The hunger was unbearable. R4 rose up from the floor where she had been lying and with a gesture threw aside the bonds that had held her. Only in afterthought did she notice they had been chains. The door before her refused to open as she pushed on it. Somewhere in the dark corners of her mind she could read it said Pull on it, yet that too resulted in no success save a low rattling sound. With a flick of her claws the tier 0 door fell apart.

[[Ghrelin hormone levels at 300% normal. Thyroid function abnormal.]] R4 ignored the prompt, her growling stomach leading the way. The heat was unbearable, she needed water, but more than that she needed food.

“Hey choom, you feeling any better?” The first man she saw was a dimdwell covered with tattoos and wearing some manner of patched together armor. If she thought about it she could remember his name, but in the time it took her claws were slick with his blood and she was already cracking open his skull for what lay within.

“Hey choom, why am I so hungry?” R4 heard the voice within her head, even as she finished off the man’s body and poured what blood she could over herself. Her metabolism was off the charts, and while the cool blood helped it was not nearly enough. “Hey, I think I saw,” The names blurred within her mind, “in the next room. Let’s go eat.”

The next few minutes were a horror, or a feast. With each body R4 wanted to stop, yet her hunger drove her onward. Every bite was ecstasy, reminding her of the best feasts she had enjoyed at home. Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner could not compare. With every feast she felt herself become more diluted, more voices in her head, less coherent sentences. Every meal brought more hunger, for how could one be full when dozens starved? Yet every voice brought more power. Some sensation called to her, and she followed a hallway. Before her a trio of faceless victims were chained against strange rubbery walls. Long claws itched to be used, and fangs itched for meat.

“This has to be a nightmare.” She trilled to herself. “Wait, that’s it, Red, end simulation.”

“Huh, R4? Are you up?” Immediately the vision froze as if it were a paused video. E4 still couldn’t see who she had been approaching, but she could tell it was not herself, N2, and the man with the mechanical arm. “We were not sure if you were awake or not.” A moment later R4 blinked, and saw a vaguely red fluid in all direction. She tried to move, only for something to catch her arms. “Try not to move too much, your ascension isn’t quite done.”

“So Red, what was that?”

“The vision? We were borrowing some computing power you were not using in order to go over the files siphoned from your last gig. It seems Gentek is interested in Rat Face.” Immediately several documents appeared over R4’s face. She could tell they weren’t real, but they were legible. Seeing as she wasn’t going anywhere she gave them a read over.

“Lot of jargon in here. That much ghrelin, that’s a hunger hormone right? Thing must’ve been starvin’. Guess when y’er that hungry even raw flesh looks good.” She flipped a few pages. “Significant degradation of the brain, and lots of prions. That’s bad right right?”

“Super stable proteins which really do not belong in the brain. They couldn’t really put the brain back together after what Issac did to it, but they tried. They weren’t really sure what to make of the chitin fragments they found, but they found significant scarring encapsulating prion formations. The isopod isn’t exactly a brain, but I can’t imagine that was pleasant. All those super stable proteins bouncing around and sending false signals until the scar tissue could mute it.”

“In the vision, every time he ate someone, he could still hear them.” R4 noted. She paused. “When I was with Issac, in my nightmare, I could do the same. I heard him, he actually approved of me eating him, and told me to,”

[[NO FURTHER]]. The voice shook R4 to the core. It had all the bass of a rushing avalanche, and twice the authority. Had it demanded Terrazo stop its spinning around Helios-7 R4 would have given even odds it would happen

“I guess Mara doesn’t like that topic?” R4 asked.

“No. She does not. The data lifted from the Veritable job turned out to be Gentek’s. They were interested Rat Face and the ravagers.”

“And that means me as well, right?” R4 replied. She reached up for her horns, finding them a bit larger than before. They came from behind her ears and curved up towards the top of her head. She could probably still wear a hat, but it they kept growing it would become difficult. If she layered her hair right she could probably hide them, and a hoodie could do so easily, but it would make wearing a helmet tricky. They reminded her of goat horns, though they were oddly flat. Given their shape they almost resembled a halo. “Experimental cyberware, or bioware.”

“Your horns are still pretty small, and you can probably get away with saying they’re used to pick up diagnostic signals in remote places. You are a remote after all, I think they’ll buy it. A good haircut will cover them up unless your boyfriend decides to play with your hair.”

“I don’t have…” R4 thought back to the communication that had somehow run through her head while she was out. “I should probably let him down easy when I get out of here.”

“Well…”

Beneath the Paladin’s Shield

Team size: 1 (secret)

Hazard: Bloodless

Company: Fangs of Mara

Contact: Red Queen

Reward: Unknown. Credits, ascension, increase in rank, true love, depends on what you find.

An opportunity to keep an eye on a paladin of Nu’ Grav as well as his team. Paladins are rare and use little understood abilities that are not fully explained through Cyberware

“Pass.”

“Why?”

“I’m not going to pretend to be in love with a person just so I can spy on him. That kind of goes against the point. A relationship is based on trust.” R4 replied. “If you can’t do that, it’s doomed to fail from the very beginning. It’s a betrayal of trust.”

“It is a better chance at survival."

Keep in touch

Team size: 1 (secret)

Hazard: Bloodless

Company: Fangs of Mara

Contact: Red Queen

Reward: friends?

You have 3 missed calls from Issac Graves, 1 from Jun Silk, 1 from Hon Denim, 2 from Coach, one from Jessica Smith and several spam. You should probably return those

“Yeah, I should probably call them back… how do I get out of here?” A diagram appeared before her right eye, indicating her body, and the isopod in her skull still running diagnostics. “We should probably talk 'bout that thing in my head, th' isopod.”

“Ok, so long story short, that isopod is your central nervous system. You know how Nu’Grav has been trying to put human brains onto computer chips but haven’t quite gotten it right?”

“They get close, but close friends can still tell the difference, and they don’t last very long.”

“Mara believes that is because the soul rejects the synthetic nature of the chip, or there is something else missing. The ravager isopod, somehow, contains the soul. It doesn’t help that we lack a way to view the soul, but that’s the best we can come up with for now. If you’ve seen one of those tongue eating isopods, well this does the same but with your eye, then your occipital lobe, then your spine, and finally your brain entirely. The cocoon you built was partially to observe how your ascension went, as well as an attempt to prevent any prions from forming during the process. We do not know how or why prions form in the isopod. Given what we know about ravager ascension that seems all the more prevalent now.”

“How bad?”

“Actually, you did not have any issues. Not one prion formed and the few you already had in there removed, we even managed to filter out a few grams of plastic from your blood and zap a few dozen precancerous nodes. You used a lot of nutrients, more than your body could provide normally, so we aren’t sure how the previous ravagers managed. Maybe the prions are caused by the body taking short cuts, we’re not sure. On one hand it would be very useful to know, on the other it would mean turning a thinking and reasoning human into a cannibal monster incapable of higher thought.”

“I think they are capable, they’re just too hungry to bother.” R4 replied. “No evidence, just a feeling I get. They’re not stupid, just hangry.” A few moments later she felt the enzyme drop below her head and with a low cough expelled the remaining fluid from her lungs. “Red, I have a sour taste in my mouth. Was that the same enzyme that you dissolved me in?”

“Actually it was stronger, A tier 1 body is usually stronger, though yours, it might be better to see for yourself.

[[Name: R4 (cover Rachel Smith).

Race: Ravager Tier 1

Class: Remote/Tech

Lifespan: 0/100 years

Allegiance: Fangs of Mara

Wounds: 0/12

Tier wounds: 0/4]]

[[My mesh]]

Tier up (goal: 6 actual:86)

0→1 (cost 1000)

Force

5 MAXED

Athletics: 2 → 3 (cost 60)

Brute: 2+1 → 3+1 (cost 90)

Endurance: 1+1 →2+1 (cost 40)

Resolve: 1+1 → 2+1 (cost 40)

Swimming: 2+1 →3+1 (Cost 70)

Reflexes

4 → 5 MAXED (cost 300)

Acrobatics: 2→ 3 (cost 60)

Firearms: 2+1→ 3 (cost 40)

Melee: 2+2 → 3+2 (cost 80)

Parry: 1 → 2 (cost 30)

Stealth: 2 → 3 (cost 60)

Aptitude

5 MAXED

Driving: 1+1 → 2 (cost 20)

Medicine: 2 → 3 (cost 60)

Security: 2 → 3 (cost 60)

Sleight: 1+1 → 2+1 (cost 40)

Technology: 2+1 →3+1 (cost 90)

Mind

5 MAXED

Bureaucracy: 1→2 (cost 30)

Computers: 1+1 → 2+1 (cost 40)

Research: 1+1 → 2+1 (cost 40)

Perception: 1+1 → 2+1 (cost 40)

Science: 1+1→ 2+1 (cost 40)

Survival: 1+1→ 2+1 (cost 40)

Empathy

3 → 4 (cost 300 ERROR)

Animals: 1 → 2 (cost 30)

Comprehension: 1+1→ 2+1 (cost 40)

Intimidation: 1+1→ 2+1 (cost 40)

Persuasion: 1+1→ 2+1 (cost 40)

Subterfuge: 1+1→ 2+1 (cost 40)

[[remaining exp: 20]]

Cyberware: Cybernetic implants, or what others will see

Subversion: Aspects of the ravager prototype. These are hidden from most users but advanced sensors may detect irregularities and reveal these. The exact limits are unknown

Gentek synth-stomach (T0): Don’t just touch grass, Eat it. Allows for the consumption and absorption of nutrients normally beyond human ability. Does not protect against poison

Scavenger stomach (T1 Passive): several tweaks to the intestines allows the host to digest just about anything they can swallow of their tier or lower.

