Goddamnit. Why is this fucking lock malfunctioning again? I groaned in frustration as I tried to open the lock again. It wouldn't budge. Turns out that locks remained the same even in an alternate world. I suppressed the urge to shoot the lock. Last time, Nova had to open it for me. And by last time, I meant yesterday. I didn't want to bother her again. Fuck it. I'll have to learn how to open it next time. I called Nova. Her face appeared on my HUD, "What's the problem?"
"The lock."
She frowned, "Again?"
"Yeah, it won't open. Can you help me again?"
She shook her head, "Nope. I'm out on a mission so can't help you there. I'll send you a program."
A notification rang on my optics. "And this is?"
"It's a program used by Weavers. Well, calling people who use this program Weavers would be an over-exaggeration since it's everywhere but the point still stands. Try it," she urged.
"Fine fine."
As I was downloading, I heard Nova's voice, "Fuck. They're here. Take care of yourself. I got to go." She hung up. I guessed her mission wasn't going well. I'm sure she'll be fine. I can't help her as I am anyway.
After 5 more seconds, I finished downloading it and automatically installed it. It was named Breach. I opened it. It scanned what I saw and gave me prompts.
Graduex Digital Lock MK II detected. Would you like to breach?
Yes
No
Quantum Innovation Node X detected. Can not breach, security level too high.
I clicked Yes. Suddenly, my vision changed. I saw a bunch of lines... No, they weren't mere lines, they were lines of 0s and 1s. Before I could marvel at it any further, the 0s and 1s changed from an unreadable jumble of mess into readable language. It turned into neon-blue lines of codes. There was an orange line of code in the middle of it. Curious, I looked at it. By comparing and trying to understand the code, I found that the orange code was a modifiable code. Well, that was convenient. At the end of the orange line, there was a (1). From what I remember, 1 represented true, and 0 represented false. And the code was about whether the lock was on. So I changed it to a 0. The lock opened, leaving me free! Yes! Now I can eat some breakfast!
Web Weaving Skill XP gained.
Web Weaving Skill not unlocked.
Web Weaving Skill unlocked.
Yes, more skill to grind!
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Nova
She threw both her knives from her boots as her eyes locked onto four targets. The knives automatically redirected, piercing through their first targets and then targeting the others. Her cybernetic arms moved as fast as lightning, grabbing the Qonexa Cannon. It had a boxy figure, likely very heavy. She fired 5 bullets, each hitting its mark.
"Where are these fuckers coming from?" She wondered to herself.
She yelled at her client, "Get the fuck down. Don't get up." Then she dove as a grenade exploded behind her. Shooting 10 more bullets in quick succession, two per person, she thought, "Five more." She threw the gun away and grabbed the katana from her waist. It heated up, turning bright red. She sprinted towards her target.
"Fuck, she's coming. Shoot her," she heard as she closed the distance. Her eyes worked extra hard to track all the bullets, and her enhanced speed allowed her to dodge them all, albeit narrowly. Crossing 100 meters in a mere 4 seconds, she slashed her katana, slicing through the waist of the target with a sizzling sound. His cybernetic waist didn't last even an instant as it was sliced in two. One down. She wanted to pant but held it back. Still, four more to go. She slowed down a little but it was enough to take down the remaining four in 7 seconds.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
As she stopped, she looked around, panting. Smoke rose from her back. She was surrounded by 20 men. 20 dead men. It was a hard fight, especially since they were all heavily decked. As she recovered from her fatigue, she slowly retrieved her gun, reloaded it, and holstered it. Suddenly, a loud laugh rang out.
"I thought Nova, the Bloody Star, was just a rumor. Turns out you are as good as the rumors say you are."
She looked around and spotted a beast of a man standing in the alleyway. He was fully armed and decked. Nova recognized him. He was Borg.
"Borg. What are you doing here?"
"Hehe, here to collect the bounty."
She chuckled despite the danger she was in. "You know the saying. The greedy get the bullet."
He laughed. "200 million credits are a lot. I think it's well worth the risk."
"Whatever you say."
The client, forgotten during the confrontation, popped back up from where he was hiding. "Is it over yet?"
Nova and Borg glanced at him, then ignored him. Borg drew the LMG on his back. Nova drew her Hand Cannon as she ran to the left. Their first bullets met in the middle, sparking before ricocheting off the nearby blown-up cars.
