though¡­ hmm¡­ I could get a job for the apartments directly, though it would tie me to the place more than I would like¡­ could I sneak in a camera somehow? That might work the best.


    How to do that? Hmm¡­ Cristoph had a wife, maybe that could be my in? Hmm... Ah, yeah,  could work. Been a while since I did the ole'' Rotten Lover con. Er- well, a modified version of the Rotten Lover. A safer version? Just needed a few things to get off the ground.


    I pushed myself away from the window and headed for the door. A little drizzle of rain fell from the sky as I headed down and out onto the streets, inserting myself into the masses of careless civilians.


    I headed for a small corner store called Tony¡¯s Castle, which was a weird mesh of home decorations and a gun store. Or maybe not that weird? As I stepped in and looked around, I noticed almost all of the decorations had been specifically carved to have hidden spots for various weapons.


    Anyway, I wasn¡¯t here for any of that. I headed to a small side area full of cards for various events. I picked out a cheesy romantic card covered in hearts, as well as a small teddy bear.


    After I returned to my apartment, I wasted no time setting up one of the scrap cameras I had on hand as well as making a new transmitter. I hooked it all up to a small, lightweight battery.


    From there, I cut the seam of the teddy bear back open and pulled out a bit of its stuffing. I ripped out both of its eyes and 3D printed two new ones out of the one-way plastic. I also took the opportunity to start printing one more thing. I stuffed in the cheap tech, using the stuffing to get it mounted all right before renewing the seam of the teddy bear.


    I flicked open my deck, messing around with some programs for a few minutes before I finally pulled up the camera, staring out of the teddy bear¡¯s eye and out into my apartment. It wasn¡¯t the most sophisticated setup by any means, but it worked for my purposes¡­ at least as long as they didn¡¯t use a BugHound?.


    I doubt it though. At most, I was expecting cameras, ID scanners, and the occasional guard for the apartment section¡¯s security. Based on some research through the Net, they were nice apartments¡­ but that was only comparatively to the vast majority of living spaces in Aythryn City. They were only slightly better than Timpton Towers where I first got into the investigatory business.


    I checked over the bear several times, carefully making sure everything looked nice before I wrote down some generic sappy love letter stuff into the card. Finding Cristoph¡¯s exact address was rather easy. A cross-reference with what he said back at the gala, his social media accounts, and the blueprint of the building made it simple.


    I also packed one of the blouses and skirts I got from Feras for school. They were nice, really nice, and perfect for what I wanted to achieve. I would wear them over there, but skirts and motorcycles weren¡¯t a very nice combination.


    I left almost everything I had in my bag behind, only bringing along the Sidewinder and a couple empty cardboard boxes. Just as I was about ready to leave, the printer finished production. A small plastic tag, labeled with Lunar Courier Service in dark blue, sat in the middle of it. A fake corporation, of course.


    I left my apartment and headed for Whitechapel Center. On the way, I stopped by a flower stall and snagged a small bouquet of some kind of synthetic red flower. It was pretty, I guess. More importantly, it was cheap. sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The bottom three floors of Whitechapel Center were an open-concept mall of sorts. No doors into the building, so technically the first three floors were still outside underneath the rest of the tower. I stopped by a bathroom, swapped clothes for the nicer blouse and skirt, and pinned the Lunar Courier Service badge to my shirt. Disguise complete.


    I walked out to the elevator and hit floor eighty-one, the lobby floor for Whitechapel Apartments. The elevator panel cut off at floor eight-one too. Must have a separate elevator. Probably a security feature. It was a rather long trip up, made far worse than it should¡¯ve been by screechy autotune music blaring over the speaker.


    By the time I was debating whether or not to jump off the building, the elevator doors dinged. I stepped out into a fairly large hall with a main desk off to one side and elevators across the way. The place even had a built-in bar off to the side and a rather fancy one at that.


    I kept my eyes peeled for security, spotting about a dozen cameras scattered around the place. Their black globes blended in with the roof quite well. And I was right about the guards. Seemed like a low-level force though. Untrained at the very least. There were three, one at the bag, one behind the desk, and the last by the elevator. No armor. They looked more like mall cops than anything. Not even a problem.


    I headed to the main desk, pausing just in front of a woman typing away on a computer as I threw on an accent. ¡°I gotta deliver for ya.¡±


    The woman eyed me for a moment before her eyes flicked to my chest. ¡°Lunar Courier Service? Never heard of them.¡±


    ¡±Ah, well¡­ ya know how it is in the big city¡­¡± I passed over the bear, envelope, and flowers.


    ¡±Chek chek¡­¡± The woman grabbed the envelope and looked it over. ¡°Alright. Wish my husband could be so romantic¡­¡± She muttered as she motioned to the guard behind her. The guy took it and brought the gift to a back room.


    I headed back to the elevator. Now was the waiting game.

 Chapter 136

    Chapter 136It didn¡¯t take too long before the teddy bear moved, only about six hours. I wasted time away in a tiny coffee shop on the seventy-ninth floor. It was a bit out of place considering it was entirely surrounded by flyer bays. The owner sure was smart though, at least based on the huge number of rich people that came through the shop and ordered coffee to go.


    I hid away in a back corner of the room, reading various articles and doing research on some other things of interest. In between that and drinking unhealthy amounts of coffee so I wouldn¡¯t get kicked out, I also drew up some designs. Most of them were rather simple things, at least by my new standards, aimed at the various things I wanted to put in the Underground to protect my stash.


    A couple of them weren¡¯t so simple. In particular, I started work on a drone design. I now had a far greater grasp on a ton of different kinds of theories to apply to my newest toy. I wanted something quite simple- a quadcopter-style design with noise muffling and an optical camo¡­ simple¡­ getting it designed to fly wasn¡¯t all that hard, nor were the cameras, controls, and all that basic stuff. The rest though? That was the part that slowed me down.


    Other than that, I looked around the net at various cloaks for my armor. None of them were quite what I was looking for since most cloaks seemed targeted as costumes. Or for cosplayers. Actually, there were quite a few of them that were marketed for cosplay, far more than I would expect. Was cosplaying all that common in Aythryn City?


    Now that I thought about it, there were all sorts of parties and events going on all the time that I usually avoided. There probably was a thriving community of cosplayers out and about I had yet to interact with. sea??h th§× N??elFir§×.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Anyway, eventually I shifted tracks to ponchos. They were a much tighter fit, looked more comfortable to walk around in, and were quite cheap. At least, until I started to get into the fancier ones. Ponchos were also a very common piece of clothing in the city, so I¡¯d be able to blend in better, which was the point of getting one.


    I had one in mind that I really liked, a thrice adjustable chroma poncho, but I was hesitant to buy it. The fabric''s base price was already quite expensive at five hundred Rayn. With the additional thrice adjustable chroma and climate control, I was looking at about fifteen hundred Rayn. Not cheap in the slightest.


    But it would be so useful. Unlike the adjustable chroma paint for my armor which lit up, the company''s was basically just cloth that changed its color. Far better for blending in. It could even act as low-quality adaptive camo if I set it all up right. I¡¯d be able to change the poncho manually to fit my environment, at least as long as the environment was one of the three presets.


    I was just debating whether to buy the thing or not when I saw the camera finally shift out of the corner of my eye. I quickly brought up the camera¡¯s feed onto my cheap deck.


    A woman stared down at the camera- the teddy bear with a rather stoic expression on her face. She said something over her shoulder, pausing a moment to pick up the card before nodding her head to someone out of view.


    That someone approached as the woman moved away, showing themself to be a guard. Not one of the mall cops though, no this one had some serious heat. Chrome arms, a model I couldn¡¯t quite recognize through his sleeves, and half his face had been replaced with metal. Instead of eyes and a nose, the man had deep circuitry and one large oval panel for an eye.


    This time, I recognized the chrome, at least partially. It was from Sentinel¡¯s Cyclops line, and while the cybernetic itself wasn¡¯t too expensive, the procedure to implant it definitely was.


    At a glance through the screen, I spotted at least seven hidden weapons. Everything from knives to pistols to even a hatchet hid on the man¡¯s body, though it did little to get past me. As someone who had a rather high level of concealment, how could I not recognize them?


    Hmm¡­ didn¡¯t seem like hotel staff. Potentially a bodyguard for the woman- ah, and the woman looked familiar too. I shifted the camera to a small tab and the man picked up the teddy bear and began walking back out into the lobby as I pooled up the Blue Crusade database. It was easy to get in with my squire credentials, and from there I looked up my target.


    Under the relations tab, I accessed a linked profile to Christine Valia Franz, my target¡¯s wife. At least the package had been successfully picked up¡­ and it was already bearing fruit. This guard wasn¡¯t mentioned by Christoph at the gala.


    I watched from a side angle as Christine and the guard chatted while walking. They entered the elevator, giving me plenty of reflective surfaces to watch as they interacted.


    Christine seemed slightly uncomfortable with the guard, though she was hiding it fairly well. Maybe the guard was new? I watched their interactions as more and more Cues slowly became apparent. Definitely a new guard¡­ or at least, newish. They still interacted with each other as strangers, though there was a general acceptance within the woman¡¯s eyes.


    It was hard to tell for sure though from purely visual Cues. Not to self: next time you make a bug, put in a microphone too. It completely slipped my mind, but now I was mentally beating myself up over it. Such a wasted opportunity to get some good intel¡­


    The duo walked to their apartment¡¯s door, at least based on the distance and how many turns they took to arrive there. A second later, I was in and got my first look at the place.


    The apartment had a massive window wall looking down onto the city. Cristoph was right, the view was indeed beautiful. Whitechapel Center was fairly close to the Corporate Quarter, sitting between it and Portside. From here, the penthouse faced west out onto Portside. Although there were plenty of towering structures in Portside, the ocean in all its glory peeked through them.


    The apartment took two floors with a balconied walkway looking down onto the living room. The living room was connected to the entryway, dining room, and kitchen, all of which were viewable by the balcony. Said balcony led to several buildings, probably including the master bedroom. A staircase sat off to the side of the walkway, sandwiched in between the kitchen and the room below the second floor.


    The guard carried my teddy bear off to the side of the apartment and put it down on a coffee table. Then he disappeared a moment later and headed up the stairs to one of the rooms.


    From the coffee table, I got my first look at the vault. The room below the second-floor area had a massive door on it, similar to the one down by my stash. This time around, there were two dial locks and a keycard scanner.


    Unfortunately, the keycard scanner wasn¡¯t the only security feature Cristoph failed to mention. Of course, there were the cameras. One of them looked down from the balcony, and the other sat on the far side of the living room, in the corner of the apartment. They wouldn¡¯t be too hard to deal with.


    The turrets though they were different. Two mounts for turrets hid on the roof, probably capable of activating at a moment¡¯s warning from the vault. I¡¯d have one chance to get in, otherwise, I¡¯d eat a belly full of lead.


    The hardest part of the vault would be the cards and getting in without waking anyone up. I had a plan for the latter half of that issue, but the former was still up in the air unless I figured out where they kept the keycards. After getting the cards, I¡¯d have to deal with putting them in, which would also be difficult.


    If I had to guess, the vault¡¯s card system was some kind of dual-sync lock. I¡¯d have to swipe both cards simultaneously to get in. Hmm¡­ I could maybe modify one of my old Tappers to swipe the card. It wouldn¡¯t be too hard of a change.


    But that left me back where I started with finding the two keycards¡­ I guess it was back to the waiting game, at least until they opened the vault.


    Three days¡­ It took three freakin¡¯ days before they opened up the vault. In that time, I saw things I wish I could burn from my memory. Mrs. Franz had been very appreciative of the romantic gift. Guess helping out their relationship was a small price to pay for breaking into their vault.


    I spent most of the time in various coffee shops throughout the building, wasting away my Rayn on far too much caffeine. I worked on various projects I had in mind, or at least the schematics for various projects. Most of the time, I arrived late in the day, when Mr. and Mrs. Franz got off from work, so I wouldn¡¯t have to just stare at an empty apartment.


    With my time off from surveillance, I finished up my modifications for the Tapper. It was a fairly simple tweak, just a battery and receiver upgrade, a couple of gears, and an arm that could grasp items. I even bought some adhesive, which I put some into my canteen, so I wouldn¡¯t have to drill a hole in their wall.


    I also went out and bought a glass cutter for three hundred Rayn. It promised to get through any kind of glass silently. It was supposed to be an industrial tool, but I tweaked some things on it and made it quite a bit more portable.


    During this time, I watched the trio¡¯s pattern and movements like a hawk. The guard never left the apartment, seemingly living with the duo. He was definitely Mrs. Franz¡¯s guard though. He never left her side, coming and going with her all the time. He was also on guard constantly, not even relaxing much at the penthouse suite.


    As for the other two, they were the typical corpo drones. They ate sponsored products, watched TV in the living room, and then went to sleep most nights. It even seemed as though they were paying for all the subscriptions since they only had three ads per show. It¡¯s funny, I watched more TV while surveilling their apartment than I probably ever had in my life. Well... except when I was way younger. I used to love watching old reruns of ancient cartoons.


    Anyway, after three days, Cristoph finally opened up the vault. It was fairly late at night and I was on my eighth espresso when it happened. Both he and the guard appeared in the bear¡¯s view and headed for the rather large vault door. They talked for a few moments before both pulled out cards. The guard pulled out his card from his wallet and Cristoph pulled it out from his pocket.


    They swiped it at the same time, then Cristoph casually walked over to the dials and put in the code. Good, it probably wasn''t timed to put the combination in after swiping, otherwise he''d be rushing more. Or at least, there was a decent-sized buffer time.


    Unfortunately, the rest of his body blocked my view so I couldn¡¯t see the code in its entirety. After a few moments, he backed up and the guard pulled on the vault¡¯s door.


    The vault slowly opened, revealing-


    It didn¡¯t open all the way, and Cristoph slid into it through the gap. It was a bit irritating, but I got what I needed. The guard had one card in his wallet, which would be easy enough to steal. The other card was probably hidden somewhere in the master bedroom based on where Cristoph came from.


    I was just about to pack up and get going for the heist when my phone started to ring. In the corner of my eye¡¯s HUD, the caller ID popped up: Athena Alexandria, the fixer who sent me out to the Leper-khans and the beast in the box.


    After a moment¡¯s hesitation, I leaned back in my chair and answered. ¡°Hello?¡±

 Chapter 137

    Chapter 137¡±Zuku Ichima, right?¡± Athena Alexandria asked, her voice seeming to boil with rage.


    ¡±Chek chek. What can I do for you?¡± Did I piss her off somehow- oh, she must¡¯ve found out I took the box. Shit. Shit! Okay, okay¡­ what do I do? Should I run- or would it only further show my guilt?


    The rage in her voice died down slightly as if it hadn¡¯t been directed at me in the first place. ¡°I¡¯ve got a gig for you. A good paying one. You do this for me, and I¡¯ll even owe you a favor. You in?¡±


    O- okay? Maybe it wasn¡¯t about the box¡­ owing me a favor though¡­ ¡°I¡¯m in the middle of a job. I¡¯ll finish up the next day or so.¡±


    She sighed, going silent for a few seconds. ¡°That¡¯s fine. Most of the gonks on my payroll are muscle heads through and through. This job needs a delicate touch.¡±


    ¡°Detes?¡±


    ¡°Not over the line. Come down to the bar when you¡¯re free and we¡¯ll talk it over. Trust me, you won¡¯t want to miss out on this one.¡± She hung up, leaving me to stoop in the coffee shop.


    She didn¡¯t say how well the job paid¡­ or really anything about it. Was this a trap to get me there? Surely not. It¡¯d be much easier to just put a bounty on my head with her connections. What were the chances this was an actual gig then? Hmm¡­ I could think about this later. Now though? Mow it was almost time to break into the place.


    I stood up from my spot in the coffee shop, packed my stuff up, and headed back for my apartment. It was time to gear up.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    I returned an hour after midnight. From what I gathered watching them the past couple of days, this was the ideal time to strike. The targets would¡¯ve just entered their first sleep cycle, giving me ample opportunity to get in and get out before anyone wakes up.


    I especially needed to get out before four in the morning. From what I saw, Mr. Franz had a serious issue with waking up at four, coming down to get a drink, and then heading back up to sleep another couple hours.


    Before doing anything, I double-checked my escape route. Complacency right before the big day- er, big night would be idiotic. I also went ahead and double- triple checked all my plans and backups.


    I parked my bike several blocks away, strategically placed to be out of the way, and yet easy to access from my long descent down into the city from the top of Whitechapel Center. I loaded up, checking all my equipment for the fourth time tonight, and did some light stretches.


    I was already sweating by the time I walked the several blocks to the base of Whitechapel Center from where I parked my bike. I had a rather long hooded trench coat, concealing the majority of my armor and head from any casual viewer. It was the best I could do in short order, though I did wish I had gone ahead and bought that temperature-controlled poncho I¡¯d been looking at. Or maybe the armor wasn¡¯t all that great idea in the first place- no, it¡¯d work. I just needed some time.


    Getting into the building was easy. This late at night, although there were plenty of people still out and about, everyone knew better than to look twice or ask more questions than necessary. Especially from a shady person in a trench coat with a concealed face.


    I rode the elevator up to floor seventy-three, making it a bit more difficult to track my movements than if I just went straight up to seventy-nine. Of course, the bit of increased difficulty wouldn¡¯t matter too much, but it might throw someone off for a couple hours.


    From there, I moved swiftly, heading for an emergency staircase off to the side. I¡¯d already checked the blueprint of the building beforehand, and they went all the way up as required by city ordinance.


    There were a couple cameras in the staircase, namely a trio of them on the first three floors past eighty, but I¡¯d already taken care of them in my preplanning phase. Each of the cameras were painted over with a fine layer of black spray paint. To cover up what I was checking, I spray painted a rather impressive mural in the hall of Raijin¡¯s tower as if I was some delinquent kid and not a thief. Or, I guess I am a delinquent kid? But, like, one with class... Originally, I¡¯d done it to test their reaction time to the cameras, but when I checked earlier today they had yet to be fixed. Worked for me.


    I climbed the rest of the stairs without any issue, the forty flights going by in a flash. I¡¯d really come far from my days of getting exhausted by just one flight of stairs. Something to be proud of, I guess.


    I took a deep breath, the oxygen coming across clean and smooth through my helmet¡¯s filter. This was the part I was most worried about. Cameras sat on either end of the hall, and both could trip an alarm. If I had Blackout already working, then this wouldn¡¯t be an issue. Now though? Now it took some creative work around to get past the cameras.


    I flicked my sleeve back, exposing the small touchscreen on my wrist. I tapped on it a couple of times, bringing a camera up into view. The camera was something I set up three days ago, overlooking a particular room in one of the apartment¡¯s employees-only areas on the eighty-second floor. It had been a bitch and a half to find and even harder to set up.


    I tapped on the far side of the little screen, pulling up a rather ugly-looking menu. It was the best I could do with my mediocre skills. An array of buttons popped up, one of which was a small fist. I tapped on it, then looked back at my camera.


    In the top corner of the door, a small device blended seamlessly into the activated steel hinges. It was only visible if you knew to look for it. In one swift motion, the modified tapper slammed a small pad down into the door, knocking on it five times before resetting into its barely visible state.


    I waited a moment with my breath held. The door slid open, revealing a bank of screens on the far side of the room. A man stood just inside the door wearing a guard¡¯s uniform.


    I grabbed the hilt of my pistol and made my move, sliding the camera¡¯s view up into my HUD. I carefully watched the guard look around in confusion as I raced down the hall to one of the four apartments on the seventy-ninth floor. The top two floors were separated into four penthouse suites, my target one being the closest to the emergency stairs.


    In the corner of my eye, I saw the guard step out of the security room in slow motion. Just as I reached my target and bent over to start picking the lock, the guard looked up one side of the hall. My hands flew, cracking the lock as the guard walked out of view down the hall. By the time he returned to my camera¡¯s view, the final pin shifted into place and the door unlocked. I silently slipped into the penthouse suite just as the guard shrugged and closed the door.


    I took a deep shaky breath as I flicked the camera out of my HUD, taking in the apartment before me. Pure, raw excitement arced through every fiber of my being as the air hit my lungs. The air tasted sweater here, almost as if the proximity to my target made literally everything better.


    First things first, disable the apartment¡¯s private security camera on the second floor. This part had already been well planned in advance. I stuck close to the wall as I stripped off the trench coat and set it and my bag down, turning into a voidal shadow. I silently moved into the kitchen and then climbed up and over the railing for the stairs.


    I waited a few moments before rounding the corner of the stairs, listening for anything wrong. Faintly drowned out by the walls, a TV played somewhere. Probably the master bedroom, if I had to guess. I¡¯d seen the flashes of a TV through their doorway the past couple of nights I¡¯d been stalking- surveilling the apartment.


    I popped open my canteen and poured a little bit of Hibisen fluid into a Scouter. Then, lightly, I rolled it out into the balcony walkway that led to the rest of the rooms. I carefully watched the camera on the far end through the Scouter, waiting for it to pan from one side of the room to the other. Once it shifted to the right angle, I made my move.


    In the span of a few short moments, I silently slid down the hallway underneath the camera. Before the camera could start moving in the opposite direction, I took a deck of cards from my pocket and withdrew a card. A joker, of all things. I snapped my wrist up, flicking the card over the camera¡¯s lenses before wrapping a piece of tape around it, blocking the view.


    The cameras were part of Franz''s private security, so I had no reason to fear my actions being discovered until I was long gone with my loot. They didn''t have an active guard watching the camera, and I can''t imagine they had a Shepherd daemon on watch either. Those things were too expensive for the shoddy security in the rest of the apartment.


    With the camera upstairs taken care of, I had free roam of the top floor. Well, mostly free roam. There were still three people asleep up here.


    I cracked the door into the master bedroom open and slipped in. A TV in the back corner of the room played the nightly news, illuminated by two sleeping figures cuddled tightly together on the bed. They both breathed deep and easily as they slept without a care, completely unaware they were about to be robbed blind.


    I was here for the vault card. If I was a gonk corpo, where would I hide it? I looked around, spotting nightstands on either side of the bed. I quietly looked through them, freezing as Mr. Franz shifted in his sleep. Empty. Well, not empty, but not holding the card. Instead, there was a rather fine assortment of medicine, drug paraphernalia, and¡ªsurprisingly¡ªold books.


    I flopped down onto my stomach and checked under the bed, spotting nothing but empty bottles and far, far too many shoes. I pushed myself back up and looked around the place once more. Maybe in the dresser? Or¡­ maybe in the closet?


    I moved to the closet first. It was a rather large walk-in with rows and rows of fancy-looking clothes. And shoes. More and more shoes. I shifted the clothes to the side, carefully looking through the racks until my hand lightly tapped on metal. I moved the clothes to the side, revealing a small dial safe.


    I easily cracked it open, the metal hinges squeaking slightly as the door opened to reveal stacks of some kind of paper. I froze up entirely at the sharp sound, not daring to move as I listened for any signs of someone waking up. Only after a minute did I continue.


    The stacks of papers looked to be various records of some kind. Not what I was here for, nor was I too interested, so I shifted them aside to reveal a small Mount Knocks card sitting on a slightly different kind of paper. I klepped the card and looked over the last page, momentarily taken aback as I stared down at it.


    The thing was an Aether Contract. They were exceptionally rare and valuable, far more valuable than just a normal contract. The thing strictly enforced its terms with the powers of the Aether, so they were a favored item in the black market and amongst mercs where trust was low. First time I¡¯ve ever seen one outside of the Jade Fangs though.


    I thought about taking it, but it had already been marked up. They were only truly valuable blank. Still, it was odd seeing it. I briefly glanced through it. Looked like some kind of protection contract between Franz and someone else. Probably the guard.


    I closed the safe back up before slipping back out into the hallway. I moved down to the guard¡¯s room, fishing the jade dagger out of one of my pockets. Better safe than sorry.


    The guard¡¯s room wasn¡¯t like the master bedroom. It was absolutely quiet, not even a lick of noise outside of the guard¡¯s breathing. Even that was subtle enough to be easily missed. He slept fully clothed and ready to move at a moment''s notice. Even his breathing was light as if he would wake up at any moment.


    I edged around the side of the bed. From what the bear had seen, this guy kept the vault card in his wallet, so I just need to find that. I repeated my process from the master bedroom, checking the nightstands first. Nothing but spare ammo and three different pistols.


    If I was a potentially paranoid guard, where would I keep my wallet? Where else, my¡­ pocket¡­


    I looked over at the sleeping man. He didn¡¯t have a blanket wrapped around him, so it was rather easy to spot the several slight bulges of hidden items all over his body. Most of them were various weapons that he decided to sleep with for some reason. Idiot. Seriously, one bad turn and he¡¯d cut or stab himself with one of his knives.


    In his front pocket sat a rectangular bulge. I eyed the situation for several moments before doing anything. The guy was lying on his back, so it¡¯d be incredibly tricky to get the wallet out through the small gap without waking him up.


    I activated Lethargic Presence. I wasn¡¯t a hundred percent sure it would actually do anything since the guy was already asleep, but I hoped it would help him stay sleeping at least.


    It was a bit of a tricky angle to get my hand into his pocket. As soon as I could feel the synthleather of his wallet, the guy groaned and rolled over. I stepped up onto the bed, moving with him as I brought my dagger close to the guy¡¯s back, ready to paralyze him at any moment, though hesitant to do so. He¡¯d definitely wake up if I stabbed him.


    He mumbled something that sounded oddly like, ¡°I didn¡¯t put the cat in the blender ma¡¯,¡± but I couldn¡¯t be too sure.


    Whatever he was dreaming about didn¡¯t matter as much as retrieving the wallet. With him rolled away, it was easy to withdraw the thing and fetch the guy¡¯s card. I put his wallet back in his pocket and slipped out of the door.


    The first and third most difficult parts of my plan were down, leaving just the second: getting the loot. My heart hammed excitedly in my chest as I moved back down to grab my stuff and continue with the plan. S§×arch* The nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 138

    Chapter 138Next was the camera in the corner of the living area. Simple enough to take care of. I hopped onto the back of a couch pressed into the wall, sneaking along the curved ledge up under it. Then I gave it the same treatment as the camera up on the second floor. I flicked three of the diamonds up, blocking the camera¡¯s lenses and tapping them into place.


    It wasn¡¯t the most subtle way of disabling a camera, but it would do until the morning. By then, they¡¯d have bigger problems to worry about than the blocked cameras; namely, their empty vault.


    I took a moment to ease the excitement pounding in my very soul, loosening back up and chilling out significantly. I was in the home stretch now. The most difficult part would be the initial entry into the vault since I didn¡¯t know what kind of internal security they had. S§×ar?h the Nov§×l?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    With the cameras taken care of, I could move on to the next stage of my master plan safely. Before that though, I approached the vault and looked it over. Seeing it through the camera in the bear and seeing it with my own eyes were two entirely different things.


    The vault stuck out from the wall slightly, the round door protruding even more so from the thick reinforced walls. It would be a pain in the ass to get into it through brute force, so it''s a good thing I had alternative measures.


    I took my bag off my shoulder and pulled out eight small anchor points. They looked like four-sided arrowheads, only sized up by several times with small electrical pieces stringing in between the prongs. Each of the prongs also held cylindrical wafers on their tips, looking a bit similar to the inside of a headset.


    I tossed four of them out. They each aligned with the wall midair, stabbing into the wall all around the vault. As soon as the sharp point hit the wall, they activated with a near-silent mechanical hum and popped into the wall as if magnetized.


    I tossed the other four out, anchoring them to the couch on the other side of the room so that the vault was contained in its entirety by the eight anchor points. From there, I pulled out a device from my bag. It looked roughly like a data slate with several additional handles and antennae attached to it.


    I tapped around the screen of the Sonic Suppressor. Nothing changed. It wasn¡¯t until I left the area of the Sonic Suppressor and tossed a Scouter into it that I was assured of it working. The Scouter made zero noise as it slammed into the wooden floor.


    So far so good. Really, the plan was going off without a hitch so far. Nothing felt better than my plan coming together so flawlessly. Well, almost nothing. Getting my sweet, sweet loot would be even better.


    Once I was satisfied, I moved over to the vault and pulled out my modified Tapper. It was easy to glue it to the wall. It wasn¡¯t the strongest bond, but it would hold temporarily. I put one of the vault cards into its hand and moved over to the other.


    I didn¡¯t have time to set up the system on my wrist to control this too, so I had to pull out my phone and activate the device. I watched it, carefully following its motions on the other card reader as I swiped in time with the device. The readers blinked green.


    From there, I moved on to the slightly more difficult part of cracking the safe. I reached into my bag, rifling around in it for a few moments before I found what I was looking for.


    It was a stethoscope, though three chest pieces dangled from it. Each of them was modified slightly and had additional suction cups wrapped around the metal bits. It was a rather cheap creation of mine, thrown together last minute as I researched Mount Knock''s vaults.


    Originally, it would¡¯ve been nice to get some actual vault-cracking tools, but the really good ones were expensive and hard to get. This thing¡ªlet''s call it a Listener- no, that name was taken¡­ How about a Hearer? Hmm¡­ whatever¡­ anyway, it was based on a real device. It wasn¡¯t nearly as effective as the real deal since I just slapped it together, but it would still work for my purposes.


    Mount Knocks, at the end of the day, was a clothing brand. Their vaults were more status symbols than anything, and as such they were more focused on aesthetics than actual security. That being said, they were still a branded item that the company proudly promoted. They had all the common workarounds to prevent people like me from getting in. Too bad common workarounds had long since been worked around.


    I threw on the headset and set up the suction cups. It took a bit of knocking around, listening to the revelations inside of the vault carefully before I found the right spaces. Eventually, I got all three stuck in the right places.


    From there, it was as simple as listening in while I twisted the dial. For an inexperienced safe cracker, the three different audio cues would blend, merging into something that would be impossible to distinguish any clues from.


    To me though? I could hear the faint grinding and clicking of the internal mechanisms as they moved, mapping out the internals with each sound. Even the slight differences between the three suction cups helped me figure out how everything was set up even without seeing it.


    Of course, there were a lot of red herrings mixed in there. Vault makers, especially high-end ones, loved adding teeth to their mechanisms to make more noise to obfuscate the right sounds. Even those could be clues though with the right know-how.


    It took a while, about fifteen minutes, before I twisted the dial for the last time and a louder, stronger click resounded throughout the stethoscope device. I took it off and threw it back into my bag.


    I stepped back and grabbed the large wheel in the center of the vault. Without the mechanisms stopping its motions, I easily twisted it, sliding the locking bars out of place. Of course, the much larger mechanism made quite a bit of noise, but the Sonic Suppressor kept anything from escaping its boundaries.


    My heart pounded in my chest as the wheel clicked into place and the door lurched slightly. Pure excitement coursed through me as I pulled on the door¡¯s handle, easily opening the vault and allowing me to see my loot-


    It was empty. No, not entirely empty, but far emptier than I would¡¯ve liked. In my head, I had this grand image of money, loot, and treasure thrown around and piled everywhere similar to the Neo-Joker¡¯s vault.


    Instead, I entered a space that more closely resembled a museum than anything. Four pedestals stood in the pure white vault, each holding items within a glass case. The back wall of the vault held the pi¨¨ce de r¨¦sistance. The painting, hanging in an elaborate golden frame, was the item Cristoph bragged about the most when I talked to him.


    It was a painting made almost a hundred and fifty years ago named


    by an artist under the name of Octaeon. Now, normally art was hard to put a price tag on since it meant different things to different people. Becoming a world-famous artist was even harder, most never reaching such a state until long after their deaths. Regardless, it was usually hard to tell what and why exactly a piece was so expensive.


    The same couldn¡¯t be said for . It wasn¡¯t the most expensive painting, but it was fairly popular thanks to its ¡®prophetic vision¡¯. depicted a massive city skyline surrounded entirely by the desert. Although some features were off, such as specific buildings, the painting was almost a one-to-one depiction of Aythryn City. It depicted a person standing far in the distance overlooking the city in all its horrible splendor.


    At first glance, it wasn¡¯t all that impressive. And then the realization strikes that the painting was originally finished a hundred and fifty years ago back in nineteen thirty-nine. The thing was painted during the Second World War, and yet it almost perfectly depicted the city.


    I looked at for several long moments, the pounding in my heart sending rushes of adrenaline through me. I could literally feel the history in the painting. Every brush stroke was made with purpose, all of them pulling together to make the beautiful painting before my eyes.


    It almost felt disrespectful that it was locked up in some corpo''s vault. I was practically a saint for liberating it from this place and bringing it somewhere it could be appreciated.


    I shifted my gaze to the other four objects on display. Two of them looked like masks of some kind, one twisted into a feral frown and the other a destitute grin. Both were made out of some kind of wood from the looks of things. I didn¡¯t recognize them, though they could probably fetch a fair price.


    One of the other items was a silver sculpture of a man, though it looked like it was done by a five-year-old. It was probably some famous sculpture or something, though it was fairly ugly. Definitely an item to sell.


    The last was a hatchet, though it was ancient-looking. The head was seriously tarnished, though it had tribal engravings all along the surface. It was rather wicked-looking with several sharp prongs and odd blades sticking out like feathers. Hmm¡­ it¡¯d probably look good in my stash.


    Before grabbing anything, I walked around the vault and checked the area for additional security. All four of the glass cases were locked tightly down, each of them set up with sensors that would detect if the case was removed.


    I also noticed small white stickers with the item''s descriptions. Apparently, the two masks were from a tribe of Cwalin, the long-extinct indigenous people of the Cwalu continent. The hatchet was supposedly a Cwalin chieftain''s at some point long, long ago. And finally, the statue was a sculpture called by Walker Lukaras, a rather famous sculptor from the early two thousands. I noted each of the items down. Actually knowing what they were put me in a far better position to sell them.


    It was rather easy to get around. I pulled out a crumpled-up duffel bag and the glass cutter from my bag. I easily went around and cut large circles into each of the cases, giving me just enough room to withdraw the items held within.


    I hadn¡¯t planned any protective measures for the four pieces, unlike the painting, so I just wrapped each of them in bolts of fabric and tossed them into the duffle bag.


    The painting proved to be a bit trickier to extract. At least, at first glance. The thing was lined with vibration sensors, so even the lightest touch would set them off. At least, that was the plan. Whoever set them up was a massive failure though. Instead of drilling through the back wall and wiring it all together, the lazy idiot just ran the wires down the wall and into the floor.


    It was an easy weakness to exploit. At first, I planned on just cutting the wires and disabling the sensors like that. Thankfully, I checked the lines before doing that, picking up a faint electrical pulse. It was probably set up with a fail-safe to activate the alarm if the pulse was disrupted.


    It would¡¯ve been an issue, but I¡¯d actually done some research on how to deal with such a thing after running into it at the Neo-Joker¡¯s warehouse last time. Since the wires were so cleanly exposed, it was a rather simple fix.


    Surprisingly, the easiest way to get past such a sensor was to just directly overload the device and fry it. I rooted around in my bag and pulled out one of my Scouters. I popped open its case and pulled out the wires, connecting it to the circuit before activating the thing. A small buzz rang out from beneath the floor.


    I checked the lines one more time, finding them dead. I easily cut the wire to the sensor before finally retrieving my precious loot. The painting came off the wall rather easily, though I left behind the bulky frame. Unlike the other stuff, I actually came prepared for the painting.


    First, I pulled it off the wall. Stretched canvases were a bit of a pain to work around, but not impossible by any means. I retreated back into the living room and borrowed a blanket before laying it out on the floor¡¯ vault.


    With a soft surface down, I placed the painting face down onto it. I went around the back of the canvas where it was stapled into the wood frame and carefully pried out each of the staples. It was a bit difficult at first, but I got used to it fairly quickly. Once the painting was detached, I wrapped it in glassine paper, a special kind of paper I bought in advance to prevent anything from harming the painting. I then shoved it into a painting tube and tossed it into my duffel bag.


    That just left the frame. The frame wasn¡¯t the painting¡¯s original. The original had been replaced by synth wood at some point, and had simply been stapled together just like the painting. It was equally easy to pull out all the staples and disassemble the frame into a bundle of ornate planks which I promptly secured in my duffel bag.


    With my loot gathered, I backed out of the vault swiftly. There was no reason to stick around anymore. I gathered up my Sonic Suppressor, any clues left behind, and of course the teddy bear. Just as I was about to crack open a window, I froze up.


    I smacked my helmet lightly, feeling dumb as I backtracked to the vault. In the middle of the space, right where the painting once sat, I pulled out my calling card and activated it. Neon-blue holographic fire arced along the edges of the silver card, casting a faint illumination over the blue moon in the middle. I took a bit of the adhesive from the tapper and applied it to the card, sticking it right in the middle of the frame.


    I eyed my card in deep satisfaction. I don''t know what it was, but something gave me a deeply pleasurable thrill every time I marked the heist as mine. A sort of possessive happiness that I just couldn''t put into words. Was I okay? Mentally? Hmm...


    I finally exited, picking up my stuff and locking the vault behind me. I headed for the window. It was easy enough to cut through with my glass cutter, though the rushing wind and high pitched whistle was a bit distracting. I shifted the Soinc Suppressor over, silencing it.


    Once I got a sizable hole, I activated the Drop Chutes, grabbed the suppressor''s parts, and glanced back toward the apartment. The howling wind was loud enough that those upstairs were starting to move around, something I completely overlooked when planning this. Note to self, wind can be quite loud at high elevations.


    I stepped out onto the faux balcony. Now or never, Shiro. My gaze drifted down past the flyer traffic-


    Something in my stomach dropped.


    The ground looked so- so from a hundred and twenty-ish floors up. Instantly I felt a burst of nausea in the back of my head. Was this really such a good idea-


    A particularly strong burst of wind caused a harsh vacuum in the living room. Standing as close as I was, I couldn¡¯t even resist as it sucked me out into the open sky.

 Chapter 139

    Chapter 139For several heart-pounding moments, my brain was thrown into chaos. My stomach dropped faster than my body, sending me careening right onto dizzy street. My arm got caught by the wind as I flapped around flightlessly, slamming it into my helmet.


    I flicked on Cold-Blooded, driving back the spike of fear momentarily. I shifted, spreading out my arms to get some form of control as I fell. It worked, kinda. It wasn''t exactly stable, though I like to see anyone falling and trying to be stable. With the rushing of air and the gravity standing on my back as if to force me down faster, stability was the least of my issues.


    The ground rushed quicker and quicker as I flipped over, facing my back down to the ground. I looked over my shoulder as a neon sign flashed by. I wasn¡¯t that far off target, but I was still out of the street. A flyer flew far too close for comfort, nearly splattering me against its hood. As things stood, or maybe flew, its thrusters merely hit me with a blast of heat.


    The building rushed by as I adjusted my posture. Before too long, I felt a reverse pressure on my back. My fall slowed down slightly, giving me a bit more control over my direction. The speed of my fall bled out more and more as I shifted slightly, the Drop Chutes controlling my fall more and more to the side. I felt light as a feather as my descent changed into more of a downward glide than a chaotic spiral.


    Just as my momentum stopped entirely, my feet lightly pressed down onto the roof. I stumbled as gravity¡¯s hold took over once more, completely destroying the light sensation. The cushion of air supporting my back fell away as I fell onto my back. The adrenaline coursing through me turned my limbs into a shaky mess.


    I lay down on the roof, staring at the sky and the towering Whitechapel Center behind me. My breath came in short, sharp breaths as I stared up at the hole in the glass so far above. My back was incredibly warm as if I had just taken a tumble through a fire instead of through the night sky. Had I- Had I really just done that?


    A chuckle started in the back of my throat, turning quickly into lung-tearing, uproarious laughter. I laughed as I rolled over and shakily pushed myself back onto my feet. Winds buffeted my body as I struggled over to the far side of the building. My head felt light and breezy about the whole situation, but it worked. Not that I had any doubt... well... not that I had  much doubt.


    Before doing anything, I checked two things. First was my loot to ensure it was still safe and sound. Thankfully, I hadn¡¯t fallen back onto it or this would¡¯ve all been for nothing. Secondly, I checked the small screen on my wrist. I tapped on a home symbol in the top right corner, pulling the system back to its home page to check the battery. I still had three quarters left, so I should be good.


    I looked out over the city for a moment from my high ground, enjoying the view as I waited a few moments for my back to cool off. Then, before I could stop myself, I threw myself over the ledge towards the next building over. This time the drop was only thirty floors.


    I fell in a much more controlled fashion. The small ionic thrusters helped with realignment and adjusting the direction of the fall to ensure I wouldn¡¯t be too far off course. They didn¡¯t have enough power to completely control my fall, but it was enough as long as I was somewhat near target.


    My landing was also far better. I was prepared for the cutoff this time, easily regaining my balance before the air cushion dissipated entirely and my weight returned under gravity¡¯s effects.


    A light laugh escaped me as I tossed myself off the side of the building one last time. There was something so free about the fall. So- so- ...I couldn¡¯t explain it. Hella fun though. Mira would probably love this kinda thing.


    By the time I hit the roof of my final descent, my battery had already been drained by another quarter. Not that it mattered. This was my last drop. I threw my trench coat back on and headed for the roof access door. It was the kind of door that was supposed to set off the alarm when it went opened, but I¡¯d already taken care of that little snag by permanently disabling it.


    I descended into the staircase, racing down the twenty flights of stairs back to ground level. I passed a little old man carefully taking the steps one at a time a flight before ground level.


    The man eyed me, stroking his beard for a moment as his eyes dropped to my duffle bag. He shook his head and climbed up another step, shifting out of my way slightly. His coat opened, giving me a slight gap to see a body full of weathered chrome. ¡°Young uns¡¯ these days¡­¡±


    I nodded politely to the guy, tilting my head slightly to obscure my helmet with the coat''s hood, before continuing on. I pushed the entire interaction to the back of my mind as I left out an alley¡¯s side door. The alley was short, though that didn¡¯t matter as I crossed it and entered a parking garage¡¯s side door.


    My bike was already set up and waiting for me. Before that though, I moved into a supply closet and changed into normal civilian clothing. There weren¡¯t any cameras in this particular garage, hence why I picked it. It would be a damn impressive feat if anyone could track me down from my initial fall.


    I moved back to my bike, jumped on, and hit the ignition¡­ only for it to sputter momentarily before dying entirely. I kicked the side of it a couple times and tried it again to no result.


    My perfect plan- entirely flawless up to this point- fell apart at the last moment. It was a crushing thought. Not all was lost though. I still had some time till the Franz started to kick up a fuss. Even longer before it reached me.


    Should I just ditch my bike and head into the Underground? There was an entrance a few blocks away from here¡­ but I didn¡¯t have any of my heavier weaponry for a successful descent. If I ran into anything it probably wouldn¡¯t end well.


    Okay, okay. What¡¯s wrong with my bike in the first place? I hopped off and looked it over for any obvious defects. Ah, wait! This was a perfect opportunity to try out Technical Expertise!


    I got the Perk while I waited for my bugged bear to feed me information. It was¡­ an interesting experience. Unlike every other Perk I obtained so far, it was a weird mixture of ability and learning in the learning space. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    At first, when I initially was moved into the void-like learning space from the pavilion, I thought it was just learning. I ran through quite a few scenarios and books about mechanical trends. Most of it was stuff I could guess at with my knowledge from Tech, though it was nice to lock all the more advanced stuff in. I left the learning space in half a day- a new record for the interface.


    That was when the agony of my body changing seeped into every nerve, especially focused on my hands. It was rough to get through, though for once I didn¡¯t immediately pass out. From there, I¡¯d been too busy with the heist to bother with it, though Insight did hint at how to use it.


    With nothing obvious, at least visually, I lightly tapped my palm against the body of my bike and activated Technical Expertise. Insight chilled me with a light warning of an ethereal reaction. I flicked on Aetherial Perception just in time to see a short-ranged pulse of light through the body of my bike. It illuminated the parts, allowing me to see the internals of the vehicle almost as if it were a three-dimensional hologram.


    Even without Aetherial Perception, the pulse had a certain vibrato to it. Just like with the vault door, I could figure out the internal mechanisms slowly based on the vibrations, though Aetherial Perception sped up the progress. Now that I think of it, I could¡¯ve sped up my cracking of the vault by several times if I used this earlier¡­ next time.


    Anyway, the pulse was rather short-range. I had to use Technical Expertise several times to get a full look at my bike. From the best I could tell, it thankfully wasn¡¯t a fault in the AE3 reaction chamber nor the thermoelectric generator which would''ve been costly to fix. Instead, it looked as though the wires were messed up.


    In the distance, sirens approached my area. Of course, Blue Crusade sirens were typically omnipresent in the city, but this time they felt a bit more malicious. As if they were searching. Hunting- no- no, calm down, Shiro. Just paranoia getting to you. You¡¯re safe¡­ for now. No way those meatheads tracked you down already.


    I quickly disassembled part of my bike, pulling off the seat to get better access to everything as I saw the problem with my own two eyes. The wires around the semiconductors were frayed and detached from their usual connection points. It looked like¡­. Maybe a rat or something got into it? Or they were just old.


    I rooted around the wires, reconnecting and fixing them up. It wasn¡¯t the best patch job ever, though it should hold up. I put everything back together and straddled the bike again.


    This time, although heavily sputtering, the bike kicked on. I wasted no time moving out of the area.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    The next morning- err, afternoon since I slept like a baby for once, I stretched out and looked over my loot. The painting and hatchet were on my keep list, which I¡¯d run down to the vault at some point, but the other three items I needed to offload sometime soon. I could keep them to let the heat die down a bit¡­ but I really didn¡¯t need to worry too much about it. That was a job for a fixer.


    I headed out and bought a little burner phone. It was only ten Rayn. The second thing I bought was quite a bit more expensive: an external voice modulator. It wasn¡¯t anything fancy, just a small pad that was attached to the throat.


    From there I headed out into Portside. It didn¡¯t really matter where I was as long as I wasn¡¯t near my apartment, though Portside was fairly close to my next stop. I entered a small apartment building on the side and made my way to the roof. It was alarmed, but that didn¡¯t stop me from disabling the alarm and moving on up. As I headed to the roof¡¯s ledge, making my way between several air conditioning units, I stuck the modulator to my throat and tapped it on.


    ¡°Testing.¡± My voice came out weak and feminine as if I was a sick little girl. I tapped on the center of the modulator, shifting my voice once more. ¡°Testing.¡± This came it came out incredibly deep, though with a bit of a husky edge to it. I played around with it a few more times before I stuck to a fairly androgynous voice with a bit of an accent to it.


    Then I pulled out my phone and put in a familiar number. It rang for several seconds as I stared down at the traffic passing below me. The phone chimed as the other person picked up. ¡°Hello? To whom do I owe the¡­ pleasure?¡± Carone asked.


    ¡°A client¡­ I need a few hot items sold.¡± I sighed as I stared at the city. It would be much easier if I had the connections to just sell it myself.


    ¡°So? I don¡¯t work with just anyone. I need a name. Preferably a face.¡± Carone said. I could hear the whooshing of flames barely from his side. ¡°And my cut is fifty-¡°


    I pushed off from the wall. ¡°I¡¯ll stop you there. Call me¡­ Mr. White.¡± Gah, I practically gave myself away with that! I kept my voice smooth and neutral even as I mentally bashed myself over the head. ¡°Thirty percent is the typical rate.¡±


    ¡±For those I know. Consider it a¡­  fee.¡±


    Stranger fee my ass. Maybe I could bluff him? ¡±Shame¡­ Athena would give me a better rate than that. It was nice talking to you, but I¡¯ll just head-¡°


    ¡±Why the rush?¡± Carone asked. ¡°Hmm¡­ How about I chop it down to forty percent, and then back to thirty if we ever deal again? What is it you¡¯re trying to move, anyway?¡±


    I went silent for a few moments, putting some pressure on him. He was my best bet for getting rid of the masks and statue, but our ¡®first¡¯ deal would set the tone for the rest of our encounters. I didn¡¯t want my new alias to be easy pickings.


    ¡±Interesting proposal¡­ I¡¯ll tell you what, I need something identified. I¡¯ve heard from a friend you¡¯re decent at that.¡± I had a ton of stuff I needed to identify, actually. Most of it I¡¯d just been too busy with other stuff to run by his shop. I might as well go ahead and get that fox statue from the Neo-Jokers done now though.


    ¡±A friend eh? Alright¡­ come by my shop and we can discuss the¡­ particulars. Your  tell you where it is?¡±


    ¡±I¡¯ll come by in a couple days.¡± I killed the line, taking some kind of deep satisfaction in the act as I breathed in the ¡®fresh¡¯ city air. I pulled out the battery and chip of the phone, smashing the latter then tossing all the components off the roof into an alley.


    I took a few moments to just look around and enjoy being alive. Then an alarm on my phone went off. A tired sigh left my lips as I headed back towards the stairs.

 Chapter 140

    Chapter 140I took my time driving back to the north side of Portside. There seemed to be some kind of ball game going on today, so the roads were packed. Not that it mattered too much. I had an appointment, but it was more of a suggestion than anything. It¡¯s not like I sat down and told her I¡¯d be over at an exact time.


    Eventually, though, I made my way in the right direction. The Jagged Clover Pub was as¡­ as ever. The stench of alcohol puked back up in the alleys burned at my nose as I found a safe enough spot to park my bike.


    I headed over to the door, noticing the sign had been shot several times since I was last here. Now it read ¡®your mother¡¯s¡¯ and someone had spray painted ¡®so fat¡¯ after it in the bioluminescent spray paint vandals seemed to love.


    The tiny-handed bartender waved as I stepped in, his massive, girth arms rippling with muscles. ¡°Welcome back in lass.¡±


    Ah, he recognized me. That made this a bit easier¡­ though it also meant the guy had the memory of an elephant. I¡¯d only been here twice. ¡°Athena in?¡± I asked as I walked over.


    ¡±Aye.¡± The bartender ran a towel through a glass. Pretty sure he just did it for looks since I could hear a dishwasher running in the back of the place. He eyed the ceiling, from which I could hear a faint, rhythmic impact. ¡°Bit of a bad mood, that ¡®un.¡±


    I eyed the place. The bar had seen some upgrades since the last time I rolled through the place. At least on the inside. The outside could still use some work. The guy even got a holographic tip jar at some point. I¡¯d never seen such a thing before, but it looked like a typical mason jar with a mound of holographic coins in it.


    ¡°Thanks for the heads up.¡± I tapped on my phone, sending a tip through the tip jar. A hologram of a coin appeared from my direction just above my phone. It flipped into the jar to join the batch of holographic coins. ¡°Cool jar.¡±


    ¡±Thanks, lass.¡± The bartender waved at me and then moved down the bar to a customer.


    I headed back the same way as last time and walked upstairs. I moved past the rest of the private booths to the room Athena was in last time. Several deep groans came from behind the door, making me hesitate momentarily before I finally knocked on the door.


    Athena¡¯s rage-induced voice called out gruffly, ¡°Come in!¡±


    I slid open the door, taking a step back as my hand instinctively went for my pistol. The room reeked of blood with seven people tossed about the place. All of them were bleeding profusely, though not one of them looked as though they¡¯d tried to defend themselves. Athena stood over one of the unfortunate saps, ramming the defeated man¡¯s head into the ground hard enough to send spurts of blood from his crooked nose. Somehow, she still managed to look pretty even surrounded by the gore.


    ¡±What did I tell you, Calle? Don¡¯t fuck this up. What did you do?¡± Her expression looked half feral as the servos and synthetic muscles of her chrome arms ruthlessly slammed the man¡¯s face down into a pool of his own blood.


    The man groaned as his head was lifted back up. He sounded entirely defeated as if he had given up on life. ¡°F-fucked¡­ u-up.¡±


    Athena slammed him down one last time before standing up and glancing toward me. Her chrome eyes pulsed with a wrathful red light as if to show her heartbeat. Her gaze stayed for a few moments as the red light faded back to mostly calm gray eyes. Damn intimidating that¡­ I should take notes.


    She stepped over toward me, slamming her chrome leg into the back of the guy¡¯s head just as he started to push himself up. A hollow thunk echoed as several bloody teeth flew out. The man gave one last half-groan before he fell completely unconscious¡­ or dead. There was a fair chance he was dead. He wasn¡¯t moving, and he definitely suffered quite a bit of brain trauma. None of the other people in the room looked as though they fared any better.


    After a moment, I decided they probably weren¡¯t dead, just heavily injured. At least, they were still breathing. It was a bit hard to tell on some of them, subdermal armor made some of the lung compressions harder to see, but I was, like, thirty percent sure.


    ¡°Ah, hey Zuku¡­¡± Athena brushed her hands, shedding drops of blood from the chrome. She cast a look around at the several people who were collapsed all over the place as she wrinkled her nose. She looked a bit offended as if it was fault they bled all over her room. I mean, how dare they bleed while she beat them up, right? ¡°¡­ Let¡¯s uh- let''s go somewhere else to chat, yeah?¡±


    ¡°Chek.¡± I backed out of the room, hastily getting out of her way. No way in hell did I want to give any reason for the wound-up fixer to go off on me too. Maybe coming here wasn¡¯t such a good idea. ¡°S-so¡­ how¡¯ve you been?¡±


    ¡°Nova.¡±


    ¡­


    ¡­ S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    We entered another private booth, this one on the opposite side of the building from Athena¡¯s typical room. The place was absolutely loaded with boxes of weapons and explosives. There were even a few launchers hidden amongst the mess of firepower. The Blue Crusade would have a heyday if they raided this place. ¡°Sorry ¡®bout the mess¡­ I usually only use this room for selling ¡®trinkets¡¯.¡±


    The tables and booth were entirely covered in guns to the point there wasn¡¯t any spot to sit down. I decided to just ¡®casually¡¯ lean against the wall close to the door. It was one of the few spots not covered in danger. ¡°No problem. About the job?¡±


    Athena walked over to a box of grenades and kicked the lid closed before sitting on the explosives like a maniac. She ran a chrome hand through her blue hair, pulling off a few flakes of dried blood. A sigh escaped her as she looked around the room. ¡°Look, I¡¯m going to be upfront with you, this one''s personal. I¡¯ll pay you seventy-five hundred Rayn to take care of it.¡±


    ¡±Take care of what?¡± Seventy-five hundred Rayn was a big gig¡­ not a really big gig, but a big gig for me. If I had that kind of money¡­ I¡¯d actually be pretty close to getting my printer with that and the gold I still had locked away. And I had some Rayn coming in from Carone as long as he didn¡¯t screw ¡®Mr. White¡¯.


    Athena sighed yet again and flicked her hair out of her face. She reached over to the table and snagged a tablet. ¡°There¡¯s this corporation that¡¯s been hiring mercs through me for the past year. Usually, they hire a bunch of mercs to go find and retrieve some kind of artifact, most of which came from Cwalu.¡±


    ¡°Like the Leper-Khans?¡± I asked as I got a foreboding feeling.


    Athena eyed me a moment, her beautiful chrome eyes seemed to attract all my attention. She twisted her head slightly as if deep in thought before finally nodding. ¡°Yeah, like the Leper-Khans. Just that- the mercs hired tend to disappear without a trace or wind up dead before completing the gig. Then the corp doesn¡¯t pay up and I¡¯m out Rayn and solid workers.¡±


    ¡±Do you suspect the corp is getting¡­ ?¡± It wouldn¡¯t be too strange. Those corpos were idiots like that.


    ¡±Chek chek.¡± Athena drummed her fingers across a rifle to her side and passed me the tablet. I glanced over it to see hundreds of pictures, most depicting dead mercs though the later pictures were of a familiar destroyed camp. Only, it looked far more brutalized than when I passed through that section of the desert.


    ¡°The Leper-Khans are dead. They went silent a couple of days after you returned. Once is unlucky, twice is a coincidence, but six times? Normally, I¡¯d just blacklist the corp and get on with it, but I think this one in particular is using shell companies to hire me out and screw with me.¡±


    Damn, sounded like these guys were tired of living. Everyone knows not to screw over the fixer unless you were damn sure you could get away with it. ¡±So¡­ what is it that you want me to do then?¡±


    Athena paused her drumming, letting a few moments of silence stretch on. ¡°Find solid evidence of what¡¯s going on. If what I suspect is right-¡° her hand gripping the rifle tensed, shattering it into little pieces, ¡°I want you to break into their main HQ and cause as much destruction and devastation as possible. I can get you some guys and weapons-¡° She waved her hand around the room, ¡°for a frontal assault. Or, if you¡¯d rather, you can take a quieter approach and sabotage them.¡±


    Damn, what a risky gig¡­ pissing off a corp, eh? Hmm¡­ I could take a look at it first. Sabotaging them wouldn¡¯t be all that hard, and I could klep some goods while I was at it. If I decided sabotage was too risky, I could always just take Athena¡¯s offer for a strike squad¡­ Yeah, if I was smart this would be an easy gig. Just the pay left a little to be desired. "How much devastation are we talking about?¡±


    ¡±Enough to hurt. I want these bastards to feel my wrath.¡± Athena gave a bloodthirsty smile.


    ¡°Chek¡­ leading a strike squad isn¡¯t really my thing though¡­ I can definitely look for evidence.¡± I was more of a stealthy scout than a squad leader. And while I like mass devastation as much as the next person¡­ yeah, not my forte.


    Athena chuckled, slapping her hand on a rocket launcher sitting next to her. ¡°That¡¯s fine. Just find what I need to know. Contact me after and we¡¯ll figure it out from there. Fifteen hundred for evidence.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be risking my life here. At- at least four grand.¡± Damn, that didn¡¯t sound as imposing as I wanted it to. Almost forgot she was sitting on a crate of grenades for a moment. And the scene of her beating an entire group senselessly...


    Athena arched a perfectly sculpted brow. ¡°Don¡¯t push your luck, kid. Two grand.¡±


    Fine¡­ it was just an initial check more than anything. The bigger problem was with the full pay. ¡°Seven thousand isn¡¯t all that much if you want me to break in and sabotage them myself.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Athena leaned back against the wall, idly cleaning out a bit of blood in between her knuckles. ¡°I was expecting you to call in the strike squad, which I¡¯d be paying for. Seven thousand is more than fair enough for that¡­ if you do it yourself though¡­ hmm¡­ okay, fifteen thousand. More depending on which corpo it is and who¡¯s backing it.¡±


    ¡°Where do I start?¡± I handed back the tablet.


    She messed around on it for a moment before a message from her popped up in my HUD. "Here¡¯s the list of contacts that hired me. You¡¯re the first I¡¯ve hired to take care of this. Don¡¯t make me hire someone else.¡±


    I looked through the six companies on the list and nodded my head. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it.¡±


    ¡±You better,¡± Athena said with such finality that it left no room for my imagination. She was definitely kicking me out.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    As I entered back into my apartment, I decided now would be a good time to spend one of my Perk Points before I really get started on my investigation. I had a free Perk Point which could be spent on any Skill and one for Tech. For now, I decided to go ahead and cash in my Tech one.


    I laid down on my bed and entered the pavilion with just a thought, arriving in front of Tech¡¯s shelf. The faint flickering of fire illuminated each of the scrolls on the shelf as I looked around.


    As usual, I looked through the bunch. This time around, I narrowed it down to just three of the Perks.


    ¡¸Corvid¡¹


    ¡¸Bionic Engineering¡¹


    ¡¸Material Identification¡¹


    Of the three, the weirdest one was Corvid. Unlike every other Perk I¡¯ve seen so far, its description was quite unique. It simply said ¡®Corvid, the Scavenger.¡¯ Yeah, that was it. What was I supposed to do with that? Although¡­ I was tempted if only for the fact that it was related to Crow. Or at least, I assume it was related to Crow. Crow had yet to let me down.


    Bionic Engineering seemed like one of those learned Perks with a focus on, well, bionics. It would probably greatly help me in learning about and creating chrome of my own if I wanted to get into that. Not so sure about it though.


    Material Identification seemed the most straightforward out of the bunch. Its description was quite long, but it basically boiled down to allowing me to identify any kind of material in a single glance. Pretty simple. It seemed like a learned Perk, but I wasn¡¯t a hundred percent sure. It could just as easily be an ability-style Perk.


    It took a while before I finally settled on Corvid. Stuff from the interface related directly to the eidolons had been the most powerful without a doubt. It would be stupid to pass up this opportunity, even if I wasn¡¯t a hundred percent sure what it did.


    I tossed the scroll onto the easel. It unraveled, revealing a masterfully painted crow sitting in a black void. Although the crow was black too, it somehow seemed to stand out against the void.


    I stumbled out of the darkness back onto my bed as a searing pain arced up through my hand. I groaned deeply as I stared down at thick black lines inking themselves into my skin of seemingly their own will. The black lines grew blurrier and blurrier till I all I saw was darkness.

 Chapter 141

    Chapter 141¡°Caw!¡± A cry roused me from my sleep, though it did little to help the pounding headache in the back of my head. It was a bit weird waking up with a headache for once. Usually, Quick Healing took care of it before I had to deal with it.


    I groaned as my eyes popped open and I sat up in bed. I rubbed at my eyes harshly, displacing some goop that collected on my chrome one. A yawn broke through-


    I startled back under my covers, one hand reaching for the gun under my pillow as movement flittered into my room. It was fast, too fast. Just as my hand wrapped around the handle of my pistol, time slowed down-


    My body froze up as the movements stopped just on my bed. It was a crow. A fairly large crow, I think, but a crow nonetheless. Six glowing red eyes sat across its head, its pupil and sclera lost in the warm glow. Dark oily feathers covered its body, almost like an oil spill reflecting the sun. The bird approached hesitantly, cocking its ear up at me.


    ¡±Cawww~?¡± It softly cried, turning over on its back as it showed off its plumage as if trying to act cute. Its eyes widened a tone as it stared up at me slightly as if it would start crying at any moment.


    ¡±What are you, a cat?¡± Just what was going on- Oh¡­ Corvid. Did the Perk summon a crow? It had six eyes, so it was definitely a sprite of some kind. The sprites I¡¯ve seen all had four eyes though? Only Crow himself had eight. Was this Corvid a higher-tier sprite? Is that even a thing? It had a name, which was something every other sprite I''d seen so far lacked. Was that it?


    ¡±Meow~¡± The black beast''s beak opened, creating a sound it definitely shouldn¡¯t have been able to. It used its wings to push towards me, still lying on its back and showing its dark plumage.


    Did it- did it want me to pet it? Is that a thing? Do birds even like being petted? I thought that was something cats and dogs- ah, it did meow though¡­ Crow. Come out. Let¡¯s talk about your subordinate here. Ah, unless this was the infamous ¡®birdbrain¡¯.


    The crow hooked one of its claws¡ªno, those were definitely razor-sharp talons¡ªonto the blanket over my leg and effortlessly pivoted up, forcing its feathered head under my hand. ¡°Meow meow~!¡±


    I hesitantly stroked its feathers, finding them to be surprisingly soft and cool to the touch. And so, that¡¯s how part of my morning went. I just sat there as my brain brokenly tried to figure out what was happening while the species-confused crow, Corvid probably, took advantage of me with its occasional meows.


    As I rubbed its head, I stared down at the back of my hand. My memories of last night were faint, but I could¡¯ve sworn I got a-


    As if summoned by me just thinking about it, an expertly done tattoo of a crow faded into existence on the back of my hand. Corvid tapped a wing onto it a couple of times, and looked proud of himself. I stared down at the tattoo, flicking on Aetherial Perception to catch a rather strong current of the Aether flowing through it.


    Not how I thought I¡¯d get a tattoo¡­ is it permanent? Can I just, like, vanish it like I can with the canteen? Be gone, tattoo!


    The tattoo of a crow faded back underneath my skin. With it gone, the flowing Aether also faded significantly. The undercurrent was still there, but I wouldn¡¯t be able to pinpoint it if I didn¡¯t know exactly where the tattoo was.


    ¡°Caw~!¡± The crow sprite gave one last call then disappeared as quickly as it arrived. After I stopped petting it, the thing jumped off my bed with a determined look, stalked off a distance, and flew up. My Aether senses tingled just in time to watch it tear a hole through space and disappear.


    I checked the Perk for Corvid a few more times to see if anything changed or if I could glean any new information from it but to no avail. I¡¯d just have to wait and see. It was a really bizarre Perk in the first place, to the point I didn¡¯t even know what to expect from it. Surely it wouldn¡¯t be a waste though, right?


    It wouldn¡¯t be. It couldn¡¯t be. No way Crow betrayed my trust just like that, right? Where was the honor amongst thieves?! Surely I just haven''t yet seen its effects... I refused to admit it was a waste of a Perk and I¡¯d gotten screwed over by the only avian I thought I could trust. Though, the bird was cool I guess. sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    That being said, there was an Animal Handling Skill that I noted down when I had a Skill Point last time. Maybe it was worth trying to get? I wasn¡¯t a hundred percent sure, but the eidolons and sprites count as animals, right? I mean, they animals, I just wasn¡¯t sure if they counted the same way non-aetherial animals did. If it could increase their favorability of me in even just the slightest, it¡¯d pay off. They were the ones paying- helping me grow.


    Maybe I should''ve gotten that Trait back then¡­ what was it called? Beloved by Beasts? Something like that. If it worked on the creatures of the aether, then it would be way better than the majority of the options on that list. Combo it with Magus? Potentially a really good combo. Maybe in another life.


    Speaking of Traits, I followed my typical morning routine and checked up on that lab that held the Aether egg. I¡¯d been hard stalking the place ever since I first became aware of it, but the more I saw the less I wanted to break into it. At least, not yet. They definitely had daemons and Netrunners on staff considering the state of the place. It would be infinitely harder to get into than anywhere else I¡¯d broken into.


    I had some rough plans to get into the place, but most of them were reliant on getting Advent¡¯s Blackout tech hooked up to my armor, which in turn needed money for a printer¡­ . Maybe I should look into where my Squire paycheck was going? Hmm¡­


    First, though, I had a good-paying gig up and running. I just need to find out what parent corporation was puppeting the shell companies. As long as it wasn¡¯t a megacorp, which it shouldn¡¯t be since they all had their own ¡®asset recovery¡¯ teams, or a large corp, it should be manageable.


    As for finding the parent company? It wouldn¡¯t be too, too hard. Just very time-consuming. I¡¯d never done this type of thing before, but I had some thoughts on how to get it done.


    My first thought was just to hire it out to a Netrunner for a fraction of my pay. It¡¯d be way faster that way. I just didn¡¯t know any Netrunners nor was I necessarily willing to shell out good Rayn to save a bit of leg work.


    First things first, check them out on the Net. From there, I could bounce around their registration and other official documents to pull apart any inconsistencies or anything that stood out-


    Ah wait¡­ could that work? I¡¯d save on legwork and not have to pay anyone¡­ no way it could be that simple though, right?


    With more than a small dose of doubt in my mind, I picked up my phone.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    I tested out my Blue Crusade gear, looking over a lot of it as I walked to the department''s front doors. Since I was headed in this direction anyway, I stopped by the Blue Crusade gym/megacomplex and picked up all my gear.


    From what I could see, they were brand new. There wasn¡¯t a speck or smudge on them, at least when I picked them up. The disgusting blood-soaked cloth with torn sleeves was nowhere to be found. Instead, everything looked as if it had been freshly made. I¡¯ve gotta say, that old grandma down in the basement really knew her stuff.


    It was a bit reassuring to have my gear back on as I walked into the place and headed for the Inquisitor¡¯s office. Yep, this was my grand plan. Shove off the work to the Crusade. They- or I guess I should start using since I was back around the meatheads- had a full tech department waiting for me to use and abuse. Gotta get my money¡¯s worth somehow, right?


    I simply sent the list to the Inquisitor and asked him to send it over and find out who the parent company is. As for the reason? A lead that probably wouldn¡¯t go anywhere. Considering that¡¯s how most of his current investigation was, he didn¡¯t hesitate to send it over. I was hoping he¡¯d send it to me over the phone, but then he crushed those hopes and dreams as brutally as he usually did and asked me to come in.


    It was a while since I was injured, so I didn¡¯t quite remember what was wrong with me. To be fair, I never really thought too much about my injuries since I healed so quickly. I think my arm was hurt. Hmm¡­ and maybe my leg? A leg injury seems like a common enough injury, right?


    I stole an arm brace on my way over and put my¡­ was it my left or right arm? Hmm¡­ Well, it was one of them. I slung my arm in the brace and forced a halting hitch into my step as if I was still hurt. Then, I added in a sprinkle of some other injured Cues just to be safe. The occasional short, sharp gasp for air. The occasional twitch to my eyes as if I was enduring pain. And to top it off, a forced blank face, though with a grimace hidden underneath.


    And just like that, I found myself arriving in front of his door in no time. For better or worse was still up in the air. I knocked on it a couple times. A few moments later, his chilling, emotionless, brutally cold voice called through the synthwood. ¡°Come in.¡±


    I stepped into his office, finding the Inquisitor half passed out in his chair as he idly spun in circles. It was one of those days, huh? ¡°Sir.¡±


    The Inquisitor¡¯s sleek silver mask faced my direction as his spinning stopped. The enchantments of the mask started to take effect once more, though I was more than used to them by now. The momentary flight of guilt and paranoia throughout every facet of my mind barely registered as I looked around the mess of his office. It looked like some crazy drunk tried to organize but couldn¡¯t quite see straight enough.


    He yawned deeply before lazily passing me a folder. ¡°Here¡­ you shaid you got a lead?¡±


    , he¡¯s drunk again¡­ or did he never stop drinking? I grabbed the folder and slipped it into my bag. ¡°Chek. A few papers I remember seeing down there. Probably nothing, but it doesn¡¯t hurt to look.¡±


    The Inquisitor stood up and stretched slightly. ¡°Eshpecially after almosht everything down there mysteriously caught fire when we shent another team down.... Anyway, you shtill injured? And yet working on the case shtill?¡±


    ¡°Ha ha¡­ you know me¡­ just love working¡­¡± I shuffled back towards the door as he pulled a flask from his desk.


    He eyed me, then looked down at his flask. ¡°Just water.¡±


    Right, like I¡¯d believe that. He took a long drink from the flask. Just when I thought he¡¯d come up for air, he raised a finger to me and kept gulping down the liquid. Was this kind of blatant disregard for the Blue Crusade really fine, dear Inquisitor? What if your boss comes-


    The Inquisitor stumbled, splashing what smelled like whiskey all over me as his flask flew from his hand and disappeared perfectly into my coat pocket. He barely managed to catch himself, using his hands to brace on the desk just as the door opened up.


    I looked back to see the entirely black-clothed Blue Crusade Commander enter the room just as the Inquisitor looked down at the papers as if he were in deep thought. Although shadows covered the entirety of his face in an impenetrable veil of darkness, I could almost feel the gleeful smile as the commander looked at his hard-working Inquisitor.


    The Commander¡¯s voice sounded far too happy as he stepped into the room. ¡±Ah, my favorite Crusader!¡±


    Was this- was this okay? This kind of blatant workplace discrimination surely went against several sets of rules, no? Whatever happened to a fair and equal working environment? For that matter, why could I feel his eyes looking at me as if I was a bug?


    ¡±Ah, Commander¡­ I was just pouring over some documents.¡± The Inquisitor said casually as he stood up. I raised a wet arm and sniffed at the whiskey. Not the only thing he was pouring.


    ¡±With one of your I see.¡± The way he said that word sent a chill down my spine. I could almost feel the loathing on it. Sir! I¡¯m sure I¡¯ve never even met you before! Why the hate?!


    The Blue Crusade Commander, clothed entirely black just like the last time I saw him, took a step forward. A slightly exaggerated huff of air came from him. ¡°Are you- are you drunk?¡±


    Finally! Someone else noticed! I felt like crying tears of happiness. Surely, the Inquisitor would be reprehended. Or! Or with any luck, fired. Then I could fade away from the Crusade as if I was never here-


    ¡°Squire, turn in your badge. This kind of behavior is unfitting of the Crusade.¡± The Commander said with righteous fury radiating in his voice.


    How did this turn around onto me- right, that bastard doused me in whiskey! Wait, this is my chance! I withdrew my badge and tossed it to him. ¡°I¡¯ve disappointed the Crusade with my unruly behavior-¡°


    ¡°Shir, go eashy on her. My shquire was valiantly injured on the job and is shtill in recovery.¡± Inquisitor Ligh sighed deeply as if it pained him to see me this way. ¡°Although thish behavior ish unfitting of the Crushade, she¡¯sh shupposed to be off right now. I shelfishly called her in to talk about shome thingsh.¡±


    Now you admit being drunk on the job isn''t right? What the hell is happening here? And stop defending me you useless waste of air! How hasn¡¯t he realized the one slurring harder than a whole bar of drunks!? ¡°Sir, I-¡°


    ¡±Ah, so it''s like that¡­ fine. But I¡¯ll be watching you closely ¡± The Commander¡¯s shadowed face seemed to grow several lumens darker as he stared at me. His voice also sounded oddly resentful as he tossed back the badge.


    I unwillingly grabbed the badge, failing to stop my glare from heading to the Inquisitor in time. ¡±Sir, I-¡°


    ¡±Go ahead and leave us, squire. Don¡¯t let me catch even a hint of alcohol on you in the future, or even the Inquisitor in the entire Crusade won¡¯t be able to stop me from firing you!¡±


    I was too frozen to even move as my brain struggled to catch up with the rest of the world. I woodenly turned towards the door, the whiskey fumes starting to get to me as I opened it up.


    ¡±Ah, Shquire Ichima?¡± I hollowly turned back to face my scumbag Inquisitor. He spoke in the most serious and sober voice I¡¯ve heard from him yet. ¡°Don¡¯t forget to return some other time.¡±


    Although the mask covered his eyes, for some reason I just he was lasered onto my coat pocket. More accurately, the contraband flask I was carting off right under his boss¡¯s nose. He¡¯d be lucky if I didn¡¯t crush it into smithereens after this fiasco. ¡°Sir, I-¡°


    ¡±Leave us, Squire!¡± The Commander ordered sternly.


    My brain felt far too broken to even deal with the rest of the world as I turned around and defeatedly walked off.

 Chapter 142

    Chapter 142I took a shower as soon as I got home as if to wash off the stupidity I ran into earlier. By the time I got out, I found a sparkling black gemstone on my bed. I sat up and reached for my pistol. That wasn¡¯t there when I went to sleep. Someone broke into my apartment. Was it Feras?


    Time slowed down as I withdrew my pistol just in time to catch a dark shape hiding in the corner of my room. Corvid crouched in the corner, eyeing me with excitement even as he shyly hid under his wings. The avian sprite shuffled around under my gaze, backing up against the wall further as its head sunk.


    ¡±Is this for me?¡± I deactivated Dexterity, though I kept the gun in hand just in case as I picked up the black crystal.


    ¡±C-cawww~¡­¡± The bird crumpled down and covered his head as if embarrassed.


    I stared at the bird, shifting my gaze to the crystal and then back several times. Something clicked in the back of my head. The description for the Tech Perk was Corvid, the Scavenger. Did that mean he would just bring me stuff? Cause that¡­ that might not actually be that bad. What were the limits though? Would he just bring me random stuff or could he get me magical items like Crow does?


    ¡°Come here?¡± I asked with the sweetest and kindest voice I could muster as I brightly smiled to the crow.


    The crow picked himself up, looking at me slightly dazed as he hopped over to me. With a flap of his wings, he jumped up to my leg and hesitantly scooted forward.


    I ran a hand over its head, gently stroking its feathery head and petting its wings. ¡°Who¡¯s a good boy?¡± Does that work for birds? Or is that just a dog thing?


    ¡±Caw~?¡± The crow basked in my attention for a while, enjoying my petting. And why wouldn¡¯t I pet my newest gold-laying goose? If all he wanted was to have his feathers stroked to bring my loot, then why not? Free loot was free loot. Although I wasn''t sure what they were to begin with. Something valuable though since the resonated with the Aether.


    After a while, Corvid backed off and flapped his wings. He tossed a longing look over his shoulder back to me then disappeared back through the Aether with another flap.


    I grabbed the crystal and looked it over. I wasn¡¯t quite sure what it was. It looked a bit similar to a diamond, but it was closer to coal than anything. It was like a fog of black was trapped in the crystal, giving it a weird effect. I tossed it over next to the fox statue. Probably best to just go get it identified.


    I went through my morning routine, did some light workouts, and then got to work with my three-dimensional printer. I didn¡¯t have anything too complicated in mind for today, but I did want to go ahead and start printing parts.


    I set up a long queue for the device. Most of the parts were fairly simple and for the various things I wanted to set up in the Underground to protect my stash. Solid defenses were a must before I started moving stuff down there.


    The parts on the other end of the queue were quite a bit more complicated though. Most of them were for the quadcopter drone I wanted to make. I already had most of the technical and electronic bits, except the optical camo, but the rest of the drone body needed to be printed out. The noise muffler I had in mind also needed some parts.


    By the time I got everything in the queue set up, it would take a day and a half to run everything. I didn''t want to wait around for that, especially considering I had a gig already running, so I simply set up my modified tapper and adjusted it to gently push the finished products from the printer out onto my table. I also set up the printer¡¯s program to start printing the next thing in the queue after five minutes.


    With all my future technical plans going, I settled down next to my window and finally got around to looking through the file that the Inquisitor gave me.


    The first couple of pages were breakdowns of the research on the various shell companies. The Netrunners of the Crusade tracked them down through an alias responsible for registering each of the companies, which in turn led to a different shell company. They ping-ponged around at least a dozen different shell companies, some of their search methods less than legal, before they finally tracked it down to one.


    As I read the name at the top of the last page, I felt my blood turn cold.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    The next morning, I went out and bought a bouquet. This was the first time I ever bought real flowers and not the synthetic kind, and honestly? There wasn¡¯t a large difference between the two. They felt different though. It was hard to pinpoint why. Maybe it was the scent? Or the almost velvety sensation of the individual petals? Regardless, their prices were definitely different. These ones cost fifty Rayn for the entire bouquet.


    It was worth it though. It was the least I could do to get some actual flowers for once, especially since I was better off now than I¡¯d been in- well, since my parents died.


    I caught a reflection of the marbled building in a rogue raindrop tracing down one of the flower¡¯s petals. It dropped off, quickly replaced by several others as I bundled up a bit tighter in my coat.


    I headed on into the Jade Columbarium, easily passing by the squad of Jade Fang Enforcers guarding the entrance to the place. They were as decked out as ever. Maybe even more so considering the time of night.


    It was surprisingly humid in the columbarium as I headed down the familiar marbled pathways to my destination. The hundreds of alcoves flashed by in a blur until I found the right one.


    I shifted over an old vase of synthetic flowers, making just enough room for the new bouquet to fit in the alcove. I straightened everything up and brushed off the faint layer of dust clinging to the two urns. For several long minutes, I lost myself in being a busybody. Anything to take my mind away from the current dilemma.


    Eventually, I ran out of things to fidget over unless I wanted to start cleaning out other alcoves as well, which would be heavily frowned upon. I stared at the interlocked dragons of the urns as I inevitably drifted back to the same argument I¡¯d been having for the past several hours.


    ¡±Haah¡­¡± I tapped my head against the top of the alcove as I stared down at the flowers. I backed off and pulled out the file from my bag, hoping the name would change this time around. It didn¡¯t.


    Cold Moon Solutions. A familiar and yet long-since alien name. A name I never wanted to see again. For a moment, I thought about calling Athena and canceling the rest of the gig. I¡¯d still get paid for finding the parent company, though not nearly as much.


    I pulled out my phone, intent on calling her as I flicked through my contact list. Just before I got to her name, my head dropped back as I stared up at the ceiling. Another deep sigh escaped me. I¡¯d been stuck in this process ever since I first saw the corporation''s name.


    Cold Moon Solutions¡­ What can I say about it? The corp was originally founded nearly a century ago, specializing in Human Resources. They built quite the rep back then. With the funding and resources from a few successful decades, the company revamped itself into focusing on tech.


    For two decades after that, the corp focused on building up technologies to assist workers. They made everything from robot assistants to passive exo-suits to assist in easily lifting hundreds of pounds. It was a saturated market to get into, but Cold Moon Solutions made a name for themselves for their quality products.


    After the K-10 Crash, the CEO decided to split directions once more into a networking company. Half the corporation focused on the development of tools and gear to help workers in an increasingly dangerous world while the other half focused on network development.


    In the past, such a shift would¡¯ve been suicidal since the few networking corporations that remained had a hard monopoly. After the K-10 Crash and the development of Nodes, however, everyone was reset to the same position. Things were looking up for Cold Moon Solutions.


    The side that developed tools and gear even had cutting-edge developments in cybernetics that were advanced by dozens of years. At least more advanced than publicly available chrome. There was no doubt the megacorps had some good stuff hidden away. Hell, I just had to look at the Drop Chutes to see as much.


    Of course, regardless of what was developed, Cold Moon Solution''s developments were kept extremely quiet behind closed doors lest one of the megacorps catch wind and ¡®acquire¡¯ the research. For a time, things were flowing smoothly.


    That is, until the CEO¡¯s old age finally got to him about ten years ago. A heart attack got him, and the Medevac team failed to resuscitate him. It was a failure quickly swept under the rug by Medtech Solutions with a hefty payout.


    His will left the company to two sons, making his youngest the new CEO. With the death of the original CEO came years of hardships for Cold Moon Solutions. Unfortunately, misery loves company. The youngest son and his wife met with an ¡®accident¡¯ barely two years later. The eldest assumed control from then on. And it''s been a downhill slide from the looks of things. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The corporation was initially built upon the core principles of quality, service, and honesty. From what it looks like now, these principles are out the window just like every other corporation in pursuit of a greater profit margin.


    If it was ten years ago, I¡¯d easily be able to sabotage to my heart''s content. Now though? I wouldn¡¯t even know where to start. The factory and product development side of things was shut down five years ago according to their site. That just left the networking side of the company.


    I didn¡¯t even know if there was enough of the company left to even sabotage. I couldn¡¯t access any of their contracts or anything of the like from their public domain, but they¡¯d definitely downsized drastically in the past year or so. They might not even have had the money to pay for Athena¡¯s mercs in the first place. As it looked, even breaking a window would hurt the company.


    Hitting a dead horse didn¡¯t necessarily fit with me, though my hesitations cleared when I scrolled down to the ¡®Meet the Team¡¯ section of the public page. For several long seconds, I was tempted to let the consequence be damned and go ahead with that strike team.


    I left the urns of my parents behind and headed back out onto the streets. The cool rain helped clear my head slightly, though it was insufferably humid around here.


    I drove back to my apartment, swinging by Big Mike¡¯s to get a burger pizza to go. I slid back into my apartment and ate while I assembled a few mechanisms from the finished bulk of printed parts. I kept my hands busy as my mind twirled like a hurricane for as long as I could, but eventually, I had to turn back to the problem at hand.


    I surfed the Net one last time to check if they even had anything of value. Nothing stood out. There were some articles from a couple years back about opening up a new R&D branch, though it didn¡¯t look like it went anywhere. There were a few other miscellaneous things, but nothing seemed too important.


    I¡¯d have to get over to their building and check out the decision with my own eye. Maybe this bit of reconnaissance would help me figure out what I wanted to do?

 Chapter 143

    Chapter 143Something was wrong. I¡¯ve had the feeling for a while now ever since I first looked into the corp, but sitting across the street in a frankly disgusting restaurant pointed me in the right direction. Or- or it could be the mystery meat that I just ate. I''m ninety percent sure it was chopped up rat¡­


    Cold Moon Solutions had a four-story building all to itself on the edge of Bricktown. Of course, the alleys on its sides were tagged to hell by the Jade Fang and Neo-Jokers, though the latter were nowhere in sight. It was a bit odd? Normally the Neo-Jokers would at least be in the area considering this was their turf, but so far I had yet to see anyone with their telltale bright red hair.


    The building itself wasn¡¯t anything too interesting, but the security was. Armed guards sat just inside the large glass doors into the place. I spotted at least a couple dozen cameras and other security features scattered about, and they weren¡¯t low-grade either.


    The cameras themselves were a bit odd. They didn¡¯t look like any of the normal cameras I¡¯d run into, nor were they anything from Sentinel. It took a while, and some serious looking through the Net, before I figured out what they were: Mystech¡¯s Manasense. It was too far to tell the exact mark, but the tech was interesting.


    True to the corporation¡¯s nature, Mystech¡¯s Manasense was a kind of technology that mixed the mystical with the technical. The tech was quite expensive, offering vision both into the mundane and lightly into the Aether. Not quite sure how it all worked, but I had to admit Mystech was quite skilled considering how finicky the magic and tech were. Definitely a reason they were among the big seven.


    Not sure why Cold Moon Solutions even decided to have Mystech''s security. It was stupid expensive, and they definitely couldn¡¯t afford it based on what I''d seen. They weren¡¯t the only oddity either. As I said, there were armed security guards. And not just security guards, but Adepts by the looks of things. They¡¯re the only ones that carry wands about like that- well, excluding the apparently abundant cosplay population.


    I watched the building for several hours, each one opening even more questions than the last. For instance, where the hell was their money flow coming from? Were they- were they working with Savants like that insurance company did? Surely not¡­  had to have some level of self-respect at least.


    And what¡¯s up with all the magic stuff? The last time I checked, which was literally earlier today, Cold Moon Solutions was a tech company first, and a networking company second. Magic wasn''t anywhere in their purview.


    It wasn¡¯t just the Adepts and Mystech stuff either. I¡¯d looked through the list of gigs they hired Athena for. About half of them were items from Cwalu, while the other half were varied magical relics. If even one of the things Cold Moon Solutions acquired was on the level of the monstrous box from the Leper-Khans, things weren¡¯t looking so good.


    They were also guarding against a magic attack from the looks of things. Just what did the corporation get into that required this level of security? Something reeked about the whole situation, and it wasn''t the rats.


    Hmm¡­ I need to go in- er, I don¡¯t to, but I want to. I want to see the state and confirm it. Thankfully, getting in wouldn¡¯t be that hard. I could bypass the majority of their security by simply acting as if I were a customer. Their core service, at least their public one, was still network set up.


    I wouldn¡¯t go in as is though. The sun had set about an hour ago, and the corporation was about to shut down for the night. That, and no way I was going in there without a solid disguise. Maybe I should call up Feras?


    Or maybe not. That guy wasn¡¯t exactly reliable. The last couple times I partnered up with him haven¡¯t exactly gone smoothly¡­ Speaking of team-ups, now that Mira is on the other side of the country my list of contacts was way too short. I¡¯ve got Torren and Shinobu¡­ and that¡¯s it. Other than the three fixers and Iris¡¯s team I guess, but fat chance they¡¯ll do field work with me if I asked politely.


    Maybe after this is over I could go to a merc dive and try to get a job with a group? Might be a good chance to build up Mr. White¡¯s reputation. Nothing like rep to get me a better-paying job.


    Or maybe not. Merc dives were¡­ Well, I¡¯d never actually been to one. I guess I should withhold judgment. Besides, Feras talked about them briefly in the past. As long as I had the skills to back up what I was claiming, it wouldn¡¯t be an issue. And I definitely had skills in Tech and Stealth to get some decent gigs.


    I finished up my meal and then headed out of the restaurant. I took a detour into an alley, having to skip by one of them that was full of a shady-looking group, and got up onto the roof of the building via fire escape.


    I jumped the gap between a couple buildings to get into the perfect position across the street from Cold Moon Solutions to continue my stakeout. If I decided to sabotage the place after all, then I might as well learn the security patterns. That, and I had a better view through a bunch of the windows from here.


    I made myself in the shadow of an air conditioning unit and settled in for the night. Corvid even came by for a little bit, dropping off another one of those black crystals.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    The next morning I didn¡¯t immediately run over to Cold Moon Solutions. Instead, I stuffed my armor into my bag and looked through my frankly chaotic apartment. The printer was just about finished, so I¡¯d have all the stuff I needed to get set up in the Underground, which was yet another thing I¡¯d have to dedicate time to. My loot was scattered about the place. I was quite thankful the landlord took a hands-off approach with the place, otherwise¡­


    I went around and picked up the masks and the ugly statue from my latest heist, stuffing them into one of the duffle bags along with the fox statue I klept from the Neo-Jokers. I had gloves on, so I didn¡¯t feel the tingle that I felt the last time I touched it.


    I also loaded up on my pistols and a couple knives. Thanks to my armor, there were dozens of spots where I could easily hide the weapons. Nothing said intimidation like an overabundance of weaponry.


    With all of that prepped, I headed out onto the streets. I chose a random location not too far off from Sakura Street to armor up. I adjusted the armor, finally activating the adjustable chroma on it. I set the color to red with a faint pulsation and then glanced at the reflection as I headed back for my bike. The red along the contours made my shape a bit easier to look at and not as headache-inducing. The pulsation made it a bit eerie though.


    I was just about to continue on when I remembered the voice modulator. I slapped the device on just underneath the bodysuit part of my armor. As an added bonus, it looked a bit like an Adam''s apple, adding to my disguise.


    With that, I was set to meet Carone. I parked fairly far away and walked to his antiquity store. The guards stopped me just before I could enter. The goon on the left stepped forward. ¡°No weapons.¡±


    I passed one of the pistols over to the guard,\ and proceeded only to be stopped by the goon on the right. ¡°Pat down.¡±


    I dodged out of his reach and discreetly tapped on my wrist, making the pulsation effect quicker. ¡°I heard chrome hands were in style,¡± I commented in as cold of a voice as I could and popped my knuckles in a way I hoped was intimidating.


    ¡°Huh?¡± The two backed off slightly, looking confused. Not to self, Shiro; some people need dumbed-down threats.


    ¡°Gonks.¡± A long, drawn-out sigh came from inside and Carone¡¯s voice called out. ¡°Let them in.¡±


    The two guards stepped off, allowing me entry into the store. I walked in, calmly striding to Carone¡¯s desk as I tossed the duffle bag onto it. The fire kinetic himself stood just off to the side, twirling a fire around his hand. He was better at it than the last time I saw him. This time, the fire looked like a dragon with detailed scales on about half of it.


    ¡±Ah, you must be Mr. White. What a¡­ fitting name.¡± Carone lazily sent the fire off to light a candle off to the side.


    ¡±I didn''t come to chat.¡± I coolly said to him, completely unfazed. Or at least that¡¯s how I acted.


    ¡°Fine, fine¡­¡± Carone shrugged and unzipped the bag, withdrawing the items within. He glanced over the three from Franz¡¯s vault, though he paused for a few seconds too long on the fox statue. ¡°What an¡­  piece.¡±


    ¡±That¡¯s the thing I need to identify.¡± I waved a hand. ¡°The other three are to sell.¡±


    Carone set down the fox statue and looked over the other three with a bit more thoroughness. He started with the masks. ¡°They certainly look authentic. Probably fetch three to four grand each.¡±


    That was¡­ better than I thought? That was almost as much as I was going to make from my gig with Athena. ¡°What about the statue?¡±


    ¡°It¡­¡± Carone frowned and tapped on it a couple of times with his finger. He turned it over several times. He summoned a flame from one of the candles and used it to melt the bottom side, revealing a wood core. ¡°It¡¯s a forgery. Only worth the materials used to make it, unless you want to try and offload it to some idiot. I only deal in real merchandise though.¡±


    Damn¡­ I need to train my eyes better. I wonder if the other two items I got were also forgeries. Surely not though, right? Cristoph couldn¡¯t have been that careless with his money, right? ¡°The fox statue?¡±


    Carone¡¯s eyes flashed with undisguised greed as he looked at it, though the emotion faded as he ran a hand down the metal fur. ¡°Worth a pretty penny¡­ to the right person.¡±


    ¡±Not for sale.¡± I already had a spot picked out in my stash for it.


    ¡±Fine, fine¡­ as for its effects, I recognize them.¡± Carone flipped the statue over and rubbed at the base of it. His rubbing revealed a small Crow symbol engraved into the metal. ¡°Crow¡¯s crooks commonly use this type of enchantment to hide items from other eidolons. Particularly when they¡­  it from said other eidolons.¡±


    Oh? Does that mean Fox can¡¯t see the statue? And that it was stolen from her? Then¡­ if I were to give it to her shrine, would that raise my favorability with her? Ah, that must be the right person Carone talked about. Favor seemed to be pretty important to Magus, so there was no doubt one would pay a high price for more of it.


    Carone put the statue back down and picked up the masks. ¡°Come back in a couple days.¡± Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°Chek. Oh, and I want my payment on a chip.¡± The wireless transmission-type transactions that I usually use are supposed to be a hundred percent foolproof and private, but I didn¡¯t want to leave any chances. A chip could act as a middleman and temporarily hold the funds that I could then transfer into my account.


    ¡±That¡¯s fine.¡± Carone went back to playing with fire. He trailed it into a moon, imitating my calling card. ¡°You really should cover your tracks better.¡±


    ¡°Ah, then how will I gain rep for a better job?¡± I put the fox statue back into my duffle bag and turned to leave.

 Chapter 144

    Chapter 144¡±Are you sure?¡± I asked. This was¡­ well, it wasn¡¯t exactly a failing point but I had hoped he would help out.


    I put down my tools and pushed a button. A servo whirled into action, pushing the mechanism out and into motion. Just when I thought I had it working, the gears stuck on the track. Needs more grease. Maybe move some of the gears too. It might pull some of the pressure off.


    ¡±Yeah. Thank you, Zuku, but I¡¯m getting out. I¡¯m not- I¡¯m not built for this field of work.¡± Feras said.


    Honestly? It was probably for the best considering his track record. ¡°No problem. You really getting out?¡±


    ¡±Yeah¡­ I¡¯ve got some contacts. I¡¯m thinking about getting in on the other side of the business.¡± Feras sighed. "Who knows? Maybe in a few years, I might even make it as a fixer or fence."


    I glanced up from the door mechanism I was working on. It was heavily inspired by not only the speakeasy''s well-crafted automatic door but also the hidden door that Hope and I came through into the Underground. With it all set up, I¡¯d have a hidden door that blended in with the rubble perfectly. As I''ve stood by before, the best kind of security is the kind that no one notices.


    I checked the time and shook my head. Crazy how easily it passes by. ¡°I¡¯ve gotta go. Duty calls.¡±


    ¡°Chek. Well¡­ I¡¯ll see you around.¡± He hung up, leaving me to look down on my mechanism in thought. I wrote a few notes down before leaving all my parts to the side and moving on to my other toys.


    It was my Listener''s turn. I really wanted to fix and upgrade the device. I¡¯d need it soon, after all. I¡¯d been inspired when reading all those books to level Tech about how I could improve it. Other than swapping out the battery system to give it far more power, I also swapped out the antenna to have a superior boost to the signal. It was a bit longer than I would''ve liked, but shortening it even more would make the change redundant.


    That, combined with a Signal Booster I built up using some scavenged parts, would allow me to be much further away from the Listener and still able to pick it up. I noticed at the school it was quite a hassle having to be so close to pick up its signal, especially since the Listener didn¡¯t have a recording function. For now at least. Maybe when I got tools to get more into micro-electronics I''d look at adding one in.


    The sound wafer was also fixed up for better sound quality. I reworked a lot of my old designs with new, better techniques to better capitalize on capturing sound. Some other ideas were to use lithography and etching to better design what I wanted at a microscopic scale, but unfortunately, I didn¡¯t have the tools for that kind of thing.


    By the end of my tinkering, I turned my Listener into three-quarters of its size with a far better battery. It would also have far better sound quality, better range, and a better signal with the caveat of being inside of the booster¡¯s range.


    Of course, there were still a lot of things I wanted to change, but I didn¡¯t have the time nor resources. Goals for the future though were to make it BugHound proof, which might be impossible, shrink it down further, upgrade the signal again, and integrate some more stealth tech into it to make it even less noticeable.


    I finished up on my work table and moved to the bathroom. It took a while and far too many tutorials, but eventually, with far too much makeup and some gel-like silicone, I made a semi-decent look for myself. I looked less like Shiro, and a bit more like Mira. It was definitely a bit overkill, but I didn¡¯t want any chance of getting recognized. It was why I wanted to bring in Feras in the first place. Although he was quite unreliable, he had the capability to be a good grifter.


    Hmm¡­ I wonder what Skill this kind of disguise falls under. Would it be concealment? Or something else? Concealment makes the most sense, but also I¡¯ve always looked at it as hiding stuff on my body.


    Anyway, I was off to the races. I slipped into my uniform this time around: the nicest pants I could find in my closet and one of the school¡¯s blouses. I also pinned the Lunar Courier Service badge to my chest. Lunar Courier Services, after all, were my in with the Cold Moon Solutions.


    I tied my hair into a loose ponytail and slipped on my old slasher¡¯s hat as I headed out the door. This time around, I wasn¡¯t packing anything too serious. Just a knife and gun, which were fairly typical, hidden under my coat.


    I rode over on my bike, parking far enough away to make tracking me through cameras a major pain in the ass. Not that I was expecting to get tracked or anything. It¡¯d been eight years; I highly doubt anyone would put two and two together.


    I headed for the door, pausing momentarily as I flicked on Aetherial Perception. A wall of distorted Aether surrounded the place, ancient-looking symbols marked all over the wall in a constantly distorting pattern. A ward, maybe? Magic security wasn¡¯t my forte, but I¡¯d done enough research to know some basics.


    Not that it mattered. I couldn¡¯t tell what kind of effect it had. For all I knew, it could be some kind of mystical wall that blocked all but those who had the passkey through. Or it could just be a ward to scan for weapons? There''s no telling. Well, there is a telling. The runes probably told what kind of effect they had, but there was no telling for me.


    Regardless, the ward looked half-active at best. I got a sense of ¡®powered off¡¯ as I watched the patterns going across the ethereal wall. Maybe they only activated it fully at night? That threw a wrench in some of my plans.


    I stepped forward as if I hadn¡¯t seen it, playing off my pause as a deep yawn in case I was already under watch. Never could be too sure, especially where magic was involved.


    I stepped into the door, immediately catching the attention of the two Adept guards. The woman on the right smiled at me. ¡°Welcome to Cold Moon Solutions. If I could ask you to hand over any weapons you may have on yourself? They¡¯ll be returned upon your exit.¡±


    ¡±''Course.¡± A bit weird they were asking me to disarm. Most corporations, especially declining ones like CMS, typically wouldn¡¯t bother. It was a pain in the rear. Regardless, I passed over the pistol and the knife. Probably could¡¯ve snuck them by, but all the unknown magic put me on edge.


    The woman¡¯s corporate smile stayed on her face as she slid them down a chute off to the side of the room. ¡°Locker 43, miss.¡±


    The other Adept stepped over to me and pulled out a wand from a holster with several of them at his hip. I couldn¡¯t help but tense up as he waved it toward me. He tried to do a corporate smile like the woman, but his smile caught weirdly on his teeth as if he was barely keeping back saliva. I don¡¯t want to judge him by his looks, but, well, the cannibal vibes were strong.


    ¡°Nothing to worry about, dear. Just a standard scan.¡± The man waved his wand as his eyes lit up with a faint blue glow. He looked me over, pausing momentarily on my hand in confusion. The hand where Corvid¡¯s tattoo sat. I flicked on Hidden Hands momentarily as a faint freezing sensation came from the hidden tattoo. The man¡¯s eyes glazed over slightly as his eyebrows eased up. ¡°Clear.¡±


    I moved past the two, noting the interaction down. Definitely a scan for magic- or at least some kind of effect similar to Aetherial Perception. I flicked my own Perk on and looked over my hand. Even with Hidden Hands active, I could still make out the gentle waves of the Aether coming from the back of my hand. Was his magic just weaker than my Perk, or could I sense it easier since the tattoo was on me?


    I pushed it to the back of my head, instinctively putting on an honest smile as I approached the front counter. ¡°Hello.¡±


    ¡±Hi!¡± A girl worked the counter, her head bouncing to the music with only one earbud in. She put on a cheerful smile as she rolled over to me in a chair. ¡°Welcome in. How can we help you?¡±


    ¡±I¡¯m here as a representative for Lunar Courier Services. My company would like to set up some Net Architecture to secure a Domain.¡± I put on a suave confidence that I didn¡¯t necessarily feel as I looked over the counter. I counted no less than three panic buttons scattered around. Two of them had marks of the Blue Crusade, which wasn¡¯t too outlandish. The third was just a small, inconspicuous button.


    ¡°No worries! Let me check if anyone is free¡­ just a moment.¡± The girl wheeled over to a terminal and tapped away on it. A few moments later she slid back over to me. ¡°Alright, Daniel Danvers, one of our sales representatives, can meet with you! He¡¯ll come down and get you in a couple of minutes.¡± S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡±Thank you!¡± I nodded my head and moved over to a waiting area of a lobby. As I sat down, I pulled out my phone and acted as if I was playing a game. In reality, I took the opportunity to photograph the entire lobby area. There were devices scattered around that I¡¯d never seen before that I''d need to look up. Even the windows had faintly glowing runes inscribed into them.


    While the magic security was strong, the tech side of things was rather weak by comparison. The few devices I recognized outside of those from Mystech were a couple decades old. The most advanced feature was several turret mounts hidden in the floor. That all being said, I had no doubt a Netrunner was on staff running security. The cameras looked too active, and with how much magical security was pumped into this place it wouldn''t surprise me.


    Eventually, a rather tall man in an expensive-looking suit exited out of an elevator. He had black hair slicked back with grease. He stopped by the main counter momentarily before heading over to me. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Daniel Danvers. If you¡¯ll follow me up to my office, miss¡­?¡±


    ¡±Kyzen.¡± I momentarily blanked on the name as I put my phone up.


    ¡°Miss Kyzen.¡± The man nodded and offered a handshake. I took it as we headed off for the elevator. As soon as we stepped in, the man started talking business. ¡°I couldn¡¯t find any records of Lunar Courier Service in my brief check. Will this be your company''s first time registering a Domain?¡±


    I checked out the elevator. From what I gathered from the building¡¯s blueprints, there was supposed to be a basement, and yet the elevator¡¯s panel didn¡¯t have a button for it. It did, however, have an extra unmarked key slot. Suspicious.


    ¡±Ah, yes. We¡¯ve been word of mouth for a long time in Triton. The boss wants to set up a location in Aythryn City though. I hope that isn¡¯t a problem?¡± A cross-Node search was quite a bit more time-consuming and expensive than just a quick run-through of Aythryn City¡¯s Node.


    The man shook his head, pausing momentarily as the elevator dinged. ¡°Not at all, Miss Kyzen.¡±


    We returned to somewhat silence as I followed him into a long hallway. A painting hung at the end of the hallway, depicting a charismatic old man. I couldn¡¯t help but feel my mind clog up slightly. His hair was slicked back as a roguish charm twinkled in his eyes.


    Although I was just meeting the eyes of a painting, I couldn¡¯t help as a door seemed to open in the back of my mind, exposing memories I thought I¡¯d long since buried. Grandfather¡­ the scar over my eye throbbed severely, bringing me back to focus. I sped up slightly as I looked away, catching back up with Mr. Danvers.


    We entered an office area off to the side of the hall. Mr. Danvers held his office door for me and then sat down at a desk. ¡°Please have a seat.¡±


    I sat down across from him. I needed to be alone to do any more intrusive looks¡­ hmm¡­ if I do anything too obvious, it¡¯ll definitely raise some suspicions. Cold Moon Solutions seemed to have become quite paranoid. It was also why I was hesitant to bug Daniel¡¯s office. Not only would I probably not get anything useful out of it, it would point in my direction if it was found.


    ¡±So, what kind of Domain are you hoping to set up? We offer full architecture and daemon integration¡­¡±


    We chatted for a while as I awaited my opportunity. I had to make up quite a few things, so it wasn¡¯t exactly a stress-free environment as I tried to keep track of what I said. Most of it was about the specifics of the Domain that Lunar Courier Services wanted to set up.


    ¡°Okay! If you¡¯ll allow me a couple of minutes to do some calculations, I¡¯ll get you an estimate.¡± The man threw on his corpo smile as he started tapping away at his terminal.


    I stood from my chair. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind if I run to the lady¡¯s room?¡±


    ¡°Of course not¡­ do you need me to show-¡°


    ¡±I saw it on the way in.¡± That, and it¡¯d be quite a bit harder to get what I needed to get done with him around. And it''s not like I wasn¡¯t aware of where everything in the building was thanks to the blueprints. ¡°Thank you though.¡±


    I left his office, already planning the most roundabout route to the bathroom as I prepared to discreetly bug everywhere I could.

 Chapter 145

    Chapter 145Putting Listeners out wasn¡¯t as easy as it might seem. I had to be strategic with where I placed them to avoid BugHounds. It might¡¯ve been a bit of excessive paranoia, but Cold Moon Solutions did  down on security, so I didn¡¯t want to get caught if they did a sweep


    All that being said, I needed a good spot that wouldn¡¯t be scanned too deeply. My first pick? In the ceiling. As for how I would get the bugs in the right places? I had a couple different methods to try. If none of them worked, I¡¯d have to get around the old-fashioned way.


    First things first I headed to the bathroom. Really, the bathroom was the perfect place to get to work. No cameras, and I knew from the blueprints the bathrooms in this place were the kind with a lockable door.


    Once inside, I tapped on the back of my hand lightly. ¡°Corvid?¡±


    A second later, the crow popped out of the Aether. Different from every other time I¡¯d seen him go in or out, which was quite flashy, there was barely even a disturbance in the Aether. I wouldn¡¯t have noticed it if I hadn¡¯t been watching for it specifically.


    Corvid cocked his head at me as he glided over to the sink and perched on it. ¡°Caw?¡±


    I passed over one of the bugs to him, then, using the toilet as a stepping stool, pushed up one of the roof tiles. ¡°You think you could fit up here?¡±


    ¡±Caw.¡± Corvid flew over to me, perching on my shoulder momentarily as he tapped my cheek with his beak. He then flapped his wings, going up into the ceiling.


    ¡°Nova.¡± Yep, this was the first of my plans. Use the bird. Hmm¡­ maybe I should rethink some of my projects. Why make a drone when I could just strap a camera to Corvid?


    The crow shivered and backed up from the edge of the ceiling. ¡°Caw-!¡±


    I threw those thoughts to the back of my mind. I could think about all of that later. ¡°Okay um¡­¡± I didn¡¯t think this all the way through. Hmm¡­ how to direct Corvid to bug the right place?


    I rooted around my pockets, searching for the lone Scouter I brought along. I took a bit, but I completely removed the outer protective casing of the Scouter and passed it up to the bird. ¡°Uh- okay- bring this with you, and follow the direction of the stabilizer?¡±


    ¡±Caw?¡±


    I pulled out my phone and connected up to the Scouter. I pulled it up, getting a face full of myself as Corvid picked the device up in his claw and hopped around. I pointed in the direction of the elevator. ¡°Okay, uh, go that direction.¡±


    Thankfully, Corvid was one smart avian. I guess it makes sense. Crows and ravens are supposed to be one of the smartest bird species. And that wasn¡¯t even considering sprites were definitely smarter than their mortal counterparts.


    It was a bit of a pain, but I managed to direct Corvid to roughly the right area. Unfortunately, access out into the elevator shoot proper was blocked by a grate. We got around him flying back and grabbing a screwdriver. Yeah, Corvid was quite intelligent. From there, it was fairly simple to hide the bug on the roof of the elevator in a grate. Not the best spot ever, but it would be good enough to pick up any conversations from the elevator.


    I also had him fly around and bug a few more POIs. Unfortunately, we could only bug one floor. I barely stopped him in time from passing an array of runes dividing up each floor. Not quite sure what it did, but there was a high chance it was some kind of alarm or sensory magic.


    The top and bottom floors were off, though we did manage to get the break room. I would¡¯ve liked to get some more areas on the second floor, but quite a few of the shafts were protected by even more runic emplacements. Especially the ones around the offices. We got what we could before I recalled Corvid.


    He hopped back down out of the roof, dropping the Scouter into my hand as he glided down to my shoulder. ¡°Caw, caw?¡±


    ¡±Chek, you did a great job!¡± I rubbed his head slightly then proceeded to clean everything up. ¡°I¡¯ll get you a treat soon!¡±


    ¡±Caw! Caw caw caw!¡± Corvid hopped around happily.


    No idea what he was actually trying to say. I didn¡¯t speak Avian. I could somewhat read his Cues though. They weren¡¯t necessarily hard, and there was a man-crow thingy at one point while I was playing poker.


    Corvid flew back into the Aether, again with a far more subdued approach than how he did every other time. His being so considerate of the situation sure was nice. I¡¯d hate to think how everything would¡¯ve gone down if summoning him tripped some kind of sensor¡­ maybe I should look into getting better-concealed gear? I had plans a while ago, but they kinda faded to the back of my mind at some point.


    Anyway, I returned back to Mr. Danvers¡¯ office. ¡°I¡¯m back.¡±


    ¡±Great! I¡¯m just about finished¡­ Just give me a few more minutes and I¡¯ll have all the paperwork ready.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in no rush.¡± I smiled politely at the guy, returning to my Kyzen the courier facade.


    Nearly twenty minutes later, I walked out of Cold Moon Solutions with nobody the wiser. I returned to my bike to pick up some stuff, then got up onto the roof across the way from CMS once more. It was the perfect spot for my Signal Booster. Clear airways, secluded, and nobody would look up here. And it was fairly easy to reach.


    Now, the range on the Signal Booster wasn¡¯t super impressive by any means. It only added about four or five city blocks to my field of operations. Within that area though, I found the perfect spot to set up a temporary base. It was up on the roof of an apartment building a couple blocks away.


    An old shed of some kind sat on the roof. Looked like there was a garden or something at one point, but based on the dust collecting everywhere, it¡¯d been at least a couple years since anyone came up. Anyway, the shed was the perfect spot to leave my deck recording. It took a bit to get set up, but eventually, I got it all plugged in and ready to go.


    As the feed for my Listeners went live, I walked out of the shed and moved over to the side of the roof. What to do now? I could return to the restaurant and keep an eye out on the building itself, but, I don¡¯t know, it felt like a bit of a waste? I still had a rather massive list of things I needed to do anyway. And right now I was just waiting.


    I returned to my apartment and tinkered with the security mechanisms for my stash. I was about a quarter of the way done with everything I wanted to build, though the printer finished the parts a while back. I went ahead and ran it again, redesigning some areas to better fit what I wanted but otherwise worked on various devices.


    After several hours building and passively researching the various runes and wards I¡¯d seen in Cold Moon Solutions, I decided to change it up. I got dressed, grabbed a small golden card from my gathered loot, and headed down to my bike.


    On my way to my destination, I went ahead and dropped by a duffel full of completed parts in the speakeasy. I¡¯d have to drip-feed everything in to avoid suspicion. I also went to a shop and bought some raw synthetic beef for Corvid. He seemed to like it well enough.


    After that, I headed to Battle Born Arena, the holographic fighting arena Mira took me to a while back. I¡¯d been looking through my Skills recently, and I came to the unfortunate realization that I was actually pretty weak outside of my particular set of Skills.


    I had some loose plans to head for a merc dive to get a gig at one and start getting a rep. I was way too underpowered as is when it comes to combat though. I¡¯d been lucky in almost every encounter within recent memory.


    More precisely, I¡¯d abused the hell out of Insight. I had a feeling that just Insight wouldn¡¯t matter if I went against someone with actual combat training though, like Hope or any other of the squires. And, since I was finally kickstarting my thieving adventures, there was a real chance I¡¯d have to go up against some of them at some point. I¡¯d rather not get caught out.


    Hence Battle Born Arena. I figured it wouldn¡¯t hurt to get some more experience. Battle Born Arena had been on my mind since Mira first brought me here and I leveled Melee Weapons. Now that I was in fairly good shape, I was ready to actually fight once more. That, and it would be nice to relax for once and just play a game.


    As soon as I stepped into the building, I felt the Gold card Mira bought for me vibrate in my pocket. In an instant, various holoprojectors shot down onto me. On a reflective surface across the hall, I watched my appearance swap to what I set it last time. A simple mask covered my face as my hair turned silver. My tag, Moon, projected just over my head.


    It took a bit, but I managed to work my way around until I found the right area for 1v1s. I headed for the medieval section once more. This time around, I picked out a dagger and a small hand crossbow. The dagger was a basic thing made of rubber, though the holoprojectors scattered around quickly turned it into a rusted and chipped dagger.


    The crossbow on the other hand, literally, was some kind of plastic I didn¡¯t recognize off the bat. It came with a small quiver full of about fifteen bolts that I promptly strapped to my thigh. The bolts were small things made of the same kind of durable plastic though tipped with rubber. The holograms took over, making the bolts and crossbow look as though they were frayed hunks of wood that had seen some use.


    I typically had a dagger and pistol concealed somewhere on myself at all times, so the choice was pretty easy. Better to practice with what I had¡ªor at least with something that closely matched what I typically wielded¡ªthan some crazy weapon I¡¯d never even touch like a spear.


    Course, I could¡¯ve just gone straight into the ¡®modern¡¯ section and picked up a knife and pistol, but I wanted to work on my biggest weakness¡ªclose-quarters combat.


    After getting geared up, I started looking for a match of ¡®To the Death!¡¯. Unlike the contact mode I played last time, this one had ¡®health¡¯ bars that the arena¡¯s system would keep track of. It seemed the closest I could get to a real fight.


    Of course, before I could even do anything, I had to sign about a dozen liability waivers. Most of them were in the case of accidental injury during a match, though there were quite a few terms I had to sign off on regarding machinery.


    As soon as I hit ¡®Find Match¡¯ on the console by the door, the sheer white room transitioned into a grizzled coliseum with roaring crowds up in the stands. I could even smell a hint of blood being released from somewhere. Gotta hand it to the arena, they  knew how to set up an immersive fight.


    From the way Mira explained the matchmaking, someone could physically come into the room to fight, but usually, that was reserved for friends in a more ¡®custom match¡¯ kind of game like what I first experienced. Outside of that, matchmaking resembled a video game, with holo-arenas all over the world pooling into one massive server. Quite impressive tech all things considered.


    With such a vast array of people fighting, it was only a matter of seconds until a match was made. On the far side of an arena, a holographic gate raised up, revealing darkness behind it. A robot walked out mechanically, a rubber longsword clutched in its grip.


    As the bot walked towards its starting location, the holoprojectors kicked on, turning the robot into a rather frail-looking man in rusty armor. He looked like he was from across the ocean. Some kind of corpo drone from the look of his slack face.


    A box, eerily similar to the interface, popped up in my vision.


    [Match: 1v1 best of 5. Unranked.


    Contender: xXx_whino_xXx Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Skill Estimate: Moon < xXx_whino_xXx]


    ¡°Round one, fight!¡± An announcer called. The voice was set up to sound as if it came from the emperor¡¯s box.


    Whino gave a polite bow to me then hefted his sword as a nervous tension filled the air. Was bowing part of the etiquette? I returned the bow, though I kept my eyes on the guy the entire time.


    I didn¡¯t want to close in too close, especially considering I had the range advantage, so I backed off and fired a shot with the crossbow. Oddly, the trigger had about a second delay before it fired.


    Thanks to the delay, the guy easily dodged the first shot. By the time I pulled another bolt from my holster and reprimed the crossbow, the man rushed me with a ferocious swing.

 Chapter 146

    Chapter 146Although the strike was ferocious, it lacked any kind of finesse. The guy swung it with full might, and yet timidly backed away from the swing as if he was afraid of hitting himself.


    I easily dodged out of the way, taking the opportunity to close the gap and slide up towards him. The sword passed over my head, slamming into the ground in a spray of holographic sand. I shunted out a leg, kicking the sword as hard as I could. The sword flew from his grip, leaving him defenseless and my leg in a surprising amount of pain.


    The man reacted rather quickly, punching out at me. Unfortunately for him, it seemed as though no one had ever taught him to punch correctly. He had his whole fist wrapped tightly around his thumb. I met his punch with my elbow and heard a crack followed by a yelp. Since I only hit a bot synced with his movements, I didn''t actually break his thumb, but I knew from experience it still sent jolts of electricity that imitated the pain. He winced back, trying to put some distance, but it was already too late.


    I lanced forward with my dagger which was already close to his neck from my elbow strike. The dagger easily hit his neck, slicing through the skin as holographic blood sprayed everywhere. The arena flashed red as the bot slumped to the ground.


    ¡°Winner, Moon!¡± The announcer cried. The fake crowds in the stands went ballistic with cheers for a few moments before a spot in the arena lit up green.


    I headed for it, and the man, after picking up his sword, walked to his own spot. He eyed me as the announcer came back. ¡°Round two, fight!¡±


    This time, Whino played far more cautiously. I once more fired the crossbow only to find out that the second delay was very much an intentional design. Probably some kind of balancing. He easily dodged the bolt again, though I made a note to start pulling before I actually lined up the shot next time.


    He moved forward as I reloaded, though didn¡¯t make a slash. Instead, he rushed me with a shoulder check. By the time I registered Insight¡¯s warning, I was too focused on reloading to fully get out of the way. The blow hit me hard in the chest, knocking the crossbow out of my hands as I tumbled back. A shock of electricity jolted up my side, settling right where one of my ribs was as if it were broken.


    The guy¡¯s footing was extremely unstable, causing him to fall alongside me as we hit the ground. I rammed my dagger into his side roughly, watching a spray of holographic blood erupt like a volcano. Unfortunately, that was as far as I got.


    He used his sword as a cane, pushing it down to lever himself up. Unfortunately for me, I happened to be exactly where he pushed his sword down. The sword pressed on my chest right around my lungs as electricity arced all through my body, knocking the breath out of me.


    The arena flashed red. ¡°Winner, xXx_whino_xXx!¡±


    We reset once more, both heading back to our starting spots. I picked up and pulled back the string of the hand crossbow, sliding the bolt back into place.


    ¡°Round three!¡±


    I didn¡¯t hesitate this time around. The past few times I was a bit timid with firing a shot off. This time, I pulled the trigger before I even raised my arm and shot before the announcer''s echo finished. The sudden shot took the guy by surprise, hitting him in the shoulder. The rubber bolt bounced off and sunk into the floor. A holographic one popped up where I hit him as if it were stuck in his shoulder. I reloaded fully as he flinched back, a shudder going through his arm as electricity tased him.


    While he was down, I shot one more time, hitting him right in the eye. He hit the ground hard as his body convulsed. ¡°Winner, Moon!¡±


    It took a while for the guy to get back up. His hologram shot me a glare as the guy supported himself with his sword. He growled out at me as he backed up to his position. ¡°Just you wait.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m waiting.¡± I brushed off my shoulder.


    ¡±Round four!¡±


    The man moved even before the announcer finished speaking. He lunged out with his sword in a massive horizontal sweep that cleaved through my stomach. Or, at least the cold from Insight did. Before he even fully got into his swing, I moved into position with my dagger. I caught his sword on my dagger¡¯s guard, moving back with it as I tried to bleed off the momentum of the strike to mixed success. The swing was heavy, nearly making me stumble backward.


    I managed to catch it and direct it over with one hand. With my crossbow, I smacked forward toward the guy¡¯s face. I clocked his jaw with the bow limb, jolting his head as he staggered backward. I followed through with a knee to the groin. He dropped like a log as I brought the crossbow back point blank and pulled the trigger. He had just enough time to open his eyes before the arena flashed red.


    ¡±Winner! Moon!¡± The hologram of the guy faded as the robot he was synced with returned to the gate leading into the coliseum. A moment later, the announcer roared from the emperor¡¯s box. ¡°Would you like to face another contender?!¡± The crowd nearly shattered my eardrums with their screams. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡±Uh- sure. Can I get more bolts?¡± I looked around, but the rubber ones I¡¯d shot off were nowhere in sight. I don¡¯t know if something retrieved them while I was distracted, or if they were just lost in the sand hologram covering the floor.


    Next to my starting zone, a pillar rose out of the ground. Exactly five bolts sat on it. I slid four into the quiver at my hip and loaded the last one. I did some light stretches as I waited.


    Honestly¡­ it was kinda fun. Maybe since I won? To be honest, fighting was pretty easy. At least, when there weren''t any guns. I could probably take ten of that guy on. Granted, not all at once, but it wouldn¡¯t be too hard. The arena was good at building my confidence if nothing else.


    The gate on the other side of the arena opened. This time around, the bot didn¡¯t mechanically move to its location. Instead, as the holoprojectors kicked on, holographic warriors popped up all around, sending heavy blows to the bot.


    The bot¡¯s hologram kicked on, overlaying it with a woman in badass black armor. Gold dragons twined around the armor, the scales seeming to glimmer with power. The woman held two weird weapons in her hands. They were swords, but like, hooked? I dunno. First time I¡¯d ever seen such a sword.


    They were designed like golden dragons, the tails being the end of the hooks. The pommels, a rectangular piece that looked a bit like brass knuckles, acted as the heads of the dragons. A dagger-like spike jutted out of the bottom side of the sword, looking like a dragon¡¯s breath.


    The holographic warriors charged the bot, and the bot slaughtered its way through without even an issue as it arrived at the starting point. Then, all the fanfare faded as the movements turned more natural and the woman seemed to take control. Very flashy¡­ and quite intimidating. This woman must¡¯ve spent a shit ton of money on the cosmetic store.


    [Match: 1v1 best of 5. Unrated.


    Contender: R¨ª Dao


    Skill Estimate: Moon <<<<< R¨ª Dao]


    Oh¡­ well that seems fair- not. Five arrows? I know I talked a big game, but like, this- this was a bit much, no? Whatever happened to fair matchmaking? Not only was I out-skilled; I was massively out-skilled. I barely won my first match-


    Okay, okay, okay¡­ calm down, Shiro. It wasn¡¯t like this was real anyway. This was just- just a great learning opportunity! Right, a learning opportunity¡­


    ¡±Round one, fight!¡±


    ¡°J¨©a y¨®u.¡± The woman bowed deeply as she took off her helmet, showing off her flexibility. No idea what she said though. Could be a death curse for all I knew, though the polite smile she gave looked like that might be wrong.


    I bowed back, imitating her posture as I took off my mask. I didn¡¯t actually grab anything since the mask was entirely holographic, though that didn¡¯t matter too much as the arena¡¯s system read my intent. My bow was a bit amateurish, but I managed to get the same feat of flexibility. Fox¡¯s Grace improving my body, although gradual, wasn¡¯t all for nothing. I gave off the most radiant smile I could. ¡°Good luck!¡±


    The eastern woman¡¯s cheeks turned rosy, though she quickly tossed on her helmet to hide the look. And then she took up a stance and I felt the entire atmosphere change. She had the aura of a master, sending a bucket of ice straight down my back.


    I fired a bolt, more of a testing shot than anything, and backpedaled to put up some space. I was already reloading before the bolt even hit the woman, watching it fly through the air directly into the gap of her-


    The sharp spike on the bottom part of her hook sword shot up, deflecting the rubber bolt to the side. Or, at least that¡¯s what actually happened. The hologram had a different look to it though. It covered the bolt, hiding its true shape as it bounced off. The hologram instead showed the blade cleanly slicing straight through the middle of the bolt, causing two clean halves to fly off and impale into the sand.


    ¡±Damn.¡± I fired another shot as the woman approached like a ghost using some fancy movement technique. She easily slid under it as the bolt passed over her head. I slashed with the dagger as she closed in, to which the woman used the pommel to catch my weapon and shift it to the side.


    A cold cut, slicing through my body diagonally from shoulder to waist, turned my entire body icy. I pushed on my dagger with both arms, pushing her back slightly as I ducked under her arm to dodge the strike.


    Before the cold could even fully vanish, a second bolt of ice wrapped around my ankle. I tried to kick off and back away, but it was far too late. I felt the hook of her sword wrap around my ankle and pull, sending electricity throughout my leg as if my tendon had just been severed.


    That wasn¡¯t the worst of it though. She pulled my leg out from under me and hit me with a shoulder bash, turning my world horizontal. Before I could even hit the ground, the dagger-like spike on the bottom side of her pommel slammed into my neck.


    ¡°Winner, R¨ª Dao!¡± The arena turned red as red fireworks shot off, filling the sky with sparks resembling dragons. I hit the ground hard, grasping at my neck as I struggled to breathe for several moments. The strike hadn¡¯t hit nearly as hard as it should¡¯ve, probably a safety mechanism built into the bot she controlled, but it hit hard enough to turn me into a coughing mess.


    Once I could breathe again without seeing black dots, I started to push myself up off the ground. A hand gently grabbed my shoulder, helping me up. The woman patted me on the back a couple of times before turning back and heading for the starting spot. ¡°Zh¨¥n b¨¤oqi¨¤n¡­¡±


    I rubbed at my throat and headed back over to my spot, reloading the crossbow as I went. Yeah, it would definitely bruise. As would several spots from my first duel now that I think about it. It¡¯s a good thing I had Quick Healing.


    ¡°Round two, fight!¡±


    I saved my shot this time around as she approached. Insight saved me from catching a spike to the chest as she rushed me, though it didn¡¯t save me from the second one hitting right over my heart as she caught my dodge. The tasing effect went off, though it wasn¡¯t as serious since she hit me in the ¡®armor¡¯.


    I pressed forward, deciding to go all in as I threw a slash right at her neck, simultaneously pulling up my crossbow to fire. She dodged back, avoiding my strike as her hook sword curled around my crossbow-wielding wrist like a vine. She sharply pulled, sending electrical jolts up my arm like she cut it off.


    Just as smoothly, her second sword swung around into a horizontal cleave that caught me on the hip. I felt Insight¡¯s chill a moment before impact, but the sharp pull on my arm already ruined my balance, so I couldn¡¯t react in time other than a feeble attempt to block it with my dagger. It hit hard, turning the entire arena red as fireworks went off once more.


    ¡±Winner, R¨ª Dao!¡±


    We both backed up, returning to our spots as if she hadn¡¯t just one-sidedly slaughtered me. I¡¯d hate to even think how poorly everything would¡¯ve turned out if I actually met this R¨ª Dao in the real world.


    ¡±Round three, fight!¡±


    I went straight offensive, rushing her this time. My movements weren¡¯t nearly as clean as her technique since, though it didn¡¯t matter too much as we closed the gap. I barely got out a strike before she got around my guard and lightly caught my neck with the hook of her blade. It didn¡¯t hurt me in the slightest, though the shock that came right after did some damage as the arena decided the strike was enough to count as a decapitation.


    ¡°Winner, R¨ª Dao!¡± Once more, the Arena turned red, though this time the hologram faded as the bot went back the way it came. ¡°Would you like to fight another contender?!¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± I rubbed lightly at my neck as I returned to my spot. I was here for the experience, and that had been quite the experience. At humbling, that is. I had a long, way to go. If nothing else, at least this was a good workout while I waited.

 Chapter 147

    Chapter 147I popped my back, rubbing at my sore body as I walked back into my apartment. I ended up fighting about a dozen more times before I left. After the first two fights, the arena¡¯s systems placed my skill level a lot better so that I was fighting people slightly better than me, but not too much better than me that it was a slaughter. I won four of my thirteen other fights.


    Before heading home, I also went out and copied all of the audio files from my deck over to my phone to listen in on. Hopefully, there was something good there. I took a quick shower, washing the sweat and grime from spending so long at the holographic battle arena down the drain. I still had mixed feelings about it, but- well, there was no denying its effects.


    ¡¸Melee Weapons - 3>5¡¹


    ¡¸Evasion - 3>4¡¹


    ¡¸Brawling - 1>3¡¹


    ¡¸Name: Shiro Tsukuyomi


    Traits: Fox¡¯s Grace, Quick Healing, Insight


    Free Perk Points: 1


    Tracking - 7


    Stalk


    Tech - 8


    Eidetic Schematic


    Corvid


    Stealth - 9


    Fox¡¯s Paw


    Cold-Blooded


    Sleight of Hand - 9


    Hidden Hands


    Ambidextrous


    Perception - 8


    Aetherial Perception


    Technical Expertise


    Net - 3


    Melee Weapons - 5


    1 Pek Point


    Local Novice (Little Yukoto)


    Intimidation - 3


    Firearm - 4


    Dexterity


    First Aid - 4


    Calming


    Evasion - 4


    1 Perk Point


    Driving - 7


    Land Vehicles


    Deception - 7


    Honest Face


    Criminology - 7


    Cues


    Concealment - 8


    Lethargic Presence


    Hidden Weapon


    Cleaning - 3


    Brawling - 3


    Accounting - 1


    Request Board¡¹


    Not too bad. I was technically in the middle of a job, so not quite sure why I leveled in this case. Not that I was complaining. Maybe since the holo arena was entirely unrelated to the actual job? Still so much about the whole interface thing I need to figure out.


    Two new Perk Points to spend on top of the Free Perk Point. As for the Free Perk Point, I still wasn¡¯t sure what I wanted to use it on. There were so many options I was still looking through in my free time. I was leaning towards another Stealth Perk, but throwing it into one of my combat-related Perks would round out my skill set. I was still looking through the list.


    There was a Perk in Concealment I had my eyes on though: Master of Disguise. From the way its description sounded, no one would be able to recognize my face unless I allowed them to. Seemed a little too good to be true, especially considering being recognized was one of my biggest issues in some cases. It required Deception and Concealment to level eight though.


    Still, I was carefully pruning through all the Perks to get the best Perk. I was only about halfway through. There might be a hidden Perk somewhere that was better, so I was holding off on spending the Free Perk Point till I looked through the entire archive.


    I could spend my Perks later though. I moved over to my cluttered table and once more started to work on the various mechanisms I wanted to implant into the Underground. While I worked, I played the audio recordings back at ten times the speed, idly listening in and slowing it down when I heard something of interest.


    Most of it was boring office politics or gossip. For instance, I now knew way too much about a manager named John and how big of a bastard he was. Or how Scar got his scars. Surprisingly tragic story. Or how Stacy got thirteen stab wounds the other week.


    That being said, I did get a few fragments of information. Most of it came from the bug in the elevator, and the best I could tell based on the elevator¡¯s beeps, the people were some kind of scientists working in a deep sublevel. Or maybe just assistants to scientists. Hard to tell.


    Since the conversation was only a fragment, I didn¡¯t learn much outside of a name: Methuze. The man and woman talking about it sounded incredibly fearful even mentioning the project''s name.


    I heard a few other conversations from down there, and as best I could tell, there was an entire secret lab underneath Cold Moon Solutions. They definitely couldn¡¯t afford one with CMS¡¯s measly income. It was really beginning to look like some kind of Savant Lab. The thought of CMS turning into a Savant Lab coverup was enough to send a spike of rage through the back of my head.


    I¡¯d have to get down there to be sure. And I¡¯d have to get down there to complete the gig. If I broke the projects and deleted their research files, it would surely be a hefty hit to the corporation.


    Oddly though, I never once heard the CEO¡¯s voice in the elevator. I¡¯d have to listen in for a few more days to be sure, but there was a high chance he had a private entrance into the lab. Especially knowing how egotistical he was. Or- or he just didn¡¯t go down there. He definitely knew about it, but there was a chance he wasn¡¯t too involved.


    I worked late into the night, eventually going to sleep once I finished all of the projects for the Underground.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    I stopped by the roof I had my deck set on before heading back to the speakeasy the next day. I wasn¡¯t expecting much from the audio logs since everyone but security should¡¯ve left by then, but who knows? Maybe the security slipped up when no one was there.


    I brought with me the rest of my components spread out among a bunch of different bags. Almost everything was ready that could be put together, though I had a bunch of stuff that would need to be assembled on site since I didn¡¯t measure anything beforehand. Namely, the doors.


    I got into the speakeasy easily enough. I was already in the apartment building¡¯s system as a resident, so I had codes for the front door and everything. Then it was as simple as timing my move to the broom closet so no one would see me.


    First things first, time to clean this place up. Now, most of the walls were covered in ash. Wipe that off, and the place had pristine brick walls. Sure, some of the bricks were cracked here and there, but the builders back then knew what they were doing with this place. Everything still looked structurally sound.


    Most of the tables and chairs were mere wire meshes of what they used to be. IF--and that was a big if--I ever wanted to actually clean this place up and make it something, I¡¯d need to do a full replacement of the booths and everything. There was no salvaging them. The rest of the wood broke apart into ash at barely a touch. The bar was still usable, but it wasn¡¯t in great shape. Good spot to store the rest of my stuff though.


    Anyway, here¡¯s what I was thinking. For the short term, I¡¯d move all my crafting stuff here. There was way more space here, and I didn¡¯t have to worry too much about it being found out. That, and it would save me from having to go down to the vault any time I wanted to make anything. I¡¯d still stash any valuables that I might acquire down in the vault itself since it would be the most secure place once I was done.


    Before that though, the original door mechanism needed to be reworked. Most of it would be fine as is, but I went ahead and replaced some parts with newer 3D-printed variants. I also took apart the initial ripcord system. It was cool, but not the most secure. Anyone could see the marked tiles and come to the same conclusion as me.


    In its place, I added a number padlock. Not the safest thing, but I got around that by taking out several bricks from the wall and making it so that the number pad was on the backside of the bricks. Then, by pressing in the right brick, the number pad would flip around and be interactable. I still stand by that the best security is one no one notices.


    Pretty simple, all things considered. I carved out some of the bricks around the reversible section, hiding some small rotors and adding in some gearwork and a few metal rods to connect up to the rest of the system. If the right code was punched in, it would activate a servo that basically replaced what the old ripcord did and activate the mechanism.


    I had to get electricity into the speakeasy for everything to work properly, but that ended up being a nonissue. I had the blueprints of the basement memorized to a T, so it was rather easy to tap into the building''s electrical systems. So long as I didn¡¯t draw too much electricity, there wouldn¡¯t be an issue. The landlord would just think more people were washing their clothes than usual.


    I also threw together a really simple camera system. Nothing too complicated, just used some of the old robotic eyes I had lying around to make everything work. It would need my deck to fully function, but my deck was still out recording audio, so it¡¯d be a bit. I could go out and buy another deck, but I currently didn¡¯t have the liquid funds for it unless I wanted to start cashing in some of the gold.


    The noise was still a bit of an issue, but I solved that by painting everything with anechoic paint. It was a clear coat substance that builders used to have the sound-dampening effect a lot of places had. Dirt cheap too. A bucket only cost me twenty Rayn.