Metals and plastics can be digested and excreted in usable forms if available subversions are present (osteoblast/clast microfactorum viable). Ingested poisons may be identified with a Perception + Medicine check. On a success host will realize they have been poisoned and be able to counteract the poison with an Endurance + Medicine + tier check. On a failure host will use Endurance + tier rather than just Endurance to resist the effects. On a critical success the host may create a counter agent that may be shared.

Generates 4 ATP per tier per minute when the host is well nourished, 2 per tier per hour so long as the host is not starving.

Stores 10 ATP*

Emergency production protocol (T1 active): Overclocks the stomach so that 1 ATP is produced every 6 seconds for 2 minutes. Host becomes starving afterwards.

Gentek Ostoguard skeleton reinforcement (T1): Better than milk. Grants a reroll with +2D to force against critical wounds that involve broken bones, severed limbs, and bludgeoning damage. Grants 1 bonus wound.

RAVAGER_PROTOTYPE (T1): Due to its experimental nature the ravager prototype is highly variable. The ravager may alter other cyberware’s function. Current deployment 100%.

Fourfold_Ascension: for having 4 FRAME attributes at max at the time of ascension gain +2D to those attributes per tier. These are hidden and do not count towards exp cost.

Ravager resilience: grants double the normal wounds and tier wounds for host rank (2 wounds and 4 tier wounds)

Empathic_Flaw: Due to not having empathy at max at the time of ascension the exp cost to jump from +2 to the next die of empathy is doubled.

Last_Gasp_Protocol: Abandon Host…

Stores 10 ATP*

Note: This cyberware is still in development. Please leave your notes and experiences to help those that follow you.

Gentek Biomonitors (T1 passive): Monitors user’s body to alert them to damage. Can report damage to connected entities as well as stem mild wounds

Regeneration cyst (Passive): Monitors and repairs the body. Heals cuts and treats poisons in minutes. Creates stem cells through the body, mostly around the isopod. Wounds equal to host tier are healed in a number of minutes equal to the least severe wound being healed rather than days. All tier wounds are healed every minute so long as further damage is not sustained. Stem mild wounds indeed. Host does not age. Also yes, it will notify me should you be injured.

Recharge 1 ATP ([X]). Duration: 1 day

Stores 10 ATP*****

Telekinetic cyst (T1 Active): Ravagers hosts have been noted to use telekineisis at short range despite telekinesis normally not appearing until tier 3. It is theorized these unusual clusters of nerves and cysts have something to do with it. These cysts are diffuse through the entirety of the body, but strongest in the hands, head, horns, and tail

Mars Corporation Vesta Fire Scales (T1 Passive): A hearth for the cold and AC for the heat. provides protection from extreme temperatures by isolating critical parts of the body. Keeps the body comfortable between -20 and 50 degrees Celsius.

Note: This cyberware has been repaired or modified by a third party, warranty has been voided.

Thermovore ATP generation array (T1 Passive/active): Provides heat protection in the same way a cat provides mouse protection. Complex proteins absorb heat and regenerate ATP. Keeps the host comfortable anywhere below 95 degrees Celsius. Allows the handling of materials beneath 300 Celsius so long as the rest of the body is not exposed (such as baking cookies or handling radioactive materials). Generates ATP slowly at temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius, scales with heat. Exact generation varies. Exert ATP to resist increased amounts of heat (exact amounts to be determined).

Stores 5 ATP**

Recharge 1 ATP([X]) Cooldown: TBD. Duration: TBD

Metabolic fire emitter (T1 active). You can endure fire, but now you can also throw it. Uses acrobatics to hit and is about as subtle as a flaregun. Treat as a power weapon

DC: 18

Damage: 2D6 (fire/unknown) (aptitude)

Exceed threshold: 10

Exceed minimum 3

Scaling: 6 (2d6 damage)

range: 15 meters

Rate of fire: 1

Ammo: (0/10) rounds/minutes

Recharge: 1 ATP (X)

Recharge time: TBD

Stores 5 ATP**

Little Devil Web Walker set (T1 passive): For when you can’t decide on flaming forums or flaming hearts. The horns boosts wireless signals to increase upload/download speed and negate up to 2D worth of penalties due to range. The Tail is fully prehensile, and strong enough to handle the user’s body weight. Good for balance and when you just need an additional hand. Both are waterproof, thank us later

Ok First of all, why was this in the bargain bin? Sexware or not, this has some good stats. Admittedly it overheats, but not a problem for you.

Telekinetic horns (T1 Passive): extends the range of psychokinesis to 1 kilometer. Difficulty of use still increases based on range, still needs line of sight (though cameras count). Horns are tier 2 with 3 armor

Telekinetic tail (T1 Passive): Highly flexible, completely prehensile, can extend to 4 meters long and makes a fine whip. Also counts as an additional telekinetic claw. Tail is tier 2 with 3 armor, but counts as tier 1 for offensive purposes

Lok-1 Kitty claws (T1 active): For the adventurous young kitty who loves to climb, and definitely not claw someone’s eyes out. Grants +2D to climbing any surface T1 or lower. This is a tool not a weapon ;-) though it does increase unarmed damage by 1.

Telekinetic claws (T1 passive/active): The exact method by which the feral ravagers can use a tier 3 ability that usually requires at least 16 mind and 6 empathy appears to come down to several nodes of nervous tissue within the hands. Further examination reveals additional glands that secrete a notable toxin. Further nodes and glands exist within the mouth and tail.

DC: Variable 8 (+4)

Damage variable 1D6+1 (+1d6)

Exceed threshold: 8

Exceed minimum 4

Scaling: 4 (1d6)

Melee range

Note: Ravager claws suspend a haze of ravager toxin, inflicting it on anyone they strike. Requires poison or adrenal cyberware to properly adjust toxin.

Lunar rabbit (T1 active): Enough to keep you hopping all night ;-). No litters and no blood, we promise.

Ok, seriously, what is with the bargain bin? This is combat cyberware with added limiters and reduced sensors. It hinders fatigue signals and overclocks adrenal production. It is perfect for what we need. Also it has some weird skill software I am definitely hacking

Flare protocol (T2 Active): Forces power through all subverted tissues. Increases all subverted cyberware and tissues by one tier for a short time. Recharge 2 ATP([X][X]) and 5 minutes or 4 ATP and 0 minutes.

Harmony protocol (T1 Active): Normal use, host appears to be tier 1. Host will return to this state when flare protocol ends or if

Calm protocol (T0 active): Draws power away from emotion centers to balance strong emotions. Host appears to be Tier 0. Requires verbal command

Stores 10 ATP**

Mars Corp Cyclops cybereye (T1): A single eye cyberware designed to replace missing vision. Grants the ability to see in low light conditions and at range of up to 2 kilometers. Allows the user to record data

RAVAGER_EYE (T2): A single eye which allows the user to zoom in on distant targets without losing peripheral vision. Can focus on up to two objects at a time at up to 5 kilometers. Grants thermal and dark vision at close range, while also allowing the host to see hidden messages and resonant signals. This eye is armored (T2 5 armor). Allows the user to record data.

Also don’t let the fact it’s called an eye fool you, the entire isopod is T2 with 5 armor. Your brain is actually tougher than your skull, though a heavy blow will still ring your bell. Sufficient force may knock your isopod out of your skull, but there is a good chance it will survive.

Mars Corp Military hardened MESH (T1 Active/passive): Provides connection and power to a number of small devices and cyberware. If user is targeted by unauthorized hacking attempts they may retaliate with damaging ICE

Innate human mimicry (T1 Passive): H0$t is HO0Man. U no C33. (Moderator Red Queen has dictated this needs edits).

(Moderator Red Queen still is waiting on those edits)

Stores 10 ATP*

Decreases host’s apparent MESH tier by 1 tier. Actual MESH score is not affected.

Resonant font (T1 Passive): Provides power to nearby devices

Digital Key ring: holds codes and log in credentials

Keys to the kingdom (T1 Passive): Holds key codes and log in credentials. Holding multiple keys from the same company may allow for unauthorized access based on programming flaws.

Nu’Grav tool arm (T1): Standard issue, built for durability and affordability. Note: This tool is outdated and no new firmware shall be produced. Contains several tools and can be used to power said tools. Also equipped with multiple epoxy and chemical mixers

Last time, Bargain Bin… how are there so many treasures in here?

Osteoblast/clast microfactorum (Tier 1 active): grows and disassembles small tools. Can be used to grow biologic machinery. Also stores mundane tool arm tools.

Ravager toxin reserve (Tier 1 passive): creates one of 3 forms of ravager toxin:

Agony: All wounds burn as if dipped in acid making focus and patience difficult. Resisted by Force. Penalizes Empathy and Mind.

Euphoria: Wounds spread a pleasant warmth and relaxes muscles. Resisted with Empathy. Penalizes Force and mind

Numbness: Wounds spread a numbing coldness which makes fine manipulation difficult. Resisted by Mind. Penalizes Reflex and aptitude

Exact effects are unknown. Expend 4 ATP ([X][X][X][X]) to switch which form of toxin is being made. Change takes 1 hour during which time no toxin is made. Toxin strength is based on medicine.

Stores 8 ATP.**

“What’s with the error in empathy?” R4 asked, completely glossing over her updated cyberware list. “Am I going to go cyberpsycho?

“No, and you should probably get dressed.” R4 nodded and with a gesture she was dry, her telekinesis pushing the water and enzyme off. She hurried over to her clothes and began dressing. “So we found that in one update we can only increase any skill or FRAME attribute by 1. Your empathy will cost more to improve, and it will always lag behind. Without further investigation, it would appear the cost before going up one die would be double.”

