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"Bookworm, you start. I've got your back."
"Got it, Silent..."
Becca moved ahead. I walked about five meters behind her, watching her movements carefully. It wasn't that I didn't trust her, but covering her was necessary, as enemies could pull an unpleasant surprise out of nowhere. Especially considering her Sandevistan, though military grade, was old-gen and nowhere near experimental.
"Enemy spotted..."
"Work clean. Your Sandi doesn't let you pull the same stunts mine does."
"Yeah, I know that..."
Becca sounded mildly annoyed.
"Sorry, I'm a little wired."
"Uh-huh... forget it..."
Becca was already right by the entrance to the Maelstrom base and immediately drove a knife up through the chin, straight into the brain, of a gonk who didn't even see her coming. He hadn't hit the ground yet when a second guard was already collapsing beside him.
"Entrance clear..."
The door slowly hissed open after we slotted a shard into the maintenance port. I wish I could say that, but this time, the control panel was clearly severed from the system, its cables completely cut. Long story short, we had to find a new way in.
Ugh, Maelstrom is still just a gang, not a corporation, and finding a gap in their defenses wasn't exactly hard. Ten minutes later, we were inside the building, having slipped through a window. Naturally, we didn't just slip in; I used my optics to scope out the interior first and made sure the room was empty. After that, I pried up the metal blinds and just cranked them right up.
"We're inside..."
"See it. Slot that shard into a comp, already, or we're flying blind..."
"Silent?"
I nodded at Becca's question and bolted, kicking my Sandi up to a higher setting. Soon, a couple of comps and access points were found, the shards slotted in. Still, I decided not to return to Becca. She might get pissed if I tail her like a puppy for the whole gig. She's not a little girl or a green newbie, after all...
Although, when it comes to silent infiltration and noise-free work...
I have to admit, if she had zero experience, I wouldn't be afraid to offend her, and I'd be shadowing her the entire time.
"Bookworm, I'll take the upper floors while you sweep this one."
"Got it..."
I found the staircase easily and started heading up. The building was three stories, so I decided to start from the top and work my way down to meet Becca.
Once on the third floor, I cranked the Sandi up to my usual acceleration level and zeroed all the Maelstrom gonks in a flash. After that, I paused next to the staircase, staring thoughtfully down at the second-floor landing.
Fuuuck... If I do this, I'll do everything myself, as always, and Becca will be left without work... Then why did I even push her to do a quiet run?
Ugh, I sighed and decided to sweep the floor, pushing my optics to maximum, but I found nothing interesting. Ten minutes later, I was back at the stairs.
"Bookworm, what's your status?"
"Finishing up the first floor..."
"Got it."
"Did you already clear the third and second floors?"
A hint of sadness tinged Becca's voice.
"Nah. Decided to leave the second floor for you. And honestly, I'm thinking we should probably split the crew for tasks this easy. It's just too..."
"Too simple for you?"
"Yeah... Ugh, though you know as well as I do that these kinds of jobs are the bread and butter of our prosperity."
"Can't argue with that, but I call working with Snowflake!"
"Hey?! What about asking me?!"
"You got a problem with that?"
Becca's voice held a note of genuine hurt.
"No... it's just that being presented with a done deal on something this important isn't cool."
"But you agree?"
"Yeah, Bookworm, I agree."
"Great! And Cherry is coming with us, too..."
"Agreed."
"Well, go to hell then. Mentor and I will have a choomba of a time working with Silent..."
A touch of slight offense was audible in Judy's voice.
"Bookworm, I think you offended our Whiz..."
"Hey, I didn't mean anything! It's just that personally, it's easier and more comfortable for me to work with Snowflake and Cherry..."
"Yeah, right... I get it..."
"Alright, Whiz, stop pouting. What, you're not happy about working with me?"
"I'm happy..."
"Then what's the problem?"
"The problem is being presented with a fact, instead of getting a choice, or maybe setting up a raffle. We're family, and this is such a hit... practically spitting on my soul...."
Though from her tone, it was obvious she didn't actually feel that way.
"You're overacting..."
I shook my head and sat down on the stairs.
"Okay, I found a route to the basement..."
"Then the second floor is all mine?"
"Uh-huh... move out."
I kicked on the Sandi and dropped down to the second floor. There, in one of the rooms, was a panicking Hal, practically pacing the room from corner to corner. I even turned off my Sandi.
"What the hell is going on here?! When are these degenerates gonna fix the comms?! What's wrong with their network that they can't link up with anyone, not from the first, not from the third floor?!"
His eyes lit up, but then immediately dimmed, and he went pale...
"Shit... it has to be him... but he doesn't take clean-out jobs... why is he here?! Right, Hal, calm down, he hasn't come for you yet, so there's still time. And... no way she could track me down that fast! No way! That means he's here because of Maelstrom..."
Hal froze, and the panic that had been twisting his face moments before smoothed out.
"Fuck, what bad luck to run into him, of all people, but I can play this purist. I doubt Regina told him all the details. And about that slut... well, I'll find something to feed him... yeah, the main thing is to get him to come closer..."
I still hadn't deactivated my camouflage system, and spotting me would be difficult, especially given my position. So I watched the scene with interest. And considering my optics were recording the whole time...
Hmm, I think my girls will enjoy seeing the target tie himself up.