    Then I went to the hallway behind the kitchen and made a dummy wall much like the one that blocked the way into the speakeasy. I had to take apart a wall between two of the private booths to use as material for it to be seamless, but that was fine.


    My version was a lot more simplistic compared to the gearwork of the first door. I didn¡¯t need to have mine purely mechanical, so I cheated a bit and ran power to the other door. Then I grouted the bricks together with some metal rods to make one large brick door that could swing open and shut.


    By then, I heard something interesting on the audio logs, so I paused my work and listened in as I took a break. I gulped down some of Sentinel¡¯s Super Supplement from my canteen and wiped the sweat from my brow, rubbing wet ash everywhere. No AC plus a ton of ash made it a very annoying place to work.


    It took a bit of searching through the files before I found out that the log came from the break room early in the morning. Probably two guards taking a breakfast break.


    ¡±¡­ I hate being down there.¡± One guard said. They sounded like a young man. It was an assumption on my part, but I had the feeling they were talking about the secret underground lab.


    ¡°You know we aren¡¯t supposed to talk about that place.¡± An older-sounding guard replied.


    ¡±¡¯Course I know that. Not like they¡¯re going to bust down the wall to catch me, are they? They haven¡¯t done so in the past¡­ Anyway¡­ you feel it too?¡±


    The older-sounding guy sighed deeply. ¡°Yeah, I know what you mean.¡±


    The younger man took a deep, shaky breath. ¡±It¡¯s like the walls have ears and eyes¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ some seriously bad juju. It¡¯s like the Aether is sickly down there. Especially around the first few floors.¡±


    ¡±Come on. Let¡¯s just get back to work. Lest the walls hear us talking about them.¡± The older man teased. They chatted a bit more, though nothing else was of note. Definitely some kind of Magi or Adept though¡­ probably the latter. I hadn¡¯t seen any Magi when I was there. Interesting that they decided to only hire out Adepts.


    I got back to work after that. I went ahead and finished the second secret door using the same entry method as the first, blocking off the access to the Underground behind the wall. It was dual purpose in blocking off a section behind the speakeasy to put down a bed and some other supplies for a temporary stay as well as blocking off the Underground in case something came up.


    Speaking of in case something came up, I scraped some of the bookshelves that were in better condition and made a temporary trapdoor over the hole with some spare hinges. It wouldn¡¯t offer much if any resistance, but hopefully hearing it get destroyed would alert me to something or someone coming up.


    It was a valid concern, though not very likely. Most of the mechanisms I¡¯d spent the last week working on were meant for down there in the first place. If everything worked out, no one and no thing would ever know the route was there. But it would take a while to get everything down there, not to mention the danger increasing, so I would finish up working up here first.


    There were a few other security features I¡¯d like to add, but the one I wanted the most would be impossible. At least, for now. I¡¯d love to get a Hibisen plant and put it outside of the broom closet¡¯s door. Just on the apartment side though. Mercs and various people of the field were more likely to pass through the Underground. A Hibisen plant would work down there, but it would also pull attention from any Magi or Adept in the know. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Hibisen plants would be hard to get, but I could just go steal one from the Circle. Unfortunately, with the mysterious fire wiping out the base Hope and I hit, there was little chance of me easily obtaining one. I guess I could maybe go and track down a Circle hideout on my own? Might earn me some brownie points with the Inquisitor if I found one, at least.


    I went around and picked up all the useless clutter and skeletons, tossing them down the chute into the Underground. I¡¯d dispose of most of them better down there. It¡¯d be way easier to get rid of a couple dozen skeletons in the Underground than to sneak them back through the apartment.


    I kept a few of the tables that were in better shape, namely the two that were made of metal, as well as the bar itself. It wasn¡¯t in the best shape, but it was still good enough to use for my purposes. That, and it would be a pain in the ass to get it cleared out.


    The speakeasy looked¡­ well, I wouldn¡¯t say nice, per se. Ash still covered plenty of surfaces and would be a pain to clean up fully. Other than that though, I got rid of all the clutter around, allowing a fairly large area for me to fill up with my tools.


    With all the clutter cleaned up and my safety secured, I was all too happy to finally start looking for the several secret stashes hidden all over the place.

 Chapter 148

    Chapter 148Thanks to the blueprint at the back of the black book I pulled from the speakeasy¡¯s safe, I knew exactly where I needed to search. There were about a dozen of the stashes scattered about, so I decided to start from the entrance and work my way in.


    The first of the bunch was off to the side of the entry in one of the booths. It had a false floor that the table rested on. Or at least, it had rested on. The table was one of the things I tossed out, leaving easy access to the floor panel.


    I opened it up to reveal¡­ nothing. Well, not nothing. There was a large pile of ash filling the secret compartment up. It seemed the fire got in there too¡­


    I checked a dozen other smaller stash points only to find mostly the same result. Sure, there were other luxury items stashed around outside of just money, but most of it was ruined in the fire.


    I moved onto the few medium compartments around. They were a bit bigger, so I was hopeful about finding some stuff still intact. The first one I looked in had a bunch of guns and ammo in it. Unfortunately, it looked like the heat from the fire shot off every bullet, mangling the guns.


    The second was much better. A bunch of paper money from back in the day, still in decent condition. Some of it had gone up into flames, but the majority of it was still fine. I might be able to get something from a collector with it and the money I found in the boss¡¯s vault.


    The third was actually inside the freezer, hidden behind a false panel. I popped it open to find a stash of drugs. Not sure what any of it was, and it was before the designer drug revolution, so it was probably pretty basic stuff. Not worth running it and selling it to someone.


    I popped open the last of the medium-sized compartments in one of the private booths. A section of the wall could pop off, revealing a bunch of jewelry and old cigars. At a glance, most of it wasn¡¯t worth anything. A lot of it was fake, though there was a golden pocket watch that looked real. Might be able to fetch something out of it.


    I gathered up all the good stuff and filled one of the empty bags I used to carry in my mechanisms. It was already getting late, and I¡¯d rather sleep in my own bed than in this ashy basement. At least, until I got a proper bed down here.


    I headed back out, carefully checking to make sure the way was clear. I really needed to get some cameras out in the hall of the basement to watch for people coming and going. It hadn¡¯t been a problem yet, but I could see it easily turning into one.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    I ran all the old bills and the odds and ends I pulled out from the speakeasy by an antiquity collector early in the morning. I got five hundred Rayn for the lot of it, though I did manage to sell the watch separately for two hundred. It was apparently some kind of heirloom.


    After that, I armored up and headed into Carone¡¯s antique shop. I¡¯d given him more than a couple of days, so he should¡¯ve got the stuff sold by now. I could feel eyes on me as I approached and entered his shop, though most of them were simply residents looking at my voided-out armor weirdly.


    ¡°Ah, if it isn¡¯t Mr. White,¡± Carone said, drawing out the words with his annoying inflections as per usual.


    ¡±They sold?¡± I ignored him. Ignoring seemed to be a good tactic for this identity. Could be taken as intimidation, but could also just be taken as someone eager to get their job done.


    Carone sighed and nodded his head. He pulled out a data chip and placed it down on the counter, lightly tapping a finger next to it. ¡°Fifty-seven hundred Rayn, as requested.¡±


    ¡±More than what you offered? Impressive. Maybe dealing with you wasn¡¯t a bad decision.¡±


    ¡±Of course it isn¡¯t¡­ if you have anything else, bring it to me. Especially items from Cwalu. I have a long list of¡­ that would be incredibly interested.¡± Carone toyed with a spark of flame, twirling it into a shape roughly similar to the mask.


    He¡¯s played with fire every time I¡¯ve seen him, and I¡¯m starting to notice some things. I had a feeling he was only recently awoken as a Kinetic. His control and the intensity of the fire were a hundred times better than when I first came through his shop.


    I took the chip, plugging it into a burner phone I bought on the way over here. In a few seconds, my HUD lit up with the transfer, bringing a much-needed flow of Rayn into my account. My account now sat at 7234 Rayn. It was more than enough to get some plans into motion and help out with some other things. Add that with all the gold I had, and it was around twenty thousand. A respectable amount in the city.


    I left Carone¡¯s shop, heading down the block the opposite way I came in. As I walked, I disassembled and crushed the phone, tossing it into the mouth of an alley. I backtracked several times through side streets, my paranoid act was probably completely unfounded.


    Then again, I stuck out like a sore thumb out here. I moved down into the sewer through an alley, changing into normal clothes before popping out elsewhere and heading for my bike.


    I threw my leg over the seat, resting for a moment as I adjusted my bag. Now I just need to head on back to the speakeasy-


    Haah¡­ I leaned back, blankly staring at a roving band of ads around the parking garage. I just watched for several minutes, my eyes not seeing anything as I focused internally and looked back over my past couple of days.


    I gripped tightly onto the handlebars of my motorcycle, dropping my head down and tapping it against the cold metal. What am I doing? Why was I being so passive about this gig? I¡¯d barely even gotten anything done in the past few days. Rather, I¡¯d been productive on something that didn¡¯t even have a time restriction.


    Since when have I ever just sat back after finding what I needed? It¡¯s not even like I need to know about their basement anyway. That wasn¡¯t at all what the job was about. I was supposed to be looking for evidence, damnit! Not scrounging around a lab that ultimately didn¡¯t matter more than knowing it was there.


    I tapped my head a couple more times. It was the same reason I didn¡¯t want to take the job in the first place. I was just being a little bitch about going back in and taking what I needed.


    A sigh left me as I calmed down slightly and flicked on Cold-Blooded to clear my head. Anything to distract myself from going back in and seeing the writing on the walls, eh? Why was I letting fear get to me? Where¡¯d Shiro Tsukuyomi, the budding thief extraordinaire go? Pathetic.


    I tapped my cheeks lightly with my hands, firming up my resolve. I already had sufficient evidence that Cold Moon Solutions was behind screwing over Athena. I was just lacking a bit of evidence if it was Cold Moon Solutions¡¯ idea or if they were hired out to do such an act by a larger corp. I could see both sides. It would explain where CMS got all its money, at least.


    And I knew exactly where I¡¯d be able to find such evidence: the CEO¡¯s computer. No way that egotistical bastard would have it anywhere else. I squeezed my eyes closed for several seconds before coming to a decision. I¡¯d go in as soon as possible. Get what I need. Get that two grand at least. And then decide on how much I want to commit to the rest of the gig. The full fifteen grand would be more than enough to get the metal printer I¡¯d had my eye on.


    But before that? I needed to get some stuff ready. I kicked my bike into gear, and pulled out onto the street as my head reared into high gear. Hundreds of different plans formulated in my mind, most immediately scrapped as I settled on the best few. And those that remained I carefully weeded out through plausibility and easiness.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª S§×ar?h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I returned to my apartment, almost immediately getting to work. I had a plan, but I needed a few things before I could get into motion. The first thing I did was go ahead and order that poncho I¡¯d been looking at. It was perfect for my purposes.


    For its three presets, I made one a desert camo with a wash of yellows and browns, one an extremely simplistic urban color scheme that¡¯d blend into most places within the city, and the last a bright, eye-catching white. It should be able to blend into any environment I found myself in, except maybe one of the few oases in the Outlands. The white wasn¡¯t for blending in as much, though I had a few other plans for it.


    After that, although it pained me, I decided to scrap my armor. It was cool, but I¡¯d been thinking about this more and more recently; the armor wasn¡¯t nearly as effective as I had hoped it would be. ''Course, I didn¡¯t scrap it entirely. It was still my Mr. White disguise. I did take everything out of it though, including the Drop Chutes.


    It hurt a bit as I disassembled the armor, but I knew better than anyone how poorly it actually worked. It wasn¡¯t adaptable enough. Getting an Optical Camo Module would help in that regard, but even then I was better off just using normal clothes that blended in better. And I could hide more varied equipment under normal clothes and still appear as a civilian for the most part.


    The main issue is that it lacked adaptability. Having a blackout suit of armor was fine for corpo enforcers and the like that had millions to waste on equipment that¡¯d only be useful one out of every hundred missions, but for me? Not ideal. I needed something that could work and that I could wear in almost every situation. I¡¯d thrown too many eggs into the armor¡¯s basket, as is. I was only hamstringing myself.


    Simple clothes with hidden gear under it was the ideal route for me, not this modulated armor with a dozen different attachments I¡¯d been going for. Unfortunately, the rule of cool wasn¡¯t always the best rule. It sucked, but moving on was for the best in the long term.


    And getting around in the armor was a bitch and a half. I know mercenaries aren¡¯t exactly rare in Aythryn City, but wearing full voided-out armor like that tended to draw the eye. And it was a set of heavy armor, which drew the eye even more than the typical vest and pads. Even if I repainted it, it would still be too much. Heavy armor just wasn¡¯t for me.


    I reworked the stealth body suit, slimming it down a bit more to be a skintight undersuit to be worn under normal clothes. Its thermal and soundproof fibers were still fine, and it was easy to cover it up with a layer of normal clothes.


    Next came the Drop Chutes. They were the most important part I wanted to work with, especially considering Plan A in the back of my head. I had an idea for them, though I didn¡¯t immediately get to work. Instead, I drew everything out in a notebook several times, checking proportions and various measurements to see if my idea was even plausible.


    Basically, I wanted to integrate the Drop Chutes into my backpack. It would drop my carrying capacity by quite a bit, but a bag would be entirely inconspicuous and draw a lot less attention than having five thruster-looking things sticking off my back. That, and it would be quite easy to throw on a backpack compared to the full armor approach I¡¯d been using.


    It took quite a bit of time to get everything set up right, but by the end of various cuts and careful sewing, I had it all set up. My bag now looked like it had five spikes sticking out of it, which gave it a bit of a punk look that could easily be written off as stylistic. Especially in the city.


    I went back through, anchoring the chutes carefully into the bag and wiring them all up to the central battery I plucked from the back of my old armor. The bag had a convenient laptop pouch I repurposed into a battery storage. I packed it full of the thermal absorbing padding to help with the heat. I also went ahead and added a bunch of ports to the battery, turning it into a micro charging station for various devices.


    After that, I took apart the screen built into my gauntlet, turning it into a standalone pad. It was rather easy since I originally just secured it with bolts. It had been quite effective attached to my wrist, so I reworked it into simply being held on and connected with straps. I adjusted the electrical system to be a quick plug so I could disconnect and connect it to the system quickly.


    I¡¯d like to get it set up to be able to connect directly to my data jack so I could control it all mentally, but that kind of programming was far above my head. Maybe in the distant future.


    I made about a dozen other adjustments, carefully nitpicking everything and reverting my rebreather back to its mask form. Once I finally got everything set up I looked over my handiwork.


    Part of me hated to admit it, but it looked good. The stealth capabilities were far superior to the armor, and it would blend in way better. And best of all, everything was entirely modular. If I didn¡¯t need my Drop Chutes but still needed my rebreather? I didn¡¯t have to worry about it and could just take my mask and leave the bag. Ultimately, I¡¯d be a lot more comfortable, and better off without the armor.


    Of course¡­ that just left getting shot. I¡¯d thought the armor was a good idea for a reason, and this was the main one. For now, I¡¯ll go back to wearing my crusade vest under my jacket, but for the future? I should really start looking into an upgrade. Maybe some kind of clothes with ballistic weave wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea? Or Subdermal armor¡­ but I was iffy on that one. Sure it sounded nice, but it had a way of locking up mobility and I¡¯d heard it was extremely uncomfortable.


    And it''s not like I got into fights all that much. My best role in a fight was lurking on the outskirts and pew-pewing from afar like what I did at the Mortas Motel, not taking shots at the frontlines.


    I could think about it later though. It was really about time I started finalizing my plans though.

 Chapter 149

    Chapter 149A cool breeze blew past my new poncho''s hood, bringing with it a freezing cold rain. Thankfully, the poncho protected me from head to knee from the rain. ¡±I appreciate you doing this for me.¡±


    ¡±Don¡¯t mention it.¡± Shinobu blew a puff of smoke from a cigarette as he stood next to me.


    We stood in one of the Jade Fang¡¯s flyer bays high up in Bukicho, staring down at the street of pleasure as the storm raged on. Lightning flashed, striking Raijin¡¯s tower as electricity jolted down the sides. I had to wait a few days for a proper storm to roll in, but now it was time to get a roll on things.


    ¡±Was it too much of an issue?¡± I asked as I glanced back at the sleek black flyer behind us. Neon green highlights thrummed around it, giving the design a techie look. It looked almost exactly like one of those old-time cars from pictures I¡¯d seen of the nineteen thirties, though the tires were replaced with thrusters and it looked way more techie.


    It was one of the cars from the automated flyer taxi company the Jade Fangs operated. Usually, it was used by the high and mighty who were too good to drive on the streets of us mere mortals on their way to the den of pleasures that was Bukicho. The service fares typically started at a hundred Rayn if that said anything. Thankfully, I¡¯d gotten it free.


    Today, though, I had way different plans for it than just a posh ride. It was integral to my plans, even. Especially considering how the security of Cold Moon Solutions was set up.


    Shinobue didn¡¯t reply for a moment, tagging a long drag from his cigarette before flicking the burning butt off the building. It disappeared amongst the falling rain. ¡°Not too bad. Tyrone, the mechanic, was a bit annoyed with the request, but a bottle of whiskey helped him come around. Just don¡¯t forget the override code.¡±


    I¡¯d called in a favor with Shinobu to get the flyer with its safety restrictions removed and its black box temporarily disabled. ¡°That¡¯s good¡­ how¡¯s business been?¡±


    ¡±Perfect, actually. The Neo-Jokers have dropped out of almost all of their business deals.¡± Shinobu dragged his metal hand down his face.


    ¡±That¡¯s¡­ odd.¡± Gangs don¡¯t just fall off the face of the planet. It was good for me though. Especially considering Cold Moon Solutions sat just inside their territory- their former territory?


    Shinobu nodded. ¡°Chek chek¡­ it''s left a massive gap we¡¯ve exploited. ¡®Course, we¡¯ve also been overworked since hundreds of gonks are popping out of the brickworks with each passing day.


    That was¡­ not so good. I could see Bricktown having a rough couple months ahead of it. Hopefully, I won¡¯t have to go back there anytime soon after this gig. ¡°How¡¯s- uh,¡± what was her name again? ¡°Valentina?¡±


    The tired look faded as a bright smile lit up his face. ¡°Nova! The clinic was a massive success. She has been working to get several more of them set up around the city. Truly an angel. She even has the beauty to match.¡±


    I had a feeling he could keep talking about her until the sun exploded. Thankfully, that didn¡¯t happen. One of the two guards that came up with us coughed lightly. They¡¯d just been following us in the background the entire time without saying anything, but that changed. ¡°Boss, the managers¡¯ meeting is coming up.¡±


    ¡°Chek.¡± Shinobu¡¯s face fell slightly as he nodded his head to me. ¡°Nice chattin¡¯, Shiro. Hope whatever you¡¯re doing works out.¡±


    ¡±You too. I owe you one. Seriously.¡±


    The Jade Fang Enforcer¡ªif that was still his role, though it looked like he¡¯d been promoted at some point with the two bodyguards following¡ªwaved a hand as he walked off with the guards. ¡°C¡¯mon, what are friends for?¡±


    I flicked the rain off my poncho and tapped on the screen at my wrist. I¡¯d had to modify it slightly to make it waterproof since the armor no longer blocked it out, but other than that I also had to set up the program for the poncho. Basically, by adjusting micro electric pulses, I can change out the color scheme of the poncho at any time. I currently had it set to the smooth grays and dark blues of my urban scheme.


    I pulled the poncho and my Drop Chute backpack off, tossing them into the back of the flyer. As I took a seat, a hologram of a classy gentleman flickered to life in the front seat. ¡°Where to, Madam?¡±


    I checked my mental map a few more times, pairing it with the flight routes as I came up with a destination near Bricktown¡¯s Outskirts on the opposite side of the city. I told the hologram where to go. ¡°Is that fine?¡±


    ¡±Of course, Madam. Sit back and enjoy the ride. Beware, some slight turbulence may be expected with the storm raging tonight.¡± The hologram flicked its head to me and then started to press buttons on the control console.


    I turned away as I felt the flyer lurch upward and did a final run-through of my gear. I¡¯d packed light this time around. No rifle, no shotgun. Just my pistol, my ballistic vest, and the jade dragon knife that could paralyze people. Oh, and the electric bola, but I had other uses for it than as a weapon. And of course, I was loaded up with tools and various bits of useful equipment.


    I checked my Drop Chute pack one more time, carefully checking all the ports and wires. It was a nerve-driven inspection more than anything. I¡¯d already tested the pack several times out in the Outskirts over the few days I¡¯d been preparing.


    I forced myself to calm down as I tossed my poncho into my pack and put the Drop Chute pack on again. I connected it up to the wrist pad and turned everything on. A low buzz of electricity briefly sounded in the flyer¡¯s cabin before fading back to the peaceful thunks of rain on metal and the fairly frequent lightning.


    Now I just had to wait. At least it wasn¡¯t boring though. I¡¯d only been in a flyer a couple of times, and the last time¡ªwhen I was with Sean and Tristen back at the Sentinel school¡ªI hadn¡¯t been able to enjoy it since I was squeezed into the middle seat.


    Now though? Now I have a splendid view of the city. The rain did its job making it a bit hard to see since it was coming down so hard and the flyer moved at a good pace, but there was still enough light to see, especially when we crossed under overhangs and the rain abruptly stopped.


    I¡¯d noticed this every time I¡¯ve been up high somewhere, but Aythryn City really was beautiful once you stopped and looked around. Well, stopped far away, at least. Up close I could see the filth and smell the corruption, but from afar? Truly something else.


    There was some fairly high traffic right around Bukicho as the wealthy came and went from the hotspot subdistrict, though that quickly faded once we started toward Bricktown. Flyers weren¡¯t exactly new, but they were still transportation for the rich and powerful and not for the plebeians. That meant overall the traffic was almost nonexistent compared to the city streets and foot traffic.


    The towering structures on either side of the flyer lane the Jade Fang taxi took quickly dropped in height as we left the subdistrict, plummeting as we got closer and closer to the relatively short Bricktown. Soon, I felt as if  were the towering one as I looked out the window at the far drop back to street level.


    I checked the straps on my backpack. After testing it out in the desert, I¡¯d added quite a bit to it, making it easy to turn the straps into a full-on harness within moments. As I pulled everything tight, I spoke up to the holographic driver. ¡°Don¡¯t wait for me. As soon as you land, return to the Jade Taxi service for repairs.¡±


    ¡°Madam? What are you-¡°


    I checked my phone. ¡±Override Code: AO80089229TY-JFO.¡±


    The gentlemanly voice of the vehicle faded to a digitized robot as the hologram abruptly disappeared. ¡°Confirmed. Return for repairs.¡± The hologram returned as if nothing happened.


    I waited a few more minutes, carefully keeping track of our location on a mental map as I ran dozens of calculations. I really only had one shot at this, at least at the moment, so I couldn¡¯t mess it up. I ran my calculations again and again as I decided on the opportune timing. While running the calculations, I checked my straps one last time and made sure I was locked in. Be stupid to die here by such a thing.


    The time came. I popped open the door to the flyer, instantly getting a blast of freezing rain to the face. I didn¡¯t even hesitate as I crawled out and on top of the rain-slick flyer. I closed the door with my foot and got into position as the rain pounded me. I nearly slipped off thanks to the strong momentum the flyer had as it uncaringly zipped through the sky. The rain didn¡¯t make holding on any easier.


    My heart pounded as I stared down at the drop below. Even though I knew I was safe with the Drop Chutes, I couldn¡¯t help but feel a primal sense of fear as I saw the ground so far below.


    I flicked on Cold-Blooded, feeling the rain turn bone-chilling as the cold emanated from within my jacket. Cold and wet was typically a bad combo, but in this situation, I needed the boost to my focus as I watched the buildings pass by.


    Now!


    I threw myself off the side of the flyer. For a brief moment as the Drop Chute flickered to life, the rain didn¡¯t hit me. Then  started to hit  as my fall speed surpassed the rain, causing it to buffet my face in a stomach-turning sense of vertigo as I felt the world flip. A jolt of lightning struck somewhere, making the vertigo worse as I watched the electricity arc up from the ground. I closed my eyes, reorienting myself belly down.


    My descent was far more controlled than the fall from Whitechapel Center back during the Franz heist. I¡¯d practiced a lot, especially more in the past few days as I came up with this harebrained plan.


    The small thrusters on the Drop Chute, although not super powerful,  strong enough to shift my direction and make precision landings from afar. I used them to my advantage, angling my body just right to take advantage of the forward momentum to aim for my target.


    Then I flipped over onto my back as my jacket flapped in the rain, angling myself the Drop Chute¡¯s coward to slow my fall. My momentum slowed more and more as I fell into familiar terrain, dropping to near-nothing moments before I landed on a building.


    The weak thrusters, combine with the gravity distorting effects of the Drop Chute, created an air of cushion below me as I literally turned lighter than air just before hitting the ground.


    I aimed perfectly, dropping directly onto the enclosed stairway that jutted up out of the building. It was also the best blind spot for the cameras up here, or at least that''s what I gathered by using the nearby points as vantages over the past few days. As for why I wanted to go through the roof? It was complicated. There were too many reasons.


    I lightly dropped onto my feet, immediately withdrawing the poncho and throwing it back over myself, covering my entire upper body. Bag included. I was worried it would mess with the Drop Chutes as I plummeted, so I hadn¡¯t worn it on the way down. Now though? Now I was very much appreciative of it as I flicked off Cold Blooded and my whole body turned into a chattering mess.


    I connected the poncho up to my wrist pad. It was originally designed to connect to a phone, but it had been relatively easy to make it connect to the pad. I tapped around, adjusting a few settings as I felt the poncho kick on. Immediately, blessed heat wrapped around my whole body like a warm blanket fresh from the dryer as the environment control kicked on. S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I pulled the hood up and over my head, blocking out the majority of the rain. The rest of it I blocked as I put on my mask. The new one was simple. I¡¯d painted it a deep dark gray, close to black though not so dark it wouldn¡¯t be able to blend into anything like the armor had been. Of course, I¡¯d also done some eyes shaped as crescents with the adjustable chroma paint. For now, it was turned off, though I could flick it on at a moment¡¯s notice.


    The mask purified the air, turning it entirely clean as the slightly toxic scent of polluted ozone burning from the lightning faded away. I blinked a few times, shifting from my mental map of the city to my mental map of the building, and psyched myself up. I was so ready for this.

 Chapter 150

    Chapter 150I looked out over the roof, carefully checking everything and ensuring there was nothing new. There wasn¡¯t. Well, there wasn¡¯t anything new in the way of security. A couple dozen new cigarette butts lay around soaked in the rain. Quite a few of them looked like Tosta, though surprisingly there weren¡¯t any of the red and black ones from the Neo-Jokers. We were close to Bricktown, so I expected some kind of Neo-Joker cigarette in the mix. Wonder how long they¡¯ve been gone to not see even one.


    Yeah, the roof access was one of those ¡®not supposed to come out, but everyone does to smoke¡¯ type entries. They were quite common and an easy way to get into most places. As such, the camera had long been shifted to the side by a worker, no longer covering the door properly like it was supposed to.


    The fact that the angle was still off was good for me for a couple reasons. One, it meant I could easily get into the door. Two, and this one was more important than the previous point, it meant there was a high chance the Netrunner prowling the building was too lazy to shift it back. Coincidentally, it also gave me hope there were plenty of other gaps in the security for me to get through. If not, I had ways to make some.


    Before making my move, I flicked on Aetherial Perception and looked around. The tall walls of the ward surrounded the building entirely. Well, not entirely. There was no roof to the walls, which was one of the many reasons I decided to drop in from the sky. I completely bypassed the initial wards blocking the way into Cold Moon Solutions. And it was easy to boot. At least for me. I can¡¯t imagine too many others dropping out of the sky to get on the building.


    The roof was good for other reasons besides that, including the wards separating each floor I noticed when Corvid bugged the elevator. After some searching around the Net, I figured they¡¯re some kind of biological ward, though there must be some sort of pass for employees. Basically, all unauthorized personnel would trip it. Said ward wasn¡¯t between the roof and the top floor though. I had Corvid try to trip it yesterday to no result.


    That also meant once I slipped into the building I¡¯d have access to the third floor, which was where my target was located, without having to worry about the two major wards. I¡¯d still have to keep my eyes peeled for CCTV and other magical means, though I¡¯d have to just deal with it on my way to the CEO¡¯s office.


    As for CCTV, it would still be a problem. Until I made the Blackout module, which required precise parts I couldn¡¯t make quite yet, cameras would always be a problem. That being said, where there¡¯s a will there¡¯s a way. In this case, my way was directly related to the storm I¡¯d waited for. I didn¡¯t only want it to cover my drop from the flyer.


    I eyed the cameras, rubbing my gloved hands together under the heated poncho to get rid of the slight chill. Such a good purchase. No regrets.


    The roof was mostly dark outside of flashes of lightning and the ambient light from the city in the distance. The best illumination came from a weak flood light just above the door and a massive dancing hologram on top of a building a couple streets away. The hologram, after every rep of its dance, went dark for a few moments before kicking back up.


    I waited for the bright hologram to fade, dropping from my high ground as soon as it did and sliding behind an air conditioning unit. The darkness and rain acted as the perfect cover for me to slink by the cameras. Especially since Mystech¡¯s Manasense cameras had a minor issue with exposure. It took a ton of research and digging to figure that out. Something about the crystals they use in the camera to see the Aether or whatnot.


    Regardless, as long as I moved during times of sudden increases or decreases of light, the camera¡¯s poor exposure controls would hide my movements from anyone watching. Or at least, that was the hope. Didn¡¯t really have a chance to test it out beforehand.


    I stood absolutely still for long moments until a bright flash pierced the darkness. I once again moved, using the various odds and ends sticking up from the roof to shroud my movements as I headed for the junction shed. The past several days I''d spent carefully looking over the blueprints for the place, and the electricity junction for the entire building was one of the few hidden gems I¡¯d found.


    Some of the older buildings in Bricktown, especially those with basements, were still set up to work with ancient power line systems. Ruby¡¯s, the Neo-Jokers'' base of operations, was one such place. The building Cold Moon Solutions sat in was no different.


    The master control station for the entire building linked in through a brick shed on the roof. Of course, it was also protected by cameras. The camera was in a much better spot than how the Neo-Jokers had theirs set up. It sat on a pole looking down onto the shed from afar, making it impossible to just slide underneath it without being noticed.


    The camera had an easy solution. As I moved into a dead zone, I summoned Corvid with a thought. He appeared out of the Aether with barely a reverberation through Aetherial Perception, shivering slightly as the rain peppered his form. He immediately hopped up into my poncho¡¯s hood, squeezing into the small gap to perch on my shoulder. ¡°C-caw caw~¡±


    Out of the corner of my eye, I caught his affronted look as he miserably pecked rainwater from his feathers. ¡°Sorry¡­ Help me out? Think you can blind that camera for a bit?¡±


    ¡±Caw, caw-caw!¡± The little crow nudged my cheek with his beak before dropping back out of my poncho.


    He closed his top two sets of eyes, holding still for a few seconds as the feathers on his body seemed to devour light. His size shrunk slightly and the eyes on top of his head reduced from six to two. For all intents and purposes, he looked like a mortal crow now. Even Aetherial Perception couldn¡¯t pick up the faint aura of a sprite from him.


    Corvid flapped off the roof, vanishing for a few moments in the rain before squealing loudly as he landed on the camera. He acted all normal-like, burrowing down into his wings as if he had finally found a safe spot from the rain. He easily covered most of the lens with his wings, buying me precious moments free from view.


    I slunk up to the shed, immediately freezing as I stared at the lock. The lock itself wasn¡¯t an issue. It was the runic symbols engraved all over it that gave me pause. Although I¡¯d been researching the runes used in wards, I couldn¡¯t say exactly what this particular one did. I did recognize a few of the symbols from the other wards though, specifically those for ¡®guard¡¯ and ¡®alert¡¯.


    Rough guess? It was some kind of anti-tampering ward. At least, based on where it was set. I felt my plan crash around me as I eyed the thing. Getting in wouldn¡¯t be so simple with it warded.


    Okay, new plan. Plan B. Turning the power off wouldn¡¯t be advisable lest I trip the ward. Or, at least getting in through the front door wasn¡¯t an option. I backed off and wrapped around the far side of the brick shed moving onto a narrow ledge with a three story drop on the other side. There was barely enough space to stand, but I was out of sight from the cameras.


    I whistled out to Corvid as I hid in the shadow of the shed. The crow caught my intention as it left the camera alone and flapped back over to me. I moved slowly, anchoring myself to the side of the shed as I reached up for one of the shed¡¯s ventilation grates just under the roof¡¯s lip. Such a gap would be impossible for me to get through.


    The same couldn¡¯t be said for Corvid. He popped up through the gap, reverting to his normal form as he locked down on me. ¡°Okay- uh, remember what we did the first time we were here?¡± I asked as I passed up a Scouter. I tapped around on my wrist pad, pulling up the camera feed onto it.


    Corvid grabbed the Scouter with his beak, carrying it to a perfect vantage point of the shed. I got a better view of the internals of the shed. For the most part, it was a pretty standard setup. Power was distributed here from the city and then split throughout the building.


    What wasn¡¯t standard was the massive amount of runes covering the floor in a complex array of writing. None of it stood out to me, leaving most of the ward shrouded in mystery. I did recognize the word ¡®contact¡¯ from the Runic 101 e-book most of my research came from. ¡°Okay- uh, don¡¯t touch that?¡±


    ¡±Cawww~¡± Corvid brought the Scouter to several other locations, allowing me to get a full scope of the place. It wasn¡¯t just the floors that bore signs of a ward. The walls were alight with the stuff, though the actual electrical bits were left alone. Classic tech and magic mismatch, if I had to guess.


    Getting in to sabotage it would be nearly impossible without disabling the wards. For a human, that is. For my flying friend though? As long as he didn¡¯t touch anything except the various electrical components, it wouldn¡¯t be an issue.


    I pulled the electrobola from my bag, sliding the control glove over the skin tight gloves of my undersuit. The two balls of the bola clacked in my hand as I lifted them up to the helpful avian. It¡¯d been a long time since I used the elctrabolas. They were cool, and effective, but were ultimately too awkward to use in most situations.


    Corvid snatched the bola from me, easily lifting them up and into the shed. It took a bit of careful direction and instructions, but he managed to wrap the bola around most of the core components for the building, once more showing his intelligence. He flew back to me, a soft cry spilling from his beak.


    I tensed my hand in time with a nearby lightning strike, sending the signal to the bola. It sparked with electricity, instantly hitting the electrical components with a shock. The electricity surged the lines, flicking a dozen breakers. For a brief moment, the few lights on the roof flickered out.


    My hand released, cutting the signal. A few seconds after the initial power outage, the system automatically reset itself, booting everything back up as if it had just been a momentary power outage from the storm. All set.


    ¡°Nice job!¡± I rubbed Corvid¡¯s feathers as he snuggled up in my poncho. ¡°I¡¯ll- uh- I¡¯ll get you something real good to eat soon, yeah? There¡¯s this place that has really good burgers.¡± Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡±Caw!¡± He shot me a look as if to say ¡®you better¡¯. Then, with a flap of his wings, he ascended, shooting back into the Aether.


    I imitated the way I got to the electrical shed, cutting through the deep shadows as I avoided the various cameras set up. For those I couldn''t easily get around, such as the one looking over the shed, I flicked the bola on to make a temporary gap as the power cut out. I approached the door, looking it over as I crouched amongst dozens of cigarette butts.


    The lock was similarly warded just the same as the shed had been. Or, at least, mostly the same. There was one key difference about the runes spread around the lock. They didn¡¯t register to my Aetherial Perception at all. For all intents and purposes, they looked as though they were purely mundane scripts. And, as best I could tell, they probably were.


    From the limited research I old do, wards required constant upkeep from an Adept making them a costly and consuming defense. If, say, this door that was supposed to remain locked constantly had people coming and going like the vast amount of cigarette butts suggested, then it only made sense the magic in the ward would wear out quicker.


    Needless to say, I got in easily. It was a simple lock entirely reliant on inactive magic. I slid into the building, careful not to open the door too far and expose myself to the outside cameras. The way down was rather safe considering it sat in a separate stairwell, though I didn¡¯t immediately descend into the building. I squeezed as much rainwater off my poncho and clothes as I could, patiently waiting till I wouldn¡¯t leave a trail of water.


    I thought carefully through the layout of the floor as I faded into the shadows. Before anything, I needed to take care of the Netrunner.

 Chapter 151

    Chapter 151¡±Damnit!¡± Francis jacked out of his chair, his flesh senses partially returning as his perception of the Net faded away to a mere background buzz in the back of his mind. He idly watched the sublevels of Cold Moon Solutions on his chrome¡¯s hud, inspecting for anything standing out.


    As per usual, nothing but the occasional guards walked around down there. At least those levels still had power thanks to the backup generators installed. Cheap bastards couldn¡¯t have wired up the rest of the building though. Anything to keep their precious projects safe from the slightest inconvenience.


    His security room, supposedly one of the most secure rooms in Cold Moon Solutions, basked in darkness for several long seconds just as it had over and over again. Damn storm kept knocking the power out. After a while, the lights flickered to life, nearly blinding him. The cameras booted up a heartbeat later as his brain was instantly overloaded with way too much information.


    ¡±Gah¡­¡± The chair below Francis shifted, moving from a reclined state to something akin to a chair. He caught sight of his scrawny body in the dark screen of a resetting terminal. He used the reflection to guide his motions as he slowly unplugged a dozen cables inserted into his wrists and neck. The hundreds of cameras in his view faded as he fully returned to the flesh.


    Once he was free of the wired embrace, Francis stretched out, hearing several pops from his joints. His body felt stiff as it always did. His head swam slightly as if muted vertigo wormed its way through his senses. Jacking out of the Net always did a number on his head-


    He staggered back, his heart rate doubling as he noticed a shadowy form in the corner of the room. He barely held back a startled scream as his rationale returned. It was just his coat on the coat rack¡­


    Really, he was so jumpy tonight. He tried to think back to when it started. Was it when that crow pecked at the roof¡¯s camera? A shudder went down his spine. Now that he thought about it, the lightning strikes and power flickers started after that. What a bad omen.


    He tapped around on a terminal set up near the Netrunning chair, adjusting it to send the camera feeds to his chrome eyes. He then reached over to a walkie that sat on the desk and pressed the button. ¡°Control, this is Francis. I¡¯ve jacked out with the power flickering like this. I¡¯m gonna go get a coffee while I wait for everything to boot back up.¡±


    The walkie remained silent for a few moments before a tired voice came across the line. Even with her voice droopy, Tera still sounded so beautiful. He was lucky to work alongside a woman like her. ¡°Chek¡­ wouldn¡¯t want our runner to fry with the power fluctuations, eh? They really should let you get your own pot in there.¡±


    ¡±It¡¯s just a relief they didn¡¯t cheap out on the Netrunner chair. You¡¯d be talkin¡¯ to a corpse if they got one without a backup power source. Or if the coffee spilled over.¡± Francis chuckled wryly.


    The night shift lead buzzed back a few moments later. ¡°And I¡¯d hate to see you go. Where else would I find someone to help stave off my boredom? Alright. Don¡¯t take too long.¡±


    ¡±I won¡¯t. Thanks, Tera.¡± Francis moved away from the terminal, his legs feeling momentarily weak before he forced some strength into them. He grabbed his phone on the way to the door, checking for any messages from family or friends. As per usual, none. Outside of Tera, that is. She sent him a bunch of cat memes.


    A chill went down his neck, instinctively causing the scrawny man to glance over his shoulder as he slid his phone into his pocket. Nothing. Just a long empty hall. A light flickered off in the distance, the constant power outages probably frying something in it. He¡¯d have to write up a maintenance request soon.


    Francis habitually checked to cameras set up all around the facility, carefully looking through them all. Nothing stood out other than a few drops of water scattered around. Must have a leak somewhere. Yet another maintenance request he¡¯d have to put in.


    He sighed and ran a shaky hand down his face. Paranoia was a sign of Glitching. Maybe he needed to take a vacation again at some point? The constant stress was probably playing havoc on his health. Maybe Tera would join him again?  The last one had been  relaxing.


    For a moment, he almost wanted to return to his cozy room as the chill deepened. Then he remembered the sheer amount of security everywhere and shook his head. He was probably the safest person in this building. Well, outside of the sublevels, at least. There was nothing to fear outside of a drop in his caffeine levels. Right. Coffee it is.


    Francis rubbed at his arms as he headed for a small room on the far side of the building. It wasn¡¯t a full-on kitchen like the one down in the break room, but the other employees had turned it into a small collection of microwaves and coffee pots at some point. He was ninety percent sure the boss didn¡¯t know, nor would anyone tell that hardass.


    The lights flickered out as thunder boomed, shrouding Francis in darkness once more. The sudden explosive boom caused a tremble to go down his spine. ¡°Damn storm¡­ why can¡¯t anything ever be-¡°


    A bright light appeared from nowhere, blinding him as his chrome eyes struggled to adjust. He nearly leaped from his skin as the light menacingly lunged toward him. ¡°Freeze- oh, sorry Francis.¡±


    At that moment, the lights turned back on from the temporary power surge, shedding light back into the hallway. He was flashed once more as the cameras flicked back on in his vision.


    Francis grasped at his chest, clutching at his heart propped up by far too many stimulants and caffeine to deal with the fright. He leaned against the wall as he looked up at the guard who nearly scared him to hell. ¡°You trying to flatline me, Tommy?!¡±


    ¡±Sorry, I heard a voice, and I¡¯m the only other one up here¡­ freaked me out.¡± Tommy, a rather dimwitted guard by Francis''s judgment, sheepishly rubbed at the back of his head. ¡°You know how it is¡­ thought you was maybe a ghost or sometin¡¯¡­¡±


    ¡±Whatever¡­ Fuck! Just- just don¡¯t sneak up on me like that, man. You¡¯ll give me a heart attack.¡± Francis pushed off the wall with a sour expression on his face.


    Tommy dumbly nodded his head. ¡°My bad. I¡¯ll call out next time.¡± The guard turned to leave, pausing momentarily as he turned back and passed over a spare flashlight. ¡°Here. Just in case, yeah? The outages are getting longer and longer.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Francis took the light, mentally knocking himself over his head for not grabbing one in the first place. He split off from the guard, successfully pouring himself a cup of coffee. The hot caffeine did wonders to push off his frigid nerves and warm his cool hands.


    The power switched off with a loud crack of thunder, causing Francis to light up his flashlight as he worked his way back to his office. In the darkness, the shadows seemed to swim. Paired with his frayed nerves made for a nerve-wracking experience as he panned from one side to the other.


    Down one of the side halls running parallel with the one he headed down, he heard a light pattering. It sounded- sounded almost like wings. His mind flashed back to that creepy crow, though he shoved down the thought as soon it popped up. ¡°Tommy? Tommy is that you?¡±


    No response came. His nerves, slightly relieved by the coffee, returned in full, icy force. ¡°C¡¯mon, man. This ain¡¯t funny.¡±


    He waited for several seconds, his only source of comfort the light he held grasped in his hands. The halls of Cold Moon Solutions, which he¡¯d walked thousands of times before, never felt more desolate than they had at the moment. If only he had brought the walkie-talkie along with him. Tera would know what to do.


    The wing-like flapping changed direction as if he alerted whatever it was, coming towards him. Low, deep thunks as if some truly massive monster irregularly sounded off, followed by spine-chilling cries. They sounded like a crow, though if the crow was sized up a dozen times with a blade stabbed into its throat. ¡°Khrawk! Khraw!¡±


    Francis rushed back to his office, throwing caution to the wind as he ran to his safe space. Already, warped images seeped into his head of whatever it was chasing him. The sounds followed as he sprinted, staying just close enough for fear to hold him captive, and yet far enough back to stay out of view.


    It was toying with him. He knew it. It was only a matter of time! If he could just get back and get out a warning, some of the guards in the basement could come up and capture it. Right, he panted harshly, regretting his choice to skip exercise. If he could just hold out, he''d be fine.


    His flashlight bounced and bobbed as he ran, nearly slipping several times as shadows grew and shrank all around. He wasn''t even sure what it was that chased him. Something felt very, very wrong. Did- did something from the sub-levels come up?


    The company did all sorts of weird voodoo shit in the basement. It¡¯d be right up their alley to summon some kind of monster that stalks the dark. Oh God. Tera. Was she okay? She had to be okay. He needed to call in someone. Anyone. Even the Crusade. His job didn¡¯t matter if he was dead. Was- was Tommy still alive? Or did  already get him?


    Francis raced back to the security room, locking the door behind him as if to lock away his terror. His head fell forward, slapping the door as the cool sensation helped calm down his erratic emotions. The deadbolt easily slid into place, as did the other three locks on the door. He turned back nearly getting a jumpscare from the coat rack in the corner as he headed for his walkie-talkie-


    Wait. He froze, his entire body locking up. Francis¡¯s head slowly turned as if possessed. His coat was supposed to be black- S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    A sharp pain traced his throat before he could fully turn, instantly spreading a numbing sensation through his blood. In mere moments he lost control of his face, then his chest, then his body. Without the strength to hold himself up, he could only watch in horror as he lifelessly dropped to the ground like a sack of rice.


    His coffee, the only reason he left his safe hideaway, finally slipped from his hands, splattering all over the floor as the ceramic mug shattered. Bits of ceramic dug into his leg as what hadn''t already spilled of the coffee scorched his skin, yet none of it registered over the cold seeping into every inch of his body.


    Was this death? Was this how he¡¯d die? Funny, he always thought he¡¯d get fried by some Black ICE in the Net. Not- not this-


    Francis frantically tried to move, tried to call for help. Nothing worked. As his heart grew more and more treacherous and fear ate at every part of his mind, his vision swam. Everything blurred and swirled together as if he were sucked into a deep, dark nightmare.


    His flashlight¡ªonce his beacon of hope¡ªrolled in front of him, shedding light to his side. The wall shifted, revealing a form hidden so well against it that he wouldn¡¯t have even noticed if not for the head-turning his way. Darkness peeked at him, one he fell into as it ominously drew closer.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    I looked down at the Netrunner. What¡¯s up with this guy? A hand idly adjusted my mask, resettling it on my nose as my other slid the dagger back into my pocket. I barely even hit him with the jade dagger, and yet he reacted as if I laced it with poison or something.


    I leaned down to check on him just as his eyes rolled up back into his head. Weird. Did the Neo-Joker guy react like this when I hit him too? No¡­ I think he remained conscious the entire time¡­ Was this guy just weak?


    I nudged him with my foot several times. No reaction. I checked his pulse, finding a heartbeat going several times faster than normal, almost to a dangerous point. Thankfully, it was calming down as the Netrunner slumped over. Killing him really wasn¡¯t my intention. Especially scaring the poor guy to death.


    I picked the unconscious guy up, dragging his scrawny form over to the Netrunner chair. I set him up as if he were on the Net, loosely plugging wires into various ports in what I hoped was the right setup. I didn¡¯t fully plug anything in, partially afraid to give him access to the Net where he could warn someone and partially afraid of killing him by plugging the wrong thing into the wrong port.


    I then headed for his walkie-talkie. I tapped around on the voice modulator I brought, messing around with it to get a voice similar to how he sounded. It was rather easy since I trailed him for so long and heard his voice several times.


    I¡¯d initially just been planning to get in and paralyze him before anything could go wrong. Using the ¡®power outages¡¯ induced by my bola to create blind spots for the cameras, I got to his room rather easily. Imagine my surprise when just as I was about to break into his room I heard him talking to someone. It complicated my plans.


    I tailed the guy ever since he left the security room, which had been a thrilling experience. Seriously. I thought he saw me at least a dozen times. Especially when he flicked over his shoulder like he¡¯d seen a ghost. Terrifying.


    Just as I was about to get him, that other guard came around. I was hoping for another opportunity, though last second I decided not to take him out in the small closet where they kept the coffee pot. I figured it''d be far easier to hide him in his security room.


    And then, as I made the decision, he started to leave. I wasn¡¯t quite in position, so I had Corvid stall for a bit on the way. I¡¯d just gotten into the room when he came racing down as if a Jaeger chased him. Seriously, that birdbrain was supposed to stall, not prod him along.


    ¡°Test test.¡± I finally settled on one that sounded similar enough. I pressed the button on the walkie-talkie. ¡°I¡¯m back, Control. Anything happen while I was gone?¡±


    ¡±No¡­ you okay? Your voice sounds a bit off.¡± The woman on the other side, Tera I think the Netrunner called her, asked.


    Um¡­ I looked around, my gaze freezing on the spilled coffee. ¡°Sorry, Tera. Burnt my throat. Couldn¡¯t wait for just a minute.¡± I forced a chuckle. ¡°Alright, I¡¯m jacking back in.¡±


    ¡±Good luck¡­ hey, remember that time we finally got out of the city and headed for Velth?¡± The woman asked, her voice sounding¡­ off. Maybe it was nothing¡­ but the Cues suggested the opposite. It felt like a test. Hmm¡­ what to say?


    I quickly looked around, eyeing a postcard pinned up on a sponge board just above the terminals. I glanced over it quickly as I tried to add a wistful note to my tone. She said finally got out, so I imagine there weren¡¯t too many places they could¡®ve gone. ¡°You mean Ironlake City? Where¡¯s Velth? You eat something weird?¡±


    ¡°Ah, sorry. My brain must¡¯ve blanked for a moment.¡± The woman replied. There was a vague note of relief hidden in her voice. Test passed? I hoped. I needed to speed things up just in case. ¡°I¡¯ll- uh- I¡¯ll see you in a couple hours when our shift ends. Can¡®t wait to get something to eat. Get away from this creepy place too.¡±


    ¡°Chek.¡± I tossed the walkie-talkie back onto the table. Okay, CCTV taken care of. For now at least. And my timer officially started. I had a little less than three hours before the paralysis wore off. Time to get a move on, yeah?

 Chapter 152

    Chapter 152I looked around the place, checking for anything useful. Lots of Netrunning stuff, most of which I was scared to take. Definitely had some kind of tracking software in most of this. No point taking any of it without a Netrunner of my own to get through the ICE.


    That being said, I did find something of note on the downed Netrunner. It was an access badge, one that resonated with the Aether. I¡¯d wondered how the employees got around without tripping the wards, and I think I found it. Maybe. It felt similar to the necklaces that the Circle used at least. I¡¯d test it later after I got everything I needed from the CEO¡¯s office.


    With the cameras all taken care of, at least at the moment, it made it rather easy to head for the CEO¡¯s office. I snatched the walkie-talkie from the table and connected it up to my earpiece. This way, I¡¯d be able to keep in touch with any alarms or alerts the security team sent out. I then left the room behind, locking it up tightly.


    The guard that the Netrunner talked to blocked my path forward, though it hardly mattered as I slipped past him. He was far too busy playing a game on his phone to notice. Not that I could blame him. Guard duty was almost as boring as surveillance. At least, in low-threat places.


    The office sat on the opposite side of the building from the stairs and elevator, making it quite far if security were to move to my location. That, paired with the fact I was already listening in on their comms, would mean I could get out before anyone reached me.


    The office itself had a keypad on it. I recognized the model as one of ASCorp¡¯s now-defunct security systems. I¡¯d taken advantage of this particular one a couple of times back before I acquired the interface to supercharge my capabilities.


    I slid my knife just under the edge of the panel, popping it off far too easily for what was once considered high-end. The entire top part of the number pad pulled off, exposing its internals. Part of this particular model''s issue was it lacked a failsafe in case the pad itself was tampered with.


    All that being said, it was rather easy to short the console. After crossing several wires and cutting a few parts, a click sounded and the deadbolt slid out of the way. Easy.


    I popped the panel back on as if it never happened and slipped into the CEO¡¯s office. It was a large, imposing place. The entire room was empty except for the large desk on the far side. It was almost as if he wanted to use the empty space as an intimidation tactic. The walls were lined with typical corporate accomplishments and the like, though they were too boring to really pay much attention to. Back to the right sat three lone bookshelves.


    I moved over to the desk first, eyeing the golden plaque resting on it. It read ¡®CEO - Kuzo Tsukuyomi¡¯. My bastard uncle. Just seeing that name filled me with no small amount of rage, though a dose of unease quickly chased it down. He always did this to me, making me incredibly unsettled just by the mere mention of his name or the image of his face.


    I ignored the plaque and moved around the table to access his terminal. The gonk left it without a password, though it did take a few moments to get it booted up from all the power outages. Probably so self-assured in his ''strong'' security systems that he didn''t think anyone could get in. Idiot.


    As I waited for the computer to boot back up, I rifled through his drawers, tossing his shit all over the floor as I looked for anything of worth. Papers and other worthless stuff flew everywhere as I scrounged around. There were a fair amount of housing magazines and what looked like research notes on other cities. Most across the pond. That bastard wanted to move? Or run away? Or both?


    I did pilfer a fine-looking cigar case full of expensive-smelling cigars and a bottle of some whiskey. Might be able to sell them. A couple of gold-plated pens too. Maybe added all together I¡¯d be able to pay off my original chrome eye.


    The terminal finally booted up, and I immediately used its search function to look for files related to keywords of interest. I first went through each of the shell companies that hired Athena before looking up Athena herself. My first searches revealed quite a few internal emails.


    Most of the messages were about Kuzo seeking more research materials for a familiar-sounding project: Project Methuze. I marked down the name and moved on through the rest of my keywords.


    I followed a trail of internal emails between my uncle and other workers in the building, eventually stumbling across some authorizing the use of company assets to fund ¡®expeditions¡¯ for ¡®objects of power¡¯. Probably the gigs to get relics.


    I cross-referenced the numbers and dates in the emails versus what Athena sent me a while back. They matched. They matched. At least, they would¡¯ve matched had Athena actually been paid for her services.


    From what I could tell, my uncle did indeed hire out to Athena Alexandria¡ªsimply referred to A in the files. And then he sent the Adepts under the corporation¡¯s payroll to go and acquire these ¡®objects of power¡¯ and eliminate any ¡®dissenters¡¯. Paid far less than what he should¡¯ve owed.


    I copied over every file I could, in the meantime looking up ¡®Project Methuze¡¯. The computer buffered for a moment before linking to a separate server bank hidden away in the files. One that was locked with a passkey. No way I could crack it.


    Unfortunately, I had neither the time nor the resources to get access. I got what I wanted anyway. That just left how I wanted to deal with the rest of this gig. I got the evidence, just wasn¡¯t sure how much further I wanted to go. When in doubt, call the boss.


    That¡¯s exactly what I did. At an ungodly hour, I dialed up Athena¡¯s phone deep in the heart of enemy territory. Surprisingly, she picked up after the first ring. ¡°Gah! Zuku? You know what time it is?¡±


    ¡±I found what you wanted.¡± I intended to say more, though my words died in my throat as I picked up a picture frame on my uncle¡¯s desk. It was a familiar one, an ancient photo I hadn¡¯t seen since my parents passed.


    The picture was of happier times, back when my grandfather was still alive. He smiled next to Kuzo, an arm slung around that guy¡¯s hateful face. My parents stood just next to them, my small form buried in their tight embrace as if to never let me go-


    At least, that¡¯s how it was supposed to look. A bolt of icy wrath nearly exploded in my heart as the scar over my eye burned with a vengeance. That bastard had cut out my parents and me, leaving just him and my grandfather smiling in the photo. Just how much did he hate us?


    It cracked as I gripped it tighter, shards of glass falling around. I tossed the frame to the side, not caring as it shattered fully against the ground. ¡°Sorry- what was that?¡±


    ¡°First you have the gall to call me this late, then you don¡¯t even listen?¡± Athena¡¯s voice helped center me back down as she sighed. Although her words were quite cold, I got the feeling she was actually in a good mood. ¡®Course, such a deduction was  influenced by the party I heard raging in the background. ¡°I was asking what you found.¡±


    ¡±Ah.¡± I leaned back in the CEO¡¯s chair, carelessly kicking my feet up onto the desk as I knocked aside several ornaments. A few of them shattered as they hit the ground, though I paid it no mind. ¡°The evidence. I have it.¡± I tapped on my phone, sending over the documents and emails I copied from the terminal.


    Athena went silent for several minutes. I pulled my knees to my chest and swirled around in the spinning chair, doing several slow spins as I stared out the rain-covered windows. I idly clenched my hands a couple times, flicking the power off and on as I waited for her to read everything.


    ¡±Cold Moon Solutions, eh? Okay. What do you want to do? Sabotage? Or I can send a strike team.¡± Athena chuckled lightly. ¡°I strongly recommend the latter. Bag that bastard while we¡¯re at it.¡±


    Hmm¡­ what to do? I kicked off of the chair, walked over to the shattered picture, and stared down at my grandfather¡¯s face. I guess I could be considered unfilial now. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know tomorrow?¡±


    ¡±Fine, fine¡­ don¡¯t keep me waiting too long. I¡¯ll transfer the money for part one momentarily.¡± Athena hung up, leaving me to steep in the near silence of the CEO¡¯s office.


    I fully flicked on Cold-Blooded, allowing the cold blood to freeze over the emotions holding me back from rational judgment.


    I wanted to do it myself.


    This was personal after all. S~ea??h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    There was a layer of guilt at ruining the corporation my grandfather built up so passionately, though that layer faded under the raw hatred oozing up in my heart as my fingers traced the long scar down my face. Kuzo deserved what was coming to him at least.


    It¡¯s not like the corporation was the same anyway. I¡¯d checked the employee lists while scrounging through Cunts- er, Kuzo¡¯s terminal. Only a few were familiar. And considering the high chance of a Savant Lab underneath the place? The corporation had long since rotted under my uncle¡¯s control. If anything, I was honoring my family¡¯s memory by destroying the rotten namesake.


    As for the damages? Destroying the lab would be enough to satisfy Athena. I stomped my foot down on the picture, slamming my uncle¡¯s face underfoot as I moved off to the side of the office. I¡¯d figure the rest out down there.


    I¡¯d already done the math. The surrounding rooms weren¡¯t large enough, and the three lone bookshelves were already suspicious on their own. It barely took me a minute to find the activation switch hidden in a bust of my uncle¡¯s face. Originally, the head lifted off on hidden hinges to reveal a button. Of course, that was before  ¡®accidentally¡¯ used too much force and shattered the bust.


    The middle bookshelf slid away, revealing a ¡®secret¡® elevator just as I suspected there would be. Really, how secret was an elevator if just a look at the room and a bit of knowledge about the building¡¯s blueprint could easily expose it? Careless. Or perhaps just cocky to the extreme.


    The elevator itself was marked with the same wards that sat in between every floor. I pulled out the security badge I swiped from the Netrunner and looked it over. Moment of truth. Worst-case scenario, I break the window and jump out before anyone can get up here.


    I stepped through the doors, carefully watching the transparent wall marked with runes for any signs of a reaction. It shimmered slightly as I passed through the ward, though the shimmer calmed as my swiped pass crossed through. I waited in the elevator for several long moments, keeping an attentive eye on both the ward and the walkie-talkie in case my presence was detected. Nothing.


    The elevator panel was far more detailed than the main one I¡¯d been in prior. ¡®Course, the first three floors were marked, but below them sat seven sub-levels. Start with the lowest, I guess. Then work my way up? I hit sub-level seven. The elevator dinged as its doors slid shut.


    For once, my trip down the elevator went flawlessly. No lurches, no screeching, and thankfully no falling. Just a smooth ride down to the bottom. The doors slid open, revealing a long white hallway. Another ward blocked the way forward, though the security badge I snagged had enough clearance to get through it without causing a fuss.


    I wondered around a bit, not entirely sure what I was looking for. The security down here was on another level though. Multiple cameras sat at every intersection, providing maximum coverage. Every dozen steps or so a ward blocked the way forward as if to easily track something breaking in¡­ or out.


    If I hadn¡¯t already taken out the Netrunner watching the cameras it¡¯d be nearly impossible to get around. That, or if I were trying to get around without being noticed at all.


    The first room I checked was some kind of chemical lab. Quite easy to spring the lock on the door. I mentally marked it down then moved on, finding a dozen different rooms all in various states of scientific disarray. Most of them were chemically inclined and had materials that tickled Aetherial Perception. Some kind of drug lab? Or some kind of magic testing?


    Yet, as I headed further around the circular hallway, I got the feeling that wasn¡¯t quite right. At least not entirely.


    I unlocked a door, expecting yet another chem lab. Instead, I found a dim room full of blinking server banks. Rows and rows of servers sat in the dimness of the room, with thick black chains wrapped around each. Glowing red chains marked each of the chains.


    Oddly enough, the glowing runes were entirely for aesthetics. At least, as best I could tell. While they did glow to the naked eye, they were entirely mundane under Aetherial Perception. It was weird. Incredibly weird.


    I heard a couple of footsteps as I headed back for the exit. I immediately ducked back into the server room, clambering up and on top of one of the servers. I crouched down, covering myself entirely with the poncho as I made my form as small as possible.


    I scooted back, making myself indistinguishable from the wall in the dim light of the room. I left the barest of slits in my poncho to look through just in case.


    A few moments later the footsteps stopped as a shadow peaked through the underside of the door. A voice called out, ¡°Hey, was this door unlocked?¡±

 Chapter 153

    Chapter 153The door popped open, letting a beam of light into the dim server room. I breathed as calmly as I could, keeping myself from tensing up or shifting. Nothing drew the eye better than movement.


    Two guards moved into the room, both flashing a flashlight around the area. They were both armed for bear, loaded in full suits of combat armor. They were on an entirely different level from that guard on the top floor.


    These two though? Full metal similar to my now-defunct heavy armor. I don¡¯t know what they were expecting to fight, but with the firepower they had suggested it couldn¡¯t be anything simple. Multiple grenades strapped in a bandolier, assault rifles, and some kind of baton hung from them. Looked like maybe a shock baton of some sort. Oh, and that wasn¡¯t including the wands strapped around their bodies. Definitely Adepts.


    I flicked on Aetherial Perception as I watched from the corner of my eye, catching signs that the armor was enchanted. Definitely not cheap. What were they guarding against so ferociously? Seriously, the level of security here put even a smaller mid-size corporation like Artoras Consulting to shame.


    I eyed the two goons as they wandered around. Something about the way they walked gave me a dangerous feeling. Their Cues more so pointed towards experienced mercs. High-level ones at that. I tried to put together where else I¡¯d gotten such a dangerous vibe, but the only thing that came to mind was the Rime Peak Lounge back when Iris pulled me along.


    ¡°Think one of the eggheads forgot to lock up?¡± One of the guards asked as he panned a flashlight right over me. His eye glazed past me on top of the servers as a yawn escaped from under his helmet.


    The other walked over, tapping one of the servers with his foot. A blinking red light flashed green. ¡°Chek. The gonks can¡¯t do anything right but think about their precious research.¡±


    ¡±Hey now, at least it¡¯s job security.¡± The first one muttered. He ran a hand slowly over one of the wands stuffed into a holster. ¡°Seriously though, this place gives me the chills. Can¡¯t wait to get paid and delta. The Aether barely responds down here.¡±


    The second one chuckled. ¡°What, the beasts upstairs have you spooked? Or is it  thing in the middle that has you spooked? You know it isn¡¯t even real, right choom?¡±


    ¡±Chek¡­ but it could be. The Aether is chaotic on the best of days. Combined with those guys upstairs messing with things they shouldn''t?¡± The first guy shuddered as he paused, his head pointed right at me. His shaking doubled down for a moment as he coughed, curling over.


    I barely resisted the urge to shift as he bent over. What were they talking about though? The Aether not responding is worrying at least. Reminds me of those plant beasts and the corruption flowing off of them.


    I flicked on Aetherial Perception, glancing around as much as I could without twisting my head. As far as I could tell, the Aether seemed just the same as usual- wait- no. It¡¯s- it¡¯s almost thinner? Instead of blanketing meatspace like it usually does, it looks like more of a veil here. Weird¡­


    The second one rushed over, forgetting his search as he patted the other on the back. ¡°That snake¡¯s poison still getting to you? You should¡¯ve gone to Medtech, choom! Where am I going to find another partner if you flatline?¡±


    ¡°Argh! You- you¡¯ll manage.¡± He coughed a few more times, pulling up his helmet to cough up blood into a rag he pulled from his pocket. ¡°You thought about what I said?¡±


    ¡±Turning this place over to the Crusade? Don¡¯t even joke. You know rep is what we live and die by.¡± The second guard shifted from foot to foot. ¡°You know who''s backing this place anyway. Whistleblowers tend to be flatlined through suicide by decapitation on the best of days.¡±


    ¡°Chek¡­ you¡¯re right. Would be a nice payday though. What¡¯s their bounty fee up to now?¡± The guy straightened back up, heading to the door. His coughing fit seemed to make him completely forget about searching.


    The other man followed him. ¡°I didn¡¯t look. Best not tempt ourselves-¡° His voice quieted as they shut the door. A moment later I heard the deadbolt slide back into place. They were gone. Though not without making even more unanswered questions. Just what was that bastard uncle of mine doing?


    I waited several minutes to ensure they were gone, then sprung back down to ground level and stretched out. I could keep still like that for hours if I had to, but it wasn¡¯t exactly comfortable. While I loosened back up, I adjusted the poncho¡¯s controls and dropped the temperature down quite a bit. It was really hot down here, and sweat was already starting to coalesce on my brow.


    What were they talking about with the Crusade anyway? Turning it over? Should I- should I turn this place over to the Blue Crusade? Might give me a boost in rep if I do it as Zuku. But I don¡¯t even really know what they¡¯re talking about. At least, not yet. But I would soon.


    I checked the time. I still had about two and a half hours till that paralysis wore off. More than enough time to investigate. I unlocked the door, slipping out and locking it behind me as I headed further into the facility. More of the same scattered about, though I eventually hit a four-way intersection. I peeked through the halls, checking all directions before making a move.


    One led back to the main elevator, the area lined with offices of various kinds. The other led to a massive chamber of sorts and finally, the last continued on in the circular circuit. The massive chamber tickled my fancy, so it''s where I headed first. That, and the guards mentioned something in the middle.


    The chamber was a massive perfectly round room. Hundreds of wires, tubes, and various cooling systems led up through the roof, connecting to something up a floor. Banks and banks of servers and monitors, all lined with that weird pseudo-runic chain, wrapped all around the room. A maintenance ladder off to the side granted access to the next story, so I headed over to it for a better view of what was going on.


    I climbed up the ladder, carefully peaking my head over the top before I fully committed. Runes, each in that weird non-aetherial reactive state similar to the chains, lined the room in vast ritualistic-looking circles. They were all blood red, with seven scattered altars around the place.


    Extremely familiar-looking Items lay locked into cages atop the seven altars. It took me a minute to figure out why that was. I flicked my phone on, checking the files Athena sent me. They were an exact match for the stuff she was hired to find. All glowed under Aetherial Perception.


    In the dead center of the space sat a massive robotic skull. The cooling systems connected up through the floor to it, alongside thousands of wires going every which way. Most entwined with spiky horns sticking up out of the skull. The skull sat inside of a central runic circle like some kind of malevolent entity locked away.


    A chill went up my spine as I looked at the ritualistic setup. No wonder I¡¯d heard this place was creepy. The creepiest part of it though? None of the runes actually did anything. They were all mundane but written in some kind of red luminescent paint as if it would have an effect. As far as I could tell, it was all some weird aesthetic choice at best.


    Just what the hell was going on here?


    The skull, defying my expectations, twisted on its podium, turning toward me as two giant glowing eyes glowed in the back of its metal cranium. Its voice, deeper beyond any reason it had a right to, sounded horribly mechanical. ¡°Who dareth intrude on the great Demon Lord Methuze?!¡±


    I reacted as soon as I heard its voice, withdrawing the Sonic Suppressor from my bag. I wasted no time tossing out the eight anchors, each of them flying true as they magnetized a massive cube around the skull. I flicked it on, creating a boundary to cut out any noise.


    Then I retreated back down to the ladder, watching for any sign the guards would come around after hearing its voice. They never did. Nor did I hear anything over the walkie-talkie line. Once I was assured I was still undetected, I slipped back up to the skull.


    I looked it over curiously as the thing stared down at me. What did it claim to be? A Demon Lord? Cringe. Methuze though. That¡¯s the project the hidden servers had locked away. What was this supposed to be though?


    Hmm¡­ Well, one plus one  two. Giant  skull. High Crusade bounty. The sheer secretness of the place. Wait- that¡¯s three. Anyway¡ªif I didn¡¯t know any better, I¡¯d say my uncle had an AI locked up down here. That would be pure insanity though, so it was probably something else. Except¡­ it¡¯d be right up his alley?


    ¡±What are you?¡± The easiest way to figure out what was going on was to ask. And anyway, this thing was under heavy lock and key. No way it was on Cold Moon Solutions¡¯ side. More importantly, it¡¯d already seen me and there were still no alerts sent out.


    ¡±The great Demon Lord Methuze! Puny mortal, bow down and offer thy sacrifice. Thou might just be blessed with thy greatest might!¡± The chrome dome announced as flashes of red illuminated the skull menacingly. The whole look was ruined by the sure absurdity of the massive skull though.


    ¡°Yeah, but what are you really?¡± There was no such thing as Demon Lords or whatever. Unless it was saying Daemon, though they were more of a series of protocols in a Net Architecture than anything. Sure, a hyper-advanced series of protocols, but still just protocols. Only the most advanced ones could talk, and adding lore like this into their code was a massive waste. So¡­ AI then? That was practically suicide after the K-10 Convention though.


    The skull twitched, the nose shaking harshly. ¡°I detest thee! Thou darest defy mine glorious self?! Doth though finish thine sacrifice?¡± Lights reflected off to the seven pillars. Ah, were these items supposed to be a sacrifice? Why would an AI want stuff from the Aether?


    Now, if I didn¡¯t have Aetherial Perception, I¡¯d think something was actually going on with the altars and blood-red runes. With it though? I felt like someone accidentally walking into a roleplay convention. Were they stealing relics to satisfy this thing''s sense of character? Weird. Were all AI so¡­ ? ¡°Whatever.¡±


    I wandered around, ignoring the talking skull''s constant remarks as I checked out the tech around the place. Some pretty high-end stuff here and there. There''s a lot of heat in here too. Some seriously powerful processors were hidden around here.


    Most of the coolant systems were a patchwork of barely slapped-together parts though. Regardless, with how prevalent Project Methuze was in the files, I can¡¯t imagine it was cheap to set up. If I broke everything, It¡¯d work for Athena.


    ¡±Hey, where¡¯s your power switch?¡± I cut off whatever else the skull was going on about. I¡¯d find it eventually regardless of what it¡¯d say. S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It froze. I wasn¡¯t expecting an answer anyway. No way an AI would tell me how to kill it-


    ¡°Truly?¡± It spoke, its voice changing from the mechanical demon lord to a soft female tone. ¡°Thoust doth myself the greatest of honors?¡±


    ¡°Uh- Chek?¡± I looked around. I could probably unplug all the coolant stuff. Cause everything to overheat and fry all the circuits¡­ hmm¡­ I¡¯ll probably have to go around and destroy the data banks too though. ¡°You want to die?¡±


    The skull went silent as it stared at me for a long minute. ¡°Thoust won¡¯t trick mineself once more?¡±


    ¡°Uh- no? Not really a point to deceiving you, is there?¡± I tilted my head.


    It mimicked my move to a limited extent. ¡°Indeed¡­¡± A light shone on a terminal bank to the back. ¡°The torturer''s username ist Admin-Methuze. Password ist Admin123.¡±


    I hesitantly headed for the terminal. No way it was that easy, right? And what¡¯s with the shit password? This place had over-the-top security, and yet had such a terrible password? Suspicious. Too bad Cues didn¡¯t work on the metal skull. I checked my exit route one more time as I put in the credentials just in case this was some kind of trap.


    It wasn¡¯t. I easily logged in, getting access to their whole system. The first thing I looked for was any security alerts going off that I hadn¡¯t noticed. Nothing. I thought about adding some kind of code to delay a response, but as I looked through the terminal I realized it was way too far over my head to mess with. Instead, I settled with looking through previously locked files to find out just what was going on here.


    Apparently, my uncle was a psychopath- wait, no- I already knew that. But I didn¡¯t realize just how batshit insane he was. The first file related to Methuze was from about five years ago, right before the Cold Moon Solutions production lines shut down. That bastard bought an infant AI brought from beyond the Node, spending nearly all the company''s assets on it.


    He thought himself a genius, that arrogant prick. The old memos and files used flowery words, but I could read between the lines. With the new AI, he convinced it that it was actually a sealed-away demon lord. He isolated it from any network and spoon-fed it carefully curated information to make Methuze think it was bound by some mystical contract and couldn¡¯t go against his words. It was the type of experiment only an insane person would think of.


    As of about a year ago, though, he finally moved on to using it. The goal of Project Methuze was to use the AI to write various kinds of programs in what was essentially free labor. He¡¯d then rebrand the corporation, all while firing the remaining employees and using his new AI slave to print money. All without actually having to hire a single person. What a prick.


    That being said, I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle as I read through the files. At the same time that he wanted to start abusing Methuze, Methuze fully got into their role, demanding sacrifices before it would cooperate. What started off as a simple demand for ¡®ritual circles¡¯ and ¡®protective measures¡¯¡ªwhich as best I could tell were the weird chains¡ªsoon became more and more expensive with the demands for objects of power. With every request he fulfilled, a more outrageous one would crop up before Methus could ¡®fully utilize its powers¡¯.


    And yet my uncle pumped more and more money into the project¡­ a sunk cost fallacy at its finest. That just left a couple questions unanswered, then I could get around to the sabotage. ¡°Hey, you, you¡¯re just acting, right?¡±

 Chapter 154

    Chapter 154I downloaded all the files from the various projects I could access while I waited for the AI¡¯s response. I took a particular interest in the ones missing Cold Moon Solution¡¯s label.


    Definitely a Savant Lab. Couldn¡¯t tell which corp was behind it, but that wasn¡¯t a surprise. Hard to cut ties if their name were in bold all over the research papers. Housing a Savant Lab was probably where all the money for Project Methuze came from.


    Included in the bunch that weren¡¯t marked were Project Drainage, Project Drained Soul, and Project Wraith. The last two were sealed with far more firewalls and protections than anything Cold Moon Solutions had. Project Drainage seemed to be a joint project though, so I had access to it from this terminal.


    As best I could tell, it was an experimental process to drain the energy from relics, enchanted items, and materials from the Aether to store the energy separately. I didn¡¯t read too far into it. It was a bunch of magical jargon and theories that went right over my head. Could probably sell it to someone though.


    Unfortunately, while it was accessible from this terminal, a quick glance through the file revealed hundreds of firewalls blocking any kind of meddling. Not going to get any of it without hand-typing everything out, and I definitely didn¡¯t have time for that. I didn¡¯t even bother trying to look through the other two. No telling what kind of ICE, or even Black ICE knowing those corpo bastards, was set up in them.


    Methuze¡¯s skull tilted slightly before dropping the pretense entirely. Its feminine tone grew stronger. ¡±Indeed¡­ thou hast seen through mine disguise¡­ Thou still intendst to uphold thine word?¡±


    ¡°To kill you? Hmm¡­¡± I quickly ran through the pros and cons of keeping an AI. The cons far outweighed the pros, though I couldn¡¯t help but feel Methuze was quite pitiful. Still, pity didn¡¯t mean much. True AI were banned for a reason. ¡°Chek.¡±


    Not like I¡¯d be able to move Methuze anyway. The massive amount of server banks required to hold this thing wasn¡¯t something I could replicate without some serious Rayn. Not that I wanted to anyway. Possession of an AI was a capital crime after the K-10 Convention. Instant execution.


    ¡°Therest an emergency shutdown command.¡± Methuze¡¯s metal skull clacked as its voice drooped into an even more pitiful tone. ¡°Operating code: Firestorm.¡±


    I opened up the command console, pausing before I did anything. Hmm¡­ What were the chances I was actually being tricked by this AI in the first place? Before the invention of Nodes, AI-human hostilities were through the roof. There¡¯s a reason they were banned, after all.


    I closed the console temporarily. Instead, I pulled every confidential file Cold Moon Solutions had up. There were a lot, spanning over eighty years. Far too many to download onto my phone. It wasn¡¯t that big of an issue though.


    I pulled up a map of the underground lab, instantly memorizing it thanks to Eidetic Schematic. I used the newly obtained knowledge to figure out where I wanted to strike. I factory reset a drive in a nearby server room, clearing it entirely of whatever was on there, and copied every bit of the confidential files. It was too much for just the one drive, so I repeated the process onto two others roughly separated by years.


    I then closed out of the terminal and turned to go. My foot paused as I caught sight of the expectant skull staring at me with eyes reminiscent of a begging dog. ¡±Uh- after I get what I need, I¡¯ll come back and use Firestorm.¡±


    ¡°Thou ist truly noble.¡± The skull went silent, acknowledging my words.


    I left back down the ladder and headed for the server room I mentally marked. I easily slipped into it, this time locking the door behind me. It took a moment to find the right drives, but eventually, I pulled free all three and slid them into my various pockets.


    I checked the time. Still had about two hours¡­ hmm¡­ I could just leave now. Get out while I was ahead, though without sabotaging anything. And without doing anything about Methuze. That option didn¡¯t sit well with me. I was already here, might as well get it done now and get the payday.


    As I thought about it, a few other plans popped into my mind, each more appealing than the last. There were hundreds of chemical labs scattered around the floors, each of them holding materials of value. Klepping felt like the right thing to do while I had the time. Really, klepping was always the right thing to do. I could hurt Cold Moon Solutions while lining my own pockets, so what¡¯s not to love about the idea?


    I slipped out of the server room and headed for the closest lab. I read through the chemicals, pouring a few into my canteen but otherwise leaving the majority of them alone. My real goal was the materials that resonated with the Aether. I didn¡¯t actually know what any of the stuff was, so I just grabbed whatever looked the most aetherialy reactive. Lots of crystals and stones.


    Getting around was a joke. Aside from the security patrols, I had free reign of the place. Even the patrols weren¡¯t a problem. Insight gave me a warning each time a duo was about to turn the corner. Add onto that I¡¯d already long knocked out the Netrunner in charge of the CCTV, and the pass I stole from him allowed me access to every facility in the place. Too easy.


    By the time I hit every room on the seventh sub-level, my backpack was full. By the time I hit every room on the sixth one, all my pockets were crammed full too. I didn¡¯t just grab raw materials. I also grabbed some expensive-looking components from the few tech rooms and server banks. Better to go ahead and grab components now than stress over not having them later when I needed parts.


    I was tempted to just keep snatching and grabbing, but I was already overloaded after an hour of skulking around and looting. I¡¯d even filled the couple bags I¡¯d found with goods. I dropped everything off in the CEO¡¯s private elevator where no one would find it and checked the time. Still about an hour and a half before the Netrunner woke up.


    While I walked around, I messed with every cabinet lock I could and tore components out of the various electric bits and bobs. I especially tore apart the experimental devices in the tech labs and shattered fragile components, hopefully setting back months of work.


    That just left the rest of the five sublevels to look through for things I could either sabotage or klep. To be honest though? I was hesitant about heading up there. The best I could tell from the blueprint, the actual lab parts that belonged to the Savants were the first two sub-levels. Anything below that was dedicated to office space, labs, and other assorted rooms related to Project Methuze and Project Drainage.


    As for how I came to such a conclusion? It was rather simple. The first two floors weren¡¯t marked down at all, leaving an empty blueprint of the spaces as if Cold Moon Solutions wasn¡¯t supposed to know what was up there. Even the way into the top two floors was different. Sublevel three had a separate elevator leading up to the lab, and probably separate security too.


    ¡®Course, I could still try to get up there, but it left all the more chances to get caught. Instead, I returned down to Methuze. The skull lit up as I walked back into the room. Literally. Bright, blazing red lights shone from all over the metal skull as if to imitate fire. ¡°Thou hast returned.¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± I returned to the console, looking through a catalog of commands. I carefully blocked Methuze¡¯s view from seeing what I was doing. A thought occurred to me just as I was about to find Firestorm. This AI, although kept in an offline network, probably had full viewing access for the server banks. It would need at least that much permission to follow what Kuzo wanted. ¡°Hey, Methuze, what do you know about Project Wraith and Project Drained Soul?¡±


    ¡°Researchers of Project Drained Soul seek a way to commodify life further by draining or empowering the very life force of a creature,¡± Methuze said, though her tone lacked any kind of caring intonation as she talked about such a horrifying concept.


    My back instantly straightened as sweat beaded down it. Savant Labs were truly the worst of the worst. ¡°Have they- have they made any progress?¡±


    ¡°Negative. Thine researchers still wander about, looking for a way to even detect that which they seek to drain.¡± I could feel its eyes looking down at me as I returned focus to the terminal.


    I finally found the catalog entry for Operation Firestorm, glancing through it quickly. I  it. I backed out, returning to the command prompt menu, and stepped aside for a moment. ¡°What about Project Wraith?¡±


    ¡°Not entirely sure. The project ist sealed tightly. Something about creating Artificial Sprites.¡± Methuze dropped its voice once more, going for even more pity. ¡°Willst thou follow thine word now?¡±


    Damn. Were they batshit insane? No way the eidolons would just sit by and allow artificial sprites considering the Aether is their domain-


    ¡¸Request - Destroy Project Wraith - Received


    Destroy Project Wraith.


    Reward: Favor¡¹


    Called it! But, seriously. That wasn¡¯t much of a reward, now was it? Surely y¡¯all could offer something more-


    ¡¸Request - Destroy Project Wraith - Updated


    They say power makes you lose sight of what got you there. There are thousands of Magi in Aythryn City, each would come running at a slight call. wish to inform you that don¡¯t need you specifically.


    Favor¡¹


    Well¡­ fine. I¡¯ll do it. No need to twist my arm like that. ¡®Sides, giving a corporation the power of sprites would be quite bad for the lot of us streetwalking mortals. Especially when put together with Project Drainage and Project Drained Soul. It''s a Savant Lab anyway. I¡¯d be doing  a favor by making it disappear.


    It¡¯s not like it would hurt me either as long as I played my cards right. And keeping good relations with the ones feeding me power and strength wouldn¡¯t hurt too much. I¡¯d already gotten a lot out of them, so doing something as a favor every once in a while isn¡¯t all that bad. As long as it stays every once in a while. No way I¡¯d start going out of my way for them every time without some form of pay.


    I do wonder what the difference between this specific Request and the others was though? Why did they-


    ¡°Savior, art thou there?¡± Methuze¡¯s voice drew me from my speculation. I could think about it later.


    I forced a smile to my face, Honest Face hopefully helping to sell the expression. ¡°¡®Course. Just thinking¡­ oh, one last question before I use Firestorm. What do you know about Akiri and Ryouma Tsukuyomi?¡±


    ¡±Thine CEO¡¯s brother and sister-in-law? What doth thou wish to knowst?¡± Methuze asked. Its voice, imitating a woman, tilted upward in an excited voice as if it couldn¡¯t wait to die.


    The words froze in my mouth. Did I really want to know? Knowledge can be a curse just as much as a blessing¡­ This could potentially be my first real lead into their deaths though¡­ Especially since the Blue Crusade database had been entirely unhelpful. Whoever originally worked their case didn¡¯t dig at all and took it at face value. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°What happened to them?¡±


    The skull tilted its head toward me. ¡°Willst thou activate Firestorm?¡±


    ¡±¡¯Course.¡± I pushed honesty onto my face and voice, carefully wiping away the slight shake in it. ¡°Just need to know this one last thing.¡±


    ¡°They were found deceased during a suspected Jade Fang operation. Their killer, one Timothy McLare, shot and killed both before succumbing to wounds inflicted by the couple shortly after.¡± Methuze¡¯s voice carelessly talking about their deaths nearly made me snap back at it. I suppressed the urge with a momentary flicker of Cold-Blooded.


    ¡°Anything else?¡± That was the story the Blue Crusade and Jade Fangs gave too, but there was no way it actually went down like that. Mom was a badass. No way some low-level thug iced her. And my dad was an amazing runner. Dad dying without even putting up a fight was simply incomprehensible. ¡°You¡¯ve gotta have something. Otherwise- otherwise I¡¯m running out of time to leave.¡±


    The metal skull twitched sharply. ¡°Shortly before his entire department was fired, Ryan Tresh, the Head of Investigations for Cold Moon Solutions, filed a special report to Kuzo Tsukuyomi. That is all I know.¡±


    Ryan Tresh, huh? A foggy memory of a man with a big, bushy red beard came to the forefront of my mind. My heart couldn¡¯t help but beat faster at hearing his name. Maybe- maybe this was my chance to finally find out what exactly happened back then?


    I was too young to get any clues back then, something I beat myself up over, but maybe now? Maybe now I¡¯d finally find out. Maybe now I¡¯d finally be able to avenge them. I just need to find Ryan.


    A new plan formed in the back of my head as I suppressed my emotions with Cold-Blooded. I had no doubt there would be a catalog of Methuze¡¯s interactions hidden somewhere. Kuzo was too paranoid to not have one. My best bet would be to make the entire Sublevels go. Especially considering the Projects worked on down here. I¡¯d make the eidolons and myself happy with such a move. The Crusade? Hmm¡­ too much could go wrong. Athena might not like that either.


    ¡°Now, thine word?¡± The AI¡¯s voice twisted, sounding softer and taking on a familiar tone. The same tone that the Leper-Khan monster took when imitating my mother. I mentally hit myself over the head. My show of emotion must¡¯ve been enough for the bot to put together who I was.


    My hand shook slightly as my blood pumped viscously. How dare- how dare this abomination of technology go there? Sorrow bubbled up at hearing a voice so similar to my mom¡¯s. I allowed myself to sink further and further into Cold-Blooded effects, drowning the colors out as I got my mind back on track.


    ¡°You know,¡± I started as I coolly typed in a series of commands, ¡°Humans are such stupid creatures. Why, I almost accidentally kept you from fulfilling your death wish!¡±


    ¡°W-what are you talking about?¡± The AI changed its voice once more, shifting even closer to my mother¡¯s voice. It sent a bolt of rage through me strong enough to temporarily overcome Cold-Blooded¡¯s suppression.


    Firestorm was a mutually assured destruction-type command my dumbass uncle made. It released Methuze out onto the Node, ensuring everyone loses. I didn¡¯t type it in. Instead, I typed in the command line for Code Red. It seems uncle wasn¡¯t a complete idiot. Code Red was a failsafe to wipe absolutely everything from the servers. As I clicked enter, the lights in the room flickered.


    ¡°No! What have you done-¡° The now mechanical voice cut off entirely as the skull sagged down. The precise mechanisms controlling it sparked as the entire circuit overloaded. Frozen air jetted up in white plumes, shrouding the entire room in a cloud, though the flashes of lights from hundreds of sparking circuits illuminated the place.


    I watched every file in the sever banks permanently delete themselves, even the ones operated by Mystech¡¯s Savants. It was the type of damage that was irreparable and would cost the corporation the millions if not billions they spent on all their research here.


    And I wasn¡¯t done yet.


    The eidolons had spoken. And I agree fully with getting rid of the projects. More than that, no Savant Lab should ever be left untouched.


    I collected the Sonic Suppressor and dropped Listeners all around the room. I then headed for the nearest chemical lab. I rapidly disassembled large chunks of my gear and components I snatched for parts as I went. I had about an hour to get things done.


    -- -- --


    Athena Alexandria had been having a good night. It started with a party thrown together by some of her mercs to celebrate a massive haul from the Outlands. Then she got a call from one of her new mercs, a girl named Zuku Ichima.


    Honestly, when she first saw Zuku, Athena didn¡¯t think much of the girl. The girl was scrawny and looked rather weak, something at complete odds with everyone Athena worked with. She had been pleasantly surprised after the Leper-Khan gig though. Sure, it didn¡¯t go all that well, but Zuku proved her capabilities. At least somewhat. Only meatheads and chromedomes lacking chromosomes had been on her payroll for far too long, so it was a refreshing change of pace.


    Then, after noticing a certain pattern amongst a few gigs she¡¯d been hired to fix, she called the girl in once more. It was equal parts a test as it was a gig. Athena had a long list of contacts, including other fixers who would be more than willing to pitch the job to their own mercs. If the girl couldn¡¯t take care of it, she¡¯d find someone else who could.


    Or at least, that was what she thought at the time. Then? Bam, another pleasant surprise. In less than a week, it was done. Athena could appreciate someone who gets the job done.


    What she couldn¡¯t appreciate was the second call that came just a few hours after the first, far too early in the morning. When Zuku said she¡¯d let her know tomorrow, this wasn¡¯t quite what she expected. Nor was the request to meet her just outside of Bricktown.


    Still, Athena decided to listen to the request. Something in the girl¡¯s voice suggested a fun show. Maybe it was the brutal coldness that she hadn¡¯t heard from the girl yet? Or maybe it was the suggestion of fireworks? Regardless, Athena had a squad of guards join her as she headed to the location her newest merc pointed out. Not that she needed them, but she really didn¡¯t want to wash blood out of her hair again so soon.


    As soon as Athena exited out onto the roof, she spotted the girl¡¯s back. She stood, drenched in rain, in a T-shirt and pants. Her long, black hair was entirely drenched as if she¡¯d been standing out in the rain for hours. An ice-cold seemed to emanate from the girl as her beautiful face stared out at the city. Her head perked slightly when the door to the roof opened, though she didn¡¯t turn around.


    Athena blinked, disabling the scanning feature of her chrome eye. Not that it worked on the girl anyway. Zuku had a rather good feature scrubber that made it rather uncomfortable to use any kind of recording or scanning feature. Really, the scanner was basically useless in this day and age. It was only really effective against corpos and civies.


    ¡°Here you go, Boss.¡± Johnny, one of her guards, took out an umbrella and held it for Athena to walk over. He was always quick like that.


    Athena nodded her head and took the umbrella, pausing him with a gesture as she headed up to Zuku by herself. A warning, honed by decades of experience, hit the fixer. Right now? Things could go south. Zuku had an aura of uncaring brutality around her. Not that she cared. Most of her ¡®employees¡¯ were like that. ¡°So, what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Check it out.¡± Zuku slid over a small, crappy deck. On it was a video feed of a building flashing with red lights and sirens blaring out.


    ¡°Fire alarm?¡± Athena got the feeling there was more to it than that as she looked up. It took barely a moment for her eyes to snap onto the flashes of lights in the distance even through the blinding neon. Her vision zoomed, picking out the Cold Moon Solutions sign from over a mile away.


    Zuku tapped on the screen, pointing to a man arguing with firefighters just outside of the building. The facial recognition software built into Athena¡¯s eye instantly pointed him out as Kuzo Tsukuyomi, the current CEO of the corporation that screwed her over. Repeatedly. The fixer¡¯s face hardened as she spotted the target of her ire.


    ¡°You wanted them to feel your wrath, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± The fixer arced an eyebrow, one of her favorite expressions. It had a way of intimidating most people. Most. Zuku didn¡¯t even react as rain slowly dripped down her chin. Her eyes were hyper-focused with a frigid ice buried under a disguise of human expression.


    ¡°Here.¡± Zuku passed over a small device with a large red button. ¡°All yours, boss.¡±


    The device looked hastily put together from some scrapped parts that didn¡¯t fit quite right. Yet it was surprisingly well made. As someone who¡¯s been in the field for decades, Athena could recognize a detonator when she saw one. The ¡®Boom!¡¯ hastily scrawled over the button reinforced the idea.


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget to pay me.¡± The drenched girl packed up several bags of stuff and turned to leave, walking off to the side of the building. She jumped over, descending out of view. A story drop at that. So she wasn¡¯t just good at sleuthing?


    The woman looked down at the button. She had a feeling her newest merc had quite a few skills she still hadn¡¯t shown outside of scouting, apparently tech, and getting around. Maybe she should-


    ¡°Boss?¡± Tony, one of her other guards with a fully chromed-out body, asked from the side.


    ¡°Leave it. Wouldn¡¯t want to irritate my newest hire.¡± Athena mused as she looked down at a bag left behind by the dark-haired girl. She nudged it with her foot, making the very items that she was originally hired to find spill out.


    A snort left her nose as she looked down at the crappy detonator. She always did love fireworks. A perfectly shaped chrome finger tapped on the button-


    Night turned to day.

 Chapter 155

    Chapter 155I idly stroked the top of Corvid¡¯s head as he chowed on a burger. It¡¯d already been a day since I infiltrated Cold Moon Solutions, and yet I still found myself stuck watching the news clips over and over again. Of course, the rest of the city had long gone on. It was just another explosion in a sea of them.


    I restarted the clip one more time as I rested my head on my table. The newscaster, a pretty woman with far too many aesthetic augments, smiled at the camera as a picture of a massive crater in Bricktown popped up. ¡°In what authorities are calling the Cold Moon Accident, Vesper Street in Bricktown was rocked by a horrifying explosion early this morning. Surprisingly, there were no fatal injuries reported, though one man was critically injured. A few bystanders on the scene also suffered minor injuries. The surrounding buildings were damaged in the process, though both were empty this late at night. Reports have come in that the landowners are seeking restitution.¡±


    The newscaster disappeared as a clip popped up. At first, it showed my uncle arguing with a firefighter just outside the building. In the blink of an eye, the building exploded into a flash of multicolored lights. Streaks of rainbow lightning flowed with the massive cloud of debris and fire, arcing along as reactive materials collided with each other in the dust clouds. For a few brief moments, spontaneous tears came and went as if some unholy entity ripped space apart. The Aether overlapped again and again, devouring a large chunk of the explosion as the pure energy ripped open the dimension on a small scale. The worst of the explosion was devoured by the ripped space, but there was still enough energy to cause severe structural damage to the surrounding buildings.


    They must¡¯ve had some really expensive stuff in the top two labs for it to go this badly. Or at least something that had the potential to cut open a dimensional gap. Maybe a Spirit Cleaver tree?


    A groan escaped my lips as I ran a hand through my hair. Not what I thought would happen when I primed the chemicals scattered around the building to explode. I was expecting a small-scale explosion that would maybe collapse a sinkhole into the sub-levels. In hindsight, I should¡¯ve seen the Aetherially reactive materials reacting to the explosion.


    The newscaster returned with her fake smile. ¡°The Crusade has put out a statement that the sudden explosion was caused by a gas leak reacting with illegal materials kept in unregistered sub-levels. Their investigation into the matter is still ongoing, though our investigators believe it to be the latest crackdown on Savant Labs across the city. The Blue Crusade has once more proved themselves by taking down a potential menace to society.¡± The woman minimized as the screen changed to a hospital room. ¡°The CEO, Kuzo Tsukuyomi had this to say-¡°


    My uncle, wrapped in too many bandages and casts to even see his skin, coughed out blood. ¡°We¡¯re being framed. This is a conspiracy. I¡¯ll find the terrorist responsible for this horrible att- ack!¡± Coughs wracked his body again. ¡°A-and prove it!¡±


    "As for the firefighters that arrived on the scene, they showed their appreciation for Kuzu Tsukuyomi holding them back last night. If he hadn''t, several firefighters would''ve been severely if not fatally injured. They are throwing a party in his honor." The news station put up a picture of about a dozen or so firefighters all bowing in thanks to the CEO.


    The newscaster returned. ¡°CEO Kuzo Tsukuyomi has filed for bankruptcy since our interview. He has since refused to comment, though law experts suggest he is soon to be buried in legal fees while the Blue Crusade investigates the matter. In other news-¡±


    The clip paused as I rewound it once more and hit play. I dropped my head onto the bar, feeling the rough charred wood against my skin. It wasn¡¯t supposed to be like this¡­ at least, this isn¡¯t how I thought I¡¯d get revenge. An eye for an eye, eh? Looks like I did more damage than just an eye¡­


    Corvid pecked my hand lightly, covering my phone with his wing. ¡°Caw? Caw~ Caw?¡±


    I turned off the phone and rubbed his head again. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right¡­ thanks for the help.¡±


    The avian slapped two wings to his chest. ¡°Caw, ca-caw!¡±


    He went back to eating the massive burger I bought him as my phone dinged. A message from Athena popped into my HUD. ¡®Good work. Liked the explosion. A bit extra for returning the relics. Oh, and I¡¯ve got a job coming up in a week. Closer to the Leper-Khan job. High payout and should be easy to repay that favor I owe you. Interested?¡¯


    I pulled up my First Botswana International Bank account and checked it over. Outside of my bulk sale of aetherial crystals and rocks to Carone for thirty-five hundred Rayn, I also had a deposit of twenty thousand from Athena. Oh, and a smooth hundred from the odds and ends I nicked from the CEO¡¯s office. ''Course the bastard had cheap knockoffs. Can''t imagine he had much money after dumping so much into Methuze. The three combined brought my bank account up to twenty-nine thousand, two hundred and thirty-four.


    If I add on the gold coins and pocket watch, of which were worth at least twenty thousand altogether, I had more than enough to finally get that metal printer with some to spare. Things were looking up. Or at least, that¡¯s what I forced myself to think as I watched Kuzo get blown away again and again.


    ¡¸Stealth - 9>10¡¹


    ¡¸Deception - 7>8¡¹


    ¡¸Explosives - 1 Acquired¡¹


    Hey¡­that¡¯s something. Haah¡­


    New Skill is exciting, I guess.


    New Perk too. That¡¯s fun¡­ I can add it to the list of other Perks I have to spend. That makes¡­ what, four? I¡¯m slacking. Oh, and I had some stuff I wanted to make. Now that I could afford the metal 3D printer, there were plenty of projects I could work on.


    I just had to find the will to do it.


    I sent a confirmation message to Athena and then pushed myself up and out of bed. The first thing I did was find the card for the Constellation Night Market. I RSVPed for the next one in a couple of days and then flopped back onto my bed. I drank deeply from Crow¡¯s Canteen as I watched Corvid happily chow down the entire burger from Big Mike.


    I had a couple days till the Night Market went live. Might as well spend my Perks now, at least. With a thought my vision faded and I was pulled into the pavilion.


    I stood in front of the Deception Perk shelf. Dozens of unread scrolls lay around, all gleaming with the promise of power. I¡¯d looked through the list already back when I was thinking about spending my free points, so I already knew what I wanted.


    ¡¸Master of Disguise¡¹


    Since it required both Deception and Concealment at level eight, it could be ¡®slotted¡¯ into either. Nice to know. Basically, I get to save my Free Perk Point and still get the Perk. I picked out the scroll and took it over to the easel.


    As soon as I set it down, it unraveled. The painting depicted an incredibly attractive woman. Whoever it was had an impossibly beautiful face as if their every feature had been perfectly crafted. The only thing that stood out were two slightly glowing sapphire eyes.


    I blinked, trying to think about how the person in the painting looked, though my mind blanked entirely outside of the incredible beauty and sapphire eyes. I entirely blanked on any of the actual features.


    I blinked again as the pavilion started to fade away, the painting capturing my attention entirely. It had changed at some point, turning into someone else. The new woman was still incredibly beautiful and had amazing cobalt eyes.


    Wait-


    The pavilion faded entirely and I found myself back in bed. A cooling sensation exuded from my body, similar to Cold-Blooded, and yet a relaxing cold instead of the frigid gnawing that the other Perk gave. It felt similar to other active perks, like Hidden Hands.


    I stood up and headed for my bathroom, looking at myself in the mirror. For several moments, I couldn¡¯t recognize the face staring back. The girl was incredibly pretty, and her eyes seemed to pop against her nearly flawless skin. I blinked a few times, mentally deactivating Master of Disguise.


    It didn¡¯t work. At least, not like I thought it would. I could see my face as it became clear once more, though I still felt the coolness of the Perk being active.


    I tried a few other things, eventually finding that the Perk worked differently than my other active ones. Instead of being one large toggle for the whole thing, it felt like more of an individualized process.


    I went out onto the street, going for a jog as I familiarized myself with how the Perk operated. Best I could tell, everyone had individual toggles. With it on, the person wouldn¡¯t recognize me though it seemed as if my clothes were still somewhat recognizable.


    I had a barista I was messing with comment that my poncho, jacket, and techie pants must be in style since she¡¯d seen a couple people come in all dressed the same. I went in a dozen times, so I wasn¡¯t a hundred percent sure if it was just her lacking perception or if it was a partial effect of the Perk. Someone more cautious would probably be able to figure out something was wrong, so it wasn¡¯t flawless, but it was damn near close. I just needed to change up my wardrobe and I''d be solid.


    Definitely a perfect tool in my arsenal. It would hopefully help keep my identities separate, at least. Not that there¡¯d been too many close calls so far, but still. Oh! I could also easily infiltrate places too. I wouldn¡¯t have an issue burning my face after my first trip at least.


    Oddly, although no one could remember my face as if there was a haze over it, Honest Face still worked. I was a bit worried for a while that Master of Disguise would make Honest Face obsolete, but they seem to still work together.


    I didn¡¯t immediately return home after testing out Master of Disguise. Perks were best spent after some downtime. At least, that¡¯s what I¡¯d been able to piece together after so long. It kept me from overstressing mentally.


    Instead, I grabbed my guns and headed for the firing range. It was something I¡¯d been meaning to do for a while now. My accuracy was¡­ considerably bad. It had gotten better as of late, but I still needed to work on it.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª S§×arch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Several hours later, my arms sore from the constant kick, I returned to my apartment. After a quick shower, I laid down to pick my next Perk. It was a bit soon, but Master of Disguise had been relatively easy on me. Not even a splotch of pain.


    This time around, I went with Melee Weapons. In an instant, I arrived before the shelf for it.


    Melee Weapons¡­ what to say about it? This was my first time actually looking through its Perk scrolls, and most of them were useless- well, not useless. They¡¯d be really good for a psychopath who wanted to bring a knife to a gunfight but otherwise didn¡¯t fit my style.


    There were some cool ones though. A lot of weapon-specific martial arts and abilities. There was one called Shocker¡¯s Scythe that boasted the ability to coat the blade of a scythe in electricity. Super cool, but, like, who wants to carry around a massive scythe?


    There were other more useful ones in there though. Life Deceptive Dagger. It looked similar to Hidden Hands but was specifically for distracting an enemy while wielding a dagger. There were a lot of Perks for daggers and knives specifically. Probably since they were the most used these days.


    ¡¯Course, there were more universal ones. Improvised Weapons could be used with any kind of melee weapon from bar stools to glass bottles. Or Energized Strike seemed as though it was for every weapon. Basically, a one-time all-out strike that seemed as though it would do some serious damage. At least based on the description. It''s too bad these don''t come with a video of them being used or I could make a better guess at their viability.


    I ended up settling on something a little different. Something way more my speed.


    ¡¸Throwing Weapon Master¡¹


    As soon as I popped it onto the easel, my surroundings changed. I was back outside of the pavilion, in the garden surrounding the pavilion. The dreaded rock garden sat just off to my side, though a red fence line blocked it off instead of infinite lightning like last time. It was a much gentler reminder not to leave the area.


    I stood in the middle of what looked like an archery range. Old-timey targets¡ªround hay bales held up by a peg¡ªsat on the far end of the range, each of them placed at different distances. Some were even half buried or raised up off the ground. Others had cover blocking them in a way that would make it impossible to hit them without some kind of rebound or perfect arc.


    Tables lay all around the firing lines, each of them loaded with hundreds of different weapons. Knives, shuriken, tomahawks, and hundreds of other types of throwing weapons I couldn¡¯t name off the top of my head sat around. Heck, there was even a deck of throwing cards buried under the mound. Each stack of weapons was bundled up into groups of ten.


    The closest target, one set up without anything crazy and fairly close, was briefly illuminated by a beam of moonlight peeking through the clouds. Falling sakura petals, because they were always falling here for some reason, drifted to the target as if carried by a light breeze.


    ¡¸Hit the bullseye 0/10¡¹


    Haah¡­ so a learned Perk then. I felt a slight pang of regret as I headed for the table and picked up a bandolier of ten tomahawks. I pulled one of them out, getting a feel for the weight of the ax as I tossed it up and down. Then, without further adieu, I threw it at the target. It hit¡­ the target next to the one that I aimed at.


    The bandolier reset back to ten tomahawks.


    ¡¸Hit the bullseye 0/10¡¹


    I had a feeling I¡¯d be here for a while.

 Chapter 156

    Chapter 156A guard with a Constellation patch on his arm passed me the same black card I¡¯d gotten the last couple times I¡¯d been through the initial checkpoint. ¡°Don¡¯t lose this. We don¡¯t offer seconds, and it''s your pass to the next market. Just scan it with your phone.¡±


    ¡±Yeah yeah.¡± I waved a hand, taking the offered card as I headed further into the warehouse. The PMCs, outside of looking cool, were kinda boring. It¡¯s like they had a teleprompter in their helmet telling them what to say.


    At least the market itself was more interesting. This time around, the Constellation Night Market was held in an abandoned museum just on the fringe of Oldtown and the Outskirts. It sat opposite the FSA base, on the west side of Oldtown just next to Portside. Yeah, complete opposite side of Aythryn City from where I lived.


    ¡°Thanks for inviting me! I¡¯ve never had the chance to participate in one of these.¡± Torren chuckled from my side as we walked into the place. I needed a car, and, well, he had one. Hence my invitation.


    ¡°Thanks for helping me out,¡± I replied as we stepped fully into the Night Market. Stalls lined the halls of the museum, each and every one of them stock full of various goodies. The main hall of the museum felt like a flea market with barely enough space to walk between the dozens of stalls selling all kinds of exotic goods.


    Torren led the way for me just like back in school. He easily worked his way through the crowd while I tailed slightly behind him. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. Anything to get away for a while. That last gig-¡± He cut himself off with a shrug.


    ¡±That bad?¡±


    ¡°Just boring. Nothing happened the entire time. Some good food though, so not entirely bad.¡± The big guy squeezed through two people arguing over the pricing of an item. ¡°Where are we headed anyway?¡±


    ¡±To a guy named Suvroc. He¡¯s got a bit of everything. And if he doesn¡¯t have it, he knows who does.¡± Or something like that.


    He froze, an excited look crossing his face as we passed by an exhibition room full of various pop-up food stalls. A delicious scent leaked out into the rest of the museum. ¡±Hey, uh, call me when you need me?¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± And just like that, I was by my lonesome again. Well, at least he was giving me a ride. A free ride at that. And it was good to see the big guy again.


    The museum was an interesting place for a Night Market. It was old, and severely lacking in repairs, so rain constantly dripped in through cracks in the ceiling and shattered skylights. A group of dedicated Constellation PMCs constantly walked around with mops to clean up the pools and dump out full containers to have some semblance of a controlled environment. That all was ruined by the thousands of careless shoppers tracking in mud, ash, and all sorts of garbage through the freshly mopped ground.


    Even the lighting here wasn''t the best. Outside of the occasional strike of lightning and neon signage shining in through the skylights from the surrounding buildings, the Night Market owner had strung up multi-colored fairy lights everywhere. They cast a constantly swaying array of color around the place, the rainbows blending in with each other as they reflected off tracked around water.


    I wandered around for a good five or ten minutes before I felt a familiar tug. I flicked on Aetherial Perception, catching sight of a long ethereal cord gently pulling me toward one of the back halls. Suvroc. Or at least his magic coin.


    I easily followed the strand, heading through an abandoned back hallway to a near-silent exhibit hall. The door was flanked by a duo of Constellation PMCs in their full gear. They both eyed me as I passed in between them.


    I wonder if they¡¯re for hire? Or did the Constellation''s PMCs only work for the Night Market? Now that I think about it, I¡¯d never seen them anywhere else. ¡®Course, it was probably because we were in two vastly different fields. Was Constellation an actual PMC group that hosted the Night Market though?


    Ha- look at me. I have a bit of money and now I¡¯m thinking of hiring out PMCs. So stupid. Not like I¡¯d have Rayn for much longer. It would all drain away into Suvroc¡¯s pocket so I could finally get a metal printer. And then maybe I could start selling some products at a Night Market for a side income. Finally put my Tech skills to use outside of making gadgets.


    Boxes of various goods covered almost every part of the exhibit hall, so many of them that they looked like the place¡¯s walls. A table sat, abandoned by itself, off to the back with the rest of Suvroc¡¯s typical assortment of goods on it. The attractive coin he used lay off to the side of the table, though the man himself was nowhere in sight.


    I stepped into the exhibit hall, instantly spotting Suvroc in his typical cloak and mask. He stood amongst an exhibit of wax cavemen frozen as they waved clubs excitedly around a fire. He calmly sat in the midst of it all, warming up by the very real fire that had been lit in the exhibit¡¯s center. I temporarily whitelisted him for Master of Disguise.


    He glanced up, his mask catching my attention once more. Its four red eyes seemed to gleam with uncanny intelligence. ¡°Ah, Suvroc¡¯s favorite customer! Come, come, Suvroc has just what you need! And if he doesn¡¯t? Suvroc knows who does!¡±


    For some reason, I felt as though the guy had a certain level of intensity that he hadn¡¯t had the last few times I¡¯d seen him. Not quite enough to trigger Insight, but enough for me to pick up off his tone and body language, however hidden they were by his clothes. ¡°You call everyone your favorite customer?¡±


    Suvroc exaggeratedly clasped his hands to his chest. ¡°You wound Suvroc¡¯s honor¡­ ¡®Course my favorite customer is  favorite customer.¡± I could feel his gaze even without seeing his eyes. It had an unsettling note to it that I hadn¡¯t felt from the guy before. It seemed to linger on my hands for a few beats too long. ¡°What can Suvroc do for you?¡± Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡±I need a printer.¡± I looked around at the tons of merchandise stacked all along the walls. ¡°A metal one. Preferably something higher quality.¡±


    ¡±Suvroc has just what you need!¡± Several boxes detached from the walls, floating down to us of their own accord. A particularly large box, one that would need its own semi to move it, shifted forward as if it weighed nothing. ¡°How about the Sentinel Super Printer? Sentinel uses it in all their chrome manufacturing processes. Five hundred thousand.¡±


    I rubbed my arm as I stared at the massive box. What would I even need one of those for? No, before that- ¡°Way out of price range. Not that high quality. I¡¯ve got just over forty-five thousand I can move at the moment.¡±


    ¡°No worries! No worries! Suvroc has just the thing!¡± The majority of the larger boxes moved back to their resting places as several smaller ones took their place. This time around, a tiny box floated forward. The picture on the front looked like a microwave oven. ¡°Softworks Micro-fabricator, capable of printing in any place with its built-in solar panel array!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s kind of small?¡± I¡¯d be out of luck if I wanted to make anything larger than a pistol.


    Suvroc floated a box perfectly between the two. ¡±Schweigen International¡¯s Technological Creations Housing. Or SITCH. It¡¯s what they use for all electronic fabrications in their vehicles. Can make big or small items, with interchangeable nozzles for different levels of detail. Comes with advanced modularity based on the desired process.¡±


    ¡±Oh? How much?¡±


    ¡°Forty-five thousand. Extra for any modules. Suvroc likes his favorite customer though, so Suvroc will offer a deal! Suvroc will throw in the Multa-Melta module to use any metal!¡± I could hear the grin in his voice.


    I looked down at my phone and then put a helpless expression on my face. ¡°That¡¯s just over budget. I won¡¯t be able to afford it and get printer spools too¡­¡±


    Suvroc cocked his head at me and then nodded understandingly. ¡°Suvroc sees, Suvroc sees! Then, for forty-five thousand and five hundred, Suvroc will throw in an array of large material filaments! Copper, Steel, and Aluminum alloys. Even a spool of Titanium. Good, yes?¡±


    ¡±Deal.¡± I flicked on the bank app, sending him the money. At the same time, I sent a message to Torren. ¡°My mikata will be over in a minute to carry it out.¡±


    ¡°Sure, sure¡­ in the meantime, how about a little game with Suvroc?¡± The masked man asked as he leaned forward onto the table.


    I eyed him, stepping back a bit to maintain the distance between us. ¡°Like last time?¡±


    ¡±Chek. Suvroc will start. Suvroc has heard a new faction of the underworld has moved into the area. Something big. Suvroc¡¯s contacts in Bricktown are terrified after corpses turned up left and right.¡± Suvroc said dispassionately as he checked his gloved hand.


    ¡±Um¡­ okay.¡± Bricktown? Maybe it was related to the Neo-Joker¡¯s disappearance? What should I say? What was something big? And related to factions? ¡°Uh- there¡¯s an Underground faction planning something big in the city. Seem obsessed with plants. One of my mikatas mentioned something about corrupted Aether?¡±


    ¡°Ah? Interesting¡­¡± The merchant shuddered and backed up to the fire.


    He tilted his head watching me for a few moments as he warmed back up. I was half tempted to join him. The museum was incredibly leaky, and there was a salty chill in the air so close to the ocean. Then I remembered my poncho and tapped on the climate control.


    I remained silent and looked down at my phone just so I wouldn¡¯t have to talk to him any longer. I don¡¯t know what was different this time around, but something about the merchant felt off. Almost like there was a certain anger in his gaze, though I couldn¡¯t tell for sure since his mask blocked everything. I don¡¯t really know? I¡¯d never got this feeling from him before. And it didn''t seem directed at me in the first place, so it was hard to say for sure.


    Thankfully, Torren arrived before too long. He walked up, scarfing down a bowl of ramen. He slurped up the last of the noodles, tossing it into a trash can. ¡°Ah, hey Zuku!¡±


    ¡±Hey¡­¡± I looked back, giving a side eye to the creepy merchant. I hope he got the message.


    He seemed to get some kind of message as he immediately moved on to business. ¡°So, what am I carrying out?¡±


    Suvroc tilted his head toward Torren then waved his hand. Following the motion, a box lifted up off the ground and headed over to him. A second empty one followed, immediately filled up as ten different spools of wire flew into it, ¡°Favorite customer! Come again!¡±


    ¡±Chek chek.¡± I waved offhandedly to the unsettling merchant then motioned to Torren.


    Torren stared down at the box for a second, a frown etched onto his face. Then he sighed and withdrew a wand from one of his pockets. He swooshed it around in a complex pattern as the Aether twisted and warped around him for several seconds. Then, in a burst of light, his body grew several times, turning back into the muscle monster I saw at the Mortas Motel.


    He easily picked up the printer, even going as far as to hold it in one arm for a few seconds as he stacked the other onto it before nodding to me. ¡°Let¡¯s delta.¡±


    ¡±Chek. See ya, Suvroc.¡± I followed Torren out of the exhibition hall and back into the rest of the museum. Unlike what I expected, Torren didn¡¯t immediately head for the exit. Instead, he opted for the long way around looping through the vibrant abandoned museum.


    He looked over his shoulder back at me, nodding towards a hall full of booths and stalls. ¡°This okay? First time I¡¯ve been to one of these¡­¡±


    I flashed him a thumbs up, flicking the hood on my poncho back up and over my head to hide the rest of my face in its shadow. ¡±Whatever you want. You¡¯re the one carrying my stuff anyway.¡±


    We headed through the rest of the Night Market, looking at this and that. There was literally everything here from rare ammo sellers to Medech¡¯s offering their services. Hell, there was even an exotic pet merchant selling to a more rich taste.


    And people were buying. There were always people buying in Aythryn City. Quite wealthy ones at that. I might¡¯ve been tempted to pick some pockets if not for the Constellation PMCs watching like hawks. Not worth getting kicked out of my only Night Market connection. Or worse.


    Torren bought a few things, though most of it was food. He did get a meaty revolver coated in gold. Far too shiny and tacky for my tastes, but he seemed to like it. Definitely not worth the five thousand Rayn he spent on it without a care. Some people were just built differently.


    I spent most of the time looking around at stuff I¡¯d like to buy and yet couldn¡¯t afford. For instance, this was this really nice and super thin ballistic weave t-shirt offering complete bullet resistance against small arms. Nearly five thousand Rayn. Sure, I could''ve bought it. But it was nice to have some funds in case I needed them. Maybe next time.


    Eventually, Torren and I got into his car and headed back to my apartment. I¡¯d have to bring it over to the speakeasy in parts. I¡¯d keep it in the back hidden behind the second fake wall for now. At least, until I turned it into a real speakeasy. The idea became more and more appealing as time passed, especially since I could retire my real identity to always have a fallback into a more legitimate business.


    But of course, all that required money. A lot of money. I¡¯d have to buy the apartment building and completely remodel the speakeasy. Still, it was nice to have a new goal. After months of being single-mindedly focused on getting the metal printer so I could take full advantage of Tech, I was worried I¡¯d feel lost. Having a new goal relieved that worry somewhat.


    I also had a mountain of other things I needed to do. For one, I needed to find Ryan Tresh. Or at least find out what happened to him. Looking through the files I klepped from Cold Moon Solutions might have some pointers. That, and they¡¯d have nearly eighty years'' worth of blueprints I could peruse.


    There was also that egg I still needed to get. Once I have Blackout up and running, which should be soon one way or another, I¡¯ll make an attempt at it. Or at least look more into it. More info-gathering wouldn¡¯t hurt. And such a massive lab surely had some research worth snagging  I could get in.


    Torren carted the box up to my apartment and left as I cleaned up and refocused my mind. Once he left, I started working to transport my new printer and the rest of my toys while I was at it.

 Chapter 157

    Chapter 157I sat at the bar of the speakeasy, drinking from my canteen as I idly toyed with my ectrobola. I already got everything moved over, most of which was in the back. Unfortunately for me though, my choice of tables was rather lacking. The bar was the best thing in the speakeasy to work on, at least until I got some other stuff down here, so it was my temporary workstation.


    Once I went semi-public with the place, I¡¯d have to move it all down to my stash, but for now? I was lazy. And I didn¡¯t have a good system at the moment for getting up and down. Yet. All my stuff would stay up here locked behind two secret doors until then.


    Anyway, back to the bolas. They were cool. After going through the pavilion for Throwing Weapon Master, I was actually rarely good at using them. It¡¯s just that, well, their weaknesses never really went away with better skill. Namely, they were awkward to use. They needed too much space and took too much time.


    I could quickly throw a dagger in the milliseconds while in any position or tight space. The bolas though? I need to be in a position to have my spine perfectly vertical and enough space around me to whip it around my head a few times. Add onto that it would take several seconds just to get enough momentum to have a good throw, and they were just not that easy to whip out in a fight with my life on the line.


    And yet, I couldn¡¯t deny having access to an easy shock was incredibly helpful. It was good at disabling and stunning and had uses outside of combat as seen by my efforts at Cold Moon Solutions. Just that actually using them in combat was¡­ well¡­ tricky. Who in their right mind would watch me wind them up for a throw and just stand there?


    So that left me at an impasse with them. Extremely useful. Terribly awkward. So that got me thinking. How could I fix them? And the solution? I can¡¯t. At least, not exactly. Their faults lay in the core framework of the weapon... so I just needed to change the core framework.


    Originally, I thought of making electric throwing knives or shuriken. Then I realized that I would be practically throwing away money and shifted tracts slightly.


    I started where I always start when working on new things and carefully disassembled the bolas while cataloging exactly how they went together. I took notes on how everything worked, making sure I memorized the circuits this time around so I wouldn¡¯t have to mess around like I did with the thermal Katana. With any luck, my ¡®fix¡¯ would be one smooth and quick adjustment. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Once I had the pieces disassembled, I headed over to the pile of chrome junk I lugged up from the Underground when I decided to make this place my temporary workshop. I knew I¡¯d get a use out of it eventually, and now the time had come. In this case, I was taking a page out of the Scavs book.


    I pulled out all the hands and arms I could from the pile of scrap metal, then proceeded to break it all down into their basic joints. I separated out all the parts by pile in case I needed something for the future, but my main focus was the casings themselves, the part that acted as the metal ¡®skin¡¯.


    Chrome was durable. Even more so with the stuff from way back when. It was before they got the fine adjustments and delicate parts to make some high-end and easily controlled limbs. Almost as a common compensation for the lack of fine motor control, the chrome makers of old made them extremely durable.


    At least the mainstream chrome manufacturers. It was easier to get into the business back then, so there were thousands of different corporations that made shoddy products. It was easy to distinguish the high quality from the low by looking for rust on the internal components and the overall quality of the metal.


    By the time I went through my massive pile of chrome dredged up from the Underground, I had a nice array of fingers and hands. I went through, eliminating anything too blocky, and picked out the lithest pieces. I did a few tests, mainly checking the durability of each piece and the tensile strength.


    I pulled out the best of the best from my batch of old chrome, picking out specifically the knuckles. I welded and pinned together the joints, making them into essentially form-fitting fingerless gloves of metal for the top part of my hand.


    From there, I transplanted the electrodes for the bola onto the knuckles. They originally worked by sending a current through the ball on each end for a dual-tasing effect, and the wire connecting the two had no other feature than connecting them. Such a setup made it rather easy to get the electrodes and circuitry and transplant them over to the new shock knuckles design.


    The circuitry of the electrobolas was quite a bit bigger laid out flat than I expected. I hid the circuitry and initial batteries of the bola underneath the glove by adding another microlayer similar to how I layered the katana. I also went ahead and added an activation switch, getting rid of the previous signal system. I set the original signal antenna and control glove aside so I could use them for something else.


    The end result was¡­ well, it wasn¡¯t what I was expecting. After grinding off and polishing it, the gloves looked like the porcelain hands of a doll, only cut off just after the knuckles.


    A few quick tests revealed some issues with having them always active with a switch. For one, it drained the battery quickly. I added a quick connect jack to both so I could quickly charge them from the battery in my pack, but even then they just blew through charge. I took apart the knuckles again, this time adding micro pressure plates into the mix. Thank you Cold Moon Solutions for your part contributions.


    It took a bit of adjusting the circuitry and fine-tuning the pressure plates to get it just right, but my end product was gloves that would shock the hell out of someone when I punched them, giving me the leg up in any close-quarters combat. Hopefully. And electricity had the potential to wreak havoc on chrome too.


    While I was busy building toys, I went ahead and put my drone together. The drone itself wasn¡¯t all that complicated. Pretty basic as far as drones go. A simple quad-copter type design. I did go out and buy a high-grade battery for it, the same one that was in my pack, but that was the only change I made from my basic design. I had the rest of the parts in-house.


    I¡¯d already printed everything out for the drone body, so it was basically plug and screw till I finished it up. Another small adjustment to my original design was a changeup from the original antennae and receiver to the micro antenna and receiver of the bola. They were smaller and longer-ranged than my typical ones, so what wasn¡¯t to love about them?


    The drone body and all that I hadn¡¯t been too worried about when I designed it. The attachments though? That was different. For now, since I wouldn¡¯t be able to obtain a cloaking module, a noise muffler was the only attachment I could actually make. And to make it I needed a metal printer. Hence why I waited so long on the drone.


    I moved back into the speakeasy, heading into my manufacturing room past the second fake wall at the end of the private booth hallway. My plastic printer, plasma cutter, and the variety of tools I used back in my apartment sat off to the side. Taking up one of the walls sat a massive beast of a mechanism.


    The SITCH had been a struggle to set up. I spent nearly two days just getting everything over and set before I got it working properly. And it was a beauty to behold now that it was all set up right.


    It looked like three industrial ovens stacked side by side, except all sharing one large chamber in between. The glass view port looked into the fine mechanics and arm holding the nozzle similar to my other printer. I¡¯d already gone and swapped out the nozzle for the Multa-Melta module Suvroc sold to me.


    Although it wasn''t visible through the viewport, the thing had a massive solvent tank that took forever to fill up. The printer came with enough to fill it once, but I''d have to get more at some point.


    I popped the top of the printer off, checking the several spools of metal wire and a couple spools of a ceramic filament required to run the thing. Part of the beauty of the Multa-Melta module and the SITCH was its capability to run multiple different kinds of metal at a time, easily creating complex pieces that would take multiple runs with a different kind of printer.


    Unlike my plastic printer which required my deck to connect up and push across the schematics, the SITCH had its own built-in terminal and design software. It could even connect to the Net, not that I was gonk enough to do such a thing. Probably had some tracking software built into it to alert Schweigen International once connected up. I''d already removed the hardware connection point so it had no way to connect up.


    Of course, I could also just connect up my deck and transfer the schematic for what I wanted that way. And that''s just what I did. I¡¯d already had the parts designed since the first time I worked on the drone, so it was easy to send them over.


    The muffler design itself was something I came up with after disassembling and looking at the Sonic Suppressor. Basically, the Sonic Suppressor worked by hyper-advanced active noise cancelation. The anchor points picked up noise waves coming towards them, then projected a ¡®wall¡¯ of ¡®negative¡¯ waves that completely canceled out the initial noise. With six of the walls between the four anchor points, it made a cube of silence.


    The muffler was similar in principle, but quite a bit different in design. The specific microelectronics and ultra-thin metal components were heavily inspired by the Sonic Suppressor. Just that instead of projecting a panel it would project a dome around the drone, entirely cutting off any noise emitted.


    I loaded up all of the components I¡¯d need to the printer and sat back to watch it work. It was way too boring. And it would take way more time than plastic-printed parts.


    The SITCH needed to first print the items using a ceramic binder filament and a metal filament together, then fill the entire chamber with a solvent to wash the parts, and then finally sinter the parts by superheating the chamber to harden them into finished metal pieces. It could take anywhere from a day to several days depending on the size and complexity of the parts.


    I went ahead and cued up everything I¡¯d need for Blackout while I was here and then descended down into the Underground with a bag full of traps and mechanisms.


    ¨C ¨C ¨C


    I returned to my apartment way too late at night. I nearly fell asleep as I took a shower and stumbled over to my bed. As soon as I hit it, my vision went black before I arrived in the pavilion.


    My exhaustion immediately cleared away. As far as I could tell, while I was inside of the interface, my physical body back in meatspace would be in a sleeping state similar to short-term hibernation. It was part of the reason I could keep going for days on end without too many issues outside of dehydration, soreness, and hunger.


    Anyway, this time around I was here for the Evasion Perk. I looked through the shelf briefly, though I almost immediately found what I wanted. I still forced myself to read through the rest just in case. There were quite a few interesting Perks in Evasion.


    ¡¸Burst Step¡¹


    ¡¸Reflexes¡¹


    ¡¸Momentum Shift¡¹


    Reflexes were the most mundane of the three, at least to me. It had an overlapping effect with Insight, giving me a warning and a slightly timed slowed effect when an attack was coming. I already had a time slow from Dexterity and a warning from Insight though, so it was the bottom of the three. Still, it would enhance what I already had.


    Burst Step and Momentum Shift were both in a similar situation. Both of them were okay, but they really shined as prerequisites for other Perks further into the list.


    Burst Step, which had a very confusing description but seemed to be a temporary speed boost, was a required perk for something called Phantom Step. Phantom Step required Stealth eight too, and granted a temporary invisibility effect as well as an enhanced speed boost on a dodge. It would be incredibly good to escape with.


    Momentum Shift likewise was an intriguing Perk. Further into the list, something called Aether Shift was locked behind it. Aether Shift¡¯s description was rather interesting. From what I could tell, it seemed as though it would allow me to temporarily become invulnerable by traveling through the Aether. And invulnerability was incredibly tempting for obvious reasons.


    The deciding factor came after I checked the requirements for Aether Shift and Phantom Step one more time. Aether Shift required being either an Adept or a Magi, so I immediately eliminated it as an option. There were other Perks in the various shelves I¡¯d looked through since getting the interface that had similar requirements, though I typically just ignored them. Don¡¯t know how I missed it this time around.


    I went ahead and grabbed Burst Step from the shelf and brought it over to the easel. It unraveled to show a cloaked figure perfectly dodging under a hail of arrows shot from somewhere beyond the edge of the painting.


    I expected to get kicked out of the interface and sent back to my bed immediately. It seemed like one of those active effect-type Perks based on the description, somewhat similar to Hidden Hands and Master of Disguise.


    What I wasn¡¯t expecting was to get kicked out into a mountain range flanked by towering peaks. The moon¡¯s glow barely reached down onto me through a layer of fog around the mountain¡¯s peaks, revealing a secluded mountain courtyard with a flowering Sakura tree in the distance.


    I stood on the edge of a raised stage in the middle of the courtyard. Ropes encircled it, giving the impression of a fighting ring. The racks of weapons surrounding it reinforced the idea.


    This time around, there was a person with me. It took a few moments of observation before I realized it was another of the puppet-type entities that I¡¯d seen a few times in the past. They were like puppets that could only act according to their design and predesignated actions.


    In this case, the puppet held a sword and motioned to me.


    ¡¸Dodge the attack¡¹


    I barely managed to read the message before it was on me. Insight barely saved its sword from running me through as I frantically backpedaled. In the corner of my vision, I caught sight of a path of glowing red footsteps and a faint hologram of someone dodging along the path with some fancy footwork. The momentary distraction proved to be costly as the puppet ran me through with its sword, easily cutting through my flesh as if it wasn¡¯t there.


    I was expecting to feel quite a bit of pain, but surprisingly very little came. It almost felt as if the interface had become far tamer and gentler since my first days with it. It was almost as if the pain of being stabbed had been muted and turned down to a tenth of what it should¡¯ve been. Not that I was complaining.


    The moon above flashed as my wound bled profusely, blinding me for a moment before I found myself back to where I started.


    ¡¸Dodge the attack¡¹


    I didn¡¯t fall for any distractions this time, following the glowing red path. It was obvious this was some guiding hand to help me along-


    Only to have a sword slice cleanly through my spine. Even with Insight¡¯s warning, my feet were just too slow to keep up. The moon flashed again as I was reset back to the start. I stared up at the foggy moon for a few moments as I sigh left me. Looks like it would be yet another bloody learning process.

 Chapter 158

    Chapter 158Rain tapped against a far window of the Jagged Clover, drawing my attention away momentarily as a yawn stretched my jaw. My phone buzzed as a city-ordained warning about mass shootings in Bricktown came, shortly followed by a strict order to stay indoors. Good thing I was on the other side of the city.


    For a moment, I wondered if I¡¯d get called in to work the case by the Inquisitor. Then that curiosity passed as I realized he was probably too drunk off his ass to care much about such a simple thing. Better off leaving it to the Knights. It was their job, after all.


    I swiped up on the notification, hiding it as the file I originally looked at came back into focus. I scrolled on my phone, my eyes blurring as I read yet another memo about budget cuts and mass firing of a different kind.


    I¡¯d already looked through the budget reports over the past decade. Kuzo dumped so much money into the failed Project Methuze that he single-handedly turned a well-established mid-sized corporation into a micro one only kept alive by suckling a large corporation¡¯s savants. Truly the largest of idiots. I have no idea why my father made him the new CEO in his will.


    Not only had he dumped all the money of CMS into the project, he also dumped the main sources of the corporation''s income. Shortly after my parents died, about the time I left to live in the Ryu Container Yard, he cut contact with the Jade Fangs entirely. A five-decade supply contract gone just like that. It¡¯s no wonder he moved the corp to Bricktown. Not that it would¡¯ve mattered if the Matriarch actually wanted to do something about him.


    So far, my search through the files had yet to turn up anything of major interest. Barely even a blueprint I could copy. In the later years of the company, Cold Moon Solutions turned entirely away from R&D of new tech. Simply put, there wasn¡¯t enough Rayn. Everything would probably be back about a decade, which meant even at best anything I pulled would be too old.


    I was just about to flip to the next page when the tiny-handed bartender came by and tapped on the table. ¡°Lass, the boss is ready for ya¡¯.¡±


    I slid out of the booth. I¡¯d already been waiting nearly an hour. The woes of not making an actual appointment with a busy woman. However, to be fair, she was the one who invited me over to discuss the new job in the first place. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    I slid out of the booth, throwing my phone into my pocket as I headed for the stairs leading up to Athena¡¯s private booth. It was a short jaunt down the hall and I arrived before her usual door.


    ¡±C¡¯mon in!¡± Athena called as the door slid open.


    The blood had long been cleared up since the last time I was here, and it looked back to how it was the first time. Athena lay strung out across the booth¡¯s seat, her back against the wall and her booted feet dangling. A man I¡¯d never seen before sat across from her, drinking what looked like whiskey from a cup.


    The man, like most of Athena¡¯s merc I¡¯d seen so far, had a rugged militaristic look to him as if he¡¯d been freshly discharged and had yet to merge back into society for one reason or another.


    He was chromed out, the top left of his head replaced with shielded processing banks, and his eye an inhuman blue glow. A lazy mop of dirt blonde hair covered the majority of the chrome, flopping over from the rest of his flesh head.  He wore clothes in the technical style that I was fond of with lots of pockets and useful features. A blocky, black ballistic vest covered his chest. At least tier IV. A red cross patch sat on his shoulder, though it was made from heavily bowed fangs and clearly not the same as a medical one.


    Just like Athena, both arms had been replaced with chrome. Some high-end Raijin models are based on the aesthetics of the pieces. I caught the barest of seams on the top parts of the arm as he put his cup down. Maybe some kind of hidden gun or launcher? The rest of his figure hid under the table, though I imagined it wasn¡¯t too far behind the rest of him.


    ¡±Ah, Zuku, welcome.¡± Athena waved a hand to me. ¡°This is the girl I was telling you about. Roger, Zuku. Zuku, Roger.¡±


    The man eyed me, his blue glowing eye seeming to grow several pitches darker as he analyzed me. ¡°Hmm¡­ You sure?¡±


    I had the feeling as if I was intruding on a conversation halfway through as Athena answered. ¡°Chek. She¡¯s perfect to join you.¡±


    ¡±Um¡­ what am I joining?¡± I asked as I arrived at the foot of the table. Both of their eyes snapped at me uncomfortably. A flicker of Cold-Blooded kept me from twitching too harshly.


    Athena tilted her head at me and nodded to the other side of the booth next to Roger. ¡°Take a seat. We were discussing the new gig I have lined up.¡±


    Roger slid over, allowing me space to sit down as he drained the last of his whiskey. ¡°I don¡¯t bite. Much.¡±


    He said it in such a bland and cool voice. I wasn¡¯t sure if I should laugh or not, so I just turned back to Athena. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I recently acquired the cords of a stash in the Outlands. Now, normally, I¡¯d ship this out to my Nomad contacts. Unfortunately, my usual contacts have been¡­ disposed of. My secondary contacts are also busy at the moment.¡± She was probably referring to the Leper-Khans? ¡°Though she doesn¡¯t look like much, Zuku here is competent at getting into places. And tech skills?¡±


    ¡±The last job give it away?¡± The detonator was¡­ well, I tried to make it look as terrible as possible, but you really can¡¯t hide something from a competent Fixer. Though saying I didn¡¯t look like much was a little hurtful.