“Red, wouldn’t someone with a non-empathy build still have it worse. Forget that, an empathy build would have to get to +3 then pay double for the next die right?”

“Correct. You are still ahead in that regard, just not as optimized as we had hoped. Furthermore, we have learned that improving skills while undergoing ascension does not allow for discounts due to recent use. In this instance it didn’t matter much, since you had an abundance of exp, but in the future it is worth watching.”

“So I’ll be short on empathy fer’ th’ rest a’ my days and I should improve my skills before ascension rather than waiting.” R4 replied as she slipped on her borrowed hoodie, finding the hood and ears provided good cover for her horns. “Guess I’ll fit in with this place. Any issues with the cyberware?”

“Actually that went surprisingly well, almost too well. Several of the scavenged pieces had components that we were able to improve upon during your ascension, though at the cost that you will not be able to remove them until your next ascension. Occasionally empathy is lost during implantation due to a flaw in the twinning process, but you had none of that. You will not need any anti-rejection medication nor will you need physical therapy. You may need to get some practice with them though.” At that moment a low growling sound echoed through the room.

R4 gestured and her claws were at her hands, with a surety she had never felt before. Her tail cracked like a whip behind her, which surprised her and caused her to look back. Behind her was a burgundy tail, which she promptly moved so she could touch it. It felt like flesh, including the small fleshy spade at the end. A short roar got her attention back on her foe.

The creature before her was a horrific chimera, a combination of fox, wolf, and hyena. The wolf bodied creature stood on tall legs and bore a frill of darker fur on its back which made it look even larger. Its rust red fur bore black stripes to break up its coloration. Two front facing eyes, the left one replaced, stared forwards while two others, the left one also replaced, stared out sideways to look for threats. Short rounded ears perked up, their black coloration spreading in uneven patches across the creature’s head. Its over developed maw opened to reveal its freshly grown fangs, each large and loaded with ravager toxin. Further fangs, actually long spindly legs from its isopod, lurked beside its already ferocious fangs. A pair of short horns poked out from behind its ears as it let out another roar and prepared to pounce.

“Pupper?”

Immediately the creature tilted its head.

Back in the saddle

Team size: 1

Hazard: Blood spotted

Company: Fangs of Mara

Contact: Red Queen

Reward: 30 exp

Before you lies an abomination, created from discarded genetic matter and enhanced by a ravager isopod it found somewhere. Slay this abomination.

“But is soft and fluffy.” R4 replied. With a gesture she called over some of the food she prepared, still edible if the heavily preserved bricks could be called such. “Here boy, or girl. Ya’ want some?”

“R4, that creature is,” The animal approached and took the food right out of her hand. It promptly rubbed its head against her, and as she scratched it her hand brushed against its horns. Immediately it paused.

[[Unknown entity has been added to your contact list. Would you like to name it?]]

E4 looked at the creature. It was currently rubbing against her like a cat would, but she couldn’t help but think of it as more canine. The black splotches around its ears seemed to trigger a memory for E4, though I could not identify it. “I think I’m going to call you… Bella” Bella immediately gave off a bark before rubbing against her. Immediately it began resonating with her, sapping her for ATP even as it shared its energy with her. The exchange was not quite equivalent, but close enough it appeared the power loss was from entropy rather than intentional hostility. Immediately Bella seemed to appear, not exactly to R4’s eyes, but as a sensation within her horns. It was not dissimilar to the feeling of lying next to another in bed, not touching, but feeling a certain tension in the blankets and warmth that comes not from one’s self. From the way her dopamine and serotonin surged I could tell R4 found it comforting.

“Are you really going to, fine, I’ll cancel the gig.”

“Red, what is this thing?” R4 asked, kneeling down and fluffing Bella, who immediately licked her face.

“Not sure, but it fell asleep next to a ravager isopod and somehow it was compatible. It’s got ravager toxin, but it’s tier 0 and pretty weak so not a problem for you. Maybe it has some human DNA. It looked like a hyena so I figured it would be aggressive but not too tough, perfect to get you used to your new form.” R4 was more concerned with petting Bella than listening. After a few moments the creature went stiff and let out a roar bark. “I think she sees something.”

R4 looked up and saw a black hound like creature staring at her with soulless eyes. The creature was sleeker than a dog, less muscular. It resembled Bella a bit, but was larger and lacked the coloration. Without hesitation or warning it charged her, lunging for her thoat. Immediately the claws were out and the fight was on… or it should have been. R4 backhanded it with her claws, before delivering seven precise cuts with a single swipe of her claws. The scath immediately fell apart, leaving only a few pieces of damaged cyberware.

“Not this one you don’t… Wait… that was it?” R4 examined her claws, feeling they were sturdier than she remembered. She immediately counted five fingers and two thumbs, with one thumb on either side of her hand. Some gentle prodding revealed they were slightly more flexible than she remembered, though her fingers were slightly longer in a way that left her slightly unnerved.

“Well for one you were punching down, when it comes to damage a tier 1 weapon does 5D extra damage against Tier 0 creatures. Second, check your cyberware.” R4 did, her eyes going wide. “How do you feel about the ravager tech now?”

“+2D to all stats, minus empathy. That’s, that kind a’ feels like cheatin’. I saw some high end arms that gave a +1D to strength, and a spine implant that gave the same to reflex, but that, that’s good. The claws are a bit weaker than I thought,” She paused, “Though I guess I shouldn’t complain about a free tier 1 weapon. The horns are a bit odd, and I’m not sure how much I like them or the… rabbit implant.”

“The rabbit allows you to jump to tier 2 without killing yourself, and you were the one who didn’t want to go with the Lunar Lady.”

“It was three times th’ price.”

“And so you got the rabbit, which to be fair is still decent once the limiters are removed. It almost looks like a trimmed down combat implant, something I’m definitely going to be examining. You were getting a tail and horns anyhow, might as well get some cyberware that explains them.”

“May I ask why? I mean, the symbiote is an isopod, why does it have horns?” By this point E4 had decided to sit down, and Bella immediately plopped her head on E4’s lap. In the background their horns began to trill, sharing information E4 didn’t even seem to be aware she was sharing. The fact Bella had mapped out a good section of the undercity without even meaning to was something Mara would be very pleased about.

“They’re actually antenna, but they resemble horns and they count as tier 2 so they’re not fragile. Look at Bella and see what she’s thinking about.” E4 paused, looking at her new friend. Immediately she saw a vision of a large room with an artificial sun, some strange type of grass, and a tall tree that provided apples for Bella as well as luring small rodents that Bella enjoyed chasing and eating. She blinked and the vision was gone, though she could still sort of remember where the room was. “They help transmit signals, both radio and resonant, which is how I’m talking to you. They also project a passive telekinetic field that works like sonar as well as picking up certain other frequencies. As it states, they give you more range with your claws, and with telekinesis in general. That and metabolic fire. Give that a try.”

“How do I, oh.” With a gesture that seemed instinctual R4’s hand flexed and a small green flame danced within, causing Bella to immediately scrabble backwards. She felt a minor wave of exertion, as if she had just come up for air from a dive. She stood, adopting a pitcher stance. “It’s the bottom of the ninth, the bases are loaded it all comes down to this.” She hopped and threw a ball of liquid flames. It struck the wall and exploded in a wash of lambent green flames. Bella immediately let out a yip and hid behind her, coward. “Woah, that’s, colorful.” She immediately conjured more in her hand. “Red, I don’t feel any expenditure of power, is this something I can do freely?” She paused. “Now that I think about it, I could use flare protocol freely as well.”

“No, you can’t. Every time you used flare protocol you were doing permanent damage to your body, shaving a single day from a year long lifespan, even more if you did it twice within an hour. Now you can use it for the low cost of a good meal. Further, your regeneration cysts weren’t using as much energy as they are now, so it wasn’t worth tracking. ATP is stored in the body, and in several cyberware. This isn’t an MMO where you cast spells by spending mana from a pool. It works more like a 3d printer. You have to load up the material, and then it takes time to print what you need. Each cybernetic has a capacitor, which must be filled before it can be used, and a series of vacuoles, which it draws from to fill the capacitor. Now fortunately ATP is partially physical, so the capacitor can retain its charge for roughly 3 days before it discharges automatically and must be refilled. Your flare protocol actually has two capacitors, but one requires the body to reset on its own before being reused and the other has extra energy to force the body to reset faster, so it costs more. A capacitor draws one unit of ATP every 6 seconds from its vacuoles, and a capacitor can be recharged only after it is finished being used. I see that question coming, the stomach and prototype can accept and release ATP freely, but any cyberware with a capacitor requires 2 ATP and 12 seconds to donate 1 unit of ATP to another cyberware. Drawing from the regeneration cysts is even harder, requiring 5 ATP and 30 seconds. Also if that one runs out your body would start devouring itself, so don’t do that ok? Also once ATP is in a capacitor it’s stuck until used.”

“So I could go from absolutely out to full in just under 15 hours so long as I eat right?” R4 asked.

“You’re forgetting the capacitors, since they would definitely suck up some ATP during that time, but pretty close. Also you can direct which vacuoles to charge first if you like, or just leave them to charge based on which ones are the least charged by percentage, though the regeneration cysts always get fed first. Speaking of which, they use 1 ATP whether you are unscathed or are reduced to max wounds. They can’t restore lost limbs or critical injuries, yet, so try not to go losing limbs. A finger should be ok though, and I think your tail can grow back though you’d lose the hardline feature. Now, your cocoon will be here, time to get up and face the world.” With that R4 noticed the cocoon sinking back beneath the water, just out of sight.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

The next half an hour was spent making it back out to the surface. Bella, despite R4’s insistence, vanished into the snaking tunnels of the under city. R4 took a short gig to photograph some of the hallways for damage which paid very little, but included access to the elevator in order to get out. She was pleased to find that since ascension her MESH could recharge her phone so long as it was on her person. R4 leaned against the back wall of the elevator waiting for it to take her to the surface when it stopped, and a familiar voice reached her ears.