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I whistled as I prepared my breakfast. The glorious Fried Bread. I was in a good mood. I grabbed the egg and broke it into the pan. Sizzle. I smelled it. It smelled delicious. I grabbed a pinch of salt and sprinkled it over the egg. Then I put the bread into the toaster. I even danced a little as I moved around the kitchen. I grabbed two of the plates from the rack as I continued whistling and dancing. I also prepared two cups of coffee, one for me, and one for Nova. She was training me after all. That's the least I could do. I grabbed the bread and threw it into the pan to fry it together with the egg.
The door suddenly burst open. Oops. I think that's Nova. I cleaned my hands in the sink and went over to welcome her.
"How's the mission?" I asked her as I continued brewing the coffee.
"Went well."
I turned to look at her and hesitated, "Doesn't look like it went well though. What happened?" Just with a glance, I could tell that her hand was broken, her back was also smoking for some reason, and her legs looked wobbly. Still, she was standing and acting like nothing happened.
She sighed and jumped on the sofa in the living room, putting her legs on the table, "Nothing much. Someone wanted to grab my bounty. I grabbed his bounty instead." She started cleaning her katana. I just noticed, that even her katana was chipped and covered in blood.
I frowned, "You have a bounty on you?"
She looked at me like I was crazy, "Yeah, I do. 98th highest bounty in the world."
I froze. Top 98th in this world? Damn. How many people want her dead?
She scoffed at my reaction, "50% of people in Darkhaven are in the top 100000 bounty list. 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 7th highest bounties are in Darkhaven too."
I frowned, "That's scary. But who's the first?"
She sighed, "Founder of Quantum Innovation, Edward Winters."
"Is he that dangerous?" I remembered seeing him on the Node. He didn't look dangerous.
"He isn't physically. He doesn't even have any cybernetics. But he's the smartest person in this world. Because of him, people, as long as they have enough money, can live up to 200 years now. And he has the largest mercenary corp in the world. It's larger than most countries' entire military. And Quantum Innovation is the first company to form a company-nation state," she turned her gaze at me. "Now, do you think he's dangerous?"
I shuddered, "Scary to think about. To think that a company has all that power."
"Not a company. An individual. He owns 90% of his company shares."
That's even scarier. I couldn't control my curiosity, "What did he do exactly to be called the smartest person in the world?"
Nova laughed, "Too many! He formed his company in the 1980s, during the period of the Cold War between the Roman Empire and the USA. He cured Cancer. He found a way to cybernetically enhance a human. He created the OS that all cybernetics and Nodes use. And he created the most revolutionary product of all, Artificial Intelligence. He also wrote many books that revolutionized many fields such as medicine, coding, cloud computing, robotics, cybersecurity, AI, and many more."
She had finished cleaning her katana and hung it on the wall behind the sofa. Then she asked, "Now, to more serious matters. What's for breakfast?"
This guy is a genius. He created his company in the 1980s and it's currently 2087. That means he's at least over a hundred years old, probably more. I shook my head. There's no use dwelling on other people's achievements. Especially since he's so high up in the food chain that she wouldn't meet her. "Well, Fried Bread."
"Smells delicious, let's see if it tastes as good." She grabbed a bite. "Not bad. Not bad."
I also took a bite. Then I drank the coffee to wash down the food. I took the opportunity to ask, "I read something about Web Weaving and Weavers. What's that?"
She took a sip of the coffee, "The coffee's good too." She took a moment to think, "Web Weaving is the act of... well, hacking. But Web Weaving is far more than hacking. Hacking involves using Nodes, and more specialized tools as well as experience in programming. Web Weaving uses the RAM of your cybernetics to hack into objects. Theoretically, you don't need any knowledge to weave. But as with everything, web weaving is more complicated. Beginner Web Weaving includes hacking into electronics with your optics using specialized programs and cybernetics. As for higher-level Web Weaving... I think it's too early for you to know."
I nodded. That was far more information than what was available on the web. I was glad that I met a kind soul like Nova when I arrived.
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Nova locked the door and sat down on the bed as she carefully looked at her arm. She probably needed to go see a cyberdoc about that. She sighed. "Why am I doing this?" she wondered to herself out loud.
"Why did I help her? I already have problems with just us and now, there's another person I have to take care of."
She smiled after a second, "Well, that's true. She's cute. Especially when she asks me questions. I just want to take care of her so bad."
"I guess that answers my own question. And she's a genius. Now that I think about it, she is very similar to Edward Winters. They both had amnesia before they rose." She shook her head.
"I'm probably just thinking too much. We'll be together, no matter what. Just like we promised."
The person she was talking to seemed to agree.
She grinned, "I'm lucky to have you in my life."
She slowly fell asleep from exhaustion as she muttered, "Hyacinth..."