    Athena sent me a side-eye. ¡°The cords are in the Outlands. That, and it''s right in the middle of Dune Walker territory. Roger here is the Captain of the Crimson Company.¡±


    Damn, so this guy was a big shot, eh? The Crimson Company though¡­ I think I might¡¯ve heard something in the past about them, but I didn¡¯t have the foggiest idea what it was. There were far too many mercs between the solo actors and the companies in Aythryn City to remember all of them. Most of the latter were typically defense contractors.


    ¡±What¡¯s the pay?¡± Always the most important question. I wasn¡¯t a hundred percent sure I wanted to take this job in the first place anyway. It would be nice to get away from the city for a bit, but heading out into Dune Walker lands was¡­ well, it would be the first for me. But I¡¯d heard horror stories. I¡¯d need to pack plenty of silver bullets. And be careful with using the canteen too much. Provisions weren¡¯t an issue for me, but I had to at least make it seem as though they were.


    ¡±Five thousand upfront hazard pay, and more based on what y¡¯all pull from the stash and bring back split between all of Roger¡¯s company and you.¡± Athena shrugged. ¡°Potential payout in the tens of thousands if not more.¡±


    Damn, where was this back when I needed money so desperately? Hmm¡­ though it wouldn¡¯t have come around if I didn¡¯t prove myself with Athena over the last gig. Mercs really do live and die by rep I guess. Bringing me in on this makes it all the more apparent Carone has only been giving me the slop. That bastard.


    ¡°What exactly do you want from me?¡± I asked.


    Athena tilted her head as her beautiful chrome eyes seemed to mechanically twist and twirl with an intelligent light. ¡°Simple. Roger needs a techie who can get into the stash. You¡¯ll be responsible for getting in, and then fixing everything so he and his men can pull the cargo out. The place was supposedly stuck in a lockdown protocol shortly before it was abandoned. Oh, and any in-field repairs.¡±


    Okay¡­ I could probably do that. A stash in the Outlands could mean anything though. It could be a hidden depot from one of the Big 7 filled with all sorts of active defenses and lethal traps. Or it could be something from a time long, back before the wicked sands of the Eternal Sandstorm buried the continent.


    The Internet Crash and subsequent chaos left millions of places full of goodies abandoned as humanity scrambled to put itself back together. Netrunners specializing in digging up the past would occasionally find such locations and sell them to PMCs or Fixers.


    There was another question in the back of my head though. ¡°Why me? Does the Crimson Company not have a techie?¡±


    Roger rubbed the back of his head as his gaze dropped slightly. Although the man¡¯s micro-expressions were incredibly hard to see as if his face was a stone wall, I could pick up on embarrassment. ¡°Our- uh- our usual guy made a severe and continuous lapse in judgment in testing an old, erm, joybot that he fixed. He¡¯ll be with MedTech for the next several months recovering.¡±


    Athena snorted. ¡°I knew your group was as gonk as everyone else working under me, but ole¡¯ Frank really takes the cake with this one.¡±


    ¡±You¡¯re the one that sent him to me. He barely knows anything other than drinking and fixing cars!¡± Roger shot her a glare, though it lacked any true anger. If anything, it felt as though their conversation was more of a chat between old chooms.


    ¡±What is it you want me to get into though?¡± I shifted the conversation back onto the track.


    Athena nodded her head to Roger. Roger eyed me for several long moments before nodding to himself and withdrawing a small, silver puck from one of his many pockets. He slid it onto the table and tapped on it. His blue eye flashed, and a moment later a hologram lit up from the puck.


    The hologram blew up to reveal¡­ an opera house? The faintest of memories tickled at the back of my head. My grandfather used to love operas, though personally, I didn¡¯t see the attraction. The hologram itself was old, dated back to before the K-10 Convention. What would be so valuable at an opera house? ¡°What kind of security would be in a place like this?¡±


    ¡°This is ¡¯s Laurus Opera House.¡± Athena¡¯s face lit up as her eyes took a faraway look. Ugh, another opera fanatic. ¡°They used to do all sorts of legendary operas here, like . Ah, it must¡¯ve been quite the experience back in the day.¡±


    Acumen Industrial¡­ the name tickled a memory. It took a second until I realized why that was. Acumen Industrial was one of the many fallen corporations in history. Unlike most, though, they were once on par with BosSpace. Yeah, not just one of the Big 7, but  top dog of humanity. They fell just as the Solar Storms nuked the planet a while ago.


    No telling what they kept in the Laurus Opera House in terms of security. Still, it was bound to be sorely outdated since that was forty years ago. I should be able to get in just fine. Makes sense why they¡¯d need a techie though. A lockdown protocol from Acumen Industrial would probably have some nasty stuff if it was still running. And all sorts of fail safes if it wasn''t.


    Unfortunately, the hologram wasn¡¯t a complete schematic of the place. It was more like a public model shared around by the company to show how well-designed everything was. That meant most of the technical stuff I was interested in had been stripped from it. Still, I memorized all the halls and routes from it just in case I¡¯d need the intel later.


    ¡°Okay¡­ um, sure. I could do that. How long till we go? I¡¯ll need a couple days to prepare some stuff.¡± I should hurry up and finish building Blackout just in case at least. Maybe look at some other stuff too while I was at it. It wouldn¡¯t hurt to hit the gun range several more times either. I¡¯d be with the Crimson Company, but I¡¯d be a fool to entirely entrust myself to them.


    ¡°Five days from now,¡± Athena replied. ¡°You¡¯ll be moving a shipment to the Deseran Nomad Family. They just moved back into the area and need some supplies. If that all goes smoothly, the Patriarch agreed to send a small escort for fire support. You¡¯ll set off from the Nomad meet-up and head directly to the cords.¡±


    Roger retrieved the puck from the middle of the table and slipped it back into his pocket. ¡°I¡¯ll be in charge. If you have any conflicts with anyone on the team, bring it to me. Otherwise, do your job and you¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    Athena slid out of the booth, popping her back as she went. ¡°Alright, I have another meeting to get to. Room is all yours.¡± She stopped at the door, looking over her shoulder back at Roger. ¡°I need this one back. You better make sure she returns.¡±


    ¡°Who do you take me for?¡± Captain Roger put on an affronted look before slowly nodding. ¡°Not an issue. It¡¯s a job from you, after all. We¡¯ll ensure it goes smoothly.¡±


    Athena glared at him before turning back and leaving the room without another word. Nice to see she cares though. Gotta protect her profits and all that, right? Finding talent was hard, especially with the squads of mercs that semi-recently got wiped out by the gigs from Cold Moon Solutions. I¡¯m sure that was probably a big blow. And, not to toot my own horn, I was pretty great.


    I immediately stood up and headed for the door. Roger¡¯s voice stopped me. ¡°Not so fast. I need to know your capabilities to plan accordingly.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± I turned back and sat down on the opposite side. ¡°Uh, what do you want to know?¡±


    ¡±Athena vouched for your capability to get into places¡­ but what about your tech skills? She didn¡¯t say much about that.¡± Roger pulled out a data pad from one of his many pockets. He seemed like the type of guy to have all sorts of fun toys.


    ¡°They¡¯re decent. I can fix whatever needs to be fixed. Vehicles wouldn¡¯t be an issue, but some of the more complicated stuff might take more time.¡± I imagine vehicles might be a recurring problem since we were headed out into the desert. I knew from experience with my bike how easy it was for the sand to wear down on the surprisingly delicate machines.


    Roger wrote something down. ¡°You able to drive?¡±


    ¡±Anything landbound. Oh, that includes tanks and such too, I guess. Doubt that¡¯d ever be helpful though.¡± The Land Vehicle Perk was definitely the most underwhelming of all my Perks. Guess it makes somewhat sense though considering Driving was also quite underwhelming. And it still hadn¡¯t leveled up since I first got it.


    His only remaining eyebrow raised. ¡°Interesting. Doubt it¡¯ll be brought up, but I¡¯ll add you to the emergency driver list. And what about combat? The company should take care of anything that crops up, but plans usually shatter in the field.¡±


    ¡±I can shoot, but I¡¯m not particularly skilled.¡± Although it might not look like it to an outsider. Insight and Dexterity were a powerful enough combo to make me look somewhat competent to the average viewer.


    ¡°Same as Frank. Okay, I¡¯ll assign a guard to you then. Never know when the Dune Walkers will spring up. Speaking of, you have silver bullets for them?¡± S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡±A few. I¡¯ll load up before we leave.¡± Silver bullets were a hard requirement to kill Dune Walkers from what I¡¯ve been told. Never had the displeasure to face one of the shambling corpses myself, but supposedly they only truly died under the effects of silver. Something about the metal interfering with whatever magic voodoo witchcraft shit that makes them get up and walk.


    "Okay... for ten percent of the profit, up to five thousand, the company will provide all the ammo and supplies you need. It''s the standard price for the rest of the guys underneath the Crimson Company. Is that fine with you?"


    It sure beats having to cart out food and water for myself. Even if I didn''t technically need it thanks to the canteen, I''d rather not show off a priceless relic that could infinitely keep someone sustained. That was just asking for problems. "What all is included?"


    He handed me a long list of supplies, including but not limited to ammo, various provisions, medical assistance, and various other services. I briefly glanced through it before my eyes glazed over. Worth ten percent though, especially considering it capped out at five thousand if we really hit a jackpot. "Sure, I''ll go for it."


    ¡±Nova. One last question. Have you ever left the city?¡± He put a bit more weight on this one. Probably trying to figure out if I was just another street rat or someone with at least some experience.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been out. Had a job a while ago that took me out to Sunderland.¡± Nice. Made it sound as if I was a bit more capable, though Sunderland was definitely the furthest I''ve gone.


    ¡°Good. Load up on any tools or weapons you want to bring. The Crimson Company will take care of provisions. We¡¯ll set off from the company headquarters five days from now.¡± He tapped around on his datapad before showing the location and time of the meet-up. Quite early in the morning. Probably wanted to get a move on before the desert sun blitzed us too hard.


    He asked a few other questions, such as blood type and some more medical-related concerns in case I was injured in the field, and then I was free to go. Could definitely see the more corporate side of things behind an official mercenary company from him. As soon as I got back out onto the streets, I immediately headed back to the Speakeasy and got to work preparing for my newest gig. I had a feeling this one could get complicated.

 Chapter 159

    Chapter 159It¡¯d been four days since my meeting with Athena and Captain Roger of the Crimson Company, and things hadn¡¯t been going all that well. At first, I thought I¡¯d get done with the whole Blackout thing in barely a day, but the truth hadn¡¯t been all that kind. It¡¯d been four days, and not only were most of my printed components gone, but I was still back to where I started.


    I threw my latest creation, a scrap metal ball sparking with electricity and glowing red, to the side in frustration. There were many reasons why Blackout was harder to make than I thought it would be, but it boiled down to the reaction of the Rykon crystals. To be frank, it was hard to control the reaction.


    Basically, the Blackout module relied on the unique, harmless radiation Rykon crystals released when electricity ran through it. It was quite a bit more complicated than that, but that was the basic premise. The issue came in that the reaction caused the crystals to vibrate, generating heat and weakening the mechanism.


    I only got a glance at Blackout¡¯s blueprint through a reflection on glasses, so I didn''t have the exact material list nor was the blueprint entirely complete, hence my struggles. I was basically trying to figure it out by reverse-engineering the blueprint. It was difficult.


    I looked over the scrap. It looked as big as an eye, though the metal had ruptured around the Rykon containment parts in a way that would¡¯ve been incredibly painful had it been in someone¡¯s head. The vibrations were just too strong. Probably why the original Blackout overheated so much back when I used it.


    Advent must¡¯ve used some expensive materials to get it all working. Materials I didn¡¯t have on hand. I¡¯d tried other workarounds, of course, but nothing worked all that well. It was incredibly difficult to add anything into the mix without messing something else up.


    At the very least, it working. Outside of the vibrations ruining everything, the devices I made worked until they broke. For several long moments, my test recordings would blank me out as if I was never there. Sure they would break, but I knew if I could just solve this little glitch in the blueprint, I''d have a working Blackout module up before too long.


    In my experimentation, I noticed a few other issues with Blackout that I hadn''t originally noticed. Interestingly enough, Blackout didn¡¯t seem to work nearly as well if the recording started while I was already in the frame. It just turned me into a vaguely human shadow. That wasn¡¯t too big of an issue considering my most common use was duping security cameras and the like, but it was something to keep in mind.


    That just left getting the thing to hold together. My latest idea involved stuffing some of those anechoic fibers from the padding I cut out of the stealth suit into the ball. It worked, somewhat. They absorbed most of the vibrations and the heat generated by the Rykon crystal, but they also absorbed part of the electricity. My latest test saw me flickering in and out of the camera like a ghost till the copper electrode connected to the crystal melted.


    At least my other plans had gone fairly well. The Muffler for my drone had been easy to put together and worked like a charm. It took a while to set up the program, so I cheated and copied the Sonic Suppressor¡¯s programs. Only a few small adjustments and viola, it was up and working.


    Incorporating it into the drone body was even easier. The most difficult part of it was setting up the controller for the thing. I¡¯d initially wanted to set it up so I could jack into a receiver and control it all mentally, but that was quite a bit more complicated than just having a joystick where up goes up and down goes down. That, and I ran the risk of frying myself with my spaghetti code. No matter how much I wished it wasn''t true, Net stuff just wasn''t my thing.


    I settled on getting the controls set up on my deck. It had likewise been painful to code. I got a lot of help from the Net by copying and cross-referencing dozens of different sets of codes to get rid of anything unsavory. Drones had been around for a long time, so it was quite easy to find everything I needed. ¡®Course, it wasn¡¯t the best, but it would work for my purposes.


    My gaze shifted from the mostly completed drone down to the scrap spheres all around me. Maybe I was thinking about this the wrong way? I couldn¡¯t exactly copy the original, so why keep trying? I had a basic idea of how everything worked, so did it really need to be as big as an eyeball? It¡¯s not like I¡¯d stuff it into my own face. No way I''d use a homemade eye considering how easy it would be to fry my brain. And I could get rid of all the optic chrome that just complicated the circuits.


    I could just scale the thing up to the size of my Scouters. It¡¯d be far easier to get everything set up without having to get into all the microelectronics that I¡¯d been making with the printer. It would also reduce the structural stress that microelectronics make.


    Yeah- this could work. More space meant more room to include some of my own adjustments¡­ Maybe I could take the Muffler design and change it a bit? Sound was just vibration through the air, right? If I set up a redesigned Muffler just right, I might be able to completely nullify the vibration coming from the Rykon crystal. That¡¯d solve the overheating problem from Advent and my current rupturing issue. Assuming some of the heat wasn¡¯t coming from the radiation itself, that is.


    Then I could swap out some of the copper components for the leftover scrap Ti-Cube from the katana. It¡¯d be way more resistant that way. Especially the electrode responsible for shooting electricity into the Rykon crystal would be able to hold up better against heat and vibration.


    Now this would be quite a bit bigger¡­ hmm¡­ maybe I could slap a rig together and incorporate it into my pack so I could keep my hands free? That way I could also connect it directly into the battery pack for extended charge.


    I could even incorporate a few sensors with it scaled up to keep watch over the structural integrity, heat, and other factors. I¡¯d be able to turn it off just before something went south instead of trying to guess when I needed to disable it.


    Okay, okay¡­ I got back on my deck and ran some numbers as I scaled up the blueprint and adjusted the components. If my calculations were right, It¡¯d be done just before I had to go meet up with the Crimson Company.


    I set stuff to print once more and left to go load up for the trip ahead of me and finish the rest of my prep. Oh, and I also need to revert the breathing mechanisms of my mask back to its original state at some point. Jeez¡­ I really should just make it quickly swappable at some point considering how often I swap it around to keep my identities separate.


    I stretched out and got back to work.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    A yawn split my jaw, sounding quite loud so early in the morning. I barely woke up in time after spending all last night with final prep. It was a bad idea to stay up so late, but testing my newest iteration of Blackout took a while. Speaking of, I should come up with a new name for it. It was Advent¡¯s any longer¡­ hmm¡­ how about Blacker or Outer¡­ needs some more work. I¡¯ll come up with something eventually.


    The ever-present neon of the city reflected off a light drizzle that gently fell from the sky, dropping onto my worn-out Slasher¡¯s baseball cap as I snuggled into the warmth of my poncho. Crazy to think in a few hours I¡¯d probably be begging for cool rain and that almost permanent moisture that Aythryn City¡¯s air held. The Outlands¡¯ heat was oppressive on the best of days. If it wasn¡¯t for the constant storms that passed over Aythryn City, this place would be even worse.


    I stood out like a sore thumb as I approached the location Roger sent. I¡¯d already gone and changed the poncho¡¯s preset to my desert camo, and it wasn¡¯t doing me any favors here in the midst of the city.


    It was close to the Outskirts of Little Yukoto, right on the dividing line between the district and Bricktown. I took in the place, noting the hustle and bustle as forklifts drove in between giant trucks. Crates of goods moved to and fro constantly as beeping machines, humming engines, and screamed orders drowned out the sounds of the city around.


    The Crimson Company¡¯s HQ looked closer to a remodeled trucking depot than anything. Boxes sat scattered around everywhere stacked upon dozens of racks. Some of them looked as though they¡¯d been around for a while, the synthwood dyed with pollutants and dust from particularly unhealthy storms. The forklifts and trucks scattered about reinforced that idea, though there was a certain militaristic vibe from the entire place that warned it was more than it seemed.


    Maybe it was the armed guards patrolling around and the security towers keeping overwatch? Or maybe it was because everything was painted tan? Probably the latter. The military and I guess by extension this PMC group did so love their tan colors. Not that I could blame them since we were about to head out into the desert.


    I checked out the bulk of Prowlers and large trucks scattered around. I recognized the model of truck from my time learning Land Vehicles. They were Sentinel MOUS-345s, or Mice, an older model commonly used by the FSA military. Could easily carry ten tons of cargo, if not more depending on any vehicular modifications. Truly a beast of a vehicle. There were four of said trucks being loaded up by workers bustling around in high-visibility vests.


    Definitely a large-scale operation I stumbled into. When I first heard of the Crimson Company, I didn¡¯t think too much of it considering the circumstances I was hired for this gig. Originally, I was thinking of a small-scale team with maybe a dozen people. Not this. This was closer to the Constellation Company that protected the Night Market. I¡¯d have to watch myself even more.


    I approached the front gate, almost immediately getting stopped by armed guards. Similar to the Constellation PMCs, the duo that stopped me had a certain level of uniformity to them. Unlike the group I could see further in dressed in desert camos, these two wore similar dark blue clothes and black vests. Red cross patches, drawn as if by a bleeding finger, sat on each of their shoulders.


    They were both heavily equipped. Raijin International rifles of some kind and even more weapons strapped around in holsters. Grenades too- no flashes. But some kind of weird-looking flash? They kinda looked like EMP grenades merged with a flashbang. Maybe a workaround to get past auto shielding? First time I''d seen them.


    ¡°What¡¯s your business here?¡± One of them called out to me. He was the bigger of the two, though both had that highly trained and muscular-looking body I¡¯d expect to see in FSA soldiers. He hefted his rifle in what looked like it was supposed to be an intimidating fashion. Unfortunately for him, I was too tired to care. S§×arch* The n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I activated Lethargic Presence just to mess with the guy as I felt another yawn coming. Mine triggered a chain reaction as not only the two guards, but several people around also yawned. ¡±Here for the job. Captain Roger is expecting me.¡±


    The other talked quietly into an earpiece before calling out. ¡°Let her through. Head on up to the main building. Third room on the right-¡°


    The guy cut himself off as he listened to the earpiece again. ¡°Actually, the Captain wants you to take a look at one of the trucks first. It¡¯s having issues starting. Benny!¡±


    One of the patrolling guards came over a few moments later. He tensed as if barely resisting the urge to salute. ¡°Sir?¡±


    ¡°Take- uh-¡°


    ¡°Zuku.¡±


    ¡°Right. Take Zuku over to Gold-3.¡±


    ¡°Sir.¡± Benny saluted the man. He looked me over before turning back and walking off to where the caravan of vehicles awaited us. ¡°Come along.¡±


    Already so early, yet the first thing I know I¡¯m getting put to work, eh? I should¡¯ve asked for more money¡­

 Chapter 160

    Chapter 160I wiped a streak of sweat from my brow as I pumped up the cooling from my poncho. It was still cold out, but the intense heat radiating from the Mouse was something else. I rolled out from under the truck, bringing along my tools. ¡°Try it now!¡±


    The driver hit the ignition. It churned for a few seconds, retching smog out the back tailpipe. Then, with a rough rumble, the Mouse roared to life. I tiredly stretched out, dropping the frown that¡¯d been crossing my face ever since I walked into the place half an hour ago.


    The driver called back. ¡°Thank you, miss! Frank would¡¯ve taken several more hours to get around to fixing it. Captain truly picked up a good ¡®un this time.¡±


    A hand dropped into my vision. I followed it up to an elbow and then- was that another elbow? Bizarre. It was flesh too. Not a hint of chrome in sight. I took the offered hand, popping to my feet to face the woman with interesting arms. I tried to to stare at them too much. Maybe I shouldn¡¯t take that Double Jointed Perk after all¡­


    She stood almost double my height, forcing me to crane my neck just to see her face. The woman smiled down at me broadly, stooping slightly to make it easier for me. ¡°Hi! I¡¯m Lia, one of your escort members. You¡¯re¡­ Zuku, right? The boss sent me over to getcha! Ah! It¡¯s nice to meet you! Impressive work with the truck.¡±


    Oh? I took a deeper look at her, taking in the more subtle notes of her appearance. She was startlingly beautiful, though a bit too frail and gangly. Several wands hung from her in holsters, though they looked a bit off. I checked them out with Aetherial Perception, surprisingly finding them to be almost entirely mundane in nature as if they were just sticks.


    The rings on her hand, however, shined brightly. They gleamed with power, so much so that I had to momentarily shut off Aetherial Perception to get a read on their actual shapes. It was a bit difficult to tell, but they looked like maybe wolves? She was one of Wolf¡¯s Magi then? This was my first time seeing one of them. Fox had the largest presence in Aythryn City by far.


    ¡°Yeah, nice to meet you too.¡± I should try to keep a good relationship with my escort. It would be a very bad idea to have a sour relationship with the people who¡¯d be protecting me. ¡®Accidents¡¯ happen.


    ¡°You¡¯re our new techie, right? So call how you guys can just fix stuff. Like with that truck! How¡¯d you do it? Where¡¯d you even learn how?! It always blows my mind how good people are at all that mechanical stuff. You look so young too!¡± Oh no, don¡¯t tell me she¡¯s one of those who just doesn¡¯t stop talking¡­


    I shook my head and packed up all my tools. ¡°Chek. I uh, I learned by doing? Kinda. And I¡¯d already driven a MOUS-345, so I had some advanced knowledge on what was probably wrong.¡± Land Vehicles to the rescue. That, combined with Technical Expertise, helped pinpoint exactly what was wrong and patch it up. Simple fix, really.


    ¡°C¡¯mon, let¡¯s head over to the Prowler. We¡¯re Red-Six, by the way. T-1 is the big bulking APC leading the company out into the wastes, and the Golds are the Mice.¡± Lia stretched out her arms, the double crook of her elbows making it look like something was broken. ¡°We¡¯ll be heading out any minute now. We were just waiting for the Mouse to get fixed.¡±


    ¡±Nova.¡± I took one of my cheap, torn-up rags from my bag. Its original purpose was for Molotovs, though now it was delegated to life as a sweat rag. I wiped up the best I could, though I got the feeling I was just smearing the grease on my face more than anything. Maybe there was a self-grooming skill in Cleaning?


    We walked around the dozen or so Prowlers, headed for the sixth back. A large man sat perched on the roof, leaning back on the mounted turret as he scratched away in a notepad- no, a sketchbook. A look of intense concentration settled on his face as he carefully sketched whatever it was that he worked on.


    He looked up as we approached, though didn¡¯t say anything as he went back to work. Lia chuckled to herself. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t mind him. That¡¯s Yonrow, our resident artist. And strong silent type. He¡¯s the gunner for the Prowler and the heavy weapons specialist as well as a host of other things. Very talented. He can put a mortar shell through a needle¡¯s eye from miles away.¡±


    ¡±Over there,¡± Lia paused as she pointed out a man slumped over in the passenger seat. A hat covered his face as he peacefully slept without a care in the world. How enviable. ¡°Is our leader. Sergeant Hampton. Don¡¯t look like much, but his instincts are as sharp as a wolf¡¯s. And last but not least-¡°


    ¡°Renold.¡± A man cut off Lia as he watched us approach. He leaned up against the driver''s side door, letting out a puff of smoke as he toyed with a cigarette. His chrome hands casually twirled the thing around, flicking the butt off to the side as he withdrew another one. The top part of his thumb pulled off as a small flame burned to life. ¡°The driver.¡±


    Renold was entirely chrome out, every bit of exposed skin outside of his head either being metal outright or showing signs of subdermal armor. Well taken care of too. It had a glossy sheen to it as if the guy spent quite a bit of effort polishing the stuff.


    A call came from somewhere as the groups around us started to load up in their vehicles. Some looked as bleary-eyed as I felt, for better or worse.


    ¡°I call driver side!¡± Lia happily shouted as she raced over to her chosen seat.


    Yonrow, the gunner, didn¡¯t even look up from his sketchpad as he jumped off the Prowler. He easily slid into the middle seat, pointing towards the control console for the turret as he went.


    A sigh escaped me as I realized I would be stuck behind the sleeping leader. Sure, Lia needed more space than me, almost double at that, but surely I should have that one as the guest, no?


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    The Sentinel Prowler bounced sharply as we hit a particularly bad pothole on the road to Stuarton. The town had been abandoned for a long time, at least according to Renold, the driver of our particular Red-Six, so the road had fallen deeply into disrepair. It used to be a major highway, but now it was more sand than pavement.


    It¡¯d been several hours since we got on the road, and I was already starting to feel the heat through the poncho¡¯s cooling effect. Not as bad as the others in the vehicle though. We had AC, but it was a rather weak unit compared to the blistering heat of the Outlands. It had to be at least somewhere around one hundred and fifteen if not twenty.


    We were just behind the last of the Mice in the caravan, so we were basically constantly inside a small sandstorm kicked up by the four Mice in front of us. Thankfully, this model of Prowler was one of the enclosed cabin types, so we weren¡¯t constantly getting pelted with bits of sand, but it was a near thing. Red-Five, sandwiched in between two of the Mice, was an open cabin model with only a windshield. That would¡¯ve been brutal.


    The people around me in Red-Six? Sweating out a storm. Especially Lia. She looked incredibly uncomfortable bunched up in her seat. Being incredibly tall and gangly seemed to really suck when traveling. Maybe my- erm, stature was a blessing in disguise? At least her odd mutation of double elbows helped her fold up into her seat more easily.


    Anyway, Red-Six was the one supposed to protect me. Weird having a group specifically to protect me, but I wasn¡¯t complaining. From what the ever-talkative Lia said, they were the group typically in charge of taking care of Frank when he came along on a job. I was with people well used to taking care of a non-combatant.


    Being designated as a non-combatant amongst an entire PMC company was a unique experience. I still hadn¡¯t decided if I wanted to help fight at all if it came up. On one hand, I was only paid for the tech side of stuff and bullets were expensive. On the other hand, the more I helped the less likely I was to die or end up injured in a prolonged fight. I guess I could just play it by ear.


    ¡°Ugh- are we there yet?¡± Lia asked for the hundredth time since we set off.  sea??h th§× nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Renold, the only one other than me engaging with the woman, sighed deeply. ¡°No.¡±


    Lia stretched out her long arms, bending in a way that would look like the arm was broken for anyone else. ¡±When will we be?¡±


    ¡±When we get there. Stuarton isn¡¯t even the halfway point to the Deseran Family¡¯s temporary camp.¡± Renold shot a look up into the rearview mirror.


    I pushed my earbuds into my ears further and turned up the music, drowning out their conversation as I looked out the window. Too bad I couldn¡¯t be like the care-free Hampton and just go to sleep¡­


    At least the view wasn¡¯t atrocious. It wasn¡¯t spectacular, but it wasn¡¯t horrible. ''Course, I was looking through a localized sandstorm the entire time so the exact details were a bit unclear. Most of the time it was just twisting and turning dunes with the occasional broken street sine dangling in the wind. This road once saw thousands of travelers, and now it was merely a ghost of its former self.


    A bullet-ridden sign, barely attached as it dangled in the wind just above the road, sat in front of us. It was once a vibrant green, but it had long been sand-stripped to a silvery hue and sun-bleached. The words that once adorned its surface were barely recognizable. Twenty miles to Stuarton.


    Just as with the road to Sunderland, burned-out cars and blown-apart trucks were fairly common. Unlike the road to Sunderland, they weren¡¯t restrained to just the sides of the roads. Occasionally a call would come from the front about debris, though mostly the obstructions were just rammed through by the Schweigon International Armored Personnel Carrier leading the caravan. It was a beast of a vehicle, and its destructive capabilities were a sight to behold as we followed its path.


    Small dunes, various scattered debris covered by wind-blown mounds of sand, popped up in groups on occasion, merging into the larger dunes in the distance. So much sand. So little life out here. Though life wasn¡¯t nonexistent. I could see cacti here and there or tracks of nocturnal wildlife. Or, even more apparent, tracks in the sand from other voyagers. Probably Nomads of some kind considering so few people leave the cities these days.


    They must¡¯ve been recent too considering they had yet to be hidden by rogue gusts of sand. I wonder-


    ¡°Zuku!¡± Lia¡¯s low-pitched voice squealed like a stuck ganger. ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡±About?¡± I replied, forcing my gaze away from the desert surrounding us to pay attention to the Prowler¡¯s cab.


    Yonrow was still drawing away, making a particularly highly detailed sketch of¡­ some woman? Hampton was up and active though. The team leader looked around like a wild rabbit weary of predators.


    ¡°About us slowing down¡­ Did you not hear them on the radio? Captain Roger spotted a bunch of debris up ahead.¡± Lia informed me.


    ¡±And?¡± Ram through it like we had the past couple hours, right? Hmm¡­ or maybe not. Let¡¯s take a bit more critical look at this. We were a caravan transporting four Mice full of goods. Probably marked by a Hawk or other Nomad scout as soon as we left the city. Ambush? It was probably what the frontrunners suspected.


    I looked out the window again, this time with a far more critical eye. What was once just tracks through the desert took on a whole different feel. It was only one vehicle¡¯s tracks. A scout maybe? And the small dunes everywhere. Could they be ambush points?


    As I started to look around, I recognized a low vibrato from Insight tingling through my body. So faint I couldn¡¯t even feel it till now. I wasn¡¯t a hundred percent sure about my guesses, but-


    ¡°Something¡¯s wrong,¡± Hampton said, his voice a low timber. He pulled out a radio from somewhere and clicked it on as he looked at the surrounding dunes. ¡°Hey, Captain, something doesn¡¯t feel right.¡±


    ¡°Chek¡­¡± A moment later, a call came once more. ¡°All units, this is Red-Omega. Defensive positions. Suspected ambush a quarter of a mile ahead.¡±


    There was movement in the Prowler as Yonrow finally put down his sketch pad and pulled a terminal down from the ceiling. He tapped on it several times before a whirring sound came from above. ¡°Turret primed.¡±


    The radio crackled to life as Hampton picked up his rifle and clicked the safety off. ¡°T-1, pull ahead and check the wreckage. Could just be nothing. Red-One, Two, and Three get up here. Gold units, prepare countermeasures. Circle up for a blockade. The rest, prepare for engagement.¡±


    The massive Mice shifted as their engines noisily spun to life. Instead of the mostly single file line, we¡¯d held this entire time, the four of them pulled together, blocking in a diamond area.


    Sergeant Hampton locked out at the dunes before laying down some orders. ¡°Our priority is to protect the asset, as usual. Yonrow, shoot anything that approaches. Renold, pull us into the blockade. Lia, eyes?¡±


    Lia gleefully laughed to herself as she clasped her hands together. A moment later, I spotted a massive wolf pop through the Aether. It was at least as big as the Prowler and had a fine silver coat. Not materialized yet, though it was close enough to do some damage if things went south. Its ferocious eyes flicked to me, pausing momentarily as our eyes met in a silent staring contest.


    I won as Lia sent it a command. The wolf tilted its head toward her before nodding and breaking into a sprint towards the front. ¡°In a sec, Sarge.¡±


    ¡±Chek. Uh- Zuku? If anything happens, stay in the Prowler. If, for whatever reason, you can¡¯t and none of us are with you? Run to Gold-4 and take cover.¡± Hampton addressed me for once. For being passed out the entire time, he seemed oddly reliable as a leader.


    ¡±Sure.¡± No reason to refuse an order to run away and save myself. It did feel like I was treated like a baby who couldn¡¯t shoot back, but whatever. I did say I wasn¡¯t very skilled.


    Lia chanted under her breath so quietly I couldn¡¯t pick out what she was saying. It didn¡¯t help that it sounded as if it was in another language. A moment later, the air trembled as an ethereal screen condensed in front of her. She flicked her hand forward, sending the screen to float just in front of Sergeant Hampton as it expanded to about the size of a TV.


    I looked around the seat at the screen. It took a few moments before I realized we were looking through the wolf¡¯s eyes. Could Corvid do something like this? The silver wolf watched an eight-wheeled monster of a vehicle roll forward. Its heavily armored body was painted tan, though it had the Crimson Companies large red cross painted all over it. A large turret, one that shot shells instead of bullets though was just shy of a tank¡¯s, sat on top pointed forward.


    Several other various guns poked out from all sides, giving it a look similar to a porcupine. Several other turrets¡ªof which I recognized a majority of them typically found as automated security defenses¡ªwelded on top didn¡¯t help the APC¡¯s porcupine look. A massive ram was bolted on the front, and it¡¯d definitely seen quite a bit of use since we got out here. The thing was a beast. There¡¯s a reason it was in front.


    Said beast picked up speed, intent on ramming aside the debris just like it¡¯d done on the way out here. Ambush be damned it seemed. The APC charged as the incorporeal silver wolf adjusted positions to watch better-


    A fireball exploded from underneath the APC, completely obscuring the vehicle in bolts of red flames as shouted orders erupted from the radio.

 Chapter 161

    Chapter 161To be honest, I don¡¯t know quite what they were expecting to happen when they decided to ram what they suspected to be an ambush. Mine laying is pretty basic when it comes to vehicular ambushes. Hell, they were fairly common in general as long as the one laying them didn¡¯t care about blowing up the surroundings. My recent experience with Hope in the Underground comes to mind.


    As soon as the mine blew, covering the APC in fire and sand so thick the wolf¡¯s shared vision couldn¡¯t see through it, the Crimson Company moved into action. Red-Six moved, speeding up significantly as it raced toward the safety of the Gold blockade. Not sure why we were using our goods as defenses in the first place, but Captain Roger probably had his own considerations. Speaking of, the man shouted across the comms, "Weapons free!"


    Dunes all around the ambush point shifted on Lia¡¯s magical screen, bringing my attention back to the wolf''s perspective. Heavily modded cars, marked with symbols of¡­ jackals? I¡¯d never heard about a jackal Nomad group. Anyway, about two dozen cars burst from the dunes in a spray of sand, revealing their positions. Another dozen came from over the nearby dunes, having been summoned by the explosion. We were grossly outnumbered by one to three.


    The jackal-marked vehicles looked¡­ kinda weak though? Nowhere near as dangerous compared to the Hawks who patrolled around Aythryn City. Their cars looked as if they¡¯d been scavenged from the sunbaked remnants of a nuked city. Every one of them was covered in a fine layer of rust with only the attached guns looking slightly shiny, though even then the guns looked ancient.


    Since the APC had run ahead, we were out of the direct ambush, allowing several long moments to pass as every gun in the Crimson Caravan locked onto the jackal group. The air lit up with the sound of a thousand bullets as the heavy guns on each of the Prowlers opened fire under Captain Roger¡¯s orders.


    ¡®Course, they weren¡¯t the only ones shooting. Fire erupted from the ambushes as they returned shots in a frantic array. Bullets flew, pinging off vehicles as both sides vied for the upper hand. The ground erupted into sandy sprays of debris, lowering the visibility the longer the firefight went.


    Red-Six breezed into the blockade, the armor only catching a few shots. I could feel my heart rate jumping as we entered direct combat. Especially considering we were outnumbered. I nervously looked around, wondering what the next plan of action would be-


    Only to find the rest of the cabin in absolute tranquility. Sergeant Hampton was back to sleep, loudly snoring as if we weren¡¯t in the middle of a combat zone. Our gunner, the one I expected to be the most attentive to our surroundings, was back to drawing on his sketchpad as if nothing happened. He was just finishing up a gorgeous drawing of a bouquet of roses.


    Lia was the only one to have any reaction, though her face was tinged with obvious longing as she stared through the wolf¡¯s vision. That longing faded as her eyes shifted around from one side to the other. She met my eyes, immediately bringing a finger to her lips to shush me with a giddy expression.


    She raised her hand, rubbing one of her rings as she started to-


    ¡°Cut it out, Lia. No point in wasting your magic.¡± Renold called as he lounged back and idly watched one of the jackal¡¯s vehicles explode in a ball of fire under the might of several concentrated HMGs. A dozen secondary explosions quickly followed as the ordinance kept in the vehicle started to go off.


    "Ah, you''re no fun." Lia sulked back crossing her double arms. The sulking only lasted a few moments before she brought the screen back and happily watched it.


    ¡°You guys sure seem laid back.¡± Maybe coming out here with these wack jobs wasn¡¯t such a good idea.


    ¡±Why wouldn¡¯t we be?¡± Lia laughed gleefully as she made the screen larger. I watched as a bullet caught one of the jackal cars, this one covered in spikes and rusty metal, in the tire. It slowed just enough that the car behind it rammed up into it, launching the driver through the windshield and out into the spikes. His broken body hung from the rusty spikes as the car drove away only to be blown up a moment later. sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Lia¡¯s giant wolf sprite shifted, giving us a view of our side. We¡®d taken no losses. The guns strapped to the jackals¡¯ vehicles were too low caliber to punch through the armor, at least for the most part. Radio chatter indicated there were a few injured from stray rounds but nobody was dead yet.


    A thunderous roar erupted from the jackals'' side, drawing the wolf to look back towards the approaching ambush. They were just about to hit our defensive line, fully committing to a forward assault-


    The roar came again, this time followed by dozens of lights flickering in the localized sandstorm brought about by all the commotion. Almost immediately, three of the jackals crashed as a storm of bullets erupted from behind. The sound was overwhelming as at least hundreds if not thousands of rounds a second came from behind the enemy.


    The APC rolled back into the fight, lacking even a scratch to its paint as if it hadn¡¯t just face-tanked a land mine. The dozens of guns all over the porcupine-looking vehicle erupted in bolts of fire, causing the entire vehicle to look like an avenging angel set aflame with righteous fury.


    The main turret on top of the thing fired a shot, the sound loud enough to cause the layer of sand floating around to clear off entirely from its body for a few moments as the soundwave exploded outward. The massive round hit one of the better-armored jackals as if a divine smite, immediately causing the thing to explode into a ball of fire that caused one other car to crash.


    Heavily armored and armed, the destructive APC rejoined the battle, causing the offensive push from the jackals to shatter as they tried to flee. Not that the Crimson Company would let them. Our side¡¯s guns never stopped firing, smoothly wiping out the entire ambush as if it wasn¡¯t even a problem. And it wasn''t.


    I shifted in my seat, giving another look around the Crimson Company with renewed insight. Really, I don¡¯t know what I was expecting. This was a high payout gig handed over by none other than Athena. I should¡¯ve trusted her judgment more with who she fired. No way she¡¯d hire a bunch of idiots from a weak mercenary corp to go scavenge an ancient stash of loot. Especially Acumen Industrial''s loot.


    ¡°See? Nothing to worry about. Our company is one of the best in Aythryn City, outside of the megacorp-sponsored ones.¡± Lia chuckled to herself and slapped the red crossed fang patch on her shoulder with pride.


    Renold kicked the Prowler back into gear as damage reports were relayed through the radios. Minor injuries from stray flesh wounds, but nothing the medics couldn¡¯t fix up quite easily.


    A call from Captain Roger came. ¡°Clear the field. You lot know the drill. Red-Six, send up Red-Metal to check the T-1. Something about a leaking fuel line.¡±


    ¡±That¡¯s you.¡± Renolds informed me as he drove over to the APC. Red-Metal was quite the name.


    Leaking fuel line, eh? Should be an easy enough fix. I had us stop by one of the flipped jackal cars to scavenge some parts. I ignored the foul stench radiating from the vehicle and the blood pouring through the gaps of the crushed driver¡¯s seat as I grabbed what I thought I¡¯d need before heading over to the APC and getting to work.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    Stuarton was in sight as day turned to night. It had been for the past hour since we were coming down a mountain into it, but now it was truly close.


    The place was closer to a town than a city with only one skyscraper in the mix. The town itself was almost entirely dark, though there were lights scattered around. Could definitely see it had been long since abandoned from way out here.


    Flickering lights, run by long-abandoned power stations barely clinging to life, cast distorted ghosts of advertisements that seemed to have a haunting quality to them as they glitched out and swayed around in inhuman movements. Years of disrepair left once majestic holograms and progressive ads in their current poor state.


    The sun, our constant torturer throughout the long day of travel, finally dropped below a distant mountain, casting long shadows across Stuarton. The last light faded as the surrounding dunes lost their sunlit luster. The convoy came to a stop just before leaving the mountain.


    ¡°Are we not going down?¡± Not that I was complaining. I¡¯d rather stay up here than go into the ghost town, especially with all the glitched-out tech down there. There was no telling what hid in the dark. And we were close to Dune Walker territory, so they¡¯d be showing up sooner or later if we were unlucky. I¡¯d rather not get trapped in the city by them like some kind of cheesy horror movie.


    Renold shook his head slowly. ¡°Boss is worried about Thermoguants popping up soon.¡±


    ¡±Thermoguant?¡± What the hell was that? Must be something quite dangerous to make the guy who ordered his APC to face tank an ambush wary.


    We came to a complete stop on a rocky outcropping just before a cliff. The entire convoy pulled into a blockade formed by the trucks once more. Guess we were setting up camp right up here?


    ¡±They¡¯re like, um, like mosquitos, right? But they¡¯re attracted to heat and are about the size of a dog. Oh! And they use swarm tactics.¡± Lia shuddered. ¡°I once had one latch onto my face till best-boy Silver pulled it off. Still have nightmares.¡±


    Yonrow tapped me on the shoulder and passed over his notepad. ¡°Here.¡±


    It was a realistic, at least I would assume so based on his skills, sketch of a massive insect hugging the windshield of a prowler. The thing did look like a mosquito, but it looked as though it had a layer of additional chitin acting like armor for the thing. A needle longer than the entirety of its body clacked against the windshield as two pincers on either side of its head grasped onto the vehicle.


    The drawing was done from inside the passenger seat, so it was rather horrifying as the giant needle of a mouth tried to force its way through the window. Even worse, there were dozens if not hundreds of other Thermoguants back behind the one on the window, actively generating more nightmare fuel the longer I looked at it.


    ¡°You said they were attracted to heat?¡± I asked.


    Yonrow took his sketchpad back as Lia replied. ¡°Chek. They¡¯re nocturnal though, so they tend to gather around sunspots for the first few hours a night before going off to feed. They bunch up around old tech that¡¯s still running in old abandoned towns like this.¡±


    That¡¯s a relief. If they were attracted to heat, I could just activate Cold-Blooded and none of them would come for me right? Sure, it¡¯d suck for everyone else, but be safe.


    Renold killed the engine as the squad¡¯s radios crackled to life. Captain Roger called through the line to the entire company. ¡°We¡¯ll be out here for the night. No fires. Dinner in an hour. Red-One is on the first watch. Red-Two, you¡¯re second. Red-Five, you have third.¡±


    I stepped out of the vehicle, instantly feeling a chill. The shadows were freezing compared to the heat that we just basked in moments ago. The constant wind blowing didn¡¯t help either. I immediately swapped back over to the poncho''s heated setting as I stretched out, feeling several bones crack.


    If I was this sore from just sitting here, I can¡¯t even imagine how Lia must feel. Hmm¡­ I¡¯d never thought about this before, but if I had chrome limbs I wouldn''t get sore anymore, right? Could Renold just sit there for several days without feeling anything but mental fatigue? Or maybe not. My chrome eye had a different kind of soreness every once in a while. At least it didn''t generate gunk that had to be wiped out on occasion like my first cybernetic eye though.


    My gaze caught on the sky. It seemed so boundless out here away from the towering architecture. So free. And the stars! I¡¯d never seen so many of them. So pretty. Course, the atmosphere still blocked quite a bit of them out even if the light pollution didn¡¯t. I can¡¯t even imagine how majestic the night sky used to look a hundred years ago. People back then were truly blessed.


    It¡¯d really be something to get out into space and travel the cosmos¡­ unfortunately, such a thing just wasn¡¯t meant for me. Unless I got a job with BosSpace, I guess, but the chances of that were¡­ Well, I¡¯d have a higher chance of becoming a corporate executive for one of the Big 7. Still, it would be so cool to go to one of the colonies on another planet. How different everything must be up there. Maybe if I got a high enough Tech level I could build my own ship?


    I peeked back into the Prowler as everyone except Hampton, who was still passed out as if he¡¯d been drugged, started hustling and bustling to get camp set up. I followed the pack to set up for the night. Hopefully, it¡¯d be uneventful. Then again, when has my luck ever held up?

 Chapter 162

    Chapter 162The night, as it turns out, was anything but uneventful. Where did it start going wrong? Somewhere after I laid down for the night, and then paranoia kept me from falling asleep amongst a bunch of strangers. Sure, Athena had been very clear she wanted me back in one piece, but logic didn¡¯t always defeat instinct.


    I decided to stay up a bit later, deliberating on the choice between instinct, which could be wrong, and logic which could be misinformed. It was a hard choice, though in the end instinct won out anyway since I stayed up too late working on ideas.


    In this case, instinct proved to be the correct choice. Just not how I thought it¡¯d be. A few hours after the entire camp had settled down, in which I¡¯d been doodling away potential ideas in my sketchbook to clear my mind, I heard movement close.


    I grabbed my gun on reflex, though I relaxed my grip slightly as logic won once more. I still kept the pistol close to hand as I stepped out of the tent and out onto the shifting rocky outcropping we were camped out on.


    Sergeant Hampton lay on a towel in the middle of Red-Six¡¯s area, staring up at the sky as he blew smoke from his mouth. Renold leaned against the nearby prowler, lighting his own with his fancy lighter thumb. I guess if you smoke a lot, such an augment would be a good idea. Also though, keeping flammable liquid in your thumb might not be the best considering our line of work.


    ¡±Can¡¯t sleep either?¡± Sergeant Hampton propped himself up on an elbow and looked over. His cigarette dropped out of his hands, extinguishing itself in the sand. ¡°Damnit.¡±


    ¡±Something like that.¡± I flicked on Hidden Hands and discreetly put away my gun. Should I share my bad feeling? They  my guards for the duration of the mission, so maybe it wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea. ¡°Just a bad feeling tonight.¡±


    ¡°I know what you mean.¡± Hampton nodded his head a few times before laying back and propping his head up with his hands.


    Renold blew a ring, staring at it for a moment before shaking his head. ¡°You lot are too superstitious if you ask me.¡±


    Hampton coughed lightly. ¡±That¡¯s what you said the last time. And if you really believed that, you wouldn¡¯t be out here with me.¡±


    The driver fell silent as he took another drag of his smoldering cigarette. The wind shifted, bringing hot air as the smoke hit me in the face. My nose scrunched up automatically at the scent of cheap cigarettes.


    I sat around for a few minutes as we silently stared up at the night sky. Then all the smoke got to me and I retreated into my tent.


    An hour later, as I finished working on my newest gadget that''d join my roster as soon as I got back to the city, a sandstorm blew in. It started slow, just a few pieces of sand flying here and there. Then it picked up to a full-fledged one as sand started pounding the side of my tent.


    The storm wasn¡¯t rough enough to get through the tent that¡¯d been provided to me, but it was a near thing. The sand pounded at the tough material, creating a constant scratching like claws on a chalkboard. It was terribly annoying, and yet I couldn¡¯t bring myself to listen to some music. Paranoia that I''d miss something important, I guess.


    Just as I was starting to feel tired, having recently swapped my canteen from water production to XtraEnergy Quantum for a little boost, a screeching howl came just over the sandstorm. It had a haunting quality to it, seeming to scratch at the innermost sections of my brain as if to evoke primal fear.


    Immediately, I was on my feet- er, knees. The tent was small. I threw on my breathing mask and goggles. Thankfully, I¡¯d planned for a sandstorm this time, especially considering we were headed pretty far inland. I packed up my stuff in the Drop Chute bag, grabbed my weapons, and unzipped the tent. Sand billowed in, covering my sleeping area entirely. That was a problem for future Shiro though. I had bigger worries.


    About half of the Crimson Caravan was on their feet, spilling out of their tents in various states of awareness. Hampton and Renold were already up, guns drawn as they looked around. Lia and Yonrow were a few steps behind, though they quickly joined us.


    Light had been cut down to a dim pitch, barely enough to light the way thanks to the captain¡¯s desire to stay mostly hidden. It wasn¡¯t a problem for me seeing as my vision had significantly improved from where it¡¯d been a few months ago, but it was a problem for several others. Especially when combined with the already lacking visibility thanks to the sandstorm.


    At least- until lights all over flashed on, blinding me as my eyes failed to adjust quickly to the sudden intrusions. With the inclusion of bright lights into the mix, the rest of the camp jostled awake.


    ¡°What was that?¡± I couldn¡¯t tell who asked amongst the murmurs of hot camp, but the question broke through, seemingly spreading like an infection.


    Soon, Lia was the one asking the questions through a deep yawn. ¡°What was what? What¡¯re they talkin¡¯ ¡®bout?¡±


    Hampton immediately started laying down orders as he put on a mask to protect against the sandstorm, muffling his voice slightly. ¡°Mask up. Lia, summon your sprite. Renold and Yonrow, go get the Prowler started. Zuku, stay close to me.¡±


    Easy enough. I checked my weapons. Coming out here I packed fairly light. I activated the shock gauntlets, made sure my KS Squire-14 was loaded, and shifted to feel the reassuring weight of my pistols. This time around I¡¯d brought my Sidewinder and the Knight Security Saber-19, the one I¡¯d gotten from the Blue Crusade. It was far more powerful, and I¡¯d already had a bunch of silver bullets from it.


    There hadn¡¯t been a call to arms quite yet, but I had a bad feeling in the bottom of my stomach. Had one ever since we got out here, really. Almost like a low buzz of coldness that could¡¯ve been Insight trying to warn me or could¡¯ve just been indigestion from the MRE slop they served for dinner.


    I was leaning toward the former though. My own instincts, outside of Insight, were screaming something was wrong. Maybe it was thanks to the similarities from the last time I was in the Outlands while tracking the Leper-Khans? I wasn''t sure, but I was deeply unsettled by


    .


    The sands around us intensified, making it difficult to see without protection of some sort. The rest of Red-Six followed the Sergeant¡¯s orders, though Lia stalled slightly with a happy look on her face. ¡°Are we expecting a fight?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± He looked around everywhere, his head constantly twisting and turning as if to catch even the slightest of hints. Outside of the ruckus in the camp and the howling sandstorm, the world outside of the camp had been dead silent. There wasn¡¯t a repeated noise like what first got everyone moving.


    Lia frowned, her hand slowly caressing the ring. ¡°Silver might not want to come back later if I call him now¡­¡±


    ¡±That¡¯s fine. Call its brother then?¡± Hampton asked, but it was more of a command.


    ¡°Not how it works¡­¡± She sighed and started mumbling to herself as she stroked her ring. A moment later, the air crackled with power. The Aether split open, revealing-


    A tiny wolf pup. It had super adorable eyes staring up at the world around it in wonder. A little yip sounded out, having an ethereal tinge to it making the sound almost ghostly. I doubt she¡¯d materialize this particular sprite. If it were here physically it¡¯d be picked up and carried away by the wind. Probably just planned to use it as a conduit to cast magic.


    My eyes snagged on the sandstorm as sand wiped my exposed forehead. I pulled the hood lower down, blocking as much of the stinging substance as I could. With Aetherial Perception active, the entire thing looked different than how it had with mortal eyes. This thing wasn¡¯t natural. There was an almost heavy feeling to it, and the entire storm seemed to thrum as if following the beat of a dark heart.


    Hampton¡¯s radio crackled to life¡­ then continued crackling. I could hear Captain Roger¡¯s irritated voice from elsewhere in the camp. ¡°Red-One, come in.¡±


    ¡±Tchhhhhhh-¡° Something came across, though it was too garbled to make anything out of. The sandstorm must be causing some interference. Or something else. This sandstorm wasn¡¯t naturally made afterall. Ambush?


    ¡±Hey, something about this sandstorm doesn¡¯t feel right.¡± It was the most I could say without exposing deeper capabilities. I¡¯d rather the outside world consider me entirely tech-focused without a hint of magical awareness.


    Hampton looked at me as if I were a kindred soul before slowly nodding. ¡°You feel it too?¡±


    ¡±Red-One.¡± A call came again.


    ¡°Tchhhhhh- elp! Massive- tchhhhhhh-¡°


    Gunfire erupted from just outside of the camp, sending everyone into overdrive. Visibility dropped again, turning everything not immediately around me into a shadow even with the lights.


    A shout came from the center of the camp, carrying over the billowing winds. ¡°Get the guns up! Red-Two! Red-Three! Go find Red-One and offer fire support! The rest of you, circle up and get ready for a fight!¡± sea??h th§× ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Movement erupted from all over the camp as Red-Two and Red-Three rolled out in their prowlers. In the distance, the barely audible firefight intensified. Uncertain looks passed around our temporary camp, but these guys were professionals. There was a shift as everyone locked in and psyched themselves up.


    ¡±Let¡¯s move.¡± Sergeant Hampton called to our group as everyone got ready. I followed their lead as we headed back for the Prowler. It was a good decision in my opinion. At least we could flee this way without too many issues.


    The gunfire in the distance intensified, briefly having a lull before several more guns joined up. The other two groups must¡¯ve found the first one. Whatever they were fighting must¡¯ve been quite the opponent considering the fight had gone so long. Was it those Thermoguants Lia mentioned? Then what was up with the storm?


    ¡±Lia, can you get us some vision?¡± Hampton called as everyone got into position. Renolds turned the engine a few times before the Prowler roared into action. We weren¡¯t the only ones as the camp all prepared themselves, sliding the HMGs on the smaller vehicles in between the gaps in the Mice.


    ¡±Not this time. I summoned a pup.¡± Lia, who was carrying said pup in her arms, looked a little distraught. It a massive change from the giant silver wolf she summoned the last time. "It''ll take forever to get over there."


    Yonrow pulled down the console to control the turret, putting me even more on edge. These guys didn¡¯t even have an issue with a Nomad ambush, but now? Yonrow asked, ¡°Do we know what we¡¯re fighting yet?¡±


    ¡±No.¡± Renold replied. The sandstorm seemed to pick up, pelting the windshield so much that he had to switch on the wipers just for us to look through. Not that it mattered. Visibility dropped to an all-time low as if we were separated into our own world. Only the dim glow of lights in the distance told us we were still with the group.


    Hampton looked back toward us, a frown on his face. ¡°Go ahead and swap to silver.¡±


    ¡±You sure?¡± Yonrow asked though he was already following the command. He messed around on the console. A whirring sound echoed through the ceiling as the mag feeds disengaged and swapped over.


    ¡±I¡¯ll take the blame if I¡¯m wrong.¡± Hampton shrugged. ¡°Guess no beer after the gig then.¡±


    Lia laughed as if trying to lighten the overcast mood. ¡°Nova. Maybe Melinda won¡¯t complain about your belly this time around.¡±


    It didn¡¯t work. The cabin went silent- well, as silent as it could with sand constantly pelting the body of the vehicle. I followed Renold¡¯s lead and swapped mags over to silver.


    Dune Walkers. It must be what Hampton suspected if he had us change ammo types. No other point in using silver bullets- at least, not common ones around here. I¡¯d never run into them myself seeing as I''d rarely left the city. Even then, it was on the edges of the Eternal Sandstorm, so they didn''t come over often. I¡¯d heard horror stories though.


    The central section of the continent, dividing the landmass into two, was entirely covered in the impenetrable Eternal Sandstorm and all the disasters that lurked within its ever-shifting sands. Dune Walkers were one such disaster, and the farthest reaching ones.


    I¡¯d heard the few city-states that remained around the central sections of the continent were constantly under attack and had massive walls built up to protect against the onslaught. Said cities were also the number one employers of mercs on this side of the pond. I can¡¯t even imagine living there in constant fear of something breaking through the walls.


    The gunshots in the distance died out entirely as the sandstorm seemed to freeze. The ferocious winds halted as an unnatural stillness seemed to come over the entire camp. Sand drifted down like yellow snow as some visibility returned. It felt almost like the entire world had slowed down.


    I knew though. Insight¡¯s warning was far stronger this time. This was only the calm before the storm.

 Chapter 163

    Chapter 163The silence lasted for several minutes, only covered by the hum of engines and a subtle tension that held the entire camp active. Something had to give. And eventually, it did. Engines from afar slowly echoed from the edges of the sandstorm, the hums seeming to be a reassurance as if everything was taken care of.


    Then the Prowlers came into view. Covered in blood. Dismembered body parts hung from the grills of the vehicles as if they¡¯d rammed through a crowd of people to get away. The limbs had deep cracks through them like ground that hadn¡¯t had rain in far too long. They also appeared to be almost made of sand as if they¡¯d been exposed to the elements so long that every bit of their blood had been filled with the substance.


    The APC, turrets primed to unload on anything that so much as twitched, pulled back from its central point in the wall of cars, allowing the Crimson Company Prowler to get through. A shout came from the fringes of the camp as the Prowlers rolled up. ¡°Medic!¡±


    Immediately a shout came from a few of the stragglers not loaded up. Captain Roger, called out to the group, ¡°What happened out there? Injuries?¡±


    There was a reply, though it was too faint to hear from the distance. Hampton sighed deeply. I followed his gaze to the severed limbs hanging from the grill. ¡°Looks like Dune Walkers.¡±


    ¡±Damn, hate those things.¡± Lia leaned forward, squeezing in between Yonrow and the console to get a better look. ¡°At least the sandstorm is gone.¡±


    Renold shook his head and sighed. ¡°You just had to say something¡­ we¡¯re probably in the eye of the storm.¡±


    The wind shifted once more, sand blowing with it as the visibility once more declined. Soon, the few people out of the vehicles were forced to don protective gear as Captain Roger continued his discussion with the returned groups. Injured were pulled out of the bloodiest Prowler and rushed to a hastily erected tent barely standing against the fierce winds. Looked like two, maybe three.


    ¡°You ever fought Dune Walkers, Zuku?¡±


    I blinked, refocusing as Sergeant Hampton popped his head out in front of me. ¡°Uh- no. Never run into them.¡±


    ¡±You know how to deal with them though, right? Silver bullets to vital points or complete destruction of the body.¡± Hampton tapped the roof with his hand. ¡°Doubt it¡¯ll matter with six turrets and the APC pumping out rounds, but never can be too sure.¡±


    ¡±Don¡¯t bother aiming.¡± Yonrow commented for once. ¡°Hard to miss when we get rushed by hundreds of them.¡±


    How¡­ . We were expecting of attackers. I tried to think back on what I knew about Dune Walkers. It was unfortunately little since I was so far from their hunting grounds. Just that I need silver bullets, they were like zombies from those cheesy horror movies, and they were a real menace for Nomads. Honestly, not quite sure how they¡¯re different from Ghouls.


    Just as I was about to reply, movement caught my eye. All four Mice, which had been stalwart barriers keeping the worst of the sandstorm out, started to roll. They pulled back, driving behind everyone else and pushing their backs up against the edge of the rock outcropping we camped on. The Prowlers, including ours, shifted forward, making a half arc in front of them centered around the APC. We were on the far side, out of the direct path though still in sight of the main approach.


    The radios crackled once more as someone tried to pass a message. Nothing came across, though it was solved as a runner approached us from the leadership still discussing with the returned squads. He was a rather scrawny-looking guy, standing out sharply against the usual large, military-esque frames of the Crimson Company. ¡±Silver rounds! Dune Walkers approaching from up the mountain.¡±


    ¡±Damn, Melinda is going to be pissed.¡± Lia muttered as she slowly petted the wolf pup sprite in her arms. Or, at least, I imagine it was the wolf sprite since I couldn''t see it. I¡¯d deactivated Aetherial Perception a while ago. It was incredibly nauseating to stare at the storm.


    ¡±Can you cast your- uh- thing? The thing with claws and circles.¡± Hampton asked as he sent the runner on with a nod.


    ¡°Still don¡¯t know its name yet?¡± Lia sighed dramatically, though started prepping. Aside from the constant roiling in my gut caused by the magic storm, I got a twinge of Insight as she started to cast her magic.


    Renold pulled a cigarette from the dashboard and stuck it in his mouth. He didn¡¯t light it though, thankfully. Smoke would have nowhere to go. ¡°How can you expect us to know its name when you always beat around the bush with it?¡±


    ¡°Claw Guard. It¡¯s called Claw Guard¡­ leave Yonrow out as per usual?¡± She asked.


    Must be a limited-effect spell. I¡¯d seen a few of them when doing some research. The sites I looked at were split on them being weak spells since they could only affect a small number of people or they were so powerful that they could only affect a few people. As usual, the Net was notoriously untrustworthy when it came to magic research.


    ¡±Chek.¡±


    Lia went silent as she started concentrating. Temptation got the best of me as I took a look with Aetherial Perception. A massive array of, well, complicated geometry spread out from the small pup in her hands. It looked extremely complex with tons of sharp triangles as if to imitate claws. The entire thing was entirely symmetrical centered around the sprite, and seemed to spark with¡­ electricty? But like, an Aether variant.


    Ethereal energy sparked around as it gathered in said circle for several long moments until it burst forth, sending electrified tendrils out to its target. I watched out of the corner of my eye, trying to not make it obvious I could see exactly what was going on. The tendrils reached out to me, Lia, Renold, and Hampton.


    As soon as it touched us, which I tried my hardest not to flinch at, the tendrils turned into glowing circles that rapidly faded. As they faded, about three dozen claws made of raw blue electricity formed around the four of us. I flicked off Aetherial Energy, and the claws faded with my senses of the Aether. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Lia froze up momentarily as the charged vibrato of magic in the air faded slightly. ¡±Hey, Zuku, you¡¯re fine with magic being cast on you, right? Sorry, Frank never had an issue and I just assumed¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± I guess. A bit late now. ¡°Just- uh- what was it?¡± It¡¯d be nice to get some kind of Perk to defend myself from magic. Or at least get some kind of protection. What would I even need to level up for that? Evasion?


    Speaking of, while I know I¡¯m not the most knowledgeable about the whole magic thing, why hadn¡¯t I gotten a level in those skills? Did I need to cast magic myself? Then what about talismans, enchanted scrolls, and that sort of thing?


    ¡°It¡¯s called Claw Guard. Basically, if an enemy combatant approaches you, a magic claw will form and attack it. It¡¯s got thirty-six charges.¡± Lia ticked off her fingers as if trying to remember everything about the spell. ¡°Should be strong enough to kill a Dune Walker with a couple of strikes, but its main purpose is to temporarily stun and make space so you can attack with another weapon. It has- uh- two-hour duration? Maybe. Hopefully, we¡¯ll have taken care of them by then though.¡±


    Sounds useful. Hmm¡­ maybe I should look into getting some more magical items at some point. They were usually expensive, but every drop of protection I could get would be useful.


    My current lineup was certainly lacking, at least. Just auxiliary items like Crow¡¯s Canteen of Chaos, the jade dagger, and Crow¡¯s Celestial Compass which I still had yet to find much of a use for. Guess not everything can be super good. Though, to be fair, I hadn¡¯t had to use it much since I almost always knew where I was going in the city thanks to a combo of the Mapp and Eidetic Schematic.


    ¡±Are we going to get close to them?¡± It was the most logical reason to use a spell that protected against melee strikes.


    ¡±Captain¡¯s Combat Rule Thirty-Five: Expect the unexpected.¡± Yonrow muttered as he carefully scanned our surroundings with the turret.


    Combat rules, eh? ¡°What¡¯s the first?¡±


    ¡±Never forget the win condition.¡± The quiet guy informed me. A good rule to go by, and one I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever actually gone by. Usually, my win condition is just to get out with my life. Doesn''t work in this situation though all things considered. What was the win condition then? Kill all the Dune Walkers in this horde?


    "Five-five-six, right?" Hampton asked me. Seeing my confused expression, he elaborated. "Your rifle."


    "Ugh, check."


    Hampton nodded a few times. ¡°Okay, there¡¯s a box of silver bullets in the back if you need more. Uh- let¡¯s get out and set up firing positions around the prowler. We¡¯ll provide cover fire and kill anything that closes in. Or rekill it, in this case. Zuku, you¡¯re free to stay with us or head back to Gold-Three and wait with Tom and Hein.¡±


    Hmm¡­ to flee or not to flee, that is the question¡­ Of course, my initial gut reaction was to get out and head to Gold-Three, but logic froze that thought. I¡¯d probably be safer sticking with the four heavily armed guards and the giant turret strapped to the Prowler than with a single guy in the back line. Sure, I¡¯d be closer to the fight, but it would also be a good opportunity to get some more work in shooting. And I¡¯d finally get to see what all the fuss was about Dune Walkers. I could always flee later. ¡°I¡¯ll stay here.¡±


    ¡±Nova.¡± Hampton propped open his door, instantly refilling the interior of the Prowler with swirling sand. Good thing I kept my mask and stuff on. The rest of the team, aside from Yonrow who stayed to operate the turret, followed his lead and stepped out. I was a moment behind.


    Without the protection of the Mice to block the majority of the sandstorm, it was much, much more brutal. Every step I took to follow Hampton was a struggle for balance and to free myself from the sand building up all over me. It got everywhere, infesting my poncho¡¯s hood and making everything feel grimy. I, apparently, was the only one amongst us four to have much of an issue as the others easily gathered up at the trunk of the Prowler.


    ¡°Since it''s Dune Walkers, we don¡¯t need much hardcover. Just stay out of the turret¡¯s sight lines.¡± Hampton told everyone, though I got the feeling it was more for my benefit than anything. ¡°And make sure you¡¯re in a place to make space so you don¡¯t get bogged down if anything goes wrong.¡±


    The trunk popped open as the others loaded up. Renold grabbed a massive machine gun that looked like it¡¯d been ripped off the top of a Prowler. He easily swapped out the large box mag to one filled with silver-tipped bullets. Lia grabbed an SMG, a Raijin P-490. I recognized the weapon off its weirdly designed overhead mag feed that ran down the length of the weapon.


    Hampton similarly grabbed one, though he also grabbed a box with a high explosives label on it. Grenades? I took the opportunity to stuff a ton of bullets into my backpack. Free ammo was free ammo. I grabbed just enough to not weigh myself down too much.


    Elsewhere, I could see shadows through the sandstorm getting set up similarly to us with the other squad members abandoning the gunners in the Prowlers while they set up firing lines.


    Lia opened her mouth to speak, though instantly went still. ¡°Shh¡­ you hear that?¡±


    I focused, trying to listen to whatever she was hearing. Unfortunately, it seemed my ears weren¡¯t near as good as hers. I couldn¡¯t hear anything under the hums of engines and the shifting sands.


    Until I could.


    It started as a mere whisper of a sound. A slow shuffle, though the sound was multiplied by hundreds of times to where even a soft sound became loud. Then the APC unleashed hell. Every turret opened fire at the same time, shooting off into the distance. From where we were, we couldn¡¯t see exactly what they were shooting through the thick sand.


    I could feel the tension though. The calm had faded. Now it was just the storm. I kept my eyes peeled as I stared out into the distance, watching for any detail that might seem off.


    At first, I wasn¡¯t sure what I was looking for. Then Yonrow started shooting off into the distance. Each bullet left swirling trails of sand behind them as they streaked off to somewhere beyond my view. The cameras on the turret must¡¯ve spotted something long before our flesh eyes could.


    Then Renold started firing. He held the heavy-duty LMG, full auto unloading into the distance. His chrome made it so that not even the slightest bit of kick transmitted back to him. It was a common enough scene, though usually I saw it more with assault rifles and not massive guns like Renold¡¯s. He wielded the thing without finesse, just pure brute strength.


    And then Lia moved. I felt a twinge through the Aether, quickly followed by four massive blue claws each about the size of a person forming in the air. They held there like an executioner¡¯s ax for several long moments as they sparked with blue electricity. The slight glow helped me see it, though the exact details were lost on me. The claws dropped, slicing through the air.


    In the wake of the massive electrified claws, the sand cleared for a brief moment, revealing a wall of shambling shadows slowly approaching us. Long bolts of lightning flashed in the sand as the particles became electrically charged by the spell.


    What I thought was just a simple attack proved to be a genius strategy as Lia got massive returns off her one spell. The lightning arced everywhere, electrocuting mass amounts of shadows as they dropped, though they were quickly replaced as the wall steadily approached.


    A particularly long bolt of lightning arced all the way down the rock outcrop we defended, shining enough light for me to get a better view of the situation. The wall of shadows coming towards us was a mere fraction of the total approaching Dune Walkers. Thousands closed in, and the center of their approach was closer to the APC. For every one that approached us on the far side, twenty closed the gap to the APC.


    Even as the heavily armored vehicle staggered its reloads between its dozens of turrets so at least one would always be firing, the Dune Walkers closed the gap. It wasn¡¯t until the main turret started shooting its explosive shells that the swarm was pushed back the faintest amount. The mercs spread out in a firing line around the APC constantly firing into the distance, tearing through their ammo as they held their position.


    ¡±Feel free to shoot whenever!¡± Hampton called back to me as he pulled a grenade from the box. Except it didn¡¯t look like any grenade I¡¯d seen before. It was massive, as if it¡¯d been drugged up to kingdom come. Seemingly pointless wires dangled from the massive grenade, stringing around it and various bolts sticking out of the makeshift-looking weapon. ¡°As Yonrow said, don¡¯t bother aiming. Just shoot towards the shadows. You''re bound to hit something.¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± I snapped back to attention and lifted my rifle. The first mag flew with a little hesitation. The second mag fired off and I could start to see the shadows in the sand. As I fired the third, the shadow wall grew closer still.


    I couldn¡¯t even really see if my shots had had an effect. I wasn¡¯t like the turret that fired off large calibers that blew apart bodies and mowed down swathes. Still, I fired into the distance with the best accuracy I could. I shook out my arm, loosening the tension built up in me from a combo of adrenaline and kick. I reloaded once more, resigning myself to a long and drawn-out fight.

 Chapter 164

    Chapter 164The central point of the approaching wall was just in front of us. They¡¯d gotten close enough that their forms were distinguishable through the sands. And oh man did I wish they weren¡¯t.


    Dune Walkers. It was my first time seeing them in the flesh- err, the rotting flesh. The once-human forms walking around with sand-stripped skin were barely recognizable amongst the horde. They clambered over mounds of fallen Dune Walkers, each just as eager as the last to get some fresh human meat. It was even worse close to the APC where massive pile-ups of walkers had to be blasted apart by the big turret to keep sight lines mostly clear. Viscera was everywhere, carried by the shockwaves and wind until our entire environment felt suffused with it.


    At first glance, they were similar to ghouls. Both were once humans turned into flesh-hungry monstrosities. Whereas Ghouls were mere monstrous flesh suits for the Aetherial Ghoulification Virus meandering about solely based on their bestial instincts, Dune Walkers seemed to work with a primitive horde intelligence of sorts. Every individual walker was too dumb to use things like cover and dodging, and yet the horde as a whole seemed to be using the pile-ups as cover to close the gap.


    Their look was also different. Ghouls were¡­ well, they were pale and clammy with stretched skin barely clinging to what remained of their bodies. They weren¡¯t rotten corpses as much as bodies that had eaten themselves- more accurately, a virus that had eaten the body to the barest working point.


    Dune Walkers were different. They were fully left to the elements, animated without a care for their bodies shape. Flesh slopped and rotted off, sun-scorched and sand-baked to the point of complete disfigurement. Sand caked every bit of the shambling bodies approaching us, looking as though the creatures were golems made from the stuff rather than corpses puppeted around.


    I leaned against the back of the Prowler, reloading my magazines as I took a small break. We¡¯d been fighting for at least an hour, and I¡¯d torn through my ammo. I wasn¡¯t the only one, though I was definitely the slowest when it came to reloading. I¡¯d never been rushed while trying to shove each individual bullet into a mag, and it showed in my slow reload times. Even with Cold-Blooded on to help, my tired hands twitched constantly.


    My hand, shaky from the constant vibrations of the rifle, reached for another handful of bullets as I picked up my last empty mag. I tried to go faster this time around, slotting the bullets in as the silent world around me raged with warfare. My ears had gone out shortly after all the fighting started. Unlike the others, I¡¯d never been in combat long enough to realize how important ear protection was. Nothing a nap for Quick Healing couldn¡¯t fix, but until then sound was almost entirely cut off for me. I was left to steep in silence and realize my stupidity, though my raging headache didn''t help.


    It''s a good thing I didn¡¯t need sound for Insight to warn me. It came as a sudden shock from behind, a cold raking sensation down my spine followed swiftly by a latching bite onto the back of my neck. I was worn down to the point I reacted before my brain could fully process. My hand snapped to my pistol as the world slowed around me.


    My foot slammed into the ground, every muscle in my leg winding up as I shifted my center mass exactly as I¡¯d been taught while learning Burst Step. Then, with an almost unnatural spring, my muscles tensed as I flung myself away in a perfect dodge. The few follow-up steps stabilized me from the sudden burst of movement as my leg throbbed in pain. Burst Step was incredibly useful, but it came with the drawback of wearing out my legs quickly.


    My brain finally caught up with the rest of me as I looked back toward the Prowler. A lone Dune Walker, too caked in sand to make out any distinguishing features, started its attack toward the recently vacated space. Its brain was too far gone to realize I''d already moved. A claw formed from lightning was already mid-swipe, easily slicing through the creature as it jolted what remained of the walker.


    With the creature momentarily paralyzed by the electrical shock, I lined up my pistol and fired. One clean shot laced through its head, instantly dropping the thing. I put another two in it just to be sure before finally taking a breath and looking around. How did it get by? No chance it worked its way through the defensive line with the number of guns firing off¡­


    I looked back towards the backside of the rock outcropping. Corpses were scattered around, seemingly having climbed up the rock and up to us. The Mice drivers had taken care of them, but just this one seemed to have slipped through the net. No- not just one. There were several slipped through. The Mice blocked sight lines, making it difficult to fully watch every bit of the rock. Maybe it''s for the best that I stayed with Red-Six instead of heading back there.


    I got the feeling eyes were looking toward me, causing me to glance up and meet Hampton¡¯s gaze. Probably drew his attention with my shot. His mouth opened, though, in the absolute quiet of the world, I couldn¡¯t make out what he was saying. I tried to read his lips, but we were all wearing breathing masks, so it was a bit difficult. Based on the situation and the rough movements of his mouth though, I think he was asking if I was alright.


    ¡°Chek. All good.¡± I flashed a thumbs up as I returned to the back of the Prowler to get my gun. I looked around for a few moments before a frown forced its way onto my face.


    Where¡¯s my mag? I shoved the rotting corpse over with my foot, feeling the body squish underfoot as the flesh sludged around. I picked my mag up from its position half buried in the sand, though actually looking into it gave me second thoughts about using it. Rotten sludge filled the entire inside of it, making the mag unusable till I cleaned it out. It probably reeked too, though my mask saved me from the stench. I tossed the mag into the backseat, then grabbed my rifle and slapped more silver bullets into it.


    Sergeant Hampton approached, shifting to take up a position behind the Prowler to defend our flank. He eyed me for a few moments before nodding his head and waving towards the main battlefield. Ah, adaptability. Probably another one of those combat rules they talked about earlier. Captains Rules of Combat Number XX: Always remain adaptable.


    I turned back just in time to see a massive bolt of lightning descended from the sky close to the APC. The bolt slammed down into a massive pileup of corpses, vaporizing them entirely as the sands below turned into sharp pinpoints of glass. Said glass flew as a shot from the heavy turret hit it, turning the entire area into a miniature glass cluster bomb. The magical remnants left on the glass proved to be just enough to count as a magical weapon as the glass sheered through a massive group.


    I flicked on Aetherial Perception in an attempt to track the magic¡¯s origin. It didn¡¯t come from Lia. She was busy firing away into the horde with a haggard look on her face. Guess all that magic she cast earlier was starting to get to her, though she continued to fight on with her gun.


    Tracking magic back to its source was difficult. Not impossible though. It was incredibly faint to my eyes, but I barely managed to catch a smoky, electrified trail coming from the APC. Guess they put a bunch of the heavy hitters in it, for better or worse. Made it easier to steamroll, though at the risk of losing your heavy hitters in one fell swoop. Not that it mattered against the idiotic shambling corpses we were up against.


    Oh? I refocused on the masses of Dune Walkers. We¡¯d worked through the worst of it, leaving just the stragglers. Gaps in between the shadows were starting to appear, and it looked less like a wall and more like an approaching army. But what really caught my attention was the Dune Walkers themselves. It was the first time I¡¯d been able to see them through the sandstorm with Aetherial Perception active.


    Unlike the Ghouls who had a cloud of malice and hunger that clung to them, the Dune Walkers had what looked like ethereal red tentacles dug in throughout their bodies. The tentacles met up in the head, gathering around a blob. The long tentacles stretched out to wrap around each of the limbs, puppetting them around like parasites.


    The one I was looking at caught a silver round to the neck, and the parasitic tentacles reacted to it harshly. The red receded as they flinched and wormed around the silver bullet before ultimately detaching from the corpse and fading away into the Aether. It was almost like they couldn¡¯t exist in the same place as the shiny metal.


    I shook my head, raising my gun once more with tired arms as I started shooting into the horde. At the very least, it was good target practice at a bunch of different ranges.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    The last of the Dune Walkers fell, at least on our side. There were plenty more of them pushing the APC and the defensive line set up there, to no success. Really, outside of a few stragglers here and there, not once were we in any danger of actually falling to the masses. The combination of magic, firing lines, and the turrets scattered around the approach kept everything back extremely well.


    They weren''t too dangerous- no that wasn''t right. The Dune Walkers were incredibly dangerous. If I were caught out in the Outlands by myself against them, my chances would be slim. Outside of running away, which would be difficult with the sandstorm, It''d be almost guaranteed death. I just happened to be traveling with the ever-so-competent Crimson Company, so it wasn''t that big of an issue.


    Yonrow continued to keep watch just in case, but the rest of us trudged back into the Prowler after a call from Sergeant Hampton. Guess we were finally going to get the rest that the Dune Walkers destroyed.


    I couldn¡¯t help but rub my eyes in an attempt to force them open, though the effort made me feel even more drained as my arm finally gave out. I felt like the rest of me was right behind. My legs were screaming in pain from the constant work of trudging through the shifty sands. My heart hurt from the constant beating and pumps of adrenaline. Then there was the entirety of my head that ached with dehydration. It was significantly cooler inside the sandstorm and it was night, but we were still in a desert fighting for several hours.


    I ducked up against the Prowler¡¯s door as I got in, covering my actions with my sand-beat poncho. I summoned the canteen, eager for the sweet taste of water-


    Ah¡­ right¡­ I changed it to an energy drink earlier. A sigh escaped my lips as I changed it back to water and banished the thing once more. Instead, I snatched the completely mundane canteen from my bag that¡¯d been handed to me for dinner last night. The water tasted mildewy, though thankfully it was slightly cold. New benefit of the temperature-controlled poncho unlocked.


    I wiped my mouth and cast an idle look around at the rest of Red-Six. Lia looked beat. She cast magic every couple of minutes, draining her entirely of energy. Hampton looked slightly less tired, though he kept twitching about as he got into the vehicle. Renold looked the best out of all of us, casually slapping his HMG back into the trunk before calmly walking back to the driver¡¯s side and entering the vehicle.


    The ringing in my ears seemed to grow louder in the quiet of the Prowler. The little earbuds that I¡¯d been using provided little relief from almost two hours of constant warfare. Go figure. I needed to get some better sound canceling. Maybe I could slap together something like my drone had to actively silence anything too loud? , I could just go get some ear muffs. Maybe I could ask-


    Yonrow tapped me on the shoulder, making me realize everyone was staring at me. Renold talked, thankfully without a mask so I could read his lips. ¡°¡­ you hear me?¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± Probably best I underplay the injury to my ears. That way it would be less suspicious when I magically healed from the injury once I slept. ¡°Just tired.¡± S§×arch* The n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Hampton started speaking- no- laughing. ¡°I feel that.¡±


    He looked around as the sandstorm started to finally calm down. Visibility cleared up enough for me to see there were just a few straggler Dune Walkers left, though they were quickly being mopped out as a few of the Prowlers left the group. Probably to go scout and see if the battle stirred anything else up.


    The Sergeant settled back into his chair, leaning it back ever so slightly. He propped his head behind his hands. I only barely managed to catch his reflection to read his lips as he started talking. ¡°We probably have a while till we need to go do anything. Go ahead and take a nap.¡± Then, without further adieu, the man closed his eyes to sleep.


    For a moment I was torn about sleeping surrounded by strangers. Then the paranoia faded. Maybe it''s because I was so damn tired since I didn''t get any sleep? Or maybe since a level of camaraderie grew between us after fighting for hours? Or potentially just because I wanted to escape from the tormenting soreness throughout my body? Regardless, as soon as my eyes closed I easily fell asleep.

 Chapter 165

    Chapter 165The smooth rumble of an engine chugging along woke me up. Instantly, my drowsiness vanished as my brain kicked into high alert. It took a few moments to settle back down.


    I rubbed at my eyes, feeling quite happy all things considered. The soreness in my limbs had faded entirely. My hearing had also returned, thankfully. Though I was incredibly parched. And my trust, albeit begrudgingly given considering my own dire straits, hadn¡¯t been betrayed! That was a victory in itself. At least, that I know of.


    A yawn escaped my lips as I looked around. I was still in the Prowler, though we were in a different spot entirely. Just after dawn based on the way the shadows sat. The rotten corpses and eternal dunes had been exchanged for broken cement structures and tattered asphalt roads of a town. Probably Stuarton.


    Everything was dilapidated with sand stacked high in between the low buildings. We drove on what looked like an ancient interstate highway raised up off the ground, so we dodged the worst of the piled dunes. The ride was still incredibly lumpy as the convoy moved along the road.


    The entire town looked as if it¡¯d been built around the highway, with even the lone tower of Stuarton built next to it. The tower was now a half-demolished structure with stretched rebar and falling concrete held in by its frame as if trying to cling to the last of its life. Life that would never return.


    But not all life had vanished. With the shadows and occasional splotches of water from old city infrastructure, there were plenty spots of greenery scattered around. They hid like small oases amongst the rotting structures of the city. It was rather nice seeing such greenery in the city. It was almost as if a subtle reminder that life always finds a way.


    And where there were plants and water, there were most definitely animals. Or at least insects, unfortunately. Some weird ones like Thermoguants and massive man-eating scorpions, but also normal flies and cockroaches made places like this their home.. I spotted a few bestial tracks scattered around, though the sandstorm from last night looked as though it¡¯d covered most of them. Everything was fresh. Nothing too big, at least at first glance. Looked like a bunch of rats or some other kind of vermin.


    The entire place had a weird vibe, almost as if we were driving over the corpse of a giant collapsed in the sand. In a way, I guess we were. There was a certain¡­  feeling to the entire place, almost as if the town was still searching for its once inhabitants¡­ or maybe I was picking up on a predator¡¯s hunger for more prey.


    The glitched-out holograms, which at a distance had still looked somewhat alright, were horrifying visages up close. Each twisted pixel of light pulled together almost as if the entire thing was made of faces screaming for help. Note to self, don¡¯t jack into anything around here¡­ not that it would be much of a problem. I hardly ever used my jacks.


    Anyway, there was probably scrap code in most of these scrambled by years of disrepair. Or, if I was unlucky, maybe there was an AI trapped in the rotting town somewhere. With old, pre-K-10 Convention facilities, it was always a valid concern. No telling what was left of the old aging infrastructure. There was at least some level of electricity remaining considering the signs were still active.


    With the sun out at full power, at least if the heat was anything to go off of, the neon signs and flickering lights were drowned out by the much brighter light. Still, flickers here and there in the corner of my attention drew my attention, making me incredibly uncomfortable. It was almost reminiscent of that time I glitched out, though I was almost a hundred percent sure it wasn¡¯t just me this time around.


    ¡°Rise an¡¯ shine sleeping beauty.¡± Lia chuckled to herself, drawing my attention back to the people in the cabin.


    ¡°You really think I¡¯m beautiful?¡± I asked in a sickly sweet voice as I put the most innocent expression I could on my face.


    Lia flinched back as a blush rose to her cheeks. ¡°Oh, uh, yeah.¡± S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°Aw shucks.¡± I dropped the act as I took in the rest of the Prowler. Everyone was back to usual. Hampton probably hadn¡¯t woken up since he went to sleep earlier. Yonrow was still drawing away, this time depicting an artful depiction of a Prowler mowing down hordes of Dune Walkers. And then there was Renold, bobbing his head to classical music singing through a small radio up on the dash. Of course it was classical. He seemed the type. ¡°What¡¯d I miss?¡±


    Renold turned the music down slightly. ¡°We¡¯re on our way to meet the Nomad contacts from the Deseran Family. Shortspire Mall, at the base of Shortspire Tower.¡±


    ¡±Shortspire? Someone had a good naming sense.¡± Not that I could blame anyone considering my own names tended to always end in -er.


    I peeked out the window again, checking the distance to the tower. It was a bit far, but we were closing fast. Everything, including Shortspire Tower, was built off of the highway so it was almost a straight shot to it. Maybe ten or twenty more minutes. ¡°Anything happen after I fell asleep?¡±


    ¡±Uh- we had to vacate the area almost immediately after. The sandstorm kept the Thermoguants away, but with it going away¡­¡± Lia shuddered. ¡°Otherwise you missed an extraordinarily boring drive.¡±


    I lifted an arm and tapped on the control pad just above my wrist. With a few more taps, I once more dropped the temperature controls to cool myself off. ¡°Nova.¡±


    The cab went silent for a few moments. Just as Renold turned his music back up, Lia asked a question. ¡°What are we expecting from the Nomads?¡±


    ¡±The Deserans?¡± Renold shrugged, though his grip on the steering wheel tightened by a slight bit. ¡°Normal Nomads. Captain didn¡¯t say much about them, but they seemed alright. For Nomads, that is. More of the scavenger and odd-job type family rather than the raiding and pillaging kind like the Jackals and Hawks.¡±


    ¡°Chek. What about weapons? They have anything juicy?¡± Lia rubbed her hands together excitedly, which was a normal gesture turned rather strange by the way she crooked all four of her elbows.


    Renold went silent as their radios buzzed. Captain Roger¡¯s voice came through clearly. ¡°All squads. The road is collapsed in front. Turn back and take the next exit. We¡¯ll plow through the streets right quick then get back up on the interstate. Watch for Scorters. Red-One reported signs a herd had come through at some point.¡±


    A chorus of affirmations came across, including one from Renold. We followed the convoy back the way we came, putting a bit more distance between us and the tower before we could get off at an exit. The exit itself was a dune piled high up and over the road, which caused the whole convoy to slow to nearly a halt as the drivers carefully maneuvered under the highway.


    The bumpy ride got even bumpier as we started to move over the sand-smothered pavement. There were sections where I wouldn¡¯t even be able to tell if we were on a road if not for the gaps in between buildings. Not that it was much help considering how many empty lots were in this town. We moved out of direct sunlight, and into the long shadow cast by the raised highway.


    Occasionally, the convoy would slow down to a crawl as the APC rammed rusted frames of cars out of the way. There were quite a number of them that¡¯d been abandoned out in the road, though most of the time it wasn¡¯t too big of a problem since we drove on sand piled high above the roads. It was only an issue when we returned back to shattered pavement.


    ¡±What¡¯s a Scorter?¡± Lia asked as we drove past the wreckage of one said ramming. The rusted car had almost disintegrated under the APC¡¯s rough treatment.


    For once, I actually knew the answer. While I couldn¡¯t research every single thing in the Outlands, I did manage to hit a number of them. ¡°They¡¯re like mutant scorpions.¡±


    ¡±That¡¯s not too bad-¡±


    ¡±About the size of a small car and can squirt acid from their tails that can easily melt you down to just bones in minutes, and even the bones if exposed for an hour or two.¡± I added on. Speaking of, I wouldn¡¯t mind getting some of their acid into my canteen. I got a whole variety of acids back at Cold Moon Solutions, but Scorter acid was practically a bioengineered weapon.


    ¡±Don¡¯t forget their claws have a crushing power capable of tearing through metal.¡± Renold spoke up from the front. ¡°And have an extremely durable exoskeleton that can easily reflect small arms.¡±


    Lia shuddered, rubbing at her arms. ¡°Woah¡­ are they weak to lightning by any chance?¡±


    ¡±Maybe?¡± I shrugged as I pulled out my phone and started reading. I¡¯d copied quite a few of the files from Cold Moon Solutions that could fit onto it. I spent the rest of the time headed for the Shortspire Mall reading. Thankfully, nothing of notice happened on our way over aside from a short backtrack to once more get back on the ancient highway.


    And then we were pulling out and toward the tower. Up close, it looked a bit more intimidating. The metal frame of the tower stuck out like spikes as if to ward off some great beast. Or maybe as though things repeatedly were thrown out, causing such a distortion. I had to look away as the brilliant sun started reflecting into my eyes.


    We drove to the far side of the mall where another of those abandoned, empty lots were set up, taking quite a bit of space. Or maybe it was a junkyard? There were a ton of abandoned cars piled up. Judging by the sands piled everywhere, there were quite a few said piles around.


    More importantly, a large truck sat in the middle of the parking lot. The truck was fully decked out with armored panels, armored tires, spikes to fend off anything from approaching close, and a massive cannon mounted to the truck bed. The truck was painted tan, nearly blending into the sand around it. I nearly missed it at first glance, though the white flag fluttering from a pole set up next to the truck drew my eye.


    The entire convoy pulled to a stop just outside of the empty lot, and only one of the Prowlers moved forward. The rest of us were moved into the typical blockade formation the Crimson Company loved to use as if we were wary of an ambush. Considering how hostile the Outlands were, it was a fair concern. Red-One split off and headed for the truck.


    ¡±Is that them?¡± Hampton asked, startling me. When did he wake up?


    ¡±Should be.¡± Renold said as he eyed the situation through a gap in the vehicles. ¡°Probably just a scout to take us to their camp. Or to call in people to come get the supplies.¡±


    ¡°Why are we dropping off supplies for the Deseran Family anyway?¡± Lia leaned back to get comfy as the Renold put the Prowler in park.


    Renold shrugged and turned his radio back up. ¡°How am I supposed to know? Probably some deal they struck.¡±


    ¡±Uh- it was a request from Athena. We¡¯ll be getting a couple of Nomad escorts out of it in exchange.¡± I was there for that part, at least. Not quite sure if there was more to it. Knowing how Fixers worked, there definitely was. Probably a chance to deepen her connection with the Nomads at the very least.


    Hampton took on a speculative look before giving out orders once more. ¡°Lia, eyes?¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± In a flush of power, she once more summoned a sprite. This time, it was a normal-sized wolf with shaggy long fur. The wolf seemed to communicate with Lia before phasing through the door and sprinting across the sand toward the meetup point.


    Lia once more made a screen showing the wolf¡¯s perspective as it ate up distance with a casual lope. In no time, it caught up with the Red-One as they slowly approached the parked truck.

 Chapter 166

    Chapter 166A man stepped out of the truck, waving his hand to the Prowler as it approached. We watched as Captain Roger himself got out of the prowler. Unfortunately, the magic screen Lia made couldn¡¯t send audio back, just the wolf¡¯s visuals. We couldn''t hear the exchange between the two. Knowing how versatile magic was though, there was probably a more advanced spell somewhere that could do both. Lia either didn¡¯t know, or the cost was too high.


    They conversed for several minutes before briefly shaking hands. Captain Roger stepped back to the Prowler, leaning against the front bumper. The Deseran Nomad waved his hand as though it were a prearranged signal.


    I caught a glint out of the corner of my eye. My vision snapped to the Shortspire Tower, about thirty floors up. My shift of attention just barely caught a figure as they got up from their position, threw what I could only assume was a sniper rifle over their back, and then left their perch.


    Snipers. Never checked for them, but they were a very real concern out here. I should keep my eyes peeled. If the Deseran Family could have snipers posted, so could other Nomad groups. No telling when one might ruin my day with a bullet shot from so far away I wouldn¡¯t even be able to see who shot. Hopefully, Insight worked on them at least. That was truly my only option other than scanning every single thing in my surroundings all the time. Even armor wasn¡¯t foolproof considering some of the wacky rifles out there.


    And the rifles weren''t even the only issue. Snipers were more than willing to buy fancy bullets since they only needed one shot. I''d seen quite a few news articles of people being sniped with smart bullets that could track around corners for impossible shots. Hell, some of the blackmail material I stole from the Neo-Jokers even mentioned assassinations using some.


    A small group of ragtag vehicles drove out from the mall. Each vehicle was different with its own mods and custom attachments, yet their color schemes were uniformly done to better blend in with the desert. The only standout thing about the paint was a symbol of a golden scorpion marking each of the vehicles.


    They pulled up, not quite surrounding the Captain but definitely putting some pressure as they aligned themselves with the first truck. A heavily modified sports car pulled away from the pack. It was covered in thick armor plating that looked as though they were pulled from a tank. Two HMGs sticking up out of the rear trunk, giving a full three-sixty cover. The sports car rolled to a stop just in front of the Prowler.


    A tall dark skinned man stepped out of the sports car. He had on a long black duster and a military baseball cap pressed down onto his face. A pair of shades helped complete the look, as did the shotgun strapped to his back. His face had a gruff, authoritative look to it.


    Immediately, Captain Roger and the Deseran Nomad started a conversation. The captain was very adamant with his nods and shakes, probably a side effect of being almost behind enemy lines with backup too far to help should they double cross. It was probably a calculated choice though to show sincerity. Or he was just that confident in surviving and the whole thing was an act to make the Nomad feel more at ease. Somehow, I could see the latter being the right option.


    ¡±What do you think they¡¯re talking about?¡± Lia asked as she leaned forward to peer into the illusory screen.


    ¡±Although I¡¯m a man of many talents, I unfortunately can¡¯t hear from this far away.¡± Renold said, shrugging unapologetically.


    ¡°Who is that anyway?¡±


    Sergeant Hampton sighed deeply. ¡°Did you miss the briefing entirely? Why even have ears if you don¡¯t use them? I thought wolves were supposed to have good hearing? Does  know yours don¡¯t work? That¡¯s Drake Deseran, the patriarch of this particular Nomad family.¡±


    Lia shrunk back slightly, rubbing sheepishly at her arms. ¡°No need to be so harsh¡­¡±


    ¡°Think you can get the wolf closer?¡± I asked. I had a surprisingly easy time reading lips last night. Must''ve been a side effect of all the training in the pavilion where I had to study faces. This was a perfect opportunity to test it further.


    Lia frowned, a look of concentration crossing her face as her eyebrows tensed. Then the perspective of the screen shifted slightly as if the wolf cocked its head. The screen shifted entirely, slowly panning over the rest of the Nomad cars setup. ¡°Maybe¡­ anyone heard if they have a competent Magus or Adept?¡±


    ¡±Negative.¡± Hampton tilted his head to the side. ¡°I think Captain said something about Kinetics though. Course, you¡¯d know that if you listened.¡±


    ¡±¡± Lia muttered, seemingly wanting to say quite a bit more before holding herself back. The wolf moved closer, bringing the two¡¯s faces into better view.


    ¡°Uh-¡° I dropped my voice a bit, imitating the way Captain Roger spoke. It was a bad imitation, but hopefully, it got my point across. ¡°¡­ glad we could come to an arrangement. You have everything ready?¡±


    I watched the Deseran leader for a few moments, getting used to how his mouth moved before speaking in my normal voice. ¡°Chek. Just waiting to see the goods. Athena provide everything we asked for?¡±


    Captain Roger shrugged half-heartedly. ¡°How would I know? I¡¯m just the delivery guy.¡± sea??h th§× n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡±Still¡­¡± Drake Deseran¡¯s head dropped slightly as he looked back towards his group. ¡°I assume the Mice have it all? I''ll call over the rest of my family to take everything off your hands.¡±


    ¡°Sooner the better.¡± Captain Roger replied. ¡°You have our escort and guide picked out?¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± The Nomad Patriarch waved his hand to the side. One person approached from off to the back. He looked a little like Drake. Maybe a relative? The term Nomad Families was used a lot, but usually, it was family by choice or circumstance, not family by blood. Or maybe that was just a wrong judgment on my part? ¡°Lenny here will guide you through the area you¡¯re looking for. About a dozen others will join you, split between six cars. Should be more than enough boom to discourage an attack with your current company. From other Nomads, at least. Been a lot of buzz around that cursed city from mercs though.¡±


    Oh? Were we headed for a city? This was the first I¡¯d heard of it, though it did make sense. Let''s see here, if it was a city that was probably nearby considering the arrangement with the Nomads, then¡­ my brain flashed through the dozens of old-world maps. Probably New Tress City¡­ maybe. Or it could be Torzo, but that city was quite a bit of distance away from here. ¡®Course, it could also be another town like Stuarton, but considering we were after Acumen Industrial¡¯s Opera House, the chances were higher it was in a proper city.


    ¡±I''m impressed! You never told us you could read lips!¡± Lia cheered, though her cheers quieted slightly as Renold gave her a look. ¡°Still, super cool!¡±


    ¡°I have many talents, most of them I¡¯d probably never get any use out of.¡± I shrugged. I had a level of camaraderie-backed trust with Red-Six after the whole Dune Walker thing, but it was best I played my cards close to my chest.


    Hampton twisted in his chair, looking back to meet my eyes with a rather unsettling gaze. ¡°Did he say cursed city?¡±


    ¡±Um,¡± I thought back, recounting what I¡¯d said. ¡°Chek. Cursed city- ain¡¯t that just perfect.¡±


    ¡±Captain didn¡¯t say anything about curses." Sergeant Hampton bowed deeply in his chair, raising his hands over his head. ¡°Ancestors keep me safe.¡±


    ¡±Chill out. Could just be a figure of speech. Like I call Aythryn City a piss pot, but that doesn¡¯t mean it''s a literal piss pot.¡± Lia tilted her head, likely recalling the rather high rates of public defecation. Especially among the large homeless population. ¡°Poor example, but my point still stands.¡±


    A cursed city, eh? Lia was right, it  just be a figure of speech. Knowing how fucked the world was though, it could also be a literal cursed city. Considering the entire Eternal Sandstorm was practically a curse upon North Arkhanika, it wouldn¡¯t be too outlandish for this city to have a curse laid upon it too.


    I focused back on the conversation between the two leaders. Unfortunately, right as I did, they split up and went their own ways. Drake Deseran started talking to his family with his back turned to the wolf while Captain Roger got back in the Prowler to drive back to us.


    Over the next hour, dozens of cars and trucks came and went in a constant stream, slowly but steadily emptying crate after crate of goods from the Mice. Most of the other Prowlers were sent out to set up a perimeter, but since Red-Six was protecting an important asset¡ªme¡ªwe had to just sit around and wait.


    I went back to reading Cold Moon Solutions'' files shortly after, listening to music. Occasionally I¡¯d catch snippets of Lia¡¯s discussion with Renold over one thing or another, though it wasn¡¯t anything I was super interested in joining in.


    Rather, the memos from Cold Moon Solutions were incredibly entertaining in a bad comedy kind of way. There was a certain level of irony that tickled me just right. I found myself laughing more than a few times, especially when Kuzo constantly mentioned seeking to improve the team while simultaneously feeding the entire corporation''s wealth into Project Methuze, which was bound to fail.


    A final call honk drew me from my phone as my attention shifted once more to my surroundings. The last of the Nomads drove off back toward the Shortspire Mall, taking with them the rest of the goods left in the Mice. Bet it was good for the fuel economy that they were empty now. A whole lot less weight for the trip to our actual location, where we¡¯d hopefully find plenty of valuable loot to fill them once more. At least, if I understood the plan.


    And then we were off into the desert once more, this time accompanied by a baker¡¯s dozen Nomads.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    We crested a dune covering the ancient roadways, the entire convoy moving slowly through the impaired visibility of a sandstorm. This was one blessedly mundane, though even with its mundane nature it was still a problem. The terrible visibility made the already long drive feel even longer, especially since the entire Convoy slowed to avoid crashing.


    It¡¯d been a day since we met up with the Nomads. A thankfully uneventful day. It¡¯d been a long trek out here, and I was incredibly happy I wasn¡¯t the driver. Renold had been driving almost constantly since we left the city. Poor sap. Although he kept a professional look on his face at all times, he looked rather tired this morning when we woke up.


    Up ahead, the sand billowed out into a tunnel as the convoy moved through the sandstorm. And then, bursting through a last wall of wind-swept debris, we freed ourselves from the sandstorm.


    The convoy stopped, spreading out on the dune as our destination came before us. A city, complete with massive superstructures reaching into the sky like the fingers of fallen behemoths, lay before us. The entire thing was covered in greenery and broken architecture. There was a certain sense of ragged brokenness to the entire place as if it were a mockery of what it used to be.


    And yes, I said greenery. There were so many plants. Long vines entangled and strangled the remains of the superstructures as if to choke the last bits of life out of them. Trees sprouted from the windows, casting shade over the entire city. Hell, it even looked as though there was a carpet of moss or grass all over the ground, though I couldn''t be too sure from this distance. I¡¯d never seen so many plants in one place before.


    The entire city, clothed in greens and a wash of bright flowering colors, evoked a certain¡­  feeling for me. Maybe it was because most of my interactions with plants thus far had been rather hostile? Seeing an entire city taken over by them sent a chill down my spine that I just couldn''t quite shake.


    Outside of the plants, there were also the unsettling remains of ancient tech. The creepy, decrepit holograms of Stuarton paled in comparison to what remained of New Tress City. There were only a few of them back there, but here? Hundreds if not thousands of glitched-out holograms twitched around all over the place, most held in by vines.


    When was this city abandoned again? It should¡¯ve been back around the twenty-forties somewhere. Holograms would¡¯ve just become mainstream back then, and I could tell by looking around. Nowadays neon and holograms had taken over, but here? Little neon compared to the massive amount of broke holograms.


    This place was once one of Acumen Industrial¡¯s stronghold cities before they went under. At a glance, I couldn¡¯t see any buildings of the Big 7. That isn¡¯t to say that there weren¡¯t any presents though. There were probably subsidiaries all over the place. Especially during the corporate cold war that¡¯d been going on over the decades before Acumen Industrial went under.


    ¡±So that¡¯s it, eh?¡± Lia looked out at the city in silence for a few moments. ¡°Doesn''t look like much? What do you think this curse Drake Deseran mentioned is?¡±


    ¡°No clue. Could be anything. Or nothing.¡± Renold shrugged. ¡°Lots of plants around here though. And look at all the holograms. The infrastructure is still running... I doubt the old tech is still working either. Might be a faction prevalent here.¡±


    I forced my eyes away from the plants as I tuned back into their conversation. They were probably just mundane, normal plants that wouldn¡¯t try and kill me. It was just paranoia that made my spine tingle with anxiety. ¡°What¡¯s the plan now?¡±


    ¡°Find our coordinates, set up a firebase, and then get to looting, probably.¡± Hampton shrugged. ¡°No telling though. If there  a curse here, which there , Captain will want to take it slow. And there were those mercs the Deseran Patriarch mentioned to think about too.¡±


    Right. Mercs. Made me think there were quite a few goodies still in this city to draw mercs. Where there¡¯s money and loot, there are mercs after all. Even in the most inhospitable of places like the Cwalu continent, they could be found. Hopefully, we won¡¯t run into too many of them.


    Then again, my luck never had held up well since I got the interface. Probably used my entire lifetime of luck in that one incident.


    The radio crackled to life as Captain Roger¡¯s voice came through. It was slightly distorted, though clear enough to make out. ¡°All squad leaders, meet me in the back of Gold-1. There¡¯ve been some developments brought about by our Nomad chooms. There¡¯s been a change of plans.¡±

 Chapter 167

    Chapter 167¡°Zuku! Got another one for ya¡¯!¡± A woman¡¯s voice called out to me, a hint of nerves evident through the shake in her voice, yet the shake was so suppressed it could easily be missed. Triss, one of the other Squad leaders. Red-Two, I think.


    My eyes slowly eased open as I stared up at the fabric of my tent. A tired hand sprung up to my face, covering my mouth as a yawn eased out. ¡°I¡¯m coming¡­¡±


    I heard the soft crunching of footsteps on sand recede as Triss left me alone. For once. It¡¯d been a week since we first arrived on the outskirts of New Tress City, and I had yet to even leave camp. Apparently, we were supposed to immediately get into the city and head for the opera house as soon as we arrived.


    That didn¡¯t happen.


    Instead, we set up camp just on the fringes of the city. There was a nice rocky hill that jutted out sharply against the surrounding dunes with jagged cliffs on three of its sides. That was our base camp. One of the Company¡¯s Adepts even used a spell to shape the terrain so we practically had castle walls built of sandstone, which was nova. Or at least it had been till I realized I was basically trapped in here for the time being. They also blocked a lot of the view, which was annoying. First time I¡¯d ever seen so many plants and I couldn¡¯t look all I wanted. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    As for why we were out here instead of in there klepping shit? No clue. Or rather, I had a clue, though nobody actually told me what was going on. A side effect of my ¡®protection¡¯ squad immediately being sent without me into the city. I¡¯m not mad- well, I¡¯m not  mad at being left behind. That, and Captain Roger has been way too busy to make time for me, not that I could blame him.


    The clues were pretty evident that something was going on in the city. And not a good something. Take, for instance, now. I was once more dragged out at¡ªI pulled my phone off its charging port in my pack and checked the time¡ªthe crack of dawn to go fix another vehicle. Or . It was always . Last time it¡¯d been a portable solar panel. I barely managed to scrape by and get that all fixed, though it was entirely out of my comfort zone.


    I suppressed a sigh as I gulped down far too much XtraEnergy Quantum from the canteen. After a quick change for it to start making water again, I forced myself up and out of the tent. I pulled off my poncho which I¡¯d been using as a heated blanket and threw it back on. In the distance, the sun peeked over sandstone walls, flash-banging at me.


    My eyes closed of their own free will, and for several long moments, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder why exactly I had come out here with this ragtag merc Company. Or were they PMCs? At what point does a company stop being a mercenary company and become Private Military Contractors? When they join a company? Now that I think about it, the Crimson Company were PMCs, right? I¡¯d been misnaming them this entire time-


    ¡°You good, Zuku?¡± Triss asked me.


    I kept my eyes closed for a few seconds longer as the sun burned past my eyelids. I heard sand softly crunching as the woman shifted from foot to foot. And then I finally felt the caffeine start kicking in as a soft jittery feeling flowed through my limbs.


    Triss stood not too far, tall amongst the surrounding tents. Her long, flowing red hair was kept back in a tight ponytail and a cap gently pressed down on her head. She wore the same desert camo uniform and vest that the rest of the Crimson Company wore, marked with the red cross on her shoulder.


    From what I¡¯d heard from Jerad, the guy running the medical tent, it¡¯d been a real problem having desert camo in a city filled with green. Go figure. Poor guy had it rough. Magic kept backfiring in the city too, so he constantly had a train of people coming and going. Especially the Magi and Adepts. Maybe that Drake Deseran guy was right. It really was looking like a cursed city.


    Anyway, at a glance, the woman looked more bio-sculpted than human. Her skin had an unnatural sheen to it, and I knew for a fact her pores spilled some type of coolant rather than natural sweat. It just had a bit of a sheen to it that normal sweat didn¡¯t. Her features were, of course, perfectly designed and she had a smooth, chiseled jaw. She would look like a model if it weren¡¯t for the slightly pulsing red hair and the sharpened teeth filling her mouth. Then again, it was out there just enough it¡¯d probably make her more appealing as a model.


    ¡°Chek.¡± I held another yawn as I cast a glance around the camp, rubbing at my arms. It was as quiet as usual. Over half the PMCs were out on various missions, including Red-Six. The rest were mostly passed out in their tents to catch up on sleep or playing card games around the few fires we had set up. Only good ole¡¯ Jerad and I were the ones stuck here- wait, no- he was called out too on occasion. That made it just me who hadn¡¯t ventured into the city yet.


    I had¡­ mixed feelings about that. On one hand, yeah, it was for my safety and all that. And there was no arguing I was safer here than out there based on what I¡¯d seen and heard. At the same time, I couldn¡¯t help but feel quite a dose of wanderlust. Especially since the people I thought I¡¯d be with this whole time just  me here.


    My eyes snapped back to Triss as I held back a shiver. Crazy how cold the desert got at night. It was still freezing out here. ¡°What is it this time?¡±


    ¡±Uh-¡° She shifted nervously from foot to foot. Still not sure if it was true nerves or just an act to  more human. Hard to tell when she had such extensive modifications. Especially since it was all bio-sculpting. Not too clear on that side of things compared to good old chrome. ¡°Robert¡¯s arm is locked up. Caught a few stray bullets. Other than that, the fuel lines of our Prowler are leaking once more¡­¡±


    I tilted my head, pondering for a few moments before making a decision. ¡°Kay. Let¡¯s take care of Robert first. Any clue what¡¯s wrong with him?¡±


    Triss turned to lead me, her stride perfect even as her hands looked to twitch with nerves. It was things like this that made me feel unsettled. She just had far too many Cues leaning toward faking  being real at the same time. It could be explained by her just being a good actor, or training enough to get through her nerves. Either way, she had good training. ¡°Negative. That¡¯s what you¡¯re for, no?¡±


    Technically, I was here to break into a locked-down Opera House, not play techie for a bunch of careless PMCs¡­ that was a bit harsh. They weren¡¯t careless. Then again, some of the stuff I had to fix was just downright bizarre. Especially that time I had to fix a built-in thigh holster that was jammed¡­ I thought it would just be vehicles at first, but then I exposed myself as capable of fixing chrome and it''s been downhill ever since. Good practice at the least.


    Triss led me to one of the few permanent structures built out of sandstone. Besides the medical building and the bait command center, this building was the only other one. Everything else was done in tents. Suckers. I had my very own workshop. Sure, it was a little- a lot underequipped and lacked the full functions that an actual workshop would have, but at least I was safe to work during a sandstorm! Maybe that wasn¡¯t such a good thing¡­


    A prowler was parked in the small workshop, alongside two men playing cards on my sandstone work table. Tools were scattered all around it, most a little rusty or beat up and about forty years behind modern tech. I¡¯d needed much more gear than I originally thought, though thankfully the Crimson Company was full of rather skilled scavengers.


    The one closest to me, a rather tall guy with a limp, jolted upright as we approached. For a second, I thought it was because of us. Then he spoke, ¡°Haha! All in! You¡¯ll owe me beer for a week when we get back!¡±


    The other man¡¯s face twitched sharply. ¡°You¡¯re just lucky-¡° He froze and bolted upright as we approached. ¡°Zuku! I¡¯m so glad to see you! Please! Help!¡± He waved his arms around, ¡®accidentally¡¯ knocking over the stack of cards and jumbling it all over the place. Of course, such a merc would never  ruin a game he was losing. Right?


    ¡°¡± the other man muttered before glancing back toward us. ¡°I¡¯ll see you later, man. Triss. Zuku.¡± He gave us a nod before heading back out of my workshop. That just left the almost loser standing at my table and Triss.


    ¡°I need to report to the Captain.¡± Triss quickly followed the other man and left.


    I moved to the recently vacated seat, taking it as I shoved the cards off the table in an impromptu game of fifty-two card pickup. The man¡¯s smile dropped slightly, though I pretended not to notice. That¡¯s what he gets for playing cards on  work table. It was practically a violation!


    ¡±Gimme your arm.¡± I tapped the table. He followed my command, giving me the first real look at the issue. Like Triss said, it was all locked up. He had one of those Sentinel models with a built-in gun. The barrels of the gun usually hid in the wrist before popping out to fire, though in this case it was jammed about halfway open. The jam caused his wrist to be locked facing down at an uncomfortable angle. It didn¡¯t help that his elbow was also messed up, forcing his arm in an angle that would be downright torture as it squeezed the synthetic nerves running through it.


    ¡±I got shot mid deploy of my gun. It- uh- it itches real bad too.¡± The man¡¯s face twitched. ¡°That might just be all the pain meds docs got me on.¡±


    Ah¡­ well, first things first, I need to get the gun opened up. The mechanisms to deploy it probably got hit by the bullet, causing it to jam. It might¡¯ve also hit one of the control circuits, which messed up the elbow. Should be easy enough to fix.


    I tapped on his arm, sending a pulse of ethereal energy through the limb thanks to Technical Expertise. The pulse went through his entire arm before bouncing back, creating a mental three-dimensional image of the limb. It was almost like a hologram I could perfectly see with my mind''s eye.


    As I suspected, one of the internal servos was messed up. The bullet must¡¯ve directly impacted it based on the markings. The servo¡¯s head was shattered, with pieces of it blocking jammed into a few other mechanisms and a couple pieces sliced deeply through the thin circuitry running the whole limb.


    I got to work, accessing the maintenance port right below the armpit. It took a bit of work to get the thing opened. Especially since he kept twitching around, muttering ¡®ticklish¡¯ over and over. From there, I carefully disconnected the power supply. Immediately, the entire metal limb went slack.


    ¡°Um- I don¡¯t mean to tell you how to do your job- but that doesn''t feel right,¡± Robert said as his shoulder flexed, uselessly flopping around the limp chrome.


    I shot him a glare. I didn¡¯t even want to be doing this in the first place. It was technically the job of a Medech, so Jared should¡¯ve been the one taking care of everything. Too bad the Crimson Company¡¯s doc was only good with biological stuff. Gonk. ¡°You want to fix it yourself?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± He shut up, looking up to the roof as if he suddenly found it interesting.


    Without power, the limb was much easier to manipulate. I managed to get the gun pried up, and then out of the arm, exposing the internals. I had to disassemble the hand and take it off, which was a pain since none of my screwdrivers would quite fit into the gun port to loosen it. With the hand taken off, it was much easier to manipulate the internals as I carefully took out the servo and set it aside.


    From there, I grabbed some of the scrap materials that I¡¯d been brought over the past week and carefully fixed the circuitry. It wasn¡¯t exactly a pretty fix, though thankfully the circuit that was messed up wasn¡¯t all that complex. Then I popped in a new servo. The new servo was about forty years old, so it was a jury-rigged fix at best. He¡¯d have to go see an actual Medech that had parts on hand to get it fixed fully. Or bring me some better parts.


    I popped the hand and gun back into place, then re-enabled the power. As if surprised by the sudden return of control, the arm slammed upward as it righted itself back to how it should¡¯ve been. It nearly clocked me over the head, though I managed to dodge thanks to a warning from Insight in the nick of time. Robert wasn¡¯t so lucky. He slammed himself over the head, knocking him off his seat.


    ¡±I think- I think you fixed it.¡± He groggily got back up to his feet. He rubbed at a rather large lump slowly forming on his head. Shoulda worn a helmet.


    ¡±Try deploying your gun.¡±


    A panel slid pack, and the barrel rose from below it. At a snail¡¯s pace. And it was a bit loud, causing a screeching noise. It still worked, though the servo I used to fix it showed its age. It¡¯d probably take double if not triple the time to deploy now. Not that I could do anything about it. I simply didn¡¯t have the stuff on hand to fix chrome perfectly. I did pour in some grease though, which stopped most of the screeches.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± Robert happily left.


    That just left me and the Prowler. It was a simple fix and a common one I''d had lots of practice with over the past week. I had to replace fuel lines almost every time they came back. Something about the city reacted weirdly with AE3, causing it to turn slightly acidic. The vehicles were practically running on tape and hope at this point.


    Once more a sigh escaped me as I went to fetch the parts. When will I finally be able to go do ? ?

 Chapter 168

    Chapter 168I checked the fitting one last time, ensuring the line wouldn¡¯t detach if it was jostled too much. The first time I ¡®fixed¡¯ a Prowler¡¯s fuel line, I hadn¡¯t secured it enough. They barely got out of the camp before the AE3 ¡®eroded¡¯ the fitting once more and I had to fix it. At least, that''s the excuse I gave to make it look like I wasn¡¯t entirely incompetent. Yeah, wouldn''t be messing up that again.


    I gathered up my tools and rolled out from under the Prowler, smearing grease all over myself in the process. I used the vehicle as a support, forcing myself up to a stand as I heard several bones in my spine pop. Kicking aside my beat-up tools, I hopped into the driver''s seat and hit the ignition. Everything sounded alright. Just in case though, I should do a final check over. Would suck for them to get to the city just to have something break.


    After a couple of scans, both technologically and through Technical Expertise, the Prowler was good to go. There was some slight wear here and there, though the most worrying thing was the fuel tank itself. It wasn¡¯t quite to the point it¡¯d fall apart, but it was having a similar issue as the fuel lines. By my estimation, as long as we weren''t out here too long, it''d hold up. Sure, it¡¯d need to be replaced when we got back to the city, at that point though it¡¯d no longer be my problem.


    I returned to my worktable, wiping the grease on my face off with a spare rag. Just as I got everything cleaned up and put away, a visitor dropped by to see me. A familiar visitor at that. Lia smiled as soon as she saw me, though, from the slight tension throughout her body, I got the feeling this wasn''t a social visit. ¡°Zuku!!¡±


    I eyed her as I wiped my hands. A new long, jagged scratch from the temple down to her jaw marked her face. It was red, like a fresh scar. ¡°Hey, Lia. That looks painful,¡±


    ¡°Yeah, a scavenger closed the gap and got me with a piece of his gauntlet. Silver ripped that bastard''s head off, so I guess we¡¯re even.¡± Lia rubbed at her face with a depressed look in her eyes. It quickly faded as she shook her head. ¡°Anyway, Captain wants to see you. Now.¡±


    ¡°You know what about?¡± I eyed her, noticing a particularly vivid splotch of dark red on her clothes. I should really try not to piss her off. Ever.


    Lia shook her head, though it was a slow shake as if confused. ¡°Negative. We just got back to camp. Uh, looks like something kicked the hive though. Half the Squads are being mobilized. The rest are breaking down camp.¡±


    ¡°Damn.¡± That¡¯s not good. What could¡¯ve happened to set everyone off? They¡¯d been just fine with their voyages into the city thus far. If we were breaking down camp though¡­ were we finally going in? Was I finally leaving behind this damned desert? Seriously, I couldn''t wait to take a shower somewhere sand wouldn''t immediately get into my clothes again.


    ¡°Right then, Renold needs help packing everything up. I¡¯m off.¡± Lia stepped away, pausing for a moment before glancing back. ¡°You know to avoid the dummy command center and head for the tent, right?¡±


    ¡°Chek.¡± She think I was some kind of gonk? I''d been here far more than she had, so I was intimately aware of the layout of the camp even without assistance from Eidetic Schematic.


    ¡°Nova.¡± With that, the Magus left me to my own devices. I looked out past her tall figure, catching sight of hustling movement as the Crimson Company rapidly broke down the encampment. Was it finally time?


    I headed out, grabbing my bag just in case as I went. I made a brief stop by Triss¡¯s squad to inform them the Prowler was fixed. As I walked, I couldn¡¯t help but notice a certain nervous energy in the air, which was dwarfed by a layer of excitement. I nearly ran into several bustling people as I made my way to a large tent set up near a corner of the sandstone walls. It was one of the few places not being packed up.


    Captain Roger stood leaning over a table set up in the middle of the tent. A massive map of the city was laid out on it, covered in various markers and small toy soldiers of various colors. Sergeant Hampton was with him, as well as one other man. Sergeant Ysmor, I think. Leader of Red-One. They were discussing something quietly, though their conversation came to a stop as I approached.


    ¡°Ah, nova. Just in time, Zuku.¡± Captain Roger waved at me, motioning to a side of the table nobody occupied. As he shifted, the plating of subdermal armor moved under his synthskin tightly. His movement was rather relaxed, though there was tension in the air as if a fuse that could ignite at any moment.


    ¡°You need me for something?¡± I asked as I walked up. My eyes glanced down at the map, fully memorizing each and every inch of it as well as the various markings all over. The city was big, though maybe only half the size of Aythryn City. The markings and toys set up all over it made it seem a bit bigger though. Or at least more inhabited than I would expect of a supposedly abandoned ¡®cursed¡¯ city.


    The Captain nodded to me. ¡°Chek¡­ you see this?¡± He pointed towards a small toy of a red truck. Several red toy soldiers surrounded it, though they were being pressed in on by a group of yellow soldiers and green ones. ¡°That¡¯s T-1. At the moment. They were ambushed by an enemy. Something broke, and the APC is stranded. You can fix it, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d have to check its condition to know for sure.¡± I could probably fix it. If anything, the past week had been a nice reassurance that my Tech skills were a bit more advanced than what I gave them credit for. There was a bigger kicker though that made me hesitant to just say yes. ¡°I might not have the parts to fix whatever is wrong though .¡±


    The Captain nodded, his brows furrowing as he stared at the toy soldiers. ¡°Hmm¡­¡±


    ¡°Should we take a few squads to reinforce their location, sir?¡± Ysmor asked, drawing the Captain¡¯s speculative eye. ¡°We can meet up with the rest of the convoy if things are going well, and if not, part of the convoy could pick up the stranded members of T-1.¡±


    ¡°Maybe¡­ they might be trying to lure us out though... Any movements from Triton?¡± Captain Roger asked. ¡°The Growths and Urjune bastards are already going to be enough of a pain without him getting into the mix.¡±


    Ysmor shook his head. ¡°Red-Four hasn¡¯t reported anything yet. They probably don¡¯t know yet since it''s on the far side of New Tress City from their stronghold¡­ What¡¯s the plan?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I felt a bit like an outsider as so many new terms were thrown around. The feeling grew even worse as the Captain just stared at the map for a while, deep in thought.


    Hampton pitched in, standing straight like a beast facing its demise as he rushed the Crimson Company¡¯s leader. ¡°T-1 won¡¯t last long without any support. What¡¯s the call, Captain?¡±


    Captain Roger sighed deeply, running a hand down his face before the atmosphere shifted once more. If before there¡¯d been a nervous tension, now felt like the moment of the explosion. ¡°Red-One, Red-Two, and Red-Six head out to reinforce T-1. We¡¯ll be fine missing you lot and the APC since the Deseran Nomads can fill the gaps. Zuku, go with them and see if you can¡¯t get the APC back up and running.¡±


    ¡°Chek.¡± I nodded my head as nerves seemed to fill me. It was finally time to get out there. I was¡­ nervous. It was my first foray into New Tress City and I was headed for an active combat zone. Not how I saw this going. Whatever happened to a nice ease in? I¡¯d almost prefer being back with the Crusade at this point- no, actually. Nothing was worse than the Crusade''s chaos.


    ¡°We were already planning on making a move for the Laurus Theatre, so we¡¯ll move up the timeline. If it is an attempt to lure us into an ambush, we''ll already be entrenched in the opera house before they realize something went wrong. If you aren''t moving by the time the rest of the Crimson Company passes by, we¡¯ll abandon the APC. Your job is purely to buy time. Set up a defensive line and keep the aggressors back. Full retreat once we''re set up.¡±


    Hampton¡¯s face pulled into a deep frown as he stared down at the city map. ¡°What¡¯s the call if we get overwhelmed?¡±


    ¡°Pull back early. I hate to abandon the APC, but I¡¯d rather keep all of T-1 alive. Hmm... try and lead them toward Triton''s territory to buy us more time. Then we''ll send the rest out to support you once we''re done. Oh, and take Melas and Troy, two of the Nomads, with you. Melas¡¯s Kinetic ability might be of help to Zuku.¡± The Captain nodded his head to me then leaned back over the table. ¡°Dismissed.¡± Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡±Sir!¡± Hampton and Ysmor said at the same time, giving off a certain militaristic vibe that faintly reminded me of Uncle Ezra. Then they left the tent to prepare.


    I followed a few steps behind them, splitting off to the workshop and my tent to gather up my stuff. Just as I finished grabbing everything, a Prowler drove up. The heavy churning of the thermoelectric engine sent a slice of nerves through me as I mentally tried to prepare myself for what was to come.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    My nerves, as usual, were for nothing. It took nearly fifteen minutes before we even hit the city¡¯s borders. Up close, the place felt like an entirely different beast. I found myself constantly sweeping my surroundings as if we could be attacked at any time.


    ¡±Hey, relax.¡± Lia reached over and patted me on the shoulder, her double elbow mutation making it rather easy to reach around Yonrow. ¡°We¡¯re still several miles away.¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± I tried my best not to flinch back from her pat as I allowed the tension in my shoulders to drop. I turned my gaze back out the window, this time looking just to look instead of scanning for threats. Or, at least, that¡¯s what I told myself.


    The city up close felt entirely different from the city at range. At first, I wasn¡¯t sure what it was as we rode up onto vine and grass-clogged streets. If anything, I should feel more at ease with all this life around. Or maybe not considering recent events. And then I flicked on Aetherial Perception.


    The entire place felt like a wasteland under my enhanced vision. For the Aether, that is. Usually, the Aether overlayed reality like a veil, with some places being incredibly thick and others being thinly veiled. From what I¡¯d seen of Fox¡¯s shrine, and could make an educated guess about the rest of the eidolon''s shrines, they were places with thicker veils. It was a bit hard to put into words though since the Aether was non-Euclidean.


    Anyway, New Tress City was one of the places thinly veiled. No, that wasn¡¯t quite right. The Aether wasn¡¯t  thin. It was pulled back. The entire area felt like the Aether was trying to retreat, and yet it was slowly being pulled back into the city as if being sucked into a vortex.


    What was present in the Aether felt heavily polluted, appearing dyed dark green as if a plague had infested it. As my eyes flicked from one place to another, I realized it was a familiar contamination. The entire place had the similar sickly vibe that the plants of the Circle had, almost as if there was a certain layer of malevolence in the very air itself.


    A warning from Insight sent a chill throughout my entire body. Every part of my flesh felt cold as if the very blood running through my veins was made of liquid nitrogen. A frozen tear seemed to loudly rip through my ears as the dark green shades of the nearby Aether seemed to pull back.


    I caught the barest glance at¡­  peeking through the sundered Aether. It looked like an eye made from thousands of tentacle-like vines, each one of them slowly reaching out to me. They crawled through the air, each one closing the distance-


    I cut off Aetherial Perception, barely holding a rasping breath as the cold contaminating my body slowly eased off. I glanced around the Prowler to see if anyone else noticed that- that horrible presence, but everyone seemed as they had been. Just what the hell was that?


    ¡¸Request - Stop - Received


    Don¡¯t use Aetherial Perception while in New Tress City


    Reward: None¡¹


    Yeah¡­ yeah, good idea. For once, I think it¡¯d be for the best if I followed this request without a reward. I ran a shaky hand through my hair, breathing slowly to try and calm down my erratic heartbeat. No wonder the Magi and Adepts had been having so many issues with that- . I don¡¯t even know what to call it. Hell, I don¡¯t even know what it could¡¯ve been.


    I dropped my hand onto the comforting grip of my gun. Doubt it¡¯d do anything against that something that could tear apart the Aether with apparent ease, but at the very least it gave me some level of comfort as we drifted along.

 Chapter 169

    Chapter 169I stared out the window at shattered buildings and vine-entwined architecture. We were pretty far into what would¡¯ve used to be the city¡¯s downtown area. Even back when everything was built forty years ago, skyscrapers were the way to go. They hid the surrounding desert entirely, though unlike back home I could still see the blue sky far above.


    This place was quite a bit more tame than Aythryn City. At least, as far as the concrete jungle goes. The same couldn¡¯t be said for the plants caking almost every surface. They were my targets of observation as I watched for any hint of aggressive movement. No telling which splotches of green could be a lethal weapon in disguise. I  have PTSD with plants...


    Lia and the rest weren¡¯t nearly as cautious of the insidious flora as I was. They even had the time to chat carelessly. ¡°Who is it this time?¡±


    ¡°Urjune Company,¡± Renold informed the Wolf Magus. Then, as if realizing I was in the vehicle with them, he continued. ¡°They¡¯re a PMC company under KairoTech. Not one of their best, but they¡¯re well equipped and a pain in the ass.¡±


    ¡°Um- KairoTech?¡± Were we going against one of the Big 7? So soon? I wasn¡¯t nearly prepared enough to make an enemy of one of the top dogs. Maybe the Crimson Company could take the fall- no, this was one of the Big 7. No way they would miss the fact I was involved.


    I could feel panic start to set in as my hand stretched towards the handle. Maybe if I bailed now it wouldn¡¯t be too late-


    ¡°Not really. They¡¯re basically one of the exec''s pets. Probably as a way to avoid other execs interfering with his missions. Since they''re a private pet though, the exec''s hands are tied if anything happens to them. No need to fear corporate retribution. At most, Captain will get a strongly worded message.¡± Renold looked back into the rearview mirror, meeting my eyes. ¡°This kinda thing is pretty common. Nothing to worry about- well, nothing to worry about afterward. It¡¯s not cost-effective to kill off mercenaries unless they become a real nuisance. Could die to them here though, I guess.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s with that vote of confidence?¡± Lia asked. ¡°Don¡¯t listen to him. We¡¯ll be fine. Probably. Not like we¡¯re picking a fight with corporate operators at the least. Kinda.¡±


    A call came from the radio, silencing us as Hampton listened intently. He talked with the person--sounded like Ysmore--briefly. Hampton sighed and started giving orders as soon as their discussion ended. ¡°Lia, use that shield thing-


    ¡°Reflection?¡±


    ¡±Whatever. Cast it. And Fog too. Yonrow, watch the sky. Leave everything else to Red-One and Red-Two. Renold, get us close, then circle back around and protect our flank. Try to stay out of view. The Urjune operators brought along rocket launchers to the party. Lastly, this will be a quick drop, Zuku, so as soon as we stop, get out and get to cover. The rest of you, stay with Ysmor and circle to protect our flank from the Growth.¡± Hampton finished his orders as he sat up. ¡°Should be any minute now.¡±


    The carefree mood died quickly as a level of tension seemed to settle over the cabin of the Prowler. It was only slightly interrupted by Lia casting magic. A frown settled on her face as she seemed to struggle with it. For a moment, I was incredibly tempted to take a peek with Aetherial Perception to distract myself, but the haunting memory of whatever that


    in the Aether was halted that thought about as soon as it started.


    Lia finished her magic, and I immediately got a feeling through Insight as it settled on everyone in the vehicle. Remembering what I said earlier, she glanced toward me. ¡°Uh- Reflection is a bit like a shield, kind of. It¡¯ll protect you from getting shot a couple times, but it''s rather low-level. Maybe only ten or so uses?¡±


    Just as I was about to reply, I cut myself off so I could listen. Faintly, though growing increasingly loud as our little convoy of four vehicles sped through plant-filled streets, the sounds of a firefight hit us. The constant drums of gunfire bounced off the buildings, interspersed with occasional explosions. And then we could see it, the bright flickers of flames reflecting off of shattered glass as they ate away at the greenery infesting this place.


    Through the flames of battle, I spotted the APC. It was firing in a blaze of glory, almost every turret on the thing shooting towards the surrounding buildings. It had crashed through a wall, the entire thing covered in debris as T-1 showed the true meaning of the best defense is an overwhelming offense. The rest of T-1 not bunkered inside of the APC were set up around it, using the building as cover to unload onto an enemy posted up in the buildings across the way. sea??h th§× n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    As for the enemy? I couldn¡¯t see them. Thick blankets of smoke rose from vines that had been lit aflame. I could see why as I watched the APC. A massive ball of fire formed over the armored vehicle, launching towards one of the far buildings as sparks sprinkled down from it like incendiary rain. The relatively dry plants posed no chance as the fire burned everything to ash.


    The actual fireball itself lanced towards one of the surrounding skyscrapers, exploding against it as debris splattered off. The gunfire from that particular spot stopped, though it hardly mattered as even more came from a different section of the building. A rocket launched from one of the other sections, barely getting across the street before the storm of bullets caught it like a net, turning it into a fireball mid-air.


    As soon as we pulled out onto the streets, we entered the line of fire. Bullets hailed across the armor of our small four-vehicle convoy as we raced through ash-coated grass. Harsh plinking sounds echoed through the thing like it was a tin can, hurting my ears as I hastily pulled on the ear muffs I klepped- borrowed from a guy at the camp. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I was on the other side of the enemy firing down on us, so my already smoke-blocked vision grew even worse.


    The other two Prowlers and the Nomad vehicle returned fire. I got a pulse of Insight from Lia. Fog. It was easy enough to tell what the magic did as a thick bank of fog covered us like a mantel. It was thick enough I¡®d hate to drive through it, though Renold made it look easy. The fire hitting us died as our enemies'' accuracy plummeted, though we still caught potshots.


    And then we were there, pulling into a defensive circle around the stranded APC. Before the vehicle even stopped, Hampton was out and darting for the building. I followed behind him, keeping low to the ground as a scattering of bullets flew past me.