“Hey boys, look who grew her hair back.” The blue steel leader spoke up. R4 noticed they were on the -6th floor. “Thought you were dead when that Web Walker showed up without you. He drew a straight razor, sharpening the blade against an attached strap and causing it to gleam in the wan light before holding it up menacingly , “No Tier 1 to watch over you now. Maybe I should give you a trim.”

R4 noticed three other blue steel gangsters behind the man, each with their hands over their weapons, but none had drawn them yet.

“You tell her Barber.” One said

“Going for a fourth set, Wig is going to go broke at this rate.”

“Are we posturin’ or fightin’? I’m pretty sure we’re not supposed ta’ shed blood in th’ elevators.” R4 asked. Admittedly she was not dressed to be threatening. The hoodie she had borrowed from Issac, modified with some bone clasps so she could close it, was still red with cat ears. Since her jacket was still missing it was the most heavily armored thing she had, even if it didn’t look it. With a gesture she extended her claws, and immediately noticed a problem. While her telekinetic claws were a meter long, her physical claws were not. “Well dang, those were a lot more impressive in the catalog.”

“Who’s posturing?” The leader asked, though R4 was pretty sure he wasn’t actually interested in a fight. “Those puny scratchers are weak, only worthwhile if you’re stabbing someone in the back. I suppose they’re fitting for a Red like you.”

R4 knew the words were provocation, but her blood ran hot. “Now y’all kin’ go cool yer’ heads in yer’ little corner or y’all can back your words. I ain’t no traitor like that cowardly Scop zapper Data. I don’t know what tales that yellow bellied low life’s been speakin’ but that man ran out on us.” She took a step forwards and in a rush of anger ignited her claws with metabolic fire. Immediately her previously transparent claws filled with lambent green fire as the ravager toxin within began to resonate and burst into flames. These flames radiated little heat, yet they hungered for any fuel they could get, specifically flesh. “Th’ rules say we’re not ta’ spill a crumb a’ food or a drop a’ blood.” She extended one set of claws towards the first man. “I guess I’ll jus’ have ta’ cauterize y’all’s wounds. I think Tier 2 fire’ll do that.”

R4 saw the look of absolute terror on the man’s face. Yet he managed to hold onto his knife, even as his friends quickly found the furthest point away from her and closed ranks. One drew a pistol, but R4 immediately recognized it as a Rite™ Trigger Finger pistol, DC 8 to use and 2D6 damage. Assuming he went with the absolute max and aimed right for her face he’d roll against DC 16, which he’d need a reflex and firearms of 6D to hit reliably. Assuming he pulled that off he’d be rolling 4D6 damage against her 5D6 force, which would be 7D6 with her cyberware, and then 12D6 with the difference in tiers. If he rolled absolute maximum of 24 so long as she rolled at least 2 on every die she’d be absolutely fine. If he went for anything less, likely since he looked scared and hadn’t even noticed his safety was still on, then even rolling max damage would do nothing to her unless she rolled absolute trash. Only the knife wielding leader posed any sort of threat. From what she could sense he was tier 1, but given the look on his face he’d likely go for an easy hit. Assuming that blade was a power weapon he’d still face a DC 18 to use it, probably wouldn’t go for a high damage attack. If he had 7D in force he might be able to do some damage, any less and it would be even odds. Yet he had only one blade, and she had both hands full of claws.

The low PING of the elevator hitting floor -2 broke R4 from her thoughts. She shook her head, wondering when she had started thinking of the world as dice, had started thinking like the AI. A team of three men stood on the other side, witnessing the scene. Each wore basic gear, bullet proof vests, long pants, and pads for their knees and elbows. R4 immediately realized they were both better equipped, and lower tier than her.

“We’ll catch the next one.” The man in front, a brown haired man sporting a well trimmed beard and several head and body mounted cameras, quipped.

“Nonsense.” R4 replied, dropping the claws and letting the metabolic fire go out. “We’re jus’ posturin’. No need ta’ risk waitin’ fer’ the next trip.” She shot a friendly smile to the man before looking to the leader of the Blue Steel. “Right?”

“Uh… sure. What she said.”

The other team stepped on, and it was a very tense ride the last two floors to the surface.

“Red Wrath members make a habit of using fire weapons now?” One of the newcomers asked. R4 eyed the fact the man was on his phone. The bearded man was pretending he wasn’t adjusting a camera watching her, while also filming the Blue Steel gang

“How am I supposed ta’ know? I’ve got red hair ‘cause I didn’t feel like dyin’ it. I wasn’t a part a’ this nonsense until this lot decided ta’ drag me inta’ it.” R4 made a gesture at the Blue Steel group. “And th’ moment those elevator doors open I’m goin’ home an’ leavin’ this petty feud behind.”

“And why would you describe ongoing gang violence that has been going on for 10 years as a petty feud.”

“Are ya’ serious?” R4 exclaimed. “This has been goin’ on 10 years?”

“Um, off and on.” the leader replied softly. R4 realized she had accidentally extended her claws, and they were on fire again. She extinguished them with a shake, which was unnecessary but very thematic.

“And how would you describe it. According to sources you have recently been promoted to lieutenant and claimed the title of Brian the Barber after starting a trend of collecting the red hair of a defeated Red Wrath member, specifically capturing and humiliating them rather than killing them.”

“Not, one more, word.” Brian threatened, pointing his blade at the newcomer on their phone. R4 immediately laughed. “What are you, some kind of media?”

“Yes, we’re reporting a story on increasing sightings of shadowy monsters within the undercity.”

“The Scath?” R4 asked. “Aren’t those normal? I’ve run into them a few times down here, more often than the Dimdwell now that I think about it.”

“And you make it a point to be in the undercity Ms…”

“Yeah, I’m not tellin’ ya my name while y’re recordin’.” R4 replied. “And more than I like. There are gigs down there that allow me to pay my rent for a month in just a day or two, but it’s dangerous. From what I can tell the Scath are built around bits of tech.” She fumbled in her bag for a few moments and pulled out the remains. “This came out a’ some kind a’ coyote thing, nasty dog killin’ varmit. It looks like a Mitian desk top plugged into a Lok-1 leg, not a full set, just the section corresponding to the femur. It’s not even plugged into right, looks like some gonk just welded two things together and animated it with techno-necromancy.”

“Techno-necromancy, that really flows off the tongue. Can I quote you on that?”

“That is not a technical term, I just stole it from a video game.”

By the time the doors opened R4 was off like a shot, nearly bowling over the dozen blue steel gang members waiting at the top. A few reached for their weapons before the leader spoke up.

“Don’t bother with this one, she’s not one of them.”

“She’s got red hair boss.” One of the Blue Steel spoke up. “There’s 12 of us and 1 of her, can’t just let the Red Wrath walk on our territory.” Immediately the rest of the Blue Steel started to announce their intent, a roiling cloud of anger and violence.

“Say, y’all ever seen what happens when a tier 2 power weapon meets tier one flesh?” R4 spoke quietly, but loud enough that Barber could hear. As she spoke her horns flared with green fire. She immediately extended her claws, which glowed with a lambent green flame just out of the view of the mob but well in the view of Brian. “I just got these fancy tier 2 flaming claws, an’ I’m itchin’ ta’ use ‘em, but that kid looks 16 if that. I’d really rather not hurt a bunch a’ kids.”

“Hey, listen up.” Brian called out. “There are turrets in the ceiling and a controller just itching to give the order. You know the rule, no fighting near the elevators.” He pointed to R4, “And Red, get out of our territory.” R4 could almost hear the “please” that he couldn’t say. With a grin she calmly, yet swiftly, left.

By the time R4 returned to The Pain Train she had already taken the opportunity to try out her new stomach, several times. It seemed every few blocks she would pick up the scent of something new, and her stomach would growl.

“Feels like I haven’t eaten in a week.” R4 muttered as she finished off a box of some sort of stir fried noodles. She then ate the box, and the chopsticks, all of which was digested and stored. She eyed the hot dog stand just outside her home, then checked her bank account.

User Rachel “R4” Smith

Balance

incoming/outgoing

109

209

-100

Food

47909

-47700

Cyberware and materials

45909

2000

Dead drops and odd jobs

33509

12400

bounties

32509

1000

Scath parts

32709

-200

Rent

The wince was audible. R4’s phone practically shot into her hand. “Hey Jun, it’s R4.”

“R4? You have a lot of nerve, ghosting us for a year straight then calling up like nothing happened.”

“What? A year. I was only supposed to be out a week.” She heard snickering in the background. “Very funny chooms, are you at The Pain Train?” As she spoke she entered, and immediately saw Hon curling more iron than she had ever seen him work before while Jun watched on. “So, what did I miss?”

“Hold up, R4?”

“You got hot.” Hon said bluntly. “Did you increase a cup size? What’s your waist now?”

“Hon that’s rude.” Jun interrupted. “Though you look a lot better. Tier 1 ascension does wonders for body, and you don’t look like you just got out of a Chineric voluntary reeducation camp. The horns and tail are an odd choice though. Cute, but odd. I’m not sure if they make you look older, or younger.”

R4 turned, and noticed her tail had been swaying gently for quite some time. She ran a hand through her horns, and found that now that she was up in the city proper they were feeding her several radio signals that she had been ignoring. “Bleedin’ havoc.” With a thought her tail wrapped around her, looking more like a belt. “Forgot that was there, that’s goin’ ta take some getting used to.” Eager to change the topic she stammered, “What’s been goin’ on in th’ week I missed?”