Meanwhile, Hal actually found some rope, quickly tied a complex knot, and looped it onto a radiator. Then he found a knife and hid it where he could draw it quickly, and then he put some kind of tricky loop on his own wrists. Based on his testing, it was a knot he could undo with a quick tug of his hands, letting him stick the knife into me.
Ah, so the guy's preem at knots...
Activating my Sandi, I phased out of the room purely out of curiosity and then re-entered, but this time with the camouflage system off.
"Hal?"
I feigned extreme surprise at seeing him in the room.
"Silent! I'm so glad to see you! Can you help me?"
I smiled.
"Of course I can..."
I smirked, catching his eye, while my own gaze was anything but kind.
"...right after you explain why the hell you drove that poor girl into cyberpsychosis."
"It was an accident!"
"Yeah, sure..."
I nodded my head.
"...tell me more."
"Well... she turned me down, and I got really pissed. She's a Mox, you know..."
He wiggled his brows, as if hinting at something. He was hinting, actually—Moxes have a rep for being slightly sex-obsessed chicks, but only because they run Lizzie's, essentially run security for the dolls, and trade in sexually charged braindances. In reality, no doll working that street is in the gang. Moxes aren't whores, so it's just rumors. But overall, for a dim-witted edgerunner, which Hal somehow thinks I am, his story might fly.
"Well... that's not a reason, choom..."
"Come on! I offered her eddies, status, the works, and she sent me packing. Me! So I freaked a little. It wasn't supposed to end like this. I mean, the girl would've fallen into a coma... nothing too bad would've happened, but she turned out to be too unstable, and..."
"Got it..."
Ugh, I sighed.
"So, an accident?"
"Silent, I'm just in time, right? You don't think he's telling you the truth, do you? You can't put someone in a coma with a braindance... well, you can, but you have no idea how difficult it is to correctly calculate the load on the brain. It's so difficult that with all my experience, and knowing you guys inside and out, I wouldn't risk pulling a stunt like that with any of you..."
"Whiz, hold on... this is a whole show... and I want to see what else this gonk will come up with to try and lure Silent in and stick a knife in his heart."
"Uh... do you mean that literally, or figuratively, about the knife?"
"Literally, of course!"
"Hmm..."
"You just haven't been tracking the environment from the start. Silent stood here cloaked for a bit, watched how this guy was freaking out in the room and saying his plan out loud..."
"Uh... and I missed that?"
"Yeah. But you know what the funniest thing is?"
"Hmm..."
Doubt crept into Judy's voice.
"...that the others didn't see it?"
"Almost... that Bookworm didn't see it."
"Pfff!"
The entire conversation didn't take long, and I continued to bore holes into Hal with a suspicious stare.
"No, I'm not lying! I really only meant to send her into a coma! A short one, too. She'd lie there for a day, then wake up, and her chrome would glitch a bit for another week! Nothing more!"
"Sure? Keep in mind, I might not know jack about netrunning, but once my runner-chicks are done with the system hack, I'll ask them about it..."
"Yes, totally sure! Just untie me already!"
The words about me not working alone and having people to fact-check that kind of info hit him hard... Basically, they made him rush me into action.
"Alright..."
I took a couple of steps toward Hal, saw the triumph flare in his eyes, and then stopped dead.
"...and you're sure you're not bullshitting me?"
I stared at him, suspicion heavy in my eyes.
"Absolutely sure! You've got runners! If I'm lying, they'll tell you everything, and it's not like I'm going anywhere!"
"Fair point..."
I nodded my head thoughtfully and stepped in closer.
WHIP!
I didn't even need to activate the Sandi. I smoothly intercepted his hand, the one clenching the knife, grabbing his wrist, which made him grip the knife even tighter, and then I twisted it, eliciting a rather loud crunch.
"A-a-a-a-a-a!"
"Oops, sorry, looks like I broke your arm..."
I scanned the arm with my optics.
"...in two places."
"You motherfucker!"
"I'm not a motherfucker..."
I shook my head.
"...I'm a cable. A cabling-son-of-a-bitch, even. Look, I can understand a lot of things: anger at a girl, the desire for revenge on a woman who stiffed you, though I definitely wouldn't take revenge this way... I'd set up a couple of petty pranks... or maybe just chuck her out of my head, just dreaming about her suffering..."
Ugh, I sighed.
"To hell with you, I can't understand or accept it, but still... explain it to this idiot: why the hell did you decide to risk your job for a moment of revenge?"
"What the fuck are you talki— A-a-a-a-a!"
I gave a slight tug on his arm, which I still hadn't released.
"Don't touch my mom..."
I frowned slightly and shook my head.
"...or my girls. That's a heads-up for the future. You understand me?"
"Understood! Understood!"
"Good. Now tell me, why? Answer my question."
"I don't understand!"
"Seems like you still think I ended up here by chance?"
I smirked.
"Well then, I'm gonna disappoint you: I'm here precisely because of you. You've got a tag on your head..."
"But you don't do clean-outs!"
"For a piece of trash like you, who nearly drove a girl cyberpsycho just because she wouldn't give him any, I decided to make an exception. But since you don't want to talk..."
I punched him, knocking him out, and then slotted the shard into the jack.
"Ladies, get to work... pull everything out of this body."
"Copy that..."
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