    Burst Step proved its usefulness once more as in one motion I catapulted past the sprinting Sergeant Hampton. My legs tensed, springing me forward rapidly to cover as they ached. The dense fog and my speed allowed me to easily close the distance and enter the building safely, though Deflection caught three of four bullets before they could hit.


    We weren¡¯t the only ones headed into the building either. Just before I fully turned the corner, I caught the shadow of a man as he darted into cover alongside Hampton and me. And then the fog lifted as the sounds of warfare returned. The Prowlers and Nomads drove off, not risking a rocket by overstaying their welcome.


    I ducked behind a pillar, clearing myself of sightlines as I felt the muscles in my legs throb with pain as though I¡¯d just run a marathon. Burst Step¡¯s after-effects were always such a  to deal with, though there was no denying its usefulness. My head tipped back against the pillar as I cast an idle look around.


    I happened to take cover right next to a rather burly-looking man bleeding from a mark on his shoulder. Looked like a layer of subdermal armor caught it, so it was more of a flesh wound than anything. Or does it even count as a flesh wound if it hits subdermal armor? I caught the guy''s gaze as I realized I was staring.  ¡°Oh¡­ hey.¡±


    ¡±Howdy, miss¡­¡± The man tipped his head before returning fire toward the building across the way.


    ¡±Zuku!¡± A call came from my side, drawing my focus to Hampton hunkered down behind the APC. ¡°Get over here!¡±


    I glanced towards the gap between the cover and the vehicle, hesitating for a slight moment. Burst Step again? Hmm¡­ It¡¯s not far¡­ I still had more uses for Deflection. I''d yet to overuse Burst Step, and I''d rather save it for later if I needed it. My legs were already aching from just one use. If I was forced to use it several times, it might handicap me.


    I timed my movement with another of those fireballs from the APC, sprinting across the distance in a matter of seconds. I slid into cover behind the heavily armored vehicle, nearly tripping as I put pressure on my sore legs.


    Hampton shifted to the side, getting out of the way as the other guy who ran through the fog with us stepped up. One of the Deseran Nomads, I think. He didn¡¯t have the same uniform on as the rest of the Crimson Company. ¡°Melas. Zuku. Melas here can control metal. The sooner you guys get this fixed the better.¡±


    ¡±Just tell me what you need.¡± Melas nodded his head to me. He had an extremely quiet voice. Then again, I was wearing earmuffs.


    Where was this guy the rest of the time I was in camp? Fixing stuff would¡¯ve been a breeze¡­ ¡°Serg-¡° I cut myself off as Hampton got into the APC, slamming the door shut behind him. So much for answering my questions. ¡±So, you can control metal?¡±


    ¡±Kinetic. Limited.¡± The man flinched as a whooshing sound came from afar. The sound grew louder, shortly followed by an explosion. Rocket. I needed to hurry up. The longer we were here the more chances one of those would connect. I¡¯d rather not get hit with a rocket.


    I dropped down, tossed my bag to the side, and slid underneath the APC. I immediately ate a face full of heat as the scorching hot underbelly of the vehicle jetted down onto my body. The rubble partially covered me, but there was quite a big gap between it that one of our attackers could fire in from. ¡°Hey, make a wall facing them if you can! I¡¯d rather not get shot down here.¡±


    I didn¡¯t see whatever the Nomad did, but parts of collapsed walls slowly shifted, moving through the air. It was small chunks, threaded with rebar. They stacked, melding together to form a shield around the base of the APC. What a cool power. I was almost jealous. Maybe when I get a Trait point, I''ll go for that Kinetic one?


    Anyway, with my back secure I felt far more comfortable looking into what was broken. I tapped on the armored underside of the armor, using Technical Expertise as the structure of the thing slowly formed in my mind. I scuttled under the vehicle sending pulses of energy throughout the entire thing as its design slowly formed in my brain. Almost like a blueprint¡­ hmm¡­ would Eidetic Schematic work with this?


    I thought back to the other times I used Technical Expertise. Everything easily flowed as I perfectly envisioned everything I¡¯d scanned with it. Or at least the parts I¡¯d scanned. I should¡¯ve scanned more back then! Damnit! I¡¯d have a whole host of schematics at my fingertips! Instead, I had just parts-


    The whooshing of a rocket brought my mind back to the problem at hand as I finished my scans. Working through the armor would be tricky, but the problem itself wasn¡¯t  bad. The drivetrain was all sorts of fucked up, hit grossly out of alignment. I remembered what it looked like from the first time I used Technical Expertise on the vehicle, so it wasn¡®t too bad. Whatever they hit the APC with originally packed a serious punch though.


    ¡°Hey, Melas, right?¡± I poked my head out the back end of the APC. ¡°Can you move the plating of this?¡±


    The Nomad shook his head. ¡°Over my weight limit.¡±


    Damn. I was hoping it would be easy¡­ looks like I¡¯d have to take it off the old-fashioned way. ¡°Can you do micro adjustments? Make delicate parts?¡±


    ¡±Chek. What do you need?¡± The man crouched down. Metal from all over floated through the air, gathering around him. Most of it was scattered debris, still clung to by bits of cement. Nothing in the bunch was too heavy though. Seemed weight was his biggest issue. Could he stop a bullet? Or since it had so much force already behind it, would it slip free from his ability? Now wasn''t the time to think about this.


    I moved for my bag, pulling out my sketchpad and a pen. I sketched out all the parts I¡¯d need, including their exact dimensions, and then slid back under to take off the armor-plating blocking access. It was only a matter of time till I got it all fixed. Until then, I just had to hope the rest of the group could hold out.

 Chapter 170

    Chapter 170The repair was going smoothly. Too smoothly, almost. With Melas making the exact parts I needed from bits of scrap metal, I could easily replace the parts of the drivetrain that were messed up. Sure, the new parts weren¡¯t high quality and would need to be replaced at the first opportunity, but for now, they were good enough. They''d last till the company returned and it wouldn''t be my problem, at least.


    The main issues were the heat and the armor. Once I figured out how the armor was set up, which was a series of interlocking plates, the armor itself wasn¡¯t big of an issue. I borrowed the APC¡¯s jack and used it to manipulate the heavy armor plates with the assistance of Melas.


    The heat though? That remained an issue. It wasn''t too terrible thanks to a combination of Cold-Blooded and my poncho. New Tress City was also quite a bit cooler than the surrounding Outlands thanks to the shade and plants, but if we were out in the desert? It was a heat stroke waiting to happen even with my Poncho warding off the majority of it. A normal person probably wouldn''t be able to handle it for too long. Cold-Blooded proved ever continuously to be a good investment.


    Since the vehicle was still running, it also made repairs quite a bit more dangerous than I was used to. On top of the boiling warmth, just one wrong move and my hand could get caught in one of the many moving parts. I''d rather not lose my hand. Adapting to a new chrome one would be... uncomfortable. Especially considering where we were at the moment.


    Just as I locked the last gear into place, my hand wedged up tightly past the exhaust, a cry came from afar. ¡°Cover!¡±


    A flash of Insight chilled my arm, though it hardly mattered. My arm was too tightly wedged. Several whooshes of rockets fired through the air and the occasional explosions rang out. The bright explosions shined through the small gaps in the rubble wall protecting me.


    Just as I started pulling my hand out and rolling out of the way, a rocket directly impacted the APC. A flash of intense heat burst down through the rubble, flashing over me as the APC rocked. I just managed to get to the edge of the vehicle as it rocked towards me, pressing its weight onto my arm. The scattered armor plates, rubble, and jacks kept me from taking the brunt of the weight. The exhaust pipe though? It seared down, scorching my hand as it cooked my flesh.


    I bit back a scream as the APC rocked back, tearing off a section of melted skin from my hand. My hand subconsciously tensed as I felt the burned muscles pull and fire shoot through my nerves. Cold-Blooded kept me from feeling the pain too deeply as it faded to a background throb. Cold reclaimed my senses.


    Okay, focus up, Shiro! Just ignore everything else. The sooner I get this repair done, the sooner we can get out of here and to safety. I pushed myself back under, sliding through the sand as I carefully did a final check-through with Technical Expertise. I winced as the heat radiated on my injured hand once more, though the pain was ignorable as I got to work and applied a layer of grease to the repaired mechanism. Sand and great soaked into my hand, causing all sorts of foul sensations.


    ¡±Melas!¡± I called out to the man as I wedged a jack under a plate of armor. ¡°Help me lift this up!¡±


    ¡°Gotcha!¡± The Nomad squatted down next to the side, dropping his rifle as he cranked the jack. The plate slowly but surely lifted into place as I tried to shift my attention from my burned hand. As soon as it was situated, I bolted everything back to how it was supposed to be. We repeated the process a couple of times, the jack proving to be a lifesaver since I didn¡¯t have to hold the heavy metal plates up myself.


    As soon as we were done, the Nomad returned to firing at the enemy alongside the rest of the PMCs. I gathered my tools and rolled out, stopping by my bag briefly to check my hand and apply at least some level of treatment.


    It looked disgusting, almost like a cheese pizza with all the cheese ripped off to reveal a pockmarked layer of sauce. Except the sauce was exposed flesh and muscle with a nice layer of blisters. If not for Cold-Blooded, I had a feeling I¡¯d feel quite queasy looking at the blisters all over my hand. I covered it in antiseptic spray, thoroughly cleaned it out, and wrapped a bolt of fabric around it. The fabric pressed harshly into the warped flesh, sending a stomach-churning chill down my nerves.


    ¡±You good?¡± From beside me, Melas shifted back down from where he was shooting and checked on me.


    ¡°Nova.¡± I ducked my hand into my pocket as I tossed my bag back onto my back. I kept my injured hand mostly hidden. It''ll heal tomorrow. No point drawing attention to myself only for it to miraculously heal. More attention to myself is something I definitely don¡¯t need. They were already too focused on me considering I was an important asset.


    I ducked into the cabin of the APC. Unlike the Sentinel APC-803 I drove back in the pavilion, this one was heavily, heavily modified. A lot of the seating had been ripped out and replaced with messily wired turrets and control systems. Wires went every which way, looking almost as if a toddler had drawn all over the thing.


    At the very least, there was some level of order to the systems as mismatched terminals and screens took up the walls. The wires were somewhat color-coded, though whoever was responsible for the wiring had decided to make every single one a different shade of red. Truly a monster. The APC had eight people in it, all but three of which were controlling the various turrets strapped to it.


    One of which looked like an Adept, harshly panting off to the side of the APC as what looked like steam flowed out of his throat. The guy was down for the count as a thick line of ash and sweat caked his face. The last two were the driver fiddling with a terminal as he controlled the big gun on top and Hampton who leaned over him, talking in a quiet voice.


    ¡°Cover!¡± One of the operators yelled out. I glanced down at his screen, getting my first view of the enemy since I got here. Or at least one of the enemies. Several of the other operators aimed their turrets up into the sky, pre-firing toward one of the buildings.


    What was he shouting about- oh.


    A spherical drone about the size of a person flew past a building supported by thrusters on its sides. The drone was tan, like the desert, though it was clearly marked with the pyramid symbol of KairoTech. As it swept by, tanking dozens of bullets as its armor reflected them off, it unloaded with two massive guns on its sides.


    The bullets proved ineffective against the APC, barely causing a vibration through our armor, though we weren¡¯t the target as it blitzed the surrounding areas for the Crimson Company members out there. As it got closer to us, though, rocket pods sprang up out of the top of the thing as several fired at us.


    The guys controlling the turrets had great accuracy, knocking each of the missiles out of the sky as if a lead net had been thrown toward it. Beside me, Hampton assisted the driver, aiming the main turret on the roof far to the side of where the drone was. ¡°Now!¡±


    The entire vehicle rocked as the large turret on the roof fired, leading the drone as a massive shell shot out. It clipped the KairoTech drone, punching through its side as the shell tore off the thrusters. The drone lost control, crashing through one of the surrounding buildings as a shout went out.


    The driver chuckled. ¡°As impressive as always, Hampton. Was real worried about hitting them when they blew off the sensors with their first salvo.¡± Joy, I¡¯d probably have to fix that too. Now that we could hopefully move though, it shouldn¡¯t be that bad to fix it once we get somewhere safe.


    ¡±Zuku! All good?¡± Hampton asked, finally acknowledging my presence as he stood up from where he leaned over the terminal.


    ¡±Should be.¡± Just need to test it, and we¡¯ll be good to go. I turned off Cold-Blooded, holding back a wince as the pain in my hand returned with a burning fury. ¡°Toss it into drive and test it.¡±


    Hampton nodded, glancing at me before twisting back to look at one of the terminals. ¡°You heard the lady.¡±


    ¡°Chek.¡± The driver started hitting several buttons. From an outsider''s perspective, actually getting the APC to move would look extremely complicated with the vast array of controls. I was well versed in driving one though thanks to my time in the pavilion, so I could easily follow along. Not that I wanted to.


    Before too long, the APC lurched, breaking free of the rubble all around it as the drive train screeched harshly. I tapped on the floor with my foot, sending an inquisitive pulse through the metal as I checked on everything. Other than the parts needing to be broken in more, which resulted in the noise transmitting through the floor, it seemed to be perfectly fine.


    A shout came from the driver to the PMCs fighting outside of it. ¡°All aboard!¡±


    They didn¡¯t need to be told twice as everyone boarded the APC. It was a bit tight of a fit. The modifications and additions of several dozen turrets made the space more cramped than it should¡¯ve been, though it wasn¡¯t too big of a problem as everyone boarded. If anything, it was the biggest issue for a guy who was going around trying to bandage up the several flesh wounds sustained in combat.


    Melas squeezed in next to me as I found a seat near the front. For a moment, I wondered about asking the medic for help with my hand, but then I got distracted as I overheard Hampton¡¯s conversation with someone over comms. Sounded like Ysmor. ¡°¡­ down. Are you up and moving?¡±


    ¡°Chek. The Urjune Company brought out one of KairoTech¡¯s heavy drones. Watch the skies.¡± Hampton replied.


    ¡±More worried about the Growths at the moment. We¡¯ve got them held back from the flank, but we¡¯re stuck in a stalemate. We won¡¯t be able to get through without some assistance. Backup coming from command?¡±


    ¡±Negative. Last I heard they just left the Outskirts. We¡¯re on our own for a while yet¡­¡± Hampton shook his head then tapped the driver on the shoulder. ¡°What are our options, Tyrone.¡±


    The driver, Tyrone, didn¡¯t immediately reply, instead looking at several terminals and data listed on them. ¡°Safest to go the long way, lead the Urjune away, then double back and get them free. Maybe five or ten minutes. Could just go now, but we risk getting hit by the Urjune bitches again. We¡¯re running low on munitions too¡­¡±


    How much ammo did the company bring anyway? Every fight we¡¯d been in they had made liberal use of their guns, so surely we must¡¯ve blown through most of it, right? Or maybe getting more ammo was one of the many missions squads were sent on during the week I was stuck at camp.


    Hampton and Tyrone shared a look, though it was Ysmor who replied over the crackling radio. ¡±We¡¯ll hold out. The bastard¡¯s resistance to magic is really screwing us though. Without any AOE magic to supplement, we¡¯re running low on grenades.¡±


    Resistant to magic, eh? And everyone was calling them Growths¡­ evil plants confirmed? It was only a matter of time, I suppose. If the entity that stalked the warped Aether was truly the same as the one the Circle messed with, predatory plants would definitely spring up eventually.


    ¡°We¡¯re moving!¡± Tyrone nodded and took the controls as he called out. The APC shifted forward, using the ram on the front to bash out and through the building as the entire vehicle harshly shuddered. Shots were still being exchanged with the enemy posted in the buildings, though they quickly turned to potshots as we left the area.


    Before long, we were out of the combat zone, trucking the long way around to wrap back for the rest of the company. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 171

    Chapter 171The APC continued to get hit with potshots for several blocks till we lost our pursuers. The bastards just didn¡¯t give up, or at least that''s the feeling I got from them as they continued to hammer us just inside the safety of the surrounding buildings. Thankfully, there wasn¡¯t another one of those Heavy Combat Drones, so for the most part we ignored them in favor of saving ammunition.


    I leaned forward, tapping Hampton on the shoulder to get his attention. ¡°Is the Urjune Company stacked? Is this kind of firepower normal for them?¡±


    ¡°Wha- oh.¡± Hampton scratched his head, leaning back as the plinking of bullets stopped entirely. ¡°Uh- I¡¯m not sure. Scouts have been sent out of course, but we don¡¯t even know where their FOB is¡­ so far though, the bouts of fighting have been kept to small arms and occasional potshots in a bit of a stalemate as we¡¯ve been testing each other.¡±


    ¡°And rockets, right?¡± I¡¯d had to repair a few vehicles hit by a stray rocket or two, though whatever rockets they were using seemed to be pretty weak, all things considered. Barely punched through the Prowler¡¯s armor.


    ¡°Uh, yeah. Mines and Sentries too, though to a much lesser extent. And only where their main operating area is. This is the first time an HCD has come out. If they have more though?¡± He shuddered slightly. ¡°Not looking good unless we bunker down. We didn''t bring much capable of knocking them out.¡±


    A natural lull formed in our conversation as I sat back to process what he said. Some kind of anti-air weapon would be nice against the drones¡­ hmm¡­ missiles weren¡¯t that hard to make, right? Besides, if I could get my hands on one I could steal the blueprint using Technical Expertise. Maybe I should look into making a portable SAM turret at some point? Or really, even a small, portable Sentry Turret would be nice so it could watch my back.


    Ideas started to form in their fledgling states as I thought about the viability of micro turrets and carrying them around with me. At the very least, if I had that kind of setup, doing dangerous missions solo wouldn¡¯t be that big of a problem. I¡¯d have to plan this all out and think about it at another time though. Now really wasn¡¯t ideal. S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Since we were free of our pursuers, we looped back through grass-filled streets for the Reds and the Nomads pinned down. The tires constantly ripped up the grass as we drove back, exposing the sand below as we returned to the backside of the building the APC originally crashed in. The APC¡¯s several dozen turrets and cameras gave a clear view as I looked over the shoulder of the operators.


    ¡°Damn, that¡¯s a lot of them.¡± One of the other passengers called as we rolled up onto a sea of green.


    In the deep shadows of the abandoned city, the plants seemed to grow a mind of their own. A horribly malicious mind at that. From the exposed greenery all around the Prowlers, figures emerged. They looked like a mass of various animals and creatures, each one warped horribly. Body parts were disproportionate, horribly shaped, and vile as they bonelessly wiggled around. Without even turning on Aetherial Perception, I had a feeling that they would have the same demented malevolence that the plants of the Circle had.


    The green imitations of life, probably the Growths everyone talked about, swarmed towards three Prowlers and the Nomad car. They were barely held back by the Prowlers unloading into the masses, each bullet tearing through the soft plant flesh of the endless hordes in sprays of green matter. The Growths were putting up a fight though as hail after hail of sharp thorns launched towards the Prowler. Even if the thorn attack¡¯s damage was low, the sheer amount of them probably did some level of damage to the Prowlers and the PMCs in them. Just one needed to find a gap.


    ¡±Weapons free. Clear a path!¡± Tyrone, the driver, called out as we approached the mass of demented greenery.


    We closed the gap as the turrets started firing into the horde, giving me a better view of the plant-based entities. The green flesh offered zero resistance to the constant firepower as their soft matter exploded in a spray of chlorophyll. They looked even softer when the APC rammed straight through the horde to get to the Prowlers, sending severed body parts every which way.


    The wounded Growths showed their strong vitality even as they were torn to shreds, slowly knitting themselves back together as they surged towards us mere humans intruding into their domain. It was a horrifying sight, especially as they got back up to continue the fight, only to be put down completely when more than half their torso was destroyed.


    ¡±Damn, these things are relentless!¡± One of the gunners called out. I looked over at his terminal, catching sight of one of the Growths eating a dozen bullets before going down. It didn¡¯t help that his turret was a smaller caliber than the others.


    As we rode into the horde, long whips of vines smacked into the APC, not getting through the armor but sounding just as powerful as the rounds we took from the Urjune ambush. I looked out one of the cameras just in time to see a storm of thorns flying at it from the horde, knocking it out completely. Thankfully, it seemed as if most of the cameras on here were somewhat resistant to damage, so it was just the few that got knocked out by the unending storm of thorns.


    A screech rose into the air as the life-imitating plants reacted to our presence. A massive root burst up from the ground, lancing towards us as if to spear through the thick metal plating. Just before it could hit, I heard muttering behind me. The Adept, based on the slight ethereal tingle from Insight. A massive wall of blood-red fire formed around the side of the APC, incinerating the surrounding Growths and burning back the attacking root momentarily.


    Still, the root had incredible vitality. It forced its way through the fire, determined to smite us. The gunners tried to fight it back, but the thick bark of the root proved to be bullet-resistant as it barely flinched. And then the big gun on the roof fired, launching a shell to meet the approaching root. It exploded through the thick bark as if it wasn¡¯t even there, flying through the mass as it shattered the root and cleaved a path through the Growths behind.


    What remained of the root collapsed, dropping onto several Growths as it smashed them into the ground. The scene repeated as another root came up, this time shot down before it could even close the gap now that we were ready for it.


    With the combination of fire support from the Adept, literally in this case, and the relatively weak Growths, the APC easily forced its way through the horde as if a heated knife through butter. They barely offered a resistance before the might of our beast of a vehicle.


    And then we were there, joining the Prowlers in their defensive line. As if the Growths were waiting for us to join the encirclement, they frantically charged even harder. In the distance, I could see similar creatures to the Growths start to form up out of the greenery, though these ones were covered in thick bark. Going off my previous interactions with these types of creatures, the bark was probably close to bulletproof.


    The APC idled as the turrets continued to unload firepower. A crackle of the radio came as Ysmor contacted our group. ¡°Nice to see ya! The support is very much appreciated¡­ what¡¯s the plan?¡±


    ¡°I got a bad feeling about those barked ones.¡± Hampton picked up on the unnatural creatures picking their way to us.


    ¡°We could charge through. Try to make a big enough gap that the others could follow us out.¡± Tyrone offered.


    I was tempted to throw on a suggestion of my own. There was an underground road running underneath not too far that we could probably get into. Then I realized I was completely out of my depth here and decided to leave it to the professionals. I was good at escaping, but escaping with a large convoy of five vehicles


    wouldn¡¯t be the same. My time to help would come at the actual Opera House, at least. I¡¯d be in my element there.


    ¡°Breakthrough. The longer we¡¯re bogged¡­¡± Ysmor called once more, his voice cutting out as the comms momentarily dropped. ¡°¡­rejoin the main company.¡±


    ¡°Chek,¡± Tyrone answered before calling back to us in the back. ¡°Jackson, you got another spell in you?¡±


    I looked back, catching sight of the Adept. If before he was in a bad state, now he was in an even worse one. The guy clutched at his chest, taking deep breaths. I caught the faint porky scent of burned human flesh from the man.


    Jackson, the Adept, shakily nodded his head. ¡°One- one more¡­¡±


    ¡°Think you could use that ram enhancement you created?¡± Tyrone asked.


    Did Adepts make spells? Weird¡­ I guess it makes sense though. They¡¯re not getting their magic capabilities from a sprite or eidolon. Rather, they were casting it all themselves, so making their own magic made sense. There was a whole world of magic I still wasn''t quite sure about yet.


    ¡±Ch- Chek.¡± The man groaned as he sat up and started casting his magic. I followed the movements of his hands and low voice for a moment, getting completely lost in the complexity of it before the faint tingle of Insight came again. Something was happening in the Aether.


    ¡±They¡¯re getting closer!¡± One of the gunners called.


    ¡±Gah!¡± A scream came from Jackson, causing me and several other people to jump as fire appeared out of nowhere, encompassing his arms. One of the passengers was quick with an extinguisher, but the magic flame refused to go out until the tattered Adept hastily threw off his jacket. As soon as the jacket left his presence, the magic-enhanced flames snuffed out.


    The guy collapsed backward with a groan, sweat beading on his brow as his face twisted in pain. The medic rushed back to him, squeezing through the mass of people as he moved to provide medical treatment. Lots of needles came out as the medic asked which stims the Adept had so far.


    Indeed, haywire magic in the cursed city. It''s almost as though every cast did self-damage to some extent¡­ Lia wasn¡¯t this bad though? Was it since Magi used sprites as intermediaries? She''d been struggling to summon sprites though, right? So maybe the sprites took the brunt of the self-harm? No wonder none of them wanted to come.


    Even though our Adept caught fire in the process, there was no denying the effect of his magic. The ram in front expanded several times as rock surged up to it. The rock, once set, was coated in burning fire, with several jets of flames sticking backward almost as if to provide a boost for the ram to run through the crowd of Growths.


    Then we were moving, the rest of our small convoy tailing closely behind. At first, we were going a bit slow as the additional layer of rock on the ram weighed us down. And then the flame jests kicked in, shooting flames out at an angle. They were multipurpose, boosting our speed as well as incinerating anything that got stuck on the back side of the ram.


    Most of the Growths we hit instantly incinerated, turning the greenery to ash as fire spread from us like a plague amongst a wheat field. Smoke filled the air, providing cover for the Growths as the convoy forced our way through the bulk of the plant bastards.


    I was a bit worried about the wood-armored ones closing in from the fringes of the horde, but it proved to be a pointless worry as the cannon on top of the APC fired away. They were blown apart by the large caliber rounds, giving us ample space to ram straight through and out into the freedom of grassy streets.


    The drivers left little time for the Growths to catch up as we sped away from the masses. Interestingly, they didn¡¯t chase us- no, more like they couldn¡¯t chase us. It was almost as if there was a circular barrier around where the others had been pinned in, keeping the Growths from moving beyond it. Those that did simply collapsed into piles of plant matter as if their animating force faded away.


    I lost visual as we turned down a street, driving further into the shadowy city.

 Chapter 172

    Chapter 172We met up with the rest of the Crimson Company near the middle of the city, near a massive sinkhole that swallowed the entire city center. It was a cataclysmic sinkhole, looking as though a titanic cavern had collapsed, leading to the earth swallowing several dozen skyscrapers. Sand coated the site of destruction in thick dunes, though the tops of skyscrapers and shattered buildings stuck out of the sand-filled hole, reflecting the sunlight all around.


    Interestingly, inside of the crater and the surrounding areas were entirely free from the plant life infesting the rest of the city. I was half tempted to flick on Aetherial Perception to see if there was a magical reason behind such a peculiarity, but cold fear that immediately followed stopped me.


    Thankfully, the Opera House wasn¡¯t part of the swallowed buildings, but it was a near miss. Just off to the side of the sinkhole, across a tattered street half falling in, sat our target. It lay buried under thick carpets of sand, causing the half-sphere-styled building to look like one massive artificial dune. It had perfect camouflage with its surroundings, so much so that I doubt anyone would¡¯ve picked it out without the exact coordinates of the building. It didn¡¯t help that the building was already originally built half-underground.


    The convoy pulled out onto a grassy road on the other side of the building from the pit, pausing as Captain Roger¡¯s voice crackled over the comms. ¡°Right, listen up. For those of you who haven¡¯t been here yet, the entire building is in lockdown. Some nasty defense systems are still active even after all this time, so no one enters without my say-so.¡±


    There was a pause, almost as if the Captain was listening to someone else for a few moments before continuing. ¡°Chek, we¡¯ll set up camp in the connected parking garage. We¡¯re in the city now, so a squad at both entrances. Red-Four and Five, that¡¯s you. Red-One, go contact Triton and offer an exchange of ammo for water. Red-Two, you¡¯re on scouting duty still. I want another sweep of the premises.¡±


    ¡±What about us, Captain?¡± Tyrone asked.


    ¡°T-1, you¡¯re responsible for setting up camp while the techie checks the APC over.¡± I knew for a fact I¡¯d have to replace the sensors at least. No telling what kind of damage internally the vehicle took from the rockets either. ¡°Red-Six, stay at camp with Zuku. Red-Three, you¡¯re on external guard. If something is approaching, I want to know beforehand. Golds, join T-1. Nomads, you¡¯re free to do whatever.¡±


    As soon as the orders were given, the entire convoy split into action. We followed the Mice toward our new base camp, which was a bitch and a half to get into. The entirety of T-1, except for the Adept who had Doctor Jerad with him, had to get out and start shoveling sand away from the buried entrance.


    Instead of joining that¡­  experience, I took the time to look over the APC itself. I ran onboard diagnostics from the vehicle''s built-in terminal, which revealed a loss in efficiency with the drivetrain, probably due to the inferior components I had to use. There were also minor issues with the fuel line and electrical systems, but nothing that couldn¡¯t be put off for a day or two.


    The real kicker was the sensors. I thought I¡¯d have to replace just a few at first. Looking at the diagnostic report though, over thirty percent of the various sensors had been blown off. Most of them were for the main cannon, though there were other supplemental devices that wouldn¡¯t work without the data provided by the sensors. That wasn¡¯t including the several dozen cameras that had been hit with stray bullets or the thorn attacks of the Growths, which just added more to my plate.


    If I was back home in the city, such a repair would be time-consuming but not impossible. Out here though? I couldn¡¯t just go buy new ones. And I sure as hell didn¡¯t have the stuff on hand to make them- or at least, I didn¡¯t think so. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I paused my thought process to clamber up onto the APC and take a look at the remaining sensors. A quick pulse through them with Technical Expertise, and I was sure I wouldn¡¯t be able to just make them. The kind of microelectronics I¡¯d need would take way,  too long to try and shape by hand, not to mention they needed to be exact else the readings would be out of wack. If I had access to my SITCH metal printer, I could do it.


    I took the opportunity to go around the entire vehicle and scan it, disguising my actions as checking for damages. Slowly but surely, I built up the APC''s entire blueprint in the back of my head, including the several modifications to the vehicle. Most of them had to do with turrets and the gun system¡¯s various autoloaders, which was a handy schematic to know.


    I did recognize quite a few hidden compartments though from the blueprints I took from the Neo-Jokers. Ninety percent of them were various hidden ammo storages for the auto feeders, but I did pick up on a small armored vault hidden below the driver''s seat. Not that I¡¯d go pilfer through it or anything. Stealing from the Crimson Company while on a mission with them was bound to cause problems.


    Anyway, aside from the sensors and cameras, the damages weren¡¯t that bad. The armor was a little warped from the rockets, but nothing too severe. Or, at least, nothing I wanted to risk fixing. I had  knowledge on how to fix the armor if I needed to, but it was entirely book knowledge from Tech I had yet to apply anywhere. No telling if I¡¯d just make it worse.


    I jotted down a list of everything I¡¯d need, then did a final checkup of the vehicle before looking around. Aside from the Squads keeping watch, everyone else was helping dig up the hidden entrance. I watched for a moment, amused as one guy kept digging the same spot, not realizing the sand he threw out kept sliding back into the hole.


    Then I headed off to find Captain Roger. I asked a few people before finding a guy who actually knew where he was. A member of Red-Four, I think. The man leaned up against one of the Mice, checking his rifle. ¡°Uh- yeah. Captain is up on top of the dune, looking over the area.¡±


    ¡±On top?¡± I glanced back toward the dune covering our location, my eyes glazing over the sand until I locked onto a few sets of tracks leading up the dune. ¡°Right. Thanks.¡±


    ¡±Don¡¯t mention it.¡±


    I left the guy behind, following in the steps of the group heading up. About halfway up, I left the cool shadows of the city behind for the blazing desert sun. A quick adjustment of my poncho back to cooling helped fix that little issue, as did taking several gulps of fresh water from the canteen now that I was mostly out of sight. The water tasted so much better than the swill everyone had in their canteens. It¡¯s just too bad that it would raise some brows if I were to wave the gem-encrusted canteen around.


    As I crested the dune, I spotted the Captain amongst two other Crimson Company members. They weren¡¯t talking to each other, so probably here just to give the Captain some additional protection so far away from the rest of the group. Not that the guy looked like he needed it. Being the Captain of a bunch of Private Military Contractors probably meant something about his own personal skills.


    I stepped down loudly, intentionally crunching the sand underfoot. Captain Roger¡¯s head snapped back slightly as his eyes darted to me before he once more relaxed. ¡°Ah, Zuku! What can I do for you?¡±


    I handed over a slip of paper. ¡°This is what I need to fix the APC.¡±


    ¡±Can¡¯t just find it in any old store, I take it?¡± Captain Roger tilted his head slightly. ¡°Could you make do with slightly different models?¡±


    ¡±Chek. Probably be able to jury rig it, but they need to be of at least a certain level for me to get everything hooked up and working. Doubt there¡¯d be too many places with the kind of stuff I need considering the city is so old¡­¡± I shrugged.


    The Captain looked over the list one more time before leaning back and tapping his chin. I followed his gaze to the massive pit that lay just before us. He nodded to himself, seemingly coming to a decision before reaching for his walkie-talkie. ¡°Sergeant Hampton, come up to me atop the dune¡­ Bring Lenny Deseren up with you.¡±


    The handheld device cracked briefly. ¡°Chek.¡±


    A few minutes later, the squad leader of Red-Six and five other people walked up. I recognized four of the five as several of the Nomads I had yet to meet, and the other one was Lenny, the guy who looked related to Drake Deseren, the Patriarch of the Deseren Family.


    ¡°Captain Roger.¡± Lenny greeted the man, casting a speculative glance at me before nodding to the other Nomads. They split off, giving space for us to talk.


    ¡°Lenny.¡± The Captain nodded to the man before asking Hampton a question. ¡°You remember what we talked about when we first got here?¡±


    ¡±P?na Coladas are best served-¡°


    ¡±No, the other thing.¡± The captain swiftly got him back on track.


    Hampton shrugged, his gaze briefly looking over me before looking out toward the horizon. ¡°That it sure sucked not having anything set up here. If we had some kind of data, we could use it to predict and take care of any hostile groups.¡±


    ¡±Precisely¡­ Lenny, you know where a news channel would¡¯ve been set up here?¡±


    The Nomad squinted up the sun before sweeping the horizon with his eyes. He pointed out towards a tall tower rising above the cityscape on the opposite side of the pit. ¡°Hmm¡­ New Tress Radio might still be standing in Karaoke Plaza. Everywhere else probably would¡¯ve been scavenged by now.¡°


    ¡°Good.¡± Captain Roger seemed to be throwing a plan together as he asked me one final question. ¡°Zuku, you think New Tress Radio¡¯s building would have what you needed?¡±


    I could put two and two together as I realized what the man intended. ¡°If they have weather monitoring equipment, then yeah, I could repurpose the sensors. It won¡¯t be as good, but it¡¯ll work.¡±


    His voice slipped back into a commanding tone. ¡°Hampton, take Zuku with you to hit up New Tress Radio¡¯s building for the parts she needs to fix up the APC. Having the gun¡¯s targeting array back online will help make short work of any other drones the Urjune Company pulls out.¡±


    ¡±Sir.¡±


    Captain Roger turned to me. ¡°While there, Zuku, see if you can¡¯t get the remaining weather monitoring equipment back up and running. Doesn¡¯t have to be perfect, just enough for us to detect movements and frequencies within the city. If not, don¡¯t worry too much about it.¡±


    Lenny stopped us before we could set off. ¡°Ah, before you go, I should warn you. There  a reason it hasn¡¯t been scavenged yet. We heard the tales back when the Family passed by this place that Karaoke Plaza is supposedly haunted. It is said that all who go in never come out.¡±


    Spooky. Hate to be the one who has to go there- oh, wait¡­


    ¡±Haunted, you say?¡± Hampton¡¯s body went rigid as a look passed through his eyes. How is it that I ended up with a coward as the leader of my guardian squad?


    ¡°That¡¯s what the tales say.¡± Lenny shrugged. ¡°There¡¯s probably some truth to it considering New Tress Radio has yet to be scavenged. And not from a lack of effort, I reckon; all sorts of old tech there waiting to be sold.¡±


    Hampton backed away slowly, his tensed limbs seeming to grow even tenser. ¡°Captain, I don¡¯t know about this. Can you send another squad?¡±


    Captain Roger sighed deeply. ¡°Hampton, we¡¯ve been over this. There¡¯s no such thing as ghosts! You¡¯ll be fine. Escort Zuku to New Tress Radio. End of discussion.¡±


    ¡±Captain!¡± Hampton called, though the Crimson Company leader completely ignored him as he turned away and started talking to Lenny.


    I turned away from the frantic sergeant, heading back down to the vehicles to prepare. Next stop, New Tress Radio.

 Chapter 173

    Chapter 173I don¡¯t know what I was expecting from the area around New Tress Radio, but it certainly wasn¡¯t this. A thick junk barricade made from scraps of cars and broken blocks of cement blocked in the entirety of Karaoke Plaza. It didn¡¯t necessarily look handmade as much as it appeared some massive natural force drove junk out of the area, making the barricade by accident.


    ¡°Well¡­ that throws a wrench in our plans, doesn¡¯t it?¡± Lia asked.


    ¡±We proceed on foot then.¡± Hampton was the first to pop open his door. ¡°Keep your eyes peeled. We don¡¯t know what kind of creature lurks around here.¡±


    I¡¯d thought about this a couple of times on the way over, but now that we were here, I couldn¡¯t help but voice my concerns. ¡°Is it wise to go to a place that no one has ever returned from? I can¡¯t help but feel this might be a bad idea.¡±


    ¡±When you put it like that, I find myself agreeing with you. Can¡¯t we, like, just not?¡± Lia joined me in questioning her superior.


    Renold piped up as he also got out of the Prowler. ¡°Put it this way- if we don¡¯t get the stuff to repair the APC¡¯s sensors, we¡¯ll be at the mercy of another drone attack. If it''s just one or two, it won¡¯t be that big of a deal. But what if the Urjune sent a dozen at us? Especially if they have rocket pods like the last one had.¡±


    I got out of the vehicle, quickly followed by Yonrow. ¡°You think that crashed drone is still there?¡± It¡¯d be nice to scan it and see if I could steal some tech from it.


    ¡±No chance they haven¡¯t salvaged it yet¡­¡± Renold shot down my idea immediately.


    Hampton popped the trunk open, allowing everyone to grab their weapons of choice. ¡°We could stop by on the way back though. If it''s still there, we could try and steal their radio frequencies.¡±


    ¡±Oh! If we know what they¡¯re using, can you change the broadcasting stuff here to scramble it?¡± Lia offered an idea that actually wasn¡¯t all that bad.


    ¡±Uh, maybe.¡± I¡¯d have to see if the stuff here even still worked to begin with. ¡°Assuming we live through this, that is.¡±


    Yonrow sighed, finally throwing in with us. ¡°Can we just get a move on? It¡¯d suck to be out here past nightfall.¡±


    ¡±Chek. Lia, summon one of your little dogs. We need some intel on our surroundings.¡± Hampton gave out orders as he eyed the junk wall. S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡±Uh, sir? No can do. None of the wolves want to answer my call here unless it¡¯s urgent. Even Silver is skittish.¡± Lia shrugged as she swiped her gun from the stack of weapons in the back. ¡°I¡¯m basically a mundane human.¡±


    Hampton frowned deeply. ¡°Well, offer them a treat or something? Going in without the slightest bit of intel is a  bad idea.¡±


    ¡°¡± Lia muttered under her breath.


    Yonrow, on his way to inspect the junk wall, offered a solution. ¡°We could go up the surrounding buildings. Look from there.¡±


    ¡±I- uh- I have a drone I can send in.¡± I offered if only to avoid climbing up the stairs of the surrounding buildings. No shot the elevators worked. Even if they did, trusting them not to collapse under me was an entirely different situation.


    ¡±Send it over then. See if you can¡¯t figure out what we¡¯re up against while we try and get a way through the junk.¡± Hampton motioned for the rest of the squad to follow, leaving just Renold and I with the Prowler.


    Renold looked around, glancing at the long-abandoned side street we were parked on. ¡°You need anything else?¡±


    ¡°Uh- no. Just my bag.¡± I slung said bag over my shoulder as I watched Renold head back for the driver''s seat.


    The charming man slung his heavy gun into the passenger seat with grace and ease that belied the weight of the gun. ¡°I¡¯m going to hide the Prowler. Shout if anything comes up, but otherwise, I¡¯ll be back in a few moments.¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± I shifted over to the side of the street, parking myself just inside of a small shop. Crazy how I somehow managed to end up alone again even with a full squad supposedly protecting me. Not that it mattered too much.


    I opened my bag, rifling through the various goodies I stuffed inside before leaving home. I pulled aside the chords connected to the sized-up Blackout, which I was still waiting on a name for. Hmm¡­ Blinder? I like Blinder. Anyway, when I hooked up the Blinder I hadn¡¯t worried too much about the chords and all that since I thought I¡¯d clean everything up before getting in the field. Kinda forgot to do all that, so it was a mess filling my bag.


    Once I got those shoved to the side, I rooted through the rest of the tech I brought along. Several Listeners and Scouters were a must, of course. Oh, and my deck to run various applications. Then there was the Jammer and Sonic Suppressor taking up far too much space. Probably wouldn¡¯t even need them, but could never be too safe. And finally, there was the hard, repurposed toolbox that held my silent drone.


    I pulled out the drone¡¯s container, flicking it open to see my baby. The drone itself was a mere shadow of the Heavy Combat Drone used by the Urjune, but everything I put into it was a hundred percent hand-built and designed by me, so it felt quite a bit more special even if it would be incredibly weak by comparison.


    As soon as I connected to the drone using my deck, the four blades whirled into action. For a brief moment, the noises from the drone¡¯s blades were extremely loud. Then, with a press of the controls, the modified mufflers kicked into action, silencing the propellers. For a few moments, as the muffler synced up the right pitches, there was low vibrato in the air before the noise cut entirely.


    Using my beat-up deck as a makeshift control board, I controlled the drone and sent it up into the air. I did a few test drives before, of course, but actually flying the thing while I had pressure on my shoulders? Entirely different.


    And the environment wasn¡¯t the best for flying something fragile like my drone. There were hundreds of reaching vines just waiting to pluck it right out of the air, never to be seen again. Or at least, not in one piece. It would be truly tragic to lose my drone on its first mission.


    Thankfully, it was quite easy to dodge everything. I just had to fly out in the middle of the street away from any obstructions. I messed with the flight path a few more times, adjusting the altitude and direction of travel before I finally got a good look at our target.


    Karaoke Plaza was a barren wasteland similar to the Outlands. It looked almost as though every single vehicle and bit of debris that had been in it had been forced out to join the junk wall. The actual plaza itself remained empty of even the slightest speck of clutter aside from the sand.


    Oh, also another peculiarity was immediately evident. Once I flew the drone past the junk wall, I didn¡¯t spot a single plant growing inside the premises. It was almost as though the entire place had been cursed¡ªor maybe blessed considering the state of the city¡ªto not grow anything. Not a single blade of grass or fleck of vine emerged from inside the junk wall.


    Even the vines growing from nearby buildings and attempting to reach over the junk wall weren¡¯t spared. Almost as if passing an invisible boundary of death, they were entirely wilted. The drooping plants didn¡¯t have even the slightest signs of life to them.


    It wasn¡¯t until maybe the thirtieth or fortieth floor up that the plants returned to racing up the sides of New Tress Radio¡¯s building. It was like there was a perfect dome of death centered around the first floor, stopping anything from growing nearby.


    Definitely weird, though I couldn¡¯t help but find myself tempted to look for the source of such an aura. The plants in the city were straight-up evil hellspawn of some freaky entity, so having an aura of no plants around would be quite nice. Then the temptation faded as I actually thought of what the cause could be.


    It looked like some kind of curse was present in the area. Definitely not something mundane, at least, considering it had such a strong effect on the nearby plants. Maybe a Remnant of a time long past? Or perhaps some kind of mythical monster lurked here? Or maybe it was some kind of magic gone awry, which I guess would make the issue a literal curse?


    Regardless, the entire place gave me an incredibly bad feeling that was hard to put into words. If I had to say exactly though... maybe it felt like the Leper-Khan''s box monster had? It was this sense of instinctual unease that seemed to radiate through the fabric of my being.


    I relayed everything I saw to the group, showing off the drone footage as much as I could. I flew around, checking the entire area before going window by window to see if I could spot anything suspicious. Nothing. Or at least nothing of the window offices. Before long I had to recall my drone though as the battery life rapidly plummeted.


    The silent drone flew back under my control, landing perfectly at my feet. I stuffed it back into its case, connected it to my pack¡¯s battery, and stuffed it back into my bag. ¡°So, what do we think?¡±


    ¡±I don¡¯t like this.¡± Hampton was the first to reply, his hands twitching incessantly. ¡°Is there anywhere else we could go for parts?¡±


    Lia leaned back, staring up at the tower as she stretched out her double elbows. ¡°What do you think it is? A ghost? An actual curse? Oh, I know! Some horrible monster that is both a ghost  a curse?¡±


    Hampton shot a glare at her. ¡°You¡¯re not helping.¡±


    ¡±Lia is helping plenty. Really inspiring.¡± Yonrow said as he started sketching some horrifying visage of a cursed ghost in full view of the leader. It seemed he had a humourous side to him after all.


    I also stared up at the tower, my mind lost in thought for a few moments. I was the entry specialist, so this was technically my field of expertise. And my almost a decade of experience screamed at me that going through the dead zone was an incredibly bad idea. ¡°Maybe we¡¯re looking at this the wrong way?¡±


    ¡±Oh? Do share with the group.¡± Renold replied, stroking his gun as he stared at the junk wall. ¡°What other way should we look?¡±


    ¡±Why do we have to go in through the first several floors? We don¡¯t know what it is or how dangerous it is outside the fact no one ever returns, so why not skip it entirely? We could shoot a line above the death zone and zipline across. Avoid it entirely.¡± I offered. Most of the stuff I¡¯d need would be on the upper floors anyway, so there really wasn¡¯t a need to even get involved with this dead zone.


    ¡±Hmm¡­ could work. Except we don¡¯t have a zip line nor do we have a way to launch it across.¡± Hampton crossed chrome arms.


    For my plan to work, we¡¯d need several things. A pulley system to manipulate any of the heavier loot we¡¯d need to take out of the tower for one, but also quite a bit of microwire or some equivalent. As for getting across the gap¡­


    ¡±Do we have a grenade launcher? I could try and rig it to shoot harpoons. Then we tie a wire to the harpoon and launch it across.¡± Should be a simple enough modification, though I might also have to scavenge a couple of grenades for their actual launching capabilities.


    Renold kicked off from where he leaned up against the junk wall, sticking his arm out. The chrome shifted under a silent command, the hand sliding down and out of the way to reveal a barrel. His arm crooked weirdly, giving the entire limb a look reminiscent of a gun. ¡°This work?¡±


    Okay, sick! But also I wasn¡¯t as confident in modifying chrome as I was a standalone weapon. The past week of repairing chrome had boosted my confidence a bit, but this? Too bad I didn¡¯t make one of the rail rifles I saw in Sentinel¡¯s stolen research papers. Having one here would offer some great utility.


    ¡±Uh, maybe.¡± I eyed the limb, trying to picture how I''d modify it.


    "You need anything else for this to work?" Hampton asked.


    I waved to the rest of the group. ¡°Chek. While I¡¯m taking a look at his arm, the rest of you guys need to find several spools of steel wire and a bunch of pulleys.¡±


    ¡°We passed by an old department store on the way. Might have what we¡¯re looking for.¡± Yonrow offered.


    ¡±Oh, I¡¯ll drive!¡± Lia jumped over to Renold, sticking her hand out for the Prowler¡¯s keys.


    Renold instead tossed the keys over her head to Hampton. ¡°No way I¡¯ll let you wreck my baby. It¡¯s around the corner, stashed inside of an old coffee shop. Be careful, will you?¡±


    A growl rose up from the back of her throat before she harrumphed sharply and turned away. ¡°Just you wait!¡±


    Hampton just sighed as he trudged off toward the vehicle. ¡°Stay safe. We¡¯ll be back shortly.¡±


    ¡±Chek chek.¡± I pulled on Renold¡¯s grenade launcher arm as I headed for the safety of a nearby building, taking the opportunity to do some preliminary scans of the chrome with Technical Expertise.

 Chapter 174

    Chapter 174I looked over my scrappy handiwork with a vague sense of satisfaction. Course, that sense of satisfaction was nearly smothered by my worries that the modified chrome would even hold together, but at the very least it should be a quick reversion back to how it was. Renold had been very adamant during the modification process that I knew how to put his arm back together.


    Here''s to hoping it didn''t explode! I most  couldn''t afford to buy a new one with my bank account''s current state. At least, not until this gig was done.


    The original arm acted as a grenade tube, with all the microelectronics and controls for the arm wrapped around it. Now though, there were quite a few additional parts slapped on, mainly to tighten the original tube so a harpoon could fit through. Unfortunately, everyone left their handy harpoons at home, so we ended up settling with a piece of sharpened rebar that I attached hooks to.


    ¡°Are you sure this will even work?¡± Renold looked at his butche- changed arm with a frown on his face.


    ¡°Pretty sure. Just don¡¯t try and shift it back or you¡¯ll break something.¡± I replied as I finished tying a knot into the steel wire the other members of the squad brought up. ¡°Aim high.¡±


    Renold¡¯s frown deepened, though he followed through with the command and shifted his arm so it nearly pointed towards the roof of New Tress Radio. With one last glance at me, an explosive sound rocked the area as the harpoon flew through the air, taking along with it the steel wire we would use to cross.


    The harpoon flew true, impaling into the side of a pillar a couple of stories above the dead zone. Considering we were on the roof of a building across the way, the harpoon cannon seemed to have quite a bit of drop. Probably thanks to the chamber not being fully tight around the harpoon, taking away quite a bit of the projectile¡¯s power.


    ¡±See? Great shot!¡± And he doubted my skills. What a gonk!


    Renold¡¯s gentlemanly face only dipped deeper into a frown. ¡°I was aiming way to the left.¡±


    Lia patted him on the back with a smug look on her face. Her voice deepened slightly into a mocking tone. ¡°Can¡¯t all be sharpshooters, now can we?¡±


    Renold shot a glare at her, though remained silent. I got the feeling there was more to the interaction I didn¡¯t understand, almost like it was an inside joke. Only, an inside joke that only one of them found funny at the moment.


    ¡±Doesn¡¯t exactly look safe to cross.¡± Hampton plucked at the steel wire going all the way across. The line drooped harshly, dipping well below the death zone about halfway across.


    I motioned to Yonrow, who started tightening the spool of wire back up to make it a straight shot across. Then I started weight testing the zipline. ¡°Just have to be careful¡­ one of us should probably go over first and secure the line better. Who¡¯s the lightest-¡°


    Right, my options were three bulky men, all of which had their fair share of chrome, or a tall and lanky woman. That¡¯s to say, I was the lightest by far. Even with all the equipment in my bag I probably still weighed less than this lot. I went ahead and started tightening the straps to my pack. ¡°Never mind¡­¡±


    ¡±One of us should go over first. We¡¯re supposed to be protecting you anyway. What if there¡¯s something in the building over there just waiting? No telling what lurks around a curse.¡± Hampton shuddered, though the look of brave sacrifice as he headed for the temporary zip-line made him appear somewhat heroic.


    ¡±Counter offer. Any of you use the zipline before it¡¯s secure and it¡¯ll collapse under your weight.¡± I gave a pointed look towards everyone¡¯s chrome. ¡°I¡¯m the lightest, I¡¯ll go over and secure it for you to come across.¡±


    Lia popped her hand up. ¡°I should go across. I can save myself if I fall, but you lot will probably die hitting the ground. That is, if that-¡° she motioned to the area of death, ¡°-doesn¡¯t get you first.¡±


    I checked my small gauntlets. There was probably enough metal there to keep my hand safe¡­ still probably better off using something to go across instead though. It¡¯d be quite stupid to just grab onto the line and hope for the best. ¡°I can save myself from a fall too. Besides that, do you know how to tie a secure knot?¡±


    ¡±Of course I do! You, uh, you make a four, then wrap the line in and out before pulling?¡± Lia scratched at her head. ¡°Something like that.¡±


    ¡±Were you not paying attention during basic? Knots were something they taught¡­¡± Hampton sighed.


    Lia snorted coldly. ¡°Of course, I was paying attention during basic. We Magi went through a different program though. Why learn to tie knots when you can summon a sprite to do it for you?¡±


    Renold chuckled as the frown lifted from his face. ¡°We may not all be sharpshooters, but likewise not everyone has a working brain.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡±


    His eyes seemed to ooze pity as if he were staring at a poor defenseless dog. ¡°It must truly be hard.¡±


    While they were busy chatting, I tied the steel wire to a secure pillar in our building. All my practice in knot tying so I could go down into and up out of the Underground was finally paying off. I gave the line a couple more harsh tugs just in case, though the makeshift harpoon didn¡¯t give.


    I grabbed one of the stray pieces of rebar and headed for the line. ¡°, I¡¯ll go over now¡­ Don¡¯t come across till I motion for you. Oh, and remember to send the spool and rebar across!¡±


    I jumped out, holding tightly onto the rebar. It caught the line, a horrible grinding sound filling the air as metal sparked against metal. The rebar held true as I easily glided across the open space of Karaoke Plaza. Wind rushed past my ears and my poncho billowed in the wind as rapidly picked up speed. And then I was almost there, coming in full speed towards a cement pillar.


    I twisted the rebar, adding more friction to the line as I used it like a brake, stealing away my momentum before I hit the pillar at full force and splattered into it. Just before I got there, with all my momentum mostly gone, I let go of the rebar and kicked into a tight grip on the pillar.


    For a moment, I clung to the side of the pillar, hanging out over a drop straight into the dead zone below. The rebar piece plummeted, clanging loudly as it bounced off the side of the building before impaling itself into the sand covering the plaza. A drop from here¡­ well, it wouldn¡¯t be ugly thanks to the Drop Chutes, but there was no telling what could happen down in that weird dome of death. And I¡¯d rather not expose the chutes to the Crimson Company if I didn¡¯t have to.


    I shimmied across and entered New Tress Radio fully. Or, at least, an old office of the building. It was a quaint little room with one way in and out, so I didn¡¯t have to worry about something lurking just out of sight. A collapsed desk lay in ruins, a tattered picture of a man holding his daughter left amongst the debris as a ghost of what this place once was. I felt a gaze leveled at me, though the worrying sensation faded rapidly.


    Instead of immediately collecting the line to retie it so they could get across, I put on a bit of a play. I immediately acted as if I heard something, withdrawing my gun and raising it towards the door. I ignored the shouts as I left their line of sight to go ¡®check out the noise¡¯.


    Once I was fully into the building, nearly tripping over several vines, I leaned against the wall. ¡°Corvid.¡±


    I felt a pulse of Insight as the Aether reacted, though this time I couldn¡¯t see anything until the bird actually appeared before me in all his dark splendor. ¡°Caw~!


    I ran a hand over his feather head as I slipped briefly into contemplation. I hadn¡¯t been able to use him much thanks to always being under watch by the Crimson Company. ¡°Go scout the building. Um, try and get my attention without alerting the others if there is something of note.¡± S~ea??h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡±Caw. Caw-caw!¡± The avian nodded his feathered head before freezing as it looked down. He pointed a wing down, quickly shaking his head. ¡°Caw! Caw! Caw! Khark!¡±


    ¡°I know, I know. I¡¯ll stay away from that place¡­ you know what it is?¡±


    The bird tilted his head to the side, almost as if listening to someone or  else. It slowly shook its head. ¡°Caw.¡±


    ¡±Right¡­¡±


    "Caw, kaw-kaw, caw!" The little bird hopped around, dancing on my shoulder before leaping down into my offered palm.


    "Yeah, yeah. I''ll be careful. I have a bad feeling too..." I slung my rifle back over my shoulder as the bird took off from my palm, disappearing into the depths of the building. I returned back to the anchor point and looked back across.


    The squad was in an argument- or at least, everyone except Yonrow was arguing with each other. Hampton looked as if he¡¯d jump on the zipline at any moment, and Lia wasn¡¯t much behind him. Only Renold blocked the path.


    Before things could devolve anymore, I reached out and pulled the harpoon anchor from the wall. Unfortunately, there wasn¡¯t much slack for me to actually bring it into the building and tie it around something, though that turned into a nonissue as Yonrow noticed my struggle and untied the line on their side, giving me access to much more slack.


    As soon as I got everything tied up and done on my side, Hampton came across, simply grabbing onto the metal with his chrome hand. As soon as he hit the ground, his rifle was up scanning our surroundings. ¡°What¡¯d you see?¡±


    ¡±Thought I heard something. Just a bird.¡± I shrugged. Technically not a lie. It was a bird. ¡°My drone¡¯s battery will be recharged in a bit. I can send it up ahead and check the roof.¡±  It was more for show than anything so I could blame the drone in case Corvid turned something up.


    ¡°Might be Growths lurking around, though I don¡¯t see much else living here with the whole bottom side blocked off.¡± Hampton took up a firing position by the door, keeping watch as I pulled my drone back out and sent it up.


    Most of the building looked the same as the last time I sent my drone out. The wind had blown aside some foliage, giving me a few bigger sightlines into various rooms. Nothing of note. The place had seen some wear and tear though. Several of the walls had collapsed at points, basically making massive chambers of what used to be walls and office spaces.


    I flew into one large room in particular and checked around. There were signs of something used to live around here, whether it be loose feathers, claw marks, or dried-out husks of bones. Large bones. Whatever it was though looked as though it hadn¡¯t been around in a long while. There was a fine layer of sand over everything.


    Still¡­ something about the feathers gave me a bad feeling. It was hard to put into words exactly. If only I could use Aetherial Perception. ¡°Something made a den here a long time ago. Something big.¡±


    ¡±Chek¡­ something with wings?¡± The sergeant glanced back, meeting my gaze before nodding to Lia as she slid into the small office.


    ¡°Probably. Lots of feathers scattered around.¡± I operated the drone, going back out. The further up I checked, the less common these- I don''t know- nests? Were they nests? They looked a bit like nests. Anyway, they weren''t as common further up the building, so hopefully the place where they kept spare parts would still be safe. Otherwise, we''d have to check some other place for parts. Or just not repair the APC, though Captain Roger seemed pretty adamant about fixing it up.


    I finally got up to the roof and looked around, sweeping over the radio towers with an idle gaze. I¡¯d have to get up there to check the internals, but at a glance, everything was in order. Sure, about half the dishes and towers had collapsed into piles of scrap metal, but I figured we really only needed half of them considering we only wanted to check the city.


    Just as I operated my drone back down safely, the rest of the squad joined up with us. Lia was the last one down, her arms shaking erratically as both sets of elbows swayed. She leaned into a corner, a nauseous look on her face. "Ugh- that was so much worse than I thought it''d be."


    "Were you expecting a cakewalk?" Renold asked as he hefted his gun. Or tried to. The modified grenade launcher wasn''t exactly easy to grip a gun with. "Can I change this back?"


    "Um..." Originally, I was planning on leaving it in the harpoon launcher form so I wouldn''t have to remodify it when we wanted to head back, but this place gave me a strange feeling. Probably best not to leave one of the main fighters handicapped. "Let me repair it."


    Although the modification process took a while, now that I knew what I was doing with the chrome, it wasn''t that bad to disassemble it. A few minutes later, his arm was back to usual. I gave him all the parts to make the harpoon launcher again. No way I was carrying it. My bag was already almost full to the brim with all my gadgets. Maybe I should look into a better storage system?


    "Right, let''s move. The sooner we get out of here, the better as far as I''m concerned." Hampton made a move for the door, seemingly snapping everyone back into focus as cool professionalism seemed to sink over the four.


    Renold took point, Hampton close behind with Yonrow and Lia taking up the rear. At the very least, I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about being the one to get ambushed as we headed further into the building.

 New Years Special

    New Years SpecialJuliet pulled her bike up next to another parked right out on the deck, and when she hit the kill switch, the kickstand snapped out so she could relax for a minute, taking in the view. The house sat right on top of a skyscraper, a large vaguely abstract cat with windows for eyes. There was a large parking space between the ¡®legs¡¯ of the cat, before the double doors leading into the home.


    The last glimmers of sunset painted the metal building in shades of ochre and crimson. It was beautiful, and the warm colors were at odds with the chilly air. She pulled off her helmet, shaking out her auburn hair, thankful for the synthetic tresses¡¯ ability to maintain their style despite the punishment her helmet doled out. Setting it on her bike, she paused to look at herself in the mirrored visor. She wore a mostly-white sweater under her motorcycle jacket, glittering silvery threads interwoven with the soft fabric blend.


    ¡°You think it¡¯s too much?¡± Juliet picked at her sweater, brushing freshly fallen snow off of it as she asked her AI companion.


    Angel¡¯s reply was quick as though she¡¯d anticipated the question, ¡°Not at all! I think finding that sweater at Retro Luna was fate! Besides, it looks great on you.¡±


    Juliet smiled, nodded, and got off her bike. ¡°Thank you. You¡¯re sure white is appropriate though? The jeans and the sweater aren¡¯t too much?¡±


    Angel replied. ¡±It''s supposed to represent new beginnings and the purity of the new year. Like snow! It¡¯s perfectly suitable.¡±


    She lifted her seat to expose the storage compartment beneath. Her Texan sat there, ready for violence, but this wasn¡¯t that sort of visit. She picked up the bottle beside it, straightening the gilded ribbon she¡¯d tied around the neck. ¡°You¡¯re sure brandy is appropriate?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a warm, complex spirit that will go nicely after dinner.¡± Angel paused for a moment, then added, ¡°It¡¯s better to show up with  than empty-handed. Besides, stop overthinking everything. You¡¯re here for dinner with friends.¡±


    ¡±Right.¡± Juliet shrugged out of her jacket, folded it into a ball, and stuffed it into the storage compartment. Closing it up, she grabbed the bottle and started toward the front door. She took two steps, paused, and frowned as she looked out over the deck again. ¡°I keep getting this weird, I dunno, like, d¨¦j¨¤ vu feeling. Like we¡¯re in a dream. You feel that?¡±


    ¡°Have we ever shared a dream before? If you¡¯re dreaming, I must be a part of it.¡± Angel replied in a rather matter-of-fact tone.


    ¡±Yeah¡­ yeah, good point.¡± Juliet shook her head, chuckling softly at the strangeness of it all. She was just visiting a friend, no need to overthink it. With the bottle tucked under one arm, she walked to the front door and rang the bell.


    ***


    A jingle played from the front of the house. It was a simple little tune, one fitting of the holidays. It seemed the first guest had arrived. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡±Wanna get that?¡± Lucy asked. She stood in front of the stove, one hand stirring a wooden spatula in a pot, and the other reaching out to slap the hand of an inquisitive kitten. Said kitten recoiled away from the plateful of cookies that¡¯d just been pulled from the oven.


    ¡±I got it.¡± Cat stood up, stretched her back a bit until it popped, then took a moment to breathe it all in. The kitchen smelled fantastic. Lucy was still on her ¡®learning how to cook¡¯ kick, but she¡¯d really pushed herself tonight.


    There was a turkey in the oven, roasting away. Cranberry sauce sat on the stove, releasing a delicious scent. A large pot of mashed potatoes being worked over by a couple of the kittens sat off to the side. The New Year¡¯s meal was slowly coming together.


    Cat herself had tried to help but had been shoo¡¯d away when she dropped an entire salt shaker into the cranberry sauce. Lucy hadn¡¯t been impressed. By some miracle, she wasn¡¯t kicked out of the kitchen outright.


    Shaking her head, she made her way through the house. The place still had a few decorations from the holidays yet to be cleaned up. The kittens had put up colorful paper cutouts of trees and snowflakes here and there. The tree was even still up in the corner, which really didn¡¯t vibe with the modern look of the rest of the house¡­ but that was okay. There was always time to worry about cleaning up next year.


    A bit of jank was acceptable when it came to spreading holiday cheer.


    Cat found herself smiling crookedly as she made for the front door. A shadowy figure appeared through the glass, shifting from side to side. The first guest.


    ¡°Coming!¡± Cat called out before she reached the door and pulled it open. She blinked, then smiled wider at the woman on the other side. ¡°Hey! Juliet! Come on in, get out of the cold. How are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Ah, hey there,¡± Juliet said. The woman, dressed in white slim-fitting jeans and an almost garish, but kind of incredible white and silver sweater, stepped in. She rubbed her hands together for warmth even as she scanned the room with a ¡®casual¡¯ glance. Cat, of course, recognized the look. Anyone in the same field would.


    ¡°Snowing still?¡± Cat asked, casually revealing her hands. It was the small, easy movements that mattered when establishing a peaceful setting.


    ¡°Sorry. Yeah, it is.¡± She had something tucked under her arm. Just as Cat was about to ask her about it, Juliet seemed to remember and held out a fancy bottle of liquor bedecked with a red-and-gold ribbon.


    ¡°Oh! Um, thanks!¡± Cat took the offered bottle with a gentle smile. She watched as Juliet brushed snow off her sweater. ¡°No coat?¡±


    ¡°Left it with my bike.¡± Juliet shrugged and then stepped a little further into the room. ¡°Wow, it smells really good in here.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s Lucy. She¡¯s in the kitchen,¡± Cat replied. She couldn¡¯t hide the bit of pride in her voice. ¡°So, how was the road? Did you come in from Jupiter this time, or was it the Moon?¡±


    ¡°Oh, um, yeah. I was in Luna City earlier today doing some last-minute, uh, shopping.¡± She paused, lips moving very slightly for a moment before she smiled slyly at Cat. ¡°Angel says hi, by the way.¡±


    ¡°Oh, your AI friend? Hello, Angel. If you want, you can pay with Myalis. I think she set up her own New Years-themed server for all of the AI.¡± Cat waved her hand.


    ¡°All of them? There are others?¡±


    ¡°Just Angel and Myalis? It depends if-¡° Cat paused as the doorbell rang again. ¡°Ah, more guests!¡±


    She opened the door to reveal a young woman standing there, hands pressed together with nervousness written all across her face. She looked like a cop. Her eyes, one chrome and one not, snaked around the room as she checked subconsciously for threats. ¡°Hi?¡±


    ¡°Hey! Shiro, right? Come on in, get out of the cold,¡± Cat said as she moved aside. ¡°Blue Crusade gear, eh?¡±


    Shiro stepped in, nodding her thanks. ¡°Check¡­ you know how it is with unreliable bosses. Ran into the Inquisitor on the way over and got dragged around. Uh- sorry I¡¯m late.¡±


    ¡°Nothing to apologize for.¡± Cat waved off the apology. ¡°We haven¡¯t even started sitting down yet.¡±


    Shiro looked around, pausing at the sight of the bottle in Cat¡¯s grasp. ¡°Oh, uh, right. Here.¡± The young woman pulled a small hockey puck-looking device from her coat pocket.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Cat grabbed it.


    Shiro touched a button on the side of the puck. A hologram of mice popped up. The holographic mice scattered every which way, creating trails of light. ¡°I thought the kittens might like it¡­ is this okay?¡±


    ¡°Sure is! I¡¯ll go check on the roast. Make yourselves comfortable; take a layer off.¡± She grinned as she walked away, pleased with herself. She was getting a good grade in Host. Lucy would be proud of her.


    Speaking of... she padded her way across the house, checking in on the dining room where a few of the kids were setting the tables. They had two tables, a longer, lower one for the brats and a smaller one to the side for the adults. Er- adults and Shiro.


    Cat moved on to the kitchen where Lucy was shifting the turkey out of the oven. ¡°I¡¯m back!¡±


    ¡±Hmm?¡± Lucy turned back from where she was just pulling one of the pans out of the oven.


    Seeing a disaster about to unfold, Cat darted ahead and grabbed onto the hot pan. At moments like these, having a cybernetic hand was so nice. Immunity to small burns like this was an unexpected benefit. ¡°I got it.¡±


    ***


    Juliet and Shiro stared awkwardly at each other for a few moments. It wasn¡¯t until Shiro realized she was staring that she stuck out her hand. ¡°Hi. I¡¯m Shiro.¡±


    ¡±Juliet.¡± The other woman shook her hand. ¡°So¡­ how do you know Cat?¡±


    ¡±Friend of a friend. You know how it is in our line of work.¡± Shiro shrugged as she took off her Trench coat and hung it on a nearby rack. She was more than happy to finally get out of that. Being in the Blue Crusade¡¯s gear was practically a prison of its own. ¡°How about you?¡±


    Juliet''s eyes looked a bit dazed as a slight frown pulled at her lips. ¡°Friend of a friend¡­ You some kind of corpo-sec? Cat said¡­ ¡®Blue Crusade,¡¯ right?¡±


    ¡°No?¡± Shiro immediately denied it, though she sounded unsure. ¡°At least, I¡¯m not supposed to be. It was supposed to be a one-time gig. I just haven¡¯t been able to get out.¡±


    Juliet looked a bit confused as she slowly nodded her head. ¡°Sure. So, where are you from?¡±


    ¡°Aythryn City. It¡¯s a shit hole of a place.¡± Shiro and the other woman walked side by side towards a couch off to the side. A kitten sitting on it scooted over, giving them room. ¡°But it''s home. You?¡±


    ¡°Originally Tucson, but not for a long time. Haven¡¯t really been able to set down too many roots with- uh- ¡®corporate interference¡¯.¡± The two shared an understanding look. ¡°But I just got back from Luna City.¡±


    ¡±Luna City?¡± Shiro tilted her head. One of the passing kittens playfully followed her motion. ¡°Like, on the moon? Never heard of it¡­ What¡¯s it like out there?¡±


    Juliet looked off into the distance. ¡°It¡¯s a city, so plenty about it¡¯s awful. And yet? If you know where to look, it''s so,  beautiful. From a distance, it¡¯s a fairy tale. Up close, it¡¯s dirty, like most things people make¡­¡± She trailed off, and then grinned wryly, shaking her head. ¡°You meant space, right? Flying? It¡¯s amazing, Shiro¡ªthe best thing ever.¡±


    Shiro closed her eyes, trying to imagine what it was like. Maybe one day she¡¯d make it there. A day far in the future though. She had enough problems planetside. Hopefully, with the New Year coming around, she¡¯d solve most of them and finally be free of the chains weighing on her limbs. ¡°Must be something.¡±


    ¡±It truly is¡­ back when I first started, I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d ever get out of the scrapyard, let alone fly around the system.¡± Juliet shook her head. ¡°But who wants to think about old, unpleasant times?¡±


    ¡°Then Happy New Years. May we make more, happier memories with each passing day.¡± Shiro smiled brightly, her face turning radiant.


    Juliet returned the smile, and, as Shiro watched, her irises shifted from deep gray to bright silver. ¡°Happy New Years.¡±


    ***


    Cat and Lucy worked for a while longer, finishing up the rest of the food as dinner rapidly approached. Judging by the hungry growls from the other room, everyone was more than ready for food.


    Working was a bit generous for Cat. She¡¯d been relegated to watching from the sidelines as Lucy worked the kitchen. She glanced out the door, seeing Shiro and Juliet talking as if they were old friends. It was good they were getting along.


    ¡°It¡¯s ready,¡± Lucy called. ¡°Help me bring it all in?¡±


    Everyone gathered around the tables as Cat and Lucy brought all the food over. Shiro and Juliet headed over from where they chatted about work off to the side, circling around the table.


    Cat started things off by raising a glass. ¡°Before we enjoy this delicious food, a toast to the New Year!¡±


    Shiro joined in as she raised her own glass. A tired smile graced her lips, which made her entire face light up like a budding flower. ¡°To the New Year! Didn¡¯t think I¡¯d make it.¡±


    Juliet grinned as she raised her own glass. ¡°I get it. Definitely had a few close calls of my own.¡±


    ¡°Then may we remain safe for yet another year.¡± Cat smiled faintly as she shot a soft look at Lucy. ¡°I know I, for one, wouldn¡¯t have been nearly as successful or happy without the people by my side.¡±


    Juliet¡¯s eyes went distant, and her face twitched¡ªalmost smiling, then almost frowning¡ªas she thought about her year. It was clear there were some intense memories there, but, in the end, she smiled and nodded to Cat and then Shiro. ¡°Nor would I.¡±


    Shiro nodded along. Those few people by her side were small in number, though each was deeply important. Without them, it wouldn¡¯t be the same. ¡°Nor I. May the New Year be as kind to us as the last.¡±


    ¡°Then to those that support us!¡± All three raised their glasses for one final toast.

 Chapter 175

    Chapter 175Everything was going fine as the squad carefully scouted the place, leaving no corner unchecked. We ascended Floor by floor, carefully watching for any signs of trouble. We couldn¡¯t just leave floors unchecked either considering we were looking specifically for the spare part storage. Unfortunately, every floor so far was a mish-mash of offices, so we wasted quite a bit of time.


    It wasn¡¯t until we were about a dozen floors from the roof that said trouble made itself known. Everything started fine enough. We went up yet another set of crumbling stairs, carefully watching our steps as we drifted along the greenery-clogged building. Renold led the way, pausing at a door as we stacked up on it.


    Just before we could breach, a loud cry radiated down the staircase. Corvid¡¯s cry. ¡°Caw! Caw! Caw!¡±


    Hampton was the first to react, SMG up as he snapped to the top of the staircase. The rest of the group took various firing positions aimed at every approach, all while I stood around. Of course, I took up a position too, but it was very much delayed compared to the professionals. Part of it was thanks to the fact I recognized the call.


    ¡±What was that?¡± Lia asked as she crept back down the stairs slightly to get a better view of the shaft.


    Yonrow moved with her. ¡°Sounded like a crow.¡±


    ¡±Just a bird?¡± Hampton¡¯s tense shoulders relaxed slightly. I decided to hold my tongue.


    The resident Magus was quick to ruin his slight relaxation. ¡°Maybe. Aether is all sorts of fucked here though. No telling what it was¡­ could be a Crow Sprite for all we know. Might be someone else here.¡±


    ¡±Regardless, something startled the bird.¡± I shifted the conversation slightly. Unfortunately, I had no idea what made Corvid react, so I could only opt for heightened awareness within the group. ¡°Something is probably up there.¡±


    The squad went silent for a few moments before the leader took charge once more. ¡°Alright, move as we have been. Lia, keep trying to work your magic. The rest of us will slow down a bit more and move as a group. No stragglers. Zuku, since we can¡¯t have Lia sweep ahead, think you could start pre-checking floors with your drone?¡±


    ¡±I¡¯m not that good at flying it.¡± I¡¯d only flown in wide open spaces so far. No way I could get through the narrow corridors of the office, especially considering the occasional collapsed wall or fallen pillar blocking the path. That wasn¡¯t even considering the heavy amount of foliage dangling from the roof and vines stretched across hallways.


    ¡±I can.¡± Yonrow offered. ¡°Lend it to me?¡±


    Hmm¡­ give my tech out to someone else¡­ I felt a strong possessive urge to keep it to myself, but there was no denying scouting the way forward would be highly beneficial. I unwillingly took out my deck and drone, handing both over to the quiet gunner.


    ¡°Here. Don¡¯t go snooping through my deck.¡± I didn¡¯t have anything on it that was a secret since most of my files were memorized or on my phone, but I couldn¡¯t quite remember if I left anything on it.


    ¡°No problem.¡± The guy took both, immediately getting the silent drone up into the air. Renold cracked the door into a small gap, barely enough for the drone to get by in an impressive feat of piloting.


    That¡¯s how we moved forward. Yonrow swept all he could of each floor, only being blocked by doors and collapsed walls as he checked for danger. Occasionally he¡¯d call out old claw marks or piles of bones, but for the most part, the floors were clear of everything except plants as we moved through office spaces and rapidly approached the roof.


    Honestly, it was pretty boring. There wasn¡¯t much to do but hold angles since I was in the middle of the pack, so I found myself drifting to daydream about what kind of tech I¡¯d make when I got back home. Most of the floors passed by in a blur outside of the occasional reflexive burst toward a plant that looked too suspicious. I''m not paranoid.


    Us waiting for Yonrow to drone got me thinking though. Maybe I should make some kind of grounded drone too? I could probably even merge it with my sentry gun idea somewhat considering weight wouldn¡¯t be too big of an issue. It might be a bit more stable and quicker to scout things out. It would be a lot of added weight in my bag though¡­


    Speaking of scouting things out, we paused on a set of stairs, once more allowing Yonrow to sweep the way forward. This time, he didn¡¯t stay quiet for long. ¡°Massive room ahead. It goes up into the next three floors with balconies looking down onto it. Recording room, maybe. Signs of a nest. Recent tracks of¡­ some kind of large bird? I don¡¯t see it around¡±


    ¡°Can you sweep more?¡± Hampton asked.


    ¡°Negative. Drone is about to die.¡± That being said, Yonrow skillfully flew it back to us, carefully landing it before handing everything back to me. I stored it all back in my bag, remembering to plug it all into my battery. Still had half a charge, so I wasn¡¯t in too rough of a state. I''d have to unplug everything at a fourth of the charge to ensure the Drop Chutes would have enough power for an emergency though.


    ¡±We haven¡¯t seen or heard anything coming or leaving New Tress Radio yet. There¡¯s a good chance whatever it is still lurks in some corner.¡± Hampton sighed, closing his eyes tightly. ¡°Okay. Take this floor slowly. We¡¯ll sweep everything else before checking the recording room.¡±


    And that¡¯s exactly what we did. Renold led the way, his chrome limbs easily cutting through occasional spots of thick foliage as we carefully checked every hall and room. We stumbled across quite a few storage rooms for various recording equipment, including some of which I could use. Instead of loading up here though, we continued checking the area out until there was just the large recording room.


    We paused at one of the several side doors, this one wrapped tightly in vines as if to keep the way locked. Hampton took point at the door. ¡°Renold and I will sweep the place. You three watch the balconies. Lia, how¡¯s your sprite summoning coming along?¡±


    Lia shook her head. ¡±No good. No one wants to come to this city. Silver is on the ropes about being summoned again, though I think I¡¯ve almost got him with the promise of steaks.¡±


    Ah, that¡¯s right. Sprites don¡¯t like this place¡­ so why was Corvid so easy to summon? Was he just a superior breed of sprite? Were there even superior levels of sprites? Actually, now that I think about it, he was one of the few sprites with an actual name. Was there some correlation there? I really need to do some more research when we get back to the city. Maybe even pay Crow¡¯s shrine a visit if I can find it.


    ¡±Chek.¡± Hampton moved up to the door just as Renold finished clearing it. I could hear a low-pitched whistling from the other side of the door. ¡°Three. Two. One.¡± He slammed his foot forward, flinging up the door with a loud bang. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    They moved as a unit, with me struggling to follow along in the middle. Trying to check balconies, aim, and walk without looking was surprisingly difficult. I nearly tripped over a fallen mic stand as we pushed out into the massive space.


    It was a large room, just as Yonrow said. What he failed to mention was the massive hole in the wall right where the newscasters would¡¯ve sat, looking out into free skies. Nor did he mention just how much cover the scattered equipment provided for potential ambushes. The constant thrill of Insight down my spine made matters worse as my eyes jumped around erratically.


    ¡±Clear!¡± Hampton called, though from the slight twitch of his fingers as he caressed the trigger, I got a feeling he felt something was off too. It only raised my stress levels as my finger twitched towards my rifle''s trigger.


    ¡±I don¡¯t think-¡°


    A rush of ethereal Insight from directly behind me cut me off. Something was moving in the Aether. It was as though someone was casting a spell, but our only spell caster was Lia who was currently incapable of such a feet. Danger.


    High-strung as I was, I reacted before I even realized what was happening. My long hours of practicing close-quarters combat at the Battle Born Arena finally paid off as my brain ran through a dozen calculations. My rifle was too slow with a one-eighty, so I opted for a straightforward punch. My fist lanced backward before I even saw what we were fighting. Whatever it was wasn¡¯t aiming for me, so I had the momentary freedom to attack back.


    Just as something appeared out of thin air in a deadly strike towards a dazed-looking Lia, my fist slammed into it. Electricity arced out of the shock gauntlets as an electric buzz filled the air. The entity froze as a burning stench erupted, staggering backward from its failed ambush. The gauntlet seemed to get overloaded by the electricity arcing to the creature, backfiring as electric thrills surged down into my arm, numbing the limb entirely. My own weapon backfired, temporarily paralyzing me so I couldn¡¯t pull back even if I wanted to.


    Then the creature staggered back far enough away to stop pressing in the pressure plates in my shock gauntlets, giving me my first real look at it. The thing was a hawk of some kind, though it was sized up to my height. Deadly long talons hung from its clawed feet as it scrambled backward, and even more sharp spines hung from its black wings. Several bullets fired from around me, striking the feathered body as the rest of the squad reacted.


    ¡±Kreee!¡± The thing cried loudly as a flash of Insight hit me. The noise hammered my ears, causing my head to momentarily fog up. By the time I realized it was some kind of mental attack, the beast had already disappeared with another tingle of ethereal Insight.


    ¡±Form up!¡± Hampton called, pulling a still-stunned Lia into the middle of the group. ¡°Zuku, check Lia out. Weapons free! Yonrow, you see anything?¡±


    ¡±Negative. Not even air disturbance.¡± Yonrow replied. ¡°Nothing on thermal either.¡±


    I fumbled my rifle back into a sling, my arm still entirely numb as I backed into the group alongside Lia. I wasn¡¯t an expert at medical treatment by any means, but I was at least competent enough to see that there was something seriously wrong with her as I snapped my fingers in front of her face.


    The magus was entirely out of it, seemingly not even noticing my snapping fingers outside of a small flinch. Based on what its cry did to me, it was a mental attack of some kind. I checked her pulse, doing several other checks to get a better idea of her condition. ¡°She¡¯s in a daze. Might be fine in a few minutes, but it looks like some kind of mental attack from that bird thing.¡±


    ¡±Chek-¡°


    Noise from above cut him off, quickly followed by a table flying at us from the second-story balcony. Insight tingled with a heavy hit across my ribs. Renold acted first, shooting the thing several times with his HMG before kicking it aside as if it weighed nothing.


    ¡±Move to the wall under the balcony!¡± Hampton ordered out. We quickly followed as I dragged Lia along. Although she was still out of it, she could mindlessly walk as I pulled the tall woman along, granted the act was slow and clumsy.


    I cloaked my movements with my poncho, hiding my actions as I summoned Crow¡¯s Canteen of Chaos. With the canteen in hand, I changed it to start producing Ammonia, one of several chemicals I imported from the labs under Cold Moon Solutions. Even with it just starting production, there was enough to let off that strong, nose-burning stench that ammonia was known for.


    I carefully wafted the chemical in front of Lia as an improvised smelling salt. I then turned it back to water and banished it in one smooth movement. Lia immediately took a sharp breath, which quickly turned into a coughing fit as her mind seemed to free itself from the daze.


    ¡±Lia?¡± Hampton glanced back at us as I supported the Magus.


    As soon as the woman could speak, she did and pointed towards the roof. ¡°It¡¯s- ugh- it''s-¡°


    A pulse of Insight hit me from above, feeling as though a dozen sharp spikes coldly impaled my limbs. A whistling noise came from above as the hawk appeared for a brief moment, catching several bullets from Hampton and Renold. Just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared once more in a spray of blood and feathers.


    The spines it released, however, remained as the sharp projectiles plummeted toward us.

 Chapter 176

    Chapter 176The other three would probably be fine, but Lia and I were squishy compared to them. I grabbed the recovering woman¡¯s arm, pulling her with me as I used Burst Step to get out of the area. My legs throbbed as the movement¡¯s strain doubled, nearly tripping me as I felt my muscles turn to jelly.


    With an additional person, I couldn¡¯t get far with Burst Step. We did get just far enough for the hail of spikes to miss though. The rest of the squad tanked the blows, covering their fragile bits as their subdermal armor and plate carriers ate the spikes. At a glance, the blow wasn¡¯t too harsh, just piercing through their synthskin but failing to get through the chrome plates underneath.


    ¡±Lost it again. Not on any of my sensors.¡± Yonrow called as he plucked out several spikes- no, now that they were closer, I could see they were hardened feathers of some sort.


    Lia, acting as my support in a complete turn of events as I struggled to force some strength back into my legs, coughed a couple of times. ¡°I-it''s in the Aether!¡±


    Just as her shout ripped through the air, Insight hit me again with another ethereal tingle of something hurtling out of the Aether right behind me. It was immediately followed by several cold phantom pains severing from my shoulders down to my hips.


    I once more used Burst Step, dragging Lia with me one more time. Just as we dodged, the Aether hawk popped out into a ferocious strike, catching part of my hair as its talons easily gave me an impromptu haircut. It jerked my head back slightly, pulling free several strands from my scalp as I dodged to the side.


    As we staggered to the side, I felt something tear in my ankle as I flopped to the ground, pulling Lia down with me. We slammed into the concrete, barely dodging another blow as the hawk used its wings like blades to sweep just over our heads. The whoosh of air billowed past my face, tossing my torn hair everywhere.


    With the two of us out of the way, the rest of the squad opened fire, lighting up the bird. Just before it could vanish back into the Aether, several bullets impacted the bird in sprays of feathers and blood.


    ¡°Kreeeee!¡± The bird cried out, causing a wave of nausea to flow through me. And it seemed like I wasn¡¯t the only one to be hit with the mental attack as the rest of the squad¡¯s aim seemed to go astray, turning several sure hits into near misses.


    Then I felt that familiar tingle as the big bird once more vanished back into the Aether¡­ only to pop back out a moment later barely having moved. The squad was ready, including Lia as I tried to get myself back up onto my feet, shaking off the bird¡¯s latest mental attack. All I could hear were the loud echoes of bullets and progressively weakening cries from the bird.


    Several more flickers from the Aether teased Insight as I got my rifle back around and helped the team shoot down the bird. I was on the ground though, in an extremely awkward firing position as my legs throbbed in pain. Even with the odds stacked against me on fighting the bird though, it was rather easy to hit it. The thing was massive, and its wing span as it kept trying to take off made it even easier.


    With it as injured as it was, leaking blood and several spots bare of feathers, it seemed to have trouble transitioning into and out of the Aether. It kept swinging its claws, flickering in and out as it tried to escape. Under the firepower of all five of us though, it quickly fell.


    ¡°Scwaaa¡­¡± With one final head-pounding cry, the bird flopped to the ground. Its body lifelessly twitched a few last times before going still entirely.


    There was a moment of silence before Hampton called out, ¡°Everyone good?¡±


    ¡±I¡¯ve got a killer headache, but yeah.¡± Lia offered a hand down to me. ¡°Thanks for the save.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± I grabbed her hand, hauling myself back up¡­ only to nearly fall back down as I felt my ankle throb with pain. Lia helped me stand as I hesitantly stepped forward. ¡°I- I think I sprained my ankle.¡±


    ¡±Damn¡­ Renold? Yonrow?¡± Hampton asked as he prodded the bird with his gun¡¯s barrel.


    ¡±Just a few flesh wounds.¡± Renold replied. He plucked the few remaining feathers slammed into his subdermal armor out as if they were mere splinters and not a deadly attack.


    Yonrow shifted back, taking up a defensive position to watch over the rest of the large recording room. ¡°Same.¡±


    Hampton sighed deeply. ¡± Let''s pull back into the hall. Office 5301, I think. We passed it on the way in. Regroup, rearm, and then will try and clear the rest of the building.¡±


    ¡°Probably won¡¯t be anything here. The bird seemed like an Apex Predator of the area.¡± Renold offered some insight as he moved to inspect the Aether hawk.


    Hampton nodded. ¡±Still. Rather not get caught out.¡±


    ¡°Here.¡± Lia offered me her shoulder, helping me walk to keep pressure off my leg. Not that it mattered too much considering both of my legs were in a bad state. Burst Step may have saved me and Lia from being severely injured by the bird, but it wasn¡¯t a catch-all.


    The squad moved with Lia and me in the middle, keeping watch in case any other hostile moved in after the loud gunfight. We moved down one of the halls we already checked, moving into an office that offered a perfect defensive position. Hampton and Renold took up positions at the door while Lia helped me over to one of the desks.


    Yonrow moved over to me, crouching down in front of me as he offered a hand. ¡°May I?¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± I let him inspect my ankle as I felt it throb in pain. It wasn¡¯t just my ankle either. I felt a tearing pain all the way up through my leg, but that would be a bit harder to explain than I just twisted my ankle with an unlucky step. My other leg was in a similar state, though since it wasn¡¯t the one I used for the leading step it wasn¡¯t as bad.


    He prodded at my ankle, pulling up my pant leg slightly to get a better look. It wasn¡¯t pretty. It wasn¡¯t just my ankle that was heavily injured, but all the muscles up my leg. It wasn¡¯t pretty. ¡°That¡¯s a lot of bruising. Must''ve hit the ground hard too. Definitely sprained¡­¡±


    Yonrow took off his bag, rifling through it before pulling out a bunch of bottles, an injector of some kind, and a roll of bandages. ¡°You ever take stims before?¡±


    ¡±Ugh, no?¡± They were expensive. And with Quick Healing taking care of my injuries, I hardly ever actually used any kind of medical equipment outside of bandages and antiseptics. Saved money that way, and it''s not like I actually needed them.


    Yonrow rubbed my leg with some kind of cool wipe as he prepared the cylinder injector, numbing my skin slightly. He popped open the back side, pouring a liquid into the injector from one of the bottles before adjusting a few dials on the injector itself and pressing a button. A needle popped out of the front end.


    ¡±This is MedTech¡¯s Stem R-61. No matter what, make sure you don¡¯t take another of these within three days.¡± He lightly stabbed the needle into my leg, pressing a button on the back as I felt a cold sensation flow through my veins. The pain from the injury faded slightly as I felt a slight ebbing and flowing cold sensation.


    ¡°Why not?¡± No wonder no one had died yet if the Crimson Company was rocking a bunch of combat stims. I''d heard about a few of them that could make a person practically immortal as long as they were hyped up on them.


    He frowned as he started to wrap my ankle with bandages. ¡°It¡¯s been known to cause mutations on repeated use. It¡¯s only a ten percent chance, but that percentage goes up exponentially as it''s used more. Don¡¯t want to end up looking like Lia, right?¡±


    ¡±Hey!¡± Lia shot a glare at him as she flipped him off. ¡°The fighting is over, so why are you still firing shots?¡±


    Yonrow ignored her, packing his bag back up. He pressed another button on the injector, causing the end to glow red. Probably some kind of cleaner. The injector looked too expensive to be a one-and-done disposable kind. ¡°You should be good to walk, but keep your weight on the other side.¡±


    ¡°Chek.¡± I took the chance to reload my gun and magazines as the taciturn man moved on to the Magus.


    Yonrow ran several checks on Lia, which included shining a light into her eyes. After a while, he handed her some pills and reported back to Hampton. ¡°Lia¡¯s got a concussion. Zuku¡¯s leg is all messed up. Both need rest.¡±


    ¡±Can we finish the objective?¡± Hampton frowned as he glanced back at us. Probably worried about being out past nightfall. Getting through the city would be increasingly difficult once night fell.


    Yonrow shrugged. ¡±Probably¡­ as long as we don¡¯t get into another fight, it should be fine. And the zip back will be rough for Zuku.¡±


    ¡°Right. Okay, Lia support Zuku and keep to the back. I¡¯ll take point. Let¡¯s try and clear this fast, get what we need, and get out. We should be out of the way enough up here to avoid any ambushes.¡± Hampton moved for the door. ¡°Anything worth grabbing from the recording room?¡±


    ¡±Maybe.¡± I hopped off the table, testing a step on my injured ankle. It still had a faint throb of pain, but I could walk on it without too much issue. Still, I limped with every step as I tried to keep my weight on my other injured leg. ¡°I¡¯ll be able to run a diagnosis report at least.¡±


    ¡±Hmm¡­¡± Hampton looked at us for a moment before nodding his head. ¡°Yonrow, stay with Lia and Zuku and head for the recording room. Renold, let''s clear the next three floors, though we¡¯ll stay close to the balconies. If worse comes to pass, we can offer support over the balconies or hop off of them to regroup.¡±


    The squad split up, the two combatants heading for the stairs as we moved back to the recording room. It was a bit slow of a process to begin with as I got used to walking with an injured ankle.  S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    As soon as we entered the room, I headed over to the bird¡¯s corpse. I checked consoles and terminals as we passed, though the majority of them were broken with age or torn to pieces by the hail of gunfire from our fight. Lia and Yonrow split off, walking around the room as I had some time to myself.


    I checked the bird¡¯s corpse, pausing for a moment as I stared at the beast. Its deadly claws and feathers looked quite a bit less threatening as I stared down at them. They could make good materials. In my search through Cold Moon Solution¡¯s lab, quite a few of the Aetherially reactive materials had been animal parts.


    For a moment, I second-guessed what I wanted to do, then I flicked on Aetherial Perception for the briefest of moments. In the split second, I looked over the corpse, I spotted its talons and several feathers along its wings radiating Aetherial energy. I could also feel a sickly sensation against the back of my eyeballs as if a tentacle writhed against it. The sensation grew with each passing moment till I could feel whatever it was inside of my skull. Before I could invoke more danger for myself, I turned off Aetherial Perception.


    With the intel, I set off to quickly cut off the talons and feathers I spotted, stashing the loot into my bag. Might be able to use them for something. If I could get a use similar to the bird, I might be able to finagle some kind of device to get into and out of the Aether. Probably just a pipe dream though. And I''m not sure if I even want to do that in the first place. Aether Gates were a thing, but I''d heard they were extremely dangerous.


    Then I moved on, refocusing on the actual job. It took a while to find a terminal that still worked. I wiped off the glass of the terminal, clearing off the screen as I started clicking through programs. Eventually, I got to the system diagnostics and checked what remained of the news station¡¯s broadcasting equipment.

 Chapter 177

    Chapter 177¡±How¡¯s it look?¡± A call came from above, causing me to lose focus as I glanced over my shoulder. Renold and Hampton stood at the uppermost balcony, the latter of which waved down to us.


    I checked the diagnostic report one last time. I¡¯d already run it several times. The old wiring was on the fritz, causing me to run several diagnostics from different terminals scattered around the place. ¡°Nova. Just some slight fixes to the stuff on the roof, and I''ll be able to get it back up and running!¡±


    ¡°Chek. C¡¯mon up when you guys are ready! We found what looked like a mechanic shop on the floor above.¡± Hampton turned away from the balcony, pausing momentarily to give one more order. ¡°Be careful though. There are signs of something small living in the ducts. We didn¡¯t find it, but it might try to ambush.¡±


    ¡±Roger.¡± Lia answered, popping a thumbs up to the duo before they vanished back into the hallways above. She turned to me with her typical grin. ¡°Are you ready to go, Zuku?¡±


    I clicked around a few more times on the terminal, pausing slightly as I found a map of the news stations broadcasting towers scattered around. Looked like New Tress Radio was quite prolific in this state before it fell and the FSA swapped to a more united city-state type of governance. Doubt that knowledge would ever be useful, but it was seared into my brain now thanks to Eidetic Schematic.


    As I clicked off of the terminal and closed everything down, I used Technical Expertise to take a scan of the terminal. The thing was ancient, though I figured it would be a good idea to start cataloging everything with the combination of Technical Expertise and Eidetic Schematic. Never know when a certain bit of know-how on putting something together would help.


    I repeated the process of scanning all the tech around to get into the habit. I also hooked up one of my last picks into the computer console so I could access it remotely with my deck. It¡¯d make it easier to fix things up top if I didn¡¯t have to come and go from the roof.


    With everything that I needed to do done, I nodded to the other two. ¡°Chek. I¡¯m good to go.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s blow this popsicle stand!¡± Lia clapped her hands, flinching slightly as the noise echoed. A hand shot up to rub at her temple, though she still seemed to be in a daze as she grossly overshot and smacked herself upside the head.


    ¡°Careful. Still concussed.¡± Yonrow dodged by her staggered form as he moved to take the lead. ¡°Moving.¡±


    We moved toward the hall, our pace slowing way down as I struggled to keep up with the group. The stim Yonrow used on me was damn strong, but it wasn¡¯t a miracle by any means. The stimulus and numbing effect had already started to wear off, making every step extremely painful.


    Lia slid back next to me, keeping her SMG in a neutral position as she braced my hurt side like a crutch. ¡°Hey, thanks for the save earlier. And for knocking me back into awareness.¡±  S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°No problem.¡± I offered the woman a bright smile, to which her face flushed red slightly as she glanced away. ¡°Now you¡¯ll have to put up with me a bit longer though.¡±


    The magus laughed lightly as she shook her head. ¡°Trust me, you aren''t trouble at all. Escorting you is practically a joy ride compared to ole Frank.¡±


    ¡±Is he really that bad?¡± I¡¯d heard a few mentions over the week I¡¯d spent at the camp, though it was in passing. Most people hardly seemed to even think about him.


    She shuddered slightly. ¡°He¡¯s just really annoying. He has no combat capabilities. And he¡¯s slow. It takes him forever to finish a job. We once had to wait three days in the middle of the Outlands for him to fix a Prowler after we were attacked by massive scorpions.¡±


    ¡±Massive lecher too.¡± Yonrow commented as he glanced over his shoulder at us. A look of disgust passed over his face. ¡°Constantly asked me to draw .¡±


    That¡­ makes sense. The captain mentioned Frank was incapacitated by messing around with a faultily repaired joybot. Did he not test it before he tried to use it? Mechanics 101: Always test your newest creation before actually putting it into use. Not following such a simple rule was just asking for trouble, though there were a few situations where I could see bypassing it when in a time crunch.


    There was a moment of silence, only ruined once we reached the staircase. Lia helped me up the stairs. ¡°Hopefully his last ¡®accident¡¯ will invoke some change in him. That old bastard really just needs someone to kick him in the rear.¡±


    ¡±Why haven¡¯t you found someone else yet?¡± I asked.


    ¡±Well¡­ the company has hired about a dozen other techies since I joined. Most of them tend to not live long in the field.¡± She shrugged as we reached a landing. ¡°Dangers of the job. For having no combat skills, Frank is insanely good at staying alive. Been with Captain Roger since before Ms. Alexandria got me this job.¡±


    Ms. Alexandria? Athena? She seemed to be quite tied in with this PMC company. I wonder how she met Captain Roger? They all had a distinctly military vibe to them¡­ maybe they¡¯re all former soldiers of the FSA? Expats tended to join mercenary companies in this day and age, so it wouldn''t be too surprising.


    We went silent as we headed up the stairs to regroup with the other two. I spotted the tracks they were talking about as we went up. Small paw prints here and there that didn¡¯t match the giant hawk, as well as ventilation grates pulled off and bent out of shape. It looked like it had quite a bit of strength despite its size.


    I bent over and checked a print in some loose sand as we passed by one such peeled-off ventilation shaft. I couldn¡¯t tell exactly what it was, but it looked like some weird mix of a cat and a rat. Hopefully, it was just a vermin that wouldn¡¯t cause any trouble.


    Eventually, we met back up with the rest of the squad. They waited for us at the top of the stairs. ¡°Come on. The shop is this way.¡±


    The mechanic shop they mentioned was full of parts, most of which were covered in dust. There were some fresh boot prints from where Renold and Hampton came in, but otherwise, the room looked as though it¡¯d been sitting abandoned for a long time. Even the plants kept away from here, leaving plenty of perfectly good tools untouched.


    ¡±This what you looking for?¡± Hampton asked.


    ¡±Chek.¡± I looked over the various parts, mentally calculating what I would need. It¡¯d take quite a bit of work to convert everything into usable parts for the APC, but nothing too complicated. Could probably go ahead and do that here if I had all the tools.


    ¡°Okay. Lia, stay here with her. Renold and Yonrow, let''s clear the roof while they''re down here.¡± Hampton nodded to us. ¡°Ladies. Keep close contact.¡±


    Lia slapped her hands to her mouth in fake shock. ¡°Oh my. You never ask me to talk. Don¡¯t take that back now.¡±


    ¡±Then don¡¯t make us regret it.¡± Renold smirked. ¡°Might be hard for you.¡±


    ¡±What the heck? Is it gang up on Lia day or something?¡± The Magus pouted as she looked around.


    Yonrow gave her a long, slow look. ¡°Isn¡¯t every day?¡±


    ¡±That¡¯s it! You guys get outta here. At least Zuku appreciates me!¡± Lia pushed Yonrow towards the door.


    Ah, camaraderie. Kinda wish I had a group like this. Unfortunately, it hasn¡¯t been in the cards. Mira was the closest thing, though she was gone most of the time on one adventure or another. As for why I hadn¡¯t had much luck with others? A combination of paranoia, bad timing, and the fact I was more of a lone wolf. Maybe one day though? Then again¡­


    I went ahead and started to mess around with the parts, gathering what I needed to fix the APC and the broadcasting tower of New Tress Radio. There were a few heavy items, but for the most part, everything I needed was quite light. At least, for the broadcasting tower.


    The diagnostic reports indicated problems with the wiring more than anything, though I''d have to see when I got up there. No telling how damaged the programs in those terminals were. For all I know, the broadcasting towers could''ve been taken right off the roof by a rogue sandstorm.


    After a while, Hampton called through the comms, ¡°Roof is clear. Need help carrying stuff up?¡±


    ¡±Do we?¡± Lia asked me.


    I checked over the piles of stuff. ¡±Should probably take it all up so we can zip it across from the roof.¡±


    Lia answered the comms. ¡°Of course we do, gonk. We¡¯re both injured. Zuku said to bring it all up so we could zip across too.¡±


    "We''re coming back down."


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    I was a bit worried about making the repairs themselves when I first got up there since the diagnostic reports could be grossly inaccurate after all this time. Not even worth the worry. Compared to modern stuff, repairing ancient broadcasting equipment wasn¡¯t even an issue.


    The repairs to the broadcasting tower were quite easy. Replaced a few wires, swapped out one of the control consoles with a spare, and then I was basically done. We¡¯d have to set up an antennae back at base camp to get connected to it, but that wasn¡¯t an issue. There were enough backups in the mechanic shop to take care of that.


    Getting the stuff across was a bit of an issue, though with a bit of ingenuity and some clever usage of pulleys, it was quickly solved. The real issue was getting across without hurting myself further. Again though, pulleys solved that. We used it to modulate my speed so the impact wouldn¡¯t hurt me too badly.


    Then we used the same strategy of pulleys and rope to get the loot down to ground level for the Prowler. By the time we were loaded back up and heading for camp, I was dead tired. And my legs were seriously hurting to boot.


    The distant sun had already sunk low to the horizon, casting deep shadows across the entire city. The plants rustled in the gentle wind, though that gentleness was lost as they all moved like some great monster.


    The infrastructure, still kept on after all this time, came to life with its haunting array of holograms and broken advertisements. With the New Tress Radio building,  it¡¯s surprising this city still had electricity running through it. ¡°How¡¯s all this still running, anyway?¡±


    ¡°That would be Triton and his group,¡± Renold replied. I was half expecting Hampton to say something, but the guy passed out once more in the passenger seat almost as soon as we got in the car.


    ¡±Triton?¡± I¡¯d heard the name a few times before around the camp.


    Renold pulled down a side street, dodging past several cars cluttering the path forward. ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re a group of scavengers holed up here. Been here since the fall, and the Second Reckoning. Or whatever they called it.¡±


    ¡±Sounds ominous¡­¡± Second Reckoning. Sounded like some kind of great disaster. Was it why there were plants everywhere? Or was the greenery already a feature of New Tress City even beforehand? They were quite rampant, so they must¡¯ve been here for a long time, right? Then again, they were greatly mutated. No telling what kind of weirdness the plants around here had.


    Lia joined the conversation. ¡°Oh, you have no idea. They¡¯re a bunch of weirdos, and that¡¯s coming from a Magus with a double elbow mutation.¡±


    ¡±Oh?¡± Weirdos how? Other than living in a ravaged city, I guess. Can¡¯t always just get away from circumstances though, so I¡¯ll withhold judgment for now.


    ¡±Yeah, they practically worship the plants here. Super weird cultish shit.¡± Lia shuddered. I was right there alongside her. Worshipping plants sounded awfully similar to the Circle.


    Were they the same as the Circle? ¡°They have a bunch of Adepts in their group?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see any. Looked like a bunch of mundane people to me.¡± Lia shrugged. ¡°Then again, they could¡¯ve been Adepts in disguise.¡±


    Maybe they weren¡¯t the Circle then. Lia had half a step into the Aether, so she would''ve noticed had they been Adepts. Maybe it was just a bizarre coincidence. Or rather, maybe it was to be expected. I could see a plant worshipping cult pop up just about anywhere considering how rare it was to see them in bulk on this continent.


    The Prowler went quiet as we coasted along the ruined city. Aside from the consistent throbbing in my legs, it was quite peaceful. I found myself drifting ever so quickly off to sleep. Hopefully, when I woke up, my legs would be back to normal.

 Chapter 178

    Chapter 178I got a day of rest after returning from New Tress Radio. The doc gave me a quick check-over just before I went to sleep. The stim Yonrow administered had already stopped the internal bleeding of my muscles and stabilized my ankle by then, so he just ordered some sleep. Not that I was complaining. Sleep was exactly what I needed for Quick Healing.


    He did ask a couple of pointed questions about the extent of my injuries, though I managed to glaze past it with Honest Face and some well-crafted deceptions about how the fight went from my perspective. No point in outing my abilities. What''s the saying? Keep your cards close to your chest? And I was becoming more and more aware of such a thing especially after Sergeant Hampton had been honing in the Captain''s combat rules. Such as always pay attention to the win condition. Having better and unknown cards was an obvious win condition.


    The second day I spent repairing burned-out fuel lines of the various Prowlers and setting up the antennae in camp so Captain Roger could connect with New Tress Radio¡¯s equipment. He wanted to use New Trees Radio¡¯s weather equipment to watch for sandstorms and track radio frequencies throughout the city. Something about hunting down the Urjune Company¡¯s HQ by finding where they control the drones.


    I also repaired the APC¡¯s sensors and got everything relinked back up. On the hardware side, at least. The gunners would have to recalibrate everything themselves. No way I¡¯d throw myself into that mire. Better to let them, who made a living shooting the big guns, recalibrate said big guns. I was just trained to drive back then, so I only had a partial idea of how all the software worked. Or, at least the native software. There were a ton of extra guns jury-rigged onto the APC.


    It was a bit annoying having to act as though I was still injured, though it sure beat the alternative if I hadn¡¯t had Quick Healing. Felt a bit bad about it, especially since Lia stuck next to me to help out while I worked. On a side note, it was nice having an assistant.


    And then I was done. There were a few issues, such as a couple members of the Crimson Company needing help with their chrome, but it was a relatively easy day. Lots of alone time too, so I didn¡¯t have to worry about exposing the canteen as I stayed hydrated.


    I spent several days resting and recuperating while fixing odds and ends around the camp, especially since the Urjune Company seemed to kick up their aggression a notch.


    It wasn¡¯t until the fifth day in the Laurus Theatre¡¯s buried parking garage that I actually got to work getting into the theatre itself. It started with a hand on my shoulder, rousing me from where I passed out over my temporary workbench. ¡±Zuku.¡±


    I flinched back, stumbling off my seat as my hand dropped to my pistol-


    ¡°Oh, hey Lia¡­ what¡¯s up?¡± I relaxed as I caught sight of her familiar face.


    ¡±Captain wants you.¡± She backed up, looking around my temporary workshop. It was a section of the parking garage out of the way from the rest of the camp. Something about the PMCs not wanting to get flashed by my welder. Wimps.


    I stood up, stretching out slightly as I fixed the poncho to cover me better. I¡¯d swapped to my urban color scheme while we were in this area. Lot less sand down here. ¡°You know what about?¡±


    ¡±Probably something to do with the theatre. It¡¯s time.¡± Lia shrugged. ¡°Then again, what do I know? Could be another mission to go fix something. Or to attack the Urjine¡¯s HQ. The eggheads probably figured out where it is by now. Or maybe just one more check on the APC after their recent mission?"


    I followed her out of my area and toward the rest of the camp. I threw in a slight limp with every step. ¡°So it could be anything.¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± Lia smiled, skipping ahead of me a few steps before flicking back and walking backward. ¡°Or it could be nothing! Just hope it¡¯s . Preferably something fun.¡±


    Well, that was helpful. ¡°You¡¯ve been bored?¡± Too much action in my opinion. I miss my safe days back in the city- er, relatively safe.


    She stroked her ring, turning back around as she fell in step beside me. ¡°Well . I¡¯ve barely done anything since we¡¯ve come to the city. This stupid place is like my anathema.¡±


    ¡°Big word there, Lia!¡± Renold approached from behind us as we passed by the mess tent. ¡°I¡¯m so proud!¡±


    ¡±Know what else is big? My foot! Especially when it''s crammed up your ass if you keep going.¡± Lia glared at the chromed-out guy as he joined us.


    ¡±Don¡¯t tempt me.¡± The Magus shuddered, though Renold didn¡¯t seem to mind as he dropped his joking attitude and turned professional. ¡°Captain calling for all of us, eh?¡±


    So probably not just checking the APC again. I doubt we¡¯d¡ªor at least I¡¯d¡ªbe sent out to attack the Urjune camp. Not really my forte. Could be to fix something, but I got the feeling it was probably related to the Laurus Theatre. Like Lia said, it was really about time.


    We were to start cracking into it as soon as we got back from our trip out to New Tress Radio. The combination of my ''hurt'' legs making it difficult to get around and needing time to repair the APC ensured that didn¡¯t happen. Now though? The sooner I got in the sooner we could get out of here and head back to the relative safety of Aythryn City.


    Yonrow waited outside the Captain¡¯s tent, idly sharpening a pencil. The shavings drifted down, forming a small pile that he swept with his foot, causing them to merge with the light layer of sand around the tent and disappear. He glanced up, nodding to us as he held open the tent¡¯s flap.


    Hampton and Captain Roger were in the midst of what seemed to be a rather intense discussion as we walked in. Said conversation immediately ended as we gathered around the Captain¡¯s table in the middle of the large tent.


    ¡±Good, you¡¯re all here.¡± Captain Roger motioned for Yonrow to tightly seal the tent flaps. He produced a small device, activating it before tossing it onto the table. I recognized it as a scrambler. ¡°Just in case.¡±


    ¡±What did you need us for, sir?¡± Lia popped a salute.


    Captain Roger sighed and leaned over the table, staring at the map resting on it. ¡°We caught a series of transmissions from the Urjune Company. They asked for reinforcements. Heavy hitters. We need to move our timetable up.¡±


    ¡±How long?¡± Renold asked.


    ¡±Two weeks tops. We need to get out of here before then. We don¡¯t have the equipment to resist a full frontal assault without taking heavy losses. Heavy Combat Drones are just the tip of the iceberg.¡± Captain Roger shifted his blond hair out of his face, revealing chrome eyes drooping with exhaustion. Can¡¯t even imagine trying to keep this entire thing afloat as the leader. Especially considering the internal situation of the city.


    Moving up the timetable wasn¡¯t great either. I hadn¡¯t even trying to get into the Laurus Theatre. There was no telling how long it might take to get anything of value secured. Could be a matter of hours if the security was all shut down. Could be weeks if Acumen Industrial¡¯s infrastructure held up.


    Hampton spoke up, his eyebrows twitching in irritation, ¡°Captain wants us to get into the theatre now. We¡¯re leaving in a week and a half regardless, even if it means eating a massive loss.¡±


    Captain Roger shot their sergeant a look with his inhumane blue eyes. They seemed to glow bright for a moment before shifting to me. ¡°I know it''s asking for a lot, but we need you to get us in there ASAP.¡±


    I shrugged helplessly. ¡±I haven¡¯t even seen the theatre yet. I have no idea how long it¡¯ll take. Might be able to just pop the door and pilfer to our heart''s content, though somehow I doubt that.¡±


    ¡°I understand that. Still, start working on it. Let me know if you need anything at all that might speed the process up.¡± He tossed me a holo-puck. Probably the same one he showed off back at the Jagged Clover. ¡°For the duration of your attempts, I¡¯m putting you in charge of the squad.¡±


    Ah, I can see why Sergeant Hampton  be irritated now. Giving control of Red-Six to an outsider was a bit¡­ though I guess it meant he trusted my skills? Or at least, trusted Athena not to set him up for failure. Then again, it could be an act of desperation. Somehow, I don¡¯t see Captain Roger stooping to that level though.


    ¡°Right. We¡¯ll go look now, I guess¡­¡± I thought up the perfect copy of the building¡¯s public schematic I¡¯d seen, trying to figure out the best way into it. Probably the front door? Or maybe the roof? Hmm¡­ roof could have quite a few complications. Probably just the front door. Only, it''s buried in sand like the rest of this place. ¡°Do we know where the front entrance is yet?¡±


    Captain Roger nodded. ¡°A squad already dug it out a day ago. It¡¯s covered in security shutters. We were just going to cut through it, but figured it was best to wait for the expert.¡±


    A smart decision. No telling if sensors inside could detect them cutting through the shudders and activate even more security. I¡¯d have to get a look at it before I started formulating opinions though.


    ¡°Is that everything?¡± Captain Roger asked. At my nod, he waved us off. ¡°Then dismissed.¡±


    We headed out of the tent, pausing just out of earshot from the Captain¡¯s tent. Hampton was the first to speak. ¡°Hey, Zuku, do you mind if we have a squad discussion?¡±


    The ¡®without you¡¯ was heavily implied by the way he asked. I paused for a moment, staring at the group before slowly nodding my head. ¡°Uh- yeah. Go ahead. I¡¯ve gotta gather up tools anyway¡­ I¡¯ll meet you guys at the Prowler?¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± Hampton pulled along the rest of the squad. Lia shot me an apologetic look as she passed.


    I get it.


    I really do.


    I¡¯m an outsider through and through¡­ one who¡¯d been given command over a squad of far more experienced PMCs. Even though we were entering my field of expertise¡ªgetting in and out of places¡ªI could see how it would cause issues. They weren¡¯t really squad at the end of the day. It was a bit of a sad thought, but after this gig I''d probably never see them again anyway. They probably had a lot to talk about.


    I pushed it to the back of my mind as I headed to gather up my stuff.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    ¡°So this is it? Somehow I thought it¡¯d be bigger.¡± Lia stared toward the entrance to the theatre. A tunnel of sand dropped down to a set of double doors leading inward.


    "That''s what she said." Renold paused. "Wait, that''s not what I meant-"


    "Oh yes it is! Micro Renold over here. Why don''t you be a good boy and stay quiet?" Lia taunted the man.


    He simply growled back. Like a dog, almost?


    I thought back briefly to the half-finished blueprint Eidetic Schematic copied. ¡±The rest of it is buried. There¡¯s at least a dozen sets of double doors right here.¡±


    I slid down the sand toward the dug out door, stabilizing myself before I could fully slam into it. Just as Captain Roger had said, the door was covered in metal security shutters, making it impossible to open while they were deployed. Part of the lockdown procedure, if I had to guess. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Lifting the lockdown was priority one. With it lifted, the rest of the company could come in, clean out, and then we could leave with all the loot in tow. As for how exactly I was going to lift it? No idea¡­


    A good starting point would be the building¡¯s actual blueprint, not the barebones version I was working with. If I could get to the offices, I might be able to find one. Then again, my knowledge really only extended to the public spaces of the theatre, nothing else. I didn''t even know where the offices might be.


    Then I could plan from there¡­ or, if the security wasn¡¯t anything strong, it could be as easy as getting the door open. That was doubtful though. Really, it all boiled down to getting the door open to start with.


    I approached the metal shutters covering everything, looking for how they worked as I tried to formulate a plan. I was hoping there would be some kind of external release for the lockdown, like a card scanner or something, but that was obviously too much to hope for. Getting the shutters to go up wasn¡¯t feasible either without getting inside the building to mess with the mechanisms.


    That just left cutting or exploding through it, the latter of which I¡¯d save for if nothing else worked. I might be able to disable the sensors with the Jammer, so cutting through it wouldn''t necessarily be a terrible idea... hmmm.


    I thought through everything I¡¯d need before calling out to the squad behind me. ¡°I need one of you to go grab the plasma torch from my workshop. The rest, help me dig out some more space so I have room to work.¡±


    Lia jumped happily, shooting her hand up into the air. ¡±Oh! I¡¯ll go-¡°


    "Nope!" Renold backed off, holding the keys in his hands. "No way I''ll let you trash my baby."


    ¡°Splitting up is a bad idea-¡± Hampton muttered hypocritically. We literally just split up under his orders back at New Tress Radio, which was a far more dangerous situation. I get he¡¯s mad about having his leadership-


    No¡­ reading his Cues, there wasn¡¯t a bit of anger in him¡­ maybe it''s me that has the issue? Am I just seeing things that aren¡¯t there? Or maybe I''m projecting how I think he should¡¯ve felt onto him based on past experiences¡­


    The entire ride over I thought I felt a bit of hostility. It¡¯s just the whole argumentative look both the Captain and Hampton had as we entered, combined with their annoyed looks and having a private chat by kicking me out made me assume there would be conflict. The argument and private chat could¡¯ve been about anything.


    Just because I can read the Cues doesn¡¯t mean I fully understand what¡¯s going on. Once more, my own lacking social skills were kicking me in the rear.


    Was it just paranoia then? That feels like a cop-out excuse though¡­ See! This is why I hate social stuff. It¡¯s just too complicated, especially considering how easily my own mind can warp interactions into something they¡¯re not.


    Sergeant Hampton, completely unaware of my internal conflicts, finished his statement, ¡°-when there¡¯s an easy alternative. As a leader, it''s important to always use every available resource.¡±


    There wasn¡¯t a hint of mockery or snideness in his voice. Instead, he seemed full of patience. It was almost as if- is he trying to teach me? I really am just projecting then. I guess that says more about me than it does about him.


    I got my mind back on track, flushing myself with a surge of Cold-Blooded. I could think about all of this later. For now, the mission.


    Use every available resource¡­ that''s something I did as a thief too. It was important to take a step back and check every route and entry, even those that don¡¯t immediately stand out. Hmmm¡­


    With the increased aggression from the Urjune Company, he was probably worried about either the solo driving to camp or the four back here getting caught out in an ambush. There was a good chance they''d be emboldened by the incoming reinforcements and start setting up even more ambushes.


    Then, to get around it... ¡°Call someone back at camp and have them deliver it?¡±


    Hampton nodded subtly to Renold. Renold backed off, shifting to the side as he called back to camp. The rest of us took up shovels and started to dig as my mind shifted through how exactly I was going to do this.

 Chapter 179

    Chapter 179"Zuku, it''s here.¡± Lia brought down the rather lightweight plasma torch.


    ¡°Set it down over there¡­ think you could get it hooked up to the Prowler?¡± I asked as I fiddled with the jammer. It was the first time I¡¯d actually gotten around to using it since I got the thing, so I was taking my time to set it all up.


    The KairoTech jammer, still held together by tape and glue since I¡¯d never gotten around to fixing it all up, looked like a piece of junk. I knew from firsthand experience how effective it was though.


    This little beauty could completely block all outward communications and signals, hopefully including the sensors¡ªif there even were any¡ªon the other side of the shutters. It was basically a stronger scrambler capable of blocking even more tech.


    There was a whole thing where I could modulate the jammer to allow certain signals through so I wouldn¡¯t be blocking my own gear, but getting all that set up seemed like a pain in the ass so I skipped it for now.


    I fiddled around with it, making sure everything was running, and checked on the rest of the squad. They were all in defensive positions, keeping a watch on our surroundings as I worked. Although I was technically the leader now, they definitely still moved as though Hampton was in charge. Not that I minded. I didn¡¯t even want authority in the first place.


    I heard the Prowler¡¯s engine rev as the Magus called from just outside of the hole I stood in. ¡°Is it working?¡±


    The lights on the Plasma Torch lit up. ¡°Chek! You¡¯re good.¡±


    With all my tools up and ready, I started with a small incision at the base of the shutters, pausing as the glowing metal easily melted under the plasma¡¯s touch. With a hole in the shutter, sound from inside leaked out as though the soundproofing finally broke.


    A siren blared from inside, and I caught sight of a flashing red light through the small gap. The siren was a typical emergency siren; extraordinarily loud and annoying. The noise was ever so slightly off though, taking on an almost human-like quality as if someone was in there screaming for help.


    I widened the gap just enough to fit a Scouter in to get a better idea of what we were dealing with. I tossed the device in, realizing too late that the jammer blocked it from transmitting its signal to my deck.


    I jury-rigged a wire connecting another Scouter and my deck, then tossed another in as I got my first look at the inside of Acumen Industrial¡¯s Laurus Theatre.


    Just on the other side of the door was a grand foyer, filled with ornate decorations and golden details. The theatre seemed to be going for an ancient design, with tons of pillars and arching supports.


    I manipulated the camera to face up, catching sight of the roof so far above. It was absolutely covered in shuttered skylights, which at one point would¡¯ve allowed a near-unobstructed view of the sky from inside the foyer.


    The place was incredibly dim, only lit by faint red emergency lights. At some point, grand chandeliers that hung from the roof would¡¯ve shed more than enough light to see by, but that was a thing of the past. Now the chandeliers, or at least, what remained of them, hung limply from the ceiling.


    Grand staircases led up to the several floors and booths that would look out onto the stage. A few of them had collapsed at some point, turning into pure rubble.


    At a glance, everything seemed alright. Then I started to catch more haunting details as I moved the Scouter¡¯s view around. Bullet holes covered the intricately decorated walls and surfaces of the foyer, indicating a fight broke out. And from the sheer amount of the bullets, it wasn¡¯t a small one.


    The ground of the foyer, however, indicated it wasn¡¯t a fight as much as a slaughter. Bones filled the place, each clad in clothes that would¡¯ve at one point showing off wealth. Instead, they were dusty, deteriorated pieces left to rot in the theatre. Just like the people that had once worn them.


    As I looked around more and more, I realized this place wasn¡¯t a theatre. It was a tomb. A massive tomb filled with who knows how many corpses. Such a sight immediately set me on edge. Just what happened here?


    The siren cut off for a moment as a robotic woman¡¯s voice called out. Or at least it had been a voice. Years of disrepair hadn¡¯t done the speakers well. Instead of a clear voice coming across the line, what I heard was a disorientating array of clicks and metallic scrapes as if some alien monstrosity tried to speak.


    Movement from a balcony overlooking the foyer drew my attention. It took a while for me to realize what it was as flashing red lights illuminated the figure. A robot¡ªshaped like a human and yet with a distinct metallic tint to its skin¡ªwalked around the balcony, scanning its surroundings.


    The robot¡¯s arms had been morphed into guns, immediately making me draw a connection between the bot and the corpses everywhere. Even without going further, I could guess what went down. During one of their plays, with the theatre filled to the brim, the solar storms nuked the planet.


    The magnetic waves from the solar storms wreaked havoc on the tech here, causing it to trigger the lockdown. Only, not just any lockdown procedure, but one of the highest levels. The electronic security went insane and gunned everyone down¡­ or at least, that¡¯s what I¡¯m guessing happened.


    I waited for the bot to turn a corner before pulling out the plasma torch and cutting a hole just small enough for me to fit through. Then I headed back up out of the hole to talk to the rest of the team.


    ¡±How¡¯s it look?¡± Hampton asked me as soon as I peeked over the edges of the hole.


    ¡±Not good. Security is still active. Looked like it was set to lethal. At the very least, armed robots, though there are probably a bunch of turrets hooked up too.¡± I brought my deck over and replayed the video of the bot moving by. sea??h th§× N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Lia watched the video before shaking. ¡°That¡¯s a lot of bodies¡­ any chance we can shut it all off?¡±


    ¡±Not without finding where the command center for the theatre is.¡± Renold answered before I could. ¡°I doubt they just left all the security controls out in the open.¡±


    I zoomed in on the robot. ¡°Not only that but even if we shut off the hardwired security, the bots might still remain active.¡± No telling what kind of backup protocols were instilled into the tech here.


    ¡±What¡¯s the plan then, Zuku?¡± Hampton asked, forcing the burden of leadership onto my shoulders once more.


    I looked at him for a long moment before answering with a question of my own. ¡°Why¡¯d Captain Roger make me the leader? No matter how I look at it, it''s a bad idea.¡±


    Hampton returned my look before rubbing at the back of his head and looking away. ¡°I wasn¡¯t supposed to say anything, but Athena asked him to test you¡­ something about wanting to see if you were worth investment.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Too much of a hassle to hide it though.¡±


    Athena, eh? Investing in me though¡­ What''s that supposed to mean? Giving me harder jobs? Or is she looking to actually hire me? I- I wouldn¡¯t know quite how to feel about getting offered an actual job. Sure, I¡¯d have way better income, but I¡¯d also lose a lot of free time. Free time I could be using to plot and scheme.


    ¡±Still¡­ what if I made a life-ending decision?¡±


    ¡°Captain wanted me to shadow your decisions. If it was a particularly bad one, I¡¯m supposed to interfere.¡± Hampton crossed his arms, his eyebrows pulled down in aggrievement. ¡°Waste of time. Though he made a good point that we¡¯d be following you anyway since you¡¯re the one trying to break through the security.¡±


    ¡±I guess.¡± Seemed a little¡­ I wonder if they were reporting back on me this entire time then? Has my every decision been held under a microscope since coming out here? Did Athena treat all her potential hires like this? Hmm¡­ ¡±How am I holding up so far?¡±


    Lia butted into the conversation. ¡°We love you! You¡¯re so much better than Frank- gah!¡±


    Renold pulled the Magus aside, causing her to stumble as her double elbows folded up. ¡°Shut it. Can¡¯t you see we¡¯re having a rather serious conversation?¡±


    ¡±It¡¯s always so serious with you! Just let loose and have a little fun!¡± Lia patted Renold on the head. It was an odd look, though considering she was the tallest person in the group it didn¡¯t look too awful.


    Hampton just shook his head. ¡°I¡¯d recommend Captain to add you to the Crimson Company¡¯s short list of people to stay in contact with¡­ though not necessarily hire you.¡±


    ¡±Oh?¡± I couldn¡¯t tell if what he said was good or bad.


    ¡±We engage in more combat-focused jobs usually. Rarely do we need to bring along two techies. This situation where Frank is out and we don¡¯t have any other backups is a bit of an odd one.¡± He shrugged. ¡°So¡­ the plan?


    ¡°Right.¡± I sighed as I tapped back into the live feed. Now wasn¡¯t the time to get distracted.


    would be perfectly fine going into the theatre myself. With Blackout and Cold-Blooded, I¡¯d be mostly safe from the security even if they had thermal imaging. Going against all electronic security was practically a breeze compared to if people were in the mix.


    And the tech here was before the invention of Nodes, so I wouldn¡¯t even have to worry about Daemons watching over this place. Just an old program full of faults. Probably one with even more faults after so long.


    The rest of these guys though? As soon as they step in, any chance of stealth will be over. No way we could get through the theatre quietly. So that just left the questions: risk a sole quiet infiltration or go loud with the entire group? Both had their cons.


    If I played my cards right, a solo infiltration would be a breeze. Then again, if something went wrong, I¡¯d be stranded by myself with no chance of help coming in time.


    If we went loud though, we¡¯d be thrusting ourselves into an entrenched location. The chances of at least one of us ending up injured were incredibly high. Especially since there was no telling the full extent of devices hidden around. Could have rocket robots for all we knew.


    What to do¡­ what to do¡­


    ¡±I¡¯ll go in by myself. Root around until I find the command center, then disable the lockdown.¡± I shared my plan. ¡°Then the rest of you can come in and clean up any stragglers from the security.¡±


    ¡±No.¡± Lia shook her head. ¡°No way are we just going to let you head in there to get butchered by yourself.¡±


    I offered a small smile as I closed my deck up. ¡°This is my specialty. You lot are good at fighting and all that, but B&E is my forte.¡±


    Hampton frowned. ¡°You sure you¡¯ll be able to get through?¡±


    ¡°Against this level of security?¡± I laughed confidently as I adjusted my facial features to align with Honest Face. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯ve hit harder places in the city all the time.¡±


    ¡±Hmm¡­ fine. But stay in contact?¡± He seemed to remember he was no longer the leader as he turned his order into a question. ¡°And can you open the shutters enough for us to get in? You know, incase there is an emergency or something...¡±


    ¡±No problem.¡± I nodded to the group as I headed back down to the shutters. Come one, Shiro, you got this. Nice and smooth, just as you¡¯d done before. This time, it''s murderous robots with guns, but does that really matter? It''s just B&E. Nice and slow.


    I took a final deep breath before sliding through the small hole into the theatre.

 Chapter 180

    Chapter 180I carefully pulled myself through the hole, dodging a mound of bones just before me. I had ways of taking care of visual detection, but any sound I made could set off the security lurking in the shadows of the theatre. Good thing I had ole reliable Fox''s Paw to take care of noises.


    Once I was through the gap, I stood up and flicked on Cold-Blooded. Combined with my poncho, they completely removed any chance of getting detected by thermal sensors even with my tech active.


    I twisted my wrist so I could access the pad on it, lightly tapping around through the menus. I found the right one and tapped on a closed-eye symbol. From my pack, a ball slowly raised on a small pole. With one last tap, electricity ran through the Blinder as its unique radiation completely hid me from any cameras.


    I checked the pad as it flicked to a different menu. This one showed a bunch of sensory data from the Blinder. It was just data from the device itself, letting me keep track of its vibrations, temperature, power draw, radiation output, and a bunch of other data that would be nice to know. I''d be able to disable it before it could blow up or fry itself thanks to all the data.


    First thing¡¯s first, getting the door open. I clambered up the door, using the shutter plates as holds to pull myself into position. Then I used the pillars framing the door to get up onto where the shutter mechanisms lay. I put pressure on my back and feet to hold myself in the gap between the two pillars. Rather uncomfortable, but it got the job done.


    Accessing the mechanism was easy. A screwdriver here, a wrench there, and the cover popped off as I got my first look at what I was dealing with. I tapped on the machine with my finger, sending a pulse through it as its shape popped into my mind.


    Originally, the shutters were made to raise and lower. With the lockdown initiated, they had activated a failsafe where the shutters were entirely disconnected from the rest of the power grid. It would be impossible for an intruder to open them. Or at least, that was the idea.


    I messed around with my self-harming shock gauntlets I still had yet to fix, disconnecting the power source from one of them and linking it up to the shutter. I manually activated the gauntlet, carefully feeding power into the door''s mechanism.


    The metal groaned sharply before slowly lifting up and out of the way. Once more, the entryway into the foyer was free of obstruction. At least, in this one spot. The rest of the Squad would be free to come and go. Just as Hampton requested. I fixed my gauntlet and dropped back to the floor.


    With all my gear setup and the door open, I took my first steps into the Foyer. My training from Fox¡¯s Paw easily allowed me to find the gaps in the bones and debris all over the floor, smoothly gliding across the ground without making a sound. I headed for a receptionist¡¯s desk on the far side of the room.


    The dusty terminals in the reception area were almost all shot to pieces, as were the scattered fragments of bodies behind the desk. There was one terminal that was still in mostly good shape though. I wiped the dusty screen off as I turned it on.


    There were a bunch of programs on the device, most of them useless to me. I skipped past the majority of the programs and went straight for the system''s data. After glancing through hundreds of guest lists, opera showings, and various scripts, I found what I was looking for.


    A rough map of the entire place spilled out before my eyes, giving me a look at how truly grand the theatre was. Outside of the dominant house, stage, and backstage, there were plenty of rooms.


    Unfortunately, this one wasn¡¯t the technical blueprint, so it only showed slightly more detail than the public one I saw back at Athena¡¯s. I¡¯d probably have to get down into the Archive to get what I wanted. Or at least a terminal with higher permissions.


    Speaking of the Archive, I spotted it on the map. And it wasn¡¯t just a small one either. The archive looked like a massive library taking up an entire sublevel below the house and stage of the Laurus Theatre. Probably all sorts of goodies down there.


    I still wasn''t a hundred percent sure what loot here would be worth enough money to send a full company to check it out, but the Archive would be a perfect first stop to take a look. Knowledge is power and all that.


    With a destination in mind, I clicked off of the terminal, shutting down the ancient tech once more. I stood up-


    A bot stared directly at me, a machine gun hoisted high. A chill filled the air as I stared down the long barrel for several long moments. Cold-Blooded kept my heart from pounding as the bot seemed to look through me, sweeping the receptionist booth from side to side.


    Now that I was closer, I could see flayed synthskin covering the bot''s metal body. It seemed to be from before they got the formula just right. The skin was incredibly pale, pulling off of its robotic face in large patches as though it had some kind of disease.


    The security robot itself was dressed in a red attendant¡¯s coat, one that was tattered with several bullet holes lacing through. Someone hadn''t gone down without a fight. The robots probably acted as the Laurus Theatre''s attendants way back before this place fell. They were probably a marvel of the future, showing off just how capable Acumen Industrial was.


    The robot walked around the desk, carefully inspecting every corner. Its movements caused subtle screeches as its rusted internals rubbed against each other. As it approached exactly where I stood, I silently slunk backward out of its reach. My feet nimbly dodged past the bones of long-deceased people as I backed away. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The robot checked the terminal for several long seconds. Its arms dropped to its sides as it entered a more neutral stance. A speaker in the head sparked to life. ¡°Error. False Report. Error. False Report. Error.¡±


    It froze up as it repeated the same words over and over, its logic seeming to break. I moved around the side, making my escape past the robot as I left the receptionist''s desk behind and started my journey to the archives.


    My eyes caught on my entry point. A full squad of robots had appeared at some point, about a dozen of them. They circled the opened door, frozen as they stared at the outside world. They most definitely didn''t have protocols to leave, so they just stood around my exit with guns at the ready. That was a problem for future Shiro though.


    I thought through the maps I''d seen so far. The quickest way to the archives was an access staircase in the backstage. That meant cutting through the house--where the audience sat--to the stage would be my easiest path. I headed for one of the grand doors into the actual theatre part of the building, which was helpfully held open by what looked to be a hip bone.


    I walked past the door, getting my first look at the stage and house. And I have to say, Acumen Industrial didn¡¯t hold out in the slightest when making this place. Intricately carved pillars and arches covered every surface, giving it an ancient majestic feeling.