“We’ve been living in interesting times. Brain-Drain Studios just released a new film, and it brought in over three billion credits on the opening weekend, while also bashing the fictional Jupiter Corp. Of course the very real Mars Corporation isn’t happy about it, so some unaffiliated gangsters are getting paid to visit those theaters, and if some stuff gets trashed that’s the cost of doing business.”

“The Iron hands have been quiet, which means the Bronze Beasts have been rampaging. I heard a Golden Feather made a real mess in a tier 3 zone, but got put down hard by a paladin. Caused over 5 billion in damages and a major shortage in protein supplements.” Hon said begrudgingly.

“There have been six cyberpsycho attacks in the last seven days. They’ve all been put down by the same team, specifically a paladin.” R4 had a sinking feeling as Hon put down his weights, took out his phone, and showed her a video of Issac dropping thirty meters out of the sky and nearly bisecting a man so chromed out he looked almost like a freight lifter. Of course, seeing as he was so chromed out, he promptly threw a punch right back at Issac that sent him flying into a wall. The fight went on for another three minutes before Issac took the guy’s head off. He then raised his blade to declare the city safe once again.

“And to the Lady of The Lake, still do I seek you!” R4 immediately turned red and with a gesture turned off the phone.

“That’s a lot of attacks.” R4 commented, trying to suppress how much she was blushing.

“Normally there’s 1 per week at most, there’s a few gigs asking for investigators to look into it, but the pay is trash tier and they want you to go into the undercity. Rumor has it some new drug is behind it, but there are new drugs coming up all the time so who knows.” Jun paused, noticing R4’s expression. “Hey, something up?”

“No, nothing wrong.” R4 lied.

“Wait… didn’t you encounter a tier 2 paladin just two weeks ago? What was his name again?”

“And changing the topic,” R4 was now beet red. “My ascension wiped out my account, I need work fast.”

“Sure, your average ascension costs about half a mil… I’m assuming you didn’t use a traditional method though? With all the stuff you were buying, I figured you were going through some non-traditional ascension. Are you a warlock now?”

[[SPEAK NOT MY NAME]] The image flashed over R4’s eyes, both her ravager and human eyes. “Well, it was a little experimental. I had ta’ make my own facilities fer’ the process, and had ta’ prepare certain cybernetics ta’ handle the load a’ th’ process.” Jun and Hon looked at her with a worried expression.

“You need to see a ripper.” Jun replied matter-of-factly. “I don’t know what process you used, but no legitimate corporation would work like that. The fact your ascension happened in the undercity rather than a reputable ascension facility only cements the fact it was not done legitimately.” He saw the question on R4’s lips. “I checked with contacts at all the major clinics after you hadn’t come back for five days, none of them even paused when I offered a bribe for your info. If you were there, someone would have at least considered it. I know my contacts’ tells. Since you’re not a pile of bargain basement parts I’m presuming you worked with an AI. Do you know their name?”

“Per th’ terms a’ our agreement, I can’t say it, though I do know it. Also I can’t jus’ go to a ripper, I’m broke an’ y’all don’t have universal health care remember? I need some work that pays quick so I kin make rent. I jus’ made tier 1 and I’ve got 3D in technology so I’m hopin’ ya’ got somethin’.”

“You only have 3? Which technology? I thought your aptitude was 4?” Jun looked a bit surprised as he took out his phone and started taking notes

“It’s 5D, an’ 3D in the skill.” R4 scratched her head at Jun’s relieved look. “Is that bad?”

“Well first, don’t go telling people you have 3D in technology. If someone does ask about a specific skill you add the base stat on top of the skill, so in your case 8D. Second, having a higher aptitude than ranks in the skill is a red flag and will get you put on a warlock watch list. Third, which technology? Are we talking vehicle technology, basic technology, cyberware, medical technology?”

“I have a different skill for medicine, that’s at 3D, or 8D, as well. I’m guessing basic tech, since I don’t have any others, but my contact says my list is compressed so I might have more. I kin remember how all a’ my cyberware went in, an’ could probably fix any part that’s busted, so it might have that too.”

“In that case, I think I’ve got just the job.” Within moments he was dialing, then he paused. “Quick question, are you any good at fighting?”

“I mean, I’d prefer not ta’, but I’ve got a tier 0 pistol an’ some tier 1 scratchers.” R4 extended her claws, though did not ignite them.”

“I think you’ll be fine.”

The gig was not far away by rail, and R4’s keys to the kingdom ensured she had no trouble getting there. She had taken the time to change into more work like clothes, an orange work shirt and heavy duty jeans, and her carryall bulging with tools let the world know exactly what she was up to. To her partial surprise her jacket had finally arrived apparently having gotten lost somewhere before being delivered. A gang eyed her as she rode, but decided she wasn’t worth the effort. She arrived at the first theater finding several cones up around a smashed out glass doorway. R4 checked her phone as she stepped in, noticing there was already a cue for the movies.

“Excuse me, I’m looking for Cam Bolzish.” R4 asked an attendant.

“Busy,” The attendant replied. R4 noticed each of the attendants wore matching red vests with black pants or skirts and a dark shirt. “Check the main office.” She pointed, and R4 immediately saw the place.

As she walked R4 noticed how small the theater was. Yet despite the cramped ceiling and bare concrete walls it was covered with posters of different movies. The classics, Old Y3ller, Tit4nic, and St4r W4rs were all present, and tweaked enough to avoid copyright. Newer films also appeared, “The Perfect Day” was the most prominent Mind ‘Scape film, though “Chainsaw Nightmare 45” was very prominent in the eyes only theater. R4 noted that the Mind ‘Scape version only had 1 person waiting for the doors to open, a heavyset man carrying a very large drink.

“How’s he going ta drink that if he’s in a Mind ‘Scape?” R4 wondered as she made her way to the door marked “Manager’s office.” It opened at her touch revealing a woman in a similar uniform to the attendants, save it had black stripes on the shoulders of the vest and a badge that said Manager. “Hi, I’m,”

“The tech right?” the manager spoke, putting a hand to the phone she was talking to. “Hold on a sec,” She spoke into the phone. “Theaters 3-5 were attacked, the cameras were damaged, fix them. Blitz, Get over here!” An attendant perked up and ran over. “See that the tech gets the parts she needs, they should be in the back.”

“But,”

“No buts.” She went back to her phone. “I’m back, yes, profits will take a hit but, no we can’t do that. My team is already stretched as thin,” And she was gone.

“Hi, I’m R4. There are projectors that need fixing?” R4 asked.

“Yeah, follow me. Not like I have a hundred other things to do.” Blitz replied. “I’m Blitz.” He quickly showed R4 through a locked door, which her keys to the kingdom immediately copied the digital key to. “Don’t come down to the main entryway unless you absolutely have to. This door locks and I don’t have time to be playing doorman all day.”

“Got it. Busy day?”

“Some psycho got inside and smashed a bunch of projectors and beat up a bunch of our folks. Ms. Personality down there called me in on my day off and I’m supposed to handle the work of 3 people plus help you.”

“No standbys?” Blitz looked at her like she was nuts. “Never mind. This it?”

What stood before her was a broken tripod and a heavy box with a broken cylinder and lens. She gingerly reached out to touch the box, and it opened revealing wires and a cracked circuit board. “What happened here?”

“Some punk with more chrome than brains came in and punted the projector.” Blitz pointed to the wall, which R4 saw was badly cracked tier 1 concrete. She eyed the projector, finding the shell was tier 0, but some components were tier 1.

“This thing is a patch job of tier 1 and tier 0 components, I have no idea who managed to piece this together.” With a gesture R4’s tool arm opened up, dozens of bony insectoid legs extending each bearing a different tool, “But I kin’ hardly wait ta’ find out.”

With that R4 got to work. The machine was too delicate to risk welding anything, but she quickly figured out how to apply osteoblasts to get it to work. “Hey Red, do you think tier 1 osteoblasts are going to be a problem on tier 0 circuits?”

“This will use one of your questions for the day. Are you sure you would like to ask a question you already know the answer to?”

“Fine, be that way.” R4 replied, getting back to work. She quickly chewed a few copper bits, telekinetic sheaths protecting her teeth from the metal, and routed them to her tool arm, allowing her to print a weld that was could carry current along a small path without allowing the current to propagate over the rest of the board. “Wires without plastic or rubber, handy.” Fixing the board took a bit of time, and refitting it within the machine took a bit more. She appropriated a spare lens to replace the cracked one and replaced the heat exchanging fan with one made from bone impregnated with thermovore cells so that the whole structure wouldn’t go hungry as quickly. “If a normal fix lasts a year I can only hope this fix will hold a bit longer. Wouldn’t want my reputation to sink ‘cause I had ta’ use less than standard parts.” Finally, R4 sealed the outer casing and eyed the device. The black plastic projector now sported several bone white cracks. “It’s like kintsugi.” She paused. “but with bone. Wonder if I can add gold to it to make it look pretty. Oh well, guess that’s fer’ th’ next one.” To test it she turned on the projector and a moment later the screen was alight with the previews.

It took a few minutes for Blitz to find her, during which R4 stuck around to make sure the projector wasn’t going to blow up or grow teeth and eat someone’s cat. The next projector was in slightly better shape, though R4 did have to swap out a power cable that had snapped. Just as she was finishing Blitz burst into the room.

“Tech, we have an emergency. One of the Mind ‘Scape machines has begun to malfunction.”

“I don’t think that was in th’ agreement.” R4 examined her work order on her phone.