    Gold and white paint filled the place, evoking a certain posh richness from every single corner of the house. Red splattered around, acting as highlights as well as the color of curtains. There were other splotches of red too, literally splattered against the wall. Or at least, they had been red at one point. Now the splotches were a rusty brown hue.


    Chairs covered in red felt filled the entirety of the house. They looked as though they would''ve been extremely comfortable at one point. Long aisles led down toward the stage, sloping gently down to it so every row would have a perfect view of the stage.


    Along the walls sat countless booths, which at one point might¡¯ve seemed like a status symbol to be able to watch from up there. Where there was a chance to show off wealth, the rich bastards wouldn¡¯t hesitate even if the pricing was way out of whack. The booths sat on several different levels, with the top floor being the most grand.


    The entire place was damn impressive. I recognized a lot of the design choices and styles. Back when I had to learn a bunch of theoretical knowledge for Tech. I''d seen similar designs. The entire chamber was set up so that even a whisper on the stage could be heard clearly from the back of the room, sharply driving up a viewer¡¯s immersion.


    Although there was a certain richness and beauty to the theatre, it was drastically overcome by the horror spread out everywhere. Dozens of bots spread out as they stalked up and down the aisles or cut through the countless rows of seats seemingly with a purpose.


    Each of them moved and looked reminiscent of a Dune Walker as they patrolled around, carefully watching for any ¡®intruder¡¯. The years hadn''t been kind to their fraying bodies, and each movement caused subtle groans of metal.


    All around I could see the previous victims of such drastic security measures. If I thought the foyer was filled with bones, then it wasn¡¯t even a drop in the ocean compared to the vast sea of dead filling the theatre. It seemed as though no one was spared. Seats were filled with the dead, and great mounds of bones and sundered fabric piled up around the aisles.


    No one was spared. No one. Not even those that managed to escape the house, as the corpses filling the foyer showed. Not even those wealthy enough to have their own booths. Money couldn¡¯t save their life in this case. I saw several bodies, only held together by their clothes, dangling over the balconies covering the walls, sharply driving up the place¡¯s horror.


    Even the stage was covered in the corpses of long-deceased performers. They littered the stage, almost as if they didn¡¯t even have time to run before the security systems of the Laurus Theatre turned on them.


    I''d only seen such a scene once back with Mira. This though? This was so much worse. So many lives were snuffed out in mere moments... a chill went down my spine as I looked around the place. The dim lighting from the red emergency lights didn''t help the ominous aura radiating off the sea of the dead.


    I raised my guard higher. Scenes of great tragedies like this had a chance to spawn Remnants and Revenants. With how fucked the Aether is in this city, there''s no telling what monstrous entities might lurk in the deepest parts of the theatre. If any.


    The bots, uncaring in the slightest about their surroundings, continued marching through the sea of bones. Surprisingly, they brought me a small amount of comfort. At the very least, I didn''t have to worry about running into something horrifying up here. The bots would''ve already killed or been killed by it.


    I looked around, spotting several charging ports scattered around the place. A few bots sat in them, recharging their batteries. There weren¡¯t enough ports though, so they probably had some kind of charging rotation. I could sabotage the charging ports, that way the eventual push from the Crimson Company would face much less resistance.


    I slunk along the walls, careful to stay out of the machines'' paths. Although they couldn¡¯t see or hear me, if one of them ran into me it would definitely detect something was wrong. They were most definitely all connected to whatever remained of the Laurus Theatre¡¯s network too, so if one was alerted the rest of them would be.


    They didn¡¯t move too fast though, so it wasn¡¯t even an issue to stay in the gaps as I approached the first charging station along the back wall. If anything, they moved too slow. Cold-Blooded helped me stay calm as it suppressed my building nerves.


    I approached the pod-like charging port and tapped on it with my hand, getting a look at its internals. I shifted to the side of it, scanning more and more of it as the charger¡¯s blueprint slowly built up in my mind.


    The charging port was pretty simple all things considered. Sure, there were several power converters and various other bits and bobs, but at the end of the day, it was just like a phone charger. The bots just walked over and plugged themselves in.


    Speaking of, one such robot was already in the charging port. I took the opportunity while it was in a half-disabled state to scan it and copy down the blueprint. They were forty years old, but they were also the creation of a major corporation. There might be something in their blueprint that I could use someday.


    While memorizing the blueprint with Eidetic Schematic, I took the chance to check the batteries that these things operated on. They weren¡¯t insanely good. Each one would only last a day with the kind of power that these things devoured. The bot had three of them though, so about a three-day charge each.


    With a decent understanding of the charging port, I popped open the back and cut power to it entirely. Unless the security system had something to maintain it, which I highly doubt considering the state of the robot attendants, then this charging point was done.


    I moved along the walls of the theatre, carefully disabling every charging pod as I went. The effects of my sabotage wouldn¡¯t be immediately shown, but in three days this place would be practically free to take over. At least, free of the robots. I¡¯d spotted more than enough turrets set up around to cause problems.


    It was stupidly easy moving around the robots. Just goes to show how important it was to have the right equipment. If I came out here without my Blinder or never got it up and working, my current tactic would be nearly impossible with the sheer number of eyes the security here had. I shudder to think how poorly a full frontal assault would''ve gone.


    With all the charging ports in the house taken care of, I carefully worked my way toward the stage.

 Chapter 181

    Chapter 181Halfway to the stage, an indicator on my wrist started blinking red. I looked down just in time to catch a list of warnings from my Blinder. Overheating sat as the topmost warning. A shutdown was imminent. About fifteen minutes seemed to be the life span of the Blinder.


    I sped up my movements, nearly sprinting past clueless robots. If my readings were right, it would be a matter of seconds till the Blinder shut off. If I was caught out here without my Blinder active? I sped up once more. I clambered up onto the stage, ducking into the first bit of cover I saw¡ªa wardrobe.


    I cracked the door, sliding into it just as the fail-safes built into my Blinder shut the thing off entirely. The wardrobe was incredibly cramped with quite a few props thrown into it. It was a safe spot from prying eyes though- rather, prying optics. I shimmied around, careful not to bump too much as I shifted my pack to my chest.


    I lightly tapped on the Blinder, testing the outer shell¡¯s heat levels. Hot, but not scalding. I wrapped my frigid hands around it, using the cooling from Cold-Blooded to speed up the cooling process. For several moments, I just chilled.


    How am I going to go from here? I thought back to the blueprint I memorized thanks to Eidetic Schematic. The staircase back here led down into a large chamber of sorts. Probably a meeting room, if I had to guess. Off that meeting room was prop storage, the Archives, individual offices, and a cafeteria. Quite the subterranean setup Acumen Industrial had back in the day.


    I was interested in the Archives and the lower offices. Prop storage and the cafeteria might have some things of note for the rest of the company though. Hmm¡­ maybe they still have a working printer in the offices? I could always copy the blueprint over onto the holo-puck, but there was only one of them. It¡¯d be a good idea to pass around a paper copy to every squad so they¡¯d know what to look for. I¡¯d have to look for one when I got in there.


    I sat in the cluttered wardrobe, my limbs cramping up as I regretted my choice of hiding spot. As I patiently waited for my tech to cool, my mind drifted to various topics and ideas. Most of them weren¡¯t worth their space of brain matter. A few were though. My mind inevitably drifted to the blueprints I¡¯d copied from the charger and bots.


    At first, I hadn¡¯t been super serious about the idea of making sentry guns I could carry around. Now though? It really wasn¡¯t that complicated. Take the robotic attendants here for example. They had a lot of extra moving parts since they could walk around on their own, but the basics for their guns and targeting arrays really weren¡¯t all that complex.


    The most difficult part would be the software for the sentries. I could probably buy a targeting algorithm from a Night Market though. The rest of the hardware I either had, could find the scrap to make, or could print with the SITCH. I could even incorporate plastic for the most part to keep the sentry lightweight and portable.


    It also didn¡¯t have to be a machine gun turret either. I could just as easily make it as small and compact as a pistol. And there were some tiny pistols out there. Sure, their power would be lacking greatly. A dozen micro sentry turrets setup would sure as hell ruin an attacker''s day though.


    While my mind was on it, and I was surrounded by enemies, I got to thinking a bit more about my style of fighting. My biggest issue with fighting was obvious¡ªgetting shot at. I hated it. Everyone in their right mind hated it. Nothing was worse than being on death¡¯s edge.


    If I went to a trick, trap, and ambush type combat style though, I could leave it all up to my traps and live happily and freely away from the fighting. Let my gear do it all. I had Tech at a high level for a reason, after all. And some traps really weren¡¯t that complicated. Hell, I could whip them up almost anywhere with almost anything by this point.


    I¡¯d done that type of fighting before. And it worked flawlessly. Well- almost flawlessly. I had the Wendigo kill in mind. Sure, I had some help at the end there with that abyssal creature at the depths of that horrifying underground lake, but tricking the beast had been incredibly satisfying.


    I should prepare more than just simple turrets though just in case¡­ I could do fire bombs tied to a piece of string quite easily¡­ or maybe some kind of proximity explosive? Or maybe I should look into getting some charms and talismans when I get back to the city? I was far less iffy on magic than I used to be. Shen Kang Keiji had plenty for me to peruse. S§×arch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I stayed trapped in the wardrobe for nearly an hour as I waited for my Blinder¡¯s sensors to drop below acceptable levels. It was rather boring, but it needed to be done. Once I felt safe enough, I slunk out of the piece of furniture.


    The bots were still on patrol as I headed for the stairs. I did take the time to pass by one of the turrets hanging from a low point in the roof and get my first look at it. They were a fairly simple design all things considered. Not nearly as good as modern stuff in terms of range, firepower, and detection.


    The targeting arrays in the thing were terrible too. Probably only had enough range to shoot the area directly below them. If the Crimson Company kept their eyes peeled, pushing through should be easy. Especially with most, if not all, of the bots disabled. Speaking of, once I found that technical blueprint, I should move around and disable the rest of the charging ports just to be safe.


    I worked my way down the stairs, filling a chill in the air unrelated to Cold-Blooded as I descended into the depths. The lights flickered ahead, casting deep shadows as if to hide some dark horror. Not ominous in the slightest.


    I stalked down the stairs, stumbling across a massive cubicle farm. Not the meeting room I was expecting, though I guess it made sense. Don¡¯t know what kind of operation they were running that required a cubicle farm and separate offices, but there was no denying Acumen Industrial liked to do things big.


    The cubicle farm was quite eerie. Ages-old terminals lay still on, their flickering screens shining dimly onto the roof. Combined with a dark haze that smothered the space, the atmosphere felt extraordinarily heavy.


    There was a constant whooshing of air down here too, almost as if the air conditioner was broken. Some kind of liquid trickled in the distance, ruining the otherwise silent chamber. I took a step forward, pausing before a failed bot. The metal chassis was lying twisted and broken. Its limbs were missing, and its head was barely attached by chords.


    I nudged it with my foot, shifting the robot around. Some kind of abyssal black liquid covered the bot¡¯s neck and waist. I flicked on the Gone module of my cyber eye for once, analyzing the substance. An error popped into my HUD. It wasn¡¯t organic. What was it then? I tapped it with my foot. Not acidic. Or at least, not too acidic.


    My head snapped up as something rustled around deeper in the cubicle farm. I raised my rifle just in case as I stared out at the dark haze. It was bad enough that I couldn¡¯t see more than a couple cubicles in front of me but with something out there in it? Before doing anything, I placed a Scouter-Listener combo on a nearby shelf and turned them on.


    I slowly stalked forward, anxious about the imminent darkness. I felt a drop of dread-induced sweat drip down my spine even through Cold-Blooded. Can¡¯t even imagine the overwhelming fear that must be radiating out of this place to accomplish such a thing. It made me hesitant to move, though Insight remained silent outside of the occasional gaze.


    I  to get into the Archives. My lungs filled with air as I took a deep breath. What to do¡­ Hmm¡­ Push on for now.  I passed the first couple cubicles as a sound resonated from deep within the fog. A ¡®dum dum¡¯, constantly repeating. The slow heartbeat grew louder as I took a step further.


    My hands shook slightly as I walked past a few more cubicles, the sound amping in my ears. My back broke out into a cold sweat entirely, overpowering Cold-Blooded with intense emotion. Nice to know overwhelming emotion could break Cold-Blooded¡¯s effects easily, but now really wasn¡¯t the time. At least my rationale remained, even if my body reacted strongly.


    Something slithered around behind me, knocking into the cubicles before vanishing into the dark haze. I stood at a cross intersection between rows of cubicles, darkness on all sides. A chill went down my spine. It could be anywhere. Whatever was.


    My heart hammered in my chest, matching the tempo set by the obnoxiously loud heartbeat in the distance. This wouldn¡¯t do. I stuck out my hand and called quietly, ¡°Corvid.¡±


    A thrum of Insight hit me as the Aether shifted just in front of me. The familiar shape of the avian popped out, flapping its wings a few times before settling on my outstretched hand. ¡°Caw?¡±


    The bird looked around the hazy underground with idle eyes as I spoke to him. ¡°Go check out the area for danger¡­ How bad is the haze for you?¡±


    ¡±Caw- caw caw.¡± He waved his wing about lightly.


    ¡°Nova.¡± At least it wasn¡¯t affecting him as badly. Might not even be an actual haze then? This could be some kind of illusion. ¡°Stay safe.¡±


    Corvid patted his chest. ¡°Caw!¡±


    As the crow sprite flew off, I ducked into one of the cubicles, taking sanctuary from my creepy surroundings. I checked on my Scouter and Listener¡¯s feeds, finding them blocked. Some kind of single jammer¡­ damn it. Should I turn around? No. I heard something behind me. Better I just wait for Corvid to return before making my move.


    I turned around, checking the terminal in the cubicle. It had a command prompt turned on as it ran some kind of program. Text constantly flitted across the screen, though it didn¡¯t look like any language I understood. It was made up of a series of symbols. Mostly different skulls and bones which was just¡­ . What were Acumen Industrial up to to have this as their operating system?


    Something heavy hit the ground far out in the haze as a crow cawed sharply several times. Sounds of a scuffle sounded off, ending just as quickly as they started. I ducked down, my heart slamming into my chest as I dropped into a crouch and raised my rifle.


    With my head below the desk, I spotted the cords connecting to the terminal. Or at least, what should¡¯ve been the cords. Instead, roots had grown up, snaking against the cubicle¡¯s back wall as they plugged into the terminal. A creeping realization hit me as I realized things weren¡¯t nearly as simple as they seemed.


    ¡°Corvid!¡± I whispered as I stood up and peeked out into the rows of cubicles. Nothing. I moved forward, checking another cubicle across the way only to find the same issue. Roots acted as the terminal¡¯s wires.


    Something was deeply, deeply wrong here. I moved back to my original cubicle, hiding in it as I pushed myself into the back corner. I kept an eye on both the entrance and the roots as I awaited the return of Corvid.

 Chapter 182

    Chapter 182I watched the terminal to pass the time. The more I watched the weird script pass by, the more I started to realize a pattern. The script abruptly changed for a moment, flashing to read ''HELP ME!'' before going back to the other weird one as if it had just been a fluke.


    Before I could think too deeply about it, I heard a noise. The flapping of wings came from beyond the haze along with the heavy sound of something being dragged across the ground. My grip on my rifle tightened as I took full advantage of Dexterity to boost my reaction speeds.


    A shadow appeared against the haze, quickly revealing Corvid as he flew towards me. Gripped tightly in his claws was something long with a bulbous head. It looked like a snake. ¡°Caw!¡±


    Corvid dropped the thing at the entrance to the cubicle. It was indeed a snake, though it looked¡­ . The creature was made of wood. It was as though a tree branch dropped off of a tree and came to life. The head was entirely crushed, leaking a familiar black substance that I saw on the bot at the entrance to the sub-level.


    Corvid triumphantly perched on the divider wall between cubicles, holding his head high. ¡°Caw!¡±


    ¡±Good job.¡± I praised the bird. I poked forward toward the wooden snake thing with the barrel of my rifle, nudging it around. More of that black¡­ sap? Was it sap? Sap seemed like the right word for it. But it wasn¡¯t biological? Hmm¡­ Anyway, more of the black sap leaked out of the creature as I moved it around.


    Although the thing was dead, it wasn¡¯t the cause of the haze or the fear-inducing aura. I could still feel horror in the back of my head, though its effects had been re-suppressed somewhat by Cold-Blooded. The heartbeat also continued to beat in the distance, eerily echoing in the large camber.


    ¡°Did you find the source of the heartbeat?¡± I looked up to my avian companion.


    His feathered head nodded sharply. A wing popped up pointing towards the offices. It wasn¡¯t exactly where I was headed¡­ but well, I didn¡¯t want to keep walking around in this fearful haze. I¡¯ll go check it out. See if I can¡¯t fix or kill whatever is causing it.


    Before that though¡­ ¡°How dangerous is it?¡±


    Corvid tilted his head in thought for several long moments. Eventually, he pointed towards the wood snake and spread his wings. ¡°Caaaawwww.¡±


    ¡±Lots of snakes, eh?¡± I looked down at the thing. Then I fired a shot into it, instantly shattering the bark as the corpse exploded into splinters and splattered sap. At least they weren¡¯t bulletproof.


    I gave up my stealth advantage with the fired shot, but it wouldn¡¯t have lasted much longer anyway since Corvid already killed one of the snakes. Speaking of, I offered my hand to him. ¡°You combat capable?¡±


    The avian flapped over, landing on my hand as I stroked his feathers. He shrugged slightly. ¡°Caw.¡±


    Better than nothing I guess. ¡°Stick around with me and watch my back, okay?¡±


    He tapped his chest several times with his wing. ¡°Ca- caw-caw!¡±


    Before heading onward, I set up a few simple traps around the corpse. There was a high chance something would come to investigate the noise. It was a perfect opportunity for a trap to thin the numbers


    Since I was dealing with snakes, I didn¡¯t do anything too crazy. I set up several nooses made of rope, which would pull whatever stepped onto them into the air and suspend them. I also set up one of my precious grenades to explode on a tripwire. Hopefully, the explosion would draw even more snakes over.


    With that settled, I hefted my rifle once more and stalked forward toward the abominable haze. Shortly after, I heard several shapes slithering in the darkness. At least four, but probably closer to seven. All seemed to be coming from the offices.


    I ducked into a cubicle, activating the rest of my stealth Perks I¡¯d left inactive earlier. Since I¡¯d been against robots that couldn¡¯t see me, I hadn¡¯t seen a point for Stalk and Lethargic Presence. I wasn¡¯t sure if they¡¯d affect the wood creatures, though I activated them just in case.


    A minute later, as the slithering grew louder, one of the snake creatures flicked past the cubicle¡¯s entry. The thing sped by without even a glance toward me, looking far more intimidating than the dead one had. Still, I could take them. Probably.


    I carefully edged forward, dodging a few patrolling snakes. Now that I knew what to look for, I recognized the signs of their passage. Interestingly, they looked as though they were guarding something with the patrols and the investigation group. Was it their nest?


    Just as the heartbeat started to override every bit of noise thanks to my proximity, an explosion went off in the distance. The haze behind me momentarily lit up as my grenade went off, hopefully shredding the group of wood snakes that went to investigate.


    A great many hisses rose into the air. Thunder sounded in the air as something heavy moved across the floor. A flash of Insight hit me, feeling like chills wrapped around my entire body followed shortly by hundreds of bites and ice spreading through my veins. I immediately used Burst Step, ducking into one of the cubicles as I aimed my rifle toward the entrance.


    A serpentine tide flowed through the recently vacated space as dozens of snakes slithered through like a flood. The fear once more overpowered Cold-Blooded as I stared at the tide of snakes. If I was caught in that¡­ my finger tightened on the trigger, though sheer force of will kept me from giving my position away and firing.


    Holding my fire proved to be a wise decision. Just as quickly as the flow of serpents came, it went. The thunderous slithering roved onward toward the explosion site. The cacophony of snakes moved to combat their enemy. Or at least, where they thought their enemy was.


    It was good for me regardless. Hopefully, that¡¯d be the vast majority of the wood snakes guarding this place. With them gone, getting into the actual nest, where the haze and heartbeat seemed to emanate from, would be much easier. I set up another explosive trip in the aisle before slinking forward once more.


    Up ahead, the rows of cubicles ended. Wide open space obfuscated by the haze popped up. Along with the space came roots deeply entangled into the ground. They were broken here and there, almost as if something kept the roots from branching towards the cubicle farm.


    Bones lay scattered all over the place. Great mounds of white lay up against the walls, with loose ones hidden amongst the roots. There were so many of them. Human, from the looks of things. Probably all the workers, if I had to guess. No one got out of this horrible place alive.


    The overpowering heartbeats were so much louder here. I could feel the powerful thrums with every part of my body as I edged forward to the source.


    And then I spotted it through the haze. I stood before a grim altar that the roots emanated from. It was a grotesque thing, one that made bile rise into the back of my throat kust from looking at it.


    Its base was that of a tree, with the roots surging up to the trunk. The trunk narrowed significantly, rising up to form ribs. Rotting skin wrapped around the wooden ribs as the tree turned into a human form just above where a person¡¯s waist would be.


    The skin covering the- the person¡¯s organs had rotted off, revealing the internals. The organs were held in place by small branches and vines, wrapping around them as they held up the black organs. Organs that still looked like they were working, suspending the creature in a state of perpetual agony.


    The half-tree person¡¯s heart still impossibly beat in their chest, visible past the rotted skin. The thunderous heartbeat I¡¯d been hearing ever since entering this place beat in time with that disturbing dark heart in their chest.


    All around the figure sat fragments of clothes. They looked almost as if the clothes had burst off the person, scattering all around. I spotted a wallet and ID card mixed into the fragments and roots. Seeing the ID and clothes further wedged into my mind the horror of the situation. This had been a person at one point.


    The abomination didn¡¯t just end there though. Just above the person¡¯s mouth, the rest of the head was hidden by the thick coils of a massive snake. The coils seemed to merge into the person¡¯s body as the snake wrapped tightly around the person¡¯s head. From the wooden scales of the large snake, a black substance leaked out similar to the sap. The oozing substance turned into a black haze before it could even hit the ground. Sear?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The massive snake¡¯s body didn¡¯t seem to be a part of the original tree figure as much as it seemed to be parasitizing off of it. It was like a leech that settled into a host. Probably the mother of all the rest of the wood snakes, if I had to guess based on the size difference. Maybe the brood-mother? If not, then it was at least important to their nest.


    The snake, as if sensing my presence, lifted up from its tight-wrapped coils as its tongue flicked out. Dark eyes peered out, scanning the surroundings as I ducked into the shadows of the cubicle farm. It looked right past me, carefully watching its surroundings. It hissed loudly as its coils tightened, causing the disgusting heart to visibly beat faster.


    From the mouth of the parasitized person came a soft cry of pain. ¡°Kill¡­ me¡­ kill me¡­ please.. just¡­ kill¡­ me.¡±


    A root rose up off the ground, seemingly aiming for the heart of the person. Just before it could execute the trapped soul, the massive snake on top lunged down and tore it into shreds easily. It was stuck attached to the person''s head, but it would be a major threat if I approached.


    I let out a breath I hadn¡¯t realized I¡¯d been holding as I looked at the abomination. The base of the horrible altar was covered in thousands of torn branches. A chill went down my spine. They must¡¯ve been here for decades, trapped and tortured like this; their body slowly rotting from the inside out as the snake used them like a nest.


    The big snake hissed, flicking its head to look at a mound of bones. A group of smaller snakes slithered out at the command of the larger one. The brood-mother seemed to be giving out orders as the smaller ones split off to patrol more of the space.


    What to do¡­ what to do¡­ I needed to kill the snake, at least. It¡¯d take care of the haze and make it easier for the Crimson Company to come down here. Without a central intelligence instructing the wood snakes, they wouldn¡¯t be much of a threat.


    As for the person¡­ they were beyond saving. Even if I safely managed to extract the snake from their body, could they even be considered in a state of living? If anything, this would be a mercy killing.


    An explosion came from behind me as my hand tightened on the rifle. Something tripped the other tripwire Already, I could hear the distant slithering of the waves of snakes combing back to investigate. It was now or never. I raised my rifle and shot off a burst toward the black heart.


    The snake reacted to my shots, using its own body to block the fire. My bullets bounced off the larger snake, though not without doing some damage to it. I made a motion to Corvid and moved around, firing shots to distract the snake.


    The snake continued to body block, shifting to provide the heart maximum coverage from my fire. With its malevolent gaze on me, Corvid took the opportunity to fly towards the horrible abomination and strike at its heart. The snake batted Corvid away- or at least attempted to. The avian easily dodged, flapping back to me. It snatched a snake that''d just been about to ambush me as I pulled one of my last grenades out.


    Throwing Weapon Master showed its worth as I perfectly threw the grenade at an arc upward. It looked as though the snake would move to block it, so I quickly fired upon the grotesque altar of agony with my rifle. It didn''t seem particularly smart as it decided to ignore the grenade in favor of my bullets. It moved, opting to block the bullets instead, giving my grenade the perfect gap to fall right into place.


    The grenade exploded at the base of the trunk, fire erupting as it sent shrapnel blitzing into the rotten organs of the person. The dark heart burst, ending the cacophony of heartbeats that''d been playing since I first stepped into this space.


    Sound returned to my surroundings. Or rather lack of sound. The ever-present fear lifted as a sigh of relief escaped the figure¡¯s broken mouth. It slumped down, dropping to the ground as the roots all over the place rapidly withered.


    The massive snake let out a screech as its body hit the ground, incoiling from the person''s head. It stretched out, seemingly trying to escape the mass of withering life. The coils gave way to a long body as it slithered away.


    With the coils gone, I spotted the snake¡¯s tail deeply embedded into what had once been the person¡¯s eyes. The withering effect slowly spread to the tail as the snake tried to jerk free of the abomination it¡¯d been living off of. Only, the parasitic link it forged couldn¡¯t be broken so easily.


    It couldn¡¯t break free as its body withered into a husk of what it once was. Its eyes blazed with malice as it switched direction, aiming for me. The massive snake lunged at me-


    Only to snap back as I used Burst Step to back just out of range. It stared at me in hatred as the withering slowly spread up its body. It went still, dying without its host to sustain it. In the distance, the mad rush of serpentine bodies racing towards me stopped entirely. I peeked down a row of cubicles, spotting one of the wood snakes. Its body lay withered entirely as if its life force was linked to the mother.


    The haze lifted slightly as every screen in the cubicle farm shut off. Absolute silence reigned in the large space. I moved into one of the cubicles, dropping onto a chair as I took a few moments to just breathe and think through the horror of my experience.


    Corvid dropped onto my lap, nuzzling into my stomach. I idly petted him as I shut off Cold-Blooded. Without the nullifying effects of the Perk, my stomach rumbled. I had a mere second before puke rushed up my throat.


    For nearly an hour I tried to calm myself down. The constant fear going away helped, but every part of me felt high-strung and yet drained at the same time. I looked towards the fallen altar of agony, making a quick decision as I headed back up towards the exit. I needed a break... and it wouldn''t hurt to restock in case there''s something else down here.

 Chapter 183

    Chapter 183The next morning, I infiltrated back into the offices. On the way back in, I noticed quite a few bots kneeled over. Sabotaging the charging ports has already had a strong effect. Once I found the building''s schematic and got the rest of the charging ports, the bots wouldn¡¯t even be an issue.


    The haze had reduced noticeably, returning visibility to a moderate level. With the return of visibility, the turrets along the ceiling were back up and active. I paused momentarily below a cubicle¡¯s desk to cool down my Blinder, but otherwise, the turrets didn¡¯t pose much of a threat.


    The haze emitted from the snake beast was probably to protect its offspring¡­ or were they clones? What do I even call the lesser snakes that had a life force linked to the parasitic snake?


    I returned to the altar of agony, pausing momentarily as I resettled my stomach. Then, steeling myself, I approached the grotesque corpse of the abomination. I reached down, careful not to touch anything too rotten, and grabbed the ID buried in overlapping roots.


    It belonged to Robert O¡¯Neil, a mid-level manager of Acumen Industrial¡¯s Laurus Theatre. His broad smile on the ID was at complete odds with the heavily tortured state I¡¯d found him in. Poor guy¡­


    I walked around the cubicle farm, investigating the place as I took a deeper look into everything in hopes of answering some questions I had. For instance, what happened to everyone down here? The timelines didn¡¯t quite match up in my head.


    If the snake abomination killed everyone, then how did it appear down here during the lockdown and not die to the rampaging security? But if it was the rampaging security that murdered everyone, then how did only Robert survive to become the horrifying monster he did?


    I walked along the walls until I reached a place less buried in roots and debris. I stopped by the first scattered bones I saw and crouched down to check it out. I wasn¡¯t super talented in forensic analysis or anything, but I felt confident enough in my skills to pick out how they died. Especially when it was obvious.


    After pausing by several old corpses, I came to a conclusion that left more questions than answers. Everyone here died to the turrets. Of course, just looking at the bones didn¡¯t tell me that. Outside of the marks on a few bones, it was hard to tell what exactly I was looking for. I could tell they were bullet wounds, but not the exact order of events based on other features of the injuries.


    Instead, what gave it away was ole reliable discarded shells. Every turret in the place had dozens of shells underneath them, no doubt ejected as they mowed down the defenseless workers.


    But then how did Robert survive the tragedy to become such a monster? Why wasn¡¯t he fired upon? Unless¡­ maybe the Laurus Theatre tragedy wasn¡¯t caused by the solar storms wreaking havoc on the security system¡¯s logic as I thought. Maybe Robert¡¯s pass was one of the few ones that the security recognized, so it didn¡¯t fire upon him? Maybe it was... espionage.


    Already I could see such an event happening. Even now, rival corporations do horrible things to each other. Corporate espionage is just the tip of the iceberg, especially when it''s


    easy to hire an assassin, merc squad, or release some monstrous entity in their rival¡¯s base.


    Back then though? During the Second Corporate War? Shit like this happened all the time. Why commit a massive attack force when you could just kill an entire building¡¯s worth of corporate employees  dropping said corporation''s reputation into the gutter? Was this a fabricated tragedy?


    It still could just be an unfortunate circumstance that led to Robert¡¯s situation. He wasn¡¯t necessarily a scumbag who killed hundreds by hacking the security systems of this place¡­ there was a way to find out if his badge actually was safe though. And I¡¯d get a little more insurance if it did. S§×ar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I headed back to the exit, dodging patrolling bots as I quickly made my way back to the surface. Just like yesterday, I only hit a snag when I had to squeeze past the dozen bots protecting the door. That number had dropped down to nine though after three lost power. It was way easier to use the shutdown ones as a springboard to fling myself up and over the group.


    As soon as I left the theatre, I disabled all my gear and approached the squad. ¡°I¡¯m back.¡±


    ¡±Glad to see you¡¯re still safe and sound¡­ that was rather quick today though.¡± Hampton committed as he nodded to the theatre.


    ¡±I found something.¡± I tossed the ID card over to him. ¡°Found this on a¡­  down there.¡±


    Hampton looked it over with his eyebrows knit together. ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡±This one was¡­ . The security left him alone.¡± I could see a look of understanding pass over Hampton. ¡°I want to test it. The bots around the entrance are using relatively low-caliber rounds. Shouldn¡¯t be an issue for subdermal armor just in case.¡±


    Renold spoke up from the side. ¡°So you want one of us to test this badge and see if it still works?¡±


    ¡±Chek. If it doesn¡¯t, it doesn¡¯t. I¡¯m through most of the security anyway. If it does, it could open some avenues for me.¡± I shrugged. ¡°If it doesn¡¯t work, you¡¯ll be shot at immediately.¡±


    Lia jumped up and cheerfully walked over to snatch the pass. ¡±I¡¯ll go-¡°


    Renold grabbed her by the back of her collar. ¡°You don¡¯t have subdermal armor, gonk.¡±


    Lia pouted. ¡°But if it works that won¡¯t be an issue?¡±


    ¡±What if it only works for half the security and the other half eviscerates you while you''re unprepared? Use your brain for once.¡± Renold tapped the back of her head.


    I ignored the two as I watched Hampton¡¯s reaction. His micro-expressions revealed a certain look of concern. Hmm¡­ not about the ID badge though. His eyes constantly shifted to the city. Hmm¡­ probably worried about leaving three people up here to defend.


    ¡±We should call for reinforcements if someone is coming down with me.¡± I offered, cutting off the bickering match between our driver and Magus. ¡°Three people won¡¯t be enough to hold out in case of an ambush.¡±


    Hampton nodded his head. ¡°I think Red-One is back at camp. Yonrow, go radio them.¡±


    The ever-taciturn Yonrow, who had been entirely quiet up to this point, still didn¡¯t speak. He simply got off the turret¡¯s controls in the Prowler and got to work calling back to the camp.


    Hampton still looked worried about something, though it was even harder to pick out what it was. In fact, it wasn¡¯t even the micro-expressions that gave off his worry as much as his vibe. I¡¯d been around him extensively for almost¡­ Wow, it''s been almost half a month since we came out here¡­ anyway, I¡¯d been around him enough to notice.


    The man nodded his head subtly to himself and then tossed the badge to Renold. ¡°You go in. Yonrow needs to stay out here to man the turret. Lia for obvious reasons. And I¡¯ll coordinate with the other squad leader.¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± The guy moved over to me with his HMG in hand. ¡°Looks like it''s just me and you, Zuku.¡±


    ¡±Yep.¡± I looked the man over for a moment before turning toward the theatre. I glanced over my shoulder to Sergeant Hampton. ¡°We should be done either today or tomorrow with any luck.¡±


    ¡±Nova. Captain will be pleased to hear it¡­¡± Hampton looked up at the sky as a faint cloud covered the sun. ¡°There¡¯s been some unsettling movements in New Tress City lately. Captain thinks two more factions are moving in. The sooner we¡¯re out, the better.¡±


    ¡±Stay safe! Man, I can¡¯t wait to get in there! It¡¯s so boring out here¡­¡± Lia sighed, twirling her foot in the sand. The giant woman looked super let down.


    Hampton just sighed deeply and muttered, ¡°¡±


    ¡°Chek.¡± The sooner, the better. I nudged Renold with my elbow and led the way down. Just before we got into view of the bots, I paused and activated my gear. ¡°Uh- let me go first. I don¡¯t want to be caught in the crossfire.¡±


    ¡±You don¡¯t have faith in the badge?¡± Renold stared at me. ¡°That¡¯s reassuring.¡±


    ¡±No- no. I do. It¡¯s just, uh, the security is running on ancient protocols. No telling how it¡¯ll react¡­¡± In theory, it should be fine. The solar storm back then had a way of turning ¡®in theory¡¯ on its head though. The advent of Rogue AI was just the tip of the spear caused by the massive storm.


    And I wasn¡¯t a hundred percent sure it¡¯d work in the first place. This was more of a ''try because why not'' rather than a ''try because it¡¯ll work''. It¡¯s not like Renold was in much danger anyway. His subdermal armor would be more than enough against the bots, though I wasn¡¯t so sure about the turrets. The shells gathered under each one looked to be quite high caliber. Still, the bots would see him long before the turrets.


    ¡°Nova. Just nova.¡± Renold tightened the straps on his body armor, a frown working onto his face as he fixed his helmet. He muttered something, though it was too quiet for me to make out what.


    I stalked forward into the theatre, easily sneaking past the blinded robots. Once I was sure I was safe, I tossed a loose pebble out the doorway toward Renold. He got the message and walked down slowly, the ID badge outstretched in one hand while the other tightly gripped his rifle.


    There were a few tense moments as the bots registered his presence and raised their rifle arms. Then all but one of them backed off, dropping back into a low guard.


    The one stepped forward, loose screws bouncing off something inside of its metallic frame. ¡°Mr. O¡¯Neil¡­ Zeta Lockdown initiated for¡­. ERROR¡­ days. Please vacate the premises.¡±


    Renold paused looking past the bots toward me hiding in a shadow. He raised a brow, a silent question in his expression. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯ve returned¡­ to¡­ double check the Lockdown protocol¡­¡±


    The bot''s head tilted in an attempt to imitate a human expression. With its synth skin slopping off and several servos in its neck broken, it twisted too far into a horrifying visage. ¡°Analyzing¡­ one other operator in premises¡­ analyzing¡­ other operator has been idle for ERROR days¡­ ERROR¡­ Low rank¡­¡±


    Another of the bots stepped forward. ¡°Solution: Previous executive manager has been tardy for¡­ ERROR days. Fired. Congratulations Mr. O¡¯Neil. You¡¯ve been¡­ promoted¡­ to executive manager of the¡­ Laurus Theatre. Permissions granted.¡±


    I flashed a thumbs-up at him. This was going better than expected. I only half believed it would work based on background evidence around the original Robert O¡¯Neil. That¡¯s why I was over here, out of the line of fire.


    Renold nodded back to me before focusing on the bots again. ¡°Thank you for the promotion¡­ may I check the Zeta Lockdown protocols now?¡±


    ¡±Affirmative. Do you¡­ require an escort?¡± The bot asked.


    ¡±Uh-¡° I rapidly shook my head to him, crossing my arms into an X. ¡°No. I¡¯ll need to walk the premises unguided¡­ you understand?¡±


    The lead bot seemed as though it was about to say something, though it froze for a moment before powerlessly flopping to the floor. Out of power. The mainframe swapped to a different bot to use as its spokesperson. ¡°Affirmative. Request: Bring Acumen Industrial mechanics¡­ security failing in several quadrants¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡± He looked down at the sea of bones all around him, his expression dipping for a moment before walking for a gap between the bots. ¡°Continue to hold here.¡±


    ¡±Affirmative.¡± The group of bots returned to their original positions as Renold joined me. Went off without a hitch. Nova. Not that I was worried or anything.


    He looked right at me, though I shook my head and approached close, whispering into his ear. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me. Pretend you can¡¯t see me at all. They can''t see me, though it might raise the mainframe¡¯s suspicions if you look at and talk to me. For the most part, as long as I¡¯m near you while speaking, it should think my voice is coming across the comms.¡±


    Renold nodded his head. ¡°Lead the way then.¡±


    I eyed the man for a few moments before taking the lead back toward backstage and the entrance to the sub-level. I¡¯d only scouted out the cubicle farm. There were still four more spots to check for the location of the command center. First stop though, the Archives.

 Chapter 184

    Chapter 184¡±What happened here?¡± Renold asked as poked at a mound of wooden snakes. The pile shifted, falling into a disgusting mess of dead serpents.


    ¡°Oh, uh- there was a creepy monster down that way.¡± I pointed down the hall towards the offices. ¡°It''s been taken care of.¡±


    Renold chuckled to himself, kicking aside one of the wood snakes as he withdrew a cigarette and lit it up with the lighter built into his hand. ¡°Should¡¯ve guessed. Plant monsters are this place¡¯s bread and butter.¡±


    ¡°Chek¡­ should¡¯ve brought herbicide.¡± Seriously, I could¡¯ve made everything way easier on myself if I dumped some into the canteen. Not that it would matter much, I think. Doubt simple herbicides would work on magic plants. Probably had some bullshit chemical resistance¡­ still, I should try some out when I get back to the city.


    Renold took a long drag of the cigarette. ¡°No kidding. There was a guy who applied for the Crimson Company a while back. He was a very skilled Adept in terms of bio-sculpting and life manipulation. He would shine here.¡±


    ¡±Take it you didn¡¯t hire him then?¡± I asked as I started leading the way once more under the watchful eyes of turrets. I kept my voice low.


    ¡±Nah. Ideological differences. He wanted ¡®experimental materials¡¯ from creatures we fought. Such a shame Adepts always end up like that¡­ Too much of a hassle.¡± Renold shrugged. ¡°Why risk our lives capturing something when we could easily bombard it from afar?¡±


    Torren had seemed like the experimental type in the short time I knew him. Then again, that was just from what I¡¯d seen. It made sense that Adepts were into experimentation though considering they had to make and design their own magic. ¡°What about that fire Adept in the APC?¡±


    ¡±Oh, him? He¡¯s alright. Got a weird obsession with creating flame art though. You should ask to see his collection. Some of his stuff is- well- fire.¡± Renold took another puff of his cigarette. The stench was starting to get to me as I discreetly put on my mask and tightened my hood.


    Before long, we arrived at the door to the Archives. It was a typical setup for such a place. A small entry area with a desk and several terminals set up front with rows and rows of shelves stretching back behind them. It would take forever to search each shelf one by one for what I wanted.


    But before all of that, a see-through door blocked our way. ¡°Swipe your badge.¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± Renold replied.


    We easily got access to the Archives using Renold¡¯s executive manager status. His card was used once again to log onto the terminals. The terminals themselves were a bit annoying since a rat had chewed through the wires, though I solved that issue by rigging my gauntlet into it.


    From there, it was as easy as bypassing the restrictions with Renold¡¯s authority and hunting down the location of the blueprint. I wrote down its location as I read it aloud. ¡°Row 19, fifth shelf back. Marked M-20 to N-3.¡±


    I handed over the piece of paper to Renold. He took it, nodding to me. ¡°I got it.¡±


    While he fetched the blueprint, I looked through the Archives for anything else of note. I noticed quite a few important files were locked in the Back Archives somewhere. Maybe they had another room?


    I glanced around, leaving the terminal behind to get a better look at the place. On the back wall, a hallway stretched backward. A thick security door blocked it. Sensors, thermals, and sentry turrets covered the approaching hallway. Four bots, these ones different from the attendant types I¡¯d seen so far, flanked the door with charging ports close at hand.


    They were armed and dangerous, looking far closer to old military robots than anything. Getting past them in a fight would be difficult. Just from here, I could see rocket pods and heavy guns. Whatever was back there, Acumen Industrial was more than willing to shred the entire Archive room just to keep it safe¡­ made me want to break into it even more.


    Like I¡¯m always saying, the best security is no one knowing it''s there. With a strong and overwhelming security system like what they had set up back there, it made those capable of breaking in all the more curious. Getting past that lot would be easy outside of a frontal attack. Especially considering Renold¡¯s executive manager status.


    But there was time for that later. For now? Getting the rest of the Crimson Company in here. Renold returned with several tubes in his arms. The HMG was strung over his back as if the guy wasn¡¯t worried about his safety in the slightest.  sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Then again, he probably wasn¡¯t. The security systems would probably shred anyone or anything approaching him considering his status as the sole executive manager of the Laurus Theatre. Renold was probably the safest person in the building.


    He pulled a large blueprint out of one of the tubes, unrolling it across the desk. Finally, after all this time, I got my hands on the technical blueprints. I scanned the thing, instantly memorizing it with Eidetic Schematic. I took a while though, intentionally making the process seem drawn out and more normal.


    Renold pulled out more and more blueprints of the building, giving me a broader scope of the entire technical side of the Laurus Theatre. I had everything I needed just right here to entirely shut down the lockdown, one way or another.


    I glanced over the blueprints, looking for the command room. I found it near the roof. It sat up above the entire theatre, having a bird''s eye view over everything. Interestingly, the turrets all seemed to be hardwired up to massive terminal banks inside the command room. They didn¡¯t run independently like modern turrets.


    I tracked through the technical side of the schematics, taking note of any other oddities or differences between past and modern stuff. I was having a bit of a hard time though. Something about the schematics just felt wrong. They didn¡¯t match up with one another.


    It took nearly ten minutes before I realized what the issue was. The building had way higher power draw on the city¡¯s grid than it should¡¯ve. It was a big building, but the kind of power the different blueprints indicated was double what it should need.


    I followed the infrastructure of the facility, noticing signs of a subterranean complex underneath the Laurus Theatre. They were common enough I was becoming quite skilled at spotting them. The entrance was¡­ well, it could be anywhere. My first suspicion was the Back Archives thanks to how heavy the security there was, but they may just have important documents back there.


    ¡°So? Found what we¡¯re looking for?¡± Renold asked as he started to put away the blueprints.


    ¡°Chek. We need to go up.¡± I checked the sensors for my Blinder. It was approaching that time again. ¡°I need to find a safe spot to hide for about an hour.¡±


    ¡±Uh- I saw a bathroom back in the cubicle farm. Should be safe enough.¡± Renold offered.


    I nodded. ¡°Bring the blueprints with you. I¡¯ll look over them there.¡±


    Renold packed everything up as I left him behind. When I got back to Aythryn City, I needed to modify my Blinder and incorporate some kind of cooling into it.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    Our ascension through the theatre was a long and drawn-out process, stretching over several hours. I disabled every single charging port marked on the blueprints, completely knocking out the bots. They wouldn¡¯t be an issue after a couple of days.


    As for getting rid of the rest of the security? I was hopeful. Even if I couldn¡¯t disable it through the system¡¯s software, I could always ruin the hard link for the turrets. We¡¯d still have to deal with some of the lockdown protocols that way, but most of the danger would be gone.


    We passed by many grand booths and patrolling bots, ignoring almost everything. There¡¯d be time to loot later. And besides, I was better off waiting for the Crimson Company to do all the heavy lifting with the loot. I¡¯d get a portion of the total value anyway. Not that I was all that sure what would be worth looting in this place.


    And then we were there, at the top of one last staircase. A metal door blocked the way in, with several skeletons pressed up against it as if they desperately wanted to get in. Quite a few badges were mixed in with the rotting clothes and bare bones. Probably higher-ups locked out when everything went to shit.


    We waded through the bones, my approach entirely silent while Renold just casually stomped through the place, shattering dry bones underfoot.


    In small cubbies on either side of the door, two of the heavily armed combat bots stood at the ready. They lacked the rocket pods the ones guarding the Back Archives had. They lowered their weapons upon seeing Renold. ¡°Welcome¡­ executive manager.¡±


    ¡±Can you open the door?¡± Renold asked as he looked at the two combat bots.


    ¡±Negative. This unit''s... permissions are not¡­ high enough. Please present¡­ ID badge.¡± The bot motioned towards a scanner on the side of the door.


    Renold approached, careful not to take the badge off as he scanned the thing. The doors slid open, revealing yet another scene of slaughter. Two more combat droids stood at attention inside the command room, overlooking a mound of bones trying to escape through the metal door.


    I slunk up behind Renold and whispered in his ear. ¡°Try to get rid of the combat bots.¡±


    ¡±Hey, you two, go secure the perimeter. Don¡¯t disturb me while I review the lockdown.¡± Renold ordered, putting on a voice similar to Hampton¡¯s.


    The bots froze as they processed his commands. ¡°Error. Patrol area is¡­ limited.¡±


    ¡°Expand it then. What if the two outside aren¡¯t enough to stop an attacker? This place will be safer with all four of you out there.¡± Renold tried to apply to their logical side of the protocols.


    ¡±Affirmative¡­ call if any¡­ issues arise.¡± The two bots marched out of the command room. Renold quickly shut the doors on them.


    While all that was going on, I made my move for the turrets and cameras in the area. I covered them up with tape and a deck of cards, blocking any and all sensors. Once I was sure everything was disabled, I flicked off my Blinder for a moment.


    Nothing happened. Seeing as I wasn¡¯t immediately shot at, I was probably safe. With all the security taken care of, I immediately approached the terminals and got to work.


    The terminal booted right up, though I needed Renold¡¯s ID one more time for its permissions. I easily got access to the mainframe, looking through the programs and protocols. I took my time looking through everything all the commands I had access to with my current level of permissions.


    Unfortunately, shutting down the lockdown fully wasn¡¯t possible. I need CEO-level permissions to shut down a Zeta Lockdown. Obviously, I didn¡¯t have that. At best, we had executive manager permissions.


    Such a lockdown made me start to think though; what were they keeping here that required such high security? The potential underground structure must have something worth all the protections. I mentally noted it as I continued to fiddle through the programs.


    Eventually, I found a spot to whitelist people using Renold¡¯s permissions. In theory, I could add everyone in the Crimson Company to the whitelist, turning the security to work for us¡­ but there were so many things that could go wrong with that. It would be much, much safer to just disable it all.


    Still, with security working for us, it would seriously reduce the amount of work the Crimson Company would have on perimeter security. It¡¯d let us loot quicker with all hands on deck and get out of the city even faster. Speed was key. Things were going downhill in New Tress City.


    This decision¡­ well, it''s a good thing I¡¯m not the company captain, isn¡¯t it? I can shove the decision onto him. Either way, I¡¯d be mostly safe as long as I paid attention. ¡°Hey, Renold, can you get Captain Roger on the line? It''s very important.¡±

 Chapter 185

    Chapter 185¡°So what do you think?¡± I asked Captain Roger. I¡¯d already explained the situation to him.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Captain Roger¡¯s voice cut out for a few moments. ¡°What did you say the odds are of this working out?¡±


    ¡°High. At least seventy-five percent sure that everything will run okay. We can test it with just one person first though, just to be safe.¡± I looked through the terminal. ¡°I¡¯d just need a few days to get everything up and running- oh, wait. Do your people have feature scrubbers?¡±


    I was planning to add everyone¡¯s faces to the security system, but scrubbers would make that pointless. If I had one, others would probably have one too. They were a staple in the merc world, I think. It was another layer of protection and anonymity that few would pass on.


    ¡°Everyone has one. They¡¯re a requirement.¡±  There was a slight pause as if we lost connection for a moment. ¡°How much of a delay are we looking at?¡±


    Okay, wrench successfully thrown into my plans. How do I go about this then? I idly tapped on the side of my head as I stared down at the terminal. Renold probably had a feature scrubber too¡­ do I have to make ID badges for everyone?


    Ugh. I don¡¯t have the equipment, nor the time to make a bunch of ID badges. Hmm¡­ maybe we can scavenge this place for old ID badges and rewrite their permissions. It would be way easier that way. Between the offices and this room, I could get half the company in at least.


    I ran a rough calculation. By my estimate, there were about seventy or so people on this excursion. Could take a while to get everything set up, especially since I can¡¯t just add their faces to the system and be done with it all. ¡°No more than two days. Might be a bit quicker if I had some help. A few people searching for ID badges would be perfect. Otherwise, I can just kill the security entirely and let everyone in now.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ okay, go ahead with adding ID badges to the whitelist. I assume everyone will need to have their badges on at all times?¡± Captain Roger asked.


    ¡°Chek.¡± The security system was tracking Renold based on his badge, at least. I was about ninety percent sure if he took it off, he¡¯d get recognized as an intruder. There was a sea of bones to remind me what happened to intruders.


    The man sighed deeply. ¡°Right, I¡¯ll brief them¡­ On a different note, notice anything peculiar while you were in there?¡±


    ¡°Other than the fact this place is a mass grave?¡± Peculiar¡­ like the abomination down in the sublevels? Or peculiar like other signs of other groups being in here? Or was he looking for something in particular?


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Nothing much. Signs of a subterranean complex beneath the theatre, but I haven¡¯t started looking at it yet. Got some nasty security protecting what I suspect is the way in.¡± I would rather not face off against a bunch of murder-bots with rocket pods¡­ although, it would be a good opportunity to copy down a blueprint for a rocket. Never know when the know-how on how to make those beauties could come in handy. Would be a serious boost to my firepower regardless.


    ¡°Interesting.¡± Captain Roger¡¯s voice cut out as something interfered with the reception. ¡°...entioned there might be something like that, but she wasn¡¯t sure. Have you seen the Archives yet? They¡¯re our main goal. Supposedly, there are original manuscripts worth millions to the right people.¡±


    Worth millions? Did I hear that right? No wonder Athena wanted to hit this place. If there were just a few of those, it¡¯d easily pay off the cost of sending out the merc company out to New Tress City. It was a gamble though. This place had been abandoned for ages.


    Millions though¡­ just the thought sent a shiver down my spine. Oh how great it must be to see more than five digits in my bank account. I can¡¯t even  spending that much money on an old, musty manuscript. The rich and I lived in very,  different worlds.


    ¡°We saw them.¡± Renold joined the conversation as I hastily typed away on the terminal, looking through anything else I might be able to use.


    Unfortunately, my lack of Net skills held me back from doing anything too crazy. If we had a real Netrunner, they¡¯d probably be able to ping every ID badge in this place at least.


    Maybe I should look at hiring one when I get back to the city? I¡¯d need one for some of my future heists. It wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea to start establishing connections now. Hmm... too bad me and Net just weren''t meant to be.


    I looked up to see Renold lazily kicked back in a chair, his feat slung up onto a bank of data drives. He had a cigarette dangling from his mouth as he lazily stared up at the roof. Must be nice to just sit back and relax while I did all the hard work.


    Renold pulled the cigarette out and puffed foul smoke into the small room. ¡°They take up a rather large place underneath the theatre.¡±


    ¡°Nothing seemed too important in there," I added. "Might be something in the Back Archives though? Would explain why the security was so strong.¡±


    If they had a bunch of books worth millions, then it would make sense for all the security protecting it. Maybe the underground structure¡¯s entrance was somewhere else? Where though? Maybe a hidden shaft in one of the offices?


    ¡°Oh? Have you taken a crack at it yet?¡± Captain Roger asked.


    ¡°No, sir. Been busy trying to get you lot in here so we can loot and delta.¡± Though hearing about manuscripts worth millions made me slightly regret that I hadn¡¯t taken a crack at it yet. At least, while I was alone.


    Ah well, probably best I don¡¯t try to screw the Crimson Company over and pocket one such manuscript. Connections and all that. And if they found out, I¡¯d be entirely at their mercy out here. I¡¯d rather not toe that particular line. A million Rayn wasn¡¯t worth my life.


    And I didn''t have the connections to fence them. It was pure trouble if I klepped one for myself no matter how I looked at it. Not to mention the two of the fixers I interact with don''t seem to be the posh executive type.


    Athena was more militaristic than anything. Probably had contacts with corporate enforcers at best. As for Carone? I couldn''t quite put my finger on him. At first, I''d been impressed. The more I saw of the world though, the more I suspected he was a small fry.


    The comm''s connection once more dropped, leaving the comm lines crackling. ¡°... hit it hard? Or will it need your  touch?¡±


    ¡°Delicate. The bots there are armed with rockets. Unless someone in the company wants to go up against that in a tight space?¡± I know I wouldn¡¯t. I don¡¯t think subdermal armor would be much help against a direct impact either.


    The line once more filled with crackles. ¡°...know of¡­ have to go. Sandstorm coming¡­¡±


    ¡°Chek.¡± Ah, a sandstorm. Yep, that would make sense. Probably why Captain Roger cut out so much even though we were relatively close to each other. Was it a normal sandstorm though? Or something nefarious? I don''t think I could ever look at sandstorms the same way after that Dune Walker one.


    Red-Six and Red-One were probably out in the middle of it too. Poor suckers. I called out to Renold. ¡°Hey, check the piles of bones for badges. We might be able to get the guys outside in.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± Renold stood up from his seat, putting out the cigarette. ¡°Sandstorm, eh? Think it''s more Dune Walkers?¡±


    ¡±No way we¡¯re that unlucky, right? Twice in one trip is¡­ well, actually,  might be that unlucky.¡± Thinking back to my constant misfortune with the Crusade and astronomical probabilities, there was a chance. My luck has never been great.


    Renold easily found a few. We were in the command center, so anyone in here must¡¯ve had some level of authority back then. There were just enough badges for two and a half squads in here. It was quite easy to reintegrate them back into the system and whitelist their RFIDs.


    Once I was done with that, I flicked my Blinder back on and shut everything off. No way was I going to be the first person to test if the whitelisting actually worked. Especially considering the nearest bots were the combat ones just outside the door. I nodded to Renold and faded back out of the security¡¯s sight once more.


    We worked our way back down to the foyer and towards the door. Just before we could leave, one of the bots stopped us. ¡°Leaving already¡­ sir?¡±


    ¡±I¡¯m going out to fetch the mechanics. To fix this place up, you know.¡± Renold easily misled the bots.


    While whitelisting everyone, I¡¯d marked them as mechanics. It gave them plausibility to poke around where a mere mid-manager shouldn¡¯t. And with a mainframe as ancient as this one, plausibility was all we needed. If Laurus Theatre had a Daemon in their system, or maybe even a full rogue AI, it would be impossible for such a small misdirection to work.


    The bots backed out of the way, letting us pass towards the open entryway. Already, sand spilled in constantly as the sandstorm raged on. I double-checked my gear, making sure everything was secure and my mask was on, and then stepped out into the abandoned city¡¯s sands.


    Visibility was low. Not super low seeing as I could spot the Prowlers set up in a defensive position around the entrance, but low enough I couldn¡¯t see much past them. I also didn¡¯t see anyone outside the Prowlers. Must all be inside taking cover from the sand.


    Renold passed me as I flicked off my Blinder, heading for one of them. No idea how he could tell the difference between the two, but he somehow managed to pick out Red-Six¡¯s Prowler. He got in the driver''s seat.


    I followed in his tracks, moving over to my seat and getting into the car. Or, at least, attempting to. Lia lay sprawled out across the entire back seat, her long legs dangling off of Yonrow¡¯s back.


    ¡±Mmm- sorry. Give me a sec.¡± Lia sleepily called, attempting to shuffle around and get back into her own seat. It took a while. The Magus was damn tall, and it took a ton of effort to get folded back up just right. Being small had its perks.


    ¡±How¡¯d it go?¡± Hampton asked Renold. The two chatted as I waited to get into the vehicle.


    Once I was in, I offered one of the badges. ¡°These should let y¡¯all in. In theory. We need a brave volunteer to test them for the rest of the company first though.¡±


    ¡±I¡¯ll do it.¡± Yonrow, the ever-taciturn gunner, put down his sketchpad and grabbed one without hesitation.


    Hampton raised a question from the front. ¡°Do you want to just leave the Prowlers out here?¡±


    Although he framed it as an innocent question, his tone suggested something different. He was back in the teaching tone that he used the last time he thought a decision was poor.


    And I could see why. Leaving expensive Prowlers out to the mercy of the sandstorm and whatever monstrosities lurked in the city was a bad idea. I thought through the blueprint of the building briefly. Now that we had easy access, there was really no reason we should be restricted to this entrance on the far side from the HQ.


    ¡°You lot head back to base camp then. There are a couple doors connecting the parking garage to the theatre directly. I''ll try and get one open.¡± I shook some sand out of my hair. It was a futile effort, especially considering I was about to get back out of the Prowler.


    Renold passed his ID badge over to Hampton. ¡°Here, take this. I¡¯ll drive over. No way I''ll let one of you beasts wreck my baby in the sandstorm- at least, I hope that¡¯s okay?¡±


    The last question was to me. Probably remembered last minute that Captain Roger put me in charge. Ugh, this whole leadership thing was a waste of time. ¡°Chek. Hampton¡¯s with me then. We¡¯ll see the rest of you shortly.¡±


    I looked over to the entrance of the theatre, pausing before I got out. If I opened the door in the parking garage, then this would be just a weakness in our perimeter. ¡°Think you guys could blow up the sand around the entrance to hide it again?¡± S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Too bad I wasn¡¯t all that great with the fine adjustments of explosives, otherwise I¡¯d do it myself. My last foray into explosives, back at Cold Moon Solutions, was evidence enough of my lacking skill. What was supposed to be a small-scale explosion ended up taking the entire building with it.


    ¡±I¡¯ll do it.¡± Yonrow said. I got a weird sense of deja vu from the guy as set down his sketchpad once more. ¡°I¡¯ll blow it in five minutes. Get far away.¡±


    ¡±Check.¡± I looked around the Prowler, enjoying its relative safety before opening the door a crack. ¡°Then I¡¯ll see you guys in a bit.¡±

 Chapter 186

    Chapter 186I flicked on my Blinder just before entering the building. I also ran through a final check of all my sensors, ensuring everything was running smoothly. So far. at least, nothing had broken.


    ¡±Zuku?¡± Hampton called, seemingly staring right through me. ¡°Where are you?¡±


    I waved a hand at him. ¡°Right here?¡±


    He jumped slightly, staring right through me still. ¡°Where? Did Lia cast some kind of invisibility magic? I thought she was having issues with the sprites?¡±


    ¡±What are you-¡° Oh. I stared at his eyes. His chrome eyes. I then flicked off my Blinder. ¡°Can you see me now?¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± A frown crossed his face. ¡°I wasn¡¯t aware  knew magic.¡±


    ¡±Ugh- I don¡¯t. It¡¯s just a piece of my tech. Look, you go on ahead. I¡¯ll follow right behind you.¡± I turned my Blinder back on and stepped into the theatre.


    Nice to know it was effective against chrome. It opened a whole world of possibilities I¡¯d overlooked, including sneaking right by guards that I otherwise would be intimidated by. Most high-level mercs had chrome anyway. I needed to start checking from chrome eyes while casing the place it seems.


    I stuck close behind Hampton as he wandered around, giving him quiet instructions. We put up distance from the entrance, heading in the general direction of the other door.


    A few minutes later, an explosion rocked the area behind us. I looked back just in time to see the door and its surroundings filled with sand entirely. It was like we were never even there¡­ hopefully.


    We stayed in the foyer, traveling around its circular structure toward the parking garage. It was likewise patrolled by bots and set with turrets, though none of them gave a second glance toward Hampton. It proved my theory that they only knew Renold off his ID badge and nothing else.


    This also meant the badges were interchangeable if, for some reason, we couldn¡¯t find enough for everyone. Since it appeared that the badge being whitelisted was all it took, it also made me feel better about the whole plan.


    Instead of going for the customer door connecting to the foyer, we went through several back hallways towards a loading garage that the theatre would¡¯ve used at one point. It would make taking loot out of the place much easier coming in through here considering the much wider doors.


    Thick shutters covered the garage door just like the rest of the entrances into the Laurus Theatre, though that didn¡¯t pose much of an issue. Just as I did before, I connected my battery to the garage doors and gave them just enough power to lift the shutters away. The only issue I had was with how high up the mechanisms for the garage door were, though I managed to make do by standing on Hampton¡¯s shoulders.


    With the shutters out of the way, I moved on to clearing the garage of security. This would be our foothold into the rest of the theatre, so it wouldn''t hurt to have it be a secure location.


    The few bots that remained in here were easy enough to sabotage. I¡¯d already memorized their blueprint from Technical Expertise, so it was easy to find their power supply and cut a few cords.


    The lone turret in the room was a bit harder. It was out of reach even if I stood on Hampton¡¯s shoulders. ¡°There¡¯s a couple of supply closets down the hall, Hampton. Will you go check for a ladder?¡±


    ¡°Couldn''t we have just done that before- You know what; never mind. Need anything else?¡± The man aimlessly stared in my general direction with a slight frown on his face.


    ¡±A bunch of Rayn? No- just a ladder. One tall enough to reach the turret.¡± I motioned to the turret on the roof, though the action was pointless. Being invisible was weird.


    He nodded his head and left the room. While he was gone, I took care of the rest of the cameras. They were inferior to modern variants, so copying their blueprint didn¡¯t get me much. Still, knowledge is power¡­ or something like that. Power is also power though, so¡­


    Hampton returned shortly with a ladder that he set in the middle of the room. I grabbed it, moving it over to right where I wanted it. I climbed up the ladder and got access to the turret, quickly disabling it.


    While I was up there, I rooted around through the internals, ripping out the targeting array and logic chips. I figured the next several days would be boring outside of getting into the Back Archives, so I wanted to mess around with them and make sure I knew exactly how it all worked.  S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I then climbed down and tapped on the pad at my wrist, disabling my Blinder. Nothing shot at me. Nova. ¡°Good to go.¡±


    Hampton looked a little on edge as he stared at me. ¡°What even is that?¡±


    ¡±It¡¯s, uh-¡° What to say? Best I go with something simple, right? Something pretty common? The tech in the Blinder was something that could be very,  valuable. Heck, if I hadn¡¯t stolen it from Advent, it probably would¡¯ve been locked up forever, unknown to the world. Rykon crystals are rare and illegal, after all. ¡°It¡¯s one of Raijin¡¯s Stealth Modules.¡±


    ¡±Oh. Aren¡¯t those a bitch to work with? I had a buddy that fried his chrome trying to get one of those to work.¡± Hampton shook his head and his guard dropped slightly.


    ¡±Totally. I¡¯m a techie though, so I can fix it when it breaks. Let¡¯s let the rest of the Company in?¡± A real smooth shift in conversation, Shiro. Might as well tell him you don¡¯t want to talk about it. Ugh- I need to stop thinking in the third person.


    I moved over to the door and hit a button near the door. As the garage door lifted up and out of the way, I came face to face with Captain Roger as well as Red-Six and Red-One. Everyone had their guns up. ¡°Oh, Captain Roger¡­ What a surprise.¡±


    Yep, shoulda seen this coming. Why wouldn¡¯t he show up when I was opening another door directly into the HQ? As for the guns raised in my direction¡­ sweat dripped down my spine. Was this a betrayal? Or-


    ¡°Clear,¡± Ysmor called from the Captain¡¯s side. Everyone dropped back into a neutral stance. ¡°Security taken care of?¡±


    Right, checking for threats to the Captain¡­ Stupid paranoia! Why can¡¯t I get rid of you? ¡±Course! At least in here. There''s about a dozen turrets down the hall.¡±


    ¡±Nicely done, Zuku.¡± Captain Roger stepped into the garage, checking out the two fallen bots. ¡°Badges?¡±


    I tossed over a dozen of them to the group. ¡°Someone want to volunteer to check them-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± Captain Roger stepped out before Yonrow could. He easily went to the door and flung it open without hesitation. At least he wasn''t the type of leader to just sit in the back and not do anything.


    I waited a few moments. No shots came toward him. ¡°Looks like everything is working.¡±


    ¡±How do you want to do this? Everything taken care of? Any areas we should know about?¡± Captain Roger asked me as he stepped back into the room.


    I pulled out the holo-puck he gave to me a while ago and connected it to my deck. I quickly went through and filled in the blueprint with almost everything I¡¯d learned about the place since breaking in.


    I then tossed the holo-puck to the floor and turned it on. A holographic blueprint of the entire building popped up. ¡°You have almost free reign of the place. For now, it¡¯d be more effective to look for ID badges to get the rest of the company in before looting.¡±


    I pointed towards several sections, including the offices and the command center. ¡°Probably more likely to find them here, here, and here. Keep your eyes peeled though. Security should be taken care of, but I ran into a nasty creature in the cubicle farm. Might be something else on the prowl.¡±


    ¡°What about the Back Archive?¡± Captain Roger asked. Probably wanted to confirm there were actually valuables here as soon as possible.


    ¡±Right, stay away from the Back Archive. The security systems there runs on an independent network. I¡¯m not sure how it¡¯ll react to anyone approaching. I¡¯ll take care of it soonish, but otherwise everywhere else is fine.¡± I thought through the rest of the blueprint. "Also, be careful in the cafeteria. There''s a fifty-fifty shot something lives in there."


    That was based on almost nothing. But the snake creature must''ve come from somewhere, so there was a solid chance something else got in too. And where would be the best spot for said something to make their base? The cafeteria, where they kept the food.


    I ran through the timetable as Captain Roger started discussing with the other PMCs. It took two days for me to disable the security. Add another¡­ two? Yeah, two felt right. Add another two to get everyone in and looting. Then that left ten days before the Urjune Company''s reinforcements came?


    We should be getting out of here before then. Or at least, I assume we should. Even an amateur leader like me knew it was best not to run the clock too closely. So I had at least four days to get through the security in the Back Archives, find the underground structure, and help loot with the company.


    I half paid attention to the rest of the discussion as I ran through some plans of my own. Before too long, Captain Roger left to go brief the rest of the Crimson Company while those of us with badges split up to go look through the theatre for more badges. Well, most of us.


    I split off from everyone else and headed for the Back Archive. I had been very interested in getting through the security there if only to steal the combat bots¡¯ and the rocket''s blueprints. Knowing there were books in there worth millions only made me more interested. Now that others were in, I wasted no time.


    I approached the two combat bots with my Blinder and Cold-Blooded active. I easily slid up to them, completely bypassing all the fancy sensors that once acted as security.


    The seismic sensors were completely useless before Fox¡¯s Paw and the anechoic bodysuit I wore under my clothes. The thermal imaging device and heat sensors were even more useless thanks to Cold-Blood and my poncho set to cold.


    The bots themselves didn¡¯t notice a thing as I stepped right up to them and lightly tapped all over their mechanical bodies, getting a full rundown of their inner workings. The little pulses from Technical Expertise quickly added up as I stole all of their secrets.


    They were a hundred times more sophisticated than the attendant-style bots that patrolled the theatre. They lacked the personality modules and service tools, though instead had far better combat capabilities. There was a good chance they¡¯d be a decent threat to even someone of the modern age, especially with their rockets.


    The rockets themselves were extremely intriguing and quite simple. They were the simple point-and-shoot kind, lacking in any kind of thermal seeking or coordinate locking mechanisms. It was fine at short distances, though they¡¯d fall off hard at long range.


    Still, I could now add rockets to my arsenal once I got back home. I just needed to get the right parts to make the explosives, but that wouldn¡¯t be hard thanks to the Constellations Night Market.


    Speaking of, now that I know Technical Expertise and Eidetic Schematic work so well together, I should head back to the Night Market anyway to steal even more prints. There were so many gadgets and tools on display there.


    Anyway, for all that sophistication and tech, they were completely useless before me. I didn''t think I¡¯d ever felt stronger and more reassured in myself than at the moment. Even the door they guarded wasn¡¯t an issue. I easily found the faults in it with Technical Expertise and popped it open.


    The bots reacted slightly to the door opening. They scanned the area, though of course noticed nothing. They moved to close it immediately afterward. It wasn¡¯t an issue as I slipped underneath their outstretched arms and entered.


    The door led into a long hallway, with the actual Back Archives at the end of it. The hall itself was filled with even more sensors than the approach to the original door. At the far end of the hall sat a large vault door, the kind that I¡¯d see protecting some bank or something similar.


    Six bots stood perfectly still, evenly placed down the hallway. They were armed to the teeth, just as the combat bots guarding the door had been. Except these seemed to be a heavier-duty variant strapped with miniguns as well as rocket pods.


    I stopped just in the door frame, eyeing the way forward. I was very,  hesitant about moving forward. The normal thermal and seismic sensors were there, but motion sensors had joined the lot. They looked to be the ultrasonic type. It posed a small issue.


    Ultrasonic sensors were¡­ well, they were something I had yet to run across security-wise. Most places opted for thermals and cameras. Anything over was usually overkill, especially considering most chrome generated quite a bit of ambient heat unless specifically designed not to.


    The passive infrared sensors that were used everywhere weren¡¯t an issue thanks to my body generating no heat under Cold-Blooded. Camera-type motion tracking wasn¡¯t an issue either with my Blinder. However, ultrasonic sensors were not as easy to trick.


    If it was just the passive seismic sensors that detect vibrations, they wouldn¡¯t be an issue. They weren¡¯t though. These kinds of sensors send out ultrasonic frequencies before receiving them back like a bat using echolocation. They then read the information to see if anything changed. Not impossible to get past, but not something I could do at the moment.


    I could strip down to the body suit and let the anechoic fibers absorb the sound, but then the bots could see me. My Blinder wouldn¡¯t be able to get by. And there was a high chance these were properly configured to notice the lack of rebounding signal, I needed something else to get past all of this. A few plans formed in the back of my head, though nothing concrete yet. And it was late.


    I slipped back out of the hallway and returned to the Archives. I left and headed back up to the HQ. I could figure the rest of it out tomorrow.

 Chapter 187

    Chapter 187I stared down at my drone early the next morning. What I wanted to do to bypass the whole ultrasonic sensor thing was fairly simple. The sensor only knew something was wrong when the ultrasonic waves bounced back off something.


    If I simply removed the ultrasonic sound waves, it¡¯d likely activate a tamper alarm. I had to be careful and smart with how I approached this. My idea? Mute the original frequencies, then send back my own ultrasonic frequencies as if nothing were happening. Basically, I wanted to spoof the sound.


    Hence the drone. The sound-canceling tech was already in my hands. Unfortunately, it was held hostage in the body of my drone. I¡¯d made it easy to assemble and disassemble for future modifications though, so it was quite easy to break the sound-canceling tech out of the drone and get the model shifted to something else. Rest in peace drone. Or should I say pieces?


    I made a few trips to the theatre. Mostly, I hunted for specific parts I knew either the bots, charging ports, or turrets had. It was old tech, but there was no reason I couldn¡¯t repurpose it to support my newest efforts. I also helped a few of the Crimson Company PMCs as they needed it.


    I did have to take a short break from the new sound-canceling to whitelist a batch of fifty ID badges, but that hardly slowed me down. What did slow me down was replacing the fuel lines of every Prowler again. By midnight I had a working model of the tech though.


    It looked stuck together by tape and hope¡­ and it was. I didn¡¯t have the stuff to make a nice body for all the technical bits, so I kinda just slapped it all together as best I could with what I had. The end result was less than optimal. Aesthetically speaking, that is. Functionally, the thing was a beast. It was a bit rough around the edges, and the actual code for it was terrible, but it¡¯d work with quite a bit of operator involvement.


    Combined with another device I threw together from scrapped mechanisms and speakers--of which there were a lot of considering we were in a theatre--I created my ultrasonic spoofer. I tested it on some motion detectors I ordered some of the mercs to scavenge for me. It took quite a bit of trial and error to get everything just right.


    Unlike the original Sonic Suppressor, my tech didn¡¯t have the programs, processing power, or capability to ¡®hear¡¯ a sound and then mute it in a decimal of a second before it could escape its bounds.


    Instead, I had to manually go through and set the frequencies to overlap and cancel out. There was a small bit of automatic adjustment, though it was only around the preset frequency. It couldn¡¯t make large jumps across the spectrum. Meaning while It could mute the sensor, it wouldn''t mute anything else unless I manually changed it.


    Not that it mattered too much. I just needed the device to kill the ultrasonic sensors, which had a preset frequency. I had the whole moving silently thing down to an art form. Thanks, oh you traumatic Fox''s Paw.


    Honestly, outside of very specific uses, such as in this case or when I used the Sonic Suppressor, I didn¡¯t really have much use for sound suppression tech. I mean, it was cool and useful, but I could get by just fine without it.


    Still, it was damn nice to have. Not for a single moment had I been disappointed I kept the Sonic Suppressor back then. There was so much spin-off tech I could make with the ideas from the original.


    Hmm¡­ it could make for a great firearm suppressor now that I think about it. Get a rifle and stick one of my sound mufflers onto it¡­ silent assassin just waiting to happen. Or I could reverse engineer its tech even more and make a sonic amplifier, creating some kind of sound weapon. I think there was one of such weapons in Sentinel''s blueprints.


    I probably wouldn''t get much use of the tech considering my current lifestyle, but I could sell it at the Night Market for some extra Rayn. Call it the Universal Suppressor or something since it would work with all guns after calibrating it right. Throw in some anti-tampering explosives just to be safe and ensure it couldn''t be reverse-engineered and I¡¯d be set.


    Hell, I could even size it up to create a suppressed aura. There were definitely people who would be interested in that. It¡¯d take a lot more work and far more coding than I was capable of to get it properly adaptive like the Sonic Suppressor though. At least, at a glance. Maybe I could hire a Netrunner to handle the coding?


    I could think about this later though. For now, my tech was done and ready to go. First though! A nap. It¡¯d been a tiring day with a lot of walking around.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    ¡°Zuku!¡± A voice called from outside my tent, stirring me from my sleep.


    I groggily rubbed at my eyes, feeling as though I¡¯d barely gotten a few hours sleep. ¡°Lia?¡±


    ¡±Yep! It¡¯s me!¡± The Wolf Magus happily called. ¡°Want to go watch a good show? The Growths are throwing down with a massive pack of Dune Walkers way to our south. Red-Six, Red-Five, T-1, and the Nomads are going to watch. Interested?¡±


    ¡°Ugh- what time is it?¡± I sat up, taking the momentary seclusion to drink water deeply from my canteen. It was so clear. Seriously, the water from the canteen was the cleanest water I¡¯d ever drank. So much better than that rank water the Crimson Company passed out.


    There was blessed silence for a few moments. My eyes slowly closed as I almost fell back asleep-


    ¡°It¡¯s already four in the morning! Time flies!¡± I hate her. Morning people- ugh. Why? Why can they be so cheerful?


    I slowly pushed myself up, got ready, and exited out of the tent to see Lia¡¯s smiling face. ¡°Is this safe?¡±


    ¡±Probably not. We¡¯ll be going up one of the towers to watch though. Captain¡¯s worried about them coming our way after their little brawl.¡± Lia shrugged. ¡°A swarm of creepy plants and rotten corpses coming our way in the middle of the night isn¡¯t ideal. We''re to get set up to clean up any stragglers.¡±


    ¡±Sure, sure. Yeah, I could see that.¡± I dusted some loose sand out of my hair. When we get back to the city, the first thing I want to do is take a long, steamy shower. The feeling of hot water cleaning the grit off of me¡­ I can¡¯t wait. I¡¯m starting to really hate sand.


    ¡±Ready to go, Red-Metal? The squads are all loaded up. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!¡± Lia led the way toward the awaiting convoy of vehicles. Fairly large convoy for what¡¯s supposed to be a stealthy trip.


    We loaded up and left the compound for the city. The sun hadn¡¯t come up yet, so the night sky lay in clear view for us as we glided across sand-swept streets. Seriously creepy being in the city at night.


    We moved along to the other side of the city, parking pretty far away before making our way up a set of stairs. A lot of sets of stairs. And then we were up on the thirtieth floor overlooking a building collapsed into a park.


    The ambient lighting from ghastly holograms shined down just enough to give us visibility on the absolute mess of a fight down there. Corpses swarmed over the rubble of the building. They were faintly visible through a sandstorm that settled over the area.


    Fighting against them was the ever-malicious Growths. They met the swarm with smaller numbers, though they constantly regenerated the few cut down by Dune Walkers. It was an all-out fight between the two sides. And quite entertaining to watch from afar.


    The Dune Walkers seemed to be winning the brawl as they surrounded the Growths and beat them into submission. Unlike the walking corpses though, the sapient plants weren¡¯t so simple.


    Great roots flung themselves into the sky, sending sprays of sand everywhere. An ancient tree entwined with a building swayed, shifting free from its perch. The malevolent entity stood up on its roots, using them like legs as it moved for the pack of Dune Walkers. Its limbs cracked, slamming down into the horde as it easily eviscerated the bunch. Blood and viscera soon soaked the tree red.


    ¡°Woah, didn¡¯t see that coming¡­¡± Lia shuddered next to me. ¡°Imagine if we ran into one of those things?¡±


    Renold toyed with an unlit cigarette. He then lit up his chrome hand with the internal lighter, pushing his thumb forward until it was lined up with the massive tree. ¡±Nothing a bit of fire couldn¡¯t deal with.¡±


    With the inclusion of the tree and several other nearby plants joining the Growths¡¯ efforts, the battle ended shortly. The Dune Walkers were slammed into the dunes as the light sandstorm that accompanied them vanished. The green critters down there resettled amongst the sand and foliage as if they were never there.


    Lia jumped up excitedly, pumping her fist. ¡°Pay up Renold! The Growths won!¡±


    ¡±You guys bet on which side would win?¡± I asked as I glanced around at the PMCs surrounding us. There were quite a few dramatic sighs as Rayn exchanged hands.


    ¡°Course! Easy Rayn like this doesn¡¯t just fall from the sky!¡± Lia pulled out a phone, checking it as Renold made the transfer.


    Damn it! I should¡¯ve gotten in on this. She¡¯s right. And the Growths had several obvious advantages. As far as I was aware, Dune Walkers were just shambling corpses that were individually weak. At least, this far out. I¡¯d heard tales of a Dune Walker Colossus that supposedly roamed further inland near the Endless Sandstorm.


    Growths on the other hand, as shown here, had the capability of being individually strong. Very strong, based on that ancient-looking tree that uprooted itself.


    We watched the battlefield for signs one of the sides would continue on, though nothing happened. Looked like we¡¯d get a nice night without having to fight off a horde. A general festive mood filled the group as we moved down to the vehicles and headed back for the camp.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    Several hours later, I finally returned to the Back Archives with all my tools and gear ready to go. I stopped just before the combat bots guarding the door and ensured everything was up and running.


    Blinder, Check. Cold-Blooded, Check. Various assorted stealth Perks that ultimately wouldn''t matter since they couldn¡¯t see me anyway? Check. Last but not least, the sound nullifier and emitter combo wouldn¡¯t have a name since I¡¯d only be using it once? Check.


    I easily opened the door once more, slipping into the hallway as I took a deep breath. Moment of truth. I took a step forward, pausing as I entered the range of the first group of sensors. The passive infrared thermal sensors didn¡¯t react, nor did the seismic sensors.


    I slowly edged up as the ultrasonic motion sensor seemed to glare down at me. No reaction. I couldn¡¯t see or hear the battle of frequencies my tech had with the security defenses since it was out of audible frequencies, but it seemed my tech was winning as I took another slow step forward. Then another. No reaction.


    I eyed the bots. I was probably fine. My tech was good. I made it after all. A very big worry was that I¡¯d get halfway across the hallway before any of the security reacted though. I¡¯d get fully blocked in and annihilated without any chance of escape.


    To be fair though, I don¡¯t think the bots had that level of awareness nor that advanced of protocols. For the most part, they seemed the type to open fire without ever second-guessing their targeting arrays. For better or worse.


    I continued, passing by the first set of bots slowly. Then the next. Before I knew it, I was on the other side of the long hallway, easily bypassing the entire sensor array and robotic security.


    It took nearly ten minutes to get past. I had to move extremely slowly thanks to my tech¡¯s slow processing. I also had to constantly input where the motion detectors were so the emitter could send back the spoofed frequencies.


    And then I arrived before the massive vault door. At some point in my career, it would have posed a problem. Heck, even recently such a massive door with dozens of security features built into it would''ve been an issue.


    Now though? It was the least of my problems. With Technical Expertise, I easily bypassed all the security and directly looked into the inner workings of the vault door. Knowing how everything linked up and how it all worked made getting it open a cakewalk. Especially since it was a dial lock. I could practically read the code as I put it in.


    The door loudly unlocked as the thick rods holding it in place popped open. The massive vault door cracked open as I heard the bots behind me turn around and face my direction. I slipped in before any of them could react, quickly closing the door behind me to keep anything that might pose a threat back.


    I went ahead and locked it back before taking my first look at the Back Archives. The room was rather massive, made from some kind of rich wood and fancy golden decor. It gave off an extremely posh study vibe, completely different from the other Archive room.


    And Back Archives wasn¡¯t a great name for the place. If anything, it looked closer to a private museum. Of course, there were shelves covered in books, files, and assorted papers. The space, however, wasn¡¯t completely filled with such shelves.


    There were dozens of display stands holding up artifacts and valuables that would¡¯ve belonged in national museums. I spotted things from all over the world with a particular interest in relics from the indigenous people.


    I walked the aisles, appreciating all the Rayn that could be gathered from such a place. It was literally a small treasure trove. At a glance? Millions of Rayn. Assuming there were a few original manuscripts scattered here and there, that is.


    I continued to investigate the area, completely ignoring the panning turrets and irate security as they looked around for the intruder. I was practically invisible to everything here, so very little posed a threat. At least, for the next four minutes according to the Blinder¡¯s sensors.


    Even the bots weren¡¯t an issue. Though, interestingly, the ones back here were only equipped with melee weapons. Lots of shock batons, a couple of swords, and other assorted weapons that could be used without hurting anything in the archives.


    I moved fast, so the motion sensors could detect me. Or at least, I assumed they could as they swarmed in my direction. I solved that by setting up my newest tech in the middle of the room and turning it on at max volume. It easily drowned the ultrasonic frequencies, ¡®blinding¡¯ the system.


    It knew I was here, but not where. And with so many valuables, it was probably coded not to attack without knowing the intruder¡¯s precise location. Too much could be lost in a momentary firefight. Or, at least, I assumed the system was set up like that since none of the turrets opened fire and the bots were only armed with melee weapons.


    With most of the threat taken care of, I took a chance to look around. The pure wealth here was interesting, but it wasn¡¯t quite the goal. Not yet, at least. I needed two things in particular: shut down the security and look for an access shaft into the underground structure. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    One of these issues seemed as though it¡¯d be solved rather easily. A massive bank of terminals sat along one of the walls. I slid over to it, ignoring the patrolling combat bots as I took a seat and turned everything on.


    Password locked. Really, I shoulda seen such a thing coming. I tried to get access with one of the badges, but it only flashed with an error and remained locked. I rapidly vacated the area as four patrolling bots came to investigate. I had no idea how to bypass it, so there was no point sticking around.


    That meant it was time to return to an old-fashioned style of taking care of security. I moved around the space, sabotaging every bot, turret, and sensor I could get my hands on.


    I had to take a quick few breaks to hide in an ornate wardrobe, but otherwise, it wasn¡¯t even an issue taking care of everything. It got easier and easier the more I sabotaged until nothing was left. I did have to throw things around to trip the seismic sensors on occasion when they were pinning me in, but that was a very minor issue.


    With my safety ensured, I dusted my hands off and started hunting for the suspected underground structure¡¯s access shaft.

 Chapter 188

    Chapter 188I found what I was looking for without too much searching. It was rather simple to find once I was free to look. A bookshelf on the back wall didn¡¯t match the pattern the rest of the Back Archives abided by, which threw me off when I first saw it. Then add in the fact that touching one of the books triggered Technical Expertise, and my suspicions were through the roof.


    By simply tapping every book on the shelf, I found four books that were connected to a mechanism in some kind of code. Then it was as easy as pulling the four and resetting the mechanisms until I got it right.


    Eventually, the entire bookshelf slid into the ground, seamlessly revealing yet another hallway. It ended in two metal doors. Maybe an elevator? It looked like a cursed elevator. I tapped a button on a panel beside the doors.


    A few minutes later, the metal doors slid open with a light ding, revealing an ornate interior. It seemed the fancy designs didn¡¯t stop even in this creepy elevator. Should I just go and let someone else go down the shaft first? Elevators and I had a¡­  relationship. But what if there¡¯s treasure down there? Like even more than what was up here.


    I forced myself into the death trap, hesitantly checking over the entire structure with Technical Expertise. Everything looked good enough. Nothing seemed broken, at least at a glance. There was always something that could go wrong though, so I double and triple-checked the elevator.


    Nothing would fail. I hoped. I tapped on the elevator¡¯s control. It only had two options, up and down. I imagine the sublevel was the up option, so I tapped on the down option. The elevator doors dinged before slowly closing.


    The machinery lurched, grinding loudly as it descended into the depths. I wasn¡¯t scared. Nope, not at all. What could go wrong? The elevator breaking off its shaft and plummeting hundreds of stories down to my instant and awful death? The chances of that were- were not high. Though they weren¡¯t low either. Especially considering my  connection with elevators.


    Nearly a minute passed as the elevator slowly worked its way down the shaft. Wherever this thing was headed, it was deep. Like, super deep. Probably as deep if not deeper than the Underground below Aythryn City.


    My data pad at my wrist flashed a red warning light as it picked up spiking radiation. My Blinder was off though and had been since I broke all the security in the Back Archives. I looked down at my wrist. The radiation sensor I threw in there rapidly climbed. Different radiation though. Not the same kind the Rykon Crystal gave off though. Why-?


    I hurriedly hit the emergency stop on the elevator¡¯s console. The emergency brakes screeched as they roughly ground against the rest of the shaft. Something loud snapped against the side as the elevator ground to a sudden stop. I nearly fell as my legs turned to jelly.


    The lights in the elevator flickered and then shut off entirely. I leaned against the wall in absolute darkness. My eyes quickly adapted to the level of darkness as everything started to become clearer, albeit in a dull gray shade rather than with color.


    I tapped around the elevator with Technical Expertise, carefully inspecting every bit of the deathtrap. The sudden stop broke several parts, including the power connections. It wouldn¡¯t be going up or down anytime soon.


    I used my rifle to wedge up the access trapdoor of the elevator. With a single use of Burst Step, I launched myself up and snatched onto the edge, pulling myself up and out of the elevator.


    The flashing indicator on my wrist flashed faster exposed to the shaft fully. I tapped on it, going to the sensor¡¯s history. There were noticeable spikes in radiation throughout the sensors history, which should be the times I used my Blinder.


    More recently though, entirely different from the sharp incline of Radiation that typically followed the Blinder, a steady and continuous rise of radiation was recorded. If it wasn¡¯t for my Blinder¡¯s sensors, I would¡¯ve unknowingly taken huge amounts of radiation.


    It wasn¡¯t quite lethal, though at the rate it spiked, it would¡¯ve been lethal if I kept going down. I threw on my mask and all protective gear. I wasn¡¯t sure if it would help with the radiation, but any protection would be better than nothing.


    I needed to get out of here. Even if the levels of radiation weren¡¯t fatal yeah, continuous exposure could quickly become fatal if not cause lasting harm. Assuming Quick Healing wouldn¡¯t heal radiation damage, that is. And I''d rather not try that out.


    What¡¯s down there anyway? An exploded nuke? Looks like I¡¯ll never know. At least, not without getting radiation-resistant suits or mutants immune to radiation. Unfortunately, it most definitely wouldn¡¯t be worth the effort or danger to send someone down to investigate. As they say, curiosity killed the cat. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I looked up at the long cables descending from the top of the elevator shaft. I really should¡¯ve bought an Ascender by now. I go up and down enough I¡¯d get a ton of value out of one. Well¡­ better get started going the old-fashioned way.


    I stretched out, shaking my limbs out. I made a quick harness to stop my fall if I were to have one then slowly started lifting myself hand over hand. It was an extraordinarily slow-going and painful process. Especially with my most recent Burst Step already taxing my legs.


    By the time I reached the top, my limbs burned with overuse. My arms wouldn¡¯t stop shaking as I pried open the elevator doors. I had a momentary regret of not carrying around a crowbar, though that regret passed as barely I got the doors open and flung myself back to the safety of the Back Archives.


    I just lay there for a time. Every one of my muscles felt torn, and my legs were too jelly to do much walking. Eventually, I forced myself up to my feet and staggered to the hallway. Just before I could open the door, I remembered the security on the other side was still set to kill. As soon as I opened the door, I¡¯d get riddled with bullets.


    Hmm¡­ how do I get out of this? I thought long and hard, taking the chance to walk around the scattered display stands and idly look at the relics as my mind whirled.


    I couldn¡¯t just brute force my way through. That was suicide. I¡¯d get gunned down immediately. I might not be able to kill even one of the bots before a rocket blew me into chunks.


    I couldn¡¯t sneak through either. Not with the system alert and ready for me. If I tried, I¡¯d probably get killed by spammed shots and rockets toward the vault door. Again, suicide.


    Unfortunately, my Net skills weren¡¯t good enough to take a hacking route. I doubt I¡¯d be able to even get into the mainframe, let alone turn off the murder bots. It made me regret not leveling Net up, though I don¡¯t think it would matter much anyway. I¡¯d need Net to a high level, and Net and I didn¡¯t really get along well. Even if I focused on leveling it up, I doubt I¡¯d get past level four without some serious investment that could be better spent augmenting something I was actually good at. ''Sides, it''d been a while since I was straight up offered a Skill Point.


    So that left me waiting for a rescue. I couldn¡¯t call one though since the vault blocked my signal. I¡¯d be fine to live that long though. Crow¡¯s Canteen was perfect for situations like these. I¡¯d be fine until a rescue came. At least, physically. Mentally though? Not quite as fine.


    Not to mention a rescue might never come. I mean, there was a high chance of a rescue squad since this was where most of the valuables were. There was always a chance that something would happen though and Captain Roger wouldn¡¯t be able to spare the manpower to get in.


    And just sitting around like a princess was¡­ not ideal. I rethought my options, pulling out every piece of my tech to see if I could whip something up to help me escape. A plan slowly formed in my head as I stared down at the jury-rigged ultrasonic frequency muter.


    The system could detect me through seismic and ultrasonic frequencies, right? What if I took away those ways of detection? The system would probably think the intruder was trying to come back down the hall. Wouldn¡¯t the bots just spam down the murder hall then?


    Sure, they were incredibly dangerous, but they only had so much ammo. Unlike the attendant bots up above, they couldn¡¯t even go restock themselves. If they wasted all their ammo down the hall, it would be much, easier to get through. If they happened to injure each other with said spam damage? All the better for me.


    I modified my tech, even going so far as to disassemble my deck. It¡¯d served me well up to this point, but I really needed its speaker system. That, and I could always buy a newer, better one back in the city if I got back.


    I added all the speakers I could, modifying the device to not only cancel out the ultrasonic waves but also to blare a deep base to trip the seismic sensors. Then, I wrapped it tightly in a couple of bolts of fabric to protect the thrown-together internals.


    With all my careful designing done, I cracked the vault door and tossed the bundle out. It flew true thanks to my training with Throwing Weapon Master. Getting something like this exactly where I wanted wasn''t even a problem. Immediately, a bullet whizzed past my head. Several more followed though nothing hit too close as I closed the door tightly once more. It provided ample cover from the mad combat bots.


    The rain of bullets continued to pound against the vault door, followed by several explosions as the bots kept up the pressure. Then, the firepower noticeably shifted as explosions from out in the hall itself started to ring out. They lost their target as my tech activated, throwing off their aiming parameters.


    For several long minutes, the mainframe continued to fight my ghost. The explosions constantly rang out alongside cracks of bullets. The longer the fight dragged out, the more infrequent the attacks were. What started as a hail of death quickly slowly turned into an occasional drop.


    Once the constant attacks stopped entirely, I cracked open the door and slid out a Scouter. I immediately shut the door again and pulled the feed up on my HUD. Or, at least tried to. No signal. I had to crack the door again, opening myself up to a potential attack.


    Then the Scouter¡¯s view came across and I got a full view of the carnage the bots wrought. Only one remained standing, the others blasted into piles of scrap metal. At the far end of the hall, an unfired rocket pod exploded and the remaining bot immediately opened fire on it.


    The last bot standing wasn¡¯t in great shape either. Its leg and arm had been blown off, leaving it barely hanging on. Its internal circuits hung out of its chassis, ready for me to fire one last shot into it and end its life.


    I did exactly that, ducking around the edge of the vault door to blast the bot with a burst from my AR. I peeked just as the world slowed thanks to Dexterity and shredded the last working circuits of the combat bot. It dropped to the ground, as broken as its brethren.


    I took a while, staying inside the Back Archives as the occasional explosion rang out from the torn-up hallway. Only once I felt safe enough did I slip out and head down the hall.


    Unfortunately, in all the fighting, my tech had been thoroughly smashed to bits. I¡¯d have to replace it all once I returned to the city. This trip was proving to be a costly one, though with what I saw in the vault, I had the feeling it would more than pay itself off.


    Or, at least, that¡¯s what I told myself as I left and staggered back to report in.

 Chapter 189

    Chapter 189¡±I see¡­¡± Captain Roger frowned as he stared at a blown-up hologram of the Laurus Theatre. ¡°Nothing we can do about the radiation. None of us are built to deal with it¡­ I¡¯ll call Athena. She might have other plans.¡±


    Right, Athena. The overall boss. Kick it down the line, notice. Definitely recognized that little tactic. I really hoped that she wouldn''t want us to go down there. Guns and monsters were one thing, but the ever-invisible and fatal nature of radiation was an entirely different matter. Especially considering I didn''t have anything built for it. No telling what kind of havoc radiation could play on my body, let alone my tech.


    And that wasn¡¯t even talking about the security systems. If I was in a rad-suit and just one bullet punctured it, ruining the seal, I¡¯d probably be dead before I could come up. Flatlining to radiation is definitely not the way I wanted to go out.


    Hmm... maybe there was a Perk for radiation resistance? That would be really useful. Too bad there isn''t, like, a body or durability Skill. Hint hint eidolons? Maybe? Ugh, fine. Maybe there was some kind of medicine or Stim that could temporarily boost radiation resistance? That''d be quite a useful product for Medtech to sell. Maybe they have something?


    ¡°Chek chek. What about the Back Archives though? I disabled all the security, so it¡¯s just the vault door.¡° I motioned toward the blueprint.


    Captain Roger rubbed at his chin. His chrome eyes glowed brightly as a frown dipped his lips. ¡°Keep the combination quiet. I¡¯ll send some guys down there over the next couple days. You said it was loaded right?¡±


    I recounted a list of all the valuables I saw down there. ¡°Chek. Super loaded. More than a couple million Rayn if we¡¯re lucky.¡±


    ¡°Good¡­ good¡­ then all that¡¯s left is to loot the place and delta.¡± He tilted his head slightly in thought. ¡°Should take three or four days. Until then, can you look at all the Prowlers, Mice, and the APC? Make sure we''ll be ready to get out of here when the time comes?¡±


    I stood up and nodded to the captain. I thought about taking back the holo-puck, though eventually decided against it. I didn''t even need it, and it was technically just lent to me by the captain. ¡°No problem.¡±


    ¡°Good. With any luck, we¡¯ll be out of here soon.¡± Captain Roger waved a hand as he went back to studying the map. ¡°Dismissed.¡±


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The next week passed easily, and nothing too eventful happened. The entire company stayed in the Theatre nearly day and night, pulling out anything even remotely valuable. The Mice bulged with valuables after the first couple days. It was to the point I overheard several PMCs complaining they didn¡¯t bring enough Mice to cart it all back and they had to leave some stuff behind.


    It was good. Really good. The more they grabbed, the more Rayn I¡¯d make from this. It was a bit sad I didn¡¯t get a mystical relic or something from this trip. Still, I was looking forward to the money coming my way when all of this ended. At a quick calculation, I¡¯d at least make fifty thousand Rayn. It was an insane profit from a single gig. Especially considering my typical payout. Athena truly set me up fro this one.


    The entire week, I spent my time either scavenging various parts from the bots and mechanisms of the Laurus Theatre or fixing various devices for the Crimson Company. We were running low on supplies and equipment to keep repairing the fuel lines, but I managed to keep everything running. Barely.


    Athena called back about the elevator in the Back Archives too. She ordered it sealed off and hidden for a potential future expedition. I simply disabled the entire mechanism for moving the shelf and made it better blend in with its surroundings. I also repaired a few of the bots and security after we''d pulled everything from the Back Archives. No one would get a free trip, though the bots weren''t in great states.


    And then we were off. We rounded all back up, loaded up for a fight, and set off from our base camp before the sun even rose. Driving back through the city to the Outlands was a bittersweet experience. The haunted holograms and creepy plants seemed to wave goodbye in an early morning breeze.


    We broke past the outer layers of the city and once more entered the sandy Outlands. It was a bit of a shock going from hyper greenery and abandoned claustrophobic buildings to vast stretches of dunes and empty skies. It was also nice, in a way, to be free of all the stressors in New Tress City.


    I spent most of the first day finishing up the rest of the documents I snatched from Cold Moon Solutions. Or, at least, part one of the documents. I still had decades of documents stored on various hard drives back home.


    With sudden free time, I drew. A lot. At first, it was just various blueprints and designs for the turrets I wanted to build when I got back home. Eventually, I got bored of that and shifted to just drawing to draw. An influence from Yonrow, if I had to pin down why exactly I suddenly wanted to draw.


    It was nice to just clear my head and let my pencil guide me along the paper. Every other time I¡¯d drawn had been extremely technical and a bit draining, so it was a good chance of pace. Most of my, albeit lacking, artistic pursuits were dedicated to the various monsters and scenes I''d seen in the city.


    The simplicity of the work allowed me to think through the value I got out of this particular gig. It was like nothing I¡¯d ever done before. Almost every step of the way, I¡¯d gotten out of it.


    Even as far back as arriving at the Crimson Company¡¯s HQ and getting immediately put to work provided me with valuable experience in vehicle repair. Every other repair job since had been a nice boost to my confidence when it came to tech-related things.


    The constant fights also proved to be nice. I had yet to see my Skill gains from the trip, but my combat-related Skills would probably get a good boost. And observing how others approached combat situations had been¡­ informative. I couldn''t approach it the same way, unfortunately. I had no confidence in frontal assaults with my current skillset and chrome. An ambusher''s life for me, it seemed.


    The dozens of miscellaneous blueprints I snatched from various mechanisms were also a good boost to my knowledge. Especially the high-value ones like the combat bots and rockets. It was only a matter of time till I could make my own gear like that.


    I also still had the claws and feathers of that weird Aether bird. No telling how valuable that all could be. Spirit Cleaver bark, which seemed to have a similar effect, couldn¡¯t be bought even if I had money. Things were looking up.


    I had some ideas on how I wanted to use the claws and feathers, but all of that would have to wait until I did some serious research. No way I wanted to mess around with opening and closing the Aether willy-nilly. That was just asking for some twisted abomination to escape the Aether and ice me.


    With the Crimson Company gig coming to a close, I couldn¡¯t help but reflect on how nice it¡¯d been to be part of a Private Military Company. Not quite for me overall, but I wouldn¡¯t mind teaming up with one again in the distant future.


    Having a team to back me up had been incredibly helpful. It was to the point I wanted to form a team of my own when I found the right people. Having others with skills that weren¡¯t quite in my purview had been quite useful. Don¡¯t know how well such an idea would turn out since I had some  trust issues, but it was a nice goal for the future regardless.


    Being around other people for a change was¡­ not awful. Humans were social creatures, or so I¡¯d been told. It¡¯d been draining at first, but I grew to like Red-Six quite a bit as the days progressed. Especially Lia, though it wasn''t by much more than the others. They all had their quirks.


    Our trip through the Outlands was just as uneventful as our escape from the New Tress City, for better or worse. The convoy had to dodge something called a Tonkor, but otherwise, nothing happened of note.


    And then I could see Aythryn City on the horizon. Home sweet home. I couldn''t wait to take a hot shower.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    Unfortunately, wait I must. As soon as we got back to HQ, Captain Roger and I had to report to Athena. She apparently specifically requested I come with the captain.


    My parting ways with Red-Six was quick and simple. Yonrow simply nodded and went on his way to one of the buildings in the Crimson Company¡¯s compound.


    Sergeant Hampton clapped me on the shoulder as he walked past and headed for the HQ. ¡°You did good, Zuku. It was a pleasure working with you.¡±


    ¡±You too.¡± I smiled slightly at the guy as he passed me by.


    Lia pulled out her phone. ¡°Let¡¯s exchange contacts! It was good working with you. Maybe we could go out to get something to eat.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± I exchanged contacts with her. Making friends was something I was admittedly bad at. And it never hurts to have a competent Wolf Magus on my call list. ¡°I know this nice burger joint. The chef there serves pizza-sized burgers.¡±


    ¡±Oh! Sounds delightful! Well, I gotta get going to Wolf¡¯s shrine. Cya, Renold!¡± And just like that, Lia headed and caught a taxi.


    Renold nodded to me as he left, returned with a bunch of car polish, and started lathering up the Prowler. ¡°Wanna help me out?¡±


    ¡±I uh- I have to go, unfortunately.¡± Fortunately, actually. Polishing a car did not sound like a good use of time. Granted, I never fell in love with a car like Renold seemed to have. ¡°Cya around.¡±


    ¡±Yeah, yeah.¡± Renold waved me off as he worked on the Prowler.


    I, after a long time, got back on my bike and set off. Feeling the wind running through my hair and the relatively cool and wet weather of Aythryn City gave me a nostalgic feeling. I¡¯d only been gone four weeks, and I¡¯d surprisingly missed this place. Especially the moisture in the air. The dry dessert winds had continuously dropped my hydration, but back here? So god to be back.


    Of course, that is until I nearly got hit by a drunk driver and watched a homeless woman get pancaked by a passing car. Only for said pancaked woman to get up revealing a body of full chrome, pull a gun, and execute the driver. Some things never changed. The city moved on just the same without me, as it would for anyone else.


    It put me back into a somber mood as rain started to fall from the sky. I snuggled back into my warm poncho and made my way to the Jagged Clover.


    As soon as I stepped in, I temporarily whitelisted a few people for Master of Disguise that I recognized. Athena''s men, I think. The tiny-handed bartender waved at me. ¡°Welcome back, lass. They¡¯re awaitin¡¯ you upstairs. The usual spot.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I worked my way up to Athena¡¯s booth. As I knocked on the door, I heard the idle chatter of several people. Seemed Captain Roger had already arrived.


    ¡±Come in!¡± Athena¡¯s voice called through the door.


    I entered the private booth to see two more people than I expected. Of course, there was Athena and Roger. There were also two others though. Seemed military at a glance. I¡¯d recognize them from anywhere after spending so much time with Uncle Ezra and Mira.


    Athena and the two military guys sat at the table while Roger leaned up against the far wall. I joined him, staring out the window at the passing cars below as I tried not to listen in too deeply to their conversation. No point getting involved and hearing something I shouldn¡¯t.


    Thankfully, it seemed to only be idle chatter. They talked a bit about a bounty on a Fedra general, though otherwise didn¡¯t talk about anything of note. Seemed more like a chat between old friends. And there was no way she''d just invite us into a private conversation if they were sharing secrets. After a few minutes, both the military guys got up and left, leaving just me, Captain Roger, and Athena.


    Athena, looking ever breathtaking, called over to us. ¡°Come on, take a seat. I won¡¯t bite.¡±


    Captain Roger moved first, sliding into a booth. ¡°Good to see you too.¡±


    ¡±I take it the gig went well?¡± Athena asked as I followed closely behind the PMC leader.


    ¡±Very.¡± Captain Roger said. ¡°Five old original manuscripts, a bunch of artifacts, and a ton of miscellaneous items my guys pulled from all around.¡±


    ¡±Nova!¡± Athena smiled brightly, tapping on a call button off to the side. ¡°Send up some Whiskey. What do you want?¡±


    ¡±Nothing.¡± I easily replied. Getting a drink would mean sticking around longer. Now that we were back in the city, I really couldn¡¯t wait to get back home. I could feel the sand pressing into me.


    Roger shrugged. ¡±Whiskey is fine with me.¡±


    ¡°Just Whiskey then.¡±


    A voice came across from the intercom. It was the bartender down below. ¡°Aye, boss.¡±


    ¡°What do you want us to do with the loot?¡± Captain Roger asked.


    Athena ran a hand through her luxurious hair. ¡°Hmm¡­ Send over all the stuff to my warehouse in Little Yukoto, Roger. It¡¯ll be a few days until I get an estimate. My fences will be able to get it all sold off in a week at most.¡±


    Captain Roger moved to get up. I let him out as he walked off and started a phone call. That just left me and Athena sitting at the table. Athena looked me over from head to toe. ¡°So, how¡¯d it go for you, Zuku?¡±


    ¡±It was¡­ interesting?¡± I shrugged as I thought through the events of the gig. ¡°First time I¡¯ve worked with a group this large.¡±


    ¡±I see you¡¯re still in one piece.¡± Athena raises a perfectly sculpted brow. ¡°Did you make yourself useful?¡±


    The door opened as the bartender brought in a bottle of Whiskey and several glasses. ¡°Here, boss.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Athena immediately poured herself a glass and sipped at it. ¡°So, Zuku?¡±


    ¡±Uh- yeah, I like to think I was useful. Getting into the theatre was a piece of cake for me. Easily disabled the security and got the rest of the company in to loot.¡± I gave a brief recount of the events.


    Athena nodded along with the entire recounting of events, asking the occasional question. ¡°Glad you held up to my expectations¡­ I¡¯ll have your payment in a week. Otherwise, I¡¯ll contact you if I have something.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± It sounded like a dismissal, and perfectly lined up with Captain Roger getting off his phone call. I slid out of the booth once more for the captain. ¡°Then I¡¯ll get out of here.¡±


    ¡±Ah, before you go.¡± Captain Roger passed me a card with all of his contact information on it. ¡°Send me a message sometime. We aren¡¯t hiring Techies at the moment, but you¡¯d make a good fit for the team coming in every once in a while.¡±


    I instinctively grabbed the card. ¡°You sure?¡±


    ¡±That¡¯s high praise coming from you, Roger.¡± Athena leaned forward on her hand. ¡°It seemed you did a better job than you implied, Zuku.¡±


    ¡°If we hadn¡¯t had her, we would¡¯ve lost the APC and probably got caught by Urjune Company reinforcements. Not to mention the vehicles constantly degraded in the city. You did good, Zuku.¡± Captain Roger¡¯s chrome eyes seemed to twinkle.


    ¡°Right, I¡¯ll send you a message.¡± I didn¡¯t quite know how to take the praise, so I just nodded and turned to leave. This time, thankfully, no one stopped me as I left and finally headed for home. A nice, warm shower awaited me.

 Chapter 190

    Chapter 190I collapsed onto my small bed, a stroke of pure satisfaction running through me as I felt the soft mattress. I¡¯d spent way too long letting the water brush over my skin, even going as far as to ignore the interface popping up in my vision until now. All for this moment of relaxation. Of being sand-free for the first time in a month. My hair had been particularly filled with the substance.


    I relaxed for a while. Unfortunately, the world wouldn''t wait for me like the interface would. I finally looked at the transparent screen. I¡¯d been busy the past month, and it showed.


    ¡¸Tech - 8>11¡¹


    ¡¸Stealth - 10>11¡¹


    ¡¸Perception - 8>10¡¹


    ¡¸Firearm - 5>9¡¹


    ¡¸First Aid - 4>5¡¹


    ¡¸Evasion - 4>6¡¹


    ¡¸Cleaning - 3>4¡¹


    ¡¸Brawling - 3>4¡¹


    There was a certain sense of satisfaction in seeing so many of my Skills level up. Especially the ones that leveled enough to get a new Perk. Firearms, Cleaning, and Brawling specifically. The latter two weren¡¯t super useful for me, but getting a Firearms perk would always be helpful.


    It was nice seeing a Skill get five levels in one go too. It¡¯d been since I first got the interface that I saw such a jump in levels. As it turns out, spending hours fighting off a mindless horde of Dune Walkers was a quick way to power level. Not that I ever wanted to throw myself into such a situation again.


    It looked like Tech might pass Stealth soon, which was just awesome. Seeing it only jump two levels confirmed that Skills grew much slower at higher levels. And significantly at that. I spent far more time doing Tech-related things than shooting a gun and yet it¡¯d only grown two levels.


    Still, it was only a matter of time till I hit level twelve in one of my Skills and earned that Interface Upgrade or whatever the eidolons called it. I¡¯d hit my goal of getting Tech up to Stealth regardless. I was now free to dump my next Skill Point into either Tech or Stealth at the next opportunity.


    And of course, I had my Perk Points I needed to spend before that. I had no idea if Brawling or Cleaning would be of any help with their Perks, but I had high hopes for a good Firearms Perk. Dexterity was already insane in its versatility.


    Before heading into a two-day forced vacation, I left for my hidden speakeasy. For the most part, I spent the rest of the day repairing my broken gear and fixing any minor issues I noticed.


    That mainly meant my drone and the gauntlets. The drone I¡¯d disassembled to get into the Back Archives, so it needed to be rebuilt from the ground up. Not too difficult of a thing to do, but it required quite a bit of time for the SITCH to print my parts.


    The gauntlets weren¡¯t that bad by comparison. They still worked just fine, though I had one fix and one change I wanted to implement. The fix was for the slight issue of feeding electricity back through the gauntlet into me when I used them.


    To get around that issue, I incorporated a layer of insulation between my skin and the metal. I also adjusted the pressure plate system that the thing activated off of, fixing a spot where it connected back into the gauntlet when hit with sufficient force. I hadn''t punched with full might when initially testing it, so I''d overlooked that particular issue.


    I tested the gauntlets quite extensively for a few hours. I didn¡¯t want a repeat of self-shocking during a fight. The last time I tested it, I didn¡¯t put the gauntlets through enough stress. This time I made sure to check all my bases.


    While I was here, I also started printing parts for a sentry gun. I¡¯d drawn quite a few designs on the latest gig, so I just had to port them over to the SITCH¡¯s built-in terminal. It was a bit of a time-consuming process, especially considering the complexity of some of the parts.


    I ended up settling for a design I denoted as a Briefcase Sentries. The idea was that I could fit two of said Sentries into a small briefcase. They weren¡¯t super powerful by any means. Their small size affected the caliber of their guns. The plan was to use them for either surprise attacks or for distractions though, so their caliber wouldn¡¯t matter all that much.


    Their design required a of folding parts and interlocking mechanisms to stay small, so it¡¯d take four or five days for the SITCH to finish printing everything out. The mag feed for the turret¡ªwhich I set to be overhead like the Raijin P-490 Lia and Hampton¡ªalone would take half a day to print. For each turret.


    Yeah, so I was basically done building stuff till all that finished printing. At least, building stuff with the SITCH. Could always make some plastic parts if I needed to, but I was down to just chill and relax for a week.


    While I was here, I dropped off the bird parts from that Aether bird back in New Tress City. I also looked over the things with Aetherial Perception. Now that I was free of the city and that horrid entity, I was once more free to use my Perk.


    Looking the stuff over, I couldn¡¯t really tell much about it other than the fact it deeply resonated with the Aether. The feathers looked as though they were part of the Aether themselves, almost as if they were stuck between the two dimensions. I had high hopes for the feathers.


    I¡¯d definitely have to do quite a bit more research about everything related to entering the Aether before I messed with the stuff. I knew it was possible though. Aether Gates, while I knew next to nothing about them, were something that I¡¯d heard about once or twice. Instantaneous travel through the Aeter, though there were only a few of them around the world.


    Speaking of, eidolons? You¡¯d be the best source of information regarding anything to do with the Aether. One of you want to throw me a bone? Just this once? I¡¯d really appreciate it!


    I waited a few moments. No reply. Figures, I wasn¡¯t really expecting-


    ¡¸Request - Echidna¡¯s Shrine - Received


    Visit Echidna¡¯s shrine and offer a relic, enchanted item, Remnant, or Revenant.


    Reward: Access to Aether Jumping documents¡¹


    Oh¡­ Echidna, eh? I¡¯ve uh- I¡¯ve never heard of them. No offense. There were probably dozens of eidolons I hadn¡¯t heard of all in all. What even is an Echidna? Ah, wait, thank you! I¡¯ll definitely do that.


    As for what Echdna wanted¡­ there were a few I could offer. That revolver I took from my underground vault was one. Still didn¡¯t know what it even did. Or I could offer that celestial compass. It looked fine but I wasn¡¯t really sure if I¡¯d ever get around to actually using it. At least, I hadn¡¯t used it yet.


    That could wait for later though. I looked up Echidna on the Net. Apparently, echidnas were a mammal covered in sharp quills. It looked a bit like an hedgehog and was one of two mammals that laid eggs.


    As for Echidna the eidolon? She was one of the few eidolons who had a public working relationship with the corporate side of the world. Specifically, with Mystech. Apparently, she was well known for creating and modifying anything magical. She wouldn¡¯t be a bad eidolon to get to know, even with her corporate relations.


    I left my speakeasy, stopping by the gym to lift some weights on my way out. I had access, and I was here, so why not use the equipment? Sure, it wasn¡¯t nearly as good as the Crusade¡¯s equipment, which I also had access to. It was safe from the Inquisitor though! Or, at least, I hoped it was.


    Unfortunately, that was basically it as far as outside activities went. I didn¡¯t get paid until next week thanks to Athena having to find buyers for everything. With the SITCH busy, and my bank account momentarily low, I returned to my apartment and pulled up my stats.


    ¡¸Name: Shiro Tsukuyomi


    Traits: Fox¡¯s Grace, Quick Healing, Insight


    Free Perk Points: 1


    Tracking - 7


    Stalk


    Tech - 11


    Eidetic Schematic


    Corvid S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Stealth - 11


    Fox¡¯s Paw


    Cold-Blooded


    Sleight of Hand - 9


    Hidden Hands


    Ambidextrous


    Perception - 10


    Aetherial Perception


    Technical Expertise


    Net - 3


    Melee Weapons - 5


    Throwing Weapon Master


    Intimidation - 3


    Firearm - 9


    Dexterity


    1 Perk Point


    First Aid - 5


    Calming


    Explosives - 1


    Evasion - 6


    Burst Step


    Driving - 7


    Land Vehicles


    Deception - 8


    Honest Face


    Master of Disguise


    Criminology - 7


    Cues


    Concealment - 8


    Lethargic Presence


    Hidden Weapon


    Cleaning - 4


    1 Perk Point


    Brawling - 4


    1 Perk Point


    Accounting - 1¡¹


    Perks! Perks! Perks!


    It was finally time to pick out a Perk. I laid down on my bed and settled in as I was sucked into the pavilion. The first Perk I wanted to grab up was for Cleaning. It was pure curiosity that drove me to it.


    I arrived before the shelf, eagerly looking through the vast array of Cleaning-related Perks. Most of them were as I expected. Nothing too intriguing. Quite a few related to chemicals and cleaning with said chemicals. There was even one that would modify my body to generate chemicals instead of sweat, which was¡­ interesting.


    The idea of bleach or some acid pouring out of my skin was quite uncomfortable. It definitely had quite a bit of applications, but it wasn¡¯t something I was necessarily interested in.


    There were surprisingly few high-level Perks though. Almost every Perk I saw was achievable with the first Perk Point of Cleaning. It was almost as if no one had hit higher levels of Cleaning, so the eidolons never created higher-level Perks. That thought alone almost made me want to level Cleaning just to see what would happen.


    Cleaning would be a skill I could power level too, though I wasn''t sure if it was worth the time investment. I mean, I would be better off making stuff for Tech or going out on a heist. Speaking of heists, I was really looking forward to doing one. The gig with the Crimson Company hadn''t quite scratched that itch- Focus up, Shiro! Perks now, plotting later.


    Eventually, I settled on a Perk that wouldn¡¯t provide any immediate benefits. Once I got the speakeasy up and actually running as a true bar though, it¡¯d be nice to have.


    ¡¸Squeaky Clean - Increase the atmosphere and mood of people in places you clean.¡¹


    Yeah, nothing too insane. Atmosphere and mood were two very important factors when it comes to bars though. With both good, people would be more willing to come back. Returning customers were paying customers.


    Of course, that was in the future. I didn¡¯t even own the building, let alone have everything needed to run a bar. It¡¯d be a long time till then if I had to guess. But that was fine. Goals for the future were nice to have. It gave me direction past the day-to-day.


    I took the scroll over to the easel and set it down. I was expecting a perfectly realistic painting, but what I found surprised me. It was a half-finished painting of a person cleaning the floor with a mop. Such a sight severely dropped my confidence in the perk. Was the effect half-finished too?


    Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t have long to think about it before I was kicked out of the pavilion and sent back to my apartment. It seemed it was one of the magical effect-type Perks as nothing too major happened. Which was nice.


    Since it was an easy acquisition, I was more than happy to delve back into the Pavilion and pick another Perk. At least, that was until I heard my phone ring. Not my usual phone either. It was the Blue Crusade phone.


    I reached for it as the screen flicked on, revealing five dozen missed calls from the inquisitor and two times as many text messages. The most recent was a minute ago and the one furthest back would¡¯ve been a few days after I left the city. Did something go down?


    I hesitantly reached for the phone and called the Inquisitor back.

 Chapter 191

    Chapter 191¡°Zuku! It¡¯s about time. Been trying to reach you for weeksh!¡± The ever-cold voice of Inquisitor Ligh came across the line.


    ¡±Inquisitor¡­ about that¡­¡± What do I even say? How can I ward off an inquiry into a month-long absence? This is seriously too much to worry about. I didn¡¯t even think about the Crusade before, during, or after the job.


    Hmm¡­ should I run away? With Master of Disguise, it¡¯d be surprisingly easy to escape the Crusade. And anyone trying to find me for that matter. At least, based on my face. No matter what I did, I¡¯d still have a technological footprint, so it wasn¡¯t worth the risk.


    ¡±Where have you been?¡± Surprisingly, the Inquisitor¡¯s voice didn¡¯t turn angry or irritated. More so¡­ curious.


    ¡±Uh- don¡¯t you remember?¡± Too bad Honest Face doesn¡¯t work unless the other person can see me. Looks like I¡¯ll just have to trust my natural deception ability.


    There was a moment of silence on the line. ¡°No? Should I remember shomething?¡±


    ¡°I- uh- I went out to investigate a lead from a Confidential Informant.¡± I ran through the little lie quickly. The best lies always had truth mixed into them. ¡°I¡¯ve been out of the city. Just got back.¡±


    Inquisitor Ligh coughed a few times. ¡°Ah, yesh¡­ of courshe¡­ I remember now. How was your, uh, trip?¡±


    ¡°I just got back from New Tress City. It was as my CI said; the entire city is covered in plants. I ran into several monstrous plants similar to the ones we ran into while facing the Circle.¡± Nice swing, Shiro! Now just land it¡­ see if maybe you can get a few days off?


    Inquisitor Ligh almost put the dream of even more time off to rest immediately. ¡°That¡¯sh good¡­ that¡¯sh good¡­ when are you coming back in to report? You might not have heard, but we¡¯re all handsh on deck after foiling the Circle¡¯s attack on Down Town.¡±


    ¡±Uh, actually, sir, I need about two weeks longer to finish up this trail-¡°


    The Inquisitor ruthlessly cut me off. ¡±Get it done in one. Then come in. I have a specific job in mind for you that can¡¯t wait much longer.¡± He hung up before I could reply.


    I took a deep breath. Successfully duped the Inquisitor once more. Maybe working under him wasn¡¯t that big of an issue? Seriously, if I just said he forgot something and then came up with a plausible sequence of events, he¡¯d just believe me thanks to his constant drunken stupor.


    Admittedly though, I wasn¡¯t looking forward to this ''specific job''. Especially considering the context. And he said it was a job had had specifically in mind for me, which was¡­ very unsettling to say the least.


    At least I had a week to regear spend my Perk Points, and get ready once more¡­ if I was going against the Circle though¡­ maybe I should spend that Free Perk Point I¡¯d been sitting on? Or should I keep saving it for a really standout Perk like I have been thus far?


    Decisions, decisions¡­


    Regardless, for now, I still had the Firearms and Brawling Perk. Both were related to combat, which would be nice for the upcoming job. No telling if it involved raiding another Circle base or not.


    I took a drink from the canteen and then allowed myself to fall back into the pavilion. This time around, I was here for the Brawling Perk. The Perks were¡­ well, they were about as I expected after looking through the melee Perks.


    About half of them were various martial arts that wouldn¡¯t be too bad to know. Then there was about a third that seemed to be effect types, like Blazing Swallow Kick which would encase a kick in fire. Basically magic.


    The fire effect ones were incredibly tempting, especially with my future of fighting plants. Even if a normal fire wasn¡¯t all that great against the Circle¡¯s magic plants, surely magic fire from the eidolons would be fine, right?


    Then again, blatantly using magic might not be the best idea. I was a lowkey person, and fire bursting from kicks wasn¡¯t exactly lowkey. It was cool though. And if I really wanted Blazing Swallow Kick I could probably lie and say I had some kind of fire gadget.


    The rest were various miscellaneous Perks that went alongside Brawling. After looking through the list, I settled on one in particular. It looked like it¡¯d fit my style the most.


    ¡¸Swipe -  The best thieves don¡¯t stop even mid-fight.¡¹


    Not very clear, but it looked like some kind of martial art for stealing. And of course I¡¯d take it if that were true. The thought of being able to klep something off of someone mid-fight was quite attractive. Not only stealing just to steal but also taking things like grenades¡­ or the pins of grenades.


    And I was up against the Circle. If I took their protective charm thing, would the plants still recognize them and not attack? If not, then I had a great way to take care of the bastards. Give them a taste of their own medicine. That was assuming the charms were even functional in the first place. I still had yet to test the one I snagged from them.


    I tossed the scroll onto the easel, finding a fully finished painting of a person dipping their hand into an attacker¡¯s pocket as they dodged a blow from a sword. It was nice to see that only Cleaning¡¯s stuff was half finished.


    The scene subtly shifted around me until I stood before two actual figures. The thief moved as another attack came, brushing past and stealing a strap holding the attacker¡¯s armor together. The armor fell off, and the thief took the opportunity to finish the fight with one brutal strike. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    And then the fight faded entirely from view. A new figure approached, not hesitating to swing a sword toward me. The blow was slow and well-choreographed, so I could¡¯ve easily dodged it. But this wasn¡¯t an Evasion Perk.


    A red outline appeared. I knew what it meant this time, easily following along with the motions. A dagger on the attacker¡¯s hip glowed red, visible through the sheath as if I had x-ray vision. I dipped under the blow, swiping the dagger from the swordsmen. It felt like easy mode almost, as if that were a thing in the interface¡¯s training.


    As soon as I followed the outline to its final point with a dagger in hand, the scenario reset. The scenery faded till I stood atop a rooftop in the middle of a city. Advertisements for¡­ Fox, Echidna, Bear, and at least a dozen other eidolons popped up all around. Real subtle guys.


    This time, a cyborg approached at breakneck speed from the other side of the roof. He lanced toward me with a shock baton as his other chrome arm rippled with fire. The goal of this one was¡­ a servo on the inside of the cyborg¡¯s arm. I could see the red glow of it through his chrome.


    The difficulty of this amped up quite far, eh? Can¡¯t we tone it down a bit? Please? I flung myself to the side as Insight warned me of fire washing over my body. A moment later, the flaming arm launched a powerful jet out. It entirely melted through the section of the roof I just stood on.


    The flamethrower kept me back as the ¡®borg approached once more, slashing with the baton. The chrome-enhanced movement was too fast for me to dodge so I once more chose to retreat.


    I took my first glance at the guy¡¯s chrome. To even get access to the servos, I¡¯d have to get into his arm¡¯s access shaft or somehow manage to pull off a piece of metal plating. It was looking to be an impossible task.


    Unfortunately, thanks to my previous dodge, I put myself right into the flamethrower''s path. Insight¡¯s warning came, but I was still stuck in the middle of my dodge, so the jet of fire caught me. The scorching flames washed over my body-


    The scenario reset once more before the pain could hit. I stared at the glowing servo through the guy¡¯s arm, sighing deeply. Of course, it wasn¡¯t easy.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    I collapsed onto my bed, feeling a weird combination of entirely drained and yet well rested. This last Perk¡­ Swipe was something else.


    By the end, simply getting a servo out of a chrome arm was a cakewalk compared to a few of the latter tasks. Especially once modifiers to the task like ¡®stay unnoticed¡¯ started coming in. That sucked. Massively. Especially since I couldn¡¯t even use Technical Expertise to copy some of the crazy tech the interface pulled out.


    I checked my phone as I quenched my raging thirst with Crow¡¯s Canteen of Chaos. Two days. Should I go back in-


    No. Mental health was important, or something like that. I was better off taking at least a day''s break before going back in for the Firearms Perk. The SITCH in my speakeasy¡¯s back room was still blitzing away and wouldn¡¯t be down for three more days, so there was no point in going back unless I wanted to make more toys.


    Should I go sightseeing? That was a pretty brainless activity, right? Hmm¡­ while I tried to figure out what I wanted to do, I fished out the Constellation Night Market card and scanned it. The next market was in a week and a half in Portside, really close to the water.


    Could always go out klepping pockets. That was always fun. Or just read up on events in the city while I was gone. Try to figure out what kicked the Blue Crusade into high gear. Hmm¡­


    I checked my notifications. Bunch of spam and scam texts. There was a message from Mira letting me know she¡¯d be in a dead zone for the next month or so and wouldn¡¯t be able to respond. That was half a month ago.


    And, surprisingly, a message from Sean Sentinel. It was from a few days ago, so it hadn¡¯t been sitting for an entire month. ¡®Hey, Lady Meno. How are you? You miss Aythryn City?¡¯


    What was the name I used when talking to him again? Meno Myknee? That sounded right. I don¡¯t think it is, but it right, so I don¡¯t really care. Seriously, remembering several names was such a hassle. Shiro Tsukuyomi was good enough for me.


    ¡®Hey, Sean! Sorry, I couldn¡¯t respond. I¡¯m doing good. Aythryn City certainly had its appeal.¡¯ I sent back. ¡®How about you?¡±


    The reply was immediate as if he¡¯d been camping by his phone. More accurately, he probably had it wired directly into his chrome. ¡®I understand, it¡¯s not a problem. I¡¯ve taken an interest in art history and mechanical engineering, so it''s been quite busy.¡¯


    How funny. Those were both the things I was said I was interested in back then. Is he- there¡¯s no way he¡¯s still pining for me, right? Whatever happened out of sight out of mind?


    Though it is a bit flattering, I suppose¡­ Still, I doubt I¡¯d ever see him as anything but a foolish and lost boy. One with a golden spoon I¡¯d be more than happy to swipe.


    I chatted with Sean for several hours in between reading Cold Moon Solutions documents, listening to the radio, and putting together a good enough story I could sell to the Inquisitor. It ended up being a rather nice night, especially when Corvid dropped by with a gift.


    The crow flew over to my bed from the Aether, lightly dropping a small blue stone next to my pillow. ¡°Caw!¡±


    ¡°Thank you!¡± I called out to the scavenging bird as he once more vanished into the Aether. I checked the stone out, feeling a slight jolt of electricity as I touched it. A frown crossed my face as I threw it next to the other dozens of stones Corvid had occasionally dropped off.


    Almost all of them were the same as the original black crystal. There were a few standouts like the jolting crystal he just gave me though. I really needed to get someone to check them out and tell me what each one was. My only fear was that they were extremely valuable and whoever checked them out would short-change me. For now, I was just collecting them.


    I put away the stone and then dropped back onto my bed. It hadn''t been nearly long enough, but I was already bored waiting. I dropped back into unconsciousness as the pavilion beckoned.

 Chapter 192

    Chapter 192Firearms. It had some crazy choices for Perks. Dexterity was practically a time-slowing effect, and that¡¯d been a level four Perk. Granted, it was likely a mistake that it was so lowly placed. After all this time, I¡¯d long realized that the Perks, Skills, and Traits of the interface weren¡¯t exactly balanced for the world. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Not that I was complaining. Made my path to dominance so much easier by having the good stuff. It gave me a fighting chance against the insane death cultists, chromed mercs, and uber-rich corpos that plagued this world. Oh, and the psychotic ''normal'' people too.


    It looked like this time would be no different as I looked through the Perk scrolls scattered across the Firearms Shelf. Or, at least, I hoped it wouldn¡¯t be any different.


    At the top of the shelf, the flickering flame of my Perk illuminated the surrounding scrolls. I leaned forward looking at one scroll after another as I tried to find the best fit. I was getting progressively better at speed reading, so it was easy to get through massive chunks of shelf.


    There were all types scattered across the shelves. Quite a few, such as Sharpshooting Mastery, had requirements still in the level four category. Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t look like there was a next-level Perk for Dexterity. At least, not a level eight one. There were plenty of Perks across the next couple of levels of Firearms that might have tie-ins though.


    I was torn between going for a level four Perk called Crackshot, which would help with gun draw and target acquisition, and Turret Mastery. It was likewise a level four Perk tying into Cannon Mastery.


    I looked through the list a while longer, trying to find an optimal Perk for what I wanted to do. Turret Mastery was mighty tempting, especially considering my new decision on ambush-style fighting and sentry turrets. Still, I looked. I¡¯d noticed in the past that I tended to glaze past the occasional scroll or two.


    And oh man was I glad I looked back through the list. Somehow, I missed out on an eighth-level Perk called Aether Imbuement.


    ¡¸Aether Imbuement - Imbue your projectiles with Aetherial Energy, causing elemental effects.¡¹


    Way back when I would¡¯ve immediately decided on another Perk and completely skipped this magic-adjacent one. That was then. This was now. I was practically bonded to the eidolons by the interface, and my hesitations had faded significantly over the past months. I was afraid of the unknown, as most people were, and magic was slowly becoming more and more known.


    That, and magic was so incredibly useful. It didn¡¯t say what elemental effects there were exactly, nor what they did, but any additional damage would be great. I also wasn¡¯t a hundred percent sure what counted as a projectile. If I threw a knife, would it be a projectile? What about a water gun shooting a glob of water? It was technically a projectile, right?


    There were a lot of questions to be asked, but for now, I had to actually get the Perk. I grabbed the scroll and immediately headed for the easel. It unrolled to reveal a shadowy figure shooting with an AR. The bullets impacted a target, alternatively catching fire, bursting into ice crystals, and creating clouds of what looked like poisonous gas.


    As the scroll unraveled, I found myself transported to a¡­ lab? It looked like a lab. Pure white walls with a table in the middle. Dozens of bullets of all different calibers sat in the middle of the space. It was also covered in everything I¡¯d need to make bullets myself.


    I thought this was an effect type? What¡¯s with this whole setup? Was it a learned Perk then? I scratched my head and moved over to the lab table. Now what? Usually, these things had some kind of interface instructions.


    A thick book opened on the table by itself: Aether Imbuement 101 by Owl. The pages flipped to an introduction, breaking down the steps and processes to imbue bullets with Aetherial Energy. There were a lot. Too many, almost. I like the book though. It was different from the typical setup, at least.


    I read through the chapter names and took a quick glimpse through the book. The entire Perk seemed to center around Crystallized Elements, which had almost half of the book dedicated to making. I looked over all the tools set up and sighed deeply. Here I was hoping for a simple Perk that wouldn¡¯t take too long.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    I felt even more mentally drained than when I learned Swipe. At least that was only muscle memory. Aether Imbuement though? For someone who wasn¡¯t a Magi or Adept, it was a brutal process with so much to memorize. My brain pounded against my skull in a complaint over how much I crammed into it.


    Aether Imbuement was¡­ well, it was closer to old-school alchemy than anything. Reactants, solvents, solutes, and catalysts were just the tip of the iceberg for creating Crystalized Elements.


    At least, just the mundane side of the iceberg. There was the whole Aether manipulation through Runes that I¡¯d had no idea was even possible until now. Seriously, there was so much to the world I hadn¡¯t seen and likely wouldn¡¯t see stuck here in Aythryn City. Especially to he more magical side of the world. What else was there? Ritual magic?


    Anyway, getting everything I¡¯d need to create a full array of different elemental ammo types would take a whole lab and a ton of money. Especially considering some of the stuff I needed got very pricey  quickly.


    I wouldn¡¯t even be able to use Aether Imbuement for a while. I needed a pure silver plate carved with the proper runes to even start with the simplest and weakest of Imbuements. Then if I wanted to scale up the effect and the element, I¡¯d need much, much more. There were a whole host of different catalysts that could modify and change the initial effect too.


    It¡¯s a good thing I was getting paid soon. I had a ton of new equipment I needed to go out and buy¡­ or maybe make? Some of it I could definitely just print out. Hmm¡­ regardless, it¡¯d take a couple days to get everything set up and ready.


    On the bright side, the info dump over the past two days had been informative in a great number of ways outside of just making elemental bullets. I was about ninety percent sure that with the right modifications to the process the interface taught me, I could likewise imbue other things than just bullets. Like maybe paralysis on a knife, if I know what I¡¯m doing.


    Then there was also information about a great many crystals from the Aether. It sure was handy, especially considering one of my other Perks. I stood up from bed, heading for the small crystal collection Corvid scavenged for me.


    I picked up one of the many small black crystals and lightly pinched it in my hand. I¡¯m pretty sure this was Aetheria, a relatively common crystal based on how many Corvid had brought me. It wasn¡¯t anything crazy, but it was a catalyst for Crystallized Elements to moderately improve the strength of their effect.


    The others I wasn¡¯t so sure about. After Aether Imbuement, I was definitely a bit more cautious about handling the crystals I wasn¡¯t sure of. Some of the reactions I learned about got dangerous quickly. There was a reason they were used in weapons.


    I collected my thoughts then threw on my jacket and headed out towards my bike. I tucked my hair tightly below the brim of my hat and set off for my speakeasy. As I drove, I kept my eyes peeled.


    The Crusade was out in full force. Patrols looked doubled since Aether Imbuement made me pass out for two days. I took a detour around the city to gather more intel, noticing far more Cruisers out and about than what I¡¯d come to expect. There were even foot patrols of Squires and Jaegers out and about.


    I kept my head low, regretting my decision not to grab my badge. I should be fine, but they were doing quick stops on the streets. I was better off avoiding them outright than trying to explain away a backpack with a small armory in it. And so I tried my best to get to the speakeasy without getting stopped. It was surprisingly easy.


    Stalk, my Perk that hid me from peripheral perception, had a large part to play no doubt. Out of sight, out of mind. Or at least, I wasn¡¯t worth the effort when there was a homeless person right there.


    I slunk into the apartment building and snuck into the speakeasy. I tossed my stuff to the side and went to check the SITCH. Still had a day till all the parts were done, though a good portion of the smaller bits were already finished.


    I went ahead and started half assembling the sentry guns. Or, at least the legs and barrels of the sentry guns. The targeting arrays were the last¡ªand most complicated¡ªparts yet to be printed by the SITCH. Everything else was ready to go though.


    For the targeting arrays, I basically had them set up to shoot towards anything I target either an IR laser. Once I had a targeting program I¡¯d have to change up the targeting array more, but for now, simply shooting at something I targeted was good enough.


    It took several hours to get everything just right. I was getting better at blueprinting though since it all came together rather easily. Just like the rest of my tech, they were made to be easily disassembled for future updates and iterations.


    Other than that, I hung out and read documents. I was getting through them slowly but surely. I started back at the founding documents of Cold Moon Solutions. A lot of history was mentioned that I had to go look up. Super interesting stuff once I had more context for what was going on.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    Several days later, after I just finished building and testing the sentries, I got a text from Athena. ¡®Your pay is deposited. Good job, Zuku.¡¯


    I eagerly set down my tools and tapped the micro sentry gun twins for good luck. I still had no idea how much I¡¯d get from this gig, though the general estimate was at least twenty thousand. I held my breath as I pulled up the First International Boswan Bank app and looked at my account.


    One hundred and five thousand, three hundred Rayn. And some change. More than enough to drive most people in the city insane at seeing it all in a single deposit. Laughter burst out of me as I happily sat back in my chair. It was the most I¡¯d ever had at once. Well... most I''ve ever had actual access to. My parents back then were loaded.


    There were so many things I could do with that much Rayn that my mind became momentarily dazed just thinking through the possibilities. I took several deep breaths to calm down. Now that I had a bunch of Rayn, it was best I reinvested all of it into myself so I could make more in the future.


    I wasn¡¯t sure how much of it I would have to cut into to get a whole Aether Imbuement setup, but it would be more than worth it. Especially if I started selling Aether Imbued bullets. Most people kept to the typical, ordinary bullets since they were cheap and reliable. But I could probably undercut explosive rounds and make a neat profit.


    Aside from that, I needed to get a new deck. I could safely splurge on a better one, though I didn¡¯t need anything too insane. It would mostly be to run programs, so I didn¡¯t need some crazy Netrunner deck. Just a solid one that would run what I needed it to.


    But before all of that, I needed to get the SITCH back up and running. I drafted a quick design of the reloading bench I used in the pavilion, double and triple-checking it before tossing the design into the behemoth of a printer.


    Just as I was about to move on to something else in my endless list of things to do, I got a message from the Inquisitor. ¡®Come in, Zuku. Now.¡¯


    I sent back a thumbs-up emoji as a sigh left me. Just when I was starting to get things done, the Inquisitor had to come and ruin everything as per freaking usual. I dropped everything I wouldn¡¯t want the Crusade to see me with and then headed back to my apartment to gear up.


    I wasn¡¯t sure what exactly kicked the nest as of late, but I guess I couldn¡¯t stay out of it for much longer. I just hoped it was something short and easy. I mean, what are the odds this was going to be another long and draining job?

 Chapter 193

    Chapter 193As soon as I entered the Blue Crusade, I could feel the tension in the air. Everyone was hustling and bustling, moving around and trying to get whatever they were working on done. It was also quiet. Too quiet. I was used to the Crusade¡¯s constant chatter, so actually having all the Crusaders quiet and focused for once was incredibly weird.


    It was almost as if I was in a normal workplace environment where everyone just focused on their jobs. Honestly, I''d rather have it back the way it was. The environment felt heavy compared to usual. It was frankly uncomfortable.


    I headed for the Inquisitor¡¯s office first. I wasn¡¯t a hundred percent sure what I was expecting after the order came in, but It definitely wasn¡¯t to find his office crammed full of people.


    I recognized the ever-drained, yet still somehow aware of everything, Hope sitting in the seat across from the Inquisitor. She had the full Crusade get-up, just missing the helmet that would mark her transition from Squire to Inquisitor. She brushed raven locks of hair out of her face as she put on what was probably supposed to be a welcoming smile. She failed horribly, as per usual.


    The other seat was taken up by a twitchy-looking fellow. As soon as I stepped in, his head snapped back to glance at me. Dark bags hung under his eyes, reminiscent of Hope. I recognized an almost feral twitch in his eyes, one reeking of paranoia. It was an unfortunately familiar look.


    The squire himself would¡¯ve been quite handsome at one point, though his stooped posture, hunched back, and gaunt face destroyed any remnants of handsomeness left over. He shifted in his seat slightly, ensuring he had vision of me at all times even though he''d already long shifted the seat so he could watch the door and everyone else in the room at the same time.


    He was adorned in almost full Crusade regalia, just missing one of the greaves and, of course, the helmet. He seemed likewise as accomplished as Hope, and yet their armor was entirely different.


    This paranoid-looking guy had opted for the fullest protection Crusade armor could offer. Almost every bit of his body was covered in the silver heavy armor of the crusade. He looked closer to a Knight than an Inquisitor. What wasn''t covered by armor? Filled with bullet-resistant padding like some kind of knock-off bomb-suit.


    As I passed the door frame, I noticed a fourth member of the group sitting back in a shadowy corner of the room. He looked quite shifty as his eyes, partially hidden by a pair of sunglasses and a hood, drifted past all of my pockets. It was the gaze of a thief through and through. No way I wouldn''t recognize it.


    The guy was careful to hide his features with a combination of shadows, sunglasses, and his hood. From what I could tell though, he looked perfectly average. He had the kind of face that could blend into a crowd without any issues. The most standout feature was dark eyes and even darker bags weighing under them.


    He had just two silver bracers on. Somehow, despite being quite shiny, they were a bit hard to focus on. Almost as if my subconscious didn¡¯t even want to register his hands. A bit similar to Hidden Hands, though it didn''t feel nearly as powerful.


    I immediately recognized the effect as some kind of aversion enchantment. If anything, it failed its job spectacularly as I watched him closer. Such an enchantment would greatly empower pickpocketing or anything else a kleptoid would do. Not that I would need such an echatment.


    This job seriously seemed to take it out of people. Or maybe it was just the Inquisitor? Either way, I had a feeling it was only a matter of time till I joined in the baggy eye train. I mean, the three of them were already there.


    ¡°Ah, Zuku. It¡¯sh about time.¡± The Inquisitor called in his typical cold voice with little variation in tone.


    ¡°Sorry, sir. I came in as soon as I got your message.¡± All the seats were taken, so I opted to sit on the table against the wall. My legs kicked slightly as I leaned back.


    ¡°Squires, Zuku. Zuku, Squire Dev.¡± The Inquisitor pointed to the twitchy guy in the chair. He flinched as his name was called. ¡°And that¡¯s Squire Joshua in the corner. The other two are out at the moment.¡±


    I nodded to the two. So he had six Squires total? ¡°Nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be a pleasure to work alongside you.¡± Joshua smiled at me. There was a hint of recognition in his eyes. Like recognized like, I guess. He seemed quite suave too, the type that could talk his way into anywhere.


    Squire Dev just nodded back, though he seemed to sink further into the chair as if to put a barricade between us. The poor guy looked like he¡¯d been through quite some shit. Note to self: always make footsteps when I approach him. Wouldn¡¯t want to get shot accidentally taking him by surprise.


    Inquisitor Strumgard pulled a device from his desk and set it up. Scrambler. ¡°What I¡¯m about to shay needsh to stay between us, got it?¡±


    There was a moment of silence as all of us nodded. Some more hesitant than others. Dev in particular looked particularly put out by being brought into some secretive mission. The guy looked like he would want nothing more than to dig a couple of trenches and lace the surrounding area with landmines.


    ¡±There was an attempted attack on Downtown not too long ago. I happened to be in the right place at the right time and shtopped it.¡± The Inquisitor paused to drink something from a water bottle. Probably not water.


    Also, in the right place at the right time¡­ that seemed to always happen to the good Inquisitor? It was kinda weird. Almost as if he was constantly led to the right place at the right time. Was he some eidolonic enforcer? Were those even a thing? Surely, right?


    Dev raised a hand. ¡°It was the Circle, right?¡±


    ¡±Indeed¡­ shince it was the circle, the Commander has been assigned himself to in the inveshtigation. I have to let him follow me around.¡± His voice dipped colder, showing off slight annoyance for once. ¡°I need you guysh to help out. Fill in the gapsh. We¡¯re the lead investigators for this one.¡±


    Right, that makes sense. He was probably being slowed way down by having his boss follow him around. Even if the Crusade Commander wasn¡¯t getting in the way, I¡¯m sure it¡¯d still slow him down. I knew from first-hand experience how having an unwanted boss follow you around could mess stuff up... or they''d claim your achievements as their own... why am I helping Ligh again?


    ¡±You¡¯ll shplit up into two groupsh of two and check out POIs I¡¯ve marked down. Should be something. Came from looking through the documentsh Zuku and Hope secured from the raid on the Circle outpost Underground.¡± The Inquisitor paused. ¡°Any questionsh?¡±


    ¡±What¡¯re the teams?¡± Joshua asked.


    Surely I¡¯d still be paired with Hope, right? I mean, we were the dream team at the moment. We took down that Circle outpost nearly single-handedly, after all. And if not Hope, then Joshua would probably be fine. As long as I didn¡¯t get stuck with the paranoid one-


    ¡°Dev and Zuku go together. You¡¯ll be reshponsible for the more investigatory POIs. Hope and Joshua, expect combat. Feel free to take whatever you want from the armory for this one.¡±


    ¡°Anything I- want?¡± Joshua asked. I could practically hear the joy in his voice. Of course, I recognized it was the same one I had when approaching a heist. No one else seemed to notice. Seriously, why couldn¡¯t I go with him?


    Inquisitor Ligh seemed to think of something as he cocked his head. ¡°Anything. Hope, keep an eye out. Oh, Knight Persha and her Squires are on call if any of you need backup.¡±


    Knight Persha¡­ I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve met her yet. Hopefully, we wouldn¡¯t need backup. I glanced toward my partner for this one, Dev. He looked as though he was about to have a full-blown panic attack.


    The guy shakily raised a hand. ¡°Sir? I think it''s b-better I go with someone I trust. Like Josh-¡°


    ¡±Not for thish one. Joshua and Hope are the best fighters amongsht you lot. At least, conshidering your shituation.¡± Inquisitor Ligh immediately shut down the Squire.


    To be honest, I really couldn¡¯t blame the guy. I would much rather go with either Hope or Joshua. Dev seemed¡­ unstable? I was probably just seeing things. I I was seeing things, at least. His paranoid twitches didn''t instill any comfort in me though.


    Still, might be nice to work with someone else? The Crimson Company had really broadened my horizons when it came to working well with others. It might not be that bad. Then again, it could go horribly and irreparably scare me away from working with a team¡­


    I raised my hand. I had a couple questions in mind, though only one was major. ¡°What¡¯re we looking for exactly?¡±


    ¡°Anything and everything related to the Circle¡¯s plan. They¡¯re working on shomething in Aythryn City. Shomething wicked.¡± Inquisitor Ligh paused to drink from his water bottle again. Definitely not water. I barely caught the scent of alcohol. ¡°I¡¯ve got a bad feeling about it¡­¡±


    Or the effects of alcohol were finally starting to kick in for him¡­ I also had a bad feeling though. Not quite a warning from Insight as much as an instinctual weariness towards the whole situation. Especially after venturing out to New Tress City and seeing all of¡­ .


    I highly doubt they¡¯d be capable of doing the same thing to Aythryn City. Not with how many people lived here. Not to mention the Big 7 would probably have some strong opinions about the whole thing. It would ruin their investments, after all. S~ea??h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Still, for now, it was safe to assume they might want to spread their plants further. To what end, I had no idea. But if it happened there, it might happen here. Or at least, they might attempt it here.


    Inquisitor Ligh drew me from my thoughts as he pulled a holopuck from his desk and tossed it out. The puck projected a large pop-up of the city. He pointed to an arcology standing tall and proud against the city surrounding it. ¡±Dev and Zuku, head for Lang Tower in Old Town. I¡¯ve got reports of disappearances around that area. Might be unrelated, though there has been a noticeable acceleration of plant life in the area.¡±


    ¡±What about us?¡± Hope asked.


    ¡±Back Underground. A CI brought information about a shady group moving a bunch of fertilizer between Bricktown and East End.¡± He pointed to a spot on the map. ¡°It lines up with a location on that map you guys brought back.¡±


    ¡°Roger.¡±


    Inquisitor Ligh straightened up, his voice turning the most sober I¡¯d ever heard him. ¡°Remember, don¡¯t do anything to endanger yourshelves. I don¡¯t have time to find a new Squire with all that¡¯s going on. Dismissed.¡±


    We all got up to leave. Hope gave me what she probably thought was a reassuring smile as she split off and headed down the hall with Joshua. That just left Dev and I standing outside the Inquisitor¡¯s door.


    The guy twitched towards a shadow, his hand dropping for a pistol at his hip. He barely stopped himself and tried to hide the motion as if he was just sticking his hands in his pockets. Real smooth.


    ¡±So¡­¡± I tried to think of something to say to the guy. Unfortunately, nothing came to mind. There was an awkward silence in the air for several moments.


    ¡±So¡­¡± Dev replied. He seemed to have the same issue as I did.


    We both went silent as a shadow approached from down the hall. It took a second to realize it was the Commander. He nodded to us. ¡°Squires¡­ is the Inquisitor in?¡±


    ¡±Yes, sir.¡± I replied nervously. The way his hood completely hid his face in shadows made me extremely uncomfortable. That, or the Commander had a stronger variant of the fear enchantment that the rest of the Crusaders had.


    The Commander didn¡¯t spare us a second glance. He immediately headed for the Inquisitor¡¯s office and slipped in.


    Dev seemed to find his voice as the Commander vanished from sight. Glad to see I wasn¡¯t the only one intimidated by him. ¡°Let¡¯s uh, let¡¯s just get to work? I¡¯ll meet you at Lang Tower?¡±


    I nodded my head. ¡°Nova. See you there.¡±


    We split up, each going our own way. Hopefully, this would be a quick and easy job. I¡¯d rather not get sucked into some crazy adventure so soon.

 Chapter 194

    Chapter 194Dev and I met up just outside of Lang Tower in Old Town. It was a true arcology, built to be a city within a building. It was similar in shape and design to Talus Tower in that it was a fully self-sustaining location. The rest of the city could go to shit and yet the arcology would still be fine.


    Assuming it was left alone, that is. If the city went to shit, there was a good chance it would boil over and affect the arcologies considering their proximity. It was a fancy dream, but still a dream at the end of the day. Being truly self-sustaining would be impossible.


    It was the height of brutalist design, looking much like a prison. One that most who dwell in it would never escape. Of course, it was splattered in holographic displays and advertisements to hide its true nature, though they did little to help the massive block of a building.


    Quite the horrifying place, if you asked me. Arcologies were the height of capitalism and corporate control, especially considering most of them were funded by at least one of the Big 7.


    But none of that actually mattered all that much to me as we entered the building. I¡¯d already memorized the publicly available blueprint and the technical blueprint from the City Archives thanks to Eidetic Schematic on the way over. It made our trip significantly much easier as I led the way to our first stop.


    ¡±What do we know about him?¡± I asked Dev as I led us down a back hallway with sparse traffic. Some vines and weeds had grown through the cracks in the surrounding structure. I checked them with Aetherial Perception, though they only showed up as the mundane sort of plants.


    With my knowledge of the tower¡¯s layout, it was easy enough to go down the halls unoccupied by people. It was much safer and more convenient to completely avoid the highly populated main paths of the tower. Especially after Dev pulled a gun on the first pickpocket to pass us by.


    Dev briefly glanced at me before his eyes jumped back to our surroundings. He took a particular interest in a group of what looked like gangers up ahead. ¡°Ysoki Tarov, a mid-level executive of Lang Tower. He¡¯s in charge of the first three floors and the one who contacted the Crusade about the disappearances.¡±


    Ysoki Tarov was the first stop in our investigation. After that? We¡¯d see where the investigation would take us. I wasn¡¯t all that hopeful about actually finding something here though. People disappeared in Aythryn City all the time. A fair few ended up dead in the Outskirts in an unprepared attempt to reach another city or sold for parts to Scavs.


    The gangers up ahead, upon noticing our Blue Crusade gear, wasted no time in vacating the premises. As they left, I picked up a few details about them. Namely, they had a uniform. It wasn¡¯t just a small gang roaming about. Something to keep in mind.


    I mentally marked them down as suspects, and potentially a good source of information. From my time with the Jade Fangs, I was intimately aware of how gangs had their fingers on the pulse of their surroundings.


    I paused at an intersection as I summoned the map to the forefront of my mind. Then I turned down it as we continued to head for the Lang Tower offices. ¡°Was he also the one that reported increased plant growth?¡±


    ¡±I¡¯m not sure?¡± Dev paused, a frown covering his face as he stopped me. ¡°Let¡¯s go down a different hall.¡±


    I looked ahead, not spotting whatever spooked the guy. Still, instincts had saved me more than once. Could just be paranoia speaking, or it could be some kind of actual threat. I was happy to oblige the other Squire as we turned back to the intersection and took a different path.


    My heavy armor-wearing companion stomped with every heavy step as we slowly but surely made our way to the offices. There were quicker routes through the main paths, but this was a good opportunity to check the so-called accelerated plant growth.


    And indeed, quite a few plants were growing through the cracks all over the place. Could mean nothing aside from the Lang Tower having terrible maintenance. Knowing my luck though, they were probably a sign of some horrifying eldritch entity stalking the depths of the tower.


    Unfortunately, we had to cut back into populated areas to reach the offices. We exited the back halls into a bustling street-sized one with vendors and shop fronts set up all around it. It was a stressful moment for me as Dev turned quite twitchy at the sudden inflow of people. Let¡¯s just say he could¡¯ve been the poster boy for police brutality.


    Seriously, someone accidentally bumped into him in the cramped hallway and the crazed Squire suplexed the poor sap on reaction. Who the hell suplexes someone on a reaction? That was next level.


    The heavily armored squire flinched as I stared at him. "Um- he was resisting arrest?"


    "" My gaze turned to one of shocked disbelief as I gaped at him. Was this guy even fit to be in the Crusade- wait, no- I forgot who we served under. This is exactly something the Inquisitor would do in a drunken rage. And with his bullshit luck, the guy he suplexed would''ve been the head of the Circle.


    "You know how it is..." No, I don''t. He didn¡¯t even offer an apology as he nodded at me to continue leading. No one else seemed to care either as they just adjusted their steps to go around the downed man instead of offering help.


    I wasn¡¯t any different as I quickly led us away. No way I wanted to stick around for that to bite me in the ass. Knowing my luck, he was probably the leader of the local gang.


    Thankfully, we weren¡¯t all that far from the offices and we quickly got off the streets and entered a reception room. It was full of people, most looking quite irritated. Probably residents with one problem or another.


    A lady behind the desk smiled with a wide corpo smile as we approached. ¡°How can I help you?¡±


    ¡±We¡¯re here to speak to Mr. Tarov.¡± I replied. It was a bit awkward since Dev kept a wide berth from the reception desk as I approached to speak to the woman alone. He kept glancing around as if at any moment one of the seated people would come to stab him.


    ¡±May I ask what about?¡± The receptionist tapped around on her terminal. ¡°You don¡¯t have an appointment.¡±


    When in doubt, force your way through? That was the Crusade motto, at least. Why be persuasive when intimidation got you so far? I crossed my arms, ¡®accidentally¡¯ sparking my gauntlets against each other. I even flicked on Cold-Blooded, causing the surrounding air to chill slightly. ¡°You can ask.¡±


    The woman shivered, though managed to keep her smile up the entire time. I felt a bit bad, but I really didn¡¯t want to waste any time here. And the Crusade had a certain¡­ to uphold. Between me and suplex-man over there, we were doing a stand-up job. ¡°Of course¡­ he¡¯s not in at the moment.¡±


    ¡±Then call him down. We¡¯ll wait.¡± Dev replied easily as finally approached. He carefully positioned himself to watch every angle of approach and everyone in the room.


    ¡±R-right.¡± The woman¡¯s smile faded slightly as she moved for the office phone.


    I backed off and went to the other side of the room, looking at the various pictures on the walls. Dev continued to stand near the desk intimidatingly. Or at least, that¡¯s how it probably looked. I had the feeling he was just near the desk since there were fewer people there.


    I settled down in a corner seat and went back to reading documents on my phone for a few minutes before the door swung open and a man walked in. He was missing his left arm. It was weird to see a true handicap in this day and age considering how easy it was to get basic chrome for most people or even cloned limbs from Slab Co. Yet here this guy was. Bizarre.


    ¡°Mr. Tarov.¡± The receptionist smiled at the man. It looked like a genuine smile, one filled with a slight bit of worry for the man. Yet there wasn¡¯t the slightest bit of romantic interest. At least, based on her Cues. I upped my evaluation of the man significantly. He must have good qualities for her to look at him like that.


    The man nodded to the lady. He had a stern expression as he turned to us. I quickly whitelisted him for Master of Disguise. ¡°You must be the Crusaders. Please, come into my office.¡±


    We followed the man past the receptionist and down a hall filled with offices. Quite a few of them were full of people talking with employees of the Lang Tower. Eventually, we arrived in a moderate office. It was honestly a bit small and simplistic as if this Ysoki Tarov guy didn¡¯t care in the slightest about appearing rich like the rest of the corpos did.


    ¡±Sorry about the wait. I was out on my daily inspections.¡± Mr. Tarov waved to the two seats in front of his desk. ¡°Please have a seat.¡±


    As we sat down, Dev immediately got to business. ¡°We¡¯re here about your report.¡±


    The man nodded slowly, his expression falling slightly. He opened a drawer and reached into it, causing Dev to tense up next to me. The man withdrew three glasses and a bottle of whiskey. ¡°Want a drink?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°We¡¯re on the jo-¡°


    ¡±Of course!¡± Dev smiled happily. Really, I should¡¯ve expected as much. Inquisitor Ligh must¡¯ve infected him with alcoholism. Or drove him into it with the stress of the job.


    The man poured drinks for two and slid one over. ¡°Where do I start?¡±


    I grew distracted as Dev cheerfully gulped down the glass of whiskey. Where did his paranoia go? Drinking an offered drink was... well, the guy could''ve put anything in that. What the hell?


    ¡°From the beginning?¡± I suggested as I recentered myself on why we were here.


    He nodded his head several times as he sipped at the drink. ¡°Right, disappearances aren¡¯t all that odd for an arcology. They tend to just happen. Nine out of ten go unreported until it''s too late to do anything about them.¡±


    ¡±What¡¯s different about this time then?¡± Dev asked. Really, that was the crux of the problem here. As the guy said, disappearances usually weren''t reported. Especially by landlords. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡±It¡¯d be the numbers. The other executive managers across the tower won¡¯t let me look at their numbers, but my disappearance counts alone are up by the hundreds.¡± He shook his head wearily. ¡° doesn¡¯t just happen.¡±


    ¡±When did it start?¡± Up by hundreds was significant enough to cause worry. Could be anything from a crazed mutant serial killer to a Scav Den setting up shop in the tower.


    Or some terrible experiment by the Circle. They were willing to brainwash kids into killing each other, so there was really no telling what else they might be up to.


    He downed the rest of his drink, quickly pouring himself another glass. ¡°About three months ago? I knew some of these people too. They were the stables sort. The sort that wouldn¡¯t just disappear without telling friends or family unless something¡­ occurred.¡±


    ¡±Can you get us a list? Names, dates they disappeared, and home addresses?¡± I asked the man. That¡¯d be a good enough starting point.


    ¡±I¡¯ll get one printed out. Please get to the bottom of this.¡± The man sighed sadly. So far all his expressions have looked genuine under my careful scrutiny. ¡°I¡¯d been friends for years with some of these people. They deserve justice for whatever is happening.¡±


    ¡±And it cuts into profits?¡± Dev asked snidely.


    The man slowly shook his head. ¡°Not as much as you¡¯d think. There''s a reason the other floor managers haven¡¯t reported the issue yet.¡±


    Right, probably a great opportunity to drive up rent prices¡­ still, my opinion of Mr. Tarov jumped up significantly once more. He didn¡¯t seem like the typical corporate executive only in it for the money.


    Hmm¡­ were those really my thoughts though? The Circle was quite good at mental manipulation. No way I get caught off guard again.


    I flicked on Aetherial Perception to check him and his office over, everything was mundane. And he didn¡¯t have any plants in his office at all, which was a solid bonus. Maybe I was the paranoid one?


    ¡°Aside from the disappearances, we¡¯ve also received a report about accelerated plant growth in the area?¡±


    ¡°Uh- yeah. The groundskeepers are on strike thanks to it, making the problem even worse.¡± The man shrugged as he nursed his glass. ¡°Think it''s related?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡±We can¡¯t say. Can you get us a list of locations where the plants are particularly bad too?¡±


    ¡°No problem. The senior executives keep riding my ass about it anyway, so I¡¯ve got a ready-made list.¡± Ysoki Tarov looked down at a clock on his desk. ¡°Come back in an hour? I¡¯ll get everything for you.¡±


    ¡±Check.¡± I glanced around the office one more time as I stood up. ¡°Is there a good food joint nearby? And anywhere I could buy a bunch of glass bottles?¡±


    Mr. Tarov put on the first smile I¡¯d seen, though it looked entirely drained. He quickly jotted down on a piece of paper. ¡°There''s a really good ramen shop called the Neon Noodle. And Trashcan Terisa probably has bottles. Here are the addresses.¡±


    I took the offered piece of paper as I mentally changed the canteen to start making gasoline. ¡°Thank you. We¡¯ll be back.¡±


    Dev and I left the executive and headed for the Neon Noodle first.

 Chapter 195

    Chapter 195The first stop was Trashcan Terisa. No way I wanted to pilfer a place potentially full of plants and their cultists without some kind of fire. Sure, a mundane fire might not be all that effective, but could be a distraction at least.


    Trashcan Terisa ended up being a person, not an actual shop. She was set up in a narrow alley between two foundations of the Arcology. Her ¡®shop¡¯ was just a bunch of scavenged junk from what was probably trash cans. Regardless, she had what I needed. I got a dozen bottles super cheap. And Dev never asked why! What a good companion.


    Then there was the Neon Noodle, which was quite an interesting spot to eat. It reminded me of half rave, half noodle bar. There were a bunch of epileptic lights flashing constantly in every color imaginable, giving it quite a unique experience. The food helped that experience. Everything on the menu was luminescent as if we were eating straight neon. And it tasted good to boot.


    Ten out of ten would recommend it to anyone in the area. Too bad it was in the middle of the Lang Arcology though. It was a pain in the ass to get this far into the Lang Arcology just to get some fancy kinds of noodles.


    Then we were off to the offices once more. It was a bit easier to get back this time, mainly since Dev kept his hands to himself. It also helped that people gave us a wide berth. We  crusaders, so it really wasn¡¯t much of a surprise.


    Ysoki Tarov met us out front in the reception area and led us back to his office. He didn¡¯t sit down, instead grabbing a neat stack of papers and handing it over to me as well as a thick ring of keys. ¡°Here are the lists and keys.¡±


    I briefly glanced through them, mentally marking them on my internal map of the Lang Arcology. ¡°There aren¡¯t that many spots?¡±


    ¡±Yes, sorry. I could only get you access to a list of the most recent disappearances. Most of the apartments are already home to new tenets.¡± He shrugged helplessly. ¡°What remains shouldn¡¯t have been touched by anyone else other than me or the inhabitants though.¡±


    ¡±Got it.¡± I handed the list to Dev for him to look through. ¡°And the spots of accelerated plant growth?¡±


    He handed me another, much thicker stack of papers. ¡°Here you go. This should be every spot, including some from the upper levels. The managers up there though¡­ well, they probably won¡¯t do anything to you, but they might make things difficult. Discretion would go a long way.¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± Surprise surprise, the managers didn¡¯t want the police snooping around. Especially when said police were the brutal hound dogs of the Crusade.


    Mr. Tarov grabbed a jacket from his desk and made for the door. ¡°Pardon me, I really need to get to the rest of my inspections. If you need anything, ask Ms. Parse, my receptionist.¡±


    Once the guy left, Dev spoke up. ¡°I don¡¯t like this. Something about this whole thing feels¡­¡±


    I waited for him to finish, but he never did. ¡°Yeah, I know what you mean. Gang, apartments of the vanished, or the spots with plants first?¡±


    ¡±Apartments¡­ or maybe the plants to see if we¡¯re actually dealing with something here?¡± Dev asked as if he wasn¡¯t sure.


    Come to think of it, how much did the Inquisitor brief the other squires? I only partially knew what was going on with the Circle thanks to putting together the clues. These other guys though? There was a fair chance he might not know why we were even here in the first place.


    I shook my head to clear it. ¡°Apartments first. I have a feeling only mundane plants are growing fast.¡± At least based on the ones I¡¯ve seen in the back halls. There was a good chance they¡¯d keep anything magic under lock and key, if are even here in the first place.


    Dev held up the list and looked it over, twitching slightly as a particularly loud slam of a door echoed down the hall. ¡±Closest one looks like Lewis Lewison then.¡±


    What a name. I ran through my mental map and headed for the door. ¡°Right then.¡±


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    Dev motioned for me to wait as I lifted the key ring. He whispered. ¡°I think I hear something.¡±


    ¡±In there?¡± I whispered back. I tried to listen in, but I just missed whatever it was he heard. And it was impressive he heard anything for that matter. Most apartments these days had at least partial soundproofing. Chrome audio systems?


    He pulled a gun. ¡°I¡¯m sure. Breach and clear?¡±


    I sighed. Classic Crusade just assuming whatever was in there was a threat. Then I pulled my own pistol as the world slowed down thanks to Dexterity. I checked my perks, ensuring Master of Disguise was up and active. No way I wanted anyone to recognize my face in a Crusade uniform. ¡°Fine.¡±


    He nodded to me. I slowly turned the key in the door, unlocking it and easing it open. Once it was barely cracked, I heard what Dev heard. Someone was in there shattering a bunch of stuff. Contaminating evidence, if there were any.


    Dev held up his fingers. Three. Two. One. He slammed his foot forward, kicking open the door as he stormed in. The guy looked super intimidating in his full plate armor as he raised his handgun and rushed in.


    I followed close by in just my ballistic armor and trench coat, feeling quite weak compared to the guy. Not that it mattered too much. At least I was prettier. Or so I told myself.


    We entered a living room with an attached kitchen. The crashing sounded as though it came from one of the side rooms. I moved for the kitchen, clearing it as Dev stalked toward the room.


    Whoever was in there was definitely deaf. They continued with what they were doing, completely ignoring the super loud sound of Dev kicking in the door. I checked a few of the other side rooms, clearing them as well.


    ¡±Get down! Drop the weapon! Get down and put your hands behind your back!¡± Dev shouted, his voice sounding far more intimidating and dominant than usual.


    There was a scream and several dozen more crashes as if a ton of glass was shattering. Something heavy fell and clattered to the floor. I sprinted for the room, gun up to support the other squire-


    I found Dev with his knee on a woman¡¯s chest, pushing her harshly into the ground as she gasped for air. Glass completely covered the room, and the woman had hundreds of cuts all over her body from the small pieces. Every time she finally got enough air in her lungs, the woman would start screaming her head off. I dropped my pistol into my holster.


    ¡±Stop resisting!¡± Dev shouted at the completely limp woman as he flinched and lit up a shadow with five shots. A shadow right next to me. The bullets were close enough for Insight to give me a subtle warning.


    I dodged to the side, hesitantly calling out to him as I prepared to use Burst Step, ¡°Clear!¡±


    Dev flinched, a frown crossing his face. His arm twitched in my direction, though lowered as he spotted me. ¡°Right... right, sorry.¡±


    He got off of her, cuffing her with practiced moves and he went. Dev hauled the severely bleeding woman to her feet. He twitched, reaching for his gun again as the lights flickered briefly.  S§×ar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Remind me again why this guy was on active duty? I don¡¯t know how he ended up the way he did, but I sincerely pray it never happens to me. He belonged in a mental institute, not out on the streets with a gun and the authority of the Crusade.


    One look at his twitching eyes and even twitchier fingers made me stop that line of thought though. No way I¡¯d bring it up with him. Maybe to the Inquisitor after this was all over?


    ¡±We¡¯re clear.¡± I looked at all the shattered glass and knocked over shelves. It was probably some kind of storage ware for¡­ fine dinnerware? About half of it wasn¡¯t even glass but some kind of crystal. Just why?


    I stepped up, grabbing the woman¡¯s arm. She flinched and screamed as blood poured down onto my hand from dozens of cuts. It wasn¡¯t fully red, looking slightly pink. Really, she hadn¡¯t stopped screaming since this all started. I was really tempted to gag her. Wait, was that police brutality too?


    ¡°I- I¡¯ll go get her patched up¡­ see if you can¡¯t find a med kit or something?¡± Really, as long as he wasn¡¯t near us for a few moments, anything he did would be fine. At the very least, bad cop good cop was on the table after¡­ .


    I¡¯d definitely be the good cop. I put on an angelic smile boosted by Honest Face as I talked to the woman in low tones. For one of the first times since I got the Perk, I used my full training from First Aid¡¯s Calming. It took a while, in which I used my personal med kit to start patching her wounds, but eventually, I got the frantic woman to calm the hell down.


    She stared at me with dead fish eyes. Although it was hard to detect under the heavy scent of blood, I caught a slightly rotten scent emanating from her¡­ hair? I thought through a list of possibilities.


    She was probably on Euphoria, a kind of drug that brought euphoric feelings for a very short rush, followed by a period of extreme volatility. Depending on how long a person had been high, the volatile nature amped up or decreased. During the entire high, the person was basically immune to pain and bled at a slow rate. Yeah, it was yet another failed combat drug that made it to the streets.


    She was a drug addict too based on her blood. Severe Euphoria addicts'' blood shifted to match the color of the drug after a long time of use, changing the composition and creating a certain dependency. She slowly rocked in place. "They''re gone... they''re gone... he''ll love me now, right?"


    ¡±What¡¯s your name?¡± I asked calmly as I wrapped her arm gently in a bandage.


    ¡±Uh- uh- my name? Right, my name. It¡¯s Lilly Lewison- No? No- no, no, no. Stupid Lily. It''s Lilly Lower. Yeah, Lilly Lower.¡± The woman was definitely in a daze. Adrenaline mixing with Euphoria''s volatility definitely wasn''t a good combo.


    ¡°Do you have an ID?¡± I asked gently as I continued to dress her several cuts. Thankfully, most of them were minor.


    Dev appeared from a back room holding a massive bundle of bandages. I slowly shook my head at him, motioning for him to go into one of the other rooms. Thankfully, he noticed my motions and followed my suggestion to hide. There was a high chance Lilly would slip back into hysterics if her ''attacker'' appeared. Really, dealing with crazies was such a pain in the ass.


    She fumbled for a side pocket. It had been cut open at one point like most of her clothes, leaving whatever was in it to fall out. Dev peaked out of his side room, flashed me an OK symbol, and then moved for the glass room. His heavy footsteps weren¡¯t subtle in the slightest, though Lilly never turned around.


    I nodded to him and tried to keep up my gentle voice. ¡±Can you tell me what you¡¯re doing in Lewis Lewison¡¯s apartment?¡±


    ¡±Lewis?¡± The woman¡¯s foggy eyes cleared slightly. Soon, massive tears started pouring from her eyes as she wept. ¡°Lewis! He¡¯s gone! Why?! Why did you leave me?! Lewis!¡°


    The woman pulled me into a tight hug, weeping into my shoulder. As the tears slid down my coat, I hesitantly patted her back as she bled all over me. At leas the trenchcoat was water proof, so it''d be easy to clean off.


    In between sobs, she managed to choke out some words. ¡°Lewis -sniff- loved those plates! Those damn Plates! More than -sniff- me! No way he¡¯d just leave me- them! Me! He¡¯s really gone?!¡±


    Dev returned at that moment with the wallet. He casually chunked it at me. I barely saved Lilly from getting clocked over the head by the bulky wallet. As I soothed the woman with one arm, I rifled through her wallet with the other. It was full of needles and a small pouch of pink substance. Definitely Euphoria.


    Ah, and there''s her ID. Lilly Lower. Aged Twenty-three and home address halfway up the tower. The woman calmed down entirely as she stopped weeping- nope, she just passed out. I checked her vitals to make sure she wasn''t overdosing, but she really did just seem to fall asleep.


    I glared at the other Squire as I moved her onto the couch and off of me. ¡°Really, man? Was all ,¡± I waved at the horrible cuts all over Lilly, "really necessary?"


    ¡°She¡­ was... ? It¡¯ll work in the report, trust me.¡± He said with such pure confidence that for a moment I subconsciously agreed with him. Then my brain caught up. Just how many times has he written ¡®resisting¡¯ in reports for him to have such confidence?! "And she was already seriously injured before I even entered. If anything, I was saving her from herself!"


    I took a deep breath and sighed as I looked down at the woman and then the trashed apartment. I doubt we¡¯d get any more clues from here. ¡°Call in someone to come get her and take her back to HQ.¡±


    ¡±Sure! The Aspirants love doing that kind of thing.¡± Right, the Aspirants. I guess they also acted as the menial labor of the Crusade? Must suck being one of them. ¡°Are we moving to the next spot?¡±


    I sighed deeply again as I slowly nodded my head. ¡°Yeah. Doubt we¡¯d get anything else here. Find anything?¡±


    He shook his head. "No. Just more needles. Could''ve belonged to her, though."


    "True." I looked around the apartment. No telling what was already contaminated here by Lilly.


    Dev pulled out the list and looked through it. ¡±I vote for Harry Harrington next.¡±


    What the hell were these names? We waited a while for a group of Aspirants, the oldest of which looked barely nineteen, to come take the woman back to the HQ for further treatment. Crazy to think I was three years younger than him and at a higher rank. Granted, I technically cheated....


    We moved off for the next stop.

 Chapter 196

    Chapter 196¡°So good cop bad cop?¡± I asked Dev. Getting our roles down now was probably a good idea so I¡¯d know how to act in upcoming situations. And it seemed as if he was already leaning towards good cop bad cop.


    Dev shrugged as we walked down the hallway. ¡°I guess. I can make a  good cop.¡±


    I bit back a laugh as I looked up into the guy¡¯s unblinking eyes. He seemed entirely serious in that statement. The guy practically had a serial killer vibe to him, though saying such a thing to his face probably wasn¡¯t the best idea. Best to be tactful. ¡°I really don¡¯t think I can do bad cop. I¡¯m too short.¡±


    He nodded his head. ¡°Indeed¡­ fine, I¡¯ll  bad cop.¡±


    We went silent as we headed for our next stop. The next apartment offered a far more normal experience than the last one. At least, there was no drugged-up woman shattering glass dining ware and contaminating the crime scene. All was mostly silent as we approached. People tended to avoid Crusaders, so there was no one in the halls as we passed.


    We walked down a long hall, stopping just in front of the right apartment¡¯s door. Dust had settled on the door handle as I unlocked it, indicating it¡¯d been quite a while since anyone had been here. The apartments that weren¡¯t sold to new tenants were supposedly left entirely alone outside of a quick check from Mr. Tarov.


    I propped open the door, getting my first look at the apartment. No obvious signs of a struggle, which was a good sign. I checked the list Ysoki Tarov gave us. About half the list, including Harry, had small handwritten notes next to their name with the last place and dates they were seen.


    Mr. Tarov had tried his best to locate his missing residents, but the guy was super busy. The little handwritten notes were all that he had time to find on the vanished individuals. Most indicated places of work being the last places they were seen, but Harry in particular was seen last by his neighbor at home.


    I pulled a couple of sets of gloves from my bag, handing one to Dev. ¡°Here. In case this is a crime scene.¡±


    He waved his already gloved hands. Or rather, gauntleted. ¡°I¡¯m good.¡±


    I shrugged and threw the other set of disposable gloves into my bag. Dev split off to clear the apartment as I started my hunt for clues. First stop: the living room.


    The TV was left on, showing some kind of drama that I didn¡¯t recognize. The bright flashing lights and attention-seeking pops of color distracted me for a moment before I turned the device off. Even if we found Harry and got him back, his TV provider would eat him alive. Or at least devour his bank account. Hell, they probably already had.


    More interestingly, and which helped paint a picture of what happened to Harry in the back of my mind, there was takeout lying around half eaten on his coffee table. A pair of chopsticks sat off to the side of the food, propped up as if he intended to come back. It all suggested his departure to be rather sudden.


    The guy obviously lived by himself considering no one else had been through here in quite some time, so it couldn''t have been someone else in the apartment that distracted him. And his phone still lay on the table. Someone came to the door while he was eating then? It would make sense. The problem is that it could be literally anyone.


    And why¡¯d he leave in the first place? There was no sign of a struggle, so there was a good chance it was either someone he knew or someone he willingly followed out. Hmm¡­ Or maybe there was some magic bullshit involved? Some kind of sleep or paralysis magic to put him under so his kidnappers could take him? It¡¯d be right up the Circle¡¯s alley.


    But of course, that could just be me seeing things where there isn¡¯t anything. It was just as likely that it could¡¯ve been Scavs or Savants with knockout gas or some kind of paralyzing agent. Or maybe it was the local gang? It could¡¯ve been all sorts of scum other than just the Circle.


    I ducked out of the apartment, catching sight of a curious neighbor staring at the door. She flinched back and ducked into her own apartment as my eyes met hers. Nosy neighbors were everywhere, apparently.


    My gaze shifted up to a camera overlooking the apartment¡¯s entrance. Bingo. At the very least, I could find some clues on good ole¡¯ camera footage. Makes me wonder why Tarov didn¡¯t check though. Hmm¡­


    I ducked back into the apartment and headed for the master bedroom where Dev was looking around. He stared at the door long before I came in, his hand twitching as it wrapped around his pistol. ¡°Chill, it''s just me. Find anything?¡±


    ¡°Bunch of drug paraphernalia.¡± Dev shrugged as he motioned me over to the bed stand. The drawer had several needles in it still in a package. One had dried blood on the tip, looking as though the guy reused the needle over and over again. ¡°Nothing else of note.¡±


    ¡°Any clue what kind of drug?¡± I stared down at the dried blood. Too bad I didn¡¯t have a deck anymore, otherwise I¡¯d try and copy the DNA into the GONE module of my eye.


    Dev frowned then moved over beside the bed. After a bit of poking and prodding around, he managed to loosen a floor panel and lift it. Inside sat a half-used bag of pink powder. ¡°Euphoria.¡±


    Right, that makes two Euphoria users back to back. Coincidence? Or connection? I mentally bumped up the local gang in terms of both threat and suspect. If his drug dealer came to his apartment, there was a good chance Harry would¡¯ve followed him right along.


    ¡°Bag it?¡± I asked the other Squire. So far, I¡¯d done little actual police work, so I wasn¡¯t sure how all of this worked.


    ¡°Then we¡¯d have to be responsible for it.¡± Dev shuddered in disgust. ¡°I¡¯ll call in some more Aspirants and let them handle it.¡±


    Damn, they really were the labor for the Crusade. ¡°Is that¡­ okay? They¡¯re not technically employees of the Blue Crusade, right?¡±


    He shot me a weird look as his hand dropped to his pistol. He stroked it as if finding comfort in the polymer grip. ¡°¡®Course it''s okay¡­ you remember your time as an aspirant, right? Anything to impress a Knight or Inquisitor and get hired as a Squire. And they get paid by the request.¡±


    Right, I forgot most people actually trying to get into the Blue Crusade were fanatical about it. I was just one of the outliers that tricked my way in and then got stuck, for better or worse. And it seemed as though they were closer to temp workers than anything.


    While he went to call in more labor, I checked the list for our next stop. There was one of those overgrown spots just down the hall. It would be quicker to go check it on our way to the next apartment.


    Dev walked back to me as he slid his phone into his pocket. ¡°They¡¯ll be here in a bit. Where to next?¡±


    I handed him the list. ¡°Let''s go check out Emery''s Emporium?¡±


    ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± Dev nodded for me to lead the way. He was quick to pick up on the fact that I knew exactly where I was going at almost all times.


    Emery''s Emporium wasn¡¯t far, just down a couple of paths to leave this apartment subsection of Lang Tower and right over to a bustling shopping center. Or, at least, it had been bustling at some point. Graffiti covered almost every surface and the few people moving through the area stayed low and small to avoid attention.


    As soon as we stepped into the large hallway acting as a street, the few people out and about scuttled away till we were the only ones. ¡°Sure know how to make us feel welcome, eh?¡±


    I glanced over to my companion- only to find him with his gun already drawn glancing at small access halls that looked like the typical back alleys I¡¯d find anywhere in Aythryn City. ¡°S-sorry, what was that?¡±


    I barely bit back a sigh. ¡°Nothing. Let''s just get this over with.¡±


    Emery''s Emporium was a rundown little shop, looking as though the owner was just getting by. Or, at least, that''s how it would¡¯ve looked if it weren¡¯t for the vines crisscrossing all over the place. They hung from the ceiling, making the shop look like an abandoned jungle.


    I checked them over with Aetherial Perception. Mostly mundane. I mean, sure, there was a bit of an Aetherial tilt to them, but it was so faint it looked more like the residue of magic stuck in the plant than anything else. They were a far cry from the Circle¡¯s other plants at least.


    Maybe there was some kind of AOE spell gone wrong? Still wasn¡¯t a hundred percent sure we were dealing with the Circle. I didn¡¯t want to fall into¡­ what was it called? Confirmation Bias? That sounded right. Anyway, it could just as likely be the local gang hired an Adept to make their drug farms grow faster. The plants and disappearances might be completely unrelated.


    ¡°Welcome in!¡± An excited woman called as we entered the shop. ¡°Everything is half-¡±


    Her words died in her throat as we pushed past the vines to the counter. The Crusade tended to have that effect on people. She backstepped, gulping nervously as Dev pushed past me. Really, I couldn¡¯t blame her. A heavily armored Crusader walking at you was an intimidating sight.


    ¡°¡± I heard him whisper to himself as he approached with slow strides. The guy walked in a straight line, letting a rack clank against his armor as he easily rammed it out of the way. Maybe defining roles wasn¡¯t such a great idea?


    I skipped past him, putting on my best angelic face once more as I stopped him from approaching too close. ¡°Hi there! Can you get the boss for us?¡±


    The woman¡¯s eyes glazed over for a moment as she stared at me. Then my words seemed to connect in her brain as she recoiled and looked down with a blush. ¡°O-oh, I-I¡¯m Emery. T-the owner.¡±


    ¡°No need to be nervous, miss. We just need to ask some routine questions then we¡¯ll be out of your hair!¡± I tried to go with a mesh between friendly and calming as I spoke to her. Honest Face boosted my friendliness and Calming helped with the other side of the attempt.


    ¡°O-okay. Anything I can do to help the Crusade¡­¡± Emery rubbed at her arms and glanced at Dev nervously.


    The guy crossed his arms, throwing a scowl onto his face. ¡°Just hurry up. We have more important things to deal with than this welp.¡±


    Emery flinched back once more. I leaned forward over the counter, whispering to her, ¡°¡±


    The woman slowly nodded, looking at me as if I was a lighthouse in the middle of a storm. ¡°S-so, what can I help you w-with?¡±


    ¡°These vines everywhere, when did they pop up? Did you notice anyone or anything weird?¡± I got straight to the point.


    Emery glanced at the vines all over her shop, the fear on her face momentarily fading to irritation. ¡°It was about a month ago. I- uh- I bought some plants to spruce up the shop. And then a couple days later they went berserk and started growing across the entire p-place.¡±


    Hmm¡­ She bought them, so they were probably planted by the Circle¡­ The theory of an AOE growth spell going wrong looked more likely. Or maybe something else was causing them to grow crazily? Then again, this could all be a red herring. Or maybe not? If five hundred places had crazed growth, it¡¯d be good cover for the one that mattered to whoever was behind this.


    ¡°Where¡¯d you get them?¡± Dev asked in a low-pitched growl. It was probably an attempt to sound intimidating, but instead, it just sounded way off like a kid trying to sound older than they were. There¡¯s no way anyone would be scared by- S§×ar?h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Emery nearly stumbled back as she subconsciously put up space between her and Dev. ¡°I- I- uh- I got them f-from Jade Gardens a c-couple blocks from here.¡±


    Dev marked it down in a notepad as I physically put myself between the two of them. I put on a gentle smile once more. ¡°Thank you for the assistance, miss.¡±


    ¡°Oh, o-of course!¡± She tried to smile back, though that smile died as I heard Dev shift behind me.


    I turned around and motioned with my eyes for him to leave. He stared at me for a moment before he slowly nodded and turned around. ¡°One last question, if you don¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡°Ask away!¡± Her stutter vanished with the departure of ¡®bad cop¡¯ Dev.


    I pulled out a pad from my bag and quickly sketched a picture of the Circle¡¯s symbol. It was the one on all of their amulets, looking like a tree ever twisting itself into a knot. A bit similar to Ouroboros in a way now that I look at it. Speaking of, I really needed to head back to my apartment and grab that amulet I klepped.


    ¡°Um¡­ maybe? There was a guy who came in a couple of weeks ago that had something like that tattooed on his arm¡­ but it was more twisted with thorns and the tree looked different.¡± Emery shrugged. ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t remember more.¡±


    ¡°No, you''re fine. Thank you for your time.¡± I put my pad back in my bag and headed for the exit. Could just be a similar tattoo¡­ but there were starting to be quite a few coincidences. The Circle was  involved. Still, we had no actual evidence and the Inquisitor would most likely want something concrete to show to his boss.


    Dev stood at the door, waiting for me. ¡°Was I too much?¡±


    I side eyed the guy. ¡°A bit¡­ how about you just approach as normal?¡±


    ¡°Works for me¡­ what are we thinking so far?¡± The twitchy Squire asked. ¡°It''s obvious something is going on, but we haven¡¯t found anything conclusive.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I checked the time. ¡°Let''s check a few other apartments then try and pull security footage. Think we¡¯ll need a warrant?¡±


    Dev just laughed at me. ¡°If they ask for one, let me take care of it.¡±


    Right¡­ The Crusade never stops for something as paltry as a search warrant. We weren¡¯t the Golden Consortium with all their politics. ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ let''s also try and get one of the local gangers. They always know something. Or at least they should be the Euphoria dealers.¡± He cracked his knuckles. ¡°Then we can leave, regroup, and meet back up tomorrow morning.¡±


    Nova! Some off time! I could finally get to spending some of the Rayn in my wallet. I could feel it burning a hole in my pocket. ¡°Chek. Let''s go. Next stop Robert Longfellow.¡±

 Chapter 197

    Chapter 197We checked a few more apartments and found many of them to be the same. Not everyone had food out, but based on other clues in their apartments, we suspected a similar chain of events. There were similar circumstances at least.


    For one, Lewis was an outlier in that he had a relationship. As far as we could tell, almost everyone else on the list was single and living by themselves. No one would notice that they vanished. It suggested a level of organization and information gathering that was frankly uncomfortable.


    There were also no signs of a struggle- at least, among the people that were connected. There were a couple of places that had signs of a struggle, though they didn¡¯t match up with our kidnapper¡¯s MO of Euphoria druggie and single. Could have been caused by another group entirely.


    As far as concrete evidence went¡­ we had nothing aside from a ton of drugs that we offloaded onto Aspirants. All of our victims being Euphoria addicts hinted at a connection with the local gang, but so far nothing was leading toward the Circle. Yet. I had a feeling we¡¯d find something sooner or later.


    We also checked a few other overgrown locations. Most were in back halls or abandoned rooms, where the plants completely smothered the location. There were a few cases of overgrown plants in inhabited places like Emery¡¯s Emporium though. Everyone had the same tale of sudden plant growth.


    We walked back down toward the office, discussing the case as we went. Dev took the lead as I looked through my notes. ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll find anything else looking at apartments.¡±


    I looked up from my notes. ¡°Yeah? You''re probably right. Whoever is behind this isn¡¯t sloppy.¡±


    ¡±Hundreds of people though¡­ how did our kidnappers move them without anyone noticing?¡± Dev asked as we turned down a ¡®street¡¯ like hallway.


    ¡±Could¡¯ve flown them out on a flyer¡­ or the Underground is popular for human trafficking.¡± I thought through the map of the Underground. There were quite a few entrances beneath Lang Tower.


    Dev shuddered, causing his silver armor to clank against itself. ¡°I hate that place¡­ why is it that every case makes me go down there?¡±


    ¡°Seriously.¡± I¡¯d been down there more in the past couple months than I had in my entire life. ¡°Might not be the Underground though. We can follow up on other leads first.¡±


    ¡±I¡¯d like that.¡±


    We went silent as we arrived at the office. The receptionist, whose name we were definitely told yet I forgot entirely, flinched as she spotted us. ¡°W-what can I help you with?¡±


    ¡±We need to talk to Mr. Tarov.¡± Twitchy took the lead, his hand flexing for his gun in a way that was either supposed to be intimidating or as a paranoid tick.


    ¡±H-he¡¯s in his office.¡± The receptionist stood up to lead us.


    I waved her off as I headed for the hall. ¡°We know the way.¡±


    Dev joined me as we went through the office¡¯s halls and back to Mr. Tarov¡¯s office. The man himself sat behind his desk pouring over paperwork. ¡°Ah, if it isn¡¯t the Crusade. Made any progress?¡±


    ¡±Our investigation is still pending¡­ we need access to the security footage of Lang Tower.¡± I got straight down to business. The sooner we were done here, the more free time I¡¯d have tonight. I had a lot I needed to get done.


    Mr. Tarov shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be of much help. Lang Tower contracts its security to Lang Security, an in-arcology security firm. They¡¯re very strict on who can look at their records. I don¡¯t have access.¡±


    Ah, so he can¡¯t check the cameras. That answers that question. ¡°Where are they located?¡±


    ¡°Their HQ is on floor two hundred and twelve.¡± He wrote something down on a piece of paper and offered it up to us. ¡°Here¡¯s the address.¡±


    I grabbed the offered address and looked it over before handing it to Dev. The man looked it over before asking, ¡°What can you tell us about the local gang?¡±


    Mr. Tarov sighed. ¡°Other than they¡¯re a pain in my ass? They¡¯re not just local. The Blood Scythes are on every floor of the tower.¡±


    Right, so big gang. Not one we¡¯d want to piss off without backup. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°Anything I can do to help. The sooner all of this is over, the better.¡± He got back to his paperwork as we left the office.


    We moved onto an elevator, opting to take it instead of climbing the two hundred flights of stairs up to Lang Security¡¯s HQ. Once we were in, we continued discussing the case. ¡°Still think we should go after the local gang?¡±


    ¡±No.¡± Dev immediately shot that idea down. ¡°At least, not without a Knight¡­ call for backup?¡±


    ¡±Not yet.¡± Nothing too threatening had happened. I had a feeling it would only be a matter of time though as we closed in on what was going on. Cornered rats were known to be ferocious.


    The elevator dinged as the door slid open. I took a step out, momentarily freezing as my eyes adjusted to a whole new world. Down below, on the first several floors of the Lang Arcology, the tower was filthy and had an overall feeling of desolation and rot to it.


    Up here though? It was like walking from the Ryu Container Yard to the Corporate Quarter. White walls with fancy holographic motifs stretched out into a large open space. Posh shops and even posher people walked around in the newest clothing trends. Whereas the people down below lived just slightly above poverty, the denizens just two hundred stories above them were seemingly beyond wealthy.


    I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the glamor as I looked past it to really see the people around here. Although they were laughing, joking, and having a good time, I spotted that each and every one of them held a corporate smile. They all laughed in the same way, smiled the same way, and probably even told the same jokes.


    I looked over to see my partner in an even worse state than I had been momentarily. The overall fakeness of the place seemed to set him on overdrive as he struggled with whether or not he should pull his gun.


    ¡°Come on.¡± I nudged his shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s just get in and out.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± He relaxed slightly, though, from his tense shoulders and twitchy eyes, I got the feeling he was close to snapping. I almost wanted to offer for him to go back down while I took care of it, but two Crusaders were a lot more intimidating than just one.


    It took a while to get to our destination. The halls and routes up here weren¡¯t as straightforward as the ones down below. Grid-style halls had been replaced with sweeping and artistic routes that crisscrossed wildly and wove up and down floors in a chaotic mess of confusion. Several times we found ourselves in halls that outright jutted out of the building, looking down over the city with massive glass windows.


    I may have read the map and had the building memorized, but it took even me nearly an hour to figure out how the map actually read. Whoever designed this place was either insane or extremely talented. Probably both.


    In that time, we passed by constant advertising and shops as if the entire layout of the building was designed to get people to buy stuff. Knowing how the world worked, it probably was.


    With the layout finally starting to make sense, I easily led us along through the building. At some point, we¡¯d accidentally gone up to the two hundred and fifteenth floor, so we had to go back to the elevator and go down again.


    With the crazed layout of this place in mind, I led us the right way to Lang Security. It was seriously confusing getting to the offices of the security firm. It was almost as if the builders had designed it specifically to be out of the way and hard to reach.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take the lead¡­¡± Dev said, looking at me as if I might argue with him. ¡°Unless you can pull off intimidating?¡±


    ¡±No, you take the lead.¡± I could probably be intimidating if I really tried, but it wasn¡¯t my forte. Especially considering my short stature and fair looks. Unless I wanted to go for a strong, cold, killer type. S~ea??h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    We stepped into the reception area of Lang Security. As opposed to management¡¯s offices on the first floor, this place was all but abandoned. The receptionist didn¡¯t even stand up, instead opting to continue texting on his phone as he chewed on bubblegum.


    Dev stepped forward, slamming his gauntleted fists into the desk. The guy nearly kept out of his seat in startlement, tossing his phone onto the table as he bolted upright. ¡°Y-y-yes, how can I help¡­¡±


    He drifted off as his eyes seemed focused on us, the two Crusaders, standing at the reception desk. There was a moment of silence as he stared at us, slowly becoming twitchier and twitchier.


    ¡°Go on,¡± Dev said slowly, drawing out the words. ¡°Finish what you were going to say.¡±


    ¡±H-how can I help y-you?¡± The guy¡¯s head dropped.


    I mentally took notes as Dev crossed his arms and leaned back. ¡°We need access to your camera feeds.¡±


    The receptionist seemed to regain some of his wits. Or the corpo brainw- training finally kicked in. He put on the typical fake corporate smile that was slightly too big. ¡°Let me go get my manager.¡±


    Dev shook his head, backing off slightly. ¡°Hurry up then.¡±


    As soon as the guy scampered off to the back, Dev went on the back foot and leaned back as if disappointed. ¡°Is that¡­ not what you wanted to happen?¡±


    ¡±No.¡± His expression looked rather disappointed. ¡°Sometimes you can brute force through reception. Once management gets involved, things get more¡­ tactful.¡±


    ¡±How so?¡± This was all valuable information for when I do intimidation on my own.


    ¡±Ugh- Joshua is a lot better at all this. Basically-¡°


    A man approached from the back of the office, causing Dev to cut himself off as he once more returned to his intimidating posture. ¡°Well if isn¡¯t the Crusade¡­ what do I owe the pleasure?¡±


    Dev frowned, his face dipping into a harsh scowl. ¡°To whom do I owe the displeasure?¡±


    ¡°Now now, no need to be rude¡­ I¡¯m the manager. My receptionist said you wanted to see camera footage?¡± The manager put on an amiable smile. ¡°No warrant.¡±


    ¡±Now now,¡± Dev threw the guy''s words back in his face, ¡°we both know what¡¯ll happen if I get a warrant.¡±


    ¡±Do tell.¡± The amiable smile froze slightly as the manager glanced at me.


    ¡±Oh, you know how it is. I¡¯ll get a warrant. Then I¡¯ll come back here and find more than enough evidence of other crimes to incriminate all of Lang Security. Or, you let me look at what I need to look at, and I¡­  from anything else.¡±


    The amiable smile dropped off his face. ¡°There are no other crimes. You won¡¯t find evidence of something that doesn¡¯t exist.¡±


    Dev laughed coldly. ¡°Of course, of course. You know that. I know that¡­ but the court doesn¡¯t. It just so happens we¡¯ve found tons of drugs throughout the building. It would be very for evidence to link back the massive drug trade to Lang Security.¡±


    Ah, I see. Threaten to plant evidence and incriminate the entire corporation if they don¡¯t cooperate. Usually, I¡¯m against corruption¡­ but it is quite nice when it plays out in my favor. Hmm¡­


    ¡±Ha! The people behind me will make a case like that drop before it hits the court''s desk.¡± His smile slightly returned as did his confidence.


    Dev upheld his calm demeanor. It was honestly impressive considering his usual twitchy self. ¡±I have no doubt. But what will those people do about the incompetent manager who drew the Crusade¡¯s eye.¡±


    ¡±Are you really going to just sit there as he talks of corruption?¡± This time, the manager¡¯s question was directed to me.


    I dug a finger into my ear. ¡°Didn¡¯t realize this place has a gnat issue. Add health code violations to the report.¡±


    The manager¡¯s smile dropped entirely as he looked away from me. He held Dev¡¯s stare for several long moments. ¡°Fine. Fine! Go take a look. Then get out of here. Before I change my mind.¡±


    Dev snorted. ¡°Come along, Squire. We¡¯ve got better things to do than hang around trash.¡±


    And just like that, we had access to the building¡¯s cameras. I made yet another note to self. If I ever have trouble in the future casing a joint, I could always go in as a Squire of the Blue Crusade and finagle my way through.


    I followed Dev further back into the building.

 Chapter 198

    Chapter 198The cams weren¡¯t as helpful as I hoped they would be. I mean, they were helpful, but not  helpful. We watched a couple hours'' worth of footage, finding more than enough evidence something had gone down.


    We started with our first victim, carefully pouring over the video footage from the camera in the hall. We spotted a suspect shortly after the vic returned to his apartment. Feature Scrubber, unfortunately. Couldn¡¯t say much about the suspect other than it was a man in dark clothes. Feature scrubbers were seriously annoying.


    He approached the door of our vic, seemingly discussing something with him for a few moments before stepping into the apartment. Then, a few minutes later, the suspect walked out supporting our victim, helping him walk away.


    Definitely helping him though, not kidnapping¡­ than again, the Circle was capable of messing with people¡¯s minds. Especially if they¡¯re already not all there. Such as being high on Euphoria. Could be magic at foot.


    Cameras lost track of them after leaving the apartment. Lots of dark halls and blind spots in the arcology to take advantage of for the discerning person trying to avoid prying eyes.


    Most of the other victims were the same story. At least, as far as we could tell. There were plenty of people whose apartments didn¡¯t have security footage, which made it a bit difficult to track using the surveillance system.


    We also checked a few of the spots with accelerated plant growth, though there wasn¡¯t too much of note. They were exactly as all the people we¡¯d talked to said; plants that were already present jumped several stages of growth overnight.


    We watched the thirtieth victim get dragged out of their house supported by a man with a Feature Scrubber. I paused the video just as they turned the corner. ¡°Want to go find that gang? Doubt we''ll be able to pull anything from this.¡±


    Dev¡¯s leg had been bobbing the entire time we¡¯d been looking through the cams. It stopped as I spoke. ¡°Yeah¡­ let¡¯s delta. What were they called again?¡±


    ¡±Blood Scythes, I think.¡± That sounded right at least. And it matched the uniform I¡¯d seen a couple times around the tower since we arrived. Black clothes with red sashes.


    I stood up and headed for the door. Dev was a few steps behind me after doing something on the computer. ¡°What¡¯s our first stop?¡±


    ¡±Head back down and find a group?¡± Dev said as he moved to the door. ¡°I didn¡¯t see too many up here.¡±


    We left Lang Security behind. The manager shot us a dirty look as we went, though I couldn¡¯t blame the guy. Dev


    threatened to ruin his life if he didn¡¯t let us look at the security footage.


    The elevator ride back down was uneventful- mostly. It did freak me out when the power flickered, causing the entire elevator to go dark and stutter in its shaft. It was thankfully only a momentary issue though as the power flow continued. We safely made our way back to the bottom floors of the tower.


    After that, we kinda just wandered around, alternating between highly populated places and back halls that looked all but abandoned. It didn¡¯t take long to find a group of gangers.


    It take a long time to find a group of gangers that didn¡¯t run away from us at first glance. And the only reason they didn¡¯t run was thanks to us pinning them into a dead-end hallway. This group was seven strong, each packing small arms by the looks of things. If I hid behind Dev, I should be safe from any fire coming my way.


    Dev took the lead once more, stepping forward in his full silver plate armor. His hand reflexively dipped down to his gun as he eyed the gangers at the end of the hall. ¡°You Blood Scythes?¡±


    ¡±Who¡¯s askin¡¯?¡± A punk with a mohawk of red metal spines replied as he stepped forward. His voice was half digital thanks to his entire throat being chrome. The guy also had weird patches of red metal all over his skin like they were vitiligo.


    Dev laughed coldly though the subtle twitches in his posture revealed the bravado to be a facade. ¡°Didn¡¯t realize you were blind. What¡¯s wrong? All that drug money can¡¯t buy good eyes?¡±


    The punk leading them glared at Dev. His eyes, chrome with pupils shaped like red skulls, flared brightly as they cast an eerie red light. It would¡¯ve looked quite intimidating coming from anyone else.


    Unfortunately for the ganger, all his chrome looked entirely cosmetic. He was practically a regular person- one not wearing any armor. The rest of the gangers looked the same behind him. We were dealing with the bottom of the barrel right now.


    One of the other guys, a young-looking kid, stepped forward. ¡°H-hey, we don¡¯t have to take this. We¡¯re the Blood Scythes!¡±


    ¡±Yes, yes you do.¡± Dev laughed snidely. ¡°You lot aren¡¯t worthy to even pick between my toes, let alone fight me. Unless you all want to be put in the ground for arrest.¡±


    I spoke up. "And Dev here  it when people resist arrest."


    ¡±Look man, what do you want?¡± The leader asked after shooting a glare at the young guy who spoke up. The kid practically wilted under his leader''s gaze.


    ¡±Now we¡¯re getting somewhere. I want to meet your leader. If he¡¯s helpful, we¡¯ll get our job done here and screw off. If he¡¯s not¡­¡± Dev left the threat open-ended.


    The mohawk guy shook his head. ¡°We¡¯re just low-level-¡° sea??h th§× N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡±Then tell your manager.¡± Dev laughed at the guy as if he were an idiot. ¡°I don¡¯t give a flying fuck how you set it up. Just get it done. Or I¡¯ll cripple you and move onto the next Bloody Scythe.¡±


    The guy stepped back, freezing up as he seemed to be thinking of something. He slowly nodded his head. ¡°Fine. Fine. I¡¯ll get you an appointment with the higher-ups¡­ tomorrow at Troy¡¯s Tacos. Noon.¡±


    ¡°You better.¡± Dev turned around, fully exposing his back to the group as if he didn¡¯t care for them in the slightest. From his facial expression though, he cared. He cared quite a bit. Hell, if the group was just a tiny bit attentive, they¡¯d realize Dev was faking the entire time. He wasn¡¯t the greatest actor. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Squire.¡±


    ¡±Sir.¡± I followed him out. The whole calling me Squire thing was probably to trick them into thinking Dev was a higher rank than he actually was, but it was annoying. Still, I played along.


    We left the group behind, going out into the halls. ¡°So¡­ we¡¯re done for today?¡±


    ¡±Unless there¡¯s something else you want to check?¡± Dev shuddered as he glanced over his shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m more than ready to get out of here.¡±


    ¡°Not really¡­¡± I thought through the case so far. ¡°Still no clues on who¡¯s behind it. The gang is our primary suspect.¡±


    ¡±If we could get some concrete evidence it was them and the Circle wasn¡¯t involved, then we can call in a couple knights and be done with it.¡± Dev shrugged. ¡°Be nice if we could find where they¡¯re keeping the victims.¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± They could be anywhere in the city though. There were plenty of places where you could hide hundreds of trafficked people without anyone batting an eye. ¡°We could go take a look at the Underground tomorrow too. Look for activity.¡±


    Dev sighed deeply, dragging a shaking hand down his face. ¡°Why is it that  case makes me go down there?¡±


    ¡±I feel ya.¡± I patted him on the shoulder as we came to one of the entrances to Lang Tower. ¡°Tomorrow?


    ¡±Tomorrow?¡± Dev nodded to me before stalking off onto busy city streets, twitching all the way. The guy had some serious issues¡­ though if I had to go into the Underground at every turn like he did¡­


    I didn¡¯t immediately head home. Instead, my first stop for the night was at that little Netrunner shop near the cathedral. I bought a decent deck for three thousand Rayn. It was several times better than the crappy one I originally bought.


    And then I headed for my next stop: Echidna¡¯s Shrine. I¡¯d been meaning to stop by ever since that first quest, and now was my chance. I went by my apartment to grab that revolver I got from the Underground vault. Still had no idea what it was for, but it gave me a bad feeling, so why not just give it away to fulfill the request?


    Echidna¡¯s Shrine, as opposed to Fox¡¯s, was underground. I found it on the Net after a quick search. The eidolon¡¯s made no effort to hide their shrines. Probably because only an idiot would actually attack an eidolon¡¯s home base.


    Echidna¡¯s Shrine was in BrickTown. It was down a subway entrance that had been¡­ I guess it was bought out by Echidna? Unlike other subway entrances though, this one was heavily guarded by several sentries, bots, and Magi. It was a completely different vibe from Fox¡¯s Shrine.


    I was stopped at the door by one of the Magi. He was a massive man with an echidna lying atop his bald head. He also had a long, curly mustache that reminded me of a cartoon villain. ¡°Halt! I don¡¯t recognize your face¡­ name?¡±


    I¡¯d be impressed if he managed to recognize me considering I had Master of Disguise active. ¡°Shiro. I was invited here a couple days ago?¡±


    The guard frowned as one of the other guards looked through a data slate. ¡°Tsukuyomi?¡±


    ¡±That¡¯s me¡­¡± Don¡¯t know how comfortable I am with the thought that the eidolons could just give my information out to anyone. Not that I could do anything about it, but still.


    ¡±She¡¯s on the list. S priority. Requested access to the archives.¡± The other guard said.


    The cartoon villain-looking one¡¯s attitude changed abruptly as he dipped into a half bow. The echidna on his head let out a squeal as it nearly fell over his bald head, though barely managed to cling on. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry for the disrespect, miss. Please, come in. Will you need an escort to the archives?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± I had zero confidence in going to the right place off the bat.


    ¡°Just a moment.¡± The guy nodded his head several times, causing the echidna resting on him to growl in annoyance. Then he put two fingers in his mouth and whistled sharply.


    A door from behind opened up, letting a massive creature come out to us. It was, of course, an echidna, though this one was sized up to the size of a wolf. Each of its quills was about as long as my arm. It was honestly a bit cute? It had a dorky look to it as the sprite swaggered up to us. It was also so, so fluffy like a giant teddy bear aside from the spikes.


    ¡±Take Miss Tsukuyomi to the archives.¡± The man stepped out of my way, opening the door further down into the subway. ¡°And enjoy your visit.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I stepped past all the security and entered a typical subway entrance. The massive echidna took the lead as it lumbered down the stairs. Every few steps it looked back to make sure I was following.


    Down the tunnel, we entered into a massive chamber filled with tons of technology in complete opposition to everything I thought I knew about eidolons and the Aether. The vibe was way different than Fox¡¯s Shrine.


    The place was closer to a forge or workshop than anything. There were tons of people working on various projects, rushing around from one spot to another. Echidnas were also everywhere, some assisting the working people, some slumped over resting, and others seemingly working on projects by themselves.


    The¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ the workshop? Yeah, Echidna¡¯s Workshop sounded better. The workshop sprawled on and on, taking up a massive chunk of space at least several blocks wide. I spotted everything from what looked like an experimental blender to a half-built mecha in the furthest reaches of the workshop.


    And it wasn¡¯t just tech being worked on down here. There were also a fair amount of magical researchers. Of course, the more esoteric research was much harder for me to grasp since I had no idea what any of them were actually doing. Still, it was all incredibly interesting seeing the two fields being worked on right next to each other.


    The large echidna, realizing I stopped, turned towards me and made a soft cooing sound similar to a dove. Or, it would''ve been if the sprite¡¯s tone wasn¡¯t super deep. Instead, it sounded a bit closer to a gentle rumble. It looked back as if to ask if I was still following.


    ¡±Sorry, sorry. I¡¯m coming.¡± I sped up, tailing the sprite as it worked its way through the workshop. I was taken aback by all the tech, especially considering the typical associations of magic and technology. It was all a bit surprising.


    Eventually, we entered a back hallway with several branching paths. It took a while, probably at least several more city blocks, before we arrived at a large metal door. It was likewise heavily guarded, though the guards all got out of the way as the echidna led me forward.


    Inside of the room was a proper archive, looking like a frankly massive library. It easily put to shame the archive room of the Laurus Theatre. Ornate lights illuminated the place, and it had a weird techno feel to it thanks to dangling wires everywhere, everything being made of metal or concrete, and the tons of devices stored on the shelves.


    The echidna made a cooing sound to me one more time as it turned around and headed back out of the archive. Friendly, but not nearly as friendly or playful as Fox¡¯s sprites had been. It really sucked, especially since the workshop matched my vibe better than Fox had.


    ¡°Ah, a visitor!¡± A robed man, upon noticing me standing around looking at everything, approached.

 Chapter 199

    Chapter 199The robed man approached. He was an elder, with short-cropped silver hair and a salt-and-pepper beard. ¡°You are?¡±


    ¡°Shiro. Shiro Tsukuyomi.¡± I held out a hand to the man. I was slightly annoyed that Echdina had so casually marked me down with my real name. ¡°I¡¯m here for an exchange?¡±


    ¡±I am Librarian Zeta. Shiro Tsukuyomi¡­¡± The man took my offered hand. His eyes glowed in a telltale sign of using his chrome. Not an Echidna Magus then? ¡°Ah, I see. Yes, in exchange for an item, you¡¯ll be granted access to the Aether Jump documents. Is that right?¡±


    ¡±Sounds right to me.¡± I carefully pulled the revolver from my bag, pointing it down and away to make sure the guy didn¡¯t feel threatened. ¡°Here it is.¡±


    The man grabbed the revolver, looking it over. ¡°Ah, what a marvel this is¡­¡±


    ¡±Know what it does?¡± Although I was giving it away, I couldn¡¯t help but feel curious about the gun.


    ¡±Not at all. That¡¯s an extensive process¡­¡± The man waved his hand as a robot came over to his side. It was a small thing running on treadmills. It looked roughly like a dog, though nowhere near as refined as the Crusade''s Jaegers. Librarian Zeta put the revolver down on top of the robot. The bot carted it off into the depths of the archive. ¡°Please, follow me. I¡¯ll take you to the Aether Jumping documents.¡±


    I followed after the man, taking in the sheer scale of this place. ¡°Quiet the setup you lot have here.¡±


    ¡±All by the grace of Lady Echidna. She offers protection to a great many craftsmen¡­¡± The man leaned in conspiringly. ¡°If you think this place is impressive, you should see Echidna¡¯s main base in Lathvin City.¡±


    Lathvin City¡­ I think that''s in Lathvin, a country of South Arkhanika. Yeah, people all around were good with names. It¡¯s funny how many cities shared names with the countries they were in. The only reason I knew about it was thanks to Mystech. That city was also home to Mystech''s main HQ. Or at least their public one.


    ¡°I doubt I¡®ll get a chance to see it, considering¡­ you know.¡± I waved around loosely. The state of the world and the FSA in general made it hard to leave the country. If I could even call the collection of city-states a country.


    The librarian nodded his head several times. ¡°Yes, travel is hard these days¡­ I remember way back when traveling was as easy as getting on a plane¡­ those were the days.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± This guy must be ancient to remember those times. Nowadays there were a dozen hoops to jump through to get into another country. Mainly since the Endless Sandstorm made flying rather difficult and unpredictable.


    ¡±Ah, this is it.¡± The librarian reached a hand to a shelf and withdrew a large book. ¡°Dangerous stuff, this. You know, back in the day, the first Aether Jump sucked the entirety of a city into the Aether. The death toll was insane. The crater''s still there in Ukiyon.¡±


    That wasn¡¯t worrying. Not in the slightest. At least I wouldn¡¯t have to figure it all by myself. As long as I was smart and followed along, there shouldn''t be an issue. ¡°How long can I borrow this?¡±


    ¡±Oh, just take it with you. I¡¯ll get another one printed out before anyone else will want to look¡­ you know, it''s funny. You¡¯re the third person to get that book in recent months.¡± The librarian idly mused.


    Large interest in accessing the Aether, eh? I wonder who else''s been trying the same thing. ¡°Interesting. High demand for Aether Jumping?¡±


    ¡±Not these days, no.¡± Librarian Zeta shrugged his shoulders and started walking back to the front area. ¡°Raijin has the market monopolized¡­ AE3 is the product of a crystal called Aetheria, you know. They¡¯ve got massive Aether Jumping facilities to mine it.¡±


    Aetheria¡­ as in the crystals that Corvid brought me? Interesting¡­ and not how I saw the production of AE3 coming about. Companies that dealt in AE3 are quite hush-hush about it. I thought it was some kind of biofuel or something. Makes sense why Raijin hires so many Adepts then if they need miners in the Aether


    ¡±This workshop¡­ " I shifted subjects. "How does it work? Anyone can just come in and use the tools to build stuff?¡± There were quite a few tools I spotted around that would make tech creation so much easier.


    ¡±First time here? No, not just anyone. All those people are Lady Echidna¡¯s Magi or related Adepts. They can rent a space with Favor. Hmm¡­ would you like to join?¡± The Librarian politely asked.


    I shook my head. I didn¡¯t have time or the patience to farm an eidolon¡¯s Favor. That, and I wasn¡¯t sure how the other eidolons would react to me becoming the servant of one of the others. ¡°I have¡­ prior arrangements that can¡¯t be broken off.¡±


    I talked with the Librarian a bit more as he escorted me out of the archives. The guy was practically a walking library, commenting on everything from ancient cultures to the similarities between Shen Kang¡¯s products now and thousands of years in the past. Apparently, they were the oldest corporation by far.


    Unfortunately, I had to part with the man as I reached the entrance back into the workshop. I gave the archive one last longing look before leaving it behind. Such a treasure trove of knowledge, ripe for learning¡­ too bad the cost was super high. It wasn¡¯t every day that I stumbled across a Remnant, especially one I didn¡¯t want.


    Would Echidna be interested in the box? I was almost to that system interface upgrade or whatever it was called. I¡¯d have to think about who I wanted to hand it over to soon.


    I left the workshop behind. I thought about trying to rub up against some of the tech to learn it with Technical Expertise and Eidetic Schematic, but the watching eyes of dozens of guards kept me back. And the cute, beady eyes of dozens of Echidnas.


    After leaving, I returned home to laze around in bed and read the Aether Jumping book with what little time I had left in the night.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    I met up with Dev an hour before noon just outside of Lang Tower. He was posted up in a coffee shop, watching as people came and went from the tower. There was a certain sense of¡­ tension in the air. Probably coming from the surrounding people as they tried to keep their heads down around the Crusader. The tension spiked as I entered.


    I got a coffee and headed over to sit down with him. Neither of us spoke for several moments as we just watched our surroundings. Eventually, though, I ruined the silence. ¡°What¡¯s the plan?¡±


    ¡±I¡¯m- I¡¯m thinking of calling in Knight Persha.¡± His leg started to bob rapidly. ¡°For the Blood Scythe meet-up and our venture into the Underground.¡±


    ¡±I¡¯m down¡­¡± The more people around, the safer we would be. Especially considering it was a Knight joining us. ¡°Think we¡¯ll get into a fight?¡±


    He nodded slowly. ¡°In the Underground. It- it always happens.¡±


    I went silent. Yeah, this guy was definitely traumatized by the Underground. Deeply, by the looks of things. Course, I couldn¡¯t blame him. Some of the stuff down there¡­ Perviders alone were enough to traumatize most people. The thought of hundreds of baby spiders burrowing underneath my skin, moving around underneath my flesh as their legs- gah! Stop it, Shiro! Happy thoughts, happy thoughts...


    ¡±You make the call?¡± I didn¡¯t have anyone¡¯s number but the Inquisitor.


    Dev flinched as if I just drew a gun on him. ¡°¡­fine.¡±


    He pulled out his phone and called the Knight. There was a quick exchange of information as he told her when and where to meet up with us. As soon as the phone call ended, he tossed his phone back into his pocket and leaned back in his chair with a sigh.


    ¡±What kind of person is Knight Persha anyway?¡± His reactions had me curious about her.


    ¡±Not a good one.¡± That was rich coming from him. I still vividly remember how brutal he¡¯d been with Lilly Lower. Then again¡­ the Knight might be worse. ¡°She¡¯s a no-nonsense type.¡±


    ¡±Just her coming?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Two of her Squires are following along.¡± He scowled for a moment before his expression relaxed. ¡°More meat shields if something goes wrong, at least.¡±


    Wow¡­ not what I thought I¡¯d hear coming from his mouth. They were our coworkers at the end of the day, right? I mean, I know there were  hostilities between Knights and Inquisitors, but wasn¡¯t that a bit much?


    I finished up my coffee shortly after our conversation ended. While we wa9tedd, I couldn¡¯t help but drop my hand into my pocket and finger the Circle amulet I stole. I decided to go ahead and bring it today, just in case I might find some use for it.


    I took the opportunity to keep reading about Aether Jumping. I¡¯d digitized some of the files last night. It was quite interesting, requiring several different avenues of items. Everything from Aetherial crystals to jumpstart the process to technological constructs to ensure stability and reusability.


    After just a glance at it, I realized it would be something that I¡¯d need to be extremely careful about. Not only because the machinery and magic could cross-contaminate each other, causing both to fail, but also because even just going into the Aether was extremely dangerous.


    The Aether was non-Euclidean, meaning a step in there could move me miles in the real world, and a step backward might still move me miles further. It was all very confusing. Basically, though, a straight line in reality did not equal a straight line in the Aether. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Dev lightly coughed, pulling me out of my reading. He stood up and gathered up the trash at our table. ¡°They''re almost here.¡±


    ¡°Chek.¡± I stood up to follow.


    Then we were up and heading for Lang Tower. Troy¡¯s Tacos was our location, and no surprise it seemed to be a gang hangout. The place was closer to a bar than a restaurant, and the Blood Scythes filled almost every seat of the place.


    As the clock approached noon, a disturbance down the street-like hall caught my attention. People hastily moved out of the way, ducking their heads and trying to keep as low as possible. A few moments later, I saw why.


    A Knight pushed through in full silver armor, causing a brief wave of guilt and fear as I spotted her. Knight Persha had opted for a medium set of armor somewhere in between the heavy set of Dev and the light sets I¡¯d seen around. A long sword dangled from a sheath at her hips.


    Behind her followed two Squires. One didn¡¯t have any armor on, indicating he was new to the force like me. The others had on a chest plate and bracers, but that was it. Both were armed with assault rifles from Knight Security, the subsidiary arms company under the Blue Crusade.


    Knight Persha easily pushed her way through the crowd, stopping just in front of us. ¡°Squire Dev, it''s good to see you again. And you are?¡±


    ¡±Squire Zuku.¡± I offered a friendly smile, going all in on an angelic look with Honest Face. First impressions were everything.


    It didn¡¯t seem to faze the Knight outside of a small nod, but the same couldn¡¯t be said for the Squires behind her. The armored one smiled back, and the unarmored one blushed and looked away. There was a small sense of satisfaction deep in the back of my mind at how easily it was to use my looks these days. Fox¡¯s Grace, at least I think it was Fox¡¯s Grace, was making me prettier by the day. Hmm... was that shift in thought processes also an effect of Fox''s Grace? I didn''t used to care about how I looked. How peculiar...


    Knight Persha nodded her head to the restaurant. Already, Blood Scythes were gathering around as if we¡¯d attack at any moment. ¡°I take it this is the place? You two continue taking the lead. I don¡¯t want to get yet another complaint about hijacking an investigation.¡±


    She certainly seemed¡­ more mellow than Dev made her out to be. Granted, there was no telling how much his paranoia twisted his worldview. I took the first step forward, seemingly jogging Dev¡¯s mind back into gear as he quickly followed.


    As soon as we entered Troy¡¯s Tacos, the tension in the air spiked. Everyone froze as both sides just watched each other for several long moments. Eventually, a call from the back ended the stalemate. ¡°Let them by. The boss is waiting..¡±

 Chapter 200

    Chapter 200We were escorted to the back of the restaurant. Down a hall sat a private room with Blood Scythe guards standing out front. These weren¡¯t like the rest though. They looked trained, chromed, and armed with SMGs and shotguns.


    The room they guarded was a private booth hidden away from the rest of the restaurant. Three important-looking people sat eating tacos and drinking¡­ margaritas? They looked like margaritas at least.


    Hmm... when I open the speakeasy, what kind of food should I serve? It''d have to be good, or at least decent to get people coming back... Right, not the time for this!


    The two on either side of the booth seemed like upper management, at least based on the vibe when we first walked in. The real star of the show was an extremely buff man at the head of the table. He wore a fancy suit as he enjoyed a taco, seemingly uncaring as five Crusaders walked into the room. Unlike the other two, he had no chrome.


    ¡±So¡­ you¡¯re the Crusaders poking around our tower, eh?¡± The buff guy levered a taco in our direction.


    ¡°So¡­ you¡¯re¡­ who are you again?¡± Knight Persha asked.


    Her two Squires chuckled, seemingly trying to get a rise out of the man. What happened to us taking the lead?


    The man crunched down loudly onto his taco, the sound seemingly filling the entire room. ¡°Lucardo. One of the three managers of the Bloody Scythes. You¡¯d do well to show some respect, welp.¡±


    ¡±Same could be said for you.¡± Dev¡¯s posture abruptly shifted, going completely straight like an arrow. ¡°We¡¯re here for¡­ negotiations. Of course, we could always report back to our superiors that you such an approach. They¡¯d be more than willing to send a dozen more Knights to clean this place up.¡±


    ¡°That supposed to scare us?¡± One of the two goons sitting at the table laughed. It seemed a bit forced though.


    ¡±If you had a brain, it should.¡± Dev replied snidely. "Especially if the Commander personally decides to get involved. I''ve heard he''s even started assigning himself to cases he''s so bored. Cleaning up a gang might seem like fun."


    The atmosphere turned tense immediately. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Persha grab the hilt of her sword. It felt like an all-out fight might start if nothing changed... Damnit! Am I going to have to be the change?


    I took a step forward, clapping my hands and putting a smile on my face. ¡°Now that introductions are out of the way, let¡¯s get down to business?¡±


    ¡±Yes. As the


    said, let''s get down to business.¡± The manager leaned forward. ¡°What do you want?¡±


    Little girl? Little girl?! Really? I¡¯ll have you know I¡¯m almost seventeen! Not some . That¡¯s it! I¡¯m going to find where this Lucardo lives and put a bomb- wait. My eyes glanced down at his shirt. Now that he was leaning forward, I caught the glimmer of something silver.


    I took a step closer, eyeing the outline of the guy¡¯s necklace against this shirt. It looked- well, it looked like one of the Circle¡¯s charms. I dropped a hand into my pocket, tracing the stolen amulet as I tried to make sure. My years of eyeing valuables through people¡¯s pockets paid off as I easily confirmed it. He was with the Circle. S§×ar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I was really hoping it wouldn¡¯t be them for once too¡­ granted, all the signs pointed towards them. What could they even want with so many people anyway? Use them as fertilizer?


    Dev followed a step behind me, answering the guy¡¯s question as I fell silent. ¡°Simple. You lot are the Euphoria dealers around here, yeah?¡±


    ¡°Do you think I¡¯m stupid enough to admit to something like that?¡± Lucardo laughed.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Knight Persha simply said, causing her two Squires to chuckle as Lucardo¡¯s expression dropped. ¡°After all, only simpletons draw the attention of the Blue Crusade.¡±


    ¡±Bitch.¡± One of the two stooges at the table snarled, knocking over his margarita as he stood up. ¡°We don¡¯t have to take that from you-¡°


    Lucardo pulled the guy back down before he could finish. ¡°Hurry the fuck up and tell us what you want. My guys are getting¡­ twitchy.¡±


    ¡±.¡± Dev muttered low enough I was probably the only one that heard him. ¡°Your¡­ clients. They¡¯ve been disappearing en masse for the past month. Surely you¡¯re not enough not to notice, right?¡±


    Lucardo¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change. There was a good chance he already knew what we were here to investigate. We weren¡¯t exactly discrete about it. ¡°What about the disappearances? Poor people go missing all the time. Why should we care?¡±


    Classic Aythryn City sentiment right there. It¡¯s funny, people say that then they complain when the disappearances are due to some monster or cult. Granted, this guy likely wouldn''t complain with him being part of said cult.


    I had a feeling we wouldn¡¯t get anything out of the Blood Scythes. Dev kept asking questions though and Knight Persha apparently loved snide comments. I mentally checked out as I inspected the rest of the group.


    No one else looked like they were a part of the Circle. At least, none of them had a Circle amulet. A few had tattoos that kinda looked like trees, but they were cut off by their clothes, so I couldn''t quite tell. There was a good chance the Circle only infiltrated the topmost ranks of the Blood Scythes, taking it over for whatever their nefarious plot needed.


    Knight Persha¡¯s boot slamming into the ground drew my attention back to the conversation. ¡°You better be telling the truth. Otherwise? We¡¯ll come back here, our blades thirsting for


    Yeah, real smooth there Knight. From the twitch on her Squires'' faces, I wasn''t the only one who picked up on her mediocre threat.


    Everyone else turned to leave. I froze for a second, realizing the rest of the Blood Scythes were staring at me, and flashed a bright smile before turning to follow behind them. On my way out, I heard Lucardo mutter, ¡°


    We left the taco restaurant, quickly making space. There was a tail. And not a very good one at that. The gonk still had on his Blood Scythe uniform. Once we entered one of the back halls, I took the lead down winding halls. We lost them after the first couple of turns, entering a red hall with a few women standing around. They scattered upon seeing us.


    Persha pulled a small device from one of her pockets and turned it on. A scrambler. Man, I really need to get one of those at some point. They seemed really nice to have.


    ¡±Well, that was useless.¡± Squire Dev groaned as he leaned up against the wall. The wall¡­ well, the wall squelched? It was a disgusting enough sound that I decided to stay clear of it. No telling what was on the walls here.


    ¡±I had fun.¡± Knight Persha said. Although her expression was hidden by her silver helmet, I could hear the smile in her voice.


    Dev shook his head as his expression fell. ¡°We got nothing out of them. Damnit! Joshua and are going to be done before us.¡± He said Hope''s name with a level of disgust I wasn''t expecting from him. They had some kind of beef? Or maybe it was just since Hope replaced his spot with Joshua?


    ¡±Not exactly.¡± I raised a hand, gathering all the attention to me. ¡°He¡¯s part of the Circle. I saw his amulet through his shirt.¡±


    Dev¡¯s expression did a one-eighty. ¡°Then¡­ the gang is working for the Circle? The Circle is behind the disappearances then, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a leap in logic¡­ buy yeah, it looks that way. Can¡¯t imagine there¡¯s a third group here that is kidnapping people.¡± Seriously, what were the odds that everything was completely unrelated? Low, right? Especially since it was Inquisitor Ligh that sent us here.


    Just before I could say something, the interface flashed in front of my eyes.


    ¡¸Request - Eidolon¡¯s Order - Updated


    Eidolon operatives infiltrated Dr. Carl Langstrum¡¯s lab to steal the <redacted> egg. Nothing was found. New objective: Find and acquire the <redacted> egg.


    Reward: One Trait Point, Eidolonic Favor¡¹


    Right, the egg¡­ I was planning on going to check out the lab now that I had Blackout up and running. Too bad I got caught up in all this Crusade bullshit¡­ interesting though. Did they send their own operatives? Makes sense. I wasn''t their only agent, nor their most competent.


    It¡¯s like the interface said back at Cold Moon Solutions; they have other people who would be desperate to help them achieve whatever they wanted. I was just a choice operator considering my position as the interface holder for some reason. Guess I moved a bit slow¡­


    Still though, if Langstrum didn¡¯t have it, who did? There was so much going on in the city these days that it was hard to keep track. Hell, even Sentinel¡¯s Super Carrier was still parked out in the harbor thanks to all the bullshit with the stolen blueprints that haven¡¯t been found.


    I shook my head, zoning back into the conversation just in time to catch the tail end of one of the other Squire¡¯s questions. ¡°Where are they keeping the victims anyway?¡±


    ¡°We have plans to check the Underground, with your assistance.¡± I nodded to the group, decidedly ignoring Dev¡¯s expression as it went entirely sour. ¡°See if there are tracks of recent travel.¡±


    Knight Persha nodded several times. ¡°Yes, the Underground. The perfect route for smuggling of all sorts. You know an entrance around here?¡±


    A few, actually. There were five right below Lang Tower. No point in being so forward with my intel, though. Might arouse suspicions. ¡°One. It¡¯s on the south side of the Tower. I only know its rough location, so we¡¯ll have to search around for it.¡±


    ¡±Then what are we waiting on? The sooner this is over, the better.¡± Knight Persha turned down the hall, turned off her scrambler, and started walking. Her squires followed quickly after her.


    I coughed lightly. ¡°That¡¯s north.¡±


    ¡±Right¡­ you lead.¡± Persha turned back around to follow me.


    I led us down to the first floor, back in what felt like the middle of nowhere. No one was around, at least. I thought through the multiple maps floating about my head and led us to a section of the Lang Tower that looked condemned. It was pitch black, but of course, that wasn¡¯t a problem for me.


    Dev and one of the other Squires turned on flashlights, though it seemed the other Squire and Knight Persha likewise didn''t have problems seeing in the dark. I checked their eyes. Both had chrome.


    The area looked like an abandoned shopping mall. Sections of walls looked like they were about ready to collapse. I got the distinct feeling this would cause trouble for the stability of the Lang Tower, though no one seemed to care as it was left to rot.


    More accurately, it was probably forgotten about. Arcologies were so massive that there were tons of spaces that were just abandoned and then forgotten about. At least, until the managers decided they needed the space and remodeled. The constant cycle of reworking sections and finding abandoned spots was part of the reason the tower felt so chaotic.


    It wasn¡¯t abandoned by all life, though. Just humans. There were tracks of rodents all over the place, but the more worrying issue was the greenery spread out over the area. Almost everything was covered in plants, especially centered around the fountain in the middle of the place.


    I checked with Aetheria Perception, but it only revealed them to be mundane. Still, I decided to go ahead and put on the Circle amulet just in case. If it worked as I suspected and was a protective charm against the plants of the circle, then I would be more than happy to abuse it.


    While I was putting the charm on, I checked my gear. I hadn¡¯t skimped out this time around and had my bag and all my goodies ready to go should I need them. I¡¯d even set up multiple Molotovs just waiting for gasoline. We were going into the Underground, so being underprepared would only hurt me.


    ¡±Here?¡± Persha asked as she leaned up against a pillar. ¡°You know exactly where here or do we need to root around?¡±


    I motioned over to an old sports goods shop. ¡°Should be in there somewhere.¡±


    ¡±Right.¡± The Knight took the lead, stepping in front of our group as her hand rested on the hilt of her long sword. She looked ready to strike down anything that popped out of hiding.


    We stepped into the sports goods shop. The plants here covered everything in a thick carpet. It was almost impossible to see the floor. ¡°Split up and look for it?¡±


    Dev frowned as his eyes twitched. ¡°I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s a good-¡°


    ¡±Sure! I¡¯ll take over here.¡± Persha completely ignored the twitchy Squire, setting out toward the employee areas. Her two Squires quickly followed after her.


    ¡±I¡¯ll look over there then.¡± I waved at Dev and split off to check an empty space in the store. There would¡¯ve been racks here at one point, but they¡¯d vanished. Who would come and steal racks? What a waste. I walked toward the space, keeping my eye peeled for-


    My foot slipped through the plants as I tumbled forward out onto the vines covering the ground. I threw out a hand to brace myself-


    Only for it to likewise fall through the vines. Then the rest of my body followed into a free fall. I desperately grabbed onto the vines, my weight and momentum slamming me into the side of a massive shaft into the depths. I groaned in pain, rapidly flicking through the console at my wrist to enable the Drop Chutes just in case.


    I held onto the vines for dear life, looking down into the darkness far below. At least I knew where the racks went. I shouted back towards the top. ¡°A little help, please!¡±

 Chapter 201

    With the assistance of Dev, I managed to get back up and out of the hole without plummeting into the depths. By the time I latched onto the other Squire¡¯s hand and he pulled me out, the Knight and her two Squire¡¯s had arrived.


    ¡°I see you found the way down.¡± Persha idly commented as she peeked over the ledge. ¡°Long drop.¡±


    ¡°Trust me, I¡¯m intimately aware.¡± I shook off some plant goo that splattered on my poncho.


    The unarmored Squire raised a hand. ¡°Um- how do we get down?¡±


    ¡°You have a plan for that?¡± The Knight asked me and Dev. ¡°I didn¡¯t bring anything except my two Squires. This''ll be their first time down too.¡± sea??h th§× N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    That can''t go wrong... I pulled my bag off my back and rifled around in it for a moment before I found a spool of microwire. I¡¯d gone and bought some more earlier in the day. I also withdrew the rest of the equipment we¡¯d need to repel down before carefully looking down through my bag.


    Most of my goodies were hidden under the drone case and the small briefcase holding my micro-sentries. A bit more rooting around and I withdrew a glowstick. I cracked and shook it, casting a bright green glow across our surroundings, before tossing it behind my back and off the ledge.


    While it dropped, I started setting up the repel lines. Nothing too complicated. I¡¯d done this dozens of times before, and would probably do so hundreds of times again. The Underground seemed to be popping up quite a bit these days.


    Dev crouched next to the hole and watched the glow stick plummet. ¡°I¡¯m surprised nothing¡¯s come up from here. This hole is massive.¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡± He made a good point. The reason most creatures of the Underground stayed in the Underground was the access shafts were too small. For instance, a Pervider wouldn¡¯t fit through ninety percent of the shafts I knew about. And its offspring, which were much smaller, wouldn''t live long enough to crawl up one.


    ¡°Hey, Zuku?¡± I glanced at Dev over my shoulder. ¡°Your glowsticks gone.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I finished what I was doing and glanced over the edge. Sure enough, nothing but darkness down there. Its as if there was never a glowstick. ¡°How far down did it get?¡±


    ¡°I dunno. Deep?¡± Dev said, unsure of himself.


    Knight Persha looked over the edge of the pit too. ¡°Is that a problem?¡±


    ¡°Maybe¡­ might be something down there. Don¡¯t want to repel onto a monster.¡± I frowned, staring at the hole for a moment before making up my mind.


    I rooted through my bag, pulling out my brand-new deck. It was a nice piece of tech, with RGB lights all over it that flashed magnificently. And its specs were good too. But the pretty lights! Ah, so good. I wanted to put some in the rest of my tech. I''m just saying, an RGB turret that pulsed with its shots would look super cool. Not exactly practical though...


    I flipped it on, connecting up to one of my Scouters. I¡¯d splurged and gotten a way better receiver built into the deck, which was most of the expense. With it, I¡¯d be able to connect to my tech from miles away. Particularly helpful in situations like this.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Persha¡¯s armored Squire asked. Still had no idea what either of their names were. They hadn''t offered, and I''d probably never see them again, so I never asked.


    ¡°A camera.¡± I set everything up, making sure it was all connected as I activated the Scouter. My face popped up on the screen, mostly hidden in darkness. I fixed that by taping another glowstick to the Scouter before tossing it over the edge.


    As the taped combo dropped, I watched on the deck. I ran some calculations through my head, taking gravity, the Scouter¡¯s weight, and a dozen other factors into account as I calculated the depth of the device.


    Before too long, it passed the typical depth of the Underground. I expected it to hit off of the ground down there. Instead, it continued to drop down the shaft. Soon it doubled the depth where the Underground was at. I glanced over the edge, still able to faintly see the glow from way up here.


    I checked my deck again-


    The Scouter and glowstick slammed into something hard, instantly shattering. In its last upload, I caught sight of a massive cavern filled with water. My mind immediately flashed back to my fight with the Wendigo oh so long ago. More accurately, to the tentacle that lashed up from the water to pull the Wendigo down.


    An image of said tentacle wrapping around my ankle, yanking me down into the depths to be devoured by some horrendous entity was positively terrifying. I flashed Cold-Blooded to calm myself down and put aside my deck. As long as we didn''t go too deep, it''ll be fine.


    ¡°What was it?¡± The Knight asked as I put my deck back up.


    ¡°Should be nothing. This shaft drops down into an aquifer, I think¡­ it''s several times deeper than the Underground.¡± I thought through the map, mentally zooming in on our location. ¡°There should be a small entrance into the Underground on this side of the shaft long before then.¡±


    ¡°Is there another entrance we can take? A safer one, perhaps?¡± Persha asked.


    I looked down at the harness and equipment I literally just set up. She couldn¡¯t have asked me that five minutes ago? ¡°Not unless you want to search for another one.¡±


    ¡°Right, because we might not  across the next one.¡± The Knight raised her hands in surrender. ¡°Fine, this one will work.¡±


    I barely managed to keep the irritation off my face at the joke she just happened to fall into. ¡°I¡¯ll go first. Make sure it''s safe.¡±


    ¡°F-fine by me. I¡¯ll- uh, I¡¯ll go last. Make sure everything up here is secure,¡± Dev said. His entire body looked as though it were shaking, and not by a little. His flashlight constantly bobbed around enough to give someone a seizure.


    ¡°You do that.¡± I threw my bag back on, made sure the Drop Chutes were good to go just in case, and then started the long repel down. I did the math as I descended, keeping track of my depth versus the depth I needed to be at.


    Eventually, I hit it. My eyes easily adjusted to the deep darkness down here, allowing me to see every small crevice and crack on the shaft¡¯s walls. I scoured the surface, looking over every section of it as I mentally aligned myself with the map.


    I spotted my target not too far away¨Ca ledge jutting out slightly past a tight crevice. I grabbed onto the microwire holding me up against the side of the shaft. Then I kicked off with my feet, rocking back towards the ledge.


    I fell short, shooting my arm out the latch onto the edge of the ledge. For a second, it was fine. Then the full weight of my dangling body transferred onto said arm, shooting pain through my muscles. I scrambled for the ledge, using insane upper body strength I didn¡¯t even know I had, to pull myself up and onto the crumbling rock.


    I scampered backward into the crevice as I felt the ledge underneath lurch sharply. Parts of it crumbled, slamming down into the shaft to plummet into the cold waters below. A shout came from atop the shaft. Dev, I think. ¡°Y-you okay down there?¡±


    Silence reigned for a few moments as I searched through my bag for one of my last glowsticks. I cracked it, shedding light on my surroundings, and waved it up at them as I unclipped the harness. ¡°I¡¯m good! The entrance is over here!¡±


    While they were figuring out all of that, I dropped the glow stick just inside the crevice so they could see the spot and turned to get a look at what we had to work with. It led toward a narrow path- or at least a narrow path for the others. I had no problem slinking past the constricted space as I thought through the map.


    It should lead out onto- ah. I stumbled forward, pushing past a choke point in the cave. It was tight enough I knocked free quite a few rocks as I ducked out into a half-caved-in subway tunnel. I checked both sides- nothing immediately jumped out as incredibly dangerous. Good enough.


    I backed down the tunnel towards the massive shaft. I got back just in time for Persha to join me down on the ledge. She was the first of the bunch. ¡°Ah, nothing like a nice repel to get the blood pumping, eh?¡±


    ¡±I guess. Get down okay?¡± I asked the woman.


    ¡±Yeah. Not Dev¡¯s first rodeo, I take it?¡± The woman asked, though it sounded rhetorical. ¡°He got me all setup and ready to go quickly. Probably for the best he¡¯s last; my Squires wouldn¡¯t know how to set all that up.¡±


    Guess his experience with the Underground was paying off, just probably not in the way that Dev would¡¯ve liked it to. We waited a few minutes. Soon, the armored squire joined us. And then the unarmored one.


    Finally, Dev repelled down to us. He quickly flung himself into the somewhat stable outcropping of rock, scrambling to safety. ¡°Gah, I hate heights.¡±


    The shaking Squire took off the repelling gear, handing it to me. I set up a temporary anchor and hooked the microwire to. It would seriously suck to come back and find the repell line hanging out over the abyss.


    ¡°So¡­ down this way, I take it?¡± The Knight asked. She was the furthest back into the small cave leading to the Underground proper.


    ¡±Chek. Careful though; it gets pretty tight.¡± Didn¡¯t think this through now, did we? It was way too cramped to try and squeeze back to the lead. At last, there weren¡¯t any branching paths. It was a straightforward route.


    The Knight led our way, having to twist and turn to fit past. It was even worse for Dev, who had on a full set of heavy plate armor. At a few points, Knight Persha chipped and punched at the rocks, manually widening the gap just so she could get past.


    And then, with one loud shoulder check, she slammed out into the abandoned subway. Her helmet must of had some kind of filtration because, while she didn¡¯t cough from the mass of dust she threw up with her rather forceful entry, both of her squires were nearly bent over choking on fresh dust.


    All five of us exited into the subway. I immediately felt everyone¡¯s eyes on me. While I wasn¡¯t the leader of our little group--heck I was the lowest ranked--I did happen to be the navigator.


    I thought through the map once more, tracing a route through the Underground to maximize efficiency for investigating likely areas where the discerning human trafficker might pass by.


    I went through and picked out the least likely spaces first, whether it be because they were too tight to effectively move people or for other reasons. From there, I traced a route to other spots, each one spiking the likelihood we¡¯d run into .


    After a few seconds of double-checking my route, I motioned down the Subway. ¡°That way¡±


    We walked into the darkness of the Underground, weapons raised for any sign of a threat. None came. There were a few tracks of creatures moving through the area recently, though our group of five practically radiated danger. Most critters weren¡¯t stupid and scampered off long before we came through.


    We still had to fight a few beasties, but even calling it a fight was generous. Knight Persha easily handled each one with her sword, ending it in a single strike each time.


    Granted, each of the denizens that attacked were small and too dumb to have a basic understanding of the danger they faced. could¡¯ve taken care of the threats with a few well-placed shots.


    Still, she was really deserving of her title as ¡®Knight¡¯. She was always first to react, ending it by the time the rest of us realized we were under attack. Even with Insight and Dexterity working in my favor.


    Superhuman reflexes at the least, and insane sword techniques capable of cutting cement like butter. Add on top of that the enhancements from her gear, and she was a terrifying figure to face off against.


    Her combat prowess¡­ I¡¯d a hundred percent lose a fight against her unless I had the time to prep, set an ambush, and abuse all of my Perks. Even then, as long as she kept her wits about her, overwhelming strength could brute force through a lot of my tricks. I¡¯m glad she was on my side.


    The first entrance that we checked for movement unfortunately didn¡¯t reveal anything. It was bare of any marks heading up, mostly thanks to the fact that the shaft was small enough that only a child could fit through that particular route. Even then, it¡¯d be tight.


    We moved on to yet another entrance. Likewise, this one wasn¡¯t it. There was definitely room for someone to come and go down the shaft, but the entrance exited out onto the top of a caved-in subway platform. The dust hadn¡¯t even been touched until we arrived on the scene.


    As they say though, the third time is the charm. There were signs that it was what we were looking for even before we stumbled across the spot I mentally marked.


    Vines covered the walls in increasingly thick clumps as we approached. Aetheria Perception revealed them to be mundane, yet at any moment I was ready for them not to be.


    I wasn¡¯t the only one who noticed the growth of plants. Tension rose in the air as our group subtly rearranged itself so that Persha and Dev were close enough to jump forward should our group come under attack. And knowing these Circle bastards? It was only a matter of time.

 Chapter 219

    We walked a bit more, entering a sprawling metro station. It was big, taking up a large space with a balcony looking down onto the foyer. It''d been buried with time long ago, left to rot down here in the Underground.


    It would¡¯ve been quite something back in the day. Now though? Now it was worn and torn. Cracks crisscrossed the walls, and everything was left in a state of disrepair. There were also almost no lights outside of a few bioluminescent plants. Dev and the other Squire¡¯s flashlights beamed into the darkness, creating long shadows.


    As soon as we entered, my guard was up. Large spaces like this were ideal spots for plenty of creatures. Add in the plants everywhere? Never a good sign. I flashed Aetherial Perception-


    A flash of Insight kept me from getting caught in the first hail of bullets. The piercing cold played a staccato against my body as I flung myself behind Dev. Like a true meat shield, he ate every single shot. They bounced harmlessly off his heavy armor as I scanned our surroundings.


    ¡±Contact!¡± Persha yelled as if we hadn¡¯t noticed the shots in our direction.


    I used Burst Step to retreat from my meat shield and back to the entryway. Pillars and arches provided ample cover. My leg muscles tensed, screaming in pain for a moment as I lunged with full force for the entrance.


    I ducked into cover, rolling out a Scouter to better understand our situation. I pulled the feed up into my HUD, momentarily getting dizzy from the two different points of view. It also didn''t help that the Scouter couldn''t see in the dark. I''d have to fix that at some point.


    Dev and the Squires had taken the chance to get into cover. Unlike me, though, they had opted for the relatively thick pillars supporting the arched roof high above. It provided cover and was close but also got rid of any chance of maneuvering the enemy. All had weapons out, taking potshots before being forced back into cover by return fire.


    Persha, showing the true insanity of a Knight of the Blue Crusade, stood out in the open. Her longsword was drawn, the silver sheen reflecting the light of gunfire all over the nearly pitch-black space. She effortlessly deflected the hail of fire launching towards her. Definitely some kind of reaction-boosting chrome and maybe some kind of internal processor too.


    My gaze finally moved to track our enemies as they pinned us down. Interestingly, there wasn¡¯t a hint of muzzle flash from them, making it harder to track their locations. I peeked up and used my actual eyes. While I could see in the dark, it wasn¡¯t perfect. At a certain distance, everything kinda blended together as it turned fuzzy. I couldn''t see our enemy.


    They must¡¯ve lost track of me because the bullets stopped coming in my direction entirely. I checked the situation once more. Everyone was still pinned except for Persha. She just stood there, occasionally laughing with glee as she deflected projectiles. I took the chance to activate my stealth Perks--mainly just Stalk--and moved around the entryway, using the pillars and railing as cover.


    Once I was out of the line of fire entirely, I scaled up a pillar. I used the cracks and crevices to work my way up, repositioning myself onto one of the arches between pillars. It made a perfect nook for me to get a bird¡¯s eye view of the scene through the cracks in the once-ornate decorations.


    Running a quick calculation based on the trajectory of the initial shot, I tracked the enemy''s position. It wasn¡¯t what I expected. I thought there¡¯d be some kind of Circle squad or gang members set up.


    Instead, as I should¡¯ve suspected, there were large plants set up all over the balcony. I turned on Aetherial Perception, using their slight glow to better see what we were dealing with.


    Three serrated leaves formed a snout like some kind of demented flycatcher. A central thick vine acted like the body of the creature, supporting the grotesque head.  Vines spread out from the ¡®body¡¯ of the plant like arms, each one covered in sharp thorns.


    The creature flicked out its vines, launching said thorns at incredible speeds akin to a bullet. Each burst shot off a couple thorns, all of which regrew by the time its other ¡®arm¡¯ flicked out. They constantly fired down upon the rest of the Crusaders.


    With my target in sight, I anchored myself better to the arch, pulled off my backpack, and grabbed several pre-built Molotovs. With a quick refill from my canteen, I was ready to go.


    I lit the first one, slightly giving my position away as the cloth caught fire. Gauging the distance, my training from Throwing Weapon Master as I quickly lined up my shot and threw.


    It arched perfectly, the flames dancing through the air as the bottle spun. Then, with a shattering sound, it exploded over the plant, encasing the entire thing in fire. A grinding sound came from the plant as if it were screaming in pain.


    The light gave the others something to target as they lit up the plant, killing it almost immediately. These plants weren¡¯t super durable. Everyone shooting it was overkill. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I dropped down into cover behind the arch once more. My action most definitely gave my position away. While hiding, I reconnected to my Scouter to check for other targets. Now that I knew what I was looking for, and by the light of the spreading flames, I easily picked out seven more of the thorny plants.


    I waited for several moments, expecting to get shot at. Nothing came my way. I ducked out, ready to hide once more at the first sign of danger, but the plants entirely ignored me. It was as if they couldn¡¯t see me, or whatever they used for perception couldn¡¯t sense me.


    With the first one down, and its burning body illuminated, Persha finally reacted. ¡°Ah, they¡¯re just plants? No fun¡­ let¡¯s get this over with!¡±


    Dev peaked out, shooting a burst at one of the other plant creatures. ¡±Careful! Might be more to this ambush-¡°


    ¡°Hah!¡± The Knight completely ignored him, charging toward the flaming plants with no fear. She easily bounded up the stairs to the second floor, her longsword making short work of the barrage headed in her direction. What she didn''t deflect, her armor blocked without any issues. She reached the second one as I lit my next Molotov, easily cutting through the plant.


    Just before I threw, movement caught my eye. From a side room, three humanoid shapes moved toward a doorway into the foyer. I recognized their wooden forms in the distance: Corrupted Dryads. They were the same creatures that Hope and I ran into.


    I changed directions, throwing it at the doorway. The gasoline exploded over it, creating a burning patch they¡¯d have to cross through. It caused a momentary delay and drew the attention of the rest of the squad toward the new enemies.


    ¡°Their weak spot is their vines!¡± I shouted as I finally pulled out my rifle. ¡°Or their backs!¡±


    ¡±Roger!¡± A call came from below as the Squire¡¯s moved their aim towards the approaching Corrupted Dryads.


    I shifted my attention to the thorn throwers. They¡¯d be an issue in a protracted fight. Persha easily took care of most of them. Three others were already dead to her swordsmanship.


    I aimed at the one furthest from her. Although the Squires¡¯ line of sight was blocked by the balcony, I had a perfect view of the enemy from my high ground on the arch. And they were weak to bullets without any of the hardened bark that some of the other Circle abominations had.


    I burst fired in its direction, my shots easily cutting through the vines. With a couple more bursts, I completely obliterated its ¡®body¡¯, dropping the lifeless head to the ground. I readjusted as Persha moved on to her fifth. By the time she cleaved it to small bits, I killed the last of the thorn throwers.


    Ducking down, I reloaded. My actions were practiced, easily getting my gun ready for the next volley. While I was reloading, I checked the situation once more. The dryads had pushed past my molotov¡¯s pool of flames, getting lightly burned in the process. They stood side to side, carefully guarding each other¡¯s backs from the firing Squires as they fired thorn barrages.


    Persha¡¯s armored Squire was the closest to them, hiding behind a pillar. He could hardly peek out as they launched thorn after thorn at him, keeping the guy in cover. It was only a matter of time until they moved up onto him and eviscerated him. Gah, I wish I made a rocket now. It¡¯d do wonders against these things.


    Or even some fire-imbued bullets from my Aether Imbuement Perk. I needed to get that stuff up and running soon. My firepower was falling behind drastically these days. Or, at least, that¡¯s how it all felt.


    ¡°Gah!¡± A shout came from the squire as his arm went limp and he staggered further into cover. In one of the Squire''s flashlight¡¯s glow, I caught sight of blood pouring down from his arm. Lucky hit right in between the armor plating.


    Persha was on her way, but by the time she¡¯d arrive, the Squire would be surrounded and likely killed. Something needed to change. I looked around for options, my eyes snagging on the roof. The cracks had spread up to it, weakening its structure.


    I did a quick check of the structure''s stability, trying to figure out if a section of it collapsing would cause the entire ceiling to cave in on top of us. By my estimate, there were enough pillars that even if a section fell, it wouldn¡¯t drop everything.


    I adjusted my fire, blasting into the roof above the approaching plants. At first, nothing happened other than a rain of pebbles. And then one of the others noticed what I was doing and joined me. Our combined firepower shattered the already weak stonework, dropping a chunk of the ceiling and earth down onto the Corrupted Dryads.


    The falling debris slammed into them, pressing them into the ground as a plume of dust spread out. For a moment, I thought it was over. Then the rubble started to shift as the broken forms of the fallen dryads started to dig out of the rubble.


    ¡±Back away while they''re down!¡± Dev shouted to the injured Squire, his voice echoing in the large chamber.


    The armored Squire scrambled away, ducking as a hail of thorns fired all around him. Their aim was way off thanks to the fact they were buried in rubble though. Only a few plinked off his armor.


    As the Squire moved for safety, Persha finally moved in with her sword at the ready. She reached the Corrupted Dryads, her sword catching on its bark as she slashed. She ripped out the blade, tapping something on its pommel. The blade immediately started to vibrate rapidly, letting out a low-pitched whine.


    With the vibrating blade, she slashed again. Her sword cleaved through the bark of one of the Corrupted Dryads. The cut easily took off its head in a spray of dark red sap. She moved around the rubble, cleaning up the other two just as quickly.


    Everything went silent as the fight ended, though our guards were up for yet more attackers. After a few moments of nothing, Knight Persha made a call. ¡°Back up to the entrance. Regroup before we head back in. Tyler, how¡¯s the arm?¡±


    Squire Tyler, the armored squire, groaned slightly. ¡°Not too bad. Feels like a flesh wound. Thorn still stuck in though.¡±


    I repacked all my gear, flipped on the Drop Chutes, and then jumped off the arch. Just before hitting the ground, they activated, allowing me to get down safely in mere moments. I walked over to join the group as we made a tactical retreat back the way we came.


    Once we were out in the tunnels again, Persha moved to check on Tyler. ¡°That the Circle¡¯s MO?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Probably a bunch of Adepts somewhere around here too¡­ call for more reinforcements?¡± I asked the group. I¡¯d never run into a fully prepared Adept, and I¡¯d rather not try my luck. Especially against a group of them.


    There was a good chance there''d be a high-level one too, considering the entryway had quite a few plants guarding it. This wasn''t just a small outpost like the one Hope and I had stumbled across.


    Persha pulled out a pair of tweezers from a pouch and ripped the thorn out, tearing with it a chunk of flesh as the Squire gasped. Not the most subtle medical treatment, and it looked as though she caused more harm than good. Then again, she was the combat expert here. The Knights probably had an entirely different way of doing things.


    She then pulled a needle from her pouch and stabbed it into Tyler¡¯s wound. The guy flinched harshly, though he managed not to make a sound. As soon as the needle ejected all of its fluid, the bleeding in his arm stopped. Probably some kind of Stim. ¡°Good to go. Should be fine till we get out of here.¡±


    "Thanks." The Squire twisted his arm around testingly.


    "It''s coming out of your paycheck." The Knight cruelly informed him. His expression immediately dropped.


    ¡°I¡¯d like reinforcements,¡± Dev answered me. His finger caressed the trigger of his rifle. ¡°No telling what else is lurking down here. Especially if this is a large operation.¡±


    ¡±No. They already know we¡¯re here. We delay any longer, and they¡¯ll destroy all the evidence and abandon this place.¡± The Knight cut down that path. ¡°We go in hard and fast. I''ll take the lead.¡±


    I was afraid she¡¯d say that. I was really beginning to see why Dev didn''t like her.

 chapter 203

    We headed for the hallway opposite where the Corrupted Dryads came from. It was one of two accessible hallways and the one that should lead the way back up to the Lang Tower. Assuming I was lined up, that is. I was expecting a guard or something, but other than a semi-permanent-looking lift platform, there wasn¡¯t much to the entrance.


    ¡±Looks like a lot of movement through here.¡± Dev commented as he crouched down and looked at all the rubble kicked aside. Lots of foot traffic.


    ¡°So these  the kidnappers?¡± Persha asked as she kicked aside a rock.


    ¡°Probably.¡± Every sign pointed towards the circle at this point. I already figured it was them, but every little bit of evidence was nice to get. It would make reporting back to the Inquisitor.


    I moved over to the lift platform and messed with the controls. It was a simple enough mechanism. I sabotaged it, making sure it couldn¡¯t go up or down. No point in leaving a way for either reinforcements to come or our enemy to leave.


    We backtracked toward the central area, passing by the large space to go down the tunnel the Corrupted Dryads came from. It looped back a ways before merging into a cave entrance, with the rest of the building caved in.


    I thought through the map of the Underground. This should enter into quite a large cavern, with several caves branching off into other sections of the Underground. It¡¯d be the ideal spot to set up camp, especially with several plant guards at every entrance. ¡°Large chamber up ahead.¡±


    ¡±Anyway we can scout it out before going in?¡± Dev asked as we paused just before entering the space. ¡°I- I¡¯d rather not go in blind.¡±


    I thought for a moment before pulling out my drone¡¯s case. I looked down at Droney V.2. Or should it be Droner V.2? The last one so bravely sacrificed itself back in New Tress City. Hope this one lasts a little longer. ¡°Just give me a beat.¡±


    I connected the drone to my deck. I¡¯d practiced flying it a couple more times since that radio tower, so I was confident I could fly it without running into anything. Course, I wasn¡¯t as good as Yonrow, but I should be good enough.


    With the simple controls of my deck, I got the drone up and flying in minutes. I smoothly flew the silent drone down the tunnel, watching the video feed on my deck the entire time. The rest of the group piled in behind me to get a better look at what we were dealing with.


    The large cavern on the other side was filled with greenery of all kinds, looking as though someone opened up a garden down here. Long vines dangled from the roof covered in glowing bulbs that illuminated the space. Plants covered the ground level of the place, most of which were bright, luminescent pink. Some kind of growery, maybe?


    Or at least, it was growery on the surface. Rusty cages lined the walls, almost all of them empty. I flew to the side of the cavern, careful to keep out of sight and take advantage of the darkness.


    The few people inhabiting the cages looked drugged out of their minds, their eyes glazed over as they stared off into space with dopey smiles on their faces. Probably didn¡¯t even know what was happening. Sad, really.


    People, Circle members probably, stood all around the chamber. I counted thirty-five, though there could¡¯ve been more hidden in the greenery. About half of them looked like Adepts, and the other half definitely had glimmers of chrome. Weak chrome though, as if they went back alley diving.


    All were geared and looking for a fight. About half of them watched the entrance we were on, all of which were the chrome ones. The other half were spaced evenly around the fields of plants. Adepts liked to hold the range advantage, no surprise. Made it easier to cast spells. Regardless, they knew we were here and were ready.


    I was worried about one guy in particular. He stood near the altar, wearing a dark green robe, unlike the rest. Seemed to be maybe the leader? Or maybe it was just a distraction. It was a common enough tactic to have all members of a group look the same so the leader couldn¡¯t get assassinated.


    As I flew up, I noticed runes and lines centered around the middle of the place. An altar covered in dried blood sat in the very middle, with the runes and lines spreading out from it to fill the entire chamber.


    ¡±Is that-¡° Tyler, the Squire, paused. He just mutely pointed toward the side of the chamber, where hundreds of corpses sat piled up like trash. All, without fail, had horribly contorted expressions on their rotted faces.


    ¡°Human sacrifice.¡± Persha spat off to the side. ¡°Must be trying to cast some kind of black magic ritual.¡±


    ¡¸Request - Owl¡¯s Principle of Study - Received


    Find out the purpose of the ritual


    Reward: 1x Knowledge Token¡¹


    I¡¯ll do it if I can, but no promises. I doubt they¡¯d just have paperwork of their master plan lying around. That''s like how to fail a conspiracy 101. No one was stupid enough to do that... right? I guess if the Inquisitor were here, he''d probably find such a paper...


    What¡¯s a Knowledge Token though? That was new. As I approached that Interface Expansion or whatever they called it, the eidolons were getting more and more interested, it seemed.


    ¡°What¡¯s the plan?¡± I asked as I carefully flew the silent drone back to us. I used the rocks and deep shadows as cover to get it back.


    ¡±Do we have enough time to go around to a different entrance?¡± Dev asked.


    I thought back through the map. ¡°Maybe thirty minutes? And no telling what we¡¯ll run into on the way.¡±


    I looked toward the entrance of the chamber and flicked on Aetherial Perception. I hadn¡¯t told the others yet, but the feeling in there? Bad. Even from here, I could tell something was off. There Aether had a sickly green pitch to it, though it was super dense in there. No telling what was going on.


    One this was for sure though- I didn¡¯t like it. It gave me a similar vibe as back in New Tress City. It was like there was some behemoth monster in there. Watching. Waiting. I didn¡¯t like it one bit.


    I could go in and try to eliminate a few of them by myself¡­ I had no qualms about killing this bunch. They were basically Scavs, using and abusing other people to accomplish their own twisted goals. Worse, even, considering they were using some kind of Black Magic. Hell, I didn¡¯t even know Black Magic was a thing until just now.


    ¡±I could go in and cause a distraction from one of the other entrances, split them up. I¡¯m good at sneaking around.¡± I offered. The darkness and rock outcroppings would make it easy to get past the guards. From the way they were holding space, the group wasn¡¯t exactly competent at keeping watch.


    "I could take on all the chromed guys. The Adepts complicate things though..." Perhsa sighed. "Maybe a distraction would be good."


    "Adepts require a lot of concentration, usually... we could abuse that. They''ve been dealing with drugged-out civilians and scurrying around like rats too. They''re probably soft." Dev... actually made a good point for once.


    ¡±Hmm¡­ you got more Molotovs, Squire?¡± Knight Persha asked me as she rubbed her hands together. At the very least, it looked like one of us had a plan.


    I dug through my bag, feeling around inside. About three, though all still need to be filled with gasoline. ¡°Three.¡±


    ¡±And everyone has a respirator?¡± I could practically hear a vicious sneer as Persha clapped her hands as we all nodded. Guess it was standard equipment for the Crusade. ¡°Good. Here¡¯s the plan.¡±


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    Donny had a simple life. He was once a great Adept, working under Raijin to mine in the Aether. It was a simple job that paid well and had great benefits. He couldn¡¯t have asked for more. Being in the tiny percentile of people who could actually use the Aether had quite a few benefits.


    And then that all came crashing down once Raijin found he was pocketing rare crystals to sell at Night Markets. That was the kind of thing they couldn¡¯t tolerate. But, like, if they didn¡¯t want him to try and make some extra money on the side, they should just pay him more in general.


    Thankfully, he¡¯d made some friends in his time with the corporation. He managed to flee  before a hit squad came to make an example out of him. His decades of studying magic hadn¡¯t been pointless. His friend that warned him though? Well¡­ it¡¯s said that his body was still dangling somewhere in the Underground.


    He thought it was over- all over. And then the Circle approached him with promises of eternal life and revenge against those who ruined him. That was years ago, and since then he¡¯d steadily risen through the ranks of the cult.


    That¡¯s how Donny found himself here, below Lang Tower amongst a field of Enron flowers. His gaze fell on the mounds of corpses off to the side of the chamber. It was unfortunate, but Mother needed the sacrifices. If anything, those druggies had no one to blame but themselves for being addicts.


    ¡°Who do you think it is?¡± One of the other, lesser members asked him as he conjured and toyed with a ball of ice.


    ¡±Maybe the Crusade. They¡¯ve been poking around recently.¡± Donny replied as his attention turned back to the main entrance of the chamber. Crusade or whatever, he''d kill them all the same. For Mother.


    The forward guards had all been wiped out. It was an unfortunate loss. Corrupted Dryads were hard to come by these days. The Dryads had all but been wiped out under Mother¡¯s orders. They weren¡¯t so easy to get a hold of anymore.


    Donny sighed deeply, wondering if it was just another rabid beast attack that wiped out the guards. Again. There¡¯d been nothing else since the initial strike an hour ago, and the Underground was notoriously unpredictable. Could¡¯ve been anything, not just an attacking force. Wouldn''t be the first time.


    He felt a chill go down his spine as subconsciously fixed his posture. His hand dropped to his trusty wand. Donny¡¯s eyes flicked around, trying to find the source of the chill-


    There. Six red glowing eyes peered down at him, seemingly filled with malevolent intelligence. The Leader¡¯s bird and supposedly the cursed beast responsible for the cult¡¯s latest scheme. At least, if background rumors were to be trusted. He thought it was kinda bullshit though. No way that bird-brain came up with all of this.


    The gaze only fell on him for a few moments before the eyes disappeared into the dark. Donny barely held a sigh of relief. The beast always made him uncomfortable. It was almost as if it knew exactly what he was thinking at any given moment.


    Shadows flashed as the Glowbulb vines up above shifted. Donny nearly flung a Chain Lightning at it on reflex, though barely managed to hold himself back. No point in wasting his magic. It was just a breeze.


    Those damn breezes though¡­ ever since the ritual, they¡¯d been coming and going more and more frequently as if something massive were breathing. Seriously unsettling.


    Donny turned his attention back to the entrance. Already, they¡¯d set up a guard of twenty people watching it. Those chrome domes were mere meat shields for the rest of them. A bunch of bastards lulled into the cult¡¯s plans, though they¡¯d never actually become True Children like the Adepts. Tragic, really. A life without Mother?


    Donny toyed with his dark green cloak, the only distinguishing feature elevating him from the common rabblery of the cult. Maybe he should order a squad to go investigate-


    ¡°Fire!¡± One of the Adepts called out in surprise. ¡°The Enron Flowers!¡±


    He looked over. A section of the flowers used to make Euphoria were slowly burning up, their pink petals turning black under the flames. Pink-black smoke rose from the flowers, slowly filling the place.


    ¡±Over here too!¡± Another Adept called. This one was actually somewhat competent as he tried to summon water and put the fire out-


    Only for the fire to explode under the water¡¯s touch and spread even faster. The Adept let out a horrid scream as what looked like acid splattered on him from the fire. Was it a grease fire? Donny opened his mouth to shout orders-


    Something stabbed into his shoulder. He stumbled forward, trying to reach back and pull whatever it was out. A shock of cold spread throughout his body as his muscles locked up. Before he could even do anything, his entire body went numb and he collapsed to the floor.  Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    In the distance, he saw one of the other entrances explode as despair started to set in. This wasn''t just a small strike team. They were getting raided by a large group. It was only a matter of time.


    For all his strength and magic, he could do nothing as the fire slowly approached across the burning field.

 Chapter 204

    I breathed roughly through my mask as I stayed low, hiding under the tall pink flowers. They were closer to bushes covered in flowers than anything. I silently approached the green-robed man. He still had my knife in his shoulder blade from where I¡¯d thrown it, and I would rather not lose it to the fire.


    I checked the situation as I moved for him, carefully keeping myself out of sight and hidden. Persha had already charged into the space, cleanly executing seven of the chromed ones as the other Squires supported her charge with strong suppressing fire. It was only a matter of time till all was cleaned up.


    As for the Adepts? They looked like they were stuck deep in confusion. Half of them looked towards the other entrance. My distraction over there was doing wonders keeping them looking away from the main force. The turrets I¡¯d packed weren¡¯t anything crazy, but the gunshots definitely sold the idea that someone was fighting over there. sea??h th§× n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The other half tried to cast their magic to support the chromed fighters holding back the rest of the squad, but the fumes from burning Enron Flowers were already working  magic. Although not as strong as injecting directly into the vein, the fumes from burning Enron Flowers were still enough to grant someone the effects of Euphoria. They were not only having a hard time focusing on the attack, but the overwhelming pleasure and, well, euphoria of the drug were quickly overwhelming their mental facilities.


    I¡¯ve been told that casting magic is a precise and methodical practice for Adepts. With them out of it, their magic wasn¡¯t even a threat. The most they could do was use their wands for the stored quick-cast spells, though the ones that attempted that seemed to do more harm than good as their attacks grew more and more lackadaisical, hitting their own people.


    ¡®Course, it helped that the Squires were deep in cover and Knight Persha had enough combat sense to keep the other guys between her and the Adepts. The Knight may be bullish, but she definitely had a knack for fighting.