“There isn’t time, those folks are going to die if you don’t fix it.

“That really seems like bad practice, but I’ll take a look.”

It took only a few moments for R4 to arrive, yet what she saw was a mess of wires, many of them taped over. A dozen people were hooked into reclined chairs, all of them wearing some a Mind ‘Scape wreath and hooked into a towering machine that could be mistaken for a pillar. Countless red lights adorned the monstrosity.

“What is this thing?” R4 asked even as the answer flowed into her mind. The Mind ‘Scape used a connection with the eyes as well as other neural ports to put the user into REM state allowing them to feel as if they were inside the film. “What film are they in?”

“A perfect day.”

“So pull them out. Worst case they think they’re livin’ their best day fer’ a few hours an’ then wake up.” Not unlike the gamers who thought they were pirates during Smiley’s little fun. “If I try to fix this and cross a wire the feedback could do long term damage.”

“You were hired to fix things, so fix them.” R4 eyed him, and yanked the power cord. “What do you think you’re doing.

Immediately the folks in the reclined chairs stopped convulsing. One sat up, “Hey, this isn’t the Kitten forest.”

“Easy folks, easy. Had a bit of a malfunction with the Mind ‘Scape tower, fer’ y’re own safety had ta’ shut th’ thing down.” R4 immediately opened her bag but before she could do anything a voice stopped her

“Jamie, what are you doing?” An angry voice yelled. “Are you messing with the Mind ‘Scape tower?”

“It was red lining.”

“They signed the forms, if they die they die. If we do something then we’re at fault.” Her cybernetic eyes glowed red and tiny skulls appeared over the pupils as she stared holes into R4. “Who are you?”

“I’m th’ tech y’all hired. This machine was ‘bout ta’ burn through these folks’ retinas, can’t be havin’ that. Yer’ friend here got me jus’ before 12 payin’ customers turned ta’ 12 negligence lawsuits.”

“You are the tech R4. Affecting this technology is a breech of your contract. A fine will be placed against you accordingly.”

“You what?” Immediately the entire room went cold. “By what right do y’all jus’ get ta’ decide that?”

“I am the assistant manager and I make the rules. Now get out of here before I have the NGPD throw you in a cell for trespassing.” And with that she wandered off.

“Wait, did we almost die?” One of the theater goers asked. “That’s not cool dude.”

R4 grit her teeth, claws out. With a single lunge she could cleave the woman’s head right from her shoulders, it wouldn’t even be difficult. She was tier 0 and so assured of her self that she wouldn’t be expecting it.

“That’s a bad idea.”

R4 retracted her blades with a sigh and took out her phone as she walked out. The entry to the theater was crowded and loud from a lot of overlapping voices. “Hey Jun, I got fired.”

“Fired? How? What happened?”

R4 ducked under a bucket of popcorn someone had thrown. The voices were picking up, and she heard several complaints about wait time. “While I was fixing a projector one of the workers came in a rush telling me a Mind ‘Scape was malfunctioning. I had to unplug it so it wouldn’t zap the viewers, and the assistant manager fired me.”

“Did you take pictures?” R4 quickly thought about it, she could almost picture the scene. In her head she heard a click, and her phone beeped as it received an image of the pillar in its state. She sent it to Jun. “That’s a lot of red. Ok, so I’ll have to look over the work order again, but I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to touch anything that’s not a projector. So yeah, you messed up, but it happens. You won’t be the first gig worker to get thrown under the bus, won’t be the last.”

“Sorry. I just, I guess I couldn’t let those people get fried. All I did was unplug the machine. It’s not damaged or anything, and the viewers are fine I think.”

“I get it. That’s the thing about gigs, lots of times someone will ask you to do something above and beyond the gig’s specifications and unless they’re willing to amend the details you never want to do that. There are a lot of clauses and sub-clauses within the gigs, protections for both you and the person you’re working for. That’s why you go through a fixer, so I can handle that stuff. Let’s call this a loss and write it off. You won’t get paid, but they also won’t fine you for meddling.”

“That’s not fair, I fixed two of their projectors. I’m out time, effort, and materials.”

“This isn’t the theocracy R4, fair doesn’t come into it. Best thing we can do is move on. I’m closing the gig and marking down what happened. Probably nothing will come of it, but that’s life some times. Got another similar gig. Make sure you read the details carefully ok? No going off scope.”

“Got it.” R4 paused, as the important looking woman who had been on her phone before stopped her. “Yes.”

“Two more projectors just broke, I need you to,”

“Hold up.” R4 felt her claws come out. “First ya’ fire me, now you want me to do more work pro bono? I ain’t havin’ it.”

“Fired, no, what?”

“Yer’ assistant manager jus’ fired me without a lick a’ pay fer what I did. I’m gone.” R4 snapped. She actually managed to make it a block before the tears started falling. “I’m not cryin’,”

“Easy R4, it’s fine. You just have some excess hormones I’m getting rid of. Why a brain eating isopod creates stress hormones I’m not sure. Probably a holdover that it took when it copied your brain. I’m pretty sure you have a hormone blocker within the rabbit cyberware. Want me to see if I can filter those hormones out through sweat or… something else?”

R4 considered. “No, leave it as is.” She took a moment, sitting on a bench. “Red, if I tell you something, are you going to tell anyone else?” She took out her phone so it looked as if she was on a call.

“Is this your first question?” She scoffed, letting of a choked sob. “I still report to Mara, but I suppose I can misplace a few moments of data.”

“Well…” She paused. “I, I can’t put it into words.” She sat just kind of processing. She trilled some complex stream of thought, dozens of gigabites of nonsense over the course of five seconds. It took a moment to parse, but was deceptively simple for all its complexity.

“You’re hurting because you got told off for doing the right thing. No, worse, it was regarding your abilities as a tech. You were asked to go above and beyond and you did it because that’s what the technocracy expects.”

“More than expects, it’s a big part of who we are. All for one, love thy neighbor like the good book says. We even have these little chips that help with that.”

“Um…”

“I took mine out when I came here. Too much risk of it gettin’ abused.”

“Then let me take a moment to reassure you, you made the right call based on your understanding. The Mind ‘Scape system uses a lot of electricity to manipulate a very delicate part of the human body. If you hadn’t acted those people could have been badly hurt. At best that woman was being an idiot. More likely she was on a power trip and was flat out wrong. Those sort dig their own graves, it just takes forever for them to fall in. Put her out of your mind, for she is already dead.”

She received a text for the next gig, and this time read the instructions very carefully. She noted she was explicitly not to touch any Mind Scape machines. This theater was the same size, same layout, practically the same theater right down to the angry people raising their voices in line. The only difference was this one had a large apartment complex that shared a wall next to it to it while the previous one was free standing R4 quickly found an attendant, yet she was already mobbed by half a dozen angry customers. R4 quickly stepped past her, no one stopping her advance, as she made it to the manager’s office.

“What?” A heavyset balding man in a red vest with black stripes exclaimed. R4 saw he already had 4 calls waiting on the phone he left on his desk, and two other phones ringing.

“Tech, here to fix up the projectors.”

“Great, Hitchcock, get over here!”

And so R4 spent the entire day fixing up projectors. She quickly noticed that the machines tended to be damaged in the same way, someone had taken a blunt object to the casing and sent the entire machine flying into the wall. A few times the wall was still damaged where it had struck, though one projector room was already pretty heavily damaged.

“The manager has a nervous condition.” Her liaison, a man in a red vest named Stevie K, explained. R4 eyed the wall, covered with long claw marks. “So, we lock him in here whenever he gets uppity.”

“And he lets you?” R4 asked. She eyed the steel door with an enormous bar lock. “You know, I’m going to have to disable that before I get to work.”

“How?” Within 5 seconds R4 had a layer of bone over the bolt so it could not engage. “Oh.”

Yet despite her fears R4 had no problem with the theater in subsector 8 or Wildside to the locals. She stopped to get a snack at a place called the Bunny Shack. The woman working the stand wore a pair of bunny ears and a black shirt and pants, and quickly served up an odd bread bowl full of curry. R4 thought about asking, but the woman had already moved on to the next customer as she ate.

User Rachel “R4” Smith

Balance

incoming/outgoing

1219

1244

-25

Food (bunny shack)

844

400

Theater repair work/hush money subsector 8

664

180

Theater repair work

484

195

Theater repair work

289

220

Theater repair work

109

180

Theater repair work

“I’m just now realizing, rent is pretty reasonable at The Pain train, though it’s cramped.” R4 mused while eating. She quickly devoured the bunny. “Hmmm, imitation rabbit meat, lots of rice, oh, shoot. That’s hot.” She quickly found the drink which came with the meal and downed half of it. She carefully consumed the rest, and two additional bottles of the odd yogurt milk drink the woman gladly sold her, as well as half a dozen others who also underestimated the dish. Each one was five credits, but they were well spent. “Well that explains how she makes money on this.” R4 muttered as she eyed the three bottles of drink, before consuming them. All three were made from a sort of waxed paper, which her new stomach had no trouble consuming though she did receive a few looks over it. As she finished off the plate and eyed the plastic fork she got another call. “Howdy y’all”

“Hey R4, you’re cool with the Deep Fish right?”

“Um, maybe? I don’t think they hate me or anythin’.” R4 replied. “I have a contact named Zephyr I should probably meet up with… shoot.” R4 put her head in her hands.

“What? What’s up?”

“I forgot to call my mom, she called over the week I was under and I never got back to her.” R4 took a deep breath. “Red, set a reminder to call her at 2400. So what’s going on with subsection 6?”

“Same as before, a theater got hit by a solo with suspiciously new Mars Corporation gear. Problem is, I already sent one tech in there who fixed what he could, and things broke again. Either Tyson “The Torque” is losing his touch, or the solo broke back in and broke everything again. Details attached.”