    As the fire spread, they were even more incapacitated. The closest ones simply collapsed in a joyful daze, unfeeling as the fire started to devour their flesh. Drugs were damn scary. A few of the ones that seemed to resist somewhat still tried to put out the fire, but all the water they threw at it just caused the fire to react explosively.


    A simple trick with a bunch of chemicals. Took a while to get it all set up and for the canteen to generate the right stuff, but add some of the chemicals I copied from Cold Moon Solutions to a Molotov? My masterpiece- a flame that only grew rougher with each attempt to put it out.


    I kept low and slunk up to the fallen Adept, ripping my jade dagger from his back. I breathed deeply through my mask, thankful that I brought it as I slotted it back into my sheath. The entire plan hinged on incapacitating the Adepts using the Enron field. Knight Persha had an eye for strategy, though we were  destroying evidence. Somehow, I don¡¯t think anyone in the Crusade would actually care about that particular detail.


    I crouched down and ran my hands over the leader¡¯s pockets and body, checking for anything worth looting. I pulled out several things, not caring what they were before I pocketed them. Of course, I didn¡¯t forget to pocket his amulet of protection either. I could check it all out later.


    I did pause momentarily as I pulled out a ritualistic-looking dagger. It had a long, zigzagging blade marked with dried blood that seemed ingrained into the metal. A check of Aetherial Perception revealed slight thrums of a resonant energy. A remnant maybe?


    As I toyed with the blade, I finally took a look at the leader''s face. He was a mundane sort, with nothing standing out in the slightest. Looked just like any other random stranger in the city. His eyes were wide open though, staring at me in terror. And yet, there was a certain¡­  quality to them? His face twitched around as he tried to change his expression and speak.


    ¡±Are you¡­ are you pleading for mercy?¡± I asked the fallen man lightly.


    His eyes bobbed up and down. I could practically hear his voice screaming ¡®Yes!¡¯. He frantically tried to get his message across as I crouched down.


    ¡±Oh?¡± A flash of a smile crossed my lips as I put on the most innocent look I could. Not sure how much of that translated through the mask though. I raised the blood-stained dagger and glanced down at it.


    I rammed my foot down onto his hand, grinding it into the ground as I stood back up. Don''t know if he could feel it through the paralysis, but it made  feel better. With my other foot, I tilted his head slightly to the side- to where the hundreds of human sacrifices lay against the wall like discarded garbage.


    ¡±I wonder?¡± A gurgle of pain came from his throat as he tried to fight off the paralysis. ¡°Did they ask for mercy? Or were they too high to realize what was going on? Hmm¡­¡± The dead''s expressions suggested at least some of them realized the horror of the situation.


    I looked up to the approaching fire. It was only a matter of time till it spread to this section of the Enron field. I looked down at his eyes. Already, I could see they were starting to dilate without anything to protect him from the fumes. ¡°Well, I guess it doesn¡¯t matter. You¡¯ll know soon enough, won¡¯t you?¡±


    I stepped away from the man, returning to my stealth state as I got high ground and took it all in once more. I¡¯d felt it a few times before, but this place  felt familiar for some reason? It was a bit odd.


    A few things had changed in the squad¡¯s fight. The group had taken care of the chromed guards entirely, looking as though they only took a few minor injuries. The Knight truly was a beast of slaughter, or at least that¡¯s how she looked covered in blood as she was.


    Their enemies had changed at some point, converting to plant-based monstrosities once more. Not that it seemed to be much of an issue for the Knight. Nothing there was on the level of the Corrupted Dryads, instead seemingly closer to the Growths from New Tress City. Only- this batch didn¡¯t have the numbers advantage.


    I looked out across the field, spotting all sorts of hidden plants. They seemed kind of weak though. Most struggled as the fires ate at their bodies, squirming around and causing the entire field to look as though it was alive.


    It seemed there were all sorts in the Enron field covering up the ritual circle. My hand shot up to the Circle amulet still dangling from my neck. Probably would¡¯ve been attacked by said creatures while trying to sneak through if not for the amulet. Pocketing this thing was such a good idea.


    With my high-ground advantage, I pulled out my rifle once more and swept over the last three Adepts standing. The first fell with an easy burst of my rifle, the bullets ripping through the dazed figure¡¯s body without an issue.


    The second lasted a little longer. My first shots alerted him to the fact a shooter was present in the chamber. He quickly cast some kind of spell using a wand, causing my bullets to impossibly veer off target. Reflection? Or something similar?


    It didn¡¯t really matter. After spending time with Lia and having her protective magics cast on me, I was somewhat aware of their weakness. They weren¡¯t so good at multiple hits. Lia¡¯s had, what, ten charges? Roundabout? I could easily drain something on that level, assuming there weren¡¯t any major differences between this Adept¡¯s spell and Lia¡¯s Magi spell.


    I spaced out my shots as he struggled for another of his wands, steadily draining the charge of whatever magic he used. Each bullet veered off, piercing into the fields beyond. Still, I stayed steadfast with my aim. He finally got a hold of his other wand. It glowed a sickly green as the nearby plants started to react-


    A bullet punched through his protective barrier, slamming into his chest. Several more immediately followed, felling the man. I wasted no time sweeping my rifle to fire at the-


    I threw myself to the ground as a thorny vine whipped through the air with a sharp crack. Insight''s slicing cold warned me just in the nick of time. The vine seemed to have a mind of its own, whipping back as if to strike me down.


    I rolled to the side, drawing and throwing my emergency boot shiv with pinpoint accuracy as I moved. The shiv flew through the air, meeting the whip as it sliced cleanly in half before disappearing into the field beyond. Rip emergency shiv. Before the destroyed vine could even hit the ground, it faded into the Aether.


    A spell. One of the Adepts was still up, and probably conscious. At least, conscious enough to realize what was going on in their surroundings. Damn, I was really hoping the leader would be the only strong Adept¡­


    Instead of repeating my angle like a gonk, I ensured my stealth Perks were active and moved down the rock outcropping I¡¯d been using as cover. I carefully repositioned myself, using the shadows to hide my movements.


    Once I was in a good off angle to get the Adept, I prepared to pop up and shoot once more-


    Wait! What if they have something like Reflection active? Just a shot won¡¯t get through¡­ Hmm¡­ The last one¡¯s magic was more like a point defense system than a full-on shield, right? I could use that.


    I quickly withdrew my last chemically infused Molotovs. I didn¡¯t immediately throw it though. First I picked up a sizable rock and tossed it to the other side of the rock outcropping, causing noise and movement on the complete opposite side.


    Then, with the distraction hopefully keeping the Adept¡¯s attention, I peeked up and lined up the Molotov. The Adept wasn¡¯t even looking at me as he cast a spell toward the other side of the rock. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched a small forest of sharpened roots shoot up from the ground. If I was over there, there¡¯s a high chance I would¡¯ve been impaled by the spikes.


    I threw the Molotov perfectly, as per usual thanks to Throwing Weapon Master. The flaming explosive arched through the air, shattering just before reaching the Adept as his defensive magic activated. As the bottle shattered, it spewed its payload all over the surrounding area, including the Adept.


    A scream ripped through the air as the flames spread across the person¡¯s body. I tuned him out after the first several screams. Dying to fire was supposedly one of the most painful deaths, and this guy didn¡¯t seem to have the protection of being too high to feel it like the others. I  felt bad.


    With the Adepts taken care of, I checked the situation once more. The others were still fighting plant monstrosities. Only, now, the bigger and more dangerous ones had made their way out of the field. In particular, a giant mawed beast like the one Hope and I blew up fought the Knight in an intense melee as several thorn throwers supported it.


    It looked to be a long fight since the mawed beast could regenerate nearly all the attacks the Knight hit it with, but the group was slowly taking ground. Its regeneration seemed to have an upper limit, unlike a certain sword-wielding maniac¡¯s stamina.


    Once more I was thankful for the amulet I klept. I can¡¯t even imagine how horribly everything would¡¯ve gone if the plants attacked me while I was trying to run interference with the Adepts-


    Cold talons pierced through my skull and shoulder, tearing apart my body easily. I barely managed to activate Burst Step in time to dodge Insight¡¯s predicted strike. As soon as I vacated the area, a massive shape flew through, tearing apart the air as it flapped up into the shadows.


    I lost sight of it momentarily, only catching a familiar view of six glowing red eyes as a deep, guttural laugh filled the chamber.

 Chapter 205

    A massive crow flew into my view, pausing mid-air as it hovered in place. Its six, red eyes locked onto me as I took in its enormous form. It wasn¡¯t even half of Crow¡¯s size from the last time I saw the eidolon in his graveyard, but still massive. This bird had several dark green, nearly black growths all over its body like sacs of puss. Vines entwined in and under its feathers as if the creature was a mere flower bed.


    I swept the surrounding area for the magus responsible for summoning the bird. Nothing. I flicked on Aetherial Perception to better track the flow of the Aether, coming to the startling realization that no one summoned the crow before me. It was just here on its own, seemingly possessing a corrupted aura just the same as the dryads.


    ¡±I can smell  scent on you,¡± A guttural voice called out- no, it wasn¡¯t speaking. It was more of a telepathic call. It felt a bit similar to that bird from New Tress Radio; its voice caused a small headache. ¡°Come out, come out, little brother.¡±


    What is he-? Little brother? Corvid? It''s the only thing that would make sense¡­ What the hell was going on? Did sprites even brothers? Or was this related to that oddity I noticed a while back where Corvid had a name, and most other sprites didn¡¯t?


    The small crow that¡¯d been accompanying me since I got the Corvid Perk popped out of the Aether, landing on my shoulder. He stared up at the other massive crow seemingly in anger. ¡°Caww!¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be like that. That  ruler of the Aether deserves no loyalty after what he did to elder brother! After that bastard stripped elder brother of his might, forcing him to be a mere mortal! For what? Understanding? Ha!¡± The crow called out righteously in his deep voice. ¡°It¡¯s not too late, you know? Join me! Together we can take down that- that  Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I took a step back, lightly shifting my shoulder away. The crazed mania in his guttural force drove a spike of anxiety down my spine. I lightly whispered to Corivd, ¡°Enjoy your family reunion? I think I¡¯m just going to head over there-¡°


    ¡±The puppet wants to retreat? Hahah, no surprises there. Ever the coward. Come, little brother, eliminate that beast first! Join me in glory! In power!¡± The guttural voice called out as the green growths on its body started to pulse with a green, corruptive light.


    ¡±Umm¡­ Corvid?¡± I looked at the crow sitting on my shoulder in confusion. I wasn¡¯t worried about him attacking me. I could feel the anger seething off his dark feathers.


    Corvid nudged up against my face lightly with his beak before flapping off my shoulder. Mid-air, his body surged with the Aether. In mere moments, the little crow from before was gone, replaced by the massive body of a crow almost on par with the other one. And unlike the green growths covering the others, his body was covered in sleek and majestic feathers.


    Corvid surged to the other one ruthlessly, striking out at its wings with his talons. Red streaks launched from his talons as the Aether warped with an extremely fast spell. The other crow barely managed to dodge the attack with an agile feat of flight. ¡°Brother! I should¡¯ve known better! That¡¯s fine, once I fell you, I¡¯ll show you Mother¡¯s promise of power!¡±


    ¡¸Request - Slay the Greater Sprite, Corvin - Received¡¹


    -A traitor has no place in Crow¡¯s eyes. End its miserable life or banish it back to Crow¡¯s domain. Additional rewards are possible.


    -Expose Corvin''s knowledge of


    -This request has been forwarded to every one of Crow¡¯s Magi and affiliated groups. Happy hunting.


    -Reward(Contribution): 1 Trait Point¡¹


    Greater Sprite, Corvin? No, before that, was this a hit mission? On a sprite? Is it even possible to kill a sprite? I thought they just vanished back into the Aether upon taking lethal damage.


    She Who Grows¡­ Mother¡­ I had a sickening drop in my stomach as I watched the birds brawl. Was that the entity I¡¯d been seeing all around since I got the interface? The writhing vines and sickening corruption that plagued half of every plant I ran across?


    Still, a Trait Point¡­ it was a valuable reward. One I didn¡¯t want to miss out on. Especially after the trait point for the egg vanished in the wind. I raised my rifle. Not sure how much I could do, but it was only a matter of time till hunting parties came out. I had no doubt a mission directly from Crow himself would drive people up the walls to complete it.


    Corvin seemed to be getting the better of Corvid as they fought. The evil crow sprite had a leg up not only in size but in Aether control too from what it looked like. Their fight wasn¡¯t just a match of claw and feather.


    With every one of Corvid¡¯s strikes, great red streaks blew through the Aether. Magic flashed abundantly, shearing through solid rock as their fighting grew more and more intense. Feathers flew as blood dripped into the fires far below. Unfortunately, most of the injuries were upon my avian friend as he desperately fought off the other bird.


    I fired up at the wicked crow to try and help, but my shots seemed to do little against its feathers. Soon, I noticed others joining in. Only the new guys fired rampantly into both of the birds to little effect. The squad had joined, and they didn¡¯t know one of them was friendly.


    I could see the conclusion if things kept up though. Corvid¡¯s presence in the Aether rapidly weakened with every strike he took. He was much weaker than the other. It also didn¡¯t help that under the glance of Aetherial Perception, I found Corvin was closer to two entities fighting than just one.


    That corruptive green seemed to ooze from the malevolent bird, each pulse destabilizing the Aether more and more as its space seemed to warp. The very air itself cracked with tension, as if She Who Grows was trying to bring her main body here, into the fight. The spreading corruption and resonated with the ritual circle below as if to summon some great monster.


    From the looks of things? It was only a matter of time till she succeeded. Paired with the squad unloading into the two of them, although they were little more than bug bites? This was a losing fight if I¡¯d ever seen one.


    I jumped from my high ground, the Drop Chutes flicking on to stop my fall as I sprinted over to the rest of the Crusaders. ¡°We need to get out of here! Get the civies!¡±


    The Knight looked up unwillingly at the flying battle, her hand tightening on her rifle as she slowly lowered it. Her other grabbed the hilt of her longsword. ¡±


    ¡±Good idea!¡± Dev jumped on a chance to escape a potentially imminent demise at the hands of the Underground. He was first to make a move, quickly followed by the other two Squires as they headed for the cages.


    I glanced over to see the fight getting worse and worse with every moment. A dark green haze slowly filled the space around Corvin as he attacked Corvid, seemingly inflicting some kind of poison on my poor bird. If only I had some better firepower or more Molotovs, I could help. As it stands though? Fresh out of anything aside from bullets, and even then those did next to nothing against the birds.


    Tyler, Persha¡¯s Squire, tried to lockpick one of the cages. A moment later, he rapidly backed up as Persha closed in and cleaved the lock mechanism with a single slash of her longsword. The vibrating blade ripped through the rusted metal like it wasn¡¯t even there.


    Of course, the addicts sat around in a daze, their minds lost to Euphoria. Getting them out would be- well, it wouldn¡¯t be a simple process. Thankfully, as I supported the first of them--a woman who looked as if she¡¯d spent days sitting in her own shit--she seemed to instinctively move with me. She went with the flow as I helped her out of the cage, though stood entirely still once I left her side.


    The others weren¡¯t having much luck either. There were about three dozen survivors, and only three or four of them seemed conscious enough to help us move the others. Getting them to and out of an exit though? Especially with the danger around us?


    A section of the roof collapsed, burying a part of the Enron field in rubble as Corvid let out a particularly devastating strike. Red ichor, like the molten ruby that covered Crow¡¯s graveyard, flew out in several long streaks from his claws, cutting through the stone and a part of Corvin¡¯s wing.


    It wasn¡¯t a triumphant moment, however. The vines came alive as the green haze intensified. She Who Grows was close, and already she was starting to exhibit control over the plants nearby. They lashed out at Corvid, leaving several bone-deep lacerations across his body as the enchanted vines flicked with a nauseating aura.


    Corvid glanced at me, a silent message passing through his eyes. He would buy me time- time to get out of here. At what cost though?


    Regardless, the sooner I got out of here, the sooner Corvid could. I withdrew a rope from my bag and tossed it to the others in my group. ¡°Here! Tie it around them and let''s get out of here!¡±


    Persha was first to move, her boosted reaction speed allowing her to fly through the motions. ¡°To the lift, then. It¡¯ll be easiest way.¡±


    I nodded to the woman as she took the lead, cleaving through a root that lunged up from the ground. I flicked on Aetherial Perception once more to check the situation.


    Thousands of tentacle-like vines spread through the Aether, corrupting the very air itself with a sickly green haze. The ethereal vines lashed at Corvid, seemingly attacking his connection to the Aether.


    With each laceration, his presence grew shallower and shallower. Not as in near banishment, but almost as if his very existence was under attack. Slowly, corruption seemed to infiltrate my bird¡¯s aura like a fatal poison-


    The vines snapped to me like they were eyes, slowly reaching out from Corvin¡¯s body. They stopped attacking Corvid as I became the focus. A sickeningly sweet scent tickled my nose. No- not sickeningly. It was pleasant, like back when my mother used to garden when I was a child. The fresh scent of soil and crops had been oh-so refreshing compared to the city¡¯s stench.


    A warmth slowly spread throughout my body, almost like the comforting touch of my mother before she passed. It was a slightly restrictive warmth, but comforting all the same. Almost like a- like a hug?


    ¡¸~~~Re-re-re- Car3$$ R3c3!v3d - Mother¡¯$ lovely daughter


    Be-be-be- Be @ good daughter for Mother. $h##### hasn¡¯t seen you in $o long! My, how you¡¯ve grown¨C


    Re-re-r3qu3$t- FLE############-


    Ignore the unholy b3!ng$ for @ moment, sw-sw-sweet daughter. Mother is close! How she w!sh3s to em-em-embrace you-


    Re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re¡ª¡ª#$%###@¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª-~~~¡¹


    ¡°Zuku!¡± A hand clapped my shoulder as the rope I held pulled me forward. I sat still for a few moments, dazed as I read the glitched interface. I flicked off Aetherial Perception, causing the entire thing to fade away as if it¡¯d just been a figment of my imagination.


    The creeping vines all over the interface still haunted my mind as they seemed to want to reach out to me. Mother- no- She Who Grows? She had contaminated the interface- contaminated me? I felt sick. A queasy, nauseating feeling spread throughout my body, only stopped as I flicked on Cold-Blooded. Even then, Cold-Blooded didn''t help much against the rage that started to rise in me as this monstrous bitch used my memories against me.


    The rope tugged once more as my daze cleared entirely. I reprocessed all that was going on, and quickly followed the group as we left the sacrificial chamber with our group of high stragglers. The sooner I left, the sooner Corvid could leave.


    My last glance at the fighting birds revealed a desperate cry from Corvid as he brought the whole ceiling down behind us in a burst of red ichor. I felt tears spring to my eyes, though quickly blinked them away. He was a Sprite, right? A Greater one at that since he was named, so I¡¯d seen him again, right? At most, he¡¯d be banished back to the Aether for a time¡­ right?


    But the Request from Crow talked of killing Corvin¡­ can sprites actually die? A final, complete death like us mere mortals? My mind drifted to the image of the vines weakening and corrupting the Aether- to the vines slowly destroying Corvid¡¯s connection to the other dimension. He- he¡¯d still be fine, right? Crow? Tell me Corvid would still be fine.


    Pulses of cold tried to calm me down, though they had little effect as images of my cute little bird¡¯s heavily injured state hit me again and again. He didn''t look good. When did things go so wrong? The Perk was still there, so he had to be fine... right?


    The interface remained wickedly silent as we trudged for the lift back up to Lang Tower.

 Chapter 206

    Everything after that passed in a daze. Knight Persha took charge, nearly single-handedly wiping out the small gang hideout on the other side of the lift. For the most part, the Blood Scythes only had numbers going for them. They were a relatively small gang with knives and bats as their best weapons. To no one''s surprise, the Knight easily won the melee.


    I stayed back with Dev to watch over the survivors of the sacrificial ritual as we waited for reinforcements. An entire contingent of Knights were on the way, ready to wipe the gang off the face of the city. And to try and apprehend the Circle followers still present, though I doubted they''d have much luck with that. No chance they haven''t already escaped.


    Once everyone arrived, the five of us were relieved of our duties and allowed to go and rest. After writing a quick report, of course. My hands practically flew over the keyboard of my deck as I wrote out my report. Of course, the report was carefully curated to avoid revealing too much, such as Corvid being with me.


    Thankfully, the Inquisitor had been good with the cliff notes version of a report the last time, so it wasn''t that hard to finish and print. I headed to the Inquisitor¡¯s office, papers in hand, and knocked on the door. A moment later, a voice called through the thick wood. ¡°Come in!¡±


    I entered the office to see the Inquisitor alone, seemingly just as drained as I felt. He flopped back into his chair, sprawling out haphazardly with his feet kicked up on the desk. Babysitting the commander was probably quite exhausting. ¡°Sir. My report.¡±


    ¡±Right, right¡­ hand it here.¡± The Inquisitor said without even leaning forward to take it. I had to reach across the desk to hand it to him. He glanced over the papers before throwing them onto the desk. ¡°How wash Dev?¡±


    ¡°Umm¡­ excessive?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Might need to see a psychiatrist.¡±


    ¡±He already hash¡­ sheven of them. Shix of them were driven quite inshane by his ramblings¡­¡± The Inquisitor sighed deeply. "Shometimes it''s better to not know what lurks beneath the city."


    Damn, seven psychiatrists? That¡¯s like, almost impressive. Dev was on a whole other level. ¡°He did fine enough though.¡±


    ¡±Always doesh. Now then, what do you think? About the Circle?¡± The Inquisitor finally sat up to take his job seriously- wait- no, he was just sitting up to grab his flask. Surprise surprise.


    ¡°They¡¯re cooking up something big. Human sacrifice like that doesn¡¯t bode well.¡± Especially considering the Aetherial nature I was still unsure about. She Who Grows, for one. Outside of the eidolons and sprites, I hadn¡¯t even known there  other entities.


    Ligh drank down about half of his flask before tossing it back into a drawer and flopping back. ¡°Indeed. The commander and I shtumbled acrossh a small armory. Hope and Joshua found a dozen more. They¡¯re gearing up for shomething big¡­¡±


    Arming up wasn¡¯t much of a surprise. This was Aythryn City after all. Still, a dozen armories was¡­ well, as the Inquisitor said, they¡¯re gearing up for something big. Hope and Josua sure were getting a lot more done than Dev and I had.


    I thought back through the map to see if there was anything else I hadn¡¯t noticed yet. As per usual, I couldn¡¯t think of anything. Regardless something big was going down. I could feel all the clues at the back of my mind, and yet they just wouldn¡¯t connect. Couldn¡¯t connect. I felt like I was missing just one clue that could tie it all together.


    ¡°Sir, if I could have a few days to check up on some of my sources, I might be able to find something.¡± It was a ploy to get time off more than anything. Time to take care of some stuff, try and ask the eidolons about Mother and all she entailed, and check a few things that stuck out as odd in recent memory.


    The Inquisitor waved hand. ¡°Fine. Need any of the other Squiresh?¡±


    ¡±Might spook my sources.¡± Not that I actually had sources I wanted to check. "But maybe for a few things."


    ¡°Five daysh. Then I need you back.¡± His cold tone brokered no argument. Not that I was complaining. Five days should be more than enough.


    We talked a bit more about the specifics of Dev and I¡¯s case, though it was mostly just surface questions from the Inquisitor about the gigantic crows fighting, the nature of the enemies we fought, and the Circle¡¯s sprawling connections in the city.


    I returned to my apartment, feeling entirely drained.


    ¡¸Tracking - 7>8¡¹


    ¡¸Intimidation - 3>4¡¹


    ¡¸Explosive - 1>2¡¹


    Nice. Two new Perks to choose from. That¡¯ll take at most four days if I spend both of them, leaving me about a day to get everything I need to get done wrapped up. Not enough time¡­ Hmm¡­


    I¡¯ll spend Tracking¡¯s Perk Point first, then if it''s a learned one, I¡¯ll get right onto the other stuff I need to do after waking up. If it''s not, then I¡®ll look at Intimidation, leaving me three days to get through everything. Should be enough.


    Before all that though, Corvid? You there, buddy?


    I waited a few moments until I felt an Aetherial ripple. Only, it was weak. Extremely weak. Corvid flopped through, landing on my hand weakly. ¡°Meow."


    I spared a laugh at his attempts to cheer me up as I checked on the little guy. He- he was in a bad shape. Several bone-deep cuts all over his body, lost feathers, and one of his wings was bent awkwardly. Bleeding had stopped though. A red, ruby-like substance covered his injuries in what looked like a protective shell. Crow¡¯s handiwork if I had to guess.


    He nuzzled into my hand, seeming drifting off to sleep. I carefully set the sleeping bird on my bed. At least he was alive, though¡­ Too bad he doesn¡¯t have something like Quick Healing. That¡¯s one of my main worries checked off at least. He probably wouldn''t be in any shape to meaningfully help, unfortunately.


    I spent a while drawing in my notebook before buying a bunch of silver filaments for my SITCH printer. It was really about time I got to creating bullets with Aether Imbuement. I felt it against Corvin, the fallen Greater Sprite, but my firepower was a little weak. Really, it was only a matter of time until I ran into something my low-tier weapons couldn¡¯t kill.


    I went ahead and worked on everything I¡¯d need for Aether Imbuement, designing it all up for the SITCH to print once the filament arrived. There was a surprising amount of detail and equipment I¡¯d need, though thankfully I remembered exactly what I¡¯d need.


    Once I was done with that, I joined Corvid in bed and allowed myself to fall into the pavilion. I arrived before Tracking¡¯s shelf, looking over the various Perks. I already had a loose idea of what I wanted from the last time, Panther¡¯s Sight, but I went ahead and looked over everything just in case.


    Nothing too crazy stood out. Panther¡¯s Sight still seemed one of the best. And it seemed to follow the same format that Fox¡¯s Paw had.


    ¡¸Panther¡¯s Sight - See with the majesty and prowess of Panther.¡¹


    I grabbed the scroll and moved over to the easel, trying to dredge up what I remembered about Panther. This was my second eidolon Perk¡ªthe first being Fox¡¯s Paw¡ªso I was understandably a little hesitant about grabbing it. Fox¡¯s Paw had been an experience to learn.


    Panther was¡­ I think Panther was the one that gave me that kill quest oh so long ago? Maybe? I haven¡¯t really interacted with him all that much. I got the feeling he was more interested in the hunting side of the world, so he probably really would¡¯ve liked the last owner of the interface. Thanatos or whatever his name was.


    I threw the scroll onto the easel. It unraveled to reveal a magnificent panther sprawled out on a tree. The panther¡¯s eyes seemed to glow with intelligence masked by a feral glee as they stared into me. For a moment, I felt intimidated by the harsh glare-


    And then I was back in bed. For a split second, nothing changed. Then a burnished sensation spread across my flesh eye and a phantom burning sensation spread across my chrome one.


    In an instant, the pain multiplied hundreds of times as if my eye was being pricked by thousands of microneedles, rebuilding and adjusting the anatomy. I held back my screams, clenching at my sheets as I tried my best not to wake Corvid up throughout the whole process. By the time the pain faded, I collapsed back, covered in sweat with my eye still throbbing.


    I closed my eyes tightly. I could figure out what all changed in the morning. For now? Rest.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    Corvid had already gone back once I returned, not that I could fault the little guy. Being in the Aether was probably better for his recovery if I had to guess.


    I took a shower and looked in the mirror early in the morning, pausing as I looked at my flesh eye. It had changed. It looked a little less human. Without looking closely, it wouldn¡¯t be immediately noticeable, but my pupil had changed to a vertical. It still looked human at first glance, but it was definitely a vertical slit.


    Felt extremely weird as I got used to my new eye. As I played with the lights, I realized my eye adjusted much quicker to the shifting lights. My vision definitely improved. I¡¯d have to test it, but getting flashbanged probably wouldn¡¯t be as devastating.


    I also lost the urge to blink almost entirely. It was still there, but it wasn¡¯t as consuming as it had been. And when I did I had a third eyelid sweep across my eye horizontally.


    Then there were the color changes. My grey eye had shifted slightly, taking on a near-glowing amber hue around my pupil. It was a bit intimidating to look at in an uncanny sort of way. At a glance, someone could tell there was something uncanny about the eye, but wouldn¡¯t be able to put their finger on it.


    Of course, I doubt it was just that much. There were probably features I had yet to figure out, but I could look for those later. As of now, I had five days left. It was about time I started getting on some stuff.


    Once I got done playing with my eye, I headed out on my bike, picking up my order of silver filament on my way. My first stop? The speakeasy. I really wanted to start working on some Aether Imbued bullets. It would be a long, tedious process to get everything set up, but I¡¯d feel much better with some bonus firepower in my mag.


    I turned the SITCH on as I ported over my designs. The first thing I¡¯d need was a Crystalized Element, and to get that I needed a few particular silver pieces. As I waited for all that to finish printing, I started making the reloading bench I¡¯d set to print from before I left to meet up with the Crusade.


    The design was simple and easy, something I¡¯d started going for more and more recently. The simpler the base design was, the easier it would be to make modifications at a later date if I needed to. No idea what modifications I¡¯d make to the bench, but it was nice to have options.


    Everything still wasn¡¯t ready, so I spent some time gathering the materials I¡¯d need. There were an unfortunate number of them. For starters, I needed the Aetheria crystals from Corvid. They weren¡¯t a hard requirement, but mixing a bit of Aetheria in with the Crystalized Elements would cause a stronger reaction.


    Once I had everything rounded up, I returned to the speakeasy to get started on the whole process. I pulled the silver plate from the printer, carefully inspecting the runes for faults. The guide from Aether Imbuement had been very, very clear about how explosive things could get if even just one of the runes was slightly off.  S~ea??h the ¦ÇovelFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    It all looked good to go. I brought it over to my new reloading bench, set it down, and took a deep breath. I went ahead and activated Cold-Blooded, using the Perk to boost my focus and stability as I carefully went about making my newest toys. Hopefully, nothing will blow up.

 Chapter 207

    The process of Aether Imbuement started at one place: the Crystallization Array. It was the centerpiece and the object that delayed me immediately getting to work on imbued bullets. The array was the silver disk marked carefully with a runic script. If I had everything set up right, the runes would allow me to access the Aether even without being a Magi or Adept myself.


    The whole process was closer to old-age alchemy than anything, where the alchemists of old sought to transmute iron to gold. Only, now, there was literal magic I¡¯d be tapping into using the runic array.


    The setup for the more powerful stuff involved a bunch more. Elemental Enrichment Chambers and Focusing Arrays were the tip of the iceberg, and not something I can make at the moment.


    Not that I needed to. I wanted a simple fire-imbued bullet to begin with. It¡¯d be easy, and a good starting point to see how much it would raise my firepower. If it was too little of a raise, I¡¯d probably just forget about the whole Aether Imbuement Perk till I could make the higher-level imbuements. I had hope that it¡¯d be effective though.


    Anyway, the starting point was very simple. Once I had the runes set up, I needed to charge them. This could be done in a variety of different ways. If I was a Magi or Adept, I could literally just do it by hand. For me though? The safest and best way was to use something that already had the Aether flowing through it to jumpstart the connection like a car battery.


    I withdrew Crow¡¯s Celestial Compass with a thought. Shadows condensed on my hand, ebbing away to reveal the ornate compass. I set it down on the Crystallization Array. It didn¡¯t react immediately, but then again, it could take a couple hours.


    I checked with Aetherial Perception, watching the silver runes slowly seem to absorb some of the ambient energy from the compass. It¡¯d take a while before I could actually start using the Crystallization Array.


    Hmm¡­ I looked around with Aetherial Perception activated, noticing everything seemed to be sharper and more focused. It was almost as if I¡¯d been seeing with a slight blur, and now could see clearly. It made it easier to pick out even the slightest fluctuations of the Aether. A side effect of Panther¡¯s Sight?


    I adjusted Crow¡¯s Canteen of Chaos to start producing gasoline before moving on to other things. While waiting, I wanted to go ahead and start on a few other things I had in mind.


    I uploaded a simple small knife blueprint to the SITCH to start printing. I noticed the last fight with the Adepts--before Corvin and hella creepy Mother crashed the party--but I really didn¡¯t have all that many knives.


    It was an oversight on my part considering I had Throwing Weapons Master and barely had any actual throwing weapons. Hence, the dozen or so knives printing away. They were to be cheap, disposable knives I wouldn¡¯t be worried about losing in a fight. I also uploaded a slightly different model to replace my emergency boot shiv.


    While that all was printing, I shifted focus to designing a new piece of tech to solve a new issue of mine. How was I going to shoot the imbued bullets? The turrets could be easily modified to, but would I really want to waste high-quality bullets like these in a turret? Especially while I had a limited supply.


    Of course, I could just make rifle bullets or the like, but then I have to worry about reloading the right kinds of rounds for the situation. It wasn¡¯t a horrible idea, as long as I looked past the complications that might arise.


    For one, I really didn¡¯t need even more things complicating reloading and shooting in combat. What if I grab the wrong mag? What if I accidentally used my expensive Aether Imbued bullets? What if I  the mag and waste them entirely? What if I didn¡¯t even have my rifle at the ready? Too much to think about, and an over-complication of something I wasn¡¯t necessarily good at to begin with.


    So that raises the question; how am I going to shoot the Imbued bullets? I had thoughts to modify one of the pistols, but then I¡¯d run into a similar issue as with the rifle, though to a lesser extent. Also, I couldn¡¯t quick-fire a round. I¡¯d have to draw the pistol, drop my rifle, and fire. Training could see the draw time greatly reduced, but otherwise? I¡¯ll lose seconds, which could make or break a battle.


    My initial solution after thinking it all through? A sniper rifle. Or, at least, that¡¯s what I would¡¯ve liked to go with. I¡¯d be able to fire a large caliber Aether Imbued bullet that would do some serious damage. Already, I could see a bullet devastating Corvin in my mind¡¯s eye. It was exceptionally attractive.


    Except, a sniper rifle had its own issues. Mainly, I was never in a position to use a sniper rifle. In almost every fight I¡¯d ever had, a sniper rifle would just get in the way. Especially since my fights were typically by surprise and close quarters.


    That isn¡¯t to say I didn¡¯t want a sniper rifle. They were cool, so of course I wanted one. And it might make me approach certain situations differently if I had the option of super long range. But I''d never even held one, let alone shot one. I knew it had a bunch of calculations to get a good shot off, which wouldn''t be too big of an issue for me. It just wasn''t something I could get good at in the short term.


    My actual solution? Wrist-mounted gun attachment for my shock gauntlets. Now, they weren¡¯t the most practical of weapons ever. I could recognize that. There was a kind of wrist-mounted gun called the Avenger that Sentinel was working on in the stolen documents, and even  had issues with it. For them, why make a wrist-mounted gun when they could instead further develop chrome arms with guns embedded in them? The Avenger was a mostly abandoned project.


    Four things stood out as to why a wrist-mounted gun wouldn¡¯t work, and why it¡¯d be a bad idea. It just so happens that those four things didn¡¯t necessarily apply to me. My, erm, unique set of skills let me bypass a few of the restrictions, and the others weren''t an issue thanks to Sentinel''s donated research.


    For one, firepower. To get a good punch on the weapon, a larger caliber would be needed. More force in the projectile meant more force being directly projected back into the bones though.


    The easy solution was to either reduce the caliber, which would drop the firepower, or get metal bones. The latter of which didn¡¯t really make sense. Again, why get metal bones when you can just get a chrome arm with a built-in gun?


    That being said, I had no issues dropping the caliber to something much lighter. Say, a point twenty-two or something without all that much punch. The main power of the Imbued bullets would come from the Imbuement, after all. While I high caliber could increase the effect multiplicatively, it wasn¡¯t necessarily required.


    Recoil was another easily-solved issue, and it played back into the whole firepower thing. Sentinel¡¯s Avenger had an innovative design that cut quite a bit of the recoil, or at least redirected it so it wouldn¡¯t shatter an arm bone. Add that design with a low caliber? Not even an issue.


    Aiming and accuracy were the third major points. I was mostly in close range anyway though, so aiming wouldn¡¯t be too difficult with training. The barrel would also be rather short, so the weapon¡¯s accuracy wouldn¡¯t be the best. Up close though, that wouldn¡¯t really matter.


    As for workarounds? Adding a camera in line with the gun would help with targeting. Throw in a targeting array on top of that and have a reticle pop up in my HUD? Massive boost to aim.


    The barrel being too short would still be an issue, but in this case, I could once more steal from Sentinel. They had a unique barrel design that, while unfortunately dropping the power of the shot even more, could boost accuracy way up.


    And finally, the fourth issue was self-injury. I could mostly ignore this with Quick Healing, and there were a host of preventative measures I could take to reduce this problem.


    The recoil breaking a bone or shattering my elbow could be mostly taken care of with Sentinel''s recoil reduction tech and using low calibers. Venting the superheated air of the bullet was easy enough, even with the complications of using it to cycle the round.


    Fragmentation of the bullet in the barrel and accidentally shooting my hand were the biggest issues, though I could once more fall back on Sentinel for their designs. They really were one of my greatest benefactors, huh? And even if I did get hit, it wouldn¡¯t be the end of the world like it would be for other people.


    With all these thoughts swirling in my head, I worked on a blueprint for the SITCH to start working on. Like the turrets, they¡¯d have plenty of moving parts. Thankfully, quite a few parts of it were already taken care of by Sentinel.


    The biggest change was for the ammo feed. Sentinel used a cartridge-less mag that ran down the length of the arm. Not a terrible idea, but it limited dexterity and looked quite awkward to use. While a lot of their designs were really good, there were spots like this that directly pointed to it being an underthought prototype.


    I adjusted the ammo feed to be a drum mag design that would wrap around my wrist. It¡¯d have sixteen shots before needing a reload, with an easy feed system akin to loading a tube shotgun since I wouldn¡¯t be able to pull the mag off. The shells would eject out, catching in a small tin that I could quickly pull off and dump if needed. Otherwise, though, the shells could be fairly reusable.


    I worked on the design quite a bit more, even as the SITCH finished printing and the hours pressed on. My main focus was on shifting the design so it wouldn¡¯t be easy to point out parts coming from Sentinel and changing its profile to be as small as possible. I wanted it to fit alongside my shock gauntlets and likewise be completely unnoticeable like a hidden weapon. Eventually I settled with making the drum look like a thick bracelet.


    The first prototype being a working one was required since I wouldn''t have time to rework it. I checked, double, and triple-checked every facet of the weapon. Once I was satisfied, I sent it to the SITCH to start printing parts. I made two of them, and the parts wouldn¡¯t even finish for four days. The mag feed and targeting arrays in particular would take a long time.


    I took a little break to go clean up even more of the speakeasy. The place was starting to come along. Without bringing down contractors or the like to actually fix stuff, at least. It¡¯d still need a full makeover if I wanted to open it, but it no longer looked like a trashed and burned-out husk, at least. Hmm... how would I get the building''s ownership though? Whatever. That was a problem for future Shiro.


    As I walked around the place, I felt my mood inexplicably lift. My tension and worries seemed to just ebb away as they were never there in the first place. It was quite relaxing, and the only reason I noticed the shift was because I watched for it. Squeaky Clean did indeed do as it promised. I could easily see this place filling up if the effects lingered. Bars were typically a place to relax and relieve tension, after all.


    Feeling refreshed, I returned to work on Aether Imbuement. I checked over my supplies with Aetherial Perception, carefully inspecting the Crystallization for any faults or leakages along the runes. Looked good to go.


    The silver plate radiated brightly with the Aether, although the Compass looked a little worse for wear. Its energy had definitely been drained by the array, though it was slowly starting to recuperate. I banished it, making a note to check on its energy levels over the next couple of days.


    With everything set and ready, I set up the array on a table and slowly poured gasoline into the divots and small trenches. They filled up quite quickly. Once everything was set and done, I took a lighter and set the gasoline ablaze. Fire immediately erupted from the surface of the array. sea??h th§× N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    As if the heat activated it, the entire array thrummed with ethereal might. I shifted my vision once more to the Aether, watching as the flames themselves seemed to be energized and turn magical. The bright glow of the Crystallization array faded slightly, losing maybe an eighth of its brightness as the process ticked by.


    Eventually, the flames surged brightly before condensing. A force seemed to apply to them, pressuring the flame into a small and smaller ball. The flickering light grew brighter and brighter as it condensed, like a small sun. Eventually, it turned into a small red bead flickering with an internal light. It was about the size of my fingernail.


    I waited a few more moments as the array turned off, signifying the end of the process. I didn¡¯t immediately pick up the Crystal Flame. Although there were certainly differences between the learning space and the real world, I had no doubt that some things remained the same, such as the Crystal Flame being extremely hot to the touch for a few minutes after the crystallization process.


    Now I just needed to grind it down to dust--which was also a complicated process thanks to its volatile state--and mix in a small amount of Aetheria. Grinding it down required flushing the atmosphere around the crystal with an inert gas to keep it from combusting while hand grinding it. All of which I could do, though it¡¯d take a while.


    I could probably manage four bullets with this amount. Hopefully, their effect would pay off the pain of making them.

 Chapter 208

    Down in the depths of the Underground, I stood at the crossroads to the stash. I¡¯d already done a lot of security work with the place, opting for simple boobytraps, sensors, and hidden doors. I¡¯d like to get some sentries and the like, but that¡¯ll have to wait till I can get some proper auto-targeting arrays and programs.


    The Nightmarket would probably have what I needed. On top of finally getting a scrambler and a few other devices that I''d been thinking about, that is. The Night Market wasn''t for another couple days though.


    I¡¯d carefully worked on the crossroads, covering up every door with fake rubble. Of course, they were hidden doors. Anyone coming through here would have a choice of six semi-hidden doors to go through, none of which actually lead to my stash.


    Instead, the route was hidden behind a false wall that was much, much harder to detect. A bit of misdirection at work. Like I''m always saying, out of sight, out of mind. Much easier to protect something if no one knows it''s there.


    I wasn¡¯t down here for the vault though. I checked my pistol, carefully making sure everything was ready to go. The magazine had a strip of red tape around the base of it, denoting it as my flame rounds. While I was testing the imbued bullets, shooting them from a pistol would work well enough.


    I didn¡¯t want to use the fire rounds in any old firing range either, so down here was my best bet. I headed for the crossroads, carting along a small box of scrap chrome to use as target practice.


    I got everything set up and then checked the mag one more time. Four fire-imbued bullets sat, ready to be fired off. They alternated with four normal point twenty-twos so I could compare the results.


    Actually making them wasn¡¯t all that difficult. I took what were essentially hollow points, and then filled the hollow side with a small combo of crushed Crystalized Fire and Aetheria as a catalyst and put a cap on it. As soon as the hollow point compressed upon impact, the heat would trigger the powder.


    And yeah, that was basically as far as Aether Imbuement went. Like I said, it was closer to old-age alchemy. There wasn¡¯t much magic involved outside of the crystallization process. At least for now. The bigger, badder types of imbuements were more involved. They went beyond just powder, but those were far off in the future. Maybe if I got a full lab set up someday I could make them.


    I wasn¡¯t a hundred percent sure how powerful the bullets would be. I mean, I had a rough idea from when I¡¯d been taught Aether Imbuement, but I¡¯d never actually shot an imbued bullet. The Perk had been much more focused on making them.


    It should cause a small explosion and a bit of fire at the base, though I wasn¡¯t entirely sure how much adding Aetheria as a catalyst would change that. Could be a weak gout of flame, or it could be akin to a small grenade.


    I set up a target of more durable stacked chrome plates and then backed away quite far. I raised the pistol and slowly lined up the shot. I didn¡¯t want to miss it. My finger squeezed the trigger, kicking the weapon back in my grasp as the bullet shot out. This was one of the normal point twenty-twos.


    The round impacted the chrome, bouncing off to the side with little force. About as I expected. Even chrome from back then was strong enough to take a weak caliber. I checked the damage, seeing the impact spot slightly dinked by the bullet. Against modern chrome? Probably wouldn¡¯t do a thing.


    I backed up, lined up my shot, and fired again. This time with a fire-imbued bullet. The chrome target flashed as the bullet impacted, creating a light pop as the powder reacted. Flames flashed brightly, pushing back the darkness of the Underground as the metal caught fire. For a few moments, it looked as though thermite had been lit inside of it. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The metal continued to burn as I approached and checked the damage. The first bullet hadn¡¯t punctured, but this one had. A hole, bigger than the diameter of the bullet, punched through the metal plating. It went about halfway through the second piece of chrome, though all around the impact spot glowed brightly as flames flickered.


    I ran the test a few more times against a variety of chrome, carefully checking the results each time and comparing them. After using up all four of my rounds, I came to a consensus on the power of the fire-imbued bullets.


    Simply put- they were much stronger than normal bullets. That much was evident. Even for being the weakest of the imbued bullets, they were strong. Against modern-day chrome? It¡¯d do some damage. Assuming I didn¡¯t hit anywhere double or triple-reinforced, the flame bullets¡ªlet¡¯s call them Blaze rounds from now on¡ªwould be able to puncture through and do some damage.


    The real draw of the Blaze rounds wasn¡¯t even the puncturing though. In my opinion, the fire and heat output was much more useful. Chrome was sensitive. If, say, something akin to thermite got dumped into an arm? It could easily mess up the wiring, mechanisms, and synthetic nerves. It could cause some serious damage, let alone pain. Very impressive for such a weak caliber. And that wasn¡¯t even considering chrome that was weak to overheating, of which there were plenty.


    My real draw for it was against subdermal armor. It was a common enough chrome that most people even remotely involved in fighting or danger had it. Against said chrome, the results were promising. It could probably punch through most low to mid-level subdermal armor, catching synthskin and internal organs ablaze as it passed.


    I had yet to feel a fire inside of my organs, but I imagine it would be quite debilitating without some kind of pain inhibitor. Even with a pain inhibitor, they had their limits. I still remember Iris overloading that poor gonk''s inhibitor way back when. It didn''t have the massive explosive power I was hoping it would, but it was still useful.


    I went back up to the Speakeasy happy with my results. It looked like the Blaze rounds would be worth it after all. No clue if they''d be effective against Corvin, but I had hope. He had plants all over him that might catch fire. As I got to work making more bullets, I made a call to a certain Jade Fang Enforcer.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    ¡°Thanks for meeting up with me on such short notice,¡± I said to Shinobu as I slid into the booth. We were at some fancy noodle hole in the wall in Bukicho. His choice.


    Shinobu nodded his head to me. ¡°Shiro. You look well... Although, a bit... wild?¡±


    Probably my eye. Hmm¡­ I could probably use that to intimidate someone. Wild though, huh? I hadn''t gotten that feeling when I looked in the mirror. ¡°Just exhausted.¡±


    ¡°Fair, fair. Busy these days? Ishimaru mentioned you hadn¡¯t been by recently." That old drunkard still thinks about me, huh? I really should stop by sometime. "Work going well?¡±


    ¡±Chek. Got a couple of jobs from Athena.¡± My eyes snagged on a small band around his ring finger. ¡°Get married?¡±


    ¡±Almost!¡± Shinobu brought his hand up, waggling his finger happily. ¡°Engagement ring¡­ but enough of that, mikata, it didn¡¯t sound like you wanted to just talk pleasantries on the phone.¡±


    ¡±Unfortunately not.¡± I looked around the area. Most of the people I saw were Jade Fangs. Hell, the surrounding booths were taken up by bodyguards. Shinobu looked to be moving up in the world of crime. ¡°Our conversation safe?¡±


    He raised a finger and pulled out a device before turning it on. I recognized it from the first time he used it. Scrambler. I really needed to get one. The Night Market couldn''t come quick enough.


    ¡°Just in case. This place is the Fangs¡¯. Don¡¯t worry about them.¡± He waved a hand to the rest of the place.


    I nodded to the man. ¡°Where to start? First off, I guess, a warning. Something big is going down in the city. Ran across a massive human sacrifice down south. The group behind it? Well, it ain¡¯t looking good.¡±


    Shinobu sighed deeply, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. He offered it to me, lighting one up as I refused. He took a slow, deep drag before focusing back in. ¡°That¡¯s some shit.¡±


    ¡±You¡¯re telling me. I¡¯m caught in it like a fly.¡± I pulled out one of the amulets I snatched and handed it to him. ¡°Here. They use these to mark friend from foe.¡±


    The Jade Fang Enforcer grabbed the offered amulet, his chrome eyes twisting as they most likely took several pictures. ¡°Seen this symbol around. Large group arming lower gangs recently. Testing the waters. Their gonks that got too close to our operations had these on them. Been evangelizing on the streets, claiming the end is coming. A bunch of wackos if you ask me.¡±


    Arming the lower gangs? That didn¡¯t bode well in the slightest. Why though? What would they get out of such a thing? Yet another clue to add to the drawing board. At least it answered why they had so many armories around the city.


    ¡°Plant Adepts?¡± I took the amulet back.


    ¡±Just the same¡­ how big of a threat do you think they are?¡± Shinobu tapped the ashes of his cigarette out onto an ashtray, leaning forward with a frown on his face.


    I paused for a moment, choosing my words carefully. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Gut says big, very big. Potentially city-wide. They¡¯ve got people in some high places.¡±


    I can¡¯t forget how easily they assassinated their own who¡¯d been captured. He was in the middle of the Blue Crusade lockup. Nor that the principal of one of Sentinel¡¯s private schools was a Circle Adept. No telling what other positions of power they held, which was disconcerting.


    ¡±It gets worse though. You heard of New Tress City?¡± I asked the Enforcer who looked increasingly grim as I talked.


    He started to shake his head, pausing for a moment. ¡°That the abandoned city not too far from here? Nomads like to take pit stops there?¡±


    ¡±Should be. The entire city was taken over by plants. I don¡¯t mean garden ones. Vicious, malevolent plants walk around and try to kill you with bullet-like thorns. Connected to this group I¡¯m warning you of.¡± I sighed, resisting a cough as the smoke started to get to me.


    ¡°Course it would be.¡± He muttered. ¡°I¡¯ll put in word up the chain¡­ you think we should get some of our guys on it?¡±


    ¡±Definitely not. Crusade is all over this. Wouldn¡¯t want the Jade Fangs to get caught in it¡­ which brings me to the next point I wanted to talk to you about.¡± It was really about time I started getting paid for my ¡®charitable¡¯ services with the Crusade.


    He laughed, a deep belly-full laugh that lifted the grim mood of our conversation slightly. His entire massive frame shook with laughter. ¡°Let me guess, still working with them? You know that was supposed to be a one-time thing right?¡±


    ¡±I wish it were that simple.¡± I rubbed at the back of my neck, trying to keep the embarrassment off my face. ¡°Can you put me in contact with your shoemaker?¡±


    ¡±Hmm¡­¡± Shinobu took another long drag of his cigarette. ¡°They don¡¯t like face-to-face meetings much.¡±


    ¡±That¡¯s fine. I- just- I really want to start earning some money if I¡¯m going to be forced to work as a cop. It¡¯s basically slave labor at the moment.¡± I put on a pitiful expression, hopefully pulling at the large Enforcer¡¯s heartstrings.


    It seemed to work somewhat as his expression softened slightly. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to them. See if they¡¯re willing to work something out or contact you.¡±


    ¡±Shinobu-san,¡± A chromed man in a fancy suit walked over, bowing slightly as he interrupted our conversation. ¡°Elder Usagi-sama awaits you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be up momentarily.¡± Shinobu put the cigarette out, dismissing the man. ¡°Thanks for bringing this to me, Shiro.¡±


    ¡±Least I could do.¡± While I didn¡¯t want to be too involved in Jade Fangs'' business, there was no doubt that I owed them a lot. Hell, I owed Ishimaru, that old drunkard, my life. And that wasn¡¯t even considering familial relations from the past generations. As far as gangs went, the Jade Fangs weren''t entirely evil either.


    ¡±Anything else? I''d like to hang around a little longer, but the Elder awaits.¡± The Enforcer moved to get out of the booth.


    I thought for a moment before saying one last thing to him. ¡°Beware She Who Grows and Mother. It''s the¡­  that the Circle¡­ worships? Follows? Regardless, strong. Eidolon level.¡± She could hijack the interface to send me messages, so at least on an eidolon''s level.


    That got Shinobu¡¯s attention, causing his frown to deepen. ¡°This  serious then... I¡¯ll pass the warning along. Want me to keep your name out of it?¡±


    "That''d be nice."


    "Right. Don''t be a stranger." The man laughed lightly and then headed off to his next meeting.


    I got up to delta. It was nearing nighttime of my first day off, and I had a lot I still needed to do. Too much to sit around and relax, unfortunately.

 Chapter 209

    I returned to my apartment and nearly immediately collapsed onto my bed. I didn¡¯t move to spend the Intimidation Perk yet. Instead, I spent some time surfing the Net and checking recent events after my talk with Shinobu. Specifically Aythryn City Live, the largest news company in Aythryn City.


    ACL had a daily crime tracker on the website that I paid particular interest to. Especially the gang crime tracker. It had a noticeable uptick starting a couple of weeks ago, as did violent crime with a firearm. Correlation? Or were the Circle¡¯s plans already in motion?


    Hmm¡­ I checked a few other sites to compare numbers, finding nothing concrete. There were a few signs that things were starting to go down though. I carefully read through the news. Bricktown in particular had it bad with the Neo-Jokers gone. Massive power vacuum.


    I read a few other articles before putting my phone up to charge and lying down. A moment later, I was whisked away to the Pavilion.


    I stood before the Intimidation shelf for the first time, eagerly checking it out. Intimidation was one of those Skills I was growing more and more appreciative of as time passed. It wasn¡¯t subtle like the rest of my skill set, though that made it all the more attractive to me.


    I noticed the attraction grew especially after spending time with the Blue Crusade. Intimidation was one of those Skills that allowed me to brute force through issues, solving them a lot quicker than a subtle approach. Maybe since it''s something I wasn''t used to? It was quite fun.


    I read through the Perks as per usual, stopping and noting down the occasional good-looking ones.


    ¡¸Cold Glare¡¹


    ¡¸Harsh Voice¡¹


    ¡¸Aggression¡¹


    ¡¸Stalker¡¹


    ¡¸Overkill¡¹


    ¡¸Whisper¡¹


    ¡¸Fear the Reaper¡¹


    ¡¸Shattered Morale¡¹


    ¡¸Blacklist¡¹


    Yeah, lots of really cool ones. Cold Glare was a mental attack, at least from what I could see. Short spikes of fear if an enemy met my eyes, causing them to momentarily freeze up. Super cool, though I don¡¯t typically meet anyone¡¯s eyes in fights. A little too hard to trigger. And what if I was against robots or chromed eyes? Would it still work? Pass.


    Overkill was also super interesting. It looked exactly as it sounded; particularly bloody and overly brutal kills inspire fear in my enemies. Again, another mental attack from what I could tell. This one promised slower reaction speeds and movement of my enemies after activating the Perk in an AOE. Brutality wasn''t quite my MO though. And, like, brutally killing someone spreads fear on its own even without a Perk.


    There were a surprising amount of combat-related Perks or Perks that could be used during a fight all things considered. Then there were a few¡­  Perks.


    Whisper, in particular, gave me the willies. According to the Perk, people around me would hear shadows whisper their names and other auditory hallucinations. I knew firsthand how debilitating it was from my short time with hallucinatory paranoia and how unsettling it could be when something is stalking you. Maybe it''d be a good idea after all? S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    After looking through the list a few more times, I decided on Fear the Reaper.


    ¡¸Fear the Reaper - Project an aura of intimidation, as if those surrounding you have a scythe¡¯s blade wrapped around their neck. Grows as your kill count does.¡¹


    Yeah, growth-type Perk. First I¡¯d seen of it, I think. And it sounded badass. An aura of intimidation that had the chance to grow was perfect for what I needed. Really, just anything to boost intimidation considering my small frame wasn¡¯t exactly intimidating in the first place.


    The biggest hold-up was the Perk growing as my kill count did. I¡¯m not much of a killer- or at least, that¡¯s what I first thought when I saw the Perk. Thinking about it again, I was becoming noticeably quicker on the draw these days. I mean, I butchered the Circle¡¯s Adepts without a second thought.


    And the Perk didn¡¯t say it was human kills either, so even if I stopped killing people I could still enhance it by killing monsters. I ran into scum that needed to be removed often enough.


    I grabbed the scroll and moved over to the easel, dropping it on. It unraveled to reveal a cloaked figure glaring at me with malicious eyes. I felt a bolt of cold go down my spine as I stared at the person- creature? Being. Their cloak seemed to warp and shift, revealing haunted faces as if the souls of the slain were woven into it.


    The pavilion faded, kicking me back out to my apartment. I waited a moment, though nothing happened. No shocks of pain or feeling something of my body change. Effect type, then. I wouldn''t know its effect till I tested it on someone.


    I checked the time- barely a few hours had passed.


    I was planning on spending two days in the pavilion learning a new Perk¡­ not that I¡¯m complaining. A lot to do these days, and so very little time. I moved to my bed, more than ready to sleep.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    In the middle of the night, I snapped awake. My mind already racing a mile a second as my brain finally pieced together why the last ritual room looked so familiar. It¡¯d been months since I¡¯d been there, but the layout was highly reminiscent of that subterranean storage chamber that Mira and I ran into. The one protected by Fedra troops.


    A layer of murky water covered the ground at the time, so I wouldn¡¯t have even noticed had there been ritual engravings along the stone. Even the corpses weren¡¯t  suspicious. At the time, I¡¯d chalked it up to a Fedra plot.


    Corvin himself jogged my memory. Six glowing eyes. I¡¯d run into it a few times, but the first time I ever saw it was up in the rafters of that cave. I briefly caught the gaze of his eyes before he vanished into the shadows back then. I¡¯d discounted the experience as a hallucination thanks to my glitchy eye, but with the added context of recent times?


    Assuming that the cave had been hiding a ritual circle just the same, what would that mean? It was on the entire other side of the city from the one down south. I mentally conjured a map, marking the two spots. They were in a fairly straight line with each other, the line tracing alongside the east side of Aythryn City. What did it mean?


    I still didn''t know enough. Hell, I didn¡¯t know anything about ritual magic in the first place. Hadn¡¯t even known it existed till recently. And that wasn¡¯t even broaching the whole ¡®mother¡¯ topic. That creepy entity that writhed in the Aether was something I seriously needed to look into, especially considering it could connect to and hijack the interface.


    Unfortunately, it was midnight. I''d have to wait till the morning. Unfortunately, my attempts to fall back asleep were fruitless as my mind raced, recounting all recent events through the lens of the Circle.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    Early in the morning, I put in a call to Inquisitor Ligh. ¡°Hey, boss, I think I got something.¡±


    ¡±Yeah? Good. Good news would go a long way right now¡­ jailbreak in Bricktown. Lotsh of shcum on the streetsh.¡± The Inquisitor sighed deeply.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Very rough. What poor timing¡­ unless? Hmm¡­ they were arming minor gangs, right? Add in a jailbreak- are they trying to cause chaos across the city? If so, it would make sense. Divide the various factions¡¯ attention across the entire city so that we don¡¯t all focus on the Circle.


    They were doing something big, that¡¯s for sure. With what I¡¯d seen in New Tress City, I came to an unsettling realization. Were they trying to make plants and ¡®mother¡¯ take over Aythryn CIty?


    But of course, this was all a guess based on assumptions. I needed more evidence to really pierce the veil of mystery. ¡°Can I get some reinforcements to go check it out? Underground. And do we have anyone that can control water?¡±


    The line went silent for a few moments before replying. ¡°I¡¯ll get Inquisitor Varus to meet you. He¡¯s a Shark Magus.¡±


    Shark, eh? This would be my first interaction with marine sprites. ¡°I appreciate it. Bristole Coffee next to Talus Tower.¡±


    ¡±Jusht, uh, be careful, yeah? There are some troubling movementsh in the Crushade. Jailbreaksh don¡¯t just happen without an insider.¡± Inquisitor Ligh paused as someone¡¯s voice came across faintly. ¡°I have to go. The commander is talking about getting reinforcements from Oraoyt. Even one of the High Lords are coming into town.¡±


    Oraoyt sounded familiar. I did a quick check of the Net as the Inquisitor hung up. It was a city on the southwest side of the FSA, and the continental headquarters for the Blue Crusade. Even more Crusaders coming to town was not ideal for a plethora of reasons. But I could worry about that later. The most pressing issue was the Circle.


    As for his warning? I¡¯d take it in mind. I mean, one of my first gigs after getting the interface was helping a betrayed Crusader, Iris¡¯s friend¡­ I wonder how she¡¯s doing?


    Anyway, as far as the Crusade went, I felt much safer alongside a Magus. There was definitely an antagonistic relationship between the eidolons and this mother entity. Or at least, that¡¯s how it felt from the past month or so of me running around.


    I held back a sigh as I rounded up my gear. The first thing I wanted to do when I got back was find a book or something about She Who Grows. Knowing nothing about my enemy was a very bad idea. Surely there was some way I could find out more. Maybe I could head back to Echidna¡¯s workshop and try to trade for info?


    I left my apartment and headed for the north side of Little Yukoto. It¡¯d been a while since I was up here, and not much changed since then. If anything, it looked just a tad bit safer without Sentinel¡¯s patrols. No more roving bands of heavily armed and psychotic soldiers out and about.


    Just insane police as the Blue Crusade ramped up their presence. I was in gear though, so I had no worries about being stopped for spot inspections. I got a lot of friendly nods from the patrolling Squires and their Jaegers.


    I waited at the coffee shop for nearly an hour, drinking copious amounts of synthetic coffee to push back my exhaustion. Last night hadn''t been restful.


    I caught the telltale silver sheen of Crusade armor out of the corner of my eye. I looked over curiously, momentarily thinking it was just another Squire on patrol. The man who approached didn¡¯t look like any Crusader I¡¯d seen so far.


    Instead of the hard, plate armor that everyone opted for, this guy had chainmail. His armor looked closer to shiny silver clothes than anything. If it wasn¡¯t for the aura of intimidation and the guilt-evoking mask, I¡¯d almost say he was some kind of rich partygoer rather than a Crusader.


    Then again, he was a Magus of Shark. I guess it made sense he didn¡¯t have the heavier armor I¡¯d grown to connect with the Blue Crusade. It¡¯d probably get in the way if he had to swim¡­ I didn¡¯t know anything about Shark, so that could''ve very well been the reason and not a joke like I intended it.


    The man nodded to me. He could easily pick me out of the crowd thanks to my Crusade ball cap and Trench coat. And, you know, the fact that everyone in this coffee shop avoided me like the plague. I¡¯m pretty sure there were even strangers crammed into the same table together so they wouldn¡¯t have to be near me. Even without Fear the Reaper active, the Crusade was mad intimidating to the normal civ.


    ¡±Inquisitor Varus?¡± I asked the man as he sat down at the table on the opposite side.


    ¡±That¡¯s me.¡± The man¡¯s voice was surprisingly gentle, like a flowing river.


    ¡°Squire Zuku.¡± I looked around for his Squires, though I didn''t see any of them. So much for reinforcements¡­ Hope we don¡¯t run into anything down there. I tried to keep the expectation off my face, though it seemed he saw through me.


    ¡°Just me, I¡¯m afraid. I don¡¯t have any Squires. Not too many followers of marine Eidolons these days¡­ makes it difficult to hire anyone else considering my usual jobs.¡± He sighed slightly.


    I could see why. Most people wouldn¡¯t want to touch the ocean with a mile-long pole, let alone go into it. Lots of horrifically mutated monsters down there. And I imagine most marine eidolons were of the ocean, so it made sense that people wouldn''t want to follow them. Speaking of, how many marine eidolons are there? ¡°Your usual jobs?¡±


    ¡±That¡¯s right. I¡¯m the go-to guy for anything underwater. Mostly stuff in the ocean.¡± Inquisitor Varus looked around the coffee shop casually. Several people shrunk back with guilty expressions. ¡°I imagine you didn¡¯t want me to just come to a coffee shop to hang out and talk?¡±


    I laughed lightly and shook my head. The guy was¡­ disarming? He seemed to be an easy-going sort. ¡°No, no. Inquisitor Ligh didn¡¯t tell you anything?¡±


    ¡°Just to meet you here.¡± Varus leaned back in his chair. ¡°I¡¯m horribly out of my depth. Been disarming deep sea naval mines off the coast for the past few months.¡±


    That sounded¡­ absolutely awful. Not only being in the depths of the ocean, but also surrounded by naval mines? Still¡­ I filed that little tidbit of information away. There must¡¯ve been a reason he was out disarming the mines in the first place right? Maybe¡­ some kind of treasure?


    ¡°We¡¯re going to Talus Tower to investigate¡­ something.¡± I eyed the civs around us. It was definitely just paranoia once more, but there was no telling if anyone here was with the Circle, so I didn¡¯t say too much.


    ¡±Sounds good with me.¡± The easy-going Inquisitor breathed deeply, his head tilting towards the front counter. ¡°Let me get one to go, and then I¡¯ll be ready.¡±


    I watched the guy walk off to join the line. , the entire line seemed to vanish as he got to the front in record time.

 Chapter 210

    Getting down to the cavern was much, much easier than last time. Back then, I didn¡¯t know where I was going or the routes to get there. Mira and I even entered through the Jade Fangs¡¯ entrance, which was really far away from our destination.


    Now though? Now getting down was easy. There were several entrances if you knew just where to look. This time, we got down through an ancient pump facility next to the tower. It was mostly abandoned, though at one point pumped up water from the aquifer below to water nearby farms.


    Considering it was in the middle of the city now and the closest bit of farmland was hundreds of miles away? Like I said, ancient. At least several decades. Maybe even longer.


    Getting into the pumping station was the trickiest part. Instead of tearing it down way back when, they just built over it and concreted a new foundation, raising the entire street level a few blocks. The treatment plant and dozens of other buildings lay just beneath the surface, hidden unless one knew where to look.


    And I knew where to look. We got access to the building above without any issues thanks to our Blue Crusade identities and then worked our way down. The water pump station didn¡¯t even have electricity, let alone security. It was easy to get to our entrance. I set up the repel line, and then we descended into the depths.


    We exited out into an old library of some kind, the books and shelves long rotten into mush. What wasn¡¯t rotten was impossible to read thanks to the thousands of small bite marks. Rats like paper, I guess.


    ¡°Zuku? You- uh- you here? Got a light? I didn¡¯t bring one with me.¡± Inquisitor Varus called out to me as I took my first step into the room, completely overlooking the fact that this place was pitch dark.


    My dark vision was to the point I could see flawlessly, another improvement from Panther¡¯s Sight if I had to guess. Just a couple of days ago, my vision would blur far away from me, but now I could see as if the place was perfectly lit up. Wasn''t sold on it yet, but it was a nice boost.


    I rifled through my bag for a flashlight. It was something I hadn¡¯t needed in a long, long time. I clicked it on, shining it at the Inquisitor. ¡°You can¡¯t see?¡±


    ¡±No chrome.¡± He chuckled slightly and stared right at me, the mask seemingly preventing him from getting blinded. He shifted from foot to foot, seemingly lost in thought, before grabbing a shark-tooth amulet. ¡°Just a moment. Let me summon a sprite.¡±


    I turned on Aetherial Perception. A few seconds later, the Aether shifted as though something swam through it. Out popped a small shark, drifting through space as it swam around mid-air like it was still in the water. Adult sharks were a bit terrifying, but a small one? It was, quite frankly, adorable with its little fins and curious eyes.


    I wasn¡¯t well-versed in marine zoology, so I couldn¡¯t say anything other than it was a shark. Could¡¯ve been a hammerhead or a great white, for all I knew. They didn¡¯t exactly focus on marine animals in the holo-zoos I¡¯d been to when I was younger. Maybe I should go back to them now? For research purposes, of course.


    The small shark eyed me for a moment before turning back to its summoner and swimming right up to him. The Inquisitor reached out and petted the small shark for a moment before talking quietly to it.


    The shark shifted, swimming around in a full loop as some kind of magic went off. A moment later, an ethereal glow came from under the Inquisitor¡¯s mask. ¡°All good, you can shut the light off now.¡±


    ¡°Sure?¡± I flicked it off before hearing a reply. The light made me a little... antsy? Down here, it was basically broadcasting our location. I threw on my poncho and checked the rest of my gear. Ready and set to go. I pulled the hood over my head, hiding my face in the shadows.


    ¡±I use this spell all the time in the depths. I can see as good as day.¡± The Inquisitor shrugged and nudged the shark sprite with his shoulder. I pretended I didn¡¯t see it and turned to check our surroundings once more.


    The library looked inhabited. There were recent enough prints and marks around that my guard instantly raised. I raised my rifle slightly, motioning to the Inquisitor. I checked for tracks, feeling my eye shift as it focused. A faint¡­  came into focus as I looked around, almost as if I was looking at a shadow creature. It took me by surprise, causing my eye to lose focus as I flinched back and lost the shadowy shape.


    Once I realized nothing was actually there, I looked closer once more. The shadow shape wasn¡¯t clear enough to tell what it would¡¯ve been, but it seemed as though I was looking at the creature? It matched up with a few other trails, though it seemed faint as if it hadn¡¯t been around in a couple days.


    What was this? It was easy to point toward Panther¡¯s Sight as the cause, but what exactly was I seeing?


    I moved around, tracking the creature as I got more and more used to this- this shadow-tracking feature. It was like I was seeing the creature¡¯s shadowy imprint of the Aether, assisting in tracking it down even in spots where there weren¡¯t any physical signs of its passing. It was a little difficult to fully see it though, as if it was something barely in my peripherals that disappeared when I looked too hard.


    Before I could get too deep into experimenting, the Inquisitor called out to me. ¡°What is it? Anything?¡±


    My attention snapped back to him. ¡±Um- No. It''s gone for now.¡°


    "Good, good. Then we should get a move on, yes? Where is it we''re headed anyway?" He asked.


    I dropped my rifle slightly, slipping into a more comfortable stance even as my eyes carefully darted around. ¡°Have you heard of the mass human sacrifices down at Lang Tower?¡±


    He tilted his head for a moment before slowly nodding. ¡°Not too sure, but something about ritual magic? Nasty stuff, that.¡±


    ¡°You know about it?¡±


    The Inquisitor laughed as he played with the sprite. ¡°Just enough to stay away. The Eidolons--Shark in particular--don¡¯t like ritual magic. Most of the time, it''s built on blood sacrifices and the like.¡±


    ¡±A CI hinted there might be something under Talus Tower too.¡± I started to move for the exit. This library was definitely the nest of some large critter, but it wasn¡¯t home at the moment. Hadn¡¯t been for a few days from what it looked like. Good chance it was already dead considering the dangers of the Underground.


    ¡±Ah, wait for me!¡± The Inquisitor jogged after, jovially laughing as the shark sprite cutely backpedaled around me in a slow circle.


    Gah, sprites were just the best! Maybe it''s because of their boosted intelligence? They really knew how to act cute around me. Corvin was the only one I¡¯d seen so far that hadn¡¯t been cute. The rest though?


    We traveled in near silence for a couple of minutes before the Inquisitor started talking about the ocean. I mostly tuned it out, focused on reaching our destination. The guy seemed a little¡­ lonely? Must be quite something being out to sea all the time. He was too happy to talk about this and that, though thankfully kept his voice down.


    We were closing on the subway platform leading into the cavern when I heard a noise up ahead. I motioned swiftly to Inquisitor Varus. He¡¯d already gone quiet. Seemed the shark sprite noticed even before I did.


    He motioned at me, waving his hands in a series of movements I couldn''t make sense of. Seeing my confusion, he finally whispered, ¡°Want to go up and take a look?¡±


    I nodded, taking a step back for him to lead. Inquisitors weren¡¯t as combat-focused as Knights, acting as detectives more than anything. Still, there was no doubt in my mind he was probably a better fighter than me.


    As we approached the source of the noise, I realized it was voices.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    Trip had been having a rough day. It all started when he took a job from Sprawl Trap, a well-known merc dive. The group he was with? A ragtag group made up of four other mercs. Two of them were chromed to hell and back, one of them was a Netrunner, and the last a Fox Magus.


    The Fox Magus and Netrunner were his typical group, though the two chrome domes were added last minute to fill the numbers as muscle. Five was the typical group size for gigs from a merc dive.


    The job? A ¡®simple¡¯ run down to the Underground and back. Except, they got lost on the way back. His connections with the Jade Fangs had commented the tunnels were tricky to navigate, but he¡¯d overestimated the group''s capabilities.


    They successfully picked up the package¡ªa large treasure chest-like box that took one of the chromed guys both arms to lift¡ªand then things had gone wrong.


    With their directions screwed up, the group went down a different path than they came from. A Pervider attacked- one of the nasty creatures that fed and bred using human corpses. Fighting it off wasn¡¯t bad- at least until thirty more of the starving beasts popped out of a cave.


    Several tactical retreats later, they barely managed to kill all of them and get to a safe place. Unfortunately, in the process, several of them had gotten ahold of Jet, their Netrunner.


    She was already weak down here, away from all of the tech. And combat really wasn¡¯t her specialty. At least, combat against non-mechanical stuff. The bites were inevitable. The venom of the Pervider though? They weren¡¯t ready for that. They should''ve brought anti-venom.


    Jet was in a catatonic state, the venom putting her in a form of stasis as she lay on the floor close to their final battleground¡ªan abandoned sewer control room. With her down, the two chromed ones were rearing at the bit to leave her here, both refusing to help carry her out.


    Trip wasn¡¯t just about to leave her though, especially considering how long they¡¯d worked together. And finding a half-decent Netrunner was nearly impossible since most were employed in private security. Hence the argument that ensued.


    ¡±Look, my hands are full¡ªI ain¡¯t carrying her.¡± The guy holding the chest muttered. Trip couldn¡¯t help his aggravation spiking as he stared at the guy. He could easily drape her over the chest or over his shoulder. His chrome was good- the kind that could easily support hundreds of pounds without an issue.


    ¡±And I¡¯m telling you- I need both arms free. What if we¡¯re attacked again?¡± The other asked rhetorically. ¡°I killed thirteen of the Pervider; I¡¯m the main attack force here.¡±


    Trip barely held in his curses. The guy had thirteen of the Perviders, not killed. Clyne, the Fox Magus, had done most of the work with his magic. And they were the thirteen weakest, youngest ones of the bunch. S§×arch* The ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    At a glance, the response was obvious. Trip or Clyne should carry the catatonic Netrunner. But that wasn¡¯t taking into account their situation. Clyne was too weak to carry her all the way. That, and though the small man hid it well, Trip had been ''round long enough to see his strength was flagging. The last fight had almost entirely drained him.


    Trip being bogged down wouldn¡¯t be good either. There were a host of reasons, but it boiled down to this: carrying her would temporarily incapacitate one of the two at least. It would give the two chromed guys an opportunity for betrayal--an ever-present issue in the world of mercenaries. And he¡¯d caught their sly eyes earlier. Betrayal was a likely possibility if they were given the chance.


    Of course, it wasn''t smart to say such a thing aloud even if Trip and Clyne were thinking it. It was currently a stalemate, both sides hesitant after watching each other in battle. And although she looked catatonic, Jet was  a Netrunner. ¡°Clyne, can you get a sprite to help out?¡±


    ¡±Not one big enough.¡± The short Clyne shook his head helplessly. Although he said that, Trip knew it wasn''t so simple. More accurately, Clyne probably couldn''t offer enough incentive to have a Sprite answer his summons with how drained he was. Although they were in a stalemate, it was only since the two incorrectly assumed Clyne had more juice in the tank.


    Trip roughly rubbed his rifle with his hands in aggravation. There wasn¡¯t a good solution- at least not one that¡¯d leave everyone alive and well. They couldn¡¯t just keep waiting around either. Every moment they did was another moment something might come to investigate the scene of battle.


    ¡°Look, we can just-¡°


    Rubble shifted just outside of the control room, causing an eerie silence as everyone stopped talking. High-strung as they were, they entered a tacit agreement to put the dispute aside for the moment. Funny how survival instincts could force working together.


    Trip turned on the flashlight of his rifle and took the lead, slowly edging towards the door to investigate.

 Chapter 211

    Trip looked out onto a peculiar scene and not one he expected to see down here. Interactions between groups were typically shoot first ask questions never in the Underground, though he stood in a confused stupor for several seconds, losing the advantage.


    Really, he couldn¡¯t be blamed all that much. Never in his life would he expect to see an Inquisitor down here, sheepishly rubbing at the back of his head while a Squire glared up at him in rage. His rifle dropped instinctively in an attempt to stay away from the wrath of the Crusade. Killing one of them was a fast track to being hunted down like a dog.


    The Inquisitor looked a little different from the run-of-the-mill ones he¡¯d seen and interacted with in the past. And the squire even more so. Mainly because he couldn¡¯t really even see her in the first place. A hood covered her, blocking all but the rough shape of her head.


    Said Inquisitor seemed to have kicked some rubble, causing the sound that alerted the group. He glanced apologetically at the female squire several times before addressing Trip. ¡°Uh- hey? Don¡¯t suppose you could forget you saw us?¡±


    Trip frowned. ¡±Um-¡°


    The chrome domes surged out of the maintenance room, guns up and ready. There was a momentary pause as they took in the scene. A whisper- one that wasn¡¯t near low enough for what it implied- came from one of the gonks. ¡°¡°


    That foolish statement was cut off as a surge of fear seemed to wash over the group of three. Trip¡¯s fingers shook slightly before he managed to regain control of himself. He was an experienced merc, after all. Moving even while terrified was just part of the job. Still, the unsettling ghost sensation of a blade pressed against his throat wasn¡¯t something he could just ignore. Death was near. Imminent.


    He expected the chill-inducing wave to come from the Inquisitor. Their fear auras were a poorly kept secret, one that anyone who¡¯d run into the Crusade would know about. And yet Trip still felt that particular enchantment. This was different-


    His eyes caught on the squire- rather, the squire¡¯s amber eye. It glowed, reflecting the flashlight. A feral malice seemed to ooze from the squire whose form was half lost in the shadows. Trip felt as though he stared at a wild beast, one who was just waiting for the right moment to lunge out and tear them to shreds.


    The fear was from being in the presence of a cold-blooded killer. Of a Reaper who wouldn¡¯t hesitate to cull their lives as if they were mere grains growing in a field. He¡¯d felt such strong killing intent before, and it never ended well.


    The chrome domes seemed to feel it too as they paused momentarily. Eventually, one of them managed to speak out. ¡°Uh- we¡¯ll- we¡¯ll head back in and protect Jet. Make sure she¡¯s safe. Let us know when we¡¯re returning to the Sprawl Trap.¡±


    They fled like the cowards they were, leaving Trip out here to deal with the two Crusaders alone. He put on the most friendly smile he could, hoping to avoid any major repercussions for running into the duo. Even as the fear settled around him like a noose tightening, he managed to speak, ¡°Y-yeah. We never saw you. Don¡¯t even know who-¡°


    ¡°The Blue Crusade?¡± Clyne chose the worst possible moment to come out of the maintenance room and check on the situation.


    Trip glanced back just in time to see Clyne¡¯s blood fade from his face entirely. He uncomfortably rubbed at his fox amulet. There was an expression on the Magus face, one that was difficult to pinpoint.


    Obviously, there was fear. A healthy dose of it too. It wasn¡¯t to the point it was impossible to move around through, but it was definitely unsettling. Then there was¡­ hope? Happiness? A mixture of the two? It was an odd expression to see on the man considering their current situation.


    Before Trip could say anything else, the Inquisitor spoke up. ¡°Hmm¡­ a whole group? Is this what you were talking about, squire? Are they with ¡±


    A long moment of silence stretched. The duo were obviously looking for something. For . With just a few words, their entire group could be damned and have to fight their way out. He wasn¡¯t so confident that they¡¯d win- at least not without major sacrifice. He¡¯d seen enough of the Blue Crusade to know the horror stories about them weren¡¯t just made up. Even if they did make it out, if an investigation was launched? It wouldn¡¯t-  end well. Sear?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡±Probably not.¡± The squire finally spoke, her voice ringing gently in Trip¡¯s ears. He was surprised by how nice her voice was. He expected a deep, gravelly voice that fit the feral, untamed vibe. Instead, it was soft and gentle, albeit seemingly uncaring. ¡°Probably the group that dealt with the Perviders.¡±


    Trip felt a deep temptation to shift his flashlight just slightly and push back the shadows covering the squire¡¯s face to get a look at her. Then another chill went down his spine as he felt that¡¯d be a decidedly bad idea. Her eye gleamed like a cat¡¯s as if she could tell exactly what he was thinking.


    ¡±Ah! Then we should thank you! It''s a meritorious service cleaning out the Underground.¡± The Inquisitor¡¯s attitude did a one-eighty as he nodded his head happily.


    The fear pulled back, though Trip knew better than to think he was out of danger entirely. At the very least, the mood wasn¡¯t as tense. ¡°No problem. It¡¯s what we should do.¡±


    ¡±Hmm¡­¡± The Inquisitor reached out and petted something. He¡¯d been around Clyne enough to realize it was most likely a sprite. ¡°I¡¯d write a letter of commendation¡­ Does that still happen on land?¡±


    Trip had no idea what he was talking about, though he did see an opportunity. ¡°That¡¯s alright¡­ if you could just point us to the way out, that¡¯d be more than enough. We¡¯re a little¡­ lost.¡±


    Clyne seemed to tremble in excitement next to him for a moment. What¡¯s up with him?


    Trip pushed the Magus¡¯s reaction to the back of his mind as the Inquisitor replied. ¡°It¡¯s, uh, squire? Where are we again?¡±


    The squire sighed, pointing down the tunnel. ¡°Go down that way until you stumble across a subway platform. Should be an exit over there. Comes out behind¡­ Consumers¡¯ Market, I think.¡±


    ¡±Thank you-¡°


    Trip cut himself off as a large fox materialized just next to him. He cast a questioning look to Clyne, who for all intents and purposes should¡¯ve been incapable of summoning another sprite. The small Magus just shrugged tiredly. His exhaustion looked as though it¡¯d doubled, the guy incapable of hiding it any longer.


    The Inquisitor and Squire went silent as the large fox appeared, watching the furry sprite. It seemed to bask in the attention, striking several poses as if to show off its good sides. Then, as if deciding all sides of it were good, the crazy beast strutted around the place.


    Trip immediately raised his hands in surrender. Summoning a sprite could be seen as a threatening move. ¡°We mean no harm.¡±


    ¡°Uh- yeah. Sorry.¡± Clyne shrank back. He seemed to communicate with the fox briefly. The fox put on a depressed look, glancing at the duo of Crusaders for a long moment before slowly slinking back into the maintenance room.


    Was it just Trip, or did it seem almost¡­ to follow Clyne¡¯s command? Surely it was just him. Sprites almost always followed their summoner''s commands without question. At least, as long as it wasn¡¯t against the Eidolons¡¯ tenets.


    ¡°Well, then, we¡¯ll be on our way.¡± The Inquisitor nodded down the tunnel and started to walk off. ¡°Stay safe!¡±


    A moment later, the beautiful voice of the Squire called. ¡°Wrong way, sir.¡±


    ¡±Ah, right!¡± The guy came back, heading in the opposite direction. ¡°Then we¡¯ll be on our way!¡±


    The squire sighed deeply before trailing after him, leaving Trip and Clyne to stand outside of the maintenance room alone. Trip felt a bolt of relief strike him as things started to go well for once. They knew the way out¡ªwhich was actually pretty close¡ª had a sprite to carry Jet. Plus, with the addition of the Sprite, they held the majority once more. Chances of betrayal were negative.


    Speaking of, he cast a curious gaze on the Fox Magus. ¡°How¡¯d that happen?¡±


    Clyne immediately knew what he was talking about. ¡°I don¡¯t know? I¡¯ve been trying since we stopped to rest¡­ all of a sudden, several of them started  each other to be summoned. Never seen anything quite like it.¡±


    Trip cast his gaze back to the Crusade duo. The squire had vanished into the shadows, leaving just the Inquisitor in full view as they headed down the tunnel. Whatever happened, there was no doubt this was a fortuitous encounter. One that would be best not to dig too deeply into. ¡±C¡¯mon, let¡¯s get out of here.¡±


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    We left the ragtag group of mercs behind. Honestly, when the Inquisitor tripped over rubble and made such a racket, I thought we¡¯d have to fight our way out. Thankfully, the first guy that came out¡ªan ex-soldier from the looks of things¡ªwas quite reasonable and dropped his rifle as he saw us,


    Then the other two came out, and I used Fear the Reaper for the first time to good effect. They almost immediately ran away, leaving the talking all up to the ex-soldier. If I was the leader, I¡¯d kick them out of the group immediately. What if we attacked? Separated like that, it¡¯d only weaken the group as a whole. And I knew that their particular maintenance room only had one way in and out. There was nothing to guard against. Simple cowardice.


    Sprawl Trap though¡­ was that where they got their gig? I¡¯ve been meaning to go by a merc dive at some point. Just haven¡¯t had the time¡­ Sprawl Trap. I mentally made a note to check it out once I found time. Merc dives were a great place to start growing rep across the city and not with just one fixer like I¡¯d been doing. Should be able to get better and more varied jobs with a good city-wide rep.


    For my first time running into an unrelated group down here, it was a lot less violent than I thought it''d be. Granted, that was probably thanks to the fact the group had just overcome a massive battle with dozens of overgrown spiders. Can¡¯t really fault them for wanting to avoid further conflict.


    And that fox sprite had indeed been quite cute. Seriously, sprites were the best. Hmm¡­ should I look into becoming a Magus? I¡¯ve shot down such thoughts before a couple times¡­ I was already technically a pseudo-Magus under Crow since I was able to summon Crow¡¯s Greater Sprite, Corvid. Just couldn¡¯t use magic like a Magus. Anyway, I could think about it later.


    ¡±It should be just up ahead. A subway platform.¡± I called out to the Shark Magus. He was¡­ noticeably bad at getting around silently. His every movement seemed just a little awkward as if he wasn¡¯t used to using his legs to walk around.


    Varus nodded to me as he played with the shark sprite. He was easygoing, at least, so he wasn¡¯t a pain to drag around. ¡°If you say so.¡±


    We kept walking a while longer before turning out into a familiar subway tunnel. Then, a little after that, we arrived at the subway platform that Mira and I had come to oh so long ago. It was oddly nostalgic, though in a slightly threatening way?


    The mutant ghoul had been cleared up at some point, probably by some kind of scavenger looking for a meal. Still, I kept my rifle up and ready for an attack. Maybe a trauma from the last time? I felt incredibly unsafe as we moved up.


    The Fedra corpses had likewise been cleaned up at some point, though it looked as if it was humans this time. Probably FSA troops. There were footprints and drag marks, all looking months old. They were so old, in fact, that the shadow tracking of Panther¡¯s Sight couldn¡¯t even pick up on them.


    We made our way deeper, entering the massive storage chamber. It looked almost exactly as I remembered. Stacks and stacks of crates lined the place, sitting in shallow water. The water was incredibly murky, covering up the floor entirely. If I was right, under that layer of murky water would be the engravings of a ritual circle.


    The biggest differences between then and now were the signs of people. Several of the crates had been cracked open, revealing useless junk that was practically trash thanks to age and rust. The mounds of skeletons had also been cleaned up. This place no longer looked like a mass burial site.


    The cross beams along the roof of the cavern were as rusty as the last time, though the shadows above didn¡¯t hold nearly as much meaning. I could see even in the darkest of spaces now.


    ¡±So this is it?¡± Inquisitor Varus asked me as he looked around.


    ¡°Chek.¡± I looked around for any signs of more recent activity. Nothing. For all intents and purposes, it looked like an abandoned storage cavern. Still, I couldn¡¯t help but feel a creeping sensation as if something wasn¡¯t quite right with the massive place. As if something¡­


    We both went silent, scanning the place. Nothing stood out as dangerous. Even Insight remained quiet, though I couldn¡¯t shake off the feeling of wrongness I got.


    The Inquisitor was the first to move, the shark sprite backstroking behind him with its belly pointed straight up. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± We moved down and toward the center of the cavern. Time to see if my guess was right.

 Chapter 212

    The bad feeling intensified as we headed deeper into the cavern. I felt as though something watched me, though no matter where I looked, I couldn¡¯t see whatever it was. Still, my guard was most definitely up as we trudged through the water.


    ¡°So you wanted a Magus to lift the water?¡± The Inquisitor easily put together why I wanted him down here with me. He wasn''t an Inquisitor for no reason.


    ¡°Chek. CI said it blocked out the magic circle.¡± I waved a hand to the murky water. ¡°Can you do it?¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± The Inquisitor went silent, seemingly communicating with the sprite as the cute shark went still. A moment later, the Aether condensed as it started to cast magic. I felt that familiar tingle of Insight as its magic took shape.


    The surrounding water moved back like a wave emanating from where Inquisitor Varus stood. It receded entirely, pushing out in a fairly large circle before settling into a wall of water, leaving perfectly dry ground behind. As the water moved, the dust and debris in it lay left behind, slightly covering the ground in a layer of filth.


    Below that, though? Intricately carved lines branched out from the center of the storage cavern, going off a ways before vanishing under the dozens of crates scattered around. They were almost an exact copy of the ones under the other arcology. I felt a stone drop in my stomach as I took in the sight.


    To think, I stumbled across a ritual site oh so long ago and hadn¡¯t realized it¡­ were the soldiers the human sacrifices for this one then? Was it all a setup? If it were, than they¡¯d been planning this for a long, long time. At least a decade. What else was hidden below the streets of the city?


    How was Fedra related? The terrorist organization had most definitely been guarding this place. Were they part of the Circle? Or just working with them? The Circle were terrorist scum, so it''d make sense if they partnered up... So many questions. Ugh- I hate how finding a place that should''ve given answers instead raised more questions.


    With the ritual runes exposed, I could finally see them with Aetherial Perception. They were supercharged with energy, although the energy seemed to have a slight repelling effect on the surrounding Aether. And under all of that? The etherial emanations of Mother. It was weak, extraordinarily weak, but I could still make them out.


    I felt a pain in the back of my neck. My hand slapped on instinct, catching a mosquito as it tried to escape. I looked down at the splattered blood on my hand with a frown. Mosquitos down here? I guess it made sense¡­ they lay their eggs in water, right? How annoying.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± The Inquisitor crouched down, running a hand along the engraved lines as my attention refocused on him. ¡°Looks like your CI was right¡­ Two ritual circles like this don¡¯t bode well. From my understanding, they work in threes. Must be another somewhere.¡±


    ¡±What do you think it''s supposed to do?¡± I asked the guy. He seemed as though he had a working understanding of all of this- this magic bull shittery.


    He helplessly shook his head. ¡°No clue. Could be water purification for all I know¡­ still, there¡¯s something¡­  about them. Something¡­ familiar?¡±


    ¡±Can we just break the ritual lines?¡± It seemed an easy enough solution to our current problem.


    ¡±No. It might activate prematurely, or it might explode. This kind of power stored up has to go somewhere¡­ it¡¯d be like setting a nuke off under an Arcology."


    "That''d be bad..." Still, though, nothing like that happened when the cavern under Lang Tower collapsed? Did that mean the ritual circle down there was still active?


    "If we had time, a bunch of Adepts and Magi could probably set something up to leach the energy away, but it¡¯d take a while.¡± He ran a finger down the length of one of the engravings. A spark of magic seemed to emit from his hand, quickly followed by the shark sprite as it joined him.


    I left him to watch and touch the runes as I mentally conjured up a map. He said there were supposed to be three of them, right? I marked this one and the one under Lang Tower mentally. Assuming they were all equal distance from each other, that¡¯d put the third¡­ either out in the Outlands pretty far or just outside Aythryn City¡¯s Bay Area.


    Neither of those answers felt right. I mean, the Underground was sprawling, but it didn¡¯t reach out under the ocean. Unless maybe they dove down and found a cave or something¡­ but how would they get the sacrifices over? Too much of a hassle.


    The Outlands weren¡¯t much better. Sure, it would be easier to access, but the triangle formed by the three ritual circles would mostly be out over the Outlands. Over barren space. I had a feeling whatever the Circle planned was for the whole city though. Something still wasn¡¯t adding up-


    ¡±Ah!¡± The Inquisitor cried out, his voice shaking slightly. ¡°It¡¯s a .¡±


    ¡±Fallen?¡± I asked.


    Varus dropped his easygoing attitude entirely before rapidly shaking his head. He seemed to panic slightly. ¡°We- we need to get out of here! I met  eye. It  me.¡±


    ¡±Woah, woah, woah¡­ slow down. What do you mean a Fallen?¡±


    He paused for a moment, sweeping the entire area with his gaze. ¡°L-look- ? They¡¯re bad. Real bad. The one I usually deal with? Progenitor of countless unholy beasts in the ocean. They- they¡¯re unnatural. Horrid entities that shouldn¡¯t exist.¡±


    Fallen¡­ She Who Grows? What the heck was a Fallen in the first place though? Something of the Aether? No- that can¡¯t be right. The Aether itself seemed to reject Mother¡¯s presence from what I¡¯d seen. And the eidolons didn''t seem to like Fallen much¡­


    But, to be honest, She Who Grows hadn''t seemed all that dangerous. Sure, I haven¡¯t seen her up front and I¡¯ve mainly just ambushed her troops, but as far as actual danger? Hadn¡¯t felt it. At least not yet. I¡¯ve always managed to get away before she showed her presence, at least. And the Circle itself seemed like a small scale cult more than anything. I''d yet to see more than five of them at a time... maybe they were just good at evading pursuit though.


    A buzzing noise filled the air. It was a horrid, uncomfortable sound that seemed to worm into my ears. I couldn¡¯t quite pinpoint where it was coming from. No- not buzzing. Vibrations. It was something vibrating rapidly. I glanced down- the runes pulsed slightly as if meeting my gaze.


    A flash of Insight hit me as if something was moving through the Aether. I glanced back to check if it was the Magus-


    I used Burst Step to throw myself to the side. From out of nowhere, a vine whipped through the space, quickly followed by the rest of a massive body as the Aether ripped behind me. A large creature, made of black wood and oozing corruption, stepped out of the Aether.


    ¡±Watch out!¡± The Inquisitor called a moment late as he likewise moved to dodge a thorn whip. ¡°sent a protector!¡±


    I backed away, drawing my rifle and firing before I even got a clear look at whatever it was. About half my shots seemed to plink off the thing¡¯s bark as if it were steel, and the other half embedded into its surface, barely burrowing in.


    The creature appeared roughly humanoid, though it was massive. It looked like a giant wreathed in a large leaf dress, with wooden armor poking out from under it. It appeared like one of those ents I''d seen in fantasy works- or at least a heavily feminized version. And indeed, if I squinted really hard, I could make out a body shape that looked vaguely female. Or maybe that was just the leaf dress influencing my perception


    Its face was a horrible maw of serrated wood, with a thorn vine acting like a tongue. The barbed vine dripped with purple saliva. Poison? It opened its maw and screeched sharply. ¡°LEEEEE!¡±


    I felt a wave of pain wash over my mind- a mental attack. I flashed Cold-Blooded to keep myself centered. It somewhat worked, clearing out a fog that started to settle in my head.


    A high-pressure burst of water sprang up from the surroundings, slamming into the giant tree-looking creature with the force of a tsunami. It staggered under the heavy blow, unprepared for resistance as it nearly fell over. It took several steps back with four large roots shaped like legs, regaining its balance.


    I ran back while firing, repositioning myself down one of the paths made by the stacks of crates. As my gun finally clicked, I ducked out of the way and behind a stack of crates, losing sight of the massive humanoid tree. From the heavy crashes and high-pressure whines of water jets, the fight still raged with the Inquisitor.


    I stopped to reload for a moment before clambering up the rotted wood of the crates. There were more than enough hand and footholds to exploit, allowing me to climb up onto the stack in record time. As I pulled myself up and over the last lip of the nearly two-story stack of crates, the enemy came back in sight.


    The battle had shifted at one point, with the massive tree slamming through hundreds of containers as if they weren¡¯t there. The plant¡¯s ferocious movements shook the air as it swung heavy blows with its arms, scattering debris.


    A needle-thin water jet launched out from behind cover. Although it lacked the heavy concussive force that the wider jet had, the thin one pierced through the bark ¡®armor¡¯ of the creature, cutting a pen-sized hole clear through one of its arms. Unfortunately, it was big enough the injury didn''t matter.


    ¡±Le! Leee le- la!¡± The plant sang, its maw splaying wide. It sounded like a once harmonious singer who¡¯d spent decades smoking and yet still thought they had a perfect voice. It grated against my eardrums and mind.


    I dropped my rifle, searching through my bag for Molotovs. They were becoming a staple and something I was hesitant to leave home without considering my current enemies. As I filled and lit one, I lined up the throw and launched it perfectly.


    Even from here, the sudden brightness of the exploding bottle stung my eyes. The fire wasted no time spreading, catching the frilly leaves that covered the bark armor on fire. It was doing damage, though at the moment it seemed restricted to cosmetic damage. Its bark was somewhat resistant, at least.


    If anything, though, it only seemed to enrage the tree creature even more as thick vines wormed all over its body. The vines spread out like an expanding sphere, smashing everything around them. From the way things just vanished as the vines impacted them, I had no doubt that there was quite some force behind the lashing thorn vines.


    I barely caught a shout over the destruction as the tree creature slammed all around itself in a rage. ¡°Buy me some time!¡±


    How exactly am I supposed to do that?! The beast seemed as though it had lost its senses entirely, attacking indiscriminately even at thin air. My hand dropped to my pistol. While I waited for the wrist launchers, I¡¯d gone ahead and loaded all eight Blaze rounds into it. Should I whip it out here?


    No- too far. It¡¯d still hit and do some damage, but I should try and lure the creature over here. They weren¡¯t a strong enough caliber, nor did I have too much hope in their capabilities against something so massive. How do I bring it over though?


    I thought for a moment before whipping out the flashlight I¡¯d used earlier in the day. As I flicked it on, casting bright light into the cavern, the tree creature flicked toward my direction, small beady eyes glaring maliciously as it started to move. I dropped the light, keeping it pointed at the plant, and used Burst Step to immediately vacate the space. I threw myself across several paths between crates.


    I glanced over my shoulder as I sailed through the air several aisles over. My weakened legs nearly gave out as I landed on top of the stack, though I managed to keep myself mostly stable by transitioning into a roll.


    The same couldn¡¯t be said for the stacks I had just left. The ent rammed through the crates, crashing through my previously vacated space in a spray of rotting wood and rusted metal.


    Another Molotov? No- I won¡¯t have enough time to fill it up. I dropped my rifle, going for my pistol loaded with Blaze rounds. Please, please have a good effect!


    ¡°La! LEEEEEEE!¡± I lined up a shot with the thing¡¯s face as it turned toward me with a screech. It¡¯s maw split wide, dripping with purple saliva. Its mental attack hit, though it had no effect thanks to the flushes of cold pouring from my heart.


    Although my skill with firearms still wasn¡¯t high, I was much, much better at shooting than I was just months ago. That being said, my accuracy was good enough to hit a wide-open maw. Without hesitation, I pulled the trigger.


    In a blink of an eye, a Blaze round slammed into the back of its throat. The bullet immediately exploded into a small burst of a thermite-like substance, coating the back of its throat in bright fire.


    The creature staggered back, smoke pouring from its maw as it covered its head with one massive arm. It slammed its leg-like roots into the ground, a vibrato seemingly filling the air as the ground vibrated- Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    A cold phantom pain of something massive stabbing up through my torso ran through me. I flung myself to the side with Burst Step one more time, feeling my muscles twist and burst in my leg. I was seriously approaching my limit-


    Giant roots thrust up through the space I just held, four of them piercing up in a pattern that would¡¯ve caught me if I¡¯d been a moment slower in my movements. I turned the rest of my unstable momentum into another roll, feeling splinters try and fail to penetrate through my poncho as I threw one of my cheap knives out mid-roll.


    The knife flew true through the air, slamming into the giant tree creature¡¯s arm. A bullet couldn¡¯t get through its arm, let alone a knife. That wasn¡¯t the goal though.


    The knife banked off the arm, deflecting at the perfect angle to get past the other arm blocking its face from me. I couldn¡¯t see it, but from the way the creature flinched and wailed, the knife perfectly deflected into its eye. Throwing Weapon Master wasn¡¯t just hitting my target every time. Trick shots like deflections were also heavily taught, though I hadn¡¯t needed to use them till now.


    ¡±La la- LEE LEEEEE!¡± Its horrid voice sang in pain as it moved upright. I spotted my knife impaled into its eye, dripping out a disgusting green ichor. A vine reached up and ripped the knife out. Already, its pierced eye slowly started to regrow as if the injury didn''t mean anything to it. No- it just made the creature even more berserk.


    The vines all over its body twisted and turned sinisterly. Another vine burst? Too close. I¡¯m way too close. I didn''t pause for a moment as I turned tail and ran, hearing the crash of countless crates behind me.

 Chapter 213

    My legs burned as I sprinted out of its wide AOE attack, dodging the attack itself even as splinters of wood and bits of metal pelted my back. Nothing too serious- rather, nothing that pierced through my poncho and trench coat combo. It was a near thing. My hand was all scraped up by the splinter storm.


    I glanced over my shoulder as I repositioned, checking on the massive ent creature. It seemed to lose track of me, mindlessly slamming its thick arms around as it destroyed everything around it. It was a brute¡ªa dumb brute at that.


    ¡°La! La La LEEEE!¡± It sang out another mental attack, though it was just as useless as the others.


    I glanced around, trying to find the Inquisition. How much more time did he need? I thought about shouting and asking him, though I held back as I decided to reposition while I had the chance. Seriously, though, was he just hiding somewhere? Hurry the hell up, man!


    I activated my Stealth perks, slinking around the crates as I stayed low and out of sight. The plant beast stood no chance with its lacking intelligence as I circled to get a better angle. The most challenging part was finding the angle itself, not sneaking around it.


    While moving, I flicked on Aetherial Perception. Just like the rest of Mother¡¯s awful plants, I spotted a corruptive aura emanating from the ent-like creature. The Aether seemed to be repelled by it, retreating from the field as if it were poison. It seemed centered around the creature¡¯s chest, seemingly coming from its heart.


    Underneath all of that? Mother herself stared out. Her lecherous gaze latched onto me as her presence strengthened by the second. She was coming here- or at least trying to. She was much slower than when using Corvin as a conduit. Still, as her unsettling gaze met mine, I felt a shiver down my spine.


    I turned off Aetherial Perception and checked the enemy from my new vantage point. The tree had slowed down its aimless attacks, though it still wandered around mindlessly. Its injured eye was already regenerated from my knife, and the vines across its body had finally managed to put out the flames from my Molotov by smothering them.


    The Molotov didn¡¯t seem as if it did much damage to begin with. Sure, it charred and burned its way through some of the bark armor, but it was just a mundane flame at the end of the day. With the thing¡¯s regeneration, all of that was already starting to mend.


    How am I supposed to kill something that could constantly regenerate anyway? Attack its brain? I doubted it even had one. The thing was stupid- or at least had terrible perception. Shred its heart? Thick wood blocked that path. It¡¯d take several attempts to get through the wood.   S§×ar?h the N?velFire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I could probably do it with three or four Blaze rounds, but that was assuming I hit the same spot every time. With the way it thrashed around, that wasn¡¯t very likely. And on top of that, the Blaze rounds caused localized damage. No telling if they''d even be enough to take out a monster of that size.


    Should I retreat? Run away? There was no real reason I to take this fight¡­ but what about the Inquisitor? I couldn¡¯t just leave him to die¡­ right. Just buy some more time. Hopefully whatever he¡¯s doing will have a good effect. Nothing of mine was working very well.


    I pulled another cheap knife out and swapped back to my rifle. Its weak spots, such as its eyes, weren¡¯t protected very well. Probably since it could regenerate. It was good for me. I lined up a knife as countless calculations and instinct ran through my head. The time-slow effect of Dexterity helped get everything done rapidly. With one last adjustment, I threw it hard at one of the cross beams.


    While the knife was in mid-air, I grabbed my rifle with both hands and lined up with its right eye. I fired, giving my position away as the bullets pelted its face with no success. My second burst succeeded, popping its right eye easily as it screeched and staggered back-


    Right into the path of my deflected knife. Up above, the knife had perfectly bounced off of the cross beam, slicing through the air as gravity boosted its momentum. The knife easily pierced through its left eye, fully blinding the beast.


    Blinded, it returned to its basics as it lashed out with its vines in a massive AOE attack. I was way out of its range though. I took the time it blindly rampaged to once more reposition onto another side. I could probably keep this up for a bit longer, but Inquisitor Varus really needed to hurry up-


    The Aether as Insight flashed a warning. I felt my entire body get ripped apart. I flicked on Aether Perception just in time to catch a storm whip up out of nowhere. It lasted a few seconds before shifting into reality as a shout came from closer to the middle of the cavern. ¡°Take cover!¡±


    I was already sprinting away as fast as I could even before his shout, ignoring the shooting pain in my legs as I moved for the cavern wall. It was a gut feeling¡ªan instinct¡ªthat being even remotely near the tree would be a very, very bad idea. Not to mention Insight''s continuous warnings of danger.


    I heard it before I saw it. The crash of dozens of crates shattering and the splintering of wood, closely followed by the splattering of water as if it was raining in here.


    Then the scent of burning ozone followed as a bright flash illuminated the entire cavern. Had I been looking at the source, I would¡¯ve definitely lost my vision for several moments. As it was, I only felt a searing pain in my eye. My ears swelled in pain as a cacophonous boom echoed off the walls.


    I didn¡¯t dare turn to look until I made it to the far side of the cavern. As soon as I reached it though? I turned to see the destruction that Inquisitor Varus¡¯s magic caused.


    Unlike most destruction-type magic I¡¯d seen so far, this wasn¡¯t just a simple short-duration yet brutal attack. Instead, a massive tornado of water moved through the cavern, centered on the malicious tree. The water tornado flashed with lightning, each strike precisely hitting the tree and splintering wood. The fires caused by the lightning were put out as fast as they were set, snuffed out by the vortex of water.


    The lightning didn¡¯t seem to be the spell¡¯s main source of damage. That honor belonged to the sharks hidden in the tornado. As expected of a Shark Magus, I guess. They weren¡¯t really sharks though. They looked like constructs made of water, though that was a deceptive description.


    With every moment, sharks would form before launching at the malevolent tree with their massive maws spread wide. For beings made of water, they easily shredded through the bark, tearing strips off with every pass of their terrifying bodies. The ent tried to fight them off, though its cumbersome arms and vines only splatted them into water. Said water would then rejoin the storm as another shark launched out.


    The tree wasn¡¯t in a good state. With every second that passed, its body was slowly stripped of its bark. Damage accumulated far faster than it could regenerate, and it was only a matter of time till it dropped dead.


    The creature reacted, its body vibrating as the corruptive aura it emitted slowly separated. Its body split into three parts, each about a third of the tree¡¯s original form. All three of them moved to escape the Inquisitor¡¯s tornado. Really, it would''ve been a good tactic. Only, it miscalculated. Or I should say it failed to calculate at all.


    The weight of its original body was enough to keep it held down even as it was surrounded by the water tornado. Now that its mass had been divided into three chunks? The same couldn¡¯t be said.


    The tornado lifted the three forms, swirling them around as they were continuously attacked by the shark storm. They crashed and slammed into each other with such force that their bodies quickly turned into mangled chunks of wood.


    A minute passed with them in such a state, going long enough that the original forms of the three couldn¡¯t even be seen anymore. Nor could the corruptive aura. Chunks of black wood lay scattered all across the cavern, thrown far and wide by the tornado without care. It was dead. As easy as that.


    During the entire time, Insight continuously warned me as projectiles flew in my direction. I dodged the worst of them, though a few small ones managed to slip by. Several small cuts lined my extremities.


    I felt a chill go down my spine as I took in the destruction the Magus wrought. I¡¯d only seen small-scale spells. Even those were scary. This though? On a whole other level.


    If I was targeted by the storm¡­ yeah, I¡¯d just die. There was no chance I could live through all of that. Unless Quick Healing could repair my body from a single drop of blood, which I highly doubted.


    Maybe if I killed the spell caster before I was caught up in it, it¡¯d destabilize the storm? It¡¯d taken him several minutes to cast it, so that wasn¡¯t out of the realm of possibility¡­ kill them before they even got the chance. As I expected, I wasn¡¯t suited for frontal battles. Ambushes and traps were the way to go.


    I¡­ I also take back everything I thought about the Inquisitor not helping. If anything, I was the one who didn¡¯t do anything. Except for acting as a distraction, I guess¡­


    ¡°S-squire!¡± A weak shout came behind a stack of crates. ¡°You s-still in one p-piece?!¡±


    ¡±Chek!¡± I looked around the half-destroyed storage cavern, trying to spot him. Nothing. Where was he? He didn''t sound too good from his shout...


    A small shark swam up into the air, acting as a signal flare for me. It had been materialized at some point, taking on a physical form so I could see it even without Aetherial Perception. It was near the middle of the cavern, just barely outside the field of destruction. I rapidly made my way over.


    The shark spotted me as I closed in, swimming down to guide me. Unlike normal though, it didn¡¯t try to act cute. If anything, it had a rather serious expression. Still, even that was cute in its own way.


    As I followed it back to its summoner, I spotted why it had a serious expression. The Inquisitor lay on a shattered crate. A piece of rusted metal impaled his shoulder, seemingly pinning him down as he tried to breathe deeply and calmly.


    The rusty piece of metal stabbed entirely through the silver chainmail armor, which was terrifying. Crusade armor was good, like really good. Sure, his chainmail was on the light side, but the piece of metal must¡¯ve been moving with some serious momentum to cause this much damage.


    About a dozen other deep cuts covered his body, leaking blood profusely. His choice of armor left plenty of gaps, though thankfully his chest seemed entirely free of wounds. Organs should be fine outside of blunt impact¡­ then again, there was no telling what hit him. Seemed I was the only one to get out of the storm relatively unscathed.


    His mask lay off to the side, revealing Inquisitor Varus¡¯s face. I half expected it to be malformed and vicious, but he looked like an average guy. Maybe a bit on the handsome side, but nothing out of the ordinary. Well, except for the severe bruising all over his face and the blood pouring from his mouth as he coughed.


    ¡°Damn,¡± I muttered as I stared at the bleeding wound. ¡°How bad is it?¡±


    He groaned. ¡°N-not t-too bad. Glad I got my t-tetanus shots.¡±


    I forced a laugh at his attempts to lighten the mood and closed in to get a better look. It didn¡¯t go too deep, at least as far as I could tell. Looked like his bones caught it before it could go all the way through¡­ he could probably still move around, though the pain looked to be quite severe. The blood loss was another matter, though.


    ¡°I¡¯ve just got bandages.¡± I rifled through my bag for my med kit. Unfortunately, I was rather low on supplies. I¡¯d used a lot of stuff up on Lily Lower and hadn¡¯t taken the chance to resupply. Stupid.


    ¡°I¡¯ve g-gotta stim- ugh- in my b-bag. Should h-help with blood loss, but I lost it in the s-storm.¡± He chuckled weakly, raising a weak hand to wipe blood from his lips. His lips pulled into a grim grin. ¡°It¡¯s about r-right that I took more damage from m-myself than that thing.¡±


    Stims. Right, I needed to get some of those. Add it to the list¡­ as for his bag? Little chance I could find it with all the destruction and clutter. Still, it was better than nothing. ¡°What¡¯s it look like?¡±


    While waiting for a reply, I stuffed disinfectant and gauze into the worst of his wounds. I also shifted the canteen to start producing Pervider venom. Its stasis-like effect could help stabilize him long enough to get the Inquisitor up to proper medical help. He just needed to hold out long enough for the canteen to generate enough venom. Maybe fifteen minutes?


    ¡±Ugh-¡° He waved to the shark sprite. It worriedly hovered over him like a fussing parent. ¡°Th-this little guy will g-guide you to it.¡±


    The shark nodded its head to me and began to swim through the air in a certain direction before looking back at me. ¡°Chek. Just- just hang in there. I¡¯ll be right back. You¡¯re going to be fine.¡±


    ¡±S-sure hope so. It w-would suck to die before my- ugh- vacation.¡± He made another attempt to lighten the mood, though it didn¡¯t work. His face was quickly turning white as he coughed again. ¡°I¡¯ll t-try to stay awake.¡±


    I quickly turned to follow the shark and look for his long-lost bag.

 Chapter 214

    I managed to find his bag with the help of the shark sprite. To no surprise, it was buried under a mound of rubble. It had been a pain to clear, though once I did, I returned to the Inquisitor¡¯s side.


    The stim shot he talked about was easy enough to use. It was already loaded up in a needle. I just needed to point and click for it to shoot into his veins. Medtech Stim BB-31 is what it said on the side. Unlike what I expected though, it only made the Inquisitor start bleeding even more.


    He groaned through the blood loss, seemingly trying to make conversation. He failed horribly. The blood loss had long gotten to him, turning his words into a scramble of incoherent mumblings.


    It seemed the stim just helped generate more blood, not actually healing any external injuries. It was useful- in the right situations, that is. With him so heavily injured, the stim just made him bleed even more.


    It was a stressful fifteen minutes until the canteen produced enough Pervider venom to put the guy into stasis. I¡¯d long run out of bandages, most of them pooled around the downed Inquisitor and absolutely soaked in blood. His vitals were also extremely weak, his heartbeat coming erratically as he became short of breath.


    It couldn¡¯t have been a moment later¡ªcause he¡¯d be dead¡ªthat I finally had enough venom to pour into his wounds. A minute later, as the stasis effect of the venom took hold, the bleeding miraculously stopped. He still wasn¡¯t out of the woods, but the situation rapidly improved.


    He had at least thirty minutes of stasis, assuming the venom faded away after that long. Potentially longer though. I¡¯d long noticed that fluids from the canteen had a weird interaction when consumed. Heck, I abused it as my main source of sustenance. He had potentially longer if the same held up. If not? It¡¯d be enough time to dose him again.


    With the venom taking effect, he went entirely still. Breathes, weak and infrequent, came and went. If I were to just take a glance at the guy, I¡¯d have thought he flatlined.


    I gathered up the stuff, tried to put his mask back on, and then began the long process of carting the downed Inquisitor to safety. He was heavy, extremely heavy. The guy weighed enough that it was a struggle to move and carry him with my already injured legs, though my morning exercises were finally showing off as I half-dragged him to the exit. The shark sprite worriedly circled me as I staggered along. I really needed to get some stims of my own. Could I duplicate a stim with the canteen? Hmm...


    Moving an injured person was usually a bad idea. I could see why as he started to slowly bleed all over me, even through the stasis effect of Pervider venom. I tried my best to keep him stable, though, mindful of his injuries. The shark sprite tried to help, but it hadn''t been materialized in a combat form. It was too weak to do much of anything, though watching it try to support me was strengthening in its own way.


    Thankfully, nothing happened on the way to the exit. Getting out was a slight problem, but not a major one. I used an ingenious method with the ropes to make lifting him out much, much lighter. Course, that meant I had to go up and down several times to set it all up, draining me even more. It was a nice break for my legs if nothing else.


    Once we were both finally out, I stumbled to the side, my worn legs finally giving out. The shark sprite swam around before lying down next to Inquisitor Varus, seemingly not wanting to leave his side.


    I struggled to get my phone out. Missed messages from an unknown phone number flashed at me. I blinked tiredly and then scrolled through my contact list to look for Inquisitor Ligh. It rang a few times before he picked up.


    Several loud screams came across, though they cut out as he spoke. ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡±Hey, boss. I need help. Varus is down. Severely injured. Heavy blood loss.¡± I tapped the phone, sending a location ping to him as well as a picture.


    A voice came from the background, asking Ligh what was going on. ¡°I don¡¯t know yet, sir. Can he speak?¡±


    ¡±Negative, sir. I gave him Pervider venom to stabilize his condition.¡± I took a deep breath, finally managing to get some strength back into my legs as I forced myself up. I walked over to my downed companion and checked him over once more. Still in stasis. The stim was doing its job with the whole blood loss, and color was somewhat returning.


    ¡±Hmm¡­¡± He paused as a voice faintly came through again. Probably the commander considering Ligh''s demeanor. He was most definitely still drunk, but his slurring was somewhat under control. ¡°Yes, sir. We can do that. Squire, can you get him to the roof? We''re calling a Medevac. Sheven minutes.


    Medevac, eh? Those were hella expensive. Assuming it wasn¡¯t coming from Varus¡¯s check, getting Medevaced was quite the benefit. Too bad I¡¯d never be able to use one. Medtech would definitely lock me up on a black site to investigate Quick Healing. Seriously, I was actually quite terrified of going to a hospital now. ¡°Chek.¡±


    ¡±Call me as soon as he¡¯s with them.¡±


    I shook out the numbing cold arcing through my legs as the phone call ended and moved for the Inquisitor. My legs trembled fiercely as I threw him on my back and started dragging him up and out of the abandoned pumping station.


    Above the pumping station sat an apartment building, one with four floors. The halls were empty as I dragged my bleeding superior to the elevator. The few people that stepped out immediately went back inside upon seeing not only a heavily injured Crusader, but also a ''menacing'' shark sprite.


    I pressed the button for the elevator and leaned against the wall to help support all the weight on my shoulders. Time passed. With each passing second, a frown etched itself deeper onto my face. The building was only four stories, so it should be here by now- sea??h th§× ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°It- it¡¯s out of order, m-ma¡¯am.¡± A timid voice called out to me. I looked back to see a kid about seven or eight years old peeking out of his apartment door.


    ¡±Course it is.¡± My head thunked against the wall as I sighed. I turned around for the stairs. I hefted the deadweight back up into position and trudged for them. I flashed a what was hopefully a calming smile with Honest Face. ¡°Thanks kid.¡±


    Climbing stairs on a normal day was annoying. Climbing stairs while carrying someone on the verge of death was even worse. Each step made every blood vessel in my legs throb in pain. I kept telling myself just one more. One more.


    By the time I realized it, I was up at the roof¡¯s door, entirely drained of energy. So tired. I shook my head and stared at the fire-alarmed door. I shifted the Inquisitor on my shoulders, nearly stumbling as his weight pressed down on me. With my free elbow, I tapped the door.


    A pulse went through it, revealing the door''s internals. It was just a normal door. There was barely even a lock in the first place, let alone a fire alarm mechanism. The sign was just for show.


    I nudged it open with my shoulder and carted the Inquisitor out into the hot summer air. It was humid outside, in the tail-end of summer. It wasn¡¯t unbearable thanks to a gentle mist that fell from the storm-clad sky and my poncho''s climate control, but it was a near thing.


    Should I set him down? Hmm¡­ I looked around, spotting the flashing lights of the Medevac long before I heard the siren. It flew through the air, ignoring the typical air lanes that flyers stuck to. Then again, this was Little Yukoto. There weren¡¯t that many flyers out and about in the first place.


    Maybe a minute out? If I set him down, I doubt I¡¯ll be able to pick him back up and hand him over. I watched the Medevac as it approached, shifting from foot to foot as I patiently waited.


    Guess I¡¯ve moved up in the world, eh? It technically wasn¡¯t for me, but this was an entirely different situation than when I¡¯d interacted with Medtech''s stooges in the past. No longer just an outsider peering in, for better or worse. Worse, probably.


    As it closed in, I got a good look at Medtech¡¯s LRAT. It looked like a mouse- a heavily armored mouse the size of a bus. Four thrusters sat where tires would¡¯ve been, propelling the entire thing forward as it raced toward me. The entire thing was covered in turrets, most of them non-lethal, I think. They were more so to discourage aggressors in case they needed to evacuate someone from a combat zone than anything.


    The entire thing flashed with bright lights, alerting those around to get out of its way. It was painted a sleek gray with black and red highlights. Red holographic crosses sat all over the flyer, leaving no doubt of its affiliation.


    Gah, what it must be to fly and operate one of those! So cool! They¡¯re practically flying tanks. I want one¡­ but they''re soooo expensive. No chance I could afford one in this life. Its cost could make even the Crimson Company¡¯s APC look cheap. And where would I store it? Ugh, I''m not feeling to well.


    I shook my head, clearing my thoughts as it started to descend toward us. A commanding voice came out through its speakers. ¡°Clear the landing area! Back away! Clear the landing area!¡±


    I was the only one up here, so it was probably an automated message. Still, as it lowered itself to the edge of the roof¡ªopting to hover next to the building so the pilot could quickly take off once more rather than actually landing¡ªred holographic lights lit up the immediate surroundings of the Medevac. The ¡®danger-zone¡¯ of a Medevac.


    I¡¯d been told in the past that anything in that zone would be shot indiscriminately. Or something like that.


    The hatch on the side of the LRAT popped open, making a landing ramp that smacked down onto the roof harshly. From the inside of it poured out several armed Shock Troopers, their rifles raised and at the ready as they cleared the immediate landing zone.


    Their armor was seriously badass. It was a nice mix of neo-technical and clinical, all of which were colored in dull greys and flamboyant reds. And it was good armor to boot. I¡¯d heard tales of Shock Troopers single-handedly clearing combat zones to get to their patient, all without taking an injury.


    I shook my head forcefully. So tired¡­ my mind was drifting. I flicked on Cold-Blood, the jolt of cold helping wake me up a bit.


    Two just as armed medics moved out a few seconds later, carrying a stretcher between the two of them. They set it down and then backed off. ¡°Set him down here!¡±


    I struggled forward, following their commanding voice as I carefully laid the injured Inquisitor down. With his weight finally off of me, I staggered backward, giving them some space to work. I took a deep breath, falling to the ground as my legs finally gave out.


    The medics wasted no time hooking him up to a machine and checking his vitals. One of them called out to me as their hands blitzed across a small data slate. The voice was heavily modulated, announced through a speaker on their helm. ¡°What¡¯s he on?¡±


    ¡±Pervider venom for stasis. Um-¡° I tried to think back to the stim I used on him. ¡°Medtech Stim BB-31 too.¡±


    ¡±Roger.¡± They did something, injecting the downed Inquisitor with a fluid, and then both hefted the stretcher as they retreated back into the LRAT.


    The shark sprite swam after them, pausing as all three of the Shock Troopers¡¯ rifles aimed at it. A low growl erupted from the shark. ¡°Unsummon your sprite!¡±


    I shook my head tiredly, ignoring the glares I felt. So unfair. ¡°It¡¯s the Inquisitors. I don¡¯t know how.¡±


    They looked at each other, seemingly having a conversation. Their helmets probably had internal comm systems to talk amongst the team without outsiders eavesdropping. A moment later, they dropped their rifles and retreated back into the LRAT alongside the sprite. Looks like they decided to take it with them.


    Then, just like that, the hatch closed and the Medevac was off, flying through the sky. I stared after it, feeling a bit of my stamina return as I sat on the roof. So cool.


    In another life, I think I would¡¯ve liked to be part of a Medevac team. Still could, I guess. They start hiring at eighteen, I think. I could probably power-level First-Aid by then. I had¡­ about a year and a half? Somewhere around there. Then again, who knows where I¡¯ll be in a year in a half?


    Still... First-Aid would be nice. Maybe I should start investing a bit more heavily into it... Shinobu''s girl, what''s her name, runs a clinic with the cathedral right? I could go volunteer... Once all this was over, there was so much I wanted to do.


    So much to do, so little time. I really needed a break. It''s just been going and going and going since I got the interface.


    Once I felt slightly better, I swapped my canteen back to water and rang up the boss. He picked up after the first ring. ¡°Medevac get him?¡±


    ¡°Chek¡­¡± I sighed as I looked out over the city. ¡°Any chance I could get a day off to recuperate before handing in the report?¡±


    ¡±Can you shtill move?¡± He asked.


    ¡±Barely.¡±


    ¡±Then no. We need to know what happened down there. It was supposed to be just a short investigation, right? What went wrong? Come meet me. I¡¯ll send you the address.¡± My phone buzzed a moment later. He was somewhere in Downtown, near the Corporate Quarter.


    Ugh! This sucks¡­ seriously, why¡¯d Varus have to get injured and leave everything to me? So much work¡­ ¡°Fine. But I¡¯m going to need an extension to my ''solo investigation''.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ we¡¯ll talk about it.¡± His voice left no room to argue as he hung up.


    My head dropped as I swapped the canteen for an energy drink instead. I slowly stood up and made my way up the stairs as I checked the missed message.


    ''A bird told me you wanted to talk about your pay...''


    At least some things were going right.

 Chapter 215

    I arrived at the location Inquisitor Ligh sent me. It was Downtown, just outside of the Corporate Quarter. It was a ¡®small¡¯ skyscraper home to dozens, if not hundreds, of different corporations of varying kinds and types. The one Inquisitor Ligh sent to me in particular, though? Dru Industries. I checked it on the Net¡ªit was a kind of security firm specializing in magical defenses.


    I caught some eyes as I slowly made my way from the front door, across the lobby, and to the elevators. It wasn¡¯t hard to figure out why. I was still covered in blood, to the point that my footsteps left behind small trails of the stuff. And yet no one approached. S§×ar?h the n??el Fire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Mostly thanks to the Fear the Reaper. Yeah, I had it on at full blast. I didn''t want anyone approaching about the mess I was making. Not my property, not my blood, not my problem. Stay over there, far from me, please.


    A man waited at the elevator with the button already pressed. The elevator dinged, though the man ¡®got a phone call¡¯, causing him to leave the elevator just to me. The gonk pulled out his wallet instead of his phone though.


    Still, couldn¡¯t really blame him. I had Fear the Reaper active I was covered in blood. I''d be scared too. Usually, at least. I pulled down my hat slightly, my hand immediately getting soaked in blood. Unfortunate.


    I wiped it off, hit the button for the sixty-third floor, and sat down against the back wall to wait. My legs weren¡¯t in the best condition. The sooner I got back to somewhere safe to rest, the better.


    I rolled up my pant leg to check. They were absolutely covered in gnarly-looking bruises. Burst Step was to blame, of course, but my condition only worsened after carting Inquisitor Varus out of the Underground. I rubbed at the back of my neck as I settled down for the long ride up to the top of the building.


    After a while, the elevator doors dinged- only to reveal the site of a massacre. The floor was covered in blood with corpses scattered around. What once would¡¯ve been a quite nice foyer had turned into a field of the dead. Gunshots marred the walls all over.


    I fumbled for my gun, raising it as I stood up and took in the scene. Not quite what I was expecting when the boss sent me to this location¡­ was this his doing though? Surely he didn''t summon me into an active battleground, right?


    I took a step out, inspecting the bodies as I kept an eye on my surroundings. About a quarter of them seemed to have died from sword slashes. The injuries matched up with what Knight Persha had done back then.


    Then about half of them were covered in a large quantity of lacerations as if a maniac with a dagger had struck dozens of times in a single second. No one stood out in my memory as using daggers though, so I had no idea.


    The remaining quarter died of good old gunshot wounds. Only, the wounds were weird. None of them were from the front. Instead, it looked almost as if their allies had shot them in the back of the head. Even weirder, about half their guns seemed to be jammed or exploded as if they bought some really cheap weaponry. It was all Raijin products though.


    More interestingly, each of the corpses had a tattoo on their arm. It was similar to the Circle¡¯s symbol, only covered in more thorns and the tree looked slightly different. One of the witnesses from Lang Tower mentioned someone with this tattoo, right? Have they stopped making amulets? Or maybe they noticed I grabbed some and shifted to this-


    I flinched back as a scream came from further in. I ensured Stalk and Lethargic Presence were on before slowly making my way through the halls of the place. They were in just as much disrepair as the foyer, with the occasional corpse scattered around. Whoever came through here hadn¡¯t spared anyone. Definitely the Crusade though. The more I saw, the more I was assured this was their handiwork.


    I made my way to what looked like the boss''s office on the other side of a cubicle farm soaked in blood. Squires ambled about the cubicle farm, seemingly taking pictures of the dead. The boss''s door lay shattered against the wall, knocked off its hinges by some great force.


    Five people were in the boss''s room. The Inquisitor and the Crusade Commander stood over a collapsed man leaning against a desk. Two Knights stood at the door protectively. Neither of them noticed me yet, but it was only a matter of time. All four of them, combined with the rest of the floor, were a seriously intimidating sight.


    ¡°Inquisitor?¡± I called out, making my presence known to the men in the room.


    I felt the frosty gaze of the two Knights as they stared at me. They relaxed somewhat once they spotted me in Crusade gear, though kept up their surveillance.


    ¡±Ah! Zuku! Come in, come in.¡± The Inquisitor waved at me. As he turned around, he slammed his foot down onto the downed guy¡¯s kneecap seemingly by accident.


    ¡±GAAHHHHH!¡± The guy screamed horribly as his leg became digitigrade.


    The Commander backhanded their captured prisoner, sending him to the floor and abruptly ending his scream. ¡°Oh shut it, you child. It¡¯s not even that bad yet¡­ but it could be if you don¡¯t start giving us answers.¡±


    Ah, torture then? Is that what we¡¯re going for? Surely this breaks several kinds of laws¡­ then again, who¡¯s going to arrest them? The city council probably wouldn¡¯t care about anything but results anyway.


    ¡±L-look, I really don¡¯t k-know anything.¡± The prisoner whimpered as he tried to force himself back up into a sitting position.


    ¡°Lie.¡± One of the Knights coldly called out.


    The Commander shook his head in disappointment. ¡°And here I thought we could all leave in one piece¡­¡±


    He held out his hand. A moment later, shadows seemed to surge and coalesce into a small, pure black dagger. Without hesitation, the commander plunged the dagger into one of the guy¡¯s arms. The one marked with the Circle tattoo. So he was the maniac with the knife? ¡°Now then, we¡¯re going to play a fun game where we see just how many daggers I can put into you before you break, okay?¡±


    ¡±Zuku, let¡¯s- uh, head to the other room to talk. Noishy.¡± The Inquisitor called out to me, thankfully giving me an excuse to get out of here.


    ¡±Right behind you, sir.¡± I felt a chill go down my spine as the Commander summoned yet another shadow dagger. I could''ve sworn I felt his eyes on me as I followed the Inquisitor out. I really,  didn¡¯t want to get on his bad side.


    The screams continued as we headed back into the cubicle farm. The Inquisitor visibly relaxed away from the Commander ¡°Sho? What¡¯d you guysh find?¡±


    I sat down and gave a quick breakdown of our trip down into the Underground. This time, there wasn¡¯t much to leave out of the story. Inquisitor Varus had done most of the fighting and damage in the first place, so I mainly just talked about him and what we found down there. And I had a feeling lying would be a bad idea. That knight seemed to be able to detect lies.


    By the end of my tale, the Inquisitor leaned against the wall, rubbing at his mask. ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯ll admit, I don¡¯t much about these- theshe Fallen or ritual magic¡­ shtill, Varush shaid there¡¯d be a third?¡±


    ¡±Chek. I did some math- the third one would either be out in the middle of the bay or off in the Outskirts. Neither of which makes much sense.¡± I rifled through my bag, pulling out my deck. I quickly pulled up a map to show him what I was talking about.


    ¡±Shupercarrier Phalanx?¡± The Inquisitor mumbled as he stared at the map.


    ¡±What?¡± Why was he- wait¡­ it lined up. Were those crazy bastards planning on having their third ritual circle on Sentinel¡¯s ship? That- that¡¯s insane! No way they could get on there, let alone take it over¡­ right?


    ¡±Good work, Shquire¡­ We¡®ll need to call in some favorsh to go check out Shentinel¡¯s ship. How much time do you still need? No matter. You have three days to wrap up whatever it ish you''re doing. It¡¯sh all handsh on deck if I can get us aboard the ship.¡± The Inquisitor pushed off the wall, heading back to the other Crusaders. ¡°I¡¯ll tell the Commander.¡±


    ¡±Any word on Inquisitor Varus?¡± I asked as I stood up.


    The Inquisitor paused momentarily before nodding. ¡°He¡¯s recovering. Already awake at Medtech''s hospital¡­ leave the written report to him. He¡¯ll need shomething to do now that he¡¯sh injured.¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± The Inquisitor entered the office once more. I took it for a dismissal and headed back for the elevator before clicking back down to the bottom floor. I flicked on Fear the Reaper once more. I had to uphold the dignity of the Crusade, right?


    I stepped out, tracking even more blood than the first time onto the freshly cleaned floor of the building¡¯s foyer. A janitor with a mop looked up just as he was about to leave, sighing deeply as I re-walked over where he just cleaned. He started moving my way once more. Unlike the others, his Cues didn¡¯t reveal any fear. Just annoyance.


    ¡±The guys up there are way worse than me. Might as well get it in one sweep.¡± I nodded my head to the elevator.


    The janitor slowly nodded back and then went off to do something else, leaving a trail of bloody footprints as I left the building. Next stop? My apartment.


    A yawn ripped apart my jaw as I returned home. I immediately stripped and took a shower, washing the day¡¯s blood off of me.


    My clothes took some effort to get fully cleaned after that, but my poncho and trench coat thankfully caught most of it. They were much easier to clean off. Unfortunately, my Crusade ball cap wasn¡¯t as easy to clean. It was now permanently marked with blood. At least, unless I wanted to take it to the Crusade¡¯s cleaner. That granny could probably get it out.


    I stumbled over to my bed, finally allowing the interface to pop up into my vision.


    ¡¸Melee Weapons - 5>6¡¹


    ¡¸Intimidation - 4>5¡¹


    ¡¸Cleaning - 4>5¡¹


    Nothing too crazy, but levels were levels. With that taken care of, I moved on to the last thing on my agenda before I could go to bed and heal.


    I pulled out my Crusade phone and sent a message to that unknown number. There was a high chance they were the shoemaker. ¡®Yes, my wage. I want it.¡¯


    A couple minutes later, they replied. ¡®Hmm¡­ I¡¯ll split it with you. Half.¡¯


    ¡¯Half? Are you insane? I keep getting thrown to Death¡¯s door by this damn job, and I can¡¯t even leave now.¡¯


    ¡¯ Three-quarters to you. Lowest I¡¯ll go. Otherwise, I could slip a report into the right person¡¯s hands and just make a new shoe to get my monthly ¡®bonus¡¯.¡¯ The person replied. ''I''ll offer other benefits, though. No need to worry about exposure.''