Rather than reading the detailed text R4 had it translated into resonant, which caused her to wince as the glaringly bright image of the theater dropped into her mind. “Ok, ow. Red, is there a way to not make heavy contrasting images hurt?”

“I could look into it, might take some time. Would you like to use exp or ATP for it?”

“I can do that?”

“Exp is owed computing time. You don’t have much, but a routine that softens contrast wouldn’t take much. You could also spend ATP tonight to lucid dream about the topic, though I am not certain how much progress you’d make.”

“What about exp from mundane tasks, like the…” R4 checked her phone, “30 aptitude I’ve gained from fixing these machines.”

“I don’t think that can be used, maybe. We’ll circle back on that.”

It took R4 about half an hour to make it to subsection 6. She glanced one last time at the setting sun before it was cut off by the sprawl. Shortly she saw the ever present neon and glowing paints that marked The Deep Side. As she got off the train she immediately noticed a group of Deep Fish eyeing the car, their luminescent paint and glowing implants marking them as part of the gang. R4 instinctively identified the most heavily chromed one, a tall man with mechanical arms re-skinned to resemble the inky black flesh of deep sea fish and bearing several seemingly bio luminescent lights, as tier 1 while the rest were tier 0. Noticing one of his fellows step forwards she immediately approached, drawing their gaze.

“Are your lights bio-luminescent, or just designed ta’ look that way?”

The man fixed her with a flat gaze.

“Eh, never mind. Have a nice day.” R4 replied, walking off towards her destination.

“What was that about?” She heard one of the Deep Fish ask.

“R4, I echo the sentiment. Why did you do that?”

“Don’t ya’ think some lights would be a nice touch?” R4 asked, switching to resonant so she wouldn’t be overheard. “Maybe a strip a’ lights on my arms so I kin light up dark tunnels or engine blocks. Wouldn’t even need somebody ta’ hold my flashlight.

“It’s your body, but you can see in the dark and if you need light you can conjure flames.”

“I don’t want ta’ conjure flames if I’m workin’ on a car engine.” R4 pointed out. “An’ that dark vision doesn’t work with colors, an’ when I’m tryin ta’ work on cables colors are important.” She continued on silently, before arriving at the theater. “Well, at least they have a sense of drama.”

Perhaps once the theater had been a normal boxy building, but it no longer was something so simple. Whoever had created it must have spent a fortune painting it like some manner of deep sea squid, and enormous eye staring across the street at the buildings across from it, the nearest of which appeared to be some sort of sporting arena based on the signage. Long tendrils stretched out from the building, reaching down the sidewalk as if to grasp and reel in passerby. The entrance awning was made to look like an enormous beak and studded with shimmering and shifting lights. Outside an attendant dressed in a stylish black uniform studded with lights was trying to keep things under control.

“Somebody call fer a tech?” R4 asked.

“Good, Jel, the tech is here.” Quickly another attendant, a young woman with long blue and red hair that seemed to sway like a jellyfish’s tendrils arrived and ushered R4 into the theater. R4 immediately noticed this theater was a bit different. The lights were dimmer for one, replacing the bright overhead lights with wall mounted glowing lights. Small projectors near the walls projected a dancing blue light up the walls giving an appearance of flowing water.

“Good, you’re here. Come on, have half a dozen cameras that got smashed up and the Mind ‘Scape machine just went on the fritz.”

“Woah woah woah, the contract said nothing about Mind ‘Scape machines. I’m not breaking my contract over scope creep.”

“So that’s the other tech who does those, well come on, still have half a dozen,” A scream of anger erupted from a distant section of the theater, “Make that seven cameras that need fixing.” A stream of curses began resounding from the far side of the theater. “Maybe start with that one.”

“Yeah, sounds preem’.”

R4 quickly got to work, prioritizing the camera that had the screaming and cursing man in it. She shot a quick look inside, and found that half the audience had small glowing parts, either in their clothing or in their cyberware. Though she couldn’t tell exactly, she could sense at least three tier 1 individuals, though there could have been more if they were in groups. Examining the camera she found that, while it had a few dents in the metal casing, it was not actually badly damaged save for the cord. She quickly unscrewed the mount, replaced the cord with one of the spare parts from her bag, and nothing happened. R4 examined the device again, tapping it a few times, before closing her eyes and probing it with her telekinesis.

Immediately her horns began to tingle. She could feel the projector, as if every surface was beneath her fingers. She could feel how it was put together, and she almost felt as if she could read the intent of the last person to work on it. She quickly disassembled the power input and found a tiny spike that, while it would do nothing initially, had a tiny spring that would push an insulator in the way should anyone remove the old power cable and attempt to insert a new one.

“That’s just plain mean spirited.” R4 muttered, ripping it out with telekinesis and reassembling the device. As she turned it on it projected a message onto the screen. “Please connect with servers and set up your account?” She eyed the thing, and her horns buzzed. She stepped out of the projector room, her keys to the kingdom subversion making a digital copy as she did.

All around her the theater was packed. She quickly found an attendant and was directed to Jel. As she approached Jel was trying to resolve a dispute with a heavyset man carrying half a bag of pop corn. R4 immediately noted that, while he was wearing a tee shirt and shorts, both were emblazoned with the Lok-1 brand and the weave of the shirt appeared a bit too visible for it to be mundane material. Her horns immediately picked up that it was a tier 1 tee shirt, something that would likely sell for over 1000 credits despite looking simple. Despite his bald head and paunch R4 noticed his skin was oddly devoid of wrinkles or imperfections. A subtle show of wealth, only visible to the wearer.

“Look lady, I wanted to enjoy popcorn with my movie.” He gestured towards the theater. “No movie, and now my popcorn is half gone. I want more, so I can enjoy the movie I paid for.”

“That’s not how it works.”

“Yes it is,” Immediately R4’s horns buzzed as the man began to power up some manner of cyberware, his MESH changing from tier 0 to tier 1. His arm opened up, revealing some sort of large blade. What had appeared as normal human flesh opened to reveal a complex array of wires and hydraulics that provided a praying mantis style blades “It is because I say it is. Do you have any idea who I am?”

“An’ I’m a’ stop ya’ there.” R4 butted in, placing her long sharp claws on the oh so delicate wires that controlled his arm, helpfully exposed in its current format. “This here’s a family venue, an’ if ya’ start choppin’ up th’ workers we’re goin’ ta’ have ta’ call in th’ cyberpsycho squad an’ yer’ never going ta’ see yer’ film.” She put on her best smile, which bore many needle like fangs as her isopod pushed its legs through her gums giving her a second set of needle teeth outside her regular teeth. “An’ seein’ that yer’ such a big shot with Lok-1 that would cause so much trouble fer’ everyone, especially with what’s already goin’ on. So why don’t ya’ go back ta’ yer’ seat, we’re goin’ ta’ have the movie up an’ runnin’ in a bit, k? Would be horrible ta’ miss the beginnin’, right?”

“R-right.” R4 let go and the man smoothed his shirt and walked back to the theater with just a bit more vigor than was strictly required.

“Y’all alright?” R4 asked, and Jel nodded. “Good. I got one a’ the projectors up, but it needs some sort a’ authorization code. Ya’ happen ta’ have it?”

“Well, can you, bypass it?” R4 tilted her head in response, “My boss Lun has the codes, and I haven’t been able to reach her all day.”

“You’re askin’ a lot. This isn’t like a Webflix account, mechanical licenses are serious business. Maybe I could access a working projector and try a copy paste to get it up and running? Technically that’s beyond scope. I’m just here for physical repairs, that’s more manager level.” She paused, thinking. “I could bypass it, but you’d void several warranties.” She took out her phone and tapped a few options Jun had told her about just in case. “Sign here.”

“What is this?”

“I can bypass things, like you said, but I’d need a representative ta’ sign off. Can’t be makin’ changes ta’ the agreement without all parties involved. Since yer’ boss isn’t about I guess yer’ th’ contact fer’ now.”

“Ok, just get it done.” She put her finger on the phone, and the deal was signed. R4 smiled, and got back to work.

Replacing the first projector’s chip with one made from bone was simple and easy. Admittedly it would only work for a year or so, but it would get the job done. The second projector had some different damage, someone had stuck gum into the heat exchange and it had gotten baked in there. A little cleaning and the projector was fit as a fiddle. The next one someone had taken a baseball bat to, yet the tier 1 material had held up and only a few wires within had been knocked loose. Another hour’s work had E4 finished with her project.

She was quickly directed towards a back office and offered some water. “So looks like I’m about done, if there’s nothin’ else?”

“Actually, do you mind sticking around another hour?” Jel asked. E4 got a ping as a new job appeared. “I’m a bit concerned that the gangster who broke everything is hiding in the crowd, and if he breaks stuff again I want it fixed ASAP. I’ll pay you 30 credits an hour just to stay on call.”

E4 took a deep sip of the water as she thought it over, a tiny notice in her HUD informing her that she had just collected 20 mg of several base metals as well as 40 mg of microplastics which would be moved to her tool arm. “Dang, going ta’ need some new kidneys. Sure, I could use a break. Any place specific ya’ want me?”

“Hey Jel, projector 3 just went on the fritz again.”

“How about this, just stay in the projector room and watch the film, I’ll text you. Say, 100 credits per projector.”