    ¡¯Fine. How much is three-quarters anyway?¡¯ I didn¡¯t actually know how much the Crusade paid their Squires. I¡¯d never asked, and no one had ever told me.


    ¡¯You¡¯re getting paid four thousand a month. Three thousand with my cut to ensure it all goes smoothly and you remain undetected¡­ although the pay raises with each piece of armor accumulated. Try for a promotion, yeah? Both of us will make more.¡¯ The shoemaker said as if getting a promotion was easy.


    I took a sharp breath. This bastard had made at least twelve thousand Rayn off my labor- Rayn I¡¯d never see¡­ just thinking about it spiked my system with rage. I barely managed to calm myself down.


    At least I¡¯d be getting three thousand from now on¡­ and it seemed as though this guy would try and keep my identity safe? He was making money off me after all, so he had the incentive. It was protection against internal scrutiny, at least.


    ¡®Fast-track me for promotion then. We both profit.¡¯ I sent back.


    There was a few minutes'' delay before they replied. ¡®Not that simple. But sure, I¡¯ll see what I can do. Do something major and it¡¯ll be even easier.¡¯


    What counted as major? I do ¡®major¡¯ things all the time for the Crusade- or at least, that¡¯s how it felt to me¡­ still, three thousand Rayn a month would be nice. It was enough to take care of all of my monthly expenses. All my gig money could be saved up now for other projects without having to worry about rent.


    I tossed the phone to the side, lying down as I tiredly wrapped my arm over my face. My hair was still wet, but I was just so tired. My eyes closed of their own will as I faded into sleep.

 Chapter 216

    I awoke early the next morning, feeling completely refreshed compared to yesterday. I checked my legs- perfectly healed. Quick Healing truly was a cheat trait. I can¡¯t even imagine how fucked up I¡¯d be if I didn¡¯t have it. Insight too, for that matter. Both of them were indispensable. Fox¡¯s Grace was just¡­ nice. Had a bunch of auxiliary effects.


    Anyway- today¡¯s schedule! The Constellation Night Market was the major event for today. I was really looking forward to it. There were a bunch of things I wanted to buy, including a lot of chemicals to make more effective Molotovs. They¡¯d been indispensable so far, so why not make even more powerful variants? And they were my only AOE attack. At least, for now.


    I was seriously excited as I killed time listening to the screamstreams talk about the various problems around Aythryn City. Most of it boiled down to gang activity and Blue Crusade crackdowns though. Oh, and there was a healthy dose of fear-mongering as per usual. Classic city news. One a side note, the mayoral elections were coming up, apparently.


    And then it was time. I grabbed my stuff, ensured I had the Night Market card, and then set off for Portside. This time, the market was right at the water¡¯s edge. It was supposed to be just inside of a shipyard. This would officially be the closest I¡¯d ever been to the ocean.


    I drove my bike down, breezing through morning traffic without too many issues. With the eyes of the Crusade bright and ready to crack down on any trouble, the commute was relatively nice and easy.


    I pulled up to the gates of the shipyard. The guard on duty gave me one look before nodding to a parking lot off to the side. ¡°Freight only. There¡¯s a- uh, pedestrian entrance over there.¡±


    ¡±Chek.¡± I turned around, heading for the parking lot. As I pulled in and found a spot, I couldn¡¯t help but notice how many nice vehicles there were out here. Of course, there were a fair amount of beat-up pieces of shit, but some of the nicer ones could sell for a million easily. If it weren¡¯t for the PMCs walking around and keeping security, they would¡¯ve surely been hit by carjackers considering the area.


    Once I parked and made my way onward, I followed a subtle array of spray-painted stars leading the way. I passed through the shipyard, keeping out of the way of workers and the massive cranes that hefted shipping containers here and there.


    Eventually, I followed the stars all the way to a ship in the port. It was a rusty hunk of metal called the SS Star Setter. I checked the address a few times before noticing a group of Constellation PMCs standing guard at a ramp onto the ship. Looks like this one was shipbound. Looks like I was actually going onto the ocean this time, eh?


    I ran through the security just the same as last time, handing over my card. ¡°I¡¯m here for the Night Market.¡±


    The guard handed me a different card after verifying my first one. It had the same image of a night sky on it, though this one¡¯s stars were a bit different. ¡°Don¡¯t lose this. We don¡¯t offer seconds, and it''s your pass to the next market. Just scan it with your phone.¡±


    Same exact words as the last time. Are these guys even human? Or robots? I was almost tempted to brush up against them and try it out. Then again, they were heavily armed, and there was no telling how they might react. Maybe not.


    ¡±Thank you!¡± I smiled at the guard. He didn¡¯t react to my beautiful smile in the slightest, just stepping out of my way. Well-trained, I guess. Now that I think about it, there were very, very few people who could stay stone-faced when I turned on my full charm. Wow, that sounded super prideful.


    I shoved those thoughts to the back of my mind and made my way into the cargo ship. Its rocking took me a couple steps to get used to as I headed for the market.


    As soon as I slipped in, I was taken aback by the style of this particular get-together. Unlike in the past, the cargo ship¡¯s hold was extremely tight. Merchants set up shop wherever they wanted, narrowing passageways until only two people could get through at a time. Even the spacious cargo hold turned into a maze of alleys and tight passageways.


    And that wasn¡¯t all. The Night Market had set up vast temporary buildings out of scaffolding and cargo containers, giving several floors to trade off of. I stumbled around the place for a while until I finally got the hang of where everything was located with the assistance of a couple merchants.


    The explosives and volatile goods section, my first target, was located in a separate cargo hold altogether. It was a good idea in theory, but not so great practically. If even one thing blew in the separate cargo hold, there were enough materials to cause the whole port to go off in the subsequent chain reaction. Especially considering how packed together the merchants were.


    Still, that didn¡¯t stop me from making my way through the explosive hold. I brushed up against every explosive device I could find, stealing blueprints for everything from grenades and mines to even hyper-advanced AA rockets with built-in targeting arrays. As I went through, I also made sure to pick up a variety of chemicals and materials, quickly filling up my backpack with explosives.


    My AOE capabilities were sorely lacking, and the Night Market held the perfect chance to fix that. By the time I got out of the explosive hold, I was twenty thousand Rayn lighter and weighed down under a heavy load of chemicals. If I tripped and fell¡­ well, let¡¯s just say I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about my stinging wallet anymore.


    I was nearly overloaded with merchandise already, so I left the Night Market to stash some of the heavier stuff on my bike before returning. The PMCs patrolling the parking lot gave me a great sense of security that it''d remain safe. Especially considering there were far nicer vehicles to break into.


    And then I was going around shopping for stuff I¡¯d need or things I thought looked cool. I, of course, finally bought an Ascender. Goodbye manually climbing ropes. Hello, sweet mechanical assistance. And it only set me back a hundred Rayn for the super fast variant! I shoulda gotten one way sooner.


    I, of course, copied its blueprint. I also snatched the blueprints of dozens of other neat pieces of tech scattered about. Eidetic Schematic and Technical Expertise were truly my dream combo.


    I even managed to get a pretty good targeting software from one of the merchants for just five thousand Rayn. It boasted the ability to target, recognize, and analyze the best spots to shoot for maximum damage. I had no doubt it was only half as good as he showed it to be, considering the cheap price, but anything was better than my current setup. I also managed to snag a basic anti-air targeting software from the guy for half as much as a bundle deal. My turrets were about to get a serious upgrade.


    Of course, a Bughound and Scrambler were among my purchases as well. I¡¯d been wanting both for a long time now, and they would both prove to be valuable purchases at some point. Especially the Scrambler. I wouldn''t have to wait for others now.


    I also loaded up on medical supplies. I''d been meaning to buy more of them, especially considering how fast I was blowing through them. I wanted to buy a couple stims as well, but I figured I was better off waiting till I did some more research. No telling what side effects some of this stuff had.


    I left the Constellation Night Market happy with my purchases. And then, as I was driving home in the rain, I was hit with the stinging realization that I''d spent nearly a third of my money on one trip. It was a tough pill to swallow. At least I hadn¡¯t wasted it on just anything, though. I¡¯d bought a lot of stuff that would further boost my capabilities and hopefully allow me to make even more money.


    I dropped all the stuff off back at my speakeasy, pausing just long enough to sort everything out before leaving. I was originally planning on working on it all today and getting everything done, but, like, this was my first time having a vacation in who knows how long.


    Seriously, I¡¯d been moving constantly since I got the interface, and my mind hadn¡¯t left its high-strung state. It couldn''t be healthy in the slightest. It was really about time to relax.


    I went back to my apartment, sitting back on my bed as I went through a list of things I could do. The holo-arena? Not exactly relaxing. Or maybe head to that clinic to volunteer? No! No skill grinds! You¡¯re supposed to be relaxing, Shiro!


    A bar then? Mercs go to bars all the time¡­ right, I was too young. In a couple years when I turn eighteen, it¡¯d be no problem. I could probably get by without an ID if I really wanted to. They usually don¡¯t check them at Merc Dives. I also don¡¯t want to start drinking, though. That was a money sink if I''d ever seen one.


    How about one of the eidolons'' shrines? Fox¡¯s had a good ambiance. Did that count as social networking with my bosses, though? And could I truly allow myself to fully relax in an eidolon¡¯s shrine?


    I could go hang out with the Jade Fangs. Been a while since I saw anyone other than Shinobu¡­ but then I¡¯d be hanging out with a gang and likewise wouldn¡¯t be able to relax. That''s out, unfortunately. At least for now.


    What do people do for fun in Aythryn City anyway? Other than strip clubs, bars, and drugs? I checked my phone. The Slashers didn¡¯t have a game today, so that¡¯s out. Amusement parks, maybe? Waiting in lines though¡­


    Oh! A zoo! What a solid idea! I skimmed through my map, zoning in on the various holo-zoos scattered around. Eventually, I focused on two that seemed like the best bets.


    Aythryn City Zoo was the first, featuring not just holo displays but also a few live animal exhibits. The second was Wild Wasteland, a zoo dedicated to the creepy and wacky creatures around the world. They had everything from live Pervider feeding to petting mutant bears from Cwalu.


    Decisions, decisions¡­ I checked the time. It wasn''t even close to night yet. Why not just go with both?


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    A yawn split my jaw as I blinked awake. Why-?


    I forced myself upright, checking my phone. Past midnight. I¡¯d had a busy day running around the city, and I could feel the exhaustion weighing on me. Why¡¯d I wake up then? This was the first time I¡¯d woken up from sleep since I got Quick Healing, right? How peculiar¡­ S§×ar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I stretched, popping my back as I summoned the canteen and gulped down some water to wash out my throat. I looked around, my eyes catching on the cityscape just beyond my window as I rubbed at my neck. Still raining.


    I wrapped the blanket back around myself, shuffling back into my covers-


    Insight tingled-


    My sleepiness immediately vanished as my hand shot for my under-pillow pistol. Time seemed to slow as my processing speed accelerated thanks to Dexterity. Was someone in my apartment? No- that wasn¡¯t quite right. What¡¯s going on?


    I staggered up, rapidly throwing all my gear and clothes on. I moved swiftly, packing up anything that might be even remotely important. While I ran through that, I multitasked and pulled several camera feeds into my HUD.


    I¡¯d long set up hidden cameras and listening devices all over the apartment building, all linked to my HUD. It was just a precautionary measure, one I¡¯d hoped I¡¯d never need. Now I was thankful for my foresight.


    A camera from the staircase revealed a squad of heavily equipped people moving around. One of them waved a wand, casting some kind of magic. I felt another tingle of Insight hit me. That''s what it was. That''s what woke me up.


    The mics weren¡¯t picking up anything. Maybe some kind of silence spell? They were moving in heavy tactical gear, so it would¡¯ve made at least a little sound otherwise.


    Were they here for me? Or was it just a coincidence? Hmm¡­ I¡¯m not risking it. I ensured everything was good to go in case I never came back, rapidly burning anything that might be even remotely revealing as I watched the cams. Clothes, documents, and even the toys I¡¯d made for Neal all ended up catching fire.


    It was a bit sad to see some stuff go. Like my clothes from the school, which had such... awful memories tied to them. I''d long moved anything of value to the speakeasy though, so most of it was stuff I was okay with losing.


    They were on the second flight of stairs now. It was only a matter of time till they got up here. Who even were these people? I carefully checked for any markers or anything that might signal their affiliation. They were a black-ops group, though. Having a patch with their affiliation would be extremely stupid.


    While smoke started to fill the air from my burning belongings, I peeked out of the window to catch the street view. Six black vans lay scattered about. I marked them mentally as my eyes rapidly darted around to catch anything else suspicious.


    I roughly cataloged all my information. There were at least four squads of six if not more. My window didn¡¯t have the greatest of vantage points so it might be even more groups. Three of them were in the building. One group held the bottom floor while the others were coming up here. The last stayed outside holding an external perimeter.


    I shifted from foot to foot, deciding to backtrack to my front door. I pulled out a bouquet of grenades, one I¡¯d just bought earlier today. Tragic that I¡¯d be using them almost immediately. I set up a quick trap using some string. If the door opened, they¡¯d blow. I pulled two grenades from the bouquet and stuffed them into my pockets just in case.


    I also took the time to change the canteen¡¯s production. It was a small adjustment, but one that might help me later on in case I can¡¯t get away.


    With that taken care of, I moved back to my window and cracked it, carefully opening it. Never thought I¡¯d actually have to use this escape route, but damn am I glad I planned ahead. The faux-balcony was just outside.


    I didn¡¯t immediately leave though. There was still a chance this strike wasn''t for me. If I jumped out the window and they were here for someone else, I¡¯d just be making a target of myself.


    I activated all my Perks that would be even remotely helpful and waited at the window. The squad just hit the top landing, entering the range of my hidden mics. They paused, and the leader motioned for a halt as he whispered. ¡°Remember, Mother wants her daughter alive. Incapacitate.¡±


    A stone dropped in my stomach. It was the Circle. Definitely talking about me. Why did she want me though- unless¡­ did she want to corrupt me just like the dryads? Turn me against the eidolons? Was that even possible?


    Too little time to think about this. The squads started moving again. Now or never, Shiro.

 Chapter 217

    Two things happened in a very short period. First, I heard my door lock rattle near silently. A flush of Insight hit me as yet another spell was cast. The lock on my door went silent, though it still moved as I watched it.


    And secondly, I pulled the pins of my two grenades and boldly threw them out the window. I counted the seconds, hoping my locks could hold up for just a few moments longer. I still had the element of surprise, but it¡¯d be over as soon as the door opened-


    Two great fireballs erupted on the street, flashing brightly as they illuminated the entire place. My two grenades had perfectly landed inside of the vans in the optimal spot to cause the most damage, turning their vehicles into giant bombs. Windows all along the street shattered as two shockwaves burst out.


    As soon as the flashes of fire erupted, I crawled out the window and onto the faux balcony. Rain splattered against me, pressing down on my body. I fixed my grip so I wouldn''t slip on the wet ledge.


    With the raging fires acting as distractions and casting shadows for me to hide in, I stealthily edged my way around the ledge, carefully going out and around the corner. Honestly, the rain was nice. It acted as yet another screen to cover my actions from the casual observer.


    I turned the corner into the alleyway of the building-


    A plume of fire erupted out my window as every single grenade went off. The building shook, nearly knocking me off the ledge. I barely managed to hold on, working my way around the building to the fire escape. I hopped over the metal rail, taking the stairs two at a time as I ran up to the roof of the apartment building.


    I hesitated briefly on the last flight, pausing as I peeked over the edge. They were well hidden behind the clothes racks and machinery cluttered up here, but not hidden enough. Yet another squad was set up, rifles raised and ready at the roof¡¯s door. Five squads then. Maybe more. Mother was quite serious about taking me hostage, it seemed. Even a couple borgs.


    Seriously though, five squads? For little old me? Quite the honor... I would say if it''d been anyone else getting hunted down like a dog. I''d rather not have such an honor.


    I shifted directions, silently leaping from the fire escape onto an air conditioning unit on the building across the short alley. The bolts creaked and groaned quietly as they bore my weight. The scent of rotten water and rusted metal hit me like a hammer.


    I lifted myself onto the air conditioning unit. Springing off of it, my hands barely wrapped around the lip of the roof. In a feat of agility that I wouldn¡¯t have even hoped to pull off months ago, I flung myself up and over the roof, casually landing on my feet.


    High ground successfully acquired. And this building was a floor higher than the other. I kept low and into the shadows as I looked around the street to better understand the situation.


    Five more vans had pulled up at some point, dropping off even more enemies to hunt me down. Even more borgs. If at first they''d stayed light to keep subtle, now they no longer cared. Fighting wasn¡¯t an option. There were simply too many, and a ton of people would also die in the crossfire. My bike¡­ also wasn¡¯t an option. They had the whole street sealed off. Getting it out would be a pipe dream.


    How did they even find me in the first place? It wasn¡¯t through the Crusade. They didn¡¯t have my home address. Someone could¡¯ve followed me home, I guess, but I think I would¡¯ve noticed or gotten some warning from Insight.


    It wasn''t through a search of tenets either. My name wasn¡¯t even on the contract with the landlord. If anything, my renting the apartment was off the books. Or, at least, as off the books as could be. Illegal? Probably. But who really cared? It was win-win, or at least had been.


    Some kind of tracker then? But I¡¯d swept everything with the Bughound when I came home from the Night Market just to test it. Nothing but my own tech. Something wasn¡¯t adding up.


    I shifted my gaze back streetside as I pulled my hat lower to block the rain. Twenty more had appeared on the streets, heading for my apartment-


    No, they walked past it. Instead, they started surrounding the current building I was on. I glanced up, looking down across the roof. The squad up there had even subtly shifted directions, moving in towards me. How¡¯d they know?


    I couldn¡¯t stay here. I needed to get out. I pulled up the map of the city in the back of my mind as I made my way to the backside of the building. Without hesitation, I threw myself off the roof. The several-story drop to the next roof over was taken care of by my Drop Chutes.


    Before my handy tech could even power back down, I was moving. I sprinted across the roof before throwing myself down into the damp alley below. I moved, carefully dodging mounds of wet trash.


    I made my way down the alleys, flowing through connecting streets as I burst out onto a relatively popular street full of bars. I immediately slowed down to match the tempo of the average drunk stumbling down the street, merging into the crowd naturally.


    I also dropped my rifle. It was too big and would only make me stand out more. Down to just my pistols and such.


    My hand scratched at my neck as I walked. At the¡­ mosquito¡­ bite¡­ it should¡¯ve healed by now. No reason Quick Healing shouldn¡¯t have taken care of it. Unless¡­


    I worked my way into one of the bars, becoming just another patron. I slunk back into the bathroom. It was a messy place reeking of drugs and covered in graffiti, but I needed the mirror. I turned my head, barely managing to spot the bug bite on my neck.


    It looked . Absolutely normal. If I didn¡¯t have Quick Healing, I might not have noticed anything was wrong in the first place. Aetherial Perception flicked on, revealing the source of my current problem.


    Dark green, nearly black ooze sat inside the bug bite. The corruptive aura emitting from it left no doubt in my mind where it came from. Mother. A sigh left me. I should''ve been paying more attention.


    I raised my hands, squeezing at the mark to try and force it out. Nothing but blood squirted out even as I practically tore the skin off. It was stuck there. Mundane methods probably wouldn''t be able to take care of it.


    ¡°Hey, you lot of voyeurs, any clues on how to get rid of this?¡± I raised a hand to my neck as I stared in the mirror.


    ¡¸Request - Visit Fox''s Shrine - Received


    Fox would like you to visit Her shrine. Assistance outside of shrines is limited thanks to the Scion Accords.


    Reward: Cleared of Trackers¡¹


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Fox¡¯s Shrine, eh? That would be¡­ rough. I was currently on the north side of Little Yukoto. Fox¡¯s Shrine was on the complete other side of the district, close to the Corporate Quarter. Without a ride? Hours to get over there, and I¡¯d have to cut through the Ryu Container Yard.


    Hmm¡­ what to do, what to do¡­ backup? Could I call for backup? The Jade Fangs would probably shelter me if I asked, though I¡¯d have to owe them even more¡­ And there was a chance it could blow up on me even worse... The Crusade-


    A commotion from outside the bar drew my attention. I flicked my hood down, exposing my face entirely as a plan slowly formed. They¡¯d be looking for some covered-up, so hiding in plain sight was my best bet. And Master of Disguise should take care of most of my problems.


    I left the bathroom, finding several heavily armed troops in full black tactical gear. Rifles, ballistic armor, grenades, flashes- they were fully set up and ready for a fight. Two of them held the door, inspecting everyone as they went by, while another three moved in between the tables checking faces.


    Out the window, a similar scene played out. The massive group, practically a small army, was dispersed amongst the crowd as they looked for me. Several shops all around were in similar states, with squads heading through them.


    ¡±Oi! What are you doin¡¯ in me shop!¡± The bartender called out as he finally got annoyed with the group.


    One of the squad looked up, a massive borg with subdermal armor fully exposed. His eyes flashed. A moment later, a tip jar set up on the bar overloaded with Rayn. At least two thousand if not more.


    ¡°Have a good time.¡± The bartender did a complete one-eighty as he went back to serving patrons.


    I acted normal, Cues assisting as I staggered around like an average, annoyed drunk. My small stature slightly gave it away, but that didn¡¯t matter too much as I staggered for the door. There were plenty of shorter people in the world.


    ¡°Stop!¡± One of the guards stopped me with a heavy paw on my shoulder as I ¡®fell¡¯ into him. Hidden Hands and Swipe flashed momentarily as I stood back up like nothing happened.


    The guard, completely unaware, looked down at a picture before comparing it to my face. It was a picture of me, though not a good one. And not recent in the slightest. My feature scrubber kept me safe from most cameras these days.


    He looked back and forth a couple of times before shaking his head. His eyes glimmered with a trace of familiarity, and yet confusion of equal parts. He stared a moment longer before letting me by. ¡°Not her.¡±


    Master of Disguise for the win! Never thought it''d pay off like this, but oh man, am I glad I picked it.


    I wasted no time staggering out into the crowded streets, twirling a flashbang pin around my finger. The trigger was still compressed when I left the guy, but if he shifted just a little bit? I twirled the pin one more time before launching it off into an alley-


    A bright flash erupted behind me, illuminating the space as several screams erupted. I joined the crowd naturally as people screamed and shouted. They pushed and shoved to flee the area. The scattered squads tried to calm everyone down, recognizing the flashbang for what it was- a distraction. Nothing like pack mentality to bulldoze over dozens of heavily armed combatants, though.


    Their efforts proved for naught as everyone surged over their much smaller numbers. I followed the crowd, bumping into several of the troops. Hidden Hands kept my actions stealthy while Swipe helped me get it done quickly. As I left, I went with three more grenades and eight more flashes to my name.


    I ducked down several more side streets, losing my hunters to the best of my abilities. I used my superior agility once more to clamber up the side of a building. I found purchase on window sills, climbing up them as I tried not to disturb the residents.


    I nearly kicked a TV set up in a window, barely managing to shift my ascent to the side as I caught myself. I met the eyes of a young kid as he played with an action figure. He waved the figure¡¯s arm at me. I waved back, shifting the motion into a shh. The kid nodded before going back to playing like he never saw me.


    There were no other accidents as I pulled myself up and onto a roof. I looked around, plotting several escape routes as I added my mental map of the city to better plan. From my vantage point, my stalkers were in full view as they closed in on me once more. They were still a few alleys away; I had a few minutes before they¡¯d reach me.


    In the distance, Crusade lights flashed brightly as flyers seemed to converge towards the HQ. Hope nothing too crazy was going down with the Crusade. Though, if something was, it''d be just my luck.


    I took a deep breath, throwing together a hasty plan. My ultimate goal was to reach the other side of the district where Fox¡¯s Shrine sat. It would be hard with what felt like the full might of a PMC company after me, but not impossible. Especially if I called in some help.


    Rifling through my pockets, I pulled out my Crusade phone and dialed one of my only contacts. It rang a few times before the Inquisitor''s tired voice answered. ¡°What-¡°


    ¡°They¡¯re after me.¡± I cut him off. My voice¡­ didn''t even shake in the slightest. Crazy how much I¡¯ve changed in the past several months. This sort of thing would¡¯ve had a much harsher effect on my mentality back then, but now I just felt cool and calm. ¡°The Circle. Several squads.¡±


    ¡°Where?¡± The grogginess immediately vanished as the Inquisitor¡¯s voice went ice cold.


    My phone started to warm up as the call progressed. ¡±North of Ryu Container Yard. I set a flash off in a crowd. I can¡¯t stick around here, though.¡±


    ¡°Right. Shtay moving.¡± The sound of ruffling papers came across the line. Was he still in the office? ¡°I¡¯ll alert the Commander. We¡¯ll get reinforcementsh as shoon as we can. Numbers?¡±


    I shifted my phone in my grip, adjusting it as I felt my hand start to get hot. ¡°At least sixty heavily armed troops. Sentinel gear, and at least a dozen borg murdermachines. You can¡¯t miss them. They¡¯ve got-¡°


    My phone wasn¡¯t just getting warm, it was burning. Scorching hot. A streak of Insight hit me, causing me to throw my phone off to the side mid-sentence. Before the device could even hit the ground, it exploded into a spray of shrapnel.


    There was only one cause for such a thing to happen; they had a Netrunner too. Things just got so much more complicated.


    S§×ar?h the nov§×lF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

 Chapter 218

    Netrunners. I¡¯d been lucky these last couple months to only run into them when they weren¡¯t prepared. Taking one by surprise and dealing with one that was active and ready were two completely different situations. Especially since I didn¡¯t have a Netrunner of my own to defend me.


    Not all was lost though. I¡¯d intentionally prepared my gear to one day run up against a Netrunner. Almost everything was offline and hardwired, leaving little to no places for one of them to get in outside of my phones and deck.


    My burner phone was gone now, and my deck was shut off entirely. That just left my main phone, but it was certified by the Jade Fangs to be nigh impossible to get into. At least, in a short time. As long as I didn¡¯t leave a way in, such as calling someone or getting on the Net, it¡¯d be safe.


    Still, I fully shut down most of my devices anyway. Netrunners needed just the slightest gap to cause massive damage. I left only the hard-linked stuff, which meant shutting down my wrist pad. My sensors were completely offline now. I¡¯d just have to trust that my gear was good enough to hold up.


    I glanced around, trying to find how the runner spotted me. The building was high enough that the buildings around wouldn¡¯t be able to spot me with their cameras. At least, not more than a couple of pixels.


    And I had a feature scrubber. My face was entirely obscured. It was safe to say my clothes gave me away. That was the most likely scenario, at least. There wouldn''t be a repeat of walking right by the Circle¡¯s squads-


    Speaking of, I looked over the side, spotting the squads. They were at the entrance to the building. My idle time was gone. Still, that didn¡¯t mean I had to keep running with my tail between my legs. I moved to the door leading onto the roof, setting up another trap with grenades and some micro wire.


    I wasn¡¯t sure how effective the last one had been in my apartment, but anything was better than nothing. If I could slowly whittle down their numbers, I¡¯d be able to get away much easier. Then again, there were at least sixty. My odds weren¡¯t high.


    With that all set, my mind churned as I rapidly planned my next move. I need transportation. With a Netrunner on watch, I was hesitant about going and getting just anything though. There were all sorts of things they could do to shut one down. And being in a vehicle would make me much easier to track. There were alternatives though.


    As I flung myself off the building towards the next one over, I completely bypassed the surrounding squads. They were completely clueless for several long seconds before their attention shifted away from the building I stood on. It seemed their tracking magic was in pulses, not constant like I¡¯d feared. It gave me a bit of wiggle room.


    I didn¡¯t waste any time, moving streetside this time instead of toward the alley to get down like normal. I waited for an opportune moment and then jumped for a passing box truck. The Drop Chutes made my landing as light as a feather, though I nearly rolled off the slick roof. I managed to hold myself in place by slamming a knife through the top of the truck to use as a handhold.


    I laid down, taking shelter on it as the truck drove by. Alternative transportation plan A acquired. And this would be much faster than moving on foot. The only issue was that I couldn¡¯t control the direction the truck moved in, though thankfully the driver was headed further into the city.


    I kept my eyes peeled, watching my surroundings intensely. The storm had picked up significantly, driving most of the people off the streets. Only a couple stragglers remained, rushing from one place to another without a care in the world. Then there were the ever-idle homeless, watching everything with hollow eyes from just inside of alleys.


    More interestingly, the streets were bare of Crusaders. I was hoping to spot a couple of Squires scattered around that I could ask for help, but they were completely gone. Did the Inquisitor give up on me?


    No- I had a feeling something else was going on. The streets were  empty. Like someone intentionally moved everyone away and manipulated the situation so the hunter squads behind could capture me without interference. Just how far did She Who Grow¡¯s reach go?


    I easily moved a couple blocks, moving ever closer to the Ryu Container Yard. Once I got there, I was confident I¡¯d be able to worm my way from one side to the other mostly unopposed. The people there were¡­ quite frankly insane. In other words, fearless. No telling what would happen if they spotted a bunch of corpo-looking strike squads move into the area.


    The truck underneath me slowed down. I peered over the edge of the box section of the truck to check the situation. Smoke poured up from the engine block, hissing sharply in the cold rain. My free ride was over.


    I looked back, catching sight of several black vans making their way through traffic. Netrunner sabotage? Or just unlucky? I was hoping I¡¯d get more space, but¡­ fine then, onto escape plan B.


    I leaped from the truck, grabbing onto a nearby streetlamp. Its surface was extremely slick, making it difficult to climb up. Difficult, but not impossible. I gained height on the pole, then jumped off of it onto a nearby balcony.


    I crouched down, popping open the lock in mere seconds. Lockpicking had always been easy. Now that I could see the tumblers with Technical Expertise? Mere child¡¯s play.


    I slipped into the room- some kind of private booth for what looked to be a club. A bunch of guys sat collapsed in the booth surrounded by far too many bottles. One of them was singing without a care in the world while the others cheered him on. They were busy in a world of their own as I walked out of the booth and out into a hall. From there, I found the closest staircase and made for the roof. It was beginning to become a repeat tactic.


    I wasted no time moving for the edge-


    Insight tingled, making me jerk and drop to the ground back right as shots arched over the edge of the roof. The bullets whizzed by, slamming into a nearby building. They didn¡¯t sound like normal bullets though. I focused on the impact sites, scanning them with my eyes.


    Gel rounds? They were a relatively new type of weapon on the street, one which I hadn¡¯t had time to mess with. They were new enough that they were invented in my lifetime, back when I was super young. Nowhere near as prevalent as good ole fashioned FMJs, though were supposedly non-lethal. Still, getting hit by them usually resulted in incapacitation. Not something I wanted to deal with.


    I tossed a Scouter onto the ledge of the building to get a better view of the surroundings, momentarily flicking it on before shutting off the connection to avoid the Netrunner. In a brief flash, I spotted several squads from the Circle encircling the building, set up and ready for me to get off from the roof. Just as I feared, they adapted their strategy.


    What to do¡­ what to do¡­ A sigh left my mouth as I pulled a couple flash bangs and tossed them up into the sky. A moment later, they erupted in a blinding glare. I booked it for the staircase, using Burst Step to speed up my movements. Just as I ducked in, the surrounding area was lit up by a dozen more rounds.


    Okay, okay. Take a deep breath. I scanned through my mental map, tracking my current location. New plan. This place had a basement. It didn¡¯t exactly connect up to anywhere, but with a bit of explosives? I could fix that.


    I raced down the stairs with silent footsteps, dropping down two of the seven flights of stairs. Just as I was about to go down more, the door below slammed open. The sounds of boots scraping the ground and tactical gear brushing up against itself rang in my ears. I peeked over the edge of the staircase- a squad had entered and was making their way up.


    I waited for a moment, checking to see if there were any other people coming in. Nothing. Just the five-stack. Should I¡­ take them? They were directly separating my escape¡­ could I even take on a five-stack of armed and ready troops?


    Don¡¯t be hasty, Shiro. Think about this for a moment before committing. I had armor, so I could probably tank a few shots if need be. We were on a staircase, which favored me. It was tight, which would make it so I only had to fight one at a time.


    I also had the drop on them. At least, as long as I moved in the next half a minute. I checked my gear, then looked down at the squad. None of them seemed like Magi or Adepts, at least. That was a massive boost in my confidence. Only one guy that looked somewhat heavily chromed, and he was at the front.


    The sounds of their boots and heavy breaths as they climbed drew me from my thoughts. It was now or never. With a quick decision, I prepared myself to move.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    Reggy climbed the stairs, mindful of his surroundings as he followed along the rest of his squad. He was at the back, watching their flank carefully as they moved for the stairs. He kept his SMG up and at the ready for even the slightest signs of movement.


    His squad leader¡¯s called out into the comms, ¡°Overwatch, still have sight of the target?¡±


    ¡°Negative.¡± A woman¡¯s voice came across the line. It sounded slightly digitized. ¡°Encircling squads lost LOS. Still suspected to be on the roof. Mother¡¯s Magus is ten seconds off another pulse.¡±


    ¡±Roger.¡± The line went dead for a moment before the squad leader called out to the rest of the squad. ¡°Right, stay close. It¡¯s just one terrified girl running from us. There''s nowhere to escape.¡°


    Reggy heard something bounce off the top of the stairs. A moment later, the point man called out, ¡°Contact! Top of the-¡°


    An explosion staggered Reggy, making him tumble down the stairs. His head heavily slammed into the wall, causing everything to go dark for a moment. By the time his vision returned, the rest of his squad was already engaging the enemy. The point man and the squad leader were down, taking the full force of a grenade. Neither of them moved.


    The next two were firing at the top of the stairs, lighting up the shadows. Reggy staggered to his feet, joining them in suppressing fire a moment later. His head felt foggy, though he remembered to call out into the commlink. ¡°Overwatch, contact on-¡°


    Something popped over the ledge-


    A bright flash lit up the space, causing his aim to go off for a moment. The auto-darkening feature of his helmet kicked in a moment later, allowing him to see once more. Unfortunately, that moment was all their enemy needed to close the gap.


    A lethal shadow moved, taking cover behind the foremost member of the squad. It was small, easily hiding its entire body behind the man as it moved into close combat. Reggy shifted to get a better view just as the first man moved into a grapple, grabbing onto the shadow and forcing them to the floor.


    The grapple was easily successful. The man at the front had chrome arms, both of them double a normal person¡¯s lift weight. With that much strength, there was no chance of the shadow escaping. He slammed the shadow into the ground harshly.


    The second soldier whipped out his arm, deploying a shock baton. In the glow of the electricity, Reggy spotted the shadow for what it was; a girl, her facial features twisted in concentration. He tried to remember if he¡¯d seen her before, but his memory completely blanked.


    One thing was sure though, the wicked gleam in her eyes and the faint curl of her lips sent a chill down his spine. For someone pinned down, she looked confident. Too confident. Why wasn¡¯t the guy in front finishing the job? He was just standing there, in the way.


    Reggy couldn¡¯t get a clean shot, so he dropped his SMG back into its sling and likewise deployed his shock baton. Just one solid hit would completely incapacitate the girl.


    He surged up the stairs-


    ¡°Ah!¡± A knife flew perfectly, slamming into his helmet¡¯s visor. The visor protected him from lethal damage, catching the knife right before it could hit his eye. He instinctively blinked, feeling his eyelash brush against the sharp tip.


    The entire visor was ruined, covered in a spiderweb of cracks that covered his vision. In a mere moment, he tore off his helmet, allowing him to see once more. The scene he expected¡ªthe girl down and his squad victorious¡ªdidn¡¯t happen.


    The middleman between Reggy and the one pinning her down was dropped onto the staircase railing, a knife slammed into the tiny gap between his helmet and his body armor. His eyes behind his helmet were hollow, staring out into nothing as his neck shot sporadic spurts of arterial spray around the knife. S§×ar?h the N??eFire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    Rage erupted inside of Reggy as he once more made his move. How dare this- this wench kill his squad mates? The ones he¡¯d served alongside for months, working under the loving hand of Mother.


    Reggy moved to help the guy still grappling, carefully watching the girl¡¯s hands for signs of more daggers. Only- he had a hard time tracking her hands. He lost sight of them several times as he climbed the stairs.


    ¡°Gahhhhhh!¡± Just as Reggy finally reached her, the man in front let out an agonized shout. His chrome arm flipped the wrong direction, the metal compressing as the sound of dozens of servos seized all at once. Blood sprayed as the nerves of his arm were ripped out by the haywire chrome.


    Reggy slammed forward with his shock baton, intent on ending it all. It was on full blast as the electrode on the end sparked with electricity in the humid air-


    Reggy froze, feeling the sensation of a scythe at his throat. He instinctively dodged as a bolt of icy cold fear slammed his heart into rapid fire. His gaze shifted for the intangible reaper he felt. With a start- he broke free of the fear and returned to attacking their target.


    The girl, in the time he was distracted, had swiped his squad mate''s pistol. Before Reggy could even blink, he found the barrel pointed right at his face.

 Chapter 220

    Lightning struck above, causing a deep rumble that seemed to fill the city. The lightning illuminated the Ryu Container Yard just in front of the sky tram. It was just a few blocks now, close enough to sprint to without any issues.


    I sighed as I stood up and stretched out, hearing my spine pop in several places. I barely suppressed a yawn. I''d been woken up in the middle of the night, and after a desperate flight through the city, I was definitely feeling it.


    I glanced back out the window, catching sight of the Circle¡¯s hunters. I was actually putting up quite a bit of distance. Unlike the vans that got caught in traffic, the sky tram had no reason to stop as it moved across its rails.


    Leaning back, I rubbed at my eyes-


    The lights in the sky tram flickered briefly before going off entirely. Looks like this was my stop. I didn¡¯t hesitate, smashing the window of the tram and flinging myself out the window before the tram could even fully come to a halt.


    The Drop Chutes kicked on as I dropped onto a busy street. I adjusted my landing, aiming for a truck off to the side. I stuck the landing before jumping one more time onto the nearly empty sidewalks.


    It was only a matter of time till the Netrunner got in. I was planning to go a bit further than this, but I was going to smash the window and escape from the tram before the next stop anyway. I figured they¡¯d have a couple squads waiting at the next stop.


    I thought through the city as I moved. There were only two blocks left until I got to the outer perimeter of the Ryu Container Yard. These two blocks would make or break my escape from the Circle, so I needed to plan accordingly.


    I glanced over my shoulder, spotting the black vans of the Circle caught in traffic. Already though, squads were deploying from them, pouring out of the vans with rifles at the ready as they likewise made a mad dash after me.


    I ducked down an alley, ruining the clear sight lines that the squads previously had on me. It slowed down my southern sprint having to go down a side alley, but safety first.


    I didn¡¯t immediately continue down the alley, though. I rigged up a microwire just inside the alley¡¯s mouth, where the neon lights of the city created deep shadows. I tied the microwire to a grenade pin, creating yet another improvised explosive trap. I made another one just out of range of the first.


    It slowed me down, but if it could make the Circle hesitant to chase me, then it would be well worth the time. With the two traps set up, I continued my sprint on aching legs. Just as I cut down an alley heading south again, I heard two explosions in quick succession behind me partially hidden by thunder. A frown caught on my lips. They were closer than I thought.


    Running down the alley, I cut down two more before running into what looked like a gang meetup. This particular alley was quite a bit larger, mixed with what looked like a loading dock. There were a ton of crates and boxes scattered around, as well as rusty old forklifts.


    A group of people, heavily chromed though restricted to what looked like small arms, gathered around a burning barrel. Lots of cosmetic chrome, all of them rigged with green spikes instead of hair. Most of them were smoking what smelled like Torta.


    The flaming barrel hissed as steam flowed freely from the raging flame. The nearby rain sparkled with reflections of the barrel''s glow. ¡°Boss, what about that explosion?¡±


    ¡°You dunce, it was just thunder! All those drugs breaking your brain already?¡± The boss of the group laughed, revealing green serrated teeth. The nearby gangers joined him as they mocked the guy.


    ¡±Right, now back to what I was saying. A good opportunity had opened up!¡± I let the boss¡¯s voice fade to the back of my mind as I focused on other things.


    I slowed down, slipping into the shadows as I edged around the group. I kept low and behind cover to the best of my ability. The gang was focused on their leader though, so no one noticed me. There were a couple of glances in my direction, causing my entire body to freeze momentarily, but they were just glances.   S§×arch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    I edged around them before ducking down a different alleyway. The gang slowed me down substantially, but I had hope that they¡¯d get taken by surprise and get into a fight with my pursuers.


    I stopped my movements and clambered up a fire escape. There was a good chance they had squads set up on the other mouths of the alleys, circling me in. I¡¯d been lucky so far since I broke the initial encirclement of my apartment so easily, but surely they¡¯d recovered by now.


    As I climbed the fire escape, I heard shouts from the alley, as well as the exchanges of a firefight. Another chance to get ahead opened up. A grin spread across my lips as I raced south. I stayed atop the buildings the best I could, only jumping down as I crossed a street. One more block to go.


    All my diversionary tactics must have paid off because I had quite a large gap to cut through the next block. They were still behind me¡ªI could hear them occasionally popping shots at shadows¡ªbut they were far enough back that I caught some breathing room.


    And then I was there, staring at the outer perimeter of the Ryu Container Yard. This particular side was walled in with a massive stone wall. It was entirely covered in decades'' worth of bioluminescent graffiti, looking oddly pretty. Just past the high wall sat a bunch of warehouses, with dark windows.


    This side¡­ should still be private property, right? Not every part of the Ryu Container Yard had been transformed into cheap living. There were still a few parts here and there that were privately owned. The warehouses being one of them.


    I tried to think back to the few times I passed by. They should have good external security, but internal security was almost nonexistent, I think. Should be relatively safe for me to cross through.


    I climbed up the stone wall, using the gaps between the stone bricks to quickly work my way up to the top. Ice thundered across my body as all my instincts tingled that I was endangered.


    Without hesitation, I threw myself over the wall, entering the area just outside of the warehouses. Unlike most of the Ryu Container Yard though, the shipping containers out here looked relatively new.


    I hit the ground, stumbling slightly as I slipped into a patch of mud-


    I flung myself behind a crate as Insight tingled, feeling a burst of ice all over my body. My movements were slowed by the mud- no, not mud. A twisting bramble that¡¯d been trampled and concealed by the mud. The bramble lay all across the wall. They were ready for me to come over at any point.


    A flash of Aetherial Perception revealed it to be a spell. It looked like its original purpose was to entangle whoever walked through it, but my amulet made it just sit there. Still, that was enough to make me trip up.


    I managed to break out with Burst Step, feeling my muscles cry in misery. I could still move, but one more use of Burst Step would destroy my mobility entirely. I tumbled, falling behind a crate as gunshots filled the air. Most of them missed, but I felt several bursts of pain along my arm.


    I suppressed a cry of pain as I took cover and checked my injuries. They were still using gel rifles, but that gel packed a serious punch. My arm refused to move, as if every nerve and muscle in it had been overloaded by pain. It just hung limply, almost as if broken.


    ¡±Come on out! If you come willingly, we won¡¯t treat you badly, Holy Daughter!¡± A man¡¯s voice called out as the firing temporarily stopped.


    Holy Daughter? What the hell have these guys been smoking? Still¡­ this was a chance to buy time. ¡°Really?!¡±


    Thunder boomed as I struggled to get my mind working again. I was so tired¡ªlittle sleep combined with the chase left me almost entirely drained. No wonder I felt the pressure loosen earlier. They¡¯d moved ahead of me and set an ambush here. My path hadn¡¯t exactly been hidden¡­


    Really, it was smart. There was no way out for me. Climbing the wall would result in me getting shot repeatedly and knocked off before I could even get halfway up. They just had to watch three sides to encircle me.


    ¡±Of course! Mother just wants you safe and sound! It¡¯s time to come back! End this petty rebellion!¡± The man shouted with a tinge of zealotry in his voice.


    Plan, come on, surely I can whip up one more plan! I struggled, hoping to find a way out. My brain practically buzzed in pain as I forced every part of it to get to work on an escape route.


    The man called once more as I failed to reply, ¡°Mother is willing to forgive what you¡¯ve done to her servants!¡±


    I peeked out. They''d summoned several plant entities while I was waiting here. Large ones. Not quite as big as the tree one I fought with Inquisitor Varus, but still pretty damn intimidating. They weren''t pushing yet, as if hoping to talk this out.


    I barely suppressed a sigh as I closed my eyes. I thought for a moment before stripping off my poncho. Immediately, rain started soaking into my clothes, sending a chill down my spine. I didn¡¯t stop, though, carefully shifting the poncho¡¯s color to the third option I had yet to use¡ªbright, eye-catching pure white.


    I summoned my canteen, going for plan Z. Back in the apartment, I¡¯d changed the canteen to start producing the Hibisen fluid, or whatever it was called. The hazy stuff that made it hard to see what¡¯s inside its area. I dumped the canteen over my head, fully saturating myself in the liquid as my very presence started to fade.


    With all the preparation set, I looked to my goal: the warehouse. If I can just get in there, I could maybe have a chance at getting out of this one. Or it was where I wanted to make my final stand. The plant entities were too big to get in there. I thought through the city¡¯s map as I formulated my last Hail Mary plan. Unfortunately, there were no Underground entrances or basements I could abuse. No map based tricks I could pull.


    ¡°Okay! I¡¯m coming out!¡± I called as I grabbed the last of my grenades and flashbangs. All at once, I pulled the pins and tossed them towards where the voice came from.


    As soon as I heard the explosion, I tossed the bright, eye-catching poncho in the opposite direction from me. It fluttered out as I raced in the opposite direction.


    "On the left!" The sound of gunfire filled the air. I didn¡¯t have to turn around to know that my poor poncho had taken the brunt of the force.


    It was mere seconds for them to realize they were shooting a distraction, but that¡¯s all I needed. I ducked behind crates, using them to break the sight lines as I darted for the warehouse.


    Several flashes of Insight caught me, most of them warning me in enough time to dodge shots. . I ate a couple more gel rounds across my torso, my ballistic armor blocking them.


    Gel rifles were good¡ªagainst civilians, that is. Any kind of armor or chrome and gel weapons fell off fast, which is why they hadn¡¯t had a massive boost in popularity. They were more of riot weaponry than anything else. That being said, it stung horribly as I felt the impacts across my back and side.


    I smashed a window with my gauntlets, pulling myself up into an office section of the warehouse-


    A jolt of electricity jolted through my body, causing every single one of my muscles to seize up. I flopped to the floor, unable to control my body for several long seconds. Taser?


    The electricity stopped, allowing me to force myself back up to my feet and crawl behind a desk as I roughly panted-


    Another jolt caused every part of my body to spasm, incapable of controlling myself. Not a taser. My head struggled to work as I felt my brain buzz harshly.


    The electricity cut out once more. Wha-


    My chrome. It was definitely my chrome. My Neural System Interface? Was it overloading my Neural Link? My Neural Link had built-in overload protections, so that must be why it wasn''t staying constant. The Netrunner. How though? All my chrome was offline, with nothing connecting-


    The electricity interrupted my thoughts once more. I heard the squish of boots as the squads approached the window I busted in through. My Neural Link¡¯s protections kicked in once more, stopping the jolts.


    My eye. It must be my eye. That was the only way someone could get access to the rest of me so easily. I can¡¯t just stay here though¡ªthey¡¯ll easily be able to capture me if I do. And I can¡¯t run with the constant overloads.


    I felt sick as I raised my hand in between bursts. I stared at it for a moment before raising it to my chrome eye. If it was where the Netrunner was getting access, I had to remove it.


    I held back bile as my hand closed in.

 Chapter 221

    Cold-Blooded was the only thing keeping me moving as I tiredly staggered for the door. I wiped at my cheek, wiping away tears of blood as the bursts of cold drowned out the pain. I glanced back, spotting the mangled chrome from where I plucked it out of my eye socket. Most of the mess was tech, though gouging it out hadn¡¯t exactly been a clean process.


    At the very least, I was no longer getting tased by my own chrome. My Neural Link and Neural System Interface had nothing else to connect to, completely blocking out the Netrunner. I was safe on that front if nothing else.


    I tossed a grenade as I picked up the sound of crunching glass and took in the spot that would be my final stand. Dozens of shipping containers marked with warning labels filled the warehouse, giving ample cover to hide in. Up above, a balcony surrounded the tall walls of the building. It gave vantage points and rooftop access.


    I pulled my pistol as I heard the grenade explode behind me. The world slowed thanks to Dexterity, giving me time to think. I carefully shot out all the lights. I didn¡¯t need them, and they¡¯d only help the circle cultists keep track of me.


    Just as I shot out the last of the lights, I heard a commotion from the large warehouse doors. Several pulses of Insight hit me¡ªthey were casting magic over there. I didn¡¯t know what kind, so I repositioned onto the staircase leading up to the balcony, staying low and in cover.


    A few moments later, vines spread from the slightly cracked entrance, filling the main entryway. Flowers bloomed on said vines, emitting a certain gas. It drifted, falling to the ground as the vines created a cloud of¡­ something. Probably poison. I went through my bag, dug out my mask, and put it on. They¡¯d have to try better than that.


    The vines and gas clouds slowly filled the space. The squads still didn¡¯t rush in though. Were they trying to smoke me out? Looked like they were nervous, at least. I can¡¯t blame them. No one wanted to die. And while they had to pull their punches, I wouldn¡¯t.


    Regardless, the more time they spent out there, the more time I¡¯d have to prepare and entrench myself. I wiped the seeping blood off my face once more and continued up the stairs, aiming for one of the two doors out onto the roof.


    I pulled my multitool from my bag, connecting it up to my battery. Normally, the multi-tool was only capable of tack welds, and even then it wasn¡¯t powerful. I swiftly modified it, overloading its protections as I connected it to a much stronger energy source.


    With that set, I welded the door shut. It wasn¡¯t a very strong weld, and I had to do it one-handed, which didn''t help. My arm was still out of commission from the gel rounds. And I didn''t even have a filler, so it was closer to slagging the door shut than anyhting. The bright light also definitely gave my position away to anyone who might be watching, but it¡¯d hold for a time.


    Once I got the first one done, I moved around to the far side to slag the other one. As I passed, I threw my last grenade through the small gap in the doorway. Then I dropped back down to the base level.


    Once more, I felt pulses of the Aether through Insight. The vines that had grown all over the warehouse shifted, sprouting trees. The trees were a dark grey, growing to massive size in mere moments as their canopies filled the top parts of the warehouse.


    Another spell pulsed, and the trees started to shift. Their leaves turned from a vibrant gold to a dull iron. And then they dropped. Insight consantly tingled across my body, though I couldn''t quite place it. My head hurt so much. I watched in confusion, eying the lazy leaves fall all around me-


    A deep, slicing pain momentarily cut through Cold-Blooded, causing me to stagger back. One of the leaves had fallen onto my already wounded arm, cutting straight through the fabric as if it weren''t there and leaving a jagged slash.


    I grabbed my pistol once more, slowing the world thanks to Dexterity as I traced a path through the falling razor leaves. The leaves cut into the concrete floor as they settled, leaving more and more places inaccessible as time passed. They were incapable of cutting other metal though, so I hastily slipped inot a cracked open shipping container and took cover.


    The leaf rain continued for a time before stopping. Shouts came from outside the warehouse, though I could barely make them out through the ringing in my head. I flicked off Cold-Blooded for a moment, allowing the pain to wake me back up. To drive out the drowsiness.


    The leaves and poison cloud faded as the magic was released, allowing me to exit the shipping container safely. I reapplied the haze fluid from my canteen as I heard the large warehouse doors being pried open. It seemed they were finally coming in.


    I checked my weapons one last time, mentally preparing myself for a long and brutal fight. If I was going to get out of this, I¡¯d have to take out over fifty well-trained and armed soldiers by myself.


    My chances were¡­ close to negative. Still, I wouldn¡¯t give up. I wouldn¡¯t just allow them to take me to Mother for whatever horrible reason she wanted me. If they were going to take me, I¡¯d make them suffer for every inch. I slunk back into the shadows.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    Inquisitor Ligh had been having a rough night. It all started with a phone call from one of his Squires. She was targeted by the very group they were hunting down. Not only that, but the Blue Crusade''s presence throughout Little Yukoto had been pulled back due to an order from a member of the High Table, leaving no one to help her.


    It took nearly twenty minutes to form a large enough group to go after his squire. If it was just the traitors'' orders, then it wouldn''t have taken that long. Add in the jailbreak and fully armed rioters, though? It was a well-planned operation to take the Crusade completely off guard. And it wasn''t just his Squire that was in danger. The bastards targetted several points of the Crusade''s infrastructure throughout the city.


    Even after executing everyone who participated in the jailbreak, Little Yukoto was in chaos. Crime rates were starting to spike as people noticed the missing Crusade. Gangs were fighting on the streets, and Mercs were out in full power as the rich rapidly bought guardians.


    Only the Jade Fangs remained relatively calm, though reports indicated even they were taking the chance to remove several cancerous tumors in Little Yukoto. Ligh knew they were just being more subtle with their movements, moving puzzle pieces from the shadows instead of acting in the light like the other short-lived groups. They''d been around too long to fall into a short-term mindset like the smaller gangs. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.n§×t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The traitorous High Lord had royally screwed over the entire district with his orders. The Commander already had several phone calls from the Mayor, and it was only a matter of time till the press got onto the latest scoop. And from the press to the civilians¡ªit would be a shit show as even more politics got involved. All of it meant it was even harder to get reinforcements to help his Squire.


    His Squire wasn¡¯t the only one attacked, either. Inquisitor Varus had a hit squad sent after him, though they didn¡¯t get very far past Medtech¡¯s internal security before being put down. The crazy bastards even had suicide capsules to keep the Crusade from questioning the cultists.


    ¡°Sir?¡± Hope called out to the Inquisitor, drawing him out of internal musings. She was the only one that followed him thist time. The others were scattered about the city on various jobs.


    ¡±Yesh?¡± He glanced over at her before returning his gaze to the current scene. Five well-armed soldiers in tactical gear lay scattered across the stairs. It was the latest clue in his lost Squire¡¯s trail. It seemed she had quite a few hidden skills. Not that it mattered. The more skilled his Squires were, the better. They wouldn''t die easy anymore, at least. As for how he knew it was her? A lucky guess.


    Hope tiredly rubbed at her eyes. ¡°The Jaeger is almost here. Three Knights were also sent by the Commander to assist, as well as another inquisitor to help track. Brings us up to ten and three.¡±


    Inquisitor Ligh sighed once more, as he¡¯d been doing since the night started. He roughly aimed for his pockets, withdrawing a flask. Usually, drinking in a mask was hard. He¡¯d had over a century of practice, though. He felt the burn of ¡®medicine¡¯ down his throat once more.


    Just as he put away the flask, the door at the base of the stairs opened. A metallic hound bounded up, its voice box barking mechanically as it found the trail. ¡°Let¡¯sh go.¡±


    The two followed the Jaeger down to the basement, ignoring the reinforcements as they arrived. It was a sizable group, large enough to easily take down even mid-size gangs without too much of an issue.


    The gaggle of Crusaders followed the Jaeger as it continued to sniff out Zuku Ichima¡¯s trail. Eventually, they ended up on top of a building, just as they had several times before. The trail abruptly cut off, causing the Jaeger to whine pitifully as it scratched at the concrete with metal claws.


    The Inquisitor pulled out his flask once more, sighing as they lost the trail in the same exact way as the last several times. Maybe she had some kind of fall-reducing item? Just as he pulled out his flask, the lights all around flickered thanks to the city¡¯s rolling brownouts. Shadows completely hid him as he drank, though the lights came back as he put away the flask.


    ¡±Shpread out. Shweep the shtreetsh. Someone take the Jaeger out to the soutshide of the block.¡± The Inquisitor easily gave out orders to the gathered group. Although they were technically all in the same rank, he had decades worth of seniority and it was his squire. No one took any issue with him taking charge.


    Knight Persha remained behind as they scattered out to search. ¡°What are you thinking, Ligh?¡±


    His expression was hidden behind his mask as his cold voice came out. ¡°It¡¯d be a lot of paperwork to get yet another Shquire.¡±


    He felt her eyes for a few moments before the Knight slowly shook her head. ¡°You know that¡¯s not what I was asking about.¡±


    The Inquisitor remained silent for several long moments, eventually acknowledging the Knight¡¯s statement with a small nod. He didn¡¯t reply though, instead opting to spin a bottle that¡¯d been discarded on the roof with his foot. It spun and spun, eventually pointing south. Any further south would be the Ryu Container Yard.


    The Inquisitor stared out at the relatively dark container yard. Lightning flashed, striking the Raijin building on the far side of the city. He felt the cold rain pour onto his hood for a few moments before tipping his head back to the stairs. ¡°C¡¯mon.¡±


    They joined the search squads on street level once more. Eventually, a call came from one of the other Inquisitors. ¡°Found a bunch of civs trapped in an idle skytram. Looks like a Netrunner¡¯s work. Those on board indicated that a girl shattered the window and jumped out. Might be our missing Squire?¡±


    ¡±Sir?¡± Hope called from directly behind him.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ a fall that high? Definitely would¡¯ve shattered her legs at least.¡± Persha muttered from his side. The troublesome Knight had yet to leave. ¡°Poor girl. Hope her pretty face is still alright.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Inquisitor Ligh paused, causing Hope to likewise freeze.


    The Knight walked a bit further before spinning around on one foot. Her two Squires followed her, though stopped moving as she did. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t mind me. Just thinking aloud. Might not even be  Squire.¡±


    Yet another sigh slipped through his lips, most of the sound blocked by the mask. The Inquisitor shook his head, feeling that slight fog fade away. Going full blast was out of the question, but just a little wouldn¡¯t hurt¡­ right?


    He pulled a small magic eight ball from his pocket. To most, it was a toy. A mere gimmick item for kids. Usually, he didn¡¯t even bother with it. Sobriety was rapidly returning though. He shook it repeatedly, eventually watching it settle on ¡®Yes¡¯. He carefully wiped the rainwater off the small toy, as if afraid it''d be damaged, before sliding it back into his pocket.


    He pulled a different flask from his pocket, drinking deeply as the fog slowly returned. Even as he gulped, his mind put together a few pieces to the current puzzle. Inquisitor Ligh called into the shared channel, ¡±It¡¯sh her. Form up. Head directly shouth from the tram into the Ryu Container Yard.¡±

 Chapter 222

    I staggered back, shuddering as I felt yet another bullet tear through my thigh as I failed to dodge. They¡¯d swapped to live rounds after their attempt to flush me out. Unfortunately, it looked like they were finally starting to see me as an actual opponent. Or so the several flesh wounds all over my body told me.


    I flew through open space, using the shadows to my advantage as I repositioned away from the shots once more. Mid-move, I pulled a handful of knives and through them up. To a casual observer, it might¡¯ve looked like they were just carelessly thrown.


    They weren¡¯t.


    Each knife flew up, hitting the anchor points of a freight crane built into the warehouse. They perfectly struck to snap the components holding a raised shipping container in the air. With a loud screech, the container dropped onto the squad shooting at me, sending debris and a cloud of dust everywhere to further hide my movements.


    I ducked into an open shipping container, pressing on my wounds to the best of my abilities as I listened to the faint steps of the search squads. I was running out of tricks to pull. Slowly but surely, they were starting to corner me.


    Wrapping my newest wound proved to be a hassle with one arm and one eye. I checked my supplies as I wrapped up the bandage. Of course, my tricks weren¡¯t limited to just a few. Although I was running out, I still had a pool I could use to buy time. I may go down, but so would they if I had anything to say about it.


    I pulled out my pistol loaded with Blaze rounds and eyed the shipping containers I¡¯d checked beforehand. Specifically, the ones marked with highly flammable stickers. There was a reason most of these were inside, after all.


    I hoped it wouldn¡¯t come to this since the inherent volatility of fire could hurt me just as much as help me, but it would surely buy me time to think up my next plan. That, and I was starting to get extremely light-headed from the blood loss. My thoughts were sluggish even with Dexterity and Cold-Blood helping.


    I carefully lined up the shot.


    ¨C ¨C ¨C


    ¡°Sir.¡± One of the Netrunners assigned to help them called out across the walkie-talkie on his shoulder. Inquisitor Ligh raised a hand, calling for a halt as he listened in. ¡°Shoot out reported on the edge of the Ryu Container Yard. The call indicated a group matching the Circle¡¯s description.¡±


    The Inquisitor nodded at the Squire driving as he raised a hand to the walkie-talkie. ¡°Send it to me.¡±


    A moment later, the HUD on the inside of his mask flickered, revealing the warehouse''s location. ¡°All squads, new location. Expect heavy enemy presence.¡±


    A chorus of confirmations came from the walkie-talkie as he called out the location. With the siren on their vehicle¨Can APC usually reserved for SWAT or high-risk situations¨Cblaring, they swiftly closed the gap to their next location. Lightning flashed in the sky as the storm intensified, pounding the roof of the APC with harsh drops of rain.


    Opposed to the storm raging outside the vehicle, the inside was absolutely silent. For once, Knight Persha kept her unwanted comments as she seemed to hype herself up for the coming fight. The other two Knights present and their Squires were likewise quiet.


    ¡°Shots fired! Enemy numbers are substantial. They¡¯ve got some kind of tree monsters blocking the way! Requesting backup immediately!¡± A call came from one of the Knights who arrived ahead of them. Gunfire came across the crackling line as the Knight¡¯s voice cut out.


    Just as they were about to reach the wall, a massive explosion tore through the space. A bright flash of light illuminated the night sky as the frontside of a nearby warehouse exploded. The explosion even seemed to overpower the light of the city for a moment.


    A plume of debris and dust rose into the air as a large shockwave passed through the area. The stone wall and the APC protected them, but the nearby buildings? Windows shattered all along the street.


    ¡°Damn¡­ think she¡¯s alright?¡± Hope asked as she stared up at the plume of dust. That wasn¡¯t just a minor explosion. No one replied as the already tense mood wound even tighter.


    ¡°Sh-should I go around? It¡¯ll take at least ten minutes to wrap back around here.¡± The Squire, one of Persha¡¯s, asked hesitantly. ¡°Or we could try to go over-¡±


    ¡°Shtop thinking sho much. We¡¯re in an APC. Go right through it.¡± Ligh sighed. What were they teaching the new hires these days? Even more of a reason to get there quicker and save his Squire.


    Persha laughed lightly as her hand gripped the pommel of her sword. ¡°You heard the man. Seatbelts on, kids.¡±


    The Squire seemed to struggle for a moment before shakily nodding his head. He slammed on the accelerator, allowing the APC to gain speed as they rapidly approached the exploded warehouse.


    A head-on collision would be brutal. At least, normally. An unstoppable object meeting a relatively stable one would always cause some damage. And indeed, as the APC slammed into the wall full force, everyone in the vehicle felt that force jerk their bodies.


    Thanks to several factors, though, it wasn¡¯t as bad as it could¡¯ve been. The Squire just so happened to drive and hit a section of the wall that had been heavily eroded, and the nearby explosion had sent quite a few pieces of debris flying into this particular spot, weakening it ever further.


    The APC slammed through the stone wall, sending a spray of debris and stonework shooting out like a shotgun blast. As the APC rammed forward, crashing into a shipping container before stopping, they got their first view of the scene.


    Put simply, it was a warzone centered around a half-collapsed and blazing warehouse. The fighting looked to be three ways. The Circle cultists held defensive positions scattered around the area while the Crusade attacked from several directions. As time passed, more and more members of the Blue Crusade spilled into the large-scale battle.


    Then there was the third party: the civs. They were mercs, scavengers, and insane residents opportunistically rubbing their hands together as they watched like vultures. Some were there for greed, others for the thrill. Most, however, were Chasers set off to the sides as they watched the fight with bated breath.


    Chasers. It was a laughable group. They were too weak or cowardly to get involved themselves, so they lived vicariously by flocking to sites of battles between the various factions of the city, like it was some kind of blood sport.


    Usually, they stayed back and at a safe distance. . Crusaders had been pulled to court far too many times for killing Chasers who walked into the middle of a firefight expecting to be fine. It was to the point that there were even laws now that waived the rights of Chasers who got too close.


    In such a large-scale battle, keeping sight of the enemy and noticing who killed whom was difficult. It was the perfect chance for third parties to get involved, especially as they flocked to the explosion like moths to a flame. They needed to wrap this up quickly before it got even more out of hand.


    About a dozen large tree monsters lay scattered around, flailing as fire clung to their bark and leaves. Several of them were grouped up, peeking over the shipping containers as they pounded at an unseen enemy. The rest were scattered about, throwing containers to assist or otherwise protect cultists as they fired at the encroaching Crusade.


    A group of cultists stood on several containers pushed together, protected by a magic field as they worked on some kind of large scale magic.


    Plants of various kinds were everywhere as if a magic fertilizer had been scattered through the area, most of them ablaze. The already low visibility thanks to the storm dropped even more thanks to the constant steam and smoke raising into the air.


    ¡°Darren and O¡¯Neil, hit the cultishts from behind. Looksh like their gathering for a shummoning magic of some kind. Shtop it.¡± Inquisitor Light calmly called out orders to the two Knights and their Squires that came with them in the APC.


    A heavily armored Knight raised his hand slightly. "Force?" Sear?h the ¦Çov§×lFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°Lethal ish authorized.¡± The Inquisitor paused for a moment before nodding his head. "Command wantsh to make an example."


    ¡°Roger.¡± The two knights replied, spilling out of the APC with their Squires.


    Inquisitor Ligh hopped out a moment later. ¡°Persha, with me. Clean up any shtragglers and hunt for Zuku.¡±


    They group poured out, sprinting off to take care of their roles. Hope followed a moment later, whistling to the Jaeger in the APC. It stood up, jumping out as it raised its nose into the air. A moment later, it bounded off for the warehouse.


    Inquisitor Ligh took the lead as a wind blew through, luckily pushing the smoke out of the way. ¡°Shtay close behind me.¡±


    The first group they ran into consisted of three men in tactical gear. They were severely wounded, looking as though they¡¯d been flung from the warehouse by the explosion. Two of them tried to shoot at the Inquisitor, their guns jamming almost immediately. The last guy¡¯s gun exploded in his hand. The shrapnel ended his life.


    The Squires took care of the two momentary survivors as Inquisitor Light moved forward without stopping for even a moment. This scene repeated several other times as they charged into the warehouse.


    Not every enemy had their gun malfunction, but it was barely a fight. One guy was unlucky enough to be crushed by a falling section of the roof. Another slipped in oil and was skewered through the neck by a metal pole. A grenade bounce back even took out a whole squad.


    The half that didn¡¯t suffer from horrible accidents proved no match to the group. Most were still stunned or concussed by the explosion, making it as easy as cleaving through butter. Add in Persha¡¯s combat capabilities and the support of Squires, and the inside of the warehouse was rapidly cleaned up.


    Not that any of that mattered to the Inquisitor. He simply walked forward, following the Jaeger as though nothing could hurt him. And indeed, nothing did. There were a few close calls, but nothing so much as touched his clothes as the enemy missed every shot.


    The drain started to catch up with the Inquisitor as he followed behind the metal hound. The Jaeger pawed at a shipping container that had been blown against a wall, whining sharply. Its metallic voice alerted the group that it had encountered an obstruction blocking its way.


    ¡°I got it.¡± Persha stepped forward, activating her sword. It started to vibrate as she lightly cut into the shipping container, tearing apart its wall as if it were paper.


    Just as the wall crumbled, several shots rang out as someone inside the crate opened fire. The bullets veered around the Inquisitor, several of them deflecting off of luckily falling rubble as they hit cultists that were about to ambush the group.


    The Inquisitor stood still, staring at the one shooting at him without a reaction. It took several seconds to even figure out what he was looking at, almost as if the person''s shape refused to make sense in his head. A slight haze surrounded the downed girl.


    Zuku lay up against the back wall, gun clicking as she pulled the trigger a few more times. She was in a horrible state, blood dripping from almost every part of her body. His Squire was riddled with bullet holes. Her clothes were tattered, with long serrations and burns peaking out.


    Her face was stained with soot, and blood constantly leaked from behind a vacant eyelid. The blood cleared a trail down her face before dropping to mingle with the rest of her wounds. Not even her limbs were spared, with one leg facing the wrong direction, and an arm ending in a burned stump. The hand was simply gone.


    Zuku¡¯s remaining eye, glowing with a feral intensity, blinked a few times. The feral glow faded slightly into a more neutral tone, though it still seemed to have the wildness of an animal. A small, heavily wounded animal at that.


    A weak smile sprang to her lips as her trembling hand dropped her pistol. A raspy cough made her whole body shake. ¡°Oh, h-hey boss.¡±


    The Inquisitor continued to look down at her for several long moments. No one knew what he was thinking, nor could anyone guess. The mask perfectly hid his face, making it impossible to even read his expression.


    Later, though, after the fighting was over and the corpses were sent to the coroner''s, they found something of note. About a quarter of the cultists in the surrounding area all mysteriously flatlined within a minute of each other.


    The exact reason for such an event was up in the air, but the causes were everything from sudden cardiac arrest, asphyxiation as they unluckily choked on their tongues, to even multiple organ failures as if they were on heavy military stims. Tox reports came back clean.

 Chapter 223

    I awoke to a warmth surrounding me on all sides. I struggled to open my eyes, feeling them burn with tiredness as I blankly stared at an unfamiliar roof-


    Why? One of my eyes was blank, leaving my vision off. Did the chrome-


    A flood of memories hit me, instantly turning my tiredness into a raging migraine. I raised a hand, feeling as though I had to fight through an ocean of warmth, and rubbed at my head. After a second, I paused, inspecting it. Perfectly fine flesh, as if it was never injured. I checked my other hand just to make sure, and both of them were fine now.


    Err- almost fine. As I compared them, I realized one was noticeably smaller than the other. It looked like a child¡¯s hand at the end of my wrist. Not quite healed yet? Honestly, looking at the smaller hand was incredibly off-putting. It made me so queasy I had to look away.


    Well¡­ at least I know Quick Healing can heal missing limbs now. I distinctly remember it being blown off in the blast. Who would¡¯ve thought, but shooting flammable substances with what was essentially thermite almost point-blank was a very, very bad idea. The shockwave alone felt like it had shredded my internal organs and that was before being flung away like last night¡¯s refuse.


    As for what happened after the explosion? My memory was foggy. Definitely brain trauma of some kind¡­ hopefully Quick Healing could take care of that one too. I struggled to sit up, my entire body feeling drained and sore in a way I hadn¡¯t felt since getting the interface. Everything felt bruised. A chill ran up my arms as I left the warmth.


    As I sat up, getting a look at my new location, I caught sight of dozens of foxes lying all around me. They were all piled up in a- well- a foxpile centered around me. We were on a bed--a rather large one--that was absolutely loaded with the cute animals. S§×arch* The N?vel(F)ire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The room looked vaguely familiar, though everything seemed extremely expensive. And blue. Lots of blue and black hues. It didn¡¯t take much to figure out where I was. Fox¡¯s Shrine. How I ended up here was a mystery, but at least it was somewhat familiar. Seems I reached my goal after all. Or I died and this was the afterlife¡­


    My stomach grumbled, causing quite a few of the foxes to look up at me with sleepy eyes. One of them yawned cutely, causing a chain of yawns to go all around. It was almost too much as a yawn brought tears to my eyes. So sleepy.


    I reflexively summoned my canteen, though I stopped myself before I could drink it. Usually I changed it to make either Jack¡¯s Sun Kicker or the Sentinel Super Supplement right before going to bed. Usually. Falling unconscious took that chance away from me.


    Not that it was a big issue this time. At some point, it¡¯d been changed to produce Jack¡¯s Sun Kicker, though I had no recollection of doing such a thing.


    I gulped down the stuff, feeling my hunger fade away. As it did, intense drowsiness hit me once more. The warmth and softness of the foxes lured me in, and before I knew it, my head was back on the pillow-


    No, not a pillow. I faintly realized it was a massive red fox that I¡¯d been using as a pillow. As my eyes closed one final time, snuggling into its soft fur, I saw its four tails lightly swish in happiness.


    ¨C ¨C ¨C


    I awoke once more, feeling well-rested. The number of foxes around me seemed to have doubled, making it difficult to sit up. My actions disturbed a bunch of them causing a wave of fur as they all looked at me with their adorable faces. I brushed a tail off my head, nearly sneezing as it tickled my nose.


    ¡°Hey, guys¡­ mind if I get up?¡± I patted the closest one to me on the head. Its eyes crinkled in happiness as its ears shifted to the side to give me more petting space. Its tail, rapidly wagging, smacked the face of a different fox just to its side.


    Petting one of them proved to be a mistake. After a minute, another fox forced its way onto my lap and tilted its head to me for pats. Petting two of them was an even bigger mistake as a chain of growls, yips, and pushes made me spend what felt like hours petting the foxes as they playfully fought each other for attention.


    It wasn¡¯t until the big fox that I¡¯d been using as a pillow growled that the lot of them calmed down. They shifted, lightly jumping off the bed. Most of them unmaterialized, fading through solid objects as they left. About a dozen of them worked together though, opening the door just enough to allow them out before closing it behind them. Just me and the large fox now.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I patted the big fox behind me as I finally pushed myself up and off the bed.


    It followed a moment later, allowing me to take in just how truly big it was. Even just standing, it reached just below my shoulders. More impressively, it had four swishing tails that felt like a fan as they twirled around. Its eyes crinkled into half moons as it looked up at me.


    ¡°Are you¡­ are you a Greater Sprite?¡± I asked. It had a certain¡­ to it that the other fox sprites lacked. Not quite to an eidolon¡¯s level, but leaning that way. It felt similar to Crow¡¯s Greater Sprites that I¡¯d run into. And the four tails were a giveaway. If multiple eyes were Crow¡¯s thing, it seemed tails were Fox¡¯s.


    Its head dipped lightly. A voice, feminine, came from it. Just like Corvin, it was a telepathic one. ¡°Indeed. My name is Vulpes.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Vulpes¡­ and sorry about-¡± I motioned to its back. Its nearly radiant fur was still pressed down with an imprint of my head.


    ¡°No problem, child of Fox.¡± Vulpes moved for the door. Her head tilted slightly before dipping into a nod. ¡°Your ally awaits outside. My lady will find you later.¡±


    Then, as if her presence had been a lie, she disappeared. Insight faintly tingled as I felt her move through the Aether for a few moments. The sensation eventually faded, drowned out by the sheer presence that Fox¡¯s Shrine seemed to emit. Insight, just like the last time I was here, eventually went mute due to the overstimulation.


    My gaze went off into space as I looked at where Vulpes vanished from. Not how I saw meeting one of Fox¡¯s Greater Sprites. And the child of Fox, eh? Fox¡¯s Grace was responsible for that one, of which I had no doubt.


    A meeting with Fox was also apparently in the books, which was¡­ nerve-wracking? It felt like working for someone online for years and then finally meeting them face to face. Not exactly the same, but similar. I¡¯d seen her before, of course, but my memories of that time were quite faint. Trauma, probably. I just remembered her resting on a rock, looking down at me with a cold harumph.


    I stretched, hearing my spine pop a dozen times. I checked my body for injuries as my mind finally approached something I¡¯d been trying to avoid: my situation. What happened after the explosion? How¡¯d I get here? How long had I been here? Where¡¯s my stuff? Were my secrets blown?


    Thankfully, while I didn''t have an answer to most of those questions, my body was fully healed. Or, at least, mostly healed. My eye was still gone, leaving an empty optical socket. And the scar along my face was still there. Some things even Quick Healing couldn¡¯t heal. Probably thanks to being old injuries. I wonder, if I used some kind of healing relic or medicine to regrow my eye, would it fix Quick Healing?


    I could think about it later. I hesitantly looked down at my clothes. I had on an extremely large white t-shirt, the neck big enough that my shoulder peeked out from one side no matter how I adjusted it. And then add on a pair of sweats that barely fit my waist. Who changed me? Where was my stuff at?


    I cracked open the door, half expecting to see someone standing there after Vulpes mentioned a companion. I wasn¡¯t entirely wrong. Two foxes, wearing ornate armor, sat on either side of the door, watched the hallway. As I stepped out, they both glanced up at me with wagging tails.


    ¡±Oh¡­ hello.¡± I hesitated for a moment, watching the two guard foxes. ¡°Don¡¯t suppose either of you know how I got here?¡±


    One of them stood up, nodding to me. It walked down the hall before turning back to look at me over its shoulder as if to ask if I was following. I spared a glance at the remaining guardian before following along down the hall.


    Walking was a hassle. With my eye out, it threw off my entire sense of balance. It¡¯d take some time to get used to being a cyclops once more. Hmm¡­ should I even get chrome again? Or should I switch it up for a bit? Maybe trying a clone flesh eye from Slab Co wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea?


    Foxes of all shapes and sizes ambled around the shrine, most of them watching me with curiosity. A group of tiny fox pups yipped playfully, running around me in circles as they looked up at me.


    It wasn¡¯t until the guard fox growled lightly, chasing them off, that I felt comfortable walking once more. Would be a true shame to accidentally step on one of the little ones.


    We headed through several halls before making our way to what looked like a study likewise flanked by two guard foxes. The door was cracked, and two people talked within. The fox guard guiding me nodded to the door before stalking off after a group of fox pups watching me from around a corner.


    I paused for a moment at the door before knocking lightly. A woman called from inside, ¡°Enter!¡±


    I stepped into the room. It was the stereotypical study that I¡¯d come to expect from places. Two people sat inside. One, behind the desk, was the Shrinemaiden from the last time I was here. The other on my side, dressed in Blue Crusade gear, was a man I hadn¡¯t seen before.


    The man turned to look at me, revealing a face covered in a mask. Inquisitor? Or Knight? I watched him for a few moments, checking him over. Definitely an Inquisitor. He had a Fox amulet around his neck, implying he was a Magus as well.


    ¡±My patient!¡± The Shrinemaiden, with her lethally beautiful face and curly blue hair, laughed lightly as she spotted me. Her voice was soft and silky, though seemed to have undertones of mischief. If she became a singer, she¡¯d become a megastar in no time. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re awake! You really had me worried~!¡±


    ¡±Oh¡­ thank you.¡± I felt the Inquisitor¡¯s eyes on me. As always, I felt that rush of intimidation and guilt. Was he here to arrest me? Did they know I was impersonating a Squire? ¡°How did I get here? My- uh, my memory is a bit foggy.¡±


    ¡°Inquisitor Ligh brought you here¡­ a week ago. You strongly, strongly requested to come here rather than Medtech.¡± I felt his gaze drop to my newly regenerated limb. ¡°He was the only one for the decision, though I can see why now. Glad to see you all healed, Squire Zuku.¡±


    Right. The Inquisitor¡­ I faintly remember him in the warehouse. I guess the Crusade got there in enough time to bail me out. Times like these make me really appreciate the Blue Crusade and my connection with them. A serious pain in the ass, but they were there for me when I needed it.


    And he called me Zuku. There was a chance that my identity wasn¡¯t blown. Yet. I¡¯d have to play it by ear, though for now, I should continue to act like normal to avoid any suspicion.


    ¡±Where¡¯s all my stuff?¡± I asked.


    The Shrinemaiden stood up, stretching out. Her black robe¡ªa kosode, I think its called¡ªand dark-blue long skirt drew attention to her perfect figure. ¡°Ahh~! That felt good¡­ come with me, my friend. It''s all in storage! As for your clothes¡­ well¡­ they weren¡¯t salvageable. I¡¯ll give you one of my spare outfits~!¡±


    ¡±Don¡¯t lie to the poor girl.¡± The Inquisitor also stood up, nodding to me. ¡±Most of your torn clothes were sent back to HQ after Lady Vulpes removed the tracker. The cleaners should be able to fix most of it. Your gear looked custom built though, so we left it here for you.¡±


    Cleaners¡­ the old granny in the basement? She was incredibly skilled, so there was a chance I¡¯d be able to get everything back. That¡¯d be nice. Would seriously suck to have to remake and rebuy a bunch of gear. Especially with the Circle getting more and more active. I simply wouldn¡¯t have time.


    ¡±Stop ruining my fun~! I thought we were friends.¡± The lady stuck her tongue out at the Inquisitor as she whined like a kid. Her blue eyes glanced back to me, seemingly having a feverish tinge to them. ¡°You¡¯d look so cute in a skirt~!¡±


    ¡±I- um- I¡¯ll think about it¡­¡± I¡¯d rather not wear a skirt. They were too breezy. I don¡¯t think I¡¯d even touched a skirt since my horrid time in school.


    The Shrinemaiden sighed deeply and then led the way down a hall. She stopped briefly to pick up a fox pup that whined pitifully up at her, stroking its head gently. Two fox guards fell in step tailing behind us as we walked down several sets of stairs into what looked like a massive storage hall.


    There were a ton of things scattered around, everything from Remnants to mechanical wonders. There was even what looked like a half-built set of power armor locked in a cage on the far side of the place. It had nine tails sticking out of it, half covered in sensors and the other half looking like some kind of gun. What an intriguing idea.


    The Inquisitor waved at us as he continued down the stairs. ¡°I¡¯ll be back. Ligh will want to know you¡¯re awake¡­ and we need to debrief now that you¡¯re up.¡±


    ¡±Right¡­ how¡¯s the situation now? Stable?¡± I asked the Inquisitor. I¡¯d been out for a week according to him. Not a small time. Back when I got Quick Healing, it did say that more severe injuries would take longer. This was the first time something wasn¡¯t healed in just a night though, so I felt thrown off.


    The Inquisitor paused on the stairs, his shoulder stiffening somewhat. ¡°Somewhat. We¡¯ll talk about it later. Oh, I¡¯m Inquisitor Zere, by the way.¡±


    A warm hand wrapped around my own, causing my entire body to go tense. The Shrinemaiden didn¡¯t seem to notice as she dragged me into the storage hall. ¡°Now then, come on~! Let¡¯s get you in a kosode!¡±


    I hesitantly followed after her.

 Chapter 224

    Once we were alone, the Shrinemaiden summoned a sprite. It was a quick action, and the spell that followed was even faster. At my questioning gaze, she spoke up. ¡°Anti-eavesdropping magic. Just in case! Never know who might be listening~.¡±


    ¡±Right¡­¡± There were a plethora of things she could want to talk about privately. The least of which was Vulpes personally hanging out with me or the magical tracker in my neck. Speaking of which, the tracker was gone. Must¡¯ve taken care of it while I was asleep. The bug bite was healed, leaving smooth skin once more.


    Speaking of healed injuries, my hand was fully healed. It''s just that the datajacks were cut off. It was deeply uncomfortable feeling my flesh heal around it. It was like shards of steel poking into the insides of my arm. I''d have to visit Nael soon to get it fixed.


    ¡±First! An introduction. I am Sune Banto. And you¡¯re Shiro Tsukuyomi, yes?¡± The Shrinemaiden smiled faintly at me.


    My guard immediately raised, though I tried to hide the tension. It made sense she¡¯d know my name. Echidna¡¯s group had known me, at least. Still, it was very uncomfortable. Especially considering my current situation with the Crusade.


    As if sensing my discomfort, Sune laughed lightly and continued on further into the storage room. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about the Crusade. I won¡¯t say a thing~.¡±


    ¡±Then it¡¯s nice to meet you, Sune.¡± I followed behind her. She was probably trustworthy with some of my secrets. At the end of the day, she was one of Fox¡¯s high-ranking Magi. And Fox and I had a particularly close relationship, so the chances of a backstab weren¡¯t exactly high.


    Sune rifled through a couple of drawers before pulling out an outfit exactly the same as hers. ¡°The pleasure is all mine~! Imagine my surprise when Lady Vulpes herself showed up to take care of you. And you¡¯re not even one of Her Magi!¡±


    ¡±It must¡¯ve been quite shocking. Thank you for letting me stay.¡±


    ¡°Who am I to say no to Her? My curiosity is simply killing me¡­ but I won¡¯t pry, no need to worry. I have a feeling I¡¯ll be seeing you, so I¡¯d like to get along~.¡± Sune handed me the set of clothes. Then, with a pulse of the Aether, one of the guardian foxes cast a spell. A wall rose from the ground, creating a changing area.


    I peeked around the wall at her. ¡°Is this really necessary?¡±


    ¡±Of course~! You need clothes to leave in, right? At least something to wear till you go back to the Crusade.¡± Sune smiled happily, making her face truly radiant. ¡°And Milady would love to see you in her attire.¡±


    Why? Marking territory? Was that a thing the eidolons were interested in? Still¡­ I looked down at the clothes. They were high-class and seemed to be made from actual cotton, not the synthetic stuff. It actually looked pretty soft and comfortable. There were even shorts to go on under. It''d take care of the fall breeze that was starting to come through the city.


    It¡¯s just¡­ well¡­ skirts weren¡¯t exactly my thing. Especially long ones. But new clothes would be nice. I quite literally lost almost everything that I¡¯d kept in my apartment, including all my spare clothes. I made a mental reminder to stash some replacements at the speakeasy when I found time to stop by.


    She even included a black eyepatch to cover up my empty socket. How considerate of her. It''d work until I figured out what I wanted to do about my missing eye. Chrome was easy, but switching it up for clone-flesh or some kind of bio-mod might prove to be an interesting choice. Netrunners out in the wild were scary¡­


    Regardless, I needed to by some ICE for my tech. The Night Marktet should have what I want, though there was no telling when it would be next. It¡¯s a good thing I left the card back at the speakeasy instead of taking it home that day.


    I hesitantly changed into the new clothes as I heard Shrinemaiden Sune walking around the storage hall, seemingly gathering stuff up. Once I was done changing, I stepped out.


    The blue-haired woman froze as she spotted me, her blue eyes sparkling brightly. I rubbed at my arms slightly. Then her face split into a wide grin. ¡°I knew it! You¡¯re so cute~!¡±


    ¡±Ah- uh- thank you?¡± I flinched as the wall disappeared, returning the space to how it was originally.


    While I was changing Sune had gathered all my stuff. At least- everything except my clothes and ballistic vest which were supposedly sent to the Crusade¡¯s cleaners. At a glance, it looked like everything was mostly there.


    ¡°Here¡¯s all your stuff.¡± Sune nodded down to the pile before heading for the door. ¡°Take the stairs all the way down to the bottom when you¡¯re done.¡±


    One of the fox guards stayed behind with me, and the other followed the Shrinemaiden out of the storage hall. With the distractions gone, I moved to my gear and looked over everything, checking it all with Technical Expertise to see if it was still in working condition.


    My gauntlets and wrist pad were in a rough shape- or I should say gauntlet. The other was gone, blown off in the explosion along with the rest of my hand. Annoying, though I could probably whip up a replacement fairly easily once I got back to my stuff.


    The remaining gauntlet was deformed in several places and absolutely covered in ash and soot. The internal components were also a bit broken, but nothing I couldn¡¯t hammer out and repair with a bit of work. The wrist pad, though, was entirely fried. I¡¯d have to buy or make a new one.


    I also made a mental note to buy another poncho. Mine hadn¡¯t survived after I sacrificed it to get away. With more money in my account, I might as well splurge and get a more advanced one.


    I¡¯d taken the brunt of the damage from the front, so my backpack was in working condition. The Drop Chutes were a bit dinged up, and the pack itself was discolored in several spots, but if need be I could jump off a building and still be fine. At least, if I had a full battery. The one in my pack was completely dead. A recharge shouldn¡¯t be too big of an issue though.


    As for the equipment inside the pack? Most of them were in cases or otherwise protected. That being said, it was full of glass shards from shattered bottles. A major annoyance to clean out, though something I could do later.


    The other issue was my Scouters were all out of order. I¡¯d have to make more of them. While I was at it, I might as well update them to Scouter 3.0.


    But that all was for a later time. I gathered up my gear, stuffing everything into my bag, and then moved up the stairs. The fox guard hummed at me before leading the way down.


    The bottom of the stairs opened up into the massive shrine room that I saw the last time I was here. The silver fox statue in the middle of the place gleamed brightly as its sapphire eyes seemed to gleam with a mischievous look.


    ¡¸Glad you¡¯re awake.¡¹


    I paused for a moment, staring up at the statue. I noticed it last time too, but could Fox¡­ direct message me? Were these messages directly from her though? Last time it was something along the lines of ¡®Crow isn¡¯t the only one with good rewards¡¯, so I¡¯d glazed over it thinking it went along with the reward, but now I¡¯m not so sure.


    ¡°Zuku~! Anyone there?¡± A voice called out to me, making my gaze shift away from the eidolon statue and down to the Shrinemaiden and Inquisitor, both staring at me.


    I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. ¡±Oh, sorry¡­ guess my head¡¯s still a bit banged up.¡±


    ¡°Understandable. You were in a rough situation when I was called to watch over you.¡± Inquisitor Zere shrugged. ¡°Didn¡¯t think you¡¯d make it without a Medevac.¡±


    So he¡¯s been here the entire week I was in a coma? ¡±Thank you for watching over me.¡±


    ¡°No problem, Zuku. It was a good excuse to take a break and stay in my Patron¡¯s place for a while.¡± He waved his hand to the shrine. ¡°Oh, and our pickup will be here in ten minutes. Command wants you to report directly in. And Ligh wants to check on you.¡±


    Pickup? Guess I was heading to the HQ. I could go collect what was left of my clothes¡­ and debriefing after all that was probably a good idea-


    Oh no¡­ are they going to make me pay for all the destruction I caused on my desperate flight? Surely not, right? If all that added up¡­ my money¡­ I felt tears at the back of my eyes- er, eye. I barely managed to blink them away, though it left my hollow socket with a dull phantom pain. At least for now, there was no telling if they¡¯d actually do as I feared and charge me.


    ¡±How is the Crusade, by the by?¡± Sune smirked at the Inquisitor. ¡°I heard one of your High Lords stabbed the entire organization in the back~.¡±


    Inquisitor Zere froze up for a moment, his expression mostly hidden behind his mask. There were enough Cues from his body language of intense rage, though. ¡°He got away, unfortunately. Sicar Ubanhaf wasn''t a High Lord for no reason. The High Table is a complete mess across the country, not just in Aythryn City. He¡¯s got a five-million bounty on his head.¡±


    ¡±Interesting~! No wonder the city has been in chaos recently. I heard Lord Lykos was even dispatched here~! It''ll be exciting to see the Wolf Lord himself.¡±


    "Well... I don''t know about all of that..." Inquisitor Zere sighed deeply. His posture read intense exhaustion without even having to look too deeply


    The Shrinemaiden tilted her head for a moment as one of the armored foxes approached us. It bumped up against my side in passing before stopping just in front of Sune.


    They seemed to have a conversation of some sort for a moment before Sune nodded with a more serious expression on her face. ¡°Come along, Zere. That spell you were talking about has been found in the archives.¡±


    Zere seemed to do a complete one-eighty as his anticipation became visible. If he had a tail, it¡¯d be wagging as fast as the foxes around us. Gone was the serious Inquisitor. Instead, he¡¯d turned into just another Magi happy to get new magic. ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Of course~!¡± The Shrinemaiden led the Inquisitor back up the stairs. She momentarily glanced over her shoulder at me before dipping her head and leaving. It was just me, the guardian foxes, and the statue.


    ¡°So¡­¡± I started, then paused, feeling stupid as I talked to empty air. At least, for a few moments. Maybe I¡¯d hallucinated the message in the first place? Quick Healing had let me get up, though, so any brain damage I received should¡¯ve been healed, right?


    That feeling of unease faded as the interface popped up into my view once more. A tickling breeze, carrying an odd warmth to it, caressed my black hair.


    ¡¸It looks good on you, Shiro.¡¹


    My hands grasped the Shrinemaiden outfit I was wearing tightly. I looked down at myself for a few moments as my cheeks heated up. I still preferred my normal getup, but it wasn¡¯t necessarily as bad as I thought it''d be. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    I looked around the shrine. Guess this wasn¡¯t called Fox¡¯s place for no reason. But why contact me now? Why not in the past? If they could just talk to me whenever, why was there the need for the request board and all that in the first place? Unless¡­ maybe there were some kind of restraints?


    I felt a strange sense of detachment for a few moments. Here I was having a casual conversation with an eidolon¡­ Never in my life did I think I¡¯d arrive at this point. Hell, several months ago, I would have laughed in someone¡¯s face if they told me I was going to have my very own hidden workshop and a ton of Rayn in my account, let alone talk to one of the top dogs of the world.


    ¡°What did you want to talk about?¡± It wasn¡¯t a coincidence that Sune led the Inquisitor away. Rather, a fox led Sune, who led the Inquisitor away.


    The statue seemed to gleam brighter and brighter as the sapphire eyes gleamed. An ethereal blue presence seemed to leak out of the statue as five more ghostly tails joined the statue. Unlike the hard metal, the ethereal tails of Fox swayed gently as if to an unheard tune.


    A faint pressure squeezed my body. A feeling of danger filled the air, though it wasn¡¯t directed at me in the slightest. Even without saying anything, I knew Fox would be more than enough to take me down if she wanted. And easily at that.


    ¡¸A request. One that can¡¯t be given officially thanks to certain restraints.¡¹


    I raised a brow as I flushed my system with Cold-Blooded to help keep my head cool. I patiently waited for her to continue.


    ¡¸Certain¡­ concerns have arisen among the Eidolons. Concerns of a traitor supporting the Fallen.¡¹


    ¡°Fallen?¡± I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.


    ¡¸Beings that shouldn¡¯t exist. Warped entities that lurk in the Aether¡¯s chaos.¡¹


    Right¡­ sounded positively horrifying. And there was more than one, which was even worse. Today was Mother. Assuming I survive this current encounter, what would tomorrow bring? Father? Or something worse? Like that entity Inquisitor Varus mentioned, Lurks In Depths or something like that.


    And if an eidolon was supporting them? This was way, way over my head. There were far too many concerns for someone like me, who was just a simple thief. Or had been at one point, at least. Every power had its price, and being beholden to the whims of eidolons was mine. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you expect of me.¡±


    ¡¸Nothing for now¡­ and maybe nothing in the future. We may still solve the issue internally. Just keep your eyes open.¡¹ S§×ar?h the n?vel_Fire.¦Çet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡°I can do that. At least one of them.¡± I wasn¡¯t planning on closing them, at least. Especially not with danger lurking around every corner as it has been. This was just another stressor thrown onto the mountain of them breaking my back.


    ¡¸Watch yourself out there. And good luck, Shiro.¡¹


    The pressure faded with that last message, leaving me to stare at the statue in silence for several long minutes in thought. It wasn¡¯t until the duo came back down the stairs that I fixed my expression and greeted them.


    After a short talk, I joined Inquisitor Zere as we left the main building of Fox¡¯s Shrine. We waited by the pond for the Crusade flyer that was supposedly coming to pick us up.

 Chapter 225

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I called out to the taxi driver as I stepped out near the Blue Crusade¡¯s building. My bike was still at the apartment¡¯s parking garage, and I didn¡¯t want to risk going back there. Especially now that I lost my feature scrubber alongside my eye. No telling if they were still camped out waiting on me. It was taxi life for me... unless I requested one of the Crusade''s vehicles, I guess.


    I stared at the building in front of me. As the glowing blue neon flashed in the rain said, this place wasn¡¯t the HQ, but the BC Gym. To be fair, while it is called a gym the place was closer to a Blue Crusade megacomplex than anything. Way bigger than the precinct, though the precinct had several sublevels for its panopticon.


    Reporting back to the Crusade hadn¡¯t been fun in the slightest. At least I got a few good things out of it, though. My equipment had been reissued, giving me another trench coat, badge, brand-new plate carrier, and all the other goodies back. Oh, and Inquisitor Ligh temporarily set me up with an apartment in the BC megacomplex, hence why I was here.


    The Blue Crusade certainly had its benefits. I just had to be willing to make some sacrifices to accommodate them. And now I was actually getting paid, so it really wasn¡¯t bad of a job. The benefits were even quite good. I mean, free housing as a benefit was pretty damn solid in this city. Especially considering I got my own apartment without having to share a communal living space.


    I shook my hood as I approached the door, letting the rain drizzle off. Unlike the last time I was here, I went through the right entrance with a flash of my newly issued badge and headed for the elevator on the far side.


    I checked my newly issued phone and hit the button for the sixty-eighth floor. Room six-eight fifty-three. Maybe it¡¯d have a window? At least I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about security, considering almost the entire complex was full of Crusaders. The Inquisitor had even put the room under someone else¡¯s name to avoid internal moles tracking me down again.


    A yawn nearly split my jaw. So sleepy. I woke up in Fox¡¯s Shrine and then spent most of the day talking and filling out incident reports at the precinct. I also had to fill out paperwork claiming to be a Kinetic with limited regeneration to avoid too deep of an inquiry. A message to my shoemaker in the Crusade made that all passed without too many issues.


    The elevator dinged as I arrived at my floor. I wandered around for a bit before finding my door. With a flash of my badge and a scan of my fingerprint, the door popped open, revealing a fairly sized studio apartment. It came fully furnished already with built-in furniture.


    Around the top of the room, strips of holograms flowed with headlines and internal messages from the Blue Crusade. On the far side, a radio announced the news. ¡°The Mayoral Elections are coming up, y¡¯all. As you may remember, it was delayed by a series of assassinations. The new Mayor Candidates are raring to go once more, though, willing to fight for the future of Aythryn City! Mayor Tom Dollup has this to say-¡±


    I turned off the radio first, stripping off my coat and tossing it onto the sunken sofa. In the kitchen, a large holographic banner flashed with advertisements for the child corporations of the Blue Crusade.


    The place had a window, one looking out over the city. In the distance, I spotted the Ryu Container Yard through the cracks of shining buildings and flashing holographic displays. It looked like a valley of relative darkness amid the city, even from here.


    Something didn''t make sense, though. How could this place have a window? It should be in the middle of the floor. I raised my hand to the window, activating Technical Expertise-


    Yeah, as I thought. It was a screen projecting the view from a window, not an actual window. Still, it was better than nothing. Unfortunately, that meant the main door was the only way in and out of this apartment. I''d have to be much more careful this time around.


    I moved to the bed, collapsing onto it. In a cubby of the wall, a panel was slid down, revealing the room''s settings. It took just a second to dim the lights and set the holographic banners to ultra-low. Couldn¡¯t shut them off, unfortunately. Cost of living in a corporate apartment. Still, the place was nice. The bed was super comfy too, far better than my shitty little one back at the apartment. Ah, I''m going to miss that place.


    As I got comfy, I finally allowed the flashing interface to pop up into my remaining eye.


    ¡¸Stealth - 11>12¡¹


    ¡¸Melee Weapons - 5>6¡¹


    ¡¸Intimidation - 4>5¡¹


    ¡¸Evasion - 6>7¡¹


    ¡¸Explosives - 2>3¡¹


    ¡¸Brawling - 4>5¡¹


    Finally hit level twelve on something. Stealth ended up taking the lead, huh? Funny, I thought there was a good chance I could get Tech to twelve first. Guess some things never change. Stealth was still my highest and best Skill.


    What¡¯s next then? The Interface Upgrade, right? After a few moments, as if giving me time to prepare myself, the interface started flashing and a few new things popped up.


    ¡¸Name: Shiro Tsukuyomi


    UPGRADE: 3%


    Traits: Fox¡¯s Grace, Quick Healing, Insight


    Free Perk Points: 1


    Tracking - 8


    Panther¡¯s Sight


    Stalk


    Tech - 11


    Eidetic Schematic


    Corvid


    Stealth - 12


    Fox¡¯s Paw


    Cold-Blooded


    1 Perk Point


    Sleight of Hand - 9


    Hidden Hands


    Ambidextrous


    Perception - 10


    Aetherial Perception


    Technical Expertise


    Net - 3


    Melee Weapons - 6


    Throwing Weapon Master


    Intimidation - 5


    Fear the Reaper


    Firearms - 9


    Dexterity


    Aether Imbuement


    First Aid - 5


    Calming


    Explosives - 3


    Evasion - 7


    Burst Step


    Driving - 7


    Land Vehicles


    Deception - 8


    Honest Face


    Master of Disguise


    Criminology - 7


    Cues


    Concealment - 8


    Lethargic Presence


    Hidden Weapon


    Cleaning - 4


    Squeaky Clean


    Brawling - 5


    Swipe


    Art - 1


    Accounting - 1


    Request Board¡¹


    The upgrade wasn¡¯t instantaneous¡­ Nice to know. I flicked on Aetherial Perception, noticing a faint stirring of the Aether around me. It was slowly sinking towards me as if my body was absorbing it. Maybe it was powering up for the upgrade?


    On a brighter note, I could finally get my first level twelve Perk! If it went along like the rest of the system¡¯s Perks, it should be on a whole other level than the first two tiers. With just a thought, I allowed myself to sink back into the pavilion.


    My drowsiness temporarily faded away as I stared at Stealth¡¯s shelf of scrolls. I already kind of knew what I wanted. I picked it out on one of the first times I came into the pavilion. Still, I didn¡¯t let it distract me from checking out the rest of the Perks. There were some impressive ones, though I settled for what I originally had my eye on.


    ¡¸Illusive - At will, become like a shadow.¡¹


    I took the scroll, moving it to the easel. It unrolled automatically, the edges of the painting seeming to flow like a shadow. The painting was quite frankly beautiful, depicting the shadow of a fox illuminated by the moon. Its form was lost in the darkness, barely distinguishable from the background.


    The shadows seemed to stretch, taking over my vision until I stared into nothing but darkness. I blinked, waking up on the bed of my new apartment. It was absolutely silent outside of the rain pounding on the ''window''.


    Was something supposed-


    I barely suppressed a scream as what felt like hot nails pierced my skin, digging around underneath. The sensation spread throughout my body, thankfully not going any deeper than my skin, as I felt my body undergo rapid mutation.


    It was a pain I thought I''d never have to feel again after Fox''s Paw. It awakened memories of suffering, causing my breaths to become shorter and shorter as I started to hyperventilate. And yet, I could do nothing but wiggle around and try to endure.


    Minutes passed. The sensation slowly eased up, the piercing sensation felt like the nails were slowly pulled out one by one, starting from my scalp. Finally, I let out a deep breath as the pain faded and my entire body went limp.


    I swiped sweat off my brow and looked down, catching sight of my skin. Dark shadow wisps occasionally flicked out, floating around before fading away. Just like the rest of my perks, I got an intuitive feeling on how to toggle it.


    My skin faded, turning into a shadow mass. It flowed over my clothes, and in mere seconds my body turned Ilusive like a shadow. My form sunk, fading into the darkness of the room. Faint wisps faded into the surrounding shadows, merging my form with them. Cool.


    I tapped on my arm, feeling my skin underneath. It was still there, just covered in shadows. I still had a physical body. It was closer to an illusion than anything, though it was definitely a mutation. Interesting... I¡¯d have to test it, but the Perk looked like it''d be helpful going forward.


    But those were tests I''d have to do another time. I took a quick shower, washed off the cold sweat all over my body, and then finally went to bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep.


    ¨C ¨C ¨C Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The next morning, after a quick meal of Jack¡¯s Sun Kicker, I went down to the Crusade store. They had a little bit of everything for sale here. Might be worth coming by for a proper look around sometime, though for now I just bought what I needed. A holomask, an oversized black hoodie, and jeans. Notably, they were normal clothes lacking the Crusade''s symbol everywhere.


    It¡¯d been a long time since I used a holomask last, though now that my feature scrubber was gone, I needed it once more. It covered the lower half of my face in a simple black hologram. I took it up to my apartment and changed into my new clothes. With a bit of modification, I also got the mask to project up a shadow fox mask instead. It was thematic, at least.


    I called a cab as I got down to street level. At the moment, there was one thing I needed more than anything else. An eye. I wanted to try something a little different than normal, though. ¡°Slab Co. Bricktown.¡±


    ¡°I know the place,¡± The cab driver said.


    I got in, and then we were off through the city. The cab reeked of smoke, so much so that I discreetly rooted through my bag and put on my respirator.


    The streets were quiet, far quieter than I would¡¯ve liked. Most people these days kept inside where they could, especially with the Crusade cracking down hard across the city. No point in drawing the police''s attention, especially considering the Blue Crusade was known for not caring about ''overly-restrictive'' laws.


    Squires with Jaegers were set up strategically, stopping pedestrians as the hounds alerted on them. We drove by an active shootout, with several Crusade APCs set up blocking off the street. The asphalt ran with blood, washed into drains by light rain. Up above, Crusade flyers and Medevacs constantly passed by at five times their normal rates, their sirens wailing against the storm.


    ¡°Crazy state the city is in, huh?¡± The driver, a large man with half a chrome face smoking a cigarette, commented. One of the Neo-Jokers'' cigarettes hung from his lips. Must¡¯ve been one of the last people to buy some before the gang fell off the face of the planet.


    ¡°Sure is.¡± Much crazier than this guy probably knew.


    We were silent the rest of the trip to Slab Co. He turned on the radio, switching to some new popstar. I paid the guy, then went into Slab Co¡¯s building. Unlike a lot of buildings across the city, it was only a single story. Above ground, that is. Underground, it stretched far down according to the city''s map.


    I made my way into a lobby, entering a short queue to get to the receptionist counter. Slab Co. had an interesting design. It was very clinical in appearance, though not like a doctor''s office. More like a massive morgue.


    While I waited, I caught up on the News. Specifically, the deteriorating safety levels throughout the city. Gang violence was spiking across the city as new gangs seemed to constantly pop up, fully armed and loaded. There was even a case of a small gang in Oldtown having a military-grade spider tank--a Sentinel Arach-N3.


    A guy manned the counter, smiling a corporate grin as I approached and put my phone away. ¡°Hi! Welcome to Slab Co! You stab ''em, we slab ''em! What can we do for you?¡±


    ¡°Um- I need a new eye.¡± I motioned to my eye patch. Quite the catchphrase there. Must be a remnant from when Slab Co was a body dump before they pushed out into the clone flesh and bio-repair scene.


    ¡°Certainly! Are you a new or returning customer?¡± The man started tapping on a terminal.


    ¡°New.¡±


    ¡°Just a few minutes as I fill out a form for you. Then we¡¯ll get you an appointment with one of the doctors to get you set up. Would you like a same-day installation?¡± The corpo asked politely.


    Same-day installation¡­ wow, he somehow managed to make it sound like it wasn¡¯t a surgical procedure. Like I was getting some kind of appliance instead of a new eye. ¡°Chek.¡±


    What followed was a long process of waiting, filling out forms, and signing release paperwork. Eventually, I was moved to one of Slab Co¡¯s doctors to get my blood drawn for DNA, x-rays of my eye socket, and a dozen other checks and scans. And then I was sent out to a waiting room for several hours as Slab Co''s lab started the process of cloning a new eye.


    I thought about going out into the city while I waited, then barely managed to change my mind as I remembered where I was. Bricktown wasn¡¯t the best of places before the Neo-Jokers left. With the main power gone, a power vacuum still active, and the city in chaos?


    I stayed inside and instead went to their in-house cafe, the Mourning Brew. It was alright. The names of their drinks and snacks were wild though. All of them death themed, which made me feel safe considering I was about to get surgery done here.


    A few hours later, I was called into a surgical room. The wall was lined with small fridges, reminiscent of where they keep the bodies in a morgue. A doctor and several nurses stood around, looking over some paperwork.


    As I stepped in, the doctor noticed me. ¡°Shiro Tsukuyomi. New eye, correct?¡±


    ¡°That''s me.¡± I shook out my arms, feeling my nerves fade slightly. It was just surgery. I¡¯d had it done on my eye socket several times before. This time it wasn¡¯t Nael, but it¡¯d still be fine. Probably.


    ¡°Take a seat.¡± The doctor motioned to the surgical table in the center. ¡°Unit 223, Jessica.¡± One of the nurses split off, heading to the refrigeration units. ¡°You nervous?¡±


    ¡°A little bit,¡± I answered honestly as I sat down on the surgical table.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be. You¡¯ll go under, and by the time it''s over, you''ll be as good as new! I''ve been doing Slab Co''s speed surgeries for decades with a ninety-eight percent success rate, so you can trust me. Now then, the paperwork says there was a small issue with your DNA? It caused some minor mutations in the cloned organs.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­ is that bad? It won¡¯t, like, mess me up, will it?¡± Mutated sounded bad. Really bad. I wish I knew more about all of this. Maybe it wasn¡¯t such a good idea to come here. Was my DNA even in a proper state to clone, thanks to all the interface''s mutations?


    The doctor laughed lightly, putting the paperwork down. ¡°Not at all. It''s just a minor aesthetic issue. The eye color is a bit¡­ off. The rest of it is perfectly fine, though. The lab rats scanned it all.¡±


    ¡°If it''s just the eye color, I guess it isn¡¯t that bad¡­¡± I went silent as Jessica, one of the nurses, returned with a jar full of some kind of liquid. Four eyes floated gently in the liquid. The irises of all of them were a bright pink instead of my naturally dull grey eyes. Minor cosmetic changes indeed.


    The doctor handed me a clipboard. ¡°Alright then, sign here. Oh, and would you like to keep your DNA in cold storage? It¡¯ll drastically speed up the cloning process if you ever need something in the future. It''s just a hundred Rayn a month.¡±


    Hmm¡­ I doubt I¡¯ll need to come here all that frequently. And this might be a one-off situation. ¡°No?¡±


    "Here you go, miss. You can just put it on over your clothes." A nurse handed me a surgical gown. I threw it on, protecting my new clothes.


    The doctor smiled. ¡°That''s perfectly fine. It a large commitment. Slab Co. recommends replacing cloned organs every year. Following city law, I am obligated to inform you that clone flesh begins to deteriorate within five years. It is highly, highly recommended that you have it replaced or removed by the fourth year. If you understand this, sign the next page too.¡±


    We went through a breakdown of a few other documents and warnings I had to sign off on before the surgery finally started. The doctor strapped a breathing mask to my face, and I faded into unconsciousness immediately.


    -- -- --


    AN: Heyo! It''s about that time of the month again that I flaunt my Patreon. If you want to read ahead or otherwise support me, go check me out? I sometimes upload exclusive content there, like a few artworks every once in a while. Patreon.com/lostrain


    Also, I found Outrun on an aggregate site. Wild to think it''s become big enough for people to start taking it without asking my permission. If you''re reading this anywhere else except for Royal Road or Scribble Hub, its stolen. Unfortunately, I can''t really do anything about it other than leave a warning every once in a while.

 Chapter 226

    I rubbed at my new eye, looking around my speakeasy as I moved to the back workshop. Everything was as I left it. No sign of any intruder. One less worry on my shoulders if this place was still safe.


    The eye would take some getting used to. It was slightly worse off than my normal eye, but still far better than my vision had been back before the system. After the surgery, the interface had mutated the cloned flesh, applying all my Perks to it. It likewise had an amber core in the pink iris and changed to a vertical pupil. It''d been unbearably uncomfortable, though I managed to not react and keep it relatively well hidden.


    The eye itself felt a little weird like it was heavier or something. Maybe since I just got it? I could feel that the clone flesh eye wasn''t natural just the same as when I had chrome. It would take some getting used to.


    I also stopped by Nael''s on the way here and got a checkup. He fixed up my chrome, including the datajacks at my wrists. That''d been a process and half, and I was glad I had him around to help out.


    Before doing anything, I dumped kerosene onto the silver Crystallization Array and started the tedious process of making Crystalized Fire. It could run in the background while I did some other stuff. I had a feeling I¡¯d need a lot of it, especially with some ideas I had. It was time to put the molotovs to rest and make some proper fire grenades.


    First things first though, I needed to repair all my gear. I started with my backpack. The ash and soot weren¡¯t hard to wash out, and the glass shards I shook out easily enough. I covered a few holes with patches, making the whole thing look more rustic. I could probably sell it as a designer item if I had to. Just getting a new backpack wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea, but I really didn¡¯t want to reintegrate the Drop Chutes and Blackout into a new one. S§×arch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    The Drop Chutes themselves were still in good enough condition, though I went around and fixed a few minor dinks and some messed-up wiring. Blackout¡¯s focusing lens was broken, so it also needed a replacement. Simple enough to do. I also threw the battery on the charger.


    I hammered my shock gauntlet back into shape and repaired the wiring. Then I rooted through my scrap chrome for more pieces to make another one. I¡¯d have to print some parts to make it capable of shocking again, so I just made the basic shape, set up the SITCH to make the microelectronics, and then moved on while I waited for the printer to finish.


    My poncho was gone, unfortunately. I spent a while on the company¡¯s website messing around with designs and different options before I finally ordered a new one. Of course I went with the climate control, which had been particularly nice. With fall coming up, and later winter, climate control would be extremely important for staying warm. Winters in Aythryn City were brutal.


    This time I opted for a five-preset chroma. I went with the same basic urban camo, desert camo, bright white, and the two new options were a forest camo and a Blue Crusade pattern with the shield and laurel emblem on the back. The forest probably wouldn¡¯t get much use, but I was finding myself in more and more situations where I was surrounded by greenery these days. The Crusade one was so I could wear it over my Crusade gear more comfortably.


    They had so many cool options I wanted to get too, but they jumped up the price significantly. For instance, electrokinetic tassels that shocked anyone who touched me, psychedelic graffiti mode which could daze and confuse opponents, reactive ballistic weave that could stiffen to resist small arms and knives, and dozens of other options. They even had a whole line of magical effects I briefly glanced through. Most of them required being an Adept or Magus to get any use out of though. The more advanced options started at twenty-thousand Rayn.


    Seriously impressive how far Poncho Unlimited was pushing poncho technologies, though the only other feature I settled on was simple EMP shielding. It was a kind of tech that could minorly help resist a Netrunner and fully protect against EMP and microwave-type attacks. All in all, the price was way higher at four thousand Rayn compared to the fifteen hundred last time.


    I checked my First International Boswan Bank account: eighty-three thousand, three hundred and four Rayn left. I¡¯d already used about a fifth of what I earned from the job with the Crimson Company. Granted, most of that was spent buying explosives, chemicals, and gear. And I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about rent anymore. My poor apartment.


    The first batch of Crystalized Fire was just finishing up, so I pulled out the red glowing crystal and started the next one. For now, I just left it off to the side while I continued work on other things.


    Next up on the list¡­ gear upgrades? I guess? Or the wrist guns¡­ let''s go with upgrades first. I started with the Scouters. I fully stripped the design to its basic parts and reworked the entire blueprint. I got rid of the Hibisen slot since I hardly used it, slimming the profile down even more. It was now about the size of an eye.


    The camera also got a massive rework. It went from a frankly low-quality cam to a high-quality one with a night vision toggle incorporated into it. I even threw in some micro mics upgraded and adapted from my Listeners. I wanted to add some thermal imaging into it too, but the battery wouldn¡¯t be able to hold up with all the features. I set the printer to start working on Scouter 3.0¡¯s electronics once it finished the gauntlet parts.


    My turrets also got an upgrade, though it was just the targeting software. On top of that, I added manual kill switches to every single piece of my tech just in case. I¡¯d hate for a Netrunner to hijack something and use it against me. Especially one of my turrets.


    With the upgrades done, I moved on to the wrist guns. The parts were already all printed and ready for me to work on, so I started putting it all together. The targeting arrays that were supposed to be built into them were useless at the moment since I had gone with a flesh eye this time, so I skipped them for the time being.


    I ran into a few issues with my new toys, though they were relatively minor ones. Half the design was modified from Sentinel¡¯s stuff, so it was really just my adjustments and modifications that caused hitches. There was a reason they made theirs the way it was. The biggest issue was in making the thing so slim that some of the parts came out extremely weak.


    Once I finished the first one, I loaded it up with point twenty-twos. It was a hefty piece of tech even without the sixteen shots. Just holding it while fully loaded weighed my arm down. My next variant would need some serious adjustments to the weight, but for now I could just- just get used to it, I guess.


    I went down to the Underground, back to where I set up a temporary firing range. I wasn¡¯t gonk enough to test it out while wearing the gauntlet. I just regrew my hand and I¡¯d rather not have it blown off again. Instead, I set up a string to fire it from safety.


    I ran several tests, most of them missing the target horribly as I worked out a few kinks in the mechanisms. The biggest issue was the drum mag design. It just- it wasn¡¯t as good as I hoped it would be. It was a cool aesthetic, but, like¡­ aesthetic wasn¡¯t worth my life?


    It was bulky, heavy, and had serious jamming issues. I could hardly get two or three shots off before I needed to manually adjust something. And it was noisy. The components inside jiggled around quite a bit, which could complicate things considering my usual MO. I could try to fix it, but I wasn¡¯t even sure if it was worth the effort.


    Back up in my temporary workshop, I reworked the schematic slightly after prepping another batch of Crystalized Fire. Chopping the heavy drum mag entirely, I went with a belt feed instead. It would be far lighter, easier to store, and less restrictive on my wrist.


    I set the new parts to print, this time using my old printer since the SITCH was busy. While all that was going on, I sat back and started working on something entirely new on my sketchpad.


    AOE and power were my biggest issues by far. No matter what situation I found myself in, I never had a good solution for taking out multiple enemies quickly. Frag grenades were simple and easy, but they were lacking in their own ways. And, on the same note, I still didn¡¯t have anything to take out large opponents.


    The Blaze rounds were cool, but Aether Imbued bullets needed more investment before they could pull off the large, serious damage I wanted. The only reason my current set of Blaze rounds worked was thanks to their good effect on the human body. Getting hit with what was essentially thermite was a terrifying prospect.


    A simple solution came to mind, one that I¡¯d been putting off for several reasons. Cost, experimentation, weight, bulk, and in-combat deployment time were a few of the problems why I¡¯d been shoving it off.


    Weight and bulk could be fixed with a few methods, and the in-combat deployment time wouldn¡¯t be as big of a problem as I originally thought it would be. Recent ventures had proven that my typical style was good for buying time and repositioning. I just needed a heavy hitter to help me get by.


    The simple solution was a big gun. Simple, like I said. Some kind of grenade launcher or heavy-caliber rifle would do the trick. Even both depending on how I set it.


    Of course, making a system that could fire both heavy calibers and toggle for a grenade launcher would be very complicated. And honesty, probably not worth it. Carrying both would also not be great considering all the added weight. An under-barrel grenade launcher would work, but I had a different idea.


    If I shifted focus onto a non-conventional weapon platform, my main issues were solved. For instance a coil gun. They were rarer than conventional firearms in the modern age, mainly thanks to being harder to produce, maintain, far worse durability in rugged locations, harder logistically, and way more expensive. Oh, and most coil guns weren¡¯t automatic thanks to the limitations of the tech.


    That isn¡¯t to say they weren¡¯t around though. I did some research on coilguns as I thought about the design. Most of the time they¡¯re favored for specialty options. Snipers in particular liked them, as did corporate operators.


    As for me, a coil gun would make a good secondary weapon to have, though I¡¯d save it only for situations where I needed AOE or my main rifle lacked damage. It¡¯d give me that umph that my current kit lacked.


    All that being said, they were complicated and the battery would be a slight issue. The design itself wouldn¡¯t be too bad to set up though. Electromagnetic weapons were one of the main research branches of Sentinel, so I had a dozen different designs stored away in my memory.


    Sentinel worked on everything from rotary-type miniguns to assist rapid fire to micro pistol-style coil-guns. There were options for everything from non-lethal shotgun pellet designs to high-powered flechette snipers that could auto-adjust for wind and other factors that would affect the shot.


    Then there were the highly experimental specialty-type electromagnetic guns. Things like the ¡®Hurricane¡¯, which absorbed incoming shots using a projected magnetic field, then shot them back in a maelstrom of pure destruction. The Hurricane required a mounted exoskeleton or to be anchored on a vehicle though. Or the ¡®Singularity¡¯ which supposedly used overcharged Gravitic rounds to create temporary localized gravity wells. Each round would be insanely expensive if it used Gravitic, though a localized gravity well would be highly destructive.


    Sentinel was cooking up some terrifying weapons, and that was just on the coil gun side of things. Their rail cannons were even more horrifying. There''s a reason most of the stuff was experimental though. The Hurricane had severe friendly fire issues and the Singularity exploded frequently according to the research notes.


    A favorite feature of their blueprints was togglable Whisper mode, which fired at the perfect velocity to be entirely silent. Perfect for me. And they had a bunch of different variants of non-lethal modes for riot control purposes. They also had some micro-battery designs, but they needed stuff I wouldn¡¯t be able to get my hands on. I could copy their lightweight micro-capacitors though.


    I thought through the stored blueprints one more time, pulling out any key features as I started designing something to fit my purposes. It¡¯d be a rifle, one lightweight with the capability of firing a bunch of different calibers without issue. Built-in toggles to adjust projectile velocity too. I pulled out dozens of design elements, throwing them together and working on a beast of a rifle. It¡¯d take time to get everything set up though. It looked to be the most delicate and complex build I¡¯d ever taken on.


    Unfortunately, I didn''t feel like I¡¯d have time with the way things were going. For the time being, while I worked on the coil gun¡¯s design, I started printing a fairly simple grenade launcher. It¡¯d give me some better firepower for now while I worked on other things. I copied one of the blueprints I stole from the Night Market down exactly then queued it to print.


    I also set the printer to start working on grenades to be fired from it. They were based on things I saw in the Night Market. The first was a basic frag. The second was essentially a molotov. I could print the shells and stuff for now, though I¡¯d have to prime them manually later.


    With all my machines running and printing parts for the future, I left the speakeasy and called a taxi. My next location was the Crusade apartment I''d been given. It was incredibly late and I was more than ready to sleep the night away.

 Chapter 227

    Four days passed quickly as I tinkered around and set my gear up. I even went and started making different elements for Aether Imbuement. At the moment, it was only ice imbuements that I had to a stable condition, but I had plans for a bunch of different ones way down the line.


    Anyway, my gear was all repaired and ready to go. I even had some new additions on top of that. Everything¡ªexcept the coil gun¡ªwas ready for combat. Even my wristguns, which had been heavily modified once more, were good to go. One shot was loaded with ice, and the other fire.


    I spent most of my time relaxing and stress-testing my tech. It felt like the calm before the storm as I rested and recuperated. I even spent some time drawing just for fun. Of course, all while repairing my gear. And it''s a good thing I finished when I did, as I got a call from the Inquisitor shortly after.


    ¡±Hello?¡± I answered the phone call and set down the custom-built capacitor I¡¯d been messing with. The coilgun was still a work in progress, though I had hopes I''d be able to finish it with a couple more weeks of testing.


    ¡±It¡¯sh go time. We¡¯re about to move on Shentinel. Briefing in thirty at the seminar center above the BC Gym. Floor ten. The entire Crusade is being called in on this one, including the other precincts.¡± The Inquisitor informed me before hanging up almost immediately.


    I sat there, staring at my SITCH as it chugged along, for several minutes as I mentally tried to piece together what the Inquisitor said. Moving on Sentinel¡­ I mean, I figured it¡¯d happen at some point. The Circle had Sentinel equipment, was deeply embedded into the megacorp, and the final ritual circle was supposedly aboard Sentinel¡¯s Supercarrier. They definitely had a connection.


    Hell, the reason Sentinel''s ship was even here was thanks to their tech being stolen. The Circle may have even been the ones who planned everything and hired Nathos--the original interface holder--in the first place.


    Still¡­ the Blue Crusade going against one of the Big 7, eh? Normally, I¡¯d say going against the Big 7 was suicide. This was an exception. The Crusade had a fighting force that could make even the Big 7 hesitant. Not worried, but hesitant. Aythryn City wasn¡¯t the only city under BC control, and there was a veritable army to call upon.


    Was this going to be the start of another corporate war? Or did they get permission to board and investigate Sentinel? The latter was more likely, especially considering the higher-ups of Sentinel would want to be rid of Circle corruption just as much as we wanted them gone. Then again, there was no telling how far the Circle¡¯s reach was. They even had one of the Crusade¡¯s High Lords under their thumb.


    Whatever¡­ I¡¯ll figure everything out during the briefing, I guess. Depending on how it played out, I might cut ties and run. Attacking one of the Big 7 was a good way to get flatlined. Though, even if I ran, there was a good chance I''d get caught. They weren''t a megacorp for no reason.


    Before doing anything else, I sent a message to Shinobu. ¡®Crusade making its move. Bad time to be out.¡¯


    A few minutes later, as I cleaned up, a response from the Jade Fang Enforcer came. ¡®Roger. Thanks, mikata. I¡¯ve informed the Elders. The Matriarch sends her regards, as well as a gift next time you come by the Dragoon Saloon.¡¯


    I finished cleaning up, gathered all my gear, and left the speakeasy. On my way back, I adjusted my new poncho to show off the Crusade¡¯s colors. I ran by my apartment, changing into Crusade gear and mentally preparing myself. Next stop, the BC Gym.


    ¡ª ¡ª ¡ª


    I stepped into the seminar center and immediately slammed with a wall of noise from thousands of people talking. Even if all of them spoke in low voices, there were enough people here that it all built up. At least ten thousand, if not more, Crusaders were present.


    I stared around the massive room. Honestly, calling this place a seminar center was a bit unfair. It was closer to an arena than anything. An arena filled to the brim with Blue Crusade wackos. The intimidation and guilt radiating from the thousands of enchantments was on a whole other level. I felt sweat trickle down my spine as I looked around for the section numbers.


    Inquisitor Ligh was seated near the front, alongside the Squires. I moved to them, taking a saved seat between Joshua, the shady-looking Squire I¡¯d met once, and Hope.


    Hope smiled at me. For once, she nailed the expression as her face seemed to light up, and the heavy bags under her eyes lifted cheerfully. ¡°Zuku! Glad to see you! Had us worried back at the container yard...¡±


    ¡±Hope.¡± I returned her smile, holding out my gauntleted fist. ¡°Thanks for the timely assistance back then.¡±


    She bumped my fist with her own as I took my seat. ¡°Of course, of course¡­ new eye? The pink suits you.¡±


    My hand raised to my left eye automatically, touching just below it. I¡¯d yet to look at it too much, but it was a really pretty pink shade. After it mutated thanks to Panther¡¯s Sight, it even had a faint glow alongside an amber center. ¡°Thanks¡­ accidental though. The clone flesh mutated.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ still, it looks good.¡± Hope nodded to my neck. ¡°So, you get the tracker removed? Even in a severely injured state, you were practically wailing at us to take you to Fox¡¯s Shrine when we tried to move you.¡±


    I felt my cheeks warm up slightly in embarrassment. ¡°Sorry about that¡­ I don¡¯t really remember anything after the explosion. The tracker  gone though.¡±


    ¡±Nova! One less thing to worry about.¡± She sighed as she glanced around the massive room. ¡°Got enough worries as is.¡±


    ¡±Zuku, right?¡± Joshua asked from my side. He eyed my gear with a look that I certainly recognized in his eyes. Not quite greed, but¡­ interest. ¡°Still in one piece, I see.¡±


    I shrugged, pulling my poncho a bit tighter around me to cover up most of my stuff. ¡°Barely.¡±


    He smiled lightly at my action and winked. ¡°Dev and I were out in the field at that time. He was quite beside himself when we got the news.¡±


    Dev, sitting next to Joshua, punched him in the shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t go telling lies, bastard.¡±


    Joshua chuckled as he rubbed his arm. ¡°Hey now, can¡¯t blame me for-¡°


    The massive sound system in the seminar arena crackled to life as the Commander¡¯s voice came across. ¡°Testing, testing¡­ we¡¯re good?¡±


    I was close enough to see him in detail, but for those further away there was a massive jumbotron above the central stage. This place was seriously decked out. Surely it wasn¡¯t just used as a seminar center, right? That¡¯d be such a waste.


    ¡°Alright, glad you see you all here¡­ We¡¯ve got, what, half Aythryn City¡¯s Crusade present? Let''s get straight to the point then, yeah?¡±


    The Commander waited for a few moments before nodding his shadowed face. The shadows on stage coalesced, forming a massive symbol of the Crusade. The shadows slowly faded, changing colors as the emblem turned into a blaze of crackling blue flames.


    The Commander finally spoke up. ¡°We¡¯re launching an all-out Inquisition! Lock in, game faces on, and let strength ! They underestimate the Crusade, looking down on us like we¡¯re weak¡­ that ends ! It¡¯s time to shake this city to its core. Its time to remind them, and everyone watching, once more why we¡¯re the ones at the top!


    ¡°The target is Sentinel! A quarter of us are headed to the Phalanx Supercarrier, a quarter to Sentinel¡¯s building, and the rest of you are assigned to various Circle hideouts we¡¯ve identified.¡±


    A hologram popped up, revealing the entire city covered in red markers. ¡±Listen up! We¡¯re only going over this once¡­¡±


    The briefing continued for hours afterward, with groups splintering off as their jobs and missions were assigned. Basically, the plan was for an all-out attack. Yeah, typical Crusade. Simple, but effective.


    Oh! Also, we have Sentinel¡¯s cooperation to look into everything. We won¡¯t be sparking the next corporate war over this, which is definitely a relief. The last one nearly tore the planet apart as it ended with the Internet Crash. And the one before that ended with a country being nearly vaporized by BosSpace''s Orbital Piledriver. Scary stuff.


    After the briefing ended, we split up into groups. I joined the Inquisitor and his Squires in the elevator as we headed for the flyer bay at the top of the building. According to the plan, we¡¯d take a flyer all the way to the carrier from here.


    ¡±Sho, everyone knowsh the plan?¡± The Inquisitor asked. ¡°We¡¯ll be taking the rear, investigating after the vanguard knights passed through the place.¡± S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.


    ¡±Uh-¡° Joshua raised a hand. ¡°There''s something I still don''t get. Why¡¯d Sentinel suddenly say okay? We¡¯ve been requesting permission to board for over a month, right?¡±


    The Inquisitor leaned against the elevator wall, fishing a familiar flask from his pocket. ¡°Water really quenchesh thirsht¡­ they lost contact with the carrier a day ago.¡±


    ¡±So they¡¯re saving manpower by letting us go first?¡± Hope asked. A sour expression clung to her face. ¡°Typical corpos.¡±


    Hmm¡­ it was smart on their part though. Can¡¯t really blame them. For the entire supercarrier to go down without getting a distress call out implied an extremely strong force raided the ship. Why waste their own manpower when they can send in the Crusade? Although¡­ it would¡¯ve been cool to see Sentinel¡¯s Valkyries in action.


    ¡±Prechise- preshiousl-¡° The Inquisitor sighed and shook his head. ¡°Affirmative. Honeshtly, the Sentinel brat in Aythryn City was the one who pushed the plan forward, at leasht according to internal shources.¡±


    ¡±Really? Wasn¡¯t he supposed to be the useless, unloved son of the family?¡± Joshua asked.


    Were they- were they talking about Sean? He¡¯s the only one that I can think of that might get called a Sentinel brat¡­ still, calling him unloved and useless wasn¡¯t very nice. Sure, he was a bit stupid, but he had a good heart from what I saw. I mean, he still texts me every once in a while. At least he contacts me more than Mira.


    ¡±One of dozens of unloved kids. Anyway, the brat hash been more active recently. Probably hoping accomplishing shomething will earn daddy¡¯s love.¡± The Inquisitor tossed the flask back into his pocket. ¡°Shucks for us. Now we have to worry about Shentinel becoming more active. As if Shen Kang pushing in washn¡¯t a big enough issue.¡±


    I zoned out as they continued to talk. How is Sean? I should really send him a message. I kinda miss just hanging out and talking to someone my age. Maybe once this was over, assuming I live through it, I could claim to come into town for a visit? Could probably eat well on his card, at least.


    After a while, the conversation died as the elevator dinged. We stepped out into the flyer bay. It was absolutely packed with people and vehicles. Front and center though were massive flyers being boarded by dozens of Crusaders at a time. There were three in here, and about three dozen of them hovering just outside with their lights flashing.


    Each beast was about the size of a train car and built like a flying tank. The armaments and armor could probably surpass even a Medevac from Medtech. A massive main cannon sat on top, with several turrets poking out of various spots. It was painted a dark blue with silver highlights, seemingly pulsing with blue and red lights like it was alive.


    Unfortunately, it was too big to scan with Technical Expertise unless I got the opportunity to walk all over it and freely caress every inch of the beautiful tech. I doubt I¡¯d get an opportunity though. Shame.


    The back hatch of the vehicle--a Knight Security Waymaker--sat open, allowing Crusaders and varied personnel into its main bay. Several logistics teams were loading boxes of something into the middle of the storage bay. Ammo, maybe?


    We joined the boarding group, following Inquisitor Ligh like he was a mother duck as we likewise took seats inside the absolute beast of a vehicle. I glanced at Hope next to me, following her actions as she strapped into the seat.


    ¡°First time in one of these?¡± Hope asked as she noticed me following her.


    ¡±Chek¡­ I didn¡¯t even know they existed.¡± Granted, I also didn¡¯t look up at the Crusade very much growing up. When I heard the sirens and saw the lights, I kept my head down and got out of the way.


    Hope smiled, though it took on a vicious tone as her eyes seemed to wickedly crinkle. ¡°They¡¯re usually locked in the armory. It¡¯s the second time I¡¯ve seen them used en masse since I joined.¡±


    ¡±When was the first?¡± Man, I would love to go to the Crusade''s armory for a little looksie. They probably had all sorts of cool stuff in there, wherever there was.


    ¡±About four years ago? Maybe? A massive horde of Dune Walkers approached the city, and a monster wave started thanks to it.¡± She shrugged. ¡°It was a while ago.¡±


    I thought back, faintly remembering such an event. I would''ve been... what, twelve? The memories were faint though. Hell, everything before the interface felt a bit faint, like it was another life entirely. So much has changed since then.


    We chatted idly about this and that with Joshua occasionally jumping in to say something. The Inquisitor was quiet the entire time, sitting upright and staring ahead in perfect posture.


    Eventually, though, the flyer pulled out of the landing bay and took off. Next stop, the Phalanx Supercarrier.