And so began R4’s game of whack a mole. She’d fix a projector, watch the movie, then be called to another room to fix another projector. Most of them were playing a movie P’sy op On Jupiter Pr1me, which despite her efforts she couldn’t quite get into. Part of that was the fact she kept jumping from one theater to the other, so missed a lot of details. The fact she was watching from the large open window that the projector shone through and could not hear what was being said didn’t help. Another was the female lead, and her constant lack of shirt. She was pretty enough, in the photoshopped way that Tier 1 and 2 people tended to be, but it ruined the immersion. R4 quickly noticed a lot of the characters, despite working on a space station orbiting Jupiter, tended to wear very skimpy outfits when not actively in space gear. One fight scene E4 counted at least 15 instances where wearing pants would have saved the actor from some serious rug burns, but he was wearing these ridiculous red shorts that were clearly designed to show off his thighs more than anything else.

“Ok, so I get it’s a movie, an’ I get a tier 1 or 2 agent really would have no trouble with friction,” R4 winced as one of the actresses bailed out of a motorcycle and rolled, despite the fact a road on a space station was far less efficient than a tram system, “But you’re supposed ta’ be a pre-ascension agent, why are ya’ ridin’ a motorcycle in skirts and a bra?” The next scene cut to her treating her wounds, a gutshot that really needed more than just some bandages and sterilizer, but apparently was a good excuse for her to take off the flimsy excuse she had for a top. “And not a bit a’ road rash ta’ be seen. If this goes into a sex scene,” It promptly went into a sex scene, but since the movie was rated PG 13 the camera panned away.

Another text called her to another projector, which allowed her to re-watch the scene and see a bit further. Not really interested in that particular scene R4 remembered she had several texts to answer back to. First was to Coach, who she reassured she was coming back and her ascension had just taken longer than she anticipated. Next was, of course, her mom. Seeing as she was in a theater she sent a quick text assuring her mother she was ok, and that she would call her later. Almost immediately she received a text back which made her grimace in guilt.

[[Rachel. Hope y’all doin’ nova in the city. Yer’ poppa an’ I R nova-preem. Your uncle and poppa are grillin’ fer the church cookout 2 nite. Have y’all found a church yet? Lots of Love, Mama.]]

“Geeze Ma, y’all sure know how ta’ lay on th’ guilt.” R4 replied, crossing herself. “Missed Sunday, I’ll have ta’ make it up later. I’ll call her later, with th’ time difference she’s probably asleep ‘bout now.” She checked on the other texts from Issac, and her eyes immediately bulged. “Did he send me a text or an e-mail?”

[[To the illustrious Lady of the Lake who has granted me salvation even as thou hast stolen my heart. With every beat I am reminded that it is to you I owe this second chance and words cannot express]] R4 kept reading, her brain resetting twice to endure the bombastic nature of his linguistics. The second text was from three days prior. [[To the elusive fairy who chains my heart. In my seeking of you I have found no trace, yet I know that neither God nor the great spirits of Nu’Grav would keep us apart. Still do I seek you. If thou would grace me with a response my heart would burst nay explode in joy.]] She continued reading for a few more lines, raising an eyebrow that he concluded [[My eternal devotion, Issac Graves.]]

“Red, is this guy nuts?” R4 asked. She quickly looked up his name online, only to find the name was extremely common. She tapped on Stratta, an app that claimed to be the most popular social media app and the only one I had been unable to scrub from her phone without bricking the thing outright, and immediately found him. Seven of him, or seven profiles that claimed to be him. Three used the same profile picture, and four were clearly AI generated while one was more cleverly AI generated. “Huh? Any idea if these are legit?”

“No idea.” Her phone let out a tone like a shattered glass and several images popped up. Each one was her, each suggestively posed, and each wearing less than the one before. “What, no, go back, go back.” Her phone let out a low growl as I shunted ATP into it. “Red, what was that?”

“The phone I gave you is a mix of biotech and a mundane phone. The moment you opened that app it took a picture and used AI to produce several photos for your profile. I turned off the wireless, so they’re trapped on the phone for now. I’ll get rid of them. Tasteless things, you could do much better.”

Finally R4 read the final text.

[[R4, after consideration and taking the advisement of my peers I understand if you do not want to contact me. Our meeting, while I took it as Heaven Ordained, was unusual. If you wish it, I shall not contact you again. Also sorry for kidnapping you.]]

R4 read the last sentence again and chuckled. “Red, that last phrase could be used as ammunition in court, correct?” She received the exact laws and motions she would have to file in order to use it as such in a single second burst of resonant. She pressed a button and saved the message. “Just in case.” She picked up her phone, and paused. “What should I say? No prob, kidnap me anytime?”

“That does come across a little familiar, though you did sleep next to him and tend to his wounds. Maybe you should invite him to a first date in a public place? Of course remember that I am being biased since Mara wants you to befriend him.”

“And you can mess with my brain chemistry so I can’t trust my emotions around him either.” R4 thought a bit more. [[To the esteemed Issac Graves, y’all need ta’ calm down. My friends have already been teasing me about your dedications ta’ Th’ Lady of th’ Lake.]] She paused, thinking what to say, “That comes off a bit harsh doesn’t it?”

“A bit, though dedicating the destruction of several cyberpsychos to a woman you met twice is a bit extreme, I think. I’m not human, I’ve never dated a human.”

“I mean, in biblical times King David slew 200 enemies of his father in law and brought their foreskins to him in exchange for his first daughter, but yes that’s a bit extreme.” R4 considered. “Hey Red, while I was out there were some archived conversations I heard. Were those real, or just dreams? Specifically the one about Harris saying you have to speak Issac’s language.”

“They were real, Mara’s reach is constantly waxing and waning.”

R4 stretched, “Here goes,” [[Yet thy bravery has reached me, even if I know no more than that. If I have found a measure of thy patience I would like to meet at a later date. Perhaps a date that involves less bloodshed and ends not with us held in the grips of medically induced comas. Perhaps a round a’ mini-golf or a movie, those are date things in th’ big city right? That is, if you are still so inclined. I ask thy indulgence in my prolonged silence, for I was engaged in a period of revision to overcome a thorn within mine flesh. I hope ta’ hear from y’all soon.]] She reread her words. “Did I lay it on too thick?”

“Looks good to me.” R4 sent the message.

After a few more cameras malfunctioned she finally she took a break to stop by the bathroom. As she returned the smell of popcorn made her stomach growl. She eyed the prices, and immediately winced. “Nope, not that hungry… wait.” A popping sound followed by a DING echoed in her head. “That’s not funny Red, wait, hold on.” A short black haired figure crossed her sight carrying a bulging messenger bag. “Zephyr?”

“R4?” Zephyr turned to her. For this outing she had gone with simple jeans and a black coat decorated with lumens in the shape of a deep sea dragon. “What are you doing here?”

“Fixing projectors. Apparently somebody broke a bunch of them with a bat or something. Seems like a nice place, and no one’s tryin’ ta vamp me inta’ fixin’ somthin’ on th’ cheap. How ‘bout y’all?”

She looked both ways conspiratorially before stepping closer. “Delivering popcorn, not the approved stuff.” She whispered.

“Huh? Why is that a secret?” R4 asked, likewise whispering.

“The newest blend out of RITE crops burns really badly and the genetic patents on WildFarms® produces some bad smells that kill sales unless you have the right filters on your popcorn machines, which are really expensive. Mitian and Gentek are fighting over a patent so good luck getting anything from them. This is the good stuff, highly against patent laws.”

“And they’re sure charging for it.” R4 gestured towards the price list.

“Well it’s the good stuff, it’s worth it.” She smiled. “I would know.” She noticed Jel approaching. “Hey Jel, where’s the boss?”

“Wish I knew Zephyr, I’ll take that though.” They tapped phones and Zephyr handed over her messenger bag while Jel gave her an identical, though empty, bag. “R4 you’ve been here 6 hours, and I think whoever’s been breaking our projectors must have gone home by now. If you want to see Zephyr home I’m sure her mom would appreciate it.”

“We just got a bumper crop of corn, I could set you up with some.”

R4 heard the words, yet something seemed off. She heard a Boom and was the entire world seemed to lurch. Fire lit up through her neck and head, as if someone had nailed her with a bunch of red hot pebbles.

“EVERYONE DOWN THIS IS A ROBBERY!” Immediately there was pandemonium. People ran, people hid, half a dozen drew iron and immediately what had been a nice outing devolved into a shootout. In less than 12 seconds the gunfire stopped, and several bodies joined R4 on the floor.

“I doubt I need to say this, but you got hit by a shotgun at close range.”

“How bad?” R4 trilled.

“Best guess somewhere between 35 and 60 points of damage.” R4 gagged. “T0 damage mind you, which knocked it down pretty far. Wouldn’t have done nearly as much except he practically had the gun to the back of your head. You’re at two wounds.”

“Ow, surprised I’ve got two wounds left.” R4 recognized she was somewhere between shock and ravager toxin induced haze, and for that she was grateful. Should she have been grateful? She suspected it, but recognized her decision making might be compromised to the ever so slight head trauma caused by getting nailed with a shotgun blast to the back of the head.

“No, he knocked off two of your tier wounds, you’ve got two left before you get into anything serious.” R4 paused, taking that in. “You’ll heal the damage in a minute. Welcome to the world of tier 1.”

“ALRIGHT LISTEN UP!” The hulking borg of a man yelled. E4 tried to be quiet as she peered up at him. The man was dressed in plain tan cargo pants and a tan coat studded with small lights. Yet what initially looked like combat boots were in fact Mars Corporation D3ath Treads, a leg cyberware designed for traction and recoil control. The man’s MESH strength was tier 1, meaning the rest of him probably was too, though he was using a tier 0 shotgun. The man stalked forwards. “Cards out, anyone who doesn’t is getting a rount to the dome like this B****.” He leveled his shotgun at Zephyr. “And if anyone thinks I’m not serious,”

And then the lights went out.